It was the anniversary of my death, and per my usual, I was experiencing quite a variation in my mood. I had already passed through a crowd of people gathered to hear about the gruesome murder of 'the Viscount in Black' at the front of the castle. I'd seen fit to put a slight chill into the air for them. I was pleased when I saw that several of them noticed and exchanged worried glances!

However, after that, I couldn't be bothered with the living for the rest of the day. It always irked me that no one but I knew it was my anniversary. Besides, I was eager to see just how far my range had expanded! I trotted along, testing for the edge of the invisible barrier, now extended well past the curtain wall and on into the expanse that, these days, was just a field. If I recalled correctly, it was technically a wildlife preserve.

I was tickled pink at how very close I was finally getting to the edge of the grassland East of the castle! In perhaps two year's time, I would make it to the tree line! And just past there was a lovely stream, if memory served. Though who knew whether time had left untouched the forest I had roamed in my now-distant youth?

Wait, what the deuce? There was a woman just within the trees! She wasn't dressed at all like the modern women of the twentieth century, with their machine-made, short skirts and pantyhose. She was barefoot, wearing nothing but a white tunic, her hair a mess...

I tried to walk closer, abnormally curious about the woman, she was so underdressed, but I brushed up, hard, against the barricade. I pressed my hands and face against it, assuming there was no harm in staring, only to get the shock of my death!

The woman looked right at me! Not through me, as she should, but a sustained, wide-eyed stare! Then she turned and fled into the woods!

Flabbergasted, I had no idea what to make of the situation. It had been so long since I'd truly conversed with someone, it didn't even occur to me to call after her.

Was the woman some kind of spiritualist? Had she been dressed in some manner of special garb? If she was, indeed, seeking some sort of communication with the dead, well, bully for her! She had run off as soon as she'd successfully spotted me, just like anyone else!

I'd dealt with many occultists before, and in my experience, they usually came with inane gadgets and a herd of followers. The woman in white had been alone, in the forest, and not carrying a single thing! She hadn't even been anywhere near where I'd died! Hadn't she taken the tour?

I shook my head, feeling sorry for her. She was clearly the worst purveyor of supernatural research I had ever seen. She was like to catch a cold if she kept gallivanting about the grounds dressed like that! All the other visitors would surely think her a loony! Didn't she know that it was best to perform such activities under the cloak of night anyway? I was more likely to be able to manifest.

Bewildered, I continued along my way, gauging how my territory had expanded. But still, the strange, young woman stayed in the back of my mind. She had been such an oddity...