In the End

Intro

A ghost?

Devil?

Shadow?

Evil spirit?

He's a demon...

And he exists because of the Book of Phantom. He seeks out man with the common lusts of pride, pleasure, and greed. Those who sign their name in the book of Phantom are then bound to him as his puppets, but make no mistake—he'll give you what you want.

But in turn he'll take exactly what he needs.

No one knows his origin story—he doesn't even know how he came to be. But there's no doubt that he plays his role well

As the King of Demons

And he just had to choose her as his next victim.

She wasn't like his usual victims though. Usually he'd go for the rotten ones, but she...oh, she was still a young Pacific Rose.

He couldn't wait to pluck it right before it was perfectly ripe.

He could smell the rose and golden honey tickling the senses in his nostrils, shaking the very depths of his soul.

It was refreshing.

But what he looked foreward to the most is when he could wait out for the apple to rot from the inside in a cold and dark atmosphere.

And his favourite part?

Crushing what little purity was left in the rotten apple to make an intoxicating cider.

And oh how he loved cider.

How he encountered such a rare specimen?

He's not so sure either, but maybe his shadows could tell you

If they had mouths to speak, well, they do. But all they use them for is smiles, or maybe frowns. And sometimes they look emotionless, because that was all they were.

Emotionless shadows of dead people who got what they deserved.

Or did they?

Who knows.
Phantom is the one who calls the shots.
And everyone else just follows.

Phantom has his own kingdom. That's where he keeps his shadows (bad people who have died) and some humans that are bound to him by contract (the rotten ones).

Wait....

You don't know about the contracts?

Well there's this book...

*protagonist goes to library because they had free time and suddenly they are drawn to a book in a dark corner*

Protagonist picks up the book.

"The Book of Phantom"

Well you see, The Book of Phantom is a book created by the demon king himself (as far as anyone knows). He placed spells for any occasion as long as they help humans get what they want—just enough to make them yearn for more. The book was made to attract those who would go under the three faults of humanity:

Greed

Pride

Lust

The book wasn't living itself per se.

Phantom would choose his victims, which would usually be the ones closest to becoming an oozing rot.

But sometimes he would go for those already in the middle of the road, just to let them burn slowly,

because the best ciders were the ones who were carefully and patiently prepared.

But for some reason he was attracted to a flower, who hadn't quite yet taken the form of the fruit.

He could sense specks of the greying humanity in it, but what he considered was the age.

She was a young adult yet had not borne fruit?

A rule Phantom had made for himself was that he would not go after children, simply because they didn't understand fully right and wrong which made the process boring.

He liked to tease and make people question themselves.

"In my kingdom, I have everything . . . Everything except for you."