He didn’t let go until he opened their bedroom door. The first thing that greeted him was the milky white glow of the three moons, lighting the dark. He let Korri in before closing their door, then walked to their window. 

A crescent moon and a fading gibbous accompanied the permanent full moon. It wasn’t as bright as the other phases, but it still was enough to make him squint. With a nod, he closed the windows and shut the curtains. 

“Hey!”

“Wha?” He turned to face his sister, who was sitting on her bed with… 

Theo blinked, and he slightly tilted the window open again. “Is that a book?”

Korri slightly sunk in her bed as she nodded. “It is. Kuya Rui gave me this when you were asleep.”

“He’s still not giving up on helping you read properly?”

“N- No…” Korri shook her head. “But I- but I promise I can actually read a few bits! Please, just let me read this. I- I already started reading it last night and earlier, please just let me get through the first chapter.”

“Sure, I guess.” He opened the curtains once again, letting the blinding light of the moons enter, before walking to his bed. “What’s it about, anyway?”

Korri shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Kuya Rui said he hasn’t read it before. But from the ones I’ve read, it’s about Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth having to work together to find something? I’m not really sure what it’s about, I’m still at the beginning.”

“Well that’s… something.” He yawned and stretched his arms. “Anyway, I’m gonna sleep now. I’m tired.”

“But you slept for a day and a half, how are you tired already?”

“Innocent sister of mine, sleeping can also be tiring. And we refuel said tiredness by sleeping as well.” Theo laughed and patted his sister’s head, ignoring the small huff on her face. “Seriously though. Kuya Rui said I still need some rest, even a little bit. I’m gonna go rest now, alright?”

His sister nodded. But before Theo could go back to his bed, Korri grabbed his uninjured hand. “Can I… ask you something?”

“Sure?” Theo removed her hand away from his and sat down on his bed. “What is it?”

Her brows furrowed as she hugged the book tighter in her chest. “Did you… did you really jump down?”

For a moment, Theo thought that his heart stopped. He placed a hand on his chest and took a deep breath as the memories of what happened that day slowly returned. The tiles below him were slippery, the air was cold, his body was shivering…

Before anything worse could happen, Theo took a deep breath and pushed the thought away. “I didn’t jump, I just slipped. I guess people didn’t really see what fully happened and just thought I jumped down.”

Korri’s brows furrowed again, and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. Theo stood up from his bed and opened his mouth, though she wiped them away and sighed with a smile. That didn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. 

“Please- please promise me to never jump down anywhere high.” A sob left her lips as she covered her face with her hands. “Kuya Theo, please don’t hurt yourself again. Please. I don’t wanna- I don’t wanna see you get hurt.”

Theo sat on his sister’s bed and patted her hair. “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t do anything stupid again.”

Korri wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. After returning the hug, Theo patted her head one last time before lying down on his bed and turned to his window. 

The light of the three moons didn’t seem so bad, and a few stars decorated the sky. Maybe he should open the windows more often, the light wasn’t so bad now that he was getting used to it. 

⊱───────⋆✩✿✩⋆───────⊰

“Kuya Theo?” 

Theo shook his head and slowly opened his eyes. At first, everything around him was a little blurry. The light from the moons outside mixed with the darkness of the room, blending the colors. He had to blink a few times just to see what was in front of him. 

“K- Korri?” It was almost like his energy returned. Theo sat up straight and shook his head. “Why are you--hold on, did you even sleep or were you awake reading the entire night?”

“I fell asleep but…” She fiddled with her fingers before continuing. “I got hungry.”

“You got hungry… while sleeping…”

Korri nodded. “Sorry, I wanted to go down myself, but I couldn’t find the matches.”

Thank the gods. He placed a hand on his chest and sighed. If she was able to find the matches, he knew the lantern wasn’t the only thing she was going to light. 

He spun his fingers in a circular motion. “Turn around.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

Korri furrowed her brows before turning around. Theo stopped and only moved when he was sure that she wasn’t planning to turn around. He reached for the corner of his mattress and dug under the covers, taking away the matchbox hidden inside his bed. 

How no one thought of looking there was a mystery to him. 

He grabbed the lantern from their desk and lit it up, making the warm orange glow replace the light of the moons outside. 

“Come on.” He stood up and walked to their door, careful as to make sure he wouldn’t make a sound. “Walk near the walls. That way, the floor won’t creak.”

“Right.”

Korri held his hand and followed him out of the room. The door slightly creaked when it opened, making him flinch. Theo stepped outside with the lantern in his hand, though the sight almost made him go back to his room. 

It was dark everywhere, with not a single light visible. Their footsteps were the only noise he could hear, along with the dreadful ringing in his ears. Every time he heard a creak, Theo would stop and look around, praying to the gods that Zamira was right and the Golden Eyed Ghost wasn’t real.

Once the two of them reached the indoor kitchen, he finally released his breath and pressed his back against the wall. Nothing happened, thankfully. Maybe Zamira was right after all. 

While Korri grabbed an apple on the fruit basket, he pulled back a chair and sat down. “So, why did you wake up?”

“I told you.” She sat down and took a bite out of the apple. “I got hungry.”

“Are you sure that’s it?” he asked and raised a brow. “If something’s bothering you, you can always tell me about it. But I understand if you don’t want to.”

Korri paused, and she placed the apple on the table. A part of him wished he didn’t say that. He would rather hear her eat and chew as loud as she could. At least there was something he was hearing apart from the silence. 

“I had a dream…” She took a bite out of the apple again. “I saw something. I think it was a purple fire calling me. I didn’t get to finish the dream because I woke up.”

“It wasn’t a nightmare?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Nothing bad happened. I just woke up in the middle of it. I guess I did wake up because I was hungry.”

“Well, I guess tha--”

Theo felt a shiver travel down his spine. He grabbed the lantern on the table and turned around, nearly knocking his chair down. He twisted its knob, making the fire larger and brighter, providing enough light to illuminate the entire kitchen. 

Something was wrong, something was extremely wrong. He didn’t like what he was feeling. 

“Korri.” He grabbed his sister’s hand and pulled her out of her chair. “C- Come on, I don’t like what I’m feeling. Let’s go back to our room.”

Korri nodded. He was glad that she didn’t arg--

Theo’s eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the lantern from his hands. 

The windows… they were open… there was someone staring at him outside…

A pair of golden eyes, shining in the darkness, mixed with a few trails of white. He didn’t know why, but his entire body froze when the golden eyes met his own. It was like his soul was leaving his body, or maybe he just wanted to pass out. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t move…

The Golden Eyed Ghost was staring right back at him. 

“--uya Theo, let’s just run!”

Theo didn’t care if the entire orphanage was asleep. He grabbed Korri’s hand and ran out of the kitchen, not even daring to look back and see if he was seeing things or not. The floorboards creaked below them, and he didn’t bother to stop and catch his breath. 

It was real, it was real, it was real. 

He didn’t stop running until he and Korri reached the second floor. After reaching the final step, he placed the lantern on the floor and caught his breath, while his sister sat down and sighed. 

“What was”--he cleared his throat to lower his voice--“what was that? K- Korri, you saw- you saw that too, right? You saw the Golden Eyed Ghost, right? I’m not crazy, right!”

Korri placed a finger on her lips, but she nodded. “I- I saw it. I saw the Golden Eyed Ghost, I- I saw it, too.”

“Kids?”

Theo screamed as he jumped up, and he placed a hand on his chest. He wasn’t sure if he should feel calmer to see Rui standing at the end of the hallway with a lantern in his hands. 

“K- Kuya Rui!” Korri ran towards him and wrapped her arms around Rui, making him kneel down to her height. “You’re- you’re here!”

Theo picked up the lantern and turned to the floor below them, then faced Rui once again. Rui’s hair was neatly brushed, tied into a ponytail that fell just above his shoulders. Even his white set of clothes was speckless. 

“Kuya- Kuya Rui…” He lowered the lantern and met Rui’s eyes. “What- what are you doing here?”

“I woke up when I heard something downstairs. What are you two doing in the middle of the night?”

“Rui?”

Theo lost count of the times he jumped up tonight. Rui turned around, revealing Aunt Felicia just behind them. Her pale eyes widened, though her expression soon twisted back into that creepy smile of hers. 

And standing next to her was Yuan, who seemed to be as surprised as him. 

“Why,” she continued, “are the children still awake?”

“I can say the same thing for Yuan, Aunt Felicia.” Rui stood up and patted his clothes. “It’s an hour or two past midnight, why is he also awake?”

Yuam held one of his arms and lowered his head, making his reddish brown hair cover the upper part of his face. Aunt Felicia placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled once again. How she was completely oblivious to Yuan looking comfortable was beyond Theo. 

“It’s alright, Yuan. I’ll tell them.” She turned her head back to them. “Yuan was having a hard time trying to sleep, so he went upstairs and asked if I could help him. It seems like he has an issue pressed in his mind. Now, what are your reasons?”

Theo opened his mouth, though Rui wrapped his arms around him and Korri before he could reply. “I heard a noise downstairs and decided to check what it was. Then, I bumped into these two here.”

Aunt Felicia hummed before turning to Theo. Her eyes… he didn’t even know if he could call them eyes. They were light and pale, almost blending with her sclera. She really looked creepy, maybe even more than the ghost Theo saw literally just a few moments ago. 

“I’m glad to see you’re doing better now, Theodore.”

Theo gulped, but he still nodded. “Th- Thank you, Aunt Felicia. I’ve never felt better.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” she replied with a small laugh. 

Korri’s grip on him tightened, almost making him hiss. He gritted his teeth and held the scream that threatened to leave his lips. 

“Now then.” She clasped her hands together. “I think we should all continue back to sleep now, hmm? If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be leading Yuan to his room.”

Before they could say a word, Aunt Felicia turned around with Yuan trailing behind him. 

Rui patted the both of their backs, leading them to their room as well. As soon as they got in, he closed his lantern and pressed his back against the wall, letting out even more of his breath that he held. The Golden Eyed Ghost already frightened him enough, he didn’t need Aunt Felicia to scare him more. 

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only ones who found her creepy.” Rui laughed before closing the door. “She also used to freak me out when I was a kid here. Sometimes I wonder if she’s human or secretly a--”

“We saw the Golden Eyed Ghost.”

The smile on Rui’s face dropped, and his eyes narrowed down. “Theo, I’m pretty sure you’re old enough to know that the Golden Eyed Ghost isn’t a thing. It’s just something Mei and I made up to scare you kids.”

“B- But it’s real!” Korri sat down on her bed and wrapped her blankets around her. “I- we really saw it. It was outside the kitchen. It was staring right at us!”

“You have to believe us! We saw the Golden Eyed Ghost, it’s real! It’s--”

“Alright.” Rui placed both hands in front of him and sighed. “Alright. I don’t know what you kids saw, but it was probably just something else.”

“But--”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m doubting you.” Rui patted his shoulder once again before leading him to his bed. “I don’t know what you saw, but I’ll be sure to check it out. Alright?”

Theo removed his hand from Rui’s shoulder and held his wrist. “But what- but what if it’ll kill you! Kuya Rui, we saw an actual ghost! You’re not gonna go there unprepared, are you?”

“Of course not.” A smile formed on Rui’s face as he chuckled. “Don’t worry. The both of you should just go back to sleep. I’ll handle the rest, alright?”

Korri nodded. “Okay.”

Theo was hesitant, but he still nodded and sighed. “Be careful, alright?”

It was Rui’s turn to nod. “Don’t worry, I will.” 

“Kuya Rui.” Korri removed her blankets from her body and turned to their door. “Do you think you can sing us that song again? That one from long ago?”

“S- Sing?” Rui laughed, though he shook his head. “It’s a bit late now, Spider. Maybe some other time, alright?”

Korri sighed. “Okay.”

As the door to their room closed, Theo lied down on his bed and wrapped his blanket around himself multiple times. He didn’t know how much time passed, but he was shivering every second of it. 

The Golden Eyed Ghost was real. And he saw it with his own eyes.