Lorenzo placed his camera aside on the table, the weight of his thoughts heavy in the air. His mind was a whirlwind of confusion and unanswered questions, the image of the strange kingdom still vivid in his memory. With a sigh, he reached for the hair slide, intent on putting it in a safer place. As his fingers brushed against the delicate metal, something made him pause.
He turned, and his breath caught in his throat.
There, standing near him, was the ethereal girl. She was no longer a fleeting vision, nor a figment of his imagination. She was real. His heart raced in his chest as he took in the sight of her, his throat tightening as if words had been stolen from him. She stood there, her silver-white hair cascading down her back, her violet eyes shining with a deep sorrow. He wanted to ask her everything—what she was, who she was, why she kept appearing—but no words would come.
Finally, he found his voice, though it trembled with urgency. "Why did you leave it there?" he asked, his gaze fixed on the hair slide clutched in his hand.
The girl blinked, and then a soft smile tugged at her lips. "I didn't leave it," she said quietly, her voice as gentle as the breeze. "I lost it."
She held out her hand, her fingers delicate and graceful. "I came here for this," she added, her gaze never leaving the slide.
Lorenzo hesitated, his fingers tightening around the slide. The weight of the moment settled heavily in the room. He didn't want to give it to her—not yet. There was too much he didn't understand, too many questions that burned inside him. His heart ached, filled with an overwhelming need to know who she was and why she was tied to the kingdom in his visions.
"No," he said firmly, his voice shaky but determined. "I want to know who you are. I've seen what you're connected to—the kingdom that doesn't exist in the real world, I think. And I've seen a queen crying, a witch…" His voice trailed off, uncertainty creeping in. "I need to understand."
The girl's expression softened. She seemed to hesitate, as if she had heard these words many times before, and yet, they still caused her pain. She moved silently to the bed, sitting down on its edge as if the weight of her story was too much to bear standing.
"You've seen it," she began, her voice barely above a whisper, yet full of a depth that resonated within him. "That queen… she is my mother." She paused, her eyes clouding with grief. "She has cried for me for so long. She watches me, knowing what I've become." Her voice wavered, her gaze distant. "She watches as I slowly fade into nothingness—lost to the curse of a witch."
Lorenzo sat beside her, unable to move as her words cut through the air. This was more than he could have imagined. The kingdom, the witch, the queen—everything was real. He could feel the truth of her words settling into his bones, though the weight of it was almost too much to comprehend.
"I became like this because of the curse," she continued, her voice filled with a quiet anguish. "A curse that was placed on my family long ago. It was meant to claim the first-born child of my parents, and that child would become a ghost. My parents couldn't help me. They couldn't even speak of it. And neither could I." She sniffled softly, wiping a tear from her cheek. "I heard the truth from my dying grandmother. She was the only one who knew about the curse, other than my parents. She tried to explain, but before she could finish telling me how to survive, her breath stopped. She died before she could say anything more."
The girl's voice broke as her eyes filled with unshed tears. "I was left with nothing but confusion. I couldn't even ask my parents for answers—they wouldn't tell me anything. All they did was cry. And here I am, lost, wandering… without peace."
Lorenzo listened, his heart aching for her. What kind of curse was this? A fate so cruel, to have your life ripped away, to be forced to walk the earth as a ghost, unable to find peace. But there was more to this story. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. Something had to be done. He couldn't just stand by and let this continue.
The tears he didn't even realize were falling down his cheeks slipped silently across his skin. He had to do something. But how could he possibly help her? The world he knew couldn't explain what she was going through. A curse, a ghost, a kingdom lost to time—it felt like a fairytale, one he wasn't sure he could believe in. Yet here she was, her pain raw and real.
Without thinking, Lorenzo reached out, his hand trembling as he placed it on hers. His heart stopped as he felt warmth—real warmth—under his palm. She wasn't just an apparition anymore. She was real, and for the first time, they connected, the space between them shrinking until it felt like he could feel every emotion swirling inside her.
Her eyes widened in shock, and then, as if something inside her had been unlocked, a single tear slipped from her eye. "You… you can touch me," she whispered, her voice breaking. "You're the first one who's touched me in so long."
Lorenzo didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure how to console her, how to make her believe that he would help her find peace. But he couldn't just leave her like this, trapped between life and death, caught in the web of a curse that no one seemed to know how to break.
"I don't know how to help you," he said softly, his voice thick with emotion. "But I'll figure it out. I promise you, I will."
The girl looked up at him, her violet eyes sparkling with an unspoken hope. She reached up, placing a trembling hand on his chest, as though she were trying to steady herself, to ground herself in the warmth of his presence.
Before Lorenzo knew it, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. At first, he was stiff, unsure of what to do, but then something inside him shifted. He embraced her back, his arms wrapping around her as if he were holding on to something precious.
For a moment, the world around them seemed to fade away. It was just the two of them—the boy who had stumbled into this strange, impossible world, and the ghost who had been wandering alone for so long. Her warmth seeped into him, her sorrow mingling with his own. He could feel her longing for release, for freedom.
And then, something extraordinary happened. Her arms tightened around him, pulling him closer, as though she didn't want to let go. Her grip was firm, but there was an underlying softness to it, as if she was finally feeling something she hadn't in an eternity—connection.
Lorenzo's heart swelled. He couldn't explain it, but in that moment, as they stood there locked in each other's arms, he felt a sense of purpose. He didn't know how, or even if, he could help her, but he knew one thing for sure: he wasn't going to let her go. He wasn't going to let her fade into the shadows again.
"I'll protect you," he whispered into her ear. "I won't let you be alone anymore. I'll help you find your way home. Wherever that is."
The girl pulled away slightly, her eyes searching his face, as if she were trying to understand his words. Then, slowly, she smiled—just a faint curve of her lips, but it was enough.
Her violet eyes sparkled as she whispered, "Thank you."
And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Lorenzo felt a sense of warmth fill his heart, a warmth that came from touching a ghost and holding her fate in his hands. The journey ahead was uncertain, but he was ready. He would find a way to help her.
He had to.