40. The Wonders Of Genetics

T urney eyed the store before glancing at the others, who didn’t seem to have any concerns that they were shopping for supplies to defeat a phantom at Wal-Mart.

“Are we really going to find all that we need here?”

Min-ji glanced up from the list in her hand. “We’ll have to stop at a local herbalist shop for one thing. And only because it’s not really something used by most, but otherwise, pretty much.”

“So, what exactly are we doing again?” he asked.

Octavius had explained it to him around noon, after the man had woken him up from pretty much dead sleep, but he…may not have heard a single word the vampire had said.

Turney had woken up exhausted. He wasn’t sure if it was because of all the healing, but it had taken two heavily sugared cups of coffee, and six zombie nummies, for him to feel even remotely functional.

“And this is why I told you to wait a few hours before you tell him, Octavius,” Scarlett huffed. “He is still new enough that healing from such severe injuries takes a lot out of him.”

“To be fair to Octavius, I was the one who asked…I just didn’t absorb anything.”

Octavius, who was standing to his right, giggled. “I did assume as such, based on the dead stare you were giving me, but I figured I’d just re-explain later. I guess later is now!

“Well, the thing about phantoms is, on top of having a tendency to go invisible, and the ability to fly through things in their phantom form, unless they want you to, you won’t be able to touch them, even if they can touch and hurt you. The plan is to trap him in his human form, so that the police can take care of him.”

“Right…since the reapers, at least the one nearby, has no intention of intervening, even though he’s killed six humans.”

He frowned…was it six humans? Yes… Guillotine, slide, and arrow…was three, the piano killed two…and…the Park Operations Manager made six. So yes…six.

Min-ji snorted. “Pretty much. On the other hand, they as a whole would likely be fine with this solution, and even if the one you encountered doesn’t care, others will care enough to make sure it wraps up nicely.”

Turney was having trouble rationalizing this, to be honest. Because like…

“But he killed humans, isn’t that against their rules?”

“It is…” Octavius said slowly. “However, Aurelius doesn’t know what he is.”

At this point, Turney just didn’t care that Octavius was saying the man’s name wrong, as it wasn’t even his name. Besides, based on what he’d said, he hadn’t changed it for any sort of personal reason beyond…revenge.

“Okay, so he doesn’t know. That changes things, how?”

“It doesn’t, yet it does,” Theo said vaguely.

Scarlett sighed. “While it doesn’t excuse what he did, it does complicate the punishment. But if we seal his phantom side, he will begin to age again, just as a human would. Making it easy for the human government to do the punishing for them.”

Turney frowned. “Would he then die just as a human would?”

Octavius nodded. “He would. Phantoms are… I suppose the best word for them would be complicated. They are a complicated species. In their human form, they don’t appear as anything ‘other’, so they can practically fool any paranormals’ senses. Going along with that, their ability to deceive without detection is unmatched by any other species.

“In their phantom form, as I said, they can become invisible, and are hard to touch, but also they leave no trace behind. Which is why we didn’t smell or see anything.

“All that being said, none of it is what makes them complicated. What makes them complicated is their tendency to have children with humans, more so than any other paranormals. To explain the phenomenon clearly, let me add that with all other paranormal and human couplings, the child is born paranormal, but with phantoms, that isn’t the case.”

“Wait, wait,” Turney rasped. “Can I have children with humans? Like, I know you said you can reproduce, but…how do zombies…” He trailed off as the vampire’s eyes narrowed. “It was just a question! I have no interest in children, or women. But as I was saying… Wouldn’t it be dangerous for a human to give birth to a zombie?”

Scarlett nodded grimly. “It would more likely than not be life threatening. Same with vampires, and many other species. Paranormal pregnancies are simply not compatible with human life, due mainly to what the fertilized embryos would need to survive.”

“It’s an unnecessary danger, and an irresponsible one,” Theo stated gravely. “With my species, it is almost certain death. To impregnate a human… It puts both the person birthing, and the child itself, at risk, and is not something any paranormal with a conscience would attempt.”

“However,” Octavius drawled. “For phantoms, it’s different. The child can be born human, and to my knowledge, about half are. Phantoms as a species are rare to begin with. And despite being undead, with the same unending lifeline as vampires, they would probably be extinct if they hadn’t started coupling with humans.”

“Remove the probably,” Min-ji corrected. “Even in my youth, they were on the cusp of dying out. It was then that they started that push. Even so, while they backed off from the brink, their numbers remain low to this day. Mainly due to a combination of high infertility among phantoms, and a low success rate in turnings.

“To put it into perspective, turning someone into a zombie is successful ninety-nine percent of the time, while…only about forty percent of phantoms’ attempts at changing someone are. And often, the ones that succeed…the couples have no luck in having children. So much so that phantoms usually try to have their lovers changed by other species. The couplings after… While the success rates are significantly higher, the other paranormal’s genes take over.”

“Which leads us back to them coupling with humans,” Turney mused.

“Yes.” Octavius beamed at Turney. “Back to them coupling with humans, and back to the important part. Just because they are born human, it doesn’t mean their offspring will be. But unfortunately, while the phantom gene is recessive, it only activates on death. Which is why…” He frowned. “You know…he never did say what his original name was. I suppose it doesn’t really matter, since he’s an asshole…but…”

Turney snorted. “So, what you are saying is…someone in his family tree slept with a phantom, had a child who was born human, and then later down the line came Aurelius, who after accidentally shooting himself in the face, discovered that he was the lucky winner of his gene pool.”

“Pretty much!” Octavius chuckled. “It awoke that side of him…but if that side is closed back down, he will return essentially to what he once was…human.”

Min-ji quickly added, “Mind you, this wouldn’t work on a full-blooded phantom. There is no way to seal that side of them, because that is all they are. The human part is, while still them, mostly just a shield. It’s only because he was once human that we can do this. This goes for any human who is changed into a phantom as well.”

Turney hummed. “Okay, so if I have that all straight… There are full-blooded, born phantoms, which I assume can be birthed from humans, as long as they are actually born a phantom, or am I wrong?”

Scarlett nodded. “Correct, as long as they are born with the phantom gene activated, they are considered full-blooded phantoms.”

Eyeing Turney, when he noticed that the zombie was no longer paying attention to him, Octavius slowly started to back away.

“Okay, so full-blooded phantoms, human-turned phantoms, and…how exactly would you word the last one?”

He neared the corner of the aisle, just a few steps and he’d be in the clear.

“Death awakened phantoms,” Min-ji stated. “Whoever the man is, he is a death awakened phantom. He was born human, and his phantom side was awoken upon his death.”

Theo hummed. “I’ve never actually heard it described that way. Wolves around me always just called them death cheater phantoms.”

Smiling evilly, he slipped around the corner, out of sight, just as Min-ji shrugged and explained, “That is a common slang term for them.”

What an odd conversation to have in a random aisle in Wal-Mart… “So what do we need to seal him in his human form, and…” Turney trailed off, frowning when he did not find Octavius where he should be.

“Where did Octavius go?” he asked sharply.

Min-ji and Theo shrugged. Turney eyed Scarlett, who was looking way too amused. “Scarlett…”

She smiled. “He snuck away around the corner about five minutes ago.”

“Heheheheh.” The distant gleeful, yet very evil giggle had his hair standing on end.

“OCTAVIUS, YOU DO NOT NEED GLITTER!” he growled.