Manipulated
Part 1

by JMD


“Well, look who decided to join us,” Crystal said, as Kristina came through the backstage door of the hotel auditorium.

As the tall girl crossed over to them, Michelle broke out into song. “Here she comes, just a walking down the street…” Crystal joined in with her on the next line. “Singing doo wah diddy diddy, diddy dum, diddy doo.”

Kristina gave them both a sour look. “Very funny,” she said, sticking her tongue out at the two cutups. “Look, I’m sorry I’m late. I’m meeting a friend later, and I guess I let time get away from me while I was getting ready.”

“It’s okay, Kristi,” Tiffany told her, unable to hide her smile at her friends’ shenanigans. “I don’t think Paul’s quite ready for us yet anyway.” She pointed over to an out-of-the-way corner of the stage area, where Paul and Hollie were busy setting up some equipment.

“Good,” Kristina smiled.

“So,” Michelle said, looking her over carefully. “Meeting a friend, eh?”

Something in the shorter girl’s tone immediately made Kristina weary. “Uh, yeah.”

“Just a friend?”

“Uh, yeah,” Kristina said again, a little more cautiously. “Why?”

“No reason,” Michelle answered. She waited a few seconds before going on. “It’s just that that dress really doesn’t say ‘friend’ to me is all.”

“What’s wrong with my dress?” the young girl asked, looking down at her attire. It was an open-backed black dress with a keyhole neckline and fluttery lace on the sleeves. Sure, it showed a bit of cleavage, but it went all the way to her knees. A little black purse and three-inch sling back sandals completed her ensemble.

“Nothing.” After another pause, Michelle added, “Just be sure to fold it over a chair or something. That material wrinkles real easy.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, take it easy, Kristi,” Michelle said, cutting her off. “I’m just jerking your chain. No need to go getting your bra in a bunch.”

“Not that you could,” Crystal quickly added, “seeing as how you seem to have forgotten to put one on.” The comment brought a red flush to Kristina’s cheeks and her hand came up to cover the opened bust line of her dress. Seeing the girl’s obvious embarrassment, Crystal pressed on. “Tell me, is that the only underwear you decided you weren’t going to need tonight?”

Kristina’s cheeks reddened even more, but before she could say anything, Paul called out. “Okay, ladies, I think we’re ready here.” Settling for just a frustrated huff of air, Kristina turned her back on her tormentors and headed across the stage. Behind her back, she missed the victorious high-five that Crystal and Michelle shared before following her. With a disapproving shake of her head, Tiffany brought up the rear.

“Alrighty,” Paul said as they gathered around, “I know we don’t actually open until tomorrow, and you all probably have plans for the evening. I just wanted to show you a new illusion that I’m thinking about adding to the show.” With that he stepped aside to show off the stuff he had set up on the fold-up table.

“Oh my god,” Michelle spit out. “Is that a computer?”

“It is indeed,” Paul said proudly.

“But I thought you hated computers, Boss?” Crystal put in.

Paul’s face fell. “Who says I hate computers?” he asked defensively. “Hollie and I have a computer at home.”

“Yeah,” Michelle admitted. “You do.”

“But Hollie tells us,” Crystal added, “that it’s more hers than yours.”

Paul cut his eyes to his fiancée, who just gave him a non-committal shrug in reply. “Be that as it may,” he said, turning back to the other girls, “I was reading an article in this magazine the other day and it inspired this idea.”

“And the computer has something to do with it?” Tiffany asked.

“It does,” he confirmed. “You’ve all heard of photo-manipulation, right?”

The girls all shared a “is he serious” look before nodding. “You scan a picture into a computer and make changes to it,” Kristina provided.

“Right,” he said, pointing his finger at her. “Well, I didn’t know this, but apparently there are places all over the internet where people post pictures that they’ve done all kinds of wild stuff to. The more I read about it, the more I got to thinking.”

“You’re going to scan us into the computer,” Michelle sighed knowingly, “and make changes to us.”

“No,” Paul replied quickly. “Well, not exactly.” He stopped as what she said sunk in. “But you know, that’s not a bad idea.” Just like that, he was gone, lost in his imagination as he worked out how to make it happen. It took Hollie loudly clearing her throat to bring him back to the present. “Uh, yeah,” he stammered. “We’ll work that out later. For now, let me show you what I had in mind. Hollie…”

He held out one hand to his lead assistant. Next to the table was a three-sided box with a curtain hanging over the front. With his other hand, Paul pulled back the curtain and guided Hollie inside. After the curtain was dropped back into place, Hollie’s shadow was clearly visible on its surface. He moved around to the computer keyboard, motioning for the other girls to join him.

“Okay,” he said, tapping a couple of keys, “as you can see, I’ve already loaded a picture of Hollie into the computer.” Sure enough, a publicity still of his fiancée was on the screen. “I’ve also preloaded a bunch of presets for various things.”

“Things?” Crystal repeated.

“You know,” he said without looking around, “changes.”

With his back to them, he missed the girls sharing a smile. “What kind of changes,” Tiffany prompted.

“Well, one of the most popular is to turn someone into a statue,” he answered. “Let me show you.” Clicking on a link, he opened a drop-down menu. He considered for a moment before clicking on an item from the list. Instantly, the picture of Hollie began to change, her body turning a grayscale color.

A moan from the shadow box caused everyone to turn in that direction. They were just in time to see Hollie’s shadow, which had been moving slightly, freeze up. They waited a few seconds, but the shadow didn’t move again. Tiffany, who was the closest, reached over and pulled back the curtain. Inside Hollie had been turned to stone, a slight look of surprise frozen on her face. Only the girl’s shorts and halter-top had escaped the transformation.

“Neat,” Kristina said.

“But nothing new,” Michelle pointed out. “After all, you turned me into a statue during the Halloween Showdown illusion.”

“True,” Paul agreed, “but let’s be honest. How many truly new illusions are there? Most are just variations of the same stuff my father’s been doing for years. The difference comes in the presentation.”

“I suppose,” Michelle admitted.

“Besides,” Paul went on with a slight grin, “I plan to do more with this one than just turn you into statues.”

“Oh, really?” Crystal cooed. “Like?”

Paul smiled. “Let me show you,” he said. He nodded to Tiffany, who let the curtain fall back into place. “First, let’s bring Galatea back to life, shall we.” He punched a key, and Hollie’s picture returned to normal. A second later, the shadow on the screen began to move again. “Now,” Paul went on, “here’s another popular selection.”

The girls watched as Paul moved the mouse, aiming the arrow on the monitor at his fiancée’s chest. With a click, Hollie’s breasts in the picture began to expand outward, growing to twice their normal size.

“What the…?” Hollie’s startled voice came from the box. They all turned to see the shadow’s hands leap to her chest, trying helplessly to stop the growth there. A second later, Hollie threw the curtain back to reveal her breasts trying to force their way out of her halter top. “Okay, Mr. Wizard,” she scolded Paul. “Want to tell me where you got these?”

“Uh…”

“Anna Nicole,” Michelle offered.

“No way,” Crystal disagreed. “Those are Dolly Parton, easy.”

“Not even close,” Michelle argued. “Anna Nicole for sure.”

“Dolly,” Crystal insisted.

“I’m telling you, they’re Anna Nicole.” She turned to Paul. “Tell her, boss. I’m right, ain’t I?”

Paul, like everyone else, had been following the debate closely, so it took him a second to realize that everyone was waiting for him to answer. “Uh, yeah,” he confirmed.

“Yes!” Michelle shouted, throwing her fist into the air in victory. “Do I know my boobs or what?”

“That’s because you are such a boob yourself,” Hollie told her. She turned back to Paul, missing Michelle’s stuck-out tongue. “Now, if you don’t mind,” she ordered, stepping back into the box, “I’d appreciate it if we got mine back to themselves please. This is starting to hurt.”

“No problem,” he told her. He waited until she was safely back behind the curtain before sharing a wink with the other girls. “This’ll just take a second,” he said, using his head to indicate that the others should pay attention.

With a few clicks, an image of a single red balloon appeared on the monitor next to Hollie’s picture. Using the cursor, Paul dragged the balloon over and laid it over Hollie. As they watched, Hollie’s image seemed to be absorbed by the balloon, until only her face on the red surface remained.

“What’s the hold-up out there,” Hollie’s voice came out of the box. “I’m serious, Paul. My ba--ack!” On the screen, Hollie’s shadow changed shape, compressing into a round shape that hung in the air. After a moment, Hollie said, “Oh, someone’s full of themselves today, I see.”

This time, Paul got up from the computer and opened the screen himself. Inside the box, a red balloon, a long string dangling from the bottom, floated where Hollie had been. Just like on the computer, Hollie’s face was clearly visible on the red surface. “Maybe a little,” Paul admitted. Hollie’s only reply to that was a single huff.

“Tiffany was right,” Crystal said to Michelle. “She is an airhead.”

“What?” Hollie shouted. “Tiff…?”

The other girl quickly held up her hands in defense. “What I said was that you could be an airhead … sometimes.” She turned a scolding look to Crystal, who just shrugged.

Hollie just shook her head, which (since that was all she was at the moment) resulted in her twisting around on the end of her string. “You’re all hopeless,” she said. She cut her eyes up to her husband-to-be. “All of you. Now, can I please have my body back? And I mean it when I say my body.”

Paul swallowed playfully. “Yes, dear,” he said, letting the curtain fall back into place. He moved back around to the computer and pressed the clear key. On the monitor, Hollie was separated from the balloon. A few seconds later, Hollie pushed the curtain aside and stepped out of the box. “Happy now?” he asked.

“That depends,” she told him. She twisted her butt around to the girls. “Do I have a tail?” They all shook their heads. “Happy now,” Hollie confirmed.

“Oh-kay,” Paul said, typing a couple more things into the computer before turning back to the girls, “I’d say that ends our little demonstration for now. There’s still some work to do obviously. We need to work up a story for one thing. Michelle’s scanner idea could be just what we need there.”

Crystal smacked the shorter girl on the back of the head. “Yeah,” she said. “Thanks for that, Michelle.”

“In the meantime,” Paul continued, “I’ve already loaded in pictures for each of you, so that we can work out the details of the act as we have time. Any questions?”

“I’ve got one,” Tiffany offered.

“Shoot.”

“Well,” the girl said, “computers go down all the time. What happens to us if we’re all balloons or something and this one does?”

“That’s a good question,” Michelle agreed. “Do we change back, or are we stuck until you contact tech support?”

“Not at all,” Paul explained. “I’ve set it up so that the magic will only last for about an hour. So, if for some reason, I can’t restore you before then, you’ll change back automatically at that point. Anybody else?” Kristina raised her hand. “Yeah, Kristi?” Paul asked with a slight smile at his newest assistant’s innocence.

“Is the shadow box necessary for the magic to work?” the girl inquired.

“No more than any of the other things we use to hide the actual magic from the audience,” he replied. “In fact, for this demonstration, I didn’t even bother to run a cord between the box and the computer. Let me show you.” He turned and pushed a single key.

“Hey!” Hollie called out. “Now hold on ju…”

She stopped as she realized that she seemed to be shrinking. She looked to each of the people around her, noting their various expressions, before looking down at her diminishing body. Her eyes grew into saucers at the sight of her legs melting into a puddle of pink goo. She was already down to her knees and sinking fast. A quick glance up to the monitor confirmed that her picture was going through the same liquification. She cut her eyes back to Paul. “You sneaky bast-urk.” The last of that was gargled by her mouth being added to the growing pink puddle. A second later, the rest of her joined it. The only evidence that the goo on the stage floor had ever been a living woman was her flip-flops, shorts and halter-top floating in her liquefied body.

The other girls stared down at the Hollie puddle for a few moments. “Now,” Michelle said, breaking the silence, “that was neat.”

“Any more questions?” Paul asked, smiling at the nervous looks the girls shared. “No? Okay, I guess that’s it for now, then. You girls go and enjoy the rest of your evening. Have fun. Just remember that we have a show to do tomorrow night, okay?” His gaze settled on Crystal in particular.

Crystal placed her hand over her heart. “No problem, boss,” she told him. “I learned my lesson last time. I’ll be ready. I promise. All I’m planning to do is check out this club I’ve heard about downtown.” She turned to the other girls. “Anyone care to come with?”

“I’ll go,” Michelle piped up. “How about it, Tiff?”

“No, but thanks,” Tiffany declined. “I got into a volleyball game down at the beach today, and I’m flat wore out. All I want to do is take a hot shower, get into my favorite sleep shirt and fall on my face.”

“No problem,” Crystal told her. “I know you have other plans, Kristi. How about you and the puddle, Paul? Want to join us?”

Paul cleared his throat and looked down at Hollie’s melted form. “Uh, I don’t think so,” he said, turning back to her. “We sort of have other plans.”

Crystal shared a smile with Michelle. “I bet you do,” she said. “You know, it’s a little unfair that you and Hollie are the only ones that don’t have to pack sex toys when we go out on tour.”

Paul’s cheeks turned red. “Uh, okay,” he said, ignoring the comment. “Enjoy yourselves. We’ll see you all in the morning.” Taking the hint, the group head off, taking care not to step in the puddle of Hollie on the floor.

Paul waited until they were gone before bending down to his liquid fiancée. Without a word, he picked her clothes out of the puddle, taking time to squeeze out any of Hollie they might have absorbed. Standing back up, he placed them on the table next to the monitor before reaching over and pressing the clear key.

Instantly, Hollie began to reform. First, her head, then the rest of her rose up out of the puddle that slowly disappeared as more and more of her was restored. Finally, she stood naked before him. “You are a wicked, wicked man, you know that?” she told him, biting her lip.

“I know,” he said. A second later, she was on him, her lips pressed tightly against his. Putting his arms around her, he returned the kiss, enjoying the feel of her naked skin against his own. Enjoying it a lot.

Finally, he forced himself to pull away. “Okay, I’d say I was forgiven.”

“Mmmhmm,” Hollie moaned, running her hands over his body.

“Good,” he smiled. “Just let me get this computer shut down, and we’ll head up to the room and you can show me how much.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Nuh-uh?” he repeated.

“Nuh-uh,” she said again. “You know what melting does to me. The computer can wait.”

“But…”

“No buts, Paul,” she told him. “Now.” To make it clear how serious she was, she moved her hand down to the front of his pants. “Now!” she emphasized.

Paul had to swallow before answering. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Now, it is.” He pulled her back into a kiss, and as he did, the two of them dissolved into two intertwined clouds of smoke. The two clouds moved quickly to the air conditioning vent and were gone.

On the table, the computer hummed away.



TO BE CONTINUED…