Days later...

Strangely, days passed without me seeing either of them. I was a little concerned, but it wasn’t totally unusual in a student flat to simply miss your flatmates entirely, schedules being as chaotic as they were.

As for me, I lead the most normal life I possibly could have. The **** hedonism of the last few days had seemingly satisfied my monstrous Skinwalker side, and my **** lustful cravings. The satisfaction ran so deep that I didn’t even need to masturbate. Still, it was impossible to fully put being changed behind me. In class or on the street, I would admire the bodies of the people around me, considering how they might feel inside.

Whether it was the barista with her nose pierced and the tattoo sleeve, or the sophisticated, lab coat adorned science professor I passed, I looked them over from top to bottom and dreamt of slipping their clothes on their forms, returning to their homes and raiding their closets, and having fun with their friends and lovers as them.

Still, it was nice to just be myself for a while too. I knew soon enough the cravings would return, so I enjoyed just being myself while I could. People even commented that I seemed different, appreciating my fresher, rejuvenated looks and the greater confidence with which I carried myself. I smiled and told them I’d just made some healthy lifestyle changes.

I was in the kitchen, finishing up washing my dishes after dinner when I first saw Jessica. She was wearing a baggy, oversized hoodie that hung down low, her leggings poking out the bottom and her legs stretching down to her runners. She looked sexy, naturally, but for her this was definitely a more subdued look than I was used to.

“Hi Jessica.”

I started,

“Hi Alex…”

She squinted a little at me, as though she was trying to remember something, then opened her mouth to speak, before stopping herself.

“No, forget about it.”

“What’s up? Something on your mind.”

I inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“I said forget about it.”

She snapped. Well, I suppose it was healthy enough some of her trademark aggression was still there.

“By the way, have you seen Grace around?”

Her eyes flicked wider temporarily hearing Grace’s name, before she got a hold of her expression.

“N- no! I haven’t seen her. I don’t want to see her either.”

“What? But aren’t you two friends? You talk to her more than anyone else in the flat?”

“Yeah, well we’ve fallen out, okay! Shut up about it.”

She stomped over to her cabinet and grabbed a box of protein bars out of it, before storming out. I Ieaned up against a cabinet, watching her go, before fist pumping the air. Success! Well, more or less. She seemed uneasy and less confident than before, but she hardly appeared mind broken like I’d been afraid of. She was a little different than before too; Ordinarily she would have arrived with a smug attitude and began harassing me, but it seemed she was more on the defensive today, a welcome change from her standard aggression.

What she’d said about Grace was a good sign too. Everyone who lived here knew that Grace and Jessica were far from friends, but it was less uncomfortable to raise it with Jessica under the auspices of the relationship Jessica wanted to project they had. Everyone was walking on eggshells around Jessica anyway, and didn’t want to make an enemy out of her, so no-one had challenged her about her bullying of Grace… until me that is.

Peeking at the door to double check that I was alone, I let the spines come forth from my fingertips, moving my hand around to admire them. They were the same disturbing yellow color as the skinwalker's had been, their structure looking uncomfortably alien no matter what angle I viewed them from. I could try and forget them while I walked around as myself, but in the back of my mind I always knew they were there; a reminder that I was becoming something other than human.

But still, if not for these spines, would Grace still be being bullied? I’d been in her skin and felt her emotions from the inside, I knew how depressed she’d been, and how close to breaking down. If not for me becoming a skinwalker and intervening, would something terrible have happened to her?

A noise in the corridor made me draw the spines back into myself, the steam dissipating as the flesh finished knitting back together just as the door opened and Grace herself walked in. She was wearing a sky-blue jumper with a white button up underneath it, matching perfectly with her white and blue checkered skirt. She looked more relaxed and happy than I’d seen her, and even though it was just a more positive vibe from her, I could feel my heart warming a little just from seeing her come in the room.

“Alex…”

She said quietly, before hurrying up closer. Surprise flickered across my face as she approached; Before, Grace had seemed to always shrink from people, but today she was actually coming closer to me.

“I want… I want…”

She stuttered a little, trying to express what she was trying to say.

“I want to thank you. Thank you! Thank you for spending time with me at that party. I just… I get really nervous around people, and I really just came there for food, but you… you really helped me and made me feel welcome, so thank you.”

At the end of her quiet thanks, she looked up at me, meeting my eyes for the first time with a small smile of gratitude. Something about the way the light reflected off her dark eyes made them shine like opals in a tropical ocean, every color and none seeming to make itself known in their depths. If my heart had been melting before, it was fully liquid now.

“Grace…”

I replied, almost breathless at how much her earnest innocence was affecting me. All the guilt I felt about giving her those fake party memories dissipated completely, seeing how happy they’d made her. Trying to recover, I gave her my warmest smile;

“No Grace, thank you! It was really good talking to you! I mean we’ve lived in this flat for a little while, but I felt like I only got to know you for the first time recently. You’re really cool, you know?”

She blushed immediately at the compliment,

“C-c-cool? Me…”

Her voice trailed away to nothing, as her shyness totally enveloped her.

“Yes, you. I really mean it.”

She turned even redder at that, before her phone interrupted with some kind of alarm in her pocket.

“Oh no, I forgot! I’m late to a driving lesson… sorry.”

She looked sheepishly at me, before disappearing off. I walked back to my room and threw myself on the bed, burying my face in the pillow.

“Cute!! Grace was too cute, what the hell??”

Everything, from that innocence about her, and the genuineness which infused her whole being. It was only one conversation, but I could already feel my heartstrings being pulled in every direction when I was around her. Was I… was I starting to get feelings for her?

No, that was crazy. In reality, I’d only spoken to her properly once. But I’d been her, I’d organized a whole episode between us for her and me in her memory editor. Could feelings be real, from manufactured memories?

I scrunched my face deeper in the pillow, hoping I could come to deeper conclusions the deeper I got in the fabric.