A woman in her forties

Sarah glanced away before replying. "Hmm, well... She's named Katherine, she's forty-one, teaches French literature and grammar, and-"

I stared at her, aghast, as I interrupted her. "H-hold on... You... You want me to wear a woman? And one almost twice my age on top of that...?"

She chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "I mean... You said that gender didn't matter... I'm pretty curious to see how it works... Aren't you intrigued as well?"

A part of me was looking forward to experiencing this, but I was still apprehensive.

I blushed slightly. "I-I don't know... Wouldn't it be... weird?"

"Maybe a bit. But it could also be fun. If it really works, you could see how different it is to be a woman! I'd love to know how it's like to be a man, personally!"

She seemed very excited despite me being the one with these strange abilities. But her excitement helped me relax slightly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you never wondered how it'd be like to be a woman?"

"I have, a few times..." I admitted. "Claire sometimes said she would have liked a sister... and it made me wonder how different things would have been between us had I been born a girl, or had I been trans."

She gave me a playful smile. "Well, you might soon be able to see it for yourself."

I was somewhat apprehensive, but knowing that Sarah supported me made me go along with her plan.

"How... should we do it?"

She pondered for a bit. "You can stay in my office while I'll be teaching and I'll invite her to come with me during lunch time, or we try to do it before classes start if our conversation with the other skinwalker doesn't take too long. Her own office isn't far from my own."

"Okay. I'm fine with that..."

We arrived at the campus soon after. Sarah parked and we went towards the library, where Dahlia was supposed to be waiting for us.

I spotted her sitting on the bench, she seemed nervous. When she saw me with Sarah, she appeared surprised, at first, but then stood up and approached us.

"Hi... I didn't expect to see you with her, Ed... Are you alright?"

I shrugged. "Alright? Not really. But better than yesterday, I suppose."

She looked down. "I'm sorry about that... I wasn't myself... I was too harsh, and should have been more understanding of your situation..."

"I was spiraling, and your slap helped me regain some semblance of calm, at least..."

Sarah chimmed in as she observed Dahlia, her voice low so that passers-by wouldn't hear us. "So... You are a skinwalker too? I would never have guessed..."

Dahlia's eyes immediately widened as she stared at Sarah. "Y-you told her...?"

There was a glimmer of fear in her eyes and tone, but Sarah smiled at her. "He did, yes. And I don't plan to tell anyone else, don't worry."

Dahlia didn't say anything at first, but she then spoke slowly as she tried to regain her calm. "Can I really trust you?"

Sarah, despite my earlier warnings, approached Dahlia and held her hand. "Ed is one of yours now, right? I have no intention of causing him any trouble... and I also have a lot of questions to ask you."

She didn't try to hide her enthusiasm this time, most likely to prove to Dahlia that she was being sincere.

"I trust her." I said. "But we should probably continue the conversation in your office, Sarah."

"Right. Do you mind, Dahlia?"

"I don't. Lead the way." She simply said, still a bit wary.

Sarah walked ahead of us while I stayed behind, next to Dahlia.

"And you, are you feeling better after this light-headedness of yesterday?" I asked her, trying to break the ice.

"Yes, somewhat..." She said before looking at me more seriously. "Ed, I love my current life, my friends, my family. I really don't want to risk losing it."

"And it won't happen. Sarah isn't the kind of person to reveal sensitive information like this, especially since it might affect me as well. She's been very excited about this discovery, asking me a bunch of questions that you might be able to answer better than me."

It was strange to casually talk with the being who turned my life upside down, and even try to reassure her, but I didn't necessarily hate her. She might have turned me into a skinwalker against my will, something that I still hated despite it having helped me get back with Sarah, but she did seem genuinely worried about me, so I was somewhat conflicted.

"I see... What happened after we parted ways?"

"Sarah saw me absolutely depressed and invited me to spend the night with her. We drank, I blacked out, and when I regained consciousness, I realised that I... huh... used them..." I answered, voluntarily cryptic since we were still in public.

"And you resisted?" She seemed surprised.

"It was difficult, but yes... I told her the truth, and she decided to help me."

Dahlia didn't say anything, apparently lost in thought.

"Are you perhaps part of the Pride group, Dahlia?" Sarah asked as we arrived in front of the main building. "I saw this name a few times, and I don't think there's a lot of girls with that name around here."

Dahlia answered calmly, trying to hide her nervousness. "I am, yes. But I was the most active during my first year. Nowadays, I mainly support the group with donations."

"Was it already... you in first year?"

This question made Dahlia snicker. "Yes. She would never have cared about Queer people, let alone support them."

"Oh, interesting. Sorry if my questions are too personal, it's hard to contain my excitement."

Dahlia closed her eyes. "It's only natural, I suppose... I admit that I didn't expect such a reaction..."

"Because it's scary?" Sarah asked as she opened the door to her office.

"And disgusting, don't you think?" Dahlia replied.

"I don't know, I haven't seen how it really worked yet."

We locked the door behind us and I sat on a chair while Dahlia stayed still next to me.

"Now it's just us girls, we can talk privately." Sarah announced as she leaned against her desk.

"I'm not a girl." I said.

"For now, at least. If things work out, you'll be one soon." She replied, giggling.

I groaned quietly, but I had to admit that my skinwalker side was becoming more and more excited about me finally being able to wear someone.

"You have something planned?" Dahlia wondered.

"Oh yes, Ed is going to wear one of my coworkers." Sarah added before I could reply. "Before we talk more, is there a different name I should use for you, Dahlia? Or different pronouns? I don't really know how skinwalkers work and don't want to offend you by accident."

Dahlia shook her head but she smiled slightly. "No, just use Dahlia and feminine pronouns, that's perfectly fine. Just treat me like a normal human."

"Okay. It's nice to properly meet you, Dahlia. As you know, I'm Sarah, a PhD student and a professor in French."

Dahlia approached Sarah, taking a more confident demeanor. "Listen, Ed may trust you, but I don't. If you want me to believe you, there's something you need to do."

Sarah tilted her head. "Hmm? What?"

Dahlia freed her spines and held her hand in front of Sarah, smirking at her. "Let me see your soul. Souls can't lie. Do you think you can do something like this?"

"Dahlia, don't-" I started, standing up, but Sarah stopped me.

Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine... I accept." She said, presenting her arm as if to invite Dahlia to stab it.

Dahlia nodded and did just that. I saw Sarah wince due to the pain, and expected to see her deflate... But nothing happened. Dahlia still had her spines burrowed into Sarah's arm, while Sarah was just staring at her, confused.

Dahlia removed her spines shortly after, the wounds healing almost instantly, to Sarah's surprise.

Dahlia smiled more warmly. "Alright, you pass. I believe you. But for your own good, don't be so trusting of skinwalkers. I am an exception among them, most of my kind are manipulative, selfish, and don't care about humans in the slightest. Had I been the same as them, I could have easily stolen your soul and never returned it, and even Ed wouldn't have been able to do anything about it."

"What?"

"You can't steal a soul from another skinwalker. We have to willingly give it up. Luckily for you, I still have morals." Dahlia said, visibly more relaxed after Sarah's display of trust.

"Are skinwalkers common?" Sarah asked.

"No, we're pretty rare, and mostly found in big cities. In a capital like London, or Paris, or other major cities like New-York or Barcelona, there's probably a few hundreds skinwalkers max. In a city like the one we're currently in, maybe there's a few more hiding somewhere, I don't know."

Sarah seemed stunned by this revelation, and so was I. Imagining that there were so many skin-stealing creatures roaming free was terrifying, even if I was now one of them...

"Wow... It's crazy..." Sarah commented. "And are there other creatures too? Like ghosts or werewolves?"

"Yes, a lot of mythical creatures are real, or were once real. But they're extremely rare as well."

After a moment to take everything in, Sarah resumed her questioning. "Hmm, I hope it's not too personal, but... how do you look like underneath that skin?"

Dahlia looked at me, a hint of concern in her eyes. "We look pretty uncanny once we lose our original skin, but I don't think I should show you directly. Not yet, at least. Just know that there's a reason as to why we're **** to steal someone else's skin to live somewhat normally."

"Hmm, I can see why it'd be so difficult for Ed to accept that."

"I told him that he could just replace a morally bankrupt person like I did. The original Dahlia was a spoiled and selfish bitch, I don't regret for an instant having replaced her. My family and friends love the **** new me."

"It's... not the main issue..." I said in a sadder tone.

Dahlia sighed. "It's your sister, I know..."

"We can talk to her tomorrow, but everything will be fine, I'm sure." Sarah said, glancing at her phone. "We still have a bit of time before classes start, do you want us to enact our plan now, Ed?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah... Ever since we spoke about it, these urges have been even harder to ignore..."

"Who are you going to wear?" Dahlia asked.

"A fellow French professor. Katherine Moreau."

Dahlia smiled. "Oh, that's interesting. I wish you luck." She said as she walked towards the door. "And again, I'm asking you to not tell anyone about my true identity, please. I like my life here."

"I won't, I promise." Sarah approached Dahlia and held her hand in front of her, offering a handshake. "To tell you the truth, I knew you wouldn't harm me when you tested me earlier."

"How could you be so sure?"

Sarah smiled confidently. "Because you deeply care about Ed and wouldn't want him to hate you. I already had that impression yesterday, and our discussion today only confirmed it. Or am I wrong?"

This declaration took Dahlia aback, but she quickly regained her composure and chuckled, shaking Sarah's hand. "You'd make for an amazing skinwalker with how easily you can read people."

"I'm not really interested in becoming one myself, at least for now." Sarah replied, giggling.

"Too bad. Anyway, I won't take more of your time. Good luck with your plan. And I hope things will go well with your sister, Ed. See you later." Dahlia said before unlocking the door and walking away.

"She's an interesting girl. I would love to know her better." Sarah commented. "But we need to go, follow me."

I did as she asked, and we left her office. I didn't expect our discussion with Dahlia to go so well, but like Sarah said, she was nicer than I gave her credit for. Although, a part of me was still resentful, obviously.

We walked through two corridors before stopping in front of another office, Sarah knocking on the door before walking inside. In that office was a mature woman typing on her laptop. She was dressed professionally, with a white blouse, a black knee-length skirt, dark pantyhose, and a pair of heeled loafers. Her face showed signs of age but still had some charm, and she had long auburn hair reaching past her shoulders.

"Good morning, Katherine." Sarah said as she closed the door behind her.

"Good morning, Sarah. And who is he?" Katherine replied, standing up to greet Sarah properly.

I took the opportunity that Sarah was masking me and stealthily turned the lock before going closer.

"He's my boyfriend. He had some questions for the administration and I was helping him navigate through this maze of corridors. But since we were passing near your office, I wanted to stop by to ask you something too."

Sarah opened her notebook on Katherine's desk, making her turn around. Thanks to Sarah's lie, she was presenting her back to me, it was the opportunity my skinwalker side was waiting for. I freed the spines and plunged them into her neck, surprising Sarah as Katherine yelped.

She watched with a strange and morbid fascination as Katherine quickly turned into an empty skin. Meanwhile, her soul flowed into me, its warmth making me feel slightly better.

"God... It's incredible..." Sarah said, kneeling to look at the skin. "So that's how I looked like when you did it to me... It's even more freaky than I thought..."

"Y-yeah..." I replied after a deep breath.

She freed Katherine's skin from the clothes and observed it more closely, even stretching the mouth to look inside. "There's nothing inside... Everything vanished..."

"How are you supposed to wear her?" She asked, handing me the skin.

As I held it, I felt my skinwalker instincts answering that question. I could enter through the mouth or cut an opening in the back. I also assumed that I needed to be naked to wear her.

"I think I know... Can you... turn around?" I timidly asked.

"Why? I want to see how it works, Ed."

"Yeah, but... I have to remove my clothes..."

My blush intensified but Sarah simply giggled. "Come on, we saw each other naked plenty of times. Or did you get fatter and don't want me to see?"

I sighed, knowing that there was no point in trying to argue more. "Fine... You're really taking this far too well..."

"Well, if it were someone else, I might have been panicking, but since it's you who got these powers, my mind is more at ease. I trust you."

I smiled, glad to see how much faith she had in me. I started to remove my clothes, placing them on a chair nearby. I stretched the mouth first, to see how it was like. The inside was wet and slimy. It seemed warm.

"Are you... going to enter from there?" Sarah asked, finally a tad weirded out.

"I could, but it seems too weird... I'll just create an opening in the back."

Sarah nodded, but I felt like she wouldn't have minded me using the mouth despite her reaction. I used the spines and cut an opening in the back with Sarah observing me closely.

I took a deep breath and slid my legs inside. At first, it was difficult due to the size difference, but, a brief moment later, my legs seemed to melt as the skin tightened around me. I suddenly felt the floor through smaller feet.

Both Sarah and I stared at my feet in silence for a brief moment before I resumed. I pulled the skin up and slipped my arms into Katherine's. I wasn't prepared for this overwhelming sensation I felt as my genitals disappeared within Katherine's body, replaced by her vagina and womb. I gasped and moaned, and would have fallen if it weren't for the desk nearby helping me stay on my feet.

"W-what the fuck..." I muttered, catching my breath.

"Oh my god, it really works..." Sarah commented, noticing that my new genitals were real and functional. "And you're even aroused..."

Indeed, I could feel a warmness coming from my lower abdomen, and my new vagina was already slightly wet...

"I... It's just... because of the process... I never imagined it'd be so intense..." I timidly replied.

Sarah approached me, crouching to observe my new genitals from up close. "There's no trace of your dick... It's amazing..."

I blushed, my embarrassment growing stronger. "C-can you let me finish, please...?"

"Right, we don't have a lot of time left. But I want to examine you more later. It's fascinating..."

"Okay..." I said before pulling Katherine's head over mine.

Another intense feeling spread all across my body, my mind going blank and my vision white as Katherine's skin tightened all around me. At the same time, memories were flowing inside my head. Memories from far before I was born. I saw myself growing up in Seattle, born from a French father and an American mother. I loved to learn more about my father's country, and it led me to study French linguistics, literature, and even history. In college, I decided that I wanted to make it my job, wanting to learn even more and also teach younger generations too. I married a fellow student soon before finishing my PhD, but divorced about a year ago after learning he cheated on me. I've been raising our daughter alone since.

I... She has a kid?!

I immediately opened my eyes in shock as I saw this last bit. Alongside this surprise, a sense of belonging was washing over me. I finally felt at peace, comfortably burrowed inside this skin, it shielding me from this constant coldness I experienced since becoming a skinwalker...

I looked down, observing my naked body, my slender and slightly wrinkly hands with my manicured nails, my chest, who seemed to be of a similar size to Sarah's...

I stopped when I remembered that Sarah was still here, but she seemed as fascinated as I was.

"Ed?" She asked.

"It's me, yeah..." I nodded, noticing how different my voice sounded.

"Honestly... Had I not witnessed it... I wouldn't believe it..."

"Me neither..."

I grabbed Katherine's clothes to start dressing back, as I was starting to feel a more normal kind of cold. I didn't have any trouble wearing her bra using her own experience, and feeling her panties perfectly covering my now flatter crotch was strange.

"I never would have thought that I'd someday be wearing women's underwear..." I muttered as I pulled on the pantyhose.

Sarah chuckled. "I can imagine. It's so weird to know that it's you in there..."

"It's weird for me too." I said, buttoning the blouse and pulling on the skirt.

I had to admit that women's clothes felt pretty comfortable. I glanced at the loafers, wondering if I'd be able to walk in them. The heels were thick, but still... I hesitantly slid my smaller feet inside, and was surprised when I instinctively knew how to stand and walk with them.

To test it out, I approached Sarah, who was still rigorously observing me. It did feel natural to walk with them, I didn't have any issues.

"How are you feeling, Ed?"

I blushed and looked down at my feminine legs encased in the soft nylon. "Weirdly enough, pretty good... Ever since I fully wore her, the cold vanished... Even being a woman, it... doesn't feel bad."

Sarah giggled. "You know, I'm sure a lot of trans and genderfluid people would kill to have this curse."

I chuckled. "Maybe. It would probably help a lot with dysphoria."

Sarah's phone rang, and she quickly turned the alarm off. "Ah, we should hurry." She brushed my hair with her fingers. "There, you look better. Do you think you're ready to teach?"

To answer that question, I replied to her in French. "I think I am, I know exactly her schedule for the day."

It felt satisfying to speak another language so fluently, especially with my current voice.

"That's pretty unfair, I worked hard to be fluent in French and here you are using other people's knowledge to master it almost instantly. Anyway, we can talk more during lunch, alright?"

"Alright. See you later." I came closer and hugged her. "And thanks, Sarah."

"It's really weird to have Katherine hug me like this. But you're welcome." She said, hugging me back. "Good luck with your classes."

After that, we parted ways, with me walking towards the lecture hall where Katherine was giving her first lecture of the day. I was a bit excited to experience the life of a professor, I had to admit.