Chapter 2: 2. Unexpected Help

I found myself standing on the subway platform with my back against the wall, staring at the motionless train. The doors were all open, but there weren't any passengers in it.

Instead, there were a handful of police, EMTs, and transit people milling around. One group was standing at the edge of the platform next to the train, right where I'd been standing a moment ago. And I could see another group near the far end of the platform, where the front of the train had stopped. Some of them were talking to each other, but they were speaking quietly.

The weird thing was I couldn't remember when any of that stuff happened. And what I could remember left me fairly certain I got hit by the train.

I turned and walked slowly along the platform, past some of the uniformed people towards the front of the train. Nobody looked at me or tried to talk to me, they all acted as if I wasn't there.

As I passed one group I heard one of the EMT's say "...bloody mess," but I tuned out the rest, and finally stopped and stared.

A tarp had already been spread over the lower part of the front of the train.

I stood there staring for a few more seconds, as I tried to process what I was seeing, what was happening. Eventually I turned and moved away, then ended up sitting on a bench partway down the platform.

I was kind of confused actually, like I was clearly dead but I hadn't gone anywhere. I wondered if that's how it worked, if I was doomed to haunt this subway station for eternity or something. There was a lot about being dead that I didn't know, but then I realized pretty much nobody knew that sort of thing. The thought made me smile, like duh that's why people invented religion.

The experience overall was strangely boring, which wasn't what I expected death to be.

If I was a ghost, I didn't feel like some insubstantial wisp or anything. Like my body felt solid and real to me, and I could feel the hard bench under my butt. I assumed I was invisible to the other people around since they ignored me, but looking down I could still see myself.

I looked same as always, I didn't look or feel all smashed up and bloody like I was positive my actual body was at that point. I was still dressed in the same jeans and hoodie and sneakers that I'd been wearing. I even still had that fancy gold bracelet on my wrist.

I smiled as I stared at it, "Well at least I didn't get arrested."

"Your death doesn't trouble you?" the voice came from my left and I startled slightly as I turned and looked.

Standing a pace away was a beautiful young woman. Her voice was as pretty as the rest of her, it sounded sort of melodic. She had an odd accent though, that I couldn't place. Like I was positive she wasn't from England, but that's about all I was sure of.

She looked to be in her mid-twenties. She was slim and her height seemed just a bit above average for a woman. Her blonde hair was styled in a single long braided ponytail, and her eyes were bright blue. Her clothes were weird, her reddish-brown dress looked hand-made, same with the leather shoes that were secured to her feet with simple straps that wrapped around her ankles. All in all she looked like she just stepped off the set for some old-time movie or TV show.

Even more surprising than that was the fact that she could apparently see me.

"Who are you?" I asked as I looked her up and down. "Are you an angel here to take me away to the afterlife?"

The woman smiled, "Hardly. I'm actually somewhat lost, much like yourself. But I think perhaps you and I could help each other?"

I rolled my eyes, "Doubt it. I'm dead, my body's probably smeared up under that subway train in front of us."

"I can fix that," she replied calmly. She sat down on the bench next to me and added, "I can give you what your deepest heart desires, if you'll agree to help me too."

That made me laugh, "Sounds like a scam to me. So what's the real deal? You're here to tempt me, trick me, then what? Steal my soul or something? Send me to hell?"

The blonde slowly shook her head, "I don't want your soul Lexi. And what I have to offer would benefit us both."

It felt like my heart was suddenly pounding in my chest, which was confusing because of the whole being dead thing. I stared at her with wide eyes and asked nervously, "How do you know that name?"

The woman gave me a kind smile, "I can tell you're a girl, I know you long for the chance to change your mortal shell to fit you better. And that is what I can offer you. I can grant you a second chance at life, and in a body that fits. If you agree, then tomorrow you will wake up in the body you've dreamed of."

My eyes were locked on hers as I asked, "What's the catch? Will I be a baby again? Or are you going to transmigrate me into someone else's body? What happens to the soul already there, do they die? Will I still be on Earth or are you sending me somewhere else?"

She shook her head, "No Lexi. I won't harm anyone else. I'll create a new body from scratch, though it will take me a few hours. It will be nineteen years of age, same as you are now. Unless you'd rather be a different age? And you will be right here on Earth."

I gulped, "So what's the catch then?"

The smile faded and she sighed, "Right now I'm almost as dead as you. I'm incorporeal, and in this state my powers are very limited, as is my time. I need to be bound to a living soul such as yours, to allow me to stay and to grant me a little more access to my power."

She continued, "If you agree, we'll be bound together and I'll have the strength to create your new body. It will be yours, but I'll be there with you. We'll be able to talk, to hear each other. And I'll be able to continue helping you."

Before I could ask my next question she added, "As for why? Without being bound to you, I'll fade just like you will. By joining, you'll live again and I'll get to stay. I want to stay because I have family and I need to find them. I'll need your help for that, but I promise it's nothing awful or evil. I just want to make sure that my family are all right, since it seems I've been gone for a long time."

I frowned as I thought things over. "So if I don't agree, sooner or later I'll go to heaven or hell or whatever comes next. If I do agree, you'll do some magic or something, then I wake up tomorrow in my dream body? I'll be a girl named Lexi? And you'll be like a ghost or something, bound to me? What'll we do for money? How will we survive?"

"Correct," she nodded. "As for how we'll survive, you can leave that to me. I'm very resourceful, and I have access to what you call magic."

I turned to look at her again and asked, "What's your name?"

She smiled, "You can call me Eva. It's not my real name, but it's the best you're going to get for now."

The various uniformed people continued to ignore us as they went on working around and in front of us. The train started moving very slowly backwards, which I figured they were doing so they could get whatever was left of me out from underneath it.

I felt oddly detached from all that, but at the same time I decided I really didn't want to stick around and see it either. So I focused again on the beautiful blonde sitting beside me.

"Ok Eva," I responded. "It's a deal. What next?"

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She smiled, "Excellent! You're wearing my bracelet on the wrong side. Take it off and put it on your left wrist. That's all you need to do, I'll take care of the rest."

I frowned as I looked at my wrist, then shrugged "Ok."

It pinched a bit as I got it off, and I noticed the gentle C-shape curve now had a flattened spot on it. It took me a moment to realize that was probably because of the train. It hit me on the right, the first impact might well have been the bracelet.

I pushed that thought out of my mind and slipped it onto my left wrist instead, then looked up at Eva again.

"Ok now what?"

She just smiled, and everything suddenly faded to darkness.

• • • • •

I woke with a start, sitting upright in bed as I quickly glanced around. My heart was racing and I almost felt overwhelmed by the information my senses were telling me.

My entire body felt different, from my head to my toes. The first thing I was aware of was a weight on my chest and a lightness around my abdomen and between my legs. The next thing was a tickling sensation of long hair brushing against my back and shoulders.

Meanwhile my eyes were telling me I was in a small hotel room, and there was bright sunlight coming in through the window.

I could feel over-bleached hotel bedsheets and a slightly saggy mattress under my behind, while my eyes picked out a neat pile of clothes on the dresser next to the TV across from the bed. Beside the clothing was a small bag. No, it was a purse.

A purse...

My eyes widened as I finally looked down at myself, and my heart skipped a beat.

I was naked, sitting ontop of the small hotel bed. I was naked, and my body was absolutely undeniably feminine.

"Holy fuck," I whispered as I slowly looked myself up and down.

I saw small dainty feet, slim shapely legs, firm thighs and wide hips. A flat tummy, ample boobs, smoothly sloped narrow shoulders, slim supple arms, and small hands with slender fingers.

That gold bracelet was around my left wrist, and it seemed to have shrank or something because it fit perfectly. In fact it was such a good fit I was fairly sure it wasn't coming off. It wasn't uncomfortable though, it almost felt like a part of me rather than something stuck to me.

The next few minutes were lost to some obligatory groping and self-exploration, before I finally got up out of bed. There was a little bathroom around the corner from the bed. It was just big enough for a toilet, a tub with the shower head at one end, and a sink with a small mirror above it.

"Oh wow," I whispered as I stared at the mirror. I looked about the right age, somewhere between eighteen and twenty. My eyes were a stunning blue, my hair was wavy and blonde, and it hung down about fifteen or twenty centimetres past my shoulders.

My face looked slightly familiar in an odd way, and it took a few seconds to realize I looked similar to that angel from last night. In fact I kind of looked like her younger sister or something. I wasn't going to complain though, she was beautiful.

I must have stared at myself for a minute or two, as a mix of emotions churned through me.

Eva did what she promised. I was alive again, and I was a girl. I was Lexi. It was all my wildest dreams come true, all of them and more!

I watched my reflection as I smiled, and I was happy to note I had a cute grin. That thought only made me smile wider.

Eventually the giddiness started to fade as the practical side of my brain kicked in. I didn't know where I was, or what time it was, or how I was going to pay for the hotel room. I didn't know how long I'd been here, or how much time had passed since I died.

I remembered seeing clothes and a purse so I left the bathroom and had a look at the things on the dresser. I put the clothes on as I went through them, figuring I was better off dressed and ready to move just in case.

There was exactly one outfit waiting for me. I pulled on a pair of simple pink cotton panties. Then a matching pink bra. A pair of black leggings were next. Then footie socks, and finally small white and pink sneakers. Next was a tight little purple t-shirt with some cute hearts and flowers screened over the chest area.

And each and every item I put on sent another wave of euphoria through me. The outfit was simple, basic as can be, and it was beautiful and perfect and left my mind screaming "I'm a GIRL!" with each thing I put on.

The last item was a big dark-grey hoodie that was very similar to the one I'd been wearing when I died. Except this one wasn't quite so huge. I didn't put it on yet, I wanted to enjoy my cute figure in the cute outfit a little while longer.

Next I picked up the purse and started checking the contents.

My heart skipped a beat as I found a stack of ten-, twenty-, and fifty-pound notes. It only took a few seconds to count it out, I had twenty-five hundred pounds in cash. It wasn't a fortune but it was definitely a good start.

I put the money back and continued looking through the purse. Apart from the cash the only other thing inside was a small assortment of plastic cards that I found in a side pocket.

The first was a new Oyster card, but I had no way of knowing how much money was loaded on it, if any. Next was a hotel key-card, which made sense considering I was in a hotel room. And the last two were an Ontario drivers license and health card. And I found myself staring at both of them with wide eyes as another wave of euphoria came over me.

My new identity was listed as Lexi Lund. My birthday hadn't changed, so I was still nineteen years old. And the drivers license had the same address as before, which was my dad's house back in Canada. That might prove awkward when I finally got back home. My height was listed as a hundred and fifty-eight centimetres, which was twenty-eight centimetres shorter than I'd been as a guy. And that triggered another wave of euphoria. I wasn't just pretty, I was small and cute and that thought made me unbelievably happy.

"Ok," I said to myself as I carefully put everything back in the purse. "I'm Lexi Lund. I'm nineteen. I'm a Canadian girl visiting in London. I'm in a hotel room but I don't know how long I can stay here. I don't have a passport, and all I have for clothes is what I'm wearing. I don't have a bank card or credit card, but I have a pile of cash. What am I going to do?"

"I'm so glad you asked Lexi," said a familiar voice. "It's time for you and I to do some planning."