Chapter 7: Time for oneself

Tsanja's face showed relief as Penn, Dee and Madeleine arrived.

"You poor lambs. I know that my children are being taken. It has taken all of my powers to clear my head. You all seem to know something of what is going on. I followed John Caley here after lunch, and left my classes with Poe in charge. He was almost running to get here, and I think I might be a bit out of shape. I saw him climb down, but he seems to have disappeared into thin air. That has been the way with all of them, but I was blind to it, my mind was blocked.

"Help me search..."

They scoured the cave, but it was not very large. Other than the vegetation and the rock platform, there was little down here. However, the cave was very warm. No, it was something more than that. The four of them began to feel the stirrings of desire, and it was distracting as they fruitlessly covered old ground.

Penn realised that the back wall had hardly been approached, and the strange feelings intensified when he tried to move closer...

"Look, there..."

"There's nothing, I've looked." Tsanja exclaimed in frustration.

Penn turned his head to stare at the wall, and it was hard to hold his gaze steady.

Tsanja was right, there was nothing there.

Penn forced himself to stare for some time, and tried to examine, really examine, the wall. The cave was dark, but not pitch black. Was the wall bare stone? Was it covered in moss, or vines? Was it wet, was it dry? There was nothing, he drew a blank. It was like the blind spot in his eye.

While he could not see, he did not perceive that he could not see.

No black, no green, no brown, no colour.

It took an effort of will to approach the wall, and he reached out, and tried to touch it. A moist warmth enveloped his arm. A pleasurable tingle began to steal into his shoulder, into his stomach, into his groin. Still he stared into nothingness!

He pushed forward, and his head passed through some barrier. He saw a chamber beyond the first.

John was here. He was standing upright, quite still, his expression neutral. His chest glistened, and there were red marks on his skin, like love bites. He lifted his hand, as if someone were taking it. His cock still stood out proud, but his skin was indistinct, and kept falling into shadow. He was led deeper into the cave, deeper into the darkness, where there was nothing at all but more shadows, more blindness.

"There's nothing there, Penn,"

Madeleine and Dee pulled him back, and he could see that they looked worried.

Penn felt memories sliding away in his brain, and he was at a loss. If only he knew who, or what, had been here with that boy when he disappeared! If only he could remember his name! The memory of the wall's caress slipped away, until all he could recall was its blankness. Penn was left with a vague sense of loss. He had known something very important, and now it was gone.

All four knew that something was wrong, that their search was useless, that they were being manipulated. They stood in the cave, first, not knowing what to do, and soon, wondering why they were there at all. The humid heat of the cave got to them, and they shifted as unwanted desire stirred within each of them.

Madeleine sighed, breaking the uneasy silence.

"I'm going home to help Poe with dinner. Everyone, come around for dinner with us if you want tonight. You know that you're always welcome."

Dee stood up, ready to go with Madeleine.

Tsanja spoke next, "I think I need to stay here for a little while. I'll try to find out what happened here."

Madeleine looked at Penn for a moment, and Penn felt a stab of love and desire for her, right in his guts. The feelings engendered by the cave had only intensified, and he wanted her. He wanted to undress her, here and now, and take her, and if Tsanja and Dee were not here, he might have done it.

He went to join Madeleine to walk her home, but Tsanja held his arm.

"Stay, Penn,"

Tsanja's eyes were downcast, and she didn't meet Madeleine's eyes as Madeleine made to leave. Madeleine blew Penn a kiss, waved, and climbed out, following Dee.

"Sit down, Penn, please sit down. I have to talk to someone, I feel like I'm going crazy.

"I've known for months that the Lilith spawn are here in our village, and that it is being eaten, hollowed out, by a demon, by her followers. I know this, but I am powerless. I still cannot find the demon, I cannot find who brought her here, I do not know why our protections are not working. My powers, my training, Madeleine's protections, she has found some way to get past them. You must have realised already what it is doing with our memories, and with our sight.

"I have dreams, Penn, terrible dreams. I dream of the pleasure which she gives to those who give in to her, and I dream of immortality, trapped in her bliss, in her stagnant hell.

"They are too strong, Penn, too strong. I am getting old, Penn, and whatever becomes of me, I will be barren, useless, my father's ancestors dying alone, with me, who could not even look after the children placed in her care."

Tsanja sat down next to Penn, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and covered his head with her long, blonde hair.

"I want a baby, Penn, I am sick, I am tired, of serving others, of being a dead end, of waiting for death."

Tsanja sought Penn's mouth, and kissed him, and her hands pushed up inside his shirt, and she tried to pull it off.

Penn was taken aback. Tsanja was clumsy, she was embarrassed, she did not know how to kiss.

He wanted her, though, he could not deny it, and the strange heat of the cave was not helping him resist.

"Tsanja, no. I love Madeleine, you need your magic, we all need your protection. I cannot do this!"

Tsanja did not release him, and looked him square in the eye.

"I will not take you from her, Penn. You are a beautiful boy, everyone loves you, I have always loved you, from the first day I met you. Penn, we might already be as good as dead, we might already have lost, and love is all we have left.