Chapter Text
When the Guys in White shoved Paulina Sanchez off the sidewalk in hot pursuit of a black and white figure in the sky, she knew that as president of the Phantom Phanclub she had not only the right but the responsibility to defend him from capture
“Hey! Hey– yes, you! Stop that!” she shouted.
Paulina fumbled with her phone and sent a quick text to Star.
Code White. Two blocks from Kwan’s. Heading to Pretrice St.
Despite inconsiderate pedestrians – couldn't they see this was an emergency! – it was easy to follow the GIW’s shouting. Her love fueled her energy; she could continue this chase all night!
In hot pursuit, she turned another corner and immediately tumbled off the sidewalk for the second time that day. Paulina grumbled, kicking the person she’d run into – how was she going to save Phantom at this rate? – but when her foot came back dripping green, the complaint caught in her throat.
Across from her, the girl’s black and white jumpsuit was soaked in ectoplasm, but the iconic “D” symbol stood proudly on her chest. Bright eyes stared, wide and wild. For a moment, the ghost and teenager breathed together in the silence of the alleyway.
“I’m sorry,” the ghost gasped, sprawled on the sidewalk next to Paulina. “I’m sorry.”
She flinched when Paulina’s cell phone went off. The screen was un-cracked despite the tumble they took.
“I just–” the girl said, pushing herself up. Her elbow collapsed and she slammed against the unforgiving concrete.
Slowly, carefully, Paulina picked up her phone. She watched the ghost girl try and lift herself up again.
“Hello?”
Star’s voice, excited and focused, asked how many reinforcements they needed to keep the GIW away from Phantom.
“Hello? Focus! I don’t care how cute Phantom’s ghost booty looks–”
“Post on Phantom-Watch,” Paulina said. In front of her, the girl stopped moving.
“On it!” Star’s voice sung. “Location?”
“By the docks – and his suit looks different – and he has a ponytail.”
“Paulina, what? Hold on–”
“Post it and don’t leave your house.”
“ You’re explaining this weird new fantasy of y–”
Paulina ended the call, closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, and put on her best smile.
“Hello,” she said, cheerfully,
“We’re pretty far from the docks,” the ghost said after a moment.
Paulina stood up, making the ghost girl look even smaller. She gently pulled the ghost to her feet, then used her pink shirt to wipe the ectoplasm staining her fingers. A fashion disaster was the last thing on her mind – almost. She wondered if baking soda would clean ghost blood.
“I have someone–somewhere I can go. I just–” the girl protested.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, yes? Hurry now, while the pendejos are busy at the docks.”
Paulina heard the girl whisper pendejos and tugged her gloved hand in the direction of Kwan's house. It was close and this was an emergency.
“W-wait.”
The girl tripped over a ripped boot and bumped into Paulina’s back. She barely came up to the teenager’s chest. How old was she when she died? How did she know Ph–
No. Nope. Focus, Paulina. Little bleeding ghost girl first.
Paulina crouched down and hoisted the trembling girl onto her back. The ghost gently curled her gloved fingers around her shoulders.
“You're nice,” she whispered against Paulina’ neck, hiding her face when they passed an elderly couple who thankfully minded their own business.
Paulina’s heart fluttered. “We’re going to get you all cleaned up, don’t you worry. My friend’s a great guy, you’ll love him – an absolute sweetheart.”
The girl shifted, breath sounding wet against Paulina’s ears. Did all ghosts breathe? Did Phantom breathe? She’d have to update her diagrams and painstakingly researched information if that was the case. Her color coding system would have to be reworked.
“My friend Star – the one on the phone – will keep the GIW busy. They’ll never find you. My Papa will ruin them if they try.”
The fingers covered by wet gloves with a very familiar color palette curled even tighter into Paulina’s clothes. Interrupted only by the ghost’s wheezing breaths, the walk to Kwan’s was quiet.
Kwan Lee opened the front door and just about peed himself.
“Paulina,” he shrieked, looking over his shoulder. “What is that , what is happening? My parents are home!”
Covered in ectoplasm and carrying someone that looked suspiciously like Phantom on her back, Paulina raised an eyebrow.
“Less talk, more moving out of the way.”
Kwan stepped aside and took several calming breaths. Paulina was already headed to the basement, leaving Kwan to hastily clean the tile with paper towels. Ectoplasm stains were no joke!
“Who was at the door?” Mom called from the living room.
“Uh– just Paulina! I think she wants to get started on Lancer’s, um, Shakespeare project.”
“At eight o’clock at night?”
Kwan laughed nervously, scrubbing the last of the ectoplasm off the floor.
“You know how she is.”
“Aye, let me know if you kids need anything.”
“Thanks, Ma-Ma,” Kwan called. He shoved the green paper towels deep into the kitchen trash can and rushed to the basement.
The basement was the A-Listers favorite place to hang out after school and on the weekends. Kwan’s bedroom, bathroom, and lounge area were set up on this floor – perfect for the average high school group to relax in. Not so perfect for hiding what was possibly an extremely injured ghost. Why did Paulina always insist on dragging them into her ghost messes?
Peering inside the bedroom, Kwan spotted Paulina sitting on the edge of his bed and – ah, okay, he had no idea who that was but they were definitely not human.
“Paulina,” he hissed.
“–and this is Kwan. He’s the one I told you about that likes to stress.”
“Paulina,” Kwan whined again, hands gripping the sides of his head.
The ghost-girl-Phantom-figure on the bed laughed. She looked beat up – young, whispered Kwan’s heart; dangerous, whispered Kwan’s head – and dripped ectoplasm on his sheets. He could worry about that later. Probably.
Paulina had already grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom and was cleaning a rather nasty looking burn on the ghost’s neck.
“You’re not mean or anything, right?” Kwan asked.
“Oh, I’m mean,” the girl smiled with green-stained teeth – there went Kwan’s stomach – “but if you’re wondering if I’m a bad ghost, then no. People are cool, as long as they aren’t shooting at me.”
“Those white idiots,” Paulina hissed, rummaging through the first aid kit. “No respect for–” she proceeded to mutter several words under her breath.
“Sorry,” Kwan said for lack of anything better to say.
The ghost shrugged. “Not like you shot me.”
Kwan looked away. Okay, so there was a ghost girl wearing Phantom’s jumpsuit bleeding out on his bed. Cool. This was his life now. Paulina always brought injured ghosts to one of their houses – Dash had been the recipient of the last – but while Star and Dash seemed eager to assist in any way that would get Phantom to notice them, Kwan considered himself the practical friend. The only one with an apparent sense of caution. Or brain cells.
“So, you know Phantom–OW!” Paulina cut him off with a slap to the arm.
“You could say that,” the ghost answered.
Paulina dropped the gauze to clutch her hands together. “He’s the love of my life, and one day, we’ll get married and fly romantically off into the sunset! I even planned our wedding.”
“He doesn’t know you,” Kwan protested, weekly.
“This is the greatest day of my life,” the ghost said before Paulina could cut in with a long rant about all the times Phantom had saved her or, at best, locked eyes with her from afar. “On a completely unrelated note, what do you think of the Fentons?”
Paulina’s gaze hardened and she grasped the ghost’s shoulders. “They will not touch you.”
The ghost girl blinked. “That derailed fast. It’s okay, trust me, no problem there.”
“Do ghosts have doctors? Ghost doctors?” Kwan asked, helpfully pointing out her injuries because, you know, that should be their biggest concern right now.
“No big deal. They’ll be gone in like a day.”
“Super healing,” Paulina whispered in awe.
The girl laughed again. If Kwan ignored the natural glow that surrounded her in the darkness of the basement, she looked like a normal kid with a weird obsession for Phantom. He didn’t know much about ghosts – this was the closest he’d ever been to one, besides Phantom and the various blobs Paulina liked to shelter – but he wondered if it was appropriate to ask when she died. Maybe she wasn’t as young as she looked?
When the doorbell rang, the peaceful atmosphere froze. It was like being plunged into an ice bath where the humans could physically feel the terror of the ghost girl.
“I’m sure it’s just – uh, mormons?” Kwan said, wetting his lips.
“They will not step a foot in this house,” Paulina growled through clenched teeth.
“Um, Paulina, maybe let me answer the door – you’re sort of incriminating evidence.”
At the bedroom doorway, Paulina paused and looked down at her ectoplasm-stained clothes. She tightened her fists then spun around and jumped on the bed to comfort the ghost.
”They’ll kill you.”
The ghost said it with such certainty that the humans paused: Kwan ready to exit the bedroom and Paulina inches from the ghost’s intense stare. Kwan wanted to speak – say something like the GIW may have a lot of leeway with the law, but they’d never get away with killing someone – but the chilling urgency in the ghost’s voice choked him.
“For this, for me, they’ll kill you,” she said.
Like it physically pained her to move, Paulina’s trembling hand found purchase in the little ghost girl’s. She said nothing, just tightened her grip.
Kwan waited but the ghost seemed paralyzed. After a moment, he shut the door and locked it.
Avery Lee answered the door when her idiot brother didn’t get there first. She stared unimpressed at the extremely recognizable white suits on her parent’s front porch.
“We don’t want any religion, thanks,” she said, moving to close the door. The agent rudely put his hand against the wood.
“I am Agent K and this is Agent J of the Guys in White Unit 7-134. We have reason to believe you may be harboring a fugitive of interest to our investigation. Perhaps we could talk inside.”
“Mom says to never invite the government into your home or they’ll suck out your soul. Or maybe that’s vampires.”
Agent Something – she forgot their pretentious letters – held up blurry photographs.
“Has a girl with white hair or resembling this” – he gestured to the photo of a girl in a red beanie – “been in your vicinity today?”
“Nope.”
“If you could look at the picture, please.”
Avery lowered her eyes and counted to five. “Nope.”
“We would like to speak to your parents.”
Avery was about to graciously tell the Agents where they could shove it when Kwan came up behind her.
“Hey– Hello! Agents. Sirs. I apologize if my sister was causing any trouble. What can we do for you?”
“They’re asking about some girl,” Avery explained, trying to duck under her brother’s arm. “White hair or something.”
“Wow! Um, well, we certainly haven’t seen any white-haired girls besides, I guess, everyone who dyes theirs. You know how it is with teenagers and Phantom.”
Kwan’s arm was firm and Avery was frustrated that he wasn’t letting her leave. What was with annoying older brothers?
“Don’t act like you aren’t one of those freaks – always going on about ‘Phantom this’ and ‘Phantom that.”
“Hahahaha! Such a kid, isn’t she?”
“We have reason to believe you may be harboring a fugitive of interest to our investigation.” Agent Something clicked a button on his watch and frowned like the grumpy old man he was.
“Do you guys rehearse this?” Avery asked, shoving Kwan in the stomach. He didn’t budge. Stupid football jock.
“What gives you ‘reason to believe,’ sirs?” Kwan asked.
Avery stopped struggling against her brother’s stupid meatsuit when the Agents did the weird side-eye look that meant adults were about to bullshit you.
“Irrelevant.”
“I think that’s pretty damn relevant,” Avery voiced, watching as one of the Agents viewed a grid on his watch again. “Is that a tracker? Do you have some sort of locator that”–
The Agent immediately pulled the watch out of her eyesight.
“Retrieve your parents or we’ll make note of your uncooperation.”
“Sorry, bub, I watch cop shows” – Kwan muttered something under his breath – “and I know you need a warrant to enter but the judge hates your ass,” Avery laughed, ignoring her brother.
Then he covered her mouth so she licked his hand. Damn. He didn’t even flinch.
“If that’s all, I think you should leave,” Kwan said. “Sirs– um, Agents.”
The suits glared through their pretentious ass glasses.
“Expect us tomorrow,” Agent Something said, leaving with boots that clicked when he walked.
Avery watched them drive off, but when Kwan didn’t remove his hand, she began to drool into his palm.
“Disgusting!” he complained, freeing her from the prison of his sweat.
“You’re disgusting.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Avery glared at him all the way back up the stairs to her room. Seriously, were all older brothers annoying or did she just win the lottery? At least she could tweet about the idiots in white demanding entrance into their home. It was like they think they’re the FBI or something.
“They’re gone,” was the first thing Kwan breathed when he unlocked the bedroom door and quickly shut it behind him. “And why are you holding a lamp?”
Paulina lowered the object. “Weapon.”
“My lamp ?”
“Ugliest thing in the room.”
“They’ll be back,” the ghost girl said, hands pressed over her chest. She trembled on the bed, loosening the blanket from her shoulders so it pooled around her legs. “I have to go.”
Paulina set aside the lamp and pushed her down when she tried to stand.
“You don’t get it– they know I’m here. I can’t do this. Think of your family,” she pleaded to Kwan.
“I don’t think I can turn away someone that’s hurt, little dude.”
“They’ll hurt you!”
“We’ll fight,” Paulina argued, making a fist. “We can find Phantom!”
“Oh my god,” the ghost breathed, covering her mouth. “No, no– he can’t. They might think– no .”
“The mayor,” Kwan suggested. “He passed a law, right? The GIW can only hunt ghosts that cause problems. If you didn't attack anyone, they’ll get in big trouble.”
“A fine and a slap on the wrist,” Paulian grumbled.
The girl scrunched her nose. “No. Even a chance– I couldn’t– not even him.”
“Is there anyone?” Kwan asked hesitantly. He shared a look with Paulina over the girl’s head.
The girl curled into herself. She looked as though she thought about it for a minute, then said, “No.”
“We can’t do nothing,” Paulina huffed. “That’s not what Phantom would do. He always helps.”
“He can’t,” the ghost laughed wetly.
“He can take the Guys in White.”
“This is different.”
“No.” Paulina stood up. The fire in her eyes glowed with the ghost’s reflection. “Walking away makes us as bad as the men who did this to you.”
“We can get legal protection,” Kwan said.
“Yes!” Paulina cheered, energized. “And get our hands on those– those, oh those blasty things from the Fentons.”
“Dash always wanted to learn!”
Kwan thought the conversation was rather encouraging – at least in terms of having a legitimate plan instead of jumping into protecting a ghost from the GIW like the amateurs they were – but the girl cupped her hands over her mouth and sobbed.
“It’s over,” she hiccuped. “It’s over. They know. I can’t make it go away.”
The ghost continued to cry, whispering things under her breath as Kwan began to feel much like a deflated balloon.
Paulina hesitated, then reached a gentle hand to rest on the girl's shoulder, but the moment she touched her, the ghost fell backwards, eyes rolling shut.
Oh. Oh shit.
Kwan rushed forward to press his fingers over her neck. He realized he was checking for a pulse on a ghost just as his fingers felt something flutter against them.
“I didn’t mean to,” he heard Paulina say, distracted. “Oh dear. None of them have ever fainted before! I didn’t know ghosts could faint.”
“Paulina,” Kwan breathed when her muttering became too much, “Do ghosts have heartbeats?”
She stopped pacing to stare intently at Kwan’s hand. Kwan moved his fingers to the ghost’s wrist – keeping an eye on her sleeping face just in case this was weirdly invasive or a ghost culture thing – and let Paulina press against her neck.
“I–” Paulina began, then stopped. Kwan saw her sit back, eyes wide. “No, they never do.” She made eye contact with Kwan. “The little ones hum, like batteries. Not this.”
“She’s breathing, isn’t she?” Kwan spoke into the sudden quiet that had befallen the room. “Does Phantom breathe?”
Paulina couldn’t answer. She looked as though she were seconds away from frantically reorganizing her files on ghosts.
“Do we need a doctor?” she wondered.
“Oh, god.” Kwan pulled away from the bed and rubbed a hand down his face. “What have you gotten us into, Paulina?”
She scowled, then brightened.
“This is a good thing,” she exclaimed. “Maybe a new species of ghosts? Oh– OH! Think about what this could do for our Ghosts Rights Campaign!”
“I’m going to be sick.”
“Stop worrying.”
“Fuck.”
“Language in front of the child.”
“The child is asleep. The child is dead .”
“What even is our definition of death?” Paulina pondered, off in her own world as Kwan tried not to feel like his world was crumbling to dust.
“Please stop,” he begged. She always got them into these messes.
“If we could lobby to redefine death– we need research. This could change everything.”
“Maybe that’s why the GIW are after her,” Kwan snapped. When Paulina didn’t argue immediately, he looked up to see her as white as a sheet. Slowly, his complexion drained to match.
“If this got out,” Paulina said, as if every word were knives against her throat, “it would change everything.”
The Guys in White would do anything to prevent the mayor from limiting their already restricted rights to hunt every ghost that stepped foot in Amity Park. A breathing ghost? With a heartbeat? The protests would be legendary.
“They’ll kill you.”
Kwan sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.
“Paulina,” he pleaded, “if this is big– they’ll make us disappear. This is too much.”
“We have to find Phantom."
“She doesn’t want that.”
“Look at her,” Paulina urged, pointing a painted fingernail down.
If Kwan had turned and saw the same ghost beaten and covered in green ectoplasm, he’d have swallowed the screaming voice in his head and let fear for his family take over.
Instead, he turned just as a light blinded them and a very different looking young girl laid before them.
Covered in blood.
Covered in red blood.
Kwan realized in that moment that seeing ectoplasm and knowing it was blood was very different from seeing ectoplasm as blood . The red splattered across his bedsheets, Paulina’s clothes, his floor; it pooled below the girl like water and marred Kwan’s hands from every touch he’d placed on her; it flaked across Paulina’s hair, her cheeks, her wide eyes, her trembling hands.
Kwan turned and promptly threw up over the side of the bed.