Can Anyone See My Ghost Boyfriend?

Alyssa would always remember the first time she had ever seen a ghost. She had been around eight or nine years old, and her grandmother had brought her to the temple to pray for luck, as Alyssa's mother was pregnant. After finishing their prayers, Alyssa had obediently followed her grandma to see the fortune-teller, who was sitting outside the temple and fanning himself. He greeted Alyssa's grandma with good cheer, the two of them catching up before he started telling her fortunes. Alyssa stared at something behind him the whole time.

When they were done, the fortune-teller smiled at Alyssa and wanted to give her a candy. "Little girl, do you like strawberry or orange?"

Little Alyssa asked: "Who is that sad woman behind you?"

Both the fortune-teller and Alyssa's grandmother seemed startled. "What woman?" The fortune-teller turned around to search behind him, but he couldn't seem to see the tall woman in the white qipao behind him.

The tall woman merely continue to stare at Alyssa, her black eyes wide and unblinking. Alyssa felt both sad and curious. Why couldn't the adults see this sad woman?

However, her grandmother only sighed and took little Alyssa's hand. "Let's go home, child."

Once they were home, Alyssa remembered there had been a big argument between her parents and her grandmother, but they had stopped talking when she walked into the room. Her mother had looked distressed, while her father's face was tight with anger. "We'll talk no more about this."

Grandmother looked indignant. "But the child-"

"Please, Mama." Alyssa's mother looked pleadingly at Grandmother. "Don't encourage this."

Grandmother only sighed before she got up and walked out.

~~~

Four months later, Alyssa's baby brother was born, so her parents sent her to go stay with Grandmother. Alyssa was happy, because Grandmother always let her eat sweet things and listened to her stories. It wasn't long before Grandmother asked her about the sad woman at the temple. "Do you often see people like that, child? People that others can't see?"

"Sometimes." Alyssa was happily concentrating on the yam pudding that Grandmother had cooked for her. After the woman in the temple, Alyssa had seen a few more. "At the hospital, when Mama gave birth, I saw a child in the room. No one else seemed to see her."

Grandmother's wrinkled eyes gleamed. "You know, you are like my mother. You have the gift of the third eye."

Alyssa wrinkled her nose. That sounded freaky! "What is that?"

"You can see...other beings that normal people can't. It's frightening at first, but..."

"I'm not frightened!" Alyssa really wasn't. She was almost ten!

Grandmother laughed and hugged her. "Yes, my dear child, I know."

~~~

Eventually, when Alyssa grew older, Grandmother took her to see a temple priest who examined her forehead very seriously and asked her a series of questions. After determining that Grandmother was correct and Alyssa did have a third eye, the temple priest gave Alyssa some amulets and taught her some chants to recite if she was ever scared.

He taught her how to talk to the beings - the ghosts - if they looked like they wanted something from her. He taught her how to protect herself if it looked like they wanted to harm her. He told her to come look for him, Master Zhou, if she ever became overwhelmed with her powers.

Over the years, Alyssa began to be grateful that Master Zhou had taught her what to do. The spirits she had seen as a child were mostly benevolent, but as she grew into a young woman, she began to see more alarming spirits. There were those who were missing legs and arms, as well as those who couldn't talk and only wail. But she tried her best to help them all. If she ever felt like she was overpowered, Grandmother or Master Zhou would try to protect her and help her to defeat any spirits who meant her harm.

However, everything changed on the day of Alyssa's 22nd birthday.

~~~

"Make way, make way!"

The campus police were busy directing traffic, shouting at the students to take an alternative route. Alyssa frowned down at her phone; she was already late for her marketing class, and the other route would add another 20 minutes to her journey time. Professor Liu would make a snide comment at her for being late. Just her luck!

Alyssa sighed, standing by the side of the road as she waited for the crowd to clear. It seemed that there had been a car accident further up the road, near the Faculty of Science. The traffic jam was caused by one of the lanes being blocked by the wrecked cars, along with a crowd of curious students who had gathered to watch the proceedings. Suddenly, the wail of an ambulance siren pierced the air, along with the flash of red lights. The driver was waving for everyone to move so he could drive through. The students obediently shifted, whispering amongst themselves about who the victims could be.

Not caring about the gossip, Alyssa took out her phone and texted Mei Qi, telling her she would be late to class. "AGAIN?!" Mei Qi texted back, causing Alyssa to roll her eyes as she kept her phone and tied her long, brown hair into a ponytail. If she was going to be so late that her attendance would be marked as absent, then she might as well head to the library and work on her other project. She was dressed a little too casually today anyway, with her torn jeans and baggy t-shirt.

As she walked away from the crowd and made her way down the path, she spotted a dazed-looking young man who was sitting on a bench, his fine black hair messy and his clothes disheveled. He was staring off into space, looking completely lost. Alyssa couldn't help noticing his features, her eyes running over his lean, handsome profile. However, she stopped when she saw the smear of blood on his forehead.

"Are you alright?" Alyssa asked the young man, who blinked at her in surprise.

"Wait, you can see me?!"