Chapter 155

(trigger warnings: violence)

Gunshots were like birdsong to him. But killing Robert didn’t bring him any satisfaction. It was like stepping on an ant. The world wouldn’t miss him at all. In fact, he felt like he was doing the world a favor. Robert was a blight. The worst kind of person out there.
Not that he was any better. He was about as evil as they came, but at least he knew it. People like Robert Stewart thought they were better than they were. Thought that they were justified in their wickedness, as though their immorality was somehow for some greater good. It was laughable. At least he knew that his interests were all self-serving. Every step he took was another one towards his goal. The reason he became Ghost still waited for him. It had started simple enough.
They were friends as children, and the jealousy was innocent enough. Will was popular and he wasn’t. It was really that simple. As they got older, Will got the attention of all the girls he liked. He grades were better, he was more athletic. Will was always just more than him. But then he took the one thing that Will cherished. And it was so easy.
He knew he was getting sloppy. But he couldn’t seem to care anymore. This would only end one of two ways. In his wildest fantasy, they both ended up dead. He had a vision every night. He saw them, smoking guns in hand. Lifeless eyes staring at the sky as hot blood poured out of them. It was what he dreamed of. The only way he’d know peace.
But he knew that wouldn’t happen. Only one of them would die. What would he do after he killed Will? What purpose would his life have? The business pretty much ran itself. The mere idea of him was more than enough to keep people in check. He was Ghost, and he haunted everyone who dared to defy him.
Even if he was gone, his empire wouldn’t fall. To be honest, he’d overstepped his utility. He was a legend and so he would live forever. So where did that truly leave him? His world was one of smoke and shadow. Perhaps he could fade away. Live amongst the stories and myths, on the periphery of the world.
What if he were the one to fall? The possibility was one he had to consider. He hoped Will would be the one to do it. He pictured the shock in Will’s eyes when he realized he had taken a life. There was something that happened to you after killing someone. Something inside of you changed after that. Something fundamental inside just broke. He could go to the afterlife in peace knowing that his death brought Will torment. It was almost the better alternative. What did he want more? A world without Will, or a world with Will’s perpetual suffering? Both were equally appetizing. No matter which way things went, he would destroy him. The reign of William Stewart would come to an end.
***
Emma replayed her conversation with Will over and over in her head. Something was definitely wrong. He said Grace had left a clue, but he never told her what was in the safety deposit box. There was a sort of crackle in the air. She could feel it on her skin. It was the way Will spoke. That hurried, panic tone. She’d never heard him speak like that before. It scared her. For a little bit, she had allowed herself to believe that the nightmare was over. But it was clearly still going. When would they ever be able to wake up?
She walked over to Lizzie’s room. Her baby was soundly sleeping, unaware of the horrors that loomed nearby. It was then Emma decided that she couldn’t be a damsel anymore. Will couldn’t protect her anymore. She had to protect herself. It was up to her. She wasn’t a meek college student anymore. She wasn’t the abused stepchild, or the dutiful daughter. Shen wasn’t the billionaire’s contract pet anymore. She was a professional, a mother. And she was pissed.
“No one is going to touch us,” she said to her sleeping child. “Or your father. I’ll make sue of it.”
***
“Are you sure?” Captain Whitlock asked. “One hundred percent sure?” His eyes were wide with shock. There was no way. No possible way they were this close to Ghost.
“I am. Ghost is Grace’s ex-husband. The man that she left me for.” Will put the photo album on the captain’s desk. He opened to the first photo. “There he is.”
“Son of a bitch. There he is. Right there,” the captain shook his head in disbelief. “Give me a name.”
“Denis. Denis Ratcliffe.”
The name hung in the air between them, like a two-ton brick. After all this time, Ghost had a name. Now the hunter, could become the hunted.
“Holy shit,” the captain fell back into his chair. All the air left his lungs. “That punk? That punk is Ghost?”
“You know him?” Will’s eyes almost fell from his head.
“I had him. Right here in this office years ago,” Captain Whitlock seethed. “Right there!” he shouted and kicked his chair across the room. “Ghost was right there!”
“What the hell for?”
“That piece of shit kid was always getting into trouble. Vandalism, petty theft, property theft, arson… all kinds of stuff. Typical spoiled rich boy shit. No offense. I always knew that kid was disturbed. He had no remorse for anything. The only thing he ever regretted was getting caught”
“This was before he became Ghost obviously.”
“Well, yes. But do you know that this means?”
“What?”
“It’s insanity. It’s the most oversimplification of anything that has ever happened.”
“What?” Will asked again, more insistent.
“It means that one of the most dangerous criminals the world has ever known was created because was jealous of you. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
It felt like a knife in Will’s chest. All of these people had to suffer because of him. Because the way some psycho felt about him.
“No,” Will argued. “It can’t be that simple.”
“But it is,” the captain argued back. “It really is. Which is so much scarier. His goal is so single minded and look at the havoc he’s caused all over the world.”
“So, he became a vicious crime lord because I was the popular kid in school. You really want me to believe that?”
“It’s more than that, but essentially yes.”
Will didn’t know how to feel about that. It was too much. All of this was too much. Denis was an awkward kid, but they had been friends back in grade school. It was impossible to believe that that same child became a criminal mastermind.
***
Will watched as the new kid sulked in a corner of the playground. Pop had him told that a new family had moved into the home a few streets over from them. The kid stood in the shadow of a tree, like he didn’t want to be seen. They locked eyes for a moment. Will smiled. The kid’s expression didn’t change, but he walked over towards Will.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi. I’m Will,” he offered his hand. The kid looked at it but didn’t take it.
“I’m Denis. My family just moved here. But not all of us. My mother stayed behind because my father didn’t want her to come with us.”
Will didn’t know how to respond. That was a lot of information.
“That’s okay. I live with my Pop because my parents didn’t want me to live with them.”
Denis smiled and it lit up his face.
“Let’s be friends.”
***
“We were friends,” Will said through clenched teeth. “As kids, we were friends. We played together a lot, and even Grace was his friend. He was the one that pulled away from me. I tried to include him, even if my other friends didn’t like him.”
“They saw what you couldn’t see. Evil isn’t always born. But I think in this case, it was.”