[Eelskin]

12

Marie-Eve stayed the night. By the time we finished, it was the early hours of the morning and I unfolded the couch into a bed for her, while Veronica shrank and spoke with Marie-Eve. As Marie-Eve went to sleep out in the living room, I kissed Veronica and fell asleep immediately.

The next day, I wasn?t sure what to make of the situation. My girlfriend and I had just had a drunken threesome with our friend, which was? unexpected, but also? well, amazing. But now that I was no longer drunk, I was having second thoughts about what had just happened, what it meant, and what the consequences would be.

First of all, I was shocked that Veronica had been so willing ? eager, even ? to have sex with Marie-Eve. She had never been a prude, but, to my knowledge, had never been interested in multiple partners. Or women, for that matter. We had spoken about it briefly, and she had said that she had just never been attracted to them.

I was one hundred percent certain that this was the result of the bracelet. The bracelet was changing the way she thought and acted in so many ways, and sometimes this was a good thing. She was happier, and I was happy for her. And that fact allowed me to push away most of my doubts and misgivings about this powerful tool which I just did not understand in the least. But when it caused her to do really unexpected things like this, it brought these doubts all back, twice as strong as before. Yes, she was still happy, but also? reckless. And this newfound promiscuity? it didn?t offend me morally, but the sudden personality shift was very alarming.

--

I decided to bring it up that afternoon. Marie-Eve had gone home, giving my girlfriend and me a good-bye kiss at the front door, and Veronica and I had some errands to run, so we took the car to the grocery store.

Walking up and down the aisles, I had no idea how to broach the subject. She hadn?t responded well the last time I had told her I was uncomfortable with the effects of the bracelet, and I had no doubt that her reaction this time would be similar. Worse, I didn?t want her to interpret it as jealousy. What if she reacted with hostility? What if she?

?David.? I looked up. Veronica was smiling at me. ?You off in space??

?Uh, yeah. Didn?t sleep too much last night, you know.?

She grinned ?Oh, I know,? then stepped forward to hug me. As she stepped away, she looked up at my face and saw that I wasn?t smiling. Her own smile disappeared. ?David, are you okay? What?s wrong??

?I just? nothing.?

?No, David. Tell me.?

?It?s just? the bracelet. Veronica, last night you acted in such? you were so different.?

She looked hurt. ?I thought you liked that.?

?I do! I love it when you?re happy. But this is more than that. This is really scary.?

Veronica looked away. When she looked back at me, she was blinking back tears. ?Not here. We?re going to pay for these groceries and then we?ll talk about this when we aren?t in public.?

?Okay. I think that?s a good idea.?

Luckily, there was one cashier who had no line, and we were out of the store within a few minutes. We got back in the car, she sat behind the wheel and turned the ignition. She pulled out of the parking lot and began to cry.

?I don?t know why you keep wanting to take this away from me. David, this is the best thing that?s ever happened to me! Ever! Don?t you keep telling me you want me to be happy??

?Yeah.?

?And now I am! Now I can finally appreciate what you feel when you look at me, and it feels so, so good! It?s something I?ve never felt before in my life? I couldn?t before I got this. And the sex! Fuck, David, the sex is amazing! Isn?t it??

?Yeah.?

?But you don?t want me to wear it anymore! Why??

?I just? don?t know what to expect from you next. Veronica, you?ve never been attracted to women before.?

?Is that what this is about?? She was yelling now, and she took her eyes off the road to look at me while she was yelling. ?I seem to remember you being just as active last night as I was!?

?Not at first! I wanted her to go home. And so did you! Right up until?? I stopped.

?Until what!?

And as I thought about the events of the previous evening, I understood. I knew why she was suddenly attracted to Marie-Eve. She was addicted. She was addicted to the feeling of being lusted after, and she grabbed any opportunity to feel it again. Even when she felt it coming from me every day, she still couldn?t refuse it from anywhere else. That was why she wouldn?t ask Marie-Eve to leave once she had learned that Marie-Eve was attracted to her- because she suddenly had an opportunity to feel more lust. And she would always take advantage of that if she could, because she was addicted to it. It made sense. I didn?t like it, but? I understood it.

I looked at her in a new light after that epiphany. ?I? I think I understand now.?

?What do you understand?? She was still fuming, obviously. Though she could tell what I was thinking sometimes, this kind of thought didn?t factor into it.

?I think I understand why you??

?AUGH!? Veronica looked ahead and saw that she was about to hit the car in front of her. She swerved out of the way at the last possible moment, driving into the thankfully empty oncoming lane, missing the car ahead of us by mere centimetres. She pulled ahead of it and got back into the right lane, trying to ignore the chorus of angry HONKS that followed us, straightened out and slowed down. We took a moment to make sure our hearts were still beating. ?Are you okay?? she asked, the anger gone from her voice.

?Yeah. Are you??

She took a deep breath and nodded. ?I?m sorry. I should have been watching the road.?

?Look, Veronica, maybe we should talk about this more once we get home. It?ll be??

?Oh no.? Veronica was suddenly horrified.

?What??

?Uhm??

?Veronica, what is it??

?Are you thinking sexy thoughts??

?No.?

?Well, someone else is.?

?Now?? I looked at her, and sure enough, her belly was beginning to pull her tucked shirt out of her jeans. The seat belt was digging into her waist. ?Oh, shit. Hold out your arm!? She did, and I tried to pull the bracelet off of her wrist, but it was already too late. It constricted her pudgy wrist just enough so that it couldn?t be pulled off around her hand. I pulled harder, provoking a cry of pain from Veronica, who snapped it back.

?Maybe I should pull over.? We were on a busy city street, and there were no parking to be had. She pulled over illegally into the space next to a bus stop, and jammed her enlarged foot down on the brakes clumsily. We strained against the seat belts as we bounced to a halt, and she put the car in park. Several people in the queue for the bus began to shout in protest.

I looked over at Veronica, who was already stretching toward the ceiling of the car. This is a worst-case scenario, I realised. I looked back out at the folks at the bus stop, who were beginning to peek into the windows in angry curiosity. This is the worst thing that could possibly happen. It?s happening right now and there?s nothing I can do to stop it because I?m not even causing it this time. The seat belt strained against her belly and in between her breasts, and she grunted painfully as she tried to press the button to release the clasp. I realised that she couldn?t reach it, so I reached down and pressed it. The clasp swung up and struck me in the forehead before retreating back into the wall. ?Ow!? I cried, but Veronica didn?t even notice. She looked down at me, already taller than I was.

?David, you need to drive me home. I can?t do this. You need to drive me home right now.?

She was right. ?Okay! You see if you can squeeze into the passenger side of the car!? I opened my door and got out, closing it behind me. One of the people waiting for the bus stopped me.

?Yo, man, you can?t??

I cut him off. ?We aren?t staying!? I ran around in front of the car to get to the driver?s side door, but suddenly, a car passing by slammed on the brakes right in front of us, and an angry, short, balding man wearing a business suit got out of the driver?s side. He was actually blocking traffic. He came around the car and began to yell at me.

?Hey, asshole! You nearly killed me back there! What the fuck is wrong with you? I tell you, I memorised your license plate and I?m going to report you! I have a photographic memory, and I?m calling it in as soon as I get home! That?s reckless endangerment of motorists and pedestrians! And if??

He was cut off as the horn started blaring. ?David! We don?t have time for this!? Veronica screamed through the windshield. I grabbed my ears reflexively and looked in at Veronica through the windshield. Her hands were on the passenger seat and her knees on the driver seat. I had no idea how I was going to drive the car with her at this size. I looked back at the angry motorist in front of me. Other cars were now beginning to honk at him, since he was blocking traffic, but he didn?t seem to hear them, or see me. He was speechless, looking in through the driver side window at my girlfriend?s expanding ass, bursting out of her jeans, pressed against the glass.

I ran past him and opened the door, and she came spilling out, her knees falling onto the pavement. Her bum barely fit through the door. ?David!? she yelled. ?Get in here!?

I examined the situation to see how I could best fit in there, and after a moment, concluded that there was no way. I could not possibly fit in that car. If only I could? I got a bright idea. ?Sit tight, Veronica, I?m going to call Marie-Eve!?

?Why?? She was beginning to hyperventilate.

?To tell her to stop this!?

?Urgh? I don?t think she?ll pick up, David.?

My phone was already in my hand. I found her name in the caller ID and hit send, then held it to my ear and waited the few agonisingly long seconds before it began ringing. Veronica?s legs stretched further and further away from the car. Finally, it began to ring.

Two rings.

Three rings, and I heard yet another enormous HONK from behind me. I turned to see that the bus was here. The one that wanted to stop where we were illegally parked. The driver continued honking at us while I waited for Marie-Eve to pick up.

Four rings, and then a click. ?Bonjour! Ici la bo?te vocale de?? I hung up and yelled to Veronica, ?I got her voice mail! I?m going to try again!? The people waiting for the bus began to yell at me now. The seams of Veronica?s pants ripped, her fleshy legs bursting through the fabric.

Her muffled voice came from the inside of the car. ?David, she?s really close to coming. She?s not going to answer the phone!? But I had to try. What else could I do? I opened the phone and dialled the number again. I looked back at the angry motorist, who hadn?t said anything for almost a minute. Looking at his face, he was staring, dumbfounded, at Veronica?s legs, which were now more naked than covered. He didn?t even see me. I looked down and saw that he was in too much shock even to cover his erection, which formed an obvious tent in his pants.

The significance of that erection suddenly struck me. My entire body went cold. In a panic, I took a step forward and punched him in the face as hard as I could. He fell down on the ground and clutched his nose, which began to bleed profusely. ?What the fuck is wrong with you, buddy??

?Yes!? I cried. Just keep looking at me. Just keep thinking about me. ?How do you like that, asshole?? I didn?t know what else to say. I just needed him to look at anything else, even if that meant inviting a physical attack upon myself. But once I looked around, I knew that it was hopeless. Several of the people who had been waiting in the queue had stopped shouting and were now peering in through the windows at Veronica. The bus driver behind me had stopped honking, as well.

Veronica was now big enough that she couldn?t even back out of the car if she had wanted to; her belly had grown so much that it was holding her fast in both front seats of the car. From the inside, I could hear her gasp suddenly and loudly, and her body began to expand even faster. Her palm pressed against the rear window and I could hear glass shattering as her elbow went through the windshield. I lowered the phone to my side. ?David? she just came!? she yelled from the inside.

I had no response. I was at a complete loss for words. Her thighs swelled and her belly began to bend the metal of the car as she outgrew the doorframe. Her hand disappeared from the inside of the rear window, and after a moment, I could hear her groaning in- I couldn?t tell. Pain? Effort? Both? After a moment I could see the roof of the car beginning to distend, being pressed upwards from the inside. I looked on in horror, with nothing I could possibly do or say. From my hand, hanging by my side, I could hear, faintly, Marie-Eve?s voice. She sounded annoyed and out of breath. ?Allo? Allo? David, est-ce-que c?est toi??

With a powerful yell, my girlfriend pushed herself up from the seats with as much force as she could, and with a crunch of twisting metal and more shattering glass, Veronica actually ripped the roof off of the car and stood up.

Slowly, majestically, she rose high above us, and her gigantic belly cast a shadow over me and the poor man whose nose I had just broken. What few tatters of her clothing she still had fell off of her body. The tops of cars were only as high as her knees. Everyone around us immediately stopped honking their horns, and I could hear cars rear-ending each other in the distance. Then an eerie silence settled around the area.

Veronica looked around at the crowd of people before her, and then, slowly, her eyes lost focus. She stared off into the distance, and traces of a smile flickered across her features. ?Oh? my?? she rumbled. She looked around again at the motorists who were getting out of their cars to see her better, at the people on the sidewalks who were fumbling for their cameras, at the windows of the buildings all around her, smiled, and her body stretched upward once again.