Chapter 60

Diane found she could ignore the low heat in her pussy if she concentrated on whatever she was doing, better if she were talking to someone at the same time. Thus it was a relief to gush to Debby about what they had already discovered through Richie's visions.

"Goddess, but Mrs. Sovert's life seems both so complex and so tragic," Debby lamented with a sad shake of her head.

"I still don't see how she could have just handed herself over to the Darkness," Diane said. "Not when it looked like she came back to fight it."

"And the poor woman never realized she had budding psychic abilities."

"And that bitch of a sister treated her like a fucking mushroom," Richie grumbled. "Fed her shit and kept her in the dark."

"Jo's got to be behind a lot of this, Mrs. Radson," Diane said. "I almost wish we had something of hers."

Debby looked thoughtful. "Diane, may I see that pendant for a moment?"

"Huh? Oh, sure."

Diane pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to Debby. Debby lifted it by the chain and let the slightly tarnished heart swing at the end. No light glinted from it, as the early morning sunshine had already given way to rolling clouds, bringing a renewed nip to the air.

"Hmm," Debby hummed.

"What is it?"

"Well, I was trying to see if I felt any sort of vibes from this object," Debby said. She glanced at Richie's skeptical look. "I know that doesn't sound very scientific. The best way to describe it is a bit of a person's psychic aura can sometimes be imbued into an object that is very dear to the person or which was kept with her much of the time."

"Mrs. Sovert has had this for twenty years," Diane said. "She wore it all the time. Are you getting anything from it?"

"Well ... yes and no." Debby brought it closer to her eyes, then clicked her tongue and said, "Diane, please be a dear and turn on the lamp behind you."

Diane did so, and Debby scrutinized the pendant for a full minute. "I am not sensing anything of relevance to your task but ... I am sensing something familiar about it, as if I have seen this aura before."

Richie leaned forward. "What, you mean you met her before?"

"Well, not formally, no. But where I have been sending Susan to the same high school, and she is Heather's age, perhaps I spotted her at..." She trailed off and shook her head. "No, that wouldn't be right, would it? Sorry, I'm so used to my heightened senses now that I sometimes forget I used to need help to bring out the psychic auras."

"Mrs. Radson, we need to know where to go next," Diane said. "Can you think of anything?"

Debby steepled her fingers. She nodded to Diane and looked towards Richie. "Let me make sure I understand this power of yours. You can touch or hold an object that someone interacted with at some point and see a vision of the past?"

"Yeah, that's right," Richie said. "I have to be there, though. Right where it happened."

"In that case, can you simply carry it through town? Perhaps you'll catch Mrs. Sovert while she's traveling somewhere and follow ... no?"

Richie was already shaking his head. "It don't work that way. It's like it's guided or some shit like that. Like the way Heather used to get her visions of the future. She can see stuff important to us, but she can't tell me whose gonna win the World Series."

Debby nodded. "Yes, I had a feeling that was true, but I had to ask."

"So what do we do?" Diane asked. "I feel like we just hit a dead end."

Debby looked at the pendant again. "This is really bothering me, Diane. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking, but..." She handed the pendant back to Diane. "So how do you see these visions? You just hold his hand while he touches the pendant?"

"Yes, that's right."

"And does it give you any discomfort?"

"Well ... I-I really didn't like seeing Victor again, but--"

"Nothing can hurt us," Richie said. "It's not like a friggin' time machine, for chrissakes."

Debby nodded. "In that case, I suggest you try it here."

Richie frowned. "Huh? What, right here in the living room?"

"But you said you never met Mrs. Sovert," Diane said.

"That I remember," said Debby. "I'm disturbed that the pendant should feel so familiar to me. Please, humor me."

"Well, all right." Diane stood up and sighed when her panties clung to her mound. "Better than doing nothing." Or feel my pussy get all hot and bothered, she thought with chagrin.

Richie shrugged, stood, and held out his hand. Diane took the pendant, hesitated, then clasped her hand to his.

Reality unexpectedly shifted.

Diane blinked at bright sunshine, and the curtains undulated in a breeze blowing in the open windows. She heard a sound like someone blowing a puff of air between her lips. She turned to the sofa and jumped back a foot.

Debby lowered a candle to the coffee table -- a different one than the present -- smoke curling from the still smoldering wick. Her younger but still matronly form was clad in a pastel sun-dress. Large-lensed glasses filled her face, something most decidedly absent from the Debby of the present.

Richie snorted. "She looks like an owl."

Debby steepled her fingers, and then she may have well been the Debby of the present. "Your psychic aura presents a bit of a challenge, Ms. Rockland."

Diane shifted her gaze. Seated at the other end of the sofa was a young woman with long, straight black hair. Dark sunglasses hid her eyes. She clutched a large purse in her lap.

"What the hell?" Richie said as he looked around. "Where's--?"

"This whole experience has been very challenging for me, Mrs. Radson," said the woman.

Diane's eyes widened. "That ... that's Mrs. Sovert's voice!"

Debby smiled and placed a hand on the woman's arm. "Please, call me Debby. I don't like formalities. So may I call you Mary?"

"Mary?" Richie said, raising an eyebrow.

The woman's lips twitched into a demure smile, and she shifted in her seat. For a split second, light glinted off gold near her breasts.

"I saw the pendant!" Diane cried. "That's her! That's Mrs. Sovert!"

"Yes, Mary is fine," said Penny. "I just want to know ... is this something normal?"

"What the fuck is she talking about?" Richie said.

Before Diane could snap at him to be quiet, Debby's reply was interrupted by a shrill chorus of "Mommymommymommy!"

Debby turned and gave an indulgent smile to a little girl bounding up to her. "Yes, Susan, what is it?"

"Susan?!" Diane cried.

Richie smirked. "Heh. She was cute as a kid."

Much of little Susan's excited words were cut off by their short exchange, and Debby stopped the rest with a firm reply. "Now, Susan, you know you're not to interrupt Mommy when she's with a client."

Susan pouted and twisted her foot, folding her hands behind her. "Sorry," she said in a whispery voice. "I'm hungry and there's no bread left."

"Yes, dear, I intend to go out to the store when I'm done here."

"She can't be more than seven," Diane said. "She's Heather's age, so this has to 1996."

Debby sent Susan bounding away and up the stairs to her room, singing to herself about how she was going to get a nice ride in the car with Mommy soon. Debby turned back to Penny and smiled. "Sorry about that."

"No, it's fine," Penny said, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "I have one her age. And another who's five going on twenty."

Richie sniggered. Diane grinned as well.

"Let's get back to this, shall we?" Debby said. "Now, 'normal' is a loaded word, Mary. When dealing with matters of psychic abilities or the supernatural, the word doesn't have much relevance."

"But ... what is it I'm seeing? Is it ... is it evil?"

"That is again a difficult concept to define."

"Shit, she was waffling on this stuff even back then!" Richie cried.

"Shh!" Diane hissed.

"--nothing in your psychic aura that would suggest any sort of mental imbalance," said Debby.

Penny paused as if to digest this. "All right, that's fine. So do you know what it means? Why do I see this around some people and not others? It's not the same that you see when you look at me through the candle flame, is it?"

"No, I don't believe so. The psychic aura appears as a sort of round glow above the head, following its contours. It doesn't encapsulate the body as your visions do."

Diane gasped. "Richie, she can see the Auras! That's got to be what she's describing."

"--after seeing one of these things on someone, I don't want them anywhere near my daughters," Penny said in a frightened voice.

Debby leaned over and placed her hands on Penny's shoulders. "Calm down, Mary, please. We don't know what its nature is yet."

Penny shivered. "They're just so ... so black. Like light just falls into them."

"Holy fuck, you're right," Richie muttered.

"I did see something in your psychic aura which suggests a brush with the supernatural," Debby said. "But not enough to say for certain that you would wield any sort of extraordinary abilities."

"So ... so you're saying this could be in my head?"

"Or it could be a harmless manifestation, and the color may not signify anything."

Penny nodded and turned her head, looking intensely thoughtful. Diane surged forward and thrust her hand into Penny's shoulder.

... much can I tell her? How much can I say without revealing what I've found? I can't let her know too much or they'll come after her, too. I know I could just adjust ... no. NO. I refuse to use this power on a whim! Bad enough I have to use it on poor David just so he doesn't have a nervous breakdown. My God, I thought he was going to go into shock the first time he saw one...

Diane snatched her arm away, eyes wide. "Oh my God..."

"What? What?!" Richie demanded. "I wish you'd stop fucking doing that!"

"--under any stress lately?" Debby was saying.

Diane did not quite have it straight in her mind yet, and she did not want to miss the rest of the conversation. She waved Richie off, and he muttered curses under his breath.

"Yes, but largely from this." Penny paused. "I'm not sure we're getting anywhere with this."

"I wish I could tell you more, Mary," said Debby. "But it often takes several readings before I can see definite patterns in your aura. Would you consent to come back again?"

Penny nodded. "I might. But ... I do have one more question for you."

"Of course, my dear. What is it?"

"If ... if I did have some sort of ability ... if I was seeing something of some significance, is this something I can pass to others?"

Debby tilted her head. "Do you mean can it be inherited?"

"Well ... yes, that would be something I had not thought of, but what I meant was ... I don't know of a delicate way to put this, but ... can it be transmitted by an act of sex?"

Richie's eyebrows rose. "Huh?"

Debby offered a soft smile. "That is a very legitimate question."

"It is?" Penny said, surprised.

"Sexual energy is a very potent force. With proper thought and practice, it can be put to constructive use."

Diane saw stark realization on Penny's face, and she thrust her hand into Penny again.

... it! Why did I not see this all along? My GOD, it explains so much! But if that IS a means to power, it's a means to control as well OH GOD HEATHER AND MELINDA...

Diane snatched her hand away and staggered back. For a moment, Penny's icy fear lingered in her as well, as if her heart had become frozen by its touch.

"Mary? Are you--?" Debby began in alarm.

Penny shivered and nodded. "Yes, sorry, something just had occurred to me ... um, anyway, a-about my question, Debby?"

"I cannot give you a firm answer, only possibilities," said Debby. "But I do know that sexual energy can be shared between partners, and it is just one form of the many energies which flow through all of us."

"Yes, I think I see," Penny said. "Maybe more than you know."

Debby wore a dubious and slightly anxious look, but she nodded and smiled. "I do hope that I helped."

Penny stood up. "Yes, you did, actually."

Debby stood as well. "I do hope you return for another reading. I feel it will help better pin down what it is you are seeing."

"I ... I think I'm starting to get some ideas. Thank you for your time. I'll consider it."

Penny rushed towards the door and vanished as sunlight was replaced with incandescent white.

"Oh thank the Goddess," Debby of the present said in a relieved voice. "Your psychic auras did not appear abnormal, but the way you were so still as statues when--"

"Mrs. Radson, you did meet Penny Sovert!" Diane cried.

Debby stared. "Are you sure? I still don't remember it."

"She was wearing a wig and dark glasses, and she went under another name. She called herself Mary Rockland."

Debby went white as a sheet and slowly collapsed into the sofa oblivious of the shouts of the others.

Jason thought he would get tired of Cindy and Kim by now, but he never really did. It helped that their sexual skills had become even more impressive, no doubt thanks to being employed by Stacy.

He toyed with the idea of arranging for Diane to work for Stacy part time, just so she could gain some of the skills lost to her due to her formerly lesbian outlook. He was sure she could be made to suck cock with the mind-blowing skill of Kim, or learn to perfectly time her humps and squeezes of her cunt muscles like Cindy.

He did wonder if perhaps he should have visited Diane that day instead of indulged himself with Cindy and Kim. Surely her mother would have been more than happy to allow Diane to travel about Haven in the safety of his company.

It was the truth, after all. Jason had done this so she would stay safe.

He limited himself to one round of sex, as much as he wanted more. He was not sure whether it was just his perception because he was feeling so confident, but he believed his sexual endurance had increased. He seemed to recover faster and stay hard longer after cumming.

Stacy gave him a smile as he stepped inside. "Hello, Jason, always good to see you. Please, sit down."

Jason crossed the room and sat. "What can I do for you?"

"First of all, congratulations are in order. You handled Diane very well."

Jason smiled. "Thank you. It was a bit close, but I got it."

"Curious that you're not with her today. I expected you to show up with her on your arm, looking at you adoringly and willing to please you any way she could."

"Oh, she will please me, no doubt about that. And I made sure she is quite hopelessly enthralled with my cock. In fact, she's likely to go through the whole day with a warm and wet pussy."

"Yet she isn't with you."

Jason paused. "Yes, I had thought about that. Meaning why I didn't do it."

"And? Only because I'm curious. In no way is that meant as a criticism. In all things, you must feel you're in the right."

"I'm not sure why I didn't do it. I did have a sort of run-in with my parents this morning."

"Oh?"

"My mother," Jason said in a flat voice. "She, um, wants to have sex with me."

Stacy gave a rather matter-of-fact nod of her head.

"It's rather complicated," Jason said in a slightly strained voice. "But I've settled it in my head. I'll accept her advance, but my father is not too keen on it. I'll find a way to resolve it one way or the other."

Jason already knew of one way, which he had entertained while basking in the glow of his freshly enslaved Diane. He could almost make an argument in favor of a similar situation being the best thing for his mother.

"Very well," Stacy said. She folded her hands. "Back to Diane, then. Do you feel everything is going as you like? Do you feel in the right?"

"Overall, yes," Jason said, though there was a slight hesitation in his voice.

"And what are the next steps?"

"At first, I had not considered beyond securing Diane and her power."

"Ah, that's very important, Jason," said Stacy. "Her power."

Jason nodded slowly. "Yes, I think I know what you're going to say."

Stacy spread her hands. "Only as a suggested course of action, nothing more. I'm here to help you reach your full potential, and one way of doing that would be to use Diane's power to influence the other Harbingers into coming around to your way of thinking. After all, you were the leader."

Jason's thoughts turned to Cassie. While she was nowhere near as strong-willed as he felt the leader of the Harbingers should be, her psychic abilities were an incredible asset. If she developed them properly, she could become rather powerful.

But could she be trusted with that power? Often he had believed that her lack of boldness was offset by her kindness, but there was such a thing as being too kind. What's the point of having power if you don't use it?

Jason nodded. "Yes, I was the leader. I am the leader. The idea that I had to give it up was foolish."

He hovered on the brink of a decision. Cassie was the moral conscience of the group, preventing them from going too far with their abilities. Jason had effectively solved that dilemma. Her old role was no longer needed.

And she was so pleasant to look at naked, and she was more of a tigress in bed than her looks suggested.

"Yes, as much as I wish there was another way, I'll use Diane to help me enslave Cassie," Jason said.

Stacy slowly smiled.

"But not today. Not this weekend."

Stacy hesitated only a second. "And why is that?"

Jason was a bit nonplussed. He was not sure where the words had come from. They had simply been there, as if they had been waiting to be said. Now his mind raced to find a justification.

"I do remind you, Jason, of how easily you were able to take Diane. If you fear Cassie's psychic prowess, you may be overestimating--"

"That's it," Jason said as his mind seized on an idea. "That's just it. Diane was almost too easy."

Stacy tilted her head. "I'm sorry?"

"Yes, that's it. That has to be it. I was wondering about the distinct lack of any attempts to 'rescue' me. Maybe they were planning something like that and Diane was bait."

Stacy considered, leaning back in her chair. "That is a bit of a leap of logic. Do you think the others would be capable of sending Diane to her -- well, from their perspective, anyway -- to her doom?"

"Well ... maybe ... I mean, they're desperate by now, aren't they? They're still working under the assumption that I'm intending to 'take them over.' Well, that's not far from the truth, only their assumptions about my motivations are wrong. They may be desperate enough to try something like this."

Stacy paused. "So what are you saying, Jason?"

"That me being with Diane all weekend may have been what they wanted all along. Maybe I had some sort of intuitive flash that told me I better not go over to Diane's."

Even Jason would admit that the argument felt flimsy. It made sense only in the broadest and most circumstantial way. How could they have possibly worked through Diane?

But did he want to take the chance he was wrong? Perhaps he should focus on resolving the issue with his mother instead.

"All right, Jason," Stacy said. "What do you suggest?"