November

Then realizing that he might've overstepped just a bit, Ike threw in, "Sir," and raised his hand in a hasty salute.

Captain Song went over to a cabinet on the rear wall of the bridge. He unlocked the cabinet and issued rifles to every one of his officers. One of the men Tom Dooley, a big brawler, refused a rifle.

"We're talking about a chick right?" he asked. Isaac nodded. "I don't need a gun," said Dooley. "If it becomes necessary I'll just beat her ass and throw her over the side."

The captain, followed by seven men armed with rifles and big Tom Dooley, who was drooling just thinking about choking the life out of a woman and pitching her into the churning waters, exited the bridge.

Ike took that opportunity to get out of dodge.

"What are you doing on my ship?" asked Captain Song.

The woman standing by the railing just as Ike said she was, turned to look at the Captain. Her expression spoke of her amusement.

"What is your ship doing in my sister's waters?" she snapped right back.

"Who are you?" snapped the captain. "What kind of game are you playing? Why are you standing on my deck half naked in the middle of this fucking storm?"

"You already know who I am, Captain Song. Don't play stupid with me. Your boat might end up getting a little wet," she smiled.

"Mr. Dooley, put this woman in the brig until we can figure out what's going on here," yelled the captain.

Tom Dooley lumbered towards the woman with murder in mind. As he raised his ham-like fists to try to grab her, she arched one eyebrow and raised one delicate finger. A freak gust of wind sprang up and lifted the large man into the air. He hung there kicking and screaming as the rest of the men watched in shock.

"You really don't need men like him on your ship, Captain," said November. As if it was an afterthought she gestured and Dooley flew off of the ship and landed almost a hundred yards away in the icy waters. There wasn't even a scream to mark his passing.

The other men, even before the captain could say anything raised their rifles and fired. Seven bullets hit November in varying parts of her body. The men looked at her, expecting or more correctly hoping, to see her fall. There was a long moment of silence. No blood oozed from her wounds. She didn't fall or even stagger. What she did do was to look at the captain and begin speaking again. "I tried to do this the nice way," she said. "It appears that you won't let me. You came steaming into my sister's waters and we welcomed you as guests. No more. Before this night is through Captain, I will have what I want, one way or another. Now we do this my way."

The woman raised her arms and floated into the air on another of those freak wind gusts that the captain suddenly realized she controlled. She, he now understood, was the reason for the size of the waves and the temperature.

Even as he realized his mistake the swells grew even larger. The waves began to look like mountains of water rising from the lake. As he looked past the woman floating before him he realized that his ship could not survive waves that large. Heading straight for him was a wave that was almost fifty feet tall. That wave would be the end of the ship and all of the men aboard her.

"What do you want?" asked the captain quietly. At once the rogue wave dropped off and the lake grew calm. Where only seconds ago the waters churned among nearly arctic temperatures, the lake was calm with just the hint of a barely chilly breeze.

"I want the whore," said November. "Only now I want her for more reasons than one." She poked a finger through one of the bullet holes in her forehead.

"What whore?" asked the captain. "There are no women aboard my ship...uhm no offense meant."

"None taken," she said. "Bring your entire crew on deck."

Captain Song had his officers go all over the ship and bring the crew up. There was no need to tell them what was going on. Most of them already knew, thanks to Ike. There were murmurs and whispers as they came forward. More than one clamped his hand over his mouth as he caught himself mentioning the witch.

The majority of the brave men cowered against the bulkheads as far away from November as they could get.

"Gentlemen," she said addressing them all. Bear with me, this is new to me. I'm not used to dealing with people. I usually just sink your little boats and drown you. Anyway all of you can leave here tonight, healthy and hale. I have no intention of hurting any of you unless I have to. I only want the woman. But hear me, either she goes, or you all do."

"There's no woman aboard my ship," snarled the captain.

"I'll give you ten minutes to make up your minds," said November.

The Captain huddled with his crew. There was talking and screaming going on. "I'm not dying and leaving my family without a provider for some whore," yelled one crewman.

"What whore?" asked the captain.

"The one who's been below decks fucking everyone since we left Michigan," said another crewman.

"Carl's been charging us for the pleasure of her services," said another.

"We cannot in good conscience turn over an innocent woman to that thing," said the captain. "It wouldn't be the Christian thing to do."

"That bitch ain't innocent," snapped one crew member. "I fucked her in her ass while she sucked Ralph's dick. Innocent women don't do that."

"Besides Captain, the witch ain't no Christian."

"I'm getting bored," shrieked November. As she spoke the wind whipped up and the waves got bigger in an instant.

Before the captain could even answer her, three men ran below decks and came back a few moments later dragging Ramona, kicking and screaming with them.

"No," yelled the captain. "You cannot have her. I will not be a party to this."

"Uhm, Miss Witch ma'am," said one crew member politely. "Do you want the captain too?"

November appeared to ponder his question for just a moment. The captain came to his senses and asked if November wanted the woman placed in a boat.

November looked at the woman very closely and very carefully. Ramona was built more solidly than the body she now occupied. The blond hair and pretty eyes were also better. The rounded backside and solid legs would do her better as well.

"I'll take her as she is," said November. Before Ramona could object a gust of wind blew her clear of the deck and into the air. November rose up after her.

"For this night and the rest of this season, no harm shall come to this ship anywhere on the lakes. Furthermore if any man aboard should fall overboard in even the roughest waters he shall be deposited safely ashore unharmed," she said in a voice like the rushing wind. Then she was gone, leaving the crew to wonder if they'd just dreamed it all.

Ramona landed in the water with the other woman close beside her. She tried to swim but the cold robbed her of all feeling in her limbs. She took one breath and held it for as long as she could after going under. She felt hands touching her and opened her eyes in shock to see the other woman beside her. She held out no hope of seducing this woman. The woman grabbed her viciously by her head and memories seemed to pass in front of Ramona's eyes.

She saw all of the time she'd spent cheating people out of their possessions. She remembered every lie she'd told and every person she'd ever cheated or stolen from. The most painful memories for her were the most recent. As she watched herself with Cliff, she could practically see his love for her, as if it was a physical presence. She couldn't believe she'd squandered such a precious thing. At that moment she realized what a hateful creature she was and how much better off the world would be without her.

A thought came into Ramona's mind then. It was as if someone else was speaking to her. She opened her eyes and saw that it was the other woman. "Thirty six years ago, I WAS you. That is the reason that I am as I am now; to rid the world of beings like you."

Ramona nodded in her pain and shame over the way she'd wasted her life. At that moment she wanted to die. And she did. It wasn't an easy death, nor was it a painless one. The icy lake water flooded into her lungs. Her alveoli, filled with water instead of oxygen, couldn't function. Her body twisted and grimaced in its icy torment and then her spirit left the flesh.

Two female bodies broke the surface. The winds whipped around them faster and faster. One body spewed lake water out of it at an alarming rate. The lake water had been the only thing that held the body together since November of 1975. Without the water the body rapidly died and disintegrated becoming dust. The spirit of the wind that was November took over a newer far sexier, shapelier body. She stretched and twisted above the surface of the lake and the waters grew calmer.

She had no pressing business to take care of and sleep called to her. A huge chasm opened in the water. "Not just yet," said November quietly. "I have one more thing to do. An unfamiliar feeling came over November. Something she hadn't felt in over three decades."

* * * * * *

Back aboard the Maitland Paul Pittman answered a radio message. He then switched to the computer and emailed and sent pictures. He'd been prepared for this. Immediately after the women had left the ship the captain had sworn them all to secrecy about what had happened. He'd also told them that there'd been, as there always were, security cameras on the dock. He was sure that eventually the authorities would realize that the woman had been aboard his ship. He'd gathered some of the pictures and or videos that his crew had made of the woman while she was aboard. Those were what Paul sent to both the coast guard and the Detroit Police. He told them that the woman had been discovered aboard the Maitland soon after they'd left port. She'd caroused with the crew and gotten very drunk during their Halloween party. They sent out pictures and videos proving that her actions were totally voluntary. Unfortunately she'd fallen over board due to her drunkenness. They were still searching for her at that point. They'd called the coast guard and a cutter was on its way to aid them in the search for the body. It was a terrible accident, but that's all it was.

Since the captain had no idea that the woman was aboard his ship, he received only a warning to be more aware of his ship. It was also discovered that during the storm and heavy waves Tom Dooley had disappeared as well. Tom's body was also never recovered. This was very strange but the coast guard had searched the ship from stem to stern several times. They'd also sent divers and search parties out for over two weeks, but neither body was ever found. The police closed their case and the coast guard would too after exhausting their search for the bodies.

All of the ships in the great lakes region were wary for a few weeks but the worry was for nothing. There were no November storms that year. They'd all come in only one small region much earlier than they usually did. And all concerned knew that no bodies would ever be recovered. Gitche Gumee never gave up her dead when November came early. The mariners on the lakes always remained wary of the Gales of November.

* * * * * *

Three days after Halloween, Cliff Darden got into his Mustang and drove home. He knew that it was a home again and not just an empty house as it had been when he was first released from the hospital. Strange things happened some times and this one was for the better. Though it had only been a few days, Cliff knew that this was right. It was something he'd needed to fill an empty hole in his life.

As he opened the door, Janet came rushing up to meet him. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him like her life depended on it. Maybe her life didn't but her heart did. It was very early in their relationship but Janet was sure that Cliff was the man who'd give her everything she wanted. A home, someone to love her and treat her well, accept her love in return and perhaps children someday. These were the things that Janet wanted most of all.

Cliff kissed her and he felt good. He felt really good. There was a niggling little thought in the back of his mind that he'd done this before with someone else, but this time it felt right.

* * * * * *

Almost two months later John Lake got out of the hospital. He could barely hobble around. The doctors had told him to take it easy for a while but he'd make a full recovery. He still had weeks of physical therapy to go through but for the past seven weeks he'd pushed himself tirelessly towards recovering with one thing in mind.

The day after Halloween, when the investigation into his roommate's mysterious, unremembered wife had been closed and the police woman assigned to his case had somehow become his girlfriend, another strange thing had happened.

Only hours after Cliff and Janet had left the hospital and John had been in the jaws of another episode of pain as his bones began to knit themselves back together, he'd had a visitor.

At first he'd thought he was dreaming. She was a pretty blonde woman with big tits. She'd leaned over John and kissed him with her icy lips and all of his pain went away. "I think we got off on the wrong foot," she'd whispered. "I'm sorry I hurt you. But you pissed me off. When you get out of here, if you want to see me again, come to the water and call my name." She must have thought he was someone else. No woman had ever hurt John. Perhaps it had been a dream.

John hobbled over to his Mustang. He had to use his credit card to pay for his parking because the car had sat there for so long. He really didn't expect it to start but the pony car revved right up, the powerful motor didn't even sputter. John wondered where he should go. He just started driving. He drove back up north to where his people still had small settlements. They weren't reservations just small towns where some of the people who still believed in the old ways lived.

He drove past the town waving at a few people he'd known since he was a child. "Hey John, you back?" several asked warmly.

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe."

John got out of his car and sat on a bench overlooking the big water.

"November," he said. His voice was so low it was almost a whisper. He laughed to himself. I must've been fucking crazy to even think about it. As he laughed the water started to churn and a form shot out of the water. She landed and walked to him, her body drying out as she approached.

"It took you long enough," she said.

"I just got out of the hospital today," he said.

"Like the new look?" she asked. He nodded his head and took her into his arms.

"Make sure you don't piss me off," she smirked.

"I'm more afraid of what will happen if I make you cum too early," he said.

The end