Chapter 19

Ned dropped his hood back and tugged his scarf off his nose as he spotted Richie's house from around the bend in the road. He figured his timing was perfect. He had seen Sandra Gardner's car overtake him and race up the street not five minutes before. From the way she was speeding, he doubted they had taken more than another minute to get inside. He wondered who the third person in the car was.

Ned shivered and drew his arms in. He hoped Richie could cajole his mother into letting him step inside to warm up. He had walked the entire way, a trip of just over an hour. As bone-chilling as the air was and as skinny as he was, Ned felt like one long, thin popsicle.

He could almost hear Cassie warning him again not to go inside, but Ned thought the moment the Harbingers ran scared from their own members was the day the Darkness effectively won.

Ned jogged up the path and had raised his hand to thumb the doorbell when Sandra's voice bellowed, "What the fuck were you thinking, Richie?!"

"Get the hell off my case already!" Richie's voice screamed back. "You yelled at me enough in the car!"

"I'll get off your case when you listen to me, you fucking little idiot! You were in a freaking church for--!"

"Get off it, Mom! That place is about as religious as a whorehouse!"

"That's not the point! You don't go screwing with the people in the pew in front of you!"

A derisive laugh. "Shit, are you even listening to yourself? Did you even recognize Melinda? Her mother? You see the shit that other bitch was ... oh, wait, I figure you were expecting me to do that shit to Cathy, huh?"

Ned smirked. "Ah, a fellow dysfunctional white trash family," he said as he rang the doorbell.

"Stop changing the goddamn subject!" Sandra yelled. "I was talking about... GET THE HELL BACK HERE!"

"I have to get the fucking door!" came Richie's fast-approaching voice. His heavy footsteps stomped towards the door but faltered with a muffled thud. "Ow! What the fuck?!"

"I'll get the door," Sandra's voice boomed.

Ned smiled a full rack of teeth at the peephole. The door was thrown open, and Sandra Gardner glared at him. "Who the fuck are--?"

"Burglar," Ned said, folding his hands behind his back and balancing himself on the balls of his feet.

Sandra's face seemed to freeze for a moment. "What?"

"I burgle people, ma'am. Just want ta ransack the flat, honest."

"What in God's name are you talking about?"

"Ah, ya missed yer cue. See, yer supposed ta say 'I think yer here ta sell me encyclopedias.'"

Before a red-faced Sandra could respond, she was shoved into the door frame when Richie burst past her, carrying his jacket. Ned side-stepped to avoid him, but Richie grabbed his arm and yanked him off the front steps. "Going out, be back later," Richie said as he dragged Ned down the walk.

"Richie, get the fuck back here now, or so help me I'll sic the cops on you!" Sandra screamed.

Richie whirled around halfway down the walk, back-stepping, Ned still stumbling along beside him. "Oh, you do that, Mom. Love to see the look on the cop's face when I tell him what you want me to do with my own cousin."

Sandra clenched her teeth and let out a frustrated grunt. "Fine. Don't you dare be gone more than an hour or I'll come after you myself!" She slammed the door with a sound like thunder, several icicles falling from the rain gutter and shattering on the concrete.

Ned stopped at the end of the walk and looked back towards the house. "Heh, hope I didn't cause ya no -- oof!"

Richie had slapped him in the gut. "Burglar? Encyclopedias? Really?"

Ned flashed a grin. "Hey, Python is timeless, dude."

"You either got more guts than I thought you had, or you're just fucking insane."

Ned smirked. "Leave it ta ya ta praise an' insult someone in the same sentence."

Richie glanced towards the house and grabbed Ned's arm. "C'mon, let's get the fuck away from this armpit," he said as he headed up Green Avenue.

Ned extricated his arm from Richie's grip after matching pace with him. "I take it things ain't sunshine and flowers at the Gardner residence this morning."

Richie snorted. "When are they ever? But yeah, Mom's pretty pissed at me."

"Ya almost sound glad fer that."

"Yeah, I am. Long fucking story."

"I'm all ears." Ned pointed to the sides of his head. "These are just the ones ya can see."

"No, really, you don't wanna hear it and I don't wanna tell it," said Richie. "But you wanna hear this. I stopped some bitch from fucking with Melinda at church. At least until my own bitch of a mother shoved me down the fucking pew."

"Whoa, what? Whaddaya mean in church?"

"Yeah, church. You know, that building with the pointy roof and people pretending to be good little sheep?"

"Ya know I don't mean it that way, wiseass," Ned declared. "How was she doin' that in front of God and country?"

"Look, it's freaking mind control. The bitch was whispering stuff to her, and she was doing the horny two-step in the pew. I tried to drown it out, like with coughing and stuff. But then she tried groping Melinda's ass and I guess my Mom got a little upset at me shooting the rubber band at her."

Ned smirked. "No way, dude, you actually did that?"

Richie grinned. "Yeah. I found it on the floor. Shoulda heard the lame sound she made when it hit her arm. But then I get shoved away and can't stop the bitch when she does it again. But then something happened, and suddenly Melinda's pushing the bitch's arm away and telling her to fuck off."

"Huh. I did feel something over the link on the way over."

"Was that Diane again?"

"I'm bettin' it was. This could be our ace-in-the-hole, dude. If she managed ta stop someone from puttin' the moves on Melinda ... and who was doin' it, anyway?"

Richie shrugged. "Dunno. Knowin' that screwed up family, probably another family member. Maybe her aunt or something."

"She have an Aura?"

Richie paused. "Huh. No, she didn't."

"Then it wasn't the Grand Dark Poobah of Evil we have ta thank fer that. Okay, that ain't so bad. Prolly jus' playin' off that stupid trigger in Melinda 'bout older women."

"How the fuck do you figure that's any better?"

"Cuz at this point, I'll take anything I can get. And at least ya got ta do something. I'm still waitin' fer something I can do ta help."

"That why you're here? So you can help?"

Ned ignored the tone of derision and jerked his head towards Richie's house. "So what's goin' on back there?"

Richie frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ya said something about yer cousin. Is that the sweet young thing I saw in the car with ya when yer Mom tore down the street earlier?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, 'kay?" Richie started to walk again.

Ned grabbed his shoulder and spun him back around. "No, it ain't okay."

"Look, you can't help with this!"

"Fine, I can't help. But keep the rest of us in the fuckin' loop. We gotta know what everyone's doin' and what they're up against."

"You don't have to know every weird piece of shit that happens!" Richie cried. "You don't tell me about any shit that's going on with you. Or with Cassie."

"Then let me enlighten ya," Ned said, and proceeded to summarize what happened on Thanksgiving Day at the mansion. He tried not to get too technical, so he omitted Debby's analysis and stripped out anything else dealing with actual explanations. He gave Richie only the raw data to be understood and interpreted however he wanted.

Ned tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice and his face whenever Richie looked impatient or bored. He had intended to tell Richie everything anyway, but he hated using it to bargain for information; the Harbingers should not have to work this way.

At the conclusion, Richie stared at Ned as if still parsing what he had heard. Finally, he said, "Dude, that's fucked up."

"Ya got a gift fer understatement, I'll give ya that," Ned said in a slightly strained voice. "Now fess up. What the hell's going on at yer house?"

"Look, it's just the same shit, different day. That Dark bitch thinks it can get to me by pawning off my cousin on me."

Ned nodded. "I hear ya. Didn't work with yer mother so it's tryin' this. Not much fer originality, is it?"

Richie thrust his hands into his pockets. "Whatever. So it's nothing you can help me with. I can deal. Not like I can get a whole shitload of help anyway with the fucking line moved."

"That's why I'm worried about ya. Ya handled it fine when ya could contact the rest of us, but now--"

"I've got help."

Ned paused. Richie narrowed his eyes as if daring Ned to ask for an explanation rather than just accepting it. "From who?" Ned demanded.

One of Richie's hands shifted in its pocket, and paper rustled. "My father," he said in a low voice.

Ned nodded. "Yeah, okay. Cassie told me she thought ya had some sorta link ta him."

"So don't sweat it anymore."

Ned nodded again more slowly. So why is he getting all antsy now if everything is fine? Ned thought. He heard the paper rustle again, and his eyes where drawn to the pocket.

"What?" Richie demanded.

"What's what?" asked Ned, raising his eyes.

"What the fuck were you staring at?"

"Nothing. Dude, chill, we're on the same side, remember?"

Richie looked about to retort when he glanced past Ned and down Green Avenue. Ned noticed his gaze and heard the car engine at the same time. He turned to see Cassie's limo pull to the curb a discrete distance away. He shielded his eyes from the sun and saw Cassie leaning forward, talking with (and apparently being frustrated by) her driver. Finally she collapsed into her seat and folded her arms in indignation.

"Listen, I got something I gotta do," Richie said, backing away.

Ned whipped around towards him. "What is it?"

"You can't help with this."

"But just tell me. No freakin' secrets anymore."

Richie broke into a backwards jog. "It has nothing the fuck to do with any of this! I'll talk to you later." He turned and fled.

"Give Cassie a call when yer Mom's not around!" Ned shouted. "So we can let ya know when we'll all meet again!"

Richie kept going until he disappeared around the bend of the road, giving no indication he had heard.

"Nuts," Ned muttered as he jogged over to the idling limo.

The back window slid open as Ned approached. "Ned, I'm sorry, Harry won't take me within fifty feet of Richie or his house," Cassie said. She glared at the back of Harry's head and added in a louder voice, "Despite how perfectly safe I would be if I stayed in the car and just talked to him through the open window!"

"I am merely following your mother's orders, Miss Kendall," Harry said in a tired voice.

"Hey, babe, can ya come out fer a bit so we can talk?"

"It is quite cold out, young man," said Harry. "And as Miss Kendall has already stated, you can speak with her through--"

The door on the other side of the limo thunked closed, and Cassie's crisp, heeled footsteps came around the back of the car. Harry sighed and shook his head.

"Heh, women, huh?" Ned said with a smirk, but received not so much as an acknowledgement from Harry before Cassie grasped his arm and swept him away from the limo. He glanced at her when her fingers dug into his arm. "Hey, everything okay?"

"This has been a very frustrating day," Cassie muttered, glancing behind her. "Mother may have rescinded her order of having Harry escort me everywhere, but he has been very prying in his conversation and has questioned everything I do. Every time I ask him to take me someplace he insists on an explanation as to why."

"Well, join the club. Jus' got through with Haven's ray-o-sunshine himself."

Cassie looked up the street. "What's wrong this time?"

"He says it's jus' the big bad bitch of Haven pawning off his cousin on him fer more rolls in the hay, but he's got something else goin' on."

"Oh, goodness, not another relative pulled into it. Why does it insist on ... on perverting families like this?

Ned's eyes widened. "Wow, ya really are upset. Thought ya woulda been happy that Diane pulled off another save."

"Yes, I am. I think Diane helped both Melinda and Heather. I hadn't felt such a strong presence from Heather in so long. But I don't think Diane can control it yet. I sensed a lot of confusion and desperation. I still sense it. Even when she does something positive, she drops into the doldrums right after, like she doubts her own accomplishments." Cassie's eyes shimmered. "Sometimes I worry we ... that we scarred her for life when we..."

Ned wanted to say something comforting, but anything he could say would make him sound like a hypocrite, as he was the one who got the ball rolling with using Diane as their communal slave. "Look, babe, if anyone can help Diane, it's Mrs. R. I know ya worry that we're askin' too much of her, but she wants ta help. At least she can do something, unlike some."

Ned had not meant to let that slip, but Cassie gave him a comforting hug anyway. "Come on, let's see if we can talk to Jason. You always worked better with him anyway."

Ned bit back a retort and nodded. He let Cassie lead him back to the limo. Only if he's gonna actually have us do something, Ned thought. Or I swear I'm gonna start takin' ninja lessons and bust Heather outta that bitch Bendon's house myself.

Jo glanced over her shoulder. "And where do you think you're going? Don't you want to see?"

Melinda stood with her aunt's fingers still poised under her bosom, having undone half the buttons of her blouse. She trembled as her breasts swelled with her breath and brought them within tantalizing distance of her aunt's hands. She tried to block the image of those hands cupping her breasts and squeezing them until she whimpered in need. She still retained some of the energy she had absorbed while at church, and she doled it out to frustrate her aunt just a little longer.

It left her coherent enough to look past Aunt Jo and focus on her mother, who was walking towards the hall leading to her husband's home office. Penny turned and sighed. "I want to check on David. I don't want him working too hard on the weekend."

Melinda watched Jo's smirk and wished she could slap it off the woman's face. She shuddered when her aunt's fingers crept downward, undoing the next button and releasing a little more of her plump bosom.

"Not until you explain to me what happened at church," Jo said. She smiled at her niece and hooked the next button with her finger, popping it with a quick flex. Melinda uttered a small gasp which dissolved into a husky sigh as her aunt's free hand slid up her side.

"I've told you this before, Jo," Penny said in an annoyed voice. "She and her friends share some sort of link or bond. They can help each other resist influence."

Jo undid the last buttons and slowly peeled the blouse away from Melinda's lacy bra. "Is that what you're doing now, Melinda?" She slid her hand up and brushed the side of one of Melinda's quivering breasts. "Resisting me?"

"She can't do it here," said Penny.

"Really, now."

Melinda swallowed and clenched her hands into fists as Jo played her fingers about Melinda's swollen bosom. She let out a quavering sigh when her aunt pressed the pads of her thumbs into the raised bumps upon Melinda's bra cups. She squirmed as the thumbs remained still, simply pressing into the hardening flesh. Her resolve began to break down into little moans and whimpers.

"It's very complicated to explain," Penny said.

Melinda thought she noted a plea in her mother's voice. Jo nudged the blouse from Melinda's shoulders, and Melinda let it drop to the floor. She flushed hot and shivered as her aunt's fingertips trailed down the bare skin of her sides and played with the waist of her skirt.

"Fine, keep your petty little secrets," Jo said in a bored voice as she tugged one side of the skirt down to reveal a bit of hip. She leaned forward and breathed against the exposed skin. Melinda trembled and panted softly, squirming as wet heat steamed in her pussy. Aunt Jo pulled the skirt back up. "Surely there's a way to stop her from doing it outside the house."

"Not that I am aware of. You'll have to ... to have her here."

Aunt Jo chuckled and slid her hands down Melinda's hips and legs. Melinda whimpered, her thighs quaking. "So I guess you do want to watch after all."

"Actually, I would prefer you take Melinda upstairs. I am not going to leave David holed up in the office all day."

Jo smirked. "And you still claim you get absolutely no thrill from using the same power that--"

"It only goes so far!" Penny suddenly cried. She paused and uttered a tiny sigh. "I'm not that strong, and David can only mask out so much. He--"

Jo waved a hand over her shoulder. "Fine, whatever. Please don't bore me with details I care nothing about. Go."

"Stop ordering me about in my own house," Penny said. "You're not my Mistress."

Melinda lost sight of her mother behind her aunt and heard heavy footfalls retreat down the hallway. The moment her father's door was open, she wanted to cry out to get his attention. Instead, she let out another ragged gasp as Jo slid her hands under Melinda's skirt.

"Your mother is such a very silly woman sometimes," Jo said as her hands slid around Melinda's hips. "First she invites me to play with her slutty little daughter, then she keeps inventing ridiculous rules until--"

"I-I'm not a slut!" Melinda cried in a shaky but indignant voice.

Jo paused, tilting her head. "Oh?" She grasped the waistband of Melinda's panties and yanked them down her thighs. "No, keep your legs apart. Keep your panties right there about your knees."

Jo lifted the skirt until she glimpsed Melinda's slick folds. She let it drop, the breeze swirling against the center of Melinda's heat. The scent of her own arousal rose to Melinda's nose, sending another shiver of anticipation through her, yet she held on to enough energy to cast a brief, blazing glare at her aunt.

"On the contrary, Melinda, you're the very picture of a slut. So wet you can't wait to get your modest Sunday panties off. So wet you'll leave the rest of your clothes on, just so long as your pussy is free to be filled and fucked."

Melinda shuddered with the effort to block her aunt's words. She fought against the trigger with what was left of her energy, succeeding only in curling her hands into defiant fists at her sides.

Jo stood and flicked one of the straps of Melinda's bra. Melinda moaned as her breasts bounced once, the nipples two hard points tenting the tight cups. Each breath squeezed her nipples against the unyielding fabric until they throbbed. "You'll even leave your big boobies squeezed into that bra, even if it's driving those titties nuts."

Jo flicked her fingertips at the nipples. Melinda whimpered and swayed, the panties dropping down her stocking-clad legs and pooling around her shoes. Her hands slowly loosened, a drop of moisture falling from under her dress.

"First thing's first. We need to get your slutty little twat filled. I have a nice strap-on that will be just perfect."

Melinda moaned as the last of her energy was usurped by raw desire. Her thighs quivered, eager to part, even as some distant part of her mind still screamed she wasn't a slut. She was willing to play the part if it meant having a nice, thick dildo inside her.

Deep in her psyche where the link still flickered with faint sparks of lingering energy, her mother's words swirled and struggled to find coherence. If she picked just the right ones and put them together just so, it almost meant that her mother had prevented Melinda from being spirited away by the remnants of Victor's cult.

"Now, step out of those panties, but take nothing else off," Jo said. "Keep being my little church girl slut." She slid her hand down Melinda's back and groped her ass. "Think you can do that for me?"

"Uhng ... y-yes, Aunt Jo," Melinda breathed, swaying her hips into her aunt's touch.

"What are you now?"

Melinda whimpered. Her pussy ached. "Your ... y-your little church girl s-slut."

Jo smiled and slapped Melinda's ass, eliciting both a yelp and a moan. "Now get upstairs and into your bedroom."

Melinda hesitated and stared at her aunt through the growing haze of sexual need. "M-my bedroom? But..."

"Oh, is your bedroom still the picture of innocence? Is it still someplace you feel protected from the big bad world?"

Melinda would have laughed at such questions were she coherent. Nothing about the house even suggested protection. In the current context, however, the words sounded perverted. She shuddered with both revulsion and lust.

"Then it's the perfect place for a little slut like you to be fucked nice and hard."

Melinda had no more strength left to maintain her defiance. It melted into the hot flow of lust coursing through her body. She craved her aunt's touch and hoped she would be allowed to lick her aunt's pussy. It brought back the memory of her mother's pussy, and any foolish notions about her mother making things better vanished with her resistance.

Jo slapped her ass again. She whimpered in need and trotted up the stairs.