Transformation

Jeff woke to the sound of thunder. His head pounded and his mouth felt like it was full of cotton. He lay in the dark with his eyes closed as he recalled last night’s Chicago forecast of clear skies reported on the TV over the bar at O’Reilly’s. He attributed the unexpected rumblings to meteorology miscalculation or his misinterpretation of the commentator due to the continuous Patron shots he consumed.

He remembered the strange conversation he had with the old man who invited himself to Jeff’s table in the crowded tavern. The uninvited guest was dressed in black from head to toe and smelled of rotting leaves and freshly turned earth. Jeff had had a fight with Linda earlier that evening, and he didn’t care how the guy smelled as long as he kept buying rounds of the smooth tequila.

“. . . then she takes our last five hundred bucks and buys herself a pair of shoes that make her look like The Terminator in drag.” Jeff lamented his mundane, middle-aged existence of dead-end jobs, an uncaring wife, four self-centered children, and a Rottweiler that drooled like Cujo. “I swear, Johnny—can I call you Johnny? You look like Johnny Cash—I’ve had it. I’d give anything to get out of this hole I’m in.”

“Anything?” The Man in Black tilted his head to one side and eyed the caviler with a knowing look of amusement that seemed, to Jeff, for a second, to morph the stranger into something bestial. Jeff couldn’t remember much of the night’s conversation after that. However, he vaguely recalled promising a future payment of some kind.

Now, as the thunder cracked outside, he wasn’t sure how he got home or in his bed. He opened his eyes and, for a moment, thought he had gone blind during the night. The room was as black as the inside of a tomb. The only light came from red digital numbers across the room displaying 3:33. Jeff thought this odd since his alarm clock was always on the nightstand beside the bed.

A flash of lightning exploded through the room, and Jeff bolted upright. “What the hell?” The blackness once again surrounded him, but he saw just enough to be plunged into the terrifying awareness that this was not his bedroom. “Where am I?”

A movement to his left told him he was not alone. “Rob, are you alright? It’s the middle of the night.” The woman’s voice was unfamiliar but pleasant and caring. “It’s that merger your computer company is involved in that has you so upset. It’s going to be fine, dear. Go back to sleep.” She sat up and kissed Jeff, lightly, on the cheek. As she placed her head back on her pillow, Jeff saw, through the strobes of lightening, a beautiful blonde laid out before him.

He stood and felt his way through the unfamiliar room and entered a master bath off to his left, switched on the light, and closed the door. He looked in the mirror and saw a tall, muscular, dark-haired young man staring back at him. He smiled, revealing a perfect row of white teeth, and touched the wrinkle-free, bronzed face of a stranger.Rob rushed back to bed and spooned against his wife and wondered what kind of profit his computer company brought in.

Then the phone rang and he rolled over and answered. "Hello."

"Good morning, Jeff. Or should I say, Rob? Sorry to disturb your new life, but there's the matter of a payment we need to discuss..."