Witch-Hunt

It was one of these projects that take over your life and develop their own dynamics. After deciding to postpone writing my own dissertation and making some money to live on instead, I had done research work for one of my professors. It was about the witch trials in the seventeenth century in my home town, which I had completed together with two fellow students half a year earlier. He was still busy writing his book, while I was busy spending the money I had earned with that. However, what I had found when sifting through the old documents and books was intriguing enough to keep me going long after my original task was fulfilled.

I wanted to know who these women really were, what was behind all this mystery. First I was convinced that all this witchcraft stuff was just the fantasy of superstitious and malicious contemporaries, who had used and abused their position in society to rid themselves of unwanted strong and independent women, who simply did not conform to their simplistic view of “normal” rather than of good and evil. Quite a few of those women seemed to be just knowledgeable in healing and medicinal herbs and although publicly ostracized, were frequented by most of the townspeople and villagers when the rudimentary medicinal knowledge of accepted doctors or clerics was either insufficient or unaffordable.

That was the line of reasoning my professor had assumed, and first I viewed all available information through that filter. But then some of the reports in the documents sounded so strange and unusual that I felt compelled to direct my research into different avenues. First I didn’t find any dedicated books about witchcraft in the libraries, but I wouldn’t have known any titles or what to look for anyway.

Researching on the internet was a bit more prolific result-wise. Apparently, there were people who still believed that witchcraft was not an invention of ignoramuses; furthermore there were people proclaiming themselves to be witches. I was supposing that most of them were just freakish kids that were having fun in a rather morbid way, but then came across a rather startling discovery in one of their internet forums — there was a woman giving rather specific advice who was living in my hometown, claiming to be part of a coven. A good coven that is, whatever that was supposed to mean, no dark magic. I signed up in that forum and tentatively started involving her in discussions, where she patiently answered a lot of my questions, until I finally approached her via personal message and asked her for a meeting in person. To my surprise, she agreed.

It had been a rainy afternoon, and we had spent a couple of hours in the car parking on a forest lane leading up to a place she wanted to show me. Because of the rain, we rather sat around in the car talking. Sarah was a woman in her forties, with a radiant smile and razor-sharp wit, tripping me up at every opportunity.

Although she did answer a lot of my questions readily, she always left crucial points unanswered. Yes, she did have more than a passing knowledge of local herbs and their potency. Yes, magic is real. Yes, she and her coven performed rituals together, some at sacred places such as the one she wanted to show me. But I remained sceptical, couldn’t shed the lingering feeling that she was screwing with me.

“So, what do you do when you perform your rituals here?”

“I can’t tell you that. All I can tell you is that we do.”

I bit my lip. I knew from the historic records that in fact this had been one of the places where witches had been apprehended in the past.

“So it’s a secret, or what?”

“Yes and no. I can’t tell you what we do, but I can tell you why we are doing it here. Does that help?”

“Sure, I am all ears.”

“Some places are special. There are energy lines crossing, some forming a nexus. The more lines are crossing, the more powerful the nexus is. In this forest stands the witch tree, where my coven and generations of witches before them have performed rituals that tapped into those energies, harnessing and using them to perform magical feats that would not be possible elsewhere.”

“Ok, I read about that — ley-lines and all that I suppose? An interesting theory, certainly.”

“Not a theory. Reality.”

She smiled and pointed out of the window.

“It has stopped raining. Let’s go and you’ll see for yourself.”

She wasn’t dressed like a witch, more like a biologist on a field trip, with an anorak and wellies. I stopped the tape and followed her outside. The road was muddy and led up to a large pyramid, which was a mausoleum a local baron or something had erected for his family a few centuries back — really quite impressive, although just about ten yards high.

“So, does this pyramid have any significance too?”

She shook her head.

“Not for us. It is possible that he tried to use the energies of the nexus also, but I have never really enquired about that, and there is nothing in our book.”

“Your book?”

“Yes, we do have a book handed down from generation to generation in our coven.”

“You mean your mother was a witch also?”

“Yes.”

That was something I had not expected and shattered the lingering idea that she was just some New Age quack who called herself witch to make it sound more mysterious and interesting. If she was delusional, it was apparently a delusion handed down a family tree.

The place was muddy and creepy, not just because of the strange mausoleum we had passed. It was quite dark already, as blue-blackish clouds loomed on the horizon. There were simply too many questions shooting through my head and I was careful not to ask anything silly or upsetting in order to keep her volunteering information as she did. She pointed to a plant in a gloomy little clearing we passed.

“Belladonna.”

“Oh.”

I had heard of that, quite a potent hallucinogen, also quite poisonous. I think it got its name from Italian ladies who had dropped the essence into their eyes to dilate their pupils — and thereby obtaining more beautiful eyes. Well, plants like that could explain a lot. Being off their faces and in an admittedly uncanny place like that could certainly give you all sorts of hallucinations. That was another accepted explanation I had come across in my research. Kelly’s broad grin indicated that she wanted me to think just that. She was still screwing with my mind. Impressive.

Not as impressive as the tree though. A majestic, huge oak, a hundred feet or more tall, with a mighty trunk and fierce looking boughs. Now at the end of June with ample foliage, an imposing, almost menacing ruler of the circular clearing in the midst of this enchanted forest. When we got closer it became obvious that despite its grandeur or because of it, it had been subjected to the idiocy of people carving their initials and whatever hollow messages into its flesh; a feeble attempt to partake in thousands of years of history. Well, perhaps not thousands, perhaps just hundreds. The word sacrilege came to mind.

“Yeah, it’s a shame.”

From the tone of her voice it became apparent that she was starting to focus on something, as if she started communicating with an unseen force. Her face relaxed completely, only her eyes showed signs of utmost attentiveness and concentration. I realised that I felt something. That I reacted to the place. That I could almost feel the energy she was talking about. It took me a while to shake that off, convincing myself that this was just a self-fulfilling prophecy, another one of her mind-games. I expected to feel something, therefore I did. Almost defiantly, I destroyed this moment.

“So, are you going to show me something? Some magic, some proof?”

No reaction. Still that far-away look focused somewhere where my eyes could not peek. I wondered what she was really thinking, when it happened. The rustling and bustling in the trees around ceased as if switched off by remote. An eerie silence, deep and profound paved the way for the incredible. The wind that had shaken all trees around and even this mighty fellow ahead of us stopped. Time stood still, just for a moment and then … Not even dry leaves were sucked into the evening sky, swirling in a crazy pattern, before they formed letters before my eyes, the message, directed at me. It read:

“Like this?”

The letters stood in swirling motion for a few seconds to disband and return to the ground, feigning a normalcy and customary reality that had just been shaken forever for me.

I was just standing there, my mouth agape, trembling and disbelieving what my eyes had just seen. It took me a while before my mind could form coherent thoughts and even longer before my voice obeyed and formulated the one question that was on my mind.

“How the fuck did you do that?”

She didn’t cackle like the witches in Macbeth, but giggled nonetheless.

“Magic.”

It started raining again. She placed the hood of her anorak over her auburn hair.

“We better make a move now. It’s going to pour down in a second.”

I was about to ask her how she did know that and realized at the same moment what a stupid question that would have been. To interpret the forebodings of pitch-black clouds you needed no magic. We hastened to get back to the car. I was too stunned to ask her any more questions on the way. It was, as if my precious concept of reality had been ripped asunder with one swift stroke. There was no easy and speedy recovery from that.

We drove back to my hometown. Slowly the ability to ask questions returned. However, now she seemed reluctant to answer.

“So, what else do you really do? All this potion and spell stuff is also true?”

“What you have seen was a spell.”

“It was? But how? How can words affect the leaves? I don’t understand …”

“I can’t explain that to you. After all, I am not here to teach you about magic. I was just here to show you that it exists.”

I tried to find meaningful follow-ups.

“Did you get that spell from your book?”

“Yes.”

“Would you show that book to me?”

She played with her hair and looked out of the car window, somewhat bored and absent-mindedly.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It is not for your eyes.”

“What does that mean?”

All of a sudden she seemed almost angry.

“You understand me perfectly well. I have shown you that magic exists. I won’t show you anything else.”

“But we could meet up again, and you answer me more questions?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

We were coming closer to her place, and it seemed obvious that she considered the interview to be over. I needed to get as much information as possible now, for the way she had answered my last question, it might well have been my last chance.

“So, is it different when you go there with other witches from your coven?”

She nodded.

“We usually just go there on specific dates to perform specific rituals. The energies change through the seasons and the movement of the stars and moon.”

“Can I come to any of those rituals and observe?”

“Certainly not. These rituals are sacred. They cannot be disturbed. It is our sacred duty to do what we do. No more, no less. We are not a novelty act for some curious student, this is much larger than you could ever imagine …”

“I understand … I think.”

“No, you don’t. But that is not important. We have done this for generations. No one else is allowed to tap into the energy that … well …”

She fell silent.

“The energy that?”

“There is the second coven.”

“What?”

“There is another coven that meets once per year on a specific date. We have been instructed to leave them alone and never go there on that day either.”

“Instructed by whom?”

“Our ancestors. I don’t know anything about the second coven. Only that they exist. And … that they might practice a different kind of magic … dark, dangerous stuff …”

“Did you ever meet any of them?”

“No. We have been warned … oh, you have to turn right onto that road there. I am living in the second house on the right.”

“Warned?”

I stopped the car.

“I said too much already. I hope you enjoyed our little field trip. I’ll see you online. Bye.”

The door clapped and she was gone, leaving me in a mess of confusion and the dawn of a knowledge that I would not have deemed possible. And curiosity. Infinite curiosity.

The Second Coven

She avoided me. What was worse, she avoided answering my questions when she did deign to answer my frantic personal messages and emails. I stalked her on the forum for about two months, but she only answered very broad questions and seemed to have put me on ignore for a while.

Frankly, I was becoming obsessed. I read countless books on the subject and visited a few stores that were supposedly carrying ingredients for potions and other magical paraphernalia. However, all my attempts to talk to the owners and get them for an interview were met with sometimes friendly, sometimes openly hostile responses. I bought a few books there and tried a few spells out of those, but they simply didn’t work.

Then I started stalking her in real life, spent countless hours in an abandoned house opposite hers. A spooky place, smelling of earth, mould and decay, later of urine when I visited it for longer stretches of time. From the attic window, one had a reasonably good view over her property; all the other windows had been nailed shut. I had hoped that I would see some of the other witches of her coven, but she rarely had any visitors. The few that did visit her, left after a very short period of time and I didn’t bother to follow them, just took photographs and later videos.

I was about to give up. By now, it was the end of September, and my studies had suffered a great deal already, in addition, I was running out of money again. The time I used for pursuing my obsessions I should have used to find some work. I owed my landlord two month’s rent already, and the only option was to ask my dad for money again, which I dreaded even more than facing my landlord.

It was getting dark, a light drizzle smeared over the rooftops and made them glisten in the sheen of the street-lamps. Sarah had not had any visitors and I was about to pack up my things and go home, more than ever aware of my failure and insight that I would have to return to reality as I knew it before. I peeked through the zoom of my camera into her living-room, where she had lit candles and, unusually for her, not drawn the curtains. She had left the room a few minutes earlier and I sincerely hoped that I could catch a break just once and film her doing some magic or anything at all I could use. When she returned, she was naked.

Hitting the record button was a reflex. I was excited, although it felt really, really wrong. She was a beautiful woman, indubitably so, but that wasn’t why I pursued her. Nevertheless, I zoomed in as best as I could, relishing in her breathtaking beauty. I realised that I had not looked at her as a woman at all so far; that was not an age thing, or anything, it just never occurred to me. Now, however, I noticed that I felt drawn to her even on that level; that the mystery surrounding her had yet another quality, something feverish and deep, which I responded to with my entire being.

Breathless, with my eyes glued to the camera’s display, I was ripped out of the waves of arousal and unfulfilled desires of so many different hues, when she finally drew the curtains.

Back at home I watched and rewound the tape for an hour, marvelling at her small perky breasts and almost boyish physique. To be honest, I marvelled with my cock in my hand, until I found some relief for so many different levels of frustration. It was weird, I felt like a pervert, but at the same time it all seemed perfectly natural.

I logged back into the forum. She was online and chatted with a few other girls about nothing in particular. I was electrified though, when I realized that there was a personal message waiting for me.

“Hi Andrew, I am sorry for the way I have treated you recently. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to show you what I did. Anyway, I think we should meet up again and talk. I suppose you remember where I live? Meet me there, tomorrow at eight o’clock. Sarah”

I hastened to confirm the date and switched off the computer. As exhilarated as I was, that night for the first time in ages I managed to sleep all right.

When I stood in front of her door ringing the door-bell, I felt utterly foolish. I had brought her flowers, red roses for crying out loud. Not exactly what you do for a supposedly normal interview. But what was normal anyway?

She seemed genuinely amused.

“Oh, flowers … that wasn’t necessary, but thank you very much …”

She led me into her living-room, which of course was very familiar to me, although I had not seen all the little details, which gave it the actual flair. The furniture looked heavy and old; more like an old lady’s living room. Sarah disappeared to get a vase for the flowers.

“Roses even … how thoughtful.”

I blushed, for several reasons. True, the flowers were inappropriate. And so were my visions, of her moving naked through the room, as I had seen last night. She wore a brownish dress and a woollen jumper, an amulet with a complex geometric shape dangling from her neck. I tried to figure out what exactly it was, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to stare at her directly. Her hair had grown a bit since the last encounter we had had in person; and my insecurity seemed to amuse her immensely.

She served some tea and watched me attentively.

“So, I suppose you have many questions. Again, I don’t know how much I can really answer you. Some things are better left unsaid. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I think so. And I am sorry for getting on your nerves that much … you know … it was so difficult for me … I don’t know how to say this …”

“No need, I understand what you must be going through. It wasn’t easy for me or any other witch to awake to the higher reality either, believe me.”

“Are all the women and chaps on the forum real witches?”

“No, just a few. Most of them are posers. Don’t worry about them.”

“You are going to love this … I even bought a few books and tried spells myself …”

She snickered.

“I was pretty sure you would. Let me guess, it didn’t work?”

“Yeah, nothing.”

“Well, there is more to it. Simply recounting rhymes and burning offerings and suchlike doesn’t make a spell work. If they were authentic in the first place that is, which I doubt. You don’t really get actual spell-books off the shelf, you know.”

“I suspected as much.”

“Most of the magic we do is based solely on nature, connecting to the forces unseen, nevertheless as real as what we all know as our common reality. Knowing they exist and that you can tap into them, doesn’t really help you that much. You have to be attuned to them, feel them; be part of them. That can only be accomplished after a long period of studying with a qualified teacher. In my case, my mum and my grandmother.”

“Hm, what about your dad?”

She shook her head, a tickled expression on her face.

“Nah, he wasn’t involved with magic. Nor with my mum for a long time for that matter.”

“I see.”

I tried to get as much out of her as I possibly could, before she closed up again.

“So, is it really just a women’s thing, or can men do magic as well?”

“Sure they can. It seems to be more difficult for them to connect though. Nature is essentially female …”

First time I heard that. No, rubbish, of course: Mother Nature.

“Well, shouldn’t it be even easier for them to connect then?”

She laughed out loud.

“He he, never thought of it that way. Sadly, men don’t seem to have any problems to fuck nature … more to love it …”

“I don’t think all men are the same, do you? Which makes me wonder … why do you think I feel drawn to all this … you know how I got into the whole thing, I told you the story on the net already … but now, this has nothing to do with that at all … and still … I feel … sucked into it … don’t know how to explain …”

“You never know. So you abandoned your idea of writing a book or paper or something like that?”

“The strange thing is it doesn’t matter anymore. I want to know … that’s all really. At least I think it is …”

She smiled and stirred her tea.

“Perhaps you cast a spell on me?”

“Perhaps. Why? Do you feel drawn to me also?”

I didn’t stop to think. I just blurted it out.

“Yes.”

“Ah, I see … the roses … having a little crush on the old witch?”

“You’re not old. And very, very beautiful.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere … what do you want, anyway?”

“I don’t know; I honestly don’t know …”

“You see, this is another problem most people have. They don’t really know what they want, and even if they do, they don’t want it with all their being, their heart … that is why perfectly good spells don’t work for them either …”

“I think I understand.”

“Well, you see, if you can’t say what you want, how are you supposed to get it? A spell is like asking for it, sincerely, with every fibre of your being.”

“I think I am beginning to understand …”

“Well, you are very young. It is perfectly normal for boys of your age not to know what they really want.”

“Boys of my age? I am twenty-six. I guess that makes me a man rather?”

“You amuse me. A man? That is really cute … so what do you want, young man, why the roses? Do you want to date me, propose to me, or simply fuck me?”

I felt my blood rushing through my veins. It was so blatantly obvious that she wanted to make me mad, to break down my defences and yet I was incapable of resisting the bait she had laid out for me.

“Maybe I just want to fuck you.”

“Ah … maybe … what a perfectly lukewarm sentiment … how flattering also …”

“What am I supposed to say? What stupid game are you playing here?”

I don’t know where this anger came from. She licked her lips and seemed to rejoice in my outburst.

“Uh … does that bruise your little ego? Poor boy, is the old witch being mean to you? Get over it … and tell me what you want, or go home to mummy and cry in her lap …”

“Fuck you.”

“Is that what you want? Fuck me? That sounded sincere for once …”

“That is not what I meant; it’s a bloody expression …”

“Ah, so you don’t want to fuck me? Shame; I was starting to warm up to the idea of you taking me here on the sofa, venting all your frustration and anger … are you sure that isn’t what you want?”

She laughed, a haughty, wicked laugh that reverberated in my head, expunging all sense of right and wrong. Next thing I know, I lunged at her. She didn’t stop laughing, when I pinned her down on the sofa, which was difficult enough, as she squirmed and writhed like an animal. Her nails dug painfully into my hands and the pain enraged and excited me even more. I kissed her, forcing my tongue into her mouth, my blood approaching boiling point.

I sensed that she wanted me to hurt her, and although I had never done that before, I obliged and bit her lip until blood gushed out. She groaned and stared at me with a far-away fascination, her eyes wide open and radiant like stars. I licked some of her blood off her lip and chin fascinated by the metallic taste; then locked her again into a fierce and fiery kiss. I let go of her hands to get her out of the jumper; she assisted me there, but smacked me right in my face as soon as I threw the garment into the room.

Her expression was incredible, primal, wild, when she tore off my shirt, then scratched my chest with her razor-sharp nails. I responded in kind and bit her neck until she screamed, forcing her arms behind her head, forcing them so close together that I could clasp them with one hand. I stopped for a moment, watching her face distorted with passion, blood still trickling down from her lip and a massive bite-mark on the right side of her neck. I felt her hips bucking up, her thighs rubbing against mine, the urge to go on, get inside of her, possess her.

I cupped her right breast with my free hand; then travelled down south trying to get the seam of her skirt higher, which was easy enough, since she helped me a bit and it happened to be rather wide. She moaned when I placed it right between her legs, rubbing along her somewhat damp and warm panties. Until this point, I had not even noticed my own hard-on, but now it strained against the fabric of my pants. I slipped one finger under the elastic and pulled it to the side to reveal her pussy, which was completely shaven. That was a bit of a surprise; I could have sworn she had pubic hair on the video I had taken the night before. There was no time for contemplating such complicated issues though, all my concentration went into opening my own trousers and pulling them down far enough to free my cock from its dungeon to get ready to join the quest.

She had been in constant motion throughout, heaving, writhing, slithering like a snake — but now she was still as a morning’s pond, even held her breath until I entered her, overcoming all initial resistance with one hard push, slicing her open, then pumping her with every bit of rage and ferocity that I could muster. She managed to free one of her hands, but all she did was grab my hair and force my head down to kiss me, while she lifted her legs and wrapped them around me to allow me to enter deeper. She pushed as I shoved, an asynchronous battle of epic proportions, fierce, wild and painful for both of us. Maybe it was the pain that kept me from coming for a long, long time. We were both dripping with sweat, when I finally exploded right into her.

It took a good while to regain my breath. She traced her split lip.

“Wow, a biter, never expected that … see, you get what you want, if you really want it …”

“Why do I get the feeling that was rather what you wanted?”

She grinned.

“Because you are obviously not stupid. Good boy. You are learning your lessons fast. If you could kindly get off me now, I don’t want to drip your cum onto grandma’s sofa.”

“As you wish.”

I released her and watched her clean herself up.

“So I suppose you stop stalking me now?”

I was too stunned to answer.

“Well, I don’t see any reason why you should. And you aren’t particularly good at it either.”

“I’m sorry … I don’t know why …”

“Shut up. Here’s the deal: If and when I feel like it, we will meet up. I tell you a few things, show you a few things and we fuck — that wasn’t bad, by the way. Not bad at all.”

“Okay.”

“If I see you loitering around here or in the house across the street at any other times, you will regret it. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes … again, I am sorry …”

“Shut the fuck up and listen. No more interviews, I will tell you what I want to tell you. You will desist from trying anything magical on your own and stop bothering Charlene and all the other shop owners you have pestered in the past few months. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“You can go to the witch tree with me and on your own, and you will eventually anyway, when I give you exercises and assignments.”

“Oh, great …”

“However, under no circumstances are you to go there after nightfall, especially … not on Halloween.”

“Halloween? Is that like a day of special significance for witches, or …”

“No, at least not for us, and it is a mere coincidence that this year …”

She paused as if she had already said too much.

“Never mind. It is not important why. Just do as you are told. Are we clear on that?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She sighed and massaged her neck.

“Ok then, I’ll make us another cup of tea and you had better be ready for a second round. That’s the one thing you will learn today about witches … they are insatiable …”

I reflected upon what she had said while she prepared the tea in the kitchen. It looked like I was going to learn the craft. I was overjoyed really. However, what had really made me curious was what she had said about Halloween.

” …at least not for us …”

That could only mean one thing: that was the night the second coven was about to meet.

Halloween

I saw Sarah regularly now, at least twice a week. She insisted that I didn’t allow magic to take over my life, nor our relationship. We fucked a lot though, when we were together. It was strange, I didn’t feel anything for her, no more than a strange affinity, but as soon as I was close to her I could hardly contain myself, all fuses blew and we were at it like animals again. The sex made up for quite a bit of the disappointment caused by the lack of initiation into magic — she simply didn’t show me much, just lectured me on herbs and even took me out on field trips to identify plants. I had hoped for more, but grudgingly acknowledged that things would go according to her timetable, no matter how I felt about it.

Tina, a former girlfriend of mine, invited me to a Halloween party. I told her that I didn’t know whether I could make it or not, but was pretty sure that I wouldn’t go. Nevertheless, I asked Sarah if she wanted to come. She laughed, that bitchy, mean laugh she occasionally produced to wind me up.

“Me, at a kids’ Halloween party? Forget it … and I hope you got it straight that I am not your little girlfriend? I allow you to fuck me every now and then, but that is as far as it goes. Are we clear on that subject?”

Well, I hadn’t really expected anything else. I told her that I would go to the party nevertheless. I had different plans though.

It was a cold, dark, moonless night, two days before new moon. I had spent more than five hours in the woods close to the witch tree, trying to find the perfect spot where I could hide and watch safely and still with unimpeded sight. The place was deserted by strollers in the afternoon already, but as soon as the night fell, every living creature except me seemed to have fled the woods. I had found a shelter in a thick shrub and managed to set up all my equipment before the dark. It was an uncanny, eerie silence that pervaded the forest, just a faint rustling and bustling in the trees. I had the advantage of seeing at least a little bit through the night vision mode of my camera. Despite the cold and somewhat electrifying atmosphere, I dozed off for a couple of minutes, so I didn’t see the women arriving.

Suddenly, the clearing lit up in the light of torches. Four women were visible, marking large circles in the ground around the witch tree, placing torches on the outermost one. It looked as if the majestic tree in the middle was on fire. Two women went around the circles placing odd looking arrangements of twigs and little metal objects on its borders, the other two drew geometric patterns in the inner circle. They were dressed in black robes, barefoot despite the temperatures and did everything in remarkable silence. I was but thirty meters away, but did not hear a sound, no cracking twig, nothing. Even the rustling of the trees had ceased.

It was as if nature adopted the same breathless silence that suffused me. The women took off their robes and revealed their naked bodies. They had placed some bowls on specific points of their geometric pattern and dipped a finger into each in passing, smearing some sort of liquid or paste on their foreheads and bodies. Each woman then assumed a position on the circle, exactly equidistant from another, probably representing the four cardinal points.

They were facing away from me, towards the tree, slowing raising their hands into the pitch black night sky. Then the chanting began, almost a mumbling first, then with ever increasing volume and urgency. As they were raising their hands, the flames of the torches went higher and higher. I could not understand a word of their chanting; it was definitely a foreign language, reminiscent of Latin, but probably not that. All of a sudden, there was a weird energy in the air, coming in waves from the centre of the clearing. First it was an almost energizing feeling, but then the waves became darker and colder, sickening even. For the first time I had to battle my instinct to get up and run as fast as I could to get away from what was being unleashed over there. I noticed that I had clenched my hands into the earth, to withstand whatever was coming towards me.

The women started to turn around, now facing away from the tree, their hands raised in the air, their eyes closed, still chanting with self-assured, almost commanding voices. Then it happened. Each of the women lit up in a blue-whitish energy bubble. They stopped chanting and took turns reciting lines that I could not understand. In their midst, something seemed to form, coming out of the earth and probably even the tree, something incorporeal, like red mist. The energy emanating from there was vicious, my entire body resounded with pain and a fear, so overwhelming and confusing that I thought I was about to lose my mind. I dug my own fingernails into my palms to keep me from screaming, to combat the sensation that my body was ripped to shreds.

A sound like a deep rumbling accompanied the manifestation of whatever thing was being summoned there. The mist became thicker and thicker, then energy beams resembling lightning shot across the tree and hit the four bluish energy fields of the witches, altering their glow to a spectacular golden sheen. More and more beams shot at the witches, while my stomach revolted against the fierce onslaught of darkness coming my way, and I threw up violently. My eyes were filled with tears; there was no danger of them hearing me, as the sound was obliterating everything else, putting pressure on my ears as if I was in high altitude.

It was becoming unbearable. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t close my eyes. The witches glowed in a dark amber now, absorbing all the energy beams from what almost looked like a creature now, but I couldn’t make out any details. Then I saw an energy bolt coming straight towards me. Something exploded in my head. And then nothingness; sweet oblivion.

Complete darkness. I had opened my eyes, but it was too dark to see anything. I could barely make out my camera on the little tripod in front of me. It had switched itself off, so I must have been unconscious for quite a while. The memories of what had happened earlier only reluctantly returned. The stench of vomit and urine assaulted my nostrils. I must have pissed myself when the energy bolt hit me, before passing out. Now it dawned on me how idiotic the whole undertaking had been. I could have been killed by whatever it was that these witches had tapped into. Cautiously I tried to make out if there was any movement coming from the tree. It took a while of breathless suspense before I dared switching the camera back on into night vision mode. The clearing was empty. The witches were gone.

Weird. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was not alone. My head was still spinning and my body felt like it had been mangled. I had to pull myself up on some branches of the shrub and it took me ages to collect my belongings.

I stumbled through the darkness, ran into trees, fell over roots. It took me a while to figure out that I was going in the wrong direction. I couldn’t find the main path any more, but somehow, I managed to reach the pyramid after an hour. It had taken me ten minutes to get to the tree from there in daylight.

I pressed on to my car, which I had parked another ten minutes’ walk away from the woods, in order not to arouse the suspicion of the witches. I wasn’t curious any more who they were and what the fuck they had been doing there. I just wanted to go home, crawl into my bed and sleep; forget about this nightmare I had been experiencing.

Finally, my car. I opened the door with trembling hands.

Horseless carriage.

What the fuck was that? Was I hearing voices now? I froze; chills went up and down my spine. There it was again, the feeling that I wasn’t alone, that something was there, a presence, something elusive and definite at the same time.

“Hello?”

The street was empty; all the houses in the street were dark. It was ten to four in the morning. I had to shake this off, snap out of it. Concentrate on driving. I started the engine, still listening into the silence, stealthily glancing into the mirror, somehow expecting to see a monster rearing from the back seats. But there was nothing.

I drove like a maniac, not oblivious to the fact that there might be more police patrols because of the Halloween parties, but simply not caring about that any more. I wanted to put as much space between me and that creepy place as I possibly could, as fast as I possibly could.

I sighed in relief when I finally managed to get home and close the door to my flat behind me. I stripped off the sullied and ripped clothes and crashed on my bed.

It is time.

I startled out of sleep. Nine o’clock. I was still bloody tired. Every bone in my body was hurting. Something smelled rather nasty. I definitely needed some coffee. And a shower. It was doubtful, whether I could eat anything. My stomach was still grumbling.

You need sustenance. And so do I.

Fuck! I jumped off the bed, looking around for anything I could use as a weapon. But there was no-one to see.

“Where are you? Who the fuck are you? How did you get into my flat? Come out; show yourself arsehole, game over!”

I am Anatan. And I am not outside of you.

“What the …”

I entered this body when the witches summoned me, to steal my essence and weaken me; so that I cannot escape from that prison they have trapped me in for six hundred years.

“You mean, you are in my body? Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! What are you? A fucking demon?”

And what are you? A witch? I sense no powers. Your language is strange; I find many words without meaning.

“No, I am not a witch, at least not yet … and I have nothing to do with the four bitches that sucked off your energy, just to avoid misunderstandings there …”

That I surmised. You looked at me.

“Oh … that’s why they were turning away … now I get it …”

I had to sit down.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck … and what now? I am stuck with you, or what? I am not really into body sharing, if you know what I mean.”

This is but temporary. If you assist me.

“How?”

I need sustenance, to build up strength and face the witches. To take back what is mine. Once restored, I will leave this body and you are free.

“Sustenance? You mean like food? Ok, I still feel a bit sick, but we could have a toast or something. And some coffee. Definitely some coffee.”

No, you understand not. The sustenance I am craving is but energy I draw from others. Energy released in the heights of ecstasy.

“Huh? You mean you need pills? Did they have E already six hundred years ago?”

I cannot fathom the meaning of your words. Let me explain: When ravishing a wench energy is built up in her also. When it releases in the apex, I receive it.

“Oh … you mean orgasms? When the girl comes, you suck off the energy released there?”

Yes, that seems to be the right word. I am not familiar with what I find in your memory; you will have to help me.

“What gives you the idea that I will help you? After all, you are a fucking demon, aren’t you?”

Not as you think. And there is no other way for us to separate. I pledge that you will not be harmed in any way. On the contrary, you will enjoy it vastly.

“You mean, facing the witches will be all hunky dory? I don’t think so.”

You really don’t know who I am. I get my essence back from them in the same way I receive my sustenance.

“Oh … you mean, by fucking them?”

Yes.

“I’ve got news for you, man. It isn’t that easy to get laid nowadays. I’ve got an ok looking face and body, sure, but that doesn’t guarantee that any of those witches will get physical with me, leave alone finding them in the first place.”

That shan’t be your concern. I will find them. And when they face me, they cannot resist. No woman can.

“You mean you are Prince Charming or what? Hell of an ego for a demon who got locked up for six hundred years.”

That is why I got banished. When they look into my eyes, they see the man they most desire. When I bed them, they reveal what they really want and I give it to them.

“You mean, you are irresistible, because you tap into them somehow?”

Now you understand.

“Cool. Fine gift, that. So, you need energy before that? Sustenance? That means you need to get laid tonight or something?”

Yes.

“Well, it’s a Saturday night … I’d love to see if you are bullshitting me. Or maybe I am just losing my mind. Either way, I need a shower and breakfast first. And a bit less chatter for the time being … That acceptable to you?”

I will not interfere. So it is settled then? You help me and you will earn your freedom and my gratitude.

“Do I have a choice?”

No, not really. I could fight you also. But I would prefer your help. After all, the world has changed a lot since I last roamed it. I realised it when I saw your horseless carriage.

“It’s called a car. Runs on gasoline. A bit difficult to explain.”

I will access your memories, you will not feel it. You go about your day as you must.

“Ok, we’ve got a deal then. Don’t try to screw with me though. I have powerful friends. A good witch for instance.”

Good witch?

“Yeah, she is showing me the ropes, so to speak. But I have just started.”

I am not deceiving you. I see that witch in your memory. Beware. She is not what she seems to be.

“Meaning?”

We will address this later. You need sustenance. And so do I.

“Well, I need a shower now. And my head to myself, if you’d be so kind?”

Agreed. Do as you please.

Sustenance

The demon was a hell of a smooth talker; I had to give him that. We spent hours chatting, as he adjusted more and more to my vocabulary. What surprised me most was that I didn’t feel threatened by him at all; that I could not sense any evil or maliciousness. I shuddered when recalling how the energy had felt. The phone rang.

“How are you, my little friend? Recovered from the Halloween party?”

“Yeah, sure, bit hung over though. Hi Sarah.”

“So, how was it?”

“Lame, as you suspected. Nothing to write home about.”

“Really? Poor thing. Do you want to come around tonight to make up for that?”

Not this witch. Not now.

“Nope, sorry, I have different plans. Am going out with a chap I met yesterday at the party.”

“I see. Well, have fun. I suppose I see you sometime next week then. Ring me.”

“Will do. Bye.”

This … telephone thing is amazing. A lot has changed since I have inhabited a body.

“A body? You mean, it wasn’t your own?”

No. I lived on a different plane. To roam the earth, I needed a vessel.

“Hm … ok. Anything else we need to do before going out?”

No. Your body is young and healthy. You should be able to perform without any potions.

“Oh … you mean like enhancements? Am sure I can do without. How often … do you think I have to “perform” tonight?”

No more than four or five times, depending.

“Four or five? Darn, maybe we should get a potion after all …”

Worry not. You will see. You better learn to think rather than speak to me. People might find it strange.

‘Oh … fuck yeah. Ok then, let’s go and get you sorted. I am really curious about how this is going to work.’

Leave it to me. Just get me to a place with wenches. I will do the rest.

The Plush wasn’t exactly my cup of tea; as a matter of fact I had never been in there before. However, there were tons of really attractive women there, exactly of the type that would never deign to speak to me, let alone getting off with me. So, this was the perfect spot to see how irresistible I’d really be with my demonic body-mate. I wasn’t sure of how this was supposed to work, if I had any input or obligation to interfere.

I take care of that. What makes you think they wouldn’t talk to you? You are a strapping fellow, intelligent and polite.

‘That’s not what this brand of women is going for though,’ I thought to him, ‘Money, power, fame — that is their poison, if you know what I mean.’

Yes. That is a surface desire. We will dig deeper. Pick any wench you like.

‘Ok, but I don’t have a lot of money to buy them drinks, so you’d better be as good as you say you are. That brunette over there.’

She was sitting alone at the bar, sipping what appeared to be a martini, sporting a disdainful, haughty expression. She wore a tight strapless black dress that looked like it was more worth than my car, a diamond necklace with matching earrings and some uncomfortable looking high heels. The type of woman that I wouldn’t dare to ask for the time of day. I am not sure whether it was me or Anatan that moved our body over to her and sat down next to her. She didn’t even look up.

‘So, what now? Are you going to chat her up, or do I have to do anything?’

You sit back and enjoy. You might want to order a drink, I am not familiar with your likings, there is too much in your head I still do not understand.

“I’ll have a single malt please, Ben Nevis, if you have that.”

“Certainly.”

What are these people doing, what are these herbal sticks they are lighting?

‘Cigarettes. Made of tobacco, a highly addictive drug that will eventually kill you. You inhale the smoke. I stopped two years ago myself.’

The brunette was playing absentmindedly with her lighter. She hadn’t even looked at me once so far. Anatan took over. He took her packet of cigarettes, pulled one out and put it in my mouth. Thankfully, he was observant enough to put it in with the filter tip first. Then he snatched the lighter from her hand and lit it. As petrified as I was, darn that puff tasted nice. …

The woman stared at me in disbelief. She had hazelnut eyes. I had the odd sensation of being sucked into those eyes.

Interesting. She needs danger, the thrill of being caught, of being ravished in public even. And being dominated.

“Do you mind?”

“I do. Come.”

He put the lighter in my pocket and grabbed her hand.

Pay for the beverage and drink up. We are leaving.

It all occurred so fast that I couldn’t believe what was happening. I had assumed that he would chat her up and somehow hoped to get some pointers for chat-up lines in the process. But without further ado she meekly followed me out of the bar and around the corner into a back alley. Just a few metres into the alley, he stopped her, pressing her against a wall and starting to kiss her.

I say him, for he had completely taken over my body. Her perfume was intoxicating, and so was her submissiveness, the eagerness of her kiss, her rapid breathing when my hands explored her body. I noticed that she was looking towards the street quite often, where an endless throng of Saturday night enthusiasts kept passing by, without noticing us as yet. She bit her lip when my hand trailed up her suspender stockings until it found the silken flesh of her inner thighs. My hand moved higher; my index finger trailed her pussy on the fabric of the minuscule panties she was wearing.

The wenches today sure do not wear a lot of clothing. A great advancement, be assured. It rips easily too.

With this thought he tore her panties off. The expression on her face was indescribable. He placed two fingers on her outer labia and pressed lightly at first, then with more zest, almost massaging her sex. She moaned audibly, he eyes scanning the passing crowd for casual observers of her lust. Then he inserted two of my fingers into her, pressing hard against her vaginal walls, first downwards, then turning the fingers, pulling them slightly out and finding a spot on top that felt slightly rougher and pronounced. Her face was flushed with passion and her moans and groans got louder by the minute, as he rubbed that spot with increasing urgency. Then he withdrew the fingers very abruptly and lifted the tight dress as high as he could. Her pussy was shaven except for a fashionable landing strip.

Curious.

He opened my trousers and slid them down far enough to get the boxers down also. He beckoned her to touch my dick, which was almost fully erect from the entire episode anyway. She squeezed and wanked my dick until it was rock hard, while he grabbed her arse, digging hard into her buttocks. He stooped down a little, clasped her thighs and lifted her up, pressing her against the wall again. She let go of my dick and hastened to fling her arms around my neck.

My cock found its target almost instantly, her pussy was slick with juices from his earlier manipulations and I slid in easily. He was not satisfied with the position and adjusted it a bit more, so that my dick could get in deeper and it was easier to move my hips. It was great, she whimpered and moaned, a small tear running down from her right eye, leaving a smeary trail of mascara or something like that below it. He pumped her hard, although not particularly fast, finding an odd angle that kept most pressure on the top of my dick.

I noticed from the corner of my eye that we were being watched by a small group of men, beer cans in their hands, nudging each other and grinning, but keeping quiet in order not to interrupt the unexpected spectacle before their eyes. Her head tilted towards them, as her breathing got fast and faster, her groans louder and louder, until I felt her vaginal muscles clenching. For a few seconds I lost track of where I was and what was happening. A blinding white light obliterated every detail out of my consciousness, followed by a feeling of relief, of deepest satisfaction, completeness. Then everything came back into focus, my dick was still working her hard, a bit less controlled now, as if it was more me being in charge.

You are. Finish it up now; those fellows are getting too close for comfort.

I lunged at her a bit harder, trying to come. She groaned incessantly, a filament of spittle hanging from her lips, her eyes strangely vacant. A few more heavy thrusts and I climaxed, squirting my hot load into her. I let go of her thighs, Anatan made me kiss her once more and then urged me to dress and leave. The drunken group had closed in and a few even applauded cynically, their faces distorted from drink and obviously lust.

‘Shouldn’t we take her out of here, to make sure those guys aren’t doing anything stupid?’

None of our concern. I need more sustenance.

My legs didn’t obey me; he simply removed us from the scene. Not a moment too soon, as a police car pulled up almost immediately afterwards.

We should look for wenches elsewhere now. You lead on.

‘There is one thing we should keep in mind though: This is the twenty-first century. You can’t just go around fucking people. There are consequences …’

Not if you hasten your step.

‘No, not that, STDs, pregnancy … well, suppose, that hasn’t changed, but we have lethal illnesses you can contract through unprotected sex now … like AIDS …’

Anatan went silent for a while, maybe he was searching my memory for what I had mentioned.

I fathom your meaning now. Do not be concerned. I sense illness; she had nothing of the sort.

‘What was that blinding light, by the way?’

Her energy. My sustenance. She will feel weak for a few days, but it will pass. There is another inn over there. Let’s tarry not. I need more sustenance.

‘Ok, but I need a break first, maybe a couple of pints. And it is called a pub nowadays. Take it easy, the night is still young.’

Anatan wasn’t exactly the patient type. We went into the pub and about half an hour later I found myself fucking a barmaid in a filthy back room. I was just sitting back and enjoying the ride, including two flashes of light. I suppose she would not have been able to complete her shift after that. In order to get a bit of a respite myself, I decided to introduce him to the twenty-first century proper.

‘You know where we should go now? To a rave. I am pretty sure that you haven’t had anything like that in your time … You are going to love it.’

If there are wenches there I do not see any reason why we shouldn’t. Oh, I see, it is like a dance? Yes … that seems like a good location.

It was difficult to get him to wait in line with me, until we finally got in. Difficult because there were groups of girls around us and it took quite a bit of convincing not to pull any of them out for a quick snack. When we finally got in, it was him for the first time losing his composure.

Lord of darkness … what inferno is this? Is it a ritual? A black mass? An orgy? I do not believe my eyes.

‘The music is called Techno. You see all these people beaming and screaming over there? They are on E or any similar drug. Completely off their faces. E stands for Extasy. It is a synthetic drug, very powerful.’

You do not understand. They are releasing sustenance all over the place. Weaker, yes, but aplenty. Let us go, feast upon it.

Within minutes I had my demon turned into a hard-core raver, dancing around girls, picking out those who were high as a kite and draining them of their energy. I experienced one flash of light after the other, as he had correctly assumed, not as strong and blinding as with the two women before, but strong enough to keep him in an excellent mood. He was perfectly satisfied with just basking in that energy, until an unsuspecting victim felt the urge to hug me and look deep into my eyes.

A minute later, I was kneeling in front of her in a stall at the lady’s, licking her juicy little cunt, three fingers up her vagina and two of my left hand up her arse. Apparently, she had trouble concentrating at first, but then she came like a train, leaving me stuck in that white limbo for what seemed like an eternity. Anatan was so impressed that he continued relentlessly, until she came a second and third time even. She sank to the floor like a puppet, a shallow husk of a human being, when I finally left the stall.

‘Is she going to be alright? She looked seriously done in.’

She will survive. That was incredible. I have enough energy to confront the witches already. Let’s go back to the dancing people and get some more.

Eventually we left the rave with two girls who were probably just about eighteen or nineteen. In any case, they kept me/us up all night before they finally crashed at my place. When I awoke at around mid-day on Sunday they were gone.

A Quarter Revenge

The following days were strange. Anatan withdrew for hours at a time, not offering any explanation. He didn’t clamour for sustenance, nor did he try to get me to do anything else. He seemed to be waiting for something. I was relieved, in a fashion. After all, I needed to sort out my own life. I managed to meet up with my dad, who grudgingly got me out of my dire straits by giving me just about enough money to pay off my rent debts. Anatan had kept quiet for the entire episode, but suddenly got really excited when were at my bank.

Hurry. She is here. I can sense her. No more than a few hundred yards away.

‘Who is she?’

One of the four. Leave this building now. She is moving. Hurry!

I clasped the envelope with the money my father had given me. It was imperative that I paid it in that day; otherwise I couldn’t get the transfer to my landlord’s account sorted in time. It was close to five o’clock already.

‘I can’t … I have to pay in the money first. I explained that to you earlier, didn’t I?’

He didn’t listen any more. He simply took over my body and made me run out of the bank, accompanied by suspicious looks of other customers.

‘Stop that … I need to get back there; it is closing in a few minutes …’

There she is. Do you see, do you see?

I did. It was indeed one of the four witches. She was the blonde one, the one that had stood closest to my vantage point. She came towards us, carrying a couple of shopping bags, but then stopped, opening the boot of a car.

She is going to use her carriage. Hurry; let’s get into yours, so that we may follow.

As much as I could understand his excitement and saw the logic in trying to follow her, I was prepared to make a stand for my own rights and problems. I needed to get back into the bank.

‘No, no way. I need to pay in that money.’

The pain was excruciating. It came out of nowhere, spread from my heart region throughout my body. Tears filled my eyes. For the first time since Halloween, I felt this dark, sickeningly vicious energy again.

You will obey and get into your carriage. Do not test my patience.

He meant business, and I wasn’t going to test what else he could do to me to break my will. I got into my car and pulled out of the parking bay almost at the same time as the witch. It was difficult to follow her nevertheless; after all, rush hour had just started. I lost her at a red traffic light, which she just about managed.

‘Fuck, lost her.’

No, I can still sense her. She is going east.

That didn’t help me a lot. I had no idea where east was supposed to be.

Right then. Around that corner. You see? There she is again.

She was heading out of town. I hoped sincerely that I had sufficient gas in my tank for this pursuit. The needle was swinging dangerously close to empty. We passed a couple of villages, until she took a turn in the third one and went up the driveway of a farm.

Go past it and we leave the carriage where she cannot spot it.

That was a good idea. For someone, who hadn’t seen any detective movies as yet, he had a pretty good grasp of what to do.

It was getting dark now. From where we parked, we could see that she took out her shopping and went into the farmhouse. I noticed statues and a lot of scrap metal. Maybe she was an artist of sorts. Definitely not a farmer.

‘What now?’

You can climb over that wall over there and cross the fence to her property without her noticing you.

I wasn’t so sure about that. There were dogs barking close by. It started raining as the street-lights went on. But he was right. Climbing over the wall wasn’t difficult. The fence was no hindrance either. I could see her moving behind a lit window on the ground floor. I tried to get closer to the building, using the piles of metal and wood as cover. However, when I was about fifteen yards away from the house, I ran into an invisible barrier. It bounced me back so violently, that I found myself lying on my back, fighting for breath.

‘What the fuck was that?’

She has protected her house. It does not surprise me.

‘But she went right through that … how does the postman or anyone else get close to the house then?’

Her postman won’t be a demon.

Now it dawned on me; it hadn’t repelled me, it had repelled Anatan.

‘Ok, I understand. So what now? Back to the car?’

Yes. We cannot confront her in her protected lair. We need to wait and follow her, when she leaves it again.

‘And wait here all night?’

If need be.

I wanted to protest, but remembered clearly how he had got me compliant just half an hour earlier. So I crawled back to the fence and scrambled over the wall to my car. Okay, if he wanted to wait, we would wait. Maybe the other witches would show up too. The fact that she had protected her house with that demon-repelling energy field made one thing clear: Irresistible or not, this would not go down as easy and smooth as his charging process.

Awake, awake, she is coming out of the house!

He jolted me back into consciousness. It was just after daybreak, the sun was barely visible in this hazy morning. My neck was hurting, I had fallen asleep at the steering wheel and rested my head at the window. Anatan had assured me that he did not need any sleep; nor my senses for that matter. The blonde witch was walking up her driveway, wearing a jacket and carrying a large jute pouch around her neck. She was walking towards me. I was at a loss as to what to do. It was too late for ducking for cover.

Start the engine and drive away. She must not see you.

I did as I was told. I noticed her glance in the rear mirror. Of course, a car she had not seen before in this village, leaving at the crack of dawn must have looked suspicious. In any case, I managed to get out of her sight quickly, turning left and around a few more corners until Anatan bid me to stop.

She is walking up to the woods. Get out of the carriage and follow her at a great distance. We will catch up with her there.

There was an old man emerging from the house, where I had parked the car, followed by a vicious looking dog, just when I got out of the car. The dog owner wanted to put it on the leash quickly, but to his and my surprise, the dog tugged his tail between his legs and scampered off with a frightened squeal at utmost speed as soon as he saw me. The dog owner seemed dumbfounded, shaking his head in disbelief and muttering to himself before eyeing me suspiciously and limping into the direction his dog was last seen.

‘What was that?’

It sensed me. Follow the witch; she must have reached the woods by now.

When I arrived at the path leading up to the forest I just caught a glimpse of her disappearing into the woods. The trail was muddy and littered with large puddles.

Do not worry. I can still sense her. Proceed with utmost caution.

‘But why? I don’t think she has noticed me before. Is she able to sense you?’

Perhaps. Perhaps not. It was her leading me into the trap the last time. It will not happen again.

‘What do you mean, her? I thought that was six hundred years ago?’

Yes. It was her. She led me into the forest, where the other witches were already waiting for me. They stunned and then banished me into the pocket of limbo. That cage of nothingness they just open once per year; just long enough to draw out my essence.

‘I don’t understand … She can’t be six hundred years old.’

She is. My essence gives her relative immortality. She can still perish from foul play or accident, but she does not age a day in her life.

‘Incredible. How …’

I stumbled over a root and almost fell.

Concentrate. She is near, but has left the trail.

I strained my eyes, but could not see her anywhere. The only advantage of that wet, misty morning was that it absorbed the sound to a large degree. My head was spinning from Anatan’s revelations. I had about a thousand questions I wanted to ask him, but he was not in the mood for further explanations.

Not now. She is over there.

Indeed she was, harvesting some plants with a small sickle. From this distance I couldn’t make out what it was — so I missed a chance to deploy the knowledge I had garnered from Sarah’s lessons.

‘So what is the plan now?’

She will return to the trail over here, when she is done. You will hide behind these bushes and snatch her from behind. You need not worry about anything else — but she must look into your eyes.

‘You mean although being attacked she will want to have sex with me as soon as she looks into my eyes?’

Ironically, that is what she likes or liked. It would work either way. Move now, it looks as if she were done.

I had a bad feeling about this. I realised that despite his assurances, this might not end well. Before it had almost been fun, but even the short episode in front of the bank made me conscious of the fact that Anatan was a demon, out for revenge. What would he do once he got his “essence” back? Or if it didn’t run as smoothly as he expected? After all, she had her house protected. It seemed unlikely that she would distinguish between the demon and his vessel, when trying to defend herself.

There was no time to follow this train of thought to the end. I felt him taking over, when she passed our hiding place.

He leaped forward, tackling her like an angry rugby player and we both crashed into the mud. I felt something sharp piercing my chest. He grabbed her curly hair and forced her head around. For a few seconds there was an expression of surprise and anguish. But then our eyes met and she had lost the battle. She hardly resisted when Anatan turned her on her back. For a second I felt a burning sensation on my chest.

“Take it off witch. Take it off.”

She obeyed that cryptic order and pulled out an ornate amulet from the depth of her jumper, unclasped it and then threw it readily to the side. It was a very strange sensation. She felt oddly familiar, as if I knew her like a sister.

A brother. What you sense is my essence. And she has not changed her likings. She still likes to pretend to be taken by force and humiliated. We will gladly oblige.

He smacked her several times, not viciously but strongly enough to leave red marks on her cheeks. She was squirming and trying to get away, but he had straddled her in such a fashion that this was impossible. I was surprised that she started to resist now, but then concluded that this was part of the game, of her desire to be taken as if being raped.

The feverish expression on her face corroborated this theory; she enjoyed what was happening to her, gasped with pleasure when he grabbed and kneaded her sizeable breasts. He moved higher until he could arrest her arms with my knees. She kept on struggling, but made no serious attempt to break free.

He opened my trousers and freed my cock; then grabbed hold of her head again, pulling her hair until she obliged and took my half-erect penis into her mouth. It did not stay that way for long and soon she made gargling and retching noises, when he forced my dick deep into her. He pushed and pulled her harder and harder. She gagged and whimpered, but he continued relentlessly until I came into her mouth. She swallowed everything, but with great difficulty.

She will not climax from penetration. But she will enjoy this …

To my surprise, I got up, my right hand still entangled in her lush hair, tugging her after me into the brushwood, until he found a tree to his liking. He took the jute pouch off her shoulder and propped her up against the tree, raising her arms over her head. He took the small sickle out of the pouch and used it to rip the seams open.

Although she was standing free of any restraint for almost a minute, she made no attempt to flee. Her face was still reddened from excitement and the earlier slaps, her eyes wide open, staring at me with a dreamy, far-away look.

Anatan was a fast learner, as he managed to open the zipper of her dress quickly. It fell to the ground and soon followed her panties. Her hairy, unshaven pussy was moist and hot when my fingers first probed it. Her pubic hair tickled my nose when I sank down onto my knees and started licking her. She moaned and groaned when he parted her labia and pushed it slightly upward to reveal her pea-sized clit. To my surprise, he did not lick her, but rested my lips around her clit, sucking it strongly while massaging her labia with my hand. Ripples of ecstasy shook her body, as he continued this for several minutes. All of a sudden he started flicking her clit with my tongue, very fast, very hard. She screamed, and the whole world exploded into a white and red inferno of energy and light. I felt pulses of energy filling up my very existence, very dense, almost liquid.

My sight returned. I was still on my knees in front of the witch, her face still contorted from ecstasy. But now her expression changed to agony. She seemed to shrivel up, then melt, pieces of flesh ripping off her face and body, drying up at the same time, bones becoming visible; then her body collapsed into itself, forming a strange smouldering heap of indefinable nature on the ground, which then turned into dust. I could not believe my eyes. Only the jute bag on the tree vouched for the reality of what I had just experienced. The heap of dust was scattered by a sudden, icy wind.

One down, three more to go. Let’s tarry not.

‘You killed her.’

No, I did not. I took back what was mine. Without my essence she would have been dust centuries ago. Hurry now, back to the carriage. Her final scream might have alerted the villagers.

I almost ran back to my car, in the foolish attempt to escape my conscience that way also. Arriving behind the wheel, I felt pain in my chest. I lifted my pullover and saw an open slash, which probably stemmed from her sickle, when I had jumped on top of her. What I could not explain, however, was that it was visibly closing. My mind had difficulties processing what my eyes saw. The wound closed up completely and even the skin grew back. A breathless minute later, there was no trace visible.

Now you understand?

Now I understood.

Dust To Dust

We must act fast and find the others, before they start missing her and grow suspicious.

I was still not ready to accept what had just happened. He had killed her, although in fact he hadn’t. The conflicting thoughts were driving me nuts. I was sure he would be strong enough to overpower me and take over my body completely now, if he wanted to. He would kill three more women if given the chance and I wondered whether I should make myself accessory to that. I could feel it. He was waiting for my decision. There was no good choice. I decided to play along.

I stopped at the nearest petrol station and used some of the money my dad had given me for rent to fill up the tank. The guy at the counter eyed me with a puzzled look; my wound was healed, but there was a blood-stained rip in the fabric and my jacket and trousers were wet and covered with mud.

“Are you all right, son?”

“Yeah, no biggie. I slipped and fell onto a sharp stone in the woods, just a scratch, no worries.”

“Always keep your eyes open, son.”

“I will bear that in mind.”

‘I need to change clothes.’

All right. We return to your dwellings. And you need sustenance. Do you have a map of the area?

‘Sure, why?’

This was east. The other three witches will live west, north and south from a centre point of power. In this case the tree where they summoned me. It will be of equal distance from that point. Finding the others will be an easy task.

I pinpointed the locations south, west and north with a pair of compasses and wrote down the village and street-names. The one in the south was still part of the city proper and Anatan wanted to go there first. He allowed me to eat, rest and shower first though. In the shower I noticed that all the little scratches and bruises from Halloween at the witch tree were gone. And I was feeling incredible, more alive and energetic than I had ever felt.

When I left the house, it was growing dark already again. I had been overcast most of the day, but now the skies had cleared and most luminous stars were sparkling on the deep turquoise sky. The street lights seemed brighter than usual and I felt elated. When we entered the area where the southern witch supposedly lived, I felt a tingling sensation in my spine.

‘What is that?’

That is the witch. You sense her as I sense her. You will feel the bond growing stronger. And she is at her home.

It was a suburban area, lots of detached houses with little patches of land around it.

It is the house over there.

I knew it also. Anatan’s senses were open to me.

It was a bungalow, probably built in the sixties. A tall hedge hid everything but the driveway from view. A black Porsche stood in the driveway. Well, it was a posh area after all, so this witch had apparently chosen a more luxurious lifestyle. With her knowledge accumulated in six hundred years, she sure had had enough opportunities to amass a small fortune.

This must be her carriage.

‘And a pretty sweet ride it is too.’

We need to draw her out of the house, it is no doubt protected.

‘But how? What the fuck are you doing?’

Anatan took control of my body, stepped on the accelerator pedal and swerved the car around. We smashed through her hedge and crashed into the back of her Porsche. The impact was hard; the seat-belt dug painfully into my flesh. My head just about missed the windshield. There was a bang and a loud screeching noise from metal meeting metal. Then her car alarm went off.

The window next to the entrance lit up and then the door opened. Moments later, the witch appeared at my window.

“Oh my God … what happened? Are you hurt in any way? Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

I lowered my window and looked straight into her eyes.

“That won’t be necessary.”

I saw her desire. For the first time I could see what Anatan saw. I saw her in a room full of naked, copulating people. She imagined herself right in the middle, being fucked, being watched and watching. The image was so vivid and powerful that my dick twitched in my pants. Anatan took over.

“Turn off the alarm and your silly shield. And then say your spell witch. Your neighbours are arriving.”

The witch ran back to the house, picking up crystals that were hidden in the flower beds on her way in. I opened the door with great difficulty, as the impact had wedged it in tight.

A young couple arrived and tried to help me out of the car, pelting me with useless questions. Another man joined us, middle aged and heavily balding, then two more women who kept a respectful distance and watched from the end of the driveway.

The witch re-emerged from the house and shut down the alarm with her remote. She murmured something unintelligible, although I thought I heard words like ” … tempora orgiastica …” or suchlike. In any case, the neighbours seemed to have shifted their interests from concern and curiosity into concern and curiosity for each other’s bodies, as they started feeling each other up. Including the housewife-ish looking ladies, that gave up their vantage point at the driveway and came closer. The witch beckoned everyone inside.

The house was much more impressive from the inside rather than the outside. She did not share Kelly’s foible for antiquities, the whole place was ultra-styled, the way you see in home magazines. A large dark-blue round settee framed an abstractly shaped coffee-table. The black furniture was littered with books and small statues, a fruit bowl and crystals of every colour and shape. Only the walls were lit by indirect light. A spacious chair faced a massive flat-screen TV, currently on mute. As soon as they entered the room, the neighbours began undressing. I was feeling rather hot and horny myself.

Leave it to the witch. Well, she has had six hundred years to perfect that spell. Pretty powerful stuff, isn’t it?

‘Fucking hell.’

I got my clothes off in record time. The witch put on a porn DVD and unmuted the TV. Then she undressed, slowly, basking in everyone’s mesmerised stares, driving everyone to the edge of desire and anticipation. Her short chestnut hair was in stark contrast to her bright grey eyes. Her voluptuous body appeared to be sparkling and was simply irresistible.

Everyone, including me, was drawn to her. She became the centre of a rotating circle of flesh, as we rubbed our bodies against her, touching her wherever we could find a free spot, guiding her to the multi-piece settee, lifting her onto it before she indicated her choice and pulled me on top of her.

That seemed to be the signal for everyone else to busy themselves with each other. One of the housewives took the curious looking cock of the ageing Casanova into her mouth while she received oral treatment from her sister-in-fate. The young couple embarked on a sixty-nine journey with her on top.

The room resounded from all corners with grunts, groans and slurps, real ones mixing with the surround sound of the DVD.

All those were but secondary impressions, dwarfed by the sensation of her clasping my member and tugging me down for a demanding and heated kiss. She had large breasts with big areolas and dark nipples. They were natural, as my closer inspection revealed. I greeted both of them with a circular flicking of the tongue, before suckling lightly.

The room seemed to fill up constantly with new arrivals. More and more people entered, took off their clothes and joined the action. While I drifted down between the witch’s legs, a chap who appeared to be even younger than me, confronted the witch with his awesomely thick and reasonably long dick. She did not hesitate and accepted that challenge into her mouth.

Her pubes were shaved into a sharp V, marking the way to her perfectly symmetrical cunt. She had to let go of my dick when I was gliding down her body, but someone else started busying herself with it. It was the wife of the young couple, who had apparently arrived at the mix and match stage, as he was fucking a platinum blonde on the floor.

My fingers spread her juices all over the witch’s pussy, invading her sanctorum first with two, then with three fingers. She gyrated her hips and created an anti-clockwise grinding motion on my turning, churning, and occasionally spreading fingers.

The young wife clasped my shaft with her left hand, sucking deliciously slow on my head, depositing the index finger of her right hand into my arsehole, which was a bit painful at first, but then felt glorious. The young chap was about to cum and withdrew his cock from the witch’s mouth, only to squirt immediately onto her face. She wiped most of the frosting from her cheek and sampled the gooey white stuff with obvious delight.

However, I did not want to suffer the same fate and reassigned my cock’s location to the witch’s eager cunt. That young man had had enormous luck in marriage though, my dick had never felt so pumped up and bursting with hardness before. That seemed more than beneficial to the witch, who deposited her legs around my neck to get the full blast. The young wife had found someone new to play with and embraced me from behind, while an elderly gentleman paid a visit to her rear entrance.

Someone was coming violently, a discreet voice in the cacophony of moans, groans, slurps and the sound of bodies slapping together. The witch resumed her grinding motion in good response to my mildly fast thrusting dick. The young wife filled my ear with sounds of pleasure and slight pain, as the older chap really had a go at her arsehole.

The witch revelled in the sights and sounds surrounding her, as well as in my steady deep penetration — apparently she was one of the lucky women who could enjoy her cervix being hit. She was getting louder by the minute, joining into the choir of people on the brink, where the young wife still delivered an aria of extreme pleasure and progressive pain. I took one of the witch’s legs down and changed the angle for variety’s sake, increasing the speed in the process.

She began to massage her own breasts, the eyes widening; her mouth agape. Now I was really letting it fly, pounding her as hard as I could. I heard a guy grunting when he came and then the room disappeared into the red-white flash for what appeared to be at least twice as long as the last time. The return to reality was spectacular and sickening at the same time, as I came into already decaying flesh that underwent the same metamorphosis as that of her sister witch, with the notable difference that her pile of dust was laced with cum.

The people around us had either not observed the scene, or simply didn’t care, being too busy to fuck each other senseless.

The spell lasts on and will last for several more hours. They will have no memory of all this and return to their homes like sheep. I have seen this spell before.

Indubitably, it was still working on me as well. I was about to dive between one of the housewife’s legs, but Anatan stopped me by taking over.

It does not affect me. And you will be free also as soon as we leave the circle of influence.

He made my grudging body dress and leave the house. I discovered that my motor was still running. So much for environmentally-friendly driving. Despite its age and crappiness, my trusty car seemed determined to fulfil its destiny and got me out of the driveway without mishap. I had to steer a bit to the left to keep a straight line constantly thereafter, but besides it drove ok. I sincerely hoped that I wouldn’t be stopped by a police car, as I had no ideas for a good explanation for the state of the car. A few hundred yards further down the road, my body finally relaxed.

Three Is The Feather

In needed no rest. My body was charged with an unbelievable vitality and strength. Maybe this was how highly trained athletes felt like. Probably on steroids to feel similar. I looked at the next address on our list. The witch living in the west was located close to a pond where I had spent a great deal of my youth, as my then girlfriend used to live there. I actually lost my virginity in one of the countless little bays that were completely hidden from view, unless you were watching from the other side or a rowing boat on the lake.

There were a few houses with gardens that went down to the pond, and hers was the last one in a small row. I could sense her half a mile away. She was not in her house, but somewhere close to the lake, which was surprising, since it was at around nine o’clock in the evening by now and very chilly besides.

Nevertheless, I saw her sitting on a bench very close to the water, sensibly dressed with jeans and a warm fleece jacket. She appeared to be lost in contemplating the reflection of the new moon’s thread-thin sickle on the placid water surface. Although she was clearly visible, there was no way to get to her from her property, as every entry point was protected by a field, as I painfully got to realise.

‘What now? I don’t think my car will withstand another crash.’

Can you swim? Of course you can. And so we will.

I had to protest at least pro forma, but it was clear that this protest would not amount to anything. Anatan let my body glide noiselessly into the severely cold water. Fortunately it was just a short distance to the landing stage and the bench next to it. But there she would be able to see me.

Confident that I was capable of that feat also, Anatan sent my body diving without further reassurances. The bench was but a yard away from the water and a after a short dive I emerged like a dolphin from the water, propelled myself forward when my feet found ground and snatched her left leg, dragging her with me into the cold, punishing element. Her surprised shriek was cut short, when her entire body was immersed in the water. A second later, I felt a weird tugging sensation and found us both lying on the slippery planks of the landing stage.

Before I could analyse what had just happened, she coughed out some water and her green sparkling eyes opened the gates to her soul. Images of tender, soft sex in candlelight flashed before my eyes.

“Don’t blink again, witch. And disable the field.”

She nodded and got up after Anatan finally released her leg. I started shivering uncontrollably. The witch picked up some hidden crystals and threw them into the lake, then stood motionless, awaiting my arrival.

‘What just happened? How did we get out of the water?’

She blinked. That was one of the two powers they stole from me also.

‘Blinked?’

Yes, you transport yourself to any place you can envision in the blink of an eye.

‘Wow. Cool.’

With a great chattering of my teeth I followed the witch into her house. I sincerely hoped that the reconstituting power of Anatan would prevent pneumonia. In any case, it was time to take off the wet clothing and settle somewhere close to the artificial fireplace, where a gas fuelled flame roared behind a glass pane.

The witch lit candles all around, close to thirty of them, before she undressed as well. Her long red hair reached down all the way over her ample breasts, thoroughly messed up and still dripping from the unscheduled diving action. She curled up like a cat in front of the fireplace. There were goose-pimples on her arms and her nipples were also stiffened by the cold brush. I moved closer, carefully removing wet clingy strands of hair out of her really beautiful face.

The look she gave me was confusing me, so tender and sweet, as if she was in love with me. Her full red lips opened in anticipation when I moved my head to meet them. I just brushed them lightly; then kissed her forehead, while she slowly sank to the floor, her red hair forming a fiery halo on the thick beige carpet. She closed her eyes when my still slightly trembling hands traced her features with utmost delicacy. I slumped down next to her upper body, tenderly stroking her neck and brushing along her arms, until my hands found her and clasped them gingerly, before retracing my path and returning to her shoulders.

She lifted her head a tad, enticing me to kiss her again. I obliged, toying with her tongue, circling around it, then withdrawing it from her mouth and planting the faintest whisper of a lick on the corners of her mouth. I changed my position and lay down next to her, motioning her to turn to her side also, our bodies meeting in a soft embrace, barely touching each other, nevertheless sending shivers of a completely different nature than before throughout my body.

She started caressing my back and shoulders, when we locked into a slightly more involved and seemingly endless kiss, in the course of which we drew each other closer. Very slowly our warm and blissful embrace obtained an element of passion; the warmth changed into heat. We pressed against each other, squirming and turning as we kissed with mounting passion.

I came to lie on top of her; I felt her desire, her face an effigy of arousal and anticipation, the willingness to give herself to me. I felt her opening her legs beneath me and moved down a bit more until my cock brushed against her pussy lips. Her hand reached down to meet it and guide it in. She moaned and winced a little bit when I got in too far too fast. I retracted immediately, pushing back in softly, a little bit deeper each following time, until I went in all the way.

I showered her face with kisses, as we established a slow steady rhythm. She was fairly quiet and passive first, moaning softly and relaxing into the sensation of being fucked, of that exquisite flow our bodies had established. After several minutes, she indicated that she wanted to change positions.

Her body reflected the flickering sheen of the fireplace when she turned me on my back and mounted me, placing her hands on either side of my hips. She seemed to revel in the sensation, heaving and grinding for a few thrusts, then stopping when she managed to get my cock in as deep as she could. She moved a little bit up again, stopping in mid-length and started playing with her vaginal muscles, contracting and relaxing at will, bringing my dick once more to its fullest extent.

She continued riding me, combining the up and downward motion with a matching move back and forth, as far as my rigid cock allowed, halting when moving up a few times, until just my head lingered in her not overly slick glory-hole. The she bent backwards, placing her hands on my shins and rotating her hips around my rejoicing knob at the centre.

She really wanted to feel it now and raised herself up onto her feet, squatting on top of me, now bouncing her hips like a spring. With passion fully alight, she increased the speed more and more, closing her eyes, her mouth twitching with excitement.

As quiet as she had been in the beginning, she really became noisy now, mixing almost squealing sounds with very convinced sounding “Yes” and “Oh yeah” exclamations. It was only Antan’s proficient handling of my body that prevented me from coming, as I had been close to it for at least five times by then, but somehow he had always managed to distract me enough to last.

I could sense her build-up; her movements became less coordinated and fiercer still. The last thing I saw were her now wide opened eyes, melting into the red-white swirl, this time interlaced with blue streaks. I was suspended in that moment forever; time stood still and lost its meaning altogether. I felt as light as a feather, when my body consciousness returned moments before my vision.

The witch was gone, only some of her dust clang to my sweaty pelvis, belly and legs. I got onto my feet, my dick still erectly mourning the demise of its late playmate. I picked up my clothing and literally a blink of the eye later found myself standing in my flat.

‘What the fuck …’

I blinked us here. Forget about the car, the damaged front might arouse suspicion.

He dropped my clothes and blinked me straight into the shower cabin, where I hastened to wash off the witch.

The Joining

I awoke at around six in the morning. I felt different somehow, tingling with energy and power. A deep satisfaction, because of having vanquished the puny creatures that had ensnared and imprisoned me for such a long time. Only a faint whisper reminded me that this did not happen to who I used to be. But who was that? No, I must have been mistaken. I have always been Anatan, and I always will be.

There were several messages from Sarah on the answering machine, asking me more and more desperately to ring her back. I did no such thing, but made myself an extensive breakfast with eggs, bacon and toast, which was then crowned by a quickie with my next door neighbour, whom I met on her way to the office when taking out my rubbish. She might have been not much of an asset to her company after the two helpings of sustenance I got from her, before I left her.

The village the northern witch lived in had lost its rural charm a long time ago. Most farms had been sold and torn down to make space for rather drab one and two-storey buildings, shops and a large carpet dealership. Her house was detached but close to a bakery. I could not sense her; she was obviously not at home. The houses and gardens were way too exposed to hide and wait for her there. I was certain she had protected her house in the same manner as the others had.

I had no choice but to hide in one of the other houses close by, and no difficulty finding a perhaps thirty year old woman to invite me back to her house and suck my cock to while away the waiting time. Just when I was about to return the favour, I felt the witch approaching slowly; so she wasn’t using a car. I hurried to get my clothes back on, ignoring the bewildered and disappointed look on the woman’s face — she wouldn’t remember a thing about this episode anyway.

I was lucky not to materialise in sight of everyone else though and, following a sudden intuition, entered the bakery, where just one other customer was present, who paid as I awaited my turn to be served by a woman of truly massive proportions. She looked at me with the customary curiosity of someone living in a rather closed community.

“What can I do for you, luv?”

“I am not sure yet … Why don’t you take care of that young lady here first, while I make up my mind …”

I was pointing at the witch, who had just entered the shop that very moment. She was wearing jogging pants and a sweat shirt that really deserved that name, obviously returning from a run.

“Good morning Alice, darling. Had a good run? The usual?”

The witch acknowledged my presence and courtesy with a brief nod, before turning to the fat woman.

“Morning, Hannah. Thank you, it felt great actually. Yeah, the usual … and a couple of cherry tarts. After that workout, I am entitled to sin a little bit …”

I grinned and addressed her directly to get her attention … and eyes …

“Oh … tarts … Now that sounds like a lovely idea.”

Predictably, her eyes wandered to meet mine. Her desire manifested before my eyes.

“Fuck!”

I couldn’t help it, I just blurted out my disdain and frustration. Her desire did not involve men. She was one hundred percent lesbian.

I was defeated without a fight. My mind raced, I mumbled a “Sorry, think I have forgotten something” and stormed out of the bakery, around the next corner and blinked myself back to my flat. I screamed out my anguish, before starting to trash my furniture. Through the haze of my rage, I heard the phone ringing. I stumbled through piles of rubbish and timber to get to it.

“Finally! Where the fuck have you been? I left like ten messages on your bloody machine.”

It was Sarah, sounding annoyed and genuinely concerned at the same time.

“Oh, I just hooked up with a few girls …”

“Plonker. A few girls … winding up an old witch is not nice, you know?”

She snickered.

“Anyway … It is time for a few more lessons. And if you are a good boy, maybe I teach you a few more, including how to treat an older woman respectfully … and such.”

“Wonderful. I can’t wait. Can you pick me up though, I have had a little accident with my car and now it is at a garage …”

“Oh dear, what happened? Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I don’t have a scratch. Just lost control and smashed into a parking car. So … you’ll pick me up?”

“Sure … in about an hour?”

“Great. I’ll see you then … Bye.”

“Ok. Bye.”

I put down the receiver, as the options and possibilities unfolded before my eyes. Sarah … Yes, now that witch better be strong and powerful. Then I would be able to turn this defeat into triumph at last.

I answered her on the intercom and told her that I would come down, thus eschewing an explanation for my “redecorated” flat. Her small hatchback was parked right in front of my house. I got in and waited for the inevitable moment where our eyes would meet.

I was not altogether surprised or unprepared. My previous, naïve self would have reeled at the images before my mind’s eye. I saw her slashing and maiming a young man, drinking his blood, smearing her naked body with it, riding him to death. Good witch, my arse. This was as dark as it gets, that woman had nothing but malice and wickedness in her heart, and magic as black as the darkest night.

Her eyes were inquisitive, probing. I saw through her little scheme in an instant. She had set the fool that I had been up big time. She wanted me, Anatan, to break free and deliver her from the second coven, probably grant her some additional boons. After all, they actually were good witches. Or had been, save one.

“Anatan I suppose?”

“Clever little witch.”

She could hardly contain her excitement, riddled with fear and the stench of greed.

“I was sure I could make it happen.”

“So what do you hope to gain from this?”

“Everything.”

“You speak in riddles … wasn’t it you who told me that we have to ask for what we really want in order to obtain it?”

She smiled a wicked smile.

“Yes … I suppose I did … Isn’t it obvious? I want … immortality!”

“And you believe I will grant you that? Freely?”

“Yes. You might be half demon now, but I can still read you like a book. You need something from me, something to defeat one or several of the witches.”

“And that makes you think you can bargain with me?”

“A fair trade is all I am looking for. A pact. A contract. I give you everything you need and you give me what I desire.”

She was a wily one. But she couldn’t possibly know that much about me and my abilities. I could play her like a fiddle.

“Agreed then. I don’t need much of you, mind you. Just your body for a few hours.”

I had expected a stronger reaction. She simply nodded and started the car. A nagging suspicion occupied my mind throughout the journey to her place.

Her house was unprotected. She had been expecting me, obviously. This time she led me straight into her cellar, where I had not been before.

Only a few candles lit the scene, revealing the insignia of dark magic. A large, altar-like stone table at the centre of the dingy room, with a pentagram right in the middle. The restraints on each side and the unmistakable red stains on the pentagram led me to believe that she wasn’t only fantasizing about her special needs. A shelf filled with vials and bottles, containing liquids of many colours, blinking and sparkling in the candle light. Books that looked ancient enough to have come from my time. Two skulls on a laboratory table in a corner, used as candle holders; which had been a silly cliché already at my time; the cocks in translucent liquids however had a rather unique and individual touch.

“Lie down on the table and let me do the rest.”

“I hope you know what you are doing?”

“Yes. I will drag your spirit out of this body and let it join with mine. I will have to restrain you, so that the body will not wander off, while we are gone.”

“You believe me foolish enough to allow you to do that?”

“Double-cross a powerful demon like yourself? How stupid do you think I am? No, you have to trust me, as I trust you to fulfil your end of the bargain.”

No harm really in agreeing. First of all, I would be able to inhabit any body I wanted once I was reconstituted. I could blink out of the restraints if I chose to return to that one as well. I felt a certain sentimentality for this body. In any case, I would kill her at the earliest opportunity. She was too dangerous to be left alive.

“As you say. It would be foolish to go up against me.”

I lowered myself onto the large granite desktop and her to place the restraints around my wrists. Then she took some time to compose herself before the ritual.

The room was charging up with energy when she held the large blue crystal ten inches above my head, chanting the Obligato to the forces of darkness to assist her in her strife. A swirl of light seemed to suck me into oblivion, then spat me out again, looking down at the body I had just inhabited.

It felt strange to be in a female body. Almost automatically I touched “my” tits and pussy.

‘Hey, hey, hey. No time to play around, is there?’

I attempted to probe her mind and memories. She managed to block away a good deal from me, no idea how. Again, the suspicion that I had underestimated her.

‘No peeking either. That is no way to treat a lady …’

I grinned with my new face. I started liking that feisty little witch. Rotten to the core; dangerous as fuck.

I stared at the empty shell of a body, senselessly straining against the restraints, the legs moving queerly across the table.

‘We’d better restrain the feet as well, before he hurts himself.’

I allowed her to complete that task while revealing my plan to her. I wanted to ambush the northern witch on her morning run. But for some reason or the other, she had even less patience than me.

‘I could ring her and draw her out of her house under some pretext. I am sure she will suspect nothing, as she doesn’t know me at all.’

Of course, that was the better option. After all, the more time passed, the more likely it became that she did become aware of the missing witches and made the whole thing more difficult in trying to flee or fight.

Agreed. Make it so.

Forces Of Darkness, Forces Of Light

She rang her up without further ado and we took her small car to the meeting place, a parking space for hikers at the woods close to her village. We could have blinked there of course, but I wasn’t about to reveal my power to her as yet, still not knowing what she knew about me.

Sarah was like a snake, whispering her advice in my ear and then sitting back, trying to manipulate me at any given opportunity. Nevertheless, it seemed like a good idea to get to the place way beforehand to be the first there.

Another gloomy and wet November afternoon; heavy rain pelting the car’s roof and windshield. The other car arriving was a blurry shape between the drops on the glass panes. The northern witch stopped it right next to us, glancing over at me through the rain. I weighed the options for a second; then blinked onto the passenger seat in her car, trying to catch Sarah’s reaction as well as the witch’s eyes, but she had completely withdrawn.

The witch must have instinctively known who I was, as her initial reaction was to turn her head away from me, her hand had already clasped the door’s handle — still, she was too slow for me, as I grabbed hold of her head and forced it back to face me. She could have closed her eyes, but she didn’t. She tried to whisper instead. Grievous mistake.

My second power: to whisper. Whispering will send you into a state of delusion, imagining yourself to do things, why in reality you sit or stand petrified. What she didn’t know though, was that I was immune to that power. I tapped into her desire again and this time this female form would appear to her to be the answer to all her prayers, the absolute embodiment of her desire. The brief struggle ended. She was wax in my hands.

Ever done a woman?

Sarah did not answer. I couldn’t help but snicker. Sarah had been whispered into some head fuck or another. I would release her after reconstitution, after recovering my essence and power from that last witch.

She was a pretty woman, no doubt. Her features maybe a little bit too rough and hard for my personal taste, too butch. It was a strange feeling to kiss her, strange to feel the starting arousal in this female form, as we felt each other up. Sarah had chosen the outfit for the occasion, a short black leather skirt with matching top, stockings and a flimsy little piece of fabric that supposedly passed as underwear. I felt the witch’s hand arriving exactly there, while she smothered me with kisses. I had gathered that she liked to be the dominant part in the equation, so I allowed her continue as it excited her visibly. She had pulled my panties to one side and toyed with my cunt with an expertise only a woman is probably capable of.

I tried to sneak a hand under her dress also, but she moved it away, indicating that it was my turn to be pleasured first. Sarah’s body shook and shivered, as she circled around my clit with a well lubricated finger. I found myself groaning, clenching my muscles and opening my legs further so that she had better access. Still, this was a little uncomfortable, why did these stupid witches all ride these small cars? I was enjoying these sensations, and I wanted her to lick me, but couldn’t see how that could be accomplished in this confined space.

The bed in Sarah’s apartment was much more suitable for this. I blinked us there. The witch was not even acknowledging the changed surroundings. She responded to my unspoken request instead, removed my dress and the panties and buried her face between my legs. She pulled my outer labia apart starting licking up and down the full length of my aching cunt, making it even slicker that it already had been. Then she focused on my clit, but licked around it, next to it, without ever really touching it. As great as that felt, it was torture — I needed more, more, more. I found myself whimpering and squirming, finally attempting to guide her to the spot where I really wanted her to attack, but she pushed my hand away and went on torturing me, slowly, deliberately.

I sighed in relief when she finally did relent and flicked her tongue across the swollen pleasure dome, just to exasperate me some more, when she only rested the tip of her tongue against it, staying motionless first, then increasing the pressure, which was suddenly inverted by a quick suction she applied. Wow, that was great. And now she started lapping for all it was worth, making me toss and turn and digging my hands into the sheets. I felt close to coming and she must have sensed that, but instead of allowing me to do just that, she slowed down, leaving me burning with desire, frustration and a little anger. She repeated that little stunt yet another time, but then she sent me into heaven without further cheekiness.

A female orgasm is quite different from a male, at least this female’s was; it wasn’t limited to just the cunt, it spread throughout the entire body. She sucked on my sex until the waves of ecstasy melted into a feeling of deep satisfaction. Then she moved up to me, kissing me tenderly, giving me the odd sensation of tasting my own cunt.

I was hungry for hers now though. I removed myself from her embrace and started undressing her. Her breasts were really small, her nipples quite big and extremely sensitive as my probing mouth learned. She had the cutest little belly button with some ring attached to it. That was something new, what an odd place to wear jewellery. Upon peeling down her not particularly sexy underwear I discovered another piece of jewellery where I would have never expected it: right above her clit.

I surmised that it was there for a reason, and not simply as an adornment, which that little piece of perfection wouldn’t have needed anyway. She had shaven her pussy completely, as seemed to be rather customary in these days and it looked like a young girl’s pussy, you actually had to really pull the outer labia apart before the little rose opened its blossom. She tasted slightly sour and yet so sweet. The metal object felt strange on my tongue at first, but it admittedly was enticing enough to play with it.

I was sure that she’d loved some of my fingers in her pussy too, but Sarah had long and razor-sharp nails, and I was not about to endanger the outcome of this undertaking by involuntarily hurting her. The witch seemed pretty happy with what I was doing. No sweet revenge for that delicious piece of torture she had levied on me. She took a good time to get to a stage of heightened arousal anyway, which was difficult to detect, as she was one of the real quiet types. I got a bit frustrated when I did not get any audible reaction, but the heaving and twitching of her belly informed me that despite the relative silence, she was getting there. Still, it happened at a moment where I didn’t suspect it at all, the rush of energy, the blinding light, the pattern of red and blue, returning back into place, forming me, reforming me; making me whole again.

Free. Free at last. Nothing could stop me now. Never again.

I blinked down into the cellar. As interesting as this experience as a woman had been, I wanted to go back into the male body I had grown accustomed to. I probed the witch’s memory, as she was still off in fantasyland, probed all the dark hidden spots, found the betrayal she had planned. She knew nothing of my ability to change bodies in full possession of my faculties. She wanted to trap me in the crystal she had used earlier to draw me out and feast on my energy. Very clever. She had even planned to return the boy’s part of me back to his body and play with him … one last time.

Well, who was I to disappoint her?

It was time to stop the whisper.

‘What … what was that? What are we doing here?’

I am afraid you missed the good part. She whispered you into some kind of fantasy. Was it any good at least?

‘Good? I was being chased by werewolves through the woods. But enough about that … You did it? You have vanquished her? You are reconstituted?’

Yes, to all my glory.

‘I’m wet.’

Oh yes, you missed a spectacular orgasm also. Sorry about that. But I could not stop the whisper before regaining that power.

‘Never mind. I am not really into women. Are you ready to move? I don’t want to hurry you, but I wouldn’t mind having my body back to myself — and get my reward, if you know what I mean?’

Naturally. I am ready. Proceed.

She clasped the blue crystal and started her chanting without further delay. I knew from her memory how it would end. Just before she completed the spell, I sent an energy pulse to her and returned to my body.

She stood there in breathless silence, no doubt checking whether it had worked and I really left her body. I gave her confirmation.

“Where am I? Sarah, is that you? Is Anatan gone? I can’t feel him anymore.”

Her cruel laughter sent a chill up my spine, even if she could do nothing to me. I really liked that witch.

“He is not gone as such. I trapped him. I did it. I trapped him. Oh, what a fool.”

“You did what? Oh fuck, never mind that now. Why am I chained to this table? Can you please take off these restraints? What the fuck is going on?”

“Oh, you will see. Now that the work is done, we will have a little fun. Just the two of us.”

She took a dagger from one of the shelves and came over to me.

“You are overdressed for the occasion. Let me change that.”

She cut through my clothes until she got me completely naked. It was actually quite exciting.

“Kinky.”

“Oh, you just wait. You are in for a real treat.”

She took off the rest of her clothes. She seemed singularly pleased with the stiff salute my captain offered without any further manipulation. She didn’t hesitate for a second and impaled herself on it, pausing to feel it all the way inside of her. I noticed that she was still holding the dagger behind her back in her right hand. She had closed her eyes and started riding me. I watched her face lighting up with pleasure, as she licked her lips and smiled, no doubt still more turned on by her presumed success than the action now. Her tits bounced nicely in the rather hefty trot, as she advanced to rock back in forth in addition to that.

As much as I enjoyed that little fuck, I was just biding my time, waiting for her to open her eyes and look directly at me. She was still turned on from having been licked earlier and must have noticed that she was close to coming much earlier than she expected, as she suddenly slowed down and opened her eyes. I have seen evil in my days, but that look, that murderous, ferocious look, that melange of lust and darkness was really something special. I saw the images behind her eyes again. She didn’t notice that she became mine. She did notice, that she came, however. I did too, as I sucked her energy into me, a wonderful cocktail of exquisite wickedness. I sucked every bit of it up … everything she was. What remained was an empty shell that collapsed on my body and then slipped off the table.

I kept my end of the bargain. She is part of me now, forever. Immortal. Irresistible, as she had been to me. I quickly blinked out of her dungeon and back to my flat.

I always keep my promises. So I asked myself, whether I wanted to leave this body and look for something new. But the answer was a clear, resounding no. I like who I am now.

THE END