Chapter XXX
John awoke early and ate a large breakfast. The doctor came in to make a final check of his vital signs. John hit the pavement running when the doctor signed the release form. He knew where he had to go and what he had to do.
First John went home. He played with Aristotle for a good, long time.
Dumb dog didn’t know when to quit.
Then he went into his office and tidied up a few things.
John took a long, cold shower. He loved the feeling of getting the DC summer stickiness off of him. He washed his hair and let it dry naturally. He dressed in a light linen suit that fit the summer to a T.
Then he made his way to DC Superior Court.
He was on the fifth floor when Destiny and Juan got off the elevator. He watched them go into the Courtroom to talk to Elaine.
Stephen/the demon -- they were one by this time -- had furiously tracked Destiny to the Courthouse after she gotten away from him. He’d followed her through the snowy reaches, saw her create a vortex out of thin air. He’d tried to jump in with her but his timing was off and he was sorely whipped by the backlash of matter as the vortex closed.
The Demon was now maddened with pain as well as lust for power, possession and sex. He was a mindless thing, following his obsession by instinct and cunning. He tore open a piece of space and traveled to the Courthouse. He didn’t care who saw him in this condition. He would finish it now. He was sure he was strong enough to take the bitch, whatever form she might take. As for the other -- John --he would die an unthinkable death. The two had been dogging him and barbing him and thwarting him for centuries. He was the one with the true power. He would prevail.
He jumped over the metal detector on the first floor. A Marshall started to pull his gun, took one look at the demon and fled down the hall in the opposite direction.
“Where is she?” he roared. He looked left and right. It was a crowded day in the courthouse. There were lawyers and defendants and plaintiffs and jurors and judges in profusion. People were scattering everywhere. Anyone who looked upon the demon found him or herself praying that they would be allowed to disappear anywhere.
The demon pulled himself up short. He’d never find his prey if he scared everyone off. He took the escalator down two flights. He stepped into the men’s room next to the cafeteria. He looked in the mirror. . Almost nothing of Stephen Williams remained. He was a demon. His appearance shocked even himself.
This is a dream,
he told himself.
Quiet it down. Tone it down. You are Stephen Williams, golden man. Women fall at your feet. You win cases just by smiling at the judges. Destiny is yours for the taking. You’ve just been playing with her -- giving her some rope. Now its time to pull her in. You have the power. And you can deal with the other one at the same time.
He looked in the mirror again.
Better
. His human features were coming back into shape. The reddish caste to his skin was fading and the golden tan was taking over. His eyes changes from coal black to burnished brown. He smiled politely in the mirror and made a mock half bow.
He left the men room and walked over to the lawyer’s lounge. “Has anyone seen Destiny Lysander this afternoon?” the demon asked.
“”Yeah, I saw her a little while ago. Before the black out. She was in some strange get up. I asked her if she was appearing in court like that and she gave me the finger. What a bitch. I hope she got stuck in the elevator. That’s where she was heading.”
“Do you know what floor she went to?”
“Nah. Probably five. That’s where Judge Raven is. Destiny’s always got something before Raven.”
“Thanks pal.”
The demon didn’t bother with the elevator. The escalators only ran to the fourth floor. He rode the escalator up to four, and then took the stairs to the fifth floor.
The fifth floor atrium is wide open. All that stands between the hallway and the six floor drop to the cafeteria level is an expanse of greenery and a railing which is about three and a half feet high. Ever since Destiny first came to practice in DC Superior Court she had wondered when someone would take a dive from the fifth floor railing down to the cafeteria level. She’d imagined the flight down any number of times when a case was going badly. She often thought of all the tragedies that were played out in the halls of DC Superior Court and was amazed that no one had ever taken the plunge.
She’d mentioned the fantasy to a couple of colleges, who’d rolled their eyes, and then avoided her for a while. Was she the only one who saw the danger? She remembered the courtyard below her dorm room in college where someone had painted JUMP SOON. From time to time Destiny’d been tempted to put up a sign on the fifth floor railing warning away persons with suicidal bents.
Destiny and Juan were walking away from Courtroom 517 towards the elevators when the demon burst out the stairwell. The demon made a grand leap towards Destiny but John had been waiting for this moment -- the moment he had seen in his dream -- intervened. He jumped on the demon and brought him down. “Run Destiny” he shouted. Destiny froze. John grabbed the demon by the neck and started to squeeze. The demon broke the hold easily, by standing up and tossing John over his head. That threw John, over the railing and down seven flights, to land outside the door of the lawyer’s lounge.
Destiny screamed. All the hurt and anger he had caused her over the years came pouring into her and moved her hand. “You mother fucking bastard, she said.” She pulled out the pistol John had passed to her in his dream, aimed it and let fly round after round, straight into the demon’s chest. The demon backed up fell, and rolled over the railing to land head first on top of John. Destiny and Juan stood in the atrium, stunned.
Destiny turned to Juan almost in hysterics. “This is a dream. I’m, going to wake up in my bed now, okay?” Tears were pouring down her face. She blinked. Nothing happened. “Damn it, I have to wake up now.” she cried.
“Stop it Destiny,” Juan said. He took her by her shoulders and gave her a shake. “It’s not a dream. It’s over. At least this part is over. You have to pull yourself together. There are going to be all kinds of questions. Like where did you get that gun, and how did you smuggle it into the courthouse.” He looked around and was surprised to see that they were alone in the hallway. No one had been there to witness the scene.
Then he experienced a strange sense of coming together, like a part of him which he hadn’t known existed had joined him. All of John Rodger’s feelings, and a lot of his memories somehow entered his being. And, just for a flash, he felt the excruciating pain and sorrow John had felt at his death.
Juan recovered more quickly than Destiny.
“I can’t pull myself together. I don’t know which one of me I am any more. And that’s John down there, God damn it. He’s dead. Don’t you understand? He’s dead, and I can’t dream it away! He died trying to save me. What’s all this been worth if I can’t dream that away, Juan? John’s not supposed to die. I should be down there with him.”
Destiny broke as if to leap over the railing, but Juan was way ahead of her. He grabbed her, pulled her down onto the floor and held her tight until her sobs started to quiet a little. “Hush, Cara mia, hush. It’s over. Come on now. We’ve got to go.”
They stood up and were making ready to leave. As if by magic, Elaine materialized from the Courtroom. “Come on you guys. I’m taking you out the back way. There won’t be any questions. None that you will have to answer anyway. At least not tonight. It’s been fixed that the story will be that officer John Rodgers spent his career hunting down serial killer Stephen Williams. It will come as a huge shock to the legal community that they nurtured such a viper. The press will report that Williams shot Rodgers with a special gun that can’t be detected by standard metal detectors.
