“Done,” Becca said, stepping back.

I lifted the hand mirror and took a look at her handiwork. While I was no expert, the light application of makeup she’d insisted I wear did seem to accentuate my better features. My eyes, especially, seemed to stand out, drawing attention to them.

“Okay, looks good.”

“Great, then get dressed and we’ll go.”

“Sure.” I looked at her and she looked back at me for several seconds before cocking an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Aren’t you going to leave so I can change?”

“Why?” she scoffed. “It’s nothing I’ve not seen before. Stop being silly and get changed.”

I grumbled a bit but I wasn’t really in a position to argue. I’d known girls before who thought nothing of dressing and undressing with friends before a night out. Hell, one girl had swapped dresses with her friend without a care for who saw.

But, it wasn’t something I’d done before. I was strictly a solitary dresser and it felt a little bit weird.

“I’m going to borrow some of your stuff,” Becca said, pulling open the wardrobe. “Save us going back to my…” she trailed off and hung her head.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Forgot you weren’t Jen.” She sniffed noisily and didn’t turn around as she pulled out a pair of blue jeans and tossed them back onto the bed. “Wear those.”

I pulled them on without complaint, just happy that she wasn’t going to insist on a skirt.

“Shirts are in the second drawer down.”

“Thanks.”

I pulled open the drawer and bit my tongue. Vest tops, strappy tops and low-cut tops. I couldn’t find anything with a remotely reasonable neckline.

“You are such a prude.” Becca reached past me and pulled out a plain blue shirt that would reveal only a small amount of my new cleavage.

“Give me a break. I’m not quite used to this new body, yeah?”

She stopped dressing and looked at me, her smile fading. “Yeah, I guess it must be weird for you. Sorry, I keep forgetting that.”

“It’s fine, I’ll adjust.” I pulled the top on and looked down. While not an impressive cleavage, it was definitely a cleavage. I let out a soft sigh. “I just feel kind of exposed.”

Becca shrugged dismissively. “You’ll get used to it.”

Her outfit was similar to mine, though her burgundy shirt revealed a great deal more of her than I’d expected. The old me would have certainly appreciated her outfit in a way that I couldn’t right then.

My hair was tied in a high ponytail and I wore earrings, simple studs, but still more than I’d ever worn before. The same necklace Jen had been wearing when she died still hung around my neck and I was happy to be wearing trainers instead of heels.

“Why am I dressing like this again?”

“Because that’s how Jen would have dressed.” Becca reached across and swiped an errant strand of blonde hair, hooking it behind my ear. “You’re Jen for now, so you need to be her.”

“Blend in,” I sighed again. I’d been doing that a great deal since coming back to life. “Avoid rousing suspicions.”

“Exactly.”

I grabbed the purse and phone that were on the desk and dropped them into a handbag. It was small and light with a strap for it to go over my shoulder. Yet another thing that I had to get used to.

“Why are you pouting now?”

“I miss just putting my phone and wallet in my pocket.”

Her laughter followed us down the stairs. We looked into the living room where an unshaven man in his fifties was lying sprawled on the couch. There were empty beer cans on the floor beside the couch and an overflowing ashtray beside them.

I put on a light jacket and we set off out into the early morning light. I paused outside for a moment and appreciated the sunlight on my skin. It had been far too long since I had felt its warmth.

“Come on or we’ll miss the bus.”

“Bus?”

She didn’t answer and I had to hurry after her wondering why the hell she didn’t have a car. Every kid I’d known growing up had a car as soon as they passed their driving test at seventeen. It seemed bizarre that neither Becca nor Jen had one.

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There were a couple of pensioners waiting at the bus stop and I was uncomfortably aware of the old man’s glance at my chest. It was the smallest of motions as his eyes flicked down and then away, a reflexive action that I’d done myself so many times.

That didn’t make it any less uncomfortable though. Becca either didn’t notice or was so used to it that she just didn’t react.

I made sure to let her stand between us as we waited in the queue.

The street grew busier as we waited with cars filling the road as people headed out about their Saturday morning business. Several more people joined the queue behind us and I carefully avoided looking at any of them, all too aware of how much taller the guys were.

For too many years I’d been able to meet the vast majority of men eye to eye. With Jen being Five-eight at most, I found myself staring more at their throats than their eyes. Added to that was the general unease of knowing that I was smaller and slimmer than even the older guys. I felt suddenly quite vulnerable in a way that I never had before.

“You doing okay?” Becca asked, giving me a concerned look. I managed to flash her a grin and ignored the fact that it was strained.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

She nodded understanding and went back to chattering about the people at college that I was supposed to know. She peppered in enough anecdotes that I would have at least a rough idea of who those closest to Jen were.

As long as she pointed them out to me first anyway.

By the time the bus arrived, I was eager to get on and I found a seat beside a window and settled in while Becca paid for the tickets. She sat next to me and pointed out places of note as we drove along the main road towards the city centre.

I was becoming ever more impressed with the young woman as she built a picture of the people and the area for me, all while doing it in such a way that it would sound like general chatter to anyone who happened to be listening.

She was smart, pretty and resilient. All attributes I would have been interested in while in my own body.

Not that it made a difference as I was definitely not in my own body and there was little chance of getting back into it unless I could find a way to power up as quickly as possible.

The houses we were passing soon changed to businesses. Shops and bars, alongside office buildings and blocks of flats. We passed a theatre and a hotel before Becca rose from her seat as the bus pulled up outside a shopping centre.

For the first time that morning, I relaxed as the crowd of early morning shoppers swallowed us up, rendering us almost invisible. Becca took my hand and led me away, across the main road and along a wide avenue.

I was soon utterly lost as she led me from street to street, crossing roads and nipping down side streets until we came to a shopping arcade.

“Are we here?”

The building was three storeys high with red brickwork and oriel windows that stuck out from the brickwork with ornamental facings above and below the glass. The ground floor was dominated by shops and in the centre was a high archway leading into the interior.

“Yes, it’s on the second floor I think.”

We passed a flower shop with a vibrant display of colours and perfumes that filled the air. I began to sneeze and Becca pulled me away.

“Sorry, should have mentioned about the allergies.”

“Allergies?”

“Some flowers.” She smiled as she looked back at the shop we’d just passed and the bouquets that caused me to sneeze. “Grass pollen too. She usually took an antihistamine.”

“Nice. Would have been useful to know.”

“I said, sorry.”

She didn’t sound it.

There was a lift that rose in a glass tube, but we took the stairs, climbing them swiftly. We stopped as we reached the second floor and looked down over the balcony. There was a coffee shop in the corner of the ground floor with tables set outside and people sat drinking and chatting.

I couldn’t see any immediate danger but still, my hackles were up and I could feel something in the air. I partly closed my eyes and concentrated, unfocusing my gaze as I scanned the floor below.

“Damn it.”

“What?”

There was a glowing symbol in the centre of the ground floor. It had been etched in magic, invisible to those without the ability to see it. There was another symbol on the floor before one of the shop doors towards the end of the balcony, just above those coffee drinkers below.

“It’s been too long. I’m rusty and stupid.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The witch knows we’re here.” Or a least she knew I was here. The symbol on the ground floor was a general alarm to pick up any witch that came into the building. “You might be best going first.”

“Why me?”

“She’s less likely to cast first with you than she is with me.”

“How will she know?”

“Witches recognise witches.” Just one of those quirks with our race. “Isn’t it the same for necros?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never met another apart from my mum!”

“Okay, well, trust me then. As soon as she sees me, she’ll know I’m a witch.”

“Will she know you’re…” Becca hesitated and looked around before lowering her voice to barely a whisper. “That you’re possessing her?”

“No.” I smiled for reassurance. “Only a necromancer or clairvoyant would be able to see me.”

“Good.” She pulled a face. “What do I say to her?”

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “How about, please don’t kill us, pretty please. She might listen, she might not.”

Becca scowled but set her shoulders and marched across to the shop. The symbol on the ground did nothing as she walked over it and I sighed softly. A protection glyph against witches then was my best guess.

I followed after her and edged around the symbol before sidling in through the open door. Becca was talking to the man behind the counter.

His skin was dark, almost black, and his beard had a touch of white at the chin. Despite his apparent age, his skin was unlined and he still looked to be in great shape. Dark brown eyes met mine as he looked up and his face darkened as he began to chant.

I was already moving, fingers twitching as I cast a spell of my own. The energy sphere settled gently into my hand as I ducked behind a rack of necklaces.

The air cracked and broken jewellery rained down around me as I leapt up and threw the energy sphere. It exploded with a flash, harmlessly against a protective shield raised around the counter and I swore as Becca ducked for cover.

“I just want to fucking talk!” I shouted as I scrambled behind a bookcase. “Stop attacking me.”

“You come into my shop!” he yelled and another crack shattered the air and books burst apart above my head. “You invade my domain!”

“Jesus! I just need some help!” I tried again, but created another energy sphere just in case. “Seriously, mate. I don’t want to fight!”

“Then leave!”

That sounded like a bloody good idea. I leapt up and immediately ducked as the witch cast another spell my way. I tasted blood in my mouth as I bit down on my lip and I swore again as I ran for the door.

I was barely out of it before I remembered the symbol on the floor. Lightning flashed in my vision and pain exploded in my head before darkness rushed in.