Phantom Keys: The Story Begins

by Vernon Scott

  “I’m just happy that I was able to put yet another murderer behind bars. And I’m lucky to have a woman like you.” He always had a way to squeeze in how much he loved me. And I loved him for that. “I’m about to go down to the office, talk to you later,” we said our goodbyes and I got out of bed and prepared for a long day’s work.

  I was at work when I was getting a call from Ayeguam informing me that there was danger. My store was full with people. I rushed to the door and turned the sign to inform people that I was closing. I couldn’t waste any more time since time in Ayeguam was much faster than time on Earth.

  I called for my intern and asked her to close down the shop for me because I had to do something important. She was acting stubborn at first so I bribed her. I couldn’t take the splitting headache anymore so I told her if she closed today I’ll pay her five hundred dollars.

  When she left the room I instantly transported myself to Ayeguam. From the call that I was receiving, I could tell that the monster was humongous and was affecting the harmony of the realm tremendously. Within moments I was able to spot the creature. It had tentacles for feet, long vibrant bird like claws for fingers, torn wings, and it had one eye that covered most of its head. I knew at that second that I was going to have one hell of a fight on my hands.

  Chapter 18

  The Jade Monkey Heist

  The museum opened a new exhibit today featuring many jade artifacts. The one that caught my eye was the “Jade Monkey”. It was a priceless ring that was said to belong to the Greek god Hermes, the god of light, thieves, mischief, commerce, and travelers, but most commonly known as the messenger for the gods.

  The ring was said to have been made for Aphrodite, but the night Hermes was suppose to give it to her, it fell to earth. It is said that the wielder of the ring would have the greatest luck throughout his or her life.

  I wrote a letter to the commander and the news broadcaster again informing them of the heist. To keep up with my disguise, I created myself a doppelganger to go to work for me. The commander was shocked to see another letter from the phantom. He almost ran through a wall to inform every person in the precinct what he had planned to do.

  He made a diverse strategy; I was to stand guard outside of the room. There were to be two men at every corner that lead to the room where the ring was to be held. And outside of the museum, there was to be fifteen officers patrolling the perimeter, plus the news crews.

  I had gotten word from my doppelganger that everything was set and ready to go. I was quietly waiting outside in a big tree. I had two more minutes to spare and then I got an annoying ring in my ear. Gwen was in trouble in Ayeguam and she needed my help. Remembering my promise, I transported myself to assist her in the battle.

  Chapter 19

  Unlocking my Potential

  I’ve been fighting this creature for such a long time. It is stronger than any creature that I’ve ever fought before. Many other monsters joined in the battle and helped out the huge one. But instead of taking the help the monster either killed them or absorbed them into its body.

  So far my mother and Mrs. Chambers have come to help me out. Mrs. Chambers told me that she’d made an all call and asked for assistants from others. Apparently there are many people like us around the world that even my mother had no clue existed. Mrs. Chambers said they are about seventy-five more and they were all her children. It made a lot of sense to me because she has been on planet Earth for almost fifty-thousand years.

  The battle was getting fiercer by the second. Giovanni had finally arrived. We came up with the plan to defeat the excess monsters that was surrounding the big one.

  I decided to sit back and relax for a while to regain my strength. All I could think about was if I would survive this battle and would I see Marcus again.

  I heard a large crash come from behind me. It was another small monster. It had the appearance of a bear and a lion. It charged for me so I dodged it. With no haste, it turned around and charged for me again. Without knowing, I found myself placed back against a wall. The beast continued to charge for me. I ran out of options to escape and there was no way for me to jump over it, I decided to do something that I’d never tried before, I infused my being with the hard rock behind me.

  The beast rammed into the wall repeatedly as if it would affect me. I manipulated the rocks that surrounded me and forced them to rise. I kept them rising until they’d reached the height of about one-thousand feet. I made a volcano. The lava began to quickly flow towards the ground.

  Many of the creatures that we were battling began to disintegrate from the heat of the lava. To my dismay, the humongous monster stood tall. It seemed as if the lava had no effect on it at all.

  Seeing that most of the ground forces were taken care of, I began helping Gigi with the bird-like creatures.

  “Gigi,” I yelled, “look out for the one behind you!” He quickly turned around but wasn’t fast enough to attack it. The creature’s talons scratched through Giovanni’s wardrobe and cut through some of his flesh. Giovanni started to heal but not quickly enough.

  I threw flames at the creature to keep it at bay. It had then charged towards me. I began thinking of a possible solution to the problem at hand. The bird, with its beak wide open, was inches away and then by instinct, I turned into dust.

  Chapter 20

  Let’s End This Now

  How could this be, I asked myself, my sister eaten by a bird. At that moment I saw crystals burst out of the bird-creature. It was Gwen. She survived somehow.

  “Gigi,” she called out to me, “whatever you do, do not get eaten by these things. What I just saw in there would change a person’s life forever.” That was just like her, to make a fully traumatic moment seem like a game.

  “That’s great to know,” I replied with a grin. “How did you do that?”

  “Just trust in your own abilities. It’ll come to you.”

  I did as she said. I trusted my abilities and my body became more lucid and free. I looked down at my hands and couldn’t find them. I had truly become the wind. I was now able to see air currents. I manipulated each current and created my very own bombs. I began killing off each flying creature I could see.

  “Gwen,” I yelled, “I think we should really get rid of the big one, it seems as if everyone else can handle these little guys.”

  She nodded her head in agreement. Instead of falling towards the ground as I did, Gwen chose to remain mid-air. I met up with my mother and we charged towards the monster. She began to rise on a fast growing tree. It seemed as if my mother had power over plants. She forged vines to hold the creature in place.

  With all the strength I could muster, I began to change the atmosphere around us. Clouds began to roar loader than ever. It was a cataclysmic weather overload. I made it rain, snow, and hail. I began throwing thunderbolts to defeat the beast. I increased the speed of the wind and made miniature hurricanes, cyclones, and tornadoes. They had little effect.

  I looked towards the sky and saw what Gwendolyn had concocted. Massive meteors came falling towards the monster. Each meteor had a direct hit. The monster continued to fight back. I decided to make four sacrificial doppelgangers. Each one with its own powerful force behind it, for each doppelganger was in the form of one of the elements I controlled.

  Each doppelganger went forward and attacked the monster simultaneously. The monster began to get weaker and weaker. Gwen continued to flail her meteors at the creature. And then it came, Gwen’s secret weapon. I stared at her because I knew that the power to control such a weapon must be taking its toil on her body. Gwen had conjured a gigantic meteor that was the size of three mountains. It crashed into the creature and caused a huge explosion that knocked everyone away from the monster.

  Surprisingly the monster was still standing. It tried to move forward but it had lost all of its strength from Gwen’s last attack.

  Gwen
began to fall out of the sky. I flew as quickly as I could to come to her rescue. She was pale in the face. I could tell that she was spent from her hard work.

  “Gigi,” she called out, her voice weak. “Take me to the monster…I. want to see what was it that caused so much strife.”

  I arrived to where the monster had fallen. It seemed to have been disintegrating. I lowered to the ground and saw that the beast was in fact human.

  “Mrs. Chambers,” I called out, “you might want to see this.”

  She ran as fast as she could and examined the body. At that moment Gwen looked over and had a psychotic overload. “Marcus,” she screamed. “Marcus! How did he get her,” she asked looking towards Mrs. Chambers. “Why…why must things end like this.” Gwen began crying. With each fallen tear, she began to rise higher and higher into the sky. And then there was a flash of light that illuminated the sky. “Gwen,” I shouted from the top of my longs. At that moment I saw Gwen’s semi-lifeless body fall from the sky.

  “Take her home,” said mother, “Meredith and I will heal him. He’ll be okay; he’s just going to be in a long coma.”

  With that, I left them there and took Gwen home to rest. I pray that she’s alright and that she was able to hear mother’s words before she blacked out. I had then looked at a clock and saw that I had one more minute left to perform my heist, so I made yet another doppelganger, and left it to care for Gwen.

  …

  I made it back to the tree that I was waiting in before I left for Ayeguam. The town’s bell began to ring so I began my heist.

  I jumped onto the top of the museum to let the press know that I had arrived. I entered the museum and avoided every guard that came my way. When I made it to the room where the Jade Monkey was located, I found my doppelganger unconscious already. I enter the room toward the glass case that held the ring. When I got to the glass the only thing I found was a note and a white flower.

  “Dear, Phantom Keys, I find that this ring suits me more than it suits you. It’s quite amusing what you can do when you actually attempt something new. I found it easy to steal such a precious artifact. I hope you’re able to escape in time because I kind of made a pathway that leads to you. You might want to leave in a hurry. Love always. The White Rose. Kisses.”