Apr-29-2002 1:04 PM Message 268 of 523

Subject: New Dawn

From: Orah

Reply to: Orah [ Message 244 ]

As the first rays of the sun warmed her eyelids, Pyry awoke. She sighed, remembering most of what had happened the night before, until shortly after the power-shock had hit her. Whatever it was, apparently she had been able to sense it's coming and going, as it went, so had she. She'd passed out while trying to decide the best way to deal with an un-alive butler when she wasn't at all sure she could have gotten away from him no matter how hard she tried.

She rolled to her side and studied the woman lying beside her. With a sense that she wasn't sure she'd had previous to whatever the hell had happened the night before, she had known that someone was in the bed beside her and that that someone was a woman. When Pyry looked at her, she knew right away that something was wrong with the woman, something beyond cure. Her aura was a deep and muddy grey-brown, with livid purple streaks through it, like a poisonous, puss-filled boil. Well, it wasn't her problem, and there was nothing she could do about it, not right now. Pyry sensed that as long as the woman drew breath, she wouldn't even be able to interact with her on any but the simplest, most basic of levels, but she also felt that when death opened it's door............maybe then.................

She shrugged the thought off, a little uncomfortable with it and got out of bed. The woman was unconsious, and the door was closed, so she all but ripped her way out of her filthy clothes and ran for the bathroom, and the huge bathtub she could see through the open door. She poked around through the bath oils, finally settling on a cedar-scented one and filling the tub with water. She didn't bother waiting for it to get hot, applying instead a trick she had "learned" while bathing in a stream on her way through the Yukon and heating it with herself after she got in. When it was to the point where it was just getting uncomfortable, she stopped. Dipping all of herself save her nose under the water, she held herself tightly to the bottom of the tub until the water was notecieably cooler. She sat up and looked around for something to wash with, found a big block of soap with lavender flowers in it and made as good a job of it as she could with nothing but her hands to scrub with. As there was no shampoo in sight, she used the soap on her hair too. She stepped out of the tub and noticing that there was no mirror she "spun" one using the water in the tub and standing it on end so that she could see herself in it. She looked herself over and, as usual, heaved a dissapointed sigh. Her face was nothing to be proud of, pointy all over it reminded people of a fox. Tiny chin, vulpine mouth, and a long, patrician nose that would have looked okay on someone like Anjelica Huston, just looked odd under Pyry's wide-spaced, large and deep-set eyes. Heavily fringed with thick long lashes, they were the only thing people really looked at, the rest of her face usually made them flinch, and her limp, wispy, chin-length, almost-black hair was nothing special either. Her gaze moved down to her body. Another sigh, this time of disgust. She'd never needed a bra, and had always envied the other girls that particular necessity, but she had to admit, a 30 nearly B was handy at times like she'd been through. Farther down to a waist like a boy's. Hips like she'd been attacked by middle-age spread when she was ten. Short legs and ridiculously tiny feet. At least she was short. At four foot eleven, usually people were looking at the top of her head, and not into, say, her flat chest. If she'd been six feet tall she probably would have killed herself.

Pyry sighed, and let the water go. With everything else she could do, you'd think she could change her body into a more appealing shape, but she had no idea of how to even try. Back in the bedroom, she looked at what was to offer in the closet. All dresses and skirts. Frilly lace things that only looked good on substantially endowed women. Pyry went to the dresser on that same side of the room. The same kind of stuff, only even more revealing. Who in the hell dresses this way? she thought as she moved to a chiffarobe on the opposite side of the room. When she opened the door she heaved a long sigh of relief. Men's clothes. Pants. She pulled on a pair of black crepe trousers, with a satin stipe down the outside of the leg. They were probably from a tuxedo, she rather liked the look of them. They were (of course) much too big. She used a tie as a belt, tying them on and folding the top over to hang down, then cuffing the bottoms of the legs. She found a minimally ruffled shirt, and only bothering to fasten the two buttons in the middle of her chest, turned her attention to her bed-mate.

Pyry was a shrewd judge of size and strength, being on the road for so long had sharpened skills that her life before the search had developed in a more minimal (although more often used) capacity. She quickly chose clothes for the woman, in somber browns and blood red, they seemed appropriate. Moving the woman to the bathtub was easy, once Pyry figured out that she could use the air to support the woman as Pyry tugged her along. Using the same cedar oil and lavender soap, Pyry bathed the woman, derssed her, and then, with nothing else to do with her, put her back on the bed.

She found a pair of heeled leather slippers in the closet with the ridiculous dresses, and grabbing a rather pretty gold bracelet with red stones (she hated not having something to do with her hands,) set off to explore the house, and maybe find something to eat along the way.

Apr-29-2002 1:42 PM Message 269 of 523

Subject: RE: New Dawn

From: Orah

Reply to: Orah [ Message 268 ]

Pyry's head snapped around, and she stared back at the door of the room she had just left. She was halfway down the hall, and had just realized that there was no way the unconsious woman's life force could possibly have been so strong as to attract Pyry's attention, not with the aura she'd seen and the sickness and torment it had exuded. She took a step..............

And without knowing quite how, she was right in front of the chair in her room, the chair with the other sleeping woman in it.

Their faces were less than an inch apart.

All she could really see of the woman was her wide, startled eyes.

"Hello." Pyry said, a little off balance due to what had just happened. "erm.........did what I just did make your skin itch too?"

Apr-29-2002 4:19 PM Message 270 of 523

Subject: Taking Comfort [Laura]

From: Laura_Junius

Reply to: goddessT [ Message 267 ]

Laura wakes in the silver dawn to find Tricia cuddling her from behind like a teddy bear. Tricia's arm is draped casually over Laura's waist and her breath is warm on the back of Laura's neck. Although they had snuggled similarly a few nights earlier when Tricia consoled her following her horrid dreams that Belle had died, Laura finds herself reacting differently to their closeness on this occasion.

Becoming uncomfortably aware of Tricia's breasts against her back, Laura carefully slides out from under Tricia's arm and slips out of bed. With the sun coming up, Laura decides she no longer needs to stay by Tricia's side to help ward off nightmares. She leaves Tricia's room to seek the privacy of her own bedroom.

Usually, once she awakens in the morning, Laura finds it impossible to go back to sleep. But when she enters her room and sees the sun streaming in through the windows, Laura begins to yawn. Squinting against even this pale, early morning light, she closes the shades and lays down to rest.

Although she had not noticed it the past two evenings while sleeping in this bed, she suddenly recognizes faint traces of its prior use by Belle. She inhales deeply, amazed that she is able to distinguish the scents of Belle's preferred brand of sweet perfume combined with Belle's own rich, natural musk.

Laura finds her breath growing deep and ragged, her hips pulsing slightly under the sheets; and whimpers in silent dismay as she realizes the cause....

Laura stops trying to pretend. She cannot lie to herself anymore. She finally accepts that thoughts of Belle cause her to suffer an intense, sexual yearning.

Now, with this acquiescence shattering all prior psychological barriers, Laura allows herself to wonder -- no... to imagine -- what it might be like to hold Belle, to kiss her, and to feel Belle's hands or mouth there... there... or even THERE!

Laura groans as her own fingers imperfectly simulate what she fantasizes doing with Belle.

Very little time passes before she is finished.

As she falls into a deep slumber of physical and emotional exhaustion, Laura is comforted to recall that Tricia is still sound asleep in the other room, and therefore almost certainly did not hear when Laura, at the pinnacle of her ecstacy, cried out Belle's name.

Apr-30-2002 10:32 AM Message 271 of 523

Subject: Meeting {Aradia w/ Pyry & Shannon}

From: Josephine_Maia

Reply to: Josephine_Maia [ Message 258 ]

Aradia wakes the first time when she hears a water spigot creak in the bathroom, followed by the sound of a filling tub. She looks up from her chair to see the redheaded girl still asleep in the bed, but the woman whom Briant had met at the door gone. Assuming the latter to be the person drawing a bath in the next room, Aradia closes her eyes to rest a while longer.

Aradia wakes again when she hears a sound like a lightbulb popping and a sudden breeze blows over her body. She finds herself staring directly into a pair of bright eyes.

Aradia's first thought is: What an extraordinary face... absolutely beautiful in its unique character.

"Hello," the woman says without backing away. "Um.... Did what I just did make your skin itch too?"

"No," Aradia responds without flinching. One reason she is a leader in the Sisterhood is her immediate focus when confronted with matters of business. "Pray tell me, do you have ANY control over your magic?"

Apr-30-2002 10:57 AM Message 272 of 523

Subject: RE: Meeting {Aradia w/ Pyry & Shannon}

From: Orah

Reply to: Josephine_Maia [ Message 271 ]

"No," Aradia responds without flinching. One reason she is a leader in the Sisterhood is her immediate focus when confronted with matters of business. "Pray tell me, do you have ANY control over your magic?"

"If I did, I don't think that I would be here, that's one reason why I left." Pyry says. She sits back on her heels, and continues. "You don't need to know the other reasons, this...magic... as you call it is the only one I was worried about not being able to controll. The other big reason, well..." she sighed again. "I suppose I could have stopped myself if I had wanted to, but I didn't. I guess that says something about me that I was drawn to this place where so much killing has happened. And then when I think over the things that I have done..." Pyry didn't even really notice that the other woman was there anymore, lost in her own memories, hearing someone spit out a word that a part of her, a very dangerous part of her, had screamed at her that it must be kept a secret......

"I don't think that I had to kill them, a whole town, and so far north they probably still haven't been found...nearly two years, the Inuit won't go until spring.....their cousin dead......selkie, changeling he called me.....and in front of them all.......the children.....I killed the children first.........mothers screaming......at me.........I could take being known as the town's ...........underage whore.......not even pretty......in public.......what I really was.............." A sudden and uncontrollable fit of rage hit Pyry with the memory and the temperature in the room began to drop as her eyes dilated and her face twisted into something all but unrecognizeable as human...........

May-1-2002 10:36 AM Message 273 of 523

Subject: Commanding Attention {Aradia w/ Pyry}

From: Josephine_Maia

Reply to: Orah [ Message 272 ]

Aradia shivers, more from what she sees in the woman's countenance than from the sudden temperature drop in the room.

Leadership requires many diverse qualities. Aradia grabs hold of the woman's shoulders and pulls her forward, so that their noses are again nearly touching. She glares into her eyes.

In a regnant voice drawn more from her own inner strength than any magical attribute, Aradia commands: "Stop it... STOP IT! You must return to the here and now. Do you hear me? Live in THIS moment! Stop what you're doing, I say.... STOP IT!"

May-1-2002 11:17 AM Message 274 of 523

Subject: RE: Commanding Attention {Aradia w/ Pyry}

From: Orah

Reply to: Josephine_Maia [ Message 273 ]

Dimly, Pyry hears the woman's voice. She is using a tone of command that a small still mostly dormant part of Pyry recognizes as an order, and imperative. That part of her wants to do as the voice commands. But there was still too much of the human child present in her, and there is probably nothing so relentless as a human child. The human child heard the woman as if through cotton stuffed ears, and that made her easy to ignore.

The temperature continued to drop.

There was a sudden condensation of the moisture present in the air, it bagan falling as rain at the ceiling, by the halfway point it was thick and blinding snow, when it hit the floor it was ice. The air continued to chill.

The flesh on the Witch's left cheek cracked open from the cold.

With an internal shriek, the selkie grabbed controll of Pyry, banishing the abused human child to a subordinate position in the psyche of thier shared body for what it hoped would be forever. Ther were a lot of things that it would need to learn, and fast, but first it had to save the woman freezing to death in front of it, the Witch who had used one of the Voices of Command.

Gradually the temperature in the room came back up to a normal level.

The selkie wanted to tell the Witch that everything was alright, that it would agree to obey, but with the banishment of the human child, it no longer had a language to speak.

May-1-2002 8:42 PM Message 275 of 523

Subject: Metamorphosis {Aradia w/ Pyry}

From: Josephine_Maia

Reply to: Orah [ Message 274 ]

Aradia watches in fascination even as frostbite burns her fingertips where she still grasps the woman's shoulders. She recognizes the danger, but also realizes that any interference with the process she witnesses will spell disaster... for the woman certainly; probably for the other inhabitants of the manor; and possibly even for the populace of the surrounding countryside.

Blinking away the sharp sleet, Aradia sees no physical change in the woman -- except, perhaps, a new confidence in her eyes -- but is certain of her transformation nonetheless. But while her clairvoyance assures Aradia that she now confronts a new being, she has no idea of its nature nor identity. This uncertainty frightens her.

"SELAH!" Aradia manages to scream her cousin's name just before passing out from the cold and the pain.

May-2-2002 11:11 AM Message 277 of 523

Subject: RE: Metamorphosis {Aradia w/ Pyry}

From: Orah

Reply to: Josephine_Maia [ Message 275 ]

The Selkie saw the Witch slumping forward, and caught her as she fell. Knowing the extreme cold that the woman had been exposed to by the human child's inept and sporadic use of the power they shared, a useage that was disastrously tied to the emotions, she knew that the woman had been damaged, but with the eyes of the human child she could not see well enough to know where the damage was, or how severe. She made the decision to complete an additional change, and felt a small twinge of sorrow for the human child. If the Selkie ever again granted the human child any controll at all, she would not like this transformation.

The Selkie's eyes went completely black.

No longer did she have cornea, iris or pupil, her eyes were no longer the limited organ they had been, they had become other. Now she could see what was wrong, where the hurt places were, and now that she could see them, the Selkie could Heal them.

She was in the indeterminate state of awareness that comes in the midst of powerful magics for her kind of being when another Witch came bursting through the door.

May-2-2002 11:23 PM Message 279 of 523

Subject: Rescue {Star & Selah}

From: Kamala

Reply to: Orah [ Message 277 ]

At the sound of her cousin's scream, Star rushed into the hallway, almost colliding with her sister. With a glance at each other, thoughts are exchanged, yet the words remained unspoken. Their cousin was in trouble, so their focus was on getting to her and finding out what was going on. Not on their very different style of pajamas...

Clasping hands, they entered the room.

Selah's gaze darted anxiously through the room before resting on the young woman leaning over Aradia's prone body. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously before widening in alarm as the creature turned mercurial obsidian eyes upon the sisters.

A soft gasp escaped Selah's lips as she stared into the large rounded orbs that completely dominated the tiny face. More animal than human, they portrayed innocence sharply in contrast to the scene in the room. Hands that glowed with a silvery sheen were resting upon Aradia's chalky-colored cheek, made paler by the sharp contrast of the crimson blood slowly trickling down her cousin's jaw. The webbing that linked the fingers together was miniscule, but still visible as the creature spread her hands wide upon Aradia's skin.

"Star..." Selah whispered, her voice shaking slightly as her fingernails dug into the skin of Star's palm.

Stardust recognized traces of the young girl she had rescued the night before. But the protectiveness she had felt last night had vanished now that her cousin was threatened. She clenched her other fist and tried to keep her voice level, she could see the power radiating off this woman, this creature, before her, but concern for her cousin was paramount. "Step away from my cousin!" She commanded.

The young woman didn't speak or move. Fury quickly rose in her, again Star exclaimed, "I said...GET AWAY FROM MY COUSIN!" Without waiting for a response this time, Star reached out and grabbed the woman, yanking her away from Aradia.

Selah hesitated momentarily as she watched her sister go after the girl. She knew if anyone could subdue the creature it was Star. With that matter in good hands, she raced to Aradia's side, kneeling beside her motionless form.

Closing her eyes, Selah placed her hands a few inches above Aradia. Her mind devoid of all thought or emotion, she felt a warm mist envelope her being. The words of healing were vividly written in her conscious and as she rhythmically spoke they echoed through soul.

Ancient ones of the ancient Earth

Older than time can tell

Pass my strength

To secure this spell

Absorb the pain

From one to another

Warm the veins

Let the fire not smother

Selah's body vibrated uncontrollable as the icy feeling passed through her hands, slithering along her arms and through her torso. It met the heat that started deep within her; strengthen by the power of the ancients. Soon the cold was replaced by heat, a fiery ember that traveled a reverse course, exiting her fingers, enclosing Aradia in a sweltering blanket.

With Selah working on Aradia and her cousin out of immediate danger, Star was left to deal with this mysterious young woman. Her first instinct was to strike out at the girl, angered that her cousin was hurt. The girl had remained motionless ever since Star dragged her away. But Stardust can still sense power radiating from the being. Upon closer look, this girl/creature was different from anything Star had ever seen. Stardust studied her closely looking for any sign of what may be going on...

May-6-2002 1:29 PM Message 280 of 523

Subject: Lines of Fire

From: Orah

Reply to: Kamala [ Message 279 ]

The Selkie heard them come into the room, but even more than that she felt the PRESENCE that declared these women, also, were Witches. Her senses no longer muddled by the human child, the changeling was doing her best to repair the damage that had been done to the Mistress who had commanded her so forcefully, so adeptly that it had forced her to come forward and take control of this form before she was ready. But even at her full strength, a working of the magnitude that was needed, a working of enough power to keep her Mistress alive and heal her injuries at one and the same time took time, effort and concentration. Her new Mistress had been freezing to death, her skin had cracked in many places and her vital essences, both physical and aetheric were leaking out in such profsion that, nearly panicked, the Selkie had done out of desperation that which was all but taboo.

She had blended her own aetheric essence with that of her Mistress.

She had done it to keep the woman alive yes, but even more importantly, she had done it to save the woman's powers, spirit and soul in what would soon have become an unresponsive, nearly inanimate and entirely powerless husk. As every member of her species at times had occasion to comment, it was incredible how little these human creatures, even the Witches among them, knew about some things.

At the time when the two subordinate Witches came thundering into the room, the Selkie had healed all of her Mistresses aetheric wounds, they had been of the most concern. And all of the physical wounds were gone as well, but for the gorey crack in the Witch's cheek. The Selkie didn't feel the cold the way these humans did, she was much more...durable...the temperature change hadn't affected her at all, but the Witch had been so affected by the cold that her flesh had cracked open from the sudden freezing temperatures she was exposed to; her flesh had split all the way through, and there had even been a crack in the bone. It had been an enormous relief to see the blood start to flow again, and she had looked up at the other two Witches, trying to convey with her eyes alone that her Mistress was now going to be alright.

And then the nearer one had snatched her away before she could finish. The other Witch was tending her Mistress now, but with the less pure magic that these humans possessed, and after the abrupt way the Selkie had been yanked away and kept from completing her task, the healing had stopped completely, only for a short time, but a critical moment had passed, and the Selkie knew that her Mistress would forever bear a scar, the mark of thier first meeting.

The Selkie stared at the angry Witch standing before her. She could feel a darkness radiating from her, a darkness that she was familiar with, a longing of the soul, to go home. Home, whether the sea, the land, or a person, was something that would be forever denied to both of them; there was no going back. She felt something for the Witch, nothing like the attachment that was growing within her for her Mistress, but a kinship, as of sisters separated by time and distance, but possessing the same soul's blood.

The Witch apparently did not feel this way.

With threat radiating from every fiber of her being, the Witch took a step toward the Selkie. The Selkie knew that if she was to save herself and the Witch-Sister from potentially leathally damaging both of them through some foolish act of anger or abuse took another drastic step. She wanted to imprint a part of her on the Witch-Sister's conciousness, she wanted to communicate, to reassure her. In lines of fire, she began to weave the Selkie's Maze. The Witch was frozen in place, held absolutely still and entranced by the image that was shown to her and only her, something that would set her apart from other humans and Witches forever, something that would bind her tightly to the Selkie. Something that would fortify her soul.

The Maze was filling with the elements. Red, fire and strength. Brown, earth and endurance. Blue, water and healing. Gold, air and life. An end to the poison that the Witch had embraced within herself. The Maze was complete. Trying desperately to attach the Maze to the Witch's Psyche before the threatening blackness enveloped her, she felt herself drifting, and knew she was going to lose control of it. The Maze broke, letting the Witch out of her trance. The Selkie saw the backlash whipping toward her.

She collapsed, and dense impenetrable blackness covered up her world.

May-6-2002 3:31 PM Message 281 of 523

Subject: Bedridden [Laura]

From: Laura_Junius

Reply to: Laura_Junius [ Message 270 ]

With all the shades drawn, Laura cannot tell if it is still morning or now afternoon. She remembers having awakened several times since dawn, when she left Tricia's side and moved here into Belle's bedroom to find a source of comfort only available in privacy. Each time she awoke, she had told herself she must rise and start her day. She and Tricia have a lot to do if they are to have any hope of finding Belle.

But it had been thoughts of Belle that have kept her in bed. With each awakening, Laura's fantasies had grown more vivid, and more passionate... inspiring needs in Laura she knows only one way to satisfy under the present circumstances. Each time ended with Laura -- through sheer physical exhaustion -- falling back into a fitful slumber.

As best she can tell, she has slept less and less between each episode, and hardly at all since the last. She can feel how sweat still pastes light fabric to her skin where her short nightie is bunched up around her ribs. This discomfort is enough to finally get her out of bed. She rises, determined this time to shower and dress....

Laura pulls the sodden nightie off over her head and drops it on the hardwood floor, next to where she stands nude in the middle of the room. Immediately -- as the cool air crinkles her nipples and raises gooseflesh down her arms -- the yearnings return, and Laura must concentrate just to keep her hands by her sides.

Laura cannot figure out what is wrong. She has always had a healthy libido, but she has never before had trouble controlling herself. She does not even want to consider what Belle would think if she knew what Laura had been doing in Belle's own bedroom.

No doubt Belle would be disgusted! She and Belle are best friends, and had spent countless hours together talking about every aspect of their respective lives. Laura knows Belle's sweet innocence, bordering on childlike naivete. It is personified in this room... The lacy frills of the bedding... the shelves filled with dolls and stuffed animals... The plaques and trophies Belle won as Captain of her high school's varsity cheerleading squad....

Two of these awards flank a framed photograph of Belle in her uniform, and Laura's eyes settle there... Belle's soft brown hair pulled back in a long ponytail... Perfectly toned legs naked below the hem of a short pleated skirt down to the tops of white bobbysocks and sneakers....

Laura groans in remorseful surrender as her hands... her fingers... again succumb to the demands of her body. Soon, she is again laying on her back across the bed, occasionally peeking up at the photo of Belle to help complete the pictures she paints in her mind. When it is over, Laura again falls asleep, not even bothering to crawl back under the covers.

May-4-2002 11:09 AM Message 282 of 523

Subject: A new Day?[Tricia]

From: goddessT

Reply to: Laura_Junius [ Message 281 ]

Tricia awakes and realizes that Laura must have gotten up and gone back to her own bed in the night. Tricia feel refreshed in spite of the strange nightmare and Laura's response. Tricia decides to show Laura her thanks for comforting her by making a late brunch. She goes down to the kitchen and manages to scare up some bacon and eggs and Rasin bread and cooks them up and toasts the bread and thickly covers it with butter. She also has brewed some coffee she found. So armed with two cups, the thermal coffee carafe she found and the two plates of food on a tray she makes her way back upstairs to her room to change before waking Laura up. Once in the room, She hears the bed creaking in the room that Laura is staying in and Lauras Moans then silence. Tricia quickly puts on her robe and grabbing the tray goes to the door of the other bedroom. She finds that the door is ajar and pushes it open with her shoulder, the open door revealing Laura splayed on the bed on top of the covers completely nude, the musky scent of her pervading the room, Laura's hand , resting on her obviously wet and swollen mound. Tricia puts down the tray of food and goes to the bed and gently pulls Laura into her arms and pulling back the covers, puts Laura back on the pillows and gently covers her enticing body. Tricia resists the urge to kiss her clevage before covering it up. She then steps back to where the tray sits picks it up and calls"Laura?Laura? Wake up, Brunch is served". And awaits a response.

May-4-2002 4:50 PM Message 283 of 523

Subject: Heightened dreams

From: Narcissa_

Reply to: goddessT [ Message 282 ]

::Her new life was bringing with her new dreams and of course new fantasies. She had fallen blissfully asleep in Guillaume's arms, but was tossing and turning all night long. By this time it was early afternoon, and she was caught deep in sleep, but what seemed like a new reality, was actually a heightened dream. Everything was so real, it almost felt like she was awake. But by the standards of what she had become, awakening was not an option.

The dream had started off normal enough...She was wandering this new house wearing a light cotton white dress. It was daylight and she was merely wandering...up and down hallways, in and out of rooms that could exist, but not perhaps only in her mind. She was happy...complete...at home. The walk was long and monotonous as the trek continued. She had started out happy, but anger was rising as she continued to pace. The anger was filling her soul but she could not stop walking. In and out of room, up and down the hallways..same pace, same floors, same walls. Finally her anger came to a head and she let out a scream to match that of a banshee who had just risen from the grave. Suddenly the walls began to bleed...blood rushing down the walls as if a faucet had just been turned on high. The blood was racing and filling the floors causing a flood to rise from the bottom floors. As the blood licked at her feet, it was stinging hot. Perhaps hundreds of degrees, and it burned her flawless skin. The water was to her knees and the flesh was burning clear from her skin, but it didn't hurt. In her dream, she actually enjoyed the pain. The rush of burning blood excited her and she laughed in her dream. The pacing had stopped and now she was propped on a handrail above a staircase as the blood continued to flow...it was boiling and the screams of victims to come were filling the air. She couldn't help but continue to giggle at the pain of others...it was her scream that initiated this flood of bloody lava...and it was the blood that excited her. She straddled the handrail and pressed herself against the cool wood moaning in pleasure as the flesh of her legs continued to burn. As she reached the peak of her pleasure, her moans again turned to screams, and suddenly all was dark...all was black. The burning stopped, the screams of pain stopped and her dream had ceased to exist.::

May-6-2002 12:38 PM Message 284 of 523

Subject: Beasts Within

From: Iethro_Tullius

Reply to: Orah [ Message 280 ]

Having retired last night once he became certain of Narcissa and Guillaume's sanguinary intentions, Ian returns to the parlor the next day. All gory remnants of the previous evening's slaughter have been expertly removed by Dahlia's staff.

As he sits in the parlor sipping his tea, Ian vaguely hears strange noises coming from the wing of the manor in which several witches have taken sanctuary. It is not Ian's nature to involve himself in the affairs of others. While he really does not know the cause of the commotion, it none the less inspires a tune. He reaches into his haversack, retrieves his mandolin, and starts to sing.

~~~

From early days of infancy,

Through trembling years of youth,

Long murky middle-age

And final hours long in the tooth,

He is the hundred names of terror --

Creature you love the least.

Picture his name before you

And exorcise the beast.

He roved up and down through history --

Spectre with tales to tell.

In the darkness when the campfire's dead --

To each his private hell.

If you look behind your shoulder

As you feel his eyes to feast,

You can witness now the ever-changing

Nature of the beast.

Beastie!

If you wear a warmer sporran,

You can keep the foe at bay.

You can pop those pills and visit some

Psychiatrist who'll say,

"There's nothing I can do for you;

Everywhere's a danger zone.

I'd love to help get rid of it,

But I've got one of my own."

Beastie!

There's a beast upon my shoulder

And a fiend upon my back.

Feel his burning breath a heaving,

Smoke oozing from his stack;

And he moves beneath the covers

Or he lies below the bed.

He's the beast upon your shoulder.

He's the price upon your head.

He's the lonely fear of dying,

And, for some, of living too.

He's your private nightmare pricking.

He'd just love to turn the screw.

So stand as one defiant --

Yes, and let your voices swell.

Stare that beastie in the face

And really give him hell.

Beastie!

There's a beast upon my shoulder

And a fiend upon my back.

Feel his burning breath a heaving,

Smoke oozing from his stack;

And he moves beneath the covers

Or he lies below the bed.

He's the beast upon your shoulder.

He's the price upon your head.

~~~

May-7-2002 5:38 PM Message 285 of 523

Subject: Hunger [Laura]

From: Laura_Junius

Reply to: goddessT [ Message 282 ]

Tricia is so careful, and so gentle, in how she turns Laura on the bed, and then covers her with its sheet and blanket, that in her exhaustion Laura stirs, but does not waken, until she hears Tricia's voice.

"Laura... Laura? Wake up.... Brunch is served."

Laura's eyes flutter open. She raises her head and smiles weakly when she finds Tricia standing at the foot of the bed, holding a tray full of food and coffee.

"Breakfast in bed," Laura says hoarsely. "I must have died and gone to heaven."

Laura groggily sits up. As she does, the bedcovers fall away to reveal her bare chest, reminding her that she had shed her sweat-soaked nightie earlier that morning. She pulls the sheet back up to her shoulders. Looking around, she finds the pink button-down blouse she wore yesterday is still lying on the floor next to the bed where she had dropped it the night before.

"Pardon me," she giggles as she reaches down and retrieves the shirt, puts it on, and fastens the two buttons that close it over her breasts. With that on, and the blankets hiding the fact that she is still naked from the waist down, she figures she can now share brunch with Tricia without offending her friend, who is herself still in her light bathrobe.

Tricia sets the tray across Laura's lap and then reclines at the foot of the bed.

For a moment, Tricia just watches Laura as she sips a bit of coffee. Laura cannot help noticing the look of curiosity -- perhaps even concern -- on her friend's face. Laura misunderstands its cause.

"This all smells so delicious," Laura assures her. Laura then -- being careful not to upset the tray -- draws her feet back and sits cross-legged, allowing Tricia access to the plates holding their brunch.

Tricia slides closer and picks up a slice of raisin toast. "I hope you don't mind me waking you, but it's getting late," she says between bites. "It was beginning to seem like you'd never get out of bed."

Laura scowls but nods. "I'm glad you woke me. We have a lot to do if we are going to find out what happened to Belle." Laura's eyes focus on the picture on the wall of Belle in her cheerleading uniform, and then Laura's gaze moves on to something unseen far beyond the confines of the room.

"I have to tell you," Laura continues softly, the meal forgotten. "Belle's disappearance has affected me more than I first realized.... I guess it's the romance of it all... Running off with some mysterious lover...."

Laura looks up and meets Tricia's intense stare. Laura's eyes reveal a desperation that is reflected in her voice. "I have to find her, Tricia. I just have to!"

May-8-2002 10:56 AM Message 286 of 523

Subject: Regaining Control {Aradia et al.}

From: Josephine_Maia

Reply to: Orah [ Message 280 ]

The blazing remnants of the failed spell ricochet across the room without burning the furniture nor draperies. Nevertheless, the heat of the magical fire washing over Aradia finally rouses her from cold-induced unconsciousness.

Aradia raises her head to see the strange woman slumping into Stardust's arms. Aradia manages to rise to her hands and knees before the remaining pain and nausea hold her in place.

"Star!" Aradia calls despite her parched throat. "Put her back on the couch. Selah, which spell can best confine her and her magic? I don't care how strong she is. As a Triad, we should be able to hold her."

Aradia crawls back into her chair, her left hand instinctively rising to the agony in her cheek.

May-11-2002 10:54 AM Message 287 of 523

Subject: Aftermath {Stardust et al.}

From: azzizs

Reply to: Josephine_Maia [ Message 286 ]

Stardust had been watching this strange women when she saw the power surge from her in the form of a magic spell. With her ability to see magic, Star could see some of the elements of the spell, and tell it was being cast at her. Part of Stardust was transfixed by the spell, another part of her prepared to strike out at the girl, and yet another part was wishing she had spent more time on the books Selah was so fond of, to understand what this strange woman was doing.

Star was aware that the spell wasn't intended to hurt her, she could sense that from the magical energy the girl was expending. As the spell enveloped her, she could finally tell it's intent to some degree. It wasn't a harm spell, but it was one that was ment to control the witch. She felt the first tendrels of the spell and closed down her mind quickly. One thing the young Stardust had learned was in addition to recognizing magic, that she could also protect herself from it. As she locked down her mind she saw the spell reverse back on the caster and saw the young girl falling. Stardust was barely able to catch her in time.

With the girl unconcious in her arms, Star turns to check on her sister and cousin. Before she can assess thier situation, she hears her cousin, "Star!" Aradia calls despite her parched throat. "Put her back on the couch. Selah, which spell can best confine her and her magic? I don't care how strong she is. As a Triad, we should be able to hold her."

Star brings the girl to the bed, but casts a nervous glance at her sister, something was not right. Thier bond was strong and Stardust could tell whatever spell her sister had cast, came with a great cost to herself.

"Selah?" Star calls to her sister, then quickly goes to her side to help her up from the floor.

"I'm fine," Selah replied, giving Star a reassuring smile. This type of spell always left her slightly disoriented, a necessary side effect, and the coldness that had overtaken her body was quickly being replaced by a cocoon of warmth.

Walking towards the bed, Selah ran the list of binding spells through her head, settling on the one least damaging to the creature. "I suggest we place a barrier around the room. The three of us should be able to contain her, but we don't want to frighten her. If she is still free to move she may be more amiable towards us."

Aradia wearily rises and nods, "That sounds best."

Star gives her sister a hug, something still didn't feel right, "You sure you are ok, sis?"

"Yeah, normal reaction. I'll be back to my old self soon," she said, returning the hug.

The two sister's reach out to include their cousin in the hug. "You gave us quite a scare Aradia!" Stardust says to her cousin. The woman on the bed stirs slightly and Star adds, "We should get out of here and cast that spell."

The three of them together lift from the bed the other, still-unconscious girl whom Virani had discovered in the woods nearby. She is wet from the unnatural snow and shivering with cold. They manage to carry her out of the room and into Aradia's suite next door. They are going to have to deal with her soon, but not before confining the dangerous woman they left behind.

The three witches then return to the hallway and quickly invoke the protection spell to bind the room, ensuring no one could enter and no one could leave. After completing the spell, Selah looks very drained, Aradia is not faring much better. Star gently suggests that they return to their rooms to recoup and change out of pajamas.

Before she leaves, Star reaches out and takes Aradia's hand, "Are you sure you are ok, cousin?"

May-11-2002 11:34 AM Message 288 of 523

Subject: Ideas and Options {Aradia et al.}

From: Josephine_Maia

Reply to: azzizs [ Message 287 ]

Selah, Stardust and Aradia complete the invocation of the spell and Stardust traces a symbol on the door with her finger, locking it with their power as a Triad.

"Sisters," Star then says gently, using the term not to describe their family relationship -- Aradia is the twins' cousin -- but rather as the honorific employed within the Coven. "I think we all need to catch our collective breath." She turns to Aradia and continues. "Selah and I should get out of our pajamas, and -- no offense, dear -- but you look like you could use to freshen up yourself."

Aradia nods and begins to turn away, but Star grabs her hand and asks, "Are you sure you are ok, cousin?"

Aradia smiles weakly. "Yes... I'll be fine after a little rest. Maybe I'll take a nap. But then we have to figure out what to do about our... our prisoner there.... And about this other woman. I thought at first she might be the same... Another... well, whatever it is. But now that I've touched her I'm sure she is just an ordinary mortal.... like that Narcissa we met yesterday."

Aradia shudders and starts toward her room, then stops and turns back to face her cousins. "I'm not sure if there is anything we can do for the girl in my room. But this other... I am wondering if it is wise to leave her here with the Kindred. I think it might have been a mistake for us to take up residence here in the first place. Star, you're in the best shape to travel a bit. We need someplace nearby to house the Coven. It's the sort of thing you're much better at than Selah or me, anyway. We need something close enough so that we can still come here for information and Sanctuary if necessary, but out from under the noses of the vampires.

"Meanwhile, Dahlia must have a library. Selah, when you're feeling up to it, if you don't mind, can you please start researching what it is we might have trapped in there? I'll help when I'm a bit stronger, and maybe see what the vampires can tell us as well.

"But for now, Sisters, I think I need a little sleep. This all really took a lot out of me."

Smiling appreciatively, Aradia turns and enters her room.

May-12-2002 1:13 AM Message 289 of 523

Subject: One step at a time[Tricia]

From: goddessT

Reply to: Laura_Junius [ Message 285 ]

Looking into Laura's eyes ,they reveal a desperation that is reflected in her voice. "I have to find her, Tricia. I just have to!" Tricia instinctively moves up beside Laura and takes her in her arms, and gently strokes Laura's hair, calming her own senses as well as Laura's. The she speaks"Laura, do you have a feeling where we need to start looking?" Tricia almost can feel when Laura starts to vibrate when she answers the question .....................

May-13-2002 11:34 AM Message 290 of 523

Subject: Unnatural Slumbers {Aradia w/ Shannon}

From: Josephine_Maia

Reply to: Josephine_Maia [ Message 288 ]

Aradia shuts her bedroom door and considers the red-haired woman on the couch. Her breathing and skin-tone appear too healthy to suspect a coma, but so far she has proven impossible to waken. Her sleep has all the markings of being supernaturally induced.

As such, Aradia and her cousins should be able to revive her. They will need to do so eventually, to keep the girl from dying of thirst and hunger. For a moment, Aradia wonders if they will be doing her a favor by waking her. Although she cannot be certain -- having only touched her while asleep -- Aradia suspects that this girl, like Narcissa, is suffering the effects of a vampire bite. That would explain her unconsciousness, if she had gone an extraordinarily long time without contact with the vampire whose essence now saturates her flesh.

If this is so, then the fact that the girl found her way to this Sanctuary means the offending vampire must be here as well. Thus, while waking the girl would save her life, it would inevitably relinquish her soul to the vampires' world of darkness, either as a willing participant, or a tormented slave. Aradia shudders at the thought of either option, but in the end, she knows that even if she cannot liberate her spirit, she must save the girl's life. Aradia's creed demands it.

That, however, must wait. Aradia knows she and her cousins are exhausted from dealing with the powerful magic of the strange dark-haired woman now locked in the room next door. Aradia steps into the bathroom and peels off her clothes, drenched with melted show and splattered with her own blood. She hangs them in the shower to dry. A purification spell will be necessary later.

Aradia wraps herself in a thick robe, returns to the bedroom, and climbs under the thick quilts on her bed. Almost immediately, she is asleep.

May-16-2002 5:24 PM Message 302 of 525

Subject: Overreaction [Laura]

From: Laura_Junius

Reply to: goddessT [ Message 289 ]

"I have to tell you," Laura confesses to Tricia. "Belle's disappearance has affected me more than I first realized.... I guess it's the romance of it all... Running off with some mysterious lover...."

Laura's voice takes on a tone of distressed desperation as she stares into Tricia's eyes. "I have to find her, Tricia. I just have to!"

Tricia moves up beside Laura and takes her in her arms, gently stroking Laura's hair.

"Laura, do you have a feeling where we need to start looking?" Tricia asks softly.

Laura shudders. Tricia's embrace feels so wonderful. In spite of herself, Laura moans slightly as intense sexual cravings reemerge between her legs and tingle across her body from her curling toes, over her hardening nipples and up to her reddening cheeks.

"I... I don't know," Laura stammers, trying to concentrate on Tricia's question, rather than the electric pleasure of Tricia's fingers gliding across Laura's wavy tresses. "I feel... I feel that she's somewhere close by... But I couldn't... could not begin to guess where... Just that she's close...."

The sense of Belle's proximity, combined with Tricia's actual and immediate closeness, provokes another soft, keening moan from Laura. Her breath becomes rapid and raspy. The muscles of her thighs and hips pulse rhythmically with her need.

All her recent dreams and fantasies about Belle come to mind, as does her lingering suspicions of Tricia's less than platonic intentions. Laura glances down, noticing her friend's luscious body barely hidden under her thin robe. It would be so easy, Laura realizes, if Tricia really were interested and willing, to simply lay back and satisfy her desires that way....

NO! Laura again trembles, but this time in self-loathing. Not that. Not with a woman!

Laura turns and pulls away from Tricia so suddenly and forcefully, that she spills the breakfast tray. Scrambled eggs and coffee pour across the mattress. Laura jumps out of bed to avoid the scalding liquid.

Laura stands on the other side of the bed -- her knees and elbows locked straight, her fists balled -- staring at Tricia. The front of Laura's pink blouse dips just enough to cover her privates, but her nipples still protrude under the thin fabric. Laura's gaze falls away from Tricia and onto the mess on the sheets.

"Christ!" Laura sighs. "Now look what I've done. It's okay. I'll clean it up. It was really time for me to get out of bed, anyway."

May-23-2002 10:23 PM Message 316 of 525

Subject: one step forward two steps back [Tricia]

From: goddessT

Reply to: Laura_Junius [ Message 302 ]

Tricia feels the pulsing of Laura's body just in the split second before she jerks away spilling coffee and scrambled eggs all over the bed. Part of her is saddened that the embrace has ended but part of her is even more aroused at the sight Laura gives her of the poking nipples and then.........Tricia pulls the covers off the bed and says"I think I saw a washer and dryer downstairs I will go wash these while you shower." As Tricia pulls the covers to her the top of the robe open revealing that she has nothing on top. She turns and leaves the room saying over her shoulder, "Don't worry I can make you something else to eat if you want."

May-24-2002 3:27 PM Message 318 of 525

Subject: Regaining Some Control [Laura]

From: Laura_Junius

Reply to: goddessT [ Message 316 ]

Laura shivers and realizes she has remained in the shower so long as to have used all of the hot water. She does not know how long she has been standing there. She has been crying, primarily in despair at the unbearable thought that she might never again see her best friend, Belle Philips, but also in self-loathing from the realization that she not only misses Belle's company and friendship, but that her love for Belle has become romantic in nature, and Laura has actually come to yearn for Belle sexually. Laura has never judged others by their lifestyle choices, but as for herself, she has always rejected any lesbian inclinations. More importantly, she believes Belle would be revolted if she learned that Laura desired her, and had even actively fantasized about her.

The cold water helping to drive these thoughts from her mind, Laura quickly finishes washing, then steps out of the shower. She uses a large, plush towel to dry her hair, body and eyes. She then hangs it on a hook on the back of the bathroom door to dry.

She steps naked into the bedroom and determinedly avoids looking at anything that reminds her of Belle. She pulls a camisole and panties out of her suitcase and puts them on, but finds herself tarrying over her choice of outfits, again distracted by worry and longing for Belle. Despite herself, Laura cannot resist peeking at the framed photograph of Belle on the wall, illuminated brightly by the warm afternoon sun.

Belle looks so vibrant and alive in her cheerleading uniform, that Laura's resurgent lust quickly overcomes her underlying concern. Laura throws her head back and groans, as much from anger at her own lack of self-control as from her renewed sexual frustration.

"What is wrong with me lately?" she asks the ceiling. Intuitively, her yearning directs her attention to the freshly made bed.

Laura closes her eyes and erotic images fill her mind: Tricia leaning across the bed to smooth the sheets, her large, firm breasts fully exposed inside her open, diaphanous robe.... Belle laying across the bed, the short pleated skirt of her uniform riding up to expose more and more of her muscular thighs.... Laura sharing the bed with her, feeling her friend's soft fingertips upon her naked body....

"No!" Laura cries aloud, opening her eyes and pulling her own hands away from her most erogenous places. She turns to her suitcase and pulls out the first clothes she finds, blue jeans and a tangerine blouse. She quickly pulls them on and rushes out of Belle's bedroom, leaving its temptations behind.

She can hear Tricia in the kitchen downstairs. Laura sighs and heads down to join her friend. She hopes that Tricia had not heard her weeping in the shower, nor noticed her other odd behavior, and remains oblivious to Laura's distress.