"I have a confession to make." Derek look worried. "It's about your son, you remember five or six months ago you had an argument with him?" Derek looked blankly at Craig. "Well, you did, he wanted to take a year out. Go with his friend and travel the world? You said no, even tho' all the expenses were paid."
Derek nodded, "I remember now."
"Well, Tom saw me, saw me changing at his school. I was posing as a student teacher, but I heard security was looking for me. So I ducked into the gym, he was in the locker room, but I didn't see him. I found a locker that was unlocked," Craig grinned, "I was lucky. Found the kid's ID and stole a look into the gym, just to see what he looked like--that's all I needed."
He scratched his chin. "I dumped my clothes and shifted into the kid's body. Then I heard Tom, he must have knocked something over. He came storming out, saying I wasn't his friend. He said he'd watched me change, I tried to convince him I was his friend Richard, but he was adamant. Time was running out, it would be even worse if class came back into the locker room with me in here. So I pleaded with him to let me go, and I promised to meet with him after school. He agreed and I pulled on his friends clothes and left."
"Did he meet with you later?" Derek asked.
"He did, although by then I looked like his coach. I'd seen him leave early and broke into his office and found some of his clothes in a duffle."
"So I told him what I could do, showed him as well. I was surprised when he asked if he asked me to change into him. So I looked him over, and shifted into him. He was pretty chilled about it."
"He asked me who I was, I told him I didn't have any family. I'd only arrived in the town a few days earlier, and was looking for a place to stay."
A wash of realisation swept across Derek's face. "One of his friends," he frowned in thought, "Dayton. He stayed with us for a few months. Tom said there was a fire at his house, and he was looking for somewhere to stay."
Craig smiled, "Yeah, that was me, and I'm grateful for you putting me up for the time."
"You shared Tom's clothes."
"Made sure I picked a student the same size and build so we could, I didn't have anything that would fit."
"But what about school? What if you bumped into the real Dayton?" Derek asked.
"Waited until you left for work then came back. Hung around the house most of the time, sometimes as Dayton, sometimes Tom," he gave Derek a sidelong look, "sometimes you."
"Me?"
Craig shifted again, this time into a perfect copy of Derek. "Well, there was a closet full of clothes in your room. If anyone saw me, I just told them I was home-working."
Derek's mouth dropped open, only now he was realising what it was like to have a twin posing as him.
"Every time you went on a business trip, I was able to take your place. Made a change being an adult, I think Tom forgot who I really was sometimes."
He pulled at the tight shorts he was wearing--Tom's, and shifted back into Derek's son. "This feels more natural in the current circumstances," he said and plucked at the now loose shorts, "more comfortable as well."
"So where is he?" Then it hit Derek. "He's gone with his friend, on that holiday!"
"Yeah, he left about three months ago. I've been keeping his spot warm," he admitted with a sigh.
"But I never realised, you acted just like Tom. Knew all the answers. How? Can you can copy people's memories as well?"
"I can, but it's painful and tiring, plus I need them to willingly give them. I've got Tom's, because, well you know, I'm being him at home and school. Also a few of his friends--Cameron? They know what's going on with me and Tom. Don't have that jock you saw, Damien? There's a big party at the weekend; seniors only. I'm going as him. He's got expensive tastes, so I'm going to have to visit his house."
"Then what?"
"I'll wait for him in his room, knock him out..."
Derek looked shocked, "How? Is it safe?"
"Sure, I've been doing this for a long time. It's a sedative, he'll wake up with a hangover, and think he's had a great time. Once he's out, I'll just pull on his clothes, stick him in the closet and I'll be Damien for the rest of the weekend."
"So how do you do it? When I change into someone I don't get their memories."
"Well, took me a while to figure it out. When you look like Sam, for example, it's only skin deep. Take a blood sample, look at the DNA, internals they'll all say it's you, not Sam. But I figured, why stop at surface? So I buried down, tried to push the shift all the way through my body, but I couldn't."
He looked thoughtful, then continued. "I was living with a guy at the time, a dancer at a club, he knew what I could do. I explained what I was trying, and he asked me to copy him. That seemed to unlock something. When I tried again, it hurt--bad, but I realised I'd copied everything, including his mind. I don't know how it worked, but I knew everything."
"Tom willingly agreed, and I did it again. Any tests on me would show I'm Tom, right down to the missing appendix."
"Shit, can I do that?" Derek asked.
"I guess, I'll teach you if you want?"
"Hell yes!" Derek looked at his fake son. "As I know about Tom, you don't have to look like him all the time."
"Thanks," he replied and shifted back to his original form.
Derek grinned, and within a second he'd shifted into a perfect copy of Craig.
"Ok, you want to play games?" Craig let out a grunt and shifted into a copy of Derek again. "You know if you want, I can get your memories as well. Fill in for you while you practice and have some fun."
Derek shrugged, "Sure, why not. You know what I can do now."
His double grinned and nodded. Then he grimaced, the veins on his neck became swollen, and he went beet red. He let out a low groan, and let out a huge breath. "Fuck, that hurt." He grinned and left the room.
"Hey, where are you going?" Derek called out.
"Be back in a minute," he shouted back.
He wandered into the bathroom and admired his reflection, flexing and caressing his new torso. "Craig, hi, my name is Craig," he said to himself.
There was a shout, "Craig, where are you?"
He didn't reply, then realised he was Craig for now. "In here." he replied.
The new Derek appeared in the doorway, and the man that looked like Craig starred at the fake dressed in his work uniform.
Derek bushed at his polo. "What? Is there something wrong?"
"No," Craig stuttered, "it's just--strange seeing myself there."
"I don't know what you're talking about I'm Derek Ergas," he replied tapping his name badge. "Ask me anything, and I'll give you the answer."
-- End of pt4
What next?
Will it be bad news for the real Derek, or will they be a great team?
please continue, best story ever
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