Mississippi Burning

"Caroline, why don't you take your cousin upstairs and show him your bedroom."

Justin did a double take. Did he hear that right? He would be sleeping in this gorgeous teenager's bedroom? His aunt then turned to him. "I'm so sorry hon, but you're gonna need to share a bedroom with your cousins since the guest room is filled with boxes right now. But don't worry. The master bedroom is the biggest room in the house."

Now it was Patty's turn to do a double take. "You put the kids in Mom and Dad's old bedroom?"

"I don't need all that space," Charlotte said with the wave of a hand. "You and I will sleep in our old bedroom down here. We have many years to catch up on."

"You could sleep down here on the couch," Patty said softly to her son, but Caroline, who had just lit a fresh 120, then grabbed Justin by the hand.

"Come on," she said eagerly before her Aunt Patty could protest. Justin, his body tingling from the touch of this beautiful smoker, dutifully followed her up the stairs.

PART 6 -NICOTIANA ATTICUS

Six Months Ago

It was a cool day in January as the white man in his mid-30s stepped out of his truck next to the charred tobacco field. NASA scientists had only stayed a few days after the meteor crashed in this section of Bedford, determining that there was no measurable radiation from any of the dust and ash that been churned up by the fire, and therefore was no danger to the community. Just in case, the man walking towards the center of the field decided to wear a full mask that covered his mouth and nose, as well goggles.Why take any chances, he thought to himself.

For Atticus Dawson, the lone science teacher at Bedford High School and a life-long resident of the town, the crashing of a meteor was the most excitement he had ever had in his life. He got to see the meteorite up close before it was transported to Starkville to be housed at the geological museum at Mississippi State. Meteorology, however, was not really what interested this educator who majored in Biology and Chemistry. Anthology was actually his passion, no doubt due to the agrarian roots his family had in the Delta; and something in the charred field had recently caught his eye.

Atticus was shivering in the 50 degree whether that afternoon because he had recently noticed a cluster of orange wild flowers sprouting nearly two weeks after the fire. These orange blooms were similar to theNicotiana glauca, but that genus was not native to Mississippi; and theNicotiana alata normally sprouted white tubed blooms. This was clearly something different. He grabbed a handful and placed them in a zip-lock bag to have a closer inspection at home under his microscope.

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When he opened the zip-lock back home, he immediately smelled jasmine, a common odor of thealata genus. When he brought the tubular bloom up to his nose, he was shocked when a fine mist was sprayed into his face. He threw down the flower and panicked.No wild flower is supposed to do that, he said to himself. He felt light-headed and feverish. Immediately he put the flowers back into the zip-lock bag and washed his hands and face thoroughly with soap and hot water. He took out a thermometer to gauge his temperature which read over 103.So how come I'm not passed out on the floor? In fact, he felt pretty good for a man with a high grade fever, and he began to calm down.

He also had a tremendous craving for a cigarette as his lungs tingled. A former smoker himself, he knew what he was craving. His wife was at the river playing the slots with some friends for the night, but he knew where she kept her VS-120's carton; and lighting that cigarette was like a revelation for him as his lungs welcomed the smoke with a pleasurable surge of energy throughout his body. Health effects be damned. He was never going to give this up again. After he stubbed the 120 out, he lit another; and then another after that one.

Atticus was well steeped in the scientific method. He knew that the spores from the bloom somehow were having an effect on him. The more he smoked, the more endorphins he realized were being produced by the brain. Even thinking about smoking made him feel good. And thinking about others smoking? This seemed to send his peptides through the roof. He couldn't wait to share this with his wife when she got home. He opened the Ziplock and pulled out another flower, fully expecting to be sprayed with more spores; but nothing happened.The tubes can determine who has already been affected. Was it a pheromonal response? Atticus was not knowledgeable enough in that particular area of science to be certain.

What he was certain about was that he felt absolutely wonderful, and he wanted others to feel this way. Surely he wasn't the only person to have noticed the wild flowers in the burned field. The chances were already good that such flowers were growing in other locations around town, or soon would be. It was just a matter of time before other residents were exposed. The Wong family, which owned the only convenience store in town which sold cigarettes, would need to be prepared for what was coming: a smoking pandemic.

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"Caroline, would you mind stopping by my office after school today?" Mr. Dawson said to the only Asian American in the school. "I want to discuss your science paper."

The 18 year old's heart fluttered. Without a doubt, she was convinced that Mr. Dawson was the most handsome man in Bedford, and many of her classmates agreed. Indeed, she could feel the eyes of her envious female classmates burning like daggers as she puffed out her chest.

"Ain't you full of piss and vinegar," Cassidy whispered. "Don't be getting no bun in the oven, though," she counseled, only half kidding.

Caroline gave her best friend a scowl, but she couldn't help but fantasize about such a good looking man as her science teacher. What she wasn't expecting when she walked into his office was that he would be smoking a cigarette; and a Virginia Slims 120 at that! Caroline hated second-hand smoke. It was bad enough having to live with her mother and Curtis, both pack a day smokers, filling the house with the stench of their addiction. She had come into the office erotically fantasizing about Mr. Dawson. Now she couldn't wait to leave.

"Close the door, please," he said kindly, setting his half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray on his desk. "I was very impressed with your science paper," he said holding it up. "'Dying for a Smoke: The Health Consequences of Cigarettes.' Very catchy title," he smiled. "Your research and conclusions are spot on."

"Apparently the argument was not very persuasive," she said wryly.

"Yes, I'm not blind to the irony here," he said as he picked up the cigarette and took a puff. Getting through his classes without a cigarette today was practically unbearable. "But you see, the reason why I asked you here is because I'm doing a little experiment." And indeed, Atticus was very interested to see what effect the spores would have on a non-smoker. "After reading your paper, am I correct in assuming that you have never smoked before?"

"Never," Caroline responded just a bit too aggressively.

"That's good," Atticus said with a smile as he stood up and walked to the front of his desk where Caroline was standing. He unzipped the plastic bag with a handful of orange blooms and proceeded to pull one out. "You see, as a non-smoker, I'm wondering if you can tell me what you smell from this flower," which he then handed to Caroline.

The teenager brought it up to her face. "Jas-...oh!" she exclaimed as a fine mist filled her nostrils. She felt momentarily stunned.

"I think you were about to say jasmine," Atticus said as he reached over his desk to stub out his cigarette in the ashtray. "That is correct." He picked up the pack and proceeded to pull out a fresh cigarette, bringing forth a flame from a lighter in his pocket which he then set on his desk.

Caroline stepped back, feeling light headed. "What's happening to me," she asked softly as she felt the room getting hotter.

"Nothing to be concerned about," Atticus said comfortingly. "The spores are working their way through your blood system. You feel hot right now, yes?"

Caroline nodded, putting her hand on the desk to remain steady.

"And your lungs...are they tingling? Perhaps craving something?"

Caroline again nodded, this time more vigorously. She had a desperate yearning for something unknown; and if she didn't get it in her lungs quickly, she was going to go mad! And then she watched her teacher exhale a cloud of smoke into her face.That's what I need, she said to herself, and she took the cigarette out of Mr. Dawson's hand and put it between her lips, puffing hard and long. When she inhaled, she saw stars. Her body felt so light as that creamy cloud billowed into her lungs. If she thought hard enough, she was certain she could levitate. She took another puff and quickly inhaled. Gold, she thought to herself. Pure gold.So this is what momma and Curtis are feeling. This is why they smoke. She felt like an idiot for denying herself such a pleasure for so long. She smiled at her teacher who by now had lit another cigarette for himself.

"We have a lot to prepare," he said eagerly. "Very soon, a lot of people in this town are going to start smoking when they start smelling these flowers. We need to..." Atticus paused when he noticed that Caroline winced. "Are you okay?"

"I just feel a little pain in my back, right around my shoulder blades." She brought the cigarette up to her lips for another joyous puff. "It's gone now." But then she winced again. "Ohhhh," she moaned.

Atticus reached his hands around her back and felt two bumps on her shoulder blades. "Those should not be there," he said with some concern, but then he, too, winced from a pain emanating from his upper torso.

"Mr. Dawson," she said with her eyes aflutter as a euphoria surged through her body, "I think something is growing back there."

Atticus opened his eyes wide as he saw tendrils growing out of the top of her shirt. He then felt the same growth from his own back. "Oh," he groaned joyously, "oh, yes. I feel it now." The sensation was incredibly pleasurable, so it was not fear that he felt. Instead, as the smell of jasmine emanating from Caroline was overwhelming his senses, he had the uncontrollable urge to join his tendrils with hers. "Oh my God," he gasped as their coils touched. The sensation was pure bliss. But why did he not grow these tendrils when he was first exposed? And then he had an epiphany.Mutation, he thought to himself.The spores mutate when pheromones are exchanged between two infected organisms. That has to be it! Yesterday there was nothing for the spores in his body to react to. Caroline's infection and the pheromones it produced changed that.

The stimulation throughout their bodies was growing stronger as their tendrils began to weave together.

"Mr. Dawson," she groaned, "this feels so good. What's happening to me?"

"Oh, my child," he moaned lustfully, "just accept it for what it is: pure, unadulterated sexual fulfillment." He took a puff on his cigarette and placed his lips on hers, sharing the smoke as their tongues swirled together in a passionate dance. Their interlaced tendrils began vibrating madly, and both Caroline and Atticus were moaning and groaning in a low guttural tone as they drew closer to the precipice of an orgasm. Atticus unbuckled his belt and pulled down his pants. He had no control over what he was doing. He had to insert his dick between the legs of this 18 year old, and he had to do it now. Caroline had already pulled off her own pants and began rubbing her pussy with her fingers. She wrapped her hand around the bulging cock and stroked it, pulling it closer to the public hair above her vagina.

'Stick it inside me," she begged. "I need it inside me."

Atticus grabbed her by the buttocks and easily lifted her up, rhythmically rubbing her pelvis against his until finally inserting his cock into her pussy, penetrating the hymen.

"Oh, yes!" Caroline groaned from the pain, but even the sting of being ripped could not overwhelm the incredible jubilation she felt from being joined with this man. She now loved that he was a smoker. She felt her excitement rising as she watched him puff his the Virginia Slims, and she followed his lead, drawing on the white filter of her own 120 and inhaling every few seconds. She moved her pelvis back forth, determined to milk every ounce of sperm out of his dick. She didn't care if she got pregnant; she only cared that he squirted that love potion deep into her pussy.Tighter, she thought to herself, and their tendrils responded by becoming even more taut. Both were bobbing their heads back and forth, their cigarettes clasped in their teeth as they took puff after puff. "I'm going to cum," she whined in exhilaration.

"Give it to me," the teacher begged, pumping her pussy like a jack hammer.

"I'm cumming!" the teenager shouted, and suddenly she felt a massive wave surging through her body from the fulcrum between her legs. Every nerve in her body felt the surge of erotic energy. She literally felt like a human torch as her body heat skyrocketed.

"Oh, Christ, I can't hold it Caroline," Atticus groaned, and instantly his dick was violently ejaculating stream after stream of creamy liquid that gushed into Caroline's pussy. The force of the physical orgasm coupled with the psychic orgasm of his tendrils holding on to Caroline's gave him a momentary out-of-body. He could see himself fucking his student. What could possibly compel him to do this was due to a force that he did not understand, but had little concern that he didn't. Cumming inside her pussy felt good. He couldn't wait to share this experience with his wife when she got back from the river later that afternoon.

"Oh," he gasped as he leaned back onto the desk, still holding her legs so that his dick served as a cork to her pussy. "Take another puff," he said as she noticed there was still some tobacco left on her 120. She obeyed, lifting her head to open her mouth and reveal the creamy pearl behind her lips. Then she snapped it back, sending a shudder through Atticus. "Oh, my....oh, yes. Oh, Caroline."

He set her legs down on the floor and held her tight, their tendrils gently caressing one another. Through their connection, he had seen everything about Caroline; understood every facet of her life, and she understood his - including what he wanted her to do. They both realized now that what was about to come upon this town was more than a smoking pandemic. It was the creation of a new Eden.

"I need to go to the store now," Caroline said softly. She knew exactly the task before her.

PART 7 - CONFESSIONS

When Justin reached the second floor, he noticed the cigarette between Caroline's fingers had a beautiful orange glow in the darkened hallway. When she brought the 120 up to her lips for a puff, he felt himself gliding behind her as he held her hand. He made no effort to avoid the white cloud she exhaled which engulfed his head. Breathing in her second-hand smoke was pure joy for him.

"Here's the bathroom," Caroline said pointing with her cigarette to one of the doors as she led him to the master bedroom.

Justin, noticing that the door to the guest room was slightly ajar, found it empty except for a bed and dresser. "There are no boxes in that room," he said in a suspicious tone. Caroline looked back at him with a devilish smile.Does Aunt Charlotte want us all to sleep together? That question appeared to be answered when they entered the master bedroom - which only had one king sized bed. "Um," he stammered, "where am I going to sleep?"

Caroline sat down on the bed, crossed her legs, and rested the cigarette on her knee. She gave him an impish grin, and then brought the 120 up to the side of her mouth for a slow puff while patting the bed with her other hand, indicating that he should take a seat next to her.

Justin loved how the cigarette's orange tip gave a slight pulse when she slid the 120 out from between her lips. As he watched her snap back a perfect ball of smoke, he suddenly realized that his legs were moving on their own towards the bed. He sat down next to her, enchanted as rivers of smoke cascaded down through her nostrils.

"Does Aunt Patty know that you smoke?" she asked mischievously as she handed him the cigarette.

Busted, Justin thought to himself. "No," he whispered as he accepted the 120 into his fingers, brought it to the center of his mouth, and took a full puff on that delicious Virginia Slims. He opened his mouth to let a wall of smoke slowly move beyond his lips, and then snapped it all back. The blast it provided inside his lungs felt wonderful, and he thought seriously about taking a second puff before instead deciding to hand the cigarette back to his cousin while exhaling through both his nose and pursed lips.

Caroline smiled. "I knew you were one of us," she whispered. She brought the cigarette up to her lips and took a slow puff at an upwards angle. When she opened her mouth, revealing a thick, white ball, the smoke gradually began to slither beyond her lips like a snake stalking its prey.

Justin knew what she wanted, and God, did he want to obey her. He didn't care that he had a girlfriend back in LA. He didn't even care that Caroline was a blood relative. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to breathe in her smoke. He slowly began to move his mouth towards hers....

"Aunt Patty!" a voice downstairs shouted joyously.

Justin pulled back and watched Caroline snap back the smoke with a cracked smile. There was then a rapid pounding up the steps.

"That's my brother," Caroline said in a sensuous tone dripping with anticipation.

A tall Asian man walked into the room. He was only 19 years old, but his body build and confidence gave him the appearance of a man in his mid-twenties. His white T-shirt was grease stained, and his finger nails blackened from working long hours as a mechanic. He was also holding an all-white 100 cigarette between those greasy fingers. "Sis," he said with longing before taking a puff and then planting his lips on Caroline's. Smoke poured out of their noses as their tongues swirled together in a passionate kiss.

After several seconds, the man slowly pulled back, looking longingly into his sister's eyes. He then turned to Justin as if kissing his sister was nothing out of the ordinary. "Hey cousin," he said with a hearty handshake in a deep drawl, "I'm Curtis."

Justin, stunned by what he witnessed to be anything but ordinary, replied in a voice barely above a whisper, "Justin."

"I'm gonna take a shower, and then we'll catch-up during supper." He again looked into his sister's face, took another puff on his 100, and gently let the smoke float out of his mouth into hers. "I want to join with you," he whispered.

"Later, you bad boy," she grinned as she brought the cigarette up to her mouth.

Curtis grabbed some clean clothes out of the dresser, walked into the bathroom, and closed the door.

Caroline, turning to her cousin with an all knowing smile, simply said, "We're close." She brought the cigarette up to the side of her mouth and took a luscious puff. Keeping that smile, she cracked open her mouth and let the smoke gurgle beyond her lips before pulling it back deep into her lungs.

Justin, suddenly wondering if all the incest stories about the South were true, was speechless. He could also feel the tip of his dick leaking. He knew it would only take a few strokes to fill his shorts with a voluminous amount of white, creamy jizz. He needed to get out of that room.