Wanted Dead or Alive | 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

8 - THIS ONE'S FOR THE GIRLS

SEASON 1, EPISODE 19

"You've really never been shopping before?" Katarina Winchester exclaimed, her voice ringing with genuine shock and, Mara thought, pity.

In all her days as a reaper, Mara had never known she was missing out on anything. She'd always been satisfied with what she had. Even if her surroundings were always a little bleak, the floating gray specks and colorless tint of the In-Between ceasing to provide any vivid sights, ferrying people to their afterlife was all she'd ever known. But now, after being treated like an actual human by Kat Winchester, she realized that the mundane acts of humanity were the ones that should be held closest to her heart.

Mara shook her head, a gentle laugh bubbling from her lips as Kat's eyes widened. "You'll have to excuse me, but I had no idea shopping was supposed to be fun."

"It is, to some people," Kat said. Her voice was benign and tender, a stark contrast to the way her brothers spoke. "I like it because it's an escape. You know, from the hunting and all. It's refreshing to be able to do something normal every once in a while."

"I can understand that."

Mara ran a hand over a row of sweaters, relishing in the way the soft fabric felt against her fingertips. In the temporary silence that hung in the air between her and the young girl that was walking adjacent from her, she couldn't help but grin at the truth in the words she'd just spoken. Though it would only be for a moment, and she would shortly have to begin the abnormal act of hunting that was so against her very nature, it was a joyous occasion to be participating in something as normal as hunting. When she'd spent months of her life bowing at the feet of demons, it felt like a weight being lifted from her shoulders as she walked through the aisles of Dillard's. Especially since it distracted her from how she'd abandoned Meg and Azazel.

"Yeah, I guess you can," Kat acknowledged as she lifted a purple sweater from the nearest shelf. She held it up for Mara to see, and when the reaper's features twisted into an expression of disgust, Kat laughed and said, "I didn't like it that much, either."

"So, what's it like? Being a reaper, I mean," Kat added. Mara was comforted by the casual way she spoke. It showed her that, despite every reason Mara had given her to be, Kat wasn't talking to her because she wanted to ease her suspicions. Maybe, just maybe, Kat was genuinely trying to be a friend to Mara.

A few older women rose an eyebrow in Mara's direction, and she ducked her head. 'Other than being glared at for my clothes?' she wanted to say, but instead, she simply shrugged.

"It's quite simple, really," she explained to Kat, her eyes drifting to the pictures of people that decorated the walls of the store. "I touch whatever soul Death tells me to touch. And then, depending on the soul, I lead them to heaven, hell, or purgatory."

"So you can just tell where someone goes?" Kat asked, her shaped brows knitting together in confusion.

Mara nodded, encouraging Kat to ask with a glint in her eye, "Where am I going?"