SEARCH FOR THE LOST SOUL (2 page)

He walked
over to the wall, leaning his forehead against it. He noted absently that it
was made of stone instead of plaster painted to resemble stone, and was cool to
the touch, for which he was grateful. He needed to think.

He couldn’t
understand how he could have done such a heinous thing, not just once but
twice. Sure, he wasn’t an alter boy and had been in some small trouble before,
but those troubles had been minor compared to what he had just done. The only
good thing was that she was unconscious and didn’t know that it had happened.

His mind
returned to the idea of a sex dream but he had to abandon it as an excuse.
Every sex dream he had ever experienced had ended as soon as he came the first
time. Never had he had one of the intensity that he was now experience.

Even as he
thought about it, he knew that he would tell Kelly when she woke. He didn’t
think that he could deal with the guilt if he didn’t.  There was no way he
could allow her to go through the rest of her life thinking she was still a
virgin. And, imagine the reaction her husband would have on her wedding night.

But he could
just imagine the look that would enter her beautiful green eyes when he told
her of his actions; she would hate him. If he had ever harbored any hope of
having a chance with her, he had just blown it.

He began to
wonder how long it would be before she woke. He turned to look to see if she
was stirring and immediately realized that this was a mistake. Even though his
mind was now clear and screaming at him not to do this again, he was moving
across the room towards her. He couldn’t help himself, no matter how hard he
tried, his body refused to obey his mind.

Even as he
lay down on top of her, his mind was telling him that this was impossible. It
couldn’t have been more than an hour since he woke, yet this was the third time
he had performed the sexual act on Kelly. Although he was no expert, he was
almost certain that this was unheard of. What was happening to him? Why
wouldn’t his body obey his mind?

When he
finished, he rolled off her and lay beside her, staring at the ceiling. His
mind was racing as he tried to find a way to be sure that he didn’t repeat the
act. One thing he knew for certain; he had to dress the two of them to make it
more difficult. He rose and dressed himself quickly before looking down at her.
He felt the desire rising again and looked away, breathing hard. There was no
way that he was going to do this again.

With a
determination that he had never known that he possessed, he reached down and
pulled up first her panties, then her jeans, trying his best not to look at
her. Once he had her jeans snapped again, he breathed a sigh of relief that
half the job was done. He looked at he breasts, wondering how he was going to
get her bra back on without touching her. He felt his desire rising to an even
higher level and had to turn away to gain control of himself.

When he felt
he had enough control, he knelt beside her on the bed, pulling her into a
sitting position. His hand brushed her breast as he pulled the bra into place
but he gritted his teeth and continued his task. He quickly discovered that it
was much easier to undo a bra than to put one in place.

but he
eventually managed and lay her back down. He pulled her shirt closed and
quickly buttoned it, then cursed as he realized that he had buttoned it wrong.
He unbuttoned her shirt again, lined up the buttons and buttoned it again. When
he finally finished, he breathed another sigh of relief. He fought the urge to
stroke her cheek again and kiss her; that way led to real trouble.

Chris rose
from the bed and walked to the wall, which was as far away from her as he could
get. He was searching the wall for a hidden door when he heard Kelly call his
name. He froze. Now he was going to have to tell her what he’d done.

“Chris, is
that you?” Kelly asked.

Chris
swallowed hard as he turned. “Yes,” he answered quietly.

She was
sitting on the edge of the bed, gazing at him with an expression that he
couldn’t name. “Where are we?”

“I don’t
know.” He didn’t move, afraid that if he moved closer to her, he might repeat
his disgraceful actions.

She rose,
quickly crossing the room to where he was standing. She slid her arms around
his neck. “Well, if I have to be stuck somewhere I’m glad it’s with you.”

Chris was
surprised both by her actions and her words. Even so, he slid his arms around
her waist; he couldn’t seem to help himself even though he knew that it
probably wasn’t a good idea to do so. He didn’t resist as she pulled his head
down and began to kiss him.

He felt his
desire starting to rise again but, since she didn’t seem to mind, he wouldn’t
either. Maybe she won’t mind that I raped her, was his only thought before he
abandoned himself to the kiss. He pulled her tightly against him and deepened
the kiss.

“Take me
now,” she whispered huskily in his ear a few minutes later.

He raised
his head, his mind suddenly clearing. He looked down into her green eyes for a
moment before reaching up and pulling her arms from around his neck. He
frowned; there was something definitely wrong here.

Kelly
pouted. “Don’t you want me?”

More than
you can possibly imagine, was his thought as he held her arms at her side. He
took a deep breath; he had never imagined that doing the right thing could be
so hard. “What’s wrong with you?” he whispered.

“Nothing.
I’m just finally letting my feelings for you show.”

He sighed,
wishing that it was true. “Kelly, think for a minute. This isn’t you. Why are
you acting this way?”

“I want you
to kiss me.”

“No.”

She broke
free of his hold and reached up to pull his head down she that she could kiss
him again. He held himself rigid so she couldn’t reach his lips, grateful for
his six-foot height. He finally managed to grab hold of her arms again and
turned her around so that her back was to the wall; it would be easier to hold
her there.

She looked
at him, tears in her eyes. “I know that you sleep with anyone who is willing. I
guess I’m not pretty enough for you.”

“It’s not
that, Kelly,” Chris answered through gritted teeth. “There’s something not
right here and I’m not doing anything until I figure out what it is.”

Kelly
started to cry and Chris was moved to compassion. He moved to take her in his
arms to console her and reassure her that the reason he wasn’t making love to
her had nothing to do with her or her physical attributes.

But she had
tricked him. Laughing gaily, she reached up and plastered her lips to his.

At first, he
didn’t fight it but, after a moment, he pulled his head back, thereby breaking
the kiss. “Kelly, don’t. You have no idea what you’re doing.”

She pouted
for a moment before a surprised expression crossed her face. Without a word,
she fainted.

Even though
he was surprised, Chris managed to catch her before she hit the floor. He held
her for a moment, wondering what could possibly have happened before swinging
her up into his arms and carrying her across the room to the bed. He laid her
gently in the center and pulled the covers up to her chin, thinking that this
would be further protection for her from him should his resolve weaken.

He stepped
back and stared down into her white face. He stroked his cheek thoughtfully.
What was going on here? It was getting stranger and stranger. He heard a noise
behind him and whirled around to see what was causing it.

Standing
next to the wall was a middle-aged man wearing a long, blue robe and sporting a
long, white beard.

Chris stared
at the strangely dressed man for several minutes, wondering where he had come
from; there was still no sign of a door. “Who are you?” he finally demanded.

The man
ignored him as he advanced into the room, coming to a stop directly in front of
him. He stared at Chris for quite some time, pulling thoughtfully on his beard.
“You are one strong-willed young man,” he commented. “It takes quite a bit of
inner strength to resist a spell of the magnitude that I had placed on you.”

Chris felt
as if a cold hand gripped his stomach. “What are you talking about?”

“You know
nothing.” He glanced at Kelly’s still form and began to laugh.

Chris felt
anger overwhelm him. He reached up and grasped the other man by the chin,
forcing the man to look at him. “You will tell me what you’re talking about or
you will regret it.”

The man
laughed again as he pulled Chris’ hand away from his face. “You cannot hurt me.
You are merely a boy. I am a wizard.”

Chris stared
at him. “A wizard? You mean like Merlin?”

The man laughed
again. “Merlin. Hah. A glory hound is what he was. None of us would dream of
allowing ourselves to be caught up in such a situation. He grew to be so famous
that he had to change his name.”

Chris
frowned. “Are you suggesting that Merlin is still alive?”

The man
shrugged. “Who can say? It is possible. He dropped from history after changing
his name, as he should have.”

“How is that
possible? He lived more than fifteen hundred years ago.”

The man
shrugged. “Of more interest to me is where you found the inner strength to
fight the lust spell. I have never had that one fail, partially because few men
in their right mind would turn down a woman who wants sex all the time?”

Chris stared
for a moment before speaking. “It’s wrong.”

“But fun,”
he grinned ravenously.

Chris
frowned at him. “Why would you place such a spell on me? Do you get some kind
of perverse pleasure out of watching a man rape a woman?”

The man
chuckled. “No.” He eyed Chris for a moment before speaking again. “I will make
a deal with you. I will tell you the plan if you will promise to make love to
her again.”

Chris looked
over at Kelly’s still form. “No.”

The man
frowned. “But she is a pretty girl. Why do you resist so strongly?”

Chris
sighed. “Because I don’t like being forced to do anything.”

“Even
something as pleasant as sex?”

Chris
frowned at him. “Rape isn’t something I’m ever going to be proud of.”

“I did not
ask you to do it with her while she slept.”

“I couldn’t
help myself. Thanks, I think, to your spell.”

He chuckled
again. “It is a good spell.”

“No, it
isn’t,” Chris practically shouted. “I don’t understand why you would do such a
thing.”

The man
shook his head. “You do not need to know the reason for my actions.”

Chris
snorted and turned away, staring at the stone wall and wondering once again how
the man had gotten into the room. Was there a door hidden among the stones, one
that you had to know the location of in order to find?

Behind him,
he heard the other man clearing his throat, obviously trying to get his
attention. He smiled but didn’t turn around. If he wanted Chris to cooperate,
he would have to be a bit more forthcoming with the information.

Several
minutes passed before the man spoke again. “If you do not turn around
immediately, I will force you to do so.”

Chris didn’t
turn as he answered, “And risk losing my cooperation. I don’t think so.”

There was
another long silence before the wizard spoke again. “Very well. I will tell you
some of what you want to know.”

Chris smiled
but made sure that he had wiped it from his face before he turned around.
“Let’s start with your name.”

The man
gazed at him for a moment before answering. “I do not believe that it will hurt
anything to tell you that. It is Gregory.”

Chris
nodded. “Ok. So, why did you put that spell on the two of us?”

Gregory
pulled at his beard. “If I tell you, will you cooperate?”

“Maybe. It
depends on what the plan is.”

Gregory
walked around the room several times before coming to a stop next to the bed.
He gazed down at Kelly for several minutes before looking back up at Chris.
“Very well. I will take the chance.”

He fell
silent for a moment before smiling. “I could also increase the power of the
spell; see how strong you actually are.”

“You could,”
Chris agreed. “But, if I prove to be stronger than your spell you will have
lost your one chance to have me cooperate.”

“There is
that,” said Gregory, pulling at his beard thoughtfully. “Very well, in the
hopes that I will gain your cooperation, I will tell you my plan.”

He paused
and looked down at Kelly again. He smiled as he looked back up at Chris. “I
want her baby.”

“What?”

“I think you
heard me.”

“But why?”
He looked down at Kelly. “There’s nothing special about her.”

Gregory
laughed. “That is where you are wrong, boy.” He reached down and stroked
Kelly’s cheek. “She is very special. We have been waiting for her for
centuries.”

Chris looked
down at Kelly again, thinking how badly he wanted to break Gregory’s arm for
touching her cheek in such a manner. “I see nothing special about her.” This
wasn’t true but he didn’t think Gregory was interested in her the same way he
was.

Gregory
looked up, laughing. “She may not look it on the outside but she is a very
powerful wizard.”

Chris was
confused. “I admit that I don’t know much about magic but I thought that only
men could become wizards.”

“Such power
in a woman is rare but not unheard of. Her birth was predicted almost six
hundred years ago by Mashal. He is our most powerful seer.”

“Is? Six
hundred years!” Chris was incredulous. “And this guy is still alive?”

“Oh yes. We
are a long lived bunch, we wizards.”

Chris rubbed
his forehead; he was developing a severe headache. “So, you’ve been waiting for
her birth for that long.”

“You could
say that we’ve been searching for her. I was just the one who got to her
first.”

“So there
are others after her?”

Gregory
laughed. “There are many who want her, some good, some bad.”

Chris looked
down at Kelly again. “Are you sure that she’s the one you’ve been waiting for?”

“Oh yes.
Actually, I’ve been following her progress for years. It is just recently that
she had acquired her powers.”

Chris
frowned. “She does magic?”

“Not yet,
but she will soon. She doesn’t know who or what she is yet. That is why I had
to grab her now. Once she realizes what she is capable of, she will be too
powerful for me to work a spell on.”

Chris rubbed
his forehead again as he considered. Several minutes passed before he spoke.
“So, you want to have her baby because it’ll have the same powers.”

“It should
have, yes.”

Chris eyed
him. “What I don’t understand is, why you don’t get her pregnant. Wouldn’t it
make sense that your power added to hers would make a more powerful baby?”

“It does.
But, you see, my tastes run in a different direction.” He gazed at Chris, eying
his muscular build. “Now, you I could get interested in.”

Chris took a
step backwards. “Look. I don’t care if you’re gay, but you keep your hands off
me, understand. I’ll break you in half if you try.”

Gregory
sighed. “The cute ones are always interested in girls.”

Chris
frowned at him but made sure that there was plenty of space between the two of
them. “Ok, that explains why you wanted her. Why me?”

Gregory
sighed. “She is powerful, even if she does not yet know how to use her powers,
so the magic that I can use against her is limited. She is interested in you,
so I merely placed a spell on her to remove her inhibitions.”

Chris stared
at Gregory for a moment before looking down at Kelly again. “She’s interested
in me?” What a revelation. He couldn’t believe that a girl like her would be
interested in him. Then he remembered what he had done to her and felt shame
engulf him once again. She would hate him when she discovered what he’d done to
her. “Listen Gregory. . . " He started to say.

Gregory
interrupted him. “Enough talk. You will now complete your task. You will not
leave this room until Kelly is pregnant.”

“But I never
said that I would cooperate,” Chris protested. But he was protesting to empty
air, the spot where Gregory had stood was now empty.

Chris stared
at the spot where he had been standing, a look of astonishment on his face. He
had never believed in magic and wasn’t certain that he did so now, even though
the fact of it appeared to be staring him in the face. He heard Kelly moan and
turned to look at her, wondering what he should do about their situation. He
definitely didn’t like the idea of being used as a baby maker.

Kelly sat
up, swinging her legs around so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed.
She smiled at him and his heart sank; he knew that look.

Sure enough,
she quickly crossed the room to where he was standing, putting her arms around
his neck. “Will you kiss me?”

He swallowed
hard. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“After you
kiss me.”

“No.
Before.”

Chris looked
up at the ceiling as he took a deep breath. He wanted to kiss her, desperately.
But he was also determined that he would be no one’s pawn. But, how was he to
get her to listen to him long enough to understand the problem.

After
several minutes of thought, he decided on a course of action.

He looked
down at her, steeling himself to resist her, at least for a few minutes. After
that, well, he would see.

“I will kiss
you if you will do something for me first.”

She pouted
for a moment before smiling. “If it means that you will kiss me I’ll do
anything.”

“Good. He
leaned down so that he could whisper in her ear. “I want you to seal this room
so that no one can listen in, either magically or electronically.”

She frowned.
“What?”

“Concentrate
for a moment, ok.”

She frowned
again. “Only for another kiss.”

Chris
sighed. “Very well, but remember that you promised.”

“I will.”

Chris bent
his head and kissed her. He had meant for it to be a quick one but it turned
into a long, lingering kiss that stretched on for several minutes. When he
finally lifted his head, he found that he was out of breath.

He had to
swallow hard several times before he was able to speak again. “Now. I want you
to listen to me. Can you do that?”

“For another
kiss.”

“No. You
listen and then we’ll talk about another kiss.”

She pouted
but nodded her head.

He leaned
down so that he could whisper in her ear again. “I want you to close your eyes
and look deep inside yourself.”

He waited
until she had closed her eyes before continuing. “Are you looking inside?” when
she nodded he asked, “What do you see?”

“Nothing.”

His mind
raced. What did he know about magic? Nothing.

OK, since he
had no facts, he would have to use his imagination.

What would
magic look like?

He
considered for several minutes as Kelly began to kiss his neck, which made
keeping his mind on the problem more difficult with each passing minute. He
tried to push her away but he quickly discovered that this required too much
attention.

Finally, he
grasped her arms, holding them at her side and pushed her back against the
wall. Holding her against it proved to be much easier and he could return to
thinking about the problem without interruption.

The only
magical figures he could remember were from the TV, Glenda, the witch from the
Wizard Of Oz and Tinker Belle from Peter Pan. Both had been shown surrounded by
light. Although he figured that this had only been an artifice of Hollywood, it
was all he could think of.

He looked
down at Kelly’s face only to find that she was watching him intently, probably
trying to think of another way to get him to kiss her. He sighed, thinking how
much he wanted to do just that. “Kelly. I want you to close your eyes again.
Look inside yourself and find an area surrounded by light. Nod your head when
you find it but don’t open your eyes.”

He waited,
watching her face as she concentrated.