I remained on my knees, struggling to gather the air I just lost. My neck was sore from where her fingers were once crushing against it. Every breath felt like drinking from a broken straw. I feared for a moment that Sofia had damaged my windpipe or esophagus. I managed to speak and slowly the pain eased as I managed to look up at the intruder. Sofia sat on the couch and was just above eye level to me. I felt disgust in her glare, like I was a roach entering her abode. In reality, I should be asking why I found a carnivorous apex predator in mine. And I did just that. She sighed loudly as if exhausted from my question. She didn’t answer. Instead, Alice did it from my phone.
“T-the boss wants her to s-stay nearby to p-protect you.”
I looked over to my phone confused. I shakingly stood up to face it as I spoke. I didn’t need to, but I figured it was respectful over the process of speaking to her today.
“I don’t need her to protect me! I bought the rifle for that reason.”
Instead of Alice responding, Sofia yelled from the couch. She was leaning back and slouching against it now. Despite her relaxed posture, her voice was as agitated as ever.
“See! I don’t need to be here!”
She was yelling at Alice. I turned back towards her, a bit shocked. I partly expected her to enjoy threatening and humiliating me constantly. Turns out I was mistaken. I mentally noted to refocus my hostility from Sofia towards the demon which employed her. Not my guard though, she was still just as likely to kill me whether she was invested in it or not. Alice stuttered out an explanation.
“I-I only just f-found out! The b-boss messaged me a few m-minutes ago. She d-doesn’t think a g-gun is good enough.”
I didn’t like the answer, but I expected it. Part of me was delusional to believe that alone would give me the upper hand. In a sneak attack, it’s unlikely I would have it armed and at hand. Realistically, I should be thanking the boss for giving me extra protection and not leaving me out to die.
“That’s bullshit!”
Sofia seemed to disagree and rocketed up from the couch and her slouched position. She did the same as me and directed our conversation towards the phone, regardless of whether it mattered. She took a few steps towards the kitchen counter and was able to look down at the call and yell directly into the microphone.
“I just finished my mission. There’s others that could do this! Why not Venus? Or Rosalie? I’m sure she’d have a blast babysitting this asshole.”
I was worried that she would hit or throw my phone. Alice wouldn’t feel it, but Sofia’s rage would be fulfilled. Was there any other way to calm down such a psychotic individual other than violence? Luckily, she seemed to hold back from outright destroying it and only yelled at it. Alice took a moment to respond and her voice was notably quieter.
“Y-you already knew each other… t-that’s what she said.”
Sofia took a moment before reacting. She balled her hands together until her knuckles were white. I braced for her to put a hole in my wall, the counter, or even me. Instead, she released a heavy breath and shrunk her shoulders. She was out of energy to argue this issue as she released a weak response.
“Fucking… fine…”
She walked away from the phone and right past me. Her face was a mixture of extreme anger and painful resignation. She went straight for the door to leave before Alice called out from the phone.
“Sofia w-wait! There’s o-one more thing…”
She stopped suddenly as she was reaching for the door handle. She turned around as stiff as a statue. She briefly made eye contact with me before looking towards Alice. Her expression was like seeing a string pulled taut. She was about to snap. She didn’t even bother asking what it was. She simply stared and waited for her to speak. After a painfully long second, Alice spoke.
“S-she wants you to s-stay here. At h-his place. To p-protect against s-surprises…”
Sofia didn’t even respond. By the time I looked back at her, she had slammed the door shut and left. I took that moment to let go of a breath I was holding since she stood up. It was difficult for me to wrap my head around my thoughts of her. She was violent towards everyone, including me. If she wasn’t being forced to protect me, she probably would’ve killed me already. Normally, that would be enough said. This was not a normal situation. I walked over to my phone and saw Alice was still on the call.
“You said she has to live here?”
It took a moment for Alice to respond, but when she did it was soft and almost afraid sounding.
“T-that’s what the b-boss said.”
I didn’t respond immediately. This was the exact opposite of what I hoped for. I wanted to have Alice around so I could get close to her as a means of protecting me from Sofia and others like her. Now, Sofia was sleeping here. I couldn’t help but imagine waking up in the same situation as last night. What would stop her from deciding to torture me in the middle of the night? I wouldn’t be able to stop her if Alice or her boss didn’t.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh. I couldn’t avoid her staying here. I needed to adapt and continue on with my plan. There were two viable solutions for this. The first was simply us mutually ignoring each other. I’ve had roommates in college who I spoke to only a handful of times ever. I’m sure that would be the solution that Sofia would have preferred. The only issue with that plan was the size of this apartment. One bedroom, one bathroom, no privacy, not interacting was not a viable possibility without effort or awkward communication. Ignoring her could also draw the risk of offending Sofia and causing her to grow more violent towards me. That left my only other option. I asked Alice.
“Do you think Sofia would mind sleeping on the couch?”
She didn’t respond immediately. When she did speak, she sounded a little surprised by my question.
“S-she wouldn’t! She’d sleep on c-concrete floors fine.”
I nodded along as she spoke. That makes things easier a bit.
“I think I have some extra sheets and blankets I can give her.”