I’m groggy and annoyed as I find myself being shaken awake. I groan, forcing my eyes open to see what was needed of me now. A young girl stares down at me, her skin slightly tanned, but her hair pure white.

“J.L., your phone keeps ringing.” She says, stepping back a bit as I sit up.

I stare at her more, by brain not fully awake yet. I can’t help but notice that this kid wasn’t wearing any clothes. And her skin was flaking and peeling on her arms, stomach, and legs. And her eyes were the same bright yellow as…

“…Teriyaki?”

She nods.

“Why’d you change?” I yawn and stretch.

“I saw a picture of her and thought she was cute, so I wanted to be her.”

“Oh. Where’d you see her?”

“Hmm… I was chasing a cat, and I followed it under this house. The cat got away but, I found this weird box! It was full of picture of kids, and hers was on top.”

“…” The gears in my head start to churn, still rusty with sleep. “You found wha—”

I’m interrupted by my phone ringing obnoxiously loud. I quickly pick it up and check the notifications. They were all from Mallory.

Mallory: FOUND THE KID

Mallory: Should we wait for you?

Mallory: J.L?

Mallory: Gonna return him weather you

Mallory: *withput

Mallory: **without

Mallory: So bhard to type lol my screen’s all sticky

Mallory: Returned the kid!! Where are you?

Mallory: Somewhere with water we hope lol

Mallory: Might have done something………

Mallory: Bad o-o

Mallory: Gonna sit in the forest and wait

I sigh as I read through her texts, especially concerned by that last part. I pause at the sound of skin falling off and the grunts of effort it took to shed said skin, resisting the urge to look at the source of the noises.

JL: I’m at Base 6. Where all the picket fence houses are.

Mallory: Oh good was getting BORED

Mallory: kinda nearby

Mallory: Did you know 

Mallory: Nevermind, tell you when we get there

Mallory: On the waaaaaaay!

I politely stare at my phone until it sounds like Teriyaki is done changing her form. When it sounds like she’s done, I finally look up. I can’t help but cringe at the mess she had made while shapeshifting.

It looks like she did a lot of moving around, as there was blood smeared about all over the living room. It looks like she was careful not to get any on the furniture though, but the floor looks horrific. At least it’s wood.

The piles of hair and skin (both dry and wet) were also quite unsettling.

Teriyaki puts on her clothes from yesterday, then takes a seat next to me.

“How do I look?” She grins up at me. Her teeth were still inhumanly sharp, but she seemed to be missing a tooth she had yesterday.

“Adorable.” I crack a smile. “So, about those pictures you found—”

I’m interrupted once again by a knock on the door. Knowing it’s most likely Mallory, I hurry to go answer it. When I open the door, the stench of death is immediate.

Mallory looks like she’d been standing in the rain for an hour—except the rain was actually blood. Her outfit had taken on a brown, red, and pink hue, dried blood caked on in layers as well as bits of who knows what. Her exposed skin on her arms and face had less blood, but it had dried in a way that made it obvious she tried to wipe it off with her hand. Below the layer of red, a thin pink film was visible.

“What the fuck happened?” I quickly pull her into the house before anyone can see her.

“Who’s the kid?” She looks past me.

“Mallory!”

She looks back at me, a wide smile on her lips. The whites of her left eye had gone black. Fortunately, her iris had still maintained its natural green color—even if it was a bit muggy. A look of bliss crosses her features as she clasps her hands together.

“We were having so much fun.”