Alternate beginning: Helen takes the book to a friend

Helen considered sharing her newly found spellbook with Adam, but in the end decided against it. He had regularly teased her about her obsession with the occult and imagined he would do the same with this book. The thought of Adam laughing at her if the spellbook wasn't real made Helen seethe as she clutched the weathered leather bound book to her chest.

"Jess will understand," Helen muttered as she walked swiftly towards her friend's flat. Jess was one of Helen's closest friends and they had known each other since primary school. They had lived very separate lives in recent years, but remained in touch and made an effort to see each other as often as they could. Helen had messaged Jess to say she was coming over though she didn't mention the spellbook. She knew Jess would be just as intrigued by it as her.

Helen stopped at the entrance to the building where Jess's flat was and paused. She was about to press the buzzer but didn't have to. Jess was waiting for her in the lobby and had jumped up to open the door for her.

"Hey Helen!" Jess almost squealed, embracing the much smaller woman tightly. "I was so excited when you messaged me to say you were coming over I thought I'd wait for you downstairs."

"That's sweet of you," came Helen's muffled reply. Her head was buried into Jess's ample bosoms. Jess giggled and let her friend go.

"So what did you want to do?" Jess said still buzzing with excitement.

"I've got something to show you," Helen said. Her voice had dropped to almost a whisper. "I can't show you here though, we'll have to go up to your flat."

****************

Jess had been slightly **** to take Helen up to her home and upon entering, Helen could see why. Whilst the flat wasn't dirty, it was very untidy. Various books, videogame cases, and random household objects were scattered around seemingly at random. Helen had to stop her friend from apologising every few seconds as they cleared the coffee table to rest the book on.

The two friends sat on the sofa together and peered down at the old and apparently magical tome. They sat in quiet awe, taking in the intricate patterns that covered the book's worn leather cover. Finally, Helen built up the courage to open the book. It creaked open unwillingly, Helen having to rise from her seat to **** its cover open. They both gasped upon seeing the spidery script that covered the yellowing pages. The ink it was written in appeared to be every colour at once and glistened as they attempted to read.

Helen furrowed her brow as she scanned the text. She couldn't read whatever was on the page and didn't even recognise the language.

"It's gibberish," Jess murmured, clearly struggling to read the page too.

"It can't be!" Helen said desperately as she flicked to another page. "He said I'd be able to read from the book."

"Who is 'he'?" Jess asked with a sigh. She slumped back into the sofa leaving Helen to search through the book's pages.

"The bloke who owns Jinn's Emporium. I can't remember his name."

"Oh hun," Jess cooed, putting an arm around Helen. "You know that guy is a con artist. I think he's had you on."

Helen pushed the book away with a huff. She turned to look at Jess's round face and tried not to cry. "I'm such an idiot," she said with a wry smile.

"No you're not!" Jess said reassuringly. "It's a lovely book anyway. Even if you can't read it."

"You'll have to have it."

"What? But you've just bought it?"

"Adam will laugh at me and say I've wasted money on yet more tat."

"Fair enough," Jess said with a soft chuckle. "I'll look after it for you. Who knows, maybe if I try long enough I might be able to read it!"

*************

Helen had left now and Jess sat alone. After the moment with the spellbook, the pair had chatted about old times whilst tidying up the flat. Helen had insisted she helped to make up for wasting Jess's time with the book. Jess had enjoyed her time with her old friend, but couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Helen was so pretty and slim, and she had the perfect life. A stable job, a house of her own and a handsome boyfriend.

Jess's eyes settled on the spellbook left to her by Helen. She lifted open the cover and began to skim through the pages. Surely there would be something in here she could read? Suddenly a page jumped out at her.

"Astral Projection!" Jess said in astonishment. As her eyes darted across the page she found that she could read every word clearly. The various paragraphs explained how to cast the spell and its effects. Her spirit would be separated from her body leaving her free to glide through objects as if they weren't there. Even more exciting than that though was that it suggested she could possess the body of whoever she wanted.

Immediately Jess knew what she would do. Readying herself, she gazed down at the words needed to cast the spell. Her voice croaked and she stumbled over some of the more unusual words, but Jess managed to say them all in sequence. As she spoke the last word an extra layer seemed to be added to the silence that filled the room. Jess began to shiver and felt goosebumps forming all over her body. Her head began to spin and suddenly everything went dark.

When she opened her eyes, Jess realised that she was floating above her body passed out on the sofa.

"Holy shit," Jess exclaimed, "it worked!" She looked at her hands and giggled to see they were see-through.

'God, I'm fat,' Jess thought as she looked down on her plump form. In truth, Jess was only slightly overweight. But in her mind she was enormous. Not wanting to look at herself anymore, Jess flew straight through the walls and out of the building.

The sensation of being weightless was amazingly freeing, and Jess took some time to enjoy gliding over the town below. Before long, she found herself being drawn towards where Helen lived. She swooped down to the roof of her friend's house and entered it.

Quickly, she found Helen busying herself in the kitchen. Jess examined her friend's body as if for the first time. Helen couldn't have been more than a few inches over five feet and had a petite figure to die for. Her pert breasts and buttocks were always so effortlessly displayed in whatever cute outfit Helen decided to wear. Currently she was wearing a light, white t-shirt and flowing maxi skirt.

Jess hovered closer to her target but stopped short of entering her body. Was she really going to take over her friend's body like this?