darkness ahead

[Shane]

Spring 513AV

One thing that Shane learned over the centuries was that Urchins were not noticed. People tended to avoid these dirty children on the street for fear of getting mugged or having to take responsibility for their actions. That is why they were the best targets for possession. It kept people from noticing the odd and clumsy behavior that came with trying to control them and it would allow him to move about without interference.

That is what he was doing right now. His mission was to get something to eat. A simple goal but one he treasured in his little stints in borrowed bodies. As a ghost he had no possessions or a way in which to carry them around. Even the act of eating was something beyond his reach as his body was ethereal in nature. The sensations and pleasures of living could only be experienced in a surrogate body. The way he saw it he was feeding the hungry and experiencing a treat himself.

Shane was on borrowed time though. Every moment that past was the hands of the clock ticking away before he had to relinquish the body he was using. He was not strong enough to have an all out battle of wills with the boy. A trick he found that worked was to take them while they are sleeping. It maximized the amount of time he had and gave him opportunity to enjoy himself.

Shane shifted through the crowds while he was looking for his target. He needed something easy to steal and could be readily eaten. At the port their was an almost overpowering smell of fish; so overpowering that he knew that is not what he wanted to eat. His borrowed eyes combed through the huddles of people till he saw a portly fisherman who had sold off his wares he had caught in the ocean. He seemed rather pleased with himself and bought a loaf of sweet bread as a treat. His surrogate stomach growled at the site and his mouth salivated with it. He knew right then that that loaf was what he wanted to eat before he left this body.

Shane picked up the pace as he walked towards the man. He made sure to keep his eyes off of him to avoid detection. The fisherman was speaking with a comrade of his laughing about something that happened years ago involving alcoholic beverages. The urchin's feet began slamming on the ground now as Shane forced the slumbering body into a full run, grabbing the mans food as he did. Before the fat man could react Shane was already wheeling into an alleyway with the first bite of sweet bread already getting swallowed down his throat.

The boys heart rate was going a mile a minute. Shane could feel him struggling to awaken and take back his body. He was frustrated with this and started eating faster. The man was faster than he thought too. He Slammed into the wall and sprinted after his thief, yelling expletives and what he would do to the kid when he got his hands on him.

The urchins fear got the better of Shane and he had to remove himself from the boys form. Now he looked at the kid who was tearful and confused begging the man for forgiveness.

"I'm Sorry! I didn't mean it, I don't know what got into me!"


The man was to livid to hear his apologies. As soon as he got close enough he grabbed the boy by the collar and slapped him hard across the face. The boy yelped and cried as the beating started to commence. Shane felt a connection to this; he felt like he had been beaten like that in the past. He knew what he had done then and what he was going to do now. He was going to kill him.

Some small rocks lay at the ghosts feet. He looked down at them with growing rage in his features and reached out with his soul mist. The air was getting cold now and his presence started flickering into the range of mortal vision before one of the rocks careened through the air into the back of the mans head. He released the bruised boy at the pain and nursed where the blood was coming out. The boy was the first to see Shane and screamed. The man turned around to see the same apparition; A flickering shape of a gray boy with an out of tune music box playing along with the boys screams as he ran away.

He had been punching and slapping the boy the whole while, but when he felt the sting of a stone he turned around, letting the whimpering boy escape. The man backed up with his eyes wide before one of the rocks flew into them. Their was a sickening squish that was deafened by his own wail of agony.

Shane smiled as he fell down but felt suddenly very tired. he faded from view and decided to let himself rest and let the mortals clean up the growing puddle of blood from the mans body.