Chapter Forty-Two

Michael has been wanting to rescue Bernie since she was kidnapped and this is finally his opportunity to do it.  Their reunion always brings a little teary ache to my heart.  Thank you to Alyssa for reminding me to have Michael apologize for not believing Chuck was real.

Chuck illustrates the usefulness of ghosts as he searches the building for victims, scouts for Dani and her brothers and reports it all back to Bernie.  The ability to be invisible, walk through walls and floors, all of it makes for great reconnaissance. 

I love Bernie’s faith in Michael.  He might as well have a red cape and a giant S on his chest as far as she’s concerned.  Everyone should have someone who looks up to them that much as well as someone they can look up to.

Vincent and Dani’s fight was another scene which came to me early on and helped me with defining Vincent’s character.  He’s looking for someone to take away his responsibility and make him safe and sheltered again.  It’s one of the reasons he succumbs so quickly to Dalhard’s persuasive gifts.  At one point, I tried the scene with Vincent faking his submission, but it ended up feeling trite and I went back to Vincent genuinely being under Dalhard’s control.

The thought of being trapped and helpless inside my own body is one of the worst things I can think of.  When I was young, my best friend’s mother had ALS.  My mother explained it to me that eventually her body would stop moving when she told it to.  The idea has haunted my nightmares for years.