In her wisdom, my aunt steered me to a nearby bench and parked me there. Moments later I found myself holding a cold drink, quenching a sudden thirst, still a bit woozy.

"Who the hell is that man? Please tell me he's not a relative of ours."

Meg gave me an incredibly warm, and somewhat maternal smile. Again, in my head I heard her voice, "no, he's not family, at least not related to one of us. However, he may qualify as 'family' in some sense of the word. I believe you've had sex with him."

Slowly, I shook my head, wishing I could deny it. I strongly suspected Meg was right, even though I had no clear memory of it. "That would have been a major lapse in judgment on my part," I thought.

"You're a master of understatement." Again, that benign maternal smile. "Make no mistake, he is no one to be trifled with. He's one of the senior masters of the intruders."
"Isn't he awfully young to be a senior master?"
"Well, he's older than he looks; his essence is considerably older than the body he's currently wearing."

The world around the two of us spun into a blur; a moment later our surroundings cleared. We were now standing to the side in a bookstore. The clerk tending both the cash register and the clientele, appeared to be none other than the tall brown haired man; however his full beard had given way to a mustache and soul patch. His short hair was now shoulderlength. He appeared a good ten years younger than he had, when he accosted me just 15 minutes earlier. Seeing a customer emerge from between the stacks, he came around the counter and made his way over to an older gentleman struggling with a cane and an arm full of books. "Please, let me help you with that." Almost on cue, two of the books tumbled to the floor. The tall man crouched to pick them up. As he did so, the elder man reached out and placed his hand on the back of the neck of the clerk, who instantly crumbled to the floor, unconscious. With that the old man turned and looked directly at us, gave us a half smile as he tipped his hat, and then collapsed. The younger man suddenly recovered and rose, brushed his sweatered arms off, and abruptly strode out of the store. Again our surroundings blurred and once more we were back on the bench in the park.

"Oh, my God!" Meg reached out and simply laid her hand on my knee. My mind reeled, and yet my aunt's face remained almost placid. "How?" I thought. "How do you remain so composed? Your daughter has just died. Your brother has been taken by a man that may be the devil incarnate. Please, tell me."
"Jack is no one to be trifled with either. He's a strong man and strong in the use of his gift. He should be all right for a while, at least if we can get to him before too long. However we're going to need help with that."
"But what about Elaine?"
"Elaine will have to make do in the body she's in for the time being."
"But, I thought..." Meg broadcasted a thought that cut me off. "Ezekiel isn't the only one that can affect a corporal switch. Elaine fell victim to the same thing six months ago. The woman you felt expire was occupying Elaine's body; your cousin is still very much with us. I'm afraid she's getting a nasty taste of what menopause is like, but that's a small price to pay to still be alive."

Rising to her feet, Meg took my hand, pulling me to mine. This time she spoke. "Come, we need to find Marigold. We're going to need her help."
"Who?"
"Your Aunt Joan's partner; she's one of us. Hopefully, she'll still be dressed when we get there." Then she smiled again. "Joan gets rather cross with me, whenever I steal her favorite model."

"So is that Marigold our relative too?" I asked.
"Yes, a remote cousin, and somebody else who's got both of the family's little peculiarities." Meg laughed, in spite of all. Then her face turned all serious. "Come on, young man, we'd better hurry up!"

I tried to walk, but every step felt like a tremendous effort.

Past-midnight inspiration? :P

I'm going to bed now. :)

I looked at Meg and she seemed to be finding difficulty in her walking as well.. we took few more steps before our legs were no longer responding. As if our feet were somehow glued to the ground, just as we were about to exit the park. "It's Marigold, she's on her way":Said Meg, and we were both released from our pause.

By the time Meg and I got through the park gates, there was a red SUV slowing down and parking right in front of us. I was able to recognize Aunt Joan and Marigold, sitting next to her in the passenger's seat, from the future vision I had of them earlier. We got in, and the vehicle started moving."I saw what happened to you in the park, Michael..I'm Joan and this is my partner Marigold". Giving me an eye contact through the middle mirror while she drove. Marigold was waving sign language to Joan. "Marigold apologizes to you both for freezing you back there. She had to delay you so we can reach you on time".