Bad influence? That made Esme want to laugh. She actually smiled faintly for the first time since she'd arrived.
"It didn't do any good," she told him. "I grew up following and practicing dark magic. They tried to stop me, to change me, but I fought back."
She listened to his reasons for killing her, but didn't understand. "But... if I will not age anymore, what about you? Do I have to watch you die?" she asked. If he truly did care about her, if she drew close to him, how would she endure seeing him grow old and die.
He offered her his hand. If she was a ghost, could she touch him? She had touched the man she had killed, but she had been unable to control herself.
Hesitantly briefly, she slowly reached out and took his hand, expecting her hand to go through his.
But it didn't. His hand felt solid in her own. Once she came into contact with him her transparency disappeared and she was whole again. She gasped and looked at him in surprise. She let go and became transparent again. She took his hand once more, looking at him and squeezing tight.
"Brother..." she whispered, emotion overtaking her once again but this time happiness. "Brother!" she exclaimed and did what she had been longing for for so long. She hugged him tightly.
"I.. I killed someone," she confided in him. "I didn't mean to. I couldn't control myself. Please, please help me."