The Magic Shop - Chapter IX

Chapter IX - Out of Options


You look up and down the list a few times before you can think of anything to say.

"I... I just don't know. There's a couple of these that are easy no's right off the bat, but the others... I need to think about it." You grab the counter and push yourself up onto it so you can sit down. Your legs dangle from your position, whereas in your old body you could still touch the floor with your tip toes. Brooke leans in next to you to get a better look at the paper. You read the list over and over, weighing the options in your mind. After a few moments, Brooke speaks up.

"Honestly, I don't think we should even try the Astral Projector," she says. "There's so many ways for things to go wrong." You and Mei both nod in agreement, and she puts it back into the duffel bag.

"I didn't think you would go for that one," Mei says, turning back to face you. "But like I said - options."

"I dont think I'm comfortable with the remote control," you say, your eyes fixated on the paper. "Mei has centuries of experience with magic and even she won't use it... That's a huge red flag to me."

"I agree," Brooke nods. "It's probably not the best idea to have anyone addicted to controlling other people's bodies and minds."

"What about the rings?" You ask, looking back at Brooke.

"Ehhh... People who wear the silver ring end up depressed, is basically what this says, and we both have to wear the silver ring in order to get out bodies back? Someone even killed themselves... Seems a bit counter-productive if you ask me," Brooke says. You scrunch up your face, your eyes going back and forth across the paper.

"You're probably right," you say after reading it again. "That only leaves us with the body suit. That, or not doing anything at all... A-are you sure there isn't anything else?" You ask Mei.

"Unfortunately there isn't, not without putting the child's life in danger," she says, putting the rings and the remote back into the bag. You let out a sigh and your eyes go back to the paper once again.

"I think the suit might be worth a shot," Brooke says.

"I... I don't know if I can. Think about this, Brooke. I have to wear the suit, otherwise we might lose the baby. That means any time I touch you, I run the risk of drastically changing your body into someone or even something completely different. It means I won't ever truly be myself ever again. I'll still be you. I'll only ever be pretending to be me... Which means I'll probably still have to give birth. And on top of that, I'll only age half as fast as you do. That means, with the ages we are now, by the time you reach 80 years old, I'll only be 53. I'll have to bury you, and everyone will think you were my mother. I'll out live you, by a long time... And if the suit somehow doesn't alter the baby's genes, I'll probably out live them, too. I... I just can't, I..." You cover your mouth, staring at the floor and trying not to let the thoughts get to you.

"Hmm," Brooke frowns. "That's it then?" She asks Mei.

"Yes," Mei says. "The only other option would be to contact the person who put the magic into the necklaces. However, she passed several decades ago, and her dabbles into Sin Magic have prevented her soul from reaching a plane of existence with which we can safely communicate."

"Ugh!" You let out a grunt, slamming your hand and the paper down on the counter. "I don't know what to do!"

"I'm sorry I could not be of more help... Would you like for me to leave the items here, in case you change your mind?" Mei asks.

"If you could leave the suit, that would be great. I want to discuss it some more with her. Err, him," Brooke says, visibly embarrassed by the slip.

"Umm..." You start to say something, but bite your lip instead so as not to be rude in front of Mei.

"All right," she says, giving you a look. "I will double check the shop again to make sure I haven't missed anything."

"What about contacting the person who made the necklaces?" You say. "What would it take to do that?" Mei furrows her brow.

"I'm sorry. To do so would impossible without entering into the realm of Sin Magic," Mei says coldly. You're not sure what exactly Sin Magic is, but it doesn't sound like something you'd want to do... Yet.

"Okay," you say, looking down at your size 6 feet dangling from the counter top.

"I will call you should I find anything. Remember, you have just under 48 hours remaining before the effects of the necklaces cannot be reversed. Even the suit will not work after that," Mei says. You nod, but still keep your head down. "Good night," Mei says, stepping into the living room.

"G'night," Brooke says. Mei snaps her fingers, and you look up to see that she has disappeared without a trace. You look over at Brooke.

"That was really fucking selfish of you," you say, folding your arms.

"Selfish? What are you talking about?"

"The fucking suit!" Your voice comes out louder than you expected. "I just told you every reason I have for not wanting to wear that God damned thing, but you still want to 'talk about it'?! What the hell?!"

"That 'God damned thing' might be our only chance to get our lives back!" Brooke yells. "We have less than two days before we're permanently stuck like this, and there are no other options! I'm sorry, I don't want to grow old and fucking die in your body!"

"You read the list!" You say, holding it up and shaking it. "If I wear that suit I have to die in your body!" You hop off the counter and stand in front of her. "I'll have to live twice as long as you do and still die in your body!"

"If you don't put that suit on you'll have to die in my body anyway!" Brooke is almost screaming now.

"Eventually I'll be okay with that! What I won't be okay with is living half of my extra long life WITHOUT YOU!" You yell.

Brooke goes silent for a moment. You can tell she wants to say something, but she's holding it back.

"What?" You demand.

"Forget it."

"No, tell me. We might as well get it all out now."

"You're right. It's selfish. Just forget it."

"I'm not forgetting it." You say, putting your hand on your hip. "Come on."

"Fine!" Brooke rolls her eyes. "I don't think its fair."

"None of this is 'fair,' Brooke, but here we are."

"Not that. I don't think it's fair that you get to tell me I can't live the rest of my life in my own body. You're stuck as me no matter what, but you have the option to let me have my body back, and you won't do it. That's not fair to me."

"Excuse me? Not fair to you?!" You're raising your voice again. "Not even five minutes ago you decided for both of us we're keeping the baby that I'M pregnant with! The only reason I agreed is because I didn't want to argue in front of Mei, and I thought we'd actually have a chance of getting our bodies back!"

"But we DO have a chance! You're the one that won't do it!"

"Do you honestly think I don't want to give you your body back? I would give anything give anything to give you your body back!"

"If that were true, you would have put the suit on already," she says quietly. Suddenly you hear a knock at the door. Brooke folds her arms and turns her head away from you. Rolling your eyes, you go and open the door. Standing there in a bath robe and slippers is your neighbor, Frank.

"Hey Brooke, is everything all right over here?" Frank asks. You realize Frank is the first person to talk to you that doesn't know you're not actually Brooke.

"Yeah. We're fine," you say shortly, pushing the hair out of your face.

"Are you sure? I heard you two yelling pretty loudly," Frank says. You close your eyes for a second and inhale deeply, trying to think of the nicest way to get him to leave.

"Positive. Just a little argument about, um, bills." You've always been a terrible liar.

Frank leans in close to you and whispers. "He isn't hurting you, is he? Do you need me to call someone?" You move your jaw forward and put your tongue on the front off your teeth, starting to get angry. Does he really think you would hit Brooke?

"Frank, I'm fine, really. Please just mind your own business."

"Well, don't be afraid to come over if you need to leave. I have a gun, my couch has a really comfortable pull out bed, and-" You roll your eyes so hard you feel like you can almost see your brain.

"I said FUCK OFF, FRANK!" You slam the door shut and lock the deadbolt.

"Jesus Christ," you say to yourself, putting your hands on your head and pushing your hair back. Brooke walks out of the kitchen and leans against the wall.

"Will you at least think about it?" She asks.

"It's been thought about. I can't... I won't."

"Yeah. And I'm the selfish one," Brooke scoffs.

You walk past her, grabbing the suit off the kitchen counter. Clutching it your hands, you fast walk back to Brooke."You know what? If you want it so badly, why don't YOU wear it!" You shove the suit into Brooke's chest and storm down the hall into the bedroom.

You slam the door shut behind you and lock the door. Leaning back on the door, you slowly sink down until you're sitting on the floor. You wrap your arms around your legs, bringing your knees up to your face. You bury your face in your knees, your breath trembling.

After a few minutes, you hear Brooke's phone receive a text message. It must be Mei, you think. Maybe she found something? You get up and grab her phone, laying down on the bed. You unlock her phone and open the message. It from the same number that Mei called you from earlier.

"I don't have anything else, sorry. Hope you are holding up ok. Mei"

You set the phone down and sigh. So that's really it then? You pull the blanket over you and put your face into the pillow. With your breathing muffled, you can hear it faintly.

Tick, tock.

You look up at the clock. 11:22 P.M.

Tick, tock.

You scrunch up your face. No, it couldn't be possible. Could it?

Tick, tock.

With everything you've seen in the past two days, it has to be possible.

Tick, tock.

You pick up the phone again. It has to be impossible for it to NOT be possible.

Tick, tock.

Your smaller thumbs can't type the message fast enough.

"What do you have in the way of time travel?"