Claire's surprising request

I was woken up the next day by my phone ringing. It was still fairly early for me, around seven in the morning. When I checked to see who texted me, I saw an unknown number, but guessed it was from Aurora or Yahana, as it told me to meet at the park not far from my flat at twelve.

I replied, confirming that I'd be there, and also asked if my sister could possibly accompany me. As I got up and started to get dressed, my phone rang again, displaying the message "As you wish."

I went in front of Claire's door and knocked. "Claire, you're awake?"

"Yeah, I'm getting ready. Why?" Her voice replied through the door.

"I received a text from whom I assume is Aurora. We're to meet at twelve at the park nearby. You're allowed to come with me, too."

I heard her mutter. "It was real, then..." before she came to open her door, wearing her uniform. "Okay, I'll try to get there on time. I'll ask Allistair if he can drop me off."

"Sounds good, but don't get in trouble at work for me, alright? I don't believe Aurora and Yahana will try to hurt me, considering how our conversation last night went."

She sighed. "Maybe, but I can't help being worried after everything I learnt... You not being human anymore, it... almost feels like a dream."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not used to it myself yet, but I'll be fine, trust me."

We went to the kitchen and I started to prepare breakfast. Claire gave me a hand, getting the coffee machine ready while I was making pancakes.

"Hey, Ed..." Claire started shyly.

"What is it, Claire?"

"When you... When you became Sarah, you were... fully her, right? How... was it like to be a woman?" She asked slowly.

I blushed and glanced away. "It was... really interesting... So different from being a man... It's pretty insane to think about it... "

"It must be so weird..."

I nodded. "Indeed."

"Did you like being a woman?" She continued.

My blush intensified. "I... I did, yeah..."

"I see." Claire replied, smiling softly. "And did she... remember anything?"

I shook my head. "No. Among these powers I now have is the ability to... edit the memories of the people I... wear. I made sure she wouldn't remember anything about me after our night together."

"It sounds... handy."

"And quite terrifying too, if you think about it." I continued, freeing my spines and examining them. "Being able to completely erase from someone's memories the fact that you've borrowed their very own skin and life... You could do a lot of harm with abilities like these."

"Y-yeah..." Claire awkwardly replied.

We ate a quick breakfast before Claire had to leave for work, hugging me and wishing me luck. Meanwhile, I still had time to kill before meeting Aurora and Yahana again, so I simply went back to my usual routine, doing some workout at the park and buying a burger at a nearby place when noon was approaching.

While eating and reading comics on my phone, I heard footsteps coming closer. I rose my head and spotted Aurora and Yahana. Aurora was as beautiful as always, sporting a band sweatshirt, a pair of denim shorts and fishnet tights. Yahana meanwhile had a more casual look, with a denim jacket, jeans, and knee-high leather boots. She had a very pretty feather pendant hanging around her neck, too.

I smiled at them. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Edward." Yahana said politely. "You're here early."

I chuckled as I took a bite of my burger. "Well, I'm usually free during the mornings. I tend to work during the evening. I did some workout and waited for you."

"I see, you seem like a dilligent man." She commented.

"I'm trying to be, at least. How are you?"

Aurora lit up a cigarette and spoke. "Apart from you hurting my pride two nights ago by beating me and making me reconsider something I was dead set on doing, I guess I'm alright."

"Sorry about that."

She sighed. "It could have been far worse had I faced another skinwalker."

Yahana chimed in, glaring at Aurora. "Indeed. You're always far too reckless, Rori. Most skinwalkers wouldn't have hesitated skinning you in that situation. You can't rush blindly like that at any creature you fight, you need to be careful."

"I know, I know. It won't happen again, Yana. I promise."

I couldn't help but smile witnessing Yahana giving her a lecture. These two seemed to get along fairly well.

"You two seem quite close." I said, finishing my burger.

Aurora glanced at Yahana, giving her a slight smile. "We are, yes." She then turned her attention back on me. "You asked if your sister could come, where is she?"

"She'll join us soon. Her partner should drop her off in a bit for her lunch break."

"You told her about your situation, then?" Yahana asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I have. She accepted me without any issue."

"Familial bonds can be sturdier than diamond." She replied. "You two only have each other, if I remember correctly?"

"Yeah. Our parents never showed us any love when we grew up, we had to stick together. It's probably why I became so overprotective of her, to be honest."

"It makes sense." Aurora commented.

"Only thing she's not really on board with is me helping you, that's why she wanted to meet you." I then explained. "She doesn't want me to get in danger, but I can't do nothing now that I have a way to be useful and help more people." I added, slightly freeing the spines in my right hand.

Aurora and Yahana observed them carefully, raising their guard slightly.

"Having a skinwalker we can work with could be greatly beneficial to learn more about what exactly your kind can do." Aurora said, exhaling the smoke of her cigarette away. "Yahana is a lot more knowledgeable than me, but it's possible we have yet to discover everything about skinwalkers."

"Especially since some bigger organisations love to hoard their knowledge without sharing it with smaller ones." Yahana added with a sigh.

I chuckled. "There's corporate greed even among monster hunters?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

I spotted Claire walking towards us in the distance and waved at her. She smiled somewhat shyly when she went closer.

"Hi." She said, coming next to me.

Aurora and Yahana seemed surprised seeing Claire's police uniform. They probably didn't expect her to be a cop. Claire kept her eyes on them, not trusting them fully.

I gestured at her. "Aurora, Yahana, this is Claire, my younger sister."

"Nice to meet you, Claire. Edward explained you wanted to speak with us?" Yahana spoke.

"I-I do, yes." She said, trying to gain some confidence. "He's my only family, and he's still the same good-hearted person, even if he's not human anymore. I don't.... I don't want to lose him."

"We're past that for now." Aurora simply replied.

"I know... He told me he wanted to help you. What I want to ask is about this."

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

Claire took a deep breath and appeared more determined, looking at them. "I want to join you."

"What?!"

I was stunned by what she asked, my eyes widening. Aurora and Yahana were surprised, but not as much as I was, Aurora taking another puff of her cigarette.

"You want to accompany us in our hunts?" She asked Claire.

"Yes. I want to make sure Ed stays safe... no matter from whom."

I was about to shout in protest but stopped and tried to regain my composure. "Claire, I refuse. Being a cop and hunting monsters are two very different things. It'd be far too dangerous."

"I agree with your brother, Claire." Aurora added. "We're doing a dangerous and ugly job, I cannot allow an amateur to join us. Yahana and I, we've been trained for years for this task, and your brother already is able to hold his own fairly well in a fight, in addition to having enhanced senses and reflexes thanks to his... condition. He wouldn't take long to get up to speed."

Claire stared at her, clenching her first. "I-I know I still need a lot of training, but I'm no longer the weak little girl my brother needed to protect all the time! I can't stay here and do nothing while knowing he is putting his life on the line!"

I almost never heard her shout like this, it took me aback. But it proved that she was truly determined, her eyes not betraying any kind of hesitation.

Yahana smiled softly. "Your love for him is admirable. But don't worry, as long as he doesn't turn rogue, I'll make sure nothing happens to him. I give you my word."

I grabbed Claire's hand. "Claire, I promise you I'll be fine. And it's not like I'll be gone forever, I'll come back from time to time and stay in touch.

She hugged me tightly. "Ed... I-I don't want to risk losing you..." She let go of the hug, her hands holding my arms as she looked me in the eyes. "You've watched over me since forever, but now... now it's my turn. I want to protect you, too."

"Claire..."

She then turned to stare at the duo again. "If you're so afraid of him... 'going rogue', it's another reason to take me with you. I'll make sure he never changes for the worst. I won't get in your way and do my best to learn whatever you're willing to teach me so I can be of use."

I couldn't say anything, I knew by this point that she was dead set on this. There was no way to convince her to back down. She rarely showed it, but she could be as stubborn as me at times. All I could hope now was for Yahana and Aurora to refuse her plea.