7 Chapter 7

Frank woke with a start.

"Fuck, that was such a weird dream. I could feel it, everything was so vivid, I remember every detail" He even felt his wrist to check for a quickly dulling pain, his wrist was practically throbbing after the sword was smashed out of his hand but it was gone now. And that wasn't the only thing. Frank's pudgy muffin top tummy was missing when he looked down at his wrist.

"W-W-What the-" He jumped out of bed and put his arm to his stomach, his shirt was now a size or two too big and flattened to a newly thin stomach. Frank quickly pulled up his shirt and found a decently toned stomach, and his pants on the ground.

'What the actual hell is going on? The vape cartridge! What the hell did they mix with my weed concentrate?! Some kind of super soldier serum?'

Frank kicked away his lounge pants and quickly sprinted to the bathroom, he had to see what else had changed. He knocked first, nobody answered after a moment so he burst in and he quickly pulled off his shirt while staring into the mirror.

His long black hair was messy and fell around his face, needing to be pushed out of his sky blue eyes, his beard was long and scruffy, not at all maintained. That was all the same. But the differences he found first were shocking, completely unbelievable.

Where he was chubby, even overweight yesterday, he was now toned and much thinner. His shoulders and arms were noticeably leaner, though not terribly muscular. His pale face seemed healthier despite his desperate need for a tan, not even showing any hint of blemishes or pock marks. In fact, all the old acne scars on his body were gone.

Again, he asked himself, 'What the fuck did I smoke yesterday?'

'Was that all real? Did that whole thing happen yesterday? But the sense of time stopping... How was that possible? There's no way to explain that, even in the moment being spiked with a hallucinogen was his best guess at the time. But now he was completely healthy, he didn't even feel his nose stuffed from allergies when he took a breath. 

He took shaky steps towards his room, afraid of what he might find when he walked in. Everything looked the same, save for his pants and bed sheets on the ground. He quickly put those on the bed and checked his computer, the first thing to seemingly freeze yesterday.

Clicking the mouse, his monitor quickly woke up and the fans on his PC spun to life. His computer was asleep, just like normal. He logged in and found his game had kicked him out for being away for too long. When he logged back into that, his character was exactly where he had been yesterday, although he was forced back to a nearby checkpoint because he had been logged out. He could tell his character hadn't died since he still had all the types of gear he would have dropped on death. The chat log gave him a warning about being Away From Keyboard, or AFK, time stamped for yesterday, exactly when he was checking all the clocks in his room. So it wasn't an internet issue or a crash, he really was gone for long enough for the game to kick him.

Except that he wasn't! Frank was in his room the whole time! He checked his phone, which turned on. He had a missing call each from his parents this morning, and texts in their group chat with the 3 of them and Frank's sister, Lauren. 

A quick glance at his lock screen clock told him that his parents were at work, and his sister would be at school. He decided to read the chats first.

'Frank, are you okay? You've been asleep since your sister got home' from his mom

'Hey, Rip Van Winkle, when you wake up take the trash out' from his dad

'Hey asshole, you owe me dinner this weekend if you're not dead, I chipped in for your dinner to get delivered. It's in the fridge' from his sister, accompanied by a gif of an anime girl ferociously tearing into some food.

His reply came quickly, knowing his family just thought he had smoked himself to sleep. Honestly, if it weren't for the extra vivid dream and the freaky body transformation he would have agreed with them.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to sleep through dinner. I don't know what happened. Thanks for saving me something, though.'

His sister almost immediately saw the text and then replied with a picture of a smoking smiley face with bloodshot red eyes. He promptly reacted with a middle finger emote.

'I'll call you in a couple minutes, keep an eye on your phone' their mother replied, obviously referring to Frank since his sister wasn't even supposed to be using her phone at school.

He quickly put a shirt on and went to check the fridge for his uneaten dinner. His family had ordered Mexican last night, and they got him his usual. A pork bowl with the usual rice and beans, a little red salsa, a heap of shredded cheese, and some guacamole. He knew his sister got the guacamole as an extra so she could lean on him for a better meal over the weekend, smart twerp. She didn't even have to pay at all, she just wanted the excuse for a free meal.

As Frank set everything into a glass dish and closed the oven on it, his mom called. He took the extra time to set the little timer on the counter before answering.

"Hey, mom! How's work?"

"It's fine, just a couple meetings nothing special. But what's going on with you? You slept the whole day away. I even saw your game was on when I came home, so I was worried you got sick or something. And the weird moaning in your sleep wasn't helping things either! Did you come down with something?" She inquired in rapid fire, concern dripping through her every word.

"No no, I uh. Well, I'm fine. Better than fine, I think? Just a little shaken up is all"

"What does that mean?"

"Eh, I uh... How do I explain it? I mean, it's gonna sound really weird. I don't want to worry you"

"Try me, I'm already worried with how you're acting, so spit it out"

Frank sighed for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Alright, mom. I've lost a lot of weight. Like over night. I went to bed chubby, now I've woken up and I'm lean as a horse"

"You've been smoking the really crazy stuff, huh?"

"No! Well, yeah, but that's not the point, this isn't normal. Look, I can prove it to you! You'll see when you get home"

"Bullshit, Frank send me a picture right now" He coughed, choking on his own spit

"W-what?! Mom! What'll people say, that's weird!"

"You're the one making weird claims here, show me you're not bullshitting me right now"

"O-okay hang on a sec" He wiped the sweat from his brow and opened his camera app. He quickly put his phone propped up on the kitchen counter with a timer, tapped the shutter button and backed off a few steps, lifting his shirt as he waited for the fake shutter noise the app makes.

His selfie wasn't half bad, if he had to judge it himself. Far better looking than any he'd taken in years. But he wasn't sending it to a girlfriend or showing off for strangers on the internet. He was sending it to his mom. He picked up the phone, opened his texts and sent it to her before putting the phone to his ear again

"Alright, you should get it in a sec if your signal is good" his mother sighed lightly, he could practically feel her tapping her foot at him. Her gasp and stunned silence on the other end gave him pause.

"Uh, mom? You okay?"

"Wait, Lauren told me about this, you used a filter didn't you?"

"What? No, no this isn't a chat filter, its real! Mom, I have no idea what's happened to me, I just woke up like this!"

"Well... if it's a filter, it does look convincing. I could almost believe it's you in better shape. But that's impossible!"

"Now you know why I'm so concerned! This isn't normal!"

"Don't hang up, go outside and stand in front of the doorbell camera. I'll put you on speaker"

Frank quickly did as he was told, leaving the door open.

"Alright, can you see me?"

"What... what happened to you, Frank?"