Sofia fiddled with her hands as she and Jackie watched the house across the street. They should have waited longer, used more time to prepare rather than squeezing it into the following weekend.

She was restless more than fully anxious. Living Sofia might have probably spiraled into a panic attack by now but dead Sofia didn’t feel such things. There was no nausea in her stomach, no nail biting leg bouncing energy that needed to be expelled.

She took a breath to steel herself and looked over at Jackie who was pulling the ski mask over her face. The whole plan seemed somewhat elaborate, especially when all it took was eye contact. But to Sofia’s surprise she found herself following Jackie’s lead. Her roommate had been surprisingly eager to take this opportunity to murder someone, Sofia wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Turn around,” Jackie sighed, “your hair net is falling out. We can’t leave evidence.”

Sheepishly Sofia turned her back to Jackie. Not even wincing as Jackie pulled and twisted her hair, tucking it away before handing Sofia her own ski mask.

“This won’t fit over my glasses,” Sofia pointed out.

“Then… just take them off, I won’t look,” Jackie suggested.

Sofia pulled her hoodie’s hood up and threw the mask in the back seat. She would be fine without it. This area of town was rundown and fairly poor, as depressing as it was there weren’t many better places in a city to commit murder.

“Do you remember the plan?” Jackie demanded.

“You do know-“

“The plan? Yes or no?” Jackie cut her off.

“Yes I remember the plan,” Sofia sighed.

“If shit hits the fan we split up, reconvene at the hotel we looked at. If one of us doesn’t show within 48 hours assume they’ve been arrested,” Jackie repeated.

“You watch too many heist movies,” Sofia sighed and climbed out of the car.

“Go go go,” Jackie hissed, tiptoe-running across the street past her.

Sofia held onto her glasses but only managed to muster a faint jog. Jackie’s whole attitude around this had somewhat rubbed her the wrong way. They were planning murder not… playing cops and robbers.

Jackie was taking it seriously but… in a very Jackie way that maybe she should have seen coming. But they were there to murder Jackie’s father of all people. Surely…well Sofia didn’t even really know.

Her hunger clawed at her, reminding her of tonight’s purpose. Sofia follows Jackie around the back of the house. The shrill creaking gate sent a shudder down Sofia’s spine, Jackie didn’t seem concerned. How sensitive was human hearing? She couldn’t entirely remember. The feeling that realization involved was not something she remotely wanted to analyze.

Jackie waved at her to hurry up as she approached the back door. Jackie pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door.

This was really happening. They were really doing this. Three might not be able to keep a secret but two certainly could. For better or for worse there would be no going back.

Jackie glanced at Sophia. Sophia nodded, Jackie pushed open the door.

The house reeked of beer and smoke. All the lights were out but Sofia could easily make out the dust and filth. Jackie’s father wasn’t much of a clean freak.

She silently followed Jackie as best she could. She could hear breathing from down the hall. Jackie took a step towards the stairs, a board creaking under her weight.

Sofia quickly put a hand on her shoulder before pointing further down the hall. Jackie nodded and reached a gloved hand into her pocket to pull out the large hunting knife she had broth.

Sofia had no intention of actually letting her use it. Jackie might have been tagging along but this was Sofia’s kill. This was her proper meal. Regardless of Jackie’s intentions, this wasn’t her burden to bear.

The click didn’t make much sense to Sofia. Not until she saw the gun poke out from around the doorway. Sofia had never seen a gun before. It was far scarier in person than any movie.

Simple math stated that human + bullet = dead. Sofia did the only thing she could and stepped in front of Jackie for a split second before the gun fired. She felt the force of the impact, the foreign objects moving through her.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Jackie crashed to the ground out of the way as a bullet tore through Sofia’s jaw. She just stood there dumbly, content to draw fire rather than Jackie.

“You done?” She asked when he stopped firing. She slipped off her glasses.

Jason Andrews was a middle aged balding man. Tattoos covered his arms and chest, he was shirtless and very hairy. Whatever expression he had worn had melted into oblivious trance at the sight of her eyes.

“And you ok?” Sofia asked nervously. She could smell the blood. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the large muscular man with the gun.

“One went… through you, grazed me,” Jackie replied, her voice unsteady. “I’m fine.”

She didn’t sound remotely fine. But Sofia had only had a little practice, she didn’t trust herself to be able to hold on if she looked away.

“Come here and give me the gun,” Sofia ordered.

Jason lurched forward as if pulled by a rope. Stumbling forward and placing the gun in Sofia’s outstretched hand.

“Holy shit,” Jackie muttered from behind her, rising to her feet.

Sofia had never held a gun before. It was… wobbly. The pieces were all held together by mechanisms but it was looser than expected.

“Um… I guess take this,” Sofia offered uncertainty, handing the gun to Jackie.

“Careful,” Jackie yelped, taking it from her and clicking something. At least she seemed to know how to use a gun.

Sofia turned her attention back to the whole reason she was here. Jason smelled alive enough though the sweat and beer undertone made him far less appealing than Jackie. What exactly was the best way to go about this?

Before she could decide Jackie stepped up to her father. She nearly matched his height. It only made Sofia feel shorter. Jackie flicked him on the nose, Jason didn’t react.

“Wow, what else can you do?” Jackie asked, glancing back.

Sofia closed her eyes and looked away before Jackie could see them. “Sleep,” she ordered Jason before her control faded. She didn’t bother catching him when he dropped.

“Fuck,” Jackie muttered, staring down at her father and pulling off her mask as she held her hip where she had been grazed. Sophia slipped her glasses back on. “Forget hypnosis, that’s full-on mind control.”

“Yeah,” Sofia replied somewhat uncomfortably.

Jason groaned and rolled over. Shit, why was he awake?

“Hello Dad, remember me?” Jackie sneered before kicking him in the ribs.

Then again the drop had to have been painful, one didn’t typically sleep through pain.

Jason rolled, grabbing Jackie and dragging her to the ground with a thud. Whatever he was yelling at Jackie was drowned out by the sound of their heartbeats as they struggled on the floor.

It took a second for Sofia to realize she should probably intervene. Especially since a gun was involved. She lunged forward and dragged Jason away by the ankle.

“Fuck!” He cursed, swinging at her in blind panic and confusion. It might have been a strange sight for such a small woman to pick up such a large man under the shoulders and pin him to the wall as he flailed.

His heart thudded in terror, his blood flowing smoothly through his body. Sofia struggled to maintain her composure with such a hearty meal in front of her after so long.

She licked her lips, stretching her mouth wide to bare her sharp teeth before she stood on her tiptoes and bit down hard into his neck.

The moment she pulled her teeth out blood gushed from the large bite wound she had left. She quickly pressed her mouth to his neck, managing to avoid spilling much on her chin and chest.

The experience was orgasmic. For the first time since her death, heat flowed into her. Mouthful after mouthful of sticky, salty, metallic life. Her body tingled, reawakening as squished bullets plinked onto the floor. Tears flowed down her cheeks, red dripping onto her sweater as she continued to drink.

She could feel it again. It was like colour had returned to the world. She sobbed and drank in ecstasy. Sofia had missed this more than words could ever describe. She was oblivious to the world, to Jason’s fading struggling, to the frankly obscene noises coming from her throat, to Jamie’s wide-eyed staring.

Like all things, it had to come to an end. As Jason’s heart gave out and his blood became nothing more than that she released him. His corpse slumping to the floor in a mirror of Sofia’s own breakdown.

Her sobs echoed through the quiet house. Her chest ached, her healing wounds stung, and the floor was cold. Everything was uncomfortable but it was something. And after so long without it even pain was beautiful.

Warm arms wrapped around Sofia from behind, the heat of Jackie’s body even had meaning again.

“It’s ok,” Jackie croaked, sounding emotional herself.

Sofia cried even harder.

----------------------------------------

Sofia couldn’t stop running her hands over her warm flesh. They were back in Jackie’s cousin’s car. Neither of them were feeling particularly chatty.

How long would this last? This blissful respite from death? How long until she had to kill again or return to the husk she had been? Sofia didn’t know. But now that life had returned to her, even if it was only temporary, letting it go would be so much harder.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped the blood from her cheeks. Her body ached from crying. She felt… tired, beautifully exhausted. The living got to rest after all.

“H-How are you?” Sofia forced the words out, glancing over at Jackie driving.

“I don’t feel magically healed from everything he did to me if that’s what you mean,” Jackie shrugged. “But… better, it’s over,” she nodded to herself.

Sofia nodded.

The car was silent for an awkward amount of time.

“How are you holding up?” Jackie eventually asked.

“I feel terrible,” Sofia sighed with relief, leaning against the window. Her reflection was not something that had been returned to her. But out of everything she could live without that.

Jackie was giving her a strange look.

“I’m not numb, anything is better than being numb,” Sofia added wistfully. She felt almost high, giddy on her own suffering.

Jackie gave her a small smile and rested her free hand on Sofia’s. Sofia eagerly took it, feeling the warmth of their hands pressed together.

“You feel alive,” Jacki said. “You’re warm, soft, you’re practically glowing.”

Sofia smiled, her stomach fluttering at the compliments. She could feel the tension again, the thrum in the air she had never really been certain of. All of it had so easily slipped away with her death.

Attraction, desire, arousal, all such a big part of being alive. Her flesh wasn’t cold and dead anymore. She could feel so much again. The saturation of it all threatened to drown her.

She focused back on Jackie’s hand, pale and freckled in her own. She forced back tears, her eyes bloody, her chest aching. Connection, how she had missed it.

Things had changed between them, even before she had died things hadn’t been like this. They had been roommates, friends. But there had never been a them, a special team only for the two of them that no one else had access to.

Joined by blood. By murder. By life. By trust.

Sofia wouldn’t waste a moment of it. Because life, more so than ever before, was fleeting. It would be gone before she knew it.

And she could drain another, and another, but eventually, in the end, she would be alone and not dead enough for it not to hurt.

‘One must pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while still alive.’

Who knew it would end up being so literal?