He's here

"Yes?" I heard a low stern voice coming from behind the door. A voice I would never forget.

I clenched my fists and tried to stay in character. "It's me, Sir. George."

"Come in."

I opened the door and walked in, almost breaking my cover when my eyes landed on the man sitting at his desk, my anger almost immediately flaring up. He was the same as I remembered; a grizzled man with a constant stern face, looking at me as if I was mere trash.

I only stepped in this room a few times before, mainly to be scolded by him whenever I got into fights with bullies at school, but it didn't change. It was a richly decorated office with a luxurious wooden desk, multiple bookshelves filled with various books and folders related to his work, a Persian carpet, velvet curtains... The typical room of someone who loved to flaunt their wealth.

"You're here early, George."

"I apologise, Sir, but there is something I would like to inform you of."

"Speak, then."

I approached the desk until I was facing him and spoke. "Your son, Edward, contacted me earlier."

I wanted to play with him a bit before skinning him. To see how he'd react.

Unsurprisingly, he frowned. "He did? Why?"

"He apparently wanted to meet with you."

He scoffed. "I have no intention of seeing this failure ever again. Is that all?"

"Actually, there is something else." I said, taking a sheet of paper from George's bag. I leaned closer pretexting to give it to him and swiftly slammed his face down on the desk, immobilising him.

He groaned in pain and tried to break free, but I was too strong for him. "W-what's... the meaning of this?"

"You can't imagine how much I've been dreaming of making you pay, dear father." I grinned as I pulled on my neck to reveal my own face, his eyes widening in shock.

"H-how?"

"Oh, you don't need to know." I sniggered viciously as I let free the spines of my free hand. "You won't remember anything anyway. I'll make sure of that."

I could see how terrified he was at the sight of these monstruous spines emerging from my fingers.

"You hurt Claire and I so much, not to mention all the other people you belittled and treated like shit. It's just karmic retribution."

Before he could say anything else, I plunged the spines into his neck. Part of me was disgusted at the idea of having this asshole's soul inside me, but another part was excited at the prospect of righting his wrongs. At first, I was overwhelmed due to already having George's soul inside me, a massive pressure in my head making it hard to think of anything as both sets of memories were mixing-up, but then, within the growing side of me that was skinwalker, some kind of separation formed between George's soul and my father's, allowing me to fit their two souls and sets of memories comfortably.

At that, I remembered what Dahlia said when she mentioned the hunters, that some skinwalkers had dozens of skins to use. Did they also have as many souls inside them? Did Dahlia have more than one soul within her? She seemed against having a lot of skins, but she could potentially have a second one still...

This is a terrifying ability...

It was so satisfying to see my father being turned into an empty skin before my eyes. I locked the door and removed George's skin before grabbing my father's. I swallowed and opened his back, stepping inside him. As with George, I did everything I could to distract myself during the process to ignore what was happening, until I was fully him.

His memories flashed inside my head, disgusting memories full of pride and selfishness. There was no love in any of them, not towards me, nor towards my sister, and not even towards my mother.

No redeemable qualities, you're rotten to the core...

I closed my eyes and opened George's memory editor. His inner world was a luxurious hotel lobby, very different from Laura's inner world. I didn't want to explore it too much so I just focused on the memories of him meeting me. I made him forget I went to see him; he woke up normally, dressed, and just went to work as usual. As for the chocolates, he bought them yesterday. I then opened my eyes again and stabbed him, restoring him back to normal. While he was still ****, I took my father's wallet and slid two hundred dollars in his pocket as a gift.

He woke up confused and apologised for having fainted. I dismissed him like my father would, and was finally able to snoop around properly. I sat at the desk and closed my eyes, searching for any memory related to potentially illegal activities. He was the director of a major bank, it was a given he'd be corrupt. It didn't take long for me to find info on some offshore companies he created, tax evasion schemes he put in place, and even bribes and threats directed at some snoopy journalists. With all of that, I knew he'd be in jail for a long time if I were to show proofs of his deeds.

I smirked as I opened his laptop, searching for anything that could prove it. There were some mails, some receipts, a few accounts... I copied everything I needed on a USB drive and also took some handwritten letters he received from his shady collaborators and put everything in a small bag. It would have been enough, but there was something else I wanted to do while I was at it. I went to make a generous and anonymous donation to the school, the local orphanage, and the hospital. He wouldn't need his money anymore, let it be used for good.

Leaving as myself would be risky so I walked outside, grabbing my bag that I hid under George's car, and drove away to look for a quiet place to remove my father's skin. I thought of going to the mall for that, people wouldn't notice one more person leaving the bathrooms.

I entered the first public bathrooms I saw at the mall and locked myself inside a stall. There, I finally removed this disgusting skin and dressed again. His memory editor was a castle, the asshole really thought himself a noble. I decided to surprise him so I rearranged his memories to make it look like nothing happened. It was a quiet day so he decided to go outside and buy some stuff at the mall. I stabbed him, relief overcoming me as I felt his soul leaving me. The hollowness was still far more bearable than knowing I had his soul inside me.

Then, I left the mall, no one noticing anything, and took the opportunity to visit some nostalgic places before going back home. I planned to stay the night at a hotel in the city center and fly back tomorrow in the afternoon.

First place I went to was an Internet cafe. I created a fake email adress and sent all the files I stole from my father to a whole bunch of different newspapers all around the country, finally completing the last step of my personal ****. I could now move on and focus on other bastards in need of punishment.

Afterwards, I visited the comics shop, happily surprised when I saw that it was still the same man working there. We chatted for some time and I bought a few more comics to add to my collection. I also went to the gym, but I learnt that my old boxing trainer retired, unfortunately.

It was a very cathartic and nostalgic day, but it soon became time for me to fly back home. Before boarding, I texted Claire to tell her that everything went well and that I'd be back soon.