dragonyphoenix

The entrance to the hyena exhibit was blocked off with faux-police tape. The words caution, closed, and positively no admittance were prominently displayed. Given such enticement, it was a wonder that more of the students hadn't dashed in on the day of the zoo trip.

Weirick had all the supplies waiting. It didn't take long to set them up, but the man proved impatient. “Aren't you ready yet?”

“Almost.” Giles adjusted the last of the six mirrors he'd set up at the edge of the room. Once the angles were just right, the spells on each mirror would reflect off of each other, capturing an image of any magic floating between them. After the transpossession, Giles would be able to review the images at his leisure. There, that was it. The mirrors were exactly placed. Giles turned to examine the rest of the space. The girl, Heidi, squirmed against the chains that bound her at the center of the circle. She appeared to be screaming from behind the gag. The boy, Kyle, his arms spread-eagled against the wall, had been hung high enough that his feet didn't touch the ground. It would make him easier to manage once the hyena had taken over his body. “Alright,” Giles said. “Now.”

“I still don't see why we can't put the hyena into me.”

Gods but Weirick was obsessed. “Demonic energies are the bane of mortal life, and I understand that we are working with animal energies, but in this context they function in the same manner. The hyena's spirit will, sooner or later, tear apart the body it inhabits. I believe I can mitigate those effects but you'd do well to wait until I fully understand the technique.”

“And why should I believe you?”

As part of their alliance, Giles had given Weirick access to his mansion, well to certain rooms within his mansion. “You are welcome to check in on the boy as often as you'd like. The deterioration should begin to be visible in less than a week. Within two weeks he'll be dead unless we remove the spirit from his body.”

Weirick nodded as if taking in Giles' words. “Alright.” The blue and white painting his face seemed more silly than terrifying although Heidi screamed so loudly she could almost be heard from behind the gag as Weirick approached her. Although perhaps it was the machete she feared more than the man. Weirick raised the knife with a dramatic flourish. Heidi's chains rattled as she tried to move. Her blood splattered across the floor. Weirick stepped out of the circle. “YU BA YA SA NA!”

As Giles stared into the closest mirror, green energy flew across the room and settled into Kyle. Interesting. The spell was quite efficient. There was little extraneous energy.

“Did you learn what you needed to?” Weirick asked.

“It's a start.”

“You said I'd have a demon filling me with power.”

“A demon would burn you out in less than a day,” Giles replied. “Unless I can learn how to mitigate the effects.” The man wanted to hold Eyghon forever. It was absurd. No human frame could encase demonic energies for more than a day or two. Nothing Giles could do would change that. Weirick needn't know however. “I can arrange to transpossess you with a demon's energies for an evening. Next weekend perhaps? But it can't be in Sunnydale. And you'll need a specific tattoo.”