It was December 31, the very last day of the year. Philip and his family were having their New Year's holiday in New York City since their arrival on December 28. They had been to Radio City Music Hall, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden. That night, on December 31, they decided to go to Times Square for the New Year's Ball Drop. To protect their ears, they wore special noise-blocking earplugs.

They were ready to leave for Times Square when they lost something important- tickets to the New Year's Ball Drop! How are they supposed to go to the venue without tickets? They searched every corner, Philip even summoned the man to help them (who didn't appear for a certain reason), but there was no avail. They stayed at their hotel room, deciding that they could do nothing but watch the event from their TV.

"Philip," whispered a man's voice. Philip looked behind him, seeing no one.

"Philip," the voice whispered once more. The young boy followed the voice into the bedroom, where it was dark. The man then appeared, looking like as if he had gone to a party.

"Where were you? You were supposed to help us look for something, yet you didn't even show up!" the little boy bellowed.

"I have my reasons, Philip."

"What kind of reasons, then? You don't want us to go?"

"Exactly!" the man replied. "I was preventing you guys from getting scammed!"

"Oh really?" Philip interrogated him.

"Yes. You know why you couldn't find the tickets? Because I took them so I could exchange them for something else."

"You exchanged them for a new set of tickets?"

"W-w-well," the man stammered, "you could say that."

"Perfect! Where are the new tickets?"

The man shook nervously, pondering how he could explain to the boy. The right words would bring fortune; the wrong words could spark an argument. He sighed and looked into the little boy's turquoise blue eyes.

"I don't have a new set of tickets," the man replied, "it was stolen from me."

The news made Philip sad and broke his family's hopes of ever going to the ball drop. His mother had spent more than $1,000 for the tickets only to waste them! Philip only turned his back, showing the man how sad yet angry he felt.

"This was supposed to be an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, yet you wasted it!"

"I can explain!"

"No! What's done is done, and I don't want to see you!"

The man, who was felt emotionally hurt by his words, didn't protest and did as he was told. Off he went to fix what he had screwed up, away from the family and to Times Square. On the way he was greeted by friendly souls preparing for the New Year. To many, it would seem odd, but for the souls it was nothing unusual - they did the same thing when they were still alive, so why not? He walked through the crowd and found just the men he was looking for.

The men wore the exact same clothes, combed their hair into the exact same style, even their faces were very similar! What differed one from the other were their dark-colored hats. One wore a dark blue hat, another wore a dark brown hat, another wore a black hat and the other wore a dark grey hat. Like the few people of the world, they were gifted with the ability to see ghosts. In fact, they did business with them! Well, they scammed the souls rather.

The men immediately noticed him, gesturing to a dark alley. He followed the four and there they had a discussion.

"What do you want, a refund?" said the man who wore a blue hat.

"No. I'm here to claim those VIP passes. We had a deal, and I already gave you the tickets!" the ghost bellowed.

"Calm down, Ed," said the man who wore the grey hat, "a young soul like you shouldn't get too mad."

"We have another deal," said the man who wore the black hat, "we'll give your tickets back and the five of us can just forget it! Here."

"No, I don't want it back! There's a strong reason I was desperate to trade them in the first place."

"Well then," said the man who wore the blue hat, "we'll give you one pass."

"Sorry, but it needs to be four."

"Come on, Ed," said the man who wore a black hat, "you're just one person. Why would you need four?"

"Because," he replied, "there's a family of four that I'm close to. I have let them down, and I'm here to claim those passes so I can make it up for them. So please hand over those, I need them."

"Ha! As if! We spent a lot of effort getting these passes, and you'd think we'll give all of them to you?" laughed the man who wore the blue hat. The ghost couldn't take it anymore.

"We had a deal already! Now give me those passes or else..."

"...or else what?" said the man that wore the brown hat, cutting him off. The ghost was too angry to respond. He glared at them with his fiery eyes, letting his electric blue marbles pierce theirs. He used his telekinesis to grab hold of the throat of the man who wore the brown hat and choked him.

"Hey! Stop that!" barked the man who wore the blue hat.

"The passes, please," said the man, "or your friend would have to pay."

"Stop now!" the man who wore the blue hat, pulling out a ghost gun.

The gun wouldn't make any ghost disappear, but it would make them almost non-existent, to the point of being invisible even to those who were born gifted! The man let go of his throat, sparing him. He walked away from the four, climbed up the walls and watched the four men from the top of the roof.

"No strings attached," said the man, "but in a way they are."

He then moved the arm of the one who wore the blue hat so that it would punch the man who wore the brown hat.

"Oi!" shouted the one who got hit, "What was that for?"

"It wasn't me," said the one who hit him, "I swear!"

The man further manipulated their limbs to look as if they purposely harmed each other. Soon, they ended up in a real fight! With them distracted, he extracted the VIP passes from their hands and darted off to the family. He arrived at the hotel room only to find no one there. Were they somewhere around the hotel? The man checked the rest of the hotel, but no avail. He returned to the room only to spot a letter, written in slight cursive. He picked it up and read it.

Dear Protector,
Sorry I got mad at you earlier. I was just frustrated that we couldn't find the tickets, that you weren't there, I felt like screaming. Anyway, we decided to go to Times Square so that at least we could eat out as a New Year's Celebration. I hope you understand.

Sincerely,
Philip Deering

Times Square, of course! That was where the masses were going to for New Year's, and the family was likely going out there too. He set off and searched every eatery around Times Square, only to find them having fun at the New Year's Ball Drop event! He approached them and tapped Philip's shoulder lightly.

"Philip," said the man, "what are you doing here? I thought your family would be eating out a restaurant, bistro, but I found you here!"

"Oh, about that, we had a change of plans. There was this person who gave us free VIP passes, and we got here! How does that sound?" Philip said excitedly.

"Well, that sounds great! I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm not happy for you but, I went out to get these," said the man, showing the passes.

Philip was about to say something to him when he noticed that people were looking at him, as if he was mental. Before Philip walked away, he told the man to go away. Saddened, the man walked through the walls and sat on the streets, watching other people pass by him. Across the street, he noticed another family of four. A mother, a father, a son and a daughter. The younger daughter sat on the bench, silently weeping. Feeling empathic, the man approached the girl and sat next to her.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. The girl wiped her tears away.

"My father spent a lot of money to buy us VIP passes to the ball drop, but four men stole it from us!" the girl cried. The man patted her upper back and comforted her.

"Don't worry," he said, "you and your family would be fine. Wait, did you just mention four men and VIP passes?"

The girl nodded her head, her long ginger hair covering the sides of her pale face. The man gave her the passes, not telling her how he got them. The little girl was elated and showed the passes to her parents. Before they went to the ball drop, she went up to the man.

"Thank you so much!" the girl thanked him.

"Your welcome," the man replied.

"By the way, what's your name?" the girl asked.

"Actually, I can't remember." he lied. He really wanted to tell, but no. It would not be fair if Philip hadn't known his name, yet a stranger did.

"My name is Carolyn. So, will we meet again?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we'll meet again."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you my name, nor my reason, but I can tell you something special about you."

"Really? What is it?"

"You can see ghosts."

The girl only laughed at it, thinking he was joking. To prove that he really was a ghost, he placed his hand through her body to show that he wasn't solid. This amazed her. Carolyn said goodbye to the man and she trailed behind her parents, holding her elder brother's hand.

The man walked away silently, disappearing from the crowded scene.

"Happy New Year," he said to himself.