Chapter 2

When the lanky, dark-haired girl disembarked onto the graveled parking lot of Haven High, she lifted her deep brown eyes and swept her gaze from one end of the lot to the other. She stepped into the shade of the bus to try and cut down the glare of the morning sun, but she had to squint anyway as she tried to find the others.

Diane Woodrow sighed when she barely caught sight of Heather tagging along behind the others, just seconds before they disappeared into the school building under the watchful eye of Vice Principal Seeger.

She pulled the strap of her satchel further up her shoulder and emerged into the sunlight. She tilted her head and ran her fingers through her long, straight black hair, then let it fall behind her.

She missed the short meetings that her fellow Harbingers used to have in the parking lot each morning. But in the wake of Nyssa, it was deemed too dangerous to do anything out in the open at Haven High, not with the Principal herself, Laura Bendon, still under the Darkness' sway.

Diane looked around. There were some other faculty members drifting about the parking lot, looking critically at the other students as they filed towards the school's east entrance. She witnessed one break up a gaggle of girls that had congregated near one of the buses.

She stopped and stared at the instructor for a moment, narrowing her eyes and shading them from the sun with her hand. She was trying to see if a Dark Aura would appear around him.

She still did not know if she could see them. Laura Bendon was the only one that they knew for sure still had one, and she rarely appeared outside her office anymore. Diane was too scared of her to manufacture a reason to go see her, and the others thought it was too dangerous. If anything, Jason had suggested that everyone try to toe the line as much as possible to avoid receiving detention or any other disciplinary action.

Diane sighed and gave up, lowering her hand. It was frustrating not knowing whether she now had the ability or not.

Diane walked up the steps and into the school. The Vice Principal eyed her suspiciously as she passed. It was likely that Seeger -- or "Saggy Seeger" as the students called him because of his bulldog face and large, sagging jowls -- was told by Bendon that certain students -- namely the Harbingers -- were possible troublemakers and to keep an eye on them.

Diane tried not to shrink at Seeger's scrutiny. Her heart raced a bit, as it always did now when she entered the school. Without realizing it, she hurried down the hall, as if intent on getting the day over with as quickly as possible.

"Diane? Diane, wait up!"

She skidded to a halt and turned. "Oh! Heather, sorry, I-I didn't see you there."

Heather jogged up to her and said in a low voice, "Listen, you got a moment before class? I have to talk to you about something."

Heather glanced around as if checking for anyone eavesdropping. Diane's gaze followed her friend's eyes. "Um ... yes, I have a few minutes. Is something wrong?"

Heather gently took Diane's arm and shepherded her out of the main corridor traffic until they were standing next to a door labeled "Maintenance." Diane tried not to react to the touch to little avail. Her skin flushed hot, and she swallowed and gripped the strap of the satchel more tightly.

Heather turned to her. There was a pained look to her face. "Diane, this is important. Jason found out who Cassie dreamed about. It's Melissa Hendell!"

Diane blinked once. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but the memory was not coming to her.

"Early July, just before the holiday?" Heather prompted a bit impatiently. "That honey-haired girl in the dweeby clothing? The one we ... we pulled that little stunt on?"

Diane's eyes widened. "Oh, her." She cracked a smile. "Yes, I remember now. We got her good with that, didn't we? Wow, I never saw someone turn that shade of red before..."

The glare from Heather was enough to silence Diane at once. Diane swallowed again, feeling a knot of anxiety in her stomach.

"It's not funny, Diane. You remember what Cassie said about the girl in her dream? She just didn't fall to the Darkness, she took some power for herself."

It took a moment for Diane to understand the implication, largely because she did not really want to see it. "W-wait, you don't think ... you don't think she'll try to get back at us or something, do you?"

"I don't know, but I wanted to warn you about her. Just in case ... well..."

Diane sighed. "Just in case I still can't see the Auras is what you mean."

Heather gave Diane a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Diane."

Diane looked into Heather's lovely green-gray eyes. She could tell that Heather was being honest with her. She could read a lot in those eyes. She wished she had more opportunity to look into them.

But that would mean forcing herself to admit her feelings for Heather in the first place.

Diane had some vague notion that perhaps her attraction for Heather had somehow been caused by Nyssa, like Heather's obsession for Melinda. But it had slowly dawned on her over the past two weeks that her feelings had not originated with Nyssa. They had existed for long before Nyssa's arrival. Or even before Heather got tangled up in the House.

Yet even if Nyssa had not caused her attraction to Heather, she had known about it. She had shared that secret with Jason when he was still in her thrall. Jason had tried to tease her about it in the hallway but managed not to come out and say it explicitly.

A day after they finished with the Nyssa business, a teary-eyed Diane had called Jason and begged him not to tell anyone what he knew.

"Heather, do you think I'll be able to see them?" Diane asked. "I mean, Nyssa did try to take me, right?"

"I don't know that, either. She put you under to get you out of the way, but she didn't really try to enslave you."

"But if I can't see them, I'm no help to any of you, am I?"

"Diane, please, don't say that..."

"But it's true! What good am I if I can't tell you who may have been affected by the Darkness? I'll just blunder into them without knowing and then you'll all have to rescue me and cause you more ... huh... ?"

Heather had taken Diane's hand into her own and squeezed it gently.

Diane's lips parted. She looked into Heather's eyes again. She felt a tiny shiver pass through her, her heart thumping.

"Diane, if you can't see the Auras, then being with us is the best thing you can do."

Diane took a moment to find her voice again. Heather squeezed her hand again, and she trembled. "Wh-why? What good would that do?" she asked defiantly, though her voice was weak.

"Well, for one thing, it would let us protect you. Diane, come on, you've been my friend for how long? You think I want to abandon you now?"

"I-I don't know ... Things have changed so much..."

"Yeah, I know. We don't do the same things together anymore."

"You've changed, Heather," Diane said, her voice growing husky.

"I know, but I had to, Diane. Look, don't ever tell anyone this, but ... sometimes I actually like doing nice things for Melinda more than I liked poking fun at her all the time." She paused and grinned. "Well... sometimes. I do still like to get a rise out of her."

Diane gave Heather a ghost of a smile. She had looked up to Heather. She did many of the things Heather did simply because Heather did them. And Heather had been popular. By extension, as her friend, Diane had become popular as well.

In the days after the House, when they had drifted apart, Diane had come to realize that the popularity had been a sham. She went from popular to nothing almost overnight. Yet she still had feelings for Heather. That was what had convinced her there was something more to it.

"Heather, we didn't mean Melissa any harm," Diane said. "She must know that. We didn't hurt her or threaten her. I mean, come on, all that stuff we ever did to people, we didn't really mean any harm, right?"

Had what she and Heather done to Melissa been bad enough to warrant revenge against them? Melissa had looked terribly embarrassed, but she had not shed a single tear. In fact, she had tried to leave the scene with as much dignity as she could muster. Surely she had known that, as the new girl in town, she'd get a bit of a hazing from the others?

Heather was not sure how to answer. She remembered all the times she used to tease Jason something awful. That had surely hurt him in some way. Yet he never said anything. He never threw it in her face no matter how upset he got. Now they were close friends, and it was as if it had never happened.

But it did happen, and Heather felt guilty over it. But only sometimes. She could still find it to be a source of private amusement.

Heather looked up. The crowds in the corridor were beginning to thin. "Look, we better get to class. We're going to try to meet at my house this afternoon. Can you come?"

"Yes, I can come."

"Good. And don't worry about whether you can see the Auras, okay?"

Heather let go of Diane's hand. Diane's heart raced anyway. "I'll try."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

Diane just nodded, not trusting her voice. She sprinted to her locker and fetched the books she needed for her first class after homeroom. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. It did some good. She still felt a tingle in her nether regions, but she could ignore it.

For once she was glad she was not on the same class rotation as Heather.

Melissa smiled as she sashayed down the street, swinging her hips with exaggerated movements and letting her skirt twirl about her thighs. There was a bit of a chill to the morning, but the sun felt nice on the black stockings that hugged her graceful legs. The heels of her shoes clacked against the sidewalk in what to her was a satisfying symphony of poise and sensuality.

She marveled at how only a little over a week ago, she had taken this same walk with her shoulders hunched as if she had expected someone to hit her. Every muscle would tense whenever she saw another of her peers, afraid that some humiliating insult would come her way that would make her want to run back home.

Now she walked as if daring anyone to cross her. The golden pentacle pendant flashed in the morning sunlight. She made no attempt to hide it. Teachers sometimes looked askance at her, or even gave her dirty looks. It never lasted long. One look from Melissa, a smile, and suddenly the teacher simply adored how it looked on her.

Today it would be the same with the skirt. It showed way too much thigh to be tolerated by the dress code. She wanted to see who would call her out on it.

It was so easy. Just a single look, and she made it happen. She could change a thought or emotion, or make someone do something, or making something happen within someone's body. The little things like that were child's play to her. It made life tolerable for her in school now. Even entertaining.

She turned off the street and headed down the short path to the stairs of the west entrance of Haven High. Two boys near the gate stopped their conversation to stare at her, eyes flicking over the swell of her breasts or the smoothness of her legs. Melissa turned her head towards them and gave them a wicked smile as she came to a stop.

"Like what you see?" Melissa said in a sultry voice.

The boys had not expected her to notice them, let alone stop and speak to them. They exchanged an embarrassed look. Nevertheless, the bolder of the two gave her a lopsided smile and said, "Um, yeah, I do." His companion nodded quickly in agreement.

"Better be careful. If you look at me too long, you just might get hard over me."

The first boy's cheeks colored, but he grinned nevertheless. "Heh, yeah, maybe. I ... uh ... what... ??"

His mouth dropped open. His companion's eyes grew nearly as wide as his glasses.

Suddenly both boys felt their cocks expanding quickly in their briefs. One had to shift his weight from one foot to the other to work it free of an awkward confinement. The other tried the same and failed, having to resort to a tug at his belt, trying to make it look casual. He flinched when his cock sprang from its cramped position.

In seconds, both were sporting full erections, pulsing in time with their heartbeats. It caused an obvious bulge the crotches of their jeans.

"And we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Melissa said in a husky voice. She leaned forward, giving them a view into her cleavage as her breasts dangled against her dress. "That just might make you ... cream in your pants."

The first boy uttered a yelp and staggered until his back hit the wrought iron fence that marked the edge of the school grounds. The other simply curled his hands into fists and trembled. Both started moaning softly, crimson-faced as their cocks felt as if they were being vigorously stroked.

"Oh no, we wouldn't want that," said Melissa with an evil gleam in her eyes. "That would be so very, very messy."

She turned and started up the stairs. As she did, she flicked a bit of her telekinetic power at them. Their zippers were yanked down and the buttons at the top popped open simultaneously just seconds before they came. Their cheeks glowed in mortification as their cocks throbbed wetly into their briefs. Several passing students gasped or made sounds of revulsion.

Melissa left the stairs and continued through the doorway. Behind her, she heard a girl's voice rushing towards her. "Ugh, what the fuck was that? Disgusting! God, get me away from those creeps."

Melissa was shoved to the side. A blonde girl flashed an angry look at her as she passed. "Get the lead out of your shoes. Silly cunt."

The smiled never left Melissa's face. She watched the girl walk ahead of her and stop by a locker not too far from the entrance.

Melissa wandered over to her. The girl looked up and frowned. "What the hell do you want?"

"I think you're mistaken," Melissa said.

"Huh?"

"You called me a silly cunt. That's not correct."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Look, get away from me, you weirdo."

Melissa ignored her. "You see, a silly cunt is not a person, it's a thing. In fact, it's yours."

The girl gasped suddenly, and she stared in surprise and horror.

Melissa smiled. "See how silly your cunt is?"

The girl swallowed and panted. Her feet slid apart. Her hips rocked back and forth as if in a parody of intercourse. Her hand trembled, rattling the locker door. Her eyes shimmered, both sultry and terrified at the same time. Her mouth opened in a silent plea.

"It's so silly it just gets hot all by itself, and then cums when it feels like it."

The girl whimpered, then moaned. She clutched at her locker door with both hands, her hips jerking as she came. Her breath became a staccato sigh as her pussy throbbed so intensely she could barely think.

Melissa smiled. She turned away and continued to her own locker further down the hall. When she got there, she looked back at the blonde girl. The girl's cheeks glowed scarlet. She hastily pulled the books for her morning classes from the locker, still trembling from her orgasm. She slammed it closed and hurried down the hallway.

Seconds later, she staggered to a stop and utter a strained moan. Her hips jerked backwards again in a second orgasm. She clutched at the lockers to stop herself from sliding to the floor. Other students looked on with a mixture of confusion and amusement.

But a few students look on in horror. Their gaze immediate started sweeping the hallway. One of them found Melissa, paled, and quickly dashed away.

Melissa's smile widened. Very good. People were starting to connect the dots. They were starting to realize that she had some sort of power over them. Fear would allow her to keep some sort of control over those she did not personally touch with her power. It would make her life tolerable again at this school.

She fingered the pendant again as she closed her locker. Some of her smile faded.

It wasn't enough. Indirect control was fine, but she wanted more than that. Unfortunately, she had been thwarted in this effort. She had discovered that while she could inject momentary bits of control in people -- like with the two boys outside, or the girl that shoved her, or the teachers to avoid getting in trouble -- complete control was harder.

On Monday, she had stolen Ann's boyfriend Brad and make him hers. She had made him have sex with her in front of Ann.

On Tuesday, she had taken Susan's boyfriend Sam, and did the same with him, letting Susan simply play with herself without cumming while she watched.

Then on Wednesday, she had tried to take Jim, the boy that Susan had been seeing on the side. She did so, but then she lost her hold on Brad, and some of her hold on Sam.

Thursday, the day before, she had renewed her hold on Sam, had taken Brad again, only to lose Jim and spark rebellion from her mother.

When she had first received this Power, she had known there were limitations. She had not understood at the time just how grating those limitations would be. She simply could not extend her hold to everyone she wished. She could keep only a certain amount of complete control in place at one time, at least until she was able to bring about more permanent changes in her victims. But those changes took time, and she did not have the patience to do it for everyone.

Then there were Susan and Ann. She wanted to retain an iron grip on their minds no matter what, so that limited her reach even further. She teased them with vague promises of eventually releasing them, but she was quickly coming to the conclusion that they would likely never have free will ever again.

She doubted she could release them even if she wanted to. The fact that they never escaped her control when she overextended herself was proof to her that they were too tightly bound to her by now. She had messed with their minds to such a degree that they could never be free of her. Not unless she somehow lost the Power completely.

Her mother was a different story. Melissa did not control her quite like the others, at least not all the time. Instead, she dipped into Kathy's mind and altered her on a more basic level. It required a great degree of finesse. Most of the work had to be done at night, through her mother's dreams. But again, it took time that she did have to spare for everyone.

Her fingers closed tightly around the pendant. She took a slow, deep breath. It was more than just a piece of costume jewelry. The dark being that had come to her when Susan and Ann had left her naked and alone had recognized it. It had protected her from the being's wrath, prompting it to offer her the Power instead.

And now it was in her dreams every night. It was helping her punish her mother. It gave her insights on the subtleties of the human mind. It showed her how to make small but permanent changes over time.

But there was more power to be tapped. Enough power that subtlety would no longer be needed. She just had to find it. And she had a feeling who might be able to tell her more about it.

Melissa cradled her books in her arm and headed to class.

The silence of the hallway was broken by the strident ring of the bell. Doors opened, and students poured from their first period classes in a torrent.

One slim boy dashed from his sophomore English class, his lace-less old sneakers flopping against the tiled floor, barely visible under the wide cuffs of his baggy denims.

"Hey, nosy!" a girl called out as he passed, giggling.

"Oh no, it's Nosenstein!" cackled a boy.

Another boy made pig-like snorting sounds, his friends joining in until they all dissolved into laughter.

Ned "The Nose" Lussander did a spin on one heel, thumbed his bulbous nose at them, and made a snorting noise back with a smirk on his face before continuing on his way.

Ned hardly cared about the comments anymore. Up until two weeks ago, they used to bother him a great deal. He didn't ask to have a big, slightly misshapen nose. It was the best the surgeons could do with the money that his parents had after that unfortunate fight, the same one that gave him the jagged scar on one cheek.

But that was before he fell in with the Harbingers. And Cassie.

He smiled as the object of his affection appeared up ahead, having just stepped up to her locker. Cassie Kendall wore a look on her face that was somewhere between dreamy and thoughtful. A lot of people found this disconcerting, and had long since branded her a weirdo since freshman year.

Ned found it endearing instead. She looked so pretty when she was lost in her own little world. Curly bangs of perfectly coiffed brown hair framed an adorable oval face. An impeccably neat powder blue blouse was wrapped about her torso, and the pleats of her matching skirt swirled about her calves.

Ned was also a little jealous. He was interested in dreams, and he often kept a journal of his own. He was envious of how far more detailed and meaningful Cassie's dreams were.

Or used to be. In the past week, she had been frustrated at how lacking in detail they were.

So lost in her own head was Cassie that she failed to note Ned standing there. Her hands moved slowly and methodically in and out of the locker exchanging books, operating on automatic.

"Hi," Ned finally said.

Cassie gasped and flinched in surprise, blue eyes going wide.

"Um, sorry I startled ya, babe," Ned said sheepishly.

Cassie recovered and smiled. Ned couldn't help but grin foolishly back. He loved seeing that smile. "Oh, no, it's okay. I was just ... um, thinking..."

"Heh, I know that look. You finally had another good dream, huh?"

"Well ... part of a dream," said Cassie, frustration still edging her voice. "I'm still not getting them the way I should."

"That's better'n nothin', though, right?"

"I guess, but..."

Ned had learned to recognize when something was really troubling his girlfriend. Her eyes would go cloudy and edge towards slate-gray in color. It was like looking at an ocean under a cloudy sky.

At least he hoped she was his girlfriend. They hadn't actually gone out on a date yet (mostly because he was too chicken to ask) but they spent a great deal of time together at school and spoke on the phone a few times. Just to be on the safe side, he never mentioned the word "girlfriend" when talking about Cassie. That way he could avoid any future potential disappointment.

Now Cassie's eyes shimmered as she looked up into Ned's. "To be honest, I-I'm getting a little scared."

Ned blinked. He had not expected that. "Um, scared? Whaddaya mean? Scared of what?"

"That my ... my ability, or whatever you call it ... is going away."

Ned snorted and waved a hand in dismissal. "Aw, c'mon. Why would that happen? These things don't jus' get up an' walk away, ya know."