“They said they couldn’t do anything about the kidnappers,” Wallis shrugged her shoulders.

  “Who said that?” the monster asked.

  “The hospital.”

  “Okay. Continue.”

  “As you know, it was a poison experiment, and yet, I healed,” she tilted her head

  Poison experiments are brutal tests conducted by Transformed individuals, typically to gauge a new poison's potency or test their own creations. However, these illegal experiments now serve even more horrific purposes, like forcing subjects into new physical forms, ones they can use for other objectives. As governments and organizations struggled to contain them, such gangs are increasing.

  “Yes. We are meant to heal,” the monster replied.

  Wallis raised an eyebrow. Hosts could heal if their Companions could, but not all Nevarids possessed that ability.

  "What else happened?" the monster prodded.

  “...They dunked me in ice-cold water a couple of times to lessen my temperature. It was torture, and it didn’t even work,” Wallis folded her arms, a look of pure annoyance on her face.

  “What’s your temperature?” he asked.

  “40°C.”

  “Same as me. Makes sense. What then?”

  “What makes sense?” she muttered, studying the laid-back blob. “Well, I can only form my limbs. And there’s no poison.”

  “Only your limbs? Didn’t you have it all over your body?”

  “I do, but I can’t use it,” she shrugged. “Why don't I have any poison?”

  “Don’t worry. We get poison from scratch,” the monster said, and Wallis stared at him, bewildered. Normally, Transformed like her, now a Skinwalker, should be able to sprout Nevas tentacles from her limbs, or in her case, her whole body. Depending on the Companion's gifts, these structures could be either solid and inert or infused with poisonous properties. Usually, a few toxins were passed down.

  However, she could summon the slimy structures, but they were hollow. No poison, no chemical aggression, but glossy raw, silent movement. Some Transformed and Nevarids have this case as well, though they’re often at the bottom of the food chain.

  “Why do I have unknown Nevas, and why is your type unknown?” Wallis asked.

  “I avoided getting my type indexed, that’s all,” the monster replied.

  “One of a kind, huh?” she gave an unamused look. “But the doctors said it was a mutation from that experiment.”

  “That’s no mutation. You’re just my host and have my traits.”

  “Then why am I a Skinwalker?!” the girl grabbed her head and let out an exasperated sigh, while Wismel gave her a look of shock again. The monster, however, remained unchanged.

  Over a hundred forms of Nevas had been cataloged, each varying in strength and poisonous effect. The lower the classification number, the greater the potency. But Wallis' wasn’t numbered. It wasn’t classified. It was entirely unrecognized, a fact that had boggled every scientist who’d examined her.

  “I don’t know,” the monster finally answered.

  “Why do you not know?”

  “Story for later,” the monster continued, his tone deflecting. “Did anything else happen?”

  Wallis ignored his evasiveness. “I don’t eat human flesh, alright? Whatever weird traditions you may have, I have human standards… though even those are ruined!”

  “Okay, yes. Did you eat something unusual?”

  “What do you think?” she asked, her voice defeated.

  “What did you eat?”

  Wallis shuddered, recalling the ‘exquisite meals’ the hospital had bestowed upon her: raw deer, raw cow, raw human meat, and blood. Luckily, she hadn't felt any bestial attraction to any of them. She wondered where they even got the human meat, then instantly feared worms. Her disgust had been so profound that she'd thrown up the first bite of cow meat.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Skinwalkers were supposed to devour raw meat with delight, but Wallis' reaction clearly said otherwise. While they might not lose all sense when encountering it, they certainly wouldn't vomit. This unexpected revulsion was one of the main reasons the hospital allowed her to leave—a decision they would soon deeply regret, for Wallis always carried a syndrome they had entirely failed to account for.

  “I ate potatoes,” Wallis said.

  Wismel and the monster were the only ones in the room who hadn’t witnessed her ordeal. Wallis had taken on the role of narrator, while Rosaline sat, listening, a flicker of doubt in her eyes about her daughter’s honesty.

  “I don’t believe you,” the monster retorted.

  “We’re going to have to inform the Org about you,” Rosaline interrupted, bracing herself, referring to the INSO.

  “I’m afraid not,” the monster stated.

  “How come?” Rosaline asked.

  “They don’t like me. They don’t like anybody, really, but it would just cause me unnecessary trouble. So please, refrain from ever doing so. I would have to silence you myself if you don’t comply.”

  Rosaline sighed, having expected that. “Then what? Do we have to share in crimes?”

  “Not at all,” the monster continued. “I’m very capable of doing what I currently need by myself. For now, I will stay with you.”

  “Hey, what? No, no!” Wismel shook his head and hands frantically, looking at his sister for support.

  “Calm down. I won’t harm any of you. Any physical damage done to my host reflects on me anyway,” the monster said.

  “What?” Wallis looked at her Companion, perplexed.

  “But you could still harm others,” Rosaline stated matter-of-factly.

  “I won’t, if that’s what you want to know,” he replied calmly.

  It wasn’t as if they could stop him if they wanted to, but they couldn’t just turn a blind eye to a walking catastrophe. Rosaline inhaled slowly, her eyes fixed on the abomination in apprehension.

  “Then, as you know, they’re letting Wallis out for exams now. And Wismel has exams soon as well, so please don’t disturb them.”

  “OK. I won’t disturb them when they’re studying.” They watched as he casually twisted her words.

  The small family sat in the living room for a while without the monster, shaken. They didn’t think they’d get a wink of sleep, but eventually, they unconsciously fell asleep in their seats. Wallis always wanted to stay up late, but she never expected to do it sprawled across a living room chair with her family as equally unceremonious slumber buddies. It was still dark, but already the time she usually wakes up for school.

  They were concerned about where the giant blob would sleep since Nevarids usually slept in the earth, but he said he’d manage before disappearing, going god knows where. If anything, they were just thankful they didn’t have to invest in one of those fancy pots made for Companions, considering he was one humongous Nevarid.

  Wallis, a fifteen-year-old, was navigating her last year of secondary school, the ninth grade. Her older brother, Wismel, twenty, was in his first year in university. The international educational journey followed a 5-3-3-4 system: five years of primary school, three years of secondary school, three years of upper secondary school, and then four years of university. Occasionally, the education system would halt due to extreme lockdowns and dangers.

  Wismel, for instance, had been held back, unable to immediately advance to his second year of upper secondary because toxins, pervasive in the air, water, and soil, had blanketed the city, causing its victims, him included, to receive a lethal virus that lasted for prolonged periods of time. Such events happened from time to time, but they rarely brought life to a complete standstill.

  Wismel dropped that year, and even though he completely revived the next year, he still dropped it, too, to help his mother recover from the financial expense of his illness.

  Wallis, a second child growing in a financially unstable household, had entered school a bit late.

  With exams now looming for both siblings, the monster, true to his word, refrained from bothering Wallis and Wismel during their study hours. However, he made up for it by constantly pestering the entire family whenever the three of them were free, with Wallis, of course, being his primary target.

  Most of the time, he was out of the house. When their skepticism led them to inquire about his activities, he simply stated he caused no harm and merely went to ‘play’ in empty fields. Their persistent issue with him was his considerable presence within their humble home and his perpetual boredom, entirely separate from the fact that the hospital had no knowledge of his very existence.

  Fortunately, Wallis was spared hospital visits during her week of exams, though she still had to attend school. She wasn't initially thrilled about returning with her new, undeniably striking looks, but once she'd learned she would be taking her exams in a separate room from other students, alone, with only a teacher and a guard supervising, relief washed over her. Then, of course, her movements in and out of the school weren't entirely clandestine, and a few people did spot her.

  Wallis didn’t have that many friends, but she was known. To those she had as friends, she couldn’t tell them what had happened because she’d lost her phone on that fateful day. So, when they saw her, they were understandably shocked. Their treatment of her hadn't truly changed, except that they now had to look up instead of down. But conversations felt awkward, not that they had much face-to-face time anyway, as she wasn't permitted to sit with whomever she wanted whenever she wanted.

  At home, she would study until her focus waned. A notable change she observed was that her studying had become significantly more efficient, requiring less time to complete a day's worth of material. This left her with a surprising amount of free time. Wallis knew well how to squander moments, but now, with someone, albeit an unconventional companion, who could match her newfound speed, she readily sacrificed leisure for the sake of her sanity.

  Even though Wallis hadn't had extensive conversations with the monster, her mother remained deeply concerned. He had previously stated he wouldn't reveal his intentions for Wallis without proper context, leaving her mother to wonder: could she truly allow her daughter to spend time with such a perplexing creature?