Try to infiltrate the company

I decided against using our family butler, George for this endeavor. I liked him, it wouldn't be right to use him as a pawn like this.

I found it preferable to infiltrate the company's head office while wearing the skins of strangers, even if it might take longer. But I could potentially learn more things as well.

With that decided, I boarded the plane and tried to nap until the landing, doing my best to ignore the cold that was slowly coming back, a permanent reminder of my new nature.

I hate this feeling...

Once I arrived, I took a taxi and went to visit the city center. I planned to visit the head office before it closed to find an employee to skin and replace for tomorrow. I observed the scenery, feeling nostalgic. Even if I hated my family, I did have some good memories in this city. I went to a small restaurant Claire and I sometimes ate at, visited the comics shop I always frequented after school, being nicely surprised to see that the owner was still the same, and then spent some time at a cafe in front of the office.

I visited the office a handful of times in the past, mainly to see my mother, since that's where she spent most of her time, her being the vice-director and pretty much running the company alongside my father after he inherited it from my grandfather.

There's a good chance I'll see her there...

My relationship with my mother was also fairly complicated. She was cold and ruthless at times, but it was still her who allowed me to start boxing, and who allowed Claire to own a game console. With us, she seemed more indifferent, trying to please my father while also reining him down at times. It felt like she didn't want children, but only had us because it was what my father wanted. I didn't hate her as much as I hated my father, but I still believed that she could have done more to help us. I wasn't sure how I'd react seeing her now.

Will I have to... skin her?

The thought was making me feel uncomfortable, both due to my reticence and repressed desires to become a woman again, and because she was my own mother. But she was the vice-director, and my father's wife, she was bound to know almost every secret my father was hiding. With her soul, I could learn everything. I wouldn't wear her no matter what, though...

I stayed there, observing the people leaving the office after closing time, and decided to follow a blonde man in a grey suit. He seemed like a good target. He entered the underground carpark nearby and went to his car. That was my signal. After making sure that no camera was around, I rushed and pushed him inside as soon as he opened the door, stabbing him with my spines and covering his mouth to prevent him from screaming.

He didn't seem to have much physical strength, I was easily able to overpower him. It didn't take long for his soul to flow inside me, but I felt strange. It was somewhat similar to when I skinned Laura, but... something felt off. There was a nagging sensation coming from my skinwalker side, as if it was disappointed by my choice. I was almost feeling bad for skinning the man. Did it dislike me avoiding being a woman that much?

That's stupid... A skin is a skin...

I shook my head and sat at the conductor's seat, pushing the skin and the clothes away. I didn't want to risk getting seen so I started the engine and drove away with the man's car to an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs. I knew about it since I had a few fights there back in high-school. Once there, I looked around to make sure that the place was deserted and undressed, ready to wear his skin.

I took a deep breath, bracing myself for what I was about to do. Wearing the skin of another man would most likely also be very weird...

I tore open the back and slid my legs inside. Only a brief instant later, I felt the floor underneath a new pair of legs. I closed my eyes and pulled the skin up, slipping my arms inside his next. I did my best to ignore the uncanny feeling of having my own genitals replaced by another man's and quickly pulled his face on.

His skin constricted all around me and his memories flashed inside my mind. My name was Zack, I was born twenty-five years ago and grew up in a fairly rich family. I studied finance to follow in my father's footsteps and found a job in a good company my father had ties with. I had a loving fiancée, Erica, and was living happily with her.

I opened my now blue eyes and took another deep breath. The cold was finally gone now that I was wearing someone, which was a huge relief. Although, a small part of me still felt uncomfortable with this situation. Being another man was so strange...

Better that than nothing...

Now that I was done with this, I dressed in Zack's clothes and drove towards his house. He joined my father's company last year, and was still fairly low in the hierarchy, so he didn't know much about the kind of things I was looking for. He was a dilligent and ambitious worker and did what he was told, not bothering to pry any further.

Sorry for using you like this, but it's only temporary...

I planned to try to skin one of his superiors tomorrow, and then slowly climb up the hierarchy this way. Not everyone was allowed without a good justification on the top floor where the director and vice-director's offices were located.

I'll have to warn Claire that it might take a few days.

I did just that as soon as I parked the car in front of Zack's cosy house and then walked inside, keeping my own stuff hidden in the car.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was greeted with a kiss, taking me aback.

"Welcome home~" A pretty blonde announced with a loving smile.

Right... His fiancée... She's really cute...

She had long wavy blonde hair and light brown eyes, a charming face, and a curvy silhouette. My skinwalker side was flaring up again, I could feel the desire to skin the woman in front of me and let go of Zack getting stronger and stronger...

Stop... Not the time...

"What's wrong?" Erica asked.

"N-nothing. Just had a tiring day, that's all. I'm going to change, I'll be right back." I replied, shaking my head.

"You do look slightly out there, I'll make some tea in the meantime." Erica said.

I smiled. "Thanks."

The kiss really took me by surprise, even if it shouldn't have. Of course fiancées kissed, it was normal... But I wasn't really Zack, so it did make me feel bad somewhat, even with his love for her manifesting when she kissed me. Erica and Zack had been together for three years already, the two of them were very close, and they did go much further than just kissing.

I won't do that if she asks...

After dropping my bag in the bedroom and changing into more comfortable clothes, I joined Erica in the living room.

"Here." She said as she gave me a hot cup of tea.

"Thank you." I said, smiling at her.

I started to drink, enjoying the taste of the tea. Zack liked it black, and even though it was something I would dislike with my own tongue, being more of a coffee drinker, it felt good drinking it with Zack's tongue.

"So, what happened today?" Erica asked.

I sighed, doing my best Zack impression. "Just had to deal with a client who was a pain in the ass."

It wasn't even a lie, Zack did have to meet a very rude and egocentric client earlier. She was a real Karen, absolutely insufferable and entitled to no ends. I felt some sympathy for him, for having gone through that. And some respect for not having punched her despite how tempting it was.

Poor guy...

Erica giggled. "Unfortunately, not every client is nice. It does happen sometimes at the hospital too."

Erica was a psychiatrist, she most likely saw her fair share of odious and rude individuals too.

"Anyway, work is over, let's just relax, hmm~?" She said as she leaned on my shoulder.

"You're right. Should we continue to watch that series we started last night?"

"Definitely, I want to see what happens next! We stopped on such a cliffhanger!" She replied enthusiastically.

We stayed on the couch for the next two hours, simply watching the series. Erica was pretty affectionate at times, kissing me three more times, but she never pushed things too far. It didn't help with my multitude of contradictory feelings. There was this part of me who thought that I needed to play Zack's role well for the sake of his relationship, another part who felt that doing this wouldn't be fair for the original Zack, and also this skinwalker side that was pestering me to simply ditch Zack and skin Erica for the night, encouraging me to be the sweet and cute fiancée until tomorrow morning; skinwalker side that I was also doing my best to keep in check.

Erica has nothing to do with my objective... I don't have any reason to skin her... Stop it...

Afterwards, we went to eat dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, just some pasta with sauce, but it was good nonetheless. We watched two more episodes after dinner and then went to the bedroom. Erica was changing into her pajamas, undressing in front of me.

She's so pretty...

I didn't know if part of it was because of Zack's own love and attraction for her, but seeing her naked like this was making it even harder to resist my skinwalker side. I could feel it desperately wanting me to become this pretty woman, with her smooth skin and silky hair.

Once done, she snuggled close to me, smiling. She smelled really good too...

Why is it persisting so much... Why is becoming a woman such an attractive prospect...?

From where I was, it would be so easy to just stab her neck with the spines and be done with it... She would never suspect it coming from her fiancé...