Skin suit

Zoe's eyes go wide as the purple beam freezes her in place and then an instant later she collapses. Dropping the ray-gun you rush over to help her only to find she has vanished. In her place is a pile of thin rubbery material tangled in her clothes.

“What the FUCK!” you shout grabbing the strange material “Zoe! Zoe, where did you go?”

You lift the tangle of rubber and fabric up. Staring in blank incomprehension until something clicks in your brain and you and you are able to make sense of what you are seeing.

You recoil dropping the thing as you understand, it is your sister. At least part of her, specifically her skin. It’s like the rest of her just vanished leaving behind her perfect unbroken skin and her chestnut hair, still tied in a pony tale. You feel numb and a little sick but you can’t help staring at the impossible thing. You try and tell yourself it’s not really her but as you carefully spread the skin out on the floor you become convinced it is no fake. It is too perfect, there are too many tiny details for it not to be her. Like the distinctive mole on her shoulder or the faint scar on her chin where she tried to shave with you dad’s razor when she was four.

You turn her over looking for some clue and get the biggest shock so far. Running up the length of her back is a chunky brass zipper. It gapes open from her hairline to the small of her back revealing an inky black void inside her…