Amorous Goods: The Necklace

Lilith jolted out of her trance as she felt claws rake her hand. She opened her eyes and she was sitting next to Templeton in her sister's bedroom once more.

"I think that's enough invading one's privacy for one evening," Templeton said. "Besides, we have business elsewhere."

Lilith's phone was buzzing in her pocket. A message. How did Templeton always know she was going to receive a message before it arrived? Magic of some kind, she was sure. She dug her phone out of her pocket.

"Simon wants to meet for Halloween." Lilith could hardly contain her delight. Simon was one of her few, regular donors and Lilith jealously concealed his existence from her sisters. Even the disappearance of her coven was not enough to keep her from considering going to see him.

Templeton, sitting next to her on Madeleine's bed, extended one leg, bent, and began studiously licking his asshole clean. "Before your date, you need to search Morgan's place. We haven't been able to locate her, either. Remember?"

"I really hate it when you talk to me while you do that," Lilith answered. "Yes, I remember. We'll swing by her place on the way home."

--

Lilith lapsed into silence waiting for Vivienne to ask a question.

"I've read the files about your mother's death. My condolences."

"Thank you," Lilith said. "It has been a long time past now."

"What was your relationship with your mother like?"

"Complicated," Lilith answered truthfully. "Toward the end, I had made my peace with her and participated as much as I could in coven affairs."

The Auditor seemed about to ask another question but looked back at the cards and flipped over the next one in the series.

"The Five of Wands," she announced again. "Competition and rivalry."

Lilith went white. The cards seemed to be anticipating the tale, it was something she had not considered possible. Still, the tale must continue.

III. The Five of Wands

October 31st, 8 PM, Boston

Lilith and Templeton entered the high-rise condo and shared a moment of speechless amazement. Never having visited Morgan in her condo before, the young witch was amazed at the opulence surrounding her. It was a far cry from Madeleine's basement study and her own basic apartment. Floor to ceiling windows with a view of the harbor formed two walls of the living room, a modern kitchen with granite counter tops and every conceivable appliance sat on the far end of the giant, open living area. Everything was white. Lilith almost laughed at the irony of a witch living ensconced in white. There were two doors in the far wall facing the entrance, one led to a bedroom as big as Lilith's entire apartment and the other to a bathroom with a Jacuzzi and more views of the harbor.

"I guess it pays to blow real estate moguls," Templeton's voice purred in the back of Lilith's mind. "You should ask Morgan to introduce you to a few. I'm getting tired of our view of the complex parking lot. I bet even the rats here are of higher quality and class."

Lilith caught her breath and swung the door shut behind her. "Help me find a light switch in here. It's too dark to see anything."

Eventually Lilith located the light switch and hidden fixtures illuminated the room around them. A white couch sat in the middle of the living room looking directly into the corner formed by the two windows. When Lilith first saw it sitting there, she wondered about it's placement. There was no TV only the windows. Now with the lights on and night blacking the other side of the glass, Lilith realized the truth. The windows acted as huge mirrors reflecting back two views of the couch.

"Someone likes to admire their handiwork," Templeton drawled while walking over to the leather couch. "Don't waste your breath, I don't plan on sitting on it."

Just as at Madeleine's, Lilith first went to Morgan's crystal ball sitting on the kitchen island. In fast forward Lilith had trouble keeping track of everyone who came and went from the apartment. From the crystal ball's vantage in the kitchen, Lilith was able to see not only the front door but the couch as well. The young witch flushed with astonishment as she watched her sister's last few days flash by.

Lilith knew her sister was active, that she had filled her mason jar in a few weeks instead of the months it took her and Madeleine. But she did not realize how active she truly was. Men and women visited at all hours of the day and night. They must have been regulars as Morgan had them trained to follow a certain routine. Clothing stripped off at the front door, folded and placed next to their shoes. She would sit on the couch and they would pleasure her while she held the mason jar. Once they had pleasured her, she would have them lay back and hold the mason jar while she rode them to climax. It was hard to tell at such high speeds, but it seemed like the whole transaction took less than ten minutes. Afterwards the gentleman (or lady in more than a few cases) would return to their clothes and leave as quietly as they came.

Morgan, mother of the coven, had stream-lined sex into a passionless business transaction and it made the hair on Lilith's neck stand on end. There did not seem to be any real seduction going on, something Morgan had repeatedly bragged about when lording her conquests over her little sister. Her donors seemed to be in a trance, enchanted. Lilith made a note to discuss what she had seen with Madeleine when they found her.

Templeton strolled out of the bedroom and jumped up on the counter. Morgan did not approve of familiars and would certainly have chastised Templeton for being on her clean, white, marble counter.

"Nothing in the bedroom except sex toys and moisturizer," he said. "And a giant bed with satin sheets. Very comfortable. Again, you need to talk to your sister about some of the finer things in life."

"Will you just stop...Wait!," Lilith caught something out of the corner of her eye in the crystal ball and turned to rewind and re-watch the footage at regular speed. A figure entered and stripped, but his outline was hazy and his chest and head seemed darkened by shadows in the bright apartment. Once naked, the figure approached Morgan on the couch and disappeared as he knelt to eat her out. The minutes seemed to drag by as Lilith and Templeton waited for the visitor to stand so they could see his face. After more than a few minutes the midnight form rose, flipped the witch onto her knees, and took her roughly from behind. Morgan appeared to enjoy herself as the mysterious figure pounded her and pulled her hair back.

After a few moments, Morgan began to glow. She glowed in exactly the same way Lilith's mason jar glowed when it was receiving a donation. When it appeared Morgan was made of nothing more than light, she disappeared and the shadow that lay over the figure's chest and head ballooned outward, expanding until the entire condo was filled with darkness. Slowly it faded and Lilith watched as the man dressed himself and opened the door to leave.

"Bugger me," Templeton whispered. "That explains what happened to your sisters. They've been subsumed."

Lilith looked at her familiar, perplexed.

"Subsumed means that they've been transmuted into magical energy and transferred into an amulet or something like your mason jar," the familiar explained. "Rare and powerful magic."

"Not so rare," Lilith said. "Just tonight I took a donation from someone wearing hexed garments. I had my eyes closed, but they were subsumed along with Dylan's sexual energy at the point of climax. I was surprised to find him naked when I finished."

Templeton swished his tail in thought. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe someone is using the same trick as you and your sisters. Madeleine would have geared her spell to only absorb magical energy tied to the act of sex. Monk's robes you say? Perhaps they were also tied to sex magic."

"Everything in that house is related to sex magic in one way or another," Lilith answered. "Dylan probably found it in the house and thought it looked like a good costume for Halloween. It was pulsing magic and Dylan was having a hard time focusing on anything other than my cleavage and his erection."

Templeton scratched behind his ear. "At least we know what's been happening and we know how he's going to come at you."

"Who could have done such a thing?," Lilith breathed. As long as her sisters' disappearances remained unexplained, Lilith had been able to keep the nagging fear and doubt from creeping into her thoughts. Now that she had seen Morgan subsumed, Lilith felt fear clawing it's way into her thoughts. Her heart-rate spiked, her breathing went ragged, and she had trouble focusing on anything in the tidy condo before her eyes. She was in trouble, her instincts had been right from the start. Now she was the only Rose sister left.

"Can they be saved?," Lilith asked. "Can we get them back from whatever monster took them?"

Templeton cocked his head and did not answer right away. His untold decades of experience rolled before his eyes as Lilith watched. The familiar, never one for sober estimations of situations, chose his words carefully.

"There is a chance, yes," he said slowly. "If whoever committed these crimes still has all the energy stored and has not used it to cast any spells, someone may be able to reconstitute your sisters. There is hope."

At that last word Lilith felt her thoughts settle and her nausea subside. If there was hope, she knew she would be able to save her sisters. The next step was obvious.

"We have to find the person responsible," Lilith said. "There must be something that points us in his direction."

Templeton cocked his head again. "You poor, little witch," purred the cat. "You didn't recognize the shirt your sister's attacker wore? The cheap khakis and chucks didn't tip you off? The initial "S" in Madeleine's diary wasn't enough of a clue? The 'person responsible' set up a date with you this very night."

"Simon?" Lilith could believe what Templeton was saying. Simon? Her Simon was the attacker? Wide eyed, panic crawling up from her stomach to her chest, Lilith turned and rewound the crystal ball again. Templeton was not lying. The clothing folded neatly on the floor next to Morgan's door looked too familiar. She fast forwarded. His erection, circumcised and fat, as well as his balls were all too familiar. It was Simon. Her Simon.

"There, there, dear," Templeton said. "You're meeting him back at your place shortly. We'll come up with a plan on the way home. He shan't subsume you as well." The familiar's voice was reassuring and cut through the panic Lilith was feeling. Two deep breath's later, and she was almost calm. Almost.

--

Sister Vivienne stared intently into Lilith's eyes. "How did you feel seeing your sister with your boyfriend?"

"Seeing Morgan with Simon was a blow. My sister always got everything she wanted. Seeing her disappear like that was too terrible. I wasn't angry with her, I was frightened for her."

Vivienne flipped over the next card. "The King of Swords," she said in a loud, clear voice. "Reversed. Cruel manipulation."

Lilith blanched white, but pressed on with her story.

IV. The King of Swords - Reversed

October 31st, 9 PM, Boston

Simon sat on the couch in Lilith's apartment, nervously watching the witch busy herself in the kitchen making two drinks. Lilith could smell Simon's cologne from the kitchen, it was new and had a spicy note she liked quite a bit, it reminder her of the scent of a chai latte. She focused on the scent instead of the dread she felt having the man who subsumed her sisters in her apartment.

"Is there anything I can do to help?," Simon asked. He seemed so genuine and acted like he always had. As far as Lilith was able to tell, Simon was the same college student she had met at The Green Woman. She knew differently, still his ill intent was cleverly hidden.

Lilith had always thought Simon imagined her as little more than a new age devotee burning sage and using crystals to clean auras at $20 an hour in a holistic head shop. Madeleine forbade any outsiders from knowing about the coven or the power they wielded. How had he discovered her sisters and their connection to magic? Lilith finished making the margaritas and sat next to him on the couch.

"You're so cute. No, I don't think there's anything you can do to help. Let's just enjoy our drinks."

Simon took a deep drink from his margarita and set it on the coffee table. He seemed on edge and Lilith waited patiently for him to get around to speaking his mind. On the way home, she and her familiar had settled on what they expected Simon to do when he arrived at the apartment. So far things were unfolding as planned.

Two months earlier Lilith had gone to The Green Woman, her favorite Wiccan bar. The clientele was not powered enough to see through her glamour and it bent the rule Madeleine set not to interact with "normal people". The atmosphere was quiet and most of the regulars there were content to sit and read a book at the bar, few of the patrons wanted to bother anyone else. Deep booths lined the walls into which anyone who cared could disappear quietly with a drink and ignore the hustle and bustle of the busy bar area. Lilith usually sat in a booth and nursed a gin and tonic but that particular night was busier than usual and she was forced to sit at the bar.

Simon, with his friendly face and quiet manner had sat next to her and left her alone for almost an hour. He only asked her about the book she was reading when Lilith put in the bookmark and checked her phone. The conversation about books and authors went on for some time and eventually Simon asked her what she did for a living. Lilith gave a vague description that could have been any retail job. When Simon asked about the string tied to her finger, Lilith hesitated to answer. Maybe it was the gin and tonics or maybe it was the innocent way in which he asked, but Lilith told him the truth. The whole truth. Simon was the first person she gave the "magical lesson" to without asking for or receiving a donation.

Simon hung on every word. He asked smart questions and seemed genuinely interested in her answers. Lilith stopped short of telling him about the coven, their plans, and her elfin heritage; but Simon learned just about everything else there was to know. Her jealousy of Morgan, Madeleine's domination of their relationship, how much she missed her mother. It was all laid bare in that loud bar and Simon seemed genuinely empathetic.

The young man shared that his own mother was dying of cancer and Lilith offered her sympathy. The witch changed the subject to Simon's life and learned about his studies at college, his fraught relationship with his step-father, and his current interest in folklore inherited from an ex-girlfriend who introduced him to The Green Woman in the first place. Before either knew it, hours had passed and they were both needed elsewhere. Without asking, Simon had written his email and phone number on a slip of paper and offered it to Lilith. The next day Lilith arranged a meeting for lunch and she had received his first donation back at her apartment afterwords.

Simon cleared his throat on the couch next to Lilith and said as confidently as possible, "I would like to exchange sexual energies with you tonight not just donate mine."

Lilith had a very strict rule about donations: she performed oral sex to collect the sexual energy of the donor only. Sex was an exchange of energies and would result in virtually no energy gain in the jar. Besides, a blowjob was one thing and fucking someone was another. Morgan had bragged about practicing tantric sex to milk the energies from her "skilled" donors resulting in massive gains of energy in one session of love-making (Lilith now knew the truth of this). Lilith did not have the confidence to milk a donor and not get caught up in the moment.

Lilith and Simon, for all their friendliness and intimacy had not slept together yet. Instead, Lilith would have Simon over to her apartment, flirt shamelessly, make out like a high-school virgin, and then give Simon a blowjob. At first they were the perfunctory blowjobs like she had given Dylan at Amorous Goods. Over time they had morphed into drawn out sessions. Lilith would prolong the act as much as she could and relish the power and control she exercised over the young man. Simon always came like a rocket and then offered to eat out Lilith. She always turned him down but accepted the offer for cuddles before he left.

Being held by Simon was easily the highlight of her day. Simon never tried to turn a cuddle into a groping session or try and pressure her for sex. Lilith loved the intimacy of it. She was always clothed and Simon was always naked from the waist down as Lilith would lay her head on his chest and try and match her breathing to his.

Eventually Simon would dress and leave. Templeton always made himself scarce when Simon was around, a clear sign that he either liked the young man or (much more likely) approved of the relationship for Lilith. Secretly Lilith wished Simon had tried harder to have sex with her. She might have relented the last few weeks. Lilith had been masturbating for so long she could not remember the feeling of exchanging energies with anyone else. It was torture to engage in sex acts with someone she cared for and deny herself the pleasure of allowing them to reciprocate.

"Yes," Lilith heard her voice reply. "Tonight is special, Samhain demands something...heathen." She turned her head and kissed him deeply. Lilith tried in vain to set her drink on the coffee table without looking so her hands would be free to roam over Simon's body. Templeton's plan was proceeding as expected. Lilith was seducing Simon while Simon thought he was seducing the witch.

"Cough. Cough. Cough," the familiar voice echoed in her head. "I think we need to have a brief chat in the loo, darling."

Lilith excused herself on the pretense of freshening up and practically ran to the bathroom leaving Simon sitting on the couch draining the rest of his drink.

"Templeton? What is it?," Lilith asked taking the chance to arrange her orange hair and check her makeup in the bathroom mirror.

"Two things and then I'll let you go back to courting your lad," said Templeton jumping onto the vanity. "One, his cologne is covering the smell of brimstone. Black magic. His aura reeks of it. Are you so "hot and bothered" that you haven't noticed?"

"I like his cologne. I'll check his aura when I get back out there." Lilith took off her dress and appraised her lacy bra and panties in the mirror. Dark purple that set off her orange hair, they would do just fine. She hung her hat on the hook behind the door and pulled on a short, black silk robe. It was short enough that her ass hung out the back in a lewd and good way. "What was the second thing?"

"Remember what you saw when you used the necklace to enter my subconscious? That was an exorcism I witnessed in Bedlam. I think we're dealing with the same thing here. The shadowy darkness that obscured Simon in Morgan's apartment was the demon's manifestation just as the inky shade over that poor girl in the hospital was the demon being exorcised."

Lilith fished the necklace from the pocket of her dress on the floor. She was torn. Templeton was right, coincidences like this needed to be investigated.

"Alright. I'm going to check his aura. Being possessed throws a wrench into our plan to kill him before he can try anything. If Simon is possessed, we need to see if we can save him first."

Templeton growled and jumped down to block the doorway. "Too risky, luv. Stab now, not when it's too late. Worry about saving your sisters not the idiot a demon is manipulating into hurting people you care about. Priorities, my dear."