Cold Spring Ghosts

Chapter 20 The Path of Becoming

Vivienne says to the empty air: "Witness, do you know what Edward meant?"

The Witness is silent for a moment, then says: "I couldn't find any information about that."

Vivienne smiles bitterly, then says with sadness: "How long until I can see Emma again?"

Her thoughts go back to the day she stopped breathing.

At the moment the Witness told her the contract had failed, her heart was dead. The only thing she couldn't let go of was Emma.

She hadn't expected that the price of failure wasn't to dissolve, but to follow Emma's shade as a shade herself.

She thought, if she could just watch Emma grow up, that would be okay.

Maybe Edward would take care of Emma for the sake of old times.

But she didn't expect Emma to die too, shortly after her own soul left her body.

And after Emma died, she could see Emma's shade, but Emma couldn't see her.

She had never hated Edward as much as in that moment.

The Emma she had held in her hands, protected with her life — starved, exposed, dead in this world.

A strong desire for revenge rises in Vivienne's heart.

And it was this desire that reactivated the Witness.

And this Witness is different from the previous one.

It says it's the Path of Becoming.

The Witness said: "You spent six years working yourself to the bone on Edward. Failure shouldn't be yours to carry. So I erased the Witness that came before me."

Hearing that, Vivienne felt something like hope flicker back to life.

She asked, fast: "What do you need? What do I have to do? Can I bring Emma back too?"

Her voice was rushed. Her head was full of nothing but Emma.

Then The Witness said: "I want you to be seen by this world. I want you to become the best version of yourself."

Hearing that, Vivienne froze.

It had been years since anyone had told her to be herself.

She'd been like a hand on a clock, moving in the same fixed circle, almost losing herself completely.

All those years, because of Edward's love, she'd given up everything she'd cared about, circling only him.

It wasn't until Emma was born that she'd gotten a sliver of herself back.

And now someone — no, some thing — was telling her to become the best version of herself.

For one second, Vivienne almost pulled back.

But she clenched her fists, buried the shock deep, and asked: "And Emma?"

The Witness's voice wasn't as fired up as before. Flat now.

"You don't belong to this small world. That's why the Order lost track of your shade. But Emma does belong here. The Order won't forget her."

"Her obsession is you. When that obsession burns out, she'll either reincarnate — or dissolve."

Vivienne stood frozen. "So you're saying I can't see her?"

"You can. I can let her shade see you, and you can still see her. But not as who you were. And you can't tell her who you are."

The Witness went on: "Shade recovery and body search both take time. When the moment's right, I'll let you come back to life under a new identity."

It said more, but Vivienne couldn't get Emma's small shape out of her head.

She wasn't sure if taking The Witness's deal was a good thing. But she didn't have another option.

Back to the present.

Vivienne asked, "How much longer?"

She'd been waiting so long. She wanted Emma to see her, so Emma wouldn't be so alone.

Her Emma — only five years old.

Thinking of that, the tears came back up in her eyes.

Right then, The Witness spoke too: "Soon. A week at most."