He'd taken someone off the street in broad daylight. No, not someone...He'd taken a body, my body, and all I could do was watch from some far off place. He killed me on the eve of one of the biggest times of my career, and he was left to make the decisions walking in my guise. I can imagine Darren wondering why my mind had changed so suddenly, and I wonder if he even believes it now. Death had met me in more ways than one, and as I watched him walk away, I know I didn't do as I was supposed.

The lighting rig got me while I was alone trying to practice and set up the stage for the show that night. I know my neck had been broken, I had felt the heavy pressure, and then the snap before things went totally black. No one knew I was there, so there was no one to come check on me, see if I was getting along all right. If I had known, I would have had Darren by my side...Well, okay, not by my side, but off to the front a little bit. I would never wish to cost him his life.

What I saw after the black was myself caught under the cross frame, and very pale. To say I was shocked was an understatement, and you never really know the feeling until you cross that line and have been there in all reality. I fell to my knees, my hands slipping over the stilled features, and it chilled me to the bone.

As I continued to watch the body, I was startled suddenly when the eyes opened, my eyes staring back at me. I fell backwards, scrambling away quickly as the form struggled to move, pushing the rigging off and moving from under it.

"You're the soul that belongs to this body aren't you?"

The eyes gazed intently at me, the form as it was before the accident. It was like looking into a mirror image, but there was something dark now, dark and looming about it that made me want to cower away from whatever this was.

"Who are you?"

"Someone that wants to learn more of life."

"So you took mine?"

"Yes, that's what I do."

If it was possible, I felt even colder at that moment than when I first saw myself trapped in death. Death...

His face was blank, without feeling while he concentrated on me, or what was left of me to be seen. I could feel him, the way he almost filled the auditorium though he was contained in my form. His presence was commanding, felt like a force begging to be challenged.

"Why me?"

"Why anyone. Right place at the right time. You weren't scared of death, were you?"

"Death as in what I think just happened, or Death as in you?"

He shrugged, the light changing in his eyes.

"I suppose that is for you to think about. I'm borrowing your body for a while, getting a taste of what I have had to watch go by for years. The flesh is all very appealing when you don't have it."

"What do you mean borrow? I never consented!"

"Consenting to live is consenting to die, no matter how you look at it. Now, you can deal with this in your little spirity way until I consider myself done with my exploration, or I can send you where everyone else goes when they die, and you will be able to come back. Make your choice, because it is the last one you'll be making for a while."

He glared at me in the growing silence, waiting for some sort of answer. The way he had spoken made me feel like there was some sort of hope...That in some morbid way that I wasn't really dead, but just misplaced by someone, and that someone would put me back when they were done.

I nodded, and the smile he shot me made my stomach churn. I didn't like seeing that look unless it was me giving it, but with him it seemed almost evil towards me, and there wasn't a thing I could do about it without risking everything I was trying to hold on to.

"Good boy, I knew you would see it my way. You can watch if you want, follow along with the story if you wish. When I get what I want, then you can have it back, better condition then what you left it in even. No, wait. You help me get what I want, and you will get it back."

"Help you?"

"I have your body, not your mind."

He watches me again, but his expression changes when he hears footsteps approaching from behind him.

"Daniel, what the hell happened in here?"

He looks blankly at me before stammering for an answer.

"I..I don't know...I was just working and it fell...I don't know what went wrong..."

"It's all right Daniel, just as long as you weren't hurt, that's all that matters. We'll call in the crew to fix it, make sure it won't happen again. Are you coming to the dinner?"

"Yeah, sure...When is it?"

"In about two hours...You sure you are alright?"

"Fine, I'm fine. Never better."

He flashed that grin again, and I felt even worse.

"Alright Dan, then I guess I'll pick you up in a couple hours."

"Good, I'll see you then......."

He stalled for a moment, snapping a glance at me.

"Darren, his name is Darren."

"I'll see you then, Darren."

Darren shook his head, almost rolling his eyes as he left.

"Be amazed if that rig didn't hit him in the head, the way he's acting..."