The Reincarnation

David picked the gunman up with Donna’s help. They felt like they were lifting a corpse. The man was heavy and stiff. David put the man in a chair Laura brought in from the kitchen, bending his legs and hips so his body conformed to a sitting position. “Do you have any rope?” he asked Donna.

“Sure.” Donna went into the kitchen.

David tied up the man’s hands and feet when Donna returned with the rope. “Listen, he had to get here somehow. Donna, can you go check around – see if his car is out there?”

“Sure,” she said, turning to the door and leaving. Laura and David stared at the stranger, crinkling their noses at the smell emanating from him. Donna was back in a moment with a bag and a jacket she found in the man’s car. She opened the bag, looked inside, then spilled its contents on the futon.

“Pancake makeup – ‘As Always, with Sunblock and Insect Repellant!’” she read from the label. “Some cheap cologne. A bunch of money.”

She looked through the man’s jacket. “Here’s his wallet. Let’s see.” She opened the wallet. “John Springer. Picture looks like him.” She pointed with the ID card to the man tied up in the chair. “He seems to be pretty wealthy. There’s a diamond card in here. Access keys. Club Membership cards. You name it, this guy’s got it.”

“But who is he? I mean, why is he here with a gun? Does he work for the Lab?” David was still confused.

“Not likely. If he did, he probably would have come with backup. And that car I found in the bushes wasn’t from the Lab. His gun’s not Church-issued. It’s not likely.”

“Then who –” David was cut off when Laura interrupted him.

“The one who got your soul, David. Maybe this is the one who got your soul. You were frozen for twenty-five years. He looks about that old.”

David looked at the man. He did look about David’s age. The same amount of time he had been frozen. David remembered his dreams – was this the man in the theater? Then he remembered the tugs in the morning and at night. Was this who they were for?

“That would explain why he tried to kill me. To get it back.” David touched his hand to his chest. “Well, there’s one way to find out, I think. This may sound crazy, but if I fall asleep, and he wakes up the minute I’m out, I think Laura will be proven right.”

“Are you sure you want him to wake up?” Laura worried.

“I have to know,” David resolved. His mind was racing as he lay down on the bed. His heart was still flying from the excitement, but he separated this from the “push,” as he had come to call it. He thought he didn’t really need to be asleep, he just needed to “push” some energy out of him, and use less himself. He closed his eyes.

After a moment, he pushed.