The Family

The man stroked his chin, aware of Dawn looking at his face.

"Luckily, I had time to shave before the incident happened. I will have this handsome face forever, right?"

Dawn pulled his lips, the man was very narcissistic but he had a pleasant, cheerful personality even though he knew what had happened to him.

Dawn looked away, looking at the window where the curtains were wide open. By noon. The weather was quite sunny that day. Although not as bright as other summer days, it was a good day among other days in the rainy season. He remembered how horrible the little girl's face was. She must have been a very sweet girl when she was alive, with such adorable clothes and dolls. She shouldn't have ended like that.

"Are you thinking about that girl?" asked the man. Dawn squeezed his fingers.

"Is it, so miserable?" he asked.

The man frowned, Dawn's voice was so small he almost didn't hear what he was asking.

"What?" he asked.

Dawn turns his gaze back. The spirit in front of him should be, like the spirits he was used to seeing, dark and cold. But, instead, he looked so bright and warm. Does, the purification he did on him manage to free him from all the evil spirits that were attached to him?

He hasn't done it since several years ago. Five years ago while out with his school friends, he was trapped in a cinema filled with restless spirits of people who died when the building caught fire. He even still remembers how they screamed trying to get out of that place. There were at least twenty spirits that he purified at that time, and after that, Dawn had to lie in the hospital unconscious for three days. Since then, both Pops and Emily forbade him from approaching them. He did not think that his hands could provide peace to the bound restless spirits. He had that, since his whole life he could remember.

"How did it feel, when you, came out of your body, and, attract all the evil spirits to devour you?" Dawn asked.

The man looked at Dawn for a long moment, then lowered his head, grinning.

"Hemh, well, at first, everything was very confusing and didn't accept the reality of how everything could happen. This must be just a dream, denial after denial until all the uncontrollable anger comes. As time goes by, everything gets harder, like someone who is drunk, their vision becomes blurry and they lose their identity. I think that's when those spirits came to stick with me." The man looked around him. All over the room.

"They are the emotional spirits left by the restless" Dawn answered, looking around him.

Dawn could see what the man saw, several emotional spirits, spirits left by the restless souls. They often floated under the ceiling, wherever Dawn could see them, and this house held so many remnants of floating spirits. In normal conditions, the spirit was nothing more than black dark smoke without life, floating anywhere, even in the bodies of animals that have long died and are almost skeletons. They accumulate energy by merging with other remaining emotional spirits and look for opportunities to attach themselves to intact vessel spirits. 

Their nature is negative, always looking for death wherever they are, and every death does not escape their knowledge. Even the spirits of people who died naturally have these negative qualities. It's just how strongly the negative traits attract them to stick.

This man just died due to unnatural causes, possibly murder or suicide. It made the negative traits in his spirit so strong that it attracted many remnant spirits to eat him. Dawn felt that the man's spirit was very strong, if he was attached to an emotional spirit for longer, he could become a very strong evil spirit. Strangely enough, now, none of the emotional spirits tried to approach the man again. This man seems to have managed to find his true identity and become aware of his own soul. Is that, cause him able to touch him?

.....

Even though Emily forbade Dawn from approaching the little child's spirit, he still tried to look for it. In a moment, Emily will look for him to take him to the clinic, and when they get back, the little girl's family will no longer be there. He had to do it now, whatever it was, he couldn't let the child be trapped in a group of negative spirits that turn her into an evil spirit.

The 'man' followed him, unlike Dawn, he didn't need to hide to help Dawn see whether there was someone in front of him or not. He had to pass through several funeral rooms to reach the third room and make sure that neither Emily nor Pops was there. The man raised his hand to tell Dawn that he could come out of the wall and go to the room he was going to.

At first, the ghost didn't want to help him. But Dawn thought he was going to need him badly. So the ghost offers him some help, in return for Dawn's. Dawn, who didn't have much time to consider, finally agreed.

Dawn stopped to hiding behind the door when he saw Emily come out of the room, it seemed like her business was done there. After ensuring that the situation was safe, he left his place.

The moment he left his place, Dawn stopped in his position. He had just taken a step out and saw a figure with black smoke floating above his body. A young man about the same age as him. Dawn looked around. There were only a few people in the room. The young man's family was not large. There was a beautiful woman who was probably the young man's mother. Bowing down and crying in front of the coffin, welcoming several guests who came to mourn to see the body before the coffin was closed. A man, rather old, was standing not far behind the woman. Dawn clenched his hands which were still holding the wall, should he go in and ask? He raised his face and suddenly, the young man was in front of him. The aura emitted from Dawn's body clearly attracted any spirits to approach him. Dawn's body odor was that of lotus flowers that spread in the air, spirits from several meters away could clearly feel him immediately.

Dawn wouldn't see him. The figure who was right in front of him now. But, how could he do that? But, where is that little girl? Why she wasn't in the room?

The young man's spirit was inaudible. But he seemed to ask Dawn if he could see him. Slowly, Dawn turned around, seeing a pair of dark eyes looking right at him.

Not long after, Dawn was sitting on a park bench with the young man, 'man' whose name he didn't know until now. He was standing not far behind the long bench from where he was. The back garden was very peaceful, with a gentle breeze blowing some of the leaves that grew thickly on the large trees that grew along the back fence. The wind also blows the surface of the fish pond making some small ripples.

Before long, the young man's spirit disappeared. Dawn turned his head, seeing the young man's family having other guests. Many youths the same age as that spirit were coming to pay their condolences. They might be college friends, like what the young man said.

The 'man' approached Dawn, sitting beside him.

"He died of illness, unlike the girl's spirit, he didn't hold any grudges. But, did he really not know that the girl was around him? Strange, the little girl was following him, I could still feel the evil spirit around the room. It must be her, right?" said the man.

Dawn was still looking at the group of young people queuing to enter the funeral home to go to room three where the young man was laid to rest. That's right, there wasn't much he could ask him. He died because of the illness he suffered, this spirit has a small level of consciousness, part of his soul has left, leaving behind a few bounds that will soon follow some of his soul to leave. 

Spirits like this usually disappear within a few days, some quickly and some not. But he had no attachment as if he had already prepared himself, waiting for the time to die. Dawn returned his gaze to the front. Looking up at the sky, the light was starting to dim. The wind caressed his cheek gently, its voice passed beside his ear smoothly. A handful of small willow leaves blew towards him, some sticking to the top of his hair.

Dawn looked at his hair, he was just about to raise his hand to grab the small leaf when someone preceded him.

"Look at this leaf, so naughty"