"We, the witches council, are here this night, because of the genuine concern of one of our members Anastasia Lincoln. It has been brought to our attention that Jorge Mason, a resident here in Moonlight Gorge, has displayed an unusual supernatural ability. He is from an unknown witch family and research is still being done, so we can prove one way or the other if he has witches in his family. We will now hear from Shonda Walters who is one of those most affected by this rather unusual talent.
Shonda came forward looking much better than she had the last time Jazz had seen her. She had regained a lot of the weight that she had lost due to Jorge's power. She still had a little weight to regain to be back to normal, but still she looked nearly 100% better than she had several months ago. This was a great relief to Jazz.
"Miss Walters tell us in your own words exactly how Mr. Mason affected you," said the leader of the witches counsel an older woman, with silver hair and gray eyes.
"Well, your honor," Shonda began glaring down at Jorge, who was trapped in a chair with magical ropes and also under a silencing spell, so he couldn't rain verbal abuse down on them. "I've always worried about my weight a little, but still ate things that weren't necessarily good for me meat and sweets, though in moderation. I was hanging out at my favorite place to eat, Buzz's on Main Street, when I heard Jorge make a nasty comment about my weight to the bartender.
"Normally, I ignore stuff like that, because I know very well not everybody is nice or polite and Jorge has never liked me. Actually, he doesn't seem to like anyone really. The moment he said it though, I felt...hypnotized I suppose, comes closest. I actually believed that I really was overweight. My mind became cloudy and I immediately changed my diet to salads and tofu and other healthy things. I stopped eating meat and sweets and other fattening things completely. I also started skipping meals and was barely eating enough to keep a bird alive.
"It was only when I went to see my friend Jazz's adorable new puppy and she became concerned at how thin I was that I told her about Jorge's offhand comment. It was her telling me that I was not fat, that I looked like I had lost to much weight that seemed to break the spell and as proof I ate a whole plate of leftover brownies from her bakery, the first sweets I'd had in months, ever since I overheard Jorge's nasty comment. It was as if my mind returned to normal, as the fog I had been operating under had lifted and I noticed how much weight I had lost, which was 40 pounds.
"Normally, I never would've given up sweets or meat and not just eat stuff that was supposedly good for me. I'm a 100 percent carnivore and a unrepentant chocoholic. In a normal situation, nobody could convince me to just eat fruits and vegetables and tofu. While I don't mind those things they're not my whole diet, so I wasn't getting the calories I needed to a remain healthy and I'm sure I was well on the way to making myself ill, but I couldn't seem to help myself. Every time I looked at anything sweet, especially chocolate or a healthy cut of steak I felt like throwing up and that's not normal at all for me."
"I'm sorry to ask you a personal question Miss Walters but it's necessary," said one of the council members.
"I'm listening Shonda said.
"Are you pregnant by chance?" The man asked. "It would explain some of the symptoms you described."
"No, I'm not," Shonda told him with a grimace to let the council member know that it was indeed a personal question and an embarrassing one. "I have no intention of having children until I marry if I ever do. For one thing my father would give me a lecture about responsibility something and I don't want to hear thank you. My mother also wouldn't approve of me getting pregnant outside of marriage but she would still knit baby booties and spoil any grandchild. You can ask my doctor as I had a physical just recently, to make sure I wasn't becoming ill, because I'd lost much weight in such a short time, all because of that idiot's blasted power, a power he didn't even know he had. Luckily, despite the weight loss in such a short amount of time, I was healthy, but that probably wouldn't have remained the case, if I had kept losing weight I could hardly afford to lose, as I was skin and bones as it was. My doctor put me on a high protein, high fat diet and told me to eat as many high protein meals, as well as as many caloric desserts, even outside of mealtimes, as I could. Anything to put the weight back on me as fast as possible, as he was rightfully worried that I would catch something serious while my immune system was to weak to fight it off. I was very lucky the doctor told me, that I had such a strong immune system, even though it was still compromised from the weight loss."
Shonda glared hatefully at Jorge again who glared right back, obviously not sorry for what he had done, even if unknowingly. Shonda was dismissed and she left the witness stand, disappearing into the crowd.
"Alright, the next testimony is from Jazzlyn Lincoln, the daughter of one of our council members, who reported a possible unknown witch, to her mother Anastasia Lincoln."
Jazz walked up to the witness stand and answered any question that was asked of her honestly. She talked about how Jorge had been obsessed with her ever since she had come back to Moonlight Gorge after college, though she wasn't sure if he had been obsessed with her before that, as they were just kids and kids changed all the time. She told about how he was sure that she had murdered that visitor to their town and bragged about it to everyone, which had not exactly endeared her or her parents to him. She told them all about the crap she had put up with for the last few years and how he came into her bakery and caused a scene when he saw her flirting with her soulmate.
"That was when the harassment got worse honored council members. Before he simply annoyed me, but after he knew about my relationship with Dave, my soulmate, his harassment got much worse until I was ready to set him on fire—literally."
The council members chuckled, but could also tell that Jazz was perfectly serious about setting Jorge on fire. Most of them sympathized with her, as she had put up with a lot of harassment over the last four years. "That I didn't, is more due to the fact, that I barely managed to hold onto my temper, by the slenderest of threads. I didn't want to cause a major scene like Jorge had done on several occasions, as I could see him having me arrested if I punched and broke his nose or gave him a black eye. See what he did?" Jazz showed the council members the bruises she had gained from Jorge's assault. There were several around her neck and upper shoulders.
All the council members made sounds of sympathy after seeing the bruises that marked Jazz's flesh, all of which still looked red, which indicated fresh bruises, as they hadn't had time to go black and blue.
"So what do you think caused this obsession Ms. Lincoln?" asked a female council member curiously.
"Truthfully, you're honor, I think it goes back to when we were 13 and I stopped him from being beaten up by the school bullies. He took that as a vow of eternal, everlasting love I think, instead of what it was, an act of kindness from someone who didn't like to see someone else hurt, just because they were a little different and didn't fit the bullies very narrow idea of what was normal.
"As far as I know Jorge never had any real friends so I tried to be nice to him, to be his friend, as I knew he was likely lonely. If I had to make that choice again I would do the same, though I would hope that Jorge wouldn't get obsessed with me a second time.
"However, instead of seeing my offer of friendship for what it was, Jorge turned it into such a rich fantasy where we married and I stayed home to raise the kids giving up my dreams of owning a bakery while he was the one that went out and earned a living. This is something I would never agree to for anyone your honors and anybody who tried to force me into such a decision would regret it, as I would dump them faster than they would know how to deal with it. If they kept annoying me after that well I'd get a restraining order.
"It's always been my dream to run a bakery as that's my talent, making sweets for people to enjoy. No one ever knows, unless they're a witch, that there's just a little bit of magic in the recipe, which is what makes my treats so utterly delectable. If I couldn't do what I really wanted your honors I would die inside and I would rather take my own life then be married to someone who killed my dreams, didn't give a damn about what I wanted.
"With Jorge it's always Me! Me! Me! Me! I want you to stay at home and look after the kids you're not allowed to work, as I'm the man after all so I'll bring home the money is what I can imagine him telling me. I've known him all my life and that's just the way he is and it's also the major reason that we would never work as a couple. Even if I hadn't met Dave, as I'm way too independent to ever considering following such ridiculous orders, something Jorge doesn't care about."
"So his hypnotizing power didn't work on you Miss Lincoln," asked a council member once she was sure Jazz was done. She did shoot Jazz a sympathetic look though that told everyone that she agreed with what Jazz had said.
"No, I think, it only affects those that have doubts, no matter what kind they happen to be. As Shonda explained, she's always worried about her weight and so Jorge's offhanded comment affected her because of them. Most everyone has doubts I know that, but so long as nobody knows what they are they can't use it against you. Jorge's comment just happened to hit one of Shonda's vulnerabilities. I suppose it's possible that he had the knowledge beforehand about her doubts where her weight was concerned, but I tend to believe that it was a total accident, that he said the one thing that is bound to affect her, as for one thing he didn't seem to know she was even around when he said what he did to the bartender. Still the accident was bad enough your honors. I still remember how she looked when she came to see my new puppy Jasper and that was like she had been sick, as she was practically skin and bones, so it was apparent that she'd lost quite a bit of weight since the last time I had seen her. She hardly looked healthy at all and had dark circles under her eyes."
Jazz shuddered as she finished speaking. "It was hard seeing my best friend like she had been deathly ill, your honors and when I learned it was Jorge, even if it was not on purpose that had caused her condition you don't want to know what my feelings towards him were."
"I bet you felt positively murderous," one of the male council member suggested knowingly. "I certainly would've felt the same had something like that happened to my best friend."
"No comment," Jazz said wisely, though it was clear from her expression that yes, she had indeed felt murderous, but she wasn't about to say something like that out loud as it might come back to bite her later. Jazz continued with her testimony without further prompting.
"I doubt very much that Jorge even knew she was in the vicinity and even if he had I doubt that would've stopped him, as he probably just would've said it to her face instead where Shonda would have likely slapped him hard enough to leave a hand print on his cheek.
"Unfortunately, Jorge's never cared about who he hurts with his nasty, mostly untrue innuendos. He thinks because he's an officer of the law, no matter how disliked, he can say whatever he likes and face no consequences. He doesn't seem to understand that as a law enforcement official he needs to respect others. Making inappropriate comments is hardly respecting the person it's aimed at.
"Normally, someone who overheard something they didn't like, well, the person responsible for it would get a punch in the nose, but because everybody has known him all his life and because he's an officer of the law he's avoided getting actually punched or beat up. However, this power that he seems to have is dangerous, your honors. Just think of what kind of harm he could do. He was never taught as a young child how to use his power responsibly, because there probably hasn't being a witch in his family for at least a century.
"I'm sure his mother tried to teach him respect for others, but if she did, she failed. I suppose it's possible that Jorge just never listened to the woman who gave birth to him, which shows a disrespect for one of his parental figures at least. If he can't even respect his mother that means he probably doesn't respect anybody, not even Captain Bloodworth, his own boss. Adam Bloodworth is a good man and Jorge could've used him as an example on how to conduct himself and yet didn't."
"Jorge already had a black mark on his record from his shoddy investigative work when that tourist was killed and I was the only suspect, just because one of my boxes from the bakery showed up at the scene with the remains of a cupcake. Did he bother to look for other suspects? Of course not. Instead he bragged I was guilty and he would prove it. He didn't even consider that numerous people go through my bakery every day and it could have belonged to anyone of them.
"He was just so full of his own arrogance and self-importance that he didn't do a proper job. As far as I know, he didn't even try to trace my movements to see if I even had time to poison that damn cupcake, as I wasn't the one that sold it to him. You would think that after I was proved innocent that he would have apologized for suspecting me and or at least it would have encouraged him to do better next time, but instead he got worse. It's not that I mind the lack of apology so much, especially since it wouldn't have likely been sincere, it's the sheer arrogance and stupidity that get's me your honors."
"So we understand that you were held by this man, while he pointed a gun Mr. Rossi.
"That is true you're honor, but he got easily distracted as he was ranting about how I belonged to him and that I couldn't really love Dave, that I had to know we belonged together forever. It was just a bunch of crazy shit, your honors, stuff that Jorge had made up in his head until it took on a life of its own and became as realistic as a real relationship.
"In Dave's case, he was watching the scene not saying a word knowing that it was possible I would be hurt if he made the wrong move. When he saw how Jorge lowered the gun so that it wasn't pointed directly at him anymore he managed to sneak up on him and take him out. He was soon cuffed to the drainage pipe that was in the alley behind my bakery."
"And why were you out there in the first place?" asked one male council member. "It seems rather stupid to be out after 9 PM when you knew it was possible that Mr. Mason would be there lurking.
"We were out there letting our dogs have a last pee, before it would be time for bed," Jazz explained with a scornful look at the idiot who asked the question and the council member blushed in embarrassment. "I never expected him to attack me right outside my place of business. That might seem rather stupid to you..."
"Of course it wasn't," said a female council member glaring at the male member that had asked the question so fiercely that the man looked away. The glare said he was an idiot. After all, it had already been established that Jazz and her fiancé Dave had dogs, that of course would have to go out and pee before they slept the rest of the night.
"The poor dogs would only have peed in her apartment if she and Dave hadn't taken them out one more time or possibly whined until they were let out to do their business. They would not have been able to help themselves. It's clear that you don't have a dog and probably no animal at all, which is probably why you are such a grump."
"So why didn't you use magic to defend yourself," asked the female member.
"I never had a chance your honor. I had to spell all ready to throw at him, but since he came up on me from behind I never had a chance to use it," Jazz answered honestly. "All Dave and I honestly heard was the slight scuffle of a shoe. We never had a chance to react before he was holding me prisoner with the gun pointed at Dave. All we can figure was he was hiding behind the dumpster in the alley, watching as the dogs sniffed around so they could find a spot to pee.
"Jorge threatened to kill my dogs and then my fiancé if I didn't come with him and to me your honor that's an unforgivable sin, threatening to harm the ones I love much less actually going through with the act. I would react the same for Shonda, since she's been my best friend since the cradle, we're basically sisters or for any of my family.
"While Jorge expected I would just obey to avoid my loved ones from getting hurt all he did was make me mad. No! That's wrong! What he did by threatening a couple of puppies and the man I love was make me was so damn furious I could've happily carved out his heart with a rusty blade and ate it in front of him," Jazz exclaimed with great anger in her tone glaring at Jorge with a hate hot enough to literally set him on fire with her stare alone. Jorge actually cowered as much as he could, from Jazz's intense, hate filled gaze considering he was tied to a wooden chair with magical ropes, he really had nowhere to go. At the moment she looked as if she could gladly cut him into bite-size pieces and burn them right in front of him before cutting out his heart.
The counselors made grossed our faces including her mother, but they did understand where she was coming from. Jazz was just saying that she had been angry enough at Jorge at that time to do exactly what she had described and no one with half a brain would've been able to blame her considering the circumstances at the time. Since it had only happened less then an hour ago it was not surprising that Jazz was still furious, despite her mostly calm demeanor during her testimony. She was the victim and she had every right to be as furious as a nest of hornets. It would take time for those emotions to calm down completely and a good night's sleep would help. It was likely that the shock of what she had endured was just now wearing off, which was why the sudden surge of strong emotions when she had looked at Jorge. Everybody had a breaking point after all and considering how long Jazz had been putting up with Jorge's crap it wouldn't be surprising if she had reached the end of her patience. Threatening to harm her loved ones had likely been the last straw. The one that broke the camels back as the saying went.
Jazz finally got her emotions under control then continued, "He's damn lucky all I did was put him under a sleep spell to get him to shut up, as I was more than tired of listening to him," Jazz continued. "As for Dave, he didn't dare try to rescue me at first, as I might've been hurt, but he awaited his opportunity as you know, while I tried my best to distract him, to give Dave his chance to get the upper hand. Jorge seemed to forget he was even there Dave was so quiet waiting for his opportunity to strike.
"Once Jorge was significantly distracted Dave took him down by punching him in the face, breaking his nose and immediately kicked the gun out of his hand to the other side of the alley. I've never seen Dave as mad as I saw him just an hour ago your honors. I know I've only known him for a few months but he's not the type that loses his temper regularly."
"Well, that is a more then significant recitation of event," one of the council said. "Next witness is David Rossi."
Dave casually strolled up to the witness stand oozing confidence. Some of the female members looked like they figuratively wanted to drool and then gobble him up as he was so handsome, that he sent even their hormones humming. Dave with a short black hair and goatee. They also wasn't an ounce of fat anywhere on his body that could be seen so Jazz could understand why most of the female council members figuratively were drooling. Dave shot his mate a sympathetic look and and Jazz nodded at him feeling much calmer, just locking gazes with Dave for a few seconds.
His testimony was much faster, as he hadn't been present for a lot of Jorge's harassment of Jazz, since he had only come into the picture a few months ago.
Finally, the trial was over and it was decided by every council member that Jorge would be stripped of his power and any memory removed of magic. The memory of his harassment and his trying to kidnap Jazz would remain for those of the regular court.
"We will now turn him over to the police," said the leader of the council. "Once all traces of the mention of magic are removed from his mind as well as his power. His power of hypnotizing will be completely blocked off from him to where there's absolutely no chance of retrieving it. He won't even remember ever having it. We'll make sure of that. This trial of Jorge Mason has been concluded."
The leader of the council rapped her gravel on his podium to signal the conclusion of the trial. "This concludes this meeting of the witches council. I'm certainly glad that this little problem was taken care of so quickly, before Mr. Mason could cause real trouble."
"I'm surprised that half the town hasn't jumped off a cliff or killed themselves with a gun to their heads or sliced their throats with a knife," Jazz snorted cynically. "I mean I'm assuming he's had this power all his life and he's always been a nasty piece of work. While he wasn't that bad when he was a kid, that part of his personality was always there."
"It probably didn't activate until his late teens or early 20s, that would be my guess anyway. It's been known to happen, even if it's rare," said Jazz's mother Anastasia. "You've conducted yourself really well during the trial honey I'm proud of you. I could've done without your description of what you would have done to Jorge though, as that was rather gross honey."
"I'm not sorry," Jazz told her mother. "I spoke nothing but the truth. I might've felt guilty afterwards but I doubt it. You have to remember how much he's been harassing me over the last four years, but threatening a pair of puppies and the man I love was the last straw. While I lost my patience with him a long time ago, I just wanted him out of my life, not dead until that incident.
"I understand," Anastasia said, as she hugged her daughter. "It was justifiable under the circumstances. Still, let's hope that image doesn't give me nightmares."
"I hope it doesn't," Jazz said.
"I'll deal with them if it does. At least this problem has been dealt with thank god," Anastasia told her daughter with a look
"I'm sorry mom if that image gives you nightmares but looking at Jorge, seeing how unrepentant he was for his actions just made me so angry," Jazz apologized. "I believe I was in shock up until that moment and that it was right then that it chose to wear off. I just thought about the fact that it could've been so much worse, that the dogs or Dave could've been seriously hurt. You know how I feel about those I love how protective I tend to be. While I know in normal situations Dave can protect himself this was one of those where he needed help. It took a team effort to overcome Jorge, mom. I elbowed him in the ribs and smashed my shoe into his instep while Dave was sneaking up on him. I guess I just realized that the boy I knew had changed beyond recognition. I still can't believe that Jorge turned into somebody that didn't care about others. The way that Jorge looked like he didn't even care about how much harm he had caused, as me, Shonda and Dave gave testimony to and is what set me off in the first place."
"You need to remember it's only been a couple of hours since it happened," Dave added. "Emotions right now are still high. I think that Jazz had every reason to say what she did, as emotions in that alley were really intense, even though we both tried to be calm during the entire incident as we didn't want to set Jorge off anymore. I'd like to teach that boy a lesson myself, but I'm not going to as he's being punished by your council and then he'll be going to prison. After he gets out I just hope he doesn't cause any trouble, but we'll have to see. We need a chance to relax, to calm ourselves, to show each other that we're both okay. It will register eventually that we weren't hurt seriously, like we could've been, particularly Jazz. Jazz is the one that had to deal with him the longest, the one that has the strongest feelings about what Jorge did and it doesn't help that she's known him all his life."
"I understand," Anastasia said finally with a nod of respect for Dave. "I feel sorry for Jorge's mother Marion but something had to be done."
"And you should," Jazz said. "Jorge's mother had nothing to do with her son being like he was. It's not her fault that Jorge totally ignored her lessons on manners. Some people just can't be taught because they refused to learn, which is likely what happened in Jorge's case."
"I'm sure she'll be grateful that he's alive, even if he's going to be in prison for a very long time," Dave said.
"Probably," Anastasia agreed.
"Oh, Jazzlyn!" a voice of a woman called. A woman who was on the council coming over. "I just wanted to congratulate you on finding your soulmate and so soon!"
"Thank you Mrs. Blanchard. I never expected it," Jazz said taking Dave's hand, giving it a squeeze.
"No one ever does dear," Mrs. Blanchard said. "Finding your mate is as rare as hen's teeth. The two of you were very lucky to meet so young. Make sure you treat each other with kindness and respect."
"We will," both Jazz and Dave answered.
Jazz didn't say that she would be alive 500 years from now as not many people needed to know that. Dave would tell her family though, just as soon as they had a minute to breath.
"Mrs. Blanchard, this is my mate David Rossi," Jazz introduced.
"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Blanchard," Dave said gallantly kissing her cheek.
"Oh, you have a charmer there," Mrs. Blanchard blushed, even though she was happily married. "I'll look forward to the wedding and you better make sure I get an invitation."
"We will dear lady," Dave promised charmingly. "Now that Jorge Mason is out of the way we can start planning the ceremony."
"We'll make sure we drop him off at the police department before we head home to sleep," Jazz promised. "It really should be Dave and I that turns him in, since we are the ones he tried to hurt."
"Yes, I suppose that's best," Mrs. Blanchard agreed. "I'll let the others know to hand him over to you."
"Thank you ma'am," Dave said smiling. "The sooner we get this nasty business behind us this sooner Jazz and I can get married."
"I can't wait for those grandchildren," Anastasia who had been silent said.
"You'll get them, but probably not for a few years mom," Jazz said. "Dave and I need a few years alone first, before we even consider having children. I, at least, need time to destress from the last few years. At least I'll no longer have to deal with Jorge and I'll only have normal frustrations of dealing with customers. I won't have to wait for the other shoe to drop, which I've been expecting at least since I met Dave."
"That's perfectly understandable dear. Don't annoy your daughter about grandchildren Anastasia, you'll get them in due time. You have to remember she's been under a lot of stress and pressure lately having to deal with Jorge Mason on a regular basis. She needs a chance to relax, enjoy being married before she even thinks about having children. Think of your daughter and her feelings. Yes, I know you want grandchildren, but be patient, babies come on their own schedule and you can't force them to appear."
Mrs. Blanchard told Jazz's mother, giving her a stern look. Once Anastasia looked down blushing to avoid Mrs. Blanchard stern expression the older lady was sure that her message had been received and changed the subject.
"As for Jorge, unfortunately, he really turned into a danger. In part, I feel sympathy for him because he had no idea of his power. However, while I might feel a little sympathy for him that doesn't mean he didn't use his power wrongly. If only he'd had a nicer personality, instead of insulting everyone he met, he likely wouldn't be in trouble now. I'm only glad that he never realized he had such a power or he might've done worse. Just look at what he did to Shonda Walters just by making an offhand, nasty comment he caused her great misery. I'm certainly glad that you weren't affected by his power," Mrs. Blanchard told Jazz.
"Yeah, I'm glad to or I very well might have married him," Jazz shuddered. "I can't see that ending well if it had happened. On the other hand, if he had somehow found out about my doubts and fears, as everyone has them who knows what would've happened."
"Likely not," Mrs. Blanchard agreed. "Let's just be happy that such a situation never happened."
"Make sure you have children before I get too old to enjoy them," Anastasia told her daughter with a stern look changing the subject deliberately. Jazz accepted the change in subject gratefully. Hopefully, her mother would listen to Mrs. Blanchard's little lecture and not pressure her and Dave about having children. She was grateful for Mrs. Blanchard for standing up for her, as she didn't need any more stress right now, especially not from her own mother.
"We'll see," was all Jazz said winking at Dave when her mother wasn't looking.
"We had better go now and pick up our prisoner and head to the police station," Dave said finally after a few more minutes of chitchat. "I'm sure that we'll see you sometime Mrs. Blanchard. I plan on making this town my permanent home, since I know Jazz grew up here and she loves this town. Besides, Jazz's family is here and my family died a very long time ago, so I have no one to miss me. As far as I'm concerned, my family is here now."
"If I don't see you before the wedding I'll see you there. Feel free to come into my bakery and choose yourself a dessert, on the house. I owe you." Jazz added her gray eyes flickering towards her mother. Mrs. Blanchard who was as sharp as a tack got the silent message.
"Yes, you will see plenty of me I'm sure," Mrs. Blanchard agreed, before letting them go. "Thank you for the offer Jazzlyn, I will certainly consider it."
"You're welcome anytime," Jazz told Mrs. Blanchard kissing her cheek in silent thanks.
"What a sweet old lady," Dave said and Jazz agreed smiling kissing his cheek.
"Yes, she is. Shall we go, handsome?" Jazz suggested.
"Absolutely, the sooner we finish dealing with Mason the better I like it. I'm ready to be rid of him completely and if I'm ready to see the back of him I know that you definitely are, as you've been dealing with him for much longer than I have," Dave said knowing they were in for another few hours at the police station, but it was worth it to get rid of the major pain Jorge Mason.
"I can't blame you," Jazz said in agreement. "You're right, by the way, I've been ready to be rid of him for at least the last couple of years at a minimum."
~~~Dave and Jazzlyn~~~