Backstrom: The Beginning

“Backstrom, Kansas, why in the hell am I being sent there? It sounds like a shit hole to be honest,” Charles Weaver said with a sigh as he read over his transfer papers.

“Well you’ve been wanting to get out of Chicago for quite some time and you meet all the requirements to be a Sheriff, Charles.” his boss replied before taking a sip of his warm coffee.

“Yeah but Kansas? Why the hell so far away? That just seems too ridiculous…”

“You’ll like it, besides a change in scenery is just what you need. It’s been an honor working with you these last few years Charles and good luck in Backstrom.” his boss said with a big bearded smile.

***

“Is this really Backstrom?” Charles asked as he drove past a giant sign with the words ‘Backstrom. A Place of Magic’. “It looks… decent for a small town. Might as well take a quick drive around the entire place since I’m going to be living here…”

Charles Weaver, a 30 year old police officer who had been with the Chicago Police Department for the last five years. Ever since he joined the force, he had been itching to move up the ranks and put in the time/effort to do it. This caused him to be quite the workaholic, having no time for silly things like picking up a hobby, and all his past relationships had failed because he put work as his number one priority.

It was partially why his boss wanted to help him transfer out of Chicago and into a smaller town like Backstrom. The change of scenery is something Charles desperately needed whether or not he’d admit it or not. Maybe he’d finally settle down and stop being so focused on work and find that special someone to marry and have kids with.

As Charles drove around Backstrom he spotted the small building that was intended to be a Police Station, the white paint on the sides were chipping and it looked a little run down. The words across the front side looked faded, Charles could barely tell the faded letters said Police on it.

“Great, a pretty rundown shit hole. Well I don’t really know what I was expecting from such a magnificent town called Backstrom.” Charles muttered to himself as he kept on driving. After driving around the entire town, which took about twenty minutes tops, Charles figured he should go and meet the mayor since they’d have his housing arrangements and other things.

Driving through the main part of town he finally found the Mayor’s office building and parked his car in an empty spot. As he stepped out he saw a couple residents walking by and they politely greeted him.

“Well hello there my boy, how are you this fine day?” the old man asked as him and his wife stopped to chat.

“Great, I guess. I’m the new Sheriff. I’m supposed to be meeting the Mayor of your town…” he responded as he surveyed the area.

“Oh my, yes the Mayor did say something about getting a new Sheriff of our quiet little town, not that we’ve needed one for years. You'll be a fine fit Charles," the old woman said as they walked off.

Charles was about to ask how she knew his name but meeting the mayor was still a big priority. Ignoring the worried thoughts in the back of his head, he walked up the few steps and inside the Mayor's office building.

The inside looked pretty plain, a bunch of memorabilia from the town hung on the walls and a bunch of pictures with plaques under them that had a bit of info on the picture. Nothing really stood out to him, it looked cozy in a weird way. There wasn't anyone in what he assumed was the reception area so to kill some time he went and looked at the pictures.

The first was dated all the way back to 1957 and it showed a few men and women standing in front of the Mayor's office building. Charles looked at the picture next to it and noticed the same people in the first picture but something seemed off. For some reason he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"Can I help you?" a woman's voice said behind him.

Charles jumped in fright and quickly turned around to see who startled him. Standing in front of him was a woman, who was giggling for having scared him.

"I apologize. It wasn't my intention to scare the pants off you, sir." the young woman said as she held out her hand. "I'm the Mayor. Mayor Lams, you must be Mr. Weaver our new Sheriff I presume?"

He nodded and shook her hand, "You can call me Charles ma'am. But yes I am your new Sheriff."

"Well, Charles, it's a pleasure to meet you. Well let's go into my office and get everything sorted out. Around six o'clock we're having a big celebration in honor of you and so you can meet the townspeople."

"Oh, you guys shouldn't have...?" Charles chuckled a bit, not sure what to think.

"It's our way of welcoming you to our sweet little town." Mayor Lams replied with a sweet smile, brushing a few loose strands of her blonde hair behind her left ear.

She led him into her office where they began to talk about what she expected of him and how the town worked. The mayor even showed him a map of the town to get a better view.

"Now I'm sure you've seen the current situation of your station... It's in a bit of repair, so if you like I can get something set up in here as a temporary place to work." Mayor Lams said as she looked down at the map.

"Should be fine, it seems like a pretty quiet town so I don't expect many incidents." Charles replied.

"Oh! Before I totally space it off, your new house is right here!" she exclaimed as she pointed to a little square on the map. "You'll meet your next door neighbor, Andrew at the festivities."

Charles didn't seem all too excited but went along with it anyways.

"Now real talk, as my new Sheriff what can I do to... uhh help with certain issues I may have?" the Mayor asked sounding rather coy.

"What? Are you trying to ask what it'd take to bribe me?" Charles asked, taken back by such a request.

"You could call it that if you wish, but I have some problems that could use some special treatment. You'd be paid handsomely and have free reign to do as you wish, Charles."

"No. I don't take bribes from corrupt politicians, now if you could point me to where the party is," Charles said already walking out of the office.

"Down the street near the park, you can't miss it." Mayor Lams said with a devious smile.

***

"Down the street? Jesus how far is down the street?" Charles asked to no one in particular as he slowly drove down the street from the Mayor's office. He had driven down a few blocks and finally found the park and it already looked crowded. Managing to find a nearby parking place, Charles got out of his car and walked down the sidewalk towards the giant gazebo in the middle of the park.

Just about everyone there turned their heads and cheered as they saw him walking up. Charles cringed a bit as he waved at everyone, not quite sure what to say or do. The mayor came up from behind him, “Well don’t be scared Charles, go and say hi to the wonderful people of Backstrom.”

Charles almost jumped out of his skin from the mayor touching his shoulder as he quickly turned around. She just giggled and led him further into the crowd of people who were asking him all kinds of questions.

“Everyone I want to introduce Sheriff Charles Weaver! He will be helping take care of our sweet little town, so please give him a big warm Backstrom welcome!” Mayor Lams announced to the big crowd. “He hails from the mighty city, Chicago.”

“Err… Hi everyone, yeah I’m the new Sheriff so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’re in need of help.” Charles said nervously, still unsure what to really say to all these people.

A man walked forward and introduced himself as Andrew, Charles new neighbor. Charles shook his hand and was immediately dragged into the crowd by this strange man.

"Come on and meet everyone" Andrew said with a laugh as he started to introduce Charles to everyone. Charles pretty much went along with it and was polite to all the residents. Afterwards the real party began, which involved a massive grill out thanks to a few local businesses.

Mayor Lams, Charles, Andrew, and a few others were at the head table while everyone crowded around any open seat at one of the many tables. Andrew did the honor of pouring the wine into everyone’s cups at the main table before holding a toast.

“I want to raise a toast and welcome Sheriff Weaver to our town of Backstrom!” Andrew said as he raised his glass into the air. “To Charles!”

“To Charles!” everyone cheered. Everyone took a drink, Charles taking more than just a sip before sitting down with everyone else. He finished off his glass and poured himself another, before digging into the 12oz. steak in front of him.

Charles had only a couple drinks but he felt like he had twenty, he usually had a good tolerance with alcohol but tonight was not the case. He felt awful, the food didn’t seem to be settling right and he felt… drunk?

Andrew seemed to notice something was wrong and leaned over and whispered to him, “You feeling alright Charles? You look like you’re about to be sick…”

“I… I… Feel fine…” Charles responded in a drunken slur as he tried to stand up and walk away. He barely made it a few steps before having to use someone’s chair to hold himself up. Out of nowhere he felt an arm wrapped around him and guiding him out away from the crowd of people. Charles felt sleepy all of a sudden, looking up he noticed it was Andrew helping him.

“W-what’s happening… to… me?” Charles asked in his still drunkenness, his body feeling like it was on fire.

“Dude I have no clue but I’m taking you home, everyone will be seeing you as you walk through town, so don’t sweat it. Jesus man you look dreadful, your face looks softer…? And you’re starting to feel lighter.” Andrew said noticing his friend was changing.

Unbeknownst to Charles his body was slowly feminizing itself into his impending womanhood, his hair was growing at a fast pace while body hair seemed to disappear leaving really smooth skin behind. Charles threw up as he felt his face crunch and change shape. Andrew managed to avoid having throw up land on his shoes as he stopped to readjust Charles in his arms.

Andrew noticed Charles was fading in and out of consciousness and tried his best to keep him awake. Charles wasn’t really responding to Andrew as he was forced to carry Charles in both arms. “We’re almost there champ…”

***

The next morning…

Charles woke up, his body aching like he went ten rounds in a boxing ring. He heard some shuffling and opened his eyes to see Andrew standing over him.

“Who the- what the fuck?” Charles yelled as he sat up, not noticing the weights on his chest moving. “Where am I? Wait did you drug me? You son of a bitch!”

Charles lunged at Andrew who did his best to hold him down, “Charles calm down I didn’t do anything to you but something did happen to you.”

Andrew let go of Charles and grabbed a hand mirror on the night stand, holding it in front of Charles. Charles grabbed the side of the mirror to see his reflection, his heart stopping momentarily. His reflection showed a young woman in place of a hardened young man.

“W-w...hat?” he said, gasping as he ripped the mirror from Andrew’s hands. “I’m a woman?! What the fuck did you do to me?!”

“Charles… I don’t know what happened… and I swear I had nothing to do with it. I carried you to my place since you haven’t moved into yours yet.”

Andrew did his best to explain what had happened the previous night despite Charles not wanting to believe any of it. He clearly wasn’t supposed to be a woman and yet here he was in a stranger's bed, well not really a stranger. His shoulder length hair started to get into his face making him shake his head to try and fix it and only making it worse.

“I can’t be a woman… This is just some weird fucking dream after having too much to drink last night…” Charles said as he ran his hands over his new body. “Jesus fucking Christ I have tits!”

Andrew had backed away a bit to give the changed man some space, doing his best not to stare. He suggested maybe going and talking to the Mayor and getting her input on the situation, she had said some weird things were happening in Backstrom. Charles stood up from the bed, his pants immediately falling to the ground, his boxers barely able to keep up, even with the help of his bigger hips. Embarrassed, he picked up his jeans and held them up with one hand while trying to keep his hair out of his face with the other.

“Fuck… I don’t think she’s going to recognize me but whatever let’s fucking go,” Charles responded, clearly pissed off. He took a few steps and tripped on one of his pant legs, falling into Andrew’s arms. Andrew wasn’t quite ready and both fell to the floor. The young woman did her best to scramble back up on her feet, not even bothering to offer assistance to the man she fell on.

“Sorry,” Charles said as he pulled up his pants higher and walked out of the room, just as Andrew finally stood up.

“Rude much…” Andrew said under his breath as he dusted himself off and walked out after the young woman.

***

Charles didn’t want any more help from Andrew and parted ways after exiting his house. The walk back to the Mayor’s office was close to what he needed to clear his head and it wasn’t that far. As he walked through town, he quickly realized just how much of a pain his breasts were, they didn’t look very big, probably in the B’s he guessed but man did they bounce a lot. Passing stores, he did his best not to look at his reflection, still not wanting to accept that he had been turned into a young maiden.

As he passed the bakery he saw the old couple from yesterday on a leisurely stroll. He wanted to avoid them as much as possible but quickly realized their paths would cross no matter what. “Maybe they won’t notice me and just keep going…” he thought as they got closer.

Just as they passed, the old woman smiled and asked him, “My you look beautiful Charlie, the Mayor wanted to see you by the way, something about last night.”

Charles didn’t say anything in response, just nodding his head and quickly passing them. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until he was a good block and a half away from them. Taking a deep breath of the crisp air, he continued his way towards the Mayor’s office.

When he had finally reached the Mayor’s office, he was immediately greeted by Mayor Lams at the door. She looked worried and rushed him inside and to her office in the back of the building without saying a word. It wasn’t until they were in her office and the door shut that she spoke.

“Oh my gosh, Charles I-I don’t know what to say. I’ve had a feeling some strange things had been happening lately in our little town but I didn’t think you’d fall victim to whatever it is.” she said in a quiet voice.

“Wait wait wait, are you really trying to tell me there’s some supernatural bullshit going on and me being turned into a woman is part of it?” Charles said, his voice rising in anger. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my fucking life!”

“Charles please calm down and let me explain…” the Mayor said, trying her best to calm down the Sheriff.

“Calm down? You want me to fucking calm down? I was a man yesterday and every day, week, month, and year prior to coming to this shit hole and on the first day I’m here I’m turned into a woman? This is clearly some elaborate joke you people have put on me, well haha it’s not funny anymore.”

Charles went on about how it was just a wig on the top of his head and tried to rip it off, only causing pain as the hair on his head was clearly attached to his scalp. When that didn’t work he grabbed his breasts and tried to rip them off, as if they were fake and attached with glue. All he succeeded in doing was making his chest hurt quite a bit as his hands tried to pull off parts of his new body in hopes that he was dressed up in drag.

The Mayor could only watch with a frown, knowing that her words would be meaningless at this very moment. When Charles finally came to the conclusion that his body wasn’t fake and indeed his, after causing so much pain to himself, he broke down crying. Mayor Lams did her best to comfort the changed man, calling him… her Charlie since her old name wasn’t really fitting.

“Charlie I have a job I would like you to do as Sheriff, help me investigate these cases of people being affected by this supernatural force… The residents of Backstrom and the town itself depend on it.” the Mayor whispered as she held the crying woman close.

Charlie didn’t respond right away, her entire world was crashing down on her and her brain just couldn't handle it. Nothing was said for a few minutes until Charlie told the Mayor that she would help.

"It's the least I can do... I don't want anyone else to fall victim to... whatever this is." Charlie said as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Let the people know that Charles... Charlie Weaver is the new Sheriff in town and will be helping solve these weird phenomenons."

The young woman let go of the Mayor and took a few deep breaths before doing her best to smile. She wasn't going to let this be a hindrance to her job, after all she was the Sheriff. Mayor Lams offered to take her shopping for a new wardrobe but for some reason Charlie knew that wasn't necessary. She thanked the Mayor for her help and understanding and walked out of the office.

As soon as Charlie was out of the Mayor's Office building, she let out a sigh, "Holy crap putting on the charade that everything is alright was tough."

"Shit I still have to move into my house... Well I hope Andrew doesn't have any plans because I don't think I'll be able to do it by myself. Let the fun begin..."