The Phantoms

Chapter 10

Sept-10-2018

Cam:
Yo. Sooo school's back on.Feels so weird without you here.
11:09

Sept-29-2018

Cam:
Hey. U didn't answer my last text.Jared was just talking about how bad he needs a new haircut. If you were here we would have given him a new haircut. Can't believe I'm saying this but-i kinda miss u lol.
2:12

Oct-10-2018

Cam:
I know how weird you are about not using your phone and shit,but I honestly thought you were better than this.
4:52

Police or not,in the end,Evan and I have to go back to the Oklahoma portal. Fabien's still not well enough to travel and even I'm not suicidal enough to ask Gail to go in my place while he's still on his sickbed. She'd screamed at me hysterically just for plopping down too heavily on the foot of his bed when I'd gone over to Ella's house to strategize with them.
Also,I felt bad merely contemplating the thought. Fabien's near-death experience had shook me. I don't even verbally abuse him anymore no matter how much his unreadable calm unnerves me.I'm too relieved that he's still breathing .
Which is very frustrating because I shouldn't care. I should be immune to death by now. I've seen two people I loved die in front of me at the age of seven. I'd killed countless hunters and their beastly trackers,some in quite gruesome ways. I've killed people who'd considered me a friend. Murdered strangers to cover my tracks.Hell,my power,a huge part of me,revolves around death. Not only have I seen death, I'm literally feel it every day of my life too. The void lingers on the edges of my subconcious,whispering for me in ghostly echoes even when I'm not calling for it. Anything that is dead,spirit or body,I command. I've fought death,rolled with it,thrown it out as easily as confetti at my enemies.
So it's suprising that I still have the ability to be afraid for someone who's dying. That I can still feel grief over my father's death. That deep down,I'm not just as cold and empty as the skeletons I summon.
Sometimes,I don't know if that's a good thing.
Though Gail is busy with Fabien, she's promised to use any time she doesn't spend on his side to try and find the other portals. We'd all agreed she start looking around airports and train stations,because the hunters seem to favor areas with transportation services.
Then I'd bribed our maid,Whitney,to live signs of my presence around the house,an extra plate in sink,Trident wrappers in the trash.
And now here I am,sitting in Evan's Bugatti,heading to Oklahoma with him-again.
This time his aunt was in town so,no need to steal credit cards. She'd simply given us hers,looking miserable that Evan was leaving,heading to unknown danger just a week after Fabien's little incident. To the same place he'd been attacked in.
The car is uncomfortably humid,despite its functioning AC and open windows. I shift in my seat,wriggling out of the baggy black hoodie I have on. Thankfully,unlike other times,I have a tank top under it.Perfect for hiding blood stains and blending into shadows. Definitely not perfect for the sudden,unexpected change in the weather.
We've been on the road for a day now,so we're only a few hours from Oklahoma. I glance at Cam's texts again,sadness rising in my chest. Along with the resigned acceptance that despite all of her flaws,in the end, I'm the one who's not good enough.
I remember the day I'd told her I was moving. It was two days after I'd heard the news from my mother herself. We'd been at a party hosted by our "friend" Megan as an end-of-the-school year bash. Music had been playing disturbingly loud from various stereos inside the house. People crowded every part of it,dancing,grinding against each other,sone doing worse than just grinding. It was the kind of party where there was a high chance you would come out pregnant.
Cam and I had gone out to lay down on the lawn since there were much fewer people there. The air was cool and soothing against my skin,hot from all the dancing I'd done inside. I'd always loved Megan's lawn. Her parents had kept it lush and green but untrimmed so it's grass was higher than the average lawn's. Her mom kept going out on it and spiking it with water every time she and her husband had an arguement as a calming sort of ritual. Megan always rolled her eyes at her for it but I know for a fact that she grabbed a hose every time her parents had an arguement as well.Which meant the lawn was always dewy and more than a few times,completely drenched. I didn't mind though,despite the mark I'd known it would leave on my dyed purple capri shorts. Cam had been drunk, her already too-high denim miniskirt pushed up even higher to show her hot pink panties, lipstick smeared. Her long hair was falling over her bare shoulder in a messy chestnut wave,down to her ribs,framing an oval face.A passing boy with spiky blue hair gives her an appreciative once-over causing me to yank down her skirt though it's a hopeless case.Even drunk and witless,Camilla Avery was beautiful.
Unlike her though,I couldn't afford being that drunk. There is and was never a moment in my life where I could have afforded not being on high alert.
Cam's lack of soberness had made me relieved though. It made things much easier. Softened the blow for her.
"I'm leaving," I'd told her,casually. The only sign of my discomfort had been my fingers twisting the hem of my shorts,which covered barely more skin than Cam's skirt.
Cam had straightened. Her bright green eyes,normally alight with laughter,seemed to have trouble focusing on me. "For how long?" She'd slurred. Her words melded together like a single long one. She hadn't sounded affected. I'd left Brooklyn plenty of times before. It wasn't an unusual occurence.
The hard part was explaining that this time, I wasn't coming back.
Luckily,I didn't have to. She saw it all in my eyes,in the tell-tale dimple that appears in my cheek whenever I worry.
She made a sound. It was chocked,as if she was trying to speak through a mouthful of grit. The sound had made me wince inwardly. I wasn't used to Cam displaying any vulnerability. It was why we hung out,after all. To keep each other invulnerable.
"What you doing?" Evan asks, from beside me. I immediately switch my phone off,grateful for the distraction from my depressing thoughts.
"Texting an old friend," I reply smoothly. More like reading texts and not texting back but he doesn't need to know that.
The disbelieving look he shoots me says that he already does. He probably read them as well. I had my phone open long enough for him to sneak a few glances.
If he judges me for being a terrible friend though,he doesn't show it. His eyes hold no disgust when he turns them back on the road.
Watching him,I remember the question that's been bouncing around my mind for a few days.
""How'd you do it?"
"Do what?" He asks instantly,almost as if he was anticipating my words.
I pull a leg under me,comfying up for what promised to be a long coversation. Evan glares at my shoe,which is barely even brushing his precious,polished leather seats. I ignore him.
"Back in detention. When you were showing me your powers and you still weren't detected. How did you do it?"
I'm eager to hear his answer,on the verge of breathlessness.
His eyes narrow a little. I can tell he's calculating the risks of telling me. I see the moment he decides and the tiny shrug of his shoulders.
"Gail and I came up with this theory a long time ago."
He takes his sweet time trying to find the right words to explain it to me.
"Just think of our powers like a change in the wind. If it's a sudden gust,you can feel it. But if it's a subtle shift..."
He doesn't have to say more. I get it.
"Basically there's big and small powers."
"That's not what I-"
"And you've got the small powers."
"Subtle,"he says,resentfully.I snicker. Mainly because I'm stewing in envy right now and it feels good to irritate the bastard.
So what if his power isn't something mind-blowingly huge? He gets to be free for it. Free of the constant pressure you feel anytime you are actively trying to subdue an unrootable part of you,all so you can live to see another day. The kind of pressure that makes you snap at the worst times.
"What is your power?"
"I can trick other people's minds into believing things that aren't really there. Cast illusions. Yours?"
I turn my head to look at him.
"I can raise the dead."
He jerks in his seat.
"No,not like that," I ammend, hurriedly. "Just their bodies."
Evan relaxs -or sags back into his seat. I know what I'd made him think for a moment,the sort of impossibility I'd made him consider.
There's a reason I'd never used my powers on my dad or Lauren. Because,even at the age of seven I'd known that they wouldn't really be back. Just puppets for me to string around.
"So you're like,zombie girl."
"And you're like,mirage boy."
"My nickname's way cooler than yours."
"Until you see the person.What can Gail and Fabien do?"
I expect him to need a lot of persuasion to tell me that,so I'm infinitely suprised and rightly suspicious when he does it with no visible inner debate.
"Gail can see the future."
I whistle. "Seriously?"
"Yep."
"She works at a psychic's in Ebony,right? Isn't that a little too dangerous?" I mean,the wrong person walks in and... boom.
"My sister's always been one to take rebellious risks."
I let out a small laugh,caught somewhere between thinking she's a legend or plain stupid.
"And Fabien?" I press on,disguising my curiousity behind a let's-go-back-to-business tone. Evan shoots me a mocking look,clearly seeing through it.
Damn it. My frigging ActressExtraordinare mother can't tell when I'm fronting and I learned from her. How does he do it?
"He can control light. Create it,manipulate it,take it-anything to do with light,he got it."
I chew on my bag's strap,thoughtfully. The light at the end of the alley that night. I'd thought it was Evan.
No. He was the one disguising the mess we were making on the streets. I wonder what people thought after they saw the ruined asphalt. Probably passed it off as some sort of freak accident. I make a mental note to check.
"So,you can use your power right now? And not be detected?"
Evan shoots me a wary look,forseeing my request.
"I don't think that's a-" His words get cut off mid way,as the car gets flipped from behind by some unseen force.
Both Evan and I are too stunned to scream. We sit there,mute and wide-eyed as a roar sounds from the trees flanking the road. I come to my senses after a second and thrust an arm out,reaching into the void. For a terrifying moment,nothing happens.
Then a slimy,skeletal arm bursts through the asphalt and reaches for the car. Thin fingers grab on Evan's windowsill,slowing our descent to stop. With a loud thud,the car lands back on its four wheels. I think one deflates.
The angle of the car before it landed,combined with the moment of airborness was too much. Evan's head bangs hard against the dashboard. I straight up fly out of the window.
I land hard,an arm trapped beneath my body. A jolt of pain races up my elbow,striking a scream into my throat. I can hear my shoulder pop.
My scream is muffled through gritted teeth. Another roar sounds,much closer than before.
Evan is useless right now since he's probably unconcious. Both our lives are in my hands.
The beast finally emmerges from behind the car and flies straight up with a ground shaking roar.
"Shit," I breathe out painfully,then thrust my unbroken arm upwards. The skeletal one goes with it. It holds onto one of the beast's thin legs. The beast roars and tries to shake it off. I try to keep hold of the slimy skin,ignoring the burning in my palm. My weapon is too old. It breaks.
The beast lands on the ground,it's pale tentacles reaching for me. I grasp my knife with a bloody hand and force myself to stand. It starts running for me.
The revving of an engine startles both of us. The Bugatti speeds towards us,so fast I could barely jump out of the way in time.
The beast didn't. The car crashes into it with enough force to break it's legs. Bones and metal scrunch. The beast whines in pain.
A gunshot sounds and the whining stops.
Through the open window,I see Evan,blood smeared over his forehead and the front of his hair. He turns his head. Our eyes meet.
He just saved my life.
"Could have been worse,"Evan says,much later,as I wrap my broken arm in my discarded hoodie. It's the best substitute for a cast until we get to a hospital.
Evan's fixed my shoulder a while ago. It's still throbbing though.
Whatever. Evan's right. It could have been worse.
I breath a sigh of relief and lean my head back against the seat. My legs are dangling outside from the open door. We're not moving until I get my shit together.
But it's about time we do. We're not far from the portal and the hunters are probably on their way here.
I pull my legs in and shut the door. Evan gets the hint and starts the car.
"Guess we're not going through with the plan anymore."
A muscle ticks in Evan's jaw.
"Guess we're not."