The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The Jilliad

Book 2

After the Necklace

Chapter 7 Liz

The next morning Mark and Trish decided to forego their usual routine, though they both seemed to wake up at about 5:30.When Mark woke he noticed Trish still sleeping and began to stare at her lovely sleeping face.

Within a couple of minutes, Trish opened her eyes and gazed at Mark’s, which were only several inches away from her own. “Mmmm. What a beautiful sight to wake up to,” half sighed, half yawned Trish.

“I was telling myself that just minutes ago,” smiled Mark. “So you want to?”

“I’m too tired,” groaned Tricia. “But I will be happy to roll on to my back if you want to fuck my lifeless body” she added.

“Gee… you make it sound so sexy,” laughed Mark.

“The alternative would be a rain-check ‘til tomorrow morning when we are in our special bed,” smiled Trish.

“I can go for that on one condition,” stated Mark.

“Name it,” said Trish.

”Roll over, I want to spoon” said Mark tenderly.

“Fine, as long as you don’t plan to put little Mark inside my heinie” laughed Trish.

“Been there, done that” laughed Mark. Trish gave a sleepy little giggle and turned over. Mark then spooned against her back and put his arms around her and they fell asleep for a few more hours.

By about ten AM everyone had awoken. Lauren returned Marie’s necklace to her, though she wasn’t sure why she had borrowed it in the first place. Bill and Marie smiled at each other as they knew why. Phil and Sharon had asked Bill and Marie to visit with them for a few days so they could become acquainted with their new In-laws. Phil had volunteered to fly everyone else back to Sanders by chopper, but Elsie had decided that she had had one chopper ride too many. So Mike and Lauren had volunteered to drive Mark, Tricia, Elsie, and Marcus back to Sanders and then drive up route seven to find a romantic place to stay in Vermont so they could reconnect and recover from their ordeal. Then Phil and Sharon surprised everyone.

“Wendy, dear, we know we shortchanged your time at Sanders. If it is OK with Trish, we would be happy if you went back with her and the others,” said Sharon.

“We will tell your school that you are away looking at your college choice, which is completely true,” said Phil.

“I’d love to!” screamed Wendy happily as she grabbed and hugged her sister. “That is if it is OK with you” Wendy added directing her comments to Trish.

“You know it would be!” screamed Trish excitedly as she hugged her sister harder.

Mark smiled and walked over to his future mother-in-law and hugged her and patted Phil on the back with his free hand. Sharon smiled at her future son-in-law as she melted affectionately into his embrace. Mark whispered in her ear “I always knew where Trish got her physical beauty from, but now I see where she got her grace and loving heart too.”

Sharon blushed, but smiled even broader.

“Ahem,” coughed Phil. “Are you out to romance everyone in my family?” he laughed.

“Don’t worry sir. If I do, I promise not to leave you out,” laughed Mark as he took his future father-in-law and gave him a big bear hug and everyone laughed.

“Look roommate, don’t try that on me! I know we’re close and everything, but not that close,” said Marcus.

Everyone laughed as Mark began to chase Marcus around and when he caught him, he gave him a big bear hug too. Marcus had play wrestled with Mark before and easily beat him, now Marcus noticed that Mark seemed somehow much stronger. While his own strength appeared to have strangely increased lately, he figured it might be a good idea if he didn’t wrestle Mark anymore. “Uncle!” yelled Marcus.

Mark broke the hug and laughed.

“Wouldn’t want to show you up in front of your family,” Marcus added with a laugh.

The drive back to Sanders was a loud and raucous event. Elsie, Trish and Marcus were making plans on what they would do with Wendy when she got back to campus. Wendy was chiming in excitedly. Mike and Lauren were having their own quiet conversation in the front seat. The only one who was completely quiet was Mark. He had one arm around Trish who was sitting next to him and he was smiling. He was thinking about how his perceptions about people had changed. He had always thought that there were good people and bad people in the world. This simplistic outlook had been shaken by his magical insight and his experience with the Winthrop’s. Now he still believed that there were some truly bad people in the world, but many of the people he thought were bad were either just selfish, broken or both.

His experiences fixing Lauren with Jill had not only taught him a lot about his power, but also how it could be used to fix the broken in mind and help the damaged in spirit. He still had a lot to learn, but the most valuable lesson that he took with him is that love was one of the best medicines. Love saved Lauren and redeemed Phil, Sharon and Mike.

Mark knew that he might be able to help Liz now. The question was how. He could easily have Liz join his little harem, but would this really be the best thing for her? He kept worrying about some of his mates. While Sonia and Tessa were both lesbians and Amy and Fern were apparently bi-sexual, the rest were completely heterosexual before they became his. They would never be able to know the joy of being in a monogamous relationship. While he sensed they were happy with their current existence, would this continue? So far, all of his mates had become his by accident or out of necessity. If Liz was to join their family, she would be the first one to do so out of her own volition. He sensed that she was attracted to him when he kissed her, but was this due to his magic, her low self-esteem and her real feelings for him or a combination of any or all of the three, he thought?

In reality, Liz did have feelings for Mark. While his magic had lowered her inhibitions to enjoy the kiss, Liz had began to see Mark through her teammate Tricia’s eyes and what she saw was a guy whom she now felt that she was not worthy of pursuing, due to her own lack of esteem.

When Mark and Trish had helped Wendy, it was relatively easy. Once Wendy’s own doubt had been removed, all she was left with was the plain unvarnished truth. As Trish was beautiful and she looked like Trish, she was beautiful true. With Liz it would be much more difficult, maybe even impossible to correct her self-esteem issues permanently with just simple programming. Liz’s appearance seemed to be at the root of her core belief system. While it might be possible for him to tweak these values, without the ability to continually access them and without reinforcement, this programming would fade. This reinforcement would most likely include sex. Even with the use of a condom, Mark figured that there would be a strong likelihood, that Liz could become partially bound to him. He had seen the kind of agony that caused when he had sex with Karen, Amber and Alexis. So that would rule that out.

Mark also worried about Liz getting into a bad relationship. Like Marie, her poor self-esteem might collide with a temporary programming tweak in her confidence to land into an abusive relationship. Even though her scar had faded, Liz had become quite wary of men. She did not wish to sleep around, but she was not attracted to the people who might be interested in her. Aside from admitting that she was a little bi-curious in a game of truth or dare with Mark, Trish, Marcus and Amy and some others, Mark knew of no real feelings of lesbianism. Yes, the Liz problem seemed to have his attention. Of course, Lady Trish was always aware when she didn’t have his.

“Hey babe why so quiet?” Tricia whispered in Mark’s ear.

“I am a man of many deep thoughts,” said Mark carelessly.

“It’s about Liz, right?”

“How did you know?”

“You have a tendency to quietly talk out loud when you are thinking hard,” smiled Trish.

“That’s got to be pretty embarrassing,” opined Mark.

“No. On the contrary, it is quite cute. It also let’s me know what you are thinking which is something that all fiancée’s would find useful” laughed Trish.

“How will I ever know what you are thinking?”

“Easy, the answer would usually be you,” laughed Trish.

“Usually?” asked Mark.

“Sometimes it would be Amy and sometimes it would be Elsie...”

“What are you two talking about?” interrupted Wendy.

“Just lover stuff,” said Mark.

“You guys are just too cute,” sighed Wendy.

“You should see what he looks like in the morning,” said Trish.

“I have. He used to be my roommate and I have to agree with Blondie. UGLY!” laughed Marcus.

“Gee Thanks roomie! Way to defend me!”

“I’ll bet you are quite handsome in the morning” defended Wendy.

“At least one of the Winthrop girls has taste” laughed Mark as he reached over Trish and held Wendy’s hand.

“OK, I’m busted. Mark is cute all the time,” smiled Trish.

“Nice to see that you came to your senses. If I were only a little bit younger, I would be happy to make Mark forget all about you, Tricia,” laughed Elsie, as she winked at Marcus who was sitting next to her.

“Yeah, right” said Marcus sarcastically.

Elsie knew the reason for Marcus’ sarcasm and it had more to do with what she had been up to last night with Mark and Tricia and less concerning her age. “Busted” whispered Elsie to Marcus and he smiled at her.

The trip was fairly uneventful. When they got back to campus, Marcus headed over to Angie’s dorm, while Elsie picked up her car to go back to her place. That left Mark, Wendy and Trish.

After the girls said goodbye, Mike and Lauren pulled Mark aside. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough! You gave me back my life!” said Lauren as she hugged him.

“Somehow I knew that there was someone special locked in your brain. I knew I had to try and help,” said Mark.

“Thank God you were able to. In so many ways, you gave me back my life too and perhaps my very soul!” said Mike.

“While I was working with Lauren, a lot of her memories came to light which caused me to give you a second look Uncle Mike. I’m glad I did. I am not sure how I‘d have handled what you were going through,” admitted Mark.

“I’m not sure either, but probably a lot better than I did,” said Mike wistfully.

“Hopefully I never will. The most important thing is that you two are back together and the Winthrop’s are all happy” said Mark. “Lauren, I have been meaning to ask you. Are you sure that you are not somehow related to Sharon Winthrop? I mean you look so much like her, Trish and Wendy,” he asked.

“Not that I’m aware of. I was adopted, but my foster parents said that I was from an orphanage in Canada. I don’t see how I could be related to her, though I do admit the resemblance is uncanny,” said Lauren.

“Tell me about it. Subconsciously, I latched on to the idea of marrying Tricia because of the resemblance,” said Mike.

“Well you two have a great time in Vermont! Bye Uncle Mike and Aunt Lauren!” said Mark as Wendy and Trish came over and waved good bye.

“Bye Nieces and Nephew!” yelled Uncle Mike as he drove away with Lauren.

“Wendy, I need to take Trish over to visit a friend. Would you be OK hanging out with Marcus, Angie and Amy for about an hour?” asked Mark.

“I like Marcus and Amy and I am looking forward to finally meeting Angie. I feel that I already know her from talking to Marcus” smiled Wendy.

“Let’s get your gear stowed at Tricia’s and Amy’s, then I’ll drop you off with them. They are over in Angie’s room. I promise we will be back in an hour” said Mark.

“No rush! Since I am going here next year, it will be nice to meet some of the people I hope will become my friends too” said Wendy.

“You’ll fit in just fine, Wendy-bird. I’m sure of it” smiled Trish.

After Wendy had been dropped off, Trish looked at Mark and said “Liz?”

“Yep,” said Mark.

“I’ve been dreading this moment, since I heard you say her name in Mike’s car.”

“Why?” asked Mark.

“Because your mood is so serious. Something’s wrong with her?” asked Trish.

“Yes and No. I’ll let her give you the details. Just please be patient with her. I will tell you that she is hurt.”

“But I thought everything was OK with us now” said Trish.

“So did I, but apparently there are some things we didn’t know,” said Mark as he pulled his SUV up to the curb near Liz’s dorm.

When Mark and Trish got to her room, Liz gave them both a big hug. She looked relieved that Trish was OK. “Mark, I think everything is OK now,” started Liz.

“Nope!” said Mark as he dragged his chair over to Liz’s and took her hand.

“You need to tell her,” Mark smiled sympathetically.

Liz looked like she was going to cry, but managed to hold back. “Look, Killer I need to get something off my chest,” said Liz using Tricia’s volleyball nickname.

“Hey Lizzy kid, you know you can tell me anything,” said Trish.

“You won’t like it!” said Liz.

“In my book we’re friends and friends need to be honest with each other. I’m sure our friendship can handle it,” smiled Trish supportively.

Liz then proceeded to tell the story that she had been spying on Trish for Mike Caldwell over the past year. When Tricia asked Why, Liz told her the story of their tragic double date and the huge impact it had on her life.

Trish listened with surprise and then screamed out in frustration, “That bastard! He lied to me!” yelled Trish who was so angry she started to cry.

“What’s the matter, babe?” asked Mark as he got up and touched Trish on her shoulder lovingly. He then stood Trish up and moved her chair closer to his and Liz’s so he could comfort both of them.

As Trish sat down Mark grabbed her hand and Liz’s with his other and asked Trish to continue. “Who?” he asked.

“That asshole, Nate Brent! That’s who I am talking about!” cried Trish.

“I agree that Nate was an asshole concerning me, but I always thought that you drove him to that when you left the party with his friend Greg who was my date” said Liz quietly as a tear dripped down her cheek.

“Liz, You have to believe me. About a week before the date, Nate told me he wanted to break up. I was actually happy he suggested it but was kind of surprised. About a week earlier, he had suggested that we get “pre-engaged” and I shot down the idea. Then he started talking about marriage in the future and I told him we should just concentrate on the present for now,” said Trish.

“Do you think he told you that he wanted to break up with you out of spite?” asked Mark.

“At the time, I didn’t think so, but now I can believe it” said Trish.

“How does this apply to what happened at the date?” asked Liz.

“Nate told me that he liked you. I know you never told me this, but I knew you had a crush on him and maybe you two would have been a good fit. Anyway, the plan was for me to hit it off with Greg, which we actually did and for us to leave you and Nate alone so he could express his feelings for you in private. This way, if Greg and I didn’t connect, I would just go back to my room and if you didn’t want Nate, you two could have amicably split and gone your own ways. This date was my idea, because after Nate told me he liked you, I didn’t want it to seem like you were his second choice. He was supposed to tell you that he and I had broken up mutually, but his reason was because he liked you and that you both had my blessing, which I would have given you the next day,” continued Trish.

“None of that happened,” said Mark.

“Can you please tell her the rest Mark? I’m not sure I can,” said Liz crying.

“Nate never told Liz that he wanted her. Instead, he proceeded to get drunk and angry. He dragged Liz out to his truck and started swearing at Liz after he drove to the freshman dorm and couldn’t find Trish in her room. He then went back to the party and on his way back he crashed his truck, causing Liz’s injuries.” said Mark.

“But Liz, you told everyone that YOU were driving!” exclaimed a shocked Trish.

“After the crash Nate was so sweet to me. He told me that we could be together if I told everyone that I was driving; since I didn’t have that much to drink and passed a sobriety test. Since I didn’t know how to drive stick well, we were able to convince the police. After all my injuries had healed over the summer, Nate stopped calling me. When we got back to school, Nate came back for grad school because he was awarded another year of eligibility. He then told me that we were through. When I threatened to tell the truth, he said that it would be just his word against mine and he would get the benefit of the doubt because of who he was and the fact that I was admitting to lying!” cried Liz.

Trish got up and hugged Liz tightly!

“I’m so sorry Liz, I never knew!” cried Trish.

“Do you forgive me for pretending to be your friend and spying on you?” cried Liz.

“Only if you forgive me for not being more suspicious of that bastard’s motives and for not trying harder to talk to you that summer!” cried Trish.

Mark joined the hug as both girls continued to sniffle for a few minutes. After a while Trish looked at Mark. “Wasn’t there something else we wanted to talk to Liz about?” she asked.

“I was thinking that it could wait.”

“Come to think of it, I do remember you telling me that you had a proposition for me,” said Liz as she giggled.

Mark noticed that only about a half hour came off the clock since they arrived. He originally wanted to wait, but since Trish had figured out what he had been up to and now Liz was asking, he knew he was stuck. Before he could say anything, Trish jumped in to ensure he would act.

“First of all Mark has always found you quite attractive,” said Trish.

“Are you guys asking me about a three way?” asked Liz.

“Not exactly,” said Mark.

“Not that I would necessarily be opposed to the idea,” laughed Liz.

“Seriously sexy, I’m worried about you,” said Mark.

“Why? Because I have no love life, because I’m so ugly?” asked Liz.

“You’re not ugly!” implored Trish.

“That’s sweet of you Trish, but please don’t lie to me,” said Liz.

“This is why I’m so worried about you. You’re not ugly. You have a small scar, but that does not make you ugly,” said Mark.

“You are just saying that because we are friends,” said Liz.

Trish looked at Mark and nodded. Mark hesitated, but then Trish said “If you don’t I will!”

Mark went for it. Before Liz could say anything, Mark was on her; kissing her passionately. Liz started to protest, but soon she felt her lust rise. Mark made no attempt to change her levels, but he continued to french her deeply and fondled her breasts through her clothes. After a couple of minutes, Mark let a stunned Liz up as they had both tumbled to the ground in their passion.

Liz looked at Mark sheepishly and at Trish guiltily. “Damn, Mark! I wasn’t going to tell Trish what we did last night, but you just did the same thing right in front of your fiancée!” said Liz.

“Did you like it?” smiled Trish.

“Of course, it was amazing but that doesn’t make it right” said Liz.

“It is if I say so and Mark wants it,” said Trish.

“OK, I’m confused. Is this about a three way or are you trying to dump Mark on me like you did with Nate?” asked Liz.

Trish looked hurt, but she probably had asked for it, she thought. “Nothing like that sweetie. It’s just that…” Trish began.

“What Trish is trying to say is that we want you to be happy and there are a couple of ways that I may be able to help you,” said Mark.

“Unfortunately I’m never going to be happy, although that kiss sure was nice!” admitted Liz.

“What if you could get kisses like that all the time from Mark and others? What if you had many people who loved you for who you are?” asked Trish.

“It sounds like you are trying to recruit me into a cult,” said Liz.

“I suppose in a way that is what we are doing. The difference between what we are proposing and a cult is that we are a real family. We all love each other and we are all happy,” said Mark.

“OK, what are the strings to this ‘family’?” asked Liz.

“The only strings are that you will love all of us and you will never want to leave,” said Trish.

“You mean I will have to love all of you?” asked Liz.

“No, she means that you will love all of us” stated Mark.

“How is that possible?” asked Liz.

Mark and Trish looked at each other. “For us to continue talking, you have to promise us that you won’t tell anyone if you decide not to join our family,” said Trish.

“Liz, you are the first person we have ever asked to join. Everyone else joined accidentally or out of their own necessity,” said Mark.

“Why don’t you tell me first what I am getting myself into? Is it illegal?” asked Liz.

“No,” replied Trish.

“But it is highly unacceptable in the eyes of society,” stated Mark.

“If what you tell me is true, then I will keep your secret. Please go on,” said Liz.

“You are going to find it hard to believe,” said Mark.

“Try me,” said Liz.

Mark and Trish then regaled Liz with the story of the necklace, how their family formed and who its members were. They also talked about Mark’s powers and the necessity of a potion’s use and sex with Mark to join their little family. They did leave the pregnancy part out of the equation as they felt it was not essential to Liz making her decision. While Liz loved and trusted her friends she was naturally skeptical.

“OK, guys, you are telling me that Coach Vasquez, Tessa and Monique from our team all have sex with you? Coach V and Tessa are gay partners. Monique is such a goody-two-shoes. Also, isn’t your roommate Amy gay too? I think ‘Weird Fern’ from my dorm is bi though,” said Liz trying to make sense of it all.

“Fern is a sweetheart. If you join us you will see that she isn’t weird,” said Mark.

“I’m sorry, old habits die hard,” said Liz. “Wait a minute. Isn’t Nurse Norton married to Professor Norton?” she added.

“Nope, they got divorced just a couple weeks ago” said Mark.

“Before or after your voodoo?” asked Liz.

“Before,” said Trish.

“OK, suppose what you are telling me is true. You are saying that I’m going to turn gay?” asked Liz.

“No. You will just want to have sex with other members of the family…” started Mark.

“Who are virtually all women,” interrupted Liz.

“True, but you still get to sleep with Mark too,” pointed out Trish.

“And you’re OK with that?” asked Liz.

“Of course. I love everyone in the family. Mark isn’t jealous when I sleep with them,” said Trish.

“Even after you are married?” asked Liz.

“Our Marriage is something that is special between us. You remember how I have always felt about Trish, Liz?”

“Yes, but isn’t her love for you artificial?” asked Liz.

“My love for Mark has always been real. Yes, maybe my physical attraction for him has been a little magically enhanced, but I have always wanted Mark. You should know about how much I hated my family. I told you many times. All I wanted was someone to take me away from them, which is why I dated all of the jocks looking for a big payday. I was just kidding myself though. I could never love any of them. Mark was always there for me and I loved him, but part of me was always afraid that he wouldn’t want me once he found out about who I really was. The thing was that Mark already understood me; I was just too dumb to know it. All the necklace did was to take away my negativity and inhibitions, while opening my heart to new possibilities and old dreams like my love for Mark” said Trish.

Liz was stunned. She never saw any of these things in Trish before, or had she? Mark and Trish certainly were always together. Tricia’s smile always seemed brightest for Mark. He had saved her from those drunken soccer players at expense to his own health freshman year. All this was quite touching but also quite scary.

“I would be lying if I said that this wasn’t intriguing, but…” said Liz.

“But you’re scared?” asked Mark.

Liz nodded. “Why do you want me to join, so badly?”

“Remember, because we love you!” said Trish.

“Liz, the reason why I am so worried about you is that you have this notion that you are ugly. In reality, you are quite lovely. You have managed to fly under everybody’s radar because aside from volleyball, you have no social life. You’ve managed to avoid predatory guys so far, but it is just a matter of time, that some guy is going to sweet talk you into going to bed with him or worse,” stated Mark.

“I’m capable of defending myself against guys who just want to use me for the night” said Liz defensively.

“I’m not talking about those guys. The guys I am worried about are the guys who will try to talk you into an abusive relationship” revealed Mark before continuing. “Your self-esteem is terrible. You are a lovely, sexy, vibrant woman under your own misconception of your appearance. I’m not worried about this tiny scar on your face, but the bigger one on your soul!” he exclaimed.

Liz began to cry. Mark realized that perhaps he had overplayed his hand when Liz pushed him away when he tried to comfort her. “Get out!” yelled Liz.

Mark hated to do what he did next, but reasoned that it was for Liz’s own good. He grabbed her and she looked in his eyes with fear as she struggled. He then brought his lips down on hers and within seconds her struggles ceased of her own accord as her body melted into the kiss. Mark immediately found her anger and completely quelled it. Her lust immediately jumped up of its own accord and her level of trust for Mark, which had dipped significantly, began to slowly rise.

After a minute Mark broke the kiss. “Why am I not mad at you anymore?” asked Liz breathlessly.

“Because I turned your anger off,” said Mark.

“Oh my God you really do have magic!” exclaimed a scared Liz.

“Don’t be afraid, Liz. You know I would never do anything to hurt you. I just got desperate when you told us to go,” stated Mark.

“Now I’m too afraid to make you leave,” said Liz.

“Liz, Mark only wants what’s best for you. If he wanted, he could make you want to have sex with him without the potion. Then you would pine for him and be so desperate for him that you would happily join us. He doesn’t want that for you. He only wants you to join if you want to and if there is no other way to get you back to the way you were before the accident,” said Trish.

Liz relaxed for a moment. “You said that there may be another way,” remembered Liz.

“Perhaps, but I am not sure it would work,” said Mark.

“Why?” asked Liz.

“Your lack of self-esteem is something which is motivated by something that you see every morning when you look in the mirror. It’s something that has become part of your core personality. My future sister-in-law had self esteem issues, but when we pointed out that she looked like Trish whom she considers beautiful, there was nothing for her to hang her insecurity on concerning her appearance. Your tiny, little scar serves as a reminder of your past flawless complexion. It is barely noticeable to everyone else, but to you, it mars your entire appearance,” said Mark.

Liz was quiet for a second. “I can’t help it. I know it seems vain of me, but I was always told by my stepfather that the only thing I had going for me was my looks. I guess I’ve always believed that about me.”

“Liz, you know that’s not true,” said Trish.

“You’re bright, you’re a talented volleyball player and most importantly a good friend” added Mark.

“I wasn’t much of a friend to Trish,” said Liz.

“As far as I’m concerned you are. If I didn’t think so, why would I ask you to become one of the loves of my life!” said Trish.

“I feel the same way, Liz. You have to know that!” said Mark.

Liz thought for a moment. Here were two of the people she loved and respected most telling her she was wonderful and that she was wrong about how she felt about herself. The problem was that no matter how hard she wanted to believe it, she couldn’t see herself as the person they described. She now believed that if she underwent this process they had mentioned to her, that she would be everything that they described, yet she was still afraid of letting go of her core values. While she was bi-curious, she couldn’t envision her life engaging mostly in lesbian sex. More importantly, she was afraid of what change would mean in her life, no matter how dismal her life had been so far; especially over the last year and a half. She went from completely disowning the notion of joining Mark and Tricia’s family to being torn.

“Can I think about it? I mean I have no way of knowing what this will feel like and it is a big decision,” asked Liz.

“Of course, but I have a way that you can learn more about what it is like to be part of our family. You can interview everyone in our group” suggested Mark.

“That is a wonderful idea, babe! Liz, while there are a lot of similarity in our feelings towards Mark and each other, we are all basically the same people we were before the necklace. The only difference is that all the real negativity and inhibitions are gone. We still tease each other, even Mark, but none of it is done with malice. Amy and Mark in particular bust on each other. Sometimes even when they have sex,” laughed Trish.

“I’d love to see that!” laughed Liz.

“I can call her right now, if you want to,” said Trish as Mark blushed.

As Mark’s modesty abated he thought that starting with Amy might be a good idea. “Babe, if you are though embarrassing me, why don’t you call Amy and have her bring Wendy over. Then you guys can go back to Hill Hall. I’ll ask Amy to talk to Liz and then you guys meet me over at my dorm room later.”

“OK, Marky,” smiled Trish as she opened her cell phone.

About ten minutes later Amy and Wendy showed up. Wendy had met Amy at homecoming a couple of years ago and had liked the Asian girl as she had been nice to her. “

Make sure you don’t stay too long, Mark. I am so excited that I’m getting a brother and I want to get to know you better!” smiled Wendy.

“You bet sis. I’ll meet you and Trish at my room in about thirty minutes,” laughed Mark.

Mark kissed Trish and she and Wendy left.

“So Mark Samuels. How is my favorite fiancée of my roommate doing this fine day,” said Amy woodenly.

“Cool it, sexy! Liz is wise to us,” laughed Mark.

“Thank God! I have been waiting two days to do this,” said Amy as she lunged at Mark and they frenched deeply for a couple of minutes.

After Mark broke the kiss. Amy smiled at him and looked at Liz. “So, Liz, how did you catch on to what we’ve been doing?”

“Mark and Tricia asked me to join your family.”

“Why, Mark? Not that I have any real objections. I always thought Lizzy here was a hottie,” asked Amy.

“Mainly because the only person who doesn’t think Liz is hot is Liz” said Mark.

“And you are thinking of Marie?”

Mark thought how perceptive Amy was. Good thing she was on his side, he thought. “Damn straight!”

“Who’s Marie?” asked Liz.

“Marie is the only one who ever left our group. Her leaving was beyond my control and was accomplished through the necklace,” relayed Mark.

“Are you sad that she’s gone?” asked Liz.

“Not really, because she is not really gone,” stated Amy.

“Now I am really confused,” said Liz.

“What Amy’s saying is that the necklace and I were not compatible and in the end, the only way to sever the connection was for Marie to be disconnected from me and the family. Marie passed the necklace on to my father, so she is now bound to him and they are as happily in love with each other as my new family is to each of its members. I still love Marie, but it is more like a mother now” explained Mark.

“OK, I’d like to say that makes sense, but instead I’ll say that I think I understand instead. Anyway, how does Marie’s situation apply to me” asked Liz.

“Due to her insecurities, partly caused by her personality and some elements of magic that she possessed, Marie had a tendency to get into relationships which were abusive. I am positive that her last boyfriend had physically abused her. Marie is a beautiful woman. We finally helped her to understand that and now my father is doing it every day himself as her future husband.”

“And she’s happy?” asked Liz.

“You can ask her yourself in a few days when she and my dad come back from visiting the Winthrop’s in Concord.”

“Your dad and Tricia’s dad in the same room?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. The Winthrop’s and the Samuels have ended their feud. In fact, I’m calling Mike Caldwell, ‘Uncle Mike’,” laughed Mark.

“No way!” said Liz. “But how?” she asked.

“Don’t you know? I’m a ‘magic man’” laughed Mark. “Seriously it is a long story and I promise to tell you soon. For now, I think you have some questions to ask Amy, right?”

“Yes, I do, if it is OK with her?” asked Liz.

“Ask away,” smiled Amy.

Mark took this as his cue to leave, but he hugged Liz and kissed Amy as he drove back to his dorm room.