"No meat for the next week, and no graveyards. Both of those can attract a demon back to you before the book's effects wear off," John was saying as Chas gathered his things. "I put some holy water in your bag. You should drink a shot of it in the morning and in the evening, just in case."
"Yeah, yeah," Chas said, not really listening. He closed his bag and walked to the door, wincing as another short pain hit him.
"Remember to take plenty of aspirin and get lots of sleep," John said to him as he began to walk out. At the door John grabbed his arm, and Chas gave him a 'look'.
"What?"
"The most important thing, Chas," John said very sternly. "Do not lose your temper. Your anger will only give a demon fuel to take control."
Chas pretended to take him seriously, and he nodded solemnly. As he turned to walk out the door, however, he was barely holding back laughter at that lunatic's antics.
Audrey was waiting on him outside, and she asked about three dozen times if he was okay before beginning the short drive back to their apartment. Chas immediately noticed that the parking spot his father's truck used to occupy- before they sold it- now had a Ford Taurus in it.
"Mom…whose car is that?" he asked, already knowing the answer but not wanting to believe it. Audrey sighed, turning the car off but not getting out.
"I know you didn't like the idea, Chas, but it was either this or he would have to go live with his mother. You complain about that enough to empathize with him, right?"
Chas snorted, glaring at the small green car. "Hardly. I'm surprised he doesn't drive around one of those Geek Squad cars."
"You'll at least try to be civil with him, won't you?"
"No."
"Chas…"
"No. No, I won't. I'm gonna be fuckin'-"
"Your language. We discussed that, young man."
Chas sneered at her and got out of the car, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he headed inside and up the stairs. Audrey caught up with him just in time to fumble nervously with her keys, unlock, and open the door, and Chas as immediately greeted with the sight of Nicholas setting up a computer on his dad's old desk that he'd used for model ship building.
That sight alone was enough to make his blood boil.
"Heya, Chas!" Nicholas said in that strange, nasal voice, swiveling in his chair. Chas flipped him off and continued on to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Everything was being changed, all at once. Chas remembered the time just four months ago that he set a Pepsi can down on that same model table and his mother had yelled at him for hours over it. Now she was letting Mr. Nerd Extraordinaire virtually take it over- literally.
Chas engrossed himself in books and a couple cigarettes- he'd figured out before he left the day before how to disable the smoke detector in his room- but it wasn't all that long before there was a soft knock on the door and Nicholas stuck his head in.
"Hey there, buddy…can I come in?"
Chas shrugged, leaning back against the headboard and taking another drag off his cigarette. "You've been setting up your scrawny ass everywhere else, why not here too?" he said, his tone bitter. Nicholas fidgeted nervously for a few moments, then pulled out Chas's desk chair and set it beside the bed, sitting down.
Chas gave him an absolutely venomous look. "I wasn't serious. Can't your logic apply to sarcasm, or do I need to talk in netspeak to get it through your skull?"
Nicholas smiled, as if Chas had been joking. "Audrey told me you have a pretty morbid sense of humor."
"Go stick a sewer rat up your ass, bitch."
It wasn't working. It was as if Nicholas had an impenetrable dork shield that prevented him from getting offended. He just smiled that dorky smile, pushed his glasses up, and continued as if Chas hadn't spoken.
"I was wondering if you wanted to come take a look at the computer. I set it up for you, to do all your homework on, play some games, surf the web…"
"So I can become just like you? How fuckin' touching."
"It still has some bugs to work out, but when you feel up to it, I'll show you how it all works. Get you a livejournal, an e-mail account, it's great fun," Nicholas said, standing up.
"Go fuck yourself," Chas said with a glare, blowing smoke in Nicholas's face. Nicholas started coughing and retreated to the hallway, and moments later Chas heard the sound of an inhaler being used.
Chas thought that maybe, just maybe he'd get the evening to himself. A break from school, a break from John, a break from everything…but no. Of course not. His luck got spent six months ago and now he had none left.
His mother stepped in the room just as he was putting his cigarette out on the bedside table, and he could see the disappointment and anger in her eyes.
"Put on some shoes and eat a breath mint," she said. "Nicholas's parents own an Italian restaurant downtown, they want us to come eat dinner with them."
"I'm not eating dinner with some nerdy pricks," Chas mumbled, but Audrey simply replied by picking up his shoes and throwing them at him.
"You're coming, young man," she said, stepping out of the room. Chas let out a string of curse words and yanked on his shoes, foregoing the breath mint- he was sure as hell going to be smoking another cigarette on the way there, so why bother?
He did just that. He smoked a cigarette in the car on the way there, the window down, trying to ignore the two adults in the front seat even thought they kept trying to drag him into the conversation.
When they arrived at the restaurant Chas sighed and tossed his cigarette to the ground, stamping it out. The place was basically one of those mom and pop operations, a little Italian pasta joint tucked away in a strip of cheap tourist shops. He could've gotten better Italian at Pizza Hut.
Nicholas's parents were waiting on them in the lobby, and they introduced themselves quiet politely before leading them back to a table in the back. It wasn't five seconds before their drink orders had been taken, the waitresses obviously trying to impress their bosses.
"So Audrey, honey, what is it that you do?" Nicholas's mother, Tanya, asked.
"I do graphics design for an advertising company," Audrey explained, and Chas snorted, but held back his usual commentary on how his mom made a living adding pretty colors to pictures. She used to do original art all the time, but not anymore- and after seeing what she was capable of, Chas had no respect for the mutant form of art editing she made her money at.
"That's interesting," Nicholas's father, Stanley, added. He smiled, and his gaze locked on Chas. Despite Chas's silent pleas to be left out of the conversation, the adults were determined to make his evening social and miserable.
"Quite a handsome young fellow. Are you still in high school?"
"He's a senior," Audrey said, not wanting her son's foul mouth to scare the nice old people.
"It's almost time for college, then. Best years of your life, don't waste it," Stanley said as the waitress set the chicken parmesan salads in front of them. Tanya took a bite, then turned to Chas.
"What do you plan on studying? Do you have a career in mind?"
No. "I want to be a freelance exorcist," Chas said boldly before Audrey could cut him off. Stanley almost choked on the piece of chicken in his mouth, Audrey gave Chas that 'look', Nicholas ate his salad with blind ignorance, and Tanya's eyes got just about as big as the salad plates.
"Oh really?" she asked, obviously horrified.
"He's still considering his options," Audrey said, trying to salvage the conversation. "He's quite fanciful."
There was an awkward pause, and then Nicholas broke the silence. "Audrey, you look simply gorgeous tonight," he said, and his parents nodded in agreement. Chas's hand tightened on his fork, and he stabbed hard at a piece of chicken, screeching the fork against the plate.
"You should see her apartment," Nicholas continued to his parents. "Beautiful Spanish styling, muted colors, amazing."
Chas imagined the next piece of chicken he stabbed was Nicholas's hand.
"Oh, it's really not that big of a deal. Just the artist in me coming out."
"It was mostly dad's design," Chas butted in, making sure that fact was well established. His sudden whore of a mother wouldn't be taking any credit for something that his dad had done.
"Chas is right, it was. Especially the nautical aspects," Audrey pointed out, and Nicholas grinned.
"The mural on the living room wall is a nice romantic touch."
Chas could feel his hands shaking now. He wanted nothing more than to stab his fork through Nicholas's eye right about now.
"Well, Audrey, don't you worry about keeping him for long. We're helping him find an apartment ASAP," Stanley said, and Audrey chuckled.
"It's fine. We have plenty of room in that apartment."
Nicholas's geeky grin grew. "Who knows? It might even become a permanent arrangement."
Last straw.
Before Chas knew what he was doing he'd literally leapt over the table, his hands were wrapped around Nicholas's throat, and he'd dragged the man to the floor and was punching and screaming uncontrollably.
"You fucking bastard! I'll fuckin' tear your throat out, you fuckin' cunt!" Chas screamed, punching Nicholas in the jaw over and over. He felt hands on him, heard the general panic, but he couldn't stop. He just couldn't. He was seeing red from the very suggestion that this might be a permanent arrangement.
A replacement.
"You're not gonna fuckin' stay! I swear, I'll rip your balls off and shove 'em down your throat, you god damn bitch!" Chas shrieked as people pulled him back and off Nicholas. Nicholas rolled onto his side, groaning and shaking, his hands covering his face.
Chas couldn't control it. He couldn't calm down.
Moments later, something struck him hard in the back of the head, and everything went black.
When Chas woke up, he was laying in a hospital room.
It took him a few minutes to fully wake up, but then he got up and tried the door, finding it locked.
A locked hospital door? Jesus Christ, Chas, what did you do?
He tried to brush that thought aside, walking over to the window and opening up the curtain to look out over the city. It was night now, the neon lights of the buildings making obscure patterns on the ground and the skyline.
He deserved it. He fuckin' deserved every hit he took.
He sighed, rubbing his temples gently. Whatever he'd been hit with, it had been damn effective; he had the headache to end all headaches.
He heard a key turning in the lock, and he glanced over his shoulder. He was shocked when it wasn't his mother or even a nurse walking in- a nurse was instead letting John Constantine in.
Chas couldn't help that odd feeling, that feeling of butterflies in his stomach when John entered the room. It was that same feeling he got when he had a silly middle school crush, a nervous, hopeful feeling.
It was just weird that he was having it in response to a middle-age exorcist. On top of that, a guy.
Chas shook off the uncomfortable thoughts and turned back to the window, and John stopped a few feet behind him.
"Your mother called me."
Chas didn't answer him, and didn't move.
"She said you did a nose dive over chicken salad and beat the shit out of a guy."
Once again, Chas didn't answer. That would be explanation enough that he was guilty. He heard John shift his weight, and then he heard him sigh.
"She's scared of you, Chas. Nicholas isn't pressing charges, but…she asked me to take you for a few days. Till things can calm down and counseling can be arranged."
Chas snorted. "Abandoning me. Right."
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger," John said. "I already picked up your stuff. You can stay here for the night, if you want…all I've got at my place is an air mattress for you."
Chas sighed. "I hate doctors."
John shrugged. "I'll call a cab and talk to the nurses. Hang out here for fifteen minutes or so, okay?"
Chas didn't answer him. John left the room, and Chas clenched his jaw, leaning on one hand against the window.
He'd been replaced. He loses his temper once, it wasn't even unjustified, and she replaces him with her nerd of a boyfriend. She was scared of him.
"Daddy…" Chas whispered against the window, and then he slowly sank down to the floor, collapsing into tears.