The Phantom Crystal

Partial Secrets

My heart pounds in my chest as Jim leads me through Hagg-Sauer.

Crap. Crap. Crap. What is he doing here? I thought he’d at least be checking around Bemidji for other ghost hangouts. Why did he choose NOW to come and speak with Ian? My nose wrinkles as my body protests to the fast pace that Jim has set for us. I wet my lips as we reach the stairs, Jim completely ignoring the elevators where a small group of students are waiting.

The stairwell is almost empty of students, with only the occasional one or two appearing to head down to the main floor. A few shoot us a surprised look, almost instantly recognizing Jim from TV and social media while a few others glance at me with just as surprised looks. I can’t tell if it’s because they recognize ME or if it’s because of the huge bruise on my face that I haven’t bothered covering up since Jim started dragging me away.

We burst onto the 3rd floor, my feet catching and causing me to stumble a little into Jim’s back. His grip tightens on my bicep as he helps me straighten, eyebrows furrowed, mouth in a thin line, and his eyes darting around the empty hall.

I sigh. ‘Well, there’s really no use in trying to get out of this, so I might as well help.’

“Ian’s office is to the right, just down that hall there,” I say softly, half afraid that if I speak too loudly Jim will explode. “His office number is 315.”

Jim’s eyes flicker over to me, dark and blazing before he nods and tugs me in the direction I am currently pointing.

The lights flicker on in the hallway as we walk, well more of a march, toward Ian’s office. Most of the doors are shut, the professors already gone for class or lunch, with the exception of two. The first is on our left, but the professor doesn’t even look up from her computer as we whizz by and I barely see her taking a sip from a blue mug before we’re gone. My mouth dries as my eyes land on the second open door as it comes closer and closer.

What on earth am I going to say to Ian? How am I supposed to explain this away? How truthful should I be? If I tell him that I got attacked in the tunnels, the school is going to pull the tapes for the police and they’ll see a ghost and my body flying around with Phantom using my body. But if I tell Ian it was a ghost, he’s STILL going to want to pull the tapes and view them himself! And Ian’s still going to Phantom fighting Lux in my body. And how am I supposed to explain that? After the conversation that we had on Saturday? How am I supposed to tell him, ‘Oh, JK, I didn’t learn about the Phantom from an article. I learned about him because he had one of his lackeys put his CRYSTAL inside of my CHEST!’ I snort and tuck my chin into my jacket.

‘Yeah, ‘cause that would go over well,’ I think bitterly, secretly wishing that Phantom would pop out and provide me with his two cents. Because, I’m seriously running out of option and if I don’t think of something soon, we’re gonna reach Ian’s office and I’m going to be---

A yelp slips past my lips when Jim stops suddenly and I collide with his back. The Brit barely moves as he reaches up and knocks on an open door. My heart hits the floor.

We’ve reached the second open door.

Mouth drying, I shift myself till I’m mostly hidden behind Jim when Ian’s voice rings out.

“Oh! Jim! Come in. I was just….”

I flinch when Ian pauses as Jim and I enter the room. I don’t dare peek my head out from around the taller male’s back as Ian’s chair creaks, telling me that he’s on his feet.

“Jim? What’s wrong? Who’s that with you?”

“We’ve got a situation, Ian,” Jim states as he steps away from me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. My eyes flicker up when Ian gasps and I shakingly smile at my sister’s godfather.

“Jackie…?”

“O-Oh, hey, Ian. L-Long time, no see.” I mentally kick myself when I stammer, a bad habit that I’ve been trying to kick since childhood but it always rears its ugly head whenever I’m nervous or upset.

In a flash, the older male is out from behind his desk and cupping my face, concerned eyes flickering over the bruise. His hands, while gentle, are surprisingly warm despite the fact that his room is actually quite cool. Ian’s eyebrows furrow as he studies me.

“Jackie! What happened, kiddo?” Ian lifts his gaze to Jim, shifting to pull me into a hug. “What. Happened?”

Jim shakes his head, crossing his arms, and levels me with a stare.

“I don’t know,” Jim says gruffly. “I ran into Jack downstairs and found him like this. He tried covering it up with his hat.”

I wince when Ian’s focus shifts back to me and I now have both of the older males’ attention on me. Dropping my chin to my chest, I fiddle with the bottom of my jacket when Ian holds me out at arms’ length. Gentle fingers cup my chin and force me to tilt my head back. My stomach aches as nerves dance around inside me as I take in the anger radiating from Ian. He glances over at Jim.

“Close the door, Jim.”

The Brit nods and moves over to the door. I hear it ‘click’ behind me but with Ian’s hold on my chin, I can’t turn my head to see if Jim merely shut the door or locked it as well. I don’t get a chance to ponder too much when Ian’s fierce gaze returns to me and his fingers flex on my chin.

“Jack,” Ian says quietly. “I need you to tell me exactly what happened and who did this. Because you most certainly did not have that new addition on your face when I saw you on Wednesday and I know for a fact that Rose would have said something to me when I saw her earlier today if you had gotten it while in her presence.”

I scrunch my nose and drop my gaze to Ian’s evergreen tie. I recognize it as one of the many ties that Rae has gotten for him over the years. I specifically remember this tie because I was the one who helped Rae pick it a few years back when she couldn’t decide between this tie or a lavender one.

‘Green just seems to suit him better,’ I think briefly before lifting my eyes back up to meet his gaze. I wet my lips when I realize that both he and Jim are still waiting for an answer. Sighing, I tug on my jacket.

“I...It’s really not that big of a deal, Ian,” I blurt out, wincing as my parents’ best friend narrows his eyes at me. “It barely even hurts.”

Which, honestly, is an understatement. Of course, it hurts. It hurts to blink. It hurts to shift my eyebrows. Heck, it even hurts to roll my eyes or even smile for that matter. But right now I’m currently trying not to panic while also trying to keep Phantom’s presence a secret from two very well-known ghost hunters who will most CERTAINLY tell my parents about this and I don’t want them to cut me open and take the crystal out! I want to get it out naturally and possibly in a way that will allow Phantom to escape permanently.

A zip of pain shoots through my eye and I gasp in surprise before clutching my face, twisting away from Ian the best I can as I glare up at him. His lips are pursed as he lowers his hand and crosses his arms.

“You were saying?” Ian asks in a cool tone.

“It didn’t hurt until you poked it,” I grumble, shifting back a step as my eyes water. “Why’d you do that anyways?”

Ian pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I did it because I don’t want you lying to me, Jack. It’s quite obvious that someone punched you and I want to know who and when it happened.” Ian straightens to his full height. “If there’s one thing that BSU has prided themselves on, is that they take care of their students. We’ve had many mishaps in the past before with students being attacked in the tunnel system and some schools, such as SCSU, have even shut their tunnels down to prevent such attacks from happening.” Anger melts into concern as Ian reaches out and grasps my shoulders, tugging me toward him. “If someone is starting to attack students in OUR tunnel system, I need to know. And, well, you’re family, Jackie. I was there when you were born, I’ve bathed you, I’ve changed your diaper. Hell, I even helped teach you how to swim and how to drive. I CARE about you, Jackie, and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe while you’re up here.” Ian swipes a thumb under my uninjured eye, lips tugging into a sad smile. “But you gotta let me help you, Jackie.”

I jump when another warm hand lands on my shoulder. Glancing up, I blink as Jim appears to my left.

“Listen to what he’s sayin’, Jack,” Jim says softly, squeezing gently on my shoulder. “We just wanna help you, love, but you must work with us here.”

Guilt swirls in my chest and my vision blurs briefly as I hang my head. They’re right. And all I’ve been doing is being difficult. But, I just can’t help feeling like telling them everything will just do more harm than good. Chewing on my bottom lip, I fidget in place. Neither Jim nor Ian have moved since speaking, obviously waiting for me to start talking before they so much as move a muscle. Huffing, I blow air out of my nose and lift my eyes.

“I, uh, I was attacked in the tunnels near, uh, the Union,” I say quietly, only just loud enough for the two of them to hear me. Ian sucks in a sharp inhale of air while Jim’s lip curls. Panicking, I reach up and grasp Ian’s forearm.

“But it wasn’t a student!” I say quickly. “It was this weird ghost who knew about Mom and Dad. He, uh, He….” I swallow thickly, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. “He wasn’t the biggest fan of them and I, uh, sorta confirmed to him that I was their son and he got mad and took it out on me. I got away! Uh, he just kinda roughed me up a little.”

I shrug weakly at the end, hoping beyond hope that Ian will buy this story. It’s not a complete lie. Lux knew who I was and who my folks are that just wasn’t why he attacked me. But if I can keep that bit to myself, well, who’s the wiser?

Ian and Jim exchange horrified looks, their faces paling as I wait for their response. Carefully, as if I’m made of glass, Ian lifts his hand back up to my face and strokes my cheek.

“Are you absolutely certain?” Ian whispers, as if speaking too loud will scare me off. I nod.

“Ye-Yeah. His, uh, his name was Lux,” I state, shuddering as flashes of Lux’s laughing face flash in my mind’s eye.

Silence fills the room and I refocus on the two taller males. Concern bubbles and replaces the panic I was feeling when I take in the even paler complexions of my two companions.

“Ian? Jim? What’s wrong?”

Jolting, Ian looks down at me before yanking me into a protective embrace. He glances at Jim as he presses my head against his chest. My eyes widen. Ian’s heart is going wild inside of his chest and there is a faint tremble to him that if he didn’t have me completely pressed up against him, I wouldn’t have even noticed.

I blink when Jim squats to be more at eye-level with me, a deeply troubled expression on his face.

“Are you absolutely certain that the ghost that attacked you was named ‘Lux’, Jack?” Jim asks quietly. My eyebrows furrow. Wait. Have these two heard of him? Really? But from the way Phantom was talking, Lux doesn’t usually bother with humans.

“Uh, yeah. He told me he was ‘Lux the Bounty Hunter’. Why?” I tilt my head back and try to catch Ian’s eyes. “Have you heard of him? Because I certainly haven’t before last night.”

Ian’s arms tighten around me as Jim curses.

“Last night?” Ian echoes back, voice trembling with anger. “He attacked you last night?”

I nod.

“Yeah, I was on my way back from class.”

Ian scowls and shoots Jim another stare. The two of them continue staring at one another for a good solid 30 seconds before I realize they are holding a silent conversation. Pulling back the best I can, I frown up at Ian.

“Ian? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

A grimace flashes across the professor’s face before he stares down at me, guilt swirling alongside rage in his eyes. My eyes widen. I have never seen Ian get so worked up before.

“Jack.”

I glance over at Jim, his tone guilt-ridden and soft. The 26-year-old looks much older than he should as he studies me. I nod to let him know I’m listening. Jim sighs.

“I think we might be the reason why Lux was in the tunnels.”