Chapter 49

Melinda's fingers curled into the shoulders of the hazel-eyed, brown-haired boy whose name she had already forgotten, her skirt and blouse lying in a heap on a desk near the one on which she was perched. His arms were locked around her thighs as if afraid she would escape, her pussy aching and helpless to his pounding thrusts. Her breasts bounced with each slam of their bodies, jostling the rings and sending spasms of mind-numbing pleasure shooting down to her already straining pussy.

She stretched her arms and leaned back, squirming her hips in hope of better contact between his cock and her clit. His technique was far more enthusiasm than skill, a frenzy of brute force fucking born from both disbelief that a girl would throw herself at him and fear of discovery.

Melinda whimpered as her pussy strained ever closer to orgasm, her back arching. She caught a brief glimpse over his shoulder of the pile of printed announcements sitting on the teacher's desk that the boy had been in the process of delivering when Melinda had beset him.

He had said his name in a nervous sputter that she had barely understood while she had stripped off her clothes save for her stockings and garters. She picked him only as a matter of convenience; he was someone from her lunch period tasked with delivering the afternoon announcements. She got lucky that it was a boy rather than a girl.

The boy had no trouble with her retaining her stockings. He had been fascinated by them, and the touch of his hands against the silky material had made Melinda delirious with desire.

He suddenly clenched his teeth, and his arms tightened like steel bands around her legs. His head tipped back, his hips faltering as muscles stood out on his neck and arms. Melinda despaired as she strained ever harder without cresting, horrified at the notion that her aunt could somehow restrain her orgasm like Bendon did to Heather.

The boy slammed his cock into her one last time, burying it deep. "Oh fuck!" he cried in a tremulous, guttural voice. "H-holy shit ... oh God..."

His cock throbbed hard against her tunnel, and her pussy squeezed tight in response. She felt each strong pulse and the sudden liquid heat of his seed inside her. She squealed in blissful delight when her pussy finally let go, each throb another tight squeeze around his cock, his few coherent words dissolving into gasps and groans.

Melinda's body flushed with ecstasy. She had thrown herself at him like an oversexed tramp and now reveled in the afterglow. She remembered her tryst with Aunt Jo's son over thanksgiving and wished she had let herself enjoy it more.

The boy staggered back after his cock had flagged, still dripping with her moisture. He fetched up against the desk behind him and clutched it. "H-holy shit..." he murmured in an awed voice. "That was ... J-Jesus..."

Melinda offered him a faint smile, though her cheeks colored in humiliation. As much as the orgasm had satisfied her, the rings remained clamped to her now swollen and over-sensitized nipples. Her pussy ached in both satisfaction and need. Her eyes flicked to his flaccid cock, and she wished he could be ready to go again before the lunch period was over.

"I never thought ... you'd ever want to ... well, do it with me," the boy said with a twitching, lopsided smile. "I mean, I know you flashed your ... um, you know, at me, but you were doing it to a lot of guys."

Melinda shivered, and heat trickled back into her pussy. She wondered how much of his cum would be left inside her by the time she flashed her pussy at the next boy. Would he be jealous to see it dribbling out of her, that someone else had been lucky enough to do more than just look?

"I guess that makes you special, then," Melinda said, not knowing what else to say.

The boy grinned. "Yeah, I guess so." He glanced at the clock. "Shit, I better get going," he mumbled, snatching his clothes from the floor. He gave Melinda a nervous glance. "Um, Melinda?"

Melinda knew that look all too well and suppressed a sigh. She pushed herself off the desk, replying in as casual a tone as she could muster. "What is it?"

"You, um, want to go to a movie or something after school?"

Melinda shook her head. "No, thanks." She paused. "I was interested only in your cock."

The boy blinked, likely trying to parse something he had never imagined a girl ever saying to him. He gave her a wide grin. "I'm okay with that, really."

"I wanted to be a total slut for you."

The boy paused. "Um..."

"Was I total slut? Please, tell me."

He hesitated for a long moment, his face contorting in debate and confusion. "Um ... yes?" he said in a tiny voice.

Melinda let out a husky sigh, and her pussy was suffused with wet heat once more. "Thank you," she said in a breathy voice of relief, though her eyes shimmered when the urges would not stop, and more words tumbled to her mouth at Jo's silent bidding. "A total slut doesn't stop at teasing."

"And I'm very glad you didn't stop at that with me," the boy said as he finished dressing, grinning like the kid who just got the entire toy store for Christmas. "And ... well ... if you want to be the, um, total slut with me again, I'm all over it. Um ... well ... see ya."

He jogged towards the door, then jogged back to the teacher's desk with a sheepish look to collect the announcements he had left behind, then headed out. Seconds later, he returned, his cheeks flaming, as he set one announcement on the desk, then fled once more.

Melinda might have found him amusing in any other context.

No sooner than she had begun to dress did she start thinking of to whom and where she would bare her pussy next, and what boys she would leave with tantalizing unspoken promises she would never keep. At least not until she was compelled again to be a total slut.

She sank into the chair and lowered her head over her folded arms on the desk. She shuddered and let out a single sob, squeezing her eyes shut against the flood of tears which threatened to follow. She held them back save for a few which dripped to the desk.

Her thoughts returned to Jason. He would not do this to her. He would not leave her feeling humiliated and ashamed. He would make her feel happy for everything she did. Even if he were of the mindset to prostitute her to the other students, he would have her enjoy it.

She sniffled and forced herself to raise her head, wiping her face with quick swipes of her hand before she stood. She didn't care any more what anyone else said. No one could possibly understand. If she was going to be consigned to the life of a sex slave, she would at least claim the right of deciding to whom she would be enslaved.

She exited the room just as the lunch period ended, the hallway filling with students. She could catch Jason just before he went to lunch. She started down the hall and nearly ran into someone standing in her way. She was about to protest when she looked up felt her heart sink into her toes.

"Miss Sovert," Seeger said in a low, dark voice. "My office. Now."

Seeger drummed his fingers on the desk as he beheld the younger of the troubled Sovert girls, who quaked as if she expected the world to cave in on her at any moment. At least that was what he could tell from her face, as he was damn well not going to even consider lowering his eyes further. He had seen far more of her than he had ever cared to see of any student when he had peered into the classroom not ten minutes before.

He had only one thing he could say, and it was not the least appropriate. Not that it was perverse, or insulting, or titillating, just that it smacked of using one person's anguish to his advantage, however noble his cause.

Yes, anguish. If nothing had convinced him that mind control was real, it would have been what he had witnessed in the younger Sovert girl over the past week. He could think of nothing else which could turn a girl who was the least likely to violate the rules of decorum into this.

He shuddered as he remembered a similar transformation which had taken over a young girl named Gina Caligano before the Harbingers had put a stop to it.

Seeger let out a slow sigh and leaned forward, lacing his fingers together. "Miss Sovert," he said in a somber voice. "I am going to ask you one question."

Melinda swallowed and gazed at him with shimmering eyes.

"Is this ... is this in any way related to what is happening with your sister?"

Melinda stared, her eyes widening. "Wh-what?"

"I know of what is happening with the older Miss Sovert. I know of her ... arrangement with Laura Bendon."

"You what?! How did ... who told... ?!" she sputtered.

"Jason told me in confidence. I am sorry, I assumed he had informed the rest of you of what he had revealed to me." Seeger wiped his face. "So please, tell me, does this have anything to do with her?"

"No," Melinda said in a curt voice.

Seeger paused. "You are absolutely sure?"

"Positive."

"Dammit," Seeger muttered, his voice barely audible.

"Why are you asking me this, Mr. Seeger?"

Seeger leaned back. "Because perhaps Laura was right and I am indeed a foolish old man."

Melinda gave him a stunned look.

Seeger shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I said that. If Laura Bendon is not the source of your aberrant behavior, then who is?"

Melinda's eyes shimmered. "My aunt," she said in a small voice.

"Your ... I ... I-I don't believe I heard you correctly."

"My Aunt Jo, Mr. Seeger," Melinda said in a louder but no less despondent voice.

Seeger had no words. He felt as it part of his mind had shut down, unable to handle the shock. He swallowed and his throat clicked. He wanted to ask what her mother was doing about this, but realized that if her mother was at all capable of doing anything, she would never have let Heather fall to Laura.

His intended action seemed as unconscionable as her mother's inaction. Had Melinda answered in the affirmative that Laura was indeed behind her behavior, he would have demanded evidence.

Seeger let out a shaky breath. "You may go now, Miss Sovert."

Melinda stared. "That's it? You're not going to suspend me? Expel me?"

Seeger stared into her shimmering eyes, sensing as much relief as he did despair. "I have the distinct impression given the source of your ... discontent ... that providing you with time at school every day would be far more compassionate than condemning you to your house for twenty-four hours a day."

Melinda's mouth dropped open.

"Return to class, Miss Sovert. I will not note this on your record."

Melinda looked as if she wanted to say something, but instead stood and headed out of the office, casting one last nonplussed look in his direction as she left.

Seeger still had more leads to follow, but he feared they would lead him to the same place as the others: nowhere. Melinda's indiscretion had been his best hope, and now that was dashed. He felt the clock was ticking, not just on his career but on the welfare of the school. He had to come up with something, or his forced retirement would be filled with day upon endless day of regrets.

By the time the last class of the day was over, Jason realized he may have made a mistake in underestimating Richie's powers of observation or his ability to rally the others. Diane shied away from him when he tried to engage her in conversation just before lunch. When he passed by the Harbingers' usual table at lunch, both Cassie and Ned gave him wary looks, and Richie glared at him while he did a little pantomime of pointing to Jason and then ramming his fist as if socking someone with a quick uppercut.

No matter. He knew what he must do. He was in the right, and hopefully the others would see as such when it was over. They had grown used to Diane being their slave once, they would do so again. He was doing only what was best for them.

Jason dashed to his locker, as he had to get as much of a head start on Diane as possible. He had spared some time from his lunch hour to examine Diane's neighborhood on Google Maps. As the service was still relatively new, it did not show all the correct street designations, but the satellite view was decent. He found the perfect spot to wait along the inside curve of the road.

"Jason?"

The voice was so tiny and sheepish that he did not recognize it at first. He turned and gave Melinda a surprised look. "Oh, hi."

"Can I talk to you for a minute, please?"

Jason nodded slowly as his eyes came to rest on the raised circles on her blouse. "Melinda, are you ... are those... ?"

Melinda blushed. "Yes, they're nipple rings," she said in a miserable voice, her hips squirming. "The clamp-on type, anyway."

"Oh, good. I know how you feel about body piercings."

Melinda shuddered, and she took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you something. I-I want ... I want you to make me your slave."

Jason gave her a nonplussed look. "I beg your pardon?"

Melinda glanced at his outline, her eyes shimmering. She swallowed and stepped closer. "Aunt Jo is going to take me away, Jason," she said in a shaky voice. "Just like Bendon did with Heather, only I-I don't think I'm going to be coming back every other week."

Jason's eyes widened. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Look, even if I wasn't, she's making me miserable! She's not letting me enjoy what she's turning me into. At least you would. Or I hope you would."

"Of course I would," Jason declared. "The two slaves I already have are quite happy."

Melinda's stared at him. While she already knew of this, to hear him talk so openly of it was still incongruous.

"I hope you're not jealous, Melinda," Jason said in a warning tone. "I had to enslave them for their own good and to protect others. That's the only reason I would do it."

"So you won't do it for me?" Melinda asked in a forlorn voice.

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure yet. You don't really want to be a slave, do you?"

"No, I don't! But I don't have a choice! At least this way I can pick who gets to hold my chain. I don't want it to be Aunt Jo, or my mother, or anyone else she can think of."

Jason did not want to glance at the clock for fear of giving her the wrong idea, but he had to leave very soon. "Do I have time to think about this?"

Melinda looked stricken, but she sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I thought you'd jump at the chance to have me prance around naked and wet all the time."

Jason's cock swelled, and his lips curled into a small smile. "I admit the idea is rather tantalizing. I love how big your boobs are getting."

Melinda shuddered, a husky sigh passing her lips.

"I'd just love to feel it wrapped around my cock."

Melinda whimpered, squeezing her legs together. She moaned as her stockings rubbed against one another.

Jason tugged his belt so his cock would fall into a more natural position as it expanded. As much as he wanted to refrain from abusing this power, he had to admit how much he enjoyed making girls horny by just thinking about it.

Jason lay his hand against Melinda's cheek. She uttered a breathy moan and panted softly as he willed her pussy to tingle and ache for his cock. Her hands flirted with the bottom edge of her skirt as he envisioned her exactly as she had stated, dancing about him nude, her pussy growing ever more wet for him.

Though perhaps he would let he keep the stockings and garters. She looked so cute in them.

"Yes, I could enjoy having you as a slave," Jason said in a low voice. "But if I did, it would have to be complete. You would know only being my slave and nothing else. I could never let you go, as it may be too traumatic for you."

Melinda trembled as he withdrew his hand. "I doubt Aunt Jo had any plans to let me go, Jason," she said in a small, uncertain voice.

Jason was getting too excited. A stiff cock was too much of a distraction if he wanted to get to Diane's neighborhood fast.

For a moment, his mind held the suspicion that the Harbingers had sent Melinda purely as a diversion or delaying tactic. Now he was forced to look at the clock. "I'm sorry, Melinda, I have to get going. I promise I'll think about it. That way you can make sure it's really what you want to do."

He waited only long enough to see the beginning of a single nod before he dashed past her.

As he barreled out the west entrance of the school, he felt a pang of regret for not talking to her longer about it. As much as he thought he could enjoy having her as his slave, he was not quite as willing to quash a personality that -- despite some of the trouble it had caused him -- he was attracted to in the first place.

Unless, of course, she had indeed been sent as a ruse; that would change everything.

Jason freed his bike from the locker and wheeled it to the street. He mounted it and pedaled at a furious pace until the curve of Orchard Street hid the school from view. He slowed as he was forced to pump his legs hard to climb the steep hill between him and Ridge Road, which followed the west edge of town.

Near the top of the hill, he slowed again. At the T-intersection of Orchard and Ridge, he stopped and looked north towards the way into the picnic area at the base of the foothills, where a girl named Melissa had almost unwittingly brought the Darkness into the physical world.

This was the first time he had been up this way since then. He remembered the vision of the Darkness he had seen after it had been defeated, just before it was forced to return to the node. He glanced down at his own Aura. Could he really believe that it was not a sign of that lurking evil, that it was just a manifestation of the power itself?

He let out a stiff sigh and wrenched his bike around a tight turn to the south, where Ridge Road became more rural. It didn't matter where his power came from. All that mattered was its correct application. He had a responsibility to the Harbingers, even as his cock expanded in anticipation of being taken into the eager mouth of a tamed Diane.

Jason slowed as the road made a gentle turn towards the southeast. Further on it became Fairview Drive, which wrapped around the southern edge of town. He glanced up at the school bus stop sign as he passed. Tall firs and blue spruces lined the west side of the street. He peered through the gaps in the trees, finding that most led to long driveways.

He clutched the brakes and skidded to a stop when he spied a deserted road of cracked asphalt meandering among a thick knot of trees until it took a sharp right turn and out of sight. According to his research, an empty lot lay hidden by a proliferation of evergreens at the end of that road.

Jason pulled onto the road and dismounted his bike. At the corner formed by it and Ridge Road were two towering blue spruces in such close enough proximity that their lower branches touched one another. The west side of the trees faced the foothills, where it lay in afternoon shade and thus remained laden with snow, shrouding the area between them in darkness despite the brightness of the day. He could not have asked for a better spot.

He walked his bike further back from Ridge Road and dropped it behind some bushes. He ducked his head and crouched in the space under the lowest branches of the trees. He positioned himself behind one of the trunks so he could peer up the street towards the bus stop. The trunk was not thick enough to obscure him completely, but if he remained still, he would remain indistinguishable from the shadows.

His plan was simple. He would jump out in front of Diane as she passed. Her initial fright would leave her mind vulnerable enough for him to get a mental foot in the door. He would stop her from walking around him, giving him time to establish a weak hold over her. He needed only enough to lure her down the road and out of sight.

He heard the sound of a car coming the other way. He ignored it until he heard it roll to a stop with a sharp whine of worn brakes, and the engine continued to idle. He glanced over his shoulder and dove around the other side of the tree, lowering himself to the ground.

Jason peered at Debby's minivan and realized he had indeed underestimated the Harbingers and now felt very foolish.

He heard the roar of another engine to the north, but he dared not turn to look. He did not want to risk Debby seeing him. Better for them to think they guessed wrong, that this was just an exercise of better safe than sorry. The unseen school bus stopped, idled for a few moments, then roared back to life. It sped past him in a cloud of diesel smoke.

A minute passed, and he saw Debby wave. Seconds later, Diane passed by, waving back. Jason allowed himself a small, soft sigh, lost in the rustle of the higher branches in the breeze.

Jason risked a turn around the trunk, assuming that Debby's attention would be focused on Diane. He watched her head down Ridge Road before she turned west at the third side street and disappearing from sight. Debby pulled away from the curb, executed a U-turn, and headed back the way she had come. Some distance down the road, she turned east and was gone.

Jason crawled out from under the trees, wishing he had not given his most critical computer components to Cassie. With a little online hackery, he was sure he could engineer something which would force Diane's mother to leave her alone in the house.

He retrieved his bike and had started to wheel it onto Ridge Road when he spotted a blur shoot from Orchard Street like a missile and make a wide, sweeping turn in his direction, briefly dropping out of sight behind the branches of some fir trees.

Jason scrambled back into cover just in time to see Richie whiz by on his bike. He eased forward and craned his neck. He caught Richie just as he turned down the same road Diane had. He waited and watched, tensed and ready to duck back behind the trees.

Finally, both Richie and Diane emerged, both on bikes. They pedaled away further down Ridge Road, past the point where Debby had turned, until they disappeared around the curve towards Fairview.

Jason emerged from his hiding spot, a curious look on his face. Only two places of significance could be their destination if they intended to follow the loop around the edge of town: Ned's house or the cemetery and abandoned church. Given the bombastic nature of Ned's parents, he doubted they were headed there for any sort of meeting.

Curiosity overcame caution. He mounted his bike and set out after Richie and Diane.

Diane surprised herself when she approached the cemetery not with the wariness of Richie or the subdued quiet of Ned, but a genuine sense of wonder. As she stepped over the ruins of the wrought iron fence which once circled this tiny plot of land, she understood why. This was not so much a graveyard to her as an open-air museum.

Diane picked her way through the detritus to get a better look at the headstones. The ruined, moth-eaten look to the place took the edge off any anxiety she may have felt. The rigid rows of graves at a modern cemetery creeped her out, as it struck her as a formal precession of the dead. This seemed far more natural.

"Oh wow!" Diane cried as she lifted a branch and spied the date on a worn headstone. "1912! This is amazing!"