"You're evil..." Stephanie finally said after several minutes of staring at Rebecca. Her face was screwed into a scowl and she held her hands in fists at her side. Daggers were stared at her boss, Steph had thought so much of her, but now all she could do was loath her for the terrible things she had witnessed.
"Steph." The dark haired woman said with a tinge of sadness in her voice,"I wish you wouldn't..." The young woman cut her off.
"Wouldn't what?!" she found that she was yelling in anger. "Be sickened by what you and Mr.Craft and your friend have done?!" Stephanie felt her eyes well up a little. "Why are you tormenting me by showing me this stuff?" Stephanie took a step forward. "You are a murderer!"
Suddenly Becca slid from the table and stood up, the action made Stephanie flinch slightly. The action had been so fluid and purposeful. "I have never killed anyone in all my time." Rebecca had emphasized the word never. "Stephanie, you have no clue as to what is going on." Steph's boss relaxed a bit, leaning against the table. "You're only catching glimpses, not seeing everything, feeling everything, experiencing everything."
"Experience everything?!" Stephanie blanched. "Is that what you have in mind for me to experience it, you want to..." The words died in Steph's throat, she couldn't bring herself to actually say it. Rebecca shook her head and stepped away from the table towards her employee; instinctively Stephanie flinched. Becca moved past Stephanie, back into the lobby, leaving her with the golden statuette. Steph shuddered as she averted her gaze from the "object".
"Why don't you follow me Steph?" Rebecca called back from the lobby. Stephanie left the show room, turning out into the jewelry store's lobby, Becca had gone to the door that led to the store's basement. "Down here." The dark haired boss woman said as she pushed the door open and disappeared. Steph hesitated, she thought of running. Stephanie could almost sense her fate down in that basement. The strands of destiny were pulling for certain, what scared her was it was being pulled down those steps. The door yawned like the mouth to the underworld, it scared Stephanie to her core, yet she walked up to it and peeked in. The steps dropped down into a dimly lit space where Stephanie had only been into on a single occasion and right there at the bottom. There was nothing down there. And yet Stephanie descended the steps.
^*^
Becca had opened a door that had been previously hidden by a stack of crates. A cold breeze gusted out from the never-before-seen opening. That thread of fate was leading directly into there. Inside, the space was much larger then Stephanie would have expected; it was a large work space of some sort, yet it was devoid of tools. There was a large padded space the size of a bed that occupied its center flanked by a couch and cabinet. Looking around, Rebecca was nowhere to be seen. A whisper in her ear startled the young woman; her boss was right behind her. Startled, Stephanie let out a cry and fell backwards onto the bed-like platform.
Steph put a hand to her chest as she lay there on the space, her heart beating furiously. "Stephanie, I want you to get undressed." It was a command, not a suggestion, and Rebecca's voice brokered no alternative. Stephanie slowly disrobed as instructed, revealing her trim, youthful body to Becca. She looked down, blushing, all the while steeling herself for an unpleasant experience similar to what she experienced in the park. Becca smiled, unaware of Steph's inner thoughts. "Take my hand into yours, Steph." Becca instructed."Good; now feel each finger, every detail, then close your eyes and do it again." Steph relaxed and ran her fingers over Becca's. Each fingertip a delicate instrument taking measurements, feeling changes in texture. She closed her eyes and repeated the process, picturing each finger in her mind, down to the last detail."Excellent, Steph. Now, I will do the same to you." Rebecca performed the same exercise, using Steph's fingers. After she repeated it with her eyes closed, she opened her eyes and stared into Steph's. "Now for the next step. I am holding an image of your fingers in my mind. Now I'm going to apply a texture to them. A marble texture. White with pink veins. Now, look at your hand."
Steph gasped in amazement. Her fingers had turned into smooth, white marble, streaked with pink veins. She tried to flex them. No response. "Go ahead, touch them with your free hand, Steph." Cold, smooth, hard digits were all she felt. Her breath quickened, her heart started to pound. Memories of the park seeped back into her waking thoughts. She was starting to panic.
"No..." the girl whispered as she continued to feel her cool and transformed hand. Stephanie kept saying the words over and over again as her mind started to recede. Becca was there to pull Steph back, though.
"Don't, Steph." The feelings pulled back and a flesh tone returned to her hand. It did very little to calm her and she clenched her suddenly flexible hand and pulled it against her bare breasts. Rebecca walked away, pulling her blouse over her head and tossing it next to the pile of clothes where Stephanie had dropped her own. "I wish I could help you stop resisting." She called back, her arms reaching behind her herself to find the clasp of her bra. "This disturbs you Steph; I can appreciate that, but it intrigues you too, I defiantly appreciate that." Pulling the hooks apart, she shrugged her shoulders forward and let her breasts slide free from the cups. Rebecca turned back, her perfectly firm breasts bared and Steph felt her eyes drawn to their perfect proportions. "You need to relax." Her fingers went to the waist of her dress slacks, one manicured finger slipping the button there out through the eye.
Heart racing, hands clenched with the hope of forgetting the stiffness visited upon it. Her knuckles were white with the tension. Stephanie forced her eyes away from Rebecca as she wiggled her hips a bit, letting the pants slide down her thighs and looked back to her hand. The words where barely a whisper. "Why?"
Stepping out of the fallen pants, Stephanie's boss looked at her, watched as she stared at her hand. "Because, he..." Becca stopped. "Because we need you." Stephanie looked up into Rebecca's eyes. They said that killers never came with a grimace, that they came with looks of sweetness; she looked honest. What did they say about that?
"You're wondering just how truthful I'm being about all of this?" Bending down, Rebecca lifted a foot and pulled one of her nylon stockings off, carefully rolling it down her shapely leg. "Completely." She assured as she started with the other, "But there is more, and it's gonna frighten you." The floor suddenly felt a million miles away and despite the coolness of the hidden work room, Steph felt beads of sweat begin to form. "You are not the first we've showed this to who's reacted like this." Becca, clad in only her panties, walked over to a large cabinet twice as wide as a person and just as tall. Stephanie knew what was going to be in there, and she wanted to look, yet feared seeing it.
^*^
The doors to the ornate wooden cabinet slowly squeaked open as Stephanie held her breath. She only dared to breathe out when the doors clicked open.
Empty.
"Well, almost empty." She thought as she surveyed the inside. At the back of the cabinet, dark red silk curtains hung, completely covering the back. On the base of the cabinet was a white marble pedestal streaked with bluish gray veins. For the first time, she realized how deep the cabinet truly was, perhaps 5 or 6 feet, extending into the wall she had previously believed that cabinet had been placed against.
"Join me." Becca said and stepped onto the pedestal, sliding her panties down and off in the process. Steph stood, rooted in place, the conflicted broiling with in her; curiosity and adventure versus fear and anxiety rooting her to the spot. Stepping down from the pedestal, Becca gently took Steph's hand and whispered "I won't try to transform you, I promise." Steph's mind locked onto those words and found the reassuring tone enough to follow Becca's lead. Together, they stepped onto the pedestal. "I am going to show you a complete transformation, but seeing will not be enough for you. You need to overcome your fear. You need to understand the underlying passion. Please, wear this ring." Becca opened her right hand, presenting simple gold ring with a simple diamond setting, save for the diamond measuring the width of a dime and perhaps as tall. The obvious question flared up in Steph's mind, but it went unanswered as she accepted the ring and slipped it on. "Good, Steph. Now, hold my hand. This ring will allow you to see and feel the magic from my perspective." Steph tentatively reached for Becca's left hand. As soon as they touched, Steph felt a wave of relaxation wash over and through her. Becca smiled, "You feel much calmer now; I can sense it. You feel my calm, my focus, my... step closer." With that, she gently pulled Steph's hand forward, causing her to take a half step closer to Becca. Becca gently placed the ringed hand against her hip.
Projecting just enough to be felt, but not enough to overwhelm, Becca continued. "Close your eyes, Steph and focus on me. Feel what I feel." She began to gently trace around her left nipple. Both began to breathe in unison. "I can tell that you can feel this. Good. Now study this. Study the sensation, study the texture. Form a picture in your mind." A moment later, Becca sensed that Steph had formed the image and continued. Indeed, Steph had immersed herself in it. Becca waited for Steph. A gentle shiver from Stephanie prompted her to continue. "You see my breast, you feel it, I can sense that. Hold that in your mind. Good. Now, watch me apply the texture."
Steph saw the breast in her mind's eye grow white and glossy, streaked with silver-blue veins. "Keep your eyes closed, Steph and reach with your free hand. Touch it, explore it." Steph reached up, her fingers gently making contact with erect nipple, now rendered into a marble pebble. Steph felt Becca's reaction. Both gasped in unison. As she had been previously taught, Steph began to trace the entire breast with her fingertips. Perfectly smooth, cool, but not cold. She felt Becca's growing pleasure. "Now, the other breast, Steph, touch it, explore it. See it in your mind's eye." Steph slowly slid her hand over, running her fingers around the swells, one smooth and hard, the other warm and soft. She caressed the flesh, teased the nipple, all the while feeling Becca's growing arousal and starting to feel herself grow aroused. A picture formed in her mind. Both breasts. One flesh, the other stone. Around that image, a vague outline of Becca, out of focus, but unmistakably present.
Becca sensed Steph's thoughts, saw the picture Steph had formed. "Now, Steph, apply the texture, feel the change." Mimicking what she saw earlier, she pictured the flesh fading to white, saw the streaks begin to appear. Her arousal grew and she absent mindedly pinched the hardening nipple, feeling it harden into stone. Both moaned as one. Steph felt the heat rolling off of Becca's body, saw it in her mind as her body began to come into focus. She saw Becca's left hand reach down between her thighs and stroke her pussy. Steph felt the heat against Becca's hand, felt the juices on her fingers. Becca's heat grew, permeating through Steph. Becca slipped a finger into her hot, slick sex. The image in Becca's mind sharpened, came into perfect focus. She saw the entirety of Becca and felt it as well. Their hearts beat as one. Breathed as one, moaned in pleasure as one.
"Do it, Steph. Apply the texture." Whether shared desire or lusty curiosity won the day was unknown, even to Steph and Becca. In the end, however, Steph crossed a boundary, immersed herself into the experience without reservation and pictured Becca's perfect body growing hard, glossy white, flecked with silver blue veins.
Silence.
Steph opened her eyes. The image in her mind stood before her. Becca, rendered in marble. Perfection. A thought entered her head. Becca's voice: "Do you understand, Steph? There is nothing to fear. Fear holds you back. Fear twists the magic, corrupts it, distorts. You must not fear this gift you have been given, for if you do..."
The curtains pulled open, exposing another hidden room. In that room stood several pedestals and on each stood a female form rendered in stone. Some had cracks running through them, some looked normal until she took a second look. There were female in form, but otherwise blanks. Faces smoothed over. No identifiable characteristics. Stephanie began to shake at the sight before her. "They are not lost to us, Steph. They can and will be restored, but it will take time. We will need help to guide them back. We need someone who understands the fear and anxiety but does not let it control them." It was like her eyes were magnetized, pulled to the spot, one lone pedestal currently unoccupied by a stone figure. Stephanie's heart began to race as she looked over to her boss who nodded, but added. "It is a possibility, but not tonight though." Becca projected a calm, smoothing emotion and felt Steph accept and absorb it, calming her considerably.
You are almost ready, Becca, now restored to flesh, whispered into Steph's ear. Come, let us ... retire.
^*^
It was some hours later and Stephanie sat in the Eternal Luster's lobby, looking out through one of the store's front widows. She had slipped her blouse and panties back on and stood in the darkened store just staring. Steph wrapped her arms around herself as she looked out onto the street, the light near the sidewalk was dim and barely lit it at all. Stephanie took a deep breath, thinking about the speedy passing of the last few days. Gone was the simplicity of her life before; could she ever return to that she wondered, hands holding her sleeves. A little time ago gemology and the prospect of a career in studying precious stones had been her future, a calling she had prepared for for most of her life. And now? A possible lesbian and murder victim by being turned to stone.
Rebecca's words immediately came to mind, "They are not lost to us..." That voice within her mind calmed her considerably. Anxiety was still coursing through her though, she had been told that it was something to control.
The word smacked Steph right between the eyes, control...
She needed to control her anxiety and she knew just the tool for control, Stephanie turned back into the store and as quietly as she could slipped back into the jewelry store.
^*^
Stephanie disappeared into the darkness at the end of the street, her coat pulled up around her shoulders.
"She's showing extreme promise; I have faith." Becca said, looking out through the window and watching the darkness. After several long moments, the store manager turned back to where Mr.Craft was standing behind her. "The ring is in her possession, and I think she is headed to the right place." His shadowed outline nodded and a twinge of unease passed through Rebecca's essence. "Steph will come through for us Master, I am more sure of that then I have ever been before." Again she was filled with the feelings of doubt her Master harbored.
"I've heard that before about someone else from you, Rebecca..." Mr.Craft turned away, picking his jacket up; Becca stood there watching as he left out the back. Things would be better this time, she would ensure it.
To be continued... with The Embrace