"You sure you don't need any help, John?" Chas asked, eyeing his mentor. "You look dead on your feet."

"Positive. Go home and get some sleep, kid."

"Why? I didn't do anything. You know, I've been studying these books you gave me. I could be a big help and do more than just drive the car."

"You've been studying the books?" Chas nodded eagerly. "Good. Keep studying them." He stepped out of the car, his back to the youth's crestfallen face. He pressed the button to pop the trunk before Constantine asked and watched in the mirror as he removed his supplies from the back and entered the building. Heaving another sigh, Chas drove off.

The night had been a long one, Constantine reflected. He had spent it hunting down an impossible combination that had tormented a boy.


He had entered the parish Father Hennessy worked in and found him praying in a pew with a Hispanic woman and her son. The man looked up as they finished their prayer and waved him over.

"Señora Juarez, this is Señor Constantine," he introduced.

She looked up and dabbed at her eyes with a cotton handkerchief. She had been crying. "You can help?" she said, her words thick with accent. Mexican, Constantine guessed. He really wasn't surprised; most Caucasians didn't admit that demonic possession or even demonic activity was real.

"It depends," he admitted.

"Es mi hijo," she said, putting an arm around her son.

Constantine could feel the taint on the boy even from the aisle. The kid was in a church, though, and he wasn't screaming, so it wasn't possession. She whispered in the boy's ear and lifted his head. He looked at Constantine and he saw that his gaze was absent and unfocused.

Stepping closer, Constantine peered into the kid's eyes. Something was draining him and he was willing to bet it was a succubus. Nasty bitches, but easy to get rid of. He shrugged. "I can help," he said.

She smiled. "¡Bendígale¡El Dios le bendice!"

He gave Chas the Señora's address and they found it easily. The son's bedroom was easy to pick out, even without the mother pointing him toward it. He hung a blessed Crucifix in the window and traced a symbol on the door with chalk, then repeated the symbol under the bed, but in salt this time. It was probably more than necessary, but he couldn't tell how long the succubus had been draining the kid. If she was truly determined to finish him, she'd become desperate to get in the room and he had seen a desperate succubus once. It hadn't been pretty.

"That is it, Señor?" she asked.

"That's it. He should be fine in a couple days." And with a little luck, the succubus would lose interest. At one time, he had tried to kill every incubus and succubus he came across, but that was futile. Not only were they slippery, but they seemed to breed like rabbits. "Make sure he sleeps in this room."

"Should we pray?"

"If it will make you feel better." He couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice.

"Gracias, Señor."

"De nada," he replied and left.

"That didn't take long," Chas said.

"Read up on succubi tonight," Constantine said and leaned back in the seat.


That night, Father Hennessy called, clearly upset. "I just received a call from Señora Juarez. She said that there's something in her son's room and she can't open the door."

"That's impossible. Shit."

"What? Is it something else? Something stronger?"

"No, it's definitely a succubus. I could almost smell the bitch when I was in his room. There must be two."

"Two? John, that's not possible. You know what happens when two succubi try to drain one man."

"I know, but what else could it be? I doubt she's working with another demon. Two succubi could get past those defenses. I'll go take care of it."

He hung up and dialed Chas' number. "Hello?" His voice was awake and alert. Constantine glanced at the clock. Just after midnight. The kid probably hadn't even been to bed yet.

"Chas, be outside in ten minutes." He hung up before he could ask any questions. He gathered the supplies he needed and was outside in twelve. Chas was just pulling up to the curb. He threw his bags in the trunk and slid into the passenger's seat. "Back to the Juarez home," he ordered.

"Is it something else?" He was asking the same questions as Hennessy, so Constantine cut him off.

"No, it's two succubi working together for once. Just drive." He lapsed into silence. A woman would be the ideal assassin for succubi, just as a man would be the ideal assassin for incubi. He knew he could resist one, but two…two were very dangerous.

Outside the house, Chas parked the car and started to withdraw the key. "Stay here."

"What? But John, you're going to need help."

"Not this time." It was true that the succubi were at their most powerful when their victim was asleep, but they oozed lust and sexual energy. He wasn't even sure if they did it purposefully. He knew men that had willingly walked into a succubus' arms only to have their throats slashed by their nails. He didn't need an untried youth in the presence of two, assuming it was two. He was still doubtful, but he knew that there would at least be one in the room.

Señora Juarez met Constantine at the front door, talking in rapid Spanish. She was clearly upset and he barely understood one word in three. He pushed her back gently. "Stay here," he said and strode toward the bedroom.

The doorknob wouldn't even budge John felt momentarily troubled. He hadn't heard of succubi having this sort of telekinetic power before. He was forced to break the door down and hesitated in the doorway. There were indeed two succubi. One was straddling the boy, riding him, while the other kissed him, alternating between the lips and the neck. They hadn't even looked up at the sound of splintering wood.

"Ladies, play time is over."

At the sound of his voice, the one kissing the boy looked up. She smiled and Constantine felt his heart skip a beat. She walked over toward him, voluptuous and gloriously naked. His nose twitched at the smell of roses and sex.

"Come join us," she said in a breathy voice. "Katerkia is taking her turn and I feel so empty. You could fill me up." She reached up to stroke his face, a smile on her lips. She had him.

Constantine suddenly backhanded her, knocking her back and to the floor. Her smile faded and she growled. "How dare you hit me!" Before she could rise and try it again, he brought out a phial of holy water and threw it toward her. She managed to twist out of the way using acrobatics a gymnast could envy, but she didn't avoid all of it. The smell was immediately replaced by the smell of rotting plants and burned flesh and she screamed.

The other looked up and hissed as Constantine drew a gun. She rolled the boy over so that she was on the bottom and he continued his rhythm. She was draining him as Constantine watched and she smiled, knowing he couldn't risk hitting the boy. The other succubus leapt at him and he instinctively fired the weapon. She fell back, screaming in pain again as she clutched her shoulder. Damn! He had missed the heart.

"Let him go," he ordered.

She smiled from under him. "No." He drew another phial of holy water and she suddenly revealed her true self, a hideous hag. The boy screamed in terror and tried to back away, but she wrapped her strong legs around him and forced him in and out of her. He aimed the phial and the wounded succubus leapt at him, knocking the glass from his hand where it shattered harmlessly on the floor.

"God damn it!" She was a hag too. "You're ugly."

"I'm hurt." Her voice was no longer breathy or intoxicating; it was scratchy and painful to listen to. "I want you. A strong man like you could keep me fed for a very long time."

"No!" Katerkia called from the bed. "I want him."

"You already have someone!" She gazed hungrily down at Constantine. "I'll have this one."

Katerkia threw the boy off of her. He scrambled back, fell of the bed and kept going until he had backed himself into a corner. He stared at the two demons in horror. The succubus crawled from the bed.

"We'll share this one like we did the other."

"No! You had the other one longer."

"Idiot! Can't you—"

Her words were drowned out as Constantine fired at Katerkia. She, like the other, twisted out of the way with impossible agility, but he still hit her chest. She arched her back and screamed, clutching her chest. She rose to her feet and leapt out the window. The second was only moments behind her and Constantine fired after both of them, missing each time.

Damn it to hell! He noticed that the Crucifix was missing on the window and then he too was through it and on the fire escape. He ran down the metal stairs and after the fleeing demons. He caught up to Katerkia first; she was grievously wounded and barely managed to stay on her feet as she stumbled through the shadows.

"She abandoned you, didn't she?" Constantine sneered. She whirled with a hiss, but he was ready, throwing holy water in her eyes. Her scream was piercing, ending when he put a bullet through her heart. "Bitch."

He hurried after the second one, knowing she was in search of food. She hadn't fed yet and so he doubted she'd return to hell until she had. Unfortunately, she could enter any window with a sleeping man beyond and he'd never notice.

Something landed on him and he collapsed to the ground, losing his gun. "Did you lose your toy?" she growled in his ear. "Now I can use you as one." She licked his neck. "So much power. You must be a psychic."

He gathered his strength and threw her off. "The name's Constantine, bitch."

"Constantine?" She giggled. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "I'll be known as the demon that finished Constantine. Embrace me, exorcist!" She leapt at him again, but he was ready this time and twisted out of her reach, bringing up a blessed knife. She collapsed on the ground, clutching her face as ichor oozed from the wound.

"Why were two of you draining that boy?" he demanded.

"Because we thought it would be fun," she spat back.

He calmly picked up his gun. "Wrong answer," he said and shot her in the leg. Over her screams, he repeated, "Why were two of you draining that boy?"

She managed a grimacing smile. "Original sin. The innocent ones are the most fun to steal away from your god." She began to speak in demonic.

Constantine fired one more round, into her head this time, and began the trek back to the house. Mother and son were sitting at the kitchen table and a tea kettle had began its shrill whistle when he returned. They cut off their Spanish and the boy rose.

"Gracias, Señor Constantine," he said.

"Next time, don't remove the Crucifix from your window." He looked sheepish. "And date girls your own species."

Chas was nearly bouncing in his seat as Constantine returned the bag to the trunk. "What happened in there?"

"I had to chase down a couple succubi," he replied, drawing a cigarette. The run had seriously winded him and he was trying not to show it as he took a long drag on the cigarette.


After Chas dropped him Constantine had returned to his apartment, dropping the supplies on the floor and grabbing a glass that appeared clean. He poured alcohol into it and took a drink, feeling the familiar burn run down his throat. He lit another cigarette and leaned back in the chair.

Original sin. The innocent ones are the most fun to steal away from your god.

The succubus' words worried him. Original sin had followed humans since their exile. It was one of the factors of the Wager and one thing not against the Rules. Being a child was a double-edged blade. Children seemed to have more faith in God, perhaps because adults and the world of science hadn't discouraged them yet, but it protected them. At the same time, it also made them more susceptible to influences of evil.

He yawned and knew he wouldn't be able to clearly think about her words until he had some sleep. First, though, he had to take care of his supplies. He would clean the gun later and get more holy water from Beeman too. Constantine stripped off his clothes and fell into bed where he slipped into sleep moments later.