Chapter Four

"Today we're going to learn about permanent spells," Jerry announced.

Alex chortled, "When'd Justin get hit with an ugly one?"
"Don't know Alex," Her brother replied, "When did you get hit with a stupid one?"

She made a face, and whacked him, "There, now you've been hit!"

He yelped in pain, and cursed his weakness. In the ever growing dark corner of his mind, his rage grew. Their father continued. "Now, most spells wear off over time, or get weak. These aren't illusions are tricks. It takes a lot of focus and power. Justin, show us how it's done." He took a black piece of paper out of his pocket, and stepped back. Justin cleared his mind of everything; his rage, his frustration, Alex, Max, the plans he held, and focused it on the paper.

"Get the darkness outta my sight, turn this black pure white," He spelled it perfectly. A shimmer of magic and it turned white.

There was a pause.

Then Alex groaned angrily, "I've been able to do that since I was ten!" She snapped.

Her father shook her head, "Unlike spell-locks, these spells permanently change the host. It's very dangerous. If you turn Max into Justin…"

She interrupted, "He'd been an even bigger nerd?"
"Hey!" they both shouted indignantly.

"No," Her father resumed, "He would start acting, talking, even thinking like Justin. In some cases, he would believe himself to be Justin."

Alex shuddered, "I can't think of a worse crime against Max."

Justin rolled his eyes, handed in his worksheet and left the lair. After making sure that Alex was indeed on her way to see Riley, and that she had lied to their father, he went to his room.

The shrinking spell sent Justin into his most private place: His Captain Jim Bob Sherwood Castle. He loved the opening bay doors, the light-up doors, the locks…

Of course, it was an ideal place to keep the Alex clone in stasis. Justin, a man of science, had studied it. Taken measurements, checked its temperature, and catalogued his data. Beside the clone was his personal journal. He sighed when he realized how long he had been waiting to strike.

"Soon…" He promised it, "Soon…"

She was so predictable. Justin spent his days fearing that she would wander into his room and find the clone and his journal. He created a duplicate and put it on the shelf, encrypted the entrance spell. It took even him ten minutes to get in, and he knew all the answers.

Yet instead of prying into his private affairs, Alex was turning Miranda into herself permanently, or at least trying to. Just as his ex-girlfriend leaned in for a passionate kiss, Justin deflected the spell and turned Riley into himself.

Miranda's eyes grew deliciously wide when she opened them. She screamed in terror.

"What is it?" Riley asked.

Alex looked around worriedly, then flashed home.

Justin was pleased with himself. It was time to make his move. Miranda was running from 'him'. A small stunning spell and Riley was out like a light. He flashed his new double home and took off after her.

"Miranda, wait up!" He called, "C'mon baby, don't you want to talk?" He grabbed her roughly, "It's me, Riley. Don't you love me?"
She spun around, "Justin? Riley? I don't understand…"

He shoved her against a wall and moved his body against hers. A few seconds of kissing and she was even more confused.

"I don't understand what's happening…" she was almost crying.

"Yes, you do…" He threatened. His hands moved from her arms to her hips, "We've been dating long enough. Let's just get this over with…"

His hands found her hips, and he squeezed her roughly. She yelped in pain.

"What's wrong? I thought you liked me?" He pouted falsely. He pulled her skirt higher, showing the tops of her nylons.

"No, I do, I mean…" She was still confused as to what had happened.

His hands skimmed higher, "Justin, Riley, no…!"

"Shut up!" He snapped, "Do you even know who I am?"

He grasped her thighs, feeling stronger by the second, and added, "Slut?"

She huffed, "I am not!"

He ripped her skirt higher, and she started looking around, "We're in public!" She yelped as he spread her legs and lifted her up.

It was too public for him. Still, he pulled up the back of her skirt and pushed her against the glass window of the store. When she pushed back, he grabbed her butt, and squeezed harshly.

"You better think what it is that you actually want, slut!" Then he spit in her face and walked away.

He returned to his room with a piece of her ripped skirt. He had heard that psychopaths would take prizes from victims. Riley, looking like his exact double, was unconscious. Justin grabbed him and the skirt material, and shrunk them into the room with the clone and his journal. It took him time, but he eventually passed all the questions he set up to keep out Alex. Once he had set Riley/Justin down, he sat on his Captain Jim Bob Sherwood Emergency Chair and wrote down the day's events in his journal. To his frustration, nothing sounded right. It all sounded like bad poetry, or inane ramblings.

He tried to explain what it felt like to confuse and control his ex-girlfriend, but found no useful descriptions.

Eventually, he settled on one sentence: "I did something amazing today, I used my power, and I will do it again."

He was pleased with this.

It would take him another week before he set on her again.

He spent months torturing her as both Justin and Riley. He convinced her that she was worthless. Miranda started taking drugs at school, which made it easier to use magic against her. She would wake up in the girl's bathroom with no clothes on, or feel invisible hands groping her body in the middle of class.

One night, he flashed into her room. She was peacefully asleep on the bed. She woke at the flash, but he took her by surprised. Justin pinned Miranda down by straddling her upper back. She screamed into her pillow as her assailant pulled down her pajama pants. He loved what he found. Her panties were coal black, with monsters glaring out at him. If she wanted monsters, he would give her monsters. Still, his position was precarious. Miranda was screaming into her pillow. He could not expect to pop out of his own clothes and keep her pinned down at the same time. Finally, he settled using magic to bring the monsters to life. She squealed as they assaulted her. He flashed away, content that she would have nightmares for the rest of her life.

There was no escape, not even in her dreams. Justin would go into them using the dream helmet. He would mess with her subconscious, pushing on it constantly. It was at this point that Justin found a long, dark strand of hair in the dream helmet. He realized Alex had been using it, likely against him.

Justin returned the favor, dressed up as a bad-boy biker with nothing to prove. He popped into her dream and seduced her. When she was pinned up against the wall of the Louvre, he smacked her and asked how much her brother loved her. Justin hid the helmet after that.

Meanwhile, Miranda was losing her sanity.

Chapter Four

Miranda had been sent to an asylum two weeks before Juliet came along. When the beautiful girl appeared in his life, Justin realized that maybe love was more powerful than his anger.

She stayed with him. They went out together, played games, made goofy nicknames. Justin felt normal again. There were some times, though, that she would look at him, peering right into the darkness of his soul. He no longer wrote angrily about his sister. There was only his love for Juliet.

One day the vampire set him down and hissed through her teeth, "I know what you are up to; I've been around evil for centuries. Don't destroy your goodness for one act of evil."

He listened to her, until Alex broke into his room. When Justin first discovered Franken-girl unconscious, he realized his sister could stumble onto his plans. She was foolish and pig-headed, but she knew his weaknesses as well.

He set his newest creation on her, trying to get even. To a certain extent he did, but some part of him was still angry. He still wanted to hurt her badly.

But as long as Juliet was around, he would not give into the rising darkness.

Of course, he lost her too. It was his fault, but it was easy to blame Alex. She could have come five minutes earlier. Or not have taken conscience from Max. There were many things his sister should have done, but did not do. She was back on his hit list.

Still, the two of them were getting along. He helped her get the dollhouse back. It was strange to think that over a year after he established his castle, she had tried something similar. Of course, he got the idea from her journal, but trying to hide away from one another spoke to deeper problems.

Neither of their parents suspected anything.

Then Mason came along. Justin figured he would deal with the werewolf as a means of revenge, but then Juliet was brought into conversation.

Alex was certain that they could find her. Her boyfriend sniffed the floss, and off they went. The group travelled all the way to Transylvania, and found the mummy.

The hate Justin had for his sister was pushed to the back of his mind as he battled the monster. The siblings destroyed the mummy for good. Juliet was free.

The anger, and rage in his heart melted. He was free to love again!

Then Mason spoke up. The world narrowed into a black tube. Her boyfriend was trying to steal HIS Juliet.

He grabbed his love and flashed them home. They held each other in their arms for hours. Then HE showed up. Mason had the same passion as Justin, an obsession with Alex. He kicked the werewolf to the curb like a stray dog.

Then Alex had followed him back to Transylvania, like a bitch in heat. Justin and Mason fought for dominance. Juliet had to step in to save her boyfriend.

It was then that the oldest Russo sibling knew; power was all that matter. He did not keep Alex home, he did not have the power to keep Mason Greyback away. He needed to have more power.

And because he was weak he lost Juliet. Justin swore he would never lose again.

Chapter Five: Darkness rises.

He burned it all. When Justin first lost Juliet, he believed that holding onto anything he could keep would bring her back. The saved dental floss proved him right.

Yet he still lost her. Aging thousands of years in seconds had turned his love to dust, proving once and for all he was alone. Alex had not even showed up for her shift. She had been quite distant lately.

A beautiful blond girl walked up. She handed him a five dollar bill and walked out. It took his brain a minute to calculate his tip: negative three dollars and sixty-three cents.

Cursing under his breath, Justin raced after her.

He found her leaning up against a light post beginning her flirtations with a boy. Growling, he grabbed her by her wrist and dragged her away.
He was about to let loose with some anger when she interrupted him.

"Hey creeper, I was wondering what it takes to get a stalker these days," She smirked then poked him in the chest.

He jolted back, confused, "What's your name?"

She pursed her lips over the lollipop from the store's register, something else she had not paid for, and waved it under his nose. It was vanilla flavored. Justin almost melted.

"Most creepers do their own research," She thrust the lollipop back into her mouth, "and most don't whine like girls either."

"You owe me money!" He snapped, then corrected himself, "You owe my family money! We can't afford to support bratty little girls!"

She found this comment amusing. There was something familiar about her Justin could not place. He thought of Juliet, then pushed it to the back of his mind. This was not the time to think about her. The brat started to walk away. On impulse, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.

"Look, do you want me to call the cops or something?" He was not sure how to handle this.

Her eyes rolled dramatically, "For what a dollar fifty?"

"Try adding two dollars and thirteen cents to that!" He tried to make it sound like a lot of money.

A look of uncertainty crossed her face, "Three fifty-four?" She guessed. His eyes almost popped off his face and into hers they were so close.

"Are you even in high school?" He demanded.

She squawked, "I am not a bratty little girl, I'm a lady!"
"Less of a lady than I am!" Pause, "Wait, I mean…"

She laughed at him, "Let me guess, you're a nerd, with maybe one friend, who spends all his time pursuing nerdy things, and you don't have a girlfriend?"

"I'm sure your boyfriend is happy not to have to take you out on a Saturday," Was his reply. This girl could read him like a book and he knew nothing about her. She took a pen that had been dangling inside her shirt and wrote an e-mail address in his palm, underneath it was written 'Stephanie.'

"I never said I had a boyfriend. If you're going to pretend I'm your girlfriend, you could at least pay for lunch," She pulled his wallet out of his pocket and removed five dollars. Stephanie walked away laughing.

Justin had not felt so powerless since his lost Juliet. He wanted to get back at Stephanie, make her pay for besting him. Still… Alex was a better candidate for his anger.

Justin wrapped up his shift and went upstairs. He found his sister in his room and kicked her out. He sighed, shifting. Sanitary law mandated that he wash his hands at least every half hour. The address had disappeared hours ago, yet he still remembered it.

His hands moved of their own accord. No sooner had the words been typed that 'scru-u-2' responded via I.M. Apparently Stephanie was just waiting to bait him again.

J-Man: Why did you give me your e-mail address?

Scru-u-2: :p

J-Man: That's not a real answer.

Scru-u-2: r u a dum nerd

J-Man: I am not a nerd!

Scru-u-2: riiiiiiite & im a fairy princess

Her lack of proper grammar coupled with her mentioning magic put him on edge. It occurred to him that he had better take control of this conversation.

J-Man: Do you know what an I.P. address is?

Scru-u-2: ?

Scru-u-2: if your asking me were ilive

J-Man: No, thank you. It's a method that an intellectual such as myself has of tracking down someone on the internet. Trust me when I say I have abilities to find you.

There was a pause here, and he almost felt victorious.

Scru-u-2: Threaten most of your girlfriends?

Her language had changed, so she must be nervous.

J-Man: When I take a girl out, I do it right.

Scru-u-2: R u asking me out?

Justin paused momentarily. He really could not stand this girl. She was pushy, annoying and a real thief. On the other hand, he may have some fun. Torturing Miranda had lost its appeal long ago, and Riley was in stasis. Justin needed practice before getting even with Alex.

He typed his reply.

Chapter Seven

Justin lit the first, second and third candle. Some part of him paused as he lit the fourth. Once the last one was aflame, there was no turning back. He cast the dark magic with care, making sure there was enough power for him to use.

Justin knew two things; first was that Alex was going to try and interfere in his love life. The other was that he would really be ready to stop her this time.

He wanted Stephanie, bad! She was beautiful, and knew how to press his buttons. She would show up tonight wearing something she knew he would like. He tried not to think too much about what she would be wearing or he would lose control before he even began. He kept the power low in his stomach, just below his navel.

He knew better than to keep it by his heart; that could kill him.

Alex said she would be out for the night. Likely she was hunting for a new boyfriend. How she could do that after he lost his Juliet was beyond him. She ought to be serving penitence for her boyfriend's crime.

Stephanie was coming soon. He straightened himself and opened his heart one last time.

Stephanie arrived with gusto, flinging the doors open. She demanded attention. When she spotted him, she smiled aggressively.

"Well now you don't have to stalk me, Justin," he leaned in for a kiss, but Stephanie just pushed past him. He almost growled.

They stayed on the roof for their first date. She was actually pretty cool. She spoke a bit of Spanish like him, ate at the shop consistently, (never paying, of course) and she also liked his work with Captain Jim Bob Sherwood.

They were both laughing two hours in, "So there Alex is, covered head to toe in motor oil, trying her absolute best to convince me she could cook, and the whole time, I'm trying to keep this dog from chewing on my jacket…"

She laughed at him, "I can't believe you still have that thing! It's hideous!"

He paused, not remembering if he had showed her or not. This was interrupted by Harper, who claimed she needed to talk to Stephanie. Justin rolled his eyes, but figured they would talk it through. He cleared their dishes.

Theresa was watching some Spanish soap opera when he came in. Apparently it was a romantic scene because she was perspiring lightly and fanning herself.

The second her eyes laid on her eldest, she popped up from the couch and walked over. She stroked his arm, and put his hand on his back, the way mothers do when the want to wheedle information.

"Hey honey, how's the date going?" Her smile was a bit tense.

"Good Mom, we have a lot in common," Dreading the next question, he growled, "Have you seen Alex?"

"Oh, no, honey, I think she's out on a date. I accidently overheard her talking to Harper," if that was an accident, Justin was a fairy princess dating a toad with hypoglycemia.

He shook his head, chagrined. Taking out his wand, he prepared for dessert, "Don't make a mistake, out of the air, give me cake."

A three layered chocolate cake, with mocha shavings, Oreo crumbs, strawberry paste, whipped cream with a cherry on top appeared. Justin looked it over, satisfied.

He picked up his dessert, and took it up the stairs. He was stopped on his way by Harper, whose glazed over eyes drank in the cake, "Justin… I think I love you again."
He rolled his eyes and went up another flight of steps. She giggled and walked down. On the roof, Stephanie was waiting for him impatiently.

The appearance of cake did the date good, but not enough to earn Justin a kiss on the lips. She left stating her curfew as reason for ending the date abruptly then scrambled out of sight.

Then the date was over. Justin was a bit down, so he ate some of the cake he made on his way to see his mom and dad.

"Hey, son, how did it go? Did you get her number yet?" His father could not have been more trying, "Did she kiss you?" Strike that, the day could not get worse.

"I'm home!" Proclaimed Alex, marching through the door.

"Oh look everybody, Alex is home!" Harper cried at the top of her voice.

"So… Justin, did Stephanie kiss you on the lips?" She smirked, stalking over.

"Uh, we kissed, yeah…" He trailed off not wanting his little sister hear about his failure.

Apparently her date was a perfect gentleman. She was fed, not dead, and ready for bed, just like she wanted.

Justin grumbled to himself, knowing full well where his frustrations could be relieved. He waited until everyone was in bed, then he got up and shrunk himself into his castle. After by-passing his security measures, he found himself in the dungeon with his Alex clone.

Open hearing his entrance, the clone whimpered. He wondered how much the clone was Alex. Did it have their memories together? Her self-destructive instincts? He did not know and it did not matter either.

It was alive, so he kept it paralyzed and suspended. Going along the wall, he remarked on the torture devices. Some were from the run of Frank Miller when he did an adult series based on Jim Bob, (Jennifer Moon went up a couple cup sizes easy) some were souvenirs from the wizard world, and some were his own design. He selected a medium sized bull whip, his favorite.

It drew back with a familiar whiz. The whimpering went louder, the crack announcing the first strike.

The clone shrieked in agony. Justin took a second to cool down. His rage had to be meted out, but kept alive. He would not allow himself to be contented with a mere clone when the real Alex was a viable target.

Justin went down the list of everything that frustrated him. Today, though, his list was more about Stephanie than Alex. The clone shrieked and cried, but remained frozen in-air. He finished after a couple of minutes of whipping.

Then the clone really started to sob. Justin had been checking out Alex's body, but in a more scientific approach. Instead of smacking it around for a couple of minutes, he monitored the response times and reactions to different methods.

Apparently, she was not particularly worried about being dipped in a tub of ants. Scorpions were more effective, but snakes really scared her. There were four spots on her back that were sensitive to stimulation. She liked being bitten on her legs.

He ended his rounds by writing down what he knew. Then he presented her with an option; try and escape or eat a piece of chocolate. She chose escape, again. Justin sighed and hunted her down, again.

It did not matter how many times he caught her, Alex would always want to try and get out. Even under the threat of severe punishment, another round of whippings, she would try to bolt.

The next morning was a good one, at first.

Jerry and Theresa were going about their daily lives downstairs when Max burst in.

"Guess who's got tickets to a wizard's game?" He bounced with joy. They all looked confused.

With a flash Uncle Kelbo appeared, "Hey everybody, guess what? I'm handing out some peonies from the wizard court!"

Justin and Alex frowned, looking to their father for clarification.

"Kelbo, you're handing out cum penis…" Alex begun before being cut off by her mother.

"Kelbo! These are subpoenas! We're to report to wizard court!"

They were halfway there when the verdict was handed in. Of course, this saved them a trip, but compared to the news, that was no reason to rejoice.

Several of Alex's previous crimes were exposed. Some happened to be drug possession, which she then had to explain to Theresa. Justin had been, "Communing with forces unseen." It was another way of saying he was dabbling in dark magic. Jerry took this hard.

"Are you insane, Justin? You're supposed to know better than this!"

Justin tried to justify it as research, but his father still cut off all wand use.

No wands, no dungeon, so the clone had the night off. Justin sulked into his room before a familiar form came slinking in.

"What do you fucking want Alex?" He growled between the hands cupping his cheeks. She grabbed his wrists and pulled him up.

"I need your help getting my wand back," She explained. He sighed before asking the exact same question he always asked her.

"And why should I help you?" he did not even listen to her answer. She already had a fake wand ready. Alex knew she would get caught, it was simply a question of when.

Justin refused. Later that night, when he opened his e-mail, he found Stephanie had cancelled their date.

Why did this happen to him? In his mail box, he found a message from 'Scru-u-2'. It told him she was leaving; forever.

"No….!" He blacked out.

"Justin! Wake up!" Alex woke him roughly. He looked at her, bleary-eyed, "So your girlfriend left, big deal." He must have looked even more confused because she elaborated, "I talked to her before she left."

It was Monday morning. Alex was shaking her head as she left his room, red wand in her boot. He nodded his head. Some part of his brain wanted to hold it against her, but he was just exhausted.

On his way to school, all day at school, and all the way back home he pondered what had changed. Stephanie must have enjoyed herself, right? It took him hours and hours of consideration before Alex accidently told him the answer.

"So, don't you have a date tonight?" Of course he did, but it was not until he found the e-mail of Stephanie telling him she would give him one last shot that he put it together: Alex was Stephanie.

It made sense. Stephanie talking to Harper, scarfing down food, being at the top of his revenge list, all of these facets described his sister. Alex was doing this to mess with him. When 'Stephanie' showed up, she was wearing boots again, and one of them had a small, red wand sticking out of it.

He cursed himself. It took him to the end of the date to do what he could never get away with: kiss her. He took advantage, and a step further.

Justin crushed her back against the wall, moving his hand where he knew she would want it. She moaned. If there was any question it was Alex, that moan had silenced it. She moved against him, lost in being 'Stephanie' girl of his dreams.

Their mother walked in on them. 'Stephanie' practically jumped out of her skin, and ran off. Theresa gave her son a frown that still said, "Honey, I'm proud" while still displaying parental concern.

Jerry sat him down, congratulated him, then spoke about being a father. Two minutes in, he started seizing up, as if allergic to its effects, which gave his wife leave to start on birth pains. Together, they told him more about genitalia than anyone ever needs to know.

He bid them good-night, and, bizarrely enough, promised to watch some woman get naked on the web. It somehow made them feel better. Of course, he had one in the dungeon of his toy castle, but that would not win him any points.

Alex was still complaining that her father would not let her sleep in the skimpy lingerie she found while out shopping. Justin shook his head and readied himself for bed.

Harper came up for a midnight snack. Justin readied himself. In the past, he had been able to torture Miranda due to her ignorance of his powers. He had isolated her from her family. Harper was closer to the Russo family. She had a wizard in her corner, so he had to tread carefully.

Justin took a breath, and moved in on his prey with a misleading smile, "Hey Harper, did you hear about my date tonight?"

She looked at him with the mingled horror that came from knowing the Russo wizards.

"Yeah, we made out for like, twenty minutes…" She choked on her warm milk. He went on to describe what exactly felt like. Then he pretended to notice something wrong with her, "Harper, what's wrong? Do you have a problem with Stephanie?"

She blubbered about how she did not need to hear this. He let the anger dwelling inside darken and sharpen onto his face.

"Just tell me!" She shook her head. He then cast the truth spell, and she spilled her guts.
"It's Alex!"

There was a pause here. Justin felt triumph, but also fear.

"How could you do this Harper?" He started to put this together, "After all we've done for you? Gave you a home, food, a job, and this is how you repay the family? You help Alex steal sandwiches from the restaurant, and then scheme to get her to take me out for more food?" He advanced on her, keeping his voice low enough to prevent the family, but loud enough to get her to cower.

"Justin I…" She began. He cut her off.

"Screwed up worse than Alex," He pushed her down, "I thought you cared for me."
He gave her the charm. Her conflict was written all over her face. Time to have some real fun…

"Stephanie told me she liked me, kissed me, why she even made me some promises…" He paused here, "You help Alex keep her promises don't you? Even when she's screwed up the rest of your life."

Tears were in her eyes. If he were not such a psychopath, Justin would feel hesitation and remorse. She scrambled to her knees, "Please don't tell…!" He shushed her, and unzipped his pants.

"You're just going to help me with a little problem. Don't worry, I'll still be your friend in the morning. Now open up, Harper," She did hesitating.

"Justin, I really shouldn't, you're Alex's brother, and I…" She gagged. He purred contentedly watching her choke.

Next, Alex would get what was coming to her. But first, he would finish with Harper. Once her ministrations had finished, he shoved her away and told her, "That wasn't too bad. See you tomorrow night."

Chapter Nine

Justin sat himself down at his teacher's desk. The delinquents in his class were driving him crazy. Of course, sending one down a bottomless hole illustrated his lesson, and got the rest in line very quickly.

They were a bit afraid of him. That was a good thing.

"See, my delinquents, why it is so important to know how to undo magic? Take Felix, he ripped my shirt, and I sent him plummeting down a hole. I can fix my shirt, but can he escape the hole?" He paused, waiting for Felix to free himself. "I guess not. Take out your books and take some notes, this isn't daycare."

Alex came in. The vein on Justin's head bulged as he tried to shoo her out, "Dad said I had to be here, deal with it." And that ended the argument. Justin had to admit her. He also had corporal punishment in place, and told her if she acted out, he could banish her to the Himalayas, or paddle her. The look on her face was worth telling her. Of course, now she would be more subtle, but he could deal with subtle.

She sat down and was bored thoroughly. So was he, until a familiar presence came through the portal.

"Hi, I'm Rosie."

He smiled brightly.

Chapter Ten

Rosie had made herself quite welcome in the Russo home. She sat amongst the wizards quite well. After Justin, acting like the good son, offered to clear the dishes, the new girl followed him.

The water ran over the dishes like music. Justin cleaned them methodically, while Rosie brought more to wash. She kept rubbing up against him. At first, he thought it was his conscience. For the last week, he had been scheduling Alex and Harper at times that he knew would drive them into conflict. His sister was sleeping it off in her room, but Harper was too afraid to go to the basement by herself. She was even too afraid to leave the table without knowing he was okay with it.

"Harper!" She jumped, "Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to help me out?"
Jerry grumbled and passed the girl his dish. Theresa, glad she did not have to help complained only slightly that Harper was not getting treated nicely.

The girl dropped her dish in the sink, then went downstairs. Justin went after her, but she locked the lair door. He now saw that tact was required to push her over the edge. Transforming himself into Alex, Justin knocked on the door.

"Go away, Justin, I don't want to come out," She said timidly.

"Harper it's me, open up," Alex would not take the time to figure out what was wrong with her friend. The redhead opened the door, pulled the other in, then shut it behind them, "And why would Justin be down here? He's busy cleaning."

Alex was the kind of person who would insult you even if she was guilty of the same thing. Harper was pacing the room, muttering to herself, "Geez, what's wrong with you?"

Harper forced the wizard into a chair and froze, "Justin… he, well he did things to me."

She looked so frightened, he almost did not finish his plan. But he had to; he had to split up these friends, "So?" He asked as coldly as possible. Harper stuttered, which opened her up to another assault, "If you don't like living here, go home."

She left sobbing. After washing the last of the dishes, Justin flashed over to the Finkles' house to finish the job. He found her on the floor, cutting her hair strand by strand. Harper had already ripped all the bright colors out of her dress, and kept insisting she would be better when she woke up. The left side of her head was almost bald by now. By the time Justin left, she looked like one of Alex's old dolls.

He was very proud of himself. Justin returned later and used his wand against her. He would increase pressure on her, then release it.

During his next lesson, Alex was late, so he transformed her into a Shetland pony. It was pretty funny. Previously, he had turned her into a dog, but calling her a bitch lost its humor when Max came in. Rosie was terrible at magic, but paid close attention to him. He knew she had a crush on teacher because when the class came to an end, she asked the students hanging around him to leave.

"Do you mind if I borrow Justin for a bit?" Rosie asked sweetly.

The beautiful girl took him out onto the patio.

"Justin… I'm not a wizard," She explained. He rolled his eyes with a 'duh.'

"I'm an angel," She spread her wings. Fear took hold of him. She would know about Miranda, Harper, the clone, the other girls at the school he had practiced on, "Of darkness." She finished.

She took his hand, spread her wings, and took flight.

They landed at the top of a dark tower in the Dark Realm. Surrounded by evil creatures, Justin took a nervous breath.
"There's something we wanted to show you Justin. Bring out your conscience," She paused. Justin looked about worriedly. If there was one place it was not safe to bring out a conscience, this was it. Then again, he did not want the thing around anyway.

With a swish of his wand, his conscience emerged. She was anemic, pale as an earthworm with blood staining her every part.

"Justin, do you know what this means?" Rosie asked him.

His conscience looked up at him with mercy, "We can turn this around, Justin. We can help Miranda, apologize to Harper, fix things with Alex…"

He smiled falsely, "Okay, let's fix you up."

His hand plunged into her wound. His conscience screamed in agony. Justin gripped her tightly, the ripped back. His victim was sobbing as he thrust back in again.

The girl stayed alive for eight minutes before dissolving into nothing. Rosie licked the blood off his fingers, "You have so much, Hmmm, talent Justin," She slurped it off, purring.

It felt so good to be free of the shame at last. Now he could see his plans clearly. Alex was exposed. Max's threat would be eliminated before the family competition would take place. And Rosie would be his.

He had so much to write in his journal.

"Today I got rid of my conscience. I ripped the life out of it, and watched it explode into ash. And Rosie wants me, badly. I can see it in her, the lust. The power in me is insufficient.

"The other day, when I had Harper in the kitchen, I remember the look of confusion and terror in her eyes. Alex cannot be confused, she must see it coming. He wanted her to know what she had done to bring him down on her, that her body, mind and soul were his to control, that there was no more 'Alexandria Margarita Russo' just his toy. He wanted it all, but he would wait.

"Harper isn't my type, but taking something from Alex was worth it. I remember her gagging as I thrust in as far as I could. When she started to relax, my hands gripped her throat. I could feel myself inside her. I want to feel like that forever."

And now that he had Rosie, he could put his plan into action.