I think I saw something from outside the house. That made me leave the stranger's house and go out to see what's glowing I'm seeing. When I got near it, I saw a small castle that looked like a child's toy and got excited.

What a lucky baby! She was just about to get born but she already has her castle to play with. But then a small man with a pointy red hat greeted me. It's a dwarf as I recognize one from the cartoons.

That castle is not a toy but a real one. The dwarf standing in front of me must live there. I'm only fours years old but I know what I'm seeing is real. I get gigglish seeing the castle now displayed with some little flags around it.

"it's our fiesta! Do you want to come inside?" The dwarf asked me.

I giggled, being this young makes me not be afraid of anything. But I declined the dwarf's invitation. Unaware that it's the first good decision I ever made in my life.

"I wouldn't even fit inside! That castle is too small!" I said and giggled some more.

...My mother is a midwife and she sometime brings me to her patients' houses when somebody is about to give birth. Living in the province, houses are mostly located in the middle of the forrest....

..."I have my magic little girl! I can make you smaller so you can fit inside. It's fun there." The dwarf said again....

"I'm already small. I want to be big, not smaller." I complained.

"You don't need to be bigger. If you do, you will never see what's inside that castle." He said again.

"Oh, I don't know. My mom will finish delivering the baby soon. She would get made if she didn't see me right away". I replied.

"That baby will also go inside the castle with us. It won't take long. Let's go now!" The dwarf holds my hand.

"Okay, but just for a short time." I agreed and smiled at the dwarf who is now smiling bigger.

The dwarf takes out sometings from his pocket. It looks like candy but it's black.

"Before we get in, have some candy first so you can fit inside!" He offered

"Hey, little girl! What are you doing there? Come inside the house now! Your mother is waiting for you!

``said the old woman.

Before I could take the black candy from the dwarf, I jerked hearing the old woman's voice and looked up to her. She's very old, like a hundred years old. Or maybe that's what I thought as a kid.

I stood up since I realized I was kneeling from the ground. Then I look back in the dwarf's direction. He's no longer there. The grand castle doesn't look that grand anymore. It's now just a pile of dirt that looks like and anthill.

The small flags are gone and it's darker now than I realized. The magic was already gone but I didn't care. I went inside the house with the old lady and saw my mother passing the baby to its mother.

"She's a girl, is she?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes, Mary. It's a girl! How do you know that?" My mother asked.

"They built a nice castle outside for her to play with!" I exclaimed, remembering that it was just a toy castle.

"Your daughter found an interesting pile of soil from the garden. Good thing I was able to see her before it's too late." The old lady said.

The all gasped and covered their mouths in surprise. I didn't understand their reaction as a child. Thought it's still clear what just happened, until this day. The baby's father looks at me.

"Did you see anything from the "Nuno sa Punso" Mary?" He asked.

"That's not "Nuno", it's a castle! The dwarf told me they are having a fiesta for the baby!" I replied as if just remembering what the dwarf told me.

They exchanged a worried look and my mother stood up and walk towards me.

"Don't mind her. She can see things that adults can't see. Let's go home, Mary!" My mother announced.

They all said their goodbyes and we already headed out of the door. It's already dark but we have our lamp to light our way to get out of the forest. My mother is holding my hand to make sure she will not lose me.

I take one last look at the "castle" that I saw earlier. The dwarf seems to reappear from there waving sadly at me. I waved back to say goodbye.

"Mary, stop waving at nothing! It's dark inside the forest and it's just the two of us. I don't want you talking to anything you see until we get home, understand?" My mother warned me.

"Okay, mom. But let's just run when we reach the river. The mermaid there is very unfriendly!. I don't like to see her." I replied.

"Oh, Mary! Please stop talking now! You're giving me the chills!".

We went home safely after that night. I tried not to wave at the other creatures that I saw while we're walking. But I smiled at them in secret so as not to scare my mother. She's very brave to deliver a life but she's very afraid when it comes to the creatures of another side.

It was my first encounter witnessing paranormal entities. I was only four years old at the time and not aware that other people can't see the other side. That's the time when my third eye opened and from then on, I kept seeing some ghosts and elementals. Even the fairies in our backyard suddenly showed themselves up.

My childhood imagination keeps on growing and getting better as I age. Manifesting in my dreams and even during my waking hours. I thought that it would stop when I grew up. But my gift started to feel like a curse. It just keeps on getting worse as time goes by.

Twenty years have passed and I'm still seeing paranormal entities. Mostly ghosts that lurk around almost everywhere. They like to hide in dark and cold places. It's better if it's not frequently visited by people. Ghosts like dirty places as well since they can overpower our dimension with their energy.

My name is Mary Davis and I'm twenty-five years old. I'm 5'6" and have an athletic build. My friends told me that I'm very appealing. Although I'm not that pretty like other girls around. I also have my hair in a pixie cut and keep on trying to not be your typical girl.

But that's just on the outside because hell, I'm too different from most people. I

have an active third eye. People also call it the sixth sense. Yes, I see ghosts and spirits around me. But I also smell and hear them. It's too much for just an ordinary girl. Although I came from a family of faith healers.

I don't exactly consider myself a psychic even if I see a different dimension now and then. My gifts are not enhanced like my grandmother's. She wanted me to embrace it but I kept on trying to stay ordinary. But I fail every time a ghost shows up while I am with other people.

I was not bullied as a child but my schoolmates are frightened of me. For those who know me personally, they seem to always walk on eggshells. They have to be careful not to piss me off or they will end up throwing up all over the place. Then they will have to call me to take off the "usog" that causes them to feel sick.

I have to lick my finger and touch a person's belly with it. That's the only way that the person will get better. My parents were victims of usog and unlucky for them, they cant find whoever causes it. As a result, they died of dehydration and left me with my grandmother. I can also cause the same thing to other people.

That's the reason why even if it's against my will, I need to elevate that curse. Even if I don't mean to do it, that thing just happened. My high school life was a mess since I had to visit other people's houses. I have to treat them and lift that accidental curse I place upon them. That earned me the title, the demon child.

It's painful to be named like that

because I'm not a bad person. I even do more good than any other people my age. But all they can see is the negative impact on my abilities. They didn't even know that I also cause usog for people I like. Although it also happens to those I secretly hate.

The only person who can understand me is my grandma. Our abilities only come out to one person in the family and it also skips the generation. My mom and her siblings didn't have any special abilities. My cousins are also normal people except for me. The lucky one who got the healer's touch and the curse of usog from my ancestors.

I had a lonely childhood because of my abilities. But when my imaginary friend, Angel, came, I was happy again. That happened in high school when some of my brave friends asked me to join them on an ouija board session. When the planchette

moved on its own, they all ran away and left me.

We summoned an evil entity but Angel stopped it from hurting me. From that day forward, he remained on my side. He said that as long as he's around, nobody is going to harm me. I feel relieved because even the ghosts no longer show themselves in front of me. They just lurk around and try to take a peek.

But when I'm home, Angel will always disappear and wait for me in my room. He said that my grandma may disapprove of our friendship. Since she can also see spirits as well, she might misinterpret Angel. So I just let him hide from grandma.

After all, he's just an imaginary friend for me.

As the years passed by, I'm no longer afraid of my gift. Although people I know are still afraid of me, I gave them a bracelet with a counter curse. Angel told me how to do it so that I can't harm my friends with my presence. He said that I was too powerful and humans can't handle it.

Angel explained my abilities better than my grandma. That's why I've grown to trust him more and more. I tell him things that I experience that I can't share with just anyone. He can understand me better than myself because I created him in my imagination.

"Mary, I'm just an imaginary friend. I'm real!" Angel tried to convince me one day.

"Of course, you are! You're not a ghost so it means you're imaginary." I told him.

During that time, I'm already in college and studying Psychology. It's the major that I can relate to the most. Yeah, I started to think that I'm a crazy person who sees the other side. That's why I don't feel l belong because I have a mental issue. That's why I can see Angel clear as day.

"You don't believe that I'm a ghost because I look colorful to you? That's absurd!" Angel commented.cº

"Why, are you a ghost?" I asked.

"No, I'm not. But I'm also not imaginary." Angel replied with a sad tone.

"Don't be sad, Angel. Whatever you are, you're always my best friend!" I reassure him.

"So even if I'm not a ghost or

imaginary, you will still like me?" Angel asked.

"Of course! What's not to like about you?" I asked.

I should not have asked about it because that's one of the shocking moments of my life. Angel faced me and turned into something else. His face turns red like fire and he also has two small bumps on his forehead. They looked like horns and I felt my blood leave my body.

"Do you still like me now?" Angel asked and I fainted.

Angel is a demon and not a ghost! That's why he keeps on telling me that he's real. He was able to use a face that would not freak me out. But the moment he showed me his real face, I didn't know how to unsee it. The best thing I can do is to just ignore his presence.

It went on until it's my last year of college. I was able to trick my third eye not to see him. Although I'm aware that he's still around me. I can feel his presence especially when I'm inside my dorm room. He tried many tricks to make me look at him again.

But I keep on ignoring the fact that he's there and not planning to leave. One day, I was left alone around the dorm for the holidays. My grandmother left for the US for a visit. I had nowhere to go so l stayed in my dorm. It's eerily quiet when I arrived at the mall.

I saw a ghost from my peripheral vision but chose to act like I didn't see it. That's advice from another shaman met with my grandma. The shaman advised me to ignore the other side for a few years. He saw Angel with me and told me that a spirit has attached himself to me.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you ignoring me?" The ghost girl asked repeatedly.

Again, I ignored that I heard her voice. I need to stop acknowledging them for as long as I can avoid them. The reason my third eye developed was that I keep on talking to ghosts. I also look for elementals to chat with them. What can I do? don't have many friends!

The lady ghost suddenly looked horrified and disappeared. I already knew what happened. Angel made it vanish but I'm still not going to acknowledge him. I don't want to see these beings anymore. I'm done having my third eye open. Now that I'm about to graduate, I will live a normal life just like everybody else.

I went straight to bed since I felt tired for the day. It will only take a few more months until graduation. I will be moving to another city and have my apartment soon close to my job. Luckily, I was able to get absorbed by the institution where I had my on-the-job training. It's a mental institution where slight cases of mental health patients are admitted. Honestly, those people were just bored and decided to create their own delusions. Although some are experiencing hallucinations. But I can handle that since I already experienced working there.

I suddenly wake up from my sleep and check my alarm clock at the side of my bed. It reads 3:00 AM. That sucks because it means that it's still too early to start my day. I don't have anything to do since it's still the holiday break. But I feel the need to pee so I get out of bed.

The toilet is located outside the dorm rooms. My room is nearby but I have to get out so I can go to the comfort room. Still sleepy, got out of my room and was greeted by a pitch-black hallway. I'm the only one around on this floor. That's why the caretaker turned off all the lights.

I don't care since I can still see something in the dark. But the problem is, what I can see is another dimension mixed with the real world. That makes it hard to navigate when I'm outside the streets. But I know that just need to walk straight to the comfort rooms, I will be fine.

Once I reached the door to one of the bathrooms, I reached for the light switch. I was expecting that it would get bright instantly but I'm still in the darkness. I tried to turn on the light switch again but nothing happened. On my third attempt, I tried to look at the switch.

To my horror, my hand looks luminous and transparent. I can't touch the light switch, that's why the light bulb didn't turn on. When I looked up, I saw about five ghosts looking directly at me. They were all sinisterly smirking and walking towards me. I panicked and backed away.

"You're not ignoring us now, are you?" The ghost of a student asked straight to my face.

"She can't ignore us now that her soul has left her body!" The ghost of an old man said.

"That means that you're also a ghost... like us!" The ghost of a little girl said. The five ghosts laughed at me, making me feel

the deafening sound they were making. I can't believe that this is happening. How can I do the astral project now after a long time? Although I was able to do this before, the last time was when was just nine years old!

This is bad! Not because my urge to pee earlier was gone. It's because my body was left empty. I need to go back before some ghost possesses it. It will be a disaster if I dont go back to my body right away. I turned her back from the ghosts and started walking back. The hallway is no longer pitch black but it looks like a different place now. Instead of the doors of the rooms, she can see nature now. The side where my room should be located is now a part of a stream. There's no way I can get back to my room and most importantly, to my body.

But I know the way and have to go back to my room whatever happens. I can hear different voices calling my name. This is what the shaman told me before that might happen upon trying to close my third eye. After ignoring the ghosts and the other side for years, it finally relapsed. I walked towards the direction where my room is supposed to be but my entire dorm was gone.