Ketch Me if You Can

Chapter 1

My feet hurt from running. But I was finally in a place where no one was around. She'd let me take control again, understanding that I needed to. But it had taken every ounce of effort to get away from her family. But finally. It had worked. I was alone on the trail. It wasn't ideal but it would be enough to do what I needed to do without her family thinking she was a monster.

"Alright, El. I'll see you next time I die ok?" I said in a voice that wasn't my own, knowing even if I was in control of her body that she could hear me.

It took half an hour but I drew the symbol perfectly before taking my place in the center. This would hopefully take me home. I took a deep breath and started saying the incantation.

"Animi corporisque transitum." I closed my eyes and repeated the phrase as the circle of swirls and Latin symbols started to glow around me. "Animi corpori..."

The sense of passing out washed over me before I could finish the last verse. I knew I'd be home soon.

I sucked in a sharp breath as my eyes shot open. I was in a very different place. Looking around I seemed to be in an old shed, or maybe a basement. The walls were concrete, so I was going with the basement. There was a half window high up on the wall to my left, just giving enough light to know it was daylight outside. There was a long table under the window. On it was tools and instruments used for torture I'd guess. Hammers, wrenches, pliers, knives, ropes, etc. I was sitting down in the center of the room. Moving told me I was tied to the chair, my wrists bound behind its back, and my ankles tied to the legs.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself so I could calm myself. Right. What else was there? I sat silently, listening. I could hear nature outside the window, but no cars. I was out in the country somewhere. I refocused on the room around me as I heard voices. There must be a door behind me that someone was talking behind. I strained to hear anything.

"It won't hurt her, just get the answers out." I was sure I recognized that voice but I wasn't sure. "Yes I'm sure she's alive," they said again after a pause, they must be on the phone with someone. "She has a strange ability to switch bodies. I have no idea where the other one is." So they know me, and well. That narrowed the list. "The drug lasts an hour. There's very little I can do in that time period." I heard the accent now. It was deep, dark, sultry, and English. That gave it away. "You don't have to be so demanding, I already work for you and you know how good I am. We'll get what we want. Just give me an hour, two tops." Arthur Ketch, one of my biggest threats. The British bad boy was a fine assassin. Good at his job by any means necessary. He'd been trying to get to me for years now since he found out about my family connections. "Deal." Among other things, there was a bigger problem with him.

The door behind me opened and I resisted the urge to tense as I heard him walking toward me. No doubt he would be dressed nicely as he always was. A crisp suit came into view as he rounded the corner of my vision. The man was of average height, only a little taller than me. His hair was black and kept neat and short. His smile was cocky and tempting. His eyes were a poisonous mercury color. Altogether, a beautiful specimen of a man. And that was the problem. We had a history, and he constantly used it against me.

"You're awake." He said it as if he was shocked.

"You're observant." I quipped.

"Are you hungry, love? You've been away for a while now." His charm was sickening.

"Don't call me that. I have a name, Ketch." I Glared at him. What game was he playing this time?

"Why don't you call me Arthur? You were keen on it the last time we met." He was teasing me now.