Hooded Phantom Rebirth

Season 2: Episode 19

Joseph's POV

I walked out of the teen center and didn't look back. I was frustrated, as I walked in the night with my mouth shut. "So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk away from them? You're not gonna tell them what's been on your mind?" Asked Zenith, subconsciously as I remained silent. "You're gonna have to tell them at some point," he said. "No, not yet. I don't need them to worry. We've already got our hands full, so I refuse to put more on the table," I said, breaking the silence. "He's got a point," Scales said, coming out of my watch. My kwami looked at me as he levitated next to my shoulder, concerned. "You have to tell them. You can't keep this inside. It'll consume you," stated Scales. I looked at the little guy as I sighed once more. "I'm only here to clear my head. I don't want to hear this from the both of you. I stated.

"I still don't get it. Making this deal was to help the team. Doesn't he get that. Or does he just not trust me," I said, a bit annoyed. "He does trust you. He just wants to make sure you're making the right choices. He doesn't want you to go through the same thing he did. Go through all that madness and insanity. He doesn't want you to lose control or-," said Scales "Become mad with power. He doesn't want you to become the monster he used to be. Daniel's only watching over you, just like how Davila and the others are. They're all counting on you and want you grow as a leader. As their leader," Stated Zenith, finishing off Scales's sentence. I lowered my head in defeat. I didn't say a word. I didn't know what to say. In a way, they were right. About everything. I didn't want to make them worry, but I failed in doing so. Just like how I'm failing as their leader. I began to open my mouth, thinking of what I could say, when all of a sudden:

A loud scream of agonizing pain was heard by all three of us

I shot up, facing the direction of the scream. Both Scales and I frowned as my kwami entered my pocket. I followed the screams, running as fast as I could until it led me to a two-story house, near a somewhat large neighborhood, when the noise had stopped. I looked around, hoping to find something that seemed out of place. That's when I noticed the window itself. Curtains were covering the inside of the house. However, I was able to make out a red liquid splattered on the curtains themselves. I frowned as I got closer to the porch. I gently walked towards the door. I grabbed onto the knob and quickly saw that the door was locked. Scales left my pocket as I took a few steps back and looked around, checking if the coast was cleared. And with no person in sight, I kicked the door open, revealing the inside of the house. My eyes widened as I looked around. The whole place was covered in blood, from the ceiling to the walls themselves. Organs and other body parts were all over the place. And the stench was horrible. Far worse than anything I've ever smelled before. I looked around, covering my nose with my hand and noticed a corpse lying there, with his chest opened and having a few missing limbs such as a whole arm missing. I walked towards the body and crouched right in front of it, seeing the gore up close. But his face was all the more terrifying. His skin was pealed off, leaving a face that gives nothing but nightmares as blood still spilled on the floor. "What the hell did this to you?" I asked myself as I stood up and looked around for more clues to see what exactly happened here. That's when Scales was able to find something. I went over to Scales and found the dead man's wallet on top of one of the cabinets, near to what seemed to be, an empty beer bottle. I walked towards the cabinet as I opened the wallet. I frowned as I looked at whose I.D. it was. It was Mike's dad. I took a closer look and noticed that his money was still there. It seemed that his death wasn't for money. So by the looks of it, this was a crime of passion.

That's when I heard footsteps heading out of the house. I quickly turned to see a figure with red stains on its black jacket heading out of the house, with speed that was anything but human. I frowned as I ran out the door, still seeing the figure running away before stopping and turning towards me. It seemed that it wanted me to follow it. And so I did, like a horror movie dumbass.