The Woods of Sin were usually a quiet place when the sun rose. Most people were too afraid to travel through them at all, and the few thrill seekers that did always left before morning. After all, what was the point in exploring such a cursed place, filled to the brim with the supernatural, during the daytime?

Today was different.

A collection of news reporters and cameras were piled right in front of the entrance to the Forbidden Cave, said to be the most dangerous place in all of the Woods of Sin. A place that was banned from the general public. Everyone there was frantically reporting the newest story, one that was sure to capture a lot of attention.

Someone had been insane enough to break in.

A barricaded entrance had been built in front of the cave to deter anyone from trying to enter. Apparently it hadn’t been near strong enough.

“Earlier today, it was reported that a teenage girl was running out of this cave, crying.” The news anchor stated. “She has since been identified as Johanna Iverson, a fifteen year old from the local high school. She claims that her boyfriend, sixteen year old Antonio Donner, was killed in the cave from being crushed by rocks. While she has declined a public interview, she has agreed to a private one with the Supernatural Investigation Department.”

The camera changed to show a close up shot of the entrance of the cave.

“The Supernatural Investigation Department has stated they will explore the cave to try and retrieve Antonio’s remains. They have also stated they will put up higher level protection around the entrance, to prevent anyone else from entering.”

The camera went back to the news anchor. “All our hearts remain heavy at this horrible tragedy. We will keep reporting on this story as new information comes out. This has been Miranda Kines, and now, back to you.”

The TV playing that news story in the office of the head of the Supernatural Investigation Department was turned off.

The middle aged man at the front desk, known by his last name, Geisinger, turned in his chair and with a bitter groan, got out a folder full of paperwork.

“Captain?” A woman asked at his front door.

“Why do you guys always call me ‘captain’?” He asked. “This isn’t a pirate ship.”

“I’m sorry… boss?”

“Oh that’s even worse.” He remarked. “Seriously, just call me Geisinger. No need for all these dumb titles.”

“Okay, Geisinger.” The woman replied. “I just wanted to inform you that Johanna has arrived, ready for the interview.”

Geisinger furrowed his eyebrows. “Already? Don’t these things have to wait like a day or two?”

“She says she wants to do the interview right now.”

He quietly grumbled. “Well, I can’t do it right now, I’m pretty busy. Someone else will have to do it.”

“Who?”

Geisinger thought over the question for a bit. “How about Ben Cross? He seems good with these things. Get him to do it.”

“Alright, will do, boss.” The woman said before quickly leaving the room.

“Geisinger!” He yelled.

***

The Supernatural Investigation Department, or S.I.D., was housed in a fairly large building with a plethora of different rooms. The first floor was mainly for visitors, people who were having problems with the Supernatural who needed special appointments or medical care. The second floor was for the employees, each one with their very own quarters. The third floor was where the head of the department, Geisinger, worked in his office. Aside from that, it had rooms which held the paperwork and information for the especially secret and top level investigations.

The building also had a basement, where combat and safety training was done. Every employee was required to spend a full eight hour work day there each week, to keep up their physical prowess and skill in combating beings that often gave physics and biology the middle finger.

All in all, it was a very versatile building that specialized in a multitude of activities. To be able to work for the S.I.D. was considered a prestigious honor of the highest order. It was a hard place to get into, but most people said it was well worth it if you did.

***

The woman walked around the halls of the second floor for about a minute before reaching the necessary quarters. She knocked on the door.

It opened almost instantly, revealing a young man just approaching his mid twenties named Benjamin Cross, a rather new recruit who had joined a year prior.

“Johanna Iverson has arrived for her interview. Geisinger wants you to be the one leading it.”

Ben leaned his back on the doorway. “I take this is less of a ‘want’, and more of an order.”

“Basically.”

Ben sighed as he went to open one of the drawers in his quarters, getting out a folder and a pen. “You know, before I got this job I didn’t think there’d be so much paperwork involved.”

The woman grinned. “My thoughts exactly.”

“I know, right!” Ben exclaimed. “I mean, you think you’re gonna be some badass fighting ghosts and demons and the next thing you know you’re in this room recording a bunch of shit.”

The woman laughed. “If we had to fight demons a lot, the world would probably be a very dangerous place to live in.”

Ben strapped on his backpack. “Sometimes I crave for that excitement.”

The woman moved aside as Ben exited his quarters.

***

Arriving on the first floor, Ben made his way toward the room where they'd be conducting the interview. He opened the door to see Johanna, already in there.

Her face was still damp.

Ben laid his backpack to the side and got out the folder and pen.

“Hello.” He said as he sat down. “You doing well?”

She didn’t answer.

“Well.” He said. “I have to say I’m very sorry about what happened. I know you think I’m just saying that, but I’m being serious.”

Johanna’s eyes began tearing up.

“Hey.” He said. “It’s okay. Many people have been in your position, watching someone close to them die due to the supernatural. I mean, it’s not known that that’s what killed him but that seems to be the theory as of now. Anyway, what I’m saying is that you’re not alone. Many people can help you.”

Johanna sniffed. “It’s just… if I had told him no, or ran after him sooner, I could’ve saved him. Instead I was so… so stupid, and a coward. It’s my fault, all my fault.”

“No, it’s not. The first step to getting through this is accepting that this is not your fault. You were not responsible for his death.”

Tears were falling almost freely from her eyes. “But I still feel guilty.”

“This is a process.” Ben reassured her. “These things take time, it’s not like a switch that can be flipped on or off. Trust me, one step at a time, you’ll get through this.”

She sniffed again. “Thank you.” She said with a quivering voice.

“Now, you said you wanted to do an interview. Is that still true?”

Johanna nodded silently.

“Okay, why don’t you tell me what happened before he died, all that you can recall.”

Her face turned up, eyes red and unfocused. “Well… we were in the Forbidden Cave. He convinced me to come with him. I didn’t want to but he was so persistent. So I went along. And we traveled really far, I think it was like… two hours or something. Anyway, he pushed a rock off a cliff and I told him I wanted to leave. He said he wanted to explore one more room. I said okay, and then. And then…”

Her voice trailed off as she started crying again.

“It’s okay.” Ben said. “Let it out.”

It took about a minute before Johanna was able to speak again. “He… he walked down this path and then I heard something breaking. I called his name but he didn’t answer. I began walking down that path but got scared when I saw all the spiders. I hesitated, and then I heard him scream my name and I ran. Then I heard a bunch of rocks breaking and falling, and when I got there… he was gone.”

Her eyes were filling with water.

“I called his name so many times but never heard anything back. All I saw was just a mess of rocks on the ground. He was gone. I couldn’t find him anywhere. And then I ran out of the cave, realizing he was… dead.”

Johanna buried her face in her hands, failing to suppress her sobbing.

“I’m sorry.” Ben said.

Johanna continued to cry for another minute before she calmed down.

“Is there anything you can think of that caused his death?” Ben asked her.

“I don’t know, it’s just…” She stopped for a bit, as if remembering something. “Actually, there was! I remember it now! There was this… weird light I saw for a bit.”

“Weird light?” Ben questioned.

“Yeah, I could see some kind of white light on the walls and floor. That’s when I heard him screaming. Once I got there, it was gone.”

Ben made a special note of that. “Interesting.” He said to himself. “Is there anything else you can think of that may have resulted in his death?”

“No.” Johanna shook her head.

“Alright…” He said. “Well, is there anything else you want to say?”

“Not really. I just… I just don’t know what to do. I don’t think I can ever accept this.”

Ben leaned closer to her. “Hey, we actually have a grief counseling program available if you’re interested. I think it’d be very helpful for you. Alright?”

“O- okay.”

Ben nodded. “Well, I think that about concludes our time here. It was a pleasure meeting you, Johanna. I wish you the best, and please consider that grief program.”

She nodded. “I will.”

Ben smiled. “Thank you for your time.” He said before escorting her out of the interviewing room.

***

Ben walked quickly over to Geisinger’s office, folder in hand. He knocked on his door.

Geisinger came to open it about half a minute later. “Come in.”

Ben entered the room and took the seat in front of Geisinger’s desk.

“So…” Geisinger started. “I assume you want to talk about the interview.”

“Yes.” Ben affirmed. “I talked to Johanna. She was real torn up about her boyfriend’s death. She was crying a ton. I just felt really awful for her, and for that guy too. But anyway, I was able to get quite a lot of information. And some of it I think you might find interesting.”

“Really? Explain.”

“Well, apparently right before Antonio died from being crushed, a white light was shining through the walls and floor.”

“Just a light?” Geisinger asked.

“That’s what she gathered. She said that he was screaming when it appeared and that it disappeared right when she came to see Antonio crushed under the rocks. I think it may have been what caused his death.”

“I’d wait until we have the evidence before jumping to these conclusions.”

“Of course.” Ben replied. “But either way, I do think this is worth looking into.”

Geisinger swiveled around in his chair. “This may be something we should leave alone too. We don’t know what this thing might be. I don’t like going around looking for trouble.”

“I understand that, but we’re already going to the cave to try and retrieve Antonio’s body, or what’s left of it. This light, whatever it is, is probably still in there. We’ll likely run into it.”

“Yes, we can’t avoid that.” Geisinger conceded.

“So… what are we going to do about it?”

Geisinger tapped his finger on his desk before coming to his conclusion. “We’re going to go get Antonio’s body. If we see this light, we’ll deal with it. If we don’t, then we’ll let it slide. I don’t want to be poking the bear for no reason.”

“But there is a reason.” Ben argued. “This thing could be dangerous. It could leave the cave and start terrorizing and killing people outside.”

“If it could do that, it probably would’ve done so already.” Geisinger argued. “It sounds like this thing is bound to the cave, which we’re blocking access to anyway.”

Ben frowned, causing Geisinger to sigh.

“We’ll have all the equipment we need in case of an attack. If we see it, we’ll deal with it by trapping and examining it, is that satisfactory to you?”

“I guess.” Ben mumbled.

“Good, because sometimes I get annoyed with youngsters like you looking for trouble. Just look at what happened to Antonio. It never leads to good places.”

“You’re probably right, there.” Ben said.

“Excellent, I’m glad we agree.” Geisinger replied. “ Anyway, I have work right now that I need to get back to. I shall see you later, goodbye.”

“Goodbye to you too, captain.” Ben said as he left the office.

“Geisinger!”

The drive from the bustling outskirts surrounding the S.I.D. to Ben’s home neighborhood was a short one, only about ten minutes long. Once he was out of college, Ben had made sure to buy the closest house to his workplace that he could find. The end result wasn’t the best or most luxurious place, but it was certainly convenient.

Ben walked up to the entrance of his house and knocked on the front door. A minute later the door was opened by his current live-in partner and long term girlfriend, Jacqueline.

“Hey babe.” He said.

“You didn’t tell me you’d be late.”

“I’m sorry.” He replied. “Geisinger had us all stay longer to tell us about our mission tomorrow.”

“What is it this time?”

Ben walked inside and shut the door. “Oh, it probably won’t be anything too big, just going into the Forbidden Cave to retrieve whatever remains of that dead kid we can find.”

“Sounds lovely.” Jacqueline stated sarcastically. “Honestly it seems a bit unnecessary to me. I think just a singular gravestone for him would be fine. And besides, didn’t he get crushed? What would there be left of him?”

“Well, bones probably.”

“How would you get to them?”

“Babe, we have top of the line tech with us. A few rocks shouldn’t be an issue.”

“If you say so.”

Ben went to look through the refrigerator. “So, anything interesting happen at work?” He asked.

Jacqueline laughed. “You don’t care.”

“Hey, you know, I deal with a lot of death and demons where I’m at. Sometimes I like hearing about the simpler life.”

“Simpler? Man, that department is doing bad things to your ego.” She said. “Well, if you really do care, there was a board meeting. A lot less interesting than hearing about someone getting possessed, I’m sure, but you know, it’s something.”

Ben laughed as he got out a bottle of scotch and poured himself and Jacqueline a drink. He handed one of the glasses to her and together, they clinked them.

“So…” He started. “I was thinking about taking a vacation somewhere soon. I love doing what I do, but it’s real tiring. I’m sure you’re tired too.”

Jacqueline nodded with a wistful smile.

“I’m thinking in a month we could go to Venice or Paris or Athens or really any place you’d like.”

“I’d be fine with going anywhere.”

“Well, if you had to pick anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

She tilted her head. “I don’t know, I’ll have to get back to you.”

Ben grinned and took a sip of his scotch.

“I’d really like that, going away for a week.” Jacqueline told him. “Away from the world, no worries, no problems, just you and me and wherever the road takes us.”

Ben leaned in to kiss her. “I have a surprise for you, when we get there. I think you’ll really like it.”

“It better not be some ghost or monster you caught.”

“No, no.” He chuckled. “No, I promise you it’ll be good.”

“I’ll take your word.” She replied. “So, do you want to watch something tonight? I kind of do.”

“What do you want to watch?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure there’s something stupid we can find on Hulu or HBO.”

“Something light and cheesy?” Ben suggested. “I gotta find a dead kid tomorrow, I want something happy.”

Jacqueline smiled. “Of course.”

***

The movie they chose to watch was indeed cheesy, but not exactly in the way Ben was thinking. It was one of those awful sci fi horror films from the fifties, the ones people call “B movies” today. Terrible acting, terrible writing, terrible camerawork, and a stupid plot. It had it all. It was also quite entertaining in spite of all that, or more likely because of it.

Ben wasn’t really paying attention to the movie, however. His focus was instead on Jacqueline, the incredible, beautiful woman wrapped in his arms.

He was so lucky to have her in his life. Words could never describe the love he had for her, and he stopped trying to explain it years ago. He couldn’t wait for their relationship to be taken to the next level.

The two kissed a lot that night, and every time they did, Ben knew that through whatever the future held for them, they’d be together, always.

***

As the movie ended, Ben took another drink of scotch.

“You’re so hot, Jackie.” He said. “I could just eat you up.”

Jacqueline took the bottle away from him. “I think you’ve had too much to drink tonight.”

“What?” He asked jokingly. “That’s crazy.”

She grinned. “If you have a hangover tomorrow, don’t blame me.”

“I drank a healing potion yesterday.” He replied. “I think I’m good.”

She smiled then went in to give him a deep, loving kiss.

***

Ben was mostly bullshitting about the healing potion. The one he drank wasn’t very strong, only meant to heal small injuries like cuts and scrapes. Still, he was pleasantly surprised when he was already feeling less drunk just a few hours later during his shower. At least he wouldn’t have any problems waking up tomorrow.

He turned off the water and dried himself. He checked the time once he was done, 10:36 PM. He groaned, he was going to have to go in an hour early the next day for preparatory physical training. And then he’d have to spend the whole day in the Forbidden Cave.

As the mission was getting closer, he remembered just how much he despised that cave. Dark, damp, cramped in way too many places, and full of creepy crawlies. So much danger was concentrated there, and it was built like a maze. He had no idea why anyone would go into it willingly.

Well, that was tomorrow’s problem. For now, he should just try to get some rest.

He walked up to the bedroom he and Jacqueline shared and, seeing her already fast asleep, he crashed into the bed with her and shut his eyes, ready to sleep for the long day ahead of him.

One hand in front of the other. Each movement upwards is like a step, one at a time.

Ben made sure to keep his breathing stable and consistent. A mandatory technique for exercises such as this, and one that he had long since mastered.

The rope was thick, and long, sixty feet in fact. This specific exercise was straight out of “American Ninja Warrior”, one had to climb the rope to the top, attached to a belay. The rope may have been fifteen feet short, but the extra length was made up for by a short ladder at the end.

Every one of his muscles was being worked hard, without any help in any way. There were no magical enhancements on Ben’s body increasing his muscle mass or stamina. In fact, all magical enhancements were prohibited in the gym, and enforced through a force field that prevented any of those enhancements from being used. It was put into place by Geisinger, who was a strong believer in training without enhancements. They were, after all, a crutch, and there were always times when they couldn’t be used. One had to be prepared.

With a final push of his energy, Ben got to the top of the ladder and landed his feet onto the platform above. Looking down, he was able to make out his gym partner, Stephen, on the floor below. It really was a wonder how big the basement gym was. It had to be at least eighty feet tall and god knows how wide. It was probably equal to the height of the rest of the S.I.D. Ben wasn’t an architect, but he had doubts that such a building design was even possible. There had to be some magic encoded in its construction.

Ben leapt down from the platform and let the belay slowly carry him down. Thank god he drank that healing potion or else the lingering effects of alcohol would’ve rendered this climb basically impossible.

“What was my time?” Ben asked as his feet touched the ground.

“Forty-six seconds.” Stephen replied.

Ben grunted. “Damn.”

“That’s not bad, dude.”

“It is compared to these people. I mean, shit, captain gets thirty seconds on that and he’s like forty fucking years old.”

“You know he hates it when people call him that.”

“I like messing with him.” Ben grinned.

“Right, well, forty isn’t the death of your whole body, you know.” Stephen countered. “Geisinger’s been training in this his whole life. Of course he’s going to be good.”

“I know.” Ben agreed. “I just wish I wasn’t so slow.”

“You’ll get there.” Stephen reassured him. “Someday.”

Ben gave him a half-hearted smile. “Thanks.”

“Besides…” Stephen pointed out. “There are days when Geisinger is slower, too. He isn’t a god.”

“True, but there’s something off about those days, don’t you think?”

“He just has an off-day every once in a while, there’s no more to it.” Stephen stated firmly. “You guys gotta stop with the crazy conspiracies.”

“You’re probably right.”

Stephen looked down to their list of what they needed to practice for the day.

“Alright, since we have a mission today, we should probably practice shooting right now.” Stephen said. “If there’s anything we miss, it shouldn’t be shooting.”

“Right.” Ben replied. “At least I’m good at that.”

***

The shooting range was in a separate room from the rest of the gym, and only a few people could practice at a time. The group inside was almost done by the time Ben and Stephen got there, so it was only a ten minute wait until they could start.

Once Ben and Stephen were allowed in, they each took their weapon and entered a firing lane, the weapon itself being far different from a conventional gun.

There was a time, many decades ago, when the S.I.D. did use guns, but they had always been a temporary substitute until a more effective weapon was developed. S.I.D. members often faced entities that were huge, and with their skin as thick as it was, conventional firearms were often useless.

The weapon they now used was not perfect. It was bigger, heavier, and its range was worse, but it was still easily the better option. It had been developed about two decades ago, and had become the standard weapon for the S.I.D. The name decided for it was “shock cannon”.

A shock cannon launched a stream of electricity like a lightning bolt out in front of it, and it could lock onto any living being after contact and follow them for a certain amount of time. It sent a deadly amount of electricity all throughout the body of anything it hit. A human would be killed by it almost immediately, and the entities the S.I.D. fought were much more vulnerable to it than bullets.

Like most resources used by the S.I.D., shock cannons were magically encoded. The spells placed on every individual weapon prevented them from overheating and greatly muffled their sound to a quiet hum. Mainly so a person’s eardrums weren’t blown out every time they were used.

The fact that shock cannons were so dangerous was what made them illegal to purchase and own. Even the S.I.D. had a spell placed onto it which made shock cannons unable to operate in the “kill” setting inside the building.

That specific spell could be turned “off” or “on” on a whim by Geisinger and a select few other members of the S.I.D. Originally only Geisinger had the ability to do that, however when presented with the possibility that there could be a case when, in an emergency, he is incapacitated or elsewise unable to switch the spell off, he hesitantly relinquished sole control and gave it to a few other members.

Geisinger definitely had trust issues, it was a major flaw of his. Many times the S.I.D. workers simply couldn’t understand the man’s thought process. Ben least of all. He kind of wished Geisinger would come out of his shell someday. It couldn’t be healthy being such a recluse all the time

***

The final target was launched and it flew quickly through the air. Just at the peak of its height, Ben shot it down.

He had done fairly well with the shooting. Well enough to put him in a better mood than before. He had the skills, he wasn’t completely useless. He just needed to practice more.

Stephen and him laid their shock cannons on a rack and exited the shooting range. Just as they did, an announcement was heard on the intercom.

“For anyone currently working in the gym who was assigned to today’s mission, please report to the first floor.” Geisinger’s voice stated.

“Good timing.” Stephen remarked. “So what are we doing? Finding a dead kid?”

“That’s the plan.” Ben replied.

“Sounds great.” Stephen said. “I think we should just leave him. If he was stupid enough to go in there, he doesn’t deserve to have his body found.”

“You sound just like the captain.”

Stephen chuckled. “I can see why he’s like that.”

Ben and Stephen were the first two to ascend to the above floors. There was a long staircase ahead of them, so they chose to see it as its own minor workout.

“Have you ever been in the Forbidden Cave?” Ben asked.

“No.” Stephen answered. “I’ve been in the Woods of Sin, though.”

“That’s not gonna help you much. This place is its own beast.”

“I can imagine.”

“Yeah, shit’s real creepy, worst cave I’ve ever been in.” Ben said. “Once you’ve been to that place, you’ll never forget it.”

With all the members assigned to the mission together, it was finally time for the obligatory list of safety protocols. The whole S.I.D. had long since memorized them all, but regardless Geisinger insisted on going through them every time. Some found it annoying, but others saw it as necessary.

“Okay.” Geisinger announced in a loud voice. “We will go through the proper safety protocols and then head in there and hopefully get this done as soon as possible. I hate this cave and I’m sure most of you do as well.”

There were many nods at his statement.

“Alright, first of all, never EVER go out on your own. You will be assigned to groups of five people, and make sure to ALWAYS stay together in those groups. Pay attention to where you and your group members are at and do not wander off. Wandering off is a death sentence.”

“Second of all, you all have communication devices and an electronic map system. Keep them on at all times and keep in contact with the other groups. Check in every thirty minutes, at least. As you all know, the Forbidden Cave is enchanted in that the entire structure, all of the inside of the cave, completely changes at midnight every day. It is absolutely crucial that we know where everyone is at all the time, and all leave the cave before dark. If someone in your group is missing or not accounted for, report it immediately.”

“Third of all, your weapons. Do not put them in the ‘kill’ setting unless you are in danger. NEVER point them at any of your group members and have them on your back at all times. The last thing we need in here is another death. Does everyone understand?”

“Yes.” All the members replied, almost in unison.

“Good, any questions?”

No one raised their hand or was confused about any of his instructions.

“Fantastic.” Geisinger said as he clapped his hands. “Let’s get you all into groups. One of the groups will stay out here and construct a magic barrier. Everyone else will go inside. Oh, and one last thing, there was a strange white light reported to shine right before the kid died. It is most likely dangerous. Keep watch for it and avoid it if you can. Attack if necessary. Is that all clear?”

The S.I.D. workers nodded their heads.

“Let’s get this done.”

***

Traversing through the Forbidden Cave never became even the slightest bit comfortable, no matter how many times the S.I.D. members went inside it. It was always the same dark, damp, cramped series of caverns, every time. It was extremely dangerous to go through without equipment, and the maze-like structure that changed completely at the end of every day left most people lost in there to die of dehydration.

Luckily, if this mission was a success, they’d never have to go through this cave again. Nothing was gained by allowing them access to it. No amount of research was worth the danger. The place would be left to rot, and it would be for the best.

***

At this point Geisinger had been leading a group of four people down a series of cramped passageways for a full hour. There wasn’t anything in immediate sight except the walls and intense darkness that enveloped all that surrounded them.

“Geisinger.” Someone said behind him. “I just realized, since the entire structure of this cave changes every twenty four hours, that would also include this kid’s dead body. So why are we even looking for a bunch of rocks?”

There was some audible groaning in the back. The S.I.D. members had heard this explanation about a million times, but there was always one person who didn’t catch on, so it had to be repeated over and over again.

“Okay, so I kind of lied when I said the entire structure changes. Most of it does, but not all of it.” Geisinger answered. “There is one exception, whenever a person, dead or alive, ‘makes a home for themselves’ somewhere in the cave, that area stays the same, albeit in a different location. So if someone dies somewhere they will be in an identical looking place when the cave changes. Of course, a lot of people who get lost in here don’t know that and wander around everywhere, which only decreases their chances of survival. It’s kind of weird, but you get it, don’t you?”

“I guess…”

“Good, because I’m kind of tired of explaining it.”

A slight feeling of guilt flashed through that member’s face as the group slowly trudged further through the long, linear path of the cave. For the longest time, most of the group was able to keep their complaints to themselves, but eventually, there came a time when one of them couldn’t take it anymore.

“Shit!” They exclaimed.

“What?”

“It’s these fucking bugs. They’re everywhere.”

The group quickly looked at the walls and floor around them and realized that the place was almost covered in spiders.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“There weren’t this many bugs before. What happened?”

Geisinger quickly turned his flashlight to a higher intensity and flashed it in front of him. In the distance, the group was able to make out the faint image of a rock wall, a dead end marking the point where the path they were traveling on stopped.

“The girl said the place where he died was full of spiders.” He said. “This might be it.”

“Of course it was full of spiders. Why wouldn’t it be?”

That member’s complaint was ignored as Geisinger marched forward onto the path. Everyone following him was very peculiar about how they stepped to avoid as many spiders as possible, which still proved to be pretty tough. The pests were crawling everywhere. The only bright side was that the spiders weren’t very big, and none of them resembled the venomous kinds.

It was in the middle of their walking that Geisinger suddenly stopped.

“What is it?” Someone asked him.

“I just saw a drop here.”

That same person stepped forward and confirmed his observation.

“Huh.” They said.

The rest of the group walking forward and noted just how uneven the ground ahead of them was in this small section. It hadn’t been perfectly level before but here it was especially noticeable.

“Does it mean anything?” Someone asked.

“The kid was crushed to death. This floor looks like it broke off and fell below. This has to be the place.”

“Fucking finally.” Someone said beside him. “I’m sick of this damn place.”

“Believe me, I am too.” Geisinger agreed. “If this is it we can finally shut this hellhole down for good.”

Geisinger stepped forward a bit and took out the second gun strapped to his back. Everyone in the mission had two guns strapped to their backs, the first being the shock cannon, and the second being the “carrier cannon”, which through magic energy, was able to lift objects off the ground and move them through the air. Since each member assigned to the mission had a spell placed onto them that prevented them from accidentally taking out the shock cannon when not intending to, there was no problem with having the two guns strapped so closely together.

“Alright guys, let's get this over with. The sooner we’re done, the better.”

The rest of the group followed his lead. Taking out their carrier cannons, they began getting to work.

“How come they still haven’t released better tech yet?” A member asked. “It’s insane how fucking small the bits of rock we’re picking up are.”

“It’s ridiculous.” Another member affirmed. “This might take a while.”

“God fucking dammit.”

Geisinger couldn’t help but grin at their expense.

***

“My fucking god, we’ve been walking around this place for ninety minutes and haven’t found jackshit.” Stephen said.

Ben laughed. “See? I told you this place sucked.”

“It’s awful.” Stephen agreed. “I feel like something’s gonna jump out and kill me.”

“Good description.” Someone else cut in. “Accurate too, a lot of people have died in here.”

“Good job keeping our hopes up.” Stephen said back.

“Oh quit whining, those people didn’t have the tech and equipment we did. You’ll be fine.”

Each of their communication devices began vibrating soon after that was said, interrupting their conversation. The designated group leader picked theirs up and responded to the call.

“Group two to Group one, what is it?” They asked.

“We believe we have found the place where Antonio’s body is located.” Geisinger said. “My group is currently working to take the bits of rock off the ground here. We will check in later if this is it. Relay this message to all other groups. Do you acknowledge?”

“Yes, I acknowledge.”

“Group one out.”

The call ended and the group leader began sending the call audio as a message.

“What’s going on?”

“Geisinger’s group found where the kid’s body is, maybe.” They answered. “We’ll probably be hearing a message back pretty soon.”

“Soon?” Another person asked sarcastically. “You know how slow those guns are, we’ll be waiting here for a while.”

“I doubt it will be that long.” The leader answered.

“Well, either way, I’m taking a break.” That person replied. “I need to sit down, my feet are killing me.”

No complaints were raised as they laid down and rested their head on a rock.

Seeing them relaxed, Ben realized that he was also quite tired, and as such he leaned his back onto a rock wall. Unbeknownst to him, a small square rock sticking out was pushed in by his left shoulder.

“Anyone doing anything interesting soon?” Ben asked. “I’ve been thinking of taking a vacation next month and-”

Ben was cut off when the floor beneath him suddenly disappeared and he falled into the created hole. It happened so fast he didn’t even have time to scream or yell for help.

“BEN!” Stephen called out, but it was useless. The floor was covered back up as soon as Ben had fallen under. None of the group was able to reach where he went.

Underneath the floor, Ben found himself going down what could best be described as a tube slide. A tube slide in a cave with perfectly level rock walls. Doing his best to keep cool and not panic, he tried to avoid his head hitting the walls. He didn’t know quite how fast he was going, but he was sure his head hitting the walls would be dangerous regardless.

He had no idea how long he was sliding for, but eventually he saw himself being dropped into a pool of water. Submerged in deep water, he had no choice but to remove all the heavy equipment weighing him down. Quickly and with all his strength, he pushed himself up to the surface.

Breathing heavily, he saw that dry land was not far from where he was, only seeming to be about thirty feet out. Gritting his teeth, he swam through the almost cool water to get to it.

There was no gradual increase in the slope of the land into the water, it was a steep and instant drop. It caused him a bit of trouble when trying to get out, but given some time, he was able to do it.

Lying down and dripping wet, he moved his head around to really look at the place he had fallen into. The first thing he noticed was how spacious it was. Most places in the Forbidden Cave were rather cramped, with the ceilings in most areas being only slightly higher than that of the average house. But this place was huge. How high the ceiling was exactly Ben wasn’t sure, but he estimated at least forty feet. Nevertheless, it was the only time he’d been in this cave when he couldn’t touch the ceiling.

Getting up on his elbows, he slowly started standing up. He had no idea where in the cave he was, and no doubt the other groups were already starting to look for him. He reached for his communication device, only to realize it had been dropped along with the rest of his equipment.

“Shit!”

How was he supposed to be found now? How long would it take to find him? That water he had just been in was about sixty degrees or so, and not having a way to dry off and warm up soon was incredibly dangerous.

He shivered, trying to keep as much as his body heat in as he could. It was really the only thing he could do. He held hope he would be found soon, trying to ignore the voice inside him saying how unrealistic that was.

As he was shivering, something suddenly hit him. The room he was in was visible. It may have been rather faint, but he was still able to see without his flashlight, which had also been dropped in the water. That shouldn’t be the case. He was deep underground in a dark cave. With no exit in sight, there should have been no way light would be coming in.

Turning his head, he looked at the walls and ceiling again. He froze immediately once he caught sight of a sphere of white light, close to the top, illuminating the entire area.

The sudden drop in the cave’s path was finally cleared of rock. All parts of the floor that had fallen down into the room underneath were now stored in a pile above it. It had taken ten minutes to do in all, which, considering the tech they were using, was actually pretty quick. Still, Geisinger’s group was incredibly frustrated that the better tech hadn’t been released yet, even after all this time.

The sight lying on the lower ground was hideous. Antonio’s dead body was a mess of barely recognizable parts and organs, being clearly on its way to fully decaying. It left an awful stench as well, the kind that would make most want to gag. Surprisingly though, the bugs in the area hadn’t gotten to it yet, but they sure would soon if it was left in the open.

“Come on everyone, before the spiders get to it.” Geisinger said as he took out a body bag and opened it wide.

The four members of his group were particularly precise with their carrier cannons this time. They had to be, the bag’s opening didn’t give them much area to work with. Regardless, they were able to get most of what they could into the bag within about two minutes.

Geisinger closed the bag up and another worker went behind him to help carry it.

“How long will we have to walk with this thing?” They asked.

“Ninety minutes, I think.” He answered.

“Fucking hell.”

“Why did we even do this?” Someone else asked. “This person willingly came in here knowing it was dangerous. Why do we need to go through the hassle of retrieving his body? Hell, why do we even retrieve any of the bodies from victims? It’s too much trouble.”

Geisinger began the long walk back to the entrance with an exhale of stress. “Well, we had the ability to, and his family asked for us to do it. Their kid died, we should honor their request.”

“We shouldn’t give people that option, do they know how much work this is?”

“Look, I hate it too, but some things just have to be done.” He said. “If they want to bury something other than trapped air, we’ll allow them. It’s not pleasant, but at least they get some closure. At least they know for certain their kid is dead.”

“Still a waste of time.”

“You’re free to think that, but please consider what I’m trying to say.”

The worker gave out a very unconvincing “okay”.

Just as the group was leaving the area filled with spiders, all their communication devices started vibrating.

“Can someone get that?” Geisinger asked.

The group member leading the way back answered the call.

“Group one to Group two, what is it?” They asked.

“It’s Ben!” Stephen answered. “He was here and then he was just gone! He fell through the floor and now it’s closed up. We can’t find him!”

“You say he fell through the floor?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re pretty far into the cave, ten feet below the entrance.”

“I’ll inform the other groups to begin a search party. Do you acknowledge?”

“Yes.”

“Group one out.”

They ended the call and immediately turned around.

“Ben fell into a trap. He’s somewhere below ten feet of the surface. His group can’t find him.”

“Shit!” Geisinger exclaimed. “Did you inform the other groups?”

“Doing so right now, captain.”

Geisinger winced but held back his anger, instead focusing on the dire situation at hand.

***

Ben’s eyes were locked onto the light just below the ceiling. It hadn’t moved, not yet at least, but it was going to. Soon, he was sure of it.

His whole body seemed to be paralyzed with fear. This had to be the exact same light that Antonio saw just seconds before his death. And just like him, Ben was absolutely helpless. He had no equipment, no weapons, no way to contact anyone, and no way to trap or repel the light. He just had himself, in his still cold and wet state.

Strong and fit as he may be, against this light, he was as weak and defenseless as anyone else.

The only thing Ben could do was stay as far away from it as possible.

Eventually, Ben saw the light move, just a hair, and he immediately gunned it back. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much ground left for him to cover, and within just fifteen seconds, he hit a dead end.

There was no exit in sight.

“Just my fucking luck.” He said, stressed and angry. Was this the end for him? Would he be doomed for the rest of his life to run from this light until he dies of dehydration or hypothermia? Whichever comes first?

No, he had to keep trying. He could not give up.

Ben quickly turned around and saw the light slowly approaching him. He could see he was about to be cornered by it, so he began running to the left of it.

The light almost touched his abdomen, but narrowly, he avoided it. He looked around the area he was in to see if there was anything at all he could do to try and escape, but alas, there was nothing. Nothing to climb, break, or crawl into. It was just an empty area with a deep pool of water.

“Wait a minute.” He thought. “Water.”

He had a big deep pool of water sitting right there with him. He could use it and possibly find an escape route. Internally he grew ecstatic. He had a chance!

But, then again… he couldn’t see anything under the water, and it was still at a dangerous temperature. He was in a pretty bad state already. He needed to get dry fast, but how could even try to dry himself with this light constantly up his ass?

The best thing he could do was hold out, keep dodging and avoiding the light until someone finds him.

He looked around at all the closed walls and chuckled grimly. “Find”, yeah right.

He turned back toward the water and contemplated his decision for a little longer. That extra contemplation was enough to convince him it was a terrible idea. He’d just get cornered by the light with no way to escape. He knew he wouldn’t be able to swim fast enough to get away. Going back into the water was probably the worst thing he could do right now.

But, what could he do?

He was trapped, with no way out. Doomed to constantly avoid a light that could kill him, or worse, until his death. What option did he really have?

He tried to think of anything he hadn’t before. What if someone else fell down that same trap? Would that help him? Probably not, they’d just be stuck in here alongside him. What if he tried breaking the walls? Would that work? It was a silly thing to even think about. It would be nothing more than a final act of desperation.

Is there any other possible action he could take?

Bowing his head, he thought over it. He thought about everything he had access to in this area, and how he could utilize it.

He thought back to the water, mainly about how vast and deep it was.

Maybe going in wasn’t such a bad idea.

He ran fast and dove into it. Once he went in, he made no effort to keep himself up. He simply let himself go under.

And he stayed under.

The first thing his mind went to was Jacqueline. Maybe, in another life, they really would’ve been able to be together, forever and for always.

Opening his mouth and taking the water into his mouth, he began to wonder if he made his mark on the world, or if he’d be remembered for anything. Was he good enough? Well, he was good enough to the people in his life, and that was all that mattered to him.

He just wished it didn’t have to end like this, with him violently choking and gasping for air that would never come.

The world began fading away from him, and for a brief moment he felt at peace.

Just before he fully lost consciousness, his body glowed with the light that reached him. Energy spread all throughout his very core, inside and out.

He didn’t notice.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

Ben looked all around him as his body rose upward. There wasn’t any voice he could hear that told him that. He only had the knowledge that something, somewhere said there was beauty, and that he should appreciate it.

“So, so beautiful.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed as he took in his surroundings. He could see nothing but the sky and the clouds. The only thing he felt was the wind that occasionally blew past. His body was entirely suspended in the air, and every second he could feel himself slowly ascend toward something.

“Look.”

He focused only on what was above him, and for a while, nothing was there except more of the sky.

But soon, something began to come into view.

“Look.”

He could see an island, floating among the clouds. Waterfalls fell seemingly forever down from it, and if he reached he could feel the water on his fingertips. As he rose higher, he saw the trees and grass were a green richer than any green he’s ever seen before. The entire island was full of life, with birds chirping, frogs croaking, and deer peacefully drinking out of the river.

“Beauty is in all nature. You have been given an opportunity to be a part of it.”

Ben strained to touch the island, but it was always just out of reach.

“Make it count.”

All of a sudden, the island was gone.

Ben saw his surroundings become dark, almost pitch black, as he felt the wind and clouds fade away from him. He felt a hard ground form beneath him as he was brought down to a lying position.

When he blinked, it had all disappeared.

Ben laid idly on the ground, staring at the ceiling above him. It was strange. There shouldn’t have been any light source down in that part of the cave, especially when that sphere of white light was no longer there.

His mind stopped on that thought. Ground. Cave. Light.

It all came back to him. He was still in the Forbidden Cave! And he was still lost in that closed off trap room.

He rose up on his elbows and looked around at the trap room. He was able to confirm that the sphere of white light was indeed gone, but he also found that he was no longer trapped. Behind him was a large opening that led straight outside.

He was confused. He was completely trapped before, but now the cave was letting him leave?

He felt around his outfit for his communication device, before remembering again that it was dropped in the water with the rest of his equipment.

Well at least he hadn’t brought anything especially personal or valuable.

“Wait”, he thought, “water”.

He didn’t notice it before, but he was completely dry now, and on the ground.

He had tried to drown himself.

He looked down beside him and saw the water. He reached out his hand and felt it. It was the same temperature it had been before, still rather cool.

Did the light save him? Did it give him another chance to live?

When he started going unconscious under the water, he thought that was it, the end of his life. But here he was now, as alive as ever.

It must have been the light, nothing else could have done this.

Ben stood up on his knees and took a look down into the pool of water.

What he saw immediately confused him.

The reflection of a woman was looking back at him.

Instinctively he looked behind to see where this woman was, but he was met with nothing but the walls of the cave.

He turned his head back and stared.

It suddenly hit him that his body had been feeling differently, ever since he first woke up. He didn’t think much of it before, but seeing this reflection made every little oddity become blatantly obvious.

His chest was pushing against the front of his uniform, and felt as if it was sticking out. When he clamped his legs together, nothing was in the way making it uncomfortable. And his hair was all the way down to the middle of his back.

Did the light do this too? Change him into a woman? Why?

He looked at his hand and saw it was smaller and more delicate than before. He went to touch the skin on his face and felt the same softness he had on Jacqueline so many times. Not even a trace of stubble was left on it, it was all smooth.

Lower down, he felt compelled to grab the mounds now sticking out from his chest. It was odd, despite the fact that they were there, firmly on his body, they still felt very foreign.

It was all weird, very weird.

But he’s seen far weirder in his career.

Only very few people around the world ever experience life as both a man and a woman. Spells to switch between the two were difficult to pull off and generally not worth the time and effort unless a person plans to stay as that gender afterward.

Ben had a very unique opportunity right in front of him. Should he partake in it?

Probably not, for Jacqueline’s sake. He didn’t want to have to explain this to her.

Luckily, Geisinger was an incredibly skilled magician. He’ll definitely be able to fix this.

Ben finally stood up on his legs, and once he took a step he nearly fell down again. A different center of gravity had left him disorientated and without balance. Slowly, he steadied himself up and slid his feet forward. It took some time and practice, but eventually he worked himself up to being able to walk normally.

That didn’t make it feel any less weird though. Should his hips be swaying this much?

Ben could only guess where to go next to get back to the entrance of the cave. From where he was at, it seemed like he just needed to walk to the left of the opening and he’d see it at some point. Hopefully that line of thinking would work out for him.

***

How much time his walk took he didn’t quite know. It was hard to keep track of time at all where he was, especially when he kept getting distracted every few seconds.

All around him lay endless trees and forest. The Woods of Sin expanded far and wide, throughout multiple different regions. Undoubtedly, there was a ton of wildlife. For some reason that fact was incredibly captivating to him. More so than usual. He had never cared about that in the past but now his mind was stuck on it.

Ben recalled the dream he had, right before he woke up. The island, floating among the clouds. It was so beautiful…

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. It seemed the light had given him some newfound appreciation for nature. And being in these woods only intensified it.

He felt a bit disturbed. He really needed to find some people, and fast.

Luckily, the forest was clearing out, and he could finally see the entrance to the cave. Two S.I.D. workers, a man and a woman, were in front of it.

Ben approached them and the workers turned to face him with confused stares.

“Isn’t that our uniform?” The woman asked. “Where did you get it? Who are you anyway?”

“I’m… uh-” Ben stopped and grabbed his neck, the high, feminine voice coming from his mouth shocking him. “I- wow that sounds weird.”

The two S.I.D. workers continued to stare at him oddly.

Ben forced out a cough. “Uh… what I meant to say is that… I’m Ben.”

The two workers exchanged a glance before the woman took a few steps closer to him. “Ben, huh?” She said. “Don’t you think you have a little too much on your chest to be Ben?”

Ben tilted his head to the side, eye contact not something he wanted to deal with at the moment. “Please just believe me, I don’t have it in me right now to make a witty comeback.”

The woman examined him from head to toe, tracing his entire body with her eyes. It only served to make him more uncomfortable, forcing his feet to shuffle. “Great”, he thought, “I probably look like a fucking toddler”.

The woman stared at him some more, then pulled out a small scanning device with an overly theatrical spin. She pointed it at him and once again traced his entire body. A huff escaped her lips upon seeing the results.

“Well would you look at that, you really are Ben.” She smirked. “I’ll be sure to inform the captain.”

“He really hates it when people call him that.” The man behind her reminded.

“You know, there’s a reason why people like you were thrown into lockers, you fucking nerd.” The woman dialed for Geisinger. “Captain’s the same way too, so I guess I can’t be too surprised.”

She raised the device to her ear, awaiting a response.

“Hello?” Geisinger eventually asked.

“Hey, I got some good news. We found Ben!”

“That’s great! Is he okay?”

“Yep. Completely okay, but…” she laughed dryly, “…you might want to brace yourself. SHE is shaped a little differently than before.”

Magic made the clean up process after missions much quicker, and in Ben’s case, much more bearable. No shower was needed for anyone, a spell was able to clean up all the dirt and filth they had picked up in an instant. An incredible convenience, and Ben was thankful he didn’t have to actively bathe. Seeing his naked body in its current state would undoubtedly be uncomfortable.

The body bag holding whatever was left of Antonio was put in a coffin to be given to a funeral director as Geisinger and a few other S.I.D. workers constructed a powerful magical barrier in front of the Forbidden Cave. They had to be absolutely sure this time that no one would ever step foot in it again.

***

Ben was staring at a few folders in front of him in his quarters. He knew he should probably start working on them, but he just couldn’t get himself to do it. Not as he now was.

He kept getting distracted by every little new thing about himself. Taking his mind off of it was impossible. To have one’s own body change so suddenly like this left him more disoriented and confused than he had ever been before in his life.

Finding his movement again, he switched on his computer and put on the camera. His reflection was much more clear here than it was in the water of the cave, so this was basically the first time he was really looking at himself.

He had to admit, he was an attractive woman. Very attractive in fact. College aged Ben would’ve absolutely been in love with her.

On second thought, that probably wasn’t accurate. It wasn’t as if Ben looked like an entirely new person. He still resembled his male self, to the point where he looked like his own sister. No, he wouldn’t have been in love with her. But his male friends certainly would’ve been. Some of his female friends too.

He noticed his thoughts were becoming particularly vain, and so he humbled himself. He wasn’t going to be this woman for very long anyway, so getting caught up in her beauty was useless.

He heard a knock on his door and shut off his computer.

“Come in.” He said.

The door opened to reveal Stephen. “Hey, I heard what happened.” He said, taking a seat. “I can’t believe it’s actually true.”

“You’re telling me.” Ben replied.

“God, how does it feel?”

Ben snickered. “You really had to ask that question, didn’t you? Not invasive at all.”

“Sorry.” Stephen said. “I guess that was a little out of line.”

“You think?”

“I said sorry.” Stephen defended himself. “I was just a little curious. Anyway, what’s your plan? You know, with this?”

Ben leaned back into his chair. “Well, whenever Geisinger’s done with that barrier, he’ll change me back.” He hesitated for a second. “I mean, I could try out being a woman for a while, but Jacqueline makes it too complicated. Best to just change back now and not have to deal with explaining all this.”

“That makes sense. I know someone from my high school who changed genders. They told me how much of a hassle it was. Changing IDs, documents, and drivers licenses and all that. It’s a lot.”

“‘Changed genders’?” Ben asked. “Why not just say ‘trans’? That’s what they are right?”

“Right yeah. Slipped my mind.” Stephen said. “Anyway, I want to ask, what happened after you fell down that trap?”

At that question, images of endless water and the mysterious white light sprang into Ben’s mind. The feeling of drowning, the feeling of one’s life fading away from them, and the feeling of being driven to suicide soon followed. He couldn’t help but shudder.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

Stephen examined Ben’s face for a bit, as if trying to gauge exactly what happened through facial expressions alone. Even without an answer, he could tell that whatever happened down there had been deeply traumatic.

“Okay.” Stephen replied eventually.

Sensing Ben’s now darkened mood, Stephen decided it was best for him to leave.

“I better get back to my quarters.” He said, standing up. “See you later.”

“Bye.”

Stephen opened the door and left the room without a hitch. Ben watched as he tried to clear his mind of the awful experiences.

***

Ben was absent mindedly tapping one of his pens on his desk when he finally got the message from Geisinger to meet him upstairs on the third floor. To Ben’s disappointment, he was in the scanning room, meaning a curse and corruption check was in order.

A curse and corruption check involved analyzing a person’s entire body, mind, and soul for any magical ailments. Any curse or magical corruption would be caught, allowing for immediate medical attention. The sooner that happened, the better. The machine the S.I.D. used was one of the most accurate in the country. Ben was sure to have a thorough examination.

The problem was that the examination required him to be naked. Clothing interfered with the machine’s analysis and caused unreliable results. Ben groaned. Why couldn’t they do this after he was changed back? Life wasn’t fair sometimes.

Ben opened the door to the scanning room and made an effort to heighten his mood to an acceptable level.

Once inside, Geisinger took a long look at him, but thankfully didn’t tease him about his transformation. Or even say anything about it, for that matter.

“You know the drill.” He said.

“Is there any reason why we can’t change me back first?” Ben asked him. “You CAN change me back right?”

“Of course I can.” Geisinger answered. “It’s a simple spell, if you know how to do it. But it’s very important we check you first before putting any additional magic into you.”

Ben had to admit that explanation made a lot of sense. Really, he shouldn’t be in such a sour mood. He was only hurting himself.

“Alright.” He said. “Let’s do this.”

***

The scanning machine itself was located behind the door in the scanning room across from the entrance. Opening it revealed a small changing area before another door. This particular door was metal, and it operated electronically without a handle.

Ben stared at this door, sitting on the one chair the changing room offered. At first he had tried to close his eyes to avoid looking at his naked body, but it proved fruitless. He couldn’t stop himself from looking down.

Once he did start looking at himself, his fear and discomfort actually mostly faded. This body was certainly not what he was used to, but looking at it now, it didn’t seem so bad. It was just a body. He didn’t understand why he was dreading this so much. It was a bit silly thinking about it now.

He eventually took notice of something when looking at himself. While his body was definitely attractive, he had also lost a lot of his muscle mass. Losing muscle mass was to be expected with a transformation like this, but he had lost quite a bit more than he should have. Ben was extremely fit even for a man, but this female body retained none of that. It was actually kind of frustrating. Would he get all of his muscle back when this transformation was undone or would he have to work to get it all back? That thought made him groan.

A beep interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, he saw the metal door in front of him had unlocked and was now opening.

Time to get in.

Ben stepped inside and watched as the metal door shut and locked itself. Soon afterward an AI voice announced the start of the scanning, and the white walls and floor turned blue. Now all that was left was the suspenseful and agonizing wait.

A full scan typically took around thirty to forty seconds. At the end of it, the color of the room would change to either green, yellow, or red. Green meant no magical ailments, yellow meant magical ailments that were not serious or life threatening, and red meant magical ailments that were incredibly dangerous and needed immediate attention. Ben shut his eyes and prayed for green.

Luckily for him, his praying paid off. A beeping sound was heard and Ben opened his eyes to see green. He was clear.

He sighed in relief. A huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders, and it felt great.

At the same time though, he couldn’t help but wonder why the white light would trap him in that room to ultimately do nothing except change him into a woman. No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t make any sense.

Well, that was all over now. No use dwelling on it.

***

After the results came in and cleared him, Ben followed Geisinger down to the S.I.D.’s library, located on the first floor. It was huge, and consisted of a ton of books spanning a variety of different topics regarding the supernatural and its history. In spite of all the knowledge it held, the room itself was usually pretty empty. S.I.D. members weren’t required to do any reading from it, as they’d all already done more than enough studying of the supernatural in their college classes. It was used mainly as a last resort, when they needed information they could not find anywhere else.

“I know you all think otherwise.” Geisinger said as he pulled out a spellbook from one of the shelves. “But I haven’t actually read every book in this room.”

“I’m not buying that.” Ben smirked. “Boss.”

Geisinger visibly flinched at that word, his smile instantly disappearing. “You guys will never stop pissing me off with that huh?”

Ben shook his head.

Geisinger groaned, but his face soon returned to a smile. “Hey you know what? Let’s play a game, like your parents did when you were five. If you call me ‘boss’ or ‘captain’ again, I won’t change you back until Monday.”

Ben retained his smirk. “You certainly make a good offer, cap… turing demons is something you do really well, do you know that?”

“Why thank you.” Geisinger replied in a mocking tone. “It’s always nice to pay your boss a compliment, right?”

“Right.”

Geisinger chuckled as he flipped through the spellbook. “I think it was page… one hundred thirty-three.” He continued to flip. “Here it is.”

He laid the open book down on a book stand. “Try to stand still for this.” He told Ben.

Ben nodded.

Geisinger concentrated down onto the book and began to read out the spell. Doing the spell properly required more than simply reading it out. It meant you had to focus and, in a sense, “become one” with your magic. It was a tricky thing to do, and practice was needed to pull it off. Gender bending spells in particular were some of the more challenging spells, as were all transformation spells. Focus and control was absolutely key here.

Geisinger finished reading off the spell and allowed his magic to run free, aiming it right toward Ben. He opened his eyes and saw Ben’s body glowing white. The white light continued to grow brighter, getting closer and closer to completely engulfing his body.

And then the white light faded and Ben was left still as a woman.

“Huh.” Geisinger said in confusion. “That should’ve worked.”

Ben looked down at his body. “Are you sure you did it right?”

“I’m pretty sure? That’s the same way I always do it.”

“Well do it again because I know for a fact I didn’t move a muscle.”

Geisinger went back to the spellbook and read out the spell again, making sure to be extra focused this time. When he was finished, he saw the familiar sight of a body glowing with a white that was getting brighter every second.

And then the same thing happened. The white faded and Ben was still a woman.

“Yeah, something is definitely wrong here.” Geisinger said

“Really? I didn’t notice.” Ben said back, sarcastic and a bit stressed. “How could you tell?”

“Shut up. Those spells should have worked.” Geisinger said. “I’ll do it again.”

And he did it again. And Ben remained a woman, again.

“What the fuck is going on!?” Ben yelled. “Are you going senile?”

“I’m forty-three. That’s not that old.” Geisinger replied, stress starting to overtake him. “And I’ve done this spell perfectly, every time. It’s like your body is rejecting it.”

“What?”

“Whenever I try to do the spell, your body doesn’t let the magic go through. It’s like it's being blocked.”

“Why is it doing that!? I was cleared right?”

“Yeah. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be working. And yet, it isn’t.” Geisinger said. “The machine may have made a mistake. Even the best technology isn’t immune to failure. I don’t see how something as big as this could’ve been missed though…”

“So what do we do?” Ben asked, almost desperate.

Geisinger stared down at the spellbook.

“We try every spell we can.”

***

They didn’t try every spell they could, but in just one hour Geisinger must have broken some kind of record for most spells performed on a single person. He tried a huge variety of different spells, some to change Ben back into a man directly, some to simply fix ailments, some to return one to their original form, and some to try to break the supposed barrier on Ben’s body.

All the same result, nothing worked. Nothing even came close. Ben was still a woman after every single spell.

“I think I figured out the problem.” Geisinger said. “It’s not your body rejecting the magic, it’s your soul. It’s not letting you change back into a man. It’s forcing you to remain a woman.”

“Why would it do that?” Ben asked, exasperated.

“I don’t know. This shouldn’t happen. I have no idea what to do.” Geisinger said, tired from all the spell casting. “Do you remember what happened before your transformation?” He asked. “When you fell into that trap?”

Ben took a deep breath as those events came back into his mind. He didn’t want to think about them again, but right now he really needed some answers. He shouldn’t lie to Geisinger, of all people.

Plus, it wasn’t like he needed to tell him everything.

“It was the sphere of white light. The same one Antonio saw, for sure.” Ben said. “It hit me and then… this happened.”

“That’s what did it?” Geisinger asked. “The light?”

“Yeah.”

“That… could be bad…” He remarked. “But by the looks of things I don’t think anything too serious will happen. I’ll do some research and see if there’s any case of something like this happening in history.”

“What do you mean you WILL do research.” Ben asked.

Geisinger sighed. “I’m sorry Ben, I really am. But I need to get back to work. I didn’t think this would take so long. Your shift here is over anyway.”

“What, you're just going to leave me like this? It’s Friday!”

“I know, but Ben, I have work I need to get done. I’ll look into your problem this weekend, I promise.” He said. “You should go home for now.”

“But Jacqueline! What am I supposed to tell her? I can’t go home like this! What will she think!?”

Geisinger cringed, feeling a strong sense of sympathy for Ben’s situation. “Just… just wing it, okay?” He took notice of the time. “I really gotta go. Uh… good luck.”

He walked out of the library, leaving Ben alone.

***

It took a few minutes before Ben was finally ready to leave the library, and a few more before he was ready to leave the S.I.D. building altogether.

As he was walking out the front doors, he took notice of a familiar face leaving the grief counseling program. It was Johanna. Looks like she took his advice. He smiled, at least things were going well for her… relatively speaking, of course.

His smile quickly went away when he was reminded of what he would have to do tonight.

Explain his transformation to Jacqueline. How the hell was he going to manage that? It was a really embarrassing thing to have to explain, that he turned into a woman and wasn’t able to turn back. Would she accept him?

If he absolutely had to be a woman for a little while, then so be it. He could… no, she could do it. She could make a fine woman. But did Jacqueline have to be in the house too? That would just be painfully awkward.

Ben got into her car and pulled out her phone. She pulled up Jacqueline’s number and began texting her a message.

“Well, here goes nothing.”

“Hey, Jacqueline. Something happened to me during the mission today. I don’t know what it is, but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

While in the Forbidden Cave I was transformed into a woman. I’m not sure how or why it happened, but it did. I was cleared of having any serious curses or corruption, but for some reason I can not change back. Apparently my soul is ‘rejecting’ the magic, and leaving me stuck like this.

Yeah, I don’t get it either.

Whatever’s going on, I promise everything will be fine. I’ll be back to normal in no time. Nothing bad is going to happen.

…

I’m sure of it.”

***

Jacqueline wasted no time in getting home. As soon as she saw the texts she went to her boss and said there was a dire situation she had to immediately leave work for.

Racing down the roads to her driveway, she quickly exited her car and almost sprinted to the front door.

Opening it, she arrived into the living room, and was met face first by the figure of a woman, standing still in the corner.

A woman who bore a striking resemblance to Ben.

“Oh god.” Jacqueline said.

The woman stood in the corner, seemingly embarrassed and ashamed at the situation. Her head turned to the side, avoiding the sight of her.

Jacqueline slowly walked up to her. Even just looking at her was bizarre, it was hard for her to process that this was Ben. She resembled him, sure. She even looked like she could be his sister. But she just… she couldn’t be him. Jacqueline couldn’t see this woman and make herself see Ben.

When Jacqueline got close, she laid her hand on the woman’s cheek. Unlike with Ben, she didn’t have to look up. Ben had been a few inches taller than her, while this woman matched Jacqueline’s height.

With a slight push of her hand, Jacqueline moved the woman’s head back to her.

Time seemed to stop as the two stared into each other’s eyes. Jacqueline had heard before that the eyes were the window into the soul. Gazing deep into the woman’s eyes before her, she saw someone deeply worried, fearful even, but doing their best to hide it. To try and exude power and control. To be the one to offer the help and assurance that everyone else needed.

She knew she had seen those eyes many times before.

“Ben.”

Ben’s eyes darted down for a second, shame once again appearing on her face.

“How did this happen?”

For another few seconds, silence hung in the room.

“One thing led to another.” Ben said. “Everything just kind of spiraled out of control.”

Hearing Ben’s new voice hit home to Jacqueline just how much had happened to her.

“I don’t know how to undo this.” Ben said. “Everything seems to get worse the more I think about it.”

“Are you scared?”

Ben didn’t answer that question. She was supposed to be the fighter, the warrior, the one meant to protect people. She couldn’t bear to hear herself say she was scared.

“This will get fixed. I promise.”

Jacqueline rubbed Ben’s face with her thumb. Whether Ben said that to assure herself or Jacqueline, she didn’t know. She wanted to believe that this was simply another challenge she’d have to overcome as part of her job. She wanted to believe that she’d win and everything would be okay by the end, like always.

But a small part of her at the back of her mind couldn’t stop fearing the worst.

***

Dinner was mostly quiet. Jacqueline tried to engage Ben into conversation, but she was very withdrawn, and not much could be gotten out of her aside from short, one-word responses.

Fortunately, watching a movie afterwards did cheer her up a little. She was actually beginning to engage with the world again, albeit slowly. Jacqueline kept reassuring her she was in over her head, that she was worrying too much about what will probably be nothing. After all, as of now, she’s just become a woman. There could be plenty of explanations as to why she’s stuck like this. Jumping to conclusions wasn’t helping anyone.

That seemed to help her. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Either way, she was doing pretty well by the end.

Jacqueline gave her a deep kiss to further lift her spirits. Kissing Jacqueline as a woman was a much different experience from kissing her as a man, but it felt just as good. It assured her that, no matter what would happen, they’d be together, by one another’s side, always.

***

The shower was… weird. In the scanning room, Ben only needed to look at her naked body. Here, she needed to get… acquainted with it, so to speak.

If she was honest with herself though, it wasn’t too bad. She still wasn’t used to seeing a woman’s body from this perspective, and feeling a pair of breasts that were her own was incredibly bizarre, but she figured it’d feel perfectly natural in time.

In fact, since Jacqueline seems to be okay with what happened, maybe Ben really could partake in a learning experience. Finally seeing firsthand how the other half lives. It was a rare and unique opportunity. When she became a man again, she’d undoubtedly be able to understand women, and Jacqueline, a lot more.

Turning the shower nozzle off, Ben stepped out of the shower, dried herself off, then headed over to the toilet. She may have eaten a little too much earlier.

“Are you about done in there?” Jacqueline asked from across the door. “You’re taking forever.”

“Shut up. If you suddenly became a man you’d take a long time too.”

Jacqueline laughed.

“It’s not funny!”

“It is though. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t laugh if I had to deal with having a dick.”

Ben sighed, but was able to find the humor in it and smirked.

After flushing the toilet and washing her hands, Ben was about to put her clothes on. That was, until the bathroom door opened abruptly, revealing Jacqueline, naked from head to toe.

Ben stared at her in wonder. Not near the first time she had seen Jacqueline naked, but this time was very different. She wasn’t really suggesting…

A smile and a slight giggle was all it took for Ben to get the message.

In an instant, they both jumped onto their bed, wrapped up in each other’s bodies and ready for wherever the night could take them.

To their right, the toilet could be heard filling up. If they had taken the time to check it, they would’ve seen something not there before. Something the toilet wasn’t able to flush.

Within the bowl, stuck to the side, laid a small piece of white silk, like a line in a web.

A swirl of leaves spun infinitely around Ben as she frolicked through the trees. With every step she passed by hordes of flowers and wondrous, lifelike plants. She felt them along with the grass below her with her bare feet. Her entire body was bare, for that matter. She figured it brought her closer to the bare Earth.

The sun atop cast a beautiful light down onto the whole forest. It was a light that was never too strong, with a heat never too overbearing. Just enough to take in its strength and almost loving embrace with the world below. In the distance she saw a waterfall. The constant sound of its water plunging into the depths beneath it was oddly calming and therapeutic.

A branch of a tree had been tilted and lowered, bearing with it a collection of fruit. Ben reached out her hand and grabbed one, raising it to her lips and taking a bite. She reveled in its sweet juices and natural sugar.

The Earth was beautiful. So beautiful. It was such a shame she had never taken the time to notice.

Suddenly, as if following some unspoken command, Ben turned her head upwards. At first she wasn’t sure why, but soon she saw the reason.

The floating island.

She knew in her heart that island held the pinnacle of nature’s beauty. Was she ready to be a part of it?

Ben raised her hand toward the island, desperate to reach it. As she did, she felt her surroundings fade away into non-existence. She just needed to touch it. Even if just to feel its waterfalls again. Just one touch.

Ben felt something get into her eyes. She tried to blink it away, and in doing so she found herself in her bed again, just as she was last night. Under the covers, in her bedroom, with Jacqueline by her side. Nothing out of the ordinary.

At first she felt disappointed, but soon a smile overtook her lips. Perhaps she wasn’t ready to step onto the island yet. That was okay. She’d get there soon. It was only a matter of time.

Ben felt an annoying buzzing around the side of her bed stand. She turned to it and saw a fly. She let out a silent groan. How did that thing even get in here? All the windows were closed.

Not wanting to get out of bed, Ben took a folder and smacked down onto the fly.

To her surprise, she actually caught it. It stopped buzzing around.

She turned the folder over in her hand to see the dead fly stuck to it. Well, looks like she wasted a perfectly good folder. It was a good thing nothing important was in it. Getting out of bed, she went into the bathroom and tossed the folder into the trash bin.

Examining her reflection in the mirror, she found herself puzzled. She couldn’t recall a time when she had killed a fly on the first try. Hell, she couldn’t even recall a time when she had killed a fly on the fifth try. Usually she just gave up. Odd. Perhaps last night had really worked to energize her.

A smile broke onto Ben’s face as last night came back to her mind. She turned to the bed, seeing Jacqueline sleeping peacefully within it. Last night. What a night that was. She never thought pleasure as a woman could feel so good. It was apparent Jacqueline knew the ins and outs of Ben’s current body better than Ben herself did. She was thankful she had Jacqueline’s hand to guide her. She’d be lost otherwise.

Come to think of it, she was feeling really energetic today. This was completely different from how she usually felt in the mornings. It was a welcome change. With a spring in her step, she ran over to the kitchen, already prepared for what she knew would be a very productive day.

***

Groggy, Jacqueline woke up and willed herself to not roll off the side of the bed. She checked the time. The clock read 8:13 AM. Shit, she was going to be late for-

Oh right, it was Saturday. She needed to stop losing track of this stuff.

She turned over to her side and saw that Ben was not in bed. Looks like she got up early this time. A few rooms away she heard searing. Making breakfast already too. Damn, she’s really not giving her any time today.

Slightly annoyed, Jacqueline stepped out of bed. She could have just stayed in bed but if Ben’s already making breakfast she might as well get up now. She huffed, only one day as a woman and already she seems to have gotten over it. That was quick, maybe she should congratulate her.

Jacqueline walked into the kitchen and saw Ben cooking some steak on the stove.

“Good morning.” She said to Jacqueline.

Jacqueline raised an eyebrow. “Steak? For breakfast? Really?”

“Why not?” Ben asked. “Who decided to make rules on what foods should be eaten at each time of day? How much do you want?”

Jacqueline took a seat at the dining room table. “I’m good, not in the mood.” She said.

“Suit yourself.” Ben said, laying another steak onto the skillet.

Jacqueline got out her laptop and took the time to find any remotely interesting news stories to read. She couldn’t find much. Some local school had seen reports of books moving around on their own, and suspected supernatural beings inside. It might make for a good enough plot for an episode of a mediocre teen TV show, but it failed to capture Jacqueline’s attention.

“You seem in a good mood today.” Jacqueline said to Ben. “Already like being a woman? You were really torn up yesterday. What changed?”

“Maybe it was the orgasms.” Ben joked, and Jacqueline huffed alongside her. “But whatever it was, I’m feeling good today. Very good. I don’t think I’ve ever felt better.”

“Ever?”

“Never.” Ben confirmed with a flip of her tongs. “Just bursting with energy, like a kid about to go to recess. Shit, I feel like a million bucks.” She slammed her fist onto the counter to emphasize that last point.

Jacqueline was a bit taken aback by her force. “Woah, calm down. It’s Saturday morning, Ben.”

“I know.” Ben said. “What a time to be active and involved.”

Jacqueline rolled her eyes. If there was some opposite to coffee, Ben could really use it.

***

Ben’s hyperactivity did not tone down as she finished the steak. In fact, it only seemed to grow.

“Look at that.” Ben remarked, sitting down across from Jacqueline. “That is beautiful. A perfect medium well. Just look at how juicy it is. I swear, I’ve never done a steak so well.”

“Turning into a food critic?” Jacqueline asked sarcastically.

“Maybe.” Ben said, taking a bite of the steak. “Who wouldn’t? Food is such an incredible thing. We should savor it.”

Jacqueline hummed, continuing to do her best to tone out Ben’s overactive behavior.

“I knew we had some good butchers around here. Never gave them the recognition they deserved.”

“You seem awful into meat sculpting today.” Jacqueline observed. “When did you suddenly become immersed with the wonders of protein?”

“I mean, it’s just a fascinating concept.” Ben explained. “I’m literally eating something that was a living being before.”

“Umm, yeah? That’s what meat is.”

“Just think about it. This…” Ben pointed down at the steak, “used to be a living, breathing cow. And then its insides were converted into this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Butchers, they take these cows and slaughter them, slicing through all the blood and organs to sculpt their meaty insides into something beautiful.”

“Uh…”

Ben raised her hands and imitated stabbing and slicing. “It’s so brutal. How can we call ourselves a civilized species when we still savagely cut up animals like butter?”

“Ben, I don’t really want to talk about this right now.”

“Hold on!” Ben exclaimed. “Just bear with me for a moment. Could you imagine if it were me in there? Cutting up animals and mutilating them like that? It’s insane to imagine.”

Ben’s smile and laugh held an almost eerie aura as she cheerfully described the experience of butchering animals, while eating, without a hint of hesitation. It was starting to make Jacqueline very uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?” Jacqueline asked, concerned.

“I already said, I’ve never been better.” Ben answered.

“No really, you’re acting weird. More than weird. What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, but whatever it is, I love it.”

Jacqueline examined Ben, taking large bites of her steak and swallowing it oddly quickly. Ben seemed able to tear down a tough steak far faster than anyone Jacqueline had ever seen before. And she was stuffing a lot of meat into her mouth at once. Did she even notice?

If Jacqueline wasn’t creeped out before, she definitely was now. She needed to clear her head.

“You know.” She started. “I just remembered, I have some errands I need to run. I better get to them.”

Jacqueline stood up from her chair, with Ben standing up alongside her.

“Where do you need to go? I’ll help you.”

“Actually, no.” Jacqueline said. “I’d… rather go alone.”

“Why?”

“I- I just need some time alone.” She said. “We all need some time alone. You understand, right?”

Ben’s face held a blank expression for a few seconds, but eventually she voiced agreement.

“Yeah, of course I do.”

Jacqueline nodded uneasily, grabbing her purse and car keys.

“I’ll be back in a few hours.”

***

Ben sat down motionlessly on her bed. Once Jacqueline had left, a deep-seated guilt began to eat away at her.

She’d gotten too excited hadn’t she? She was so wrapped up in her newfound energy that she hadn’t considered if Jacqueline was put off by it. She had driven her away.

She really messed up didn’t she? She was a grown man… woman, she should know better.

Ben rubbed her hands through her face, exasperated and ashamed. She got her phone and began texting an apology.

“I’m sorry about this morning, babe. I got a little too carried away, I know. Promise it won’t happen again.”

Tossing the phone aside, Ben contemplated what she should do to get her mind off what happened that morning. Doing nothing certainly wouldn’t help her guilt, and she had already said to herself this would be a productive day.

Looking out her window, Ben caught sight of the abandoned warehouse at the end of their neighborhood. Seeing it, she got an idea.

Why not put her new energy to the test?

***

Wearing only a sports bra and a pair of athletic shorts she stole from Jacqueline, Ben made her way over to the warehouse, giddy at the thought of seeing just how far this new body of hers could go. As someone who was very physically fit, Ben knew when she was going to have a good day.

And by the looks of it, this was going to be a very good day.

Arriving at the warehouse, Ben was met with a vast, open, empty hall. It was apparent from the look of the place that it had been worn down. Not to the point where it was falling apart, but the metal of the ceiling and walls was undoubtedly weaker than it should have been. Whatever this building was originally used for, Ben had no idea. It had been abandoned when she and Jacqueline first moved into the neighborhood. These days it was mostly just a place for mischievous teens to mess around in.

Staring up at the ceiling above her, an idea suddenly hit Ben’s mind. On the face of it, it sounded really stupid and absurd, but she just… she needed to try it.

She bent her knees down and focused on one of the metal handles on the ceiling. Then, with all her force, she jumped into the air, presumably about thirty feet, to try and grab it.

It was something a child would do, someone with no concept of how the world actually works outside of their overactive imaginations. A twenty-four year old former man had no business trying to jump thirty feet in the air to grab something to hold onto. Ben should be ashamed for even considering it.

And yet, she did it.

And even crazier, she had actually made it to the handle.

“Holy shit.” Ben said, processing what she just did.

Surprisingly, the handle was able to fully support Ben’s weight. She definitely felt lighter than she used to be, which considering her apparent strength, should have been impossible. Magic really was the middle finger to physicists and biologists everywhere

Looking down, she saw the ground below her. Unlike all the times she’d been high up before, it didn’t look the least bit intimidating. Was it because holding onto the bar took barely any effort, or was it because overcoming all her old fears was one of the traits given to her by the transformation? She had no idea.

Wanting to continue moving forward with her experiments, Ben decided to start doing pull ups, just to see how many she could do. As a man, while pull ups were never her specialty, she could still do about eighteen in a minute. People had always told her that was very impressive, but she had a hard time seeing it that way. Compared to most people at the S.I.D., eighteen pull ups was hardly noteworthy.

Being a woman now, realistically she should be doing less than eighteen, but it was already clear that this body did not care about how human biology should work.

Once the ten second mark had passed, Ben had already done fifteen pull ups and counting. She wasn’t even remotely tired, and she was hanging thirty feet in the air!

Twenty seconds passed, and she had reached thirty pull ups. Thirty seconds, forty-four. Forty seconds, fifty-eight. Fifty seconds, seventy-two.

And finally, when the full minute had passed, she had completed eighty-six pull ups. And still, she felt like she barely broke a sweat.

Holy hell, no wonder magic was banned from sports competitions. She just broke the world record for most pull ups in a minute and she barely had to try.

Wait, how did she even know when one full minute had passed? Had she… measured the time in her head? She just seemed to know exactly how much time had passed. Was that also one of her powers now? What wasn’t she capable of?

“Holy shit.” Ben said.

She let go of the metal handle and fell thirty feet to the ground. Her feet hit the metal floor with barely any impact on her body. It was as if she only dropped an inch.

Looking around at all the walls of the warehouse, a grin crept its way onto Ben’s face. Whatever that light in the cave did to her, she was grateful for. This body wasn’t a curse, it was a gift.

And this was only the beginning.

“Jacqueline, meet me at the abandoned warehouse when you come home. I’ve got a surprise you will not believe.”

Jacqueline had lost track of how many times she’d read that text. She still wasn’t sure if she should reply. Ben never texted anything else after it. Every time she checked her phone, that’s where their texts ended.

Jacqueline put her phone down. She knew it was only a matter of time before she pulled it up again, doomed to repeat the seemingly never-ending cycle of reading that same text over and over.

She didn’t want to be afraid. She hadn’t wanted to dread driving back home.

Her mind had other plans.

Jacqueline sighed as she put away the last of her groceries. She had a hunch that if she didn’t go into the warehouse, Ben would suddenly come into the house and try to scare her.

The fact that she was even able to imagine that scenario only made her fear grow.

***

Jacqueline’s pace slowed as she made it closer to the warehouse. She might have been able to ignore her quickening heartbeat before, but she couldn’t anymore.

Why was she so afraid? It was just Ben right? Sure, she was a little overexcited this morning, but that didn’t mean anything. Everyone has an overactive morning every once in a while. She was just overreacting, being overly paranoid. There was nothing to be scared of, she was sure of it.

Jacqueline took the final steps into the abandoned warehouse, trying to convince herself that she was imagining everything.

She was only half successful.

Jacqueline took her first steps into the warehouse, hearing them reverberate around the whole building. The entire place was eerily silent otherwise, so much so that Jacqueline’s fear began to take hold once again.

Her footsteps continued in a constant, repetitive motion.

Step, step, step.

Step, step, step.

She quickly darted her head around the warehouse. Where was Ben? Why wasn’t she coming to her? She had told her to come here, right? Did she leave?

Step, step, step.

Jacqueline’s breaths were beginning to grow heavy. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that whatever brought her here did not have good intentions.

Suddenly, Jacqueline heard a loud slam behind her. She quickly turned her head toward the noise and was met with the sight of Ben, wearing her athletic clothes. At first she felt relieved, but soon that relief was replaced by frustration.

“Hey.” Ben said.

“What took you so long?” Jacqueline asked. “I was getting worried.”

Ben chuckled. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see your reaction when you came in. You haven’t been here very often.”

“Why? There’s never really a reason to come here.” Jacqueline said.

Ben chuckled again. “Oh, I just thought it’d be neat.” She began moving closer to her.

“Were you on the ceiling?”

“Yeah. Pretty cool huh?”

“How?” Jacqueline asked. “How did you just… fall down from there like it was nothing?”

Stopping her walk, Ben smirked. “That was part of the surprise I was talking about. Take a look at this.”

Jacqueline watched as Ben effortlessly jumped thirty feet into the air, grabbing hold of the metal handle on the ceiling. Staring up at her, she saw Ben take one of her hands off the handle and wave down at her.

“How did you… how did you get this… this ability?”

Ben let go of the handle and dropped back down to the floor. “It was part of the transformation, it seems. I don’t know the full details, but you have to admit it’s pretty cool, right?”

Jacqueline wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Hold on.” Ben said as she ran to the metal wall. “Check this out.”

Ben got into a fighting stance and began punching the wall. Her hard hits reverberated throughout the whole building. Dents were quickly forming on the wall with no visible bruises or damage to Ben’s hands. It wasn’t long before a hole had been made completely through the wall to the outside.

Ben took a step away from the hole, smiling as if she was showing off an accomplishment.

“Well…” Jacqueline started. “You can… punch through metal.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ben said excitedly. “Pretty cool right? Just think about it, with all this I could be the next big superhero.”

“Superhero? Ben, you already fight demons and monsters. You already help people. You don’t need to become a superhero.”

“I know, but with this strength I can do so much more. Hell, I can even track time exactly in my head. If I can do that, who knows what my mental limits are now.”

“Ben, I…” Jacqueline hesitated for a bit, but pushed forward. “I really need to tell you something. I should’ve told you earlier, but… you’re starting to freak me out.”

“Freak you out?” Ben questioned. “Look I know I was a bit hyper this morning but-”

“No Ben, it’s going much further than that. When I see you now, you’re not acting like yourself. Something’s wrong. Very, very wrong.”

“How so?”

“Ben, look at what you’re doing! Look at what you’re saying! You’re gaining all of these… these traits and you’re not the least bit concerned? You’re not the least bit worried? These are strong powers, and the way you’re so happy about them, being nothing but proud of them, it’s… it’s scary Ben.”

“Cut me some slack, I just found out I could jump thirty feet in the air. You can’t expect me not to be excited about that. If you suddenly woke up with a huge burst of energy, you’d want to use it, right?”

“Are you not the least bit worried about how you got all this ‘energy’?”

“Well…” Ben hesitated. “Look, all that’s happened is that I’ve gotten a little excited, and I have some neat powers now. That’s it. If there was something very sinister going on, surely the curse and corruption machine would’ve caught it. It’s top of the line technology.”

“And yet it couldn’t predict that you would be stuck like this.” Jacqueline retorted. “You can’t change back. If it couldn’t catch that, what else about you could it have missed?” She asked. “You were really afraid yesterday, what changed?”

“Look, Jacqueline. There are plenty of reasons I could be stuck like this. It doesn’t have to be a curse…” Ben thought over the situation, seeming almost strained to come up with something. “That machine mainly checks for negative things anyway. This…” She gestured at herself. “This is not a negative thing.”

Ben reached her hand up to touch Jacqueline’s face, but Jacqueline backed away, concern and fear overtaking her features.

“Jacqueline… there is nothing wrong with me.” Ben said

She continued backing away.

“Jacqueline, trust me.”

She turned swiftly and ran out of the warehouse.

“Jacqueline!” Ben tried to call out, but her cries were left unanswered.

***

Jacqueline ran into the bedroom, quickly shutting the door behind her and locking it. She needed to be quick, she had no idea how fast Ben was now. She sat down, with her back right against the door, and brought herself into the fetal position.

She brought her head down between her knees, wrapping herself up in a tight ball.

She didn’t want to run away from Ben. She didn’t want to be afraid of her. She wanted to believe, in her heart, so badly, that she was just worrying too much. That everything was in her head and she was blowing things out of proportion.

But no matter what, whenever she looked at Ben that day, she just looked so… wrong, in a way Jacqueline just couldn’t explain.

She needed some time away from her. She didn’t know how much, she thought the few hours spent driving in circles and stopping at a single store would do it. Apparently not.

She closed her eyes and wrapped herself up tighter.

She heard a knock on her bedroom door.

“Jacqueline?” She heard a woman’s voice say. “Are you in there?”

It was Ben. Jacqueline opened her eyes, but didn’t come out of the fetal position.

“I don’t want to talk right now.” She said.

She heard a quiet sigh from the other side of the door. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I didn’t mean to get carried away… again. It’s just, I was so excited about my new powers. I wanted to show them off.”

“Ben.” Jacqueline said. “This whole situation looks really bad. I don’t know how you can’t see that.”

“Jacqueline, me becoming stronger is a good thing. Everything that’s happening here is good.”

“You don’t sound convincing. Do you even believe that?”

“Why can’t you just…” Ben sounded frustrated for a bit but then paused. “Okay… let’s- let’s dial this back a little bit.”

Jacqueline didn’t respond.

“Would you feel better if I made an appointment with a magic doctor?”

“Ben, that’s something you should do for you, not me.”

“I know, but… would it make you feel better?”

“I don’t know.”

Ben was silent on the other end for a while. Jacqueline didn’t hear anything from her until she seemed to pull something out of her pocket, and dial for someone on her phone.

“Hello?” She heard her say. “Yes, I’d like to schedule an appointment… um, magic doctor, please… uh, Benjamin Cross… yes I know it’s a man’s name, it’s a long story… I, uh, I seem to have some powers now too… oh, not much, just some super strength and agility, basic stuff… yeah well they’re common powers… common for people who have powers anyway… Oh shut up, this is just semantics now… Tuesday, yeah I can do Tuesday… alright, thank you, bye.”

Ben ended the call.

“Does that make you feel better?”

Jacqueline slowly raised her head up from her legs, getting up from her position and unlocking the door. She opened it to see Ben, still in her athletic wear.

“Let’s just take it easy for now, okay?” Jacqueline said. “Can you promise me that?”

Ben nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

***

For the rest of the day, Ben stood by her word. She did take it easy, even when her body was screaming for her to let out some energy. Whenever that happened, she managed by sneaking off to the bathroom and doing some flips.

It was crazy how easy it was for her to do flips now.

Thankfully this energy calmed down by nightfall. She could rest knowing she’d be able to get some sleep.

By the time she got into bed, Jacqueline and her had loosened up considerably. She could tell Jacqueline still wasn’t entirely relaxed, but it was manageable. At least she wasn’t running away from her in fear.

“Jackie.” Ben said, reaching out to stroke her cheek. “I really liked what we did last night…” She held onto the pause after saying that. “Do you want to do it again?”

Jacqueline was quiet for a few seconds.

“I’m not in the mood. I’d rather go to sleep.”

She turned over on her side of the bed. Ben grinned as she did so, reaching up to kiss her lips.

“Good night, my love.”

Ben didn’t notice the drop of drool that fell onto Jacqueline’s cheek before she fell asleep.

It lightly burned the surface of her skin.

***

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

A very familiar voice rang out. It was the same as before, it wasn’t an explicit voice she could actually hear. She just knew something, somewhere was communicating with her.

Ben gazed around at her surroundings. She was right in front of a huge waterfall, cascading harshly below.

“Look.”

She didn’t need to guess what she was told to look at, she already knew. She turned her head upward, catching sight of the floating island that was always beyond her grasp. She reached her hand out to it. Nothing happened.

She needed to get up there.

She tried leaping into the air, hoping she’d be able to make it.

She couldn’t make it. At the height at her jump, the island was still far, far away from her.

“Beauty is in all nature. You have been given an opportunity to take part in it.”

Ben noticed she didn’t fall back down. She was stuck floating in mid air.

“Make it count.”

Suddenly, everything disappeared, and Ben was left alone in the dark once again.

The sun’s rays crept through the windows of Jacqueline’s bedroom, waking her up with a bright and irritating sensation in her eyesight. Groaning, she climbed out of bed. This was far from the first time the sun had been an annoyance. Why did she think it was a good idea to choose the bedroom with so many windows? Why did this bedroom have so many windows to begin with?

Turning around, she saw Ben was not in bed with her. She must have gotten up early again. Hopefully she wouldn’t be as active and off-putting as yesterday.

Jacqueline headed over to the bathroom. As she got there, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped. Something didn’t look right. She turned her head toward her reflection and leaned in closer, focusing her eyes on the oddity.

She raised her hand toward her cheek and rubbed it.

It was burnt.

Not badly burnt. It was only first degree and it didn’t really hurt bad, but it was definitely burnt. It looked and felt burnt anyway. How did this happen? How did she burn overnight? At the very least the burn should’ve woken her up, right?

She might have had a skin infection. Jacqueline knew there were some skin conditions that could mimic burns. She’d have to bring that up with her doctor the next time she saw them.

Taking her hand off her cheek, Jacqueline headed over to the kitchen, expecting to see Ben there. She didn’t. She did see a note on the dining room table however. She picked it up and read it.

“Jackie, I’m going on a morning jog to the city today. I’ll probably walk through the city a bit too, just to clear my head, you know? I’ll be back by afternoon, love you.”

Jacqueline put the note down and sighed. Ben usually wasn’t one to just run off without telling her first, but it seemed Ben was doing a lot of things she didn’t “usually” do lately. She sat down and rubbed her face in exasperation. She really hoped the magic doctor would be able to tell what was wrong with her.

***

Ben heard a car honking at someone across from her as she jogged along the sidewalk. All around her were sounds of engines running, sirens blaring, people yelling, and street food frying.

The sounds of the city were just wonderful. They were always sure to set up a perfect atmosphere.

Checking the sign to make sure the coast was clear, Ben jogged across another crosswalk, coming to a stop on the other side. She had been jogging for a while at that point, over an hour in fact, at a pretty fast pace.

She wasn’t even remotely tired. Superhuman stamina was such a useful power.

No, if there was one thing she was tired of, it was her hair. It kept blowing onto her face whenever she ran, and it was quickly getting on her nerves. She never had long hair before, she didn’t know how much of a pain it could be. She should really learn how to tie it up, or maybe she could just cut it off. Either option worked.

Ben rested her hand on the building behind her and gazed around at the city. So many restaurants, she should probably stop by one. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning, and her hunger-

Ben’s eyes widened in shock as she suddenly took her hand off the building and raised it to her eyes, closely examining every inch of it.

No, there’s no way it-

Ben laid the hand back onto the building for a few seconds, quickly pulling it back after she felt the exact same sensation. She put her other hand on the building to see if it was the same for both hands, it was.

“No fucking way.” She said.

She turned to her right and saw a pedestrian staring at her, looking clearly perplexed.

“Uh, sorry I was just…” She started. “I’ll be out of your way.”

She ran and weaved through the people around her, leaving many of them confused.

She eventually reached an alleyway and entered it, moving far enough in so as to hopefully not cause too much disturbance. She looked to her right and left to check for other people. Thankfully, no one else was there.

She let out a loud breath and brought her hands to her knees. She really needed to be mindful of onlookers. She didn’t want to test her new powers with a bunch of people watching her.

Slowly, Ben turned and placed both of her hands firmly on the building in front of her. Taking her hands off, she reached down and took her shoes off, leaving herself barefoot. Then, with a few breaths, she jumped onto the side of the building.

And she stook.

“Oh my god.” She whispered.

She raised her left hand off the building, staring at it in awe.

This was completely insane! How was this possible? She had only seen this kind of thing in the movies, never in anyone in real life. And yet, here she was, clinging onto this wall like it was nothing.

It was such a bizarre sensation, completely unlike any feeling she got when holding onto something before. There wasn’t a definitive grip or grab that she felt. Rather, her hands and feet felt firmly stuck to the building, in a way that would support her weight. It didn’t feel uncomfortable or straining either. It just came naturally.

In a slow motion, she placed her left hand back onto the building, at a much higher spot this time, and then did the same with her right hand. Her feet soon followed, and then, to her complete disbelief, she was climbing. She was legitimately climbing, without gripping onto anything.

She made it about halfway up the building until she dropped down. Much like before, she landed on her feet without a hitch, as if the drop was nothing at all. She was really curious about the science of that, and if it technically broke the laws of physics. She was well aware of how magic could give scientists a mindfuck. She couldn’t remember a single week where Geisinger hadn’t complained about how hard it was to bring the two together.

Ben put her shoes back on and walked back behind the building. She felt the familiar contracting of her stomach as she did so, reminding her again that she should really find someplace to eat before leaving. She put that thought on hold for now. She still wanted to test her powers, and she needed some place to do so without people around to watch her.

She reached the end of the building and was met with a sort of sketchy looking back alley, complete with a gated wall blocking the outside. Looked like this was the edge of the city. She hadn’t realized she was so close to it. How many cities even have gates like this? It couldn’t be that many. What was even the point? It’s not like it could ever block anyone out, with how short it was. She wasn’t an urban planner though, so maybe there was something here she didn’t understand.

Looking around, she wasn’t able to see anyone close. There were a few people she saw to her right, but that was it.

She was about to turn away when she suddenly heard a scream.

She instantly shot her head back, her eyes staring intently on the few figures she just saw.

It was a group of five men, one of them was being held down to the ground by another, and one in front was pointing a knife at him. The other two were watching at each side of the knife wielder, as if to make sure the man on the ground didn’t escape.

She couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, but she didn’t have to. She knew this was an attack. And she wasn’t going to let it happen.

She ran fast, right into the heat of the action, hearing the conversation along the way.

“I’ve heard ‘a little longer’ way too many times. I’m tired of this shit.”

“I gave you my wallet! Isn’t that enough!”

“50 dollars? No that’s not enough you dipshit. That’s not what I asked for. I’m not letting you get away with stiffing me.”

The man in front raised his knife back, ready to strike at the man on the ground. When he heard the footsteps coming from the right, he hesitated and felt his body jolt in fear. Luckily, it wasn’t a police officer, just some random woman. He turned his attention toward her, with the others following his gaze.

“What’s a bitch like you doing here?” He asked her. “This is gonna get messy. You better leave.”

“Maybe you could stay and suck my dick.” The guy to his right laughed.

Ben didn’t react. She just stared at them, cold and emotionless.

“I said leave, girl!” The man with the knife yelled. “If not, you’re joining him.”

Again, Ben didn’t react. She simply stared.

The man groaned and moved toward her, raising his knife to stab her. As he did, she quickly caught his hand with a strong grip, stopping it immediately. The man soon felt a huge pressure on his wrist.

“What the hell?” He asked incredulously.

Ben proceeded to squeeze his wrist as the man tried and failed to free it. He cringed and heaved in immense pain. The other four men stood stunned in place.

Then a bone cracked. Blood flowed.

The man had no time to react before Ben threw him straight into a wall. He fell to the ground, the pain too overwhelming for him to stand back up. The other men were horrified at the sight of his wrist. It was very badly damaged, to the point where it looked like a crush injury. The skin around the wrist was pulled together, with a deep gash in the middle.

The man who was to the knife wielder’s left backed away and quickly ran off.

“Shit! She’s a meta!” The man holding down the victim exclaimed.

The man who made the comment about Ben sucking his dick swiftly picked the knife up and backed away, ready to strike. Ben got into her own fighting stance and stood, waiting for him to attack.

The man on the ground took the opportunity to rush her. The man with the knife followed. They tried to double team her.

They were not successful.

Ben jumped over them and instantly dealt two blows to the head of the man holding the knife. It left a bloody dent to his head and he fell unconscious. The second man was stunned in place as he watched. Still, in the heat of the moment and with his adrenaline high, he tried to attack Ben. He was met with a strong kick to the side that cracked his ribs. He fell to the ground in immense pain.

The victim, no longer being held down, got up and ran away in fear.

The man with the bloodied wrist looked up at Ben in astonishment. She met him with the same cold, emotionless expression she had during the entire ordeal. He moved over to the man beside him, grabbing at his side, breathing heavily. He got out his phone to call for an ambulance with his good hand. He looked over to the unconscious man, not even sure if he would make it to the hospital.

Ben casually strolled away from the men, leaving them there in that condition. They shouldn’t have been attacking someone if they didn’t want to be attacked. It was no one’s fault but their own.

Ben felt her stomach contract again. She put her hand on it. It was time to eat.

She walked out of the back alley, looking around for a restaurant to stop at. She found a burger stand at the end of the block and decided to stop there.

“Good day, ma’am. What would you like?”

“Two burgers, just put everything you have on them.”

“That’s a lot of food for a young woman.”

“I said two burgers, get to it.” Ben said angrily.

The man, startled by the tone, quickly jotted down the order as Ben gave him the money. She stood to the side and waited. She found the sound of a grill sizzling the meat calming and closed her eyes.

Another person came up during the time and placed an order. They walked next to Ben and tried multiple times to start up a conversation. She ignored them completely.

Ben heard her order was ready and took the finished burgers, not bothering to listen to the man as he told her to have a good day. She took a seat on a nearby bench and held one of the burgers in her hand.

She had never seen a burger so mouth watering before.

She shoved it into her mouth, taking half of the whole thing in and chewing it down fast. Her saliva almost seemed to attack it, helping her chew the meat by dissolving it. Before long, she was done and she put the other half in her mouth.

Again, she seemed to chew and swallow it almost inhumanely quickly.

Before she knew it, both burgers were finished and she threw the tray into a trashcan. She wiped her mouth and began the long jog back home. She had seen enough of the city.

During her jog, on the other side of the street across from her, an ambulance was loading three men into it. One of those men, having a bloodied wrist, saw her and tried to point her out to the paramedics. She was gone before they noticed.

“What the hell is this?”

Jacqueline had vigorously scrubbed the toilet bowl to the point where her arm and wrist were blazing. But in spite of all her efforts, there was something that was simply refusing to come off.

Jacqueline groaned, setting the toilet brush aside and getting down to eye the foreign substance for what could have been the millionth time.

It was a tricky thing to catch, simply glancing at the bowl would not reveal it. Jacqueline herself hadn’t noticed it until she began cleaning. And soon it became impossible for her not to notice it.

Never in her life had she witnessed something be this impossible to get off a toilet. The most extreme of stains had presented an easier challenge. No matter what she tried, it wouldn’t budge.

The most bizarre detail of all was that the substance itself did not look or even feel tough. Just a small piece of what looked like white silk. It could move, and it wasn’t a hard substance, but no matter what, it would not detach itself from the toilet bowl.

How did it get in there? How could it have gotten in there?

Jacqueline was stumped, and almost unnerved, which was the last thing she needed to feel right now.

She sighed and washed her hands, deciding to call it quits right then and there. She was planning on cleaning the shower too, until she got sidetracked. She didn’t want to deal with any of this anymore, she had too much on her plate right now.

She went out to the living room and looked outside the window. It was getting dark, and Ben still wasn’t home.

She said she’d be back by afternoon.

Jacqueline sat on the couch and turned on the TV to try to ease her nerves. She couldn’t find anything that interested her. Just a bunch of sports games, chintzy reality shows, and reruns of old TV episodes. In the middle of it she caught a channel playing Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”, at the scene where Norman was talking to Marion in the room with his stuffed birds. She lingered on it for a bit, then switched. She’d seen the film before.

She went on for a few more minutes before she finally stopped at a news channel. This time it was playing a story that grabbed her attention, for all the wrong reasons.

“Three men were found lying in critical condition behind a city alleyway earlier today”, the newscaster said. “One of the men had a crushed wrist, another had a broken ribcage, and a third had a severe head injury.”

During the segment, photos and videos were shown of where the injuries took place. Jacqueline recognized them immediately. It was the closest city to their house, the one she had been to plenty of times.

The one Ben was sure to have run off to today.

“One of the men says a meta attacked them. The meta he says, was a young woman. They have not been able to give any further information. Police have not been able to identify this woman, but they say they have reason to believe she was not in her right mind.”

Jacqueline felt bumps line her skin.

“All of the men are currently in the hospital at the moment, one of them likely to have permanent brain damage from the incident. Despite this, they are all alive in stable condition. More will be reported from this story later on.”

Jacqueline reached her hand up and felt along her arm. She couldn’t stop herself from shivering.

The news show went on after that, but she didn’t pay attention. Hearing that story had put her on an edge so high she could hardly concentrate, at least on anything except…

She tried to reassure herself.

It… couldn’t have been Ben, right? No, of course it couldn’t. It had to be someone else. How many metas were in their area? It had to be more than one. Surely, there was some other woman out there with powers walking in that city today. There had to be.

It wasn’t Ben.

Jacqueline looked down at herself, managing to catch her legs raising up to her chest as if to come into a fetal position. She reoriented herself immediately. She was a grown woman, not some scared teenage girl. No sick fantasy her mind could come up with was going to torment her. She could handle this, she knew she could.

It wasn’t-

She nearly jumped as the front door opened, interrupting her train of thought. She was so caught up in… she hadn’t been paying attention to the window.

She saw Ben walk into the living room, dropping off her water bottle on a table and heading over to the kitchen. She came back in with a plate of a leftover steak, which she hadn’t even bothered to reheat.

“Hey Jackie, sorry I’m a little late.” She glanced over to the darkening sky outside. “A lot late. I got sidetracked and wanted to test out my new speed. I think I’m faster than I was yesterday.”

Jacqueline slowly nodded.

Ben continued eating the steak, taking bites that seriously pushed what a human mouth should be able to take in. Her entire demeanor for that matter oozed hyperactivity. Her legs shook at a speed that humans shouldn’t be capable of. Seeing her powers weaponized like this, Jacqueline was having a hard time just being able to gather up the courage to say something to her.

“Oh!” Ben said, as if suddenly recalling something. “Jacqueline, you need to see this. I was going mad about this today.”

She put down the empty plate and stood up, removing her shoes and socks. She got up to a wall, where Jacqueline could clearly see, then jumped. She stuck, just like she had before.

She turned her head to Jacqueline, grinning. “I know, cool, right?

Jacqueline hummed nervously.

Ben moved her hand to the ceiling and soon she found herself hanging from it perfectly. She looked back to Jacqueline, her grin as wide as ever, then let go and hit the floor with a thud that shook the room.

“I can hardly believe it myself.” Ben said. “It’s like I’ve been rebuilt, piece by piece. Every little flaw gone away. I don’t think I could ever go back.”

The following nod from Jacqueline was identical to the first. Slow, stiff, and giving off nothing but the hope that whatever was going on would soon end.

It was a look that Ben was all too familiar with.

She sighed and took Jacqueline’s hand. Jacqueline pulled it away.

“Look.” Ben said, stepping back. “I know something’s wrong. You’re not okay, I can see that. I don’t like it when you’re silent like this. Please tell me what’s going on. Why are you still afraid?”

Jacqueline stared up at Ben’s eyes, reminding herself of the saying that the eyes were the window into the soul. Looking at her, she knew she was seeing Ben, or at least she was trying to tell herself that she was. She just couldn’t shake that something was very, very off.

“Where were you today?” Jacqueline whispered.

“Huh?”

“Where. Were you?” She repeated more forcefully.

“I mean… I told you when I came in, right? I went to the city, then I uh, ran, for a bit.”

“What did you do in the city?”

“Well I just… kind of walked around and-”

“What did you do in the city!?”

Jacqueline sprang up from the couch, her sudden outburst startling Ben and forcing her to involuntarily take a few steps back.

“I watched the news tonight, Ben.” Jacqueline said. “There was a story on. Three men were beaten at the end of a city, badly. It happened in the city closest to us, the one I know you were at.”

Ben’s face was drained of color.

“I know you’re gonna tell me it wasn’t you. I don’t know if I can trust you.”

Ben’s heartbeat increased, she could feel the guilt and shame rushing through her body.

Jacqueline sighed, beginning to walk out of the room. Ben reached out to her shoulder and stopped her.

“I’m sorry you think that.” She said. “You can trust me, I’ve never beat anyone like that in my life.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Jackie, I’m a good person.”

Jacqueline turned around, meeting Ben’s eyes.

“It’s what you’re becoming, Ben.”

That comment ignited something deep within Ben’s soul. In a second, her rage increased tenfold before she even knew what was happening. When Jacqueline stepped out of her grasp and walked away, Ben followed.

“You’re a fucking cunt!” She shouted.

Jacqueline stopped, but didn’t look back.

“I guess that’s how it is, right?” Ben started. “I’ve been given this opportunity to be a part of a better world much larger than myself, and you can’t stand it. You get all pissy about it and put on some fake concern for my safety just because you can’t accept this new power that I’ve been given. I can climb walls, punch through metal, jump thirty feet in the air, and you think I was better when I could die from being hit by a single car? Is the human species improving too much for you to handle?”

With a quick turn of her head and a stern look, Jacqueline surprised herself with the amount of courage she showed in spite of Ben’s rage.

“I don’t know who you are.” She said. “Whoever you are, you aren’t Ben.”

“I don’t give a fuck who you think I am.” Ben said back. “I’m better than the old Ben. I could crush him to death like a fly. You want to be a fucking prude? Fine, I don’t care. I’ll just have to find a place better suited for us.”

Jacqueline shot a sharp glare toward Ben, putting on a veneer of confidence much stronger than what she actually felt inside. She knew she was going to regret it later, but she didn’t intervene when Ben stormed off to get a jacket. She didn’t intervene when Ben went to the refrigerator for a bottle of water. She didn’t intervene when Ben walked up to the front door. She didn’t even intervene when she opened it.

The one time when she did intervene, was when Ben was about to leave.

“There is no ‘us’.” Jacqueline said to her.

Ben’s glare back was so unsettling and empty it chilled Jacqueline to the bone.

“I wasn’t talking about you.”

The front door slammed shut.

***

Tree after tree passed by Ben as she ran deeper and deeper into the forest. Before her transformation, there would have been no way she’d be able to see where she was going. Clouds covered the night sky and the moon was nowhere to be seen. No man could ever see anything in this pitch black maze.

Fortunately, she wasn’t a man anymore.

Her night vision had improved significantly from before. She could still tell it was dark, but she could see very clearly. Not only that, but the cold didn’t bother her nearly as much now. Even when she accidentally stepped into a small creek, she was mostly unfazed.

It was crazy how just being wet in the cold would have been enough to kill her back then. How could Jacqueline think that was superior to what she was now?

No, Ben wasn’t going to think about her. If Jacqueline wanted to believe that being superhuman was bad, then that was her problem. Ben didn’t care.

Sure, she may have lied to Jacqueline when saying she didn’t beat up those men, but those men deserved it anyways. Jacqueline would never understand.

Ben had no clear idea of where her destination was. She just kept running deeper and deeper into the forest because she felt she had to go somewhere. After all, it wasn’t like she got tired from running anymore.

At some point though, the day finally caught up to her and she did grow tired. She laid her head on a tree and looked up to the cloudy sky, ready for sleep to overtake her. The excitement of what she could be capable of the next day made it a bit hard for her to rest her mind, but eventually, she managed.

Before she shut her eyes for the final time however, she saw a blue flower in the distance. It was a vibrant, royal blue, absolutely beautiful. Despite its appearance, Ben couldn’t shake the sense that there was something very off about it. She didn’t know where it came from, it almost felt like instinct, but it was strong regardless. She tried for a while to pinpoint what exactly was wrong with the flower, but she could never quite figure it out.

In his younger years Geisinger would’ve thrown the book across the room without a second thought. He got angry very easily back in those days. Whenever he ran into something hard or tedious, his frustration would take over and he’d lash out. College was a very stressful time for him, more so than for most.

Of course, a lot of that anger and stress was because of…

He quickly reached his right hand up to his left arm, feeling the cold metal fitted tightly around his skin. He let out a quiet sigh in relief.

Even after all these years, he still hadn’t grown out of the need to repeatedly check, just to make sure it was still there. It always was, he hadn’t forgotten to put it on in over a decade, but in spite of that, his paranoia never left. It never even subsided. It was always present, and always as prevalent as ever.

Over the years Geisinger had become very articulate at rationalizing his paranoia. To him, constantly fretting over this was the correct thing to do, because if he slipped up, it could mean the end of his career. Maybe even more. And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t had his fair share of close calls.

In fact, just over a month ago the spell that held the metal armband in place began faltering during a fight against a pack of werewolves. The magic corrupting the animals interfered with the magic of his own band. At one point the band actually slipped off while a few S.I.D. members were watching. If it wasn’t for his acquired skills in stealth, he would never have been able to hide from them. They would’ve seen him.

Just the thought of that was enough to make Geisinger hold onto that armband like his life depended on it. Whenever the time comes for him to have to use it, he will take any measure necessary to keep it on. What happens when it comes off, is not something he wants anyone to see.

Geisinger took his hand off the band, returning it to what was probably the tenth book he had looked through that morning. That wasn’t even counting all the books he looked through during the weekend.

He was certainly coming close to having read all the books in the library now.

They had given him nothing, less than nothing even. He was no closer to finding out a solution to Ben’s problem than he was Friday night. Hell, he was no closer to finding out what Ben’s problem even was. What was interfering with the magic to reverse the transformation? Geisinger had no clue. Scouring the deepest corners of the internet hadn’t given him anything either. The whole weekend, and the seemingly endless hours of research that came with it, was turning out to be a bust.

He felt an echo of the rage he had in his time as a young adult surface back for a brief moment. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it back, reminding himself of how he learned to manage it.

He sat back down at a table and checked the time. 6:36, less than half an hour before the workday started. He should probably get up to his office, another twenty or so minutes of searching likely wasn’t going to help.

Taking one last look around the library, he stood up and walked out, taking the elevator up to his office. Once in, he plopped down onto his chair, turning on the TV to watch any news before he actually had to start working.

Unfortunately, as the news began showing photos of three men attacked in the city the previous day, his short lived relaxation period came to an abrupt halt.

A meta on the loose. It looked like the S.I.D. had another major case in its hands.

***

The morning chill had even less of an effect on Ben than the cold of the night. When she first woke up, she found she had become so used to the cold that it almost felt just like ordinary air, without anything special to it. The cold had become like home to her, as did the rest of the forest. The half dried shoe from when she had stepped into the creek, something that would’ve done easy damage to her foot before, barely left anything at all. She was in good shape, the best she’d been in her life.

Nature was an incredible thing.

If a bit annoying.

Her dreams the previous night featured the same forest and the same floating island. And just like before, she tried to jump to the island, but couldn’t reach it. She tried again and again and still couldn’t reach it. She knew there was something she was missing, but whatever it was she had no idea.

Navigating through the forest proved to be quite the challenge without her phone, which she cursed herself for forgetting to bring. However, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been in a forest before, and the arrangement of the trees and bushes in this one slowly became more familiar the longer she walked. She’d been through here before, she knew it.

While Ben was walking, she couldn’t help but be immersed in the atmosphere of the forest. Little things, like the way grass brushed away from her footsteps, the way sticks snapped under her weight, and the way rocks, dirt, and tree roots littered the ground like a seasoning of the Earth, they all came together to form a kind of magic that she struggled to put into words.

Nature really was an incredible thing. Whatever frustration lingered from her dreams faded away as she was once again reminded of it.

When Ben finally came to the forest’s end and felt the full force of the morning sun, it felt refreshing. Luckily her growing resilience to the cold wasn’t hurting her status in the other direction. She wasn’t becoming a vampire or anything, “thank god” she thought.

As she walked further down, she saw a building appear in the distance. It was the S.I.D. She wasn’t even trying to find it, and yet it came across her in her path, as if through fate.

She stopped and examined the building for a bit. Should she go in? It wasn’t like she was very concerned with turning back anymore. And she was already avoiding going back home to… well, it wasn’t worth bringing up yesterday’s baggage.

As Ben was thinking things over, she remembered that today was the day this week she was scheduled to be in the gym. And the gym was a wonderful place to display her new skills.

Of course, the S.I.D. would likely regard those skills as “concerning” but what did they know? It’s not like they could actually overpower her. If they could just see what she was capable of, they’d know to respect her. That alone made it worth it.

She looked at the building one last time and made her decision.

She ran straight toward it and barged through the front doors. She was about to get a change of clothes and take an elevator down to the gym, however, before she could even get past the first few steps, the receptionist at the front desk stopped her.

“Ma’am what is your reason for visiting?”

Ben stopped, offended by the question. “I work here.” She said incredulously.

The receptionist became confused.

“Benjamin Cross.” She gestured to herself. “Do you really not know about my situation?”

The receptionist turned and quickly combed through all the files on her computer. Eventually, she came across a matching photo of the woman in the employee database.

“Oh, sorry.” The receptionist said. “I forgot what you looked like now. You didn’t have your uniform on.”

Ben looked down at herself and groaned. Another thing she forgot to grab. In all fairness though, that uniform didn’t fit her too well right now.

“Does Geisinger want to see me?”

“He has not called you, no.”

Ben went up to an elevator, pushing the lower button and going in, about to travel down to the gym.

“Well, he’s going to want to soon.” She said, before the doors shut.

***

The awkwardness of seeing a fellow employee in the form of the opposite gender was soon replaced by the astonishment of seeing a fellow employee with superhuman abilities. The difference between seeing a meta in video versus seeing a meta in person was staggering.

Stephen himself was extremely disoriented by seeing an average sized human woman climb up a sixty foot rope at an inhumanely fast speed. She hadn’t even bothered to attach herself to the belay. His badly hidden gawking of eyeing her in a female gym outfit was soon overridden by the non-hidden gawking of watching her perform superhuman acts.

Once Ben reached the platform at the top, she jumped down to the floor below, her feet hitting the ground with almost no effect on her body.

“How long was that?” She asked.

Stephen looked down at his stopwatch. “Uh… six seconds.”

Ben smirked. “I’d like to see the captain beat that.”

“You realize it’s not exactly fair when you have superpowers right?”

“Not my problem.” Ben said. “Life is unfair, what do you want me to do about it?”

Stephen wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Hey, watch this.” Ben went over to one of the weight lifts and loaded each side with three hundred pounds of pure iron. She went to the center bar, and lifted the six hundred pound monstrosity like it was a feather.

“You think I could get the world record? What kind of question is that of course I could. But how far above it could I go?”

The sheer amount of strength Ben was displaying had caught the attention of the entire room. Some even backed away from her in fear. Even people with superhuman strength should not be able to carry that much weight with so little effort. That just didn’t happen, or it shouldn’t have been able to happen.

What Ben was able to do was terrifying.

Stephen got out his communicator, dialing for Geisinger.

“What is it?”

“You’re gonna need to come down.” Stephen answered. “Now.”

***

Inside the elevator, Geisinger adjusted the collar of his shirt, looking down and examining himself to make sure nothing was amiss. He really hated going to the gym like this. It was like having to get rid of a pest infestation in your house, it was something that had to be done, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t thoroughly unpleasant.

When the elevator doors opened, Geisinger immediately walked toward Ben and Stephen, passing by a bunch of shocked, staring onlookers.

“Go back to what you were doing.” He told them. “This will be taken care of.”

A few of the onlookers went back to their tasks, but most continued their focus on the approaching conflict.

“You sounded pretty freaked out over the communicator.” Geisinger said as he reached the two. “How strong are we talking here?”

“I’m literally right here, captain.” Ben cut off Stephen before he could respond. “God! Only three days as a woman and people are already talking about me like I’m not there.”

Geisinger cringed, then looked over at Ben. “Alright then. You show me what you can do.”

Ben held a cold, dark glare at Geisinger for a moment, then backed away toward the rope. She grabbed a hold of it with her left hand, slowly, then placed her right hand above it, looking like she was about to climb it.

Then she quickly jumped into the air, sixty feet up, before Stephen and Geisinger had time to process it. At the height of her jump, she grabbed onto the above platform and hoisted herself up. She stood and looked straight down at the two men below.

“Well… I didn’t know about that one.” Stephen said.

At this point the attention of all of the people in the gym was directed straight at Ben. They watched as she turned around to the wall behind her, took off her shoes and socks, and jumped toward it. When her hands and feet touched the wall, she stuck to it.

“Or that one.”

Geisinger stressfully murmured as he watched Ben quickly descend the wall, using nothing but her hands and feet. When she reached the bottom, she strolled toward Stephen and him with the same cold glare as before.

“Add that with superhuman strength, superhuman speed, and oh… I can tell time really well now.”

Geisinger nodded. “I bet you can.”

Ben tilted her head. “Is there something wrong with you, captain?”

“Please don’t call me that now.” He replied. “Please never call me that, but especially not now. And no, nothing’s wrong.”

Ben’s head remained tilted, Geisinger and Stephen watching her until they finally deduced she wasn’t going to say anything and commenced talking amongst themselves.

Geisinger’s answer did not convince Ben.

There was definitely something wrong with him. She could tell, it was like a gut feeling whenever she looked at him. He was just off, in a way she’d never noticed before. And as she watched Stephen and him talk to each other about whatever, the feeling only got worse. What was going on?

Suddenly, her mind went to last night.

The flower. The beautiful royal blue flower, so eye-catching and out of place in the dark forest.

She hadn’t seen it when she woke up, and at the time it completely slipped her mind. She hadn’t given it any thought. Now, it was the only thing she could think of.

Whatever was wrong with that flower was the same thing wrong with Geisinger.

He was giving off the exact same feeling the flower did. Just looking at him, Ben could tell that something was very, very off. But she just couldn’t get what it was.

But then, as she examined Geisinger talking, something hit her.

Last night, she had to have been close to the Woods of Sin. She didn’t know all of the exact borders, but they must have been nearby. Close enough to the point where the supernatural occurrences consuming the woods would still be out and about.

And if there was one thing the Woods of Sin were known for, it was illusions. Things that weren’t really there.

Ben leaned in closer to Geisinger, watching him as he spoke, trying to see what exactly was tipping her off.

His mouth moved, but there was a delay. A delay so slight that no human would have ever noticed. It was only for a fraction of a fraction of a second, less time than the human mind could even process.

But not Ben’s mind. She had already found that her ability to tell time was near perfect. And looking at Geisinger talk, she knew very well what was going on.

His voice was being put through a filter. Altered from its source, into a different sound than what was actually being produced.

The flower Ben saw yesterday was an illusion. It wasn’t actually there.

Geisinger wasn’t actually there.

“Well, I think I’ve heard enough.” Geisinger said. “Ben, I need you to come with me to my office, immediately.”

Ben’s heart sprang into action, contemplating what she could do. She couldn’t go into the office with this impersonator. It could be a trap! She had no idea what the hell this thing was. She needed to attack it right then and there.

“Ben? Are you listening to me? Office. Now.”

Ben stared into the thing’s false eyes, eventually giving it a slow nod, soon following it to the stairs and up the floors.

She had to wait. As much as she wanted to jump it and make her attack as soon as possible, she knew she couldn’t. She had to wait until she was alone with it, in a place where it couldn’t attack any of the other S.I.D. members. Even if this was a trap, that was a risk she had to take. All she had to do right now was play along and pretend that she was fooled by the disguise. Soon, it would come time to strike.

***

Ben followed the thing pretending to be Geisinger like a predator stalking its prey. The fake man was seemingly oblivious to the dynamic, and hopefully it would stay that way for the time being.

“Awfully silent aren’t you?” “Geisinger” said. “Not even attempting to do small talk?”

Ben sent a harsh glare at him.

“Okay I’m sorry.” He said. “I know this must be really stressful. It has been for me, I can’t imagine how you feel.”

Ben let out a grim chuckle. “No, you certainly can’t.”

“Geisinger” nodded, taking out a key and unlocking “his” office door. “Well, I’m sorry to say this but I tried to look into your problem during the weekend and I wasn’t able to-”

The imposter was cut off the moment he shut the door. Ben pinned him down onto the table and stole the pocket knife from his pouch, holding it right in front of his face.

“Not a good idea to bring a knife down to the gym. Were you expecting a fight?”

“Geisinger” was completely taken aback and disoriented from the attack, and took some extra seconds to process what was happening.

“What? No, it’s just a force of habit.” He answered. “Ben, what the hell are you doing!?”

“Don’t call me ‘Ben’, you fucking imposter. You don’t know me, you don’t know anyone here.”

The man on the table was stunned.

“WHAT!?”

“You’re not Geisinger, you’re under an illusion.” Ben spat at him. “I don’t know what the hell you want but I’m not letting you get it.”

The man’s heartbeat increased greatly and he felt his face flush with guilt and shame. “Look, Ben… I don’t know how you were able to tell but just let me go and I can explain everything.”

“Not until you tell me where the real Geisinger is.”

“I AM the real Geisinger!”

“I do wonder how you look under that mask.” Ben pondered. “You definitely have to be human, I can see that.”

“I’m being serious Ben, trust me. This is all just a big misunderstanding, please let me explain.”

Ben stared at the man, holding the knife right up to his cheek, putting on pressure and drawing blood, letting it run down his face. The man pinned down winced in pain.

“Please.”

Ben glared at the man for a few more seconds, making sure he was intimidated, then let go. The man nearly fell down but caught himself in time.

Ben held the knife up to him. “No funny business. I could kill you very easily.”

“Geisinger” nodded, trying his best to hide his nervousness. “Follow me.”

Ben was led into the bathroom connected to the office, the door behind it being secured shut.

“Geisinger” walked to the center of the bathroom. “Detecting illusions just had to be one of your powers didn’t it? And then you just had to freak out like that. You’re making everything a real hassle, you know that?”

Ben continued her cold stare, not impressed in the least.

The man sighed. “Okay fine, but remember, no one else is allowed to know about this. NO ONE. You got it?”

Ben nodded.

“Geisinger” rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a metal armband hugging his upper arm. He sighed and stood still for a few seconds, then disconnected the latches, letting the band fall to the floor.

Immediately after the band left his arm, the man in the center of the room changed, revealing the form of a woman in his place.

At first, Ben squinted her eyes in confusion, but soon she examined the woman’s face, and saw a striking resemblance to Geisinger. Especially with her short hair, she looked like she could’ve been his twin.

“Captain?” Ben said, lowering the knife.

The woman, Geisinger, shot her head up instantly.

“It is you!” Ben said. “What happened?”

“Um…” Geisinger started, the voice coming out of his mouth unmistakably a woman’s. “It’s a… long story.”

“Wait… have you been a woman this whole time?”

“No, I haven’t. This happened when I was eighteen. I got a curse that makes me switch genders every time I… well, every time I… orgasm.”

“So this isn’t the real you?”

“It’s half of me.” He sighed.

Ben felt stunned, as if her entire world had just collapsed into itself.

“I… don’t know what to say.”

“Yeah… I guess we’re more alike than we thought.” Geisinger said. “But, Ben, this doesn’t change the fact that you tried to kill me.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you.”

“You pinned me to the table and held a knife to my face. Look at what you did here.” He pointed to his cheek. “Don’t say you weren’t out for blood.”

“‘Out for blood’? Do you actually think I’d kill you?”

Geisinger didn’t answer.

“You do, don’t you?” Ben said accusingly.

“Ben, you need help.” Geisinger said back. “You need help now. Whatever is wrong with you is worse than I could have ever imagined. We need to get you-”

“I’m not being put in a damn mental hospital! Or magic hospital, or corruption hold, or wherever the hell you want to put me!”

“Ben, just this morning I heard a story about three men being put into a hospital after being beaten by a meta.” Geisinger stated. “A young, female meta. You fit that description with flying colors.”

“And now you’re accusing me of stuff I didn’t do!”

“There are no recorded metas in that city, Ben. If it wasn’t you, it would’ve had to have been someone else outside of the city.”

“Are you saying the records are never wrong?”

“No, I’m saying that you’re becoming a real danger to other people, and a danger to yourself. We need to get you someplace safe.”

“The only place we need to be is somewhere we’re respected and apparently that isn’t here.”

“Who’s ‘we’, Ben?” Geisinger tried to ask, but Ben had already left the bathroom, and was about to leave the office. Before she reached the door, Geisinger sprinted toward one of the cabinets in the room and took out a shock cannon, set to stun to make its victim unconscious.

Geisinger fired the weapon straight toward Ben, hitting her square in the back.

It didn’t stun her.

It hadn’t done anything to her, in fact. She simply turned back toward him, unaffected by the weapon’s blast.

Geisinger’s heart sank at the sight of her unwavering gaze. She grinned, clearly amused at his attempt to stop her.

“Have you ever seen a child try to stop their mother from leaving the house? It’s adorable.” Ben said. “That’s what you are, adorable.”

Geisinger was frozen in shock and fear. Even the strongest metas out there usually had some reaction to the shock cannon. Ben had nothing. It was as if it was only a gust of wind.

Ben chuckled. Reaching within herself, she pulled the energy from the blast of the cannon back out and shot it straight toward Geisinger. The force of the hit sent him straight against the back wall, and as the darkness was overtaking him, Ben walked over and leaned straight into his face.

“Sweet dreams.”

Geisinger let out a pained exhale before falling unconscious.

Ben smiled, then went back into the bathroom to get the metal armband, wrapping it securely around his arm and letting his male mirage take hold once more.

“You forgot this. I’d hate to be rude and leave you like that.”

Just after she said that, she heard footsteps approaching the office from the hallway. Ben quickly turned to the door and saw nothing, but the footsteps were getting closer and she knew people would turn up soon.

Ben looked behind her, where she saw a window. She didn’t know if it was large enough for her to fit through but she had no other choice. It was either take the chance or be discovered.

She opened the window, took one last look behind her, and jumped three storeys down, hitting the ground with little impact. She then immediately sprinted toward the forest so as to not be seen.

When the two S.I.D. members finally reached Geisinger’s office, they were greeted by a mess of papers thrown about with their boss lying unconscious on the floor, a shock cannon by his side and an open window to his back.

A harsh, unrelenting pounding hit Geisinger’s head with full force every second. Everything around him was blended together into a blur. He couldn’t make out anything, not with his eyes, nor with his ears.

He tried to move his head and look down at himself but he couldn’t. He was paralyzed. Nothing would move, not his head, arms, or legs.

Where was he? What was he doing?

He thought he heard someone shouting at him, but he couldn’t make out their voice or what they were saying. Whatever was coming out of their mouth went in one ear and out the other. After a while, it started to get annoying.

He heard the shouting get louder. Thankfully, the one thing he appeared able to move was his eyes, and he used them to squint and try to focus on the figure above him.

They were shouting, and with each word he could make it out more clearly. Much more clearly actually, it was becoming more like recognizable speech very fast.

“Captain!” The person above shouted.

Geisinger suddenly lifted his head up, startled and breathing heavily.

“Are you awake?”

Geisinger looked at his surroundings and saw he was in a hospital room, laying on a bed. He sighed.

“Not even in the hospital am I safe from that fucking name.”

“Sorry.” The nurse said. “I was told it would get you up.”

Geisinger reached behind with his arm and scratched the back of his head. “How long have I been in here?”

“Four hours.” She answered.

“Four hours?” Geisinger questioned. “My god, what did I… wait, my voice-”

He frantically checked his arm, feeling the metal armband wrapped around it with confusion.

“How did it…” He paused.

“Sir? Are you okay?”

“…Yeah, sorry. I just… I don’t know, I’m trying to think about what happened when I passed out.”

“You’re the head of the S.I.D. aren’t you?” She asked him. “Sorry, when I first saw your name I thought ‘that sounds very familiar’.”

“Yes, that’s me.” Geisinger replied. “What are you trying to say?”

“The doctors said your employees found you passed out on the floor in your office. They also said you had a shock cannon beside you. Does that help?”

“Shock cannon…” Geisinger repeated to himself, trying to remember. Getting stunned with a shock cannon often resulted in a foggy memory upon waking up, so he was struggling to-

Wait, shock cannon.

He turned back to the metal armband, trying to figure out how it could have possibly gotten there. No doctor would ever operate on someone under an illusion, so there was no chance they’d put it back on. Besides, the only other person that even knew his secret was-

Geisinger’s eyes went wide with horror as he turned to the hospital window.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Oh my god, Ben!”

***

In the middle of the woods, concealed under a tree, stood a collection of roses colored in blue, white, and gold. To those that have seen them, they appeared to dance in the sunlight. And as Ben watched them ever so subtly twirl around each other, she could affirm that they were right.

The roses were also deadly. Getting up close and sniffing their petals was an almost certain death sentence. Long had that been a source of many children’s tales and fables throughout history, all ending with the same message. Listen to your parents and keep away from dancing flowers.

Ben laughed as she took her third sniff of a golden rose.

Death sentence for a human, that is.

She lifted her head and smiled down at the roses. They had a very nice scent, sweet like fruit and nectar. It was a shame it wasn’t until now that she could finally appreciate it.

Though in the back of her mind, she thought that may have been for the best. Wasn’t part of the beauty in nature how brutal it was?

Turning her head, Ben took in the seemingly endless woods around her. The roses were just at the border of where the Woods of Sin began, and she knew that moving straight away from where they were facing would take her out of them, which was where she wanted to be.

The thrill seekers were right, where was the fun in being in the Woods of Sin during the daytime?

So Ben made a dash through the trees, turning this way and that, gallivanting in her newfound speed and agility. Sometimes she even jumped in the air to grab a branch, swinging herself forward with her momentum.

She loved the forest. She loved life in the forest. Civilization could never compare to this.

Ben caught her first sight of the trees ending after exactly four minutes and eighteen seconds of running. She was approaching the road that cut it very close to the dangerous forest, a little over two miles out from the roses.

She continued running toward it, wanting to get to an area with a more plentiful animal population, before she saw her wish had already been granted before she got there.

Off to the side of the road, laid a stray cat. It wandered a bit, but mostly stuck close to the road. Most animals seemed to know to stay away from the Woods of Sin. However, aside from that, it had no owner, was without any other cat to accompany it, and was all alone.

It had no way to protect itself. It was completely helpless by all means.

Ben grinned at the thought.

Her mouth began to salivate as she approached the cat. Staying low to the ground, she made sure not to make any noise and alert it, lest her prey be lost. She saw it take a few steps closer to the woods and licked her lips. It was only wandering closer into her trap. She could only imagine how juicy the meat would taste…

…

Ben stopped in her tracks, her feral look slowly being replaced with uncertainty.

The cat turned around, finally seeing her and locking eyes. It stared as if it was gazing directly into Ben’s soul.

Then it turned back to the road and continued walking along the side, not giving her any more thought.

All of a sudden, Ben heard a car coming in the distance and she quickly ran to hide behind a tree. Since the ground of the forest was a little lower than the road, there was a chance her hiding spot could work.

Ben heard the car stop and the front door open. Someone ran out and stopped a few steps away.

“Got it.” A male voice called out. “It looks young.”

“Is it sick?” A female voice asked.

“I don’t think so, they’re not biting.”

“We should probably take them to a vet just to be sure. They might have rabies or something.”

“Yeah, good point.” The male voice said.

Ben heard the man run back to the car and shut the door. Soon after, the two she assumed to be a couple took off and left without noticing her. Ben peered at them from the tree to look as they drove away.

It was a good thing they came when they did, otherwise she might have…

Ben stared down at her hands, her skin growing cold and her heart stopping.

“Oh my god.” She tried to say, but she was so quiet she could barely hear herself.

Ben’s eyes darted across the forest, hoping that there were no other animals around. Thankfully, the coast was clear, at least from what she could tell. No other animal was going to-

Ben cringed, forcing that thought out of her head as soon as it got there. She crossed the road and started running again. She needed to get out of there.

Geisinger was right.

Tears began forming in her eyes as she picked up speed.

Jacqueline was right.

***

When Jacqueline left her workplace late afternoon, she had a blank expression on her face. She was too tired, too frustrated, too… afraid to have any coherent thoughts. She just wanted to get back home and in bed. She didn’t want to think about anything.

So she drove on in silence, not even bothering to turn on the radio.

She made no hesitation as she parked her car and walked to the front door, hoping to find herself in an empty house.

Sadly, fate was not on her side that day, as she soon heard footsteps running toward her

She turned her head and froze instantly.

It was Ben.

Jacqueline jumped, shocked to see her.

“I’m sorry.” Ben told her. “Please help me.”