13 Selfish

Four Years ago•••

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The tyres of the speeding car suddenly screeched to a halt after barely grazing MaryJane - it somersaulted sideways and towards the edge of the mountainside.

MaryJane who's been pushed to the ground slowly got up. "Ugh.... my head". Her eyes moved to the flipped car by the edge of the highway before looking around in panic.

'Is this the human realm? Could they have followed me here?'. She was about to leave the scene when a low voice caught her attention.

"I don't... wanna die". The voice was desperate and pleading. "Josh...". She coughed.

'How pathetic, if they'd ran over me - I'd still have survived. But who knows if I'd have killed them in return'. She watched the girl's hand drop and a phone fall out of the shattered window.

Hesitantly, she moved to pick up the phone. The screen came on and what she saw shocked her-

'She looks just like me-'. MaryJane frowned partially disgusted. 'Don't tell me all humans are this pretty?'. She'd already turned to keep going when a being dressed in black suddenly appeared before her.

He was about seven feet tall and was accompanied by a dark fog.

"Ohh no-". She gritted her teeth before lowering her face to walk past like she hadn't seen him - just like any other human would behave.

"A Succubus in the human realm?". His deep inhumane voice echoed through her head as she looked up to meet the Lich's eyes which were like an empty abyss while the wind pushed past his hooded cloak.

He waved an arm upward at the wrecked car as if saying, 'arise' and two white balls of flame came up.

"Two?". He paused to check his list and MaryJane didn't dare to move. "The girl wasn't meant to die today. You've disturbed the balance, so I shall perish you".

He raised his free hand above her. "No! Wait!". She retorted. "Why don't you let her share my body with me?".

"Barbaric!". His voice came out sharp, yet stress-free. "Two souls cannot exist in one body since a soul is already accustomed to its own body".

She raised the phone to his face. "If that's the only problem, take a look at this. We look identical".

"Hmm...". He stroked his bony chin - expressionless. "I'm not the reaper in charge of demonic souls, so I'll take you up on your offer". His eye suddenly glowed red. "But there are two conditions to stay alive".

"Tell me". She smirked.

"The human would be in charge of the body and unaware of your existence". He raised a finger. "Secondly, you're a creature of darkness and this human had a kind heart. Your heart would be torn apart if your desires stray". Another finger went up.

"My desires? What does that mean?".

"That's all I can tell you, but your souls have to merge into one being if you wish to live". He gestured for the soul of Diane's mother to approach before absorbing it into his hand.

"Time limit?".

"Time will tell". That was all he said before shifting the second soul into her body. "I hope you can entertain me for the time being". He watched her collapse to the ground before disappearing behind the cloud of dark mist.

MaryJane felt herself slowly moving into the background of her mind, like a caged dog. She could see everything that happened, but couldn't react.

Her body was still lying on the road as she watched a few cars pass by. The car with the bodies had started leaking fuel. 'What if someone found both bodies?'. She panicked in her head.

It took some minutes before a dark car parked by. A brown-haired man came out dressed in baggy shorts and a shirt.

He seemed distressed when he raised the woman's body. He was screaming something MaryJane couldn't make out. 'Move me away from here!'. She tried to call out.

He seemed to look towards the car as if wanting to save Diane's mother but noticed the leak.

He hastily raised her body with both hands before rushing to his car. MaryJane saw color lights from a vehicle approaching. 'So many strange carriages in the human world'.

Two men rushed out of the vehicle with a stretcher and Josh helped place her on it before telling them something about the flipped car. Before they could react, it blew up and what was left fell off the highway.

'It seems no one can hear me'. MaryJane thought before wondering if she'd made the right decision or not. They had moved her into the back of the truck and the man who'd carried her refused to let go of her hand. 'Is this.... the human's lover?'.

She watched him shed tears like a little kid as the men dressed in blue tried to calm him.

'Love... Huh?'. After those thoughts, she stopped thinking and decided to rest her mind.

When Diane finally woke up, she was in a hospital bed. She sat up to look around the unfamiliar area.

"Diane!". Josh held her hand which made her jerk away in fear.

"Sorry, sorry. I was being too impulsive".

"Wha... where am I?". She asked weakly.

"At the hospital. Don't you remember what happened?".

Her head tilted sideways in questioning. "Who are you?".

Josh felt his body freeze for a second. 'How much should I say? I don't want to lie, especially now. She deserves answers...'.

"My name is Joshua Zibara McNaught". He smiled gently. "I'm your boyfriend and in my fourth year in college".

"Boyfriend? Then who am I?", she pointed at herself but moved away when he tried to touch her. MaryJane's body wasn't accustomed to being touched by anyone.

He could merely hide the pain in his heart from showing on his face, "You're Diane Franchester".

"Diane...". She repeated the unfamiliar words.

"I'll call the doctor". In silence, he left the room for a few minutes before returning with a doctor who checked her pulse and refilled her drip.

He explained that there was no damage in her brain and that her memories should return over time.

For some reason, Josh didn't want them to return due to guilt. He wanted Diane to have a new start-

"Here". He handed her phone over to her since he'd already deleted the conversation with the blackmailer while getting the doctor.

'If anything, she should never remember that. He frowned in thought while watching her fiddle with the phone. "How... how do I use this?".

He smiled at how clueless she looked. If possible, he wanted things to stay this way forever.

Helpless Diane.

For the next few days, he came to visit Diane after his lectures regardless of how distant she was towards him. It was a few days after her graduation ceremony that she'd been discharged. Neither her useless father nor classmates had come to visit her.

He was happy they didn't return to hurt her and tried to convince her to go home with him. She refused, demanding that she wanted to see her family-

Josh had broken the news of her mother's death to her, but as expected - she didn't feel pain for who she never knew.