Chapter: 4

Tania's father confirmed that they heard correctly.

Henry is not dead and he is still alive, "your body is still alive somewhere."

Tania's father returned to his original position.

His spiritual energy also returned to a normal human's energy in a split second.

For a mortal to be able to manipulate and control his power like that, it was a thing Henry never expected to witness.

"The little girl you mentioned, she left a small message by protecting you, and from what I read about your soul colour," the older man snapped his finger, "you're still alive, dead spirit doesn't have energy colour like yours."

So the older man found a protection spell from gods, then he saw Henry's soul was still connected to the world, meaning he was still alive.

Henry looked at the toes of his shoes which looked dirty with dust and mud, his heart was beating fast.

He could feel the pulse in his neck and the pounding of his heart beating against his ribs.

"I- I'm still alive?"

"Maybe the answer you are looking for is your memory and where is your body now," Tania's father's statement made Henry's thoughts swirl and feelings mixed.

Tania seemed to be thinking carefully then stood up suddenly making Henry jump backwards.

"That's it!" Tania shouted excitedly, her hands clenched into fists and one hand on the table, "we have to find it out!"

Henry laughed and smiled happily, he's still alive!

He didn't want to think why his instincts immediately believed in Tania's father whose name he didn't even know but this could be the end of his suffering who couldn't go to heaven or hell.

He suffered so much living as a spirit that seemed to be forever.

This was the end of his misery!

No more loneliness!

No more running from those evil creatures!

No more surviving against the darkness!

He could be free!

He thought that as long as he was a ghost there might come a time when he was picked up by the grim reaper, but then they said he wasn't on their list.

He used to feel so hopeless.

The hope of being released from this middle world was almost gone but now it was coming back.

He had thought he would be trapped forever.

Turned out it wasn't because he was rejected by heaven and hell but because it wasn't time for him to cross those two places yet!

The noise of the opening door of the house made the three of them turn their heads around, seeing four women enter carrying white bags suspected of being groceries.

"Wow, someone brought a boyfriend in!"

There were three women, one looked older than the other three.

Henry believed they were Tania's sister and mother.

A mischievous grin adorned three of the four newly arrived faces, "man, since when did you have a cool boyfriend like this?"

The one with the friendliest face was standing in front of Henry, a small bag filled to the point of being a little unnaturally shaped placed on the floor, the woman began to look closely at Henry's face.

Nodding and looking a bit proud before looking mischievously at Tania, the other two smirked, "she said she didn't have a boyfriend, but once she brought him; Tania immediately introduced him to Daddy!

"Dope! You're cool Tania!"

Henry for some reason blushed and coughed awkwardly.

Tania gazed at her sisters' faces with bored eyes, waiting for them to get down from their hype.

Henry was trapped with cheeks that were red like boiled crabs, making the impression he was Tania's boyfriend.

"Not just handsome but tall too, eh, foreign descent?" The woman with the longest and straight hair joined in and looked up at Henry's brown eyes.

"Whoa, those eyes are sharp, well, your taste is easy to guess," Henry laughed awkwardly, with a sharp gaze and predictable taste; it means that Tania was quite father-complex.

But oh well, to have a father who could have such strong spiritual energy like that, that was amazing.

Henry was whipped too.

Another woman with purple glasses and wavy hair resembling Tania smiled and reached out to Henry, for a moment this young man forgot who he was and shook Tania's sister's hand.

It resembled a family introduction, it lasted until Tania's mother innocently and a little bit irritated asked.

"Where is the man that you all refer to as Tania's boyfriend is?" Tania's three sisters were silent, staring at their confused mother trying to find her youngest child's lover and then looking at Henry who smiled awkwardly and held back his laughter as best he could. Tania just covered her face in shame for the behaviour of her three sisters.

Neither of them realized Henry didn't have any shadows yet.

Margaretta, Tania's mother pouted as she realized that she was the only one who couldn't see him, "Cheating! Tell me where he is standing!" she said curtly as she pulled one of Tania's sisters.

"All of you have to learn again to distinguish between real people and not," said Tania's father, who sighed and shook his head because of the behaviour of his three children who were as stupid as his youngest child.

"Don't just jump to conclusions next time..." said Tania as she heard her sister's exasperated sighs.

Henry laughed, it had been a while since the last time he could laugh as loud as this.

He felt warm.

Nobody noticed the stray tears falling from his eyes, creating a tear track on his cheek.

He felt a slight hope once again bloomed inside his chest.

He still had a chance. He wasn't so doomed at the end.

*

What a unique family, Henry thought.

Tania's family consists of 6 people;

Tania, her father and mother named John and Margaretta. Three older sisters named Lili, the eldest daughter with a very friendly face.

Jessi, the second child with wavy hair like Tania and the last one was Rosalina, a woman with thick straight hair and a little bit cheesy.

Tania herself was so much younger than her sisters.

When Rossa was in her thirties, Tania was still in her eighteen.

Henry himself remembered he was around eighteen but he had been a ghost for years so he must be older than Tania.

Tania's family all have a sixth sense except for Tania's mother, she could only hear Henry's voice but couldn't see at all.

Tania's three sisters also had spiritual energy but none are as strong as Tania's father or as comfortable as Tania.

Henry continued to stand near Tania because the little girl's energy made him feel safe.

"So you don't have any memories?"Lili asked.

Henry nodded.

Oddly, even though he was a spirit, Jessi served him herbal tea in a brown teddy bear mug which he happily accepted.

Rosa sat next to Lili, she looked closely at Henry's face, "oh, yes, he must be introduced to Jecko first."

Jecko?

Who else is this Jecko?

Did Tania have a brother or sister?

Henry had prepared himself to face the next family member, he had met a middle-aged man who could manipulate his spiritual energy freely, three older sisters who could see ghosts and each had their special power.

He could overcome the next hurdle, his face looking very tense as he waited for Rosa to come back from the door to the kitchen, but again he was surprised by them.

Not a fierce older brother or a naughty brother, but a corgi that didn't reach the middle of Henry's calf.

He noticed the bundle of fluff walking towards him.

Seriously ...

You can't be serious-

Tania jumped and hugged Jecko, while Jecko growled at Henry, their pet could see ghosts.

John stroked Jecko's head and said like Jecko could understand human language.

Henry was a friend and as Henry had expected, Jecko seemed to understand then came to Henry.

The dog sniffed him at first before his tail wagged and woofed adorably to the ghost boy.

Henry looked stiffly at Jecko who was sniffing and licking his palms, "he asked to be petted," said Tania, chuckling a little seeing Henry's face that didn't understand.

Henry said 'oh-' and stroked Jecko's head, his fur was soft.

"That's great," said Lili, attracting Henry's attention, "Jecko usually doesn't want to be touched by spirits but you seem to be an exception."

Lili's words made Henry smile shyly and happily, he felt chosen.

Honestly, Henry was quite fond of the dog.

He Liked Jecko's white fur, like snow.

"So where did you meet?" Margaretta asked while stirring her steaming coffee, the top of Margaretta's hair was all white while the bottom part of it was still black.

It was very different from Johan who still looked young with black hair without any white hair, even though he should be older than Margaretta herself.

If her face didn't look this young, Henry would undoubtedly believe Margaretta to be Tania's grandmother.

"Near the block, then I followed Tania to the book bazaar," replied Henry.

Tania hurriedly covered her mouth in panic.

"Why-" Henry asked, confused.

"Bazaar?" Rosa asked with a slightly high tone, "tomorrow is your final exam, right?!"

"Oops, I'm being scolded," Tania muttered, still covering Henry's mouth with both hands.

Henry laughed amusedly when Lili tugged at Tania's ear and Rosa started to lecture at length about Tania who was too relaxed.

It was an interesting spectacle to see the younger sister being scolded by her siblings.

"Well, Henry," John's voice made Henry almost jump off the bench.

"Yes, Uncle?" he replied with a bit of nervousness.

John made him feel intimidated, the last encounter with the older man's power was still .... traumatic.

Like when you meet your principal, even if you don't break any rules, you still feel tense, right?

"Let this old man guess a thing or two," John spoke in a small voice.

His face always seemed serious even though he probably didn't mean to be that serious, "you feel comfortable with Tania, don't you? Not just because Tania can see you right?"

Henry blinked a few times, then agreed to John's words without a second thought.

He felt compatible with Tania, not like a ghost clinging to humans to take their life energy or just approaching them because he could see spirits, but he felt comfortable like the feeling of a calm child with his mother, or maybe more.

"I also felt her lighting up..... Illuminating me," Henry added.

John seemed to understand what Henry was explaining, he seemed to be able to see anywhere and understands many things.

For a moment this made Henry a little scared, "well, it's better to stay close to Tania because you have been near her from the start, and also after entering this house you will be the target of the evil spirits outside."

It turns out that Johan was quite attentive to the strange spirit that suddenly came and followed his kid, Henry's perspective changed slightly.

"Tania is still small and inexperienced, but after Lili, she is the most talented and so are you..."

John was silent for a while as if considering whether to tell Henry more or not, "you are strong too."

Johan decided to tell the continuation, Henry felt a little proud when he was mentioned to be strong by John.

"Behave when you're in here," the old man warned. Henry gulped.

"I will!"

Henry returned to watch the fight that was taking place, Tania got up from her seat.

"Don't worry, you can nag again if my grades are bad," Tania sounded very annoyed but not angry, the faces of her three sisters looked annoyed because they couldn't argue with Tania.

They could only sigh deeply at his sister's behaviour.

Tania chuckled triumphantly.

Henry noticed the stairs leading to the second floor, he followed Tania to the second floor.

The second floor consisted of five rooms, in contrast to the lower floor which consisted of four large rooms.

The room which was believed to be Tania's room was at the far end of the corridor, the room with a large window in the middle.

The books were neatly arranged on a tall bookshelf that almost reached the bedroom ceiling.

The second floor's ceiling wasn't as high as the first floor, it was only natural that the downstairs felt comfy because of the good air circulation or maybe because of something else Henry doesn't want to know.

(since Jecko, he was starting to suspect there was no normal thing in Tania's house, he even started to think the table in the living room had consciousness too).

"Don't be surprised, my house is not luxurious," said Tania who took out the book she bought earlier.

"No, it's comfortable. I feel that my original house is even uglier than this," replied Henry.

The ghost was lying on Tania's bed, a single bed with coloured sheets. Pastel.

"Why are you so sure, it could turn out that you are the son of a rich man," Tania argued, "my instincts tell me that you are the son of a rich man who likes to race wildly and keeps crashing and ends up in a coma in a well-known hospital."

"You read the novel too much," replied Henry.

He enjoyed playing with the panda doll near Tania's bed, the alien doll with a love-shaped head caught his attention next, "maybe a familiar accident, the family that hit me feeling guilty and continues to bear my hospital fees."

"My instinct says my family wouldn't be able to pay for the hospital with money out of their pocket, no, they wouldn't be willing to spend that kind of money to keep me alive."

"You're ... Do you hate your life that badly...?" Tania's tone contained a hint of pity, it wasn't about Henry claiming to be poor but how pessimistic Henry's view of his family was about him.

He began to feel Henry was a very pessimistic person in his life.

Did he want to go back to his life, to begin with?

"Tomorrow do you have a test?" Tania pouted again.

"You're smart huh?" asked Henry.

"No, just lucky to go to a school where the students are all lazy and in the most class ... Less intelligent," Tania shrugged.

Henry was sure she was trying to find words that didn't end up calling his friend dumb.

Henry chose to watch videos from Tania's cellphone when she decided to study until the afternoon.

He had gone around the house and found a special room for altars and prayer equipment, it seemed that they were indeed a family that had passed down supernatural powers.

They talked about it later after Tania finished her assignments.

"Yes, indeed, my father had spiritual power from generation to generation," Tania answered.

"Do you know something like Onmyoudo?" Ask Tania,

"Onm- what? That spiritual power that came from Japan?" said Henry,

"Yes, that, in a nutshell, Onmyōdō is Japanese esoteric cosmology, a fusion of natural science and the occult. Onmyōji is based on Chinese philosophy, Wu Xing and Yin and Yang, introduced to Japan in the 6th century. This practice is influenced by Taoism, Buddhism and Shinto. Onmyōji can also mean destroyer or seal Yokai. That is a mythological monster in Japanese legend. "explained Tania, reading the explanation on the screen of her cellphone. Wikipedia was very versatile.

"So your dad-"

"You could say Onmyouji, something similar."

"I see."

"I'm not sure but those supernatural phenomenons are normal things, I have been encountering them since I was a little kid."

Henry makes the letter O with his mouth again and sits in front of the fan, Tania's house has no air conditioning except in the living room where they usually gather.

A moment of jealousy suddenly appeared from inside Henry, he realized he longed for the warmth of such a family.

"Tomorrow, after I get home from the exam," Tania said, pulling Henry from his daydream, "we'll try to investigate your problem," continued Tania while handing her a strawberry flavoured pocky box.

Henry took it but didn't take it, you know the food used for offerings?

Some levels of invisible creatures can pick it up and eat it but not eat it. They take the essence or air of the existence of the food, but not all spirits were lucky to enjoy the taste of the food.

Most of them were unable to pick it up, let alone touch it. They would end up penetrating the food.

"We call them the hungry ones," Tania said.

"Bound by fate to be forever tormented by the thirst and hunger, they were the ones who suffered the most in the ghost realm"

In Henry's case, it's probably because he was still half human and half spirit.

"Okay," Henry said.

Choosing to believe Tania even though the possibility of finding a body without memory was close to impossible but worth a try right?

Tania smiled a little and let the pocky wrapper remain on her study table, she got up and took clothes from the closet in the corner of the room.

Henry looked away, respecting Tania's privacy.

Suddenly Tania's cell phone rang.

A chat notification suddenly appeared and it said the name 'Thomas K'.

"There's a chat from Thomas K," he felt annoyed when Tania's face turned happy.

A sweet smile etched on her face when she grabbed the silver cell phone and immediately opened the chat in seconds.

Henry snorted in annoyance and went back to eating the pocky on the table.

"Your real secret boyfriend?"

Tania's originally happy face returned to normal, the cellphone was thrown on the bed roughly.

Before Henry could ask Tania spoke, "he just wanted to ask about social service issues," said Tania, "and he's not my boyfriend, been rejected."

Tania's last words made Henry both happy and sorry, wanting to ask more questions but Tania had already left and slammed the door.

High school love doesn't always have a happy ending.

Not long after Tania came out, the bedroom door opened and Margaretta, Tania's mother, entered.

"Henry?" Henry smiled hearing Tania's mother's tone which was thick with a local accent.

Her face was trying to find him, looking for Henry's figure even though Henry was right in front of her.

"Yes, I'm here," said Henry.

Margaretta smiled a little, "what a pity," said Margaretta as she walked closer to Henry's voice.

"Pity?" Henry asked curiously.

Margaretta sat right next to Henry.

"Your voice sounds so cool, and Tania's sister said that your face is also very handsome," Margaretta said.

Henry could feel his face turning red because of that frank compliment, luckily Margaretta couldn't see it now so he didn't have to cover his face in shame.

"T-Thank you," he replied.

Marga nodded, "I've heard of your problem, at first I thought you were the one of them who needed a way to open the gate to the after-world, but it turned out to be quite complicated."

Margaretta's face looked quite worried, Henry cleared his throat.

"Please don't give up," Marga said, "I know you can do it."

"My family often helps supernatural beings and I hope this time too, Tania could help you."

"Just, don't give up."

"Have faith."

Margaretta stroked the bed because she couldn't caress Henry, trying to encourage the poor young man, "You can relax here, Uncle John, it may be quite scary indeed."

Henry laughed because his wife admitted it, "but if you are really good and deserve to be helped, we will help as much as we can."

"My instinct said you will find the solution soon."

"I was rarely mistaken."

Henry chose to believe what she said.