"This was supposed to be a girl thing," I say, yanking down the hem of my jacket to hide the Sig peaking through the waistband of my leggings.

"That's the deal. I take you with me to the vampire lair and in exchange, I accompany you and Sophie to the movies," replies Death.

After much debating, and much screaming at each other's head, Death and I have agreed that I will not be staying at his place while he gets all the action tonight. We are going to take care of the vampires together, which is a small compromise, but is probably for the best. The truth is, I have no clue what I am doing. I have taken vampires before, but only one at a time and usually, I made sure I had some kind of element of surprise on my side. This vampire chick, Alicia is her name according to Death's source, is old. Like, Jesus old and that means she can kick my ass. But that does not mean I will not try. I will have my revenge, one way or another.

"You don't even like movies."

We walk down the dark street side by side, him with his hands casually resting in his grey hoodie's pocket and I, with an envelope of papers from the bank in mine.

"That's not the point. These people are after you. That means that until they are destroyed, you won't be safe at night," he grabs the envelope from my hand, "Give me that. I still don't understand why you made us stop at the bank on the way here." He opens the envelope and starts skimming through the papers.

I do not bother trying to get them away from him. I know I will not be able to. Instead, I keep strolling toward cinema.

"What's all this?" he yells behind me, having stopped to take a better look at the documentation. "Why is your Will in there? And all of your banking information."

I turn around to face him and he closes the space between us in a few long strides. "Is this what tonight is about? You insisted on seeing Sophie before going to the vampires in case you die?"

Yes, that is exactly why.

"Sophie is my only family, if something happens to me, someone needs to inherit all of my money," I place a hand on his bicep, "It's just a precaution."

"Ok, I think you need to get something in that thick head of yours once and for all," he tugs at my elbow, pulling me towards the garbage that sits on the sidewalk, "You're not dying tonight. Actually, you're never dying, because I won't let you and I kind of decide these things." He holds the envelope at his eye level and ignites it before propelling it right into the trash can where it combusts into a pile of ashes.

The guy is delusional.

I cross my arms and glare at him, "Some day I am going to get very old. Have you considered that?" He will go on looking like a healthy 25 year old while I turn into an old crone sipping Ginger Ale and eating peppermint candy in an elderly home.

It is the natural order of things.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to," he shrugs.

We start moving again and I shoot him a sideways glance. "What do you mean?"

"Aging is the deterioration of your cells. My blood heals them. Every year on your birthday, all you have to do is drink some of my blood and you will never age a day."

I eye him suspiciously, narrowing my eyes at his profile. I do not know how I feel about that. The thought of never growing old is an enticing one, but being immortal, I am not sure.

"You've actually thought about this."

"Yes," he says bluntly. Of course he has.

"You just assumed I would want to spend the rest of eternity with you."

We stop walking, facing each other and letting the other pedestrians walk around us.

"Was I wrong?"

A million dollar question. One which I want to reply yes to, but realize I can not. He looks straight into my eyes, black pupils burning into mine like hot coals. My shoulders tense, because I know this is not a simple yes or no question. This is him asking me to make a decision. About us. Am I in or am I out?

Hell, this might as well equal a marriage proposal. This is forever. And '"Til death do us part" as a whole other meaning when the one who is asking is Death himself.

He must sense my hesitation, because he strokes my cheek and drops a feather-light kiss on my forehead. "You don't have to answer now."

I breathe a sigh of relief, letting myself fall into his arms. I have every reason to want to be with him, but I also have every reason not to. It is like a war raging inside of me. My head against my soul, while my heart picks up the pieces and tries not to cut himself and bleed out. And the butterflies have moved into my stomach because they want in on the show too.

"Let's go before we're late," he releases me, pulling my shirt down lower to hide Janice's handle peaking through my holster. "And tuck that shit in, or they won't let you inside. Not that you'll need any of it later anyway. I'll be there."

"Right. Right," I grumble, adjusting my clothes. I am armed to the teeth under there. When this big fight happens, I will be ready.

When the theater finally appears in front of us, most of the movie-goers have already gone inside. I notice Sophie standing idly to the side. Her head turns in our direction and she waves me over, a big smile on her beautiful face.

"Emma," she calls.

Then, my eyes settle on the man beside her. The one whose hand she is holding. The one she looks up at adoringly. He turns to us at the same time and I catch a glimpse of his eyes. He flashes me a sinister smile that turns my blood cold.

"Sophie, get away from him!"

But it is too late. He clasps Sophie's head into his hands and snaps her neck. I watch as Sophie's body falls limply on the floor in slow motion. The scream that escapes my throat is but a background noise, the entire world around me stops. My heart constricts in my chest as blood rushes to my head, making everything spin around me.

Before the vampire can flee, Death catches up to him and severs his head from his body.

"No, no, no," I cry, rushing to her. I drop to my knees, running my hands frantically over her, trying to shake her awake, "I'm right here! I'm right here!"

She does not respond. She just lays there. Inertl on the cold, hard ground, limp hair sticking to the wet pavement. This can't be happening.

"Soph," my voice breaks, "Wake up, Soph," I cry, feeling the hot tears rolling down my cheeks in a steady stream of desperation and heartbreak.

If I say it enough, maybe she will wake up. Maybe this is just a dream. I will wake up tomorrow and none of this will have happened.

I cup her head, laying it on my lap. Her head falls inertly to the side. "It's going to be ok, Soph," I soothe, brushing her blonde hair to the side.

But she does not respond.

No. No. No. No. No.

"I need you," I weep, a violent sob rakes through my body, twisting my insides with grief as I look down at my best friend. My only friend in the world. The one who brought light into my life when all I could see was darkness. "Don't leave me alone."

She remains unmoving. Her lifeless eyes staring past me, unseeing. And I know she is gone. I have seen enough dead bodies to know it is over. People I have killed.

I hug her to me, soaking her hair in my tears. Death is at my side, I look up at him through blurry eyes.

"Do something!" I cry out, not even caring about the crowd that has formed around us. People looking down with a mixture of horror and pity.

I hear the sirens before I see the flashing red and white lights in the distance. I look around me, clutching Sophie in my arms. Before I can do anything, the paramedics rush out of the ambulance and run to us.

It all happens so fast. One minute I am holding her and the next, she is being whisked off on a stretcher. Away from me. Forever.

I start running to them, but Death pulls me back as Sophie is taken away, "You know I can't," he says in my ear, "You have to let her go."

"What do you mean you can't? You're Death for fuck's sake," I cry, pushing his arms away.

"Emma," he pulls me to his chest, cupping the back of my head, "It's too late."

His hands begin to caress my back, willing the overwhelming sobs that have taken over my body to subside. I let myself lean onto him, as though he is my anchor, preventing me from drifting away to the darkest corners of my mind. How ironic that the most powerful being is unable to control the one thing he is meant to.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he whispers in my hair, tightening his arms around me.

The crushing pain in my heart is too much. I want it to go away. I can not bare this. Then, as though the pain of losing Sophie is not enough, I realize something. I shake my head, disbelief crashing into me at what I am about to ask.

"Wait," I lean away from him, peering into his dark eyes, "Did you... Did you mark her?"

He does not say it. The answer is clear in his eyes and I recoil. Because realization hits me like a freight train. Because his eyes tell me the one thing I hoped they would not.

That it was not him. That I killed her.

"No," I shake my head, swallowing down the lump that forms at the back of my throat, "No."

Please no.

"Emma," he grabs my shoulders and hunches down, looking straight into my eyes, "It wasn't your fault. Don't go down that rabbit hole."

"Let me see her one last time, like you did with that girl," I plead through the sobs. I have to see her. I need to apologize. I need to say goodbye.

"You need to let her go."

I push at his chest, rage replacing sorrow. "Let me see her soul! Why won't you give me this?" I scream.

He grabs my hands, preventing me from continuing my assault, "Trust me. It's not a good idea. You need to let her go, Emma," he says, concern etching his features.

Through the fog in my brain, I can see he is right. I would not be able to let her go. It would be like seeing her death again.

"Then I want you to do it. I want you to be the one to carry her soul over, not some clone. Please, Death," I implore, wiping the moisture off my cheeks. "Go."

After a moment's hesitation, he nods. With his eyes still locked on mine, he drops a kiss on my lips and disappears.