Self-fulfilling prophecy

I continued walking, raising my guard ever so slightly but doing my best to stay in character. I truly had hoped I wouldn't see her again, but here she was... The woman who **** me to abandon my job, my identity... my sister...

"Aurora, right?" I said, giving her a friendly smile hiding the resentment and nervousness I felt deep down. "What are you doing here so late at night?"

She took a puff of her cigarette and looked at me. "Can't you guess... Edward?"

"Huh? Why are you calling me Edward?" I asked, tilting my head and playing dumb.

"Because that's who you are, underneath this poor girl's skin. At first, I thought you might have been this older man working with your sister, not expecting you to be so perverted as to skin and wear a woman, but I reconsidered earlier, when I walked inside the cafe. Your eyes didn't only betray surprise, but fear too. Besides, the compliment you gave me was word for word the one you said at the bar when we met."

I held my head and laughed quietly, dropping the act. "Well, I suppose I'll have to work on my pokerface and be more careful with what I say, huh." I then looked at her more seriously. "How's your arm? I never got the chance to heal it, and I don't think you fully recovered from such injury in just a week. Are you sure it's wise to fight again so soon?"

She glared at me. "My arm's fine enough to deal with you. You only managed to escape because I wasn't aware of what you were, last time."

I smirked. "I could say the same, since you took me by surprise. It won't happen again. But really, don't you have better things to do? I'm sure there are far more dangerous creatures than me that need to be dealt with."

At this point, I already knew there wasn't much hope convincing her not to fight, but I had to try just in case.

"No, I won't let you escape this time." She declared, taking out a telescopic baton and pointing it at me.

"A baton? You didn't have a spare dagger?" I asked, snickering.

She held the baton more tightly and spat her cigarette on the ground. "I'll make you restore this girl before killing you."

I smiled. "Good, glad to hear you have some honour."

I was acting cocky, but I knew I had to be careful. Even with my enhanced healing, a direct strike from a baton would still hurt like hell. I couldn't let myself be hit by it. I glanced around, spotting a trashcan with a removable lid, and quickly grabbed it, turning it into a makeshift shield.

"Now, shall we go for round two?" I said, readying myself.

Her eyes narrowed before she rushed towards me, raising her arm in order to strike me down. I deflected her baton, but she followed by a kick I narrowly dodged.

"You really love to kick people, don't you?"

Aurora seemed to have a lot of pride, I was betting on her becoming more careless the more I taunted her.

She tried to kick me again before striking with her baton, but I dodged it, freeing my spines in my right fingers and aiming at her arm. She jumped back before I could stab her, visibly not wanting to get too close now that she knew of my nature. One good stab would be enough to end the fight, after all.

I sneered. "You don't seem in top shape, maybe you should have waited a while longer for your arm to fully recover?"

She grit her teeth, but didn't reply to my taunt. She was analysing the situation, observing me carefully.

I should end this fight quickly and stop toying with her... I thought, doing the same.

I still had the torch in my bag, but I couldn't let her see me use it. There was an alleyway a bit further away, I could try to run and ambush her there...

"Well, it was fun catching up, Aurora, but I need to leave." I declared, throwing the lid at her before running away.

It surprised her enough to give me a headstart, allowing me to take out the torch as I ran. As soon as I reached the corner, I turned around and flashed it in her face, successfully blinding her. It wasn't an opportunity I would miss, I rushed towards her and successfully stabbed her, injecting the liquid inside her skin as she screamed in terror.

"Gotcha~"

She tried to hit me again, but unfortunately, it was too late for her now, as her arms had already lost all strength, and she became a deflated husk soon after, her soul flowing into me.

For a moment, I observed her hollow skin, wondering what to do with her. I knew that what happened tonight wouldn't make her more likely to give me a chance, far from it. I briefly considered taking her life as my own, as it'd be a sure way to get rid of her without straight out killing her, but I dismissed this idea as quickly as it came. I didn't want that. I wanted to stay here with Claire.

Let's just bring you back to your place for now...

I grabbed her skin and clothes, stuffing them inside both of our bags, and focused on her memories, unlocking them in my mind. Memories of being born and growing up in Norway, raised in a family of monster hunters. Memories of discovering having a strange ability that the vast majority of other humans had not: the ability to sense people's auras, allowing to more easily find monsters hiding in plain sight. Memories of her father dying when she was eleven, by the hand of a creature he was hunting, making her despise monsters. Memories of moving to the USA with her grandparents after that and her mother becoming colder towards her. Memories of her first kill: a young succubus who fed on naive men in a small town, when she was only seventeen... and so much more.

She had lived so many things at just twenty-six. Her past was as complex as traumatising, making me understand her better.

"You had it rough, huh..." I muttered as I let my new set of memories guide me towards the studio Aurora was staying at for the time being.

I took out her keys and unlocked the door, dropping the bags next to her small bed. I grabbed her skin, staring at it. She was quite beautiful, even deflated. I noticed a lot of scars on her; among those an especially big one on her shoulder, caused by a werewolf, and the one I caused by stabbing her last week.

I sighed. "Well, it's too late to fix that, now... Let me put you on for a bit, so we can talk... face to face."

I undressed and quickly tore her back open, feeling excited at the prospect of slipping inside the skin of the beautiful goth girl I had a crush on. My borrowed vagina was getting wet as I slid my legs inside hers, them quickly becoming mine. I followed with her arms, and moaned as Angela's vagina and womb disappeared, replaced by Aurora's.

"Wow... It's not as intense as going from man to woman, but it still feels incredible..." I said, catching my breath.

Only the head was left, which I pulled on after regaining my composure. Her skin tightened and my vision whitened as I fully became Aurora, her memories more vivid in my head.

"Now, let's have our talk~" I declared in my new, huskier voice.

I went to the bathroom, observing the mirror and smirking. Oh, how good it felt in here... but I couldn't take the time to enjoy it.

"Hey, Aurora. As you can imagine, I won, this time. I decided to wear you for a short time so we could have a talk." I leaned closer to my reflection. "I really should hate you, you know? You **** me to abandon my life and my sister, after all. You have no idea how much it hurts to be so close to Claire, but not being able to tell her who I am. You **** me to embrace my monstrous nature I was struggling with and fighting against. You wanted to hunt a monster, you made me a monster. Congrats!"

I clapped my stolen hands in irony, blowing off some of my pent-up frustration, before continuing. "But well, I've never been one to enjoy hide-and-seek, so I propose we stop here. I have no intention of abusing my abilities and hurting anyone, so why not leave and focus on vampires, succubi, or those werewolves you despise so much?"

I could feel a shiver running down my spine as I pronounced this last part. She really feared and hated werewolves with a burning passion, her last encounter leaving a deep mental scar in addition to the physical one on her shoulder.

"I respect your commitment, I really do. Protecting humanity is a noble goal, a goal I still share despite not being human anymore, and I wish you the best in your endeavour. So please, leave me alone, I don't want to fight or hurt you."

I closed my eyes and sighed, engraving Aurora's memories of potential partners she could call for backup. I needed to know who could eventually help her hunt me down in case she didn't give up. There was this Native-American girl called Yahana, with whom she shared an intimate relationship. She was the most likely person Aurora would contact.

Let's hope she'll swallow her pride and accept my proposal.

I looked back at the mirror and smiled. "Now, you'll wake up comfortably laying in your bed, and I'll be out of your sight. Farewell, Aurora."

Before removing her, I stepped inside the shower, turning it on and washing her body, enjoying my final moments inside her skin.

In another life, maybe I would have taken your skin as my own... I mused when I was done.

I went back to the main room and pulled on my neck, removing her face and her skin. I got dressed in Angela's clothes and laid Aurora's skin on the bed before restoring her.

I immediately left her studio as soon as I was done, not wanting to face her again, and jogged back to Angela's place, to retreat to the safety of my room.

I laid on my bed, letting out a loud sigh. "Ah.. I really hope she'll leave me alone this time..."

I glanced at my borrowed body, wondering what I should do now. Should I leave this skin and find another one to watch over Claire, now that Aurora knew who I was hiding as? I already gave Angela the push she needed to start befriending Claire, I believed things would go well even without me at the helm.

Or maybe I could simply stay as Angela, being careful not to slip up again. I didn't believe Aurora would expect me to stay as her after being discovered, so it could be my perfect hiding spot now.