Viola ran. Well, as much as she could run like this. She was now floating, more or less. He wanted to eat her and she had to escape.

She turned onto a street with a few shops and a café. People were all over the place, but none of them could see her. Or no one cared. She hoped it was the first and even though both held her doom it meant that not all of humanity was doomed along with her. She stopped and tugged at people, begging for help, but it was no use. Whenever she tried to grab someone she drifted through as if she were only vapor. It was very likely she was.

She held back tears in favor of anger, resentment, and a little panic. Of all of the ways she would have imagined she would die Viola would have never guessed it would be at the hands of her own father. True, he had been under the illusion that he was saving Viola and smiting the monster whom had only wanted her death but he had been wrong. And he would never know. For she could not tell him and that witch, that evil witch, had stolen the most important thing to her.

She wanted to do nothing more than sit for hours on end and cry but as much as she wanted to the demon who she had began to think a friend now only wanted her for dinner. And not as a guest but the main course.

She continued running and screaming hoping that someone, anyone, would hear her cries and save her. She began to think that she was out of luck. No one saw her, and all of those living people, those happy, blissfully clueless, living people, continued on with their everyday lives even though Viola's was about to end for good.

"Hey, kid! Where'd you go? It's not like you've got anyone else to turn to; no one can see you. So let's stop playing hide and seek and I promise that I'll make it painless" The demon said. If only he could take away the pain. But Viola was no quitter. He was close, but still hadn't found her yet. There was still time.

She ran around a corner and down a bit. Stopping in front of a small grocery store. A young woman, maybe seventeen, with springy green hair cut very short with matching eyes. She wore a simple black dress with a collar and no sleeves that went about halfway to her knees, a pair of denim, skin-tight jeans and purple hightop sneakers. She was looking over a grocery list and clutching a paper bag in her arms. She looked in Viola's direction and surprise flitted across her features. She could see Viola!

Not one to waste even the tiniest chance Viola ran up to her. "Please! He's after me! Save me! Save me, please! He wants to eat me! My dad... oh, my dad..." Viola sniffled but didn't cry despite the tears welling up in her eyes.

The woman nodded and whispered "Take me to your body. I think I can fix this." Viola's heart sank. She didn't have it. Ellen had it; and wasn't planning on giving it back.

"I don't have it," she said.

"That's obvious. Take me to the body you had prior to being separated from it," the woman argued. Viola couldn't use that either. She'd just die again.

"We can't use that body. It's ruined," tears spilled down her face. The woman was willing to help her but Viola couldn't give her what she needed.

"I'll see about that. Take me to it" the woman said. Viola sighed but walked back toward the forest. They would have to get the legs and eyes from inside the house as well as the husk of a body on the path outside. However they encountered another problem not too long later.

"There you are" the demon in a cat's body sauntered toward Viola. He looked hungry.

"The cat!" Was all Viola seemed to be able to say.

"The cat?" The woman asked. She looked at the cat and frowned distastefully. Then smiled cruelly walking over and picking up the cat by the scruff of his neck. "My, my, my... what a naughty kitty you've been. I suppose I'll have to punish you," she said like this was a fun game and she'd just won.

"I may not be the demon who gave you powers but I can sure as hell take them away" He hissed. She laughed. Cackled?

"Silly kitty. I was born like this," she spoke as though she was speaking to a difficult child not a demon. "There isn't a thing you can do. Now how to do away with a naughty little thing like you?" She thought for a bit. Was it Viola's imagination or did the demon actually look scared? "Oh, I know!" She brightened. She muttered something under her breath and ran her fingers over the demon's silky black fur. When she was done he appeared to be covered in frost. "There. Now you can't move. Let's go fix you up, kid" the woman - no, the witch - said.

"You... you're a..." Viola stuttered. Wonderful. Had she not suffered at the hands of witches enough already?

"I'm a... witch?" The woman asked playfully. "Yes, I am. I won't hurt you, don't worry."

"You're lying. I don't trust witches" Viola spat.

"Even if I were lying, if I really wanted to harm you I wouldn't have said or done anything. I'd have let that demon eat you. You should know that all witches, or at least most of them, only act if they have motivation." That was true. Ellen had motivation. If she hadn't done what she did she would have died in that body. Her sickness was her motivation. But rather than cost Ellen, Viola had paid the ultimate price in her place. Viola sighed. "Now will you let me help you?" She asked.

"What's your name?" Viola asked.

"Cornelia. My name is Cornelia" the witch, Cornelia, said. "What's yours?"

"Viola."

"Well, Viola, how about showing me where your body is?"

"Follow me," Viola said, melancholy. The day's events were beginning to take a toll on her. "You should know that the body we're getting isn't mine. My body was stolen."

Cornelia raised her eyebrows like this was a shock to her. "Really? Well, what happened to the other body? The one you died in?"

"The witch that had it was rather ill. Her sickness was going to kill her so she stole my body. She tricked me into taking a tonic that took away my voice. Before she gave me the body she gouged out her own eyes and cut off her legs. So I couldn't chase her, or see her, or cry for help. I followed her outside but she stabbed me with a knife. Then my dad showed up..." at this point tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. "He... she... She tricked him and he..." Viola broke down crying. Cornelia kelt beside her and made like she was going to pat her back or put her arms around her shoulder. Then she thought better of it. Viola was a ghost; she could see her just fine but her hand would still pass right through her.

"Don't worry about it. I don't need to know the rest. I get the gist of it. Take me to her body... or its parts. Whichever. I'll handle it from there" Cornelia said softly and gave Viola a confident smile; almost motherly. It lifted Viola's spirits. They walked all the way back to the house in silence. "Is that it?"

"Yeah" Viola said. She pointed to a gory heap on the ground that was once Ellen's body. Blood still trickled from the eyes, torso and head. Cornelia flicked her wrist and the parts disappeared.

"Where's the rest?" She asked.

"Inside the house" Viola replied. "But if you go in there the house will try to kill you."

"We'll see about that. I'm a pretty powerful witch myself. I think I can counter any magic spells your little thief can conjure up." Cornelia said confidently then she sauntered toward the house. The first thing she did when she walked through the door was place some sort of spell on the first door inside the house. When she opened it they were in Ellen's room.

"How did you...?" Viola asked awe-struck.

"I told you. I'm a powerful witch," Cornelia retorted.

Viola didn't know what to say. Cornelia found her legs and eyes easily enough and whisked them away. Viola heard her muttering something along the lines of 'I hope we find them before she does.' Viola assumed she meant Ellen and followed Cornelia around the room. "Whoever this witch is, she certainly knows how to make a scene... and a mess," Cornelia commented absent-mindedly. Viola nodded in agreement. The place really was gruesome. "Okay then!" Cornelia clapped her hands together. "Now for the fun part. Let's get back to my house!" She shouldered her groceries, which Viola had forgotten that she had, and walked calmly out of the house. Viola followed her. Once out of the house Cornelia whispered something and another door outlined itself into a nearby tree. "Perhaps I'm being a bit hasty but special circumstances call for this sort of thing." Like that justified defying the laws of nature. Cornelia opened the door and it led into another house. Cornelia walked through it and Viola followed. Once Cornelia slammed the door shut it disappeared. They appeared to be in a kitchen and sprawled out on the table were Ellen's body parts. "Alright Viola this is where I need you to once again merge with the body. Not all the cells are dead yet so I can re-animate it but I have to act fast and I need your life energy to attach to it. Think about it as going under for surgery. I'm almost positive you won't die."

"That sounds re-assuring." Viola said dryly. She sounded bored but she was scared out of her mind. This was her only chance though. She wasn't about about to let it slip away. Not after all the trouble Cornelia had gone through. Voila sighed, defeated by her fear. "How do I do it?"

"Just let yourself phase through it and think about connecting physically with body. You'll become re-aligned with it and then it's me against however much time you get in there. All I have to is make it so you can live. Then I'll focus on fixing the small things. Like your eyesight and legs. I'll admit I might have gotten in a bit over my head. This body is riddled with disease and medication. Not to mention the bullet holes and stab wounds. But I think I can do it. Once it's fit for living I'll put you to sleep so you won't feel anything. I'm not going to lie. This will probably be very painful." Cornelia gave Viola a sympathetic glance and gestured for her to go into the body. Aside from the eyes, which were floating in a jar beside the head, Cornelia had arranged Ellen's body so it was right. She had even shut the empty eye sockets. Viola steeled herself and went inside.

Her vision was cut of instantly and her nerves screamed in protest once life flowed through the body once again. Everything flared with pain. Her head mostly. She could hear Cornelia's voice but it sounded distant. Her throat was scratchy. It felt like she had swallowed a razor blade that was on fire. Then a cooling sensation worked its way through her head. It felt less and less like fire and more like an unpleasant stinging. Viola became aware of her consciousness slipping away unsure if it was Cornelia's magic or her life energy taking its leave.

Her thoughts became fuzzy but she managed a silent prayer of thanks as her consciousness finally ebbed away. In that last minute, she drew a final breath of relief.