(Author's Note: Couldn't resist this, after Anonymous51 mentioned his inspiration for The Puzzle)
It seemed too fantastic to believe, but, while she didn't particularly like Jon, he wasn't the type to say things like this and he seemed so sincere. She decided to humor him.
"Fine," she said, giving in. "What do you need me to do?"
"Well ..." Jon began. The doorbell rang. "I need to find Karyn, who thinks she's Zoe, and get her to Karyn's house. I have to do that for everyone who changed. That is what the person responsible said."
They could both hear the sound of footsteps trudging down the hallway. Suddenly, a group of men with pale skin, wearing black trenchcoats and hats, barged into the room.
One of them restrained Athena, the other Jon.
"Who are you people?" Athena demanded.
One of them laid out a case on the bed and pulled out a strange looking device with a needle at the end of it. With the help of the other man holding Athena, he jabbed the device into her head and pulled on the end like a corkscrew. It glowed with a magical glow not unlike the wishing stone, filling a vial with a shimmering liquid.
Athena went limp. Jon struggled, but his captor had an iron grip. The device was laid back in the case.
Another of the Black-Clad Men entered the room, carrying a limp form in his hands. He laid it out on the bed, and Jon got a good look and started. It was his Mom.
She looked about how she'd been when he'd seen her that morning, wearing a light yellow blouse with beige capri pants, and 3-inch heels...except she was unconscious.
More of the men entered. One of them began to strip off his mother's clothes, hanging each piece on a hanger. Pretty soon his mother was completely naked. The clothes were wrapped in the sort of plastic bag one would get at a dry cleaner and taken away.
Another entered with another case, from which he pulled what looked like an antique clock. He placed it in Jon's mother's unconscious hands.
"What are you doing?" Jon insisted, struggling and yelling for help. No one answered him. The men went about their business. The man began to turn the key on the back of the clock and...
His mother started to...shrink. Not quite literally, but subtly. A not unattractive middle-aged woman was losing...or gaining...depending on one's perspective...years of her life. Before long, a skinny teen was lying prone on Athena's bed.
She sort of resembled Zoe, although she was a few inches shorter, and a slightly larger in the chest area...certainly shorter than Athena was, not that he was the best judge.
One of the men pulled out a measuring tape and took her measurements, leaving the room and returning a few minutes later with a plastic garment bag. Inside was a full-length black lace dress with a black under-bust corset and black boots. It looked like something Athena would wear, only in her Mother's size.
They dressed her up in it while other black-clad men exchanged other things in the room, working in quiet harmony, letting Jon watch. Finally, they started filing out. The last of them reached into the open case where the glowing vial sat, and attached the device to his mother's head, emptying its contents into her.
The one holding him pushed him roughly onto the bed on top of his Mother, and left, slamming the door behind him. The noise made her jump awake. She looked, saw who was on top of her, and screamed in surprise.
