Chapter 11: Chapter 11 – Possession With Intent To Possess

Matthew watched the girl's hand near him, and his heart accelerated so fast it felt like it would burst out of his chest. He had no idea why he should be as worried as he was.

Sure, the girl was fucking terrifying. That wasn't up for debate.

But the way he felt as she neared him was how he imagined a man to be hanged felt as they watched their noose get tied.

'Stop her!' He, or rather, the voice in his head thought.

'What can I do?' Matthew asked back, receiving radio silence.

Kashyap moved to step between Matthew and the girl, but Matthew stopped him. He didn't want his friends getting hurt on his account. And judging by the policemen still foaming at the mouth, whatever the girl had done wasn't pleasant.

"It's okay," He said softly, allowing the girl's hand to land on his chest.

She scrunched her nose and bit her lip, concentrating intensely on something Matthew couldn't see.

For a long moment, she stayed in silent concentration, staring at him like he was a textbook to be studied. Finally, Matthew worked up the courage to ask, "What are you looking for?"

She raised her head and smiled, "Don't worry about it,"

Matthew nodded and tried to process this response by imagining all the ways that this whole situation would turn out to be the most elaborate practical joke of all time.

The girl gradually began tracing her finger over Matthew's heart, following unseen lines to unknown conclusions. She suddenly began muttering to herself intensely, pressing harder on Matthew like he was an instrument to be played.

"You could at least buy him a drink first," Max squeezed out a joke that landed in dead air and sat there, taunting him.

Even the girl looked up at him as though examining a particularly disgusting rodent. Eventually, Max hid his head in shame, and she went back to work.

While this was happening, Matthew noticed that the voice in his head had gone mysteriously quiet since the girl started touching him. In fact, he felt calmer now than before she had made contact.

'Hello?' He thought, reaching out in his mind for whatever had been there. Perhaps it had just been his imagination. Then again, perhaps not. Weirder things had happened.

"Is there…" Matthew started to speak but paused when the girl looked up at him. Her eyes dared him to say something stupid. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked nervously.

"Yes," She replied bluntly, "Tell me, have you…." She glanced at him searchingly, "Have you possessed anyone recently?"

"Pardon?" Matthew was so taken aback that he forgot to be anxious, swapping nervous tension for confusion.

"You heard what I said. Have you possessed and or been possessed recently?" The girl repeated, watching his face like it was a book she could read.

"I don't…." Matthew paused; he had been around someone who claimed to have possessed a body recently. Did that count?

"I-"

'Stop!' The voice in his head exclaimed.

In the same instant, the girl's facial expression changed. Her squinted eyes and quizzical, pursed lips transformed into a snarl, and she grabbed Matthew, throwing him to the ground.

"I knew it!" She yelled, saying another word in a language Matthew couldn't understand.

When she finished, his whole body felt like it was bound in rope. He couldn't even twitch a finger, let alone run away.

"Hey!" Kashyap shouted, running towards the girl.

"Stop it!" Max yelled, jumping in as well.

They were shortly followed by Jason and a reluctant Vincent, who quickly moved to get the girl off Matthew.

But before they could get within a metre of her, four glowing, translucent tentacles burst out from her ponytail and wrapped around their necks. In an instant, they were unconscious. Knocked to the floor and foaming at the mouth.

"What did you-" Matthew tried to protest, straining to get up. But it felt like he was in a straitjacket.

"I knocked them out." The girl said coldly, glaring down at Matthew.

"I don't understand what I did wrong," Matthew groaned, wheezing under the girl's weight as she kneeled over his chest.

"Ha!" She snorted, shaking her head. "Of course, you don't! How could I be so blind?" She hammed it up, waving her arms in frustration.

"Say, how does one possess a body without knowing what they are doing?" She looked down at him like he was an ant. And particularly displeasing one at that.

Matthew grunted, "This is my body. How could I have possessed it?" He complained.

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"That's what they all say," The girl shook her head, climbing off Matthew and grabbing one of his legs. He still couldn't move, so when she began to drag him over to her broomstick, he was helpless but to follow.

"What evidence do you have!?" Matthew shouted furiously.

The girl crossed her arms, dropping his leg In the process and letting it hit the floor. "I felt the damn signal. That's how!"

"Signal? What does that even mean?" Matthew shouted at the girl, who stood above him menacingly.

'Listen, she can only sense me when touching your body,' A sudden thought appeared in his head.

"The Spiritual fluctuation, you know," The girl waved her arms vaguely, "For a moment there, your spirit didn't match your body,"

Matthew didn't reply because he was too preoccupied with the stranger using his head to think.

'Is this your fault?!' He thought furiously.

'… Yeah. I had to strike a deal during our awakening, or the local god wouldn't let you live. Long story short, I've replaced your anima, but that isn't important right now,'

…

'What?'

'What matters is that she thinks you have possessed yourself because your anima, me, has a different wavelength to your body, you,'

…

'What?'

'Are you keeping up?' The voice asked, noticing that Matthew's only response had been utter bafflement.

But the voice paused again as the girl reached down and grabbed Matthew's leg, dragging him the rest of the distance to her broom.

Matthew's mind raced as he tried to process what was going on. It was one thing to be hauled onto a flying broom, quite another to not even know why it was happening. His body still wasn't listening to him, so he couldn't turn to check if his friends were okay. The only thing he could move was his mouth and eyeballs.

All at once, things slid into place, and he realised who the voice in his head was, 'Emily?' He asked but received no response, owing to the fact that the girl was still holding onto his ankle.

"What's going to happen to me?" Matthew asked nervously as the girl tried to balance his limp body on the broom.

"Execution, I suppose," She said as though announcing the weather.

"What!?" Matthew shrieked, staining with everything he was worth against the invisible bonds.

"Wise up!" The girl snapped, "How are you surprised? This is what you get for possession of an unlicensed body."

"But it's my body…." Matthew groaned, feeling deeply wronged by the whole affair. He had only been trying to help Emily, and now his death was imminent. How was that fair?

The girl ended up sitting behind Matthew on the broom. They both awkwardly sat on the ground with the broom beneath them while the girl grabbed Matthew's waist so he wouldn't fall off.

"Brace yourself," She muttered, saying another word in a language he couldn't speak.

The broom shuddered and started lifting off the ground, gradually tilting towards the sky. Matthew's stomach dropped into his shoes and stayed there. It felt like he was on the initial part of a roller-coaster when it jolts to life, and you finally realise that maybe you are a little afraid of heights.

Under both their weights, the broom moved sluggishly, but that was still too fast for Matthew, who would have preferred they never leave the ground at all.

As they floated up into the blue, the girl muttered another phrase Matthew couldn't understand, and a cloud formed around them, obscuring his unconscious friends and the two policemen from view. All he could see was white and the tip of the broom between his legs.

With the girl's hand around his waist, he couldn't expect any communication from his imaginary friends anytime soon. This left him sweating profusely as the broom shakily started flying forward… or backwards… or sideways. He had no idea what direction they were going since the cloud was so thick that if he could move his hand in front of his face, he would not have been able to see it.

"Where are you taking me?" Matthew asked nervously as vertigo wracked his frozen body.

"Home," The girl said simply, not offering him any words of comfort. She proceeded to ignore him, focusing on an obscure spot in the fog, and the ground raced beneath them.

Left behind by the six unconscious bodies, a small black cat snuck out of a bush and tottered awkwardly over to Kashyap. She nudged at his hand with her nose, trying to rouse him with little success.

In the end, she gave up and sat on his chest, watching a distant cloud vanish over the horizon.

 

 

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