Skinwalker

Brittany follows my movements like a shadow, abruptly standing and mentally preparing to do whatever she needs in order to show a willingness to cooperate with the queen. Though there is a stiffness to her movements, she mirrors my curtsy and bowed head. The Queen extends her right hand toward her prisoner and the woman takes a hesitant step backward, afraid of the vampire being that close to her and unsure of what to do with the gesture.

“Take her hand, place your forehead on her knuckles, and kneel,” I advise.

There’s a moment of hesitation but she collects herself and awkwardly does as she was instructed.

“You may stand.” Queen Scarlet informs her.

“This is how you greet her under any circumstance you meet,” I whisper.

Quickly and with her eyes on the floor, Brittany nods.

“Ms. Allen has agreed to cooperate,” I announce.

For, what must be a long time to a vampire, the queen inspects Brittany. “Tell me, what concessions have you made?”

In this moment, I haven’t made any. “The safekeeping of her children.”

A blonde eyebrow arch sharply. “Is this your favor?”

This isn’t about me or our arrangement; this is about gaining Brittany’s cooperation.

Queen Scarlet isn’t blessed with the ability to read people’s minds, thank goodness. That doesn’t mean she isn’t educated in body language, and she reads mine like a textbook. “I thought not.”

The dull gleam in her eyes and the minute curve on the corners of her lips are familiar, this is a fragmented sign of victory. Brittany agreed to work for the Queen under the condition her children were safe, and while she can’t fathom the depth of that exchange, the human got what she wanted, and her children will be safe. A lesson I’ve foolishly forgotten that Brittany now must learn, is Queen Scarlet never lets anything happen that won’t benefit her.

“Now that we are finished wasting time, let us begin,” the Queen says.

I turn toward Brittany. “You might want to sit down.”

She looks between the vampires and me, unsure of what is going on, but cautiously sits.

“Your job is to give me all of the information you know about Genetics Incorporated. My job is to obtain that information in a way I can use it,” I explain. “By using my ability.”

“Are you a telepath?”

“No. I’m a skinwalker.”

It’s only a moment that passes and in that small space of time, several things happen. Realization hits Brittany, she swears, and says, “You’re the girl they’re looking for,” and tries to climb over the back of the sofa in retreat while Queen Scarlet rushes the process by telling me, “Get on with it, already.” I pounce on Brittany attempting to restrain her while also trying to become her.

The skin on the back of my hand tightens and begins tingling as I flip her onto her back and shove her into the sofa, straddling her waist. The wave rushes up my arms and washes over the rest of my body in less than a minute. Brittany’s eyes change from understanding to pure fear in the seconds before I close my eyes.

I have no idea what it looks like to skinwalk, I’ve never seen it. The pins and needles pricking and tingling feel like sparklers, thought. The fire pops as the powder ignites, traveling down the stick, leaving a smoldering hot trail of numbness behind it. This is how a new host washes my appearance away and replaces it with hers own. The extension from my height to hers burns my bones and strains my muscles and my insides twist and turn. Then my brain begins to fog as I learn her memories.

It’s been too long since I’ve taken new memories from a host and the initial flash of colors that swarms through my synapsis disconnects the two of us. I try to hold onto her, try to calm my brain, but soon the lightning storm begins, and I lose focus of everything. The pain of it is the last thing I remember before I open my eyes and understand I’m on the floor.

When I first learned how to skinwalk, this is the sort of thing that would happen to me. Height differences caused so much pain I would lose the transition. Memories curled my stomach like I was in the middle of the ocean stuck in a storm on a dingy, needing to hurl my guts but couldn’t. There were always setbacks if I wasn’t stronger than the transition.

The only way to completely obtain my host was to keep trying and the longer I wait, the more side effects I will have.

With a groan, I push up from the floor and immediately regret the decision. My brain is still angry, and my stomach is still at sea. I expel its contents right there on the floor. Afterward, I take a moment of pause, wipe my mouth, and look at the woman I’m attempting to use as my host.

Even though it looks like an act of comfort, I know the guard whose hands rest on my hosts shoulders are there as a restraint.She’s holding my host in place. Brittany has pulled her knees to her chest and has tears streaming down her dirty face. They’re all just waiting for me to pull myself together and make another attempt.

It’s no surprise to see that Brittany is a mess right now, when one of my hosts knows what I’m about to do they’re usually afraid, I can’t blame them. I steal their appearance, hijack their memories, and learn their most inner secrets.

By the end of the process, I will know everything about Brittany Allen. I will have memories of things she can’t even remember. There are no intimate details of her life that will be outside of my knowledge. It’s terrifying to be so vulnerable, especially because we don’t even allow ourselves to be completely known by the people we love.

In addition to all of that, Brittany has secrets. Whether or not she signed up to work with subhumans, whether or not she truly feels regret for the things she’s done, she has seen and done things that no one knows about. Soon I will, and I’m on the opposite team.

I will know more about her role in all of this, and I will unlock many of the secrets surrounding Genetics Incorporated. Before long I will find out who the traitors are that have been turning over subhumans and heads will roll with Queen Scarlet’s wrath. More importantly, I will know what has happened to Levi.

Rage warms my stomach because I want to turn the traitors over. I want her to do her worst. I want them to suffer for the blood that’s on their hands.

Instead of putting a great deal of effort into getting up from the floor I grab Brittany’s ankle. There is no particular place I have to touch. The only thing that matters is the contact and the desire to become whoever I touch.

Again, she washes over me but this time there is less discomfort in my bones and muscles as they stretch. My stomach is no longer at sea but relaxing on a lazy river. The fog in my brain that proceeds the flashes of color right before memories become clear, does not cause the lightning storm the way it had before. I can feel an ache, off in the distance, too far away to let it distract me, but it’s ever present, just looming and waiting.

Memories play in my head sort of like a movie. They’re in color, printed on film cells that run on a reel, and they change rapidly without a point of transition. Even though the only sounds I’m able to process are vocalized overhauls of emotions such as laughter or crying, I know the intricate sounds of each one. I know what conversations were had and what the environment surrounding her was like. I know her deep emotions, I know what she said and what she held back, I feel her pain or joy. The memories are colored in her emotions; when her life is easy and full ofjoy the cells are vivid, when she is going through despair, they are darker.

These memories flip through in rapid succession, there are no pauses or breaks, it’s just one after another, in chronological order from the most recent to the furthest back. I experience everything from the moment I grabbed her ankle to the moment she was born. I journeyed through her life and felt her highest highs and her lowest lows. I learned more about this woman than she knows about herself.

When I open my eyes, I know that only a matter of minutes has passed. I don’t look at anyone, my attention is just off in the distance, staring at the space where the floor meets the wall. The things I have learned always take a little time to settle. It’s like stirring up sand underwater. The particles are tossed to the top of the water and slowly begin to float back to the bottom once the environment is no longer being disturbed.

This takes longer than stealing her memories did, but when it’s all over I take a deep breath in, hold it, and then let it go slowly. I wipe my face with my arms to remove the tears, both happy and sad, and stand. I have Brittany available whenever I need her.

A simple survey of the room tells me Brittany has been taken back to her cell, where she will wait until the queen summons her. After learning who my host really is, after learning about the lies she’s spun, I don’t really care what happens to her anymore. Her part in what Genetics Incorporated is doing, is disgusting.

Queen Scarlet is standing in front of the chair she had been sitting in, her hands are behind her back, clasped together, and her knowing eyes are watching me. She is responsible for everything I know, of course she knew what I would learn from Brittany. That’s one of the many reasons why she chose her as my host.

Brittany Allen is a liar. She’s a manipulative little snake who hates subhumans and has intended for their mass extinction. The woman has abused her patients, mistreated test subjects, and has tortured my kind for the names of others. All of us should be cured and those who die along the way were nothing more than meaningless test subjects.

“Show me her again,” Queen Scarlet requests.

I close my eyes, think about Brittany Allen, and feel her wash over my skin. I feel violated having this host as part of my archives; her personality and perspective is poison.

When I look at Queen Scarlet, she’s given me another reason to hate her. This subhuman hating host could torture me for life in ways the queen never could. There is so much satisfaction in her eyes that I can almost hear her say, and you thought you could leave me without being punished?