III. An Attack of Sorts

"It seems someone is very unhappy with you, Constantine," Midnite told him from across the desk in his office.

"Does that ever change?" Constantine retorted sarcastically.

"No, not really. No one likes you anyway, so I guess it's nothing to cry over. But this guy, whoever he is, is serious," Midnite replied.

"How serious?"

"Serious enough to hire one of the best assassins out there, and to shell out two million dollars to have you and Chas killed. And whoever this guy is, he knows a lot about you. I wouldn't be telling you any of this, as I am neutral, but I suppose I don't want to see my favorite human get screwed over by one of Satan's pets."

"Favorite, huh? You know, I always had my suspicions... hey Midnite, you read a lot, right?" Constantine asked, ready to give up on his search for who the girl he met in the Theological Society was.

"Yeah. Why?"

" ' Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself, she turns to favor, and to prettiness.' I heard this woman say it when asked who she was... I recognize it but I don't know from what."

"It's from Hamlet. Ophelia's brother says it about her," Midnite replied after a moment of thought.

"So that's her name?"

"Yes, but thats all I can tell you on the topic. That and watch your back."

Constantine stood with a sigh. Midnite hadn't offered any information about the demon that he had found in the mirror, except to tell him, as always, that he was 'neutral'. Constantine was starting to have his suspicions that Midnite only said this when he didn't know what was going on. He walked out of his office, pushing past people grinding on the dance floor and exited the place, sickened by all of the half breeds.

Chas waited outside in the taxi, as usual. It had been a miracle that he had survived the Mammon incident, but he had been rushed to the hospital and after a week or so in the ICU, was as good as new. Right now, he looked irritated at the fact that he had been left behind once again to read and fidget and listen to bad music on the radio. Constantine knew that at some point he would give in to the boy's endless whining, but until then...

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Chas asked as Constantine got in, looking worried.

"Why would you say that?" Constantine replied sarcastically.

"The look on your face. I only see that when we're about to get absolutely screwed," Chas answered. "So what is it?"

"Someone's put a hit on us."

"Us? As in both of us? As in me and you?"

"Yes Chas, me and you."

Chas rested his forehead against the steering wheel in annoyance.

"But why? What have I done to deserve this?" he demanded. "I mean, I can understand someone going after you, you've managed to irritate both sides endlessly with your antics. But why me?"

"Because you help him," came a cool-as-ice voice from the passenger seat of the car. The door was wide open and Constantine realized that the woman had entered while they were speaking. She held a gun in her hands. It was aimed at Chas, but Constantine had a feeling that she could whip around and shoot him in a moment.

"Hello Ophelia," Constantine greeted her. She slammed the car door, ignoring him.

"Take us to the bowling alley," she commanded Chas, who looked scared.

"Why are you doing this? Why don't you just shoot us and get it over with?" Constantine demanded angrily.

"No! Don't shoot us!" Chas yelped.

"I won't. Not yet at least. I want to find out more about what you two are doing," Ophelia replied, placing her gun in her lap.

"Why? What are you, a spy?" Constantine asked.

"Nope, just an assassin. And curious."

They drove in silence for a while, Chas parking outside of the still lit up 'Bowl Bowl Bowl' sign. Ophelia picked her gun off her lap and pointed it at Chas, giving him a hard look.

"Get out of the car first. You make any sudden moves to run or to yell for help and I'll shoot you in the face, got it?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Y-y-yes ma'am," Chas stuttered out. Constantine wasn't used to Chas looking so petrified, and found himself taken aback by the sheer power eminating from the woman. Chas obediently got out of the cab and stood near the hood. Ophelia turned her gun on Constantine, and still pointing it at him, got out of the car without tearing her eyes away from his. She opened the door for him and Constantine got out of the cab, not breaking the stare.

"Who hired you?" he asked, but Ophelia didn't answer. Instead, she beckoned him on. Constantine turned his back on her, confident she wouldn't shoot him until she learned more about him, and led her towards the front doors of the bowling alley.

"J-john... should I be worried?" Chas asked. He was shaking slightly, and casting suspicious glances at Ophelia, who was watching their every movement.

"Probably," Constantine replied. "Just do what she says and we'll probably be okay."

"Probably! What do you mean probably!" Chas exclaimed.

"Alright, that's enough talking!" Ophelia interrupted them. "Open the doors, Constantine."

"Yes ma'am," Constantine replied, pulling a key ring out of his pocket. He unlocked the doors, and together the three stepped into the dark building. Ophelia seemed on the edge, and Constantine realized that they were not the only people... rather, beings, in the building. She seemed to sense it too, as did Chas, though neither had the sight.

"Who else is here?" she asked him in a whisper. It wasn't frightened, but angry, as if he had sabotaged her.

"I don't know who," Constantine replied sincerely. "Or what."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

With a steady hand, Constantine turned on the lights. Ophelia let out a barely surpressed gasp, and Chas hid behind her. At first sight, it appeared to be a woman, but in all reality it wasn't. It had mottled blue grey skin, a gaping hole of a mouth that sharp teeth stuck out of in strange angles and on top of its head, straight from Greek legend, were hundreds of hissing and angry looking snakes. They stared at it with gaping mouths. It stared right back with gaping, empty, eye sockets.

"Um... Constantine?" came Ophelia's voice, which now sounded rather perturbed. "What is that?"

"That's... that's a demon, Ophelia," Constantine replied, his voice strong, though his knees were starting to feel rather weak. The demon let out a loud roar that filled the room. A putrid stink seemed to come off of its body and Chas pulled his tee-shirt over his face.

Suddenly, the demon took them totally unprepared and rushed at them, still roaring. Constantine dove in one direction, and Ophelia tackled Chas into the opposite direction. The two skittered across the tile floors and into a ball rack, but were unharmed. Constantine had dove behind the register.

The demon completely ignored him, to his surprise, and turned to Ophelia and Chas, who were cowering against the ball rack, cornered. Ophelia rose, easily two feet shorter than the demon, trying to look tough. A silver blade glittered in her hand and the carelessly threw it across the room just as Constantine was standing. It barely missed his head. Was she still on the job despite the fact that she was being cornered by something from the underworld?

Constantine realized his presumption was incorrect as the demon was temporarily distracted, it's eyeless head following the flight of the dagger. Ophelia pushed Chas out of the way.

"Run!" she shouted to the teen, who immediately made towards the door that led to the hall behind the bowling lanes. Ophelia pulled out another blade and threw herself at the demon, intent on stabbing it. She bounced off of the thing's chest as if she were nothing and hit the wall hard.

The demon was still advancing on the dazed looking Ophelia, who had sunk to the floor. It picked her up with one hand, roared right in her face and tossed her across the room. The assassin slid down one of the bowling lanes and came to a halt right in front of the pins. She gave a groan of pain and attempted to rise, falling back onto the floor in pain.

Constantine, getting a hold of himself, lept over the counter and ran straight at the demon, which was heading towards Ophelia once again. With a flying tackle, he managed to floor the demon and removed a cross from his pocket.

"Et seperatur a plasmate tuo, Ut num quam laedatur amorsu antiqui serpentes," he began chanting. The demon was screaming in pain, the flesh under the cross beginning to burn and peel away. Constantine continued chanting until the creature stopped moving underneath him. Figuring that it was going to get up and try to kill him, he stood, tucking the cross into his pocket. "Yeah, that's what I thought, asshole," he muttered, kicking it.

Ophelia was still on the floor, attempting to rise with a gasp of pain. Her ribs were probably broken from the impact and Constantine had no doubt the assassin would wake up with one hell of a bruise in the morning. He approached her, doubtful that she could kill him in such a state.

"That... that was..." she barely managed to get out before falling back onto her stomach painfully.

"A demon, yes," Constantine replied.

"But they aren't..."

"Supposed to be here, I know. Can you stand?"

"On my own? No."

Suddenly, the demon flew up, screaming in rage. Ophelia flipped herself onto her back and fired her gun, which she had been holding the whole time. The demon fell back down and disintegrated into ash. Constantine couldn't help but be surprised. Human weaponry usually couldn't kill anything from the other planes of existence.

"So are you going to kill me, Mr. Constantine?" Ophelia asked, as if she had not just shot and killed a demon.

"You probably would deserve it, but no I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to help you up to my apartment," he replied, looking down at her with a slight grin on his face. Without even trying, he had won. The assassin, at least at the moment, was completely powerless against him. He dropped to one knee on the floor and put her arm around his neck. Constantine carefully helped her stand, and led her to the doorway that Chas had fled through. He was on the other side, looking at the assassin doubtfully.

"I dunno if you should be doing this, John," Chas said.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Ophelia asked.

"Well, you could shoot me in my sleep," suggested Constantine.

"Well, yeah... but besides that?" she replied, still sounding winded, like she had been punched in the stomach very hard. Ophelia did, however, have a slight smile on her face. Constantine wondered momentarily if she had gone insane from what she had witnessed, but didn't bother asking. It was probably better not to know.

"That demon was after you, assassin. There could be more of them coming, so I'd behave if I were you," Constantine told the woman, who looked rather shocked and angry.

"Why would they come after me? I haven't done anything to piss them off."

"God only knows," Constantine replied truthfully.

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A/N- To all of you who reviewed, thank you so much for your comments, I really appreciated them, and I hope you enjoyed this newest installment.