Chapter 25

Jason was numb with shock. He almost didn't realize he had returned to the present. He could still feel the icy chill of the Darkness. He could still see the horribly empty eyes of the girls. He could still hear the terrible scream of their spirits being ripped from their bodies.

He finally shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. He was still frightened, as if Agatha were there about to jump out at them like some bad horror film. He had to force himself to think logically rather than emotionally. Several revelations had come to him, and he had to piece together what it all meant.

"All right," Jason finally said. "We know the what the real danger of the Rite is. But we know it can be stopped. Why didn't Susan's mother mention this? Maybe Melissa prevented her. Richie, do you have ... Richie?"

Richie stood a short distance away. His eyes were cast downward at the book. His breathing was ragged, his hands clenched into fists.

Jason took a step towards him. "Richie? Are you... ?"

Richie dropped the book to the ground, drew back his foot, and with a look of red-faced fury gave the book a hard kick.

"Richie!" Jason cried, trying to grab his arm.

Richie violently shook him off while delivering blow after blow to the spell book. When his kicks did it no damage -- a cracked spine mending itself in seconds, torn pages repairing themselves in time for the next blow, crumpled parchment smoothing itself out in a blink of an eye -- his blows became even more vicious.

Finally with a scream of frustration that made Jason recoil, Richie picked up the book and flung it as hard as he could across the clearing. He finally turned towards Jason. His eyes were as red as his face and blurred with tears. He bared his teeth like a feral animal.

"I HATE THIS POWER!" he bellowed. "I FUCKING HATE IT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS SHIT ANYMORE!"

Jason never saw Richie this angry before. He would have feared for his own safety if he had not seen a tear trickle down Richie's cheek. "Richie ... I-I'm sorry, I didn't know it would be like..."

"Jason, tell me what happened to those four girls!" Richie's voice cracked. "Tell me they came out okay. Tell me they didn't wind up like my Mom! TELL ME MY MOM'S NOT GONNA BE LIKE THAT FOR THE REST OF HER GODDAMN LIFE!!"

Jason was completely stricken. He had no idea what to say.

"P-please, tell me..." Richie croaked.

"I ... I don't know ... they ... they disappeared after that. No one found them again."

Richie gave Jason a look of pure rage. Tears flowed down his cheeks and dripped to the ground. "I s-saw it ... I saw it, Jason! ... I saw when m-my mother ... when h-he took her ... m-made her into a slut..."

"Oh God ... Richie ... I didn't know..."

"A-addicted ... made her addicted to it ... and I almost did the same thing to Miss Davis!"

Jason felt his heart sink into his stomach. I'm such a fucking moron, he thought.

Cassie had been right all along. She had never come out and said it, but she had implied it many times. She thought Jason had been taking this grudge against Richie too far. He was so intent on making Richie "learn his lesson" that he was blind to everything else.

Jason stepped up to Richie and placed an arm around his shoulders. "You didn't do it. You stopped. You did the right thing."

"I-I'm sorry," Richie cried, sniffling and wiping at his face. "I f-fucked up everything with Nyssa ... sh-she ... she woulda done that to us, too ... I didn't know, Jason! You gotta believe me, I didn't know!"

Jason sighed. "I know. I wasn't exactly giving you a chance. And ... maybe I should have tried to help you with your mother more. I'm sorry."

The two of them looked at each other. Keeping his gaze steady on Richie's eyes, Jason extended his hand. Richie clasped it firmly and pumped it once.

"Friends again?" Jason asked with a small smile.

Richie managed a weak smile in return and sniffled. "Friends."

"And Harbinger."

Richie's smile widened. "And Harbinger. Thanks, man."

Jason was glad it was over. Staying angry at Richie had been draining on him. He was glad to be relieved of the burden.

Richie drew back and composed himself, wiping his eyes and drying his hands on his pants. "Okay, then ... let's figure out how to take this Melissa bitch down."

Jason picked up the book. "We have to head back to town right now. I need desperately to talk to Cassie. I think she may have some insights on something I saw."

"What part of it?"

Jason opened his mouth and paused. He glanced down at the book, his gaze drawn to the eye in the center of the pentacle. "I'll tell you later. Please, trust me on..."

Richie clasped him on the arm. "It's cool, dude. I trust you."

Jason nodded. "Thanks. Let's go. Sooner we get away from this place, the better."

"No shit, Sherlock. Least it's downhill on the bikes this time..."

Heather stepped into her last class of the day, not with a sense of relief, but of trepidation.

Nothing had happened to her all day. Brad had not said even a single word to her. All he would do was give her a sly smile and sometimes a wink but nothing more. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Diane was relieved, but the others were suspicious, especially Melinda. She kept eying Heather intently, as if expecting to see more of an Aura on her. By the time lunch came around, Heather was able to relax a bit for the first time in a long while.

But now this was Brad's last chance. If he and Melissa were waiting to spring something on her, this would be the most dramatic moment.

Heather was also feeling uneasy. It was not a clear precog vision, just a vague sense of "wrongness." Something was going to happen, but she was not sure what. The fickle nature of her ability was starting to grate on her. She thought she was getting enough sex to keep it properly "charged." Surely it didn't require even more? Or was there something else she had to do?

Heather had made it to her seat before Brad. When he did arrive, it was with the same swagger that he always used. Heather gave him a cold look, and then braced herself when he looked at her.

Brad grinned lasciviously at her, winked, and dropped into his seat.

Heather let her breath go as a relieved sigh. It was no different than any of the other classes. Maybe Melissa had given up on her for now.

Heather tried to pay more attention to the lesson this time. She was already facing the prospect of pulling no better than a "D" in at least two classes because of everything that had happened that semester. While she had never been a star student, she was intelligent enough to pull at least a "C" in everything with the occasional "B".

But not long after the class began, her thoughts drifted to Diane.

Images flitted playfully through her mind of Diane on her knees, eager to lick Heather's pussy. Or lying on the bed while Heather rocked her hips against Diane's sweet face. Or writhing helplessly in a chair as Heather pleasured her and kept her just short of orgasm.

Heather drew in a deep breath and shifted in her seat as her thoughts made her pussy wet. Her eyes widened. Were they her thoughts?

She glanced at Brad. Brad was lounging in his chair, tapping his pen against his notebook, looking bored. He caught Heather's gaze. His lips curled into a smug grin.

Heather glared at him and set her eyes forward again.

She tried to focus her attention on the teacher. It helped, but the erotic imagery did not fade completely. Some of it had to be her own feelings. She was looking forward to her tryst with Diane after school. That was enough to arouse her just on its own.

Diane appeared in her mind again. This time she was kissing Heather's feet.

Heather blinked. Had she wanted to imagine such a thing? Diane would never do something like that. Not unless...

... unless she were Heather's slave, and obeyed because she had to.

Heather shivered with pleasure, but felt a twinge of guilt almost immediately. It wasn't a real enslavement, was it? Diane wanted her to do it. And it was temporary, just like all the other enchantments they had tried. It would wear off in a few hours at most.

Unless I used the other spell, too.

Heather was not sure why she had that thought, but it sent another tingle through her pussy. No, that wasn't right. She couldn't do that to Diane. Diane would never want Heather to go that far.

But she wrote down the incantation.

Heather swallowed. Her panties were damp. As much as she tried to deny her own thoughts, they were getting her horny. Diane was already so obedient as it was. What was a little more? Diane was enjoying being the submissive.

God no ... these are not my own thoughts ... are they?

Heather was confused. She couldn't possibly be thinking about enslaving Diane. That would be no better than taking Melinda as a slave. But if that was what Diane wanted, would that make it okay?

Heather closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try to steady herself. She had to stop this. She was working herself up into a panic just because she was worried about Melissa. It was making her paranoid.

She opened her eyes and tried to push the doubts out of her head. It would be fine. She and Diane would simply have some fun together, that was all. Nothing permanent, even if Diane did want it. She was worried over nothing.

Jason and Richie reached the edge of town with some time to spare before they could meet up with Cassie. They were both famished, not having brought anything along for lunch. They bought some snacks at a 7-Eleven and sat down in a nearby park.

Richie told Jason about what he had seen in the vision of his mother.

"It sounds like the same person," Jason said. "Frank Hovath, the one that owned the house before your mother."

"Yeah, the fuckin' bastard," Richie growled. "He did it to his wife, too. Musta been messin' with a lotta chicks' heads."

"Probably. He had the perfect cover. People going to a hypnotherapist would expect to be taken under. Even be willing to submit to it."

"What I wanna know is where the fuck my Dad was."

"What do you mean?"

"Dude, he coulda stopped it! I remember my Dad. He was buff. He coulda fuckin' decked this candy-ass doc."

Jason hesitated. He tried to be as delicate as possible as he said, "Unless he really believed your mother was just having an affair."

Richie glared at him, but it was clear that the anger was not directed at Jason. "I dunno. That's the fucking problem with this stupid power. I gotta be where the action happened. I can't get nothin' on my Dad. I've tried."

"He might not have been at the house. Do you have something that he held?"

Richie thought about the baseball under his bed. It was something he had told no one he possessed. "Um, yeah, I do. Don't work."

"I'm not sure what to tell you, Richie."

Richie sighed. "Yeah, I know. Forget it."

Jason shook his head. "No."

Richie looked up. "Huh?"

"I'm not going to forget it. I've ... all of us, have been forgetting it for too long. Maybe we need to actually do something about your Mom."

"But ... everything you said, about not having time, or..."

"We'll make time, then. We'll figure it out. Somehow."

Richie stared, then slowly broke out into a wide smile. He slapped Jason on the shoulder. "Thanks, man."

Jason smiled faintly in return. "Richie, you have any idea what happened to your Dad in all this?"

Richie shook his head. "Nah, man, no friggin' clue. Just know he ditched her. Jason, maybe he didn't know about all this. Maybe ... maybe Haven got into his head and made him leave. If he knew about all this Darkness shit, maybe he'd do something." He paused a long moment. "Maybe he'll come home."

Jason thought that was a tall order. If Haven really had done something to him, it could have made him forget about Richie and his mother. It was unlikely that he was living anywhere near Haven in that case.

Or worse, it could have kept everything from him and really made him think Richie's mother was sleeping around with other men on her own. Her story about being addicted to sex would have made her sound delusional. But if that were the case, wouldn't he have taken custody of Richie in the ensuing divorce?

"Richie, you know anything about how the divorce proceedings went?" Jason asked.

"Nah, I was only six. It was kinda weird. Me and Mom moved outta the house in Randall and into an apartment here. Only saw him something like every other weekend for three months. Then Mom fuckin' lays the bomb on me and tells me they're divorced! Then we moved into the house. Downhill since."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, that is weird. All right. Maybe I can find some court records on the divorce. I'll see what I can do."

"Sure thing. Melissa comes first, though, right?"

"Yes, she does."

"Good. Don't you dare back down, man. We all gotta kick her sorry ass for wanting to pull shit like what we saw."

Jason smiled faintly and stood up. "We should get going, we need to get across town to meet Cassie."

Richie stood and started towards the bikes. Jason grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Let's not talk about what we saw until we see Cassie," Jason said in a low voice. "Don't ask me to explain right now. I'm probably just paranoid about this, but I want to talk to Cassie."

"So long as I can hear what you talk to her about."

"Of course you will. You're a Harbinger, aren't you?"

Richie smiled. "Yeah. Guess I am, huh?"

They headed towards the bikes.

Melinda burst out of her last class of the day, and after a quick glance up and down the hallway to make sure no faculty were about, she ran to her locker.

She wanted time to talk to Cassie before they met Heather. Melinda didn't want to be left alone with her or Diane. She had seen the tiny wisp of Darkness around Diane after Brad had affected her. If Melissa had lowered Diane's inhibitions as well, they might become the "terrible two" again and find new ways to tease her. Where Heather could still control Melinda's libido, she shuddered to think what they might do to her.

Melinda darted through the growing crowds in the hallway to reach her locker quickly. But as she began to dial the combination, the crush of students abruptly evaporated directly behind her. She lifted the handle and pulled the door open.

A hand above her landed heavily on the door and slammed it shut again.

"What the... ?! All right, who the f..."

The words died in her throat. Melinda fell against the lockers, wide-eyed with terror.

"Hi, Melinda," said Melissa with a sly smile. "Fancy running into you."

Melinda could only stare, eyes shimmering...

Melissa giggled. "Well, this is a first. And here I thought you had such a gift for gab."

"Sh-shut up..." Melinda said in a badly quavering voice. "Leave me alone."

"Oh, now that's so mean of you. I really must fix that."

Melinda whimpered in horror as she felt the icy tendrils slip into her mind and smother her thoughts. "N-no ... please, d-don't..." she begged in a tiny voice. "Please ... uhhn ... uhhh..."

Even as her thoughts turned to ice, her body became hot, and her sex ran molten. She shuddered violently at the sudden waves of lust that wracked her body. Her hips writhed against the lockers as she let go with a long, sultry sigh.

"Now, what were you saying to me?" Melissa asked sweetly.

Melinda's voice was breathy and lusty as she struggled to speak. "Uhhn ... uuhh ... wet p-pussy ... lick ... uhh ... stroke ... cum ... play with my tits... "

Melissa giggled. "Who needs a big vocabulary, right? And who needs to feel anything except nice and horny."

Melinda panted, her eyes glazed. "Uhhn ... yeah ... pussy ... play with my pussy..."

"Oh my goodness!" came a cry from down the hall.

Melissa glanced lazily at the sound and smiled. She turned back to Melinda. "And that's what's going to happen to you if keep trying to talk. Or try to communicate in any other way. Nothing but sex comes out. And you'll want nothing else but sex when that happens. Have fun."

Melinda moaned and slid a hand under her panties as Melissa headed away.

Cassie and Ned came running up to Melinda. "Oh no! Oh Ned, she has it! Melissa..."

"Yeah, I see it, babe," Ned said, his stomach turning as he watched the faint swirls of black around Melinda's body. "That fucking bitch."

"Melinda, stop, please," Cassie said softly, gently tugging Melinda's arm.

"Uhhnn ... no ... pussy so wet..." Melinda moaned in desperation as her hand was pulled out from under her panties.

"Melinda, don't try ta talk, okay?" Ned said.

Melinda looked at Ned in languid protest and opened her mouth, but Cassie slipped her hand over it.

"No, Melinda, shhh ... Oh goodness, Ned ... Melissa's got control of her! Why?! I don't understand this!"

"I don't get it either, babe. I thought she wanted..."

"Melinda!" came Heather's sudden shout as she and Diane ran up to them. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw the miasma around her little sister's body. "Oh no ... Melinda, are you all right?! Are..."

"She can't speak to you, Heather, not right now."

"Why not?! What did Melissa do?"

Melinda had managed to calm down somewhat. The lust was still there, but the urge to masturbate had eased. Her cheeks flamed in mortification. She looked up at Heather and gasped.

The wispy Aura that she had seen before around her big sister was more substantial now. It was still very ethereal, but now she could see it all the time. But it was becoming painfully clear to her that no one else could see it. It was still below their threshold. Only she was sensitive enough to see it.

"H-Heather! ... You ... uhhhn ... y-you ... l-lick my pussy ... uhhh ... suck my tits..."

Melinda's lust became all-consuming again. She staggered back against the lockers and pawed at her breasts through her blouse.

"Oh man..." Ned groaned. He turned and glared at a diminutive freshman boy that stared open-mouthed at Melinda. "What the fuck are ya lookin' at, shrimp? Scram!"

The freshman blinked and fled.

"No, Melinda, please, stop! Fight it!" Cassie cried, grabbing at Melinda's hands. Melinda whimpered in frustration. She rubbed her thighs together, eliciting soft, moist sounds from her soaked slit. Cassie sighed in desperation and looked up at the others. "We have to get her out of here. Every time she tries to talk, this happens."

"Why did Melissa do this to her?" Diane asked, stricken.

"We don't know!"

"Unless it's ta get back at Heather," Ned said. "Since her idea yesterday was a bust. I mean, look, she don't have a real dark Aura. Not like Susan."

"It's bad enough!"

"We can't take her on the bus like this," Heather said.

"Take her ta the meetin' house," Ned suggested.

"If I can get her to calm down..." Cassie started.

Melinda shook her head violently and opened her mouth again. "Fuck me ... lick my pussy ... uhhhn!... uhnnnn!!"

Melinda's hips jerked hard as her pussy throbbed in orgasm.

"Melinda, quiet, " Cassie said firmly. "You have to stay quiet. If you can do that, I can take you in the limo."

"Me and Diane are coming too," Heather said.

"And me, too," said Ned.

"Wait, everyone, I don't have room for all of you!" Cassie said in exasperation. She sighed. "I wish Jason were here."

"Dontcha hafta pick him an' Richie up? Jus' drop us off along the way."

"Listen to me! I don't have room! Ned, I'm sorry, you'll have to find your own way."

Ned looked taken aback, but he nodded and subsided, not wanting to upset her further.

Cassie turned back to Melinda. Melinda was panting, but she had averted her eyes from the others and appeared to settle down. She swallowed and whimpered softly.

"You okay to try and ride with us, Melinda? Just nod or shake your head."

Melinda nodded, and then had to be stopped from sliding her hand under her panties once more. She moaned and squeezed her thighs together again.

"Oh dear..." Cassie looked at the others. "All right. Heather and Diane can come with me. I'll drop you all off at the meeting house. Maybe ... maybe put Melinda in one of the bedrooms and let her ... um ... you know..."

Heather nodded. "I get it."

"Take her to the limo, please, and tell Harry I'll be out in a minute."

Heather took Melinda's hand and glanced at Diane. "Come on, Diane, let's go."

"Ned, I'll call you a taxi from the car," Cassie said as the others left. She placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a heartfelt look. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

He placed his hand on hers and squeezed. "No prob, babe, I understand. But are ya sure it's safe for 'em to be alone in that house?"

"It's all we got right now. I'm positive there's no connection between that place and Melissa. And Melissa can't take someone unless she's right there to do it. Besides, you'll be there to keep an eye on them."

"But she can work through others, ya know."

Cassie looked shocked. "You mean Melinda? But to what end? She can't enslave people through others or she would have done that already through Brad."

Ned shook his head. "I dunno, that's the prob. Mebbe no more'n makin' them share the love with each other."

Cassie blushed at the idea and silently nodded.

Ned tried not to think too hard on that idea either. "Anyway, I'll keep a lookout. You jus' worry 'bout gettin' ta Jason and Richie."

"All right, let's go."

Melissa was getting excited again, though it was belied by the leisurely pace at which she walked home.

Everything was coming together. Her hold on Melinda was shaky, but it was enough. So long as she kept concentrating, she could keep a slim tendril of influence over Heather. She had guessed that they would take Melinda to their meeting place. After all, it was the safest place for them.