By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 40

It was hard to tell when a person had been bewitched. For the most part they acted just the same, but for the careful observer there were the tell-tale signs. Their blink rate was lowered and other mannerisms were also reduced. For example, if they often nodded their head when affirming a question, the nod was diminished. They also ate a little less and spoke a little less. It was a matter of intuition telling the normal from the bewitched, but the consequences for not spotting them were so high. They would do the bidding of their controller no matter what was asked. Rebecca knew this very well and she was also adept at creating a potion and a spell which would bring the vampire Raphael under her control. It was so easy to make them believe that they were in love. After all men were nothing else but slaves of their desires and fools. Just now after this potion making was over all she had to do was to make something so that he would drink it.

She knew that the glamour that she had cast upon herself after selling a unique potion and then being able to purchase youth for a year from a seller in the Dark market would be very useful. It was supposed to come in handy when she was required to seduce any man, willing or unwilling, they could never resist the temptation of a warm soft supple body waiting for them in their bed. Waiting to be taken, to pleasure and to be pleasured.

It had been quite a long time that she had been with a man. Rebecca, reflected on the last time that she had been as she watched the potion brew and bubble. It was going to be a long night, she thought as she found that the potion was taking a pretty long time to change colour. But then again she was doing this inside an office room whereas the warmth and the safety of the forest grove was missing.

Cobra venom, tail of rattle snake, monkey's finger nails, powdered Falcon talons, dried poison ivy, tip of a parrot's beak, mouse skeleton, rat's feet, chicken toes, elephant's earwax, human dandruff, a vampire's bogies, blood of a giant, witch's wart, skunk cabbage slivers, a tick of a clock, a lucky rabbit's foot, four leaf clover, dog vomit, cat sick, spray from a skunk, stripes from a tiger, the mane of a lion, zombie zest, pickled porcupine quills. Some of them were liquid and some of them were powders, and it had not been very difficult to find out all the ingredients. They were easily available enough but the trick of making an enchantment potion was not its ingredients but rather the quantity and the timing of the incantations. Everyone thought that with these Harry Potter movies that the spells and the incantations were as easy as they looked and magic was nothing else but fun but that was far from the truth.

Rebecca dived into her memories in order to seek inspiration from the last time her seduction had been a success. It was a beautiful memory, one which never failed to please her. Not because of her skills as a sorceress but her capabilities as a woman. The one of flesh and blood.

Seduction was what Rebecca did best, moving into Ian's personal space with just the right look of heat in her eyes. She didn't just look at a man, she looked into him as if she knew his desires. With the kiss came the smooth touch of her body, poised, just the right blend of relaxation and tension. It had always been written in their gaze, a chemistry, a seed of love, an invitation to learn about the other. Always with a crowd, they stood apart, hearts beating all the faster when a chance to talk came. Then one day Ian contrived a way for them to be alone, a chance for their bodies to communicate without the need for words.

We both gazed in each others eyes longingly; not a word spoken by either of us. I was lost within the breathless paradise of his dreamy eyes and no sooner without any authority he clutched his hands unto my hips, leaning me in against his muscular body; as a result I was weakened by his gentle seductive touch.

While pressing his body against mine and continuing gazing within my eyes, he begun kissing my now frail neck which made me even weaker than before. I know what we were about to do was wrong, but I wanted this. The devil's cruel intention was already a success.

His lips brush mine. Not innocently, like a tease but hot, fiery, passionate and demanding. I want to pull away before I lose myself but I can’t seem to…In this minty moment, my senses have been seduced and I can no longer think straight. “Lilliana” he whispers slowly, prolonging each letter as if to savor them. I smile, my heart fluttering at his voice as I clasp my hands on either side of his face. Never before has my name ever felt so wonderful a one, I think, as I lean in for another…He kissed her and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingled. She ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and she could feel the beating of his heart against her chest.

The next thing I knew, he had slammed his lips to mine and nearly knocked all wind from my lungs.

I hardly had a moment to react before he pressed his tongue to the seam of my lips and, at my grant of access, delved inside my mouth. It was a very sloppy kiss with the strong scent of old wine being exchanged in the intermingling of our billowing breaths. My arms reached up and tangled around his thick, strong neck. In an instant I had pulled away and arched up into his broad chest, moaning in the contact of body heat against my own, before I drew back into his lips. I could nearly feel the slight burn of the wine as it rolled off my tongue and seeped down my throat with every push of his tongue against mine.

Into the cauldron go spider eyes, gun powder, sugared squid, newt legs, lizard guts, cat fur ball, frogs tongue, bat's brains, earwig's ears, grasshopper's legs, fairy wings, firefly's fire, copper's green coat, silvery fish scales, Octopus suckers, powdered bark of an ancient willow, nuggets of knee scab, hunk of horse hair, beetle droppings, ground unicorn horn, will powder, screech of an owl, stomach of an ant, sword of a swordfish, piranha teeth.

Her memory was broken by the hissing sound which was being emitted by the cauldron and she immediately remembered what else she had to drop inside the cauldron. She had to drop an ounce of her wish to seduce the person whom she desired. It was her wish which would take the form of his desires and make it easier for her to do what she needed. But then again she was not entirely required to do this, was she? Rebecca had already come to know which particular girl was supposed to be the next Queen and the one with the unforeseen powers. And the best part was that, a simple Seeking spell on the first day of her announcement at the Great Hall, the auditorium which they called had made it painfully clear that this girl was extremely vulnerable and she was the one with the powers. Now all she had to do was to make sure that she poisoned the mind of this girl against the blood-suckers so that she would take the side of the witches when the time arrived. It was all very simple.

She did not know exactly when did the Seer of the coven have had this vision but except the Oldest Witch, the Head of the coven, no one knew about that. Rebecca had not even in a million years thought that she would be chosen for something of this importance. The necessity and the requirement of the proper news was paramount but she was not the witch to be chosen. She was not even half powerful as the other witches who were older in experience than her but they were not versed in seduction of men like she was. The Head Witch was no fool and she had been living for three hundred years and was more than enough powerful to break you into half just by looking at her. She could sniff the requirement of physical need and connection that was inside Rebecca. Now that she was here and making this potion Rebecca looked at the mirror and opened the crimson robes which she was wearing when she had started making the potion.

What she saw in the mirror satisfied her greatly. No man was supposed to resist the charms of a witch be it a man, or a vampire or the devil himself.