Chapter 4

From a comfortable chair near the side of her bed, Melissa watched the antics of her two slaves with amusement, her lips curled into a wicked smile.

Susan's naked body shivered, her skin glistening with perspiration. Her breath came as rapid gasps and wet grunts, her face buried in the wet pussy of the girl that lay spread under her. As she licked at the musky, steaming cunt, it made her own arousal spike such that her pussy ached for release as well.

Susan's knees were splayed out to either side of Ann Went. Her hips had descended until her dripping snatch was plastered tightly against Ann's face. Only Ann's nose was visible, her cries of need and sexual ecstasy muffled by Susan's pussy. Her trembling hands ran along the insides of Susan's thighs, making Susan quiver. Tangled waves of dark brown hair lay spilled around Ann's head.

Suddenly Ann shuddered and made a keening noise, her thighs clenching. Her hips jerked, the bed squeaking in response. Moments later, Susan's toes curled, and she uttered several loud grunts. Her breath became a shallow pant.

"Mmm, that was your third one, wasn't it?" Melissa purred.

Both Susan and Ann shifted about as if intending to disengage from each other, both panting wildly. But as Susan parted from Ann, Ann whimpered and lifted her hips. "No, more, please ... I need more..." she whined.

Susan shivered and moaned as heat flared again in her own pussy. She turned her head and regarded Melissa with a desperate look.

Melissa smiled, looking delighted. Her fingers grasped the chain of the pendant, holding it aloft from her bosom. She rolled the chain between her fingertips, twirling the pendant one way and then the other. "That's right. You need four now."

"Please, Susan..." Ann begged, tugging at Susan's thighs, trying to pull Susan's pussy down to her face again. "Please, lick my twat ... I'll do yours again..."

Susan whimpered before dropping her body back down upon Ann again.

Melissa giggled. "That's right, my little lezzie fucksluts. Lick, lick, lick. Make each other cum again. Oh, and I bet you both adore the taste of pussy now, don't you?"

Melissa leaned back in her chair, her legs parting. She let out her breath in a slow, sultry sigh. Watching them was making her horny. Not the sexual action itself, as she was simply not into girls. It was the power she held over them that excited her.

She smiled. She could call on any number of boys to service her. Whether one was in her complete control or not, she could influence anyone she wished into desiring a tryst with her.

"Mmm, I'm getting hot myself. Maybe I'll have Sam over again," Melissa mused aloud. "He's a wonderful fuck. Did you know that Susan? Oh, that's right, you do ... since he used to be your boyfriend."

Susan mewled her distress into Ann's pussy.

Melissa appeared momentarily distracted. She turned her head and frowned. Without a word to Susan or Ann, she stood up and stepped over to the door. She cracked it open enough to admit her head into the hallway. Soft sobbing drifted to her ears.

Melissa frowned. She looked back at her charges for a moment before ducking into the hall and closing the door behind her. She took light, quiet steps as she crept down the hallway towards the door to the master bedroom, which stood slightly ajar.

Melissa paused a moment beside the door, then leaned over and peeked inside.

Upon the bed, her mother's naked form lay on her side. Her knees were drawn up, exposing her pussy between her thighs. Her head lay against the pillow. She trembled, tears occasionally dripping from her eyes.

Melissa drew in a deep breath and frowned, her lips pursed. She wanted to chastise her mother and demand to know what the big deal was about getting a nice fuck. Anyway, it was not like her mother had bothered to care about her wants, so why should she care about her mother's desires?

Melissa thought that it was proper for her mother to suffer. Yet as she watched, she slipped into Kathy's mind. Within a minute, Kathy's sobs stopped, and her body became still. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep, her chest rising and falling steadily and peacefully.

Just so her stupid crying doesn't annoy me, she thought as she turned away.

When she returned to the bedroom, Susan and Ann had separated. Susan had rolled onto her back. Both were panting, faces glistening with each other's juices.

"Finally had enough?" Melissa said with an evil grin.

Ann regarded Melissa with shining eyes but said nothing. She rarely spoke at all anymore, a complete contrast to the chatty Ann that people used to know. That was before Melissa had altered her mind and made her incapable of lying. Not even the smallest fib could pass her lips.

"Clean yourselves up," Melissa ordered. "Then Ann can get dressed and go home. Susan, you get to stay so we can have a nice little chat."

"Heather, do you and Melinda want a ride to the restaurant tomorrow?" Cassie asked.

"Huh? Oh, um, yeah, I guess. Though maybe pick me up around the corner so my parents don't see it."

Heather's eyes kept flicking between Cassie and the sofa, where Melinda and Jason still sat. They were whispering to each other, Melinda giggling now and then.

Diane appeared on the other side of Heather. "Something wrong?"

Heather finally pulled her eyes away from the two of them just as Jason grinned and slipped a hand into his pocket. "Sorry, just trying to keep an eye on my little sister."

Diane glanced at them for a moment. "Why? Is she still giving you... ?"

The doorbell rang, causing nearly everyone to jump. Richie frowned, while Heather, Cassie, and Diane exchanged anxious looks. Ned looked confused.

"It can't be my parents," Heather whispered urgently. "They wouldn't ring the doorbell."

"Mailman, maybe?" Cassie suggested hopefully, though there was a nervous quaver to her voice.

"God, it can't be Melissa, can it?" Diane said softly, stricken. "She couldn't know we're talking about her, can see?"

"Why the hell are we whispering?" Richie called out loudly.

"Shhh!!" the girls all said at once, save for Melinda.

The doorbell rang a second time.

"Well, go see who it is, Heather!" Melinda called out in exasperation. "God, what a bubblehead!"

Heather frowned and quickly crossed over to the front door. Just as she reached it, she heard a scrambling noise behind her and a soft giggle. It did not quite register until she had already looked out the peephole and saw that no one was there.

She whirled around in time to see Melinda dashing up the stairs with Jason in tow, her hand clasped tightly around his.

"MELINDA!" Heather bellowed. "You get back down here now! You... !"

The two of them disappeared from the top of the stairs. The bedroom door slammed shut seconds later.

Heather fumed, red-faced with both fury and embarrassment at having been duped so easily. "Oh, she is dead. She is so dead!"

Richie just smirked.

"I don't get it. There's no one at the door?" Cassie asked innocently.

"No, Cassie, there's no one at the door," Heather said in a mocking tone of voice. She caught herself when she saw Cassie's hurt look. "Sorry. Jason has this stupid little thing he came up with that makes our doorbell ring. Melinda made him use it to distract me so they could..." She waved vaguely up the stairs.

Cassie looked at her in confusion.

Ned grinned wryly. "So they could make some nookie, babe."

Cassie's eyes widened. "Now?"

"I told her she couldn't!" Heather cried. "It's too risky! I thought Jason had more sense than this!"

Richie snorted as he stood up. "Aw, c'mon, leave 'em alone. Just cuz your sister's gettin' some and you're not..."

"I said that's not the reason!"

Richie gave her an annoyed look. "Hey, chill, 'kay? Listen, I'm outta here. Just lemme know when this shindig will be this weekend. See ya all in the funny papers."

"Well, I'm not going to hang around here," Heather declared after Richie departed. "I don't want to be here if the shit hits the fan. Diane, you want to take a walk or something with me? Or go down to the mall?"

Diane was surprised enough by the question that she hesitated in her response. "Um, sure thing," she heard herself replying without really thinking.

"You won't need a ride home, Diane?" Cassie asked.

Diane shook her head. "No, I don't mind the walk."

Cassie turned to Ned. "You want a lift?"

Ned looked surprised as well. "Huh? Me?"

Cassie smiled faintly. "Yes, you."

"Oh, well, I'm close enough I ... er ... I mean, yeah, sure, I'll ride with ya." Ned gave her a lopsided smile, though mentally he kicked himself for almost letting the opportunity pass.

"Great. Okay, I'll let everyone know when and where we'll meet this weekend. I'll try to pick someplace a bit obscure."

"Just as long as it's not some bistro run by snooty French people," Ned quipped.

Cassie giggled as she and Ned left.

Heather took a few deep breaths in an attempt to tame her anger and turned to Diane. "Sorry I blew up. Melinda is just driving me nuts lately."

"You want to talk to me about it?"

Heather considered. In the past she would often confide personal things to Diane that she wouldn't tell anyone else, but she was not sure this was something she could talk about. Even though all the Harbingers were more open about sexual issues, this may be too personal for her to divulge.

However, she felt a bond with Diane. The two of them would have to look out for each other now. Heather had neglected their friendship during the latter half of the summer, something she believed had led to Diane's mother briefly running afoul of Nyssa. Heather wanted to make up for this.

"Sure, we can talk about it," Heather said softly. "Come on, let's go, before those two start sounding like a cheap porno flick is being filmed up there."

Jason actually did question the wisdom of this action. Heather's yell had made him hesitate, though it went unnoticed as Melinda kept tugging at him, clenching his hand very tightly as if afraid he was going to slip away from her.

Melinda let go only once they reached the bedroom, and only to close the door behind them.

"Melinda, wait, maybe we shouldn't be doing this when..."

Jason's words were cut off when Melinda threw her arms around him and drew him into a deep kiss. Jason protested weakly, his hand alighting on her shoulders in an attempt to nudge her back.

Melinda slipped a hand between them and rubbed his crotch.

Jason drew in a sharp breath, his hands trembling and sliding off her shoulders. His protests faded, his body shivering in anticipation as his cock hardened in his pants.

Melinda broke off the kiss, the two of them panting.

"M-Melinda, wait..." Jason breathed.

"No, Jason," Melinda said, her voice both husky and indignant. "Please, don't tell me to wait. Don't ever tell me to wait anymore."

Jason opened his mouth, but found the desire to resist fading. Melinda rushed in and kissed him again, opening her mouth as well, their tongues sliding past each other. Her hand yanked down his zipper and plunged under his jeans, stroking his cock hard.

Jason broke off the kiss. "Uhhn! ... Oh man..."

Melinda grinned as her fingers teased him. "If you want to cum, Jason, you have to do what I want. You want to cum, don't you?"

Jason swallowed and nodded.

"You sure you want to?" she asked, one fingertip swirling against the most sensitive spot.

Jason moaned and trembled. "Oh man, yeah... "

"Only if you're really, really sure you want to cum."

"Uhhn ... yeah..."

Melinda giggled. She loved how easy it was now to talk "dirty" like this with Jason. She wasn't sure how it started. It simply became that way over the past few weeks. Just like how Jason had become more submissive to Melinda's desires.

Melinda withdrew her hand. "Okay, Jason. All you have to do is make me cum first. And... " She shivered and felt the heat flare in her pussy. She lowered her voice to a whisper. " ... use your mouth. Please."

"Wow, I get to ride in a limo," Ned said with a wide grin as he and Cassie stepped towards the curb. "Sweet."

Cassie glanced behind them. Heather and Diane had emerged from the house. She quickly hustled Ned into the car without a word, garnering a confused look from Ned.

"Where to, Miss Kendall?" asked Harry the moment the door closed.

"Ned's house," Cassie said. She recited the address.

"As you wish, Miss Kendall."

Ned could tell from Cassie's voice that she was upset. "Whatsamatter, babe?"

Cassie waited until Harry had started the car and pulled away from the Sovert house. She glanced back at the receding figures of Heather and Diane before turning to Ned. "I wanted to talk to you alone for a moment."

"Alone? Uh ... really?" Ned said, shifting nervously in his seat.

"Ned, I'm worried about Jason."

Ned looked disappointed at first, as if he had been hoping she would say something else. Then when her words registered, it became a look of surprise. "Jason? Why, what's up?"

"Didn't you notice how much he let Melinda get away with at that meeting? Only once I prompted him did he start trying to rein her in."

"Well, Melinda's always been a spitfire, ya know?" Ned drawled. "She's always mouthin' off about something."

"Yes, I know, Melinda's always been vocal. I hate talking bad about her because she really is a good friend. But she's been getting out of hand, and Jason used to have better control over her. She really likes him, and having him disapprove of her was often enough to keep her quiet."

Ned frowned. "Wait, ya don't think that Melissa got to him already?"

Cassie shook her head. "No, we'd see that. This is something else. It didn't happen all at once. It's sort of been happening over the last two weeks."

Ned smirked. "Well, ya already said she likes him, at least enough for them to fandango in her parents' house. Maybe he's jus' smitten with her, too."

"I'd like to believe that. Jason just struck me as someone who's more level-headed." Cassie sighed. "Maybe I am making too much of this, then. I know I'd hate to feel like I had to keep an eye on him, too."

Ned nodded, then noticed Cassie's choice of words. "Too?"

"Oh, um ... Jason asked me to keep tabs on Richie. To see if he was trying to take advantage of Miss Davis. You know, that lingering effects thing Nyssa mentioned. Now I wonder if checking on Richie was more Melinda's idea. She can't stand Richie."

Ned nodded. "Hey, ya don't think this thing with Melinda and Jason could be leftovers from the Naughty Nurse Nyssa?"

"I thought about it, but it doesn't make sense. Melinda never enslaved Jason. If anything, Jason wanted to rescue her from Heather. I'd be more concerned about Heather and Melinda, actually."

"Unless this thing with the Darkness is more complicated than we thought," Ned said sourly. "I swear, I need a frippin' manual to tell what's goin' on. Let me know when Darkness for Dummies comes out."

Despite the serious intent of Ned's statement, Cassie giggled. Ned offered a tiny smile in return.

Susan's breaths came in gasps and short, staccato sighs. She writhed on the bed, her trembling hands clenching and unclenching. Her legs lay splayed, her pussy again soaked. She lifted her hips as if to meet an unseen lover, her thighs trembling with terrible need. Her pussy strained, and she hoped desperately that this time Melissa would relent.

Hope faded when her hips again fell back. She uttered a pitiful whimper as she retreated a bit from the edge, leaving her pussy swollen and achy. Only a little while ago she wanted nothing but to stop cumming. Now she wanted to cum more than anything else.

Melissa sat in her chair, watching the spectacle. Despite the tiny ghost of a smile that touched her lips, her eyes held a faraway look, as if mentally she were anywhere but in the room. Yet her apparent lack of attention did nothing to help Susan. She strained at the edge of another orgasm that would not come, uttering a keening moan.

"Bet you really want to cum now, don't you, Susan?" Melissa asked without looking down.

"Uhhn! ... y-yes ... please... " Susan said in a breathy voice. "P-please ... oh God..."

"You know, it's really weird, Susan," Melissa said, still looking off into the distance. "I can do things like this so easily. I can plant any thought or emotion in your head..."

A wave of euphoria came over Susan, flooding her mind with utter bliss. Her paroxysms of unsatisfied sexual lust became a delight instead of a torture. Her movements took on a far more sensual tone, and she moaned deeply in unbridled pleasure. Her hands slid slowly up and down her body in a provocative dance, as if seducing a potential lover.

"Oooo ... this feels sooo good..." Susan burbled in a high, breathy voice. "Oh yeah ... mmm ... uhh ... oh no..."

The respite faded. Now the bliss retreated. She strained again, and again fell back. Her hands clenched into fists and pounded against the mattress in frustration.

Melissa's fingers curled around her pendant. "And still, it's not enough." She finally looked down. She stared at Susan for a long moment. "You know, I can make it feel like anything. A cock up your twat."

Susan gasped. Her hips bucked. "Uhh! ... Uhhn!..."

"Or a tongue in your snatch."

Susan's legs spread apart even further. She gasped and trembled as she felt incessant wet strokes against her clit.

Melissa watched and sighed. She felt something vaguely unsatisfying about this. It was true she wanted to punish Susan and Ann very badly. They deserved it, and it was a pleasure to watch them squirm under her control. But it hadn't given her any sense of purpose. It was as if the more she punished them, the more empty she felt.

Melissa clutched hard at the pendant.

"P-please ... oh God ... n-no more ... uhhh!" Susan cried, her hands gripping her knees, her body shaking.

Melissa made a face. Susan shuddered and let out a long, rattling sigh as the stimulation vanished. Slowly, she dropped her legs and lay limp. She still needed to cum badly, but at least she was no longer being driven insane with need. Her head lolled to one side as she panted for breath.

"I can make it so you never cum, Susan," Melissa said with a sudden savagery to her voice that reflected her internal frustration. "Just make you get close like this, maybe several times a day."

Susan whimpered and closed her eyes, swallowing hard. She tried desperately not to beg any more, or to cry. She wanted to preserve what little dignity she still had. She knew it might be no more than an illusion. Melissa had stripped her bare not just physically, but emotionally as well. There was not a single thought or feeling that Melissa could not manipulate.

Melissa unclenched her fingers. She held the pendant by its chain, twirling it back and forth. "So you better answer my questions truthfully if you ever want an orgasm again."

"B-but ... y-you could just make me t-tell you the truth. You ... you didn't..."

"Didn't have to torture you? Oh but it's so much more fun that way. Anyway, I can't have you thinking this is some sort of lark, that you can just relax in the understanding that you were a bad little girl. Certainly you didn't think it was enough just to trick me into coming out into the forest. You had to go all the way. Well, that's what I'm doing. Going all the way."

Susan bit her lip and didn't say a word. Her eyes flicked to the pendant as it flashed in the light with each spin.

"Or rather, I will go all the way ... once I know how ... once I get enough power..."

Susan could not stop herself from reacting. Her eyes widened and she drew in a breath a bit sharply.

Melissa gave her an ingratiating smile. "Yes, that's right. I want more. Right now, I can control you and your pitiful boyfriends. I can make everyone at school scared of me. But, really, revenge only goes so far. It..."

Melissa stopped herself. Susan simply stared at her.

Melissa's jaw tightened. Why was she telling Susan all this? Susan didn't need to know. It was not like Melissa needed approval from her, or from anyone for that matter. She was her own validation. She provided her own yardstick.

And there were things that Melissa would never tell, such as the real reason she did not simply will Susan into telling the truth.

Melissa was unable to do it. She had already tried. The only explanation that made sense to her was that it worked only on those who were truly weak-willed. Ann used to be such a sycophant, sucking up to whoever was popular at the moment just so she could look good as well. As a result, she had little resistance to Melissa's control. Melissa could mold Ann's mind like putty. Everyone else required more effort to do anything beyond the simplest effects.

With time she could do it. Whittling away bit by bit, she could make Susan tell nothing but the truth always. But she did not have the patience for it.

"Tell me about this pendant, Susan," Melissa demanded, her voice cold. "Where did you get it?"

Susan's mind was so addled that she barely thought about the repercussions of telling Melissa about the pendant before she spoke. "I-I got it from my mother."

"She gave it to you?"

"No. I ... I took it."

Melissa grinned wickedly. "Oh you naughty, naughty girl, stealing from your poor mother. Tell me, Susan, and tell me everything. What kind of power does this thing have?"

Susan's lips parted. She gave Melissa a genuinely confused look.

"Yes, Susan. Power. This helped me get what you and Ann only paid lip-service to, with your fake Pagan worship."

Susan wanted to protest that she really was a Pagan as she had claimed to Melissa. Her mother was not only Pagan, but a full-fledged practicing Witch as well. Susan actually had tried to practice magic on her own, using some of her mother's techniques, and sometimes had managed to get something to work.

"I-I really don't know, Melissa," Susan said in a pleading voice. "My mother was going to give it to me at some point. It's supposed to be special, but..."

"Oh, yes, it is very special. Do you know that I dream about it? All the time. Every night. It calls to me."

Susan cast a helpless look at Melissa, anxiety making her stomach clench and her body tremble. She realized with deep despair that the more she spoke, the more she directed Melissa to her mother.

Susan was desperate to keep her mother out of this. She tried very hard to act normally around her mother, but it was difficult. Already it was clear that her mother knew something was wrong. Her mother had other senses from which Susan could hide nothing.

"So your mother told you nothing about it? Nothing at all?"

"Just what I said. It's special somehow, and it was very important for me to have it at some point."

Melissa grinned. "So you decided you wanted it a little earlier, is that it?"

Susan said nothing. She honestly was not sure why she had taken it. At the time she knew she had a reason, but she could not remember what it was. Just like she was not sure why she gave it to Melissa.

Melissa let the pendant drop against her bosom. "Then I guess I'll have to talk to your mother."

"No, you can't!" Susan blurted before she could stop herself.

"So now you think you can tell me what I can and can't do?"