Suddenly, I Had a Child

"Ganbei!"

A toast was served for the success of the small group in a small restaurant that night. The group just managed to turn in their short documentary project in time and was praised by their teacher. The project scored higher than everyone else, even besting the documentary made by the top of the class. It was deemed impossible by the rest since they were the group of good-for-nothing boys, but they managed since they had an ace.

Liu Xiaodan, or the magic one as his friends call him, was the brain behind their small project. Their topic was the stimulus of fear, dealing with how a simple sound would make the body rattle in fear. Featuring it in mostly white and black, it gave emphasis to the sounds a human ear conceived. There were more that their teacher said, but they would think about those tomorrow.

The stimulus of fear was quite something Liu Xiaodan knew for a long while. It was because he, outside of everyone else's knowledge, could see the paranormal. He would normally avert his gaze when they were around, making sure he would not make eye contact with any. After years of being ostracized for 'making up stories', Liu Xiaodan knew better than to speak of them.

However, it was their voices that he hated. He could never stop hearing their pleas and cries towards him. He would hear a shrill cry in the middle of the night, right there in the darkest alley. He still slept with a pillow covering his head, hoping nothing would be waiting for him to open his eyes at night.

Liu Xiaodan lived a disastrous childhood, but he managed to adjust little by little as he walked away from the world he used to know.

Gurgling sounds occupied his ears as his friends drank to their small victory. He, too, was loud and drunk along with them. It was a Friday after all, and so they were free to welcome the weekend. Just when he thought the whole day was going well, he spotted a child peering from the open door of the restaurant. It was already night, but a six-year-old boy was gazing at them from the door.

His hair was smooth and short with quite a long fringe that could cover his eyes. His skin was porcelain like a ceramic doll. His eyes were dark orange in hue, as from what the magic one could see. He was such a beautiful child.

He then smiled at Liu Xiaodan.

"Ay, Xiaodan! You're doing the thing again!"

The man brought his gaze at one of his friends who was in front of him. He sipped on his beer and gave him a curious look.

"You're staring at nothing again." Wen Taio laughed again as it was a normal occurrence to the other man. "Please tell me you see a pretty girl!"

"What? No," Liu Xiaodan whispered as he waved his free hand to dismiss the thought of his friend. He resumed drinking. He felt pressure was applied to his left thigh, and so he turned a little to see what it was.

Beer soon sprayed on Ruan Jin, the man on the left side of the table from Liu Xiaodan's perspective. The man who got wet protested with a long whine, disgusted by the action. Wen Taio laughed out louder as the last person in the group, Xu Disung, grabbed some tissue to give to Ruan Jin. Of course, he was also laughing.

The only one not making a sound was Liu Xiaodan. He only had the back of his free hand against his mouth with the other hand pressing the beer mug against the table. His eyes were on the space next to him; there was nothing… by then. Earlier, he just saw the same six-year-old touching his thigh as if asking for attention.

"I told you I know you're doing 'it' again." Wen Taio finished laughing as Ruan Jin finished patting his face dry from Liu Xiaodan's beer and spit. He then reached out to tap Xu Disung's shoulder who was standing to dry the part of the table where the beer sprayed as well. "Let him do that. He's closer."

Liu Xiaodan took a deep breath before looking at the mess he's made and at Ruan Jin's angry face. "Sorry, I was just shocked."

"Seriously, what is 'it' this time?" Ruan Jin sighed, shaking his head and dropping the offense.

"I, uhh, don't know. 'It' was too fast." Liu Xiaodan only chuckled for the rest of his answer.

'It' was always uttered during their conversations. 'It' referred to things that randomly happen to Liu Xiaodan that his friends notice, such as sudden freezing and other abrupt behavior. They knew he was weird, but everyone was flawed. Moreover, he was a good bro so they just forgave that part of him. That was why they originally called him the magic one, one that seemed magical in some ways.

Oddly enough, the night continued as if nothing bothered them.

The four students were supposed to go home altogether, but Liu Xiaodan suddenly made an excuse to go back for something. He did not really forget something behind; he just chose not to walk the path home with his bros… because the dark-haired child was following him.

Taking the long way from the restaurant to their dorm, Liu Xiaodan tried to lose the child. He never liked the idea of having a ghost inside their dorm… well, in addition to those who were living in it before he did. Then again, the boy was always steps behind him; sometimes, he would even tug on Liu Xiaodan's sleeve. Noticing something unfamiliar, Liu Xiaodan stopped at an alley and turned to face the child.

He stared at it as the boy stared back at him. He then sighed and asked in his indoor voice to not catch attention from somewhere else, "Okay, what is it that you want?"

"I want to be born." The kid's answer was short and precise. However, it was vague and confusing.

"Since you're not noisy like the rest, I'm going to entertain you." Liu Xiaodan sighed before scratching his head. "What do you mean you want to be born? Just go back down there and get reborn. Problem solved."

The kid shook his head. "I want to be born here. Through you." He pointed at the man who stepped back. His small finger then adjusted, still pointing at Liu Xiaodan's nether region.

The man reached out to touch the child's cold hand and point it away from him. "No. Look, let's be clear. I am not a woman. I can't get you 'born', okay?"

Smash! A loud thwack came from the deeper part of the alley where they were standing. It sounded like glass being broken—probably a bottle or something not that common. The ghost kid grabbed the man's sleeve and hid behind him.

A group of men emerged from the alley, making Liu Xiaodan and the ghost step back. However, they spread around them as if surrounding him.

"What do we have here? Some weird guy talking about weird things with a kid. That's kinda nice." The man who spoke revealed the broken glass he had at hand. He then walked close to them and used it to gesture at the two. "So? Who wants to get killed? Who wants to die?"

Liu Xiaodan had to pull his head back, avoiding the awful smell coming from the man's mouth. He had drunk alcohol himself, but he was still conscious enough to be bothered by someone else's breath. Then again, he noticed something amiss. The thug was gesturing to two people; he could see the ghost as much as Liu Xiaodan could.

"I don't have time for you," the kid spoke from behind Liu Xiaodan. "Let me talk to my father alone."

"Father?" The thug scrutinized Liu Xiaodan as much as his faulty vision could, pretty sure that the man before him was only around his early twenties. He then laughed, followed by his friends. He gestured at the college student. "This piece of shit is a father after high school! This piece of shit is a father after high school!"

Before he could finish laughing, he tried to hurl at Liu Xiaodan with the bottle. However, his arm moved differently and struck at his own face instead. The college guy gasped as loud as the friends did, only for another one of them to slit his own throat using the blade he was holding. Liu Xiaodan ducked and covered himself as the group around him started going down one by one.

Soon, a weak tug came to his sleeve again. Liu Xiaodan turned to his side and saw the kid smiling at him. He then looked around, seeing no traces of what happened earlier… but the blood pooling around him. He screamed as he hopped out of the blood's range, the kid running to catch up with him. He stopped as he realized the kid was still following him.

Liu Xiaodan pointed at the bloodbath at a distance, speaking with quite a breaking voice. "Did you do that? Where are the bodies?"

"I can give you a part of my power, but you have to find me a mother." He smiled again. "I want to be born, Baba."

"But…" he looked at the blood up ahead and then back to the kid. For some reason, he talked to the wrong spirit. Now, his friends might be the next set of people dead and gone if he defied him. Perhaps this was the reason why this spirit could not be reborn.

He took a deep breath. "Okay, but you have to promise me… that one, you are not going to appear in front of anyone I know; two, you are not going to hurt anyone…"

The next set of words got caught on the tip of his tongue, but he decided to say them anyway.

"Unless I say so."

...

Minutes later, Liu Xiaodan made it home and alarmed his roommates with all the blood covering him. He said he ended up running into a movie shoot and got bathed in fake blood. Seeing that there was nothing to worry about, the roommates only smacked the poor Liu Xiaodan's head before pushing him into the bathroom.

He washed off the blood from his body as his clothes whirred in the machine. Liu Xiaodan kept on scrubbing as he was wary of being doused with someone else's blood. Not that he was disgusted by blood, but it was because he was allergic to it. Though the blood did not go into his streams, there were times that he would get hives in the area where someone else's blood dripped. It was weird, but it was how it was for him.

After the bath and the laundry, Liu Xiaodan crept into his bed on the lower bunk, enduring the snoring of the man above him. The man nestled himself in the comfort of his sheets, only to see the kid ghost sleeping in that small area he was not using.

It was dark in his spot, and so the kid's face glowed because of his ghastly skin tone. He only looked human where there was light, Liu Xiaodan thought.

Then again, the kid was sleeping soundly. If only he did not slaughter six men in the streets earlier, Liu Xiaodan would still believe the spirit was completely harmless and cute to have around.

His eyes then closed, and he started remembering the happenings minutes ago. Did someone else see what happened? Where did he take the bodies? How well could he trust the kid? Questions plagued the man, but he kept his eyes closed.

Before he could feel rested, the first ray of sunlight seeped into the room.