Shadows in Light

I got within sight of the bus stop in time to see the bus rolling away, and then the sky opened too, drenching me in the short time it took me to get inside the inadequate shelter these things provide. Seattle weather is tetchy at best, going from hail, to sun, to light drizzle, back to sun, followed by a serious drenching all in the space of ten minutes. It’s faintly annoying but can also be rather a beautiful sight sometimes.

I pulled out my cellphone and flicked through my rapidly increasing, although still under ten numbers phone book to find Josephs number and dialed it. Lee picked up within a couple of rings.

“Yes?” he rumbled down the phone.

“It’s Ryan again, I wish to speak to Mr. Ortiz regarding my situation.”

“Hold.”

I was left drumming my fingers on the seat watching the rain for a few moments before Joseph’s business-like voice came over the phone.

“Ryan. I do so hope there isn’t a problem?” he sounded cheerful.

“No Mr. Ortiz, I’ve got everything I need. I’d like to arrange our meeting.”

That brought a silence to the phone for a moment, I got the feeling he was surprised by that. It didn’t last long; in business terms it was probably just a thoughtful pause. But to me it stretched an age and felt like it was telling me more than Joseph wanted me to know.

“Excellent news then Ryan. I am currently at my Tower, and I can be ready to receive you at any time. I will have reception notified of your impending arrival.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ortiz. See you then.” I smugly hung up on him, putting my phone away “Ha! Weren’t expecting that were you?” I said out loud, getting a weird glance from another bus rider who had turned up while I was on the phone. I gave them a sheepish look of apology, which got them going back to their phones in return while as we continued to wait for the bus to arrive.

People were bustling around even in the rain. Those forever annoying umbrellas were everywhere, and the rain was washing down buildings and sidewalks. It was almost another river of rain like the night I met Sally, or Alice, I guess. Wandering down that alley and finding her purse.

All that lead to this mess I was in, and it was a chaotic mess overall. I needed to think what to do, but right now, my mind was thinking I needed to level some concerns. Having extra money might well help. Maybe I should take up John on his offer? It wasn’t too far from Josephs after all.

I should be thinking about something else I knew it, but I wanted to make sure I was comfortable, had a buffer for myself. There wasn’t anything left in that was there?

I felt uneasy with myself, but I put that to one side as I got on the bus. I had other things to deal with first.

Joseph’s place was grander in the daylight, even if that was with rain washing down the sides of the building. The door clacked opened as I approached it, and the receptionist looked up at me as I entered.

“Yes sir?” she said politely that business like look on her face

“Ryan Vaughan here to see Mr. Ortiz.”

She looked down at her paperwork for a moment before she nodded and pointed down to the elevators “Please proceed.”

“Can you make sure someone keeps an eye on my bike please?” She gave me a faint nod, turning to look at her monitors without another word. She wasn’t impressed with my stylish method of getting around town.

Well see if I gave her a side seat ride around town.

I headed down to the elevator and enjoyed that compression feeling as the elevator zipped through the floor numbers until it pinged open at the top floor, revealing two guards. I got another pat down exploration, and my bag got opened. This time however they found the gun I was carrying, along with the knife that stabbed me. They both looked at me, one of them moving their hand to their own gun.

“Ah. Forgot about the gun. The knife is there for my meeting as proof.”

“Wait here.” one said, as the other picked up my gun in gloved hands and unloaded it, removing the chambered bullet and placed them on a table rumbling “You can have them when you leave.”

I was left in his pleasant company, wisely keeping my hands in sight and not moving until the second guard returned, giving me the empty gun and knife before leading me down the pointlessly short corridor into the meeting area. Joseph was awaiting me in a casual business suit, sat at his conference table with papers in front of him. The guard left me at the door, and I moved over to Joseph. He pretty much ignored me until I was right next to his table, putting down his papers and looking up at me.

“Please feel free to take a seat Mr. Vaughan.” he said to me, motioning to a chair that had been pulled out nearby, to which I sat down making sure to put my bag on the table to get into it easily. He shuffled his paperwork to one side and rested his arms on the table looking at me for a long moment before he spoke.

“So, are you sure that you have done all you need to do about gathering the evidence you need? Once you have presented your case, barring extremely exceptional circumstances, that’s all you can present. And judgment will be passed based on the evidence given.”

I considered that because it’s a bad idea to jump in. But I believed Malcolm in the end, so I nodded “I have everything I need.”

He spread his hands “As you say then. This is regarding the incident in Everett, that resulted in multiple car explosions, damaging the car park, and several houses I believe, at the Everett Hospital and surrounding area. There was also an incident in Lynnwood that I believe you were involved in too. It has been noted that there was no deaths nor injuries in both incidents. You have already stated that Eli Grace was involved in this. So please, state your case.”

“I went to Malcolm’s the day after I saw you, leaving there I encountered Eli Grace in an alley. He stabbed me with this during a fight between us.” I pulled out the bag with the knife, carefully laying it on the table “Then shot me. I was taken into hospital when I passed out. There’s a police report in there about it”

Joseph pulled out the knife, looking it over carefully before he murmured softly, “It has been many a day and night since I have beheld one of these.”

“You’ve seen one of these knives before?”

“Oh yes, Eli has one specially for each kill of us. They are sharpened to an incredible degree, then give a bit extra to slow down our healing. Unfortunately for us this makes us easier targets. This confirms what Malcolm suspected when we got word of your arrival at the hospital.”

“I ... wasn’t aware you knew about that.”

Joseph leveled a look at me that pretty much said ‘idiot’ without saying it out loud “We have worked hard to keep an eye on all the hospitals. Making sure computer records are not kept, our people are put into ... private areas so they can recover without being bothered by the mortals. Ending up in hospital isn’t an issue as a result.”

“There was a police report I managed to get hold of.” I pushed it over to him, and he started to read it, taking his time to do so as I sat there nervously awaiting him to finish. He eventually put it down, placing the knife on top of it carefully

“Yes, this matches Eli’s style, hit and run. He will aim to get you alone. He would not attempt to go for you in the hospital because, well, it is not a challenge anymore. He would much rather have someone with some fight. The description matches the recent reports too. That gives possibility of Eli right now. But does not confirm your Everett adventures.”

I gave a rundown of my night after leaving Bianca’s, giving as in-depth details to everything as I could to save time having to answer questions on the matter. It took a surprising length of time to cover everything from leaving Bianca’s to getting on the bus.

I pulled out the USB stick from my bag and placed it on the table. Joseph frowned picking it up “You contacted Malcolm then?”

“He seemed like he could help me. There’s videos on there showing me and Eli.”

Joseph got up, heading over to a laptop and plugged it in. A few minutes later we were watching the images on a huge almost cinema screen streaming against the wall. It was a lot easier to see myself and Eli when we were almost life sized. I pointed to where Eli came into vision in both shots, and Joseph nodded a little unplugging it and going to sit down again.

Was it me or did he look a little disappointed? Was he hoping that I had messed up badly enough? No, he couldn’t. Could he? I shook off the feeling watching as Joseph leaned on the conference table, steepling his fingers thoughtfully as he looked at me.

“What have you gotten into?” he asked me

I shook my head, “I haven’t gotten into anything to my knowledge that should have caused this response. But I do have a question?”

He raised his eyebrows and motioned a hand to me “Ask. I cannot guarantee an answer, but you can ask.”

I paused for a moment, trying to think the best method to ask my question. It wasn’t an easy question to ask in my view, but in the end, I decided to go with simplicity. “Is Eli an Angel?”

Joseph stared at me for several long moments then nodded. “Yes”

“Why is he after me then? I’ve done nothing to warrant being hunted by Gods guardians” I’d spent many years with a relaxed religious view, but everyone knows what angels are in the end.

Joseph gave me a little shrug “I cannot answer that question, not without knowing everything you are doing currently. And I doubt you would tell me everything anyways. There may be reasons, but you either are not aware of them, or have not worked them out yet. You’re still a newborn by what you have told me so far. I am not allowed to give you anything more. Even I have to respect the Laws.”

Dammit, he still didn’t seem like he was believing me. What was wrong with him? Or me to warrant this? It was so frustrating that part of me wanted to smack him over the head with something like a chair until he told me. But I doubted that was going to help my situation. I just ground my teeth and suffered.

“Anything else I can tell you Mr. Ortiz?”

“You were in Everett for what exactly?”

“Bianca called me in for a job. I do labor work for a company here in Seattle. She hired a laborer and got me on Monday. She was impressed with my work, so decided to keep using me. She called; I went.”

He considered that for a moment, looking at some papers by him “Gordon Labor?”

I nodded “Spent a few years working for them now since I got here.”

Joseph didn’t exactly give anything away, but I got the sense he looked down on labor workers. I did too once upon a time but having done the job I had a new level of respect for them. It’s hard and honest work, even if I was breaking the law to do it. But that was due to a minor fault I couldn’t exactly explain to everyone. Even if I wanted to, I didn’t fancy being autopsied to find out what made me tick.

“Could this have been caused by being at Bianca’s house?” He looked at me. I felt this question had a weight to it, but then again if what Bianca said she wasn’t popular right now. But I was sure she wasn’t the cause.

“No, this started when I left Malcolm’s the first time, not Bianca’s.”

He huffed a little at that, now looking a little disappointed. He reached over and shifted paperwork slightly looking it over, then looked again at the police report, and glanced to the laptop. He was clearly considering everything thoroughly.

I shifted a little in my chair waiting for him to speak. It was nerve wracking, my whole life was here in Seattle, and this man held that life in his hand. Hell, it was possible he held my life in his hands too. Once upon a time I would have loved to have left here, but I’d grown used to it here.

Dare I say it, getting friends too? Bianca and Caoimhe at least. Well. Maybe on the last one there. But Dave and Malcolm seemed to treat me with a decent level of respect.

And I’d adjusted to the weather.

I waited. For several minutes while Joseph pulled out a cigarette and lit it, looking through the papers in front of him, making his decision-making process last for longer than my hospitalization did. He finally looked at me

“Well. I have looked through it all. And given what you have presented, I have no choice but to agree you have done nothing wrong. The damage was caused by Elis hunt of you. As such you are free to remain here in Seattle as you are now. But I would recommend you stop whatever it is you are getting into. Or next time you will not be so lucky to escape Eli. Are we clear?”

I swallowed and nodded “Yes Mr. Ortiz. Quite.”

He pushed the knife and paperwork over to me, “You can keep these. Reminders to keep your nose clean.”

I took them and slid them back into my bag “If there’s nothing else I’d like to go. I’ve got a job I’d like to go and do now.”

He nodded and waved to the door “You can see yourself out Mr. Vaughan.”

A few minutes later and I was on the street again, leaning against a wall a block away, taking several deep breaths. Damn that guy was frustrating. What was his problem with me? Still if John was good friends with him, doing this job might well get me in good books.