One at a time

Three innocuously dressed people walked together down a back alley. The February chill could be blamed for the fact that only their faces are exposed, but that wouldn't convey the whole truth. Two walk in front, while a third hangs back, maintaining perfect distance from each other as they walk. It's an uneventful march as they approach the lifeless body in the snow in front of them.

"It's possible the cold is inhibiting the cell transfer." One of the leaders says. Neither of his companions looks at him, they all simply watch the corpse in front of them. "I wonder who she was to be left naked in the snow like this."

"It doesn't matter, she won't be that person anymore," the woman in the back says. On queue the show begins. The dead woman's spine darkens to pitch black, the tissue around it following suit quickly. She rose to her knees quickly, screaming from the burning pain that must have been invading every nerve. Finally her whole body was black except for her face and she fell forward catching herself with her arms. "Here comes the hard part."

The woman stood as her arms melted into pairs of tendrils writhing around her. Faster than a human eye could track they struck out, cutting at the two figures in front of her. The figures easily caught the offending tendrils, holding on tight while the woman struggled. The person in back walked forward to place a hand on her shoulder.

"You're confused, scared, uncertain, that's okay. My name is Maxine, we don't intend to harm you. We're going to take you back to our home, get you some clothes, make sure you've feed. We'll tell you everything you want to know about living, now that you control this body. From there you'll be free to do what you want."

"Free...?" the woman says. "Promise...?"

"I'm a woman of my word."

The tendrils reformed into arms, the ones holding them simply letting go. One takes off her coat and offers it to the naked woman. Four figures exit the alley and get into a waiting car.

'One at a time our family grows,' Maxine thinks as they drive away.