Devolution

Disappointed but not surprised, Joshua walked through the doors of the lobby of Celeste’s building and out into the stream of early evening pedestrians. He allowed himself to be directed by the majority who were heading north to the Harbor where they would fill the seats and surround the tables of Sydney’s countless harborside restaurants and cafes.

Joining the crowd five meters behind Joshua, Sid fixed his eyes firmly on his quarry and also succumbed to the surge of the crowd. He had followed Joshua all day waiting for the green light to execute him, champing at the bit to finish this assignment and move on to the next. The delay which had not, nor was it likely to be ever, explained to him had frustrated him, making him feel more like a baby-sitter than an assassin. Now the time had arrived at last.

It was a straight walk of ten minutes down Castlereagh Street to Circular Quay from Celeste’s apartment. Sid had no fear that he would be spotted, nor that an opportunity would soon present itself to him and he would not be prevented from taking it. To kill in a crowded place and disappear into an army of potential suspects was too easy for a professional like Sid.

Fragments of shouted conversation danced in the humid air, interspersed with laughter and music which spilled from the open doors of packed eateries. Sid heard it all and saw everything without losing sight for an instant of his target. Hopefully he would not enter one of them as Sid did not want to wait any longer. Alone and possibly troubled of mind, Joshua would just keep on walking, reasoned Sid.

Suddenly the sidewalk narrowed and the crowd compressed to an uncomfortable halt while still maintaining its good humor. Unpanicked, Sid stood calmly watching Joshua from the corner of his eye so as to not draw his attention. Strange how often people turned to greet an unseen stare boring into the back of their head.

Soon the bottleneck dissolved and they were on the move once more. Sid took the opportunity to try to edge a little closer to Joshua. He pushed gently into the back of a tall woman in front of him, carefully nudging her aside without her realizing it. She was too busy talking to her friend anyway, and Sid found himself in some space which allowed him to quicken his pace if only for a few steps. A gap appeared before him but was closed by two men as he tried to pass through, so he eased off and waited for another opening.

Joshua began to creep sideways out of the main flow of people as they neared the corner of Bridge Street. Sid searched for what may have been drawing Joshua away and noticed a street sign pointing to a church, Turning Point it was called. Immediately Sid barged through the two men who had previously blocked his way, causing them to swear at him. He ignored them and pressed on as Joshua reached the edge of the human river. Through a thinning crowd, his way became suddenly easier but Joshua had already made it on to dry land and had turned the corner down the lane where the church was. By the time Sid had fought free of the crush, Joshua was walking towards the church whose entrance exploded with light under a pulsing neon sign, and he realized he would have to run to reach him to now, assuming he was going to Turning Point-and if he ran he would attract way too much attention.

He stopped dead in his tracks and immediately felt the weight of another body colliding into his back. Ignoring the apology even before it had been completed, Sid swung around to face the speaker bringing a clenched fist with him which he drove into a yielding stomach. The man grunted as Sid’s fist expelled the air from his lungs and he flopped to the hard pavement moaning.

Without time to survey his victim or continue the assault despite the potential pleasure that would have delivered him, Sid quickly crossed the street and found a darkened alcove into which he submerged and prepared to maintain his vigil, this maddening wait.

After an hour Sid became hungry so he began to look around the street for a mobile vendor or a kiosk. There was a kiosk at the other end of the street which presented a dilemma to the hungry assassin. Could he risk a quick walk up the road to buy some sustenance, or should he ignore the pangs and the grumble of his empty stomach as he had done many times before?

He had no idea what Joshua was doing in there, apart from the obvious things that believers do in the various manifestations of holy places, nor any idea of how long he might be. It was possible Sid could be left waiting all night, or just as likely that Joshua might appear in the luminescent doorway at any minute. He looked to the kiosk and back to the door of Turning Point, then back to the kiosk again.

The moment of indecision passed and he strode towards the kiosk, glancing back to Turning Point after every two or three steps. To any casual observer he would have looked unusual but would also just as likely have been written off as a paranoid. Before he even reached the kiosk, Sid began his order, but by the time he had arrived, he was being talked over.

‘I’m sorry, Jason, could you repeat that order please.’

Despite the tension and urgency of his situation, Sid had to laugh. He had forgotten first of all that you had to stand at the kiosk to have your order received and secondly that his interbank user name was Jason. The horror film Halloween was a late twentieth century classic, and the very evil Jason was a personal favorite of his. He believed, as did many lovers of the genre that contemporary horror films needed to be reclassified as comedy.

Diverted for how long? Damn it! Sid looked down the street at Turning Point which remained quiet and still fifty or sixty meters away. ‘Shit!’

‘I’m sorry Jason, could you please repeat your order,’ said the automaton.

It wasn’t funny anymore.

‘Double cheeseburger, fries and a large malt,’ said Sid before glancing at Turning Point again.

He didn’t even know if he would have time to eat this food. Sometimes he set little challenges for himself, to relieve the boredom he had to endure, and subconsciously he had arranged one here. If Joshua appeared suddenly in the doorway, he would have to go and try to scoff down the food faster than the human body was designed to accept it, or ditch it on the sidewalk.

‘Your payment please Jason,’ said the automaton as the scanner flashed at Sid.

He waved his wrist impatiently, waiting for the clearance beep which eventually came and then resumed his watch on Turning Point. Deciding that he had not been unobservant for long enough to allow Joshua to exit the church and disappear into the city, Sid relaxed a little and waited for his burger with growing anticipation.

‘Your order is ready, Jason. Thank you and enjoy!’

Sid walked very slowly back down the street on the same side of the road as Turning Point but crossed the street just before it and resumed his position, crouching this time, in the alcove. The burger and half the malt had disappeared, as he settled in to wait.

Checking his watch from time to time, Sid stared at Turning Point wishing, willing Joshua to leave, but seeing nobody either enter or exit. The sky began to lighten and Sid decided that his quarry had chosen to spend the night and that he therefore would be able to grab some sleep in the early hours. That is exactly what he did, comforting himself with the facts-as he saw them-and eagerly expecting to be able, with a full stomach and a few hours sleep, to resume the stalking and ultimate destruction of Joshua.

Inside Turning Point, Joshua had gratefully shaken the hand of the senior pastor Matthew Faulconbridge, and thanked him for his generous help. Standing beside them was a tall and strongly built man who was introduced to Joshua by Matthew, as Ezekiel. The plan was for Ezekiel to escort Joshua to Sydney Local Area Command headquarters where he would be able to tell his story to the police who would no doubt be more than a little interested in what he had to say.

Having said their good-byes, Joshua again profuse in his gratitude, had followed Ezekiel down the hall to an elevator. The doors opened and they stepped in. Ezekiel ordered the elevator to B3.

Joshua relaxed in the knowledge that he was doing the right thing in going to the authorities. He was in too deep and certain that without help he would never find Veena or Ted. The encounter with Celeste had shaken his confidence because although at the time he felt very sure of himself, it was embarrassing to admit that he had been role playing and that he was in fact a child participating in an adults only game. A game he did not understand or fully respect.

Pastor Faulconbridge had accepted his story as fact immediately upon hearing it and had offered unconditional assistance. That surprised Joshua, who although expected such selfless trust from Christians was not disappointed when he often did not find it. After all, Joshua was a complete stranger to him who walked in off the street with what must have sounded like a crazy story. Why did the pastor believe him?

That question led to another; how had he come to Turning Point in the first instance? He had not known of its existence until he turned the corner and saw the neon sign. He had not intended to turn the corner but something told him-or was it someone?-to leave the flow of the crowd. When he had unquestioningly obeyed this inner prompting, Joshua suddenly felt afraid, sensing an imminent threat to his life, and then just as quickly, a calming peace applied like a cooling balm to sunburned skin.

Now he felt protected, safe from whoever was trying to hurt him, and relieved from the crushing burden of working alone in the mission. A mission which he cursed and deeply regretted taking on. He missed his friends terribly.

Ezekiel had led Joshua to his waiting transport in silence, opened the door for him and closed it once he was seated. He activated the voice recognition system in the car and ordered on the engine which quietly came to life, bringing the refreshing chill of the climate control with it.

‘This car park exits on the other side of the block,’ Ezekiel had told him. ‘It’s a secure entrance that only a few of us know about.’

With those words the windows blackened so that Joshua could no longer see outside. The windscreen also became opaque. In different circumstance with different company this development might have been frightening but Joshua was reminded that he was in safe hands.

‘The blackout is for your protection as well as ours. If anyone who knows you’ve been here wants to know how to get in, you won’t be able to tell them.’

‘Because I don’t know.’

Ezekiel smiled for the first time and said, ‘Because you don’t know.’

‘I know where the front door is though.’

‘The room in which we met is not part of the church that you entered from Albion Street.’

‘It’s not?’ asked Joshua somewhat confused.

Ezekiel shook his head. ‘It’s called the Quiet Room and although Pastor Matthew and myself, and a few others can access it from the Turning Point foyer, it’s a secret room.’

‘It didn’t seem secret to me. Matthew turned an ordinary door knob to open an ordinary door and let me walk in before offering me a seat.’

Joshua felt a slight bump and the windows cleared instantly allowing him to see the streets which were still bustling with anonymous and automatic activity.

‘If you walked into Turning Point again-and you probably won’t- you would not find that ordinary door, or any signs to indicate the whereabouts or existence of the Quiet Room.’

‘Is all this secrecy really necessary, Ezekiel?’

‘Turning Point has many enemies, and we make new ones with every new friend we discover and help.’

‘Like me?’

‘Like you.’

A pause in the conversation had followed so Joshua stared out of the window. Some of the shop signs looked familiar and it dawned on him they were driving down Pitt Street towards Circular Quay, the same way he had been walking before.

‘Let’s see if your friend is still waiting for you out front?’

‘My friend?’

Ezekiel turned the corner and Joshua saw Turning Point’s glowing entrance, as the transport slowed almost to a stop.

‘Opposite the church in a dark alcove is the man who was following you. He is an assassin.’

When the transport stopped, Joshua panicked.

‘What are you doing? Can’t he see us?’

‘We can see out but no one can see in.’

Joshua stared hard into the dark corner, waiting for his eyes to focus, and then he saw the man who sat still obviously unaware he was being watched. He couldn’t see his face clearly but he didn’t need to or at least he hoped he wouldn’t need to recognize that face again. A stranger to him who had been following him for only God knew how long, waiting for an opportunity to kill him. Why?

‘Let’s go, Ezekiel.’

‘He’s been waiting there ever since you waked throughout the glowing doors of Turning Point. Waiting for you.’

‘Let him keep on waiting for as long as he likes. Let’s go.’

Ezekiel handed Joshua his cell phone and pointed out of the car window. ‘Take a picture of him. The police might know him or be able to see if he has a criminal record or find out any other information about him.’

Joshua quickly snapped him, and said, more urgently than before, ‘Let’s go now.’