Gwen was the happiest of us, her whistle always announced her arrival. The click of her heels were the following fanfare. And the first thing we always noticed when she came into view was her smile. Her crooked smile was the one thing not perfect about her. "A little flaw to keep her from divinity." It was the line she always said with a wink and a touch of her pinkie to the edge of that wonderful smile.

I had loved her, loved the way she would give panhandlers a bottle of water or a sandwich from the back of her car. She would take time to make care packages for them. Toiletries, water, sandwich and chips. Small things that could make a difference in a person's life when they were on the street.

I loved her silence, she listened in a way where you became lost in her silence, your words and thoughts like a landslide crashed down helplessly pulled by the gravity of her silence, a few short questions, starting the tumble and then, the crashing. She made room for people, made it a warm safe place. You would forget she was there, she changed from the person sitting next to you into the universe around you. She became omnipresent, everywhere around you.

I had loved all those things about her.

Most of all though... I loved that she made me a better person. Not because she changed me. Her personality reminded me of things I had forgotten, about myself. The good things, the way I used to perceive the world with a brighter view. Her words wrapped around you like the stars, pulled you up to them, crafted strands of light that pulled your thoughts out in a way that left you mesmerized.

She had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. That was before we lost Goldie and Grayson

I sat on the tile floor, the water from the open window soaking into my jeans. I leaned my head back against the wall letting the sounds of rain drown out my thoughts. I clenched my eyes tight enough to make the muscles in my temples ache. My thoughts were interrupted as the door closed.

I was about to announce my presence but what Gwen said tore the words from my throat. "I'm worried about Ghost."

"So am I." Ken's high lilting voice responded.

"You noticed then?" She asked in a casual tone. "You saw the way his hand was trembling?"

Ken didn't answer, and Gwen started to whistle, the sound that ever darted through her conversations.

"You do have a beautiful whistle." he mused. "Odd that I didn't hear your nightingale melody this morning. And yet, you can't seem to stop now"

"I only whistle when I'm sad."

"But you are always whistling...always." Ken said quietly. "Is that why you were chosen as the new Echo?"

Rain fell, the plopping rounded sounds of falling liquid striking against the reflective surface of the wet pavement. I was frozen, many things clicking into place.

Her voice was defeated, exhausted, lost "When did you know?"

Ken shrugged and looked away. He ran his fingers across the gears of his metal leg letting her regain composure. "After I found out about your daughter."

"Ah."

"It was that song you whistled when we found Grayson." Ken added

Gwen "Ah. didn't even realize I had made that tune..."

"You did, it was idle curiosity on my part finding that song's origin. It was your daughter's favorite song. When I found that bit of info well, it only took a little more effort to find your connection to Grayson, to follow your research to find the six. To finding that you had become an Echo."

I felt cold washing through my body. Processing the information. She spoke before I could think too long on it. "Why didn't you stop me?"

Ken "Who am I to stop justice?"

"Was it really justice? Justice is lawyers and judges and juries."

"Is it?" Ken asked.

"Yes! It has to be! We can't all be Ghost!" Gwen shouted, even when her words faded they resonated within me. A cruel twisting sound .

Ken didn't respond right away "If we had more like Ghost we would lose fewer like Grayson."

"This isn't a time for your comedies, Ken. Ghost...Ghost destroyed lives. This is all a tragedy and Ghost is at the the heart of it."

Gwen paused thinking through her words. "I am going to turn myself in."

"No, you can't." Ken's voice was warning.

"I can." Gwen

"No, no you can't. I won't allow anyone to take your testimony, I'll block any investigation into the murders. It will be buried under the rug."

"Why?"

"I am tired of seeing good people punished by the system while the evil walk away on technicalities. I won't allow another dove to be hooked and chained to the earth."

"I am no dove."

"You are more dove than any that I know. Go back to the party. I'll join you shortly."

Gwen whistled the nightingale song again as she closed the door. I processed the information to the sound of rain.

"Ever a ghost, lingering on the edges of the world, unable to truly be part of it." I thought it oddly poetic for a man speaking to himself. The man stood up and walked in the room. Stopping to lean against the other side of the wall I was using for support. "I'd ask how you are, Ghost. But we both already know."

I didn't say anything

"I wanted you to hear that. You know why?" Ken

"Cause you hate me?" me.

Ken laughed, it was unexpected, it was a real laugh, one I hadn't heard from him before. "I never hated you."

"Oh?" Me

"Nah, never had a reason to hate you, I dislike what you represent. But that isn't what we're talking about."

"What then?" Me

"Gwen is the one you've been hunting. She is the destroyer of the six. She is..." his words trailed off.

"She is the new Echo." me

"What will you do?" ken asked.

I could feel the call of the graves, could feel the spirits coming unbidden to wrap me in their rotting garments, urging me to eviscerate and bury the whistling newborn Echo. "I don't know. What can I do? Echoes bring nothing but death."

"So do you. How is it any different?" Ken reasoned.

"Because I'm called to do it, I was chosen, the tragedy of the century, or maybe the comedy of the century." me

"The difference between a comedy and a tragedy is if the laugh track is playing." Ken said quietly. "She is an Echo is, a being called to bring death. Couldn't you teach her?"

"Think about it, I gave you a way to learn of her title, without a sticky and uncomfortable confrontation. You owe me this favor at the minimum, let her enjoy the night at least."

He got up with a groan and a clanking of his cybernetic leg. He stopped at the door. "Maybe it is time for you to go back to sleep, Ghost."

"Maybe it is."