A ghost story (The Mistress and Aigilas)

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Alvin was just getting to enjoy his walk when he saw the pond. He immediately directed his steps that way; he reached for his phone as he went, it would be a huge waste not to take a photo of this.
And that was when he saw the girl. A bitter chuckle escaped his lips; so much for his pleasant solitude. She looked a little like Little Red Riding Hood, with her short skirt and red hood. He almost expected a wolf to show up any moment now. Well, no reason to turn back now, he could still take that picture, he would just have to be careful to not have her in it. Or possibly he could have her in it. It's not every day one gets to take a photo of a storybook character. He went a little closer. He would have to ask, he would hate being photographed by strangers without even asking.
"Excuse me. Do you mind if I take a picture?"
 
The girl freezes before she turns slightly, blinking her green eyes. Golden curls flow down her shoulders in front of her shoulders. A smile lights her face, "I still don't know how that works..." Elizabeth smiles, jumping down from the rock, folding her hands behind her, "Hey Alvin." Her eyes sparkle with a bright light.
 
For a moment, Alvin was in shock. His mouth fell open, and he was staring, unable to stop himself. And the next moment he had Elizabeth picked up by the waist. He wasn't particularly strong, but she was light as a feather!
"Elizabeth! You're all right! I thought you were dead!"
He soon realized that this wasn't exactly good form, so he quickly put her back down again and stepped back a little.
"I'm sorry, I got carried away. I'm just so glad you're back!"
 
Elizabeth blinks in surprise before starting to laugh cheerfully. "I'm sorry," she puts a hand to her mouth slightly, still laughing. "A-ah...hahaha!" she keeps laughing until it dies to giggles and she wipes her eyes, looking up. "Well, it's fine, I know my customs are long dead." She smiles at him before quickly pulling him into a tight hug, "Thank you. I'm glad to see you." The hood falls back letting her hair shine in the light.
 
Alvin slowly composed himself, but the hug caught him by surprise. Elizabeth was so beautiful. Even more beautiful now that she was fully... real. Just like someone from a fairytale. And so soft, light and warm. He could have hugged her forever, but he held himself back and after a minute he let go. After all, it was rather hard to talk with his face buried in curls upon curls of golden hair.
"You don't know how relieved I am. I was so sad I just didn't know what to do... What happened, where were you?"
 
The girl releases him a bit reluctantly. It was nice to be able to feel things again...She snaps out of it as he speaks and looks up slightly, "Oh," she smiles once more, "I woke up in a house. These clothes were set out and a note told me to spend a few days doing what I needed before I came back. I didn't want to have to drag you all over the place to let me brood in my memories." She giggles softly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you though...I should've thought of it." She had been too overwhelmed, too excited, to think of anything but exploring, seeing her old favorite spots and walking in gardens. The blonde lets her hands drop back to her sides before folding them behind her. "Oh, and the clothes of your time are so much more comfortable! Everything seems much more laid back."
 
He nodded. "Laid back... yes, it is, I suppose." He didn't even think of being angry with her for not telling them she was all right. She probably didn't even have a way to. She didn't have a telephone or a computer, surely? Or even money to send a telegram. What else could she have done? He was just glad that there wasn't anything wrong.
"Say, let's go back. I think my dad is probably awake by now. You see, we were on a hike, and he fell asleep, so I went exploring... but they would want to know you are fine. And we can see if there is any lunch left for you."
Then he suddenly remembered the photo. "Wait a moment." He picked up the phone he had dropped in his surprise, dusted it off and held it up with one arm, standing close beside Elizabeth, the lake behind them, and he snapped a picture that way. This was too good not to commemorate. Then he showed it to her, with a huge grin on his face.
"See, this is how it works. Except it's not necessary to drop it."
 
Elizabeth looks at it curiously before her eyes widen, "How realistic...! How does it work? Wait, explain later. I want to meet your parents in person." She smiles widely grabbing his hand running back up the path he came down, hair flying behind her.

The modern clothes were so much more comfortable then her times. She could move so much easier and she didn't have to worry about hiding her ankles like she used to. And Alvin was here. The very fact made her smile widely. She felt light and fluttery, overjoyed to be back in the world, able to smell the air, feel the leaves of plants and feel the breeze. Everything around her was alive and she was hyper aware of it. After all, she'd been stuck in something that practically was the embodiment of lifelessness.
 
Alvin blushed a little as he felt Elizabeth take hold of his hand; nobody had done that to him before; well, not since he was a little child holding Mommy's and Daddy's hand on walks. But soon he was running along with her, matching her pace easily. She was so lovely while running, it made her cheeks glow, her eyes sparkle and her hair float in the air. No, actually she was pretty whatever she was doing. And these modern clothes suited her so well. In her old clothes she looked like a pretty porcelaine doll... now she looked much more like a fairy, as she ran so fast on her slim legs.
Soon he saw the clearing with the picnic benches, with a familiar figure sprawled on his back and another familiar figure quietly reading beside him.
"Mom! Dad, wake up!" he shouted before they were even out from between the trees. At this moment he maybe did seem five rather than seventeen. "Elizabeth is back!"
And in a moment they arrived to the clearing to a very surprised-looking and now wide awake couple of parents.
 
Elizabeth runs with him happily before stopping in front of his parents as his dad wakes up from his midday slumber and his mother looks up from her whatever that was she was reading. The girl was too happy however to pay any heed to the odd surroundings. The tables were nothing like she'd ever seen but that didn't matter now. She smiles happily at them, trying to get her breath back as she keeps holding onto Alvin's hand. After a moment she manages a very light, "Hello!" She reaches up pushing some curls behind her ear with a smile, cheeks red from running.
 
Mrs. Julia Winter put down her novel and looked at his husband, ready to shake him gently if need be, but there wasn't a need. He was already staring wide-eyed and awake, and scrambling to his feet as he spoke.
"Well now... We'd lost hope, you know? Glad to see you here. In case he didn't tell you, Alvin spent the past few days pining after you, so be nice to him now."
Mrs. Winter waved a hand. "Come on, you'll just embarrass them. Come, Elizabeth dear, you must be hungry. I brought a bit of extra lunch." And she was already on her feet, and opening the basket she'd brought. She always had extra lunch on hand, in fact. There was no such time in the Winter household when there was no food ready, just in case. "Have some, and then we can go home. Come, don't be shy. Then you can tell us what happened on our way home."
One could tell that she already considered her part of the family; she always wanted to have a daughter too.
 
She blushes and hesitantly sits down, "Thanks." Alvin had been pining? She glances up at him absently, considering it. Did her absence really upset him that much? She can't help but smile a bit, looking down, fingers fiddling with a leaf that had floated down next to her.

She liked Alvins parents. They seemed like wonderful people, she could tell.
 
As soon as Elizabeth finished her lunch, the Winters and their new family member set out back homewards. Even though the hike had been cut short, Alvin felt sufficiently - and pleasantly - tired; that was probably just the last bit of running.
"You know," Mr. Winter said soberly turning to Elizabeth, "I've been thinking of this earlier, before Alvin broke the mirror, but we didn't get the chance to talk about it. You will probably have to enroll to the school Alvin goes to, because we can't explain you living here and not going to school. I'm not sure what kind of education you had in your day, or what class you would best enroll into, so... well, science progresses, and you might turn out to have to make up quite a bit from some subjects. We'll say you are from some other country, so that will be all right, but probably not easy. Do you feel up to that, or should we look into getting a permit to homeschool you so you can go at your own pace?"
Alvin was a little ashamed that his father would bring this up so soon. He didn't think girls even had to go to school when Elizabeth entered the mirror. What did he get her into?
 
Elizabeth blinks slightly. School...The witch. She pales slightly, "A-ah...Well, actually, I had a private tutor all my life before I got trapped in the mirror...I'd love to be homeschooled though...It'd be easier for me to adjust," she smiles a bit, hiding her nervousness at the thought of being plunged into the new worlds "school". While taking "pictures" in this age seemed as natural as breathing, it had disturbed her inside. She had no idea how it worked, and on top of it, she was used to the idea of a picture being painted. Painted over months. Not instant images so realistic it was like little selves trapped in the small device it was taken with.
 
Alvin was quite relieved to hear that and see his father nod understandingly. He wasn't quite sure what would happen if they got the witch and Elizabeth in the same room for extended periods of time, but he didn't feel anxious to perform that experiment, even though he didn't hate Ms. Bethian as much anymore as he had the past week. She knew this was going to happen, and it would be all right, didn't she? This reminded him of something: the note Elizabeth found. Ms. Bethian wrote the note, didn't she? Who else would? Just what sort of game was this? He was more and more perplexed; none of what she did seemed logical to him, and yet they were somehow just like her, and a several centuries old witch wouldn't do things that don't make sense, would she? He wondered what Elizabeth knew; after all, she probably had a longer and more thorough acquaintance with the witch than him. He was going to have to ask her later; not now, of course, he was fairly sure that his parents wouldn't be happy to hear that his teacher was the witch who had trapped Elizabeth. For now they had better keep to innocent topics.
And they had more than enough innocent topics. His family was anxious to learn about Elizabeth, and that was understandable, after all, she was a family member now. The way back home passed in animated conversation, and he listened to the girl's voice in a sort of enchantment; even through the mirror it was melodious and sweet, like a cluster of tiny bells ringing, but in person it sounded so much more lively, so much more real.
It was early afternoon when they got home, earlier than they had expected in the morning. But then, everything was so different than they had expected in the morning. So much better. As soon as they were home, Mrs. Winter showed Elizabeth her room, with Alvin tagging along; after they prepared it on the night of breaking the mirror, nobody touched it, perhaps because it would just have been too hopeless to put away the bedclothes and admit that they weren't expecting her to come anymore. So it was all ready for her still. While this one had no balcony, it had a big, arched window on the rose garden, delicate ladylike furniture painted white, and was just as bright and cheerful as they come. It probably used to be a girl's room before they moved here. Alvin thought it might even have been intended for her, if she should escape one day. As she did now.
Yes, everything was definitely better now.
 
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