She swept one foot across the finely woven Oriental rug she stood on, as if brushing aside something. Then she crouched on the floor, crossing her legs to sit Indian-style. Her eyes closed and I watched as her ample bosom rose and fell slowly with even breaths.
“What the heck? Why doesn’t she sit on a sofa?” I asked Dan. An extremely comfy-looking one, all done up in soft red velvet, sat empty right behind her.
“Because there aren’t any on the physical plane. She can’t see the spirit of the hotel.”
Oh. “This is so weird,” I complained.
“Pay attention. She’s putting herself in a trance in which she’ll make room for your spirit to enter her body.”
“How?” A million butterflies took flight in my stomach. Did I really have to do this?
Dan shrugged, his neverending patience unperturbed by my constant questions. “I don’t know. Some things you just have to accept as what they are.” His gaze on Isabella sharpened. “Get ready.”
The channel’s face went lax. Her shoulders sagged, but her body remained upright in its seated position.
“Okay, Brandilynn.” Dan motioned to the woman.
I stared at her. “What do I do? Just crawl in her? How? And shouldn’t we be properly introduced first? I mean, this is kind of an intimate situation—”
Dan gave me a none-too gentle shove, knocking me off my feet. I fell towards Isabella and screamed, my hands flying out in front of me to stop my fall. There was no way to avoid her, and I winced in the split second before our bodies collided.
No crash. Instead, a strange heaviness enveloped me, cloaking my body with unaccustomed weight. I blinked and saw two lobbies at once. One was the beautiful, richly appointed one I’d grown used to already, teeming with the wealthy of bygone eras. The other was dark, lit only by the thin beams of Isabella and Lana’s flashlights. I peered around, heartbroken to see the charred wooden beams of the King George’s blackened husk. Nothing of the richly papered walls remained. The paneled ceiling had disappeared, leaving the lobby open to the concrete floor of the world above. My head swam as I tried to focus on both worlds, the dead and the living. My stomach — or Isabella’s stomach — lurched with nausea.
Channeling felt wrong on too many different levels. My — Isabella’s — heart sped up with panic. “How do I get back out? Dan!” I screeched. The voice was not my own, husky despite the upper octaves I reached in my terror.
“It’s okay, Brandilynn,” Lana said, catching my — Isabella’s — tottering frame, keeping us from falling over on the debris-strewn floor as I flailed.
At the same time, Dan kneeled on the Oriental rug before me. “Relax Brandilynn. You’re not trapped. After a little while Isabella will wake and push you out naturally. Stand up and let’s go. We don’t have much time.”
I felt ungainly in Isabella’s body. Her frame was shorter and thicker than mine. Her breath and a heartbeat thundered in my ears after spending the day in my own completely silent essence. I flopped about helplessly as I tried to make Isabella stand. I caught Charles the desk clerk staring in openmouthed shock. I noted the profanity-laced graffiti on the charred wall behind him. He looked away as soon as he realized I stared back at him. Resuming his professional mien, he busied himself at a desk that no longer existed.
Heaven help me, this sucked harder than a Hoover vacuum cleaner. Never again, I vowed. If the living wanted to communicate with me, they could break out a Ouija board.
Lana pulled at me, her doughy arms stronger than they looked. I used her as kind of a ladder, climbing up her powder-scented body with effort while making sure I didn’t claw her with Isabella’s long, pink-polished fingernails. Bless her sweet heart, Lana bore it all cheerfully, saying, “There you go. That’s got it. You’ll be fine, honey.”
At last I gained Isabella’s feet, swaying drunkenly as my dual sight played holy heck with my balance. Lana patted my arm in congratulations. “Hi, Brandilynn.”
“Hi.” I suppressed an urge to pull the snug jeans away from Isabella’s legs. I never wear jeans, and they felt awfully scratchy, especially where her thighs rubbed together.
“Are you up to walking?” Dan’s face was oh-so serious, but I saw the amusement in his eyes. Jerk.
I took a few unsteady steps, acquainting myself with this body that felt so different from mine. Lana hovered nearby, her arms outstretched to catch me if I stumbled. Bless her again. Too much makeup or not, she was an absolute sweetheart.
“I think I’ve got it.” I tried to turn right. Isabella’s legs went left.