Lucidity

Chapter 23 - Twist of Fate

Jimmy kissed Grace’s forehead and crept from the room. He hated leaving her, hoped she wouldn’t awaken, that she might not even know that he was gone, but he needed answers.

He gathered some discarded clothing from a locker, fumbling with the scrubs and lab coat until fingers remembered the once familiar routine of tying and buttoning. A pair of green clogs, still wrapped in surgical booties speckled with old blood, provided protection for his feet. Now properly disguised and attired, he returned to the helipad.

“Bravo, bravo. Well done, Jimmy.” Brother Leo stood on the parapet that guarded the empty space between the Annex roof and the Skyway. He clapped his hands and with a whoosh of what sounded like wings, leapt down to land in front of Jimmy. No easy feat given that the door where Jimmy stood was a good fifteen feet from the parapet.

“I’m proud of you, me boy,” he continued in a fake brogue that made Jimmy gag. All the more so because he knew that this man, of all men, could assume the genuine thing any time he desired.

He meant to mock Jimmy, goad him. The Jesuit seemed incapable of standing still, pacing the roof in long strides. He appeared as an ordinary man, wore faded black jeans, a dark cotton shirt, black leather loafers. Ordinary until you gazed into his eyes, dark pools of night that seemed to have no bottom, that threatened to swallow you whole if you dared stare too long.

“Many before you have begun this journey,” Leo said. “But you’re one of the few who has actually made it this far.” He nodded his head at Jimmy’s very solid form. “Unfortunately their track record has been, shall we say, mixed at best. It’s overwhelming for most, the temptations of the flesh, the intoxifying scent of life. Sure you’re up to it? Hate to see you lose everything—and in doing so, condemn Grace as well.”

Jimmy straightened, tried to pin him to one spot with a glare. “I need to know everything. Why I’m here, what I’m to do, what Grace needs. I need answers. Now.”

The priest’s chuckle rang merrily through the night, echoing from the glass panes of the Skyway, battering at Jimmy from all sides. “My dear boy, you know me better than that. I’m not in the business of giving anyone answers, merely teaching you how to find the right questions to ask.”

“I’ve done what you asked. I kept her here. Now tell me why.”

“Your job is only half done. You need to stop her from going into the darkness.” Leo stopped his frenetic pacing and spun to stare at the Tower standing beyond the void crossed by the Skyway. “And help her make the right choice—even if it means giving her up.”

Jimmy didn’t like the sound of that. He’d come too damn far to give Grace up ever again. “I’m human now. At least for a day. Tell me what needs to be done. I’ll do it. Leave Grace out of it, she’s suffered enough.”

Brother Leo was silent for a moment, his attention consumed by the Tower. He shook himself then turned back to Jimmy. “No can do. There are rules, you know.”

“Rules? But can’t you talk to Him, them—”

“Who? God the Almighty, Shiva, Buddha, Creator of Heaven and Earth—take your pick, there are many names, an infinite number of faces, and they’re all wrong. Nothing is all powerful. There are merely powers. Some strive to maintain balance, some feed off chaos.”

“You mean angels and demons. And which are you?”

“For a self-proclaimed agnostic, you sure take these labels seriously. Me? Call me an independent contractor.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means I have a goal, a destiny to fulfill. I’m not content to merely inspire and watch from the sidelines but I’ve not succumbed to the temptation to join the frenzy either. It means that I’m a lot like you, my boy. I also have someone to save.”