Chapter 28

The night, once a time where Ryan Sullivan plied his silver tongue on vulnerable sorority girls in dim keg parties and bars, now has a new meaning. Fear. Monsters both real and imagined live within its confines terrifying the burgeoning little girl within. Who can banish that fear? Mommy and Daddy. Despite this clear defeat, Ryan/Kaylee continues to try and assert himself.

Excerpt:

Gradually, the banishment of the dark and the hand stopped my incessant, uncontrollable sniveling. Through it all, I shook and mewled words that mostly didn’t exist. I turned to face the two voices in my room. A smiling, yet worried Kathryn, hair mussed, clad in a silk nightgown, looked down at me. Within her look and her touch, there was love. It was palpable. Thomas stood next to her at my bedside. He was the one who plugged in the Frozen-themed night light.

From what happened in the studio, it is clear that acting like a child causes further regression. While Ryan cannot avoid being treated as a six-year old girl, he attempts to curb the more destructive childish behaviour, but this means playing along with his developing role in the Patterson household. While this might be easy in a controlled environment, the first day of school looms and with it, the greatest and most important battle against the serum.

Excerpt:
Like a dog, I immediately perked up at the words ‘good girl’. Deep down inside, beneath the layers of what remained of my fractured masculinity, something stirred. A great lumbering beast, with twin pigtails and a bouncy, happy smile, heard those words and devoured them, but it was a morsel, and the beast wanted a never-ending feast. It was too late by the time I realized the happy smile was plastered on my face.

I was being attacked on all sides- the desire for praise and to receive that praise by helping, circumventing my usual defences. Greg and Eve never really praised me for anything. I mean they wouldn’t have thanked me for something completely mundane or said I was a good girl, not if they wanted to continue breathing normally. Mrs. Feinstein wasn’t one to heap praise either, but when she did, I reacted similarly. It was obvious, however, that since I arrived in Twin Falls, and I was really being treated like a child, I was regressing. The same thing had happened in the studio even before Ashley’s memory wipe

Kaylee’s adoptive parents are revealed, and the slow and final dismantling of Ryan Sullivan begins. Trapped with those who treat him exactly as he looks, Ryan is desperate to maintain his adult and male self, but is he too far gone? Still, his new parents offer a new beginning, an opportunity to right the wrongs of his previous life, but most importantly, a chance to be loved unconditionally.

Excerpt: Ms. McDavid said, “Oh I’m sure she’ll adjust fine, Kathryn. Just keep in mind what I told you too, Kaylee’s probably picked up some bad habits working in Hollywood. It’s a different lifestyle, so expect some strange behaviour. That’s why it’s important to make sure she has as normal a childhood as possible.”

The man, whose name I recalled was Thomas, said, “What do you mean, Ms. McDavid?”

Ms. McDavid smiled, “Don’t be in a hurry to let her grow up too fast. Kids her age want a lot of independence, but you can’t forget how old she is. She’ll need your help to guide her. She’s also got a very active little imagination. Try and encourage her to use it as much as possible. But most of all, just let her be a kid!”

This is a story about two brothers one the apple of their dad’s eye and the other who got his name from his dad’s baseball hero (A baseball player named Hank Aaron) but the name doesn’t fit him now.

Our First Sleepover 12th Birthday

The Hays help Kay-Kay find her sisters after a breakdown

Is withholding the truth the same as an outright lie? What was done to protect Ryan’s vulnerable mind has driven the equivalent of a railroad spike into the fledging relationship between the two former enemies. Yet, the public adoption draws near and all must remain idyllic in the household, even with the betrayal.
Excerpt:

I wanted to run away. It is what I always did. Jessica continued to speak, but I didn’t hear anything. The barking dogs, the sweet incessant nattering of Jessica, her voice akin to taking a bite of candy and finding a railroad spike inside- all of it disappeared the instant I slipped out of Jessica’s grip and ran.

I ran as fast as I could, each section of chain link fence passing in a flash. Seconds later, I felt a firm hand dig into my shoulder, stopping my momentum dead.

Jessica said softly, “I don’t know if it’s the serum doing this to you, or if a part of you actually wants it, but if you don’t want me to say anything to Eve I won’t. You need to know though that there’s probably going to be a point of no return. And it’s going to be soon.”

With the arrival of Jessica’s niece, Ryan is in grave danger. Telling Jessica the truth could save him from the mousy little girl, but it is no easy task. Ryan’s attempt to grasp at his fleeting masculinity and his genuine feelings for the woman could ultimately doom him, leaving a mirror image of the demure Brianna.

Excerpt:

My heart fluttered, allowing the fog to once again cloud my mind. Jessica gave the case another shake, dislodging a Barbie who had been stubbornly hanging from the lip of the container. It fell within an inch of my hand. I looked down and saw beautiful golden tresses mixed with purple and pink and a slender body wearing a pretty light blue bathing suit. Despite the fog, the doll’s ever smiling face sent a shiver of fear up my spine. I knew that taking the plastic toy into my hands would place my mind in a child-like state, one where imagination was boundless. Memories of the toilet paper roll Olaf watching Elsa skate gracefully across the bathroom floor flooded in, causing my hand to recoil from the doll. I couldn’t help but feel like an addict, the uneasy hand reaching toward the pill, the pipe, the needle- knowing that one hit would bring clouded bliss, but like the drug, it would erase my identity, everything I was, until only a smiling little girl remained. Perhaps one at docile and timid as Brianna. Her perfect twin.

While Jessica has saved Ryan from the day camp, she has her own ideas about how six-year old girls should be treated and what media they should be exposed to. In the meantime, Ryan struggles with fact that Jessica’s body, perfection encased in yoga pants, represents something else entirely for him now.

Excerpt:
The yoga pants clung to her like a second skin. Her muscular ass, perfectly firm yet enticingly round, sat high, teasing as it thrust forward and backward, practically begging for a pair of hands to gently squeeze it. Her long blonde hair unbound dipped gracefully over one shoulder. She grasped her left foot, slowly bringing it back, until it was parallel with her head. For anyone else, the pose and fitness wear would have revealed a litany of flaws, a drooping ass, and low-hanging belly combined with love handles, mottled thighs, but with her, it only screamed her perfection.

I watched, or rather stared, at Jessica as she went through a series of yoga stretches. Before my change, it would have been enough to have me practically begging her for sex. It wasn’t something that I did- ever, but for her I would have made an exception. She turned onto her side and lifted herself into a side plank. As she did this, she was forced to flex her ass, which caused her yoga pants to go from gym appropriate to indecent in seconds. The pants were virtually non-existent near her ass, looking like they were, instead, masterful tattoos.

“The Many Faces of Adira Potter: Chapter 21”
By = Fayanora

Chapter Twenty-one: Sirius Business

Note 1: Text in 'Italics and British quotes' is Parseltongue.

Note 2: Once more, I apologize for the bits and pieces of canon dialogue/narration here and there.

The world now knows of Kaylee’s existence. As talk of adoption heats up, Ryan’s mind, twisted by the serum begins to play tricks on him. Meanwhile, Ryan struggles with trying to reassert his identity through something other than the formerly tantalizing opposite sex.

Excerpt: But this was nothing like the sudden warmth I felt when the little girl hugged her mother. The warmth was not heat, unlike a blanket covering a shivering form, it elicited a response from my heart. I knew heartache, at least as long it took for me to find another girl, and another, to fill the void left by Hannah, but this was something else entirely.

My heart, my chest, my brain- everything was filled to bursting with an overwhelming sense of love- to give and receive it in an immeasurable fashion. The only thing similar to it was the intense, incredible high I got from sex, but it wasn’t lust, the hard wrenching of parts, stares and longing, until the moment of climax, and then nothing- no, it was something real. Lasting.

And that’s why it scared the fuck out of me. Because it didn’t exist. To me it had to be the serum, and I was staring at my future if I embraced this world.

A woman’s body- an object of sexual desire, meant to titillate, to spur the fantasies of males young and old alike, yet for Ryan Sullivan, now simply flesh and bones. This realization, which has shaken his masculinity to its core has left him vulnerable to the whims of a somewhat bossy little girl. For the former alpha male, with this seemingly critical piece gone, what else is there left? Why continue the fight?

Excerpt: A tingle of pleasure ran up my spine followed by a contented sigh. I knew that the girl wasn’t my real mother, and that she was probably only eight years old, but she made me feel like I was a little boy again. A memory flashed- my mom lifting me out of the bath, and then rubbing me dry before wrapping me in a towel. I slipped into a cozy bed, wearing my favourite Batman PJs, the ones with the tear in the left armpit. It was a time when that hated target, the person I eventually wouldn’t respect, wouldn’t listen to, when she was mommy. It was a perfect, pure memory, and the further I descended into its warm embrace, the more my life- the one where I struggled to survive, where I wore pain and betrayal and loss like tattoos, angry lines and spiteful colours striking a pattern of cynicism, distrust and excess- the more that life faded away.

Gone as if it had never existed.

I never wanted this moment to end.

Ryan faces the consequences for mouthing off to Mrs. Feinstein in a way that puts his acting skills to the ultimate test. Meanwhile, the continued vulnerability displayed by Ryan brings out Eve’s softer side, and while it brings the two closer together, the closeness raises concerns, especially with regard to Eve’s strange behaviour.

Excerpt:
I felt my mouth droop into a frown, my emotions fluctuating wildly, like a roller coaster suddenly thrown into reverse. I looked up and Eve’s features had softened. Her caramel skin was radiant, her eyes welcoming, and her mouth formed a gentle smile. Her expression screamed, “Tell me what’s wrong, baby girl, and I’ll make it better.”

I pulled away from her, stomping my feet in the shiny black shoes that Eve was making me wear. I hated the little straps that went across my stockinged feet. I had worn a similar outfit in the studio with the same dress. I cursed myself for bringing the dresses and shoes from the studio, but I didn’t have any other outfits outside of the sparkly blue butterfly shirt and jeans. Still, it meant that I could avoid a shopping trip with Eve, which would undoubtedly have crushed my male ego even further.

While there is safety within the walls of the apartment, away from the prying eyes of the outside world, Ryan continues to struggle with who he is becoming, as the serum persists in eroding his masculine and adult identity. Meanwhile, Eve, who seems to have warmed to Ryan, attempts to get him to open up concerning what happened in the studio. Finally, even tucked away safe within the walls, Ryan cannot be saved from himself, and a brief exchange threatens that very safety.

Excerpt: I narrowed my eyes, while feeling my lower lip gently lower into a pout, “Do you really think I’m that weak? And Elsa and Anna were apart for ten years, living in the same castle. We could have done the same thing in the apartment.”

A look of shock crossed Eve’s features, her eyebrows shooting upward, and her mouth momentarily agape. She composed herself, and the softness, which had become commonplace, returned. It was a look I had seen rarely in the woman before my change, but the doe-like tenderness and warmth in her eyes, and even the way she held her mouth, in a slight and comforting smile- it made me want to spill my guts to her- to tell her everything.

To Ryan’s horror, Ms. Daniels continues her bizarre transformation from network executive to doting mother-to-be. Despite this fact, Ryan is heartened by the return of Ashley. Unfortunately, not all was as it was before. Still, when all seems lost, a new hope for escape rises from an unlikely source.

Excerpt: The young woman easily pulled the covers away from my face and kissed me gently on the forehead. “I love you, Kaylee.”

She lingered for a minute, likely waiting for me to say something in return. With my silence, however, she trudged from the room.

I tossed and turned, my mind grappling with my inability to leave and the horrible fate that awaited me as the daughter of a madwoman. My body and mind exhausted with the struggle finally succumbed to sleep hours later.

Ashley continues to have a positive impact on Ryan, and this growing bond leads Ashley to reveal a painful secret. With the malleable period soon ending, and with it supposedly their chance to return to normal, Ryan and Ashley confront Dr. Travers and attempt to play upon the man’s morality, yet what they learn may make them yearn for Ms. Daniels.

Excerpt: There wasn’t a modicum of emotion to his voice which matched an equally blank expression when we finally saw his face. I pulled my hand away from Ashley’s, and while this would have amused Ms. Daniels, Dr. Travers remained stone faced. He was dishevelled, even more so than before with a thick beard and a heavy, acrid sweat smell. His lab coat was stained, and so were his shoes- a grimy pair of sneakers. Still, his eyes were vibrant, and within them, I saw a man who was calculating and focused. Just a brief glance showed the intelligence residing there, but there was something else too. The way he looked at us made me think of how my science teacher peered at the foetal pig before it was dissected. It was morbid curiosity.

He did it for mom and then . . .

A mother and son must go into hiding from her husband's killers. The government has a way to throw the killers off the scent. Will it work?