Page 69 of Switch!

I’m torn between wanting to believe her and wondering if she’s conning me. “If you’re really psychic, then what’s my name?”

“How should I know?” she spits. “I’m not a mind reader. What right do you have to inhabit a body that doesn’t belong to you?”

That almost gets me until I remember asking if two souls could inhabit the same body. She’s only parroting that information back to me. I’ll need more proof. “Tell me something about myself that you couldn’t possibly know.”

“Show me a color that you’ve never seen before,” she retorts. “Why are you making impossible requests?”

“Because I’m searching for the truth, and I obviously came to the wrong place to find it.”

I stand, intending to leave.

“I’ll tell you what I see,” Gismonda says. “I see a man who is being held prisoner in his own body.”

Again, it’s just another version of what I’ve already told her. I’m going about this incorrectly. I won’t say a thing to the next psychic I approach. If they can get anywhere near the truth without me explaining it to them, I’ll know they’re for real.

“Thank you for your time,” I say.

Gismonda closes her eyes and holds up her palms. Nice showmanship. She probably says goodbye to all of her clients that way. I’m turning away when I feel her push me from behind. For an old woman, she sure is strong! I’m knocked off my feet, and when I try to rise again, there is no floor for me to press my hands against. I attempt to look around, but I’m blind in a way that’s all too familiar. The void! The slowly encroaching sensation of drowning makes me certain that I’ve returned there somehow. What happened to Jesse’s body? I need to get back inside! Without my silver cord, I’m anchorless, cast adrift and stripped of all my senses. Is this death? Will I float through empty space as a thought and nothing more for all of eternity?

“You’re just a boy,” I hear Gismonda say. “A teenager! I was expecting something more exciting. A demon, perhaps. Or my deceased husband. He’s always pulling stunts like this.”

I still can’t see her, so I try to reach out, wanting to grab onto anything substantial. I can’t even speak. My mind is getting hazy. The sensation is similar to losing consciousness at night, but instead of slowly dozing off, I’m fading away completely.

Please help me, I think in desperation.I’m dying.

“Yes,” Gismonda replies. “I’m afraid you are. Without a silver cord or a body to shelter your soul, there’s only one place for you to go.”

I don’t want to die. Please. Please don’t let me die!

Hands wrap around mine and I feel myself stabilize. Am I inside Jesse again? I open my mouth to suck in air, but there is no oxygen here.

“Why do you behave like a fish out of water?”

You can see me?I think in response.Even in the void?

“Void? What void? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

This place. There’s nothing here.

“When a baby closes their eyes, they think the world disappears, even though it doesn’t.”

Is that a riddle?

“You are the riddle, little hermit crab. You cling to life with a stolen shell. What game are you playing?”

I don’t know. I’m scared!

“Don’t be. Without eyes, you mustwillyourself to see. Go on. Try.”

I want to see. More than anything! That usually means opening my eyes, but she’s right. I don’t have eyelids, or a body. All I have is my mind. And my will.

White light explodes in front of me in the shape of a glowing woman. Three tendrils of braided hair wave behind Gismonda, who is no longer old. She isn’t exactly young either. Instead she’s ageless. Eternal. The power radiating off of her is intense, her stern expression intimidating.

“Good. Now then, tell me, do you intend any harm?”

“No!” Instead of thinking the words, I will myself to speak. There isn’t much difference, to be honest, but this feels more natural. “I only want to fix the mistakes I’ve made.”

“And you need a body to do this?”