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There once was a time when the only thing June Moone knew was loneliness.
June had always chalked it up to being misunderstood. First by her parents. They would exchange confused glances as their five year old word vomited about the five Egyptian mythology books she had just consumed within days. June heard a lot of “that’s nice sweetheart” and “why don’t you tell me more about that later, I need to take this call?” Her parents pushed her towards school, only for June to be misunderstood there as well.
Even from a young age, June’s classmates found her odd and off putting. Her interests in legends and history were “nerd stuff” and despite how hard June tried, she just couldn’t find interest in whatever boyband of the month her classmates found interesting. Her only respite was the art classroom. Her art teacher was an older woman by the name of Mrs. Lindsey who reminded June of Miss Frizzle from the magic school bus. It felt like she never wore the same outfit twice. Her greying hair was tied up in a bun, library glasses perched on the nose. She always praised June’s art, saying with a whisper and a wink that June was going to go places. In third grade, Mrs. Lindsey found June eating lunch in the bathroom. Without a word, she escorted June to the art classroom and said that June could eat lunch with her from now on. And though June found school to be a little less miserable, Mrs. Lindsey was not a replacement for people her age. It also didn’t protect her from every other part of the day where she had to withstand her classmates torment.
But then even that little piece of a safe haven was ripped away when June when she entered middle school. She sobbed so hard she nearly threw up the week before her first day. Her mother gently suggested that maybe if June tried to fit in a little better, it wouldn’t be so bad. June had allowed her mother to take her shopping and teach her how to do makeup. Seeing herself in the mirror for the first time, June couldn’t help but feel that it felt like a mask. And when she started school, June could tell that everyone else felt the same. If anything, the teasing got worse.
She remembered one particularly awful day when she had been cornered in a bathroom and had girls pin her down. They laughed in her face and insulted her makeup before scrubbing it off her with the cheap paper towels in the bathroom. June remembered locking herself in a bathroom stall until the end of the day. When she got home, her parents hadn’t even noticed anything wrong.
It was after that day that June decided her only goal now was getting through school as quickly as possible. Being smart for her age meant that June shot through school like a rocket. She had hoped college would be different.
It wasn’t.
She was a scrawny socially awkward sixteen year old in undergrad classes. She still had a curfew while her classmates discussed parties on the weekends and moaned about being broke. No one was mean, not like in middle and high school. They just ignored her. She tried to join in on conversations a couple times and while people were polite… they kept everything surface level. So June kept to herself. Even when she was eighteen and was able to move out, she still found it hard to make friends. She didn’t know how to go deeper then the homework that was due the next week.
It sometimes felt as if there was a glass wall between herself and the outside world. She would put her hand up to the glass, bang on it with all her might. But it wouldn’t break. She could look in and see them, and them her, but like an animal an exhibit they observed her for a few moments before moving on with life.
Yes. June Moone had always felt quite alone.
But all of that was before her.
June heard the voice for the first time on her first solo expedition. June had worked for months to formulate and get approved for her research project after her doctorate was complete. When June had finally received the approval she was ecstatic. It was perhaps the first time June had felt true joy. All of her life was leading somewhere. The pain, the loneliness, all of it would be worth it in the end if her name ended up in someone’s history textbook.
And then she heard her.
It wasn’t words at first. A soft humming. A distant melody. One June had never heard, and yet at the same time could swear she had known all her life. June thought it was the stress. She had been working so hard to secure funding. To show that everything June had been through was worth something.
Anything.
She had brushed off the noises. But then they grew louder. Words.
… canyon… host… lost…
…power…protection…
Companionship.
And then sentences.
I know you can hear me June.
Why are you hiding from me?
June thought she was losing it. She confessed the whole thing to her superior in a fit of tears. Her mentor had immediately placed her on mental leave, begging June to get help.
And June almost did.
She really did.
After all the whole thing scared her just as much as it scared those around her. She drove all the way to a hospital in Metropolis and sat in the parking lot. June should have walked in. She should have begged for help then and there. But something stopped her.
June had to admit… since she left the voice had faded for the most part. Maybe a sentence here and there, but it was so rare that it could be June’s mind playing tricks on itself. Did June really want to be trapped in psychiatric institution for who knows how long? Discussing god knows what with some horrific shrink who would give her a pitying look and tell her she was “so strong.”?
No thanks.
June traveled instead. Her parents were all too happy to give her the money to get as far away from them as possible. So June finally took time to focus on her other passion.
Art.
She traveled across Europe, going to all the great art museums, seeing all of the sights you see in movies. She went across Asia, Russia, India, China, Japan, before ending up in Thailand for several months. June sometimes wondered if that was the place she had chosen because it felt as far as you could get from the Americas before circling back to them. Yet, despite all that June had seen and experienced, she could only draw one thing.
A woman.
The same woman.
A woman with piercing green eyes and a flame in them that seemed to burn through June’s soul and into her very heart. A crescent moon sat upon her head, shining white, a sharp contrast to the rest of the woman’s face hidden by a dark hood and surrounded by shadow. The woman began to appear in her dreams too. Leading June silently through a cave system. Whispering to her at night.
You and I are the same June.
Search for the pieces.
Don’t leave me in the dark.
Find me June.
Find it.
June would often wake up in a cold sweat. Her hands clawing at her face or her hair. The dreams meant that June avoided sleep like the plague. She consumed cha yen like it was water. Some days she drank so much she was convinced her heart was going to stop from the caffeine coursing through her blood. June was desperate for something, anything to make the voices stop. June stopped eating, she just didn’t have the urge to anymore.
What had been meant to be an escape was slowly turning into another prison.
And then the voices turned slightly more threatening.
You need this artifact. June… you will die without it.
June shouldn’t…
But the voice was haunting her, clawing at her. Desperate and angry and sad.
So June listened.
Because June just wanted to be left alone again.
That’s how June had ended up here… in a cave in Peru.
It was dark. The light from her headlamp was dim. Water dripped somewhere in the distance like the ticking of a clock.
She had funded the expedition herself. Her parents had wired the money with a short phone call and a wave of their hands. Something had called to her through the jungles. Through the mountains. Something June couldn’t explain. And now she was lost in a cave system. June couldn’t care about that right now. Something was pulling her forward through the cave.
And that’s when she saw them. A pile of skulls lining the wall. Animal and human alike. Their eye sockets bearing into her, asking what fool would come to their resting place. She scanned the wall. It was here, somewhere… she knew it was.
And then she spotted it. An alter of stone, just as dusty and dirty as the rest of the cave. It was barren besides a little statue that sat on top of it. She reached out and hesitated. Every part of her training argued against this. She didn’t have the right tools, she didn’t-
June picked up the statue with both hands, her grasp gentle and loose so as to not damage it. A crescent moon sat upon her brow. Two small green dots sat as eyes. A chill went down June’s spine. June would take it back, study it at the place she was staying at.
Open it.
It was definitely an important archeological find. One that could maybe produce years of funding. They could excavate this whole cave. Finally June would get the recognition she-
Open it.
As if against her will, June’s wrist turned slightly to the right. A snap broke the quiet of the cave. The head came right off. The doll was snapped in two.
And a very familiar laugh filled the cave.
A dark cloud swirled around June.
And in the darkness stood a figure.
The figure of a beautiful woman, covered in dirt and grime. Her hair was long and black. Her glowing eyes pierced through the darkness and right into June. June had never seen anyone like her and she doubted she would see anyone like her again.
June should be scared. Terrified. Actually.
But she wasn’t. The woman’s presence was comforting. Familiar.
The woman neared her, her movements hypnotizing June.
She tilted her head, taking in June for a moment.
A smile broke across her face.
Yes. You will do nicely.
The last thing June remembered was a cloud of dark smoke forcing it’s way inside her.
June woke up in a daze. The cave… the voices… the doll…
She sat up straighter. She was in a hospital room. That was obvious from the beige colors and the white sheets. How had she managed to get out of that cave alive? She should’ve-
“You’re awake,” a man said in spanish. June turned to see a doctor. “We were worried about you.”
“How did I get here?” June asked in spanish.
“We were hoping you would tell us,” The doctor said. “We found you outside the front door of the hospital.”
How-
“You’ve been out for a couple hours… possible dehydration. Tourists should stay out of the jungle.”
“O-oh of course, my mistake.”
The doctor handed her a slip. “Stay hydrated.”
In a daze, June managed to get out of the hospital. She went to her hotel immediately and began to pack up her things. She managed to get back on a plane back to the states, shaken, but physically alright. She had never been so relieved to make it home.
June woke up to the sight of the ceiling of her apartment. She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. The whole incident felt like a horrific dream. Maybe it was. Some sort of hallucination from the dehydration. June should just try to forget the whole thing and move on, work on her research proposal. Try to get back to normal. She had lived her travel fantasies, now it was time to rejoin the real world.
She got dressed and exited her bedroom to start the day.
Only to find the woman from the caves sitting on her couch, just as beautiful as the last time June had seen her.
June froze, the floor falling out from under her feet.
“I must say if this is what passes for living quarters in this time…” The woman sniffed. “Certainly not fitting for a goddess.”
June stumbled back into her kitchen area, scrambling for a knife. She turned back around to see the woman right in front of her face. June gasped.
The woman tilted her head, moving closer to June as June leaned further back from her, resisting the urge to whimper.
“W-who are you?”
“Oh June,” the woman whispered. “You know.”
And somehow June did. This was a being beyond time. Beyond space. She had existed far before this Earth began and would end far after it had ended. She was solid. She was air. She was magic and fire and wind. She was…
“Enchantress,” June whispered.
“Oh how I love how you say my name,” the woman purred as a cheshire cat smile appeared on her face.
“L-leave me alone. Get out of my house.”
“But we’re not in your house, are we?” Enchantress asked, taking a step back.
June glanced around frantically. No, but this was her apartment but- no- but-
“We’re in your mind,” Enchantress clarified. Her nose wrinkled. “I will say it is hard to find anything in this place. I would think an academic’s thoughts would be a little more organized.”
“Then get out!” June said, panic coursing through her blood stream. “Go away!”
“You can’t get rid of me June,” Enchantress whispered. “We are tied. Neither can exist without the other. You are my messenger. My instrument.”
“No, nonono-”
“My champion.”
June’s voice grew weaker with every word. “Please… stop.”
“My vessel.”
June shook her head, turning to walk away. “You’re not real, you’re a figment of my imagination.”
The woman appeared in front of her in a puff of smoke. Rage in her eyes.
June became frightened for a moment.
“Never,” the woman said, her voice low. “Never turn your back on me again June Moone.”
June Moone backed up in fear, her back hitting the counter behind her. Enchantress placed a hand against the cabinet behind her, leaning forward.
“Have I made myself clear?”
This was a really inappropriate time for her arousal towards this woman to flare up. June just stared up at her. Those eyes… June wouldn’t be shocked if the counter behind her caught flame.
“Yes or no?”
June nodded.
“Good,” Enchantress said, relaxing.
June felt herself relax at the same time, fear still gripping her.
Enchantress studied her for a moment, her eyes softening for a moment. “Oh June… you have nothing to fear from me. As long as we work together, nothing will cause you harm.”
“How can I know that?” June asked. “What are you? Why won’t you leave me alone?”
“I am the darkness that knows you. I am your other half. I am what you have always been and yet will always try to become.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense!” June said, hearing her voice crack.
“I am your shield and your cloak. Your light and your dark.”
“Stop talking in riddles please.”
“You don’t need me to tell you what I am. You already know.”
“But I don’t! I don’t.” June placed her face in her hands.
June awoke in her bed. She blinked and felt a shiver go down her spine.
She had fallen asleep at her desk.
She knew that. She had been up late, looking over documentation. Trying to find things regarding the cave system she had found herself in Peru. There was so little documentation on it, June had begun to wonder if she had imagined the whole thing. June remembered that all clearly.
So how had she ended up in her bed?
June stood up in a daze wandering into the living room. Her desk had been cleaned. The trash that had been littered around her apartment had found it’s way into the trashcan. All her dishes were put in the cabinets. Her laptop was open to her research notes on her recent expedition. There was the paper on her desk. In graphite pencil was a simple sketch of what appeared to be June. She sat on her apartment couch, her arm propping her head up as she read a book in her lap.
June hadn’t drawn that.
June hadn’t done any of this.
June collapsed into her desk chair.
And that’s when she spotted them.
A box of desserts from Thailand. She would recognize that box anywhere. How many mornings had June dragged herself out of bed early in the morning to get khanom wan from her favorite bakery? How many times had she bit into one and nearly moaned at how good they were? Too many to count. June’s hand trembled as she reached towards the box.
Inside sat khanom wan. Neatly packaged and fresh. As if they had been made this morning… because they had been. June sat stunned as she picked them up. There was no way these were shipped. Even if they made it through custom they were never this fresh. Which meant someone had to be in Thailand mere hours ago and in Metropolis in less then four. That simply wasn’t possible.
The whole thing felt twisted and sour. For years June remembered wanting a secret admirer. One to bring her favorite treats and draw pictures of her just because. It was a childhood wish that had never quite faded. It felt like someone had reached into her mind and pulled out this exact thing to please her.
Only it felt wrong.
June had never asked for this. She didn’t want this.
She didn’t know how… but she had done this. Enchantress. Somehow she…
No.
No.
Something had gone wrong on the expedition. That was the only thing that made sense. Something had gone so wrong that her mind had made up this thing as an alternative. It was her mind’s way of coping. It had to be.
Only… June was beginning to have less and less faith in that idea.
June traced the drawing. It was crude, most likely due to how quickly it had been done…
But it was done with care.
June threw herself into research. Pouring over all the documents she had found before her trip again. Searching for something. A myth. A legend. Something to cling onto. And they were there. An ancient goddess enchained in stone. But nothing about her possessing others. Nothing on there being a vessel. Nothing on how to get rid of her.
June began to make coffee. Her eyes watching as the coffee dripped into the pot.
She didn’t want to face her. Not yet. Not when she didn’t know how much power and control Enchantress had.
She listed out the facts as she knew them.
- On her first expedition she had begun to hear voices.
- The voice appeared to belong to Enchantress.
- Enchantress also began to appear in June’s dreams.
- Enchantress had been the one to tell her to go to Peru
- She had broken some sort of artifact, releasing some sort of black substance. Mold? Spores of some kind? Toxic gas? Some sort of a hallucinogen.
- June woke up in a hospital alone.
- June had a very realistic dream of meeting the Enchantress
- June woke up from said dream to things being moved around her apartment.
- June had Thai desserts from her favorite bakery fresh and ready for her.
June leaned back, rubbing her forehead as she studied the list. She hesitated before writing:
Hypothesis: Potential poisoning of some kind that has permanent effects. Perhaps symbiotic relationship with mold?
She had heard something like this before. Some sort of mold controlling some sort of insect? She couldn’t remember it clearly. Yet one thought clawed at the back of her mind.
She had never heard of a human experiencing this.
June dived into more research, searching up symbiotic relationships with humans. Hours and hours of research, pouring through websites and articles and book excerpts. She found bacteria and dust mites. But nothing…nothing like this.
If biology couldn’t explain it, maybe psychology could.
After some research with several pop ups reminding her she could call the suicide help line, June landed on a couple options. Psychosis was one option with the hallucinations. Schizophrenia another one. Some sort of dissociation disorder was also a possibility. But none of these could explain the bakery box.
Nothing in psychology or biology or even physics could explain how this box appeared on the desk.
This was messed up. This whole situation. June should check herself into a psychiatric institution now.
But she wouldn’t. Would she?
Deep down, in the same part of her brain where she had pulled the name from, June knew that no one human could help her. But maybe something else could. June’s gaze turned subconsciously to the drawing. She needed to talk to Enchantress.
June woke up in her hotel room in Lima, Peru. She frowned, glancing around. It was a small room with a bed, a chair, and a large window that looked out on the city skyline. It was night outside, the city lights beaming through the windows.
“Trying to avoid me June?”
June turned to see Enchantress sitting in a chair. A book in her hand. She placed it down as she tilted her head.
“Maybe,” June admitted.
“Now why would you do that?” The goddess said, standing up.
“What are you?”
The Enchantress rolled her eyes, standing up. “Has no one told you it’s insulting to answer a question with a question? You bore me with questions you already know the answer to.”
“Please,” June said, her voice soft. “I just want to know what’s happening to me.”
Enchantress made her way to the window, gazing out on the city. Her eyes glowed in the moonlight.
Silence fell over the two of them.
June tried a different approach.
“Thank you. For my gifts.”
That got her attention. She turned towards her. A small smile on her face. “Did you like them?”
June wavered for a moment. “I-yes. But I just, how did you do it? You said you were tied to me. I couldn’t have left Metropolis.”
“You’re right. You didn’t.”
“But you did.”
The woman nodded.
“How?”
“I’m still testing the limits of this vessel,” The Enchantress said. “But to put it simply, you lent me your body for the night.”
June felt her heart start to beat faster. “I what?”
“You’re my vessel June,” The Enchantress said, her voice soft. “I am always with you, awake and asleep.”
“But why? Why me?” June asked. “What did I do to you?”
“I have been asleep for a long time June. Trapped in that doll you freed me from,” She walked closer to June. “I have waited over a millennia for you June. In the dark, alone. And then your mind touched mine. Your gentle lonely soul. A taste of innocence I had not experienced in centuries. How could I possible let you go?”
“But why?” June asked, standing up. She was trying to remain calm, but all of this… it was far too much. “It makes no sense. Why me?”
“Why does the sun rise and set? Why does the wind blow to and flow? Why are people kind and cruel?” Enchantress shrugged. “Because some things are just so.”
“Are you controlling my body now?” June asked.
“Perhaps,” The Enchantress said. “But wouldn’t that be easier for you June? Let me steer our ship for awhile. Allow you the rest you have so desperately craved. Allow you a respite from the cruelties of the world. I can protect you from all of that. You can live here or wherever you please in your mind. Let me handle it for you. All of it.”
June was silent for a moment. Her gears turning in her head. And then a thought occurred like a lightbulb. “You need my permission,” she met the Enchantress’ eyes and could immediately tell she was right. “You need my permission to take over. And sleep… somehow gives you that permission. Am I right?”
The Enchantress sneered.
“Am I right?” June asked.
“Watch your tone,” the woman hissed, causing June to take a step back. “I need no one’s permission.”
June felt her head shake almost automatically, sensing the lie in the woman’s words. “No you do, because if you didn’t… you would already be in control. Wouldn’t you? You tried to in the cave. But I woke up.”
“Your body is much weaker then I expected,” The enchantress answered begrudgingly. “I cannot permanently exist in this form. Not yet at least.”
“So you can do it while I’m asleep. What about when I’m awake?”
The Enchantress was silent, her patience running thin.
“It’s a parallel relationship,” June murmured. “Neither has power over the other. Not truly.”
She could feel the Enchantress tense up at that. Anger coiling in the woman like a snake ready to strike.
“And you hate that,” June said, looking up at her. How she knew this information about her companion she would never truly understand. Things just seemed to bleed over between the two of them. The borders between their minds and memories were weak and easily poked and disturbed. “Because you weren’t always this. Were you? You were once a goddess among men.”
Enchantress tilted her chin up slightly. Her anger and arrogance on full display.
June plopped down on her bed, her mind whirling at a thousand miles an hour.
“You are different then I expected June Moone,” The goddess murmured, moving to stand in front of her.
June looked up at her goddess, struck once again by how beautiful the woman was. Her glowing eyes studying June like she was a puzzle the goddess could not slip the last piece into. June suddenly felt a pang of fondness and an urge to caress the woman’s face, but she couldn’t tell if it was her own or the goddess’s.
“Because I’m smarter then you thought?”
“No, I knew you had intelligence,” the woman said, moving away from her. “You are stronger then I thought.”
June didn’t know whether she was flattered or insulted by such a thing.
“I still need to gather my strength. Leave me,” The woman said with a wave of her hand.
June blinked the sleep out of her eyes, rubbing at them.
Sunlight streamed through her window. She blinked.
Holy shit.
There was something… no, someone trapped inside of June. Someone who was desperate to get out and was willing to do anything to do so.
June felt like someone had just tossed her into the ocean and she was just now coming out for air. What does one even do in this situation? June felt a surge of energy. She needed to go. She needed to run. She needed to go do… something. So she could wrap her mind around what was happening to her. June needed to get out of her apartment. She needed to take her mind off everything.
The Metropolis art museum offered a wonderful distraction. June walked there, enjoying the warm spring day outside. The sun laced it’s way into her skin and made her muscles relax. Around her, the city bustled as it usually did. People walked to work and school. The world kept turning for everyone else, even if it felt like it stopped for June.
The museum wasn’t too busy due to it being a weekday. The ticket was cheap enough. June walked through the familiar paintings. In undergrad she would come to the museum on weekends and just sat. She did so now, sitting before one of her favorite paintings. A renaissance painting of Venus. Only, the longer June stared at it, the more the woman’s eyes turned glowing green. Her smile tilted in a very familiar cheshire cat smile. June blinked several times.
It was no secret to her that June was equally fearful of her new mental roommate as she was attracted to her. There was just something about her that was… intoxicating.
June hated it.
For once, couldn’t she just be normal? Why couldn’t she have a normal life? With normal friends and a normal partner and a normal job? Boring. That was what June wanted. A boring, normal, simple life. Why did it always have to be… off, somehow?
June continued through the museum getting lost in the art and her own thoughts.
Perhaps a little too lost.
She left when it was still dark outside.
While Metropolis’ budget was nowhere as godawful as Gotham’s, it seemed there were always issues with the streetlights.
June noticed them following her after two blocks. She turned and they turned with her. She turned again and they still followed her. June felt fear begin to grip her. She was way too far from her apartment. What was she going to do?
A whistle behind her. “Hey! Wait up!”
June ignored them, continuing on.
The walking feet behind her suddenly began to run. June burst into a dead sprint. She had never seen the city streets so dead at night. She could feel them gaining on her. No. No. No.
“Who are you running from?” one of them called out before both started laughing.
If only-
Desperate times called for desperate measures. June tried to pull deep at her mind, trying to pull her companion out.
“Enchantress-”
June barely got the name out before she found herself in the Metropolis University library. A safe haven from her college years. She placed a hand on her chest, allowing herself to be calmed. She was safe. She was safe. She milled around. Deserted of course. She found herself curling up in one of the armchairs they had. What a day. June buried her face in her hands. Had Enchantress managed to get them out of this situation? What happened?
“June.”
June glanced up. Enchantress was in front of her, looking completely unbothered.
“What-”
“It’s been dealt with.”
“Thank god,” June said, feeling her whole box relax.
The goddess studied her. “You gave me control.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. It was that or let them do what they wanted to me.”
“Oh? I was hoping I was beginning to grow on you June,” The Enchantress said.
“Thank you,” June said as she stood up. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“You called for me,” The Enchantress said with a shrug.
June didn’t know how to respond to that. Emotion made it’s way into her throat. No one had ever protected her before. Not her parents. None of her acquaintances. No one. It had always been June. Just June.
“Yes, well, I’m going to take control back now,” June said, shifting awkwardly.
“Let me be in charge a little longer,” Enchantress said.
“I need to eat and sleep,” June said, though she felt a little bit of guilt. The Enchantress was looking at her with such pleading eyes. She was stuck in this situation the same as June was. All the woman had done was get her gifts, draw her pictures, and saved her. What harm was there in giving her a few more hours? “But… I’ll let you have tomorrow. I promise. I’m sure it’ll be better for you with my body at full strength.”
Enchantress bowed her head.
June woke up in apartment bathroom.
That wasn't odd.
What was odd was the blood that covered her arms. June looked down in horror at her clothes that were perfectly clean. Her hands began to shake. She began to hyperventilate. She had assumed the Enchantress had… She wasn’t exactly sure what she thought. She hadn’t… she didn’t think… She immediately pulled her clothes off herself, not caring that she got blood on them. She would probably burn them anyways. She got in the shower, turning the water handle until scalding water burned at her skin.
And then she began to scrub.
And scrub.
And scrub.
June lost herself in the relative motion. Within five minutes her skin began to hurt from the rough treatment.
June didn’t care.
How could she be such an idiot? How could she trust that parasitic- sadistic-
And she had been planning to give her control tomorrow?
It took everything in June not to spiral into a panic attack.
She left the bathroom in a daze.
What had she done?
The ten o’clock news was more then willing to tell her.
June sat on her couch, her eyes glued to the tv screen.
“Our top story tonight is the brutal murder of two men a few blocks from the Metropolis art museum. Officers say that the crime scene was one of the most gruesome ever seen in Metropolis history. Onlookers describe the bodies being almost fileted with what appeared. Metahuman involvement is suspected in the incident. We are not able to report further details due to concerns regarding the investigation…”
June fumbled with the remote and turned the tv off. She felt tears prickle her eyes. June hugged her legs to her chest and began to sob.
June didn’t sleep.
She didn’t sleep for two days.
She dived into the coverage of the case. She followed every detail, every mention. June watched clips of one of the man’s wives crying on tv and begging for anyone who knew something about her husband’s death to come forward. Every time June even considered sleep, the widow’s voice rung in her head.
June tried to stay up longer, but it wasn’t possible. Her speech began to slur. She began to fear for her safety. She passed out in bed, dreading what was going to happen next.
June woke up in the cave.
Very different then the comfy cozy settings of their previous meetings.
Dark. and Damp. And Horrible.
“You promised me June.”
June didn’t turn around.
“Don’t ignore me,” Enchantress appeared in front of her. “You promised me.”
“What did you do to them?”
“I gut them like the pigs they are,” Enchantress hissed. “They tried to touch what was mine. They are lucky I granted them the mercy of death.”
June shook her head. “No, no, that’s not what I wanted.”
“I saved us.”
“You killed them,” June exclaimed. “They had families! Friends!”
“Better they remember them as martyrs then the monsters they truly were,” The Enchantress said coldly. “You can lie to yourself, but not to me June. You aren’t mad at all they’re dead.”
:"Of course I am!"
“No, you’re not,” The Enchantress said, moving closer to her, causing June to walk backward. “You’re happy they’re dead. You’re happy they can’t hurt anyone else. You’re happy I did it for you. That finally someone in your life actually cares about you.”
June’s blood ran cold. “No, stop that.”
“Why should you grant them kindness when they’ve never done the same? The world has always taken and taken and taken from us June. Why not take some back?”
June’s back ran into the cold stone wall, causing her to grimace.
“You’re not mad at me. You’re mad at yourself,” Enchantress said. “Because you’ve let them do this to you. I remind you just how weak you are.”
Tears pricked at June’s eyes as she felt the goddess’ warm breath on her face.
“I am the reflection of what you could’ve been if you simply grew a spine,” Enchantress hissed. “Rather then grovel like a worm and pretend to be a hapless doe, you could actually stand up for yourself.”
Something about that statement made something click in June.
She took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes.
“You’re right.”
Enchantress couldn’t hide her surprise.
“And it starts with you,” June hissed. “This is my mind and my dreams. And you are no longer wanted here.”
She waved her hand and the other woman disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
June plopped down, wrapping her arms around her knees and began to sob.
She woke up the next morning to her pillow wet with tears. She felt empty, like a cicada’s shell. She looked alive but felt dead. June got up, made some coffee, and sat down at her desk. She needed to research.
Enchantress didn’t reappear for several days.
Wherever June had managed to banish her to, the woman either couldn’t or hadn’t chosen to reappear. June threw herself into her research. She needed to find some way to unbind them. She couldn’t keep living like this. This recent time it was two men. How many would it be next? Six? Eight? Ten? Twenty?
Despite June’s desperation, she was running into nothing that felt solid. Sure there were the stereotypical things. Exorcism, Etheric Severance… but those felt not applicable to this situation. Perhaps Artifactual imprisonment. But the doll was still in that cave. June wasn’t even sure if she could find the right branch again if she tried. And she knew as soon as she got on a plane to Peru Enchantress would know exactly what she was doing. So where did that leave her?
Not with much.
Of course the witch couldn’t stay gone.
June found her on the roof of a hotel she had stayed at in Paris. A small table set with a candle and tablecloth. The woman sitting there, taking in the night scene.
June felt anger boil in her stomach.
She had pictured this exact scene when she had been here the first time. The table the candle. It was a passing thought of what a romantic spot this would be. And of course Enchantress had taken it and twisted it.
“Hello June,” Enchantress said, turning to her. “Sit.”
“You’re sick,” June said sitting down.
Enchantress raised an eyebrow. “Did you prefer the cave?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” June said.
The woman hummed, but did not respond.
“There has to be a way to separate us,” June said. “I can’t live like this.”
“You know there’s not.”
“No. No. There has to be.”
“I’m not going to deal with you if you’re hysterical,” The enchantress said.
“Hysterical?” June asked, feeling her eye twitch.
“I gave you a week to calm down,” the woman sighed. “But I’m beginning to doubt that’s going to happen.”
June’s stomach sunk. So she hadn’t done anything to keep Enchantress away. The woman had disappeared to the depths of her mind out of her own free will. There was nothing June could do. June felt her shoulders slump.
“Why all this strife?” Enchantress said, standing up. She walked over to June’s side, hoisting herself up on the table. “You cannot undo what has been done. Why not make the best of it?”
June buried her face in her hands.
“June.”
“I just want to be alone,” June whispered.
Enchantress chuckled.
“Is that funny to you?”
“You’ve never wanted to be alone,” the woman said, tracing her finger on the table in small circles. “All your life you’ve wanted someone there. Someone who sees you.”
June met her gaze.
“June, I see you,” The Enchantress said. “Everything you love and everything you hate. Everything you desire and everything you fear. I see it…. And you hate me for it.”
“I don’t- I-” June felt at a loss for words.
The goddess kneeled before June and June felt a pang of arousal through her at seeing the goddess on her knees. “Let me make it up to you June. Let me take care of you. Let me have control.”
That should not be so hot.
“I’m not letting you out,” June said.
“That’s not what I asked for,” Enchantress said, her hand creeping up June’s leg. “Don’t you want me June?”
“No,” June said, but it sounded weaker then she would have wanted.
“You should know by now that I can tell when you’re lying.”
“What do you want?” June asked.
“I want you,” Enchantress whispered.
And there was that pang of arousal again.
Fuck it.
“Then take me,” June said, breathless.
The goddess’s eyes lit up at that and snapped her fingers.
They were in June’s apartment, on her couch specifically, and the Enchantress was on her lap. And then she was kissing her. She tasted… god June didn’t even know what it was because Enchantress had just stuck her tongue in her mouth and it was taking everything in June not to moan like a bitch in heat. June found her hands on Enchantress’ waist, keeping her on top of her. The woman had one hand wrapped around June’s hair and tugged, pulling June’s face from her. Holy shit. Holy shit. June was breathing like she just ran a marathon. It felt like her heart was going to leave her chest. She leaned in closer and Enchantress moved her head back. Against June’s will, a whimper escaped her lips.
Enchantress grinned.
“You’re teasing me,” June whimpered.
“And you like it.” The woman muttered. “Don’t you June?”
June felt frustration tie itself in a knot in her chest. This woman-
“I have spent several millenia in the dark,” Enchantress said, her hand moving from June’s hair to her neck, her darkened fingers curling gently around June’s neck. “Without touch. Without taste. I am going to enjoy this.”
June tilted her chin up. “All bark, no bite.”
Enchantress’ eyes narrowed, her fingers tightening slightly at that. She leaned forward so that her mouth was right by June’s ear.
“Next time,” the woman muttered in June’s ear, her breath tickling it and somehow turning June on even more. “we’re doing it in the cave. I am going to fuck you on my alter so hard you are going to scream my praises.”
June scoffed. “How do you know there’s going to be-”
And then Enchantress kissed her again.
June couldn’t help the moan that left her.
“After I touch you, no one else is going to be enough,” Enchantress said, pulling June’s shirt off her. “I can promise you that.”
Clothes littered behind them as Enchantress pulled June towards her bedroom.
Enchantress pushed June onto the bed, pinning her down. It was near torture, the way that she nipped at June’s neck.
A thought passed through June’s mind of whether the mark would appear on her actual skin.
She hoped so.
She found herself thrusting herself up against Enchantress. Desperate for any sort of friction. That resulted in a chuckle from Enchantress as she moved down to June’s breasts.
June had always been self-conscious of her chest. She had been told something was supposed to grow there, but nothing really did. There were slight bumps, yes, but nothing to write home about. Enchantress didn’t seem to care, cupping and caressing them. Her tongue was on June’s nipples before June even said a single word. At this point, June was panting, her hands twisted in Enchantress hair to keep her to her chest.
June pulled at her, trying to get her to go lower. The goddess pulled back instead.
Her glowing eyes beared into June and told her all she needed to know.
Enchantress was enjoying this just as much if not more then June.
“Please,” June whispered.
“Beg me for it.”
June just stared at her.
And there was that pang of arousal again.
“Please,” June whispered again.
“Please what?”
“Please touch me.”
“But I am touching you,” she said, tracing shapes into June’s thighs with a Cheshire Cat grin on her face,
“Please fuck me,” June said. “Please.”
And that was all the permission Enchantress needed.
June’s back arched as the Enchantress stuck two fingers inside of her. She curled them in slow and rough motions. Between June’s moans, all she could hear was Enchantress telling her how pretty she was like this. June clawed at the woman’s back desperate. What finally pushed her over the edge was Enchantress biting down as hard as possible in the dip between June’s neck and shoulder. June fell over the edge, clinging onto enchantress for dear life.
And the goddess simply held her. Whispering that she was alright as she kissed her forehead gently.
It was such a domestic motion that June couldn’t help but relax into the woman’s touch. Enchantress slid to the side, so that she was no longer on top of June, but still laid partially on her chest.
The goddess nuzzled into June’s neck, whispering praises of how beautiful June was. How good she had been for her. How wonderful she had been.
June tried to catch her breath.
“My June,” Enchantress muttered, her voice a soft sleepy tone. “All mine.”
June took a deep breath.
In and out.
In and out.
“You’ll never be alone again,” Enchantress whispered. “I promise.”