Moontouched 17

Duncan scoured the local news websites for the next few days.  There were many stories about the terrible fire at the St. Jude’s hospice, and every time he read the name a shiver went down his spine.  But nothing else of note showed up in the news, and by the time Christmas arrived he became distracted by all the preparation, decorating and gift-wrapping that needed to be done.

Courtney loved her real angel wings so much that Duncan couldn’t muster the will to take them away, even as Sidney fussed.  And in time, Sidney got used to her little girl running around with wings spread.  They were wide enough to brush both walls of the hall as Courtney ran down it, just a bit wider than her outspread hands.  Duncan made sure the gate at the top of the stairs stayed closed, as he caught Courtney eyeing the stairs as if she wanted to try flying down them.

When it was time to go to Duncan’s parents’ house for Christmas Eve, Courtney still had wings.  By then, the moon was rising late enough that Duncan couldn’t have taken away Courtney’s wings even if he’d wanted to.  Instead, they covered the wings up with Courtney’s jacket.  She complained at how uncomfortable they were as she was buckled into the car.  Duncan pointed out that the drive to her grandparents’ place was short, which mollified her slightly.

The part Duncan wasn’t really looking forward to came next.  When his mother saw Courtney’s wings, she gushed about the cute angel costume... until the wings flapped, and Courtney started telling about how her daddy had given her real wings.

It was Duncan’s father who spoke up first.  “What the he... heck is going on here?  Is she telling the truth?”

Duncan nodded.  “We have a lot to talk about.  The short version is... magic is real, and I have access to some.”

Both of his parents stared at him in silence.  Eventually his father shook his head.  “It sounds like we have a lot to talk about.”

“Daddy turns into Auntie Donna,” chirped Courtney, helpfully.

Duncan rubbed his forehead and sighed.  “An awful lot to talk about.”

While Courtney was distracted with the task of decorating the house with paper elves, Duncan sat and had a long discussion with his parents.  He started with the basics of magic, especially how you couldn’t talk about it to those who hadn’t seen it.  Then he talked about using the Moonstone to nurse Victor, and how amazing that had been.  He glossed over more recent events such as just what ‘Auntie Donna’ had been doing to raise money.  Talking about his work with Doctor Arwen seemed much more respectable.  Even there, he only told of swapping her gender, not the other things he’d changed her into.

“Well.  It all sounds very exciting,” said Duncan’s mother.  “Can you use it to heal people?”

“In a way, I have been, with Arwen’s patients.  Making their bodies fit their self-image makes such a huge difference to them.”

“That’s not what I meant.  I was thinking more like cancer, or weak hearts.”  She looked over at her husband, who had recently needed a pacemaker.

“I...”  Duncan couldn’t face his mother.  “I have tried that.  At St. Jude’s, of all places.”

“The one that just burnt down?” asked his father.

Duncan shuddered at that.  He was still worried about what had happened there.  “Yes, but this was long before that.  It... didn’t work well.  One died shortly after I’d helped him, and I felt the pain of his death.”  Duncan winced at the memory, then sighed.  “I’m not sure if I can risk it with any more terminal patients.”

“Still... people with less advanced cancer wouldn’t be at any immediate risk of death,” noted Duncan’s mother.

“I’m not sure that what I do would really help, there.  It might just hide it.  And it’s not like I can run a proper double-blind trial or anything.  Certainly not ethically.”

“I see.  What about trauma care?  The outcomes there are pretty cut and dried.”

“Yeah, I thought about that.  But it’s only one night a month, and I can’t be everywhere.”  Duncan frowned, and looked off into the distance, not entirely sure how true that was.  An idea niggled at his memory, of moving almost instantaneously when he had shrunk herself to a point.

“What about afterward?” asked his mother, distracting him.  “People who have been crippled in accidents, and the like.”

Duncan nodded slowly.  “I’ve done that.  One worked, one didn’t... but that was more about how receptive the person was.  I could do a lot of good that way.  It’s just...  Where does it stop?  Even such a narrow category probably covers thousands upon thousands of people just in this city.  And how long could I keep it secret?  I don’t want to become a research specimen.”

“I see.  And you’re keeping this other work you do secret?”

“Secret enough, so far.  I’ve been trying to keep my real identity from getting connected to the magic, in part by changing myself into someone else while I’m out doing it.”

“Hence ‘Auntie Donna’,” said his father.

“Something like that.”

“So is it possible for us to meet this Auntie Donna someday?” asked Duncan’s mother.

“It’d be a bit weird, but... yeah.  I don’t know if I can do much about the pacemaker, I really don’t.  But your knee should be fixable.  I think.”

Later, after a delicious dinner, Duncan’s father approached him away from the others.  “I’ve heard a bit about the St. Jude’s incident from some old friends of mine.  I saw your reaction.  Do you want me to dig up more information?”

“I’m more worried about further incidents connected to it.”

Then it was time to light the candles on the tree, sing carols, and open presents.  It was hard not to be cheerful when the kids were so excited about everything.  Duncan stopped worrying, and just enjoyed the time with his family.

* * *

A few days after Christmas, Gwen dropped in for a visit.  After the usual pleasantries, Sidney asked how things had gone at the Blue Vixen, noting that Duncan didn’t share much about it.

“But you don’t like to think of me as Donna,” protested Duncan.

“I still want to know what you get up to.”

Gwen chuckled, and started with Donna’s turn as a fantasy-granting Santa Claus, skipping entirely over the part where she’d split Donna into two people.

As Gwen wrapped up, Sidney was staring.  “You really turned someone into a violin, and they got played on stage?”

“Yup,” said Duncan, simply.

“You should have seen how giddy he was afterward,” Gwen gushed.  “The guy loved it.  We put on one heck of a show.  I was a dragon-girl to represent fire, Donna was a tree...”  At Duncan’s shaking head, she hesitated.  “Nissa was an ice-girl, and Beth a bird-girl.  It was great.”

“Sounds like it,” said Sidney.  “I should visit some night.  I wonder if we could talk your folks into taking the kids on a full moon night sometime.”

Duncan stared at his wife, mouth gaping in surprise.  “You... what?”

Sidney chuckled.  “OK, maybe not.  I’m not sure I want to see my hubby dancing topless for money.”

As Duncan was walking Gwen to her car, she spoke up softly.  “There’s something else you should know.”

“What?”

“Doctor Brown has been acting really weird lately.  He’s called me a bunch of times, trying to get more information about you.  He’s acting really creepy.”

“Ugh.  Well, at least he survived the explosion at St. Jude’s.”

“Oh!  If he was there, that could explain him being a bit weird.  Should I pass on your number?  I’ve been reluctant to.”

“Ah... no.  Please don’t.  I’d really rather not deal with him again.”

“OK.  My lips are sealed.  I don’t blame you, I don’t want to talk to him either.”

* * *

The rest of the holiday break was uneventful.  Between visiting family, keeping the house ready for guests, and playing with the kids, Duncan had plenty to occupy himself.  By the time New Year’s Eve was done, he welcomed the return to work as something of a respite.

His relief was short-lived, as the day of the new moon brought disturbing news.  Gwen dropped by to visit, and talk.  Doctor Brown had come to the Blue Vixen the previous night, harassing the girls with questions.

“That seems out of character,” said Duncan with a frown.

“I know.  He looked like hell, too.  Like he hasn’t been taking care of himself.  You’d almost think he was living on the street.  He got so bad that Rowan had the bouncers evict him, and he was told he was no longer welcome at the club.”

“That should put an end to it, then.”

Gwen shook her head.  “I don’t know... he was hanging around outside when it was time to leave, making the girls nervous.”

Duncan winced.  “Be careful.  I wouldn’t have pegged him for a violent man, but he sounds... different.”

“We will.”

The next bit of bad news came from his father.  There had been the usual minor fires here and there over the holiday, none of which made the news.  However, a pattern had been noticed, a series of small but deadly fires that had been kept out of the news.

“They think there’s a serial arsonist going around, and that St. Jude’s might have been his first fire.”

Duncan felt a chill go down his spine.  “What makes them think that?”

“All the fires that fit the pattern have been centered around St. Jude’s, though the radius has been increasing over time.”

“Sh...oot.  How far out was the latest fire?”

“A little over a mile.”

“Thanks Dad.  This is what I needed to know, I just wish it wasn’t happening.  How the hell did they hide this from the public?”

“They didn’t notice the pattern at first.  Just some fires, and around Christmas in particular there are always a few bad ones when people are stupid with their trees.  Now they’re trying to keep people from panicking.”

“How long is that likely to work?”

Duncan’s father snorted.  “Not long now, I suspect.  Hopefully they catch him soon.”

Duncan shook his head, despite the fact his father wouldn’t be able to see it over the phone.  “I don’t think that’s going to work.  Stay safe.  This is going to get worse.”

“You too.”

It took another week for the local news to pick it up.  They called him the ‘Midnight Arsonist’, as most fires started around then.  Even with that rather blatant tell, the police were stymied.  They weren’t saying anything to the press, just ‘no comment on ongoing investigations’, but it was clear they had little to go on.

Duncan worried at the problem as best he could.  The locations of the fires were now public knowledge, so he could plot them himself.  The radius had continued to increase steadily, and the center was still in the vicinity of St. Jude’s.  He hadn’t dared visit the site himself, not even in the day, but he’d studied the pictures of the remains. The entire building had been leveled, so whatever had been there must have found somewhere nearby to hide.  But where?  And what could he do about it, even if he knew?

When the full Moon finally rose, Duncan greeted it with a sense of relief.  Finally, it was time to act.  He still had no idea where the shadow entity he’d felt at St Jude’s would be hiding, and almost seven hours before it was likely to strike again.

Duncan’s first order of business was to make good on his promise to his mother.  He dropped by their place as Duncan.  His mother talked him through the issue, she was quite familiar with what had gone wrong.  Once Duncan understood the problem, it was only a matter of moments to regenerate the cartilage of her knee.  He described how to make the change permanent by viewing the full moon, but the way the clouds were rolling in was making it difficult to find the Moon.

“Perhaps it would be best to just see how it works for a week, anyway,” Duncan finished.  “I think I got it right, but...”

“Thank you for trying.  It’s a lot less painful than the injections, however long it lasts.”

“If it’s working out OK, try wearing silver from the third quarter to the first quarter moon, that should keep it from fading.  It will block the magic, preventing you from changing back, but you have to wear it every minute of the day, especially near the new moon.”

Duncan hugged his mother, told her he loved her, and was off.  He pulled over in a park to change into Donna, then carried on to Doctor Sakurai’s office.  They’d spent some time over the past few weeks talking about Roger.  Arwen was upset that Duncan had changed Roger without her OK, but Duncan pointed out that he had been giving anyone who asked whatever change they liked.

Worse, Roger had blown off his next two appointments with Arwen.  He’d used silver to stay as Olivia the dancer, and had quickly learned the basics of topless dancing.  According to Gwen, Olivia had been at the club every night until Doctor Brown had made his scene, then nobody had heard anything from her since.  Duncan had hoped that Olivia had simply slipped up with her silver, and changed back into Roger... but he hadn’t shown up at Arwen’s office the last week, either.

“I hope he hasn’t done something rash,” said Arwen.  “Can you ask around when you’re at the club tonight?”

“I’ll do what I can.  There’s a lot going on right now.”

“Right.  Then let’s get to the next client.  I don’t have another transgender case for you, tonight we’re going to try some extreme marital counselling.  Joseph is with a pair of his clients in the other room.  If you’d join us?”

“Ah,” said Joseph as they entered, “Here’s my consultant now.”

The husband on the couch stared at Donna, practically drooling.  That earned him a poisonous glare from the woman sitting beside him.

“Maybe I should tone this down a bit,” said Donna cheerfully.  Her overblown curves melted away, and her outfit followed suit, changing from a slinky dress to a copy of Arwen’s businesslike blouse and slacks.  Donna made hers muted pink, where Arwen was wearing earthier tones.

By now, both of Joseph’s clients were staring at Donna slack-jawed.  “Hi.  I’m Donna.  Now what’s this argument all about?”

That started them off again, and required Joseph’s intervention before things quietened down.

“To sum up,” said Joseph.  “Mr. and Mrs. Faultly here each think the other is better off.  George thinks that Kim has has the easier life, and Kim claims the reverse.  They’ve both taken the next week off for a therapeutic vacation at my suggestion.  I was thinking that a bit of Tiresian therapy would do the trick.”

Donna took a moment to catch the reference, and grinned.  “Sure.  It would be easiest if they exchanged clothes...”

“What?” asked the couple, in unison.

“You heard the lady.”  Joseph unfolded a dressing screen in front of the couch, and they retreated to the other side of it.  “Just call out when you’re ready.”  In a whispered aside to Donna, he asked, “You can work through the screen, yes?”

Donna nodded.  As they waited there were some shuffling sounds from behind the screen, then Kim called out, “Do we need to get dressed in each other’s stuff, too?”

“If you’d be so kind, yes,” said Donna, focussing on her perception of the two people.  Once they’d started putting on each other’s underclothes, it was easy to nudge power at them, guiding their bodies to fit the clothes they were putting on.

“I feel silly,” said a male voice that was just a little higher pitched than it had been the last time George had spoken.

“My god,” came a woman’s exclamation next, in a voice somewhat lower pitched than Kim had used before.  “George!  Your legs...  What’s happening to us?”

“You saw me change,” said Donna loudly enough to be easily heard past the screen.  “Keep getting dressed.  And trust me.”

The muffled exclamations continued, their voices changing pitch as time went by.  After a couple minutes the couple emerged from behind the screen.  They were fully dressed, and if it was not for their looks of wonder and confusion, one might have thought nothing at all had transpired there.

Joseph packed the screen away, and asked the two to be seated once more.  The male figure crossed his legs as he sat, then chuckled softly.  “I suppose that gesture is... wow.  I even sound like George.”

“Do  I sound like you, then?” asked the woman.  “Wow.  It’s uncanny.”

“This is really weird, seeing someone else look and sound exactly like me,” muttered Kim.

“So,” said Joseph, sitting across from the couple once more.  “Shall we begin again?  Georgette, which of the genders has the easiest time?”

The woman tittered nervously. “Georgette?  I guess.  Shouldn’t I be Kim?”

“If you prefer.  Trade names as you have traded bodies, traded roles.  Now you will truly find out how the other lives.”

“Uh... how long will we be like this?”

Joseph looked to Donna.  “If you really hate it, I can change you back right now.  But I think you should stick with it, try it out.  Explore this opportunity.  If you keep away from silver, you’ll be back to normal a little over a week from now.  Joseph can explain the rest.”

“Indeed I shall.  Thank you for your assistance.”

As Donna left, the new Kim called out, “Thank you.  This is weird, but...”  She grinned and looked over at her ‘husband’.  “I think this might be exactly what we need.”

“You’re welcome.”

Donna chatted briefly with Doctor Sakurai in the office lobby, then headed off to the Blue Vixen feeling pretty proud of herself.

That feeling was dispelled immediately when she entered the green room, only to find it empty.  “Hello?  Where is everyone?”

Rowan bustled into the room.  “Oh thank goodness, you came!  Most of the girls have been scared off by the recent tragedies.”

“Tragedies?”

“Olivia and Wendy at first.  Someone followed them home, attacked them.  The police are still ‘looking into it’, but they’re occupied by the arsonist.  We started organizing rides home for the girls after that, and it helped... until Liana.”

“Liana too?  Oh no...  I’m not surprised the others are running scared.  Still, I would have expected Gwen to show up tonight.”

Rowan’s already morose expression fell further.  “Oh, I thought you would have heard.   Gwen’s apartment was hit by the arsonist three days ago.  There was nothing left but ashes.  I’m sorry.”