Cause of Action Issue #1

Chicago, Ill September 4th 2023 

[A long drag in as embers crackled Woooo]

A man is on a couch smoking one last cigarette, contemplating the beginning and end of the rest of his short life.

[Drip, Drip]

See, the man bleeding out over there is me, Darrius Stone, and my whole life had been just one shit show.

An alcoholic piece of shit father and a mother too good for this world died. Ironically enough, my parents were hit by a drunk driver just a few weeks after my old man became sober and started acting like a real father and husband. I was at a friend's house sleeping over when the cops came and told them the news. I didn't find out till the morning after.

The next few years were a blur. One foster home to the next, Middle school, high school, and college, till one day, I was called for jury duty when I met John Anderson, the defendant's lawyer for the case I was sitting on.

5'10, around 50 years old, with a salt and pepper beard and a nice suit, but what draws you is his expressive facial expression when he started pleading his case.

It was an appeal. The client, Javiar Souza, had pleaded guilty to the crime of an armed robbery, which led to the death of a gas station attendant. His original lawyer, a public defender pushed him to take a plea as it would've been more manageable than a lengthy court trial and if he were convicted, it would've been a longer sentence. He had everyone on the edge of their seats, from the opening argument to cross-examination to the ending statement. How he poked through the holes in the prosecutor's case, the illegal police interrogation, he had everyone convinced his client was innocent; halfway through, you could see the defeat on the prosecutor's face. The case was overturned, and a month after reopening it, they found the perpetrator.

Since the first day I was on that jury panel, the dark cloud over my head disappeared. I could see pops of colors amidst the greys of my life. I know I had finally had a purpose, a calling; it was fate.

The following semester, I became a double major. Alongside my business degree, I ended up taking criminal justice. I started studying everything I needed to know about the law and was engrossed in it; the more I looked into it, the more I knew what I had to do. I was naive and eager. Instead of becoming a criminal defendant like my idol, I went towards being a criminal prosecutor. I believed I could change the system from the inside, fighting systematic racism and going after the corrupt cops, politicians, and business people using the system and law to their advantage so that I could punish the guilty and defend the innocent one case at a time.

In my case, it went well at first. I got in at work earlier and left after everyone. I worked around 70 hours and started out doing grunt work till I earned the respect of my peers. I found a mentor, DA Scott Kemper. He taught me everything about the law as I started getting the ropes when I started going solo. My first case was a shit show, I froze during my opening statement till the Judge got me back on track, and I won the case by the skin of my teeth. Then, I doubled my focus and got into a rhythm. I had the highest close rate in my office by my fifth year working there. Then it went to shit. My boss, mentor, and friend, Scott, had been tampering with evidence to push convictions, and I found out.

He was going to run for Mayor, you see, and he wanted to end on a high note, he said; he offered me his position when he took over. Become the youngest DA in Chicago, I could've used that as a stepping stone to push for the reforms I wanted.

But I… I couldn't turn my head away like he had asked. I looked over the cases he was the lead prosecutor, and he had done it before, and I know one of them was innocent. David Ramsey was only 19, he was still a kid, and he had a whole life ahead of him. I couldn't have him on my conscience. It wouldn't made no use doing the reforms when he was the kind of person I was fighting for. I ended up going to the FBI and told them everything. I wanted to quit and leave, but I couldn't. I had to ensure he went down, so I stayed there and pretended nothing happened. The investigation started, and I was wearing a wire.

" Are you looking for the Ramsey file?.. Because it isn't there anymore," The sleazy asshole spoke behind me

" Will you save me trouble in looking for it and tell me where it is," I replied

" Now, where would the fun be in that?" He responded back as I glared at him

"See, I thought you and me come to an understanding. You would let it be buried where it belongs." He replied as he sat down on the couch next to me

" I had a change of heart; I couldn't sleep knowing you had a kid sent to prison knowing he was innocent," I spoke to him, letting my anger come out when he started to laugh

" Innocent, you think that kid was innocent? he had two charges before that one, and he and his crew were suspected in a couple of other robberies. What does this one matter if he wasn't guilty of this one? He was bound to get locked up anyways," he said

"Because our job is to ensure we present a fair case, we fight with the evidence and the truth and let the jury and judge decide, but that wasn't good enough for you. You had to play toward your favor when you buried evidence and perjured yourself, and you broke the damn law we are supposed to uphold." I start screaming at him, getting up and walking towards him

"There no way I could convince you right, sigh, this why I know I couldn't trust you, you were always the boy's scout, don't you ever get tired sitting on your high horse," he responded, getting up

"No, not really; there is nothing you could do or say that'll make me agree with you, so long as there are bastards like you, nothing will ever change," I respond to him

"It's a shame you had so much potential; we could've made a real difference. With you out the way, no one will know what happened," he said as he started to reach into his coat pocket

[Bang, Bang]

I fell back on the couch, surprised as I touched my chest to feel the blood

"You shot me; you shot me," I said as I started laughing harder and harder. I looked at Scott as he began to walk away.

"You should know it's over, you bastard," I reply as I show the wire I am wearing

"Not only did I get the confession, but you also had to shoot me. Now, it isn't your reputation and law license anymore, but you will end up in prison. How long do you think you'll last in there, huh, with how many you sent away." He went pale and started running away

" You can run, but there's nowhere to hide. Do you hear me? You're done." I scream

[A long drag in as embers crackled Woooo]

Thinking back on everything, all the bullshit I went through, was it worth it. As I take another drag, I remember Scott's expression and know it was, and I have to think it was hell yeah, it was.

[cough wheeze cough]

As I get more drowsy and start to fade away, I hear someone; I blink my eyes open and notice a woman in black, gorgeous, short pale with an ankh necklace; she looks familiar

"Are you perhaps Darrius Young? You are Darrius Young, right?" She asked me

" Yes, I am, and who are you?"

'Wait a second, how the hell did she get in here

"Don't worry about that, but you know who I am, don't you remember me? I met you a few years ago," she said to me, sitting down right across from me where Ja

"Yes… you look like the social worker who told me my parents were dead. I'm guessing that's not what you do." I respond slowly as I'm getting more drowsy; all I want to do is sleep

"No, you see, I'm Death of the Endless, and I came for you." Her words woke me back up

"Death of endless like from Sandman DC Comics."

"Yes," she whispered

"So you are going to take me to the afterlife? Where am I going?" I responded, thinking this was a hallucination

"It's not a hallucination; I am taking you where you belong, you see, this is normally when I take you to heaven as you have lived the one life that everyone gets, and you lived a just and good one, but my brother still has a hold on you; you see, in my brother's book you were never meant to end up here, there was an accident when you were born your soul got lost in the shuffle and ended up here, you were meant to be someone else have another life, and now that your journey here is over I'm here to fix it," She said

"I'm confused; how can you fix it? Isn't it too late? Who was I supposed to be," I respond, getting lost in her eyes. I was noticing the stars and galaxies that were in it.

"Harvey Dent," She starts to say before I interrupt her

"Harvey Dent like Two-Face? No, I'm good. I'd rather just stay dead, thank you," I say out loud, shaking my head

She starts to chuckle

"As I said, you were supposed to be Harvey Dent; now you don't have to become Two-Face. You can be just Harvey or someone better. My brother, Destiny, is also responsible for Free Will. Destiny isn't straightforward like a line; it's more complex, twisted, and confusing like a maze. You could walk a lifetime and never end up in the center, or you could get lost on the road to life and retread the same steps for a lifetime. It's what you make of it that'll determine your destiny." She responds

"That doesn't explain how I got to be Harvey. Do I take over his body as he would have no soul, or did he get one, and we merge? Do I keep my memories, or do I lose them?" I asked as I blinked the drowsiness away

"Yes, it's almost time, so we must get ready."

"Yes, what, and get ready for what."

"Your future, I'll be seeing you again, for no matter your destiny, it ends the same way, she gets a cheeky smile and says, "With Death." She grabs me by my collar and kisses me on the cheek, and everything starts getting bright before it all turns black.