“Oh, I thought of that a long time ago, when I was snooping about in your hotel room in New York. I have my wardrobe, you needn’t worry, and I like that black velvet suit. You do dress beautifully. Always did, didn’t you? But then you come from a time of such lavish costumes. This age must seem awfully dreary to you. Are those antique buttons? Ah, well, I’ll have time to examine them.”

“Where will you be going?”

“Where I want to go, of course. Are you losing your nerve?”

“No.”

“Know how to drive the car?”

“Yes. If I didn’t, I’d figure it out.”

“Think so? Think you’ll have your preternatural intelligence when you’re in this body? I wonder. I’m not sure you will. The little synapses in the mortal brain might not fire off so fast.”

“I don’t know anything about synapses,” I said.

“All right. Let’s begin, then,” he said.

“Yes, now, I think.” My heart turned to a small, tight knot inside me, but his manner became completely authoritative and commanding at once.

“Listen closely,” he said. “I want you to rise out of your body, but not till I’m finished speaking. You’ll move up. You’ve done it before. When you are close to the ceiling and looking directly down on both of us at this table, you will make a concentrated effort to move into this body. You must not think of anything else. You must not let fear interrupt your concentration. You must not wonder as to how this is being done. You want to descend into this body, you want to connect completely and instantaneously with every fiber and cell. Picture it as you do it! Imagine yourself already inside.”

“Yes, I follow you.”

“As I’ve told you, there is something invisible in it, something left from the original occupant, and that something is hungry to be complete again—with your soul.”

I nodded. He went on.

“You may be prey to a variety of unpleasant sensations. This body will feel very dense to you, and constricting as you slide in. Don’t waver. Imagine your spirit invading the fingers of each hand, the toes of each foot. Look through the eyes. That is most important. Because the eyes are part of the brain. When you look through them, you are anchoring within the brain. Now you won’t shake loose, you can be sure of it. Once you’re in, it will take quite a bit of effort to get out.”

“Will I see you in spirit form while we’re changing?”

“No, you won’t. You could, but that would take a great deal of concentration away from your immediate goal. You don’t want to see anything but this body; you want to get in it and start moving it and breathing through it, and seeing through it, as I’ve said.”

“Yes.”

“Now, one thing which will frighten you is the sight of your own body, lifeless, or inhabited finally by me. Don’t allow this to get the better of you. Here a certain trust and humility must play a part. Believe me when I say that I shall accomplish the possession without injury to your body, and then I shall leave immediately, so as to relieve you of that constant reminder of what we’ve done. You won’t see me again until Friday morning, as we’ve agreed. I won’t speak to you, because the sound of my voice coming out of your mouth would upset you, distract you. You understand?”