APARTMENT

contains mature violence 18+

I CURLED IN the soft cotton sheets, breathing in the faded smell of mint and cigarette smoke.

I turned to the blank grey wall with a groan, then rolled from the bed, tossing my feet over the edge.

Heading into the kitchen, I snatched an apple from the fridge and bit into it with an echoed crunch.

"Get off of me, you fucking psycho!" a deep voice pierced through the air of the night.

I sighed.

Running outside, I was at the boy's side in seconds, following his voice into a dark alleyway.

A bleached-blonde woman had his wrists pinned above his head, the boy's face streaked with tears and dirt.

I turned to the blondie and glanced at her wrist.

1

The number was embossed in her skin, a dark inky tattoo, though it was something only my eyes could see.

Hidden in the shadows, I scrutinized her expression, and was proud that her beady blue eyes didn't flicker to mine. She hadn't noticed me.

Perfect.

I turned my attention to the petite boy, and gripped the woman's hands, curling them from her loose grasp. If she was trying her hardest to keep him still, I couldn't tell.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, my voice perfectly even, as if I were asking her about the weather. I trained my eyes on hers, never looking away, even when the boy had ducked from her grasp and ran in the opposite direction.

"W-Well I was just—" she stuttered, but my annoyance had reached its edge.

I slammed my lips to hers.

And sucked her soul.

It was a putrid, ugly taste at first, as if I were swallowing paint. It turned into a sharp wine-like taste, though I didn't know if it was from her emotions or her leftover innocence.

She didn't pull away, even though I felt her fingers grow cold as each moment passed. She knew I was killing her.

But she didn't stop me.

I backed away, though her eyes were trained on something far away, staring off into space.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, as if she was the one who had tried to kill me. I stared at her in confusion, eyebrows furrowed, not knowing if I should leave or finish.

"Do you want to die?" I said flatly. I tipped her chin to look up, up, up...

"Yes," she bubbled, and I saw the brim of tears in her eyes begin to break.

"You can do good things," I offered, though I didn't release my hold on her chin.

She shook her head.

I dug my fingers into her chest, ripping her heart from her body.

She wheezed, her lips twitching in a smile as a tear fell down her cheek.

Her lifeless body fell to the pavement. Her heart like a softened yet bloody strawberry in my hands.

I sighed.

DEAD

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Heading back to the apartment, I made my way to my room, but stopped dead in my tracks. A heavy, familiar yet distant smell clouded the narrow hallway.

I entered my room cautiously, eyes drifting over the untouched scene.

Frustration blossomed inside my chest, angry red dots spotting across my vision like clouds of blood.

KILL THEM

I stepped across the floor, the matted white carpet like tightly permed maggots. I ducked my head back into the hallway, smelling nothing apart from their faded scent. Whoever was here had left.

I crept back into the soft comfort of my bed, my hair spreading across the blank pillow like a dark, blossoming flower against freshly laid snow.

A knock on the door made me groan.

First, I had killed someone. Second, someone had crept into my apartment. And now the universe had given me a stranger at my door in the middle of the night?

I got up to answer the door swiftly, preferably to slam it back until their noses reached the back of their skull, but I took a whiff of their scent and my senses jumped.

Hana.

Pulling my curly hair into a messy bun at the top of my head, I curled my fingers into a cold fist before I turned the doorknob.

BEAUTIFUL

I inhaled sharply, holding my breath, but making soft, rhythmic movements to make it appear that I didn't need air.

I opened the door to find the girl from earlier, waiting patiently at my doorstep. She wore a navy blue crop-top that cut a few inches over her abdomen, her high-waist fishnet leggings in large, diamond-like spaces. In Chicago's cold, brisk weather, I wondered how she wasn't shivering.

"H-Hey. I'm Aera. From the gas station," she stuttered, her thin fingers fidgeting in front of her. I heard her skin rubbing from the contact, back and forth, and was glad I held my breath.

"Hello," I greeted back, attempting to keep my voice even.

"You forgot your change," she lied, digging through her pockets for the imaginary coins. Her skin flushed scarlet when my lips curled into a lopsided grin.

I pulled the change from my back pocket.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words had already slipped through my lips.

"Would you like to come in?" I offered, gesturing with one arm as she took in the new environment.

The kitchen was empty, apart from the open cupboards that displayed a few stray boxes of instant ramen. Her eyes widened as she read the label, and I grinned. In instances like these, where I was supposed to look normal, average human, I was glad I had bought them.

"Would you like one?" I asked politely. I wasn't sure she was aware of how she looked, but I had to purse my lips from laughing as her eyes lit up at my gesture.

"Or would you like to go somewhere to eat?"

This is a bad idea.

She grinned shyly.

"Yes."