To Go Where He Is

The sound of an engine broke me from my reverie as I waited for my ward to find their way to the Witch. It seemed that a guest had arrived at the Scarlet Estate.

Whoever it was appeared distressed, if their command of the vehicle was any indication. I looked out of one of the windows and observed as he parked haphazardly near the estate, pulling a U-turn—probably so he could make a hasty getaway if necessary.

I was aware of this person. He worked at the mines and was acquainted with this vessel's former occupant. I also knew he had met secretly with my ward just two mornings prior.

Whenever the two had spoken during chance encounters this week, this human had spoken quietly and been quite guarded. He acted furtively, like a prey animal who knew it was being hunted.

He seemed different now. The fear was still there, but something finally forced him to override his usual caution.

He hopped out of the car, not bothering to lock it, his keys tucked absentmindedly into a jacket pocket.

He skipped up the steps of the front porch, seemingly ready to kick down the door if necessary—before coming to an abrupt halt, as though the wind had been taken out of his sails. He was caught off guard by the fact that the door was already open

It would appear that my ward was too...distracted...to close up properly this morning.

"Wayne? It's me, Isaacs." Isaacs–so that was his name–quietly brushed past the door and entered the foyer, glancing around.

Ah. His concern for this vessel must have hit a breaking point. Well, I could work with that.

By now I had moved to get a better vantage. I watched curiously from the second floor, just out of sight as the intruder looked around.

"Wayne? Can you hear me?" he called again, louder this time. Little did he know, he did have an audience–just not the one he had desired.

If I had wanted, the intruder would have remained none the wiser to my existence—but I decided I would allow him to catch sight of me instead. I suppose I could consider it a favor to the one whose body I now inhabited.

This was a kindness. The gift of closure, perhaps...if he accepted.

I shifted, allowing my presence to be known. The creak of a floorboard. A shadow visible just around the corner. I waited only long enough to confirm that I had caught his attention before moving back out of sight.

Of course Isaacs pursued me without hesitation. It was only natural.

We played a game of cat and mouse as I led him through the second floor—always just out of reach, just visible. Slow enough that he didn't hastily fall through a broken floorboard.

Cats are not just adept hunters, they are also prey animals. Funny how these two facts could be true at once. To humans it seems contradictory...but they would think that, wouldn't they?

I carefully led Isaacs past the wrecked bathroom where infected body fluids coated the disposable wipes. Past the dusty guest bedroom where my charge had gone to sleep last night—but notably not where they had awoken this morning.

I led him to the room best suited for my purposes; Tabitha's room. I left the door conspicuously ajar and waited in the darkness for the guest.

"Wayne? Just talk to me. Please," Isaac's heavy footsteps followed after a time, halting and uncertain as he approached the door. Finally, steeling himself, he pushes it open. Upon meeting my eyes glowing in the darkness, he froze.

It's only natural for prey to freeze, after all.

The way his eyes moved over my form practically transmitted his thoughts to me; the height was right and the silhouette matched—but the way the body was held was all wrong. The posture was not how Sam Wayne held himself. The veil appeared to give Isaacs the most pause.

"Is it...really you?" The intruder asks the question haltingly, his voice catching on a ragged emotion. Pain. Longing. Uncertainty.

A pregnant silence permeated the air as I chose my next words carefully. "I am not the one you are looking for," I finally broke the silence.

"Fuck," Isaacs sagged slightly, catching himself on the door frame before he could properly collapse. "So—what the kid said is true?"

I tilted my head slightly. I had not been present for the conversation he must have had with my ward before he'd decided to come up here. "It depends on what they said."

"That Scarlet kid said that something is...wearing my friend, Sam Wayne. And that I shouldn't come up here."

"What they said is true, based on the limited information available to them." I watched carefully, judging the intruder's reaction.

"So, Wayne's dead." Isaacs couldn't bear to look at me any longer and turned his body away—not enough to leave himself exposed, but to better blink away the tears that overtook his vision.

"Without my intervention this body would long be dead," I clarified for his benefit. "It is dying, yes. But it is not yet dead."

Isaacs swore again, a hissed whisper of emotional torment. "What the fuck does that mean?! What happened to him?"

"The one you were hoping to find..." I shifted the body slightly, trying to test out what I can and can't say.

Speaking with this vessel was already difficult due to the physical reality of the situation. The mystical limitations imposed on my speech make it even more challenging.

How best to explain this? Ah, perhaps a fairytale would suffice. There is usually truth to be found hidden in stories meant for children. And what are humans, if not misguided and child-like?

"Your friend... attempted to play the role of a knight. He sought to rescue his would-be princess from her castle. He was thwarted by an evil crone. The castle's...dragon...took pity on him and sought the help of a witch. But there was a cost. Nothing can stall the inevitable." I trusted that Isaacs could put together my meaning.

"By wearing his corpse as a fucking skin suit?" Isaacs yelled, stomping down with righteous fury. He bristled, looking like he might throw himself into a furious attack. If he had been a cat, his tail would be a bottlebrush.

"As I havetold you, the knight is not dead...yet." I tried not to show my frustration. It is just a side effect of having to deal with human comprehension, and the limitations of their understanding. "Your friend is just dormant."

Isaacs froze. The glimmer of hope that crossed his face did not escape my notice. "What?"

"It is easier this way." I shrugged. "His body is rejecting the assistance it was offered. His dormancy prevents his suffering."

Isaacs silently mulls this over. He seems stuck—like a cat caught instinctively between freezing and fleeing.

I decided to help move his frantic thoughts along to their inevitable conclusion. "He is dying, though—there's not much time left. "

It's true. I have no need to lie, unlike some.

What Isaacs does with the information I've offered is up to him.

After a few false starts, the man finally asks, "I don't suppose it's possible to talk to him in there?"

I tilt my head, pondering this. "I can take you to him. However, to go where he is...the flesh poses a hindrance."

Isaacs snorts derisively. "What, you'll have to kill me?"

"No, that is entirely unnecessary. I just wanted you to understand the limiting factors at play here." I took a step forward, preparing to present my offer. "...I can grant you something better than mere conversation with your dying friend."

"What's that?" Isaacs looked at me suspiciously, taking an uncertain step back.

"You can share his burden. Save this body from suffering further rejection," I motioned down towards the vessel's septic form. "If all goes well you could both leave this place. Together."

Isaacs was wary, as well he should be. "What's the catch?"

I inclined my head, taking another step forward. "Your body would take the place of his. You will shoulder the same burden, but you will not be alone."

"...what's in it for you?" Isaacs had backed away into the hallway by this point.

Though he has backed away, he refused to flee...much to my grim satisfaction.

"Storm clouds gather on the horizon." My eyes flit towards the windows in the hallway behind him. "This body cannot handle rain, nor any other unnecessary exposure to water."

"You need a new body. Why?" Isaacs tried not to follow my gaze, but glanced momentarily towards the window despite himself.

"This body is reaching its limits," I join him in the hallway but stop near the door, still keeping my distance. "I must protect the one who sent you here. That child of the Scarlet bloodline will not be safe until I can safely shepherd them from this place. I cannot do so for two more days."

We watched the clouds gather. The first few drops of rain began to hit the glass.

Finally, I make my intentions explicit; "Granting your body to my temporary custody will resolve both of our issues."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Isaacs looks at me, still uncertain.

"I have no reason to lie to you," after a moment of intense eye contact, I return my gaze past him, to observe the water droplets gathering on the window. "Hopefully you are able to recognize why I've decided to reveal the hand I've been dealt."

"Will my body start rotting, like his?" Isaacs shifts uncomfortably, fidgeting with the car keys in his pocket.

I shake my head. "No. This will be different. This time won't be a slapdash attempt to forestall the inevitable."

"You said when all this is done...if everything goes right, we can leave this godforsaken place?" The man looks vulnerable in his hope. It isn't something he is used to feeling.

I gave a single, curt nod. "Yes. On your own two feet."

"I'm holding you to that." Isaacs reached out his hand to shake mine, as though we have formed a compact.

I hesitated to return this unfamiliar, human gesture but eventually reciprocated despite my misgivings.

Isaacs body recoiled from the smell before he caught himself and held his ground. He winced slightly as our hands met–the fingers felt swollen, the skin was taut with inflammation. They burned with fever and oozed visceral fluid.

While I couldn't fault him for it, he was the one who wanted to shake on our deal. I didn't doubt that his senses were overwhelmed with how unpleasant this vessel had become.

"Very well. Try to relax. It'll make things easier." I moved forward and slowly reached for him, telegraphing my intentions.

Despite his instincts screaming at him to run, Isaacs forced himself to meet my eyes beneath the veil. Suddenly, morbid curiosity moved his hand before he could properly think through his actions. He reached forward and tried to snatch the cloth away—to see what had become of his friend's face.

My left hand caught him by the wrist, forcefully pinning him in place. The free hand finished reaching around to the back of his skull. "He's quite fond of you, you know. Hopefully that will make things...gentler."

It would be better that he doesn't see what's under the veil. I knew he would regret it. And...I wanted this time to go smoother than it had previously.

At first Isaacs tried to fight against it, even as his mind logically recalled the situation at hand and tried to stop himself from resisting.

Fight, flight, freeze, fawn. Truly, this one was the epitome of prey. But it doesn't matter. Not anymore.

"He asks that I tell you to remember him as he was, not how his body currently appears." I conveyed this final message from the dormant owner of this body directly into Isaac's ear. "Consider it a gift from us both."

Isaacs finally stopped struggling as he processed what I said. "What—" he didn't get to finish this line of inquiry.

His body spasmed and suddenly went limp as I held him to my dying vessel's body.

...

After a long quiet, it was finished.

I used the body that once belonged to Isaacs to gently guide Wayne's lifeless form into Tabitha's bed.

Despite the fact that our end goals were mutually exclusive, I don't hold much enmity for Tabitha. She was easily the least offensive of the Scarlet Heirs I had been forced to deal with over the years.

I had observed that Tabitha seemed fond of the creature that was currently curled up downstairs in the kitchen. The cat had left gifts of lifeless prey animals all over the place—near her owner's favorite foods in the pantry, in her shoes, in her bed. If you thought about it, leaving Wayne here for her was somewhat like that.

I felt my new vessel smile at this thought. I couldn't help it. The original owner was so happy to be reunited with his friend. And I was so pleased that my ward had sent him up to me.

I was sure Tabitha would be happy to have Wayne's body back without me in the pilot seat. Hopefully she would understand that this was a show of goodwill.

I arranged the body as though it were sleeping. It would be waiting for her whenever she came home–a nice surprise for her after a long day.