Chapter #5Try possessing Caleb by: Seuzz   "I understand, Dana," you tell her when you're back in control of her. "I hope you don't mind," you continue, "but I'm going to stay inside you during church and a little while afterward. I'm going to go see Caleb after you—or we—get back. It'll be easier for you if I'm in control." You then slip down deep inside her mind.
She is quiet for a few moments after you are back down inside you, and you can tell that she is a little rattled by your words. Out of one friend and into another? But then she remembers that it was a phone call from Melissa that even put the idea into her own head. Still, she seems to be very careful with her own thoughts as she finishes getting ready and goes to church.
Probably for the first time in her life she actually believes that there is someone—maybe not God but someone—who can see what she's thinking even as she thinks it.
* * * * *
When services and lunch are over, you take control of Dana again and ask if you can borrow the family sedan. Mr. Pak is in a mellow mood now that services are over, his stomach is full, and a ball game is about to start, so he cheerfully waves the keys at you even as he settles back into his easy chair.
You're not certain that you have forgiven Caleb for abandoning you back at the base, but your time inside Dana has left you feeling calmer, and you feel better for having confided in at least one friend. And so you actually swell a little with pity when Caleb answers the doorbell himself, looking altogether miserable. "Hi Dana," he says morosely as he lets you in.
"Gosh, Caleb, you look terrible. What's wrong?"
He leads you back through the living room, where Mrs. Ryerson looks up with a quietly watchful expression, and into his bedroom. He flops onto his bed and points you to a chair. You have to push books and papers off it before you can sit down.
"It's been a bad weekend," he says gruffly, then presses his hands to his face. "David—" he chokes a little and stops.
"What about David?"
He takes a ragged breath. "David and I went up to the state park after school Friday. And we wound up breaking into the military base out there."
"Uh huh?"
He sniffs—an ugly sound. "Yeah, we climbed the fence and broke into a building. He wanted to mess around with stuff. I didn't and I— I left him, Dana. I shouldn't have, but I did."
"What do you mean you left him? What happened?"
"I got outside, and then I heard a boom, like an explosion. And then there was smoke and stuff pouring out of the building. Guys came running."
"So you're saying you ran away? That wasn't very noble of you." Your voice has acquired a chill, but he seems not to notice.
"I ran back to the car, and then I drove back around to the gate and told them that David was probably inside that building."
"You what?" This is a surprise.
"They couldn't find him, though," he says. He seems oblivious to anything you might say. "They kept me and they questioned me. And I had to go back out there yesterday so they could question me some more. But they can't find David. He must—" He chokes again. "He must—" But he can't get it out. "Oh, Dana, I shouldn't have left him."
You're too stunned to speak as the implications of what he has said sink in. It's not just the discovery that Caleb did not actually bug out completely on you. It's also the implication that the military guys know it wasyou who were inside the building. Of course, they probably don't know that you survived, but you realize you can't dismiss the possibility that they did. You suck on your lower lip as you ponder this.
Meanwhile, Caleb has curled into a ball. He's not crying, but it does look like he's been kicked in the stomach.
Eventually, you put out a hand and start stroking his hair. "You did everything you could, Caleb," you say.
"I should have stopped him," he mutters again.
"I don't think he was in the mood to be stopped," you say, remembering the white-hot fury you'd felt as you'd argued with him.
Caleb snuffles, then looks up curiously at you. "How do you know?"
You realize you've made a mistake with that admission of yours. You're about to try covering it by saying something about how "you know how David is when he gets mad," but you remember that Caleb hadn't said anything about your being angry.
Instead, you look at him very carefully. "What if I told you that I'd talked to David? That I knew all about what happened, and that's the reason I came over?"
Caleb's eyes widen, and his breath begins to come in short gasps. "You've talked to him? How? He got out?" He sits up on the bed and leans forward eagerly. "Where is he?"
There's a soft knock at the door, and Mrs. Ryerson looks in. "Caleb, I'm going to run over to the store. Is there anything I can get you?"
Caleb starts, then waves her off. She winces at his lack of interest and gratitude, and leaves.
But her interruption has given you the few seconds you needed to let your intuitions take over. Until this moment you only knew that Caleb's misery had melted the last of your anger; now you only want to help take his pain and guilt away. To do that you could either reveal yourself, as you'd revealed yourself to Dana, or you could try possessing him. Now you know what you mean to do.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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