Soul exchange

Prologue ~ This is what death looks like

Nyx stood over the corpse with mild fascination.

Bile and foam spilt from the lips and nose, dripping into the ears. Livor mortis had begun to take effect, dark purple splotches appearing on the underside of the body. She felt the urge to close the yellowing eyes. The way they seemed to stare right at her shadowy form had her stomach roiling.

"Why does it look like that?"

She asked the Demon, but the Angel answered first, "You died, Nyx. This is what death looks like for you."

"Who's gonna find me?"

The Demon's dark eyes regarded her thoughtfully. "No one, if you ask nicely."

She rounded on the black-eyed creature. His hair, the colour of pitch, hid chiselled features expertly in its shoulder-length glory, appearing to have been submerged only moments ago as shimmering water droplets rolled off the sharp ends and onto the concrete roof with a hiss. He certainly had a flair for the dramatic.

"What do you mean?"

The green-eyed Angel tensed, revealing unmasked frustration through ruffling his ten-foot alabaster wings. "Why do you still listen to him?" he asked, brushing stray copper hairs behind Nyx's ear. "He would more likely display your corpse from the side of this building than help you."

Nyx bristled. She didn't like being questioned by the Angel, especially not an hour after her death.

"Why do you always make me feel stupid?" she grumbled, wrapping her willowy arms around herself. The wind on the rooftop was blustery, but she felt nothing besides an aching chill in her bones.

The Demon chuckled before speaking over the Angel's excuses. "Superiority complex. But I don't need to tell you that."

The woman turned her face from her corpse to repress the image of a fat blowfly crawling through her snot, taking in the scenery. It was dawn, and the cityscape lights had yet to dim. She pictured each one as a star in the night sky.

"Or an angel in heaven," a voice sounded sarcastically behind her.

"Stay out of my head, Aidoneus," she snapped at the Demon, who withered from the reprimand.

"Neo."

"Then stay out of my head."

"Fine. Are you going to ask the same of him?"

The Angel scowled at Neo. "The way you always find a way out of calling me by name truly is astounding.

"Oh astounding, is it?" Neo mocked.

Nyx rolled her eyes, tired of the toxic displays of supernatural masculinity. "Shut up. Both of you just- just shut the hell up."

Although both ethereal in their own right, their voices were beyond irritating. Nyx went to walk away from her lifeless form when she felt a tether, tying her foot to foot with the body.

"Why can't I move?"

Neo jumped down from his perch on the building's edge and pushed his hair back to look at her boot-clad feet. His sharp features gave him a dark edge that Nyx found herself leaning into. No, she chastised herself. He left you, don't get sucked in again.

His lip twitched, and Nyx had a bad feeling he had been listening to her thoughts again. She didn't press the issue as the Angel's cool hand brushed against her lower back.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Come now." The Angel went to beat his wings when Nyx's shadow self drew down against him. She cried out in pain from the strange sensation, and the Angel tried again despite her anguish.

"Micah, stop!" she screamed, desperately attempting to jerk her arm from his grip, but his strength was vicelike. Inhuman.

Neo growled and grabbed Nyx's other arm, forcing a soothing warmth to flow over them both. She tugged away in surprise, her grey eyes widening, seeing a mirrored expression back at her. An unfamiliar cry of pain escaped the winged beauty, followed by a flash of blinding heat.

Nyx heard guttural screams before she woke in her bed to the sound of the backstreet boys on the radio. The sounds echoed in her mind as she slapped the alarms snooze button.

"No way, that was a dream?" she whispered, bringing her hands to her cheeks in relief. However, the sticky wetness she found seemed to point to something out of the ordinary. Jumping up, Nyx slipped on her strewn sheets and landed painfully on the hardwood floors.

"You okay, Hunny?" Her mother's warm voice called from the next room.

"Yep, just... fell out of bed."

Her dad's warm laughter had a heat rise on her cheeks. He was probably going to mock her for days about that lie.

She crawled to the full-length mirror and gasped at the reflection she saw. The purple bruising behind her neck was easing, but dried white foam coated her face and ears. Just the sight alone made Nyx want to gag. Instead, she coughed into her elbow and forced back the urge to retch when another sensation overcame her: to sneeze. She let the force escape and nearly screamed when a small black mass flew into her palm from her left nostril.

All curled up and smothered in clear mucous.

It was that damned fly.

~~~

A/N

Short and sweet Prologue, but I promise the chapters will be longer, ranging from 1500 to 2000 words.

Also, if you're a book club person, best not to skip this cause its a super important chapter ;) 

Love yah,

K