Seven Souls

Sophia's puppet

Sophia's POV

I ripped the calendar paper—another day and I haven't returned yet to my body. I balled the piece of paper and shot it right at the trash can. At the same time, Milo came out of the kitchen with Allegra's usual herbal tea.

"Oh, you are still here," he taunted me—totally facing the wrong direction since he couldn't see me.

I ripped another paper and balled it—throwing it this time at him. His gaze snapped to where I was, and a playful smug crept on his lips.

"You know… I could help you return to your body," he murmured as he settled down the tray on the coffee table.

I never meant to leave my body again—I just closed my eyes, then opened them to find myself in Allegra's store—not being able to return to my body again.

The pain became intense—not the regular twinging pain, no, it was more of piercing sudden pain waves—added to the anguish.

My heart sometimes felt as if it was in flames—one time I saw them kissing, and I swear I heard my heart shatter into pieces. It was the last time I was close to my body—the last time I touched my body before passing out and finding myself here.

If Christiana didn't ignore me… I could've told her what I found, given her a clue to find Allegra—all she knew was I found a spiritual guide.

Milo picked up the piece of paper, and straightened it, bringing out a pen from his pocket, and placing them on the tray—waiting for me to talk.

I walked to the coffee table, sat down, took the pen, and wrote my question on a piece of paper.

"Help me how?" He read it out loud.

As far as I knew, Milo wasn't as experienced as Allegra, but he had the gift—he was only trying to figure it out.

"You can't return to your body because you astrally projected your soul out," he paused, taking a seat across me, "and Christiana's soul somehow powered over you. There's a purpose for why her soul is in your body—you just need to find the reason—find the plot twist."

I always had that question laying around in my mind—how did Christiana's soul get in my body? And why me among all people?

I picked up the pen, watching his gaze snap to the floating pen as I wrote down my question.

"Sometimes Allegra tells the truth, but not all of the time—you know… there's actually someone who had this similar situation as yours," his words caught my attention—I leaned forward with interest for the story he was about to tell, but a disembodied voice cut in, gaining my attention instead.

That voice didn't seem to get Milo's attention—which only meant I was the only one who could hear it, along with Allegra—her faint voice hushed the other voice—only getting my curiosity worked up.

I wasn't focused anymore on what Milo was saying—I got up, and followed the unfamiliar deep voice, hearing Allegra's soft yet sharp voice. I peered through the nearly opened door—my gaze falling on Allegra's reflection in the tall mirror.

She turned around—her back now facing the mirror. "Ashton, please, I just want you to check things for me-"

"No, I won't snoop on Christiana—Sophia is telling you the truth, so accept it," the manly voice cut her off—he seemed pissed off.

"You saw the accident, and you followed them to the hospital—what happened at the hospital?" She raised her voice at him.

"Christiana wasn't meant to die. She survived the accident," he shouted at her and I felt my heart sink into a deep pit.

"I know you're listening to us, Sophia," the man piped and I stepped inside the room—his back was facing me.

"I know a way to get you back in your body-"

"No, I need you to tell me about Tiana," I cut him off—brushing off the fact that he knew how I could return to my body.

I needed to know how this mess started.

Christiana's POV

My eyes fluttered open, and I quickly covered my eyes with my hand from the intense light—taking a few seconds for my eyes to settle with the light before removing my hand.

“I’m finally in my body,” I heard Sophia’s excited voice. "It worked, I'm back."

Her face had a small smile, but once her eyes met mine, her face morphed into a scowl. “You!” She screeched, pointing at me as if I did something horrible—like stealing her fiance, even worse—f*****g him, which never happened.

“Why are you hard to convince?” She shouted, and I sat up—looking at her as she glared at me.

“Hey, Sophia,” my voice cracked out, showing how nervous I was.

“Were you planning on telling him? You are doing so fine. Tell me what’s wrong with you?” She questioned angrily, crossing her arms against her chest.

I groaned as I got up—my hand reaching for my chest, where my heart was. I still could feel the throbbing pain. It was from her anger.

"First of all, where were you? You disappeared for two weeks—two weeks without any sign of contact," I snapped at her, and she narrowed her eyes at me—taking slow steps towards me.

It wasn't a good idea as the pain got worse—proving my theory about the pain being tied to her emotions, or maybe mine—I was angry, too… probably pissed off, but glad that Sophia is okay.

It was great to know she was still there.

"Where was I?" She repeated my question, and I frowned at her. "I was at Allegra's, the spiritual guide—I stayed for around a week before trying again to get in my body." She continued.

"And you ignored me when I tried to contact you-"

"Sam was right outside the bathroom," I shouted, cutting her before she finished her sentence—the pain now was searing, it felt like I was being stabbed over a thousand times in my chest.

I fell to my knees, sucking on air as I felt my chest tighten—Sophia's hand was massaging my back, trying to help me breath

She breathed in harshly, and I could feel my pain go slightly away. “T-thank you,” I stammered, lifting my gaze to hers.

"Where were you?

“And it’s hard to pretend to love someone without falling in love with him,” I retorted to her earlier question—crossing my arms against my chest. "It's draining me emotionally, and I can't keep up with this act."

Did I just confess my feelings to Sam's fiancée? I just told Sophia I have feelings for Sam—oh god, I didn't just tell Sophia my feelings.

"I can't do this, Soph… I can't stop my heart from having feelings for him, and I can't do this anymore. He needs to know the truth." I tried to reason with her, but it was like talking to a wall.

She rubbed her forehead, sighing loudly as she helped me up—her hands tightened around mine as her green eyes locked with mine. “I can’t let you do that,” she said under her breath.

“Well, I’m in charge,” I bellowed, and she snickered, tearing her gaze off mine.

"I got kicked out of my body because my soul is weak, and ever since I've been trying to return," she mumbled—her grasp around my hands kept getting tighter as she continued, "Sam can't know about this, he has enough on his plate. Just pretend this is one of the movies you are acting for—going off script."

I could feel anger fill her again as the chest pains came back. She clenched her jaw, her glare sending daggers at me.

She was weak, so she only had around an hour to have control over her body. She wasn’t in any position to argue with me, nor was I. Her anger was reflecting on me somehow, and it only brought physical pain to me.

Something was wrong.

"Your energy changed," I murmured, and her brows snapped together.

Her aura was… dark, filled with anger and sadness—decaying at a slow rate.

"You can feel it, too?" She asked in a barely heard voice.

I guess since the conversion of our souls into one body, it heightened our psychic abilities.

I held her hands as I felt myself getting sick. "Are you okay?" She finally noticed something was wrong with me.

I was about to answer, but I coughed harshly—the coughing increased and my hands left hers, gripping my chest instead as I fell on my knees. Blood came out of my mouth, staining the white floor. “Everything hurts… it feels like I'm dying,” I winced at the pain.

I collapsed on the cold ground, my body convulsing, and all I could see was the darkness engulfing me.

Am I going to die? Yeah… I was past that point—I already died, the real question is am I leaving this body to finally rest in peace?

No, I woke up, again.

I gasped for air, then started coughing, feeling the same pain from earlier—blood splattered on the white sheets. What were you doing, Sophia? I asked myself. It was her body that couldn't handle two souls, or her anger was killing both of us.

There were a lot of assumptions, and I didn't have anything to prove them.

I groaned, clutching my head as the pain gathered mostly there. I got up and removed the sheets. As I passed by the mirror, I noticed my sweater had blood, so I took it off—threw it on the sheets, and picked up the pile, walking downstairs to the basement. I tossed them inside the washing machine.

I walked back to the room and decided to have a nice, warm shower. It would ease the pain. I stripped out of the rest of my clothes and stepped inside the shower.

After I had a shower, I cooked myself scrambled eggs and sat on the couch, watching the news as I ate.

It hurts when you see people talking about you. I stared at the screen, feeling sad. They found another actress for my role and did a memorial video for me, at least I had someone to remember me.

“I can't believe I died,” I muttered.

I could’ve driven away when I saw Sophia’s car coming, but I didn’t. Was I so desperate to die?

I think now I know the answer; I was depressed and saw that as an exit from my sad life.

I didn’t know I would leave Kylie behind me all sad, but she had a life, she could live her happily ever after without me—but I couldn’t do that.

The door opened, and I turned my head at the sound, seeing Sam enter with a briefcase in his hand and the other was holding his jacket. His eyes met mine, and he smiled.

I glanced at the clock and noticed it was five o’clock. He approached me and glanced at the TV, furrowing his eyebrows.

Crap! They were still talking about me and the accident. I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

He turned around and sat down next to me. “Why are you doing this to yourself?” He said, his voice getting louder.

“Because I’m not…” My tongue got heavier and I couldn’t complete my sentence. I tried to talk, but couldn’t. I frowned, trying again to tell him the truth. “I’m not who…”

“Are you okay?” That was the last thing I heard him say when I felt myself blacking out.

Sophia, you asshole.

Sophia’s POV

I smiled mentally at my success in taking control of my body. “Soph, are you okay?” Sam’s worried voice croaked into my hearing.

He was cupping my cheek, and I closed my eyes, enjoying his warm touch. His minty scent filled my nostrils, sending comfort through my body.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I answered, fluttering my eyes open and locking gazes with his comforting hazel eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m just feeling guilty about Christiana after I had a nightmare about the accident,” I spoke out and the scowl on his face eased.

I smashed my lips on his soft ones, tasting his regular coffee. He grabbed my face, wanting to pull away so we could talk. I grabbed his collar, climbing on his lap as I deepened the kiss, my fingers working on his buttons.

“Sophia,” he groaned, pulling himself away from me.

“Using s*x to silence me won’t work, Soph,” he muttered with a dazed expression, removing my hands from his shirt.

“What were you trying to tell me earlier?” He questioned, and I rolled my eyes at Christina’s stupid mouth.

For a week I couldn’t get in my body or even talk to her. Without Allegra’s help, I wouldn’t have entered again. And my sudden outburst was already showing its side effects as Christiana was coughing blood.

My body can’t handle the two of us anymore.

I got lost in Sam’s hazel eyes. I’ll miss him. The tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of leaving him. I don’t even know how much time I’ve got.

“You can tell me anything,” he reassured, grazing my cheek. I closed my eyes and sighed.

Sam, I might be gone in a matter of a few weeks, maybe days, because of the soul occupying my body. So, please let us enjoy what I still have with you.

A glint of pain lingered in my chest, getting intense within seconds. I fluttered my eyes open and was met by Sam’s comforting gaze.

I can’t even bear the thought of losing him. The future I had planned was now gone.

Allegra’s words rang in my head, reminding me of how long I should be in control.

Flashback.

“Why aren’t you back to your body?” Allegra boomed once she saw me.

“Something is wrong. I couldn’t even touch Tiana. I think my body is rejecting me,” I muttered, taking a seat in front of her.

“When are you returning to Los Angeles?” I questioned, hoping it was any sooner.

“Two weeks. Please don’t do something stupid, dear,” she pleaded, taking my hand in her grasp.

I gazed at our hands and sighed, nodding at her words.

No more reckless decisions.

I could trust Christiana for keeping my relationship alive.

“What would happen if I tried to control my body?” I asked, and Allegra looked with disappointment at me.

“I’m just asking…” I trailed off and her eyebrow c****d up, not believing me, obviously.

“It will start with intense pain. Christiana would go through most of it because she can feel your aura. Then once you take control of your body…” she stopped talking and lowered her gaze, tightening her grip around my hand.

“It will kill me, right?” I continued, and she exhaled sharply, lifting her gaze to mine.

“You can’t stay longer than a day in your body, it’ll end up hurting your body and both you and Christiana will be gone,” she continued.

Flashback ends.

I tried it once and nothing happened, maybe because I stayed for a few hours.

I needed to be with Sam; I wanted to bury myself in his warm embrace and cry my heart out. All I wanted was comfort from him, a little closure from what happened.

It was late for me to change my mind because I know what I want. I’ll fight Christiana’s soul to have my life back, and I don’t care if it would kill me.

I could die trying, at least.

“I was trying to tell you I don’t want a break, Sam I want us to go back to how we were, and maybe try for another baby,” I uttered with a shaky voice, afraid of my reckless decision.

His eyes flickered between mine. I know he was trying to read my feelings. I closed the gap between us, placing my lips on top of his in a passionate kiss.

I pulled away and rested my forehead on his, staring into his eyes deeply. “We have to move on, Sam,” I trailed off.

“You are still-“

“I’m fine. A week has passed since I left the damn hospital. On top of the week, I stayed there. Please, let’s just move on,” I begged, the tears falling down my cheeks.

He quickly wiped my tears, trying to soothe me with his comforting words. “I love you, Soph, it’s just I’m afraid of hurting you,” he whispered.

“Sam, what happened is in the past-” he cut me off as he grabbed my head, crushing his hungry lips on mine.

He moved his lips slowly against mine, letting us enjoy the moment. He doesn’t know how much I’ll miss this.

His hands went under my ass and I hooked my arms around his neck as he carried me effortlessly, not breaking off the kiss. He reached the room and pushed the door open, then walked to the bed.

He pulled away and stared into my eyes. “This time things will be better,” he whispered, placing me softly on the bed.

I watched him unbuttoning the rest of his shirt, taking it off. He hovered over my body, taking my lips within his in a deep kiss.

At that moment, lust and desire covered my immense pain. I should’ve listened to Allegra’s warning or even tried to tell Christiana anything instead of leaving her in the dark.

She would’ve stopped me.

Those thoughts were shoved away when Sam broke off the kiss to take off my shirt, along with my shorts. He lifted his gaze to mine, and I saw his eyes darken from desire and lust.

“f**k our date. This is much better,” he murmured under his breath.

I grinned at him, and he hopped on me, wasting no time.

This will be a long night.