Steal My Heart

Chapter 2

“And then, do you remember how he said…” I rolled my eyes as Lumina reminisced about Phantom Skye’s visit for the tenth time.

“Yes, Lumina, I remember And do you remember how upset your Grandma was when she discovered all her silverware missing?” Lumina just sighed and blushed, apparently not hearing a word I said. She sure had it bad for this thief. I gave up on her and headed out the door.

Just as I was going out, Rock was coming in. “Hey, Jilly babe,” he cooed and me, and I gagged. He seemed not to notice, turning his attention to Lumina, who was still mooning on her bed. “Hey, sweet Lumi thang.” I crinkled my nose in disgust at that horrible mishmash of a nickname, but Lumina was in her own world and didn’t respond to Rock. Rock looked a bit annoyed. “I said, hey, Lumina!”

She snapped out of her daze slightly, then glanced up at Rock. “Oh, it’s you. Don’t you have any other girls to bother?” She turned her head away from him sharply.

Rock seemed confused. “Huh?”

Lumina sniffed the air haughtily, and Rock turned to go, mumbling something under his breath about what he ever did to her. I could think of a lot of things, but something made me feel sorry for him, which surprised me. “Gee, that was harsh, Lumina.”

A look of regret wavered on her face for a moment, but it passed. “Who cares?” she sniffed, reaching for the journal on her night stand. She cracked it open and began doodling in it. I leaned forward to see that she was writing “Phantom Skye” over and over. I rolled my eyes and bid her farewell.

As I walked back to my farm, I wondered why she had fallen so hard for him. He was weird, he stole stuff, and he kind of looked like a girl, if you asked me. Where was the big attraction? I sighed, unable to understand Lumina, and set to work on the farm.

Late that evening, I set out for a walk. Living in the city, I had gotten accustomed to staying up late at night. I just slept in later in the morning to make up for it, a pattern that I continued on the farm. Takakura deeply disapproved of me rising at 9am instead of the standard 6am for farmers, but I reasoned that I was getting all my work done, so why did it matter? I walked towards the Goddess Spring, my favorite place to sit and relax at night. There was a phosphorescent glow emanating from the pond that made it strangely soothing and comforting to look at. I settled down up against a tree, picking flowers from around me and weaving a daisy chain.

Suddenly, I heard a noise. I figured it was a rabbit, but I craned my neck any way to look around the tree. Standing there was none other than the Phantom himself. His silver hair shone in the moonlight, and he smirked, admiring his own reflection in the pond. What a creep, I muttered. I leaned back in to the tree, but apparently I had gotten his attention, because he spoke.

“It’s not safe for such a beautiful girl to be out alone at night…” he admonished me smoothly, and I rolled my eyes. I stood up and came from around the tree, folding my arms over my chest and narrowing my eyes at him.

“You’ve got some nerve, just hanging around here casually when you stole all that silver from the mansion last night.”

He widened his eyes at me innocently, and I saw then that they were a strange color somewhere in between blue and green, but much more vivid in hue. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, angel,” he purred.

I huffed. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. I saw you!”

“Tsk tsk,” he pouted at me. “You’re so cute when you’re angry.”

“Sh-shut up!” I stammered.

“Mmm…just like that,” he sighed. “So cute.”

I felt a blush spreading across my face as he started to walk towards me. “Hold still,” he whispered, and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.

“Stay away from me…” I protested weakly, but something made all the muscles in my body freeze up, and I was unable to do anything. He got closer and closer to me, and I could smell the scent of curry coming off of him. He lifted one hand to my face, and I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe.

He brushed one knuckle lightly across my cheek, sending a thrill through my whole body. “There we go,” he said, stepping back from me. “You had a little flower petal on your cheek.” I shuddered, and he smiled lazily. “Are you cold, angel? I could warm you up,” he said as he half closed his eyes at me.

I shook myself free from my daze then. What was this guy trying to pull? “No, thank you,” I muttered.

“Ah, well, that’s a shame…” He turned lightly on his heels, and began to walk off. “I’ll see you around…angel…”

I felt myself shiver again. I hurried off home, and found myself craving curry very strongly. Even though it was already late at night, I found myself chopping and peeling vegetables, and steaming rice so that I could have some.

A few days later, I watered all my crops, then washed up and headed out to the Blue Bar for a drink. When I was almost there, it started to rain lightly. I cursed my luck that I had wasted time and energy watering, but there was no use crying over spilt milk. I stepped into the bar, and took a seat at the counter. Muffy had her back turned to me, and I greeted her, causing her to jump. “What’s wrong, Muffy?” I chuckled.

“Oh, Jill, it’s you,” she breathed, one small hand on her chest. She was breathing hard. “Look at this,” she said, and thrust a piece of paper into my hands.

I took it from her, reading it out loud. “’I’ll bless your bar with my presence tonight for a drink at midnight.’ It’s signed, ‘Phantom Skye.” I threw the paper down. “Ridiculous.” I picked up the paper again, examining it. It was good quality paper, heavy and rich. The handwriting was beautiful, and was written in silver ink. I lifted the paper to my nose and sniffed it. “Curry…”

Griffin came in from the back, and Muffy nodded. “Griffin and I are going to try to catch him tonight. He’s not stealing our money or our liquor! No way!”

Griffin mused something. “I heard that he sent Romana’s mansion a note before he struck there. I wonder why he lets people know he’s coming ahead of time?”

I shrugged, but Muffy piped up. “It means that he’s confident. I love that in a man,” she cooed.

Griffin rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back on me. “Do you want to help us catch him, Jill? You were there when he struck the mansion, so maybe you can help us out tonight.”

I protested. “I wasn’t able to stop him then, or anything. He just… kind of comes and goes as he pleases. I wouldn‘t be any help, really.”

Muffy begged. “Please, Jilly? At least come for me.”

I sighed, then agreed. I headed for home, eating dinner and reading a book until it was 11:30pm. Then I headed back for the bar, letting myself in. Griffin and Muffy were waiting for me. “So, what’s the plan?” I asked.

Muffy looked at me, with doe eyes. “Oh, dear. I forgot to think up a plan.”

Griffin and I groaned at the same time, then he spoke up in his low, rumbling voice. “Well, I was thinking that we could -”

Muffy cut him off suddenly. “Do you smell that?” she cried. “It’s curry!” She grabbed Griffin by the wrist, dragging him outside. “Come on, we have to investigate!” He tried to protest, but she was adamant, and they disappeared out the front door.

“W-wait! Where are you going? How come I have to stay here? Aw, man…” I sat down at a wooden table, putting my head down.

I heard the front door open again. “Well, did you find something? A big pot of curry?” I said, my voice slightly muffled by my arms. A smooth laugh was all that came in reply, and I shot up straight, jerking my head around. It was the Phantom himself.

“My, my, my…” He winked at me. “It’s my lovely angel. It must be fate for us to meet again.”

“Yeah, fate…” I grumbled. “Hey, I know the people that run this bar, and I’m not letting you steal anything from here. Got it?”

“Oooh, you know I love it when you get angry,” he sighed. He started approaching me, and once again I felt like I couldn’t move. He lifted one finger and pressed it lightly to my lips. “Don’t worry, angel. I’ll be quick.” I felt the backs of my legs tremble, and I sank back down onto the bench behind me. “That’s a good girl,” he said, and swiftly walked behind the bar, perusing the bottles there.

I still felt like I couldn’t move, but I managed to speak. “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

He shrugged casually. “Hmmm…I don’t know why.” He picked up a bottle and nodded his head, slipping it into his bag.

“Do you think stealing is fun?” I continued to press him.

He turned around at me, winking. “Maybe I do…maybe I don’t. Mmm…you want to know more about me, don‘t you, angel?” He purred out the last word, and I felt myself shiver. He just smiled sweetly. “But if I just tell you, that will take all the mystique out of our relationship.”

I scoffed. “Who…who said we had a relationship?”

“Oh, angel, you’re so cute when you‘re nervous.” He put another bottle in his bag, and came out from behind the counter. “I’ll tell you what, angel. You catch me, and I’ll tell you anything you want.” He approached me, coming so close that I could smell his curry scent, and he brushed a stray hair out of my eye, making me tremble. “Anything,” he whispered.

I felt my whole face get hot, and he smirked at that. “Well, my work is done. I hope to see you again soon, my beautiful angel.” And with that, he was gone into the night. I was suddenly able to move again, and I stood up, bewildered.

Muffy and Griffin rushed back into the bar. I shook my head. “He’s already come and gone.”

“What?” Muffy cried out. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

I huffed. “I tried to, but I couldn’t move for some reason. And don’t yell at me! At least I stayed and tried. You two ran off like a couple of nutcases.”

Muffy looked embarrassed. “I don’t know what it was, but when I smelled that curry, it was like I just had to have it. It smelled so wonderful…”

Griffin frowned. “Well, the Phantom struck again. I wonder where he’ll hit next?”

I trembled in spite of myself, and I wondered that too.