Phantom

The Mark I Once Had

Jack wasn't playing games even with the "Phantom" of his old friend in front of him.

"Wha- What the hell are you doing here?!" was the first thing he could muster out keeping the gun firmly gripped and locked on to his head. Phantom just stood on the spot making no sudden movements, after ensuring Jack was silent he spoke up.

"It's okay, I am not here to hurt you... or her" He stated empathetically while looking past Jack towards Alexis as if he had a zoom function in his eyes.

Jack still wasn't playing keeping the gun aimed on him but loosening the grip just a little.

"Answer the damn question Logan! What happened to you?! What the fuck have you become?!" Question after question was bombarded towards Logan, something in Logan didn't wanna speak, as if he wanted to pretend he was here as a good friend and not a dangerous suspect.

Finally he decided to answer some of the questions.

"Jack, listen, what has happened to me doesn't change how I feel about you, or the innocent behind you." He emphasized innocent very subtly as if he knew something way more. 

"Drop your sights, I will give you my gun and lets just sit down first." 

Jack was very weirded out, unsure what to do, he didn't trust his former friend but at the same time he wanted to. After a good pause Jack very slowly lowered his gun nodding it to the left of him, pointing to the sofa. 

"Sit" Was all he could say.

Logan nodded quickly, slowly walking over to the sofa making no sudden movements as if Jack and Alexis were a deer he didn't want to startle. upon sitting down Logan looked back up at Jack as if he was waiting for something, questions, Jack had many that he just couldn't word out. 

Alexis throughout the whole situation was in disbelief. Although it felt like it, this was no dream, the man who has just been confirmed to have killed a great number of people was sitting right in front of them, so civilized yet so unpredictable. She deep down was quite scared but stayed strong.

Finally Jack slowly sat him self down on the coffee table across from him and began to speak. 

"Logan... I- what happened to you?" He managed to get out, this was an important question and deep down Jack expected an essay of an answer and shockingly he received a fairly interesting answer.

"It's complicated Jack, I don't have a lot of time to explain it... I- am not who I was admittedly, its so complicated." Logan took harder breaths while saying this, he felt his emotions striking him. He missed his friend but at the same time his goal wasn't to make amends and he knew it wasn't going to happen. Jack processed his interesting, but very cryptic answer before getting aggressive and lifting the gun back up to his chest. 

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" he spoke more but all Logan heard was those 7 words. 

"The man I looked up to, the hero I mourned for... the things you have done... the lies I am just now realizing, I deserve much more than some cryptic bullshit Logan, tell me now or I'll take justice into my own hands."

Logan took this all in all while the question before echoed all around him. He knew Jack would do what he said.

"you want the truth?" he finally asked Jack..

Logan didn't wait for a response.

"I lived... by the mark of law, I took pride in what I did. The people I knew, the person I was... it was stripped away from me. You know the night Jack... I wished I had died then and their but that mark I lived by kept me going, it told me to fight and that was what changed everything.

Phantom was quite aggressive with these statements as if Jack was a therapist and he was finally opening up. Jack just kept listening unsure on how to feel. Alexis' fear was getting worse, the aggression between the two scared her.

"I didn't die... HE DID... EVERYONE AROUND ME DIED... I woke up... in a place that changed everything, with people who followed a different mark, not a mark of law... a mark of fear, power, violence. I was lost after that night, clearly none of the agency cared enough to look for me, I was just simply dead like the rest, except I was not... They took me, Jack. I suffered with them for months, their ideals forced upon me like I was being remade... I gave in Jack. They helped me, he helped build me up again. The person I was, didn't matter and after everything I went through, I couldn't go back. He helped create a new me... A shadow in the brightest of rooms. I did many bad things to bad people, like the ones you clearly have come across recently. And that is what happened, who I was doesn't matter anymore, I have settled with what I am now, simply a Phantom of the past, haunting the present. I will not stop until I finish everything either if you want that truth too."

Jack was shattered, he couldn't believe anything, for one he didn't understand half of what was said, Logan was clearly heated in the moment and didn't try to simplify anything but Jack decided not to push any longer... 

"I wanted to find you, Logan, we looked for weeks to no avail... who is 'he'?"

Logan shook his head.

"It doesn't matter who he is... was, unfortunately, he didn't make me in the image he wanted, I'm not him, It seems I'm something totally different. Look! You have many questions that I just can't answer, but just know that once I am done with my job, I'll never be heard from again."

That last statement startled Jack.

"Logan, what is 'your job'? I can't let you hurt any more people, your philosophy is only your own."

Before Logan could make any response his phone began buzzing, it was now going on 6PM, he had just received a text from someone unknown.

"They will die just like you." it read.

a few seconds after reading this a window in the kitchen shattered followed but one in the living room where they were sending all of them to hiding. 

Someone was here to kill them.