Deirdre (TW-D)

How many people ever get the chance to reinvent themselves entirely? To choose a new name? And, if I was understanding Elspeth's intent correctly, a whole new identity.

I asked, "So, Katherine's a blonde, Isabella's a brunette, and Deirdre's a redhead?"

Elspeth nodded and continued to stare me in the eyes by way of the mirror.

I sighed and considered my options. Being very recently a male, I was of course still thinking in terms of attractiveness, and I had long had a fascination with redheads. In for a penny, in for a pound, I thought, and said aloud, "Deirdre."

Elspeth nodded again, and I looked in the mirror to see for the first time what it looked like when a witch worked her hoodoo.

It. Was. Freaky. As. Fuck.

My face fucking melted and shifted as if it were made of clay and someone was pushing and pulling on it in several different directions at once. Oh, and it hurt like Hell. My ears, nose, cheeks, jaw, eye sockets, the bones of my forehead. The whole shape of my head distorted agonizingly. After a couple of seconds, I decided squeezing my eyes shut as tightly as possible was infinitely superior to watching the changes, and did so.

It didn't take long, thank God. When the pain abruptly stopped, I eased my eyes open to see the damage, half expecting to still look like some postmodern sculpture gone horribly wrong.

Instead, I saw a very pretty redhead looking back at me. Like, tourism poster for Ireland pretty. Button nose, slightly thin lips, the whole nine yards. Straight red hair in an artfully tousled pixie cut did nothing to hide deep, emerald green eyes. Deirdre apparently got out in the sun much more than geeky guy me had, as her skin was slightly tanned, just dusted here and there with the most adorable freckles.

Elspeth interrupted my inspection by saying, "Hi, there, Dee!" Was I a "Dee?" Apparently I was now. She produced my driver's license and handed it to me. "Deirdre Summers," it read, showing my new face and listing my age as eighteen. Wait, eighteen?

The other naked woman in the room answered without my having to ask the question aloud: "Yup! Eighteen again. I thought it'd be fun if we were in the same year. You're a freshman again, just like me."

I groaned aloud in my newly cute voice. Freshman year all over again.

Elspeth continued, "I'll get all the details of rearranging reality straightened out this afternoon, but you're Deirdre Summers, an undeclared major. You tell your friends to call you 'Dee' because you got tired of trying to explain the correct pronunciation of your full name. You grew up in Kentucky, and were quite the equestrienne. Not the horsey set, but more of the galloping through the woods with the wind in your hair type. Strong thighs and an eagerness to get physical. Oh, one more thing!"

She moved around behind me and put her hands on either side of my head, fingers splayed. I could swear I saw little bolts of lightning leap from her fingertips to my skull, and for a split second my vision went white with searing agony.

"There," she said, "that should take care of it. I can't make you forget who you were before today, because that's not part of my power set. But I did tweak the levels of serotonin, dopamine, and hormones in your brain to make you naturally tend to be very emotional and more than a bit of an adrenaline junkie."

I asked, "You can do that with just brain chemistry?"

Elspeth answered, "Oh, roomie, you wouldn't believe what I can accomplish with a little brain chemistry. It's one of my specialties.

She could change my very nature! In the mirror, I could see that the blood drained from my face and my eyes went wide as saucers.

Her arms went around my waist, and Elspeth hugged me tightly. She said, "Easy there, Dee. No need to panic. I'm not going to go around changing your brain all the time. It's not good for you to go through too many changes. Just go with it for now, and soon this will all seem normal."

Tears came unbidden to my eyes, but I blinked them back. I might find a way out of this, but it wasn't going to be today. I needed to just deal with the situation.

"So," Elspeth interrupted my reverie, "when can I move in?"