Body Double

Adam walked back out into the darkened veranda.

"Blake," Adam called out to him. "You still there?"

"I'm right here," Blake responded next to his ear.

Adam jumped, clutching at his chest.

"Man, don't do that! You scared me almost to death!"

"Sorry. I didn't want to yell too loud. Lots of ghosts and ghouls hanging around here." He smiled.

"Where's Luis?" Adam asked, looking around.

"He went off to take care of a small detail for me."

"What detail?"

"He's checking up on Robbie. The guy left and hasn't returned in over a day and I'm worried about him."

"Look," Adam muttered. "The old nun knows where Jazzie is but she says you need to go there and get her out."

"Me? I'm a ghost, Adam." Blake sighed. "How am I going to get her out? How can I talk to her, and even if I can, she'll be frightened to death hearing voices from some dead guy."

"I don't know but at least talk to the old nun. Maybe she has a plan."

"Plan? I can't even get in through the doorway, man. How am I supposed to talk to her?" Blake protested.

"Do you need to see my face to talk to me?" A voice came from out of nowhere.

Both men jumped. They looked around. Seeing no one, they looked at each other.

"Man, you're a ghost. Don't tell me you're scared too!" Adam chuckled.

Blake gave him a withering look.

"There are much scarier things out there than ghosts, and I've seen some of them."

"Do not be afraid. My name is Nun Dai Tu Liem and I am here to help."

Blake looked around. She was definitely still inside the bed chamber.

"What do I do? How can I help?" He called out into the darkness.

Something flew at him.

Blake reached up to catch it. It flew through his ephemeral hand and landed on the ground.

He and Adam leaned in to take a closer look.

It was a rolled up scrap of yellow cloth with words written on it in red ink.

"What is that?" Adam asked as he peered closer.

"Don't touch," Blake warned.

""Put talisman into pouch." He spoke the command at the system.

Immediately, the rolled up scrap of cloth disappeared into his drawstring bag. To one side of Blake's visual field, he could see 6/50.

"Where did it go?" Adam gasped.

"I snagged it into my bag."

"What bag?"

"It's complicated. I'll tell you about it later."

Adam nodded as the sound of the nun began to chime up from the air around them.

"The spell you have been given will allow you to appear human in front of other people. Simply focus on their appearance and you will appear as that person."

"Wow." Adam whistled.

"You mean like this?" He thought of Adam.

Immediately, a shorter version of Adam appeared in front of Adam.

"Holy Smoke! You're me!"

But Blake was no longer paying attention to Adam. His entire focus was on the nun's voice. She was telling him where to go and what to do.

At the end of her few sparse directions, he saw a flashing alert in front of his eyes.

«Congratulations. You have gained 1000 power points from: Nun Dai Tu Liem. Passive sympathetic transference.»

Blake gasped. A thousand points. Was that the payment for rescuing Jazzie? He didn't want her to have to expend that much power.

In truth, Blake would have done it with whatever power he had on hand, even if it drained him down to nothing. Jazzie's safety was supremely important to him.

He turned to Adam.

"Go to the police station and wait for me there. I'll bring Jazzie to you."

Adam nodded, still stunned by how eerily real his double body looked standing in front of him.

As Blake turned away, his body dissipated into the surrounding air. He flew quickly. He knew exactly where Jazzie was located.

By the time Blake got to the Tiger Temple, the night sky was completely darkened. He flew around the entire compound and took note of where the best escape route.

Getting her out quickly meant he had to clear all the obstacles in her way.

Blake pulled out the ax and with a quick chopping motion, cut off the lock from the latch. It made a sharp metallic sound but did not alert anyone.

He hovered in through the empty front yard. It was after sundown and everyone was inside having dinner, leaving only a lackadaisical skeleton crew to watch the empty front area.

The old nun had told him Jazzie was on the second floor of the mansion next to the Temple.

Blake had been there once before, when Louis had taken him to steal the weapons, but he had not paid attention to the layout of the place.

He slipped in under the crack of the doorway and hugged the walls, blending himself into the shadows.

Towards the center of the house, he could see the elevator opening up and a skinny older man with strange haunted eyes emerged, followed by a younger male pushing a cart filled with food. They pushed a button on the side and an entire wall opened up.

Blake's eyes widened as he saw her interact with the men. Jazzie had been held captive in this place for a few days but she seemed to still be spirited.

They hadn't physically hurt her at least.

As soon as the men exited from her room, Blake swooped down from the ceiling, brandishing his ax.

WHUMP!

WHUMP!

WHUMP!

Blake slammed the flat of his blade onto the backs of their heads, knocking them out. He did not want to create a huge bloody scene because he still had to lead Jazzie through this area.

He could not have her so frightened by the bloodshed that she would freeze and be unable to run.

«Congratulations. You have gained 5 power from: Bin Dat. Active Aggressive Transference.»

«Congratulations. You have gained 5 power from: Boris Tan. Active Aggressive Transference.»

«Congratulations. You have gained 5 power from: Sean Long. Active Aggressive Transference.»

It was a trade-off.

He had expended fifteen green power points to gain fifteen red power points, but it was acceptable. That old nun had made sure he had plenty of power to do what he had to do.

Blake moved to the opening of the room and saw Jasmine getting a drink of water from the sink faucet.

Moving quickly through the panel, he stood at the center of the room and concentrated on Adam's appearance. Then he waited for Jazzie to reenter the bedroom.

He waited with bated breath, hoping she would be able to see his form, but even more so hoping that she would see Adam and not him.

As she came back into the bedroom, she gasped and nearly spilled the cup.

Her eyes met his with astonishment.

The first thing Blake could think of was: She could see him.

The second thing that came to his mind was: She was not scared.

The talisman had worked. It was Adam that she saw.