Have you ever seen a ghost? Well I'm not sure if I did. It was impossible for his presence to be there but yet, I don't know. I guess I'll tell you my story and then let you decide if it was a ghost or not.

It all started one afternoon when I was staying at my mother's house. Let me tell you first about my family. My mom lived in an old house in the province. The house was century old, passed down from generations to generations. My mom inherited it from her father since she was an only child. I remembered growing up there and having fond memories of childhood. My parent's had three children.  Isaac was the eldest, followed by Olga and then me. I know, we had names taken from other nationalities. Blame my father for it. Anyway, tragedy struck us when I was 16 years old. My brother, a high spirited boy of 18 had a freak accident while out hunting with his friends. He was shot at the back of his head, dead on the spot. According to Waldo, his best friend, they were spread out in the woods when he spotted this large black cat crawling slowly over dead leaves and twigs. It was late afternoon and the sun was about to set. He said he was sure it was an animal so he took the shot. Only to find seconds later the body of my brother, lifeless with a hole in his head.

Anyway, after that, I moved out of the house. My Father died a year later from an artery in the head that exploded. Or so the doctor said. My sister got pregnant and didn't want to marry her boyfriend. So she stayed with mom and they both raised her kid, my niece Bianca. As for me, I made good here in Las Vegas after joining Koehler's family and now working with Seeyara. But when Seeyara doesn't need me, I usually visit my mom and my sister.

So okay back to my story. It happened one afternoon in my mom's place. I was visiting them and had been there on my second day. Mom was in the den, sewing a sweater for my niece Bianca. My sister Olga headed out to buy food and milk. She asked me to watch Bianca for her, and I said yes. Bianca was 6 years old and she's not a handful. I left Bianca in the living room coloring some animal on a piece of paper that my sister gave her. I went to the porch to smoke. Mom hated it when I smoked indoors. After a couple of minutes, I threw the cigarette and went back inside. I found Bianca dancing and singing. When I heard what she was singing, the hairs on my body rose and I stood frozen to where I was. I asked her slowly who taught her that song.

She answered "He says you know him Uncle Hiro!" That got me really scared. I called my mom who came running down. I asked Bianca to sing the song again and she did while my mom listened.

"Hush, Hush, Hush, Here Comes The Bogey Man...." Me and my mom stared at each other. It was impossible for Bianca to know that song. Unless my sister Olga taught her. But I'm pretty sure Olga wouldn't be able to imitate the dance step. You see, Isaac, my dead brother used to sing that song to tease me and Olga when we were little. Instead of getting frightened, all three of us would end up laughing as we watched Isaac dancing weird while singing the Boogey Man song.

Bianca then stopped then tells my mom, "He said he misses you all, specially you grandma." This brought out tears from my mother's eyes. Olga also cried when we told her what happened when she came back.
 

Anyway, that's my ghost story. Yeah, I haven't seen the ghost of my brother Isaac, but I did feel it. How bout you, have you seen a ghost?

Ilammo was enjoying his warm glass of milk when Akihiro, who was seated on the table right across him, started talking to the empty stool to his left. This struck Ilammo as weird behaviour and listened to what he had to say. Throughout the whole 'conversation', Akihiro's gaze was focused on the unseen figure which was presumably seated on the unoccupied stool. When he started to talk about the boogey man, Ilammo started to feel uneasy. Ilammo decided to leave when Akihiro finally turned to him and said,

"... How bout you, have you seen a ghost?"

I can't help but laugh when the man who was supposed to be sitting on the table right across me in the streets, drinking his milk, suddenly left. He disappeared all of a sudden from the street where I was telling my story, along with his chair, table and a glass of milk.

"I didn't mean to scare you good sir!"

Walking past a rather distraught-looking man, someone who looked like they'd just seen a ghost, Alison wondered what could've possibly made him look so scared. As she was pondering what could've happened to him, she saw a familiar face, one she'd gotten used to seeing around the headquarters- their Right Hand Man, Akihiro.

Smiling politely before taking a seat beside the older man, Alison tilted her head and asked a question. "Did you see that guy over there? He looked like he was scared, weirded out or something." She murmured, still wondering what could've gotten a grown man that freaked out. Snapping out of her daze, she faced Akihiro once more. "So what're you doing here?" She said before ordering a cup of tea and lighting a cigarette.

Seeyara laughed when he saw one of the customer inside got scared of Akihiro's confession about ghost. She shook her head as she approached AlisonAllport and sat beside her. 

"Well, this man, scared the hell out of that handsome man you bumped into. Asking about ghost and stuff." She said while smiling. "Oh ghost. I had encountered a couple of them when I was still with Koehler, inside that old Evolution headquarters." Seeyara signaled for a cup of iced mocha latte before continuing. "One midnight, I walked home, a bit dizzy after a few drinks I had on a date with a green-eyed man. I walked inside, shoo my bags on the couch and slammed my body next to it. Then I heard a loud scream. A girl. Yes. I clearly remember how she screamed. I can sense her pain. So I walked inside, trying to figure things, like where is the sound maybe coming from. The cry was all over the place that adds more confusion to me. Then minutes after, it turned into a witch's laughter that sends shiver into my body. Scary at it may sound, I put all my courage together and walked towards the basement where I did hear it louder as I come nearer but then, Koehler grabbed me, away from that place. I didn't noticed that he was following me. And for the second time around, he locked me inside the bathroom, hearing the sound of the ghost lady and the water drops all night. I begged but he never listened. This is the ghost in my past, still haunting me. Who was that lady and why do Koehler loves to locked me inside that bathroom. Questions only he can answer." Seeyara sipped her coffee as she stared blankly outside with those questions still on her mind.

Alison's eyes widened with fear. "T-there's a ghost in Evolution HQ? B-but I l-loved that place! And about Koehler... what the hell was that all about? If only he was here to explain." She said with a sigh, her shaky hands reach for the cigarette between her lips, putting the blaze out before clearing her throat.

"If you don't mind me sharing, I have a story of my own." She took a sip of her tea before continuing. "It was about a year ago, when I was still in New York and in university. It was a hell week for us pre-law students-- we barely slept and basically ran on coffee and coffee alone. We were all basically losing our minds trying to study and digest as much cases as we could before the finals, to the point some were even hospitalized due to hallucinations and dizziness due to lack of sleep and fatigue." She explained. "That whole week was... weird. Everything seemed... off."

With a shiver running through her spine, she continued. 

"Monday. It was 2AM and I was reading up on a case about a man who broke into his victim's homes, strangled them and then drowned them in their own bathtubs. I was trying to make a report on it when I heard something come from my bathroom-- like waterfalls. I tried to ignore it at first, probably just my imagination, I thought... but after a few minutes it got unbearable, so I got up and peeked inside the comfort room and saw water... everywhere. Pouring out of my tub. The whole place was just... flooded. But I just thought that I forgot to turn it off. I shrugged it off-- after all, I do open the faucet sometimes and forget to come back to it... maybe it just slipped my mind. But I could've sworn... I could've sworn I shut the water off." 

"Tuesday. The only day I caught sleep- an hour and 30 minutes of slumber, to be exact. When I woke up, I had a long gash on my thigh. I didn't notice it the night before, it didn't hurt, but the way it looked-- long, red, and menacing, it made me wonder where I got it, and it got me concerned. So I called over a pre-med friend to look at it. What's scary was... she said there was nothing there. No bruise, no wound, nothing. I just told her I was kidding so I wouldn't look insane, but sometimes when I look down... I still see the blood."

"Wednesday. I had to go to the library, and stay late for my readings. It was around 11:50, a few minutes shy of closing time. There was only one girl sitting in front of me, and she was just staring at a wall. She had long blonde hair and a pretty white dress on. I ignored her because I had a lot of reading to do before the library closed, but something about her freaked me out, something about the way she looked at the nothingness... Anyway, my pen fell to the floor so I had to get it under the desk I was seated at. While I was under there, I peeked over to where the girl was sitting and noticed she had no shoes on, and that her feet were dirty and bloody. The hem of her dress was all torn and spoiled with blood as well. As I got up, alarmed, I realized she wasn't there anymore."

"Thursday. One day before the exam-- I was at the dorm and I was tearing my hair out trying to memorize and cram everything in a night when I heard a knock. You see, my dorm door has this sort of translucent glass thing where you can see the silhouette of the people outside. The guy who knocked was tall, more than 6 feet, and thin-looking. He then started knocked violently, like someone who needed to get inside. Scared, I just called 911 and hoped the door wouldn't break or shatter. When the police got there, he wasn't there anymore. We rewinded the footage from the security cameras in the dorm and saw that the knocks were coming from inside the room, not outside."

"Friday. I was pretty distraught from everything that's been happening, but I had an exam from 11AM to 4PM. My head had been hurting all throughout, but I managed to finish it. Right as I was passing my paper, I fainted. Like legitimately fainted in front of the class and my professor. When I woke up, they told me I had a psychotic break. I'd been hallucinating for the past week and I had to take a week off of school and get counselling ever since."

Alison caught her breath after the long story. "Even though it made sense that it was a psychotic break-- I had no sleep and was severely unhealthy at the time-- I still have a feeling it wasn't my health that messed with me that week. It was something else. Something paranormal. And I just can't shake the feeling that it's still with me. That it's.... near me. Right... next to us." She said, looking them both dead in the eye before cracking a laugh.

"I'm just kidding. I made everything up to give you two a little scare. Things were getting too intense."  She said with a grin, hoping they wouldn't kill her. Alison Allport-- always the prankster.

"OUCH!" I yelped in pain. Seeyara punched my ear. I shook my head trying to remove the ringing in my left ear. The she shoved me to the floor.

"Why the hell did you hug me!" She screamed at me, ready to punch me one more time.

I tried to stand up while backing away from her. "Blame Alison! I got scared and didn't know what I was doing. I guess I just needed a hug!"

She then went back to her seat and warned me "Keep your distance Akihiro!"

I grabbed another chair and sat a few feet away from them. "Okay no more hugging." I made my promise which settled Seeyara down.

"I remember sensing some weird shit at Evolution HQ. But after investigating a couple of em, there were rational explanations after all. Like the noise in the kitchen at midnight was just Arakis making a huge sandwich and didn't want to share it with anyone. Or that time when I saw a shadow entering the ladies room, only to find out Greg shaving his legs."

I took out a cigarette and shuddered remembering the sight of the Unicorn Lord with foam on both legs.

The thought of seeing the man again was enough to send chills down Ilammo's spine, but he had to go back and retrieve his coat at the shop. Upon entering the door, He noticed that the man was now accompanied by two ladies. Suddenly, the man tried to hug the lady to his right, only to get smacked right in the ear. Sensing that trouble might be brewing, Ilammo approached them.

"Hello ma'am, I'm sorry but is he troubling the both of you?" Ilammo said while gazing at the man, now rubbing his ear.

Seeyara's eyes widened as she listened intently to AlisonAllport. She shivered as Ali continues her story but still acting cool until she heard her laughed so hard. "What a prankster!" Seeyara said. She was about to hit Ali on her head when suddenly Akihiro hugged her. NO ONE EVER HUG A GODDESS! Her reflex was fast and she hit Akihiro like a true ninja. 

She settled down and grabbed her drink, cooling her system down. "Well, I knew Arakis was the one making noise inside the kitchen. One time, he was beaten because he left nothing inside our food storage room." Seeyara crossed her feet as she continues. "Greg_giovanni was caught shaving his legs?" Seeyara laughed so hard while hitting the table. "Well, I can believe that, after all the Unicorn Lord truly fancied his legs so much." 

Seeyara turned her gaze to the man who suddenly approached them. It was the scared man. She smiled at him before answering. "Oh, well mister, this guy is really a nuisance, we are used to him, thank you for your concern." Seeyara said then smirked at Akihiro. "Are you back to scare us, and get even?" Seeyara asked the guy then took another sip on her coffee.

The man I unintentionally scared awhile ago came back. I did not notice the jacket he left behind. I smiled at him, trying no to scare him anymore.

"Why don't you take a seat. My name's Akihiro. The ladies are Seeyara and Alison!" I said, introducing the three of us.

"We were just hanging out, exchanging ghost stories. How bout you? I'm sure you have a ghost story or two." I offered him a seat so he could join us.

"Oh I see, if that's how he is then it's fine by me," Ilammo responded to the lady.

After the guy, Akihiro, introduced himself and the other two ladies at the table, Ilammo replied,"It's nice to meet you, I am Ilammo. I'm not from around here, but I call Chicago home. Ghost story huh? I do indeed have one." Ilammo looked around before clearing his throat and started.

"I was in the military before becoming involving myself in the life of crime. We had a basketball court right outside our bunks. It was always rumoured that the court was haunted by some kind of spirit." Ilammo took out a flask from his jacket, took a swig before resuming.

"This guy, let's call him Richard, was housed in Bunk A. He had to walk through four bunks ( B - E ) just to go to the restroom. Its a common practice for guys to look away from the court and into the bunks instead when walking through the corridor, for fear of seeing something that they don't really want to see. It was 3am in the morning and Richard woke up, needing to use the restroom. He wanted to hold it in till morning, but he's quite sure it wont hold for that long. Putting on his flip flops, he exited his bunk and walked with great urgency. He was one of the few who didn't believed in the rumor. While walking, he turned and look at the court, only to be greeted with an eerie sight. There was a black figure, jumping from one end of the court to the other end. His mind wentblank. Not wanting to believe what he just have seen, he walked towards restroom with whilst facing the bunks. He was passing Bunk E, the last bunk before he reached the restroom when it happened. He noticed that the door was opened, but didnt put much thought into it. He walked past the door and looked inside, only to have a pale white figure with long hair and red piercing eyes staring back at him." Ilammo paused for a moment.

"He was found when the rest of the guys woke up, right outside Bunk E covered in his own piss. When Richard finally gained conciousness, he kept repeating this story to anyone who would listen. A day later, he was transferred out. That was the last that anyone heard of Richard."

Ilammo looked at his three new acquaintance in the eyes before saying, "So now, you do believe in ghost?" 

"M-maybe he was just.. dreaming or... something." Alison said, trying to find a reasonable explanation for what happened to Richard. As someone doesn't believe in ghosts, she was genuinely freaked out by Ilammo's story, and didn't want to believe it although something in her gut told her it was true.

Taking another sip of her tea, she gathers her things before sliding off the stool. It was getting late and she didn't want to have a real ghost story to talk about. "It was a pleasure sharing stories with you all, but I'm afraid I must make my exit now, before I get too scared to the point of putting my hands over my eyes and shaking uncontrollably." She said with a small laugh. "Enjoy the rest of the night, don't let the ghosts and monsters bite."

"Hey Alison, your house sits besides a basketball court right?" I said, trying to scare her. But knowing Alison, she would get back at me for it. Ilammo's story gave me the creeps.

"Now that's a great ghost story! I wonder what kind of evil lurked in that place. Usually, a place gets haunted if it was a scene of past violence or if it's filled with strong negative emotions in order to tell the story of that area to living humans which is why these deceased entities tend to haunt places that are the source of their personal pain and sufferings since they want others to know of their own story in that location." I was then surprised at what I said. I guess I know a lot about ghosts.

"Hell, I'm being a nerd. Let's finish our drinks and get the hell out of here. Seeyara, will walk me home."