AN: ***TRIGGER WARNING*** This chapter is going to head to a dark space involving sexual harassment and assault. Please do not continue to read this chapter if it will effect your mental health. Be safe and be careful! Thank you.

Due to Seth and Rebecca's reaction towards Enchanted Circle, I became pretty anxious as the time came near for me to head to the shop. Today had been a good day for tarot readings though and I had some hope that everything would come together nicely. I did, however, find it strange that some of the customers who had an interest in metaphysics had never heard of Enchanted Circle. Granted, I knew that the majority of my customers just thought tarot was a silly, fun game to play but for those who approached me who knew a lot about it had no idea what I was talking about when I referred to the shop or John.

After my last reading, I packed up my things and headed over to The Russet Wolf to pick up Rebecca. She was locking up the café as I pulled into the parking lot and she gave me a nervous look but waved.

"Hey honey bun!" I said happily as she climbed in my van.

"Hey."

I glanced at her and became worried. If she truly felt this way, I didn't want her to come with me – that's not fair to her.

"Rebecca, please don't be worried! Honestly, you and Seth must be really sensitive to the shop's energy. If you don't want to come, you don't have to – I don't want to force you to do anything." I said reassuringly.

Rebecca gave me a soft smile but something was hiding in her eyes. I've known Rebecca for years and I've never seen her so quiet or nervous. Well, other than when her brother comes into the café.

"I'm okay, Lorelei! I'm just a bit nervous. I'm trying to stay positive." She said and I could tell she was only doing this for my "safety".

The ride to the shop was quieter than usual and we got there around four just like I had told John yesterday. I turned off my van and turned to Rebecca, feeling like I had to prepare her to go in with me.

"We won't be here for too long! The shop closes at five so I'm sure we'll be in and out! Besides, when I had my reading while Seth was here, it was fairly quick!"

"Lorelei, I just don't think it's a good idea, you know? There's something off." She said with a shiver.

"No, I think he's just a little intense is all! I mean you heard it yourself – he was my teacher in a past life! That's amazing and he wants to teach me in this life too. I've been looking for a mentor for so long and I can only go so far by myself. This is my chance to really pursue this field! My chance to learn all I can about what I love and want to live my life by!"

Rebecca was still for a moment but eventually nodded and sighed.

"Alright, let's get our asses in there then." She said, hopping out of the van and I followed her.

As we neared the shop door I heard Rebecca gasp and I looked up to see John standing in the doorway with his face basically pressed up against the glass. He opened the door for us and we walked into the shop awkwardly – was he waiting for us?

"You're late! You said that you'd be here by four!" He said with a chuckle. I turned to the clock on the wall – 4:10 pm wasn't too late. The atmosphere was different in the shop today, it was cramped, dull and…off? Was this what Seth and Rebecca had been talking about?

"Come on in the back and take a seat – we have a lot to work on! I've missed you, Lorelei! I can't stop thinking about you and what we have together." He said, ushering us into the back where we took the same seats we had last time. Something was very, very different. He seemed so comfortable and at home with me, his hand placed on my lower back as he guided me to my seat. John squatted down next to me and ran his fingers along the neckline of my sweater.

"You always cover up when you come to see me! Next time we meet you need to get rid of these sweaters and jeans I've never seen your skin before!" He said before a bell rang, signaling a customer.

John's smile fell quickly and he rolled his eyes, excusing himself to go take care of the customer up front. I was amazed at how fast his friendly façade fell when he was interrupted and from Rebecca's glare I could tell that she already wanted to go home.

"What the hell was that comment about?" Rebecca sneered.

I shrugged and fidgeted in my seat.

"Maybe it has something to do with blocking energy?" I tried but I knew as well as she did that it was totally uncalled for.

"Yeah, right!" She said, pulling out her phone and typing quickly.

John poked his head back into the room, his gaze immediately going to Rebecca.

"Ah, what do you have there? Who are you texting? Anyone important?" He questioned, fully entering the room and peering over her shoulder. He tried to make his snooping seem goofy and silly, like he was only pretending to hover over her shoulder but eyes were trained on her phone screen.

"No one." She said quickly and we heard the customer call out from up front. John ran out into the front, excusing himself again.

Rebecca and I listened to their exchange and as John said goodbye to the customer, both of us heard the undeniable sound of a deadbolt lock and became extremely uncomfortable.

John entered back into the room and instead of squatting next to me; he hopped up on his massage table across from us and rested his hands on his knees.

"There, now we won't be disturbed and can get to business." He said seriously.

"Did you lock the door?" I asked nervously.

"Oh yes! But only because I don't want to be disturbed and we close soon anyways." He said as though it was no big deal. "Anyhow, let's get started shall we?"

I nodded and John got off of the table so that I could hop up. I don't know why I didn't grab Rebecca and demand to be let out. I didn't want to believe that this man was being creepy; I wanted to believe that he was just an old, eccentric, spiritual man who didn't have any regard for normalcy. At this point and time I had my arms crossed and was clenching my hands together tightly – something was not right.

"Relax!" John said. "Don't worry, you'll make it home." He said with a laugh and I felt frozen. He laid me down and patted my head as though I was some kind of animal.

I glanced over at Rebecca and I could tell that she wanted to get up and leave just as much as I did but it was like our bodies were taken over by fear.

Just as he did with my first reading, John started off with his hands cuffed around my ankles, slowly moving them up every couple of minutes.

"So, I'm thinking about introducing a new drink to the shop soon - maybe some kind of cinnamon and honey latte?" Rebecca said, trying to insert some small talk. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she was trying to clear the dark atmosphere.

"I think that would go over well! It's a really nice –"

"Shh! Please be quiet. No talking allowed right now." John said almost angrily and, again, Rebecca and I both froze.

At this point, John's hands were on my upper thighs, stroking them, caressing them. He paused and looked up at Rebecca.

"Would you like to go look around the store? You don't have to stay back here with us." He said charismatically.

"No, thank you."

"Do you have to go to the bathroom? There's one right across the hall." He suggested, trying to get her to leave the room.

"No, I'd like to stay here." Rebecca said sternly and I thanked god that she didn't let me come here alone today.

John sighed angrily, rolled his eyes and then came around to the other side of the table, conveniently blocking Rebecca's view of what he was doing. At that point, John rested his hands on my lower abdomen, his eyes were closed and he had a sly grin on his face. I was sweating – screaming at myself to get the hell up and get the fuck out of there but I couldn't move. It was like there was a huge weight on my body and I was terrified.

"So the chakra that you have blocked is your sacral chakra, your sensual chakra. This tells me a lot about you, Lorelei. Do you know what that means?" He whispered, his hands now unbuttoning the front of my jeans. I knew he wasn't looking for an answer – I wouldn't have been able to answer him anyways. "How is your sex life?" He asked nonchalantly, pulling down the zipper.

I remained quiet, tears pooling in my eyes and he smiled.

"Ah, not good then? Maybe you've never experienced that before then. That would explain why you're so blocked my dear. Now, I can fix this for you and you may scream and you may cry but that's natural. There will be a lot of emotion going through you." He said, murmuring. He had one hand now inside of my pants, cupping my crotch and applying pressure.

Tears were spilling over my cheeks and my vision blurred.

"Hush now, I said you would make it home didn't I?" He said, his eyes staring into my own.

I couldn't move, I couldn't speak – I just stared blankly at the walls with tears in my eyes. My soul wasn't inside of me anymore, it was somewhere else and I was just an empty vessel on that damn table. The most fragile part of me was in his dirty hands and my body wouldn't move.

Rebecca cleared her throat, causing John to slowly remove his hand and continue as though nothing happened. When he was satisfied, he sat me up and began massaging my shoulders. He told me that after such an intense moment like that, I'd need to sit for a while with him and that he was massaging me to help the energy move through my system. He picked up a chunk of my hair and made a comment about the penny he gave me, asking if I still had it as he lifted my hair up to his face and took a deep breath. He was smelling me. I stared at Rebecca, my face red hot and my body shaking. She looked horrified, tears running down her cheeks. She didn't see what John did but she could assume.

"You know, Lorelei, you always come here with someone. For the next session you should come alone. It'll probably take three or four hours. Lorelei? Lorelei, are you paying attention?" He asked with his hands still on me.

I nodded lamely, not trusting myself to say anything. I was going to say whatever it took for this to be over as fast as possible. It felt as though my whole body was vibrating and as I looked down at my hands I realized that I was shaking…violently.

"With so much work that we have left, maybe we can have a sleepover, just me and the girls! That'll give us all the time I need to fix you." He said, laughing loudly.

"You know – " John's comment was cut off by a sudden loud bang on the front door. He rolled his eyes and ignored it, opening his mouth to speak again when he was cut off by another bang.

"We're closed!" John called out but the banging continued.

He growled and headed to the front of the shop. My heart was hammering against my chest and I scrambled down from the massage table and moving quickly to where Rebecca was.

"It's okay, everything will be okay." She said, rubbing my back.

We both walked out into the front of the shop and I collapsed to the floor, sobbing brutally. There, standing in front of about eight cops was Seth.

AN: This chapter was very hard for me to right and, though it may not seem like much, took me several days. What happened to Lorelei and Rebecca in this chapter as well as anything else that took place in this shop happened to my little sister and I. There were things that I had to cut out of the story but other than that, these past couple chapters were more non-fiction than FF. I wanted to write this story not only to help myself get through this lingering pain but to let anyone else out there who is dealing with trauma like this to know that you are not and never will be alone. Thank you all for your continued support - I appreciate it more than you know.