The circus entered a state of panic as soon as the absence of the phantoms was discovered. Around the crystal slumbered only three of the black shadows.

“How did nobody notice,” Ramona, the young woman with bubblegum pink hair, hissed. “I understand that we didn’t exactly expect them to leave the tents but, honestly. We are missing nine of them. Nine!”

“To be fair,” Chris jumped in, “you were the one guarding the entrance.”

Ramona let out a huff as she crossed her arms and glared at the remaining phantoms. Phil was the one to speak her thoughts out loud.

“Why did they leave though? They’ve never shown any inclination of wanting to go adventuring before. Surely the crystal is the strongest source of magic around, they should be held to it.”

“Right now that isn’t all that important,” one of the circus’ creators said. Her curly hair was in all sorts of chaos because of the occurrences. It was one of these rare days where the makers of the circus would come out of their planning room and take a break from designing and organising everything about the circus. “We all know very well that this means bad news. If they’re all in the same place it will be chaos. There’s no way there’s another source large enough for all of them. They’ll be going out of their poor minds. Indubitably, anyone nearby will not be having a good time.”

“We have one place to seek,” the other creator pointed out, her leg bouncing up and down continuously. “It’s a quite large one, but it’s better than to have the whole of the United Kingdom as our hunting ground. We just need to go back to the last location of the circus and we should find them. I suggest not going alone because we all know how that could end… So. Please find them.”

“And be safe.”

And thus went everyone that worked with Cirque de la Lumiere away in duos or small groups, except for the children of course. The small yet promising talents went with the two creators, who set them at work in their room of creativity, along with the promise that the tent that they would design together would become real.

Sooner than imaginable, they were back on the outskirts of the village. A large portion of the troupe set off to comb the forest, while a smaller group headed towards the town.

Phil, along with PJ and Chris, was in the group investigating the village.

“Let mission ‘Panic! at the Phantoms’ - begin!” Chris shouted, throwing a fist in the air. Both Phil and PJ merely answered with a roll of their eyes and perhaps a tiny smile on their lips. “Jeez, you guys are the worst audience ever.”

The forest around them held an eery silence, the sun casting the shadows of the trees on their path, but it wasn’t dark enough for the shadows to hide in. They’d be deeper if they were there.

From a distance, the outlines of the small town seemed normal. There was a slight buzz in the air that indicated that people were up and awake. Enough time had passed that the day started to run out of daylight, which meant bad news for the villagers if the phantoms were in the town. This would be the phantom’s first night away from the crystal. They were more docile during the day, the light of the sun providing them with at least a little comfort, but come nightfall all metaphorical hell would break lose wherever the phantoms were roaming.

“What are we going to do when we find them?” PJ asked. “Attract them with magic?”

“I don’t think that will do much,” Phil said. “They are familiar with us and our magic. There is something that lured them away from the crystal, and it’s magic. It has to be. They are curious and determined - they want to find out what it is. Our magic wouldn’t be powerful enough anyway. We’re away from the crystal, too.”

“You think that there is something interfering with the phantoms’ line of thought?” PJ asked. “Like, an undiscovered source of magic that they feel the need to familiarise with?”

“Pretty much,”

“So,” PJ slowly. “We could be looking for someone who visited the circus last night, holding up some huge kind of magic source - presumably undiscovered. You know, it could have been the hot chocolate. It’s enough to ignite a magic source a teeny bit, but next to the crystal it would have been heightened. It would probably have been like fireworks for the phantoms. I can’t believe none of us noticed.”

“Who would have thought that a mug of hot chocolate could do this much damage,” Phil murmured.

~

The first street they came to was, at first glance, unremarkable. Two bins had been knocked over, rubbish strewn across the street, but aside from toppled wheelie bins nothing seemed to be amiss. A shattered window at the end of the street was a little more sinister. Chris spotted something on the ground and grinned suddenly.

“Hey, guys, what’s red and bad for your teeth? A brick.”

As they turned the corner however, their mouths fell open. Every single window had been broken. During the day, the glass had been swept into a pile in the middle of the road and most of the windows had been boarded up with cardboard or woodchip.

“This looks promising,” Chris mumbled, yelping as the thin soles of his shoes met a forgotten piece of glass.

“You think this could be the phantoms?” Phil asked.

“Or a set of very uncreative vandalists,” Chris answered.

They followed the path of destruction all the way to the town square, and it was here that they were met with an altogether stranger sight. There was a large, ornate fountain in the middle of square, and settled around its base were quite possibly every single cat and dog in the village. They sat close together, a little uneasy, some lapping at the fresh water behind them, while their owners tried desperately to coax, drag or carry their pets away.

“Okay, so probably not vandals.”

“This is… quite the sight,” PJ said incredulously. “This isn’t normal behaviour, is it?”

“Um, no, Peej. No it’s not.” Chris rolled his eyes.

“Well, the only animals I’ve ever encountered aren’t exactly normal, are they?”

And it wasn’t just the four legged animals exhibiting strange behaviours. People were walking through town bundled up in jumpers and coats, but the air was warm and moist. Citizens jumped every few minutes and looked around them with such paranoia that only one explanation was possible.

“I think this town has a phantom invasion,” Chris muttered.

“Yeah, just wait till tonight, though. That’s when the real fun starts.” Phil warned.

“Yeah nightmares and stuff, right? Pretty terrible. That reminds me, what do you call a sleepwalking nun? A roamin’ catholic!”

“This time it’s not really funny, Chris,” PJ said gently. “The worst kind of nightmares. No one will be getting much sleep tonight, us included. They can drain the colour out of a person. They’re starving for light and warmth and brightness, they don’t know any better than to suck it out of anything living nearby. That’s why everyone’s so cold. With this many in one village, I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow the whole town had gone colourblind.”

To their left, a dog tilted it’s head to the sky and howled.

~

Darkness settled over the small town and most had retreated miserably into their houses. Three odd looking fellows were still awake however, following a black shadow down a dingy alleyway.

They had tried a couple of times to coax the phantom into their arms, lighting magical fires and casting small spells, but it simply eyed them with sorrow and continued on it’s melancholy quest. There was nothing they could do, because the only thing that would calm these phantoms down was this weak, undiscovered source of magic that they were all in search of. Their own magic offered the phantoms some comfort, and sometimes one or two would find them and sit for a little while, but the other source was disruptive, annoying and painful for them in ways nobody knew how to explain.

The night was punctured regularly by screams, and even the little phantom shivered although surely he was causing his fair share. Children awoke crying for their parents while monsters lurked under their beds and in the shadows. Adults woke from monochrome nightmares only to discover, to their horror, that the nightmare was continuing into the waking world. Everything was black and white. There was nowhere to hide.

~

The three young men couldn’t really be mad at the phantoms. Although they hurt people, took their colours and caused them terrors and exhaustion, they only seeked for silence in their heads and the yet unfamiliar familiarity of the unknown source.

So they sat on a metal bench, casting magic every now and then while searching their own memories and thoughts for possible answers.

“Hey, PJ, wanna play 52-card-pick-up?”

“I am not falling for that trick again, Chris.”

“Uhm, so… what are you guys doing here?”

Three pairs of eyes almost simultaneously looked up and to see the awkward stance of a familiar face. Daniel Howell.

“I thought the circus didn’t do revisits?” He asked, a little nervously.

“Technically the circus never really left,” Phil answered. “We left some… parts of it behind.”

Dan eyed them scrupulously. “I’ll admit, it does kinda ruin the magic a bit when you follow it up immediately with carnage and nightmares and strange animal behaviours. What happened?”

PJ sighed. “It’s a little complicated, I’m afraid. There’s not a lot you can do. We’re working on it.”

“Okay,” Dan nodded. “Is there any way of helping the people with all the nightmares, though? I’m scared to go to sleep.”

Phil shook his head miserably. “We’ve got the whole circus trying to fix it. We’re really sorry. It’s nice to see you, though.”

Dan’s cheeks reddened and he ran his fingers bashfully through his hair. “Oh, um, you too. It’s almost worth all the calamity to have you back. I didn’t think I’d see you again. I mean, um, not like…”

Chris sniggered. “You okay there? Cat got your tongue? If so, it’s probably over by the fountain. Might want to try get it back. It can come in handy.”

Dan glowed scarlet. “My dog’s over there, actually. That’s why I’m still up. I was sitting with her, because she seemed pretty upset.”

“Of all the places in this town, that’s probably your best bet if you don’t want to be affected by the, er, disturbances.” Phil said.

“I thought so, too,” Dan shifted from one foot to the other. “It feels warmer there. A little brighter, too. Well, if you change your mind and want help finding your lost circus parts then that’s probably where I’ll be. Goodnight”

Dan quietly walked away towards the square, leaving the three of them alone again.

“Did… anyone else feel that?” Phil asked.

“Ahhw, dear Phil has a little bit of a crush,” Chris teased.

“Shut up.”