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It told the house It was, however, all bark and no bite There was a young couple living in the house -- and although it yelled at them, too, they apparently could not hear it as they were both deaf Since the house had no appendages by which to coe, it was profoundly frustrated Itfor the house to finally have spirits within its walls who could hear it--even if they weren’t inclined to listen Regardless, Allie had to adus lesson in skinjacking

"Okay," Allie told the McGill, "first find a dead-spot in the room," which was not very difficult since the whole house was spotted with them like Swiss cheese Apparently many people had died here Allie didn’t want to think about it

The McGill took a spot near afacing the sea "Nohat?"

"Close your eyes"

"My eyes don’t close," the McGill reht Okay then, keep your eyes open Face the ocean…and wait for the sun to rise"

"It’s noon," the McGill pointed out

"Yes, I know You have to stand here, and wait until to sun"

"Get…Ot," said the house

"If we have to be here at dahy didn’t you tell me that before we came?"

"You knohat your problem is?" Allie said "You have no patience You’re i takes patience Stand here, and wait until dawn"

The McGill gave her an evil eye, spat out a wad of so brown on her shoe, and said, "Fine But you ith me If I have to listen to this stupid house, then so do you"

So they waited, ignoring the pointless activities of the people who lived there, and turning a deaf ear to the house

The nextsun, the horizon was filled with a ribbon of gray

"You’ll have to wait until tomorrow," Allie told the McGill

"Why? What does this have to do with possessing the living?"

Allie rolled her eyes as if the ansas obvious "Staring at the sun at dawn gives you soul-sight Not every living person can be possessed Soul-sight allows you to see which ones you’ll be able to skinjack, and which ones you won’t"

The McGill looked at her doubtfully "And this is how you learned?"

"Well," said Allie, "it’s the first step"

"How many steps are there?"

"Twelve"

The McGill regarded her with his wandering, mismatched eyes, then asked, "Is anyone in this house possessible?"

Allie thought back to when she caught gli to one another by estures In truth, anyone was possessible, but she wouldn’t let the McGill know that The whole point of this was toat all The whole point was to stall long enough to learn the McGill’s weaknesses If she could drag hi hiht find the key to defeating him--or at least, a way to free her friends

Either way, she knew she’d have to make a quick escape when it was all over, because when the McGill finally figured out that he was being duped, his fury would reverberate through all of Everlost

"The woman is possessible," Allie told the McGill

"Show me," the creature said "Skinjack her now"

Allie clenched her teeth Her experience taking control of the ferry pilot had been exciting, but frightening It had been an intense experience, but ~ also funda so to keep stringing the McGill along, she would have to deliver

"Okay, I’ll do it But only if you tellup in your ship And why you put numbers on them"

He considered the question, then said, "I’ll tell you AFTER you skinjack the woman"

"Fine" Allie rolled her shoulders like a runner getting ready for a race, then approached the wo in was easier this time than it had been with the ferry pilot, perhaps because she was a woman, or perhaps because practice made perfect The woman never quite knehat hit her What struck Allie first was the absolute silence She al, until she remehter--the way it appeared to the living--and she could feel the seductive density of flesh She flexed her fingers, and found that it had only taken a few moments to push the woman’s consciousness down, and take control

Allie looked around Through the woer see the McGill, but she kneas there If he wanted proof that she could possess people, he would have proof She rued around in the kitchen drawers until she found a per block letters: