Principal Laura Bendon peered at the letter in her hands, pursing her lips as her eyes scanned the words one more time.

"I am sure you will find everything in order, Ms. Bendon."

Laura lifted her imperious gaze and leaned back in her seat, letting the document flutter to the desk. She steepled her fingers and crossed her ankle over her knee. "I have no doubt about that," she said, one corner of her mouth turning upwards. "Mr. Mann."

Victor smiled, his whole body radiating amiability and good humor. He had abandoned his trench-coat and dark clothing for a simple pair of jeans, a shirt of muted earth-tone plaid, and a V-neck sweater. His hair was neatly combed, with just a few stray hairs in the right place to give him a more laid-back look.

He embodied a picture of the ideal vision of a high school teacher: a bit eccentric, lacking in fashion sense, but exuding a subtle kind of hip coolness that made students like him just the same.

"Actually, that would be Doctor Mann, PhD," said Victor. "But I don't stand on formalities. Please, call me Victor, if you would."

"Isn't this just a bit odd?" said Laura.

The smile never left Victor's face. "Pardon?"

"Odd. The school gaining a new counselor right around--"

Victor raised a finger. "Ah. Guest counselor. I'll be here for only a week."

Laura smirked. "Guest counselor, then. And yes, I read the letter. Only a week. Again, very odd."

"Sorry you feel that way, Ms. Bendon. If you're concerned about my credentials or my experience and reputation, please feel free to call the central office of the Haven Counseling Group."

"Oh, yes, and I am sure that they will give a glowing report on you. And likely confirm your supposed specialty." She leaned forward and peered at the letter. "Social adjustment problems of teenage girls."

Victor looked proud. "I based my dissertation on it. It was featured in a prominent psychology journal. Would you care for the URL to it?"

Laura stood up and came around the side of the desk. She swung her hips as if attempting to attract his attention, or at least garner some other reaction. It did nothing, and he remained as much an enigma as when he arrived. "I've been doing this long enough, Doctor Mann, to know that the school board does not allow things like this without a great deal of paperwork and bureaucracy. So I get suspicious when things like this happen so suddenly and so smoothly." She paused and smiled. "And it's happened once before with ... interesting results."

"Ah, would that be in reference to the brief career of Nurse Nyssa Neris?"

Laura's smiled faded. "You know of her?"

"I make it my business to know all I can about this school, Ms. Bendon."

"And do you know what she did while she was here?"

"Yes. She failed miserably."

Laura's lips twisted into a frown, and her eyes blazed. "All right, Doctor Mann--"

"Victor."

Laura sighed and folded her arms. "Very well, Victor ... you're all but admitting that you have an agenda, and that you know I do as well. Why the song and dance?"

Victor chuckled. "Force of habit, perhaps?"

Laura was not mollified. She was reacting exactly as Victor had predicted and hoped. "Well, you can drop it. I know why you're here."

Victor raised an eyebrow, his face betraying a mild sense of amusement. "Do you?"

"Yes, and I can help. That's my directive, to help the Darkness whenever it manifests in Haven High."

An irritated rumbling in the back of Victor's mind told him what the Darkness thought of the quality of her "help" to date.

Victor smiled again. "I appreciate the offer, Ms. Bendon, but I am afraid I have already enlisted some aid here at the school."

Laura stiffened, though her face did not change. "Oh? Who?"

"One of the members of the faculty. Terri Hollis."

Laura's lips drew to a thin line. "I see."

Victor sensed the coldness of Laura's tone in just those two words. He reasoned that Laura was not used to having someone else in control. It would get under her skin and impair her judgment, just the thing that Victor needed to keep her out of the way.

And promoting a rivalry between her and Terri would further preoccupy her and serve to check Terri's ambitions.

Laura leaned against the desk, another sly smile sliding across her face. "Surely I can help in some way. I know things about this school that perhaps you don't. If you could tell me what you're planning to do, I can keep others out of your way."

Victor deliberately paused before he replied. "Sadly, I must keep my plans private. It is what our mutual benefactor here in Haven would want."

Victor witnessed Laura tense even further.

"Rest assured, Ms. Bendon, that none of my activities will disrupt this school, or any plans that you may have for it, for that matter."

"I do not have any plans," Laura snapped. "I told you, I serve the same one that you do."

She has no idea, Victor thought. "Be that as it may, I can handle my tasks alone. You need not be bothered."

Laura's eyes burned. "You're going after someone in this school. One of the female students. Or perhaps all of them."

Victor continued to smile and observe and said not a word.

Laura shook her head. "You won't get far."

"Oh?"

Laura drew close again. "Some of the students will see you for what you are."

Victor feigned concern. "Is this so?"

"They can see the Darkness. They can see it on me. They'll see it on you, as well. Nyssa thought she could neutralize it, but that didn't work in the end. Another girl thought she could disregard it because she was so powerful, but that didn't work, either. I'm sorry, Victor, but unless you enlist my help in some way, there is no way you can succeed here."

"Hmm. Is there anyone in particular I should be concerned about?"

Laura grinned. "Well, now, that depends."

"Does it?"

"On whether or not you're willing to reveal some information in return."

The Darkness became incensed. She is a self-serving fool. Nyssa should have given her directly to me. You don't need her, Victor. I can tell you exactly who they are.

As the names entered Victor's head, he let them find voice. "Jason Conner. Richie Gardner."

Laura's grin faded.

"Heather Sovert and ... Melinda Sovert." Victor had paused when he had caught a subtle reaction from Laura on that specific name. "Cassie Kendall. Ned Lussander. Diane Woodrow."

"Stop it," Laura declared. "What the hell are you up to, Victor? Why are you even bothering with me if you have all the answers already?"

"Hmm. Why, indeed." Victor let her seethe for another few seconds before he threw her a small bone. "By the time I am done and ready to move on, Ms. Bendon, I believe you will find these students ... these Harbingers ... much more tractable. I doubt you will be bothered as much by them anymore."

The Darkness agitated for a moment in his head and quickly fell silent, as if it had not been meant for Victor to sense. Victor assumed the Darkness was worried about the Harbingers more than it would admit. The true purpose of the Book lay within the Harbinger's grasp, which made his secondary task that much more urgent.

"That's a rather large promise, isn't it?" Laura said with a sour edge to her voice.

"But one I am quite capable of delivering." He paused, then offered a small smile. "Terri was good enough to volunteer to assist with Heather."

Laura's face darkened, and Victor confirmed that she had her own plans for the girl.

"The point is, Ms. Bendon, that I have things well in hand. However, perhaps I will require your assistance during the Halloween party."

Laura allowed herself a smile. "Of course. What do you want me to do?"

"I will let you know when we get closer to that day."

Laura forced herself to nod in acknowledgment. Victor was pleased. He had her stirred up, resentful of his apparent control, and wary of Terri's potential influence. Her critical thinking would suffer for it.

"If you'll excuse me, Ms. Bendon, I would like to head to my office. I feel I will have an early appointment this morning."

Laura said nothing as Victor left the office without another word or pause for her leave.

Gina's hair whipped around her face as she stepped off the school bus, her shoes crunching on the gravel. She hunched her shoulders and drew in her arms until the gust abated. Ahead of her, another girl with dark hair raced away, stumbling as the wind channeled between two buses nearly bowled her over.

She drew her fingers across her forehead and brushed her hair out of her cloudy and troubled eyes. Her gaze swept the parking lot as the other students on her bus jogged towards the school entrance, where Vice Principal Seeger stood on a wary watch.

Gina existed in obscurity at this school, something which never bothered her before. Now it felt like an ache or an itch that she could not reach. Her eyes sought some of the male students, and her dreams from the night before came back to her.

Gina could not imagine herself walking up to any of them and starting a conversation, let alone offer herself for sex. Yet her nether regions tingled at the thought, and her head filled with the vivid imagery that had plagued her since her mother had first broached the subject.

The counselor will have the answers, the thought rose from the recesses of her mind.

She wished she could be that confident, but how could a complete stranger offer her the answers?

But I can trust him.

Like the first, this thought now occupied the limbo between truth and belief.

Her eyes lit from one boy to the other, and stopped on one that had separated from the herd of students trundling towards the building. He started back towards one of the other school buses.

Gina recognized him, though the name escaped her. He was one of the school jocks, broad-shouldered, affable, and confident. Or usually confident. His shoulders slumped as he drew close to the school bus and stopped by a small group of students.

Gina recognized them as well, a motley group that had come together at the start of the semester. She picked out Heather Sovert first, as everyone knew the name of one of the more popular girls in school. The girl right next to her must be her sister. The dark-haired girl was there, standing near Heather. Diane-something. No more names would come to her.

Brad Weston, that was the boy's name. Lots of girls were interested in him. A rumor said he was getting serious with more than one at a time. He and Heather were an item once, likely having sex with each other as well.

Gina's pussy grew warm. A deep breath did nothing to quell it. The more she stared, the more she thought of Brad fucking, and the more her pussy ached.

She rushed towards the school entrance. Moisture gathered in her sex, and her panties were damp. The wind roared past her ears, distracting her and cooling her down enough so that she could collect herself by the time she passed under the raised eyebrow of Vice Principal Seeger.

Diane panted as she stumbled into the rest of the group. "Sorry I'm late, there was an accident on ..." Her words were cut off as a gust whipped her hair across her mouth. She made a revolted noise at the taste of her hair on her tongue before she peeled it away. "God, the only thing I hate about living near the Rockies is the wind in the fall!"

"It's a Chinook wind downsloping off the mountains from a gradient caused by a high-pressure system to the west," said Jason after the wind had abated enough for him to talk without shouting.

"And that was the weather for today," quipped Ned. "Now we go to reporter Richie Gardner for the sports news."

Melinda and Heather smirked. Richie snorted. "Don't look at me, baseball season ain't til April."

"Speakin' of things that are late, anyone see Cassie yet?"

"I imagine the winds are worse up on the mesa," Jason said. "Her driver might be taking it slow."

"Or some idiot in an SUV got blown over like what happened on my bus route," Diane muttered.

"It's okay, Diane, I can fill you in on what's going on when we get inside," Heather said.

"So are we set, then?" Jason said.

"I think so," Melinda said. "I'll try get a look at him when I go to my second class. I have to pass by his office anyway."

"Get a look at who?" Diane asked.

"The new counselor," said Heather.

Diane sighed. "Great."

"Jason doesn't think it will be anything to worry about."

Diane nodded and did not bother to correct her lover's false assumption. Diane was lamenting that she was the only Harbinger that could not see the Auras.

"I can look at him after my homeroom class," Jason said.

"I can get a gander at 'im after third class and before lunch," Ned said.

And I'll just stand by the sidelines and remain useless as always, Diane thought.

"Jason, Cassie had asked you to look up something for her. Did you find anything?" Melinda said, shouting her last words over the roar of the wind.

Jason sighed, but it was lost in the gust. "No, I've been too busy with other stuff. I'll go look through the school records again tonight."

"You sure you're not going to get caught doing that?"

"I'm positive, Melinda. The school doesn't have a dedicated IT staff, they just slap together off-the-shelf components and call it good. Breaking into their system is the easiest--"

Ned's head turned. "Uh, ixnay on the ackinghay, dude."

Jason responded with a confused look until he saw what had caught the attention of his cohorts. Richie frowned and clenched his fists. Melinda's gaze burned, and Heather folded her arms.

"Um, hi," murmured Brad Weston, his voice almost drowned out by the rush of wind.

"What the hell do you want?" Melinda demanded.

"Melinda, quiet," Heather snapped. She leveled her eyes at Brad. Behind her, Diane backed up a half-step, her eyes shimmering. Heather remained quiet and let her cool gaze speak for her.

Jason maintained a look of equanimity. He once harbored jealousy where Brad was concerned. Before the House, when Jason had his crush on Heather, Brad had been Heather's boyfriend, and rumors abounded that they had frequent sex. Heather had never confirmed or denied it to anyone, and Brad had done nothing to dispel the rumors.

Brad looked at Richie, and his shoulders shrank towards his body. Richie stared back, tensed as if wanting to renew the fight he had picked with Brad that morning he had tried to control Heather at Melissa's bidding.

Brad's eyes flicked between the other Harbingers and shuffled his feet. "Um ... Heather, can I, uh, talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

"Anything you want to say to her you can say in front of us!" Melinda piped before Heather could respond.

"Yeah, and if you even look like you're pulling the same shit with her like last time ..." Richie growled.

"Hey, c'mon, man, back off," Brad said, raising his hands. "I'm not here to cause trouble, okay?"

Ned peered towards the school entrance. "Guys, chill. Old Seeger is givin' us the evil eye."

"I said, I'm not here to make trouble," Brad repeated in a more contrite voice. He let off a sigh. "Look, all I wanna do is apologize."

Heather flinched. "You want to what?"

"Apologize, dammit!" Brad snapped. He took a deep breath. "Look, I didn't wanna do all that crap to you, okay? I mean ... this is gonna sound really off the wall, and you're gonna think I flipped out but ... but I think that girl Melissa was messing with my head."

Heather's mouth dropped open. Melinda's eyes widened.

Brad frowned. "Yeah, you probably think I've gone fucking nuts. Probably every girl in the school will think that by tomorrow. Never mind"

He turned away.

Heather stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "Brad, no, wait."

Brad turned back around, his eyes wary.

Heather withdrew her hand. "You were kind of pissed at me for dumping you, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah, sure, but I never wanted to do that shit to you. I mean, c'mon, Heather, I'm not like that! Ask any other girl that's dum ... er ... that ... that I stopped going with."

Melinda hid a smirk behind her hand. Diane stepped closer to her lover, even as she trembled at Brad's presence and kept her wary and troubled gaze on him.

Brad's eyes shifted to her. "Oh, um ... Diane ... sorry about the other stuff I did to you, too."

After a pause, a slow smile graced Diane's face, and she nodded. "It's okay, don't worry about it, Brad."

"Yeah, it's fine, Brad," Heather said.

Brad's eyes widened. "What, you mean you believe me?"

Heather grinned. "Yeah, I guess I'm as crazy as you."

Brad looked relieved and managed to crack a smile until his gaze shifted to Richie. Now the others looked at him as well.

Richie deflated. "I woulda kicked your ass if Saggy Seeger didn't stop us," he muttered.

Brad smirked. "Yeah, maybe you would've at that. Hey, I gotta get inside. See ya around."

Brad cast a lingering, wan look at Heather before he headed towards the school. After he passed under Seeger's watchful eye, Seeger now turned his full attention to the only ones remaining in the parking lot. He folded his arms and tapped his foot.

"I think we better get inside, too," Jason said.

"Well, yeah, but what about ..." Ned started just as the sound of a car engine approached from the street. "There she is, finally!"

A black limo pulled up, bumping the curve in its hurry to enter the lot. Ned raced to it ahead of the others, shielding his eyes as another gust swirled dust and loose gravel around him in a miniature vortex.

Melinda stared at Brad as he climbed the steps. "No Aura. Not a wisp."

"Thanks for the news flash," Heather said with a smirk.

"Hey, I'm just trying to protect you, that's all."

"I mean I could see for myself he didn't have an Aura, runt."

"Really? From the way you were making cow-eyes at him I wouldn't have guessed."

Diane tried to ignore them. She wished Brad had never apologized. Now she worried that he would rekindle Heather's interest in him. Diane had no false expectations that Heather would become lesbian like her, but at least when Heather was having sex with the other Harbingers, she did not feel so much like she was competing for Heather's affection.

Not much, anyway.

Gina paused by the door to her homeroom class for a second as she left. Her feet moved of their own accord, as if they wished to obey her mother's directive even if the rest of her was still hesitant.

The compunction to obey her mother was strongest when she was away from home. She represented her mother's ability to raise a child properly. To disobey her mother was to disgrace her, and the school faculty expected to see a well-

(trained)

behaved young lady.

Her footsteps faltered. Had she heard that in her head again, or was it just her imagination?

She approached the administrative area, her steps small and measured. The desk of the administrative coordinator -- the one who could actually receive her request for an appointment to see any faculty member other than the principal -- was vacant.

She did not allow herself to feel relief. Somehow that was akin to disobedience, like celebrating her inability to obey her mother's wishes. Gina started back towards her homeroom class. Just past the first row of lockers was a solid, recessed door stamped with the word "Counselor" in faded letters.

A yellow sticky-note was on the door, and Gina felt obliged to read it. Written upon it in neat, cursive script was: "Walk-ins accepted before first period. Please step inside."

This struck her as unusual, but her hand reached for the doorknob and turned it, as if obeying the instinct to respect the wishes of her elders without need for conscious thought.

Warm air rolled over her as she stepped inside. The room was impeccably neat and bright. A large, south-facing window let in morning sunlight behind an oak desk polishing to shining perfection. A pendulum clock ticked on the wall beside a framed diploma. Against the wall opposite the window was a long sofa with plush cushions. The trees bent in the wind just beyond the window, but the room was quiet.

The room was also unoccupied. Gina closed the door behind her. She sank into the sofa and waited.

Cassie hurried to her locker with Ned in tow, though Ned had to jog to keep up, stumbling as she threaded herself through gaps in the crowd that often closed up before he could follow.

"Hey, babe, you okay?" Ned asked in a winded voice as Cassie reached her locker.

Cassie paused. "I'm not sure, Ned."

"Anything happen on the drive down the mesa?"

"What? No, of course not. The winds actually didn't get bad until we crossed the bridge into town."

"So what's eatin' ya this morning?"

Cassie retrieved books from her locker and delayed her answer until a surge of anger had abated. She refused to take her frustrations out on him, but she did wish he were more observant. "You ask me that after what happened last night?"

"Huh? But we didn't go out ... oh, wait, you mean in my dreams, right?"

Cassie slammed her locker door and whirled around. "What else would I be talking about?"

Ned rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, yeah, true."

Cassie's face fell. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be snapping at you."

"Hey, no prob, babe, I understand."

"I'm not sure you do," Cassie said, though in a less hostile tone of voice. "You know how I feel about trying to control people."

"Yeah, but this was just in my dreams."

"Ned, you know perfectly well that dreams are much more than that where I'm concerned."

"Well, if it helps ya any, babe, I didn't wake up feelin' like I needed ta fall at yer feet," he said with a small smirk. It faded when he saw Cassie's unamused look.

"I didn't exactly go through with it in your dream if you recall. But it's ... it's more than that."

"Oh?"

Cassie considered telling him about her other dream, but refused to risk Ned suggesting an explanation that she did not want to hear. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I'm afraid I might enjoy doing it too much."

Ned nodded. "Okay, gotcha. But we really don't even know if it'll affect me outside of the dream. Like ya said, ya didn't actually do it."

"You still want me to do it to you? What if it does affect you in real life once you wake up?"

"Then ya just reverse it or something the next night."

Any consideration she thought to give the idea disappeared when it triggered a warm tingle in her sex. "No, I can't take the chance."

She tried to go around Ned, but he stepped in front of her. "Wait, babe, hold up."

Cassie sighed and held her books to her chest like a shield.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean ta get ya upset. I just wanna see how this power of yours works."

"Are you sure you're doing this for the right reasons, Ned?"

"Huh?"

"You always get so upset when there's the least little possibility you might be influencing me. In the dream, you sounded like you wanted me to do it to you, like you deserved it."

"Oh. Uh, well, that's just my dream, I mean ..."

"And dreams in people like you that don't have control over them can reflect what you're really thinking."

Ned frowned. "Okay, yeah, mebbe I do sometimes think like that, but really, I got a handle on it. I really do just wanna see what ya can do with this thing."

Cassie hugged her books. Her pussy grew warm. "I-I'll think about it."

"So, ya sure there's nothin' else botherin' ya?"

The image of the girl, helpless and sobbing on the floor of the cage, cast a pall over her thoughts, and her skin prickled at the memory of the cold. "No, nothing."

Ned nodded. "Okay, cool."

"So did Jason discuss anything with all of you before I showed up?" Cassie asked.

"Oh, yeah." Ned explained about the new counselor and then mentioned Brad's apology to Heather.

Cassie sighed in relief. "Finally."

"Pardon, babe?"

"I guess I was the only one that noticed how Brad was moping like he lost his best friend ever since Melissa was defeated. I think what Melissa made him do to Heather really upset him. I'm glad that he's made peace with Heather over it."

Ned grinned. "Yer the Harbingers' Great Peacemaker if ya ask me."

Cassie's lips twitched into a small smile. "We better get to class. I'll try to find the rest of you between periods in case there's any news of this counselor."

"Gotcha. Hopin' this will be a big zero, ya know?"

Cassie nodded, but had the uneasy feeling that Ned was hoping for another adversary.

Ned hated standing on the sidelines. Cassie saw him as a balance to Jason. Jason was a great leader, but he let caution temper his actions too often. Ned liked to jump in head-first and worry about the consequences later.

She found balance wherever she looked among the other Harbingers. Melinda could be annoying with her barbs and her whining, but her shrill warnings carried a grain of truth. Richie saw the obvious when the rest were mired in details, and sometimes acted as the enforcer or defender the few times fisticuffs were required.

But then there was Heather. Cassie failed to make sense of her yet. Her voracious sex drive appeared only disruptive, fueling a precognition power that still operated with only fleeting moments of lucidity.

"Well, I better get going," Cassie finally said before her thoughts mired her further. She shared a small kiss with Ned.

"Yep, see ya later," Ned said as she left.

"Good morning, Gina."

Gina flinched, not having heard the door open. She looked up, opening her mouth in an automatic greeting, but the words caught in her throat when she saw the man smiling down at her.

"We meet again, it would seem," said Victor.

The morning in the cemetery rushed back to her. She squeezed her legs together and could not stop staring at him.

(You can trust me)

Gina shivered.

Victor closed the door. "Forgive me for not revealing to you that I would be the guest counselor for a week." He sat down behind the desk. "Would it help if I were to say that I am quite surprised to see you here this morning?"

Gina blinked a few times, as if trying to wake up from a dream. "I ... I'm sorry, sir?"

Victor folded his hands. "When I met you, you seemed like such a happy, well-adjusted child. I could scarcely imagine why you would need to see me in an official capacity."

(You can always trust me)

Gina swallowed. She forced herself to take a steady breath. "Um ... my mother suggested I see you, Doctor ... er ..."

"No need for titles. Victor will do."

Gina's mouth opened, but the name would not come out. A child did not call an adult, especially one in authority, by his first name.

"Now, you said your mother wanted you to see me today?"

"Yes, sir," Gina said, falling back on the form of address with which she was most comfortable. "She wanted me to discuss ... um, to discuss ..."

Victor looked on with interest and extreme patience.

"My ... m-my sexuality."

"Hmm. Yes, I think I already see why."

Gina's eyes widened. "You do?"

"I am trained to notice every little nuance of a person's body language, Gina. You seemed rather nervous when you mentioned it."

"Oh. Well ... that's ... isn't that normal, though?"

Victor tilted his head.

"I mean, people don't talk openly about those sorts of things."

"Ah, I see. You are confusing what may be normal for others for what is normal for you."

Gina stared. "I don't understand."

Victor leaned back in his seat. "This is indeed a common problem with teenage girls such as yourself. You believe that what others are doing reflects what you should be doing. That is not always the case."

These questions had never arisen in her mind before, but she had never sought to compare herself to anyone.

"I assume your mother has taught you about your sexuality?" When Gina nodded, he continued, "Tell me, then, what your mother has done."

"Um ... she said it's something I should be open about. That ... that I should consider it like a gift that I give to others ... but ..."

"That is a fine approach." Victor said. A pause followed each sentence, starting just on a tick of the clock and lasting exactly two ticks. "It establishes that sexuality is something to be accepted and enjoyed." Pause. Two ticks. "That it is something to be encouraged."

Pause. Two ticks.

"Yes, my mother encourages it in me quite well," Gina said, the words flowing as if scripted.

"That is most well and good." Pause. Two ticks. "Quite good." Pause. Two ticks. "You have done well to follow it."

Gina was rapt, her mind conditioned to listen for the ticks and expect more words of wisdom to come forth at that precise moment of the third tick. And when no words were forthcoming, she was compelled to supply her own. "She taught me how to masturbate."

Gina's cheeks felt warm, and she wondered how that had come out.

"But this is not something you would do in front of others?" asked Victor.

Gina's eyes widened, and she drew back in her seat. "I never thought about it."

"Think about it now."

Gina squirmed. Warmth gathered in her pussy equal to the heat in her face.

"Is it something you could do now?"

"No," she said faintly. "I don't think so."

Victor looked thoughtful. "Gina, I would like to take you on what my profession calls some directed imagery."

Gina nodded. This she understood. He was going to tell her to do something, and she simply needed to do it.

"Now, I want you to close your eyes, sit still, and relax."

Gina nodded again, and her eyes slid closed.

Everything fell silent. After taking in a single, deep breath, all she could hear was the clock's incessant march of seconds.

"Imagine yourself in the safest place you can possibly be."

Gina's mind remained blank.

... tick ... tick ...

Then, as if on cue, she saw her room, its pleasant and soothing pastels glowing softly in morning sunlight. The air was still and calm, dust motes suspended in the sunbeam.

"Imagine yourself there, Gina."

... tick ... tick ...

Her mind obeyed. She sat on the bed. The room became more real, the walls more solid.

"You're alone." ... tick ... tick ... "Complete privacy." ... tick ... tick ... "Not even your mother is there."

... tick ... tick ...

All other thoughts dropped away. She spread her fingers and watched them sink into the soft blanket. Her mother always used extra fabric softener, knowing how she liked its touch against her bare skin.

Victor opened a drawer, its runners squealing. Gina did not notice. Victor withdrew an object which he cradled in his hands as he stood. "But your mother wants you to explore your sexuality whenever you can, Gina."

... tick ... tick ...

Gina felt a new rush of heat to her sex. Her nipples tingled under her blouse.

Victor crossed the room. "You always obey your mother."

Gina drew in a breath and let it go as a husky sigh.

Victor placed the object next to Gina on the sofa. "Open your eyes."

Gina's eyes opened, and she uttered a small gasp as her head whipped around.

She was in her room.

But ... why was that a surprise? Of course she was in her room. She was alone, and her mother was away, and it was all safe and cozy in here.

She felt very flushed. Her legs shifted under her and revealed an aching pussy. Her hand fluttered across her blouse, and she moaned when she brushed the bump of her hardening nipple.

Gina stood and shed her clothes. Her breath became a soft pant as clothing slid across warm, tingly skin. She moaned as her bra fell, nipples taut and erect. She fingered them and sighed at the tingles of pleasure that shot through her.

She shimmied out of her jeans and peeled her panties from her soaked slit. Her hand brushed an object sitting next to her on the bed as she sat. She flinched when she saw it was a rather large dildo.

Her moment of surprise confused her. Her mother had given it to her and expected her to use it. As she turned it in her fingers, her cunt grew hot and steamy with need. Moisture trickled from her folds, and she whimpered in growing lust.

Breathing hard, she lay her head against the pillow and stretched out on the ...

(couch)

... bed. The bed. In her room. All safe and sound.

She spread her legs and nestled the thick head of the dildo in her folds, her thighs quivering. She drew the tip up and down, a shiver of pleasure passing through her as her slick and swollen clit responded. She eased it down, and it sank into her with an audible squish.

"Uhhhnggg ..." Gina moaned as she pushed it inside, her cunt clenching it like a vise. She gasped at the compulsion to push it into herself as far as it would go, until the dildo was so full and tight inside her she doubted she could draw it out again.

At first she didn't want to. It felt so wonderful just sitting inside her. She squirmed and panted, every tiny movement against her clit made her pleasure rise.

She drew the dildo back, then shoved it in again, hand trembling with the effort.

Gina never felt such pleasure in her life. She pumped the dildo harder, moving it with greater ease as if her cunt had stretched to accommodate it. The shaft stroked her clit hard, driving her to soaring heights of pleasure. She could hear the wet sounds of its movement inside her above her moans.

Her pleasure escalated, then slowed, and she strained at the edge. She had to have relief, and she would pump the dildo as fast and as hard as she had to in order to get it.

Richie thrust his hands into his pockets as Jason approached. "Nada?"

Jason stepped out of the stream of students heading to the first period class. "I don't know, his office door was closed."

"Mebbe he already has a patient or something."

Jason frowned. "Where are Heather and Melinda?"

Richie smirked. "Relax, dude. I saw 'em just a minute ago. Thought you said this was nothing."

"I did, but if he already has someone in there, he's working as fast as Nyssa had."

"Hey, I was only guessin'. He could be doin' paperwork. Or comin' down on some sweet thing from the admin offices."

Jason gave Richie a disapproving look.

Richie grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. "Just kidding. Man, you gotta loosen up a bit."

"I just want to confirm this guy is not a threat so we can concentrate on what's going on with Heather. Or whoever else in the school might be in danger."

Richie looked around. "Whole freakin' school is in danger all the time, ain't it?"

"I keep hoping this time we really hurt it."

"Huh?"

Jason lowered his voice. "The Entity, the thing that showed up after Melissa--"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Richie said. Richie still felt a chill go down his spine when he recalled the moment he had seen it in one of his past visions.

"Or at least we kept it from getting stronger," Jason said. "So it has to keep working through surrogates."

Richie gave him a confused look.

Jason sighed. "People that it takes over to do the work for it."

"Oh. Sorry, I don't speak nerd."

"The point is that it may be about to call in another one. Nyssa was the first, Melissa was another. We have to figure out who it will be next time."

Richie shrugged and fell silent, his eyes cloudy. Jason looked at him, and he frowned at the scrutiny. "What?"

"I thought you were going to say something."

A pause. "Nope, not me."

Richie considered telling Jason what was happening between him and his mother. But part of him took perverted pleasure in the fact that he was getting sex every day now. He did not trust that Jason would believe him that his mother was the one forcing herself on him and not the other way around.

Richie still pined for the days when his teacher Linda Davis was his sex slave, or for the brief time later when he took advantage of her lingering desires and fantasies about teenage boys to score sex with her anyway. He had abandoned that arrangement and vowed never to return, but he could not leave the desire behind. He would always want to go back. All the Harbingers knew it, or that was what he assumed, and he did nothing to dispel such notions.

"Anyway, we better get on to class," said Jason.

"I'm in no hurry."

Jason frowned. "Richie, please, as a favor to me and the others, don't get yourself detention this week."

"What, and ruin my reputation?" When the look returned, Richie rolled his eyes. "Fuck, chill out, Jason, it was a joke. I don't want nothin' happening to Heather, either."

"Okay, I know, I'm sorry. Just got too many things going on at once."

"No sweat, dude. See ya later."

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