Beneath Ivory Skies (Book Three of The Whispered Tales)

Broken dreams

The following days, Emma seemed absent-minded and troubled, for some reason. The magical night I opened my soul seemed forgotten. We were still having long walks, talking about past times, but never about the present or the future. Then, after midnight, like a lost Cinderella, she was asking me not to follow. And then, she was vanishing beyond the cliff.

One night, when the time to say goodbye was near, I asked her to stay. At least for one more hour.

She looked at me. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"You don't even realize how much I'd like to stay," she said between the sobs. "Each time I leave, a part of me stays here, with you... But there's something happening. Something my mind can't comprehend. I don't know why I'm here. I don't know why I can't stop seeing you, again and again, although I've tried so hard."

"Then what's stopping you from staying?" I asked.

"I don't know... I don't know how to make you understand," she kept repeating, pressing her head with her fingers as if trying to understand something. "Deceiving you... Keeping you with me instead of letting you move on... This is not living!"

And she turned to leave. I tried to catch her by the hand. I wanted her to stay. I wanted to understand the torment she carried with her. And then the strangest thing happened. I thought I touched her hand, but her hand felt like steam that slipped through my fingers. I ran after her, trying to stop her. I touched her shoulder. But even this time, my hand couldn't feel her frail shoulder; it was as if made of fairy dust that scattered when the charm was over.

I felt so troubled, I couldn't follow her. I tried to write that night. I needed to so that I can find some peace of mind. But my thoughts kept going back to her last visit. Of all the strange happenings I've experienced for the past months, the last one seemed the most unusual. 

And then, it all became clear. I finally understood why she was coming only when the night was falling. I could finally see why she always disappeared without letting me know. Why her frail being scattered before my eyes. Why I couldn't touch her, why I couldn't feel her anymore. I could finally see and the pain came over, wrapping me like a cocoon. She was dead. What I was seeing was only a ghost, a phantasm, a specter.

I felt I was losing my mind. And as the desperation was coming over me, I was beginning to understand her sudden return into my life when I thought I would never see her again.

Yet, even so, she was still Emma. The same delicate soul. The same smile that lightened up my life. The same touch that gave me the shivers. I didn't care she wasn't flesh and bones. Her presence was good for me. She felt real. She made me complete. I didn't want to be separated from her again. Not even now. I would have lived my life with her ghost. Because my life was now fuller living beside a ghost than it ever was among the living.

But there were still questions I couldn't find the answer for. Emma didn't seem to realize she was dead. She was behaving as if still alive. She was talking about her life, her sorrows, and living with a careless husband. I wondered where her spirit was wandering when she wasn't with me. Was she so troubled about her new condition that she found me, a lost soul, just like her? Was her way of finding comfort? Was I the only one haunted by her presence?

And the biggest question was how was I going to help her. I wanted to know how she died. Was it wise from my part to go to her husband, my former master, who was probably grieving her loss? What was the good part of her death? I haven't got the slightest idea of how to behave with a spirit. What if I would have pushed her away, condemning her to haunt people and places forever?

Thoughts were coming to my head, chasing away the peace and quiet I had found so hard. I was walking the house to and fro, trying to find a way to face the new path my life had taken. I fell on the sofa where she had fallen asleep just a day before. I could still feel her jasmine scent. And suddenly, my thoughts became clear. Who was I to ask her to stay? Why would my selfishness keep her in between worlds just to have her near? Just for soothing my pain.

A thought came to my mind, refusing to leave. Tormenting me. I had to let her go. It was the hardest decision I had ever taken. More painful than when I first left without even saying goodbye. But there was no turning back. I needed to think of her first.

 I buried my face in my hands and wept. I wept the pain of losing her again. Of not seeing her face, of not feeling her delicate being. I wept my sorrow and my helplessness. I was alone again. 

So what do you think? Were you expecting this twist? Let me know your thoughts.