The Crossroads Bargain

Marie waited alone in the bathroom, staring at the odd little stick. She and Matt had been trying for months with no luck. The little stick's indicator turned a pale shade of blue, and disappointment came to Marie like an old friend. Each time, she thought it wouldn't be as bad, that she wouldn't be as crestfallen, but somehow she managed to get her hopes up anyway.

The pregnancy test joined another in the trash bin. Marie washed her hands and went back into the bedroom where Mark laid in bed reading. He knew they were trying, but she hadn't spoken to him about it for a while. "Heya," he said as Marie crawled into bed and snuggled up against him. "Everything ok?"

"Yes," she lied. Matt kissed the top of her head. He rolled over to the bedside lamp and turned it off. Marie thought of the moment when she could come out of the bathroom holding a positive test and tell him their world was changing. She thought about the secret visits to the fertility clinic and the natural supplements she had been taking. She tried to keep away the thoughts that it was her, that she was broken in some way. Equally, she didn't want that to be true for Matt. All of her worries swirled in her head as she listened to her husband's breathing grow slower and deeper. The sound and rhythm soothed her. She fell asleep in his arms.

—

Sleep soothed away most of her anxieties. She woke with a renewed determination. On her last visit, the doctor recommended several articles which she planned on reading. He'd also recommended a few relaxation techniques, pointing out that stress can actually deter conception. This also applied to Matt so Marie did her best to make him feel comfortable and relaxed about life.

She was downstairs by the time he woke up. She cooked a light breakfast of toast and bacon, enjoying the smell of coffee filling the house. Marie decided they should eat out on the porch. Cool and crisp spring mornings came rarely, and she made an effort to enjoy them while they lasted. Their home was located very much off the beaten path in the Mississippi Delta, but this allowed them to live on a gorgeous plot of land for next to nothing. Their front door opened onto a massive field cut in half by their driveway. Several hundred yards away, their mailbox sat beside a dusty road. Marie set their breakfast on the porch table, complete with two large glasses of orange juice, and waited for her husband while enjoying the beautiful broad skyline.

Matt appeared a few moments later, "Well, this is nice." He was dressed for work in the odd combination of polished white collar and practical farm attire common in the Delta. His pants, at first glance, appeared to be dress slacks, but on further inspection they were a much more durable material. He also wore a white button up shirt, but rolled the sleeves up over his forearms and left the top button undone. Marie frowned at the sight of it, knowing the neckline was ringed with sweat stains. Her husband was handsome, with tan skin and blue eyes, and she considered herself lucky in that regard. She also thought that they would have beautiful children.

Marie had a fit body as well, which she was proud of in certain ways She'd been a track and field girl for years and maintained her figure since they'd been married. If she had any complaints about her body, it would be that she was too thin. Again, a small part of her wanted the pregnancy so that she could feel more womanly or maternal. Matt never complained about her small A cups, but she had seen him looking at women's breasts before. She tried to write it off as a natural instinct, but it was something she had struggled with her whole life.

Sipping her coffee, she looked out at the horizon as her husband wolfed down his breakfast. The drive used to be an old field road which had fallen into disuse at some point over the years. The property owner built the house right in the middle of the abandoned road and started using it as a driveway. Marie knew it continued on in the opposite direction for a quite a while before finally stopping at the edge of the creek where no one wanted to build a bridge. The crossing highway was one of the state highways built under Eisenhower's massive expansion of American's road systems. Travelers often found it strange that such well built and well maintained roads sliced across the Delta, providing thoroughfares for the hundreds of country people dotting the obscure areas of the vast farmland. When the highways were constructed, the work crews often utilized the already cut out roads, transforming them from muddy dirt paths into paved and lined roadways. None of this entered Marie's mind as she looked out over the fields and roads, but had she known about it, she may have been more alarmed when she saw the man.

***

It was not unusual to see people walking down the sides of the highway. Though it seemed inexplicable that a person could be idly strolling down the road in such a sparsely populated place, these types of long walks were not uncommon. The people in the delta were poor and many of them did not own cars, but lived miles apart from friends or relatives. When they couldn't get a ride, they would simply walk the five miles instead. More often than not, someone they knew would come across them and offer a ride.

This man was different. From what Marie could see, he was tall and wore a dark black coat, unnecessary even on a chilly spring morning. It was a long way to the road, but she could tell he was facing their house. Subconsciously, she could feel his eyes watching her. "Honey," she said, "do you see that?" She gestured out to the road.

Matt looked up from his breakfast, but did not see anything of note on the roadside. "No? What am I looking for?"

"There's a man out there," Marie said. "At least, I thought there was." The man had gone, leaving only the low wind raking over the fields.

"Probably a dog or something," Matt said, dismissively. A stern look from his wife made him reconsider his stance, "I'll look around on the way out. You're right. May have been old Frank on the way in to town. He may need a ride." Matt checked his watch. "Ok, sweetie, I gotta run. I'll see you later. Should be home for lunch today, maybe a little after one." Matt gave her a kiss on the cheek and went inside to gather his things.

Marie watched the edge of the driveway until Matt's truck reached the end. She saw him get out and wander in a circle for a moment before waving towards the house. Marie waved back. The sight had unnerved her, but the beautiful day and the rising sun took away the chill in the air along with her worry about a man in black.

Marie spent her morning sporadically cleaning and reading things on the internet. Some of the articles about conception came off as old wives tales and others as overwhelmingly informative science. A few struck an intricate twining of both extremes, which took a while of cross referencing to work out. Marie focused on her determination to get her through the denser material. She resolved to look at her lack of pregnancy as a problem which would obviously have a solution if she put in the time and effort to figure out.

The day rolled along, and Marie noticed the mail truck rattling by a little before noon. Having forgotten entirely about the man by the road that morning, she slipped on some old flip flops and headed outside to make the trek up to the mailbox. Though it had been cool that morning, the delta sun turned things into a hot day. Even through the flip flops, she could feel the heat baking into the sandy path. Blazingly bright sunlight baked down on her as she walked towards the mailbox. She reached the end of her drive right as noon struck. As she pulled a few circulars out of the mailbox, the back of her neck prickled, and a chill washed over her body. Turning around quickly, she saw the man in black on the opposite side of the crossroads.

Marie's immediate reaction was to run. She could sprint down her driveway, get behind a locked door, and call Matt or the police. Despite that instinct, she remained rooted in place, staring back at the strange man. He did not move, nor did he appear to have moved at all. The dirt around his feet was undisturbed. He stood so rigidly still that anyone not looking directly at him might not notice him at all. He still wore the black coat despite the heat of the day. It flared at the waist giving him the silhouette of a Pilgrim's hat. Underneath, he wore a rather old styled suit. His face did not look menacing, but eerily pale and placid, like a doll.

Marie decided to ask a question, "Who are you?"

The man suddenly filled with life as if the puppeteer had grabbed the strings. He opened his arms and stepped forward onto the main highway. "My name is...multifaceted.' He languished on the final word as his mouth twisted into a sinister grin. "For the purpose of our conversation, you may know me as Jack." As he finished talking, he returned to the same motionless silhouette, having moved only a single step closer to Marie.

Marie was taken aback by the bizarre change in the man's demeanor, but her curiosity overpowered her fear. "Why are you hanging around our driveway?"

Jack stepped forward once again. "Because you have been asking for me. And this is not your driveway. It is my road. I have been here all along. You have looked through me a hundred times, but you see me today. I am Jack. That is why I am here."

Jack finished speaking and went still in the middle of the highway. Marie looked both ways, expecting to see a car rolling onwards at a high speed, but it was empty. The wind gusted around them carrying no sounds of other human life. "You should leave. I'll call the police."

Jack frowned. "Don't be silly." His voice changed and modulated with each word as if he weren't speaking a language any more than a parrot would. "Let us go to the end of story, the sun moves quicker for me than for you. You fall asleep at night dreaming of a little baby, but I can see your insides. They're twisted and rotten. No seed will take root. Am I wrong?" Jack's voice ended high and shrill, cutting like ice through the heat.

"How could you know anything about that?" Marie asked quietly. "Who are you, really?"

Jack stepped closer, his shadow looming over Marie and chilling the air. His mouth opened, but did not move. A voice came out as if a smaller mouth lurked somewhere behind the contorted face, "I am Jack. Old Jack. Young Jack. The Same Jack. I have different names, and they are all Jack. Jack who gifted an emperor a fiddle, and a lute to a pauper. I am Jack who can give you all you ever wanted. Jack at the Crossroads when the sun is up high or the moon is half gone."

Marie was only a few feet from Jack. He had almost fully crossed the road. She guessed the spindly arms could reach out and snatch her at any moment. She could faintly smell the scent of his clothes wafting over the wind, musty and damp. "Everything I wanted?" Marie asked. Marie had an education. She didn't believe in much other than science. But she did believe her eyes, and she started to understand that Jack was something science couldn't explain. "What do you get in exchange?"

Jack smiled. His mouth spread wider and wider. Bright, white teeth appeared, slightly sharper and more numerous than natural. "Three hairs from your head. That's all and everything."

Marie knew it was a trick. Three hairs meant three years of her life or three other lives she would have to take. "Explain. No deal unless you explain it."

"What is there to explain? Three hairs is not much to ask. You get your wish, and the getting of it is my payment. They will see you and wonder how you came to be. They will check under their beds a little more carefully. They will look in their closets and not see Jack. You will have your wish, and we will be done. Quickly now, decide. The sun is waning." Jack no longer sounded playful or poetic. A mean streak of impatience leaked into the cacophonic voice.

Marie knew she should say no. She should go back to her house, lock the door, and forget all about Jack. She could blame it on the heat, that she imagined the whole thing. "Ok. I want to have a baby with Matt. I agree to your deal if you can give me that."

In a flash, Jack's hand darted out and snatched three hairs from Marie's head. She winced at the sudden pain. Jack produced a very old looking rope from the inside of his coat. Using his nimble fingers, he wove the strands of Marie's hair into the rope. Marie somehow knew it to be made of an ancient collection of human hair. Jack held the braid in front of him, eyeing it proudly before tucking it away and reaching into another pocket. He withdrew his hand and held it open in front of Marie. In his palm was a small bean. "Take it. Eat it. Your world will change."

Marie reached into his hand and picked up the bean. The small object looked no different than any other bean she'd ever seen. She popped it into her mouth and swallowed. Jack loomed over her smiling, but her attention turned down the road to where a truck had appeared. When she looked back, Jack was gone.

***

"Marie? What're you doing sweetie?" he asked. "You've been standing here for a while."

He was right. To Marie, the truck had been a short drive away only seconds before. Matt must have seen her standing in the road and not moving for at least five minutes. "Sorry, I was waiting for you. I came down to get the mail and saw you coming so I just thought I'd wait. Give a girl a lift back to the house?"

"Yeah, jump in," he replied. "Hope you got lunch ready. I'm starving for some reason." As Marie jumped in the cab, she leaned over and kissed her husband, pulling his lips to hers without ceremony. "Damn, what's gotten in to you?"

They rode down the driveway together. Marie put her hands on Matt's thigh and smirked at him. She felt different. At first, the bean had stuck in the back of her throat, slowly moving down to her stomach. It had been an unpleasant sensation, but now she felt as if she'd swallowed a barrel of snakes. Her stomach writhed and coiled again and again, but the feeling was not unpleasant, quite the opposite. She found her thoughts focusing on the times she'd had sex, on Matt hovering over her and pushing his cock inside her, trying to conceive. She assumed this meant the deal worked. Or that some weirdo had given her some wild drugs.

By the time they stepped into the air conditioned house, Marie was positively horny. "Hey, Matt, do you have time to...you know?"

Her husband grinned from ear to ear. "Really? A nooner? Sure, I don't see why not. Let's go upstairs."

Marie pulled him over to the living room couch, "No, let's do it here. I want you to fuck me on the couch."

"Whatever you want, babe," Matt agreed. He kicked off his shoes and started to unbutton his shirt, and Marie started working on his pants. She pulled open his belt and in moments had his underwear around his ankles. His heavy musk filled her lungs as his cock bobbed in front of her mouth. She didn't normally like to suck his cock, but she couldn't resist. Matt gasped as his wife's lips circled the head of his cock, taking his full length into her mouth in one quick slurp.

Marie dropped fully to her knees and brought her hands up to help her with Matt's cock. She sucked and licked up and down the shaft as her hands started to massage his balls. His cock tasted wonderful, and his smell drove her wild. Her panties started to fill with her arousal. The salty taste of cum hit her tongue before she realized what was happening. Matt's cock was spurting in her mouth. Her husband grabbed the back of her head and held her in place as he emptied his load onto her waiting tongue. Marie knew she'd done something backwards. The cum was meant to go inside of her, to get her pregnant, but it tasted too good. She undulated her tongue along his shaft, teasing out more and more of the rich tasting spunk.

Matt was spent, and Marie let his cock slip out of her mouth. He watched her lick her lips and shudder with pleasure as she brought an errant drop of cum into her mouth. "Sorry, babe, I know we're trying to..."

"Oh, we're not done stud," Marie insisted. She stood up and pulled her sun dress over her head. She didn't bother wearing a bra with her A cups and her nipples stood out, erect and rosy on the tops of her petite breasts. As she started to pull down her panties, the writhing feeling in her stomach grew tighter. Suddenly, she doubled over in pain, falling onto the couch as her stomach rolled with discomfort. Matt went to help his wife, but a similar sensation traveled up his body. His vision blurred, and he collapsed to his knees.

Marie's skin was on fire. The tension in her gut spread rapidly through her whole body. New pressure started on her chest, and she looked down to see her small tits growing. "Oh fuck, Matt, what's happening to me? Matt?" Her husband was on his hands and knees nearby. She saw his skin rippling and his body twisting. Marie's tits doubled in size again and again. In moments, two DD breasts hung from her small frame. She brought her hand up to touch them, and her body exploded with pleasure as she squeezed her new jugs.

Matt rolled onto his back, and Marie saw him transforming as well. His shoulders broadened out, and his abs heaved with muscle. Across his body, skin thickened, becoming slightly darker and hairier from head to toe. But the most obvious change was his cock and balls. A thick, nine inch cock stood out erect above swollen and heavy testicles. The skin at the base of his cock turned leathery and almost black while fat veins ran up the length of his cock. A pearly white fluid oozed from the tip as his balls contracted. His thighs grew more muscular and toned forcing him to spread his legs and allow his engorged balls room to breath.

Marie's breasts began to hurt. They felt swollen and wonderful to touch, but they also full and in need of release. Moving her hand down to the nipple, she gave the nub a squeeze and delighted to feel a small release. Drops of milk oozed from her teat, dribbling down her breast and splashing on the couch. She needed milking, she realized. With great effort, she crawled off the couch and over to Matt.

Her husband was sweating and appeared to be under great strain. Marie crawled to him, her new breasts wobbling underneath her as she moved. Once Matt saw her, he grabbed her and pulled her over on top of him. Marie wasted no time in leaning forward, dangling her right breast over his mouth. "Here baby, take it," she whispered as her husband latched onto her tit and sucked.

The warm stream of milk filled Matt's mouth. He swallowed, and the warmth from his wife's tit spread throughout his body, easing the tension and driving him wild with passion. His new thick cock pressed between his wife's ass cheeks as she rocked unconsciously back and forth, grinding her pussy against his stomach. He sucked more and more of the creamy milk into his mouth, slightly deflating her breast and causing her to sigh with relief. Matt brought up his hand to massage her other massive orb, creating a steady flow of milk down his hand. His wife milking herself against him was driving him wild. He wanted to be inside of her. He let her breast free from his lips with a wet pop as he rolled her off of him.

Matt crawled to his knees, taking account of his changes. His golden tan had darkened to a near auburn tone. Muscle bulged forward in many places and in others, small patches of hair had thickened and spread. His cock jutted out painfully. He took it in his hand, admiring the feeling of it. It was thick and pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. His balls squished between his thighs, feeling heavy with cum. He turned around to see Marie, still on all fours, grunting as she sprayed her milk on the floor beneath her.