I've edited this story some and added bits that will help things make more sense, as promised.

A house can be many things. It can be shelter from the elements, a place to hang your hat and coat after work, a haven from the madly rushing world in general, a home filled with warmth, comfort and the sounds of friends and loved ones.

But sometimes, a house goes bad.

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Nathan Younger stared down into the small wooded and flower speckled valley the dirt road, more a track than road, led to. The little dell, southeast of Springfield Missouri invited visitors with its peaceful beauty.

“You can just see the house from here.” Cindy — call me by my first name, I insist -- Matheson, the real estate agent who had handled buying the land known as That Hazlett Place by the locals and getting it cleaned up for the new owner pointed out a sloping, gray slate roof among the trees. “It’s really quite a buy, Mr. Younger. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to have a writer like you actually living around here.”

“It’s Nathan.” He responded while peering into the foliage to see if any sign of the house other than its workmanlike roof was visible. “And I’m nothing special, just a person like anyone else. I got lucky and can make my living by sitting on my butt and putting words into a computer.”

“Oh you’re being modest!” The young woman smoothed her well kept helmet of honey blonde hair with one delicate, long nailed hand while giving his upper arm a pat. “I understand that your books are quite good.”

“Well, they seem to sell at the bookstores.” He shrugged then grinned. “I take it you haven’t read any of them?”

“No, I’m sorry to say I haven’t.” Cindy gave him a little moue of distress. “I’m afraid that I’m not one to enjoy horror stories is all. My sister-in-law loves your books, though. She says you can raise goose bumps on goose bumps on a dead person.”

“Tell her I said thank you.” Nathan chuckled, deciding that it was refreshing to find someone he was giving money to for something who didn’t gush about his books and even admitted that she hadn’t read any of them.

“Ready to see your new home?” She asked.

“Let’s go.” Nathan answered, shifting his Vintage Mustang into gear and slowly negotiating the dirt road leading downward.

“It was built in 1952.” Cindy told him again as they finally got a good look at the sprawling, low slung ranch style house that sat right in the center of the dell. “And as you can see, it has been well maintained even though no one has lived in it for years.”

Nathan nodded in agreement, noting that the house appeared to be newly painted, and the grounds surrounding it had the manicured look of careful gardening. “Will the service who has been doing all this still be available now?”

“Of course.” Cindy assured him. “I’ll just let them know that you wish for them to continue as they have been and let them contact you regarding their rates and the days they’ll be available for you.”

“Good, then the utilities and phone are turned on already?” Nathan thought the house appeared as welcoming as its surroundings and thought he’d made a good decision about purchasing it.

“Yes, as you specified.” The young woman nodded. “All the connection fees and the first month’s billings have been taken care of, like you wanted.”

“Glad to hear it.” He answered as he pulled to a stop in front of the house. “Has the satellite dish been installed?”

“Yes, with connections for computers, television, and FM/AM stereo radio if you have that and want to use it.” She pointed out the dish, sitting in a clearing that would get little interference from the surrounding trees even if the weather was bad.

They both shivered once he had used his new key to open the front door and enter the house. Cindy stifled a giggle and told him. “I think the guys set the air conditioning a little low, don’t you?”

“New system.” Nathan shrugged. “It’s probably putting out more cool air than the installers expected. Central air tends to sneak up on people who aren’t used to it.”

But even once he was used to the cool, dry air in the house, the hairs at the back of his neck still refused to go down. He dismissed it as a reaction to actually owning a house for the first time.

But something at the back of his mind, way down with the atavistic ape and reptile that all humans harbor, wanted to hiss, claw and go into fighting mode for a few long seconds. Even when he consciously pushed those feelings of fear aside, the animal parts of his brain remained wary if not actively on guard.

Distracting himself from that by lifting the dust cover off a couch to reveal a nearly pristine antique with a low whistle he looked at the smooth, spare lines of the ‘fifties modern’ couch appreciatively.

“The furnishings came with the house.” Cindy informed him, needlessly, but she almost seemed to be apologizing for the pale green and white striped upholstery. “If it doesn’t suit you, I’m sure replacing it would be no trouble at all.”

“It’s fine.” Nathan assured the woman with a pleasant smile. “Are these the original furnishings?”

“Yes. The trust set up for maintenance of the place provided for refinishing and reupholstering of the furniture in addition to keeping the house and grounds in good condition.”

“You mentioned that in our correspondence.” He said while giving the living room a curious look. “Why was there a trust fund set up for maintenance of the place at all?”

“The original owners, Johnathan and Grace Hazlett had no children, or relatives that were able to be tracked down.” Cindy answered. “They were wealthy, and more than a bit strange, too. I guess they put all their love and energy that would have gone to children into this place and wanted it preserved when they were gone. Their legacy to the future maybe?”

“I’ve heard of odder things.” Nathan nodded. “How long did they live here?”

“Ten or twelve years is all.” The young woman answered with a frown. “They died in a plane crash. John Hazlett owned his own plane and the couple frequently went on trips in it. A freak storm caught them on one of those trips and he lost control of the aircraft according to the local newspapers.”

“Too bad. But setting up a trust to maintain a house no one will inherit is a bit odd even with some of the things I’ve seen or heard about.” Nathan shrugged. “Let’s have a look at the rest of the place so I can get you back into town and start working on getting settled in here.”

“Sounds good to me.” Cindy answered with a dazzling smile. “I’m not much of a country girl to tell you the truth. All these woods kind of make me nervous at times.”

The couple was being observed as they moved through the house. Passively following the initial quick probes to feel them out and determine if either was suitable, it was content to bide its time. The male would be back soon and would fill its needs adequately.

It watched as the pair left then drove away in their vehicle. Yes, this would work out very satisfactorily.

“I should tell you again.” Cindy gave Nathan a long, worried look while ignoring the plate in front of her. “That house has a bad reputation. Other people who have moved into it either moved out suddenly or had some really strange things happen to them then moved out.”

“The history is one of the reasons I bought the place.” He reassured her.

“I just want to make sure you know that the locals won’t go near the place.” She said with a frown. “And I know there is a reason for that.”

“I write horror stories.” He grinned, shrugging off her concern while gently laying one hand over one of hers to show he wasn’t discounting her worries. “I think I can handle anything my house throws at me.”

“That place is bad for some reason, I felt it when we walked in, didn’t you?” Cindy responded. “I did my best to discourage you from buying the place even if the commission is enough to keep me going for a year.”

“I know, I know. It was the central air that had us shivering.” He shook his head and smiled at her while ignoring his own barely conscious fear when they entered the house. “I do appreciate your concern, but it won’t stop me from moving in. I want the quiet — the atmosphere.”

She took a moment to collect her thoughts, and feelings by taking a sip of her coffee. “I just hope you don’t find that the ‘atmosphere’ you’re looking for isn’t more than you can handle.”

“I’m not belittling the things you’ve heard about that place most of your life, or at least since you’ve lived here. You did mention that you weren’t born and raised around here, I remember that.” Nathan sighed. “But to tell you the truth, I’ve come to kind of a dead end with my writing and need something to stimulate me and my muse. That house, its isolation, its reputation, and yes, its atmosphere is just what I need to get the creative juices flowing again. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you going back there tonight?”

“No, I’m staying in a motel.” Nathan told her. “The moving company will be here with my things tomorrow, and I’ll go in with them then stay.”

“Well just think about what I’ve been telling you, okay?”

“Sure.” Nathan nodded, troubled by her concern but also shaping a new character for a novel from what he’d seen of her.

He had returned. Though there were an annoying number of others with him that would soon end. It watched patiently while the movers placed the man’s belongings where he wanted them. Then it made sure to hasten the interlopers’ departure. Once the others were gone, the shaping, the feeding, could begin. The wait, the long wait, would soon be over.

Once the movers had gone, Nathan allowed himself a little time to sit in the kitchen and enjoy one of the beers the two men who had unloaded the relatively few things he had arranged to be brought had left. Eyeing the boxes marked for the kitchen, he sighed. Even though he’d planned to start with hooking up his computer and making sure of all the connections, something in him seemed insistent on getting the kitchen straightened up first.

“Probably because I’m in here staring at the stuff.” He grumbled good-naturedly before finishing the beer and starting to unpack and store the kitchen stuff.

An hour and a half later, Nathan looked over the well organized kitchen and shook his head while feeling a surge of unfamiliar satisfaction. “Wow, I never took so long to get things set up in a kitchen before. I usually just put things where they fit and try to remember where I put them later.”

He looked around, taking in how the blender, the toaster, and his microwave were arranged, easy to reach from all points of the kitchen, and not all crowded together. Pots, pans, dishes, cups and glasses were all neatly arranged on shelves in cabinets that he’d made sure were clean and had wiped down before placing his things in them. Canned goods, dry goods, and incidentals were all put away, and he really had no memory of doing that beyond a few fuzzy images and knowing that he’d worked steadily at getting things done and organized. Seeing the time that had gone by, he knew he had to have done it, though.

“Wow, looks like my mom set this all up.” He shook his head then went to do what he’d intended to get done first.

Nathan rearranged a few odds and ends in the living room after getting his television and phone hooked up then making sure they worked as they should. In a fairly spacious room off the living room that may have once been a dining room, his computer beeped as it accepted incoming e-mails.

Looking at the figurines he had been fussing with, the man felt uncomfortably as if someone was staring at his back. When he suddenly turned to see if someone was actually there, there was no one, and nothing. “Not even a mouse. It must be ‘new house jitters’ or something. There is nothing there, Nathan my man.”

Still, he continued feeling that prickling sense of being observed by a not so friendly someone or something.

October in the Ozarks could get very warm during the day, but at night the temperatures plummeted. Cursing himself for forgetting that fact, Nathan built a large, cheerfully blazing and popping fire in the fireplace that filled half of one wall in the living room. “Idiot. Everything else was all set up, but you just had to assume the furnace was on, too. Well, it’s time to find it and make sure it is so I don’t spend the night shivering or huddled up next to the fireplace in a sleeping bag.”

He had been into the basement earlier in the day, carrying some empty boxes he wanted to keep down to make sure they didn’t go out with the large pile of trash any move can generate once things have been unpacked. “This part of the house wasn’t so creepy this afternoon.” He told himself, while resisting the urge to run back up the stairs and wait for daylight to check the furnace.

“Get hold of yourself, man!” Nathan remonstrated himself while slowly walking towards the utility area where the furnace sat waiting. As something else seemed to be waiting.

He felt more relief than he would admit even to himself, once the pilot light was going and he could leave the basement. His return to the well lit upstairs part of the house was a lot more rushed than he tried to allow himself even though he took carefully measured steps and didn’t try to hurry.

But the oppressively thick atmosphere he felt in the basement faded once he made it back upstairs.

He wouldn’t allow himself to admit how relieved he was once the door behind him was tightly closed.

The man was susceptible, and would make a suitable vessel once the necessary changes were made. The work he had done in the kitchen under the entity’s influence had proven that. Following that experimental probe his defenses were up and surprisingly strong, but they were already beginning to erode under the subtle actions taken so far.

Now to seed even more doubt, and of course, fear in the man. The delicious fear that would soon lead to terror. But it would best to start slowly. Oh yes, slowly so the realization that there was no escape bred more of the wonderfully tasty fear up the nearly orgasmic terror that one would feel in time.

The moon, the date, the isolation would all be perfectly in place on the last night of this month. There was more than enough time to play with the man before that time arrived.

Nathan surged up from the bed with a dry mouth and listening very carefully. He could definitely hear a gentle susurrus of silk or some other smooth cloth moving through the otherwise quiet house.

Turning on the bedside lamp, he called out. “Anyone there?”

The rustling sound moved away, but whoever it was seemed to be in no hurry to get away. Or to be at all bothered by his calling out. On leaving the master bedroom he could have sworn he heard the light tapping click of a woman’s heeled shoes on the hardwood floors.

A thorough search of the house, then the grounds around it, turned up nothing at all.

With every light in the house on, Nathan sat in front of the still glowing fireplace and shivered from something more than the thirty-six degree temperature he had experienced outside.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

Nathan started from a sound sleep to see a shadowy figure watching him. Before he could even get out of the bed, the female figure that had been so interested in him wafted out of the bedroom with a musical but chilling little laugh.

He followed her through the house, never quite able to catch up, as the apparition led him through the house like a fox plays with clumsy hounds on ground it knows well.

The shadowy figure gained more form as he followed. Long, dark hair was the first thing to show clearly, then the old fashioned dress, like something from a Nineteen-fifties sitcom or movie. He clearly saw the full skirt, with petticoats underneath it, the sleeves that ended between elbow and wrist, and started hearing the click of high heels on the floor as he continued to follow.

She lead him into the basement and came to a stop in front of a door he hadn’t investigated yet. Then she whispered to him. “All for you, just for you, especially for you.”

She turned slowly, so he could see the blank oval of her face that gradually formed into recognizable features. “Noo!” He screamed then fled the sight of her.

Nathan started awake on one of couches in the living room. He woke up shivering from the cold, the dream and worked to convince himself that it had been a dream while he shivered almost uncontrollably. He tried very hard to convince himself that was because he had forgotten to turn up the heat once he had lit the furnace. A glance at his watch showed it to be only three AM, and the unsettling dream was already fading from his consciousness. Even so, it left an undefined sense of dread he couldn’t quite shake.

“Come on.” He remonstrated at himself. “It was a nightmare. Some of my best stories came from things like that.”

Even so, he turned on every light he passed on the way to turn up the heat then wrapped a blanket around himself while sitting on one of the couches without closing his eyes until dawn.

Nathan wandered almost aimlessly through the house, searching for something he didn’t know how to describe even to himself. He found himself opening cupboards, broom closets, regular closets, and dug into each little nook he found but came no closer to knowing what he was searching for.

After an hour of that fruitless activity, he shook himself out of the unreasoning, and unreasonable, need to find the object of that senseless search. “Man, you have got to get hold of yourself here. Hearing things that aren’t there, hunting through the whole house for something I don’t even have the vaguest notion as to what it is, and letting some dream get to me like this.”

He finished unpacking things and getting them arranged the way he wanted them, got his clothing either hung in the master bedroom’s closet or placed in drawers as needed then grabbed a quick sandwich and beer for lunch.

Following that, he headed into town to do some shopping. Some of his friends were coming out to stay for awhile, which was part of the break he was taking from the constant grind of writing and researching for his books. Both his doctor and agent had insisted that he take the break, and the change of venue had been planned as part of that. He needed to stock up on some things before they arrived.

Yes, the man was receptive. He had resisted the first visions but that was to be expected. That he had seen it at all was most encouraging. The time when the veils thinned was close, worrisomely so given all that needed to be done. But again, he was open to suggestions, and change, like no one else who had tried living in the house had ever been.

There was time enough to do what was needed. More than time if all went well.

“Stocking up for the winter, or are you that heavy a drinker?” A familiar voice asked from behind him as he loaded several cases of beer and other spirits into the back of his car.

“Neither one, actually.” He grinned, turning to see Cindy Matheson watching him with a bemused expression. “I have some friends coming in for a while and need to get enough to keep them happy. You should see the load of food and soft drinks I have in the back seat.”

“You’ve made some local merchants very happy.” She chuckled while peeking into the well stuffed back seat of the Mustang. “Be careful you don’t bottom out on the way back to the house.”

“I plan to drive very slowly once I get to the driveway.”

“Good plan.” She nodded then asked. “So when are your friends going to be here?”

They’ll start getting in tomorrow.” He answered then with a mock serious expression added. “So if you see some confused looking citified folk wandering around, they probably belong out at my place. Please point them the right direction and tell them to call me if they really get lost.”

“I will.” She answered with a laugh then turned serious. “So how are you getting along out there? Any problems?”

“Problems?” Nathan shook his head a bit too emphatically. “No, nothing I can complain about.”

“All right, that’s good to hear.” She told him. “Remember that if something does come up, anything at all, you can call me and I’ll do what I can to set it right for you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, and appreciate it.” He answered while suppressing a yawn. “Sorry, didn’t sleep well last night. New place, unfamiliar surroundings, all that.”

“Well I hope you get settled in comfortably before you drop from exhaustion.” Cindy moved a strand of blonde hair from her cheek that a small breeze had blown out of place. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Really.” Nathan assured her. “I’ve just had a lot to handle over the past week or so. The trip to get here, getting all my things in and arranged, rearranging some of them after that, you know how it can be with a move.”

“Yes, I can sympathize.” Tilting her head to the left a bit, she nodded. “Just remember, call me if you have problems. I mean any kind of problems, okay?”

“Sure.” Nathan agreed, growing a bit impatient with her insistence on that, but working to remain polite. “I will. Now I need to get going. It was good seeing you again, Cindy.”

“Good to see you, too.” She smiled, turned to walk away then turned back to watch as he got in the car and drove away. The expression on her pretty face was troubled for a moment then cleared as she went back to the business of getting lunch.

Once back at the house, Nathan put the beer in the walk in fridge, stocked the bar with the other spirits and mixers he’d purchased, made sure all the perishable goods were in the fridge, too, and filled several cupboards with snacks and quick meals that didn’t require refrigeration.

Through all that he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching. “That’s ridiculous, there’s no one else in the house right now. No one but a ghost could be watching me in here.” That had been meant as reassuring, but the last part had the hackles on the back of his neck raised before he almost literally shook himself and dismissed the idea.

“I may write about things like that, but things don’t really go bump in the night, or lurk in dark corners to watch some hapless human with ill intent.” He muttered, as much to shake the uneasy feeling he got at times while inside the house as to hear something other than the breeze in the trees or the creaks and groans of the house as it settled to accommodate different outside temperatures.

He put that uneasiness aside and went into his study to work on his next book. Once immersed in the tale of a thwarted demon returning to plague a descendent of the one who defeated it, he managed to forget about the unease he had been experiencing.

Yes. This one was both sensitive and vulnerable. As many others had done, he refused to believe that anything he couldn’t touch, see, or confront directly was present in the house. He would learn differently. But by then it would be too late.

Nathan felt good. He’d gotten five thousand words done and furthered his plot quite nicely during the afternoon and evening he’d spent on his computer’s word processor. He celebrated that with a grilled Kansas City Strip, baked potato and several beers, then had watched a football game on television.

Once that was done, and he had uncharacteristically cleaned up the mess from dinner before he went to bed, Nathan showered, made sure the doors were locked and the alarm was active, turned out the lights as he went and literally fell into bed. He was asleep before he even managed to crawl under the covers.

The dreams came as they had the night before.

He awakened to the sound of a woman’s high heels on the hardwood floors of the living room, and hesitated before getting out of bed. The alarm had been activated and he was the only one with the code other than the company supplying the equipment and back up. How had anyone been able to get in without causing it to go off? Especially when that someone seemed not at all concerned about concealing her presence.

The house was cold again, even though he had turned on the heat. Nathan grabbed a thick robe and wrapped himself in it then slid his feet into a pair of slippers to hold the chill from the floors from making his feet colder than they already were.

The sounds of a woman walking stayed in the living room as he approached that part of the house, even though something in him urged that he ignore it and run back to the bedroom. Once there he again saw the apparition clad in clothing from the Nineteen-Fifties gliding around the room. She turned to him, moved forward and held out her hand invitingly.

He was frozen in place as she approached him. Everything about her was crystal clear. The powder blue, full skirted dress with rustling petticoats beneath, the white gloves, the high heels and her long, elegantly coiffed hair. He could even smell her perfume, a spicy floral scent, but one thing wouldn’t come clear at all. The oval of her face was a wavering blank spot. Nothing in that space even hinted at facial features.

When their hands touched, just fingertip to fingertip, the blank space of her face began to swirl and take on definition. As it became clearer, Nathan shook his head, pulled his hand out of hers, and screamed in terrified denial. “NO!! That can’t be!”

He jerked awake, his tee-shirt and shorts, and the sheets, soaked in a cold sweat. Parts of the dream were still vividly clear, but most of it was lost in the fog of awakening. Shivering, Nathan pulled the sodden blanket around himself seeking warmth he had lost during the nightmare.

Again, he couldn’t sleep following the dream, so took another hot shower, dressed, and brewed a pot of strong coffee to keep him awake. Though he didn’t want to admit it, Nathan didn’t want to return to that dream. Not at all. He would almost die to keep from going back to that, he thought then wondered why he was having such a strong, negative reaction to something that was only a dream.

Nothing he came up with could give him an answer to that.

“Man, you look like Hell.” David Lane, Nathan's agent, told him when met at the door. Then lessened the impact of that by saying. “I need a drink. Finding this place was like being on a scavenger hunt after midnight with no flashlight.”

“Yeah, it is kind of out of the way.” Nathan agreed with a grin. “Come on in, the bar is fully stocked but you’ll have to get ice out of the kitchen for now. Who else is coming? And why isn’t Aggie with you?”

“First things first.” Dave insisted as he rummaged behind the bar, triumphantly emerged with a glass and bottle of single malt scotch and smirked. “Don’t need ice for this stuff. Aggie’s got a shoot somewhere in Maine of all places, the photographer likes rocks for God’s sake, can you believe that? Larry and Sue should be here in a few minutes, they stopped in town for some things, Clive and Zoe will be coming tomorrow morning and Ham will be here tomorrow night.”

“Sorry Aggie couldn’t make it.” Nathan answered while accepting a glass of the scotch from Dave. “Laura absolutely refuses to come out here, but things were pretty much over between us before I moved. This just confirms that it’s over between us.”

“Probably for the best, my friend.” Dave nodded as sagely as he was able, given that he was obviously checking out the living room and its furniture. “Man, you made a killing when you got this place for the price you did! That furniture alone is worth what you paid for the place.”

“So I’ve been told.” Nathan sighed.

“Hey, lighten up, this place is great!” Dave urged.

“Yeah, I suppose you’ve been regaled with its history?” Nathan chuckled but then sobered as he recalled his recent nightmares.

“Oh, yeah, the locals spared no details about warning us how evil this place is.” Dave laughed. “If a plane crash causes a curse, half the places in this country are cursed.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“What?” Dave gave Nathan a careful look again. “You do look like you’ve been losing sleep lately, is it just because of the move and change in time?”

“Dunno.” Nathan muttered. “I’ve been having some really vivid nightmares since I got here.”

“All the better for your writing, right?” Dave grinned.

“Yeah, I guess.” Nathan answered then grinned in response despite his uneasy feelings. “Come on, I’ll show you the room you’ll be staying in and you can start unpacking.”

Now things could progress. The newcomer would be an excellent test for the new bait. A conduit was in place, the shaping started, and the necessary transformation, at least for the night, would be doable. That last wouldn’t hold past the dawn, but going through it once would make the chosen vessel more susceptible to the permanent changes coming.

Patience was required at this stage. Small feedings would have to be enough. But it had been so long. So many years had passed without a taste of what was craved. But that would change if things were moved forward carefully. A mistake like the one made with the last host would be avoided this time.

Larry and Sue arrived as the two friends were trading good natured barbs about Nathan starting to believe some of the things he wrote about.

Larry and Susan Fitzpatrick made an odd looking couple. Larry was doing well to reach five foot six on his tip-toes, while Sue was the image of an Amazon at six foot two and built proportionally so she didn’t appear that tall when seen from a distance. But the two were hopelessly in love, something that their friends spent many hours teasing them about.

“Hi!” Sue gave the pair already in the house a sunny smile. “It looks like you two have started without us!”

“Why don’t you have Larry over your shoulder?” Dave smirked back in response.

“Because I’m carrying the goodies.” Larry faked an exhausted pant while holding up a grocery bag full of chips, nuts, and crackers then gave his wife a mock glare. “And she refused to carry me in this time! She’s getting lazy and we’ve only been married ten years!”

“Oh, pooh.” Sue grinned. “You need the exercise.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Larry grimaced then laughed. “Show us our room and I’ll teach this oversized wench a few things!”

“Right this way.” Nathan laughed, feeling better than he had in days while he opened the door with an over-expansive gesture to usher them into the bedroom they would be using. “Enjoy.”

The four of them enjoyed the evening, and Nathan managed to forget the foreboding he felt and his nightmares. For at least a while.

Nathan was walking through the house and could see everything clearly even though it was obviously dark. He thought about turning some lights on then dismissed that thought because it wasn’t needed.

His body felt wrong, askew in some way. His center of balance was different, and there was a bouncing sensation on his chest while his hips seemed to be moving in different ways than he was used to. But every time he started worrying about that kind of thing, it was submerged by a need to do something immediately that had no care for other worries.

It simply wanted. And that want would not be denied.

Dan was sleeping, if somewhat restlessly and the sheets were thrown aside to reveal his nude body as if he was waiting for something. Nathan knew that something was him, though he couldn’t quite understand why.

He was horrified when his body leaned forward to gently kiss his best friend’s penis, then settled itself into a comfortable position with his legs spread across the other man’s hips. Nathan leaned forward to put his mouth against Dan’s, and gave the man a deep kiss, which got the arousal down below that had been hoped for.

“Oh, come on, sweetheart.” He breathed into an ear he had just nibbled on while rubbing his body against Dan’s. “You can do better than that, and I’ll make it worth the time and energy. I promise.”

Dan took an engorged nipple in his mouth and started sucking at it while his hands worked the generous breasts hovering over his face. His erection began to prod Nathan’s crotch with electrifying results for Nathan.

“Fuck me, Dan.” Nathan breathed while guiding the erect member into something he shouldn’t have had at all but didn’t care about the dislocation at that point. “Split me like a melon!”

The penetration was exquisite. Nathan felt as if heaven had come to Earth when Dan’s hot, hard member entered him and started the time honored in and out motions. Nathan widened the space between his legs and pushed back to get as much of that wonderful feeling as he could.

As that happened, he also felt something flow into and through him. As if he was simply a way station for whatever had passed but he was so engrossed with the sensations of the present that thinking about that was not something he was capable of doing.

Nathan snuggled up against Dan and kissed his friend with a lot of tongue. “Thank you, that was incredible.”

The odd feeling of something flowing from Dan to somewhere else through him came back.

“That couldn’t have happened!” Nathan started awake, still feeling the satisfaction in his guts and crotch from what had happened in the dream. “Why did I dream of being a girl getting well fucked by a well endowed guy? And why was that guy Dan?”

Checking to make sure that none of the anatomical differences he’d felt in the dream were real, Nathan forced himself to get up, shower, and get dressed. For some reason he was reluctant to see Dan.

The first feeding had gone better than expected. The Nathan subject actually enjoyed the feelings from the act that gave sustenance. That was something to use in the future, but that had been something that could only be hoped for until the act was performed for the first time. The link was firm, the transformation had worked flawlessly, and the bait had experienced having sex as a female. And liked it.

“Oh man, you wouldn’t believe the dream I had last night!” Dan greeted Nathan with a wide grin. “This babe I didn’t know at all showed up in my bedroom — and get this — she was naked! Then she seduced me! I was so hot! Plus the sex was incredible!”

Part of Nathan agreed whole-heartedly. “I told you this house gives people vivid dreams.”

“Oh, yeah.” Dan grinned. “I could do with more of that kind of dream. Wish I could meet that gal in real life!”

You have a part of Nathan’s mind answered. Aloud, and shaking at the idea that he actually had done what his dreams said he’d done, he noted that Dan seemed a bit shorter and less — bulky. Muscles that his friend once had weren’t visible now.

He was a really good fuck. Something in Nathan’s mind put in with satisfaction obvious in its tone.

Nathan did his best to ignore that. Though he knew what had happened wasn’t simply a vivid dream, and that frightened him badly.

“So when do you expect everyone else to wander in?” Dan questioned over a simple breakfast of bacon and eggs that Nathan had put together.

“Clive and Zoe should be in this afternoon sometime.” He answered then took a sip of coffee before going on. “Amber and Carl plan to arrive at about the same time. Claire, I’m not sure about.”

“Claire had some things to clear up at work before she could leave.” Dan answered with a shrug. She should be here .no later than this evening unless something else sneaks up on her before she can get away.”

“Sounds like Claire.” Nathan chuckled. “That woman would miss her own funeral if her job needed her.”

“Yeah, but she’s hot!” Dan put in fervently to his friend’s amusement then added almost defensively. “And when she does take time off, she enjoys herself.”

Picturing the lithe, beautiful brunette and recalling other times the uninhibited young woman had really let go to have a good time Nathan nodded with a smirk that was half appreciative and half licentious. “Yeah, that’s true. You wouldn’t be hoping to help her celebrate would you? Maybe just a little?”

“Oh you know it.” Dan nodded and winked.

“Best of luck to you, my friend.” Nathan toasted the other with his coffee cup.

“Now, you never really gave me a tour of this place. “Dan finished his own coffee and gave his friend an expectant look. “From all I’ve heard you just about stole this place and it’s in fantastic condition. Truthfully I’d expected to find you huddled around some cast iron stove in a ruin instead of this!”

“Not a chance.” Nathan shook his head. “This house has all the amenities. You know how much I hate camping. Roughing it isn’t something I’d do willingly or cheerfully.”

“Good point.” Dan nodded. “I remember that trip we made to Big Sur a few years ago. You were miserable even if you tried not to show it.”

“Don’t remind me.” Nathan shuddered. “Cold, okay, luke warm showers, a bear ate my cooler, and there were ticks.”

“Sometimes you’re such a girl, Younger.” Dan teased with a grin to show he was kidding. “I can’t believe that you are descended from that gunfighter and outlaw.”

“My great grandfather was a cheat, a liar, and one sneaky bastard.” Nathan pointed out. “He also preferred having the amenities around him when it was practical.”

“Whatever.” Dan grinned then rose from his chair. “That tour?”

“Let’s wait until Larry and Sue decide to stagger out of their room so I can at least get all of you here in one fell swoop.”

“Did I hear our names being taken in vain out here?” Larry questioned sleepily while Sue smirked at him from behind. “He never was real good at waking up in the morning. He’ll stagger to the coffee maker, cuss if it didn’t get set on automatic the night before and just about pour the first cup down his throat without taking a breath.”

“Wouldn’t be quite so bad if you didn’t keep me awake until the sun was coming up.” Larry grumbled good-naturedly then visibly brightened when he spotted the object of his search.

“You want a cup or will you just take it straight from the pot?” Nathan chuckled as he handed a large mug to the other man as he passed the table.

“Thanks.” Larry mumbled then continued on to his found treasure of caffeine.

“Ten years and you two still act like newlyweds at night.” Dan chuckled.

“Hey!” Sue shrugged with a grin. “We have our needs you know! Besides it’s good exercise.”

“The basement bother you?” Dan asked as Nathan hesitated before opening the door leading downstairs.

“Not really.” He lied then started down the stairs. “I’ll admit that the place kind of spooked me the first night I was here, but that was mostly because of the quiet, except for the wind in the trees and the creaking of the house. I’m used to living in the city where there is always some kind of traffic noise, sirens, you know, things like that. Living here is going to take some adjustment is all that’s happening.”

“You think you’ll be able to write here?” The agent in Dan was showing, and Nathan chuckled.

“Oh yeah.” I had a really productive day yesterday. Fifteen thousand words and I think all of them were gold. I’ll have to reread it in a few days to make sure, but it felt good.”

“That’s all I needed to hear, bro.” Dan nodded as he surveyed the basement. “You never told me the basement was finished.”

“It…” Nathan almost said ‘isn’t’, and held back a gasp of shocked surprise when he saw the comfortably appointed recreation room, complete with a pool table, decent stereo system and a bar. “Never came up is all.”

“Are we going to ‘discover’ a hot tub out back, too?” Dan asked with a grin.

“That would be a nice thing to find.” Sue laughed and nudged her husband in the side while winking.

“Woman, you’re going to wear me down to a nub.” Larry said with a chuckle and slow side to side shake of his head.

“You never know.” Nathan laughed and gave his friend a friendly slap to the shoulder and grinning at the other two while his mind was frantically trying to understand just how the new things in the basement had appeared. He didn’t care for the only answer he found.

Just that simple touch, fleeting as it was, sent chills up and down the writer’s spine and had his nether regions reacting far differently than he would have admitted even under torture. “Come on, you can play down here later, there’s more to see.”

This was working very well. The bait was still confused, and skittish. That was no surprise, but it would be a good idea to keep that one in the house. The last bait had successfully escaped, though that ended in her death, and the death of the one who had been providing the energy to improve the house. It would be easy enough to insure the new bait would remain close to the house. A little gift had been left for the bait to find. Seeing what Nathan would do with it should be interesting and informative.

“What the Hell?” Nathan said to himself when he saw the garment bag and boxes sitting on his bed. Dan was safely ensconced in the unexplained recreation room making good use of the bar and pool table, Larry and Sue were out walking the grounds so he was alone for the moment.

Which was just as well once he checked the contents of the things left on his bed.

The garment bag contained a vintage dress that had to be worth a small fortune. The thing was made of robin’s egg blue taffeta, and had a full skirt that would reach to mid-calf on him. He had held it up against himself for some reason. The dress had sleeves that went down to just between his elbows and wrists — three quarters length he knew from somewhere that he wasn’t familiar with. There were also petticoats to go under the skirt. The dress had a side zip, a stand up collar, and looked as if it was brand new.

One of the boxes contained an old fashioned light blue girdle with side zip along with hooks and eyes to fasten it along with garters for stockings. There was also an unopened package of sheer, seamed silk stockings there to compliment the girdle. The light blue bullet bra came as no real surprise when he found it. A look at the tag proclaimed it to be a 38D, ample enough for most people but Nathan had the uncomfortable feeling that it would perfectly fit the breasts he had worn the previous night in his dream.

The black patent leather three inch heeled pumps, and matching three inch wide belt in another box came as no surprise given what he’d found already. Nathan reluctantly found himself envisioning the woman who could wear such things and felt a thrill he didn’t wish to acknowledge.

The smallest box held a pearl choker, bracelet, and earrings.

Instead of throwing the things under the bed, or in the trash, he found himself carefully putting them away in the closet and some of the empty drawers of the dressers in the room.

The shaping was going well. The subject male had not noticed the slight changes to his physical self as of yet. Another feeding would make certain he would be unable to ignore them, or what he was becoming. The still submerged terror the bait was feeling was nearly as delicious as the essence drawn out of the other male the night before.

Everyone else had arrived before sundown, and the friends were lounging in the recreation room while Nathan grilled some steaks and chicken breasts on the patio just outside of the sliding glass doors from the room to a small, but intricately made patio. He was very sure that patio hadn’t been there earlier, but just like the recreation room, its presence was undeniable.

Dan had hooked up with Claire, and both seemed to be hugely enjoying themselves, and the booze that was behind the bar.

Clive and Zoe Sartain, very married and not ashamed to let people see that were sipping at bottles of Sol beer, Mexican and very good, while shooting an energetic game of pool.

“You have a great place here, Nathan!” Clive called out as that one entered the room with a platter of rare beef and well done chicken. “It’s hard to believe no one has lived here for years before you showed up.”

“Yeah, it is kind of amazing.” Nathan nodded. “The original owners set up a trust fund to keep the place up, believe it or not.”

“You do know that the locals don’t like this place, don’t you?” Zoe asked as she negligently pushed a strand of flame red hair away from her face. “No one we asked in town wanted to give us directions until we insisted, then hinted at awful things happening here in the past. Things that will start again now the place is lived in.”

Ham, George Larson, a large man with not an ounce of fat on his six foot four frame, showed again why he’d earned the nickname everyone he knew used by going into a cheesy Orson Welles imitation. “And now all the players are together with the admittedly foolish aim of holding a Halloween party in a haunted house. What will they discover on that night when the veils thin and the dead walk among us, what will be revealed to them? But most importantly, will they retain their sanity or even lives when that fateful night is ended with the welcoming dawn?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, Ham.” Nathan grinned while serving up steak and chicken. “I’ve heard the stories, too. I have to get the yard and cleaning services to come in from Springfield. None of the locals want anything to do with the place. Even the real estate agent who sold it to me doesn’t like it out here. But the atmosphere is perfect for a horror writer given all that.”

“I’m sure it is, dear.” Zoe grinned at him with that knowing look of one sophisticate to another and turned to Ham with a smirk. “Still overacting are we?”

“Don’t know about you.” Ham said complacently before taking a sip from his beer. “I got over that habit a few years back except when I’m around friends. William Shatner I’m not.”

“Keep it up and you may not have any friends left.” She teased.

“Ah the tribulations an actor must go through.” Ham opined then had to dodge a number of pillows thrown at him.

“Oh believe it on the atmosphere bit. The place isn’t a dark, brooding Gothic or Victorian pile. But it does seem to have its quirks and rather nasty reputation around here.” Nathan answered with an internal shudder he couldn’t really explain. He started joking and passing food around to hide his unease.

It started the same once he had fallen asleep. Nathan was awakened by the click of heels on the hardwood floors and the swish of heavy, slick materials rubbing against each other. The sounds were approaching him in the darkness and he couldn’t move enough to turn on a light.

But was he awake? Could a wakeful person feel the kind of terror he was experiencing in the dark bedroom and survive it? Hair at the back of his neck stood straight out, hackles in a human, and if he could have growled like a frightened animal, he would have.

She entered the room and paused at the door, in the same dress, long hair tumbling around her shoulders, the scent of some exotic perfume filling the air around her and stared at him with that horrifying blankness where a face should be.

Again, she reached towards him but this time she also moved closer. Close enough for her gloved hand to touch his. Once again the blankness of her face swam in his vision and began taking on definition he wanted to refuse to see. Even before he could scream out a protest he felt her pulling him into herself, not in a simple hug, but something far more intimate and frightening. The pair merged.

She shed her clothing while strutting along the hallway. Leaving a trail of old fashioned dress, shoes, lingerie, and gloves that faded away as she walked away from them. Her goal was very clear to the part of Nathan still able to think of anything but the aching need permeating the composite being he’d been suborned into.

“No, I won’t do it.” He tried stopping the undulating, femininely confident walk towards one of the bed rooms but had no success.

“Yes we will, dearest.” A sultry female voice responded with a throaty laugh. “You are me, I am you, and we need this. You know that is true as well as I do. Feel the need. Feel the power you have to satiate it. Don’t fight this, it will only make it harder for you and the end results won’t change. You and I are going to be one. With one driving need that we will serve. There is no choice.”

Nathan couldn’t even moan a protest as the amalgam of himself and the ghost(?) demon(?), whatever led him to the door of the bedroom he’d sent two of his friends to for the night.

“This will be sooo sweet.” The sultry, low contralto assured him as his hand, slim with long red painted nails, reached to open the door then moved quietly towards the couple sleeping in the bed. The male seemed restless while the female appeared insensate to anything.

“Clive, darling.” The being Nathan had become in his nightmare quietly called while gently, provocatively stroking the man’s chest. “Come with me for a while and I’ll show you places you’ve never dreamed of being.”

“I won’t cheat on Zoe.” Clive insisted but the stirring in his crotch said otherwise.

“It isn’t cheating if she agrees to it.”

As if on cue, Zoe stirred briefly, and sleepily told him. “Go ahead and enjoy yourself Clive, I need to sleep so don’t worry about me.”

Clive stared at Zoe as if she had grown horns and a spade tipped tail for a few moments before looking back to the creature Nathan had become part of.

“Leave her for awhile.” Nathan smiled at Clive, reaching out delicate, long nailed hands to pull him from the bed he was sharing with his wife. “I’ll show you things, take you places you never imagined and she will never know.”

“Who are you?” Clive asked worried but caught in the seductive web she had spun from appearance and pheromones.

Nathan reached up to push his long, midnight black hair away from his face and pouted. “Come along dear. I promise you’ll never forget this night if you do.”

“But what’s your name?”

“Oh, call me Natalie, or whatever you like.” Nathan gave him a slow, sexy, seductive smile. “I’m flexible.”

“Natalie.” Clive nodded as if putting a name to the dreamlike apparition vamping him made things right. “Yes, show me what you can do, honey.”

“What about your wife?” Nathan questioned, just to raise some guilt. Something in him wanted that and gloried in causing it.

“She’ll never know, you told me that.” He told her.

“But you will.” Nathan whispered while taking his hand and leading him out of the room.

Nathan awakened with a twisted gut, and wanting to be sick. Last night’s dream had been extremely vivid, and if it was even close to accurate he had pulled a loving husband away from his wife without even trying.

Worse, his body felt wrong somehow.

His balance was slightly off, and he actually felt flesh on his chest move when he did anything other than simply letting himself rest in the bed.

Plus there was a feeling of deep satisfaction, like he’d had really good sex the night before. He shied away from contemplating that. And from what was happening to both himself and his friends. The odd feelings from his own body were unsettling at best, and at worst very frightening if he allowed himself to consider them in concert with the dreams he’d had over the past two nights.

Dave appeared to be back to his usual ebullient self, which made Nathan feel a little better, but Clive was obviously tired, and his face appeared to have acquired a few lines that hadn’t been there the day before.

“Are you feeling okay this morning, Clive?” Nathan questioned with more than a little worry in his voice.

“Oh, I think so.” The other answered. “I was tired when we got here and I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m sure I’ll be fine once I get used to the bed. You know how that works.”

“Yeah, I had the same problem the first few nights I was here.” Nathan agreed while hoping that’s all it was.

A few minutes later Amber and Carl ambled into the kitchen, both appearing well rested and ready for anything the day might hold. Sue grinned, shook her long blonde hair off her face and gracefully seated herself while Larry moved to get them both coffee with a commiserating glance to Amber. "At least he isn’t quite as bad as Larry is before morning coffee. Some could mistake him for a Zombie if he’d moan ‘brains’ before he downs half a pot of the stuff. So what’s on the agenda for today? Everyone got their costumes for tomorrow night, or will we have to make a run into town to get one for somebody?”

Larry, never much of a conversationalist before his first few cups of coffee for the day, simply grunted in response to his girlfriend’s morning enthusiasm. Everyone else assured her that they all had their costumes. Though Nathan had not managed to get one for himself, he joined in with guilty thoughts about the vintage clothing he’d found on his bed previously. Though the idea of actually putting those clothes on made his skin crawl, there was also anticipation in the mix of feelings he got when thinking about it. More anticipation than he really cared to examine closely.

Things were progressing well. The chosen bait was resigned to wearing the clothing that had been left for him, and with that another necessary part of the Shaping would be accomplished. The night was almost here, the time when the power needed for all the planning to bear its proper fruit would be accessible and put to use.

The last reinforcement of the bait’s acceptance of his new being would be taken care of tonight. Once that was done, all there was to do would be to wait.

It was decided that more supplies were needed for the upcoming party, and for the rest of the week following since everyone was planning to stay on following Halloween if the weather didn’t turn nasty.

Nathan grabbed his keys following Larry and Sue out the door. He felt a slight twisting sensation inside and stumbled twisting an ankle when he did. “Damn! I’ve never been clumsy like this before. As he stood, a sharp pain lanced up his leg from the abused ankle and he abruptly sat back down on the front porch.

“Are you hurt badly?” Sue questioned as he grimaced.

“I think I just twisted it when I went down.” Nathan answered with a wince as he felt the injured ankle. It hurts right now, but no really sharp pains and I didn’t feel anything like a bone breaking.”

“Well, we’d better get you back inside and have a look at it anyway. “Larry decided then grinned. “I know, I know, I’m a pediatrician but you should know that kids come up with some pretty inventive was of hurting themselves. Trust me I’m pretty sure I’ve seen just about every variation there is. Now let’s get you inside so I can give it a look, no arguments.”

Several minutes later, with his ankle soaking in a pan of hot water and Epsom salts, Nathan could only sigh in frustration. He’d really wanted to get into town for at least awhile, get a different perspective on things than the house and surrounding grounds offered. And maybe, just maybe, be able to figure out what was going on with the place, himself, and his friends.

“I don’t see any swelling.” Dave offered as he handed Nathan a beer. “I know, it’s a little early for this, but you’ve been kind of antsy since I got here, and I think you were before that. Drink up, relax, then if you want we can talk about it.”

“Yeah.” Nathan stared ruefully at his ankle. “Though Larry did say that since it hadn’t started swelling right away it most likely isn’t sprained. He thinks I just pulled a few muscles and other stuff the wrong way and it should be fine by tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I heard.” Dan nodded while popping the top of his own beer. “But man, you look terrified right now. What’s going on?”

“I don’t really know.” Nathan was terrified. He had the feeling that the house hadn’t wanted him to get away from it for some reason, so had prevented that with the minor accident. “It’s all too weird for me to really be able to describe it.”

“Coming from you that’s worrisome, my friend.” Dan gave him a steady look. “You said you’d been having some really vivid dreams since you got here. Those got anything to do with it?”

“Yeah.” Nathan admitted. “But I’m not sure how to put it all into words. If nothing else did it, that would scare the bejesus out of me.”

“Hey, buddy, you’ve been working yourself to death lately, we’ve all seen it. You’re tired out is all. I mean, how many books have done in the past three years?”

“I should have an answer to that but right now it slips my mind.”

Not mine, I’m your agent after all. It’s my job to keep you ethereal artistic types grounded, and the number is ten. All on different themes, different kinds of plots, different kinds of characters, no formula writing for my old buddy Nathan, nope, no way, no how. You’re just a little burnt out, man. Take a break, that’s why no one who knows you tried talking you out of leaving LA, we all knew you needed a change of scenery and pace.”

“Okay, you’re probably right.” Nathan leaned back with a sigh of near relief. Maybe all the things he’d been experiencing and seeing were simply the product of a tired mind trying to tell him to slow down.

“I know I am, my friend.” Dan said with a gentle pat to the other’s shoulder before smiling. “And Doctor Dan has just the prescription for you to do that.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re going to tell me whether I want to hear it or not.” Nathan grinned.

“Yup.” Dan nodded almost gleefully. “Relaxation, let go for a while just enjoy life. Have a good time that isn’t centered on conventions, readings, book signings, and all that crap especially the writing for at least a while. You don’t need the money any longer, hell, my modest ten percent has made me richer than I’d ever dreamed could be possible. Just take a break, pal. Even an icon like you needs a vacation once in a while.”

“Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me!” Nathan held up his arms in surrender. “I’ll try it.”

“No you won’t, you’ll do it.” Dan countered with the evil little grin that had stopped overly demanding publishers in their tracks. “Me and the others are going to see to it. From now until the end of next week your computer is off limits except for checking e-mail and managing your accounts, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, ya big bully.” Nathan grinned.

“Hey, how often does anyone get the chance to bully a descendent of Cole Younger the famous outlaw?” Dan lightly responded.

“That’s never really been proven for a fact, the descent stuff.” Nathan shrugged.

“So some woman he hung out with had a kid and gave him the guy’s last name, works for me.”

“Figures.” Nathan groused, but actually felt better about things and managing to forget his own earlier terror while attributing that to both an overactive imagination and being burnt out.

The injury was minor, and would be well healed for the thinning of the veils and access to the power once again. Also, the bait’s friend had unwittingly made the task of Shaping the chosen vessel much easier.

Amber read the file she had unearthed in the newspaper archives and frowned. Nathan had been acting strange, stranger than a mere change of scene and incipient burnout could account for. She did a search for the history of the area and especially the valley that house was in.

What she found not only chilled her to the bone but filled her a great deal of fear for her friend Nathan. As well as filling her with a rock hard resolve to see that what she'd read didn't happen.

The front door opened and the rest of the gang returned triumphantly carrying their loot. There was more beer, of course, snacks, and more substantial fare for real meals. Nathan started to get up and help, but Larry waved him back in the chair. “Nope, you’re wounded and need to stay off that ankle for a bit longer. We know where everything belongs, so just relax and let us take care of things for now.”

“And while they’re doing that,” Amber plopped down on the couch beside him, “I have a story you’ll absolutely love.”

“What is it?” Nathan questioned then shouted into the kitchen to be heard over the conversations and thumps of cupboard doors being closed, punctuated by the rustling of grocery bags. “Hey! Since I’m supposed to be taking it easy could one of you more active types bring me another beer?”

“Look sharp, buddy!” Dan called back from the door as he tossed a can of Tecate towards Nathan who managed to catch it, just barely. “Good hands, my man!”

“I think I’d better let this one sit a while before opening it.” He ruefully set the beer down and returned his attention to Amber. “So what did your reporter’s instincts dig up this time around?”

“Lots, but not near as much as the locals really know about the place.” She said with a grin. “But it’s quite a story even so.”

“Gonna let me in on it or should I get out the bamboo slivers to push under your nails until you crack?” Nathan prodded with a joke.”

“When the others get finished.” She promised with a wink. “I got out of helping put stuff away because I promised to tease you with the information but would wait until the others were here for the tale, too. I wanted to save it for tomorrow night, that would have given me time to make it really spooky, but you know how these yahoos can be when they think they’re out of a loop. Those bamboo splinters would be mild compared to the pleading, browbeating, and other underhanded things they’d do to get the story.”

“Okay, I’ll wait, but not all that patiently.” He tried to pout, but gave it up when Amber started laughing so hard she nearly toppled off the couch.

“I’ll tell you this much before the others get in here.” She told him conspirationally once she stopped laughing and had caught her breath with an added apology. “Your expression, that put on pout was priceless, my four year old niece could learn a few things from you.”

“Had years to practice, but most people ignored it so I quit.”

Just as well, no one really likes a petulant, pouting adult.” She grinned again to show she was teasing then went on in a softer tone of voice. “Did you know the local natives, the original inhabitants around here before the white man came, wouldn’t come near this little valley?”

“No, I hadn’t heard that.” Nathan was interested.

“They called it something that roughly translates into a BAD PLACE TO BE. Bad ground or something like that. They wouldn’t hunt, fish, or forage here even though there was an obvious abundance of game, fish, and fruits here.

People would ignore the warnings, especially in bad times, but not many came out and the braves who did were not the people they had been, something about them being hollowed out is all I got from the rest that I heard.”

“Interesting story.” Nathan nodded but felt a return of the chill he’d been feeling since injuring his ankle. “But people have come in and gone out of this place for years, with no ill effects. Unless you count the couple who originally built this house and had the grounds landscaped.”

“Oh, there’s a story there, too.” Amber mysteriously told me. “But it will have to wait until the first part has been told.”

Soon enough, the others were gathered in the living room with their beverages of choice and Carl handed Amber a light beer that she accepted with a smile of thanks. “Well, since the object of all this was to keep Nate here from working himself to death and help him relax, it’s time for the first part of a story that goes very well the coming of Halloween.”

“The Osage were the predominant, and preeminent tribe in the area for a long time. They were warriors whose males were often over six feet tall, and ranged quite freely throughout Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and I think, Arkansas. They basically ruled this area until the white settlers started appearing from across the Mississippi.” Amber started like a history instructor giving dry facts, but her tone changed with the following sentence. “But even those brave warriors and paramount hunters gave an area in their ‘Empire’ a wide berth. This valley was that place.”

“No kidding?” Dan questioned with a raised eyebrow that denoted both interest and a bit of teasing. “So it still sounds like a history lesson so far.”

“Let her tell the story, Dan.” Claire poked him in the chest with a long nailed finger then ran it down his chest, stopping just above his belt. “Without interruptions, please.”

“I can take a hint.” Dan said in a mock injured tone that had everyone chuckling, giggling or whatever they did to denote amusement. “But if it’s a good story I know a good agent.”

“Me too, Amber grinned then looked around the room and let out a theatrical sigh. “But she’s not here.”

“You wound me, woman, and cruelly!” Dan responded melodramatically then winced as Clair dug the finger above his belt under his shirt and poked. “But as I said, I can take a hint. On with the tale!”

“Now this tale is ancient.” Amber continued, “and was shared by every native people who ever lived in this area in one variation or another. But no tribe ventured into this valley unless they were forced, or desperate. And therein lies the first part of the story.

There was always something about this valley that filled people with unease, making them want to get out a quickly as they could.” Amber continued. “Plus, any time a group entered, not all of them left, and a lot of the males who did get out were like hollowed out shells of who they had been. Like something had sucked the very vitality out of both their bodies and souls. Those who simply disappeared were never seen again, nor was there a trace of them ever discovered.”

The tribes attributed all that to a spirit of some sort which while it was not exactly inimical to humans did demand something in return for the hunting and foraging, even the camping, in its valley. The people were fed and even sheltered in times of shortages, but to be granted that privilege, they lost strong, virile young males.” Amber paused with a hint of dramatics and grinned wickedly. “The males who did return all told similar tales of a beautiful woman made of light and fog, soft, inviting, welcoming to a healthy young man, but her eyes -- oh, her eyes. Those were hot, hungering, coals of need and lust. And they felt her feed off them as they took her as she wanted.”

“Whoa.” Dan shook his head. “She was what, some kind of sexual vampire, or a succubus?”

“Possibly.” Amber nodded then shrugged. “But the tales all say she fed on males, and not just their sexuality. This creature — woman — drained everything from them, masculinity, spirit, strength, everything that really defined them as the men they had been.

But the really interesting thing in all this was that at night, people would hear inhuman laughter intermixed with the desolate sobs of young woman echoing through the valley.” Amber finished with a flourish of hands while leaning forward. "Even more interesting was the legend that at least one of the young men who had entered the valley had become that seductress and even though preying on his/her former friends was something SHE didn't want to do, she did so anyway under the compulsion of the spirit of the valley."

“I’ll bet you were really popular at girl scout campfires when ghost stories were wanted.” Zoe shuddered.

“Oh yeah.” Amber grinned. “But then when the Spanish explorers came through here, their priests declared this valley to be demon haunted and forbade anyone to enter it. Apparently they attempted some kind of exorcism. It didn’t go well.”

“Uh could you define ‘didn’t go well’ a bit more?” Nathan questioned.

“Two priests very messily dead and another two insane, from the sketchy accounts that were written down and those were simply warnings to keep other Spaniards from venturing into this valley.” Amber answered then grinned wickedly.

“I had to ask.” Nathan muttered to general laughter from the group. “So this is the real story? You aren’t making all this up just to make us nervous or set things up for tomorrow night?”

“Well, whether it’s real or not, it came from the local historical society’s archives.” Amber answered, passing a sheaf copies from what looked like they were some pretty old documents to him.

“That’s quite a story.” Dan admitted, but Nathan was sure he detected a hint of fear in the other man’s eyes. Clive also wore a thoughtful, slightly haunted expression that rapidly faded.

“But I haven’t seen a beautiful, supernatural Indian maiden since I got here.” Ham grinned.

The story is that even the most well maintained ‘vessel’ the spirit takes doesn’t last forever.” Amber shrugged then leered at the others. “So which one of you guys is willing to give up your manhood and have great sex for the next few hundred years so the rest of us can get out?

No takers?” She laughed. “Well, it’s just a story, anyway.”

Nathan wondered given the things he had been going through recently, but didn’t voice his doubts about it ‘just’ being a legend, or story. Instead he pushed on. “You did say there was something about the Hazletts, the couple who had this house built, didn’t you?”

“That I did.” Amber agreed while giving her empty beer a significant look.

“Consider it done.” Dan amiably responded then asked the others. “Anyone else needing one?”

“Not me.” Ham lifted the six-pack that still held three beers and grinned. “I claimed this sucker when we came in here.”

“I sorta had that one figured out, Ham.” Dan grinned before he went to the kitchen.

Once everyone had been resupplied, Dan settled back with an expectant expression. “So, the rest of the story, Miss Paul Harvey?”

“I think I’ll save that one for tomorrow.” Amber gave the group an evil grin. “Now that I’ve whetted your appetites, I know I’ll have a captive audience then. Besides, it’s time to have some real fun!”

They all drank a little too much, ate way too much, and had a good time that evening. Nathan didn’t worry about the implications of the story Amber had told them. Until he was alone in his room.

This time Nathan awakened already in the feminine form he’d experienced several times before. He, or she at the moment, was intent on things that still had Nathan’s male self recoiling. Predatory feelings and urges pushing her to seek out the remaining males in the house. It was like being nothing more than a puppet subject to whims that weren’t his own. A horrified and terrified Nathan attempted to bargain with the force driving him only to be answered with silence laced with malicious amusement.

Nate should have been exhausted following that particular nightmare. In that dream he had visited every other male in the house and briefly kissed, given a blow job, or simply touched them. But the feeling of stealing something from them persisted even with just a touch. Worse, Nathan felt a physical satisfaction he didn’t really want to acknowledge yet when he woke up to see the sun working its light through the slats in his blinds.

At least none of the guys seemed ill, or tired out that morning beyond the effects of a night spent drinking a bit too much. Nathan let out an internal sigh of relief over that as he greeted them in the kitchen while getting himself some coffee. “Morning all.”

Various greetings were returned in kind as he seated himself with a cup of coffee and closed his eyes momentarily as he enjoyed the brew warming his throat and stomach.

He’d also closed his eyes because part of him, or something inside him, was watching the guys with clearly predatory intent while dismissing the women as inconsequential, less than a threat to physical needs, satisfying the hunger, and most importantly, survival. That part of himself, so alien and purely evil, terrified him almost to the point of triggering the fight or flight reflex.

“Nathan! Wake up here!” Amber’s voice shattered the cold terror threatening to envelope him and shook him out of the near catatonic state he’d been in.

He started, shook himself, and managed a sheepish grin in response to the young woman’s expectant expression. “Sorry, I guess I just wasn’t quite as awake as I thought I was. What were you saying?”

Nathan spent the remaining part of the day drifting in and out of a fog made up of doubts about his own sanity, his safety, the safety of his friends, and futile efforts to warn them of a danger he knew was coming with nightfall. Whenever he tried, his thought, his intentions drifted away as if they were no more than wisps of mist in a strong breeze.

While inside, and all around him, something laughed in satisfied, malicious, anticipation.

It was time to begin. The bait would soon become an Avatar, capable of feeding without the direction provided so far, and the feeding would be good tonight, oh so good. It had been a while since the last really good one even in this entity’s perspective of time which stretched back to the beginnings of mankind. If the thing had ever considered bestowing a name on itself that wasn’t given by its prey that name would have been Hunger. Tonight that endless need would be partially assuaged, and again released to prowl the world in freedom.

Nathan finished his prepping for the costume with a shudder as his hands now adorned with long, polished nails smoothed scented lotion over his smoothly shaven legs. The satiny sheen and silky texture of his flesh felt foreign, like a stranger's. With a wave of despairing fear, now much less intense than it had been, washed over him and receded like a dwindling tide on a beach ahead of an oncoming tsunami. The devastating flood of terror, unholy exultation, and other less identifiable emotions would come all too soon.

Even his physical shape was betraying him. It wasn’t his, the well remembered planes, angles and masculine firmness were gone. In their place were soft curves, fullness of flesh where there had been spare muscle, soft, if firm, slenderness where there had been hard or at least semi-hard muscle. He consciously quelled the shudder of fear and the terror born wish to run as fast and far as he could, just so long as it was away from this place.

Instead, he resignedly began putting on the garments he’d found spread on his bed the day before, knowing that if they didn’t quite fit when he started, they would do so perfectly by the time he was dressed. There was no turning back, no getting out of this. For some reason other than the presence of the nameless, hungering thing in the house and valley, he knew this. Though there was no comfort in that knowledge.

Natalie, once and never again to be Nathan, stretched luxuriously. She savored the sensual caress of satin against her soft smooth flesh, but most of all simply enjoyed the feel of that flesh itself.

Examining herself in the full length mirror, she frowned a bit and made a few more alterations. Black hair thickened gained length, and a slight curl until it cascaded down her back and over her shoulders in a joyful river of midnight that satisfied her completely. Blue eyes became more intense while remaining soft and grew a little larger while an already petite nose shaped itself into something a bit more pleasing for this age and culture.

Finally satisfied, enjoying the scent of her perfumed body, she turned away from the mirror with a smile. There were more preparations to make before all was ready, but those were minor in the extreme and involved no more alterations to the avatar. Except for one.

She felt what little manhood remained in the body pull itself inside as if hiding in shame when compared to the body it had been marring and smiled again as the organs in her crotch reformed into what it needed to be. With that, she glanced at the mirror once more with a smile and left with a swish of satin and sharp click of heels.

Moving through the house, she took note of the others, all preparing for the celebration that would be much more than they were prepared to understand and dismissed the slight concern that one of them would encounter her while she gathered the final things required for the night to come.

The basement held no fear for her at all. Moving through it she felt the familiarity of long acquaintance and home. The door she had shown her avatar opened at a touch and she entered a passage of stone smoothed by countless centuries of passage and touches that was completely at odds with the house it was connected with.

The chamber it opened into was large and lit with soft blue light from both glowing crystals and lichens. The contents were primitive but opulent, the gatherings from thousands of years that were given, taken, or found. From among that treasure trove of artifacts and naturally formed objects she selected ‘gifts’ for her future slaves.

Once that was done, she left the chamber, sealed the door behind her and examined the recreation room she had used some of her stolen energy to create. Deciding she’d done well with that bit of diversion from her own appetites she returned upstairs.

“I wonder what’s keeping Nate?” Dan costumed as traditional vampire glanced at the hallway as he asked and moved to get up. “Maybe I should check up on him? He has been acting a little strange, even for Nate, recently.”

“He’ll be along in a while, I’m sure.” Claire stopped him with the simple expedient of plopping into his lap. He admired her slim, but feminine shape dressed as an Egyptian priestess as she ran a hand over his cheek. “His costume is a little time consuming to get into and make look right.”

Amber, wearing a Wonder Woman costume that she more than adequately filled, tapped Larry, wearing an Air Force Uniform on the arm. “Don’t you go look, either. When Nathan is ready, he’ll be here.”

“That goes for you too, toots.” Zoe growled low at Clive who was dressed as a nineteen-twenties gun moll to match her own gangster zoot suit. “When Nate does get here, his costume is going to wow all of you guys, trust us on that.”

“You girls seem to know something we don’t, as usual.” Larry sighed.

“Naturally, we always do.” Amber winked at him.

“Have I held up the party?” A low, sultry voice questioned in amusement as everyone turned to see who had just come in.

“Nate?” Dan’s eyes were wider than they had ever been and he shook his head. “Dude, you should have been a LOT more popular in LA than you were.”

“You been keeping something from us, buddy?” Larry questioned as he watched his friend glide into the room with a confident click of high heels.

“Holy…” Clive just swallowed and said nothing else.

“You look great!” Amber smiled. “I could get jealous here.”

“Looking good, girl.” Zoe nodded.

“Definite competition here.” Sue agreed.

Ham simply walked up to the vision in pale blue taffeta took her elegant gloved hand in his and theatrically kissed the palm of that hand.

With a soft rustle of petticoats and hiss of silk against satin, Nate allowed Ham to escort her into the room.

The others simply watched the epitome of Fifties or early Sixties elegance accept the escort as if it was not simply deserved, but expected as the person they knew as Nate smoothed her skirts while seating herself in a comfortable chair.

“First of all,” she, no one in the room could call that person anything masculine, started, “I’d like to thank all of you for coming out to the backside of nowhere to be with me. You’re all very good friends and I have a little something special for each of you that I’ll give out later. Now, on with the party!”

“Man, you don’t look anything like Nate.” Dan told his friend while looking at undeniable cleavage. “How did you manage all this?”

“I know good special effects people.” Nate grinned, showing a bit of himself through the elegant, beautiful façade his friend thought he was presenting. “They helped me out.”

“I’ll say.” Dan shook his head.

“Glad I’m not the only who showed up in drag, Nate.” Clive told his friend then grimaced. I just can’t call you Nate or Nathan looking like that.”

“How about Natalie?” Zoe offered. No one saw Clive’s face pale momentarily under the makeup when she said that.

“That will work.” Natalie agreed with a chuckle. “I’m certainly more Natalie than Nate just now.”

“That you are.” Amber agreed.

Very few people from LA were bothered in the least by a man in dress, especially if they had some connection with the entertainment industry. Even though their friend made a stunningly lovely, sexy young woman, the party got going and went on as if nothing unusual at all had happened. Other than the disbelieving, desire filled glances the guys kept casting towards the newly christened Natalie.

“Okay everyone!” Amber clapped her hands. “If any of you are still sober enough, its fifteen minutes to midnight, the witching hour, and I have one more story I promised all you yesterday. I promise it’s a good one. Get your drinks, gather round, get comfortable, and I’ll regale you with the story of Jonathan and Grace Hazlett. Even if you aren’t sober enough, stagger your butts over here and at least act like you’re listening!”

Ham and Natalie, who had been shooting pool, with side games that the others in the room were inured to, picked up their drinks and settled side by side in a plush love seat.

Claire draped herself across Dan, who had managed to seat himself in one of the easy chairs, and Amber joined her husband on another couch. Zoe playfully pulled gun moll Clive onto her lap then moved him to her side on the same couch.

“Everyone ready?” Amber looked around the room and nodded once she’d gotten replies from the others. “I’ll get this show on the road.”

Amber’s voice held them all as she began the tale.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jonathan Hazlett commented as they stood in the entrance to a valley shrouded with legend, both horrific and beautiful.

“Yes, it is.” Grant Sutherland, his partner agreed. “It’s even more lush than the surrounding hills and that’s saying a lot for the Ozarks in spring.”

“Let’s get going then.” John urged the other while adjusting the straps of his pack. “All the legends about this place have to have a source, a reason, and it’s down there somewhere.”

“Probably.” Grant agreed with a deep sense of foreboding. Every culture in this area from prehistoric to modern held this particular valley to be something to be avoided unless absolutely necessary for simple survival. Even the mighty Osage had kept clear of it until famine threatened. “Maybe finding it is something we aren’t supposed to do. Who knows?”

“It’s down there, and we’ll find it, my friend.” John assured, unaware that was precisely what his friend was worried about. “Think of it! We could advance archaeological theory about this part of the country by huge leaps. A real, multi-cultural, multi-generational, multi-people and time connection between every people who have inhabited this part of Missouri since prehistory!”

Grant didn’t argue, simply followed his friend down a convenient game trail.

After hiking for hours with only a few rest stops they found it. At the time they only thought it was an unusually smooth cave entrance, but the trails they had followed appeared to have led them to that point.

“Look at this.” Jonathan showed Grant. “These sides are polished smooth as if it’s been done continuously for a long time.”

The passage was uncommonly straight for a natural formation and its interior was as polished as the entrance had been.

“We’ve found it!” Jonathan breathed as they found the weirdly, but beautifully lit chamber at the end of the tunnel and he gave the contents of the chamber a reverent look. “I see artifacts in here that have to date all the back to the prehistoric peoples in this area just from here. We’ve found our treasure trove, Grant!”

A chill, followed quickly with flowing warmth filled Grant Sutherland and he didn’t answer.

John simply took that as the same kind of awe he was experiencing as they both moved towards the center of the chamber. “This is incredible!”

Grant didn’t answer, slumping into very well preserved pile of furs in the center of the chamber and falling deeply asleep. When he tried waking his friend, John lost consciousness, too.

Neither ever knew how long they slept under the chamber’s, or rather the entity that inhabited its, influence.

When he awakened, John recalled the incredibly sensuous, erotic dreams that had filled his sleep. Groaning, he forced himself up to look at Grant, only to see a lovely young woman staring at him with a tiny smile playing at the edges of her mouth. “Where’s Grant?”

“Here.” The vision purred while touching her forehead. “He won’t be coming back lover.

“Who are you?”

“Call me Grace.” She answered, reaching out to stroke his cheek. “Now there are some things I want you to do, but you’ll have to leave me for a while to get them done.”

John wanted to argue, especially about the coming back, but he didn’t. “Come with me.”

“In time, love, in time.” She promised. “I have to stay here right now, until we get everything finished.”

“Jonathan left, but did return with the deed for the valley and an army of construction people who built this very house. Once that was finished, only the occasional visitor ever laid eyes on his beautiful wife, Grace since she never left the valley. The joking comments from locals that she was draining him dry stopped, then turned to whispering as he continued appearing wan, and tired each time he went into town.

People also couldn’t help commenting on the haunted look in his eyes.

But he managed to not only avoid the fate he had been staring at with such hollow eyes, and stopped his wife from gaining permanent access to the entire world on the night that should have freed her from the valley.

Taking her in the private plane he maintained, to go celebrate their anniversary in St. Louis, he managed to pilot the craft into something even his wife couldn’t control — a Midwestern thunder storm. The plane went down in that storm, the crash killing both of them.”

“Nicely told, Amber.” Natalie nodded in appreciation then sighed. “This time though, there is nothing to endanger me or prevent me from gaining the freedom I’ve craved since your race was fearfully moving out of the trees.”

“You were bound once,” Amber answered, the tension in her shoulders betraying her fear and determination. “when you accepted a simple bargain. I invoke that bargain NOW!”

“It won’t work.” Natalie smirked as she hugged a now scared sober Ham to her possessively. “None of you truly believe. I knew a time would come when that would happen and then I would be free to roam the earth as I once did. Watch what I can do, and know your own fates in the future that I will make.”

Powerfully built as he was, Ham couldn’t get out of her grasp and something in him began to fade before Amber shouted. “NO! We have paid your price, spirit! We have taken of your bounty, enjoyed the protection of your home, but the bargain has been upheld!”

“Bargains are for the weak.” Natalie spat, but the drain of whatever from Ham stopped, much to her fury. “To invoke it you must believe it. All of you must.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing all day?” Amber questioned almost sweetly as she gestured at her costume. “I sure haven’t spent the past sixteen hours getting into this getup, now have I?

We have complied with the original bargain.” She went on, gesturing to each male in the room. “You have tasted each of them and taken one completely. Go back to sleep, spirit. There is no escape this time either.”

The thing calling itself Natalie, fought that, but nothing she tried touched the others with more than a feeling akin to a moth wing brushing one’s face in the dark. With a shriek that nearly deafened everyone, she collapsed back into the chair and stopped moving.

“Is it over?” Ham asked shakily as he gingerly disentangled himself from Natalie.

“This time, yes.” Amber nodded then waved him back down. “She won’t harm you right now or even once she wakes up. The danger is past for now and won’t be back for a long time.”

“This is really Nate?” Dan questioned while he looked at the unconscious form beside Ham.

“It was.” Amber sighed then gave the too beautiful young woman a sorrowful look. “But never will be again. Nate took on a duty that changed him forever.”

“Yes, I fought it, denied it, submerged it, but the job is mine and I can’t resign or walk away, or even take a vacation.” Natalie’s voice startled all of them as the young woman straightened in the chair and rearranged her clothing with a long sigh. “Dan, Clive, Larry, Amber, Zoe, and Sue, all of you saved me whether you realize it or not. Without all of you here, the hunger would have won.

And especially you Ham.” She smiled but didn’t move to touch him. “Tonight your attentions kept me grounded to my humanity even if that seemed a bit strange given that I grew up a male. I’ll add the bits of the story that Amber missed if none of you mind.”

At the general nods of assent, she started.

“What happened to me has happened to many other males before.” Natalie calmly told them. “The spirit — the Hunger — requires someone connected to it in order to function with humanity at all. The avatar gives her the ability to influence humans, feed, and exist on a plane that can actively interact with ours.

But the Avatar has another function.” Natalie gave them a sad smile. “I’m a jailer, I am the one who keeps the spirit from breaking free to plague the entire world instead of this small valley. It’s sleeping again, and I’ll need to feed it a bit off and on to keep things that way.”

“So you’re a sacrifice?” Larry questioned, not wishing to believe that, but knowing it was true.

“Yes.” Natalie shrugged then grinned. “But I’m sure as Hell not a virgin!”