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How in the world did I let these things happen to me?

What things? You might innocently ask, and given that I really haven't given out that much information at the moment you would be justified.

“Wake up and get moving, Cindy!” Carly interrupted a really good sleep and in spite of my groans and complaints, hauled me out of bed.

“What time is it?” I asked without looking at the clock. Mainly because all I wanted to do after yesterday was to stay curled up in bed oblivious to the world.

“Its already Seven in the morning!” My sister/tormentor cheerfully told me. “Time to be up and greeting the world!”

“Hello world.” I mumbled with a little wave and looked back to my bed. “Happy?”

“Shower.” She commanded, used to how I was in the morning, and not giving me a chance to crawl back into bed by pushing me towards the bathroom. “Don't get your hair wet.”

That was thick, kind of wavy and down to just about my waist. I glared at her and asked. “Just how am I supposed not to get this mess wet?”

I won't go into the five minute lecture, then the ten minute demonstration of how to put my hair up and have it stay where I put it. And covering it was a pain, too. But I didn't get my hair wet in the shower.

“Here.” Carly handed me a cup of coffee and I wordlessly took it, very conscious or the towel wrapped girl style around my changed body, but just nodded while accepting the cup and taking a sip.

“Why are you getting me up this early on a holiday?”

“We're going to get you some clothes today, sis!” She was way too excited and happy about the whole thing and I just grunted in response.

Then I woke up.

“Clothes? As in shopping?”

“Well, since you don't have much to wear just now...” Carly smirked. “Yeah.”

Yup, I should have stayed in bed even if I had to hang on with both hands and feet.

Girl 101 evidently included clothing for a girl that could be worn for a date.

I was staring at myself in one of those three way mirror setups in a boutique for 'modern' girls.

Looking at a a pretty dark haired girl wearing a fluffy, bright red thing that they called a baby doll dress.

No sleeves, my arms were bare from the shoulder down, high waist that was tight. The horrible thing was cut so a lot of cleavage showed. Then from there down? Fluff and fru fru to a point that was only halfway down to my knees.

“I can't wear this anywhere!” I told my fashion directors. “I'd die of embarrassment.”

Truthfully, I felt like my face was just about as red as the dress.

“It's you, Cindy!” Carly told me with way too much enthusiasm. “You are simply gorgeous in that dress.”

“Point.” I raised a finger. “I don't want to be gorgeous, that would attract the kind of attention I don't want just now.”

“But you need this one for when you do.” Mary Jane grinned and fanned herself as if she was hot.

I both wanted to die so this would be over and actually had to like what I was seeing. That girl in the mirror was hot.

But she was me, and I was wearing... Well you get the idea.

“No.” I looked over to my gathered female relatives and shook my head just to show that I really meant no. “I wouldn't ever wear this in public. Let's just go back to the jeans and tops, okay?”

“But Cindy,” Carly gave me a really soulful look and grinned. “A girl just has to have something she can wow a guy with on that all important first date.”

“Can we talk about something else?” I questioned and hated the plaintive tone I had when I did. “I am not, NOT ready to date guys, so why should I get something that would make them want to — you know, with me? Can't we just go back to the jeans and tops? Please?”

“We'll take this one.” Aunt Carly informed the clerk, and I really wanted to just curl up in some dark corner and let everything go away. At least I got to take the thing off.

But now I had this really hot little red dress... Nope, I'm not going there, not at all.

“Now we need to find you a LBD.” Carly told me with a chuckle as I emerged, still in my underwear, but at least free of that mass of floaty femininity.

“LBD?”

“Little Black Dress!” My cousins, aunt, and sister all chorused.

Oh, wonderful.

“Could you maybe go out and invite all the boys to come see me in my underwear?” I asked while looking at myself in that LBD in the mirror. “I'm pretty sure I'd be less humiliated.”

The LBD they decided on was worse, lots worse than that red monstrosity. This one hugged every curve I had, showed even more cleavage, and was shorter.

“Oh, don't be so ridiculous, Cindy.” Aunt Cecily scolded. “That looks wonderful on you.”

The little thing, and I stress little, looked as if it had been sprayed on me. Which the evil females doing this to me said was a good thing. Sheesh, I felt like I'd worn more when I was in a pair of boxers. Or that's how it seemed to me anyway.

So we left that store with the red thing and that awful LBD. Not that I was going to wear either one if I had anything to say about it. But they were mine, and that had done something, according to my helpers and tormentors, that affirmed that I was a girl.

I did get a win, kind of, at the next store we visited. I got a really nice outfit in soft, flexible black leather, pants, vest, and jacket. With unfortunately high heeled knee boots, and the outfit showed more actually than the dresses I was so horrified about. But it was pants and my crotch wasn't open to the air.

Some days you just can't win but I was willing to take the small victories just then.

By the time we got back to the house, it took three trips, for all of us and the household servants, to get all my new stuff to my room.

Jeans (tight and skinny), slacks (very feminine in cut and color), Capris (pants that seemed to be way to short in the leg and way too tight in other places) shorts, tops of every variety, and underwear. And those two dresses I'd silently sworn I'd never wear even in private.

Oh, now I'm supposed to call underwear lingerie. Sheesh. Bras, panties, and other things...

And none of it was in just plain, comfortable white.

Add at least twenty pairs of shoes. Getting those had been entertaining.. Not. But I had runners, sandals, ballet flats, and heels.

All I'd wanted was a pair of shoes I could just wear.

Oh yeah. They took advantage of my dazed state of mind and got my ears pierced too.

Gah!

“I never needed this many clothes before.” I grumbled while Carly was helping me take off tags and either fold things to put in drawers or hang them up.

“You can't just pull on a pair of pants and a tee-shirt anymore, little sister.” She told me with a grin. “Now you have to coordinate what you're wearing, and girls just don't wear the same thing day after day.”

“But...”

“No arguments here, hon.” Carly put a finger to my lips to stop me from saying whatever I'd been planning to say. “You're a Harper woman now and you have an image to keep up.”

I thought about cousin Mary Jane who had suddenly become all slinky, sexy, and... really pretty when she turned sixteen and almost threw up. “I can't do that.”

“Too late, little sister.” Carly smugly told me as if she knew what I was thinking about. “You're already one hot little tamale, hon. You could wear trash bags taped together and you'd still be one gorgeous girl. So give in and enjoy it.”

Oh, this was soo NOT what I had envisioned happening after my sixteenth birthday.

Once we'd gotten all my new, and really not things I wanted to wear, clothes put away, Carly looked at me, grinned and said. “Let's go to town.”

“We've been shopping already.” I grumped. “I just can't do anymore shopping today, really.”

“Nope.” Carly assured me. “No shopping, just hanging out and meeting people.”

“Oh joy.” I grimaced.

“On a practical note here,” Carly looked in my eyes, “we need to get our new cousin out and about so people can at least see her.”

“Oh.” I grimaced. That was my cover story. I was a family member from Boston who's parents had died in an accident. Of course Uncle Patrick and Aunt Cecily took me in. Like they did with all three of us when we were six, and five years old. They hadn't officially adopted us, but we were like their children and Mary Jane and Clarissa were more sisters than cousins to us.

Craig had taken an offer to go to school in Japan.

Would anyone believe that bullshit?

Evidently so if all the players stayed with the plan.

“Oh, okay.” I sighed. “Might as well get this over with and let the boys oggle me.”

“That's the spirit, cousin!” Carly smiled.

“Do I look okay?” I inwardly cringed after saying that one.

“You look great.” My sister smiled, which didn't help my current indecision at all.

A look in the mirror showed me a really cute, no make that beautiful, girl in form fitting jeans, snug top, and ballet flats.

“That's what I'm worried about.” I countered.

“You're a girl now, hon.” Carly hugged me. “And a really good looking one. Just think of this little trip as something to get acclimated to a new town.”

“Yeah, and a new me.” I grumbled.

“Look.” Carly turned very serious and gave that look she had that plainly says what she's talking about is really important. “I know this isn't easy for you, but you just have to go with things right now. Maybe we can reverse the change, maybe we can't, but in either case, you have to accept the fact that you're a girl now and deal with it.”

“Does it help that I'm still in shock?” I questioned.

“Whatever helps you fit in.” She gave me a hug and actually chuckled. “I don't know what you're going through right now, I'm pretty sure not many people do, but you have to work with what you've got, and right now, that's being a girl.”

“That guys find pretty and — sexy.” I let out a sigh.

“Well yeah, but that's just part of what we are, hon.” Carly hugged me again. “Regardless of our looks we all, the girls in the family, put out pheromones that are designed to attract males. We can't stop it, so we learn to handle it, and the guys. For you it's going to be a pretty steep learning curve for awhile, but you have the instincts, just let them tell you what to do for now until you can actually think about what you're doing.”

“I'm a boy magnet.” I closed my eyes and really wished the world actually did open up and swallow people.

“True.” She quietly said then hugged me again. “But one with control if you'll just let yourself go and not fight things. Like I said, you have all the right instincts, and moves. I'll shield you from the things you can't handle, but you really do need to get out and start getting comfortable with the new you.”

“That sounds an awful lot like the old platitude,” I sighed again, “That this is going to hurt, but it's for your own good.”

“Well, it is.” Carly gave me another hug and I couldn't get over just how good that felt. I'd never been much of a hugger or one to get them before I changed, but now I discovered that it was kind of nice.

“Okay, let's do this.” I growled, though with my new voice it sounded more like a purr. Or something of that nature since my other form was canine and they don't purr.

“That's the spirit!” She grinned and gave me another hug before letting go and moving towards the door of her bedroom.

Oh, yeah. When we got back to the house, it was obvious that my room was being redone. So I couldn't really get in there other than to put clothes away then get out. That alone told me that the family was more than a little sure this change would be permanent.

Joy, oh joy.

But, it was what I had to deal with, and as I've been repeatedly told since the change, I'd never been one to avoid what needed doing. It was a little comforting to know that hadn't changed with my gender and sex.

“So let's go.” I told Carly as I followed her.

“Hey, everybody!” Carly announced as we entered The Pizza Parlor. Which was the place that kids our age loved to frequent. “I want you all to meet my cousin, Cindy!”

So I went through introductions, and all that awkwardness with people I already knew but had to pretend that I was just meeting. And I thought being a girl was hard.

The girls all eyed me as if I was new competition, which I probably was but hadn't really settled down to that idea as of yet.

The guys were all giving me looks like a sugar addict seeing a really nice candy cane.

And much as I hated admitting it to myself, some of those guys looked pretty good to me, too.

More Girl 101. But this time coming from my own reactions and thoughts. I'd been a girl all of not quite two days and I was looking at guys like they would be fun to play with? As in how a pretty girl plays with boys? Gah!

“It's the body and hormones.” Carly whispered to me when she noticed my discomfort about that particular revelation. “You're physically female and there hasn't been a lesbian coyote in living memory.”

I just nodded a little numbly and let her lead me through the 'introduction and preliminary mating dance' stuff without a protest.

Thankfully, that ended after about half an hour. Everyone else had places to be and things to do. Thank whatever merciful god noticed what was going on. Though I did garner some invitations for later. From both guys and girls.

“That went well.” Carly told me as we left the place.

“How so?” I asked, genuinely curious this time and not being snarky at all. “The guys were all checking me out, and the girls were all really cautious.”

“Which means they accepted you as a girl.” Carly grinned. “Of course the guys are going to check out the hot new girl in town, and the girls are going to be concerned that you'll steal their boyfriends. But you handled it all just right.”

“I did?”

“Sure.” She went on. “You smiled at the guys but didn't give any of them a reason to think you were really interested in them other than being friends, and you assured the girls that you aren't a barracuda who is going to move in on their boyfriends. So you did good little sis — uh, cousin.”

But I hardly said a thing at all!” I protested.

“You didn't have to say anything, goof.” She gave my shoulder a light punch. “It was all body language and expression and you handled that as if you'd been doing it since puberty hit you with the beauty bomb.”

“Oh, okay. I guess.”

“More than just okay, Cindy.” She assured me. “You handled that like a pro. You're a natural!”

Should I feel good about that?” I asked. “Seeing that means I act like a girl without thinking about it?”

“Yes.” Carly quietly answered and gave me another hug, right out in public, but you know what? I didn't mind that at all. How things change. “Just think about what things would be like if you didn't just naturally did that sort of thing and had to stop and think about it. Guys act one way, girls act another, and you just slid into the girl side awhile ago.”

I did think about it, and unsettling as that was, it also helped some. Images of the boy me in a girl body trying to interact with others came to mind and to be honest was like a nightmare.

“I think this change was a lot more than just physical?” I squeaked as that hit me.

“Clearly, dear soon to be sister.” Carly nodded.

“Soon to be sister?”

Mom and Dad are getting the adoption papers going through right now.” She told me. “By next week, I'll really be your big sister again.”

“Uh, wow?”

Welcome to the family little sister.” She kissed my cheek and gave my shoulder a squeeze.

“Guess that means I should get used to being the new me.” I sighed again. What was with all the sighs, anyway? I wasn't a fatalistic person.

“Lady Moon told us that what happened was meant to happen.” Carly turned dead serious and stopped so I had to look into her eyes. “So yeah, everyone in the family thinks this a permanent thing. And she not only touched you on your first night, but came when you called. That, little sister, is a really, really big thing.”

“Oh shit.” I whispered.

“You're blessed, Cindy.” Carly was still in serious mode and making it clear that she was and what she was telling me was very important. “You're the first in three generations to have that and the last one was our great grandmother. She ended up being the family shaman. That you were a 'guy' before your coming of age just adds power to that, by the way.”

“But..”

“No buts here.” She gently put a finger to my lips to stop me from talking. “You're special, but I can't tell you more right now because how and why you are hasn't shown up yet. But if I were you, I'd get used to being a girl as fast as possible because no one thinks there is any going back for you.”

Great. Just wonderful.

I'd never wanted to be, or thought of being, a girl. But now I was, and evidently was a really pretty one who just happened to be sexy like Mary Jane. Okay that I might have handled in time since my body and new instincts were determined to make sure I was all girl.

It was that 'special' thing that was really hammering at me at the moment.

Except for my grade point average, I'd never tried to stand out before. But now, apparently, I did. In ways that were far more uncomfortable than simply finding that I'd suddenly changed into a girl.

“I — I don't how to handle all this.” I honestly told my sister.

“I know, love.” She hugged me again, and then kept holding me as she said. “But I'm here, Aunt Cecily is here, all of us girls and Uncle Patrick and Chris are all here for you. You can talk to any of us about anything and we'll listen. Really listen. Understand?”

“But...” I was crying and in public. That was embarrassing.

“No buts, honey.” Carly hugged me tighter. “You are still family, and you know the Harpers. Family is family no matter what.”

“Yes.” I nodded, noting almost as an aside that boys said yeah while girls said yes. “But this is hard, Carly.”

“So who told you life was going to be easy?” She asked as she pulled back enough to give me a warm smile. “We've known that for a long time, after all. Just be glad you have a family who will help you through all this.”

“Yes.” I managed then nodded into her shoulder. We stayed like that for about five minutes until I got a bit more control of myself.

“Better now?” My sister asked.

“Yes.” I nodded and found some tissues in my purse to dab at my eyes. “Did I ruin my makeup?”

“Yup.” Carly grinned and guided me to a public restroom. “But that can be fixed. You're such a girl, Cindy.”

Well, I couldn't argue with that given what had happened over the past hour. I was what I was, and it seemed that what I was happened to be a girl.

So, like a lot else in my life, I'd just deal with it and move on. After all, being a girl didn't mean I'd stopped being a person, or my old self, just that all that had moved right along and I had to do a bit of catching up.

“Yes, I guess I am at that.” I managed to laugh a bit as I said that, and for all of me, it sounded like a giggle. Sigh.

But at least I'd stopped all the worrying about my sudden change of sex and gender. I hoped.

Once I'd repaired my makeup, on my own, I might add, Carly took me to a park bench and had me sit down. “I'll be right back. You need ice cream just now.”

You know, that sounded really good. “Rocky Road?”

“You got it little sis.” She grinned and walked towards the ice cream vendor while I just looked around.

And got another shock.

A guy I noticed just seemed wrong. Dressed in dark, but nondescript clothes, and appearing pretty normal something about him just set off internal alarms in me. I mean as in he had no business being in a nice quiet park with people just enjoying themselves. He seemed to be looking for something or someone and I got the impression that if he found them it wouldn't be a good thing.

There was something about him, some aura or general feeling. I got the same feeling from him as I had in my dream with all the blood and that terrible sword. The very same feeling and that wasn't comfortable at all. This guy was trouble. Really big trouble.

“Let it be, child.” A soft voice intruded on my observations and I turned to see one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen in my life, including internet forays. Her red hair shone with a fire that was almost internal and her vivid green eyes were deep enough to rival an ocean. “That one is not something you should interfere with.”

“What?”

“I noted that the almost warm expression in her eyes turned to one of outright hatred when she looked at the man in question again. They warmed as they returned to me, though.

“You don't want to know about him, and more importantly, you don't want him to know about you.” The young woman told me, though her eyes looked a lot older than she showed. “He is anathma to our kind, little one, stay out of his way and you'll be fine. Interfere with what he is here for and you will get hurt, or killed.”

“But...” I countered with one of the least intelligent responses I'd managed since my birthday.

“No.” She gave me a soft, regretful kind of smile and shook her head. “That one is too much for the likes of you just now. Don't draw his attention to yourself, child.”

“He means to harm someone!” I blurted out and the woman gave me a halfway surprised and very penetrating look.

“Ahh, you're truly blessed, little one.” She smiled at me and that filled my heart and soul with the kind of music one would associate with seeing a glimpse of heaven. “All the more reason to stay clear of that one and his kind. They are called Hunters and they are very dangerous for people like us. They kill people like you and me.”

I just kept looking at her, and wondering when this really strange dream was going to end.

“My name is Carmilla.” The beauty told me while giving my shoulder a pat and a planting a motherly kiss to my cheek. If you need my help go to the guardian and ask for Terry. He will get you to me.”

And just as quickly as she'd appeared, she was gone.

Oh boy.

Just what was I getting myself into?”

But I kept watching that guy, the one who just felt wrong, and found out what he was watching.

It was a young family. An unremarkable looking man, the husband, a pretty young woman, the mother, and an infant that sent a chill down my spine the moment I saw it. I didn't know how I knew, but I knew that child was the one I'd heard screaming in terror in my dreams.

And the man the mysterious Carmilla had warned me about was stalking that family.

And I just couldn't, couldn't, let my dream come to pass in reality.

Though how I was going to prevent it wasn't something I had clue one about.

All I knew was that I'd die to save that child.