I Am Phantom (7 page)

“You
can’t do that.”

“I
can, and I will. What were you doing in the back of the facility?” He reminded
me of a trap ready to spring on any slip up I made. “That’s what I was trying
to tell that orderly. Sykes escaped!” I had to tell him. As much as I hated to
give up the one man that had answers, he was a killer of the worst kind.
Remorseless, with no conscious. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do
something.

But
I couldn’t stop thinking: I needed him.

“How
do you know it was Sykes?” Ryans said. “What did he look like?”

I
quickly described Sykes’ appearance. Ryans sneered. “You saw his picture on the
news. Nobody got out, kid.”

“And
his chest? What about his torn chest?”

Ryans
stopped writing. “What?”

“His
chest had tally marks on it. Tally marks of the people he’s killed.” I think.
It was the only thing I could think of.

“How—how
did you get that close?”
And still be
alive
, his tone said. Ryans stood frozen for a millisecond. I could see the
gears grinding behind his eyes, a battle between whether or not he should
believe me. He finally swung around to the other officers behind him.

“Matthews!
Simmons! Gerads! Go check Sykes’ cell. Isolation ward.” The officers all
nodded. They had almost gotten through the doors when Ryans said, “Guns,
officers.”

“Sir?”
Matthews said.

“Your
guns. Get them out.” They all looked at him, then slowly nodded and un-holstered
their weapons before pushing through the doors and sprinting off down the hall.

“How
do you know where he was staying?” I asked.

Ryans
didn’t look at me. “It’s my job.” He grabbed the radio at his shoulder.

“This
is Ryans. All available units I want a wide sweep of Monstaff Mental Health
Institute.” He glared at me. “This may be a false alarm but I don’t want to
take the risk. Check roads, rivers, ditches, vehicles, everything and everyone.
Now. We are looking for Lucius Sykes. You are authorized to kill on sight.”

Matthews
returned, panting. “He’s gone! He killed an orderly and escaped out the Rec
Yard!”

Ryans’
face was emotionless, but without another word he signaled to the remaining
officers and then vanished outside.

Chapter
Six

Project
Midnight

“What
really happened?” Cody asked for what had to be the ten billionth and one time.

He
had bombarded me with questions non-stop since I returned to the bus (and my
extremely distraught professor) and we had driven back to school.

 
Despite Queensbury being over thirty
minutes from Monstaff, and having what seemed like half the police force in the
state out looking for Sykes, our professor demanded we all head straight home
and stay indoors until he was caught.

“I
guess the best part of somebody escaping is they may cancel classes tomorrow,”
Cody said, hands in his pockets, slouched forward, as we hurried down the
street. Twilight washed the street leading to our dorm in an orange and crimson
glow. There was nothing really different about it, but even still, it felt more
vacant than usual.

“They
won’t,” I said. “It’s one guy. They probably caught him by now.” And I felt
strangely sad. Sure, I might have been a horrible person for thinking like
that, but whether I wanted it or not, Sykes was the answer I had been looking
for. He had given us a spot to meet, but with practically every police officer
in the state hunting him there was no doubt he had been caught by now. I was
torn between relief and disappointment. It wasn’t the answer I had hoped for.

I
could feel Cody dying to ask again so I quickly said, “Look, I’ll tell you when
we get to Melanie’s.”

“Sure,
sure. But you know who escaped,” Cody said. “Lights go out, you disappear, some
of the electronic doors stay on just enough to keep the orderlies out of the
back and a crazy person escapes. That’s freakishly elaborate. That’s a planned
breakout. And you were back there pretty much by yourself, you can’t tell me
you didn’t see anything!”

           
“I
got caught in the back. That’s it,” I said, trying to make my tone sound like
that ended the conversation. I didn’t want to tell him about Sykes until we
were all together so I wouldn’t have to explain myself twenty million times.

We
paused at a street corner on campus as the fifth police car in the last fifteen
minutes cruised by. He slowed long enough to give us an accusing glance before
driving off. The whole city was pulled taut, tense as a rubber band about to
snap.

Cody’s
cell phone beeped and he checked it. I mentally reminded myself I still had to
get one of those. They appeared to be as vital as breathing to everyone on
campus.

“It’s
Melanie,” Cody said. “She wants us to come to her place right away.”

Her
on-campus apartment was not far from our dorm so we made it there quickly
before anymore police could glare at us for walking.

Cody
barely got past the first knock before Melanie yanked the door open.

“About
time!” She said. The hint of pumpkin spice hung in the air. We came inside and passed
a small kitchenette with homey items placed strategically on the top shelves.
Everything was very neat and orderly and the T.V. was turned up to full volume
in front of a futon couch in the living room. Melanie managed to not ask any
questions until we had all taken a seat. “Drake! What did you do?”

“That’s
what I’m saying!” Cody said.

“For
the last time—oh, hey, Matt.” Matt sat rigidly in a reclining chair near
the window, hands clasping a mug of some steaming beverage in front of him,
watching us.

“Matt
came over once he saw the report,” Melanie said.
    

Matt
tipped his cup toward us. “Ginseng tea, warmed for forty-five seconds with a
pinch of ginger,” he said as though we had all just asked for his secret
recipe. “And yes, I saw the report and decided I should be here to discuss.”

My
head nearly knocked over a couple of modern art paintings as I took a seat on
the couch and looked at the news.

“….
unknown if it was a simple blackout, though
it appeared to only affect Monstaff State Mental Health Institute. Officials
believe the incident was planned and coordinated by individuals both inside and
outside Monstaff.”

The
screen switched to a shaky video like it was shot from a phone. Indiscernible
yelling came from behind the person taking it. I saw orderlies and policemen
rushing in the front door and to the back and then the camera settled on police
chief Ryans and me.

“I
need to comb my hair,” I observed.

“Lucius
Sykes escaped,” Melanie said.

“That
cop looks pissed,” Cody said.

“Lucius
Sykes escaped!” Melanie said louder.

“I
know, I was there,” I said. I took a deep breath. “I ran into him when I was in
the back.” If the situation wasn’t so serious, I would have laughed at the
expression on Cody and Melanie’s faces.

“Well…I’m
happy he didn’t hurt you,” Melanie said.

“I’m
happy he didn’t
kill
you,” Cody said.

“Surprisingly
enough, I am too,” I said.

And
so I described the encounter, skimming over Sykes’ abilities and finding the
orderly’s body; stuff they didn’t need to know. The more I talked the more
chilled I got realizing how close I’d been to him, to death. There was
something very, very wrong with that man. Like the way he viewed me as nothing
more than a piece to something bigger, like I wasn’t even human.

“I
noticed something different around three o clock when I got out of class,”
Melanie said, going to the refrigerator and grabbing a pitcher of lemonade. Her
hands were shaking a little bit when she offered us some. “There was barely
anyone on campus and a bunch of police were driving around. I tried to go to
the Lab but they told me to go home. Everything was shut down. I don’t know how
they expect Sykes to get all the way over here, or why, but they aren’t taking
any chances.”

“He
wouldn’t come here,” I lied, more for their benefit than mine. “He has no
reason to.”

“Connections,”
Matt said. “Police reports are all showing that the police are not searching
anywhere within ten miles of the mental facility. Look here.”

He
turned his computer and showed us a messy screen of numbers, codes and fast
streaming data. Just looking at it made my head hurt.

“What
is that?” I said.

“It’s
a live stream of data. All the cases, files, database entries, dates and
patient information from the Queensbury police server, Monstaff and any other
Justice department records. I have unrestricted access to it all.”

“You
can get that?”

“I
am capable of getting it, not, per se, allowed to,” Matt said with some
cockiness.

“Oh,”
I said.

Melanie
rubbed her temples. “Matt…ohhh…don’t get me arrested. If you’re caught I had
nothing to do with this.”

“My
hacking skills are unparalleled so you have nothing to worry about,” Matt said.
“Anyway, the police apparently know something about Sykes that we don’t.”

“How
do you figure that?” Cody said.

“Look
at where they’re searching.”

Cody
glanced at me as though looking for confirmation. “Anywhere but Monstaff,
right? The whole area surrounding it.”

“Right.
Why would they do that? It’s one man, on foot. How could he have gotten miles
away so fast?”

“I
don’t know,” I said, hoping Matt wasn’t beginning to suspect Sykes was anything
but a normal insane escaped criminal. “But Ryans seemed to know a lot about
him. He knew where he was in Monstaff and already knew how dangerous he would
be.”

“I
would expect him to,” Melanie said. “He’s the chief of police. It’s his job to
keep up with all the killers going through his city.”

We
all got quiet except for Matt’s mouse clicking back and forth across the
screen. I could imagine the police’s panic. I could imagine many of them had no
real idea what was going on, just reports of a very dangerous escapee next to a
school full of students.

The
guilt came again and clenched at my stomach so hard it was like I had eaten
something rotten. I slowly stood and turned to Cody and Melanie.

“Do
you guys know where Rines street is?”

I
dressed in all black. Because
that
wouldn’t look suspicious at all. But I was already out the door and walking
through the chilly, dark city streets before I could think too hard about it. I
didn’t even bring a mask for my meeting with Sykes because what was the point?
He already knew who I was.

My
plan was this: I didn’t have a plan. But if I did it would probably go
something like this: find out what the crazy man had to say, deduce that he’s
crazy and really doesn’t know anything about me, take down the crazy man before
he could hurt anyone else. Simple.

The
last part of my genius plan scared me the most. I had never, not since…whatever
powers I was developing started, met anybody that could match my speed and
strength. There was a reason they called me a ghost, a phantom, in Bhutan. Sure
if there were enough people surrounding me and they had guns I would probably
have a little trouble. I had never had an issue one on one, though. But even
the thought of trying to take down Sykes scared me. Did that mean he was
telling the truth? He really was like me?

Hopefully
not.

           
  
I found Rines street,
where Sykes had told me to follow the sewer.

Follow…the…sewer…That didn’t
sound fun. The sound of trickling water came from beneath the curb I stood on.
It was a storm drain. I looked around the rest of the street. There was nobody there.
It was an already drizzly night and spotty, grim light didn’t make hanging
around here any more appealing.

I
pried the manhole cover off and tossed it aside. A ridged ladder descended into
the darkness, slick with rain water. I hoped.

East
was left, against the current. I climbed down and splashed into the water. My
legs were soaked instantly. My breath grew shaky with the cold snap but I quickly
started pushed east against the current. I would go until I reached something
or finally came to my senses and crawled out.

Other
pipes leading from other streets spewed water into the main line I was in. The
air, if it was possible, got colder, but at least I didn’t have to crouch as I
trudged through the water.

After
what felt like forever, I checked my watch: eleven fifty. I groaned and kept
moving. Even if I found whatever was at the end I might not be there by
midnight and Sykes would be gone.

And
then I found it. Whatever it was.

I
stepped onto a concrete walkway next to the gushing stream of water and followed
a ladder up to a hatch. I pushed the hatch open. It banged on the ground and
echoed through…something.

What
was this place? It looked like I was inside a closet. I carefully checked
outside the door.

It
was like the Lab. At least in appearances. Everything was at right angles, cut
and chilling in its efficiency.

I
walked farther into the room. It was as big as the gymnasium at school, with
gargantuan screens hanging near what must have been the front. Computers were lined
like corn rows all the way to the other side. At the front, beneath the
screens, sat any chemistry major’s dream. Test tubes were scattered everywhere.
Four man-sized cylinders of liquid rested on a carousel. For some reason this
section scared me the most. I didn’t want to leave exactly, but it didn’t make
me feel at home either.

And
I didn’t think I would be discovered. Everything looked abandoned and covered
in dust, like it was stuck in limbo.

The
screens, and even the test tubes, were the first things I went for. The same
dread that repulsed me was also drawing me closer. Colorful liquid filled
stacks of beakers. Some of the solutions had separated. How long had this place
been untouched?

“Eighteen
years,” Sykes said behind me.

Test
tubes shattered as I knocked them over when I spun around to face him. He stood
impassively behind the rows of computers. The sound of the tinkling glass
slowly faded into the rest of the facility, however big it was.

He
had changed from the dead orderly’s uniform into faded jeans and a scruffy
looking t-shirt with a leather jacket thrown on top. He looked like any typical
city goer. I sickly wondered how many people he’d killed for his clothes. When
he moved it was elegantly, but constantly shifting, his soulless eyes roving to
every possible threat. He’d combed back his black hair, unveiling his
viper-like face, poised and positioned to strike.

“Eighteen
years since I’ve been here,” Sykes said. He noticed me standing in a defensive
posture.

“I
could have killed you just then. I didn’t, though. Show a little trust.”

“You
would have tried,” I said. “You wouldn’t have gotten far.” Sykes turned ever so
slightly to his right then, faster than even I could register, the computer he
stood behind hurtled towards me.