Writer's note: Well, this is my first attempt at this, so forgive me if I suck. It's little more than a character introduction which ends where the last chapter did, but at this point I'm trying to get some ideas flowing again (not written in a long time).
Jenny followed her mother down the stairs to the kitchen in anticipation. She had quickly discovered just how much of an apatite she had worked up searching the old house and could feel her stomach beginning to groan in protest.
As they were half-way down, however, her attention was drawn away by a strange sound coming from....somewhere...outside? No, it was inside, but outside as well?
It was rather strange, as though she could hear the sound without hearing it, but hearing it as well, as though it was being sent in two different ways.
As they went down, the sound started to become clearer, revealing itself to be a song of some kind. There were no words, just notes of a clear, female voice; a sad, distant tune that took away the little girl's breath with its strange, unearthly beauty.
Looking up, Jenny saw Muriel's face had taken on a slightly heavier expression. It was as though the song meant something to her, but she could not guess what.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the pair turned into the kitchen. The sound was louder now, coming from just outside the window.
A slight chill blew into the room, despite the window being shut as a pale figure literally came through the wall as though it were an illusion.
It was what appeared to be a young woman of incredible beauty, with skin as while as snow and long hair of purest silver. She saw garbed in a long robe of ghostly grey and wore a sad, distant expression on her face as she sang her almost painfully beautiful song. Rather than walk, as one would expect, she seemed to glide effortlessly through the air, her bare feet mere inches off the ground.
The strange entity paid them no heed as she continued her song, and Muriel patiently let her continue in a solemn silence; not sad, but with a strange sort of respect.
Eventually, the tune drew to a close and with her song finished, the phantom took a deep breath and looked at the two, her face quickly brightening.
"Muriel" she said happily, "You should have told me you were here. And who's this?"
Her voice seemed to echo very slightly in Jenny's head as she spoke, not in an unpleasant way, but in a way utterly unlike anything belonging solely to this world.
"This is Jenny" answered Muriel, her mood reverting to how it was before the song. "I've sort of adopted her, so I guess that makes her your new granddaughter."
"Mummy?" asked Jenny, pulling on her mother's sleeve, "Who's this?"
"Oh yeah," she said. "I suppose I should've mentioned. Jenny, this is your grandpa."
