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. 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 strong enough.

“Earlier today, a teenage girl was seen running out of the cave, crying.” A news anchor stated. “She has since been identified as Johanna Iverson, a fifteen year old from Stevenson 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 to the cave.

“The Supernatural Investigation Department has stated they have accepted the Donner family’s request and will explore the cave to retrieve Antonio’s remains. They have also stated they will put up higher level protection around the entrance, to prevent anyone else from going in. They reiterate that the Forbidden Cave is banned from being entered by the general public.”

The camera went back to the news anchor, but the TV playing the story turned off before she said anything.

The middle aged man at the front desk, Samuel Geisinger, turned in his chair and with a bitter groan, took out a folder full of paperwork.

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

“Would you guys please stop calling me captain?” He asked, annoyed. “This isn’t a pirate ship.”

“I’m sorry… boss?”

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

“But I was told that… okay, Geisinger.” Avery replied. “I just wanted to tell you that Johanna has arrived. She says she wants to do the interview now.”

“Well, I can’t do it now, I’m busy.” Geisinger said back. “Someone else will have to.”

“Who?”

He thought over the question. “How about Ben? He’s good with interviews. Get him to do it.”

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

“And stop calling me that!”

***

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, the people having problems with the Supernatural and 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 front line 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.

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 well worth it if you did.

***

Avery walked around the halls of the second floor for about a minute before reaching the right quarters. She knocked on the door.

It opened almost instantly, revealing a young man just approaching his mid twenties named Benjamin Cross, a newer 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 his drawers, taking out a folder and a pen. “You know, before I got this job I didn’t think there’d be so much paperwork involved.”

“Is it really that much?”

“Well I’ve listened to what other receptionists have told me, and I think we might actually get more than you do.” Ben answered. “I mean, you think you’re gonna be some badass fighting ghosts and demons and next thing you know you’re in this room recording a bunch of shit.”

“If you had to fight demons a lot, the world would probably be a very dangerous place to live.”

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

Avery 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 inside.

Her face was 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.

“Look.” He said in a soft tone. “I’m sorry about what happened. I know you think I’m just saying that, but I do mean it.”

Johanna’s eyes began tearing up.

“Hey.” He said. “It’s okay. The supernatural has hurt a lot of people. You’re not alone.”

Johanna sniffed. “It’s just… if I’d 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. It’s all my fault.”

“No, it’s not. The first step to getting through this is understanding that it’s not your fault.”

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 a switch that can be turned 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. Do you still want to?”

Johanna nodded silently.

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

Her face turned up. “Well… we were in the Forbidden Cave. He convinced me to go 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 an hour or something. 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 struggled to finish. It took about a minute before she was able to speak again. “He walked down this path and then I heard something breaking. I called his name but he didn’t answer. I tried walking down that path but got scared when I saw all the spiders. I stopped, 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.”

She nearly lost control of herself again, only barely holding it together.

“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. I got scared and ran out of the cave.”

Johanna suddenly buried her face in her hands, unable to suppress her sobbing.

“I’m sorry.” Ben said.

Johanna continued to sob for another minute.

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

“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. “Is there anything else you can think of that may have caused 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. And please consider that grief program.”

“I’ll think about it.”

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

***

Ben headed to the receptionist’s desk right at the entrance to the building, dropping off two pieces of paper.

“The rest is classified, sorry.” He told Avery.

“Am I allowed to know how the interview went?” She asked him.

“I think it went well.” He answered. “The rest I have to tell the captain.”

“He said he doesn’t like being called that.”

“Really?” He said, grinning. “I didn’t know.”

Ben snickered to himself as he walked away. He took an elevator up to the third floor and quickly went over to Geisinger’s office, folder in hand.

He knocked on his door. Geisinger came to open it a couple seconds later. “Come in.”

Ben entered the room and took a seat in front of the main 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 Antonio’s death. She was crying a ton. Poor girl… hell, poor guy. Anyway, I was able to get a lot of information. Some of it I think you might find interesting.”

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

Geisinger hummed. “You’re probably right. But I’d wait until we have more evidence before jumping to a conclusion.”

“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, might still be in there. We could 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 answering. “We’re going in the cave to get Antonio’s body tomorrow. If we see this light, we’ll deal with it. If we don’t, we’ll let it slide. If we see anything unusual happening, in the cave or anywhere else, we’ll investigate.”

“That sounds too passive.” Ben argued. “This thing could be dangerous. It could leave the cave and start terrorizing and killing people.”

“I don’t deny that is a possibility. But we have no way to trace it right now.” 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 have all the equipment we need in case of an attack. If we see it, we’ll deal with it. We’ll trap and examine it. We will take any potential threat seriously but I also don’t want to make the situation worse. Does that make sense?”

“I guess.”

“Good, because sometimes I get annoyed when people go out looking for trouble. Just look at what happened to Antonio.” He said. “Granted, it is my fault he got into that cave in the first place. The barrier should have been magically reinforced.”

“No, it’s not your fault, you told those guys to-”

“As the head of the S.I.D., I am responsible for all of my employee’s mistakes.” Geisinger interrupted. “I should have checked the entrance. It was completely unacceptable that I didn’t. That’s what you learn when you become a leader. It’s always your fault.”

Ben huffed. “And just after I got done telling Johanna the opposite.” He muttered

“Well, I’m just glad we seem to agree with each other.” Geisinger said with a smile. “Anyway, I have work right now that I need to get back to. I’ll see you later, goodbye.”

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

Geisinger’s face fell. “Stop calling me that!”

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.” 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 the 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 unnecessary to me. I think just a singular gravestone would be fine. And besides, didn’t he get crushed? What would there be left of him?”

“Well, bone fragments probably.”

“How would you get to them?”

“Jackie, we have top of the line tech with us. A few rocks is not an issue.”

“If you say so.”

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

“You don’t care.”

“You know, sometimes I like hearing about the simpler life.”

“Simpler? 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 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. “I hear that.”

“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 took a sip of his scotch as he listened.

“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 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. Half the time he was wondering why those guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000 weren’t on the screen.

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

The two kissed a lot that night, so much that Ben didn’t even know how the movie ended.

***

As the TV was turned off, 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.”

“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 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.

That was his job.

The world of magic and the supernatural was tough. Someone had to be on the front lines. Some days it really did feel like it was kill or be killed. Geisinger had to talk him out of that mindset, but a part of him still believed it.

He couldn’t live with himself if that light ended up hurting anyone.

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, crashed into bed with her and shut his eyes, bracing himself for the long day ahead.

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

Ben kept his breathing stable and consistent, a mandatory technique for exercises such as this, and one 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 preventing them from being used. It was put into place by Geisinger, 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 energy, Ben got to the top of the ladder and stood up on 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 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 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.”

“It is compared to these people. 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.”

“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. You guys gotta stop with the crazy conspiracies.”

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 far 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, a major flaw of his. Many times 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 five minutes after 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 again? 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 like Jacqueline.” Ben said. “Only way harsher.”

“I am a true cynic at heart.” Stephen stated.

Ben and Stephen opened the doors to the staircase and saw they were the only ones using it instead of the elevator. There were so many people in the gym that the stairs were actually faster if quick enough. Jogging up them served as its own workout too.

“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. This place is its own beast.”

“I can imagine.”

“It’s probably the worst place I’ve ever been in.” Ben said. “Once you’ve gone in there, you’ll never forget it.”

The Forbidden Cave sat atop a grassy hill adorned with trees. A sharp rocky incline held the entrance. The thirty S.I.D. members that stood facing the cave could not see far in. After a couple feet, it became pitch black.

Even though everyone had a flashlight and a backpack full of state of the art protection, a couple couldn’t help but gulp. Ben was one of them. The only saving grace was that they were going in during the day. The cave was far more dangerous at night.

At least Geisinger was right there in front of them all, going through the obligatory safety briefing. If anything was going to put Ben’s mind at ease, it was this.

“There will be six groups in total.” Geisinger announced. “Each one will have five people and you will be assigned to one by myself. Group one will remain outside at the entrance. They will create a forcefield blocking the entrance once we are done. All other groups will be going in. Under no circumstances are you to leave your group and venture out into the cave alone, for any reason. Do not wander off. If someone in your group gets lost, you are to report it immediately.”

He held up a black device that looked like a larger version of an old cell phone, with a screen on top and an array of number dials on the bottom.

“Your communicators are designed to automatically contact me. You can change this by dialing 329 then followed by the number of the group you want to contact. It will call the communicator of that group’s designated leader.” He gestured toward himself. “I will be the leader of group six. If anybody goes missing, you will contact me and I will relay that message to all the other groups. I will send the number you have to dial to all of you in case anyone forgets. The communicators also come with an electronic map of the cave. Use it.”

He clipped the communicator back onto the side of his utility belt. He then took out the shock cannon strapped to his back.

“Do not put your shock cannon in the ‘kill’ setting unless you are in danger. NEVER point them at any of your group members and unless the situation calls for it, or I order you to take them out, have them on your back at all times.” He pointed to a switch on the top of the cannon. “You may all notice your shock cannons have a new setting, ‘pick up’. If you switch it on, your cannon will turn to a mode where you can use it to pick up small objects. This is to be used when you locate the area of Antonio’s death, to pick up the rocks he was crushed by. This mode is still in its infancy, and it can not be used to pick up heavy objects. Do not try to do so.”

He put the cannon back onto his back.

“One last thing. Johanna, the young girl who was in this cave with Antonio, claimed that a strange white light emanated on the floors and walls right before his death. It likely came from within the room he was crushed. Keep watch for anything emanating a bright white light. Avoid it if you can. Attack if necessary. Is that all clear?”

Geisinger’s speech was answered by a chorus of “Yes sir”.

“Good.” He said. “Let’s get to work.”

***

Traversing through the Forbidden Cave never became even the slightest bit comfortable, no matter how many times the S.I.D. went inside. It was always the same dark and damp series of caverns every time. The maze-like structure was sure to make anyone who came in without a map lost. And if the pits or creatures inside didn’t kill them, the dehydration certainly would.

Ben could not be more excited to leave this place to rot.

Luckily the areas his group were walking through were vast and open, a far cry from the cramped paths he usually saw. There were a lot of rooms like this too, perhaps the cave wasn’t as cramped as he first thought.

“Approaching forty minutes.” The leader of Ben’s group, Angela announced.

“I still think an update every five minutes is excessive.” Tyler replied behind Ben.

“Five minutes doesn’t feel like five minutes in here.” Ben argued.

“Yeah, it feels like an hour, and it’s gonna feel like two if she keeps doing this.”

“I’m surprised I’m not the one bitching the most. I hate this place.” Ben said.

“Yeah, welcome to the club.” Angela said. “It doesn’t make you special to- DUCK!”

All five members of the group immediately got down on their knees and covered their heads as a swarm of bats flew at them from above. The bats went so low they could feel the air pass by their hands. A couple seconds after they heard all the horrible squeals fade in the distance, they hesitantly came back up.

“Do you hate bats too, Ben?” Tyler asked. “If so, welcome to the club.”

Ben lightly hit his shoulder. Angela walked up to them. “Hey, let’s stay focused, alright? Did either of you get bit?”

“Nope, I’m clean.” Tyler answered.

“No.” Ben said.

Angela raised her voice for the two in the back.

“Grant, Shania. You're a little too far away. Come closer.”

The two new recruits walked up to her, each with a look of shock on their faces.

“We didn’t get bit.” Grant said, shaking. “Well, I didn’t…” He turned toward Shania. “Did you?”

She shook her head.

“Good.” Angela said. “The bats in here will kill you in twenty minutes. It’s basically super rabies. So if you two are lying…”

Shania and Grant’s faces turned to dread, but they both shook their heads “no”.

“Alright.” Angela motioned for them to begin moving again. “Let’s go.”

The group went quiet and began marching onwards. Shania approached Ben from the back as they did.

“Angela wasn’t being serious, was she?” She asked nervously.

“Technically no.” Ben answered. “It kills you in forty minutes.”

Shania’s eyes widened in horror and she stopped. Ben had to beckon her to keep going.

***

At this point Geisinger had been leading his group down a series of cramped passageways for a full two and a half hours. There was nothing in immediate sight except rock walls and the intense darkness that enveloped all that surrounded them.

Well, except for the spiders. With each step he swore he saw more of them.

“Shit!” Coleman exclaimed beside him.

“What?” Geisinger asked

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

He looked at the walls and floor ahead of them and realized that they were almost covered in spiders.

“You got to be fucking kidding me.” Bethany said.

“There weren’t this many before.” Stephen pointed out. “What happened?”

Geisinger turned his flashlight to a higher intensity and pointed it directly in front of him. In the distance, he 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.

“Johanna 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?” Coleman complained.

Geisinger got out his communicator and turned on the speaker. He began talking in an ancient language, doing very specific, calculated motions with his free hand, as if communicating in sign language.

After about twenty seconds, he switched back to English. “Let us be shielded from the bugs. Let the forces in the air protect us from them.”

A light blue, transparent forcefield began forming over all of their bodies as Geisinger put his communicator away.

“The spell’s good for thirty minutes.” He said. “We have to be fast.”

“Great.” Bethany said.

Geisinger marched forward onto the path. Everyone following him was very peculiar about how they stepped to avoid as many spiders as possible, even if intellectually they knew they couldn’t get on their skin. The human brain can be such a stupid thing. At least none of them looked venomous.

Very shortly into their walk, the group saw a drop in elevation, with a large pile of broken rocks in between where they were standing and the end of the path.

“Thank god there aren’t many spiders on that debris.” Bethany said, relieved.

“You two hate spiders that much?” Maria asked Bethany and Coleman.

“Yeah, most people do.” Bethany answered.

“Not us.” Maria retorted. “We deal with far scarier stuff. We can take a few spiders.”

“It’s the way they look.” Coleman explained. “Eight eyes, eight angular legs, fast, unpredictable, hairs all over them and that fat fucking bulbous ass in the back.”

“Oh c’mon, the only places with spiders big enough so you can see all of that are like, Australia and Brazil.” Maria cringed as they all finally reached the point right before the drop off. “Oh… I really need to stop taking those smell enhancers.”

“Does it smell like a dead body’s under there?” Geisinger asked her.

“Yes.” She said.

“Good.” He took his communicator out again and switched it to scanning mode. He moved it over every inch of the debris.

“Antonio’s body is still there.” He said. “It’s intact enough to move into a body bag, but we need to be careful. The spiders haven’t gotten to it yet but if we’re not fast enough they will once they’re all lifted.”

“Fast and careful at the same time doesn’t make any sense.” Stephen said.

“That’s the way we do it.” Geisinger said back. “Stephen, get the body bag ready. Everyone else, take out your shock cannons, flip them to pick up mode.”

“How long will this take?” Bethany asked.

“Probably twenty-five minutes, give or take.” Geisinger answered.

“And how many more minutes will this spell last?” She asked again.

“About twenty-seven.”

Silence fell upon the area as everyone quickly took out their shock cannons.

“I fucking love my job.” Coleman said.

Geisinger snickered.

***

It took twenty minutes before they saw any part of his body, but they will never forget the moment they finally did.

Once they saw a fragment of Antonio’s crushed head popping out of the rocks, the stench became unbearable. Maria in particular had to constantly stop herself from gagging. They began working as quickly as they could just to muffle the smell in the body bag.

It took another five minutes before Stephen finally secured the last of Antonio’s remains in the bag. Thankfully the bag had been affected by the same spell the group was under, and as such it was immune from spiders getting in.

“Please don’t take your gloves off.” Maria said as Stephen tied up the bag.

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

After a scan confirmed without a doubt the remains did indeed belong to Antonio Donner, Geisinger took hold of the front of the body bag and Stephen took the back. Slowly, they began the trek out of the spider-ridden dead end.

“You know, this spell runs out in like a minute.” Maria reminded everyone.

The trek suddenly became very fast.

They made it out of the passageway with fifteen seconds to spare.

“I should get a raise next time I have to do something like that.” Bethany said as the forcefields around all of them faded.

“Ben was right, this place sucks.” Stephen said. “I don’t want to spend another minute in here.”

“Coleman, relay a message to all the other groups. Tell them we’ve found Antonio and to immediately start making their way back to the entrance.” Geisinger commanded. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

***

None of the groups waited once the announcement was made. Any second longer in that cave was a second wasted.

Unfortunately, since the pathways inside the cave were so confusing, people often had to stop and look back at their maps just to remind themselves where they were. Ben didn’t keep track of how many times his group stopped, but it had to be at least ten. After a while, he started to wonder why he wasn’t seeing more human remains from those who got lost.

Then again, he didn’t even want to think about what could’ve happened to those bodies.

Angela wasn’t providing constant time updates anymore, so Ben wasn’t sure how long it had been. But it was probably about an hour or so into the walk when he suddenly whipped his head around. He could’ve sworn he saw something out of the corner of his eye. But when he looked, nothing was there.

He shook his head and kept walking.

***

Shania jolted her head back. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Tyler asked her.

“I thought I heard something.”

“Well if you did, it’s all the more reason to walk even faster.” He tugged on her shoulder. “Come on.”

Uneasy, Shania turned back around and continued walking. Only half a minute later, Ben turned his head around too.

“Something is definitely following us.” He said.

Shania and Grant’s faces fell and they both instinctively reached for their shock cannons.

“Hold it.” Angela told them. “Ben, we have to keep moving. If something is following us, we’ll know soon.”

“Might be too late then.” He said.

“Are you even one hundred percent sure we’re being followed?” She asked.

“Positive.” He said as he slowly crept away from her.

“Ben.” Angela said. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t respond.

“Ben!” She exclaimed.

Again, he didn’t respond.

“C’mon Ben, we need to leave.” She said.

This time, he stopped, moving his flashlight all around to ensure nothing was on the walls or ceiling behind. He rested his hand on a rock on the wall next to him.

“I just wanted to make sure we’re safe.” He said. He searched for a few seconds longer then put his flashlight down. “Alright, let’s go.”

He turned around and pushed himself off the wall. Right after he did, he heard the sound of a rock slowly sliding back. He quickly brought his flashlight back up and looked at where he just had his hand. The rock he laid it on was moving backwards into the wall, as if attached to a mechanism pulling it.

“Ben?” Angela asked him.

He turned back toward her with a confused look on his face. He took a few steps toward her and the group before suddenly they all heard a deep rumbling all around them.

Everyone stopped, fear spreading on their faces and preparing for a sudden attack.

“What the hell was that?” Tyler asked quietly.

“Check the ceiling, it might start-”

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

“BEN!” Everyone in his group called out, but the floor covered back up as soon as he fell under. Angela desperately clawed at the ground to try and find some way to get where he was, but it was hopeless. They couldn’t even track where he was going on their maps. How could there still be undiscovered rooms in this cave?

Everyone was so shell shocked at first, none of them could even speak a word.

Then Angela took out her communicator and frantically dialed 329-6. She put it up to her mouth.

“C’mon answer you pieces of shit.”

“This is group six, what’s going on?” She heard Geisinger’s voice ask.

“Yes, group two. Ben’s gone!”

Underneath the floor, Ben found himself going down some sort of tube slide. The walls around him were made of rock, but somehow perfectly smooth, as if someone sanded them over. There wasn’t a single place where any part of the wall even slightly jutted out.

Doing his best to keep cool and not panic, he tried to avoid his head hitting the walls. He didn’t know how fast he was going, but he was sure it was enough to make hitting them dangerous.

He slid down for so long he almost thought the slide would go on forever, but eventually it did end, and he dropped into a pool of water. Completely submerged, he had no choice but to remove all the heavy equipment weighing him down. He took off his backpack, utility belt, and shock cannon. He did not watch as they sank into the depths below.

He quickly pushed himself up to the surface. Breathing heavily, he saw dry land very close to where he was, only about thirty feet out. Gritting his teeth, he swam through the water to get to it.

There was no gradual slope down into the water from the land, it was a steep and instant drop. It caused him some trouble when trying to get out. He had to use a lot of arm strength to climb up onto the floor.

He rolled over onto his back, breathing heavily and soaking wet. He moved his head around to fully examine the room he’d fallen into. The first thing he noticed was how spacious it was. It was by far the most spacious area he’d ever seen in the Forbidden Cave. The ceiling looked about as high up as it was in the S.I.D. gym, maybe even a little higher.

Getting up on his elbows, he tried to think of any area in the cave close to this room. Nothing came to mind. He instinctively reached for his communicator, only to realize it had been dropped along with his utility belt.

“Shit!”

How was he supposed to be found now? And how long would it take to find him? The water he had just fallen into had to be at most sixty degrees, and this cave was not warm. If he didn’t dry off soon, he might get hypothermia.

He stood up and shivered, crossing his arms and trying to keep in as much body heat as he could. At the moment, it was the only thing he could do.

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 be no way for light to come in.

Turning his head, he took a second look at the walls and ceiling. He froze when he saw a sphere of white light, right on top of the tube slide he came out of, illuminating the entire area.

Ben’s eyes immediately locked onto it. It hadn’t moved, not yet at least, but he knew it was going to.

His whole body became paralyzed with fear. This had to be the same light Antonio saw seconds before his death. The exact thing Ben told Geisinger they needed to go out of their way to destroy. Except Ben had no way to destroy it. He was absolutely helpless. He had no equipment, no weapons, no way to contact anyone, and no way to trap it.

He stared at the light, waiting for it to make the first move. It seemed to be doing the same. He didn’t know what it was standing there for. Was it analyzing him?

Ben saw the light move an inch forward and immediately gunned it back. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much ground for him to cover, and within just twenty seconds, his hands hit a wall.

He looked at the walls around him, frantically checking for any way out. He saw nothing but more solid rock. There was no exit, not even on the floor.

“Fucking Christ.” He slammed the wall. What was he supposed to do now? Hide? There wasn’t even an obvious structure jutting out from the floor he could duck behind.

No, he had to keep trying. He wasn’t giving up that easily.

Ben turned around and saw the light approaching him. He was about to be cornered by it, so he sprinted to his left.

The light almost touched his abdomen, but he narrowly 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 there was nothing. Nothing to climb, break, or crawl into. Just an empty area with a deep pool of water.

“Wait a minute.” He thought. “Water.”

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

But then again, he couldn’t see anything under the water, and it was still at a dangerously low temperature. He was in a pretty bad state already. He needed to get dry fast, but how could he even attempt 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 saw the light approaching him out of the corner of his eye and made a dash for it. He ran around it on the left and went right back to the wall he was just at earlier. He didn’t know if this light got faster as time went on and he didn’t want to wait to find out. He hoped at its current pace it’d give him enough time to think.

He turned back toward the water and contemplated going in again. That extra bit of 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, doomed to constantly avoid a light that could kill him, or worse. What other option did he have?

The light was beginning to get close again. Ben ran back in front of the water. Shit, was it getting faster? He swore it didn’t get to him that soon before.

In a rush, he tried to think of anything he hadn’t earlier. What if someone else fell down that same trap? Would that help him? Probably not, they’d just be stuck 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.

What the hell did this light even want? To kill him? He was in a trap room with no way out, it could just wait until he starved to death. Did it want to use him for something? With how desperate it was to get to him, that seemed true. But what good was he to it?

A million possibilities came into his mind. Not just of how he could be used, but how he could be used AGAINST others.

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

Maybe going in wasn’t such a bad idea.

He turned around and saw the light coming to him at a brisk pace. Before it could touch him, he dove into the water. He made no effort to keep himself up, he simply let himself go under.

And he stayed under.

As he sank, the first thing his mind went to was Jacqueline. He wished he could’ve given her that surprise he wanted for her so badly. He hoped someone out there could show it to her.

He opened his mouth and took the water in. He lamented that it had 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 lost consciousness, his body glowed with the light that reached him. Energy spread all throughout his core, inside and out.

He didn’t notice.

Everywhere Ben looked, he could only see the clouds and the sky. The only thing he felt was the wind constantly blowing past him. His whole body was entirely suspended in the air, and every second he could feel himself slowly ascend upward.

He focused on what lay above him. There was nothing except more of the sky.

But then, something came into view.

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

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

Then he blinked, and the island was gone.

Ben laid idly on the ground, staring at the ceiling above him. He blinked repeatedly, his mind fuzzy and dazed. He immediately noticed how bright the room was. Somehow, sunlight was making its way in.

He got himself up on his elbows and turned his head around. A large exit to the outside forest was right there behind him.

How did that get there? This had been a trap room just minutes ago.

Ben brought his hand up to his neck, his breathing suddenly getting shaky. The sensation of drowning, of constantly gasping for air while taking in water, was burnt into his mind. And yet, here he was out of the water. Perfectly dry and breathing air like nothing happened. It was as if he died and was brought back to life.

Did the light revive him? It must have, there was no way he could’ve gotten out of that water otherwise. It would certainly explain the bizarre fever dream. It probably created the exit out to the forest too. After all, what else could have done that?

He searched around the room for the sphere of white light that had been chasing him. He couldn’t find it anywhere. Not on the walls or the ceiling or the floor. It was just… gone, and it hadn’t even left a trace.

He turned his body on its side and looked down into the water, checking to see if it moved there.

What he saw made him stop in bewilderment. He didn't see the light, but he did see the reflection of a woman looking back at him.

He turned his head around to see where this woman was. 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 extremely blatant.

His chest was pushing against the front of his uniform. It felt like it was sticking out. He had his legs clamped together the whole time, nothing in the middle was making it uncomfortable. And his hair was all the way down to the middle of his back.

Did the light do this too? Why? And why was it just letting him leave now? After literally trying to kill himself to avoid it, this felt extremely anticlimactic. He hoped Geisinger could give him some answers.

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

Lower down, he stared at his chest, to the new… breasts attached to it.

Was this the part where he was supposed to play with them?

He poked one with his index finger instead.

His gaze moved to his crotch, his hands coming down to the top button of his pants.

He closed his eyes and winced. God, he wasn’t really going to look down there was he?

He unbuttoned his pants and pulled them up with his underwear. He brought them back down the second he didn’t see a penis. Nope, he was not going any further than that.

He took his elbows off the ground and let his head fall back. He had only worked for the S.I.D. for a year, but somehow this was not even close to the weirdest thing he’s seen.

But it was certainly the weirdest thing he’s seen happen to himself. What would he tell the others when he got back? Where were the others anyway? Surely they’d notice the giant gaping hole into the cave that suddenly popped up.

Then again, they didn’t know to look here. Looks like he was going to have to find them himself.

Ben stood up on his legs, took a step, then fell down again. He caught himself just before his head hit the ground.

Right, new center of gravity.

Slowly, he steadied himself up and tried again. This time with his arms up to balance himself. On his second try, he almost fell again. The same happened on his third, fourth and fifth attempts too. It took until his seventh attempt when he finally got the hang of it.

That didn’t make walking 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, he probably just needed to walk to his left and he’d see it at some point. As long as he stayed alongside the cave, he’d get there.

He walked out into the forest and felt the sunlight hit his skin. After being cooped up in that dark cave for hours and almost dying, it was enough to make him cry. He forced himself to focus as the tears came to his eyes.

Before he began his walk, he turned around to see the opening he’d just come out of.

It disturbed him how much it looked like a vagina.

***

There were so many narrow, winding paths in the cave that walking alongside it on the outside was much quicker than leaving from the inside. He probably hadn’t even been walking for an hour by the time he saw the entrance come into view.

He did have to go up some steep hills to get here though. Somehow, those weren’t his biggest obstacle.

To his right laid an endless sea of trees and forest. The Woods of Sin expanded far across multiple different regions. Undoubtedly, there was a ton of wildlife running around, jumping tree to tree and eating each other. He wondered what it would be like to join them…

He shook his head. He really needed to find some people, and fast.

He approached the entrance to the cave. The two S.I.D. members standing in front of it stared at him when he got there.

“Isn’t that our uniform?” One of them, Carla asked. “I don’t recognize you. Did you steal it?”

“I…” Ben stopped and grabbed his neck. This was the first time he’d heard his voice in this body. The high, feminine sound coming out of his mouth shocked him. “I- wow that sounds weird.”

They continued to stare at him.

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

The two workers exchanged a glance before Carla took a few steps closer to him. “You’re Ben?” She glanced down at his chest. “I think you have a little too much on your chest to be Ben.”

Ben had to stop himself from glaring at her.

Carla pulled out her communicator and pointed it at him. She moved it up and down for a few seconds then looked at the screen.

“Would you look at that, you really are Ben.” She said. “I’ll tell the captain we found you.”

“You know he hates it when people call him that.” The man beside her, Donovan said.

“You know, there’s a reason why people like you were shoved into lockers, you fucking nerd.” She dialed 329-6. “Captain’s the same way too, I guess I can’t be too surprised.”

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

“Hello?” Geisinger asked.

“I got some good news. We found Ben!”

“Oh, thank god! How is he?”

“Alive, but…” she laughed dryly, “You might need to make some updates. SHE looks a little different than she used to.”

Magic made the clean up process after missions much quicker, and in Ben’s case, much more bearable. No shower was needed, a single spell could wipe off all the dirt, filth and grime in an instant.

In other words, Ben didn’t have to take off his clothes. “Thank God.” He thought.

Once everyone was out, the S.I.D. opted to construct a forcefield around the entire outside of the Forbidden Cave. That way no entrances would be left uncovered. When it was done, it was strong enough that breaking through would take more force than lifting a fully grown elephant.

As the body bag holding whatever was left of Antonio was loaded into a coffin and given to a funeral director, Ben could only hope that godforsaken cave was finally finished for good.

***

Ben’s reflection on his computer’s camera was much clearer than the one he saw on the water. The difference was stark enough that this was basically the first time he was looking at his new face.

He couldn’t take his eyes off it. He lost track of how long he’d been staring at it for.

He wasn’t alone either, every single person who saw him outside and in the halls stared. He couldn’t blame them, he probably would’ve stared too if another S.I.D. member suddenly transformed into the opposite sex. Intellectually, they knew this was someone they already knew and talked to hundreds of times. But to their eyes, this was a person they’ve never seen before. With a disconnect as strong as that, who wouldn’t stare?

That probably wasn’t the only reason they were staring though. There was no getting around it, Ben was an attractive woman, a VERY attractive woman. Looking at himself, he knew that if he walked into a bar right now, every man who caught sight of him would immediately flock toward him. Some of the women too. That’s what he would’ve done, at least before he got together with Jacqueline.

Maybe Ben wasn’t being fair to himself. He’d been a pretty attractive man. He had a six pack after all, and Jacqueline certainly liked how he looked. But there was something different about this female version of him. The best way he could explain it was that this body looked like it was specifically designed to be attractive. He almost looked like a siren, and that freaked him out. He hoped Geisinger would hurry up with whatever he was doing so he could turn him back as soon as possible.

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

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Stephen came into his quarters. “Hey, I heard what happened.” He said. “I can’t believe it’s actually you in there.”

“You’re telling me.”

Stephen took a seat. “How does it feel?”

“Did you really have to ask that? Not invasive at all.”

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

“You think?”

“I said sorry.” Stephen defended himself. “Did Geisinger say if he could turn you back?”

Ben leaned back into his chair. “He didn’t, but he’s been practicing magic for over twenty years. There’s no way he can’t do a sex change spell.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He was too busy carrying Antonio’s body around to say much. All he said was to meet him on the third floor whenever he called me up.” Ben explained. “He still hasn’t called me up.”

“Well, that dead kid probably left him with a lot of paperwork.”

“I know, but I wish he’d hurry up.”

“You know, I know someone from my high school who changed genders.” Stephen said. “He told me it was a real hassle. Changing IDs, documents, and drivers licenses and all that. It’s a lot.”

Ben squinted his eyes at him. “I’m not transgender, Stephen.”

“Sorry, seeing you just reminded me of him.”

“Well, I’m not planning on staying a woman, so I don’t want to hear stuff like that.” Ben said. “Also, next time don’t say ‘changed genders’, just say trans.”

“Right yeah. Slipped my mind.” Stephen said. “Anyway, I want to ask, if you don’t mind. What happened after you fell into that trap?”

Images of being trapped in that room with that horrible white light constantly chasing him sprang into Ben’s mind. The feeling of drowning, of his life slowly fading away from him, soon followed. He couldn’t help but shudder.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Stephen closely examined Ben’s dead-eyed face for a bit, as if trying to gauge what happened through his expressions alone. He kept at it for a good while, then decided he got everything he needed to know.

“Okay.” He said.

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

“I better get back to my quarters.” He said, standing up. “Hope you get better, and… see you on Monday.”

“Goodbye.” Ben said, still with that dead-eyed look on his face.

Stephen left the room, and Ben turned back to the black screen on his computer, trying to clear his mind.

He hated knowing what drowning to death felt like. He really hoped he didn’t get PTSD from this.

***

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 said he was in the scanning room, meaning a curse and corruption check was in order.

The machine the S.I.D. used to check for corruption was one of the best in the entire country. One trip inside granted a full body, mind and soul scan, with every inch of yourself recorded down to your DNA. Any and all magical ailments would be caught and given immediate attention.

The problem was that you needed to be naked for the best results. Ben groaned. And just when he thought he was going to get away with not seeing this body without any clothes on. Why couldn’t Geisinger do this after he changed him back?

Ben opened the door to the scanning room and made a strong effort to lighten his mood. Once inside, Geisinger took a long look at him, but thankfully didn’t tease him about his transformation. Or say anything about it, for that matter.

He did tilt his head in curiosity though, for a second.

“You know the drill.” He said, bringing his head back up.

“Is there any reason why you can’t change me back first?” Ben asked. “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 important we check you first before putting any additional magic into you.”

Ben conceded that explanation unfortunately made a lot of sense. Looks like he wasn’t getting out of this one.

Well, if he could get through literally dying and coming back to life, he supposed there wasn’t anything he couldn’t get through. That’s what he kept telling himself.

“Alright.” He said. “Let’s do it.”

Geisinger typed in a line of code on the large computer on the room’s left.

“You can go in now.” He said from his chair.

Ben took a deep breath and opened the door across from the entrance. The scanning machine itself was built into the room, but before you got there you had to go through a changing room. Said changing room was completely white, from the floor to the walls to the ceiling. They were all made of a sort of textured plastic lined with small bumps. It wasn’t uncomfortable to walk on, in fact it made the floor feel softer if anything. But it didn’t detract from how sterile the room looked.

Ben shut the door behind him, plopping down on the one bench the room provided, which really was just a part of the left wall that jutted out. He looked down at his clothes and sighed.

“Let’s just get this over with.” He thought.

He brought each of his feet up and pulled off his shoes and socks. He stood up and threw his shirt off his body, immediately letting out a sigh of relief once he did. He hadn’t realized how uncomfortable his chest had been wearing that. It wasn’t just that his uniform didn’t fit him anymore, but these uniforms did not bode well with having breasts. Or maybe they did, he wasn’t wearing a bra.

The way Ben was looking down at himself, it was as if he’d never seen a pair of breasts before. At the very least seeing them from this angle was certainly new. Much like with his face, his breasts looked as though someone had designed them to look as attractive as possible. It was hard to explain exactly where that feeling came from. Maybe it was the fact that they didn’t seem to have a single flaw. One breast wasn’t larger than the other, neither of them sagged, and the nipples weren’t too big or small. In every way he could think of, they were perfect.

Ben tried to refocus and forced himself to unbutton his pants. If he kept getting distracted by his body, he’d be here all day. The only thing he was wearing now were his boxers.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He kept repeating to himself in his head, “you have seen Jacqueline naked plenty of times, there is nothing on you that you haven’t seen before”. Would it work? There was only one way to find out.

He slid his boxers down his legs and let them fall to the floor. Finally, he saw his vagina for the first time. He spread his legs apart to get a better look at it.

With how much he’d been dreading this moment, getting to it actually felt anticlimactic. It was just a slit and a couple of folds, there wasn’t that much to look at. Was it “perfectly designed” like the rest of his body? Maybe, but he didn’t really know what a “perfect vagina” looked like.

If Ben had any less willpower, he would’ve fingered himself right then and there. The sound of an alarm going off and a metal hydraulic door slowly moving up reminded him not to get carried away.

He walked through the now open doorway and came into a square room where again, the walls, floor and ceiling were completely white. He didn’t know exactly what the floor was made of, but it felt more like polycarbonate than anything else. He heard the metal door behind him shut and an AI voice announce “scanning will begin in one minute”.

He moved to one of the back corners and turned to face the door. There weren’t any chairs or benches anywhere so he had to kneel. He took the time to look down and examine his body some more. He saw the sides of his waist pull in toward each other a bit, then spread apart until they came down into a very wide set of hips. He couldn’t believe it, he actually had an hourglass figure, and a particularly striking one at that. His butt also felt enormous, especially with it directly on the floor. It was almost like sitting on a couch cushion.

He took his right hand and slid it down his left forearm, feeling how smooth his skin was. He couldn’t see a single visible hair on his whole body below his eyes. He hadn’t shaved his body hair at all as a man, so this kind of soft, hairless skin was beyond surreal to him.

He stopped when he took notice of another change, one that genuinely kind of pissed him off. This body had basically no muscle definition.

Granted, losing muscle mass was to be expected with a transformation like this, but Ben had lost far more than he should have. He was extremely fit even for a man, but this body retained none of that. Would he get his muscles back when he changed back or would he have to work to get them all back? The very idea made him groan.

“Scanning commencing.” The sound of the AI voice shook him out of his annoyance.

The entire room turned light blue and Ben shut his eyes. A full scan usually took around thirty to forty seconds. At the end of it, the color of the room would change to red, yellow, or green. Red meant immediate medical attention that was either very painful or very uncomfortable. And that was in the best case scenario. He prayed for yellow.

“Scanning complete.”

He opened his eyes to find his praying had paid off. Far more than he thought it would. The whole room was green. He didn’t even see that as a possibility.

He sighed in relief as the metal door opened back up. At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder why that light would take so much time and effort to trap him then ultimately do nothing except change him into a woman. Did that mean it didn’t kill Antonio? The ceiling of that secret room really just fell down and crushed him? It didn’t add up.

Well, that was something for the paperwork to answer. Ben walked back into the changing room and put his clothes on, ready to finally turn back into a man so he could look back on this and laugh.

At least, he hoped he’d be able to laugh.

***

Ben followed Geisinger down to the S.I.D.’s library on the first floor. Aside from the gym, it was the largest room in the building. Rows of bookshelves covered every topic imaginable about the supernatural. However, in spite of its size, it was usually empty. S.I.D. members weren’t required to do any reading, as they’d all already done more than enough studying in their college classes. It was used mostly as a last resort, when they needed information they couldn’t find anywhere else.

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

“You know, I really should be giving you more hell over making me see myself naked.”

“Oh pipe down, it was like five minutes you baby.”

“Sure, whatever you say. Boss.”

Geisinger flinched at that word. “You guys will never stop pissing me off with that.” He flipped through the pages. “Great, now I forgot the page. I think it was… one hundred thirty-something. Oh, here it is.”

He laid the open book down on a book stand near the entrance. “Try to stand still.”

“Make this quick. I’m too short for this uniform, it’s very annoying.”

Geisinger concentrated down on the book and read out the spell. Actually doing the spell required more than simply reading it out. It meant you had to focus your mind and, in a sense, “become one” with the magic. You had to feel it, not just say it.

Geisinger finished reading the spell. He saw the magic in the air concentrate around Ben, then he snapped and it all pulled in toward him. Ben’s body became completely engulfed by a glowing white light, so bright Geisinger had to cover his eyes.

But the light soon faded, and Ben was still a woman.

Geisinger furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “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 usually do it. Transformation spells I mean.”

“Well, I know for a fact I didn’t move a muscle so you must’ve done something wrong.”

“Alright sorry, I’ll try again.” Geisinger went back to the spellbook and read out the spell again, making sure to be extra focused this time. The magic concentrated around Ben and he snapped once more. He saw Ben’s body glowing brightly and he covered his eyes again.

Then the same thing happened. The light faded to reveal Ben, still a woman.

“Yeah, something is definitely wrong here.”

“Really? I didn’t notice.” Ben said, his voice growing tense. “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 taking over his voice. “And I know 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. “It’s possible the machine may have missed something, though I don’t see how something as big as this could’ve been missed.”

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

Geisinger stared down at the spellbook.

“We try everything we can.”

***

They didn’t try every spell in the book, but Geisinger must have broken some kind of record for most spells performed on a single person in just an hour. He tried a huge variety of different spells, and even took some other books off the shelves. He tried to change Ben back into a man directly, it didn’t work. He tried to fix magical ailments, which also didn’t work. Then he became fully focused on trying to break the supposed barrier over Ben’s body.

Nothing worked. Nothing even came close. Ben was still a woman after every attempt.

“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.”

“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 shuddered as those events came back into his mind. He didn’t want to think about them again, but he didn’t really have a choice. He needed answers, and if there’s anyone who had to know, it was Geisinger.

Besides, it wasn’t like he needed to know everything.

“Do you remember the white light Johanna saw right before Antonio was crushed?”

“You’re saying you saw it?” Geisinger asked.

Ben nodded. “Apparently it really was just a white light. It was like a floating ball of it. I fell into a trap room and there it was. It hit me and I passed out. When I woke up, it was gone and I was a girl.”

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

“Yes.”

“Are you sure this is the same thing Antonio saw?”

“I’m positive.” Ben answered. “Oh, and after I woke up, there was suddenly a giant opening outside that wasn’t there before. It’s like it wanted me to leave.”

“Wanted you to leave.” Geisinger repeated that to himself, pacing back and forth as he thought. “I think I know how Antonio died.”

“Was it the light?”

“Not exactly.” Geisinger said. “This light seems to be able to change the landscape around it, at least to an extent. Antonio probably fell into that secret room under the floor, found the light, then got trapped inside. He panicked, and accidentally made the ceiling fall as he tried to get away.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Ben looked down to the floor. “Clearly it didn’t want me dead.”

“If only I had some way to analyze it.” Geisinger said, oblivious to Ben’s mood.

“Wait…” Ben suddenly realized something and brought his head up. “After Antonio died why didn’t the light just chase after Johanna?”

“I think crushing it may have… incapacitated it, for a time. I wish I could say for sure.” Geisinger explained. “I’m gonna have to take a closer look at those scanning results of yours. I'll also have to do some research, see if this resembles anything that’s happened before.”

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

Geisinger sighed. “I’m sorry Ben, I really am. But we’ve done so many spells, I don’t think your body can take much more. You need a break, and 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 promise I’ll look into your problem this weekend. If I find a way to reverse this, I’ll call you.” He said. “For now, you should go home.”

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

Geisinger cringed. “Just… just wing it, okay?” He checked the time on a nearby clock. “I really gotta go. Uh… good luck.”

Ben stared as Geisinger walked out of the library, in complete disbelief.

***

It took thirty minutes before Ben was finally ready to leave the library, and about five more before he was ready to leave the S.I.D. altogether.

He was completely at a loss as to what to do. It’d been years since he last felt that way. He briefly considered going back to the library to try more spells, but he shot that idea down pretty quickly. He’d never done a transformation spell before, he wouldn’t know where to start.

What the hell was he going to tell Jacqueline? He didn’t even look like himself anymore. He’d go home and she’d see some lady she’s never seen before, telling her “I know I don’t look like myself but I promise you I’m really Ben”.

How long would he be stuck like this? Days? Weeks? Years? Would he have to spend the rest of his life as a woman? Shit, if it came down to that, Jacqueline was sure to leave him. As much as he wanted to tell himself otherwise, he knew for a fact most women, hell most people, would not stay in a relationship if their partner suddenly transformed into the opposite sex. He couldn’t imagine Jacqueline would be okay with the love of her life being stuck as a woman.

As he sulked on the benches outside the front doors, he saw a familiar face leave the S.I.D. It was Johanna. Looks like she took his advice and joined that grief counseling program. He smiled. At least things were going well for her… relatively speaking.

His smile faded as she left his view. Seeing Johanna made him acutely aware of what she was doing right now. And what he was not. There she was, a teenager actually going out and facing her problems. And here he was, a grown man, moping on the benches and avoiding them.

What in the world was he doing? This was pathetic, he was better than this. He was an S.I.D. agent, he knew he was better!

He stood up from the bench and marched right to his car.

If he had to be a woman for a bit, then so be it. He, no… SHE could handle it. She’d faced far worse, even today. She just had to keep doing what she was before, force herself to push through it.

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

“Hey Jackie. Something happened to me during the mission today. I’m still not sure what it is, but you’re gonna have to hear it…”

Jacqueline sat on the couch waiting for the better part of an hour. From the moment she first saw the texts, she couldn’t think of anything else.

The anticipation made her restless. Her mind conjured up numerous images of what Ben might look like as a woman. She imagined someone strong and burly, with enough muscle mass to lift a truck. Her face would be fierce, commanding and instill respect into everyone who saw it.

She realized she may have been exaggerating Ben’s actual appearance. An easy mistake to make when his job involved fighting literal monsters.

Her imagination was put to a stop when a woman suddenly came in through the front door. She wore an oversized male uniform, and had perhaps the most beautiful face Jacqueline had ever seen. She stood still in front of the doorway, clearly ashamed and embarrassed. Her head was turned down and to its side. She did everything in her power to avoid meeting Jacqueline’s eyes.

Jacqueline tilted her head a bit, curious. She hadn’t expected Ben to look like this. The woman hardly had a muscle on her, but even from under the baggy clothes she could tell her body was very lean and graceful. She had no doubt those small, clammy hands of hers could and would do a lot of damage.

Jacqueline stood up from the couch, walking up to her and laying her hand on her cheek when she got close. Since they were the same height, she didn’t have to look up. Something she wasn't used to, as Ben had always been a few inches taller than her.

With a slight push, Jacqueline moved the woman’s face toward hers.

Time seemed to stop as they stared into each other’s eyes. Jacqueline had heard before that the eyes were the window to the soul. And as she gazed deeply into the eyes before her, she knew they were the same ones she’d seen so many times.

“Ben.”

Ben’s eyes darted down for a second, her face going red out of shame.

“How did this happen?”

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

Ben’s new voice sounded so elegant Jacqueline was almost jealous. Even with as little knowledge as she had about the supernatural, she knew this was not the kind of beauty that could happen naturally. No, this was mystical.

“I don’t know how to undo this. Everything gets worse the more I think about it.”

“Are you scared?”

Ben didn’t answer that question. She was supposed to be a fighter, the one protecting others. She couldn’t bear to hear herself say she was scared.

“This will get fixed, I promise.” Ben said.

Ben felt Jacqueline rub her cheek with her thumb. Whether she said that to assure herself or Jacqueline, she didn’t know. She wanted to believe this was just another challenge she’d have to overcome as part of her job. That in the end, she’d win, and everything would be back to normal. Then, maybe, the name Benjamin Cross would finally be recognized for the hero it belonged to.

But the deepest part of her mind couldn’t stop fearing the worst.

***

Dinner was very quiet that night. Jacqueline tried to engage Ben in conversation, but she was too withdrawn. Not much could be gotten out of her aside from terse, one-word responses.

That was, until Ben asked “how could you tell it was me?”

Jacqueline looked at her dumbfounded, as if she was stupid for even asking that. “You’ve looked in the mirror right?”

“I’ve seen my reflection, yes. I don’t look like myself at all.”

“No, you do.”

“Jackie, I think I know what I look like.”

“Yeah, and you’re wrong.” Jacqueline retorted. “You know, I remember my mom telling me once that everyone else has a better idea of what you look like than you do. So I’m here to tell you that you still look like yourself. You don’t look like a completely different person. Actually, you kinda look like how your sister would… if you had one. And very… very beautiful.” Her voice drifted on those last few words.

Ben could see the growing lust on her face. “Jackie… is there something you want to tell me?”

Jacqueline didn’t hesitate for a second. She stood up and reached her hands across the table to grab Ben’s face, pulling it in for a long, deep kiss. This was the first time she ever kissed another woman, and it was beyond thrilling. She felt dangerous, like she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

She loved it. She was so engrossed in it that she didn’t want to pull back. Ben had to do it for her.

They were both shocked by how heavy their breathing was. They couldn’t remember the last time their kissing was so passionate.

Ben found it much easier to talk following that. It was like that kiss was all she needed to know everything would turn out okay.

***

When the time came for Ben to get in the shower, she was in such a good mood she didn’t even care that she’d have to see herself naked again. That wasn’t to say the shower was necessarily comfortable for her. She didn’t just need to look at herself, she needed to get intimate with herself. She had to feel every square inch of her body. Nothing could be left untouched.

Though, as she scrubbed herself with soap, she found it wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought. She still wasn’t used to her body being like this, but she figured in maybe a week it would feel perfectly natural. That was assuming she wasn't turned back into a man by then, which she hoped she was.

The biggest surprise tonight was how okay Jacqueline was with her being a woman. More than okay, even, she already seemed to like it. Ben wasn’t sure what to make of that, but it was a huge relief Jacqueline wasn’t abandoning her. Really, she shouldn’t have had such a low opinion of her.

When this was over, Ben hoped she’d be able to understand and relate to Jacqueline more. She needed at least something to show for getting through this.

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

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

“Shut up. If you turned into a man you’d take long too.”

Ben heard her laugh.

“It’s not funny!”

“Oh, don’t pretend you wouldn’t laugh if I suddenly grew a dick.”

As much as Ben hated to admit it, she was able to find the humor. She even smirked a little.

Once it felt like she had emptied out her entire intestines, she flushed the toilet. She loved the new bidet they just had installed. It felt very refreshing, she couldn’t believe most American toilets didn’t have one. She washed her hands, and she was about to put her clothes on, but the bathroom door opened abruptly, revealing Jacqueline, naked from head to toe.

This was far from the first time Ben had seen her naked, but this felt different. This felt special. She could feel Jacqueline eyeing her up as she saw her new body for the first time. Already, she was in love with it. Was she really suggesting…

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

Ben ran toward her and threw both of them onto the bed. They embraced each other’s bodies, ready for a very long night.

To their right, the toilet could be heard filling up. It was near industrial strength, though there was still one thing it couldn’t flush. Stuck to the inside of the bowl was a small piece of white thread, like a line of silk in a web.

A swirl of leaves spun endlessly around Ben as she frolicked through the trees. With each step she passed by hordes of flowers and dancing plants. She felt them alongside the grass under her bare feet. Her whole body was bare, for that matter, bringing her closer to the bare Earth.

The sun atop the sky cast a beautiful yellow light down onto the forest. A light that was never too strong, with a heat never too overbearing. Just enough for Ben to take in its loving embrace. In the distance she heard a waterfall. The constant sound of it plunging into the depths below was calming, almost therapeutic.

She lowered a tree branch, grabbing one of the fruits attached. Raising it to her lips, she took a bite, reveling in the sweet juices and natural sugar.

The Earth was so beautiful. Such a shame she’d never taken the time to notice.

Ben turned her head upwards, as if following an unspoken command. At first she wasn’t sure why, but soon, she saw it.

The floating island.

She knew in her heart that island held the pinnacle of nature’s beauty. She wanted… no, she needed to be a part of it.

Ben raised her hand toward the island. She wanted to touch it, even if only to feel the mist coming off the waterfalls. Just a single touch.

Her surroundings began to fade. Ben felt something get into her left eye. She tried to blink it away, and in doing so she found herself in her bedroom again, just as she was last night. Laying on the bed, with Jacqueline beside her.

She felt a fly leave her eye. She rubbed it in annoyance.

“Fucking flies.” She thought. She hated these little shits. All their windows were closed, how did it even get in here?

Not wanting to get out of bed, Ben took a folder off the nightstand and smacked it back down.

To her surprise, she didn’t hear the fly buzzing anymore.

She turned over the folder and saw the dead fly stuck to it. Well, looks like she wasted a perfectly good folder. At least it was empty. Getting out of bed, she went to the bathroom and tossed it in the trash bin.

She looked in the mirror and found herself smiling. It was probably stupid to be so pleased with yourself just for killing a fly, but Ben couldn’t recall the last time she killed one on the first try. Hell, she couldn’t recall the last time she killed one on the fifth try. Usually she just gave up. Maybe today was her lucky day. After all, yesterday had been her lucky night.

Last night… her smile grew wider as she thought of it. She turned back to the bed and saw Jacqueline sleeping peacefully under the covers. She never could’ve imagined pleasure would feel so good as a woman. She was really lucky she had Jacqueline there to guide her. She knew the ins and outs of this body better than Ben herself did.

Ben quietly threw on some clothes, doing her best not to wake Jacqueline up, then with a spring in her step, ran over to the kitchen. She’d never felt this energetic in her life. What better day to start early?

***

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

Oh right, it was Saturday.

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

Slightly annoyed, Jacqueline stepped out of bed. She could have stayed there but if Ben was already out making breakfast she might as well get up now. Only one day as a woman and already she seems to have gotten over it. Maybe she should congratulate her.

After quickly getting dressed, Jacqueline sauntered over to the kitchen and saw Ben cooking steak on the stove.

“Good morning.” Ben said to her.

“Steak? For breakfast? Really?”

“Why not?” She questioned. “Is there some rule saying I can’t? How much do you want?”

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

“Suit yourself.” Ben laid another steak onto the skillet.

Jacqueline pulled up her laptop, which she left on the table last night, and took the time to find any remotely interesting news stories to read. She couldn’t find much. A local school was seeing reports of books moving around on their own, but it wasn’t interesting enough to keep her attention.

“You seem in a good mood today. What changed?”

“Maybe it was the orgasms.” Ben joked. “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. Shit, I feel like a million bucks.” She slammed her fist onto the counter.

Jacqueline was a little taken back by her force. “It’s Saturday morning, Ben. Please calm down”

“I know. What better time to be active and involved.”

Jacqueline rolled her eyes. She wondered what the opposite of coffee was. Ben could really use it.

***

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

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

Jacqueline tuned out most of what Ben said. She figured it was best not to feed into this.

“You’re right Ben.” She said, dejected. “They’re very good.”

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

“Yes Ben, that’s what meat is.”

“Just think about it. This…” Ben pointed down to the steak, “used to be a living, breathing cow. Then it was killed, and its body was cut into this.”

Jacqueline peered over her laptop. “Are you feeling okay?” She looked down at the steak. “Since when do you take your meat well done?”

“What?” Ben asked. “…Yeah, I’m feeling fine. I’m just talking about these butchers. They take these cows and they slaughter them to death. They slice through all the blood and organs and sculpt their meaty insides into something beautiful.”

“Uh…”

Ben raised her hands and imitated stabbing and slicing. “It’s so brutal. Even a civilized species like us still savagely cut up animals like butter.”

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

“Hold on! 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.”

At this point Jacqueline was starting to become seriously concerned. “Are you actually okay?”

“I already said, I feel great.”

“You’re acting weird. Is something going on?”

“Yeah, something IS going on. And it’s great.”

Jacqueline watched Ben as she ate. She took large bites of the steak and swallowed them very quickly. She seemed able to tear down a tough, well done steak at a disturbingly fast pace. Did Ben even notice how she was eating?

Maybe Jacqueline was just imagining things. She might need to go catch some air.

She stood up from her chair. “You know, I have some errands I have to run today.” She said. “I better get to them.”

Ben stood up alongside her. “Where do you need to go? I’ll help you.”

“…No, I’d rather go alone.”

“Why?”

“I… just need some time alone. You understand that, right?”

Ben’s face went blank for a while, but thankfully she didn’t push.

“Yeah, of course I do.”

Jacqueline nodded slowly, grabbing her car keys off a key rack.

“I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

***

The moment Jacqueline left the house Ben sifted through her drawers to find a sports bra. It was a shitty thing to do, she knew, but she couldn’t stand the way her breasts felt against her shirt.

For about five minutes straight she had the bra around her chest and fiddled around with the straps in the back. She assumed years of taking off bras would’ve given her an edge but she quickly found it really didn’t. She was glad she was alone when she was doing this. There was simply no good answer as to why a twenty-four year old woman didn't know how to put on a bra.

When she was finally able to piece together what went where, her chest did feel better than before, except the bra was a little small. Did she really have larger breasts than Jacqueline? That was embarrassing. She would go buy bras her own size but she hoped she wouldn’t be a woman long enough for that to be a worthwhile purchase.

She saw the T-shirt she threw onto the bed and decided to leave it. She didn’t need it. She then briefly considered wearing one of Jacqueline’s athletic shorts, but her own gym shorts were fitting fine. She didn’t need them either.

She walked out the front door and looked on at the large abandoned warehouse at the end of the street. Usually it was a hang out spot for teenagers and college students to smoke weed, but no one seemed to be inside today.

And she needed a place to test her new energy.

So she began sprinting toward it. She never measured how far away the warehouse was from her front porch, but she’d gotten to the vast, open, empty hall pretty damn quickly. Much faster than she ever had before. Was that professional athlete pace? It felt like it. She wished she brought a stopwatch with her so she could tell.

She looked up at the ceiling. It was made of metal, just like the walls, and an array of rectangular bars stretching across from the ends of each side hung down from it. Since the warehouse hadn’t been used in thirty years, it was likely these bars were worn down and would not support her weight.

Of course, Ben wasn’t too worried about that, because she wouldn’t be able to jump thirty feet in the air and reach them.

Still, if only to satisfy that stupid part of her mind that had to see if she could, she bent her knees down and focused on one of the metal bars on the ceiling. Then, with all her force, she jumped in the air, reaching her hand up to grab it.

And then she did.

Her left hand was firmly gripped around the bar. It was fully supporting her weight. She looked down at the floor beneath her, seeing a long drop that absolutely should kill her if she fell.

She might’ve been able to imagine running as fast as a professional athlete, but there was no way she could’ve imagined this.

“Holy shit.” She breathed.

She wondered if the bar could’ve supported her old weight. She felt lighter than she used to be, which considering her apparent strength, should be impossible. Magic really was the middle finger to physicists and biologists everywhere.

Wanting to see how far she could take this, she lifted her right hand up and gripped the bar, then turned each of her hands over to the opposite side. The bar gave her an awkward position to do pull ups, but at the same time, she couldn’t think of a more badass place to do them.

Pull ups had never been her specialty, but she could still do about nineteen in a minute. People always told her that was impressive, but she had a hard time seeing it that way. At the S.I.D., nineteen pull ups per minute was hardly noteworthy.

Realistically, being a woman now, she should be doing less than that, but it was apparent this body did not care about how human biology should work.

When she started, she was fast. So fast she swore she was doing three pull ups every second. It was absolutely a superhuman pace. And she never stopped. She just kept going on and on and she never got tired.

She lost count somewhere in the nineties.

When she finally did stop, she found herself breathing heavily, not because she was tired, but because she couldn’t believe what she just did.

To think yesterday she was upset about losing her muscles. This body clearly didn’t need them. She’d only been able to read about superpowers before. Actually having them was a completely different experience she would not have been able to comprehend before this. She felt like a God.

She let go of the bars and let herself drop thirty feet down to the floor. She landed on her feet without any pain. She stared up at the ceiling, to the bar she was just hanging on, in awe. If that couldn’t kill her, what could?

She turned to the metal wall beside her, then to her fist. She ran up to the wall and began pounding it, hearing the echo throughout the building. It was already bent on the first hit, then even more so on the second. On the third, her hand had completely broken through to the outside.

She smirked. Oh, how Jacqueline would love to see this.

Jacqueline hadn’t done much of anything while she was out. She brought home a share of groceries, sure, but that was only after she spent two and a half hours driving in circles across highways. The kind of thing only a mad woman would do.

She didn’t want to be as afraid of going back home as she was. And she shouldn’t have been either. A little early morning mania was something everyone got from time to time. Even more so for someone like Ben, who was very used to morning workouts and emergency calls.

There were about a million different ways she could look at this in, each one giving her a perfectly mundane, reasonable explanation. But no matter what she tried to convince herself with, her gut reaction was always the same.

Something felt wrong.

Something had to be wrong, her mind reasoned. Ben had gone into a cave wherein most people came out dead, and she inexplicably transformed into a woman. Now, she couldn’t be changed back.

Obviously Jacqueline wasn’t an expert on how magic worked, but she knew enough to know that being stuck in an altered form was never a good sign. The best case scenario was that Ben was under some kind of hex preventing her from transforming into anything else.

But that was something a machine that scanned every inch of your body and soul to check for curses would catch. And yet, according to those texts Ben had sent her yesterday, that machine cleared her. Nothing was wrong.

She didn’t believe it.

She even texted Geisinger about it. She’d gotten his phone number when Ben joined the S.I.D. This was the first time she ever used it.

When she pulled back into her driveway, a full four hours after she left, she checked her phone to see two new notifications on the messages app. The first being from Geisinger.

“I don’t trust the results either. I’ve been at the S.I.D. since last night trying to figure this out. No matter what I do, the computer displays everything as if Ben is perfectly normal. I tried asking it ‘why can’t Ben turn back into a man’. It didn’t even seem to understand the question. All it could say was ‘Ben is perfectly healthy’.

I’m checking the machine for malfunctions right now. I hope this is just a glitch and we can figure this out by Monday. I don’t want you to worry too much, but I understand the circumstances making that impossible. Still, I wouldn’t panic just yet. Definitely keep an eye on him though. Don’t let him wander off too much. And please tell me if something is seriously wrong.”

The long message had been hard to read because to Jacqueline, it proved that everything she was worried about was completely correct. She wanted so badly to be wrong. Being right would be terrifying.

She tried to reassure herself with the fact that Geisinger wasn’t panicking yet. After all, he knew more about this than anyone, and if he still had things under control, then surely it couldn’t be that bad.

Then she saw the second notification, from Ben.

“Jackie, I'm at the old warehouse down the road. You should come over. Have some stuff to show you and you’re gonna love it.”

Another hard to read message.

Before Jacqueline got too worked up, she shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and laid her phone face down on the passenger’s seat.

Okay, so Ben had gone over to the abandoned warehouse they lived near. She wanted to show her something. That could mean anything. Maybe someone left their blunt on the floor, or managed to carve something into the walls. Both were mildly interesting enough to catch your attention. Whatever it was, this was still Ben. She wasn’t going to hurt her.

Jacqueline opened the car door, not taking anything with her except her phone, and began heading to the warehouse before she had time to think it over.

The walk there was easily the longest minute of her entire life. Once she stepped foot into the warehouse and heard her steps reverberate around the building, she started to have second thoughts.

Where was Ben? She looked all around at the walls and ceiling but didn’t see her anywhere.

She did, however, see a chunk of metal wall missing. To the left, a few feet above the floor, a hole about the size of a human fist led to the outside. On the ceiling toward the back end was another hole, which looked large enough for someone to fit through. Neither of these holes were here before.

She took a couple steps forward, going deeper into the warehouse. Every second brought with it the same constant, repetitive sounds.

Step, step, step.

The echoes seemed to get louder each time her foot hit the floor. She took another look. Ben still wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Step, step, step.

A third look and again, the building was empty.

Step, step, step.

She looked behind her this time, checking the parts of the ceiling she missed. There was no trace of Ben anywhere. She just wasn’t there.

She stopped moving and took a slow breath out.

So Ben had left before she came home. Jacqueline wasn’t sure why she’d text her to come here then, but that was a mistake they could clear up, hopefully.

She turned around and began walking out, but once she passed the ray of sunshine coming down from the hole in the ceiling, she stopped. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise behind her long black locks.

She couldn’t explain where the feeling came from or what it meant, but suddenly, she felt like she was being watched. But not by a person. More like by a malevolent force. Something that didn’t have her best intentions, and was waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Ben?” She called out. “Are you there?”

She didn’t get an answer.

“Ben, seriously.” She tried again. “Are you in here?”

No response, the entire warehouse remained eerily silent.

She was about to shake this all off as her just being paranoid. Her mind playing tricks on her and making her imagine a threat.

But then, she heard something. A sound like someone landing on the floor right behind her. She jerked her head back and gasped.

She saw Ben, wearing a wide, mad grin stretching from cheek to cheek and standing so close she could feel the breath on her face.

On instinct, she pushed her back.

“Get away from me!”

Her sudden force shocked the grin off Ben’s face. “God Jackie calm down.”

“You scared the shit out of me!”

“I wasn’t trying to be scary.”

“Well what were you doing?” Jacqueline squinted her eyes at what Ben was wearing. “Wait, is that my sports bra?”

Ben crossed her arms over her chest, as if that would hide it. “I was uncomfortable. My-”

“You know what? Stop, I don’t care.” Jacqueline interrupted. “So… were you on the fucking ceiling?”

“On the roof.” Ben corrected.

“How did you get on the roof!? Why are there holes in here!? What the hell is going on!?”

Ben smirked, in spite of Jacqueline’s freak out. “This is what I wanted to show you.” She said. “I’m a meta now.”

Jacqueline hadn’t really understood what she meant by that. “Meta as in… you have superpowers?”

“Yep! Look at this.”

Ben sidestepped over to the metal wall, keeping her eyes locked on Jacqueline, then she turned and punched it. The echoes were deafeningly loud, as if the building itself was crying out in pain. Three quick successions was all it took to break through.

Ben stepped back and smiled appraisingly. She turned back to Jacqueline like she was showing off one of her creations.

“Pretty cool.” She said simply.

Jacqueline’s eyes were fixated on the newly created hole. She barely registered Ben’s comment.

“That’s…” She tried to start. “…Do you have any other powers?”

Ben motioned toward the ceiling. “Watch this.”

She ran toward the middle of the floor. Once she was a good ten or so feet away from Jacqueline, she jumped, reaching her hands out above her. She shot up through the air so fast it didn’t even look real.

Ben’s head hit the ceiling with a sickening THUD, before she grabbed onto the metal bar below it.

“Jesus Ben, your head! Doesn’t that hurt?”

Ben took a hand off the bar and rubbed over where she hit her head. “Nope!” She yelled down. “Think the ceiling was more damaged!”

She pointed up to a very visible dent on the ceiling above her. It was hard to see from where Jacqueline was standing, but she swore there was a small hole in the middle.

Ben let go of the bar and let herself fall to the floor.

“So what do you think?” She asked when she was down. “I think it’s cool as hell.”

“I think it’s insane. It’s not healthy to bash your head against solid metal.”

Ben chuckled. “You’re right, it’s not. If you did it, your head would crack open. If I did it yesterday, MY head would crack open. That’s what’s so great about superpowers. You don’t have to follow the rules.”

Ben’s utter lack of concern stunned Jacqueline so much it scared her. “You’re really not worried are you?” She asked. “What happened to you? Yesterday you were terrified.”

“Yesterday I didn’t understand what I was becoming. This is not something to be afraid of. No, THIS-” She spread her arms out, “is something to be proud of.”

Jacqueline was nearly at a loss for words. “No, I don’t like this.” She said. “I don’t like this at all.”

“Jackie, please calm down.”

“I don’t think I’m the one who needs to calm down.”

Ben sighed, walking up to her and trying to put her hand on her shoulder. It was swatted away.

“Jackie?”

Jacqueline slowly stepped back.

“Jackie, what’s wrong?”

She sprinted out of the warehouse, Ben’s cries for her being left unanswered.

***

Jacqueline had never run so fast in her life. She didn’t look back once, she didn’t want to know how fast Ben was now.

She immediately shut and locked the bedroom door once she got in the house. Not that it would do her any good, of course. Ben could literally punch through metal, the door wasn’t going to stop her.

Jacqueline backed away from the door and sat on the bed, bracing herself for when Ben would inevitably knock.

When she did, she only knocked once. Jacqueline didn’t hear anything else after it. Undoubtedly, Ben was trying to think of something to say, but couldn’t settle on anything.

After what had to be at least a full minute of silence, Jacqueline heard her say “I’m sorry for scaring you”.

She didn’t respond. She just sat there.

“Is there something I could do to make you feel better?”

Jacqueline hadn’t considered that question before. She’d been in such a rush to get away from Ben, she didn’t make the connection that she didn’t feel safe around her right now. Her new powers, the sudden mania, her just… acting wrong. It all activated her fight or flight response without her realizing.

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

That time, she did respond. “Ben… that’s something you should do for you, not me.”

“Would it make you feel better?”

“I don’t know.”

Jacqueline didn’t hear anything on the other end for a while, until it sounded like Ben pulled something out of her pocket.

“Hello?” She heard her say. “Yes, I’d like to schedule an appointment… Benjamin Cross… yes I know it’s a man’s name, it’s a long story… I, uh, seem to have some powers now… oh, not much, just some super strength and agility, basic stuff… yeah I think I have some invulnerability too… yeah I can do Tuesday… alright, thank you, bye.”

Jacqueline heard her put the phone back in her pocket.

“Does that make you feel better?”

She didn’t know if it did. She’d have to see Ben’s face to say.

Jacqueline slowly rose up from the bed, opening the door to see Ben, still in a sports bra and male gym shorts.

“Can you promise me you’ll be more careful?” Jacqueline asked. “And that you’ll take it easy?”

Ben nodded. “I promise.”

Jacqueline smiled back at her. “Thank you. Now, let’s get to my car. There are some groceries we need to bring in.”

***

True to her word, Ben did take it easy. For the rest of the day, she stayed indoors and mostly sifted through old books in their basement. Her and Jacqueline’s collection wasn’t close to as wide-ranging as the one in the S.I.D. library, but she still wondered if anything here could shed some insight on what was happening to her.

She wasn’t able to find anything that matched. Later on, she went back upstairs and turned to her computer. A lot of websites and books about the supernatural weren’t publicly available, a practice she always found stupid, so she wasn’t surprised when her search yielded nothing.

The best place she could think to look was, well, the S.I.D. library. As a member, she had access to an online database which had every single book in it. She could read any of them whenever she wanted.

Maybe the answer was in there somewhere, but she doubted she’d ever find it. She didn’t know exactly how many books the library had, but she believed it was somewhere around five hundred thousand. She tried searching for books on specific topics related to her… condition? She didn’t want to call it a disease so she went with that. Unfortunately her symptoms were all so vague she came up with close to ten thousand results.

She shut off her computer. She refused to deal with this headache.

She glanced out the window and saw the sun beginning to come down. For about half the day her body had been screaming at her to go and let out some energy. It was hard to sit still. Frequently she found herself growing restless.

She had to go outside and catch some fresh air before nightfall.

She went through their house’s back door and stared out into the horizon. She had a bit of a wistful smile as she did. There were so many forests out there she wanted to go and see. So many animals she wanted to watch. So many caves to explore. She found herself wishing she could be a part of it all…

She made it halfway across her yard before she even realized she was running.

She smiled. It felt cathartic to finally run like that. She had so much pent up energy inside her that had been begging for release.

And she still had a little more she needed to get out.

She started running again, to the very end of the yard. Before she stopped, she jumped and flipped through the air. She landed on her feet perfectly.

She saw the sun halfway down the mountains. The sky would go dark in a few minutes.

She almost wanted to stay and sleep here for the night, but she turned and ran back to the house. She didn’t want to indulge this side of her too much, for Jacqueline’s sake. She made a promise to her that she didn’t want to break.

But she hoped eventually, they could see eye to eye on this.

***

Ben’s energy had thankfully calmed down enough so that she could lay in bed. Once she and Jacqueline were laying together, Ben stroked her hair, running the many strands through her fingers. It was something she did a lot as a man, and it didn’t feel any different as a woman.

She was mainly doing it because Jacqueline still looked a little on edge before she went to bed. She wanted to calm her down, remind her that she was still the same person, even as she now was.

Seeing as she was now asleep, Ben let go of her hair, reaching her head up and kissing her.

“Good night, my love.”

She turned over to her side of the bed, asleep within minutes.

She didn’t notice the drop of drool that fell on Jacqueline’s cheek.

It left a burn on her skin.

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.”