PREVIOUSLY
Three Months Ago
The Gibson Residence
*Karyn seemed to notice that, and it made her smile. "Honestly Natalie, none of this would have happened if you'd just kept your mouth shut and your hands off of this." She took another step. She was nearly at the bottom of the staircase. "Everything you wished for was leading to this. The wish that created our canine friend here loosed real magic upon the world, magic that your sister's been studying for years now and believe me, she's grown quite adept. Your wish to bring me back from the grave created the twisted image you see before you now and your pathetically misguided wish to find me a friend teamed me up with your sister Nat." She paused long enough to take that final step. "Thanks for that one by the way, it worked out really well for me." There was silence as my sister slowly walked up and kissed Karyn passionately on the lips. I stood there, reviled by the display before me.
Finally, they broke apart. "As for your grandfather's journal, don't worry we'll find it."
"You can't control it," I whispered, suddenly realizing the extent of the defeat that I was facing here. It was everything I could do to keep my body from shaking. "There are consequences "
Karyn laughed out loud and Zoe chuckled. "You honestly think I'm worried about some fucking repercussions Natalie?" A thoughtful look crossed her face. "I suppose you would," she said softly, almost understandingly. "One thing you have to understand though, the most important thing here really, is that I don't care what happens to anybody else Natalie. With the power of this rock," she held it up triumphantly, "everybody else is insignificant."
"You can't honestly believe that," I said. "You can't be that far gone." It was more blind hope than fact, and I knew it.
She shook her head. "You still don't get it yet do you." She glanced at Rachel. "Fine, I can see you're not gonna understand until I show you." She held the rock up and crafted a wish that made me shudder.
"No!" I cried, but it was too late.
I could only watch in horror as Rachel began to rise above the ground. It was slow, and the terrified look on her face was almost too much to bear. I knew that she'd heard the wish as well as I had. When she'd lifted about five feet above the ground, her body went spread-eagle and became rigid. Though she had no way to scream, I could still almost hear her cries. I watched in horror as, in one fluid motion, the skin was torn away from her body and thrown against the wall in a bloody mess. Like most people, I'd never seen the human body without its outer layer. Not in real life anyway.
Rachel, my best friend, was dead.
The wish complete, her body crumpled to the floor in a bloody mess. There was a thud as her body hit the ground and I swear it was the most terrible sound I've ever heard. I wanted to throw up. I just didn't know how to deal with this. I could feel the tears forming and washing down my cheeks and I didn't even try to stop them. "She had nothing to do with this," I whispered between sobs. "You didn't have to do that."
Karyn simply smirked, and Zoe smiled in approval. At least Karyn's pain and her reasons I could understand, but what had happened to my sister to twist her around so much inside. Karyn happened to her, that little internal voice told me, and she happened to Zoe because you wished for it..
I couldn't even stand up anymore and fell to my knees. Even if I'd tried to talk, I would have been completely incoherent.
"How pathetic," I heard Karyn say. I looked up at her, daggers shooting from my eyes. I wanted to kill this bitch right now. Fuck Jon and his attempts to save her. Karyn Black was beyond redemption. She was a blight and she had to be stopped. I just couldn't bring myself to move. Rachel had been more or less innocent in this. I looked down at the crumpled mass of muscle and bone and couldn't help but think that it should have been me.
"Now, we really have to do something about you," she said rather calmly. "After all, I can't have you getting in my way." I cursed myself for the fear that illuminated my eye. She shook her head and smiled. "Oh, I think not," she said, gesturing toward the remains of my friend. "Rachel's death was a mercy. She felt almost no pain you know. You on the other hand don't get to be quite so lucky Natalie." She shook her head again. "I'm going to make you suffer until the end of time for what you've done, but for the moment I just need you out of the way."
I closed my eyes as she started to wish. Even if I'd been strong enough to attempt something, there wouldn't have been time. I heard her say, "I wish " and then her voice trailed off into a whisper that I couldn't hear anymore. With no idea as to what I was about to face, I held my eyes shut tightly and prepared for oblivion as my world went dark.
The last thing I could remember was wishing, against all prior evidence, that Malcolm were here to help.*
A thin smile crossed my black lips as the bright light overtook us and I watched her fade from existence. Well, maybe she still existed in one form or another but at least, for the time being, the little skank had been removed from my presence, and that was the next best thing. A sigh escaped me as I held the stone up to get a better look at it. Although I'd just witnessed it with my own eyes, twice, it was still hard to believe that such beautiful and magnificent power could come from something small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. Oh the things I could, and most certainly would, do with this beautiful little rock. Call me self-absorbed if you like, but for a moment, I had completely forgotten about the other people in the room. Until I heard somebody clearing their throat, rather brashly I might add, behind me it felt like I was the only person in the house. I think I'm going to amend that. It felt like I was the only person in the entire universe.
Breathing deeply, I turned to find Zoe leaning against the banister, the raven she had chosen as her familiar perched on her shoulder. I allowed another smile to pass across my lips. After all, the young girl standing before me had earned at least that. During a time in my life when everybody else had abandoned me, when nobody wanted to bare the shame and humiliation of being associated with me, Zoe had been there. If it were possible for me, if I could ever truly feel love for another human being, it would have been for her. Well, it certainly was not the aforementioned emotion; there was definitely something between us. Maybe it just boiled down to the fact that she was useful. After all, if it hadn't been for her supernatural know-how, we never would have recovered the rock from Natalie.
Natalie. Oh, the look on her poor, dumb face after she'd watched me tongue wrestle her younger sister. That look alone was going to keep me warm on plenty a cold night to come. Not that I'd done it simply for the shock value. No, young as Zoe was there was something extremely attractive about her. Maybe it had something to do with her 'Don't Fuck With Me' attitude, but she was a vision in black standing there before me. Of course, there was always room for improvement, I thought to myself as I gripped the wishing stone a little tighter. That would come later though. Right now, with Natalie out of the picture, there were more important things to deal with.
"You know you stole that from Buffy, right?" there was a sardonic lilt to her tone that I didn't particularly care for. For now I simply made a note of it. Later I would have to punish her for it. I followed her gaze toward the skinless pile of muscle, bone and blood that had once been Natalie's closest friend, Rachel. Now she was little more than a pile of rotting flesh.
A pile of rotting flesh that was causing Violet some serious distraction. "Bad dog!" I admonished. "No! Stop that!" Whimpering quietly, the Siberian Husky hung her head and slowly walked away. I did my best to ignore the blood on her nose. I turned back toward the younger Goth girl and shrugged. "I've always wanted to see what it would look like for real without those ridiculous special effects."
She shrugged her shoulders, "Was it everything you hoped it would be?"
"And then some," I said quietly as I approached her. The fact that she could stand there and hold a normal conversation with something so grotesque in the same room was doing quite a number on me. Later tonight, we'd celebrate, but for now there was work to be done. Still, I couldn't make myself walk away empty handed. I leaned in and kissed her hard on the lips and felt a wave of excitement travel through me as she returned the embrace. For a time, maybe minutes, we stood there holding each other tightly and locked together at the lips. Finally I pulled away.
Catching her breath, she once again gestured toward the Rachel-Pile on the floor. "We really should do something about that Karyn. People are gonna talk." She followed that up with a grin, not something she shared with many people. As I debated what to do with one hundred and seventeen pounds of rotting flesh, a thought occurred to me. It was a terrible thought, even for me, but I couldn't seem to shake it. I felt the long blond locks of hair that belonged to that cheerleading twat Sarah McMillan. As long as I held onto it, she would be bound to me, unable to disobey any command I gave her. Oh I could have used the stone to achieve the same affect, but there was a powerful feeling that went along with owning this bitch. She'd been kind enough to deliver the stone, not to mention Natalie and her little friend, and that deserved compensation of some kind, didn't it?
"Sarah," I said calmly, turning away from Zoe. Part of me couldn't believe I was going to do this. It was vile and evil, but they'd earned it hadn't they? This was for every time they'd taunted me, every single time they'd looked at me with disgust in their eyes. I wasn't their little fucking toy anymore and I was going to make each and every one of them pay for what they'd done. Rachel had gotten off easily because she'd made me angry, but I wasn't going to make that same mistake again. I was going to savor this.
The stupid little blond bimbo turned to me. There was a soft smile across her mouth, but her blue eyes looked blank.
"Sarah," I repeated, my heart racing. I took a deep breath before I continued. "I want you to eat Rachel's body." I tilted my head. "When you've cleaned this mess up, down to the bone, I want you to bury her remains in the back yard."
She simply nodded and walked toward the mess. I heard Zoe gasp, but I simply watched in terrified fascination as Sarah sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the flesh pile and started to pick at it with her hands. I watched as she tore a piece of flesh away and hungrily placed it in her mouth, not caring about the blood on her hands and cheeks. I'm not sure how long I stood there, watching the blond devour her former friend, but eventually, when I realized that Zoe wasn't in the room anymore, I headed up stairs to find her.
"I can't believe you did that," Zoe said as I stepped into her bedroom. She was staring out the open window, watching her raven fly around in circles in the cloudless sky. She turned toward me, and it was evident that a battle was taking place inside. "That was just I mean I know what they did to you Karyn. Hell, I took a ton of shit from them too, but That was disgusting!"
So, I'd found her limit. Zoe was okay with horrible mutilation, but she drew the line at cannibalism. Truth be told, deep down a part of me was disgusted with myself, but I couldn't help it. The stunt downstairs wasn't something I was likely to repeat, especially with my little Goth conscience perched so readily on my shoulder, but I was starting to realize what I was capable of. When I'd told Natalie how fucked up it was in my head, I guess I hadn't been kidding.
"You're right," I told her. "I went a little too far," I started to walk toward her, and was actually a little hurt when she backed away toward the window.
"A little?" she gasped. "You turned Sarah into a fucking zombie!"
"Just settle down and listen," I said softly as I took another step across the carpet. "Zoe baby I "
"No," she said, a little too firmly for my taste. "Don't Zoe baby me," she put a hand out, "Just stay back."
I was making an effort here. I really was, but I didn't have time for her little freak out. Things were happening and Natalie and her little friend had only been the tip of the iceberg. There was a battle brewing, and we were going to have to start working immediately if we wanted to come out on top. Sure, I'd gone a little overboard with the Sarah thing, but we had to look to the future. It was then that an idea struck me. I didn't have to sit here and try and reason with her when I was holding so much power in the palm of my hand.
I could simply make her understand. It tugged at my conscience a little because, idle fantasies aside, I hadn't actually planned on using the wishing stone on her, but it was a matter of time now. At least that's what I told myself.
"Fine," I said, stopping in my tracks and putting my hand down. "I'm going back downstairs. Sit here and stew as long as you like, but we have work to do." With that, I turned and left the younger girl in her room. As soon as I was out of earshot, I gripped the stone tightly.
"I wish Zoe could truly understand what I was going through and why I have to do what I have to do, and I wish that she'd be okay with whatever I have to do." There was a flash of light as I sat down on a step about halfway down. From my vantage point, I could see Sarah leaning down over the corpse. It was disgusting to be sure, but it was also kind of fascinating. Like a fiery train wreck I just couldn't bring myself to look away. I must have sat there for five full minutes before I heard the foot steps behind me. Turning my head, I saw Zoe standing at the top of the staircase, a sad smile on her face.
"I'm sorry about how I acted up there," she said as she started down the steps. "I don't know what came over me."
"It's okay," I reassured her. She honestly thought that she'd changed her own mind. This stone was amazing.
"No," she said softly, "it's not." I glanced up in time to see a rather sadistic look play across her eyes as she turned to watch Sarah's feeding frenzy. It passed though, and she stepped down, turned around, and straddled me on the staircase. "We're in this together," she whispered, wrapping an arm around my neck, running her fingers through my long, artificially black hair. "I should trust you."
I felt her other hand wrap around my waist. My arms were around Zoe as well, my hands clutching her tightly. "I'm glad to see you've come around," I purred.
"Completely," she whispered as one of her hands came around to gently stroke my stomach. "I don't ever want to fight with you again." As she leaned in to kiss me, as oblivious as I was to the flesh rending sounds that were coming from below us, I felt her hand slide down my stomach until it was sliding slowly underneath the top of my long black skirt. I squirmed a little, leaning into the kiss as her fingers began to play with the sensitive flesh between my thighs. Like a battering ram, my tongue smashed through her lips as I felt a finger gently sliding up and down the damp crease below my waist.
"Uhnn," I moaned into the kiss as one of her fingers found its way inside. "Yeah," I whispered.
Though her hands continued to work their magic, Zoe pulled away from the kiss and I found myself staring into the eyes of my one weakness, the one person in the world who had any power over me. There was a smile on her lips that I recognized all too well. It was the smile of somebody who was completely in control.
"Karyn honey," she whispered as her fingers continued their thrusting, my body sliding up and down to match the tempo she had set.
All I could do was nod. My breath was ragged and it felt as though a current of electricity, originating between my legs, was traveling through every nerve on my body.
"Let me see the stone," she purred. I nodded and opened the hand that had been gripping it so tightly.
"Oh," ragged breath, "Ohh " I was so close it was almost unbearable. I needed release. I started riding her harder as she took the stone from my open palm. Apparently sensing that I was on the verge, Zoe leaned in and gave me one of the most passionate kisses I'd ever experienced. It was enough to push me over the edge and I came on her hand.
As my body began to settle down, she pulled away from the lip lock and looked down at the stone in her hand. My heart was racing now, and not just because of the powerful orgasm I'd just experienced. Allowing anybody else to touch the stone was stupid, so incredibly stupid. If she chose to turn on me, I'd be at her complete mercy. I could only hope that my last wish held true and kept her loyal to me. Sliding her hand back out she smiled at me as she slid the two fingers that had so recently been inside of me and were now glistening with my juices, into her mouth.
"Mmm," she whispered, "Delicious." There was a pause as she looked at the stone, and then got up off of me and started down the stairs. Out of curiosity and a little bit of fear, I followed her down to where she stopped. The cheerleader was still sitting on the floor, leaning down over the carcass of her former friend.
"There's something you didn't consider," Zoe said softly. At the sound of my lover's voice, Sarah turned around, still blank in the eyes. The sight before us would have terrified most, and looked like something right out of a slasher flick. Most of Sarah's face was covered in dark, congealing blood, and when she opened her mouth, she showed us a set of similarly stained teeth. Her arms were covered up to the elbows and her cheerleading uniform was stained. Beside the corpse were bits and pieces of flesh lying on the ground.
Once again I found it difficult to look away. Even the smell, which was putrid, was overpowered by the visual.
If any of this was having an effect on Zoe, she didn't show it. She simply held the stone tihgtly and started to make her wish
