The Lost Heir

Chapter 2

I awoke again to a splitting headache and a very annoying buzzing sound ringing in my ears. I could feel the uncomfortable stickiness of the wet clothes on my skin and the rough and hard ground I was lying on. I was confused at first, it wasn't until a few minutes that I realised that I'd drowned- or so I thought. I was no longer under water, instead I could feel the warmth of the sun and the cool wind washing over me.

 I still felt very tired and didn't want to open my eyes just yet. My limbs were aching and I felt too lazy to even try to move my fingers. I just wanted to fall in a deep slumber and I almost did until I was startled- nearly to death.

“Hey!” Screamed a high pitched voice loudly in my ears and I jumped to my feet, completely spooked out. The sight that greeted me was even more terrifying.

 The figure that stood before was so unbelievable that I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me. Wiping my eyes again and again and I'd still see the same thing. “What are you doing?” the figure chortled, seemingly amused by my actions. It had the form of a human- a girl- but it was as if she was made of smoke, one so thick that I couldn't see through, even her white and dark brown clothes were made of smoke. She hovered above the ground, her head tilted slightly as she looked down at me, a mischievous look in her eyes and a gentle smile stretched on her petite face.

 “What are you?” I asked slowly, trying to remain as calm as I could- I didn't want that being to feel alarmed and attack me.

 “Me? I'm Eili! Your friend!?” She crowed, almost screaming.

 “I don't know you. I've no friend.”

 “How can you not? I've been with you your whole life. You hurt me!,” she sobbed. “Of course,” she continued, “You've never seen me, have you? But I've been there the whole time.”

“How and what even are you?”

“Who do you think has been waking you up everyday after your nightmares? Me! Of course!” she beamed, adding a little too much exaggeration in the last three words.

Slightly toning down her voice she replied, “I… am a lost spirit.”

‘What was a lost spirit? Was I dead?,’ I thought, discreetly pinching myself as hard as I could, hoping it was all a dream only to have that glimmer of hope shattered when it did, in fact, hurt.  ‘Was I dead or not.’ I didn't know if we do feel pain after we die or not. I was the most confused I'd ever been.

 “Are you a ghost?” I asked, slowly and slightly hesitant. Not really sure what I wanted to hear.

“No! I’m no ghost! I’m a spirit. A lost spirit.”

“And what is the difference?”

“Well… a ghost is what humans refer to as the soul of the dead who hasn’t attained salvation and would wander around, which I tell you, there is no such thing. Once someone dies their soul cannot roam the earth for long, one of the grim reapers will find them and collect them no matter where they are hidden.” Eili explained, her voice now deeper and calm. “A spirit,” she continued, “is a form of energy. We have our own entity and we can all be in the form of different beings. It’s our job to keep everything balanced, to keep the river flowing and the wind to keep blowing. Once we have acquired and shared enough energy, another would take our place and we’d finally be able to go back home, to the Land of Wonders. A place where we are allowed to live a normal life, just like human beings and have a family.”

Her expression went sour and for a moment it seemed as if she was deep in her thoughts. It wasn’t until a long pause that she went on with what she was saying. “A lost spirit is one who has been cursed to stay in one place forever. We are unable to go back home.”