Day 6028

The following morning, A is a girl again—Ainsley Mills, an anxious teen with lots of allergies and a deep love for little dogs. In other words, it is a normal day, except for the fact that A is planning to meet Nathan again. Checking her email, A sees that Nathan has requested a meeting at his house. After checking for contact from Rhiannon and finding none, A agrees.

It is a Sunday, and Ainsley’s parents do not object when she says she wants to go out. They just hand over the car keys and tell her to be back by five because she has to babysit her sister. This does not sound like a problem to A, who doubts she will need to stay with Nathan long. After all, she only promised to show up and prove to him that she is a different person.

At Nathan’s, A reflects that she does not remember his house very well. She is amused when he ushers her into the formal living room. It seems strange to be treated as a guest when she lived in Nathan’s body for a day.

Nathan goes to get A a glass of water, but he does not come back in. Reverend Poole comes instead. He greets A politely, but A notes that he sits between her and the door. He is much larger than Ainsley, plenty big enough to stop her from leaving if he wants to. It worries A that her instinct is to worry about this. It seems like a sign that Poole is up to no good.

It soon becomes clear that Nathan has told Poole everything. There is nothing to be gained from denying it, so A shouts that Nathan should not have betrayed her trust. As she does so, she hopes that Nathan is close enough to hear this and feel guilty. Then she tells Poole that she is not the devil.

Laughing, Poole insists that A’s body-shifting can only be the devil’s work. Then he adds, “You and I are on the same side.” This bothers A, who gets up to leave. As she predicted, Poole stops her.

Poole says he is not really a priest, but he is on a mission to find beings like A. He says there are others, and he asks A to look in his eyes. When A does this, she senses another consciousness hidden underneath the one she is talking to. Poole is not really Poole, but rather a shifting consciousness like A. But there is one important difference. The person possessing Poole seems evil.

Laughing at A’s shock, the person possessing Poole says that he is surprised A has not figured out how to remain in a body for more than a day. “You have no idea the power that you possess,” he says. He himself has been inhabiting Poole for some time in an effort to track down A. He offers to show A how to use this strange, unfixed existence in a new way.

Terrified of staying and listening to this, A shouts at Poole to get off her. Poole is not even touching her, but A cries out repeatedly and tears at her shirt. She is hoping that Nathan is listening at the door, and that he is the decent person she sensed he was back when she occupied his body. Sure enough, Nathan comes in and looks shocked to find that A has apparently been attacked. He stands in Poole’s way so that A can run to her car. As A turns on her engine, Poole shouts...