"Welcome to Timber Grove"
Timber Grove: Story #1
by TGTrinity

///// 4
///// "The Timber Grove Bender"

Timothy August awoke to one hell of a headache, though it was the banging against the bars of the jail cell that really brought him to.

"Time to wake up, Agent August." Tim shielded his eyes from the bright fluorescent bulbs above, and could barely make out a man standing before him holding a cup of coffee. "Figured you'd need this."

"Thanks, but what am I doing here?" Tim sat up on the cot and took the cup of coffee. He was still in his suit he wore the day before, but it looked a little worse for wear. His tie was also absent, but he felt he had bigger problems at hand.

The stranger sat next to him and ran his hand over his shaved head. He was probably a little younger than Tim, probably in his late twenties. A blue polo was stretched over his larger belly, but he didn't think the man was necessarily fat. His build was like that of a linebacker, albeit one who had let himself go somewhat.

"You're doing the same thing every other Sheriff, Police Officer, and FBI Agent has done after a week or two in Timber Grove. We call it the "TG Bender", and if you've been in town long enough to experience it then you get the in joke."

"I was... I think I was at the Too Good Saloon..."

"Yep, that's where the boys found you. Well, really they found you in the alley behind the place, but that's neither here nor there." Everything the man said a laugh accompanied with it, and the man's demeanor made Tim feel a little better. "The name's Tyler Anderson, I'm a Detective here at the TGPD and you actually made it longer than most before hitting it this hard." He extended his hand and Tim shook it.

"Agent Tim..."

"August, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jennifer was kind enough to fill me in on that, and a few other obvious changes." Tyler was now helping Tim up and taking the coffee from him. "Now I know that you're probably fighting off the mother of all hangovers, so I'm going to do the talking for a little bit."

They walked through the precinct, passing a few Officers in uniform, but the place was pretty deserted. "Now I've been out of town for a spell, and I come back to find my good friend Agent Brown missing and apparently a man." The moment they exited the building, the light from the sun made Tim think his head was going to explode. "I'm right here," Tyler said, ushering him over to a mid sized sedan.

Tyler then began to drive through town, doing all of the talking as he did. "I've lived in Timber Grove my entire life, something not a lot of people here can say. Most residents move here, and the damnedest thing is they often can't tell you why. You probably never even heard of Timber Grove before you got the call to come here, am I right?" Tim nodded, still covering his eyes. "Yep, a strange thing of that. We have over one hundred thousand people in town, most brought in by the Coho Casino, and we're still unknown..."

He shrugged, and Tim thought that he knew more about what he was saying, but Tyler began talking about the real issue at hand. "But, of course you're probably wondering about all the gender swapping shit going on."

"There, you say that like it's a normal thing, but it's not fucking normal." Tim was getting agitated and could feel his temples begin to throb, but he just wanted to get it all out. "I've been in this town for a month and I've already seen enough shit like that to convince me to leave, but I can't. I want to help these people, but it seems as if most of theses men love the changes! I just dealt with a woman who claims her husband used a goddamned potion to turn them into a fucking teenage lesbian couple! Of course she's back to normal, but God know where her husband is..."

"Agent August..."

"Then I get a call from a man who's wife is missing, only the babysitter swears to me that the wife magically changed into a handsome man who then fucked her before leaving!"

"Tim..."

"And God knows where Samantha is. I'm still not convinced that she was forced to change, or she just couldn't control herself."

Tyler was still cool and collected and didn't take his eyes off of the road. "Are you done?"

"No! Then there's this Perfect Pines place that I've been looking into, and I've seen absolutely nothing to make me believe anything Samantha put in her report. It's just a regular girl's school..." Tim noticed that they were pulling into the driveway of a large mansion. He hadn't noticed that Detective Anderson was taking him into the nicer housing area by the beach, and didn't know what they were doing there.

"Have you been here yet?"

Tim looked at the house, knowing that he had never been there before. "No, why would I?"

Tyler put the car in park and turned it off. "Jennifer was kind enough to fill me in on the Perfect Pines case, but there was something I found a little odd."

"What?"

"Well, I just thought that you would have visited the man who Samantha thought was behind the prostitution ring."

"Levi Schimbare? I'm planning on seeing him tomorrow..." As the words exited Tim's mouth, something jarred loose in his mind. "I..."

"You've been meaning to see him tomorrow for the last month, haven't you?"

He sat in his seat as Tyler said nothing, letting his mind connect the pieces. The intention was to visit Levi immediately when he got to Timber Grove and found the files, but a part of him just felt like tomorrow would be more convenient. It was the same thought that had plagued him everyday when he thought to visit Levi, his home or his Thrift Shop.

"Tim, there is more magic happening in this town than just men and women changing genders." He was getting out of his car now, and Tim followed suit.

"I... This whole month?"

"Yep, but I'm almost glad that you waited. This man is powerful and cunning..." He knocked on the door and straightened his polo.

Tim saw he had a moment for one last question. "If I was under some spell, then what about you?"

Tyler was about to say something before the door opened revealing a very attractive Latino girl. Long black hair fell past her shoulders, and her cinnamon colored skin, covered only by a small black bikini, glistened as if she had just gotten out of the pool.

"Can I help you?" She said it with an accent that was perfectly melodic, sounding much like a Brazilian woman Tim had dated a few times.

"Yes. We're here to talk to Levi Schimbare, is he in?"

The woman smiled before shaking her head. "No, I'm sorry but he is not here."

Tyler returned the smile. "Well, how about you let us in and we can wait for him to return?" He then brushed past her and entered the home, and a surprised Tim followed.

"Please," the young woman said with a huff, "come right in."

Tyler walked in and sat in a large, white leather chair while Tim got lost taking in the opulence of his surroundings. Everything in he large entry way and living room was expensive, or at least looked that way. Window lined the back wall so they could see the Pacific ocean, while the largest TV he had ever seen hung on the other wall.

"So, when do you think Levi will be back?" Tyler asked patiently, not looking at all like he was going to leave anytime soon.

The young woman walked over to a small bar and bent over to open it. Tim's eyes were transfixed on her ass as she did so, and she seemed to know. "Is there anything I can get you two?" She then slowly bent at her waist, "Or anything you'd like to see." Her hand was now cupping her breast, and Tim's mind was being flooded with images.

He pictured bending the young woman over the couch and taking her right there. Thoughts of flipping her into every position imaginable as he plunged his cock deeper inside of her. Nothing else seemed to matter outside of making this gorgeous woman in front of him feel as much pleasure as he was capable of giving.

"Enough of this, Levi."

The young woman glared at Tyler before she spun in place, leaving a very large man standing where she once was. "You never let me have fun with the new ones, Detective Anderson."

"Agent August, meet Levi Schimbare."

Tim was still at a loss of words. However many times he had heard about it, and even witnessed it a few times, he was still confounded.

"Yes, Giselle often leaves men speechless." Levi laughed menacingly and grabbed a towel to wipe off his forehead. He was a plump man, with big sausage like fingers and a greasy complexion. His hair was curly and brown, and Tim felt he looked like an actor from the 90's.

"It looks like you've been busy, Levi."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Detective. My daughter and I are just trying to run an honest business."

Tim finally found words. "What did you do to Samantha?"

Levi grinned, "Agent Brown? I heard that she's gone missing?"

"You did something to her... Something to Jennifer and Samantha that changed them."

"Oh, I've seen that Jennifer girl around town," he smiled and nodded his head, "and she looks downright delicious... But I cannot be held responsible for her finally growing into her body. As for Agent Brown, I know nothing." His large frame filled the leather chair he sat in, making a strange squeaking sound as he did.

"Perfect Pines enrollment seems to be up?" It was Detective Anderson chiming in this time.

"I wouldn't know, I just run the Thrift Shop in town."

"And yet look at your accommodations."

"The Shop does very well."

Anderson smiled, taking in the room around him. "Yes, very well. But we have some bank statements that look like you're getting a nice influx of cash. Of course, we can only trace the money as far back to a Cooperation in Romania that didn't seem to exist a year ago."

"I have my fingers in a lot of different pies, but just the one here in town. And if you gentleman have nothing but absurd questions for me, I'll kindly ask you to leave."

Anderson looked over to Tim, who shrugged his shoulders. The oddness of the meeting mingled with his hangover left him unprepared at best. Without saying anything, Detective Anderson got up and walked back to the door. Tim stood where he was for a moment, the feeling of a question he wanted to ask bubbling up from within.

"I've asked you to leave..."

"Salvatore Monterey?" Tim blurted it out, and the look on Levi's face told Tim everything he needed to know.

"Never heard of him, now please leave."

Tim did leave, and he waited until both he and Anderson were in the car before he spoke. "He knows Mr. Monterey."

"I know of him too. Claims to be a Shaman working out of the Coho, but what about him and Levi?'

"Samantha wrote down that she saw the two meet and exchanged envelopes. She figured one was paying off the other or receiving payment for services."

Detective Anderson began driving again, and for a long time neither spoke. Tim was still reeling from the revelation that he had been duped into not pursuing the case due to some sort of magic. He was pushing forty, yet this entire situation made him feel like a child in way over his head. There was also a feeling of guilt building inside of him as he thought of how easily "Giselle" had almost convinced him to fuck her so easily.

"Look, it's not your fault. I can tell you're upset about the procrastination and the urges you felt with Giselle... I'm taking you somewhere to help with that."
"What can possibly help with this?"

He asked the question right as Anderson pulled into a small house sitting on Horseshoe lake. It was secluded from the others in the area, but a nice house nonetheless. A very beautiful blonde girl opened the door before running out and giving Tyler a big hug.

"Tyler Anderson! As I live and breath!"

Tyler lifted her up and spun her around, her yellow sundress floating about them both. "I see our town Phoenix finally took flight!" He put her back on the pavement and smiled down at her. "So what happened to Garth Hellersby Winkerton?"

The young woman shrugged, "He passed away a few weeks back. My name is Glory White."

"Well, you look stunning, Glory."

"Thank you!"

It was then that Tyler remembered Agent August had never met Garth or Glory before. "Agent Timothy August, I'd like you to meet Glory White... She's a Phoenix."

Tim walked over to her and shook her hand. "A pleasure, Miss... But..."

"What's a Phoenix?" She smiles again, her blue eyes twinkling as she did, "I've walked this earth for a very long time, Agent August. As a Phoenix I am reborn at my death as a new being, only with a different gender. For the last sixty years I've lived as Garth Hellersby Winkerton, and only recently was I reborn into this body..."

"We can catch him up on everything odd in this town later, right now I need you to give him the gift."

"I'm sorry, the gift?" Tim asked, about having his full of crazy for the day.

"As a Phoenix, I can give you a gift that will protect you from some lower functioning magic working here in Timber Grove. It will keep any larger, more impersonal spells from effecting you, though anything like what Sam experienced..."

"You gave Samantha this gift?"

Glory frowned, "I did, but it was not enough." She looked up to Detective Anderson and then to Tim before continuing, "But now that you are both here, you're going to find her, right?"

"Absolutely, that's why Tim needs your help."

Glory's frown was replaced by a bright smile, "Alright!" She then quickly took Tim's hand and kissed it.

"Holy shit!" Tim pulled his hand away, feeling as though the backside of his hand was on fire. He then backed away from Glory, as he saw her eyes were glowing a soft orange.

"I'm sorry! It's typically better if you don't know it's coming."

Tim held his hand, before the burning sensation disappeared as quickly as it came. Then something else happened.

"You're beginning to have the fog lifted from your mind, Agent August. Don't fight it, it will be confusing at first."

"I... I..."

He watched as Tyler stood beside Glory, both looking at him as if he were going to break. Tim's mind felt busy at first, but soon everything began to fall into place. Last night he felt like he was failing, that no one he had helped in the last month had mattered. Each drink was a indictment of his failure, and he had many. Now he could see the truth. He could see that he was doing good. He was already calculating exactly how he was going to bring down Levi, and it brought a smile to his face.

"I know what to do, but we don't have much time."

///// To Be Continued