The Stranger (closed for malvolio)

The first thing Kathy noticed when she woke up was the awful taste in her mouth. “Eww,” she murmured as her eyes fluttered open. That’s what she got for going out to happy hour with some coworkers on a Friday evening. She wasn’t a teetotaler, not anymore that was, but she made a point not to drink often or to excess. But she did seem to recall getting talked into doing at least one shot with Sue after Kathy had finished her glass of wine. No doubt the combination of cheap tequila coupled with the heavy merlot made for a bad breath concoction. A quick glance at the clock showed it was a little before nine, much later than she typically slept on the weekend.

Then she kicked the sheets off of her and alarm bells went wild in her mind. One, she was naked, and she never slept in the nude. Even when she’d been married (a colossal mistake she’d made right out of high school), she always went to bed in at least a t-shirt and underwear. But she was as naked as the day she’d been born.

Coupled with that was a variety of eclectic items that apparently spent the night under the covers with her. There was an uncut cucumber, her small emergency flashlight, a bottle of travel shampoo, and her styling hairbrush. She stared at these things, dumbfounded as to why on earth she might’ve dragged them into the bed last night, but...well, she honestly didn’t remember coming to bed. Or coming home.

That realization sent Kathy into a panic. She dashed out of bed, through the living room of her apartment to the kitchen. There she found her purse on the counter and not the hook on the wall where she normally put it. She turned it over and dumped the contents out. After locating her keys and her wallet - everything there where she had left it - she sighed in relief. One of the girls from the office must’ve brought her home and set the purse there.

But why couldn’t she remember that? She remembered arriving at the bar, and everyone ordering their drinks and some appetizers. After she finished her wine and those damn shots, she had grabbed her purse and headed to the ladies’ room. She did her business and washed her hands and then it got hazy.

Kathy slid down to her knees, biting her thumbnail and trying hard to remember. It had been crowded in the restroom, which wasn’t unusual. Someone had bumped into her from behind...no, that wasn’t right. Someone has shoved her, that was right. As she was rounding that little corner between the entrance and back exit. They had shoved her right up against the wall and….

Her hand slid up to her neck but felt nothing there. But she remembered hands there, and then a mouth. Someone whispered in her ear before dragging her out the back door into the alley. A hand slid up her skirt, and then inside her underwear.

Her stomach rolled in horror as the worst floated to the top of her mind. Someone had messed with her drink! That had to be why she couldn’t remember what happened. Someone slipped her something and...and…

“Okay,” Kathy whispered to herself, running a hand through her mousy brown hair. “Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” She refused to jump to that next conclusion. And while she wasn’t great friends with the women she went out with, they would not have just let her leave with someone if she had been that messed up. And if she had just up and disappeared, they would’ve come looking for her, she was sure of it.

She took a moment to go into the bathroom, where she stood in front of her full length mirror. There didn’t appear to be any marks on her. She reached with a reluctant hand between her legs and didn’t feel anything dried or leaking from her there, although there was a hot lump on the upper inside of her thigh. She craned her head but couldn’t quite see what it was. Kathy grabbed up a hand mirror off the vanity and arranged it to see what was going on. All she could manage to see what appeared to be a bruise, though.

Frustrated, she ran back to the kitchen and grabbed up her phone. She took a picture, taking care to get only her leg and not any other parts she did not want to see. When she looked, she frowned and zoomed in. It was a bite. She could clearly see the outline of human teeth, though they weren’t large ones.

She just stared at the picture. Who had bitten her? And why?

Finally she set the phone down, dug through the clothes scattered on her floor, and found a pair of panties that were definitely not hers. They were red lace and crotchless, something a hooker might wear. Something about them set her heart to racing, which confused and embarrassed her. She tossed them aside, but her eyes fell back to the items that littered her bed. She reached out to grab the hair brush, eyes wide and

she blinked. She was sitting on the couch, the hair brush discarded on the cushion beside her. Her eyes found the clock and saw it was now almost 1 p.m. Where had four hours just gone? “What is wrong with me?” she asked aloud, scared of the answer. She got up on shaky legs and went to her phone. She found the number of the one doctor in the practice where she worked that she trusted. When he answered, she said, “Dr. Helton? It’s Kathy Remick. I hate to bother you on a Saturday, but I need your help.”

Jack looked up from his notes and smiled at the pretty brunette and the older gentleman seated next to her. The man’s session was ending and it had been a productive one. The traumatic dreams about the war were less frequent now and the father and daughter had reported a marked improvement in their relationship. Rising from their seats, Jack accompanied the couple as they made their way out of his office, down the hallway, and into the reception area, making pleasant small talk and inquiring about their plans for the weekend.

“Monica, can you book Mr. Sunderland for a follow-up in a month? The next Saturday that I’m in.”

“Yes, Doctor Helton.”

As Jack saw them out the door from the waiting room, the daughter flashed a quick, appreciative smile back at him. He nodded and waved politely.

The door had barely shut when Jack felt a sharp but playful slap on his shoulder.

“She fucking wants you, Jack. I still can’t understand why you haven’t tried getting into her pants yet.”

“Ed,” he murmured. “You have a nice morning?”

“Mmm, yeah… listening to a married couple who bicker over everything is always fun. And I do mean EVERYTHING. You know they started before they even sat down in my office? Over what happened to a spare set of car keys.

“Jack, I want you to fucking shoot me, if I ever consider getting married.”

“But what would we do around here without your sunny optimistic worldview and enlightened takes on matrimony, hmm?”

At 37, Dr. Jack Helton was living his best life. Slightly about average in height at 5’11”, dark haired, and with a modicum of professional success, he was the Blue Mountain Falls Psychiatric Clinic’s most eligible bachelor. Not that he cared. Oh sure, he had dated his share of attractive women. He still did, but was more discreet and more serious now in his late 30s. Most importantly, he never dated or slept with patients/relatives of patients and co-workers. Monica and Heather, another admin staffer, had tried to fix him up with single women they knew, but Jack had diplomatically turned them down. He was heavily invested in his work, counseling individuals with PTSD and personality disorders and taking part in outdoor activities with a small circle of friends on the weekends. In short, his life was simple, albeit a little boring.

Dr. Edward Tanner, 38, was Jack’s polar opposite. Twice divorced, cynical, and perpetually on the prowl for another woman to bed, Ed was the office “bad boy”. While he also avoiding dating patients, relatives of patients, like sisters, daughters, and ex-wives, were fair game to him and when he encountered one he liked, he frequently pursued her with gusto. And while he didn’t openly pursue staff, he hadn’t let this little detail get in his way in the past. The practice’s founders had tolerated his behavior because they, a married couple, had gone into private practice together after meeting and seeing an opportunity together for a psychiatric practice on the western side of Blue Mountain Falls, their small Oregon city. The Fergusons had fallen in love and gotten married and, as former hippies turned libertarians, believed that anyone ought to be able to date whomever they wanted, in so long as it didn’t create a legal liability for the practice. It was unorthodox and a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen, but the semi-retired Fergusons didn’t seem to care since they were too busy growing and smoking legalized marijuana these days.

Annie, the last staffer that Ed had slept with, had left the firm a few months ago after catching Ed in bed with her roommate. Her replacement, a twentysomething named Kathy, was suitably plain and efficient enough to both do the job and not attract much interest from Ed.

Over lunch, Jack and Ed caught up a bit with Jack talking about his plans to go for a hike in the hills and catch up on some reading while Ed had a date with a cute red head he’d met while waiting to get his oil changed. As Ed bragged about his plains to “nail Lil’ Red”, Jack laughed amusedly. Ed wasn’t a bad guy, just more insecure since his second divorce, Jack thought to himself.

After lunch, they went their separate ways with neither having any additional patients for the day. Jack had just started his car when his phone rang.

“Hey Kathy, what’s up?”

Now that she had him on the phone, Kathy found it difficult to speak. God, this was so embarrassing. "Like I said, I'm so so sorry to bother you. I'm sure you're on your way home now, and it's been a really long week and -" She cut herself short once she realized she was babbling.

She forced herself to sit on the couch and calm down. "Something...happened." Her fingers traced the bite on the inside of her leg, which sent an oddly pleasant sensation across her skin. "I, um...I went out with some of the women from the office and I don't remember coming home last night."

Although Kathy worried she might've been assaulted, she didn't mention that she was pretty sure someone had been in her apartment. Instead, she went on and said, "And after I woke up this morning, I - not sure how to put it - I lost time again. I was looking for something and then the next thing I knew, four hours had gone by.

"Am I losing it, Dr. Helton?" She chewed on her nail between words, the tips of her fingers aching from how close they were bitten. "I've never forgotten anything before in my life. And I'm missing almost a full day. Do you think it might be stress?"

Jack listened carefully as Kathy described the events of the previous evening and the mysterious time gap she’d experienced today. He carefully questioned her about how much she’d had to drink, what she’d drank, who had gotten or brought her drinks, and whether anyone outside of their little group might have had access to their drinks.

“Kathy, what you’re describing sounds like you might have been roofied. Either on purpose or by accident. Either the person who did this didn’t get a chance because the group stuck together and got you home safely or there was a mix up at the bar and you received someone else’s drink. I suspect you got a particularly strong batch and maybe weren’t fully recovered this morning, hence your second blackout.

“Stay where you are. Either have a close friend, someone you trust come by and stay with you or, if you want, I can come by. If you experience any dizziness or lethargy, I think we ought to take you to a hospital to make sure it’s not something worse.”

Jack paused, listening to Kathy’s next question.

“Well, by worse, I’m thinking another drug, something like acid. There are all sorts of crazy home chemist types in this town and state and… yeah, yeah, I know… it’s Oregon… and somebody’s bad batch of whatever could have done this too.

“Look, maybe it’s not a bad idea if I just come by right now?”

Jack had a feeling like this was going to end up in the hospital. That would be the safest, most prudent route. After he hung up with Kathy and started driving toward her apartment, he dialed his colleague, Dr. Susan Harmon. Dr. Harmon was the youngest doctor in the practice and had been out with the group last night. She was also a specialist on addiction and drugs and alcohol.

Twenty minutes later, he had pulled into the parking lot of Kathy’s building and was on his way up in the elevator. Dr. Harmon had felt safe about their drinks. They had been waited on by a female bartender that several women in the group knew from prior happy hours. No strangers had gotten particularly close, although Dr. Harmon had gone home earlier than the rest and Kathy was still with the group, but seemed fine.

Arriving at her door, Jack dialed Kathy’s cell phone to let her know he was right outside.

When Dr. Helton mentioned roofies, Kathy's panic returned. She jumped up and paced around the living room, her stomach beginning to hurt. "Something worse? What could be worse than getting roofied?" she snapped, her skin starting to itch. Oh, this was bad. It was so, so bad. Walking only seemed to irritate that stupid bite, which was throbbing now but she couldn't make herself sit still.

"Come by?" she parroted after he said he should. "I don't really think that's necessary." How humiliating! She could never tell her parents about this. They were still mad at her about divorcing Derek, and how that wasn't the proper thing church girls should do. If they found out she'd been out drinking, no matter what her age was, they would blame her for anything bad that had happened.

But he insisted, and her stomach pain coupled with the burning sensation radiating from her thigh made her relent. "Fine. I'm in the Double R apartments on Lynch Lane. Apartment 3F, on the top floor." The pain in middle expanded, nearly making her gasp. "Thanks, Doctor," she managed before hanging up and slamming the phone on the floor as she fell.

"Owwww!" Kathy hissed as her waist sunk inwardly. She curled into a fetal position as her body spasmed. The bite pulsated in time with the beat of her heart, and it was as if poison coursed through her veins. Her skin felt too tight, and when she tried to straighten out, her flesh tore away from the bone. She tried to scream, but the pain was too heavy to catch enough breath for a scream. A mewling whine was all she could manage.

She rolled onto her back as her legs grew, but not into something grotesque. They were long, lean and perfectly shaped. All the nicks from her last shave had healed, and there were no callouses on her feet anymore. The bite where, it seemed, this all began, faded down to a lip-shaped birthmark on her thigh. Upward the changes continued, pinching her waist as her hips flared wider. Her normally flat ass grew until it was a perfect little bubble butt, something she could not have achieved no matter how many hours she put in at the gym. Her pubic hair thickened into a full bush, and arousal ran down to the tops of her thighs.

Gasping and moaning, feeling suffocated, Kathy's eyes rolled up in her head as the transformation moved higher. Her breasts swelled, rounding out from the small buds she'd always had to several cup sizes larger than her modest B. Her chest pulsated up off the floor as her shoulders arranged themselves to finish her tantalizing hourglass figure. Her painfully ragged fingernails grew out to finely manicured points before ceasing their movement. Her neck elongated, giving her a graceful, supple appearance that her hunched posture hid. Her cheekbones rose and thin, pale lips puffed up into a delicious pink pout. Her eyebrows thinned and arched as her drab brown hair grew from the nape of her neck down nearly to her waist in deep mahogany waves. Every blemish on her face faded until she had a glow that emanated from her pores.

Finally, her skin fully settled into this new, unknown form, and her eyes fluttered open. Rather than a dull hazel color, they were a vibrant green. She rose, still panting, and desperately hungry. She eyed the hair brush on the couch and threw it across the room, knowing that feeding herself would not satisfy. Not now that she had morphed into this form again today. No, she knew what she needed.

Thankfully, Kathy had provided her an option. The man, the doctor that she worked for, he was coming here. A slow, dark smile spread across her unfamiliar face. Yes, he would do. But, she knew as she looked down at her glorious nude form, she would need clothes. That would be difficult, as mousy little Kathy was a few sizes smaller than she was. It was a problem they would have to take care of soon, as she knew that her return would be inevitable. She finally found an old nightgown that went down to Kathy's knees but barely covered her own ass. She dug out the unknown, discarded panties off the floor and stepped into them before admiring how she looked in the mirror.

The poor doctor wouldn't know what hit him.

She threw on a long robe that barely fit her arms just before her visitor buzzed to let her know he was here. She fluffed her hair as she buzzed him up. When he knocked, she opened the door with a sultry smile. "Dr. Helton, I presume? Come on in."

As she swayed back towards the couch, she added, "Sorry, I know you're here for Kathy, but she ran out of here a few minutes ago saying she couldn't wait to get something from the store?" She shrugged apologetically. "I'm Kitty, by the way," she said, offering him her hand to shake. "Old friend who popped in for a visit today. Can I get you something to drink while you wait for her to come back?" She hoped he wouldn't try to leave. He was cute enough, and she thought she could make his trip here worth his while.

Jack stared at the woman in the doorway in surprise. “She ran out? But… but I told her she needed to stay here. If she’s having a medical episode, it could be dangerous for her to be out.”

Staring at the strange woman, Jack couldn’t help but feel like he knew her somehow. She seemed oddly familiar, yet… not. He was certain he had never before laid eyes upon her. He was certain of this, in part because of her striking beauty and almost… wild, feral quality to her. He knew immediately that he’d never be able to forget this woman again. But yet… he couldn’t put his finger on why he felt like he somehow knew her.

Without thinking, he reached out to accept her extended hand. When they touched, he stopped. It was like time itself had paused around them. He stared into the deep, beautiful pools of green that were her eyes, confused as to what was happening. A wave of progressively more intense feelings washed over him… curiosity… attraction… interest… infatuation… want… desire… lust… hunger… need! His cock instantly quivered and stirred. An image of her wrapping her body around his, her already loose garments falling away, revealing more and more of what he somehow knew to be perfect creamy flesh beneath.

“Kitty,” he mouthed, wordlessly.

Old friend. Visit. Drink. Come… back?

“Yes. I’ll… have a drink.”

Jack released her hand. He felt like he was in a dream almost. Everything was slower, hazy, surreal. But no matter where he looked, his attention always returned to her. She was the center of everything in this strange little fever dream. And… it was a dream… right? Reality seemed… distant. He was dreaming now, he was certain.

Yes, I must be…

He followed her, his feelings of lust and desire still fresh in his fogged over mind. He oogled her breasts and ass, wanting to touch her…

Outwardly, Kitty smiled as the doctor took a seat on the couch, face with rapt attention as he watched her. Inwardly, she worried. She was new to this, trying to find the best way to get someone to feed her. Instinct told her she needed his cum to quell her hunger. But had she pushed too hard with him? If she had, what would that mean for the outcome?

"Please, make yourself comfortable." She padded over to the kitchen, feeling his eyes on her hips as she did. She didn't bother reaching for a glass on a top shelf, not with the robe still on. But she did make sure to get some ice cubes out of the freezer, letting the cold air hit her breasts, perking her nipples up nicely. She added a little water to the glass and returned to hand it to him.

Dr. Helton took the glass out of reflex, she thought, as he didn't drink from it. Pleased, she sat down near enough to him that the pheromones she pumped out continued their work but not close enough for him to touch her. She leaned back and rested on one arm, allowing the robe to fall away more so she could show off her body more.

"So tell Kitty, Doc - how do you know Kathy? Do you two work together?" Her eyes focused in on his, a politely interested expression on her chiseled face. She crossed her legs, which pulled the hem of the gray gown up, exposing the mark on her thigh.