Page 99 of Signed, I'm Yours!
“I’m ashamed.”
“You should be!” Seojun stands and offers The Phantom his hand.
Moments later, he’s out of the pool with a towel wrapped around his back.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Come on. He’s The Phantom. We know that.”
The Phantom nods.
“Do you have an actual name, The Phantom?”
“Mario Romano.”
It’s literal hell to keep from bursting into laughter, but somehow, I keep it together. It’s as if this guy is a comic book character come to life. No way is he real.
“Wh-why did you run?” I have to cover my mouth and fake cough to not embarrass myself.
Mario sighs.
“Because you caught me.”
“We did?” Bob asks.
Mario nods.
“So…you’re the Pulverizer?”
Mario winces in disgust but nods.
“But you’re a medium,” Seojun says.
“I am. And it’s gross. It’s so gross, guys. I…I’m so glad you caught me. Hopefully, I’ll never see an entrail in my life ever again.”
He shivers, but it’s not from being wet and sitting outside. It’s utter disgust. At himself.
“I’m not sure I follow. What does your mediumship have to do with anything?”
Mario looks up and bites his lip.
“It’s what makes them go kaboom!”
I narrow my eyes in confusion.
“I can talk to the spirits of dead people. But in order to talk to them, I need to conjure them into a body.”
“A dead body?”
Mario nods again.
“Oh…kay.”
“Well, when my time is up, the spirit leaves this plane, and…well…it makes the body explode.”
So that means the people we found, the Pulverizer’s victims, were already dead. That’s a relief, somewhat, although I’m not entirely sure what the laws are for killing already dead people. I guess it’s not really killing? How the heck did our medical examiner not know the victims weren’t really victims?
“Your power is gross, my man.” Bob gags as if he’s looking at a dead body right now.
