Soulfully Sweet

candles while Viola's specter hung in the corner. The candles were completely superfluous, of course, but they created atmosphere. And Branwen was a goddess, for crying out loud. Atmosphere was practically a requirement.
Granted she hadn't had the power to pull off this kind of caper in at least a thousand years. But fortunately HQ had granted her just enough just this once. She practically giggled with glee, but managed to keep a solemn expression for the sake of her non-corporeal guest. Standards must be maintained, after all.
"Viola, draw near." Branwen let the power of a true goddess seep into her voice.
With a shiver, Viola's ghost drew closer into the circle of candle light. Her passing stirred the candle flame.
"Take my hand."
Viola gave her a look that spoke volumes. "I'm a ghost."
"And I'm a goddess. Take my hand."
With a shrug the ghost placed her slender hand into Branwen's pudgy one. The minute they touched, Viola turned solid.
"Oh my." Viola glanced down at herself and practically squealed in excitement. "I'm alive!"
"Not yet. You're only solid because I'm touching you. Close your eyes."
Viola did as she was told and Branwen mumbled a few words in ancient Welsh. It was all for show, of course, but humans, even dead ones, liked a bit of ceremony with their magic. The actual words were lyrics to a raunchy drinking song.
"Okay, done. You can open your eyes."
Viola's eyelids flew open. "I'm real? Alive? Not a ghost anymore?"
"Yep."
"Is it permanent?"
Clever minx. "Depends."
"On what?"
A little smile curved Branwen's lips. "On whether you want it to be."
"Oh, I do," Viola insisted.
"We'll see," Branwen said. "Meet me back here this time tomorrow and I will make this permanent. If you want it to be."
***
Viola stepped outside and sucked in a deep lungful of fresh air. That was promptly followed by a coughing fit as a large metal monster roared by spewing black smoke and giving her heart palpations.
Car, she reminded herself. It was a car, not a monster, and the smoke was…well, okay that was smoke, more or less. Why people insisted on driving such things was beyond her. What was wrong with a perfectly good horse and carriage she wanted to know?
She gave another very unladylike hack to clear her lungs and continued down the sidewalk, taking in the wonders of the night. It was such a relief to be able to take a stroll without someone walking through her or a random body part getting stuck in the pavement. Granted in her day a young lady would never walk alone, especially at night. But times had changed and she'd have to change with them if she was going to live in this era.
Viola almost gasped aloud as a pair of women about her age crossed the street in front of her. Their incredibly short skirts showed off legs covered in holey stockings all the way up to…well, their unmentionables… and their tops showed off so much of their décolletage it was a wonder anything was left to the imagination. She had no idea how they managed to walk with spikes on their shoes, either. These must be ladies of the night!
She held back a quiver of excitement. She'd never met any ladies of the night before.
One of the women called out, "Nice costume. Where'd you get it?"
Costume? Viola glanced down at her full skirts and bodice. "My maid sewed them for me."
The two ladies of the night glance at each other with raised eyebrows. "Way to stay in character, girl." They giggled. "You must really love Halloween."
Viola had spent the last hundred years thinking of this night as simply the night when the veil between worlds was thinnest. She usually ran around trying to find someone with the power to bring her back. She'd forgotten it was a human holiday. They must think she was headed to a ball or some such.
"Thank you. I like your costumes, as well," she said politely.
One of the women snorted. "These ain't costumes, chicky. These are our uniforms. We're waitresses down at the diner." She pointed down the street to a perfectly ordinary eating establishment. "We're off to get into our costumes now. We're going as hookers and our boyfriends are going as pimps. Won't that be awesome?"
They laughed and waved as they made their way down the street leaving Viola staring at them. If their current outfits were their work clothes, she couldn't imagine what true ladies of the night wore in this day and age. Did this mean she had to dress in such hideous clothing, too? Exposing her flesh like some…some…
"Don't be judgmental, Viola," she whispered to herself. "If you want to live in this world you better learn to fit in." Still, the very thought of wearing such skimpy clothes, or looking at other people in them, made her shudder.
Another metal monster careened by, a heavy thumping sound coming from the interior. The noise made her head throb and she nearly jumped out of her skin as the driver blasted his horn.
"Hey, bitch, get outta the road!" someone yelled out the window. The yell was followed by an empty beer bottle which narrowly avoided hitting her in the head. Instead it hit the pavement and smashed into tiny shards.
One of the bits of glass bounced back, slicing open a tiny cut on her hand. The sharp sting was a shock. She hadn't felt pain in so long she'd forgotten what it felt like. It was only a small cut, but it frightened her. So many horrible things could happen to a person. So much pain. How could she forget the pain of being human?
She realized suddenly she had nowhere to go. No friends. No family. No home. Everyone she knew was long dead. She didn't even have any money and she had no idea how to get any.
Another pain hit, this time in her stomach. For a moment she couldn't figure out what was wrong. Was she dying? Again?
Then she realized she was hungry. Starving, in fact.
Without