The Phantom Crystal

Meet the Phantom

The man’s eyes widen in surprise and his fingers pause in their movement once more. Neither of us moves as the man continues to stare at me. My stomach flips as I drop my gaze to the man’s nose, unable to handle the intense his gaze is.

I bite the inside of my cheek. Am I wrong? Does he not know who that is either? Dang, it. But he seems to know so much about this crystal thing. Maybe he does know who it is and is just surprised that I at least know that name?

I jump as a loud laugh erupts from the man. My heart leaps into my throat as the man falls forward, resting his forehead on my shoulder. His hair tickles the bottom of my chin as his body shakes with his laughter.

“Uh—“ I say, unsure what exactly the man found funny about all of this. My hands hover awkwardly near the man’s back.

After a beat, the man finally leans back, wiping tears from his eyes. The man snickers when he sees my confused frown.

“I apologize,” the man says, chuckling. “I was merely surprised that you would say that name so soon.” The man wipes his eyes again. “I must ask, who told you that name?”

“Uh, a ghost janitor in the basement of my dorm told me that the crystal inside me belongs to someone called ‘the Phantom’.”

“Ah,” the man says, shifting closer on the bed and I find the covers very interesting suddenly. “Yes, I’m surprised you already found a ghost to speak to. But, then again, my crystal does like to attract them.”

My head snaps up and I gawk at the man. HIS crystal?

“Wait, are you saying that you ARE the Phantom that he told me about?”

The man, the Phantom, quirks a single eyebrow and leans toward me, his hands keeping me in place. My heart hammers as he grins.

“That I am, Jack Baggins, the one and only. And you are currently the host of my precious little crystal.”

A strange throbbing in my chest causes me to gasp quietly and my hand flies to my chest. The Phantom’s eyes flicker down to my chest, before slowly dragging his gaze back up.

“Ah, you felt that, did you?” The Phantom trails his hand down from my shoulder. I drop my hand as his larger one splays across the center of my chest. He watches me with hooded eyes and he leans forward till he’s purring in my ear. “My crystal will always react to my voice, to my proximity. I created it after all. It knows exactly who its master is. You are merely a host for it, a treasure chest of sorts for my most prized possession.”

“But why?” I ask hoarsely, my throat refusing to work. “Why put something so valuable inside me? Wouldn’t a vault or an actual treasure chest be more effective for protecting something so precious?”

A pit forms in my stomach at the twisted smile that spreads across the Phantom’s face as he leans back to look at me. Pulling his hand away from my chest, he grasps my chin and I swear that his crimson eyes flash.

“Because, sweetheart, a moving target is much harder to pinpoint than a stationary one.”

A chill courses through my veins, a chill that has nothing to do with the cold I have been feeling the last few days. A high pitch noise escapes my mouth as I try to make my voice work.

“Am—Am I in danger by having this crystal inside me?” I ask, voice high and wavering.

“Eh, I wouldn’t say that it’s completely SAFE to have my crystal inside you, but it doesn’t automatically mean that you’re going to be attacked because of it,” the Phantom answers, his tone turning a little bored.

My jaw clenches as I shove at his hand. “Oh, really? Because that’s not what that janitor said! He said that others can sense this thing that YOU put inside me. HE could sense it inside me. How is that not dangerous?” I grasp at my hair. “And not to mention that I haven’t been able to get warm since this thing was put inside of me. I go to school in a place where it can go below ZERO. Humans can easily contract hypothermia. How safe is your crystal gonna be if I just keel over in the snow and die? Huh? Then this ‘mobile treasure chest’ is suddenly very stationary, isn’t it?”

My chest heaves throughout my rant and my face is burning with anger. Surprise crosses the Phantom’s face and a small zing of satisfaction shoots through me. Proud that I managed to startle the cocky man before me. I quickly shove the feeling away, forcing myself to focus on the task at hand. Like hell, I’m letting this man get away with the fact that he’s just endangered my life.

The Phantom quickly schools his face as he sits up, rolling his eyes.

“I highly doubt that your campus houses any truly dangerous spirits or ghosts. As for the cold,” the Phantom says, smoothing down his crisp red button-down shirt. “I’m sure that you’ve already experienced it bursting out of you, correct?”

My mouth snaps shut as I come up short. ‘Bursting out’ of me? The incident in the tunnel comes to the forefront of my mind and I jerk forward, grabbing the Phantom’s bicep with both hands.

“Are you telling me that snow and ice is now just going to burst out of me every time that I sneeze?” I ask, wheezing with panic. Oh god. I can never sneeze in public again. I rest my forehead on my hands, breathing in deeply in hopes of regulating my speeding heart rate.

The Phantom sighs heavily, muttering something that I can’t quite catch. I look up when he grabs my wrists, removing them from his arm but doesn’t release them.

“When released properly, you WILL be able to sneeze in public,” the Phantom says, chuckling. “But ONLY if you release the cold properly. Not bottling it up like I’m sure you’ve been doing.”

“Wha—?“

The Phantom cuts me off by putting a finger on my lips. “Shh. I know what you’re going to say, and yes, I will take the fall for that. Because, well, I didn’t tell you. But I was going to tell you when you guessed my name, which you managed to do.” The Phantom pauses. “Well, you didn’t really guess since your janitor friend told you what it was, but I’ll let it slide.”

“Okay,” I say, cautiously. “Then what can I do?”

“Find a way to channel the cold and send it out of your body,” the Phantom says, shrugging. “It’s quite simple really. That way, the next time you sneeze, you don’t create a winter wonderland for all of your classmates.”

It’s simple, he says. My lips purse as I glare at him.

“And how was I supposed to figure that out?” I ask through clenched teeth. “Considering that even if you did tell me, I won’t have remembered until now?”

A thoughtful look crosses the Phantom’s face. He shrugs again.

“Guess you have a point. But I know that you’re not stupid, you’d have figured it out sooner or later.” A gleam forms in the Phantom’s eyes. “I’m sure that there was at least ONE thing that you attempted to test before we met again.”

My eyes narrow. I get the feeling that he knows a lot more than he is letting on. But I know that if I ask, he’s not going to admit to it. He doesn’t seem like the type.

“Yeah, there was something I tried to replicate,” I say, nodding. “But it didn’t work.”

“Ah, but you at least tried,” the Phantom says, bopping me on the nose. “I can say that some of the others who have housed my crystal didn’t even try.”

“And they died because of it,” I state flatly.

The Phantom huffs, running a hand through his slicked-back hair. “They never wanted to listen to me. So, it honestly was their problem, not mine. I told them what they needed to do, how to stay out of trouble. But did they listen?” The Phantom crosses his arms, puffing his cheeks like a child. “Of course not. They were more worried about the fact that my assistant put a crystal inside of them. Yes, he’s an imp. Yes, he looks not so human. Was he planning on killing them? No. Did he want to after dealing with them? Yes. But I didn’t let him. That should count for something.”

Bewildered, I listen to the white-haired male rant, as if the only reason those poor people were freaking out only because of his ‘assistant’. I mean, I was very much freaking out when he had me pinned to the floor, but having a crystal shoved inside me was far scarier than an imp hovering over me. Especially a crystal that makes me permanently cold and can attract dangerous ghosts.

“And it really wasn’t my fault that he tried pulling the crystal out himself. I told him it wasn’t a good idea but he couldn’t hear me. Which, again, was far more his fault than mine. If he even tried to listen for me, he would have heard me. But he didn’t and instead of pulling the crystal out, he pulled out his own heart! Why are humans so stupid and strange?”

Okay, what on Earth did I just miss? Unnerved, I awkwardly pat the Phantom on the arm.

“I mean, humans have done some very questionable things, so I don’t think you should be all surprised that he tried to pull it out,” I say, lamely, shifting to sit cross-legged under the covers. “You should hear about some of the gross things that happened during the Second World War. It will forever make you question humanity.”

The Phantom waves me off. “Oh, I am well aware of what took place during that time period. I’m older than humanity itself and yet it never fails to surprise me. Humans certainly are creative. But, if he would have just listened to me, he would have heard HOW to take the crystal out safely. But nope! And out went his heart.”

My ears perk up and I lean forward. “Did you just say that there’s a way to pull the crystal out safely?”

Oh, please tell me what it is. I just want this thing gone.

Instead of answering me, the Phantom suddenly stands, stretching as he moves. His shirt rides up a little and I quickly study the quilt, picking at a loose thread. A hand lands on my head and the Phantom gently guides my face up.

“We can continue this talk later. For now, I think it would be best for you to wake up now. Your alarm is about to go off.”

How does he know that?

As if reading my thoughts, the Phantom leans down, smirking with an eyebrow c****d.

“There’s a lot that I know, Jack Baggins. And a lot of that knowledge will shock you.” He runs a hand through my hair as he guides me down back onto the bed. “Now, close your eyes and relax. And when you wake up, don’t forget about this talk this time. It’ll be really annoying if I have to restore your memory each time we speak. And, for the love of the Ghost Realm, don’t bottle up the crystal’s cold. It’s snowy where you are, nobody will notice a little bit extra here and there.” The Phantom ruffles my hair. “The more you expel, the less energy that will be stored inside of you, and the harder it will be for those ghosts to sense my crystal inside you.”

That actually makes some sense. Huh. I merely nod in response and close my eyes, allowing my body to sink down into the softness of the mattress. I sense the Phantom lean down, his face hovering over mine. It’s strange. His body radiates cold and yet his breath is warm. My eyebrows knit together when the mattress dips next to my ear and the Phantom chuckles. My body jerks when cool lips touch my brow bone.

“Good morning, Jackie,” He whispers, his lips cold against my skin.

Before I can respond, a heaviness washes over me and my mind fades into the darkness.