Switched Ch. 04

We'd researched the woman who'd been born in the body Jessica now wore, as soon as we got out of the Zone. It wasn't hard to find someone fitting her description who'd disappeared at the right time.

She was Desiree Wolcroft, legal secretary and Instagram model living in Champaign-Urbana and majoring in political science. It made sense that someone working two jobs and going to school would be very driven. She had been willing to sacrifice more for success than we'd imagined.

I tried to put determination in my voice, for her. "This is a setback, okay? But this is not the end. Come on, let's plan our next step."

She didn't resist as I led her to the car. She was quiet as I drove. Numb. She stared out the window and didn't respond to a word I said.

She kept looking at the clock on the dash. When it reached eight, the time when the last guest had made their appearance at the event, she whipped out her burner phone and dialed.

She put it on speaker. "Who is this?" It was eerie, hearing my best friend's voice and knowing it wasn't him in there. Of course Chase's body would have Chase's phone. There would be no need to change the number.

Jessica clearly and slowly enunciated, "My name is Chase McKenna, and your name is Desiree Wolcroft."

For a long, tense moment there was nothing on the line but background noise. Then Desiree hissed, "Dad said you'd never get in touch with me."

I was so proud that Jessica kept her cool. "I'm sure he's sold you a masterful line of bullshit," she said. "It's what he does, Desiree. Take it from someone who's known him their whole life, he will sacrifice anything for power, and that includes you." A muscle in her jaw bunched.

"You think I can't handle him?" he sneered.

"I don't think anyone can. But he'll have convinced you that you can. Look, he's bound to have your phone tapped. How soon can you meet me?"

"Why did you take my body?"

"I didn't know I was doing it, honest. It was a fluke accident, but I can reverse it now. You can have your old body back, but we need to be quick. We should meet somewhere public... Hello? Are you there?"

There was a tense silence on the line, then the woman wearing my best friend's body snarled, "Don't call this number again," and hung up.

Jessica's hands shook as she made another call and went through the usual security routine.

"Is this who I think it is?" answered her father. His darkly amused voice raised every hair on the back of my neck.

"What's the game, Father?"

The august Senator's voice dropped into a low, predatory range just above a whisper. "You don't have to call me that any more, little girl. I've got a real son now, one with a proper set of priorities."

The expression on her face was heartbreaking. She started to say, "How can..."

"Admit it, you hated being in this family. Allow me to congratulate you. You finally get what you want. You're out."

"What? You're bitter? Because I don't like you enough?"

"I'm not bitter, you Freak, I'm disappointed in my loser of a son. You were just a boozy wastrel with left-leaning tendencies, content to spend my money the rest of your life, and now you're a bimbo with nothing. Fitting, don't you think?"

Jessica winced at every word, but her father wasn't done. "There was only one thing I ever needed you to do, and you screwed that up. You and those Satan-spawn Variants."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jessica shouted, or tried to with her faltering voice.

Her father said, "Why couldn't you have just died like you were supposed to?"

It was like the ground just dropped away.

All along it was just the Senator and the Variants. There was no third party with a gun. I had been so blind! Occam's Razor: Don't add unnecessary parties. It was right there in front of me! That sniper didn't miss the senator, he was aiming at Jessica! With one bullet he'd have gotten rid of the dead weight and given his father a huge sympathy boost in the polls. The Senator surely had some nasty anti-Variant legislation ready to take advantage of it.

It had gone wrong, though. The bullets hadn't killed him like they were supposed to. Why?

I would have bet anything that they were deflected to less lethal trajectories by those little birds.

The Senator went on, his voice acidic. "My new son knows how to play the game. He has a proper respect for power. So I suppose you did do one thing for me: You got the Hell out of my way."

Click.

I was already pulling over and stopping when she grabbed me and began to sob.

I stroked her hair. Her chest shook and she made low, indistinct noises. Damn that man, damn him for being so unworthy of my Jessica.

In a fierce whisper, I told her, "We'll fix this. I promise you." I held her tightly and rocked. My eyes were getting moist. I said, "What can be done can be undone. We'll fix this."

Her condition hadn't changed so it was time for stronger measures. I took her by the shoulders and raised her so I could look into her eyes.

My heart stopped.

Tears were running down her face, but that face was beaming with joy.

She laid a hand tenderly on my cheek and looked into my eyes. And she said, "It is fixed."

I kissed her like I had never kissed anyone before.

She clung to my neck. Half-laughing, half-crying, she marveled, "It's all mine."

I didn't dare believe it. My heart was going to beat out of my chest.

Still beaming, she wiped her eyes and said, "Come on, let's get moving, I hate being on the side of the highway."

"Where are we going?" I asked. This couldn't be real!

"Just drive," she replied. She held onto me while I found an opening in traffic and accelerated toward our new life.

THE END

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Thanks for reading my story! Keep an eye out for the sequel, where we deal with Tawney and go more deeply into the world of the supers. Jessica's power makes for interesting possibilities and I plan to have a lot of fun exploring them! I'm curious about what you'd like to see next, so leave a comment with your thoughts.

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