Chapter 4

Alice hung up the phone and sat for a long time, her hands folded.

Alex now wanted to be transformed all the way, and she had given him detailed instructions to follow when he came to visit, in two days time.

And now she had to perform the most painful of tasks, and so Alice delayed and delayed, thinking and talking to herself.

"I've loved you more than any of the others," she said aloud. Her voice echoed around the empty halls. There was no one else in the house and now most of her furnishings were gone too, sold. Only the living room was still furnished.

"You've been my constant companion for these 64 years, and I've never heard a complaint. And the number of times you've watched out for me, and comforted me ... I just wish there was something else I could do for you. I wish there was some way that I could take you with me."

Sighing heavily, Alice got out of her chair, walked down the bare hallway, and then descended the stairs to the basement where there was a large metal contraption hanging from the ceiling.

It looked like a phone booth, but shorter and made of lead. It hung from the ceiling with a short but very sturdy chain, and at the bottom, which dangled just inches from the floor, was a rectangular funnel that came to a point over a small ceramic dish. An electric cord came out the bottom of the booth and was plugged into the wall. A step stool lead up to a door in the side.

Alice looked around the basement. The shelves and the work bench, which two days ago had been laden with jars, vials, test tubes, boxes, and envelopes of every description were now completely empty, all of it moved to a storage unit. The only items remaining, besides the strange phone both, included a plastic bag, a sleeping bag, four pills (two black ones, a green one, and a red one), and two large glasses of water.

Her hands trembling, Alice unbuttoned and removed her loose housecoat, folded it, and placed it carefully in the plastic bag. She did the same with her undershirt, slippers, support hose, and underpants. Next Alice performed a thorough check of her entire body - any foreign object could cause the spell to fail. She removed two rings, and looking at them, broke into tears. One was her wedding ring from Jerome, god how she missed him! The second was a gift from her lifelong companion. Alice looked at them both, kissed them, and placed them in the bag. She found a stray hair pin and put this away too. A second check assured her that she was completely nude. Alice put the plastic bag in a far corner where it would not be noticed.

Like an athlete preparing for the high dive, Alice stood for a good 10 minutes, mentally preparing herself for the difficult task ahead. She knew that any false step at this point would be disastrous.

Finally ready, Alice started the spell.

Walking over to the phone booth, she flipped a switch on the side, causing coils at the bottom of the funnel to heat up.

Next, she walked over to the work bench, and took first the olive green pill and swallowed it down with a gulp of water, followed by the dark red pill, leaving the two black pills.

Now time was running out. She had crossed the point of no return.

Quickly, but without haste, she walked over to the phone booth, climbed the step stool, opened the door, stepped inside, and closed and locked it behind her. Once inside, Alice reached up to a single handcuff that was dangling from the ceiling. She snapped it on her right hand and breathed a sigh of relief - her mission had been accomplished. The rest was now out of her hands.

Alice fought to stay awake for as long as she could. The grating underneath her feet gradually warmed up, then became hot, then unbearably so, but still she fought to stay awake.

But the red pill was too strong, and finally she felt herself slip into a deep coma. As she crumpled into a heap on the floor, her handcuffed hand pulled down on the chain - releasing a special acid that splashed over her whole body, burning into her flesh, dissolving her hair away, gradually eating the skin from the bones.

As her living flesh dissolved away, drops of living essence seeped through the grate at the bottom of the phone booth and was cooked by the coils as it dribbled slowly down the funnel and into the ceramic dish.

Alex opened the front door. Cautiously, he walked down the hallway to the basement door. The house was eerily silent. Alice had told him she would be on vacation, but that the new potion would be ready for him in the basement.

By this time, Alex had become pretty accomplished at walking and moving with his new limbs ... to the point where he almost called Alice to cancel the spell. But he was unemployable now, except as some circus freak (which Chris, trying to be clever, had actually suggested), and so there was no choice but to complete the transformation. At least then he would be a normal woman and could start his life over. He had discussed it with Janice, and she had agreed to help.

Alex slowly walked down stairs to the basement. Alice had described the contraption for him over the phone, but she hadn't told him how much it looked like some bizarre torture device. Looking at it, Alex felt a prickling sensation up his spine, and wondered what kinds of unnatural incantations had been required to produce the potion this time.

Alex had reached out to touch the booth. "Ow!" It was hot. "Now, that is a fire hazard," he muttered. He walked over and pulled the heater plug from the wall.

Alex reached under the phone booth and picked up the small ceramic dish. There was less fluid in the dish than he had expected, and it had a kind of oily shimmer to it. Alex walked carefully to the workbench where he found two pills and a second glass of water, waiting for him.

Alex swallowed both of the jet-black transformation pills. Then he lifted the dish to his lips, and, after a slight hesitation, he drank down the oily fluid. It had a rank, woody, sour taste. Following Alice's instructions, he then licked the dish, making certain that he had ingested every possible drop. Finally, he washed it down with the rest of the water.

Having followed her instructions to the letter, Alex relaxed and then, feeling a bit woozy, spread open the sleeping bag, and stretched out to sleep.

When he woke, Alex found himself sleeping on his stomach, with his face down in the sleeping bag. His hair, now grown somewhat longer at Chris' request, covered his face and his nose was filled with smells of shampoo, scalp, and musty sleeping bag.

As he lay flat for a second, his hands moved of their own accord to his back. 'Hey!' he cried, silently, 'stop that!' and then 'Shit!' Alex's arms were now moving in reverse, just like his legs! What the hell was going on???

Alex tried to stop the hands, tried to roll over, tried to lift his head - but it was all in vain. The hands reached down his back, grasped the hem of his shirt, and pulled the shirt up, exposing his breasts. The hands stroked the bosoms and gently circled each nipple.

'My breasts, ' he realized, 'are still on my back.' Alex was overwhelmed by despair. The potion hadn't worked after all. Everything was still the same, except that now his arms moved in the wrong direction too. 'Damn!' he thought. 'Fuck-fuck-fuck... '

The hands stroked and caressed for a while longer, completely on their own, massaging, running fingers through the sweaty crevice underneath each heavy tit, pinching, squeezing. Then, apparently finished with the bosoms, they reached down to his pants.

Alex had taken to wearing his pants on backwards - since that was the only way they fit comfortably with his new body. And so the hands were able to unbutton, unzip, and push them down to expose his jockey briefs. Reaching into the jockeys, one hand began to comb through his pubic hair, while a second reached back up to continue its teasing attack on his bosoms.

By this time, Alex's focus was riveted on what the hands were doing. What was it in his subconscious that was controlling them? Each gentle scrape of a fingernail across a bare nipple caused Alex to shiver with delight and each light stroke of a finger tip across his vaginal lips caused him to clench up in a pleasurable contraction.

Gradually, the fingers increased in intensity, one set harshly pinching the nipples and the second lubricating and stroking hard on his clitoris. It wasn't long before a warm and flowing orgasm coursed through his body, causing his hips to arch upwards. As the orgasm ebbed and flowed, his body rolled to its side and his arms and legs curled up into a fetal position. He shivered in the cold basement.

Alex was now able to see, but only a view of the basement wall which was further obscured by the hair that fell over his face. His face itched and tickled as the hair got into his eyes and nose.

"Ohhhhh ... that was delicious. It has been far too long."

'Who said that?' Alex fairly shouted, feeling embarrassed at someone witnessing his uncontrolled masturbation.

"It's me," he heard, "Alice."

Alice pulled her pants back on and zipped up before trotting upstairs to the master bath.

After stripping naked, she stood for a moment admiring her new body in the mirror. 'It is a perfectly wonderful body, ' she thought to herself. She stroked her hands over the entire length, enjoying its new suppleness, flexibility, and strength.

And her face! It was a very cute face. Pert and impish, with an almost childlike innocence to it. 'What a perfect disguise!' she thought, with mischief.

"It's time to reveal all my secrets, Alex," she said, out loud.

So far, Alex had been a helpless passenger, as his new body took control, walked upstairs and undressed. 'It's like I'm a backpack' he thought, sourly to himself, watching as the halls and stairs receded behind him.

"Yes, I'm a witch, and yes, I have taken over your body for my rejuvenation. I'm sorry I had to do this, but here we are. Let me show you what's happened."

Alice turned around and faced away from the mirror. And there on her scalp, hidden in the hair, were a pair of eyes, a small flat nose, and two shallow indentations for ears.

Alex stared at his face in the mirror, horrified. His face, with hair growing out of it! On the back of someone else's head!

"Yes, I now have eyes in the back of my head," Alice giggled. "You'd be amazed at how useful that can be. I'm the best hide-and-go-seek player in the world!"

Alex was furious. 'You can't do this, this is my body! Turn it around! And why can't I hear myself talk???'

"That's true, you can't speak out loud. Even though I can hear you talk, no one else can because I control the mouth. Trust me, it makes life so much easier this way. And as to the potion, I'm afraid it's permanent - there's nothing I can do to turn it around."

Alex could feel the truth in her words. He sighed and his eyes began to tear up.

"Hey, hey," Alice comforted, "don't be sad." She reached back and stroked his face through the hair. "When I first met you, I knew we could be friends. That's why I chose you! I've been doing this now for almost 400 years, you're my seventh host. Please don't be sad, because it makes me sad too." Alice grabbed a tissue and dabbed at Alex's tears.

"You were a lost soul, honey," Alice said, soothingly. "How could anyone have done something as self-destructive as what you did? Sweetie, if I hadn't come along, Chris would have left you at some point and you would have committed suicide. I'm sure of it."

Alex burst into tears again. 'You're right, ' he said mentally, sobbing, knowing that what she said was correct, 'you are so right.'

Alice drove up to Alex's apartment and stepped out of the car. "Just need to stop for a little house-cleaning. Is Chris here?"

Alex scanned the parking lot, his vision blurred a bit through the hair, but not as much as you might think. 'Yes, there it is, that rusted red Camaro.'

Alice snorted, "figures." She climbed up the stairs to the apartment.

A fear of heights flashed through Alex as he was joltingly carried up the steps. 'My god, the stairs look steep from back here.'

"Only one of a thousand new experiences you will have, my dear," Alice chuckled. "Just wait'll I go to the beauty salon."

Alex groaned. He had already gone through a hundred frightening, strange, and surreal trials. In the bathroom back at Alice's place, it had taken Alex over an hour to calm down, as Alice hugged her body and stroked the back of her head. Eventually, he stopped crying, his mind numb, not knowing what to think.

"Time for a shower!" Alice had stated, energetically. "That will perk us up. And then, let's get out of this depressing place!"

And so Alex had his first shower as a scalp. Alice rubbed shampoo into his face, he got some in his eyes, which stung. Water washed over his face and got into his nose and ears as she rinsed.

Then the blow dryer, and then the hair brush. 'Life as a wig!' he thought, glumly, closing his eyes as the bristles brushed over his face. Fortunately, Alice had a brush with soft bristles - this was standard practice for her.

Alice found a pair of her old underpants, put them on and dressed the rest of the way in Alex's clothes. As she left the house, she took one last look back. "Goodbye, house," she said, sadly.