What’s going on?Her words were as clear to me as if she’d spoken them.
I don’t know. This has never happened before.
I felt her sadness.Am I dead? Are you saying goodbye?
Hope built inside me.No, I can feel your soul. It’s here, attached to you as strongly as if you had a body.
Oh god, I’m a ghost!She cried.
I don’t think so.Ghosts are souls caught in brutal memories, unable to leave the spot of their death. You’re not reliving your last moments, you’re talking to me.
I had an idea, but I was half afraid to try it. If I was wrong, then her soul might flitter away, and she’d really be gone.
If I’m not a ghost, but I don’t have a body, then what the hell am I?
I told her my guess.I think you’re a wraith.
What? How can that be?
I have no idea, but do something for me. Picture your solid form. Build an image of your body from the feet up. Pretend like you're looking at yourself in the mirror and examining every inch of yourself.
What do you think that’ll do?
Bring you back,I said.
I felt her concentrating. Her focus was absolute.
I could even see her picturing her toes and feet as she recreated her body in her mind. As she did it, I felt her mist flowing away from mine, organizing into a solid form.
I was quick to rematerialize and watch as Willow reformed with agonizing slowness.
When she was done, it was as if nothing had happened; her body was without blemish.
Just like when I was wounded and misted. There was no wound in her chest or even blood on her skin. I could easily tell because she was completely naked. Her clothing lay on the ground in the shape of her body.
Blinking, she squinted in the bright sunlight and looked stunned. “It worked.”
I laughed, ecstatic to have her back and whole again! I whipped off my hoodie and stepped close to tug it over her head.
“Oh shit, where are my clothes?” she asked, pushing her arms through the sleeves and tugging the bottom down to cover herself.
“There,” I said, nodding my head to the ground. She looked down at them, her eyes transfixed by the bloody hole near the center of the shirt.
She rubbed a hand over her chest and looked back at me. “How did this happen?”
I shrugged. “I have no answer for you. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“Willow, is that really you?”
We both turned to see Jina standing against the building, tears still streaming down her face, but her eyes were wide and scared.
“I think it’s me,” Willow said. “I feel like me.”
“What happened? You were lying there, bleeding, and then your clothes were empty. Vie disappeared too. And now both of you are back, and you’re not hurt. None of this happened.” She clutched her head. “I’ve gone insane. None of this is real, and I’m in a psych ward somewhere high as fuck and drooling.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to convince Jina that all this was real when Willow stepped close to Jina and whispered something in her ear. Jina burst out laughing. I was deeply curious about what Willow said, but there was a groan behind me that drew all our attention.
Alex had recovered from the blow to the head, and was trying to crawl to the gun I’d kicked away from him.
