"I don't know Claire," I said with a frown. "I'm not sure it's a good idea."

"Why not?" she asked impatiently. "We need to find out who she is, how she knew so much about us. And what she meant with that note."

I sighed, "She's probably some sort of con artist, and if we go back there she'll try and set the hook and reel us in."

Claire rolled her eyes, "Come on. It can't hurt to just talk to her. If it feels like something fishy's going on we can just leave."

I sighed again but finally relented. I turned off the engine and the two of us emerged from the car. We were parked in a little lot just around the corner from the new-age store. Claire insisted we head straight over after our conversation in the park.

She led the way, she seemed bound and determined to get to the bottom of things. I really didn't see the need to confront some strange shopkeeper and it honestly felt safer to me for the two of us to just avoid the place. I chalked it up once again to how brave my daughter really was.

Less than a minute later we were back in the little shop. Like yesterday, there was a very strong smell of incense in the air. The same middle-aged blonde woman was there behind the counter, though she had another customer with her when we entered. Claire and I moved to sort of queue up behind the other woman, who was just completing her purchase.

"Here you go hon," Selene said as she handed over a small dark-green plastic shopping bag. "Have a wonderful day!"

The customer, a woman in her thirties, smiled "Thanks Selene, you too!"

After that she made her way out, while Claire and I moved up to stand directly opposite Selene. The cat was here again too, curled up on her purple cushion at the end of the counter. Her eyes were open, she was awake and quietly watching Claire and I.

"Hello again," Selene smiled at both of us. "What can I do for the two of you?"

Claire cut right to the point, "We want to know who you really are, and if you know my dad from somewhere."

I was a little embarrassed by how abrupt my daughter sounded, but the blonde didn't seem at all offended.

She just smiled politely and replied, "Like it says on my name-tag hon, I'm Selene. I'm the owner of this little establishment. And no, I've never met either of you before yesterday."

"You gave dad a note yesterday," Claire stated. "It had a clover taped to it. What's that mean?"

Selene still had a slight smile on her face as she stepped out from behind the counter. She made her way over to the door as she replied, "It means just what it said hon. I can help."

For a moment I thought she was going to open the door and suggest me and Claire leave. I was surprised when she reached up and turned the lock, sealing the door. Then she flipped the 'open' sign around to indicate the shop was closed.

I glanced at Claire and she looked surprised as well. In a way it felt like we'd just been locked in, though it would be easy enough for either of us to just turn the lock and open the door again.

As I was looking at my daughter her eyes suddenly went wide and her face went pale. I turned my attention back to Selene and I felt a shock go through me. It was like in the few moments I'd looked away, the middle-aged shopkeeper had been replaced by a younger woman.

She was the same height, she wore the same black dress and shoes, had the same silver pentacle around her neck. But now she looked about twenty, just barely older than Claire. Her hair was still shoulder-length but now it was a bright platinum blonde, without any trace of grey. She was also a little slimmer, her dress was a little loose around the middle, and her face looked more attractive.

"There we go," the young blonde said with a smile. "Now the three of us can talk, without worrying about someone coming in and interrupting us."

I just stared speechless at her. I had no idea what was happening now. It seemed impossible. There was nowhere else this younger woman could have been hiding, nowhere for Selene to disappear to. She'd just locked the door, but she hadn't opened it first. And there was nobody standing outside, the alley appeared empty.

And even though my eyes were off her for a few moments, Claire had been staring right at her.

"What... How?" Claire seemed as shocked as me, perhaps even more-so.

"Oh, sorry to startle you both." Selene gave us that friendly smile again. "I'm just more comfortable like this, and I prefer to be comfortable when I'm doing serious work. The older look is just a thing I do for the retail sales."

Claire shook her head and finally demanded, "What the hell is going on here?"

Normally I'd have said something about her tone or language, but honestly it felt like an appropriate question for the situation.

The blonde walked back behind the counter, both Claire and I stepped back and gave her a wide berth as she passed by us.

Once she was behind her counter again she gave us both another friendly smile before her attention settled on Claire. "To answer your question hon, I have something of a gift. A talent, for helping people find their way. When you two first came into my shop yesterday, I could tell that you already knew what you wanted."

Selene's eyes shifted to me and she added, "But you dear, I can tell you're struggling. I can help you. I can help both of you, in fact."

Claire asked suspiciously, "How can you help? What exactly can you do?"

"I provide people with magic," the young woman replied calmly. "Real, actual magic. Not the stuff you see on the bookcases back there, but actual working spells. I stock a small assortment of standard spells I offer to those in need, but as soon as I laid eyes on the pair of you yesterday I knew none of my usual wares would be the perfect fit. So last night I made up a little something special just for the two of you, in hopes that you'd be back."

My daughter glanced at me, then looked back at Selene again and asked "What does this 'real magic' do for us?"

"It would give you what you both want, what you both need." Selene sighed and glanced at me before she looked back at Claire again. "Like I said, your dad needs my help the most. But as I'm sure you already know, your father won't accept any help until you've been taken care of first."

"That doesn't actually tell us anything," Claire pointed out. "What are you talking about, exactly?"

The blonde rolled her eyes slightly. I got the feeling she didn't like to be too specific, but she relented with a sigh.

"Oh very well. I'm talking about magic that would give you the body you should have had from the start, Claire. And at the same time, Clover would also completely transition to her ideal self. It would happen overnight after you both cast the spell together. Which needs to take place at midnight, during the full moon."

After a moment she added, "That's tomorrow night by the way. I'm offering you both the chance to achieve your ideal selves by the time you wake up Saturday morning."

I felt a little shock through my body while she spoke. This strange woman just said my chosen name out loud, and she used feminine pronouns for me. It was the first time anyone had ever done that. I knew Claire would have, and I knew she wanted to, but I'd asked her not to.

It felt good, but it was also annoying. Rather than Claire or someone else important to me being the first to use that name for me, it was some stranger doing it to show off.

I'd kept quiet so far, but I finally spoke up at this point. "That's complete and utter nonsense. There's no such thing as magic. If what you're talking about was possible, you'd have people lined up from here to Toronto looking for help."

"That's why I don't advertise," Selene replied calmly. "Word of mouth only, and I make the offer to walk-ins if I see they're suffering or desperately need my help."

I shook my head and looked at my girl, "Claire I think we should get out of here. I don't know what's really going on here, but it feels fishy to me."

She glanced at me, and I could tell she was torn. She wanted to believe this strange woman and her stories.

"Dad what if she's telling the truth?" Claire asked, in an uncertain tone. "I mean, she just completely changed herself in front of us, from someone your age to someone my age. And she knows both our names. And she knows you're trans."

I didn't have answers for any of those things, but that still didn't make it magic. I knew there were stage acts where so-called magicians would pretend to read people's minds and it was all done with trickery.

With a sigh I looked at the young blonde again and asked, "So assuming this is all for real, what do you get out of it? I'm sure you aren't doing all this for free."

"You're right Clover," she replied. "The sort of magic I'm talking about doesn't come cheap. The spell I'm offering you and Claire is rather expensive."

I nodded and looked at my daughter again, "There we go. It's some sort of con job. I don't know how she's doing the 'magic' stuff but she's probably got an accomplice behind-the-scenes feeding her information. They probably prey on desperate people, they'll try and get a pile of money out of us then hope when the dust settles we'll be too embarrassed to go to the cops and admit we got suckered in."

Claire still looked conflicted as she considered what I just said. I knew she's a smart girl, I had no doubt she'd realize I was right once she had time to think it through..

Selene shook her head, "If I were asking for money then perhaps your theory would hold water. But the price of my magic isn't anything so crude. I trade in intangible things, Clover."

I frowned "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her eyes locked on mine and she stated "You have a masters degree in chemistry, and two and a half decades experience as a chemical engineer. You won't be needing that any longer, you were let go last week and you know your prospects of finding a similar job are bleak. That's what I'll take in trade, for the magic to give both yourself and Claire your ideal bodies, ideal lives."

For a few moments I just stared at her, trying to comprehend what she was saying. It finally hit me, "This is some kind of drug thing isn't it? You want me to put me to work making street drugs or something. Well sorry to disappoint, but my field is industrial solvents. Believe me, don't want to snort, smoke, or inject that stuff."

"What? No!" The blonde's reaction was a mixture of shock and exasperation. She shook her head, "My goodness you are making it very hard to help you."

She turned and stared at her cat for a few seconds. The cat was sitting up on her cushion now, as if she was interested in the conversation. Selene rubbed her forehead then sighed, "Why don't you two go and discuss my offer. We close at five tonight, and we're open tomorrow from ten till six. If you come to a decision try and get back here before we close tomorrow, so you won't miss the full moon."

Before either Claire or myself could respond, Selene's form seemed to shift right before my eyes. One moment she was the twenty-year-old woman we'd been talking to for the past ten minutes, the next moment she was the forty-something year old shopkeeper with the greying blonde hair and a few extra pounds around her middle.

I felt another shock go through me, as I actually witnessed it happen with my own eyes. It was the sort of thing you wouldn't bat an eye at on TV or in a movie, special effects like that had been around for decades. But it was absolutely, utterly impossible in real life.

She gestured towards the door and I heard a clunk as it unlocked itself, then the open/closed sign flipped around to indicate the shop was once again open.

"Go on now dears," Selene said. Her voice was still kindly but there was an undertone of impatience. "You go talk this over, and if you decide you want my help just come on back here before six tomorrow evening."

I was still staring at her in shock from what I'd just witnessed. Claire took my hand and started pulling me towards the door. She looked back at the blonde and said, "We'll see you again tomorrow."

Claire didn't let go of my hand, she continued pulling me along out of the store and all the way back to the parking lot, back to our car.

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