.Bigger Hearts

Finally, she climbed down off the table and dressed. Then she sat, sorting through the little piles of clothing, putting Jose’s next to him.

He reached slowly for his pants.  When she didn’t stop him, he dressed and sat, quivering, in the middle of the table.

Paula came back with Danny, taking a wet-wipe to him before dropping him by his own clothing.

Brandy carried Chuck back in her panties again, lowering them at the edge of the table.  He crawled out slowly, careful not to kick her in a sensitive spot, then crawled over to his clothes.

And Megan brought Bill back, licking him like an ice cream cone to clean him off.  The boys dressed as the women dressed, then each produced candles marked with runes.

“Well?” Ellen asked, looking around the table.

Paula scratched an iron needle through three of the runes on her candle.  “I’m leaving little Danny’s memory completely blank.  He won’t know what happened tonight, or why he smells like he does.  He’ll just wake up, fully dressed in bed.”

“Um, thank you, Mrs. Lohman,” he said.  She carried him over to the cage, and lit the candle in one corner of the pentagram.  She turned back to the table to watch.

Megan nodded and took the iron needle to her candle.  “Step back over here, Bill.”  He obeyed quickly, no sign of resistance shown.  She scratched at the runes.  “I’m going to do the same thing, Bill.  Your memory of tonight will be completely gone.  Blank.  The whole night just missing. But…”

He quivered as she set down candle and needle.  She gestured and he obediently lifted up his shirt.  She wrote her initials there with a magic marker.  “Wonder about that when you shower tomorrow.”

“Yes, Miss Donner,” he said, bowing slightly, "thank you Miss Donner.” 

She carried him and her candle over to place them, lighting one.

Brandy shook her head, scratching through two of the runes. “I’m going to go with ‘it was a dream.’  You’re going to wake up with a dream of this night, Chuck. 

“You just won’t be sure when you had this dream.  Or how many times you had it.  And if anyone describes it to you, you’ll never believe it actually happened.”

“Um…  Okay,” Chuck said.  Jose hissed at him.  “I mean, thank you, Ms. West.”

“Good boy,” she nodded, picking him up.  She cuddled him against her breast.  “And we won’t be talking about ‘colder than a witch’s tit,’ will we?”

“Oh, NO, ma’am!” he promised.  She went to the pentagram. Jose stood and waited, knees quivering.

Ellen leaned down to show him all four intact runes.  “You are going to remember this evening VERY clearly, Jose.”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you, ma’am.”

“You’ll remember what happened to you, what happened to everyone else, and who did it.  And if you try to tell anyone about it, no one will believe you.”

“No, ma’am,” he said. 

She picked him up and stroked his thigh.  “And you should know, this will not be repeated.  If you tease any women about being witches?  And we find out about it?  It’ll be…  It’ll be epic, Jose.

“Fucking epic.”

“And not epic fucking,” Paula giggled.

Jose was caged, the candle was lit, as was the fifth and final candle.  The boys disappeared with a pop of air.  The pentagram faded.

Megan turned the lights on for the lab. 

Paula looked around.  “Well, when shall we three meet again?” she cackled.

“We’re four,” Megan had to point out.

“It’s Shakespeare!” Paula protested.

“Well, if she gets here, we’ll have five!” Megan protested.

“Every fucking night,” Ellen muttered.  She picked up her black cloak and waved at the door. The locks opened and the alarms were silence on all the doors between Chemistry 4 and the faculty entrance.

Brandy waved a wand.  “Janitor’s already left,” she reported.  “We’re clear to the parking lot and beyond.

“I guess the hurlyburly’s done, then,” Paula said.

“Speak English!” Megan protested.

“I AM, you culturally stunted empiricist!” Paula shouted back. 

Ellen shook her head and walked out.