*OLD*Phantom Detectives*OLD*

Ch.2 Partner Predicament

Eloise M.

"O-oh my G-God..."

My eyes are darting from James to Arthur. James looked as pale as a sheet, and Arthur... Good mother of the queen what have I done?! Nice going Eloise, this is exactly what I wanted to avoid happening!

"Oh my god!" James is trembling, back pressed up against the wall..

"James calm down, I can explain." I say calmly.

James stares at me as if I had just asked him to amputate his own leg."H-how!? Half of his body is-is... he's a ghost!"

"James please I-"

"Elly this is my fault, let me handle it." Arthur stands up, the lower part of his body still in the desk.

"St-stay away from me you demon!" James shouts, backing away.

"Demon? That's a bit extreme don't you think?" Arthur stepps out of the desk and James grips the bookcase for support.

Between the petrified look in James's eyes and Arthur's slow movements, the situation just kept getting worse. "Arthur quit it! Now you're just scaring him on purpose!" I growl, half ready to tear his head off.

"I am not!" Arthur laughs, throwing his hands up in the air as he turns to me.

While he's still facing me, I try to whack Arthur but he turns transparent again and my hand goes right through him making me stumble forward a bit. I snap at him."Bloody hell! Quit acting like a jealous brat you damned bastard."

James's legs were ready to give out at any moment. He had turned so green I was sure he'd faint. "Wh-what did you just-"

I try to level my own breathing, eliminating any anger from my voice. "James, it's not what you think."

"The hell with what I think! I need to get out of h-"
James shrieks, Arthur's arms wrapped tightly around him. James struggles but Arthur keeps holding him. I narrow my eyes at Arthur, but James catches my gaze and must have thought it was for him.

"L-let me go!" James wails.

"Fine, have a nice trip." Arthur pushes James to the ground.

I took that as my chance and threw a fallen book at the back of Arthur's head. He yelps and gives me the evil eye. James is trying to back away, his eyes wider than I thought possible. If I let Arthur stay in this room for another minute, he'd give James a heart attack.

"Arthur, get the hell out of this office, now!" I demand.

"What why-" He yelps as I twist his ear.

"Because I am your boss you bloody prick! Now get out!" I shout, pushing him out the door and locking it. He won't test me by going through the walls.

James meets my gaze for less than a second and he's already backing away from me. "Wh-what the bloody hell is going on!? Answer me!"

"James, calm down," I say softly, "I swear I can explain."

"How the hell could you possibly explain that?!" James shouts. "The man's a bloody ghost!"

I know now isn't the time to be technical, but it won't help anything if I keep the truth from him. "Well, not exactly a ghost. Arthur is something called a Phantom."

James gives me a hard stare, though he stops moving away from me. "S-so? Aren't they the same thing? Or were Phantoms nobility in their past life?"

"You'd think so, but no. It has nothing to do with how they lived. Phantoms are actually more privileged than ghosts, plus they want to come back to help those in need."

"A-and wh-why does he work f-for you?" James stutters.

"Because he owes me. Arthur had been brutally murdered when I was sixteen and working as an apprentice for my father, Clark Millore. My father wanted me to prove to him I was ready to take his place and... things happened. With what little help Arthur could give at the time I solved his case.

James looked confused as I continued, "Since then, Arthur has been in my debt. After my father died two years ago, Arthur became my partner, and so the Phantom Detectives was born."

"S-so what are you? Some sort of demon?" James questions, steading himself on the wall.

I shift my feet back, laughing a little knowing others would agree with his guess. "Wh-What?! No way! Now, if you ask the Scotland Yard I'm sure they'll tell you otherwise, but they just hate my guts."

James flinches as I extend a hand toward him. Slowly, he places a shaky hand into mine and I help him away from the wall. Finally, seeing things were calm again, Thunder decides to come out from under my desk. He nudges my leg with his big head and barks.

I shake my foot at him "You coward."

James laughs as Thunder waddles over to him. "Okay... then, can you secretly talk Thunder?" James asks, bending down to scratch his head. I wasn't quite sure if it was a jest or not.

I laugh, regardless. "No, Thunder can't talk, it's only Arthur that's weird."

"Ah... so I've seen." James sighs, rising to his feet. James rubs his arms, eyeing the door.

"I'm sorry, James." I remove my hat, leaning on my desk as exhaustion kicks in. "Arthur is... I don't know what he did that for. I suppose he's just jealous."

"Th-that's one hell of a way to be jealous." James smiles weakly.

"Who said I was jealous?"

"Bloody hell man! Get out!" I shout, throwing another book as Arthur slams the door laughing. "Good Gods, he's worse than a child!" I hiss.

James giggles for a moment, though his smile quickly fades. "L-Look, D-Detective Mil- I mean Eloise, it's obvious Arthur doesn't like me and doesn't want me here. I-I'm sure I'll be able to find a job elsewhere and-"

Oh hell no, not this time! "No, absolutely not."

James backs away from me, both hands on Arthur's desk behind him. "Wh-what do you mean?!"

"Whatever Arthur's problem is, I'll fix it." I grab his right hand, squeezing gently. "But there is no way I'm going to let you leave without getting a job. I won't be another detective on your list of rejections."

"B-but Eloise," James's meek voice reminds me of a child trying to avoid a punishment. "I-I don't want to cause any more trouble."

"What? James you're far too hard on yourself. Look," I sigh, "I understand if you're scared and don't want to work for me anymore. If that's the case then, you can leave."

"Wh-what?! N-no I still want to work for you, really I do b-but it's just Arthur-"

"What about me no-oww!" Arthur yelps as I kick the door closed in his face.

"I told you to stay out you bloody prick!" I growl.

"I can't help that you're talking about me!" His muffled voice aggravates me even more.

"E-Eloise was that really necessary?" James questions meekly.

"Yes," I answer.

Arthur goes through the wall, pointing his finger directly at me."No, it was not."

"Gods damn it Arthur!" I remove my shoe, throwing it at it his head.

Arthur just barely avoids my shoe as he ducked his head out of the wall. James stifles a few laughs as I curse my partner through the closed door. I shake my head with a slight smile on my face as I say, "James, trust me. Arthur will, for once, have absolutely no say in this. It's up to you if you still want to join us."

I waited a moment, allowing James to think over his answer, to taste the words that were to leave his mouth. When he finally decided, I was thrilled to hear the words,

"I'm in."