Chapter 9
I finally found the time to update! A reference to Carter Sweeney was made, so one part might be a little confusing if you didn't watch Obsession or Resurrection. Thanks so much for the reviews. Please R&R.
This was his chance to finish the job, and he would; he was sure about that.
John smirked, replaying exactly his course of action. A few people silently walked passed him, staring in disgust and the absurdity of John's bizarre pose. He was hunched over, sweaty palms clasped in each other; his evil, crazy scowl contributed in making him look more like a madman than he already was. He really did look like a twisted hunchback taken right out of a movie.
Slightly embarrassed when mothers hastily led their children way around him, blocking their children's views, John erected himself and advanced into Community General Hospital.
Once again, he relied on a receptionist to lead him to his victim. Hoping she wouldn't be as annoying as the last one, John strode up to the large reception desk.
"What room is Theresa Rumen in?" he asked bluntly, acting as if he had every right to be there.
"Uh, she's in a private room... 104," a young, blond lady replied sweetly. Unbeknown to John, she had been informed of John and Mark's plan.
John winked at her and strolled confidently to the room in which he was directed.
As soon as the murderer was out of sight, the receptionist frantically picked up a telephone and dialed Mark.
"Dr. Sloan... This is Katie, a really weird guy walked up here and wanted to know where Theresa was. I told him room 104. You better get down there, now,"
As soon as Steve heard Mark's warning, he practically raced down the halls to get to the correct room. He hadn't imagined that John would find out so incredibly quickly. It was a good thing that he was already in the hospital, even if it did ruin his cafeteria lunch plans.
Nearly out of breath, he quietly passed the guard and stealthily sneaked into the room. Slowly, he neared a rather large wooden cabinet and gently opened one of the huge, sturdy doors. It had been placed in the room exclusively for the purpose of hiding, and it made the room look more like a bedroom than a hospital room. Still, it served its purpose, even if Steve did have to cram himself into a ball to fit inside.
Theresa was still asleep from the sedative she'd been given. Even though she had agreed to be taken into the hospital, when she'd seen Mark, Theresa had literally gone nuts. Now, she was sleeping peacefully, completely oblivious to Steve's presence or the danger which she faced from John.
Steve once again checked his holster for his precious gun. The plan would be thwarted if he didn't have it. Steve couldn't subdue a homicidal maniac with his bare hands.
After drawn out years to the cramped Steve, and not more than a couple minutes of actual time, a single gunshot rang throughout the hospital. It was close. Steve groaned. This was not how it was supposed to go.
John swiftly laid the gun he had recently fired on the floor and discarded a baseball cap he had found in the trash, just to plant some evidence. That would certainly get the guard's attention. John was a little disappointed that he had fired a gun without the satisfaction of watching anyone suffer, or without even the joy of knowing he had caused someone to die. Oh, well. That pleasure would come soon enough, in multiple ways. After Theresa was dead, it was the last remaining Sloan, other family and friends, Smithsone's daughter, the friend, Valentine, and then the back-stabber herself. Then, it would be his turn to die, but not until Smithsone got to see what her actions had caused. She would suffer. If she couldn't be his, she would just simply have to die. And so would her family, only first.
He was so caught up in his musings that he almost forgot to make his next move and seize advantage of the uniform's absence.
John darted to the proper room and, just like last time, revealed a long syringe from a deep pocket. Slowly, his pasty hand raised the offending object. It crept closer and closer to the target, and John's eyes filled with insane excitement. Any and all sanity he had possessed before, left him completely.
Steve, in his little space, sized up the scene before him through a tiny peephole. In a flash, he bolted from the compartment and instantly had his revolver pinned on John's chest.
"Freeze, John! It's over!" Steve shouted much more loudly than necessary.
In absolute shock, John stumbled backwards blindly.
"H.. Ho... You're supposed to be dead!!! You and that Travis kid! And I even set fire to it to make sure..." John stuttered helplessly, being completely taken by surprise.
"Never underestimate me," Steve responded coolly as he inched nearer to the killer. "Drop it,"
In what Steve mistook for obedience, John let the needle drop to the floor with a slight plunk.
Just then, Mark, Jesse, and Alex ambled in through the door, all grinning widely.
"Hello, John," Mark simply addressed the man, "I guess our plan worked pretty well."
"And, just for your peace of mind, Theresa's absolutely fine. She can go back to jail as soon as she wakes up from the sedative and she also can and probably will testify against you in court," Jesse smugly summed up.
"Oh, and, Ally and Sam say hi, err, bye!" Alex tantalized John even further.
Finally, the daunting hunt for the killer was over. This was the end and finally the girls could live normal lives without fear of a lunatic stalking them. This was one of the most challenging cases of the year and the Sloans and friends were glad that it was indeed over.
Much to everyone's dismay, John smiled. It was a strange, psychotic smirk that sent chills through the occupants of the room.
John reached once again into his pocket and gingerly pulled out a small, silver cell phone. Steve started to squeeze the trigger on his own gun and stopped when he saw what his would-be- assailant's weapon of choice.
Mark, Jesse, and Alex exchanged confused, yet amused glances. This guy really was unstable!
"What, do you want to make a last phone call?" Steve taunted sarcastically.
"Exactly," John replied, voice dripping with an insane evil. "I would suggest that you put the gun down, now, Sloan. I can press one button and your precious beach house, complete with those little brats, their parents' cruise ship, and this hospital will explode into a million pieces."
Steve's, as well as his father's and friends', jaws dropped to the floor. All four were temporarily stunned from this new revelation.
Steve was the first to recover. "Like you really have bombs in all of those places."
"Who is underestimating who?" John inquired, his scrawny index finger buzzing around a button in the middle of the phone.
"If you blow up the hospital, you'll die," Steve continued, needing desperately to buy time.
"Of course, Oh Bright One," John mocked, "But I'll have finished my destiny. You and all your friends will be killed, Smithsone's daughter, her friend, Smithsone and all her friends and family. I see no reason to stay alive after that has been fulfilled."
"Does your destiny include killing hundreds of innocent people?!" Steve all but screamed.
"Yes, that's why I have many cell phone detonated bombs planted in different locations throughout the hospital, near your home, and in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
"What do you want?" Mark asked, beginning to come out of his trance-like state.
"What do I want? Well there's an interesting question," John answered, feigning thoughtfulness.
"So just make a ransom list," Jesse prompted softly. He was still considerably pale from fear of this man, not to mention his and his friends' lives.
"I want you all dead. I want to finish the plan," John gritted out.
Steve thought to consider the scenario he found himself in, momentarily blocking out all noise and scenery around him. It was if this was some horrible nightmare in which he would soon awake. This was absolutely not how it was supposed to turn out. Were there really any bombs at all? It could just be a last-minute attempt to save himself. Yet, there was something about John's demeanor that told him this was real. Something in his willpower, in the crazy eyes he found himself gazing into.
John's mind was racing every bit as fast as Steve's. Wow. This really had worked. The bombs were real, there was no doubt about that. Still, he had not meant to use them now. Sloan and Travis were supposed to be dead. He was supposed to kill Theresa in person, then get out of the hospital and blow it up, followed by the Sloan house. He really had wanted to kill Valentine and especially Smithsone in person. He wanted to talk to her one last time, to let her know why all this was happening. He wanted her to suffer. The bomb on her ship had taken a lot of pulling strings with old accomplices and was just in case he couldn't make it in person. Either way, if this was his only choice, he would do it.
Jesse and Alex remained completely motionless, except for the small task of breathing. Both were completely petrified. It was supposed to have been a simple arrest. When had it turned so rotten? All of them had expected much less of him than they should have, and now, they were scared not only of losing their own lives, but the friends they had become so close to. Never had either been so scared of such an innocent-looking cell phone, yet both were drawn to it; neither could take their eyes off of the weapon that had the ability to destroy.
Mark felt as though the exact same thing had happened before. This man was so much like Carter Sweeney that it scared him. Both were incredibly intelligent and fast-thinking. Both were filled with pure evil, and both refused to give up on the destruction they longed to continue. Mark had severely underestimated both, and that was a reason they were in this predicament right now. Hopefully, they would stop him before the hospital got blown up- again. John was certainly crazier than Carter had been. Maybe they could put and end to this before more innocent people died. And maybe this was the end for them all.