A Witch From Another World

"I'm sorry, Natashka. I didn't realize this was such a painful topic for you."

She managed a thin smile. "It's alright, Victor. You had no way of knowing. I'm literally from another world, after all. But I understand your kind intent, and I'll think about it. Perhaps your roommate or some other fellow will catch my eye." She laughed. "Or perhaps I'll steal your newly beloved Michelle away from you and peel her out of that clinging fabric to taste the sweet fruits of another woman for the first time. Who knows? Might be fun." She opened the door and stepped out. "Come along. Let's not keep Magnus waiting."

***

A week went by, a chaotic storm that Ellwood College called "New Student Orientation". No classes, just a never-ending array of assemblies, presentations, lectures, organized entertainment, and social mixers. Most of the other students hadn't arrived yet, so the roughly five hundred first-years had the campus all to themselves.

It was saturday morning, and Natshka walked down the hall of her dorm, an amused smile on her lips over the exciting and interesting sounds she'd heard from her neighbor's room the previous night. As she approached her brother's door to share what she'd heard, there was a sudden scream from inside his room. Without pausing for thought she pressed a finger to the keyhole of her brother's locked doorknob, and with only a second's flex of mystical precision, the door's lock disengaged and she stepped inside. Her other hand was open, ready to cast whatever might be necessary, her lips parted and about to ask if everything was alright -- but as she stepped inside, the words failed her before they even began.

On the floor between the two beds, Michelle Delgado was completely naked and lying on her back, the top of her head facing the door and where Natashka stood. Between her spread thighs, Natashka's twin brother Victor was equally naked and kneeling over the voluptuous girl, ramming his cock inside the co-ed. Each thrust was punctuated with a guttural grunt from him, and with a blissful scream from Michelle. His hands were on her shoulders, bracing her to receive him, and she was not subtle with her screams of appreciation. "AHH! AHH! AHH! FUCK! HARDER! FUCK! FUUUCK!" Her breasts were bouncing and heaving in time to his thrusts, and for a brief moment Natashka was struck senseless by the display of pure erotic delight in front of her.

Neither of the two lovemakers noticed the door opening. Michelle had her head thrown back in ecstasy to look in Natasha's direction, but her eyes were shut tight, and Victor seemed to be too entranced by the vision of wet flesh beneath him to notice anything else. A minute later, Michelle's joyful screaming lowered a few notches as Victor shifted gears into a slow grind, and Natashka managed to snap back to reality. Biting her lip with worry, she backed out the door, and reached out to slowly and quietly pull it shut behind her.

"Oh hey, Natasha! Is Victor in? I just needed to get something." Shadrach Nelson, Victor's roommate, was suddenly right behind her in the door frame and reached out over her to push the door all the way open.

Natashka couldn't help watching the tableau unfold. The instant Shadrach's hand loudly hit the door, Michelle's eyes flew open, her eyes locked with Natashka's, and Victor looked up as well. Miss Delgado's mouth dropped open wide, but instead of seeming shocked or embarrassed in any way, she pulled her legs open as wide as possible and never looked away from the sister of the man deep inside her. "Gonna fuck me in front of everyone? Gonna rail me, Victor? Gonna show everyone your new favorite pussy?" He paused only for the briefest of moments before a wide grin spread across his face and he resumed pumping in and out of Michelle, pulling frenzied gasps out of her with each thrust.

The backpack Shadrach had been carrying with his free hand fell to the floor from loose fingers as he stared in shock. He scrambled to grab it and back away from the door, but tripped and fell backwards onto the dorm hallway carpet in the process. Natashka managed to wrench herself away from Michelle's magnetic gaze and fully shut the door, which drew a disappointed "awwwwww" from Michelle.

Shadrach was trying to untangle himself and stand back up, and Natashka held out a hand. "Uh, thanks." He blushed bright pink, and his attempts to hide his clothed erection by adjusting his jeans as he stood up only served to draw Natasha's eyes to it even more. His eyes darted around the dormitory hallway in panic. "Um. Coffee. Coffee?"

She wrenched her eyes away from the man's crotch and rubbed at her temples, as if doing so would remove the vivid image of the naked duo from her mind's eye. "I'm aware that coffee exists, yes."

Shadrach glanced back towards his room as Michelle's passionate screaming rose in volume enough to be heard through the door again. "I think now would be a good time to get some. Some coffee, I mean. And not be here. Would you like some? My treat. Least I can do."

"Lead on, Mister Nelson. I think being somewhere else is best, yes."

"VICTOR! I'M GONNA! I'M GONNA! I'M GONNNNNNAAAAAAAA..."

Natashka not-so-gently grabbed Shadrach's elbow and practically dragged him to the stairwell. "Yes. Right now. Lead on to coffee, please."

***

"One White Chocolate Mocha double cream double sugar with caramel shot for..." The barista paused. "Shod-Rock, and one double Cuban Cafecito for Natasha?"

The student union's coffee bar was mostly empty, with just a couple employees behind the counter and a small handful of customers scattered around the large number of empty tables.

Shadrach grabbed the two cups, walking with exaggerated slowness to avoid spilling anything, and joined Natasha at the table she'd claimed near the large window. "Be really careful with that," he said with a smile. "A double Cuban coffee is, ah, a pretty intense order. Hell, even a single is more than most can handle. Turbo espresso on overdrive, I hear."

The young woman took one small sip, then set it back down to add two sugar cubes. She stirred it gently as her gaze lifted to meet his. "I think a very stiff drink is in order, but it's far too early for bourbon."

He chuckled quietly, taking a large gulp of his own visibly steaming cup. "Isn't this a no-alcohol campus? I mean, they've only mentioned it a dozen times over during all the orientation talks."

"I won't tell anyone if you don't. I've got one bottle of 'Evan Williams Honey' stashed in my room, but I'm only deploying that in emergencies."

He made a show of zipping his lips. "Your secret is safe with me." He then "unzipped" it again and took another gulp of coffee.

"Not going to let that cool down first? Here you are lecturing me about my choice of drink, and then you go off and chug yours while it's still practically boiling. You'll burn your tongue doing that." She stirred once more and then took another experimental sip, smiling in satisfaction at the results. Her brain tingled pleasantly with the massive infusion of caffeine.

"I like things hot. Hot peppers, hot food, hot showers, hot drinks, hot women..." His eyes popped wide as he realized what words had just fallen out of his mouth. "Um. Sorry. I swear I'm not always such a dork, really."

She looked up at him, taking him in. His tall frame, his wide shoulders, the way his muscles filled out his 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' t-shirt, and his rather unique grey eyes. He blushed again, and that small display of vulnerability made her heart skip a beat. Or was that the caffeine? She looked down at her cafecito as if it had betrayed her. "So. Um. What are you majoring in, Shadrach?"

"No idea yet. I mean, I'm here on a football scholarship--"

That brought her up short. "We have a football team? A tiny midwestern liberal arts college like this?"

"Oh yeah! I mean, we're not ranked very high or anything, but apparently I've been brought in to try and, I dunno, 'elevate the athletics program' or something. You're looking at the newest starting Defensive Lineman for the Ellwood College 'Hustling Quakers'." He shrugged.

"Hustling Quakers?"

He took another gulp. "Well, it used to be the 'Fighting Quakers', but apparently some actual Quakers on the board of directors complained."

Kai's voice was in her ear. "The Quakers are a religious sect known for their pacifism, Mistress."

"I'm aware, Kai. This is a Quaker-run school, after all. I was paying attention during these orientation lectures." She turned her attention back to Shadrach. "It still seems at odds with everything else here."

Shdrach grinned wide. "The weirdest part is the team's battle-cry." He cleared his throat. "It goes something like,'Fight-Fight, Inner Light! Kill, Quakers, Kill!'"

She sputtered and nearly choked on her cafecito. "You just made that up."

"I swear on this mocha I did no such thing. Ask around. In fact --" He gestured to a student walking by. "Hey, Bullet-Train!"

A massive fellow wearing a 'Cincinnati Bengals' jersey paused by their table. "Hey, Fireball! 'Sup? Gotta make it quick, though."

Shadrach pointed to Natasha. "Settle a bet for me, bro. What's our Hustlin' Quakers cheer?"

The man nicknamed Bullet-Train didn't hesitate, pumping his fist in the air in time to his words: "Fight, Fight, Inner Light! Kill, Quakers, Kill! Knock 'em Down, Beat 'em Senseless! Do It til We Reach Consensus!"

A few other people in the coffee shop laughed and joined in towards the end, finishing off with a "Gooooo Quakers!" and a hearty round of laughs. Bullet-Train waved as he jogged away, and Shadrach turned back to Natasha with a triumphant grin. "Bullet-Train and me and some of the other guys from the team were pulling an all-nighter over in another dorm playing video games last night, they're good people. But yeah, that's the team cheer -- and here you didn't believe me."

She raised an amused eyebrow. "And what do you get for having won this bet that I don't recall agreeing to?"

His mouth hung open silently for a few seconds until inspiration hit."I get to take you out to dinner tonight?" He made a worried grin, and then took another massive gulp of his steaming brew to try and cover his nervousness. "Um. If that's okay, that is? You're not obligated, obviously."

Natashka felt her feet tapping a happy jig under the table, but kept her face serene. "I'll have to think about it. I'm not saying no, mind you."

"That's great!" He kicked back the rest of his coffee, and frowned at the suddenly-empty cup. "One minute, I need to get a refill."

As Shadrach walked away, Kai's face appearred in her vision, obscuring her view. "Are his covered buttocks really so fascinating, mistress?"

"Don't you try and shame me, Kai. I'm allowed to look."

"Like how you were looking at your brother's rutting exploits?"

The Dread-Witch blushed furiously. "I was looking at Michelle, not at my brother. I was just... very surprised, that's all."

"My apologies, mistre-- I mean, Natashka. I was having a small bit of fun at your expense. You are certainly allowed to appreciate whomever catches your eye, and do far more besides. Our Lord of All Stone did say you were put upon this new world to enjoy life, did he not?" The bond-spirit snickered. "I think the lady Delgado would have enjoyed it very much if you'd joined in and shared Victor with her."

"That is not going to happen, you perverted little ghost." She made a show of rolling her eyes. "You've been reading too many of those 'incest/taboo' stories on that erotic fiction site you like so much. Or all those deranged 'step-sibling' videos you keep finding. Victor is my brother, I am not going to touch him, and that's the final word."

Kai grinned. "One could argue that you're not really his sister, you know. Perhaps one day you might find yourself stuck in the dorm laundry machines, with only dear Victor on hand to help..."

"Now I know you're just ogre-ing me." She glared at him, but with a warm smile.

"Shove off and let me enjoy my coffee and company in peace."

"The idiom is 'trolling', oh wise mistress." Kai stuck out a ghostly tongue, and continued in a playful sing-song voice as his face faded away. "Oh step-brother, I'm making saaandwiches!"

Shadrach sat back down, this time holding a cup twice the size of his first one. "So that was weird."

"Hm? What was?"

The football player gestured in the direction of the baristas. "Dude behind the counter asked me what it was like to be on a date with a 'celebrity hippie chick'. Not sure what he was talking about."

"Ah." Natshka gave a mental shrug. "I was wondering when this was going to come up. You see, I was in the news earlier this year."

"No wonder I'm ignorant, then. I was pretty distracted with some, ah, heavy stuff for a lot of this year."

She patted his hand, shocked at herself for realizing that she was indulging in any excuse she could to touch him. "I'm sorry to hear that."

He gave her a warm smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to make this about me. Go ahead with your story."

"Well. There was a rally downtown, marching in protest against police brutality. I was there, and when the police tried to break things up even though all of us protesters were being perfectly peaceful, I stood in the path of the police vehicles, thinking that I could single-handedly stop the police from moving in on my friends."

"Wow! That's damn brave."

"More like damn stupid and naive. The lead driver of the police convoy deliberately ran me over, put me in a coma and came very close to killing me. In the trial afterwards evidence was presented that had the ones who hit me referring to me as a 'hippie chick' that needed to be taught a lesson." She rubbed her fingers across the surgical scar on the side of her head, imagining the agony young Victoria must have experienced before the last moments of her consciousness were shattered forever. "That particular phrase made national news while I was in the hospital recovering. Thus, I am the slightly famous celebrity hippie chick our barista spoke of."

Shadrach let out a long breath. "We've got something in common, then. I had a medical scare this year too."

"Oh? You seem quite healthy."

He pointed at her with a coffee straw. "So do you, Miss Hippie-In-A-Coma."

"Point taken. Do go on."

"So. I, ah, used to be a real prick. Let's get that out of the way first. Might still be one, but at least I'm trying now."

She shot him an appraising look, and the pat on his hand became a gentle squeeze. "You've done nothing to give me that impression, in case you were worried."

"I was, so I appreciate that. So -- I've always been really good at football. Like, super good. By the time I got to my senior year of high school, it had really gone to my head. I was convinced I was a future NFL hall-of-famer in the making, and that people worshipped the ground I walked on. I could do no wrong. Like I said -- a real prick. And it nearly got me killed."

Natashka sipped at her drink. "Did you mouth off to a policeman as well?"

"Ha! No, nothing so brave. No, I was at a public park, and a bunch of my friends and I were playing a pick-up game of football. Some younger kids asked if they could join in -- and I thought it would just be hilarious if we tackled these kids full-contact, like if we were playing a real game -- but of course, no one was wearing pads or helmets -- except for this one kid, who was being smart. But I called him out for being a 'wimp', wanting to wear gear when everyone else was 'too tough' to need it." He shook his head, and took a long sip of his drink, lost in thought. "I remember thinking that I was going to tackle him so hard that he'd never want to dare play football ever again. So I did -- but it went bad. We both landed hard, hitting our heads on some rocks that were hidden in the grass. He was wearing a helmet, so he was shook up but basically okay."

"But you weren't wearing one."

"Right, because I was a freaking moron. I, ah, nearly broke my neck. Blacked out. Woke up a few minutes later, with everyone standing over me -- and I realized how stupid I'd been. For, like, years. That all I'd done was hurt people, and hurt myself, and that it was all my fault." Shadrach took another big swallow of coffee. "So I walked away from the scholarship offers at all these big universities that would've been more of the same, encouraging me to just be a selfish evil ass -- and went looking for somewhere smaller to play, and play football the right way. That led me here."

The Dread-Witch leaned back in her chair, looking at him in a new light. "Couldn't give it up entirely?"

He put a hand over his heart. "Football wasn't the problem. I was. Football can be a great thing, I still believe that -- but not if it means treating other people like things and pawns rather than people, or teammates, or opponents in a game -- emphasis on that last word, Game." He leaned back as well, mirroring Natasha's posture. "When I play the game the right way, for fun and competition rather than trying to just make myself look good and deliberately hurt the other players, it's... it's really healing for me. Therapeutic." He blushed. "I know that sounds corny."

"Shadrach... we're at a school where 'getting in touch with our feelings and discovering one's inner light' is the school's unofficial motto. Right alongside 'Kill Quakers Kill', true, but at least that's said with a knowing laugh. Treating an age-old sport as a way of finding who you want to be isn't the strangest thing I've ever heard, and I've heard quite a lot."

This time he reached out and squeezed her hand, and her pulse soared. "I'm really glad I've met you now, and not before everything happened. You would have hated me, and I would have deserved it."

She felt her fingers getting tangled with his, and reveled in it. "My answer is yes."

His grey eyes blinked rapidly. "Wait, what?"

"Yes, I will go out with you. Tonight. Come to my room on the far side of the floor we share at seven o'clock, and we'll go somewhere for dinner. My treat, dress casual, and prepare to be amazed." With that, she stood up. "Don't keep me waiting." Before he could say anything else, she walked out, horrified to discover that she was putting to use half-remembered lessons from Malice on how to walk in such a way that your backside swayed like the tide -- just like Michelle had been doing for Victor's benefit after they first met. She nearly tripped over her own feet after the fifth cross-over step, and then gave up and just started running back to the dorms at top speed.

"Victor?" She reached out to her brother via their shared spirit-link via Kai. "If you're not currently plundering Michelle's depths again, can you meet me at my room? I think I'm going slightly insane for your roommate and I need your help."

***

Ten minutes later, Victor was sitting across from his sister, cross-legged on the still-unclaimed bed meant for Jen -- who as promised, hadn't returned to the dorms since that first day. "You want me to do what now?"

"Distract me." Natashka stood up and paced back and forth, clutching her hands together in front of her so that she didn't nibble on her fingernails. It was an old habit from her childhood back on All Stone that she'd never managed to completely erase. "For some damnable reason I'm finding myself extremely drawn to Shadrach Nelson and it's your fault!"

"In my defense, I didn't ask you to barge into my room while Michelle and I were fucking.That's all on you."

She jabbed a finger at him accusingly. "Which I did because I thought I heard someone cry out in pain."