John slowly woke up, his vision improved as time passed. He could see a figure hunched over him and the lights of early morning coming through a boarded up window.
"Can you hear me John?"
John looked at the person talking to him, it was Frank; he had a blackened eye and a cut in his forehead.
"Frank?"
Frank nodded.
"Get me out of these chains."
Frank went to work on the handcuffs using a paperclip. John was freed in a minute and he stood up looking around.
The memory of last night suddenly donned on him, he remembered the birth and the band of men who'd taken it, and he almost collapsed again if Frank hadn't held him up.
"What happened to you?"
Frank's face went red with anger, "Two men smashed the windows of me car and cleaned my clock then handcuffed me to the wheel, by the time I came around and picked the locks they had already left. Then I came up here and found ya'll like this."
"Who were they"
"How the fuck would I know? They didn't have name tags."
John looked around him, Nigel sat half-conscious with his back to the wall, Eudaemon was slumped in a corner still covered with Dog's blood and had an enormous chain around hid neck, and he was coherent but very weak. Ellie on the other hand was gone, the mattress on which she lay was covered in her blood that resulted from the birth.
John walked over to Eudaemon.
"you've betrayed us."
John didn't mind him, he removed the heavy chain and went to wipe the blood from him, but was surprised to see the Angel lung at him, and his eyes turned black fury.
"YOU BASTARD, WE TRUSTED YOU! AND YOU'VE LET US DOWN! Tell me something, how much did they pay you?" growled Eudaemon as he chocked john.
"They were human." John managed to say.
"I know they were human, which makes you even more likely to have done it."
"Hey!" Frank yelled, "John may be a wanker and a ponce, but he's no backstabber, not like that anyway."
Eudaemon seemed to calm down and let go of John, who sat on the ground gasping for air.
"Thanks, Frank."
"Sure, John."
John stood up and face Eudaemon, "Seeing as they were human; I guess your kid is still in this realm. That means we still have time before they fork him over to Heaven or Hell. But first; where is Ellie?"
"After she gave birth and they left, she seemed at loss and left."
John pondered for seconds, 'This is bad.', "Okay, you need to find her. Fly over the city, see if you can find her."
John crouched next to the mattress and used his knife to cut out a peace of cloth covered with Ellie's blood.
"Nigel," said John as he turned to the psychic, "Can you use it to locate her using Divination"
"Maybe," said Nigel, "If she stays put for a while, It'll take time."
Eudaemon wiped the blood off himself and discarded his clothes, then jumped out the window and flew off, this looked very strange to Frank but he simply brushed it off.
John lifted the chain from the ground and carried it out, "You're really good friend, Frank"
"You're really going to get my car fixed, John."
On the outside John saw Frank's car, now mangled with dents and scrapes, the tail lights were shattered as was the windows.
"Hey frank, how did they look like"
"Normal blokes. A couple had guns, some had crowbars, they were all decked in black. There was this one guy though, tall as a nightmare, long silver hair. He wore a leather duster."
The trio got in the car and a strange sound erupted as he engine was started.
"I take checks." said Frank.
"Noted." said John.
John dumped the heavy chain on the table while Moriarty was bust cataloguing new batches of books.
"Why John," Jack said with his scotish accent, "I didn't get you anything."
"You know what this is?" asked John.
"A frickins chain?" asked Jack, "Nice shiner, how did you get it?"
John caressed the bruise on his jaw, "Was prowling for Kicks. This thing was used to place an Angel out of the game."
"What? What's this all about?"
John was reluctant, but opted on filling Jack on the entire story, leaving him in awe.
"What kind of tricks did they pull"
"They pulled off the dog's blood spell, it doesn't last for long, just a few minutes. Long enough for them to get this chain on. I need to know who used this."
"Alright. Hey John, what makes you think the baby is still in this realm"
"Hopeful thinking, I guess."
"You're late again, Gabriel." Gabriel's boss said.
"Actually this would be the first time." answered Gabriel as she head to the platform.
"Are you talking back"
"I'm merely talking, Sir"
"Watch it missy, or I'll give a call to I.N.S. and tell them about your lack of I.D. and have them deport you to Wales or wherever the hell you came from."
Gabriel pulled the lever and the platform was raised, "Fuckin' Pagan." she cursed as he walked away.
Gabriel turned back and there Eudaemon was standing, Gabriel gasped and almost fell.
"Good god!" she gasped, "Don't ever do that again. Shouldn't you be with the Misses?"
"She's gone." said Eudaemon sadly.
"What"
"Last night, after you left, her tame came"
"The...Child... Arrived?" asked Gabriel, who then jerked the lever down feeling that the news and motion was too much to withstand.
"Yes. But those men, they took it away"
"What men"
"Constantine is working on it." Eudaemon said, smiling sadly, "I never though I'd put all that I held dear in that man's hands."
"Don't give up, son"
"Are you telling me to trust him?"
Gabriel was at a loss for worlds, she didn't want the Angel to lose hope, but he didn't want to lie to him either.
"I though you'd say that?" said Eudaemon, who then look around him.
"So this is what you do now?" he asked, not trying to taunt his former mentor but just curious.
"Humans may be ungrateful, but they have to eat."
Gabriel started to wipe the windows as Eudaemon leaped off the platform and went to look for Ellie.
Nigel grabbed the shred of cloth and brought it closer to his face in disgust, he reluctantly took a major whiff of it and discharged volts of electricity via a tazer gun, and collapsed on the couch.
Nigel floated through the city below him, gravity had lost it's effect on him, the city seemed empty below him, there was no son, no moon, no light and no darkness; it was like nothing anyone ever saw.
"Ellieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." he called as he hoped from building to building. He was getting a vibe from Ellie, it grew stronger as he got closer to her. The Bloody rag was still in his hand.
He jumped from the building to the streets below and started running to where the vibe was coming from, only it wasn't just a vibe anymore, he could see a dot of real light in the distance, as it got closer he saw it came from a window of a building.
Nigel took a leap and soared through the air, his feet hit the side of the building and he read the sign at its top; Ravenscar Medical Complex.
He glided to the window and peered in, Ellie glowed with a radiant white light, the only person he saw in the city stood gazing through a window, what she was looking at was out of his range of vision.
Nigel turned around and walked into the distance, he took out his lighter and set fire to the bloody rag, the light from it filled the distance, and he was promptly returned to our plane.
Nigel looked at the wall clock, it was six P.M., and the divination process had taken ten hours, whereas it felt like it didn't last more than fifteen minutes.
Eudaemon walked through the crowded maternity ward of Ravenscar Hospital, Ellie stood at a glass window looking at the nursery filled with infants. She looked disheveled and shaken. He quietly walked up behind her.
"We never thought of a name." said Ellie, as she watched a little baby that was just brought in.
"I was thinking, maybe Jane for a girl. I didn't think of anyone for a boy."
"Let's get you home"
"Where's home?" Ellie asked, her voice raspy from crying, "Club Midnite? John's apartment? That building? We've given our homes"
"Wherever our daughter is, that's where home is. Let's find where is both."
Ellie turned to look at Eudaemon with questioning a look.
"I saw her, it was a girl." said Eudaemon with an encouraging smile.
"Let's go find Jane."
Eudaemon cradled Ellie n his arms and led her to a window, without anyone taking notice he spread his wings and flew off.
Constantine stuck a cigarette between his lips and took out his Zippo lighter as he walked through the Nightclub, Midnite had just arrived and his presence in the club was no longer needed and less wanted.
John felt uncomfortable in the nightclub seeing that it was mostly a college crowd, and he'd long left those days behind him. He flicked the lighter open and lit his Silk Cut, sat at the bar and then gazed over to where the band was splaying, they were called 'The Seraphs'(1).
Odd thing were the Seraphs, they played an odd blend of Celtic Music and Gothic Metal. An other odd thing about them was that they had been playing for fifty years now.
John shifted his eyes between the band members as he put on the bracelet provided by Jack, Azrael was at the drums; but that wasn't out of the ordinary for the group, they were all Angels; The Lead Vocalist, the Bassist, The Violinist. They all had blackened wings, they all seemed to be in their teens but in fact they've been alive from the beginning of time.
The band finished their number and were met with a roaring applause from a satisfied audience. They got off the stage to make room for the next band.
John put out his cigarette and made sure the bracelet was secured on his let hand. Azrael strolled over to him, the scroll was stuffed in the inside of her coat.
"Hey John," said Azrael as she sat next to John and ordered a Coke, "Didn't expect to see you here"
"Hi, Just felt like giving you a hello"
"Have you seen Ellie yet"
"No, Not since Ravenscar as I told you"
"Did you enjoy the show"
"I've always been more of a Frank Sinatra Person. By the way, you're not Irish, so what's with the Celtic"
"It's all about style I guess, same reason you wear that damn trench-coat all year long. Werent you in a punk rock band once"
"That was a long time ago, our name was 'Mucous Membrane'(2"
"I heard you play once, let me tell you I'm glad you didn't quit your day job."
John took the insult in stride.
"You know you're probably never going to land a record deal." said John.
"We've just had an exec from Virgin Records saying he'll make us the new Evanescence. But needless to say we turned him down, were not planning to sell out anytime soon. It's just about the music, were keeping it real."
"An Angel keeping it real, that's a sentence I never imagined I'd hear."
"John, really? What are you doing here, not that I don't enjoy our little talks"
"I was bored, Midnite's back, he told me to go home and let the big boys play. Speaking of playing, did you hear of anything big happening in the past days"
"What do you mean?"
"I've been hearing rumors, something about a major breach of the rules of conflict"
"Sorry, I've got nothing. Why would it matter to you? You're practically neutral"
"Me neutral? Who told you that"
"You work for Papa Midnite; the Switzerland of the occult. For a year you've just stuck to mere Exorcisms, not to mention you're not as nearly nosy as you were"
"I just don't wan to screw up"
"Good luck with that"
"I'm sorry Azrael, but I have to leave"
"See you around, John."
John went to leave, but Azrael grabbed him by the wrist, "Hey John," she said.
"Yeah."
She looked straight into his eyes, her gray eyes penetrating his soul, luckily the bracelet was on.
"Are you hiding anything from me"
"No. Would I?"
Azrael smiled, "No. you're not that stupid."
John went to leave, he lit a new cigarette as he stepped outside and walked away; hoping the young night would end with no major events.
(1) The Seraphs are the highest order of Angels.
(2) Mucous Membrane was John's band in the Hellblazer comics.