Ghosts Don't Die Twice

Prologue

GHOSTS DON'T DIE TWICE
Only Souls Do

Renowned geneticist and biologist, Sophia Johnson slithers through the runway of her own office, bloodied by more than her own blood, she locks the door behind herself and slumps, her breath heavy and labored.

It won't matter anymore.

The steps behind her slowly coming to halt, the flickering fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling cast the stranger's shadow through the tempered glass on either side of the doors. He kneels and whispers,
"It doesn't have to be this way, Mrs Johnson."

It won't matter anymore.

"If you hadn't run, all of this could have been avoided."
His voice easy and calm.
"Now, where did you put it?"

He raps his fingers on the doors and patiently listens, all he can hear are Sophia's wince and incoherent mumbles.

It won't matter anymore.

"I'm a patient man Mrs Johnson, but only as patient as the Coppers would allow."
He reaches into his pockets and a pair of keys jangle.
"My very good friend on the force has bought me a couple of minutes, time is precious, isn't it dear?"

Meticulously running his fingers through the bunch of keys, "A-ha here we are."

Sophia uses whatever strength she had left to try and wedge the door with her body weight , her efforts quickly proving futile. He budges the door open and Sophia's almost-lifeless-body sways with the motion. She kneels defenseless on the floor as she watches him step into the office.

"Where is it!"
His voice thunders this time, echoing through the empty office and hallways.

"I told you already," Sophia stammers, confused at why she was shocked at his change in demeanor, he had sent his goons to try and have her killed earlier today, surely she didn't think he'd spare her, not even if she told him the truth.
"I have no idea of what you're talking about!"

"Stop lying to me!" He pauses, breathes through his mouth, almost like he was trying to pace himself before he did her bodily harm and she couldn't tell him either way.
"Y-You took something that doesn't belong to you, it's MY intellectual property, you created it here, in my company, stop lying to me!"

Sophia's pulse raced, she felt light headed, more from the loss of blood and internal bleeding.

"Are you willing to die for this? To sacrifice your family? Your daughter?"

Sophia couldn't breathe, reality slowly becoming a haze, she felt a sudden rush of adrenaline.

He wouldn't do that, he wouldn't hurt my daughter!

"Worst case scenario for me, I never get your research, and then I hire hundreds of scientists to work on your thesis, surely someone else is bound to stumble on it."
He draws a sharp breath,
"Worst case scenario for you, I end anyone remotely linked to you, wipe them clean off the face of the earth."

Sophia groans, she wanted to wipe that smirk of his face, forever, but she couldn't move. Whether or not he was going to kill her wasn't of any importance, she needed to keep her daughter safe.

"Tell me, Mrs Johnson. Is this really worth dying for ?"
He drew a pistol from his coat to buttress his point. Placing the barrel dead center of Sophia's head.

Sophia's eyes widens, her whole life flashing before her eyes. She tears up,
"W-Wait! I'll tell you. Promise you'll keep my daughter out of this. Promise me that atleast!"

He smiles smugly, "I promise."
Two words came out his mouth and none of them seemed believable.
"Out with it!"

Sophia knew all too well he was lying, even a blind man could see, yet the life of her daughter and the chilling gun barrel on her head made her want to make him into a Saint.

She rambles on for minutes, giving detailed descriptions of where it was hidden and how it was hidden.

A wider grin forms on his face, titling his head to get a better look at Sophia, he could discern in his head that she was telling the truth, afterall nobody staring death in the face with threats against a loved one would ever lie.

Sophia wasn't much of a virtuoso when it came lying or hiding true emotions, but she had just given a brilliant oratory fabrication. Nothing of what she'd just said was the truth. She'd decided on choosing the lesser of two evils. Either hand over the research and risk the fate of the world to save her daughter or let the research be lost forever and the world doesn't get incinerated by the ideas and ideals of a corrupt and foul man. She'd figured that if she let him have her research, her daughter won't have a future to live in anyways.

"You don't really think I'd keep you alive now do you?"
He realigns his gun, taking a few steps back, almost like he was trying to avoid any potential blood spilling unto his coat.
"When you're dead, I'd be the only one to know the truth."

Sophia closes her eyes, wondering what the afterlife was, wondering if she could've seen this coming, if at some point in her life she'd not chosen to be a geneticist. Only one answer crops up in her mind, she'd have done it all over again, without changing a thing. If she was going to go out like this, she sure as hell would go out fighting, fighting for her life, her family and all of humanity.

Baring all thoughts of pain, only a single feral thought of survival she lunges for the gun, but not before he recoils and pulls the trigger, the sound of the gun rumbles, Both Sophia and the man frozen in disbelief and shock. Sophia could feel a gaping hole through her chest, both of them don't move, until she coughs up blood and falls backwards.

It won't matter anymore ...