"It totally is, there are several people who get struck by lightning every year. Why is my situation so unnatural?" The ghost in question argued, floating above the medical examiner and the detective, rolling down his sleeves in the process.
"Well you see, Lichtenberg scars usually don't last more than 24 hours on the skin," Dr. Hernandez, the coroner replied.
"Okay but consider this: I'm a ghost. There's a reason I'm doing this in a morgue and not a regular clinic."
"Touche.”
Dr. Hernandez, although slightly put out by getting outwitted by a ghost, still offers Phantom a bandaid for the scratch that’s on his cheek from an earlier fight. Immediately, he perks up when he sees one depicting Saturn. Both the detective and doctor smile when the boy’s glowing eyes look away from them to peel off the bandaid. He really looks like a kid, the detective couldn’t help but think.
Detective Harris felt the beginnings of a headache in her temple. All she wanted from this was some hint to Phantom’s past. She didn’t think it would be this much of a challenge when the chief brought up this assignment.
~
The chief had sat her down a couple of weeks ago requesting to figure out the identity of Phantom. Detective Harris hasn’t been on the team for very long. She initially was working in Chicago, but when she came to visit her sister in Amity Park about a year ago, she witnessed a ghost attack that had Phantom coming to her rescue. She was determined to stay and join the police force to help protect a town that had very little support for everyday normal crimes, and also keep an eye on her sister.
“Just give me a clue to who he may have been, a fingerprint, a hair sample, anything. Hell, if you manage to get a death certificate from him that would be incredible,” he laughed.
This task the chief gave her felt crazy. Couldn’t someone have caught something about Phantom’s past in the past 3 years he’s been saving this town? Turns out that it’s easier said than done.
The first thing she did was to research every single sighting that Phantom has made since his first appearance 3 years ago. She scoured every news reporting, shaky camera footage available, and even read some of the weird conspiracy boards regarding Phantom. The theories that claimed he’s a demi-god or possessing the body of a living teenager were quickly discarded. Throughout all this research, however, Detective Harris had drawn up a final conclusion: No one knows who Phantom was when he was alive.
He couldn’t be a god, he got beat up too often. Neon green scratches were common to appear when a fight got to be too intense for the ghostly hero, so immortality would be unlikely. “Blood” samples have even been collected in the past, which amounted to several errors and even one computer nearly exploding. Even the Fentons haven’t been able to get the samples to process correctly. The theory posted by WesThisMess online claiming that Phantom is possessing a teenager was ludicrous to put it lightly. Everyone can detect the signs of possession nowadays, three years of Phantom possessing a person undetected would be impossible. While very well researched, Detective Harris couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
There’s no real name to connect the boy to. His first alias as Inviso-Bill had Detective Harris looking into any Bill, William, or Billy who may have died young in the town but nothing came out of it. It wasn’t until her third late night in the office, a crushed and empty can of energy drink in her hand did she realize that the name originated from the news reporters themselves. Phantom has only ever labeled himself as Phantom. Another dead end.
Since there was barely information about Phantom as a person, Detective Harris decided to take a different approach.
~
Now, the detective has only lived in Amity Park for about a year, but she’s a fast learner. She also has to be quite adaptable to witness a ghost battle, get rescued like a damsel in distress, question her entire existence and relationship to death, and finally decide to stay in the town that had tried to kill her.
Very early on, she was taught to never ask a ghost about their deaths. It’s an invasive question, and more often than not leaves the person questioning injured. If she wanted information she would have to tread lightly. Especially with Phantom; no matter how kind he may be, his instincts are still that of a ghost, and his aim is accurate.
Luckily, a couple of weeks after she had begun this investigation, Detective Harris had an opportunity appear while she was on her lunch break. There was another ghost attack, and it seems that Phantom was already finishing up the battle when she ran up on the scene. His face was scratched up, and he had a cut on his arm, and had torn up his jumpsuit. He was still catching his breath (Why does he even do that? Force of habit? Harris wondered) when she reached the ghost boy and offered her help.
“Hi detective,” Phantom said. Harris blinked at him for a second. How does he know who I am? Does he remember rescuing me?
“Hi there, I didn’t realize you knew who I was,” Harris let out a small laugh, “That cut on your arm doesn’t look that great. I know someone who can patch you up real quick if you’d like.”
Phantom smiled a strange quiet smile, much different than the taunting ones seen on camera in news footage amidst a battle. Almost amused. “Sure thing,” he replied, “I’d really appreciate it.”
~
Taking him to Dr. Hernandez’s office was a piece of cake from there. Phantom thankfully was very chatty about his injuries obtained in the battle. Detective Harris did notice a few things that struck her as odd. For one, he knew the name of everyone he passed by on their way to see Dr. Hernandez; Amity Park isn’t the largest city, but it’s no village either. She also noticed that he heavily avoided the mortuary table and the tools laid out in the corner of the space. She couldn’t really blame him however, this place also gave her some heebie jeebies. But this place is at least more private than taking Phantom to a hospital.
The cut on Phantom’s arm was surprisingly already beginning to heal, but some salve was placed to help prevent infection. From there, the Litchenburg scars were revealed.
Phantom’s departure wasn’t too long after his arms were revealed, and he got more skittish when she tried probing him for questions, and got no answers. When she tried asking if Phantom remembers how he died, the words clogged in her throat.
The boy made direct eye contact with her, and the chills running down her spine quickly reminded her of her nearly fatal mistake. Never ask a ghost about their death.
Harris swallowed back her question and very quickly dismissed Phantom from the office.
This day felt like a milestone and yet like nothing at all with all the other questions that have begun to form in her mind about this ghost boy. She hopes that whatever information Dr. Hernandez gathered with Phantom’s visit will be enough to satisfy the chief.
~
“To be fair, the kid is dead, so by definition, this is what you asked for. It’s no death certificate, but an autopsy report is just as good, right?”
Detective Harris couldn’t see the expression on Chief Lewis’ since his face was being held in his hands, his shoulders slumped in defeat. The only response she got was a pained groan from the man.
The only thing this did was prove that the boy had died by electrocution, but with no massive storms reaching Amity Park in several years, nor any reports of accidents regarding a storm, this has brought the investigation to a dead end.
She understood his frustration, but the detective also felt so worn out by her day with Phantom she couldn’t think of anything besides going home and collapsing in her bed. That being said, his shady remarks regarding his death have piqued her interest.
Why would a ghost work so hard to remain anonymous? Who was Phantom in life? How does he know so much about the people in Amity Park?
This report was only the beginning of uncovering who the ghostly hero is, and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t succeed in uncovering this mystery.
If she happened to shudder thinking about cold, sharp, glowing green eyes, and the oppressive feeling that rested in her chest long after the ghost boy left...well that’s her secret to keep.
