Chapter 34 Another Run, Another Problem

Chapter 34 Another Run, Another Problem

***WARNING AN INCIDENT OF SEXUAL ABUSE IS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS CHAPTER***

I put the two envelopes in my car glove box.  The way I was burning through cash the $12,200 should last me a month.  I hadn’t heard from Jade, so I was getting worried.  I planned to track down James or Mandy today to find out if she was doing ok.

At lunch, I had been giving Rob ideas about where to go shopping on his date this Friday.  Rob and Yuki were going to be Christmas shopping for their date, so I was making outrageous suggestions about what he should get Sofia for Christmas.  Sofia was sitting two seats down with her freshman friends, including Teresa, who kept eyeing me.  Her body language had been such that she was listening intently to my suggestions.  Iris came and sat at our table.  She looked exhausted and was quiet.  It killed my conversation with Rob.

“Iris, are you doing ok?”  I finally asked.

She looked at me and around the table before saying, “Yeah, I just need a few days to rest up.  The break coming up from school should help a lot.  Maybe you could come over on Sunday after the holiday?” I was doing something Sunday and checked my calendar quickly.

I was scheduled for a date with Chloe outside of DC.  “How about Saturday after my hockey game?  I can be there at 6ish?”  I had been planning to invite her to Thanksgiving at my house, but she needed rest.

“Uh, yeah, I should be home.  I need to catch up on some schoolwork.  Have you heard from Jade?”  Iris asked.

“No, I was going to ask her cousins today when I saw them.  James wanted to talk after hockey practice this morning, but I was in a rush.” I said.

The conversation went back to Rob and his date, and soon I was leaving math class.  In English class, Molly confirmed she was coming home with me to study.  She was more excited than I thought she would be.  I wondered how far she thought we would go.

I finally ran into Mandy just before the last period.  “Mandy, how is Jade doing?”  I asked.  She gave me a curious look and smirked.

“Her mother is coming.  She should be here on Sunday.  My aunt is not someone to be taken lightly.  I expect she will be paying you a visit after she finishes with Jade,” Mandy smirked again but not maliciously.  More like ‘you are in trouble.’  “I don’t know what you did to Jade, but my parents have her locked in her room.”  My jaw dropped, and thoughts were spinning in my head.

It might be from her altered core.  I really should have considered the ramifications of others finding out.  Enhancing humans was probably safer.  The demis had greater access to magic and probably had a much better understanding when aether cores were altered.  Mandy seeing the worry and contemplation on my face patted me on the shoulder, “Don’t worry Caleb.  My parents were both excited and worried.  I don’t think you are in any danger, but they may go to the Magus Arcanum,” she added a veiled threat.

My worry just got magnified.  The Magus Arcanum, the human organization aware of magic and the transits.  I would have to talk with Iris on Saturday to see how bad this might get.  Iris had said they were more passive and acted like a police force keeping order.  She said they had rallied to deal with an orc invader this morning.  My opinion of the Magus Arcanum was neutral, but I preferred to stay out of their crosshairs.

I left Mandy and sat in the library during the last period thinking.  Maybe I should preempt and contact the Magus Arcanum first?  I just didn’t have enough background to make a decision.

When my study period ended, I went to the parking lot and planned to wait for Molly Bullock.  She was already at my SUV, nervously leaning against it.  I approached her, “Got everything you need to study tonight?   And am I and bringing you home after?”

“Yes, and Yes.” She bounced.  Her tiny frame looked cute.  Rob and Sofia approached my car.

“Hey, Rob, this is Molly.  She is coming over to study.” Rob acted cool, but Sophia’s eyes bugged out.  I had been connected to multiple girls at school, and she didn’t know this one.  On the drive home Sophia grilled Molly in the back seat trying to dig out juicy details.  I was happy to note that Molly said she was just coming over to get help with English and Math.  That wasn’t totally convincing since my new academic prowess was too new.  So Sophia was having trouble believing her.

I dropped off Rob and Sofia and drove Molly to my house.  I brought her up to my room on the third floor and started setting up in the sitting room.  Molly looked around while I unpacked our English homework.  Maybe I should have set up in the living room or dining room.

Molly came from the bathroom, “Caleb, you have a fantastic house.  Do you live on this floor by yourself?  It looks more like an apartment than a room.”

“Yeah, we renovated it for my grandparents, but they don’t like climbing the stairs, so I called dibs,” I told her.  The third floor had a master bathroom, a small laundry room, a decent-sized master bedroom, and a nice sitting room.  There was also some attic storage and a fire escape in the back.

“It is amazing,”  Molly said as she sat nervously next to me on the couch.  I had two stacks laid out.  The first was our English classwork from the last few weeks.  I figured we could review it and then do the homework.  I had actually finished the homework, but I wasn’t going to tell her.  The other stack was my math assignments from the last few weeks.  I went back and had redone them to make the writing neat and legible.

Molly, who had boldly and blatantly felt me up in English class, suddenly seemed extremely shy.  She was tiny, just 5’2”, and other than her muscled thighs and glutes from playing field hockey was pretty thin.  I grabbed the English stack, and we started going over them.  After about thirty minutes, Molly moved right next to me, our hips touching and we started getting through the review much more quickly.

About halfway through the review session, her hand fell on my thigh and slid to my crotch.  She had a small hand and it sought out my penis as she had done in the classroom last week.  She found the outline and began tracing it.  Her attention on the work completely faded.  I looked at her next to me as she tried to excite me.  Hell, her forearm was about as big as my erect cock.  I was hesitating.  Molly was a year younger than me.  My incubus side was telling me to go, but my human side was holding the train at the station.

Using my calming voice, “Molly.  I really want to go further but let us get through the English and math review.  I want you to do better in school.  If we don’t have time tonight, we still have the sophomore dance.”  She looked up and her blue eyes and freckled face looked so damn cute.  I lowered my head and kissed her lips.  She fumbled for a second but returned it.  I broke the kiss and said, “That should hold you over.”

It didn’t look like it enough though.  Molly had the lustful look I had become familiar with in women in the last three weeks of being an incubus.  I needed to intervene further.  Using my gaze I stared into her eyes, “Molly, I really want to help you do better in class.  Let’s focus on this,” I indicated the papers.

My charm gaze was like night and day.  Molly suddenly became super focused on the review.  By 7:00pm, we had finished the English review, and we were starting on the math.  A knock at my door startled me.  I found mom standing there.  “Hey, mom!”  I went and gave her a hug.  “Let me introduce you to Molly.  We are studying together for English and math.”

Molly jumped up and practically ran over to introduce herself, “Mrs. Silversmith.  It is so nice to meet you.  Caleb has been so helpful.  He is so smart and makes understanding everything so much easier,” she said, standing before my mother who was assessing the situation.  Mom had met Iris, and now I had Molly here.  She flashed me a questioning glance but didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Caleb, what do you two want for dinner?  We were going to order chicken parm with broccoli as a side,” she asked, still eyeing me.  I was glad I hadn’t seduced and had sex with Molly.  My bedroom door had no lock on it.

“That sounds fine.  Is that good for you, Molly?”  I asked her.  She nodded.

My mom left, and we sat down to continue, but ten minutes later Molly’s mom called and she picked up immediately.  She took the call into my bedroom for privacy.  I could hear most of both ends of the conversation.  Her mother wanted to know when she was coming home.  Molly explained that the tutoring was going well and stressed that my parents were home and they were getting dinner for her.  The call took about 10 minutes, but finally, she came back smiling, “I can stay till ten if you drive me home.  Otherwise, my dad will pick me up at 9.  I gave them your address.”

We went down for dinner at 7:50, and my dad and mom talked with Molly while we ate.  I actually learned a lot about Molly from their questions.  Her mother was from Ireland, and her dad was a construction worker.  They met when he was overseas doing a corporate building outside of Dublin.  She had three younger siblings who drove her mad, but she loved her family.  She played field hockey but was not sure if she was going to play next year.

After dinner, we returned to math problems, and I helped with the algebra.  She was doing quite well.  I had trouble believing she was a C student.  At 10 pm, I told her she could text her mom that I was driving her home.  She looked like she didn’t want to leave, but I got her going.

When I dropped her off, I parked in her driveway and gave her a kiss.  It was a long and probing kiss that I stopped when the front door opened.  I had been so startled by the door and Molly exiting the car to go inside that I forgot to dissolve the charm effect.  I didn’t think anything could go wrong.  I mean, I just told her that I wanted her to do well in her classes.  I drove home slightly uncertain, though.

At home, I worked in my mind space.  Getting sleep, studying, and practicing aether manipulation and interior decorating.  I was making my library look like the prototypical English manor study.  I ended up modeling it after the library in the movie My Fair Lady, with a pair of wooden spiral stairs going to the second floor.  Sometimes it took a few trips back to my computer to do a little research and burn the images into my head, but it looked fabulous when I was done but definitely needed more books.  Decorating my mind space was a fun distraction, and maybe I could share it with someone one day when I figured out how.  With the library done, I opened another panel into a corridor and added my next room.

The next room was going to be a combat training room.  I chose the Matrix movie dojo as my base model.  I didn’t finish before my alarm went off in my room.  It was Wednesday and even though I didn’t have school I did have my run with Abigail.  Since I didn’t get any life essence from Molly I planned to make up for it with Abigail.

I pulled into the driveway and found her stretching, and she looked up at my headlights.  I think she brushed away some tears but immediately put on a smile as I got out.  “Hey, Abs!  I am ready for our running date.  Don’t worry about me having a game this evening.  Work me as hard as you can.”  As I got closer, her puffy eyes told me she had definitely been crying.

Before I could ask what was wrong she was off and yelled back at me, “Catch me if you can!”

I started after her.  It was later in the morning than the last time we ran.  We had decided on 6 am for our runs.  It was still dark but I could see fine as her headlamp bobbed up the trail in front of me.  I stayed back, giving her the illusion she was winning.

She took a different trail, and we were quickly on the wider state forest hiking trails.  I moved up and started running next to her.  She tried to change gears but eventually gave in, and we ran side by side.  We didn’t talk, we just ran.  In my rush to catch up, I had left my phone in my car so I didn’t know how long we ran.  Abigail was in good shape but started slowing down.  Then she stopped abruptly.  The sun was up, and she said, “I have to pee.  Give me a minute.  Also, we are only a few minutes from the parking lot, and they have a vending machine there where we can get drinks.”

I was going to ask if she needed help.  But thought better of it.  She was sweaty, and I could hear her heart beating rapidly.  She didn’t hide from my view as she peed a few yards off the trail.  I watched as she dropped her shorts and squatted and peed with her butt facing me giving me a great view of everything.  She obviously wanted me to see her because she looked over her shoulder at me and smiled.  She got her underwear and shorts back on and walked to me.

“The restrooms are locked at the parking lot.  Did you enjoy the show?” She asked teasingly.

“Yes, I did.  After we get a drink, do you want to find a secluded place to…”  I let my words trail off.

“I think I know a few places where we can have privacy,” she said provocatively while wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me down for a long kiss with tongue wrestling.

When we broke apart I asked, “Is everything ok?  I thought you might have been crying earlier.”  Her expression changed somber.

“I don’t want to talk about.  Let’s just go.  There is a side trail up here that leads to a rarely used campsite with tent platforms.”  She angrily turned to go, but I grabbed her arm.

I used my gaze on her, “Tell me what is wrong Abs, I want to know.”  She looked angry, so I repeated myself and used my calming voice as well.

Abigail finally relaxed and spoke, “My stepfather.  He walked in on me in the shower last Wednesday morning after our run.  He has been getting bolder and bolder.” She inhaled.  “He touched my breast when I was cooking and my mother was showering.  I don’t know what to do.  He used to just watch me from a distance, but I am afraid he might do more than fondle me while I am cooking.  I don’t want to make my mother upset by accusing him.” She took a breath.  “This morning, as I was leaving the house for our run, he told me my mother was going to visit my grandparents for a week, and we would have some father-daughter time.  She is leaving today to spend Thanksgiving with them.”

Even with my calming voice Abigail was still upset.  I pulled her into my embrace.  She started crying and sobbing.  I let her cry for a bit, rubbing her back and comforting her.  Finally, I said, “I will take care of it.  When you get home, pack a bag, and you will go stay with Iris.  Tell your stepdad that you have a friend that is alone on Thanksgiving and needs company.  I will call her to pick you up.”

My mind was turning.  I would be using my charming gaze on Abigail’s stepdad.  I planned to leave a strong message for him.  My schedule for today was getting full.  Unfortunately, it looked like I wouldn’t be harvesting any life essence.

After Abigail’s cry and my reassurance that I would fix everything, we jogged back to her house.  We ran 13 miles, according to her phone tracker.  She went inside to pack, and I pulled into the street.  I called Iris and woke her up, and explained the situation.  She would be over in 20 minutes.  I waited in the street till I saw Iris come and then leave with Abigail.  Why the hell was my life getting so complicated?