AS ANDREW drove home, he felt strange and other-worldly. He glanced over at his
companion. Crescent Luna smiled at him and patted him on the leg. “We’ve finally made it
here, Shiva. Now we can begin our conquest of this plane. It feels strange to occupy a
human body.”
“Yes,” Andy heard himself responding. “It’s good that you were able to draw and
overpower this man whose body I now occupy and control. As soon as we can, we’ll merge
ourselves with these two humans’ spirits; then we can get on with our work.”
Andrew felt like he was in a spiritual straight jacket as the being that now
possessed him spoke through his mouth. As he gripped the steering wheel and drove his
body was sweating, and he was shaking in terror. He felt that he was losing control of
himself. He tried to scream but no sound came out.
Crescent Luna/Kali looked at him in amusement as one would look at a collared pet dog.
She threw back her head and emitted a hideous laugh. Andy found himself laughing
uncontrollably also. Oh, God! Why is all this happening to me? he wondered.
BACK IN the covenstead, the eleven members left the circle area and walked back into the
house. Some walked stiffly; others fluidly with feline smoothness. All wore far
different expressions on their faces than the ones they had worn when they had first
entered the circle.
After the possessions had occurred, Crescent Luna had dismissed the guardians of the
four quarters, along with their elementals, and had taken her athame and walked around the
circle in a counterclockwise direction taking down the energy field that had surrounded
them.
She had then taken Andrew by the hand and together they had left the house and
gotten into Andy’s car and driven away.
The people in the house, and especially the dogs, seemed to sense a different
atmosphere. The TV was turned off, the drums stopped, and the other visitors bid each
other good night and left.
The eleven coven members were left alone. They sat down on the couches and at the
kitchen table and simply looked at each other in silence.
Finally, Bill spoke, but his voice now had a high-pitched feminine quality. “Well, Kali
got us here just as she promised. I see now why she had us do the things we did to that
human, Andrew. Now that we’re here in the human plane with human bodies, I wonder what
she’ll have us do next. I intend to use and enjoy this body in every way I can while
we’re here.”
With that, Bill put his arm around Ravenwolf and started kissing and fondling her.
The others in the group also began kissing and touching each other. The dogs whined and
whimpered in a corner. The birds beat their wings frantically in their cages.
Jimmy held a paper cup of eggnog down to his cat that stuck its head into the cup
and started lapping it, and then he shooed her away and took a drink himself.
Instead of going back to play his video games, Jimmy pushed his way in between Bill
and Ravenwolf on the couch and began kissing them both. For the entities from Schiavone,
the party had begun.
AS ANDREW pulled into the driveway, Kali spoke. “When we go in you do the talking,
Shiva.”
Shiva? She has a lot of nerve to have taken over my life and to have sent this
spirit to possess my body, Andy thought in a panic. But, he was powerless. He could not
control his own body, and it seemed that even his thoughts were being manipulated.
Foreign ideas and words would come into his mind, and he would find himself speaking
them. He had become a mere observer of his own thoughts, words, and actions.
They got out of the car, and Andy unlocked the front door and they walked in.
Vivian was sitting in the recliner watching TV. She stared at Andrew, and then at the
woman beside him.
“I’m back,” he heard himself saying. “I want you to meet my friend Crescent.
Crescent, this is Vivian.”
Vivian got up and looked at Crescent and then at him. Finally, she spoke. Her
words were friendly, but they had a hard, suspicious edge to them. “Nice to meet you,
Crescent.”
“Crescent will be staying with us for awhile,” Andrew said.
“Staying with us? What do you mean?”
“I mean that she’s moving in with us. Don’t worry; you can still sleep in bed with
us though.”
“What? What do you mean?” she said, her voice rising. “Sleep in bed with us? What
the hell are you talking about, Andy?”
“I mean that you’ll be welcome to share the house with us, and you can sleep with us
if you wish to.”
“Are you crazy?” Vivian shrieked. “Who the hell is this woman? Where did she come
from, and why did you bring her into our home?”
“She’s my friend,” Andy heard himself saying. “I want her living here.”
“You son-of-a bitch! How dare you bring some whore into our home and expect me to
accept her. This isn’t right, Andy. Have you lost your mind?”
“No, these are our new living arrangements, Viv. I guess you’ll have to take it or
leave it. Shall we all go to bed now?”
“You slimy creep. I wouldn’t get into bed with you or your whore. I’m packing up
and leaving you, you fuckin’ pervert!”
“Well, that’s your decision, Vivian. Do what you feel you have to,” Shiva smirked
behind the mask of Andrew Foley’s face. .
“You’ll regret this, you bastard!” With that Vivian stalked off into the bedroom
and began packing up her things. Kali and Shiva looked at each other and smiled.
Crescent and Andrew, captives in their own bodies, simply observed things from the little
bit of space they still occupied in their own brains.
Vivian stood by the front door. “I’m going to my sister’s. I’ll be back with a
rental truck to get the rest of my things in the morning. I hope your ‘friend’ has a job
or money, Andy, because you won’t be getting any more help from me to supplement your
shitty little income from your shitty little job!”
“Oh, you mean you won’t be sending over money each month, Viv?” Shiva asked
sarcastically.
“Go to hell, you double-crossing cockroach!” Vivian screamed. With that she strode
out the door, put her bags in the trunk of her car, and roared off down the street.
“I guess that means we have the house to ourselves, Shiva. Shall we go to bed and
try out these new bodies of ours?” the face of Crescent Luna leered.
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