Jason ran almost all the way back to his house. He wanted to call Frank and see if he could head off whatever it was Frank was going to do. He had a sick feeling in his stomach that, whatever it was, it would involve Frank's stepsister, the subject of his clandestine webcam observations.

"I'm home, Mom," he announced as he came in, careful not to slam the door behind him. He expected to hear his mother's typical response from the kitchen ("that's nice, dear") as she prepared dinner. He didn't hear it, and by the time this registered, he had already come to a sudden halt just inside the threshold from the entry hall to the living room.

"Hello, son."

Jason stiffened, one corner of his mouth twitching. "Hi, Dad," he said in a low voice. "You're, uh, home early."

Henry Conner considered his son for a moment with a critical gaze before setting his newspaper to the side. "Good of you to notice that," he said in a cool voice.

Avoiding his father so much lately had one distinct disadvantage. He never quite got used to seeing the terrible darkness around his father. That was one sight to which he did not want to become desensitized.

He caught glimpses of it. Sometimes he would see his father getting into the car, or going for the mail, and he would see it from a distance. That's why he had no idea that his aura-sensing ability had been nullified. Nyssa had been very selective in what she had done. Or it might have been all she could have done, according to whatever rules under which the darkness operated. Possibly she could only block auras resulting from her own actions.

"Well, uh, glad to see you're getting an early start on the weekend," said Jason. He started moving towards the stairs. "Um, I'll see you later ..."

"I need to talk to you, Jason."

Jason slowed but did not quite stop. "Can it wait a little while? I need to ..."

"No, you will talk to me now." He turned slightly and draped an arm across the back of the sofa. He gestured to the empty seat. "Come here."

Jason came around the end of the sofa. The inky black flowed around his father like a cocoon. Tendrils from his father's arm lashed at the air towards the proffered seat, as if mocking him.

Jason swallowed. He knew the darkness could not be transferred by casual physical contact. But it was horrifying to him to be so close to it, knowing it could just flow across the intervening space and touch him, perhaps without him really knowing it.

He paused another moment, then steeled himself before sitting down heavily. "What's up, Dad?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Jason paused a long moment before just shrugging.

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, I haven't. We just ..."

"You have, Jason. Don't try to deny it. Now, I sent your Mom out for a bit so we can hash this out and figure out what's wrong."

"But there's nothing wrong, Dad. Everything's fine."

"Then why won't you look at me when I'm talking to you?"

Jason sighed to himself and forced his gaze to rise to his. He would not place his eyes squarely into his father's however. As much as he hated the aura, he did not want it to disappear on him anymore. He now knew that was bad. Instead, he wanted it to stand out in crisp relief against the man he thought his father had been, at least before his eyes were opened to the truth.

"Sorry," Jason said softly.

"All I want to know is if I had done something to upset you," Henry said.

Jason shook his head. "No, you haven't. Really. I'm not angry with you, honest."

This was absolutely true. Whatever had happened or whatever his father had done to gain the pall of darkness over him, he clung to the belief that it had not been his father's choice. His father must be under the control of some higher force.

Yet the pattern to his father's darkness was different than what he had seen on Bendon, or Melinda's mother, or Richie's mother. It was subtle, but it was there. His pattern looked more like Nyssa's. It did not seek to form shapes around his body as Nyssa's had, but the similarity was there just the same.

He refused to accept the idea that his father could be a controller like Nyssa rather than one of the controlled. He didn't want to think that his own father could do something like that to someone else.

Henry sighed. "Jason, I hardly know you anymore."

Jason had to suppress the urge to throw him a sharp look as if to say "look who's talking?"

"I feel no involvement in your life. I don't know what you do from day to day."

"Nothing really different from what we have been doing."

Henry paused. "We?"

Jason silently berated himself. "My friends and I, that is."

"The same friends you stayed with after school for no clear reason?"

Now Jason was confused. His mother had accepted his explanation, even though it had sounded lame to even himself. "I told Mom why ..."

"And she told me. She was rather concerned about it."

"Why?" Jason demanded, his voice rising slightly. "I just wanted to wait for him to get out of detention, that's all. I knew his Mom was going to pick him up, so I could get a ride home."

"That's not like you. Since when do you wait on that punk Richie?"

Jason sighed. "He's not a punk, Dad. He's a friend of mine."

"You could pick better friends, Jason," Henry said flatly.

Jason was incensed at that and it showed clearly on his face, but he said nothing more on that subject. Instead, he tried a different tack, trying not to sound too exasperated. "Look, Dad, I'll make it easy for you. I'm not doing anything that I wasn't before. I'm not doing drugs or anything like that. I mean, come on, you know me better than that."

"That's not what I was concerned about, really. I just think it's important for you ... for us to be closer than we are."

Jason paused for a long moment and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"

"I need a reason? The fact that you're my son and I'm your father is not good enough?"

"I just meant why all the concern now? It was never a concern all those times you spent so many long hours at the hospital during the week. Or on weekends. Or all the canceled trips and vacations because you couldn't get away from your work."

Jason's voice had become bitter. Henry gave him a humorless grin. "And you're not mad at me at all, are you?"

Jason fumed. He felt like his father had maneuvered him into that. "Just forget I said that," he said in a low voice.

"No, it makes perfect sense, Jason, for you to be upset. I can only repeat that the work I'm doing is very important."

"So you're saying you want to be closer to me, but you're not going to give up any of the work. You're not going to cut back."

Henry paused and shook his head. "I can't."

Jason looked at him. "Can't or won't?"

Henry just shook his head sadly. Jason wondered if his father really understood the significance of that question.

And his father continued to be maddeningly silent on exactly what research was being conducted at a hospital in some small town hardly anyone knows exists.

Jason changed tack again. "All right, Dad, I'll try not to avoid you. I'm sorry."

Henry hesitated, as if suspicious of how his son was giving in with apparent ease. "And do you care to comment on what you were doing after school today?"

"Hanging out with friends at the school waiting for Richie to get out of detention." He paused. "One of my friends is his, uh, girlfriend, and she was going to wait for him so ..."

"Richie has a girlfriend?" asked Henry with surprise. "The poor girl."

Jason bit off a retort hard, clenching his teeth.

Henry looked at his son for a few more moments before standing. "All right," he said in a resigned voice. "I suppose that will have to do."

Jason quickly bolted from his seat and rounded the end of the sofa.

"Wait, Jason."

Jason stopped at the foot of the stairs and whirled around.

"I'm going to need you to help me with dinner. We're grilling steaks on the barbecue tonight."

"Uh, can I go make a phone call first? Local. Just one of my friends. Uh, needed some help with his homework."

Henry nodded absently. "Don't be too long."

"I won't."

"And hopefully you don't have too many plans for the weekend," Henry continued. "I cleared my schedule at the hospital and have most of the holiday weekend free. We can catch up a little."

Jason sighed inwardly. "That would be great, Dad," he said tonelessly.

He turned and bound up the stairs without waiting for an acknowledgment or dismissal.

Jason raced into his room and closed the door behind him. He was glad that his parents had allowed him to have his own phone extension. Shortly after it had been installed, he had made a modification to it.

Two slim wires snaked out from under it to a small circuit board tucked away in a drawer. Attached to the board was a small LED. He opened the drawer a crack so he could see the light before picking up the phone. If it ever came on, it meant that someone in the house had picked up another extension and could hear his conversation. So far the only times that it came on were when his mother picked up the other extension by accident and immediately hung back up.

This was the first time he was afraid that someone would be listening in purposely.

Jason speed-dialed Frank's number and waited anxiously. It was four rings before someone finally answered.

"Hello?"

Jason paused in surprise. "Frank?"

"Yeah. Jason? What's up, man?"

"Um ... I needed to talk to you about something."

"Will it take long? I was kinda in the middle of something."

Jason hesitated, his hand gripping the phone tighter. "What ... what were you doing?"

Now a pause at Frank's end. "I'll have to tell you about it some other time. Take too long to explain, y'know?"

Jason swallowed. He strained to listen, turning up the volume on the phone to max, trying to hear for sounds in the background. He had no idea what he was listening for.

"Jason?" Frank said suddenly, causing Jason to wince when it blasted through his ear.

Jason quickly lowered the volume. "Listen, I need to tell you something, Frank," he said firmly.

"What?"

"Don't do it."

Another pause. "Don't do what?" Frank asked cautiously.

Jason's heart thumped. "Don't do what you're planning. What you were about to do."

"Um ... don't know what you're talking about, Jason, I ..."

"Listen to me!" Jason shouted softly. "You wanted to know what was going on before, right? What was really going on at the school?"

"Um, yeah, but ..."

"Did you go see the school nurse?"

Silence.

Jason swallowed. "Frank, did you ...?"

"Yeah, I did, just this morning. You were right, man. Wow. She's hot!"

"Did she ... did she tell you to do anything for her?"

"Um ... not sure what you mean, Jason."

"Frank ... we think ... my friends and I, that is, we think there's something wrong with the nurse. That she's ... she's up to something. If she told you to do anything at all, you ..."

"Sorry, man, but I gotta go."

"No, wait! Frank, please, listen!"

"Hey, I'll email ya, 'kay? Bye."

"Frank! Shit ..."

Jason stared at the receiver in his hand and heaved a sigh. Frank wouldn't even listen to him. It was too late.

With a shaking hand, he replaced the receiver on the hook.

Frank hung up the phone. He slowly smiled to himself.

He truly didn't understand what Jason was talking about, but he had the feeling he should just end that conversation. He had much more important things to do anyway.

Or rather, important things to continue, as he had already started them.

As he climbed the stairs, his smile broadened as he heard soft and wonderfully erotic sounds drifting to him from Mindy's bedroom. He paused at the top of the stairs, listening to the breathless sighs and soft, deep moans. They were interspersed with some odd creaking noises.

Frank continued on and stepped casually into Mindy's bedroom.

Mindy was seated at her computer, her eyes wide and staring at the screen, her mouth hanging open. Her breathing was labored, somewhere between a pant and a gasp. Now and then, the hand gripping the mouse moved or clicked. Her body quivered, and her hips writhed and twisted madly in the chair, making it creak occasionally. Her legs were spread apart and trembling.

"Still having fun?" Frank called out in a mocking tone of voice.

Mindy shuddered and moaned. Her eyes closed, but only briefly, compelled as she was to keep her gaze fixed on the screen and the image it held.

Frank stepped forward and grinned, turning his head towards the computer. The image it displayed was one of a series of pictures depicting a man having sex with a woman in every possible position.

Mindy clicked to the next picture, her body quaking with renewed excitement.

"So ... is it making you wet, Mindy?"

"Oh God ..." she gasped. She shuddered as she tried yet again to resist the compulsion to keep looking. She failed again, and each time it was harder and harder to get her mind to even entertain the thought in the first place.

Instead she was filled with a insatiable lust to see more. Yet all through it, she could not bring herself to seek relief. She could not move her free hand to her pussy, no matter how badly it ached, or how desperate she was for release.

"Well, is it, Mindy? Is it making you wet?"

"Y-yes ... oh God, yes ..." Mindy clicked over to the next image and whimpered. "P-please ... F-frank ... please ... m-make it stop ..."

"I'm not doing a thing, Mindy. You're getting off on this. Just like you said I got off on your pics."

Mindy was panting hard. It was only getting worse. "I'm ... I-I'm so horny ... "

"You wanted the internet connection. So now you get everything associated with it."

"I never ... n-never liked this stuff ..."

Frank laughed. "You do now."

"Uhhn ... yeah ... I love it ... makes me so wet ... n-no more ... let me ... l-let me ..."

"Finger-fuck yourself? Stroke yourself? Wank off?"

Mindy bit her lip and nodded quickly. She clicked to the next image and uttered a high-pitched squeal of delight as a picture of two women having sex came in the screen.

"Ohhh, that's sooo nice ... oh God ... wait ... I'm not ... I don't ... but ... mmmm ..."

"You don't like other girls?" Frank leaned over and whispered to her, "Guess what else you like now, Mindy dearest."

"N-no, I don't ... I ... ohhh ... oooo, she licking her pussy ... oh God ... nice ... uhhn ..."

There was the sound of the front door opening downstairs.

"Okay, Mindy," Frank said softly. "I need to work on your Mom now, so you have to be quiet."

Mindy moaned and her eyes flickered closed as she finally pulled her hand from the mouse and settled back in the chair.

"That's it. Just sit there and rest, okay?" Frank grinned. "Keep thinking about girls fucking each other."

Mindy flinched and gasped. "Please stop," she begged softly, even as the intense erotic imagery flickered through her mind. "P-please ... ohhh ... uhhn ..."

Sally Franner dropped her glasses to the end of her nose and looked over them imperiously. "You have to be be joking."

Gary smiled and looked into her pretty amethyst-colored eyes. He actually loved it when she peered over her glasses like that. Or would have, had it not come with the supercilious attitude. But he was not concerned about that now.

Sally sighed and shook her head, her light brown ponytail swishing back and forth. "Is this why you invited me over? To recite such silly, pseudo-scientific theories at me?"

Gary knew she would never come over just for that. He had to pretend he wanted tutoring in something. He even put up with her spiel about how he was at least recognizing her superior education in that area.

"You scoff at the idea without putting it to the test?" Gary chided.

Sally raised an eyebrow speculatively. "You wish to touch me?" she asked warily.

"Well, it would hardly be in a sexual manner, now would it?"

"But you claim the result is. So why should I trust you?"

"But you scoff at it. Ergo, in your mind, nothing will happen. You are not in a properly suggestible state for normal hypnotic inductions to operate here, nor can you be accused of self-fulfilling prophesy. I thus cannot trick you in any way. And the moment I attempt to touch you in a sexual manner, you can simply push me away."

Sally looked amused. "Then what is the catch to this?"

"Nothing. It either works, or it doesn't."

She sighed and stood up. "This is ridiculous, but if you wish to play the fool, so be it. How do you want me to stand?"

"Just like that with your arms at your sides," Gary said, stepping in front of her. "All you need to do is fix your eyes on mine, that's all."

Sally rolled her eyes but did as she was instructed. "All right. Now what?"

"Now ... I do this ..." Gary reached over and slid a single finger down her left arm.

She gazed down at this and watched it for awhile. She felt a small tingle. "Well ... I feel something," she admitted. "But how is this supposed to arouse me?"

"And this ..." He swirled a fingertip in little circles down her right arm.

Sally's lips parted slightly as she felt a gentle warmth come over her body. Yet as soft as the sensation was, its appearance was a shock to her. "But ... but how can ..."

He lightly caressed one shoulder.

She shuddered. Pleasure radiated through her body from the touch. "Wait ... what are you ... oh ..."

He brushed his fingers along the nape of her neck.

Sally quivered. Her heart thumped. Her breath became a light pant. "Oh my ... h-how are you ..."

He lightly brushed his fingers through her hair.

She uttered a low moan and swayed when her legs felt like water. The heat over her skin slipped down between her legs and concentrated there. "Uhhn ... what ... how ... oh God ..."

He slipped her glasses from her face.

She squeezed her legs together, making a soft, wet sound in her sex. "S-stop ... uhhhn ... oh my God ..."

He cupped her cheek with his hand.

Sally was trembling, her breath a hard pant. Her pussy was on fire. "H-how ... how did you ... why can't I ... I'm ... I-I'm ..."

"So horny you can't think?"

Sally just stared at him with deep desire, unable to respond, her cunt throbbing.

"Pseudo-scientific, was it?" Gary said with a smile. "Silly, was it?"

"Oh God, please ... p-please ..." Sally begged. It was a struggle to hold more than about two or three words in her head at any one time. All she could think about was her all-consuming need. "It's t-too much ... I n-need ..."

Gary withdrew his hand from her. Sally whimpered pitifully.

"Not now," he said softly. "Tomorrow. Sleep on it."

"S-sleep on ... what? I don't understand."

"You want my pleasure. You want to orgasm. The same thing that let me take control of your sexual lust is the same thing that will stop you from consummating it. You need to think on what you're willing to do for that pleasure."

Sally moaned, both in lust and desperation. She nodded to him reluctantly.

After dinner, Jason IM'ed Melinda.

Jason: We have to contact Cassie. We have to find out what happened with her and Nyssa.

Melinda: OK. I'll talk to her tues when we get back

Jason: No, we can't wait that long. I want to talk to her over the weekend sometime.

Melinda: why whats the matter

Jason: Talked to Frank earlier. He's under control of some sort. I want to know how she did it with Cassie.

Melinda: oh no .. ok but i dont have her phone#

Jason: I do. It's 555-9876

Melinda: ok ... wait how did you get it?

Jason: Don't ask.

Melinda: oh ... gotcha... want me to call her tonight?

Jason: If your Mom doesn't give you grief over it.

Melinda: theyre out .... and heather said she's going out with diane later ...

Melinda: can you come over?

Melinda: please??

Jason: Shit, I can't. My Dad wants to spend time with me. I better not chance it.

Melinda: shit shit shit shit

Melinda: :( :( :( :(

Jason: I know. I'm sorry. Look, I'll see if I can find a way to get some time for us over the weekend, I promise.

Melinda: ok

Melinda: but i'll have to ... you know ...

Jason: Yeah, I know. :)

Frank wandered into the kitchen to find his stepmother putting away two bags of groceries. She turned and gave him a stern look when she found him standing there.

"Your father will be a little late," Jenny said crisply. She was still wearing her heels, and they clacked against the tile as she crossed the room. She had had to work late at the office and had not had time for her jog. She was still dressed in her blouse and slacks from work. "He had a late flight."

Frank just nodded. His lips curled into a small smile as Jenny stretched an arm to put something on a high shelf. His gaze lingered where the blouse pulled taut over one breast, making a perfect outline of its plump roundness.

Jenny turned to him. "And what's with you?" she asked, putting a hand on one hip.

Frank shrugged. "Nothin'."

She narrowed her eyes. "You just tend to avoid me like the plague when I get home."

"Can't I decide to be civil once in a while?"

"You're not getting out of that punishment, if that's what you're here for."

Frank shook his head and stepped further into the room. He fixed his clear, steady gaze on her. "Nope."

Jenny hesitated again, her eyes shifting. "Where's Mindy?"

"She's just upstairs using the computer. Using the internet in fact."

Jenny smirked. "So you are going to ask for it back."

Frank shook his head. "Nope. Don't need it back."

"You don't ... okay, what is going on here?"

Frank laughed. "Why should there be something going on?"

"When you act out of the ordinary like that, there generally is something going on. What is it?"

Frank paused. "Well ..."

"See, I knew it. Out with it. What happened? Or what is it you want from me?"

"That's a loaded question, that last one."

"Huh? Now you're making no sense whatsoever. I really don't have time for this, Frankie."

Jenny stood with her hands on her hips. Frank grinned as he let his gaze linger on the prominent bulge of her breasts against her blouse. One button had come undone near the top and allowed him to see a bit of the shadowy cleft between her mounds.

"You really want to know what's on my mind?"

"Not really, but I suppose I should know anyway. What is it?"

"Your tits."

"My ...?"

Jenny was so shocked by his response that all she could do was stare at him.

Frank raised his steady gaze to hers. "I've always liked them, you know," he said casually. "Ever since I first saw you. Ever since you first went around with Dad."

Jenny blinked. "I can't believe you just said that," she said, though more in wonder than anger. "How could you ...?"

"Well, you have a great pair."

Jenny opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it was vanished from her mind before it could get as far as her lips. She drew in a breath and her skin flushed gently.

"Not just big. Any girl can have big titties. Yours have a really nice shape."

Jenny's eyes widened and she drew in a sharper breath. A warmth spread over her bosom, her nipples growing hard.

"Must be nice to have a set like that, huh? Get lots of guys looking at them."

"Frankie ...wh-what ... what are you ..." Jenny gasped, her breath quickening.

"Nice and round and fleshy. Must feel good to whoever touches them."

Jenny uttered a tiny moan and trembled. Her nipples stood out as points on her blouse and tingled madly.

Frank grinned. "Betcha it feels good to you, too."

Jenny staggered, grabbing the back of one of the chairs. She panted hard, each expansion of her chest from her breath pushing her breasts into the cups of her bra, making the nipples send little tingles of pleasure through her. "Oh my God ... what ... how are you ...?"

"Getting excited?"

Jenny swallowed, her heart thumping. Her legs parted slightly in a vain attempt to ease the growing pressure in her cunt. Her nipples grew even more sensitive, such that just the press of her clothes against them drove her further mad with lust.

"You want to touch them, doncha?"

Jenny moaned and trembled, her lips parting as she panted.

"Maybe you want someone else touching them. You know, feeling them up, fingering the nipples, maybe even sucking on them."

"Uhhnnn ... s-stop ..." Jenny pleaded in a barely audible voice. "Oh God ... how ...?"

"Bet you're horny now, huh?"

Jenny struggled to pull the chair out and collapsed into it, grabbing the edge of the table to stop herself from falling to the floor. This jiggled her breasts around in her bra and she mewled in desperation and aching desire.

Jenny looked up. Her eyes smoldered. "How ... what ... what have you d-done ..."

"Me? I just complimented you on your boobs, that's all," Frank said with a sly smile.

Jenny moaned. "They ... th-they are nice, aren't they?" she purred. She raised her hands to them and kneaded them through her blouse. "Uhhhnn! .... ohhh ... so nice ..."

Frank's grin widened. "And now ... let me inform you of a few other things you can do with them ..."

"H-hello?"

Melinda bit her lip. It was obvious Cassie had been crying. "Cassie, I'm sorry," she blurted.

"Huh? Who is ... Melinda? How did you get my number?" Anguish turned to anger. "Why did you call? Why would I want to talk to anybody right now let alone ...!"

"Please, don't hang up!" Melinda begged. "Please, Cassie! Let me talk to you, just for a minute."

A long silence, broken by the occasional sniffle. "Fine," she said in a forlorn voice. "Talk."

"I'm really, really, really sorry about what happened to you."

Cassie sobbed once. "Happened to me? You have no idea, Melinda, you really don't."

"Yes, I do. It wasn't your fault."

Another silence. "Huh?"

"What happened to you, I mean."

"Well, of course it wasn't my fault! You and Heather and Jason stopped me!"

Melinda flinched. "What?"

"I ... I almost had what I wanted, Melinda. Why did you stop me? Why did ...?"

Cassie dissolved into tears.

"Oh, Cassie, wait ... oh, please, don't cry ..." Melinda pleaded softly. She sniffled once herself and wiped a single tear from her eye. "Cassie, please, listen to me. We had to stop you."

"N-no you didn't ... y-y-you could h-have let me have him ... i-it's all I wanted ..."

"But ... but you can't ... you can't just take someone's free will like that!"

"I would have been nice to him!" Cassie wailed. "I would have pleased him! He would have liked it! It's more than he would have done for me!"

Melinda bit off an immediate retort. She wanted to tell Cassie how wrong it was, how you can't just instill affection in someone, and so on, but she was not sure she could say it convincingly herself. With the way her own thoughts sometimes drifted towards the House and how it offered the same thing -- and how she had enjoyed wielding that power -- she would come off as a hypocrite, at least in her own mind.

Plus she didn't think Cassie was going to be on the phone much longer at this rate.

"Cassie, listen, I need to ask you something, then I promise I won't bother you anymore, 'kay?"

Cassie sniffled a few times. "O-okay ..."

"Do you remember what happened to you when you went to see the nurse?"

A pause. "What, you mean Mist ... uh ... Miss Neris?"

"Yes. What happened?"

"What do you mean? She gave me an examination. What else would she do?"

"Did anything unusual happen?"

"Huh? No, I ..."

Silence.

"What, Cassie?" Melinda persisted, her heart thumping. "What is it?"

"N-nothing," Cassie replied in a quavering voice. "I just ... well ... m-maybe you can tell me, Melinda ... is it normal to examine a student in the nude?"

Melinda blinked. "What?? She had you strip naked?!"

"Yes ... is that bad?"

"Yes, that's bad!" Melinda cried.

"I'm sorry!" Cassie said in a cringing voice.

"No, no, not you, Cassie, shhh, I'm not mad at you. That was her fault. She never should have done that! Even my normal doctor doesn't have me do that! God!"

"I don't understand, Melinda. What's going on?"

Melinda's mind was racing. "Cassie, we need to talk. Not just with me but with my friends, too."

"No, please, not Richie!" Cassie cried in a frightened voice. "I can't face him now!"

"Okay, okay, we'll do it without him. Listen ..."

"Just you, Melinda," begged Cassie. "Please. I-I'll talk to you, but ... you're the only one I feel comfortable with right now."

Melinda sighed. She didn't really want to do this by herself. "Okay, fine. Now, can you meet me somewhere tomorrow? Will your parents allow you into town?"

Cassie made a snorting sound. "They let me do whatever I want. I just have to tell Harry, my driver, where to take me and that's it."

"Ok, good. There's this park near our development where we can meet. Here's the address ..."

Frank looked over his stepsister and stepmother with satisfaction. They looked back at him with slow, burning lust.

Before his father had come home, Frank had dialed down their arousal to this point. He had pulled Mindy back temporarily from her addiction to porn, but had left her with constant, fleeting visions of explicit sex dancing through her head. It was a constant stream of erotic imagery that she could not ignore or shut off. For Jenny, he had toned down her obsession with pleasure from her breasts, but had let her nipples continue to tingle in a mad little tease that kept her folds damp. No matter what she did or thought about, she would remain constantly aroused.

Just as Nyssa had predicted, his father didn't even notice. He even became really tired early in the evening. He retired for the night and fell into an immediate, deep slumber as soon as he went to bed, leaving Frank and the others undisturbed.

"It's time for bed, you two," Frank said with a lascivious grin. "But not mine, unfortunately. Not yet."

Mindy uttered a breathy moan. Jenny swallowed and let go with a soft, sultry sigh.

"But don't worry. Your dreams will make up for it."

"Dreams?" Mindy asked in a husky voice.

"Yes, dreams, Mindy. Those images you get when you're asleep. I know it's hard for you to keep up, but do try."

"What ... what are you going to do with us, Frank?" Jenny asked in a breathy voice.

"Leave you like this overnight. Wet and wanting. Tomorrow, I'll get you nice and horny again, and you'll beg me to make you cum."

Jenny shuddered, partially from revulsion and partially from sheer delight.

Mindy closed her eyes and trembled, moaning pitifully.

"And when you do cum," Frank said with a wicked grin. "Things will be a little different around here."

Marcie beamed at Laura. "Thank you for dinner, Miss Bendon," she gushed. "I really enjoyed it. You really didn't have to, you know."

Laura walked Marcie to the front door of her apartment building, smiling gently. "Oh, but I felt I had to. I wanted to show you some appreciation for the loyalty you've shown me all this time."

Marcie smiled, her cheeks blushing bright pink. "Oh, r-really, Miss Bendon," she said, giggling. "You're way too kind with me. I'm not half as good a receptionist as you think I am."

"You're good where it matters, Marcie. And ... you can be even better."

Marcie blinked. "Pardon?"

Laura's eyes flitted down Marcie's body. Marcie had dressed neatly for the occasion, but still very conservative and plain. Her dark brown slacks reached all the way to her ankles. Her blouse was loose-fitting and buttoned up to the neck, and it even had long sleeves despite the lingering summer heat. Her shoes were plain and low-heeled. She had pinned up her hair as well.

It was not much different from what she wore at work.

"You know, Marcie," Laura said softly. "You don't have to dress like this all the time."

"Hmm?" Marcie glanced down at herself briefly. "Um ... I don't understand, Miss Bendon."

"You can dress a little more casually. You don't even need to be this formal at the office." She grinned wryly. "The students certainly aren't."

"But ... this is how I always dress."

"Then don't you think perhaps a change is in order?"

Marcie blinked a few times as she looked into Laura's eyes. "Well ... what would you suggest, Miss Bendon?"

"I have a better idea. How about if I show you?"

"Show me? I don't understand, Miss Bendon."

"Are you doing anything this weekend?"

"This ... uh ... no, why?"

Laura grinned. She had a feeling that there were not a whole lot of weekends where Marcie was doing anything fun. "Let me take you clothes shopping."

Marcie's eyes widened. "Clothes shopping, Miss Bendon? Oh, I ... I don't know ... I-I mean ..."

"Wouldn't you like to look pretty, Marcie?"

Marcie uttered a tiny gasp and looked back towards Laura, eyes wide. "P-pretty?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yes, pretty. I know you are pretty, Marcie, but you hide it for some reason."

Marcie swallowed and her blush returned, now deepening from pink to red. She averted her eyes and took a deep breath. "No one ... n-no one's ever called me that before ..." she said softly.

Laura placed a single fingertip under Marcie's chin and gently steered her underling's gaze back to hers. "Yes. Pretty."

"Thank you, Miss Bendon," Marcie said softly, her eyes glistening.

Laura let her hand slowly drop. "How about I come over about nine? The stores downtown should be open by then."

Marcie nodded quickly, smiling. "Okay, Miss Bendon. Nine. Thank you."

Laura returned the smile and cast a lingering gaze as Marcie entered her apartment building.

Sometime after the house had darkened for sleep, Yvonne rose from her bed.

Her slim frame and fair skin looked ghostly in the pale radiance of the night light through the open door of the bathroom. She took a deep breath and let it go as a long, sultry sigh as she slipped off her nightgown, letting it fall to the floor. Her petite orbs appeared as two shadowed swellings in profile to the light.

Yvonne lay her hands lightly on her sides. With another heated sigh, she played her hands slowly down her body. At her waist, she let them catch her panties and tug them down her long legs. She stepped out of them casually, bending her leg slowly, almost a seductive move in and of itself, as if expecting someone to be watching her.

She drew her hands back up her body, framing her damp sex briefly before bringing them under her breasts. She traced their roundness with her fingers and cupped them gently. She let out another breathy moan.

"Mmmm ..." Yvonne murmured deeply as she let her hands fall to her sides.

Yvonne turned and headed into the hallway, her bare feet virtually noiseless against the soft carpet. The silence was near complete, save for her own ragged breathing. As she drew closer to the other bedroom, her nipples hardened, tingling pleasurably. Her pussy grew moist, more wet than it ever had in her life. For so long she been so hateful of her body, she could not even enjoy a really good arousal. Now she felt it almost all the time.

Her heart beat faster as she reached the door. She turned and slipped into the room.

Barely visible in the dark, a form reclined on the bed, a single sheet draped over it.

"Jord," Yvonne said softly, almost a whisper.

Her brother had been in a sound sleep. He had been known to sleep through fire engines roaring by with sirens blaring right under his window. Yet, at his softly-spoken name, he awakened immediately.

The figure stirred and turned. "Huh? What?" he mumbled, still groggy. He blinked a few times and sat up, still unable to quite make out what was happening. The sheet fell away from him, revealing a broad chest.

Yvonne drew her breath in and let it go as a soft moan as her eyes fell on him.

"Yvonne? Is that you? What are you ...?"

Yvonne approached the bed. Her hips glided. Her legs moved in slow, sensuous strides. "I had to tell you something, Jord," she said, her voice husky and wanting.

"Tell me something? But ... " Jord paused, then suddenly recoiled. "My God, Yvonne, you're ... why are you naked?"

"That's why I'm here. It's all because of you."

Jord's mouth dropped open and he gave her a thoroughly nonplussed look. "I don't understand. I ... what are you ...?"

Yvonne's hands rose up her body, cupping her breasts and squeezing them gently. She uttered tiny sighs of delight as her nipples grew erect.

Jord's eyes widened as he stared at her. "Yvonne ... y-you shouldn't be doing that ..."

"Why not?" She stopped at the edge of his bed and dropped to one knee. She leaned forward, looking at him with dark, sultry eyes. She half-closed them as she fingered her nipples. Waves of pleasure came over her, causing her to tremble and moan. "I love my body now, Jord. I want you to see that."

Jord stared at her breasts, at the supple flesh being molded and fondled. He couldn't take his eyes away, no matter how much his mind was shouting that this was wrong.

"And it's all thanks to you," Yvonne said, casting a loving gaze at him. She rose. "I love every part of me now. My breasts ..."

She turned around in place and bent slightly. She reached behind her and ran her fingers over smooth, tight flesh. "My ass ..."

She turned to face him again and lifted a foot onto the edge of the bed. She ran a single hand down her thigh and calf. "My legs ..."

Yvonne's smile turned lustful. She angled her hips until her glistening mound faced the light drifting in from the street lamp outside. She lightly ran her fingers over her wet slot. "And especially ... my pussy ..." she moaned.

Jord was panting lightly. Under the sheets, his cock had grown rock-hard. His muscles tensed. He drew in a deep breath to try to calm himself, to quell his increasing feelings of desire towards her. He drew in the aroma of her aroused sex instead. He let his breath go as a ragged, needful sigh.

Yvonne leaned forward. "And ... Jord ... I want you to love my pussy as much as I do ..." she cooed.

"My God ... " Jord breathed. "Please, Yvonne ... don't do this ..."

"I want you, Jord ..."

"Don't say that ... my God ... why am I ..."

"I want you to take me ... I want you to love me ... I want you to fuck me ..."

Jord let out a long, desperate groan, his cock aching badly.

Yvonne smiled. She lowered her foot from the bed and dropped a knee to it instead. She half-crawled to him, holding her face inches from his. "You want me now," she whispered hotly. "You want to fuck me. You want to know just how tight my little cunt is."

Jord couldn't reply. His mind was too taken by his own lust.

Yvonne gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and drew back. "Tomorrow," she murmured. "Think of me in your dreams ... think of what you want to do to me ... think of how you want to make me cry out in ecstasy ... because I'll be dreaming the same thing. Good night."

Yvonne stood, turned, and drifted out of the room like a breeze.

Nyssa was not pleased.

Someone had taken a pet from her, and taken the very one she absolutely had to have. Cassie was no longer under Nyssa's thrall.

For a creature like Nyssa, there were two orders of business. The first: find the Sensitive and neutralize him. The second: find the Dreamer and take her first.

The Sensitive was simply a threat. Afterward, he could be taken as her pet, or left alone.

The Dreamer was different. She had to be taken. The night visions of the Dreamer could expose her. But having the Dreamer on her side meant the living dreams would work for her. They would tell her so much more about the others. It would have allowed her to spread her chaos faster and wider.

There was no way this could have happened by accident. Had Cassie simply been interrupted, she would have concluded it later. Someone had actively pulled her from her intended quarry. The only way they could have done that is with clear intent, and the only way they could have that is if they could see the pall of Darkness. There was simply no way Jason could have thrown off the effect without help.

There was only one conclusion Nyssa could make: there was another Sensitive.

As impossible as that sounded to her, it was the only possibility. Nyssa did not know who it was, but that would change soon. Very soon.

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