I was debating about whether to release this story as a serial, or wait until it was finished. Serial won out.
------------------------
“Are we there yet?” I asked from the back seat of my family car, a five year old sedan that Dad had bought brand new.
“No,” Dad answered from the driver’s seat.
I turned my attention back to my DS, and the Pokemon game that I was in the middle of playing. A few minutes later, I repeated the question, “Are we there yet?” This was more from boredom, than because I thought we were really that close to our destination.
“Not yet,” Mom answered from the passenger seat. “We’ll be there in about half an hour though.”
I didn’t bother responding to that. Instead, I focused on my game, trying to divert my attention. After the six hour drive, I was more than a little bored.
“Can I drive?” I asked, for what had to be the fourth time during the drive. I had a driver’s permit, and in less than two months, I’d actually be able to get my license. “I can use some more practice.”
“Not right now, Byron,” Dad responded with a hint of annoyance in his voice. I smiled faintly at that. If I was going to be bored and miserable, at least he’d be sharing in it.
My name was Byron Houseman, and I was a pretty typical sixteen year old boy. Well, technically, I wouldn’t be sixteen for nearly two more months, but I was close enough that it didn’t matter. At least, that was my opinion on the matter. My parents, on the other hand, didn’t seem to share my views.
“I told you to bring your homework,” Dad said with a sigh. “You could have gotten ahead of your class reading, if nothing else.”
“I can’t read in the car,” I grumbled. “I get motion sick.”
Mom chuckled at that. “But you don’t seem to have any problems with playing video games.”
I shot a glare to the back of her head. “That’s different.”
“Of course it is,” Mom replied, in a slightly sarcastic tone.
A short time later, we arrived at our destination, a large, two-story house, that was set well off the main street. The house wasn’t a mansion, though with the fenced property, heavy iron gate, and security cameras, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been.
“We’re here,” Mom announced unnecessarily. “Dora’s house.”
I looked up at the house, having been here only once before, three years ago. My Aunt Dora lived here, and though she came to visit us once every year or two, this was only the second time I’d ever gone to visit her. I liked Aunt Dora, but I could think of more exciting places to spend my spring break, not that my parents had given me much choice.
We had just barely climbed out of the car, when the front door opened and Aunt Dora stepped out. She was a beautiful woman, with long black hair that cascaded down her back and ended at her waist. In contrast to the dark color of her hair and eyes, her skin was smooth and pale, what my mom sometimes referred to as ‘porcelain’, and somehow managed to avoid seeming unhealthy.
Aunt Dora had what I could only think of as, an ageless look. She looked like she could easily be anywhere from her mid-twenties to her mid-thirties, though I knew she was a lot older than that. How old she actually was, I had absolutely no idea, and I was wise enough not to ask.
Once, because of her pale skin and youthful looks, I’d jokingly asked Aunt Dora if she was a vampire. She’d just given me a strangely amused look, and pointed out, “I am standing out in the sunlight, and wearing a cross around my neck. What do you think?”
“You arrived earlier than I expected,” Aunt Dora said with an English accent.
“We made good time,” Mom responded with a smile. “There wasn’t much traffic. It’s good to see you again, Dora.”
“And you as well, Theressa,” Aunt Dora responded with a smile. “Come in, I have tea on the stove.” Then she looked to me and smiled. “Welcome, Byron. Enter freely and of your own will.”
I rolled my eyes at the line from Dracula and grumbled, “I am never going to live that down…”
“Not for some time,” Aunt Dora agreed.
“I was ten,” I protested, pausing to give Aunt Dora a hug.
“Almost like yesterday,” Aunt Dora responded with a smile.
As soon as I stepped into the house, I saw all the antique furniture and décor, and was clearly reminded of how Aunt Dora made her money. She collected and sold antiques and artifacts. The older, the better. In fact, that was how Aunt Dora and my mom first met.
Aunt Dora wasn’t really my aunt, though I’d grown up thinking she was, and had only learned the truth about a year ago. She was actually just a very close friend of my mom’s, and was actually the one who first introduced my parents to each other.
Mom was an archeologist, though it had been years since she’d actually gone out into the field on a dig. Now, she usually stayed close to home, cataloguing artifacts for the local museum. Since Dad was a college professor, who taught classes on mythology, their professional lives were pretty compatible, and often took over the conversation at the dinner table.
After we were escorted to the living room, Aunt Dora said, “I’ll be right out with the tea.” Then she looked at Dad. “And Lucas, I remember that you don’t care for tea, so I made some coffee for you…”
“Thank you,” Dad responded with a smile.
A couple minutes later, Aunt Dora came back with the tea and coffee, but she didn’t return alone. Cliff Roberts was with her. Cliff was probably in his fifties, and had short grey hair that was cut in something of a military fashion. I was never quite certain if Cliff was Aunt Dora’s boyfriend, bodyguard, or both, though she never went anywhere without him.
“Hello, Lucas,” Cliff said in a gruff voice, shaking Dad’s hand. Then he nodded to Mom. “Nice to see you again, Theressa.”
I wasn’t a big fan of tea, but I could handle the stuff better than coffee, not that Aunt Dora had ever offered me any of that. So I sat there, sipping on my tea and listening in as the adults talked. I was already bored, and was considering how long before I could play my DS, without it coming across as rude.
“Did you find what you were looking for in Budapest?” Mom asked Aunt Dora.
“Yes, I did,” Aunt Dora answered with a smile. “It was well worth the trip too, to get that nasty thing out of circulation…”
That caught my attention, because I had absolutely no idea of what they were talking about. I knew that Aunt Dora traveled a lot, due to her business, however, she never gave many details about it when I was around.
“I wish I could have gone with you,” Mom told her with a sigh. “Unfortunately, I have other responsibilities now…”
“Of course,” Aunt Dora responded with a smile. “But you remember the last time we were in Budapest…?”
“How can I forget?” Mom asked. Then, she and Aunt Dora both began to laugh.
Dad gave them a curious look, then said, “Now, I want to hear about Budapest…”
“Me too,” I added, now paying even more attention to the conversation.
I knew that Mom and Aunt Dora had a lot of history together, though neither of them really talked about it much, at least not to me. However, I suspected that there were some great stories that could slip out in this conversation, and I didn’t want to miss them. At least now, I was no longer bored.
“Forget everything you know,” Aunt Dora told me. “Forget everything you THINK you know. Movies and video games have little to do with reality, and if you look to them for advice and instruction, then you will surely be disappointed.”
With those words, Aunt Dora swung a broadsword right at me, and it was all I could do to bring my own sword up in time to block. Of course, she was holding back and moving pretty slowly, but for someone who’d never used a real sword before, it seemed pretty fast to me.
“Block like this,” Aunt Dora told me, demonstrating the proper movement with the sword. “And remember your grip…”
For a brief moment, I wondered how I’d ended up getting sword lessons from Aunt Dora, but then I remembered. I’d been playing a game on my DS, when she came and began watching me. I started to explain how my character uses a sword to fight, which led to her snorting in disgust and insisting that she’d teach me about real sword fighting.
“Keep your blade up,” Cliff offered from a short distance away. “Don’t lower your guard.”
Mom and Dad had come in on us, while Aunt Dora was showing me how to swing a sword. “I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” Dad said with a worried expression. “Someone could get hurt.”
“It’s fine,” Mom told him with an amused look. “And besides, it looks like Dora is having fun.”
“She’s having fun,” I pointed out. “But what about me?”
“What about you?” Mom asked with a chuckle.
I glared at her. “Traitor.”
When Aunt Dora was finally done, she put the swords away and gave me a nod of approval. “This is how a real sword works, not by pushing some buttons on a toy.”
“Why would I ever need to know how to use a real sword?” I asked her. “I mean, people use guns now, not swords…”
“Very true,” Aunt Dora agreed, with a faint smile of amusement. “But a sword has the distinct advantage of never running out of ammunition.”
With that, Aunt Dora went and joined my parents, while I watched them. Seeing Mom and Aunt Dora together, it was hard to believe that I’d ever thought they could be sisters. Mom had shoulder-length, auburn hair, and a natural tan to her skin. The two of them looked almost nothing alike.
Then my eyes moved to Dad, who had naturally reddish-blonde hair, which was almost entirely bald on top. However, he tried to compensate for this by having a ‘dignified’ beard. I took after Dad in looks, a lot more than I did my mom. I even had the same hair-color, though I hoped that was as far as it went. I didn’t want to start losing my hair by the time I was thirty, the way he had.
“I think it is about time for lunch,” Aunt Dora announced, bringing my attention back to what was currently going on. “Cliff, if you wouldn’t mind…”
Lunch consisted of soup and sandwiches, which were pretty good. After the workout that Aunt Dora had given me with the swords, I was sore and more than a little hungry. I wolfed down my lunch, then slipped away while everyone else remained behind and talked.
After grabbing my DS, I was about to head back to the guest room where I’d slept last night, when I overheard some of the conversation that was still going on. Being naturally curious, I paused and listened in a little more closely, wondering if I might be able to get some more details about one of those trips that Mom used to take with Aunt Dora. However, I was surprised to realize that they were talking about me instead.
“Unfortunately,” Mom said, “the only real interest that Byron shows in history or mythology, is when it relates to one of his games…”
“True,” Dad said with a chuckle. “When he was going through that Dungeons and Dragons phase a year or two ago, he asked me a lot of questions about mythological creatures he might encounter in his game…”
“And that is obviously why you kept encouraging him to play,” Mom pointed out.
“Of course,” Dad said, sounding rather pleased. “I just wish he would have stuck with that, rather than getting into music. My ears are still ringing from that electric guitar…”
“Now,” Mom said in an exasperated tone, “the only thing Byron really seems interested in, are girls, and those video games of his…”
“That is a pity,” Aunt Dora commented. “But Byron is still young, and may yet follow in your paths to become a scholar.”
“You might consider having him enlist,” Cliff offered. “A tour in the army did wonders for my son.”
I shuddered at that and muttered, “No thanks.” I wasn’t sure that I liked Cliff giving advice to my parents. In fact, I was a little worried that if our visit was long enough, he might even manage to convince my parents to send me to military school or something.
Since the conversation wasn’t quite as interesting as I’d hoped, and my eavesdropping was only giving me things to worry about, it was time to be done with that, and to get back to my game. I was looking forward to making a bit more progress, and maybe even getting further ahead of where my friend Scott was.
Suddenly, an alarm began going off, and I would have thought it was the smoke detector, if Cliff hadn’t exclaimed, “We have an intruder…”
Cliff burst out of the kitchen and raced into the living room, where he opened a cabinet and revealed that the inside of it was full of weapons. My mouth dropped open in surprise. Without even a moment of hesitation, he pulled out a short machine gun of some kind, and a sword. Then, to my even greater surprise, Mom reached into the same cabinet and took out a gun too.
“Take cover,” Mom ordered, popping out the clip, glancing at the bullets, and then slapping it back in. Mom looked like she actually knew how to use the thing. “Byron. Lucas. Get to the basement.”
Mom was starting towards the basement stairway with us, when the living room window suddenly exploded in, with a massive ball of flame coming through it. I gaped at the sight, momentarily wondering if someone was trying to break in with a flame thrower. All I could do was stare at the destroyed window in stunned disbelief and confusion. And of course, there was fear, but at that moment, I was more in shock than anything else.
I knew Aunt Dora had some valuable antiquities stored in her house, which was why she had the fence and security cameras around her house. Someone was trying to break in, to rob Aunt Dora. That was the only thing that made sense.
“Get down,” Cliff yelled, opening fire and shooting out the hole where the window had been.
A moment later, another ball of fire exploded through the next window over, and then to the next. What was left of the curtains were on fire, as were several bits of furniture. However, Cliff ignored the fire and continued shooting. Then, he abruptly stopped.
“I got him,” Cliff announced. “I’m going to go out and see who he was…”
“Be careful,” Aunt Dora warned him.
“I’ll go with,” Mom volunteered, holding up her own gun. I just stared at my mom, wondering when she’d suddenly become such a badass.
Mom and Cliff went outside, while the rest of us remained where we were. I went the hole in the wall, where there had previously been a window, and looked outside. Dad told me to back up and get away, but I ignored him.
I could see someone outside, lying motionless in the yard. He had something on the ground beside him, but it didn’t look like a weapon, and I couldn’t quite make out what it was. A minute later, Cliff bent down beside his body and began looking it over. Then, Cliff picked up the item beside the attacker, holding it up so that I could see that it looked like some kind of staff.
“What the Hell is going on?” I demanded, shaking a little now that the excitement seemed to be over.
I looked to Dad for answers, but he looked like he was just as stunned by everything as I was. He just stood there, staring out the window, without saying a single word.
“This is inconvenient,” Aunt Dora said as she came over with a fire extinguisher and began putting out the flames. “That was my favorite chair too…”
Mom and Cliff came back into the house, carrying that staff they’d found outside. Now that it was closer, I could see that it was made of some dark wood that was nearly black, and that there was some kind of metal head that held a red crystal.
“A fire staff,” Aunt Dora said with a grim expression. “I haven’t seen one of these in over forty years…”
I gave Aunt Dora a look of surprise. She didn’t look like she was even forty years old, which once again made me wonder just how old she actually was. The whole joke about being a vampire, suddenly didn’t seem so funny anymore.
“This was the only item he had on him,” Cliff said. “He didn’t have any ID.”
Aunt Dora let out a sigh. “It seems that someone has found me, after all this time…”
“It was bound to happen eventually,” Cliff pointed out. “You know that.”
“What’s going on?” I repeated my previous demand.
Mom scowled. “Byron, you need to go down into the basement where it’s safe…”
“No,” Aunt Dora said, giving Mom a flat look. “Your son has reasonable questions, and I believe he is old enough to understand…”
Aunt Dora held out her hands, and suddenly, she was holding a large wooden box. The box was about eighteen inches wide and across, and about a foot or so deep. The entire thing appeared to be made of dark wood, though not as dark as the staff, and the top of the box was intricately carved. As I stared at it, the carvings actually seemed to be slowly moving.
Without saying a word, Aunt Dora set the box on the ground, and then she opened the lid. The inside of the box, was dark, and seemed to be filled with swirling shadows and fog, so that I couldn’t make out anything beyond that. Then, Aunt Dora took the staff from Cliff, stared at it for a moment, and placed it into the box. The whole staff went in and vanished, and as soon as it had, the lid closed…without anyone touching it.
My eyes shot wide in disbelief and confusion. “How?” I blurted out. When Aunt Dora looked at me, I exclaimed, “That staff was like, five feet long… How in the world did it fit in that box?”
Aunt Dora gave me a faint look of amusement, and said, “It’s bigger on the inside.”
For a moment, I just stood there, staring at Aunt Dora and the box. Suddenly, I felt like I’d just stepped into the middle of some movie or video game, because whatever was going on, it was not normal. Not in the least.
After taking a deep breath to calm myself, I looked to Mom and then Aunt Dora again, before demanding, “What in the world is going on?”
“The answer to that,” Aunt Dora responded with a deep sigh, “is a long and complicated one. But for now, I will tell you that my name is Pandora…and this is my box.”
I was still stunned, feeling from the events of a couple hours ago. In just a matter of minutes, most of what I thought I knew, had been thrown out the window.
First, someone had tried to kill me and everyone else, with what appeared to be a magical flamethrower. Then, I’d watched that same attacker get shot and killed. And unlike in the action movies, where the good guys toss off a good one-liner, then shrug the whole thing off, the real thing was quite different. Someone had died, right in front of me, and that was no small thing.
Of course, as shocking as the entire attack had been, what was even more surprising, was what I’d learned about the people I knew. Mom pulled out that gun and acted like she really knew how to use it, and she hadn’t seemed the least bit phased about going out to help Cliff check the body. And that was nothing compared to Aunt Dora, and that strange wooden box she had.
Now, I had a lot of questions, but almost no answers. The only answer I had been given, was when Mom said, “In spite of what society has told you for your entire life, magic really does exist. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for explanations right now, so your questions will have to wait.”
After that, Cliff went out to take care of the body, though I didn’t know exactly what it entailed. What I did know, was that when I looked to where the body had been, there was no longer any trace of it.
I didn’t bother to ask why we weren’t calling the police about this. I’d seen more than enough movies to know, that when things got weird, you usually didn’t want the police to get involved, because more often than not, they’d only make things worse. It was one of those rules from action movies, with the only exceptions being, when the main characters were the police.
Mom and Aunt Dora began to gather all the real valuables in the house, and then started to hide them in some secret room in the basement, that I’d never even heard of before this. That left Dad and I to board up the windows, or at least the holes where the windows had previously been. Dad had a grim expression on his face the entire time, and I could see that he wasn’t about to answer any of my questions either.
Once we were done with our tasks, Dad told Aunt Dora, “I always thought this kind of thing only occurred on your little adventures…”
“Adventures aren’t limited to other places,” Mom pointed out with a sigh, and an apologetic look to Dad.
“I do apologize for this inconvenience,” Aunt Dora said with a pained expression. “Unfortunately, it probably isn’t safe to remain here any longer, at least for now. I recommend you all return home, while Cliff and I will find another place to stay for the near future.”
Mom gave a faint chuckle at that. “If I know you and Cliff, you already have a couple possibilities lined up.”
“Take care,” Aunt Dora told us. “I will contact you again, once it is safe to do so.”
Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot filled the air, and a second later, my dad was thrown back, where he collapsed to the ground. The entire front of his shirt was soaked with blood, and all I could do was stare in shock and horror. There were more gunshots, and Mom slammed into me, knocking me to the ground and practically dragging me to the side of the car.
“Stay down,” Mom ordered.
I was in shock from what I’d just witnessed, and when I looked up into my mom’s face, I saw anger, grief, and tears. She pulled out the gun that she’d taken from the cabinet a couple hours ago, and then with a yell of rage, she poked her head and arm out from behind the cover of the car and began shooting, though I couldn’t see what or who she was shooting at.
“Dad,” I gasped, with tears already running down my cheeks. I looked to his body, which was motionless on the ground, with a pool of blood already spreading out. I had no doubt that he was dad.
“Lucas,” Mom whispered, her voice cracking in pain. She fired another shot. “You bastards...”
I crouched further down, yet at the same time, I tried to peak out and see how Aunt Dora and Cliff were doing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t well. They’d both been hit before they could get to cover, and were now trapped out in the open. Aunt Dora was bleeding heavily from her leg, while Cliff had one shoulder that was covered in blood, and the arm was just hanging at his side. However, both were armed and shooting back.
“Get out of here,” Aunt Dora yelled.
“I’d be happy to,” Mom called back. “Just as soon as they stop shooting at us…”
A couple seconds later, the other side, whoever they were, stopped shooting at us. “They’re up to something,” Cliff announced warily.
“Yes,” Aunt Dora responded with a grim expression. “But we can take advantage of this pause…”
But just as those words left Aunt Dora’s mouth, the sky above us began to glow with an eerie green light, which only lasted for a second before it exploded in a brilliant flash. The light blinded me for just a second, then it was gone.
“What was that?” I blurted, looking to my mom for an answer, though she was motionless, almost as though she’d suddenly turned into a statue. I gulped in dread, “Mom?”
“I can’t move,” she gasped, proving that she could at least move her mouth.
I looked to Pandora and Cliff, and saw that they were both frozen motionless as well. They did appear to be talking to each other, but I was far enough away that I couldn’t hear what they said. However, from their expressions, it was pretty obvious that they were worried.
“They can’t move either,” I whispered, which confused me a little, because I could still move with no problem.
While I was still crouching down behind the car, trying to make sense of what was going on, and shaking my mom in case I could knock her out of whatever was going on, our attackers arrived. There were five men, who carefully walked towards Aunt Pandora and Cliff. Four of them were dressed as soldiers, wearing camouflage outfits, and carrying machine guns. However, the fifth one was different than the others.
The fifth man appeared older than the soldiers, by at least ten years. He appeared to be in his forties, and had dark hair that was beginning to turn gray at the temples. He was also dressed in a nice looking suit. From nearly every movie and video game I’d seen, I knew that he was the guy in charge.
“So, you are the famous Pandora,” the man in the suit announced. “We’ve been looking for you…for quite a long time.”
“It appears that you found me,” Aunt Dora responded, glaring at the man in the suit. “But it seems you have me at something of a disadvantage.”
“Of course,” the man in the suit responded, almost sounding polite. “My name is Alexander Kraesse. I believe that you may have heard of me, and of my father Gregor.”
“Artifact collectors,” Aunt Dora stated with a look of distaste. “And mobsters.”
Alexander looked rather pleased by that, perhaps simply because she recognized his name. “Over the last three decades, you have stolen several priceless artifacts out from beneath us…”
“You mean, I kept them from falling into your hands,” Aunt Dora responded. Then, she glanced to Cliff, who was frozen like a statue beside her, though still bleeding from his shoulder. “How are you doing this? What kind of artifact are you using?”
Alexander gestured to one of the soldiers, who stepped forward and held out some sort of stone figurine. I was too far away to make out any details, but Aunt Dora seemed to recognize it.
“The Peacemaker,” Alexander calmly explained. “An idol representing a forgotten goddess of peace… When used, it stuns anyone wielding a weapon…” He looked rather pleased with himself.
Aunt Dora’s eyes narrowed. “And the man with the fire staff…?”
“A…canary, if you will,” Alexander answered. “I sent August to test your defenses, and see what we would be facing. But more importantly, I sacrificed a useful artifact in order to confirm that you really are the woman I was searching for…and that you had the box with you.” Then he stared at Aunt Dora for several long seconds, before commanding, “Now, make that box appear.”
“It will do you no good,” Aunt Dora responded grimly. “The box is not meant for you or yours.”
“Present the box NOW,” Alexander demanded, pulling out a handgun and pointing it right in Aunt Dora’s face.
“Byron,” Mom gasped from beside me, still frozen motionless. “I can’t see what’s going on…” I realized that she was facing in a different direction, and though she was moving her head a little, her whole body was positioned at the wrong angle for her to ever see anything. “Tell me what you see.”
“This Alexander guy has a gun,” I whispered nervously. “And he’s pointing it at Aunt Dora…”
Mom’s eyes widened at that. “The Peacekeeper… The effects haven’t worn off yet, but it isn’t active anymore…”
For a moment, I wondered what Mom was getting at, and why she’d abruptly stopped. Then, it hit me. I was terrified, but also angry and desperate. I grabbed the gun right out of Mom’s hands.
“No,” Mom exclaimed. “They’ll kill you…”
However, I was already sure that I didn’t have anything to loose. Alexander and his people had already killed Dad and looked like they were about to kill Aunt Dora and Cliff too. I had no doubts that when they were done, they’d come over here to finish us off as well. After all, it would be a bad idea to leave witnesses around after what they’d already done.
While I was taking Mom’s gun, Aunt Dora was doing what Alexander asked. Suddenly, that wooden box that I’d seen earlier, appeared on the ground, right in front of her. Alexander stared down at it with a hungry expression. Then, he bent down to try opening the lid, though it didn’t budge.
“Open it,” Alexander commanded.
“I am unable to move,” Aunt Dora reminded him, with her tone suggesting that what she really meant was, “You’re an idiot.”
“There are many ways to open a locked safe,” Alexander stated grimly. “I no longer need you.” With that, he pulled the trigger and shot Aunt Dora in the face.
“NO,” I cried out in horror as Aunt Dora’s body collapsed to the ground.
I pulled the trigger and tried to shoot Alexander, but one of the men beside him was hit instead. I silently cursed myself for not shooting sooner. If I had, Aunt Dora might still be alive. Or, I realized as I fired two more shots and missed hitting anyone, I might have hit her by accident. Still, I continued shooting, while Alexander and the soldiers dove for cover.
Suddenly, Mom let out a gasp and exclaimed, “I can move again…” She snatched the gun out of my hands, then fired two shots of her own. Both of hers hit their targets, two of the soldiers who’d just began to shoot at us.
A moment later, I realized that Mom wasn’t the only one who could move again. Cliff lunged forward, shooting one of the soldiers in the head, and then trying to do the same to Alexander. However, Cliff’s gun had either jammed or ran out of ammunition, because nothing happened. With only a moment of hesitation, he dropped the gun and drew his sword, which actually began to glow with a faint blue haze around the blade.
“What the…?” I started, only to stop myself. I’d already seen more than enough weird shit and magic in the last few hours, that I shouldn’t be shocked by seeing it one more time.
“Get the box,” Alexander commanded, shooting at Cliff, who leapt to the side positioned himself so that one of the soldiers was between him and Alexander.
“What box?” the soldier responded, pointing to where Aunt Dora’s box had been mere seconds earlier. Now, the spot was empty, and there was no sign of the box.
Alexander blurted out something in another language, which had the sound of a profanity. Then, sounding angry and almost desperate, he demanded, “Where is that box?”
Cliff lunged forward, using his good arm to swing the glowing sword. It sliced right through a soldier, who fell to the ground in two pieces. “Without Pandora, there is no box,” Cliff snarled furiously. “You just killed the only person in the world who could get it.”
With that, Cliff charged towards Alexander, who suddenly grabbed at an amulet around his neck, and began to glow. Cliff’s sword hit Alexander, and then bounced right off without any effect.
“I would kill you if I could,” Alexander said with a look of anger. “But this protection prevents me from taking any hostile action.”
Another of the soldiers seemed to be using this distraction to take aim at Cliff, until Mom shot him in the head. When the soldier fell, Alexander snarled, muttered what I assumed were profanities in another language, then turned and ran away.
“He’ll be back with reinforcements,” Cliff said with a grimace. “To search the house for artifacts, if nothing else.”
“We have to get out of here,” Mom said grimly. She bent down beside Dad, and I saw tears pouring down her cheeks, which were a match for the ones on my own. “We don’t have time…”
“I know,” Cliff said, looking to Aunt Dora. Or at least, he stared at the spot where Aunt Dora had died. Her body was no longer there, apparently vanishing the same way her weird box did. Then, with a pained expression, he quietly said, “I failed you. It was my job to protect you, to keep this from happening. I’m sorry.”
A minute later, we looked over our car, which now had a couple dozen bullet holes in the side. Two of the tires are flat, and from the position of a couple of the bullet holes, I wasn’t very optimistic about the engine.
Our car wasn’t in any condition to drive, or to be inconspicuous even if we could drive it. Fortunately, Aunt Dora a couple vehicles in the garage, a big van to hall things around in, and a silver Lexus sedan, which looked like it would be fun to drive.
After Mom fixed Cliff up, using an emergency medical kit in the garage, we quickly threw our bags, some weapons, and some emergency items into the Lexus, and tore out of that driveway as fast as we could. Alexander was still out there and nearby, and we didn’t want to risk running into him again, especially if he came back with reinforcements.
Mom was behind the wheel, not saying a word as she drove. Cliff was in the passenger seat, having called shotgun…literally. He had a shotgun with him, as well as that magic sword and a pistol. There were even more weapons in the back seat with me, and in the trunk.
I just stretched out in the back seat and collapsed in exhaustion, the emotional kind even worse than the physical. However, as I shifted positions, my hand settled on something in the seat beside me, something hard and wooden, which hadn’t been there a few minutes before. Then, I finally looked, and was surprised to see a now familiar looking wooden box.
The motel bathroom was old, out of date, and actually a lot cleaner than I would have expected from a place like this. The motel looked like it hadn’t been remodeled since the 70’s, but it was well taken care of.
After doing my business, I washed my hands and then looked into the mirror above the sink. There was a crack going through the mirror, but I could still see myself. I looked even worse than I felt, and I felt like shit after watching my dad and Aunt Dora get murdered earlier today.
When I left the bathroom and stepped back into the room I was sharing with Cliff, I was surprised to see the wooden box sitting on my bed. I glanced to Cliff, who was sitting on his own bed on the other side of the room, staring across at the box.
“I thought you and Mom said we should leave this in the car,” I said, feeling confused.
When Mom first saw the box in the back seat, she went pale and stared at it with a look of shock, and almost horror. However, the only thing she said is, “Don’t touch it.” She refused to talk about it again until we stopped for the night in this model, and then, all she did was repeat her previous instructions to not touch it.
“We did,” Cliff answered with a deep scowl. “I didn’t bring it in, and neither did your mom.”
“Then how…?” I started to ask, until remembering that it was some kind of magic box. I’d seen it suddenly appear out of nowhere twice before.
Cliff picked up his cell phone and made a call. “Theressa, you’d better get over here. Now.”
Mom rushed over from her room next door, and nearly burst through the door just seconds later. She was about to say something, then paused to stare at the box.
“Did you…?” she started.
“No,” Cliff answered. “Neither of us touched it.”
Mom’s eyes widened. “No…” She snapped around to stare at me with a worried expression, then turned back to the box. “No. Not Byron. Choose someone else.” Of course, there was no response.
“Choose me for what?” I demanded, desperate for answers. I’d spent several hours crying over what had happened to Dad and Aunt Dora, but now, I wanted to know why. I needed to know why this had happened, and so far, Mom and Cliff had been completely silent. “What the hell is going on? Why did those people attack us? WHY DID THEY KILL DAD?”
For a moment, Mom just stood there, then whatever strength that she’d been using to keep going, drained out of her. She suddenly looked completely and utterly exhausted, in every sense of the word.
“The box,” she said, staring at the box again, and then at me. “They wanted the box.”
“I saw that much,” I answered, though I still had absolutely no idea of why.
Mom sat down on the edge of the bed, being careful not to touch the box. She had a haunted look in her eyes as she stared at up me. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good, but I already knew that much.
“Magic,” Mom said with a sigh. “As you’ve already seen today, magic is real.”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing an uncomfortable wooden chair that was sitting in the corner, and moving it closer to Mom before I sat down. “I saw that.”
“I don’t know how it works,” Mom explained. “I don’t think anyone truly understands it, but Dora had some theories. She always thought that magic was like the ocean, and that came and went like the tide. At high tide, magic flooded our world and brought things with it. Things like gods and monsters. Then like the tide, it recedes, taking most of those things back out with it.”
“The tide went out a long time ago,” Cliff said. “We’re at low tide now.”
“Even when the tide goes out,” mom continued, “there are still a few scattered tide pools.” She gave a faint, almost pained smile. “Magic left, but a large number of magical artifacts were left behind. These are the tide pools that remain at low tide. Some of them are powerful, and many of them can be extremely dangerous.”
“Like that fire staff,” I said, remembering the guy who first attacked us. “Or that Peacekeeper thing.”
“Yes,” Mom answered. “Or Cliff’s sword.”
I glanced to Cliff, and the sword and scabbard that were leaned up against the wall beside his bed. He merely nodded, not saying a word.
“One of the most powerful of these artifacts is Pandora’s box,” Mom stated with a deep scowl. Her eyes went to the wooden box on the bed.
My eyes went wide at that. “Wait… Like the myth?”
“Exactly like the myth,” Cliff said.
“Maybe,” Mom added a moment later, confusing me. She gave me a wry smile before explaining, “Nobody knows for certain if this is the same box as from the myth, or if people just assumed it was due to the similarities. The person who owns this box is always called Pandora, which is both name and title. But again, we don’t know if this went back all the way to the original Pandora of myth, or if one of Dora’s predecessors had simply been named after the Pandora of myth.”
I stared at the box, my eyes drawn to the intricate carvings on the lid, which slowly moved and shifted as I watched. Dad had been a professor of mythology, so this was exactly the kind of thing he would have been fascinated by. I wanted to ask him what he thought, but that just made my heart ache and the tears begin to come again.
“I don’t know where the box originally came from,” Mom admitted, “or who created it, and neither did Dora. I’ve spent twenty-five years researching it, but all I’ve found were contradictory stories and rumors. Dora was the world’s foremost expert, and even she only had vague ideas and rumors of its origins.”
“But what does it do?” I asked grimly. “Why did those people want it?” I stared at Mom, noticing that she was dancing around the answers, trying to take her time getting to them.
Mom scowled, pinching the bridge of her nose, which was something she often did when stressed. “It is…a vault,” she finally said. “To store other magic artifacts and keep them safe.”
“To keep them from causing trouble,” Cliff added.
“Maybe,” Mom corrected him. “The truth is, we don’t know the exact purpose any more than we know where the box came from. Not for certain. However, Dora had always believed that the box was there to lock away the other artifacts, to keep them safe and out of human hands until magic came back.”
“And that’s why she put that magic staff in there?” I asked, staring at the box again.
Mom nodded, “Yes. Dora was always searching for magic artifacts, so she could put them into the box. That’s how I first met her…” Mom gave me a pained smile. “I found something on a dig, something that I couldn’t explain. Then, Dora came along looking for it…”
Cliff gave Mom a thoughtful look. “Dora said it was some kind of amulet…”
“Yes,” Mom agreed. “It gave good luck to whoever was wearing it, but bad luck to everyone around them.”
This was the very first time I’d ever heard about Mom having a magic amulet, and I was pretty sure that I hadn’t seen anything like that around the house. Well, Mom had brought lots of old jewelry and stuff home, but none of it looked like it was magic.
“I became Dora’s companion,” Mom explained with a faint smile. “I spent years, traveling the world with her, looking for artifacts. And during this time, I met your father, who was one of Dora’s research contacts.”
I didn’t know what to say or think about all this. I’d never known about this part of my mom’s life, and I had a hard time believing that she’d been running around the world, looking for magic artifacts like some kind of Indiana Jones. However, after what I’d seen today, and how my mom had reacted to the danger, it was hard to doubt too.
“So, this Alexander guy wants the box,” I said, trying to get Mom back on track. She was starting to cry a little, and I was too. I wanted…needed to distract myself from Dad’s loss. “Because it has a bunch of magic stuff inside?”
“The box contains an arsenal of artifacts,” Cliff said. “Some are powerful weapons. Some don’t do anything useful at all…”
“So, this box is like that Warehouse Thirteen show on TV,” I said, thinking of a TV show from a couple years ago, where the main characters ran around collecting magic items, then hiding them away inside of a giant warehouse.
“Very much so,” Mom admitted. “Fortunately, very few people even know it exists.”
“But these guys do,” I said, my voice cracking as I did.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Mom replied.
“Tell him the rest,” Cliff said, fixing his gaze on Mom. He gestured to the box. “I think he needs to know…”
“You’re right,” Mom said, giving me another worried look. “You do need to know…”
“Know what?” I demanded suspiciously, wondering what it was that she was still dancing around.
“The box requires a host,” Mom said carefully. “When one host dies, it finds a new one. The host is always called Pandora, which as I said awhile ago, is both name and title. Pandora is the only one who can open the box.”
“So, if there isn’t a Pandora,” I thought aloud, “then the thing stays locked?”
“I wouldn’t count on that keeping the box out of the Kraesse’s hands,” Cliff stated with a grimace. “Not now.”
“Byron,” Mom said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I think the box has already chosen its next Pandora. I think…it may have picked you.”
“What?” I gasped in surprise and confusion.
“It has been following you,” Mom explained with a sigh. “When it appeared in the car, I thought it had come for me... But then, it came here…” She gestured to the box. “I think it chose you to be the next Pandora.”
“Why?” I asked, staring at the box. I wasn’t sure if it I was asking it or Mom. “Why me?”
“I don’t know,” Mom said with a deep scowl. “I have no idea what criteria the box uses to choose the next Pandora, and I’m not sure Dora ever did either. She said that she used to be a servant to the previous Pandora, before she’d been chosen. Physical proximity seems to be a part of it, but there are probably other criteria as well.”
Cliff looked at Mom. “I would have thought it would pick you…”
“Me too,” Mom admitted. “I would seem to be the most qualified person, probably within a thousand miles. I’m an archeologist, have experience with artifacts, and I’m familiar with the box…and Dora.”
Mom stared at me for several long seconds, making me extremely uncomfortable. Again, I had the distinct feeling that she was leaving something out, that she was still dancing around what she wanted to tell me.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I finally blurted out.
Mom and Cliff shared a look. “It the box has chosen you,” Mom said, giving the box in question a glare, “then I don’t think there’s anything we can do. We might be wrong…and there might still be time…”
“Maybe it hasn’t made up its damn mind yet,” Cliff said.
“Choose someone else,” Mom ordered the box. “Choose me if you need, but please, leave Byron alone.” The box didn’t respond.
Mom’s reactions were really starting to freak me out, and after everything I’d already seen today, I hadn’t though that I had enough energy to get freaked out any more.
“I don’t want to worry you any more than necessary,” Mom said. “And we don’t know if it really has picked you to be the next Pandora…”
“I hope not,” Cliff said. “It would be good to know where the box is, but…”
“Well, I am worried,” I blurted out. “What do you mean? What aren’t you telling me?”
Mom and Cliff shared another look, before Mom said, “I’ll explain in the morning. We should know whether the box really has chosen you or not, by then.”
After this, Mom carefully picked up the box and left my room with it. I tried not to get all worried and worked up, but it didn’t help. Between that, and my dad’s murder, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to sleep. However, sleep still claimed me the moment my head hit the pillow.
I didn’t know where I was, only that it was dark, and I was surrounded by a thick fog on all sides. There was no visible source of light, yet I could still see around me, at least enough to clearly make out myself and the fog.
Then, I began to see images in the fog, shadows that moved and seemed to approach. In moments, they stopped, and I could see human shaped silhouettes on all sides of me, though they were no longer coming closer, and they remained too far into the fog for me to make out any details.
“Hello?” I called out nervously.
I wasn’t afraid. At least, that was what I tried telling myself. However, I had absolutely no idea where I was, or how I’d come here, so I had plenty of reason to be scared. The last thing I remembered before waking up here was…
“I went to bed,” I whispered in realization. “I’m dreaming.”
Though I was now sure that I was dreaming, I was still worried and confused. This was unlike any dream I’d ever had before. Somehow, it felt so real. A moment later, almost as if the figures in the fog had been waiting for this realization, they began to step forward and emerge.
“Aunt Dora,” I blurted out as soon as I recognized the person who stepped out of the fog. It was Aunt Dora, who was even wearing the same clothes she’d had on when she’d been killed, mere hours ago.
Seconds later, I noticed the other figures who’d emerged from the fog, seven of them in total. Eight, if I counted Aunt Dora among them, which I did. After all, each and every figure that stepped out of the fog, looked exactly like her.
I was now surrounded by eight versions of Aunt Dora, each of them identical to her, except for the clothes and hair styles. But as I slowly looked around, staring at them, I realized that there were other differences too, differences in posture and body language.
“We are Pandora,” all eight women said at the same time, in the same voice. The accents and pronunciations were each different, but beneath that, they still sounded like the same woman.
One Pandora was wearing a very old fashioned dress, something that looked like it probably would have fit right in during the renaissance. Most of the others wore dresses as well, though of even older styles, and less fancy. However, one wore what appeared to be a toga, and another was dressed in some kind of leather armor, and held a spear in her hands. But of course, the one my eyes settled on, was the one I’d watched get murdered.
“Aunt Dora,” I said again, my voice catching in my throat. My eyes began to tear up.
“I am but a shadow of the woman you knew,” Aunt Dora answered in a quiet, almost sad voice. “An echo of the last Pandora. I am sorry that you have been chosen as her successor, as she never would have wished this burden on you.”
I stared at Aunt Dora, or at least, the thing that looked like her. Was this Aunt Dora’s ghost? “Who are you?” I demanded. “What are you?”
“We are Pandora,” all eight women answered simultaneously.
“What do you want?” I demanded, feeling more than a little creeped out. However, I remembered what Mom had told me before I’d gone to bed, and the fact that she’d still been holding back something important. “What’s happening?”
“The box has chosen you as the new Pandora,” Aunt Dora explained. “This is blessing and curse. Gift and burden. Priviledge and responsibility.”
“What if I don’t want it?” I demanded. “What if I say no?”
Aunt Dora gave me a sad look. “There is no escaping this fate. You are becoming Pandora.”
I gave her and the other Pandoras a defiant glare. “Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, Star Trek. It’s the whole resistance is futile, you will be assimilated thing…”
“The box has already chosen you,” Aunt Dora said apologetically. “The deed has already been done.”
“No,” I gasped, quickly looking around for a way to escape.
I was surrounded by eight Pandoras, and even if I could slip past them, the only place to go was into that dark swirling fog. I didn’t know what they were going to do to me, but I didn’t want to be stuck with that magic box. Aunt Dora and my dad had both been murdered for that thing, so I didn’t want anything to do with it.
Aunt Dora slowly came towards me, holding her hands out to show that she was unarmed. “We will not hurt you,” she promised. “We cannot hurt you. You are one of us…” Then, she reached out to put a hand on my shoulder and stated, “We are Pandora.”
With those words, Aunt Dora moved back to her previous position, and the next Pandora came forward. This was the one in the nice renaissance style dress. “Only we understand the burden you assume,” she said, before kissing me on the cheek. “We are Pandora.”
The renaissance Pandora went back to her position, and a third one came to me. “We are the keepers of the box,” she told me. “Ours is the honor of keeping the box safe and hidden, out of the hands of those who would abuse it and its contents.” She gave me a small bow, then reached out to take my hand. “We are Pandora.”
Seconds later, the fourth Pandora approached me. “We are the servants of the box,” she said. “Ours is the duty of serving its purpose, of safeguarding the shards of magic until their time comes.”
Each time one of the Pandoras approached me, I lost a little of my fear and apprehension. Instead, I felt a strange connection to them, and it only grew stronger with each additional Pandora.
When the last of the woman came to me, she said, “We are a part of you, just as you will become a part of your successors.” And then, as with the others, she touched me and stated, “We are Pandora.”
Once the last Pandora had returned to her position, I knew what was going to come next. As one, they all announced, “We are Pandora,” but this time, my own voice was added to those words.
I sat up in bed, and without consciously meaning to, I whispered, “I am Pandora.”
With those words spoken, I instantly remembered my dream. It had been so clear and vivid, that I had no doubt that it was more than just a dream. I could feel the truth of that through every fiber of my being, all the day down to my soul. I was Pandora, even though I didn’t fully understand exactly what that meant yet.
When I climbed out of bed, I wasn’t surprised to find the wooden box sitting on the floor beside me. The truth was, I’d known it was there already. I could…feel it, even if I hadn’t consciously realized I could until that moment.
Then, as I considered the strange connection I had to the box, I was suddenly able to see it. A thick strand of golden light, stretched between me and the box, almost as though we were tied together. One end came out of the front of the box, while the other end, went straight into my navel. I ran my hand through the strand, but my hand passed through it as though it wasn’t even there. But in spite of the fact that it wasn’t there, I could still see and feel it.
“What the…?” I started to ask, but the answer was obvious. I’d been told that I was now connected to the box, but this was a little more literal than I’d realized.
A few seconds later, I turned my attention away from the thread, and it faded away from my view, so I could no longer see it. However, I could still feel it…and the box. And when I focused on the thread again, it once again became clear and visible to my eyes.
“So, you really are the new Pandora,” Cliff said, making me jump because I hadn’t realized that he was awake. He sat up in bed and carefully touched his injured shoulder, and the bandages covering it. There was a wince, but he made no sound. “I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said.
Aunt Dora was the one who’d died, leaving me to get stuck with it. That Alexander guy was the one who’d murdered her. And of course, the box was the one who’d picked me, though how a box could pick anyone, or even have an opinion, still didn’t make much sense to me. However, there was magic involved, and I had absolutely no idea how that stuff really worked.
After letting out a sigh, I went to the bathroom to take care of my business. I could still feel the box and my connection to it. When I looked back at the thread, it had stretched out and actually went through the door, even with the door closed. It was there, yet it wasn’t. I shook my head at that, suspecting that I was the only one who’d be able to see it.
So far, I’d only been awake for ten minutes, and already, I’d been faced with some pretty strange things. However, I quickly discovered that as strange as my morning had been so far, it was only going to get worse. When I relieved myself, I was immediately struck with the sense that something was wrong with my body, but it was hard to pin down what. But then, I looked into the mirror and gasped in surprise.
“My eyes,” I blurted out, reaching to the mirror. Normally, my eyes were a bluish-grey, but now, they’d changed color. They were dark, nearly black. “Just like…”
I was shaken by the realization that my eyes were now the same color as Aunt Dora’s…and every Pandora in my dream. It wasn’t until then that it dawned on me, that every Pandora looked the same…except for me. I was the only one who didn’t look exactly like Aunt Dora. A cold knot formed up in my stomach as I considered why they all looked alike.
“No,” I whispered.
I ran my hands though my hair, which was noticeably darker than normal, as well as a couple inches longer. My skin looked a little pale, which wasn’t a big deal, except I also noticed that several of my scars from childhood accidents were gone. For the last five years, I’d had a long and nasty scar along my left ankle, courtesy of getting caught in some barbed wire, but now, I could barely make it out at all. I was changing.
“I’m turning into Pandora,” I whispered in dread.
Suddenly, I knew what Mom hadn’t told me last night, and I understood why. From what I saw in my dream, every Pandora looked like Aunt Dora, and if I was now Pandora… I closed my eyes, screaming in silent frustration. It was no wonder Mom hadn’t wanted to tell me. I couldn’t imagine any easy way of telling me that I might end up turning into a girl.
“Maybe I won’t turn into a girl,” I told myself hopefully. “Maybe I’m going to turn into a boy version of her…” However, I had a hard time believing that. I was already starting to look a little feminine and girly, which included my junk being smaller than normal.
When I came out of the bathroom a couple minutes later, I was in a sour mood. Cliff was already dressed, and gave me a worried look. He glanced to the box and scowled, though he still didn’t say anything. Instead, he pulled out all his weapons and spread them out on his bed, and began looking them over, as if he wanted to make sure that he knew exactly what he had available.
I got dressed, and just in time, because Mom arrived just a couple minutes after that. She came into our room and took one long look at the box, not seeming the least surprised to see it there. Unhappy, but not surprised. Then, she stared at me, and I could see the worry in her eyes.
“Honey,” Mom finally said, wincing at the sight of me. “I’m… I’m so sorry…”
With a nod, I sat down on my bed and let out a sigh. My eyes went to the box, and I stared at it for several seconds before saying, “Last night, I had a dream.” I looked to Mom. “I dreamed about Aunt Dora and the other Pandoras. They…they said I’m one of them now.”
Mom came over and ran a hand through my hair, obviously noticing the new length and color. “Everything will work out,” she said, though I suspected that she was trying to convince herself even more than me. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“Is it?” I demanded, with tears starting to form. “Those guys murdered Dad and Aunt Dora… Now I’m changing…” I clenched my firsts in frustration, not sure how to express what I was feeling, other than just screaming.
“If the Kraesses find out that there’s a new Pandora,” Cliff pointed out grimly. “Or that they still have a chance at the box…”
“I know,” Mom said. “We can’t let that happen.”
“So, what now?” I asked, just trying to keep from freaking out. “Am I going to keep changing until I look like Aunt Dora? Does that happen with everyone who gets the box?”
Mom was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But I believe so.” She took a deep breath. “Dora once told me that she used to look quite different. When she was young, she was a servant for her predecessor, the previous Pandora. When that Pandora died, the box came to Dora, and changed her so that she looked just like her predecessor.” Mom smiled faintly, though it was a somewhat pained smile. “She said that she took her predecessor’s identity, and just pretended to be her. It was easier than explaining who she really was…”
“And a lot better to be the rich lady, than the poor servant,” Cliff added with a forced chuckle of his own.
Mom nodded at that. “Dora believed that she and her predecessors all looked alike, because they were all modeled from the first Pandora, or at least, the woman who was first bound to the box. I don’t know if the first Pandora was bound to the box by whoever created it, or if the box chose her the way it did the others. However, Dora believes…believed that the box imprinted on her specifically, because she was supposed to be the only one tied to it, and that there was never supposed to be anyone else after her.”
“It obviously didn’t work out like that,” I pointed out with a snort.
“No plan survives engagement with the enemy,” Cliff stated.
“Things may not have gone according to plan,” Mom agreed. She gave me another worried look, and continued, “What I do know, is that the box tries to protect the person it is bound to. It tries to keep Pandora alive.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then stared intently at me. “Whenever it finishes changing you, you’ll stop aging. You’ll never age again after that. You’ll never get sick. And whenever you get injured, you’ll heal at amazing speeds. I’ve seen Dora lose an arm, only to grow it back in less than a week.”
“Wait,” I gasped, staring at my mom in disbelief. “Then that means…”
“You aren’t immortal,” Mom said quietly. “None of the Pandoras were. But…you won’t ever die of natural causes either. As it is, if you’re lucky and careful, you might live for a VERY long time.” She took a deep breath, looking almost pained again. “Dora was over four hundred years old…”
“If something doesn’t kill you right off,” Cliff added with a deep scowl, putting his hand on his pistol in order to let me know what he meant, “then you’ll be able to heal from it in no time at all, no badly how bad you’re injured.”
“But why is it changing me?” I asked in a shaky voice.
“Because,” Mom answered carefully. “The blueprint that the magic uses to…heal…appears to be based off the first Pandora. Dora thought that whoever created the box, never expected that she’d be killed, or that the box would then replace her.”
With a gulp, I stared at the wooden box, which was still where I’d found it this morning on the floor. “And it turns the replacements into her…like it’s trying to make a new part…that’s an exact copy of the one it’s replacing.”
“That is what Dora believed,” Mom said with a sigh. “But I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure. There are far too many unanswered questions about this thing.”
“Oh God,” I gasped, dropping my face into my hands and then crying. This whole situation was terrifying. “I can’ turn into Aunt Dora… This kind of thing is impossible…”
“I know,” Mom quietly said as she gave me a hug. “I wish it was. I wish you weren’t stuck with this. And I wish your father and Dora were still with us…” She was crying too at this point. “But wishing for something doesn’t make it true. Things are how they are, and we just have to learn how to deal with them.”
Cliff stood back, grimly nodding agreement. “We need to get going,” he finally said. “I’ve got a place we can go, a cabin I had built some time back. It’ll be the perfect place to lay low and figure things out.” He gave me a worried look, then glanced to the box and scowled.
Without saying a word, I wiped the tears from my eyes, then gathered the rest of my luggage. After only a moment of hesitation, I picked up the box, which was much lighter than I would have expected. It felt hard and solid, but didn’t weigh much more than a styrofoam cooler. A couple minutes later, we were all loaded up in the car, and then we were on the road again.
I was sitting in the back seat of the car, with my butt feeling almost numb from being planted there for so long. Between all the time we’d spend driving yesterday afternoon and evening, plus the additional hours today, I was really getting tired of this back seat.
Yesterday, I’d spent most of the drive in shock over what I’d seen, but now, the shock had faded and I mostly felt grief and fear. I had no idea of what was going to happen to me… Well, I did have an idea, and that was what was terrifying me the most. I just couldn’t imagine what kind of life I might be able to have after I finished changing.
My body was changing, and I could feel it. It was like a faint but constant tickle which ran through every inch of my body. It was like a humming, through every fiber of my being. The changes were happening fast enough, that when I stared at myself, I could almost see them occurring.
For what had to be the hundredth time, I reached up and ran my fingers through my hair. It had darkened to the point where it was almost black, where it was nearly the same shade as Aunt Dora’s, and it had grown longer, so that it now hung down past my shoulders. In addition, my hair now felt soft and silky, almost like it had come from some woman in a shampoo commercial.
And then there was my skin, which had changed a little more from when I’d first woken up. Every scar that I’d once had, along with most of my body hair, was now gone without a trace. I now had smooth pale skin, which looked like it probably hadn’t seen the sun in years.
There were other changes throughout my body as well, though I wasn’t in a position where I could really take inventory. What I did notice was that my chest had begun to swell and get puffy. I’d poked at my chest a couple times, but wasn’t willing to do anything more than that while in the car, not with Mom and Cliff sitting in front of me. I was also fighting off the growing temptation to reach down the front of my pants.
I kept trying to distract myself by playing on my DS, but it was hard to get into any of my games, even the ones I normally loved. My grief weighed heavy in my heart, and I kept remembering Dad’s death. That wasn’t even taking into account my own changes, and how I couldn’t think of anything else for long, no matter how hard I tried.
At the moment, I had my DS clutched firmly in my left hand, but the game which was still turned on, was all but forgotten. Instead, my attention was focused on my right hand, which was resting on my knee. I’d lost track of just how long I’d been staring at my hand, watching for the changes. My hand already looked different, being pale and having lost the hairs on the back of it. But more than that, my hand looked a little more delicate and feminine. And as I watched, I swore I could see my nails actually growing longer.
“Magic is real,” I said with a sigh.
Magic swords, magic spells, and apparently even gods and monsters. It seemed that most of what I’d learned in history class, was just a bunch of BS. It was strange to think, that Lord of the Rings was probably about as accurate as my history book, and that my dad, a mythology professor, was the real history teacher.
“Mom,” I said, forcing a smile. “Do you think we could sue my history teacher for fraud?”
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way,” Mom said. “I’m an archeologist. Imagine how I felt, when I learned that a lot of mythology was as much fact as fiction.”
“I bet Dad liked that,” I said, feeling the stabbing ache in my heart.
“Yeah,” Mom agreed. “He did.”
It was a short time after this that we stopped for lunch. We pulled into a roadside diner, with a sign that promised the best prime rib in the state. I didn’t know if that was true or not, and I wasn’t nearly as interested in that as I normally might have been.
The idea of leaving the safety of the car and going into that diner where other people could see me, caused a knot of dread to form in my gut. I probably would have stayed in the car and told Mom to bring me back some food, if it wasn’t for one small but important detail. I really had to take a leak.
When we got out of the car, Mom stared at me for several long seconds, taking in all the changes that I myself hadn’t been able to see yet. I could see from her pinched expression that they were definitely noticeable.
“I think you’ll be all right,” Mom said.
However, it was Cliff who pointed out, “If you have to use the restroom, you should probably use the women’s…” I gulped at that, while Mom gave him a glare, but didn’t correct him.
As soon as we were inside and had our table, I went to the restroom, hesitating a moment before using the girl’s room. I didn’t want to accept that I looked like a girl, but both Mom and Cliff had seemed to think that this was a good idea, and I didn’t want to draw any more attention than necessary.
I was relieved to find that the restroom was empty, so I paused for several seconds to look at myself in the mirror. My eyes shot wide as I saw my reflection, and just how much I’d changed. I did look like a girl. I had small but noticeable breasts, and my face looked girly too.
“No,” I whispered, closing my eyes and taking several deep breaths. When I opened my eyes again, nothing had changed. “I do look like a girl…”
Of course, I didn’t look like just any girl. I looked a lot like Aunt Dora. I had a strong enough resemblance, that if anyone saw us standing beside each other, they would have assumed that I was her daughter.
“That damn box,” I muttered bitterly.
I’d left the box in the car, locked up and hidden out of sight. Mom and Cliff had both assured me that no one could steal it from me, and I believed them. I could still feel that invisible tether, stretching out through the diner walls and connecting to the box.
For nearly a minute, I just stood there, staring at my reflection in the mirror, hardly believing that this was me. And the freaky part was, I wasn’t even done changing yet.
Once I shook myself out of my dazed mood and turned away from the mirror, I went about doing my business. My penis was still there, though barely, and my balls were gone completely. I was well on my way to being completely rebuilt with the Pandora blueprint.
I finished my business pretty quickly, even though I had to sit down to pee. Even though I still had my penis, I wasn’t sure it was big enough to do the job anymore. I hated being the size of a toddler down there. It was humiliating.
“I won’t have that problem for much longer,” I told myself bitterly.
A couple minutes later, I left the restroom and returned the table where Mom and Cliff were waiting. I sat down and didn’t say a word about how I was feeling, or about the fact that I was on the verge of freaking out again.
Mom put her hand on my arm and asked, “How are you holding up?”
“How do you think?” I responded.
“Everything will work out,” Mom told me, though she was probably trying to convince herself as much as she was me.
We talked as we ate, or at least, Mom talked, telling me a little more about some of the things that she and Aunt Dora had been up to back when they’d worked as partners. It would have been a little hard to believe, if I hadn’t already seen that Mom was a bit of a badass back at Aunt Dora’s house.
Eventually, we returned to the car, and the road. I got comfortable in my seat again, or at least, in a position where I was less uncomfortable than I could have been. And when I looked at my nails, I noticed that they were not only longer, but shaped into nice ovals, as though I’d just gotten a manicure. The only thing missing was the polish.
I stared at my hands for several seconds, glanced to the front seat to make sure Mom and Cliff weren’t watching me, then I poked my small but still growing breasts and sighed. Then, in order to try taking my mind off all this, I picked up my DS again and began to play.
When Cliff had said that he owned a cabin, I’d imagined something small, that was off the grid, and in the middle of nowhere, not a place like this. This was large, modern, and very comfortable looking, not to mention, it was only a short drive from the nearest large town. And then, add to the fact that it overlooked what was either a small lake or large pond, and had just enough trees around the property to give some privacy, and I was impressed.
It had taken almost twenty-four hours to drive from Aunt Dora’s place to Cliff’s cabin, and I was more than happy to climb out of the car and stretch my legs. I looked around at my surroundings, and thought that at any other time, this would have been a great place to spend my spring break…assuming there was internet and a wireless modem hooked up.
“Why couldn’t we go home instead?” I grumbled, more because I was in a bad mood and just wanted to be difficult, than for any other reason. The truth was, I already knew the reason. I just didn’t want to accept it.
“Because,” Mom explained in a tone that was just a little impatient. “We left our car behind, among other things…” Like Dad’s body, I silently added. “If Kraesse wants to find us, to find out what we know about the box, then our home is the first place he’ll look.”
“This is much safer,” Cliff said. “Those bastards won’t have any way to know about this place.”
“But what if they aren’t looking for us?” I asked.
Cliff and Mom both glanced at the trunk, where the box was stored. They didn’t need to remind me that the box was too valuable for the bad guys to simply forget about, just because it seemed to have vanished.
Mom stared at me with a strange expression, then simply asked, “Do you really think that, if we went home, that everything would go back to the way it was?”
“No,” I quietly admitted, staring down at myself and the two noticeable bumps that pushed out of my chest.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” Mom told me with a grim look, “but your old life is over. You’re still alive, and you can still have a good life. Just not your old one.”
I gulped at that and nodded faintly. “I…know.”
After this, we went inside the cabin, and Cliff pointed out, “There are a couple guest bedrooms down that way. Go ahead and take them.”
Before Mom and I could check out the bedrooms, Cliff began leading us through the cabin, giving us the ‘nickel tour’ as he put it. The bottom floor was nice, but when we went upstairs, I was even more impressed. The master bedroom was there, as was a nice common room, which had a great view of that pond or lake. There was even an open area, so that you could look down into the downstairs living room as well.
While I was walking through the house, I could feel the tether that tied me to the box, growing and stretching out until it seemed to reach its limits. Then, the glowing chord pulled back, and suddenly, the box appeared on the ground beside me. I was so surprised that I nearly jumped.
However, neither Mom or Cliff seemed very surprised by the box’s sudden appearance. “You’re Pandora now,” Mom told me with a pained expression. “You can’t go far from the box.”
I stared at the box in horror. “You mean I have to carry this thing EVERYWHERE?”
“You don’t need to actually carry it,” Mom explained. “Dora rarely did. But it does have a way of following you and staying close…”
“She could also make it disappear,” Cliff added.
Mom nodded at that. “She had a way of making it…vanish, so that she was the only one who could see it.”
“How…?” I started to ask, but my eyes went to the glowing cable that stretched between my navel and the box. So far, that cable seemed to be invisible to everyone but me. It was there, but not there at the same time. And then, I suddenly understood what Mom was saying, and how Aunt Dora made the box vanish. “That’s it…”
I bent down and touched the box, watching as the carvings moved and changed. Then, I simply willed the box to disappear, and it did. The box was still there in front of me, but something about it had changed, and the look of surprise from Mom confirmed it.
“Can you see it?” I asked.
“No,” Mom answered, reaching down to where the box was, but her hand went right through it, as though it wasn’t even there. “It’s gone.” The box was now just like that glowing chord between us, invisible and intangible, at least, to anyone but me. And just like with that glowing thread, when I stopped paying attention to it, it vanished from my sight as well.
When we continued with the tour a minute later, the box didn’t simply remain behind like I’d expected. Instead, it actually floated up into the air and followed behind me, almost as if it was some kind of invisible balloon on a string. It was a bit creepy, and also served to reinforce the fact that I was going to be stuck with this box for the rest of my life.
The moment that Cliff finished with the tour, I excused myself and went to the bathroom. The floating box tried to follow me in, which was still just creepy. Fortunately, when I mentally ordered it to stay outside the bathroom, it did so. At least the box would let me have a little privacy, though with this magic thread connecting us, I wasn’t sure how much privacy I really had.
“Now, let’s see what I’ve got to deal with,” I said, pulling down my pants which no longer fit at all. None of my clothes did.
As I both feared and expected, my junk was now completely gone, and what was there in its place, definitely belonged on a girl. I might still have been a virgin, but I had seen girls naked before. Well, I’d seen one girl naked, when Lisa Braun and I played doctor a bit, and I’d seen a few dirty magazines.
“I have a…,” I started, only to pause, unable to actually say the word. That would just make it too real.
Then, I tore off my shirt for a better look the fleshy mounds that now grew out of my chest. Breasts. Boobs. Tits. Fun bags. I’d heard numerous names for the things, but had never imagined that I’d have a pair of my own. I had absolutely no idea about cup sizes, other than that A’s were small and DD’s were big. Mine definitely seemed big to me though, about the size of softballs.
After I finished looking over my now unfamiliar body, I finally looked into the bathroom mirror. Though I was expecting what I saw, I was still shocked anyway. Aunt Dora stared back at me, or at least, a younger version of Aunt Dora. I looked like an eighteen, maybe nineteen year old version of her. Because of that, and the continuing tickling sensation throughout my body, I knew that I hadn’t finished changing.
“No way,” I whispered, reaching up run my fingers over my face, as if they’d find something there besides what the mirror showed. But of course, they didn’t.
I continued staring into the mirror for several minutes, feeling shocked, horrified, and fascinated, all at the same time. I looked so much like Aunt Dora, that it was completely and utterly uncanny. Of course, I still wasn’t her exact duplicate. Not yet at least. My hair only went down to the middle of my back, rather than to my waist, and I had to get a little older. In addition, my body would need to fill out and mature a little more. I hated to think about it, but Aunt Dora had been a little bigger in the hips and chest. The very thought made me turn bright red.
“This is so freaking weird,” I muttered bitterly.
When I left the bathroom a little later, I was depressed, but also a little resigned as well. I wanted to fight this, to go looking for a cure, but I already knew that there wasn’t one. Not only had Mom already told me that she didn’t know of any way to free me from the box and change me back to normal, but I also had a strange certainty of my own, as though the box and perhaps the previous Pandoras were whispering this to me as well.
I arrived in the living room to find Mom and Cliff talking. Cliff hung up his cell phone just as I came in, and told Mom, “It’s settled. He’ll arrive tomorrow to help with security…just in case.”
“And you trust him?” Mom asked.
Without hesitation, Cliff answered, “Absolutely.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Mom and Cliff both turned to look at me, with odd expressions on their face. Now that I knew how much l looked like Aunt Dora, those expressions were understandable.
“Cliff just called in reinforcements,” Mom answered wryly. “Someone to help guard us in case Kraesse or his people show up again.”
I gulped at that, suddenly feeling worried. “Do you think they will?”
“Doubtful,” Cliff answered. “They’d have no way of knowing where we are. But, it never hurts to take precautions anyway.”
Mom nodded agreement at that, then gave me another odd look. She turned to Cliff and said, “You mentioned that Dora spent some time here with you. Did she happen to leave any spare clothes, by any chance?”
Cliff gave a pained smile. “As a matter of fact, she did.”
A minute later, it turned out that Aunt Dora’s ‘spare clothes’, actually consisted of a walk in closet, which was halfway full. Aunt Dora had stored an entire wardrobe here at the cabin, which included casual dresses and ones for fancy parties, slacks and blouses, and even a few of her ‘adventuring’ clothes as Mom called them. I stared at all the clothes with a shudder of dread, knowing that it was pointless to argue, since my own clothes no longer fit at all. Still, I did grumble and complain a little, just for the principle of it, if nothing else.
Mom helped me pick out some clothes and get dressed, though the entire time, I felt like a condemned prisoner who was walking to the gas chamber. And when Mom pulled a bra out a drawer, it was all I could do not to turn and run. Still, I had to remind myself that these were just clothes. Sure, they were girl clothes…clothes for a grown woman, but still just clothes nonetheless.
Before long, I was dressed in one of Aunt Dora’s ‘adventuring’ outfits, which were among the least objectionable clothing. Aunt Dora hadn’t been the jeans and T shirt type, so this was the closest I could get. There were a pair of rugged pants with cargo pockets, and a sturdy long-sleeved shirt. These clothes fit me much better than my own clothes had, but they still weren’t a perfect fit. Not yet.
By the time I was finished getting dressed, Cliff had begun making dinner. It was strange watching him work in the kitchen, because he wasn’t the kind of person that I’d consider being even remotely domestic. However, he didn’t seem to have any problems cooking, other than from his injured shoulder.
Dinner was strange and very uncomfortable. The food wasn’t bad at all, though I barely tasted it. We were all still caught up in our shared grief, and the fact that I now looked like Aunt Dora, only made things even more awkward. Several times, I caught them sneaking odd looks at me.
Once we’d finished eating and the dishes had been cleaned, Mom gestured to one of the living room chairs and said, “Pandora, please have a seat.” I was a bit surprised that she’d called me Pandora instead of Byron, but not nearly as surprised as when she poured two glasses of wine, and handed one to me. “There are some things we need to discuss.”
“Um…yeah,” I responded awkwardly, not sure how to respond to that. I looked around and noticed that Cliff was absent from the room, apparently giving us privacy for this conversation.
Mom took a sip of her wine so I cautiously did the same. I’d tasted wine before, though only in small sips that I’d been given here and there while growing up. This was the first time anyone had ever given me a glass of my own. I didn’t really like the taste, but it wasn’t particularly unpleasant either.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” Mom said with a tired expression. “I know you didn’t ask for this…and that you probably don’t want it…”
“You can say that again,” I muttered.
However, Mom ignored my interruption. “But regardless of that,” she continued, “it has happened. Your old life is over, and there is no way you can ever go back. Your only choice now, is whether to remain trapped by this…or find a way to move forward.” She looked me straight in the eyes and stated, “I want you to be able to move forward.”
“I…I don’t understand,” I said, feeling extremely self-conscious.
“I’m afraid that you’re going to have to grow up a lot sooner than anyone expected,” Mom told me with a pained expression. “You can’t continue to be a kid anymore. Not now. You don’t have that luxury anymore.”
Since I wasn’t sure what to say to that, I took a sip of my wine, to give myself a moment to think about it. Then, I realized why she’d given me the wine. It was a symbolic gesture of some kind, probably her way of making it clear that this was an adult conversation, and that she was going to speak to me as if I was an adult.
“This is because I look grown up now,” I said, my eyes going to my breasts. I blushed self-consciously at that. “Because I look like this…”
“Yes,” Mom agreed with a sigh. She took a sip of her wine, then looked me in the eyes as she continued. “Physically, you are an adult now, and when other people look at you, that is what they are going to see. A grown woman. People are going to expect you to act like an adult…to BE an adult…and a woman. And, that is how they will treat you.”
Those words struck me almost like a physical slap. I’d already known, intellectually at least, that my life was going to change. That people would treat me differently. However, it wasn’t until that moment, that I started to realize exactly what that meant.
“From now on,” Mom told me with a serious expression, “you’ll have to start behaving like an adult…and a woman. There are certain freedoms that come with being an adult…” She gave me a wry smile and gestured to my glass of wine. “But there are also responsibilities…and consequences…that you’ve never had to worry about before.” She frowned at that, looking me directly in the eyes again. “I’ll help you of course, but as an adult, you’ll need to start taking responsibility for yourself and your own actions.”
I was still a bit dazed by the direction this conversation was taking, and what it meant for me. “But Mom,” I started, though she held up a hand to cut me off.
“Pandora,” she said, putting emphasis on the name. “I can’t be your mother anymore, at least not as far as anyone else is concerned. From now on, you’ll have to call me by my name…” Mom looked sad as she said this, though she tried to give me a faint smile to assure me that everything was all right. “Call me Theressa.”
“Theressa,” I said, feeling strange to be using her first name like that.
However, she nodded approval, and even gave me a faint but encouraging smile. “I know this will be quite a change,” she told me, “and it won’t be easy to adjust. But you have to. You have to adapt to your new situation if you ever want to move forward and have any kind of life.”
“So…Theressa,” I began carefully, feeling awkward and self-conscious. “What happens now?”
“Now, Pandora,” she responded with a pleasant smile that seemed only slightly forced, “we have a nice conversation over a glass of wine, woman to woman. This will be your first lesson.”
Aunt Dora stared back at me from the mirror, or at least, the image that stared back, was identical to her, in nearly every way possible.
Just fifteen minutes ago, I’d woken up in a strange bed, with an even stranger body. For nearly a minute, I’d been completely shocked and confused, until the morning cobwebs cleared out enough for me to remember why my body was so different than normal.
Last night, my body had finished changing, shortly before I’d gone to bed. Because of that, I’d actually woken up with the same body that I’d fallen asleep in.
As strange was it was to imagine, much less deal with, I was now a clone of Aunt Dora. I was now identical to her, and in the same physical state that she’d been in, right before her death. This included the haircut and manicure that she’d possessed at the time, and apparently, even the shaved legs and arm pits too. I didn’t understand why the ‘Pandora blueprint’ would include these small details, and from Aunt Dora rather than from the first Pandora, but they were there nonetheless.
I let out a sign as I looked over my body, both directly and via the mirror. Even with all the evidence in front of me, it was hard to believe that I’d turned into a girl. No, not a girl. A woman. This was definitely not the body of a girl, but of a grown woman. If anything, I could have been described as being a bit of a MILF, not that I ever would have used that term in front of either Mom or Aunt Dora.
Aunt Dora had always been attractive, though she hadn’t been built like one of those skinny fashion models. Technically, she…now I, was probably considered to be a little overweight, though I certainly wasn’t fat. Instead, I was…voluptuous. That was the word that came to mind.
And as shocking as it was to turn into a girl, I was just as shaken by my change of age. I’d aged ten to twenty years in a single day. I’d doubled in age. Hell, I was now old enough to be my own mother.
“I’m…old,” I groaned in despair.
Well, I wasn’t actually old, per se, but I was about the same age as my mom…as Theressa, and that was a lot to absorb. Fortunately, when I looked at my reflection, I might look identical to Aunt Dora, but there were a few differences, almost all in my body language and the way I held myself.
I didn’t have that same air of confidence, maturity, and sophistication, so even though I looked the same physically, I somehow seemed just a bit younger than Aunt Dora had. Or at least, that was the impression that I got from the mirror.
“One day,” I told my reflection with a grimace.
All it had taken was one single day, to turn my entire life, my entire EVERYTHING, upside down and inside out. Whether I liked it or not, I was Pandora now. The invisible box, which floated a short distance away, only emphasized this fact. It was a constant reminder of my situation, as if my body wasn’t enough of one.
After several more minutes of looking over my new body, I decided that it was time to go out and face the world, or at least, the rest of the house. I put on a robe that Aunt Dora left behind, and which of course, fit me perfectly, along with a pair of slippers. Only then, did I go to see Theressa and Cliff.
I found them in the kitchen, with them both being in a similar state of undress as myself. Mom…Theressa was also wearing a robe, while Cliff was wearing a T shirt, jogging pants, and bunny slippers. The slippers surprised me.
“Good morning, Pandora,” Theressa greeted me with a loud yawn.
“Morning…Theressa,” I responded, just barely remembering not to call her ‘Mom’.
Cliff poured a couple cups of coffee, then handed one to me, which confused me for a moment. I didn’t drink coffee, and neither had Aunt Dora. She’d been a firm tea drinker instead. Then, I realized that Cliff hadn’t momentarily forgotten who I really was. He was just trying to treat me like an adult. Last night, I’d overheard him and Theressa talking, about how they were going to try ‘jumpstarting’ my adulthood by treating me as an adult. This was obviously a part of that.
“Thanks,” I told Cliff, taking a sip of the coffee, which was very hot, and really bitter. I followed Theressa’s example and mixed in a little cream, which made it a little better.
While Cliff and I sat down at the table to drink our coffee, Theressa went about making breakfast. There were a limited amount of supplies in the cabin, even though we’d stopped for groceries on the way, but she still managed to make a nice meal of pancakes and eggs.
I watched Theressa, still thinking about the fact that we were now so close in age. Theressa was, as she always put it, 39 and holding, for a couple years now. Physically, she was still older than me, but not by much.
“Pandora,” Theressa said while we ate. “I think we need to talk about your identity…”
I gave Theressa a curious look. Last night, we’d had a nice conversation, mostly about how I could expect to be treated, and how I should act with other people. But more than that, it had been practice in how to interact with her as a ‘peer’ instead of as her son.
“Since I can’t be Byron Houseman anymore,” I asked carefully, “who am I supposed to be instead?” I scowled at that, realizing where she must be going with this. “You want me to pretend to be Aunt Dora…” It made sense, since I did look exactly like her now.
“Not exactly,” Cliff said. He scratched at his unshaven chin, then continued. “You see, Dora was in the middle of…transitioning between identities. For the last few decades, Dora had been using the identity of Dorathy Crowley.”
I nodded at that, since I’d always thought that was her real name. That was the name I’d known her by for my entire life, though I’d never known that she was MUCH older than I ever would have guessed.
“She spent a few years wearing makeup and dying her hair, to make herself look older,” Mom explained with a wry smile. “And she began telling the people she did business with, about her daughter, who’d graduated from college, or was starting a new job… Then, she spent the last eight years or so, as a hermit, doing most of her business online…”
“Her daughter,” I blurted out in sudden understanding. “You think I should pretend to be her daughter…”
Theressa and Cliff shared a look and nodded. “Yes,” Cliff answered. “She’d been planning on showing up again in just a couple years, pretending to be her own daughter. It just looks like that identity will be getting used a little early, is all.”
“And what was her name?” I asked quietly, feeling myself tensing up with nerves. “What’s my new name?”
“Pandora,” Theressa answered wryly. “Pandora Crowley.”
I blinked at that. “Isn’t that a little obvious, if she wanted to keep a low profile about who she really was?”
“Definitely,” Theressa agreed. “But Dora wanted to use that name again, in the open, and I think she got a kick out of hiding in plain sight…”
“It was stupid if you asked me,” Cliff muttered with a scowl. “Maybe if she’d hidden better…” He paused at that, looking angry and filled with grief at the same time. “But what’s done is done. She’d already created the identity, along with all the paperwork and background. Hell, she’d been building this identity for the last thirty years, in preparation, so you might as well use it. It will certainly stand up to scrutiny a hell of a lot better than anything we try to build on short notice.”
“But what about those people who killed her?” I demanded, growing angry. “And Dad…?”
“That identity might be compromised,” Cliff admitted. “In which case, we will have to create a new one. But for now, that is all we have…”
“Kraesse,” Theressa said with a scowl. “Those people don’t understand the relationship between Pandora and the box. If they did, they never would have killed her…” She shook her head at that. “No. They know just enough to be dangerous…”
“Since they killed Dora,” Cliff said, “they won’t have any reason to keep looking for her.”
That sounded a bit more like hoping and wishful thinking than anything solid, but I didn’t contradict Cliff. He was hurt and grieving every bit as much as I was. He and Aunt Dora had been together for a long time, and it couldn’t be easy for him, seeing me as her spitting image.
“Help will be arriving today,” Cliff abruptly said. “Probably in just a few hours, so we should all get cleaned and dressed before then.”
“Who is this help?” I asked suspiciously. “Can we trust him?”
“Oh, we can trust him all right,” Cliff said, as though he had absolutely no doubt of that.
We continued talking throughout the rest of breakfast, about the box, my new identity, and the people who’d been after the box. According to Theressa and Cliff, there were always people who were trying to find and recover magical artifacts, and Aunt Dora had interfered with more than a few of them. However, very few of these artifact seekers had any idea that Pandora or the box even existed. Alexander Kraesse, apparently, was a rare exception.
When breakfast was over, it was time to get cleaned up and dressed. Normally, this would mean a quick shower, then throwing on some jeans and a T-shirt. However, my situation had changed, and that meant my normal routine would have to change too.
Last night, during my conversation with Theressa, we’d talked about this kind of thing. “Whenever you have the choice of doing something the way a teenage boy would,” Theressa told me during our talk, “or the way a grown woman would, you should choose the latter. It may be different…and even a little awkward for you at first, but this will help you get into the right mindset for your new role.”
Because of Theressa’s advice, I decided to take a bath instead of a shower. It had actually been a couple years since I’d taken a bath, but I knew that Theressa liked taking baths instead of showers, when she had the time to do so.
“Baths are for little kids or girls,” I said as I filled the tub with hot soapy water. This was just one of those unofficial rules that guys learned while growing up. “Men take showers.”
Then, I looked myself over again, and was clearly reminded that I no longer fell under that ‘no bath’ rule. And with the way I looked now, no one would ever take me for a man, or even a boy, ever again.
I climbed into the tub and let out a contented sigh. Though I hadn’t taken any baths over the last couple years, I had taken the opportunity to enjoy a hot tub a time or two, and it was because of that, that I was so willing to give this a chance. As I soaked in the hot water, I was glad that I did.
While I soaked in the tub, I was fully aware of the box, which continued to float nearby, almost as if it was some kind of pervert voyeur. I could have sent it outside of the bathroom, though it would have remained connected to me by that invisible tether. It was going to be connected to me like that for the rest of my life, and I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to handle that.
“I’m chained to the damn thing,” I said, staring at the box. “Literally.”
So far, I hadn’t opened the box to look inside, though admittedly, I was curious. I wanted to see what it looked like inside, how all those artifacts fit in there, and of course, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about for myself. However, I was also afraid. I remembered the myth, and what had happened when Pandora had opened the box in that story. I didn’t know whether this really was the same box or not, but I didn’t want to take that chance.
After I finished with my bath and got out of the tub, I discovered the real problem with long hair. I’d already learned the hard way that it was a nuisance that got in the way, and got into my food while I was trying to eat. But it was also heavy, and became even more so when wet. And now, that my hair was all wet, I realized that it could really end up straining my neck muscles.
Fortunately, Theressa showed up at that point and asked, “Do you need some help with your hair?” I could see from her expression, and that fact that she hadn’t cleaned and dressed herself yet, that she’d just been waiting for this opportunity.
“Most women would love to have hair as long as yours,” Theressa told me with an amused look. “But it does require a lot of care and maintenance…” She pulled out a brush and a blow dryer.
“Joy,” I responded wryly. “I think I prefer just drying it with my towel and being done…”
“I’m afraid, that is no longer an option,” Theressa told me. “But the next time we go into town, we can stop at a salon and get your hair cut down to an easier to manage length.” She gestured to her own shoulder length hair, and admitted, “There’s a reason that I don’t let my hair grow out that long.”
I spent a lot longer brushing and drying my hair than I ever would have expected possible, and by the time I was done, I was determined to get it cut shorter. However, that would have to wait, at least until I could get to a barber…or salon. Theressa refused to even consider the idea that she or I could cut it ourselves.
Once I was finished with my hair, it was finally time to get dressed. My first impulse was to get dressed in more of Aunt Dora’s ‘adventure’ clothes, but that might seem a bit odd to our guest, who was going to arrive soon. I didn’t know who this person was yet, but he wouldn’t know anything about me, so this was my chance to practice being a grown woman. I wanted to see if I could fool him into thinking that I was who I seemed to be.
Theressa stood back and let me pick out my own outfit, though she did offer a few opinions. I was actually grateful that she let me choose my own clothes, because it let me feel as though I had a little more control of my own life. Not much, but enough to ease some of the stress.
In the end, I put on a pair of nice slacks and a blouse, along with a pair of shoes that had a low enough heel, that they wouldn’t get in the way. All in all, when I looked into the mirror, I was stunned by how much I looked like Aunt Dora.
“There are still a few details though,” Theressa reminded me, though she didn’t way what those details were.
I considered it for a moment, then let out a resigned sigh. “Makeup and jewelry…”
“The details make the woman,” Theressa agreed. “For most women, this is part of being presentable.”
I wanted to protest and resist, but I didn’t. Even though I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of wearing makeup, I knew that Theressa was right, and that this was just one of those things that I’d have to get used to so that I could blend in and pass as an adult woman. Of course, not all women wore makeup and jewelry, but most of them did to one degree or another, so it would be expected of me too.
Unlike when I picked my clothes, Theressa took an active role with my makeup. She had me sit down in front of a makeup table with a mirror, then began pulling out the various types of makeup and setting them out in front of me.
“We don’t want to overdo it,” Theressa told me as she began applying my makeup, while having me look in the mirror so I could see what she was going. “Sometimes, less is more…”
Of course, this Theressa took this opportunity to give me a lesson in makeup, carefully naming each item that she’d set out on the table, and explaining each step of what she was doing. By the time she finished, I didn’t think that I could replicate what she did, at least not yet, but I understood the theory.
“Wow,” I said up on looking myself over. It was even harder to believe that was me staring back from the mirror. For a moment, I expected Aunt Dora to start speaking, until I remembered that was me now. “I look…”
“You look lovely,” Theressa told me, giving me a reassuring smile, though I still saw the pained look in her eyes. I looked like her best friend, so this couldn’t be easy for her.
Of course, we weren’t done yet. Theressa had me hold out my hands, then she put some kind of clear polish on my nails, and I had to keep holding my fingers spread out while they dried.
“The downside of healing from just about anything,” Theressa told me as she held up a pair of stud earrings. “Every time Dora removed her earrings, the hole would seal right up, so she’d have to pierce them again every time she put in a pair.” She gave me a sympathetic look and added, “We don’t have to go any further today…”
“Do it,” I said with a grimace. I gestured to the mirror. “I’ve come this far, I might as well go the rest of the way.”
Theressa smiled at that, and she looked rather proud. However, a few seconds later, my ears hurt and I was seriously regretting my decision. Fortunately, it didn’t take much longer before I was fully done up and ready. A small necklace, a ladies watch, and of course, the earrings.
“They grow up so quickly,” Theressa joked.
“Too quickly,” I muttered.
“Be careful not to touch your face,” Theressa told me. “You don’t want to ruin your makeup.”
After this, Theressa finally went to take her own bath, while I was left to occupy myself. I was tempted to grab my DS and play some games, since that would at least make me feel more like my old self, but I decided to practice acting like a woman instead. I’d gone through so much already, just to look the part, that I figured I might as well take advantage of it.
I walked back and forth, trying to decide if I had a feminine walk, and even trying to put a little swish and sway into it. I wouldn’t have done this if either Theressa or Cliff had been there watching, but both were currently occupied with other things.
Along with my walk, I tried to make my movements and body language a little more feminine, watching in the mirror as I did so. At first, I looked pretty ridiculous, and not the least bit natural, but after a few minutes I seemed to improve a bit.
Then, I finally sat down, though it took me a few minutes to realize that I was sitting with my legs spread open, the same way I always did. I knew that if Theressa saw that, she’d tell me to try being more ladylike, so I tried to correct myself. I crossed my legs, the same way that I’d often seen women doing. It was kind of awkward at first, but quickly became more comfortable.
“I don’t have anything to get in the way anymore,” I reminded myself, thinking of Little Byron and the boys, who were no longer with me. I felt a little surge of emotional pain at that thought. “At least I look natural, sitting like this.”
I returned to the living room, just in time, since Theressa had finished getting cleaned and changed. Without saying a word, I sat down and crossed my legs in a feminine manner again, trying to look casual and natural about it. Theressa acted like she didn’t notice anything unusual at all.
About an hour after this, Cliff came down from the upstairs, announcing, “He’s here…”
He’d been upstairs, keeping an eye out the window for any vehicles arriving, though I wasn’t sure if he was looking out for trouble, or just waiting for our reinforcements. Either way, he looked out the window, watching as dark blue SUV drove up and parked in front of the cabin.
A minute later, our visitor arrived at the door, where Cliff immediately let him in. The newcomer was tall, athletic looking, and in his mid-twenties. His dark brown hair was cut short, and it looked like he hadn’t shaved in a day or two.
“I’m glad you could make it,” Cliff told him. “I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important.”
“Spring break,” the stranger responded with a shrug. “I’m out of classes for the week anyway. Besides, you said it was important.”
“It is,” Cliff told him. “Dora and I were attacked and she was… She was killed.”
“What?” the newcomer asked in surprise. Then he looked to me and his expression became confused.
“This is the new Pandora,” Cliff explained. “She’s the one who inherited the box.”
“Nice to meet you,” the newcomer said politely. Then he looked to Theressa and nodded. “Nice seeing you again Theressa. I just wish it had been better circumstances.”
I was a little startled that Theressa knew who this person was, and that he knew all about Aunt Dora and the box. Obviously, Cliff really did trust him.
“Pandora,” Cliff said to me, gesturing to the newcomer. “I’d like you to meet my son Jacob…”
“Jake,” the younger man corrected with a smile. Then, Jake looked me over, making me blush a little from the attention. “I guess I’m here to help keep you and that box safe.”
“Thank you,” I said politely, not sure what else to do.
Jake had no idea who I really was, at least that was what Cliff and Theressa had told me, so this was the perfect opportunity to practice getting into my new role as a grown woman. I just hoped that I didn’t make a complete and utter fool of myself.
I was in the large open yard behind the cabin, standing in what Theressa referred to as a ‘weaver’ stance. I had a gun in hand and was carefully aiming at my target. However, when I pulled the trigger, absolutely nothing happened. Of course, that was no surprise, because there was no ammunition in the gun.
“Decent stance,” Theressa told me, “and you’re holding the gun properly. Now, we just need to get you to a range, so you can actually practice shooting for real.”
“I do feel kind of silly,” I said wryly.
When Theressa suggested that I learn to use a gun, so that I could protect myself in the future, I’d thought it was a great idea. After all, I’d seen first-hand that it was a dangerous world, and knew that people might come after me because of my connection to the box. Because of that, I’d spent half the day getting lessons on firearms from Theressa and Cliff. They showed me how to clean and care for the weapons we had, how to handle them safely, and even how to shoot them. However, the one thing they hadn’t been able to do, was let me shoot them for real.
Unfortunately, Cliff’s cabin, as nice as it was, was not in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t have the kind of open space and privacy that we needed to go shooting firearms, since there was too much risk of accidentally hitting someone. The nearest neighbor’s house, was only two hundred yards away, on the other side of a few trees. That might seem like a nice distance, but it was still too close, and they certainly wouldn’t appreciate the gunfire.
“Now, clear the gun as if it was loaded,” Theressa told me.
I did as Theressa directed, wondering why she hadn’t taught me about guns before, before all this happened. But when I considered the question, I realized that I already knew the answer. My dad. He didn’t…hadn’t liked guns, and probably wouldn’t have let her. He was probably also the reason that I’d never seen her using a gun until a couple days ago.
Once we were done with the lesson, Theressa and I went to the back porch, where a table and some chairs were set up. Cliff was already sitting there, where he’d been watching us. Of course, he had several weapons at hand, including that magic sword. And unlike the gun that I’d been practicing with, I had no doubt that the ones he had were loaded.
As I sat down, I casually crossed my legs in a feminine manner. I’d been practicing yesterday, trying to get into the habit of using more feminine body language, and it seemed that my practice was paying off, because I was already starting to do it without much conscious thought. Sitting like this was starting to feel comfortable, and almost even natural. And strangely, I hadn’t caught myself sitting with my legs spread open, even once today, which is what had always felt natural to me before.
“You’ll need to practice with live rounds,” Cliff told me after I was positioned in my seat. “You might have the basics down, but they don’t do any good until you learn how to handle a gun as it fires for real…and how to hit your target.”
“Think of this as just the safety training part,” Theressa said. “That way, once we get to a range, you’ll be ready to go straight to the shooting.”
Cliff nodded at that. “And that being said, a sword can still be useful, even in modern times.” He glanced over to the neighboring house, probably thinking about the fact that a sword didn’t make any noise, so wouldn’t bother the neighbors.
“Especially a magic sword,” Theressa pointed out wryly.
“Of course,” Cliff agreed, reaching out to ouch the sword, which was leaning up against the side of the cabin, within easy reach.
“How in the world did you get a magic sword anyway?” I asked. I’d been curious about that, ever since I learned that he had a magic sword. “Those things don’t just grow on trees…”
“Well,” Cliff said with a forced smile. “As a matter of fact…” Then, the smile faded and he let out a sigh. He scowled for a moment before saying, “Dora gave it to me…the first time we ever met.”
“She just gave you a magic sword?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
With a nod, Cliff explained, “About eighteen years ago, I was at a ren faire… Back in those days, when I was a lot younger, I used to attend a lot of those.” He gave a self-conscious smile. “I was interested in the whole knight and sword fighting thing. Then one day, I met Dora, who, as I later learned, had come to satisfy a nostalgic whim.”
“She always liked those historical reenactments,” Theressa commented with a sad smile. “Even those Civil War ones, and that happened decades before she came to the US.”
“I suppose that when you get as old as Dora was,” Cliff mused, carefully not looking at me, “the past has a lot more sentimental value, even the parts you weren’t directly involved with.”
I just stared at Cliff and Theressa, gulping as I considered the fact that I now had the potential to live a very long time as well. One day, would I be coming to some kind of event, where people are dressing up and pretending that they’re living in this time period? It was hard to even imagine.
“The sword?” I asked, to get Cliff back on topic.
“Of course,” Cliff responded with a sad look. “Dora saw me, pulled me aside, and suddenly had the box in her hands. Needless to say, I was surprised by that trick, and trying to figure out how she did it. Then, she opens the box and pulled out the sword.” He had a faint smile at that point, and his eyes were staring off into the distance. “She gave me the sword and said that the box told her it belonged with me.”
“She just gave it to you?” I asked in surprise.
Cliff nodded at that. “Yeah. I’ve only seen her give away an artifact one other time.”
“I’ve only seen it once, personally,” Theressa added. “The box usually doesn’t like to give up artifacts.”
“No it doesn’t,” Cliff agreed. “Anyway, after this surprise gift, we got to talking, and before I knew it, I’d agreed to be her guardian.”
“Her guardian?” I asked in confusion. “I thought she was a little too old to need a guardian…”
“A bodyguard,” Cliff told me. “Someone who protects her and the box.”
Theressa added, “Dora has had a number of guardians over the centuries, though Cliff is the only one I’ve ever met.”
Cliff shook his head sadly, and I could see not only his grief, but also his guilt. I suddenly realized that he blamed himself for Dora’s death, at least to some degree. It was his job to protect her, and he’d failed.
“I’ve been training Jake,” Cliff said in a quiet voice that carried the ache in his heart. “I wanted him to take my place one day…to protect Dora the way I did. She needs…needed someone she could trust to watch her back.” Then he shook his head and whispered, “But I failed her…”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Theressa reminded him with a deep scowl and an angry flash in her eyes. “It was Kraesse.”
Just then, Jake came around the corner, carrying some kind of machine gun. “Everything looks good,” Jake called out to us with a nod.
Ever since Jake had arrived yesterday, he, Cliff, and Theressa and taken turns patrolling the area around the cabin, looking for any signs of intruders. Cliff still didn’t think that those people would be able to find us here, and that they probably wouldn’t bother looking, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Jake took a seat beside his dad, and I looked him over, while trying to look as though I wasn’t. Jake still had no idea of who I really was, or at least, of who I’d been before I was Pandora. He was nearly ten years older than me, but he thought that I was older than he was. If the situation hadn’t been so weird, I probably would have laughed at that.
“Not quite how I’d imagined spending my spring break,” Jake said with a chuckle. “But I’ll remember it more than getting drunk on the beach.”
“You wouldn’t want to spend too much time at the beach anyway,” Cliff told him with a faint chuckle of his own. “All that sun will fry your brain.”
“Don’t I know it,” Jake responded. “I got more than enough sun when I was in Iraq.”
Cliff looked at me and explained, “Jake here, was in the Army and did a tour over in the desert.”
Jake nodded agreement, though added, “I’m glad I got out when I did. College is a whole other challenge, but at least I’m not getting shot at.”
“Amen to that,” Cliff agreed. His eyes went to the gun that Jake was carrying, and added, “and I hope it stays that way.”
Jake shrugged at that. “We’ll see if this Kraesse guy cooperates.”
“Well,” Cliff suddenly announced, looking at me. “You’ve practiced a little with firearms, so do you think you’re up for practicing with something that doesn’t need ammunition?”
“Sure,” I answered.
Cliff got up and hurried into the house, coming back a minute later with two practice swords that I’d seen hanging on the wall. He handed one to me, then indicated that we should go out into the yard where there was more room. My stomach knotted up a little as I considered the sword in my hand, because I couldn’t help but thinking about the sword lessons that Aunt Dora had given me, such a short time before she and my dad had been killed.
As we got into position, Cliff stared at me for a moment, and I could see the look of simultaneous attraction and pain in his eyes. “Dora and I used to spar,” he admitted. “This brings back a lot of memories…”
“We don’t have to do this,” I started to say, but Cliff held up his sword and took an aggressive stance.
“No time like the present,” he said, his voice and expression going calm and professional. “You never know when you might need to know how to use one of these…”
Cliff and I sparred for over half an hour, and though he was going easy on me, I definitely felt like I was making progress. The sword started to feel less awkward in my hand, and a little more natural. The slashes and blocks came more easily. Before long, Cliff wasn’t holding back quite as much, which I took as a compliment.
“Very good,” Cliff told me. “You’re learning faster than I expected…”
“Thank you,” I responded with a grin. I might have jumped up and down and cheered, and maybe even did a little smack-talk, if I wasn’t trying to behave like a mature adult.
“I am getting a little tired though,” Cliff reluctantly admitted. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“Me either,” I responded wryly, though I still had plenty of energy to keep going.
“Hey, old man,” Jake called out with a grin. “You need me to come take over?”
Cliff glared at his son, then asked me, “Do you mind sparring with Jake for a bit?”
“No,” I responded, eager to keep practicing. I was doing so well, that I didn’t want to give up the momentum just yet. “Bring it on.”
Jake came up and took the sword from Cliff, who went back and joined Theressa on the porch. For several seconds, Jake and I just stood there with our swords ready, watching each other to see who made the first move.
“Pandora,” Jake said politely.
“Jake,” I responded.
There were several seconds of silence before Jake said, “I know that Pandora isn’t your real name, and that you only inherited it a couple days ago. Is there something you’d prefer to be called?”
I hesitated a moment, then admitted, “I don’t look much like my old self, so I need to get out of the habit of using that name.”
“I understand,” he responded with a nod. “And it would probably be pretty awkward if I called you Dora for short.”
“Very awkward,” I agreed, glancing back towards the porch, where Theressa and Cliff watched.
“Then I guess Pandora will have to do,” Jake said with a friendly smile. “Unless you want to use Pan?”
With a shake of my head, I replied, “Not especially.”
After this, Jake made the first move, coming at me with a slash, but going slow enough that I was able to block it. I returned the favor by coming at him, and in a few seconds, we were going back and forth, much the way Cliff and I had been doing before he got tired. He didn’t hold back quite as much as Cliff had, which meant that I had to work harder to keep up. Fortunately, I seemed to be picking things up fast enough that he didn’t completely overwhelm me.
One thing that I’d noticed earlier, and which this sparring seemed to emphasize, was that underneath my curvy body, I actually seemed to have some pretty good muscle tone. I was bit more athletic than my appearance might suggest, which was a good thing, or I never would have been able to last so long with the sparring.
“You aren’t bad,” Jake told me, looking like he was now taking this sparring a bit more seriously. “How long have you been practicing?”
“Today is the second time I’ve practiced with one,” I answered.
For a moment, I wondered if Jake was trying to flirt with me, but the very idea was awkward and uncomfortable, enough so that I got distracted. Jake took advantage of my distraction to lunge at me, though I reacted on pure instinct and lashed out with my sword. A moment later, a sword went flying through the air.
Jake stood there, staring at his empty hand in surprise. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” I started to respond, feeling simultaneously proud of myself, and surprised.
“Where did you learn that move?” Cliff asked, as he and Theressa came towards us.
“I don’t know,” I repeated with a shrug. “I didn’t really think about it. I just did what felt right…”
“Well, your instinct was definitely the right move,” Cliff said, giving me a curious look. “Dora used to use that move…” Then he abruptly stopped, staring at me even more intensely, before sharing a questioning look with Theressa.
Theressa gave me a curious look as well, and I could see the wheels turning in her head. That was the same look she had whenever she was trying to figure out some archeological mystery. I didn’t like that kind of attention being focused on me. I felt like enough of a freak as it was.
“Maybe muscle memory,” Theressa finally said.
“What are you talking about?” Jake asked.
“Pandora doesn’t have nearly enough experience with the sword to pull of that move,” Cliff said with a frown. “Especially when no one ever even taught it to her…”
I scowled at that, asking, “So, what does that mean?”
Theressa looked me in the eyes as she answered, “I think that when you became the new Pandora, you not only inherited Dora’s appearance, but you might have inherited some of her muscle memories as well.”
“That would explain how she’s able to pick up the sword so quickly,” Cliff mused. “At some level, her body may already know what to do, and her head just needs to learn how to catch up.”
“It would explain some other things too,” Theressa said, though she didn’t elaborate on what.
However, I’d already noticed how easily I’d picked up on some feminine gestures and mannerisms, and how comfortable and natural they were starting to feel. I suspected that this might be what Theressa was referring to. Then, I remembered that dream where I’d met the previous Pandoras, and how they’d all said that they were a part of me now. I felt a chill go down my spine. Is this what they meant by that?
“If that is the case,” Theressa continued, “it might make things a little easier…”
“It certainly seems to be helping with the sword play,” Cliff said. “Maybe we can use this to speed up some other training that she might need.”
Jake suggested, “Maybe we can test this at the shooting range. Dora was a pretty good shot, wasn’t she?”
“Good idea,” Cliff agreed.
At this point, it was pretty obvious that our sparring session was over, so we all went back to the porch. I took a seat, and was very conscious at the way I’d almost automatically crossed my legs, as though this was my normal way of sitting. The idea that I’d somehow inherited some of Aunt Dora’s body language and mannerisms, along with her appearance, was definitely creepy. However, I didn’t know what I could do about that, other than second-guess every move I made. Nor was I sure it would even be a good idea to try.
Jake took the swords back into the cabin, and when he returned a couple minutes later, it was with four bottles of beer. I accepted one, and noticed that Theressa gave me an odd look for a moment, though she didn’t say anything. Since she’d made a big deal about my now being an adult, and had been treating me as if I was one, she couldn’t really say anything. I took a sip of my beer, and though I didn’t like the taste, I drank a little more. Since I was an adult now, I was damn well going to enjoy the benefits.
“Dora never said anything about inheriting her predecessor’s muscle memory,” Cliff told Theressa, as the two of them continued the conversation.
“The effect seems subtle enough that she may not have noticed it,” Theressa pointed out. “And even if she did, that was centuries ago. She very well could have just forgotten, or merely have thought that it wasn’t worth mentioning. The truth is, we don’t really understand how this magic works, so all we can do is guess at a lot of it.”
While Cliff and Theressa discussed this, I noticed that Jake was leaning back, sipping his beer, and watching intently. Then, I looked over at the magic sword that was leaning up against the wall of the cabinet, within easy reaching distance. I remembered Cliff’s story about how Aunt Dora gave him the sword, which still confused me a little because I thought that a Pandora’s job was to put artifacts into the box, not hand them out.
Then I looked back at Jake, with my eyes going wide in sudden realization. Cliff hadn’t asked Jake to come here, just so that he could help guard us. Cliff had asked Jake to come, so that he could meet me. Even though Aunt Dora was gone, Cliff still wanted his son to take over for him and become a guardian. My guardian.
With that, I took a sip of beer, wincing slightly at the taste. I didn’t know what to say about all this, so instead of just blurting out the first thing that came to mind, I bit my tongue and kept silent. That was mature and grown-up, wasn’t it?
I was at the shooting range, with my arm extended and my hand firmly gripping the pistol. My finger pulled on the trigger and a moment later, a hole appeared in the target. I hadn’t hit dead center, but if I’d been shooting at a person instead of just a silhouette, I would have hit his shoulder.
“You’re getting better,” Theressa told me.
“Thanks,” I responded with a faint smile.
I looked around the shooting range, if it could really be called that. The nearest shooting range to the cabin was an old outdoor range, that had dirt berms all around it to catch any stray fire. This was a far cry from those shooting ranges that you see in all the cop movies, with the machines that sent the targets out or brought them up to you. Still, I guess it did the job, because I’d been able to practice shooting, which was the entire purpose.
Theressa and Jake stood a short distance behind me, keeping guard and giving me advice on how to improve my form and aim. My form wasn’t bad at all, which may have been due to that whole inherited muscle memory thing, but I still had to work on my accuracy. I was improving though, and could actually hit the target four times out of five. Now, if I could only get the center of the target where I was actually aiming.
I cleared the gun, then stood back to let Theressa take a turn shooting. I watched her hit the target dead center, three times in a row before one of her shots went off and hit two inches away from the others. While growing up, I never would have imagined that my mom would know how to use a gun, or that she’d be such a good shot. As I was learning, there was a lot about her that I didn’t know.
“If I can learn to use a sword,” I mused to myself, “I can learn to shoot a gun.”
My thoughts turned to the sword lessons from yesterday and this morning, and how quickly I’d been learning. In a way, it almost felt like I was simply relearning something that a part of me already knew how to do. Then again, if Theressa was right about my inheriting some of Aunt Dora’s muscle memories along with her body, then that was exactly what was happening.
However, I couldn’t help but remembering that dream where I’d met the previous Pandoras, and I wondered if there might be even more going on than just muscle memories. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really anyone I could ask about this. The only expert that I really knew, had been murdered a few days ago, putting me into this situation in the first place. Whatever was happening to me, I was pretty sure that I’d have to figure a lot of it out on my own.
“I’m not completely on my own,” I quietly reminded myself, looking to Theressa, who had been extremely helpful with everything. If she’d been killed along with Dad and Aunt Dora, then I really would have been in serious trouble, or at least, even more than I was already in.
Once Theressa and Jake had finished shooting at their targets, it was my turn again. My aim was improving, and I was definitely getting a little closer to where I was actually aiming. Was I improving on my own, or was this more of that muscle memory stuff? I had no idea.
When we were finished, we cleaned up all the spent casings, then cleaned the weapons. It was only after we were done with this, that we finally left to return to the cabin.
While Theressa, Jake, and I had gone shooting, Cliff had remained behind to keep an eye on things at the cabin. When we returned, he came out front to meet us, giving a courtesy nod but not saying anything at first. However, he gave me a curious look, then glanced to the others.
“Pandora is picking it up rather quickly,” Theressa said, in answer to his unspoken question. “Not as quickly as with the sword fighting, but perhaps a little faster than normal…”
“There’s less muscle memory involved in learning to shoot,” Jake added.
Theressa nodded agreement. “There’s also the fact that Dora had probably been practicing with the sword for a good century or two before she began using firearms, so those reflexes might simply have been more ingrained.” Then she shrugged. “The truth is, as with so much about the box, we just don’t know enough about it to be sure.”
Mention of the box brought my attention back to it, not that it was ever far from my awareness. It was still floating behind me, invisible to everyone but me, and intangible as well. I couldn’t go anywhere without the thing, and it was starting to annoy me. The box didn’t interfere with my being able to move around, but it was beginning to feel like a ball and chain anyway.
After this, Jake and Cliff began to do another security sweep around the property, while Theressa went to the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. I was about to offer my help, when I saw the look in her eyes and realized that she needed some time by herself. It was easy to forget, that I might have lost my dad, my body, and my very identity, but Theressa had lost her husband and her best friend. It amazed me that she wasn’t a total mess after that.
Since I didn’t have anything else to do, or at least, anything that I wanted to, I went to my room and picked up my DS. I flopped down on my bed and began to play, trying to distract myself with a little Pokemon. However, no matter how hard I tried, reality kept intruding into my thoughts.
Tears started to form in my eyes, and my hands shook a little as I tried to play. And then, there was the ache in my heart, which hurt even more. Dad and Aunt Dora were gone, and wouldn’t ever come back. Mom…Theressa was still here, but my relationship with her had changed in ways that I was still trying to wrap my head around. She was still here, but in a way, it was like I’d lost my mom too.
My whole life had just been flushed down the crapper, and I had no idea where I was going to go from here. Hell, I didn’t even really know who I was going to be from here. I was Pandora, but what did that mean besides being stuck with the box? Who was Pandora going to be?
“You’re a grown-up now,” I told myself, with my voice shaking just as much as my hands. “Put your big girl panties on and deal with it.”
Of course, that didn’t really help any, but it did remind me that I couldn’t afford to hide away in my room and playing video games. I was supposed to be an adult now, and that meant I had to act like one, whether I wanted to or not. With that in mind, I put away my DS, wiped my tears, then went to go see if there was anything productive I could do.
Theressa was still in the kitchen, and appeared to just be finishing up with dinner. “Is there anything I can do?” I asked.
“You can set the table,” she responded, giving me a smile.
“No problem,” I said with a nod before I went to work doing just that.
Ten minutes later, everyone was sitting around the table, plating up the meal that Theressa had cooked. There were pork chops, roasted potatoes, and some broccoli.
“Delicious,” Cliff said with a weak smile and a sad look in his eyes. I suspected that he was thinking of Aunt Dora’s cooking, and the fact that he’d never taste it again.
“Very good,” I added, knowing that this must have been awkward for her to make, since these pork chops had been one of Dad’s favorite meals.
We were about halfway through dinner, when there was a sudden, loud, beeping sound. Cliff and Jake immediately leapt to their feet, grabbing at their weapons. Theressa looked surprised and even a little confused for a second, before she leapt to her feet as well.
“One of the motion detectors was just tripped,” Cliff explained for my benefit. “We have an intruder.”
“It could just be a dog or wild animal,” Jake added, but the fact that he had a gun in his hand, suggested that he didn’t really believe that.
“What about me?” I asked, quickly looking around for a weapon that I could use too. I wasn’t carrying a gun like everyone else, but I was sure that there were several more around. And after the target practice from earlier today, I was confident in my ability to use one.
Before any of us could move more than ten feet from the table, the sound of gunfire suddenly filled the air. The dining room window exploded into shards of glass and bullets, along with half the windows in the living room. I dove to the ground for cover, as did everyone else. However, Cliff and Jake both popped back up again enough to shoot out the window.
“I don’t think that was a dog,” Theressa commented, before telling me, “Stay down…”
“They found us,” Cliff spat out angrily. “But how?”
“And why?” Theressa added grimly. “They must know we have the box, somehow.” She spared me a worried look.
Gunfire continued to erupt from outside the cabin, and I pressed myself flat against the floor, closing my eyes and ears in terror. The last time these people had come for the box, they’d murdered Dad and Aunt Dora, and now, they were back to finish the job. They were going to kill all of us.
“Come on,” Theressa exclaimed, tugging on my arm to get my attention. “We’re going to try slipping out the back.”
“I’ll provide cover,” Cliff said, crouching down beside the window.
I nodded at that, realizing that the shooting had stopped, though I doubted it would say that way for long. Then, I remembered what had happened when the shooting had all stopped back at Aunt Dora’s house.
“They’re gonna use that Peacemaker thing again,” I blurted out.
Theressa’s eyes widened, and she immediately dropped her gun. “She’s right…”
An instant later, the sky outside the window lit up with a green glow. Cliff and Jake both froze, caught in the power of that Peacemaker artifact that had been used during the last attack.
The moment the glow faded, Theressa muttered, “Damn...” Then she cautiously picked her gun back up again, as if afraid that even touching it would cause her to freeze as well. Fortunately, that wasn’t the situation.
Armed men burst through the front and back doors at the same time. For a moment, Theressa looked just as scared as I felt, but she quickly covered it up with a determined grimace and whispered, “Freeze… Don’t move.”
I immediately understood what Theressa meant, so stood where I was, pretending that I was frozen by the Peacemaker the way that Cliff and Jake were. I didn’t know how much good this would do, but was happy to follow Theressa’s lead. She obviously knew a lot more about this kind of thing than I did.
“Be careful,” A familiar voice said from the front door.
I immediately recognized the voice of Alexander Kraesse, and it was all I could do not to either run away in fear, or scream profanities at him. Instead, it took every ounce of willpower to remain motionless.
“Any violence will break the effect,” Alexander told his men.
My eyes darted to Theressa and the gun she was holding. I saw a faint flicker of a smile pass her face, as she realized the same thing I did. She had the power to snap Cliff and Jake out of it. That was what must have happened back at Aunt Dora’s house. When I’d begun shooting, Theressa had been unfrozen.
“Are you sure it’s here, sir?” one of the men asked Alexander.
Alexander held up a glass jar and stared into it for a moment. “Yes,” he responded with a satisfied expression. “The box is definitely close…”
A few seconds later, Alexander had come far enough into the cabin that he could see the four of us, standing there like statues. His eyes locked on me, and I could see the expression of surprise and confusion on his face, followed by one of cruel delight.
“You,” Alexander exclaimed with a cold smile. “Pandora… You’re still alive…”
“I thought the boss killed her,” one of the armed men whispered to another, though I could still hear it.
Alexander stared at me for several more seconds before carefully saying, “I don’t know how you could possibly still be alive, but I am grateful. Now, we will continue where we left off, with you bringing the box to me…”
“Bite me,” I spat out bitterly. I was so terrified that I was about ready to piss myself, but I was also angry, and focusing on the anger rather than the fear, was just a little easier at the moment.
“It seems that I will have to persuade you to do as I ask,” Alexander said. “And this time, I won’t make the mistake of killing you before I’m done…”
Theressa waited until Alexander was completely focused on me, then she suddenly snapped around and shot him twice in the chest. A medallion around his chest glowed and seemed to protect him from most of the damage, but he was still knocked backwards. A moment later, Jake and Cliff opened fire on our attackers too.
“Oh no you don’t,” Alexander exclaimed as he turned his attention on me. He still had that jar in one hand, but a gun was in his other. I was unarmed, and visions of him executing Aunt Dora flashed through my head. “You and that box will not escape me this time…”
“The box,” I started, my eyes darting to the box, which hovered in the air nearby, still invisible and intangible to everyone but me. My eyes went to the glowing chord that connected the box to me, and then I had a sudden idea. I had no idea if it would work or not, but I was terrified and desperate.
I grabbed the glowing tether, not only with my hands, but with my will, and used it to swing the box that was attached to it. The box swung through the air, right towards Alexander, and at the last moment, I let the box become visible and solid again. It slammed right into Alexander, sending him flying with a spurt of blood from his broken nose. Then, I immediately commanded the box to fade away again.
“What was that?” Theressa exclaimed in surprise.
The box had worked great as a surprise weapon, but I wasn’t sure it would work again, or that I should risk it like that. One of the armed men pointed a rifle at me, but hesitated, clearly realizing that Alexander wanted me alive. That was to my advantage, though I had no idea how to use it. However, Jake didn’t have that problem and opened fire, killing the man while he was momentarily distracted.
“We have to get out of here,” Cliff announced.
I nodded, feeling my heart racing even faster. I was still terrified, but at the moment, I was too caught up in things to curl up and hide. If I did that, I’d die, and I knew it. Instead, I grabbed a sword from where it was hanging on the wall, remembering my practice, and hoping that it hadn’t been wasted.
There were more of the armed intruders, but they were holding back a bit and weren’t shooting as much as they could. Maybe they didn’t want to kill me because of the box, or maybe they just didn’t want to risk hitting their friends and boss. Whatever the reason, Cliff and Jake didn’t hesitate to take advantage of this.
Cliff leapt forward, charging through the back door, using his gun to shoot at one of the intruders, while he slashed out with his magic sword, slicing another one clean in two. But then, bursts of blood exploded from his chest and he collapsed to the floor, no longer moving.
“DAD,” Jake cried out in horror, before snapping around firing several shots at the gunman who’d snuck up on Cliff from the side of the cabin.
Theressa dropped down beside Cliff, checking his pulse. She looked up with tears in her eyes and shook her head. “He’s…gone.”
“Bastards,” Jake snarled, dropping down to make himself less of a target while he shot at another intruder.
One of the intruders came out the back door of the cabin, following behind us. Jake and Theressa were both occupied, so I used my sword the way I’d been taught, and attacked him. He was so surprised that by the time he had his weapon pointed at me, I’d already sliced through most of his arm…and his chest. It was with a surge of triumph, guilt, and disgust that I then drove the blade straight through his guts, causing him to collapse to the ground.
“I…killed him,” I gasped, shocked that I could so something like that to another person, even one who was trying to kill me.
“Come on,” Theressa said. “We have to get out of here…”
We started making our way back around the cabin towards the car, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain tear through my back and stomach. I screamed and dropped to the ground, grabbing hold of my burning guts, which were now bleeding everywhere. I’d been shot.
“NO,” Theressa cried out, dropping to my side and shooting towards the attackers.
I looked up for a moment and saw Alexander had been following us, along with two of his men. His face was covered with blood, and he was furious.
“You won’t escape me again, Pandora,” Alexander announced. “I will have what’s in that box…”
“Over my dead body,” Theressa snarled, firing several shots at Alexander so that he and his men dove for cover. Then, she gave me a worried look, before turning her attention to Jake. “Get her to safety. You have to protect her…and the box. That’s the highest priority.”
“What are you saying?” Jake demanded.
“I’ll cover you so you can get to the car,” Theressa insisted with a grim expression. “I’ll follow once you’re in…”
“I should provide cover,” Jake started, but Theressa shook her head and cut him off.
“I’m not strong enough to pick her up and carry her,” Theressa pointed out. “You are…”
Even though I was hurting so bad that it was hard to focus, Theressa’s words got through. “No,” I whispered, unable to speak any louder. “You have to come…”
Theressa stared down at me with tears in her eyes. “You’ll be fine,” she promised me. “You’ll heal from this in no time…”
“No,” I started again, terrified that I was going to lose Theressa the same way I’d lost Dad.
“Here,” Theressa said, holding out the glass jar that Alexander had been carrying. “I picked it up on the way out. It might be useful.” She handed the jar to Jake, who accepted it.
“Whatever else happens,” Theressa insisted of Jake. “Keep her safe. Promise me…”
“I will,” Jake agreed with a look of fierce determination. “I promise. Now you make sure you get your ass in that car with.”
Theressa gave him a forced smile. “I’ll damn sure do my best.”
With that, Theressa started shooing back towards Alexander and his men, keeping them pinned down while Jake picked me up. The movement hurt like hell, and the next thing I knew, I was slung over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. I was vaguely aware of him carrying me before everything sank into darkness.
I awoke with a bad ache all through my midsection, and an even worse one in my heart. I remembered what happened to Cliff, and felt the grief hit me yet again. I’d liked Cliff. His death didn’t hit me as hard as Dad’s, or even Aunt Dora’s, but it still hurt to think that he was now dead and gone.
When I opened my eyes, I found that I was in a hotel room. My entire midsection, both stomach and back, was covered with bandages. After a few seconds of taking this in, I tried to sit up…but only for a second. The sharp pain convinced me that this wasn’t a very good idea.
It took me a moment to remember why I was all bandaged up, since my memory of being shot wasn’t quite as clear as my memory of Cliff’s death. That seemed kind of ironic when I considered it.
“Damn,” I muttered, turning my attention to the box. It was still there, floating a short distance away, the same way it usually did.
“Are you awake?” Jake’s voice called out from the doorway, though he hadn’t come into the room so I couldn’t actually see him.
“Yeah,” I said with a groan.
Glancing over myself, I realized that other than my bandages, the only thing I had on were panties and a bra, both of which had blood on them. I quickly covered myself up again with a bed sheet, and just in time.
Jake stepped into the room, then stopped in the doorway to stare at me with a grim expression. “I know that this is probably a stupid question, but how are you feeling?”
“Like someone shot me,” I responded with a snort.
“The bullet tore a large hole all the way through you,” Jake said with a wince. “Between the damage, blood loss, and shock, any normal person would be dead by now.”
I let those words sink in before I quietly responded, “Then, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not normal anymore…” Of course, in spite of this obvious benefit, I still found it hard to be grateful for my situation. A moment later, I looked around and asked, “Where’s Theressa?”
Jake was silent for several long seconds, but his grim expression spoke volumes. “Theressa didn’t make it.”
“No,” I gasped, bolting upright in horror, only to freeze as a spear of pain shot through my midsection. I collapsed back into the bed, with tears filling my eyes. And they weren’t just tears of physical pain. “Mo…Theressa…”
“She sacrificed herself so we could get away,” Jake said in a sad tone. That and the pained look in his eyes, reminded me that I wasn’t the only one who’d just lost someone important to them. He’d just lost his dad.
“I’m sorry about Cliff,” I said, not sure what else I could say. It was all I could do not to burst out crying over my own loss. As it was, tears were already starting to leak out anyway.
Jake nodded at that. “Thanks.”
For several minutes, we both remained where we were, neither of us saying anything. We were both grieving for our losses, though I was pretty sure that Jake didn’t know what I’d really lost. He’d lost his father, and probably thought that I’d only lost a good friend, not my mother. Tears ran, though Jake didn’t say anything about mine.
Then, Jake turned his attention back to business, probably to distract himself from the grief. “We should check your wound…”
“Sure,” I responded quietly.
I let Jake pull the sheet back and remove my bandages, giving me my first look at the wound. It was a circle, about two inches across, and completely scabbed over, with bright pink flesh around it. Considering how fast I should be healing, the fact that I was still in this condition said a lot about just how bad my injury had really been.
“You can probably go without bandages now,” Jake said in a businesslike tone. “But I think we should bandage you up again for now anyway, just in case it opens up again…”
“Sure,” I repeated, not having anything else to say. I knew some basic first aid, but not much more than that. This was beyond my knowledge and experience. “If you think I need it.”
Jake nodded at that. “Yeah, I think you do. That, and a bit more rest.”
“And something to eat,” I added, realizing that I was hungry.
Jake nodded again, his expression grim and serious. Still, he gave me a worried look as he pulled out the first aid kid, and began to clean my wound and bandage me back up. He did the whole thing without saying anything.
Once Jake was done with my bandages, he started for the door, promising, “I’ll be back in a bit.”
As soon as Jake was gone, I let out a long sigh and let myself sink back into the bed. Since Jake was no longer there to see, I stopped fighting the tears and let them flow.
--------------------
I stood in the shower, savoring the hot water, which felt good against my back and shoulders. My whole mid-section was still a bit tender, but no longer gave me sharp pains whenever I moved, certainly not like this morning. After spending all day in bed, recovering, I was finally feeling up to moving around…and cleaning myself up.
“Yuck,” I said, knowing that my previously dried on blood, was now washing away and swirling down the drain. “It’s nice to be clean though…”
With that, I carefully touched my stomach, where I now had a rather nasty looking scar, which matched the one on my back. If I continued to heal the way I had been, then by tomorrow morning, I probably wouldn’t even have the scars anymore.
“At least there’s something good about all this,” I told myself with a bitter scowl.
I’d lost my mom, my dad, Aunt Dora, and Cliff…not to mention my own body and identity. But on the plus side, I could heal from almost anything, in almost no time at all. The truth was, I’d rather have my family back, and my old body, though I knew that neither were possible. Even with all the magic in that box, there was no bringing back what I’d lost.
I had no idea how long I stood under the hot water, lost in my own thoughts and emotions. I’d only just started to truly process and accept the fact that my dad was gone, but now Theressa was gone as well. I was alone. Everything I’d had…everyone I’d had was gone. I knew that I was crying, though the water washed the tears away as soon as they emerged, leaving almost no trace that they’d ever been there, other than in my heart.
By the time I climbed out of the shower, I’d run out of tears, at least for the moment. It was with an eerie emotional numbness, which was probably due to emotional exhaustion or straight out shock, that I dried myself off. My long hair was a pain, but I didn’t even bother complaining about it mentally this time.
Clean clothes were waiting for me on the sink, courtesy of Jake’s shopping trip today. While I’d been in bed recovering, he went and picked up some clothes and supplies. Even though he was grieving, he was able to focus on being practical, and doing what needed to be done. I silently promised myself that I’d try to do the same. No matter how much I hurt, there were still things that we needed to do. Unfortunately, I didn’t really know what those things were.
I quickly dressed in the clothes I’d been provided, some plain lingerie and a track suit. There were other clothes, better ones, but not a whole lot of them. And at the moment, getting dressed up and looking nice was the last thing on my mind.
A short time later, I left the bathroom and found Jake in the main room, sitting at the table. A gun was sitting on the table beside him, within easy reach, and Cliff’s sword was leaning against the wall. I vaguely remembered Jake picking it up after Cliff’s death
“I hope you like fried chicken,” Jake commented, gesturing to the bucket of KFC chicken that was sitting on the table. Jake had mentioned that one of their restaurants was next to the motel.
“Fried chicken is greasy and fattening,” I said, repeating something that I’d heard Theressa and other women say at one time or another. However, I smiled faintly as I added, “So of course I love it…”
Jake gave a weak chuckle at that. “Glad you approve.”
I sat down at the table and ate, not saying another word until I’d eaten three pieces of chicken, and some sides. Once I was comfortably full, I leaned back and looked around the room, with my eyes settling on Jake. To my surprise, he was staring at a glass jar that was sitting on the table in front of him. I hadn’t really noticed it until that moment.
“What’s that?” I asked, suddenly remembering the jar that Alexander Kraesse had been carrying.
“Kraesse dropped this during the fight,” Jake answered, not taking his eye from the jar. “I picked it up…”
Feeling curious, I leaned forward for a better look. The jar was just a medium sized mason jar, which wasn’t very unusual or impressive. The only thing that I could see inside, was a small chip of wood. I frowned in disappointment, as well as confusion.
“It’s just a chip of wood,” I said, giving Jake a curious look.
Jake nodded. “I thought so too, but when you went and took your shower…it moved.”
“It moved?” I asked blankly.
“When you came out of the shower, it moved again,” Jake said, finally looking up at me.
After a moment, Jake turned the jar around, a hundred and eighty degrees. The chip, which had been on my side of the jar, was now on the side facing him. A second later, the chip moved, sliding across the bottom of the jar until it was on the side facing me.
“I think that this is how they found us,” Jake said. He picked up the jar and moved it to the other side of the table. The chip once again slid across the bottom of the jar, until it was on the side facing me. “This must be how they found Dora the first time too…”
“But how…?” I started. “Is it some kind of artifact?”
“I have no idea,” Jake admitted. “But it seems drawn to you. Kraesse must have used this thing like a compass, to lead him straight to us….”
For several seconds, I just stared at the glass jar and the chip inside. Then I opened the jar and dropped the chip onto the table. It began to slide across the table, right towards me. However, I realized that it wasn’t going straight towards me. It was aiming towards my side. I glanced to the side, where the box was invisibly floating.
“It isn’t coming to me,” I said in realization. “It’s drawn to the box…”
With that, I willed the box to settle on the floor, then to turn visible again. I didn’t touch the wood chip as it came off the table and began sliding across the floor, straight to the box. Then, right before it touched the box, I picked it up. I could feel it gently moving in my hand, still trying reach the box.
“Strange,” I said.
I lowered my hand next to the box, right to where the chip was trying to go. Then, I saw it. There was a small chip missing from the edge of the box, exactly the same size and shape as the piece of wood in my hand. On an impulse, I opened my hand, and the chip flew out of my palm and to the side of the box. It slipped right into the open space, fitting perfectly. A moment later, it seemed to melt into place, because I could no longer tell that a piece had ever been missing.
“It was a piece of the box,” I said aloud, though Jake had seen this for himself.
Jake nodded at that. “That explains why it was drawn to the box…and why they were able to use it to find us. Either way, it means that they no longer have it, and can’t track us that way again.”
“That’s good at least,” I stated. Then, I ran my hand over the smooth wood of the box, almost as if petting it. “So, what do we do now?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Jake admitted, gesturing towards the box. “That makes this a little simpler, since they won’t be able to find us as easily.”
“There’s no way I can go home,” I thought aloud. I didn’t look like myself, and no one would ever believe that I was really Byron Houseman. And even if they did, I didn’t really have anything left back there now. My old life was gone entirely.
“And I can’t go back to school,” Jake said. “If they knew who my dad was, then they’d probably be able to track me down through more traditional methods. We both need to disappear for awhile.”
I closed my eyes for a moment to think about what Jake said. We had a lot of problems, enough to make me scream and pound my head against the wall. However, I’d already done that after my dad had died and my body had changed, and it hadn’t done any good. This time, I tried to focus on how to solve some of these problems instead. If nothing else, it distracted me a little from the ache in my soul.
“Then the first thing we have to do,” I announced, looking down at the pale skin of my hand, “is change my appearance.” I gave a weak smile. “I look a little too distinctive.”
Jake nodded at that. “Good point.” He ran a hand through his hair, then said, “We’ll take care of that tomorrow.”
I stared into the bathroom mirror, barely recognizing the face that stared back. This was nothing new for me though. I hadn’t even gotten used to my previous appearance, and now I had another new one to deal with.
Of course, Jake had changed his appearance too, at least a little. He’d bleached his formerly dark brown hair, so that it was now blonde, and was wearing a different style of clothes. The changes weren’t large ones, but they worked, especially since Kraesse and his people probably weren’t very familiar with Jake. However, Kraesse had been looking for Aunt Dora for a long time, and was very familiar with what she…with what I looked like.
The Pandora blueprint made us all look as if we could be anywhere between twenty-five and thirty-five years old. Aunt Dora usually wore nice clothes and makeup, which along with her confidence and maturity, pushed the impression she gave people, towards the higher end of that scale. I couldn’t pull that off, so was intentionally trying to push my image towards the lower end. That apparent age difference between me and Aunt Dora, would help to obscure my identity and make it more difficult for anyone to recognize me.
One of the first things I’d done this morning, was to cut off the long and beautiful hair that Aunt Dora had been so proud of. Then, I’d gone to a nearby salon to have it styled and colored. Though I’d kept the dark hair color, I now had shoulder length hair, with streaks of dark blue.
I was currently wearing a lot of dark clothes, mostly in black, which was appropriate since I was going for a somewhat goth image. For the goth look, my pale skin was a definite asset. I was also wearing black nail polish and lipstick, along with a lot of eye shadow. Theressa had given me some lessons in makeup, and I might even have been getting some muscle memory assistance, but it still took me a couple tries to get it right. Add in the ring that now went through my right nostril, and a couple more rings in each ear, and I looked almost nothing like Aunt Dora. If anyone did see a resemblance, they might think I was her younger sister at best.
“Well,” I told myself with a sigh. “I never imagined that I’d go goth…or that Aunt Dora could. Hopefully, those assholes will never be able to imagine it either.”
After looking myself over and making sure that I looked different enough for this to work, I absently put a hand against my stomach and scowled. The last time I’d looked at my wound, there had been nothing left but a very faint scar, one that might very well have vanished entirely by now. However, I still felt a faint ache in my guts. I wasn’t sure if this was the residual internal damage, that was still being repaired, or if it was just my imagination.
With one more look at the mirror, and a nod of approval, I turned and left the motel bathroom. “What do you think?” I asked Jake.
Jake looked me over and nodded in approval. “I’d never guess you were the same woman.”
“That’s the whole point,” I responded.
“Between this and the fact that they no longer have the wood chip,” Jake pointed out. “We should be safe.”
“Good,” I said, picking up the black leather jacket we’d picked up at a thrift store and putting it on. It was a bit too big for me, and hung loose, but it also helped to hide my figure and worked well as part of the disguise. “So, where do we go from here?”
Jake held a hand gun out to me. I took the weapon, checked the chamber, clip, and safety like I’d been taught, and then put it into my inside jacket pocket. One thing I liked about this jacket, was that it had a few useful pockets like that. Still, I’d have to get a real holster for the gun as soon as I could.
“I have a buddy I served with in the sandbox,” Jake said carefully. “I already called him, and he’s agreed to help us out for as long as we need.” I gave Jake a worried look, but he quickly added, “I didn’t tell him what’s going on, only that I’m in trouble, and that a friend and I need to keep a low profile for awhile.”
I nodded at that, not bothering to ask Jake if he trusted this friend. If he called him for help, then that part was a given. Besides, we weren’t in a position to be really picky about the help we received.
With a deep sigh, I self-consciously touched the ring through my nostril, which was still a bit tender. In fact, all my new piercings were still a bit sore, even though the holes had already healed around the jewelry. If I was to take the new jewelry out, the holes should heal up and vanish entirely within a few minutes. Still, I was more than a little aware of new piercings, as well as all the makeup I was wearing it.
“Get used to it,” I quietly told myself. This was the look I’d picked out, to help me hide from Kraesse and his people, so I might be stuck looking like this for some time.
Jake gave me a worried look, and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied, giving him a forced smile. “We should probably get going.”
Jake nodded at that, his expression turning grim and serious. He picked up the magic sword that had belonged to Cliff, and I saw a look of anger and determination flash through his eyes. “Come on then,” he said as he started for the door. “Let’s get going.”
--------------------
I hated road trips. They were long, boring, and I’d recently spent far too much time traveling this way. This time, I didn’t even have my DS to keep me occupied and distracted. Because of that, I spent hours doing nothing but staring out the window and being lost in my own thoughts.
The car was an old one that Jake had bought yesterday, and it smelled of stale cigarette smoke, with residual scents of marijuana and other things I couldn’t identify, nor wanted to. However, Kraesse and his people didn’t know about it, which was a definite plus.
Glancing over at Jake, who’d done all the driving so far, I saw that his attention was firmly focused on the road. Like me, he was lost in his own thoughts, and also like me, he was processing his own grief and anger. I alternated between wanting to curl up into a ball, burst into tears, or scream in rage. I imagined that for Jake, it was much the same.
“We need gas,” Jake said, speaking for the first time in about an hour. Neither of us had said much during the drive.
Before this had all happened, I probably would have made a joke about buying a couple cans of beans, or one of those cheap gas station burritos. Instead, I merely nodded. “It’ll be good to stretch my legs a bit.”
While Jake took care of the gas, I walked around the convenience store, picking up a couple drinks and snacks. Another customer kept giving me suspicious looks, probably because of my new goth look. So, to get in character, I flipped him off. Well, that and because I was in a bad mood.
“At least I picked the right look,” I said. With the mood I was in, either goth or emo would have been appropriate.
I returned to the car a few minutes later, now fully stocked up on drinks and junk food. Jake gave me a curious look and pointed out, “That might be a bit much. We’ll be there in less than an hour.”
“You can never have too much sugar,” I said, though after all the ‘getting into character’ since my change, I couldn’t resist adding, “Even if it does all go to my hips.”
Jake’s eyes immediately went to my hips, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but he held it back. From what I’d been told, one of the benefits of being Pandora, was that other than some things, like my hair and nails, my body would resist any change. According to Theressa, that meant I wouldn’t have to worry about gaining weight and getting fat, no matter how much junk food I ate.
With a shake of his head, Jake climbed back into the car, saying, “Give me one of those Snickers…”
We were on the road again a minute later, though this time, we were a little more talkative. We kept away from the sensitive subjects, and just filled the air with random conversation, keeping us both distracted for the rest of the drive.
Eventually, we reached our destination, or at least, were close enough that it didn’t really matter much. Jake checked the directions he’d written down on a sheet of paper and carefully examined every street sign, to make sure we were going the right way.
“It should be just down this street,” Jake told me.
I looked out the window and at the houses we drove past. This area was a little like the suburbs back home, but the houses were older, more individualized, and a lot more spread out. This whole neighborhood looked like all the houses were built at different times, and by different people, rather than like my old neighborhood, where a single company had built all the houses from the same basic design, all at once.
A minute later, we stopped in front of a small house at the end of the road. It smaller than where I live…lived, but it actually had a larger yard, and appeared to be well taken care of. Jake double checked the address on his instructions, then we got out of the car and went to the front door.
Before we could even push the doorbell, the door swung open, revealing a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had light brown hair and the scruffy beginnings of a beard.
“Jake,” the man exclaimed with a grin. “Did you have any problem finding the place?”
“No problems,” Jake told him. Then he gestured to me and said, “This is my girlfriend Pan…”
Jake paused at that, realizing that he’d begun saying ‘Pandora’, rather than ‘Jennifer’, which was the name we’d agreed I was going to use in my new disguise. However, he smiled and put an arm around my shoulder to cover up his mistake.
“Nice to meet you, Pan,” Jake’s friend said, holding out his hand. “I’m Dave.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I responded, shaking the offered hand.
“So,” Dave said, looking back to Dave and gesturing for us to come inside. “You got yourself in trouble.”
“Unfortunately,” Jake said as we went through the door. He gave me an apologetic look, then began to tell the story that we’d come up with. “Unfortunately, Pan and I were in the wrong place at the wrong time…along with my dad. We saw some kind of mob style hit, and then these guys decided to get rid of the witnesses. Pan and I got out of there in time, but my dad wasn’t so lucky…”
“Damn,” Dave said. “Sorry to hear it man.”
Jake nodded grimly. “We figured that it would be a good idea for us both to disappear for awhile…”
“Good idea,” Dave told him. “You two are welcome to stay here for as long as you need…”
With that, Dave turned to lead us through the house, and it was only then, that I noticed that he was not only walking with a very noticeable limp, but that he was also using a cane. He noticed my looking and paused to give me a wry grin.
“I used to be an adventurer,” he told me with a chuckle. “Then I took an arrow to the knee…”
I caught the Skyrim reference, since that was one of the games I used to play. I smiled in acknowledgment.
“Dave and I served together over in the sandbox,” Jake said.
Dave nodded at that. “Then I got caught by an IED, and my leg got pretty torn up by shrapnel. The doctors said I came pretty close to losing half of it.”
“You know,” Jake joked, “there were easier ways to get out of the Army.”
“Maybe,” Dave agreed. “But then I wouldn’t get any disability.”
“Thanks for agreeing to help us out,” Jake said. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this…”
“You’d do the same for me,” Dave commented.
I just followed behind, not saying anything as the two friends caught up. Dave gave us a quick tour of the house, including the basement, which was set up as a ‘mother in law’ suite. However, I was a bit worried about him as he slowly worked his way down the stairs.
“You two can stay here,” Dave said. “It may not be as comfortable as you’re used to, but it’s got all the amenities of home. Kitchen, bathroom, and even a gas stove in case it gets too cold.”
“This is incredible,” Jake said, looking impressed. “Honestly, I was expecting a spot on the couch…”
“The couch is pretty damn comfortable,” Dave said. “But you might have to make due with a bed.” He used his cane to point to the bedroom.
A minute later, Dave went back upstairs, leaving Jake and I behind to get settled in a bit. As soon as Dave was done, and I was sure he was out of hearing range, I fixed Jake with a flat look.
“Pan?” I asked him flatly. I’d turned down the idea of using that nickname shortly after my change, but because of his slip of the tongue, I was stuck with it. At least for now.
“Sorry,” Jake told me with a shrug. “I didn’t meant to start calling you Pandora, but it’s the only name of yours that I know, so it slipped out.”
With a roll of my eyes, I responded, “I guess I’ll have to get used to being called Pan. At least that should be easier than Jennifer.”
We looked around the basement again, noting that there were only three rooms. The bedroom, the bathroom, and the larger area that served as an open space living room and kitchen.
“There’s only one bed,” Jake pointed out.
Obviously, Dave had taken our story, of me being Jake’s girlfriend into account. “Then I guess you’re sleeping on the couch after all,” I said with a smirk. Since I was a woman now, I might as well take advantage of that by claiming dibs on the bed.
I sat at the dinner table, enjoying the best meal that I’d eaten in days. It was fried chicken, smashed potatoes, and green beans that had been cooked with some bacon and mushrooms. But unfortunately, it also reminded me of the fact that I’d never be able to sit down for a home cooked meal with my family, ever again.
It had been three days since Jake and I had arrived at Dave’s house, and while I was grateful for his help, I had been less pleased by his assumption that since I was a woman, I knew how to cook. Our host had subtly volunteered me to do the cooking while I was there, but after two meals, he realized his mistake. I’m sure that if I actually practiced cooking a bit more, then whatever muscle memories I’d gained from Aunt Dora would kick in and help me learn. However, that hadn’t happened yet.
Jake had taken over the cooking duties, after he and Dave both agreed that it would be better if I didn’t cook anymore. He was a decent cook, or at least, better than I was, but the food could have been better. Still, I wasn’t about to complain, because I certainly couldn’t do any better.
After finishing a drumstick, I looked up and around the dinner table, noting that Dave and Jake were both enjoying the meal as well. Then, my eyes settled on the cook, Astrid, a stocky blonde woman in her early fifties, who happened to be Dave’s aunt. She’d come over to visit Dave, make sure he was eating right, and though she never said it, to check out his two houseguests.
It was only after we’d finished eating and had cleared the table, that Astrid said, “I hear that you two are in a bit of trouble…”
Jake and I both glanced to Dave, who shrugged apologetically. “No professional interrogator can match the skills of a nosey aunt.” He winked at Astrid to show that he was joking about the ‘nosey’ part.
“A bit of trouble,” Jake admitted while I nodded agreement. “But we’re not going to do anything to bring it here.”
“What kind of trouble is this?” Astrid asked. She gave each of us a somewhat suspicious look. “Are you two hiding out from the law? Did you do something illegal?”
“We…saw something we shouldn’t have,” Jake explained carefully. “And some people don’t want us to testify…”
Astrid stared at Jake for a moment, then at me. “My bullshit detector is pinging a bit…” Dave burst out laughing at that while Jake squirmed, obviously trying to think of a good response.
“It’s the truth,” I said, feeling self-conscious when Astrid looked at me. Then I admitted, “But not all of it…”
“So, what’s the full story?” Dave asked.
Dave looked to Jake, but I was the one who answered. “I was visiting a family friend, when we were attacked.” I closed my eyes, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “They were…like the mob or something…all armed with machine guns. They killed two people in front of me…”
“Why in the world would they do that?” Astrid asked with a look of horror.
“Because that family friend had something they wanted,” I answered honestly. “An antique and family heirloom.”
“I wasn’t there for that part of it,” Jake admitted. “But it was just a glorified robbery, where two innocent people were murdered. Pan got away, along with two other people…including my dad.”
“I thought you said that they killed your dad,” Dave said, looking at Jake.
Jake nodded. “They did…but later.”
“Cliff,” I continued, adding, “Jake’s dad,” for clarification, “took us to his place to hide out, and he called Jake to come help guard us.” I closed my eyes again and took several deep breaths to help me stay calm. “But they found us there…”
“They attacked my dad’s cabin,” Jake took up for me again. “This time, they got my dad…and Theressa…the other person who survived the first attack.” Jake somehow managed to keep his voice even when he mentioned that his dad had been killed, though there was a definite edge of anger to it. “Pan and I managed to get away…barely.”
“You poor things,” Astrid exclaimed, giving us looks of pity.
“Shit,” Dave gasped. “I didn’t realize it was that bad…” He shook his head at that. “These guys killed four people…”
“Probably a lot more,” Jake admitted quietly. “These were only the ones we know about directly.” He hesitated a moment, then admitted, “Dave, you were the only one I could come to for help. Like I said, we just need to stay out of sight in a safe place, until we figure out what to do. As long as we don’t use our credit cards, or do anything like that, they have no way of tracking us here. But if you don’t want to risk it, I understand…”
“Of course you can stay,” Dave said, looking almost shocked by the idea that he might not want to help.
Astrid continued to give us worried and sympathetic looks as she asked, “Did you call the police?”
Before we could answer, Dave pointed out, “These sound like the kind of people who have the police in their pockets.”
“That is a concern,” Jake added grimly. “We wanted to make sure that we were safe and had a chance to consider our options before we tried contacting anyone…just in case.”
“That makes sense, I guess,” Astrid said.
Dave gave Jake a worried look. “If you can’t use your credit cards…how are you getting by?”
“Not very well,” Jake answered with a grimace. “We went on the run with just the cash in my wallet, and that won’t last long.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed.
Ever since we’d arrived, Jake had been looking for a way to make money, which didn’t require things like official paperwork or even his real name. Yesterday, Dave had hooked him up with a friend, who hired him for some manual labor job, where he was paid under the table. I’d been left home alone, bored out of my mind.
“Dave helped me find work,” Jake said. “That should help.”
“What about you?” Astrid asked me curiously.
“What about me?” I asked, not sure what she meant.
“Are you looking for work too, while you’re here?” Astrid asked. Then, before I could answer, she smiled a little smugly. “Have you ever waited tables?”
I blinked at that. “No...”
Astrid leaned forward, still looking pleased with herself. “That isn’t a problem. You see, I own the Corner Diner, and I’ve been looking for a little help. I can’t afford to pay you much, but it is under the table, and you get to keep your tips…”
For a moment, I just stared at Astrid in surprise. “You’re offering me a job?”
“I most certainly am,” Astrid agreed pleasantly.
Just a couple weeks ago, I’d been a somewhat normal fifteen year old boy, so I’d never had a job in my life. The idea of having a real job…an adult job, seemed both exciting and scary at the same time. But I was no longer the boy I had been. Now, I was an adult woman, and that meant being responsible and at least contributing to my own bills.
With a smile, I asked Astrid, “When can I start?”
The Corner Diner was located at the intersection of Main Street and 1st Avenue, right in the center of town. It was only open from breakfast through lunch, but was considered something of a local fixture.
For the last two days, I’d been working here as a waitress, and I was starting to get the hang of my new job. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the uniform, or with the way some of the guys stared at my breasts or butt, but that all seemed to be part of the job. I just kept reminding myself that the pay and tips would be useful, especially when Jake and I were so low on cash.
We were in what I’d been told was the slow period, right between brunch and lunch. I finished cleaning off one table, and looked around the diner. There were only three remaining customers, sitting at two separate tables. If today was anything like yesterday, then within an hour, everything would be picking up again, and soon we’d be packed.
One of our customers was an old man, who was sitting by himself and nursing a cup of coffee. The other two customers were sitting with each other, talking excitedly. Or at least, one of the two men was talking, while the pretended to pay attention.
“Two women last night,” the talkative one was saying, holding up two fingers. “I had two women at the same time last night, so let me tell you…I am tired…”
With a fake smile, I went up to their table and asked, “Would either of you like a refill?” I held up the coffee pot.
“Sure thing, honey,” the talkative one said, giving me a suggestive look that really made me want to punch him. However, I held my fake smile and poured his coffee instead. The other one put a hand over his cup to show that he didn’t want any, though he never actually said anything. While I was doing this, the talkative one stared at my chest, more than a little too long, and smirked. “If you play your cards right, you might earn a BIG tip…” Then he burst out laughing.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I responded, trying to stay pleasant and polite, like I’d been told. It wasn’t easy.
Once I was well away from the table, and out of hearing, I was approached by the other waitress on shift. Danielle was young and pretty, with bleached blonde hair, a couple visible tattoos, and a fondness for the color pink, as her lipstick and nails attested. She was also the one who’d been training me for this job.
“And now you’ve met Tom Adams,” Danielle told me, giving a dark look towards the man I’d just been talking to. “Unfortunately, he’s a regular…”
“Great,” I said with a sigh, realizing that this meant I’d have to deal with him again, if I worked here for any length of time. “I take it that he has a reputation…”
“Oh, definitely,” Danielle told me with a wry smile. “He comes in about once or twice a week, usually bragging about his latest conquests, and hitting on anything with breasts.”
I glanced back at Tom, while trying not to look as though I was doing so. He was middle-aged, a bit on the hefty side, and not especially attractive. It was hard to think of him as a ‘ladies man’.
“I take it most of those conquests are all in his mind,” I commented wryly.
Danielle laughed at that. “You’d think. But somehow, he really does have a way of getting women into his bed.” She shuddered at that. “I can’t imagine why any woman would want to, though.”
“Me either,” I agreed, feeling nauseated at the very thought.
“Oh,” Danielle said, giving me a thoughtful look, especially at my chest. However, instead of leering like Tom had been doing, her look was more appraising. “You’ve got some nice assets. If you showed the girls off a little more, it would really help with the tips. At least, from the guys…”
“Um…thanks,” I responded self-consciously.
“And if you lose all that goth war paint, that would help too,” she added.
I gave a forced smile, and politely said, “I’ll think about it…”
Just then, another man came into the diner, and Danielle put on a bright smile and told me, “I’ve got this one…” From her smile and the way she hurried to the customer, I figured that she either liked this guy, or he was a big tipper. Maybe both.
About this time, Astrid came out from the kitchen and returned to her usual spot behind the counter, and next to the register. From what I’d seen, she spent most of the day going back and forth between the counter and the kitchen, keeping an eye on both the front and back of the house, while helping wherever she was needed.
“Pan,” Astrid said to get my attention. She gave me a pleasant smile. “Why don’t you take your break now, before it gets too busy.”
“All right,” I responded eagerly, looking forward to getting off my feat for a bit. I’d never realized that being a waitress could be so tiring.
A minute later, I was in the back room of the diner, the small one that served as both a break room, and a place for employees to store their personal belongings while working. I poured myself a cup of coffee from the pot that was bubbling away, then sat back to drink it, and simply enjoy not being on my feet. I still wasn’t a huge fan of the flavor, but after the last two days, I was definitely starting to appreciate the power of caffeine.
My eyes went over to the cabinet where my jacket was hanging, with the gun hidden in the inside pocket. Astrid knew that I had the gun, just like she knew why I had it. All that she asked, was that I keep it put away and out of sight, unless I absolutely needed it. If that did happen, then she’d probably pull out that shotgun hidden beneath the counter.
“So, this is what it’s like,” I said, taking a small sip of my coffee and scowling. “Being an adult and having to go to work.”
I couldn’t imagine having to do this five days a week, for decades on end. I shuddered at the thought, already missing my childhood and wishing that I could go back to being a kid. Of course, there were other things I wished for even more, but none of them were going to happen. After all, the dead couldn’t just come back to life, no matter how much I wanted it.
When my break was over, I went back out to the main part of the diner and immediately saw that Tom and his buddy were gone. At the same time, an elderly couple had come in and were waiting. Danielle nodded towards them, indicating that I could have that table, so with a forced smile, I went to take their orders.
A short time later, I carried a tray of food to the elderly couple, gritting my teeth and trying to keep a friendly smile on my face while Danielle snickered from the other side of the restaurant. As soon as I’d approached the table to take their order, the old woman had given me a look of disgust, then launched into a vicious lecture about my appearance. Obviously, she wasn’t a fan of my look.
“Here you go,” I announced, trying to sound polite as I set the food in front of them. “Chicken fried steak and the chef’s special…”
“Thank you,” the old man said politely, however, his wife gave me another dirty look.
“Why would they hire someone who looks like this?” the old woman demanded her of her husband again, not seeming to care that I was standing right there. “She has so much makeup on, she looks like a raccoon… And all those piercings… It’s disgraceful is what it is…” Her husband gave me an apologetic look but didn’t say anything.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” I asked, trying to keep to the script that Astrid and Danielle had given me.
“See,” the woman, added, “When you drop out of school, this is the only kind of job you can get…”
I bit my tongue on that one, since unlike most of her insults, that one hit a tender spot. It wasn’t until that moment, that I realized that I actually was a high school dropout. With the way I looked now, there was absolutely no way I could go back to school.
“Don’t mind Mrs. Lawton,” Astrid told me a minute later. “That woman has had a stick up her ass for as long as I can remember. She never has a good word for anyone, but she is a regular, so we have to deal with her.”
“I can bite my tongue,” I said with a touch of bitterness in my tone.
Astrid chuckled. “I’d appreciate that.”
Somehow, I managed to keep avoid saying anything back to that rude woman, though it was quite a challenge. Eventually, she and her husband left, and I let out a sigh of relief. Then, I discovered that Mrs. Lawton left one final insult, by not leaving so much as a nickel for a tip.
“Being an adult sucks,” I muttered to myself as I went to work cleaning the table.
I was in a bar. For the first time in my entire life, I was sitting down in a bar, and not a single person questioned whether I had the right to be there. Nobody had even asked to see my ID, or prove that I was old enough to drink.
At the moment, I was sitting at a small table with Jake and Dave, nursing a beer. I didn’t like the taste of the beer, and had only been taking small sips, but having one definitely helped me feel more grown-up. Of course, after having spent the last six days, working a real job, I was already feeling more like an adult. A tired adult at that.
Jake took a long drink of his beer, then set the glass down. “I’m not happy with the situation,” he told me with a worried look. “We need the money, but with us both working to earn it, I can’t protect you.”
“The best protection is to stay hidden,” I reminded Jake. “Those people have no way of knowing where we went, unless we do something stupid and draw attention.” Of course, Jake had told me the same thing whenever I became worried, so now it was my turn to remind him. “We just have to keep our heads down until we come up with a better plan.”
“Let me know if you two need anything more than a place to stay,” Dave said.
“You’ve already done a lot for us,” Jake told him with a faint smile. “If it hadn’t been for you, Pan and I would have been totally SOL.”
Dave shrugged at that, then grinned. “You can pay me back by buying the next round.”
I took a sip of my beer, then responded, “That sounds like a great deal to me.”
While we sat there drinking, we also talked about how our new jobs had been going. I complained about a couple rude customers, while Jake talked about the landscaping work he’d been helping with on one yard. Dave worked for the same small landscaping company, though he worked in the office, making appointments and taking care of paperwork.
“He’s a glorified receptionist,” Jake teased, after Dave described what he did.
“And I’m a not so glorified waitress,” I pointed out with a wry smile.
With that, I leaned back and took another sip of my beer, wondering what Aunt Dora and my parents would think of me and what I was doing. I didn’t know if they’d approve or not, but I supposed that it didn’t really matter at the moment. I was doing what I had to do, to keep myself safe and alive.
One advantage of my new job, was that I kept myself so busy, that I didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on the past or worry about the future. I had to take things one day at a time, which was about the only way I could stay sane.
“I’ve got to hit the ladies room,” I said, getting up with a sigh and starting towards the restrooms.
I paused at the restrooms, to glance back and forth between the signs. Then with a faint shake of my head, I went for the one that said ‘WOMEN’. After nearly sixteen years of experience going to the other restroom, doing so was almost automatic. I often had to remind myself that I no longer qualified to use that one. Fortunately, the constant weight on my chest helped me to remember.
When I was done relieving myself, I paused in front of the bathroom mirror to look myself over, and to touch up my makeup. I gave a wry smile at that, since it was such a cliché. However, all the makeup I was wearing for my goth punk look, required a bit of maintenance.
“Am I ever going to get used to this?” I quietly asked myself. Of course, there was no answer from my reflection. Then again, considering how strange my life had become, I probably wouldn’t have been too surprised if my reflection did start talking to me. “It wouldn’t be any weirder than anything else.”
A minute later, I left the bathroom and began to walk back to my table, when I suddenly saw a familiar face. “Danielle,” I called out to my coworker.
Danielle was sitting up at the bar, and immediately turned when I called her name. “Pan,” she responded with a friendly smile. “Trying to dull the pain of your first week at the diner with a little booze?”
“Something like that,” I responded with a chuckle. Then I gestured back towards my table and added, “Actually, I’m here with my boyfriend and his buddy. Do you want to sit with us?”
Danielle considered it for a moment before smiling. “Sure. Why not?”
Before we could actually go back to my table, two men came over almost blocked us in. They were giving us appreciative looks, and had smirking grins, which made their intentions immediately obvious.
“Ladies,” one of the men said. “I’m Tyler, and my wingman here is Dylan…”
I hadn’t been a woman for very long, but after working in the restaurant for a week, I’ve already had a little experience with being hit on. I had to put up with it at work, but wasn’t in the mood to deal with it right now.
“Sorry,” I said, quickly scrambling to come up with something I could say that might get them to leave me alone, without making a big scene. Then it came to me. “I’m here with my boyfriend…”
A lot of the time, claiming that Jake was my boyfriend was a bit awkward for me, even if that was our cover. But at the moment, I was thankful for the excuse.
“Well,” Tyler said with a broad grin. “If your boyfriend is leaving a lovely thing like you alone in here, maybe you need a new boyfriend.”
Danielle just laughed. “The least you could do is try to buy us drinks first.” Then she quickly said, “Pan and I are a little busy at the moment, but maybe later…”
“But we’re here right now,” Dynan said. He gestured to the bartender. “A couple drinks for the ladies…”
“I have to go,” I said, looking to get away from this increasingly uncomfortable scene, though the two men continued to remain in place, where it would be difficult to get past them.
“Come on, we’re buying you drinks,” Tyler said. “You owe us…”
I scowled at that, suddenly very tempted to pull out my gun and shoot him. I just might have done that too, if it wasn’t for the fact that my jacket, with the gun hidden in it, hadn’t been left at the table with Jake and Dave.
“We don’t owe you anything,” Danielle told them, suddenly looking angry. “So why don’t you take your nasty redneck asses, and get away from us.”
Tyler and Dylan looked offended at that, and I braced myself to fight them if I had to. I’d never been the kind of kid to get into fights at school, but ever since going to spend spring break with Aunt Dora, I’d learned that sometimes, violence came, wither you wanted it or not.
Suddenly, a new voice asked, “Is there a problem here?”
I looked at the speaker and was surprised to see Tom Adams, the so-called ‘ladies man’ from the diner. He looked Danielle and I over with a somewhat lecherous look, that was a little too close for comfort, to what Tyler and Dylan possessed.
“Oh great,” Danielle muttered, giving Tom a look that clearly said that she wasn’t sure if this might help us, or just make things worse. I knew exactly what she meant.
“No problem unless you want to start one,” Tyler said.
Tom just stood there, though one hand went into his pocket, which made me suspect that he might have a weapon. I narrowed my eyes and glanced between him and the other two.
I remember my mom had once said something about what happens when men get testosterone poisoning, which had never made any sense to me before. But now, I suddenly understood exactly what she was talking about.
“Men,” I said with a snort, fully aware of how ironic that was.
“I think we can all settle this reasonably,” Tom said, looking more than a little cocky. “The ladies can go with whomever THEY want…” He looked pretty certain of himself.
Danielle and I shared a look of annoyance. “You do realize we don’t want to deal with any of you,” I pointed out.
“Oh, don’t say that,” Tom responded with smirk.
His hand went into his pocket again, and suddenly, I felt a strange dizziness for just a moment. I blinked and shook it off.
“We’ve known each other for awhile,” Tom said, reaching out to gently touch Danielle’s arm. There was a flash of triumph in his eyes. He turned to me, still looking pretty sure of himself. “And you know me… We met this week…”
Tom reached out to touch my arm as well, but I stepped back, not wanting to touch any of them. He frowned for a moment, looking annoyed, but he quickly forced a smile again.
“Hey, don’t be like that,” Tom started, reaching out to put a hand on my arm again.
But just then, a hand came down on my shoulder from behind me, nearly making me jump until I saw that it was Jake, who’d slipped into the pocket of people from the side. “Is there a problem here?” Jake asked, repeating the same thing that Tom had said. However, I was much more comforted by Jake’s interference than I had been from Tom’s.
“This isn’t any concern of yours,” Tom snapped, glaring at Jake.
Jake met his gaze. “Considering that Pan is my girlfriend, I think it is my concern.”
“Fuck this shit,” Tyler exclaimed. “These bitches aren’t worth this hassle…”
“I’m with you on that,” Dylan agreed.
With that, Tyler and Dylan gave Danielle and I looks of annoyance, and then Tyler glared at Tom for a moment, before the two of them turned and walked away. I let out a sigh of relief that at least part of the situation had been dealt with, but Tom was still standing there.
Tom gave Jake another glare, then turned his attention to Danielle, his expression turning smug again. “So, Danielle,” he said with a smarmy grin. “Do you wanna have a drink or two with me?”
“No way,” Danielle responded, giving Tom a look of distaste. However, in spite of that, she stepped closer to him instead.
“Come on,” I said, reaching out for her arm and gently leading her towards our table. As we sat down, I said, “This is Jake, and you’ve met Dave…”
“He’s a regular,” Danielle agreed, giving Dave a friendly smile.
“Nice to see you away from work,” Dave told her with a smile of his own.
“Yeah,” Danielle agreed. “It’s nice to be away from work too.”
I nodded at that and scooted my chair closer to Jake. It wasn’t until that moment, that I realized just how attractive he was. I stared at him, barely hearing what anyone was saying.
After a minute, Danielle stood up and apologized, “Sorry, but can’t stay…” She stared across the bar, then licked her lips.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Just fine,” she answered, before hurrying away.
I watched my friend and coworker leave, but immediately turned my attention back to Jake. He put his arm around me and looked into my eyes with a burning hunger on his face.
Dave laughed. “Get a room you two…”
Jake and I just continued to stare at each other, and I felt my heart racing as I did so. My whole body flushed, and responded in ways that were familiar yet alien at the same time. I was really getting turned on, which confused and excited me at the same time.
“You’re so beautiful,” Jake said, looking just as caught up in this sudden wave of desire as I was.
Before I could say anything back, he kissed me. As turned on as I had already been, I suddenly became even more so. My panties were soaked through and my nipples felt like a pair of tiny erections. I wanted Jake, more than I’d ever wanted anyone else in my life. And from the way Jake was kissing me, he felt the same.
“I mean it,” Dave said with a chuckle. “Get a room you two…”
Jake and I pulled away from each other, though it wasn’t easy. I blinked, trying to clear my thoughts, though it wasn’t easy. Everything around me was hazy with the fog of desire, so that the only thing that really seemed to matter was this gorgeous man in front of me.
“I think we should go,” Jake said. All I could do was nod in agreement.
It didn’t take long for Jake and I to get back to Dave’s house, and back to our basement living area. We continued touching each other the entire way, as if we couldn’t get enough physical contact. Then, as soon as we had a little privacy, we were drawn into each other’s arms, like a pair of magnets.
At this point, I was hungry for Jake, in a way that I’d never been hungry for anyone before in my life. A small part of me was shocked and disturbed by the things I was feeling and doing, but that part was drowned out by my needs and desires. I wanted Jake. I NEEDED Jake. And by God, I was going to have him.
Clothes went flying as we stumbled towards the bedroom, unable to take our hands or lips off each other. By the time we hit the bed, there were no thoughts left, only passion and desire.
I sat on the edge of my bed, with my body wrapped up in a sheet. At the moment, I felt stunned, confused, and even a little horrified. I couldn’t believe what I’d thought and felt last night. I couldn’t believe what I’d actually done…or that I’d enjoyed it.
“Oh God,” I groaned, trying to make sense of it all.
Last night, I’d gone to a bar with Jake and Dave, in order to have a few drinks. It was the first time that I’d ever done this, though neither of them knew that. I’d had a single beer…half a beer since I hadn’t been drinking much, and then I’d been all over Jake. I’d been kissing him and then… I paled at the memory, even as a large part of me remembered it fondly. That was what scared me the most.
I’d woken up a short time ago with Jake sleeping beside me, or at least, with Jake climbing out of bed. I had the day off from work, but Jake didn’t, so he was currently getting ready. While he did that, I remained where I was, not feeling eager to get up and face the day.
Jake came back into the bedroom, now fully dressed. “I still don’t like having to leave you alone,” he said. His eyes went to the magic sword that was leaning up against the wall a short distance away. He couldn’t bring it to work with him, though he did have a gun or two. Those were a lot easier to keep out of sight than a sword.
“You can’t stay with me all the time,” I reminded him, thinking of the conversation that we’d already had about this topic when he began going to work. Guarding me and the box might be important, but it wouldn’t do any good if we couldn’t afford to eat or do anything else. At the moment, I was happy to talk about this again, rather than about the elephant in the room. “I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it. And most importantly, Kraesse has no way of knowing where we are.”
“Not unless he somehow has another chip from the box,” Jake pointed out.
With a wry smile, I said, “I already looked the box over, and didn’t see any more chips in it.”
Jake nodded at that. “Then, be careful.”
He paused to look me over with an appreciative expression, then he smiled to himself as he turned and walked away. I was pretty sure that there was an extra bit of swagger to his walk this morning, though that could just have been my imagination. However, what wasn’t my imagination, was the fact that I found myself staring at his butt as he walked away, and actually thinking about how nice it looked.
“No,” I said, shaking my head to try clearing those strange thoughts out of it. “What the hell am I thinking?”
Once Jake was gone, I got up and stretched my body. There was sticky and crusty stuff all down the inside of my thigh, and I tried very hard not to think about what it was. However, I wasted no more time before going to the bathroom
When I looked into the bathroom mirror, I was met with a sight that caught me by surprise, and at any other time, I might have laughed at it. I’d gone to bed last night without removing my makeup, and it was now smeared all over my face, making me look like quite a mess. I just wondered why Jake hadn’t said anything about that before he’d left, or at least, why he hadn’t laughed.
“Just great,” I grumbled, thinking that if this was what my face looked like, how bad was my pillow?
However, as messy as my smeared makeup was, that was actually a very minor problem, and easily taken care of. I was a lot more concerned about last night, and about what it meant. Not only for my relationship with Jake, but also for my sense of self and very sanity.
“What’s happening to me?” I asked, as tears began to flow.
Of course, I already knew part of the answer to that. I was a woman now, whether I liked it or not. Last night had certainly proven that.
I was still feeling pretty dazed as I climbed into the shower and began to wash myself off. Getting all this stuff washed off of me felt good, in more than just a physical way. And once I was finished washing, I remained in the shower, savoring the warm water while I was lost in thought.
Not surprisingly, I continued to think about last night, wondering how it could have happened. How could I do something like that? I was pretty sure that I hadn’t been drunk. As I played those events over and over in my mind, I found myself thinking more and more about the final parts. I blushed brightly, feeling a mixture of shame, guilt…and naughty excitement.
My body responded to my thoughts, and I started to become excited. Almost without conscious thought, I found myself rubbing my new parts, which felt absolutely amazing. However, once I realized what I was doing, and how good it felt, I felt a surge of guilt and stopped.
“What is wrong with me?” I demanded, climbing out of the shower and drying off. I was careful to avoid touching myself, though the temptation was definitely there.
A short time later, I finished drying off and getting dressed. I looked myself over in the mirror, then decided to avoid the goth makeup…at least for now. Putting all that makeup on was a bit of a hassle, and it wasn’t necessary at the moment since I didn’t plan on leaving the house. The only person who’d seem me without the goth persona, until Jake came home, was Dave, and he already knew I was hiding out.
I left the basement suite and went upstairs, where I was immediately met with the smell of bacon. Dave was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. He gave me a nod, and before I could even say anything he handed me a cup of coffee.
“Thank you,” I responded, pouring a little cream and some chocolate syrup into it, to make it a little easier to drink. Lately, I’d been drinking so much coffee, that I’d started to develop a taste for it, or at least, I no longer found it quite as nasty as I once had.
“No problem,” Dave said, handing me a plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon.
We sat down at the breakfast nook and ate, with neither of us saying anything at first. Dave seemed more interested in reading the funny pages from the paper, than he did in talking, at least until he’d finished.
“You look good without all that makeup,” Dave finally said. “You should keep this look.”
I gave him a wry smile and admitted, “But if I used this look all the time, then it would be easier for certain people to recognize me…”
“Ah,” he said, nodding in understanding. “Total witness protection stuff. Got it.”
“Yep,” I agreed. “But it seems to be working pretty well, for the most part.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Dave responded with a shrug and smile. “You look pretty different without the makeup.” He paused to stare at me for a moment with a thoughtful expression, then asked, “How old are you, anyway?”
The question nearly made me choke, though I quickly recovered and gave one of the responses I’d heard Aunt Dora use to similar questions. “You know, it isn’t polite to ask a lady her age.”
Dave grimaced at that. “Good point. You’d think that I’d be smart enough to know better by now.”
I just smiled at that, wondering what he’d say if he knew that I was only sixteen years old, or at least, just a little shy of it. Somehow, I didn’t think that he’d believe me. In fact, I was pretty sure that almost nobody would believe that I was really that young.
When we’d finished eating, Dave leaned back in his chair and asked, “So, Pan, do you ever play any video games?”
I blinked in surprise. “I’ve been known to play a game or two,” I said with a smile.
I loved video games, though I’d been under the impression that adults weren’t really allowed to play them. Of course, I’d learned otherwise after meeting Dave. He had a huge video game collection, and had bragged several times about his favorite ones.
Dave and I spent the next couple hours playing the most recent Halo game, and for a time, I was able to forget about my worries and problems. For just a couple hours, I was able to pretend that I was still Byron, and that everything was still normal.
Eventually, the game play ended, and Dave announced that he had to go run a few errands. “I’ll be back in a couple hours,” he told me. “What do you think of burgers for dinner? I can pick up some patties and buns on the way home…”
“That sounds good to me,” I told him.
After Dave left, I could have continued playing some of his games, though I reminded myself that grown-ups didn’t sit around playing video games all day. Or at least, that was what my parents had always told me. Dave was proof that this wasn’t always the case though.
Since I didn’t know what else to do, I went back to the basement and began washing the sheets and pillow cases, which were all filthy after last night. While I was doing this, my thoughts turned back to how they’d gotten dirty, which made me feel guilty and awkward again.
“But it felt so good,” I told myself, brushing brightly.
I couldn’t help but thinking about how attractive Jake was, even though I thought it was wrong at the same time. Last night, it was like a floodgate had opened, unleashing a rush of new feelings and desires. And though they were no longer as overwhelming as they had been at first, they hadn’t gone away entirely. These new feelings and urges were still there, at least to some degree.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” I demanded.
However, I already had a pretty good guess. Theressa and I had talked about my new body, and what it would mean. And of course, there was a bit of common sense mixed in as well.
My guess was that what I was now feeling, was biology at work. Physically, I was now an adult woman. My body, hormones, and brain chemistry all said that I now was, regardless of what my memories and past experience say.
“Just great,” I grumbled. Though I was relieved to have figured out why I was feeling these things, that didn’t answer all my questions. “Why now? Why so suddenly?” And of course, “Why Jake?” Then again, another part of me simply answered that he was cute, and that was why him.
I tried to distract myself, by taking the magic sword and practicing some moves in the basement. The moves now came easily, courtesy of all the practice I’d previously had. However, without someone to spar against, I wasn’t actually going to get any better.
Next, I began to practice with my gun. Of course, I couldn’t go firing it inside the house, or even in the back yard. What I did do, was practice taking it apart and putting it back together again. It came easier and more quickly each time, which may have been an indication that my inherited muscle memories were giving me some assistance.
Then, after working with the gun, I decided to practice with my makeup. I didn’t bother putting on the goth makeup, but instead, tried to do something else. I wanted to see if I could make myself look older and more sophisticated, instead of young and wild.
Theressa had already given me some lessons with makeup, just so that I’d be able to pass as a woman more effectively. However, I’d been too self-conscious to practice much with her and Cliff around. Now, I currently had the entire house to myself, so I went to work.
“Not bad,” I said, looking myself over in the mirror and being surprised by my reflection. At that moment, I looked a lot more like Aunt Dora than I ever had before. Of course, it wasn’t up to her usual quality, but it was close enough to get the point across. With that, I began cleaning it all off, before announcing, “Now to try again…”
As with a number of other things, the inherited muscle memories seemed to help me, because my skills improved a lot faster than they should have. After only an hour of practicing with the makeup, I was now able to make myself up exactly like Aunt Dora.
“This is kind of scary,” I admitted as I stared at my dead aunt in the mirror. Of course, I saw her every time I looked into the mirror, but I looked even more like her than usual now. However, I was still missing her confident posture and body language. “I bet I could pick some of that up too, if I practiced.”
Though I was tempted to try moving more like Aunt Dora, I decided not to do so, at least not now. I’d already picked up a lot of her body language and physical mannerisms, and thought it would be a little creepy to intentionally pick up more.
Instead, I cleaned my makeup off again, then began to go back to my goth image. However, this time, I went a bit lighter with the eye shadow, and was a bit more subtle with everything. When I was done, I still had a goth look, but it was cleaner and looked more attractive on me.
“I think I like this version better,” I mused with a smile. I posed in front of the mirror, deciding that I definitely preferred this.
Dave returned just a short time after I’d finished with my makeup, and he paused just long enough to give me a once over. He seemed vaguely surprised by my altered look, but didn’t say anything about it. I felt vaguely annoyed at that. After all, I’d gone through the trouble of changing my look, so the least he could have done was compliment me on it.
It didn’t take much longer before Jake returned home as well. He was dirty, and definitely needed a shower. However, I still found myself looking at him in appreciation.
“I spent all day planting trees,” Jake said with a sigh.
“Then I bet you’re bushed,” I joked, earning a chuckle.
“Yeah, but we need the money,” Jake responded, “so I couldn’t just leaf.”
We both chuckled for a few seconds, then just stood there and stared at each other. Neither of us said a word about what had happened last night, though we were both thinking about it. There was a strange awkwardness that hadn’t been there before.
Then, Jake stepped forward put his arms around me, kissing me right on my lips. I didn’t resist him at all, and quickly found myself kissing him back, and enjoying it thoroughly.
When we pulled apart, neither of us said a word. We just stared at each other for a few more seconds, with the awkwardness having turned into a different kind of tension. My heart was racing, and I was starting to get wet down below.
“I…I need a shower,” Jake announced, giving me an appreciative look before he hurried towards the bathroom.
I remained where I was for nearly a minute, trying to make sense of everything that I was thinking and feeling. Attraction. Shame. Excitement. Guilt. Desire. Confusion. There was too much going on for me to make any sense of it all.
“Oh my God,” I moaned to myself, unable to deny my strange new attraction to Jake, in spite of just how messed up that was. “What am I going to do?”
I was in the Corner Diner, facing the morning rush. The entire restaurant was packed with customers, all of whom were here for our locally famous breakfasts.
Though I’d enjoyed the last two days, which I’d had off, I was actually happy to be back at work. Sure, it was long, tiring, and frustrating work, but there was something to be said for doing something productive and actually making money. The last part was especially important. With a forced smile, I tried to focus on what I was doing, because if I screwed up a customer’s order, not only would Astrid be upset, but I could lose my tip.
“Order up,” Astrid called out. “Table three…”
“I’ve got it,” I said, since that was one of the tables I was waiting on today.
As I was grabbing the order, Danielle came up as well to get a fresh pot of coffee. She gave me a tired smile and said, “I like the new makeup. It looks good on you.”
“Thanks,” I responded with a blush. I was still using the newer version of my goth makeup style, and definitely preferred the results. And apparently, so did Jake and just about everyone else. “Now to see if this helps with my tips any.”
Danielle chuckled at that. “I hope so…”
I gave Danielle a friendly smile, before carrying the plates over to the table. “I have pancakes and a Denver omelet…”
About ten minutes after this, I noticed as one of the regulars came through the door. Most of the time, I would have given a friendly wave, just to make them feel more welcome...and give a better tip. However, this was Tom Adams, who none of the waitresses wanted the misfortune of serving.
“Hey, babe,” Tom greeted me, because I was the closest waitress to him. “You’re looking especially hot today…”
“Thank you,” I said with a forced smile, though I really wanted to punch him instead. However, Astrid would have a fit if I did that. Guys like Tom, almost made me thankful that I’d switched to the other gender, while at the same time, making me wish more than ever that I hadn’t, just so that he’d leave me alone.
Fortunately, when Tom sat down, he picked a table that was in Danielle’s area, which meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with him. I let out a sigh of relief, then gave a cheerful smile to Mrs. Reyes, an elderly Hispanic woman who was known for being friendly and polite, even if her tips were always modest.
“So,” I told Mrs. Reyes as I read her order back to her. “That’s the house special, with your eggs over easy, and with the sausage instead of the bacon.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Reyes responded pleasantly. “And if I could get a refill on my coffee…”
“Of course,” I told her.
Then, just as I was turning to take her order up front, I heard a familiar voice exclaim, “The other night was great. We need to do it again sometime…”
With a glance, I saw that Tom was talking to Danielle, who looked extremely uncomfortable. “That isn’t going to happen,” Danielle said awkwardly. “Now, what can I get you?”
Tom just grinned, while giving Danielle a lecherous look. “I’ll have the hash, with a side order of you…”
“I’m not on the menu,” Danielle snapped, obviously trying to keep from decking Tom, or at least, from saying something that would get her fired.
“You seemed to enjoy it well enough the other night,” Tom said with a smirk. Then as Danielle turned to walk away, Tom grabbed her arm.
I really didn’t like the way this was going, so I hurried over to Tom’s table, to help Danielle. “Isn’t it time for you to go on break?” I asked Danielle, who gave me a look of relief.
“Come on,” Tom protested. “Don’t be like that…”
I wasn’t sure what to do next, other than punching the jerk, and I was getting damn close to doing just that. If he grabbed at Danielle again, then I’d probably go ahead and do so, even if it meant getting fired.
Suddenly, Astrid was standing there with her hands on her hips, glaring at Tom. “Thomas Michael Adams,” she announced in a firm tone. “You’ve been a regular customer here for years, but if you don’t stop harassing my girls, then you won’t be welcome here anymore…”
Tom winced at that. “I wasn’t harassing…”
“Do you understand me?” Astrid demanded.
After hesitating a moment, Tom reluctantly responded, “Yes, ma’am.”
Astrid continued to stare at him for a moment, then turned her attention to Danielle. “Well, you heard Pan. Go on and take a quick break.”
“Thank you,” Danielle said, though I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or Astrid.
Unfortunately, the downside of Danielle being able to take a break after that, was that I had to pick up the slack. However, that was a small price to pay, and I knew that she’d do the same for me, if it became necessary.
Tom didn’t cause any more problems, though he was still bragging a little too loudly about some of his conquests, to the guys sitting close to him. Normally, that was simply obnoxious, but this time, he made a few references to Danielle, which temped me to pour coffee into his lap. But as long as he kept his hands to himself, and didn’t insult us directly, I could behave as well.
“What an ass,” I muttered to myself, relieved when he finally paid his bill and left.
Once the breakfast rush was over, and everything slowed down a little, I finally had a chance to talk with Danielle. “So,” I started awkwardly. “You and Tom…”
“I don’t know what came over me,” Danielle admitted with a shudder and a look of distaste. “He isn’t my type, and I have no interested in him. But the other night, at the bar… I don’t know. It was like something clicked and we were all over each other…”
“From the look of things,” I pointed out wryly. “Whatever clicked, seems to have clicked right back off…”
“Definitely,” Danielle agreed. “I can’t believe I actually slept with that loser…” She paused at that and shook her head. “I might have thought he’d slipped something into my drink, if I know for a fact that he never got close to it…”
Astrid overheard our conversation and gave Danielle a disappointed look. “I thought you had better taste than Tom Adams.”
“Me too,” Danielle replied with a grimace. “I know I wasn’t THAT drunk…”
Before I could say anything in response, a small group of people came into the diner. There were two adults and three children, so it looked like a family. Danielle immediately put on her professional smile, then hurried over to help them, leaving me to finish cleaning tables on my own.
While I cleaned, I thought about what Danielle had said, and realized just how close her experience had been to my own. Danielle had no interest in Tom, then suddenly, that changed and she ended up in bed with him. I’d had no interest in Jake, at least not like that, but suddenly, that changed and I ended up in bed with him. All of this had happened, right after Tom and those other two guys, had gotten pushy with us.
“There’s something strange going on,” I thought aloud. After everything that had happened to me, I was feeling a little paranoid, and I definitely didn’t like the idea of strange and mysterious events, which might be some kind of threat. “And I’m going to find out what.”
--------------------
I was surrounded on all sides by a thick swirling fog, and I felt lost and confused, wondering where I was and how I’d come to be here. At the same time, there was a sense of deja-vu, a strange certainty that I’d been here before. Then, it suddenly came to me, and I knew where I was.
“I’m dreaming.”
With those words, more memories returned. I remembered talking with Jake after dinner, and how that somehow led to us making out. And of course, that led to something even more intimate. We had sex, for the second time. It had been slower, and not as all-consuming as the first time, but I’d enjoyed it even more.
The memory made me blush brightly, filling me with guilt and arousal. I’d enjoyed the experience, and had loved every moment of it. And for a short time, I’d been able to forget who I used to be, and the aching grief that now filled my heart. For a short time, I’d been able to pretend that I truly was the woman Jake thought me to be.
“But I’m not that person,” I reminded myself aloud. “Not really.”
However, the truth was, I was no longer sure who I was. Byron was gone, and I no longer looked, or even felt like him. And whether I liked it or not, he was never coming back. But at the same time, I was still trying to understand who I was becoming. Who was the new Pandora? At the moment, I felt like I was caught between those two people, not quite one or the other, though admittedly, the balance was tipping more and more each day.
With a glance down at myself, I saw that even in a dream, I was still a woman. “Who am I?” I quietly asked myself.
“You are Pandora,” a voice answered from the mist. With that, Aunt Dora stepped out of the mist and greeted me with a faint smile. “Welcome, Pandora.”
“Hello, Pandora,” I greeted her back. Somehow, this greeting felt appropriate.
With that, the other Pandoras all emerged from the mist, appearing on all sides and surrounding me. However, they kept their distance, and I felt welcomed rather than threatened. They were letting themselves be known, while letting Aunt Dora and I talk.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why am I here?”
“You know why you are here,” Aunt Dora told me with a faint smile.
One of the other Pandoras called out, “It is our duty to guard the box, and all that is held within.”
“It is our duty to protect that which is stored within,” another Pandora added, “without using it ourselves.”
“And it is our duty,” a third Pandora called out, “to gather the lost artifacts, and place them within the box for safekeeping.”
I stared at Aunt Dora for a few seconds before whispering, “There’s an artifact nearby…”
Aunt Dora nodded at that. “Indeed.”
My thoughts immediately turned to what had happened with Danielle and myself, and how strange it was that both of us would suddenly become overwhelmingly attracted to men, whom we previously hadn’t been interested in. For Danielle, it seemed to have worn off, because she was once again disgusted by Tom. However, I was still attracted to Jake, as our sex tonight proved.
“There’s an artifact involved?” I asked.
I’d suspected that there might be, or at least, I’d wondered if it was possible. After seeing the things I had, and experiencing what I have, it changed the way I looked at things. When I looked for an explanation of things, I now considered that magic might be involved. Before this had all happened, I never would have considered magic as an answer, at least not seriously.
“There is,” Aunt Dora agreed. “The box senses its power, though you could not hear the warning…”
That made me blink. “Warning? The box tried to warn me?”
Aunt Dora bowed her head slightly. “Yes. But you exist too much in the world of the living to always hear the whisper of the box. The world itself often drowns out its voice. We are here to help you with this…to relay what the box has to say, until you learn hear past the noise.”
“O…kay,” I said uncertainly.
“There is an artifact nearby,” one of the Pandoras said.
Another spoke up, “You have felt its power.”
“Your first duty is to protect the box,” a third Pandora spoke.
Then Aunt Dora said, “But if you can, try to recover this new artifact.”
With those words, the mist began to close in, and I knew that this meeting was over. The Pandoras had delivered their message, and disappeared into the mist, leaving me alone, though only for a couple seconds.
I bolted upright in bed, gasping for breath. Jake was asleep beside me, snoring softly. I stared at him for a moment, remembering the sex before we’d gone to sleep. Then, I remembered the magic artifact that appeared to have somehow been responsible.
“Oh shit,” I whispered.
I was sitting in the living room area of the small basement suite I shared with Jake. The box was on the coffee table in front of me, currently visible, so that if anyone else came in, they’d be able to see and touch it, just as I was currently doing. My hand rested on the top of the box, and I could feel the carvings shifting and changing beneath my hand.
“What am I going to do with you?” I asked with a sigh. However, the real question was, what was the box going to do with me?
After that dream conversation with Aunt Dora the other day, I’d come to the realization that my relationship with the box was a little more complicated than I’d thought. Until then, I’d thought that I just had to carry the box around everywhere, not letting anyone else get their hands on it. But after that conversation, I knew that there was more to it, though I wasn’t sure how much more.
“The box wants me to find an artifact,” I said aloud, feeling foolish for even thinking that a wooden box could have a mind of its own, and that it could actually want anything. However, this was no ordinary wooden box, as I was well aware.
Even though I was concerned about the box, and the fact that it seemed to want me to run errands for it, I was even more concerned about this mysterious artifact. I had no idea what it was, or what it looked like, though I was pretty sure it was responsible for what had happened to both me and Danielle. I’d had sex with Jake, not once, but three times, because of that mysterious artifact, and I kept having fantasies about what I wanted to do. This was arousing yet terrifying at the same time.
“I have to find that artifact,” I reminded myself. “I have to stop this…”
One of the truly frightening things about this situation, was that a part of me didn’t want to stop it. As strange as it was, I actually liked having sex with Jake. I actually liked the way he made me feel. When I was with him, I felt like a woman. I felt like I actually was the person that I was supposed to be, rather than someone who was caught between two different lives and identities.
“But I only feel like this because of the magic,” I said aloud. “It isn’t real. That isn’t who I really am…”
Removing my hand from the box, I let out a long sigh, though continued to stare at it for several more seconds. I’d tried ‘listening’ to the box, to see if I could actually hear it communicating to me directly, without any luck. I’d even gone so far as to open the box, and stared into the strange darkness and swirling fog that seemed to fill it, though I hadn’t dared to put my hand inside.
After shaking my head, and feeling rather foolish as I did so, I reached for the cup of tea that was sitting on the coffee table. Though I’d been drinking coffee in the morning, for the caffeine, I found that in the afternoon, I preferred tea. I took a sip, thinking of Aunt Dora and how much she’d always enjoyed tea. Was I drinking it now because I liked it on my own, or because it was like one of those muscle memories that I’d inherited? I didn’t know, and that worried me a little. There were a lot of things about myself that I no longer knew.
“I guess it all comes with the territory,” I mused, glancing down at myself and my new body. “I’ll get used to all of this eventually…”
Jake returned from work a short time after this, and he paused to look at me and the box that was currently in plain view. “Is there something wrong?” He looked around, his eyes scanning for any threats.
“Yes,” I admitted uncomfortably, not sure how to tell him. That was why I hadn’t said anything over the last couple days, though I couldn’t hold off any longer. “There’s an artifact nearby, and the box wants me to find it.”
Jake seemed a little startled by that, but not shocked. “My dad told me that Dora somehow seemed to know when artifacts were close by…”
I scowled at that, remembering the first time we’d been attacked by the man with the fire staff. Aunt Dora hadn’t known about that until it was over, nor had she known about the Peacemaker. If she had, then things probably would have turned out quite differently.
“The box told me the other night when I was asleep,” I said, deciding not to mention the Pandoras in my dreams.
Jake gave me a curious look. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“Because,” I responded awkwardly, unable to look him in the eyes. “I think we might have been affected by it.”
At this point, Jake looked even more confused. “What are you talking about?” He came over and sat down beside me.
I hesitated for a moment, then carefully began, “You remember when we were out for drinks, and suddenly, we were all over each other?”
“Yes,” Jake slowly responded.
“Before that night,” I continued, unable to bring myself to look him in the eyes. “I wasn’t interested in you. Not like that. Then, it was like someone flipped a switch…”
Jake’s eyes widened in realization. Instead of arguing with me, he said, “I… I was attracted to you before then, but suddenly, it got stronger…”
“Daniele had absolutely no interest in Tom,” I continued grimly. “None. Then suddenly, at the same time this switch flipped for me…she was all over him. I tried telling myself that it was just a coincidence, that there was nothing magic about feeling this way. But then, the box told me about the artifact…”
Jake let out a long sigh and leaned back, obviously not happy with this revelation. “So, we’re only together because of this artifact…”
I bowed my head in shame. “Yes.”
We sat in an awkward silence for half a minute before Jake abruptly asked. “What kind of artifact is this?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I never saw it, and the box never told me. But I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m pretty sure who has it.”
“Oh?” Jake asked.
“Tom Adams,” I answered with a scowl. “He likes to come into the diner, bragging about all the different women he’s had sex with, and he’s not exactly George Clooney. And at the bar, that switch got flipped right after we were talking to him. I’m pretty sure he has the artifact…”
“Damn,” Jake gasped with a look of disgust. “You mean, this guy has been using an artifact like some kind of magic roofie?”
I nodded agreement. “I haven’t seen the artifact, and don’t have any real proof… But it makes sense. Trust me, women are not going to be lining up to have sex with this guy the way they have been, unless magic was involved…”
“Oh, I believe you,” Jake responded with a shake of his head. “I’ve seen the guy.” Then he stared at the box with a thoughtful look on his face. “The question is, what are we going to do?”
“I don’t like the idea of stealing something, just because the box wants it,” I told Jake. “But if Tom is using it like this, I think it’s better for everyone concerned if get it out of his hands.”
“Better for everyone but him,” Jake agreed. “But I don’t think his opinion really matters in this.”
I nodded at that. “Definitely not, assuming he really is using an artifact on women…”
Jake let out a sigh. “Then I think our next step is to find out if he really does have an artifact. I think we need to go have a talk with him.”
Just then, Dave called out down the stairs, “Hey, I’ve got dinner on the table. I hope you guys like baked chicken…”
“Thanks,” Jake called back. “We’ll be up in a minute.”
“So,” I said with a smile. “Dinner first, then the artifact. Sounds good to me.”
I was sitting on a barstool and nursing the same beer that I’ve had for the last hour. The truth was, I didn’t like how the stuff tasted, and was using it more as a prop than anything else.
At the moment, I was in the same bar where Jake and I had hooked up the first time, and I was stilling all by myself. Jake was nearby, though he was keeping his distance, so it would look like I was here alone. We’d pulled this same routine last night too, as we set our trap for Tom, and waited for him to take the bait.
Tom hadn’t been here last night, but he was now. I’d seen him sitting at a table with a couple friends, and checking out nearly every woman in the place. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head, since his thoughts were clearly visible in his lecherous expression. He’d seen me too, and had given me a smirking grin. It was only a matter of time.
I didn’t have to wait much longer before Tom finally made his move. He came walking towards me with a beer in hand, looking cocky and sure of himself. Something about that man, really made me want to dump my beer out over his head.
“Pan,” Tom greeted me with a smarmy grin. “Nice to see you again...”
“Nice seeing you too,” I responded with a forced smile.
“Pan,” Tom repeated, giving me a questioning look. “Is that short for something, or just a nickname?” I had the feeling that he didn’t really care about the answer, and was just looking for an excuse to get my attention.
“It’s a nickname,” I told him. “Actually, it’s an acronym of my full name, Priscilla Annette Nichols. My parents were sadists.”
Tom chuckled at that. “Sounds like it…” Then, his grin widened. “Can I buy you a drink?”
“I’m still good with this one,” I replied, holding up my beer. “But thanks.”
For a second, Tom looked annoyed that I’d turned down his offer, but he quickly covered it up with his smarmy grin. Then, he reached into his jacket pocket, and I suddenly felt a strange dizziness that I probably wouldn’t have noticed or thought much about, if I hadn’t been expecting something odd.
My eyes went to his pocket, which still had his hand in it, then back to his face. Fortunately, he didn’t suddenly seem attractive to me. I was relieved at that, though also just a touch disappointed. If I had begun to feel that way, then that would have been proof he was using an artifact on me.
“I think I need to go out and get a little fresh air,” I commented. “This place is getting a bit stuffy.”
“Good idea,” Tom agreed. “I’ll come with you…to keep you company.”
As soon as I began to walk towards the exit, Tom reached out and put his hand on my arm. Suddenly, I felt a tingle of excitement at his touch, and when I turned to look at him, I realized just how attractive he really was. At the same time, I knew what was happening, so I felt angry as well. Angry and violated.
Somehow, I managed to keep it together enough to leave the bar. However, once I was outside, and reasonably unobserved, I turned to face Tom. He grabbed me to give me a kiss, but I shoved him away, much to his surprise. A part of me was shocked at my own actions, since I wanted to kiss him too. Fortunately, the anger won out.
“What the hell did you do to me?” I demanded angrily.
“What are you talking about?” Tom asked, looking smug, and oh so handsome at the same time. I was starting to get more than a little excited by his presence, and for a moment, I almost forgot what I was really doing here.
“The artifact,” I said, clenching my fists tightly while I tried keeping some semblance of control. “Where is it?”
Tom’s eyes widened at my mention of the artifact. “How did you know…?” Then he clamped his mouth shut and smirked. “Why don’t you forget all about that silly thing, and come give me a kiss?”
He was staring at me with a burning lust in his eyes, which made me realize that I wasn’t the only one the artifact was affecting. Of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised by that, since Jake had previously been affected too.
In spite of the fact that I knew I was under the power of an artifact, that I was disgusted by Tom, and angry by the situation, that didn’t change the situation. I was still drawn to Tom by the same kind of burning lust I’d felt for Jake on that first night, and even though I tried to fight myself, I started moving closer to him.
“Oh no you don’t,” Jake exclaimed, grabbing Tom from behind and pulling him away from me.
“She’s mine,” Tom snarled, punching Jake.
Jake returned the punch, sending Tom sprawling backwards. “Where’s the artifact?”
Tom scrambled back to his feet, then pulled out a knife. It had a fixed blade and appeared to be a hunting knife. And a moment later, he charged at Jake, slashing out with the knife.
My gun was holstered at my back, and I was tempted to pull it out and end this fight, but I didn’t dare. At that moment, under the influence of the artifact and these burning desires, I didn’t trust myself with the weapon. I wasn’t sure which of them I’d end up helping.
Tom’s knife sliced through the arm of Jake’s jacket, though I didn’t know if it went deep enough to cut flesh. Jake was carefully moving back, his eyes locked on the knife. Then, when Tom lunged at him again, Jake spun to the side, kicked Tom on the side of the knee, and dropped the other man to the ground.
“You FUCKER,” Tom snarled in pain. However, he suddenly had a gun pointed at his face.
“Don’t make me,” Jake said in a cold tone. He held the gun firmly, his eyes glaring at Tom with an iron hardness. “The artifact. Now.”
“It’s in his jacket pocket,” I said. My voice was shaking as I fought the urge to throw myself on Tom.
Tom glared at Jake, then looked at me. I could see the same burning hunger in his eyes that that was probably mirrored in my own. He was nearly drooling, and in spite of the gun in his face, he sported a bulge in the front of his pants. A small bulge. Then, he grudgingly reached into pocket and pulled something out.
I immediately snatched the object out of Tom’s hands, seeing that it was a weird metal sphere about the size of a tennis ball. It looked like metal coils, one silver and one bronze, tied up into something of a knot. From several openings between the coils, I could see small gleams of a reddish glow, as though the coils were actually tied up and wrapped around some ruby core.
As soon as I saw this artifact, I felt a new urge…a new desire that was strong enough to balance out what I felt towards Tom. The other Pandoras had told me that the noise of the living world tended to drown out the whisper of the box. If that was the case, then the box was no longer whispering. It was yelling. And at that moment, I knew exactly what I had to do.
“This is it,” I said grimly.
“Good,” Jake responded.
“That isn’t yours,” Tom snarled, though he remained where he was, his eyes locked on Jake’s gun.
“No,” Jake agreed with a scowl. “But it isn’t yours either.”
I glared at Tom, still feeling an incredible attraction towards him at the moment. “You’ve been using magic roofies on women… It’s disgusting…”
“I’m damn tempted to just shoot your balls off,” Jake said in a cold tone. “But that would just create more problems for us. Because of that, and only because of that, I’m going to let you go. But if you tell anyone about this…” He held up the gun. “Then you’ll have your own problems to deal with.”
“Fuck you,” Tom spat out as he got back to his feet.
He glared at Jake for a moment, then looked to me. I could still see the lust burning in his eyes, but at the moment, his survival instincts were even stronger, so he turned and ran.
Once Tom was gone, Jake turned to me. “The artifact…?”
“It’s…definitely magic,” I said, holding it up for Jake to take a look at, though I didn’t give it to him. “The box is practically screaming at me now.”
“So, what now?” Jake asked.
“Now,” I answered with a scowl. “I give the box what it wants.”
Jake and I went back to where our car was parked and opened the door, using that to help block anyone from seeing what we were up to. As soon as I was sure that we weren’t being watched, I made the box appear in my hands, and carefully set it down on the seat.
“I’ll never get used to that,” Jake commented.
“How do you think I feel?” I asked with a snort. And Jake had absolutely no idea just how much this box had already put me through.
I opened the lid and carefully reached my and out to put the artifact inside. A small part of me was afraid that if I actually put my hand into the swirling darkness, that I’d never be able to pull it back out. A couple seconds later, a series of visions began to flash through my head, making me gasp in surprise.
My mind was filled with images of the artifact, and of an ancient tribe of people who possessed it. I saw them using it on their young women during some kind of mating ritual, charging them with magic. The women then picked a man to father her potential child, and as soon as they touched, they became bound with desire.
“Pan,” Jake exclaimed in concern. “Are you all right?”
It took a moment to shake myself out of the visions and clear my head. “Fine,” I answered a few seconds later. I closed the lid and let out a sigh, then made the box fade away again. “That was…intense.”
“What was?” Jake asked. “What just happened?”
I took a deep breath, trying to decide how I could explain this. “The box told me about the artifact and what it did. Or at least, it showed me…” I shook my head, then admitted, “It wasn’t all clear, but I got the general idea…”
“Oh?” Jake asked, obviously wanting me to continue.
With a wry smile, I said, “Well, I did learn one important thing about the artifact…” Jake gave me a curious look. I blushed and admitted, “It only works for six hour. That first time was the artifact, but after that, it was all us.”
Jake smiled at that, obviously pleased with that news. “That’s good then. But I guess, you’re still going to be drooling over Tom for the next six hours…”
“No,” I responded with a shake of my head. “As soon as I put it in the box, it…stopped. I guess the box insulates its power or something, but I don’t feel a damn thing towards that bastard except disgust.”
“That’s good,” Jake repeated, obviously relieved by that news.
I nodded agreement, though my own emotions were a little more mixed. It was an immense relief to know that I wasn’t being controlled by the artifact, but on the other hand, it meant that what I was feeling, was really all me. It meant, that I had to take responsibility for my own emotions and actions, and accept that my body wasn’t the only thing to have changed.
Before I could dwell on this too much, Jake reached his arms around me and began to kiss me. My body immediately began responding to his touch, and I kissed back. Soon, I was too distracted to worry.
Jake and I were in the back yard, in the middle of a ‘lovers spat’. Or at least, that was what Dave had jokingly called it a short time ago.
At the moment, Jake and I were sparring, as he taught me how to fight unarmed. I’d been in a couple fights while growing up, but this was something different, and something that might very well save my life. After all, I couldn’t count on having a gun or sword handy when my life was in danger.
We’d been practicing for over two hours, with a couple breaks scattered in the middle, so I was covered in sweat…and bruises. Fortunately, the bruises should be completely healed by dinner, so I did my best not to think about them. Instead, I focused on trying to give Jake a few bruises of his own in return.
“Good hit,” Jake said after I punched him. He rubbed the side of his jaw. “That one really hurt.”
“Now you know how I felt,” I responded smugly. Of course, he’d given me a lot more than that, but my bruises would heal in no time at all, while his would have to heal at the normal rate. “I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.”
“Definitely,” Jake agreed with a grin. “That was one hell of a right hook…”
I felt rather proud of myself, though I probably shouldn’t have. Yes, I was picking things up at an incredible speed, and was starting to do pretty well, but I couldn’t take much credit for that. This was just another case of my inherited muscle memories coming into play and helping me along. I was reacting out of reflexes that Aunt Dora had developed, and instinctively using a few of her moves, which I’d never even learned.
These muscle memories were a mixed blessing. On one hand, they made it a lot easier for me to learn things that Aunt Dora knew, and they were helping a great deal when it came to adjusting to my new gender and life. But on the other hand, they also made it difficult for me to know how much of what I did was me, and my own accomplishments, and how much I actually owed to her.
The thing that concerned me the most about this, was my relationship with Jake. There was no doubt that I was now attracted to men, and to Jake specifically, but how much of that was me, and how much had been inherited from Aunt Dora? There was no doubt, that most of my skills in bed had come from her, which made me a lot better than my limited experience would suggest.
“It doesn’t matter,” I quietly told myself, and not for the first time. “I am Pandora now, and this is all part of being Pandora.”
After all the changes I’d gone through, both physically and emotionally, it was easier to think of myself as Pandora than Byron. At least, I was trying to think of Byron as being an entirely different person. It was easier to deal with things that way. The rules and taboos that belonged to a fifteen year old boy, didn’t have the same meaning for a grown woman, and that was what I was now. That was what I had to be.
“I am Pandora,” I silently repeated the mantra that I’d begun using whenever things became confusing. My previous life didn’t matter, only the one I had now. I figured that if I repeated this often enough, then one day, I might truly believe it.
“I think we’re done for today,” Jake said, shaking me out of my thoughts.
“Why stop now?” I asked. “I’m still good for a few more rounds…”
“But I’m not,” Jake told me with a chuckle. “I’m getting tired.”
“How about you?” I asked Dave, who was sitting on the back porch with a beer in hand. “You want to come out here and spar with me?”
Dave laughed at that. “Naw. I don’t think my pride could take having my butt getting kicked by a girl.” He used his beer bottle to tap his bad leg. “Besides, you have an unfair advantage…”
Jake and I went to the porch to join Dave, who poured us each a glass of lemonade from the pitcher he’d brought out. After all that exercise, this was exactly what I needed. Well, this and a nice long shower, but this was definitely a good start.
“You’re picking that up pretty fast,” Jake told me, though from the look he gave me, it was clear that he was thinking about my inherited muscle memories.
I took a sip of my drink, then gave him a wry smile. “I have a good teacher.”
Jake seemed pleased with that praise. “Well, we can practice a little more tomorrow, after work.”
“Sounds good to me,” I agreed.
Learning these martial arts moves, and how to fight properly, was tiring and painful. However, after everything I’d seen and been through, I was well aware of how important it was to be able to defend myself. If Kraesse and his people ever found us again… I shuddered at that thought, silently promising myself that I’d be ready.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said carefully, glancing to Dave who still didn’t know the full story of what was going on. “I want to try practicing with a few other things too. I mean, you never know when a skill might come in handy.”
Jake stared at me for several seconds before nodding agreement. “Good point.”
I let out a sigh, wondering how much I could take advantage of this muscle memory thing. Aunt Dora…Dora had been around for a long time, and had probably learned a wide variety of skills. Since I was now Pandora, and had to deal with everything that came with this, it made sense to prepare myself as much as possible. If I could get the benefit of Dora’s hard work and experience, then it would be smart to do so, even if I had to put in a bit of my own hard work.
My thoughts went to Tom and his artifact, which we’d recovered three days ago. Tom hadn’t shown up at the diner since then, much to my relief, but he could still end up being a problem. Of course, he wasn’t nearly as big of a problem as Kraesse, or even the box.
One thing I’d learned during the situation, was what it really meant to be Pandora. I wasn’t just carrying the box around and keeping people from stealing it. I was also expected to find artifacts and recover them for the box, even if that kind of thing was dangerous. I was expected to be the box’s hands, as well as its bodyguard.
The box could influence me and my emotions, the same way that Tom’s artifact had. It had compelled me to get Tom’s artifact, and then to put it in the box. That wasn’t quite as creepy as the whole magic roofie thing, but I still didn’t like it, not in the least. And unfortunately, didn’t know of any way to escape that. If there was a way, then Aunt Dora probably would have used it herself.
“The box is both blessing and curse,” I whispered to myself, remembering the words of the previous Pandoras. Now, I was starting to understand what they really meant by that.
“I’ll see if I can figure what else I can teach you,” Jake said thoughtfully. “We don’t exactly have the gear to teach you how to work with claymores or grenades, but I’m sure we can find something else that might be useful.”
With a nod of agreement, I tried to think of what other skills Dora might have had, which could help me. However, I realized that I didn’t know enough about that part of her life. Cooking? She knew how to do that. Archeology? She probably knew quite a bit about that. Speaking other languages? Almost definitely. The truth was, I’d probably have to learn a lot of different things if I wanted to survive being Pandora, and for most of them, I wouldn’t know if I had an advantage or not until I tried.
“I might have to sign up for some lessons at the community college,” I thought aloud.
“That might not be a bad idea,” Jake said. “You might sign up for a real martial arts class, rather than relying on me. I’m good in a fight, but no expert.”
Dave chuckled. “Maybe you two should sign up and learn together.”
“Not a bad idea,” I repeated with a grin.
Jake nodded at that. “I can teach you a bit of wilderness survival and hunting. I don’t think we’ll need anything like that, but it won’t hurt to learn.”
“Scuba diving,” I said, suddenly thinking of sunken ships and how many artifacts must be on the bottom of the ocean. “That might be useful to know. Mountain climbing…”
Dave gave me a curious look. “I thought you were just hiding out from these guys, not wanting to go into the special forces.”
“Oh, I don’t think we’ll need that kind of thing to avoid these guys,” Jake admitted with a wry smile. “But it would be fun to learn.”
“True,” Dave agreed. “Maybe take some flying lessons when this is all over too. Hell, if you want to practice, I’ve got a couple good flight simulator programs you could try…”
“I just might have to do that,” I responded, wondering if Dora knew how to fly. I never would have thought it before, but I’d learned the hard way that there were a great many things about Dora and Theressa that I hadn’t known.
We sat on the porch for a bit longer, each of us suggesting various classes that might be interesting or useful to take. Some of the suggestions, like painting or origami, might be interesting, but I doubted that they’d be very practical. However, some of the suggested classes were ones that I could easily imagine being useful in the search for artifacts, or just for staying alive.
Eventually, I finally stood up and announced, “I’m sweaty and gross, so I’m going to go take a shower…”
“Do you mind if I join you?” Jake suggested with a suggestive look. “I’m sweaty and gross too, you know…”
“And stinky,” I added with a grin. “You need a bath even more than I do, so I suppose I should take pity and on…”
After that, Jake and I kissed passionately, ignoring the fact that we were both still dirty and smelled of physical exertion. Then, we turned and hurried into the house and down to our basement for a much needed shower, and perhaps a little more.
It had been a long shift, but it was coming close to an end, much to my relief. Once I was done cashing in these last two tables, I’d be able to check out and go back to Dave’s place. But first, my last two tables needed to finish eating, so I could cash them out.
Astrid was behind the counter as usual, neatening up a few things. Business was fairly slow at the moment, which was common at this time of day, when the lunch crowd had gone home. In fact, the whole place would close up for the day, not long after I left. I was just thankful that I didn’t have to stay for closing today. Danielle would be the one to close up the front of the house, while the guys in the kitchen, would clean up the back.
Seeing that the customers at one of the tables had finished, I quickly went over and flashed my best smile. “Would you like me to clear your plates?” I asked, quickly following that with, “Would you be interested in any dessert? We have a great lemon merengue…”
They didn’t want any dessert, much to my disappointment, because Astrid was always pushing us to ‘upsell’ on the desserts. And as I’d learned during my time working here, any addition to the overall bill, usually ended in an increase in my own tips.
After I finished collecting the check from the last table, along with a decent tip, I was done for the day. But before I could leave, Astrid called out, “Pan, I have something for you…”
“Yes?” I asked, going up to the counter where she was still standing.
Astrid handed me a whole apple pie, smiling as she did so. “You and Jake enjoy this, but make sure you save a slice or two for my nephew.”
“Thank you,” I told her with a smile. “We’ll definitely enjoy this.”
I gave Astrid a smile and a nod, then waved to Danielle before hurrying out the door. As soon as I was out of the diner, I suddenly felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I’d always thought that one of the worst things about being an adult, would be having to go to work every day, and now I knew that I was right. I liked Astrid, Danielle, and the head cook Carlos, but other than that, I could have happily done without the diner.
When I’d been young, which now felt like a lot longer than it actually had been, Mom and Dad used to tell me to get a good education, so that I could get a good job when I grew up. Now, I’d grown up a lot faster than anyone had expected, and there had been no opportunity for an education.
“I wish I’d paid more attention,” I muttered with a sigh.
Then I froze, suddenly realizing that I wasn’t alone. I looked around the parking lot outside the diner, and saw a familiar figure standing there, watching me with a dark look.
“Tom,” I muttered, feeling a surge of concern, and even fear.
Tom hadn’t shown up to the diner again in the last week, not since Jake and I had taken that artifact away from him. But now, there he was, standing right outside the diner, just a short time before it was scheduled to close. From the look on his face and the way he began moving towards me, it was obvious that he’d been waiting out here for me.
“Where is it?” Tom demanded, pulling out a gun.
I had a gun in my pocket, but I couldn’t reach for it while Tom was pointing a gun at me. My heart was racing as I stared at the firearm, feeling a mixture of fear and anger. After all that time worrying about Kraesse and his people, I realized, that I should have been more concerned about other dangers.
“It’s MINE!” Tom snarled. “Where the fuck is it, bitch?”
“I threw it into Thompson lake,” I lied, knowing that he wouldn’t believe the real truth, even if I had been willing to tell it to him.
Though I’d never been to Thompson Lake, I’d heard about it a few times from different customers at the diner. Apparently, it was a great place to go fishing for trout, and it was fairly close.
“You’re lying,” Tom spat out, pointing the gun in my face. “No way would you throw something that valuable into the lake…”
“Valuable?” I responded with a sharp laugh. “You used it to rape women, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone use that on me…”
Tom glared at me, looking pissed off and determined. However, from the smell coming off him, it was pretty clear that he was drunk as well. My guess, was that he’d used a bit of liquid courage to build himself up to this.
“It ain’t rape of the woman wants it,” Tom responded with a smug look. “And every woman I’ve been with definitely wanted it…”
I gave the creep a look of disgust. “If you have to use magic, to make someone want it, then it’s rape…”
With a snarl of anger, Tom punched me, yelling, “I ain’t no rapist…”
I staggered back with a sharp pain on my cheek, dropping the pie in the process. Then, I glared back at Tom, who still had the gun. I wiped the blood from my nose, really wanting to hit him hard, though I didn’t dare do anything now. I was afraid of the gun, having seen first-hand what that kind of weapon could do to a person. However, I was startled to realize that I wasn’t really afraid of Tom himself, just the situation. Compared to the people I’ve already dealt with, Tom was barely a threat. That realization helped me to calm down and focus.
“It looks like someone is rationalizing like crazy,” I said, my eyes remaining on the gun. “You’re not man enough to get a woman on your own, so you have to use magic to rape them…”
Tom snarled and threw another punch at me, seeming to ignore the gun in his hand. He’d done that the first time too, and I had a feeling that he’d rely on his fists more than a gun. This time, I reacted to block him, and then, without even thinking about it, I snapped my other hand out to grab his wrist, the one for the hand holding the gun, and pushed it away from me. Still operating more on instinct than anything else, I slammed my foot into his shin, knocking his foot out from beneath him and putting him completely off balance. A moment later, Tom hit the pavement face first, while I had his wrist pulled back behind him, forcing him to drop the gun.
“YOU FUCKING BITCH,” Tom screamed in pain. “I’M GONNA KILL YOU!”
“I don’t think so,” another voice said.
At that, I jumped back away from Tom, kicking the gun away from him in the process. I looked to the speaker and saw that it was Astrid, standing at the door to her diner with a shotgun in hand. It was pointed right at Tom.
“You fucking bitch,” Tom gasped, slowly getting back to his feet while rubbing the arm I’d twisted.
“I just heard you threatening to murder one of my waitresses,” Astrid exclaimed, glaring at Tom. “Give me one good reason not to blow your damn fool head off, right this instant.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Tom responded as his eyes darted to the gun. I could see the mental wheels turning, as he considered whether he could dive for the gun in time.
“Wouldn’t I?” Astrid demanded, narrowing her eyes.
Just to make sure that Tom didn’t get any stupid ideas, I finally pulled my own gun. He saw that and his widened under the realization that he was out of luck. While keeping my attention and gun on Tom, I carefully picked up his gun, then backed up towards Astrid.
“I don’t want any police involvement,” I quietly told Astrid, who nodded in understanding.
There was no doubt in my mind, that if the police showed up for any reason, they’d start asking a lot of questions, such as who I was. Considering the fact that I was trying to keep a low profile and avoid attention, that would be a very bad thing indeed.
“Tom Adams,” Astrid stated with a cold gleam in her eyes. “You are no longer welcome in my diner. If I see you around here ever again, I won’t hesitate to shoot your ass.”
Tom glared at Astrid, and then at me. “Fine,” Tom exclaimed a moment later. “Your food sucks anyway…”
A moment later, Tom took advantage of his second reprieve to run off as fast as he could. Jake and I had given him a chance before, and after trying this, I wasn’t in the mood to be merciful. Unfortunately, even letting the cops deal with him, would only create more problems for us.
“Now,” Astrid said, turning her attention to me. “Why in the world was that man so interested in you? I don’t think he’d be involved with those people who were after you…”
“I’m pretty sure he isn’t,” I responded with a sigh. Remembering Astrid’s ability to sense BS, I decided to stick close to the truth. “I found out that he’s been slipping a little something to various women in order to make them sleep with him. I only figured it out, after he tried it on me…”
“Damn,” Astrid gasped, her eyes going wide. “I always knew there was something suspicious about him…”
“Well,” I continued with a wry grin, “I stole his supply and got rid of it, which is why he was so pissed…”
Astrid nodded her understanding. “That makes sense.” Then she told me, “Just let me know if he shows up again. As it is, I think I’ll put a few words in some ears, so the ladies in this town know to avoid him, and the police know to keep a close eye on him.” When I gave a start at that, she quickly added, “I’m not giving them any names or specifics, just telling them to keep a look out…”
“Good idea,” I admitted with a sigh.
“Now,” Astrid mused, looking in the direction Tom had run off in. “I wonder what that boy is going to do next.”
I chuckled faintly at that as I answered, “Probably go for a long swim in Thompson Lake.” Then, at Astrid’s look of curiosity, I explained, “That was where I told Tom, that I’d dumped his stash.”
Astrid chuckled at that. “From your expression, I’m guessing that isn’t where you actually dumped it.”
“Nope,” I agreed. “Where I dumped that garbage, no one is ever going to get their hands on it again.”
“Well,” Astrid said with a smirk, as she turned to go back into the diner, “I hope that boy drowns while looking for that trash.”
“Me too,” I responded with a sigh. “Me too…”
“So, what do we do now?” I asked Jake as we walked down the sidewalk.
Today, neither of us had to work, so Jake and I were spending the day playing tourist, walking around downtown and checking out the shops. It was a nice and relaxing day so far, and it gave me time to think.
“What do you mean?” Jake responded, perhaps wondering if I was asking about which shop we should go into next.
“We’ve been laying low here for a few weeks,” I explain. “And we’ve started to save up a little money, so we have more options. So, what are we going to do now?”
Though I didn’t say it, I was a little worried that Jake and I were getting complacent. We’d made a few friends here and were starting to get comfortable. I was a little worried that if we didn’t come up with some kind of plan soon, then we might never do so. As nice as some of this was, I didn’t to spend my life as a waitress in some diner.
“I don’t know,” Jake admitted with a sigh. “I guess we could try doing a little research on the Kraesse family…”
“Google doesn’t have a lot on them,” I said. I’d already tried searching on Alexander Kraesse, and the most I found, were a few references to businesses they owned. Nothing that seemed useful right now.
Jake nodded agreement. “Too bad we don’t have access to any world class hackers, or we’d have more options.”
Unfortunately, our resources were extremely limited at the moment. Dora and Cliff had probably stashed a lot of weapons and resources, and had a lot of contacts, though that didn’t do Jake or I any good, since we didn’t know where any of them were. Even Theressa, would have had a lot more knowledge and experience to work with.
“At least we don’t have to worry about Tom anymore,” Jake mused.
“You can say that again,” I responded with a chuckle.
Astrid had done as she’d promised, and spread the word about Tom, telling everyone that he’d been caught drugging women, and that she’d seem him drunk and making threats around the diner. Since one of the regulars at the diner was a deputy, whose daughter was one of Tom’s victims, things hadn’t gone well for the man, especially after he was caught stealing a boat at Thompson Lake. Now, he was behind bars for the time being, and he’d apparently ‘fallen down some stairs’ on the way in.
I was about to suggest what other ‘accidents’ I hoped that Tom suffered, when a shop caught my eye. It was an old antique store, and that kind of thing had never interested me before. However, I’d recently gained a whole new appreciation for antiques, or at least, for the power that some of them could hold.
“Let’s check it out,” I said, already going for the door.
The moment I stepped inside the door, I felt a faint tickle on the back of my neck, as though all the fine hairs there were standing on end. Almost without thinking about it, I took a step forward, towards one specific end of the shop. I wasn’t sure why I wanted to go this way, only that I did.
“This is interesting,’ Jake commented, only to give me a look of surprise. “Did you see something you’re interested in?”
“Not yet,” I answered, though I felt a strange certainty that I would find something.
There were a lot of antiques carefully placed on the shelves and alongside the walk paths, and they came in a wide variety of types. There were bits and pieces of furniture, toys, and numerous odds and ends that I couldn’t even identify. I looked over the selection, but none of that caught my interest, so I continued moving towards the back.
Then, I abruptly stopped, causing Jake to walk right into me. However, I barely noticed that. My attention was firmly locked on the item in front of me, one that I ‘knew’ was an artifact. I could feel the urge to put it into the box.
“What’s wrong?” Jake asked, giving me a worried look.
“I think the box has been talking to me again,” I responded, keeping my voice quiet enough that nobody in the store would be able to overhear. I scowled in annoyance, because I hadn’t even realized that it was messing with me until that moment. “I found an artifact.”
Jake gave a startled look and then looked around. “This lamp,” he whispered, putting up an antique brass lamp, which looked like a genie could come pouring out at any moment.
“No,” I responded with a shake of my head. “This…”
I reached out and carefully touched the frame of an antique mirror, which was shaped like an oval. The frame itself was made from some kind of smooth white material, which I suspected to be some kind of bone or horn, and which was intricately carved, so that it resembled vines and flowers. As soon as my fingers touched the frame, I could feel the tingle that rushed down my spine, confirming that this was indeed an artifact. If that hadn’t been enough proof, the box itself was now screaming at me, demanding the artifact.
“Shush,” I told the box. “Be patient…” To my surprise, the demands from the box seemed to fade.
“Look at the price tag,” Jake pointed out, and my eyes widened. The price tag said that they were asking nearly five hundred dollars for the mirror, which was more than we could easily afford.
“I don’t know what kind of power this thing has,” I whispered to Jake, “but the box wants it.”
My eyes went back to the price tag and I winced. I considered how easy it would be to simply stuff the mirror into the box, and then walk on out of the shop as though nothing had happened, but I didn’t like the idea of doing that. That would be stealing, and I wasn’t comfortable with that. Taking the artifact away from Tom, who’d been using it to rape women, was one thing. This was another.
“Do we have the money?” I asked Jake grimly.
Jake hesitated a moment, then let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, we have it.”
Jake obviously wasn’t happy about this sudden and unexpected expense, and neither was I. However, I was pretty sure that I didn’t really have a lot of choice. I had little doubt that the box wouldn’t leave me alone until I’d collected this artifact for it.
Ten minutes later, Jake and I bought the mirror and left the shop, though he grumbled a bit about the expense. I couldn’t really blame him, because that was a lot of money to spend on something that we were just going to put into the box. Unfortunately, the box didn’t seem willing to help out with the expenses.
“There are too many people around to just put it in the box out here in public,” I said, speaking to the box as much as Jake.
“Good point,” Jake agreed. “And since we paid so much for it, I want to at least take a better look at the thing before it goes into your box.”
Once we returned to the house, and the privacy of our basement suite, Jake carefully set the mirror down and looked it over again. It was definitely striking, especially in the fact that the glass appeared to be perfect, without any scratches or blemishes in it. If this thing really was as old as I thought, then the fact that it was in such great condition, might have been proof enough that it was magic.
I rested my hand on the frame and joked, “Mirror mirror on the wall…”
Suddenly, the glass began to shimmer and glow, making me jump back in surprise. However, it didn’t stop what it was doing, whatever that was. A couple seconds later, the glow faded, though the reflection didn’t return to normal. Instead of showing the room we were currently in, it showed a different room. One that was drab, windowless, and completely unfamiliar.
Then, I saw someone sitting on a bed, and as soon as I turned my attention to this person, the mirror zoomed in. A moment later, my eyes shot wide and I let out a gasp of shock.
“Theressa,” I blurted out.
Theressa was sitting on the bed, though she didn’t look like she was in very good shape. She had a black eye, and looked both exhausted and dirty. However, to my complete and utter amazement, she looked alive.
“It can’t be,” Jake exclaimed, looking just as stunned as I was. “I saw her go down…”
While I watched the mirror, the door opened up and a man stepped into the room, carrying a tray of food. He set the tray down on the floor, letting me see that there was another man standing right behind him, one armed with a gun that he kept pointed at Theressa.
“She’s alive,” I whispered as tears of relief began to pour down my cheeks. “Theressa is ALIVE!”
“But they have her,” Jake pointed out grimly. “She’s their prisoner.”
I clenched my fists tightly, so tight that my nails dug into my palms and drew blood. I barely noticed, and certainly didn’t care. I took a deep breath and scowled in determination as I stated, “Then we have to rescue her.”
“We don’t know where she is,” Jake pointed out with a grimace. “We don’t have the resources. And we can’t afford to risk you or that box.”
“I don’t care,” I responded, turning and looking Jake right in the eyes. “We have to save her…”
“She sacrificed herself to keep you and that box out of their hands,” Jake insisted. “You can’t just go running right into their hands…”
“SHE’S MY MOM,” I nearly screamed at Jake, who froze and stared at me with his mouth dropping open. “She’s the only family I have left.”
For a moment, Jake just stood there with an expression of shock and disbelief, before he gasped, “Oh shit…”
The breakfast table was filled with an awkward silence, as neither Jake nor I would look at each other, much less speak. Dave, who was caught in the middle of the situation, kept looking back and forth between us, obviously wondering what was going on.
“All right,” Dave finally asked. “Did you two have a fight or something?”
“Or something,” Jake and I responded simultaneously. At any other time, we both would have laughed at that, but not this morning.
“It’s complicated,” I said, to which Jake grimly nodded.
Dave gave us both a curious look. “Does this have something to do with those guys who are after you two?”
Jake and I both hesitated to answer that one, though Jake finally did. “We just found out that one of the people we thought they’d killed…is still alive. They have her as a prisoner.”
Dave let out a loud gasp at that, looking surprised. “How the hell did you find that out?”
“Magic mirror,” I answered with a grimace.
Jake gave me a flat look, then told Dave, “She managed to get a message out, on a message board we frequent. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell us where she was, only that she’s alive and a prisoner.”
I nodded along at that, thinking that it was a good story and wishing that I’d thought it up. It was certainly a lot more believable than the truth. Then again, our current situation was so weird, and so messed up, that almost anything would be more believable than the truth.
Once we were finished with breakfast, I went back down to the basement suite in order to shower and get dressed for the day. It was strange to realize, that I was actually starting to get used to a more feminine morning routine, which consisted of things like shaving my legs, doing my hair, and putting on makeup. Not long ago, I never would have imagined myself doing any of those things, but now, they were almost starting to become normal for me.
Just a minute after I’d returned to our suite, Jake came down after me. I was a bit surprised at that, since he’d been avoiding me since yesterday, or at least, ever since he’d learned that Theressa was my mom.
“Did you need something?” I asked Jake, seeing from the look on his face that he wanted to say something.
“Byron,” Jake started.
This was the first time Jake had said my old name, and it almost felt like he’d hit me. I’d spent a lot of time and effort trying to put Byron out of my mind, trying to forget that I used to be him. The only way that I’d been able to adapt to my new life and move on as much as I had, was the knowledge that I was no longer that boy, and that I could never go back.
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped at Jake, who seemed surprised at my vehemence. “Do I look like a Byron to you?”
“No,” Jake started to respond.
“Do I sound like a Byron to you?” I asked.
“No,” Jake repeated. “You don’t.”
Then, I held up my makeup kit and demanded, “And do I act like a Byron?”
“No,” he repeated again, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. “But you…”
“Byron is dead,” I stated firmly, looking Jake in the eyes. “Just as dead as Cliff or Dora. That was something I had to learn, if I didn’t want to go insane. I’m Pandora now, not anybody else.”
Jake took a step back, then paused to continue staring at me, this time with a look of pity in his eyes. He finally nodded. “I think I can understand.”
I turned away from Jake and went to the magic mirror, though I had to fight the urge to simply pick it up and put it into the box. The box wanted that mirror, which meant, that I had to fight the box itself. Unfortunately, at the moment, I couldn’t afford to give the box what it wanted. That mirror was the only way I had to find Theressa.
“Mirror mirror on the wall,” I started, though I was pretty sure that I didn’t need to say anything along those lines for the mirror to really work. Still, it had worked yesterday, so I saw no reason not to repeat the process.
I touched the frame of the mirror, thinking about Theressa, and the reflection began to shimmer and change. I let out a sigh of relief that it was working again.
Yesterday, the mirror had shown Theressa for only a couple minutes, then the image had faded, and no matter how hard Jake and I tried, it didn’t work again. It had just acted like an ordinary mirror. Now, since it was working again, I wondered if the mirror had simply needed time to rest and recharge.
“Where is Theressa?” I asked the mirror.
I saw an image of the same room as yesterday, with Theressa sitting on a chair, reading a book. She didn’t look any worse than she had yesterday, which was a relief, though she was obviously still a prisoner.
“Yes,” I said impatiently. “But WHERE is she?”
The image zoomed out, so instead of looking at the room, I was now looking at the outside of a house. It was a large house, almost a mansion, and one that was obviously very expensive. From that view, I could see several armed men walking around, acting as guards.
“I need to see more,” I told the mirror.
The image began rotating, giving me a better look at the house, including the driveway which had a couple cars parked there. Unfortunately, it didn’t do me any good, and after a minute, the image faded away, and I was looking at my own reflection.
“Damn,” I muttered, touching the frame and saying, “Show me Theressa again…” Nothing happened. “Mirror Mirror on the wall…” Again, nothing happened. It was just like yesterday, when Theressa’s image had vanished and the mirror stopped working.
“At least we know that the mirror isn’t a one-time thing,” Jake pointed out, looking vaguely pleased. “We’ll just have to wait until it recharges again, and see if we can zoom out further, or get some other clues about where this is.”
“But how long will that take?” I asked bitterly. “We still have no idea where to even start.”
“Oh, we know where to start,” Jake disagreed. “In a very general area, at least.”
I gave Jake a curious look. “What do you mean?”
“The cars in the driveway,” Jake pointed out, looking just a little smug. “They all had license plates with the same state. I think, we can guess at least which state Theressa is in.”
“Really?” I asked, feeling a surge of hope, until I remembered one small detail. “That still covers a LOT of area, and there’s no way we can find Theressa with just that…”
“No,” Jake agreed with thoughtful look. “But it is a start. And if we keep using the mirror, we might be able to narrow it down even further.”
I reluctantly nodded at that. “It is a start,” I said. “But we will need more…”
“Yes,” Jake responded with a sigh. “We’ll need a lot more than just a location. We’ll need firepower, resources, and probably a lot of help.”
“Well, I do have a whole box full of magic weapons,” I pointed out wryly. I glanced to the box, which was floating invisibly a short distance away. “Unfortunately, it isn’t going to let us borrow them.”
“Did it tell you that?” Jake asked, more curious than anything else.
“Not exactly,” I replied with a shake of my head. “But I’ve tried pulling something out of the box, just to see if I could, and it wouldn’t let me. I guess it wouldn’t make for a very good vault if I could just take anything out whenever I wanted to.”
Jake gave a sharp, bitter laugh at that. “So, even if Kraesse got his hands on the box, he wouldn’t be able to pull anything out of it anyway…”
I shrugged at that. “Probably not.”
Jake and I were silent for several seconds, as we both considered our current situation and our limited options. “I don’t like the idea of you risking yourself by going after Theressa.” Then, before I could argue, he quickly added, “But I understand why you need to. If they had my dad as prisoner, I’d have to go too…”
“I am sorry you lost your dad,” I told Jake quietly. I glanced towards the mirror, adding, “I know exactly how that feels…”
“I imagine you do,” Jake said. “I don’t know how, but we’ll find a way to get Theressa back. I promise.”
“Thank you,” I responded, throwing my arms around him in a hug. “Thank you.”
I let out a sigh as I returned home from work, happy to be away from the diner. Today had been particularly messy, though I got off far easier than Danielle did.
Right in the middle of the breakfast rush, some kids were running around without their parents watching them. That had been obnoxious and annoying, but it wouldn’t have been anything too unusual, except that one of the kids had run right into Danielle, causing her to spill a tray full of food, right on top of him. The parents had freaked out and yelled at all of us who worked there, especially Danielle, completely ignoring that it was their son who caused the mess in the first place.
“I need a better job,” I said, carefully hanging up my jacket, then removing my gun from the inside pocket and clearing it.
Of course, I was still grateful to Astrid for giving me the job, but there was no way I wanted to keep making a living this way. I didn’t mind the work, but some of the customers…
Dave was sitting in the living room, currently playing some first person shooter game that I didn’t recognize. He gave me a brief wave of acknowledgement, but didn’t take his eyes off the screen.
“How’s the gaming going?” I asked.
“Pretty good,” Dave responded, still not looking at me. However, he had a grin plastered on his face. “Some asshole called me a noob, so I’ve been hunting him down and pwning him every time he rezes… So far, I’ve got the punk three times, and I’m about to make it four…”
“Awesome,” I said with a chuckle. “I might have to try that one…”
“You should,” Dave said, finally looking at me. “But Jake just got off early, and I think he’s waiting for you…”
I nodded to Dave. “Thanks. And good luck with the pwning…”
Dave burst out laughing, bragging, “Hell, I’ve got so much pwn, I’m thinking of owning my own pwn shop…”
With a chuckle, I went down to the basement where I found Jake, sitting down on the couch with a disassembled gun spread out before him. He was cleaning and reassembling the parts, though he gave me a nod of acknowledgement and a faint smile as he did so. My eyes went to the magic mirror, but I didn’t go near it until after Jake was finished. As it was, I still felt the urge to put it into the box, so I was avoiding it unless Jake was right there. After all, I wasn’t about to risk losing the mirror until after we’d found Theressa.
“And to think,” I mused to myself. “The other Pandoras told me that I might not be able to hear the box yet…” I shook my head, wishing that I knew how to shut it up.
“How was work?” Jake asked me, still assembling the gun.
“About the same as usual,” I responded wryly. “I took orders, poured coffee, and delivered food. A couple guys hit on me, a couple customers complained for no real reason, other than because they seemed to be bored and thought that this was a great way to entertain themselves, and Danielle spilled food on some kid, then got yelled at by his parents, because they couldn’t bothered to make him behave.”
“Damn,” Jake said, giving me a sympathetic look. “Did you at least get any good tips.”
“Yes,” I responded with a sigh. “One old lady spent a good fifteen minutes, giving me a tip on how to clean stains out of clothes…”
This time, Jake chuckled. “Sorry,” he apologized, though he still grinned.
“Let’s try the mirror again,” I told him with a sigh. “Hopefully, this time we’ll get something useful.”
“I hope so,” Jake agreed, finishing up with the gun.
Unfortunately, as Jake and I had discovered over the last few days, the mirror only worked once a day, and then for only a minute or two. The first two times we’d used the mirror, I’d been the one to activate it, but yesterday, Jake had taken a turn. However, instead of focusing on Theressa like we’d expected, the mirror had shown me instead. It had been strange, seeing me reflected from behind, though that hadn’t been what we were aiming for. And as we found out, Jake had been able to zoom out and change the angle of the image, but hadn’t been able to change the location or focus on Theressa, so we’d wasted the opportunity.
“My turn again,” I said, insisting that I do it since I’d been the only one with any luck finding Theressa.
“Go ahead,” Jake told me.
I went to the mirror and carefully touched the frame, saying, “Please show me Theressa…”
A moment later, the reflection shimmered and blurred, and I once again saw Theressa, who was still locked up in that same room. Instead of focusing on her, I immediately ordered the mirror to zoom out, far enough so that I could see the outside of the house. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I zoomed out further, trying to find anything that would tell me where this house was located. Then, a mere second or two before the image faded away and returned to being a normal reflection, I saw another clue.
“Nothing,” Jake said in frustration.
“I saw a street sign,” I said with a grin. “Crenshaw Lane…”
“Crenshaw Lane,” Jake repeated with a look of surprise, which quickly turned into a smile. “Now, if we can find out which city… Maybe tomorrow, the mirror will show us…”
“Or we can check Google,” I pointed out rather smugly.
After this, Jake and I raced back upstairs, and Jake called out to Dave, “We need to use your computer for a couple minutes…”
“No problem,” Dave called back.
“We know the street and the state,” I said as I went to the Google search page. “Now, how many Crenshaw Lanes can there be…?”
As it turned out, there were Crenshaw Lanes located in two different cities, which might have been problematic, if not for Google Earth. From the satellite view above, the first Crenshaw Lane looked like it housed some apartment buildings or condos, and a number of small houses. However, when I looked at the second Crenshaw Lane, it was a bit further out, and had a few large houses, or even mansions, scattered along its length.
“Bingo,” I announced triumphantly, only to realize that Dave was standing there as well.
“So, what are you two looking for?” Dave asked, looking at the computer monitor. “Is that where they’re holding your friend?”
“Yes,” Jake answered with a scowl. “One of those houses, but we don’t know which one…”
“We know what the house looks like,” I pointed out, thinking that all we’d need to do was drive down the street, and we’d be guaranteed to find it.
“Google Street View,” Dave suggested.
“Damn,” Jake said, impressed when we pulled up a picture from the front of the small mansion. “You can find anything online these days…”
Dave just chuckled at that. “You know it, man. You can get damn near anything, if you just know where to go.”
I nodded agreement, though my attention was focused on the monitor, and the picture from the front of the house. “We know where they are,” I said, feeling a sense of relief and satisfaction, which went along with the worry I already felt. “We know where they have Theressa.”
“We went through a lot of trouble to keep hidden from Kraesse,” Jake reminded me with a grim expression. “It would be stupid to walk right up to his front door.”
“I’m not going to leave Theressa,” I reminded him. “Who knows when he’ll decide she isn’t useful anymore. He could kill her at any time.”
“I know,” Jake said with a sigh. “But the two of us against all of them…”
“The three of us,” Dave corrected.
Jake and I both turned and gave him a look of surprise. “You’ve already helped us more than enough,” Jake started.
“Maybe,” Dave responded, looking him in the eyes. “But what the hell kind of friend would I be, if I walked away just because the shit is about to hit the fan?” He tapped his leg, continuing, “My marching days may be done, but I can still shoot just fine.”
“You don’t know how dangerous these people are,” Jake started to protest.
“Dangerous enough to kill people in front of you, and to make you both go into hiding,” Dave responded. “I’m not stupid, and I’ve dealt with dangerous people before…” He held up his cane as a reminder. “You two can’t do this on your own, and I know how to handle a weapon. Face it, Jake, you need my help…”
“Yeah, we do,” Jake grudgingly admitted. “But you don’t know what you’re really getting into…”
Dave made a show of rolling his eyes. “So, tell me already…”
I watched this exchange, knowing that Dave was right. Jake and I couldn’t do this on our own, and even one more person helping could make all the difference. Especially if it was an experienced soldier, who knew how to fight.
“Dave,” I said, deciding that it was time for me to step into the conversation. When he turned to me, I looked him right in the eyes and asked, “Do you believe in magic?”
“Magic?” Dave asked, looking a little confused.
“Pan,” Jake warned me.
“Magic,” I repeated.
Dave hesitated for a moment, before carefully answering, “I’m not sure, but I try to keep an open mind. I’d be pretty damn arrogant to think that I knew everything.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I said.
“Good enough for what?” Dave asked, giving me a curious look. I merely smiled at Dave and held my hands out, letting the box suddenly appear in them. Dave jumped back with a look of surprise, or at least, he jumped back as much as his bum leg would let him. “What the hell?”
“My name is Pandora,” I said, remembering when Dora had said these same words to me. “And this is my box.”
I hate road trips. Once again, I was riding in a car, watching out the window as the miles slowly rolled past. At that moment, I was starting to think that life was just one long road trip, with various stops on the way. Maybe I was getting a bit philosophical, or maybe it was just because I was tired and hungry.
“Are we there yet?” Dave asked from the back seat.
I rolled my eyes, remembering the days when I’d been the one in the back seat, asking that question to amuse myself. Sometimes, that seemed like it had been so very long ago, though it had only actually been a matter of weeks.
“Still hard to believe,” Dave commented. “That magic is real, I mean.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered in response.
Yesterday, I’d told Dave about magic, my box, and why Kraesse was really after me. I’d told him most of the story of what was really going on, though I still kept a few pieces back. He had no need to know that I used to be a teenage boy, and I was pretty sure that Jake wasn’t going to tell him either. All he knew was that I’d suddenly inherited the box and all the responsibilities that went with it, while Kraesse and his people wanted the box, no matter the cost.
“Can’t you just give them the box?” Dave asked, more curious than anything.
“No,” I answered with a shake of my head, fully aware of the box that was currently sitting in the trunk. “I’m kind of chained to it.”
“Besides,” Jake added. “Those guys are pretty nasty, and I wouldn’t trust them with a fraction of the stuff in that box.”
“Not that we really know what most of it is,” I added with a sigh. “It didn’t actually come with any kind of content list or anything.”
Dave chuckled at that. “Well, at least you’ve probably got a whole arsenal in there that we can use…”
“Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way,” Jake said with a sigh. “It would be nice if it did though.”
“Real nice,” I agreed. “But once something goes into that box, it doesn’t come back out. Trust me, I tried pulling a couple things out just to see if I could, but the box wouldn’t let me.” I shook my head at that, thinking that a fire staff would have been real nice to have.
“Forget the box and everything inside it,” Jake told Dave. “We only have two artifacts that we can use. One is the magic mirror…”
Dave chuckled at that. “Mirror mirror, on the wall… Damn, I never would have thought Snow White was real…”
I rolled my eyes at that, having no idea if there was any truth at all to the Snow White story, or if this mirror had any relation to the one from the story. What I did know, was that when we used it that morning, Dave had watched, and he’d been impressed. In fact, he’d been even more impressed by the mirror, than he had been by my box appearing and disappearing yesterday.
“And we have my magic sword,” Jake added.
Dave nodded at that, and I already knew that he was impressed by the idea that magic swords were a real thing. Jake had shown it off for Dave yesterday, while we were convincing him that magic was real. Watching a sword cut through a cinder block, seemed to have done the trick.
“Are you sure I can’t try that thing out?” Dave asked a little eagerly.
Jake barked a short laugh. “Unless you know how to handle a sword, you’re likely to accidentally lop off your good foot. This blade is sharp, and has very little forgiveness.”
I nodded my head, remembering the lessons that Dora and Cliff had given me with a practice sword, before I’d ever touched the magic one. I’d seen how easily it sliced through flesh, and knew that Jake was correct. Any accidents with that blade, would be messy.
While I was thinking about Jake’s sword, my thoughts also turned back to the magic mirror, which was safely stored in the trunk. I was pretty sure that the box wouldn’t just open up on its own and eat the mirror, but that was always a possibility. Where magic was concerned, anything was possible.
There was one thing that I was curious about, and it was the fact that I still had the urge to put the mirror into the box, yet I hadn’t once felt that kind of urge with Jake’s sword. Maybe it was because the box had already stored the sword at one point, until it made Dora give it to Cliff. I wasn’t sure, since where the box was concerned, there were a lot of things I wasn’t sure about.
“All guesswork and rumors,” I said with a sigh, looking at the invisible tether that led back to the box. It was getting more than a little frustrating.
“It’s getting about time for lunch,” Jake said. “How about we stop to stretch our legs and get something to eat.”
“Sounds good to me,” I responded.
“Ditto,” Dave agreed. “And once we’re done with the noms, we can talk about the plan…or more accurately, our lack of one.”
“We’ll need more information before we can plan anything workable,” Jake pointed out. “The mirror will help with that. Some eyes-on scouting should help too.”
Even from the front seat, I could see Dave rolling his eyes behind me. “Dude, I might have been in the Army, and play a lot of first person shooters, but I ain’t spec-ops and neither are you. And somehow, I’m pretty sure Pan ain’t either. If we’re gonna do this, we can’t charge in with guns blazing like in some movie. Not if we want to get out in one piece.”
“We don’t want to die either,” I pointed out. “Whatever we do, we’ll have to be smart about it.”
“The smartest thing would have been not going at all,” Jake said, giving me a flat look. “And not bringing the box to them.”
I let out a sigh at that. “I know, but I can’t leave Theressa…”
“I know,” Jake replied with a sigh of his own. “Trust me, I understand, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t agree.”
A few minutes later, we pulled into a small diner, which had a few tables set up outside. A half dozen people were already eating at these, so I wondered how many more might be inside.
As we walked past the outside eating area to get to the entrance, a girl suddenly caught my attention, though I wasn’t sure why. She was a teenage girl, a year or two younger than I’d been before my change, with long black hair and light brown skin.
I shook my head and continued into the diner, thankful that this time, I got to be the customer instead of the waitress. Then again, as I looked around, I suspected that there might be some pretty good tips there.
We sat down and looked over the menu, though I still kept thinking about the girl from outside. I didn’t understand why, at least not at first. Then, I realized that I felt something in the back of my mind, an urge similar to what I felt with the Tom’s artifact and the mirror, but different. For one thing, it wasn’t as strong, or as obvious.
“Excuse me,” I told Jake and Dave as I got up from the table.
“Something wrong?” Jake asked, looking around with a wary expression.
“Maybe,” I responded, before admitting. “I don’t know.” I glanced around to make sure that no one could hear, before explaining, “I need to go have a talk with my box…”
“Damn,” Dave piped in with a chuckle. “Do you realize how kinky that sounds?”
I gave Dave a flat look, then went back to the restroom. Once I was sure that I was alone, I made the box become solid, and set it down on the counter. Then, I opened the box.
For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the swirling darkness and mist that filled it. “Okay,” I said with a sigh. “What do you want?”
Now, the whisper in the back of my head was louder, enough that I could actually feel a straightforward urge. Giving into the urge, I put my hand into the box. The moment I did, I was hit with visions and images, which flashed through my mind, leaving me stunned and confused.
“What…?” I started, until I realized that I had something in my hand.
I pulled my hand out of the box and stared at the object I was now holding. It was a feather, which was about a foot long, and it seemed to be made of golden metal. However, there was a strange flickering of color over the feather, which was almost mesmerizing.
“Not a feather,” I said, noticing the tip. “A quill…”
With that, the images that had just flashed in my mind, suddenly became clear. I knew what I was staring at and where it came from. I let out a gasp at that realization.
“A feather from Quetzalcoatl,” I whispered in awe.
My dad had been a professor of mythology, which meant that while I was growing up, my bedtime stories had often been legends and myths from around the world. Though I’d never shared my parents interest in history, I hadn’t been able to avoid picking up a few things.
From what I remembered, Quetzalcoatl had been the feathered serpent god of the Mayans and Azteks. I knew that he was supposed to be some kind of god of wind and learning, but I didn’t really remember much beyond that and a few vague stories. It had been a long time since Dad told me any bedtime stories, and unfortunately, remembering that he would never be able to do so again, sent a spike of grief through my heart.
According to the box, or at least, from what I was able to make out of the visions, this quill was an artifact that had been made from one of Quetzalcoatl’s feathers. And like all artifacts, it was magical, and possessed certain powers.
Not only did I know what this artifact was and what I could do, I also knew that it belonged to that girl. She was the rightful owner of the quill, the one who was fated to use it, just as her ancestors had centuries ago.
“Okay,” I told the box as I closed the lid. “I got the message.”
The box once again vanished from normal sight and floated behind me, though I barely paid it much attention. Instead, I left the restroom and walked back out of the diner, going straight to the outdoor seating area where I’d seen the girl. She was still there.
“I believe that this belongs to you,” I told the girl, who gave me a look of surprise.
“Who are you?” she demanded suspiciously.
Instead of answering, I held out the quill and her eyes were immediately fixed on it. I suspected that she was feeling some sort of connection to it, perhaps even similar to what I felt to the box.
“Centuries ago, this quill was made from a feather from Quetzalcoatl,” I explained. “It is a tool for knowledge and learning, in that it can only write the truth, regardless of whether you know it to be the truth or not. Once, this belonged to your ancestors. Now, it belongs to you.”
With that, I carefully set the artifact onto the table in front of the girl. She stared at it with a strange expression, then carefully picked it up. While she was distracted by this, I turned and walked away, returning to Jake and Dave.
I stood under the hot shower, letting warm water wash away the stress and worries that filled me, at least for a short time. Sure, this was a crappy motel, with a fairly small shower, but the hot water still felt good.
While washing myself, I considered how strange the situation was, and how normal it was all starting to get at the same time. I was a girl, a woman, with a body and parts that I’d never had before a few weeks ago. However, I was starting to get used to it, at least on some level. Dealing with this body twenty-four seven, meant that I was getting a lot of practice in dealing with it, and what it meant to be me.
“I am Pandora,” I said, washing away the rest of the soap and lather. “That is who I am now. That is who I’m going to be for the rest of my life.” Then, I let out a sigh, silently thinking about just how long that could potentially be. “Assuming I don’t get myself killed trying to rescue Theressa.”
With a deep sigh, I climbed out of the shower and began drying myself off. Then, I walked around the small hotel room that I had to myself. Jake had stayed the night in the room next door, which he’d been sharing with Dave. The two of us hadn’t been intimate since the revelation of who I used to be. It seemed that even though he was still helping to protect me and the box, the knowledge that I used to be a boy was a bit too much for him to handle.
Once I was sufficiently dry, got dressed and presentable, which included putting on my makeup. I’d been doing this every morning, so it was starting to become something of a habit. When I thought about that, I couldn’t help but chuckling, even though it was a little bitterly. There were times when I couldn’t even recognize myself as the person I’d once been, and not only when looking in the mirror.
“How long?” I quietly asked myself. “How long will it take before I forget what it was like being Byron? How long before I even forget that I was ever him?”
Just a few minutes after I finished putting on the final touches, someone began knocking on the door. I immediately reached for my gun, which I’d gotten into the habit of keeping close at hand.
“Pan, it’s me,” Jake called through the door.
“I’m not decent,” I called back.
“Are you ever?” he responded.
I unlocked the door and opened it, though I didn’t relax until I was sure that it was only Jake and Dave. Once the two came in, carrying the mirror, I closed the door behind them and locked it. Only then did I put the gun down. I might be a little paranoid, but since people really were after me, I thought it was understandable.
“Time for our daily status,” Jake said, setting the mirror up on top of the dresser. “I want to get more details on their security.”
“Good idea,” I said, thinking about the various details that we’d been trying to take note of over the last couple days.
Since we knew where Theressa was being held, we’d been able to pick up some useful information just from online. It was amazing what you could get from publicly available information, such as a satellite view from Google Earth, or pictures of the inside of the house, from a real estate website that had advertised the place just a year ago. However, there was still a lot of information that wasn’t available that way, such as how many guards there were, and the mirror could answer some of those.
“Mirror mirror on the wall,” I said as I touched the frame.
“Man, that is awesome,” Dave commented with a grin. “Once we’re done with this, you’ll have to let me play with the mirror a bit.”
“You just want to peep in on your neighbor Jessica,” Jake responded with a chuckle. “While she’s getting dressed.”
Dave just shrugged, not bothering to deny it. Instead, he joked, “Can you think of a better use for something like that?”
“One or two,” I added in a deadpan tone, which got Dave to turn bright red.
The truth was, before this had all happened, if I’d found that mirror, I probably would have used it to sneak peeks at girls too. As it was, I could now look at a hot girl whenever I wanted, not that it did much good, beyond helping me put on my makeup.
Once again, the mirror showed Theressa in the reflection, and she didn’t look happy. She had something in her hand that looked like it might be a knife, or some kind of prison shank, but when the door started to open, she quickly hit it out of sight. I felt a surge of pride at the knowledge that she wasn’t just playing damsel in distress. She was working on her own plan to get out of there. Or at least, that was what I assumed the shank meant.
Since I had a very limited amount of time with the mirror, I quickly zoomed out, pulling away from Theressa so that I could see outside of her room. Then I moved the image as much as I could, trying to get a better look inside the house, determining where she was in the house, and how many guards there were. Unfortunately, the image cut off far too soon, and the reflection returned to that of a normal mirror.
“We got a little bit more,” Jake said.
“I saw six guards in the house,” Dave said in a serious tone. “And we already know that there are a couple outside.”
“Unfortunately,” Jake said with a deep scowl. “We don’t have the resources or numbers for a full on assault.”
“As an avid gamer,” Dave said with a grin, “I like to know exactly what I have to work with, so I can plan accordingly. So, besides my own little stash that I brought, how much do we have in the way of ammo and weapons?”
Dave and Jake sat down and began writing down a list of everything we had, which wasn’t really as impressive as I’d first thought. There had been a lot of weapons stored at Cliff’s cabin, but most of it had been left behind when we ran.
While the boys discussed our assets and resources, I looked over the mirror, wishing it would work more than once a day. I ran my hand along the frame, musing, “Mirror mirror on the wall…” Of course, it didn’t do anything. I’d already used up its charge for today.
Suddenly, Jake yelled out, “PAN!”
“What?” I started to ask, only to realize that I was not only holding the mirror, but was in the middle of putting it onto the box.
The box was sitting on the motel bed, with the lid open and the bottom part of the mirror already in it. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I tried pulling the mirror out, but the box held tightly onto it and pulled it down into the swirling mists and shadows. In mere seconds, the mirror was gone for good.
“What are you doing?” Jake demanded, looking shocked and angry at the same time.
“I…don’t know,” I gasped, horrified by what I’d just done. I’d just put the mirror into the box, which meant that we couldn’t use it to rescue Theressa anymore. “No…”
“Why did you do that?” Jake demanded.
“I don’t know,” I repeated in stunned confusion. “I didn’t mean to…I…” Then I paused and glared at the box, realizing what had happened. “The box made me… I didn’t even realize I was doing it until it was too late…”
Dave stared at me with a look of surprise. “Wait… You mean that box can control you?”
“Apparently,” I responded, giving the box an angry glare. “This is the first time it’s done anything like this to me…”
“We already knew it wanted the mirror,” Jake said with a grim expression. “And you said that you felt a compulsion…”
Of course, I had felt a compulsion to put the mirror into the box, and that was why Jake had kept the mirror in his motel room during the night, and why I hadn’t been left along with it. However, this had been taking that compulsion to the next level, and I hadn’t even realized that I’d been doing it.
“DAMN,” I cursed, not bothering to fight back the tears that were starting to form. “I knew we had to deal with Kraesse and his people, but I didn’t think that we’d have to fight the box too…”
“There goes our intel,” Dave said with an exasperated sigh.
“We still know where they’re at,” Jake pointed out. “And we’ve still seen a lot of their security. As long as they don’t move Theressa to another location, we’re still good to go. At least for now.”
I nodded at that, relieved that we hadn’t suddenly lost our chance to rescue Theressa, but I was still pretty upset. I glared at the box, which was still sitting on the bed, feeling like it had betrayed me.
“You’d better hope that nothing happens to Theressa because of this,” I whispered to the box in a sharp tone. “Because if something does happen, you can forget about my ever doing anything for you again.”
Once again, I was surrounded on all sides by a thick fog. This time, I immediately recognized the fact that I was dreaming, though I also knew that it wasn’t merely a dream.
Though I couldn’t see through the fog, I could still feel the presence of the other Pandoras, and I knew they were coming before they emerged. Eight Pandoras stepped out of the fog at the same time, surrounding me.
“We are Pandora,” every Pandora said simultaneously, including myself.
Then, the Pandora I was most familiar with, Dora, stepped forward. “Pandora,” she greeted me formally.
“Pandora,” I responded in the same tone. Once the formalities were out of the way, I said, “I take it that I’m here because I’ve been fighting the box…”
“Each of us has resisted the box on occasion,” Dora told me with a wry smile. “With varying degrees of success. The box can be insistent, and does not understand the needs of the world, or of our hearts.”
“I needed that mirror,” I pointed out. “Without it...”
Dora let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, you will have to make do without the mirror. You were taking a valuable artifact to the very people you should be hiding it from. You should not be surprised that the box took drastic steps in order to protect it. As it is, you still risk yourself, and the box along with you.”
“But I have to help Theressa,” I protested. “I have to…”
“Of course, I understand,” Dora told me gently. “The box may not understand such things, but we do…” She gestured to the other Pandoras.
“My village was under attack,” the Pandora in the leather armor said, stepping forward. “We found an artifact that could protect us, though the box called for it. I resisted its call, so we could use the artifact… But during the attack, one of the enemy recovered the artifact and used it against us. Because I ignored the box, I lost the artifact along with my village.”
The Pandora in the leather armor stepped back, and another Pandora stepped forward. “I once found a weapon, that I thought to use, for the protection of myself and the box. I resisted the box for nearly a moon, though the call only grew stronger until I could resist no further.”
“It is not our purpose to use the artifacts we collect,” another Pandora added. “Merely to save and protect them.”
“Ours is to guard the box,” yet another Pandora said. “And to serve its purpose.”
“Yet we had needs and desires of our own,” said one of the Pandoras behind me, whom I couldn’t see at that moment.
“What you are attempting is dangerous,” Dora told me with a sigh. “You risk much to help Theressa.”
“Too much,” stated the Pandora in the nice renaissance style dress.
Dora gave her a cold look, then turned back to me. “Since you will continue on this quest, with or without the mirror, we will try to improve your odds of succeeding.”
“And surviving,” Pandora in the leather armor added.
“What do you mean?” I asked, giving Dora and the other Pandoras a curious look.
Dora smiled faintly, and then told me.
--------------------
The Roadkill Café was a small diner, with a very unfortunate name. Apparently, the owner had a twisted sense of humor, and in spite of the name, the food was really good.
My breakfast was a squirrel pancake, which sounded a lot grosser than it actually was. It was basically a normal pancake, with some pecans thrown into the mix, and with a pecan syrup over the top. Other specialties on the menu included raccoon and possum pancakes, neither of which actually included the animals they were named after.
“How’s your chicken crossing the road?” I asked Jake, who was eating another of their oddly named specials. That one was actually just a chicken fried steak, with some scrambled eggs on the side.
“Pretty good,” Jake said.
I took a sip of my coffee, noticing how Jake was watching me. He was probably trying to reconcile the woman he saw in front of him, with a teenage boy named Byron. Since Jake had never actually met me back when I’d been Byron, he was obviously having a hard time seeing me that way. I smiled faintly at that, since I didn’t want him to think of me as Byron. I was Pan now, and that was how I wanted people to think of me, especially Jake.
“Man,” Dave said, leaning back with a sigh. “I wish we still had that mirror. I mean, when this was all done and over with, we could have made a fortune using that thing. Imagine, finding El Dorado, the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, or where some pirates buried their gold…”
“I’m afraid the mirror doesn’t work like that,” I replied with a chuckle, earning curious looks from both Dave and Jake.
Yesterday, when I’d put the mirror into the box, I’d had visions about it, much like I had with Tom’s artifact. I’d been too distracted to notice them much at the time, but during the long drive, they came back to me a bit, enough so that I had a basic idea of the mirror’s history and how it worked. Not that this did me much good now.
“The mirror can only target another person, not a place or item,” I explained patiently. I took another sip of coffee. “And it can only target someone of great importance to the user. In other words, it lets you check in on your loved ones or enemies, but doesn’t do much else.”
“Damn,” Dave responded with a disappointed shake of his head. “That’s too bad…”
“But still very useful,” Jake said with a sigh. “We could have used it more.”
I nodded at that, feeling guilty over my part in losing the mirror, before we’d recovered Theressa. I had no doubt that if we failed to save her, then I’d blame myself for the rest of my potentially long life.
“Well, we should be at our destination sometime tonight,” Jake said thoughtfully. “I doubt they’ll have moved Theressa since the last time we checked up on her, especially since they seem to have been keeping her there since they caught her.”
I cleared my throat, then awkwardly said, “Actually, we need to make a detour first.”
Jake gave me a look of surprise. “What detour? And why?”
“Last night,” I said carefully, “I talked to Dora.”
“What?” Jake blurted out, giving me a look of surprise.
“Part of her is still tied to the box,” I quickly explained. “Sort of like her ghost. She and the other previous Pandoras have talked to me a couple times in my dreams…”
“Why didn’t you say something about that before?” Jake asked, giving me a curious look that might have had a hint of suspicion in it.
“Are you sure it wasn’t just a normal dream?” Dave asked, more curious than anything.
I gave Dave a wry smile. “Trust me, this wasn’t a regular dream.” Then I looked to Jake. “Dora and my other predecessors have only contacted me like this a couple times, mostly to translate when the box is trying to tell me something.”
Jake scowled at that. “So, the box was trying to tell you something last night…”
“Not so much, this time,” I admitted. “But Dora wanted to help save Theressa…”
Jake blinked at that that. “But she’s dead. How can she help?”
I let out a sigh, thinking about last night and my conversation with Dora. “Dora had a safe house, not too far out of our way… And according to her, she has some things stored there that we can use.”
“Then why didn’t she tell you about this earlier?” Jake demanded in frustration, obviously thinking about how we’d gone to Dave, simply because we had nowhere else to go.
With a shrug, I admitted, “I’m not sure. Maybe because she didn’t think we really needed it. Or maybe she was afraid it might be compromised, like her house was.” Of course, my own guess was that she’d wanted me to learn how to stand on my own two feet.
“Did she tell you what kind of things she’d stored there?” Jake asked.
“Weapons and money,” I responded with a shrug. “I figure, your dad probably played a large part in setting it up…”
“Then there will definitely be weapons,” Jake mused thoughtfully.
“That should make things a little easier then,” Dave offered. “It will mean a delay before we can get to your friend, but any extra firepower will be useful…”
Jake sat there in silence for several long seconds before nodding agreement. “If it isn’t too far out of our way, and won’t cause too much of a delay, then this might be just what we need.”
Once we were done with breakfast, we hit the road again for another continuation of our never-ending road trip. After all this traveling, I’d decided that if I ever had the chance, I’d get an RV, so any other road trips I was forced to go on, would be a lot more comfortable and convenient. Of course, first we had to survive what waited at the end of the current trip.
We drove until early evening, around the same time it would have taken us to arrive at the house where Theressa was being held, if we hadn’t changed our plans. The house that Dora had told me about, was a small, two-story craftsman, which was the last house in a dead-end street. Its location, and the hedges around it, provided a good deal of privacy.
“Is this it?” Jake asked.
I glanced at the street address number on the side and nodded. “This is the address she gave me.”
I climbed out of the car and went to the front door to ring the doorbell. To my relief, nobody answered. With the way my luck had been working lately, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a family of squatters had moved in.
“So, I’m assuming you don’t have the key,” Dave commented wryly.
“No key,” I admitted. Then with a smirk, I moved the street number sign that was next to the door, revealing a keypad that had been hidden beneath it. “But I do have the code…”
After entering the combo that Dora had given me, the door unlocked and we went inside. I slowly looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, that was no surprise since all the interesting stuff was hidden away. Since I’d been in Dora’s house as well as Cliff’s cabin, my first thought would have been to check for a hidden room in the basement, even if Dora hadn’t told me about it.
“Knowing my dad,” Jake said, going straight for the stairs, “he’ll have hidden any weapons in the basement.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” I asked wryly, following close behind.
“Stairs,” Dave said in an obvious Indiana Jones impression. “Why did it have to be stairs?”
The basement appeared to be empty, though it didn’t take long for us to find the hidden door, and to unlock it. On the other side, there was a large room, which contained a veritable treasure. Not only was there a nice collection of weapons, but there were also a lot of antiques. Obviously, Dora had been storing some of her real valuables down here along with the guns.
Dave held up an impressive looking rifle, which definitely looked like something from the military. “Nice… We’ve got enough shit here to take over a small country…”
“Maybe a small county,” Jake corrected him, though he still looked impressed. “I think this will do nicely.”
I nodded agreement, though I was distracted by a sudden urge to look in the back corner. Obviously, the box was speaking to me again, though I still wasn’t sure what it was saying, at least not at first. Then, it suddenly dawned on me.
“There’s an artifact,” I blurted out.
“What?” Jake asked, looking around in surprise. “Where?”
“Here,” I answered, pointing to a shoe box that was sitting on a shelf. There was an envelope on top, with the name ‘DORA’ written on it. Since Dora was no longer around, I opened the envelope and read the short letter inside.
‘Inside this box is an artifact, which I have kept hidden from you until now. I have a feeling that it might come in useful someday. I don’t like having to deceive you, but I know that if you were aware of this artifact, you’d feel obligated to put it into your box.’ I paused at that, then read over the second paragraph which explained what the artifact did.
“I’m pretty sure Dora didn’t know that this was here,” I said with a grin. “But I’m glad it is.”
Jake read over the letter as well, then chuckled. “Thanks Dad. Even after you’re dead, you’re still looking out for us.”
“Then, he and Dora have that in common,” I said with a sad smile.
It was early in the morning and I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, carefully applying my makeup. I realized that since we were going into the lion’s den, there was no reason for me to keep up the goth disguise, but making myself up like this had become a bit of a habit. And more importantly, it let me differentiate myself a bit more from Dora.
“I guess this is my style now,” I said, though I knew that once this was done and over with, assuming we survived it, I’d want to play around with my look a little more. “Who knows, I might find a style I like even better…”
But first, we had to save Theressa and then get away. Neither of those things were going to be easy, though fortunately, Dora and Cliff had left a few things behind that would help.
The safe house was well stocked with weapons and supplies, including the emergency rations that we’d had for breakfast. Now, we no longer had the excuse of not having enough weapons to pull off the job, though we still needed more people. Or at least, I would have preferred it if we had a few dozen well-armed soldiers to help us out, but that simply wasn’t going to happen. We would just have to make due with three people, regardless of whether it was enough or not.
Once I was finished, I went to the living room, where Jake and Dave were looking over the weapons, which were spread out. Without saying a word, I picked up a second pistol, which I slid into my belt holster. I still had the other one hidden inside my jacket, but it never hurts to be prepared. And with that in mind, I picked up a short rifle, which Jake had referred to as an M-4.
“And can we stop and pick up some good coffee on the way out of town?” I asked. The stuff that had been stocked in the kitchen, hadn’t been very good quality.
“And donuts,” Dave added with a grin, as he held up a shotgun.
Jake just rolled his eyes. “I just hope that they haven’t moved Theressa, because if they have, we’d have no way of knowing, or following.”
Though Jake didn’t look at me, I knew that he blamed me for the loss of the mirror. That was understandable, since I blamed myself as well. If I’d only been able to hold out against the box for a little longer… As it was, I could feel the box whispering to me, telling me that it wanted the new artifact we’d found. There was a good reason that Jake was the one keeping hold of that one, rather than me.
We went through the items we’d decided to take with us, making sure that we hadn’t forgotten anything. Then we put everything else back where we’d found it and locked up the hidden room in the basement. If everything went as planned, then we’d probably be back here before long. If things didn’t go as planned, then we were likely to never be back here again.
Once everything was ready, we left the safe house, driving an SUV that we found in the garage. Since Dave claimed shotgun, literally, I stretched out in the back seat, wishing that I still had my DS so that I’d be able to distract myself. At the moment, I needed something to take my mind off the situation.
We drove for half the day before finally arriving at our destination, or at least, the town that our destination was located right outside of. It would have been stupid to go straight to the house where Theressa was being held, so instead, we stopped to stretch our legs, get something to eat, and make a plan.
“We need to get a better look at the place,” Jake said, glancing around the restaurant where we’d stopped to eat. When nobody was close enough to hear, he continued. “We need to scout the place and get a better idea of the security.”
“Since we don’t have the mirror anymore, that would probably be smart,” I agreed with a sigh, once again feeling guilty for giving in to the box.
Dave nodded his own agreement. “There’s only so much you can get online. We need to set eyes on the target before doing anything else.”
Jake took a sip of his coffee, then mused, “We might not have the mirror anymore, but it already told us a lot about the area. We saw enough to know that there’s a hill on the neighboring property, which isn’t nearly as secured. We can probably get up there without much problem, and that should give us a good view.” With that, Jake pulled out a map that he’d bought at a local gas station and unfolded it. He quickly found the house and pointed it out on the map.
“Sounds good to me,” Dave commented, looking over the map.
“Me too,” I said, mostly to feel like I was a larger part of the planning than I actually seemed to be at the moment.
“I know we’re in a time crunch,” Dave said, looking back and forth between Jake and me, “but I suggest we wait till the sun goes down. Better cover in the dark.”
I hesitated a moment, since I was impatient and wanted to run rushing in to rescue Theressa as soon as possible. However, I didn’t want to get her killed because we were impatient and did something stupid. And of course, I didn’t want any of us to get killed either. So after considering it for a moment, I grudgingly admitted, “That would probably be smart.”
“That would be better to keep from being seen,” Jake responded with a thoughtful expression. “But we need to see the place in the daylight, so we can get a better idea of what we’re facing.” He looked at Dave. “But you’re probably right, that we shouldn’t actually make a real move until it gets dark.”
While we ate, we continued to discuss our plans, but the truth was, we didn’t know enough to make a decent plan. So instead, we planned to sneak a good look of the house, then planned to make a plan later. The whole situation was frustrating, since even though we had a lot more resources than we did yesterday at this time, we still didn’t have any more people. However, the fact that we were so close to Theressa, also filled me with hope and excitement.
When we were finished eating, and with making our uncomfortably vague plans, we got back in the car and drove towards the house we’d seen in the mirror. We drove past, making sure not to slow down or do anything suspicious. The place was pretty far back off the road, and had a fence around the whole property, so we couldn’t make out much from there. However, we hadn’t really expected to.
“Good thing we saw so much of the place in the mirror,” Jake commented.
“And on Google Earth,” I added. That picture had given a good idea of the overall layout of the property.
“Then let’s go finish our scouting, and make a solid plan,” Jake said.
“That sounds like a plan to me,” Dave and I said together.
I was crouched down on top of a hill, staring down at the same house that I’d first seen in the magic mirror. From my current position, I could see the house, the yard, and several guards, which were all on the other side of the stone wall. It was dark out, but fortunately for us, the yard was well illuminated, giving us a great view of them, while we remained hidden by darkness.
With my binoculars, I could make out a lot of details, things that I hadn’t been able to see in the magic mirror or Google Earth. My eyes went to one of the guards, who looked vaguely familiar. It took me a moment to realize that he was one of the attackers that I’d seen back at Cliff’s cabin. If I’d had any doubts about this being the right place, they were gone now.
“About time to get started,” Dave said from a few feet away.
He glanced at his watch, then positioned himself behind a large rock, which would provide cover. My eyes went to the small pile of weapons that were placed within easy reach.
“I might not have been trained as a sniper,” Dave told me with a grin, “but I’ve played a shit ton of first person shooters.” He picked up a rifle and set it in place, adding, “And I also happen to be a damn good shot.”
“Good luck,” I told Dave, as I began to carefully move down the hill, towards the house below.
“You too,” Dave replied, giving me a nod. “You’re gonna need it even more than I will.”
I carefully made my way down the slope and towards the wall near the bottom. There were a few cameras set up to catch anyone trying to climb the thing, so I stopped short and remained where I was, waiting for Jake’s signal.
Then, I suddenly heard the sound of a bell ringing in the air. It was crystal clear, as though the bell was actually being rang right beside me, rather than near the main gate. I listened for several seconds before shaking myself out of it and putting in my earplugs.
The bell was a beautiful and delicate looking thing, that appeared to be made out of silver and crystal. Or perhaps platinum or diamond, though I certainly wasn’t an expert. It also happened to be the same artifact that we’d found at the safe house, though I had yet to even touch the thing. After what had happened with the mirror, Jake had thought it best that he hold onto it, and keep it well away from me.
Jake was the one ringing the bell, and providing cover. The magic of this artifact made the sound of the bell carry a great distance, and kept anyone who heard it, from hearing anything else. In fact, Cliff’s notes on the thing, also suggested that once someone was caught in the magic, they didn’t even think to question where the ringing came from.
“Just the distraction we need,” I mused. Of course, I would have preferred something like that fire staff, but considering the circumstances, the bell was probably more useful.
After taking a deep breath, I ran for the wall, using the slope of the hill to give me just a little extra height, enough so that when I leapt for the wall, I was actually able to grab hold of the top. With a grunt, I pulled myself up, and over, pausing just long enough to flip off one of the cameras that was pointed at me.
While I was doing this, I knew that Jake was doing his part, which consisted of ringing the bell, and probably shooting the guards at the same time. And then, he was going inside, even if it meant using his magic sword to cut through the gate itself.
I looked around the yard, immediately spotting the two roving guards. The guard I recognized from Cliff’s cabin, suddenly fell over dead, having been shot by Dave. Thanks to the magic of the bell, nobody heard the gun shot. A moment later, the other guard went down too.
For a moment, I froze where I was, feeling a little disgust and guilt for my part in killing these people, but I quickly shook it off. These were the people who’d killed Dora, Dad, and Cliff, and they were holding Theressa prisoner. They didn’t deserve a moment of my guilt.
Just seconds later, several armed men came running out of the house, probably responding to the alarms we’d tripped or the video camera footage, because they wouldn’t have been able to hear the gunfire. In fact, they shouldn’t have been able to hear any alarms either. That annoyed me more than a little, since we’d been counting on the bell to keep them in the dark about what we were doing, and from communicating any warnings for a bit longer.
With a grimace of determination, I opened fire, spraying them with bullets. The ear plugs I wore dulled the sound of the bell, and the power it had over me, but couldn’t stop it entirely. Because of that, I didn’t hear a thing from the gun I fired, though I certainly felt the recoil. And, I watched with a heavy weight in my gut as the men fell to the ground.
Then, I looked around and saw Jake, entering the property from the front gate. He was holding out the bell with one hand and ringing it, while his other hand held one of the guns we’d found at the safe house. He opened fire, shooting at the house in full auto, while somehow continuing to ring the bell.
“They attacked us twice,” I said aloud, though I couldn’t hear my own words. “Turnabout is fair play.”
Jake and I both rushed towards the main entrance, shooting as we did so, to keep anyone else from coming out after us. I caught some movement from the corner of my eye and turned, only to see another guard had come out from around the side of the house, but Dave had taken care of him. I flashed Dave a thumbs up.
Suddenly, I froze up, and was unable to move. I couldn’t take a single step, or even lift my foot from the ground. Even my head was frozen, leaving me unable to turn it. From my position, I could still see Jake, and he was frozen the same way. And since he was no longer ringing the bell, normal sound returned. I could hear some muffled sounds through my earplugs.
I immediately realized what was happening, since I’d seen this before. Someone was using that Peacemaker artifact again. Though I couldn’t move much, I could still gulp nervously, and I did. Getting frozen like this in the middle of a gun fight, was a great way of getting killed.
Then, three more figures emerged from the main entrance of the mansion. The first two to step out, were two more armed guards, who obviously, hadn’t been armed when the artifact was activated. After they both came out and glanced around, making sure that things were safe, a third figure emerged. Alexander Kraesse stepped through the doorway, holding the Peacemaker in his hands.
“What do we have here?” Kraesse mused, staring at Jake, who was closest to him. “An artifact…” He carefully took the bell out of Jake’s hand and examined it with a smug expression. “Interesting…” He carefully handed it to one of his guards.
“Bite me,” Jake spat out at Kraesse. “You two bit thug…” I could barely hear him because of my earplugs, though I could still make out what he said.
I held my breath for a moment, wondering what Jake was doing. Was he intentionally trying to piss off the guy who could still move, and who had a gun? Then again, I realized that this might very well be the case. If he could get Kraesse angry enough to punch him, that would break the spell.
Kraesse’s eyes turned to me, and I saw a flash of triumph pass over his face. “And Pandora,” Kraeese said, stepping towards me with a rather intense expression. “This time, you come to me…”
“Bite me,” I responded, repeating Jake’s words because at the moment, I was too scared to think of anything more original.
“I was looking for you, Pandora,” Kraesse stated with a sneer. “And of course, your box…”
“Good thing I left it behind,” I replied. “I’ve hidden it so well, you’ll never find it…”
Kraesse seemed almost amused by that. “Ah, but as I understand it, the box is NEVER very far from you. And even if you did manage to hide it, you’ll end up telling me where it is anyway.”
For several seconds, Kraesse and I stood there, looking into each other’s eyes. I was terrified of the man, after everything he’d done, but I was also furious and determined. No matter what, I wasn’t going to let him get away with this. I wasn’t going to let him hurt Theressa any more than he already had.
Kraesse already had an arrogant sneer, but somehow, it seemed to deepen. Then, he used his free hand, the one not holding the Peacemaker, and drew his gun. He turned to point it at Jake, and at that instant, I knew he was doing this just to hurt me.
The sound of a gunshot filled the air, echoing even through my hearing protection, and Kraesse was thrown back from the impact. The act of violence freed me from Peacemaker’s power, and I grinned at the sight in front of me. Jake and I had talked about the Peacemaker, and the fact that we’d probably run into it again. In fact, that artifact was one of the main reasons that we’d left Dave up on the hill, playing sniper. We figured that the artifact had a limited range, and had hoped that Dave would be far enough away to be out of that range, and ready to help free us if necessary.
When Kraesse was thrown back from the impact of the shot, he dropped both his gun and the Peacemaker artifact to the ground, though he didn’t fall himself. Instead, he glowed for several seconds, then regained his balance and stood up straight again, revealing no sign that he’d been shot. The amulet around his neck still glowed a little, and I silently cursed the fact this artifact had protected him again. That thing was really getting annoying.
Since I was free from the artifact’s powers, I immediately opened fire, spraying Kraesse and one of his guards. Kraesse glowed and staggered back, while his guard went down in a spray of blood. Dave took care of the other guard, and he even took a couple more shots at Kraesse, whose glow was starting to flicker. Without a word, Kraesse turned and ran back into the house, perhaps trying to get to cover since it looked like his amulet had about hit its limit.
“No need for these,” I said, tearing the earplugs out and tossing them aside.
“Theressa,” Jake reminded me, though he didn’t need to.
I merely nodded. “Yeah. Theressa first, and a bullet in Kraesse if we get a chance. But first…”
Then, I went over to where Kraesse had dropped his gun and the Peacemaker, and bent down. I called the box, which immediately appeared beside me, and then I picked up the Peacemaker. I stared at the artifact for several seconds, trying to decide if we could use it to rescue Theressa. It might be useful, but I had absolutely no idea how to use it, nor the time to figure it out. I couldn’t afford for anyone else to use it against us, so I dropped it into the box. After a few more seconds, I closed the box and gave Jake a nod.
While I was taking care of the Peacemaker, Jake continued to doorway and tossed in a grenade. It exploded with a loud boom, making me regret taking my earplugs out when I did. A couple seconds later, the two of us rushed in, ready to open fire, though that didn’t seem to be necessary.
“Dave can’t help us from this point on,” Jake told me. “Not directly.”
Jake and I both knew the general layout of the house, as well as where they’d been keeping Theressa prisoner. Between the magic mirror and Google, we already had a map and knew where to go.
Without having to say a word, we went in the right direction, going down a hallway which led to the stairs. Then, I saw Kraesse again, standing on the stairs with a twisted stick in his hand, that was little more than a foot long. But when it began to glow on the tip, I revised that from stick to magic wand.
“Shit,” I said, having a bad feeling about this.
Kraesse held out the magic want and a glowing red sphere shot out from the tip. I dove to the side, but Jake wasn’t fast enough and it hit him.
“JAKE,” I cried out, watching in horror as Jake was flung back down the hallway.
“Damn,” Jake grunted, getting back to his feet and looking a little wobbly.
Before Jake could fully recover, more armed guards came rushing down the hallway, opening fire as soon as they saw him. Jake dove through an open door and slammed it shut, right before they reached it.
“It’s locked,” one cried out, opening fire on the lock.
However, one of the other guards opened fire on me. I tried diving for cover, but I wasn’t faster than a bullet. I hit the ground and screamed as a burning pain tore through my leg.
In spite of my pain and injury, I scrambled back to my feet, swinging my gun back at Kraesse. Theressa was just up those stairs, and there was no way I was going to fail now that I was this close.
“Drop the weapon, Pandora,” Kraesse commanded. “Surrender now and give me the box, and this will go much better for you.”
“I don’t think so,” I spat out furiously.
At that moment, I suddenly felt like I was in an old Western, and we were two gunfighters about to draw down on each other. Unfortunately, Kraesse got his shot off first, and a glowing red ball shot out and hit me in the chest, sending me flying back into the wall, where I hit with a painful crash, right before everything went dark.
I was sitting in the middle of a room, tied to a chair. My arms were duct taped to the arms of the chair, while my legs were tied to its front legs. I couldn’t move much at all, and in spite of how terrified I was, I couldn’t help but feeling like this was a scene straight out of some movie. The villain has the hero tied up in a chair, just like this, in order to interrogate them. Unfortunately, I was no hero, and this was no movie.
My eyes swept the room, which seemed to be some kind of storage room. There were shelves all along the walls, which were full of various random antiques, ranging from shards of pottery to strange looking figurines. I ‘knew’ that some of these antiques were actually artifacts, though I didn’t know which ones, or how many.
I was scared. Terrified. I was trapped and helpless, a prisoner of the very people who’d murdered those I cared about. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to get Theressa and escape, not get captured myself.
“Jake,” I whispered, desperately hoping that he was all right and had managed to escape.
When I’d first found myself waking up in this room, I’d overheard a couple of the guards talking. Apparently, Jake had locked himself into a room to get away from them, and when they broke through the door, they found that he’d managed to escape. From what they said, it seemed that Jake had used his sword to cut a hole right through the floor, and had used that to get into the basement. At that time, the guards had no idea where Jake and gone, though I hadn’t overheard any updates since then.
“Get away,” I quietly said. “Get somewhere safe.”
My heart ached at the thought that he might be dead, because he’d followed me here to rescue Theressa. He’d thought it was a bad idea, but he’d come anyway.
“Pandora,” Kraesse said from the doorway.
He stared at me with a look of cruel triumph, holding up a knife. The bullet hole in my leg seemed to twinge at the sight of the knife, as I realized that I was about to get hurt a lot more than I already was. I nearly screamed in terror and rage, and the only reason I didn’t, was that I was biting my lip to keep from giving him the satisfaction.
As I watched, Kraesse pulled an apple from his pocket and began to cut it into slices. He ate one slice, then handed both the knife and remaining slices to one of his armed guards. Only then, did he turn his attention back to me.
“Pandora,” Kraesse repeated with a smirk. “I appreciate your coming here, and saving me the effort of tracking you down again. I had intended to hold your friend out as bait, but it seems that you came to take a bite on your own, before I could even set the trap.”
“I’m considerate, that way,” I responded, trying to hide my fear behind a bit of bravado.
“Now that I finally have you,” Kraesse continued, “you WILL summon your box and open it for me.”
“No, I don’t think so,” I replied with a forced smile. My heart was racing.
Kraesse just continued to stare at me. “I killed you before, yet here you are,” he said. “You were injured, shot through the back, yet you seem to have no signs of that injury either. You are remarkably resilient, Pandora, obviously due to the power of an artifact. What that means, however, is that I can use a great many methods to encourage your cooperation, without fear of going too far and killing you…” He smiled at that, and it was a cold and evil smile that sent chills running down my spine.
Then, without warning, Kraesse slapped me with enough force that it nearly knocked me and the chair over. The entire right side of my face stung from the impact, and I suspected that if it wasn’t for my enhanced healing abilities, I’d probably have some serious bruises.
“The box won’t do you any good,” I spat out, literally. My cheek had been split from Kraesse’s blow, and I could taste a little blood in my mouth. “Even if I gave it to you on a silver platter, it wouldn’t do any good…”
“You are a selfish woman,” Kraesse told me with a grim expression. “You hoard magical artifacts that can help people, that can make a difference in the world…”
I burst out in a sharp and bitter laugh at that. “And how many artifacts are you hoarding?” I looked around the room I was in, adding, “I’ve seen you and your people using them, and not for the good of anyone but yourself.”
Kraesse glared at me with a look of cold anger, and as I expected, he struck me again. This time, I nearly saw stars, like in some old cartoon. But as much as that hurt, I knew that this was a gentle kiss compared to what he could do to me, and to what he was likely to do before long. I tried very hard not to think about that, though I wasn’t very successful.
“My father, Gregor Kraesse, is a great man,” he stated, as though this was a simple fact.
After what had happened at Dora’s house, Cliff told me everything he knew about the Kraesse family, which admittedly, had been limited. According to him, Gregor Kraesse was a crime lord and businessman, though his ‘business’ involved such things as smuggling and the sale of stolen antiquities on the black market. He also collected artifacts, and had a long history of acquiring them by any means necessary.
Alexander was Gregor’s only child, and his sole heir. And, of course, he was also a murdering scumbag who deserved to be drowned in a sewer, at the very least.
My father is also a very ill man,” Kraesse continued with a deep scowl. “He is confined to bed while his body wastes away.”
If Kraesse expected me to feel sorry for him or his father, he would be sorely disappointed. He’d taken mine away from me, along with everything else.
“And what does that have to do with me?” I demanded. BAM, he hit me again.
“You know very well, woman,” Kraesse exclaimed with a snarl.
I looked Kraesse in the eyes, trying to hide my fear. Then, it dawned on me. He’d mentioned how resilient I was, or at least, how resilient he THOUGHT I was just a minute ago.
“You think the box can heal your father,” I gasped in surprise.
I didn’t know if it could or not, but that would only work if the box somehow picked him to be the next Pandora. However, I didn’t need the box to tell me, that there was no way in hell that would happen.
“It doesn’t work like that,” I practically hissed. “It can’t just heal people…”
Kraesse reached out with one hand and grabbed my face, forcing me to look straight ahead while he squeezed both of my cheeks. He leaned down and looked me in the eyes, and I could see a cold determination staring back.
“You know very well what I want,” Kraesse stated. “You stole the artifact from my father, thirty years ago…”
That statement surprised me, though I suspected that there was more to it than he claimed. More than likely, his father had been after the artifact and Dora had beaten him to it. However, even if she did steal an artifact from him, it was probably for the best.
From what I knew of the Kraesse family, and had experienced myself, they were the wrong people to have any artifacts. I’d trust them with an artifact, about as much as I trusted Tom with that magic roofie thing.
“Perhaps I need to remind you,” Kraesse said, punching me in the stomach and making me grunt in pain. “An artifact, made of emerald and gold, shaped like an egg. It has the power to undo injuries, remove illness, and even rewind the hands of time. After all, is this not the artifact that provides your resiliency?”
Kraesse obviously didn’t know as much about the box as he thought he did, though I’d realized that a long time ago. If he did, he never would have killed Dora. In fact, if he understood the box, he would have realized that this whole quest was pointless. Even if he got his hands on the box, it still wouldn’t give him what he wanted.
“I am in a generous mood,” Kraesse abruptly announced. “I will offer you a trade.”
“A trade?” I asked in surprise.
“All I want is this egg,” Kraesse told me with a smile, the kind of obviously fake smile that belonged on a used-car salesman or a politician. “Give me that one artifact, and in exchange, I will give you your life…”
For a moment, I just stared at Kraesse. He definitely wanted that artifact, and I probably would too, if it was the only way of saving Theressa’s life. However, I wasn’t fooled for a moment into thinking that this artifact was the only thing he wanted. Kraesse was ambitious, and he wanted everything. I could see it burning in his eyes, the desire to claim the box and everything within. No, he wasn’t about to let me go, even if I could somehow manage to give him the artifact.
“Can I…can I think about it?” I asked, deflating in defeat as much as I could.
Kraesse smiled faintly, the triumph gleaming in his eyes. He knew that he had me, and that I didn’t have any choice. Or at least, that was what he assumed. At the moment, I was just desperately trying to buy myself some time in the hopes that Jake could come charging to the rescue, like some kind of action movie hero.
“You have one hour to decide, Pandora,” Kraesse said, his voice dripping with arrogance. “But make no mistake, one way or another, I will get what I want.”
After making that statement, Kraesse turned and walked out of the room, along with one of the guards. Only one guard remained, which I thought was great for me. Now, if I could slip out of these restraints and somehow overpower him, before he could get a shot off, I might have a chance of escape. However, considering how tightly I was tied to the chair, that wasn’t likely to happen.
I spent the next ten minutes trying to wiggle free of the duct tape, or at least, looking for a chance to do so. The guard kept watching me, which meant any attempts I would have made, would have been obvious to him. Why couldn’t this be more like the movies, when all the guards conveniently left the hero or heroine alone, so they could attempt their escape in private?
Then the door opened again and I gulped, bracing myself for Kraesse, who had probably decided to cut my time to think about it. But the moment the door opened, gunfire filled the air and the guard went down in a spray of blood. I winced at the sight, feeling sick at it, but also relieved at the same time.
A figure stepped through the doorway, announcing, “Come with me if you want to live.” Then Dave flashed me a grin, admitting, “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
I just let out a sigh of relief and gave him a wry grin. “Aren’t you a little short for a Storm Trooper?”
I stood up and stretched, rubbing my wrists as I did so. Dave had just cut me free from the chair that I’d been tied to, and it was good to be able to move again.
“A couple guys came up onto the hill trying to find me,” Jake explained while standing back and keeping his gun pointed at the door. “I took care of them, then decided to come on down and see if I could be more help in here. Security was already torn to hell, so I damn near just walked right through the front door. Hell, I actually did just walk right through the front door.”
“And I’m glad you did,” I said, taking a pair of guns off the dead guard. I slipped the pistol into my holster, my own having been taken when I was captured. Then, I looked over the short combat rifle that he’d been holding and nodded in approval. It looked dangerous, which was just what I needed right now. “I was starting to get worried…”
Dave nodded at that, though he looked worried. “So, where’s Jake?”
With a shrug, I responded, “I don’t know. We got separated in the fighting. Last I heard, those guys were still trying to find him.”
Dave laughed at that. “That boy always was good at staying out of sight.” Then he asked, “So, are you ready to blow this popsicle stand?”
I was about to respond, when I looked around and remembered where we were, and what was stored around us. “Not quite yet,” I answered.
The box appeared in the air in front of me, and just hovered in place. The lid opened, and I didn’t even need the whispering urges in my mind to know what it wanted. Without a word, I began to walk around the room, picking out the magical artifacts from the more mundane antiquities. One by one, they went into the box. There was an obsidian knife, a crystal vial full of some glowing liquid, and a length of chain that seemed to writhe and move around, almost like a snake. All of those went into the box, along with a few other items.
“There,” I announced when I was done. I closed the box and smiled in satisfaction. “That has to be most of his collection…” Of course, I knew that Kraese also had that amulet, the magic wand, and the bell. He might have other artifacts as well, but if so, I hadn’t seen them.
“Now we can find Jake,” Dave said.
“Jake can take care of himself,” I reluctantly admitted. “At least for now. We need to find Theressa.”
“The mission,” Dave replied, nodding his agreement. “She is the reason we came here.” Then he gave me a forced smile and added, “After all this, I’m really looking forward to meeting the lady.”
“Hopefully, you’ll get your chance in just a few minutes,” I told him.
Dave and I left the storage room and began making our way down the hallway, though we had to move slow. Dave had a bad leg and was limping along, but didn’t have his cane for support. Still he was well armed, had my back, and had just saved my butt from a damsel in distress situation, so I wouldn’t have traded him for almost anyone. And it wasn’t like I could complain, since I was limping a bit myself.
We carefully went upstairs and were just about to turn a corner, with Dave leading the way, when he suddenly had a gun pointed at his head. “Drop the weapon,” a voice commanded, as the gun’s wielder stepped out from around the corner, using Dave as a shield.
“THERESSA,” I exclaimed, immediately recognizing the voice and the woman it belonged to. She was thinner than she’d been the last time that I’d seen her in person, but she was alive, and an awesome sight.
Theressa stared at me with a look of stunned amazement and relief. “Pandora…”
Remembering the gun that was pointed at Dave’s head, I quickly told her, “He’s with me. Dave is a friend.”
As soon as Theressa lowered her gun, I gave her a hug, which was a little awkward considering the weapons. Still, she hugged me back with tears in her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Theressa demanded.
“We came to rescue you,” I answered a little awkwardly. “Jake is around here somewhere…” I grimaced at that. “We got separated.’
“You shouldn’t have come,” Theressa snapped. “You shouldn’t put the box in danger, much less yourself…”
“Maybe,” I admitted, “but I had to come. There was absolutely no way I was going to leave you with those guys.” Then I looked her over before asking, “Speaking of that, how did you get out…?”
Theressa smirked just a little. “When a guard came to check on me a few minutes ago, I escaped. He was already injured and didn’t expect me to have a knife.”
I nodded at that, remembering the shiv that I’d seen her with in the mirror. “I’m just glad you’re alive,” I told her as a few tears of joy ran down my cheeks. “I thought you were dead.”
Dave coughed. “It’s nice meeting you and all, especially since we came all this way to rescue you, but we don’t have time to go AFK here.”
“We need to find Jake on the way out,” I said.
Dave chuckled at that. “Yeah, it wouldn’t be a good idea to leave your boyfriend behind.”
“Boyfriend?” Theressa exclaimed, giving me a look of surprise and confusion.
I blushed in response and gave a shrug, not sure how to explain that one to her. So, instead of trying, I took the lead going back to the stairs. Since the last I’d heard, Jake had been in the basement, downstairs might be the best place to start.
“You know,” Dave commented. “You had a whole room full of magic items, and you threw them all into that weird box. I’m pretty sure at least one of those would have been useful right about now.”
When I’d put the items into the box, I’d been hit with a series of visions, just like with the other times. I hadn’t fully absorbed them yet, but I nodded agreement since a couple of those would have been useful.
“But we wouldn’t have known how to use them,” I said aloud. “In fact, I don’t think Kraesse knew how to use all of them.”
“You found his artifacts?” Theressa asked in surprise.
“Yeah, a whole bunch of them,” Dave responded with a grin.
“He still has more,” I reminded Dave grimly.
“Keep it down,” Theressa said in a quiet voice. “We don’t want to give away our position.”
But another voice called out, “Oh, do keep talking…”
“Kraesse,” Theressa exclaimed.
We all snapped around to see Kraesse, who was standing there with two more of his guards, and all three of them had their guns aimed at us. They’d be able to shoot us down before we could even get our weapons pointed at them, so we froze instead.
“Drop your weapons,” Kraesse commanded, and we all did.
“Shit,” Dave spat out.
“I tried to do this the easy way,” Kraesse told me with a cold look in his eyes. “But as I told you, one way or another, I will get that box and everything in it. Now, bring that box here NOW.”
“She can’t,” Theressa protested.
Kraesse pointed his gun straight at Theressa, though Dave and I were still being covered by his goons. “Now,” he repeated.
I was frozen in terror at that sight, remembering the way Kraesse had made a similar demand of Dora, right before he’d killed her. He probably wouldn’t kill me this time, but there was still a good chance that he’d go ahead and kill Theressa and Dave. Unfortunately, if I didn’t do what he wanted, he WOULD kill them anyway.
Letting out a sigh of defeat, I nodded my reluctant acceptance. The box appeared on the floor in front of me, and Theressa let out a gasp of concern.
“You can’t give it to them,” she protested.
A look of triumph flashed over Kraesse’s face. “Now open it.”
I bent down to open the lid, but it didn’t open. There was no lock on the box, but I still couldn’t open it. It wouldn’t let me, not now.
“Open it,” Kraesse commanded.
“I can’t,” I stated. “It won’t let me.
He pointed the gun straight into my face and snarled. “NOW!”
“You’ve got the wrong idea,” I desperately tried to explain. “I’m not the master of the box, I’m its servant. As far as the box is concerned, I’m just an expendable pair of hands.”
Kraesse suddenly turned and fired two shots right into Theressa’s mid-section, then immediately had it pointing at me again. I screamed in horror as Theressa collapsed to the ground, bleeding out right in front of me.
“Open the box,” Kraesse commanded in a cold tone that left no doubt that if I didn’t do what he demanded, that he’d shoot me. He’d already done that to Dora and lost the box, and surely he had to realize that if he killed me, he’d lose it again. But at that moment, I suspected that he wasn’t even thinking about that. Or maybe, he just thought I’d come back to life and he could try again.
“But I…” I started, only to realize that the box had just opened on its own. I could feel the whispering, the urge to reach into it. This relieved me, yet filled me with worry at the same time.
“Yes,” Kraesse announced with a triumphant smirk. He stared into the swirling darkness and mist inside the box, making no move to reach inside. “The egg first…”
I slowly reached into the box, my heart racing as I did so. Once my hand had gone into the swirling darkness, I felt something. I closed my hand around an object and let out a faint gasp.
Kraesse lowered his gun and watched me with an intense anticipation. He was nearly drooling as he waited for me to pull out the artifact he so desperately wanted. Of course, the egg would merely be the first thing he demanded from me. He wouldn’t be happy until he had everything stored within the box, and probably the box itself.
A moment later, I pulled my hand back out of the box, and before Kraesse could realize what I was doing, I raised my hand and used the gun in it to fire three shots right into his chest. A golden aura flashed around Kraesse as he was knocked back from the shots, dropping his gun in the process.
“Pan,” Dave cried out in surprise, relief, and confusion.
When I’d been putting the Peacemaker into the box, I’d had an idea. The box liked to hold onto artifacts, and only let them go on very rare occasions. But who said that the box could ONLY hold onto artifacts? On a whim, I put the pistol that Kraesse had dropped into the thing, and as I’d just proven, I could take it back out as well.
After shooting Kraesse, I opened fire on the guards, taking one down before the other one could respond and start shooting. Dave and I both dove for cover, though I continued shooting back at the guard.
“KILL THEM,” Kraesse yelled, apparently deciding that I was too much trouble alive.
Dave was hit in the shoulder and cried out, “Fuck,” while simultaneously trying to grab his wound and the gun he’d dropped at the same time.
I managed to graze the remaining guard, though not enough to do much. Dave reached his gun and opened fire, spraying bullets in that direction without any real aiming. Still, he was lucky because the guard yelled and fell back with several hits, dropping his weapon in the process.
“This ends now,” Kraesse snarled furiously. “I tire of dealing with you Pandora. I have your box open in front of me, and no longer need you to open it…”
Kraesse stood out on the open, completely unconcerned about being shot, thanks to the magic amulet he wore. In one hand, he had a pistol, while in the other, he had the magic wand. A sphere of red energy shot out of the wand and hit me, sending me flying back to where I slammed into the wall. Fortunately, this time I only hit hard enough to lose my breath, not my consciousness. However, he immediately followed that up by firing two shots, one of which grazed my side enough to really hurt.
Suddenly, Jake leapt at Kraesse, snarling, “I don’t think so…”
Kraesse snapped around, but not fast enough. Jake’s sword hit him in the shoulder, and there was a sudden flash of golden light from the amulet. However, the sword continued passing through Kraesse with ease, slicing him straight from his shoulder to his opposite hip.
“Holy shit,” Dave exclaimed in amazement.
A moment later, Kraesse collapsed to the ground in two parts, leaving a massive splatter of blood and guts. I turned and emptied my stomach in disgust.
Once I was done, with that, I gasped, “Thanks.”
“I just wish I found you guys sooner,” Jake said, wiping the blade of his sword against Kraesse’s pants.
Without saying a word, I merely nodded and turned my attention to Theressa, who was lying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood. She was still moving, though from her condition, I knew she wouldn’t be able to last long.
I was immediately crouched down by Theressa’s side, with tears running down my cheeks. “Not again,” I gasped. “I just got you back… You can’t die on me again…”
“Fuck,” Dave groaned. He was sitting up and holding his injured shoulder. “Shit.”
Theressa turned to look at me and groaned. “Hurts,” she whispered, then began to cough.
“No,” I cried out, holding onto her hand with my own, as though I could keep her from dying by shear willpower. “We need a doctor… We need an ambulance…”
“Not a good idea,” Dave said with a grimace, gesturing towards Kraesse and the guards. “How the hell are we gonna explain all this?”
“We don’t have time,” Jake said, leaning down beside Theressa and trying to check her injuries. “I…I’m sorry…”
Just then, I suddenly felt an urge to return to the box again. “Not now,” I snapped, but the urge only grew stronger.
With a muttering of profanity, I went to the box and reached inside. To my surprise, I found myself holding something. And when I pulled my hand out, I was shocked to realize that I was holding a large chunk of green crystal, that was about the size of a softball, and shaped like an egg. Gold metal ran around the surface of the crystal and even through the middle of it.
“What’s that?” Jake asked, looking confused.
I stared at the artifact for a moment, absorbing the images and message that the box had given me. Among those were a brief history of the egg, a vague understanding of how to use it, and of course the message that this was a one-time loan.
“Theressa,” I gasped, rushing back to the side and placing the egg onto her chest. It immediately began to glow with an eerie green flicker from somewhere within. A moment later, the green glow spread to Theressa and began to cover her body.
“What is that?” Dave asked with a grimace of pain. “What’s happening?”
Theressa let out a moan, though she suddenly seemed more energetic than she’d been a moment earlier. After several seconds, she actually sat up, looking a little confused. Her hand when to her stomach where she’d been shot, and she revealed the wounds, which were now completely gone. There was no sign that she’d ever been shot.
“I’m…alive,” Theressa said in surprise. “I’m healed…”
Theressa sounded different, and I suddenly realized that she looked different. The grey had faded away from her hair, and the lines had vanished from her face. As I watched, she seemed to become younger and younger.
“You saved me,” Theressa said, holding up the artifact. “I feel strange…”
Theressa abruptly dropped the egg, as though it had turned hot. The green glow remained for several more seconds before fading away, though during that time, she seemed to lose even more age.
“Oh my God,” Jake gasped, while I could only nod agreement.
“You look,” I started, only to pause when I didn’t know how to finish that.
Theressa stood up, though her clothes were loose and hung from her. I just gasped in stunned disbelief, at what looked to be a twelve year old girl.
“What?” Theressa demanded in a childish voice. “Why are you staring at me?”
It had been three days since we’d rescued Theressa from Kraesse and his people, and we were currently all sitting around the breakfast table of the safe house. And as I looked around the table, I smiled, thankful that everyone was there, alive and free.
Theressa now looked like she was only twelve years old, courtesy of the magic green egg. The artifact had been a little more powerful than I’d realized, and not only had it healed all her injuries, it had also made her younger. Much younger.
After healing Theressa, I’d used the artifact to heal Dave as well, though I’d been careful so that he’d had contact with it for a much shorter period of time. As a result, it had healed his bullet wound and even his bad leg, but it hadn’t made him any younger, much to his relief.
I was grateful that the box had given me the egg to use, though I was still a bit confused about why. After all, the purpose of the box was to store artifacts, and not to give them out. At least not normally, and this time, the situation wasn’t the same as it had been with the feather.
Perhaps, the box cared about me and my happiness a little more than I’d thought. Maybe Dora and the other Pandoras had somehow encouraged it to help me this time. And then, there was also the possibility that the box had merely been trying to reward me for giving it all the artifacts in the storage room. Whatever, the reason, the box had helped me to save Theressa’s life, and I appreciated it.
As soon as Theressa and Dave had been healed, I returned the artifact to the box. It had warned me that it was only a brief loan, and I hadn’t wanted to push it, no matter how tempting it was to keep something that powerful.
I closed my eyes for a moment, imagining how much good I could have done, if I’d gone through a hospital with that artifact. Kraesse’s words about my hoarding artifact that could help people, as hypocritical as they were, had struck a nerve. However, I also knew that this wasn’t my choice to make. There was a reason that these artifacts were all being locked away from the world, because as much good as they could do, they could also just as much harm.
Once I’d returned the egg to the box, I’d also given it the amulet and magic wand that Kraesse had been holding. Then, we found the bell and put that in too, much to Jake’s annoyance, since he viewed it as another heirloom from his dad. Unfortunately, unlike the sword, the bell didn’t rightfully belong to his family. And when I put the bell in, I had a vague sense that the rightful owner was out there somewhere, and one day, I or my successor would give it to them.
I spent most of the breakfast, alternately thinking about that day, and considering how lucky I was. Not long ago, I’d been certain that Theressa was dead, and that my family was completely gone. But now, Theressa was not only alive, but also free of Kraesse and his people.
When we were finished eating, everyone began getting up from the table. “Great pancakes, Pan,” Jake said, giving me a kiss.
“Thank you,” I responded, blushing a little since Theressa was watching.
My relationship with Jake was currently in an odd phase, as we were sort of back together again, but we hadn’t actually talked about being back together again. He’d been worried about me during the big fight, so after we’d survived Kraesse, he surprised me with a passionate kiss. And ever since then, he’d been acting as though he’d never heard about the revelation about my original identity, and was trying to act like things were the same between us as before then. Maybe, that was just easier for him, and I was content to let things continue like that for now. However, I had a feeling that sooner or later, we’d need to have another talk.
“But not now,” I quietly mused, picking my plate up from the table and announcing, “I’ll take care of the dishes.”
“I’ll help,” Theressa offered.
“Good breakfast,” Dave told me with a nod, before he and Jake walked away. Dave no longer had any sign of a limp.
Theressa and I cleared the table without much conversation, though once we began washing the dishes off in the sink, that changed. She gave me a strange look and shook her head. I could only imagine what she thought of this situation.
“This is so strange,” Theressa said with a sigh. She looked down at herself and mused, “I’ve seen a lot of weird things during my time with Dora, but I never imagined that I’d end up looking young enough to be YOUR daughter.”
I snickered at that a little. “More like my kid sister,” I corrected her.
“I guess I’m going to have to get used to that,” she told me with a shake of her head. “No one could possibly believe that I’m really myself, and there’s no way I can go back to my old life, not like this…”
“True,” I agreed, having gone through the same thing myself.
“In fact,” Theressa continued with a sad look. “There isn’t really anything left of my old life to go back to. I’ve lost my husband and my son, so I might as well start over.”
“That makes sense,” I said carefully.
I’d already thought about Theressa’s situation, and had come to the conclusion that like me, she wouldn’t have much choice but to adapt to her new situation or go crazy. She hadn’t changed genders, and in a few years, she’d be an adult again, so this wouldn’t be nearly as difficult on her as it had been for me.
“Well then,” Theressa said, giving me a wry look. “As your newly minted little sister, I think we need to have a little talk about you and Jake…”
That was enough to make me roll my eyes in response. Theressa already knew about the artifact that had first caused Jake and I to sleep together, since I’d had to explain why I’d adjusted to certain aspects of my new gender so quickly. She’d spent the last couple days trying to wrap her head around it.
“I’m a grown woman now,” I told Theressa with a wink. “I don’t need the birds and bees speech.”
Theressa gave me a wry look. “The box protects you from many of the things that most women have to worry about. You won’t have to worry about pregnancy, STDs, or any of the usual health concerns, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other reasons to be careful.”
“You don’t need to tell me that,” I responded with a sigh. I stared at Theressa for several seconds. “I know there are risks. There are risks with any relationship. There are risks for getting out of bed in the morning or going on vacation…” I paused at that, to remind her how this started for us. “But the one thing I’ve learned, is that things can change without warning, so you have to appreciate what you have while you still have it.”
“You really have grown up,” Theressa told me in a quiet tone. “And it looks like I get the fun of doing that again.”
“I’m just glad to have you alive again,” I said, giving Theressa a hug. “I thought that I’d never get to do this again, and I’m glad that I can…even if you are a bit shorter.”
“Bite me,” Theressa responded with a chuckle.
I just grinned back. “That’s an immature response.”
Theressa snorted at that. “Well, I am a kid again, so I might as well take advantage of it.”
Once Theressa and I were finished in the kitchen, she took off, probably to go through the new wardrobe we’d bought for her yesterday. None of her old clothes fit anymore, which meant that like me, she’d have to start from scratch. But unlike me, she couldn’t wear any of Dora’s old clothes.
I went to the computer that was set up in a corner of the living room, then began to log into a few sites. I’ve spent the last couple days doing a little research, preparing for my future now that I actually had one.
Since Kraesse was no longer around to chase me, I was able to start using the new identity that Dora had set up for herself. Some of the paperwork and records for ‘Pandora Crowley’ had been stored in the hidden room, along with everything that I’d need to assume this new identity. Officially, I was now Dora’s daughter, and inherited everything that she’d owned.
Having a legal identity was nice, especially since it meant that I also had a bank account and enough money to live off for a long time. However, I didn’t have everything I needed. Not really.
My official identity already had a high school diploma as well as a college degree or two, but I didn’t have the actual education to go with any of that. This was a problem, in that one day, my lack of education could give something away, and make people suspicious of me. So because of that, I was would have to actually get that education for real, which meant, online classes, attached to yet another fake name and identity.
“I’m a high school dropout with a college degree,” I mused to myself with a shake of my head. “Now, I’ll have to earn a GED, so I can start on these college classes.”
I let out a long sigh, knowing that all of this would take a lot of time and effort, and that I wouldn’t be done with it for years. Still, I knew that in the long run, it would not only be worth it, but necessary.
“There’s no way I want to make a living as a waitress,” I said.
The, I glanced over to Jake, who was on the other side of the room, taking care of some classwork of his own. Yesterday, he’d contacted his college about his missed time, and about being able to come back and catch up on his classes. It looked like we’d both be working on our education at the same time.
While I was working away on the computer, Jake got up and came over to me. Without a word, he began to massage my shoulders, which felt fantastic. I moaned in pleasure, then turned around to kiss him.
“It’s over,” Jake said with a smile. “Kraesse is gone, so we don’t have to hide anymore.”
“Kraesse is gone,” I agreed. “But there are other people out there who want artifacts, and who may be looking for the box.” I let out a sigh and shook my head. “We might be good now, but I still have the box, and will for the rest of my life. That comes with certain responsibilities…and dangers.”
Jake nodded at that. “Then we’ll meet them together,” he insisted.
I looked Jake in the eyes, seeing how serious he was about this. “Then, heaven help anyone who comes after us and ours again.” And with that, we grabbed hold of each other in a long and passionate kiss.
--------------------
“Auntie Pan, Auntie Pan,” a little girl cried as she ran to me and jumped up into my arms.
“Hello, Peanut,” I greeted Sarah as I hugged her tightly. “You’ve grown since the last time I saw you.”
Sarah was a cute little seven year old, with brown hair that was pulled back into twin pigtails. She was also my little sister, though she didn’t know this. As far as she knew, I was merely ‘Aunt Pan’, her mother’s older sister.
It had been over fifteen years since Theressa and I had both been changed, and forced to start over with entirely new lives. Sometimes, it seemed like those events had merely occurred yesterday, but other times, a very long time ago. A whole lifetime ago.
After Alexander Kraesse had died, his father followed him less than two months later. And without any heir, what was left of his organization tore itself apart with all the in-fighting, so they hadn’t been a threat in a long time.
My life had gone in a direction that I never would have been able to predict. I’d become Pandora Crowley, had worked hard to earn a degree in history, and I had taken over Dora’s business in antiques and collectibles. And of course, I’d also fulfilled the responsibilities that went with the box.
Over the last fifteen years, I’d found and collected over two dozen artifacts, including those I’d recovered from Kraesse. After the incident with Kraesse, new artifacts had been slow in coming, and had taken a lot of searching, but I had found some. Some of those that I’d removed from circulation, had been extremely dangerous, and best kept out of any human hands.
While I’d been doing all this, Theressa had been living her own new life. We’d created her a new identity as Theressa Crowley, who was officially, my little sister. I’d found it quite amusing, that I was now her legal guardian, though she’d been somewhat less amused.
Theressa had grown up all over again, taking advantage of the opportunity to enjoy her youth and a second chance at life. She’d gone to college, majoring in history and archaeology of course, and she’d gotten married. Now, she had another child, Sarah.
“I’m glad you could come visit me,” I said, hugging my little sister/niece. “I’m glad you could all come.”
With that, I looked at the other two visitors who’d just come through the door. Theressa was close to thirty, for her second time, and looked quite well. Beside her was Sam, her second husband, though he didn’t know about her previous one.
Theressa had never told Sam about her previous life, or about mine. Sometimes, I thought that he deserved to know the truth, and at others, I thought that he’d be better of living in blissful ignorance.
“You have a nice house,” Sam told me pleasantly. “I’m always glad to stay in a nice place like this.”
This house was not the one Dora had lived in, where she’d been killed, but it was another one that she’d owned. This had been a different safe house, kept in case she needed it. Over time, Dora’s ghost had shared the locations of all her hidden treasures like this, and they’d come in quite useful over the last decade and a half.
“It is nice to be back,” Theressa said. She looked around with a wistful look, since this was the house that she’d mostly grown up in the second time.
“You know where the bedrooms are,” I said pleasantly.
Suddenly, Sarah squealed, “Uncle Jake…”
I turned to see Jake coming into the room, looking a little older than when we’d first met, but also a bit more dignified. Age and experience suited him.
With those thoughts, my eyes flashed to my hand, and to the ring on my finger. This was no artifact, though it was a magic ring of a different type. This was my wedding ring, which I’d been wearing for the last eleven years.
While Sarah was hugging my husband, I took the opportunity to hug my ‘little sister’. My relationship with Theressa was a little odd, but that wasn’t important. We were family, and always would be.
“I’m glad to be back here,” Theresa told me again, glancing towards Jake. “And your husband.” She paused at that, her eyes darting to Sarah, and I could see the regret in her expression.
As Pandora, the box gave me a great many benefits, though some of those could be curses at the same time. I would never age, which meant, that Jake might grow old and die, while I would remain behind, looking the same age as the first day we’d met. And since I was unable to have children, I wouldn’t even be able to give him immortality in that fashion.
I tried not to think about this, or about what might happen one day, just as I tried not to think of the magic egg in the box. All I could do was live my life and appreciate what I had, while I had it.
“Come on,” I told Theressa, and nodding to Sam. “I’ve got dinner going, so once you get your things into your rooms, you can clean up and come to the dining room.” I smiled at Theressa. “We can catch up over dinner.”
The End