𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐒, ꜱʙɢ

17

The group had all relaxed back into their respective seats after experimenting on the phantom.

Its body had holes and slits cut and burned into it from the groups experiment; and they had found a weakness.

Light.

The phantoms complex was, suggestively, made out of darkness. When Aiden had flashed his torch onto it, its figure had reacted to the light from his phone. It's started sizzling and burning, and after a couple of seconds, melting.

Dominique had tested out her new and improved staff against the body of the dead phantom, and she found that because the tooth produced light, the phantom reacted to it, as well. Mixed with the blade of the tooth, which Dominique had sharpened lightly, her skills with the staff and the light the tooth offered, she was practically unstoppable. She was excited to try out her new weapon in some real combat.

She smirked at the thought.

"Let's talk about Savannah."

And just like that, her smirk was wiped off her face.

Dom rolled her eyes, glancing lazily in Tyler's direction with her chin propped up in her hand. The group was still crowding around the injured and deceased phantom as they figured out what spots melted the quickest, what produced the most reaction, ect.

"We can't hope that things will go back to normal." Tyler pointed out, standing in his seat as he made tense eye-contact with Ashlyn.

"And we can't risk it out there for no reason!" Ashlyn snapped back at him, also standing up out of her seat next to the phantom and taking a step towards Tyler. They both glared at each other, scowling.

"Uhm." Taylor spoke up from beside Dom, who had previously been resting her head on the formers shoulder.

"Going back doesn't mean going back to the house. Or interacting with any phantoms, right?" She inquired, taking glances between Ashlyn and Tyler.

"We could talk to some locals. Broaden our research on myths and stuff." Dominique suggested, squeezing Taylor's hand, proud of her for speaking up.

"I'll agree to asking locals and steering clear of anywhere we had been that possibly contributed to what happened to us." Tyler agreed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Can we open our minds to the fact that what's happening to us may not be strictly because of Savannah?" Dominique spoke respectfully, sending a glance towards Tyler as he reluctantly nodded.

"I don't think what happened to us was coincidental, though, Dom." Ash spoke up, looking toward Dominique with soft eyes, pleading with her to hear her out. Dom nodded.

"There a possibility that that woman we met at the sorrel weed house reached out to us on purpose. There could be other people in on this. We have to watch ourselves. We don't know if Savannah is safe for us to go to yet." Ashlyn explained her point of view with furrowed eyes, she glanced between everyone.

"So you're still against going?!" Tyler asked in disbelief, taking an angry glance at Dominique and standing up, ready to walk over to her.

"Hear her out, Tyler, she wasn't done." Dominique spoke, leaning back in her chair and letting Taylor rest against her, raising a hand in his direction and gesturing to his seat.

Tyler sat back down with tense muscles, still firing glares as Ashlyn.

"I'm not against going. But only if we wait a year." Ashlyn offered, her eyes showing that she wasn't going to budge on this.

Tyler just sighed out, leaning back against his chair as he muttered out an 'okay', still upset.

"That will give us time to prepare. Better out weapons, map out plans and take out time planning our actions." Dominique agreed, and ash sent her a thankful group. The group made noises of agreement, or just nodded, in Ben's case.