Stan walked into his parent's home, just back for winter break from college. He had just finished his fall semester of his junior year, and, more to his interest, had just turned twenty-one. He knew his dad had bought him a bottle of good rum and he wanted to try it out with some friends that he had known since high school, all either in college or working now.

He had parked a spot just off to the side of the driveway, knowing that there was no space in the garage for his car, even though it was just his step-mom that should be home.

His step-mom. Brandi was barely five years older than he was. While he loved his dad and wanted him to be happy, there was no way in hell he was referring to her as mom or step-mom, or whatever. She was his dad's wife, nothing more. Brandi, for her part, knew his view and understood it. She didn't expect him to view her as anything more than his dad's wife, and she was pretty fine with that.

So, when he walked in and heard her voice, what she said surprised him.

"Oh, good, Stan! I'm glad you're home!"

What, he thought. She's always been polite, but she sounded sincere, like she really was happy. Again, he wasn't exactly close to her at all. What was this?

He walked into the kitchen and what he saw shocked him.

It wasn't his step-mom. At least not entirely.

He looked up and down, then down to up. He saw a pair of black heeled ankle boots, then up to tighter jeans, showing off those curvy thighs and hips. He then looked up more, seeing a tight blue t-shirt perfect for showing her taut stomach and nice tits. He also noticed blue nail polish and when he went above that, things got very odd.

It wasn't her head. There was no other way to say it. Above her collar, he could see stitches just above the collar and above that was the head of an old man. He had tan skin, keen eyes, and a strange smile on his face.

"Like the voice?" The man said. "She's not going to like the voice she has."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Oh, my name's George, but I think you mean more than my name. See, your, what, step-mom, I think, yes, she's a bit indisposed. Her head, well, it's gone, dead. Tossed aside like a piece of trash."

No, Stan thought No, I didn't care for her, but no, she didn't deserve this, what sort of monster...

At the sight of Stan's face, the man started to laugh hard, but, to Stan's surprise, it wasn't an evil laugh.

"God, I'm sorry, I fooled you too badly!" He put a feminine hand on Stan's shoulder, then thought better of it, and withdrew it. "No, she's fine enough. You know, Owen Smith?"

"No, why?"

"Big guy, strong, looks like he benches tanks. No storage tanks, battle tanks. Anyway, she has his body. Him, now he's dead, but that was an accident, not related to this."

"I'm lost. How the fuck does that explain why your head is on Brandi's body?"

"So, Owen's accident. He came in and my research team scooped him up. A brain-dead body is very useful, you know. The plan was to put my head on his body, but someone had an idea, and Brandi, she did agree to this completely, we did a three way, thing, sort of. Brandi got Owen's body, I got hers, and Owen was dead anyway. As for why she did it after marrying your dad just last year, hell, I don't know, ask her when you find her. She's still around town somewhere."

"Oh my god. My dad, what will he do?"

"Judging by your reaction, you and her, you two weren't close. I can tell. You're entirely concerned with your dad on this one, right?"

"Yeah."

"I can't help you there. I'm just a messenger. She asked me to meet you. That's it. By the way, where is your dad?"

"He's out of town on a trip. He won't be back for a week."

"Wow, she really didn't want to have this conversation. Wow. I am sorry about what this does. She didn't exactly tell anyone any of this beforehand."

"Why did she do this? Did she say?"

"Not a word. I got the sense that there is more to this than what meets the eye with her. I think she had her reasons and while I don't know, just the way she acted, there seemed to be a real reason for it. I don't know, maybe I'm reading into something that isn't there. Anyway, if you need more information, here's my card."

George handed him a business card.

"You're a doctor?"

"I thought I said that. Yes, a neurosurgeon. My advice? Come talk to me tomorrow. I'm now a bit interested in all of this. Maybe we can see what happened with her and the why. Also, I hate to ask, but can you bring some of her clothes tomorrow as well, or if I could take some? I know that's a lot to ask..."

"Get out."

"Okay fair. But, tomorrow...""

"Tomorrow can wait for tomorrow. Get out. Now."

Quickly, George left, as least as fast as he could with slender heels. As George got out of the door, Stan walked over and immediately locked it.

He sat down, but not before grabbing the bottle of rum, opening it, and take a pull right from the bottle. He didn't care at that moment. While he did drink a good amount at school, he was by no means a serious drunk.

Damn, he thought as he sat there, taking another pull of the bottle. Why the hell did this happen? Why did Brandi do this to his dad? Fucking bitch, he thought. He loved her too, and Stan thought she loved him! Why did she do this behind his back?

As he sat there, he looked at the card. He picked up his phone.

He decided to call, not because he wanted to talk, but because it was likely faster this way.

"Hello?" George said cautiously.

"Do you have any other clothes?" Stan asked.

"Truthfully, no."

"Come on over. Just, be discreet. I don't need the neighbors seeing you."

"I was already outside, you know."

"Any more than they already have. Where are you, anyway?"

"Just two minutes down the road, in a rideshare. I'm not used to these shoes."

"Okay, well, see you in a few, then."

Stan hung up and stood up. He looked at the bottle and saw it was about a quarter gone. He shrugged. He wasn't small, nearly six foot and about a hundred and eighty pounds. He'll be buzzed but not too bad.

He sighed, wondering why he was helping this old man. Because you believe him when he says he didn't know the situation, he thought, and he's the only real link to all that has happened here. Plus, he'd rather have this man close to him. Call it a hunch.