"Are you there, my dear Eloise?" she called out to the shadows. She waited in still silence, hanging on hope. Her pulse grew as the wind picked up, rattling the windows. She spun around, searching for a figure in the darkness. Wood creaked underneath her as she stepped closer. "I still think of you, my dear Eloise. The way your hair tangles in the wind, the way you squint when you're upset, the softness of your lips..." she swallowed. She wanted to turn back, she wanted to convince herself that she wasn't there. She closed her eyes listening, truly listening. The wind, her heartbeat, piece by piece the sounds broke away.

"I have never left you my darling Amelie," a voice whispered. Warm tears fell down her cheek as she opened her eyes. There she was, floating in front of her. She brightened the room with her undead luminescence.

Amelie fell to her knees and gazed upwards. "My dear Eloise, it has been five years that we've been apart, why have you returned?" she cried out.

The ghost's face softened. "I never left, my darling Amelie," she whispered with a smile.

Amelie shook her head. "That can't be true, I saw you but a fortnight ago! At the market, walking with your arm entangled in Lucienne's..." she trailed off. Amelie tilted her head, confused.

"Oh my darling Amelie, do you not know what I am?" she asked with sincerity. Amelie shook her head once more. "I am the manifestation of your desire. You haven't been able to let go of Eloise. And as the days turned into months, into years I grew stronger. I started as a thought, then a longing memory, then I transformed with a combination of time and love. I never left you, my darling Amelie," the figure uttered. Before Amelie could fully understand, the likeness of Eloise vanished leaving her alone once more. 

She collapsed to the floor. With her cheek against the cold wood, she laid still. She remembered the first time she saw Eloise. She had long brown hair that tangled in the autumn wind. She was chasing the hat she had lost down the cobblestoned street. Amelie picked it up and handed it to her, and she was left breathless by her beauty. That was nine years ago now as Amelie lay alone in the dark.

"Am I to be haunted by my dear Eloise forever?" she whimpered.