CHAPTER VI: HELLO

MIDNIGHTS were usually for editing and non-stop reviewing of photos for Akira, but not on Thursdays and Fridays.

Well… not since Gian had known the truth about the eye, anyway.

It stemmed from a very unfortunate event of a homeless man lying face-down in a pool of his own blood in the street, after being hit by a speeding delivery truck.

Akira could picture it clear as day: she was riding a bus home and the massive vehicle struggled to pass through the bottleneck path caused by the accident. There were authorities, medics, and gossips scattered all over, as if they cared about this man when he was alive and provided him loose change just so he could fill his belly.

Akira initially felt sorry for this poor soul. She knew that people crowded around this death not because they cared about him, but because this accident was an inconvenience.

The traffic made the bus accelerate slowly. Akira couldn’t take her eyes off the scene not because she was one of the gossips, but because he stood there.

Tattered clothes, blackened teeth, unruly mane… the homeless man was right next to his lifeless body.

And he was staring at Akira.

She broke her gaze and fixed it on the front of the bus instead, silently hoping that the stray didn’t notice her. Expelling a prolonged exhale, she closed her eyes for the whole trip and hurried home.

Akira lied down on the bed alone as Gian worked overtime on Thursdays and Fridays. She for sure thought that this long day would be over the moment her head hit the pillow, but Akira woke up abruptly at 1:00 in the morning.

There was a tapping sound by the front door and she ignored it for the first few times, but this tapping was getting louder and clearer, as if getting closer to the bedroom by the second.

Akira called for Gian but there was no answer. She got up and the cold floor against her bare feet made her shiver.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Akira sluggishly pulled the bedroom door open and right there, inside her home, the homeless man from the accident invited himself in as if Akira’s ability to see the dead was a free-for-all proposal.

“Help me!” he yelled, making Akira step back and trip. “Help me! Help me! Help me!”

She scrambled backwards but the man grabbed her by the feet and Akira almost couldn’t breathe when he managed to get ahold of her.

It was impossible. The dead shouldn’t be able to touch the living.

“Help me! Help me!”

No!

Akira took a sharp breath in and woke up to a fretful Gian, shaking her by the shoulders. She had no choice but to confess that day, and the rest was history.

Gian, being a gem, believed her right away. Didn’t treat her differently, didn’t doubt her at all… didn’t even take interest in the eye when the usual reaction was to be annoyingly inquisitive or worse, frightened.

This was the first time in years that Akira felt scared because of a stray again. The dream was almost too real and she knew it was because it followed her home. Somewhere, in that peaceful apartment, the spirit of the dead man lingered and was waiting for his chance to terrorize Akira again.

She was afraid it would terrorize Gian too.

Akira told her partner of all her methods to drive strays away. Gian wasn’t against the idea of her going back to smoking if it would bring her security. He even went as far as volunteering to give up his overtime shifts but Akira insisted that he didn’t, because his career growth was just as important as hers.

They put their heads together and struggled to sort things out, and when Akira heard about a part-time job vacancy nearby set in the graveyard shift, it was as if all the stars in the universe finally aligned for her.

They pumped the unit full of frankincense smoke to clear it, and then Akira began with her part-time job so she wouldn’t be left alone while Gian’s at work.

In the present, Akira moved along the sidewalk in long strides, making a right turn by the all too familiar light post attached with an olden green sign.

Luntian Street is typically busy but it gradually turns peaceful when the clock strikes 10:00pm, metal shutters rolling down with a bang one by one as the neighboring shops and eateries prepare to close, and the night falls deeper with every minute.

Akira strutted faster when she spotted the only bright light left illuminating the concrete and asphalt floor. She was near the double glass doors of Luntian Street’s 7-Eleven – the one store that’s open at this ungodly hour – when a smiling Kuya Sonny waved to greet and pulled one door open for her to enter.

“Thank you po.” Akira smiled back.

Harrison Obrero or Kuya Sonny, as everyone in the store addressed him, is the security guard on duty during Akira’s shifts. The two of them composed the whole manpower present from 10:00pm to 2:00am.

Akira figured that the manager was desperate enough to give her half a day’s worth of labor (graveyard shift employees are hard to come by in the area), so another employee will come in later to man the store until noon.

Blank aisles greeted her inside the convenience store. The employees scheduled in the shift before hers were getting ready to go home and she approached them with a smile. They endorsed the keys and a few documents to her, reminding to check the inventory at the back and to always fill up the fridge racks.

It wasn’t so bad, the job. Akira’s shift just composed of endless checking and phone-scrolling. It was the most uneventful time of day. Sometimes she brought her laptop with her to handle her day job since it provided her a ton of free time.

Akira was in the midst of reading the documents when a chime sounded from the entrance, signaling that a customer entered the store.

This lady was beautiful, despite the bloodshot eyes and red nose, and Akira’s eyes followed her until she disappeared into an aisle. Akira barely even noticed the freakishly tall gentleman accompanying her – probably her partner – and they seem like they just got into an argument, judging by the gloomy expressions.

She appeared again a moment later, carrying a steaming-hot coffee cup in her hand to have Akira check it on the counter. The lady was sniffling and the man, with his sad face, walked behind her like a puppy dog asking for treats.

“Would that be all?” Akira pertained to the single coffee cup, and the woman nodded before pulling cash out of her purse. She was still sniffling as she reached for her purchase and then sat down on one of the empty seats.

Akira kept quiet.

The lady settled on the seat with her drink, and Akira finally realized where she had been and why she was in a 7-Eleven at this time of the night.

How could Akira miss it? The lady was dressed nicely from head to toe and the man, sitting wordlessly in front of her, was wearing pajamas.

It only took a few minutes before the woman stood up and threw her cup in the bin, hardly consumed. She left, but the man stayed behind, eyes following her like he was lost and longing for something.

He then glanced at Akira and she accidentally glanced back out of instinct, but Akira quickly kept her composure and looked down on the floor.

“Can you… see me?” He stood up and went to the counter in gigantic strides, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

Akira ignored him and pulled her phone out.

“You looked at me!” he exclaimed and Akira flinched. “You can see me!”

“Dammit.” Akira sighed as he waved his hands in her face and kept yelling like a child on Christmas day.

“Hello? Hello!?”