Lodz crept across the camp toward his old trailer on all fours, enjoying the sensation of the cool night air on his-her skin. Every night he’d been practicing – gaining more and more control every time he invaded Ruthie’s sleeping body with his consciousness. This night would see him turn a page – make himself more involved once more in the game – and in a most delightful and appropriate way for all concerned.

He’d been particularly proud of this idea when it had occurred to him while watching a poignant moment of grief from his beloved Lila. He had underestimated her devotion to him, evidently. She’d always been a convenient foil, and a willing and sharp pair of eyes in the days before – and although she might have argued with him over some of his more outrageous requests, she’d never denied him in the end. Despite that, however, he’d always suspected ulterior motives behind her willingness; motives having more to do with becoming the “queen bee” of the Carnivàle and less with simply being his helpmate and doing as he asked out of love and devotion. Having to stand by - unseen, undetectable and helpless, to watch her genuinely grieve for him while still uncertain as to just what had happened to him – had been an eye-opener.

It had been galling to discover that the only person in the entire Carnivàle to be sensitive enough to his presence to be useful had been Ruthie. It had been logical in a perverted way – after all, her life had been ransomed from death by his murder in a test of intention set up by and flawlessly set in motion by Management – but that didn’t make him any happier about the situation. He would far have rather been working through the tarot card reader’s mother, frankly – although he would have had serious difficulties accomplishing what he intended to accomplish this night had that been the case. Apollonia would never have been that hard to touch with his mind – would never have been so confounded by what he was telling her. She’d had a good head on her shoulders – until that last, fateful night. The two of them might not have gotten along well in the past few years, but there was a level of trust between them that couldn’t be denied.

As for this Ruthie bitch, she’d never cooperated with him once – never given him anything but verbal cuts and outright disdain. Before Lila had joined their little band, Ruthie had been the only woman in the entire group to spurn his attentions. Granted, she’d been a mother with a young boy with two or three screws not only loose but missing would naturally have given her a desire for discretion – and he couldn’t fault her for that. But Gabriel was grown now – at least, physically – and he knew, he KNEW, she’d had men in that trailer of hers off and on for years before that. Hell, she’d even had Hack Scudder!

So tonight would be his revenge for years of scorn, verbal (and the occasional physical) abuse and spurning his advances. Should anyone see her, crawling across the camp naked on all fours, he could simply withdraw his control of her sleeping body and leave her to awaken, confused and even more convinced of her own burgeoning madness in light of the reaction of those who had seen. And if not… well… He had an even better plan in mind for leaving her emotionally scarred once his evening’s pleasures had been accomplished.

He made his way up the steps to his old trailer and manipulated the knob – remembering how to do so without making a sound. How many times in those last days had meetings with Management been conducted long after Lila had dropped into deep slumber, and how many times had he snuck back into the trailer and climbed back into bed with her without rousing her in the slightest. This was like old times!

The bed was at the back of the trailer, just as it had been when he was alive – and Lila was hogging the middle of the bed in a manner that she’d never dared while he’d been with her in the flesh. Gently he pulled the silken blanket and sheet up from beneath the mattress and slithered beneath them and onto the foot of the bed. Lodz thrilled to the way even the female body he inhabited could begin to tingle in anticipation. It was a strange sensation to feel such things from a woman’s perspective – but at the moment, he couldn’t be choosy. It had been so long…

Obviously it had been a long time for Lila as well, as she began to respond to the ministrations even in the depths of her sleep. How wonderful it was to be inundated by the sweet smell of her femininity – to have the scent of her arousal fill his nostrils again! If he had had a real body – his own body – he knew that this act would be but a foretaste of the even sweeter pleasures of losing himself physically in Lila’s soft body. But this would have to suffice.

She was hungry, his Little Nightingale, and she climaxed very quickly. He could tell the moment that she awakened – sated and a little confused and not quite sure she wanted to see just who it was under the covers that had given her such pleasure. What would be her response, he wondered, to finding him staring at her through a woman’s clouded eyes?

The moment she had his-her head uncovered, he said the words he’d said to her thousands of times in a similar situation of just having reduced her to wordless cries of ecstasy: “That’s my Buttercup.” And it was all that was needed. He could feel the tension flush from her body – and he crawled up her torso so that he could claim her lips once more, relishing their response and desperation and feeling Lila’s arms surround him-her and hold him-her as tightly as she had ever done. This might be a woman’s body he was directing, but there were plenty of things that could be accomplished nonetheless. His Buttercup needed him – and he hadn’t realized until that very moment just how much he needed her as well!

~~~~~~~~~*

The smoke from Lila’s hashish swirled around his-her head, a giddy reminder of what had been a wonderful tradition for after taking care of physical needs. Lodz knew he had but to wait a little while, and Lila would hand him the mouthpiece for him to partake of HER vice of choice – and he wasn’t mistaken. He took a long and appreciative draw of the intoxicating smoke, enjoying the way it made his-her head grow just a little lighter.

“It was the boy, Ben Hawkins,” he explained patiently – grateful that he had control of the snake charmer’s body and faculties enough now to communicate his full message to the one person he knew he could trust. “He’s the one who took me from you.”

Lila’s outrage surged at him without words for a scant second, and then: “And what about Sampson?”

Lodz hadn’t anticipated an opportunity to stab in the back the dwarf who had usurped his place for so long – especially after the little man had helped eliminate any evidence of his murder and then had the balls to tell Lila that he, Lodz, had just “taken a powder.” But once it was offered, he wasn’t going to back away from a chance to extract just that much more revenge. “Covered it up,” he confirmed for her, knowing she’d already been suspicious.

“I knew it!” Lila exclaimed angrily. “I can read that little trout like a book.” Already he could imagine thoughts of her revenge beginning to swirl around in that pretty head of hers. She was SO predictable…

As much as he would like to stay, however – and perhaps indulge in the kind of debauchery that had made their life together such a journey of discovery and sensual pleasures – he knew the time was drawing near when he’d need to return control of Ruthie’s body to her waking consciousness. Already he could feel the snake charmer’s personality beginning to squirm beneath his overshadowing. Better for the both of them that he say goodbye properly first. “I must leave.”

Lila was immediately pleading – as he expected. “No! Please stay?”

Oh, but he was tempted! “My little clarinet,” he exclaimed, using his favorite pet name for her and toying with her beard gently in the way he knew she loved so much. “In this body, hardly practical.”

It truly wasn’t – he wasn’t just toying with her. He couldn’t make love to her properly with this body – and it wouldn’t take long for the both of them to discover how ultimately unsatisfactory that solution would be. Besides, there would be no way for him to be able to pretend to “be” Ruthie during daylight hours – his blindness had carried over into the afterlife, and he knew that while overshadowed, his-her eyes were as white and sightless as his own ever had been. Moreover, his personality and Ruthie’s were just too different – and even Gabriel, with his complete lack of wits otherwise, would be able to tell that there was something very wrong, something completely different, about his mother. Surely Lila could see that!

Evidently not. “I don’t care what other people think,” she sniffed.

“Don’t be a fool!” Had she learned nothing in all the years she’d spent at his side? “All that really matters in this world is what OTHERS think of you.” He smiled softly, knowingly. “Besides, you’ll be seeing me soon.”

Lila was enthralled. “Like this?”

Lodz could feel Ruthie’s personality pushing even more strongly against his control. “No, my dear,” he responded while he still could. “In the flesh.”

And then it happened – before he could elaborate – his control over the aging woman’s body faltered and slipped. The body fell away from him, eyes slamming shut as his invasive personality was rudely ejected and the true owner’s personality slipped back firmly into control. Lila, desperate to hang onto what little contact she had with him, shook the naked shoulder beside her. “Lodz? Lodz!”

But now it was all he could do to stand back and observe with senses that went beyond eyesight and hearing as Ruthie awakened and became aware of her surroundings. Lodz smiled a cold and invisible smile of satisfaction as he “watched” Ruthie take in her situation – being naked and in bed with Lila – with growing alarm. Yes, this HAD been a very good idea – a very fitting retribution for all the digs and insults and cruelties she’d inflicted on him over the years!

“Dear God! What are you…” Ruthie stammered, aghast and dismayed at the very thought of how she had come to be in this place and unwilling to even consider what might have happened during that time. She gathered a dark, silken cloth around her to cover herself as best she could and slipped quickly from the bed. “What am I doing here?” she demanded with growing panic and confusion.

Lila – dear Lila! Always one to make the best of a good situation, he knew she wouldn’t be able to resist twisting the knife. “You WERE doin’ fine,” she commented in a slow and suggestive drawl that Lodz could tell made Ruthie even more ill at ease and concerned about what HAD gone on. “Now you’re just…”

Say it! Lodz urged her silently, be my revenge!

“…leavin’.” Lila tossed the silken bedspread at the naked woman casually – callously – and stared as if disgusted at what she was seeing.

Ruthie stared for a long moment, then gathered up the bedspread, wrapped it around her and scuttled from the trailer as fast as she could – looking back and forth in the hopes that no one would observe her flight.

Lodz chuckled silently as he followed the snake charmer back into her trailer and then parked himself in a corner to await his next opportunity to take control while she parked herself at her vanity and stared at her reflection in consternation, the tears making ugly tracks down her cheeks. He couldn’t help smiling in satisfaction and elation. The experiment had been a success – he was no longer relegated to the sidelines. And he’d had his revenge – or at least one very important piece of it. From the look in Ruthie’s eyes, he knew she’d never be the same again – a fate she richly deserved.

He could be patient for the rest of it. Ben Hawkins and Hack Scudder would pay someday for what they’d done to him. Sampson would pay. Management – the one whom he had served so loyally and who had betrayed him so casually - was dead now and beyond his reach. But his heir – and the man who had been the instrument of Management’s betrayal – was extremely vulnerable. Yes, Lodz knew he could be patient. Now that he had mastered the means to play the game again, he could be as patient as he needed to be.

Revenge was a dish best served ice-cold, after all.

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