By Zapper

Synopsis:

It’s been four years since John and Meka swapped bodies, battled wicked witches and Necromancers, and became lifelong friends. After returning to their original bodies the two moved on with their lives. John, choosing to ignore his Seer gift has become a Guardian-Warlock of the St. Louis Great Coven. He met Elaine, the daughter of the Witch and Warlock who trained him, fell in love and got married. Meka moved to London to work for Gwendolyn ó Beaglaoich as a reseracher of the Eldrich. Over the years Meka has made a name for herself as one of the most skilled Witches developing new spells and discovering new unique applications of magic.

After the events in Cancun, Mexico, the shadow war between the Society of the Gifted and the Syndicate of the Eldritch become full open warfare. While the Society is still trying to hide the fact that magic exists from the mundane population the Syndicate has no such constraint.

John and Meka are soon swept up in events far beyond their control. The Society trying to lead the idiosyncratic communities of magic and defeat the Syndicate is playing catch up – and losing. When John and Meka learn what the Syndicate plans, it becomes a race against time to save the very world from an unthinkable horror.

Magic, war, love, sex, possession, body-theft, and gender swapping all complicate the situation in this final book about John and Meka.

Author Note:

1: My dear friend Brittany Cosco, aka – Mekalicious, Mekalicious Soulstorm, and Meka passed away in February 2016. She was in her early 30s and died from complications arising from a surgery she’d had earlier in 2015. Brittany was a brilliant woman with a rapier-like wit, a dry sarcastic sense of humor, and was generous to a fault. She loved to write and edit and knew far more about this art than I ever will. Her light was snuffed out too early and I miss her deeply. I wrote this story, and submit it for your enjoyment, as a tribute to Brittany.

2: Brittany loved possession and body-swapping stories. She was a huge fan of erotica, action, and suspense. I’ve tried to capture these elements in this story.

3: Not all the tags selected apply to each chapter. They apply to the story as a whole. This story has 13 chapters and is complete. I plan to post a chapter per day.

4: Lastly, I wanted to give BobH, Eric, and Doc VS a shout out for their friendship and beta reading. A VERY special thank you to Mr. 20” Biceps. He encouraged me, discussed ideas with me, and stayed after me to make sure this story was written. His Beta and Proof reading are always invaluable but his friendship has been worth more than all the rest.

The early morning sunlight streaming through the trees lit up the world in a riot of color and natural beauty. Fall in Hyde Park is gorgeous, but Meka wasn’t enjoying the splendor as she jogged along the lakeshore trail. Instead, she focused on the music, Evanescence, blasting from her earbuds, as a distraction from her racing heart, the cramp in her side, her raw throat, and her annoyance with John. ‘Stupid, man, why did I have to promise him to run every day until our annual cookout?’ she thought. Then she pushed the thought away. John was just trying to get her to be a healthier, he’d always been a bit OCD about working out. Still, she hated to admit, he was probably right. She’d put on fifteen pounds in the three years she’d been living in the United Kingdom.

The trail moved into a slight incline and Meka lowered her head focusing on running, ‘Not much farther,’ she thought. Even though her body ached Meka put on a burst of speed sprinting the last hundred meters. Once the park entrance was less than a dozen meters away she slowed to a stop and bent-over gasping for breath. Meka could feel the sweat running down her back and even though she’d pushed herself she felt good. ‘Maybe, John has a point with all this working-out he obsesses about. Not that I’ll tell him.’

Abruptly, Meka felt a shiver run through her and the crystal, hidden behind her eyepatch, tingled. “W-What?” she gasped looking around. Slowly, trying not to be obvious, Meka scanned the area. She knew better than to overreact to the touch of a questing. With her right eye, her normal eye, she looked at the people who inevitably hung out around the park entrance. Spotting nothing out of the ordinary she shifted her focus to her left eye, and lifted the eyepatch. Behind her eyepatch was her most prized possession. The Cavanaugh Crystal, her focus object, was almost a one of a kind and it gave her an unusual kind of sight. All witches and warlocks used a bonded crystal as a focus object but the few surviving crystals made by the High Sorceress Shirley Cavanaugh were particularly prized. Mistress Cavanaugh had been a virtuoso at crafting crystal focus objects. Meka smirked remembering Victor’s reaction to her current use of her focus object.

“Meka, that crystal is special! You can’t use it like that!” He’d sputtered, going a little red around the ears, when he’d learned she was using it, not only as her focus, but as an artificial eye. The world shifted as she concentrated on using her witch-sight and then peered through her crystal. Colors seemed to intensify and the world simply felt more, “real.” As if a dull film and been lifted and she could see things as they truly were. As Meka scanned each person she took note of the unique glow that surrounded them. Everyone has an aura, unique and identifiable, by studying an aura there were many things that Meka could learn about a person. Now, however, she was interested in checking for anything odd or supernatural. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary Meka allowed the patch to fall back into place and dismissed her witch-sight.

Still remembering the indignant reaction by Victor, to her use of her crystal, brought a quirking smile to the corners of Meka’s sensual lips. It was a terrible habit, yet she just couldn’t resist pushing his buttons, he was just so formal, so . . . stuffy! As if the thought of the elderly Warlock was enough to summon him Meka felt a buzzing in the back of her mind and the ghostly image of Victor swam into view. With a sigh Meka moved to one side of the path and with a minor effort of “Will” pulled magic through her crystal. “Accipite,” she whispered, using the Latin word she knew Victor preferred, allowing Victor’s spell to take effect. In essence, she’d just answered his call.

The ghostly image seemed to fill in, become more solid, more . . . real. Although, Meka knew she was the only one who could see or hear Victor it still felt like she was talking to an imaginary friend.

“Meka, apprentice, it’s been too long since we spoke. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Meka replied softly, so no one else would overhear her and think she was a crazy woman talking to herself. “You know I’m not your apprentice, right? I mean, Gwendolyn practically dragged me to London to train me, and that was four years ago.”

“Ah, yes, my apologies, old habits die hard. In my day, an apprentice only had one master, no matter who he or she went to study with later in life. The Master-Apprentice bond is a lifelong bond.” As if sensing Meka’s annoyance Victor hurried on, “Meka, I just wanted you to know that I’m proud of you.”

“Gee, thanks. Now, why are you contacting me with magic? You could have used a cell phone for this conversation. What’s going on?”

“Are you aware of the attack on Cancun?”

“You mean the singularly stupid thing the Syndicate did, that declared war on the Society? The action that almost blew our cover with the mundane population and caused no less than three Great Covens plus, I have no idea how many, Sorcerers and Wizards to create the fake hurricane as a ruse. As well as having to alter, lord only knows, how many people’s memories . . . Yeah, that kind of thing is hard to miss.” Meka couldn’t help the bit of sarcasm that snuck into her voice. “Look, I’m in public, can this wait until I get home?”

There was a pause and then a sigh, “I would like to say yes, but when I use a phone to call you, you let that idiotic voice mail pickup. Then you never return my calls. With you, sendings seem more reliable. We need to talk for a few minutes.”

“Okay, fine, but I’m gonna stretch while you talk.” Then Meka moved into a lunge with her left leg in front and bent and her right leg locked out, stretching her right Achilles.

“As you know the attack was a Declaration of War.”

“Wait one second. I don’t get that. The Syndicate is at war with the Society. Fine, but we’re witches. We’re organized into Circles and Covens. I’m not a member of any, Society,” as she said this Meka stood up, made air quotes, and switched legs.

Looking exasperated Victor shook his head. “Didn’t you ever get around to reading those history books on Witchcraft, the Rise of the Covens, and Basic Coven Government? Those books are the foundational civics guidance for how Covens function in the modern world!”

Meka moved to sit on the ground with her heels together and pressed down on her knees. “Fine. Whatever. I was, and still am, more interested in learning the principles of magic and creating new spells.” Then when Victor didn’t say anything she shrugged her shoulders, “Can you please just get to the point? People are starting to stare, and I need to get home and then get to the lab. We just took delivery of several new artifacts and Gwendolyn wants me to do the initial assessment.”

“As you wish,” Victor responded. “You are still a member of the Louisville Great Coven. We are allied with the American Society of the Gifted. Our Society has alliances with the Societies in Europe, Central, and South America. The Attack on Cancun is, by treaty, an attack on our Society therefore we are obligated to fight.”

Meka shook her head and stood up. “We’ve been over this. I reject the idea that I must participate in this war nonsense. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”

“Meka!”

The urgency in Victor’s voice caused her to pause. “You can reject it all you want. It doesn’t matter. You are KNOWN. Your reputation has spread through the Eldritch community these last few years, and that means you’ll be seen by the enemy as a high value target. I understand you do not wish to fight, but at least protect yourself!”

Meka nodded, still more than a little annoyed and touched her eyepatch. “Yeah, I hear ya, Vic. I remember the last time someone came after me. War or no war, trust me, I’ll take care of myself.” With that she broke the connection. Then Meka looked around. Thankfully, no one seemed to be paying her any attention.

The trip to her flat was uneventful, even if Victor’s message had left her feeling nervous and jumpy. For a while she thought a sexy Asian girl with kinda of a femme fatale look had been following her, but when she ducked into the train station to use the tube the girl disappeared. ‘God, now Victor’s got me jump at shadows,’ Meka thought.

Back home Meka hurried through her normal routine getting cleaned up. She tossed her clothes in the general direction of the laundry basket. Once naked she went into the bathroom to get the shower turned on and heating up. The old buildings in the city looked fantastic but ancient pipes and tiny water heaters were annoying. While waiting Meka made a quick side trip to the kitchen for a beer. She took a sip and looked at the tiny brunette in the full length mirror attached to the back of the bathroom door.

“The running is paying off.” she mused, turning from side to side so she could look at her now tight waist, toned legs, and firm ass. “I guess I’m going to have to thank John, after all.” Then she wrinkled her nose at her extra pale complexion. “Living in England has done nothing to improve my color. I could be a vamp with this complexion.” Setting the beer on the edge of the sink Meka stepped onto the scale. “Eight point nine two stone.” She paused mentally doing the conversion, “That’s about one hundred twenty-five pounds. Five more pounds and I’ll be back to my pre-UK weight.” Then stepping off the scale Meka took another sip of beer before peering into the mirror. She used both hands to cup and lift her breasts giving them critical once over.

Annoyingly, she’d gone up at least a cup size over the last two years. Now most of her bras were either painfully tight or simply unwearable. “I thought that when I lost that weight some of it would be up here!” she groused. “What’s the point of having bigger boobs when there’s no one to play with them?” Then noticing the steam coming from the shower she quickly adjusted the temperature grabbed her beer and shower cap and got in. For the next ten minutes Meka let the hot water massage sore muscles while the alcohol worked its magic, relaxing her.

The cool air hit Meka like a wall as she stepped into the lobby of the New World Research Institute. As cover names go, for Coven owned enterprises, this one wasn’t too bad. “Hi, George.” Meka tried to project a cheerfulness she didn’t really feel. George, the elderly looking security guard glanced up from the bank of monitors that surrounded his desk, “Hi, Ms. Petrucci, got stuck with another Saturday shift, I see.”

“No rest for the wicked.”

“Ha! In that case what’s a sweet lady like yourself doing here on a Saturday?”

“Just whipping up a little magic.” Meka replied, giving the retired Royal Marine a flirtatous wink and a mocking smile.

“Oh? Is that what goes on these days at institutes dedicated to the pursuit of science?” There was a beep as George pushed the button that opened the glass door Meka was facing.

“You know it.” Meka replied thinking about how exasperated Victor would be at her telling George she was there do to magic. George was a mundane security guard in his mid-fifties and telling him the truth, a truth he’d never believe, struck Meka’s sense of humor. Pulling out her ID card Meka turned to her right to face a digital pad mounted on the wall. Meka held her ID card up to the pad and after a moment there was a beep. The pad turned from red to green and the image on the touch sensative screen was a photo of Meka from a year earlier. From when she’d transferred from the publishing house to the research institute. Next to the digital photo, on the screen appeard a one inch by one inch box. Meka pressed her index finger against the pad within the box and this time when it beeped she saw the screen change to give her a key-pad. Meka typed in her six didgit PIN and there was another beep as the glass door to her left slid open.

Moving quickly down the hall past the staff cafeteria, empty and dark since it was a Saturday, to the bank of elevators Meka pushed the down button. Tapping her foot impatiently she waited, staring at her reflection in the stainless steel and glass doors. Even though it was a Saturday and her preference was to dress down, there was a certain expectation for how one should look at work. Gwendolyn had drilled this into her when she’d first come to work in the UK. Since she didn’t expect to run into anyone from management Meka had oppted for a pair of khaki capris, a light weight white sleevless top and sandals with just a bit of heel. Over this last year she’d grown her dark redish-brown hair out so that it was now just past her shoulders. The look said, “casual” but not jeans and t-shirt casual.

Just then the elevator doors slid open. Meka stepped inside and hit the button that read LL3 for lower level 3. ‘Why is it that the Coven thinks all of the most interesting magic needs to be explored underground?’ Meka thought and then answered her own question. ‘Because sixty feet of earth will contain any mistakes and prevent the public from knowing what happened.’ The ride down to the magical research floor took only a few seconds and when the elevator came to a smooth stop the doors slid open. Meka excited the elevator and saw that the Developmental Science and Research Division (DS&RD) was bustling with activity. The research institute had six divisions, five of which were dedicated to mundane scientific research projects. They typically didn’t work weekends. The exception to this rule was DS&RD. The division covertly dedicated to working out the laws of magic. Conducting magical experiments on the weekends when no one else was in the building was one of their Standard Operating Procedures.

“Hey, Meka.” A middle-aged balding Warlock from Wisconsin said, with a wave, as he rushed past.

“Hi, Simon.”

Meka turned toward her lab and felt a little irritated, she didn’t have a project to test today. There was no reason she couldn’t be doing this on Monday. “No reason except Gwendolyn asked me to evaluate these artifacts as soon as possible.” Reaching her office Meka held her ID card next to the key pad and when it beeped she typed in her PIN. The door clicked and she pushed it open flipping on the lights and then moving to the key pad next the door. She quickly typed a security access PIN that de-armed the room. “No reason, except you’ve become a victim of your own success.” Then she sighed, “If I’m lucky this will only take an hour or two.”

The room was one of the larger laboratories in the institute. Meka now had a full-time staff supporting her that consisted of an administrative assistant and three research witches. Documenting new spells, cataloging magical principles, filling out time cards, processing request forms for additional resources, spell components, and artifacts or tools needed for an experiment was a full-time job for a young witch. The idea of needing a secretary to help with the administrative burden of having her own lab had made Meka laugh when she’d first been told that one was going to be assigned. Now, she had no idea how she’d manage the Lab without Grant. In addition to Grant, Meka’s three research assistants were invaluable. Adam was the senior assistant having been with her for almost two years and then there was Barbra and Holton.

Meka moved through the Lab noting that the pentagram cut into the concrete floor needed cleaning. ‘Barbra must have used it last,’ she thought, annoyed at Barbra’s tendency to be untidy. The lab was designed to provide a large open space in the middle with desks and work benches along the walls. Grant’s desk was closest to the door and Meka noted that it was obsessively clean and well organized. In fact, Barbra’s messiness had caused Grant to complain to Meka more than once. Moving through the main area she headed to her office which was the only part of the lab that had been walled off from the main area. Having her own office gave her some privacy for meetings, telephone conferences, conducting research projects, and for the more difficult spell casting.

Entering her office Meka flicked her hand toward the light switch and said, “On,” with a minor effort of will, causing it to flip-up. Bright light filled the comfy office and Meka let out a sigh. This was her space, her sanctum, the one place on earth where she could explore and test the limits of magic without having to conform to other people’s expectations.

She tossed her purse onto the sofa along one wall as she moved to her desk and smirked when she spotted Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Jack standing guard by her keyboard. The, “My Little Pony” toys had been with her for years and they gave her office a certain feel of, “home” that no simple photo ever would. Then she spotted the package left on a workbench to one side.

“No reason not to be comfortable while I work.” Meka said, kicking off her sandals and enjoying the feeling of the deep soft rug under her toes before she moved toward the package. “Gwendolyn, what have you got for me?”

The package was a cardboard box wrapped in innocuous brown paper and tied up with a simple string. Meka quickly opened it and then looked down at the contents. Slowly, she reached up and tossed her eye patch to one side and brought up her witch-sight. The three objects within the box glowed with magical power.

Each object had been individually wrapped and even through the wrappings Meka could sense the magic. Meka moved over to her desk and pulled out a pair of gloves specifically enchanted to insulate her from unintended effects of an artifact. With great care she reached into the box and pulled out the largest object. When she unwrapped it Meka saw that she was holding a hoop of metal slightly too large to be a bracelet. All around the outside of the hoop glyphs had been etched into the metal.

“Hmmmm, what kind of metal is this?”

Meka sat it to one side. Whatever it was the power of the hoop was currently dormant. Next she carefully lifted out an object that turned out to be a crystal the size of a golf ball. “Mhmmmm, spirit and mind magic in almost equal parts. I wonder if a Witch and a Psi-Lord worked together on it,” she noted as she unwrapped the crystal. Looking at it she could feel its power tugging at the edges of her mental shields, with a shudder she set the crystal aside. A feeling of malevolence washed over her and Meka pushed more power into her shields.

“Whatever you are, you’re dangerous.”

Meka shook her head, she could feel beads of sweat forming, and had to resist the urge to wipe her hands on her pants to remove the ill-feels the crystal had given her. She was tempted to start an examination of the dark crystal but instead returned to the box.

The last object was a crystal, about the size of a baseball and it glowed with an icy green color when she picked it up. Meka almost dropped it in surprise. Even though she was wearing gloves she could sense that it was predominately a Wizard’s work. She placed it on the workbench not too far from the smaller crystal. “Gwen, what the hell have you given me?” After considering the three objects she returned to the box and spotted a letter lying in the bottom. Meka picked it up and recognized Gwendolyn’s hand writing.

Meka,

The items in the box arrived from America two days ago. The hoop is an artifact the Great Coven in Seattle was researching. They think that it’s a gate of some type, but the Seattle Coven lacked the expertize to unlock it. The crystal is from Mexico before the Syndicate’s attack. Do what you can this weekend. I’d like to discuss the objects with you on Monday.

Respectfully,

Gwen

Meka read the letter twice, frowning at the puzzle. It wasn’t that it was odd to be asked to look at an artifact, but the note had indicated a single crystal. It wasn’t often that Gwen misspoke or forgot a part of a task. Meka shrugged dismissing the use of the singular as an oversight. During the past year Meka knew she’d proven she was one of the best magical researchers around. It was a bit strange that a Great Coven, like the Seattle Coven, lacked the resources to solve this mystery. Then there were the crystals. Gwen had said they were from Mexico and had been part of the set of crystals the Society had recovered from the Syndicate. Most thought that the Syndicate’s attack had burned down the Society buildings, destroying the facility. This was true, with what looked like a few exceptions.

Deciding to ignore the crystals for the moment, Meka focused on the hoop. There were several things that were odd about it. The first was its weight. It looked like a thin ring of copper with some glyph’s etched into the surface. But holding it, Meka guessed that it must weigh at least ten pounds. Then there was the metal. Initially, she’d guessed copper, but now she wasn’t sure. Meka carried the hoop over to an uncluttered part of her workbench. There were several tests she wanted to run but she started by taking pictures of each glyph with the digital camera she kept for this purpose. Then she moved to her desk and loaded the images to her computer.

“What kind of runes are these?” She mused. “Babylonian? Assyrian? Egyptian?”

Focusing on the task at hand Meka failed to notice the first crystal spin around as if orienting on her. From within the depths of the crystal an eye came into focus and the eye locked onto Meka as she worked on deciphering the runes.

“Are you sure this will work?”

“Just lay back and hold the crystal.”

“We don’t even know if anyone’s going to work on it today.” The tiny, Asian looking woman replied, before settling onto the bed. Then she extended her hand for the large dark, ominous looking crystal.

“Our agent planted the crystal in with others scheduled to be examined.” The youth, with her, in the shabby hotel room said. He couldn’t have been older than twenty or twenty-one yet he had an air of mature authority about him. This was in complete contrast to the unruly mope of multicolored hair, the nose, lip, and tongue piercings and the post apocalypse studded black leather clothes he wore. Instead, of extending the crystal he held in a fingerless gloved hand he offered the woman an evil looking ceremonial dagger. “You know what to do?”

“Yeah, this body might not have any magical gifts, but I’ve worked for Mr. Drake long enough. You need blood, right?” The youth nodded. She took the knife and sliced a palm open with only a slight grimace at the pain. “Who will I become this time?” she asked holding out her wounded hand while dropping the knife to one side.

“I thought you didn’t care, as long as your new body is magically active?” With that the youth placed the orb firmly into the woman’s bleeding palm.

“I don’t. Although, even though I’ve become accustomed to being female, given a choice I’d prefer a male form.” Then the crystal flared and her body went rigid. The youth watched with an eager look on his face as an eye appeared within the crystal. The eye seemed to look around spinning in a full circle before orienting on something.

“Well, old friend, sorry to disappoint you, but you’ll soon be wearing another woman’s body.” Then with a smirk he settled down to watch.

After two hours Meka leaned back and rubbed her temples trying to ease the headache that had crept up on her while she’d been focused on her research. “Damn migraine. It’s been months since I had one, and I get one today?” Then looking at the hoop she couldn’t help feeling satisfied, “A gate. I think,” then with a sense of excitement, she picked up the hoop and walked to the open area in the center of her office. Setting the hoop on the floor she stepped back and took several deep centering breaths. Doing her best to block out the pain in her mind she dropped her mental shields and drew upon her power.

The crystal in her eye-socket flared as she pulled magic in through her focus item, and then she concentrated on the hoop. “Croître!” The word echoed strangely around the chamber as Meka forced her “Will” and the magic she’d collected allowing the word to trigger the spell. The glyphs on the hoop lit up with a white fire and it respond by growing. In seconds, it doubled in size and then doubled again, by the time the light died from the glyphs Meka was looking at a circle twelve feet in diameter.

“Step one, complete. Now, to see if I can open the Way to a Shadow World.” Meka said feeling excited and ignored the pounding in her temple. Behind her the smaller crystal, and the eye trapped within, remained focused, watching her every movement.

Abruptly, the petite Asian woman in black leather, shuddered and her eyes flew, sightlessly, open. “I-I see a woman. She’s in some kind of office or maybe a lab.” Then the woman on the bed hissed, “This is that Meka girl you had me following around?! She’s the one with the unusual gift for magical research.” The tiny woman on the bed seemed to shudder, “Damn you. I DON’T want to be a woman, again!”

“Sorry, Max, these are Drake’s orders. Be Meka, or die.” With that he picked up the wicked looking knife from where Max had dropped it and plunged it into her heart. The ruby crystal on the dagger’s pommel filled the room with red light. The body on the bed convulsed as the enchanted dagger did its job, converting the life energy within the woman to the manna needed to power the spell.

“Fuck you. I’m not going to die!” Max gasped and then blood leaked from the side of her mouth. A fine dark mist floated up from her mouth, ears, and nose to form a slight cloud and then the cloud was sucked into the pulsing crystal held now in her lifeless hand.

“Any time you want, Max, baby.” The youth laughed reaching down to grab the cock between his legs. “I’ve only owned this thing for a few months and I’d love to see what it feels like to use it on a woman.” Then giggling the former woman, Ilse Hirsch, watched as the crystal glowed brighter and brighter. At last the light forced him to look away and cover his eyes. After a minute the light faded and when he looked back the body of Elvira Chen was nothing more than a pile of dust.

Meka nearly bursting with power gave one last look at the glyph she wanted to use, oblivious to the shadowy mist that flew up and out of the crystal behind her. The mist coalesced into the shape of a large man. The man paused as if trying to collect his bearings and then he oriented on Meka as she drew upon her power.

There were twelve glyphs etched into the ring and if Meka was right each glyph opened a Way to a Shadow World. The glyph she’d picked opened a path to a place called “Summer” and she was sure it was the land of the Summer Fae. Just as she opened her mouth to speak the Word a cold presence slammed into her causing her to stumble. Looking back over her shoulder she saw what looked like a man made entirely of darkness. One of the man’s hands was wrapped tightly around her neck and she reached up to grab his arm only to have her hand pass through it. Then he leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers in a hideous parody of a kiss.

Cold energy flooded into her and Meka wanted to cough but was caught and then she felt him, in her mind. ‘Hello, pretty, you feel strong.’ The words were enough to shake her out of her shock and using the power she’d just collected Meka threw her Will at the being.

‘NO!’

The shout echoed in her mind and what felt like liquid fire burned along her veins pushing the darkness back. ‘W-What?! This is impossible.’ The being’s surprise gave Meka a brief opening and she surged forward.

‘Get OUT!’

Again, energy flared within her body and Meka’s vision cleared enough for her to see the dark mist pouring out of her begin to shift once more into a roughly human shape.

‘I will NOT BE DENIED!’

The voice roared through the vault of Meka’s mind and she tried to bring up her mental shields but something was preventing her. In desperation, she took a breath and the mist poured back into her, filling her lungs. Meka sank to her knees trying to draw power up through her crystal but there was a presence in her mind. An awareness, that somehow managed to block her connection to her focus item. ‘You will not get me with the same attack twice, bitch!’

‘Maybe not, asshole, but I’m still going to stop you!’ Then Meka threw her entire will at the creature. ‘I will d-destroy you.’

For an eternity, it felt like Meka was wrestling with a Boa Constrictor. There didn’t seem to be a beginning or an end to this entity and the more she fought the tighter and tighter it squeezed. Then like a bubble popping the pressure was gone. At first Meka just gasped, happy that the pain had also disappeared.

Then she felt her body move even though she’d not direct it to move. She sat up and watched as her hands came up, brushing hair back from her face, and she felt her body shudder and start to laugh. “Damn, bitch, or maybe I should say, Meka. You put up one hell of a fight!”

‘No, no, no!’ Meka shouted throwing her “will” uselessly against the unseen barrier that held her mind, a prisoner within her own body. Slowly, her body stood up and Meka felt her hands move to her chest, the exploration was quick and thorough.

“Mmmm, I’m bigger now than I was as Elvira. Although, I’m still a useless woman . . . I wonder.”

To Meka’s surprise she felt the person in control of her body pull on the power of her crystal and the clean, pure, energy of life and chaos flooded into her. Acting quickly Meka managed to draw a bit, just a tiny fraction, a dribble, of power into her prison. She watched as her hand extended palm up, “Lumen.” Meka felt the energy within her body flow out forming a tight ball the size of a softball then it went incandescent filling the room with a bright red-white light.

“HA! It worked. I’m a witch!”

Meka watched with growing horror as her body dismissed the Witch-Light with a flick of her wrist. Meka felt her body spin around and after looking around the room she sensed frustration from the being controlling her. “Not a single mirror in this office? What kind of woman doesn’t have a mirror in her office?”

‘The kind that’s worried about it being used as a window to scry me, or as a vector through which to attack me.’ Meka thought angrily.

“Well, let me think there must be a restroom around here.”

Meka heard the comment and felt confused then, abruptly, she felt a kind of tingling along her imprisoned mind.

“Ah, yes, outside and down the hall to the left.”

With a growing feeling of horror, she realized that whoever it was who’d taken control of her body could access her memories. Feeling desperate she watched as her body secured the lab and headed to the lady’s room. It was almost a relief to see that no one else was in the room. The person in control of her body moved to the mirror and she watched as her body checked itself out. Slender fingers brushed feather light over her face and then moved lower.

“Not bad, nose is a little long, mouth a touch too large, but still quite pretty.” her voice mused and Meka couldn’t resist a sarcastic, ‘I’m glad you approve.’ not that the invader could hear her. The exploring hands moved lower, shoulders, arms, breasts waist and hips the inventory was almost cursory. Then when they reached her crotch Meka started to feel her body respond.

“Oohhhh . . . I’ve got a much more sensitive pussy. . . a more sexually active body.” her voice noted in a husky tone. Then her small hands started stroking her crotch and Meka felt the soft ache begin to build.

‘No, no, no, no! Stop this!’ she shouted silently and again threw her will at the unseen walls of her prison.

“This is going to be fun.” Her body noted in a sultry tone. Then as if making a decision her body moved to one of the stalls quickly dropping Meka’s capris and panties. The cold air hitting her soft nether region only seemed to entice her captor. Using one hand she softly rubbed Meka’s recently shaved pussy and gasped as it responded, lips opening like the petals of a precious flower. The soft ache had become a moist fire and Meka couldn’t help moaning from within her prison as one carnal sensation washed through her body after another. Slender, delicate, fingers pushed inside, feeling, questing, exploring while a second hand pinched and caressed Meka’s soft breasts. She gasped and couldn’t tell if it was the person controlling her body or if it was her.

Meka felt shaken to her core as her body walked back to her lab. There had to be something she could do, she refused to accept the fact that she was completely powerless, a prisoner within her own mind. Her determination to find a solution grew as she watched her captor open the lab without missing a beat. Once in her office she felt her body walk to her desk and sit down. Her hand reached out and picked up the phone and dialed a number.

It rang once and then a man answered, “Maxwell Jackson?”

“Yeah, Ilse, I’m in . . . in more ways than one.”

“Excellent and you have the items?”

Meka felt shocked, ‘I’m being possessed by a man?!’ They way her captor had referred to her vagina, as being more sensitive, she’d assumed it was another woman in control. Her anger and humiliation at the way he’d just used her body blossomed and Meka vowed she’d end him if was the last thing she ever did.

Meka felt her eyes move around the room, noting the crystals and the Gate, “Of course. Everything is in place.” Then she felt that same tingling sensation and knew Max was accessing her memories, “As usual Mr. Drake picked the perfect target. This Meka Petrucci is close to the Grand Witch, Gwendolyn ó Beaglaoich, it should be a simple matter to get in and end her.”

Meka shivered form within her prision and for a few seconds stopped listening. This was the danger Victor had tried to warn her about, an attack by the Syndicate, because she’d become a well known witch. Except that it was more than that. This attack was actually directed at Gwen and Meka was just the tool. Meka wanted to scream, to shout, to do anything to force some kind of a reaction but Max was in complete control and oblivious to her existence.

“Excellent. I’ll see you soon.”

The man’s voice brought Meka back to the conversation that she’d missed and she watched as Max hung up the phone. Max looked at her computer and again there was a tingling sensation, and Max typed in her password. He seemed intent on looking through Meka’s schedule and her current projects. Meka felt one brief tingling sensation after another as the man controling her body grew more accustomed with searching her memories.

‘If this keeps up, he’ll be able to fool anyone into thinking he’s really me. He’ll be able to take over my life.’ The thought was horrifying, ‘I’ve got to do something, but what can I do without a body?’ Then she felt the small thread of power she’d captured. ‘I wonder if . . .’ unable to move her eyes Meka knew from memory where her My Little Ponies stood on the desk. ‘Dash, Pinkie, Apple Jack I enchanted you in case of an emergency . . . I think this constitutes an emergency. Don’t fail me now.’ Meka concentraited with her whole being on the spell and filled her mind with the image of Rainbow Dash. ‘Transmettre!’ she thought pushing out with all the magic she’d captured.

*John, help me!*

The burst of energy was so tiny Meka didn’t know if it would work and her eyes were locked on the screen of her computer. Outside Meka’s field of view Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened and glowed a light blue. Even though Meka couldn’t see the pony she felt the power she’d stored in the toy respond, and then felt the spell activate.

“What?”

Abruptly, Meka’s head turned, her hair whipping around as Max scanned the room for the source of the magic he’d just felt. When Max’s eyes dropped to the desk, Meka felt a spark of excitement, there were only two toy ponies standing watch. “Must have been my imagination. I’m getting jumpy.” Meka heard her own voice say. A surge of delight rushed through her, he hadn’t noticed that Rainbow Dash was missing. ‘I hope this works.’ Meka thought and then focused on trying to access her crystal. ‘I might not be able to move, but I can cast. Even if it’s weak, at the right moment, it might be enough.’ The idea that Max wouldn’t know what hit him until it was too late filled her with hope!