The moment Heather and Melinda joined Jason and Richie at Richie's house, they were bubbling over with news. None of it was good.

"Guys, we saw more of them!" Melinda cried out. "More auras around people we know!"

"Richie, you were at church this morning, too," Heather said. "Did you tell Jason already?"

Jason gave first Heather then Richie a perplexed look.

"Huh? Nah, I didn't tell him," Richie drawled.

Both girls glared at him.

"Why? What was the point?"

"Well, it would help to know how far this has spread," Jason said acidly.

Richie rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm fallin' asleep half the time in church. Mom doesn't bother to make me pay attention, since she's got other reasons to be there."

"Okay, fine, never mind, then." Jason turned to the girls. "So who did you see with auras?"

"James Nells, but we already knew about him," said Heather.

"Debby Vance!" piped Melinda. "And her sister Karen!"

"But it wasn't as much on them. It was kind of faded. Same thing for Irene Barlowe."

"Did you see Frank there?" asked Jason.

Melinda looked at Heather, who shook her head. "I didn't either," Melinda said.

"Because I don't think I stopped him. I tried calling him this morning and there was no answer. Thought he might have gone to church."

"If he did, he didn't go to this one. Heather, tell her about the other one, the one you know."

Heather visibly shivered. "Sally Franner. She's the smartest girl in my year. She had the aura, but faint, like some of the others. I tried talking to her after church. She acted like a total bimbo. She was all giggly and empty-headed, and she was wearing these really slutty clothes."

"Really?" Richie said, leaning forward with sudden interest. "I missed that. What was she wearing?"

"Get bent, Richie," Melinda snapped. "You just want to drool over her."

"Please, don't you two start," Jason said with a sigh. "All right. Now, James was someone you saw the aura before now, right?"

"Yeah, I saw him," said Heather. "It was really dark, like on Cassie before. And Kathy."

"But the others were light?"

"Oh, wait, I know what you're getting at!" Melinda cried. "I saw a little something of an aura on Richie after Cassie first started going after him ..."

Richie rolled his eyes at this but said nothing.

" ... so maybe that's what's happening here?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at," Jason said.

"Wait, I do!" Heather said. "The ones that Nyssa takes have a dark aura, but their ... well, their victims get a lighter one."

Jason paused a moment and then nodded. "You might be right."

"So what's knowing all this gonna do for us?" Richie said. "We can't do nothing about the ones that are already taken, right?"

"Can we?" Melinda asked. "Can we do anything for them?"

Jason shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, I don't like to say it, but ... they may be gone for good."

Melinda shivered. Heather wrapped her arms around herself. "I always kind of disliked Sally," Heather said in a low voice. "I always thought she kinda flaunted her brains too much, you know?"

"Oh, like you never flaunted anything," Melinda said with a snort.

"Shut up, runt. As I was trying to say, I thought she acted way too full of herself. But I don't want to see her like this. I doubt she can add two plus two anymore."

Melinda's face screwed up in disgust. "And that was someone's fantasy, too. Ugh."

Richie smirked.

Melinda glared at him. "What the hell you find so funny about that?"

"You hafta admit, it's a funny image. A girl egghead turned into a bimbo."

"There's nothing funny about it, you perv!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'd like to see what fantasy she'd make come true for you!"

Melinda blinked, glanced briefly over to Jason, and then blushed furiously.

"Yeah, I thought so."

"Shut up, Richie!"

"All right, let's go back to the subject at hand," Jason said loudly. "I don't think we can waste time trying to save these people. I think we just have concentrate on stopping more of them from being taken."

"The only way we can do that is by finding new students with the aura and following them," said Heather.

"And then we have to stop them right when they're about to take someone else," piped Melinda.

"That's pretty slim timing," Jason admitted.

"Yeah, and how the hell are we supposed to follow them, huh?" Richie demanded. "You got lucky with me, that I was in detention."

"He's got a point."

"Maybe the others are being taken in school?" Melinda suggested.

"No, I don't think so. Or at least not for the final bit, when they get, uh, enslaved."

Melinda gave him a puzzled look. "Final bit?"

Jason looked over to Richie. "Cassie took two days to try to take you, right?"

Richie frowned. "Yeah, she gave me those funky dreams that first night."

"That might be part of the process. Approach one day and then enslave the next. Maybe the dreams are part of it. Maybe they prepare you or something."

"Wait," Heather said. "I think Sally said something about having some, uh 'kewl dreams' the other night, when I tried to get her to admit that she used to sound a lot smarter than that. I think. It was really hard to understand her."

"So we're stuck," Richie said. "We can't follow 'em after school."

Jason thought for a long moment. "We could if we knew where they lived."

"Huh?"

"I mean, it wouldn't cover everything, but if we could find out where any given student lived, we wouldn't have to follow him per se. We could just stake out the neighborhood where he lives."

"Yeah? How?"

"Cassie."

"Yes, Cassie!" Melinda cried. "Jason, that's a great idea!"

"I don't get it," Heather said.

"Heather, Cassie has a personal driver. He'll take her anywhere she wants to go. Her parents are pretty lax about where she goes."

Heather rolled her eyes. "Oh, great idea, runt. Now how do you suppose we know where to tell Cassie to tell her driver to go."

"Well, uh ... " Melinda pouted. "Well, I can't think of everything!"

Jason folded his hands in front of him, looking intensely thoughtful. "I might be able to do it."

"How?"

"I've seen the school's network setup. They have a single router on a cable modem. They're using the router as a firewall. If I can hack into the router, I can get into the school system from the outside and try to get at the records."

"Why doncha just get at them from the computer lab at school?" asked Richie. "You don't need to hack the router."

"Because I want to make it look like a random act of hacking in case they detect it. If I do it from inside school, they'll be able to see it was from my account."

"You could still get into trouble for it if they catch you," Heather warned.

"Then I won't get caught," Jason said simply.

"Jason, just how much hacking have you done before I met you?" Melinda asked.

Jason paused a moment. "Don't ask."

Melinda rolled her eyes. "Great."

"It was never to be malicious. It was the challenge of being able to do it. You wouldn't understand."

"I do," Richie said with a smirk. "It's the nerd equivalent of havin' the biggest dick."

"You're disgusting, Richie," Melinda sneered.

Heather spoke up before an argument could start again. "Okay, so Jason finds out where all the students live -- shit, that is scary that you can do that, Jason -- and then we keep an eye out for new students with auras. Then we get the name and find out the address and have Cassie watch that area. Is that the plan?"

"Sounds okay to me, if Cassie is agreeable to it," Jason said.

"I don't get this," Richie said. "How is this gonna help? I mean, yeah, great, we save some of them. Nyssa's gonna just keep doing it, right?"

The others exchanged looks.

"Well, what else can we do?" Jason asked. "Isn't it better to do something we know we can do rather than just do nothing until we come up with the 'perfect plan'?"

Richie mulled over this. "Yeah, I guess," he grunted.

"Jason, we have to go," Heather said. "We couldn't get away for very long. Our parents are having relatives over for dinner. We're supposed to be just at the store."

"Jason, remember what you promised me!" Melinda said as Heather grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the door.

Jason sighed. "I'll try, Melinda."

Melinda gave him a wan smile just before she and her sister left.

"What was that all about?" Richie asked.

"I promised her I'd try to find some time alone for us."

Richie smirked. "Gonna get horizontal with her, huh?"

Jason gave Richie an indignant look.

"Okay, sorry. Sheesh. Should be glad you got a steady girlfriend willin' to let you screw her."

"I guess I better get going back home, too. I'll call you."

Richie watched his friend get up and start for the door. He bit his lip. When Jason was halfway to the door, Richie leapt up from the sofa and caught up with him.

"Hey, uh, I wanted to ask you something," Richie started. "You, uh, really think this Nyssa chick is making people's fantasies come true?"

"Well, to an extent, yes. Ones that involve controlling someone, or making them do what you want. Or changing their personality."

Richie just nodded slowly, his eyes distant.

"What?"

"Huh? Nothin'. Just thinkin'. Listen, uh ... I never thanked you guys for doin' what you did."

Jason just shook his head. "Thank Heather the next time you see her. She's the one that had the premonition about you."

"Premonition? Shit, you think she can see the future or something?"

Jason paused. "You know, I've been so concerned about everything else that this is the first time I've thought about that. Yeah, I guess she did, in a way. We'll have to talk about that at some point."

"You think she can sense when one of us is in trouble?"

"I don't know. There's a lot I don't know about this. I thought Mara just gave us the power to see the Darkness. I didn't think she had given us anything more. I'm a bit confused about it at the moment. Sorry I can't offer any more information than that."

Richie paused and just nodded. "Okay, man. I'll see ya soon."

Jason nodded and headed out.

Richie turned away from the door and headed up the stairs to his room. He plopped himself down on his bed and looked over to his backpack. He sighed in the knowledge that he still had a ton of homework to do for Tuesday. He cursed under his breath and shook his head, wondering why the hell teachers thought they should assign homework on the holiday.

After a few moments, he swung his legs over that side of the bed and leaned over to grab the top of the backpack. He opened it and peered inside. One of the subjects he had the biggest amount of work in was history.

Richie let go of the backpack and gave it a vicious kick before lying back down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

Richie had no intention of doing the work. He didn't think Miss Linda Davis had any right to be demanding anything from him. She wasn't even a real teacher. Real teachers were not that young and not that attractive.

Richie frowned. If he had the ability to make a fantasy come true, there would be no more of this. He'd change things to the way they ought to be. That's what he would do if he had that power.

"If I had it," he muttered softly into the air.

Nyssa moaned loudly as her body shuddered in pleasure. She lay on the sofa in the reception area, her head tilted back against the hand rest as she lifted one leg more fully along the back. Her hand clutched at Laura's hair and pulled Laura's face against her very wet pussy.

Laura uttered several muffled yelps as she struggled to breathe. She finally managed to tilt her head back and pant hard through her nose, already out of breath. Despite trying to gasp in air, she licked and sucked at her Mistress' swollen clit, never letting her Mistress go even a single moment without pleasure. Every taste of Nyssa's juices made her own arousal soar, her own pussy aching and wet.

Laura was stripped naked save for her panties. Her slave became intensely horny servicing her, and she simply loved watching Laura's panties get soaked and stained as a result. In Nyssa's mind, it only emphasized Laura's total submission and helplessness.

Nyssa panted heavily, now grabbing Laura's hair with both hands and tossing her head back. She uttered shrill cries as she rose, fingers curling and tightening her hold. Laura sensed her Mistress' need for release and sucked Nyssa's clit into her mouth.

Seconds later, Nyssa uttered a wail, her pussy exploding in Laura's face. Hot fluid spurted against Laura's mouth and cheeks, dribbling down her chin and dripping onto the floor. Laura moaned as her pussy ached in unsatisfied desire. When she shifted her legs, moisture squished audibly between her thighs.

Nyssa sighed in contentment and smiled down at Laura. "Mmmm, that was nice," she purred. "Stand up, slave."

Laura did as she was bid. Lingering moisture from Nyssa's pussy glistened on her face and ran down her cheeks and chin. "Yes, Mistress," she said softly.

Nyssa smiled and drew herself into a seated position, folding one leg under her and letting the other foot rest on the floor. "I envy you, slave, do you know that?" she said.

"Envy me, Mistress?" Laura asked with some surprise in her otherwise obedient voice. "How so?"

"Your enslavement of Marcie."

"She's not enslaved to me yet, Mistress."

"Oh, I know. I'm talking about the process itself. A nice, slow capture. Every little change you do her is immediately permanent. No going back if you suddenly stopped."

"Why would I want to stop, Mistress?"

"To tease her. To torture her. Give her a tantalizing little taste of the pleasure she'll get being your little fucktoy. Then refuse to bring her the rest of the way for a bit." She licked her lips. "You'd have her begging you to be enslaved. Mmm, delicious."

Laura closed her eyes briefly and moaned softly, her already aroused and excited body trembling with the need for release. "That's different from what you're doing, Mistress?"

"Oh, yes," Nyssa said, leaning forward. "Make no mistake, slave. All the ones that I have taken, and the ones they have taken are very much my pets. But it's not permanent, not yet. Yet the longer they remain as they are, the more permanent it becomes. Even if I were to leave this minute, there's already been some change to their little minds.

"But since I'm not going anywhere ..." She pauses, her smile becoming wicked. "Their minds get molded a little more each day. Ooo, poor Sally Franner. Such a smart girl she was. Won't be too long before all she can do is shop, fuck, and giggle."

Laura felt a wave of heat pass over her. Only a week ago the thought would have repulsed her. Now she felt turned on by it. She wondered how much Nyssa had molded her own mind. She no longer felt there was much left of what she was. What was Laura Bendon now was a completely different person.

Yet ...

There was still something. There was still a tiny lingering doubt. It was a very small voice at the back of her mind, where the last vestiges of what was once Laura Bendon still remained. They were still tucked away, nestled in a far corner of her mind. That little tendril of her former self cringed at what Laura had allowed to happen to one of the smartest students at the school.

"Yes, Mistress," Laura breathed, the intense longing drowning out that tiny voice.

Nyssa grinned and gestured for her slave to approach. She reached up and hooked a finger into Laura's panties. She slid her finger back and forth slowly and teasingly, now and then giving the panties a furtive tug and letting them snap back. Laura uttered tiny, desperate moans, her body trembling.

"You want to cum, don't you, slave?" Nyssa cooed. She ran her other hand along the inside of one of Laura's thighs.

"Uhhhn ... please, yes, Mistress ..." Laura moaned.

Nyssa's lips curled. Her fingers played softly up Laura's thigh. One finger slipped under the crotch of her panties and tugged it to one side. Laura panted in anticipation, but her aching pussy was not given the satisfaction it needed. Instead, Nyssa slid her finger in the lower part of Laura's folds until it was wet with Laura's juices. She let the panties snap back, drawing a whimper from Laura. Nyssa smiled and put her wet finger in her mouth, licking it clean and savoring the taste of Laura's helpless arousal.

"Not yet," Nyssa said, standing up. "You have something else to do for me today."

Nyssa cupped Laura's breasts. Laura shuddered and let her breath go as a ragged sigh as Nyssa stroked her throbbing nipples. "Yes, Mistress ... anything ... anything you want ..."

"Someone took the little Dreamer from me," Nyssa said, her voice soft but her eyes ice-hard. "Someone stopped Richie Gardner from being her eager little slave."

Nyssa took Laura's nipples in her fingers and lightly squeezed them. Laura began panting hard, as if out of breath.

"There were some others with them," Nyssa whispered hotly against Laura's lips. "Find out who they were."

"Uhhnn ... M-Marcie ... d-didn't know who th-they ..."

"No, she doesn't. She is rather a ditz, isn't she? You're doing her a favor by offering to do her thinking for her ..." Nyssa flicked her thumbnails against Laura's nipples. "Aren't you?"

"Oh God ... y-yes ... uhhn ... yes ..."

"They got a ride home with Richie's mother. Find out from her. You have control over her. Use it. Then ... and only then ... may you come back to me and get a reward."

Nyssa pantomimed giving Laura a kiss, stopping a hair's breadth from actually touching her lips to Laura's. She pulled back from her slave. "Get dressed. Calm yourself. And then get me what I want to know."

"Yes, Mistress," Laura said eagerly, her voice breathless. "At once, Mistress."

"Yes, Mom, I'll keep it short," Heather said in exasperation as she took the phone from her mother. She glanced to the side and waited for her mother to walk back into the living room. From that direction, a low murmur of conversation could be heard. She sighed as she said into the phone, "Hello? And this had better be good."

"Well, that's up to you, isn't it?"

Heather blinked in surprise. "Diane?"

"Glad you remember my name."

"Huh? Why wouldn't I? What's the matter?"

"That's what I want to know!" Diane exclaimed softly. There was a long, emotional sigh the other end of the phone. "Why do you hate me, Heather?"

Heather looked aghast. "What?? Hate you? Why do you think I hate you?"

"You haven't called me. You haven't wanted to hang out with me, either in school or after school. You hardly talk to me at all anymore. What am I supposed to think?"

Heather ran a hand through her hair and glanced back towards the living room. Her mother tilted her head and gave Heather a reproachful look, pantomiming tapping a watch.

Heather sighed and nodded quickly. "Diane, this is really a bad time, my Mom's got family over, and ..."

"It's never been a good time for you lately, has it?" Diane said sharply. "It's always something. Look, if there is something on your mind, or something you're busy with, just tell me! Don't keep me hanging here."

"Diane, why are you so upset about this? I don't hate you!"

"Then give me a reason for why you keep avoiding me?"

Heather's mind raced. She could tell from Diane's tone of voice that she was not going to accept being put off any longer. She had to give Diane a real answer. The only question was whether she should lie about it or not.

"Um, okay, Diane," Heather said, making her decision and hoping she would not regret it later. "But if you don't believe me I don't have time to convince you right now. Me and the others think there's something wrong with the school nurse."

There was silence for a moment at the other end. "The nurse? What's wrong with her?"

Heather paused, struggling. "That's hard to explain. We think ... we think she's doing something with the students she examines."

There was a gasp at the other end. "You don't mean she like ... molests them?"

Heather almost agreed with her. It was like a molestation, wasn't it? Just a molestation of the mind rather than the body. "Not quite," Heather replied instead. "It's more that she might not be a real nurse."

"Did you tell the school about this?" Diane said, sounding aghast.

"They won't believe us until we have proof." Heather was growing nervous. Now she was about to fully leave the path of truth. "So we're trying to get that. Melinda, me, Jason, and Richie."

"Why you guys? And why didn't you tell me about this before? I might get called to have an examination by her soon!"

Before Heather could reply, she was startled by the sound of her mother's voice.

"Heather, hang up," Penny said. "This is not the time to be gabbing to your friends."

Heather's eyes flicked over her mother's body. She used to want to avoid seeing the aura, but after what had happened to Jason, now she felt that it was better to keep seeing it. "I'm almost done, Mom, I ..."

"You're done now, Heather. Tell her you'll talk to her later."

Heather paused, but her mother did not budge. Penny appeared determined to hover over her daughter until she hung up.

Heather swallowed. This had started to worry her a little bit over the past few days. Lately her mother had stopped treating Heather quite as the center of her universe like she used to. Usually Heather could get out of these family gatherings, and it was Melinda that was always stuck. Now it was as if she had decided to give equal treatment to both daughters.

She feared that this was not coincidence. Was her mother under Nyssa's influence? Was Nyssa about to spring something on her? Now it was more imperative than ever that Heather keep seeing these auras. It was her only self-defense.

She just hoped she would not have to defend herself against her own mother.

"Heather?" Diane said urgently. "You still there?"

"I have to go, now," Heather said. "Mom wants me off the phone."

"Can you call me back? Or meet me somewhere later?"

"I don't know, I ..."

"Say goodbye, Heather," Penny warned. "Now."

"I have to go. Goodbye."

Heather hung up before Diane's next protest could be voiced

Penny heaved an exasperated sigh. "Heather, I wish I knew what was wrong with you these days."

"I'm sorry, Mom, I just haven't talked to Diane for awhile and ..."

"I don't want to hear it. Really, you need to be more mindful of your own family. That phone call should have taken ten seconds: 'Sorry, Diane, family is visiting us. I'll call you back. Bye.'"

"She was upset, mother," Heather said darkly.

"About what?"

"It's personal."

"No, it's not. I'm your mother, you can tell me."

"I can't."

"Then I definitely don't want to hear it. No more of this. No more personal calls for you or Melinda on the weekends."

Heather gaped at her mother. "What?! You can't do that!"

"I just did. You need to be spending a lot more time with your family than you have been, young lady, and no better time to start than now."

"But ...!"

"No, buts! Now get back into the living room."

"I don't understand why you're suddenly acting like this towards me. You never restricted anything I did! Why ..."

"Now, Heather."

Heather stared at her mother in utter astonishment before finally turning away and trudging back into the living room.

Richie slammed the phone down. "Fuck it! I'm not answering it anymore!"

For the fourth time that evening, he got the same phone call. Some woman asking for Sandra Gardner who simply hung up when he told her she wasn't home. If he tried to ask who it was, she would just repeat the same question until he finally answered "no."

What was maddening to him was that the voice sounded familiar, but he could not quite place it.

Richie was true to his word. When it rang the fifth time, he did not answer it. He let it ring and ring until the person at the other end stopped. About fifteen minutes later, it rang a sixth time. On about the third ring, the door opened downstairs.

"So what the fuck, you too lazy to answer a goddamn phone?!" Sandra called out from below. Before Richie could respond, she snatched the phone from the hook at the kitchen extension. "Yeah, what? I mean, hello?"

"May I speak with Ms. Sandra Gardner?"

"Yeah, that's me, who the hell else would it be? Who is it?"

From upstairs, Richie had come out of his room and was looking over the railing, where he could hear his mother's voice from the kitchen. He rolled his eyes and started back inside.

"This is Principal Laura Bendon, Ms. Gardner, and I need to ask you a very important question."

Sandra shuddered slightly. Her mouth dropped open as she inhaled sharply. "Bendon?" she said weakly.

Richie heard the name float up to him and he froze just across the threshold. It suddenly clicked in his mind now to whom the voice on the phone belonged.

Oh shit, what did I do now? was his first thought as he returned to the railing.

"Ms. Gardner, when you picked up Richie from detention this past Friday, I believe you also gave a ride to several other students?"

Sandra swallowed. "Why do you want to know?" she insisted, her voice quavering.

Richie had to strain to hear. He finally had to walk halfway down the stairs to hear better, though he could tell that his mother's voice was troubled. Fuck, I must've really screwed up, he thought.

"It's a very simple question, Ms. Gardner. I'm sure you can answer it."

"What if I don't want to? What if I don't think it's any of your business who was with me?"

Richie furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Now, Ms. Gardner," said Laura in a softer tone of voice. "Don't be like this. You were so cooperative with me when we discussed the medical program here at school. You do remember that conversation, do you not?"

Sandra closed her eyes as her thighs quivered. She let out her breath as a very soft moan.

"You objected at first, yes, but you quite well ... submitted ... to reason in the end, and allowed your child to be in this fine program."

Sandra panted lightly. She fell into a chair, spreading her legs. "Y-yes, I did ... " she said in husky voice. "I did submit ..."

Richie blinked a few times. He advanced to the bottom of the steps. He hadn't caught everything, but he did catch the word "submit," and there was no mistaking the tone of her voice. Holy shit, it's like when she ...

He didn't let himself complete the thought, but a shiver went up his spine nonetheless.

Sandra felt the strong compulsion to obey, as she had so many times over the years. Yet this time she felt something she had not felt for a long time: the urge to fight against it. "Y-you ... you made me submit ..."

"Not I, Ms. Gardner," said Laura smoothly. "But that is not the point. The point now is that you are thinking about precisely what I want you to think about, and you are getting too horny to want to refuse to answer my questions any longer. Is that a correct assessment, Ms. Gardner?"

Sandra gripped the phone tightly, her body quivering. Her feeble resistance was already being brushed aside. "Yes ... " she answered in a tiny voice as she slipped her hand under her panties.

"And you will not cum until you answer me to my satisfaction."

Sandra simply panted hard in response.

"Now, again, Ms. Gardner. Were there other students that you gave a ride to that day?"

Her fingers slid over slick flesh. Pleasure rose and with it the words that Laura wanted from her."Yes, there were ... oh yes ... ohhh ..."

His mother's voice had dropped below his ability to perceive her coherently. When he stepped forward again, he stopped short when he heard something that sounded like a moan.

"Who were they, Ms. Gardner?"

Sandra whimpered as she played lightly with her clit. She wanted to stroke herself more firmly but could not get herself to do it. The hold that Haven had in her mind was too well-established after all this time. She would do nothing that it did not want her to do. Yes, it was Laura Bendon giving the orders, but as familiar as she was with the Darkness by now, she knew the power was not Laura's.

At the same time, she desperately wanted to protect Richie. This allowed her one last measure of defiance. "Wh-why ... why do you n-need to know?"

There was a pause. Then Laura said in a soft voice, "Ms. Gardner, you don't want to be a bad little girl, do you?"

Sandra shuddered. Her arousal soared to nearly painful levels. Her swollen nipples throbbed under her bra. If she needed any more proof Haven was working through Laura, that was it. How else would she know Sandra's trigger phrase?

"S-Sovert," Sandra breathed. Her fingers moved faster under her panties. "The Sovert girls. Both of them. And ... a-and his friend Jason ..."

Richie was very nearly at the kitchen door now, and his eyes widened. He had caught the names and the rising sultriness to his mother's voice.

"Thank you, Ms. Gardner. You've been very helpful."

"Have ... h-have I been a good little girl?" Sandra mewled.

Outside the room, a look of utter shock and incredulity came to Richie's face. Seconds later, he bolted and fled to his room.

"Oh, yes, Ms. Gardner," said Laura wickedly. "A very good girl indeed."

"Oh, thank you! ... Thank ... ohhh ... uhhh ... uhhhnn!!"

Sandra's hips bucked in the chair as she came.

Upstairs, Richie booted up his computer.

"Sorry, Jason, the girls are not taking any calls."

Jason quelled a surge of panic and forced himself to keep his voice steady. "Is something wrong, Mrs. Sovert?"

"Nothing is wrong. I'm just not allowing them any phone calls on weekends anymore."

Now Jason was worried. First Richie had IM'ed him in a panic about Richie's mother mentioning the girls and himself to the principal and now this. And there was his own father's sudden burst of concern over his son. It was too much to be coincidental. Maybe Nyssa was already trying to strike back at them.

He had to play it cool with Penny Sovert. He couldn't risk angering her, regardless of whether she was doing this to help Nyssa.

"I understand, Mrs. Sovert," Jason said politely. "Though may I ask for an exception when it comes to Melinda, since she's my girlfriend?"

"You may ask, but I'm not going to grant it. You're both too young to be that obsessed over each other, anyway, so certainly anything you need to say to her can wait until you get back to school."

"May I call her tomorrow, ma'am?"

"What did I just say about no calls on the weekend?"

"Tomorrow is Monday, Mrs. Sovert."

"Jason, there is a fine line between being wise and being a wise-guy. You just crossed it."

There was a click as Penny hung up.

Jason put the receiver back on the hook, worry hanging over him like a pall. He wondered at first why they had not emailed him or IM'ed him about this, until he remembered that they were still on dial-up. Apparently their personal use of the phone was extended to internet connectivity as well.

He could not help but think this was intended specifically to cut off all outside contact with the girls, at least for this weekend. Was Nyssa planning to do something against them?

Jason sighed as he sat down heavily on his bed. He couldn't decide whether there was a real danger or he was being paranoid. One thing was for certain: he had to figure out a way to get Melinda out of her house tomorrow. Now he needed to spend time with her as much as she seemed to need to spend time with him.

Penny Sovert sat up in bed. She turned her head and looked towards the still body of her husband as he slept beside her.

She sighed softly and glanced down at herself. Her nightgown had come loose some time after she had gone to bed. She drew it back over her bare breasts before smoothly sliding out of bed and onto her feet.

Her nightgown came down only to the tops of her thighs. It was translucent, revealing the soft, skin of her naked body beneath even in the feeble illumination of the night light from the bathroom.

This was all that she ever wore to bed anymore. Her husband David hardly noticed. But then he didn't notice a lot of things. He didn't notice how they no longer had sex anymore, or how it was odd that she worked a full-time job and barely brought any income from it into the household income. Even now, he would not awaken to his wife leaving the bed, not unless she wanted him to awaken.

Penny slipped out of the bedroom and padded down the hall to the girls' bedroom. The door was closed, a privilege she had grudgingly allowed them. She paused at the door and placed her hand lightly upon it. She cast a sad, troubled gaze at it, then let her hand slowly slide down and fall to her side. Her eyes dropped as well as she leaned against the frame of the door.

She wished she could warn them. She wished she could tell them of all the dangers, of all the temptations, of all the trouble that awaited them growing up in Haven. She could do none of this. It was astonishing that she was allowed this, just to stand outside their door brooding, knowing full well if one of them were to awaken and see her there, she would be hard-pressed to tell them what she was doing.

Instead, she had to be content with what she could get away with, things that she hoped would not be noticed. The moment they were noticed, she would be "adjusted." She had already been adjusted more times than she could remember. She had already been given sexual cravings she never had before, but now could not do without. She could not risk being adjusted to no longer caring about her daughters' welfare.

Or worse: adjusted into happily turning them over to the same Darkness that had already claimed her.

The idea of cutting off the girls' phone privileges had been an impulse. She was rather shocked that she had been allowed to get away with it. But it would serve a purpose. It would hinder them from trying to plan anything foolish with their other friends. It would protect them a little while longer.

At least, this is what she thought.

Penny sighed again and closed her eyes. Please, Heather and Melinda, don't try to fight this, she thought the words she wished she could tell them. Don't fight what's happening at the school. Don't anger it. Don't draw attention to yourselves. Just let me try to help you as best I can.

Penny gave the door another forlorn look before turning away and heading back to bed. She had to get her sleep. It was Labor Day in the morning, and it would be a very busy day at the Li'l Missy Inn.

She shuddered and uttered a breathy, lustful sigh. Just thinking about it was making her wet.

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