by Sheena Bandy
"I think drained is the better word. You'll recover soon."
"So where is my body?"
Trina ran her hand against the wings. "In bed, I'd assume."
Maji had never played with Astral travel but she'd been told how it worked. The body was resting in bed while the person wandered the non-physical plane. Time was also faster there, according to other witches she'd asked.
Maji sat up and spread her wings. They felt heavy. There were places between her feathers that felt like they needed grooming and itched slightly. She pulled them back in and perched on the side of the bed.
Trina got up and left the room so Maji could rest.
Chapter 4
Maji woke to a strange noise outside. The door had been slipped closed and the pitcher of water refilled while she slept. She got up to see what was disturbing the tranquility of Trina's little cottage.
"Trina?" Maji stepped into the sitting room to find a stranger sitting there. Trina was nowhere to be seen.
"Maji." The man's voice was familiar. "I've been waiting, Dear."
"Who-?"
"You may call me Morpheus."
"Call me Maji. Not Dear."
Morpheus stood. "I will call you whatever I please."
Maji couldn't help noticing how attractive this asshole was. His dark hair and brown eyes. His dark tone. She could imagine how nice they would look pressed against each other. But he was still an asshole.
Her feathers twitched in anticipation as his breath ghosted over her lips. He smelled like coffee beans and something spicy she couldn't place. The smell excited her.
She could feel his lips just centimeters from her own. If he would lean down a little further, she would be in heaven.
His lips ghosted across hers. "I'm not interested." He said.
He was gone far too quickly. Her heart was still pounding and she was sure it would stop at any moment. Teasing bastard.
"Trina's working hard to teach you." He lifted his jacket from the chair, "Try to be worth her effort."
Morpheus took his leave.
When Trina returned, Maji was still excited and annoyed at the great mysterious asshole.
"You spoke with Morpheus."
"Is he just a dick?"
"He's rich and powerful. He lords it sometimes."
Maji didn't like it.
An itch in her wing reminded her that there were more important matters.
"Do you have a shower, perhaps?" Maji asked.
Trina pointed to a room down the next hall.
Maji enjoyed a cold shower like a heavy spring rain. She shook her feathers and stretched her wings as far as she could in the smallish shower. She then turned the heat up little by little until the bathroom filled with steam.
She got out and shook her wings out. She saw someone standing behind her in the steam and jumped. Her wing flew to the hazy intruder. The looking glass shattered and shards of broken mirror fell to the floor.
Maji's wing was cut and bleeding on the glass. She moved her wing away from the destruction and saw her reflection. A broken Picasso.
She'd changed some since her Transformation. Her hair had gone lighter, almost red, and her eyes had brightened in an unnatural way. She wasn't the plain, unremarkable girl she'd always been.
Trina was waiting in the kitchen when Maji came out of the bathroom.
"Sorry about the mirror." She went to the table and sat.
"We should talk about Morpheus." Trina started.
"So, he's a Mage."
"One of the best..." Trina answered.
"Why was he here?"
"I called him to fix your wings."
"Fix them?" Maji touched the freshly wounded wing. Several feathers fell and evaporated into air.
Trina got up and grabbed hold of Maji's wing. She steadied a hand on Maji's shoulder and ripped the wing away. Blood drifted like smoke. The wing dissolved into clouds and broke apart in Trina's hand.
"You know, you could be as powerful as he is."
"What makes you think that?" Maji braced herself as Trina took hold of her other wing.
"You transformed. In the real world, too." She pulled off the other wing. "It takes lots of power to do that."
Free of the weight of her wings, she left her chair and paced the kitchen. "So my body sprouted wings in bed?"
''They were removed and healed.'' said a voice in her head.
It was the same voice she'd heard on the phone and the same voice that woke her from her sleep. Morpheus, the great douche.
"Am I going insane?" She asked.
"Morpheus’ voice in your head?"
Nod Nod.
"That's to be expected. We are in his dream after all."
***
The red sun was visible under the door of the bedroom. Maji got up and found clothes sitting on the end of the bed. She got dressed and went into the kitchen, where Trina was waiting.
"How can I have not woken up yet?" She asked. "Am I in a coma?"
"Time is different here. You may have just not woken up yet."
Maji sat down and looked at Trina.
"Do you like him?" Trina asked.
"What?"
"Do you like him?"
Morpheus was a jerk. He was unpleasant and rude and, yeah, handsome, but that wasn't important. She didn't even know who Morpheus was or what he was really like. She couldn't be bothered with an ass she'd met once.
"No. I don't think I do." Maji said.
Trina just nodded and started the training. She gave Maji a few moments to prepare, meditation and relaxation techniques. Maji focused and reached out to everything, ethereally, and felt her wings reappear. This time, it wasn't the ripping sensations that had torn through her the last time. This time, her wings did not even feel physical. She looked up and saw Trina nodding her head. Cosmetic Magic.
Maji took a moment to flaunt herself, before removing the Cosmetics again. It did not seem as hard as when Trina had done it, though Trina had probably been keeping hers on for a very long time.
Maji doubted that she would want hers to stay on for any long time.
"You did well." Trina said, "Morpheus will be pleased."
"Why is it so important to please him?"
Trina graced Maji with a sad smile and went inside.
Maji followed her inside and took a shower. The cool water washed away the magic remains on her skin. She knew it wasn't a real shower and that the layer of energy on her skin wasn't really there, but it felt damn good.
When she walked outside, she was glad that she'd taken a cold shower. It. Was. Hot.
"Are you ready?" Trina asked.
"Just let me adjust."
Maji lowered her gaze to the red grass and let her eyes adjust to the bright pink light.
She'd never had any thoughts on Pink as a color until now. She now knew that it was the color of Hell.
"You've got the cosmetic magic down. Try disappearing."
Maji relaxed and felt for all her limbs. It was like cosmetic magic backwards. Just like she let her wings disappear before, she let her entire self.
"Now appear with your cosmetics on."
That might have been easier than reappearing without it. Maji reappeared with wings and all.
"Now wake up."
Cool air touched her skin. Soft sheets. Trina faded as the ceiling fan came into focus. The sun made the curtains glow and the house was silent.
Jakob could have gone to bed at any hour. Maji climbed out of bed and stretched. She didn't feel well rested at all. She snuck from her room and down the hallway. She hadn't felt hungry most of the time she was in Astral, but she was starving after. She toed softly across the tiles in the kitchen and opened the fridge.
Jakob left her some pizza. She and her empty stomach thanked god and spirited the stale, cold slices back to her room.
Holding a slice of pizza with her teeth, she opened the door. She hadn't looked at her bed before, but it was covered in blood, spread out on each side li
ke a Rorschach blot.
"I thought you might need proof." Morpheus said, taking the second slice of pizza from Maji's hand.
"Hey, that's mine." Maji told him, but her mouth was full of pizza and it fell on deaf ears anyway.
"It's rare that someone can completely transform themselves in the physical realm. Admirable."
Maji turned her back to the vanity and looked at her reflection. Long, pink scars stretched down her shoulder blades. and under her nightgown.
"We removed the wings and healed you." Morpheus’ hand rested on Maji's arm.
Maji was led to the bed like an invalid. She forced her arm away from him and sat down away from him. She was handed a drink and felt the bed dip next to her. She sipped.
Fingers traced the scars on her back and she drank the water in deep gulps. The fingertips traced down her spine and an arm wrapped around her waist. She was pulled into him and didn't have the strength to pull away. He held her against him as she fell back to sleep.
Chapter 5
Maji woke with a start. There was something cold around her neck. She touched it and found the thick metal collar. No lock and no switch to open. Just a solid band.
"It will keep your magic in check." Morpheus said.
She looked around. She was nowhere she'd been before.
"We can't have you hurting yourself again." He said.
Maji moved away from him. "What are you up to? You were a complete asshole last time we met and now you're spooning me and giving me kinky jewelry?"
Morpheus laughed.
"You said you weren't interested and now you suddenly are? What is your problem?"
"This isn't about being interested or not." He still gave her a good look over, "This is about control. You need someone who can reign you in."
"And just what do you mean by that?"
"Your magic will only work when I allow it." He said. "You should try to make nice with me."
Maji kicked him off the bed.
He got up with as much dignity as one can have after being kicked out of bed and left the room. Maji reached out and for her wings but felt nothing.
She got up and tried the door. It wouldn't open. She pounded on the door and then fell to breaking things around the room. There weren't a great many nice things to break and she wore herself out. She crawled back on the bed and curled up in an angry huff.
Eventually, bored and annoyed, she fell asleep.
She woke up spooned.
"Morning, Pet." Morpheus hummed.
"I didn't invite you back to bed." She said.
"This is my bed."
"You locked me in here. I'll be happy to leave."
"You need to learn some respect. You don't want me to have to teach you."
"Shove it, Asshole."
'That's Master to you, Pet.'
She tried move away, but his hold on her prevented it.
"I know my rights!" She said.
"From now on, Pet," He said in the cold voice he'd used over the phone, "You will earn all of your rights."
Something about the way he said it made tremors run down her spine. She froze as the room went dark around her. She tried to look around, and cried out when not a speck of light was showing. She reached for Morpheus, but her hand was slapped away.
"You will earn your right to see." He said, "And you will earn your right to touch."
"Like I would want to touch you." She said. But still, she shivered with the thought.
She felt something click against the collar and pull on it from in front of her. She cautiously followed the pull and felt the stone floor go to carpet, then to tile, then to a fuzzy kind of rug. Finally, the pulling stopped.
"Sit."
There was no room for argument, so she sat.
"This is your place." Morpheus said, "You will remain here unless I tell you to move."
She snorted. And felt his boot connect with her side.
"You will answer me when I speak to you." He said, though not sounding angry.
"Yes."
"Yes What?"
"Sir."
The boot again.
"Master?"
She stayed there until she heard the door close. She started to crawl around and feel with her hands what was around her when she felt the boot connect with her side again.
Morpheus had not yet left.
Before she could even try to get away, she was hauled up and stretched across the bed. He hit the backs of her calves with something that felt an awful lot like a wooden switch.
"What the hell!? You can't just beat me like that! I'm not your slave!"
She tried to get up, but her body felt glued to the bed.
He hit her again.
"Stop it! No!"
Again.
"I said no! This is now an assault!"
He hit her until she stopped talking.
When he finally let her down, she sobbed some and stayed in place. When she heard the door open and close again, she didn't move. She stayed still and compliant until she fell asleep in an uncomfortable heap on a very fuzzy rug.
***
The hairs in her mouth were an uncomfortable sensation as she was shaken awake by the edge of a black leather boot. She opened her eyes, expecting for light to embrace her eyes as she tried her darnedest to embrace the morning. Being blinded, such was not the case.
'Treela?'
'Not. Quite. Wake up.'
Maji struggled into a seated position and felt the edge of the boot run gently along her ribs. Apparently, terrorism was his game. She inhaled the scents of coffee, which she now saw as a bitter, angry smell, and that horribly putrid musk.
"I told you to wake up." He said calmly, as the boot knocked her across the rug.
Maji immediately climbed to her feet.
"Yes, Master." She said when she remembered.
Heavy boots stepped across the tile floor that surrounded her fuzzy boundary. He crossed the room and sat down on a very comfortable sounding bed. Her muscles ached jealously at the thought of a soft mattress.
"Did you sleep well, Pet?" He asked, the tone in his voice suggesting that a 'no' would not be the best choice of answers.
"Yes, Master." She lied, her back aching.
"Good. Because that's where you'll stay." He said. There was laughter in his voice, "If you're good, you may earn some bedding."
His voice was not reassuring.
Maji felt a strange tug on the collar and angrily followed it over to the bed. She was pulled up so that she was sitting, straddling him. She felt the tug slightly downwards and followed it as much as she could until she was resting her head on his chest. Only when she let out a sigh did the tugging end.
"Do you want to earn your place?" He asked.
"Yes, Master." She lied.
'Transform.'
Maji didn't want to transform for him. But he was in control here. She closed her eyes and tried. Part of her was afraid of the pain that would come with Transforming. She reached out to her every part; her arms, legs, chest, and wings, but nothing resulted. She continued until she slumped exhausted against him.
His laughter filled her ears.
'I see, my collar is working.'
Maji wanted to scream, to pound her fists into his face until she was soaked in his blood. She let out a frustrated sigh and felt strong arms curl tighter around her. Comfort? No, it wasn't that. It was colder than that. Just control.
The hands left her suddenly and she followed the chest she was leaning against until she was lying on top of him, horizontally on the bed. She tried to lift herself from his lap. He grabbed her and kept her down.
"Without Magic, what do you think you can do?"
She tried harder to get away but he was much stronger.
'You will obey me,' He said in the back of her mind, 'or you will not be well taken care of.'
Maji didn't care, she just wanted to get away from him. She wanted to get her eyesight back and run like hell. If she could manage to rid he
rself of the stupid collar, she could Gate her way back to Jakob's safehouse or maybe to an unknown place where Morpheus could never find her.
But where would she go? Morpheus was even in her head.
Morpheus pulled her down closer to him and she could feel every inch of him under his clothes. To her surprise, he wasn't aroused. She'd certainly expected. She didn't know whether to be relieved or insulted. She felt him tense up as a warning and forced herself to relax into his touch.
He calmly stroked her back until her relaxation was no longer forced. Maybe he wouldn't hurt her this time. Maji did not know when she'd started doing it, but she found herself leaning into his gentle caresses. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and realized that, while he was completely uninterested, she was on pins and needles. She felt his hand pause at her lower back and snake down her bottom to cup her inner thigh. She gasped at the contact.
And jumped at his laughter.
'Like it more than you want to, Pet?' His tone was mocking and dangerous. All she could do was follow the template he'd given her the night before.
"Yes, Master."
She allowed him to roll her over, onto the bed. She did not feel comfortable being under him, but his disinterest made it more tolerable. He stepped back and reached for something at the side of the bed. She felt the first strike against the bottom of her foot.
She pulled but couldn't move her ankle from its exact spot.
'Who do you belong to, Pet?' Morpheus asked, punctuating each word with a rather sharp crack of the cane to one foot or the other.
The cane hit deep into the muscles and Maji cried out, trying to get away from the pain.
"Answer me." He said, hitting in the sensitive arch of her foot.
"You, Master." Maji sobbed.
When the beating stopped, she could feel the skin there tingling. She didn't know how much more of the punishment she could take. Morpheus returned to her side and reached down to where she was positioned so submissively. She could tell he appreciated the pose, even if she wasn't truly submissive in taking it.
Morpheus opened his mouth and latched onto her throat with his teeth; he pressed down harder and harder until she whimpered from the sensations.
'You are mine.' He drawled in her mind, his mental voice taking the purr he'd always used with her before, in Astral, "You will never forget your place."
Seeing that he had effectively shown his Pet how the game was played, Morpheus pulled her away from the bed and back to the fur rug. She hadn't been obedient enough give her the reward of sleeping with a pillow or blanket that night, but he did make sure that she was far enough away from the edge of the rug that she would not roll off, onto the cold tile floor.
She would crawl back to the bed and attack when he fell asleep, she promised herself.