 

Chapter 3
 
_ _
 
            Amber was sitting with Andrew on the couch when the
doorbell rang.  It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, and neither one of
them was expecting any guests.  Andrew got up to see who it was.
 
            On opening the door, Andrew was greeted with a lovely
blonde lady, roughly three inches shorter than his mother.  She had
deep green eyes and a warm smile.  Her body was that of a model. 
Andrew shook off the effects of the young woman’s beauty and said,
“Yes?”
 
            “Hi.  I’m Cheryl.  Are you Andrew?”
 
            “Do I know you?” he asked suspiciously.  Again, he
remembered Isaac’s warning about new friends.
 
            “Not yet.  Is your mom home?”
 
            From over on the couch, Amber called out, “Andy?  Who is
it?”
 
            Andrew just waved the young lady in.  “She says her name is
Cheryl.”
 
            On seeing Amber, Cheryl’s face lit up in a smile.  “Aunt
Amber!”
 
            Amber rose slowly, taking in the girl, who now moved to hug
her.  Andrew watched in confusion.  *Aunt?  I didn’t even know Mom had
brothers or sisters.*
 
            “Cheryl… little Cheryl?  Donna’s little girl?”  The young
lady shook her head affirmatively.  “Well, I’ll be damned!  The last
time I saw you was…” her voice trailed off, thinking about that time.
 
            “Mom?” Andrew said, trying to get some information.
 
            “Oh, shit.  Where are my manners?  Andy, this is your
cousin, Cheryl.  She’s my sister’s daughter.”
 
            “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
 
            “Well…”
 
            Cheryl could sense the tension.  “Mom was cast out of the
family for being different.  She’s a witch, you see.”
 
            Andrew’s head was spinning a bit.  He felt he should sit
down.  He slumped down into a chair.  Cheryl sat down gingerly across
from him, looking into his eyes.  “She was a little misguided.  She was
worshipping evil powers.  The family shunned her for it.  I think she
often thought about getting revenge, but couldn’t bring herself to hurt
her own family.”
 
            “What’s happened to her?” Amber wanted to know.
 
            “Eventually, the witchcraft got the better of her, and she
went insane.  She’s in a home now.  It’s a nice place, but of course,
she’s too out of it to notice.”
 
            Andrew was slowly regaining his footing.  “So, why come to
us?  I’ve never even *heard* of you.”
 
            “Well…” she started slowly, not certain how she would be
received, given her mother’s past.  “I, too, have practiced magic,
though not witchcraft.  My abilities come from more natural sources.  A
couple of weeks ago, I began to feel a strong pull.  This sometimes
happens between magicians of the same family line.  I had some business
to take care of, and couldn’t get away immediately, but as soon as I
could, I came here, which is where the magic led me.  I didn’t think
the magic could come from Aunt Amber.  I didn’t believe she’d be able
to overcome the family prejudice.  Now that I see you, Andrew, I know
you have to be the magician.  Your aura is very clear.”
 
            Andrew nodded slightly.  He could see her aura, as well. 
He’d guessed that she had some magic abilities when he first saw her,
but he didn’t yet have the experience to interpret level of skill or
intent through an aura.  He returned his mind to the conversation. 
“So, what do you want?”  It seemed a rude way to phrase it, but there
wasn’t ever a kind way to ask that particular question.
 
            Cheryl blushed a little, embarrassed.  “I’m not sure.  I
don’t really know why I’m here.  Only that the pull was very strong,
and it led me right to you, even though I hadn’t a clue how to find you
at first.  A little digging led me to Aunt Amber… I wasn’t even sure
that was who I was supposed to find, but the magic sometimes leads you
without you knowing it.”
 
            Andrew nodded.  He was fully aware of the control magic had
over him.  It gave him power, but it also demanded something in
return.  He was still getting used to the concept.
 
            “Well!” Amber cut in, trying to lighten the mood.  “I am so
glad to see that you are doing well.  Perhaps you will stay for dinner?”
 
            “I’d love to,” Cheryl said, her eyes never leaving Andrew. 
He smiled at her, and then they all went into the kitchen to see what
they could gather together for a meal.
 
 
 
            Dinner went well, right up to the dessert.  Halfway through
it, Cheryl paused and asked, “Aunt Amber?  Where’s your husband? 
Doesn’t he eat with you?”
 
            There was a protracted silence, and Cheryl feared she had
really stepped in it.  Amber tried to clear her throat, and Andrew
looked strangely amused.  Finally, he broke the silence.  “Mom, you
want to give us a few minutes?  I think it’ll be more comfortable if we
talk alone for a little while.”
 
            Amber looked extremely relieved to have the situation
handled for her.  Cheryl took note of this.  Amber excused herself to
the living room, and Andrew finished up his ice cream.
 
            “Why don’t we go out back?  It’ll be more comfortable.” 
Cheryl agreed, and they went out into the small back yard.  She quickly
took in the surroundings: an old tree house in the corner of the yard,
a dilapidated, rusting swing set, and a bench under a shade tree.  They
walked over to the bench and sat down.
 
            “Where do I begin?” he said, more to himself than to her. 
She remained quiet.  After a few moments, he started in.  “About the
time you felt the pull to find me, I received this ring.”  He held it
up so she could see it, and then he continued.  “The ring is the
original source of my magic.  It has the power to… uh… control people.”
 
            Cheryl nodded, but gave no other visible reaction.  She was
not unfamiliar with such objects, though she hadn’t run across one with
this type of power before.
 
            “Well, among the other things I’ve done with it, I had to
stop Dad from beating Mom up.”
 
            “Oh.  Shit.  I hate those kind of men.”
 
            “Yeah, well, he doesn’t bother Mom or me anymore. 
Joannie’s not getting the royal treatment now, though.”
 
            “Joannie?”
 
            “My bitch of a sister.”
 
            “What did you do to her?”
 
            “I’m making Dad… um… ‘repay’ her for all the shit she’s
given us.”
 
            Cheryl read something into his hesitancy.  “Where does your
Dad sleep now?”
 
            Andrew’s reluctance to answer the question told her what
she really needed to know.  Finally, he answered, “In Joannie’s room.”
 
            “I see.  And where do you usually sleep?”  There was a
glimmer of amusement in her voice.  She had heard of such
relationships.  She’d even dallied with a few spells herself, but being
an only child with no father, she didn’t have the chance to do what she
suspected he was doing.
 
            Andrew turned a bright red before replying in an
almost-mumble, “With Mom.”  He looked into her eyes to get her
reaction.  He saw no derision or shock there.
 
            “Well, that means there’s a bed free for me, right?” she
asked quickly.
 
            Andrew was stunned.  He had not expected her to be
interested in even continuing the conversation after that kind of
revelation, let alone spend the night.  “Uh… yeah… I guess.  If you’re
going to need one.”
 
            “Unless you’re going to make me sleep on the floor…”
 
            “No!” he said hurriedly.  “I just didn’t… I mean… oh,
fuck.  Er… um, sorry about that.”
 
            She laughed lightly.  “It’s okay, I swear like everyone
else.  Especially when some dickhead from accounting comes into my
office to tell me why they turned down another research proposal.”
 
            “Oh.  You work for a big company?”
 
            She laughed again.  “Actually, I own a big company.  I
know, I’m really young, but it was Mom’s corporation, and when she went
around the bend, it became mine.  It’s hard trying to run it, but I
haven’t had anything better to do with my life.”  She left it unclear
as to whether being here was something better to do with her life.
 
 
 
            Andrew and Cheryl talked for long hours, discussing their
pasts, their presents, and a lot about magic.  Cheryl was intrigued
that he had found a teacher so quickly.  He explained that it was more
the other way around.  She said she would be glad to teach him whatever
she could, if Rachel didn’t fill in all of the little details.
 
            It was very dark before they came back inside.  Amber had
returned to watching television, and smiled up at them as they came
in.  Andrew just smiled at her, to let her know things were okay.
 
            “Cheryl wants to spend a few days with us, to catch up on
things and get to know us better.  That’s okay, right?”
 
            “Well, you know it is, honey.  Where will we put her,
though?”
 
            “She can sleep in my room.  I guess I’ll just have to sleep
in with you while she’s here.”  Cheryl noted how Amber’s face took on a
serene smile.  She wondered at any magical item that could have that
kind of power.  She did not know that the ring was not the culprit in
this instance.
 
            “Speaking of sleeping,” Cheryl said, yawning.  “I’m pretty
damned tired.  Anyone mind if I turn in?”
 
            “Let me show you my room…er, your room,” Andrew said.  He
led her back to his bedroom.  “I realize it’s a bit of a mess,” he said
as they entered.  “I wasn’t expecting to have a girl over.  At least,
not tonight.”  He blushed at the admission, and she giggled.
 
            “It’s okay.  I’ve seen a lot worse.  I’ll just get my bag
out of the car, and settle in.”
 
“I’ll get it.”
 
“Thank you.”  She handed him the keys, and he was gone.  It didn’t take
him long before he was back with a heavy suitcase.
 
            “What’ve you got in here, a bag of bricks?”
 
            “Just clothing.  I didn’t know how long I’d be staying.” 
She made it clear that this issue was mainly up to him.
 
            “Oh.  Well… we’ll talk about that later, then.  I’ll let
you get your rest.  Good night.”
 
            “Good night, Andrew.”
 
 
 
            It felt very unusual for Andrew to have a third person in
the kitchen while eating breakfast.  He had grown used to being alone
with his mother, and it hadn’t taken very long.  As pleasant as Cheryl
was, she still felt like an interloper.  But he figured he’d adjust to
this too, while she was here.
 
            Which was another issue.  He had tried to discuss the issue
with his mother, but she simply told him that Cheryl could stay as long
as he wanted her to.  He’d tried to get out of her what she wanted, but
she wouldn’t venture an opinion on the matter.
 
            He was considering the issue throughout his school day.  It
was an easy day, with no tests or pop quizzes, and he kept about half
of his attention on his classes.  The rest he used to mull over his
situation.
 
            This contemplation was brought to its focus at lunch, when
Charli joined him, as was now their custom.  She gave him a quick kiss
before sitting down.  Her presence only brought to the fore his problem
concerning her:  How could he have a normal relationship with one girl
when he was regularly sleeping with others?
 
            Charli noticed his faraway look.  “Something wrong?” she
asked quietly.
 
            Her question actually startled him, so heavy was his
concentration.  “Huh?  Oh.  No, not really.  Just thinking about some
stuff.  How’s your day going?”
 
            “Same old crap.  Listen, I wanted to thank you for
understanding on Saturday.  It’s not that I don’t… I mean… I just
wasn’t ready.”
 
            He reached across and took her hand lightly.  “I know
that.  It’s okay, really.  I had a good time.  I enjoyed being with
you.”  She smiled warmly at him, and that only sent a stab of guilt
deep into his heart.
 
            Lunch was a quiet affair, until near the end.  Then, she
asked him, “Hey, what’s the next phase of Joannie’s torture?”
 
            “Well, you can keep telling people she’s bi.  Also, I want
you to hint around that she may actually be sleeping with older guys
for money.”
 
            “You want me to tell people your sister’s a prostitute?” 
He nodded.  She considered for a moment.  “Well, okay.  Hell, I
wouldn’t put it past her.”
 
            *Not with a little help.  She may actually grow to enjoy
it.*
 
            The bell rang, and they parted with a kiss.
 
 
 
            Andrew’s next disturbance for the day was in English
class.  Miss Walker was back to wearing her very revealing outfits. 
Today’s blouse was so thin that she had to avoid standing in front of
bright lights, and she clearly was not wearing a bra.
 
            He sat down in his seat, prepared to get to work.  She came
over to him just before the bell rang.  “I need to see you after
class,” she said softly.  He nodded, but didn’t say anything.  He
wasn’t sure his voice wouldn’t betray his feelings.  She had asked him
to stay away from her, at least until they could find a solution to the
Demar problem.  Andrew got angry just thinking about what that shit was
doing to his teacher.
 
            *How is it different from what you were doing to her?*  He
didn’t want to try to answer that question, and so he turned his
thoughts, as best he could, to the work at hand.
 
            The class seemed to drag on for an eternity.  His mind
continued to ponder what she might want from him at this point.  Did
she want him to transfer out of her class?  He knew he wouldn’t use the
ring on her any more than he already had.  He’d become attached to her
as she was, and he already felt bad enough.
 
            Finally, the bell rang.  He didn’t even bother moving from
his seat as the rest of the kids filed out.  He stood up only as the
last one was walking out the door.  Leaning against his desk, he waited
for her to say what was on her mind.
 
            She approached him slowly, her face under rigid control
until she was within a step of him.  Then, able to hold it together no
longer, she threw her arms around him and broke down, sobbing.  She
rested her head on his shoulder, and she embraced him as tightly as she
could manage.  He held her lightly, providing encouragement and support
but without implying anything more.  It took several minutes before she
calmed herself enough to let go of him.
 
            Wiping her eyes and sniffling the whole while, she
explained what was wrong.  Mr. Demar had been brutal over the weekend,
beating and raping her repeatedly.  She didn’t understand what had him
so angry.  Andrew thought he knew.  He could see the affect in her
aura.  The orange that had been nearly even with the green was now a
mere spark, barely visible at all.
 
            “I’m sorry, Andy.  I shouldn’t be burdening you with all of
this.  It’s just that you’ve been such a help, and…” she was about to
break into tears again, and so he placed his finger to her lips,
silencing her.
 
            “I don’t mind, Terri.”
 
            “I hope you know, I know you’re doing to me the same thing
he is.”  Andrew nearly panicked at that admission.  “After a while, you
can tell when someone is doing it.  I want you to know, I don’t mind. 
You’re a nice person inside.  I never would have slept with you on my
own, but I don’t regret it.  You’ve helped hold me together in the last
week.  I owe you a lot for that.”
 
            “You don’t owe me anything.  I did what I did mainly for
selfish reasons until I got to know you better.  What I’ve done to you
already… I’m paying you back for that, and will be for years to come.”
 
            “Andy…” she ran out of words after his name, and they just
stood there quietly.  She laid her head on his chest, and they stayed
like that, letting the emotions settle from their previous intensity.
 
            Finally, he felt they should both leave.  As he let her go,
he said, “Terri, I don’t know if I can stop Mr. Demar or not, but I
promise you, I’m going to try.”  She looked at him with a mixture of
gratitude and concern.
 
            “Be careful, please.  I think he already knows that someone
is influencing me.  If he finds out it’s you… I don’t know what he’ll
do.”
 
            “I’ll be careful, but don’t you worry.  We’ll find a way
out of this.”
 
            He left her, wondering if it would be that simple, and
knowing instinctively that it couldn’t be.
 
 
 
            For once, Andrew was glad to be home.  At least here,
everyone knew what was going on.  Or at least, what they were supposed
to be doing.  His sister had already imprisoned herself in her room. 
His father wasn’t home yet.  Amber and Cheryl were in the kitchen,
talking, when he arrived.  He walked over and kissed his mother softly,
and said hello to Cheryl, before grabbing some juice out of the fridge.
 
            “Something wrong, baby?” his mother asked, concerned.
 
            “Nothing you need to worry about,” was his automatic answer.
 
            “Anything I can help with?” Cheryl asked helpfully.
 
            He stifled his automatic “probably not” answer, and instead
said, “Do you know how to defeat a magician of some pretty strong
power?”
 
            “How strong?”
 
            “How the hell am I supposed to know?” he answered in
exasperation.
 
            Cheryl nodded in understanding.  “Sorry, I forget you’re
new at this.  What color is his aura?”
 
            “I don’t know, I’ve never seen it.”
 
            “If he can hide his aura from others, he’s pretty damned
strong.  On the other hand, so are you.  You just don’t know it yet. 
And that ring is immensely powerful.”
 
            “And an awfully big trouble-making sonofabitch,” he
mumbled, mostly to himself.
 
 
 
            It is amazing what kinds of noises a person can become so
used to that they cease to be heard.  Andrew had been doing his
homework in the kitchen, since his room was currently occupied.  He had
taken no notice whatsoever of the sounds coming from the other part of
the house.  However, when they got much louder than normal, he did go
investigate.
 
            He found Cheryl standing in the doorway to Joannie’s room. 
Inside, Jayce and Joannie were going at it hot and heavy.  When Andrew
looked in, Jayce was slamming into his daughter while she lay on her
back in the bed, her clothing in tatters.  Cheryl was almost spellbound
at the sight, watching the father brutally fuck his daughter.  Andrew
watched Cheryl for a while, noting her reaction.  She wasn’t repulsed
at all.  Her mouth turned up in a slight smile, her eyes glimmered
watching the action before her.  Joannie was crying, begging her father
to stop, but in between that, she was moaning.
 
            Andrew reached around and rested his hand on Cheryl’s
waist, pulling her to him.  On an impulse, he slid his hand down to her
ass and squeezed lightly.  It was then that she turned to him.  She
leaned up and they kissed hotly.  Their tongues danced as his hands
mauled her ass.  She was hot and willing, but Andrew needed to do
something else.
 
            He broke their kiss, and looked to the couple on the bed. 
Jayce had moved his daughter so that she was on her hands and knees. 
He rammed into her from behind, her tits swinging with each impact. 
Andrew said to Cheryl, “If you’ll excuse me a minute, I have to give
someone another lesson.”
 
            Cheryl watched as he walked to the bed, unzipping his pants
as he went.  Joannie had her eyes closed, and so didn’t know he was
there until she felt a hand on her head.  When she opened her eyes, she
saw her brother reaching into his pants to pull out his monster dick. 
Her cries intensified, her eyes tearing up at the thought.
 
            Andrew didn’t flinch.  He pulled his cock free from his
pants, and ordered her to suck it.  He heard the slight gasp from
behind him, but he wasn’t sure what startled her.  He didn’t really
care at the moment, as he was stuffing Joannie’s face full of his
prick.  She did the best she could, using her tongue and lips to
moisten his long rod.  Her jaw already hurt as he just began to start a
rhythm.  As Jayce slammed into her cunt, Andrew was thrusting into her
throat.  She felt as if she were about to be ripped apart.  The most
horrible part of it was that she was really turned on.  She was feeling
extremely horny, and wanted nothing more than these two to use her
until she couldn’t even think straight.
 
            Behind him, Cheryl couldn’t move.  Her gasp of surprise had
not been about what he was making his sister do, but about the size of
Andrew’s cock.  She was wet just from looking at it.  It was the
biggest she had ever seen, not that she had seen many.  She felt an
immediate urge to have it in her mouth, her pussy, even her ass, though
she was certain it would tear her apart if he put it there.
 
            Finally, her mind got control of her body, and she moved to
him.  The fucking on the bed was still going strong, though Joannie had
come at least twice already.  Andrew was slamming his cock into her,
and she was moaning around its girth.  Cheryl knelt at Andrew’s feet,
and began to lick his balls as he thrust into his sister.  When he
looked down at her, she stopped to plead with him.
 
            “Let me have it, baby.  This slut doesn’t deserve your
wonderful prick.  I’ll suck you, I’ll fuck you, I’ll do anything you
want me to.  Just let me have this gorgeous cock of yours.”  Cheryl was
surprised at herself.  She had never been this horny in her life.  She
knew he wasn’t using his magic on her: she might not have been able to
stop it, but she would have felt it.  She just really needed his cock
in her right now.
 
            Andrew considered for a second, and then withdrew from his
sister’s mouth.  Before moving away, however, he took his dick and
slapped his sister with it twice.  She looked up at him pitifully.  He
just sneered down at her.
 
            He lifted Cheryl up off her knees, and led her out of the
room, shutting the door behind them.  They quickly made their way to
his room and closed the door there.  By the time he turned around from
closing the door, she already had her shirt off, and was removing her
bra.
 
            Once the bra fell loose, Andrew admired the beautiful tits
before him.  They were not as large as some he’d seen recently, but
they fit her frame perfectly.  He took one in each hand, kneading them
and rolling them in his hands.  She moaned loudly at his touch.  He
leaned over and took one in his mouth, biting it lightly.  She gasped
in pleasure.
 
            Suddenly, he stopped, and backed away.  She opened her eyes
in concern.  He sat down on the bed.  “You said you’d suck me off,
didn’t you?” he asked mischievously.
 
            Immediately, she was on her knees between his thighs.  She
took his prick in her hand, stroking it a few times to return it to
absolute hardness.  Then her lips encircled the tip, her tongue dancing
across the top of the head.  He needed no extra lubrication, as his
sister’s spit still coated his dick.  Cheryl didn’t care: all she knew
was that his prick was about to be fully in her mouth.  It didn’t take
her long to get it there.
 
            Andrew was in heaven as Cheryl’s mouth danced over his
cock.  She was much better than his sister, and far more enthusiastic. 
Her head bobbed up and down as he sat on the edge of the bed, looking
down at her blonde hair bouncing with her movements.  Her one hand
fondled his balls, while her other strayed between her own legs to
finger her clit.  She was frigging her clit so fast that her hand
movements were blurred.  In a flash, she came, moaning out her orgasm
while her mouth was still impaled on his cock.
 
            When she had come down from her orgasm, he was still fully
hard, even though her sucking had slackened.  He picked her up off the
floor, and quickly removed the skirt she had been wearing.  Her panties
were completely soaked, and he yanked these off as well.  With her body
naked except for stockings and shoes, he pulled her onto the bed with
him.  While he remained sitting, he pulled her into his lap, her pussy
fur resting against his dick.
 
            They looked deep into each other’s eyes, and knew what the
other wanted.  Andrew lifted her up, and she reached down to position
the tip of his cock at her opening.  Then he used his hands to slam her
down onto him.  She screamed as her vision blurred and her mind went
into white-hot overload.  She couldn’t even think as she felt herself
being filled up by his nine-inch dick.
 
            Andrew gave her no time to recover.  He used his arms and
hips to move her up and down on his shaft.  He groaned as he watched
her head loll and her tits bounce.  He took a nipple into his mouth and
bit down lightly.  She screamed again, but the sensation allowed her
mind to return to some level of coherence.
 
            “Oh, god… fuck me… shit… yes, baby…  harder… faster… fuck
me…ngh!” her cries continued, urging him to move harder, deeper,
faster.  He complied with her wishes, so that she was bouncing so hard
on his dick that she made an audible *slap!* when she landed in his lap
each time.  The two of them rose higher and higher, their cries and
screams reaching a fever pitch before they both came together.  Andrew
blasted her pussy full of his cum, and her cunt clamped down on him to
draw all of it out of him.
 
            The pair collapsed on the bed, completely drained and
without further energy.  They lay together, Cheryl on top of him, his
dick still inside her, for some time.
 
            When they finally had enough energy to straighten up, He
pushed himself back up to a sitting position.  Cheryl was still in his
lap, his dick still resting just inside her.  He looked up at her, her
hair a sweaty, tangled mess, her face covered with a sheen of sweat. 
She was, at that moment, beautiful.
 
            “Wow,” he said.  “I’ve always wanted to have a kissing
cousin.”  She giggled, and then she kissed him hotly.
 
            “Why stop with kissing?” she asked.  “There’s so much more
fun to be had.”
 
            The night was a long one.
 
 
 
            Andrew woke the next morning, for the first time since
gaining the ring, completely exhausted.  He’d only gotten three hours
of sleep.  As if Cheryl had not been enough for him, Amber had soon
discovered them and joined in.  The two seemed to be totally
insatiable, and had finally let him rest only because he had passed
out.  When he woke, he found them on the floor, cuddled in each other’s
arms.  He rose quietly and slipped from the room, not waking them.  

            He made it out of the house before either of them woke up. 
He picked up Steve as usual, and then drove to the school in silence. 
Once they’d arrived, Steve finally had the guts to ask, “Hey, something
wrong?”
 
            “Nah.  Just tired.  Didn’t get much sleep last night.”
 
            “Father being a shit again?”
 
            “Not lately.  He’s… um… gotten interested in something
other than beating on us.”
 
            “That’s cool.  Hey, maybe things are looking up for you.”
 
            “One can hope.”
 
            As they began to walk toward the building, Steve said,
“Hey, isn’t that Charlotte?”
 
            Andrew looked up.  Sure enough, Charli was waiting for him
at the door.  She smiled upon seeing him, and waved.
 
            “I thought you two weren’t anything, man.”
 
            “I never said that,” Andrew answered with a smirk.  “I just
said you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.  Well, you shouldn’t
*not* believe it, either.”
 
            “Bastard,” Steve responded, laughing.  “I’ll see you later,
okay?”
 
            Steve broke off and headed toward a different door, while
Andrew made his way to the main entry.
 
            “Morning, Charli,” he said, and kissed her.  She returned
the kiss with warmth and grace.
 
            “Mmm.  I should wait for you every morning,” she said with
a smile and a giggle.  “Listen,” she said, turning serious, “I have a
doctor’s appointment today, so I won’t see you at lunch.”
 
            “Oh.  Okay.  Be kinda dull without you, but I guess I’ll
manage.”
 
            Charli hesitated for a moment.  She finally said, “Can I
come over tonight?  There’s something… um…”
 
            She seemed awfully nervous about something, so he said,
“Sure.  It’s always okay if you come over.  I told you, you’re welcome
at any time.”
 
            She sighed in relief, and smiled.  “Okay.  It’s just…
there’s something… well, we can talk about it tonight.  See you then.” 
She kissed him again, and was gone, fading into the distance down the
hallway.  He wandered to his first class, wondering what that was all
about.
 
 
 
            Andrew ambled through his day, being bored with most of his
classes.  He noticed that the girls in the school had started looking
at him differently, and he wondered if that had something to do with
the ring.  Finally, he got up the nerve to ask one of the girls he knew
what was going on.
 
            “Hey, Natalie,” he greeted between classes.
 
            “Oh, hey, Andrew.  I see you and Charli are getting pretty
serious, huh?  Good for you!”
 
            “Yeah, I needed to ask you a question, though.”
 
            “Shoot.”
 
            “I’ve noticed that a lot of the girls are… um… looking at
me differently lately.  Do you know why?”
 
            “Well, shit, Andrew.  When you started going around with
Charli, every girl was asking her how she could go out with a… um…”
 
            “Pervert?  I know about my sister.”
 
            Natalie blushed.  “Yeah.  So, Charli told all the girls
about you, how you were so gentlemanly and everything.  She told us
that Joannie was just being a shit.  Of course, some of the other stuff
she’s been saying about Jo…”
 
            “Like what?” Andrew wanted to know.
 
            “Well, she said that your sister is like, into girls.  Not
lezzie, but she’ll do it with women.”  Natalie’s face screwed up in
some disgust.
 
            “My sister’s pretty sick, Natalie.”
 
            “That’s just gross.  I mean… a girl?  Yuck!”  Andrew
laughed, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
 
            “Okay, okay,” he stopped laughing and calmed down.  “Thanks
for filling me in.  I’m glad someone decided to set the record
straight.”
 
            “Hey, Andrew?” she said.
 
            “Yeah?”
 
            “If the thing with Charli don’t work out, call me.”  She
walked off, leaving him stunned.  Natalie had always been nice to him,
but had never shown the slightest hint of interest.  *More of the
ring’s doing, I’ll bet.*
 
 
 
            When lunch rolled around, Andrew expected to be bored. 
Charli was off at her doctor’s appointment, and he had grown used to
not sitting with the geek squad.  Besides, his sister was still
dominating the table’s attention, though she had moved on from Jake to
some of the other geeks in the group.  He hoped that each of them would
get laid by her before she was expelled from the school.  He knew what
he had planned would be too much for the school board to take.
 
            His thoughts wandered, thinking about nothing in particular
while he ate his meal.  He didn’t see the lovely, raven-haired girl
walk across the room.  He scarcely noticed as she sat down.  When she
spoke, his attention was rapidly jarred back to reality.
 
            “Hello, Andrew.  How are your studies coming?”
 
            There were so many double entendres in that statement that
he didn’t want to think about it.  “Uh… fine.  Hi, Rachel.  What brings
you to the school?”
 
            “Terri Walker’s aura, of course.  You asked me to look into
it, remember?”
 
            “Oh, yeah.  So, did you figure out what it was?”
 
            “Yes.  She is fighting Demar’s control.  She can’t win, not
without help, but she is making a concerted effort.  Your influence on
her is strong, and it has allowed her to break some of the bonds of her
controller.”
 
            “Oh.  How can I help her?”
 
            “You can do little more than you have already done.  At
least through this avenue.  The only way to truly free her is to kill
Demar.”
 
            “*Kill* him?  I thought we’d just have to fight him, you
know, beat him and then he’d go away, or… something…” his voice trailed
off, as he realized he was sounding very childish.
 
            Rachel smiled tolerantly.  “Unfortunately, there is little
honor among people like Bradley Demar.  His kind only understand force,
and wield it like its own special brand of magic.  He will not listen
to reason.  He will not conform to any code of honor.  He will only
obey someone because they are stronger than he is.  The only person
here that fits that description is you.”
 
            “But, I’m not…”
 
            “Yes, you are.  You may not know it, but you are far
stronger than I am.  You are quite a lot stronger than Demar.  But you
must learn to use that power.  And we don’t have a lot of time.  As
your power grows, he will know that you are a threat.  He will,
eventually, try to get rid of you as the competition you represent.”
 
            “You mean, he’s going to try to kill *me*?”
 
            “In all likelihood.”
 
            “Fuck.”
 
            “Yes, that sums it up rather nicely.  By the way, I took
note of your new house guest.”
 
            “You’ve been spying on me?”
 
            “Keeping an eye on, yes.  I just wanted you to know, she is
genuine.  She really is your aunt’s daughter, and your aunt really is
in an asylum.  She can, perhaps, teach you some things about magic that
I do not know.  As I said, my powers are not great.”
 
            “Oh.  Well, thanks for letting me know.  I guess.”
 
            She smiled again, that warm, friendly smile that he saw
only rarely.  She rose from the table.  “I will see you again, on
Saturday.  Good day to you, Andrew.”
 
            “Bye.”  He sat, pondering the things she had said.  Life
had suddenly gotten much more complicated.
 
 
 
            After his lunchtime talk with Rachel, Andrew was unfocused
and disconcerted.  Not only did he now have to worry about how he was
treating everyone around him, and how Charli would react if she found
out, he had the added pleasant thought that someone was eventually
going to try to kill him.  It was not a good afternoon.
 
            Miss Walker noted his upset appearance, but he just shook
his head when she started to come over to him.  He didn’t want to worry
her with what was going through his mind at the time.  It wasn’t
pleasant for him, but it would be terrifying for her, and she had
enough on her plate to worry about.
 
            He muddled through until he got home.  When he got in, his
expression immediately tipped off those around him that something was
very wrong.
 
            “What is it, honey?” his mother asked, concern quickly
etching lines in her face.
 
            “Nothing,” he stated flatly, indicating by his tone that
this was the only answer they were going to get.  Remembering
something, he said further, “Cheryl, I’m gonna need my room for a few
hours tonight.  Charli’s coming over, and she seems to want to talk
about something, so we’ll kind of need some privacy.”
 
            “No problem,” Cheryl replied.  “If you want, Aunt Amber and
I can go to a movie or something.”
 
            “No, that’s okay.  Just keep it down to a low moan, okay?”
he said with mock-severity.  The two women blushed and giggled.
 
 
 
            Charli arrived at seven, well after dinner was over.  He
was surprised: he thought she would come for dinner.  After the
greetings were past, he led her back to his room.  She closed the door
as he sat down on the bed.  She moved across and sat beside him, her
head down and her eyes averted.
 
            “What is it, Charli?  Is something wrong?”
 
            “Wrong?  No, nothing’s wrong.  It’s just a little hard for
me to say what I want to say.”
 
            Andrew put his hand on hers, and squeezed lightly in
encouragement.  She finally looked up at him, and smiled wanly.
 
            “You remember the thing we decided not to do on Saturday?”
she asked.
 
            “Uh-huh,” he answered.  Now he was a little nervous.
 
            “Well… I want you to,” she said finally.  “I want you to
make love to me, Andrew.”
 
            Andrew’s head spun.  He had not expected this.  He was
certainly willing, but was it the right thing to do to her?  Without
her knowing what was going on, was it fair?
 
            His thoughts were put on hold momentarily as her lips
engaged his.  He automatically kissed back, his lips parting to admit
her insistent tongue.  His hand slid from hers to move up her body,
resting softly against her breast.  He squeezed lightly, and she moaned.
 
            She broke the kiss, and lay back on the bed.  She started
to unbutton her blouse, and looked up at him in anticipation.  She
didn’t understand why he was shaking.
 
            The more of her flesh she revealed, the more tormented
Andrew became.  He was trying to work it all out in his head, and he
just didn’t have the capability, with her right in front of him, urging
him on.  Finally, his thought process snapped, and he couldn’t take any
more of it.
 
            He rose quickly from the bed, and turned away.  “I can’t,”
he said, his voice sounding shakier than he looked.  “I can’t do that
to you.”
 
            “But, Andy, I want you…” he cut her off.
 
            “No, the Andy you want doesn’t even exist.  You don’t know
me, Charli.  Not the real me.  The person inside the person you see is
not the gentleman you think you know.”
 
            “Andy, what are you talking about?”
 
            “Charli, if you knew the real me, you wouldn’t want this. 
I can’t do this to you.”
 
            “But-“
 
            “Don’t you understand?  No, of course you don’t,” he
answered his own question.  “How could you?  You have no notion of
what’s going on.  Charli, how could you possibly want to sleep with
me?  I’ve screwed… no, I’m *screwing* my own mother!  And one of my
teachers!  You can’t possibly want someone like that.  You’re better
than that, you’re worth more than that.  You deserve better than I
could ever give you.  I…”  His voice cut off, and he had no more
words.  Charli stared at him in shock at his blurted admission.
 
            Andrew bolted from the room, leaving Charli behind, sitting
on the bed, holding her blouse together.  He dashed out the back door
into the back yard.  He stopped only a moment, staring up at the sky. 
*Why me? *he cried out in his mind.  Then he ran for the spot he always
went to think: his old tree house.  He couldn’t remember when it had
been built, it was always there in his memories.  He clambered up into
the dilapidated structure and slumped to the floor.  He drew his knees
up and buried his face in them, his arms coming over the top to try to
drown out the world.
 
            For a brief moment, he felt nothing at all, which was
good.  Then, he started to wonder what Charli would do, what she would
say when she saw him again.  Thinking about Charli caused his mind to
wonder what she was doing that moment.  He felt the familiar tingle of
the ring…
 
 
 
            Charli sat in stunned silence for a long time, not moving,
not really comprehending what had just happened.  After a while, Amber
came into the room.  She didn’t sit next to the girl, but instead
pulled the desk chair out and sat on it, looking at the girl with pity.
 
            “What happened?” she asked softly.
 
            “He… he… just… ran out,” she responded shakily.  “He said…
he said that he was sleeping with you… and a teacher… and… and, then…
then he ran out.  I don’t understand, Mrs. Kelly.”
 
            The girl finally broke into tears, and Amber moved to her
side.  She cradled the girl against her chest, and held her until the
sobs subsided.  She wiped her eyes and sniffled as she tried to regain
her composure.  Amber held her through it all, knowing that this was a
horrible night in two young lives, and all she could do was hope that
she could fix it for both of them.
 
            “Come on in the kitchen, hon.  We’ll make some tea and talk
a bit, okay?”
 
            Charli merely nodded and followed her out.  The other woman
Charli had met had disappeared someplace, and was not seen.  She
slumped down into a kitchen chair as Amber poured already made hot tea
into cups.  She served one to Charli, and then sat down holding her
own.  She took a sip before speaking.
 
            “I won’t lie to you, Charli.  Andrew was telling you the
truth.  I can only imagine just how long it’s been eating at him, going
out with you and not telling you.”
 
            “Well, we haven’t been going out very long.  I mean, I
thought I understood him, but I guess I don’t.”
 
            “How long have you been going out with my son?”
 
            “Saturday was our first date.  Before a week ago Friday, I
thought he was a total creep.  That’s what Joannie told us all about
him.  That he was a sick pervert who did weird shit in bed.  I guess
she was right after all.”
 
            Amber had to control her temper, both at her daughter, and
the girl before her.  Charli’s incomprehension of the situation could
be fixed, but not if Amber lost her cool.
 
            “Charli, if you’ve only really known Andrew since a week
ago Friday, then the Andrew you’ve always known is the one that was
with you tonight.”  Charli looked at her in confusion.  “Andrew has
some magic,” Amber explained.  “He uses it to control people.  But he’s
not controlling me.  At least, he says he’s not: I’m not sure I’d know
for absolute certain if he was.  Cheryl says he’s not.  She also has
magic, and she’d know if he was controlling her or me.”
 
            “But… but he said he was sleeping with you.”
 
            “I suppose it would be fairer to say that I’m sleeping with
him.  I started it all.  You see, after he rescued me from another one
of my husband’s beatings, well, one thing led to another.  He’s the
kindest, gentlest lover I’ve ever known.  He’s also a wildcat when I
need him to be,” she confided in low tones.  “Point is, he could have
stopped the relationship, with the power he has.  He didn’t, I think,
mainly because he loves me.”
 
            “And the teacher?”
 
            “I’ve met her.  She’s a nice lady.  I haven’t really asked
him about her, but I get the idea, from some things that he’s said, and
not said, that she’s in some kind of trouble, and he’s looking for a
way to help her out of it.  That’s Andy for you: he’s always worried
about people in trouble.”
 
            “Like me.”
 
            “Hmm?”  Amber said, taking a sip of tea.
 
            “I used to be Joannie’s ‘best friend’.  Well, okay, I was
her lackey.  I hung around with her because I worried what she would
say about me if I left her.  I mean, if you knew half of what she used
to say about Andrew…  Anyway, when I met Andrew, I mean *really* met
him, he somehow freed me from her.  She’s never once even made a snide
comment about me.”
 
            “That was the magic.  He’s been paying his father and
sister back ever since he got it.  Charli, you need to understand that
Jayce, my husband, and Joannie have treated us both very badly over the
years.”
 
            “Don’t worry, Mrs. Kelly, I understand about revenge.  I’ve
been helping him get even with Jo at school.”  Amber nodded.  “Do you
know which teacher it is?”
 
            “I don’t know her name.  She’s a blonde, very attractive,
long hair.”
 
            “Miss Walker,” Charli said quietly.  She nodded to
herself.  “It would be her.”
 
            “What do you mean?”
 
            “She’s the prettiest woman in the school, and she’s always
been nice to all of us.  She has seemed a bit… strange… at times.”
 
            “I know Andy’s worried about her, but that’s all.”
 
            “But… how am I supposed to accept all of this?  I mean, I
really like Andy, maybe even…” she trailed off, and then restarted on
another front.  “But how am I supposed to deal with this?  Just say
it’s okay, and go on with our lives?”
 
            “Charli, let me ask you a question.  You don’t need to
answer me, but you need to know the answer for yourself.  Why, if
Andrew *can*, isn’t he controlling *you*?”
 
            Charli stared at her, dumbstruck…
 
 
 
            Andrew’s head lifted suddenly.  He wasn’t sure what had
stopped him from viewing the rest.  His mind was once again blank, a
black hole of despair.  His life had been hard, and then was very easy,
and now was overly complicated.  He had a mother he loved, a cousin who
was hot for him, a teacher who doted on him but didn’t want him around
her, and now a girlfriend who would probably loathe him for the rest of
her life.  He couldn’t take it all.  The tears began to flow silently
from his eyes as his head once again lowered to his knees, trying,
unsuccessfully, to shut out the pain.
 
            He would never be sure just how long he sat there, sinking
deeper into his anguish.  He never heard footsteps, but he did feel a
presence beside him.  Its very existence was pulling him out of the
murky quagmire of hopelessness.  His eyes turned, slowly, to meet the
gaze of the one person he both most wanted to see, and was the most
deathly afraid of meeting.
 
            Charli had sunk down to the floor beside him.  She stared
off into space for a few moments, and Andrew couldn’t speak.  He
watched her breathing, as her chest moved in shallow pants, her eyes
unfocused.
 
            Finally, she spoke.  Her voice was a soft whisper, a slip
of silk across the silence of the night.  “Your mother told me you’d be
up here.”  She turned her eyes to face him, but he couldn’t bring
himself to speak.  His mouth hung open in some attempt to make words
come out, but nothing left his throat.
 
            “I need to ask you two questions,” she said, her voice only
slightly stronger.  His eyes remained focused on hers, waiting for the
words he almost dared not hear.
 
            “If I asked you to, would you give them all up for me?”
 
            His mind finally snapped back into gear, at least enough to
compose the answer to her question.  “Yes.”
 
            Her eyes widened slightly in surprise.  It was not the
answer she had been expecting.  She inhaled a deep, heavy breath and
held it for a moment before slowly letting it slip from between her
lips.
 
            “If I walked out of here, and told you I never wanted to
see you again, would you use your powers to make me come back to you?”
 
            This question was far easier for his mind to scrabble
together the answer for.  “No.”
 
            She looked at him for a long moment.  Eventually, she
asked, “Why not?”
 
            “Because I love you.”  His brain had nothing to do with
that answer: his heart had taken control.
 
            She closed her eyes, her head falling back against the wall
of the ramshackle structure.  Tears softly began to flow from her
eyes.  She started to sob, and Andrew instinctively reached for her. 
At his first touch, she turned to him, grasping for the lifeline he
represented in her world.  His arms encircled her, and he held her,
there in the dark, as the world passed by around them.
 
 
 
            Charli stayed for a little while after that, but she had to
go home before her parents got nervous about her whereabouts.  Andrew,
still tired from a stressful day and the lack of sleep the previous
night, went into his room and crashed on the bed, without even
thinking.  He was asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow.
 
 
 
            Andrew awoke the next morning to find that his clothes had
been removed while he slept, and he had been tucked in.  He had rested
dreamlessly and well.  He sprang out of bed, and grabbed some clothes
from his closet.  The fact that he had to do this reminded him that he
didn’t normally sleep here anymore, and he wondered where Cheryl had
chosen to sleep.
 
            He found out a few moments later when he saw her lying
asleep on the couch.  He walked over quietly, and put his hand on her
shoulder.  She opened her eyes lazily, and looked up at him.
 
            “Mmm.  Good morning,” she mumbled.
 
            “Hi.  Sorry about taking your bed.”
 
            “S’okay.  The couch isn’t too bad.  And you needed the rest
more than I did.”
 
            “Why didn’t you sleep in with Mom?”
 
            “That’s your spot.  I’m not going to intrude on it.”
 
            He leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek.  She
smiled and snuggled into her blanket as he let her drift back to
sleep.  He went to make his breakfast.
 
 
 
            Andrew picked up Steve that morning, and noticed that his
friend looked a little glum.  “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked.
 
            “Oh, nothing, really.  It’s just that… well, last week I
got to go out and get laid, and this week, I’m back to being a loner.”
 
            Andrew laughed a little, but then turned serious.  “Steve,
if you could go out with any girl in the school, who would it be?”
 
            “That’s easy.  Tracy Rendell.”  Tracy was a knockout: 5’5”
tall, flowing black hair, and green eyes.  She had 34C tits, and long,
shapely legs.  She was a senior, and a cheerleader.  Steve and Andrew
were both sophomores, and had both daydreamed about her at one time or
another.
 
            Andrew didn’t say anything after that, and Steve let the
subject drop.  They were soon at school, anyway.  Upon exiting the car,
Steve saw Charli waiting for Andrew at the door.  “Looks like I’ll be
heading off now,” he said.  Andrew just smiled, and waved at Charli. 
“Talk to you later,” Steve said as he hurried off to his class.
 
            Andrew walked quickly to meet his girlfriend.  Not that he
was in a hurry, but he didn’t want to keep her waiting.  He greeted her
with a warm kiss, as he had the day before, though there was more
meaning for both of them in it today.
 
            “Mm.  I like that.”  They entered the building together,
and walked toward her first class.  His was only a few rooms away from
that, anyway.  They walked in silence, not sure what to say to each
other after the previous night’s emotional roller coaster.  Finally,
when they reached her class, she asked, “See you at lunch?”
 
            “Count on it,” he said with a smile and a brief kiss.  She
walked into her class, and he went to his.
 
 
 
            For once, Charli actually beat him to the lunch table.  He
leaned down and kissed her on the cheek before sitting across from
her.  She had a serious look on her face.
 
            “What is it?” he asked with concern.
 
            “I won’t ask you to, you know.”
 
            “Huh?” he asked in confusion.
 
            “Give them up for me.  I won’t ask you to.”
 
            “Oh.”  He sat for a moment in silence, still confused. 
“Um… why not?”
 
            She smiled at him.  “Because of something your mother said
to me.  She told me that the Andrew I knew had always been sleeping
around, that he was different from the Andrew from before.”
 
            “So… why does that make you okay with it?” he asked,
perplexed.
 
            “Because I do remember the way you used to be.  You were
always quiet.  Even though lots of people liked you, you hung around
with the nerds.  You always looked like you were more comfortable with
people who were thought of as less than you.  Not by you, I don’t mean,
but by the school.”  He nodded his understanding.  “That you, I’m not
sure I could have gone out with.  You were too self-conscious.  Now,
you’re a little more outgoing, a lot easier to talk to, or so the
others tell me.  You’re more like the kind of guy I want to be with.”
 
            “But, what has this got to do with…” he raised his hand,
still confounded.
 
            “Because I’m not sure you’d be happy if I made you give up
the others.  And I want you to be happy.  I want you to be like you are
now.  For once, I’ve met the perfect guy for me, and if I have to share
him to be with him, then that’s the price I have to pay.”
 
            “Oh.”
 
            “There are two conditions, though.”
 
            “Oh?” he asked with interest.
 
            “One: I want you on Friday night.  *Every* Friday night. 
No exceptions except for emergencies.”
 
            “Sure, not a problem.”  Actually, it nicely solved a date
problem he’d always had.
 
            “Second, and this one’s a little harder for me to talk
about.  I know, because your mother told me, that you’ve slept with her
and Cheryl at the same time.”  Andrew blushed, but nodded.  He looked
to make sure that no one was paying attention to their conversation,
but the nearest people were two tables away.  “I want you to promise me
that you won’t let anyone join us… doing that… until I’m ready.”
 
            He reached across and took her hand.  “Of course not. 
Charli, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with this.  If you’d
rather I stopped…” she waved him off.
 
            “I know you would.  I believed what you told me last
night.  I spent all night, and most of the morning, thinking about it,
and I think it would change you if I did that, and I don’t want you to
change.  So, no, I don’t want you to stop seeing other girls.  But I
want to be first.  Well, maybe behind your mother, but definitely
before all the others.”
 
            “Always.”  He leaned over, and pulled her to him, and they
kissed softly.  They broke the kiss quickly, since it was so public a
place, but the emotion was still there.
 
            “Good.  Now, can you tell me about the magic, or is it a
secret?”
 
            “I won’t have any more secrets from you, Charli.  Doing
that nearly drove me crazy.”  He proceeded, through the rest of the
lunch hour, to tell her the story of Isaac and the ring, and Rachel,
and he even told her about Terri Walker and Bradley Demar.
 
            “I always thought he was creepy,” she concluded.
 
            “Yeah, well, he’s also dangerous, so try to stay away from
him, okay?”
 
            “I will.”  At that point, the bell rang to end lunch.  They
both got up from the table, taking their lunch trays in hand.
 
            As they were about to leave, he took her hand, and kissed
her on the cheek, he said softly, “I love you, Charli.”
 
            She squeezed his hand back and answered, “I love you, too.”
 
 
 
            It was a pity that Andrew could not follow his own advice,
but one doesn’t say no when the principal calls you to his office.
 
            Andrew sat quietly in the main office, waiting for Mr.
Demar to finish up whatever he was doing.  Finally, the door opened,
and Andrew was summoned inside.  He sat quietly in the appropriate
chair, and now waited for whatever doom was coming.  No one was called
here for a social visit.
 
            Mr. Demar closed the door, and then walked around the room,
glancing at certificates and pictures he had on his walls.  He did not
speak for some time.  Andrew knew that this was a tactic to unnerve
him.  The problem was that it was working.
 
            Finally, the principal turned to him and said, “So,
Andrew.  I understand that you and Miss Walker have become good
friends.”
 
            “Sir?”
 
            “Come now, don’t play that foolish game with me.  We both
know who and what you are, and you think you know who I am, so shall we
dispense with the charade?  You can’t beat me.”
 
            “I can try.”  The look on Andrew’s face spoke volumes. 
Since this was not to be a friendly chat, or even a friendly warning,
he figured he might as well get things clear on the first go-round. 
“You’re not as strong as you think you are.”
 
            “Am I not?” the man asked in mockery.  “Well, hopefully you
won’t have to find out how wrong you are about that.”  His voice turned
dark and foreboding, and his countenance changed to match.  “Stay away
from Terri Walker.  She is my prize, and I will not give her up to the
likes of you.”
 
            “Will you not?” Andrew asked in the same mocking tone.  The
wrath it drew from Mr. Demar was exactly what he was looking to see. 
In the briefest of glimpses, Bradley Demar lost control of himself, and
let his aura shine through, a brilliant crimson.  But it was only a
moment, and then it was gone.
 
            “Do not challenge me, boy,” he hissed.  “Or I will destroy
you.  You are no match for me.”
 
            “Perhaps, perhaps not,” Andrew conceded.  “But I do know
one thing.”
 
            “And what is *that*?” the principal snarled.
 
            “Retash wep!” Andrew barked, and his hand came up
suddenly.  Not at Mr. Demar, but at an item on the wall.  With a loud
cracking sound, the paddle that the principal had used on Terri was
fragmented into thousands of pieces.
 
            “You shit!” the principal screamed.
 
            “Temper, temper, Bradley,” Andrew chided mockingly.  Then
his tone grew more serious.  “You’ll never use that on her again.  And
I wouldn’t be too sure that I can’t beat you.”
 
            “I will crush you, punk!” the administrator growled in a
harsh whisper.
 
            “Give it your best shot, old man,” the boy shot back, and
then silently sauntered out of the room.  It wasn’t until he got around
the corner and down the hall that he leaned against the wall, his knees
shaking so badly that he could barely stand.
 
 
 
            It took a long time for Andrew to recover himself.  He
didn’t know whether the principal had seen through his bluff or not. 
He hoped not: he wasn’t ready to face him yet.  Rachel had assured him
that he would be soon, and Cheryl seemed to think that it would be a
no-contest fight.  Right now, he thought so, too, only the guy winning
so easily wasn’t him.
 
            He staggered down the hallway, trying to calm his nerves. 
Class was nearly over, and he didn’t figure that going back to Miss
Walker’s class would be a smart move at this point.  He stumbled his
way out to his car, and sat in it for a long time, unmoving.  The bell
rang while he sat.  The parking lot emptied while he sat.  The sun
dipped lower in the sky, and still, he sat.
 
            It was a familiar voice that pierced his consciousness,
waking him from his reverie.
 
            “Sir?  Sir?  Oh, it’s you.”  The police officer
straightened herself.  “Sir, I hope I have annoyed…er, I mean, I hope I
*haven’t* annoyed you unduly today.”  Tasha Dobson’s chocolate skin was
already flushed, just from seeing him.
 
            He looked over at her, and his libido sparked him back into
life.  “Well, Officer Dobson, you *have* annoyed me, but only a
little.  I think a nice kiss would settle matters.”
 
            She immediately leaned down into his car and plastered her
lips to his.  Her tongue pressed its way past his lips, seeking out and
assaulting his own tongue.  The kiss was passionate, and lasted for
nearly a minute.  Finally, she withdrew.  Primly, she said, “Is that
all the sir will require today?”
 
            “I think that will do me until our next encounter,
Officer,” he replied.  “By the way, why *are* you harassing me?”
 
            “I was curious why someone was sitting in their car in an
empty parking lot at sundown.  Lots of vandals around here.”
 
            “I see.  Well, I was just thinking about things.  I’ll be
heading home now.”
 
            “Very well, sir.  Have a nice day.”
 
            “You too, Officer.”  Andrew started the car and drove off. 
He noted in the rear-view mirror that Tasha Dobson watched him until he
turned a corner.
 
 
 
            It was a stressful night for Andrew, but Cheryl knew how to
calm his nerves.  An hour or so of her attentions, and he felt much
more relaxed.  They stayed on his bed for a while, cuddling, after they
were through.
 
            “I’m glad you came here, Cheryl,” he said.
 
            “Me too.”
 
            “But, what about your company?”
 
            “It can run itself for a while without me.  Really, it can
probably run itself *better* without me.  I’m not much of a
businesswoman.  I take things to heart too easily, I guess.”  She
looked up at him with a smile, and he kissed her.
 
            “That can be a good thing, under certain circumstances.”
 
            “True, but not in business.  Andrew, your mother tells me
you guys are worried about money.”
 
            “Yeah.  Dad’s not going to be around much longer, and when
he’s gone, we don’t have any income.”
 
            “Let me stay here,” she said in a pleading voice.  “My
income is more than enough to live on.”
 
            “But your company isn’t here.”
 
            “No, but I can hire a CEO.  I’ll still have income from the
company, and it’ll be nearly double what your father makes.”
 
            “You really want to stay with us?”
 
            “I really want to stay with *you*,” she emphasized.  He
kissed her again.
 
            “Okay.  As long as Mom doesn’t object.  You’ve grown
attached to me awfully quickly, though.”
 
            “I’m like that.  My mother used to call me ‘mercurial’. 
Really, I just make up my mind about people quickly.  Besides, if I
waited too long, you might have asked me to go home.”
 
            Conversation lulled at that point, and they just held each
other.  Suddenly, Cheryl looked up at him.  “Charli won’t object, will
she?”  When Andrew looked down at her, she continued, “I don’t want to
screw up your relationship with her.  She’s good for you, and you’re
very good for her.”
 
            “You little spy,” he said good-naturedly.  She smiled
slyly.  “No, Charli and I talked this out already.  Just so long as you
don’t expect to see me around on Friday nights, there won’t be a
problem.”
 
            “Good,” she answered, and laid her head back down.
 
            A few minutes later, Andrew remembered something he needed
to talk with her about.  “I found out what color Mr. Demar’s aura is.”
 
            She sat up from him, not really wanting to pull away, but
this was a more serious discussion, and she felt it necessary.  “What
color is it?”
 
            “Crimson.  I know that mine is blue, Rachel said so, but I
have no idea what it all is supposed to mean, really.”
 
            “Crimson.  Dammit.  He’s a warlock.”
 
            “Huh?”
 
            “Like my mother, he gets his power from an unnatural
source.  How bright was it?”
 
            “Pretty damned bright.”
 
            “Well, so is yours.  Actually, there are times I wish you
could tone it down a bit.  I know, I know, you have no control over it,
but still.”  She smiled at him.  “A blue aura, like yours, represents a
natural magical ability.  It comes from the surrounding world.  Red,
especially a blood-red like crimson, means that the wielder is getting
his power from an outside source, usually demonic.”
 
            “Oh.  That’s going to make him harder to beat, isn’t it?”
 
            “Not necessarily.  There are ways to fight the demon
directly, through the wielder, and that’s your best bet.  Has Rachel
taught you any of this?”
 
            “No.  She might not know.  She said that you might be able
to teach me things she couldn’t.”
 
            “Right.  Well, I’ll teach you what I can.  Mother would
really be the one to talk to about this, but she is… unreachable at
this point.”
 
            “Oh.”
 
            “Let’s rest on it.  I’m sure things will look better
tomorrow.”
 
            “I hope so.”
 
            They faded off to sleep in each other’s arms.
 
 
 
            The morning brought with it very little in the way of new
hope, but Andrew decided to push on through.  He had plans to fulfill
in regards to his sister, and he had a favor to do for Steve.  It was
good to feel like he could set some things in the world right, but the
one major thing he wanted to accomplish was still just beyond his reach.
 
            Arriving at school was a lot more fun with Charli there to
greet him.  It had become an instant ritual, meeting her at the front
entrance and kissing her good morning.  It was something he highly
approved of.  It at least improved his mood.
 
            As he was walking her to class, he saw Penny Shark, the
school’s most outspoken lesbian, walking to class.  She was a nice
looking girl, and it was too bad that she wasn’t into guys, but for
right now, she would fulfill another part of Andrew’s plan.  He
silently gave her the necessary orders, without even breaking stride
with Charli.  He grinned to himself.
 
            “What’s so funny?” she asked, seeing his expression.
 
            “Oh, just thinking about the next step of Jo’s punishment.”
 
            “Oh,” she said in comprehension.  “Will we get to watch?”
 
            “I don’t think you’d want to see this part, Charli,” he
replied.
 
            “You’re not going to torture her, are you?”
 
            “Not physically,” he answered with a vicious grin.
 
            “Oh,” Charli nodded in complete understanding.  A grim
smile came over her face as well.
 
            Andrew left her at the door to her class with a sweet kiss,
and sauntered down the hallway to his first class of the day.
 
 
 
            Andrew stopped outside the lunchroom, watching what was
happening inside.  He could see his sister, sitting with the geek
squad, and chatting away.  Only her eyes betrayed her inner turmoil at
what this was doing to her.  Already, she had lost popularity with the
upper crust.  She couldn’t have gotten a date with a football player
now if she’d tried.
 
            He stared in interest as Penny Shark approached his sister,
and sat down.  As soon as Jo turned her head to face the girl, Penny
kissed her full on the mouth.  Jo’s instinct was to pull away, but that
had been squashed by the ring’s power.  Instead, she kissed back hotly,
her hand straying up to brush Penny’s tit.
 
            As the table, and indeed most of the room, stared at them,
Penny whispered something in Joannie’s ear.  They both quickly rose
from the table.  Penny was eager, and her face showed it.  Jo was
aghast, but she was forced to go through with what was coming.  Neither
of them even looked at Andrew as they passed him.  He watched as they
entered a small storage room, and closed the door.
 
            He walked slowly over to the door, and listened for a
moment.  When he turned away, there was a vicious grin on his face.  It
was clear from the sound what was happening inside.  Joannie would
never live this down.  Just two more steps, and she would be fully paid
back.  And also out of his life, for good.
 
 
 
            Lunch was nearly half over by the time that Andrew made his
way into the cafeteria.  He waved at Charli, but went over to talk to
Steve for a minute.
 
            “Hey, bud, where’d my sis get off to?”
 
            “She’s… uh…”
 
            One of the others broke in with, “She’s off screwing Penny
Shark!”  The table all snickered a little.
 
            Andrew just responded with, “Aw, shit.  She at least used
to be discreet about it.  Well, crap.  I don’t know what’s up with her
these days.”
 
            “She’s been acting loopy, that’s for sure,” Jake put in.
 
            “Say, Steve,” Andrew started, “You remember that girl that
we were talking about the other morning?”
 
            Steve had to think back for a minute.  “You mean Tracy? 
What about her?”
 
            “Well, don’t look now, but I think she’s coming over here.”
 
            Steve didn’t dare turn to look as Andrew walked away.  He
heard, as he walked across the room to Charli, “Hey, Steve.  Can I sit
down?”  Andrew smiled to himself.  Tracy was a bitch, and she wasn’t
really liked even by her friends.  Everyone thought she was a stuck-up
little priss, and Andrew thought some time in Steve’s company would do
her good.
 
            “What are you so happy about?” Charli asked him after he’d
given her a kiss and sat down.
 
            “Oh, nothing, just having a good day so far,” he said
casually, a smirk on his face.
 
            “Yeah?  Well, you missed your sister making out with Penny.”
 
            “Oh, no I didn’t,” he said wickedly.  She caught his
meaning right away.  “Are they really…?”
 
            “In the storage room, as we speak.”
 
            “Damn.”
 
            “I thought about opening the door and making them keep
going so that the whole school could see, but I’m not quite ready for
that step yet.  Maybe next week.”
 
            “Okay,” she said.  “Do you need me to spread any more
rumors?  I’ve been telling people about her hooking.”  She smiled at
him, letting him know that she was actually enjoying paying Joannie
back.
 
            “Nope, that was the last one.”
 
            “Are you going to make her do that, too?”
 
            “For the rest of her miserable little life.”
 
            Charli worried, for about three seconds, about her former
friend.  Then she realized that if anyone deserved that kind of fate,
Joannie did.  She worried more that being around Andrew’s power would
corrupt her.  She vowed never to ask him to use it for her sake.
 
            She finally decided to change the subject a little.  “Your
smile’s too big to be just about Joannie.  What else are you cooking
up?”
 
            “Well,” he said, “it would seem as if the upper crust girls
are really starting to have a thing for the geek squad.  Already
they’ve filled in Jo’s old spot.”
 
            Charli turned to look, and her mouth fell open to see Tracy
Rendell openly flirting with Steve.  “Oh… my… God,” she said in stunned
amazement.
 
            “I thought I should do something nice for Steve.  He’s
always been my best friend.  That’s the girl he wanted.”
 
            “What would you do if he’d wanted, say, Mary Sherwalter?”
 
            “I wouldn’t have done that.”  Mary Sherwalter was a very
nice young girl, but she was extremely shy and didn’t say much to
anyone.  She had never so much as spoken an unkind word that he knew
of.  “I won’t mess with the nice people, Charli.  They get enough shit
as it is.”
 
            “I understand.  Perhaps we should try to match up the geek
squad with suitable cheerleader-types.”
 
            “You think we should?” he asked in surprise.
 
            “Even in their midst, I was still the butt of a lot of
jokes.”  There was hurt in her voice.  He reached and took her hand.
 
            “Okay.  We’ll make ourselves a list of suitable candidates,
and we’ll let the geek squad choose.”  They laughed lightly, both of
them feeling a little giddy from the use of power.
 
            “We need to be careful about this,” Charli said.  “This
could become addictive.”
 
            “I know.  But that’s why I’ll only mess around with the
people who deserve it the most.  Well, and those people that I have to
use to punish Joannie and my dad.”
 
            “Right.  Well, we can work up a list tomorrow night.  Mind
if I come over for dinner?”
 
            “It’s your night,” he said seriously.  “We can do whatever
you want to do.”
 
            “Hmm.  The last time we tried to do that, you ran out on
me,” she reminded him with only a twinge of regret in her voice.
 
            Andrew didn’t take that well.  He said earnestly, “I’m
sorry for that.  I really am.  I’m not sure how you managed to forgive
me for that.”
 
            “I love you, remember?  Besides, I expect a better
performance tomorrow night.  Um… can you arrange it so we’re alone?”
 
            “As soon as dinner’s over, sure.  Whatever you want.”
 
            “I’d like that.  I want to be alone with you for a while,
just the two of us.”
 
            “Okay.”
 
            Just then the lunch bell rang, and they departed for their
next classes.  She watched him until he turned a corner, and then she
quickly left for her own class.
 
 
 
            It was the last class of the day, Miss Walker’s class. 
Andrew could tell she was unhappy about the current state of things. 
She wanted to be with Andrew, but she feared for them both.  She was
afraid of Mr. Demar, and what he would do to her, or Andrew, if he knew
they were still close.  Andrew thought of something, but he wasn’t sure
he was ready at all.  Still, he had to do something for her: he
couldn’t leave it the way it was.
 
            When the bell rang, he was very slow to pick up his own
books.  She noticed this, but they both waited until the last student
left the room, and they heard the door latch behind him.
 
            “Terri?”
 
            “Yes?”
 
            “How many sick days do you have?”  Andrew knew that
teachers accumulated sick days over the course of years in this school
system.
 
            “About two weeks’ worth.  Why?”
 
            “Who do you have to tell that you’re taking them?”
 
            “You mean, if I was going to be out for like three days? 
Just the secretary, so she can arrange for a sub.  Why are you asking
this?”
 
            Andrew paused for a moment.  “Does Mr. Demar live with you?”
 
            “No,” she sighed.  Having the conversation returned to him
depressed her.
 
            “So, he wouldn’t notice if you weren’t there.  At least,
not right away.”
 
            “No, probably not.”
 
            “Then, why don’t you take your sick days now, and you can
come stay with us for a while?  I don’t think Mr. Demar would look at
my house.”
 
            “Oh, Andy,” she said with an almost-sob.  “If he caught us
doing that, he’d… he’d hurt you badly.”
 
            “My friend Rachel tells me he’s going to try to do that
anyway.  I can’t just stand by and watch him treat you like shit.  I
can’t do it.  Maybe I’m not ready to fight him yet, but maybe I am, and
just don’t know it.  Either way, I know the fight is coming soon.  He
threatened me yesterday, when I went to his office.”
 
            “Andy, oh, no…” she trailed off, her face downcast, her
expression sorrowful.
 
            He went to her, and hugged her.  “It’s okay, Terri.  I got
myself into this, remember?  I was the one who started messing with
your head, and found out about all of this crap.  I owe you at least
this much for what I’ve done to you.”
 
            “Andy, you haven’t-“
 
            “Yes, I have.  You say you’re happy with me, but how much
of that is just because I can *make* you be that way?  This is all hard
for me to deal with, between you, and Charli, and taking it out on Jo
and my dad… If I have to fight Mr. Demar to keep you safe, then that’s
exactly what I’ll do, win or lose.”
 
            Terri had no more words.  She merely embraced him, and they
both cried softly for a few minutes.  Then, they parted.  She wiped at
her eyes and said, “Okay.  If it’s what you want me to do, then I’ll do
it.  Should I leave today or tomorrow?”
 
            “It’s up to you: if you do it tomorrow, he may be less
suspicious.  You probably need to make up a good lie, too.”
 
            “I’ll just tell them I had a death in my family.  They all
live on the east coast, so I’d have to be gone for several days.  How
long should I take?”
 
            “All the time you’ve got.  I want as much time as I can
have before I have to face him.”
 
            “All right, sweetheart.  Thank you.”
 
            “For what?”
 
            “For caring.”  He smiled at her, and then left the room. 
He was scared, but determined.  He knew he wasn’t yet ready to face
Bradley Demar.  He also knew that Terri couldn’t take much more of the
tug-of-war going on in her head.  He was willing to take the risk in
order to save her.
 
 
 
            That evening, Andrew told his mother and cousin about
Terri.  “It’s going to be crowded in here for a while,” he concluded.
 
            “We’ll make room for her, honey,” Amber assured him.
 
            “How long have we got, Andrew?” Cheryl wanted to know.
 
            “About two weeks, maximum.  That assumes he doesn’t figure
out where she’s gone to.  If that happens…”  He didn’t need to finish
the sentence.
 
            “Right.  Well, I think you’re nearly ready, anyway.  If you
want, I can show you some things tonight.  Maybe some of it you haven’t
gotten from Rachel.”
 
            “That would be a good idea.  Oh, yeah, guys, there’s one
other thing.  After dinner tomorrow, could you guys please go out
somewhere?  To a movie or something?”
 
            “Sure, sweetheart, but why?”
 
            “Charli’s coming over.”  Both nodded.  They knew exactly
what that meant, and why he wanted them gone.
 
            “What about the… *other* two?”
 
            “Oh, I’ll take care of them, don’t you worry.  Just a
little more punishment to heap on their ‘poor helpless souls.’”  The
ladies nodded, in full agreement with whatever he had in mind.
 
            Cheryl took him into the back yard, and for the next few
hours, they worked on different techniques.  She was continually
surprised at just how strong a magician Andrew was.  His light blue
aura was misleading, for it normally signified a beginning level of
strength.  She wondered what it really meant, but it wasn’t important
to their studies.
 
            They worked until their magical skills were tired.  They
followed that up with a long shower during which neither of them got
very clean.  Then they collapsed into bed together, sound asleep within
minutes.
 
 
 
            Steve was waiting for him the next morning, and he was in
high spirits.  He grinned so big at Andrew, it was obvious what had
happened.
 
            “So,” Andrew said casually, “how was your date with Tracy?”
 
            “Shit, man!” he replied immediately.  “She put your sister
to shame!  No offense, man, but Tracy’s just *hot*!  She was all sweet
and lovey-dovey in the movie, but as soon as we got out to Moose Hill,
damn, she was all over me!”
 
            “Glad you had a good time.”
 
            “How’d you get her to do that?”  Steve was looking at him
real hard now.  They had almost reached the school already, because
traffic was light.
 
            “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
 
            “So, how long will she stick around?  I mean, I only had
your sister for a day.”
 
            “Tracy’s yours until she graduates, Steve.  Or until you
get tired of her.”
 
            “Whoa.  Get tired of a babe like her?  Never happen, man.”
 
            “You’d be surprised.”
 
            “So, like, if I did get tired of her…”
 
            “Then you should pick another girl, and let me know.  Also,
I want you to talk to the geek squad.  Find out who each of them would
like to go out with.  Make up a list, and get it to me, okay?  But be
careful… don’t tell them that they’re actually going to *get* what they
want, all right?  Just… make it one of our ‘yeah, right’ games.” 
“Yeah, right” was a little game the geek squad played when they all
wanted to talk about their dreams and fantasies for the future.
 
            Steve looked at his friend again.  “Just what are you
holding over their heads, Andrew?”
 
            “Just do it, okay?  You’d never believe the truth, and I
don’t feel like making up a lie.  So, talk with ‘em, and let me know
what they say.  Get them to mention more than one, because there might
be conflicts… and there are certain people I won’t do this to.  Tell
them to give you… three.  That should do it, I hope.”
 
            “Gotcha.  Oh, I almost forgot.  Tracy said she’d be happy
to pick me up from now on, so you won’t have to do it anymore.”
 
            “Cool with me.  Have fun with your new girlfriend.”
 
            Steve beamed at him as he headed off for class.  Andrew
headed to meet Charli, who awaited him at her usual place.  Together,
they entered the school for another day of education.
 
 
 
            It was a very calm day at school.  Even Miss Walker’s class
ran through without any hiccups.  Andrew was beginning to worry that
something big was building up, but it never came.
 
            When class was over, he stayed behind.  Terri smiled at
him, and then she said, “Are you sure about this, Andy?  I don’t want
to be too much trouble.”
 
            “You’re not the one being trouble.  Besides, my mom said it
was just fine.”
 
            Terri had not really given much consideration to who else
would know about this.  “My god, your mother…”  He calmed her quickly.
 
            “Don’t worry, mom knows all about us.  You’ve got a few
things to learn yet, though.  Anyway, have you told them you’re leaving
yet?”
 
            “No, I have to do that now.”  She hesitated, but had to
tell him.  “Andy… I’m also going to have to go to Bradley today.  He’s
ordered me to do it every Friday afternoon, and if I don’t… well,
actually, I don’t think I could stop myself.  He does control me, after
all.”
 
            “Not for very much longer,” Andrew said, his voice under
tight control.  He sighed heavily.  “Okay.  I can’t say I like it, but
in order to make your escape easier, I guess we’ll just have to do it. 
I’m going to wait for you outside, though.”
 
            “Okay.  You’re so sweet.  I know you don’t believe me, but
I really don’t mind that you’re controlling me now.  You’re good to me,
and that’s what really matters.”
 
            “If you say so.  Now, let’s get this damned business over
with, so that we can get you somewhere safe.  I’ll see you in about a
half an hour.”  *One way or another*, he didn’t add.
 
 
 
            Twenty minutes later, Terri Walker exited the school
building.  She walked straight to her car, but it was no coincidence
that Andrew’s camaro was parked right next to it.  She looked frazzled,
but calm.  She leaned down into his window, and said to him, “I put my
clothes in the trunk.  I don’t need anything else for a couple of
weeks.  Can we go right to your house?  I don’t want to chance going
back to my place.”
 
            Andrew nodded, and they left the parking lot, no one the
wiser as to their destination.
 
 
 
            The house was fairly peaceful when Andrew arrived home.  He
liked it that way.  He had Terri pull her car into the garage, which
Cheryl had nicely cleaned out during the day.  That way, no one would
be able to tell anything was out of the ordinary.  

            Entering the house, they found the other two sitting,
having coffee.  Terri felt very uncomfortable in this situation.  She
knew that the others knew she was sleeping with a student.  She did not
know exactly what else was going on, and she was very shy about walking
into strange circumstances.
 
            Andrew handled things.  “Guys, this is Terri Walker, she’s
my favorite teacher.  She’ll be staying for a couple of weeks while we
try to figure out how to solve her little problem.  Terri, this is my
mom, Amber, and my cousin, Cheryl.”  Everyone said their greetings, and
Terri finally sat down at the table.  While the ladies began to talk,
Andrew excused himself to go see his sister.
 
            Without knocking, he entered her room.  She turned, and her
initial look of resignation turned immediately to one of fury.  “You
little shit!  How could you make me do that with Penny!  Now,
everyone’s gonna think I’m some kind of-“
 
            “Whore?  You are.  Why shouldn’t they know the truth? 
You’ve been a whore for as long as I can remember.  Tonight, we’re
going to make it official.”
 
            “What?  What are you talking about?”  Just then, Jayce
entered the room.  He immediately dug in his pocket for his quarter.
 
            “You can dispense with the quarter tonight, Jayce,” Andrew
said coldly.  “Tonight, you have a different activity to perform.  I
want the house to myself tonight, and so you two have to leave.  You
will do exactly as you are told.  Is that understood?”  He waited for
the fear to register in their eyes, and the hesitant nods of acceptance.
 
            “Good.  Now, *Dad*, you are going to pimp your daughter
tonight.  You can start with the guys at work who might be interested. 
If you can’t find one of them who will pay you for her services, then
you will take her downtown.  You will charge no more than ten bucks for
a blowjob, and no more than twenty for full-blown sex.  If they want
her for an hour, charge them fifty bucks, and then give them a
half-hour free.  I want her so goddamned tired that you have to carry
her ass back in here in the morning, got it?”  Andrew’s eyes bored in
on them, and they could both see the smoldering anger behind them. 
They nodded quickly, not wanting to know what would happen if they
disobeyed him.
 
            “You will not make any attempts to run away, to inform the
police, or do *anything* other than what I have told you to do.  Now,
get moving!”
 
            As Andrew left, Joannie ashamedly turned to her closet to
find some sluttish clothing.  This was not a hard task for her, as she
had a great deal of it.  She had used it to great effect before her
brother had taken over.
 
            Jayce sat on the bed watching his daughter.  When Andrew
turned back and looked him in the eye, Jayce shivered.  The look there
was cold, calculating malevolence, and it would not be argued with. 
Jayce knew he had no choice.  He had to turn his daughter into a
prostitute.
 
            “Don’t get caught, you two,” Andrew said as he closed the
door.
 
 
 
            Charli showed up about a half hour after the two prisoners
left.  Andrew gave her a warm hello kiss before he even let her in the
house.  Leading her to the dining room, which had been rearranged for
the evening, he sat her down at her place at the table.
 
            “Andy?  Can I talk to you for a minute?” his mother called
quietly from the doorway.
 
            “Sure, Mom.”  To Charli, he said, “Don’t go away, now.” 
She grinned up at him, and he walked to where his mother stood.  She
led him back into the bedroom area.
 
            “I know what I told you earlier about other girls sleeping
here, but tonight is different, okay?”
 
            “Huh?”
 
            She opened the door to their room.  She had decked it out
in the most erotic setting he could imagine.  Satin sheets and a satin
comforter adorned the bed.  The shades had been drawn, and a lamp was
emitting a soft glow.  The bare, white walls had been covered with
bolts of fabric.  He turned to her.
 
            “How… when…”
 
            “Many years ago, when your father was actually a decent
person, we did this once or twice a year.  I’d deck out the bedroom,
and he’d take me out for dinner and dancing or a movie, and then we’d
come back here.  We haven’t done it in so long, I worried the fabric
would be destroyed, but it was okay.  This is how it should be for
Charli and you.”
 
            He smiled at her in thanks.  He said softly, “You know,
Mom, if she had asked me to…”
 
            “Give us up?  I know you would have, sweetheart.  You love
her, and that’s what tonight is all about.  I’m glad she didn’t ask
you, though.  I’d have hated to lose what we have.”  She kissed him
softly on the lips, and then closed the bedroom door.  As they walked
back down the hallway, she said, “Don’t forget to play the CD in the
boom box.”
 
            He nodded as they re-entered the dining room to find that
the others were seating themselves.  Terri seemed to have settled in,
until Charli showed up.  Charli gave him a look that he managed to
interpret correctly.  He walked right over to Terri, and kissed her
softly on the cheek.  “Welcome to the family,” he whispered in her
ear.  She blushed furiously, but she also smiled warmly.  Everyone
else, who understood what she was going through, returned the
expression with warmth and welcome.
 
 
 
            Dinner went smoothly, and conversation was light and
friendly.  No mention at all was made of what might be happening after
the meal.  Amber noticed that both Charli and Andrew ate lightly.  She
understood what that was about.  They both were nervous, and also
didn’t want to be slowed down by a heavy meal that they would have to
wait to digest.
 
            As soon as the meal was over, the three adults departed for
the museum, where there was an art exhibit that Amber wanted to see. 
Andrew held Charli’s hand as he watched the car pull out of the
driveway.  She turned to him, her eyes already filled with lust.  He
smiled down at her, but made no move toward the bedroom.
 
            Instead, he led her to the sofa, and they sat down
together.  She didn’t understand his hesitance, but was willing to let
him lead her this time.  For a few moments, they sat together in
silence, but then Andrew tilted her face up to meet his gaze, and their
lips slowly met, slipping against each other as they opened to allow
tongues to pass by.
 
            Charli turned more to face him, and eventually ended up in
his lap.  Her arms slipped naturally around his neck, and they
continued kissing.  Andrew’s hands caressed her back, feeling the warm
softness beneath the fabric of her blouse.  He noticed that she wasn’t
wearing a bra.  He wasn’t sure whether he was disappointed or not.  It
would make disrobing easier, but he wanted to drag this night out for
as long as he could.  He wanted to show Charli what she meant to him,
and what he could do for her.
 
            Their kissing became more passionate, and Charli could feel
Andrew’s hardness through his jeans.  She was as ready as she could
possibly be, and she was hoping he would make his move soon.  Just as
she thought he was going to go further, however, he broke off their
kiss, and stood them both up.  She looked at him curiously.
 
            “Come on,” he said softly, taking her hand.  Instead of
leading her to his room, he kept going back to the master bedroom.  She
hesitated, and he could sense her tentativeness.  

            He looked to her and smiled warmly.  “It’s okay.  Mom is
the one who actually suggested it.  She also did the decorating.”  He
opened the door slowly.  His mother had taken the time, before she had
left, to light several candles and turn off the small lamp.  The colors
of red and violet melded into deep blues, and it all welcomed Charli,
inviting her into its embrace.
 
            Charli’s breath caught in her throat.  It was the most
beautiful room she’d seen, and the most sensuous.  She stepped slowly
into the room, while Andrew waited in the doorway.  She looked around
for a few moments, taking in the surroundings, gazing at the canopied
bed, wondering how much had been done just for her.  She finally looked
back to Andrew, and smiled an invitation.  He stepped in and closed the
door, moving over to the CD player and starting the album his mother
had selected.  It was a collection of slow, sensual songs and
instrumentals that put a perfect aural backdrop to the mood they were
feeling.
 
            She reached for the buttons of her blouse as he approached
her, but he stopped her.  For a moment, she feared he would back out
again.  “It seems I’m always doing this,” he said softly, motioning to
her hands.  She smiled nervously.  “But not this time.  We have all
night, we don’t need to rush.”  She understood now that he was merely
trying to set the right mood, as if she wasn’t already aroused to the
point of an aching need.
 
            “May I have this dance?” he asked suddenly.  She looked up
at him and nodded her assent.  He put his arms around her waist, and
she embraced his neck, leaning her head against him for a moment.  As
they started to move, she leaned her head back and looked straight into
his eyes.  Once locked, their eyes never wavered.   They danced for
three songs, barely moving, but the emotions in the room were building
to a high peak.
 
            Finally, it was more than Charli could take.  “Andrew…” he
put his finger to her lips.
 
            “By now, I think you can call me Andy,” he said in the
softest of tones that quieted any protest she was going to make. 
“Charli, I love you so much it actually hurts.  I know, we’re just kids
and all, but I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.  If you asked me
to pull up stake and move to Zimbabwe, I’d do it in a heart beat.  I
will do for you anything at all that is within my power.”  He hesitated
for just a few seconds before adding, coyly, “Is there anything I can
do for you right now?”
 
            She smiled mischievously up at him, but kept her voice as
soft as his.  “Yes, there is, my love.  Make love to me here, in this
room, tonight.  Let’s share what we feel.”
 
            He answered her with a kiss.  This one was more
soul-searching than the rest, and their bodies meshed together to
become as one.  His hands caressed her back with more confidence and
assurance, and she pressed herself tightly against him, her thigh
lightly caressing his crotch.  She moaned in anticipation of what was
to come.
 
            Finally, he pushed her gently away.  He said not a word as
his hands began to undo the buttons on her blouse.  She rested her
hands on his shoulders as he performed the task, slowly and tenderly,
stopping to caress her flesh with each undone button.  Halfway down, he
snuck a hand inside her blouse, and passed it over each of her breasts,
lightly gliding along the skin, barely making contact, and arousing her
even further before he withdrew, and continued his maddeningly slow
pace of undressing her.  She wanted to scream out, “Fuck me!”, but she
knew that his way would be better, more intense.
 
            Andrew finally got all the buttons opened on the blouse,
and wasted no time in softly pushing it off her shoulders.  She nearly
tore it yanking it off her arms and throwing it into a nearby chair. 
She stood before him bare-chested, her breasts heaving as her breaths
came shallowly.  He stooped to caress the flesh there with his tongue. 
She moaned as he made first contact, and arched her back to push her
tit further into his mouth.  A hand came up to caress the other breast,
lightly stroking the flesh and occasionally passing over the nipple. 
When his tongue reached the nipple of her breast, she inhaled sharply,
not ready for the explosion of tingles that shot through her body.  She
shuddered as he continued to stroke that nipple with his tongue, and
she almost groaned when he stopped to move on.
 
            She was not disappointed for long, however, as his tongue
moved to her other breast and more quickly sought out her nipple.  She
moaned aloud when he took it into his mouth, sucking on it and flicking
it with his tongue.  She could feel her juices flowing freely, and knew
that she had probably ruined a good pair of slacks, but didn’t give a
damn at the moment.
 
            Eventually, Andrew slid his tongue off her breasts, and
moved down to her abdomen.  Kneeling, he ran his tongue around her
navel, and then dipped into it, again causing her to shudder lightly in
bliss.  She placed her hands on his shoulders again, now to steady
herself, as her knees grew weak with the tingles of pleasure roaming
her body freely.
 
            Andrew sensed this, and he rose back up, kissing her hotly.
As their tongues mingled, he moved slightly to one side, not breaking
the kiss.  Finally, he had to release her lips, and he quickly stooped
down.  Before she knew what he was doing, he hefted her in his arms. 
She instinctively slipped her arms around his neck, and they kissed
again.  He walked slowly over to the bed, and bent down to deposit her
gently on top of the comforter.  She could feel the cool texture of the
satin against her skin.  She felt how the bed cradled her invitingly,
promising a comfortable bed of love.
 
            Andrew slid down her body, returning his tongue’s attention
to her navel.  His fingers were deftly working to open her slacks, and
soon had the job accomplished.  He didn’t immediately pull them off,
but instead licked and kissed his way down to her panties.  He placed a
kiss on her pubic mound, where her slacks were opened.  She shivered at
the sensation, and moaned quietly.
 
            He took hold of her slacks and, with a few gentle tugs, got
them off her hips.  He pulled them off quickly, and tossed them into
the chair with her shirt.  Her shoes were dumped unceremoniously on the
floor, and then he turned back to her.  She had worn stockings rather
than socks, and these he left on, enjoying how they looked on her. 
Although they were almost sheer, the color was slightly darker than her
own skin, and it looked incredibly inviting to him.  He caressed her
feet for a few moments, but not enough to relax her too much.  He moved
on to her legs, caressing and kissing her stockinged flesh.  Charli was
wriggling on the bed now, overcome by the sensations and the
anticipation of the moment.
 
            Finally, Andrew arrived back at her panties.  These he
pulled very gently off her hips.  She raised her hips to help him, but
he made no effort to do it more quickly.  She was frustrated, and
highly aroused, and almost in overload at this point.  He finally
removed the cursed garment, and now she was naked before him.  Naked
before her lover, before her boyfriend.  Before the man she would
gladly kill for, at this point.
 
            Andrew’s lips reached out, and pressed against Charli’s
pussy lips.  She shuddered immediately, crying out loud in joy.  His
tongue quickly entered the act, and her writhing increased.  When his
tongue flicked lightly over her clit, she saw blinding flashes of
light, and her body went rigid.  She screamed out her pleasure, and she
came for what felt to her like hours.  Andrew’s tongue never ceased
working over her clit, and the sparks it was sending to her brain were
pulsing through her pleasure center.  She groaned and cried out her
ecstasy, until at last she finally started to come down from her high. 
As she did, Andrew sat up and looked at her.  She was in no condition
to notice as he quickly removed his own clothing, and then slipped up
beside her, to nestle her against his warm body.
 
            For a few minutes, they stayed like that, cuddled
together.  Finally, she was rested and coherent enough to notice that
he was also naked.  And he was fully erect, as well.  She knew this
because it was pressing tightly against her leg.  Her eyes went swiftly
from dreamy to lust-filled.  She wanted nothing more at this point than
to have his cock inside her.   She rolled into him, and he wrapped his
arms around her, kissing her on the lips.
 
            When they broke the kiss, she said, “That was absolutely
fantastic, but it’s not what I came here for.  I want you to make me a
woman, Andrew.  I want you inside of me.  Please.”
 
            He hardly needed much encouragement, and hearing that the
girl he loved wanted him, he couldn’t make her wait any longer. 
Gently, he rolled her onto her back again, moving atop her, resting his
hands outside her shoulders.
 
            Charli spread her legs as wide as she could, and then
gently reached out to take his cock in her hands.  She marveled at the
soft, velvety feel of the skin over the iron-hardness of the muscle
beneath, but only for a moment before she remembered where she wanted
that hardness to be.  Gingerly, she drew his cock closer to her waiting
pussy, until it rested right outside her opening.  She wanted him to
take her the rest of the way.
 
            He looked down at her lovingly, but with a little concern. 
“This might hurt a little, Charli.”
 
            She just shook her head at him.  “I broke my cherry riding
a horse a couple of years ago.  It didn’t even hurt that much back
then.  Please, Andy, I want you in me.”  Her eyes spoke rather louder
than her soft plea.
 
            He nodded, and began to press into her slowly.  At the
first push of his cock head against her opening, her eyes opened wide,
and she moaned loudly.  It felt so *good*!  Slowly, ever so slowly, he
continued to press into her.  After he’d gotten just a small portion
in, he pulled back out.  Her face twisted in the pain of loss as she
felt suddenly empty.  But then, he was pressing into her again, just as
slowly, but a little farther this time.  She was sweating with the
sensations and her heart was racing with the emotions.  Her eyes met
his, and there they stayed, each watching the other’s expression as
Andrew continued to move very slowly inside her.
 
            It took several minutes before he was fully inside her, for
though she was well lubricated, she was incredibly tight, and he hadn’t
wanted her to feel even the slightest discomfort.  When his balls were
resting against her ass, and their pubic bones were touching, he
finally broke eye contact to look down at their joining.  He had not
found that a particularly interesting sight in the past, but somehow,
seeing himself buried fully inside her aroused him even further.  He
leaned down and kissed her passionately, their tongues dancing together
as his body began to move in small strokes above her.
 
            Charli was in heaven, her body filled up with the sensation
of her lover.  His tongue was caressing hers, and his cock was doing
miraculous things to her pussy.  She had touched herself, of course,
but it had never come close to the feeling she was having now.  His
strokes remained short, and slow, but they sped up just slightly as she
loosened to accept him.  Her ankles came around his thighs, trying to
hold him inside her, to never let him go.  Her hands came up to caress
his chest, to feel the starting wisps of hair there.  She found
everything about him erotic and arousing, and she was moaning now, as
her body built to another climax.
 
            Her orgasm came on her suddenly, and was almost a surprise
to both of them.  Her body felt electrified, her muscles twitching and
her mouth open in silent ecstasy.  Andrew held her throughout, his cock
continuing to slip slowly in and out in smooth strokes.  She was lost
for moments in the bliss of the sensations.  Finally, she let out a
long, low, “Oh!” and she was able to think again.  She looked up at her
boyfriend, knew that she would love him until the world tore itself
apart, and then knew she had to have him again.
 
            “More, Andy, more!” she cried.  “Go faster this time,
please?”  It was the mixture of an order and a plea, and it made him
hornier than he already was.  He increased his pace, which had never
stopped completely.  Soon, he was thrusting into her with long, smooth,
rapid strokes.  She was grunting with each one, her hips coming up to
meet his every move.  He was beginning to reach his peak, with her
pussy muscles rippling along his shaft as he plunged in, and clamping
down to keep him inside as he would pull out.  His strokes became more
rapid as he got closer, and she was moaning and grunting constantly
beneath him.  

            Finally, he hit the edge, and he let loose his cum into
her, grunting loudly as he continued to thrust inside her, each new
thrust spewing more of his seed into her.  At the first splash, she had
started to come from the amazing sensation of him filling her up with
his spunk.  They both cried out and thrust together, melding into one
being as they rode the wave of their pleasure.  It was several long
moments before they came down from their high, looking each other in
the eyes for a long moment.
 
            Then, suddenly, each was beset with a case of the giggles. 
It had been a long, tense courtship, and there had been terrible
moments, but now it was consummated, and each knew there was no going
back from what had happened here tonight.  The release of anxiety had
allowed them a fitful moment of laughter.
 
            Andrew slumped down beside her, pulling her to him.  She
allowed him to hold her, glad for his presence, glad that he had chosen
her, glad that she had accepted him for who and what he was.  So many
emotions were churning in her head, and all of them coalesced in a love
of the boy that was gently holding her in his arms, kissing the top of
her head.  She laid her head against him, and just rested, secure in
the knowledge that she had finally found a place where she belonged.
 
 
 
            A few hours later, Andrew and Charli were taking a break
from their first night together.  She had told her parents she would be
out late, and they had not objected, she felt, because they had enough
problems of their own.  Andrew had wanted to make this night as special
for her as he could, and she could tell that.  She was overjoyed that
he cared for her that much, and she wanted to return that to him a
thousand times over.
 
            At the moment, however, they were making up their list of
“tameable bitches”, as Charli had put it.  This was the group of people
in school they felt could use a few lessons in humility.  He would
compare this list to the one that Steve gave him later, and see if they
couldn’t make the geek squad into *the* group on campus to belong to. 
It wasn’t what Andrew had set out to do, but Charli’s influence on him
was strong.  She sympathized strongly with the geek squad, having been
ridiculed by the popular kids, even while in their midst.  She had been
alone in a crowd, and she felt for the geeks, who were the targets of
everyone’s jokes.
 
            They were busy expanding the list when they heard the front
door open and close quickly.  They looked at each other in concern,
because Andrew had told her that the girls would not be back before
midnight.
 
            The door to the bedroom opened slowly, but only because
Terri wasn’t sure what she might be interrupting.  She saw the two of
them sitting on the bed.  Andrew wore nothing at all, while Charli had
loosely tossed one of Amber’s robes on to keep warm.  They stared at
her in surprise.
 
            Andrew knew immediately, from the look on Terri’s face,
that something was wrong.  “What is it?  What’s happened?”
 
            She came all the way into the room and collapsed in a
chair.  She was out of breath, and the adrenaline that had kept her
moving up until now was giving way.  She held out her hand, which held
a note.  Andrew rose from the bed to take it.  She didn’t even have the
strength to admire his nude form.
 
            Andrew read quickly, his eyes becoming harder as he read. 
His fingers began to crumple the edges of the paper, and Charli
realized she was now seeing what anger looked like in Andy.  She was
afraid, not for herself, but for whoever had been dumb enough to piss
him off.
 
            She thought for just a second that she saw his eyes
actually glowing.  Then, suddenly, the note flashed into flame, and was
gone into dust, instantly.  He looked at her, controlling his rage for
her sake.
 
            “They’ve taken my mother and Cheryl.  They want the ring. 
I’ve got until midnight tomorrow night to meet them, or they’ll kill
both of them!”
 
            “Oh, my god, Andy,” Charli said, rushing to him.  Her hands
against his body quenched his anger and soothed his mind.  He was still
visibly upset, but he had it under better control.
 
            “I’m going to kill the cocksucking sonofabitch that messed
with my mom.  I’m going to make him beg for mercy as his eyes bleed.” 
She knew he meant every word of it.  She agreed with him.  Anyone who
would stoop to such levels didn’t deserve to live.
 
            “Andy, what are you going to do?  You can’t give them the
ring, can you?”
 
            “No way.  They were dumb enough to set up a meet.  Well,
I’ll meet with them alright.  I’ll twist their fucking heads off!”  He
took a deep breath, and then calmed.  He looked at her.  “I’m sorry. 
It seems as if there’s always something screwing up our time together. 
And it always seems to be about me…”  

            She quickly put her lips to his to silence him.  She leaned
back and said, “This isn’t your fault.  Besides, we’ve already had a
beautiful night.  Let me stay here with you, while you work this out,
okay?  I can tell my parents that I’m sleeping over with a friend. 
They won’t doubt that.”
 
            Andrew knew he shouldn’t.  He wasn’t supposed to burden her
with this kind of thing.  It was supposed to be his load to bear.  But
he so needed someone to lean on right now, and Terri was pretty much
out of it.  He nodded, and she went over to the phone to call home. 
While she was explaining to her mother that her friend had a family
crisis, and that she wanted to stay to see if she could help out,
Andrew went to Terri’s side, making sure she was okay.
 
            “I’m alright, Andy,” she said sleepily.  “Cheryl protected
me and your mother as best she could, but there were six of them, all
of them using magic of some sort or other.  They took your mother and
Cheryl, and they told me to deliver the note.”
 
            “What did you do, run all the way home?”  His voice was
light, to try to put a little life into her face.  It didn’t work.
 
            “No, but I drove at about double the speed limit.  There
was a policewoman following me for most of the way, but strangely she
never stopped me.”  Andrew nodded.  He’d made sure that Tasha would
look out for his little group.
 
            “Well, take it easy now.  I’ll take it from here.  You have
enough troubles of your own without adding this one to them.”
 
            “But, Andy… What can you do?”
 
            “I don’t know yet.  But I will.  Soon.”
 
