You woke up thinking about what happened yesterday. You definitely hadn’t expected this when you moved to Glendale. But you are kind of glad that it did. True you didn’t have a job now but you were getting to find out what it was like to be a girl. Ever since you could remember you would look at girls and wonder what they felt like being them. As you grew older the only friends you seemed to have were girls which you didn’t mind. You smiled as you remembered that your friends had seen you as one of the girls even though you were clearly a boy. They even invited you over to their slumber parties. As far as you know you were the only boy ever to be invited over and their parents didn’t mind you sleeping in the same room. When it came to painting nails you were a good sport and let them do it. You even did their nails after a few times. Now thinking back you had to wonder if you had been a girl inside all along. That might also explain the success you had at work with your girl accounts. You never seemed to get many taking the bait with your boy accounts.
Smiling you slid out of bed and made it. You knew that someone would be in to change the sheets in a little bit and they would then make the bed but you wanted to do it. When you were adopted you would be making your own bed anyway. At least you thought you would be. Shrugging your shoulders you went to pick out your outfit for today. That’s when you heard Tanya get up behind you. “Morning,” you said pulling out a white shirt with glittery yellow flowers on it.
“Morning,” Tanya said with a yawn.
“You didn’t say morning to me,” Alexia huffed.
“Oh I’m sorry Alexia,” you said. “I forgot.”
“I could tell,” Alexia said. “So what were you thinking about?”
“Just what happened yesterday,” you said as you took out a denim skirt with flowers on it. “You may have done me a bit of a favor Alexia. I had wondered what it was like to be a girl. Now I’m finding out. And you know what it’s not all that different with an obvious exception.”
“Well I have something to admit too,” Alexia said. “My niece loves porcelain dolls and I often wondered what it would be like to be one. When that thought entered my mind I would often tell myself that I was being silly. I was a grown man and I shouldn’t be wondering how it felt to be a doll.”
“Well it looks like we got or deepest desires,” Tanya said. “Maybe not how we expected them to be but I do think we got them.”
“You could be right,” you said pulling out a pair of pale yellow panties. “But how many others have not gotten their deepest desire?”
“I don’t know,” Alexia said. “Maybe a lot. There’s no way to know for sure.”
“Well we should get our showers in before breakfast,” Tanya said. “I’ll race you.” With that she ran out the door.
“Hey no fair,” you called. “I wasn’t ready.” You quickly picked up your clothes, grabbed a pair of white sandals and ran after Tanya.
Tanya was already in the shower when you got there. “Where’s Alexia?” she asked looking at you.
“Oh I forgot her in our room,” you said slapping your forehead with your hand that was holding the sandals.
“I’m sure she’ll forgive you,” Tanya said. “You need to get in here and showered before breakfast. I’ll let you use my soap and shampoo since you forgot your’s.”
“Well it’s your fault for challenging me to a race and then just running out when I wasn’t ready,” you said and then stuck your tongue out at Tanya.
“Ok I cheated,” Tanya admitted. “Now get in here.”
“Ok,” you said as you took your pajamas and panties off. Setting them to one side and your clean clothes to another you got a body towel and a hair towel out of a cupboard. You definitely weren’t use to washing long hair but you managed and figured you would get better at it as time went on. You never thought about the fact that you were in a shower with a nude little girl and that you had been a guy before. Not until after you had gotten out of the shower and you were both wrapped up in your towels. “Oh no,” you gasped.
“What is it?” Tanya asked looking concerned.
“I just saw you nude,” you said.
“So?” Tanya asked.
“So I shouldn’t have seen that,” you said starting to shake. “It makes me a pervert. I helped the police put them away and now I’m one of them.”
Tanya came over and removed your body towel. “Look down and tell me what you see,” she said pointing down.
You did look down and said, “I see a little girl’s crotch.”
“Same as me,” Tanya said removing her body towel as well. “Now tell me. Do you get any satisfaction looking at me or at yourself?”
“Well no,” you admitted.
“Then how can you be a pervert?” Tanya asked.
“Because I shouldn’t be seeing this,” you said shaking your head.
Tanya hugged you and said, “You’re not getting any satisfaction from this. A pervert is someone who gets satisfaction from seeing little kids naked and other things. Have you ever seen a nude child before?”
“Well I did help a friend with her five year old daughter,” you said slowly. “She liked to run around the house naked when I was watching her.”
“And did you get excited when you saw her naked?” Tanya asked.
“No I didn’t,” you said. “She was a pretty girl but I never saw her in any sexual way.”
“Did you consider yourself a pervert then?” Tanya asked a knowing smile in her voice.
“Well I didn’t at the time,” you said. “But after she was murdered by one of those sickos I began to think that I might be one of them for seeing her nude.”
“I think you’re confusing some things,” Tanya said. “A pervert is someone who takes pleasure and sexual satisfaction from seeing little kids nude. You know that there’s a nudist community around here?”
“A haven for those sickos,” you said bitterly.
“You’ve never been to one have you?” Tanya asked.
“Of course not,” you said a note of disgust in your voice.
“Then you don’t know what nudists are really like,” Tanya said. “I had a friend who was a nudist and he lived in the nudist community. A true nudist appreciates the beauty of the human body. They don’t go around nude to get sexually excited but rather to show off the beauty of the human body."
"Are you sure of that?" you asked not entirely convinced.
"I'm sure because I've been there and met them," Tanya said. "Perhaps I can arrange for us to go to the nudist community sometime."
"I guess that would be ok," you said sighing. Maybe it would be a learning experience. "But I still feel like a pervert for seeing you nude."
"We're both girls now and it's ok for us to be seeing each other nude," Tanya said.
"I see your point," you said smiling.
"There you two are," Angela said as she came in. "Alexia said you two had gone for your shower. What has been taking you so long?"
"Cassie freaked out a bit over seeing me nude," Tanya said. "She thought it made her a pervert."
"I see," Angela said. She sat down on a bench and said, "I know you have a passion about making sure children are protected from the perverts who only see them as a cheap thrill. You're not one of those. They are incapable of being protective of children. You on the other hand are therefore you can't be a pervert."
You smiled at Angela and hugged her saying, "Thank you. Both of you."
"You're welcome," Angela said. "I hope that it helped you. Now both of you. Get dressed and get down to the dining hall or else you're going to miss breakfast."
You and Tanya quickly got dressed and raced back to your room to drop your dirty clothes off. You picked up Alexia and led Tanya down to the dining hall. At breakfast you saw a couple of the staff looking a little haggard. Mrs. Cain seemed to be really flustered and tired. Something had to have happened last night that had them up most of the night. You wondered what it was. You found out after breakfast exactly what as Mrs. Cain came up to you and asked, "A moment of your time Cassie?"
You were curious so you said, "Ok."
"Bring Alexia with you and come to my office," Mrs. Cain said and walked off. You of course followed and once inside her office and the door was closed she slumped in her chair which surprised you. Something really bad must have happened last night. After a few moments she said, "What I'm going to tell you does not leave this room. Give me your word that it won't."
"We won't say anything," you and Alexia said.
Mrs. Cain sighed and said, "I normally wouldn't dream of involving a child in this but you're a special case." She closed her eyes and seemed to gather her thoughts before continuing. "Last night Terri and Kim Hanson snuck out. At six this morning their bodies were found nude and with signs of sexual abuse."
"Oh no," you gasped. You had met the girls when you had come here before. They had been twelve at the time and you had considered adopting them if you could. "Do the police have any suspects?"
"Well they do have a name," Mrs. Cain said. "I don't know how to tell you this but the name they have is Richard Plunkett and living here in Glendale."
"So the police think it's me?" you asked.
"Fortunately most of the police don't believe the game's real," Mrs. Cain said. "And can you see a prosecutor trying to convince a jury outside of Glendale that you were once a grown man?"
"That would be difficult," you admitted. "But there's something more isn't there?"
"Yes," Mrs. Cain said looking disgusted with herself. "Like I said most of the police don't believe the game's real. One those that do is Chief Connor. After talking with Wally he thought that you could find who killed them. I don't agree with putting a child in a dangerous position but I've been assured that you can't be killed."
"That's part of the transform I gave her," Alexia confirmed.
"Which is the only reason I'm allowing it," Mrs. Cain said. "You may have been a grown man before but you are a child now and you're in my care. I am responsible for your well being and I'm worried about what could happen. There's the chance that you could be sexually molested if you agree to help the police catch this person. It's your decision though."
"It sounds like they want me to meet with this guy," you said with a frown.
"They do if you can get him to meet with you," Mrs. Cain said looking disgusted.
"How did they die?" you asked.
"That's unknown at this time," Mrs. Cain said. "We should know after the autopsies."
The thought of them having to be autopsied got to you. You wanted to do what you could to help catch their killer but something in the back of your mind said that this could be really dangerous even with you being unable to be killed. "I think I'll wait to make my decision until after we know how they died," you said with a frown on your face. "I get this weird feeling that it could be really dangerous and that I could die."
"But you can't be killed," Alexia said.
"Your wording only made sure that I couldn't die from anything physical except by my own hand," you said shaking your head. "If someone was able to remove my soul somehow then I would die. That's why I want to wait until the autopsies are done."
"Well be careful when you're out," Mrs. Cain said. "Keep an eye out for anyone that seems strange."
"Oh I will," you said.
"Now go get packed," Mrs. Cain said. "And remember not to say anything."
You nodded and left Mrs. Cain's office. Tanya was already gone when you got to your room so you started packing. You made sure to pack a swimsuit and your shampoo and soap. Once you were done you sat in the window waiting for Julie to come. You finally saw her walking up and you went down to meet her.
You smiled as you met her as she was coming out of Mrs. Cain's office with Mrs. Cain right behind her. "Hi Julie," you said waving.
"Oh you two look just adorable," Julie said smiling. "Are you ready to go?"
"Well I do have my bag," you said giggling.
"Remember what we talked about," Mrs. Cain said. "Julie knows about it since she's taking you for the day and wants to adopt you. But don't talk about it."
"Ok," you said nodding.
"Well lets go then," Julie said taking your hand.
"What are we doing today?" you asked.
"Well I'm going to take you to the art gallery," Julie said.
Fortunately you didn't have long to wait for the bus. You had expected Julie to take you to her house first to drop your bag off but you went right to the art gallery. The guard at the door did insist on checking your bag out and took your shampoo and body wash saying that you would get them back after they had been tested. You understood their caution. "The Galleria has a few sections," Julie said as she led you to one part. "This one is for modern art."
You looked around at the art incorporating computers, blenders, TVs, radios, toasters, and other household appliances. Julie stopped at one with the body composed of a refrigerator, golf clubs as arms, a computer monitor for a head, metal washers for eyes, two staplers for a mouth which looked to be frowning, and mop heads for hair. It was an interesting piece to be sure. You looked at Julie and saw the sad look on her face. You were about to ask why when she said, "This is Gabrielle Downs. Her boyfriend wanted to take their relationship further than she was prepared to. In a drunken fit of rage he transformed her into this." A pause then Julie said, "I know it's painful for you Gaby. Oh this is Cassandra Plunkett and Alexia. Say hello to Gaby you two."
"Uh... hello Gaby," you said feeling foolish.
"She can't possibly hear us or respond," Alexia said.
"She said a porcelain doll shouldn't be able to talk but you do," Julie said after a moment. "It's just the way the game is."
"You can talk to her?" you asked. "How?"
"I'll explain that later," Julie said smiling. "Right now I'll introduce you to the others in the Galleria."
There were a couple more in the modern art section. Mark Katz who was a wolf made from electrical wire and Kelly Boone who was a woman made from cans, a bowling ball for breasts, and a bed sheet as a toga. In the painting section there were too many to keep track of all their names. Same as in the sculpture section. The horror section only had one piece. Kim and Kevin Bacon. Kim was a male werewolf standing over a young woman of about twenty with her throat ripped out which was Kevin.
"This last section only has one transformed sculpture," Julie said. "And it's the one I want you to see the most." You noticed a sign on the door saying that clothing was optional beyond this point.
"I'm not sure if I should go in there," you said holding back.
"Don't worry about it," Julie said. "Children are allowed in there."
"But the sign says that clothing is optional," you said.
"That's because it's the nudist section," Julie explained. "It has it's own entrance to the nudist community."
You remembered the fence that butted up to the Galleria's sides. It looked like you were going to be visiting the nudist community much sooner than you had thought. Taking a breath you nodded and followed Julie inside. There were a couple sets of doors. After going through the second set you saw quite a few people walking around who were nude. A security guard came up and said, "Hello Julie. Who do you have with you?"
"Hello Charlie," Julie said with a smile. "This is Cassandra and Alexia."
"Hi," you said smiling.
"Hello," Alexia said.
"Hello to the both of you," Charlie said not being surprised by Alexia speaking. "Julie showing you those that have been transformed?" He asked this with a sad look on his face.
"Yes," you replied. "It's very sad that they're stuck here. I think I would go mad."
"Most of them have accepted their fate," Charlie said sadly.
"Charlie's sister is Gaby," Julie said obviously feeling the need to explain.
"Oh I'm so sorry," you said and Alexia agreed.
"Well at least I know what happened to her," Charlie said. "Most of those that end up in here have loved ones that think they're either missing, dead, or never existed. That's really rough on them."
"How do you know?" you asked.
Charlie looked at Julie and said, "You haven't told her?"
"I'm going to as soon as I wake Amanda," Julie said. "I need her to see it since I plan on adopting her."
"You know what will happen if you do," Charlie said.
"I know but maybe it won't happen," Julie said. "Even if it does it won't be that much of a change for her. She can become glass. And I am going to give her the choice. Now Cassie I'm going to wake Amanda up so you two can meet." She went up to a marble statue of a girl of about eleven holding a flower and placed her hand on it. She smiled and said, "Mandy. Wake up Mandy."
There was a crumbling sound as marble turned to flesh. The girl was just as nude when she was flesh as she had been as marble. She hugged Julie saying, "Mommy you didn't come home last night."
"I had some things I needed to do," Julie said hugging her daughter back. "I have someone I want you to meet." She led Mandy down from the pedestal and said, "Mandy, this is Cassandra and Alexia. Cassie, Alexia, this is my daughter Amanda."
"Hi," you and Alexia said.
"Hi," Mandy said. Turning to Julie she said, "I did hear you introduce them to Charlie."
"You weren't asleep?" Julie asked.
"Well I couldn't really get back to sleep after I was woken by the man and two girls," Mandy said.
"What man and what girls?" Julie asked.
"The girls called the man Richard," Mandy said.
"Were the girls named Terri and Kim?" you asked getting a chill down your back.
"That's what they called each other," Mandy said. "How did you know?"
"What happened sweetie?" Julie asked holding Mandy's shoulders.
"They came in and then the girls told each other they couldn't move," Mandy said. "Then the man took his and their clothes off and started to have sex with them. The girls kept telling him that they didn't want to have sex but he ignored them. When he seemed to be finished he opened his mouth and seemed to suck a light out of them. When he did that they went limp. He then turned into a shadow and covered them and their clothes. He left with them through the shadows."
"Did he know you were awake?" Julie asked fear in her voice.
"I don't know," Mandy said. "It looked like he thought I was just a statue."
"That's good," Julie said breathing a sigh of relief. "That means he didn't see through the perception filter of our transform."
You noticed that Charlie had left as soon as Mandy had said the girls had gone limp. "The police will want to talk to you Mandy," you said looking around and noticing the security cameras. "While we wait for them I want to hear about your transform."
Julie sat down on a bench and motioned for both of you to join her. Mandy sat in her lap for sanitary reasons. "You need to know if I'm to adopt you," she said looking at you with a smile. "It started thirty-five years ago. I was seeing a man named Carl Mackie. I loved him and wanted to marry him. I was going to see him with Mandy when this guy stepped in front of me and asked me to marry him. Can you believe that? A complete stranger asking me to marry him right out of the blue. Of course I told him that I couldn't marry him because I was in love with someone else. That's when he asked me and Mandy the question. We both said transform. I because I had this feeling that he would use the dare to make me marry him. Mandy said it because I did. Well he didn't like that so he transformed us into nude marble statues of ourselves. Part of the transform was that while we were statues no one would think we were anything else. He said that if I learned how to that after thirty years I could wake up returning to being flesh until I went to sleep and I could wake others up. I learned how to wake up two years ago by the way. He also gave me the power to communicate with those who were also transformed into art. He put us in the newly created nudist wing of the Galleria. It was newly created as he created it with our transform. We wouldn't age and as marble we were indestructible. He also made it that if I tried to tell Carl what happened after I was able to awaken or make an effort to see him Mandy and I would remain marble statues and lose being able to be flesh. Now this pertains to you Cassie. He said anyone I added to my family would become like Mandy. Sleeping as a marble statue until I woke them up. So if I do adopt you that's what will happen. You'll be a nude marble statue when you sleep."
"Will I also become marble?" Alexia asked.
"Well Mandy always holds a flower when she sleeps," Julie said. "She picks different ones before she goes to sleep and they turn to marble so I'd assume you would to."
"Does it hurt when you transform?" you asked.
"It just tingles," Julie said. "I would like you as a daughter but I'll understand if you don't want to be. I'll tell you that when you first become a statue that you'll remain completely aware and it can get boring. After awhile though you'll learn how to let your mind go blank and sleep. Also you'll have to take your clothes off before you go to sleep otherwise they'll disappear and not reappear. Now that you know you can decide if you want to be my daughter or not. I don't need a decision right now but I would like one before this evening. That way you'll be able to sleep with us if you decide to be a part of our family."
"I'd like a little sister," Mandy said.
"Amanda Lynn," Julie said sternly. "You don't need to be putting any pressure on her. She was just transformed yesterday and another one the next day might be a bit much for her."
"Sorry," Mandy said looking down.
"Alexia could use her turn to free you from being statues," you said.
"The man stipulated that the question wouldn't affect us ever again," Julie said. "Besides even if it could we wouldn't want to change back. We've grown use to being statues. I was thirty-three and Mandy was eleven when we became statues. When you spend that much of your life as a statue you don't want to give it up."
"I say you become her daughter," Alexia said. "It's your best choice."
"How is that?" you asked.
"Well they don't age just like us," Alexia said. "If you were adopted by anyone else they would grow older and eventually die maybe leaving you an orphan again. Julie won't age and she won't die. And I think you want to save my turn for an emergency."
Alexia did make a good argument and you did want to save her turn. But did you really want to become marble when you slept?