Tiffany isn't Satan. Sorry. Wouldn't that be kinda hot though?

 

PART III

 

If you were going to die in two days, what would you do? That's 48 hours, max. Definitely not enough time to tick off all the things on my bucket list. Why two days? Why that number?

 

"The first thing you need to know about me..." Tiffany began.

 

Right. Explanations.

 

"...is that my appearance is completely based on whatever you consider to be the most attractive."

 

I blinked. Really? Drinking in Tiffany again, I definitely found her attractive. But my ideal type? Hmm...

 

A bit of junk in the trunk?

 

Check.

 

Long hair with a hint of curls?

 

Check.

 

Nicely sized rack?

 

Check.

 

Pouty red lips that were just made for making out?

 

Check.

 

It occurred to me that despite my interesting dream and Tiffany's apparent fondness for physical contact, we had yet to take that particular step in our... "relationship". Relationship? Could I even consider it a relationship? But she had said she wanted to take me out on a date. I wasn't exactly sure why...

 

"Yuri!" Tiffany yelled, her hands on her hips, chest forward.

 

"What?" I responded with an embarrassing squeak.

 

"Would you listen to me damn it? You're the one who wanted to know about who I was and I'm telling you now but you're not even listening!"

 

Another thing I had learnt about Tiffany was that her eyes seemed to change colour depending on her mood. It wasn't anything extreme like purple to yellow to pink. Rather, her eyes would fade to different shades from her normal chocolate brown, lighter, more auburn if she was happy and darker, fading towards midnight black when she was grumpy. Right now they were pitch black and her glare alone forced my eyes up from her... assets.

 

"Sorry." I mumbled, "I got distracted."

 

"I know you did. I'm in your head."

 

And you too.

 

The one serious thing that bothered was Tiffany's ability to read whatever was on my mind. I had always been a private kind of person, especially once I had fallen ill. My friends at the time had encouraged me to share my feelings, stating that they would always be there for me. Of course, they were teenagers, as was I and none of us had the emotional maturity to deal with the amount of depressive crap that was floating around my head.

 

Tiffany's sigh snapped me out of my ponderings.

 

"It's just part of who I am Yuri. I can't turn it off and even if I could, I don't know if I would." She explained, "Besides, it makes things much easier if I know what my target desires."

 

"Then how do I know that what you are and the things you say are genuine?" I was surprised at my own directness, but exhaustion and sickness had rotted away what little patience I had, "You look like a wet dream, you can read my mind. How do I even know that what you are is..."

 

I struggled to explain my thoughts, having never had much practice at articulating them.

 

"...real?" Tiffany finished for me.

 

"Yeah, real."

 

"My personality is my own, Yuri. I'll always be me. I've lived for so long and taken so many different bodies, I don't even remember what I look like anymore. But I like this." She waved a hand up and down her perfect body. "I like it because you like it. Being who I am... doing what I do... I don't get to choose my appearance and sometimes, I don't like what I am. But right now, I love it because you love it. Do you understand?"

 

No.

 

"Yes." I lied.

 

She frowned, obviously seeing straight through my false words.

 

"Why is it so important that I swear to you that I'll stop wishing I was dead anyway?"

 

She sighed again. "It's to do with souls and it's probably not going to make any more sense than the stuff I've already said. Humans just aren't designed to understand these concepts."

 

"Try me." I frowned, folding my arms in front of my chest.

 

"You know I'm here to kill you, right?"

 

"I know."

 

"I'm a creature of death, not life. I don't keep people alive. If you want to die, there's nothing I can do to stop you. I-This isn't working."

 

Tiffany had begun pacing, muttering things to herself that I couldn't hear. I wasn't even sure if it was English or something other language. Then, she stopped and looked at me again.

 

"You can't tell anyone else the things I tell you, ok Yuri?"

 

I nodded.

 

"It's to do with your soul."

 

"My soul?"

 

It wasn't that I hadn't heard of the word before. I certainly wasn't ignorant of the concept, but I had always been more of a 'seeing then believing' person and the concept of having a 'soul' seemed to lie more in the areas of religion, of which I had none.

 

"A soul... is a complicated thing. How do I explain it..."

 

I guessed the latter sentence was more addressed to herself, rather than me, so I waited for her to regather her thoughts.

 

"Every living human has a soul. It is neither good, nor evil, it just is. It's not a source of power or energy or goodness or anything like that. It's just part of you, much like your DNA or your shadow is part of you. There isn't such a thing as an evil soul. Every soul is pure and innocent and very attached to your body."

 

I froze when Tiffany's eyes met mine. They were darkest shade of black I had ever seen.

 

"It is my job to separate a person's soul from their body."

 

"And then you die?"

 

"Yes, you die. You cannot exist without a soul, no matter what any story says. But a soul, like I said before, it's very attached to your body. It's innocent and pure, like a new born, but it isn't stupid. It's is more than difficult to simply tear a soul from it's body. It's practically impossible. The only way a soul will leave a person's body," Tiffany looked down at her own feet, and I thought I saw the silvery beam of light reflecting off a tear. "is if it doesn't want to be there anymore; when a person stops wanting to live."

 

Then, she was striding forward, wrapping her arms around my body in a fierce embrace. Reflexively, I embraced her back and held her close.

 

Tiffany was sobbing as she whispered in my ear.

 

"Your soul is so precious Yuri, but the bond between your body and soul is so weak. I can feel it. You've been wanting to die for so long that your soul is almost ready to jump ship by itself. And I..." She buried her forehead in my shoulder, and I could feel the moisture soaking through my sweater. "...if I sense a loose soul, I can't help it. I have to take it. It's my nature."

 

"So... the moment I feel like wanting to die..."

 

"I won't be able to stop myself. I'll kill you."

 

"Oh."

 

It was surreal, holding Tiffany as she broke down. I rubbed her back gently as she cried and bawled. She hadn't told me what exactly she was by any means, but what I had learnt was terrifying enough. Not that I was scared of her. Surprisingly enough, I felt calmer, knowing part of what she was and what she did.

 

~ ~ ~

 

It appeared my own disconcern and lack of fear towards what she was had a calming effect on Tiffany. With a shy smile, she excused herself to fix herself up in my bathroom but only seconds later, she was out and smiling radiantly again. How someone fixed them self up so soon after a sob session of that magnitude, I had no idea. Whenever I broke down, it took me at least half an hour. At least.

 

It occurred to me I was staring at her again, but I was fast learning that putting on any sort of mask or anything that wasn't genuinely me, was pointless in front of Tiffany. She saw everything, my deepest fears, the lies I spat through clenched teeth and my exhausting battle to live. It was different, knowing that behind her smiles and kisses, her nature was screaming at her to rip my soul from my body, yet it made me feel closer to her, knowing that we were both fighting a dying battle. I would die, Tiffany had confirmed that, and she would be the one to kill me. I wondered how bad the desire was, how hard it was to fight it. Was it like a hunger that gnawed at the pit of her stomach? Or was it some screaming voice in the back of her mind?

 

"Stop." Tiffany growled.

 

I returned my focus to her, and to my alarm she looked terrible. Beads of sweat littered her forehead, as she stared back at me with a painful expression. Her knuckles were white as the clenched the arms of my old wooden chair.

 

"Stop thinking like that, Yuri. Just stop. This is why I didn't want to say anything. Humans aren't designed to cope with this kind of knowledge." She hissed between clenched teeth.

 

"But I-"

 

"It's ing terrible, ok? And it doesn't help when you keep on thinking about it."

 

"I'm sor-"

 

"Save it. Just think about something else. Anything else."

 

"Where are you taking me for our date?" It was the first thing and only thing I could think of, yet just like that, Tiffany's expression brightened, showing no sign of the agony she was in only seconds ago.

 

"I'll cook!" She smiled, "You just sit back and relax and I'll come get you when everything is ready."

 

"Sure, but my fridge is..." And just like that, Tiffany was gone. "...empty."

 

A creature who wants to kill you, cooking you dinner.

 

What could go wrong?