Changelings
Across The World
Changer of
form, changer of shape,
Trickster and thief and jackanape.
Come now and visit this human form,
Make your home here, nevermore to roam!
The legend
of the changelings – mischievous spirits who inhabit humans, granting them the
ability to take on the forms of others and do things they would never dream of
doing otherwise, while leaving those they have copied incapacitated. Recent publications have described the
appearances of these spirits in Europe and the legends are well known in Japan
– but there have been other reports from across the globe. Such as in Australia…
As the maid
made her way out of the room on the sixth floor of the Sydney Hilton, she
smiled as she started to push the trolley down to the next room. She had short dark hair, and was wearing a
pink house coat with a white collar and cuffs, a white apron tied round her
waist and hanging over the front of the skirt.
The heels of
her black heels clicked on the corridor floor, as she fished the room pass out
of the breast pocket of her dress, and pulled it down through the slot by the
door handle. She opened the door, and
called out “Maid – may I clean your room?”
When there was no reply, she assumed the guest had left the room, and
collected fresh towels from the trolley before she walked in.
The cases of
the guest were at the side of the room – Louis Vuitton, top of the range, very
expensive, but that did not surprise her.
She had seen the woman being shown to the room by the porter – purple
dyed hair pulled back in a bun, designer jacket and pleated skirt, dripping
money.
For a maid, it
was wrong to think that way, but she was also human after all, as she placed the towels on the bed, and made her
way to the bathroom with a basket of toiletries – only to stop as she opened
the door and stare at the sight inside.
The guest was sitting
on the floor, looking up at her with sweat running down her face. Her red lips were over a thick white knot,
the cloth that was knotted pulled round her head and secured at the base of her
neck. Her arms were behind her back, and
the maid could see her fingers wriggling behind her, but there were also two
bands of rope around her arms and upper body, her green jacket stretched over
her chest by the tension.
Her legs were
stretched out, bands of rope around the ankles of her knee length brown leather
boots as well as above and below her knees, the fishnet stockings stretched
under them as well.
“Oh my god,”
the maid whispered, but before she could move she saw the guest’s eyes open
wide, and she slowly turned round, wondering what she had seen. Her own eyes opened wide as she saw the guest
standing there, her head to one side and a smile on her lips, and then her eyes
started to glow, turning yellow as the maid started to feel very faint…
When the maid
left a few minutes later, she smiled as she closed the door and wheeled the
trolley to the service lift. Inside the
room, the gest struggled as she tried to digest what had happened – she had
been surprised by a knock on her door, saw the person smile, and then fainted –
to wake up bound and gagged, and her double looking at her.
And now she
could also see the maid on the floor, bound and gagged in the same way as her,
her head slumped forward – but the way the person who had bound her had seemed
to change before her eyes into an exact double to the other woman was what she
could not comprehend…
A young
reporter in Basel was sent to interview a scientist who had just been awarded a
major prize – only to make her own discovery…
“Dr Kobel?”
The tall
brunette nodded as she looked at the young woman standing outside her
apartment. She had chestnut brown hair
held in a bun at the back of her head, and thin glasses, and was wearing a pink
jacket, a knee length black leather skirt, dark tights and knee length black
leather boots.
“That’s right,”
she said with a smile as she extended a hand in greeting, “and you must be
Brenda.”
“Indeed – and
my thanks for agreeing to the interview today,” Brenda said as she walked in
and assessed the scientist. She wore a
green jacket over a grey dress, tights and black heels, and smiled as she escorted
her visitor into the front room.
“Well, I have
to admit I was flattered to be asked.
Can I fetch you a coffee?”
“Please,”
Brenda said as she sat in a chair, putting her handbag on a table and taking
out a small tape recorder as she looked round.
She looked round the tastefully furnished room, and then smiled as her
interviewee returned with a tray, a coffee and cream pot and two cups on it.
“Thank you,”
she said as she was handed a cup. “So Dr
Kobel…”
“Please – call
me Diana.”
“Diana, do you mind
if I record this?”
“Of course
not,” Diana said as she put two sugar cubes into her cup, stirred it and then
sat back. “So, what do you wish to talk
about?”
“Well, the news
of your prize has piqued the interest of my editors. We were wondering if…”
Brenda looked
at the brunette as she sipped her coffee, then said “sorry – perhaps you can
explain in layman’s terms what your research was into?”
“In layman’s
terms?” Diana took another sip from her
cup, and then said “Well, in the simplest of terms, we are developing a new way
to assess diabetic control which would mean less need for the blood tests
currently used.”
Brenda nodded
as she said “because control of blood glucose is so important, right?”
“Indeed – but
blood tests can be intrusive and inconvenient at times, so a method that does
not involve that would be beneficial, no?”
“Precisely – I
am curious, are you a diabetic?”
“No – but you
are, which is why I was surprised to see you putting two sugar cubes into your
coffee.”
Diana smiled,
and then stood up, as she said “perhaps if I show you something I am currently
working on, it may help explain how I can do that. Will you come this way please?”
Brenda nodded
as she put her cup down and followed Diana to the corridor, and she stopped at
a door. “After you,” she said as she opened
it and Brenda entered – to see Diana lying on her side on the floor, her arms
behind her back, ropes around her chest and legs, and a white scarf tied
tightly round her head, the shape of her lips visible under it.
“What
the…” As she turned, however, she saw
Diana’s eyes start to glow and turn yellow, as she felt a warm feeling spread
over her, her eyes suddenly becoming so heavy, so very heavy…
As she
collapsed to the floor, she did not see the way Diana’s body and features
seemed to shimmer and flow, becoming slightly smaller, her hair turning
chestnut brown and forming into a bun, her clothes changing to match
Brenda’s. Eventually, she smiled and
left the room, returning with more ropes and two white cloths. She folded the smaller cloth into a ball and
gently opened Brenda’s mouth, pushing that cloth in before she tied the longer
strip tightly round her head to keep that in place.
Brenda was then
moved so that she was on her stomach on the floor, her arms taken behind her
back and her wrists tied together, before she had her ankles bound, and her
legs below her knees. She was then
rolled over and sat up, as her arms were secured to her sides with the longest
length of rope, forming two bands that held her arms firmly to her sides as her
jacket stretched slightly open.
The real Diana
slowly opened her eyes as she saw the doppelganger stand up, then looked at the
bound and gagged woman next to her, before she let out a muffled scream.
“Relax – I’ll
leave you now – taking your jewellery with me,” Brenda said quietly as she
closed the door…
A
housekeeper in Tijuana had an unexpected visitor…
Maria could
hear the children playing in the street outside as she carried the paper
grocery bags into the house. The thirty
five year old had dark brown hair, parted in the centre, a brown cardigan over
her pink tie neck top, a white apron over her knee length dark blue skirt, the
dark tights on her legs and brown brogues on her feet.
“The mistress
will be home soon,” she said to herself as she put the last bag on the table,
and then selected a bag with some vegetables in it, smiling to herself as she made
her way into the pantry. She started to
place the vegetables in various baskets, humming to herself.
“Hello.”
Maria turned as
she heard the young voice, to see an eleven year old boy, a stranger to her
standing in the doorway.
“Oh hello,” she
said quietly, “can I help you?”
“Will you play
a game with me?”
“Well, I am a
bit busy, but…” She saw the boy look at
her, and said “all right then, what do you want to play?”
“Cops and
robbers.”
“and how do
you…” Maria could not stop looking at
the young boy as he smiled, his gaze matching hers as she suddenly started to
feel warm. She could swear his eyes were
turning opaque and yellow, before her own closed and she slumped to the ground,
some onions and potatoes dropping onto the floor out of the bag.
She didn’t see
as his whole body started to shimmer, grow, change, his jeans and t-shirt
replaced by her own clothing as he took on her form, and then went out,
returning with some white ropes and cloths…
“Is anybody
home?”
The mistress of
the house looked round, and then looked in the front room, staring at the
papers scattered over the floor, before she heard the muffled calls from the
kitchen. She ran through, and then into
the larder, to see Maria lying on the floor, trussed with ropes, a knotted
cloth pulled between her lips and a second cloth tied over her eyes as a
blindfold.
But if Maria
was here, why did she just see her walking down the street with her handbag
over her arm…
A banker in
Frankfurt had a momentous meeting…
“Fraulein
Mueller?”
Greta looked up
to see the smartly dressed man standing in the doorway to her office. “I am Fraulein Mueller – you are?”
“Dietrich Mann
– I have a three o’clock appointment with you?”
Greta glanced
at her diary, and then said “my apologies – please, take a seat. May I offer you a coffee?”
“Please,” Dietrich
said as he sat down and looked at the banker.
She was wearing glasses, and a black scarf with grey dots tied round her
neck, then tucked into her olive green fitted jacket. Her short skirt was coming halfway down to
her knees, the dark hose then tucked into the knee length stiletto heeled
leather boots. She also, rather
incongruously, had black leather gloves on her hands.
“May I ask,” he
said quietly as he took the mug. Greta
looked at her hands, and smiled as she said “forgive me – a mild form of
dermatitis, not enough for me to sign myself off sick, but better covered up.”
“I understand,”
he said as he adjusted his tie, and then watched her sit down and log into her
computer. “So, what can I do for you Mr
Mann?”
“Well, I want
to discuss a long term loan from the bank, and you are the person in charge of
loan applications.”
“that is true,”
Greta said with a smile, “you have obviously done your homework.”
“I research the
business that I work with very carefully,” Dietrich said with a smile as he
looked across the desk. Greta smiled in
reply, as she said “so, just how much of a loan are you thinking of taking out,
Mr Mann?”
“Dietrich.”
“How much are
you thinking of borrowing, Mister Mann, and for how long?”
“As much as I
can carry in my case, and forever.”
Greta slowly
turned and looked at Dietrich, and said “I’m sorry, would you… Would you…”
Her sight was fixed by his stare as he smiled, his eyes turning opaque
and yellow as her own eyelids slowly closed…
As her head
felt to the side, Dietrich stood up, his form shifting and changing as his
chest filed out, his suit changing as the trousers morphed into a skirt, his
jacket into the same colour and style as Greta, his hair growing and changing
to the same shade of light brown as he picked up the bag at his side and opened
it, taking out the long white cloth which had a large knot tied in the middle
of it. Smiling, he opened Greta’s mouth
and eased the knot in between her teeth, then tied the band round her head,
taking are to make sure her gold earrings were not trapped.
He then folded
her arms behind her back, marvelling at the fact the gloves were also now on
his hands, and bound her wrists tightly together, then secured her upper arms
to her body with ropes above and below her chest. Moving quietly, he moved her to sit against
the wall, bending her legs and securing her ankles together with more rope,
making sure he passed the rope between her legs as well, and then securing her
legs above her knees in the same way.
Smiling, he
took a matching pair of glasses from his bag and put them on, before collecting
her pass cards and keys from her handbag, and then stepped out, closing and
locking the room door.
“Greta – your
client gone,” her manager asked.
“Yes he has –
I’m just going to do some work in the vault…”
Astrid was a
young singer in Copenhagen, whose big break was taken from her…
“Astrid – ten minutes
to show time!”
“Got it,” the
twenty two year old redhead said as she checked her reflection in the
mirror. Her red hair was pulled back and
held in a pigtail by a gold band, and her blue jacket was fastened to show just
enough of her ample chest. Her short
blue pleated skirt had a red and yellow floral print on, and the heels on her
knee length black leather boots had added an extra few inches to her
height. Even the dark hose seemed to add
to her beauty, as she smiled. This had
not been how she had expected the evening to go.
She had knocked
on the door an hour earlier, eager to meet the girl who had been in the final
year of music school when she had started four years ago. She had managed to make a decent enough
living as a backing singer, but she hoped Astrid would give her a leg up on the
next step.
Instead, Astrid
had been – well, a cold hearted bitch, who said she had nothing to offer. And that had stirred something inside her,
which she had not felt for years, a warm feeling, a feeling that meant mischief
and fun were afoot as she stared at Astrid.
The warm
feeling that swept over her was wonderful, as Astrid stared at her and then
slumped into unconsciousness, even as she had felt her own body and features
shift and change, her short blonde hair turning red and long, her jeans and
sweatshirt morphing into the singer’s outfit.
She had been a teenager the last time this had happened, and as she
stood up, she wondered why she had not done this sooner – perhaps it needed a worthy
person to copy.
She had sneaked
out and found some ropes and a white scarf – and put them to very good use, as
she heard a moaning from behind the changing curtain. She walked round and smiled as Astrid looked
up at her, her eyes wide as she looked at the doppelganger, unable to say
anything through the knotted scarf employed as a scarf.
“You stay there
and have fun,” Astrid whispered to Astrid, “and when I come back, I’ll tell you
all about it – and maybe have some fun as well…”
The
Changelings – they can be found anywhere, maybe next to you…
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