Kolchak: The Role Swapper Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Chapter 7

Kolchak voiceover: “9:47 AM June 17.

I was sitting at my desk deciding upon the next story I should investigate when I got a call.  I wasn't having much luck.  The stories seemed routine, not worth my time.  The caller sounded excited.

“Mr. Kolchak, I read your story.  I just have to see you.”

“Which story?”

“The one where people are changing.  There is more to it than you know.”

“I never said they were exactly changing.”

“But they are.  I've been seeing it for months.”

“For months?”

“Yeah, I've experienced it myself.”

“What do you mean you've experienced it?”

“Just that.  I was one of the people who changed.  I thought I knew what I was doing but I was so wrong.”

“You thought you knew what you were doing?”

“That's right.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I purposefully had it change me.”

“You can control it?”

“No, I just thought if I was around when it was around that it would do what I wanted it to do.”

“Did it?”

“No, I mean not exactly.  This isn't what I wanted.”

“What did it do?”

“You'll have to see.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“No, I don't know that.”

“Then how did you get it to change you?”

“I knew where it would be.”

“How did you know that?”

“I don't know.  I just knew.  I can tell where it's going to be. I arranged to be there too.  I was hoping for something, and it didn't work.  Now as I expected.  God, I wish I hadn't have done anything,” the caller started to ramble.

“Calm down.”

“I'm sorry.  It's just you are the first person I told about this.  No one else would believe me. It might be worse if they did believe me.”

“Calm down.  Where do you want to meet?”

“Well, there is a diner a couple of blocks from here by Gelson's Market.  I can meet you there.”

“When?”

“How about 11:30.”

“Fine.  One last thing.”

“What?”

“What's your name?”

“I'm Pee..., I mean Carol Brady.  Yes, I'm Mrs. Carol Brady.”

“OK, I'll be there at 11:30.”

Voiceover:

“I decided to arrive early and get a booth where I could see everyone approaching the restaurant.  I was wondering what this woman meant when she had changed.  That could mean anything.  There was also something wrong with her voice.  It was high-pitched, but was it a woman's voice?  It sounded more like a boy's voice.  Was she a woman who became a boy?  Was she a boy who became a woman?  I would have to see when she got here.

I looked around, several candidates looked out of place.  But I've been seeing this type of thing for a while now.  My antenna was up for these types of people for a while now.  Frankly, ever since leaving WKRP.

I recognized her immediately.  She got out of a station wagon and was hurrying to the restaurant.  She was wearing a full-length pink print dress that came down to her ankles.  It had a rather deep combination V/U-Neckline which would have shown off the tops of her breasts if she had any.  Her 'waist' was accentuated with a tight thin belt.  She wore it with matching pink pumps with an inch and a half heel.  Her brown hair was bob cut with a curl that ran down her neck.  I'm calling her a 'she', but in reality, she looked more like a boy in his early teens.  The makeup on his face couldn't disguise his true age and gender.  She entered the diner, saw me, and walked right to my table."

“HI, I'm Carol Brady,” she stated.

Kolchak got up and let her sit down.  The waitress came to the table. “Would you care for a drink before you ordered?”

“Um yeah, um, I'll have a cok..I mean I'll have a coffee,” Carol corrected herself.

The waitress left to get the beverage.

“I'm Carl Kolchak.”

“Glad to meet you.”

“Don't take this wrong.  Are you really a woman?”

“Everyone thinks I am.”

“But are you?”

“Not originally.  I was Carol's son Peter.  Now I'm my own mom.”

“How did you know what happened to you.”

“I can tell.  Most people can't but I knew what was going on.  You must be able to tell too.”

“Yeah.”

The waitress returned with the coffees.  “Are you ready to order?”

“Not quite yet.”

“I'll be back in a few minutes.”  The waitress serviced the next table.

“Tell me what you know.”

“It all started at school.  I notice that some of the kids weren't acting as they should.  It was small at first, but I kept noticing things.”  Carol explained her entire tale.  How she realized what was happening and arranged to get herself swapped with her mother.

“You wanted to become your mother?” Kolchak asked.

“Yes, I thought I did, but I didn't expect this.  I mean I'm Carol Brady now, but I still have the body of a boy.  I also don't feel like a woman as I should.  I'm sort of caught in between being a boy and a woman.”

“What about the real Carol Brady?”

“She or I guess now he doesn't know anything has changed.  He's living a boy's life without any problems.  He doesn't seem to have a conflict.  I do feel bad for my brother though.”

“You mean your mother?”

“No, my brother.”

“What about him?”

“I arranged for him to swap with my housekeeper.  They did sort of.”

“What happened?”

“My brother is dating Sam the Butcher and is friends with half the domestics in the neighborhood.  But he still goes to high school.”

“Oh.”

“My fifteen-year-old sister Marcia is a toddler in diapers.”

“You did that?”

“No, I didn't plan on that.  It just happened.  She went to babysit and ended up as the baby.”

“Uh-huh”

“Can I meet them?”

“I would prefer you didn't.”

“You know what was causing these things?”

“Yeah, it's a thing I call the Role Swapper.  It changes people.  Swaps traits between them.”

“I guess I sort of knew that.  I've seen it enough times. Can you tell what was swapped just by seeing people?”

“If I knew them probably.  But if not, I guess I can guess.  It's not like I am clairvoyant and know exactly what happened.”

“Do you know how to spot it?”

“Maybe a little.  If you are around it long enough you can sort of sense it.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“No, but it seems to come back to my school a lot.  I can tell you the changes are still happening there.  Every day I notice something else.  If you want to see it, just go to my school.  I mean my former school and wait.  It'll show up.”

“I might do that.”

“I have to go,” Carol said.  “I have to bake cookies for the PTA Bake Sale.  I can't be late.  There are things now that I have to do now that I am Carol.  I feel compelled to do the things that she did.  Nice to meet you.  Bye.”  Carol rushed out of the diner.  Her heels click-clacking as she walked away.  She got into her station wagon and drove off.  Carol could have stayed a little bit longer, but she didn't want to say what she had to do with her husband, Mike.

Kolchak stayed to think about what he had been told.

Kolchak paid the check and was about to leave when the worn white shoes that he always wears that matched his jacket and white slacks were swapped with the waitress's gum-soled shoes along with her white knee-high stockings.  This was the second trait swap that Kolchak experienced since he started to pursue the story.  Much like when his chest was swapped with a pre-teen girl, Kolchak wouldn't notice the change until he returned home that night and got undressed.  He would find a closet full of women's shoes and various types of women's hosiery.

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