You know that ringing sound that you will perceive when you are in a very quiet area? Some people say this is an auditory-illusion brought about the ear's inability to detect frequencies below the threshold of the human senses. This is completely wrong. That ringing covers up something else altogether. If you are quick, patient, and maybe a little lucky, you will be able to hear past the ringing. What you will hear are voices whispering to each other. They will silence themselves quickly but with practice, you will become more adept at catching and interpreting what they are saying. You will hear things of the past, the present, and the future. However, you must be careful. Because there is no such thing as a voice without a body.

And when you start noticing them, they will start noticing you.

Matthew shot up out of sleep, letting out a loud gasp. There was complete silence in the room besides his pounding heartbeat and the occasional loud snore filtering through the wall from his brother in the room next to his. He dropped his head into his hands, wavy blond hair falling across his fingers, along with that one curl that refused to stay in place, and urged his racing heart to slow down and be quiet. Once all was still, he spared a glance at the alarm clock next to his glasses on his bedside table. It was one in the morning. Matthew sighed and sunk back down into his covers in an attempt to both keep out the winter chill and to fall back asleep.

It had been the same nightmare he'd been having his whole life. He was surrounded by nothing and everything in a dark place, where ghostly beings and bodies whispered to each other. There were no distinguishable shapes, no way to tell who was saying what. It was hard to make out what they were whispering about, almost as if they were speaking in a different language. If they were, he'd never heard this language spoken before. The elusive shapes were always in the corner of his eye, and they would dart away whenever he tried to look. The nonsensical whispers would continue and increase until there was a cacophony of the murmurs filling his whole head, until he was suffocating, until he couldn't hear himself think. He would cover his ears, try to block out the noise, but it was like they were speaking directly in his mind. It felt as though he was slowly going insane, and when he finally collapsed to his hands and knees from the sounds, he would wake up in a panic, just like now.

This reoccurring dream was irregular. Sometimes he would go months without having it, only to have an onset of them for days, even weeks in a row. He never told anyone about these dreams, since they didn't really affect any part of his life (besides his sleeping patterns, of course). Plus, he really didn't need to be locked up in a loony bin for the rest of his life, thankyouverymuch. He would be fine coping with this little dream. Who knew? Maybe it would eventually stop tormenting him, or maybe he would finally get so used to it that it didn't bother him anymore. The latter was more likely than the former, though…

The room was silent once again. It was peaceful, snow gently drifting to the ground outside, swallowing all of the sound. Everything was still again. Even his brother's snores didn't penetrate the walls. Matthew's violet eyes fluttered shut as he tried to fall back into a warm, winter slumber.

Then he heard the ringing. It was that ringing he knew that everyone tended to get when things were quiet and still. His teacher had once explained to the class that it was just an auditory illusion that occurred because the human ear can't pick up lower sound frequencies. It was nothing, so he decided to ignore it and get some sleep.

But the ringing got louder. And louder. And louder. Finally he couldn't possibly ignore it any longer and listened to it, only to have it annoyingly disappear right when he was really paying attention. It was irritating, but at least the noise was gone, leaving nothing but silence behind. Matthew settled back down, fully intending to sleep when it interrupted again. This time he wasted no time in listening intently to the root of the sound, only to be thoroughly shocked by what he heard.

Yo sich fragen ef ille può kuulla minket?

It was a strange language he had never heard before, though it was hauntingly familiar, almost as if he had listened to it in a dream-

The sudden realization hit him with the force of a brick wall and caused him to sit up and clutch his head in agony. No, he couldn't be hearing them now, not when he was awake. Those… those dreamed-up voices should be separate from his reality, and yet here he was, hearing them, clear as crystal. He tried and succeeded in shutting them out once, but they came back with more intensity. The more he listened, the more he understood what they were saying. The language itself didn't change; rather he learned it after the constant repetition.

Can he hear us?

Yes, he can! Look at how he's paying attention!

Thank goodness! It was getting boring just gossiping with you guys!

A chorus of HEYs followed that one's comment, but they continued with their invasion of his thoughts. They got louder and louder and louder, just like in his nightmares. He whipped his head around the room to see if there would also be the wispy figures lingering about as well, but saw nothing by the light of the pale moon streaming through his single window.

So this was how it would all end… slowly going mad while clutching his head in silent agony, listening to voices that didn't exist. Matthew started to hyperventilate, breath coming faster as he felt like collapsing as he did in his dreams, when suddenly one voice stood apart from the others, speaking up in the back of his head.

Hey kid, calm down.

Matthew zeroed in on the voice that had addressed him.

Just ignore them. They'll go away eventually.

Ignore them? How could he possibly ignore them when they were the only things he could hear?

Relax. Don't pay attention to them.

He focused on the one voice that continued to speak to him, but in a much less frantic manner. It said soothing things, guiding him through the horrendous experience. The other voices slowly died down, getting bored with Matthew's lack of response, but the comforting one continued to speak steady reassurances, acting as his lifeline.

It was strange how the voice speaking to him in such a calm way was so far from a beautiful one. It was a man's voice, gravelly and harsh, with a German accent. All of the voices stopped, and he was left alone with the one he had been listening so intently to.

There… They're all gone. Are you alright? I hope they didn't scare you. That would be so unawesome.

Matthew didn't know how to respond. Should he nod? Was the voice watching him? Or should he think his answer, or say it aloud?

"I-I… What was that? Who were all those voices? Why can I-"

Whoa, whoa kid, one question at a time-

"-Are you real?"

A long silence spanned over a minute between the two. Matthew almost thought he had gone away along with the rest of them, when he spoke again.

… Ja… I am real.

"A-and everyone else? They were real, too? I wasn't dreaming?"

No, you weren't dreaming. That was all completely real.

Matthew shook his head. 'No way, no way, no way, no way…' he thought in frenzy. None of that could have been real. He was just dreaming again, that was it.

A terrifyingly lifelike dream.

"I-I don't believe you."

They lapsed into silence once again. Then, an amused chuckle came to the voice.

You don't, do you? Well, I guess I'll just have to prove it to you…

'P-prove it? What does he mean by-?'

Slowly, a warm wave pulsed through the bedroom. A flicker of movement caught Matthew's eye, and he could only stare in awe as… something… materialized before him. It was like the figures from his nightmare, but this one seemed to have more form, more solidity. Whatever it was, it was starting to take on a human shape. He could see a torso, then arms and legs, the head, and the features.

The figure stepped forward into the beam of moonlight coming from the window to display himself in all his luminescence and transparency, though he was growing more opaque by the second. He had a shock of messy white hair and incredibly fair skin, but that could have just been the light playing tricks. No, the most noticeable thing about him was the bright, intense pair of red eyes that seemed to look into Matthew's very soul.

The figure's lips were curled into a sort of lopsided smirk, as if to say 'I told you so!' Matthew tried to rationalize what he was seeing. It was one in the morning, he was tired. He wasn't even awake. This was just a vivid dream. Anything to make what he was seeing seem as normal as possible.

"Y-you- I- but- that's not- how-?"

"Dude, you were hearing voices, and you really think this is so unusual?" The – ghost? Zombie? Spirit? Demon? – thing… actually stepped to the ground and walked towards Matthew's bed, then sat down. He really felt the bed dip under the weight of the albino. "As if," he continued, "This is probably the most awesome thing that's ever happened to you!"

Somehow, 'awesome' wasn't the word that came to mind when Matthew thought about his current situation. He decided that 'exciting' or 'really-freaking-terrifying' fit better.

"So, kid, what's your name?"

"Wh-why should I tell you?" he squeaked.

The thing paused for a moment, then burst into some sort of weird laughter. "Kesesesese~! You squeaked like some sort of bird! That's rich, Birdie!"

"Be quiet! What do you think you're doing? My brother is just in the other room-"

"Yo, Mattie, who are you talking to…?" Matthew froze at the sleepy voice that came from his doorway and slowly turned to look at his brother who was currently rubbing his eyes and wore a confused look.

"Um…" He glanced at his brother, then to the albino, then to his brother again and back to the albino. "I… don't know what you're talking about, Alfred."

Alfred kept staring right past the ghost at Matthew, like he couldn't see him. "Are you sure, man?"

"Uh, yeah, I must've been talking in my sleep or something. Sorry if I woke you up."

Alfred looked a bit skeptical, but shrugged anyway. "Whatever… It's too early for this… night, Matthew."

"Night, Al."

And with that, Alfred went back to his room, shutting Matthew's bedroom door behind him. He stayed silent until he was sure he heard the soft snoring that meant his brother was asleep. The ghost started chuckling again.

"Kesesese… So your name's Matthew? Cute name, kid, but I like Birdie better." He extended a hand towards Matthew, who cringed back slightly. "My name's Gilbert Beilschmidt and I'm the awesomest person you'll ever meet!"

Matthew lifted his hand and wondered if he should shake Gilbert's hand when the albino reached forward and shook it anyway. Matthew was not only surprised that his hand didn't pass through, but also at the powerful jolt that wracked his body at the contact. He yanked his hand back from Gilbert's as if it had burned him.

"You... what are you?" Matthew cried in a whisper.

Gilbert was suddenly very serious. "I... am a Spiritum Viventem, a living ghost. I died a while ago, but I didn't want to be turned into a formless spirit. I clung to my human body, but my existential spirit is gone. Nobody can see or hear me, but I can still physically influence my surroundings. The others that were speaking to you were also people like me who died but didn't give up their bodies. However..." Gilbert leaned in close to Matthew so only a foot separated their faces. "I have no idea how you can see and hear me. Not only me, but you heard everybody else, too. It takes a very special person to be able to do something like that, Birdie. I've never met anyone else like you."

Matthew's heart was pounding in his chest at a frightening speed, not only from the ghost's closeness, but also from the shock that all of a sudden he was special. He was no longer just the invisible kid at school. Now he was the invisible kid at school who could see ghosts. How much better was that?

…Not a lot, that's how much… What was he going to do? Walk into school and announce to the world that he was clinically insane and needed to be locked up for good? Once again, nothankyou.

"… What do you want with me? Are you going to haunt me for the rest of my life or something?"

Gilbert seemed to think for a minute, and then smirked again. "Nah, I won't haunt you. Unless, of course, you want me to."

Matthew snorted quietly. "Why on Earth would I want you to haunt me? Isn't that sort of a bad thing?"

"Hey! It's not like I'm evil or anything. Evil ghosts are so unawesome. And while I think it's lots of fun to be alone, you seem pretty miserable. You can talk to me and shit. Call it a favor from the awesome me!"

"How did you know I was lonely?" Matthew asked incredulously.

"Hah, I didn't, but you just now told me." Gilbert said with a chuckle. "So which will it be? Wanna be forever alone, or are you gonna hang with the awesome me?"

And that was the choice Matthew was given. He thought about it for a long moment, questions tumbling in his head that he didn't want to bother the ghost with right now. On one hand, he would have to keep this a secret from everyone, even his closest friends. Then again, his closest friends were those who sometimes happened to remember his name, and not really 'friends' at all. This was the opportunity of a lifetime; he'd finally found someone who was willing to listen, a friend if he could be so bold. The thought sent a nice feeling through his stomach and brought a smile and light blush to his face. He might never get this chance again.

"Okay, Gilbert," he finally whispered. "you can haunt me."

A/N: OKAY! So, this idea was bugging me, and it's probably never going to get finished, but whatever. I needed to write a PruCan so badly, and this thing I read on CreepyPasta seemed to really fit Mattie for some reason. (that's what the italicized paragraph at the beginning is from) I started writing one night at like, 11:00 PM and kept at it until 1:30 in the morning. I was listening to this song through the whole writing of this chapter - /watch?v=1xCXD6_pFdM (paste it to the end of the youtube address) I think the mood really fits, so if you wanna listen while reading, please do.

Sorry to those of you waiting for the next chapter of Vocaloid, it's just that nothing is flowing... I'm really trying, I swear, but don't expect anything for a while...

~Jel