Shadows in Light
Chapter 26

I was escorted into a seat in front of Joseph and dumped into a chair across from him.

“Leave us.” Joseph said, staring at me from his desk. The guards seemed, well surprised at his command, but they left without another word.

“So, I was right then?” Joseph snapped at me. All the pleasant demeanor from our previous meetings was gone.

“About what exactly?”

“You were here to cause trouble. Who sent you?”

I shook my head, “Wasn’t here to cause trouble. Just happened to replace it.”

“You just killed my second. And now you expect me to believe that? And that you are a newborn?”

“I didn’t come here to kill anyone. I just wanted to have my own life, and shit fell down on me.”

“You are a liar. And in a few hours, you will be in front of the City for a Trial. And executed for the crime of murder of a City member without justifiable cause. Actually, at this point, we are up to three city members from my understanding.”

I thought about it. Crap he was right. John, Dealer and, oh right, Waddle. But his phrasing was... interesting. “Out of interest. What is justifiable cause?”

Joseph stared at me for several long moments, like he couldn’t believe the sheer arrogance of my question. “Attempting to murder you without justifiable reasons. Crimes against the City. Crime against.” He paused for a moment, remembering himself “Our kind.”

“You mean Demons?”

He smirked at me, “Yes. Demons. Crimes against Demons. And working with the Enemy, Angels.” He leaned closer. “John was a friend of mine, we have worked together for a long, long time. I will see you suffer for his death boy.”

“Ryan. My name is Ryan, Joseph. You know it, so use it.”

He looked at me, his fist clenching for a moment and I could feel Power building around him for a moment. I stared back at him defiantly, which just seemed to incite him even more. Just as I thought he’d crack and hit me with something, he hit a button on his desk. Guards came in silently taking me out of the room.

I ended up in a simple concrete cell, with a metal door. While it matched the same style as John’s cell, without the blood, this place felt worst. I felt like I was being crushed by something. I reached out to touch the walls and my Demon side sensed something writhing in the wall. Attempting to touch those Demon powers just resulted in nothing. Something in this place deaden my powers.

There was a bed set up with a pillow and blanket laid out waiting for me, with nothing else to do I just propped them up against the wall and rested my head on them.

I had a few short hours to work out a defense to save myself, although I wasn’t sure what level of evidence I needed though. But I had a chance to get my story sorted.

And I needed it, the whole week or so had been a blur. I hadn’t had a week this fast at any time in my life, before or after my first death. I’d gained things sure, but right now none of that was going to help me. I needed evidence.

Knowledge.

It was several hours that I was left there, and I had a long-time thinking things through, even managing to get a nap in. I’d argue that it wasn’t long enough, but when you’re about to be dragged into a court that could sentence you to death, it’s never going to be long enough.

The guards came in and leaded me through more corridors until we entered an auditorium, richly laid out for people to sit in fancy leather seats. Each chair had a little table on it like you’d see in a school. At the far end from where I was stood was a stage, next to which sat a something like a judge’s bench. Joseph sat there waiting for us, looking every inch the regal and ruling businessman. This felt like a place I should feel comfortable in, yet I was worried. I was here to be Judged. And potentially killed. The second worried me the most.

And the place was filled with people, most of them sat in the leather chairs, and some more stood on the edges. All of them turned to look at me as I was escorted in. There’s nothing like having a large number of people stare at you as you’re escorted through in handcuffs.

Hey folks! I’m a law breaker. Nice to meet you all. Should I give autographs now or later?

The guards escorted me one more down to the stage where a wooden stand had been surrounded by a wooden banister. I was put in and my cuffs attached to a chain on the floor. The guards stepped back and that same crushing sensations I’d felt in the cell came back.

One of the guards murmured quietly, while drumming his fingers on his sword, “If you attempt to step outside of the banister, you will be killed. Do you understand?”

I nodded. It felt a bit over the top with the cuffs, banister and crushing sensations. But maybe I was the biggest criminal they’d had in a long time.

I looked out over the crowd staring at me, and realized this place was huge. There was probably room for a couple of thousand people in the end including the upper areas that had been hidden from my view when I came in. At the moment only the main area I’d walked through was filled, although I could see a couple of people hiding out in the upper levels.

I couldn’t see anyone I knew, and for a moment that concerned me. I wanted at least one friendly face out there. It took me a few minutes before I spotted on at last. Hiding out in the front row, but some distance from me, I spotted the Priestess and Bianca sat together in the front row. Bianca gave me a subtle wave of her hand, and the Priestess nodded slightly to me.

Two people. That’s it.

Great. I’m screwed.

There was a long banging noise from Joseph, and he spoke out. He didn’t use a microphone, or yell, but his voice carried without any trouble.

“Ladies and gentlemen. We are gathered here tonight to judge this one, Ryan Vaughan. He stands accused of murder of three city members in good standing without justification. These individuals are listed as John McWilliams, Second to myself. David Ester, and Matthew Spencer”

The crowd buzzed and murmured. I got the feeling that while they were surprised by the names given, they weren’t overtly displeased by their deaths.

Joseph made more banging noises and silence returned, “Ryan Vaughan what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Well. First off. Which one was in the Underground? I wasn’t asking for names at the time.”

That got a couple of people giggling as Joseph glared down at me, “Matthew Spencer!”

“Ah right. Well. I didn’t kill him.”

“You were seen leaving the area.”

“I was? Who by?”

“An informant passed on the information.”

Guess the right to face my accuser wouldn’t matter for much.

“Well, I went into the Underground earlier today because I was being chased by Eli. Matthew Spencer was chasing me with him.”

The room exploded at that. Voices cried out, and Joseph had to bang his gavel several times.

“Do you have proof of this?”

I glanced to Bianca, who was looking one way, while pointing to Priestess.

“I’d like to ask Priestess to come forward.”

Joseph’s eyes narrowed at me, before he looked to Priestess as she rose elegantly.

“I have received my own reports that Mr. Vaughan was in a fight with two assailants. Suffice to say I have been over the area and can confirm that there were signs of an Angel in the Underground. I also managed to get hold of some of Mr. Spencer’s remains, unfortunately they were scavenged by some partner. While there was no energy nor any sign who did it, Mr. Spencer was burnt by a powerful wave of Light.”

She sunk back down into her chair, watching Joseph. Bianca gave me a hidden thumbs up.

“I was being chased through Seattle by Eli. Along the way Waddle... sorry Spencer jumped out of an alley at me, I got away from him, however. Later on, he showed up with Eli. Eli got buried under a wall and I was fighting with Spencer. I won but didn’t kill him. Then Eli fired one of those Light things at me, but hit him instead”

“You’re expecting us to believe you survived a one-on-one fight with Eli?”

“Matthew has already given you evidence that I was being chased by Eli, which I must point out you have accepted as evidence in my defense against the incident in Everett.”

Joseph’s eyes narrowed and he glared down at me. “I’m replaceing it hard to believe you’ve apparently survived three attacks by him.”

Any whispering stopped instantly. Risking a glance, I could see nothing but utter surprise. Guess they all knew of his reputation better than I did.

“Find it hard all you want, it’s the truth. I’ve presented evidence. You accepted it. Eli was chasing me, and Spencer was involved. Even if you decide to ignore that, Priestess has said he died by Light. That’s not my Power.”

Joseph slowly smiled, “You still have John McWilliams and David Ester.”

“Ah yes. There’s a long way I can explain this, or a short way. I’ll go with the short way. They’re both working with Angels as well.”

The room roared again at that. Joseph lost his smile, staring at me in shock. It took a minute or two for silence to come back.

“John is, or more accurately was, using his club to sell drugs. These drugs aren’t normal, they influence the user over time. Shorten their lives, and eventually kill them at a young age. This links into the increase in bodies that the Priestess has found down in the Underground. I believe you are aware of those already.”

I looked over to her, and she nodded a little without standing, and I continued.

“If you start checking them against normal people, they’re going to be club goers. The drugs have killed them. There’s this... Thing that is in the drugs. It’s an almost living parasite that infects the drug taker, little bit at a time, the more you take the bigger this Thing gets. Eventually it overwhelms the person, and they die. Pretty much of no real cause. Then their energy can be being dragged out like the Angels do, but without leaving any trace. I encountered a club goer who almost passed away. I was able to pull whatever was in him out, but I know he’s been going for years, and taking a lot of drugs.”

Joseph waved a hand, “Interesting, but I fail to see how this is proof of anything at this point.”

“Well Joseph I’m getting there. A week ago, a woman stumbled across my place, being chased by an Angel. She’d been at that club, when I went to sleep, she went missing. I eventually went to the club and saw the dealers. Saw them going into a room, so I went in. Led me down into the Underground.”

I looked at Joseph who was watching me without blinking. “Under there, there was two women. I was trying to free them when I got into a fight with one of those holding them. During the fight, a bit of wall dropped onto his head. When this happened, he gave off a burst of Light.”

I was watching Joseph, and I suspected at this point I was the only one doing so. He’d started off looking smug and confident. But as my story went on, I could see that confidence slipping, he was gaining more and more worry. He was worried I was going to get away with this.

“We eventually escaped through the Underground, after being chased by a group from it.”

“Where are they?”

“Sorry who?”

“These girls?”

“Oh, Yes. I left them somewhere safe.” Now I was stuck. They were with Dave. And I’d promised I wouldn’t mention him.

“And where is that?” I could see that smug look returning to Josephs face. I was trying to think up the answer when the Priestess spoke up.

“I have placed them somewhere safe. They are Remembering, and I have spoken to them. Their side of the story matches Mr. Vaughan’s, including the burst of white Light, and a few other incidents while they were kept down there. Although they are, obviously, not sure what caused it.”

Joseph’s face had a glimmer of annoyance at the Priestess and looked down at the stand in front of him. I took advantage of that to look to Priestess who looked up at me serenely for a moment before her attention returned to Joseph.

“This just proves that there was an Angel down there. Doesn’t mean he was working with John. John has a faultless reputation in the City.”

I cut him off before he could go on a tirade about how excellent John was, “The girl I was originally looking for was not amongst the two. I ended up figuring out she was being held at Johns. When I went there and found her in the basement. She’d been tortured, likely for whatever the first Angel was chasing her for.”

Joseph shook his head, “You have no proof of this, the house is destroyed in the fire.”

Crap. He was right. I didn’t have the scythe. And I had no witnesses. The only one had disappeared.

“Caoimhe could confirm it.”

“She is unaccounted for at this time. Do you have anything else?”

“My bag?”

“Where is that?”

“It was outside John’s. Didn’t the people who picked me up get it?”

“Alas no, anything else?” That smugness was back

I gave it deep thought. I had been running mostly on thoughts and feelings. The limited stuff I had that might work as proof were in my bag. I tried thinking for well over a minute, to which Joseph was polite and remained silent, staring at me until I finally shook my head.

I couldn’t think of anything without the stuff in my bag. I shook my head.

Joseph looked down at me from his bench, “Your story is a meticulously crafted one, but you have no proof. It’s all based on hearsay and accusation against those who can no longer refute your claims, due to your killing of them. They were good City members, and I will not see them besmirched like this.”

Oh crap. Caoimhe. I could do with you.

“As you have nothing else, I hereby replace you guilty of murdering John McWilliams and David Ester. The sentence will be carried out immediately” Joseph smiled as he banged his gavel and leaned back.

The guards started to move towards me.

I was so screwed. I looked to Bianca and she was looking away, tearing up. The Priestess looked sick.

I had nothing.

Then there was a burst of pink on the stage as Caoimhe appeared, blinking as she looked around, then at me. She looked like she did when I saw her at the Pub. Made up and beautiful in her heels. Dressed from head to toe in pink, wrapped in a corset. In her hands she carried a rather large looking bag. I hoped she had what I needed in there.

“Sorry I’m late.” she chirped at me.

The guards froze. Joseph leaned forward and stared at Caoimhe, who kept looking at me even as I could tell she was aware he was looking at her. I didn’t waste time though.

“Caoimhe. Did John have a mortal girl kidnapped in his basement?”

She nodded, “Girl called Alice, he said she was a thief that had stolen something. Not entirely sure what, but he wanted it.”

Joseph looked stunned as she replied, “Who was he doing it for?”

She turned to face him and pulled out the file holding it up. “This is the file that my Master had. It was details on Alice, and instructions to get back something.”

One of the guards took it off her and passed it over to Joseph.

She got a look on her face as she looked over to me “Well. That’s a copy. I kept the original safe.”

I had to cover my mouth as my lips quirked in admiration. Smart lady.

She glanced at me and winked, before waiting on Joseph, fidgeting with her bag while she watched him read through. He sniffed as he dropped it back down, “This merely shows someone wanted something off her.”

“My Master had said off-handedly that agents had chased her, and she’d ended up escaping into an unknowns house. He asked me to get to know that unknown, who was Ryan.”

She waved to me a little. “I did so at my master’s instructions and found nothing unusual about him during the first meeting, however during a second meeting he told me about Alice. And that he’d had a Light attempt to enter his home that was chasing her. At that time Ryan was unaware of the fact it was Angels. But I was, and I realized at that point my Master was working with them, however I was unable to do anything due to the decrees and agreements that are laid down between Imp and Demon.”

Joseph waved a hand dismissively, “Again, this is just secondhand knowledge from Ryan. It has no proof and does not show John was in league with our Enemies.

She smiled up at him “And when I confronted him about it, he confirmed it. He said that we need not be at war with them, we could coexist easily.”

Everyone in the room stopped. No sound, no movement. Even the air stopped moving as everyone stared at this four-foot-tall pink woman. Part of me was baffled why Caoimhe’s testimony was getting more worth than mine. It wasn’t like she’d given a ton more than me, but perhaps because she worked with him. I glanced at Bianca and she gave me a look of relief, the tears drying up.

Her soft voice cut through the silence, “It is, unfortunately, also my belief that my Master was not working alone. I believe that he was working with a group that Ryan encountered.”

Joseph stared down at her, as she looked back at him without fear. It’s a little amusing to see someone who’s four-foot-tall stare down at a man who’s over six foot tall, and also raised into the air.

“Anything else?”

“I also believe my Master had worked out some way of implanting a drug with something. I was never aware of what, but he had me do a lot of research into that.”

“Everything you have said is the full truth Imp?”

Caoimhe had a brief flash of annoyance at being called Imp, but she nodded, “Everything I have told you is the truth. I am an Imp after all.”

In a few short minutes Caoimhe had, as far as I could tell, just confirmed just about everything I’d said. I held my breath, watching the two of them.

Joseph finally broke off staring at Caoimhe and looked over at me.

“I... I am amazed to replace that what you have told us has sufficient proof. The testimony of the Imp Caoimhe, while from an Imp, is damning against John. Thus, you were within your rights to kill him by Law. If David was attempting to kill you during this, you still remain in the right to defend yourself there.”

He stood up, his face looking like he’d swallowed acid “So, I say you are free to go Ryan Vaughan. The City of Seattle is indeed pleased that you were able to uncover this, and regrets arresting you.”

He didn’t look pleased. He looked crushed to learn this. The crowd applauded, although there were only a few people who sounded legitimate. One of those was Bianca. Caoimhe shrunk closer to me, while Joseph waited out the noise.

“And I offer you a permanent place within this City as payment.”

I gave him a smile, “I am happy to accept, and pleased to have helped.”

Joseph stared at me for several long moments before he looked at the guards and nodded. They came over and opened the barricade, letting me free. Stepping out I could feel that crushing sensation end. I shuddered in delight to feel it gone. Something bumped into my hip and looking down I could see Caoimhe was right up against me, looking up at me with innocent looking eyes.

“Thank you Caoimhe.”

She smiled up at me “You’re very welcome.”