With a small body, hair darker than a newborn galaxy, and gold eyes that could pierce through my very psyche, she drew me in before I was able to resist.
“Will you be going out again today?” She asked, eyes bleary from sleep but still sharply focused on me.
“Yeah, I'll be back around noon, but if you're hungry before then, the food's where it always is.”
“Ye..yeaaaah.” she yawned, then fell over backwards, writhing in the bedsheets and squeaking softly as she stretched.
“Well then. I'll see you in a bit.” I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, wincing as it left a bloody print, not dissimilar in appearance to lipstick.
I stepped out the door, and was hit with a burst of cold. With half of my mind wanting to return to that bed, I pulled my scarf tighter and pressed on.

The contact of her skin on mine brings pain. Each tiny brush of flesh on flesh results in a bleeding scrape wherever she's been. The wounds heal in less than a few seconds. It's not clear to either of us why, and doctors tell us that we're a medical irregularity.  
Sometimes she neglects our chemistry and runs a hand down the side of my face, a crimson streak marking her path. She smiles at me as I shudder and grimace, feeling my skin tear apart and re-connect itself again and again.

That day at work, I sold a slightly working record player to a man with one arm, a set of antique poker chips to someone who hid their face from me, and as I was finalizing the trade of a large bag of my grandfather’s marbles for a small hand mirror, She walked through the door.
“Yes, this will be fine, won’t it?” The old woman who wanthed the marbles asked me.
“Yes. I’m happy with it.” I responded, breaking eye contact from the lady and rushing over to Her.
“What are you doing here? You’re hardly dressed at all, you could’ve frozen to death.” She wore only a dark T-shirt, underwear, and socks, but was seemingly unaffected by the subzero temperatures.
“It’s cold?” She looked down at her hands, bright pink and steaming. “Why don’t you warm me up, then?” she said, grasping one of my hands and squeezing. I ground my teeth together to avoid making noise.
I looked over my shoulder at the woman holding the bag of marbles and staring at us. “Should I leave you two alone?”
“Um, we’re closed now. For lunch.”.

“I waited for you.” She looked up at me as I placed another heater in front of her red feetfeet.
“I told you I’d be back soon. It’s not even eleven yet.”
“I was lonely.”
I looked down at her and sighed. “I guess I’m closing early today.”
Despite her protests, I forced her to wear my coat and gloves as we walked back to the apartment we shared. I held her hand to keep frostbite from developing.
When we arrived, She immediately crawled back into bed, pulling the covers over herself.
“You should go change, your clothes are probably freezing.” I lifted up the blanket.
“Hey, I got this for you.” I said, and handed her the mirror.
“It’s...a looking glass?”
She turned it over, her eyes locking onto the large orange jewel set in the black ivory.
“Yeah. Someone brought it in today, and it looked like something you would like.”
“Mm. Yes. Thank you very much.”
I sat down behind her and looked at the old mirror over her shoulder.
“Why aren’t you there?” I said, my heartbeat increasing.
“What?”
“The mirror. You’re not in it.”
She turned around, her eyes looking through my head, drilling into the deepest corners of my mind.
“You should forget what you just saw. Or didn’t see.”
Before I could react, She pressed her hand against my forehead, pinning me to the wall. I felt the blood running down my face and dripping onto my cold hands.
“I think you should sleep now.”