I Am Phantom

by Sean Fletcher

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I said, trying to keep him talking.

  “You were bait, Drake. It was only after you arrived that Project Midnight really started becoming active again. Well, after Phantom arrived. They knew only someone with their serumed abilities could pull off the feats you were doing. And that got them interested, which made them vulnerable. They wanted the perfected serum and I…” He laughed humorlessly, “the serum that ran through my veins was imperfect. No, they needed yours. They would come where you were, and I would follow right behind.”

  “But no more.” His voice was growing more faint. I still couldn’t pinpoint it. I don’t know if I even wanted to anymore. How many times could he have killed me? How many of the people I cared about did he know of?

  “It’s obvious you don’t care enough about what happens to you to really stop the people who did this to you. You aren’t willing to do what is necessary. You have no use to me anymore. But you will be sorry.”

  I waited for him to continue.

  “Drake?” Cody said softly. “Are you there?”

  “Sykes!” I yelled. He must still be around. He must be lying.

  Only the wind answered.

  Cody didn’t say anything when he opened the door to his dorm. I tossed the top of my Phantom costume on his bed.

  “Hey.” I looked up. Matt, Melanie and Liz were all there.

  “I told them to come over once we heard,” Matt said. “I…told them what Sykes said.”

  Melanie, standing at Matt’s window, pulled down on of the blinds and peered out at the misty night. “So he’s out there, right now, watching us?”

  “Not anymore. He’s finished with me,” I said. “He…” I almost couldn’t bear to look at Liz. “He’s knows who you all are.”

  Nobody moved for a second, then Liz stood and wrapped her arms around me. I wiped the tears from my face, embarrassed they were even there.

  “It’s not your fault,” Liz said. “You didn’t know.”

  “But now you’re all in danger. This should have been my fight from the start. Only mine.”

  “No,” Cody said. “Don’t go playing the stupid hero, Drake. We were the ones who chose to do this with you. We have no regrets. Sykes may still be out there but we’re still here, right now. You’re our friend and I for one wouldn’t stand by and let you do this alone.”

  “Same,” Melanie said.

  “I concur,” Matt said.

  Liz gently kissed my cheek. “If he says he’s done following you, then believe him. I don’t know as much about this as you do, but how many times did he have before now to hurt us and he didn’t? Now he has no reason to. Let’s leave it at that.”

  I wanted to believe him, to believe her, so incredibly bad. That Sykes wouldn’t try anything, that this nightmare with Project Midnight was over.

  But I couldn’t.

  Somehow I knew there would be hell to pay.

  I didn’t get much sleep that night. I don’t think any of us did. If the adrenaline of the warehouse raid wasn’t enough, every creak and groan of my dorm room sounded like Sykes bursting through the windows to finish me off.

  There was no way I was going to let Liz go back to her room. She took my bed while I camped out on the floor. It wasn’t comfortable, but I wasn’t tired. Halfway through the night I noticed her shivering. She couldn’t have been cold because all the blankets were piled on top of her. I couldn’t imagine how all of this was to her. For me, I knew why Sykes wanted me, but she was just an innocent. She had nothing to do with whatever Sykes had planned and was helpless to prevent it.

  I quietly got up and slid beside her, wrapping my arms around her body. She seemed to sink into me.

  She stopped shivering after a little while.

  “Don’t worry,” Liz said. She finished rolling out of bed and picked up her phone and went to the door. “We made it until morning. I’ll be okay, Drake.” She knit her eyebrows together, still looking as though she didn’t even believe what she was saying. “You watch out for yourself.”

  I rubbed my face again and let the morning sunlight wash over it. “I’ll try. Let me at least walk you back.”

  “I’m fine, Drake.”

  I looked over at her. She had the look of ‘don’t even try to argue with me, stupid boy’. I nodded. “Stay safe.”

  “Always.” The door closed. After a little mental coaxing I gathered my things for my first class. I weighed taking my Phantom costume, trying to decide if that bordered on absolute paranoia. I finally stuffed it in the bottom of my backpack. As a precaution only. Really.

  Despite all that had happened, I was going to try to keep everything as normal as possible. There was no sense in freaking out. A storm was coming, but worrying about it wasn’t going to make it arrive faster.

  Cody met me out in the dorm’s courtyard. Neither of us said anything. We didn’t need to.

  “Just another day,” he said.

  “Just another day,” I repeated. The campus was its normal bustling self. I pulled my jacket tighter around my neck, keeping one eye out for…something.

  We crossed University Lane and neared the history building.

  “Did you do the homework?” Cody asked.

  “Huh?” I turned towards him.

  Cody shoved me. “Come on, I’m trying to act all normal, remember? The homework for Poli-sci. Pages whatever to whatever.”

  “Sure I did. Didn’t you see me scribbling my answers down in between fist fights?”

  Cody snorted. “The great and mighty Phantom, forced to slave over homew—”

  That’s when Ryans stepped out from the corner of the history building, like a panther lying in wait. Cody spun and waved his arms around.

  “Whoa! Back off, man!”

  “That’s sir to you. Put your hands down.” He turned to me. “We’re going to the station. I have questions for you.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “Can’t miss class. We’ve got a test today and I was in my room all night studying for it.”

  Cody’s eyes bulged. “A test? When did he—oh, that test. Yeah, I was studying for that too.”

  “You do not have a test,” Ryans said. “I spoke with your teacher and the only thing you’re doing today is taking notes. I’ve informed him you will not be here, Drake, and he said he would not count it against you. Already lying to me? That doesn’t look very innocent, does it? Don’t do it again.”

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  Ryans eyes narrowed. “Surely you have nothing to hide. It’s just a few simple questions to help with the security of this school. If you don’t want to answer then I can put you down on a list of possible suspects for aiding a criminal.”

  Cody made a hacking cough like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

  “You can’t do that,” I said, sounding way more confident than I felt. “You have no proof.”

  “You’re giving me proof right now by refusing to cooperate.”

  We both glared at each other, an invisible war of wills in the broad space between us.

  “Fine,” I said. “Cody, I’ll see you later.”

  “Wait—you’re going—”

  “It’s like he said.” I nodded at Ryans. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  “Okay then. I’ll…see you at the pep rally, right?” Cody said.

  “Sure.”

  “Yeah, when you come in, just keep your ears open for me.” He scratched his earlobe. “I’ll be listening for you.”

  It took me a moment to get it. The earpiece. It was with my Phantom costume in my backpack. And since Cody usually used this class for naptime, he would relish the chance to listen in on our conversation.

  I followed Ryans to his parked police cruiser around the side of the building. When he turned away I slipped the earpiece out of my backpack, turned it on and clipped it to my shirt just under my jacket. Ryans didn’t notice.

  At first, I thought he was going to make me sit in the back, behind the
mesh and bars, but he opened the passengers’ seat and I climbed in. I heard a faint click from the mic as Cody connected on the other end.

  We drove the short distance to the station in complete, unbearable silence. Ryans kept his eyes forward at all times, locked on some distant goal as though he didn’t care about the cars around him. He weaved in and out of traffic until the stone-faced front of the police station came into view.

  Ryans parked in the back, swiped a card near the door and led me inside. I hesitated at the entrance. There were so many cops. Not that I had anything against them. Since becoming Phantom I had gained new respect for the kind of crap these guys dealt with everyday, but they were after my blood, and I was right in their den.

  Near the front I saw a pair of uniformed men drag a handcuffed man in and rough him to the back. That’s kind of how I felt, minus the handcuffs.

  It unnerved me how many cops gave me a pitying looks above their stacks of manila folders as Ryans led me past the mess of cubicles and desks and ringing phones, down a claustrophobic hallway and up some stairs to his office.

  I glanced at the pictures posted in the hallway leading to Ryans’ office. Ryans on the Queensbury police force, Ryans in an army uniform posing with some buddies (figures he’d be in the army) and finally, Ryans with his family. That one looked the most out of place.

  “Don’t stand there. Come in.” Ryans held open his office door. I pulled my eyes away from the picture, glanced back at it one more time and guardedly stepped inside his office. Ryans closed the door and, just as it clicked shut, locked it, so that I wouldn’t hear. I did.

  “Sit down, Mr. Sinclair.” He motioned to a chair in front of his desk and I put my backpack beside me and sat. The chair didn’t give at all. Ryans went around to his side of the desk and opened a drawer. I heard the clink of bottles. He took his time, seemingly oblivious to the unnerving atmosphere.

  “Can I offer you a drink? Scotch, Bourbon? Perhaps the scotch. This particular brand burns like hell, but you strike me as the kind of guy who can take it.”

  “I’m underage. Sir.”

  “And I’m on duty. But between you and me, Drake, some rules are made to be broken. Am I right? Rules don’t apply to men like you and me.”

  “I don’t catch your meaning—sir.” I totally caught his meaning. I’m not an idiot.

  Ryans put the bottles back and spun so that he stood regally before the great windows behind him, like a king observing his domain.

  “I hate small talk almost as much as I hate criminals I can’t catch, so let’s cut to it. You know about Phantom. Maybe where he is, maybe where he goes. You may even know who he is, you’re a smart kid. And don’t lie to me. I hate liars too.”

  I shut my mouth. The room had seemed to get just a bit smaller and I wished the blinds were not closed around the windows facing the stairway towards the rest of the police station so somebody could see us. Ryans was a man pulled taut; I had a feeling he was going to snap soon. I could imagine him dragging me down those stairs in handcuffs and throwing me in jail just for saying something he didn’t like. He had already got me here.

  I decided to play it dumb. Something Ryans was making me really good at. “Why would I know him? Why would Phantom even be near Queensbury University?”

  Ryans picked up a handheld recorder off his desk and pressed a button. There was static for a second and then—

  “Get your guns out now!” My stomach dropped into my feet at the sound of my own voice. “They’re at the door!”

  Ryans clicked it off.

  “Funny. Phantom didn’t sound as menacing as I thought he would. He sounds quite young, actually. But this young man’s still missing a few things. Respect for his peers, and maybe a little…fear.”

  “I thought you wanted to question me about Sykes.”

  Ryans slammed his desk drawer shut. “Let me lay something out to you, Drake. I’m under a lot of pressure from all sides. The city, the school, these strange project idiots running around.”

  “The people of Project Midnight are not idiots,” I said. “You of all people should know that.”

  Ryans paused like he had discovered a fly struggling in his web.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  I really needed to keep my stupid mouth shut. “Nothing,” I muttered.

  Ryans didn’t move from his spot for a second until—

  “You know, this Phantom character, he’s an interesting fellow. Even I’ll admit he does some good around here. But there’s something he doesn’t get: Sykes. You remember him, or maybe your ‘friend’ told you, Drake, the sociopath you ran into last year who’s now taken up residence in Queensbury? He has an agenda, something he still wants. That’s why he hasn’t left. But you know what is making him worse? Phantom, that’s who.”

  “How is that—?”

  “Possible? Phantom is a challenge to Sykes, a thrill, a rush. Phantom thinks he’s helping but he’s fueling the fires of a madman and there will be hell to pay, mark my words. Sykes is reaching his endgame here and we are all going to feel it. Phantom’s causing—”

  “Phantom has done nothing but good. He’s helping—”

  “He’s not helping, Drake!” Ryans yelled. “Open your eyes! Sykes finds fun in challenge, relishes a foe worthy of him and Phantom has served that on a silver platter by sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong!” Ryans’ mask of cordiality had dropped. His hair bristled like the hackles of a wolf denied its prey. I had never seen a man so furious, so single-mindedly enraged. The newspaper clipping outside his office came back again. And it made sense, why Ryans was pursuing this with such deadly intensity.

  “I’ll ask you again, Drake, do you know anything about Phantom? Withholding evidence, that’s some jail time. I can make it much, much worse.”

  “I don’t know anything. And neither do you. You’re so focused on Sykes you can’t even see the real enemy.” Oh, boy, my mouth was running now. But I was too angry to care. Ryans had worked for Project Midnight, had stood by and watched as Carlyle turned Sykes into the monster he was today. And now he wanted to pin the blame on Sykes. And me.

  Ryans swept around his desk in an instant. I let him wrench me up and slam me against the wall so hard he cracked a picture frame. His eyes shone violently and when he spoke it was in a metallic rasp so deadly it was worse than if he had been yelling.

  “You little shit. I am this close, this close! To finding Sykes and every time he slips away. And now this—this Phantom freak—waltz’s in here and screws up my system? I will crucify him and if Sykes is not stopped soon we are all going to burn. You think you’re being tough, hiding it from me? You’re not. I know you’re Phantom, I know about the police scanner you, or maybe your friends, are using and I know you can’t stop Sykes any more than I can. But I do know this: Sykes will stop at nothing in his quest for his own twisted justice, and when that time comes there will be no power in heaven or hell that will save you from me. You will tell me. Now.”

  I stared back into his eyes, boiling with rage. His grip tightened on my shirt.

  “How could you?”

  Ryans’ breathing stuttered. “What?”

  I tried to keep my words steady though my heart was racing. “You stood by and just watched while Carlyle destroyed Sykes.” Ryans dropped me and stepped back. I saw shock and fear on his face.

  “I know, Ryans,” I said. “Yes, I’m Phantom, but you already knew that. But I’m more than that. I’m Project Midnight’s little experiment, the one they didn’t completely screw up on.”

  “I—I don’t believe you.”

  My anger rose “You’re the problem, Ryans, not Sykes. You and Project Midnight. Maybe by becoming police chief you thought you were doing some great service to right a wrong—”

  “I left Project Midnight—”

  “But they never left me!” I yelled. “Stop denying them! Project Midnight is still alive, Ryans! They’re still out there and now they want me alive and Sykes dead
. Just because you left doesn’t mean they disappeared. All I hear is Sykes this and Sykes that. Well Sykes wasn’t the one who made me what I am. Sykes didn’t drive himself insane, and Sykes sure as hell didn’t stand by and let Project Midnight do their twisted experiments on innocent people, himself included. Innocents are dying because you can’t face the truth.” And neither can you, a small voice said. You’re too busy pretending to get answers because you can’t really face him. Coward.

  My voice finally faded into the wood paneling of his office. Ryans clutched one edge of his desk. “You—You’re one of—”

  “The whole time,” I said. “Before I was even born. Are you proud, Ryans? Proud of what the Project has accomplished?”

  “I didn’t know,” Ryans said softly. I turned away in disgust. Here was someone else who wasn’t willing to own up. By now my anger had abated a little bit and I realized how stupid it was to announce my identity in a police station. Oops.

  Someone pounded on the door. “Sir?”

  We didn’t move. Ryans eyes were still locked on me. There was more hammering.

  “Sir! Sykes has been seen on Queensbury University grounds. They have a full lockdown of the school and request police intervention.”

  Ryans unlocked the door for a younger officer.

  “Get our men split into teams. We left five minutes ago.” He turned back to me. “And arrest Mr. Sinclair. We’re keeping him as a suspect for the identity of Phantom.” The young officer’s eyes widened and he reached for some handcuffs.

  Before he could grab them I struck him in the chest and he collapsed, unconscious. Ryans took a step back and grabbed his gun. I ripped it out of his hand and threw it at the window, shattering it.

  “You can’t run from me, Drake,” Ryans said, backing up.