Three-year-old Luna pointed at the empty corner of her bedroom and giggled.

"The nice lady is dancing, Mama!"

Emma felt her heart stop. She looked where Luna was pointing but saw nothing except shadows.

"What nice lady, sweetheart?"

"The one with the pretty dress. She says her name is Rose and she used to live in our house a long time ago."

Emma’s hands began to shake. She knelt down next to Luna’s bed, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Luna, there’s nobody there."

"Yes there is! She’s waving at you now. She says you have very sad eyes."

Emma looked around the room frantically. "Kael!" she called out.

Kael rushed in, still holding his coffee mug. "What’s wrong?"

"Luna says she can see someone in the corner. Someone named Rose."

Kael’s face went pale. He set down his coffee and knelt beside Emma.

"Luna, honey, can you tell us what Rose looks like?"

"She has gray hair and a blue dress with flowers on it. She’s old but she smiles a lot." Luna clapped her hands as if the invisible woman was doing something entertaining. "She says she died in this room fifty years ago."

Emma felt dizzy. When they bought the house, the previous owner had mentioned that an elderly woman named Rose had lived there decades ago. But Emma had never told Luna that story.

"Luna, can Rose hear us talking?"

"Uh-huh! She says she’s been waiting for someone like me to come along. Someone who can see both sides."

"Both sides of what?"

But Luna was already distracted by something else. She looked toward the window and frowned.

"The scary man is back."

Emma’s blood turned to ice. "What scary man?"

"The one who keeps trying to talk to me. He stands outside my window at night. Rose doesn’t like him. She says he’s not supposed to be here."

Emma grabbed Kael’s hand so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"Luna, what does the scary man want?"

"He wants me to come with him. He says I’m special and I belong with the dead people instead of the living people."

Emma felt like she might throw up. This was her worst nightmare coming true. Something was trying to take her daughter away, just like cosmic beings had once tried to take Emma away from her human life.

"Luna, if the scary man talks to you again, you tell him no. You tell him you belong with Mama and Daddy."

"I already did. But Rose says he’s getting stronger. She says soon he might be able to touch me."

Emma looked at Kael with pure terror in her eyes.

That night, after Luna was asleep, Emma and Kael sat in their kitchen trying to make sense of what was happening.

"Maybe we should call Dr. Wilson," Kael suggested. "Maybe Luna is just having nightmares."

"Kids don’t make up detailed stories about people who actually lived in their house fifty years ago," Emma replied. "She really can see ghosts."

"But why? You never had that ability."

"I don’t know. Maybe it’s because she’s our daughter? Maybe she inherited something different?"

Before Kael could respond, the temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees. Both of them could see their breath in the suddenly cold air.

A voice spoke from the darkness.

"Emma."

Emma recognized that voice immediately. The Cosmic Judge materialized in their kitchen, his star-filled robes shimmering in the dim light.

"You!" Emma jumped to her feet. "Stay away from my daughter!"

"I’m not here to harm Luna," the Judge said calmly. "I’m here to explain what she is."

"She’s a normal little girl!"

"She is many things. Normal is not one of them."

Kael stepped protectively in front of Emma. "What do you want with our daughter?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Your daughter is what we call a Bridge-Keeper. She exists between the world of the living and the world of the dead."

Emma felt her heart pounding. "What does that mean?"

"It means she can see and speak to spirits, but she cannot raise the dead. She cannot travel through time. She cannot reshape reality. Her power is much more limited than yours ever was."

"But why does she have any power at all?"

The Judge looked almost... sad? "Because the universe needs someone to help lost souls find their way. Ghosts get stuck sometimes. They need guidance to move on to whatever comes next."

"You mean Luna is supposed to help dead people?"

"She is supposed to help maintain the balance. Some spirits need to be encouraged to leave the world of the living. Others need to be protected from forces that would use them for evil."

Emma thought about the scary man Luna had mentioned. "What forces?"

"Beings that collect lost souls for their own purposes. Entities that feed on ghostly energy. Your daughter stands guard against such creatures."

"She’s three years old!"

"And she has many years to grow into her role. But Emma, there is something else you must know."

Emma’s stomach clenched. "What?"

"Luna’s abilities are growing stronger. Soon she will be able to do more than just see and speak to the dead."

"Like what?"

"She will be able to send messages between the living and the dead. She will be able to close dangerous rifts between dimensions. She will be able to protect your world from invasions by hostile spirits."

Emma felt overwhelmed. "That sounds like a lot of responsibility for a child."

"It is. But she will not be alone. You will teach her, just as you learned to use your own abilities responsibly."

"But I don’t know anything about dealing with ghosts!"

"You know about making hard choices. You know about using power to help others instead of yourself. Those lessons will guide her."

The Judge began to fade away.

"Wait!" Emma called out. "What about the scary man Luna sees? How do we protect her from him?"

"Teach her to trust her instincts. The spirits who mean well feel warm and safe. The spirits who mean harm feel cold and frightening. Luna already knows the difference."

"But what if—"

The Judge was gone.

Emma and Kael sat in stunned silence for several minutes.

Finally, Kael spoke. "Our daughter talks to dead people."

"Our daughter is a Bridge-Keeper, whatever that means."

"Are you okay with this?"

Emma thought about it. Luna’s power seemed gentler than what Emma had once wielded. Instead of controlling life and death, Luna would help souls find peace. Instead of reshaping reality, she would protect people from dangerous spirits.

"I think I am okay with it," Emma said slowly. "As long as we can keep her safe."

But even as she said it, Emma heard Luna cry out from upstairs.

They both ran to her room and found Luna standing in her crib, pointing at the window with tears streaming down her face.

"Mama! The scary man brought friends! There are lots of them now!"

Emma looked toward the window and felt her heart stop.

She couldn’t see anything.

But the temperature in Luna’s room was dropping fast, and frost was forming on the glass.

"How many friends?" Emma asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Ten. Twenty. More coming." Luna reached out her arms toward Emma. "They want to take me to their dark place."

Emma picked up Luna and held her tight. "They’re not taking you anywhere."

But even as she said it, Emma could hear something that chilled her to the bone.

Scratching sounds.

Coming from inside the walls.

The hostile spirits weren’t just outside anymore.

They were in the house.

And they were getting stronger.