“Which one of these is yours?” I asked Storm, looking through one of the bodies pant pockets.
Storm was quiet a moment, moving all the way down to the last closet on the wall, and hovered near the center. “This one.”
I reached out, pulled the hanger off the rack, and held up the body. He looked to be in his early twenties. He had skin the color of coffee mixed with cream, a smooth complexion, and all its hair was buzzed off. Storm had been a fairly tall guy, probably reaching at least six feet because when I held the body up, his feet about reached mine.
“I don’t understand why he dresses all the bodies like we’re students at prep school. Does anyone even wear khakis anymore? Where the hell are the jeans?”
I grinned. “I guess death doesn’t come with fashion sense.”
“Which one’s yours?” Storm asked.
“It’s not here.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it since I died.”
“You mean he’s never let you use it?”
“I don’t even think he has it.” The only thing I could think of was that it was too damaged to save.
“That man has everyone’s body. It isn’t right that yours isn’t here.”
I shrugged, like it didn’t bother me. It really never had before. But now… now I kind of wondered where it was. I kind of wondered what it would be like to see it again. Would it feel familiar to me? Would it feel like home?
I pushed away those thoughts. They were stupid. “Want to take yours for a spin?” I asked, holding his body out to him. Even to me it seemed weird that I was offering someone a chance to use their own body.
“Hell no. If he noticed that body missing, the first place he would look was for me.”
“Well, then, take your pick,” I said, hanging Storm’s body back in the closet and making sure it was equally spaced between the others.
“You want me to take a body?”
“Why the hell not? He’s got so many he won’t even notice. I’ve been listening to you whine about wanting one since we met.”
He was quiet a long time. I knew he was tempted. I know I would have been.
Finally, he said, “No, I’ll just stick with borrowing.”
“Why borrow someone else’s body and deal with their spirit when you could have your own.”
“Because if I took one of these bodies, I would barely get to use it. I would have a black cloud around me that would point to me like a beacon. If one Escort saw me, they would know I shouldn’t have it.”
“So tell them you’re on vacation.”
“It’s too risky. A borrowed body covers up my spirit.”
“How?”
“Best I can figure is that their spirit cancels mine out.”
“How did you figure that out?”
“Like everything else. Practice.”
“And you’re the only Ghost Escort that can do that?”
“As far as I know.”
