Yes

I took a deep breath. She was my sister, the person I trusted the most, I couldn't lie to her.

"Something crazy happened last night. Promise me you won't freak out, alright?"

She nodded, her eyes showing a mix of worry and curiosity. "Did you fight a mobster or something?"

I shook my head. "On my way home, I saw this… woman, being harassed by drunkards. I intervened and saved her, and then walked her home. And before you say anything, no, things didn't happen like you may think."

She raised an eyebrow, her curiosity growing stronger.

"The woman… she was a monster. Called herself a skinwalker. I dunno what that is, but she stabbed me and injected me with something."

I raised my hand and let out the spines. Claire's eyes widened and she took a step back.

"W-what is that?"

"Those are similar to the spines she stabbed me with. She turned me into a skinwalker too, apparently. Said it was a reward for having helped her." I sighed as I looked back at Claire. I really didn't want her to be scared of me or hate me. "I… I promise I'm still myself."

After a moment, Claire approached me, hugging me again. "I don't know what to say… You're safe at least, right?"

"I think. Apart from feeling more cold than usual, I seem to be fine. Since you're into all this nerdy stuff, do you perhaps know what a skinwalker is?"

She jabbed my shoulder and giggled, more relaxed. "Hey, you're one to talk, that bookshelf full of comics ain't mine. No, I don't know what they are, but the internet exists for a reason."

I chuckled. "True, I forgot about our omniscient god, Google."

We booted up the laptop, starting to search for any info on skinwalkers. We mainly found info about Native American legends. It didn't help me much, unfortunately, as what we found didn't seem to match with my condition.

I sighed, a bit discouraged. "I doubt I can transform into an owl or a wolf."

Claire chuckled. "It would have been cool. You'd be a superhero like the ones you love so much."

Her comment made me smile. She was always good at making me feel better, even in a situation like this. "I can't be a superhero without knowing everything I can do, though. But, well, I still have another way to know what I became."

Despite this feeling of knowing what the spines did, I had a hard time believing it and didn't want to test it on someone.

Claire glanced at me as I took out my phone. "The monster gave me a way to contact it if I wanted to learn more, I can contact it."

Her worries came back as she held my hand. "Will you be safe?"

"I'm sure it could have killed me if it wanted to, so it should be alright. As much as I dislike it, I believe it's the easiest way for me to gather info."