Edited by Kristine Roland

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This text is (c) 2009 by Melanie. All rights reserved.
 
 
Twenty-four

The next morning I awoke in an unfamiliar bed. I remembered starting my magic training, and I remembered having managed to channel my powers successfully. I didn't remember much about how the evening had ended, but I was famished. I don't think I ate anything after breakfast the day before.

I found my clothing, what was left of it, anyway, put it on again and opened the door. A green haze closed off the opening of the door frame. I recognized it as a ward, and a symbol came to my mind unbidden. I knew the symbol was one on the floor in the circle, and as I concentrated on it, it's pronunciation became clear to me. I uttered the short sound and the wards blinked out.

I stepped out of the room into the upstairs hallway, intent on finding, first a bathroom, then the kitchen and some food.

As I passed the head of the stairway, words drifted upwards and I stopped and listened to what was said.

I recognized Alyssa's voice, saying, “She unleashed a firestorm the likes of which I have never seen before. I was glad I had warded the circle, she would have blown up the house.”

Another female voice said, “So, where is this prodigal talent now?”

“I put her into bed upstairs and warded the room. To keep us safe, and also so I would know when she gets up. When she touches the wards, I will know and I will drop them so fast, she'll never realize she was locked in at all.”

“So what are you planning to do?”

“I'm going to train her just as I said I would. I'm just following the high elder's suggestion. Untrained she is dangerous and cannot be held responsible. Trained, she is still dangerous, but if she does anything, we can act against her. Once she is trained, she will be responsible for what she does.”

“So true. I see unlimited possibilities. We can easily move her into a position where she would be useful to us. Let her make a mistake, and she's ours forever. She's ignorant of our politics; she'll never even know her role.”

“It's not right,” said Alyssa, “she didn't ask for this. We have a duty to protect her. I will bow to the high elder's will, but I will not try to anticipate her abusing her position. If she explicitly orders me, I will follow, but I will do no treachery without that.”

“It's not treachery to follow your elder.”

“It is, in my heart, to betray the trust of one I am charged to protect. And our elders are supposed to be of high morals and fine mettle...”

“Watch your tongue! The walls have ears and we live in dangerous times indeed. Now, let me be away and you take good care of your ward, and the wards.”

“Safe paths.”

“Be safe.”

I tiptoed back into my room, and recalled the spell symbol that controlled the wards. After a couple of tries, the symbol stood before my inner eye, and I uttered the word. The wards came to life, and I touched the gossamer green web. A tingle ran up my arm as the wards winked out.

“Veronica?” Alyssa called from below, and a smile flickered across my lips, it hadn't been a dream, it was real. I was scared of the future, unsure where I stood, but I reveled in the ease with which I had defeated the wards, intuitively knowing the symbol, the words, to control them.

“Yes, I'm up,” I called out, “and looking for the bathroom.”

“Last door at the end of the hallway on the left,” Alyssa called up the steps and I made a beeline for it.

Business done, I splashed some water into my face, toweled off and went downstairs. Breakfast was served and I tucked in, trying to eat a generous helping but finding out that this body asked for far less than my old one, despite having been without food for 24 hours.

I decided on a bit of deceit of my own and played dumb; “What was that green stuff across my door,” I asked?

“Wards,” Alyssa said, “set to protect us and you. They should have turned off when you touched them.”

“Yes, they did. It tingled and they went out.”

“So all was as it should be,” said Alyssa and smiled.

“Yeah, right,” I thought, and smiled back.

Having eaten, Alyssa ushered me into the study, warded the circle, and produced a blue ball. An image of a shattered blue ball flashed before my eyes, and some memories returned, filling in the images the overheard words had hinted at.

I found that yesterday's breakthrough had opened the floodgates for me, but I didn't let on. I tried to move the ball and nudged it back and forth a number of times, in a very uncoordinated manner. Finally, we broke for lunch and Alyssa dropped the wards and left for the kitchen.

I smiled and the ball rose off the floor, spinning, and made a circuit of the room, to settle back where it had come from. I smiled again. Two can play this game.

Twenty-five

After an unremarkable lunch, Alyssa took me out to the local strip mall, where I proceeded to pick up a couple of pairs of new jeans, some more tops and another pair of flats. Remembering the discomfort of breaking in flats barefoot, I also got some more knee-highs. A couple of packs of new panties and I was done. “Nothing to it,” I thought, “I can handle that.”

We went back to Alyssa's house, and I played with the ball some more. Getting tired of this little game, I eventually made the ball spin and rise, eager to see what the next exercise would be. I was surprised when she threw another ball right at me. The ball I had been levitating dropped like a stone.

Alyssa said, “You should keep that ball up no matter what.”

I raised the ball again, and she began pelting me with other balls, pushing and shoving me, tickling me and pushing waves of magical energy at me. It took all my concentration to keep the little ball afloat and spinning at first, later it became easier. By evening, she wasn't able to faze me, the ball would hang there and spin while I got chased around the room, or attacked magically, getting explanations about how to defend against the attacks I had been subjected to. When we were done, I found that I had all but forgotten that I was still holding the ball up. I spun it down and made it settle in the circle and she pronounced that stage of my training complete.

“You are really exceptional,” she said, “normal students need about a week to master this as perfectly as you did.”

I was very pleased with the praise, and I let it show. My face lit up with a smile and I said, “Thank you.”

Inside, I was feeling really good. I had actually been holding myself back and invested much of my time into repeating and memorizing the cantrips and attacks/counterattacks she had used as props for the training.

I kept repeating them in my mind over dinner, and when I retired to my room, I felt Alyssa putting the wards up again. As soon as they were up, I began practicing and refining the things I had learned today, until sleep overtook me.

The next day, I went to the hospital to see Stacy. She was being discharged and I went up to her room, helped her pack the few things she had there and followed her wheelchair down to reception. After battling the bureaucrats, she was finally free to go and I took her to her place in my car.

We went out to eat that evening and I told her about my beginning magical training. I didn't dare give her a demonstration in the restaurant, but as soon as we left, I showed her the spinning ball. She was amazed that that was really possible and that I could do it already. I told her that I would be spending a lot of time with Alyssa and we promised to meet up every few days for dinner and a talk.

I dropped her at her place and left for Alyssa's house.

Twenty-Six

Days turned into weeks. Outside of eating with Stacy, visits to my old place, checking emails but not getting anything in, and occasional shopping trips to add more of the same to my wardrobe, nothing much happened. My days were filled with the study of magic. After Alyssa had established that I could read the runes, I was allowed to selectively read from the books in her study. The spells I learned were defense, protection, and some practical things like advanced levitation.

I asked several times about things that I had a feeling had to be there, but was told those things weren't possible, or that I wasn't far enough along to try them. Unlike on the second day, where I had learned a few mild offense spells, I didn't learn any more fighting spells at all.

Or so she thought.

I had soon learned that on two days each week, Tuesday and Thursday, Alyssa was gone almost all night. On those nights, I would drop the wards and sneak into the study, pulling out books at random to scavenge for useful magic. I found books with impossibly complicated spells, spells no one in their sane mind would ever need, and even outright revolting ones.

I also found books on magical fighting, which I read cover to cover, practicing what I could, memorizing what I could not try. I had always had a good memory, as a part of my forced makeover, that had improved and I was easily able to learn a large number of spells in these cramming sessions. On the nights where Alyssa was in, I would practice them in my room, and finally I considered myself fairly proficient in a lot of them. I was sure I would be underestimated and that would give me the edge in their machinations, should the involvement prove unavoidable.

I also studied some spells that would let me set traps and spy on people, and I found a few spells that could be used to exert control over mortals, and in some cases, other magical beings.

I learned that there was inanimate magic, spell items that could be made and then could be used by anyone, even a mortal. I learned about magical tattoos and what they could do.

My secret studies progressed by leaps and bounds, while I set a moderate pace in my official learning. Alyssa believed me to be fairly competent and very talented, and I overheard another meeting where she admitted that she had been steering me away from things that could limit my usefulness for the elder's plans. That, after all, she was loyal, and didn't want there to be any doubt about it.

I had also found out that my magical ability was undetectable to the Family. They weren't able to see my aura at all, not even close up, while my sensitivity had increased to extend beyond the house, so if someone with powers came to visit, I always knew. I also never let on that I could see auras and it was assumed that, because mine wasn't visible, I couldn't see theirs, either. I didn't disabuse them of that notion.

Twenty-seven

“Veronica, wake up!” I was being shaken. “Wake up, quick.”

“What?” I asked.

“Get up, no time to waste!” Alyssa said, “you need to leave, now!”

“What is happening?”, I asked.

“Politics. The elder who ran our Family has been killed. Alliances are shifting and I'm afraid the people who are looking like they will come out on top are not in favor of letting you live.”

“Letting me live?” I was stunned. I had known that something was afoot, but I hadn't thought that I actually had enemies. “So, why are you helping me,” I asked?

“Because I believe in what's right. You don't know what has transpired and you don't have the background knowledge of our society's structure, so I can't explain. Not now. Don't go back to your place after this night. Don't use the new papers you've been given. Don't access your account. They will be watching. Here, take this.” She pressed an envelope into my hand, a rather thick one. Without looking at it, I knew it contained money.

“I'm sorry I couldn't complete your training, and I'm even more sorry I couldn't train you as I would have. I can be honest with you now, I was ordered to keep you away from things that would make you a danger.”

“Alyssa, I know. I have known from the start.” I said.

“But, how?” She asked.

I touched the door frame, muttered the word and the wards blinked out.

Alyssa blinked. “Oh!” She said.

“The ability to do that came to me on the first night here. I have listened. I know the bind you were in, and I know your position. Thank you. For everything.”

“Veronica.... Ronni,” she said, “I'm going to miss you. Safe paths.”

“Be safe.”

I left the house, got into my car and drove off. I headed straight for my apartment, where I packed my computer and what paperwork I had, plus a few keepsakes and personal possessions. I left before dawn, heading towards Los Angeles. On the way, I traded my car for a '96 BMW, paying cash and showing no ID at all.

I made sure I would not be remembered,

Noontime saw me head up the 405 freeway to the 10, then eastbound on the 10 to La Cienega. I headed north on La Cienega and found a cheap residential motel just south of Pico. Not the best area, to be sure, but one where dead presidents replaced proper ID quite easily. Not letting on how much money I had, I checked into a weekly room and paid it up for a month. Pulling out a piece of chalk, I made runic marks on the door frame, which, once complete, faded into invisibility. I did the same with all windows, using a different symbol. Then, I touched the door, said the word, and the wards blinked on. I was safe. I had gotten away.

Twenty-eight

In the past two months, all my time had been taken up by my magical training, both official and unofficial. In all that time, I didn't have to deal with my changed reality, I could be “I” without having to define who “I” actually was.

Now, I was on my own, for the first time I was really alone.

I didn't dare to call Stacy, I couldn't put her in harms way like that. I was young woman, alone, with a limited amount of money, no papers, no job, in Los Angeles.

And I didn't know much about being a woman.

I took a pencil and a piece of paper, and made a list. That had always helped me to organize my mind and get on top of difficult situations.

I started writing down things that I needed to take care of:

- Extend my wardrobe
- Get makeup and learn how to use it
- Find work
- Get fake ID
- Continue my investigation

I shuffled the items around a bit and decided I needed the ID before I could get a job. Also, I needed to get real internet access for my own PC before I could restart my investigation. The good thing was that Los Angeles actually had 5 potential transformees who suicided, enough to imagine there could be a survivor as well. I was in the right place.

I missed Stacy a lot, and at one time I took the chance and drove all the way to Orange County, found an internet cafe and send a one liner to her work email.

“I'm well, don't worry. R.”

I quickly left there and returned to the safety of my motel room.

I pulled out my list again, and gave it a long hard look. Then, across the top, in large letters, I wrote, “Learn how to be a girl!!” and underlined it twice. Then I threw myself onto the bed, my world caving in on me, and I cried myself to sleep.

Twenty-nine

I didn't know that Alyssa had helped me adjust by casting a spell on me, and also I wasn't aware that that spell was temporary. It was about to run out.

When I woke up, I was suffering from abdominal pain. “Oh swell,” I thought, “I knew I should not have eaten that burger.”

I headed for the bathroom and pulled down my panties to do my morning's business. However, nothing happened, so I wiped myself and stood up. When I went to pull up my panties, I noticed the red spot. I checked the bowl and, sure enough, there also was blood on the tissue.

On a rational level, I identified what was happening to me as a period, but emotionally, I was in panic. I was a guy; I shouldn't be having a period. I didn't sign up for this! What should I do? Who could I ask?

I wadded up some paper and pushed it between my legs, then pulled up the panties and jeans. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I felt safe for the moment.

“Think,” I said to myself, “think how the women in your life handled it!”

Tampons came to mind. I remembered that is what they used. I went outside and looked up and down the street, spotting a 7-11 two blocks down. I got into my car and drove to the store, headed inside and found the feminine hygiene section. Thank God for little favors, the store was so small they only stocked one brand. No choices at all meant I couldn't miss. I grabbed the pink box and paid for it.

Buying tampons felt wrong and all the while I tried to come up with some excuse for buying them. When I paid for them, it all happened very matter of fact. My male personality couldn't deal well with buying tampons, but my female exterior had every right to buy them and the clerk didn't give me a second glance. I jumped into the car and drove back to the motel. When I was inside, with the door locked and warded, my panicky feeling subsided a little and I went to the bathroom to see if I was already bleeding.

Of course I wasn't. I was barely spotting, but little did I know. I read the directions on the box, then pulled one of the tampons out, discarded the wrapper, took the applicator sleeve as the drawing showed, and searched for the opening.

That was a really weird feeling. Nothing should be able to go inside me. I should have an outie, dammit!

I fumbled around and managed to poke and prod myself in a lot of ways that felt decidedly uncomfortable, but finally I found the opening and the right angle and pushed the applicator in until my fingers were flat against my body, then pushed down on the insertion tube with my finger. Inside, something slipped into a spot where it felt right, and I withdrew the tube, remembering at the last moment to make sure the string was free to slip out through the tube so everything remained in place. Whew. I was glad that was done and I didn't relish the thought of having to do it again anytime soon. Unfortunately, I knew I would have to.

“Learn how to be a girl. Yeah. Right,” I thought.

End of part seven