As the light faded, agent Marcus Hendrickson's ear was assaulted by a torrent of words. Taking stock of his surroundings--fourteen years of law enforcement at the local and federal levels had given him the skill to quickly assess any situation in which he might find himself--Marcus found that he was dressed in a tight-fitting t-shirt and jeans and lounging in a bed. The room he was in was a bedroom, seemingly a very feminine bedroom from the pink shade of the wall paint and the abudance of plush and lace. Spotting a large mirror along the wall, he judged he was probably correct... a teenage girl, probably fourteen, looked back at him from the miror, dressed in identical clothing to Marcus's own. In her hand she held a purple cell phone, which Mark realized was the source of the overexcited feminine voice that was currently blathering in his left ear.
His extensive experience had left Marcus with the training not just to gauge his situation instantly, but also to take advantage of it. For the first time in the last hour, he had a phone at hand and ready for use, and considering the fact that the relentless swaps, which had assaulted him since the little girl had attacked him and she and the young woman whom Marcus had pegged as Jonathan Madison had begun running away, were beginning to slow down, Marcus judged he had a few minutes to place a phone call.
Clapping his cell phone shut on his locquacious conversation partner, Marcus dialed the number of his boss, Charles Finney. When Finney's voice mail picked up a few rings later, Marcus launched into his speech.
"This is agent Marcus Hendrickson, serial number 042978163, passcode 'albatross'. Sir, our situation has changed. We found Madison inside the house, but one of his friends assaulted me and the mayor's bodyguard. Before I could retaliate, Madison must have done... something, because the next minute I switched again, into a young boy, and I've been switching every few minutes since then. Don't know how long I'll be in this body, either. Recommend investigating the house to see if the others there have swapped as well; if so, and if they're switching like I am, it means we've probably lost both Madison and the mayor. Last I saw him, Madison was in the body of a young woman, approximately twenty years old, height around 5' 6" and weight around 120 pounds, long blonde hair, blue eyes, dressed in a pink tank top and denim skirt, with a small scar on her right shoulder. Madison's accomplice was a young girl, about eight or nine, with red hai--"
Before Marcus could get the rest out, he was taken away again in a shower of light.
Charles Finney listened to Marcus Hendrickson's message and smiled. Apparently his agents had been too hasty in leaving the Madison house. Finney had been baffled when he'd learned that everyone in the house had switched again, presumably for a second time. He'd guessed Jonathan Madison had worked whatever magic he had to switch himself and the household and make a getaway, and apparently Finney had been correct. He didn't know which of the people in the house had been Madison, since anyone who had known that informaton had bee switched out of the house, so Finney had been at a loss as to how to follow up. Madison, he'd thought, had probably eluded them for good, since he could apparently switch himsef and those nearby on a momen't notice, and unlss Madison was an absolute idiot--and clearly he wasn't; far from it--Finney doubted that Madison would return to his house. Finney, agent Laurence, and two police officers had stayed behind to watch the house in case of any further developments, but Finney hadn't believed that their vigil would bear any fruit. Now, however, Finney had a trail to follow.
From Hendrickson's report, it sounded as though Madison had done something to throw Hendrickson into an endless series of swaps. If the same thing was happening to Madison--and even if it wasn't, for that matter--Finney and his agents should theoretically be able to track Madison's movements, now that they had a starting point in the form of the blonde woman who had been inside the house. All they would have to do was interrogate the blonde woman, determine who she had been originally, and track down that person's body. Then would do the same with the next body, and the next, following the trail of bodies Madison was leaving in his wake until at last, hopefully, they could catch up with him.
They had to move fast, though. So, alerting Laurence of the situation, Finney stepped out of the car and headed back up to the Madison house.
