"I love you, Franklin!"
Fan's excited screams and shrieks assaulted the auditory system of Ben Atticus Alcántara Junior who was ushered into the shopping mall by his security team.
"How long till this nightmare is over?" He asked his manager while waving and smiling at the rowdy crowd.
"Judging from the crowd outside" His manager frowned down at his wristwatch, "I'll say six hours"
"Christ," He muttered, taking off his aviator sunglass when he reached his signing table.
Thankfully, his fans calmed down as soon as the event signing began, saving his head from throbbing further.
"Your name sweetheart". He asked the first female fan who was standing before him and blushing furiously.
"Soraya"
"Soraya, it is"
He went ahead to sign his autograph and wrote on the title page of the book. "Warm wishes to you, Soraya"
But he never expected such a simple gesture would bring tears to the girl's eyes.
"I love you so much author, your books have so many times saved me from depression" She confessed and though he would love to motivate her for hanging onto life, there was a train trail of people eager to meet him.
"I'm happy that my book healed you and I hope you know that you're a strong person; say no to depression, thank you" He handed the signed purchased copy of the book back to her as his manager helped her exit the line.
Ben knew he was famous but he underestimated his enthusiastic fan who waited patiently and wasn't discouraged by the long queue.
He went through the routine of signing and thanking every one of them for their support until…
"Name"
"Linda "
He glanced up and froze.
Not again.
Their gazes met and held for a while until he broke the contact and smiled at her.
"Full name, please"
"Linda Horead"
"Are you sure that's your real name considering the fact you're occupying that body?" He mumbled under his breath but the girl caught his words loud and clear, their gaze collided again.
"Thanks for coming to my book signing event Linda, wish you a long life" he handed the book to her after signing it.
To others hearing, there was nothing wrong with his words but the girl whose earlier smile had now turned into a full scowl with her gaze trained intensely on him understood the hidden meaning beneath those words.
"Thank you" Linda forced a smile and strode away but not without casting one last deadly gaze.
Wonderful, Ben chided himself.
He had sworn not to get involved with the likes of them again but at the end of the day, his blabbermouth still betrayed him.
With a sigh, he continued the book signing and presentation; just as his manager estimated he was done in six hours.
After a short interview by a reporter, Ben thanked everyone for their contribution towards making the book signing event a memorable one and left.
"Get me painkillers" Ben ordered his personal assistant just as his manager got into the van.
"Everything has been settled for today, I'll drive you to the hotel where you'll spend the night and move to Creek City tomorrow.
Ben lowered the rear glass intending to get some air when a male fan or so he thought blocked his view.
"Hi Franklin " He called him by his pseudonym while recording their conversation with his tablet," I'm a huge fan of your works "
Ben gave him a dubious look, "Which of my books have you read? "
"U-umm..the book with the she-girl or is it the he-devil? "
"F*ck off, " He told him and closed the window, that news would surely hit the tabloids in the next hour.
As an award-winning paranormal writer, all eyes were on him. The Internet had dubbed him, "The hand of Gold " since all of his books were bestsellers; anything he wrote was a success.
Critics had praised and termed his book, "Something out of this world, it was like bringing an entirely different universe into this world "
If only they knew that whatever happened in those books were not fiction as they thought but reality.
They all called him the master of fantasy but that was possible because he was something called a Medium.
He was the bridge between the living and the dead; a conduit for supernatural creatures who wanted to harass his ability.
Ben could see ghosts and banish them away or help them cross over to the afterlife - depending on how nice they were - when not trying to possess his body.
Unlike what people think, it wasn't hard for ghosts to possess humans, especially weak bodies or ones with a weak will.
But no matter what, they couldn't last there since it was against the rule of nature; order must be restored. The dead must belong to the dead and the living with the living.
Sadly the case wasn't the same for him. Since he wasn't living nor dead, just living in between both, it made him an instant target for aggrieved ghosts who were hellbent on achieving revenge.
When people die not everyone moves on immediately, especially those who died a sudden or violent death.
Some still linger on earth waiting for justice to be served before they could find peace while the others search for their killer and exerts their revenge - those were the ones he had to watch out for.
Unlike human bodies which withers and becomes inconvenient for them after long possession, Ben was the perfect vessel!
He wouldn't wither nor die off so a grieved ghost normally sorted his body for possession.
All through his years, he had to ward off ghosts who hassled him for years and they seem to have a knack for popping up in inappropriate places - bathroom, toilet - you name it.
Some even went ahead to assault him! Unfortunately for him, there was not an afterlife court of law he could lay down his complaints yet - he just had to catch one of those damned grim reapers.
"By the way, madam wants to see you " His manager informed him, rousing him from his thoughts.
He snorted, "She still remembers she has a son? How surprising "
"She's in the hospital "
"What?! "