The Things We Do (Under Editing)

A Phantom in the Night

The sun still danced near the eastern horizon when I left the apartment the next morning. Over my shoulder was slung a giant pack filled with stolen gold. 

Every step of the way, my eyes drifted around me, catching on anyone who looked at me or got close. My heartrate was convinced that every one of them was suspicious of me, like they knew what I carried. 

I only found myself able to breathe when I arrived outside of Wraith's office, but I froze solid at that realization. One job and already the safest place for me was under this man's gaze. 

What did that matter, though? I lost any control the moment I received my first instructions. 

I shivered and knocked. My knuckles only touched the wood once before the command came for me to enter. Stepping inside, I once again found Wraith sitting behind his desk, the main light coming from the window behind him. As I entered, he neatly folded a newspaper and set it front of him. 

Where did he even get a newspaper? Do they actually still make newspapers? For a moment, we did nothing but stare at each other as my grip tightened on the strap of my bag.

"Well?" His voice summoned me closer. In three long strides, I crossed the room.

"One bag of Egyptian gold, as ordered." I hefted the bag onto his desk and the contents clanged as they spilled out. A pleased smile graced my master's face, only for a moment. Our eyes met over the pile of glittering metal.

"It's rare for one to complete their first job so effortlessly. But you... Not only did you escape the police, but you did so with flying colors. You even made the first page." He tossed his newspaper across the desk. It landed in front of me, showing off the main article.

I bent to examine the morning news.

... every ounce of gold vanished from The Hall
of Ancient History's Egyptian section overnight.
The perpetrator was a masked female who destroyed
the museum's glass room and simply sprinted past
dazed police. A witness reported that she heard
a sound "like a thousand nails scraping down
a chalkboard in front of a microphone" and
saw "a flash of red that the police chased after".
Authorities failed to catch the thief and will
release no further information. Who is this criminal
that snatches what she wants from under
our noses and disappears like
a phantom in the night?

My gaze rose to meet Wraith's. He was watching for my reaction.

"I look forward to your next endeavor, Miss Hohn... Or should I call you Phantom?"

My feet carried me to my first class on their memory alone as my thoughts carried me back to the night before. The sound of my own screams filled my ears again. Of course I'd tested the device at lower volumes before taking it into the field, but the extent of the damage it caused was amazing. I could still see the shards of glass shining like stars as they rained down. 

A satisfied smirk stretched across my face as I realized that the first image of the new me that anyone had was of a masked figure standing in that shower of stars. My first appearance had been aesthetically pleasing if nothing else.

When I reached my classroom, I collapsed awkwardly into a chair, dropping my bag in much the same way.

"Amy!" My head rolled sideways at the sound of my best friend's voice. Kacie tsked distastefully at my old jeans, tossing her purse on the table and tucking her skirt beneath her as she sat. "Zach Woods is having a party tonight and we have to go."

I didn't even bother answering her. Instead, I lifted my eyebrows and looked at her until she answered herself for me. "You really need to stop turning me down. Amy, you have not been to a single college party in your life. Stop being antisocial!"

My breath came out in a long sigh. "I'm not antisocial, I just hate parties, in large part because you and Mel would either abandon me, or spend the entire time trying to get me a date."

"That's another thing you should do!" Kacie huffed. "We've been friends since kindergarten and I've only seen you date two people! You are in the prime of your life, but you haven't gone out with anyone since high school! Sure that last one was probably the worst person possible, but still!"

I offered her my biggest eye roll. "I don't have time for things like that. You know very well that I'm failing most of my classes."

"You're boring." She shook her head, but left me alone for a few minutes, during which time professor started the class. It wasn't long, though, before Kacie got bored of listening to him rant about the internet, and rant he was, having gotten off topic almost immediately after starting the lesson. Making sure the professor was paying us no mind, my friend leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Did you hear about all the gold vanishing from the museum?"

My breath caught in my throat. "Yes, Kacie," I tried my best to sound annoyed at her distracting me. Honestly, how was she doing better in this class than I was? She paid even less attention than me. "Everyone has heard about the museum," I continued the conversation anyway. "You can't walk from one side of campus to the other and not hear someone mention it."

I held my breath, waiting to hear what she would say, but she had lost interest in the topic of the theft itself. "I heard the pretty, young detective is on the case. What's his name?" I knew she hadn't really forgotten. She probably only knew about the theft because he was given the job. "I know! It's Detective Corum." Well, at least now I knew the name of the man I had to watch out for.