Possessed

It was a fresh morning in Spring.  The quiet little town of Sildown had just woken up and begun a new day.  Hank ran back down the street to the tour bus with the band’s snacks, feeling the cool breeze on his face.  His arms laden with cold drinks and rustling bags of chips, his jackets pockets full of the chocolate bars he’d just bought from the small shop.  As Hank rounded the corner at a quick pace, two larger, mean looking men round the very same corner and smash!  Cans and chip packets are lost to the air as Hank is knocked flat onto his back.  One of the two men reaches his dirty hands down and snatches up poor Hank, holding him off the ground by the front of his shirt.  “What in the hell do ya think you’re doin’ boy?  Runnin’ straight into us like that!” 

Hank tried to speak and stuttered out, “I, I, I’m sorry Sir, I did, did, didn’t mean to run, run-” 

“You’re sorry?  You stupid piece of crap!” 

The man’s associate then interrupted “Ah come on Jud.  He didn’t mean no harm, le’s get goin’ on to Bill’s”. 

With that Jud dropped Hank back onto his feet and slammed him up against the wall.  “You watch where the hell your goin’ in the future boy.” 

“Ye, ye, yes Sir”  Hank said as the two bigger men turned and continued down the street.  Hank bent and collected all the drinks he’d dropped and all the bags of chips, then hurried back to the bus. 

“Hey g, g, guys, sorry I to, took so long.  Here’s your snacks.”  Hank headed past the band members stuff towards the back of the bus and brushing the dark curtain to one side saw the three band members sitting in a triangle.  It was dark in the back half of the bus, all the windows were covered in black tape.  What little light there was came from candles attached to the buses interior.  Hank immediately saw that the band were trying another one of their ritual summonings or something, so he slowly backed out and quietly he let the curtain fall back into place.  He carried the snacks and drinks back up to the front of the bus.  Mmm, they’re probably in the full-on trance by now, suppose I better get us moving he thought.  Hank put down all his goodies and sat in the drivers seat.  He looked up into the small mirror on his windshield and two brown eyes looked back at him .  He ran his hand through his brown hair and brushing it back could see no injuries on his face.   He pulled his seat belt over his denim jacket and heard the rustle of a chocolate bar within.  Hank reached in and picked out the snack, then casually threw in to the pile of snack’s on another seat.  Hank started up the bus and drove it off towards the venue for the band’s next big gig. 

He still couldn’t believe that he was the bus driver for one of the biggest and hottest new bands in the entire of the United States of America.  Spirit, the newest music sensation had started off an entire new era for rock music by including a gothic touch to all the songs.  But for the three band members, Jack the guitarist, Lee the drummer and Harry the vocalist, their music was more than just their career, it was their whole way of living.  Not only did they write songs about and perform around the occult, but all the band members had a strong interest in anything to do with the unnatural and had collected as much as they could on the subject for as long as they all could remember.  Also the band as a whole or as individual members, was an excellent source of knowledge on the subject of the occult.  They’d even thought of the band’s name from their favourite part of the occult; life after death, the band’s area of specialisation had influenced them and they’d called themselves Spirit.  Now that name was one of the biggest in the music business. 

Hank had been good friends with all the band members for many years now.  He’d first met them when they’d just begun writing songs.  He’d love to listen to them play and when they couldn’t find anywhere to practice, Hank would help them move their stuff into his big empty garage.  After a while the garage was the only place the band played, until they eventually got their record deal. 

When the band made it big, they sort of felt they owed Hank for letting them practice in his garage, so they offered him any job they could give him.  The only thing Hank could do of any use to the band was to drive their tour bus, but that suited Hank fine.  He’d get to go to all the gigs for free and he wouldn’t have to work while he was there - just sit back and enjoy the music. 

As Hank was reminiscing over these fond memories his attention began to drift and he stopped concentrating on the long, empty highway ahead.  The road just seemed to be a straight line across whichever state they were in.  Hank had lost track as he sped along the road, pushing the bus to its fastest speed.  The car that then swerved in front of them caught Hank completely off guard.  Hank swerved and slammed both feet down on the brake peddle.  But the swerve made Hank over steer and as the buses front tire burst, the tour bus flipped.  The bus rolled twice along the road and then slid on it’s side at an angle before stopping.  Hank remained strapped into the drivers seat until the bus eventually ground to a halt. 

When Hank came too, his head hurt.  He touched the painful spot and his fingers came away with blood on them.  Hank was still strapped into the drivers seat, but now he was on his side as that was the position the bus had ended up in, laying on the edge of the road on its side.  Hank undid the seat belt and fell to the buses now cracked window.  His chest ached where the seat belt had held him tightly in place and Hank began to rub his aching body.  He climbed to his feet and staggered towards the back off the bus.  The curtain hung towards what was now the floor and partially blocked Hank’s path over the windows.  As Hank stepped into the back half of the bus he felt something hit him square in the chest... 

Harry, Jack and Lee stood in the back of the bus.  The three of them had been in a trance, oblivious to the world around them as they meditated.  Now they all looked down at their own lifeless bodies feeling confused, but not afraid.  What had happened?  Why was the bus on its side?  The three bodies had all been young and in good health.  In life, Lee had been the biggest of the three, with Jack and Harry slightly smaller and of similar, average builds to each other.  All three had been bigger than Hank.  They had dyed their hair black and had had pail skin, which with the black clothes they always wore, gave them the appearance of ghost’s even when they were alive. 

Harry could see the drivers seat and he saw Hank unstrap himself and stagger towards the back of the bus. 

Jack said in toneless voice “We’re dead.” 

“NO, not now.  I don’t want to die!” cried Lee. 

“We weren’t supposed to die now” Harry said in a surprisingly calm voice. 

“Oh yeah?” said Lee “Well I ain’t going.” 

“What are you going to do?” Harry asked  “Possess Hank?” 

Lee’s ghostly eyes stared at Harry before he glanced at Jack and in that moment the three souls of the band did the only thing they could see to do as a reasonable course of action; they flew at Hank. 

The force of the blow was enough to throw Hank off of his feet and flat on his back for the second time that day.  Hank’s body felt weird, then spasms began to overcome him.  Hank lay wriggling on the floor desperately trying to regain control of his body through the pain.  He writhed and strained and when his strength finally ran out Hank lay still.  Hank’s soul had been engaged in a battle with the three invaders, all fighting for control of this body.  Breathing heavily Hank realised that the pain had ended, but that he couldn’t move his arms or legs.  He kept trying to get back up, but no matter how hard he willed himself to move, he couldn’t.  Hank gave up.  Then, without even realising it, Hank found himself on his feet and then, the voices started. 

“Relax, Hank” said Leein Hank’s mind “I got control of your legs.”

“What?” cried Hank.

“Yeah, and me and Jack have got control of your arms.  Jack’s got the left one.”

With that Hank’s left arm moved of its own accord upwards and made Hank solute. 

“Woooow” Hank uttered and with that he passed out.  But passing out did not have the normal results.  All that happened was that Hank’s neck went limp letting his head hang over his chest. 

Without Hank’s mind in a conscious state and running the show, the band members found that they could no longer communicate, so Hank’s unconscious body just stood there with both hands slapping at his face as Harry and Jack tried to revive their friend.  Eventually they succeeded. 

“Now Hank” said Jack into his mind “Don’t go passing out on us again, we need you to get us around.” 

“Okay guys, I’m sor- hey wait a minute, what are you guys doing inside me anyway?  And how did you get there?  AND WHY DID YOU DO IT?”  Hank scream excitedly. 

Harry began “Now just stay calm, Hank…  Calm.  We’re inside you ‘cause there was no one else around.  We’re not exactly sure how we did it, guess all that stuff we read was more than fiction, obviously it really does work.” 

Lee picked up from there “And we did it ‘cause we ain’t ready to die yet, so better get used to us, Hank, ‘cause there ain’t no way you can get rid of us.  For a start, you don’t know how!”

“So, let me get this straight.  The greatest band in the world has just been killed in a road accident and the band members refuse to pass on.  Soooo instead of resting in peace you guys have possessed me and are now resting in pieces of me?”

“That’s about the size of it, Hank” confirmed Jack. 

“So, in effect…  I…  Am the greatest band alive?!” 

“Yep, you sure-” Harry tried to agree but was interrupted. 

“Hey, my stutter.  It’s gone!  Wow, first I discover I’m the greatest band alive and then I lose my stutter!  And to think, this day started out so bad.”  

“Well hey, Hank, it hasn’t gone too great for the rest of us you know.” 

“Sorry Lee.” 

“Why on earth did you swerve any way Hank?”

“I., can’t remember, Lee.  I’m sorry.  I’m sure it will come to me.” 

“So what are we gonna do now guys?” Jack asked them all. 

“Well I’m not about to miss out on all the stuff we would have had just ‘cause I ain’t got a body no more” said Lee. “Hank, we’re gonna transform you from you into the biggest mother in the entire music business.” 

“Wow, hey guys, thanks and everything but I’d rather not.  Right now all I want to do is go and get myself patched up back at that town we just stopped at.” 

“Yeah, I suppose keeping you in a healthy condition is one of our highest priorities right now” Harry agreed “Lets get going.  Lee, if you’d like to give it a try.” 

“You got it, Harry.  Here we go.” 

With that Lee swung Hank’s right leg forward, but overestimated the muscle needed and everyone saw Hank’s right foot swing up into view, before seeing it swing down again and land Hank in a very clumsy version of the splits. 

“AAAHHH” screamed Hank “LEE, WATCH WHAT YOUR DOING THERE!”

“Oops, sorry Hank.  Harry, Jack, shall we try and get Hank back up on his feet?”  The band began to move their respective limbs and eventually Hank was returned to a vertical position.  “This time Lee, try to take it a little easier.” 

Hank’s leg moved once again but this time all went well and Lee was able to start a pattern. 

“Hey guys?  This feels really weird.” 

“You know Hank” said Jack “You shouldn’t need to speak out loud for us to hear you.”

“I know, but it makes me feel a little easier about this whole situation.”

“Fair enough.”

The group of souls moved their body back down the bus and walked through the open space where the windshield had been, back towards the town they’d just left.  It took a while of walking, but after about twenty minutes, Hank noticed his arms had started to swing in his stride.  Everyone was co-operating nicely to make Hank appear as normal as possible.  The band weren’t doing too bad a job of getting Hank back to the town, but he still couldn’t get used to the feeling of walking without being in control of his body.  It took them about forty five minutes, but Hank and all the members of Spirit eventually made it back to the town. 

It didn’t take too long to find a drug store where Hank bought some plasters and some disinfectant.  After Hank and the others had found a quiet corner in a back alley and patched their body up, the time for a decision came.  As they left the alley and walked back onto the main street Lee asked the others “So, where do we go from here?”  As he spoke into the mind of Hank, a black car drove by and as Hank thoughtlessly watched it, a memory rushed back to him.  The image of the black car that had cut Hank up on the road was displayed in his mind for all four of his body’s occupants to see.  “Hank, what was that?  I just saw one of your memories!” 

“We all saw it, Lee.  Hank, can you remember exactly what is was about or where you saw it?” 

“Yeah, I think... it was the car that swerved in front of me on the road earlier.  That’s what happened, it was no accident, we were targeted by someone.” 

“The car was heading the same way we were, to the next town where our gig is, er, I mean was.” 

“Yeah, you’re right, Jack.  We should maybe try to get there, at the very least we gotta try to explain to Marvin what’s happened.” 

Marvin was the band’s manager.  A cool kind of guy and the band liked the gigs he arranged for them and the way he operated.  Although Marvin constantly complained he’s not being paid enough by the world’s newest sensation, they know he’d never leave them no matter how bad his complaints got.  Marvin always preferred to travel to whatever venue they would be performing at alone, as he liked to get there in his own time. 

“Hank, you got the band credit card on ya still, right?” 

“Don’t worry, Lee.  I still got the card, it’s right here.”  Hank tried to pat his jacket pocket before remembering he could no longer move either of his arms. 

“Good.  On the way back into town I saw a used car dealership.  We’re gonna go get us some wheels and get to that next arena.” 

The band walked Hank back to the edge of town and into the car dealership.  A greasy looking salesman sprang out from nowhere and started to practice his trade.  Within fifteen minutes Hank was being handed the keys to a reasonably old car which he was assured was a ‘steal’ by the greasy salesman.  Harry moved Hank’s right arm to shake the salesman’s hand and then Lee walked them back over to the cheap car they’d chosen and bought.  Once inside Hank spoke “Are you guy’s sure about this, I mean a while ago we could barley walk.”

“Don’t worry about it Hank.  Harry and Jack will be fine and I know I can be in charge of stop and go, besides, how hard can it be?”

“Yeah Hank don’t worry, all you need to do is keep you mind clear so that we can all keep in touch.  And whatever you do Hank, don’t pass out again.”

Harry and Jack started the car up and took the hand brake off.  Then Harry put the car into drive and Lee gently put his foot down.  Jack then steered them out onto the road with a little help from Harry and Hank screamed. 

“What’s the matter, Hank?”

“Er, I’d really appreciate it if you could stay a little bit further away from the parked cars, Harry.” 

“No problem, Hank.  Hey Lee, put Hank’s foot down and lets go.”

“You got it, Harry.”

With that the band shot out of the town towards their original destination.  As they sped along Hank began to concentrate on the memory that they’d all seen earlier.  “Hey guys doesn’t the car in my memory look a lot like Marvin’s?”

“No…  Yes!   That is Marvin’s car!!!” 

“No it’s not, Lee.  Marvin would never do a thing like that to us.” 

“Wouldn’t he?” 

“No Jack, he wouldn’t…  Would he?” 

“You got to admit Harry, it does look a lot like Marvin’s car and the memory’s not clear enough for us to be certain one way or the other.” 

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough.  If it was him though, he’s gonna be joining us real soon.”

“I still can’t believe it was him, Lee” added Harry. 

The group continued on their journey in relative silence after that.  None of them entering Hank’s mind with explanations or guesses about Marvin and his car, they just drove on.  They passed the wreckage of their bus on the side of the road.  The authorities had arrived and were trying to clean it all up and sort out what happened.  None of the members of Spirit felt at all easy as they drove past.  While Spirit drove the car Hank began to experiment.  He tried thinking thoughts in the back of his mind, not quite his subconscious, but not clear and open thoughts.  He tried building a mental wall and when it was complete, Hank began thinking behind this wall.  He shouted out from in his mind to the others, but none responded.  Hank tried everything he could think of to get them to answer him, if they could hear him and after a while, Hank was convinced that from this corner of his mind he could again think in private.  Hank wondered if it was just the wall that was keeping his thoughts from the others, so he put himself the other side of it and again began to think quiet little thoughts to the band.  Still Hank received no reply.  Hank began broadcasting his thoughts as loudly as he could from this place and it was then that he was answered. 

“What was that Hank, You were barley audible.”

“Nothing Harry, I was just testing what you said about me not needing to talk to be heard by you guys.” 

“Oh, okay.” 

Shortly after Hank made this discovery, the group arrived at their destination.  A positively huge arena outside of what looked to be a pretty big town.  The arena was about a mile from the town with nothing but open space between the two. 

“Well, there’s Marvin’s car.” 

“Let’s go guys, time for a little pay back.” 

“Calm down, Lee.  We don’t even know for sure that Marvin is to blame for this situation.” 

“Then let’s go find out.” 

Team work once again prevailed as the band moved Hank’s body from the car and started him off towards the entrance to the arena.  Jack had locked up their little car and dropped the keys into Hank’s jacket pocket. 

“Hey look guys, there’s cancelled signs all over the posters advertising your gig.  It’s almost as if they knew you wouldn’t be playing here.” 

“Marvin’s got a lot to answer for” said Lee angrily. 

Hank approached the entrance to the arena to find that the door to the staff entrance had been forced and the lock had been broken off.  “Looks like there’s been a break in.  We better be careful” warned Jack. 

They entered through the broken doorway and Lee made Hank creep along the dark corridor.  They couldn’t find a light switch, but could see a light up ahead coming from an open doorway.  It was cold in the back corridors of the deserted arena.  They were about twenty meters away from the doorway when they saw a figure silhouetted as it left the doorway and walked away from them towards the auditorium.  Lee pushed Hank’s back against the wall as they all watched the mysterious figure walk away.  When the figure had gone the band hurried over to the doorway.  Jack pushed the door all the way open and Lee stepped them into the room.  It was an office, normally the place they’d find Marvin.  At that moment all suspicions about Marvin’s involvement in the death of Spirit were forgotten.  Marvin had been murdered.  His dead body lay motionless face down on the ground in a pool of blood.  Lee bent down and Jack rolled Marvin’s body onto its back.  Everyone could now see that Marvin had been shot several times.  Marvin had been reaching his forties and had been a slim, black man who had always looked good in his expensive tastes. 

Harry used the index and middle fingers of Hank’s right hand to shut Marvin’s eyes.  All were at a loss for words, they were now more confused than ever.  Staring at Marvin’s body, Hank became even more aware of the cold and a chill ran down his spine, making both Harry and Jack flinch their arms.  As Lee stood them back up again, Hank looked away from the body and abliviously stared straight at Marvin. 

“MARVIN” Harry shouted “We can see you!” 

“Of course we can” Hank muttered before realising “Wait, you mean that Marvin is still here?” 

“Yeah, can’t you see him?  He’s right there in that corner, right where you’re looking!” 

Although Marvin’s body lay dead in front of Hank, his spirit had not yet departed.  Marvin sat on the floor in the corner of the room behind the desk.  He appeared to be leaning up against the wall with his knees up next to his chest, his arms wrapped round his lower legs.  Marvin had a terrified look on his face and was staring at the floor. 

“Quick Hank, tell Marvin we can see him” Lee said. 

“But we can’t!” 

“Hank, just do it now!” 

All this was happening so fast that at Lee’s instruction Hank relayed the words exactly as Harry had shouted them “MARVIN, we can see you!” 

At this, Marvin appeared to jump and instantly stared up towards Hank. 

“Be right back” said Lee and with that he exited Hank’s body.  Hank didn’t drop all the way to the floor, but he did lose his balance for a second and stagger to the nearest wall to lean against it.  Hank then slid his shoulder up the wall until he was standing up straight.   The remaining members of Spirit watched through Hank as Lee crouched down and was able to touch Marvin.  Lee helped the band manager back to his feet and lead him towards Hank. 

“Brace yourself, Hank” said Harry. 

“Oh no” cried Hank “ you can’t, not another one!” 

“It’s the only way, Hank.  We can’t let Marvin go yet, we have to find out who killed him!” 

Lee and Marvin stepped into Hank’s body and as they did Hank fell to the floor once again going into spasms as his own body fought to repel the invading spirits once more.  After a  few seconds, Hank lay still.  All the members of Spirit, Marvin and Hank all began to converse in Hank’s mind. 

“Guys, it’s me Hank.  I can’t talk through my mouth anymore, who took control of my head?”

“I guess that would be me then” Marvin said out loud “What’s happened, what have you guys done?” 

Harry began to explain “Okay Marvin, listen up.  Hank was driving us to this place when some maniac drove us off the road.  Hank swerved and we were in a bad accident.  A real bad accident.  Jack, Lee and me were all killed and as you know Hank got away with only a few nasty knocks-” 

“Yeah, lucky me” saidHank. 

“What’s up Hank, I barley heard you, you sound really faint” 

“Yeah I know Jack.  See I been trying to move... anything, and now I can’t.  I think I’ve been pushed off into the back of my OWN mind.  I can still hear you guys fine, but I can’t see unless I look into my memory at what you guys have just looked at.”

“Can you hear?” asked Jack.

“Yeah, ‘cause as soon as you guys hear something, it automatically goes into my memory, so I hear it.”

“Okay, now we’ve sorted that out, where was I?  Oh yeah, we’d all just been killed, but we weren’t ready to leave if you know what I mean.  So we all jumped into Hank.  Now Lee’s controlling Hank’s legs, Jack’s got his left arm and I’ve got control of the right.  And now by the look of it Marv, you’ve got control of Hank’s head.” 

Marvin had been a very calm and relaxed person a lot of the time and now in Hank’s voice he simply said “Okay then.  Lee, if you’ve got control of the legs, would you mind walking us out of here and away from my body.  It’s kind of freaky looking at myself.” Although the voice that came out of Hank’s mouth was his own, it was Marvin’s voice that was heard by all the occupents in Hank’s mind. 

“No problem.  Guys, let’s get up of this floor before we get blood on Hank.  Marvin, can you tell us who killed you?” 

“I can’t remember it that clearly, just images.  The lights in the passage way went out, I heard someone walking towards the office, I went to see who it was, I was standing near the door...  Someone shot me.  There was no loud bang, he must have used a silencer.  I can’t remember the face” said Marvin feeling frustrated. 

Lee was now picking up the pace and trotting Hank’s body back the way they had come.  If anyone had seen the strange sight, they’d have noticed the odd way Hank’s arms just hung limply at his sides, rather than moved with the momentum of his jogging. 

They reached the door and walked through back out into the open air.  As Hank’s body and all its passengers rounded the corner of the building heading back towards their car, they heard and saw another car pull out from around back of the arena.  The driver seemed to be in no rush, casually pulling away. 

“Let’s follow ‘em” said Marvin. 

“Why?” asked Jack. 

“What do you mean why?  Why not!?  That could be the killer – we have to follow him!” Harry answered. 

Lee ran them over to their car.  “No, we should take my car” said Marvin. 

“Then we’d have to go back and get the keys off of your body” Harry answered. 

“You’re right and besides we’d lose the guy we’re trying to follow.  Then again it looks like we’re gonna lose them anyway when we end up pushing this old piece of crap down the road!” 

“Hey, it’s better than walking, Marv.  Besides, you’re going to love the team work thing we got going when we drive.” 

“Teamwork?”  Marvin asked suspiciously. 

Jack unlocked the door, Harry opened it and Hank got into the car.  The engine came to life, Lee stamped on the peddle and they pulled away and started to follow the other car.  It was an almost empty road as they headed into the town that the arena was outside of and it was starting to get dark as they drove through the suburbs.  The place looked run down, as if building that arena had as good as bankrupted this town.  The streets in the neighbourhood they were driving through seemed pretty deserted and the whole place had an eerieness to it.  They all saw the mystery car pull up outside a run-down looking house.  Hank’s car pulled up a short didstance away from the mystery car.  After a few seconds the driver shut the engine off and went into the dark house, the shadows keeping him hidden. 

“What should we do now?” asked Marvin. 

“We wait here for a while, then we go in after him.  Find out what he was doing at the arena.” 

“Er, Lee?” 

Lee answered sharply, as if distracted “What is it Jack?” 

“If we’re only going to go ask him what he was doing at the arena why don’t we go in now?”

“Because we’re not just gonna go and knock on the door, we’re going to sneak in and interrogate him for the absolute truth.  We need the element of surprise and this is how they always do it in the movies.” 

“Oh, okay.” 

They shut the engine off and waited in the car for about thirty minutes, each thinking to the other about tactics for the coming mission. 

“Okay guys, I think that’s been long enough.  Jack, get the keys and open the door.  Lee, lets get walkin’.  Harry, keep yourself in Hank’s pocket, make like you got a gun or something.” 

In unison they replied “Okay Marv.” 

Lee moved them to the front door as stealthily as he could.  It was dark now and there was still no one around anyway.  Outside the mystery man’s door Marv whispered “Okay, lets see if we can’t get this door open.  Hey, wait a second Harry, it’s already open.  Hmm, that’s strange.” 

“Oh yeah, that’s real weird.  But five guys all sharing one body, that’s a natural thing, huh.”

“You always did have an answer for everything Lee.  Now shut up and sneak us in there” whispered Marvin. 

Harry gently pushed the door open, then very carefully and just as quietly they all crept inside.  There was an old musky smell in the air and the house seemed unkept.  Shadows on the walls made the place seem like something from an old haunted house movie. 

“Dark in here” Marvin whispered.  “Look, there’s a faint light coming from upstairs.  Lee, carefully move us forwards.  Harry, you and Jack spread out and see if you can guide us using the walls or something.  But be careful!” 

“Okay Marv, me and Jack’ll just spread out as far as we can get.”

Together they all crept upstairs.  As they got closer they could hear the sound of a television.  A game show is on.  They neared the top of the stairs and caused a creak.  “Damn it Lee, be careful.  Move a little slower.”

“If I go any slower Jack, we’ll be headed back down the stairs.” 

Hank’s body reached the top of the stairs and rounded the banister.  Lee, still creeping, moved them to the doorway.  The door was only slightly open.  They could hear a false sounding host promising lots of prizes. 

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do” announced Harry.  “Lee, when I say, you give the door a good hard kick, then run us straight in there.  Then Jack and me will go to work and beat this guy to a pulp.  Once we’ve got him it’ll be up to you Marv, to interrogate this guy.  Okay?” 

“We’re with ya” answered Lee. 

“Not that we have too much choice in the matter” added Hank from the depths of his mind. 

“Did you say something Hank?” asked Harry. 

“I just said lets go” Hank shouted. 

“Okay, GO!” 

And with that the plan was put into action.  Lee raised Hank’s right leg and kicked the door as hard as he could.  It flew backwards, hit the edge of the mattress as the bed was behind the door and swung back almost just as fast to hit Hank before Lee had even put Hank’s foot back on the floor. 

“GO AGAIN!” Harry shouted. 

This time Jack lunged forwards and pushed the door open and Lee ran forwards into the room, but they saw no one except the players of the game show on the television in front of them. 

“THE BED!” shouted Hank. 

Lee spun them around and to their shock, a beautiful, half dressed girl was sitting on the bed.  She had long dark hair and looked as if she’d just been rudely awakened.  As soon as she saw Hank, her dark eyes flashed to the opposite side of the bed from the door, where the bedside table sat.  Hank, Marvin and the band didn’t know what to do as they followed the girl’s eyes to the bedside table, where they saw a gun with a silencer attached to it.  The band was attacked by confusion as the girl lunged for the gun, grabbed it and pointed at them.  In a moment of mad panic, teamwork was forgotten as both arms flew out to their respective sides and the legs charged forwards.  Marv closed his eyes in a reaction to the fear he felt at having the same gun pointed at him twice in the same day. 

Seeing a man waving his arms and charging towards her with his eyes shut, the girl panicked and pulled the trigger of her gun.  Hank was shot fatally and died before he hit the ground. 

For a few split seconds the members of Spirit, Marvin and Hank all stood in spiritual form looking at Hank’s dead body.  Then in unison they all looked at the girl.  Harry grabbed Hank, Lee grabbed Marv and Jack lead the way… 

Louise never knew what hit her.  Before she new it she had rolled off of the bed and was on the floor having uncontrollable convulsions.  The gun had fallen from her hand and was still on the bed.  During the battle for control Hank was aware of what was happening and noticed the painlessness of not being on the receiving end of invading Spirits.  The five souls easily overpowered the one. 

When it was done everyone regrouped to see who had what this time. 

“Well, looks like I got the head again” said Marvin “Guys?” 

“I’m out of the legs” said Lee “I got the left arm this time.”

“I’ve switched arms, now I’ve got the right one.  Have you got the legs, Harry?”

“I’ve got the legs” confirmed Harry. 

“And what a pair of legs they are” Marvin commented as he looked into a mirror haning on the wall. 

“So what happened to the body’s owner?” asked Jack. 

“She’s down there.” 

“That you Hank?  Thought we’d lost you for a moment.” 

“I’m dead guys.  She killed me!” 

“Calm down Hank, we’re all right here with ya” said Lee. 

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.  I think I can deal with it, at least for now.”

“Now Hank, what did you mean when you said ‘she’s down there’”  questioned Harry. 

“Remember when you all invaded me, I got pushed into the back of my mind?  Well now Louise -that’s her name- has been pushed further than that, she’s gone right down into her own subconscious.” 

“Hank, if I’ve got the legs now, Jack and Lee have got the arms and Marv’s got the head, what have you got?” 

“I didn’t get anything, I’m just here in her mind.  When you grabbed me and pulled me in here with you, I didn’t know how to possess a body, much less a part of a body.  So I’m just here in Louises’ mind.  A bit like an alternate personality or something I suppose.  All I did was put myself where I’m most used to being, the mind.” 

“Hank, can you go speak to this Louise and find out for sure if it was her that killed me – don’t want the real killer turning up and catching us off guard.  And if it was her, try and find out why!” 

“And Hank, see if she knows anything about what happened to us as well.” 

“Okay, guys.  While I’m doing that, can you get us out of here and away from my body?  I’ll be back upto talk to you guys later.” 

With that, Marvin and the band felt Hank’s presence become faint, as if they were back in his body and he’d been pushed to the back of his mind again, but this time much further back. 

“Okay guys.  Let’s get the keys to the car off Hank’s body and get out of here”. 

“I don’t really want to, but I suppose we should put the rest of Louises’ clothes back on her.” 

“Wow Harry.  Louise has great tits” 

“LEE!  JACK!  LEAVE THOSE ALONE!!  Remember we’re only borrowing this body.” 

The band began to dress Louise.  They put her shirt back on and then her jeans.  Louise was in great shape and was very attractive.  She had beautiful smooth pale skin and was still in her twenties. 

“Hey guys, check her pockets!” 

Jack reached in and took out some keys and about $50.  Once examined, Jack replaced them in the pocket.  The pocket Lee inspected revealed a screwed up piece of paper with the word Loki written on it and what appeared to be a phone number. 

They picked up her leather coat and walked over to Hank’s body, Jack turned the television off on the way and got the keys to their car and Hank’s wallet.  As Harry turned them around and they prepared to leave, Marvin glanced at Louises’ gun on the bed still with the silencer attached. 

“Should we take it?” asked Jack. 

“Well, the holster is still there on the bedside table.” 

“Okay” said Harry and he walked them over to the bed.  “Pick up the holster, Lee.”

Lee did as he was told and then together he and Jack put it on.  It fitted very snugly around Louises’ slim shoulders and was completely hidden under her coat. 

“Right, Jack get the gun and put it in the holster.  Be careful though, there’s no one else round to possess if it goes off!” 

“It’s all right.  My dad had a gun like this last time I went to visit him.  Home protection he said.  He showed me that he never had it loaded, always kept the safety on anyway.  So that’s what we’ll do.  Lee, hold the top part of the gun and I’ll flick the safety on”.

Again Lee did as he was instructed and Jack put the safety on the gun. 

“That should do it” Jack said as he slipped the gun into it’s holster and fastened the stud to keep it in place.  As he did, Harry crawled back off the bed and walked them out of the room. 

“Jack, Lee, see if you can find the light switch.  I don’t fancy going down stairs in this new body just yet.” 

“Got it” said Lee.  He flicked the switch.  Nothing happened.  Lee kept flicking the switch, but still nothing.  “Well, at least now we know why the light was off.” 

“Okay then guys.  Reach out and touch the walls, they’ll do to keep our balance as we go down.” 

Both Louise’s arms stretched out until her hands felt the papered surface of the wall and the wood banister for the stairs.  Jack and Lee slid her hands down the wall and the rail as Harry marched them down the steps. 

“Hey, where should we go once we get to the car?” 

“Good question.  Let’s see if we can get to the car first” answered Harry. 

After a little more effort from the members of Spirit, Louise was eventually standing outside the building.  The street was as empty as before and no one else in the world knew what had just happened to the pretty girl standing alone in front of the house. 

“Okay” began Marvin “There is nothing connecting Hank to that piece of crap over there, right?” he asked as he nodded towards the old banger that was Hank’s car. 

“Not as far as we know” said Harry “Since that car salesman let us fill out all those form’s in the band’s credit account name, the same that’s actually on the card itself.” 

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” said Lee “not if Hank is dead now and Louise can’t be traced.” 

“I’m taking a guess, but I doubt Louise was real well known around this neighbourhood, so we could take her car and split, without being specifically looked for by the police when they find Hank’s body.”

“Lets find out.  HANK?  HANK!”

After a few moments Hank answered “Yeah, what is it Harry? 

“We need you to find out right now if Louise was well known round here, so we can take her car and split so the police won’t have a clue where to start looking.” 

“Oh, I already know that.  Louise and me been talking, you’d be amazed how slow time goes by in your mind.” 

“Well then?” 

“Oh, yeah.  Nah, she rented that place out this morning so she had somewhere close to the arena to go to in case things went badly with Marv.  Nobody round here knows her.” 

“In case things went badly with Marv?” 

“Yeah, sorry Marv, but Louise was the one that killed you.  She’s also the driver that sent us off the road” 

“Why?” 

“Don’t know yet.  I was just finding out when Harry called me back.” 

“Okay.  Keep on it Hank.  We take her car and we go find a motel to finish the interrogation up in.” 

Driving the car wasn’t a problem and it wasn’t very long before Marvin spotted a motel.  They parked up outside and went in.  The room was only $10 for the night, the manager said that business was poor unless something was going on at the arena and now that this new band Spirit’s gig had been cancelled, he’d lost a lot of potential business.  The manager handed over the key to the room which Jack took.  Marv thanked the man and Harry walked them off down the corridor towards their room.  They’d been given the last room at the end of the hall, room 13. 

“Room 13” said Jack “Unlucky for some.” 

No one answered him.  Louise went into the room and turned on the light.  The band then walked her over to the bed and turned on the smaller night light too.  Then they went back closed the door and turned off the room’s main light. 

“What did you do that for?”

“We all prefer it like this, in just a dimly lit room” answered Harry. 

“You don’t mind, do ya Marv?” Lee asked. 

“No, I spose’ not.  Been a real weird day today, let’s try and get some sleep or whatever we do now.” 

Jack and Lee took off Louises’ coat and drapped it over the end of the bed in the small room.  They took off the holster and opened a draw in the bedside unit.  Gently Jack put the weapon into the draw and Lee closed it. 

The band lay Louise down and although they wouldn’t be able to sleep, Marvin would be able to and they could rest Louises’ body.  After a while they felt Marv slip away and become faint the way Hank had. 

Marvin drifted further and further from consciousness.  Things became quieter and quieter, until he was asleep.  He began to dream, he could see Hank and Louise.  They were far away and he couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they seemed to be having a heated discussion of some sort.  Marvin decided he would go and talk with them and so began to walk towards them. 

Hank stood opposite Louise listening to her.  They were on a beach and each time Louise grew angry and shouted at Hank the sea would rage behind her.  Here in this non-material world, the sun shone atop a bright sky and the sky blew gently across the sand.  Hank stood in the form of his old body, just a little taller than Louise was.  He listened to her; 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY’VE POSSESSED ME?  ANSWER ME DAMN IT!” 

“No Louise, you answer my questions first.” 

“I TOLD YOU, I’VE HAD IT WITH YOUR QUESTIONS.  You tell me what’s going on and I might tell you what you want to know, no, better yet, get the hell out of my mind and give me back my body!” 

“’Fraid we can’t do that Louise.  We need your body.” 

“I NEED MY BODY!” 

“Louise, just calm down.” 

Louise turned her back on Hank so that she now faced the sea.  As she did, the water grew calmer and the waves stopped their crashing ashore and began to gently brush the sand. 

Louise appeared the way she had been dressed earlier in the day.  She was wearing jeans and a shirt.  Her leather coat was missing and her gun had no place here.  The girl’s dark hair hung down loosely over her shoulders. 

Hank took two steps towards Louise so that he now stood directly behind her.  “I’m sorry for this Louise.  I know it’s difficult to accept.  Just a few hours ago I was the one they possessed.  Carrying round the greatest rock band ever and their manager.  That is of course until you killed me as well.  Why?  Tell me why Louise.” 

Louise turned back to face Hank and he saw that her eyes had glazed over with tears in them.  Then she began “It wasn’t always like this.  I used to be a good person.  I had a nice life, I was a journalist.  Then one evening I was watching the news on the TV and I saw that my mother and my father had been murdered.  I couldn’t believe it at first.  The reporter said that they had returned home during the middle of a break-in.  Of course the news hadn’t given any names, but I knew it had been them, I just knew…  The robbers had held them hostage while they stole everything, then they’d murdered them in cold blood.  When I’d finished mourning their loss, I put everything I had into finding their murderers.  I had a lot of sources at the paper and when one of them finally gave me the information I needed, I went straight to the police.  The police told me that without evidence or my sources testimony, there was nothing they could do.  My source was too scared to testify and I think that’s when I lost it.  I went out and I bought a gun - the one I shot you with.” 

Louise stopped at this point and turned to face the ocean again. 

“I went to the address that my source had given me and broke in to the apartment there.  As luck would have it the place was empty.  I waited for nearly two hours for those two killers to come back but it was worth it.  Once they were both inside I shot them both and got revenge for my parents.” 

Louise was quiet for a long while until Hank said “But that doesn’t explain why you killed all of us.” 

“I didn’t know this at the time, but the killers place was being watched.  The opposite building was identical to theirs and in the opposite room was my source.  He had a camera with him.  A couple of weeks after I did what I did, my source paid me a visit, with some of his new photos.” 

As Louise spoke these words, Hank was instantly sucked into a vision of her memories. 

Hank stood in a room adjacent to Louise and a man who looked vaguely familiar.  He was quite short and looked dirty.  He had long greasy hair that hung down loosely over his denim jacket.  The man was at ease as he took long drags on his cigarette.  Louise was grinding the knuckles of her right hand into the palm of her left, she was worried about something.  She stood wearing grey trousers and a white blouse. 

“So Louise, that’s the way it is” the man said. 

“You bastard!” was Louise’s reply.  “Why me?!” 

“Because you can do the job for free, honey.  And if you’re careful enough, ya can make it look like an accident or something and maybe even get away with killing these guys too.”  The man spoke smoothly. 

“You make it sound like you’re giving me a choice in this matter.”

“Course I’m giving you a choice” said the man  “It’s just that if you don’t do me this little favour then I’m gonna feel pressure on me as an honest citizen, to tell the cops what you did to those two dirt bags at just the same time some photo’s are anonymously delivered to the pig pen.” 

“Those bastards deserved what they got, they killed my parents!” 

“You know that and I know that, but the cops don’t and with no proof they’d never believe you.” 

Louise turned from the man and walked over to her window.  She looked down into the dark empty street, thinking to herself. 

“All right.  I’ll do it.  But once this is done, I want the negatives and those photo’s, deal?”

“Okay Louise, I’ll play along.”  The man got up from where he was sitting and walked towards Louise as she turned back to face him.  The two shook hands.  “When the job is done, then I’ll send you your photo’s.” 

“And the negatives too.” 

“Yeah and the negatives too, honey.” 

“All right Loki, now get the hell out of my place.” 

Hank instantly found himself back on the beach with Louise and now Marvin too.  Louise had turned back to Hank again.  “I just want you to know, Hank, I’m not proud of what I’ve done to you and your friends.” 

Hank simply stared into Louises’ big dark eyes. 

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS SHIT” shouted Marvin. 

“What are you doing here?” cried Louise. 

Marvin was in a fit.  He ignored Louise and began to rave on. 

“What is it Marv?” asked Hank. 

“I know that piece of shit.  He’s in a band like Spirit, only not like Spirit, they’re called Demon.” 

That’s where I’ve seen him before, at a gig or something thought Hank.  Hank tried to calm Marvin down, but still Marvin stomped around screaming. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Louise shouted. 

“I used to manage those shit heads that call themselves Demon” cried Marvin. 

“You used to manage Demon?” echoed Hank  “I can’t believe it!” 

“Oh hey man, we’re talking years ago now.  And if you think Spirit were ever freaky you should have seen these guys.  I couldn’t take the amount of weird shit these ass holes did.  When Spirit started making themselves known, the guys in Demon got really screwed up.  Started saying how it should have been them and how they’d get Spirit for this.  I didn’t take too much notice until one time things got so freaked out they said they were really gonna kill all you guys.  That was enough for me so I left them.  Then before I know it, the record company is introducing me to Spirit.  Man we gotta go tell the guys about this, how do I get outta here?” 

Hank looked at Louise and then walked over to Marvin and pulled him to one side.  “Marvin, you’ll have to go back the way you came, otherwise Louise could try to follow you back up and there could be another struggle for control.  I’ll stay here with her.” 

“Okay, Hank” Marvin said with a nod and with that he turned and started jogging back the way he came. 

“Do you know how to get me out of here?” asked Louise. 

“No.” 

“I don’t believe you.” 

“Louise, I can’t lie to you in here.  You can search all my conscious for proof if you want, just concentrate on what you’re trying to do.” 

“Okay” nodded Louise and she took a step towards Hank.  Louise closed her eyes and started to concentrate.  In a moment she saw everything that Hank had ever done.  Louise saw what Hank had told Marvin and that if she had of followed Marvin back up all that would have happened would have been more pain for her as she tried to repel the other spirits.  For some reason Hank had wanted to spare her the unnecessary pain.  She had ended his life and still he did not want to see her in pain.  This one thought mystified Louise.  The last people to care for her had been her parents and no one since them had ever shown her as much love.  Friends and lovers had come and gone, but never had that someone special, someone who really, deeply loved her been a part of her life.  Slowly, Louise opened her eyes and looked at the man stood before her. 

The sea became still and the waves stopped, almost as if they now stood in front of an undisturbed lake. 

Louise’s eyes opened and the words “Guys, I’m back” came out of her mouth.  “Have I got news for you.” 

Marvin had been asleep for the whole night and it was now 9:25am.  Marvin instantly began telling the band what he had learned from Hank and Louise.  Spirit listened carefully to what Marvin said without interrupting his story.  None of the members of Spirit had ever even heard of the band called Demon.  Nor could they believe that this other band had felt so strongly that one of them had arranged for the members of Spirit to meet with a fatal accident, thanks to Louise.  Marvin had not heard all of Louise’s story, but he had heard the last words of it, her apology to Hank for what she had done.  When Marvin told the others about this, their attitude towards Louise became less hostile.  This was helped along by the fact that they now knew who was truly to blame. 

“We gotta get them for this” said Lee “We have to have revenge.” 

“What can we do?” asked Harry. 

“We’re in a body that has a gun, why don’t we just kill ‘em?” Lee said. 

“Kill them?  No way, we can’t stoop to their level” replied Harry. 

“Sure we can, Harry.  You just walk us over to them and Jack’ll pull the trigger.  BANG, they’re dead.” 

“And then theoretically” added Jack “That should end our hold on Louise.” 

“How?” 

“Hank’s dead and our connection to the music that was helping us hold onto him died with him.  When we took control of Louise, we got a new connection, that of our killer.  So getting revenge for what she did to us by making her kill Demon should end it” explained Jack. 

“Okay.  But we can’t just walk Louise up to them and ‘pull the trigger’ as Lee put it.  We’ll have to think of another way of getting them, it would be too risky, too easy for something to go wrong with Lee’s way.” 

“Okay” said Harry “what do you suggest?”

“I don’t know yet and I can’t think on an empty stomach either.  Let’s find a coffee shop or something and get some breakfast.” 

“Yeah, I suppose we better keep her alive” agreed Lee. 

The band got Louise up off the bed and walked her into the bathroom.  They prepared her for the breakfast outing with only a minimal amount of fuss.  They collected the holster from the bedside draw and once again covered it over with Louises’ coat.  Jack grabbed their room key and once they were in the hall, he locked the door and put the key in a coat pocket.  Harry walked them down the hall.  Strangely, there was no one behind the reception desk as Louise passed it.  They continued on out of the motel.  Marvin saw that only slightly down the street on the opposite corner there was a diner.  “Head us over there, Harry.”

As Louise was crossing the road, a maniac driver rounded the corner of the street and sped towards Louise.  Marvin spun Louise’s head round and upon seeing the approaching vehicle Harry acted.  He leapt Louise’s body and all its occupants to safety.  The driver of the car didn’t even slow down. 

“That was good thinking Harry, doubt if I could have moved Hank’s legs that quick.” 

“Thanks Lee.  Seems that Louise is in as good a shape as she looks.” 

“Ohhhh yeah” the others sang out in chorus. 

Inside the diner, Louise sat by herself at a table, looking at the food that Marvin had ordered and the cup of coffee sitting next to her plate.  There was a strong smell of fried food in the air.  There were quite a few other customers in the diner and the band could see an old juke box in the corner of the room.  Marvin noticed that none of the other customers paid any attention to the pretty girl on her own, fortunately they all seemed too hungry to care. 

“Something wrong honey?” asked the old and mean looking waitress as she chewed on her gum.  The waitress glanced down at the huge man sized breakfast that Louise had ordered.  The loaded plate looked out of place in front of the slim girl and as she answered, the waitress looked back at her. 

“Ahh, no.  Thank you” answered Marvin.  Of course the voice that the waitress heard was that of Louise, although to all the other occupants of Louise’s body, Marvin’s voice rang through loud and clear.  The waitress walked away mumbling something to herself. 

“What’s the matter guys, why aren’t we eating?” questioned Harry. 

Without actually speaking aloud for a change, Marvin answered “We have to plan this right.  If Jack moves a fork full of beans up to Louise’s mouth and misses, or if I don’t chew properly at the right time and we choke, this could all be very embarrassing and even create unwanted attention.” 

“Oh, I see.  Why don’t you just eat real slow?  That won’t look too unusual.” 

Slowly, Louise’s hands moved out and grasped the knife and fork in front of her.  Jack held the knife upright in his fist.  Lee picked the fork and in one smooth motion and swooped it down to scoop up some beans.  The fork came to rest on the plate in the middle of the beans.  “Come on Jack, move the knife over and push the beans onto my fork.” 

Jack did as he was told.  Lee moved the fork upwards and lost half the beans.  He stopped the fork in front of Louises closed lips and a few more beans tumbled back onto the plate. 

“Marv, the lips.” 

“O-” Marvin was unable to finish the word ‘okay’ because as soon as he opened Louise’s mouth, Lee thrust the two remaining beans on the fork into it.  Marvin then started over chewing in a tremendous exaggeration before Lee had removed the fork, and consequently Marvin bit it.  When the fork had been removed and the beans had been swallowed Marvin whispered “Damn, this is tougher than driving the car!  Lets try some bacon.  Jack, you think you and Lee can cut a piece off without too much trouble?” 

“Hey, no problem.” 

Jack rested the knife over the position he wanted to cut then Lee stabbed the thin slice of bacon with the fork.  Jack started to saw through the meat.  After a few seconds he was through and half the bacon slice was flying through the air where it had slid off the plate under the pressure Jack had been using to separate the two pieces of bacon. 

“Damn.” 

The bacon had landed on the far side of the table.  “Well, we still got half” said Harry in a sarcastic voice. 

“Shut up, Harry” Lee barked as he stabbed the other half of the bacon and moved it towards Louise’s mouth.  “Open wide Marv.” 

Marvin caught the bacon between Louises’ teeth. 

“Hhm, just a bit too early, Marv” said Harry, again in a sarcastic voice. 

“I’m warning you Harry, if you don’t shut up I’m gonna stab one of your legs with this fork, man.” 

“Don’t you dare” said Marvin quietly with half a mouth full of bacon.  “We’re already getting enough strange looks off of that damn waitress.” 

“It’s amazing we can be so close inside, can almost share each others thoughts and yet be so clumsey on the outside” mumbled Lee into their collective thoughts. 

“Okay” said Jack “Lets just eat the toast and get out of here.” 

“I agree” said Harry. 

Marvin looked longingly at the full plate but said nothing and a few quick mouthfuls later the toast was no more. 

“Well that was easy enough” said Lee. 

“What about the coffee?” mumbled Marvin. 

“I think we can do it” said Jack “Let’s try” and with that Jack wrapped the fingers he controlled around the handle of the coffee cup.  Slowly he raised the cup to Louise’s lips and gently he titled the rim between them.  Marvin felt the hot coffee flow into Louise’s mouth and he gulped it all down.  When the cup was empty Harry said “At least we got there in the end.” 

Marvin belched loudly and the waitress shot Louise a look as if she was firing a bullet a her. 

Louise seemed to Hank to have calmed down a lot.  He wasn’t standing on a beach with her anymore, in fact the beach had just faded away.  Now Hank stood on the bank of a lake.  It was beautifully still with a breathtaking mountainscape for a backdrop.  The sky of this place was a deep clear blue with a few fluffy white clouds gently rolling by. 

Louise had stood to face the mountains with her back to Hank.  She hadn’t moved or spoke in quite a while, so Hank decided she must be thinking about something pretty important and just as these thoughts occurred, Hank realised what it was. 

“Don’t worry, Louise.  They’ll give you back your body.  All they have to do is get even with the guys who got you to kill them, then their hold over you ends.” 

“Are you sure Hank?  I mean, what if I never get my body back.  We could be stuck here forever!” 

Hank thought about that possibility for a moment before he said  “Oh, I don’t think that would be so bad, with it being so beautiful here and everything.  Feel like I already made it to Heaven.” 

Louise turned to face Hank.  Her eyes welled up with tears and she ran at Hank.  Hank caught her in his arms and held on tight to her. 

“I’m so sorry I killed you, Hank.” 

“Hey” Hank said soothingly “Don’t worry about it now.  Besides, I forgive you.” 

“You do?” 

“Yeah, believe it or not.  People were always calling me soft on account of the fact that I could never stay mad at anyone for long, don’t matter what they did to me, I just could never seem to hate people.” 

“Huh, I never seemed to have that, er, problem.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

Louise wiped the tears out of her eyes and moved away from Hank before he could see them.   She turned to face the lake again saying “I’m sorry Hank” as she did.  Hank walked forward to stand beside her.  They stood together looking out across the lake at the mountains.  Hank wasn’t sure, but he thought they seemed smaller than before when he had first looked at them.  Hank began to study the grey mountains on the other side of the lake and as he did, he became sure that they were indeed shrinking.  He turned his head to look at Louise and could see a tear running down her cheek.  Hank decided to do something bold.  He moved closer to Louise and put his arm around her shoulder.  She did not move away from him, in fact quite the opposite happened as she lent her head to one side so that it rested on Hank’s shoulder.  Hank brushed the top of Louise’s dark hair with his cheek and turned his head back to look out over the lake once more.  The mountains were now mere hills in the distance and Hank realised that as he had broken through the barriers that Louise used to surround herself, it had been affecting the landscape.  First the ocean in turmoil representing Louise’s rage.  Then the lake showing she was calm.  The surrounding grey mountains blocking every direction, showing she was not willing to talk.  Now as Hank gazed out over the water he could sense that Louise was completely relaxed, the mountains were gone...  and Hank was happy. 

As they left the diner Harry, Lee, Jack and Marvin felt more united.  They’d just finished their first meal.  It had taken teamwork and timing, but they had done it.  They were all feeling that things weren’t so bad anymore.  They felt like they could do anything.  Harry was walking them back towards their motel room and Marvin couldn’t help showing off Louise’s smile now and then.  None of them knew that the real reason for them all feeling so happy was because Louise, their core, in her subconscious had become happy.  Hank had made her remember old emotions she’d forgotten she had.  As the six happy souls moved down the street in their single vessel they did not notice the cars in this small rough town seemed to be driven by maniacs.  That is until a man began shouting at the driver of a car that was speeding off round another of the town’s sharp bends.  This whole place seemed to be treated like one big race course.  The man turned to the girl he was with and Marvin could see that she had one hand on her chest, like she’d just had a fright.  “So many idiots on the roads,” he thought “whole damn country just needs to slow it down, baby” and the limb controllers silently agreed with him.  Marvin checked the road was safe to cross and when an opportunity arose Harry ran them over the street. 

“This place sure has livened up since last night” Lee observed.  There was no response to his comment as they carried on walking.  They went back to their room.  Once inside, Louise’s coat and gun were removed and she was placed on the bed.  Jack grabbed the remote control for the room’s portable television set and turned it on, none of them were prepared for what they saw.  Jack dropped the remote beside Louise’s hip and they began to watch.  A news reader was giving his report; “...as the world is still in shock at the tragic accident that robbed all the members of the music industries newest hits of their lives, the members of the band Spirit have now all been confirmed as deceased.  The search for the band’s missing bus driver is now ended, as today the body of Hank Jones was identified, found dead in a rented room.  The room was rented using false identification and the Police are releasing no further details at this time, but urge anyone with any information on this or the Marvin Westwood murder to come forward.”  The picture behind the news reader of the word Spirit in the bands own personal logo disappeared and was replaced by a picture of a forest.  The news reader continued “In other news today...”

Jack picked up the remote and turned the channel over.  There’s an interview between a movie star and his host taking place.  No one objects and so they silently watch the interview, all feeling stunned and shocked by the news of his own death being televised and none knowing what to say about it. 

Hank closed his eyes and held Louise just a little tighter.  As he squeezed, Hank felt a gentle breeze on his face and when he again opened his eyes, Louise and he were no longer in front of the lake. Now the landscape had transformed into a hillside field.  There was a beautiful deep blue sky and the grass was very green.  It wasn’t cold but the breeze was continuously blowing making the grass wave and creating a gentle whisper in the air.  Louise loosened herself from Hank’s grip and slid her hand down his arm into his hand.  She began to walk towards the top of the hill, straight into the breeze.  As Hank let himself be led he saw clouds rolling past them along the ground.  The peaceful looking white mist glided over the grass at an amazing speed.  It was a breath taking sight.  When they reached the top of the hill Louise turned to Hank.  She looked at Hank and he could see something new in her dark eyes, almost like they were sparkling.  Hank smiled and Louise said to him “Have we gone to Heaven?” 

“No, Louise.  We’re still in your mind, you’re creating all this.  This is how beautiful your thoughts are.  This is your own subconscious world.” 

“Then I hope that they don’t give me my body back for a while yet, because I want to stay here with you.” Louise paused for a moment before asking “What are you thinking?” 

“I’m thinking how I like the sound of that.” Hank let go of Louise’s hand and lay downon the soft grass.  Louise watched him then laid down with him.  The two laid there in each others arms.  Louise had her head on Hank’s chest and had closed her eyes and before Hank new it, she’d fallen asleep.” 

“Guys?” 

“Hank?” 

“Yeah, it’s me.  Louise is asleep so I’ve come up to talk to you.” 

“Oh?  What about?” 

“Well, Louise and me have been talking and we’ve sort of decided.  You can keep her body for now because we’re happy where we are.” 

“Uh-uh Hank.  See we been thinking as well and we finally come up with a plan to get even with those son’s of bitches that will allow us to move on.” 

It was Lee who said “Yeah Hank, this was never gonna be a permanent thing.  We’re just gonna finish our business with Demon and then we’re gonna leave, with you!” 

“But I don’t want to go.  I’ve never been in love before and now that I am I don’t want it to end so soon.” 

“None of us wanted any of this to even begin, Hank” said Harry “But now things are the way they are.  We’re getting Demon, then ALL of us will move on.  You wouldn’t be able to stay any longer even if the rest of us wanted to.” 

“But there must be a way” thought Hank. 

“Not one that we know of” Jack said in reply “Remember Hank, this girl is the actual reason that we’re all where we are now, I can’t believe you’ve fallen in love with her!” 

“It’s not like you think guys, time goes by so slowly in her subconscious, we’ve really connected in a way I can’t describe.  It’s beautiful.” 

“I’m sorry Hank, but we’re going through with the plan.” 

“Plan?  What plan do you keep talking about, Marvin?!” 

“Since we been laying here all day, it dawned on us that Demon wouldn’t suspect anything if Louise was to contact them to arrange a meeting with them to collect her photos.” 

“All of them?  They wouldn’t all show would they?  Just that guy, what was his name... Loki!  The one who had the photos  Won’t he just show up by himself?” 

“We don’t know about that, Hank.  We’re going to try and convince Loki to bring his two degenerate pals with him” said Jack. 

“How?”

Harry answered “The only thing we can come up with is blackmail.  We’re going to lie to them and tell them that Louise has an audio tape of the conversation she had with Loki.” 

Hank considered for a moment and then quickly said “It might work.  I can feel Louise waking up, I gotta go.” 

Hank left the circle of the united minds and returned back down to Louise’s subconscious.  He opened his eyes and once again he saw the beautiful world created by the girl just waking up in his arms.  Louise opened her eyes and loosened herself from Hank.  She propped herself up on her elbow and rested her head in the palm of her hand.  Hank tilted his head so that he could look into Louise’s eyes. 

“What is it?” she asked. 

Hank let out a sigh before he told Louise what he’d just talked about.  “I was just speaking to Harry and the others.” 

“Did you tell them I’m really sorry for what I did to you all?” 

“They know.  They had something to tell me.  They’ve got a plan on how to get even with Demon.  Once it’s done, they said you’d get full control of your body back.” 

Louise stopped smiling and tensed up “What about you?” she asked with wide eyes. 

“Spirit will move on with Marvin... and I’ll go with them.” 

“No!” cried Louise as she grabbed Hank and held him close to her.  No sooner had Louise done this than in the blink of an eye the grass was gone.  The day turned dark, the beautiful blue sky filled with dark clouds and the gentle breeze transformed into a bitter wind.  The wind blew and began to ruffle Louise’s long hair.  Hank tried to release himself from Louise’s grip and let go of her to put his arms behind him where he could lean on them for balance.  Hank felt cold rock beneath his fingers and as he looked around he saw that they were no longer on a hill, but now near the edge of a cliff.  Louise released Hank and knelt beside him.  Hank sat forward and the two held hands.  The wind became louder forcing Hank to raise his voice a little. 

“Louise what’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t want you to go.  I won’t let you leave me.  There has to be a way for you to stay with me!” she said desperately. 

“It won’t be the same.  You’d only ever see me in your dreams because I’d be here in your subconscious.” 

“That’s all right, at least we’ll still be together.” 

“No Louise.  They said that when the time comes and they leave your body to move on, I’ll be taken with them.  They’re the only reason I’m here now, because they brought me into you with them.” 

Louise leaned forward and once more put her arms around Hank.  The wind died down a little and Louise’s hair stopped blowing around her face.  The clouds were still looming overhead and now Hank could hear the sound of ocean waves crashing against rock below them. 

Lee held the receiver while Jack dialled the number written on a screwed up piece of paper from Louise’s coat pocket.  They all listened to the tone of the phone ringing.  No one answered at first, but the band was patient and eventually, a deep and rough voice said “Hello?” 

Marvin took control from here and replied to the voice “Loki?” 

“Yeah?  Who is this?” 

“It’s me, Louise.” 

“Oh Louise.  What do you want?” 

“I want those photos and the negatives.” 

“All in due time, honey.  Is it done?” 

“Haven’t you seen the news on the TV?” asked Marvin. 

“No, I been busy.” 

“Yeah, it’s done.” 

Loki gave a chuckle to himself before he said “Good work Louise.” 

“I want a meeting between us as soon as possible.” 

“Don’t worry Louise, I’ll give you what’s yours.  Do you know the Old Town Arena?” 

Marvin quickly thought, that was the last place that Spirit had played before the accident.  “Yeah Loki, I know where that is.” 

“Good.  Be there outside the main entrance at ten o’clock this Thursday night, you got it?  Two days from now.” 

“I want the rest of the band there as well, you see you’re not the only one who can blackmail.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I’ve got a tape of the conversation we had, the one where you offered me this proposition, if you don’t bring your whole band for me to, er, talk to, I’ll hand this tape in to the police.” 

Loki was quiet for a moment, then he laughed and said “You’re lying, Louise.  If you had a tape you’d have gone to the cops before you killed those losers.  Hah ha ha, nice try.” 

Marvin heard the phone go dead as Loki slammed down his receiver. 

“Well guys, it’s set.  All we got to do is get to Old Town by Thursday, only it doesn’t look like we’ll see the rest of Demon there.” 

Harry spoke up “If they’re not all there then we can’t just shoot Loki, otherwise we may never get the other two.  We got to get all of them at the same time.” 

“Okay” said Marvin “Let’s work on the possibility that they are all gonna be there.  If we just try and come up with a plan for that scenario we can think up what to do if they’re not all there later.” 

“Okay” agreed the others. 

“It’s not like that will take too long” added Lee. 

“Marv, you should try and get in touch with Hank again too, he might be able to help us and we should really tell him what’s going on” said Jack. 

Hank held on to Louise as tightly as he could.  The two of them standing there in the middle of her subconscious, holding on to the only things they knew were real; each other.  “What are we going to do?” whispered Hank. 

No sooner had he spoken when he heard a voice shouting his name “HANK”.  Hank realised it was Marvin’s voice calling him.  He instinctively looked up to Louise’s make believe sky, the grey clouds still rolled by. 

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s Marvin.  Can’t you hear him?” 

“I can’t hear anything except the sea.” 

“HANK” came the shout again. 

“I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back” said Hank and with that he disappeared right out of Louise’s arms.  Louise stood alone on the cliff and turned so she looked out over the ocean at the storm on the distant horizon. 

Harry said “First I want to point something out.  If we’re meeting Loki outside of the arena and the others do turn up, I think we could just shoot them there and then.  Once that’s done we’re outta here, so it’s up to Louise to get away with it by herself anyway!” 

Hank arrived just in time to hear this and upon doing so immediately spoke “But we can’t do that, what if she’s caught by the cops or something, that would ruin her whole life.” 

“Hey pal” Lee said angrily “At least she’ll still have a life!” 

“No.  Lee, Harry, Hank is right, we can’t just shoot them.  What if we miss one of them?  Or even worse if they’re armed and they kill Louise!  What will we do then, try and possess them as well? suggested Jack. 

“Nah, that would never work” Marvin said “Those ass holes were even more into this cult stuff when I knew them than you guys are.  I don’t think we’d be able to possess them, at least not long enough to make them kill themselves or anything like that.” 

“Since when did you become an expert?” asked Harry. 

“I’m no expert Harry, I just know that so far to possess both Louise and Hank you had to beat them in a battle of wills.  It was easy for you three to beat anyone together, but if you’ve got to have a one on one battle with someone, you might not win.” 

“I hadn’t thought of that.” 

“Don’t worry guys, I know what to do?” said Hank. 

“You’ve got a plan?” enquired Jack. 

“Yep.” 

“Well what is it!” demanded Lee. 

“I’ll explain later, right now I can feel Louise needs me.  Just get us to Old Town by Thursday so we can get those photos and I’ll take care of everything.” 

“Hank, wait!” cried Marvin, but it was too late, Hank had fallen back into Louise’s subconscious.  “What should we do?” 

“Hank has never let us down in the past” said Jack “I say we trust him, I already do.”

Lee agreed “I can’t think of anything else and I certainly can’t think of a reason not to trust Hank.” 

“They’re right, Marv.  I’m getting us out of this flea pit, besides it won’t hurt to get to Old Town with plenty of time to spare.” 

Louise was standing on the cliff edge looking out at the evening horizon over the sea.  As Hank approached, he could see that the water was relatively calm and the sky was not so grey as when he had left.  The wind had ended and the distant storm was now gone.  He walked quietly up behind Louise and without making a sound, put his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.  Louise did not move except to brush her cheek against his.  “What’s going to happen?” she asked. 

“Don’t worry” Hank whispered  “I know just what to do.  This Thursday, we’re meeting up with that scum bag, Loki and we’re gonna get your pictures and the negatives.” 

Louise said nothing but reached her hands up and held on to Hanks arms, wrapping them more tightly around herself.  As Hank held Louise close to him, the cliff edge began to shrink.  The rock became flatter and the shoreline seemed to grow.  After a few seconds the cliff face was no more and had merged with the newly formed beach.  The sky cleared and all the clouds vanished and the soft sand had replaced the rock.  At first Hank thought he was right back where he had started, but then he saw the sun.  The sun was no longer shinning high in the sky as it had been originally.  Now it was slowly but surely setting.  Together, Hank and Louise stood wrapped in each others arms, watching as the sun set.  A few minutes later, when the sun in Louise’s mind had finally gone down, Hank realised that the beach was not as dark as it should have been.  As he looked to one side he saw the reason.  There was a small bonfire burning not too far away from the couple.  Louise released herself from Hank’s arms and turned to face him.  They hugged.  Then in almost perfect synchronisation, both slid their cheeks together until they were face to face.  Both looked down at the other’s lips and a gentle breeze ruffled Louise’s hair.  They kissed.  Locked together in the deepest happiness and the purest love, they stood kissing.  Her lips were so soft and warm and when the kiss ended, Hank looked into Louise’s eyes and allowed himself to get lost in their hypnotically dark beauty.  Louise gently kissed him again and Hank was out of the trance.  Louise lead Hank by the hand towards the fire and together they laid down near it.  There the kissing continued and passion overcame them.  They made love in each others arms in a way that could not be done in the material world.  There were no feelings of control, or lustful passions to be satisfied, just simply an act of such intamcy, such intense love that the two souls were united in in their new found love as only soulmates can be. 

Hank and Louise spent the next two days of real time together in each others arms lost in love and what went by as two days to the world seemed more like two months to the lovers.  During their time together, the love that Hank and Louise felt for each other grew and grew.  Hank knew it was wrong and that he’d have to go soon, but he couldn’t help himself.  He’d never known love while he was alive like he now knew with Louise.  He only hoped she could handle it when he moved on. 

Harry, Lee, Jack and Marvin all became more experienced at working as a team in Louise’s body.  For them, the two days also seemed to last longer than it actually did as they drove back to Old Town.  They had enough money left for food and gas and at night they slept in their car.  Thursday night came soon enough. 

“The arena is just down there” said Marvin “Take the next left guys.” 

Without question Jack and Lee steered the car into the next left turn.  Harry accelerated them down the road and soon the arena car park came into view.  It was reasonably empty, no gig on tonight.  They parked up and looked at the car’s clock.  It read 9:50. 

“Ten minutes to go.” 

“It won’t hurt to be early” thought Lee as he undid Louise’s seat belt.  “Jack, get the door and we’ll go.” 

Jack did as he was told and Harry swung Louise’s slender legs out of the car.  Jack locked the door and the group headed off towards the arena.  As they neared the arena they saw a lone figure loitering about outside the main doors.  Marvin recognised the man as Loki and as they approached Loki acknowledged them with a nod of his head as he took a drag from his cigarette.  The band stopped about a meter or so in front of Loki.  Loki took another drag of his smoke and then said “Lets go” before he exhaled in Louise’s general direction.  The darkly dressed man turned and walked off towards the end of the arena with Louise’s body following. 

“Where’re we going?” asked Marvin. 

Loki did not answer. 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

“Hank?” 

“Yeah Jack, it’s me.  Don’t worry where he takes us, just be ready to draw Louise’s gun in case he tries anything.” 

“Okay Hank.” 

Loki lead them round to the back of the arena to a part of the wall only dimly lit.  Then abruptly, he stopped and turned back to face them.  Jack’s hand was now in Louise’s coat resting on the handle of her gun.  Loki didn’t even seem to notice.  He dropped his cigarette butt and stepped on it before undoing his own jacket and producing a big brown envelope.  He handed the envelope to Louise, Lee took it. 

“Okay Jack, let go of the gun and help Lee check inside the envelope.” 

“You got it Hank.” 

As Jack and Lee opened the unsealed envelope they fumbled and it fell to the floor.  Some photos slipped out face up.  The band could see that these were the photos.  Pictures of Louise through a window, holding a gun pointed at two men.  Then another picture showing a bright flash and only one man left standing before Louise.  Marvin looked into Loki’s eyes, but all he did was stare back blankly.  Harry bent down and Lee retrieved the envelope.  As Harry straightened up, Loki reached into his jacket pocket and produced his pack of cigarettes.  As he went about lighting one with a gold lighter he said to Louise “Don’t worry, honey.  I’m not going try anything, you deserve those for a job well done.” 

Jack and Lee once again opened the envelope and this time Marvin was able to look inside.  Hank checked and confirmed that the negatives were with the photos. 

“Thanks” said Marvin. 

“No, thank you honey.” 

“Marvin, quick make conversation.  Ask him how business is going now that Spirit aren’t around to ruin Demon’s chances.” 

“So Loki, how you and your guys doing now that I’ve done what-... you asked me to do.” 

Loki chuckled quietly to himself and exhaled more smoke. 

“Yeah we’re doin’ alright” he said smiling. 

“Okay Marv, say this:...” 

“Well, the least you could do is give me a private show sometime.” 

Loki’s smile grew and he slowly shook his head.  “Huh, and to think I was worried that you’d be a little, er, upset at me for this whole thing” Loki said as he started chuckling again. 

“Laugh with him!” 

Marvin threw Louise’s head back and began laughing as best he could.  It didn’t seem genuine at all, but Loki didn’t care. 

“Look Louise, if you really want to see us play we’re doing a gig at this place tomorrow” Loki handed Louise a flyer advertising a place called the Ghost Club right here in Old Town.  “Place opens at 11:00 and we’re on from then for the whole night.  Maybe we’ll see you there...” Loki took two quick steps back as he finished his sentence then turned and began to walk away.  Jack held the flyer up again and Marvin began to read out “One night, all night, let the Demon possess you.  Doors open at 11:00.” 

“This is perfect!” cried Hank. 

“I’m not sure I understand, what’s perfect?”

“Don’t you see, Harry?  All we got to do is get to the club early and wait for the members of Demon to arrive, then when they show up, BANG!” 

“Wait, Loki said they were playing the whole night, right?  So we could just hang back until the end.  Then once the place is empty, we can kill ‘em easy.” 

“Hey, Harry’s got a good idea there, it would make it easier for Louise to escape as well.” 

“Oh Hank man, you’re too soft.  Remember it’s because of Louise that we’re in this situation.  She killed you too man!” 

“I haven’t forgotten, Marv.  But it’s different now, I can’t explain it.” 

“That’s not important right now” said Harry as he turned and began to walk everyone back to the car.  “What happens to Louise doesn’t concern us, any of us Hank.  We’ll all be moving on soon enough.” 

Hank was silent.  None of the others spoke on the way back to the car.  The night was quiet as they walked through the darkness.  Only the distant sound of cars on a busy road could be heard. 

It was when they reached the car that Hank finally spoke up “Before we go any further, we need to go over there.” 

“Over where?” 

“Over there on the far side of the parking lot, to that burning oil drum those bums are using.” 

Marvin looked directly at the drum and the two men holding their hands over it “What for?” 

“Because I want Lee to burn that envelope, that’s why” remarked Hank agitatedly. 

“Okay Hank” Harry soothed.  He began walking Louise’s legs over to the men.  When they were close enough Lee tossed the envelope and it’s incriminating contents into the barrel.  Harry stopped them in front of the drum. 

“There you go fella’s, this’ll help you keep the fire burning a little longer” the girl said as the envelope flew from her hand into the flame.  The two men didn’t even seem to notice she was there, keeping their tired eyes on the bright flames.  For a few minutes Marvin and the band eased Hank’s suspicion that the envelope might be removed.  The stayed with Jack and Lee hovering just above the hot flames until the envelope and its contents could no longer be retrieved. 

“Thanks guys” said Hank and as he did Harry turned them around and they headed back to the car.  Once inside the car Marvin said “Where shall we go until tomorrow night?” 

“There still some money in here” said Jack as he reached into Louise’s pocket “Why don’t we find a motel or something?” 

“Okay” said Harry “Lets go.” 

The group did not have to drive around for long before they found a reasonable looking place.  They parked up outside in the little car park and went in to the reception desk.  As they walked Louise into the place as casually as they could, Harry momentarily lost concentration and Louise tripped over the little step that was in front of the door.  Harry could not gain control in time and Louise fell through the open doorway.  Her arms caught her and she landed on her knees.  “Sorry about that guys.  That was quick thinking Jack, Lee.” 

“Hey man I did nothing” answered Lee. 

“No, me neither.” 

“But if neither of you did anything” said Hank ”That could only mean that Louise did it” 

“Oh shit.” 

Harry tried to explain “Don’t worry Marv.  Louise didn’t take control as such.  It was just a basic reflex action to falling.  We control her limbs, but it makes sense we can’t control her reflexes, they’re more or less built into her subconscious.” 

“Sounds logical enough” agreed Hank. 

Harry straightened up and Jack and Lee resumed their positions at his side.  They calmly walked towards the desk.  Behind it, sat on a bar stool was a young girl.  She looked about nineteen and was trying not to laugh.  As they approached she smiled cheekily and said “Are you all right?  That looked like a nasty fall.”

“Yeah, we’re fine thanks” replied Marvin before he knew what he was saying. 

“What do you mean ‘we’?” asked the girl, still smiling to herself. 

“Er, nothing, just a slip of the tongue.  Have you got a room I can have for the night?”

“Fifteen bucks for the room.” 

“Fifteen bucks!” 

“Take it or leave it.” 

“Don’t worry, Marv, we’ll still have enough to eat tomorrow” said Lee. 

“Okay.” 

For a few seconds the two stood looking at each other before the girl said “Well do you want the room?  If you do I’m gonna need that money in advance.” 

“Hey Jack!  Get the money out!” 

“Whoops, sorry guys, I wasn’t paying attention.” Quickly Jack reached into the pocket and produced the small collections of notes.  He dropped a ten and a five on the counter and the girl swiftly scooped them up put them in the small till on the far side of her desk.  She then reached up behind her to a rack of keys and passed one over, which Lee took.  “Room seven” the girl said “Go back out the way you came, turn left and walk down to the seventh room” she added with practiced patronisation.  Marvin gave her a sarcastic half smile and Harry walked them out of the door.  “Watch your step!” called the giggling young girl.  Marvin and the band ignored her comment and left.  Once in the room and at Hank’s suggestion, they settled Louise on the bed to rest her body.  After all tomorrow was a big day.  Once they were settled Hank slipped away. 

“He’s gone again” said Lee. 

“Yeah, he’s gone to say goodbye” Harry told them. 

When Hank appeared in Louise’s mindscape things had changed a little.  The beach with all its soft white sand was still there and now the sun was a deep red hovering just above the horizon.  The purple clouds surrounded the sun and seemed patchy in the dark orange sky.  The waves brushed the shore as if the tide was coming in and the whispering sound they made was loud but somehow soothing.  Hank looked for Louise and at first he could not see her, then he noticed the pier that now stretched out away over the sea.  He headed towards it and began to follow it over the ocean.  Hank could not see the end of the pier as the sun obscured and blurred his vision.  After a few minutes of walking he found Louise at the end of the pier, her arms folded across her body, staring out to the horizon.  Hank stood a few meters behind her, just looking at her.  “Beautiful” he eventually said in no more than a whisper. 

Louise didn’t care if he meant the sky or a compliment to her, she spun around and went straight into a run at Hank.  He caught her in his open arms and as she hugged him he lifted her up off of the ground and spun round once holding her.  Louise pushed her lips against his and they stood kissing.  As the clouds began to roll by they stood together holding each other tightly.  Hank closed his eyes and held onto Louise.  When he opened his eyes he saw they were no longer at the end of the pier.  They had returned to the beach, with the sun’s red light bathing them even more now. 

Hank went to speak “Tomorrow night they’re-” but Louise cut him off by placing her fingers against his lips. 

“I know” she said. 

“How?”

“In that one moment when Harry fell, my reflexes took over.  But the reason he could not regain control quickly was because I was able to surface.  For a split second I could feel you again and I knew everything that had happened to me since they’ve been in control.  My soul touched with each of theirs as I began searching for you.  I felt the goodness in each of them.  They’re not out for revenge despite what they may think, they’re out for justice.  In their heart of hearts each of them wants these monsters out of the world that they were so happy in.  And there’s something else Hank, for the briefest time imaginable I was able to join with you on the surface as our souls touched.” 

“What did it feel like?” 

“It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.  You are truly a good man.” 

Hank held Louise as closely as he could wishing he could have experienced what she had when their souls had touched.  Instead he hadn’t even been aware of it happening. 

“I know you’re here to say good bye to me Hank.  But now I also know that it won’t be good bye.  It has never been good bye.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t explain it Hank, you just have to believe in me and trust me.”

“I do.”

Hank and Louise laid down to together on the sand facing the tide.  It was not so loud now, so both simply enjoyed its soothing sound.  The waves massaged the shore line in the most relaxing way imaginable.  Hank and Louise lay there in each others arms not moving, not talking, but still connected by a bond that cannot be seen or explained.  They both experienced a happiness that only the truest love can provide.  While the night passed in the physical world, here in Louise’s mind the night never began.  The sun did not set completely as Hank and Louise lay on the beach for what seemed like only a few minutes.  But all too soon Hank knew that many more hours had passed in the physical world.  While he and Louise had said everything that needed saying without using a single word, the night for Spirit’s justice had arrived and Hank knew he must return to his friends. 

Hank had spent the night and the entire day of the physical world’s time with Louise.  There in the deepest parts of her most secret thoughts he had stayed with Louise in his arms.  It was half past eleven now and the band, still in perfect control of Louise’s body, drove her car towards the Ghost Club.  All were silent in anticipation of what was to come.  Justice and then on to a new place.  All Hank could feel was a great sense of loss, knowing that he would be leaving his beloved Louise behind.  As they neared the street that the club was on they were witness to a near miss.  A speeding motorist had shot out of an ally way with a police car right behind him.  As the maniac driver had emerged a young couple had been about to cross the mouth of the ally way.  Had they been only one step quicker they’d have been hit.  Harry acted quickly and slammed on the brakes of Louise’s car.  The two speeding cars flew across the road only yards in front of them. 

“That was too close.  Good work Harry” said Marvin as the police siren faded into the distance. 

“Thanks.” 

They proceeded to the club without further incident.  Once the car had been parked Spirit headed for the entrance.  The bouncer was preoccupied with a young lady, so he didn’t pay much attention to Spirit disguised as Louise and this wasn’t the type of place that charged an entry fee.  The young girl slipped in quietly, she was of no concern to anyone.  Louise walked to the bar and after a while she was finally served and ordered a beer.  Not too much cash left now, but that didn’t matter to those that realised it and besides, Louise still had Hank’s wallet and its contents.  They made the beer last a long time.  It wasn’t particularly difficult, as the thing tasted so foul, drinking it soon became a chore.  The club was quite full and the music blared out of two huge speakers at the front of the small stage and a variety of smaller speakers scattered around the room.  The club was dark and the atmoshere tried to be gothic but failed.  The smell of alcohol was strong. 

“How could they even think they’re in the same league as us” Harry remarked as they all listened to Demon play. 

“They’re not even close” agreed Lee. 

“In fact, you could say we’re so much better, we’d blow ‘em away...”commented Jack. 

“Oh Jack man” whispered Marv under his breath “Even when we’re dead we can’t escape your jokes.” 

“Yeah, if you can call them that” added Lee. 

The time ticked by and slowly but surely the club began to empty.  As the crowd grew thinner and thinner and the night grew later and later, Demon’s playing became more and more frantic in a desperate attempt to hold the audience in.  They failed.  Within another hour they had given up trying and the last few people made their way out of the club.  All that remained now were the staff, Louise and the three unhappy faces of Demon.  The drummer of the band suddenly produced a cigarette and lit it.  Loki had been the main guitarist and lead singer.  Now he and the other guitarist put down their instruments and together with the drummer made their way off stage.  The scruffy bar staff who were busy in their work and idle conversion did not notice the lone girl sneak off behind the band.  Behind the stage was not well lit at all.  For a while Jack and Lee helped Harry progress by feeling the walls as they walked down the narrow corridor.  At the end was a thin beam of light shinning out from underneath a closed door blocking their way.  Listening they could hear the three band members of Demon complaining to each other about what a dull crowd they’d had tonight and how none of them would know good music if it came up and kicked them in the ass. 

Jack slipped under Louise’s coat and carefully drew out her gun.  Together he and Lee prepared it, taking off the safety catch.  Then Lee gracefully fell to the door handle and slowly twisted it downwards. 

“I just can’t believe it” exhaled Loki with a breath of smoke “Those idiots wouldn’t know good music if it came up and kicked them in the ass!”  The Demon’s conversation ceased as the door to their room slowly opened.  While Loki started to smile to himself in disbelief the other two members of the band eyed the girl who now entered their room pointing a gun out in front of her.  Loki remained where he was seated on a table using the seat of a chair as a foot rest.  The other two, who had been leaning against a wall edged their way away from Louise.  Louise entered the room and as she did Lee reached out behind her and casually closed the door.  They did not hesitate.  Jack straightened Louise’s arm and pointed the gun directly at the first band members head.  The gun’s target took on a sudden look of fear and seemed paralysed.  Jack squeezed the trigger and as he did the man’s body fell backwards.  Marvin, Hank and the rest of Spirit could all see the band member’s spirit still standing where he was.  The second band member tried to dive at Louise but he never made it.  Jack’s quick response saw that a bullet met the man and dropped him well before he was able to touch Louise.  His spirit stood up next to the other and looked equally shocked.  Loki took one final drag of his cigarette before flicking it at Louise.  Lee moved to bat the cigarette aside and then with unexpected speed Loki had lunged at Louise.  Loki managed to grab Jack and lift him upright so that he could no longer shoot.  Lee sprang outwards to punch Loki in the stomach.  The blow impacted but was not enough to force Loki to release Jack. 

“To the right, Jack!” cried Marvin. 

Loki gave a puzzled look around the room, while Jack put all Louise’s strength into moving to the right, trying to break Loki’s hold on him. 

“Harry!” called Marvin. 

Again Loki looked about for someone else to come to the girl’s aid, but there was no one.  Harry now shot one of Louise’s knees upwards to catch Loki in the groin.  As the knee hit Loki’s grip on Jack loosened but did not fade completely. 

“My turn” said Marvin and he head butted Loki as hard as he could.  The blow hurt both bodies and Loki finally lost his grip on Jack.  Jack fell back downwards and hit the small man in the head with the butt of the gun.  Lee moved up and began rubbing Louise’s aching head.  Loki staggered backwards while Jack settled into position and at last the battle was ended.  One clean shot straight into Loki’s black heart dropped the evil man to the ground and now he too was relieved of his body. 

Louise dropped to the floor not knowing what happened to Spirit or Demon. 

Harry, Lee Jack and Marvin all stood in a line face to spiritual face with the members of Demon. 

“Where’s Hank?” cried Jack “Why didn’t he leave with the rest of us?” 

Without warning a huge tunnel materialised next to them all and lead off into the brightest light imaginable. 

“I don’t know where Hank is or where he went” said Harry “What I do know is that we can’t stay here anymore.  It’s time to go and answer for what we’ve done to each other and to Louise.  All of us.” 

Then together the seven soul’s headed into the light, not knowing where that light would take them. 

Louise’s body lay on the ground motionless.  Deep in her mind she stood on the beach in front of a raging sea and a dark cloudy sky in turmoil, but she was not alone.  Hank was with her.  Louise held onto him tighter and more fiercely than she’d ever held on to anything in her life.  Slowly she could feel herself again and control was restored to her.  Once back into her conscious she instantly awakened and her eyes blinked open, with the image of herself still holding tightly into Hank fresh in her mind. 

“Hank!?” she called, but there was no answer.  Now in fear Louise screamed “HANK!” 

“It’s all right Louise, I’m still here.  You held me here.” 

Words could not express the relief Louise now felt “I thought I’d lost you” she sobbed. 

“Don’t cry Louise, I’ll be here for a while now and each night when you dream, I’ll be waiting for you.  You’re my connection to this world” Hank’s voice whispered into her mind. 

Louise picked herself up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.  She put the safety catch back on her gun and holstered it underneath her coat.  Louise then left the bodies in the room and went from the Ghost club as discretely and as unnoticed as when she had come in.  On the way out Hank told her “You don’t need to worry about the photos or the negatives, I made the guys burn them.” 

“Thanks Hank” she whispered in reply, although she already knew from her earlier uniting with Spirit what Hank had done. 

“Sure hope they’re okay now – wherever they are…” 

They walked quickly back to the car and as they began to near they couldn’t help but notice the ambulance in the street quite near Louise’s car.  As they passed Louise could see a car had crashed into a street light and the driver was a mess behind the wheel.  Two police officers were talking.  An older, rounder and far calmer officer spoke to his very young looking partner “The driver is dead.  He was drunk and this poor guy was the last thing he saw as he ran him over” the speaking officer indicated to a man being lifted into the ambulance on a stretcher.  “Nothing appears to be broken on the guy they say, but he went straight into a state of shock, he’s pretty badly traumatised so now they gotta get him to the hospital in time to bring him out of it.”  The younger officer looked at the older one with a look saying ‘do you think I’m completely stupid?’

Louise looked into the victim’s eyes and something told her he wouldn’t make it.  She began running to her car.  Once in she started up and looked for the ambulance.  It was just pulling away.  Louise floored it and sped off behind the ambulance. 

“What is it?” 

“Trust me, I’ve got an idea.” 

Louise wasn’t a great driver but she was determined and it was this determination that allowed her to keep up with the ambulance.  The ambulance pulled up right outside a hospital and Louise parked up out front of the building near two other cars.  “We gotta hurry Hank.” 

“Why Louise?  I don’t understand.” 

“You will, trust me.” 

Louise ran into the big building following the gurney the paramedics had the victim on.  The unique smell of the hospital hit Louise as she ran behind the gurney.  A doctor and nurses appeared and took over the gurney while the paramedics explained what had happened.  The man was rushed into an emergency room and as Louise tried to follow him in an alert nurse caught her and said “You can’t go in there Miss, I’m afraid your gonna have to wait out here and let the doctor do his job.” 

Louise backed off still looking at the victim as the medical staff began to swarm around him. 

The doctor shouted “He’s gone into cardiac arrest, c’mon people!” 

“Do you see him?” whispered Hank. 

“Okay, I’ll be alright” Louise said to the nurse as she started to back away. 

“Try not to worry” the sweet looking nurse replied and hurried into the emergency room. 

“See who?” 

“He’s there.” 

“I know he’s there.” 

“No, not there on the bed, over there facing the wall.  He’s looking at something.” 

“You mean you can see that man’s ghost?” 

“Yeah, well I could a second ago, it just vanished.” 

“Okay Hank, this could be our only chance at this, you gotta go and try to possess that body!” 

Hank suddenly felt Louise’s grip on him was gone.  He drifted slowly from Louise’s mind across the hall and literally through the door of the emergency room.  Hank could feel nothing, but he new what he had to do.  He still didn’t know exactly how he was going to possess the body, but he was sure going to try.  Hank glided down towards the body.  Closer and closer until suddenly everything went black and he could no longer see.  Hank stretched himself out.  Wherever he was now, it was warm.  Hank could smell the odour of a hospital and he could hear a lot of commotion near by.  Hank opened his eyes. 

Louise was holding her breath and couldn’t take her eyes off of the crowd of medical staff surrounding the body.  After a few tense moments the doctor and all the nurses stopped what they were doing.  The doctor looked at his watch and unhappily pronounced the time of death.  Movement in the room seemed to stop and the few seconds that passed seemed like hours.  But then the medical staff began to slowly step back.  At first Louise couldn’t see why, but as she looked from a better angle, she saw.  The man was now sitting up on his own, resting on his elbows and was looking directly at Louise as if he’d just woken up from a deep sleep.  Then, without any warning he winked at Louise before lying back down and letting the medical people, who had now recovered from their shock, help him.  Louise smiled to herself and turned around.  She went and sat in one of the vacant seats in the reception area and her smile grew. 

The receptionist called over to Louise “I sure hope he makes it and by the way you’re smiling that looks to be the case.” 

Louise looked behind her to make sure it was her that the receptionist was actually speaking to.  There was no one else here at the moment so Louise looked back to the receptionist.  The middle-aged woman seemed genuine enough.  She looked wide awake for this time of the night and seemed concerned “Excuse me?” Louise replied. 

“Billy” said the receptionist leaning over the counter.  “He came in last week with a job application form to be an orderly, really nice guy.  I saw you rush in with him, you his girlfriend or something?” 

Louise stalled not knowing what to say “I, er-” 

The receptionist continued “It’s just that when we got to talking last week he said he’d just moved to Old Town a couple of weeks ago by himself and that he didn’t have anything in Seattle anymore, so why stay there.  I’m not sure what he meant by that, but I got the feeling he was kind of a loner, you know what I mean?  Not many friends.  Yeah and according to the forms he filled out he hasn’t got any family either, poor guy.  Now this happens to him.” 

Louise just stared at the receptionist starry eyed, almost in a trance “He’s the most important thing in my life” she spoke quietly. 

“Hey, try not to worry, I’m sure he’ll be okay” said the receptionist.  She then stopped leaning on the counter and brushed down her uniform before carrying on sorting out the box of files she had. 

A short while later the sweet nurse from earlier appeared and approached Louise, still looking quite shocked.  “He’s fine” she said with an element of wonder in her voice  “I don’t know how, but he’s completely recovered and he’ll be free to go as soon as he’s ready.” 

“Can I see him?” Louise asked. 

“Yes certainly, follow me please.” 

The nurse lead Louise into a recovery room where Hank in his new body stood in a hospital gown.  He now stood a little taller than before and with a bigger more athletic build, facing Louise.  Hank’s new face was attractive and Louise did not object to the new form her love had taken.  As she entered the recovery room, Louise broke into a run and dived on Hank wrapping her arms tightly around him.  As they held each other Hank whispered into Louise’s ear “Careful there darlin’ I’ve only just got into this body and your liable to squeeze me right back out!” 

Louise lent her head back to face Hank and he could see now with his new blue eyes that Louise wore the biggest smile he’d ever seen and as their lips met in the first of a million new kisses, Hank knew that he’d be seeing a whole lot more of that beautiful smile. 

The End