Widow's Peak (Ch.3)

When Sarah returned home to her small, cosy apartment in East London, she didn't feel tired or rung out in any way. In fact, despite all of their journeying from one destination to another, she still felt quite fresh in herself, as if the adventure was only beginning.

As she walked into her bedroom then she found herself opening the door of her wardrobe to reveal a long, narrow mirror. The evening light was fading fast so she was unable to see herself properly at first, forcing her to lean over, pull the blinds down, and switch on a nearby lamp. What struck her was how much easier everything felt. Her arms and legs were a little longer now, of course, giving her a greater reach than before. When more illuminated, she finally could see herself again, marvelling at how much her body filled out the clothes she'd borrowed from Jason.

As she started running her hands along the curves she'd magically developed only days before, she had this sudden urge to rip everything off. In the end, however, she took great care not to tear her clothes for fear she'd have nothing to wear the next day, so slowly exposed her amazingly fit form bit by bit instead.

Directing a finger around the lines between her large abs, shoulders and arms, she explored her beefy bod in a way she hadn't had a chance to previously when others were around. She finished then by lovingly touching the strand of Samson's hair that had merged with her own and made her transformation possible in the first place.

There was one thing missing, of course: Jason. He had travelled home with Danica. Small, little Danica. She had caused them to be parted for the first time in months. Sarah thought she could accept it when the time came, but apparently not. Not fully anyway. As she longed for him again, she flexed her biceps in the mirror. She thought about him -anyone- feeling and worshipping them in that moment. She realized how much she was getting swept up in her own wonderfulness, yet allowed herself the indulgence. How could she resist? How can anyone now? How could Jason? Yet he had still gone home with his wife. Maybe if she was a little bigger, and a little stronger? Things might be different then.

With that thought in mind it wasn't long before Sarah had put on her old workout clothes that luckily stretched enough to fit, and she began lifting the few weights she had hidden behind the couch in the living room. The only problem was they offered no resistance to her now. Dumbbells that were once a chore to lift were utterly useless to her. There was only one thing for it: the barbell.

She found the long pole in the closet and the accompanying weights, too, and quickly slapped them altogether. She had only ever tried once to lift the device and was so embarrassed by her failure that she put it away for good. However, she felt she could handle it in her new state. Indeed, she easily lifted it off the ground, and it wasn't long before she was attempting it with one hand, and then the other, discovering that she had no weak arm now.

"Damn, I still need a greater challenge than this," she scoffed, throwing it to the ground and damaging her apartment's flooring. She didn't care, though, and came up with a new way to test her strength, picking up the barbell once again in both hands and trying to bend it in half with the weights still attached on either end. But, much like with the boulder she'd tried to crush between her hands in Italy, she still wasn't strong enough to accomplish the feat. She was annoyed by this because she felt the need to push her body to the limit yet didn't have the correct weights or machines to do it.

"There's only one thing for it," she said to herself, placing a hand on her chin and staring out a nearby window. "I've got to see if there's an all night gym somewhere close by!"

Jason eventually woke up beside the still resting Danica. Unlike his ex-travelling partner Sarah, he was exhausted by the previous day's trek from Italy to London, fatigued by months of backpacking across different and diverse parts of the world. When finally back home, it wasn't long before he had put his head down on the pillow and nodded off.

But as he now lay there, staring at Danica's body lightly draped in their bed clothes, he realized that despite them kissing in the airport and despite having not seen each other for so long, their first instinct when they got to the bedroom wasn't to be intimate. Even when Danica finally stirred, smiled, and stared into his eyes, he didn't sense that same fire inside as he had before. Even so, they attempted to make love again, but Jason was disturbed to discover that he was left a little unsatisfied by it, a fact he wanted to keep from Danica.

He went to the bathroom then and stared into the mirror. The light above shone right down on his head, overemphasising the balding patch. Ironic and funny, he thought, that the man who would be forever known for finding the most famous head of hair in history was also slowly and inescapably losing his own. He'd sometimes thought about getting a transplant, even contacted a clinic or two, but neither Danica and Sarah ever seemed to mind, so why be so insecure about it?

Danica and Sarah. He suddenly felt awkward again for including them both in the same train of thought. He wondered had his relationship with Sarah gone too far and ruined what he had with Danica? Especially since the former had been changed. That night in Italy before they left, when she took hold of him with that new, muscular body of hers, that had perhaps changed him, too.

He had always seen their time together as a stupid fantasy or guilty pleasure of sorts. It was an affair he was partly ashamed of but something that would end once he was back home with Danica; yet now he wasn't so sure. The fantasy of adventure on the open road together had been replaced in his mind with a new one. But it wasn't fantasy now. It was real. She was real. And, a few hours later, Sarah herself was indeed knocking on his office door at the museum.

They were all scheduled to meet the curator who would OK an exhibit and help them promote their find, but Sarah had arrived a little early and was welcomed by Danica instead.

As both spoke and stood in front of one another, Jason noticed the size difference yet again, and was in awe of Sarah. She was wearing a tight black t-shirt and skinny jeans with her musclar thighs and calfs visible beneath. She eventually looked across the room at him and offered a smile, seemingly not caring that his wife was standing right there. Jason was slightly embarrassed as a result. He was terrified that Danica would put two and two together if Sarah kept acting like this. He understood then that he definitely had to end it. It didn't matter how exciting it all was, he was done.

In fact, when Danica left the room for a moment, Sarah walked over to him. She placed her hand on the wall behind him and her biceps pushed against his face. She leaned in then and smiled.

"Do I look a little bigger than before?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," he replied tersely.

"I worked out all night. But the gym wasn't prepared for someone like me. I nearly ran out of weights! I still managed to pump myself up good and proper, though."

"That's interesting, I guess," he squirmed.

"While I was at it for hours, did you sleep well? Especially without me?" she whispered to him further.

"Yes," said Jason, keeping an eye over her curvy shoulder for Danica's possible return.

Sarah was slightly taken aback by his short responses and the lack of direct eye contact. She had expected him to be completely enamoured with her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I can't do this anymore," he replied in a quiet tone. "We can't do this anymore."

"Why not?" she responded, becoming visibly frustrated.

"Because it's just not right. We always said it would end when we got back. Well, we're back. And it's not fair to-"

They heard light footsteps then as someone approached from outside the office.

"It's her, isn't it?" said Sarah in a louder and more vindictive tone. "She's the reason. She still has more of a hold over you than I do. She still scares you more than I do. I thought I would be enough now to bend you to my will instead. I guess I was wrong. That aging waif still has you under her heel. For now, at least."

She walked out of the room just as Danica re-entered, none the wiser. However, as they passed, Sarah briefly brushed off her would-be rival.

"OK," said Danica, slightly rattled, "Are we ready to go? I just spoke to Tom and he's waiting for us."

Jason nodded nervously and went to fetch the magical hair, with Danica in tow. He had put it in the office safe. One that only he knew the combination to.

They prepared to head to the main hall then with Samson's hair in order to present it to the aforementioned Tom aka the museum curator. A decision was to be made whether it was worth making a big song and dance about or if Jason and co were just pulling their leg. But when Jason opened the safe, he made sure Danica wasn't looking. A fact that irked her.

"Don't you trust your own wife?" she joked.

"It's not that," he replied. "It's to remove all doubt if it was ever opened. At least I'd know that it wasn't you that stole it."

"Oh, don't worry," she joked, "I always have other ways to get what I want. But you do realize that we're likely going to have to prove this is his hair, right? That bimbo assisstant of yours being souped-up might not cut the mustard. After all, she still only looks like a tall bodybuilder. Despite what you both think, I think we'll need more evidence."

Jason was secretly annoyed at the casual 'bimbo' remark that Danica had thrown at Sarah, but kept his mouth shut. He knew his wife was probably right, though, but decided to cross that bridge if they came to it. Right now, Sarah was the proof.

"Are you guys coming or what?" she asked, shouting from outside. They looked over and saw Sarah gesturing from the hallway. She had heard them talking via the open door and had grown impatient, wanting them to get a move on.

When they finally arrived at the main hall, Tom greeted them with raised eyebrows and an open hand. When Sarah grabbed it and squeezed they could all hear the bones in his fingers and knuckles crackling.

"Wow, that's some grip you've developed there, Sarah. I don't ever remember you being so strong, nor this big."

"That's what we tried explaining over the phone," said Danica. "They really have succeeded in finding Samson's barnett."

The curator then started studying their prize intently. As he did so, Danica walked up beside Tom and moved in for a closer look, whispering something into his ear. They even shared a joke together.

Jason was a little uncomfortable seeing them so close, so quickly intervened. "Well, are you happy now? Can we put it on display? Announce our discovery to the world?"

"I'll need more than this," Tom replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Jason was a little gutted but not hugely surprised.

"We thought you might say something like that but-"

"I want you to recreate the experiment," said the curator, ignorantly cutting Jason off. "I want you to show me the magic in action."

Jason shook his head. "No, we best not. Sarah is right here. I'm afraid of what it might do to someone else if we weave it into their head. In fact, we still don't know the full extent of what it's done or is doing to her."

"Oh, I know," Sarah chimed in angrily. "It's made me feel awesome! In fact, if you're too afraid to try it on someone else, I'll weave yet more into my hair and see if it works a second time."

"No, don't be crazy," said Jason. "We won't put you through all of that a second time."

"I think you're wrong, Jason," said Danica. "I think she's the perfect candidate to test it on again. It's like what you said, it's too dangerous to test on someone else."

Sarah and Jason were surprised to hear Danica say this, with the former quietly delighted at her naivety. Without another word spoken, Sarah reached down and grabbed a chunk of Samson's hair from the desk and started to quickly weave a braid of her existing hair around it, making sure to mix it all together. As she did so, a smile began to appear on her face.

"Do you not think that's too much?" asked an anxious Jason. "It's a lot more than you tried the last time."

Sarah was annoyed he'd even bring that back up. It wasn't just that she was doing this for herself, but for him, too. Isn't this what he wanted? She'd saved their lives by trying it out in that cave in Italy, and now she was going to save their careers in London the same way. Yet, secretly, she had another desire. Finally, she felt she would become such a woman and have such power over Jason that not even Danica could match her.

Meanwhile, the unconvinced curator just folded his arms and stood back, ready to study her supposed metamorphosis as it happened. He wouldn't be disappointed.

For a moment it seemed like nothing was happening, that was until Sarah's upper body suddenly snapped backwards and then forwards again. She felt herself change once more. It was working! Thus, she began an embiggening that caused her arms to bulge through her clothes and rip the seams open. Her legs were much the same, forcing themselves through her pants. Even her shoes began to split apart. Nothing would be spared, it seemed. She began grunting as the process continued, frightening those in attendance; the three onlookers taking a step or two back just to be on the safe side.

The only thing that went through Sarah's head then was the night before when she had wanted to rip open her clothes, yet had decided against it. This time, however, there would be no holding back. She grabbed the collar of her t-shirt and tore it open, revealing her brawny chest and breasts barely being held together by a sports bra. She kept grabbing the fabric and tearing it again and again, taking great pleasure from the sound of her clothes being pulled apart. Jason noticed she was growing not just more muscular but also was gaining what appeared to be half a foot in height. It meant she would now tower over him.

"Enjoying this?" asked Danica, whispering in his ear.

"What do you mean?" he replied. "I'm just happy it'll prove we were telling the truth."

She smirked then. "No, the real truth has yet to be revealed. Do you think I'm an idiot, Jason? Do you think I don't know what you've both been up to in all of those months together?"

"Research?" he quipped.

"Nice try," she replied, walking over to Tom again. "But you're not the only one that's been having fun lately, and not the only one obsessed with a younger model."

When Sarah was finally done, she just stood there for a moment before them in her dangerously tight workout clothes trying to catch her breath again. She composed herself and was delighted at how mighty she had become. She had transformed into a she-hulk of sorts, but when she checked for the reaction of Jason, she sadly found him distracted. He wasn't staring at her tremendous form at all, but still at Danica, who appeared to be flirting with the curator for some reason.

"Astounding," said Tom. "You really have have outdone yourselves this time. I really mean it."

As he said this, Jason noticed Tom put his fingers through his lush, golden hair as if were mocking him. He also saw how relatively built he was. "This is Danica's new model?" thought Jason. "Figures."

"So you'll accept the artifact?" asked Danica, placing a hand on the curator's shoulder.

"Of course!" Tom replied excitedly.

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" said Jason with a growl. He walked over to the table then and scooped up the hair. "But I'm not sure if we're ready yet to pass it on. Not sure if we're finished with it. More study is clearly necessary before it can be put on display."

"But you said earlier that-"

"It doesn't matter what you think I said, Tom," said Jason, walking back to his office. "I'm putting into the safe until everything is truly ready, OK?"

"But what about me?" asked Sarah, standing there in all of her glory, bewildered as to why she was mostly being ignored.

"We'll still try and find a way to fix you," said Jason.

"Fix me? FIX ME?!" screamed Sarah. She walked ominously over to the table then and picked it up, flinging it through the nearby window and out onto the museum carpark below.

"Yes," replied Danica. "Because there's clearly something wrong with you."

Sarah stood over her then and, for a moment, thought about throwing her after the table, but Jason warned her against it. Instead, and in a rage, Sarah jumped through the broken window and landed directly on the roof of a parked car, crushing it. She slid down off it then and studied the damage she'd done.

"And I barely even felt it," she remarked to herself. She then leaned down and tried picking the vehicle up and lifted its remains over her head. She threw it back down to the ground and sped out of the carpark, excited to see what else her even more powerful body was capable of now. As she moved at speed, shocked Londoners had to pull back off the path to avoid her, and, for a time at least, she forgot about the disappointment of Jason spurning her.

Jason himself watched her leave the scene via his office window. He had returned to his space now and was ready to place Samson's hair back in the safe. As he did so, he noticed in the corner of his eye a couple passing by his door. It was Danica and Tom. Were they off to explain everything to security, or were they off to have lunch together perhaps? Either way, she winked in his general direction, and then they were gone. All that remained was the sound of their footsteps growing quieter and quieter on the hard, wooden floor of the museum.

"How could I have been so stupid? So blind?" Jason said to himself. "Then again, I deserve all of this. The shoe is on the other foot now. I can't be mad at her when I was doing the very same thing."

He folded over the leather cloth the hair was wrapped in and kneeled down to open the safe. But, as he did so, he paused. He thought more and more about what had just occurred.

"I am mad, though," he contained. "Perhaps not at her, or Tom, but at myself. I can do better. I can be better. I saw how he ran his fingers through his hair like that. I can do the same again. I have the means right in my hands here, mad as it sounds. Then again, as I just said, I am mad now."

He took the hair back out and fastened the safe again. He walked over to his desk and laid it down beside his laptop. When opened, he began searching for the name of one of the clinics he'd previously contacted and reluctantly gave them a call.

"I have just one question," he began sincerely. "I need to know if it is possible to implant long strands into one's head, or is that crazy talk?"

He waited for a reply, and when he got the one he wanted, his excitement only grew larger: "Well now, that is interesting to hear! What's the earliest you could give me an appointment? Money is no object."

To Be Continued...