Of Course I’d Kill for It

Everyone always complimented Lily, such beautiful eyes. But she wouldn’t take them to the grave. Green and Hazel. I couldn’t stop thinking of those eyes. Soon they would be mine. I adored and hated heterochromia. The asymmetry on a face, one eye green, one eye hazel. Yet it somehow made a face more intriguing. Same as the gray strands of hair from the brown-haired boy. I grin, now his hair will no longer grow. Same as the tongue of the woman who bragged she could eat a ghost pepper without sweating, now she will never taste or brag. They were in the back of my closet after all, soon to be joined by the eyes. I chuckle, I may one day have a whole person in my closet.

“You look like someone who enjoys living.” Said a young cheerful voice.

I grit my teeth at the interruption, I turn slightly towards the voice. Sitting on a chair outside a shop was an old woman. I looked around but there were only a few people walking along the street. I look back in disgust at the overdue sack of bones. With all her wrinkles I wondered how she was still alive. She has a small smile on her face, and her eyes seem to look through me. Her eyes actually reminded me of my own, blue eyes with a bit of green at the center.

“What do you want?” I respond, still staring into those beautiful eyes.

Her eyebrows raise slightly, “So hostile already. I was going to ask you if you wanted to live forever. If you do enjoy life so much. More than others.” Her smile turns sly.

I scoff and cock my head, there’s something wrong with this woman. Her voice is strong and smooth, nothing like the outside. “You’re offering me immortality? You? Why not use it for yourself? You need it more since you already have one foot in the grave.”

She chuckles, “I don’t need immortality. Besides the price for it is too high for many people.” She shook her head, “Many have tried, but they flounder and fail. They are too weak to do what needs to be done. You know the type I’m sure. Greedy people who want everything but are incapable of doing anything.” She leans in closer, “I sometimes wonder if they are just here for entertainment.”

I smirk back at her. I might enjoy this woman. I turn fully towards her, “What’s the price then?”

“A pair of eyes.”

“Eyes? Human eyes?”

“Ever heard eyes are the window to the soul?” She said with a wink.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. The eyes I would take from Lily could just go to this woman. I feel slightly hesitant to give up my eyes, but it was a small sacrifice for a chance at immortality. If she could truly offer such a thing. I sigh internally, at least there are plenty more eyes to replace them. And why not do something nice for the woman with the gorgeous eyes.

I push open the door to my apartment. “Welcome home!” Lily says with a smile, lounging on the couch. Her hazel eye is closest to me.

I can’t help but smile back, “Hello.” She looks a little surprised, I usually don’t greet her so warmly.

“So did you have a good day?” She asks, nosily probing for more information.

I force a slight smile, “I did. I have some exciting news to tell you tonight, will you be around?”

She sits up, “Yeah, I will be! What’s it about?”

I smile and wink at her, “You’ll find out tonight.”

I woke up to a cloudy sky. How insulting for it to be so dreary. I leave my apartment with my footsteps light. The gray sky has a green tinge to it. The sign of a bad storm, it’ll be dangerous soon, so I walk quickly to the shop. As I walk, I keep seeing her eyes in my mind. It was just as I imagined. Her pitiful expressions, the way her weak arms tried to fight me. She begged so desperately I had to laugh. But when I cut off her air, she could only plead with me through her eyes, well, my eyes now.

I walk into the old lady’s shop. “I’ve brought the eyes.” I place the two jars on the table.

She has the same small smile on her face as she looks at the jars, “Were they difficult to get?”

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face, “No.”

Her face brightens, “Good. Well, this is all I need so you can go.”

I stare at her, was she serious? That’s it? I smirk, “Will I be immortal after today?”

She nodded, “You don’t need to worry about your eternal soul.”

A chill runs through me. My arms and legs start to feel long and disconnected. “Good.” I respond. I walk outside, needing to focus on moving my body. My body. It’s my body and yet I feel as if it might not respond to me. The green tinge in the sky has turned the sunlight green. I force my body to walk faster.

I wake up to green light shining through my curtains. I stretch my arms above my head and take a deep breath. After staring at the ceiling for a moment, I throw my legs over the bed onto the floor. I get up and walk down the hall to the bathroom. My eyes glance in the mirror as I reach for the soap. My face is puffy, and my eyes are a little red. My eyes. My green and hazel eyes. I feel a cold wash over me. Why do I see her? Why is she there? I walk back to my room. No, not my room, Lily’s room. Covered in inspirational posters and pictures of her family. I turn to walk back into the hallway, but my body doesn’t move. This isn’t my body. I can’t move it. And the view as we go past the window. It isn’t the view of the apartment we shared. It’s of a street nearby. A street I almost chose to live on.

A knock sounds on the door. Three rapid, loud knocks. My voice comes through, “Lily, I have something to ask you.”

This body freezes, then quickly walks to the door. I open the door and ask, “Is everything okay?”

I see my arms held behind my body.

run

“What do you need help with?”

go, go, go

Just a smile in response.

Then a pain I never thought to think of. A knife buried in my stomach. My lips part but there’s a hand around my throat. Look at that smile. How happy. How enraging. How utterly stupid. Because of a witch who never…

For a wicked witch who kept her promise.

Suddenly, I find myself lying on the couch, in a familiar room. It was my living room, but just slightly different. The walls were colored Jay Blue instead of the Dignity Blue color I decided on. The coffee table was white instead of black. I’m watching the TV when it goes dark for a moment. Lily’s bored face stares back at me. The door opens, my head immediately turns, “Welcome home!”

My face smiles back, “Hi Lily.” Then my body is on top of Lily, with hands around her neck. I can’t breathe, my chest is tight, my eyes are bulging. I stare into my smiling face, my body’s hand moves to wipe a tear from my eye, I look so content. I need to control the body I’m in to kill her. But, my vision is turning black. A moment of nothing.

A loud knock. My voice came through “Hey, I need your help with something.”

This time I’m in a bedroom. Lily’s bedroom, if the giant flowery letters spelling her name were to be trusted. Lily gets up, as she does I catch a glimpse outside the window. Same building as I’m used to, but different height. We are at the street level. If I could laugh, I would. I only got the third-floor apartment because the person left the morning I inquired about apartments. If I called in the morning, I would’ve ended on the street level, same as where I am now.

It was me knocking on the door. It was me knocking for what could only be one reason. I came for my eyes. I knew myself, I knew my body could catch Lily’s with ease, I knew my strength could overpower this body faster than a phone call. But still, I tried to run, but every time I moved, nothing would happen. I was just inside this body, for now. Oh just wait witch, one day, you will regret mistaking me for a toy.

But now, I saw this body’s throat cut, green and hazel eyes staring back through a blood splattered mirror. I barely had time to wonder what the next world would be like.