Chapter 60

Jason stood rapt before the mirror of the upstairs bathroom. He had been a huge Star Trek fan since he was a child. Years before his family had moved to Haven, his mother had offered many times to buy him a Trek-themed costume for Halloween. Jason had always begged off, not so much because he didn't care for trick-or-treating (he didn't) but that any costume he could procure would look cheap and unrealistic.

But when he looked at himself in the mirror now, he felt like he had just stepped into one of his own Trek fantasies.

It was so close to perfect that he had to stare hard to see any differences from the real thing. He half-expected to see a Next Generation set behind him. Even the badge communicator was solid, instead of just a sewn-on patch. He raised his hand and almost tapped it just to see if it would make the electronic twitter.

Okay, that's going a little far, Jason thought, lowering his hand. You're nerding out way too much as it is.

He turned to the side and examined the four gold pips on the collar. Captain rank. He couldn't resist. He drew himself straight and tugged at his uniform as he had seen Captain Picard do so many times on the show.

Yeah, that's definitely enough, Jason thought, though he did not stop grinning.

A pounding fist on the door finally snapped him out of it. "Hey, Mr. Trekkie, you finally got that thing on?"

"Trekker," Jason muttered under his breath. In a louder voice, he said, "Uh, yeah, Melinda, I have it on."

"Then what are you doing? Waiting for someone to beam you out of there?"

Jason sighed and felt his heart pound. He never thought he would ever worry about a girl laughing at him again. "Um, all right, I'm coming out."

Jason held his breath as he opened the bathroom door, his hand still gripping the doorknob like a lifeline.

Melinda stared at him for a few seconds, though they seemed like hours to Jason. She tilted her head. "Jason, that ... that actually looks kind of cool."

Jason let his breath go. "You really think so?"

"Well, definitely nerdy, but cool. I mean, it looks like the real thing, you know?"

Jason nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I thought that, too. Cassie really pulled through. I almost feel guilty about it. This couldn't have been cheap."

Melinda smirked. "Almost guilty?"

"Well, come on, how often does a fan like me get a chance to dress up like this?"

"At least you're not going to look as dumb as I do. Shit, maybe I should've done the slave girl thing after all."

Jason paused. "An Orion slave girl, you mean?"

"Yeah, that. And put your eyeballs back in your head! Not like you need me prancing around in something like that when you can get me naked whenever you want."

"Um, well, yeah, I know, but ... well, there's other things about--"

"Don't you ever make me paint myself green!"

The sheer incongruity of her statement made Jason chuckle.

Melinda folded her arms. "And just what are you laughing at?"

"Um, n-nothing." When Melinda eyed him, Jason tried to smile. "I wouldn't do that to you. Green's not your color. And you'd have to dye your hair black, which would look really dumb on you."

Melinda smiled faintly. "As if there could be anything dumber than this fairy costume."

"I was serious when I said it looked nice on you."

Melinda's smile widened. She looked about to say something when they both heard the door open downstairs.

"Cassie and Ned are here, finally!" Melinda said and rushed away. Jason let out his own relieved sigh at the judicious end to an awkward moment and followed his girlfriend. He almost ran into her halfway down the stairs when she stopped and gasped. "Ohmigod, Cassie, that's gorgeous!"

Jason edged around Melinda as he turned his gaze towards the front door. The vision that met him made him linger a few seconds longer.

Cassie's costume was gorgeous. Jason could not think of any other word to do it justice. The gown was so white and pure that it nearly shone. Sequins were woven along its gold-trimmed edges, flashing with sparkling brilliance. Just under the bottom edge of the dress he spied elegant white shoes with two-inch heels. The glittery tiara nestled within perfectly coiffed curls completed the picture.

Jason witnessed Cassie blush as he stepped off the stairs, the pink contrasting against all that white even from across the room. A box almost exactly like the one in which Jason had carried his costume was tucked under one arm. Now she drew the box before her like a shield as everyone looked at her.

"Cassie, you really look beautiful in that costume," Mrs. Radson said.

"Anybody got a pair of sunglasses so it doesn't freakin' blind me?" Richie said with a smirk.

Cassie's blush deepened. "This actually isn't ... I-I mean, I wore this just to..." She withered under Mrs. Radson's concerned gaze. "Um ... long story. I just need somewhere private for a few minutes to ... well, you'll see."

"Oh, um, of course, you can use the guest bedroom and bathroom upstairs," Mrs. Radson said, a bit nonplussed. "Jason can show you where it is."

Cassie nodded and gave Mrs. Radson a nervous smile before she crossed the room.

"Cassie, where's Ned?" Heather called out.

Jason turned his head. Heather stood in the far corner of the room. Her voice was both husky and tremulous.

"Oh! Yes, he's here, he, um ... well, he wants to make an entrance."

Richie raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah, this oughta be good."

Cassie turned to Mrs. Radson. "Um, he wants you to close the door but leave it open just a crack." She sighed. "I'm sorry, he's really taking this to the hilt, if you don't want to--"

Debby smiled gently and closed the door as Cassie instructed, then stood back. Diane stepped forward, lingering near Richie as curiosity rose above her fog of simple obedience.

After a few seconds had passed, a raspy version of Ned's voice bellowed: "Avast, ye scurvy dogs! Prepare ta be boarded!"

Richie snorted and clamped a hand over his mouth. Melinda rolled her eyes.

The door was kicked open with a rattling thump. Ned stood in the doorway, resplendent in his pirate costume. His hat was perched at an angle on his head, midnight black with a skull-and-crossbones symbol embroidered in blood red upon its brim. One eye was covered in a black leather patch, its edge designed to appear ragged to suggest years of use. A bright green and yellow fake stuffed parrot was perched on his shoulder.

"Avast, ye bilge rats, I be takin' this here ship fer my own!" Ned declared as he swaggered over the threshold. "I be Blacknose the Pirate, scourge--"

Richie snorted laughter into his hand.

Ned gave him the evil eye (the unpatched one). "I heard that, ye landlubber! Show some respect, or I'll have ya keelhauled. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Blacknose the Pirate, scourge of the seven seas and terror of Port Haven! I be lookin' fer treasure and wenches, and not necessarily in that order!"

Jason grinned. Even Melinda was trying to stop from smiling. Richie shook with suppressed hysterics. Jason was grateful to see Debby smiling as well. He had a feeling Ned would pull something like this, and was glad that it did not appear to disturb her.

"May I suggest to the dreaded Blacknose that he close the door before he lets the heat out?" Debby said gently.

"Ah, but here be a fine saucy we ... er ... ah ... saucy ... Mrs. Radson," Ned said, grinning.

"Oh, nice save, Mr. Dreaded Pirate," Melinda said.

"Since ya asked so nicely, Blacknose be obliged ta comply," said Ned as he shut the door behind him.

"Thank you," Debby said, smiling.

"Now, then, on ta the plunderin'!"

"So long as you'll be satisfied with raiding the fridge."

"Arr, but that be a fine idea! Piratin' is thirsty work. A bit o'grog would be jus' the thing."

"You'll have to be satisfied with soda, I'm afraid."

"Arr, but that be soundin' like a fine brew! Onward ta plunder!"

Ned barreled out of the room and into the kitchen. Jason began to applaud. The others joined in, and Ned popped out of the kitchen to take off his hat and bow to his audience. "Thank you, thank you! I'll remember all the little people that helped me along the way when I get my star on Hollywood boulevard."

Cassie smiled as well, all trace of embarrassment gone. She swooped over to Ned before he could retreat into the kitchen and gave him a light kiss on the lips. "I'll go put my real costume on now, Ned," she said, a soft, sultry cadence to her voice.

"I can hardly wait, my dear. Arr!"

Cassie giggled and picked up her dress as she headed up the stairs. Jason watched her as she ascended.

"Hey."

Jason turned towards Ned.

Ned grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. "Nice costume, Captain."

Jason smiled. "Thanks."

Charles arrived at the church early. He needed something to do to keep his mind off his troubles, as daunting a task that seemed. He also needed the time away from his mansion. He could no longer trust his staff not to spy on him and report all his actions to Victor. It was not simply paranoia; on several occasions he had witnessed his servants whispering to each other in the hallways, only to scurry away when he approached.

Charles had put on his robes and thus looked the part of a Prophet of the Glorious One, and the cultists bowed their heads in reverence when they passed. He didn't feel the part. The lie seemed to stand out to him now, so much so that he felt the urge to demand that the other cultists see it as well.

He looked towards the altar, and his stomach clenched. In less than eight hours, Gina would be sprawled across the top, naked and bound hand and foot, driven to excruciating levels of unrequited desire until her final and total submission. The release of her denied pleasure would destroy her will and seal her fate as a lifelong slave.

In his mind's eye, he saw Stephanie Fowler once more, crying and screaming as her sexual need grew to monstrous proportions, her resistance refusing to wane. The look on Victor's face when he realized his mistake was still seared into Charles' mind. First frustration, then a rare display of fear when he saw that his own actions had awakened Stephanie's latent power.

"Prophet?"

Charles flinched. "Kelly, please don't do that."

"My apologies, Prophet," said Kelly, once again dressed in her cultist robes. "Do you have a moment?"

Charles looked back at the altar and willed away the ghost of the past. It lingered anyway even as he turned towards Kelly. "Yes, what is it?"

"I am curious as to your opinion," said Kelly. She paused, looking uncertain. "I realize we have been at odds, Prophet, and I am sorry for that."

Charles waved a hand. "Please, get to the point."

Kelly knitted her hands together before her. "I witnessed something at the school today, something that disturbed me greatly."

Charles frowned. Now what, he thought. "Yes?"

Kelly glanced over her shoulder and drew closer to Charles, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Prophet, I fear this will sound blasphemous, but I witnessed the Glorious One in a moment ... what appeared to be a moment of weakness."

Charles' heart sank. "What happened?"

Kelly recounted the details of the confrontation at the school, ending with Jason's lunge and subsequent strike against Victor. "Prophet, he drew blood from the Glorious One. Is that even possible?"

Charles had no idea how to respond. The cult was not supposed to think of Victor as an omniscient and omnipotent god! It was never supposed to go that far!

"Prophet, I have thoughts that I am sure the Glorious One would not approve of," Kelly continued in the wake of Charles' silence. "Things I dare not reveal to Him. Things that--"

"I've heard enough, Kelly," Charles snapped.

Kelly fell silent and lowered her eyes.

Charles sighed. "The Glorious One is working against powerful evil forces, Kelly."

Her gaze rose and fixed on Charles.

I cannot believe I am doing this, Charles thought. "Surely you must understand that if there can be a force for good as powerful as the Glorious One, that there could be evil forces with similar strengths?"

Kelly hesitated. "I suppose that's possible, Prophet."

"It is possible, Kelly."

"But I did not think that the Glorious One would allow such a thing to happen in the first place."

"I am sure he has his reasons, and that ought to be good enough for all of us."

Kelly slowly nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course. I was foolish to think otherwise," she said in a toneless voice. "Thank you, Prophet, for setting me straight on this matter."

Charles nodded in return, but she had already turned away.

He was not at all sure he had done any good whatsoever. Even if Kelly thought she had hidden it, Charles had seen the lingering doubt in her eyes.

Keep it together, Charles told himself. Keep it together for another eight hours and it will all be over.

Some of the allure of hosting Jason and his friends was wearing off for Debby. Even the bit of amusement with Ned's arrival had carried her for only a few minutes. With all of them present and Jason was again in their midst as their leader, they were no longer a bunch of teenagers but the Harbingers, and she was separated from them by more than a mere generation gap.

But in another light, they were still just teenagers, talking about things that they should have little business doing until they were much older. Then she had to chastise herself for slipping into "protective parent mode" again.

It would do her little good. The atmosphere was saturated with their heightened sexuality. Even in the absence of obvious arousal, their minds were far more open to sex than even the most promiscuous in her own circle, and it was beginning to affect her.

Then there was Diane. Debby felt uneasy around her. Her gentle deference bordered on subservience, and Debby was caught between the need to give comfort and the strange, alien notion that she should order the girl about like a servant.

Debby finally had to retreat, even if for only a short while. Any sort of distance would allow her to shield herself and get herself back on an emotional even keel. While Cassie was upstairs, she slipped into the kitchen, but stopped only two steps inside. "Oh, um, hello, Heather."

Startled, Heather spun around. She had been staring out into the deepening twilight through the kitchen window. "Um, sorry. Does someone want me, Mrs. Radson? I just came in here for ... well, never mind, I'll just--"

"Is something the matter, Heather?" Debby asked, though it was rhetorical. Even without any advance preparation, she could tell that Heather's psychic aura was disturbed.

Heather shook her head. "I just wanted to get away from everything for a few minutes." She started back towards the living room. "I really should get back, Jason will probably want to try the spell soon."

Debby remained silent as Heather passed, her need for solitude overriding her compassion. "Heather, wait, please," she finally said just as Heather reached the door.

Heather paused, then uttered a short, exasperated sigh and turned, folding her arms. "What is it, Mrs. Radson?" she asked, her voice sharp.

"You're quite upset, and I want to make sure it wasn't anything I've done."

Heather stared in surprise. "What? No, of course not."

"You just seemed a little on edge ever since you arrived."

"How would you know?" Heather snapped. She covered her eyes with her hand for a moment. "I'm sorry, I take that back."

Debby touched Heather's arm. Heather's aura was perturbed, a quiver within the band that represented her sexuality. "Something is wrong, isn't it?"

Heather sighed. "It's not something you can do anything about," she said in a lower voice.

Debby withdrew her hand, and Heather relaxed a bit. "Maybe not, but I might understand more than you think."

Heather looked into Debby's eyes and found herself missing the mother she thought she used to have. Her eyes glistened, and she took a deep, quivering breath. The repressed anguish could be heard when she cleared her throat. "It's just ... it's just this thing we're going to be doing today."

"You mean the spell," Mrs. Radson said in a neutral voice.

"Um, yeah, that," Heather said. "Look, this is my own hangup, not yours. I really don't know why it's coming up. Things like this shouldn't matter to me anymore."

"Things like what?"

"Things like who's watching me when I fuck."

Debby managed not to show her aversion to the harsh language, save for a brief flicker in her eyes.

"Mrs. Radson, I have to be honest about this. I really got thrown by what Jason told us, that you might want to join in."

Debby sighed, which came out sounding more husky than she cared. Touching Heather had sparked a heat in her sex that she could not douse, and now threatened to grow again on its own. "To be honest, Heather, I was hoping to avoid it this first time around," said Debby. "I am still hoping that will be the case, but--"

"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this, Mrs. Radson," Heather said.

"I agreed to host the Harbingers here. That means we're going to have to get used to each other one way or another. In ... whatever capacity."

"I just want to make sure it's by your own choice."

Debby paused and took a deep breath, letting it go as a slow and carefully controlled exhalation. It did nothing to calm her; the heat grew and spread from her nether regions.

"Mrs. Radson, you need to know something about me," Heather said. "I can make people horny."

Debby just stared, not so much out of shock as lack of any words for a coherent response.

"I mean, I can do it just by thinking about it. For the past few weeks, I've had a sex drive that won't stop, even for a day. If I get really horny and don't get what I need, I--"

"And are you doing that now?" Debby asked in as gentle a voice as she could.

"I don't think so. But once we get started with this spell, I will. I can't guarantee I won't use it on you."

Debby had almost hoped that Heather would have answered yes. It would have been a more comforting explanation for her arousal. "Thank you for being honest with me." Debby realized it was a stock answer, but she had nothing else at that moment.

"When it was just the Harbingers, it's okay. I mean, I want to think it's okay. We're all used to this sort of thing by now. But that sounds stupid, doesn't it? We fight against this Darkness because we don't want it mind-controlling everyone in Haven, and then we keep using it on each other. It's supposed to be wrong all the time, isn't it?"

Heather's voice had become shrill. Debby guessed that this must have been building up for some time. She could only imagine what it must be like to live with a parent that was enslaved to the very thing she and her friends were fighting.

Debby had wanted to avoid acting as another child's mother, but she wondered if she had to make an exception in this case.

Debby stepped over to the table and pulled out a chair. "Heather, please, sit down. I think you need to talk more about this before Jason begins the spell."

Cassie stared at herself in the mirror. A different person stared back.

It was not the costume itself, although the physical transformation was astonishing to her. The bodice squeezed her breasts up, molding them into near perfect globes, the nipples hidden a bare inch below the tight, plunging hem that wrapped about her body and left the shoulders bare.