I won’t mention her name because I know I wasn’t her only friend and it isn’t fair on them, but oh, she was brilliant. Always ready to play a prank, always wanting to bring people together, never giving up on those who refused to see her. If only I didn’t have to destroy her. She never spoke out loud, at least not to me. I read her lips, actions, sometimes even small notes left for me, but I never heard her voice. To this day, I still don’t know if anyone else heard it. I think I was the first to see her in a long time, although the rumours about her had been going strong for centuries apparently. I still wonder if there’s a rumour circulating now… Anyway, I soon introduced her to others, realising that not everyone could see her and not realising how much danger I had just placed her in by blowing her cover. Barely a month later, things started going wrong. Small things to start with, things that people barely noticed, such as a door without a lock getting stuck or things breaking without being dropped. But as soon as someone turned into a werewolf, and another a vampire, everything became more serious. What was I supposed to do? I was still a child, no one would believe me, so I talked to her. I discovered things too grave and evil for anyone, let alone a child, to possess. But I knew how to fix the problem. Step 1 (and I’m so, so sorry) was to get rid of the “impurities”. Those who weren’t supposed to exist, such as werewolves and vampires, had to be eliminated. However, I tried my best to cover any damage. Just to be clear, nothing extremely bad was done, just a few memories wiped, or people moved house, or transferred schools. I’m sorry because they were your lives, and I destroyed and manipulated them. Step 2 was to remove her. She no longer gives others the same hope that she once gave me, but her shadow remains. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t ruin the legacy that she left behind. And I never told anyone the truth – about her or the events surrounding her. I am not a God. I do not believe that I should control what happens in other people’s lives. I was a child. A child who had a burden heavier than the Earth, who had to make do with what they were given. This is not just the story of the ghost. This is also about why I am who I am now. It’s about why I make my own way in my very long life, why I try not to interfere, just learn more and spread hope. Because just when you think you know someone’s story, you discover there’s more to it than even they can imagine.