Chapter 4

“Okay we can figure this out,” to Zach’s ears, it sounded like the Ghost was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him. “He always goes up to his room and stays there until dawn. I can keep him distracted long enough for you to sneak out of here. For now, just try to hide under the bed. When I float through the door, and you hear me talking to him, that’s your signal to get out of here.”

Zach nodded and slowly got under the bed and tried to steady his breath. He went completely still as his heart started to slow. He was going to have to take this slowly and carefully to get out of this in one piece.

Phantom Case: the broken hearted archer

Case Start

Zach could hear the footsteps getting louder and louder as the ghost of Samuel Pickerpepper climbed up the stairs. With every step, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen. For a second, he wondered if he had some sort of built in ghost radar. He dismissed the idea for now, he had more important things to worry about at the moment.

He glanced over and saw the nameless ghost’s tail hovering just in view. He kept a careful eye on it even as he realized he’d never asked the ghost for her name. And it looked like he wasn’t going to get the chance too, with this whole escape thing taking priority.

Something caught his eye as he glanced over at the door. It was still open and he could see a bright glow from outside. The same tone and color as the nameless ghost. Samuel Pickerpepper must have been right outside in the hallway. A second later, he heard another door swing open and slam on the wall.

The nameless ghost took that as her cue. She floated through the wall and a few seconds later, Zach could make out vague whispers from the other side.

This was it. He let out a clam breath before crawling out from under the bed and creeping his way towards the door. He nudged his head out the hallway and saw the coast was clear. The only complication was the still open door to the second room in the hallway. He was going to have to trust the nameless ghost.

“So why do you shoot people anyway?” He overhead as he got closer and closer to the other door. He sneaked a peak and smirked. The nameless ghost was floating with her back to the window so Samuel was floating with his back to him.

He made it past the door as he suddenly realized he’d seen Samuel’s back without any sort of static or interference. He could also clearly make out his response to the nameless ghost’s question.

“I know he’s still out there. The one who took away my love and life. I’ll have my vengeance no matter how long I have to wait.”

“But that happened almost a hundred years ago. That guy has to be…”

The nameless ghost’s voice faded away as Zach got further away from the door. He reached the staircase with little issue and was soon only a single step away from making it to the ground floor. He was so close to making it out undetected.

He placed his foot on the last step, and felt his soul evaporate as it broke underneath him. He pulled his foot back, but it was too late. He was through the step and the resulting crack was echoing throughout the house.

“Who goes there?” He heard Samuel yell from upstairs. He almost froze as he start hearing boots rushing towards him. He took the last step and was about to break into a run, when he noticed the nameless ghost drop down through the ceiling. She pointed at the little hiding spot underneath the staircase.

Well, she hadn’t led him wrong so far. He rushed into the little space under the stairs as the nameless ghost held her hand out towards the front door. A second later, it swung open just in time for Samuel to reach the bottom of the stairs.

“He went out through here!” He heard her say as Samuel reached the first floor. Zach heard the tightening of a bow string followed by boots hitting hard wood. A few second later, the nameless ghost floated back towards him. She leaned forward and placed her hand near her mouth like she was telling him a secret. “This is your chance to get into the cellar and get out through there.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

He nodded and went to the door to the cellar. Pushing past the rusty hinges, he thanked his past self for leaving it open. He carefully made his way through the barrels and was about halfway through when he heard a bowstring tightening from behind. He turned around and there stood Samuel aiming from the entrance to the cellar.

“Give me back my love,” he growled as he Zach dived to the side. He let loose the arrow which flew through the air. He heard it hit one of the barrels. He looked back in time to see the ghostly arrow fade away. A second later, he heard the bowstring tighten again. “Give me back my Lacy!”

“It can’t be him!” He saw the nameless ghost drop in through the ceiling. Samuel aimed at her before firing his arrow as Zach got up and started running. The nameless ghost let out a yelp as she moved out of the way. “It’s can’t be him, he’s like fourteen. If the man who killed you was still around, they’d be an old man.”

“Don’t get in my way!” He was almost to the exit when he heard the bowstring again. Once again he ducked as the arrow sailed over his head. Samuel was getting better with his shots. “The next one won’t miss!”

Somehow, Zach knew Samuel’s boastful hiss was right. He scrambled up and raced up the stairs, careful to avoid the step broken my Jimmy Beaks. He made it out of the cellar and into the moonlit forest. He raced for the trees, and was about halfway there when he heard the bowstring.

His heart sank. He was in the clearing, he was in the open. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to duck. Just him, a single arrow, and a whole bunch of open space between the two no matter what he did.

“Give her back.” The bow string snapped.

“Look out,” He heard a yell from behind as he turned around while in mid-run. Rushing from behind him were two blue shapes. One of them a sharped piece of metal at the end of a wooden shaft, the other one a ghostly blue figure of a girl.

He felt something hit him from behind, and then the world went dark.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a dark void that was mostly empty except for a single other person right in front of him. A white gown went down to her ankles and wild black hair covered most of her face. He knew who this was, even if she usually looked a lot more monochrome than this.

She opened her eyes as they locked with his through her hair. Something in the back of his head whispered something, a strange instinct he hadn’t know he had. He did as it said and reached his arm out. A few seconds later, the ghost reached her own arm up as the two of them met in the center.

His palm was pressed up to hers as blue ribbons appeared around them. They wrapped around both hands before suddenly tightening. In a single instant, both hands squeezed at the same time. They both shattered apart, the pieces swirling until they became a new structure.

It was a statute of half of a heart, made from white marble and floating in the black void. Blue sparks burst to life along the side where the heart had been cut in half. The sparks grew and spread until a blue flame erupted from the half heart. The flames roared wildly, but settled into the shaky form of the other half. It wasn’t perfect, but anyone could have seen it and known that it was a complete heart at a glance.

And then for the final step. A single chain appeared and started wrapping around the heart, changing as it went. When the chain touched the marble, the links became blue flames. And when they went over the blue flames, they changed to marble.

Now complete, the Marble and Blue Flame Heart sank downwards as a new being rose.

From an outsider’s perspective, a boy with brilliant green eyes had fallen to the ground after a blue ghost had flown into him. A second later, an arrow had flown over his head. When the boy‘s eyes flew open, they were no longer green. In their place were a pair of ice-blue orbs with no pupils that seemed to shine in the dark.

A new existence stumbled to their feet. “What happened…?” They trailed off as they noticed a strange reverb in their voice, almost as though two people speaking in perfect synch. They looked down at [Zach’s/his] hands and felt a spark of pain go through their heads. For a second, they could see the Marble and Blue Flame Heart. The marble was starting to crack and the blue flames were getting wilder. They shook their head and heard a bow string tightening again.

“Give her back to me!” Samuel demanded as the new existence turned to look at him. He fired his arrow as time started to slow down around them. Without a second thought, the new existence snatched the arrow from the air. They blinked and looked at the arrow no in their hand.

“Wow, [how did I catch that/ how am I touching this so easily]?” They felt another flash of pain as the mismatched words left their lips. In their minds they could see another crack in the marble. Whatever this was, it wasn’t going to last long. They had to get out of here before it did. They could figure out the rest later.

They tossed the arrow aside as it faded away in midair. The new existence dashed for the tree, its legs carrying it much faster than Zach or the nameless ghost could have ever achieved on their own.

As they neared the trees, a sudden thought struck the new existence. The nameless ghost hadn’t been able to leave the clearing before. The new existence narrowed their eyes and figure that she’d never tired while wearing a human body before, so maybe there was some hope.

They rushed past the trees, letting out a yell of triumph as an arrow notched itself into the tree next to them. They’d done it, they’d gotten away from Samuel Pickerpepper, and his broken down and bitter heart.

Phantom Case: the broken hearted archer

Case postponed