[Isolde]
I couldn’t begin to explain how much relief I felt at the sight of her—my friend, still here, still real in some form. I moved toward her instinctively, reaching out.
But Cynthia stepped back, her translucent form twinkling with the movement. Her eyes were wide, confused and there was something close to fear in them as if she were the one seeing a ghost.
"How is this possible?" she whispered, her voice carrying an echo like it were coming from somewhere far away. "How can you see me?"
I opened my mouth to explain—about the near-death experience, about whatever had changed in me that night after the lake. But the words caught in my throat. What did it matter how? She was here and right now, that was what mattered.
"I knew I might see you if I came here," I said instead, my voi
