Based in the Wild Cards world created by George RR Martin. He edited
the books, that were written by a great many of his friends, making
them into one story. I do not own the world, I simply cheated and put
my characters in it because I love the Jumpers and the idea of an alien
virus changing the world (alternate history/timeline). Should George or
any of those writers see this (ya, right) I hope that they sees that I
mean no disrespect and hope that they enjoys this if he ever (doubtful)
reads this. Thanks again for the support.
There was a part of me that really did not like the first draft of
this. I wrote it in only a couple hours and edited in sprits over days,
and rushed the end. I hope that this one ends a little better than the
first version, but we will see.
"What-?" Dan was not quite understanding the beautiful young woman that
had come out of his house mate and best friend's room.
The little brunette took a second to compose herself then she said- at
a much slower and understandable speed- "I am Rick Turner."
There was panic and fear written on her beautiful face that Dan did not
think could be faked- at least not by any actor he had seen in person.
Rick was twenty three last month, this woman- young lady could not have
been nineteen, or close to it, though she was.... She had a couple
obvious enhancements that made her look older, more worldly as his
father would have said.
Dan looked up and down the hall- four bedrooms, six guys lived in the
house. He knew that Craig was home, but who was downstairs he did not
know.
Dan recalled seeing her the night before, but did not recall hearing a
name or anything, he did recall seeing her and Rick head upstairs
fairly early (thus why Dan had finished the BBQing).
"Are- is this a joke?" Dan asked, then pushed (without touching her)
past the five foot one inch tall female into Rick's room.
His desk was clean, hamper overflowing, bed was a mess, the mirror
above his dresser was cracked, the floor- aside from a woman's blouse
and bra was pretty clean, and his computer was out- the web site that
was open was for tracking stolen cell phones.
The person he was looking for was not there. Dan noticed that Rick's
boots were gone- not his sandals or running shoes and his jacket was
missing- which with the weather was very odd.
"Dan-? Man, you have to believe me- its me- Rick," she was all teared
up, looking like she would have an emotional break any second.
Five years ago Dan and Rick had met at the dorms. They had been dorm
mates for three years, they knew each other well (probably to well)
because of that time together. When Rick wanted to get a place outside
of the dorms he used what savings he had built up to rent a house. He
rented a room to Dan, and four others guys that were sick of the dorms
and they knew. Dan and Rick each got their own room, the other four had
to double up.
"Dan- dude, I.... I think she was a Jumper," the young lady said, "I
think she fucking Jumped me."
"Is this a joke?" Dan asked again as he turned to look at her.
Jumpers- about twenty years ago, had been the great fear of New York
City. A group of youths that could steal people's bodies, use them for
various crimes, sometimes leaving people in stranger's bodies. The
chaos it created was still being felt decades after the last Jumper had
supposedly been killed.
The female that claimed to be Rick was dressed in jeans, short boots
with low heels, and one of Rick's faded Metalica tee shirts. She was
small, big breasted, cute, a long haired- brunette, she had a look in
her eyes that Dan knew as Rick's type- ruffied.
"Did you give her something?"
She stepped back, her eyes bursting with tears- "No- I gave her a beer,
we were talking than she brought me up here, and she drank.... She
downed it all, and then..... then that was it- I don't remember
anything until I woke up about thirty minutes ago feeling like shit."
It had been just a few minutes ago when Dan had heard her- shocked
noises, fear, but he had left her be until she had come out of the room
and approached him.
Dan considered her denial- why Ruffy someone that is going upstairs
with you unless you are a total douche bag and not just a total douche
bag, jack ass with a little dick and no control- or you are a Joker
with no ability and all the desire to get a woman that looked like her.
Which kind of covered them both.
The only reason Dan did not say or do anything about Rick's drugging
girls to have sex with was that..... once in a while Dan got a go at
them too, it was not his proudest moments but he needed to get more
than a hand job once in a while- hell even hookers were reluctant to
have sex with him.
Dan looked at himself in the cracked mirror over the dresser- fat,
glasses, short beard (it was hard for him to shave the scared area, so
he did not), disjointed looking, and with the short horns and half a
scarred face- a Joker. He was, an introverted, ugly, scifi geek with no
shot at ever getting a girl like the three he had fucked in the years
sense he knew Rick.
Rick was his bestfriend, his only real Nat friend (he knew lots of Nats
but only one he thought of as his friend).
Nats or Naturals like Rick were normal people, people unchanged by the
alien virus that came to Earth in the late nineteen forties. Thousands
were changed by the virus- turned into Jokers, malformed humans that
had claws, or turned into pudding, or walrus like creature, every Joker
was different. Aces were the lucky ones, people that got powers, could
fly or control the wind or create things out of nothing, but they were
few and far between. Most people that had their Card Turn were killed-
it was called 'pulling the Black Queen,' and it was never pretty (so
Dan had heard).
"Dan-?"
"Where did she come from? Who invited her?" Dan asked as he started
working the thoughts of this through his head.
They had had a little party last night- a BBQ, and to much to drink.
Rick had wanted to throw a party for the end of the year, just the
house mates and their girlfriends, but there were so many parties that
would be coming up in the next week or so he decided to throw it early-
the end of the week before finals.
"She was with.... She came in with Craig's girlfriend- I think," the
woman that claimed to be Rick said, "I saw her through the sliding
glass door walk in with Candice."
Dan was thinking about when he had seen her- this little female left
Candice's side for the bathroom, but he did not know when he had seen
her- immediately upon arrival or an hour after she got here. Rick saw
her enter, and Dan saw her sometime after that leaving Candice's side
and head for the bathroom.
"Dan- I.... I gotta find her-"
"Bad idea," Dan told her, then looked into her drugged beautiful green
eyes, "she is off robbing a bank right now, killing and raping people,
she will be back to Jump you, no- what you need to do is go to the
police, file a report, tell them everything- well, skip the drug part,
so that when she does return you have something to keep you out of
prison."
She looked even more terrified then before, the color went from her
face- "you- you think-?"
"If she came here with a plan to Jump you then she knows you, she knows
what you have done, and she knew you would drug her- tell me this- did
she take a drink of the beer downstairs?"
She blinked a couple times, thinking, remembering, than slowly she
shook her head- "I did not give her anything.... I- I think she took
something- she was clearly- God that should have been my first clue
something was wrong, no one that looks like this wants to have sex with
me," she said looking at herself in the cracked mirror.
The mirror was cracked with a central pattern, Dan had seen that kind
of crack before, someone had punched the mirror and by the height of
the center of the crack he could guess that it was this woman that had
done it.
"When we were on the stairs she took out a little bottle and.... I
think she ruffied herself," she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Dan nodded- "now I need proof- in your room is a book, in that book is
a mathematical equation- tell me who wrote it. When it was written. And
what the answer to it is. And," he smiled a little, "do it without
looking."
She stared up at him for nearly a minute then she looked about, pushing
her hair back from her face, she saw a book shelf- "it's not a book-
it's a magazine, and it's not in here- I.... you wrote it, I was
studying Trig, freshmen year..... and I was stuck on this problem,
working the hell out of it when you took one of my Playboys and wrote
it across the page of my favorite lay out. When I got a B in that class
you.... You took the magazine and put it in your collection."
"The answer-?"
"I don't remember- that was.... That was four years ago," the young
lady said looking less afraid and more confident, "but you writing it
there.... You saved me and got me that B."
Dan took a breath and looked her over.
"Please, Dan-"
He held up his left hand to stop her pleading-
"Dan- I know you know it's me," she said, on the very edge of tears
again.
"You understand that this is just to far-fetched to not test you?" Dan
asked her.
Reluctantly she nodded- "ya, I get it.... I guess, I get it- wha-?" she
closed her eyes taking a breath, the movement of her breasts distracted
Dan a moment.
"I have a tattoo?"
"No, you are a pussy," the girl snapped, then smiled a little at him,
as though she was going to cry again.
"You have a tattoo?"
"Two- because I am a man," she said, which was just enough to make a
tear run down her cheek.
Both were the responses Dan had expected, comments that had been made
over the years they had known each other.
"I have how many siblings?"
"Just your sister- Maddie," she said wiping her face, then looking at
her hand and the tears on them.
Dan was convinced that she was well versed, but he was sure this could
all be faked- except for the acting job.
"Last question- we were in the car driving back from where last year
when you told me.... What-?"
She was trying hard to remember.
Dan was concentrating hard on the trip to ComiCon last year and the
long drive home, all the conversations they had because the radio had
died, turned out to be a fuse but neither of them thought of that.
"Fuse for the radio burnt out.... Does that help?"
"Fuse-?"
She gathered her hair and pushed it back on her head- "we took no trips
last year- we took a trip to the scifi convention.... Two years ago, we
drove.... Fuse-?"
"Testing to see if you were a telepath," Dan said, "you passed."
She gave him a little smile- "thanks, Dan."
"Come on," he said.
They went downstairs without a word, outside to Dan's ten year old
Toyota- a hand me down from his Mom. Dan unlocked the passenger's door
with the key and opened it, the female that claimed to be Rick gave him
an odd look as he held the door for her. The door closed Dan got into
the driver's seat, using his left hand as he always did to buckle up.
"My car is missing," she said.
Dan noticed that too.
She was looking at his right hand, he had only three fingers on that
hand- that included his thumb because there was no way to tell the
three apart, his fingers were all about six inches long and tipped with
an inch and a half long claw. What was weird about his hand was that
his palm was only the size of a dime, very odd looking and very
frightening looking.
Dan looked at her looking at it, thinking that Rick had once done that.
He saw a chance for another test- "you have never asked-?"
"I have asked- that first night, we were laying in the dark, you in
your bed commenting on my gas. We have sense learned that Joker gas is
far worse than Nat gas," she was looking at him, "I asked you a shit
load of questions, and you answered them...."
"I didn't mind- you have not said anything or done anything that led me
to think you were holding my Joker against me, so...."
"I saw a guy," she said, "I saw someone I knew was going to be my best
friend, and it did not matter what you looked like to me, 'cause
you..... you were a freak just like me."
'If this chick is not Rick I will eat my shoes,' Dan thought putting
the car in gear and leaving the crib.
"I am going to call you Rikki," Dan told the young lady, "because it's
just.... Because I- ya, you are Rikki right now."
She said nothing, belted into her seat and looked very small, very
lost, and very alone.
'Rick always forgot his seatbelt until the car was moving,' Dan
reflected.
The first thing they did was drive to a lawyer's office.
"Hello can I help you?" the receptionist asked with a little of an odd-
'what is this Joker doing in my office?' look.
"Yes, my friend here has been Jumped, and I fear that his body is being
used for something illegal and I would like to get some help
establishing his identity before the Jumper does to much damage," Dan
was doing well at meeting her gaze, "you know like crimes and stuff."
The receptionist gave Dan a clipboard- "please fill this out."
"I know this is short notice and all, but on this- we have very little
time to get her.... His identity verified and locked in, can we.... Are
we going to be able to see someone today?" Dan was trying hard to be
charming, but scaly, burnt scarred face, clawed hand, and horns was not
helping.
Dan's horns were just about two inches long and came out of his head
just above each eye, nearer to the temples then the center of his
forehead.
"I will talk to one of our attorneys but that paper work needs to be
done," she said with a snooty yet professional tone.
Dan nodded to her with a 'thank you,' kind of look. Dan took Rikki and
the clipboard to the chairs and sitting her down- "focus on your
writing, it's very important that you make your letters ledge able," he
said to her.
He leaned closer to her ear and whispered- "handwriting is key here,
that is why we are here so I need you to write in front of witnesses in
this office and leave paper here."
She looked at him when he pulled back, then she nodded, understanding
that Dan wanted to leave handwriting for handwriting analysis when this
went to trial.
With the paper work being filled out Dan searched on the other side of
the office for a magazine for a moment- "excuse me, Ms- ahh, Allison,"
he read her name plate, "how long have you worked here?"
"Two years," the receptionist answered, then looked at the two of them.
She had things to do and went back to them.
Dan smiled a little.
Twenty minutes later Dan was shaking hands with John Briggs, a forty
something year old, slightly overweight man with a look in his eyes
that screamed- 'okay, let us see how I can help these people.'
When John had seen Rikki he had widened his eyes a little.
John had the look of someone that loved to debate and loved to talk,
but also loved to listen to a good story.
Dan introduced Rikki- "this is Richard Gregory Turner, normally he goes
by Rick, but right now I am calling her Rikki."
The look that John gave was one of- 'what the fuck?'
"Hello," he smiled at Rikki as they shook hands, "you are quite
beautiful," he complimented her.
"Ahh-" Rikki was confused, lost and concerned.
John's paralegal entered the room with a clipboard and no positive
emotion. The young lady was between eighteen and twenty with fifty
extra pounds of weight and short wiry hair. She handed Dan a clipboard
with some papers on it. It was never a surprise to him when he saw a
look of disgust in people's eyes, he was actually starting to get used
to it and expect it.
Dan noticed the looks that John was giving Rikki, it was a look that
Rikki seemed to recognize, and had no idea how to interrupt; John was
taken with Rikki's beauty.
They sat at the large table and Dan said- "my friend was Jumped into
this body last night or this morning."
The word took John a moment to catch up to, before he said- "Jumped you
say? Like the Rox thing in New York twenty five or twenty years ago?"
"Like the whole Mistral thing," Dan said with an affirmative nod.
An Ace by the name of Mistral had been Jumped early in the conflict at
the Rox (aka Ellis Island). At the end of the conflict the Jumper in
Mistral's body was threatened with death if she did not Jump into a
sailor that had been in the water below. That sailor had done a Playboy
spread, some modeling, and dated more than a few women, before the real
Mistral had a court order and lawyers involved. Dan did not know about
the real ending to that as Mistral had all but disappeared from public
view in the decades sense.
Slowly John's brain started working on that, catching up to the
information- almost like he was recalling it from the library of his
brain.
Rikki was working on the paper work on the clip board, trying to get it
all filled out.
"Party yesterday, woman took Rick upstairs, we think she drugged
herself and Jumped him. He woke this morning in that body," Dan said
told John.
"Jumped-? There have not been any Jumper reports in twenty plus years,"
John said, "and none here in California."
"Yes, I understand, what we need is to establish Rick's identity,
establish a time line, so if the Jumper killed someone in that body
then goes out and rapes then tries to Jump back Rick does not end up in
prison for the rest of his life," Dan said as Rikki worked on the
papers, trying to look ever smaller, which was not hard for someone
that was so small.
John nodded, with a glance at Rick- "we can do that, but it's going to
cost-"
"Rick is a draftsmen, and I work at a pizza parlor, neither one of us
has any real amount of money," Dan said.
Rick looked up-
"Continue to fill that out," Dan insisted with a tap of his talon on
the clipboard.
"This is going to be a costly and lengthy case-"
"Okay- well, I- how about this, we see what we can come up with
regarding some money, you keep her- his information, maybe take a
statement and we get back to you in a couple days," Dan said with all
the kindness he could.
John looked at the two of them, then smiled at Dan, and laughed- "what
did you say your degree was in?"
"I have a Bachelors in Mathematics, minor in Computer Science. I was
working on my teaching certificate and my Masters," Dan said all that
then glanced over at Rikki who was still writing.
"Alright, we can keep her writing here in our office, and Rikki can
speak to Lynn here to establish a little conversation at nine fifty
three this morning," he looked at the clock on the wall as he said it,
"and I will call a friend of mine- a police Detective to see what we
can do with them."
"You have not been to the police yet?"
"No, we were going to try to keep this out of the public view as long
as we could," Dan said looking at Rikki then back at John, "I figured
that a lawyer would be the best start."
John nodded as he got up- "why don't we let these two talk."
*
It was closing on noon when Rick stopped talking. He had told Lynn
nothing of the drugs and of drugging other girls but other than that
they talked for nearly an hour, then the Detective came in and talked
to him.
Detective Gary Brown was a tall buff looking African American, a little
thick about the waist, he wore a suit that was probably straight off
the rack.
Brown asked what Rick thought had to be close to a hundred questions
but was actually about fifty- where were you born, parents names,
grandparents, who was alive and who was dead in his family, health
problems, and a whole lot about the woman he had been jumped into.
In exchange Rick asked a few questions- how many Jumper incidents have
there been in the last twenty years, and are there any out there in the
world, and things like that. None of which Brown knew the answer to.
When Brown asked the one question that Rick did not want to answer he
lied- "did you put anything besides beer in the beer cup?"
Rick was what the law would consider a serial rapist. It was not that
he wanted to harm them, he liked women, he just wanted to have sex with
them when they would not give him the time of day because he was short
dicked, fumble mouthed, and not as handsome as he would have liked.
Rick considered it a fact that women would look at good looking guys as
potential mates before looking at the guy inside, he knew that because
he had a few female friends and every one of them liked him but would
not have sex with him.
Six times he had used Ruffies to get into some girl's pants. The first
time the woman had been a bitch to him, teasing him, making him think
she was going to sleep with him then telling him the truth- she had
used him for free drinks. He felt a little guilty about having sex with
her, but felt slightly justified that he had paid a lot of money for
her drinks and some chicken wings and....
The next one was more of an accident, she had asked for something for
her headache. She had gotten into his jacket and took a pill from the
wrong vial. He had almost not done it. The next morning she and he had
sex again, but she said- "wow, I must have been really drunk last
night," when she was looking at him then turned and left without
another word.
Brown asked more questions, some meant to establish his identity, and
some meant to trip him up.
"Cell phone?"
"It's off- I already tried to call it," Rick said, it had actually been
one of the first things he had done. Then he had tried to track it, but
found the phone was off, so he set it up to track if it came on. He
told Brown as much.
The aged Detective seemed to think that the hot girl with the big tits
was either the greatest actress he had ever seen or she was telling the
truth.
"I am going to ask for your prints," Brown said, extracting a small kit
from the bag he carried, "and suggest that you go to the hospital, I
will call ahead and set up the tests."
Rick agreed that he would, he needed to know if his new body had AIDs,
was pregnant, or something like that.
(Why would a Jumper give him a healthy, young, sexy body, why not give
him something old, feeble, and ugly as sin? It made no sense.)
After Brown took his prints they talked a few more minutes but it was
clearly over. Rick thanked him and Brown smiled, and said he would be
in touch.
Brown grabbed the door, giving Rick that smile that Rick found
incredibly unnerving.
In the receptionist area Rick found Dan. His friend- best friend
reading a book on his smart phone.
Dan was one of those guys that if he were a Nat he would be exactly
like he was- a computer gamer guy with very little social skills though
today he had really stepped up, taking the intuitive and tricking a
lawyer, a paralegal, a receptionist, and a cop into being witnesses for
him. Leaving his hand writing behind was a perfect example of his
brilliance.
Dan's card had turned when he was in his early teens. He had drawn a
Joker- scaly, scarred face and half his body (the right side), an
incredibly long hand made mostly of three fingers (thumb included) and
a sharp talon on the end of each. And a foot that was really just long
toes. Dan was pretty ugly.
Dan seemed to accept his fate as a Joker pretty well, knowing that he
was doomed to be alone so he made friends- mostly Jokers like Craig or
Globe.
When Dan got his car door for him, Rick rolled his eyes and sat down in
the car, buckling the seat belt while Dan got into the driver's seat.
The seatbelt cut into his breasts so he moved it a little, as a tear
escaped his eyes.
Being in a different body was kind of eye opening as to what his body
was actually like- he had not been aware that he was losing hearing in
his left ear, or that his vision was not all that clear in his right
eye. Gradual loss of two of his senses had blinded him to the fact that
it was happening.
"You know you do not have to get my door for me," he told Dan.
"Oh, ah- ya, sorry, just habit," Dan said giving a sideways glance at
Rick's chest again.
Rick leaned forward and pulled all his hair around and onto the left
side of his chest so he was camouflaging her chest and getting the hair
from behind helped him so he could sit more comfortably.
"Where to-?"
"Brown set up an appointment at the hospital for me, I guess I need to
go do that," Rick said feeling very weird, fearful, and embarrassed.
He was pretty sure that the Jumper had had sex with him. The one thing
he could recall from last night was the feeling of pressure, like he
had to take a dump, and something on top of his back, pounding into
him, and beer breath. When he had woke he had to clean up his ass
(which was sore). He had told no one about that, and surmise that when
he got to the hospital they would discover what had been done to him.
Rick felt incredibly violated and afraid, not knowing exactly what had
been done to him was.... Unnerving. And thinking that he knew what had
happened was shaking his foundation.
"You should go," Dan told him.
Rick gave a little nod of his head- "ya," was all he could think to say
as he drifted deep down in to depression he started to shake then cry.
*
The hospital did not happen until after three, when Dan pushed him to
get it done.
It had taken Rick a couple hours to get out of the depression enough to
do more than curl up into a little ball and cry.
It took almost an hour for him to get in to see a doctor. She was kind
of pretty, though Rick could not remember her name or the nurse's name.
A physical exam was done, Rick kept his eyes closed for most of it,
crying through all of it. He told them what had happened while he was
there. Neither seemed to judge, but he felt they were.
They took urine- he had to pee in a cup, he had never peed into a cup
as a guy, so doing it as a female was really weird, and to top it off
he really had to go.
Blood was next, a couple vials, nothing seemed unusual about that.
In the car headed back to the house Dan was quiet and Rick just cried,
trying to imagine his life now as a big breasted woman.
*
It was after five when they got back to the house. Rick's stomach was
grumbling and growling, he had not eaten at all sense getting into the
woman's body and he had been in it for as long as twenty hours.
"Hay," Jim greeted Dan and Rick, giving Rick a little extra smile and a
lot more of a look, "are you a-"
"Back off," Dan told him.
Jim was a master of people, he seemed to be able to see through lies
and knew what people meant even when it was not a hundred percent
clear. Rick always felt the guy had some telepathic Duce power.
A Duce power was something worthless, not a Joker or an Ace, more Nat
in appearance, Duces could change the color of their skin, cause water
to turn color, change the shade of clothes, even know a lie when it was
presented, and so forth, nothing anyone thought of as really useful.
Rick could feel their eyes on his swaying boobs and ass. He tried hard
not to think about it and really hard to not burst into tears.
Half way down the hall Craig stepped out of his room- "oh, ahh- hi," he
said.
Craig was fairly normal looking, a Joker, his family had come (some
generations back) from the Mediterranean (Greek or Italian or.... Craig
did not know). He was lean, fair looking, dark hair and eyes. His tail
was prehensile and about six feet in length, normally he kept it out of
sight but wearing shorts and a tank top it was hard to hide.
Rick was pretty sure that Craig could see through the end of his tail,
as he was often moving it around women, and seldom did he seem
surprised by the appearance of anyone. Rick wondered how that worked
when Craig was using it to satisfy Candice, could he see the inside of
her vaginal area? He suddenly did not want to know.
"Ahh- are you looking for someone?"
"Candice- she brought me here?"
"Ahh- Candice-? Oh, ya, ahh- Candice," Craig was staring and startled
at the mentioning of his beloved girlfriend.
"Ya, Candice, your girlfriend, ya, she brought me last night, I wanted
you to call her," Rick told him, then something occurred to him-
"unless you know my name?"
"Ahh- sorry, I am.... I have no idea-"
Rick followed his gaze down to the breasts on his chest- "they are tits
you twaddle!"
Craig stepped back at the snap- "wait- last night? Candice rode with
me. She was talking on the phone in the car so I left her there, she
came in later."
'She walked in with Candice and made it look like they came together,'
Rick realized.
"Call her and let me talk to her," Rick said.
"Who are you-?"
Rick looked down then grabbed his shirt and raised it as he pressed his
chest fore ward. Craig's eyes about popped out of his head. "Can you
please call your girlfriend and let me talk to her?"
Craig grabbed his phone from his pocket still staring.
Rick compressed the tits on his chest with his forearms, smiling a big
fake smile all the while.
Rick only lowered his shirt when Craig handed him the phone.
"Hi Craig, what's up?" Candice said with a smile, or at least she
sounded like it.
"Hi, Candice, we met last night, coming into Rick's party at the same
time. You remember me?" Rick said, then added, "brunette, white blouse-
lots of cleavage...."
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone- "ah... you came
in wi- oh, the brunette- ya, it was.... Gloria- right?"
"Is that what I told you my name was?" Rick asked noticing the way that
Craig was watching him and the way his tail was moving- it was
unsettling.
Craig's tail was behind Rick so Rick turned and stepped away from it.
'Gloria- great, Gloria was the girl from Junior High that saw my dick
in the locker room and told everyone about it, now I am stuck with that
fucking name. Perfect reminder,' Rick thought as he looked at Craig-
who had taken the hint.
"Ya- what is this?" Candice was confused, "and why are you on Craig's
phone."
"I asked him to call you. You have a great boyfriend. Did you see me
come with anyone? Get out of a car or- anything like that?"
"There was a car, waited on the curb- a new car, there was a man- an
older guy driving-"
"Color-? Make-?"
"Dark- do you not know who you came with?" Candice asked sounding like
she was tiring of this game as well as sounding concerned with the
woman she was talking to.
"Come over to Rick's and I will tell you in an hour," Rick said then
handed Craig the phone back, "thanks."
*
While Rick was upstairs doing whatever, Dan was down stairs talking to
the guys, asking them to call their girlfriends to the house. There was
a bit of an emergency and he needed help. Rick and he had not talked
about it much more then- "we need to have a house meeting," and that
was about it.
Questions were asked but Dan only said- "we don't want to explain it
ten times, please, just get your ladies here."
While he did that he heated up some of the chicken from the night
before put some cole slaw in a bowl and set it on the table for Rick
along with a damp towel.
*
Rick did not ask, he saw the food and saw that Dan was behind it and
sat down to eat.
A couple of the guys were watching him- Jim talked to him again, but
gave up and went back to his video game, while Ken watched him from
afar, and Dale tried to strike up a conversation with him.
Candice came in as Dale was about to leave-
"Dude- wait," Dan called to him.
It appeared to Rick that Dan had already called a house meeting as they
had discussed.
Dale paused then stepped back into the room to listen as Rick stood up,
wiping his mouth and hands with the damp towel he dropped it on the
table for disposal later.
Candice stepped up to Craig's side, taking his hand.
"I need you all to think back last night, at everything you saw me do,"
Rick gestured to himself, "I need every step."
"What is this-?" Jim asked.
"Just answer her," Dan said then noticed Rick was waiting for him.
"Did anyone see me arrive?"
"A dark car arrived on the curb while I was on the phone," Candice
said, "sat there a couple minutes then the girl kissed the driver- a
quick peck on the cheek or lips or.... Then you walked in with me. I
asked who you were you said your name was Gloria and you were here to
see Rick."
"Was I carrying anything?" Rick asked.
"No, well a pair of sunglasses on your head," she said then added, "and
a cell phone."
"Anyone else see that? Anything before?" Dan asked looking at them all.
"I saw you come in," Ken said, "but I don't remember the cell phone."
Ken was a fairly sizeable dark skinned African American, in fair shape
he was friendly and working on his ever changing technical degree.
"Where did I go?" Rick asked, "after I came in, I mean."
"Into the bathroom, but you came right out. Put your glasses over on
the mantel and went out back," Ken answered, looking between Dan and
Rick. Rick had long suspected Ken of being a little light in the
loafers, but Rick could really care less, the guy was kind and easy to
get along with who cared if he was gay? Rick didn't, he thought the guy
was pretty cool.
Rick looked at the glasses that were still sat on the mantel. He walked
over to them, picked them up and looked them over. They had fat arms
and fat frames and right in on the bridge was a small little glass dot.
Dan saw the look on his face and came over to look.
Rick turned the glasses so he was looking right into them- "call Dan's
phone right now you evil fuck," he said into the camera.
Everyone in the living room was looking at him oddly.
Craig's tail was snaking around-
Candice punched his shoulder- "stop it," she whispered to him.
He snaked his tail up her leg and up into her skirt. She elbowed him
once, whatever he was doing he stopped doing but kept his tail snaked
up her leg.
Dan sensed what Rick was going to do next and took the glasses- he had
no idea what he could do with them but he knew he could save them as
evidence. He took the glasses upstairs very quickly and slipped them
into his Faraday Cage- after he had removed his computer. The Faraday
Cage would keep the glasses from transmitting until he figured them
out.
Everyone waited for Dan to reappear before they continued.
"After that- what happened?" Rick asked them.
"You were in back," Jim said from his spot on the lounge chair, his
game controller forgotten in his hand with the game paused as it was.
"I started talking to you, but you said something like- 'I am here for
Rick, not you,'" he tilted his head a little to the side, watching her,
"then you went over to Rick and talked to him."
"After that-?"
"He got you a beer, and you guys went upstairs a while later," he
replied, "you would have to ask Rick what that conversation was about,
but I think you already know- don't you, Rick?"
Rick was now standing in the center of his friends. "I am Rick- and I
was Jumped last night, drugged- I think, and when I woke I was like
this."
"Wha-?"
"No fuckin' way!"
"Holy shit-?"
"Fuck man, that would suck to be a hot chick-"
Candice elbowed her boyfriend.
"Where did my body go?"
"Left this morning," Ken said, "I was in the kitchen, you told me bye.
The way you said it I thought.... It sounded weird, not like you."
"And I took my car?"
"Obviously- it's gone," Dale said glancing at the front window.
"Why would someone target you?" Jim asked.
Dan and Rick looked at each other.
"If you think of anything that might help, let us know- I will be
taking care of the bills," Dan said looking everyone over, "thanks-"
"You two know why this is happening, and I want to know," Candice said
giving them both a look.
Craig removed his tail from her leg and headed to the kitchen.
"We have an idea, and it's better for you if you not know," Dan told
them.
"Do me a favor- don't spread this around, I know people will find out,
I have to tell people but just... no pictures of me and..... stay off
social media with it," Rick said to them all, "personal favor to me."
They all gave some kind of affirmative gesture or comment.
Candice stepped up to Rick as the meeting broke up.
Dale left for work.
Jim dropped his controller on the couch and went to talk to Dan about
the glasses then the two of them went to search the bathroom.
"Rick- you have to wear a bra," Candice said, "do you have one?"
Rick nodded a little- "upstairs."
With Craig prepping some food for her. Candice went upstairs with Rick,
to show him how to put on a bra.
She picked up the bra off the floor, straightening it out from the
tangle the Rick had put in it when he had thrown it in a childish fit.
"Take off your shirt," she said.
Rick hesitated then took the shirt off, he felt the rise and fall and
the bounce of his breasts, it was really weird, but walking around all
day he had no bra so he was aware of the movement of his breasts and
the taking off of an oversized shirt bothered him less than the bounce
of his breasts this morning.
Candice looked him over- naked from the waist up standing in the middle
of his bedroom. "At least you are younger, and prettier," she said,
"and... I guess you have something to play with now."
"Better shape too," Rick tensed his belly showing a slight six pack,
"someone worked on this body, someone is missing it."
Candice nodded a little, then helped him get the straps over his
shoulders and helped him hook it. "Just move the bra around a little-"
Rick knew what she meant but looked at her like he didn't.
Candice reached up and adjusted the bra, feeling his breasts as she
did. Rick smiled at her, hoping a little bit that she would continue,
but Candice saw what he was doing and lowered her hands. "Not funny,"
she said.
"Think I'll have a better chance with the ladies in this body?"
"Better chance with guys if you swing that way," she told him.
Without a doubt Candice was the prettiest girlfriend of the housemates-
though not even close to Gloria's level of appearance. She was
constantly in knee length skirts, and today she was wearing a button up
blouse and ankle high boots with three inch heels. Candice's hair was
naturally blonde but she dyed it to have a little brownish red in it,
and used blue contacts to make her blue eyes even bluer. Her ass was a
little wide, and her belly could have used some work but all in all she
was pretty.
"And you are really-"
"I showed Craig my tits to make him call you," Rick blurted out, "I
wasn't going to say anything, don't blame him, I was.... I was
frustrated and I did not want to have to explain myself again."
Candice slowly nodded- "thank you for telling me that."
"You are great for him, don't punish him," Rick asked her, "I only told
you because.... Because of why this is happening to me. I don't want
to.... I don't want to be a prick to you. I was the asshole, he just
did what guys do when they see a pair of tits."
Slowly Candice nodded- "life is going to get rough in a few days. I
think you might want to keep those tied up, you start showing them
around and people might get the wrong idea."
It was Rick's turn to nod slowly.
"What did you do?" Candice was clearly thinking they had a moment where
she could learn something.
Rick shook his head, tears running from his eyes- "I can't say.
Just..... don't ask me. Please, don't ask."
Candice nodded, feeling that if she knew what Rick had done she would
hate him, and because she felt like that she wanted to slap the girl in
front of her in the face. Would that help Rick now? She knew it would
not, she also knew that Rick was in a hell that would not change with
her slap. He was.... For the most part a nice guy, a little creepy at
times, but a good person.
They talked a little, Candice told him how to do things he did not
understand and helped him get his mind around the idea of dealing with
periods. All the while Candice braided Rick's hair, using cotton string
to tie it off.
"Are you going to cut this?" Candice asked using a second piece of
string to tie Rick's hair.
"I was hoping to get my body back before that became necessary," he
said looking at the mirror that he had punched during his fit of fear
and rage. It had hurt his hand, but not all that much.
Candice looked at him in the same mirror- "I think, Rick, you should
run. Disappear, go far away, and never look back. Because if that
Jumper comes back, you are not getting your body and if you do.... You
are not going to want it back. And if he does come back without it.....
Dan is going to have a better chance of getting laid then you."
There was a lot of reasons to have his body back, first it was his and
he liked it, second he had history and he would not have to explain why
he was a woman, there were other reasons but he was only considering
those two as he sat there thinking.
"Rick-?"
"I just want to be me," he whimpered.
*
Dan and Jim were elbow deep into the taking apart what looked like a
smart phone. They were talking at nearly a whisper about what they were
seeing on the computer they had it plugged into as they poked at it
with instruments. Rick realized he should be helping them but he just
did not have the desire to help, he wanted nothing more than to curl up
on his bed and die slowly and silently.
"I need to study, I have finals this next week, you should study too,
or better yet prepare to talk to the faculty about your predicament,"
Candice suggested as they got to the bottom of the stairs.
Rick nodded, scratching his eye brow. "You have any ideas what I should
say?"
"Talk to your department head and explain your situation, it would be a
shame to lose everything when you have come so close," she told him.
Rick nodded his thanks to her, she kissed his cheek.
"Thank you," she said then turned to Craig who was in the kitchen
waiting, most of his dinner eaten, he uncovered her plate when he saw
her approaching.
Candice went to him and started talking to him, instantly he started
defending himself and glancing at Rick.
It was growing late and Rick was tired like he had never been, so he
went back upstairs took off his boots, jeans, and shirt the laid down,
he was instantly asleep.
*
Rick woke not knowing why he was awake, then he heard Dan tapping on
the door- "Rick-?"
Awake in the darkness Rick got up and opened the door- "ya-?"
It was in that moment that Rick realized he was in a woman's body,
wearing only a bra and a pair of panties.
Dan stood there looking him over from head to toe.
"I..... I need to search your bedroom for bugs, I- the thing that
Candice said was a cell phone was a burst transmitter, it stored three
minutes of audio, burst it out while it was storing up more data.
Anyway, it.... There is an audio files- it got c-"
Clearly Dan was distracted by Rick's new body in so little clothing.
Rick stepped back and went over to his bed, picked up his pants and
pulled them on- "I need to get some new clothes, could you take me to
the store?"
As he looked for the bug Dan said- "sure."
Rick found the shirt that Gloria had worn. He took a deep breath, then
straightened it and put it on. It more than displayed the breasts on
his chest making him feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Trying not to watch his friend Dan continued to search, it took him
only minutes to find it- hidden behind Rick's bed was a wall socket,
connected to the socket was a small device with a wire running under
the bed. He disconnected it and gathered the wire up- "these devices
are handmade, someone went through some trouble to make them."
"The transmitter was plugged into a socket we have under our sink, this
thing was here-"
"It's not still-?"
"No, g'ahh man, no," Dan was trying not to look at his friend like he
was looking, "goddam, you are so pretty."
"Ya, whatever- can I get that ride?"
Dan smiled a little-
"In your dreams buddy," Rick snapped at him. "I mean to the store to
get clothes, and.... I don't have any money."
Dan seemed to understand that and nodded.
Rick pulled his lap top out of its Faraday Cage, looking at the display
on the side. There were three failed attempts to open the box the night
of the Jump- he had not thought to check the time index on the system.
He opened his computer and used another password to get in then checked
the status of his cell phone- it was still off. He had a half dozen
emails, he ignored them and sent a message to his instructors-
"emergency regarding my health, I need to meet with each of my
instructors before finals. You will understand when we meet."
A few minutes later Dan appeared with an egg burrito, a sprinkling of
cheese, and some meat. It was considerably smaller than the one he
normal ate.
The computer locked away Rick went downstairs with Dan. The others were
there studying, a few heads came up as they came down the stairs then
all of them came up just to look at Rick.
*
"Seriously, man?"
Rick looked at the clothes he had collected- "seriously," he replied,
"I have no idea what I am doing, and I am not dressing all sexy. I hate
this body, and I want out of it."
Dan put his hand on Rick's shoulder- "doing what I can to help you
out."
"I know," Rick said then looked around the store. There were a few
people within sight, but none close enough. "I think you need to go-"
"Because that bitch could come and Jump me into something worse?" Dan
asked then chuckled, "I don't want to be a woman either but I would
prefer that to this. A Nat does not have people pulling away,
commenting on how ugly you are behind your back. Maybe.... Maybe my
parents would be able to hug me again, or my sister would smile when
she saw me."
Rick gave a little nod, turning to face his friend he did the only
thing he could think to do to share what he felt- he hugged him.
"Can I grab your ass?" Dan asked as a joke.
"No," Rick said with a little chuckle then he stepped back, embarrassed
that he had got all affectionate on his friend.
Rick picked out a half dozen tee shirts, tried on two pairs of jeans
and picked three, tried on a half dozen cheaply made shoes and bought a
pair of running shoes, socks, panties and a bra.
Dan grabbed him a hat and a pair of sunglasses for Rick because it was
hot and the sun was shining in northern California.
"Hay, wait a second," Dan gestured him towards a display.
A sales women was looking at Dan and Rick, her thoughts, Rick could see
where close to- 'ugly Joker, they should put all of them on an island
somewhere.'
"Is there a problem?" Rick asked her.
The woman said nothing, acting as though she had not heard or seen, she
simply walked away.
"Not that important," Dan said with a dismissive gesture.
Rick looked after the woman, wanting to call her a name but he dare
not, and besides it would do nothing.
"What did you want to show me?" Rick asked.
"Long hair, this is an Alice Band, and there are hair bands-"
Rick looked the display over and grabbed a packet of thin plastic Alice
Bands, and tossed it into the cart that Dan was pushing for him.
A few minutes later they were standing in line at the check stand, the
cashier eye balling Dan, almost completely ignoring Rick.
"How are you today?" Rick asked the guy as he tapped on the check stand
with his polished short by women's standards nails.
"Fine- yourself?" he responded looking at Rick's breasts then at his
face.
"Please don't look at my friend like that," Rick told him, "he is a
really good person. He won't say anything to you."
Luke nodded to Rick- "sorry, just not use to seeing Jokers in Chico,"
he said.
"Only a half dozen in the area," Dan told him, sliding his card through
the machine.
Luke said nothing further about Dan, he looked the two of them over,
seemingly wondering what a Joker had that he did not and how could a
Joker get such a beautiful woman.
Rick smiled at a thought he had, but he decided against it- telling the
cashier that Dan had a big dick and a great mouth and he knew how to
use both, nah, it was petty and he did not want to get people thinking
that he and Dan were an item..... just in case it became public
knowledge that he was actually a dude in a woman's body.
Dan carried the bags, going from the air conditioned store to the
outside was a slap in the face.
"You owe me big," Dan said checking his phone for the third time sense
Rick had left the changing room.
"Wow you are one ugly motherfucker," a guy walking past them snipped at
Dan.
"Hot girlfriend though," the guy's buddy said looking Rick over.
They kept walking-
"Hay freak-"
Rick turn and looked at them- "shut the fuck up!"
"Letting your girlfriend do your fighting for you?" the taller of the
two snapped.
"Rikki- don't, it's not worth it. This gets violent, I have a deadly
weapon I could go to prison," Dan said pulling at Rick's arm, "come
on."
Rick snarled at them- "cock sucking bitch," Rick snapped at them.
The tall one did not like being called a sock sucker and stepped
towards Rick-
"No! She did not mean it, come on Rikki, we have to go," Dan wrapped
and arm around Rick's waist and pulled, or carried Rick out of there.
"Better run, you little cunt!"
"What is the matter with you? I get in a fight and I cut someone with
my talons, that is assault with a deadly weapon, that is serious time
and I would not do well in prison. You know how much people hate
Jokers-"
Rick felt enraged.
"Come on, man, just chill," Dan told him, "Calm down. It's no big deal,
Jokers have been dealing with this for almost seventy years."
*
Back at the house, Rick had simmered down. He carried the bags inside
without saying much.
They guys were all studying or working.
"Hay, Rick- you okay?"
"Ya, Dale, just.... Fuckin' pisses me off, prejudice people," Rick gave
his head a little shake.
"Me too," Dale said giving him a little sideways look.
Rick shook his head-
"Like the head band thing, looks nice-"
"Ya, thanks- thinking of shaving my head I keep this body much longer,"
he said going into the connected garage through the kitchen.
When you have six guys living in a house, the laundry machine is always
full and always forgotten, so Rick emptied out the dryer onto the table
they used as a catch all then he moved the clothes from the washer into
the dryer, started it and started pealing tags.
Dan came in to check on him- "you okay?"
"Ya- no, can you get a load started I need to go drop one," Rick said
then hurried past into the house and upstairs to use the bathroom up
there.
It was weirder sitting on the toilet taking a dump as a woman then he
recalled doing it as a man. He could not pin down why but it felt
different, to say nothing for the fact that his ass still hurt. He was
really still upset about that, but what could he say? He could find the
Jumper and bitch them out for doing what he had done, ya, that would
get him nowhere.
Rick cleaned up, washed his hands watching the beautiful woman in the
mirror over the sink, wondering if he would ever be a man again, or if
he would ever..... no, he would be what he would be.
"You presentable?" Dan asked through the door.
"Ya," Rick reached over and unlocked the door, then ran some water over
his hands and rubbed the wet hands on his face.
Dan was standing there in the doorway looking at him.
"I feel like I am dragging you around a lot more then-"
"Dan- thank you," Rick said looking at him, "not sure if I would be
here right now if not for you. You are a good friend. No, you are a
better friend than I have ever been to you."
"Nah, you are an awesome friend. Its things like these that test
friendship, and I plan on passing this test with a strong A," Dan said
with a good smile that said he was joking and being serious at the same
time.
"Dan," Rick said then exposed his chest when Dan looked.
The two of them started laughing. Dan stepped up to him and took her
into his arms- "if you weren't a dude I would banging you like a drum
against that wall right now."
Rick held onto his friend's arms, wishing he was taller because he felt
like he was being dwarfed. "If I was really a woman I would fuck you so
hard your father would feel it," Rick told him, which made him laugh a
little.
A second later Rick felt Dan's hand on his but- "stop that."
"B+ is a good grade," Dan said then backed up, but he kept his hand on
Rick's ass until Rick stepped away.
*
That night Rick sat on his bed wearing a pair of his new underwear, and
one of his tee shirts, thinking about his life and where he was with it
and what he was going to do next.
Dan had told him that the transmitter was bouncing the messages from
one IP address to another all over the world. He doubted that they
could be tracked by anyone short of the NSA.
The bug was homemade.
The glasses were the only thing that could be traced, but Dan knew no
one that could, and a censes of the house said that they had no one
that knew anyone that could.
After dinner Rick had said he was going to study but instead he sat
staring at emails from friends and family, wondering how he would tell
his parents that he had been raping girls and a Jumper exacted some
justice on him by putting him into the body of a really hot looking
girl.
What was he going to do? He wondered as he took the braids out of his
hair. He was stuck, he was a woman, his degree would go into limbo, and
his past education was in the shitter because he could not prove to
anyone of authority that he was Rick without a whole bunch of lawyers.
Another deep breath. He got up, sat on the floor and started doing
crunches, butterfly kicks, and anything else that he could think of to
work his core. It was thirty minutes of solid, hard work before he was
feeling the burn. He went back through the exercises again.
A little sweet trickled down his brow. He could work more but he did
not really want to get into that.
He- in his body was in not so great of shape, he worked out but he had
bad nutritional habits.
Rick got naked as he turned to the broken mirror, standing there
watching himself standing and turn and pose all sexy like. He lowered
his gaze, then took another breath, he whipped his hair over his head
and flipped it around then watched himself posing for the cracked
mirror as he watched himself posing, trying to look like the women from
his favorite magazines.
The idea suddenly made him feel sick, he backed up and let out a
breath. Grabbed one of his towels, and headed for the shower.
He just wanted to wash his hair and get the sticky funk off his skin
but what he ended up doing was something different. Rick washed his
hair, conditioned it, then using the communal body wash he lathered up,
feeling his new body like he never had. Very quickly he was feeling the
need to explore a little more, and a little more in depth. One finger
on his cliterous brought him to his first orgasm, then two fingers into
his pussy and his thumb rubbing at his clit her was wondering how more
women did not get down and dirty more often.
"Oh, motherfuck," Rick muttered, his forehead on his forearm, his
forearm on the wall wanting more but thinking better of it.
He dried off and wrapped up in his towel then went into his room
without anyone bothering him.
Candice was whimpering in the other room, but there was little or no
movement on the bed, so Rick surmised that Craig had his tail stuffed
up inside her. The thought of Craig doing that to Rick made him sit
down and really start thinking about his life.
*
Candice woke him at about nine with a knocking on the door- "come on,
Rick, they have something to show you."
Rick got up, stopping short of the door to take a look at himself-
panties, a tee shirt, and nothing else. "Come in, Candice," Rick called
her as he went to the basket of clothes that he had brought up.
Candice entered as Rick took off his shirt- "not shy about sharing
those things I see."
"Want to play with them?" Rick asked in more of a joking tone then
anything.
"Ahh- no," she was not interested.
"So what did I need to see," he asked.
Candice grabbed Craig's tail- "quit it- she's not dressed, I will get
her now go."
Candice closed the door- "g'ahh, I hate that thing sometimes."
"Not last night though," Rick said.
"No, not last night," Candice said after a second of thought.
Rick struggled a little with the bra he had found, changed panties,
than pulled on a pair of shorts, and a tee shirt while Candice talked.
"They found something in the software of the transmitter. It was
handmade but the software was off the shelf and modified. They found an
IP address where it downloaded a couple of updates, so that means we
might know where she was," Candice smiled.
Rick gave her a look, then a smile- "thanks."
Downstairs Dan, Ken, and Jim were looking over a computer screen.
"It has to be that house," Dan said as Rick stepped off the stairs.
"If you have an address I am going-"
"No," Jim snapped the lid on the computer shut.
"No one is going there, we can tell the police and let them handle it,"
Dan said.
"Police-? What the hell-? Sending them there to get their bodies
swapped around-" Ken stopped speaking when he saw Rick's face.
"I am going alone, I can get my body back and make all of this right,
and no one has to lose their bodies," Rick told them all, "now give me
the address."
"You are not going alone," Dan told him.
"It won't matter, she is going to Jump me, into a Joker or a Nat or
into myself, I just don't want anyone else hunt," Rick said opening the
computer, "now, please, give me the address."
*
"You are an idiot," Rick told Dan.
"Takes one to know one, right?"
Rick had to nod at that.
They pulled up to the house.
Rick's car was parked just off the grass in front of the house.
Together they got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Rick
knocked.
"Lori!" a man called from across the street. When Rick turned to look
the guy from across the street was waving at him.
Rick waved back- "get in the car and wait for me."
Dan walked Rick as far as the car then Rick moved across the street.
"Hay," Rick smiled at the guy, "how have you been?"
"Good. I thought you moved out?"
The guy was in his mid thirties, in fair shape, taller than Rick by a
foot, he was dressed in shorts and a tee shirt with a hat on.
"Ya, well you know how it is- forget stuff," Rick said, "anyone in
there yet?"
"Nah, just been a day sense Jeff left," the guy said giving Rick a once
over, "his sister showed up the day after you left, not sure I would
say they were brother and sister- they did not look anything alike, and
I saw them kissing."
"They are pretty close," Rick said with a smile, his ankles crossed,
his fingers stuffed into his back pockets, "was it his blonde haired
sister?"
Rick wiggled back and forth a bit. The guy was taking the bait,
watching, getting distracted.
"Ya- six inches taller then you, slim, acted a lot like you in the way
she sunbathed and drank tea, and.... she even knew my name," he was
clearly thinking about something other than what he was talking about.
"I told her about you," Rick tried to put him at ease, "and we laid
together in the sun all the time. Did they say where they were going? I
mean, I thought we were meeting up at one place....."
"Oh, ahh, ya, the- it was in Redding, an apartment," he said looking
curiously at Rick, "did they ditch you?"
"No, I was going to do one thing and they were going to get us settled
but then things did not pan out and I was coming back early, and they
are not answering their phones then I washed mine and its dead, and my
numbers were all stored in it then- well you know?"
"Ahh- ahh, ya, ahh- Cindy washed her's a couple months ago... it was-"
Rick smiled at him a little- "so where was it in Redding?"
"Off Cypress, I think- I don't remember the address- so.... Ah, you....
You want that spare key back?"
"Oh, spare key? Ya, the- ah, what's his name? Ya, he wanted it back,"
Rick said.
The guy excused himself- went back inside. Rick looked at Dan who gave
him a gesture that Rick did not understand, then Rick was back at the
front door, smiling as the nameless neighbor came out- "ya, here you
go, sorry, Jeff must have forgot."
"I know I did," Rick said then waved- "thanks, and we'll catch up some
time."
"The forth is just around the corner," the guy smiled at him.
Rick hurried back to the house, Dan was a few seconds behind him.
The house was clean, and ready for habitation. They searched it then
went out to his car after locking the door.
"You were flirting with that guy?" Dan said as they walked across the
lawn to Rick's car.
"Distracting him," Rick said looking into the back of his car he saw a
couple boxes.
"They left you something," Dan said.
*
Back at the house Rick cleaned out the boxes, looking at clothes and
more clothes. Winter, and summer, and things he would never think about
wearing or want to wear.
He sat on the edge of his bed looking at the clothes on top of one of
the boxes- wondering why-? Why would a Jumper target him? Yes, it was
about what he had done in the past, yes he had raped a girl and that
girl had become close to the Jumper and the Jumper was pissed, but why-
why Jump him into a hottie? Why not jump him into a Joker? It made no
sense to him.
Why leave his car out where he could find it? Why leave the keys locked
inside? What was up with the clothes? Frankly, he was just glad that he
had locked his keys in his car enough times to give Dan a key to his
car, made his life easier that way.
From one box he took his phone, and turned it on.
Within a minute he had his phone powered up, there were all kinds of
texts and phone calls, three messages.
"Rick when you get this call me," a man said.
Rick repeated the massage twice trying to recognize the voice then he
had Dan listen-
"It's you, dude, that is your voice," Dan told him which made everyone
look at him, taking the phone from Rick Dan plugged in a recorder and
offered the phone back.
Rick used caller ID to call the number back.
"Rick! Hay, good to hear from you," a woman said with all smiles and
happy to hear him, "how are you?"
"I could be better. Where is my body?" Rick was walking, pacing,
thinking, the world seemed silent enough to drop a pin, and everyone in
the house was waiting.
"Sold it," she answered, "sorry. Old Rich people will pay a lot of coin
for a healthy young body."
"You asshole-"
"Rick.... Let us not get further off on the wrong foot."
"Let me tell you a tail- six months ago I was going through a little
town, I was talking to this girl who had gone to Chico State for a
year. She went to a party. A geeky ugly guy with no moves started
hitting on her. She felt weird and woke up the next day with these
weird memories of a guy and another guy- the second guy had a burnt
face, and a claw for a hand," the woman said it in such a nice and kind
tone.
"She was having some serious issues with what happened to her-
nightmares, shaking, and... problems," the woman continued, "I offered
to help her. She did not want my help, she wanted to move on. I pushed
a little to hard, because I liked her- you know what I mean, by liked
her?"
"Ya."
"She went into a deep depression, Rick," she said, "her family had her
committed."
"Rick.... She is not doing well," the woman told him.
"So you stole some girl's body and put me in it-"
"Bought it- she was a suicide, that girl you are in, tried to kill
herself many times, I gave her family a bunch of money, and Jumped her
into a body and let her die," she explained, "two months I worked that
body, got new boobs, worked out four days a week, dropped forty pounds.
Some of my best work in that body. Then I gave it to you, Rick, and one
day I am going to show up where you are, I am going to slip a pill in
your drink and I am going to rape you five different ways, so you wake
up covered in cum. And when you wake up, you are going to have these
haunting memories, these feelings that something horrible happened to
you. You are not going to sleep, you are going to cry, and every day
you are going to wonder when I am coming back."
"So this is revenge?"
"Justice," she said, sounding vicious and mean, "right now, I am
working on a body for Dan. You understand me?"
"Leave him alone-"
"He could have stopped you, he could have said no, but he didn't,
instead he