Out of Sight

I Swear She's Some Kind of Zombie Witch

"Powers assigned to 'mediums' are often simply that of a person sensitive to the collective subconsciousness and are often personalities that are very attuned to others' feelings and emotions."

As she said this, the tiny Japanese beauty, kimono and all, gave me a look that said it all.

"What, was it my sarcasm?" I asked.

She said nothing. Just sighed.

"In a minute or so, a colleague of mine will come in and we'll see how well you do at accepting spirits into your vessel or even simply spiritual awareness. Before then, I'd like to go over the principals of defending oneself from possession."

"Isn't that the real reason why I'm here? No offense, but I sort of already know the answer to the first part. It involved a lot of puke and pain. Hard to forget."

She just looked at me. It wasn't unlike when Naru was giving me the 'you're stupid' look, but somehow it was more insulting coming from a rich and supposedly powerful little beauty like her. I couldn't even tell if she was older or younger than me. Arrogant little—

"There are two ways of protection," she continued, as though I had said nothing. "The first is more for powerful or more sensitive mediums, who tend to draw in whatever spirit may be around. For them, daily meditation and mental training are a need. Daily meditation and mental training are essentially becoming familiar with your own mind, even your own subconscious, in such a way that you instantly know when a foreign thought invade. It requires a knowledge of oneself, so as to recognize the presence of others. Once one has verified the presence or effect of a spirit, knowing oneself and astute mental constitution are key."

"Mental...constitution..." I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "So, like, brains ability to fight of sickness?"

Another Naru-like 'you're stupid' look.

"You need to stand up for yourself and refuse to give away the stage of your mind," she said, flatly.

"What if you get just new thoughts? Like, what if—"

"That's different from knowing oneself and desires."

"Okay, but isn't part of changing oneself changing said oneself and desires?"

"Changing, or growth, is an active decision that is carried on overtime. Possessions are much more temporary, as a spirit rarely has the focus or durability as one with a body and is pushed out eventually."

Still didn't quite get it, buuut, okay. "So why bother with exorcism?"

Another stupid look. "In those cases, oftentimes the host is in danger or will not survive the possession. Unless you like puke and blood."

I raised my hands. "I get it. You're going to help me have the ability to choose who possesses me and when and all that dazzle and glam."

Which earned me another sigh from her, which really irked me.

"Hey, you were the one that took on the pervy delight at my house to show off your power."

"That was not my intention," she said blithely. "And I didn't have much choice. There isn't much variety on a college campus." Her face wrinkled up as though the thought of a college campus was the same as a flatulence laced couch that had been puked and peed on till the original color became indecipherable.

I kept my couch pretty clean, thank you very much.

"Now, until our guest arrives, I would like you to close your eyes and meditate on the nature of your own being."

I did so, even if this is what we mainly did the last time we had gotten together, and closed my eyes. Nature of my own being...um....sarcasm, the taste of plastic-wrapped cheese squares, and the Bevis and Butthead cartoon?