Chapter 9: Justice

Linus took a deep, ragged breath, his voluminous chest rising and falling, and pulled through the gate. He followed the drive to the spacious brick-paved area beside the entrance to the enormous house. Conrad’s gleaming new Porsche was there along with a massive pickup truck also sporting the decorative orange license tag with the big white paw in the middle. Seeing the truck, a flash of horror ran through his mind, seemingly from nowhere. Anna’s heart pounded in his chest, and Linus felt light-headed as he put the car in park, hands shaking.

He looked around and saw, standing outside the door watching him park, was Conrad Stephenson, Jr himself. He was dressed in a pair of swim shorts and a wife-beater T-shirt.

Linus was transfixed as he watched, terrified, as Conrad approached. When the man neared the car, the first thing Linus thought was, he’s huge! The truth was, Conrad was no bigger than he’d ever been. No bigger than Linus had been a week ago. It was their relative sizes that had changed. I’m just so tiny and weak.

The driver’s window was still rolled down, and Conrad put his arms on the car door frame. “Hey there, sweetie. I saw you through the security camera. You’re a little early for the party, but that’s fine. I like eager beaver.” Conrad winked as he uttered the double entendre.

Linus worked Anna’s jaw, trying to respond, but no words would come. He panicked. This is impossible. I don’t know what to do. He’s so big and strong. Linus was, for the first time in his adult life, desperately afraid of a man. Is this how women always feel around men?

Conrad reached in and touched Linus’s hair. “I love redheads. You’re always so fiery. Are you fiery?” He then caressed Linus’s new face with the back of his rough hand. Linus fought the impulse to pull away from the unrequested touch, a word echoing beyond his mind and growing louder held him there. Fiery. Fiery. He fought the instinct to flee. It took all of his courage to remain still. He realized, it’s not my courage. With each pounding heartbeat, the words repeated. Fiery. Fiery.

Linus could smell the alcohol on Conrad’s breath. He’d clearly already been drinking that morning. The large man spoke again. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk, honey. I know other things you can do with that pretty mouth.” With that, Conrad turned Linus’s face toward him and kissed Anna’s soft lips roughly. Linus was repulsed, but couldn’t pull away from the kiss. Something held him there, yielding to the man he hated. Fiery. Fiery. The words Conrad used echoed again, but now in the voice of someone else. A female voice. Fiery. Linus then remembered the journal entry. “Fiery” was Valeria’s code word when she wanted Anna to take control.

Slowly, Linus’s fear evolved as Conrad kissed him. It became something else entirely as once again the body, his body—Anna’s body — despite all that was at stake, became aroused. Intimidation turned to lust. And while neither Anna nor Linus had ever had any attraction to men, her body seemed to have other ideas now. Fiery. Fiery. His thought at seeing Conrad approaching the car earlier ran through his mind again, but changed from fright to attraction and the woman’s voice in his mind sounded now sultry; “He’s so big and strong!” Breathing adrenaline-quickened by fear remained fast and heavy, but now with desire and something more.

When Conrad broke the kiss and leaned back out, Anna’s tongue tasted the alcohol from the man’s breath, and she licked her full lips dramatically. Linus hadn’t done that. Anna had. Linus realized that she was beginning to respond in his place. Beginning to control her body.

Linus could still feel everything, but the actions and sensations were emanating from Anna. Joining the lust in her mind and body, a new perception rose; vulnerability. Not her vulnerability this time. She sensed his vulnerability. Lowered inhibitions and an out-sized confidence in himself will be Conrad’s final undoing.

Linus’s mind watched all this, feeling the sensations. He was in there, but someone else…Anna…had taken over control. She was fiery. She was fury. She was turned-on. And she had a plan.

Conrad opened the car door. Linus watched Anna’s hand unfasten the seat belt, letting it slide seductively between her breasts as it retracted. Her legs swung over in a practiced movement, knees together. Conrad took her tiny hand in his and pulled Anna out of the car. She grabbed the backpack from the passenger seat as she slid out and touched her tiny feet to the pavement.

The size difference was even more apparent now. Anna was over a foot shorter than Conrad’s six-foot-two and weighed about half as much. But the evolved thinking in Anna’s mind saw this size deficit as an advantage. He’ll never see it coming.

Conrad looked down on what he had to believe was the first of many birthday conquests to come today and asked, “Do I know you? Your face seems so familiar. Do you have a brother?”

For the first time since arriving at the mansion property, Anna’s voice spoke. It was a huskier, sultry version of the sweet sound Linus had heard at home. She smiled. “No. No brothers. But, yeah, you know me. You bumped into me some years ago.”

Conrad grinned lustfully, staring at Anna’s chest bouncing as they walked. “I hope I’d remember bumping into someone like you.”

Linus felt Anna’s hand run through her auburn hair playfully as she responded with a wink, “Oh, I think you do remember. You just need a reminder.”

There was no pretense. No polite pleasantries. Conrad apparently assumed this girl was ready…now. Linus felt the moisture between Anna’s legs and smelled her juices. He was sure that Conrad had picked up on the scent, too.

Inside the home, Conrad led Anna down a long first-floor hallway, his hand resting on her oscillating rear. At the end of the corridor, they entered a large, beautifully decorated bedroom. It was elegant, with a distinctly feminine touch. The femme fatale Anna voice asked sarcastically, “Your mother’s room, little boy?”

Conrad laughed. “My parent’s room, actually. But yes, my mother decorated it twenty years ago. Just a few years before she died. My weak, sentimental father couldn’t bear to change it. But I plan to. This will be a den of…fun when I’m through with it. For now, though. The bed is soft and ready. You’ll be the first girl to…be…in this bed with me.”

Anna’s hand ran up and down the bedpost in an obviously sexual motion. “The first of many girls, I’m sure.”

Conrad smiled, confidence and lust apparent on his rugged face.

There was a moment of inaction. A pause where each tried to decide what to do next. Linus wondered what was going to happen. He didn’t have to wait long as he felt Anna’s hands removing the T-shirt, her breasts bouncing again. She threw the shirt at Conrad, knowing it carried her scent. She then removed the shorts, wiggling her hips and ass with purpose as she made a show of dropping the pants to the floor. She tilted her head and looked up at Conrad. “Remember me now?”

Linus could feel the heat and intensity in Anna’s body. There was a mix of lust and power there. Conrad thought he was in control, but he was wrong. The guiding presence inside Anna’s body was orchestrating the scene, and Linus was starting to enjoy every moment.

Conrad’s mouth went slack at the vision in front of him for a second, but he recovered. “I’m not sure I remember you. I might need to see more.”

Anna smiled coyly, adjusting the bikini top and pinching her nipple in an overt display of sexual power. “Nope. Your turn to show me something.”

Conrad put his phone on the bedside table and quickly undressed, shedding his swim trunks and shirt in seconds. His manhood stood out proudly and large. For all the deception Conrad might be guilty of, he wasn’t lying about his cock. It was huge. A flash of fear again entered Linus’s mind, but it was quickly quashed and replaced by the buzz of Anna’s lust and control again. The feminine voice of Anna whispered to reassure Linus, I’ve got this.

Anna’s lips formed an appraising pout and tilted her head at Conrad. “Not bad, Mr. Stephenson.” She approached him slowly, putting one petite foot in front of the other, and gently scratched his hairy chest, keeping just out of range of the large rock-hard penis pointing in her direction. Linus could feel Conrad’s heart pounding through Anna’s fingers and the heat of his cock inches away from her stomach. With her free hand, she picked up Conrad’s phone. “Unlock this for me. I want us to get a selfie so maybe next time you’ll remember me.” Linus felt like he was watching a VR movie. He knew all she was doing as she was doing it…and why…but had no knowledge ahead of Anna.

Linus watched Conrad unlock the phone. He held it out to Anna. She reached for it, but he pulled it back. “I’ll remember you better without that bikini top.”

Linus felt momentary annoyance, but in seconds Anna’s top was off and Conrad handed her the phone. She took the picture and then unceremoniously pushed the big man onto the bed. Deftly, she manipulated the phone for several seconds and then set it back down on the table. Linus could see what those slender fingers on the phone screen were about and figured out why. Smart.

Conrad asked, “What were you doing?”

“Just sending myself a copy of the pic so I can remember you…and also give you my phone number.”

The man smiled and casually stroked his erection. Linus could see the extreme arrogance of Conrad. And he could feel in this smaller, feminine body why women found such confidence attractive, too. No wonder I wasn’t good at picking up women.

Anna turned to look around the room and then sauntered to an open door at the far end, making a show of walking. The doorway led to a walk-in closet. Inside, along with rows of tailored suits, she found a long rack of expensive silk ties that had belonged to Conrad’s father, and she took five of them and turned back to the bed. She saw Conrad watching as she tied one necktie around her neck. It hung between her breasts, down past her bikini. Anna stood before the bed and wriggled out of her bright yellow swimsuit bottom, the necktie blocking Conrad’s view of her moist opening. She stroked her sex with the tip of the tie and moved her hips seductively, softly cooing.

Conrad let out a low moan. “That’s so hot! Come here! Let me put something else inside you. Something harder.”

Anna smiled. “Not so fast. I’m still upset that you don’t remember me. So you’re going to have to answer some questions. And just so you won’t get handsy…” She leaned over him. “Give me your arm.” She tied each hand to the headboard as tightly as she could. The old oak headboard was strong, as was the silk of the ties. He might be able to free himself, but it wouldn’t be easy. She did the same with each of his feet.

With Conrad immobilized, she straddled him, just below his turgid cock. “Okay, first question. I know you’re a bad boy. And I love bad boys. Tell me. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

Conrad pulled at the neckties. “Come on! Don’t do this. Let’s just fuck! I don’t mind being tied up, but don’t make me wait.”

Anna bent over and licked her own erect nipple. She then started to get off of him. “Okay, if you don’t think the reward is worth the game, then I guess I’ll go.”

He jerked again at the ties. “No. Wait.”

She paused.

Conrad looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “Okay. Um. When I was in high school, I, um, screwed my history teacher and then got her fired.”

Anna rolled her eyes. Linus knew what she was doing. It was what prosecutors do with suspects who think they are smarter than their accusers. “That’s nothing. I know you’ve done worse. Give me something better. Have you stolen money from anyone?”

He nodded. “Yeah. From my parents. I used to steal money from my mother’s purse, and I pawned some of my dad’s rare coins to buy pot and X.”

She laughed. “Who hasn’t? Come on.” She leaned down over him, her hand inches away from his throbbing cock. “I need something really, really bad. Have you ever taken advantage of a girl? You know, gotten her drunk or maybe slipped her something and then had your way with her?”

 

Conrad grinned. “I don’t have to do those things. Look at me. Look at this house. Look at my cock.”

She leaned back, still straddling his legs. “So you aren’t really a bad boy at all, are you? You’re just a spoiled momma’s boy. So disappointing! I only get off on bad boys because I’m a very bad, very naughty girl.” Anna again started to slowly un-mount Conrad.

He panicked. “I’m a bad boy. You just don’t know!”

“Okay, then. I think you just play at being bad in your fancy house. But I’m so horny I’ll give you one more chance to prove to me you are as bad as you claim.” She paused and then inserted a finger into her soaking cunt. Anna moaned and thrust her hip to meet her fingers. “Prove me wrong. It’s not like you…not like you ever killed anyone.”

For the first time since they’d arrived, Linus saw Conrad look uncertain. He didn’t answer.

Anna smiled, and Linus felt another flash of arousal. “You have! You have killed someone! Tell me about it! Oh! I’m getting so wet.” She moaned and stroked herself with the tie again.

Conrad looked to the side, away from him. “It…it was an accident. I don’t want to talk about that.”

Anna held the moist end of the cunt-soaked tie out to Conrad’s nose. “Then I guess you don’t really want some of this, then. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

Conrad’s eyes widened. He seemed to contemplate her tease. Calculating. “Okay, I’ll tell you.”

Anna cooed. “Tell me every detail. And you got away with it? Probably just had your daddy buy your way out of it, didn’t you?” Linus’s senses were on fire now. All the fear he’d felt was gone. He was so aroused by all of this, even if he was along for the ride at this point. Linus wasn’t sure if he was turned on by Anna’s game or by Conrad’s manliness. But as Anna’s eyes moved past Conrad’s cock, part of him wanted it. Wanted it inside him the way Scarlett had talked about it.

She could sense Conrad fighting himself, and Linus knew why. The fortune that awaited Conrad was too important to risk for this girl he didn’t know…didn’t remember. But the lust-driven man had no chance against Anna’s wiles. Conrad stared at the gorgeous creature in front of him, and she returned his gaze, knowing that the cock was fighting to overrule his brain. And the little head atop the cock was winning.

She knew he wanted her, and she was sure he was close to giving in to desire. Just a little push. “Don’t lie to me, either. Tell me the truth. Tell me all of it. I promise I won’t tell a living soul. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Conrad’s cock won out, and he began to tell the story that had been hidden for so long. “Her name was Joanne, I think. Or Anna. Bailey or Bryant. Something like that. Doesn’t matter. She was nothing. Just some hippie chick. It was ten years ago. Ten years ago today, in fact. I was coming home after another wild birthday party. She was walking along the roadside. I didn’t see her.”

Anna had him. “Did you stop to help her? Did you call 911? Or did you just keep on going? Tell me you just kept going. That would be so freakin’ hot!” She threw back her head like she was having an orgasm.

Conrad looked into Anna’s bright green eyes. He seemed to sense danger and looked a little scared now. But she could see he was also still turned on. So turned on. She circled his stomach with her fingertip, right above his cock, and scratched at his pubic hair. “Tell me more!”

Conrad swallowed hard. “Yeah. I stopped for a second, but then I saw another car, and I panicked. I just drove off. I guess the other car might have called 911.”

She blew on his dick and rocked back in forth, inches away from his hard-on. Her hot breath and puckered lips caused him to moan again. She cooed and hissed, “And you got away with it.”

Conrad bucked his own hips, trying to reach her. “Yeah, I did. I have a friend who’s a lawyer. He helped me. Called in some favors with the local PD. They buried it. No one even questioned me.”

Anna smiled, satisfied. She silently got out of bed and picked up Conrad’s phone again. Linus watched through her eyes as she saved the recording and sent it to the police. “Thank you, Conrad. That’s all I wanted to hear. You are a bad man. The worst. I believe you.”

Still wearing the tie, she pulled on her bikini bottom as Conrad watched, looking totally confused. “Wait! Where are you going?” He pulled at the restraints, getting one foot free. “You can’t leave me like this. Don’t be a goddamn prick tease. I need you to fuck me.”

Anna strolled over and grabbed his dick, squeezing as hard as she could, saying, “You don’t know it, but you’re already fucked. So fucked. And you don’t need me. You fucked yourself. Happy birthday.” Anna pulled on her shirt and picked up her bikini top, sandals, shorts, and then her pack. She slipped his phone into the pack and blew him a kiss.

It wouldn’t take long for Conrad to free himself. But Anna paused at the door and Linus felt an emotional shift. Anna’s voice changed as she spoke. The seduction was over, and the sweetness was back, but with an edge. “Do you know who I am now?” Linus could tell she was nearly exhausted emotionally. Playing the seductress role for Conrad had taken a toll on her, but she had more to say.

Conrad stopped struggling and stared at Anna, the T-shirt clinging to her sweaty, heaving breasts. Petulantly, he spoke through gritted teeth. “No. I don’t know who the fuck you are! But no one does this shit to me! No one! I’ll find out who you are, and you will pay!”

She faced him, still speaking softly, her voice growing weaker. “I’ll tell you who I am. Who I was. I’m Anna Bailey. I’m the girl you killed ten years ago.”

He shook his head. “No. That’s impossible! And that’s not fucking funny! You fucking cunt!” Conrad pulled his other foot loose and bucked, trying to get his hands free.

Anna continued as tears flowed. “Winding Lane just before Oak Ridge Cemetery. You were driving some big off-road pickup truck like the one out front. I remember seeing it coming toward me that day really fast. That orange license plate. Heard that loud motor growling and music booming. Felt pain. Horrible pain. And then blackness as I died. I was twenty-three. You killed me on the happiest day of my life.”

Conrad’s voice dropped, hearing her recount just what had happened. “No! It couldn’t have been you! You’re alive! How?”

Linus felt control of Anna’s body returning to him as her will faded, and he ran as fast as he could down the hall, out the front door, and to the parking area. He ignored his untethered breasts bouncing in the T-shirt and the girlish way he swung his arms as he ran.

He jumped into the car and drove toward the gate. It was closed, but as soon as he got near it, the car triggered the exit sensor and the gate slowly opened. Linus looked back to see Conrad, naked, running after him down the drive, a necktie still tied to one arm. As soon as the gate was opened far enough, Linus pulled out onto the road and drove away as his pursuer reached the end of the driveway.

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Chapter 10: Comfort

Linus parked in the garage and slowly entered his home once more, the smell of his sex and the tingling there a physical reminder of where he’d just been. He felt spent. He’d driven home on autopilot, his mind replaying the last hour looking for answers that would not come. All he had were emotions, not facts. And as a lawyer, Linus relied on facts. For once, though, he saw, given the state of his life on this day, the futility in seeking rational answers. I’m not Linus anymore. I’m not an attorney or even a man. Looking at his manicured hands on the wheel as he turned onto his street, he finally let go of being the attorney searching for answers. It’s over.

But before he totally stopped being a lawyer. Before he ceased to be Linus Newcombe, he did one more thing. He pulled Conrad’s phone from the pack and unlocked it using the code he’d seen the stupid man enter during Anna’s seduction. His birthday. Idiot!

Linus found the recording and forwarded it to Isaac and Mr. Washington along with links to the evidence he’d found that morning. He sent the same to a friend in the prosecutor’s office along with a short note saying he (Conrad) was filled with remorse and wanted to come clean about hitting Anna.

 My phone may disappear tomorrow, but my bet is that Conrad’s phone won’t. The confession Conrad made might not stand up in court, but it would certainly be enough to get the case moving again. And if what Conrad had said was true, if he went to jail, his father’s estate would not go to him.

Two minutes later, Conrad’s phone lit up with a call. It was from Isaac. Linus didn’t answer. A minute later, there was a text. “Bro! WTF are you doing? Did Linus come to see you? Have you lost your mind? You could lose everything! And you’ll be taking me down with you! Call me! NOW!”

Seconds later, Linus’s own phone rang. He glanced at the screen. “Yep. That’s Isaac.” He powered off his phone. I have nothing more to say.

Linus smiled at the responses from his old friend as he made his way to the laundry room and stripped. He dropped the bikini, T-shirt, and shorts into the washing machine for a delicate quick wash. Linus touched his breasts, feeling confused and disoriented, mentally and sexually, but also more at peace than he’d thought possible. He was totally conflicted about exactly what had happened with Conrad in that bedroom; about his feelings and desires. The sensations Anna’s body had transmitted to him, including a lingering arousal that appeared would go unsatisfied, were still there. But Linus was otherwise at peace knowing justice would be served or, at the very least, knowing he’d done everything possible to ensure Anna’s killer would be caught and convicted.

Linus turned on the shower and stepped in, immediately feeling better as the warm water cleansed his silky skin of the encounter with Conrad. His mind wandered, letting his fingers explore where they wanted. It wasn’t until a moan escaped his pillowy lips that he realized one finger was massaging his clit while the other tugged at an engorged nipple.

At first, the image of Conrad’s impressive cock flashed through his mind. But it was soon replaced with images of Scarlett and the mysterious woman he now knew had to be Valeria. The orgasm then came over him from nowhere, and he fell to his knees screaming in ecstasy. Something told him his pleasure was a reward for what he’d done this morning. I don’t know if I’ll “be” after today, but if I am still here, I’m going to have to do that again…often.

Once the sexual release was complete, the emotional release began, and Linus sobbed. And he knew the emotions were not just his own. The water cascaded down his slender back where he remained on his knees as tears fell from his expressive eyes. This time, his hair hadn’t been spared from getting wet, and it fell, dripping, across his face. Once the crying was done, he stood again, reaching for shampoo and conditioner.

After patting dry, Linus wrapped his wet hair, donned a robe, and went to the laundry again to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. He then returned to the bedroom with the backpack.

While the clothes dried, he lay in bed and closed his sparkling green eyes to think. His mind ran not to Conrad, but to Anna and to her recounting the day she died to her killer. The change in her voice as she spoke of her last moments on earth was powerfully evocative, and he realized it was the first time she’d felt the need to be angry at her killer. She died that day in an instant, happy and in love. Her last words, “You killed me on the happiest day of my life,” were incredibly moving and sad.

Today was the first day Anna had dealt with her own death. He could still feel her pain. He wasn’t alone inside Anna’s body. A part of Anna, maybe all of her, was with him, just out of conscious reach. Linus had vaguely realized this before as feminine habits and knowledge became automatic, but hearing her tragic story had made her presence more real. He’d felt her in the shower, too, as he cried. And though he had likely ensured justice for her killer, Linus knew from her lingering pain that there was more to do. There is pain beyond Anna to deal with.

He pulled the eReader from the pack and re-read the last journal entry. Ten years ago, Anna Bailey was a happy girl in love. She planned to hike up to Oak Ridge by the cemetery and sit under the oak tree before moving on to Valeria’s condo to lie by the pool. But she never made it. She never had that moment under the tree. That’s why the pack was there and not where she died. I need to go there. To return the pack. I need to complete her hike.

This imperative was stronger than going to confront Conrad had felt. I have to do this. I don’t know exactly why. But it’s important. It’s what Anna wants. It’s what she needs.

The dryer buzzed, and Linus got up. He relaxed as he stood and realized as he walked through the house he was getting used to this body. The sensations of large breasts bouncing and hips rotating felt more normal. He no longer felt small. He felt that this was the size he was supposed to be. Is this magic helping me to feel like I belong in Anna’s body?

Linus brought the clothes to the bedroom and pulled on the bikini bottom again. Linus put on the top, too. And it was him this time. He had learned this skill. It was letting Anna dress him earlier that had taught him, and now the skill was his. The T-shirt and shorts were easy, and Linus smiled at his cute reflection with a positively pleased expression at what he’d done all by himself.

But when it came to his wild, wet hair, he was lost. So, Anna’s skills came to the fore and helped him to dry and brush his hair; she wasn’t satisfied until it was perfect. Linus sensed she wanted to look good for this hike. He applied makeup, another skill he’d been gifted earlier this morning, but he could feel Anna directing his hands here and there to make sure it was done to her satisfaction. He thought, if I didn’t know better, I’d think we were getting ready for a date. But that’s impossible.

Water bottle filled, he placed it in one side pocket of the now nearly empty bag. He picked up the eReader next and again stroked the tear in the cover. A fleck of orange paint clung to his soft fingertip, and there were more flecks of paint like it inside the gash. The orange license plate did this.

He returned the eReader to the main pocket along with the evidence envelope and zipped the pack. He tightened his Garmin sports watch on Anna’s little arm and slipped his iPhone in with Conrad’s into the other side pocket. He then lifted the bag onto both shoulders for the first time since bringing it home as Linus that first day. It seemed heavier than it should be, but he realized that no, Anna was simply much weaker than his old body had been. The straps were also much too loose for Anna’s frame, and he remembered, as Linus, that he’d loosened those straps for the ride home just a few days before. While most of reality had aligned itself with his new proportions, the pack had not. It was somehow immune to the changes. It was a constant.

It was a beautiful fall day in Fortis Beach. It would have been a nice day for a stroll along the Gulf. But that wasn’t the destination. Oak Ridge was programmed into the hiking function of the sport watch. “Ugh! Eight miles!”

By road, it was almost twenty miles from his house to the oak tree, but he’d be taking trails and cutting through neighborhoods, so it wasn’t as far. The only time he’d be on a public road was on Winding Lane, not far from the cemetery. The same stretch of road where Anna was killed.

Yes, it was a gorgeous day for a hike. The breeze blew gently through Anna’s hair as he started out, and the sound of wrens and cardinals filled the air. The leaves hadn’t turned color yet, and flowers were still abundant and waved at Linus as he passed, offering beauty in sight and scent.

Slowly, the rest of the feelings from the morning’s discovery and event at the mansion were carried away on the breeze. He breathed in the clean, crisp air and softly mouthed another song that he didn’t know. Yes, Anna was with him, and these songs were her way of reaching out to him.

“So we will share this road we walk

And mind our mouths and beware our talk

Till peace we find, tell you what I'll do

All the things I own, I will share with you

And if I feel tomorrow like I feel today

We'll take what we want and give the rest away

Strangers on this road we are on

We are not two, we are one.”

A smile formed on his face out of nowhere. It was a smile so pure and so genuine. Linus felt Anna’s head look up, alert. There was a bounce in his step now, and not just the breasts. Anna’s jewel-like eyes saw newness in every mile of this trail. Linus had walked this way many times before, but never seen things this fully. There was renewed hope in the heart beating inside her youthful body. Hope given simply from being in the moment. He still questioned why all this had happened and what the next midnight would bring. No answer came. But what came instead was a sense of purpose. Anna’s purpose. Getting to the top of that hill and returning to the oak was important, and he could feel her inside longing to get there.

A little less than three hours later, he stood under the old tree sipping water. He reached out with a soft finger and caressed the oak’s scars as he drank from Anna’s water bottle and adjusted his bikini top once again with an elastic snap.

Anna’s eyes looked around with anticipation. The man inside the girl didn’t know what to expect, but expected something to happen. So he, inside her, waited patiently, like she had for a decade.

They didn’t have to wait much longer.

A car and a pickup truck pulled in the gates of the sprawling cemetery property. The emerald eyes watched as the vehicles stopped some two hundred yards away. The driver’s doors of the two vehicles opened. A tall, dark-haired woman stepped from the BMW coupe that had led them into the cemetery, and a petite blonde woman emerged from the pickup. The two hugged for a long time and then made their way to a grave with a small headstone.

Linus in this Anna body felt compelled to approach them. He picked up the purple pack and sauntered unhurriedly toward the two newcomers. The air smelled sweet, and the gentlest breeze insistently pushed from behind.

Nearing them, the two women came into focus. The short blonde with her hands respectfully behind her back was cute and petite. She was attractively shaped, with long fingernails flawlessly painted in a soft pink that was so familiar. A thought whispered to Linus. That’s Marie.

The other woman was a tall Latina with a very shapely figure and a natural smell that made it to the petite nose of the new young woman. He recognized her as the woman in his dreams. Linus gasped as he felt his heart explode with love and a sense of intense loss all at once. The part of Anna inside him was breaking through, and for the first time, her intense longing for the beautiful woman before him were his. “My Valeria!” escaped his full lips in a halting whisper.

The two women were obviously emotional. Valeria spoke, sounding profoundly sad and angry. “It didn’t work. And I won’t do this again. It’s too hard, Marie. It’s too hard.” She then seemed to reconsider. “But I miss her so much.”

“I know, Val. I know. I miss her too. We have to keep trying! I need to tell her I’m sorry for what I said that last night I saw her. I need to know she forgives me. Even after all these years, I feel so lost.”

Valeria spoke again through bitter tears. “The witches said so many times this would work. Why doesn’t it? Are they lying? They said it might take a year, but it’s been nine years since we met with them that first time here.”

Linus saw the side of the woman’s face and his breath caught. Love was joined by lust. For Valeria, Anna had been gone for a decade. For Anna, peering from inside her old body, no time had passed. Lust that had been buried for a decade, along with the deep, innocent love and excitement of finding the one you were meant for, erupted from her heart.

Marie answered, as she had the prior nine times, “No. Harriet and Flora weren’t lying. They are good witches. They told us it had to be the right person at the right time. They said the goddesses would know.”

Anna’s sadness and empathy for Marie joined the other emotions in Linus’s mind as an unfocused memory of this Marie floated into consciousness. Unresolved hurt was there and left open as a wound for both twins.

Linus stood waiting, not moving closer. Like earlier at Conrad’s security gate, he didn’t know what to say or do. The breeze tossed the soft auburn curls that framed Anna’s cute face. And before he could form words or even the thoughts, a whimper escaped his lips and the two women turned toward him. At first, what they saw didn’t seem to register.

But then Valeria shrieked, “Anna! Anna! My God! You came back! They…They weren’t lying.” The beautiful woman fell to her knees. “Thank you, goddesses! Thank you for bringing her back to me!”

Linus took a step back. He suddenly knew what she had to say. Knew why he was there. “I’m sorry, Valeria. I’m not your Anna.” The words came out with such pain that his heart wanted to stop.

Marie ran to hug him now. “But you are! You are! You are! Oh, my God! I am so sorry, Anna. I’ve been waiting…” She broke down in tears, unable to speak.

Linus studied Marie through Anna’s vision. She looked a lot like Anna, though ten years older now. Her short blonde hair was attractive, and her body, though less dramatic, was still lovely.

Valeria stood and joined them, wrapping her arms around them both. “I prayed for this moment! I prayed, and it came true!”

The touch of these two women was almost too much for Linus. In their embrace, he could feel all the years of sorrow, regret, and unrequited love, and Anna’s feelings for them were overwhelming and complex.

Linus was overcome. He cried and spoke in a choked voice. “No, Marie. Both of you. You need to listen. I’m not her. I’m not Anna. I think…I think I’m here, though, to give you something you need. I’m here to give you…comfort. Closure.”

Valeria shook her head. “No! You came back to me! Stop saying these things, my little fairy! My fiery seductress. Stop! I can feel you. I can smell you! You are here, and we can be together again. Like we would have been if you hadn’t been taken from me.”

Hearing these last words reminded him of the morning’s events. “I…I have something for you.” Linus handed Conrad’s iPhone to Valeria. “This belongs to the killer, Conrad Stephenson. He recorded his confession on it this morning. I sent it to some people who should help, but in case…well, now you have it. The phone pin is 1002  — today’s date and his birthday.”

Linus smiled wryly, turning to Marie. “If anyone asks you, Marie, you met Conrad today at his house, and he confessed to you. It will make sense later if you listen to the recording.” Linus then handed the envelope containing the evidence he’d gathered that morning to her as well.

With this, Linus’s remaining burden for his actions more than a decade before was gone. He’d done his part. The evidence was safe in their hands. And now all the regrets of his entire lifetime floated away with the fluttering oak leaves.

Linus felt light and free. Something inside surfaced and warmly embraced him, speaking to him directly for the first time. “Thank you,” Anna silently told her host. Her soft voice then asked Linus, “May I speak to them? May I show them something else?”

Linus didn’t answer, but nodded to the voice instead, relinquishing control of the body he inhabited so that its rightful soul could emerge one more time.

Linus watched from inside her as Anna gently kissed the two women and dropped her worn backpack on the ground. He felt these kisses and her many emotions fully now, seeing the two people that meant the most to her this way.

Anna removed the eReader, caressing it like a treasured friend. She turned on the device and unlocked it with her pretty finger. She then let both women read the entries. All of the entries, not just the ones for the week of her death.

The three women read and cried and read and cried for a very long time. They felt the love and comfort they’d been looking for since the day Anna died. The tears flowed. But they soon turned to tears of joy at having this moment.

And when the tears stopped, all four of them were at peace. Anna ran her hand over the deep gouge in the eReader’s cover. “There are no more wounds,” she said. “We are healed. We can all move forward.”

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The three women stood together, shoulders touching. No one knew what to say next. But Anna, still controlling what had been Linus’s body, knew what she had to do.

Anna sighed. She kissed Valeria and then her sister before putting the reader back into her pack and lifting it to her shoulders. “It’s time for me to go.”

Valeria took her hand. “You…can’t…” She didn’t finish the sentence because, looking into her former lover’s sparkling eyes, Valeria saw that the time magic had granted them was indeed over.

Marie took longer to reach the same conclusion as she held onto her sister’s other hand, their matching nails mingled together. She refused to let go. “Why can’t you stay?”

Anna smiled sweetly. “This isn’t my life. My life ended near that tree a decade ago. But yours didn’t. You both have mourned me for far too long. I was happy that day I walked up here. Now you must be happy. You have to move on.”

The resurrected girl turned to Valeria. “I’ve watched you. You’ve had chances to find love again, but you keep pushing them away. There is far too much passion in you. Share that love. Let others see your heart the way you showed me in those joy-filled days we were together. There is someone there for you. She’s just around the next corner. Watch for her!”

She then looked at Marie. “And you, my dear sister. You have been carrying around this guilt about one night out of the thousands we happily spent together growing up and as adults. Yes, we fought that night, but you still loved me, and you have to know I still loved you. But if you need to hear it, let me say now that I am sorry for what I said then and I forgive you. And you, too, need to find someone to love. Who knows, it might be the next man you meet.”

Valeria asked, “Will we see you again? Next year? Will you come back to us?”

Anna shook her head. “No, my love. I am dead. I am a memory. Your love for me has given us this hour, but that is all there will be.”

With that, Anna turned from them and started walking back toward the oak tree. The two women didn’t follow. Said nothing more. Anna did not look back.

Once she had passed the tree, Anna removed the pack and sat down against the ancient trunk and closed her eyes, smiling. “Thank you, Linus.”

Linus answered, “I don’t deserve your thanks. If I had not…”

She interrupted him. “I am not here for retribution. Fate had its plan. You were just playing your part back then, and you have made full amends today. Now, you get to choose your tomorrow. You get to choose what happens at midnight and afterwards.”

“I don’t understand…any of this.”

“Yes, you do, Linus. Don’t lie to yourself. You know exactly what comes next. You know the choices. I will be gone in a few moments. You have to choose who you will be when you wake up.”

“You mean choosing between the sad and lost man I was or the girl I am now?”

“Those aren’t your only choices. Stop ignoring the truth. I was allowed to come here to comfort my sister and the love of my life, but I was brought here for and because of you, too. We are connected.”

“But what should I choose?”

Anna said finally, her voice fading. “You already know. You already know. You already…”

 

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Chapter 11: Strangers

Linus pulled onto Winding Lane and selected a lower gear for the final two-mile climb to Oak Ridge. The bright green Bianchi shone in the Florida sun as he pedaled up the steep, curvy road. His long, powerful male legs once again made taking on the incline almost effortless.

His mind returned to the morning’s revelations and wondered what was to come after the tumultuous last week. Linus awoke that morning in his own bed and immediately saw his manly, muscular, hairy arms and, significantly, he did not see them through long auburn hair.

He wondered sleepily at first if the events of the past week were a dream. But facing the bathroom mirror minutes later, the truth was reflected. He was fully Linus again, but the eyes staring back at him were Anna’s sparkling green ones. This really happened.

Back on the bike, Linus heard a loud horn that jerked him back to the moment. He hugged the edge of the road as a city bus passed; the driver pointed an accusing finger at him as he went by. He turned his head back to the road. Don’t lose focus. Not today. Not after all this.

But a minute later, his mind again drifted again back to the morning. Today felt like Friday, but it was actually Saturday. It was two days ago that he woke up fully as Anna. Two days since he’d sat by the oak tree and fallen asleep.

The confrontation with Conrad was still fresh in his memory, as was the hike in Anna’s body and the time later that day with Valeria, Marie, and Anna at the cemetery. This morning revealed, though, that two midnights had been missed since then. While he slept…or whatever he’d been doing…the world kept going. Kept adjusting. Reality adjusted back to where it had been before.

Almost.

Linus looked over his shoulder as he made way for another car to pass, glancing at the faded purple strap atop his broad shoulder. Anna’s pack was the reason he was riding up to the fateful spot again. Something pulled at him that morning when he saw the pack by the kitchen door. By now, he knew everything had happened for a reason. And though he did not know how the pack was there this morning, he could only think of one reason why. One last thing to do to complete what had started under that tree that rainy Friday eight days before. He had to return the pack to the scarred old oak.

Linus shifted gears again and reached down to withdraw the water bottle attached to his bike frame. The bottle, bearing a logo from one of the charity bike rides he’d done, took Linus’s mind to Isaac and then to the actual news he’d read that morning. Conrad Stephenson Jr. had been arrested Thursday night. Apparently, the recorded confession and evidence Linus sent made it to the right hands that very day. The police came to Conrad’s birthday party and took him away in front of all of his guests. How fitting.

There were two other mentions in the news story about the arrest that surprised Linus. First was that the Florida statute of limitations on hit-and-runs involving death was ten years, something Linus had forgotten in his time in corporate law. Had charges not been filed on Thursday, ten years to the day from Anna’s death, the statute would have run out and Conrad would have been immune from prosecution.

The second surprise in the news report disturbed Linus. The article mentioned that there was evidence someone was with Conrad when his truck struck Anna. The reporter said that this person was a “close friend of Conrad.” Linus hoped it wasn’t Isaac, though that would explain the cryptic texts his friend had sent Linus the morning he figured out Conrad’s involvement in Anna’s death and the one from Isaac sent later to Conrad’s phone.

As Linus approached the sharp blind curve just before the cemetery, the curve where Anna was run down, he went to replace the water bottle in the bike frame so he could put both hands on the handlebars for the turn. But he dropped the bottle. It bounced under his rear tire, and he momentarily lost his balance. Linus swerved to the left, quickly recovering his balance as he saw the bottle roll off the road into the grass.

But the moment of distraction was a moment too much. When Linus looked up again, he saw a terrifying sight. A pickup truck had crossed the center line in the middle of the curve and was coming at him head-on. Had Linus not swerved to regain his balance, there would have been room for the truck to pass. But his bike was too close to the middle of the road now, and a collision was inevitable.

The driver of the pickup apparently saw Linus at the same moment. Both reacted instinctively and, thankfully, steered away from each other. Instead of a head-on collision, Linus’s front tire glanced off the rear wheel of the truck. It was still a violent impact, though, and his bike crumpled against the side of the pickup.

Time seemed to slow down as Linus felt himself flying over the back of the truck and onto the grassy road shoulder. He tumbled several times, coming to rest on his chest, with the breath knocked out of him. His head was fuzzy for a moment, but he quickly regained consciousness and struggled to catch his breath.

Linus lay there in silence trying to assess his injuries. For a moment, the only sound was the wind in the trees. But then the silence was broken by the slam of a vehicle door and the screams of a woman.

“Oh, my God! Are you alright?!” The woman was weeping. “I’m so sorry. I…I didn’t see you!”

Linus responded, “I think I’m okay. Just give me a minute.” Still on his stomach, Linus moved his arms and legs. “Yeah. I don’t think anything is broken. Let me…Let me catch my breath.”

The woman continued to speak rapidly in a choked voice. The voice sounded familiar. “I…I was coming from the cemetery. They just arrested the man who killed my sister. I went to the grave to tell her. I…was distracted and…I’m so, so sorry.”

To anyone else, the woman’s words might have sounded like nonsense. But not to Linus. He froze. He couldn’t move, but not because he was injured. He couldn’t speak, but not for lack of breath. It was the implication of all this, not his fall, that muted him and paralyzed him. My god! This is Marie.

Marie kneeled down beside him in the grass, now sobbing uncontrollably. “This is the same curve where Anna was killed! I almost killed you in the same place my sister died!”

Linus turned slowly over and sat up. He was sore and had a few cuts and scrapes, but was otherwise okay. Marie had her hands over her face, crying into them. Marie’s nails were still painted in the same “strawberry cheesecake” pink. Linus gently pulled her hands away from her face, saying softly, “But you didn’t kill me. I’m fine. Really.”

Pent-up emotion and sudden affection filled his heart as he looked at a face much like the one he’d grown familiar with in the mirror. He lifted Marie’s chin and brushed away her blonde hair. Anna’s green eyes looked into the bright blue eyes of her sister again. Linus spoke to Marie…and to himself. “It’s going to be okay.”

Marie stopped sobbing and smiled wanly. “Are you sure you aren’t injured?”

He grinned, sensing the real purpose of his ride today. I wasn’t just supposed to return the pack. I was supposed to... He realized he’d been staring silently, so he answered her. “I’m okay.”

She tilted her head inquisitively, studying him as if sensing something meaningful in the moment, too.

Linus continued to take in the woman. Marie was indeed Anna’s twin. Her face was just as innocent and lovely. He couldn’t let her go. But what can I do?

The answers came to him like Cyrano whispering in his ear. He took off the sunglasses that had somehow remained on his face during the accident, saying, “But I do have a favor to ask.” Linus pointed at his crushed bicycle. “Can you give me a ride home?”

Marie nodded and wiped the last of her tears. She first looked toward the ruined bicycle but then returned to Linus’s face. Her eyes found his now, and she gasped. “I…I…Your eyes.” She could not take her eyes off his, but she found her voice. “Sure. A ride. Yeah. It’s the least I can do.”

She brushed dirt from his cheek, her soft hand lingering there, staring still. “Your eyes…” She seemed to want to say something more, but stopped herself. Marie looked away, fighting tears again.

“Don’t cry. You’ve cried enough.” He didn’t mean just this day. Linus meant her tears over the last decade.

“You don’t understand, um, mister. Your eyes look just like my Anna’s.”

Linus stood and extended his large hand. “I’m Linus.”

She took it. “I’m Marie.” She tilted her head again, eyes still locked on his face in a sweet look of confusion.

Linus sighed, suddenly nervous as he returned her intense gaze. “It’s nice to meet you, Marie.”

She asked. “Do I know you? Something about you…”

From deep within his mind again, a phrase came to him. A song lyric he’d learned two days before. He spoke it out loud. “Strangers on this road we are on.”

Her eyes widened, and she nearly gasped. “I know that song! The Kinks! It was one of my sister Anna’s favorites. Marie completed the line. ‘Strangers on this road we are on, we are not two, we are one’.”

Linus squeezed her small hand still held in his and glanced at the glistening fingernails. He didn’t want to let go. “Then I guess we know each other, huh?”

When he looked at Marie again, her face seemed to say the same thing, and she squeezed his hand in return. “I think maybe we do.”

After this shared moment passed, Marie helped Linus lift the crushed bike into the truck bed. And then she noticed on the road, under where the bike had lain, was Anna’s purple backpack. Pointing at it, she asked, “Where…where did that come from? I’ve been looking for it. It was Anna’s.” She peered up at Linus, tilting her pretty head again. “Did you have it? How?”

He smiled once more. “It’s a very long story. If you have the time, I’d love to tell it to you.”

She swallowed hard, still transfixed by his bright green, sparkling eyes. Familiar eyes. “Yeah. Yeah. I’ve…I’ve got time. I’d like to hear that story.” Marie seemed to relax. She mumbled, “It might be the next man you meet.”

 Linus heard what she’d said and knew why, but didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, he said simply, “You take me home, and I’ll get cleaned up. Then we’ll get dinner, and I’ll tell you all about it. It’s an incredible tale, but I think you might believe it.”

He handed her the pack, and Marie clutched it tightly to her chest and nodded.

He opened the driver’s door for her. “How do you feel about clams? I’ve had a craving for them all week.”

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And so it was; two lost souls brought together by pain, regret, and a little magic, found each other…

 

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…and justice was served.

 

Author’s Note: Thank you for making it to the final part of my story. I hope the ending was satisfying to you. I have a favor to ask as you go; please comment in the reviews. Tell me what you liked. Tell me what I need to do better. I’m still learning this fiction thing, and your comments help me improve.

And I need to take a moment to thank Jenny North, Alice Davies, Morphic Muse, and Selkie for reading and helping improve this story. I wrote the original version this spring over two caffeine-fueled days. With the help of these talented and creative friends, I’ve spent the last few months refining it. Jenny, Alice, and Selkie all have stories here and elsewhere for you to read. They are all better writers than I, too. So, if you think this is a decent story, check out their stories to see what real writing looks like.

Lisa