Satisfaction Brought Them Back

“Any luck yet?” Lydia looked up from her phone and said, glancing anxiously to her friend who was typing furiously on her own phone a few meters away, searching for anything and everything about spell reversal, contacting Cindy, and anything else that might help.

“Well, I’ve found it, but people have said the line has been dodgy recently,” Alexis said, sighing, “there’s no guarantee it’ll do anything.”

“But an attempt is better than nothing, right?” Lydia said.

“I guess we can check by sending an email. Have you found anything important?”

Lydia blushed. She’d started by looking up tail care advice, because who knows how long she might be in this body, and she wouldn’t want to mess anything up about it. Then, she was looking up feminine hygiene advice, because, duh, but then it had started with bras and then dresses and now she was looking at all sorts of lovely outfits, some of which even had tail holes custom made!

“Umm…I…uh…clothes!” she stammered, becoming even more embarrassed as she realized she had just said that clothes were important.

Alexis raised an eyebrow but said nothing, simply nodding as she typed up and sent off a quick email to the address, giving their physical location and names just in case the magic couldn’t locate them for whatever reason. She was sure that if Lydia were looking over her shoulder, she’d be criticizing her for not using spellcheck, but she was too tired to care.

Thus, when the deed was done, she simply collapsed on Lydia’s bed and stared at the ceiling. Lydia got up from the floor and walked over, hopping on the bed next to Alexis, with emphasis on the hopping (she doubted she could get up there without either pulling herself up or jumping up now). They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Alexis sneezed.

After the sneeze, she said, “Hey um, could you calm your tail a little? It’s kind of itching my nose?”

Lydia blushed and pulled her tail close to her. She hadn’t really noticed how fluffy it was, but she liked it. It was so easy to snuggle up into it. She found herself drifting off slowly to sleep, when all of a sudden she heard a knock at the door.

“I need to get something and I’ll be right out of your hair,” her mom said, trying the door. A few seconds of silence inflamed the tension already palpable in the room before her mom sternly said, “Young man, you know there are no locked doors allowed in this household, open this door immediately.”

“Sorry,” Lydia said, instinctively, her hand clamping over her mouth as soon as she’d said it.

“Who’s that? Do you have someone over without your father’s permission?” her mother said, growing angry.

Lydia was so tensed up and unsure of what to do, Alexis ended up having to be the one unlocking the door. As her mother peered warily into the room, she met first the anxious but resolute gaze of Alexis, and then her eyes wandered to the trembling catgirl in the back of the room, on her son’s bed.

Once Lydia noticed her mom had seen her, she made a squeaking noise and scrambled under the covers.

“Young lady!” her mom sternly exclaimed, but she did not answer out of hope that she was talking to Alexis.

Her hopes were dashed as the comforter was torn off from on top of her, bringing her exactly eye to eye with her mother. Her mother’s glance shifted from anger to concern, noticing how utterly petrified Lydia was. Lydia noticed her face begin to feel wet, then realized: she was crying. She hadn’t cried in years, and though she felt oddly happy about that, now wasn’t the time to reflect on those emotions.

Her mother sat down next to her and tentatively gave her ears a pet. She found herself purring, then suppressed the instinct as she looked at her mother. She thought back to the picture of herself she’d seen in the phone camera, the picture she’d sent to Luther. She noticed how similar they looked, how she still was her mother’s daughter in spite of all the changes. She felt somehow at peace. Her old body had grown up to look a lot like her father had when he was young, but now…well, she could see some resemblance, but no longer in her stature or squarish face. Her mother looked at her tenderly, in a way she hadn’t felt cared for in so many years. To her dismay, however, her mother’s face began to develop first concern, then confusion, as her mother looked more at her.

“You…you have exactly the same eye color as my son, and you did the same thing he used to do when he was younger. But that’s impossible,” her mother whispered.

“Hi mom,” she finally managed to speak.

Her mother’s eyes widened to their full extent, then she composed herself and turned to Alexis.

“Young lady, would you please go upstairs? I feel that my son and I have some things to discuss in private.”

“Not until I know she’s going to be safe here,” Alexis replied, standing firmly next to the door.

Lydia’s mother rolled her eyes, but seeing Alexis not budging, eventually replied, “I promise she’ll be safe.”

Alexis, somewhat unsatisfied but sensing the tension, left and closed the door behind her. The room was now empty, and silence fell over them. Lydia grew nervous as her mother’s appraising gaze fell over her whole body. She instinctively hugged her tail closer to her, trying to find safety in its warmth.

“So, John,” her mother said, “how did this happen?”

“I um,” Lydia spoke, startled a little by the mention of her old name, “I cast a magic spell.” It wasn’t technically lying but maybe this way she could get only herself in trouble.

“You know what the Bible says about witches, John,” her mother said, “and casting that spell was the first step into that.”

“But I–” Lydia protested.

“John, you understand that we can’t have you like this. I know it’s the cool and popular thing, like Ouija and books about wizards were when your father and I were young. But you can’t just go changing your body the way God didn’t intend you to be,” her mother replied, matter-of-factly but still maintaining her calming demeanor.

“I…I guess, but it feels fun to be like this,” she quietly said, letting go of her tail.

“A lot of things are fun, that’s how Satan tempts us. Sometimes things can feel good, but be evil in the long run. That’s why we have to trust in God’s plan,” her mother replied.

“But you don’t understand, it’s like things feel right now, just in some way I can’t describe,” Lydia further protested, her tail beginning to flick side to side.

“There’s a lot more to being a woman than meets the eye, John, it feels fun now because it’s new and exciting. But I know you, you’re my child, and you just aren’t the kind of person who would enjoy the work God sets out for us. And there’s nothing wrong with that, everyone has different gifts and talents, we all have to do what we’re called to because it’s what’s best, not just for us, but also for the people around us.”

Lydia scrunched her nose and sighed. Maybe her mother was right. She had definitely been tempted to do some very ungodly things with Luther earlier. If they just went back to normal then–

With a sudden slight breeze of wind, another short woman appeared in the room. She looked a little frazzled. “I’m looking for one Lydia Vanderlaan, apologies if I’m a bit late,” the woman spoke.

“Who are you, and how did you get in my house?” Lydia’s mother demanded, looking as if she were ready to start a fight.

“I’m here on the basis of an email from someone named…” she squinted at her phone, “Alexs?”

“That was Alexis, sorry for the bad spelling, ma’am, and I’m the person you’re looking for,” Lydia answered, her voice still construing a bit of her temerity despite her attempts to sound confident.

“Oh, I see,” she replied, assessing the situation a bit further with her eyes before continuing,  “Sorry for being a bit late, I should really introduce myself, I’m Cindy Talbot, the person behind the spell. Pleased to meet you! What can I do for you?”