Disturb Not the Water

Disclaimer: If I claim it later on in the future, will it make much of a difference now?

Chapter 6. Unum Gradi Claudere Ad the Finis

Translation: (One Step Closer To the End)


"Then if you got it you don't want it
Seems to be the rule of thumb
Don't be tricked by what you see
You got two ways to go"

Freedom of Choice by A Perfect Circle


"Hey, Lieutenant Dodson, I think you should come take a look at this report from this morning."

Looking away from the papers of the report filed yesterday about the attempted robbery in the small deli store, Angela walked over to detective Xaiver sitting in the desk next to hers. Looking over his shoulder, she saw pictures lying on an open file; pictures of young girl about her age, blond hair, ashen colored skin and dark bruises with dried blood all over her neck and shoulders. Feeling mildly disgusted at the sight, Angela focused her gaze on the information about the victim.

Her name was Tabitha Moore; age thirty-four, single white female, she lived on Highlander Boulevard and McArthur Street in a small apartment that was housed in Walker Tenants. She had one living relative, her mother who lived in southern California.

"This was from this morning. Some of the guys were on their way in to start the morning shift when they got a call from some lady in a back alley who said she found a body behind a dumpster. They went over there and found her, covered in blood from the neck down; one of them got sick. Anyways, we dragged her over to the morgue and got one of the chief medical examiners to give her an autopsy. It turns out that she died in a very strange way. She bled to death…from the eyes and from her hands and feet."

"Wait a minute, you're telling me this girl died by bleeding from her eyes, hands, and feet? Well, were there any deep cuts or gashes on her that might've made her bleed to death on those…certain areas?"

"That's the weird thing; there wasn't a scratch on her except on the palms of her hands and on the bottom of her feet. They were burned to a crisp; we couldn't even get finger prints off of her. Also, there wasn't a mark to suggest that she had struggled with someone. It was like…she just started to bleed and burn from out of no where."

"Bleed and burn out of no where? Just out of curiosity, were there any weird marks on her body; like a strange symbol or something?"

"Oh yeah, there was a freaky looking symbol on her chest, looked like it was carved there by something hot and sharp. Here's a picture of it."

He slid the last photo from the bottom of the pile and showed it to her. The young woman was topless; her breasts cut off from the photo. Angela's brow furrowed as she looked at the strange mark on the young woman's chest that started at her collar bone to the valley between her breasts. It was a cross with a long hook on the bottom; looking like a question mark upside down, a dark red dot in the middle of the cross. The skin around the symbol was red from irritation; the burn marks, dried blood around the edges.

Grabbing a piece of paper, Angela took the pen that was next to her and drew the symbol carefully. Stuffing the drawing into her pocket, Angela dropped the pen back on the desk and ran out of the office; ignoring the voice of detective Xaiver calling out to her to ask what was wrong. Opening and closing the precinct door, Angela ran down the front steps and over to her car in the parking lot next to the building. Starting up the car, Angela shifted it into gear and backed out of the space; placing it into neutral as she drove out of the parking lot and onto the street. Noon traffic had just started to build up and she had gotten stuck on three streets behind twenty or so cars sitting in front of a red light.

After switching onto Tiger's Lane, she drove down the street, took a left and parallel parked across from Twenty Lanes. Turning off the engine and taking out the key, she locked up her SUV and crossed the street without hesitation; the cab that had stopped abruptly before her beeping at her as the driver stuck his head out the driver's side window and swore at her loudly. Walking into the small bowling complex, Angela jogged her way up the stairs to the familiar door that was engulfed in John Constantine's aura which emanated more strongly on the inside.

Knocking on the door with fierceness and an urgency to understand the strange occurrences that surrounded the case she had just learned about, she called out to him.

"John, open the door! John please, I have something I have to show you. I think it might have to do with Lucifer! John, open up the damn door!"

She stopped banging on it when she heard the unlocking of the chain that bound the door closed; putting her hand down as it swung open to reveal John Constantine with a bewildered look and a death glare hard enough to scare God Himself. Swallowing a little, Angela proceeded to tell him again why she had come back to see him.

"I came to tell you something I noticed about a case I saw this morning. Mind if I come so we could discuss this somewhat more privately?"

She raised a brow at him as he stood in the door way for a moment, seemingly taking his time to decide if he was going to let her in.

"Well?"

"…I'm thinking."

She smiled at him; the old memory of when he had used that line before surfacing to her mind as she stifled a laugh. Stepping aside to let her in, Constantine flashed her a quick, devilish smirk. He closed the door behind her; gesturing with his arm for her to take a seat at his table as he sat down across from her and folded his hands in front of him calmly. Taking a deep breath, she got straight to the point.

"I found a strange symbol on a girl that recently died. She bled to death from her eyes, hands, and feet. The palms of her hands and the soles of her feet were burnt beyond third degree. I didn't get a chance to glance at her medical records but I saw this and I thought you might know what it meant before I found out anything else about this girl."

Taking the piece of paper from out of her pocket, she handed it to him. It wasn't well drawn from the quickness of when she had to rush over to him but he could make it out all the same. A weird question mark upside down with a line going through it like a cross; a small dot in the middle. A frown crossed his face while his brow furrowed in confusion and recognition.

"I've seen this symbol before somewhere."

"You have? What does it mean?"

"I'm not really sure. I read about it somewhere in the version of Hell's Bible when Beeman was alive. Wait right here, I'll go get it."

"Hold it, you have his Hell Bible? But that was locked up along with the rest of his personal effects. How did you get it?"

Smiling wolfishly, he waved his hand and dismissed the subject away. Some men never tell their secrets no matter how important or illegal they are. Idiots.

Walking over to his bed, he got down on his knees and pulled out a furbished wooden box with faces of what appeared to be, the apostles on it. Muttering something in Latin, the lock snapped off as the sound of a breath emitted from it as the lid was pulled back. Taking the book out, John placed the box on the bed and stood; walking towards the table and sitting in the chair as he flipped through the book. He looked up at her as she stared at the box.

"That was the box that contained the letters of Paul when he died. The Romans put them in there but some demon thief stole the letters and left the box; stupid bastard had hoped to use the letters to find out some secret about getting into Heaven so that Hell could take over but it never happened."

"Why didn't it happen?"

"Because St. Anthony deported his ass back to Hell and took the letters with him to the grave. Except, no one knows where his tomb is."

"Oh…that's interesting."

Leaning forward a little, Angela's psychic field picked up on the faintly evil aura that surrounded the dark leathered book; the straining, distant sound of screams echoing from the print of the words. At last he reached a section, skimming through the words as his fingers ran down the pages; muttering words in Latin as he looked for a certain paragraph. After searching for another five minutes, he came to a page that had the same symbol drawn next to a paragraph. He read the paragraph to himself in Latin, translating the language into English in his thoughts so that he could explain it Angela. Turning the book upside down, he slid across the table so that it rested in front of her and pointed at the paragraph.

"Basically, this says that this is one of the symbols for Lucifer and that who ever has it on him or her is supposed to be under his complete control. It also represents the three princes of Hell; Satan of course, Belail, and Leviathon. The upside question mark you see is supposed to question the deity of God."

"Well, that helps to know what the symbol means but why is it on the chest of a recently deceased girl?"

"Tell me some attributes about this girl."

"She's blond, pretty, about my age and height, three pounds over my weight to be exact and has one living relative, her mother. She used to live in an apartment at a place called Walker Tenants on Highlander Boulevard and McArthur Street. Like I said before, I didn't get a chance to see her medical records yet because I was in rush to find out what this meant," she gestured at the book, "so I don't know if she had any type of abilities."

He nodded and grabbed the book from her, closing it as he walked back over to the bed and placed it back in the box as he closed the lid and muttered some more words in Latin. The lock reassembled itself and closed; bending at the waist, he slid it smoothly underneath his bed. Reaching over, he grabbed his trench coat from the other side of the bed and walked forward, slipping his arms into the sleeves as Angela stood. Opening the door, he let her out first and closed it behind him as he uttered a spell that would protect his home. Walking down the stairs, they made it out of the building and over to her car; getting in as she pulled out from the parking position and back onto the street.

She glanced over at him while she drove.

"Where to?"

"Papa Midnite's Club. He'll have some answers; that I'm sure of."

Shrugging, she shifted the gear into second and sped along the road. John quirked a brow as she turned on a siren so that oncoming traffic would know she was coming through. Smirking a little, he decided to voice his thoughts.

"Isn't it illegal to use the police siren for your own personal uses instead of actual police work?"

She smirked back as the wind blew tendrils of her hair around her head; the window open as she drove with one hand while the other rested comfortably where the rolled down window was.

"Actually, this sort of is police work. You see, I'm investigating the terms as to how the victim died. You, on the other hand, did a very illegal thing by stealing a piece of police property."

He snorted…

"It wasn't police property; it belonged to Beeman."

"He died, John. Since no one came to claim any of his things, no living relative or close relations; by law, his possessions now belong to the state, which means the police force. So technically, Mr. Constantine, I do believe that makes you a criminal."

"Bullshit. Anyway, it was for a good cause. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to give us the information that we both needed, right?"

She smiled, looking over at him as he smirked; a playful twinkle in his eyes that made him a tad more appealing than his usual stoic expression. Feeling her heart jump at the thought, she shifted her attention back at the road, still smiling.

"Alright, you win. I won't report you. When I die, I'll let God know it was for a good cause."

Smirking a little, he too returned his attention back to the road; checking their surroundings to make sure that no demons were following them as they made their way to Papa Midnite's club.


They parked across the street from the club, Angela locking up her car and then walking a couple steps behind John as they made their way down the steps into the entrance of the club where the bodyguard stood behind the entrance rope with his usual deck of cards. Picking up one, he held it and looked at John with a questionable gaze.

"A tiger howling at the moon."

Glancing at the picture, the bodyguard turned the card over and showed the picture to John; he was correct. Placing the card back on the pile, the burly man detached the entry rope and let the exorcist through; chaining it back though when Angela came to step forward.

"Hey, John; wait, he won't let me in."

"You just have to tell him what the picture is on the card. That's how you gain entry; it's sort of way of testing your abilities to see if you're worthy enough to enter Midnite's domain."

"Worthy enough my ass."

Closing her eyes, Angela took a deep breath and concentrated; sending out her psychic field as she tried to conjure up the image of the card into her mind. After a few moments, an image came to her thoughts and she opened her eyes.

"A dog sitting on a plate and cat with a fork in its paw."

His brow furrowing, the bodyguard glanced at the picture and flipped the card over, showing Angela the picture. She was right. Placing the card back on the pile, he detached the entry rope and let her pass; connecting it back to the small gold link on the pole and folding his arms across his chest as he waited for more people to come to the club. Walking in, Angela saw the half breeds conversing with each other; the black walls that seemed to be like the universe, endless and utterly empty. The bar had bright lights with liquor bottles and bottles of other substances lining the shelves on the wall behind the bar; the demonic bartender taking an order from angelic half breed that had just walked in five minutes ago. Finally, they reached a pair of silver doors and a John knocked.

"Midnite; let us in. I know you've got some answers about something that's about to happen. You know it's not a good thing to jerk my chain around. C'mon Midnite, open the goddamn door now."

Before he could knock on it again, the doors opened and they walked through; the swish of John's trench coat hitting Angela's upper thigh. At the table, John noticed a man dressed in a gray business suit that pale strips going down the jacket and pants; his dark hair was slicked back as he waved a bronze toned hand in the air; his tail twitched from sides to side. Eyes going wide, John reached into his inner coat pocket and felt with his finger tips the bible he had used once before.

"You! You son of bitch, what the hell are you doing here! You should be back down in that fucking fire hole that I put you back in; how in the hell did you get back here!"

Turning around, Balthazar smiled a toothy grin at John, clearly enjoying his taunting of the man as his tongue slid out in-between his long fangs. Growling, John reached in and took out his bible and started towards Balthazar with the clear intention of deporting his happy ass back where he belonged; but he was stopped short by none other than that voodoo doctor that seemed to care more about the fucked up Balance than the lives of the world. As John took another step forward, Midnite stood up threateningly and muttered something in Haitian. An invisible barrier surrounded Balthazar and Midnite making John halt as if he had run into a brick wall; Balthazar hadn't even bothered to get up.

"John! You know the rules of my house; yet you dare to fight in here! I said it once, I'll say it again; there will be no fighting or your ass is out of here. Do I make myself clear!"

Putting the bible reluctantly back into his trench coat, John lowered his hand and counted backwards from twenty mentally to contain his temper. Angela looked on at Balthazar who gazed up at her from his seat; winking at her as she gave a look of disgust.

"Well, well, well; if it isn't pretty psychic girl. Tell me, what brings such a fine lady down to this particular place."

"I'm here on business that is none of your concern."

Smirking, the half demon-man stood and took a step forward; noticing the threatening and dangerous crackle that surrounded John's aura as he stopped just five feet away from the oracle.

"Feisty one, eh? That's alright; we've got plenty of those down in Hell. I'll be sure to give my…boss a few words about you. Later, Johnny boy."

Walking out of the room, the doors closed and John sat down across from Midnite; Angela stood against the wall deciding to stay out of danger less the club owner become pissed off at John again. Leaning back in his chair, John took out a piece of gum and popped it in his mouth, placing the wrapper on the table as he chewed loudly and obnoxiously.

"So, Midnite, what can you tell me about a certain asshole and a symbol from his jackass of boss that you left out in our last meeting?"


Hey, what's up everyone! Here's the sixth chapter; I hope it matches up to everyone's standards. I don't know if I got the character of Balthazar down but level with me. Anyway, sorry about the complaint I made in the last chapter about not getting enough reviews. I'm doing this story because I want to be a writer; not a newspaper reporter looking out to get some feed back from critics. So, I'm sorry, if that made look a little selfish.

Anyways, this'll be the last chapter I do for this weekend. I have a half day on Wednesday but I doubt I'm gonna update that day. I get home around one o'clock and then I have to do homework. Everybody knows that teachers like to give more homework when their students don't spend a whole lot of time in school. So, you'll probably have to wait till next weekend for the next chapter or possibly the next two. So, yeah, sorry.

That means you'll have to read this chapter over and over and over and over…again. Either that or keep yourself occupied with something else. Oh, well, happy reviewing!

P.S. I got the information and symbol idea from this website I went to; it's called "Exposing Satanism Witchcraft and the New World Order." It's really cool. Not that I'm into that sorta of thing…I just thought it was interesting. (Looks around with a scared face) I'm Catholic!

Later Peeps!