Hosts and Ghosts

"Err...emm......Argh! You win. I thought I could make you give up but you beat me." He signed, "As I promise, I will let Jay go."

"That's good....." I felt relieved, my shoulders felt lighter. If he doesn't keep his promise, I don't know what to do then. Watching me, Mr. Eric called my name.

"Alfie, don't be happy so fast. Even if I don't exorcize Jay, it doesn't mean other ghost sweepers may not too. I suggest you be careful." He warned.

"Other ghost sweepers?"

"That's right. The ESH is the one and only formal public organization which exorcizes ghosts in this country, with more than hundreds of branches located in different cities. There, besides me, there are also many strong and high-skilled ghost sweepers. Most of them are nice and open-minded people but some of them are a bit cold-blooded and dangerous. If they know about you and Jay, I'm not sure what they will do..."

"We'll be careful, thanks for the warning." I answered.

"Well, you don't have to worry much. Your buddy is quite strong. I haven't seen such a powerful ghost for a couple of years."

"I'm strong?" Jay spoke up suddenly, "Don't be kidding, I just lost against you. Besides, I don't think you used your full strength to fight against me." Mr. Eric laughed a little.

"Don't worry, I'm kind of stronger than other ghost sweepers. You should be more confident in yourself. Although you don't seem to have much experience in battles, just judging by your amount of Tav, you have already outnumbered a large number of ghosts."

"Tav? What is Tav?" I asked.

"Tav is a spiritual life energy power inside ghosts. Ghosts can use Tav to do many things such as to summon weapons or cast spells. The more Tav a ghost has, the stronger the ghost is. We, ghost sweepers, ranked the ghosts according to their amount of Tav they have. The first rank, Alef, is the strongest while the sixth rank, Vav is the weakest. Jay ranked the second, Bet rank."

"So I'm really strong....." Jay said with doubts, he didn't feel like being strong after he was defeated.

I tried to ignore him and said, "Mr. Eric, Tav is similar to wakan, right? Wakan is the spiritual energy in humans while Tav is the spiritual energy of ghosts." Mr. Eric remained silent, he seemed startled.

"...........you really know much about ghosts. Your family aren't ghost sweepers, are they?"

"No. Not am I aware of."

"That's a shame......" He said, he sounded upset, I didn't know why. He tried to lighten himself up and changed the topic.

"Anyway, what you said is correct. Ghosts will absorb the wakan from their hosts. While the wakan touches the ghost's body, it will then change into Tav to work as a fuel for ghosts. If a ghost runs out of Tav, it will disappear. Also-----"

"Mr. Eric." I interrupted him suddenly.

"What's wrong?"

"Why are you telling me so much?"

"What do you mean why?"

"We are enemies, right? You are a ghost sweeper while I am a human who protects ghosts. We are not fighting against each other now but I don't think we are allies." I replied. Same as Jay, I didn't trust Mr. Eric, there wasn't any reason for him to be kind to me. Mr. Eric sighed.

"I think you have mistaken something, Alfie. Exorcizing ghosts is only part of our job, our real aim is to help people not to exorcize ghosts."

"What is the difference? Aren't they the same?"

"Of course, there is a difference. You see, the ghosts we see every day are different from the ghosts in other dramas or movies. Ghosts are created by humans' strong negative emotions, they reflect their hosts true desire and darkness in their heart. For example, anger, jealousy, loneliness etc. We can't get rid of these negative emotions, we need to live on with it. As long as humans' exist, ghosts won't disappear. So it is impossible for ghost sweepers to kill all the ghosts."

"Besides, ghosts won't die even if they receive a fatal wound. Even if I use my sword to chop down their head or stab through their body, they will still be alive."

"Huh?" Jay felt confused, "But at that time, my body was transparent. I nearly disappeared. I thought I would be killed......by you."

"That's because you haven't been hurt by a ghost sweeper before. We, ghost sweepers, use a special kind of weapon called 'Anti-ghost weapon' to fight against ghosts. When our weapon touches the ghost's body, the Tav inside the ghost will then scatter to the air and vanish. The amount of Tav inside the ghost decreases, the ghost doesn't have enough Tav to visualize his body so it looks like it is going to disappear. But it still exists." said Mr. Eric as he continued.

"The only way to kill the ghost is to let the ghost get rid of all the Tav inside his body. But it is impossible if we just use force."

"Why?" I asked.

"There are two reasons. The first reason is anti-ghost weapons can only scatter Tav and can't get rid of all the Tav completely. The second reason is ghosts have a source which provides them endless wakan to produce endless Tav. And the source is....."

"Hosts." I answered.

"Correct. We can't exorcize ghosts by force. The only way to exorcize ghosts is to find out why their hosts create negative emotions and help them to stop it. Once their hosts stop releasing negative emotions, they stop providing wakan to ghosts. Ghosts will soon run out of Tav and they will eventually disappear."

"Well, to say it simply, we ghost sweepers are like counselors who help people to solve problems in life. So as long as the problem in your heart still exists, even if I slice Jay into pieces, Jay won't disappear." said Mr. Eric. I kind of understood what he was saying but one question struck in my head.

"Wait. If Jay won't disappear, why do you need to attack Jay in the first place?" I asked. Mr. Eric scratched his hair, he doubted on how to answer me.

"Err.....at that time, I was a bit emotional. You guys allow me to remember something from a long time ago."

"What do you me-----"

"Ah yes, Alfie!" Mr. Eric interrupted me suddenly," I have told you guys so much information already so I want something in return." My eyes sharpened. I predicted he would ask me this.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to help me to exorcize the ghost at school." said Mr. Eric.

"HUH?!!" Jay screamed, "Why do we need to help ghost sweepers to exorcize ghosts?!!"

"If you don't help me, I have no choice but to report your existence to the ESH. I'm sure the ESH will send many ghost sweepers to hunt you guys. Even if you can't be killed, you may be imprisoned and cannot see Alfie anymore." said Mr. Eric. Jay grabbed his fist immediately and shouted.

"Didn't you say you won't hurt us? You are breaking your promise!"

"I just said I will not exorcize you but it doesn't mean that I can't ask other ghost sweepers for help."

"You are just arguing irrationally!" Jay screamed, "Alfie, let's not listen to him and run away."

Sweating, I asked, "Err......Mr. Eric, are you threatening us?"

"Ha-ha. Of course not! I'm just joking. Once I make a promise, I'll keep it. If you don't want to help, you can always refuse. But I really want your help. You are more familiar with the school than me. It will be wonderful if you can help me gather more information. This benefits you too. If the ghosts continue to destroy your school, won't it be a huge problem?"

Thinking, Mr. Eric does have a point. I sit near the windows, I seriously don't want those windows to break suddenly.

".........alright, I'll help." I agreed.

"Thanks. Let's meet at school tomorrow. I'll tell you the details during recess. I'll see you tomorrow." Mr. Eric waved goodbye and left. As I watched his shadow, Jay floated near me.

"Alfie, are you sure we can trust Mr. Eric? " said Jay with a worried face.

".......he doesn't seem to be a bad guy though. You don't like Mr. Eric?"

"It is not that I don't like him." Jay scratched his head, "But my instinct told me he's dangerous."

"Why? Because he is a ghost sweeper?"

"Not just that!" Jay shouted, "Don't you think he's suspicious? We just met and he attacked us suddenly. And then at the next moment, he said he wanted us to help him. His attitude changed so fast! I cannot even predict his actions!"

"I think he is just kind of straightforward."

"Come on! A straightforward guy won't attack people suddenly. Let's just keep an eye on him. We just met him for a few minutes, we don't know much about him. I don't think he is lying but I don't think we can trust him either. Besides......" Jay lowered his voice.

"Besides?"

"......besides, I lost him in battle. I hate losing against anyone." Jay muttered softly. Listening, I finally understood why Jay was angry at Mr. Eric. He doesn't like the taste of being defeated.

"Jay, is Mr. Eric really so strong?" I wondered, in my view, Jay was definitely strong. I couldn't believe there was someone stronger than him.

"Yeah. He's strong. He's good at battles. I barely can stand against him." said Jay, biting his lips.

"But don't worry, next time, I won't lose anymore. Wait until I become stronger! I can't wait to see him being defeated." Jay cried out wickedly. I could see there were many evil thoughts inside his tiny brain. I do hope Jay doesn't have to fight against Mr. Eric anymore. Or else, it will be a huge disaster.

"Err.....let's leave that aside, Jay. We still need to deal with the ghost in school." I suggested. Jay left his thoughts and answered.

"Ah yes! You're right. Because of that ghost, I got mistaken as a criminal. I won't forgive him! Let's give him a lesson!"

"Yeah. Let's find that ghost and end all this!" I declared.

"If that's settled, then let's----" Jay decided to turn around and wanted to leave but I stopped him.

"Wait."

"What's wrong?" asked Jay as he turned back.

"Err.......Jay." I hesitated.

"I'm sorry I made you worry for so long." I apologized and bowed my head towards Jay.

"Alfie....?" Jay stared at me with surprise.

"Jay, after what happened today, I understand a lot of things. I understand I can't escape from anything anymore. If I try to escape from everything, I will just be an empty person and live my life with regrets. Although I am not sure what I should do, I have already decided not to stop walking." I said firmly, there were no doubts in my eyes.

"Is it? That's great. I guess I don't have to worry about you anymore." said Jay, smiling.

"Alfie. No matter which path you take, I will always be with you."

"Thanks, Jay." I gave him the same smile in return. Even though the path beyond is full of darkness, as long as Jay is with me, I feel like I can fly to whatever place I want to go.