With an empathetic look, Samuel had left John alone again. He eventually made his way to Aerin’s side; there he stayed until early morning when Meredith returned. She ushered him out, ordering him to go back to his room to sleep, stating something along the lines of “a weak Slayer is a dead Slayer” or something to that extent. Unfortunately, John didn’t get much sleep that night. He had lain awake until the sun began peeping through the curtains before his eyes finally closed.
John shifted around on the couch once more. The once soft cushions he was used to, were now feeling strangely hard, and the quiet of the room did him no good. He stood from the couch and let out a long yawn as he stretched his muscles. The door to Aerin’s room was barely open in front of him, but he knew that she wasn’t there. He sighed before turning and leaving.
The lift took him down a few floors to the cafeteria. Normally the room had at least a few people lounging around while they killed time, but not today. The room was barren. Most of the tables had been pushed to one side of the room and all the chairs had been stacked against the wall. John made his way across the empty room toward the vending machines that stood lonely by themselves at the far end. He grabbed a cup of coffee and a chair off of a large stack before sitting down next to the wall.
“Couldn’t find you in your room.” Lazarus’ voice suddenly broke the silence.
John looked up to see the man standing in front of him. He hadn’t heard him approach, mostly due to being lost within his own thoughts. Lazarus was wearing his field outfit, which consisted of blue urban camouflage pants and a long sleeve shirt, which was rolled up to the elbows.
“I figured you’d be down here.” The Australian observed.
“Hey, Laz.” John greeted as he turned his attention back to his cup.
Lazarus walked over to the large stack of chairs and pulled one down for himself. He set it down backwards in front of John so he could rest his arms on the back. “It’s good to see you out and about, mate. Not right to stay cramped up like that.”
“Yeah.” John agreed, almost forcing himself to look up from his cup. “What’s up?”
“Listen mate.” He sighed. “Boss filled me in on what happened with you yesterday.” He stopped and shook his head. “I dunno if I could’ve made that kind of call man.”
“I wish I didn’t have to.” John said before finishing the rest of his coffee.
“Right. Anyway, I didn’t come here to get you down, mate.” Lazarus smiled to him. “I came here to take you up.”
“Up?” John raised an eyebrow in question as he examined the man beside him. “What do you mean, up?”
“Boss wants us to meet him on the roof.” Lazarus explained.
John closed his eyes, thinking back to the last time he had seen the senior Slayer. He sighed and asked. “What for?”
“Recon.”
“Why?”
Lazarus glanced left and right before leaning forward over the edge of his chair. He could see the impatience in the Slayer’s eyes next to him and had to hold himself back. This wasn’t the John he knew, but the Australian knew he was in there.
“In case you haven’t looked around, mate, there’s something pretty big going on.” He stated; not too stern, but with concern in his voice. “Old Meredith’s got everyone running around like crazy since last night.”
Now that Lazarus mentioned it, John had noticed something going on. It had started late at night while he was still in the infirmary, before Meredith had kicked him out. Usually the halls at HUNTER were empty at night but for some reason dozens of people had been moving about. At the time, John hadn’t paid much attention as he was still lost in thought and worried over Aerin, but now that his head was a little clearer he could see something was definitely happening. He looked around the room at the state that it was in. Everything had been cleared away, as if in preparation for something.
“I guess you’re right.” John agreed before standing up slowly. He sat his chair back on the stack and crushed his coffee cup in his hands. “Alright, let’s go.”
“That’s the spirit!” Lazarus praised as he stood.
John tossed the cup into a nearby garbage can and followed Lazarus into the elevator. The machine took them as high as it would go before they had to climb the last floor by foot. Lazarus opened the steel door to reveal a black helicopter at the far end of the rooftop. Standing beside the large craft was Samuel. His eyes were closed and his arms were crossed, but as John and Lazarus approached he opened them and reached over, tapping against the metal of the chopper’s hull. The large blades above slowly rotated to life as Samuel stood up straight.
“Glad to see you up, John.” Samuel spoke over the increasing roar of the rotor blades above him.
“Yeah, Lazarus said you needed some help.”
“Just a little bit of recon, nothing big.” Samuel assured. “Climb in and we’ll be off.”
John stepped up and pulled himself into the helicopter as Lazarus moved to do the same. Before he could step up into the chopper, Samuel held his arm out and stopped him.
“What’s up, boss?” Lazarus asked.
“I’ve got a bad feeling.” Samuel stated. “If what she thinks is happening, I want my best man watching the house. Understand?”
Lazarus quickly nodded before stepping back away from the helicopter. “Leave it to me, boss. I’ll hold down the fort.”
Samuel jumped into the chopper and sat down across from John before slapping the wall behind him. The engine revved up and the rotors spun faster as the craft lifted off of the rooftop and into the air. The nose dipped forward slightly and they began to pick up speed. John felt a strange sinking feeling in his stomach while he watched the buildings, streets, cars, and people zip by far beneath them; but he quickly shook the feeling as questions arose in his mind about the matter at hand.
“So what’s all this about then?” John looked up to Samuel and asked.
“That hard drive you brought us.” Samuel began. “Meredith was up all night digging through it.”
“What did she find?” John asked.
“It was Holland’s lab you found. He was researching souls.” Samuel paused suddenly before continuing. “Especially those of children.”
Samuel could see the visible anger on John’s face before him. John’s brow wrinkled and the corner of his nose twitched as his knuckles turned white from how tightly he held his fists.
“It gets worse.” Samuel spoke again; his words seemed to distract John from himself. “She found something about an attack.”
“Where?” John questioned.
“Here, in Los Angeles.” Samuel answered.
“When?”
“We aren’t sure, but it sounded like it was going to be soon.” Samuel said.
“Holland is dead.” John stated.
“Holland never acted alone.” Samuel quickly retorted. “Even if he’s gone, anyone he was working with isn’t.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall behind him. “We’re going to circle around the city a few times, just to be sure.”
John sighed and leaned back against the wall. He was mad, but he wasn’t sure at what. He was mad at himself for what he had done, what Holland had done, and what might happen soon. He closed his eyes and focused inside of himself as he tried to calm his mind. His heart was awash with a flood of emotions that circled around inside him like a torrent. Slowly his mind began to quiet, his emotions settled, and he felt a bit of peace once more.
“We’re outside the zone, sir.” A voice called out from the front of the chopper.
The words snapped John back to reality. The voice was strangely familiar, like he had heard it sometime before but couldn’t quite place it.
“Thank you Victor.” Samuel spoke over the roar of the rotors overhead. “Now, let’s begin.”
Samuel brought his hands together in a loud clap. As he slowly parted them, two Cyphers appeared beside each palm. They spun counter to each other in time as he pulled his hands abo
ut a foot apart. A sphere appeared between them. John leaned forward to see that it was a small representation of the world with little gridlines running around it and everything. He jumped slightly as Samuel slapped his hands back together, crushing the small globe before pulling them back quickly this time. Suddenly the interior of the helicopter was covered in a large grid.
“What is this?” John questioned as he examined the ever changing object.
Geometric shapes slowly began to rise out of the flat plain into the air. As they moved about they created an image, a map. It was a city. John blinked and suddenly he was looking at an overhead image of Los Angeles.
“It’s a locator spell.” Samuel answered. “We are here.” He pointed to a small blue Cypher that floated a few inches over the little buildings.
John was amazed by what he saw. Even after everything he had seen so far, there was always something new. As he examined the map, something near one of the far corners stuck out. It was a little red splotch, like someone had dripped ink onto the floor.
“What’s this over here?” John asked, pointing toward the blot.
“An anomaly.” Samuel said as he looked closer. He examined the spot closely as he furrowed his brow. “That was almost too easy…” He muttered just under his breath. “Victor!” He shouted. “Take us northwest!”
“Roger that!” The pilot shouted back.
The chopper turned hard on its side and began heading toward their destination. “Victor.” John tossed the name around inside of his mind. He had heard it before, that was for sure, but he wasn’t quite sure where. The voice was familiar too. John pondered for a moment until it came to him.
“Victor!” John shouted as he leaned forward. “I remember you! You were the guy at the airport weren’t you?”
“Yes sir.” Victor shouted back from the cockpit. “I’m Lady Meredith’s driver.”
“And today he’s ours.” Samuel chimed in.
“Good to see you again, sir.” Victor gave a belated greeting.
“Yeah, you too.” John responded.
With that out of the way, the chopper was once again filled with nothing but the droning of the rotors overhead. John glanced out of the window and watched the buildings fly below even faster than they had before. They had descended further toward the ground now that all of the skyscrapers were behind them. Small office buildings and the occasional residential section whizzed beneath their feet quickly.
Suddenly there was a flash. A light bright enough to temporarily blind John washed over the chopper along with an intense heat that made his skin feel like it was bubbling. He gripped the railing tightly beside him as his stomach rose into his throat. They were spinning. A wave of beeps and sirens filled the air as he felt himself getting dizzy. He tried to focus on a singular point, but everything was a blur. His vision began to grow darker as they drew closer to the ground.
“Tail end is lost!” He could hear Victor shout from the cockpit. “We’re going down hard! Brace!”
The drone of warning sirens slowly faded out as the world began to slow around him. His vision came back to him and he could see Samuel across from him. He was gripping the railing beside him tightly with his left hand as his right moved up to his ear. He pressed against it, activating a communicator John hadn’t noticed before.
“Meredith!” Samuel shouted. “Do it!”
As the chopper slammed into the street beneath them, a familiar feeling washed over John. It was something he had felt many times before. It was a cold, calming feeling; and it was the last thing he felt as his head slapped the metal rail beside him before everything went dark.
A heavy smoke filled John's nose as the smell of burning wires slowly brought him back to consciousness. He groaned and brought his hand to his forehead. It hurt to the touch and he could see a small splotch of red on his hand in the light of the fire beside him. There was a fire beside him. This realization gave John a bit more urgency in his motions. He looked around him and found that he was hanging sideways; suspended in his seat by the safety harness he had scrambled to put on at the last second. With a press of the large red button, it released and John fell toward the ground below.
He hit the broken concrete hard. The impact sent a pain through his entire body as he rolled over on his back. With his forehead pounding, he slowly picked himself up and immediately backed away from the small flames beside him. They were emanating from the cockpit and John could only think of Victor. He leaned in as best he could but didn’t see him in the pilot’s seat. As the flames grew hotter he backed away and looked around, unable to find Samuel either. Thinking he may have been thrown from the chopper, and needing to get away from the heat that was gradually getting worse, John climbed up the wall behind his seat. He lifted himself up and out of the helicopter and came to rest on the vehicle's side.
The helicopter was a mess. The tail, all the way up to around three feet from the section John and Samuel had been in, had been completely burned away. The tail rotor was long since gone and only a cauterized metal slab remained. There was a clanging sound ahead of John as what was left of the rotor blade slapped against the ground over and over slowly. John looked up to the sky and understood the familiar feeling he had felt before losing consciousness. There was a massive barrier overhead; it stretched in all directions, encompassing the entire city in pale gray.
"My... My...." A voice spoke out from behind John.
He could feel something inside of his mind snap. The pounding in his forehead increased as he listened to the voice. He had heard it before, somewhere far away. It was effeminate, with a hint of playful disregard. His body realized it, even if his mind was slow on the draw. John turned around slowly to face the Demon he never thought he would see again.
"When she told me to kill the first one I saw, I had no idea it would be you..."
It was him, the first demon John had faced so long ago. High atop the mountains outside of Station, the one Aerin had been chasing, the very same demon that had tried to take John out in a suicidal explosion. His appearance hadn't changed in the slightest; not bad for all the damage he had taken.
"You." Was all John could manage to say. His mind was white, for multiple reasons, none the least of which was rage.
"In the flesh!" The demon shouted with a smile as he threw his arms out beside him.
The demon was dressed just as it had been before: a plain white t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, white tennis shoes, and a devilish smile. The demon stood floating above the street the chopper had crashed into, though his purple wings from before weren’t visible. He stood atop some metallic object. It was a disk, about three feet in diameter and two inches thick, with many rings around it like those on a tree.
"John."
Samuel's voice suddenly pulled John back to reality. He glanced to his right, toward where the voice had come from; Samuel stood just in front of what was left of the chopper's cockpit. There was a body slung over his shoulder, and as Samuel approached John noticed it was Victor.
"Do you know this demon?" Samuel asked with a hint of concern in his voice, he could see the emotions on John’s face from where he was standing.
John realized how tightly his fists were clenched by his side. He looked down to see his knuckles white as a bit of blood seeped out around his fingers. He slowly released them and watched as the color rushed back into the top of his hand.
"Yeah." John responded more calmly than he could have managed moments before. He turned his gaze back to the demon above him, which still smiled down at him. "I do. It's the one that got away."
"I understand." Samuel stated. He repositioned Victor on his shoulder and glanced around him. "I'll leave him to you then."
With a snap of his fingers, Samuel was gone. Jump, John recognized the soul spell. It was the same move Samuel had used in their dual ages before to gain the upper hand. John smiled slightly at Samuel's gesture, but the demon didn't receive it as well.
"Well now." It said suddenly. "Where doe
s he think he's going? I didn't say anyone could leave." The demon's sentences ended shortly, the usual playful emphasis was completely gone.
"Don't worry about him." John said as he brought his hand up behind him. He grabbed hold of the sword that rested between his shoulder blades and called out his weapon. A torrent erupted around him, engulfing his entire body and completely heralding his transformation. "Your fight is with me." John raised the sword and pointed it at the demon.
"Oh..!" The demon's playful tone had returned in full. "You feel like you've improved so much!"
"You have no idea." John stated flatly.
"Well then!" The demon's smile grew wider as a thought played out across his face. "Let's see how you think on your feet!"
The disk beneath him suddenly rotated, sending the demon vanishing backwards into the darkness. The platform opened up and each ring began to spin independent of the others. Multiple wheels spun around smaller wheels that gradually decreased in size towards the center. They spun round each other like a gyro; slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed until it appeared as if there was just a sphere floating ahead of John. He could sense that the device was gathering energy. Much like Heaven's Fury, John could feel it pulling power from all around it. It continued to stockpile this power until it felt as if it spill over.
Suddenly the outermost ring locked in place facing John. The others quickly followed suit all the way down to the circular shaped core. It opened up like an eye that shone a bright white. John felt his body lunge toward his left off of the chopper as an intense light blinded him. The right side of his body burned hot as a beam of energy fired past him. The light tore through the helicopter, melting it completely in half.
Without any time for a statement or observation, John hit the ground running. The beam burned through the ground as the machine tracked just behind him. It was fast, but fortunately John was able to stay ahead as long as he sprinted. The energy beam dug a trench behind him in its wake as it followed just far enough behind John not to burn the leather armor from his back.
Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale Page 28