Author: Mark Renney

The changeover hasn’t ever been subtle, but long ago, centuries ago, it wasn’t so difficult, so intense and all consuming. I think it’s fair to say that, back then, I rode roughshod, moving quickly from host to host. I would like to say I selected indiscriminately, but it wouldn’t be true. I always chose the young and healthy. I had no desire to inhabit an infirm or old body. And I left in my wake a trail of corpses, the relatives and loved ones baffled and perplexed and scratching their heads.

I rested a lot, back then, lying dormant for lengthy periods of time. I was lazy, I suppose, but I also enjoyed the disruption this caused. Why had Tommy suddenly stopped going to his classes? Why was Ben refusing to work? This is why I began to linger longer with a particular host. I was having fun and enjoying myself. I turned up to board meetings and played the fool. I collected the children from school dressed as Hanibal Lecter or Freddy Kreuger.

I soon realised that the wealthier and more successful my host, the bigger and grander the disruption and mayhem I could unleash. I was evil, a devil, not in sheep’s clothing, but in yours.

I acquired a taste for the finer things. Good food, wine, plush sheets on my bed, holidays in the sun, a large house, a fast car. Everything sleek and beautiful, including my partner.

Of course, I discovered sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. I sought out the hedonists, the pleasure seekers. I was moving quickly again but I began to realise that those I was mixing with were at war with themselves and this I did not enjoy so much. I was leaving a trail again but the loved ones and relatives weren’t scratching their heads in confusion or railing angrily. They simply shed tears or stared blankly in despair.

It was a euphoric and integral part of the human experience, a veritable thrill ride. But when I eventually backed away, I felt empty, still wanting answers.

I sought out the learned, the teachers, doctors, scientists, professors, philosophers, classicists but of course I was able to snatch their firefly souls, but not their brains, and if I was going to obtain the answers I so desperately desired, I needed to immerse myself into their lives and their work. I stood alongside the great thinkers, the best minds of the 21st Century. Getting close wasn’t ever a problem but eventually I settled on Robert Jones. He was a lecturer at a university in a small northern city. His existence was simple and steady. He lived in a tiny apartment with his like-minded partner. Books and records on the shelves, film posters on the walls. I observed from afar and I was envious. And I have stayed here for almost fifty years but sadly my host’s body is now failing. I have taken – no, stolen – so much from him, from all of them.

And I am just a passenger and I don’t know where to go next.