The Phantoms

Prologue

Prologue

Unknown Perspective

I stumbled down the dark hallway, ran my hand through my hair, and wondered where I was.

'How did I even get here?' was the first thought that crossed my mind as I tried to make my way down the dimly lit halls. I let out an internal groan as the lights began to flicker, and I reached in my coat pocket for a match.

Just as the match illuminated a section of the hallway I saw something in a pile up ahead. I continued my walk further down before I made the sudden and mortifying realization that they were dead bodies.

I checked my surroundings once again wondering who killed those people or why they were put there in the first place. Feeling spooked, I reached into my pocket on the instinct to take out my trusty gun; but my heart stopped when I realized that it wasn't there.

I muttered a string of curse words as I realized my desperate need to get out of there. I immediately looked around for an exit or a door, but saw instead something move out of the corner of my eye. My head snapped up in that direction, where there stood a girl.

I froze in my tracks, my heart pounding in my ears, and waited to see what she would do, but she stayed mysteriously silent. She suddenly came to life and gestured for me to come closer. I hesitated at first, I had the feeling she was of no threat to me, even though I never met her in my life. I was struck with a sudden sense of déjà vu as I followed her through a door that wasn't there before. I was hit with icy nighttime air, and looked up to admire the stars before realizing there were none.

I turned to look at the girl, her features now illuminated by the moon. She had waist long dirty blonde hair and she looked around 20 years old, wearing a skin tight black leather suit with what appeared to be an attached silver rifle. A worried expression flitted across her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She only hesitated for a moment before grabbing my hand and I received a series of visions. The first one involved a girl wearing a stunning burgandy dress with golden laces, like nothing I had seen before. She had a crown placed atop her hair, and it looked as if it was somehow glowing. The girl in my vision looked like she was in serious distress, and began sprinting through a forest.

The next vision hit me along with a wade of nausea, and a broken electric chair was the only thing in my line of sight. What puzzled me was that it looked like it was somehow...exploded. A menacing looking man clothed in an orange jumpsuit suddenly emerged from the shadows. He looked like he had gone mad with power and electricity swirled through the air all around him.

I suddenly saw a girl with piercing silver eyes and long jet black hair in the third vision. She was wearing a dark navy blue hoodie with black jeans and she stood in the middle of a forest that looked similar to the one the crowned girl was hurtling through. She was surrounded by assorted animals, yet she seemed loney and sad somehow.

The following vision involved the girl who was clasping my hand. She looked a few years younger in the dream-like state, and her dirty blonde hair was short instead of waist long. The girl was still dressed in all black, with her silver rifle at her side. She had a raging look on her face, pissed off as if she was three seconds away from kicking some sorry soul's ass.

The last vision was of me at a diner, looking like I was waiting for something.... Or someone.

The girl suddenly dropped my hand and I snapped back out of the visions, even more confused than before. A thousand unanswered questions flooded my mind.

"Who are you?" By the time I had turned up to ask her, I saw her figure retreating.

"Hey! Where are you going? Who are you?!" I yelled as I stumbled after her, still in a haze from the visions. She hesitatingly turned around before finally replying, "Find them, then you'll find the truth. That is the most important thing. Oh, and one more thing; destroy the company. Leave no survivors. Do it right, and we'll meet again" She said firmly, a set resolve about her as she handed me a business card and a photograph. I looked down at the small artifacts, and slowly clutched them.

"What, these guys? I don't even know them or where they are or how I'm supposed to destroy a comp-" I looked up from my rambles and realized with a sinking heart that she was gone. I suddenly heard an oddly loud sonic boom coming from the nighttime air.....

*ring ring ring*

I snapped up wide awake and turned off the alarm clock.

'It was just another dream,' I thought to myself. I had been having the same dream for the past few months now, but this was the first time the mystery girl actually talked to me.

I suddenly realized what I was clutching tightly in my fist. It was a business card from a company named ' 'B.L.Ink.'

"Maybe this isn't just a coincidence after all.....Or maybe I'm just finally losing my mind" I chuckled to myself. I put on some of my casual clothes since it was one of my very limited days off. I had recently began writing in a dream journal since the first mysterious girl appeared in my dreams. Today's entry was one of the most significant events in a few weeks, considering the visions she shown me.

I also had a tugging feeling about everything I witness. After several months of the reoccuring girl in my dream, I swear I had seen her before. The card too. I looked at the logo for "B.L.Ink" on the card. I know i've seen this before...

I brushed the notion aside and stuck the card in between the pages of the most current entries. My stomach growled as soon as I shut the covers together. A spark of realization surged through me and I took a look at the clock. It was fifteen until nine, the time I scheduled an appointment with one of my clients.

"Oh, man I overslept," I scolded myself, "Now where did I put that file..." I rummaged throught piles upon piles of manila folders; each contained a different name, each a different story. "Abraham...nope. Addams...no. Alberez.... OH! Here it is. Ares."

The search had already wasted five minutes of my time, and the walk to the diner across the street took another three. "Crap." I scolded myself once more. I gave a silent prayer while I locked up my apartment, hoping she would not be there waiting for me, and I headed to the local diner across from the street, my stomach grumbling as load as my thoughts.