Soul Protector (6 page)

“Of course,” I said, relieved.
“Is there anything else I need to know?”

He nodded and his smile dropped
again.

“The colour of another Soul
Protector’s aura is important. If it’s orange, then you know that
person is a Soul Protector who’s switched for less than eight
hours, which is fine. If the aura starts to go dark orange like
yours, it means they’ve been switched for too long. It’s not
ethical or safe to inhabit another body for a long period.”

My cheeks started to burn. I
didn’t think it was possible to feel any more ashamed of
myself.

“The longer you stay in another
body, the more dangerous it is to switch back into your primary
body,” he carried on.

“Why, what happens?” I felt my
pulse start to speed up again.

“When you switch into someone
else, your mind stretches, because essentially it has to split in
two. Then, when you switch back to your primary body, you’ll feel
the effects. You’ll be exhausted, and feel like you’ve got a
hangover. If you do it for too long, the hangover becomes more
acute. Your whole body can go into shock, and depending how long
you’ve been switched, it can be really...” he paused, searching for
the right word, “serious.”

I felt the blood drain out of
my face.
What had I done?

“What about Lydia?”

“She’ll be fine. It’s you we
need to worry about.”

“Oh thank God.” She didn’t
deserve to suffer. I was the one who’d been reckless.

“When you switch back, the
effects will come on almost instantly,” Dan continued, “try not to
worry too much, I’ll stay with you and do everything I can to
help.”

He put his hand on my shoulder
and fixed me with a look. It was a mixture of pity and
determination. “We have to do this by ourselves though, Gracie. You
can’t see a doctor. They’ll have no idea what they’re dealing with,
and anyway, conventional medicine can’t help you.”

“But Lydia will be there, if
it’s that bad, she might call a doctor.”

“Once you’ve switched back, you
have to get rid of her immediately. We can’t risk her calling an
ambulance.”

An ambulance.
The
butterflies in my belly whipped up to a frenzy as my mind scrambled
for reassurance.

“Erm, if someone decided to
stay permanently switched. What would happen then?”

“Well, apart from it being
completely immoral, you’d eventually get a dark red aura, which
would alert other Soul Protectors that you’d taken over someone
else’s body. They would inform the monitors, because we know once
you’ve gone to the red stage you’ve got no intention of returning
to your primary body.”

“But you said you can switch
for longer. How do you do it without your body going into
shock?”

“It is possible to teach your
mind and body to cope for longer. You know you’re safe when your
aura goes yellow instead of dark orange. But even monitors can’t go
to the red stage.”

“So would it be possible to
teach me to cope for longer?” I asked, biting my lip.

As Dan looked at me, I saw only
pity left in his eyes.

“No, not without intensive
training, it takes months for your body to adjust.”

“Oh, right.” I managed to sound
calm but inside I was in turmoil.

We spent the next couple of
minutes in the car deciding on how to get rid of Lydia as fast as
possible after the switch-back. Dan said there would be no time for
lengthy explanations. I would just have to be blatantly rude and
tell her I didn’t have time to see her. He was going to sneak into
my flat through the fire exit at the back, so he would be ready to
help me the minute my body went into shock.

For the last part of the
journey, Dan coached me how to erase the kidnap from Lydia’s mind.
I had to go back to the memory immediately before I was bundled
into the car. I thought back to the man with the orange aura,
glaring at me while on his phone. Dan said I should bring this
image to the forefront as vividly as possible. Then, I had to think
of the kidnap in a light-hearted way, not easy when you’ve been
scared to within an inch of your life, and convince Lydia’s mind it
was all in her imagination, an image she conjured to pass the time
of day. I did as I was told, but was sceptical about it
working.

~~~

CHAPTER 5

.

The Recovery

.

As we pulled up outside my
flat, Dan grabbed his backpack and we climbed out of the car.

“Good luck, Gracie,” Steve
said, putting the car into gear. The look he gave me was far from
confident and as I watched him pull away, I felt a fresh sense of
doom.

Dan came and stood next to me,
putting his hands on my shoulders. I had to crane my neck to meet
his eyes. He was a good six foot one I’d guess.

“Gracie, I’m going to get you
through this. Can you trust me?”

I gulped, and nodded firmly. I
had to trust him. I was in way over my head.

After giving him some inside
information about breaking into my flat, he gave me a parting wink
and shot off round the back of the building.

I took some deep breaths,
walked up to the intercom and buzzed my flat.

“Hel-lo,” there was my voice
again, but the other Gracie was using it.

Good, she was home. I blew out
a shaky breath.

“Hi, Gracie, it’s me, erm,
Lydia. Can you let me in?”

I heard a click as the door
unlocked. I opened it and practically ran up the familiar
stairwell, stopping outside flat 3. I knocked on the door, and
‘Gracie’ opened it. It was so surreal. Without giving her a chance
to talk, I reached forward and embraced her, remembering to wish I
could switch back.

After the familiar giddy
sensation, I was back in my own body and immediately could tell I
was in trouble. I opened my eyes to be faced with Lydia who was
staring into space. I felt shaky and weak, ready to collapse, but I
had to act fast to get rid of her. I gripped hold of the door
handle hard, aware I was losing the feeling in my legs.

“Lydia, I’m sorry I’m really
busy right now,” I blurted out. “I can’t talk, but I’ll catch up
with you tomorrow.”

I felt myself spiralling out of
control, and had to slam the door in her face. I knew she’d be
livid, but I had no choice. As soon as it closed, I crashed to the
floor. I had a blinding headache and felt unbearably hot. Sweat was
pouring off me. I was vaguely aware of Dan appearing at my side,
but I couldn’t speak to him.

He slid his arms underneath me,
picked me up and carried me until he found my bedroom. He gently
deposited me on the bed and disappeared in the direction of the
bathroom. I was scared and didn’t want him to leave, so it was a
relief to see him reappear with a damp flannel which he placed on
my forehead. The coolness felt good against my hot skin, and I
tried to convey my thanks just by looking at him.

He started to strip off my
clothes and if I hadn’t felt like death, I would have been
mortified. First, he slipped off my cardi. Then he unbuttoned my
jeans, and tugged them down. This was hard enough for me to do on a
good day, but he had to contend with my damp skin as well. After
some pulling, they gradually came over my thighs and he whipped
them off and discarded them on the floor. I felt the cool air hit
my skin, and it felt good.

I was aware of him removing my
socks, before starting to peel my top up, over my head and off my
arms. Later on, I would feel relieved he’d had the decency to leave
my underwear on.

He began tenderly patting the
cool flannel on the hot skin of my body, trying to bring my
temperature down. My hair was getting soaked with sweat and
sticking to my face. If I’d had the energy, I would have hacked the
lot off right there and then.

The next thing I was vaguely
aware of was him pushing something fizzy onto my tongue with his
thumb. It was a foul-tasting tablet.

“That’s it, Gracie, just drink
some water, nice and easy,” he said, holding the back of my head
up, and easing the glass onto my lips. He was speaking to me as if
I was a child and I tried to co-operate as best I could, putting my
total trust in him to see me through this.

As the minutes ticked by, I
felt my body growing weaker. It was like someone was zapping all my
energy and there was barely enough left to breathe. I was
frightened to fall asleep in case I didn’t wake up, but my eyelids
were growing so heavy, I couldn’t force them to stay open any
longer.

“It’s okay, just let yourself
relax.” Dan’s reassuring voice was the last thing I heard before
passing out.

When I woke, it was pitch black
outside. My head was still pounding and my mouth was so dry, I
couldn’t swallow properly. I put out my hand to reach for my glass
and jumped when it came into contact with Dan, who was lying beside
me, fully clothed.

I felt instantly relieved,
knowing he was there watching over me still.

“Hey, hey, how are you
feeling?” he asked.

“I’ve been better,” I
croaked.

“Let me help.” He got my glass
for me and held it up against my lips.

I swallowed the water too fast,
and nearly choked on it. Dan quickly sat me up, and held me as I
coughed.

He smoothed my matted hair back
out of my face, and tucked it behind my ears. A sign that I wasn’t
feeling myself, I didn’t even flinch. He helped me lay back down,
and started patting my skin with a damp flannel again.

“You might not feel it, but you
are improving,” he said.

I wasn’t celebrating just yet.
But I did feel grateful he was with me. When he’d finished cooling
me down, he lay next to me again and held my hand, rubbing the skin
with his thumb. It was soothing and I felt my anxiety begin to
fade.

“You’re going to be okay,
Gracie,” he whispered. I locked eyes with him and managed a weak
smile in return. I would have loved to chat with him and get to
know him better, but right then smiling was the best I could
manage. The irony wasn’t lost on me that such a good-looking guy
happened to be in my bedroom, on my bed no less, but the only thing
I wanted to do was sleep.

Dan sat up with me all night.
Every time I opened my eyes, he was there, reassuring me, giving me
water, or more medication. Gradually, I started to feel better, and
the last time I closed my eyes, I fell into a deep, satisfying
sleep.

~~~

CHAPTER 6

.

Feeling Lost

.

The next time I woke, it was
daylight and I was pleased my headache had reduced to a dull throb,
and I wasn’t drenched in sweat anymore. I looked over to the spot
where Dan had been laying and saw it was empty. I imagined he must
be in the living room or pottering about in the kitchen. I sat up
and strained to listen, but all I heard was traffic noise from
outside.

“Dan,” I called out. I waited,
but got no reply, so I raised my voice. “Dan, are you there?”

Nothing.

He can’t have just left.
There must be a note or something
. I flipped the sheets, damp
with sweat, off me. It felt chilly so I grabbed my dressing gown
and wrapped it around me, and with shaky legs, wandered out into
the living room searching for a slip of paper,
anything
.

After drawing a blank there, I
looked in the kitchen. But there was no note.
He can’t have just
run off
. I knew it was pointless, but I frantically checked the
answer phone and my mobile. I couldn’t believe it, no message, no
goodbye, nada.

After practically saving my
life, and staying with me all night, he’d just upped and left. As
realisation gradually crept in, my heart sank. Why wouldn’t he
leave? He had no reason to be here. I was back in my own body and
obviously out of danger, so his work was done.

I sank down onto the sofa,
aware of a horrible empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I
couldn’t believe I would never see him again. I was desperate to
talk to him. I wanted to thank him, and although I knew what I was
now, I still had so many questions. I doubted very much that
monitors would be listed in the Yellow Pages though, so I had no
way of contacting him.

I put my head in my hands and
sobbed. Partly from being weak, partly because I had lost Dan
before I’d got the chance to get to know him properly - no one
apart from Mum had ever looked after me so well - but mostly from
the shock of everything that had happened to me. The last couple of
days had been such a rollercoaster. Unknowingly, I’d put my life at
risk and I’d only survived because of Dan.

After several long minutes, my
sobs faded into deep breaths, and I managed to calm myself down. I
wiped the tears on my dressing gown sleeves and blew my nose on a
tissue I found in the pocket.

I needed to do something
constructive. I was still feeling sticky from sweating through the
night so I decided to shower and clean my teeth to get rid of the
awful taste in my mouth. I hoped once I’d freshened up, I would
feel better.

I peeled off the grey
mismatched underwear and cringed. Dan had seen me wearing those.
Blimey, it’s no wonder he left, I thought.

As the warm water rained down
on me, I cursed myself. Messing about with something I didn’t
understand had made me vulnerable. I made a vow that I would never
do anything like that again. Body-switching was strictly off the
agenda from now on.

After my shower, I still didn’t
feel a hundred percent, so decided to ring work to tell them I
would be taking a sick day. I looked at the clock, and was shocked
to see it was past ten. Camille was going to freak. She had a
different set of rules for her down line, with two pet hates. One
was being off sick, and the other was being late. Now I was going
to be late ringing in sick.
Not good.