Volume 1: Part 3

I kept having the same dream that night. Over and over, I would fall asleep. I'd find myself falling through some kind of vortex. It kind of reminded me of the intro to Doctor Who?. I would spin and fall into pictures of my past. At times it might have been my future, as I couldn't recollect the memories.

Regardless, the dream would always end the same way. I would fall until I saw nothing but darkness surrounding me. I would float there. A voice would then cry out to me; a female. Only a few of her words made sense. I would wake with a start, mull over her spoken phrase, and then drift off to sleep again. The message she left stuck in my brain.

"This is how it must end."

"What's that?" A different voice shattered my dream.

"Huh?"

I sat up abruptly. The cot, I had spent the night on, creaked and bounced slightly with my exaggerated movements. I had managed to twist the covers all around me, and pulled them loose from the foot of the bed. That's where my eyes fell upon Tory. She stood there in eager silence.

"What's going on?" I stammered.

"It's morning," Tory said. She cocked her head to the side. "What did you just say?"

"When?"

"Before you woke up," Tory said.

"Oh…" I shrugged. "I don't remember."

I reluctantly looked down at my breasts. They heaved beneath my t-shirt. Beyond all reason, I had hoped I would wake up as my normal self today. I wished this had all been a dream before I fell asleep. Unfortunately, Tory standing at my bed, and seeing my new breasts greet me, stomped those hopes and wishes into the ground.

"I laid out some clothes for you to wear today," Tory said. She gestured to the old wooden chair next to me. "I hope they fit." She sat down gracefully on the foot of my bed. "If you want a shower first, we have…"

"No," I said. "I'm fine." My thinking was the sooner I got out of here, the better.

"Suit yourself," Tory said. She pointed to the clothes again. "It might be a small thing, but I managed to find a pair of underwear that might work."

I turned to look at the pile of clothes. A smile spread across my face as I laid eyes on a pair of what looked like green male briefs. They were definitely panties, but at least they didn't look like panties. "Thanks," I said.

"No problem," Tory said, standing from the bed. "I should let you get dressed."

"Wait!" I flipped through the clothing a bit. "This is a skirt, and tights."

"Is that a problem?" Tory asked.

"Um… yeah?"

"Well we're kind of low on options," Tory said. "I can try to find you some jeans."

"I'll just wear mine," I said.

Tory put her hands on her hips. "And stop to pull them up every half block? I don't think so."

"Well I'm not wearing a skirt with tights," I said.

"Honestly," Tory said, walking over to the clothes. "I didn't think you'd mind."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well…" Tory reached down and yanked my covers off. "You slept in your other pair."

I looked down in horror. Half of it being that Tory abruptly tore my covers off, the other half from seeing what I was wearing. My lower body was encased completely with those damn cable-knit tights. I scrambled to get out of bed, kicking and flailing like the tights would consume me whole.

"What the --"

Tory had clamped her hand over my mouth. She held it there for a moment until she could see the dread and despair fleeing from my eyes. Slowly she removed her hand, and put it on my shoulder. She shook her head, and pulled me in for a hug. I don't know why, but it felt right. Despite my hardly knowing her, Tory had a rather comforting way about her.

"Just calm down," Tory said quietly in my ear. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I don't even remember putting them on," I said, my voice quivering.

"I know," Tory said, as she pulled away from the hug. She took my hand and pulled me back to the cot. We sat there on the edge of it for a moment. Then Tory finally turned to face me. "How much did Leann tell you?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Basically she gave me a history lesson," I admitted.

"How much history?"

"About the Greek girl, and Artemis, or whatever," I said.

Tory nodded thoughtfully. "That's just how it started," she said. "It got a little more complicated over the years."

"Like?"

Tory sighed. "Well… let's see." She pushed herself from the cot, and began to walk around the tiny living space. "There's the arrow of Artemis. The maiden's curse. A sorceress at some point… And that was only the first hundred years or so." Tory stopped to face me. "It's quite…"

"Complicated…" I said, reluctant to use the word.

"Yeah…" Tory looked at me sympathetically. "I mean, if you really want, I can give you the whole story right now."

I waved her off with my hands. "I just want to know why I ended up in these damn tights again."

"Well that," Tory said, "would probably be the item affinity part of the magic."

"Item what?"

"Affinity," Tory said. "It means taking a natural liking to something. Or in the case of our curse, it means you have a deep infatuation with the item that changed you."

"So I'm in love with these tights?" I asked, snapping the material against my thigh.

Tory pursed her lips momentarily. "Not just those tights," she said. "All tights."

"You gotta be kidding me," I said.

"Here," Tory said, walking over and pulling the other pair of tights from the chair. "Just looking at them…" She held them up in front of me. "Do you want to touch them?"

I gazed at the tights for a lingering moment. For reasons I couldn't explain, I did have a strong desire to touch the tights. I felt my head moving up and down in a silent nod. Not only did I want to feel the tights, but I wanted to feel them on me. I wanted to wear them. They needed to be a part of me.

"So you're going to wear them?" Tory asked.

I shook myself from my mindless stupor. "What?"

"You just said you would like to wear them," Tory said.

"When?!"

"Like five seconds ago," Tory said. She handed the tights to me, along with the pair of panties. "I suggest you put them on before you go crazy."

I reluctantly took the clothing from her. "Can that actually happen?"

"It can, at first," she said. "Over time your desire will calm down. It doesn't completely go away, but you'll have a little more self-control."

"This really is a curse," I said, while looking down at the pair of navy blue tights.

"It's not that bad," Tory said. "You just like tights now."

"Oh, I love tights!" I exclaimed.

Tory tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

"Dammit!" I exclaimed.

"Look on the bright side," Tory said. "At least it's not a bustle. Not a lot of places where that looks right in this day and age."

I gave her a stone cold stare.

"I'll… step out," Tory said. Followed by her excusing herself from the small living space. "Let me know if you need help with anything," she said from the other side of the partition.

For a long while I stood there, tights in hand. I don't know if it was the item affinity, or whatever, but I really started to see no harm in wearing the tights. The panties, however, I had a strong objection to. Not only that, but I feared the snowball effect these two articles of clothing would have. Like, why not go all the way and put on the skirt too? Or we could even add a dress to my ensemble. I shuddered at the thought.

I glanced around to make sure nobody would see me nude this time. My eyes caught a glimpse of my discarded male attire. After a short-lived thought of wearing those jeans, I reluctantly removed the old magic tights. Quickly I pulled on the pair of panties. They didn't fit exactly the same as boy's briefs, and were a little snug. An audible sigh escaped my lips.

"You okay in there?" Tory asked.

"I'm fine," I said. "Can't I just hang out here all day?"

Tory chuckled. "It's actually really boring here during the day," she said. "We're usually out at school, or some of us have day jobs."

"You actually go to school?" I asked, as I cautiously scrunched up one leg of the navy blue tights.

"Of course," Tory said. "Most of us do. It's a good cover."

I dipped my toes into the foot of the tights, and carefully pulled them up to my knee. Then I began the entire process over on the other side. "So you just keep going to school forever?" I asked.

"It's part of the five summer curse," Tory said.

"Five summer?" I asked, pulling the tights up to my waist.

"Man, Leann really left a lot out," Tory said. "The five summer curse is the rough translation of the spell, or whatever, placed on Amara. Basically, after every fifth summer, your body is rejuvenated, and you revert back to the day the spell started."

"You mean I have to go through all of this again?" I asked, as I walked around the partition.

Tory glanced over me, taking note of the different pair of tights. "Not exactly," she said. "You still remember everything. Anything you learn or do. It's just that your body gets a reboot." She gestured for me to walk back to my makeshift room.

"Hold on," I said, turning to look back at her. "Do you have to go through puberty every time?" My eyes grew wider. "Shit! Am I going to start having periods?!"

Tory burst out laughing, but then seemed to chide herself for being insensitive. "No," she said. "You're basically in the body you're going to stay in." She smiled knowingly. "For now, at least. I mean, until we find a fix. But it won't change much." She walked over to sit on the cot. "Unfortunately, you might get periods. Us actual girls couldn't even escape that." She shrugged. "I'm not sure, with you being a guy before and all. But if you need me to, I can help you through it."

I sighed. "This keeps getting better," I said.

"Honestly," Tory said. "It's not as bad as it seems here. We're like one great big family."

"That's another thing," I said solemnly. "What about my dad?"

"That's up to you," Tory said. "It's hard either way you handle it. Some girls, like Leann, lost their parents early, and they never had to know." She sighed. "My parents never knew. They think I ran away. Others…"

"Bad?"

"Well…" Tory looked off to the side. "They stayed with their parents. Watched them grow old and die. And tried to live with the fact that their families never understood why they never grew older themselves. Some of them even got ostracized for being different."

"I never really thought of that," I said. "Leann brought it up briefly last night."

"Yeah…" Tory said. "Sometimes you just have to understand that she's seen a lot happen."

"Where is she anyway?" I asked.

Tory shrugged. "She runs off on secret missions all the time," she said. "Probably the hardest worker out of all of us. Always trying to find a cure, and always hunting down potential girls to recruit."

I sat down on the old wooden chair. I was close enough to Tory that our knees nearly touched. "Be honest," I said. "Is it possible to cure this… curse?"

"You know… I was hopeful at first," Tory said. "But as time goes by, all I see are dead ends." She placed her hand on my knee. "I don't want to get your hopes up, Jesse. But there may never be a cure."

"I have to believe that's not true," I said. "This all has to end."

Tory jumped up from the bed. "That's it!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"I remember what you said when I came in here," Tory said. "You said 'this is how it must end.'"

"I don't remember saying that at all," I said.

"Maybe you…" Tory started to say. "I don't know. Maybe you are the key to stopping this." She paced back and forth for a moment. "You're different from us. You have the desire to change back hardwired in your brain." She stopped to face me. "I mean, who else would want to change back more than someone that doesn't even want to be a female?"

"Whoa…" I stood from the chair. "Let's not get carried away. I'm not special."

"Maybe you are!" Tory exclaimed.

"Okay," I said. "Assuming that… I have no clue even where to begin."

"Well for one, we can begin with some shopping," Tory said. "You're going to need a new wardrobe."

I let out a long, exasperated sigh. "I'm not ready for this at all," I said.

"You look ready to me," Tory said. "Let's go."

I looked down at myself. Suddenly I realized during the course of our conversation, that I had managed to completely dress myself in the borrowed clothes. A soft yellow t-shirt complimented the lightweight floral skirt and navy tights. I didn't even recall doing so, but I had slipped on a pair of flats while sitting in the chair.

"Am I really that out of it?" I asked, catching up to Tory.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't even remember putting this on," I said. "And yet… here it is."

Tory smiled. "It's probably a small remnant left over from the spell," she said. "It will wear off." She stopped to face me. "I promise you will have a mind of your own in no time."

"Did I…" My hand drifted up to my shoulder. Casually I felt around until my fingers touched the outline of a strap. "I even put on a bra."

"I hope so," Tory said, grinning mischievously. "You're going to be trying on clothes."

I glared at her, as she began to ascend the stairs. "Smartass," I said, quickly following after her. After a few steps, I got over her remark. "So are we taking your car?"

"Nah," Tory said over her shoulder. "Everything is within walking distance of here." She reached the door at the top of the stairs, and opened it. "Plus parking is a bitch in this city."

I walked past her. She closed the door behind me. We walked for a moment in silence, passing the offices. Everything I'd seen last night, looked just as immaculate as before. Somehow it even looked cleaner. Did they have some magical twilight cleaning spell, or something? Like the brooms from Fantasia.

"So… what's your item?" I asked, trying my best to keep up.

Tory turned in stride, and pulled a few times at the strap of her top.

"What? The tank top?" I asked.

"It's not a tank top," Tory said, stopping. She turned to me, casually unfastening her jeans, and slid them down slightly. "It's a leotard. Unfortunately, I happened to get sucked into this world during the eighties workout fad."

"I don't know," I said, thoughtfully looking down at her thighs. She had managed to barely expose a little skin, which brought a smile to my face. "I kind of like it."

"You would," Tory said, whipping her jeans back up. She turned away as she fastened them. "I'm just glad it wasn't the thong style. Imagine living forever with a string between your… never mind." She turned back to face me, with a grin. "You'd probably like that even more."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know anything about it," I said. "I wasn't even alive then."

Tory shook her head, and continued walking. I followed behind her. We neared the front entrance of the theater. After seeing the busy morning streets, I suddenly had a change of heart. Call it nerves, or what have you, but I suddenly felt like I couldn't do it. I couldn't walk out onto the busy sidewalk.

"You okay?" Tory asked, standing at the door.

"No," I said.

"What's wrong?"

I glanced out the windowed doors. "What if they know?" I asked. "Like I don't even know how to walk like a girl."

Tory let out a hearty laugh. "Most girls don't even know how to walk like a girl these days," she said. "Don't worry about it."

"I don't know," I said, still looking outside. "Any tips?"

"Just don't walk like a gorilla, and you'll be fine," Tory said, pushing the door open. "It's a nice cool morning. Enjoy the walk, and don't even think about it."

The brisk morning walk seemed to actually calm my nerves a little. Nobody stared at me. In fact, fitting with typical city life, nobody seemed to give a damn about either of us. A few guys along the way would give us a passing glance, but I'm pretty sure they weren't checking that I was walking right. Being a young boy, myself, I knew exactly what was going through their minds.

I shook that mental imagery from my head, and tried to focus on other aspects of the city. Some of the buildings looked like massive towers from the street. I got out to the city on occasion, but never really got out to walk around. Hell, parts of the city you wouldn't want to walk around. This morning though… This morning it felt nice and refreshing.

In the distance I could hear jets flying over. While close by were the sounds of car engines and horns. Crowds of people waited at the crosswalks. Even the vendors were out; yelling over the morning commute to their customers. The slight smell of exhaust mingled with the smells of various foods being sold on the streets. Everything felt so alive.

"You hear me?" Tory asked, waving her hand in front of my face.

"I'm sorry," I said, focusing on her. "What did you say?"

"I said we could check out some of the thrift stores first," Tory said. "Get some basics. Then circle back." She pointed across the street to a rather crowded store. "That place has some really nice tights. We can pick some up."

"Sounds good," I said, still not sure about stocking up on female attire. "Any place that sells… you know… unisex?"

Tory smiled while shaking her head. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm not going to force you to buy anything you don't want to wear." She patted my shoulder. "We can probably find you some nice jeans and tees. Do the whole tomboy thing. It'll look cute." She gestured over her shoulder toward the tights store. "I guarantee I'm not going to be able to keep you out of there though."

Tory was right. Even as we moved away from the store she pointed out, I had the desire to go back. It took everything I had to keep walking further and further away from that store. I even stole glances back at it, as if checking that it was still there. Just as I was thinking this whole item affinity thing would be hard to escape, we turned the corner and it dissipated. We made our way over to a small, somewhat rundown, thrift store.

"You sure about this place?" I asked, looking over the halfway burned out sign.

"Don't let the building fool you," Tory said. "They have some nice things."

The store did indeed have some nice things. Most of the items looked like they were new. We strolled by shoes and boots that looked as if they'd been worn once or twice. The clothing on the racks looked as if it had been worn once, washed, and then returned to the store. I had been in my fair share of secondhand stores, when my father and I were struggling. Yet, I had never seen any of them have clothing as nice as this one. Maybe a piece here and there, but not entire racks.

"Is this like some weird magic store?" I asked Tory, in a hushed voice.

Tory looked at me strangely. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Everything looks new," I said.

Tory chuckled. "The owner here is a little obsessive," she said quietly. "They send stuff off to the next store if it doesn't look good." She glanced around the store. "Between you and me, this store has the best clothing within walking distance." She smiled. "Cheap too."

"I… don't have any way to pay for this," I said, suddenly realizing any money I had was back at the theater in my jeans' pocket.

"Don't worry about it," Tory said. "We got you covered."

"You sure?"

Tory nodded. "It's the least we can do after yanking you away from your home."

"Well… thanks," I said.

"Just don't rack up a crazy bill," Tory said. "But get enough to hold you over for a few weeks."

"Weeks…" I muttered, realizing the gravity of my situation.

"Hey," Tory said, trying to change the mood. "This is cute." She pulled a hanger from the rack. Clipped to it was a green and navy plaid skirt. "Matches your tights too," she said, as she held it in front of me.

"Um…" I took a step back. "What happened to the whole tomboy thing?"

Tory gave me a disappointed look. She put the skirt back; a small click sounding as the hanger hit the rack. Then she coaxed me to follow her with a come-hither waggle of her finger. We walked through the store a little bit, working our way to the men's section. Tory walked down an aisle filled with jeans, and held her hand out toward them.

"I'll be over at house goods," she said. "Getting you a few things for your room."

"Okay," I said, a little absentmindedly.

I looked around for a changing room, but quickly realized they didn't have one. There were only a few mirrors set up along the walls. Turning back to the jeans, I chose a pair I thought would fit. The floor was clean enough, so I kicked off my shoes and started to pull the jeans on over my tights. Instantly I realized they were too big, and removed them.

I had to remind myself that I wasn't as tall as I used to be. During my transformation I had lost maybe half a foot or so of height. It had been one of the first things I noticed. My own room at home had even thrown me off. I pulled another pair of jeans from the rack; a pair with a shorter inseam.

As I pulled this pair of jeans up under my skirt, they felt weird as well. It wasn't the tights, or the skirt. Something just felt wrong about the jeans. I'm not even sure if my new female body had anything to do with it. I removed the jeans, and tried another pair. Then I tried another pair. The same feeling kept returning to me.

I slipped my shoes back on, and stormed off to find Tory. Eventually I found her looking at little trinkets in the small house wares area of the store. She seemed a little surprised at my sudden return. I strolled right up to her. My mouth flew open as I prepared to yell at her for bringing me here. I had convinced myself that it was this oddball thrift store that strangely sold new clothing.

"Didn't find anything you like?" Tory asked, unassumingly.

"I…" The cobbled up obscenities in my head couldn't break free to my mouth. "Something about this place is off," I managed to blurt out.

"What do you mean?" Tory asked.

"There's something wrong with the jeans, or the men's clothing," I said. "Something is going on here, and I don't like it." I stepped closer to her. "Did you put some kind of spell on me, to make me hate male clothing?"

Tory burst out laughing. She walked away from me. I waited for a moment, and then chased after her. We weaved through rows of clothing, and finally ended up back at the jeans section. Tory thumbed through a few pairs of jeans, and pulled one off of the rack. She tossed it to me.

"Put them on," she said.

"I already tried this pair."

"Humor me," she said.

Again I slipped off my shoes. I took the jeans off of the hanger. Then I pulled them on under my skirt. The same feeling returned to me. It seemed to strike the instant I finished pulling up the zipper. The jeans simply felt weird. I looked up at Tory, and she stood there silently.

"Why do they feel weird on me?" I asked.

"Well I can see a few issues right off the bat," Tory said. She reached out and tugged the sides. "They don't hang well." Her hand went around to the back, and she tugged some more. "The pockets are halfway down to your knees." She walked around behind me. "And no shape at all to the backside. It's like you're wearing a sheet."

"So they're not like… cursed jeans?" I asked.

"Jesse…" Tory walked back around to face me. "The girls and I… We're not witches. We can't cast spells to make you hate a pair of jeans." She shrugged. "Maybe it's because your junk is missing?"

I rolled my eyes at her, as I slowly removed the pair of jeans. "I don't know what to do," I said, starting to sulk.

Tory moved closer to me. "Could you do me a favor?" she asked.

"What's that?" I asked, while hanging up the jeans.

"Could you just try on a few things over in the lady's side?"

My head turned to look at Tory. I could feel my spirit sinking already. The question alone carried the sting of defeat with it. Ever since I met my new "friends," I had been fighting with them about wanting to play the part of a girl. When I looked Tory in the eye, though, I could tell she wasn't asking out of some ulterior motive. She had joked about putting me in skirts the night before, but she seemed sincere now. I shrugged at her suggestion.

"If you don't like anything over there," Tory said, while picking up my shoes. "Then we'll figure something out." She coaxed me to walk, with her, back to the women's area. "It's important that you're comfortable though." She put her arm around my shoulders. "You might be like this for quite a while."

"Wonderful…" I muttered.

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To Be Continued...