Translucent

Chapter 47: Father and Daughter

CORNELIUS

Ghosts are afraid of cleansing.

After all, this kind of procession was forceful by nature, applicable by spirits that simply refused to cooperate and existed to make disruptions within the humans' households. I was aware for sure I might have counted as a disruption itself, and thus deserved such a treatment. Or rather, I saw this more as a solution to end all inflictions.

I remembered the kind old priest reciting verses in Gaelic then there was a bright portal opening across the room. Millions of invisible knives began to stab me, dragging me inside. The room became utterly hot. An invisible rope tied me around my torso, twisting the insides of my stomach. Pain stung my brain, killing every nerve of my non-functioning physique.

Then amongst all the torture, I saw hope. Elisabeth came back and all my pain was taken away just by the sight of hers–my eyes locking in with the beautiful gray eyes of hers. She begged me so that I could do something that could harm or worse, kill her. I couldn't lose her, but she was right: this was our only choice.

It took me some time to tame her body–the only body that I had ever taken control of. Elisabeth's body was thrown on the floor the moment I entered it. Tremors grew along the way like a seizure, followed by groans escaping her mouth–her physique struggling to welcome me. A moment later, the thrashing came to a stop. I felt her chest rise up and down as she was controlling her breath. A series of images flashed in my mind–some were familiar and some others weren't. There were many, many people in Elisabeth's mind and places that were unfamiliar to me. One was that of a gentle-looking man in his forties, her father. By sharing a body, Elisabeth shared her memories and emotions to me as well.

Then my eyes gaped open only to squint at the wash of blinding lights. Elisabeth's room was replaced by the gold sloped pasture overlooking the vast loch where rolling moss-green hill stretching before it. I straightened up and noted the differences of my features.

I knew I had woken up in a body that wasn't mine. 

Yet the figure felt all too familiar I could feel its vulnerability. Her energy was rushing towards mine, now taking away all the pain and torture inflicted on me, replacing mine with hers. I steadied myself at the newfound strength of my finally having a host and stared at my hands–her slender hands.

This was the body of the girl I loved, and I had total control of it.

"Cornelius?" a dainty, soft voice called.

I turned around and there she was–her figure standing a little short than mine. She slowly crept at my direction with a cane guiding her every pace. When she reached my side, I froze at the closer revelation, knowing just how much she was of mine as she resembled my former love.

She might have looked almost a century old but she looked fresh, as though she just woke up from a long slumber. White wavy hair framed her face. We momentarily locked our eyes. At first, she stared at me with worry and frown, but later the wrinkles came to a loose.

The elderly woman hesitatingly reached out to touch me, just like the first time when Elisabeth attempted to do the same. She gasped when I felt her hand under my clothes.

"Cornelius Haywood?" she repeated.

I nodded, noticing something sparkling on her eyes. Although I took over Elisabeth's body, my weakened ability still allowed me to manipulate Fiona's mind into seeing me instead of Elisabeth's body. I wanted her to see me.

"Fiona." I called out her name.

"Where are we?" she threw her gaze into a million direction.

There were only the two of us, or rather three, if Elisabeth counted. Realising the lack of privacy I would be having should we were still in Elisabeth's room, I used a spare of energy contributed by Elisabeth, to transport me and Fiona into this place. But instead, we were in an astral plane made to resemble the place that held my tender memory the most. It wasn't a real physical plane of course, rather only a temporary spiritual one made as a retreat tucked away somewhere between space and time.