Odetta Bright abruptly stood up from the table in a burst of frustrated motion. She glared at her co-workers and said, "I think I've had enough bullshit for one night. I'm going to go find something fun to do." She scooped up her purse and pulled out a handful of bills, tossing them onto the table. "If that's not enough, you losers know where to find me," she said, turning and walking toward the exit before anyone could respond to her sudden outburst.
All of which came as a complete surprise to Odetta Bright.
She had no idea what was happening to her. One moment, she was taking a drink of wine while looking at the menu, wondering if it would be better to go with an appetizer and dessert or if she wanted a meal, and the next her body and mouth were moving entirely on her own. She tried to make her legs stop working, so that she could turn around and try to apologize to everyone and explain that she didn't know what was going on or why she said those awful things...but her body wasn't listening to her. She couldn't make herself stop. Something else was controlling her like a puppet, and she didn't know what.
Who,
she heard someone say. There was a moment of confusion in Odetta's mind-the voice came from nowhere and went to nowhere, and for a moment she allowed herself a brief assumption that it must have been her imagination...and then it spoke again.
Not what, who.
She wheeled around, looking for the source of the voice...well, actually, she kept right on walking, glancing over in passing to take in a bunch of middle-aged women at the bar and a table of college douchebros in varying states of inebriation. But she wanted to make herself wheel around looking for the source of the voice. Because as impossible as it seemed, it sounded like it was coming from inside her head.
I'm over there,
the voice said. Odetta stopped in front of the table of douchebros and gave her body a little shimmy for them. One of them was so dead drunk he was slumped backwards in his seat, but the other two were giving her a hearty thumbs up and a leer that Odetta felt like an almost physical force.
Well, my body's over there. My mind's in here with you for a while, so you better go ahead and get used to me. You can call me Darren. Or, you know, boss is good.
Odetta gave them a thumbs up in return, despite her best efforts.
What's...happening to me?
Odetta thought tentatively. She wasn't sure if 'Darren' could hear her thoughts the way she could hear his-for that matter, she wasn't sure if he was a real person and not just a manifestation of some kind of sudden-onset psychotic break. But whether he was real or not, Odetta had to try to get through to him if she wanted this to stop.
Oh, I'm just taking you out for a little spin,
Darren said. He sounded like the memory of a voice she'd never actually heard.
My boys are keeping me safe for a while so I can have a little joyride in you.
Odetta's hands roamed over her hips, her buttocks, her breasts, touching herself through her clothes with a casual intimacy that she didn't feel.
And damn, it's gonna be good. Say what you want about black girls, but motherfuck, you are juicy! Not crazy about the dreads, though. But hey, it's just a loaner, right?
Odetta had a sudden, irrational urge to slap the inside of her own head.
Instead, she walked out the door with a lascivious wink at the college boys and headed down the street, her legs walking towards an unknown destination. She tried to make them stop again and again, focusing all her concentration on first one muscle then another, but the other person sharing her body seemed to overwhelm her struggles without any apparent effort on his part.
Why...
she thought, before trailing off once again into silent attention to her disobedient limbs. But it was no good. Giving up, she tried communicating with Darren again.
How...how are you doing this?
The body thing?
Darren said, once again sounding as though this was the kind of thing he did every night.
We found this old book when we were looking for Halloween decorations, all 'Rituals of the Will' and stuff. It showed us how to leave our bodies and go into someone else. We thought it was bullshit at first, but then Austin tried it and wound up in Brandon's body. It was really weird-they just spazzed out for like ten minutes because they were both trying to move in different directions and Brandon's body didn't know who to listen to.
But we're not-
Odetta grimaced in her head, even though her face was locked in a slightly predatory smile as they rounded the corner together and headed down the block.
'Spazzing out',
she finished reluctantly. She didn't want to share her head with anyone, but if she had to pick, Darren would have been the bottom of a very long list.
That's because I'm better at this than you are,
Darren said.
You only think you're good at making your body do shit because you've never had to work at it. I do this every weekend, I've got experience in pulling on muscles and stuff. Maybe if you kept trying, you might get the hang of it, but I'm gonna be gone by then. We're just having a little fun, you and me, and then it's back to the bar and back to my body and you won't ever see me again. So shut the fuck up and enjoy it, okay? Maybe you'll even learn something about yourself.
Learn something?
Odetta snapped.
What the fuck do you mean, learn-
Then she saw it, and even her thoughts trailed into silence for a moment. The neon sign, bent into stylized cursive with a pair of cherry-red lips over it. 'Babylon', it said, flashing over and over like a beacon in the night. Odetta knew it, if only by reputation-the most popular gay and lesbian club in the city. And as the signal changed to 'Walk', Odetta and her unwelcome hitch-hiker were heading across the street toward it.
