Satyr Play

Paloma followed him out of the office and down the hall to the entrance of his office.

"I guess I'll head home. I'll see you in the morning," Stanley said, fidgeting.

"See you in the morning. I'm so glad you're part of the team," Paloma said with a smile.

Stanley's head spun a little at how pretty she was. He nodded with a grin of his own. "Thanks! Good night!"

He went to the elevator lobby and was surprised when the two security agents nodded to him as he waited for the car to arrive. He nodded to them in return and took the elevator to the ground floor. Mr. Duncan was there and nodded to him as he left. The man wore a new black suit with no sign of the blood he'd seen earlier.

Stepping outside, Stanley felt an incredible rush of joy shoot through his body. He had a job, a challenging one at that, doing something he loved and was being paid quite handsomely for it! He wouldn't be just working on one small component of the company's tech but would get to work on all of it! Not only that, he had a beautiful woman assisting him. A woman he could actually talk to without swallowing his tongue! He hoped this would help him be able to speak with other women and maybe even meet someone he could date! He walked north towards the subway station, his mind lost in his memories of Paloma's smile.

He was passing an alley a short distance from VRL when a hand reached out and yanked him off his feet, tossing him deeper into the dimly lit alley. Other hands took a grip on his arms and dragged him further in, then yanked him up to his feet. He was being held between two very strong people he couldn't see.

Suddenly, a bright light shone in his eyes, and he blinked away the tears. He looked to see who was holding him, and... he still couldn't see them. They were still shadows. His mind shied away from that as he squinted against the glare to look toward the headlights a dozen feet away. Someone was standing between them, backlit.

Stanley couldn't see his features, but he was tall and wearing a tailored suit. Broad shoulders and a slim waist. Maybe he was a swimmer? Stanley had heard that swimmers had this kind of physique.

"Mr.... Garin, is it? Stanley Garin?" The voice was deep, rich, and cultured. He couldn't place the accent.

"Y-Yes? Who are you?"

"Well, that doesn't really matter right now, does it? Now that I know who you are, I have what I need," the voice said with amusement.

"I-I don't understand. What do you want with me? Why are you doing this?" Stanley was starting to get scared. Today was turning out to be really, really weird.

"Give it to me!" the voice barked as he faced sideways, toward someone out of view. Stanley saw his profile, and the man had the perfect features of one of those Michelangelo statues.

An arm reached toward the man and handed him a four-inch metallic cube. The man took it and walked towards Stanley until he was just two feet away. Stanley's eyes widened in surprise. The man was beautiful in an unearthly way. He was smiling at his prisoner, enjoying the look of awe, basking in it.

"Stanley, you are going to do me a favor. Not because you want to but because you won't really have any other choice." He gave Stanley a smile as if he found himself rather clever. "You see, in this quantum paradox trap is a demon. A truly nasty one, but it's my demon. It's under a binding to me, so when I let it out of the trap, it will enter your body and become you. Then you'll go home, get a good night's sleep, and start your workday tomorrow as my personal minion inside VRL."

"No, thank you, please," Stanley said, his voice wobbling in fear. This guy was insane. Demons? Who knows what was really in that little box.

Surprise flickered across the man's perfect features, and he barked out a laugh. "Oh my, that was precious! So polite! Sorry, I'm still going to do it. Nice try, though." The man nodded to the people holding Stanley, and they reached across to rip his shirt open to expose the skin of his hairless chest.

Stanley cried out in fear. Then felt the cold metal of the cube pressed against his sternum and looked down to see it. It was difficult to look at as the ornate patterns on the sides of the cube seemed to be moving in multiple directions simultaneously. He glanced up to see the man smiling with his brilliant white teeth exposed.

Then he heard a click.

An explosion of light and electricity blew the smiling man backward, tossing him bodily up and over the car. The headlights blew out, and the alley fell into shadow and after images of the lightning.

The shadowy men holding Stanley's arms weren't so lucky. They were tossed sideways to impact the brickwork of the buildings, like bugs on a high-speed windshield.

Stanley was the epicenter of the explosion and didn't emerge unscathed. The rebounding shockwave returning from the brick walls on either side of him slapped him to the ground, where he lay dazed. His eyes were rolling, but when they became accustomed to the low light in the alley, he saw dark figures bundling the tall man into the back of the car. Then, it screeched backward out of the alley and accelerated away. Stanley felt eyes watching him, and someone stepped out of the shadows and stood before him.

He had to be hallucinating from whatever explosive had been in that box. The being standing before him was red, covered in blood, and naked. Very naked. He looked up to the face, and yellow eyes glowed as they pinned Stanley in place.

"I should thank you for freeing me, but... that's not what I do."

Stanley gagged on the odor of its breath. The stench of diseased rot and death dripped from the being, and Stanley tried to move, but his limbs weren't responding.

"You're small, but you'll be an adequate snack." Sharp teeth flashed in its wide grin.

"PERHAPS I'D MAKE A MORE SUITABLE MEAL, FOUL DEMON!" boomed a voice from the alley's entrance.

Stanley turned his eyes over to see a large woman running towards them. The naked figure hissed in anger and spun, looking for an exit, but the alley was closed at this end. It turned to face its attacker, and leathery wings ripped from its back. It leapt into the air, desperately flapping to get altitude. Shadows were filling the alley, cast there by its wide wings.

The woman running towards them gave a thunderous battle cry and leapt upward. Huge wings of white burst from her back, their light driving back the shadows. The demon hissed louder and threw something dark at the woman.

A shield of light appeared on her arm and deflected the black spear. Then she was upon the demon, driving the point of her own spear deep into its chest with a wet popping sound. It screamed, and she heaved upwards on the shaft of the spear, ripping the razor-sharp tip up through the demon's corrupt flesh until it split the skull in two. Gore rained down onto the lane.

Stanley was lying on his back, watching this scene from a fantasy movie play out in the air above him, when his view was obscured by a wonderful and welcome sight. Paloma's beautiful face was looking down at him. Her lovely features were marred by an expression of fearful worry, but the fact that she was worried about him made him smile. Her lips caught his smile, timidly returning it as his mind began to slide into oblivion.

Before he went completely under, he saw the Valkyrie descending towards him, vast white feathered wings effortlessly slowing her descent, and he thought how similar she looked to Ms. Gunderan... if the woman had been into cosplay.

Chapter 2

Stanley needed to get home. The need pulled at him, droning in his ear and poking him with sharp sticks. Finally, his abused mind could take no more and pushed him into the conscious world.

Before his vision returned, he heard voices. Arguing. Something familiar about the voices. Ah, that was Ms. Gunderan, and the other softer voice belonged to... Paloma!

HOME!

His eyes popped open as he gasped, and Paloma squeaked in surprise.

"Mr. Garin is awake!" her large blond companion said unnecessarily.

His eyes were still having some trouble tracking, but he eventually found the sources of the voices and saw a stern and worried expression on the face of the Head of HR.

Paloma's was lit up with a smile.

"How are you feeling, Stanley?" she asked.

"I have to go home," he blurted, looking around at the unfamiliar room.

"Until we know your place is safe, it's probably better if you stay here with me," Paloma answered with a worried expression.

"Sure. I need to go home. Now." Stanley said and tried to get up. That's when he noticed he was tied to the bed. He looked at his wrists and saw silk ties securely binding him to the bed.

"Uh... what... what's going on?" he asked cautiously.

"It's for your own safety," Ms. Gunderan said, but she looked deeply uncomfortable about his bindings as well.

"I have to go! Now! Untie me!" Stanley was beginning to feel desperate. The need to get home rang like a bell through every cell of his body.

Paloma sat on the edge of the bed and tried to calm him, but suddenly, his eyes rolled back, and he arched his back in a huge gasp.

As he retreated into the peace of oblivion, he heard a gentle but ancient voice in his mind whispering.

"Too late..."

And he was gone.

-=-

Sigrid stared at the unconscious young man on the bed with wide eyes. Nothing was what it seemed with him! She'd felt something when she first met him, but Camila warned her to back off, so she did. Then, when his blood refused to be recorded? Camila intervened again.

When she got the panicked call from Paloma saying someone was attempting to abduct her new boss, Sigrid had come running. Why Paloma had been secretly following the young man, she didn't know, but she'd arrived just as a massive explosion released a demon from its containment trap. The energy needed to destroy the trap and the demon's binding would have been considerable.

She hadn't had the pleasure of dispatching one of the infernal beings for a very long time, so she'd enjoyed herself with this one.

Stanley hadn't appeared injured from being at the center of the blast, but maybe he did appear dazed. He'd been unconscious when she landed at his feet. Paloma insisted she carry him to the young woman's condo as it was closest. Sigrid had wanted to drop him off at his place so he could wake, believing it was all a crazy dream. Paloma insisted it was safer to take him to hers as the abductors might try again. The girl hadn't really explained why she'd thought it was necessary to tie him to her bed, aside from saying it was for his safety, but it looked like it had been a good precaution after all.

There was a quiet ticking noise coming from the bed, which was rapidly speeding up. Paloma began to lean over Stanley's body to discover the source of the noise. Instinct made Sigrid grab her and jump back from the bed. She held the struggling girl against her chest, then froze as light bent around Stanley. There was an odd twisting and folding, which they had to look away from. With a sharp crack, reality reset itself over Paloma's bed. Stanley was gone. In his place was something neither had ever seen before, at least not in person.

A head full of long, thick, dark brown hair with broad, bone-white ridged horns curling and twisting out of the hair near his temples. Dark-brown furred and pointed ears stuck straight out from his head and dipped downwards slightly.

Its face had Stanley's features, but they were a little longer. He was still youthful in appearance but definitely no longer slim and slight. He now had a broad, muscular chest and powerful-looking arms with three thick fingers and a thumb on each big hand. His clothing could not contain his new configuration and lay on him in torn shreds. The most dramatic of his changes was his lower half from his waist down. Densely furred and powerful, his legs had become those of some kind of goat right down to his large, black, cloven-hooved feet.

"W-what is he?" Paloma gasped.

"I think he's a Satyr, but his horns are bigger than I thought one would have, but I've never seen one before. They... they're supposed to be extinct!" Sigrid said quietly. "He, or I think more likely someone else, went to exceptional effort to keep him disguised. I've never seen that kind of glamor before. It wasn't overlaying his true self with a false image. It actually altered reality around him so he could... be... a Human. That's magic at a level I've never seen. Magic that alters reality... that's Master Level."

She reflected on her interactions with him and could see no guile in his behavior. "I'm not sure if Stanley was aware of this. He may not know what he really is." She spotted the silk ties that once bound him to the bed. They were loose on the surface of the mattress. "Paloma, you need to tightly secure him to the bed. He looks much stronger than he did before."

The girl nodded and rushed forward to secure his arms and legs to the bed. She was a little too good at this activity for Sigrid's comfort. Once she saw he was tightly bound, Sigrid walked out to get her coat, Paloma following.

She pulled it on as she looked into the wide eyes of the young woman. "Listen, I'm going to get your mother and bring her here. If he wakes keep him calm and secured until we get back." Pausing, she walked back into the bedroom. She pulled out her cell and took a quick picture as convincing Camila would be so much easier with it.

"Lock up behind me, and don't let anyone else in!" Sigrid said as Paloma followed her to the door.

With a final stern look in the young woman's eyes, she was off.

-=-

Paloma closed and locked the door. She touched the rune next to it to set the ward. If something Magic tried to enter, they were in for a nasty surprise. She rushed back to the bedroom and stopped at the foot of the bed.

Shivers ran up and down her spine. A Satyr! She'd known Stanley was special the moment she saw him! It was her gift to sense potential. While her mother had a touch of it and at times used it in her business dealings, Paloma hid how strong her gift truly was from everyone, even her mother. It was one of the skills of being a Seer, and she didn't want to become a tool for her mother's business dealings.

When Stanley had first entered her waiting room, she'd seen an aura of wild energies around him like she'd never seen before. He was completely unaware of it. She'd picked up pretty quickly that, on the surface, Stanley was what he appeared to be: a young man, awkward around women, more comfortable around technology, but at his core, a decent person. She smiled as she recalled how he'd calmed at her touch.

There was one more thing about Stanley that she found almost irresistible.

He was a virgin!

Combined with this genuine innocence, it had taken all her willpower to resist the urge to tear off his clothes and feast on his essence. Of course, her mother would have demoted her to working in the cafeteria with the hags if she'd failed the most basic lesson her kind was taught the moment they reached sexual maturity.

With the risk of being exposed increasing constantly due to the Human's ever more clever surveillance technology, the Hidden Races had to remain vigilant and take every precaution.

She wanted so much to relax and allow her own glamor to dissipate, but she knew Stanley would have a hard enough time accepting his own change. One thing at a time.

Paloma stood watching him sleep and admired his new body. He still had a sweet, innocent expression, but his torso and arms gave her not-so-innocent ideas. The buttons that hadn't torn free in the alley had all popped due to his expanding proportions, and the seams were torn, so she reached over and spread the two sides apart to get a good look at his bare chest. For all the hair, well... fur really, on his lower half, his torso was remarkably free of hair. Even his thick arms were bare of hair. His face was baby-smooth under her fingertips.

The long hair on his head was also silky smooth and so wonderfully luxurious as she ran her fingers through it. Tingles ran up and down her body, and she moaned. Biting her lip, she forced herself to take a few steps back from the bed.

Her breath was coming in gulps, and her body ached for release. Danger signals! What was taking Sigrid so long to bring her mother?

-=-

Sigrid was trying to get past Felix to Camila, but her assistant insisted his boss could not be disturbed while she was on this call to Japan. So she sat, stewing in the waiting room.

"How long do these calls normally take?" she finally sighed with exasperation.

Felix shrugged and looked over at her. "It varies."

"And there is no way you can get a message to her?" Sigrid pushed.

"I was given strictest instructions not to disturb her in any way. The Japanese official she is speaking to is very sensitive to the slightest sign of disrespect. Her cell phone is off, and her office line is muted. Her entire attention is on this man." Felix explained.

Sigrid growled and sunk into the sofa a little deeper. She hoped Paloma wasn't having any trouble with Stanley.

-=-

"WHAT? WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME!?!" Stanley bellowed as he looked down at his body in shock.

"Stanley, please just relax! Everything is okay." Paloma said in a calming tone and rested her palm on his chest. She could feel his heart beating strongly and rapidly under his dense muscles. More tingles shot through her body, and she bit her lip.

"OKAY?!? IT'S NOT OKAY! MY BODY ISN'T MY BODY ANYMORE! AND I'M STILL TIED DOWN!" he yelled as he pulled at his bindings.

"They're for your safety! Please calm down! Take some deep breaths!" she pleaded as she placed both hands on the thick slabs of his chest muscles. Her self-control was beginning to crack.

Stanley tried to do as she said, but he was sure he'd lost his mind. He looked to the right and saw his right arm, thick with muscle, and his hand—THREE FINGERS?!? He pulled again at the silk ties, but they were too well knotted to slip free. He lifted his head, which felt strangely heavy. He saw Paloma's lovely hands resting on his chest. It didn't look like his chest, but he could feel her hands on him, could feel her kneading the muscles. Looking further down just increased his distress. What happened to his legs? Why were they covered in fur?

"Oh my god! I've mutated? Did that guy in the alley inject me with some weird experimental drug?" he moaned.

"Stanley, you didn't mutate! This is just your real shape! You were wearing a disguise, a glamor over your true self before. It wore off or was damaged in the explosion in the alley," she tried to explain.

His eyes snapped to hers. "You were there? Did you see what happened? Why were you there?"

"I-I followed you from work. I saw something in your potentials, your possible futures, that concerned me, so I followed you. I saw them abduct you. I called for help then I watched them try to possess you with the demon." Paloma was running her hands over his torso, enjoying the feeling of the hard muscles of his stomach.

"Demon...." Stanley gasped as her touch confused his mind and made him feel... really good.

"Yes, a demon. I heard the man say he wanted to use you as a spy inside my mother's company. Perhaps Mother knows who he is." She gently pinched his nipples, and Stanley gasped once more and writhed on the bed.

"What-what are you doing? Paloma!" he asked, trying to get her attention. She looked up at him, and he saw her licking her lips.

"Oh, Stanley, I'm sorry to spring this on you, but the world is filled with creatures like you and me. Magical, wonderful beings who stay hidden from Humans for our and their safety."

"I'm human!" he asserted.

Paloma slid her hands along his strong arms and sighed as she brought her face down closer to his. "No, Stanley. Your disguise was Human, but your true self is this. I've never seen a glamor so complete that even the wearer is unaware of what they are." Her body was burning with need, and he was so delicious! Her control was gone. She brushed her lips across his and pulled back teasingly.