The Witching Hour CH-4

The Witching Hour

If you're new to my story, you might want to begin from the beginning. It might help make some sense for you.

The Witching Hour CH-1  [XGC] #1480180 A man looking for a new life gets more than he expected moving into a magical community by angeljack

Otherwise; please, enjoy...

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CH-4

Well, that was a spectacular waste of time, Jack thought as he closed his apartment door behind the retreating backs of the two uniformed police officers. Disappointed, he turned and headed for the kitchen. He was drained and hungry, having not eaten yet today.

Over the last forty-five minutes, he had tried unsuccessfully to explain to the apathetic officers his suspicions. But even though they had dutifully taken notes on everything he said, it was painfully obvious that they didn’t believe him. By the end, Jack’s story was even beginning to sound thin to his own ears.

Not that Jack could really blame them. In a town this size the police would be used to having their hands full with murderers, armed robberies, rapists and a host of other real problems. A simple break-in, where nothing significant had been damaged or stolen, didn’t exactly rate high on their radar. Never mind his feelings.

Right after he had started talking to them, Jennifer McCoy had materialized from out of her apartment. Standing with her arms crossed over her chest, she had made no move to either interrupt or join in the conversation. Instead, she just stood there, listening as he went over his story.

Jack had been a little annoyed at the fact that she had joined the audience. He knew he would have to talk to her eventually, but it was awkward to explain everything to the police with her standing right there.

Surprisingly, the police were completely unfazed by her presence. Usually, they would at least try to make spectators move on. But both of the officers had barely given her a glance and then totally ignored her.

Oh well, he thought, at least I didn't have to repeat myself.

She had obviously gotten over their last meeting, at least. Instead of glaring at him like he was something she had just scraped off of her shoe, she had simply watched him with a thoughtful expression as he told his story. In fact, the only time her expression had changed was when Jack had talked about the package. He had explained how he had received it and how he had tried to return it earlier, but forgot.

When the police asked her about what had been in the package, she had frowned and mumbled something about "Nothing important..."

The interview hadn't gone much better after that. The officers had come into his apartment to take a cursory, half-hearted glance around. He gave them the tattered remains of the package and they made their way out. Leaving him with a warning to get his locks changed by the apartment, they said they would get back to him and walked away.

Jack had hoped that he would have a chance to talk to Jennifer, maybe even clear up a few things with her. But she had disappeared back into her apartment by the time the police were leaving, and he wasn't really in the mood at that point to chase her down.

Maybe he had been wrong about the whole thing. The feeling, that something had been terribly wrong, that had come over him before was gone now. He couldn't help but begin to doubt his own memory. Someone had been in his apartment, but as for the rest…well, maybe he really was starting to loose it.

Sighing heavily, Jack opened up the cabinet. There wasn't much. When he had moved, he had thrown a few cans of soup and some of the boxed, instant meals in with the rest of his stuff, but had pretty much demolished everything in the last few days, planning to go shopping as soon as he could.

Well, he figured, no time like the present.

Collecting his keys and cell-phone off of the counter where he had left them earlier, Jack headed back out the front door. After making double sure he had set the dead-bolt, he turned and went down the stairs and around the back of the apartment to where his car sat waiting. It wasn't much to look at, just an old Pontiac, but it was paid off. While the friends he had in the military had always had to have the newest and the best, Jack had been more worried about putting money away for the proverbial rainy day. The day Kelly had left, it had started pouring.

Getting into his car and turning the key in the ignition, Jack felt a brief flash of satisfaction as the engine turned over on the first try. Old or not, he had kept the car in good condition and in return it had always taken care of him.

Jack backed out of the driveway and drove around the outside of the apartment buildings to the small lot attached to the office building. Before he headed out for groceries, he decided he should go ahead and talk to Mrs. Munion. He was tired of not being sure where exactly he stood when it came to his future here. It had been odd to him that during the whole episode with the police, Jennifer had not once mentioned anything about his fight with her boyfriend or their confrontation on the island.

Besides, he thought as he made the short drive, he was definitely going to take the officer’s advice about changing the locks. Nothing on the doors had shown any sign of a break-in. And a quick check of the windows and the balcony had showed him that they were still locked as well. How someone could have made it up to the third floor without being able to fly, though, was beyond him. So, the guy had obviously had a key.

Jack pulled up into the parking lot and shut off his engine. He really wasn't looking forward to this. Not only was Mrs. Munion the last person that he needed to deal with right now, he still wasn’t sure what, if anything, Jennifer had told her about the other day. If things went the way he feared, he wouldn't worry about his trip to the grocery store.

Resigned, Jack got out of his car and went inside. As he closed the door behind him he was surprised to receive a warm greeting from a girl he hadn't seen the last time he had come. Jack smiled. Though she wasn't nearly as beautiful as Jennifer, the girl behind the desk did have a certain appeal. Dressed sharply in a nice, form fitting business blouse, she presented a perfectly professional appearance. But, something in the way her deep, sea green eyes sparkled when she looked at him told him she knew how to let go when it was time.

"Oh, hi there," she greeted him, her eyes flashing startled recognition.

"Hey," he said, "Is Mrs. Munion around?"

Glancing back at the closed office door as if she thought her boss was going to spontaneously appear from within, the girl turned back to him and apologetically said, "No, sorry. She had to step out and deal with a minor crisis."

"Oh," Jack looked at her sheepishly, "I hope I wasn't the cause of that"

Something in the brief change of expression that quickly ran across her face let Jack know that he had hit the nail on the head with that one. Damn, he thought.

But instead her smile returned and she said, "No, no, nothing like that. Just some minor apartment business, nothing to worry about."

She paused, as if she were deciding something, and then continued. "You're Mr. Gardener, our new resident, right?"

"Jack, please, I'm really trying to get away from the whole last name thing." In the army, no one used first names, ever. So he had always been Gardener, or Sergeant Gardener; never Jack.

From the look on her face she didn't understand, but she let it slide. "Okay, Jack. I'm Ashley." She reached across the table and shook his offered hand. It might have been his imagination, but Jack thought she held it for just a little longer than was really necessary. Her soft, warm hands felt good against his and he felt her fingertips glide briefly along his palm as she pulled back.

"Where're you coming from?" she asked as she leaned forward onto the desk, eyes gazing up at him with an almost too intense curiosity. "If you don’t mind me asking."

Jack found it impossible not to notice, with her leaning forward like that, the way the buttons on her blouse strained to hold back the treasures inside. She had left the top two undone and he let his eyes follow along the smooth lines of her neck up from her collar bone to her full red lips. She smiled as she caught him looking.

"Oh, yeah. I’m from all over," he said, feeling a little embarrassed. "Originally from out west though."

"California boy then, huh?"

"Colorado, actually." He grinned at her. Jack had always found it a little funny how the people who lived on either of the coasts always unconsciously forgot that there was more to the country than just the states that touched water.

"Ooo, nice." she said, not fazed in the least. "I just asked cause you don’t..." she paused, glancing at the door. “You’re just not the type we usually get around here."

Huh? She was the third person he had met here that said something similar. Suddenly he found himself wondering what she had been going to say, before she changed her mind.

There was something he couldn't quite pin down about the people he had met here so far. Even the people he had only seen in passing this morning on his walk. They all seemed to have something in common. Jack couldn't figure it out. They just all seemed to fit, somehow. Well, except for Britt, he thought, smiling. She seemed different in a whole other way. He definitely couldn't help but feel a little out of place.

"Yeah, I seem to get that a lot lately," he said.

She blushed, the warm rosy glow spreading up her neck and over her pale, lightly freckled skin, all the way to the her shockingly red hair. Jack found himself suddenly imagining how far down that blush really went. He was definitely curious now. And he found that he was really enjoying talking to Ashley. He had confined himself to such a solitary life lately that even this light back and forth seemed to be feeding his long starved need for companionship.

"I’m sorry," she said. "I'll bet. I didn't mean to pry. I was just..." she trailed off, not quite knowing what to say.

Curious? Jack finished in his head for her as he met her eyes. Why not?

"It's no problem," he said to her. "Maybe sometime you and I could grab some dinner and I'll tell you anything you want to know." He winced to himself. As far as pick-up lines went, it wasn't exactly gold metal material.

He watched her eyes sparkle with interest for a moment and a small grin come to her lips as she looked him over. But then she glanced almost fearfully back at Mrs. Munion's office door and said, "Sorry, I don't think I-- I'm not supposed to date the residents."

She gave him an apologetic smile. Jack hadn't missed the brief pause when she had answered. There probably wasn't any such rule, but he appreciated the effort anyway. Damn. Smooth move, Casanova, he chuckled to himself. You are definitely out of practice.

"Ah well," he shrugged and said lightly, "What are you gonna' do?"

Fishing around for something to say to break the slightly awkward moment, he suddenly remembered his reason for coming there in the first place.

"Well," he said, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"I needed to leave a message with Mrs. Munion. I had a break-in at my apartment today, and I had to have the police come down. Nothing was taken, but I thought that you guys should know."

"Oh..." She didn't seem that surprised and he suddenly wondered how often this sort of thing would have to happen for it to be that small of a shock.

"Yeah," she said, clearing up his confusion, "They stopped by on their way in and talked to her. Terrible thing; it's never happened before."

Jack thought that was a little strange. Normally, if the police were called the apartment's manager would be there trying to find out what happened. But the only one he had seen there had been Jennifer.

"No big deal," he told her, "they didn't take anything important, and nothing was broken, but I would like to have the locks re-keyed as soon as possible. They didn't smash down the front door or anything so I'm afraid it might have been one of your former residents."

"Of course," she said, sounding a little relieved. "We'll get that done today. Just stop back by if you're going out and pick up the new key."

She sat back and looked up at him expectantly. There was still that deep curiosity in her eyes that he had seen before as she looked at him coyly. His radar must be way off today. If he hadn't just been shot down, he would have sworn she was still into him. Just wishful thinking, he told himself.

"Also," he continued, very reluctantly, "One more thing. Jennifer McCoy from apartment 301 may have stopped by to talk to you guys about an incident the other day..." He trailed off hoping she would take the bait. He really didn't want to bring it up if she hadn't actually said anything, but he had to know.

"High—uh, Jennifer?" she stuttered, sounding genuinely shocked, but she recovered quickly.

"No," she said, sounding confused. "Ms. McCoy came by earlier, but she didn't say anything about any incident."

"Oh..." Jack said, relieved and a little shocked himself that she hadn't said anything. Casting around for something to cover his mistake, he continued. "It's no big deal; just some of her mail was taken in the break-in, so I don't know if she said anything about it..." He trailed off. There, he thought, not a lie, sort of. Well, he wasn't perfect.

"Okay," she said. "I'll let Mrs. Munion know."

Jack could see the questions forming in her eyes, and he figured he had already said too much. It was time to beat a hasty retreat before he shoved his foot any farther into his mouth.

Backing towards the door he said, "Well, I better take off. I have to go out and get something to put in my fridge."

Laughing she stood up and moved around the desk, "Yeah, that would probably be good."

As she moved to his side to walk him out, he caught her scent. It was a nice, lightly flowery and clean scent that he liked. It didn't take over or cover up her natural scent, but rather seemed to simply enhance it. She rested her hand on his arm as he walked to the door. As he opened it, he couldn't quite figure out whether she was sending mixed signals, or if he had just been alone for way too long.

"I'll see you around, Ashley." Jack said as he walked out into the early evening twilight. She watched him as he walked to his car. If nothing else, at least, it seemed that he didn't have to worry about losing his apartment anymore. If Jennifer hadn't said anything when she had come up earlier, she probably wouldn't. Too embarrassed, he figured.

"Jack," Ashley called from behind him when he was halfway to his car. He turned back and looked at her.

"Yeah?"

She stepped out of the office and walked the short distance over to him. "I get off for lunch at eleven thirty tomorrow." she said, a little shyly. "If you happened to be going to lunch at the same time, it wouldn't be a date, now would it?" She looked up at him hopefully.

"No, I guess it wouldn't." He smiled.

"Good, I'll be in front of the Wind House then."

"Wind House?"

"Oh. Yeah," she looked embarrassed for a second, and then pointed to the apartment just to the west of the office. "It's that one."

With that she turned and hurried back into the office, the door closing quickly behind her. Jack stood for a moment and stared after her. Shaking his head and smiling, he turned and walked to his car. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad living here after all.

* * * * *

Jacob Darvish glared down at the shaking girl who was kneeling in front of him as he sat back in his over-stuffed lounge chair. She was working her jaw and staring fearfully at his half-erect cock, which she had been working on for the better part of twenty minutes with no results. She was totally naked, with her hands bound behind her back, as she sat back on her heels to try and work the kinks out of her back and neck.

Around her neck the girl wore a studded leather dog collar attached to a long silver chain. It chafed terribly at her neck, but she would never dream of going around the mansion without it on. It was the symbol of her servitude and her submission to the Master. From her rosy nipples hung two small, woven leather straps that were attached to the hardened nubs with two steel clamps, which would send jolts of delicious pain shooting through her breasts every time she moved.

Growling in frustration, Jacob reached forward and grabbed her by her pale blonde hair, pulling her roughly back down into his lap. He heard a strangled cry of surprise from her as his cock found its way forcibly back into her mouth, but after a moment she dutifully went back to work. His breath hissed in between his teeth as he realized he had forgotten and used his bandage covered hand. It throbbed in protest but he pushed the pain aside. Even the pleasure he could always find from the girl was doing nothing to lift his black mood.

It was all his sisters’ fault, he thought hatefully. He didn't know how, but somehow that up-tight bitch had taken the Bracelet of Akasha from him. And now, all of his long planning had been for nothing. Tonight, its power would fall beyond his grasp.

It had taken him almost a year to get to this point. Months of searching and chasing clues had finally found the bracelet hiding in a small European Coven. After that, he had brought it carefully back here, and set about preparing the tedious incantations. Four solid months of work had been necessary to prepare the ritual that would fool the Bracelet into not recognizing the true source of his power. At long last, all he had to do was wait for the proper time. At midnight tonight, the planets would be aligned. During that brief moment the spells he had cast would bypass the runes of protection that allowed only an anointed High Priestess to access its power.

Running out of time, he had gone to the Coven that morning in a rage. He knew in his gut that his sister had to have been the one to take it. But the old crone had stopped him, and would not even let him go into the Coven's apartments. Acting condescendingly innocent, she had told him she had no idea what he was talking about, and promptly threw him out.

Ha, he snorted to himself, if those self-righteous whores only knew...

They couldn’t keep him out, no matter what kind of wards they put up around the place. They had no clue the kind of power he had come into after leaving the Coven a year ago. Jacob had easily slipped past the Witches defenses and went to see his sister. He would make that bitch give it to him.

Three days ago he had sent Tarvo, his marak assistant to scare her into giving back the bracelet. The marak are not the brightest creatures around, but they can be very persuasive. Jacob didn't know what had become of him, but he was sure Jennifer had something to do with it. Witches were supposed to be passive. Still, he bore the scars from their last confrontation.

Hypocritical bitch, Jacob thought to himself.

Growling again he used his good hand and forced the girl's head farther down on his shaft. Even though he still was not fully erect, he watched her eyes widen and begin to water as he cut off her airflow. For a moment he held her there, watching her struggle before he finally released her and she came up sputtering and coughing. He felt a small, wicked grin cross his face.

Immediately though, his thoughts went back to the events of the day. He had at once sensed the presence of his incantations on the bracelet when he had arrived. But they hadn't been coming from her apartment. Instead, they had come from his old rooms. Confused he had released the locks that bound the door and entered.

For a brief moment, he had stood frozen in shock to find that his apartment was occupied by someone else. The odd decoration, made up of primarily crappy pieces of dime store furniture, seemed so out of place in the rooms he had called home for so many years.

Being drawn to the unfamiliar package on the counter, he immediately crossed the living room and picked it up. Unfortunately he hadn't noticed the runes of protection written on the outside. The ball of fire that erupted from them as he tore open the package had seared painfully into his hand. In that single fateful moment his eyes had caught the falling golden glint and he had reached out to stop it. He had dropped it as if stung, the power within it flaring to life. It was too late. Recognizing him for what he was, it had driven him back with pure flashes of blinding power. It knew him now, and he would never again be able to touch it.

The girl in his lap was working franticly on him now. Instead of reacting to her efforts though, he seemed to actually be shrinking inside her mouth. Jacob could tell she was terrified. Thoughts of the last time that she had failed to please the Master replayed themselves over and over again in her head. A shutter ran down her body and she hesitated.

Snarling, Jacob reached down and backhanded her, sending her flying off of him. She landed in a sobbing ball on the floor. Dazed and cringing she tried to get back up, but he had landed a good blow on her temple and she was too dizzy.

Rising to his feet, Jacob considered killing her right there. True, she had always served him well in the past, but he was growing tired of her constant cowering. He was surrounded by weak, pathetic fools. The Coven, Tarvo, the other sorcerers, all of them; he should kill them all. His hands balled into a fist.

"Enough, my love," Jacob heard the smoky voice behind him command. "Waste not, want not."

"Tasha," he said, surprised. "Where have you been?"

She shrugged. "Making constructive use of our time with the Elected."

Turning away from the now forgotten quivering mass on the floor, Jacob strode over to where the tall mage stood in the doorway. He took her into his arms and, leaning in, kissed her deeply. As he did, he wormed his hands beneath her robe and cupped them around her naked ass. Unlike most of her peers, Tasha preferred to wear as little as possible, if anything at all, underneath her robes. She always enjoyed the feel of the silky cloth against her skin. Jacob felt himself instantly harden as he pressed against her body.

To the rest of the Sorcerers Guild Tasha was his Master. The high ranking mage had agreed to take him in when he had come to her after leaving the Coven abruptly. The truth was that he had quickly progressed beyond apprenticeship, thanks to the strong power of his father’s magic flowing deeply in his veins. Add to that his own insatiable lust for power which had led him to secretly search for ways to increase his magic long before that night, and with only a little instruction from her, they had soon found themselves equals.

Well, he thought to himself slyly as he let his hands roam over her body, as far as she knows.

He knew that eventually he would have to rid himself of her. Someday soon, she would outlive her usefulness to him; but not yet. Right now he needed her influence within the Sorcerers Guild and her connections in the Council of the Elected. They still did not completely trust him -- a gift from his father's own unbridled ambition -- and the only thing that gave him what little credibility he had was his apprenticeship in one of the oldest and most powerful Guild families.

"What has happened?" she asked, feeling the bandage on his hand as it groped over her breast. She could also sense the mood he was in. While he wasn't normally the happiest person, now his urgency had taken on a dark and frightening feel.

Ignoring her question for now, Jacob pulled one hand away from her and grabbed her robe at the collar. With one yank, he ripped it all the way down the front, exposing the pale, naked flesh beneath. She let out a small gasp and shuttered with delight as his hand returned to her body. This time it moved down to the suddenly dripping opening between her legs. Leaning into him, her soft moan was swallowed by his waiting mouth.

One hand busily massaging her mound, Jacob used the other to pull at the back of her robes. Bemused, she allowed herself to be stripped of her remaining clothing and drawn across the room, back to the chair he had previously occupied. He slipped one finger deep inside of her moist folds and began to rub her from the inside as well. Jacob felt a possessive thrill at how much control he had over her. The muscles of her pussy clenched repeatedly around his invading finger.

But at this point he was far beyond the point of foreplay. The long blowjob that he had endured before, while totally unsatisfying, had all the same left him with a desperate need to spend himself and relieve the pent up frustration he had been carrying all day. Tasha's eyes were squeezed shut and her breath was coming in short pants at this point. She let out a groan of disappointment as his fingers left her; but she didn't have to wait long.

Seating himself on the edge of the chair, Jacob roughly forced his legs between hers until she was straddling him. Positioning himself at her opening, he pressed his hips forward a little, barely entering her.  He moved his hands onto her hips and in one single thrust, buried himself deeply inside of her; her eyes flying open and a startled scream escaping her lips. They both paused for a moment, and then she began to grind against his lap.

Reaching out his hands, he grabbed on to the two huge orbs that were swaying gently in front of him and began to knead them roughly as she moved back and forth on his cock. Her eyes widened in shock and a hiss of painful pleasure came from her as his fingers found her nipples and began to pinch and twist them. Her body straining with the violent ecstasy, she pressed herself forward into his grasp.

After a few minutes like this, Jacob began to feel the need to take on a more active role. Keeping himself buried to the hilt inside of her he moved them both to the floor and turned her around until she was on her knees facing away from him, her face pressed hard against the carpeted floor. While he was sorry to lose such easy access to her sumptuous breasts, he had to admit, this gave him a hell of a view.

Picking up the pace, he began to drive his length into her over and over again. Each time he pulled almost all the way out and then rammed himself into her hard enough that every time, with the slap of skin, she would let out a muffled grunt. Reaching down between her legs he started to rub her clit with his fingers as he continued to ram into her from behind, causing her to writhe on the floor with pleasure.

With the wicked grin back on his face, Jacob pulled his sodden fingers away from her dripping pussy and, bringing them back around in front of him, he began to lightly drag them over her tiny rosebud. He watched as every time his fingers grazed over the tender flesh, it would clench shut, but she didn't seem to notice what he was doing, lost as she was in the feeling of his cock moving in and out of her.

When he figured she was properly lubricated, he moved his thumb to the opening. Slowly but firmly he pressed the digit into her tight hole. A disapproving grunt came from her as her body froze and instantly tensed around his thumb. But the loud smack of his good hand landing on her ass caused her to release her hold. It was too much. The relentless pounding, the pressure of his thumb lodged inside of her, and the unexpected shock that sent lightning into her body from his hand; the wave of her orgasm slammed into her.

As Jacob felt the muscles inside of her begin to spasm around him, he drove his cock deep inside her and felt his own release flood out of him. With wave after wave of pleasure slamming into both of their bodies, he emptied himself inside of her, until he could give no more. He felt the muscles in her pussy milking him for all he was worth as the tide passed from them. For a while they just lay there, not moving as the haze from their climax faded.

Pulling out of her, Jacob drew her with him into the chair, sat her on his lap and absent-mindedly began running his fingers in circles over her sensitive skin.

"So, are you ready to tell me now?" she asked, once she had control of her breathing again.

With as sigh and a chuckle he proceeded to tell her of the unfortunate events that had happened to him that day. She listened intently, making only a few comments along the way. When he was done they talked late into the night, discussing what effect this would have on their other plans and how to accomplish their goals now that their first had failed.

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Please, let me know what you think so far, this story has sort of taken on a life of its own, so I don't know how far I'm going to go with it.

Be sure to check out the next chapter:

The Witching Hour CH-5  [XGC] #1483875 The Awakening by angeljack