For everyone that enters this story through the contest site, rather than through the category: This story is a Non-Consent story, if you don't like that type of story, you have been warned. For everyone else, I hope you enjoy my story.
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I put a spell on you
I can't keep my eyes off him. There is just something about the way he moves, the way he looks absentmindedly out the window when we are reading or writing, the soft voice with which he explains our assignments, even the way he speaks when he is angry because someone is talking during class again.
I never pay attention to what he is talking about; my grades have deteriorated considerably since he took over the class. All I can do is stare at him and try not to let the thoughts flooding through my mind overwhelm me. When I see his mouth all I can think of is how soft his lips must feel on mine. When his green eyes rest on me for a moment, usually with a reproaching look because once again I am not taking notes, my heart starts beating faster.
I'd love to run my fingers through his dark hair. While he speaks of national romance in the 19th century or of text analysis or of what-do-I-know, all I can think of is how it must feel like to bury my face against his chest, or kiss the soft skin of his neck, and breathe in his smell, which so far I only know as a fleeting note in the air when he walks by my desk.
For a moment I close my eyes and let my desire fill out every part of me, this sweet and painful longing. Sometimes it surprises me that nobody notices. My desire is so strong it should change the air in the room. With every new thought of him I can smell the juices flowing in me -- how can nobody else notice?
And he -- how can you be desired as much by someone as I desire him, and not notice? Shouldn't all this longing I feel each time I see him, touch him too, reach out to him, take hold of his heart and fill it with the same desire I feel?
He stands in front of the class, his face unmoving. He never knows how much I wish for everyone else to be gone, for us to be the only two people left, and then for him to take hold of me, throw me to the floor or onto the desk in front of the classroom, his desk. His arms look strong and I am sure the grip of his long fingers must be firm. He'd push me onto his desk, and then...
***
The doors of rooms all around opened, and within seconds hundreds of young men and women filled the long corridor. Some were walking in groups, chattering happily. Others were alone, with books under their arms, looking tired or stressed.
Some seemed in a rush, running to their next class, or into the bathroom. Others walked leisurely to the exit of the building, stepping through the big gate into the open to catch a bit of fresh air.
A red haired girl with a somewhat dreamy expression on her face wrapped herself more tightly into her thick black coat -- despite the sunshine and blue sky one could feel that summer was gone. The October air was cold. Slowly she walked down the stairs and into the small park in front of the University building.
It was an old building, one that showed off its history and importance with every ornamented bay window. It seemed to be heavy of all the thinking that had occurred inside, of all the important people that had told their ideas to hundreds and thousands of students in the great lecture halls. The park, on the other hand, was light and green. Decades or maybe even centuries ago some ingenious headmaster had it laid out here to offer the young learners a counterweight to the seriousness of the university, to give them a chance to breathe.
Under tall trees stood wooden benches, the ground around them covered in brown leaves. In summer the students sat in groups on the grass, discussing politics and the newest gossip, or strolled along on the paths. Now, only a few of the benches were occupied and the girl didn't have to go far before she found one that was secluded enough to feel unwatched.
She sat down, ignoring the fact that the bench was still slightly moist from last night's rain. Her coat was thick enough to protect her. She put her backpack next to herself, opened it, and started rummaging inside until she pulled out a thick book that looked like it hadn't been taken out of the library for decades until she had found it.
And quite probably this was true -- she herself had only found it by coincidence, yesterday, when she had gone there to study but as usual had become bored very quickly and had started to walk along the rows of books instead, reading each title, exploring corners of the huge library that students seldom ventured into. It was as if this book had been waiting for her, laced there for her to find, and the title jumped out at her.
How to get what you desire
.
At first she had assumed it was another of those pseudo-psychological books designed to make people feel better about themselves, claiming to teach them how to survive better in this modern world. However, as she realized the next moment, this book looked much too old for that. It was bound in leather and the title was painted onto it in fading gold letters. When she opened it, the print looked old fashioned, and she couldn't find anything to tell when and where it had been printed -- that alone indicated that it must be old, she thought.
And thus she had hid it in her backpack -- she was sure that a book this old wasn't allowed to be taken out of the library, but she wanted to be alone when she read it. With a beating heart she had left the library, and like through a miracle no alarm had gone off, no one had caught her.
She hadn't dared to take it out of her backpack when she got home, however -- she was sharing an apartment with three other girls, all of them always curious and always in a chatty mood, she didn't want any of them to suddenly burst into her room to tell her the newest gossip only to catch her reading this mysterious book. It was hers, and hers alone to read. She didn't want to share. So instead she had left it in her backpack to read it in the park, after class.
The book on her lap, she looked around. Her corner of the park was as empty as she had hoped, and a high hedge seemed to protect her from the curious looks of those that sat on the benches closer to the university building. Here she was safe. It was time to open the book.
She hesitated, felt her heart beating. Somewhere in her head a little voice told her that this might not be a good idea.
Nonsense!
she answered back. What could be dangerous of a book? Most likely it was going to be more of the usual talk of self confidence and being focused, anyway.
Her heart beating yet more wildly, she took hold of the front cover and swung it open. Dust rose up and made her cough. The front page was blank, of course. She turned it, and turned the next page that repeated the book's title. Then she found a table of contents.
How to gain a fortune. How to reach power. How to reach fame. Revenges that last. How to plant desire in a woman's heart. How to make her your own. How to plant desire in a man's heart.
How to plant desire in a man's heart. That was it! She skipped over all the other chapters. Fortune, power, fame, revenge -- all this didn't interest her right now. She held her breath as she started reading.
You have to be sure that there is no desire for you in his heart already. If he desires you in any way, the spell will feast on that desire...
She hesitated. Did the book say spell? She read again, and then went back to the first chapter of the book. Yes, it was a spell book apparently. Disappointment flooded through her. It wasn't one of those advice books as she had feared, that at least was true -- but this... She had hoped for something real.
What... though... what if it
was
real? She had always thought there was something more to this world than people can see, or than science can explain. What if this book indeed held the answer to her problem? And if it wasn't... What did she have to lose?
She turned the page back to the chapter she had been looking at, and started reading again.
You have to be sure that there is no desire for you in his heart already. If he desires you in any way, the spell will feast on that desire, increase it thousand fold, and the result will be much stronger than what you expected.
