Coven encounter

“I should have known before I even tried that the coven had thought of everything.” I thought to myself.

I had stopped on my way home and bought makeup remover, nail polish remover, a pair of hair clippers, and a set of male clothes, but they all proved useless.

The makeup and nail polish survived my attempts to remove them without so much as a spot, and while I was actually able to cut my hair, it regrew in seconds.

The clothes were much the same. I could handle them, but within seconds of putting them on they had changed into female (and very feminine) clothes.

I sighed and not for the first time, I wondered why the coven chose me for their lesson in women’s rights.

For that matter I wasnt sure why they picked the company I work for. I mean, we’re a call center, not a porn site.

I shook my head. Whatever their reasons, I was going to have to make the best of things.
I was determined that I was not going to let this transformation break me.

“And that attempt would start tomorrow”, I said to myself, “and that means trying to sleep tonight.”

I was kinda surprised how quickly I fell asleep. I had expected that the changes in my body would be so upsetting that I would find it difficult to get comfortable, but maybe the spell that had changed me took energy from me, because I had fallen asleep almost immediately.

In the morning, getting dressed was slightly easier than getting undressed the night before.

I just did what I had done last night in reverse, and I was ready to go, with one of my biggest issues being the little fiddly hooks on the back of the bra, and the less said about pantyhose the better.

Looking at my new reflection in the mirror, I said to myself, “I look like my twin sister, - if I had one.”

I shook my head, and the rather pretty woman in the mirror did the same.

“Okay, enough mooning, time to get going” I said to myself, and left the bedroom.

I ate a quick breakfast, because I figured I would need to take a bus to work instead of walking.

My experience walking home the night before in high heels had taught me to avoid such trips in the future.

As it turned out, I found a surprise waiting for me outside my door - Alison Cavena, one of the coven who had transformed me the day before.

If I had any stereotypical ideas about what a witch would look like Alison blew them out of the water. She looked like a pretty blonde woman in her mid-twenties - although considering how they were able to change my appearance so radically, it was possible she hadn’t always looked that way.

I hesitated to approach her for a moment, but then she opened the passenger door of her car, and while smiling, said, “You did a decent job getting dressed, especially considering you weren’t experienced at it - or where you?”

I blushed and mumbled something about it mostly being common sense, then I asked, “what are you doing here?”

“I decided you might appreciate a ride to work.” she replied with a smile.

I wasnt sure what she was up to, but decided to play along, saying, “Yes, actually, that would be nice.”

“One thing before we go,” she said, “you forgot your purse.”

I blinked, and realized she was right. I said, “I would have been embarrassed trying to pay for a bus ride and discovering I didnt have my wallet.”

Alison did a “come hither” gesture, and my purse appeared in my hands.

She smiled at me, and said, “I’ve put a little retrieval spell on your purse now. If you lose it, it will find you.”

“Must be nice to have that kind of power,” I grumbled.

“Believe it or not, it comes with certain responsibilities,” she replied.

“Do those responsibilities include what you’ve done to me?” I asked.

“As a matter of fact, they do.” She replied, seemingly unruffled by my anger.

Then she added, “Our reasons will become clear to you, hopefully soon. In the meantime, try to consider this an opportunity to learn something.”

I nodded, and decided to do just that.

The trip to my work was short and mostly silent, and she parked close to the door.

I got out, and walked toward the entrance where a security guard waited. I panicked, realizing that my I.D. picture was sadly no longer an accurate one.

As if she could read my mind, (which for allI I knew she could), Alison said, “look in your purse, your I.D. has been updated.”

I sighed, pulled out my altered card, and was waived through.

I had not been sure of my reception, but most of my female co-workers came up to me
And asked me how I was doing. My male co-workers, on the other hand, were mostly reluctant to get too close, like my transformation was a disease they could catch.

I made my way to my cubicle, and sat down - and then got up again to smooth out my skirt before re-seating. My job was simple: I took calls from customers of a credit card and insurance company, handling whatever issues they had. Most other call centers had gone overseas, but we remained nestled in our small Midwestern town.

I now wondered if the coven had something to do with that.

Unlike Salem, our little town had always had a more respectful view of witches, with the coven being part of the town’s history from the very beginning.

But as far as I had thought about it at all, I thought it was just some nature religion thing,
right up to the moment they transformed me.

I shook my head to clear it of such thoughts sending my now longer hair swaying, and tried to focus on my job, despite not recognizing my own voice.

And it wasnt just me that had issues. I tried to introduce myself as Travis, but nobody believed I was a guy, so I gave up and started using my new name, Tessa Chambers.

That wasn’t the only change. I found the customers treated me very differently. Many of the men who phoned seemed to struggle with the idea that a girl could answer their questions, and either tried to explain my own job to me or condescendly asked to speak with my supervisor, or worst of all, they tried to hit on me like we were a dating line.

Not that the women were much better, as they too seemed to lack confidence in my abilities.

By lunchtime I was starting to think the coven may have had a point.

That point was hammered home at lunch. I noticed my colleagues were now treating me like the woman I appeared to be, with many of the men hitting on me, and the women regarding me with wary suspicion as though I would take their chances to get a date with the guys.

At the end of the lunch break I fled to my cubicle.

That afternoon went much better. The clients seemed less threatened by me and more
charmed, and during the afternoon break the women at work were treating me more like a friend than a rival.

As a result by the time I signed out, I was feeling upbeat.

Alison was waiting for me in her car, along with another young woman.

She smiled at me, and said, “Tessa, this is Veronica Holms. You may have seen her among us yesterday.”

“I do remember seeing you.” I stated.

“I hope you will forgive us, eventually,” she said, looking rather sheepish.

“If today is typical of what women go through, I think I understand why you might be upset,” I answered, “I’m still not sure why you picked me for your test subject, though.”

“All I can say right now is we didnt make the choice casually. But you’re going to have to figure out why you on your own, we cant help you,” Alison replied.

“Cant or wont?” I asked, my anger softening despite myself.

“Cant. Honestly. It’s part of the spell.” Veronica stated.

I shrugged, and then asked, “so what brings you here now?”

“Well since as you said today was a tough day, we thought we would show you that it isn’t all bad being a woman.” Alison said

“What do you mean?” I inquired.

“Let us take you shopping.” Veronica said.

“Shopping?” I asked,”Why? Any clothes I touch turn into women’s clothes.”

“That was just for last night. Besides, for women who like to shop, shopping inst about
the stuff you buy, it's a chance to socialize, preferably with friends.” Alison responded.

“Are you my friends?” I asked.

“We would like to be, if you’d give us a chance.” Veronica replied.

I looked at them, and saw nothing of the stern anger I had seen just before my transformation, instead I saw two women who cared whether I accepted them or not.

“What the heck,” I said, approaching the car, “I’ll give you ladies a chance.”

They both smiled, and then we took off.

We hadn’t been at the mall long before I had reasons to be grateful for the company.

I realized that if I had gone alone, I almost certainly would have been assaulted by anxiety, believing that my pre-transformation self would be somehow detected, and that people would react negatively to a man pretending to be a woman.

The other thing I noticed was that being with other women gave me a bit of protection from any men who might approach. I thought of it like why creatures like deer travel in herds -it keeps the wolves away.

Those two revelations softened any resentment I felt, and soon I found myself charmed by the two women, and willingly letting them use me as a Barbie doll, as we tried to find me a sufficient wardrobe for the immediate future, as well as them giving me lessons in fashion and makeup.

This change in my attitude was aided by the fact that the first place we stopped was a shoe store, where they found me a pair of flats that looked formal but didnt make me walk in my toes. “Save heels for special occasions,” Alison said as she put the heels I’d worn to work in a bag, “your feet will thank you.”

As Alison paid for the shoes, I whispered to Veronica, “How are you guys paying for this? Magic?”

She smiled and replied softly “No. The Coven had made some investments quite a few years ago, so there is now enough for each of us to have a good deal of money if we want to use it. We dont tend to spend extravagantly though, as it draws attention. This is obviously a special occasion, and needed since we’re responsible for you.”

Our last stop was at a place that would pierce my ears, and by that point I was so swept up in the experience that I accepted earrings without an argument, and even admired how they added a little extra sparkle to my face.

Once shopping was done, we went to one of the restaurants in the mall, and as they told me about themselves, I found myself liking them more and more.

In fact, by the time they helped me bring my new clothes inside my house and were saying goodbye, I felt comfortable enough to give both of them a hug.

As they left, Alison whispered to me, “Before you go to bed tonight, you should look up ‘gender dysphoria’. It may give you something to think about.”

After they left, I went to my computer, and fired it up. Because I spent all day looking at a computer screen, I rarely spent time online, but it didnt take too long a search to find some articles, and more significantly, some interviews with people who suffered with a knowledge that their true self did not match their presentation.

I started by looking at people identified as female but who felt like men, assuming that was what Alison was referring to, but, the more I read, the more confused I got.

I had none of the signs of a person who was unhappy about being a woman.

Then I read some interviews with people who had successfully transitioned, and reading about the ones who went from male to female, I saw something that astonished me.

I saw myself.

I got up from the chair, and went to my room, searching for the diary I kept from the time I was a kid until very recently.

Reading words I had written sealed it for me - I had always felt uncomfortable as a boy, but fear and shame caused me to hide it, even from myself.

Then I thought about how I’d been the last year or so. I had been going through the motions, but on the inside, I had felt numb and all but dead.

Until the coven changed me.

Still trying to make sense of this, I got ready for bed and attempted to sleep.

As I slept that night, I dreamed of a life where I’d been born a girl, and was happy.

The next morning, since I had the day off work I was late getting up, and as a result I was just finishing breakfast when my doorbell rang.

I went to the door, and standing there was Alison.

I didn’t even hesitate, I hugged her hard and began to cry.

Some time later, after I had calmed down Alison and I sat in my kitchen drinking tea while she filled me in on things.

“The coven could feel you pain, and realized if we didn’t act, there was a good chance you’d just give up and die.” She told me.

“Why didn’t you tell me this at the beginning?” I asked.

“Because you would have denied it, fought against it. The only way past your shame and guilt was to make it so your transformation was not your fault, not your idea,” she replied.

“So what happens now?” I inquired.

“Well, there is one more thing I can tell you now that you understand your transformation. You have a remarkable level of magic potential,” she stated.

“What? How? I’ve never felt magical in my whole life!” I exclaimed.

“Because you had a male body. Only women can access magic, although why that should be so we have no idea.”

“So what do I do?” I asked her.

“Join the Coven. Let us train you, support you. And be your friends, if you’re willing.” she replied.

I sat there and thought about it. I thought about the compassion for a stranger the Coven had shown, about how Alison had helped me, how she and Veronica had made shopping fun.

I also thought about how lonely I had been as a guy, not letting myself get close to anyone, and how I now knew that had been an unconscious attempt to prevent anyone from finding out my secret, the secret I was even keeping from myself, that I was a woman inside.

And I made up my mind.

“I’m in,” I said, and we hugged.

The end (for now)