Sharon stood, or rather hovered, still as she reached out with her innate demonic sense. She could feel every life below her, every student, every teacher, young and old. Animals too, but she wasn’t that desperate yet. She passed her vision over each, grading them on how susceptible to suggestion they were, and how useful they would be to move into.
Over and over she did this, for what felt like hours, and over and over she found these humans wanting. After the final resident had been scanned Sharon was left with only a single suitable candidate, and not one that would ever have been a first choice. Still, any body was better than no body, and once she’d settled down she could always trade up.
Sharon glided back down to street level, passing invisibly through vacant parks and rustling trees on her way to the freshman dorm. After arriving at the bland brick building she floated up to the second floor and circled around to the bedroom of her target.
Jasmine Danin couldn’t sleep if she wanted to. Instead she sat crosslegged on her bed, staring at a spread of glossy pamphlets spread out in front of her. Rush week started in (she looked, for the tenth time this hour, at the clock) seven hours, and she was still gripped in indecision as to which sorority she would try hardest to get into. That she was getting into one wasn’t even up for question. If she didn’t-
She shook her head, she couldn’t even entertain the idea. Not after a decade of public schooling had beaten her down and torn her apart. She would be accepted. She would have friends. She had to.
“Trouble sleeping?” Sharon cooed in the girl’s ear, her voice warm and friendly like a fox. Jasmine’s head whipped around, looking for the voice’s source in vain. “Calm down girl; you can’t see me but I’m still here.”
“What do you want?” Jasmine’s lip quivered as much as her voice. From across the bed Sharon considered her next meal; the girl was overweight beyond any softening euphemism, and her fashion sense did nothing to improve matters. That lack of style extended to her glasses that weren’t even ugly enough to qualify for hipster chic. A little makeup could improve her flat features, but any beauty there would be a fiction of the powder. Finally, despite not existing in the physical plane, Sharon could swear she smelled something off on the girl. Truly she would have her work cut out for her.
“No dear, the question is what do you want.” Sharon phased her hand over the brochures, flipping them open. “What do you desire most of all?”
“I want friends,” she said plainly.
“I could be your friend, but then I don’t exist. Try to think more discretely.”
“I want to be accepted to a sorority.”
“And what would you give for that?”
“I’d give anything.”
Sharon grinned with her entire body. “Anything?”
“I would give anything to be accepted by a sorority.”
“Then your wish is my command. And all I require,” Sharon’s ghostly hands slid inside the girl’s plump breasts, “is everything.” As their bodies entwined Sharon’s spectral form became visible to Jasmine’s naked eyes. She tried to scream, to pull back, but the arms held her in place like a vice. With one hand Sharon froze Jasmine’s lungs cold, and with her other she pieced the girl’s heart. Her energy gathered within its chambers, and then with a single beat was spread to the tips of every digit, organ, and cell. Jasmine felt herself being invaded from within, but she had no idea how to defend herself. Second by second her body grew colder and more numb. She felt as if her body was falling away from her, as if every object in the room was drifting further away.
Jasmine couldn’t move, but she did figure out how to turn herself around and look back down at her body. She stared into her own glassy eyes for a second, and then, as the final tether holding her down was snapped, her body stared back.
“Where do you think you’re going, little spirit?” The voice was Jasmine’s, and they came from Jasmine’s lips, but they were not Jasmine’s words. Those lips then puckered and drew breath, sucking Jasmine inside them. Once she was safely tucked away Sharon sighed and stretched her new arms. “We had a deal, didn’t we? You wanted to join a sorority, and so you shall.” Sharon stood up, getting used to her new heft, and picked up a hand mirror on the bed’s nightstand. “No matter how many miracles it requires.”
Wed Sep 11 07:17:35 2013