sweet but a psycho; tris

all the good girls go to hell
because even god herself has enemies

She likes to play with her food.

Spaghetti twisting around a fork, broken ribs beneath her boot, a box of chocolates by her bed. Right on top of her hit list, with chicken scratch writing and heart doodles on every page. Also skulls. Always skulls. The point is that she's as playful as she is deadly.

The cherry sucker leaves her lips with a wet pop, pretty pink pigtails bouncing as she looks around the training center. She always loves missions like this. Blend in with the crowd, be someone else, get the job done. The owner should have just paid his debts.

But that's none of her business. Literally not her business. She couldn't tell you the first thing about finances, or taxes, or any of that shit. But the knife in her hand is an instrument she has mastered, flicking it up and down with just two lazy fingers.

Just a few more hours until closing. Just a little bit more pretending, some odd looks in her direction and whispers that really aren't that quiet. It doesn't bother her. Lars told her once that any publicity is good publicity, but really he hadn't.

She read it in a book.

Okay, she skimmed the line in a book.

Either way, it's true. She loves the attention, the way she looks so out of place. There's no moment where she stops to think, 'What if I could have belonged with these people? What if I was a rich little career with daddy issues and money to burn?' She's already laughing before the boy walks over.

And then he starts talking, and she just keeps on cackling. "You lay it on thick, Sugar." She focuses on him, flinging the knife over her shoulder and ignoring the panicked gasps. It hits something that doesn't thud like a body. She assumes everything is fine.

"Nice to meet ya, Mikey. Name's Jinx."

She puts the sucker back in her mouth, speaking around it.

"I gotta kill the guy who owns this place later,
but we can just kill time for now."

and when the water starts to rise
and heaven's out of sight
she'll want the devil on her team

all the good girls go to hell
because even god herself has enemies

"You gonna put a curse on me?"

She smiles with all of her teeth on display, biting down on the sucker so hard that it breaks in her mouth. It takes her a few seconds to chew the candy into bits, swallowing it down with a loud and satisfied, 'Ah!' Her breath smells like cherries.

"Yeah, no. Witchcraft isn't for me." She says it so casually, flicking the lollipop stick across the room without a second glance. "I was part of a coven once, actually. So was my ex." She leans against the wall right alongside him, just as sweet as ever.

"When I dumped her, I dumped all of that 'be as peaceful as the moon' bullshit, too." She taps a tattoo on her wrist before sticking out her tongue, some symbol that she's already forgotten the meaning for. Actually, she's not sure if that's the one she got during her coven days, but still.

That's what drugs do to a girl's memory.

"Well, the grim reaper's here today, but that's another story." She pushes off the wall and almost twirls around him, until she's standing behind his back and her lips are by his ear. "I get so bored, you see. I wonder if you can actually keep me entertained."

She bats her eyelashes, giggling so sweetly.

"You talk a big game, Mikey, and I play to win."

and when the water starts to rise
and heaven's out of sight
she'll want the devil on her team

all the good girls go to hell
because even god herself has enemies

She follows his eyes to the sparring mats, matching his grin tooth for tooth. "What do you feel up to? I tend to come out on top." His eyes drink up every inch of her, every sharp edge. He doesn't shy away from the threat. That just makes her laugh again.

"You want to fight me?" She says it with such sincere shock that she almost feels bad. She punches him in the shoulder playfully. Well, playful to her, because there's actually enough force to flatten the rest of his body against the wall.

"I'm not joking." Her tone is more serious now, if only for a second. "When I say that I play to win, I mean it." She's in front of him now, placing both of her hands above his head and cornering him. She's a cat with her paw on the mouse's tail.

He must be thrilled by the skin contact.

"But, I love the confidence. I'll tell you what," she steps back, grabbing him by the elbow and leading him to the training floor. "You keep me pinned for thirty seconds, and I'll rock your great big world tonight. I know that's what you're playing for."

She lowers herself to the ground, stretching out her body and smirking up at him. She doesn't mind being beneath him, she knows her worth and her power. "But if I break loose, you're helping me with my mission tonight." If she's a cat, then she's purring now.

"Murder will put some hair on that sexy chest of yours."

And then she giggles again, blowing a kiss.

The trap has been laid.

"Your move, Mikey. Best of luck."

and when the water starts to rise
and heaven's out of sight
she'll want the devil on her team

all the good girls go to hell
because even god herself has enemies

"You got it."

And then he has her in his grasp, pressing his body down on her and intertwining their limbs. He becomes a cage, a thing made out of flesh and bone and a strange kind of steel. She wonders for a moment if she has him mistaken, if he's more than just a pretty boy with an empty belly.

But then she laughs again, rolling her eyes with her cheek pressed against the mat. "Feel free to squirm." But she doesn't. Not yet. She rolls her shoulders, arches her back slowly, counts fifteen exhales before she rotates beneath him. Contortion.

She stares up at him, still locked to the ground, before she manages to pull out a leg and wrap it around his waist. Then her hips go forward, and she squirms just once. "You ever had a girl this flexible before?" And it's with one last push that she moves forward.

That her lips meet his, and they unfold around each other.

And she smirks. Suddenly she's on top of him.

"That's twenty-six seconds, Mikey."

A pause. A giggle. A victory.

"But I think we both won, hmm?"

and when the water starts to rise
and heaven's out of sight
she'll want the devil on her team