Blue Familiars

Hannah was pissed. The hot water heater at the apartment had failed yesterday, forcing her to take a cold shower in the morning. In her first lecture of the day the professor had denied her request for an extension on her differential equation homework. Shortly after she had returned to the apartment in a huff, she had learned that the landlord wouldn't be able to dispatch a workman to replace the hot water heater until late in the evening. To top everything off, her roommate Anna had reminded her with no small amount of vindictiveness that she had promised to pick up the pumpkins they were going to carve for the Halloween display.

They always say that you don't really know whether you'll get along with someone until you live with them, and in this case the saying was unfortunately true. The happy go-lucky, air headed personality that made Anna fun during parties had turned out to be hiding a dark streak that came out when she was asked to do the chores or if she didn't get her way. After several weeks of up putting up with spirited arguments, Hannah had given up trying to get through to her and had resolved to do the chores herself.

Her two other roommates, Lacey and Lucy, the twins, would rather retreat to their room to study physics than get involved in cat fights. This behavior just annoyed Hannah further -- it would have been nice to get some support. All of this meant that she was effectively doing the equivalent of two jobs simultaneously, which was quickly draining her ability to care about almost anything.

She was too much of a pushover. She didn't have the luxury of escaping like her other roommates, but she also didn't have the power to say no -- she felt trapped by her own personality. There was only so far she could be pushed, however, and she was now at the tipping point. The events of the day had just solidified her opinion -- after the semester was over, she was going to find new housing and ditch the house of drama that seemed to take up all her waking hours. Maybe that would prevent her grades from taking a nose dive, too.

The grim decision made, she continued to sort through the pumpkin display at the local Happy Time grocery store. Some of them were small, and others so big she wasn't sure she would be able to lift them off the ground. Some were unsuitable due to the markings they had acquired while lying on the ground in the pumpkin patch. It took her a few minutes to sort them out, but right when she was about to leave, one more caught her eye. It was way at the back, but it had a particular healthy, orange sheen that drew her eye.

It was slightly bigger than she was looking for, but it was perfectly formed. The round, orange flesh bulged in perfectly delineated lines. The stalk was nice and green, with no sign of rot. Oddly, it didn't possess any ground marks, as though the pumpkin had grown vertically -- not a very probable circumstance for a pumpkin that had grown so large. The only imperfection was a small, round grayish circle that formed a small, raised patch in the skin of perfect specimen. She almost put it back into the display with regret, but hesitated. They were planning on carving these pumpkins, right? They could simply carve into and remove the blemish, leaving the rest of the pumpkin alone. Certainly getting such a nice pumpkin and keeping it for herself might help her to relieve some of the burden the rest of the catastrophic day had caused.

Her decision made, she hoisted the pumpkin up and into her shopping cart. She was a little surprised that it felt lighter than she had expected -- it wasn't hollow already, was it? Her investigation was interrupted when she noticed a customer at the in store coffee shop watching her closely. It wasn't yet Halloween, yet the lady was dressed in a witch's costume, a formless black cloak topped with a dorky tall, pointed witches' hat sitting on the counter. Her lips were stained a shiny neon blue, with hair dyed to match. Her curls danced breezily as she took a sip from her drink, revealing finger nails painted the same unnatural color complete with tiny stars sprinkling their nail beds. The cloak she wore was free flowing, revealing little of what she wore underneath, but her boots ran up and over her knees. They were shiny and black with tall platforms, buckles running up the front. She probably wouldn't have looked out of place at a gothic techno party.

Her eyes were two stunning sapphires nestled deep behind an aquiline nose and strong cheekbones. Hannah felt strangely drawn to the intense gaze until one heavily mascaraed eyelash closed lazily in a suggestive wink.

"What are you looking at?" snarled Hannah, flustered and more than a little annoyed at feeling patronized while doing shopping in her sweats. It was laundry day, and she hadn't had the time or inclination to get her clothing to the laundromat since the hot water had quit on them. Her hair felt limp and unattractive on her neck, wet from the rain outside.

The witch only chuckled throatily and returned to her drink, ignoring Hannah's outburst as she swept over to the check-out line in a frustrated haze, her brown eyes flashing fire. If the witch had been unable to wash her hair it probably wouldn't look so perfect coiffed, either! And why was she suddenly feeling so jealous of her poise and carefree attitude?

***

Sighing, Hannah lugged the pumpkins up the front step to the apartment. There wasn't a plumber's work van out front, so she couldn't tell whether the hot water had been fixed yet. Just as she was returning from her car with the last, perfect looking pumpkin, she was fixed with a shrewish glare from Anna, who was just stalking out of the kitchen. "Did you remember to pick up more coffee creamer? We're still out."

Hannah pressed her fingers to her forehead. That damn witch had distracted her. "No, I was distracted while I was at the store. Calm down! I'll pick some up tomorrow after my first class." Crap, Anna was probably going to fly into another rage now.

As if on cue, Anna's face twisted in anger. "I've been waiting for over an hour for that creamer, and you know it!" Her voice started to raise in pitch. Hannah could hear a door slam at the back of the apartment -- probably Lacey and Lucy hiding again.

All of her anger at the day, her professor, the universe, the witch, and the shitty coffee creamer suddenly boiled over into a rage of her own. "You know what? I don't have to deal with this shit any more! I quit! As soon as I can find new housing, I'm out of here -- and then you can find your own coffee creamer, clean your own dishes, and empty your own trash!"

The pumpkin still in her hands, she shoved past a pissed Anna and slammed the door to her room, taking out some of her rage on the inanimate object. "Oh yeah?" yelled Anna through the closed door. "Good luck getting housing right before Halloween! Bitch!"

Hannah sank onto her bed and turned the pumpkin listlessly in her hands. Anna knew exactly what to do to push all of her hot buttons. But it just didn't matter any more -- she had to get out before she was pushed to physical violence. If the argument had continued for even a short while longer she might have ended up slapping Anna, and then they really would have been fighting like cats.

All this because of a stupid pumpkin and a witch. Disillusioned, she sat the pumpkin on her dresser and tried to figure out what to do next. Her thoughts chased themselves around in circles, ultimately unfulfilling. She tried to study, but she just couldn't focus while Anna's shrill voice was still bouncing around inside her head. She gave up and sneaked out to the kitchen, warming up a TV dinner quickly so she could bring it back to her room and hide. Fortunately, nobody was out of their rooms and she was left unmolested.

Back in her room, she ate her meager fare and tried to study again. She soon gave up -- her focus was gone, and until she could get it back, there was no use in continuing. Maybe the plumber would come in the morning and she'd be able to start the day out right.

Tired, she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Fortunately, one of the features of this apartment was separate bathrooms for each room, so she wouldn't have to risk running into Anna again during the night. She flicked out the light and slumped into bed, hoping some uninterrupted sleep would help her to find solutions in the morning.

***

Shortly past the witching hour, a dim blue glow flashed through the room from the dresser. The circular blister on the pumpkin throbbed slowly with blue light, flashes starting slowly, then coming more regularly until it was a solid blue glow. The blistered area started to turn like it was unscrewing, then the blue light strengthened. The outer flesh of the pumpkin appeared to be liquefying, slowly turning to pulp and vanishing, until a perfectly round hole had been burrowed from the interior to the exterior of the pumpkin.

Out of the interior crawled a long, thin strand of what looked like play-doh, locomoting similarly to an earthworm. It fell onto the floor with a faintly audible thud, then inched its way towards the bed. As it moved, a strip of blue light moved up and down its body. When it reached the bed, it lifted one end of itself and touched the comforter, proceeding up the side as though it was a slug.

It hesitated for a moment, then dragged itself over the top of Hannah's head until it was laying horizontally over her eyes like a blindfold. The blue light that had run up and down its length turned off, then the entire tube started to flash like a flickering florescent light. Hannah's eyes opened, unseeing, as the creature flashed a code to her unconscious mind. Her mouth dropped open, gasping harshly for air. Her body frozen in sleep, the worm split down the middle, each side sliding around to an ear, then vanishing quickly inside. An intense blue light flashed once on the ceiling from inside her mouth and her eyes, then it was gone.

The night continued, as quiet as before, only a hollowed out pumpkin bearing witness to the fact that anything had happened at all.

***

Her morning didn't start out much better than the previous one. The hot water still wasn't fixed, and Anna's parting shot from the night before was still bugging her. Screw it, she thought, time to clear her head. She threw on her sports bra and sweats, determined to get her head right by taking a jog.

She was only a few blocks away from the apartment when a limo drove up beside her. The window in the back door rolled down. "My name is Kara!" said a lady dressed as a witch. "Perhaps you would like to visit with me?"

Hannah frowned, and continued on. It was the same mysterious lady from the supermarket. What did she want?

The limo continued rolling beside her. "Ahem!" The witch muttered under her breath, then continued more assertively. "You *will* stop and get in this limo with me."

Stunned, Hannah stepped over to the limo and climbed inside. Now why had she done that? She should be leaving! Struggling in her seat, her body did nothing more than twitch.

"That's much better," said the witch, her blue lips looking like the cat who had got into the cream. "My name is Kara. What's yours?"

Unwillingly, Hannah's lips started moving. "I'm Hannah. What's going on here?...You bitch!"

The witch's dark blue eyes flashed threateningly. "They say that if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. In this case, I intend to agree." She snapped her fingers, and Hannah gaped. From the corners of her eyes, a blue wave washed in, until everything was colored in the dark hue. She felt funny, then silly, then her mind completely blanked.

Kara smiled happily at her new conquest. "If I hadn't been told how quickly the magic could take hold once its latent potential had been activated, I never would have believed it." Hannah made a low noise, but otherwise couldn't reply.

They sat there for the next half hour, the witch's thoughts her own as she plotted and planned. Hannah didn't think about anything at all, her universe eclipsed by a curtain of blue.

Hannah's eyes stared unseeingly as the witch's limo smoothly turned through a wrought iron gate and up a long, tiled driveway. It took seemingly forever until a large mansion appeared, dormer windows looming out above lush greenery that bordered the driveway.

"Pretty," said Hannah, her eyes dancing in blue constellations as the limo rolled to a stop.

Ignoring her outburst, Kara got out and offered her hand to Hannah. "Come, my dear. We have a lot to do before my magic seeps it way back out of your brain."

Hannah stumbled out of the car with the witch's help, the butler closing the door behind them. The butler led the way up the walk towards the house, the witch tolerantly helping Hannah as she stumbled over the cobblestones. Fragments of thoughts about old money and extravagant architecture floated through Hannah's mind without finding purchase. If she was being given a sobriety test, she would have flat out failed.

The butler fished a large, archaic looking key ring out of his pocket, and with a flourish, unlocked the bright blue door to the estate. "After you, madame," he enunciated softly, primly bowing as he ushered them in.

Walking regally, Kara dragged Hannah through the front room and up a grand staircase to the second floor. When Hannah hesitated, the witch pulled her firmly through the first door on the left.

"But...the butler...," slurred Hannah, her unfocused eyes still swirling, a vague concern circulating that someone might say something about her drunken condition.

"Hush now," said Kara, rapping her knuckles. "James has been in the family for generations, and we trust him implicitly. Besides, we're not here to listen to you failing to think properly. A familiar has no need to think for anyone but her mistress. A familiar is a pet. An animal wind-up toy that thinks only at my pleasure."

She frowned. "But the fact that you can think at all is surprising. Perhaps you need just a little more of my magic to settle down. It seems I don't quite have the dosage right yet. It is a somewhat delicate matter -- we wouldn't want to fry your mind with pleasure, would we?"

She rolled her hands, a sparkling effect materializing between her smooth palms. As she continued to roll slowly, the ball of swirling blueish colors grew. When it reached the size of a softball she swapped to rolling it back and forth, turning the ball into a long, thin tube. Once it reached about a foot long, Kara eyed Hannah critically. "Pet, give me your arm."

Drowsily, Hannah raised her right arm towards the witch in a drunken lurch. Smiling, Kara draped the magic worm over her arm and waited for it to obey its programming. Instinctively wrapping around the arm, it tightened, then started sliding upwards towards her head. Once it reached her shoulder, a foot of it continued upwards, twining close to her ear as it slithered around and around. It wiggled in mid-air for a moment, but once it finally found her ear it started sliding inside.

"Uuuhhhhhhhh!" She moaned as her eyelashes fluttered, her eyes becoming an even more intense blue as the magic slid its way deep into her brain. The pleasure she felt as her brain was melting was indescribable, her thoughts twining tighter and tighter around a magical core of blue. Each twist she made around that blue rock of obedience bound her with chains of pleasure, a prison she couldn't see a way to escape.

"Now, my pet -- it's time to strip. Get rid of all those ugly and smelly old clothes. My pets must attire themselves in a manner that pleases me most."

Hannah started to remove her clothing, her body obeying the commands of her mistress while her mind sailed higher on waves of pleasure. Her exercise clothing dropped quickly to the floor, the nervousness she normally would have felt subsumed by an overwhelming need to obey. It only took a matter of moments to slip out of her sports bra, tennis shoes and socks, then she returned to a neutral pose. She smiled dumbly, her arms dangling at her sides, nerveless.

"Much better." The witch smiled at the view. "James, could you please remove these rags and leave us alone to get...acquainted better?"

"Yes, madame," sniffed James, picking up Hannah's clothing. "Will dinner be at eight, or should I schedule for later?"

"Definitely later." Kara stared at her new acquisition speculatively. "Much later. I'm about to feast."

"Very good, madame. I will leave a tray of cold meats in the fridge." He silently closed the double doors to the dressing room behind him, leaving Hannah alone with a ravenous witch.

"I've been watching you, you know," the witch said, circling Hannah's spaced out body. When she reached the front, she let her cloak fall to the floor, allowing herself to be inspected. The witch's legs seemed to go on for ages, their length clad in the shiny black of her boots. Her breasts were bared, perfect orbs capped by blue tips, highlighted by silver studs. Hannah's wandering eyes widened in lust at the thought that the witch had been hiding pierced breasts behind the thin film of her cloak all along.

"But now you're probably wondering why you feel so perfectly aroused and willing to have sex...with me." She grinned knowingly, stroking Hannah's cheekbones. "It's my magic. If you walked out on the street and looked at any person now, man or woman, you wouldn't want them -- only me. Like attracts like -- and now your silly little head is simply stuffed...just...full...of my blue, blue magic." With each syllable, Kara slinked closer, until their breasts were barely rubbing up against each other.

It was true. Hannah's breath hitched at the thought of bedding this witch, rubbing up against her until orgasms danced down her spine. She hadn't felt this with any one else before -- especially not a woman.

"There you go, thinking again. You must be able to absorb an awfully large amount of magic -- you'll make an excellent familiar." Kara pressed a cold finger against Hannah's lips that were rapidly turning blue. "Hold that thought...or better yet, don't." She stepped forward into a kiss, pressing the palms of her hands against Hannah's ears.

Her hands glowed, raw magic pulsing into Hannah's brain, each wave tugging at her pleasure centers. Instinctively, Hannah kissed back, sucking and swirling her tongue with the witch's, but it wasn't enough. Pushed by new desires welling up from the depths of her brain, she embraced her tormentor, rubbing her sensitive breasts against those of her mistress.

Mistress! It was such an easy word to think while she ground deeper into the witch's arms, her magic tickling at Hannah's brain. She could feel every inch of mistress' body, every gyration bringing her closer to fruition.

Soon, she couldn't think at all. Everything was blue. The room was blue, her mistress was blue, her lips were blue, her nipples were blue. Her silly little fears were blue. And best of all, her orgasms were blue too.

***

After their tryst, Hannah lay boneless in bed, cuddling with her mistress. "Mmm, I do love you mistress, but why did you choose me?"

"Us witches are at our most powerful when Halloween is near. During the rest of the year our power wanes until the darkest night once again approaches. To maintain our power during the rest of the year and to make sure there are no...surprise attacks from our enemies, we must store some of our power in suitable subjects...familiars, we call them. And...you were simply too cute to let go."

"Like a battery?" Hannah asked adoringly, nestled in the crook of Kara's arms.

"Yes, but not so crass. You are not Soylent Green, my dear. With your mind stuffed full of my magic, you simply cannot disobey me. This is quite pleasurable for both of us, I assure you." She goosed Hannah, making her shriek delightfully.