1 : Mystery Guy

    Kaia Formalouza grew up seeing ghosts at a very young age. However, it's different than what those movies are depicting. They have no blood on their face or body. They just look like a normal person. The only thing different is that she can't touch them, and not everyone could see them.

   Kaia is one of those people that is gifted with what they called the sixth sense. At first, she thought they are also living people. However, as she grew up, she realized that they are not.

   She often saw people disappearing in just a moment. It's as if they never exist. She tried to talk about it to her parents, but they just shrugged it off. They thought that she was just hallucinating or it's just a result of her wild imagination.

   But Kaia knows they exist. They exist, but it's different than what we know. Some people thought that it's possible to interact or talk to them. However, it's different than what she knows.

   She sees them, but she never got the chance to talk to them. She tried talking to them before. However, it seems like they never notice her. It's as if they never saw her.

   Kaia looks at the middle age guy entering the cafe shop. The doors opened, and the bells that attached to the door chimes. Everyone looked at the door and shrugged it off when they see no one.

   But Kaia sees him. He is wearing a business suit and has his phone on his ears. She doesn't hear what he is saying, but he is talking to someone. He walks to the counter and ordered something. However, the cashier didn't even see him.

It's a ghost! If a person doesn't have keen observation, they will mistake him for a living person. Kaia looked at her sketchbook and started to draw the middle age man. She was afraid that the middle age man would disappear again. It's what she always does everything time she will see a ghost. It's like a reminder and a memory for her.

   For someone who grew up seeing ghosts. It becomes a habit of her to draw the ghost she sees. It's different than what people expect ghost looks like. It's not like those exaggerated movies depicted ghosts as. There's no blood. There are no wounds. They look normal and act normal. It's as if they are also alive.

Everyone who knows that she could see ghosts see her as a creep. Because who wouldn't? She keeps saying she could see ghosts. But every time, she will show the drawings of the ghost to them. They always laugh at her. They didn't believe a ghost could look like that. Like a normal living person.

    Sometimes, she thinks that maybe they are really alive. Perhaps they also think they are still alive. That's why they look and act like that.

   Kaia looks back at the middle age man that she's drawing, but he's gone. Again. Every time she sees one, they will be gone in a minute.

   Kaia was startled when her friend Aurkene sits on the chair in front of her. She's one of the few people who befriend her despite knowing that she could see ghosts.

   Aurkene looks at the drawing of Kaia. It seems like a middle age man ordering something at the counter. She tried to look around. Searching for the middle age man but she found nothing. She's doing it again. "Is that the ghost you saw today?"

   Aurkene got used to this habit of Kaia already. Although sometimes she still finds it weird how Kaia said that what she is drawing is the ghost she sees. Because for her, they just look like a living person.

   Kaia looks at Aurkene and looks at her drawing. Aurkene probably won't believe her again. Just like how those people don't believe her. Sighing, she closed her sketchbook. "Yeah, I saw him walk into the cafe, so I decided to draw him."

    Aurkene didn't say anything and just sipped her iced coffee. Kaia knew Aurkene doesn't believe in her. It's because her drawing is really different than what the world perceives as ghosts. But who are they to judge? If they don't even see one?

   "How's your interview with the restaurant you said you want to apply to?" Kaia ask.

   Both Aurkene and Kaia are college students at the only university on their small island. They are both sophomores students. Kaia is taking up Psychology as her major, while Aurkene is an education major. They grew up together, and Aurkene is the only person who knows many things about Kaia but still sticks with her.

"It didn't go well. I messed up the interview, and I said random things I shouldn't have said. I guess the HR finds me weird because of it." Aurkene puts down her ice coffee with a bam. It makes a loud sound that everyone looks at their table.

"Hey, tone it down. We're disturbing other people." Kaia looks around. She was stunned when she saw a guy, probably the same age as her, entering the cafe shop.

"Kaia! What are you looking at?" Aurkene follows where Kaia is looking, but all she can see is the empty counter and those cashiers talking to each other.

Aurkene sigh. She thinks she knows what is Kaia is looking at. She probably sees a ghost again. Aurkene rolled her eyes at the thought. She loves Kaia and sees her as her own sister. However,  this interest of her towards ghosts and paranormal stuff creeps her up. Aurkene is not really a big fan of ghosts. Or better yet, she is actually afraid of it.

Kaia keeps looking at the guy as if she was hypnotized by him. There's something about him that she couldn't take her eyes off. Kaia stands up and walks towards the guy who is now walking towards the counter.

She doesn't usually talk to other people only if needed. But this time, it's different. Something is telling her to stand up and talk to the guy.

Aurkene raised her eyebrows when she sees Kaia stands up and walk towards the direction of the counter. Where is she going? She stands up and follows Kaia behind. It's better to follow her, or else she didn't know what will Kaia do or say.

"Hey, excuse me?" Kaia tried to taps the guy's shoulder, but since he is tall, she couldn't touch his shoulder.

Aurkene eyes widened when she saw Kaia talk to no one and even taps on thin air. She looks around and saw the cashiers and other customers looking at Kaia with questions and confusion in their eyes.

She knew it! She will do something again. Can this girl try not to do this in public? She'll scare these people out. Aurkene was about to pull Kaia to their own table when she walks faster. It's as if she was running towards someone.

Kaia walks faster when she saw that the guy jogged to the counter. He smiled first before ordering. She tries to hear his order, but she couldn't really hear anything.

When she got behind the guy, she collects all the courage she had and initiates the conversation with the guy.

   "Hey," the guy looked back at Kaia and stared at her for a minute before turning his head to the cashier again.

   Kaia swallows before she taps the guy on the shoulder. However, before she could even do so, a hand holds her and drags her away from the counter. Kaia looks at the owner of the hand and finds it's Aurkene. She looks back at the guy who's still on the counter, oblivious to what is happening.

   Aurkene passes through their table, and in one hand, she gathered all the stuff they had before pulling Kaia out of the cafe. Aurkene pulled her until they couldn't read the signage of the cafe.

   Kaia looks back at the cafe. Trying to see if the guy already went out. However, she couldn't see anyone leaving the cafe. Did he stay inside? She shouldn't have let Aurkene pulled her outside.

   Sighing, she glared at Aurkene, who's currently panting right now. Aurkene has asthma and doesn't really do a lot of running because she has a weak body.

   "Why did you pulled me outside? I was about to talk to the guy." Kaia looks back at the cafe and pouts. She lost the guy. It's rare for her to find someone she's interested in, but then she lost her chance.

   Aurkene looks at Kaia in disbelief. She drags Kaia outside the cafe because everyone was already looking at her. Who wouldn't? She was talking to no one. She even acts like she's tapping something in the air. And now Kaia is glaring at her because she didn't get the chance to talk to a non-existing person?

    She's already panting here, okay? She risks her own breath just so those people wouldn't find Kaia a freak, and this girl still got the nerve to glares at her? It's a good thing she loves her. Aurkene shakes her head.

   "I was just saving your ass there. You're welcome, by the way." Aurkene sarcastically said while still trying to catch her breath.

   Whoah! She wouldn't do that again. She felt like she's losing it already. She needs oxygen.

   Kaia looks at Aurkene. Confused about what she just said. What did she say? Saving her from what?

   On no! Kaia immediately helps Aurkene. Did she just do it again? Did she try to talk to a ghost again? "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Kaia gently massages Aurkene's back.

   Aurkene continues to pant for a minute or two before her breathing stabilizes. "I'm not. Jeez, I'm not doing that again, Kaia. So, I beg of you, stop talking to ghosts. I thought you said you couldn't talk to them?" Aurkene holds on to Kaia's arms. Trying to stabilize her condition. Asthma is really a pain in her ass.

Kaia froze in the spot by Aurkene's word. It's really what she thought. However, this time Kaia refused to believe what Aurkene's said. She holds to Aurkene's hand. "You didn't saw him? The tall guy who's probably our age? He has a whiter complexion than me. He also had curly hair. You didn't really saw him?"

Aurkene tried to break from Kaia's grip, but she couldn't. It's probably because she just comes from an asthma attack that her energy depleted. She sighed and looked at Kaia. "I didn't see anyone. You're the only one standing at the counter, Kaia."

Kaia lets go of Aurkene. He's a ghost? But he definitely saw her. He's unlike those ghosts she has seen before. Those ghosts didn't even look her in the eyes. It's as if they didn't know about her existence. But he's different. They had an eye to eye contact. There's no way he didn't see Kaia. He stared at her. He's not a ghost. She's sure about it.

Aurkene looks at Kaia's expression. One moment it shows confusion and denial. Kaia still probably couldn't believe that what she just saw is a ghost.

After that, it changes into determination. What is she thinking? What are you thinking, Kaia?

"Kaia?" She calls out. Kaia looks at her. She seems disoriented and absentmindedly walks towards the cafe.

Aurkene blocks Kaia and spread her arms like she's playing patintero. It's the game they usually play when they were kids.

  "Kaia? What's happening to you? Snapped out of it, okay? The guy you saw? It's not a living person Kaia. He's not a person. He's a different entity. Kaia!"

   Kaia awakens from the trance with Aurkene's voice. She saw Aurkene spreading her arms like she's playing patintero. What's with her?

   "What are you doing?" Kaia looks around to see if there are other people. Relief to find no one, she puts Aurkene's arms down.

   Aurkene looks at Kaia in disbelief. "Hello? If you didn't try to walk towards the cafe, I wouldn't dare to do these in broad daylight. Well, unless we're playing patintero. Anyways, that's not the issue here. Kaia, what happened to you? I've been talking to you, but you seem like you didn't hear any words I said."

   Kaia looks down. It's nothing new. It sometimes happens to her when she saw a ghost whom she thought was a living person. Her mind finds it difficult to believe that what she is seeing is not a person.

   It tends to shut people out and see if what she saw is really a ghost or not. It happened to her before.

   When she was eight years old, Kaia accompanies her mother to a pharmacy store. She then saw a pharmacist walking inside the pharmacy. Looking for medicine for someone. That pharmacist walks in front of her and looks for medication for fever.

   She knows he's looking for it because she has taken a peek at the paper he's holding. Kaia took one of the medicines he's looking for and hands it to him. Her mother is a doctor, so she knows what medicine he is looking for.

  However, that pharmacist is a ghost. So no one takes the medicine. When her mother saw her raising her hand in the air, she immediately walks toward Kaia and put it down.

When Kaia told her mother why she is doing that, her mother told her that maybe it's just her imagination. Because no one is standing in front of her. Kaia didn't believe it. She runs away and walks out of the pharmacy. Her mother said she seems like she was in a trance when she ran out.

Kaia sighs and looks at Aurkene. "Never mind, I probably just need to rest. I'll go home first, Aurekene."

Aurkene just let her go. She saw how devastated Kaia looks right now.