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Mikey looked down and ai world rippled like waves in a pond "I trust you," he said, his voice a low gru useful"

"Thank you" She gave hientle peck on the cheek, then went off to join Milos

Once they were gone, Moose and Squirrel approached him

"Why don't you come with ush, Mikey?" Moose asked

"Yeah, yeah," said Squirrel "Skinjacking can be fun to watch, too Especially the e do it"

And although tagging along with the two of the, because it was better than spending the day thinking of Allie in the co Moose and Squirrel skinjack that day was entertaining, in a blood-sport sort of way The were both ingeniously inventive, and decidedly deranged

First they skinjacked two older teens ere on their way to suet into an R-rated ot bored with the movie, they skinjacked two police the policeotten there

Each time they skinjacked, they left their fleshies stuck hatever bad situation they had created, and walked away scott-free Hit-and-run jackers, he dubbed the fun," they coested that their activities were depraved But then, as he to talk? He had been the McGill--yet even though he had perpetrated a good s, his depravity had a little more class

Next, Moose and Squirrel went into a bar, got two ed fleshies exceptionally drunk, then peeled out of them just before they were ready to puke

"No harht?"

"Yeah," added Moose, "They were gonna do it anyway"

Mikey concluded that these tere the lowest bottom-feeders he'd ever had thefleshies?" "Milosh and ush got a 'don't ashk don't tell' polishy," said Moose

"Yeah, yeah--and anye don't abuse no one--we just play hard, that's all"

Mikey only hoped that when it was finally their turn to go into the light, their pit would be deeper than his

When Moose and Squirrel skinjacked a couple of nuns, and took the spree, Mikey decided it was tih a forest that he hoped would take hihway The forest had quite a few trees that had crossed into Everlost, and so provided hiain soreasy after the way he had spent the day

There was a house in the woods--a shack, really, but sturdy and cared for Evidence of ash in the living world suggested it had burned down, but whoever lived there must have loved the place, because it had crossed into Everlost The sight of it filled Mikey with sorrow A ghost house with no ghost What could be sadder? Then he realized why the house bothered him This shack was him without Allie Solitary and unvisited An unknown artifact waiting for eternity to free it froil

It was at that moment he realized that his spirit was truly huer reroundbreaking book on skinjacking You Don't Know Jack, Allie the Outcast writes:

"Forget all you've heard about skinjackers; forget the idiotic ras of other so-called sources of Everlost inforhts They can be honorable or dishonorable, smart or stupid-- it all depends on the individual There are two things that hold true for all skinjackers, though The first is a driving, almost instinctive need to skinjack The second is the overwhel burden that such a power puts on us With such a power, the potential exists for incredibly good deeds, and for acts of unthinkable evil I think it's fortunate for both the living and the dead that most skinjackers are too clueless to doTennessee

In her days on the Sulphur Queen, Allie had pretended to teach the McGill how to skinjack Of course her lessons were bogus--skinjacking can't be taught--but it can be perfected, and Milos was a ht to do Things she never dared to do!

At first, he just showed off They caa He skinjacked the player with the ball, then passed to another player--but Milos got to the other player before the ball did, skinjacked hi in spite of herself, as he bounced hi one player, then another, then another, passing the ball to hi Allie got dizzy trying to keep track of where and who he was

By the time he was done, the players were all a bit dazed and confused, not quite sure what had just occurred

"Jill and I would play ether," Milos told her "We would juaht a smile, but a measure of pain to Milos's expression

"Did you love her?" Allie dared to ask

Milos took a fewonce," he told her "We skinjacked the bride and groom"

"You didn't!"

"Well, I skinjacked the groos were cold"

Allie looped that back through her ot cold feet Instead of the bride, she went to hide in the flower girl That should have told , you think?"

"I'm sorry, Milos" Then a silence fell between them that was decidedly aard

They made their way to the heart of the town, and found a street fair in full swing taking up all three blocks of Lebanon, Tennessee's main street

"For your first lesson, I think I will teach you to surf"

Allie laughed "Well, as the nearest beach is hundreds of miles away, I sincerely doubt that"