Between The Lines

7.

We figured the next thing to do was find out where that person might've gone. Eli regretted not staying behind to see if the owner played the rest of the surveillance footage to see if the getaway was caught. I suggested we get there in case the police showed up, so they could figure that stuff out for us-assuming the shop owner even reported it.

The hospital was the center of town because we were required to walk by it on the way to the shop Eli had found. There was more traffic going in and out of the building, including a few ambulances going out in different directions. I spotted the man in the hospital gown outside.

"What's that guy's deal, anyway?" I asked.

"We should probably stay away for a while." At that, the man turned to look at us. "Creepy," Eli commented, before the man turned his head another way. We followed his gaze across the street.

Four people were grouped together, watching me and Eli. They were all male, dressed in casual attire, and they all looked pretty serious. More seriousness was added as they started to cross the street together as a unit, unflinching as cars drove through them.

"Should we run?" I asked Eli.

"I think they'd catch us."

He glanced at the man in the hospital gown. "What if they don't?"

"Fine-let's run."

We turned to run, towards the police station as if they would be able to help us, but two more men were already standing on the sidewalk. Another man blocked our last route, so we had no choice but to stand there as they converged.

Eli moved to stand in front of me. "We don't want any trouble."

"How long has it been?" asked the third tallest one. He looked pretty simple in jeans and a t-shirt, like he'd just gotten off of work as a construction worker.

"Three weeks," said Eli, guessing what he'd meant. He was pretty quick.

The man nodded towards me. "And her?"

He never hesitated. "Two days." I wondered at the random times. "What do you want?"

The man narrowed his eyes at Eli. "I haven't seen you around here before."

"I haven't been around here before... until recently."

"You're either dead, or you tried getting back into your bodies," said a shorter man from behind, smiling like he was amused, "but there was no admittance, huh?"

"What's it to you?" I admired Eli's defiance, but I worried it would get to the point that it became the stupidest move one could make when outnumbered.

"We could use more manpower," said another one, a bigger guy, glancing at me, "and maybe a little girl power couldn't hurt."

Eli stepped closer to me. "Manpower for what?" It was hard for us to keep an eye on all of them. Most of them were bigger and taller than Eli.

The first man smiled. "Show 'em, Johnny Boy."

"Sure, boss." A tall, lanky guy stepped out from the group as Eli and I were forced to move further from the street. Johnny Boy eyed a man in a suit walking our way, talking into a cell phone. Just as he had let the man pass, Johnny quickly got into step with the man and simply walked into him like a car entering the freeway.

The man stopped walking for a second, looking like he was having a stroke. He dropped his phone and turned to us, a smile slowly creeping into his blank face. A few people walked by, completely ignoring him, which helped make the situation feel even worse.

After a few seconds of some kind of internal struggle, the rest of the man's face seemed to be under Johnny Boy's control. "Hey, boss," he said, although it was in the man's older-sounding voice. He was smiling for almost a full minute before Johnny Boy eventually had to get out. The man whirled around in confusion-which made all the guys laugh-before picking up his cell phone and hurriedly walking away.

"Johnny Boy used to do a lot more," said the first man, claiming our attention. "When he was younger, he could push them out and take over, but their bodies seem to wear out pretty fast and they'd die out on us. We can always use more young blood." He leered closer, smiling expectantly as if we weren't incredibly horrified.

It took a bit before Eli could speak. "Why would you do that?"

"Don't you want your own body?" he said, immediately annoyed by Eli's answer. "It's been three weeks since you've had your body and two days for the girl-so you say. There's not much you can do just being pure spirit."

Eli shook his head. "But... that's wrong."

They all burst into laughter so suddenly we both jumped. One mocked Eli.

Eventually, the first man calmed them down. "You wanna join our ring or not? Keep in mind we're not the only ones out here. You're better off with us than alone, especially with the pretty young lady in tow." I moved closer to Eli.

He stood a little straighter. "I think we'll take our chances."

The other men began to walk away, but the first man stayed. He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He turned to leave, but he suddenly turned back and punched Eli in the stomach.

I screamed, thinking that was the worst he could do, but he hadn't pulled his fist away. He had actually stuck his fist into Eli's stomach, and Eli made a choking sound, his face growing paler as he struggled to breathe.

"Stop! Stop! Stop it, please!" I was about to move forward, though I wasn't sure what I could do, before he removed his fist and Eli fell to his knees.

"Since you said please...," he said over Eli's gasps for air, "the offer still stands." He smiled at me. "I think you've both got the potential to be very useful to us. We just want to snatch you up before someone else does, that's all." I watched him walk away until he'd disappeared into the hospital, where I realized he probably hung around to... recruit.

I knelt beside Eli as he had a horrible-sounding coughing fit. "Are you okay?"

He gave me an 'are you serious?' look before curling back into himself.

"Sorry-it's a standard question." I helped move him out of the sidewalk traffic so no one would walk through him. "How... bad is it?"

"It's-" Eli couldn't stop coughing for a few minutes. He took a few deep breaths before speaking hoarsely. "It's like he... grabbed my spine... and wrapped it... around my lungs." He needed to cough a few times, doubling over.

"That's nicely detailed. We should probably stay here a bit so-what?"

He was shaking his head. "We should... keep moving. I don't want to run into them again." Eli managed to stand up straight and led the way down the street. He walked fast, like maybe he wanted to run, but it was better if he didn't. Even as ghosts or pure spirits or whatever, we weren't as invincible as I'd thought. Now it seemed unfortunate that we weren't alone.