"I
met the guy in charge and he thought it would be funny to put someone
else's soul in," Gloria said.
"Wait,
you've seen the afterlife?" Selina asked quickly, "You've
met the gods?"
"It
isn't as impressive as it sounds," Gloria said, "The
afterlife was just one endless white plane... and that guy I met, I
wouldn't call him a god." She glanced again at her belongings.
"Why
not?"
"Well,
he uses his powers for his own amusement, like switching my soul for
Annie's. And he has this obsession with stripping little girls
naked."
"That
can't be true. The gods can't be that perverted."
"Oh,
yes, this one is," Gloria assured her, "He stripped the
dress off Annie and tried to trick me into taking off mine."
"He
could be watching while we're showering or during some other private
moment, could he?"
"He
said he'd do exactly that with me."
"Okay,
that's disconcerting."
"I
try not to worry about it every time I shower since I can't see him
anyway." Gloria sighed. "Okay, that's my story, what's
yours? What were you doing in Fernham High?"
Selina
sipped more of her drink. "I was there to protect someone.
Sorry, I can't say who."
"Are
you some kind of special agent of some sort?"
"Something
like that."
"Is
that why I have this unnatural fear of you?" Gloria asked.
"Oh,
that." Selina glanced at the ocean, where a family was wading
into the water. "It may be because Annie's afraid of me. She was
very nasty. I gave her a spanking once to teach her a lesson."
"I
don't think she's learned her lesson," Gloria informed the
woman, "She was still as nasty as ever last time I saw her."
"You've
met her?"
"Up
in the afterlife."
"So
the afterlife was just blank?"
Gloria
shrugged. "I didn't see much. Just me, Annie and the perverted
one." She looked up to Selina. "Why all this interest in
me, by the way?" she asked.
"When
you came back acting strange, that set off all sorts of alarm
bells. I had thought that you were an assassin who had replaced
Annie."
Gloria's
eyes grew wide. "Me, an assassin?"
"Considering
my assignment, I've to keep an eye out for potential threats. Someone
suddenly acting strange makes her a possible threat."
"Okay."
Gloria nodded with understanding. "And you're not really leaving
because your father got another job."
"Yes,
that's just the cover story," Selina confirmed, "I'm
leaving because I've finished my assignment." She drank some
iced tea.
Gloria
spotted Second Sis further along the beach, tossing a frisbee with a
couple of boys. Typical. "So now that your assignment's done,
why are you still seeking me out?"
"I
kind of got a bit obsessed about it," Selina admitted, "I
wanted to clear this up before my next assignment." She finished
the last of her iced tea.
Gloria
took some of her own drink. "We're not going to see each other
again after this, are we?" she guessed.
"I
doubt we'll meet again in the future. If we do, it'd mean there's
going to be trouble."
Gloria
smiled to the woman. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you."
The
woman returned the smile. "Same. It was nice to chat with you,
Gloria."
Selina
got up and returned her glass. Then she retrieved her surfboard and
went away.
Gloria
watched as Selina walked up a set of stairs into the building behind
the beach. That was one interesting girl. Too bad she had not known
her in school.
***
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