Fic "Serpent skin"
Chapter 1: Please.
They didn’t make it in time. He had transformed.
It wasn’t as if all of this had happened instantly — no. From start to finish, the guy had witnessed his own changes. He saw how his body was slowly mutating and beginning to lose its human features. He saw it all — and, more importantly, he felt it.
His skin was covered in scales. His fingers had stretched out, becoming unnaturally long. But those were minor details compared to the tail that had grown. In reality, it was more comical than terrifying. And his mouth…
Pulling his cheek to the side, he saw snake fangs in the mirror, and his tongue automatically extended from his maw — there was no other word for it. This wasn’t his face anymore; those neat lips and even if not perfect, still regular teeth, were gone. What he had now was repulsive. It wasn’t him at all. Now he more closely resembled the hundreds of snakes he’d had to fight before. Seeing his own reflection made him feel sick.
He had become a monster.
Although it seemed there had been a chance to reverse the process. Just cancel that ill‑fated date and say: “Oops, I’m turning into a snake. What a surprise!” That probably would’ve been enough to make them spring into action and fix everything. But instead, Walker chose to stay silent. To keep quiet about the bad stuff. Not to spoil the impression, to show the perfect version of himself. Flawless and problem‑free. To be the good one.
But who really benefited from this falsity? Himself? No — he was only making things worse for himself. Nya, the girl he’d invited? Not her either, since she’d left. In the end, that date had brought nothing to anyone. Jay had only disgraced himself.
And that was just a trifle — a feeling only he had access to, something he could eventually let go. Unlike his transforming body. That was visible to everyone — a testament to his foolishness. He could’ve stopped it, one way or another. But for some reason, he hadn’t. Maybe he truly deserved this appearance? After all, he was just as deceitful and terrible.
Walker had been standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror for a good hour now. He didn’t want to show himself to his teammates. Much less to Nya. He’d deceived her and left her behind, all alone in the park.
“Well done, Jay,” he whispered, gripping the edge of the sink. “S-simply briliant. Now you’re an ugly s-snake.”
Turning around and looking at his small tail, which kept twitching, Walker grimaced. That part still felt foreign to him. Yet even the slightest touch was noticeable — which made him realize it wasn’t just some “accessory” given to him as a mere formality. It was a real limb — one that even real snakes would mock.
Which wasn’t surprising. After all, even among such slippery types, he was an outsider. Though it was their venom that had made Jay like this.
Pursing his lower lip, Walker stared at his reflection with anger. Just like the first time, he felt nothing but loathing.
“Dis-sgusting, vile. Us-seless. A lying s‑snake.”
The words poured out one after another, but he didn’t look away. He told himself he wasn’t speaking to himself, but to the snake — that this wasn’t him. After all, he was a ninja, a master of lightning.
Still, hurling insults at the “snake” didn’t make him feel any better. On the contrary, each subsequent word became harder to utter. Not because he was tired — among the team, Jay was the most talkative, and a couple of minutes couldn’t possibly break him. The issue was something else.
A lump was treacherously forming in his throat, making it harder to breathe, let alone speak. But he kept going — wheezing, hissing, giving himself no rest, believing he had to vent, to blame someone for what had happened, to get this unpleasant weight off his chest.
It was a pity it didn’t help him feel lighter.
Suddenly, silence fell over the room. The only thing breaking it was his heavy breathing through his nose. The desired lightness never came.
Sliding down to the floor, he hugged himself by the shoulders. Tears slowly streamed down his cheeks. In his mind, he replayed countless scenarios where he could’ve stopped everything. Yet here he was — in this body. A foreign one. A cold one.
Only a day had passed, and Jay already hated what he had.
