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Subject: {ASSM} Now This Won't Hurt A Bit 36/38 (mf ff mF Ff FF msolo fsolo Fsolo oral toys mc nc inc teen magic)
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<1st attachment, "Chapter36.txt" begin>

WARNING: This is a work of erotic fiction. It contains depictions of
nudity and graphic sex.

Author: A Strange Geek
Title: Now This Won't Hurt A Bit
Summary: Four teens have their first confrontation with the darkness
coming to Haven: a voluptuous school nurse sowing sexual chaos among
the students and teachers of Haven High.

Part: 36 of 38
Keywords: mf, ff, mF, Ff, FF, msolo, fsolo, Fsolo, oral, toys, mc, nc,
inc, teen, magic

Copyright A Strange Geek, 2006

Feedback welcome! Please email me at astraYOURngegeek@comMINDcast.net
( lose YOUR MIND to email me )

Or to send anonymous feedback, use the form at bottom of HTML version:

http://www.asstr.org/~A_Strange_Geek/novels/NowThis/Chapter36.html



---------------

Cassie felt her chest tighten as the limo pulled into the school
parking lot. Harry made no move to get out of the car to escort her
when she and Diane proceeded towards the entrance. Cassie glanced back
behind her, almost wishing that Harry would deem that she needed an
escort this time.

She sighed. She was only fooling herself on that score. Like everyone
else, he would trust the school. There was nothing to fear here, in his
eyes.

At the top of the steps, Cassie stepped in front of Diane and whirled
around to face her. "Diane, are you absolutely sure you want to do
this?"

Diane sighed. "You want the truth? No, not really," she said, a nervous
quaver in her voice. "But I'm going to feel really bad if I don't see
this through to the end. This may sound silly, but ... but I feel like
being around all of you has protected me somehow."

"Diane, I don't think ..."

"Yes, I know, it's silly, like I said, but ... but I feel like I have
to repay that ..."

"I just want to make sure you realize that you're not going to be
getting any protection. I can't stop Nyssa from doing something to
you."

"I-I know," Diane said. Her eyes shimmered. Cassie could see the fear
in them. "But hopefully it will be like Jason said. She's weak. She
won't be able to do anything. Or at least n-not much."

Cassie sighed inwardly. She was beginning to think bringing Diane along
was a bad idea. She was growing very nervous about the whole thing. But
she also knew that there was no deterring Diane at this point.

"All right, let's go," Cassie said, and the two of them jogged into the
entrance and down the long central hall of the school. Their footsteps
seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet of the building, and Cassie's
heart thudded steadily louder in her ears.

The odd feeling she had was becoming a sense of foreboding, and then
one of dread. Finally, when they came within sight of the corridor
leading to the nurse's station, Cassie grabbed Diane's arm and stopped.

Diane looked at her in surprise and then in concern. When she saw
Cassie staring towards the corridor, she glanced that way as well and
then back at Cassie in growing trepidation. "Cassie, what is it?"

"Ned's not here," Cassie said in a hollow voice.

"Maybe we got here first ..."

Cassie was already shaking her head. "No, he was a lot closer and I
called a taxi for him. And I told him to wait outside for me." She
looked at Diane, her eyes widening. "I don't like this."

"Wh-what do we do?" Diane asked fearfully.

"There's not a whole lot we can do ... except go in."

Diane swallowed and nodded quickly.

The two of the advanced slowly on the door. Just as they got to it,
Cassie reached over and took Diane's hand tightly in hers. They took
one last look at each other as Cassie grasped the knob of the door. For
a moment, Cassie considered peeking inside to see what was in there,
but there was no point. Nyssa would know by now they were coming.
Stealth didn't matter anymore.

Cassie took a deep breath and threw the door open, the two of them
taking a step inside. The next moment, both gasped and froze at what
they saw.

Ned was indeed already here. The problem was, so were Richie and
Melinda, and they had his arms pinned behind his back. Cassie shifted
her gaze when she head a whimpering noise, and her eyes became saucers.

/Becky??/ she thought incredulously.

It was indeed her. She looked like she had been crying again, her
cheeks stained and wet. She hung limply in the grip of Heather, who had
her arms pinned behind her as well.

Cassie felt her heart sink. Yet what really chilled her to bone was not
so much the situation as the horrible look of complete and utter
blankness in the faces of her former fellow Harbingers. It was far
worse that what she had ever envisioned happening to them.

Ned looked like he was about to say something, but the next moment
Richie twisted one of his arms. He gritted his teeth and winced.

Cassie was about to protest Ned's treatment when she realized that the
only one she was not seeing was Jason. Before she could act on this,
she saw a blur of motion out of the corner of one eye as her arm was
seized. She uttered a yelp, a muscle twinging in pain as she was
roughly spun around. Her yelp became a whimper as her arm was pinned
behind her just long enough for the discomfort to cause her to stagger
and allow her other arm to be taken.

Diane had been so stunned by what she saw that she did not react
quickly. When she finally did move to try to pull Cassie away from
Jason, Jason was already dragging Cassie further into the room. "No!
Don't!" Cassie cried. "Run, Diane! Get out of here!"

Diane staggered back but did not leave, staring with eyes wide. "I
can't just leave you like this, I ...!"

"Get out, Diane! Before Nyssa ..."

"Before I what, my dear Dreamer?"

Cassie felt her body shudder violently at the sound of that voice. Too
late she thought to warn Diane. "No! Diane, don't look at her! /Don't
look at her eyes!/ Oh no ..."

But Diane had automatically turned her head at the sound of the voice,
and with her eyes already wide and staring, she could not help but be
drawn to the icy depths as Nyssa stepped out from behind the door.

At the same time, Cassie's warning reached her, and her body trembled
with the effort to respond. She managed to stumble back a step, even as
her gaze felt drawn further into Nyssa's. Nyssa simply smiled in
amusement at her. She took a casual step towards Diane and touched her
cheek, then trailed her fingers slowly down Diane's neck.

Diane took a rattling breath as her heart pounded, her body shuddering
with the pulses of pleasure that shot through her body. Nyssa slid her
fingers down Diane's arm, the sensations mounting and multiplying,
until it grew impossible to think of anything else.

"So simple," Nyssa said softly. She lifted her hand and cupped one of
Diane's breasts through her blouse. Diane mewled as her pussy grew
intensely hot. "So weak. And now ..." Nyssa reached down and touched
the crotch of Diane's jeans. Diane moaned and came, her hips jerking as
she throbbed, her mind growing blissfully blank. " ... so helpless."

"You won't do that to the rest of us so easily!" Cassie yelled. "You
can't! We know you can't! You lost us, so ... s-so ..."

She trailed off as Nyssa slowly turned to her. Behind Nyssa, Diane's
eyes glazed over and her body became still and mute. Now Cassie felt
her own gaze drawn into Nyssa's, and for a frightening moment she
thought that her immunity was just so much smoke, that Nyssa had been
toying with them all this time and was now going to enslave all of
them.

Yet if that were the case, why would she need to strong-arm the others,
when she was able to so completely entrance Diane with a few simple
touches and an orgasm?

As Nyssa advanced on her, Cassie felt an icy chill as she now
remembered what she had gone through. She remembered the fall into
Nyssa's eyes, a frigid wasteland that froze her mind and made any
thought impossible. She remembered the wonderful, delightful pleasure
that had radiated through every fiber of her being. She remembered
reliving her fantasy in her mind, over and over, until something ...
something alien ... had joined with it and made it her world.

But now as she felt herself drawn in again, her body and mind were
feeling something completely different. Her body trembled and then
shook, and she cringed.

And Nyssa's eyes were no longer blue.

They were blood red.

"Yes, Cassie," Nyssa spoke in a voice that was almost serpentine. She
reached up and cupped Cassie's chin. But instead of pleasure, Cassie
felt pain. Not physical pain, but emotional, as if every little fear
she had was being drawn out of her psyche and fed back to her all at
once. "Yes, now you understand ... there is more than one way to
control someone ... and if pleasure does not do it ... then /fear/ will
..."

Cassie whimpered pitifully and wanted to run as fast as she could. Her
muscles strained to obey her instinct, but somehow Nyssa had reached
into a part of her mind so ancient and stirred up something so old and
terrible that it paralyzed her.

Dimly, she was aware of Ned and Becky also in similar distress. Fear
was flooding over them as well, like a terrible wave, though not as bad
as what Cassie was experiencing. In Cassie's mind, it was as if
sections were shutting down, withdrawing to her subconscious to escape
the horrible torture. It was a simple surrender, a plea to end the
torture, her mind growing increasingly blank.

"What are you afraid of, my dear Dreamer," Nyssa cooed as her eyes
glowed. "What gives the Dreamer nightmares? Tell me ... let me play
them out in your mind ... let me ..."

"/NO!!/" Cassie suddenly screamed.

Something in Cassie's mind had snapped, and Nyssa seemed to recoil
slightly from it. Cassie started to collapse, but Jason pulled her back
to her feet. In her mind, the terror was passing. "This ... th-this is
not real ..." she murmured, her body shaking with the effort to force
out the words. "N-not real ... /not real!/ ..."

And her fear continued to retreat.

Cassie was stunned. She had managed to break Nyssa's control. In a few
moments she would have done anything to be spared further emotional
torture. It was bad enough facing her own fears, but to feel just
vague, undirected fear, and at such intensity would have driven her
mad.

Yet when Nyssa had tried to focus her fears, Nyssa had entered an area
that Cassie had already faced with great success. One who knew her
dreams as well as Cassie did knew her nightmares as well, and knew what
they actually meant. With that knowledge, they were no longer objects
of fear.

Nyssa snarled and yanked Cassie's chin back towards her. "You think
your little talent gives you protection. /Think again,/ Cassie. There
are some fears so firmly rooted in your mind that they cannot be
dismissed. Or ... did you not heed what Jason told you? About the
patterns he saw around me? About ... my form ... my /true/ form ..."

Cassie's eyes slowly widened as Nyssa stepped back.

"You think me weak, Cassie," said Nyssa. She shook her head. "It is you
that is weak. You may have delayed me, Cassie, you and your pitiful
'Harbingers' here. Do not think what you did today has stopped me.
Instead, it just allowed me to finally get you all out of the way. Oh,
and I know your little secret, too. The ones you 'rescued' today? I'll
make quite sure they are incapable of organizing anyone to move against
me."

Cassie swallowed hard. "Y-you /are/ weak," she said in a shaky voice.
"Or y-you wouldn't have to do this ... e-everything you're doing ...
it's taking energy ... you don't have a lot to spare!"

Nyssa's lips curled into a terrible smile. "Then I shall cease to use
so much. I shall drop this shell, and show you ... what I really am
..."

Cassie blinked at her in confusion. That made no sense. Cassie had had
no sense from her dreams that there had been any disguise in place.
Surely she would have seen ...

But before she could continue thinking along these lines, Nyssa
transformed, and the abject fear that had so nearly enslaved her will
returned with a vengeance.

Cassie was only vaguely aware of Becky's scream, even as shrill as it
was, or Ned's cry of anguish. She noted absently that the
transformation itself was nothing like she had expected. No smoke or
sparks or flames, no slow morphing or mutation. There was simply a
brief shimmering effect, like heat rising from a hot road in summer,
and Nyssa was changed.

Cassie had seen something similar to Nyssa in movies; she had seen it
described in books; she had seen it in pictures and artwork. Yet
somehow, seeing it real before her, and knowing from where it came, it
filled her with a horror that none of those facsimiles could possibly
match.

It had been an offhand comment, but it had been right in the end.
Before Cassie's now frightened eyes was a form generally associated
with a succubus. Her skin had become the same blood red as her eyes,
her hair now black as midnight. Two curving horns emerged from her
head. Huge, leathery wings with large, sharp claws spread outward
behind her back. A long tail swished slowly back and forth behind her,
writhing like a snake. When she parted her lips in an evil grin, long
fangs flashed in the light.

When Nyssa now advanced on her, Cassie almost screamed. She bit her
tongue hard enough to draw blood to stop herself, her stomach clenching
at the coppery taste in her mouth. Nevertheless she struggled against
Jason's grip, only to have her arms pinched more sharply behind her
until she quieted.

Nyssa smiled and raised a hand to Cassie face, cradling one cheek.
Cassie whimpered in distress, feeling dreadful waves of abject terror
try to flood her mind. She felt the tips of Nyssa's talons trail along
her skin. Cassie closed her eyes tightly, tears beginning to leak from
them.

"And now, Cassie," Nyssa spoke, her voice deep and husky, with a
diabolical edge to it that sent icy shivers down Cassie's spine. "Now
try to block it out ... now try to close your mind to the /fear/ ...
the /panic/ ... the /terror/ ..."

Every word felt like a lead weight dropping on her. Again she felt her
mind trying to retreat into itself, threatening to leave an emptiness
far worse that anything Nyssa might have done by sexual means. She had
to clench her teeth to stop herself from letting the words out, the
words that would have begged Nyssa to stop, that would have doomed her
to enslavement to this horrible creature.

"I can hurt you in so many ways, Cassie," Nyssa hissed. "I can cause
pain that will make you beg for death let alone enslavement ... or ..."

She paused for a moment. She remained still, save for a tiny tremor to
the hand that still cradled Cassie's cheek.

Finally, Nyssa slid her hand from Cassie's cheek and lightly pressed
the side of one talon against Cassie's neck. "I could simply ..." she
began to trail the nail across skin. Nyssa's finger now trembled as
well. " ... /slit your throat/ ... and take care of the problem that
way ..."

Cassie felt herself spiraling into despair and defeat. She had led them
all to this terrible end. She had let herself be tricked by Nyssa. So
many mistakes she had made now replaying in her mind.

/It's all my fault!/ Cassie screamed at herself in her mind. /I did
this. I was so foolish! I was foolish to ever think that Nyssa was .../

The finger against her throat trembled again. "Hurry up, girl!" Nyssa
sneered, a slight quaver to her voice. "Tell me what you prefer!
Enslavement or death! I will happily give either!"

/... weak .../

Cassie paused. She mustered every last bit of her remaining will to
push against the fear. She had to get a coherent thought into her head.
And when she did, she prayed that it was the right one.

"No ..." Cassie said in a weak voice.

"What was that? Speak up!" Nyssa thundered. She pressed her fingers
more firmly into Cassie's neck, nicking the skin just enough for a
single bright red drop to appear.

Cassie had to fight down another surge of panic. "N-no ..." she said
again, a little stronger. "N-not real ..."

"What?!"

"Not real ... i-it's not real ..."

"I will show you what is real ..." Nyssa growled. "I will ..."

"/NO!/" Cassie screeched, her eyes ablaze. "This is not real! It's
fake! You don't really look like this! You're burning energy just do to
this and make me scared! It's /not REAL!!/"

Nyssa's eyes became fire and she viciously slapped Cassie across the
face, her talons causing four bright red marks. "You little bitch ..."

"Not real ... not real ... not real ..." Cassie chanted, even as bright
red beads of blood grew on the slash marks. Along the cuts, she felt a
burning sensation that grew worse every second, as if her skin were
about so be seared away from her face.

"I'll make you cower before me!"

"Not real! ... not real! ... not real!"

"/You will fear me!!/"

"/Not real!/"

"/SHUT UP! Submit to me!!/"

"/GO TO HELL!!/"

Nyssa staggered back from Cassie making a frustrated growling noise
that quickly turned into a more normal sound of exasperation. At the
same time, her body shimmered again, and within barely a heartbeat, her
form had returned to the golden-haired, white-uniformed one she had
before. The burning sensation on Cassie's cheeks vanished, as did the
bloody streaks and the pricking on her neck. It was as if it had never
happened.

The fear in Cassie's psyche vanished all at once. Despite the relief,
it was such a drastic change that it was like leaving a vacuum in a
large space. Her other thoughts rushed in, and for a moment she felt
too much of a tumult in her mind to think straight.

When her head did clear, she saw Nyssa clutching one part of the door
frame to the corridor, panting as if out of breath, her body trembling
badly. Behind her, Cassie felt her arms hanging more loosely in Jason's
grip. Diane shuddered, some life coming back to her eyes. Ned was
already fighting against his captors, but where there were two of them,
it was more difficult.

Becky, however, had fainted, and was hanging loosely in Heather's arms.

Cassie felt her morale rising, and with it, her boldness. "You /are/
weak, Nyssa!" Cassie shouted. "You've even losing control of your
slaves. You're burning energy and you don't have enough to resupply
it."

Nyssa looked up, still panting, pure hatred in her eyes. "You ... you
don't know anything ... dear Dreamer ..."

"I know a lot more than you think I do."

Nyssa forced herself to rise to a full standing position. She tossed
her head back and strode over to Cassie. Cassie tried to quell her own
natural fear. "I know what you know. I knew you were the Dreamer from
the start. That's why I tried to take you first."

Nyssa turned away, just as Ned managed to get free of Richie. Richie
staggered back, his eyes unfogging as he made a groaning noise.
Melinda's face took on a momentary look of anguish and she whimpered
pitifully as Ned was about to pull his arm from her grip as well.

Nyssa made a casual gesture towards her slaves. Richie and Melinda's
eyes glazed over completely once again and reasserted their hold on
Ned.

"You can't keep doing that for much longer!" Cassie cried. She abruptly
yanked herself away from Jason, quickly turning around before he could
grab her again.

When Jason began to advance on her, Nyssa raised a hand. "Stop."

Jason did as he was told, though his body was quivering and his eyes
unsure. Nyssa smiled and Jason returned to glassy-eyed obedience. There
was a sudden soft but heavy noise to the side. Cassie turned her head
in time to see Becky slump to the floor, Heather having let her go.
Heather hung her head and then slowly joined Becky, as if falling
deeply asleep.

Near the door, Diane moaned. "Huh? What ...?"

Nyssa turned her head sharply, her eyes glaring. Diane gasped suddenly.
Her eyes slid closed and she slumped to the floor.

/Oh my God,/ Cassie thought in horror. /Please let them just be
asleep./

"See?!" Cassie cried. "You don't even have enough power to keep control
of everyone! You have to put some of them asleep. You ... "

Cassie yelped as Nyssa suddenly grabbed her arm with surprising force
and shoved her back. Cassie flailed her arms as she fetched up against
one corner of the desk. It knocked her completely off-balance and she
crashed to the floor on her side, her hip thumping soundly as she fell.
She shuddered and moaned at the brief flare of pain.

"Don't underestimate me, Cassie," Nyssa said darkly. "Don't ever do
that. It's a dangerous thing to do."

Cassie struggled to get up, the fall having knocked the wind out of
her. As she slowly rose to her feet, she glanced towards the other open
door and momentarily froze in alarm, uttering a tiny gasp.

Nyssa chuckled malevolently. "Oh yes, you recognize that place, don't
you, dear Dreamer? Oh, but you were there in person once."

Cassie swallowed and forced herself to turn away from it. She cast a
cold look at Nyssa. "My friends helped me escape what you had planned
for me."

Nyssa advanced on her. "So foolish of them, you know. So very foolish."

Cassie tried not to let fear get the better of her. She knew Nyssa was
getting to the end of her reserves. Yet the icy cold malevolence in
Nyssa's eyes, even robbed of their hypnotic power as they were, still
chilled her to the bone. Nyssa was still able to project some fear into
her.

For Cassie was getting to the end of her reserves as well. She could
not take any more mental anguish like she had endured before. She
backed up from Nyssa, even as it took her closer to the one place she
dreaded the most.

"You think this has stopped me?" Nyssa continued. "You think this has
been anything more than a way to waste everyone's time? Come now ...
you're the Dreamer ... surely you know the answer."

Cassie backed up until she saw the door frame out of the corner of her
eyes. Her arms snapped out and she grabbed the frame, her knuckles
turning white. No matter what, she would not go into that terrible room
again. Not unless she was forced.

Or she had some other reason to enter.

She looked up at Nyssa's eyes, swallowing hard. "The seeds," Cassie
said softly.

Nyssa grinned. "Yes, Cassie, the seeds."

Cassie suddenly stared at her. "You're trembling."

Nyssa's gaze hardened. "So?"

"You're still weakening even now. Every moment that passes. Every ..."

"Shut up," Nyssa snapped, turning away. "You're changing the subject.
Are you still that afraid of me?"

"The seeds," Cassie said. She forced herself to look back towards the
examination room. Something caught her eye on the other side of the
room. Her grip loosened on the door frame. "You're going to put them in
other people. And give them the same desires that the ones you took
them from had."

"Very good, Cassie. Such a smart girl you are," Nyssa said as she went
over to Richie and Melinda. Ned had again nearly pulled from his
captors. Again, Nyssa reasserted her control over the two and they
gripped him tightly again.

Cassie didn't know what to do. She looked back into the examination
room. Something was there. Something she had seen before. She let go of
the frame and edged a little further past the threshold. Her gaze was
again drawn to something on the opposite side of the room. She could
see a counter there, and a large glass container to one side.

Nyssa turned and saw Cassie looking into the examination room. "Oh, so
do you long for it again?" Nyssa cooed. "The power? The control?"

Her words made Cassie shiver. Even as far removed as she thought she
had been from it, the words still had an allure to them, something that
reached into her and touched on something she did not want to admit was
a part of her.

"Mmm, you still have that little fantasy. Being freed from my control
doesn't make it go away. Oh no. And you can still have it."

Cassie took a deep breath. She took another step, until now she was
halfway to the examination table. Yet despite the horrible memories
associated with that table now, she was barely aware of its presence. A
dream began to come back to her, and it commanded all her attention.

"You just have to come to me willingly. You just have to give yourself
to me."

"Why would I want to do a foolish thing like that?" Cassie asked. She
had to keep Nyssa talking. She almost had it.

"Or ... if you feel a little more adventurous, let me use a seed on
you."

/... She crosses the room .../

Cassie shuddered. Her hands curled into fists as she cast her gaze
across the room.

Nyssa grinned wickedly. "I can give you a whole new fantasy. Whole new
desires that will make you ache with arousal and send you into ecstasy
when you fulfill them."

"I don't want another one's fantasies ... and your voice is getting
weaker as well."

/... Something made of glass appears to gleam for a moment to the side
.../

Cassie's eyes fell again on the glass container. She took another step
forward.

"Enough nonsense, then!" Nyssa snapped. "I do not need to convince you
of anything. All I need is to rest until I can use the seeds. I can go
somewhere you cannot follow, even in your dreams!"

/... before she opens a low door .../

Just to the side of the container and down, Cassie spied a closed
cabinet.

"And Cassie ..." Nyssa said in an oily voice. "Perhaps you are too
strong to succumb to fear ... but one of your friends has already
fallen. The weak one that fainted? I can reach into her mind anytime.
And the others here? It would not take long ..."

/... and floods the room with silvery, ethereal light .../

Cassie wasn't listening. She was running across the examination room.

Finally, Nyssa realized the danger. She raced forward, leaping towards
Cassie and lunging for her arm, and managed to snag it just above the
wrist. Cassie was briefly jerked to one side, but wrenched her arm from
Nyssa's grip. Nyssa stumbled and crashed into the examination table,
gripping it tightly to stop herself from falling.

"/Jason! Stop her!/" Nyssa yelled.

Cassie reached the cabinet. She yanked the door open and for a moment
was stunned when the silvery glow spilled out from inside the cabinet
like liquid mercury. She gazed at the crystalline cylinders, and for a
moment was mesmerized by them and the flickers of light inside them.

She shook herself out of it and reached down to grab the syringes. Just
as she got her hands on some of them, arms wrapped around her waist and
dragged her back. She yelped and flailed, but her arms were snatched
and twisted behind her back again. Cassie screamed as she fought hard,
now and then getting an arm free only to have Jason grab it again using
strength that was not his own.

Nyssa was using the last of her reserves. In the reception area, her
control over the others weakened. Ned broke free at the sound of Cassie
screaming and was away before they could barely turn their heads. Ned
raced over towards Cassie, but Nyssa blocked him and threw him back
across the room. Ned's feet came out from under him and he barely
avoided smacking his head on the opposite wall.

"The cabinet! The cabinet!" Cassie screamed. "The glowing vials! /Smash
them!/"

Ned looked nonplussed at her for a second, then finally saw the glow
from the cabinet. Seconds before Nyssa lunged at him, he scrambled to
his feet, narrowly avoiding her reach. Nyssa collided with the wall and
needed a moment to recover.

It was all that was needed.

Ned reached into the cabinet and scooped up the syringes. As he turned
around, Nyssa started towards him, then gasped and stopped in
mid-stride, her eyes wide.

"No!" Nyssa cried. She swallowed and tried to force her voice to a more
calm tone. "Ned ... put them down ... you don't want to do this ... the
power that they took from you, I can give it back to you! You can have
any girl you want. Any of them!"

"Heh, yeah," Ned said with a smirk. "Thought I wanted that, y'know?
Maybe I still do, sorta."

Nyssa slowly smiled.

Ned smiled in return. "But not from you. Bitch."

The last thing that was heard before the syringes shattered against the
floor was Nyssa's long and strident scream.

The silvery contents oozed and writhed on the floor, almost like worms.
Nyssa fell to her knees before it, gasping, her face a mask of horror
as she watched the fluid evaporate before her very eyes. Finally, when
the last of it was gone, she dropped her head into her hands and
uttered a long, despondent sigh.

Suddenly the grip on Cassie loosened. She wrenched herself free and
spun around just as Ned came up to her and put his hands on her
shoulders. "You all right?" he asked urgently.

Cassie nodded quickly, her eyes on Jason. He was staggering a little,
his eyes still foggy, yet life slowly appeared to be returning to them.
"Jason!" Cassie called out loudly. "Jason, fight it!"

"Uhhn ... C-Cassie ..." he said in a voice that was barely above a
whisper. "I ... uhh!!"

He stiffened, then moaned as he suddenly came, pleasure radiating
through him again and fogging his mind once more.

Cassie was no longer fearful upon seeing this. Now she was red-faced
with rage.

She balled her hands into fists and stomped over to the still kneeling
Nyssa. "/Stop it!/" Cassie bellowed. "No more! We stopped you! You
don't have anything left!"

Nyssa shuddered, her eyes closed as she slowly rose to her feet.

"Haven is still doing it, still taking your energy. Yes, I figured it
out now. You're just getting energy for Haven itself. You're channeling
it through you. But you don't have enough to give it now. And it's
going to get angry, isn't it? You're going to get in a lot of trouble
with it, aren't you?"

Nyssa took a deep breath and turned to face her. Ned tried to step
protectively in front of Cassie, but she pushed him away. She felt she
had to face Nyssa herself.

"You stupid, spoiled brat," Nyssa hissed. "You could have had what you
wanted. You could have been happy. But you did this instead."

"No, /they/ did it!" Cassie said, sweeping her arm towards the
reception area. "I was just carrying on what they started. But we've
done it. You don't have any more options. Just ... just leave. Get out.
Go away. And when you do, everyone will be released. Everyone will be
free."

Cassie said this more as a hopeful question than a statement.

Nyssa lips slowly curled into an evil smile. "Oh, is that what you
think, is it? You know so little about how mind control truly works."

Jason suddenly staggered. Cassie gasped and was about to rush over to
him when Ned beat her to it, grabbing his shoulders and steadying him.
Nevertheless, Cassie had already crossed half the distance, and now she
stopped and stared. For a frightening moment she was sure that Nyssa
had just put him asleep as well, that she was going to do the same to
all of them. It was only when Jason looked up and Cassie saw the
terrible blankness retreating from his eyes that she knew something
else was happening.

"Cassie ...?" Jason groaned.

The next moment, his aura of Darkness flickered out.

Cassie had only just begun to smile in relief when there was a sudden,
shrill cry from the other room. The next second, Melinda dashed into
the room, tears streaming down her face. She practically tackled Jason,
and he would have surely fallen over if Ned had not already been there.
Melinda buried her face against Jason's chest and cried so hard her
body shook violently.

Jason slid his arms around Melinda and closed his eyes, but not before
a tear of his own escaped and trailed down his cheek. "It's okay,
Melinda, it's over ... it's finally over."

"N-no it isn't," came a shaky voice from the doorway. Heather gripped
the door frame with one hand tightly and turned her gaze to Nyssa in a
look blazing with vile hatred. "/She's/ still here."

"Where's the rest of them, Heather?" Cassie asked.

"Diane woke up and is trying to console Becky," she replied. "Richie is
just slumped in a chair muttering 'why' over and over and shaking his
head. But we're all free of it. We're free of her."

Cassie whirled around and marched up to Nyssa. "Get out. Go the hell
away."

"Yeah, get the fuck outta Dodge, bitch," Ned spat.

"We beat you. You don't have any power over us anymore! Or over
anyone!"

Nyssa backed up a step, smiling wickedly. "True, I don't have any more
direct power over you," she said in a sultry voice. "But don't for a
moment think that it's over."

"We know," Jason said, his voice weak but still held conviction in it.
"Haven is still there. It'll try again somehow. But now we have more
people that can see it for what it is."

Nyssa laughed. "Like I was just telling Cassie ... you know so little
about how the mind works. Haven is the least of your troubles."

"What are you talking about?" Cassie demanded. "You let everyone go,
right? All the rest of them are free, too!"

Nyssa paused a moment. "They will be ... 'free', as you crudely put it.
After a short while, that is. I need their energy until I can get clear
of this place."

"So what did you mean?"

"Do you really think I intended to keep controlling them directly all
the time? Isn't that rather inefficient? Or just perhaps ... the
control would become permanent given enough time."

Cassie exchanged a look with Jason and Heather. Melinda's crying had
begun to abate, but she still clutched at Jason tightly and would not
let go.

"The mind is very flexible, my dears," Nyssa said with a wry grin.
"Very adaptable. It dutifully arranges itself the way you wish it the
longer you control it. Yes, I am releasing them. But there is nothing
that can be done with any of the changes that have already taken place
in them."

Cassie gasped and looked at her in horror. Yes, her dreams had told her
this might be the case, but she had so hoped that her interpretation
had been wrong. "Then ... th-then the first ones that were taken ..."

"... will be the ones to have the most permanent changes." Nyssa
giggled. "Perhaps Sally will like being a bimbo after all."

Cassie finally exploded. "You ... you /bitch!/ You can just stand there
and laugh about people being permanently altered like that?! You think
it's some damn joke?!"

Nyssa's smile faded. She looked at Cassie with a gaze so piercing that
Cassie backed up a step, even though there was no hypnotic power to be
found there anymore. "Honey, what I did to them ... what I tried to do
to you ... what I did to your friends ... that pales in comparison to
what Haven has in store for you all ..."

Cassie shuddered.

"What do you mean?" Jason demanded. "What is it planning?"

Nyssa shook her head. "I don't know. Not exactly anyway. But I can tell
you this ... when it does happen ... when it Awakens ... this is the
last place I will want to be."

A dread silence fell on the others. Ned glanced between them all, as if
silently begging for someone to explain it to him so he knew whether he
should panic or not.

Nyssa gave them one last sly smile. "But if you kiddies manage somehow
to stop it ... perhaps I'll come back ... and then we can /really/ have
some fun ..."

She winked. A second later, there was a flash of light that made spots
dance in front of their eyes. When they managed to see clearly again,
Nyssa had vanished.

Melinda finally lifted her head from Jason's chest, her eyes red and
her cheeks tear-stained. "P-please tell me she's gone," Melinda begged.
"Please t-tell me it's finally over! ... P-please ... t-tell me I don't
h-have to ... t-to ..."

Tears trickled down her cheeks again and she collapsed against Jason.

"I'm sorry," Heather said softly, her own eyes shimmering. "I'm so
sorry, Melinda ..."

Melinda looked over to her. For a moment, burning fury and hatred
appeared in Melinda's eyes. It quickly dissolved into just plain
anguish a few seconds later, but it had been long enough to tear at
Heather's heart.

Heather took a deep breath and looked away.

Jason hugged Melinda tightly again. "Look, we better check on the
others."

"But /is/ it over?" Melinda demanded as she finally parted from him. "I
mean, with Nyssa? Is she really gone?"

Jason paused, then looked over to Cassie.

Cassie managed a small smile. "Yes, Melinda, she's gone. We stopped her
once we smashed the vials that contained whatever she had taken from
you and the others."

Melinda whimpered and shivered. "N-now I can remember everything she
did ... I was so helpless ... I-I couldn't ..."

"None of us could, Melinda," Jason said quickly when she threatened to
dissolve into tears again. "It's nobody's fault. Not yours, not
Heather's ..."

Melinda glared at him for moment but subsided quickly. She gave a
simple, curt nod.

Jason smiled slightly at her and looked over to Cassie. "Cassie, could
you come here, please?"

Cassie nodded and stepped up to him. "Sure. What do you ... oh!"

Cassie was astonished when Jason suddenly threw his arms around her and
gave her a tight hug. Barely seconds later, she realized she was doing
the same thing in return.

"Thanks, Cassie," Jason said in a choked whisper. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?" Cassie said in a quavering voice, her eyes
threatening tears. "I fell for the trick. I fell into the trap."

"And if you knew it was a trap, would you have come anyway?"

Cassie paused a long moment before finally responding, "Yes."

Jason's arms tightened around her. "Then that's what I'm thanking you
for."

Cassie smiled and lingered in the hug for another moment before slowly
breaking it off. "We better see to the others, Jason."

Jason nodded. As he turned away, Melinda rushed up and gave Cassie a
hug as well. "You're a real friend, Cassie," Melinda said softly. "You
really are."

That meant even more to Cassie than anything Jason had said to her. She
smiled as tears silently spilled down her cheeks.
<1st attachment end>


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