Okay everybody, here's Chapter 3! Glad everyone has liked it so far, I'm updating as soon as I have time to sit down and type. Special thanks to the following for reviewing…

Falcon Horus – I think that humans are in denial when it comes to un-explainable things,

so I think that they might try not to call it something supernatural.

Jessica – Thanks!

Hosaki – Thanks for the review.

Telperien of Numenor – I'll keep updating!

Crusader Ari – Thanks!

eris86 – Glad you are enjoying this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Constantine or any of its characters, but I do own Aerin and other original characters.

Chapter 3: Eight Deadly Sins

Los Angeles Mental Institute, Room 709

Chas sat in the lobby of the huge hospital/mental institute and glanced around him with distaste. He hadn't liked this place when he and John had come here the first time, and he liked it even less now. The sterile white paint, the silence with the occasional noise, and once even a scream had made him edgy and irritable.

"Who gives a lobby a freakin room number?" he muttered to himself, being careful not to attract the attention of the nurse behind the window who looked as if she could take care of herself in a bar-room brawl.

"Mr. Kramer?" Chas looked up and a man in a white uniform was standing there with a clipboard.

"Yeah?" the teen answered.

"Miss… Kensington is ready to see you now. There will be guards outside the room and you will be monitored while speaking to her." He jotted something down on his clipboard and waited for Chas to get up and follow him.

"Monitored?" Chas asked as he got up and walked over to the doorway.

The doctor coughed lightly. "Yes, but just to make sure that she doesn't become… violent. None of your conversation will be recorded or listened to, if that's what you're concerned about."

"Oh, yeah, violent, right," Chas stammered. "This place just looked so cheerful I forgot it was a mental institute," he said with sarcasm.

The doctor just gave him a measuring glance and said, "Follow me please, Mr. Kramer."

The brown-haired boy followed him down a hall and around a couple of left and right turns. He passed rooms with doors shut, but once he swore that he saw someone watching him through a crack in the door. Walking just a little bit more quickly, he was almost on top of the doctor's heels, almost running into him when he stopped before a slightly larger door with a window in the top.

"This is the room where the patients meet with visitors. Miss Kensington will be along in a moment, and then you will have a half an hour to talk to her. Please go in and make yourself comfortable."

"Uh, thanks," Chas called over his shoulder as he walked into the room. There was a couch, table, and a couple of chairs with a lamp, some magazines, and a fake potted plant in the corner.

"This place is just so welcoming," he sighed out loud.

"Isn't it? They do everything they can to close your mind from the world. They remove colors and individuality, only opening your mind when they want to pick through it as if you're a clock, trying to see what makes you tick." The words came seemingly out of nowhere.

Chas jumped and whirled around to face the door. "You're Aerin Kensington?" he asked, unable to keep the slight disbelief out of his face and voice.

He was surprised, the slim girl in front of him was not who he had expected. She had tawny hair falling midway down her back and a slim face. Her figure was hidden slightly by the institute's gown, but he was guessing that she was quite thin. All in all she was attractive, not gorgeous but not average. However… her eyes. They drew Chas's to them until he could not look away. Wide blue-gray eyes with the barest hint of gold flecks in them, they were tired and innocent. But they held the look that you rarely ever find, the look that the hunted wear when they have been caught and are resigned to their fate, the haunted glance that comes in deepest sorrow.

"I was just… expecting you to look… well, what I mean is…" His mind was failing to form coherent sentences, he was just babbling.

A tired smile graced her face for a moment. "You were expecting a wild-eyed mad-woman?" she gave a small, bitter laugh. "Why are you here Chas Kramer? If it's to gawk at a murderer, go to the prison."

Finally he was able to say something to that remark. "I'm here for a friend, Angela Dodson."

"That police-woman?" Aerin frowned. "I remember her. She… was more sympathetic than the others."

"Yeah, she doesn't think that you killed that woman," Chas said. He looked at her, waiting for a response.

"She doesn't, does she?" the accused murmured. "Well that's interesting. And why in heaven would she say that? She heard that idiot psychologist's diagnosis. Why doesn't she think along with the other officers?"

Chas paused. He wasn't sure if he should say anything, but for some reason he couldn't help but tell her the truth. "She said that after talking to you she was almost positive that you didn't kill that woman. And…" he stopped. "At first I wasn't sure I believed her but now that I've seen you, I agree."

Aerin walked forward slowly and sat lightly on the chair across from him. "I see. Well Chas Kramer, you have earned my attention and my trust. I hate people who lie to me as everyone here does, and you have told the truth. What is it you want to know?"

"Umm… how do you know my name?" he asked curiously.

She gave a half smile. "I heard the doctor's mention it. I'm not as oblivious to the world as everyone thinks I am."

"Oh. Right. Anyways, what I'm here to do is see if you can tell us anything that can prove your innocence. Did you hold anything back from the police?" he looked at her sharply, gauging her reaction to the question.

"I told them everything that I could," she said simply.

"Is there anything you didn't tell them because you couldn't?" he asked again. This girl was a bit like John, she evaded questions by seeming to answer them but never really telling anyone anything. The only way to get the truth out of John was to ask the right questions and he was guessing it was the same with Aerin.

"Yes."

"What was it?" At this question she paused and frowned.

"Would you believe me if I told you?" She sounded skeptical and Chas knew that he was going to get some answers.

"Yeah, I would," he said and leaned forward slightly to hear her answer.

"There was something wrong with that woman. I think I know what it was, but I'm not sure that anyone believes me. I made the mistake of saying something to the doctor and now I've been accused of being obsessed with heaven and hell. I'm not obsessed, I just know, don't ask me how because I can't explain, that they're out there and they exist." She stopped for a moment and Chas nodded for her to continue.

"That woman… I had been on the roof of the apartment because the moon was full and I wanted to be above the lights to see it. I was walking down the hallway when I heard a scream. I knocked on the door and it swung open, but I don't know why because it was latched. And… she… she was hanging there on the ceiling, her eyes were cold and inhuman, she was screaming in this language that I'd never heard before and laughing. She… that thing, lunged for me and I grabbed the nearest thing to hand, a beer bottle. I swung it and hit her in the head but it didn't matter, she just fell back and then jumped for me again. I tried to run but the door swung shut and then her throat started to almost, this sounds crazy, bubble. Then she was suddenly screaming for real, a human scream, because there were these teeth coming from the inside of her throat." She stopped again and Chas waited for her to continue.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door startling them both, and causing Aerin to jump. "Five minutes!" the doctor called.

"Quick, finish what happened," Chas said to her. For a moment he wasn't sure if she'd heard what he'd said, her eyes were watching something far away. But after a moment, she began to speak again.

"I didn't know it, but someone had already called the police because of the noise while all of this was going on. I was just transfixed by those teeth protruding from her throat. While I stared, they began to chew their way through and then the head of this, this thing came through followed by its body. It was horrid looking, something straight out of hell. It hissed at me, and there was the woman, blood pouring from her throat, but she was still alive. That thing saw her and grabbed a lamp. It swung it at her and hit her more than once, I don't know how many times. Everything had started to blur together and I can't… tell for sure what happened after that. There was a flash of light, or something, it almost looked like it came from something bright and round like the sun. When I could see again that thing was gone and the woman was lying on the ground, dead. I was covered in blood from where that thing had hit her, and I knelt down beside her to see if by some chance she was still alive. That was when I heard the police sirens. I panicked and ran, but they caught me since I couldn't slip away fast enough, they had blocked everything off and I didn't have a chance. After that… everything's sort of surreal and now… I'm here." Her story finished, she leaned back in her seat and pulled her knees up until she was curled up cat-like in the chair.

Chas quietly and inconspicuously turned up the tape recorder in his pocket. He'd almost gotten everything out of her that he needed, he only had to ask one more question.

"Aerin," he asked gently, "What do you think really happened that night?"

"I think…" she began, but the door started to open with the attendants. Her head turned for a moment, and then she looked at Chas again with a kind of pleading in her voice. "I think that woman was possessed and that thing was a demon, but I don't know anymore. With all they've done I've really begun to believe that I'm crazy. You-you don't know how important it is to me that you really believe what I'm saying."

"You know, I may understand what you mean a little more than you may think I do.," he said as the attendants took her by the arms and began to lead her out. But when they reached the doorway, she paused and turned for one moment.

"Chas. You know the seven deadly sins, Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Pride, and Lust? You haven't heard the full story because there's one more. The eighth deadly sin is Denial. Ignorance and hate, violence and pain all come from Denial. Never forget that Chas, please never forget that." At the urgency of their pulling, she followed them out of the room and the door closed.

"Well, that wasn't what I expected," he commented to the empty room. Reaching down he turned off the recorder, stood up, and left the room.

Los Angeles Police Station, 205

"Well, that wasn't what I expected," echoed Chas's voice as John Constantine switched off the tape player.

"Well, you got her to say more than I ever thought you would," Angela said to Chas with a smile. Good job." Turning to John she said, "Aerin's quite an interesting person, wouldn't you say?"

"I'd say that she's saner than half the people in that damn building," he snapped. "The thing is, if what she says is true, demons are doing more than violating the balance. And I have a feeling that the light she saw was more than just a pair of headlights. I'll pay another visit to Midnite, he wasn't exactly what you'd call helpful last night."

Angela nodded. "I'll talk to my superiors and see if I can convince them to look more into all of this." She sighed and John noticed how tired she looked.

"This'll all be over soon if I have anything to say about it," he said more gently. Angela looked up at him and nodded with a smile.

He and Chas said goodbye and left, closing the door behind them.

"You know," Angela said, "I almost believe you."

TBC…

Hey, how was Chapter 3? Good? Review and tell me what you think. Until the next chapter.

Eagle