Elaine would do anything for beauty. Everyone who saw her knew that by taking one look at her face. The skin around her eyes was pulled so tightly it looked like it might tear. Her forehead was as motionless as a piece of granite. She gingerly lowered herself into the black leather chair in her plastic surgeon’s office.
“What can I do for you Elaine?” he asked. His own face had been pulled and tucked so much that he resembled a lion.
“When I look in the mirror I’m still not happy,” Elaine said, as she rummaged through her Italian leather purse. She pulled out a photo and handed it to the doctor. “I still don’t look like that.”
The doctor leaned across the desk and took the photo from Elaine. It was a picture of her when she was young. She wore a bright pink jumper. Her brown hair was cut short. Her full cheeks glowed in the sunlight. “How old were you here?” the doctor asked.
“Twenty-one.”
“You sure were a stunner.” He tried to hand the photo back to her, but Elaine shook her head.
“Keep it for reference.”
“Reference for what?” The doctor set the picture on his desk.
“I want you to make me look like that.” Elaine took a makeup compact from her purse. She flipped it open and looked at herself in the mirror.
“I only do that for very special clients,” the doctor said.
Elaine looked up from her mirror. “Are you suggesting that I’m not special?”
“No, darling, nothing like that. There is a risk that comes with the procedure, and I don’t think you would want to take that risk.”
“I will do anything to get my youth back,” Elaine said. “You know that doctor. With all of the money I’ve already paid you, I thought I had made that clear.”
“You certainly have.” The doctor swiveled back and forth in his chair and steepled his fingers together. “You know Chloe Wright, don’t you?”
“Of course, I heard about the procedure from her. She looks stunning. Her hair is so thick and her face is the picture of youth.”
The doctor nodded. “Have you noticed anything else about her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Does she act a little strange to you?”
Elaine thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it.” Elaine had noticed the faraway look in Chloe’s eyes. She never seemed to be looking directly at anything. Her speech was stilted and having a conversation with her had gotten to be quite uncomfortable.
“That’s what happens with the procedure. She is sharing her brain with a parasite now. It is able to roll back the hands of time on her face, but she must fight for control of her thoughts.” The doctor looked into Elaine’s eyes. “Is that what you want? Most people who come in here asking for the procedure change their minds once they find out what it is. Why else do you think everyone in town isn’t walking around with their twenty-one-year-old face?”
“But Chloe did it?”
The doctor opened his desk drawer and pulled out a clear jar. Inside a black bug the size of a quarter ran in a determined circle. Its legs made a scratching sound against the side of the jar. “This is the parasite I would use.”
Elaine gasped, but her fright didn’t last long. She was astonished that simply hosting such a tiny creature could help her reclaim her youth. “What can I expect from the procedure?”
The doctor laughed. “Most leave the office screaming at this point. You really want this.”
“I do, Doctor.”
“I will implant the parasite in your brain. Recovery time is one month. You will have to stay in the hospital during that entire time to make sure there are no complications. You might feel it crawling around in your head sometimes. Most say it is a tingling sensation.”
Elaine nodded her head as the doctor talked. She wasn’t concerned with the side effects. She was focused on one thing only and that was looking better than Chloe Wright. “When can I get the procedure done?” she asked.
The doctor stopped speaking.
“I’d like to do it as soon as possible.”
“I’m not finished telling you about the risks.”
Elaine waved her hand in front of her face dismissively. “May cause drowsiness, cancer, or death. I know. Let’s do this.”
“I could do it as soon as tomorrow morning,” the doctor said.
“Good.”
The doctor sighed. “Well. I guess we’re all set. Go out to the waiting room and Beth will give you some paperwork to fill out.”
Elaine filled out the paperwork without reading it first. She figured it didn’t matter what it said. As long as she would come out of this as the most beautiful woman in the city she didn’t care.