The Phantom

Chapter 12

"I can't just let you starting walking out in public, and I can't bring you to the police and tell them that you're on our side. Not yet at least," the woman explained, slowly moving along the hallway. The way that she walked, and failed at navigating without my help disturbed me. Had there been a plan if she had killed me? She would have never left the hospital, just like the rest.

"But, I can help you gain the world's trust again," she smiled at the darkness, unsure of where I was, until the white mask turned and beckoned. "It might take time, of course."

To walk outside as if I was a human being again. I wasn't sure what I thought about the idea. How would everyone react to the Phantom, trying to live a regular human life? It didn't seem right to me. Normal people just didn't wear masks everywhere, and the thought to remove the mask never passed through my mind.

"The police sent you?" I asked, slightly confused at the idea. What officer in their right mind would send anyone into the asylum? After what had happened to their companions, I was certain they would try to demolish the building next, rather than send anyone else in.

"Well, no," she shook her head. "Technically it was the boy. The Observer. He's practically in charge of the police at this point though, so I consider them the same."

"The Observer..." I mumbled, letting the name turn over a few times. I had never heard it before, but it was strangely familiar.

"He's another one like me," she stopped, and looked at the mask briefly before correcting herself. "Like us. He has powers. He can see and notice anything within his line of sight. He could tell you the eye color of a man on a boat, while we might only be able to see the sail as a small thing on the horizon. More importantly though, he can tell you what that man is thinking, and what he is most likely to do next, just because of the way he moves his eyes."

"Pierce," I said, a little louder.

Of course it was. The boy had been a special child, and not in the traditional use of that phrase. There had been something off about him, and he had been the one to first notice that I was the Phantom. I smiled slightly, knowing that he was still well, and helping the world as much as he could.

The woman, however, was a little put off when I spoke.

"You," she shifted uneasily. "You know his name? How?"

"I knew him when I was someone else." The memory seemed more like a dream, or a memory of another person that had somehow been placed into my mind. "Before the voice. My name was David?"

She nodded, and her expression of unease changed to one of sadness, and I could tell that she was remembering a part of her own life.

"Well, it sounds like your name still is David, isn't it? And as much as that voice tells you otherwise, that's what you're doing right now. You're taking steps to take back your name."

"What is your name?" I asked, turning quickly, and causing her to jump slightly. I hadn't meant to scare her, but unfortunately, it was what I did.

"The Impeccable," she answered quickly and firmly, as if the response had been trained into her. However, after a brief moment, she relaxed and answered again. "Julia."

"The Impeccable," I mused softly. Each of them had their own alias then, as if they were a bunch of superheros and villains. This was no comic book world though, and as amusing as their names were, it didn't change the atrocities that some of them had committed. "How many of... you are there?"

I wasn't sure how to ask it. How many good guys? How many people who didn't just up and kill someone with the power they had. Or, perhaps I was just curious how many people had been found in total with the strange abilities. I didn't really know what I wanted to ask.