Sophie

I opened my eyes and for a moment and was overcome by the emotion of all that occurred. I allowed myself to believe it was a dream. But the memories were too vivid, too real. Instinctively I reached for my side and felt neither tender tissue nor scarring of any kind. Still, our affliction left us free from the physical reminders of violence.

I felt the soft cotton of the sheets with my bare feet and looked down to confirm that I was naked save for the dark slacks I wore to Antonio’s coven. I sat up and looked around the well-appointed room. I listened intently and could hear Louis and Elizabeth in quiet discussion down the hall from where I lay. Was I still there? My answer was not far off. Sophie’s scent filled my senses.

She seemed to appear from the darkness to my left, where an ornate chair of burgundy colored oak faced me. Her eyes were tinged with sorrow and when she spoke it was with an even soothing cadence that was familiar.

“It is easy to see why he is so fond of you Nicholas. What is left of your humanity is what makes you so…valuable. With you he can gain so much more.”

Seeing her in the soft evening light I felt, once again, as if I was looking at her for the very first time. She looked into my eyes and forced a smile and I reached for my side again as I spoke.

“What have they done to you Sophie?”

She turned her back to me, looking out the window, her attention on things beyond the garden view.

“I’m sorry.” She began. “We…I too have been given abilities. We are both immortals in a sense. Only, you know that you can kill others like yourself. I have the ability to assume the identities of others, amongst other talents. All I require is personal effects from that person and a bit of flesh or blood and I am…I am able to claim their memories as my own and physically become that person.”

I could hear her voice breaking and I pressed my lids shut as she continued, certain of what she would say next.

“I thought he loved me. He treated me so well…so when he told me of this plan he had where I would never have to be anyone else but this person. I believed him. I believed this would be the last time. I should of known that something was wrong.” She wiped away some tears and took a deep breath, steadying herself before she continued.

“I had never become someone who had died before, and I had no idea how it would affect me. I feel like I am Sophie especially since I no longer remember who I am. But I knew I could not deceive you, because when I looked into your eyes I could feel your love for her and I also feel her love for you.”

I felt the sensation of weeping, but there were no tears.

“So you are not Sophie?” I said softly.

“Yes and No. I have tried to become another, or even return to my original form. But since I have become her,” she said turning again to face me. “I have not been able to be anyone else.”

I could not help but look into her eyes and sense and feel that she was who she had become.

“Why?” I asked, getting off the bed and going to her. “Why did you try to kill me?”

She touched my face before she answered.

“Sweet Nicholas. I was trying to save you.”