When I entered the classroom the next day, the mood was surprisingly somber. Poppy sat at her usual seat, eyes on the desk in front of her. Castor was exactly the opposite. He stared straight ahead, like he’d been trained not to take his eyes off Nike. Even Nike was less laid back than usual. She leaned against her desk, but her back was ramrod straight, something she never did.

Next to the white board was a large cage, covered with a cloth. As I stepped into the room, it rattled with a loud groan. I may have picked up the pace as I went for my seat next to Poppy.

“What’s going on?” I whispered to Poppy. But before she could respond—

“Phantoms.” Nike’s voice echoed in the dead silent room. “That’s the topic of today’s lesson.”

Nike pushed off the desk, her jacket swinging, and a few of the flowers she always seemed to have in her pockets fell to the floor.

“Monsters created by the accumulation of Dark Energy and the dark emotions of humanity. When enough Dark Energy gathers at a place of great tragedy, a Phantom is formed.” Nike’s eyes passed over each and every one of us. The room was still, as if no one could bear to break the heavy atmosphere; as if no one could bear to interrupt a single word.

“Phantoms take shapes related to whatever tragedy formed them,” Nike said. “They often look like monstrous versions of humans. They linger where they’ve been created. And if left alone, they will destroy everything in their sight” she took a deep breath, as if to relieve the tension in the room.

“So it is our job as Astrals to destroy every Phantom we can,” Nike concluded, and cocked her head to one side. “And how do you kill a Phantom?”

Silence. No one spoke a word—though I was sure Castor knew the answer.

“The only way to kill a phantom is by striking it through the heart,” Nike said softly. I swallowed.

“Phantoms are ranked from 4, the weakest, through 1, the strongest. As unranked Astrals, you will never be assigned a Phantom, but once you are ranked and become a low-level Ceres, you will be assigned level 4 Phantoms constantly,” Nike said. She sat on the desk in front of us.

“Let me tell you, my dears. There are more Phantoms than Astrals—and there always will be. Your life will be on the line. And if you feel like you cannot handle that—” Nike gestured to the door. “You should leave right now.”

One of the boys in our class stood up immediately. He ran for the door, face down. He struggled to get the door open, but as it opened an inch, he slid through, dropping one of his books. He left it behind. I stared at the book for a moment, surprised at how quickly it had been abandoned. How quickly the boy had abandoned all of this. I could never do that. 

No one else left.

“Good,” Nike said after a moment. She walked over to the cage. “Come closer. It’s time to see your first Phantom.”

We formed a semi-circle around the cage. Nike reached up and pulled the sheet off the cage.

The Phantom was bound by straps to the bars. He appeared to be a middle aged man, but everything about the figure was wrong. He had too many teeth. His jaundiced, yellowed skin appeared to bubble and melt in some places and peel and crack in others. He wore what looked like a business suit, but I swore some of the buttons were actually eyes that would turn and look at me. His hair seemed to sway in the breeze—but we were indoors and there wasn’t any wind. 

In one crusty, peeling hand, the Phantom held what looked to be a stuffed animal—the most normal thing about it. The Phantom opened its mouth and groaned, revealing a three-foot tongue that uncurled towards us. 

And the smell.

I quickly covered my mouth with one hand. Next to me, Poppy had turned an unfavorable shade of puce. Next to Poppy, I saw a brown-haired boy literally swallow down puke, so Poppy was doing better than him, at least. The only person who seemed unaffected was Castor, who didn’t even bother covering his mouth.

“Who can tell me where the heart is?” Nike asked. The brown haired boy raised his hand.

“Yes, Nilo?”

The boy, Nilo, gestured at his own heart. Nike made an error buzzer noise.

“Incorrect, but a sensible guess. Anyone else?” she asked. 

It was then I noticed that the Phantom’s pus-filled, black eyes seemed to be staring right at me. I shifted closer to the right, under the pretense of taking a closer look. Its eyes followed me.

“Perhaps in its head?” Poppy asked. I returned to my spot in line—and its eyes followed me back. I shivered.

“Also incorrect,” Nike said. “Your assignment for next class will be to figure out where this Phantom’s heart is and tell me how you found it. “

We returned to our seats to pack up and I could feel the Phantom’s gaze on my back, following me from one side of the room to the other. Watching only me. 

I looked around, but no one seemed to notice. No one seemed to want to look at the Phantom directly, if they didn’t have to. 

As I headed for the door, I looked back to find the Phantom’s eyes still followed me through the classroom. If it had been free, who knows what it would have done to me. Little did I know, I was about to find out just that.