Will stuck his head out the door. "Hello?" His words were lost in the thick air. It's deafening silence caused a shiver to run down his spine. He moved to pull himself back in the room when a grey mist seemed to speed past his face. He jumped back in response.
Then suddenly there before him was a woman. A woman who wasn't there but a moment before. Alarms went off in Will's mind. His rational brain urged him to run away from this. But his curiosity, the small bit of Jacob he had in him, had him glued to the spot. Then again, it might just be fear.
The woman's skin was a sickly grey and cloudy, as of a cobweb blurred at the edges. She stood with her back to him, hair a darker shade of grey that fell down her shoulders. Will gasped at the realization that he could see right through the grey skin to the building she was facing. It was too much. Will moved to close himself in the house when the woman turned her head faster than what seemed natural. Will stopped as her eyes pierced his own. Her eyes were nothing like her form. Where she was blurred and appeared as a apparition in a fog, her eyes were sharp and intense. They were clear and bright. Will had to make a strong conscious effort to pull his own eyes away from hers.
He held them closed for a moment, willing away her hold on him. When he opened them again he faced her cold grey eyes, her face mear inches from his own. Yelping he pulled away but couldn't turn away from her, couldn't move away from her. He was forced to stare into her face. Her mouth seemed frozen in an internal frown. Her brows matched in their own deep creases framing those sad eyes, sad eyes that burrowed into his own. Will found himself gasping at their intensity.
Her hands sneaked up until they fell upon his neck. He shuddered at their ice coldness but his body made no move to pull away. From his neck her hands moved up to caress his cheek. And from his cheek they rested either side of his head.
Then all at once Will felt a tugging on his mind. Images buried deep in his memories were pulled to the surface. He saw in his mind Lotte, beautiful and healthy. Before death had imprinted her sickly image into his mind. He saw his mother, carefree and smiling. Her arms held out as she spun with her children in the rain. She was so young. That was before trial aged her. He saw his father. A strong man but intelligent. With wisdom and humor sparkling in his blue eyes. Before those eyes would close for eternity.
Then finally he saw Jacob. Jacob the child brimming with curiosity and a longing to learn. Jacob excited and pointing to an old dirty book. Jacob with shoulders back and eyes up toward the sky.
Then Jacob stopped. His smile faded and his shoulders slumped. He ducked his head and stared at his feet.
Will saw his father dressed in his best suit face pale with death and his mother who was not so young anymore weeping over him. He saw his sister frail and sick huddling to keep warm. He saw her dead body wrapped in his mothers arms.
Hot tears burned down his frozen cheeks and he shuddered. Shuddered from memories he had buried away. Memories he had no desire to see. He squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to push them away. Then he felt her cold fingers on his cheeks again, wiping away the tears.
"Do you regret, Wilhelm?" Her voice was a horse whisper and yet it didn't sound harsh. It was sad and soothing, like the crisp cry of the wind. Will couldn't respond, a sorrowful whimper was all he could manage, mind still on his memories.
It had not seemed possible earlier that her expression could ever be more melancholy. Her frown deepened and her eyes seemed to mist now. She paused a long heavy moment before saying in a voice even more wispy than before, "What is it you would change?"q