Chapter 3

Once Scilla and I have suitably calmed down, we decide to call her manager. We need to come up with some kind of explanation for us running out of there.

“Still though, I’m not sure we can keep working there. What if the Grim Reaper comes back? He still wants to drag me back to Hell’s waiting room, or just straight up obliterate me,” I mumble into Scilla’s soul, still trying to figure out my apparent black smoke powers.

It’s like when I was in control of Scilla’s body, I knew exactly what I was doing, and I could feel the power within me. But now…now I just feel weak again.

And by weak, I mean weak. That smoke attack took a lot out of me.

“I’ll try and get a new job elsewhere, but first I have to check that I haven’t been fired. That’d make getting a new job so much harder,” Scilla says softly, chewing on her lips as she calls the manager.

“Scilla? What happened back there? Are you alright?” Her manager asks through the phone, and I practically feel Scilla’s throat close up around her words in anxiety.

“Let me take control, dear,” I offer softly, and Scilla’s consciousness once again falls behind mine.

“Hello? I’m so sorry, I just had a really creepy customer,” I explain, toeing the line between truth and a lie. “He was saying all kinds of weird things and started threatening me, and I just- I had to go, it was so horrible. And then he started chasing me- I think I should maybe go to the police about this stalker,” I continue, hoping that Scilla’s manager is somewhat sympathetic.

Luckily, she is.

“Oh dear, how awful! I hope you feel alright sweetie. If you don’t feel up to your shift tomorrow that’s completely understandable. What’s most important right now is your safety - definitely go to the police about that horrid man!” She says supportively, and a smile creeps onto my lips.

“Thank you so much, you’re so kind. We’ll try and sort this as soon as possible, I promise.”

“We?” The manager asks, and I bite my lip in frustration. Well- I bite Scilla’s lip technically. This body isn’t really mine.

“Um- yes! My boyfriend. I’m sure he’ll be very supportive, once I tell him,” I flub, knowing that that piece of shit wouldn’t give a single fuck about Scilla’s well-being.

“Ah right, yes of course. Well thank you for calling me, and take care!” 

Hanging up after thanking the lady once more, I let out a sigh before sinking back behind Scilla’s consciousness, once again letting her have control over her body.

“So…what’s the plan?” I ask Scilla eventually, after we’d just been sitting in perfect silence for a long time.

“Well, I need to change jobs. Somewhere in a different place, maybe? Like a different city? I know I don’t really have the funds to move elsewhere but that would solve both our problems at once, right? My boyfriend wouldn’t be able to find us, and neither would that Grim Reaper?” She suggests, but I sigh.

“Unfortunately, I can’t leave. There’s like a radius around where I died, and I can only travel within that radius. It’s pretty big, big enough to have the whole city encompassed, but still. I can’t really go that far away. But a job in a different area of the city could work - from what I understand, Grim Reapers have different areas they search for souls in, so if we went to a different territory or whatever, then it would be a different Grim Reaper. Someone who wouldn’t recognise us.”

Scilla is silent for a moment, before asking “but what if we bump into that one too? Wouldn’t they just recognise your soul and try and chase us again?”

Letting out a frustrated groan, I nod. “Yeah. It’s not like I can hide my soul from them - they’ll just be able to see me, no matter what. And I can’t un-fuse our souls - we’re now stuck together forever. Sorry about that,” I whisper, feeling a little sheepish.

But Scilla just smiles, shaking her head. “Don’t apologise, Jess! I love having you around and I’m so glad to have met you.”

My heart feels strange, but not necessarily unpleasant, so that probably means I’m feeling happy again. It’s so weird.

“Should we just stay here for now, at least until you get paid in a few weeks?” I suggest, hoping that we’ll be able to save as much money as possible before needing to use it to run away.

“Good plan,” Scilla agrees, stroking her arm in a motion that I’m fairly sure is meant to reassure me. It’s just nice to be shown affection, to be honest. Nice, but unfamiliar.

“Anyway, so this is your first chance at a life, right? I know you don’t remember much from your past life, but it seemed like you didn’t really…get out much, right? So…what do you want to do?”

Shivering slightly at the thought, I whisper “I don’t think I got out at all. And I don’t really know what I want…I’ve never thought about it before. What are some nice things you enjoy doing?” I ask Scilla.

“Hm…well, falling in love is nice?” She suggests, but I just roll my eyes. 

“Right, because men are so nice and treat their partners so well,” I say sarcastically. Scilla barks out a harsh laugh, before shaking her head.

“Alright so I haven’t had the best chances at love - I’ve been in love, sure, but then we ended up breaking up, or obviously things didn’t turn out well with my current boyfriend. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t good guys out there too! And besides - you never mentioned you liked guys,” Scilla sits down in front of her mirror, smirking at her reflection.

Feeling my face heat up slightly, I shrug. “Well I uh. I just assumed that because you like guys, and we share a body now, that y-you know, if I got a boyfriend you would have to date him too,” I lie. Apparently, my slight preference in men and masc-presenting people is something that I inherently know.

“A-anyway what about you? What do you want to do? What are some of your dreams?” I ask Scilla, moving the conversation away from me. She hums, tilting her head to one side and resting her cheek on her hand.

“I want to be a doctor. But I don’t have the education for it - I’d need to get a degree for one thing, and that’s just- that’s so hard, and I don’t have the money for it,” she says sadly, and I make up my mind instantly.

“Alright. We have a plan of action. We get out of this house, we get you a place far away from your shitty boyfriend, and a better job, and you start taking classes to work towards a degree. We can take it slow - it might take you a while to finish the degree, but it’s got to be better than nothing, right?” I ask hesitantly, suddenly feeling like I’ve jumped to a massive conclusion without conferring with Scilla at all.

But she just smiles warmly at me, nodding. “Thank you, Jess. I would really, really love that.”