A Phantom's Story (A 1D & MapleStory Mystery FanFic)

Chapter 7: The Second Visit

Chapter 7: The Second Visit

Everyone was chatting on Faith's couch, happy and relieved to be reunited with their fellow friend and band member. Harry explained what had happened in Crow's lair, bringing shock to the whole group.

"We'll need to keep an eye on Crow," Faith spoke up to everyone, "and the Phantom. He's after Phantom, but he wouldn't come to us if we had nothing to do with Phantom. So, I conclude he's among us."

Harry bit his lip and trembled.

"If anyone has any info about him, you might as well speak now." Liam added.

They then sat in silence. No words were said.

Everyone exchanged quick looks at each other, figuring out who had anything about the mysterious nobleman. No one spoke up about anything.

After about a couple minutes of this, everyone gave up. Faith gave a huff in frustration.

"Fine then," Faith remarked, "I'll make dinner and get this over with."

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After a very silent, peculiar dinner, with occasional small talk between Louis, Harry, and Liam, everyone retreated to their usual activities around the house. Faith then went up to the room. Nothing interesting was going on today besides the crazy chase with Harry.

Faith sat down, sighing in frustration. This Phantom definitely didn't get his name for nothing.

The phone suddenly rang in the room, interrupting Faith's thoughts. She reached out to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Faith, it's Nathan and Abby. We seriously need to talk."

Faith found this peculiar. Nathan and Abby Franklin, both brother and sister, were both Faith's friends and classmates. Nathan was a workaholic, yet during his freetime he spent his time playing video games like a 9-year-old. Faith always chided him about the irony of his personality. Abby, meanwhile, had a very bubbly personality, yet reliable and determined. Faith always felt comfortable around the both of them, despite their occasional sibling fights.

What they both had in common; they were usually both very, very busy!

In which a phone call from them was very odd. Faith decided to listen into more about what they had to say.

"So what's up?" Faith said to them.

"Who's the Phantom guy? He's been popping up around your area a lot lately." Abby asked.

"Oh yeah, the incident in Ellensy Park? I wrote an article about him." Faith replied.

"That was a very nice article by the way. Punctual, too. You know how much Mr. Hawkins likes that. He was pleased." Nathan informed.

"Oh, Mr. Hawkins. That's good news." Faith said, no pun intended. Mr. Hawkins was the boss at the news company she and Nathan worked at.

"So was the Phantom handsome?" Abby swooned over the line.

"I didn't get a good view of him, so I can't really say," Faith replied.

"Awwwww.....He looks pretty dreamy, don't you think?" Abby said dreamily.

"He looks more deceiving to me," Nathan said. Faith tried not to laugh.

"I can agree, Nathan." Faith replied. "I need to go now. The news can't wait forever."

After a hearty goodbye, Faith glanced at her laptop.

"I suppose you're right. The news never waits for anything," a mysterious, yet familiar voice said from the window terrace. Faith suppressed a jump in surprise.

"Why am I not surprised by your entrance?" Faith turned to the smirking Phantom.

"Why, would you like me to do something else?"

"Knock, for once," Faith retorted. Phantom just laughed.

"I'm called the Phantom for a reason." he replied, "Anyway, I planned something special for us tonight."

"What!?" Faith stood up and glared at him, "Listen here, Phantom, whoever you really are; when was there an 'us'? We aren't dating. I don't want to date someone I barely know about. I also don't want someone who just manipulates normal people; such as me!"

"Fine then," Phantom huffed, hiding his disappointment. "I'll be on my way then. I have some business to attend to."

Phantom then disappeared again in a tornado of cards, his face solemn.

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Liam and Harry were watching Honey Boo-Boo out of boredom in the living room. The rest of them were fast asleep for the night, snoring in their beds.

"Okay, after this episode, we'll watch Saturday Night Live, then we'll go to bed. At least, I'm going to bed," Liam said.

"Shhh," Harry said, "Pumpkin's about to eat the Pigzilla burger!"

"So?"

"I wanna see what happens!"

"Ugh," Liam retorted, "I don't know how people like these kinds of shows."

 Liam went up to bed instead, deciding to watch SNL on his laptop the next day.

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"Morning, Faith!" Louis greeted the next morning. "I want to spend some time with my second cousin today!"

"So what do you want to do, Lou?" Faith asked.

"I want to go to the park!"

That being said, the rest of the boys turned to look at him.

"Louis, you're not talking about..." Liam drifted off.

"Not Ellensy Park!" Zayn emphasized. "Big star or not, they'll just kick you out of there. Have common sense!"

"So? In life we need to take risks." Louis said. "That's why we'll go there! I also want to check out the little restaurant there too."

"Johanssen's?" Faith inquired. "The blue restaurant on the corner of Main Street?"

"That's it." Louis said proudly. Niall walked up to him, interested after the word "restaurant" was mentioned.

"Is it alright if I go?" he asked quietly.

"Why not?" Louis and Faith replied at the same time. Niall broke into a grin.

"Okay then," Zayn said, "Just be careful, okay?"

The trio headed off to Main Street with hungry stomachs and happy vibes.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them. All of them, in the apartment building, chatting happily. Everyone was happy, the city was happy, everything was oh-so-merry. So agonizingly merry. That will change.

"You can't hide from me no longer, Great Heroes," Crow cackled, "This is only the calm before the storm of chaos to come."

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Pictured on right: Nathan Franklin.

-Phantom