Oblivious to what was going on, Danny’s parents had smothered him with kisses, and the police had questioned Allie’s parents as to how on earth the boy had turned up there. Allie didn’t want to fight Danny, and once they were in the police cruiser, driving away, she tried over and over again to peel herself out of the boy. His body stiffened, his back arched, his eyes bulged, but Allie could not get out of his body, and his parents became more and more concerned with their son’s strange behavior. As the police car pulled into the Rozelli’s driveway, Allie finally realized the true cost of skinjacking someone for too long. She was now a permanent resident in Danny Rozelli’s body.

But the worst was yet to come.

It was the element of surprise that gave a skinjacker the advantage. A person didn’t know how to defend themselves against a skinjacking, or how to fight to retain control of his or her own body—especially against a seasoned skinjacker like Allie. But fleshies learn quickly. Each time Danny’s spirit surfaced, he was stronger, more able to fight Allie from the inside out, and now, half a day later, the two of them were still battling at sunset, with neither one getting the upper hand. They were two evenly-matched spirits sealed into a single body, and it looked like they were going to stay that way for good.

“I’m fine!” Allie insisted, in control of Danny’s mouth. “I’m fine, really.” Unfortunately Danny had control of the rest of his head, and began banging it against the wall.

His mother began to wail, his father grabbed him and restrained him, and Allie withdrew, trying to figure out a new approach to this unhappy situation.

She pulled way back, allowing Danny to have full control of himself, but not so far back that he could force her to sleep—for he had figured out that trick too. She waited as his body relaxed, his breathing slowed, and his father, who was still restraining him, loosened his grip.

“It’s all right, Danny,” he said. “We’re going to get you help. I promise.”

Danny, tears in his eyes, nodded. Allie waited a minute more, then pushed her thoughts forward in a faint whisper.

—Danny, please listen to me—

No! he thought back to her. No, no, no! But at least now he wasn’t shouting it out loud.

—Bad things will happen if you don’t listen to me—

He didn’t answer her right away. Then he thought, What kind of bad things?

—They’ll take you away from your parents and put you in a hospital—

No! My parents won’t let anyone do that!

—What do you think they mean when they said they’ll get you help?—

Danny didn’t respond to that. Good. He was finally seeing reason.