Ami stepped back, frightened by the lavender colored ghost's presence. The howling wind outside the rickety mansion, rain clattering on the dusty windows, all of it overwhelmed Ami. And before she could unfreeze herself, perhaps to run away, the spirit flew forward and entered Ami. She felt a new presence in her mind, an intrusive presence. She fell backward onto the ornate carpet of the decrepit bedroom, trembling, feeling violated. A voice in her head boomed, "Ami, Ami... The name of this vessel."
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
"I am simply Clutch, the possessor ghost of this town. And you, dear Ami, are my new plaything. At least, until I see fit to let you go."
She felt like screaming, but her mouth would not open. She tried to run, but her legs refused to obey her. Her arms and hands trembled. The presence in her mind told her, "It's not you I want, little Ami, but your body. A year? Five? Maybe even five hundred. Sometimes you have to work with corpses and skeletons in this day and age."
Finally, her trembling stopped. Her fearful expression changed into a sinister smile. She got up, off the floor, and pridefully dusted off her clothes. Looking down at her body, she couldn't help but let out a raspy, possessed laugh that mimicked how the voice in her head once spoke. "Wow! I love my new body! Oh, but your memories show me that you're a bit of a loner... how's a possessor ghost supposed to enjoy things in this world without some popularity? Ah well. You're pretty good friends with a girl named Sora, hmm? Popular, too..." Ami ran her hands along her body, intrusively inspecting her own skin, seeming decently content with the thickness of her thighs, the acceptable firmness of her breasts, and the smoothness of her skin as she thought out loud. "Okay, I've made up my mind. I'll just use you to take over Sora, and then finally mess around with being a popular and fun loving!"
***
Sora lounged in her cute pajamas, splaying across the couch of her warm living room. Some flavor of the month anime played on the TV, engrossing Sora in the day to day of some generic teen protagonist. She yawned and turned over to snuggle under her blanket, when she heard a knock at the front door. She questioned the hour of the night, and why anyone would come to visit her. She was so engrossed in her show that she couldn't muster the energy to answer the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
The knock was relentless. So finally, she hopped out, rubbing one eye as she opened the front door.
Standing in front of her was her friend, Ami. She still had her work clothes on, despite the hour definitely hitting past midnight. The torrential rain had been pouring for hours now, and Ami was soaked through.
Sora asked, "Ami? Why are you here? Do you know how late it is?!"
Ami stared at Sora with an odd smile, completely unbefitting of the time. "Sora. I know it's very late, but I want to hang out."
Sora sat there for a moment, looking at her best friend with a very confused expression. Finally, she relented, putting her hand on her hip. "Fiiine, I can't see you out there in the rain like a sad puppy, so come in."
The two walked inside, and Sora shut the door behind them.
Sora turned to Ami and asked, "Did something happen? You seem different."
Ami quickly responded, "Oh, it's nothing important. I just need to talk about something."
Sora smiled and said, "Come on, I'll make us some tea."
Ami followed Sora to the kitchen. The way she walked was weird, as if she... was bad at it, Sora thought to herself. Ami was always a bit clumsy, but she seemed to be more clumsy than usual. She didn't quite get the steps right and stumbled around a bit. As Sora made tea, Ami leaned against the kitchen counter and began to speak. "So, I..."
Sora looked back at her with a concerned expression. "Ami? Are you okay?"
Ami smiled and said, "Yes, Sora! Duh! I'm fine!" She tried to laugh it off as she looked down at herself and added, "I'm just a bit clumsy today. Don't mind me."
Sora continued to prepare the tea, filling the kettle and adding water. She didn't believe for a second that Ami was fine, but in the case that she wasn't acting like herself, it was maybe better to pretend like everything was normal. She finished making the tea, and looked at her friend again. Ami apparently didn't care about the fact that she was still soaked from the rain, leaving a trail of water across the floor as she moved around.
"Ami, why don't you go get changed. I have a spare pair of pajamas here somewhere in my room. I'll have the tea ready in the living room for you."
She nodded and said, "Okay." Ami wandered into Sora's bedroom, disappearing behind the door. Sora brought the steaming kettle into the living room, placing it on the table between her and the TV as she heard the shuffling of clothes from down the hall. She had a few minutes, at least, to consider what was wrong with Ami. Did something happen at the mansion? Even in the warm and cozy suburban house, the unnatural responses and actions of Ami made her feel scared. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was in danger.
Sora could hear footsteps in the hallway again as Ami made her way into the living room, carrying her shoes in her hands as she came forward. She was wearing one of Sora's hoodie pajama sets with a froggy design on it. She bounced between the walls with a freaky motion as she walked over to Sora, who decided not to bring up the issue of the weirdness of her friend's movement again.
Between sips of her tea after plopping down on the couch, Ami announced, "Sora, there's something I have to show you."
Sora sipped her tea and said, "Oh? Like what?"
"I have to show you something I found in the mansion."
Sora felt a dull, growing unease in her stomach as Ami spoke, and she glanced at the front door. "...Yeah? I thought you said that you didn't find anything interesting in there."
"I know... but there is something! Something that I found that might interest you." Ami's voice sounded different now, with a strange undertone to it. Sora's eyes widened in horror as she saw her friend slowly and creepily move toward her on the couch with her arms outstretched. Sora jumped back up as Ami's crawl continued. She saw Ami's eyes looking increasingly devoid of life and emotion as pretenses of pretending to be normal slowly fell away, Sora's back bumped into the end of the
