by M. O. McLeod
“Not so fast, bitch!” Chelsea screamed as she jumped onto May’s back. She shoved her nine inch daggers into the woman’s spine, over and over again until her entire hand was coated in smoking silver blood.
Michale fell away and panicked. He had been touched by a Phantom. His mind was beginning to race quickly. That lady was a female, well… she looked like a female to him. Could women be turned into Phantoms too?
Chelsea tossed May’s body aside and ran over to Michale. “Are you okay? Did she touch you?” her voice came out frantically.
“What the hell was that?” Tommy screamed.
Chelsea turned back to May’s dead body and slightly pulled on her hair which easily slid to the floor, leaving May’s bald head exposed. “I think that was a Phantom.”
Tommy gulped deep. “So now there are female Phantoms?”
Chelsea looked into the lady’s face and saw how the makeup was smeared and how the veins showed underneath. May was an imposter. She had to have been. “I don’t know. It seems that way, Michale.”
Michale scrambled to his feet and ripped his shirt off. “She touched me, Chelsea,” he said. “Do you see anything changing on me?”
Chelsea’s mind was somewhere else. Had she been tricked? Was this whole thing a plan of the Phantoms to get one of theirs inside the Towers? Or was it – get one of the Phantoms close enough to kill a Raptor? What had Chelsea just done?
“I’m serious,” Michale screamed. He was freaking out. He felt the same but he knew once someone was touched by a Phantom that that person would be a Phantom in mere minutes. “Oh my God, please just let me die,” he cried. “Chelsea!” Michale yelled with his eyes big from bewilderment. “Are you not hearing me? This Phantom piece of shit just touched me!”
Chelsea stayed on the ground and didn’t acknowledge Michale. She couldn’t bring herself to let the reality sink in that she had messed up. Chelsea had always been a blunderer, needing the help of others, but she had changed…she was supposed to be better.
“Chelsea, are you okay?”
“If you haven’t turned into a Phantom by now then you should be good,” Chelsea responded with a dull voice. She felt numb inside. How would she explain everything to Kurma? Kurma would never have put the girls at risk the way she had.
Michale stopped pacing and stared at Chelsea. She didn’t look so good.
Chelsea found her footing and stood up. She didn’t know what to do with herself or of the Phantom body for that matter. She felt light-headed. There was a dead body at her feet. Chelsea had actually taken a life and had the blood on her hands to prove it. So now she was a murderer and irresponsible…perfect.
“Take it easy, Chelsea,” Michale said cautiously as he made his way to his friend. “It’s going to be…”
Chelsea broke down before he could even finish his sentence. Michale caught her in his arms and held her close, stroking her hair as she cried her eyes out. What could he say?
The Finishing
“Kurma are you there?” O’bellaDonna’s voice came over the radio.
Kurma squeezed the radio tight and looked up to the heavens, Thank you, she mouthed. “Go for Kurma.”
“OMG, it’s really raining Phantoms up here!”
“Are you all safe?” Kurma asked.
“Yes, but I can’t say for the other passengers in the car trains down from ours.”
“Let me speak to her,” a voice came out.
“I’m still talking! Wait for your turn!”
There was the sound of a scuffle over the walkie-talkie. Rimselda couldn’t believe that the girls were fighting at a time like this. She hurried over to Kurma and snatched the radio from her hand. “Will y’all knock it off already!” she yelled into the radio.
Jackie’s voice came out next. “Hey you guys,” her voice sounded easy as if the dispute was nothing to her. “What’s your status?”
The train rocked slightly back and forth as it made its way north up to the next station. Kurma still had no idea how to get contact with the police. Maybe they should abort the plan. “We’re in the last two train cars, and it’s not looking too good for us.”
“Well, we got smart and pulled the button for the emergency doors to shut,” Jackie started. “Only problem is…about fifty Phantoms are now trying to bang in the windows. They have busted out their windows and are crawling and climbing their way to our car.”
O’bellaDonna threw in, “They want them some Raptors!”
“We have about twenty in the car down from ours,” Kurma explained. “How many humans do you have with you?”
“Maybe five not including the conductor,” Jackie explained.
“Do you think you can manage against the Phantoms?”
“Fifty Phantoms to two Raptors,” Jackie paused. “Let me think…Hell No, Kurma!”
Kurma slammed her radio down and looked to Rimselda who was paying more attention to the Phantoms that were trying to get into their train car.
“Have you contacted the police?”
Kurma didn’t want to admit the truth but lying to her Raptors was a bad habit that she didn’t want to start. “Their line is coming up with static,” she confessed.
“What the hell are you talking about?” O’bellaDonna’s voice came out annoyed. “Are you even on the right line?”
“Line two for the police,” Kurma said.
“She can’t be serious.”
“Yeah, she is,” Jackie spoke loud over the radio.
“Kurma, we’re on line two!” screamed O’bellaDonna.
Rimselda and Kurma both did a double take. “What line is it then?” both girls screamed in unison.
“Line one!”
Rimselda grabbed Kurma’s arm and shook it. “Hurry up.”
Kurma could barely turn the dial quick enough.
***
She stood close to the heat as the West Blue Crest station exploded, sending debris to rain upon the policemen and the Raptors. Up on the train Kurma hadn’t felt that kind of fear in a while. She felt like a mouse in a room full of cats while she was on that train. Now on the ground Kurma felt relieved. Good riddance to them, every last one of those carnivorous creatures that preyed on everything moving.
There was no longer a fire department for that part of the city so the fire spread. The flames licked at the Arial platform tracks and raced inside of the train where the Phantoms were. The station exploded down from below and the tunnel leading into it was filled with toxic smoke and flames. Once the fire consumed the West Blue Crest station it made its way down the block, burning everything in its path. There weren’t any siren sounds, no shouts of firemen, nor was there the release of water to quench the fire’s thirst. There was only destruction of the entire block, and the BlueK Raptors watched from a distance. Kurma, on the other hand, was at the front. She wanted to burn the fear from her body. As the bodies of the 33rd’s burned, so did her fear for the Phantoms.
The policemen were the first to leave the scene since the rain and hail were the only savior to the flames. Kurma was the last to leave. She wanted to watch it all burn… what the gang represented, the Phantoms themselves, everything. And it did burn, right to the ground.
***
The last gang was called the Dark Veins. The Dark Veins had control over eight apartment complexes. They fought the girls tooth and nail… still, the BlueK Raptors were organized and precise; when the knives and daggers were drawn it was Kurma and the Raptors that remained victorious and intact. Kurma tied the eight landlords up on a post in front of an apartment complex and let the tenants who had lived in fear for weeks serve out their own justice. There weren’t many left who remained in the buildings; nonetheless, the eight Phantoms were battered day and night and their bodies remained tied up and on display.
Kurma was called to a meeting with the mayor in the north after the week long snow storm had blew over the city. She brought her Raptors with her. They flew in their Raptored state and landed outside a coffee sh
op, Raptored even then. They didn’t have to hide or change into their human form. People were still shocked and appalled at what Kurma was but they could do nothing about it since she had immunity in the city.
The coffee shop was dark and warm and smelled like roasted coffee beans. People looked up from their seats and tables and ogled at her as she walked to the back where the mayor sat in a corner. The Raptors sat in their own booth next to the mayor’s people. Kurma flared her wings and took a sit across from him. He looked grim to Kurma, his eyes were dark and there were circles underneath them. His facial hair was unruly and wild, very unlike the mayor’s usual self.
“I take it that something is bothering you, Mayor Wilks,” Kurma started off first.
The mayor took a sip of his chai tea, intertwined his thick fingers, and leaned in to Kurma. He whispered, “There is a major problem, a big fucking problem Karmenia; I thought you were handling things.”
Kurma was confused. She had met with the mayor to tell him her progress and now here he was telling her that she wasn’t completing her end of the bargain. “You gave me names of all the major Phantom gangs and I have taken them all off the streets,” she threw back in his face. She scooted closer to the table and continued, “All you have to do now is pick off the little ones left, which shouldn’t be hard for you. So what’s really the problem?”
The mayor snatched his hat from his head and caught himself before he raised his voice. “My problem is that two nights ago five police stations were hit simultaneously and ammunition, guns, explosives, and cars were stolen. Police were killed, people were injured, and now there are more Phantoms, police Phantoms at that, that are on my streets!” He loosened his tie and balled his fist in Kurma’s face. “When did these Phantoms get smart? What, are they evolving into creatures with brains now?”
“No one ever said that they were dumb,” Kurma said simply. “That was your mistake in not knowing what they were capable of.”
“No!” his voice finally reached to the max. The patrons of the coffee shop turned to the back of the building at the commotion. “You told me that you knew them, how they work, what drove them to do what they did. That was your responsibility.” Mayor Wilks was beside himself with frustration. “You better get this under control and you better get all those guns back, every explosive, and find every last damn car.”
“You need to watch your tone mayor. Remember who helped you in the first place,” Kurma pointed her finger in his face. “What I need is some basic info. Like, was it caught on camera; can we identify the Phantoms in the video? Were there any finger prints?”
“All no’s,” said the mayor.
“Anything at all?”
“Maybe something,” said the mayor, “we did hear something about who might be behind it–but its only hearsay; we just can’t seem to put a face to it.”
“Well what have you heard?” Kurma rushed the mayor.
The mayor looked around the room and lowered his voice. He didn’t even want his own people to hear him. “The guy’s name is Darius. No last name, there are a million of Darius’s in the city; I mean, I am walking blind on this one and I am in over my head.”
Kurma’s blood froze. She knew that name and she knew it meant exactly what she thought. Santino’s dad, Darius, was a Phantom and Santino must have been behind the attacks on the police stations. The same way she had acquired the Tower of K was the same way that Santino must have wanted protection when he stole the guns and ammunition. But Santino was wrong if he thought that he needed guns to keep Kurma away. She would let him live but only for her brother. She knew where Santino was at; she could smell him in the air over on the Upper East Side. But still, Kurma avoided him and never told the mayor that she knew his whereabouts. So why did he just have to have one over her? Why had he turned his father into a Phantom and let him run wild on the city? Kurma knew his father was in and out of Santino’s life so it surprised her that Santino would have Darius doing his dirty work.
“Darius is his name?” Kurma played stupid. “I will get right on it mayor.”
“Do this for me Kurma, and I will even name a day after you. We cannot let the world know that we sit on our thumbs while the cops of this city are murdered in cold blood,” the mayor was sincere. “You have to fix this and do it quick.” He got up and snapped his fingers at the table and all his people sprang up from their seats and formed a circle around him, ushering him out the shop into a black car.
Rimselda flopped into the mayor’s seat and asked, “What was that all about?”
Kurma looked up from the table at her friend Rimselda. “Things are about to get really heated around here.”
Rimselda wrapped her wings around her body in her seat. She could tell that Kurma was busy thinking and waited for her friend to explain. “The mayor wasn’t happy about our work?”
“No,” Kurma shook her head. “That’s all fine and dandy I guess. There is a new problem supposedly.”
O’bellaDonna stood behind Kurma and leaned against the table, being too big to fit in the booth with Rimselda. “So, what’s the plan?”
“We have to go after Santino’s dad,” said Kurma. She didn’t know how they would react.
“Bad idea,” said Jackie as she tapped her claws on the polished table. “Santino is going to have a field day after that.”
“Santino doesn’t even like his dad though,” Kurma tried to explain.
“Blood is thicker than water,” Chelsea added.
“Jackie, we are not on the Phantoms side, we have no loyalty to them,” O’bellaDonna pressed the issue. “We can go about our day, out in the open now because of our deal with the mayor. Who cares what Santino likes?”
Kurma knew she was right. She was a Raptor, she was a winged creature who had daggers in her arms, and she could handle herself in any situation. She wasn’t afraid of Santino or his dad, and there was no alliance between Phantoms and Raptors. There was a war going on and she would come out on top, just as she planned when she started out on her journey. Santino had made the wrong move in making his father a Phantom. Somebody had to pay the price.
Chapter 23:
The Lion’s Den
Rimselda was walking into a lion’s den. Kurma had sent her to Senior’s storefront by herself. As long as there were people around she didn’t mind, nor did she mind seeing Kosner again; the one with the nice smile, when he wasn’t showing his many rows of teeth.
“Lady, you have to stand in line like the rest of us!” yelled a man from the line. People murmured and said snide comments under their breath but Rimselda had to keep walking. She wasn’t here to buy anything, so there was no point in standing in a line that wrapped around the corner.
Rimselda could smell the Phantoms as she neared the front door of Seniors. She knew there would be a guard at the front, but she didn’t know if it would be Kosner or the big one with the bad attitude. A shadow loomed by the door and out stamped a beast of a man in comparison to her human frame. He had dark veins lining his thick neck and head. His eyes were a murky green with a dark shade rimming his eyelids. His nose was tight and his lips were a deep purple with sharp teeth hanging over the sides of his mouth. Rimselda could see his muscles through his thin shirt and noticed that he had tattooed sleeves on both arms. He sniffed hard at Rimselda as his mouth salivated and he blocked her way into the store. Rimselda could either go through him or around him. But, she wasn’t there to fight so she quickly squirted around his outstretched hands and his deadly nails. He made another swipe at Rimselda but she was too quick and had already entered the store looking for Kosner.
“Where is Kosner?” she asked the big man with her hands held up high.
“Everybody get the hell out!” the man yelled to the three customers waiting at the slot in the wall. The customers fled the store and the slot closed shut.
“You are certainly not him,” Rimselda said as she craned her neck trying to look around the store.
“I’m VIN,” he grumbled.
“You are a Raptor. I can smell you and you smell delicious.” VIN stalked near her. Even though he’d had his fill for the morning there was always room for a Raptor, they smelled even better than humans.
“VIN, step back for a minute,” came a voice.
Kosner’s head emerged first from behind the barred door then his huge Phantom body followed him. He wasn’t as beefy as VIN or as tall as Santino but he was filling out since he had started lifting weights. As he walked out now there was a certain air of confidence about him. He stepped to VIN and patted him on the back. “Everything is all good.”
VIN growled low and stepped away from Rimselda who still stood in the middle of the store in her human form. “I’m going to go get Santino.”
Rimselda had to move fast before Santino returned. Kosner had seemed like the more rational one the last time she had encountered him. “I have a message for Santino,” she started.
Kosner folded his arms and said, “You might want to wait outside until he gets back, just for your safety, if you know what I mean.”
“But I want you to tell him, not me,” she said. “Tell Santino to meet Kurma at the WaterFront Aquarium on Pier 39 tomorrow around dusk. There will only be us there.”
“It’s a setup, he will know that.”
Rimselda spoke quickly and stepped near the door as she heard footsteps approaching her. “Tomorrow at pier 39, don’t forget. Kurma has some info on Santino’s dad that she wants him to know. You would want to get him there or else.”
“Or else what?”
The side door swung back and out came Santino and VIN. Rimselda was already out the front as she heard them questioning Kosner. She had done her job, she had gotten the message to them–standing around answering their questions wasn’t part of the plan.
Chapter 24:
A Shark Among Fishes
Ross and Paxton were the last two to leave out of the SUV that the group had taken down to the pier in east Alexandria. The WaterFront Aquarium was the meeting place for the Phantoms and Raptors.
“I don’t see why we all have to come,” said Ross, Paxton’s only son. He didn’t like to be away from his equipment for too long. His equipment had to be up and running if he was going to keep tabs on the police and the city's activities. He had to watch his back since the police hunted down Phantoms.
