Stranger in the Mirror

by Anonymous

His head hurt. Hell, that was an understatement. His head felt as if someone was trying to cave it in with a fireman's ax. It was a pattern that was becoming all too familiar. The severe headaches he experienced were always a precursor to the changes that were about to occur.

It was dark and the glare from the PC screen provided the only light within the room. Roy Davidson glanced at the illuminated face of his watch and saw that it was 2:00pm. Shit! He'd been at it for hours and his back screamed from the punishment he had subjected it to, sitting on that blasted hard wooden chair, but he'd finished the last of his research. All of the information had been organized into various documents and had been attached to emails, the last of which he had just sent to the other members of the special investigative task force of which he was also a member.

Roy stiffly turned from the PC and reached for the half empty bottle of "Wild Turkey" and poured himself another glass full. He watched as the dark amber colored liquor slowly spilled into the confines of the glass. He took a deep swallow from the glass and felt the alcohol begin its warm journey to the depths of his stomach. The ice had all melted hours ago and he had been too engrossed in his research to make the trek to the refrigerator to replace it. Besides the ice just diluted the desired effect of the whiskey.

He was beginning to feel lightheaded and his vision had started to blur. Maybe it was the substantial LARGE amounts of "Wild Turkey" he'd consumed and the long hours spent in front of the computer that was the cause of the sensations. There was always the fragile hope that the change wouldn't occur this time. Maybe, just maybe, the nightmare would be over and his life would be returned to some semblance of normal.

"N-o-r-m-a-l", God, that seemed such an alien thought now, but it had only been a year since his life had begun it's downward spiral into the "shiter". He had felt on top on the world then. He'd worked his ass off the last several years, putting in an ungodly amount of over time, and doing a royal amount of ass kissing, but it had finally paid off when he received notification that he'd been selected for a national crime investigation unit. It was a unit composed of the "creme de la creme" of police investigators from all over the US.

Even through the clouding effects of the alcohol Roy could still remember how excited he had been then, much like a little kid with a new toy and couldn't wait to break the good news to his wife. They'd been married for about four years and this was the break he'd been waiting for. Now they could really start planning for the future. She'd been such a great trooper. Putting up with the endless hours and weekends he spent at work. Him dragging home after days of not seeing her, only to be there long enough to grab a quick shower, shave and get a fresh change of clothes. But now with the new job securely in the bag he was going to make all up to her. He'd planned a romantic second honeymoon for them in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Roy had already bought the plane tickets and made reservations at a old southern style hotel located in the heart of the French Quarter. Boy was she ever going to be surprised.

He had been completely blind-sided when he was served with the divorce papers at work. Roy returned home that evening to find all his personal belongings packed into boxes and left outside the house. He quickly discovered that his wife had all the locks changed when he attempted to gain entrance to the house. He called the house only to find that the phone number had been changed as well.

She refused all his attempts to see or talk to her except for those official visits in the lawyer's office. Roy was completely unprepared for the words that came pouring out of her heart. She tearfully told him how she had watched helplessly as he slowly became obsessed with his work. That he had let it so fill his life that there was no longer any room in it for her. The attraction it held him with was so strong that she was unable to compete with it any longer. He had left her for another long ago and now it was time for her to get on with her life.

Deep within his heart Roy knew that she was completely right. Still her words had cut deeply into his soul as he realized the great treasure he had so casually thrown away. In his zeal to excel within his profession he had grossly neglected her and the love that they had once shared had shriveled up and died on the vine. The fire and passion their romance had once held had become as a cold dead ember in the fireplace.

A shot of pain suddenly erupted in Roy's head like a lightning bolt and threatened to slice the top of his head off. Roy was jolted out of his maudlin thoughts and abruptly returned to the present. As the pain's edge subsided an undulating wave of electrified sensations transversed down the left side of his body. This latest seizure had been strong enough to double him over. Roy wiped the beads of perspiration that had formed on his brow and gulped down the remaining whiskey in his glass.

Damn, no doubt about it the change was coming and it was going to happen before the night was over. Roy reached to the table and grabbed the pack of Pall Mall cigarettes. He raised the pack to his lips grabbing one between his lips and slowly pulled the remaining cigarette from the pack. He crumpled the empty pack in his right hand and absently tossed it towards the waste can next to the desk. It ricocheted off the rim and found a home next to the other empty packs that littered the floor. He fished in his pocket and found his lighter. His thump flipped the top open and ignited it in a blue orange flame. He edged the flame to the end of the cigarette and drew a deep draw until the end burned with a bright red glow of it's own. He sucked the smoke deep into his lungs feeling his chest tighten with the effort and then exhaled with a long sigh. The white cloud slowly rose towards the ceiling like the smoke from a funeral pyre and disappeared into the darkness above.

Roy slowly turned the cheap "zipo" brand of lighter over in his hands and read the words engraved upon the case; Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Louisiana. A memento and a subtle reminder of the "gift" that he returned with. After the divorce Roy worked even longer hours and when not working could be found draining a bottle of "Wild Turkey" until the wee hours of the morning. Some times he passed out. Other times he didn't. More often than not morning came and found him with an empty whiskey bottle at his feet and him still sitting staring at an old photograph of his ex wife thinking about what could of been.

This self-destructive cycle continued for some time until one night when it almost ended for good. The firemen found him passed out in his chair. A cigarette had dropped into the chair and had smoldered for hours and the cheap apartment had been filled with smoke. A few more minutes and he would of been a goner.

They ended up keeping him over night in the hospital for observation due to smoke inhalation. Jack O'Rourke, Roy's long time friend paid him a visit that night.

"Geeze, Roy! When you gonna get your shit together? Man, you almost bought the farm tonight. Ain't no women in the world that's worth this masochistic bullshit you're putting yourself through".

"Look man", Jack continued, "When they let your sorry ass out of here, you and me are gonna use those plane tickets you've got to New Orleans and we're headin ourselves down to Mardi Gras. I hear the women down there are hornier than rabbits this time of year and even someone as ugly as me oughta be able to get laid".

True to form, the very next week Roy found himself on a plane with O'Rourke heading for the "Big Easy". He had to admit it that it was indeed one "hell" of a week. He and Jack had spent the entire week visiting every watering hole and jazz joint up and down the length of Bourbon Street. They found plenty of willing women to enjoy their company and help them drink their liquor. Sometimes morning found them in their own hotel room, but more times than not it was in the rooms of their women companions. The events of the week had gone by in a blur. Most times they couldn't tell when one day ended and the next began. It had all been great, except for that last night in New Orleans. For about the thousandth time that year Roy regretted spending that last evening there. Why had he let himself get so drunk? Why did he go off by himself that night? He should have stuck with O'Rourke that night. Most of all, why had he let himself get involved? Why had he interfered? Hell! Why not!

He was a cop wasn't he? Even if he was on vacation. Once a cop always a cop, that's what his ex wife had always told him. And speaking of being on vacation, in a party town like New Orleans, in the middle of the worlds most outrageous celebration - Mardi Gras - thank you very much. Wasn't that excusing enough for getting good and drunk and having a good time?

On their last night in New Orleans Roy and O'Rourke found them selves at some joint named "The Soulful Roost". Some how O'Rourke had scared up the most gorgeous set of women. They were identical twin sisters. Jack and he couldn't tell one apart from the other, but it didn't seem to matter. The sisters were tall blondes with long luscious legs and each possessed, as O'Rourke was quick to point out a prodigious set of "hooters". Turned out that the heavenly bodies the sisters exhibited weren't their only extraordinary features. Seems they were both working on their doctorate degree in physics at MIT. They worked as exotic dancers billing themselves as the "Sensual Sisters". They were raking in over a hundred grand a year, no small pocket change for sure and more than enough to put the two of through school.

What they ever found interesting in couple dumb asses like him and O'Rourke, Roy would never understand. Not being ones to dwell on the unanswerable mysteries of the universe, they made the utmost of the evening talking, drinking and dancing. For the first time in a long time Roy had felt somewhat like his old self. Some time around midnight the "Sensual Sisters" suggested that the four of them head over to their hotel for some additional recreational activities.

Regrettably the next moment proved to be a pivotal point in time of his last evening in New Orleans. One that Roy wished he could go back in time and change. Where one turns left instead of turning right. During the past year Roy had relived this particular moment over and over in his mind countless times and each time it replays itself in the same fashion as he finds himself excusing himself from the company of O'Rourke and those luscious ladies.

The origin of his misfortune revolved around the little detail that Roy preferred his amore one-on-one and didn't relish the thought of a tag team match with O'Rourke. As tempting as the idea of spending the evening with those enchanting sisters was, the graphic image which formed in his mind depicting O'Rourke's hairy ass humping the night away, quickly extinguished any lustful fantasies he might of entertained. As Roy bid the odd looking trio "adieu" and parted their company he observed that O'Rourke had one sister decoratively draped on each of his arms while his face was plastered with what could only be interpreted as the world's largest "shit eating grin".

Roy's foray into the evening was not a solitary one. Conveniently nestled in the crook of his arm was a bottle of Wild Turkey whiskey, a friend who had become an intimate and habitual companion of his as of late. As soon as Roy hit the street his senses were immediately assaulted with by a multitude of gay colors and noise which assailed him from every direction. He was swept up into the middle of the wild celebration of the crowd and was quickly carried away into the night.

The crowd was in the throes of a torrid and passionate celebration that was as intoxicating to Roy's soul as the whiskey he drank was to his body. Everywhere he looked people were dressed in outrageous costumes crafted with garish amounts of beads, sequins, and feathers. Calypso dancers and Mauna Loa rioted together in the middle of the crowd. Women eagerly exposed their breasts and other portions of the anatomy and were rewarded with colorful showers of beads. People laughed and played giving no thought to their actions as they kissed, hugged and danced with everyone they met. There was no past. There was no future. It was as if time itself was suspended and all that existed was the celebration. In a strange sort of way, Roy felt as if he had had died and gone to a very particular part of heaven.... or was it perhaps purgatory?

After what could have been minutes or hours, Roy felt his head swimming. The beautiful gay colors that surrounded him had mutated into swirling psychedelic patterns. His surroundings whirled around him and seemed to increase in speed with each passing moment. He reeled to and throe with every step he took much like a spinning top whose energy was nearly spent. No doubt about it, Roy was roaringly drunk. It took a concerted effort on his part to remain in an upright position and keep himself from falling and suddenly kissing the concrete. His stomach churned and undulated and threatened to erupt at any moment and spew forth it's entire contents, which had been consumed previously that evening.

Roy knew that he had to get away from the crowds, noise and lights or he was going to be violently ill. He turned quickly to his left and staggered into a dark alleyway that ran off of Bourbon Street. As he wandered on into the dark night the noise and crowds were eventually left far behind him. Before long he found himself before the entrance to one of those old cemeteries that dotted the city. The huge massive wrought iron gates, which normally bared the entrance at this time of night, stood wide open. The graveyard appeared so peaceful and calm and seemed to be silently calling his name, beckoning him to enter. He found he was unable to resist the urge to enter and wander among the tombs and graves that populated this city of the dead.

Somewhat surprised an old tune came to his lips and he found himself singing softly, just under his breath-"Your Nobody Till Somebody Loves You". He wandered on under the baleful glare of the full moon serenading the spirits of the night. The gay colors of the Mardi Gras celebration were all gone and silence filled the air. The entire landscape stood out in stark relief, all blacks and whites and innumerable shades of gray. Eventually he came to beautiful old mausoleum with ornate statues surrounding it. It was an inviting location and he sat upon the ground and leaned back against the cool marble walls. He sat there and listened to the peaceful night.

Roy had all but fallen into a drunken stupor when the silence of the evening was disturbed with the sounds of a struggle. His ears oriented in the direction of the conflict. It was nearby, less than forty yards away. Just on the other side of the next cluster of mausoleums. Sounded like two or more men and a third person who was female were involved. The female was probably young from the timbre of her voice. From the muffled bits of conversation he was able to ascertain that the woman was not present of her own volition and the men who accompanied her intended to inflect great bodily harm.

Reflexively Roy reached for his 9mm Glock, his undercover sidearm that usually resided in a concealed holster at the small of his back. Instead of feeling the familiar feel of the automatic's pachmayr grips, his hand came away empty as Roy suddenly remembered that he wasn't armed. Shit! Of course he wasn't armed. He was suppose to be on vacation and the local authorities didn't appreciate outsiders packing heat in their fair city, cop or no cop. Still he couldn't just sit quietly and drunkenly by while the woman was raped or worse.
mping to his feet, Roy slipped on the dew-covered roots of an massive old live oak tree which grew by the mausoleum he had been leaning against. He immediately fell, cracking his head painfully against a huge root that ran above ground. His head began to throb...a sensation that would return to haunt him again and again in the future. He cursed silently to himself as he pulled himself to his knees his hand gently probing the area above his right eye. His hand pulled away feeling a moist and sticky substance. As best he could ascertain in the moon lit night, his head had been split open from the fall and he had about a two-inch gash on his forehead.

Crawling silently on his hands and knees, Roy slowly made his way towards the sounds of the nearby struggle. Peeking around the corner of a huge sarcophagus he observed two men and one woman, as he had surmised. The men were a shabby looking pair, dressed in jeans and dark colored T-shirts. One of the men was small, about 5'7" in height with a slim build. The other one was huge, 6'8" tall as best Roy could tell and must have weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. He looked like one of those monstrous professional football types who were accustomed to ripping the heads off of quarterbacks.

They held a young woman prone on the ground. The huge one was kneeling on his knees above the woman's head and his gargantuan hands held her arms and shoulders pinned to the ground. The slim one was straddled across the woman's lower legs his weight pressing down on top of them making it impossible for her to move. The woman had on what appeared to be some type of gypsy costume. Her hair was dark and wild looking like the mane of a lion. Her eyes blazed with hatred and defiance of her attackers.

The slim attacker ran his hands harshly across the woman's breasts, squeezing and pulling at them with both hands. He hooked his fingers in the top of the bodice of her dress and with a single motion he ripped the dress to her waist. Her beautiful large breasts were revealed, their dark nipples standing proudly erect in the chill of the night.
e smaller of the two men pulled the woman's skirt up and pushed it above her waist. He ran a hand up one of her shapely legs to her hips. Her white underwear was in stark contrast to the bronze color of her legs. He slid his right hand into the waistband of her underwear and groped for the buried treasure, which was hidden from view. His lust to view her magnificent womanhood over powered him and he violently tore the underwear from her body. A soft mound of flesh with a lush patch of dark curls was now cleanly visible between the juncture of the woman's darkly tanned legs. The attacker then shifted his weight to one side and brought one of his knees up and forced it between the woman's legs and began spreading them apart. He leaned forward and placed his mouth over her left breast while his right hand roughly groped the woman's crotch. He ran his tongue around the nipple, his course beard scrapping her soft flesh like sandpaper. He gripped her nipple in his teeth and gave it a hard bite. This produced the first audible sound from the woman as a sharp cry of pain escaped her lips. He slowly drew a straight line with his tongue, beginning in the valley between her breasts, along the length of her supple neck and finally to her mouth. He tired to force his tongue between her lips, but she fiercely resisted him as she turned her head shapely to the side. Her attacker's free hand came up and grabbed a handful of her dark raven tresses and violently jerked her head so that she again faced him.

Again a cry of pain escaped her lips. As her lips came apart her attacker forced his tongue into her mouth. She could feel his tongue probing the depths of her mouth. She fought back in the only manner she could as she suddenly bit down on her attacker's tongue. He screamed in agony as he fought to free himself from the vice like grip she held him with. He grabbed her by the throat and began choking her. As she gasped for air she was finally forced to let go, but not before she had bitten the tip of his tongue off.

The slim attacker roared in anger and pain, as he bolted upright. "Shit, god damn it', he swore as he wiped the stream of blood which ran down his face. The woman suddenly spit at him and the front of his shirt was sprayed with his own blood and flesh. Then she smiled a strange little smile at her attacker.

"You fuckin whore", he raged at her.

"I'll make you pay for that you stupid little bitch", and with that he balled his hand into a fist and struck her in the face. The first blow struck her in the mouth and split her lower lip. He drew his fist back and struck her again, this time catching on the lower jaw just below her left ear. This last blow caused her to lose consciousness as her emerald green eyes rolled up in her heard and she never felt the blows that followed. He stopped when he realized she could no longer feel the wrath of his anger.

"Fuck with me will ya", the smaller man screamed. He spit at her and a shower of blood covered her chest.

"I'll show you. First I'm gonna screw the shit out of that pretty little cunt of yours, then I'm gonna cut ya up real bad. Ain't no one gonna be able to recognize you when I get done with ya".

The realization hit Roy that if he was going to do anything now was the time to do it. The two men's attention was totally focused on their captive and they were oblivious to their surrounding. As Roy stood up a broken tree limb caught his eye. He reached down and picked up. It was a piece of dried out oak about three to four feet in length and had a good solid heft to it. As Roy turned the limb over in his hands he was reminded of a quote by the legendary hockey player Ted Lindsay; "Wood is the great equalizer". Roy certainly hoped that this would prove to be the case this evening as he silently approached the two men.

The smaller of the two attackers had stood up. He kicked the prone woman's legs apart as he fumbled at this belt. He undid his jeans and pulled them down to his knee revealing his now erect manhood. He knelt down between the woman's legs as he prepared to mount her.

"Say, what ya know. Two full moons this evening", Roy suddenly spoke.

He was referring of course to the man's skinny white ass that stared up at him. The two attackers were startled by this sudden and unexpected intrusion upon their private little party. Roy observed that the smaller of the two men was having obvious trouble trying to enter the young woman. He reared up off of her and turned angrily towards Roy.

"Get da fuck outa here", the small man screamed.

It was now totally apparent to Roy that the man was indeed a very small man as he commented to the now quickly diminishing man;

"Ya know, If you tried a string around that minuscule thing of yours, you would have such a hard time finding it".

Roy took full advantage of the element of surprise. He cocked the tree limb he was carrying like a baseball bat. He stepped into his swing putting all of his weight behind it with the full intention of hitting this out of the park. Roy's swing caught the small man squarely under the chin. The force of the blow lifted the man up off the ground and sent him flying. He landed in a crumpled heap. He'd be lucky if he ever got up from this one.

Roy now turned his attention the large man. With a backhand swing of the limb, Roy caught the man right in the mouth. The blow barely moved the huge man and definitely didn't have the desired effect Roy had hoped for. The man slowly rose from the ground, his full stature becoming fully apparent as the man now towered over Roy. He spit the remnants of broken teeth and blood in Roy's direction.

"I'm gonna kill ya, mudder fucker", the large man bellowed his speech garbled by a large gapping hole where his two upper front teeth had previously been. The big man charged at Roy.

The enormous man was surprisingly fast on his feet, Roy observed as the bulking behemoth came at him. Roy swung again with the tree limb, but the man caught it in a ham-sized fist and ripped it out of Roy's grasp and threw it into the night. The big man was barreling down on Roy like a run away freight train. Hoping to derail him Roy then executed a front snap kick to the man's groin. It produced nothing but a small grunt from the giant and barely broke his stride. Before he knew it the huge man was upon him and Roy found himself swept up by those gargantuan arms into a bear hug. Roy was squeezed tightly against the man's barrel sized chest as he felt those huge hands lock together in the small of his back.

Roy felt himself slowly being bent over backward, the air in his lungs was being forced out. He felt a rib crack and it's snapping sound produced a sadistic grunt from the huge man. Roy had to act fast before the man snapped his spine in half. Luckily for Roy his arms were still free and had not been pinned to his sides. He reached up towards the man's eyes and jammed both of his thumbs into the man's eye sockets. This caused the huge man to loosen his hold on Roy. As Roy felt the vise like grip loosen, he reached up and grabbed a handful of the man's hair in each hand and then slammed the top of his forehead into the man's nose. Roy could feel the cartilage tear and collapse under force of the blow.

Roy was dropped onto the ground as the huge man bellowed with pain. A torrent of blood coursed down the man's face pouring from the ruined nose like a waterfall. Roy sucked in the cool night air and coughed and winced from the pain of the broken rib. The huge man was still blinded from the eye jab and was swinging his arms wildly trying to find Roy. Roy scrambled quickly to the side moving on all fours like a land crab as he escaped the giant's path. As the huge man passed, Roy delivered a viscous side kick with the flat of his foot aiming it directly at the side of the man's knee. Roy could hear the ligaments tearing in the big man's knee as it bent in an unnatural direction from the force of the blow. The man's ruined knee collapsed out from underneath him and he went crashing down like a felled red wood tree.

Roy moved in on the downed man to finish him off with a well placed knee to the man's head, but had to dance away at the last minute as the big man reached out suddenly for him. To Roy's utter amazement the big man pulled himself erect ignoring the obvious and excruciating pain the knee must be causing him. Roy was hunched over, his hands resting on his knees, his lungs huffing and puffing like an old steam engine and Roy seriously doubted his ability to last much longer. The big man was turned away from him, so Roy took a risky gamble and ran full bore leaping and propelling himself into the air towards the man's back. As he slammed onto the man's back, Roy quickly slipped his right arm around the man's enormous neck and clamped down a carotid artery chokehold. The more common vernacular being "the sleeper hold" as it is loosely referred to in the world of professional wrestling. It's a common incapacitating maneuver used by police officers world wide to subdue unruly suspects. The objective was quite simple, cut off the blood supply to the brain until they pass out. Hold it too long though and they'll be taking a permanent "dirt nap".

The huge man began thrashing about like a wild bull elephant charging in every direction as he attempted to throw Roy from his back. Roy had to keep ducking to avoid the man's huge hands as they reached backward attempting to secure a grip on Roy and peel him from his back. Roy squeezed even harder digging his forearm deeper into the man's tree trunk size neck. The huge man stumbled backwards slamming into the walls of a nearby mausoleum. The force of the collision almost dislodged Roy from his precarious perch on the man's back. The impact also caused the back of Roy's skull to smash into the hard marble walls of the mausoleum and now it throbbed in rhythm with the front of his head.

"Pass out of you son of a bitch", Roy gasped as he fought desperately to hang on.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, the big man's movements began to slow. Roy applied his last remaining reserves of strength as he tightened the hold on the big man's neck. Ever so slowly the big man slumped to his knees as his mind slipped into unconsciousness. As the big man blacked out he collapsed, propelling himself face first into the dirt. Roy remained on top of him still squeezing away until he was confident the big man wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

Totally exhausted, Roy rolled off the big man and laid in the dirt next to him. Roy's lungs sucked in the night air. Each time his rib cage expanded the effort produced a knife like pain in Roy's left side. That broken rib was going was going to be hurting like hell for weeks to come. As Roy lay there his lungs pumping away like the bellows on a blacksmith's forge, he suddenly became aware a movement off to his left. Oh Shit!, Roy thought, that other son-of-a-bitch is getting up.

Roy quickly scrambled to his feet ignoring the stabbing pain in his side and the loud bass drums that were beating so loudly in his head. The sudden exertion of standing erect caused his head to spin wildly and Roy found that he stood on very unsteady feet. He paused a moment to clear his head and orient himself on the source of the renewed threat. He sensed a presence directly behind him, very close and within striking distance. Roy's reflexes went into over drive as his body reacted to this new physical threat. His body spun in the direction of the attack his leg coming up into a high arc as it executed a beautiful roundhouse kick.

Roy pulled up short, stopping his leg within mere inches of its intended target. Instead of the expected "bad guy", there stood before him the most captivating face his sorry eyes had ever had the pleasure of beholding. Standing directing in front of him was the young victim whose life and virtue he had been fighting so fiercely to defend. Her beauty was breath taking.

He was immediately drawn to her beautiful emerald green eyes. They seemed to pierce him to the depths of his soul and in the few seconds he was held locked in their gaze, it felt as if the deepest secrets of his life had been revealed. A pair of perfectly arched eyebrows framed those wonderful eyes. Her face was almond shaped with a slim elegant nose, wonderfully high check bones and a set of full luscious lips. Her dark raven tresses were a magnificent combination of waves, curls and ringlets that cascaded down her shapely shoulders. Her skin was a deep golden bronze color with a smooth silky texture that flowed like hot melted caramels. The remnants of her torn and tattered dress draped her sensually shaped hips. Her voluptuous full breasts stood proudly erect with no indication that they would ever require any form of supplementary support. This was by no means a young girl as he had previously assumed this was unmistakably a woman of such classical beauty as to cause Helen of Troy to hide in shame.

"So, You are the brave and courageous soul that did come to aid me in my moment of distress", she spoke in a melodic voice.

It was directed to him in a manner that was as much a statement as it was a question. She spoke with a wonderfully warm and exotic sounding accent. To Roy's ears it sounded almost like French or perhaps even Cajun. Which shouldn't have been much of a surprise to Roy considering they were in New Orleans. He was as much entranced by the sound of her silky voice as he was by her heavenly body. Yes, she had been very clearly in distress, and was now very much out of her dress. Something the carnal element within Roy greatly appreciated, but something that the spiritual side of him found embarrassing, as he became aware of his increasing state of arousal.

"Perhaps you'd like my shirt to help cover yourself', Roy stuttered embarrassingly as tore his gaze away those inviting breasts. With his back turned away from her, Roy quickly unbuttoned his shirt and removed it then proffered it to the lovely creature that stood behind him.

She smiled a little smile at Roy's back. She seemed genuinely amused at his quaint reaction to her nakedness.

"Most refreshing, not only a bold and courageous warrior, but a well mannered gentleman as well. I had almost forgotten that there was such still to be found in the world today", she responded as she took the offered shirt and used it to cover her naked torso.

"There", she said as she finished fastening a few of the shirt's button.

"My virtue has been restored, now please turn that I may look upon the face of my champion". It sounded, as much like a command as it did a request. "Tell me o' gallant one, you risked your life for one who is a stranger to you. Pray tell me why is that", she inquired of Roy.

"Just habit I guess. Any cop would done the same thing", Roy replied. He was beginning to feel somewhat uncomfortable with this reversal of roles. Roy was much more accustomed to being the interrogator then the one who was being interrogated.

"Ah, a champion of justice and a defender of the weak, but you do not have the countenance of those who usually protect this fair city", she spoke as one of those beautifully arched eye brows rose with a questioning look.

"Uh, that's because I'm not. I mean, I am, but not here. I'm from another city, up north, Chicago. That's where I'm currently assigned. I'm part of a special undercover investigation squad. We're used to infiltrate and take down various criminal enterprises all over the country. I'm just here for Mardi Gras, on vacation, you know", Roy answered with a much longer explanation than he had really intended.

Normally he never would have revealed that much information about himself. Especially to a stranger, and never about being an undercover agent. That was a really gigantic "no-no". Something a "green horn" would be stupid enough to do, but not an experienced agent like himself. But there he was spilling his guts like a freshly gutted fish. Roy felt as if he was some poor creature put under the microscope to be examined. He just hoped he didn't end of getting dissected.

It was then that Roy's powers of observation kicked in. He knew that he had previously witnessed the woman being struck numerous times with viscous blows to the face by that little "scum bag". In fact one of them had split her lower lip, but now as he looked upon her beautiful face, he could find no evidence of that. Her lips were perfect, no sign of broken flesh, not even the faintest drop of blood could be observed. Like wise the rest of her face exhibited no tell tale signs of any bruising or swelling which certainly would have accompanied a beating such as the one she'd received. Except for the tattered remnants of her dress there was no sign that she had ever been in even the slightest of altercations. Roy's police instincts told that there was more here that what his eyes told him, but his mind just couldn't put a handle on it. He couldn't think straight at all. His head was killing him as it throbbed and beat like a pair of huge kettledrums.

"For exhibiting such courage and gallantry, you must be adequately rewarded. I have such a gift to present you with this evening".

"That's OK, Really, I 'm not really allowed to accept gratuities".

The woman' s green eyes flashed as if ablaze with liquid fire as she spoke;

"It is considered quite the bad manners to refuse a gift that is freely offered Mr. Roy Davidson. Do you perhaps require a lesson on the proper etiquette of gracefully excepting a gift?"

Roy quickly began to back pedal on his previous comment. His mind was scrambling frantically for the proper words to appease the slight that he had caused.

"No, I'm sorry if I offended you. I really didn't mean to. It's just that I wasn't thinking. Please except my humble apologies if I've offended you in any manner Miss er Ms.....I'm afraid you have me at quite the disadvantage. For some inexplicable reason you seem to be well acquainted with my name, but not I with yours".

The storm that had raged behind those mysterious eyes quieted as quickly as it had formed. Then she smiled that captivating little smile of hers and it melted away all traces of the icy tension that had filled the air.

"Charm and good looks, a most formidable combination. For all intensive purposes you may call me Domingue", she spoke in that wonderful dialect of hers as she glided and closed the space that had been between them.

She was close now. Oh, so very close, only a few millimeters separated them. Roy felt as if a field of static electricity was building between them. He felt his hair stand on end and it felt as if thousands of little arc's of electricity were leaping back and forth between their bodies. He could actually smell her. She carried a distinctive sent that reminded him of that fresh cool smell you experience after a thundershower. There was also the very faintest of mixture of night jasmine that floated on the air and wove it's self around her. She slowly raised her right hand as she gently placed her hand in the middle of Roy's forehead. Her hand was elegant with beautiful long sculpted nails. Her touch was softer than the finest Asian silk. With her index finger she began to gently trace concentric circles on his forehead. The spot were she touched him began to tingle and produced a sensation similar to that icy/hot feeling that a sports lineament causes when applied to the skin. Her silky touch felt very cool at first, but grew increasingly warmer and warmer as she gently messaged an area in the center of his forehead. She slowly drew her finger across his forehead, pausing to gently message the cut above his eye. The gentle massaging motion seemed to silence the throbbing drumbeat that roared within his head. When she appeared to be satisfied with her work there she lifted her hand and moved it to his chest. Once there she began drawing a set of repetitive patterns around the area of his chest where his heart lay underneath. Roy became aware of her softly singing or perhaps it was some sort of chanting with that wonderfully enchanting and melodic voice of hers. He found himself totally captivated by her sensual touch and the bewitching sound of her voice. He felt a great warmth begin in the middle of his chest and it spread throughout his body until it filled all of his extremities.

"There, it is finished. The gift has been given", she spoke and the spell that held him was broken.

"It is customary that when a gift is given the receiver responds in like kind", she continued as she smiled that captivating little smile of hers and her eyes flashed a mischievous glint.

Roy stared at her blankly not sure of the meaning of her words. Silence hung thickly in the air and Roy knew that she expected a reply from him, but he didn't have a clue as to what the expected response was. Finally he spoke,

"Ah, Thanks. My head's feeling much better. I'm not sure what you did or how you did it, but it's fine now".

"Men!" They're so dense at times", she responded with a look of exasperation on her face.

"They are so like little children that have to be led in all things" , she declared as she seized Roy's head in both hands and placed her full luscious lips on his.

Her sensual velvety lips were softer than Roy could have ever possibly imagined. The power and urgency with which she kissed him bespoke of a great need or hunger within her. Her passionate kiss seemed to ignite a spark within a portion of Roy's soul that had lain cold and dormant for sometime. He felt much like a drowning person that is drawn deeper and deeper into the water and is so entranced by the peacefulness and solitude of the water that they are totally unaware of their eminent demise. Much like that drowning person who breaks free from the embrace from the water's depths and claws their way to the surface, Roy broke free from her passionate kiss and found he was gasping for breath.

"Wait, wait..I don't think we should be doing this. I mean...not here..not now. You've just been through a very traumatic experience and I should get you some where we can call the authorities so they can take care of you and those two scum bags that attacked you", Roy told her as he held her by her attractive shoulders.

"Your unduly concern for the safety of my person and virtue is most charming, but totally unnecessary. Do you think I am in the habit of jumping the bones of any strange man I happen to meet?', she replied with an up raised brow.

"No, I....", Roy began, but she placed one of her elegant hands on his mouth and stopped him from replying.

"My virtue is quite safe and can not be forcibly taken, but can only be obtained when it is freely given. Do you think it was by mere chance you happened to be here this evening? I can assure that it was not. You were called and you answered. And don't attempt to tell me that you're not attracted to me, because the response I elicited from you would indicate quite the contrary. As for those two scum bags you so accurately described, do not concern yourself with them. They are animals...pigs to be more precise, and will be dealt with accordingly. Now, I think I have more than adequately allayed your reservations. We have a perfectly lovely moon this evening, a lovers moon if you will and it would be a great crime indeed if we allowed it to go unused".

After her answer, Roy once again found his lips embraced by hers. This time there was no resistance on his part as he felt her warm flesh press against his. His body quickly responded to the sensations she had initiated within him and he found himself responding in like kind as a very willing participant. The two of them quickly became an entangled mass of flesh as they endeavored to quench the burning desires that fueled their passions. It became evident that this encounter was much more than a simple gratification of carnal appetites but extended beyond this physical plane and was a mingling or joining of spirits if you will. Each was driven as if possessed by an insatiable hunger and time and again throughout the night they climaxed together in a kaleidoscope of passions and emotions. Their romantic tryst lasted through much of the night, finally their hunger was at last appeased and they collapsed exhausted into each other's arm. Cuddled together in a loving embrace as they lay under the moon's light, sleep quickly over took the pair. They were now as at peace as the souls who lay buried near them.

Roy's peaceful rest was suddenly interrupted by a very loud squealing noise. He bolted up right, his eyes came open a like a window blind only to be forced shut by the glaring light that blinded them. He winced and rubbed his eyes, soothing then from the harsh light they had been exposed to. Slowly, he forced them open again. It was daylight, almost high noon as best he could tell from the sun's position. He instinctively reached for the warm soft body that should be lying next to him. There was no one there. She was gone! He quickly looked about for signs of her, but could find none. Again, his ears were pierced by that loud squealing noise.

Roy climbed to his feet and turned towards the direction the noise was coming from. He observed two men dressed in khaki colored uniforms. They weren't cops as he observed that they carried neither firearms nor batons. They each held a long metal pole with a rope loop at the end. Each of the ropes was tightly fastened around the neck of the largest pig Roy had ever seen.

It was huge and must of weighed in the neighborhood 400 hundred pounds. It was covered with dark hair and a thick ridge of it ran down the length of its back. Protruding from each side of the pig's mouth was a four inch curved tusk, a nasty looking thing which could inflict a lot of physical damage if he managed to hooked it into one of the men that had a hold of him. Roy watched as the men wrestled the pig towards a nearby-parked truck which had various wired cages mounted on the back of it.

He read the logo that was painted on the side nearest to him; Lafayette County Animal Control. There was a ramp leading up into the back of the truck and Roy watched as the two animal control officers dragged the huge pig up the ramp and into the back of the truck. Finally after much effort they succeeded in getting it secured in a cage. Roy observed that there was second smaller pig in one of the other cages. He watched as they grunted and squealed at each other. It was almost if they were carrying on a conversation with one another. The two men fastened the poles they had used to capture the pigs to the side of the truck and were preparing to leave when one of them spotted Roy and spoke.

"Morning there friend", he greeted in a thick southern accent.

"Have a little too much celebration there last night did we?", he questioned with a smile and a knowing wink of his eye.

"Yeah,..I guess so", Roy replied feeling as though a wad of cotton was lodged in his throat.

"Well, I reckon that you couldn't have found a quieter place than this to sleep it off. Well we best crackin, daylight's a wasting", the man replied as he climbed into the truck.

"Say, those pigs you just caught, what were they doing running loose in here in the first place and what happens to them now?", Roy inquired.

"Actually they be wild hogs. They wander in here more often than you'd think. Swamp's not far from here. They come after those fancy mushrooms what's grows in here. Can't leave'm alone. Draws them in like flies to shit".

"As fer them two", he indicated with his thumb thrust towards the back of the truck.

"We'll be having ourselves one hellacious barbecue this weekend. Ain't nothin finer than roasted wild hog. Why it makes my old mouth water just talkin about it. Well, we best be on our way, take care now, ya hear", and with that they drove off in the truck. An old Johnny Cash tune was blazing from the dashboard of the truck's the radio. Somehow the title seemed appropriate; "Burning Ring of Fire".

Another bolt of pain erupted in Roy's head and forcefully jerked him back to the present. This time the pain didn't subside. His body broke out in a cold sweet and he was racked with uncontrollable shivers that caused his teeth to chatter with such force he feared they would shatter. He reached for the whiskey again ignoring the glass all together and took several long swallows straight from the bottle. Before he knew it he'd drained what remained in the bottle, but the whiskey had no effect in warming him or quieting the uncontrollable shivers. In spite of the cold, Roy began striping out of his clothes as the coldness he was experiencing meant that the change would be upon him any moment now. He'd learned long ago that it was best to experience the change naked as it could wreck real havoc on his wardrobe. After he finished undressing, Roy grabbed the cellular phone from the desk and dialed O'Rourke's pager number and then punched in his coded message which would alert him to the change and signal him to haul his ass down to the command center. That shithead just better be wearing his pager and have it turned if he knew what was good for him.

For the longest time Roy had passed off the memories of what occurred in the cemetery that last night as nothing but a drunken dream. That was of course until the first time he changed. It had scared the living shit out of him. If O'Rourke hadn't been there to witness his transformation the first time it happened, Roy would of passed it off as a bizarre flashback to some bad shit he'd taken during his miss spent college days. Unfortunately, Roy didn't get off that easily. No it was real, that is if you can classify what had happened to him as being real.

His life was forever changed from his nocturnal encounter with that mysterious woman with the dark raven tresses and the emerald green eyes and the "gift" she had presented him with. The logical side of him refused to accept the possibility that the woman had woven some type of magic spell about him, but time and again that logic had been thrown out the window with each transformation that occurred. O'Rourke was the only person who knew about Roy's little gift and was the only one that Roy dared trust with it. Roy had pulled in a lot of markers and favors as well as using a little old fashion blackmail to get O'Rourke assigned to his investigation team. Heaven forbid that Roy's little secret should get out. He'd wind up in some deep dark government research lab with probes stuck up every orifice he possessed or worse yet they'd put him under the knife trying to determine what made him tick. No thank you, Roy had no desire to become somebody's permanent lab rat.

Suddenly the convulsions began. His muscles began to jump and shudder uncontrollably as they forcibly contracted.

"Oh shit!' Roy groaned this is gonna be a bad one."

A searing lance of pain shot through his jaws and teeth. This was quickly followed by similar sensations in the rest of his extremities. Soon Roy was a mass of agonizing pain. He felt his spine elongate as well as the bones in his arms and legs. Muscles and tendons were stretched to the limits as they desperately tried to keep pace with the accelerated growth of his skeleton. He was gaining mass at a tremendous rate and his flesh burned as if ablaze. His jaw began to move inexorably forward as the whole shape and size of his skull altered. He felt the hair on his head lengthen and grow down over his eyes. Dark red colored hair began to blossom on his skin, writhing up like worms after a heavy rain. He felt his hands and feet begin to cramp terribly as the digits on each of his hands and feet drew in on themselves, each fusing into a black and hard mass as they did. Roy felt his belly distend and a huge clump of hair shot out of his back from the base of his spine, just above his buttocks. With a cry of pain he was thrust forward onto all fours. He found that his whole visual perception was changing as his eyes grew and their position within his skull changed. His throat changed as well and very soon the sounds which escaped his lips could no longer be described as human. In a matter of moments, though what had felt like hours to Roy, the transformation was complete.

Lumbering ever so slowly as he adjusted to the huge mass he now possessed, Roy made his way over to the wall which was adorned with a line of floor to ceiling mirrors. The mirrors existed for the purported purpose of aiding those that used the weights and other exercise equipment that occupied that portion of the room. In Roy's particular case they served a much more personal purpose and enabled him to view the results of his latest transformation.

Staring back at him from the mirror was a huge stallion of a horse. It had a beautiful dark red roan color coat with a white star in the middle of the forehead. He wasn't sure of his size as he didn't have a real frame of reference to judge by. Not that Roy was any real judge of horse flesh anyway. He was a city boy and was lucky if he could tell one end from the other. Based on the information he'd gathered from his research for this case he was the splitting image of a champion Dutch Warmblood jumper. The purpose of their current case was to investigate a series of mysterious and sudden deaths of multi million dollar horses.

Roy considered himself lucky, it could of been much worse. Thank God he hadn't been assigned to that child prostitution case. Even so, while his transformation would provide him with the ultimate cover, it was not without some severe challenges. People felt real secure about discussing their business around dumb animals, but Roy couldn't very well walk into a courtroom and testify about the things he'd seen or heard.
ell, you see your honor, I was the horse in the stall and I saw and heard everything that went on".

Any judge in the country would laugh his head off then call the men in white coats to haul Roy's ass off to the loony bin. That's where O'Rourke's part came into play, they'd arranged for him to go undercover as a groom or stable hand. Roy chuckled to himself, well as best as a horse can chuckle. O'Rourke had always said he was full of horse shit, well now, he was going to be able find out first hand just how full of it he was.

Roy staggered away from the mirror. He heard a loud rumble coming from his stomach. He was always ravenous after a change and really big changes like this one made him absolutely weak with hunger.

"God, I'm hungry as a....Horse!" Roy mused to himself.

"I sure hope that dumb ass O'Rourke knows where to find an all night feed store. That sofa over there's looking mighty appetizing".

Stranger in the Mirror copyright 1999 by Anonymous.