Bringing Laura back

The sensation of a finger caressing my stomach broke me out of my thoughts. "Hmm, what are you thinking about, Laura~?"

"I was just think-," I started speaking but stopped when I noticed the name she used this time. I pushed her hand away, blushing more. "D-don't call me that, please."

"But that's your name right now, isn't it?

"N-no. I'm Edward, not Laura. I'm gonna remove her…" I protested meekly, but she probably knew that I was conflicted about it.

"Already? You can keep her for a day or two if you'd like. Have a taste at college life. But I want her back afterwards, she's still a good friend."

I resisted the urge to retort a snarky remark like "What a good friend you are for letting her get skinned and worn" and just shook my head. "Stop, Dahl." I then realised I used Laura's nickname for Dahlia without even thinking.

I stood up, grabbed my own clothes, and steadily walked to the bathroom, Laura's memories guiding me as she had already visited a few times.

When I walked into the bathroom, I caught a glance at my reflection in the mirror, my heart skipping a beat again. It was so surreal, there was no trace of my real self anywhere. For a brief moment, I smiled, before looking away and gritting my teeth. I had to remove Laura fast, I couldn't let this pleasure take me over.

At that moment, I swore to myself to never skin a woman again if this was how I'd feel whenever I wore one. This bliss, this euphoria, it was too dangerous. The temptations were far too strong, I wasn't sure I'd be able to resist for long.

I quickly removed my clothes and imitated what Dahlia did when she showed her real appearance, pulling on my neck. It hurt at first, making me let out a girly yelp. I persisted despite the pain, pulling harder, until it quickly started to stretch in an unnatural way, the pain fading away almost instantly. My own face was freed from Laura's, and I immediately noticed how different everything felt. The colors of the bathroom seemed a bit duller, less vibrant than when I stepped in.

Witnessing my own head on top of Laura's body was such a freaky sight, so I hastily freed myself from her skin. The feeling of gaining back my own genitals was practically as intense as when I got Laura's, almost making me fall and forcing me to lean against the sink.

After catching my breath, I felt some discomfort. Discomfort about having left the warmth of Laura's skin. Looking at my body, a pang of disappointment coursed through me, coming from my skinwalker side.

I tried my best to ignore the feeling, dressed up again. Before restoring Laura, though, I remembered what Dahlia said during lunch, and closed my eyes, focusing on Laura's memories.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a big warehouse-like building full of things a skater would love to use: rails, quarter pipes, bowls, and also a lot of doors all around. This was the Memory Editor that Dahlia mentioned; a world inside Laura's very own soul, where all of her memories were stored. Inside this world, I didn't walk, I was akin to a ghost and simply floated around, looking at her memories, appearing as various tags on the surfaces. Time passed a lot more slowly in this world, I wasn't in a hurry, so I took it slow, trying everything I could.

I went towards where the most recent memories were, from the moment Laura felt a sharp pain in her neck to until I removed her skin. New instincts awakened as the room shifted to look like a copy of Dahlia's house, Dahlia, Laura, and I standing in the living room. As I went closer to Dahlia and myself, I noticed that we looked a bit different from how we normally were. Dahlia was faintly shining and was surrounded by small multicolored bubbles, while I seemed a bit more attractive in Laura's eyes, her finding me somewhat good-looking.

I rearranged things around. I removed all mention of skinwalkers from the conversations I had with Dahlia, made Laura forget about how I stared in the mirror like an idiot, and replaced everything with a casual conversation, one where Dahlia revealed that she had a crush on someone. Considering that I was also present, I used my sister as her crush. I still disliked the idea of the two of them being together, as I wanted my sister to have a relationship with a more normal person instead of a skinwalker, but since I realized the potential Dahlia gifted me, I didn't hate her as much as I first did. She did seem to truly care about me.

Maybe I'll apologize to her once I'm done.

I then followed with Laura not feeling well and going to the bathroom, fainting there. The scene appearing normal, I then left, reopening my eyes in the real world. I dressed Laura and stabbed her, the warmth of her soul left me to flow back inside her as it got replaced by a feeling of hollowness.

Is this how I'm gonna feel whenever I don't have any soul inside me? Does it mean I became soulless? I wondered in shock.

The idea that I somehow lost my soul and was now a parasite was appalling. I hated this. But I had stay strong and get used to it, I didn't plan to stay in skins for long periods of time for now.

A minute later, Laura started to regain consciousness. I knelt in front of her, doing my best to appear worried. "Are you alright?"

She rose up, a bit confused, but nodded. "I-I am. Sorry about that. Dunno what happened."

I smiled as I helped her get back on her feet. "It's alright. Do you feel good enough to walk home by yourself?"

"Yeah, thanks. It was nice meeting you, Ed, but I should go. Have a nice day. And good luck with Dahl, she can be a handful at times."

I chuckled, her comment even more on point than she imagined. I accompanied her to the entrance. She gave Dahlia a quick hug and then left.

Dahlia walked next to me, pouting. "A shame you removed her so soon, we could have had so much fun together."

“It wouldn’t have been right for Laura,” I said. For a brief moment, I swore I saw an approving smile on Dahlia’s face, before I continued. “Besides, I don't plan to use my powers like that."

She raised her eyebrow, intrigued. "Hmm? You have some ideas already?"

I looked through the window, observing Laura walk away in the distance. "Yeah. As you said, I can make the world better. I will work in the shadows to expose corruption, solve crimes, and punish those who think themselves untouchable."

At that, Dahlia laughed. "What? Like a superhero? Oh, I knew you'd be fun!" She then grinned as she stared me in the eyes. "I wonder how long you'll resist the temptations. From what I know, you're not the first skinwalker who wanted to do good, but they all ended up… 'falling to the dark side', as the Jedi would put it. Or simply grew tired of it and wanted to settle down for good."

I stared at her, full of determination. "I won't let these powers corrupt me. As long as I have my sister by my side, she'll be able to keep me on the right track." I smiled more warmly at her. "Also, I wanted to apologise for how angry I was. You were very patient and helped me despite my freakout, and I'm thankful for that."

She smiled. "It's only natural."

My phone buzzed, and I saw that Claire texted me. She got back home and was wondering how I was. I looked back at Dahlia.