New Beginnings

The pool party was a blur of sun, laughter, and booming music. I was grabbing a drink when Eliza's sister, Clara, sidled over to me with a strange, conspiratorial grin. "Hey, Mark," she whispered. "I discovered something belonging to you at the guesthouse that you might be interested in. Come on.", curious I followed her into a shaded, peaceful cabana. On a small table was one shot glass filled with an unusual, sparkling pink liquid.

"Before you get your thing back," she said, glinting at me, "I want to make a toast" she said. "I want to make amends, so to new beginnings!" I didn't hesitate. I grasped the glass and swallowed the liquid.

It was drinking liquid sugar. There was a weird tingle, like there were a million fizzy bubbles bursting on my tongue and sending shivers all over my entire body, down to the tips of my fingers and toes. My skin stung, and I ran my hand through my hair, finding that it was now too long and annoyingly irritating my ears. A low growl escaped my lips as my swim trunks, which previously fit loosely, now fitted uncomfortably tightly around the waist.

My vision unfocused and blurred as my reflection in the cabana's mirror changed. My jawline softened and became narrow, its flesh becoming smooth. I watched in horror as my Adam's apple actually pulled back into my throat and my voice box narrowed, a strangled laugh caught in my throat and bursting into a gasping giggle. I could sense my legs and arms thinning out, the muscles that I had forged melting away, to be replaced by a new, unfamiliar elegance. My hands, large and practical, had narrowed and become slender. My skin, sun-bronzed tan, paled to porcelain sheen, and my eyes, dull brown, erupted into a breathtaking, shining green.

I could feel my very bones rearranging themselves. My shoulders narrowed, my hips widened, and my pelvis tilted forward. A sharp, internal ache coursed through my body as my height visibly shrank, and my feet, once broad and solid, became impossibly slender. My chest, which had just moments ago been firm with muscle, swelled outward, and my stomach flattened, replaced by a new, impossible curve.  

But the most terrifying transformation was happening in my head. There was a new me forming, an evil, mischievous creature, squeezing my memories and my own self into a box, a locked room. I was a passenger, watching this new brain, full of cruel mirth and bold sensuality, take control. My own thoughts were no longer my own. My own life was being rewired, my soul traded.

The final change was effected. The person who emerged was a breathtakingly beautiful 18-year-old woman. Clara had a small, crumpled black bikini in her fist from a bag beside her. "This will fit," she grinned with evil intent. I picked up the bikini, stripped, and wrapped black fabric tightly around my new form. I felt an unstoppable fierce confidence.

Clara led me back to the pool party, but I was seeing it differently now. I hadn't even noticed how many handsome men there were at the party before. Clara led me out again into the sun-baked pool complex, where Eliza was laughing with friends. We approached her, and Clara's smile hardened and grew cold.

"Look what I've found, Eliza," Clara said, with her voice full of evil pleasure. "I see Mark had an identity crisis or something. Don't you worry, I helped him discover himself."

Eliza's smile dried on her lips as she glared from the poisoned face of Clara to my new, gorgeous body. She saw my unmistakable green eyes and my killer smile that flirted on my lips. I strode towards her, my hips swaying with this new, sensual confidence I never knew before. I grasped her hand, my touch cold and feral.

 

Eliza's face went white with horror as she processed the impossible transformation. Clara stepped forward, her voice a cruel whisper. "Ellie is going to have a lot of fun at this party tonight, starting with Bret over there, I think."