=:= Stacey =:=

She paced around her apartment and checked the time again. It was almost nine. He'd be here at nine, he promised. And if Detective Robert Edwards was anything, he was punctual. Usually. She hoped he'd be here on time today because this morning things were very time-sensitive.

The full moon would peak around nine-fifty this morning. Everything had to be ready. It had to be perfect.

Stacey stepped into the kitchen and made sure the coffee machine was ready. There was a full pot ready to go. She moved to the washroom and turned on the light, looking herself over in the mirror. Her anxiety was immediately replaced with wistful sadness.

She was dressed in loose clothes. A large shapeless baggy t-shirt on top, and loose track-pants below. She had a pair of low-cut panties on, but had skipped the bra. And she had sandals on her feet. She hadn't bothered with any make-up this morning.

These clothes looked ugly on her, she thought. And she looked old in them. Old and tired. She'd be fifty-five in a few months...

She was a tall woman, standing about five-foot-ten, and in pretty good shape all things considered. But still, fifty-five. And the job took a lot out of her. It was stress, non-stop stress. That led to a lot of other poor choices. She knew she didn't have it as bad as some of her coworkers, but she also knew she drank too much wine. And her thrice-weekly visits to the gym could only do so much against the barrage of take-away and fast food that comprised most of her diet.

Her short blonde hair had long since lost its lustre, there were now nearly as many grey hairs in there as there were blonde. And the ever-present dark rings under her eyes. The general overall weariness.

She'd given all the best years of her life to the job, and she knew realistically she was only a couple years away from failing a fitness test and winding up on a desk or something like that. Assuming her number didn't come up early one day on duty.

Beyond all of that, the lost years were about more than just her looks. She'd missed out on so much of life, putting everything she had into a job she no longer believed in.

If this worked though, it would change everything. She'd get those years back, and she'd go and enjoy her new life. She'd do something fun with it, something for herself. Or maybe she'd try and help people, do something useful to make other people's lives better. Either way, she was going to have fun. She was confident enough it was going to work, that she'd already turned in the paperwork for the early retirement offer.

She turned out the washroom light and moved back to the sofa. She had her laptop ready, the video was queued up.

After her encounter with Cindy two and a half weeks ago, she'd done some more digging, and found the website where that spell was originally posted. From there she found Heather's video. She'd bookmarked it, and watched it at least a dozen times since then.

It was a few minutes past nine when she heard the knock at her door. She hurried over and answered, "Rob! Come on in!"

Robert Edwards was about eight or nine years younger than her. He'd made detective three years after her. He was one of a handful of people on the force she trusted, and he was the only one she'd call a friend.

He was tall, about six-foot-two, with broad shoulders. He'd been fairly muscular and toned when he was younger. But like most guys heading through middle-age, he had a bit of a gut on him now. She also knew he liked his whiskey the way she liked her wine, and he still had a little bleariness about him as he stepped into her apartment.

"Hey Stace, you look like crap this morning. What's the emergency that you needed me over here at nine in the morning on my day off?"

She rolled her eyes, "Thanks Rob, charming as ever. There's fresh coffee in the kitchen. Help yourself then come join me on the sofa."

He nodded and started fumbling around with the coffee while she sat down on the sofa and waited. She checked the time again. Ten minutes after nine.

Rob finally sat down next to her, and before he could say a word she said, "Watch this video!" She clicked 'play' and let it start running full-screen.

He had a sip of coffee and said, "I know that kid."

Stacey blinked in surprise, pausing the video. "You do?!"

"Yeah," he frowned. "His dad's that fire and brimstone preacher. Uh... Reverend Clark. That's his son, Trevor."

Stacey frowned, "Ok, well keep watching!" she hit play again.

Rob watched, then commented, "So he's trans? That must have pissed off his dad."

"<i>Her</i> dad," Stacey corrected him. "<i>She's</i> trans. Get the pronouns right."

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee. "What's this all about, anyways? You could have just sent me a link to the video."

"Just shut up and watch, Rob!" Stacey chided him.

The video finally got to the transformation part, and Stacey watched her friend's face as the magic happened. He seemed unimpressed though. After that, when the screen went black she stopped it.

She looked at her friend and asked, "Well? What do you think?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. What of it?"

"You think it's fake?" she asked.

He laughed, "Of course it's fake, Stacey! There's no such thing as magic."

She kept watching him as she asked, "But what if it's real?"

Rob took another sip of his coffee and frowned at her. "Stace, you're starting to worry me. When was your last psych assessment?"

Stacey sighed, and glanced at the clock. It was twenty-two minutes after nine. She looked back at her friend. "Just humour me ok? Just hang around till ten. Then we'll go out and I'll buy you breakfast."

He shook his head, "Ok Stace. Till ten o'clock, but then you have to tell me what this is all about."

She grinned, "Absolutely."

Her focus went back to the laptop, as she closed the video site, then opened the camera app. She set it up to use the built-in webcam, and her own face appeared on the screen as she was leaning over the laptop. She pushed the coffee table back a little ways, and positioned the lid on her computer so the webcam had a good view of the sofa. Finally she tapped the 'Record' control.

Rob watched all of this, looking bemused. "What in the world are you doing now?"

"I'm recording this, but I also wanted to have you here for it too. You're a friend, Rob. I trust you."

He frowned again and asked, "Stace, seriously, what's this all about? What are you planning?"

She took a deep breath, then told him. "That magic on the video. I'm going to try it myself."

"You're what?!" he gaped at her.

She shrugged, "If you're right, nothing will happen, and you get a free breakfast."

"Stacey that's not the point. You're... This is crazy. What are you hoping to achieve? Do you think you're going to turn into a guy or something? Are you trying to tell me you're trans?"

Stacey rolled her eyes "Of course not. If it works, you'll see. If not, nothing happens. Either way you're getting a free meal. Hell I'll buy you dinner too. All you have to do is be here with me. Stay and watch."

It was half past nine now, and she was starting to feel the anxiety again. Just a few more minutes and she'd be ready to give it a try.

He drained his coffee and set the cup down on a side table. "Level with me Stace, what do you think's going to happen?"

She took a deep breath. "Like I said, I'm going to try this spell. I think it's real and I want to try it out. I've been doing like it said, reciting the prep spell every night before bed for the last two weeks. In just a few more minutes, I'll try the main spell, and see if it works."

Rob shook his head, "Stacey this is nuts. It's not going to work, and you're going to end up looking like a fool."

"And you'll get a free meal. Two free meals. All you have to do is stay with me and watch."

He sighed. "Ok Stacey I'll stay. Because I'm worried about you. The free meals are just a bonus." He added after a moment, "I still think you should get a psych assessment though. Promise me you'll look into that tomorrow?"

She smiled, "Ask me again at ten o'clock."

He sighed and slowly shook his head.

She was growing more nervous by the minute as she waited, watching the clock. Finally at forty minutes past nine she said, "Ok it's near enough. I'm going to give it a shot."

She glanced at her friend, "Maybe stand back, and please be quiet for a bit? Just stand quietly and watch?"

Rob sighed, "Stacey this is nuts." He got to his feet though and turned around, standing in front and facing her.

"You're in front of the laptop. Rob." She gestured, "Stand there please."

He rolled his eyes but moved where she pointed.

Stacey glanced at the laptop to verify it had a clear view of her full body on the sofa. She dug a hand into her track-pants pocket and pulled out the folded-up sheet of paper. Her hands shook slightly as she unfolded it.

This was the page Cindy had given her. She'd already copied the phone number and email address into her phone's contacts app. And she'd taped a small picture on the bottom of the page. The little picture would be her focus.

Stacey took a deep breath, licked her lips, then glanced at the laptop webcam. "Here we go..."

She focused on the picture, memorizing it. Then her eyes flicked to the spell, and in a nervous, wavering voice she quietly recited the strange words. It took less than a minute to read out the full incantation. Then her eyes flicked back down to the picture and she stared at it, focusing on it. She let that image fill her mind.

It took a second, then she felt it. Something shifted inside her.

At the same time, swirling white light surrounded her, obscuring her vision.

PurpleCatGirl

If you're enjoying our work and you'd like to support us, please consider joining our patreon & get early access to new chapters!
https://www.patreon.com/purplecatgirl