Authors: Sean Fletcher
I
waited for him to continue.
“Drake?” Cody said softly. “Are you there?”
“Sykes!” I yelled. He must still be around. He must be lying.
Only the wind answered.
Cody
didn’t say anything when he opened the door to his dorm. I tossed the top of my
Phantom costume on his bed.
“Hey.”
I looked up. Matt, Melanie and Liz were all there.
“I
told them to come over once we heard,” Matt said. “I…told them what Sykes
said.”
Melanie,
standing at Matt’s window, pulled down on of the blinds and peered out at the
misty night. “So he’s out there, right now, watching us?”
“Not anymore. He’s finished with me,” I
said. “He…” I almost couldn’t bear to look at Liz. “He’s knows who you all
are.”
Nobody
moved for a second, then Liz stood and wrapped her arms around me. I wiped the
tears from my face, embarrassed they were even there.
“It’s
not your fault,” Liz said. “You didn’t know.”
“But
now you’re all in danger. This should have been my fight from the start. Only
mine.”
“No,”
Cody said. “Don’t go playing the stupid hero, Drake. We were the ones who chose
to do this with you. We have no regrets. Sykes may still be out there but we’re
still here, right now. You’re our friend and I for one wouldn’t stand by and
let you do this alone.”
“Same,”
Melanie said.
“I
concur,” Matt said.
Liz
gently kissed my cheek. “If he says he’s done following you, then believe him.
I don’t know as much about this as you do, but how many times did he have
before now to hurt us and he didn’t? Now he has no reason to. Let’s leave it at
that.”
I
wanted to believe him, to believe her, so incredibly bad. That Sykes wouldn’t
try anything, that this nightmare with Project Midnight was over.
But
I couldn’t.
Somehow
I knew there would be hell to pay.
I
didn’t get much sleep that night. I don’t think any of us did. If the
adrenaline of the warehouse raid wasn’t enough, every creak and groan of my
dorm room sounded like Sykes bursting through the windows to finish me off.
There
was no way I was going to let Liz go back to her room. She took my bed while I
camped out on the floor. It wasn’t comfortable, but I wasn’t tired. Halfway through
the night I noticed her shivering. She couldn’t have been cold because all the
blankets were piled on top of her. I couldn’t imagine how all of this was to
her. For me, I knew why Sykes wanted me, but she was just an innocent. She had
nothing to do with whatever Sykes had planned and was helpless to prevent it.
I
quietly got up and slid beside her, wrapping my arms around her body. She
seemed to sink into me.
She
stopped shivering after a little while.
“Don’t
worry,” Liz said. She finished rolling out of bed and picked up her phone and
went to the door. “We made it until morning. I’ll be okay, Drake.” She knit her
eyebrows together, still looking as though she didn’t even believe what she was
saying. “You watch out for yourself.”
I
rubbed my face again and let the morning sunlight wash over it. “I’ll try. Let
me at least walk you back.”
“I’m
fine, Drake.”
I
looked over at her. She had the look of ‘don’t even try to argue with me,
stupid boy’. I nodded. “Stay safe.”
“Always.”
The door closed. After a little mental coaxing I gathered my things for my
first class. I weighed taking my Phantom costume, trying to decide if that
bordered on absolute paranoia. I finally stuffed it in the bottom of my
backpack. As a precaution only. Really.
Despite all that had happened, I was
going to try to keep everything as normal as possible. There was no sense in
freaking out. A storm was coming, but worrying about it wasn’t going to make it
arrive faster.
Cody
met me out in the dorm’s courtyard. Neither of us said anything. We didn’t need
to.
“Just
another day,” he said.
“Just
another day,” I repeated. The campus was its normal bustling self. I pulled my
jacket tighter around my neck, keeping one eye out for…something.
We
crossed University Lane and neared the history building.
“Did
you do the homework?” Cody asked.
“Huh?”
I turned towards him.
Cody
shoved me. “Come on, I’m trying to act all normal, remember? The homework for
Poli-sci. Pages whatever to whatever.”
“Sure
I did. Didn’t you see me scribbling my answers down in between fist fights?”
Cody
snorted. “The great and mighty Phantom, forced to slave over homew—”
That’s
when Ryans stepped out from the corner of the history building, like a panther
lying in wait. Cody spun and waved his arms around.
“Whoa!
Back off, man!”
“That’s
sir to you. Put your hands down.” He turned to me. “We’re going to the station.
I have questions for you.”
“Sorry,”
I said. “Can’t miss class. We’ve got a test today and I was in my room
all night
studying for it.”
Cody’s
eyes bulged. “A test? When did he—oh, that test. Yeah, I was studying for
that too.”
“You
do not have a test,” Ryans said. “I spoke with your teacher and the only thing
you’re doing today is taking notes. I’ve informed him you will not be here,
Drake, and he said he would not count it against you. Already lying to me? That
doesn’t look very innocent, does it? Don’t do it again.”
“What
if I don’t want to?”
Ryans
eyes narrowed. “Surely you have nothing to hide. It’s just a few simple
questions to help with the security of this school. If you don’t want to answer
then I can put you down on a list of possible suspects for aiding a criminal.”
Cody
made a hacking cough like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“You
can’t do that,” I said, sounding way more confident than I felt. “You have no
proof.”
“You’re
giving me proof right now by refusing to cooperate.”
We
both glared at each other, an invisible war of wills in the broad space between
us.
“Fine,”
I said. “Cody, I’ll see you later.”
“Wait—you’re
going—”
“It’s
like he said.” I nodded at Ryans. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Okay
then. I’ll…see you at the pep rally, right?” Cody said.
“Sure.”
“Yeah,
when you come in, just keep your ears open for me.” He scratched his earlobe.
“I’ll be listening for you.”
It
took me a moment to get it. The earpiece. It was with my Phantom costume in my
backpack. And since Cody usually used this class for naptime, he would relish
the chance to listen in on our conversation.
I
followed Ryans to his parked police cruiser around the side of the building.
When he turned away I slipped the earpiece out of my backpack, turned it on and
clipped it to my shirt just under my jacket. Ryans didn’t notice.
At
first, I thought he was going to make me sit in the back, behind the mesh and
bars, but he opened the passengers’ seat and I climbed in. I heard a faint
click from the mic as Cody connected on the other end.
We
drove the short distance to the station in complete, unbearable silence. Ryans
kept his eyes forward at all times, locked on some distant goal as though he
didn’t care about the cars around him. He weaved in and out of traffic until
the stone-faced front of the police station came into view.
Ryans
parked in the back, swiped a card near the door and led me inside. I hesitated
at the entrance. There were so many cops. Not that I had anything against them.
Since becoming Phantom I had gained new respect for the kind of crap these guys
dealt with everyday, but they were after my blood, and I was right in their
den.
Near
the front I saw a pair of uniformed men drag a handcuffed man in and rough him
to the back. That’s kind of how I felt, minus the handcuffs.
It
unnerved me how many cops gave me a pitying looks above their stacks of manila
folders as Ryans led me past the mess of cubicles and desks and ringing phones,
down a claustrophobic hallway and up some stairs to his office.
I
glanced at the pictures posted in the hallway leading to Ryans’ office. Ryans
on the Queensbury police force, Ryans in an army uniform posing with some
buddies (figures he’d be in the army) and finally, Ryans with his family. That
one looked the most out of place.
“Don’t
stand there. Come in.” Ryans held open his office door. I pulled my eyes away
from the picture, glanced back at it one more time and guardedly stepped inside
his office. Ryans closed the door and, just as it clicked shut, locked it, so
that I wouldn’t hear. I did.
“Sit
down, Mr. Sinclair.” He motioned to a chair in front of his desk and I put my
backpack beside me and sat. The chair didn’t give at all. Ryans went around to
his side of the desk and opened a drawer. I heard the clink of bottles. He took
his time, seemingly oblivious to the unnerving atmosphere.
“Can
I offer you a drink? Scotch, Bourbon? Perhaps the scotch. This particular brand
burns like hell, but you strike me as the kind of guy who can take it.”
“I’m
underage. Sir.”
“And
I’m on duty. But between you and me, Drake, some rules are made to be broken.
Am I right? Rules don’t apply to men like you and me.”
“I
don’t catch your meaning—sir.” I totally caught his meaning. I’m not an
idiot.
Ryans
put the bottles back and spun so that he stood regally before the great windows
behind him, like a king observing his domain.
“I
hate small talk almost as much as I hate criminals I can’t catch, so let’s cut
to it. You know about Phantom. Maybe where he is, maybe where he goes. You may
even know who he is, you’re a smart kid. And don’t lie to me. I hate liars
too.”
I
shut my mouth. The room had seemed to get just a bit smaller and I wished the
blinds were not closed around the windows facing the stairway towards the rest
of the police station so somebody could see us. Ryans was a man pulled taut; I
had a feeling he was going to snap soon. I could imagine him dragging me down
those stairs in handcuffs and throwing me in jail just for saying something he
didn’t like. He had already got me here.
I
decided to play it dumb. Something Ryans was making me really good at. “Why
would I know him? Why would Phantom even be near Queensbury University?”
Ryans
picked up a handheld recorder off his desk and pressed a button. There was
static for a second and then—
“
Get your guns out now!”
My stomach dropped
into my feet at the sound of my own voice. “
They’re
at the door!”
Ryans
clicked it off.
“Funny.
Phantom didn’t sound as menacing as I thought he would. He sounds quite young,
actually. But this young man’s still missing a few things. Respect for his peers,
and maybe a little…fear.”
“I
thought you wanted to question me about Sykes.”
Ryans
slammed his desk drawer shut. “Let me lay something out to you, Drake. I’m
under a lot of pressure from all sides. The city, the school, these strange
project idiots running around.”
“The
people of Project Midnight are not idiots,” I said. “You of all people should
know that.”
Ryans
paused like he had discovered a fly struggling in his web.
“What
is that supposed to mean?”
I
really needed to keep my stupid mouth shut. “Nothing,” I muttered.
Ryans
didn’t move from his spot for a second until—
“You
know, this Phantom character, he’s an interesting fellow. Even I’ll admit he
does
some
good around here. But
there’s something he doesn’t get: Sykes. You remember him, or maybe your
‘friend’ told you, Drake, the sociopath you ran into last year who’s now taken
up residence in Queensbury? He has an agenda, something he still wants. That’s
why he hasn’t left. But you know what is making him worse? Phantom, that’s
who.”
“How
is that—?”
“Possible?
Phantom is a challenge to Sykes, a thrill, a rush. Phantom thinks he’s helping
but he’s fueling the fires of a madman and there will be hell to pay, mark my
words. Sykes is reaching his endgame here and we are all going to feel it. Phantom’s
causing—”
“Phantom has done nothing but good. He’s helping—”
“He’s
not
helping
, Drake!” Ryans yelled.
“Open your eyes! Sykes finds fun in challenge, relishes a foe worthy of him and
Phantom has served that on a silver platter by sticking his nose where it
doesn’t belong!” Ryans’ mask of cordiality had dropped. His hair bristled like
the hackles of a wolf denied its prey. I had never seen a man so furious, so
single-mindedly enraged. The newspaper clipping outside his office came back again.
And it made sense, why Ryans was pursuing this with such deadly intensity.