Onyx had not chosen another body yet...

Onyx had not chosen another body yet. He was having too much fun flitting around and listening in on everyone's snippets of conversation. He was enraptured with about twenty people talking at once. He liked to challenge himself by listening to them all and trying to decipher their words. One of his many talents was taking a clot of jumbled words and separating them into sentences that were intelligible. This way he could learn a lot in a short period of time. If he was really lucky he could read a few minds.

For instance, he learned that Sister Jane felt guilty about wearing purple underwear today. Father Paul thought the spaghetti was terrible, and more importantly, the boy, Slate, whom he detested, was having a tiff with a priest. He caught a few thoughts from Slate about a meeting he was not looking forward to, one that Onyx would do his best to attend.

He was reminded of how messed up the human race really was, as he hovered above all the gossip. They really were a self-absorbed and deceitful species. All, it seemed, were out for themselves; lies poured from their mouths as easily as the carbon dioxide did.

Catching sight of Violette gave him hope. There might be a few exceptions, but he was not convinced yet. Slate stood up and after five minutes, Violette followed him.

Onyx followed her as she walked with purpose to the magnolia tree. When she saw the bench and her hiding spot vacant, she turned away and continued to walk through the paths, looking around every corner.

He rose about twenty feet in the air to see if he could spot Slate, and he did, lying in a patch of flat grass in the field adjacent to the churchyard. Violette walked in circles; every time she passed her tree, her shoulders would slump a little more inward. Why was she so distressed that she could not find him? He did not like to see her so dejected, but he did not want her to spend time with Slate either. Just then, he had an idea that was so clever, he could not resist an internal pat on the back. He positioned himself near the edge of where the grassy field started and waited for her to come within earshot.