“I found something online. In the deep web.” He was mumbling now, the way he always did when he was embarrassed. I usually found it cute, but that day I found it sickening. “I added some extra conditions. An incantation that you could say to agree to become a vessel.”
My head tilted, and I couldn’t stop myself from talking to him like I was talking to a toddler, drawing out each word. “Like a spell?”
“It sounds weird when you put it like that, but I guess, yeah.” He scratched at his neck. “I put the words in the fine print, because no one reads that stuff. But anyone who signed up for one was basically agreeing to act as a vessel.”
“You keep saying that word?”
“Yeah, a vessel. It’s basically when you surrender your free will to let a spirit take control of your body.”
My stomach twisted. My throat scorched. “Why the fuck would you think it’s okay to–”
“I thought I could find my parents. They’ve been following me. I know it. I know they’ve been walking around the theater. But I could never actually see them, because they couldn’t take the form of anything. So I gave them a way to come back.”
