Alfie was born, for reasons unknown, with a natural talent to see spirits, some benevolent and some malevolent. The streets of the spirit world are as familiar to him as the streets of the physical one. He makes a living as a medium, often far more successful at his job than his clients would have wanted.
Eminently unprejudiced, he has never treated spirits differently than other human beings. Which is why both humans and spirits treat him as an oddball.
Alfie is starting to feel the effects of old age, which for him includes a loss of sight, hearing and possibly corporeality.
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He lives alone. Married a ghost 20 years ago, was abandoned a few weeks later, and mostly forgot about it by now, except for a resolute decision not to marry.
On dark side: He doesn't consider his "dark bargain" to be dark; he is well-enough assimilated into the spirit world to understand it from their perspective (like someone born into a criminal organization). He doesn't give in to everything they ask for, but it isn't beneath him to unlock a tomb in exchange for some help cleaning out his shop.
Hallucinations are when he is unable to tell the difference between the corporeal world and the spirit world. The secrets are his research into the occult (for humans) and humans (for spirits).
