Hello my lovelies! I'm really enjoying this whole fan-fic experience. It's the first time I've done anything like this, and the feedback I've been getting back is so great. People are so sweet. I love people! Anyway…
Harley-the-Great: thanks for your review. I understand what you're saying, OC's aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's really great that you still have an open mind, and I really appreciate your opinion.
Okay, for those of you who hate this whole flicking confusingly between scenes, I've managed to split them properly now, and an explanation of them will come soon. They tend to get a little more understandable as time goes on anyway. But I'm afraid, for now, prepare to be befuzzled, my sweets, because here comes another one…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a dark room of a shoddy, broken-down motel, a woman stood naked before a full-length mirror. She traced her fingers over her body, gently caressing the bluish bruises. Pain was something she'd never get used to. She inspected her entire form, before her emerald eyes finally came to rest upon the part she dreaded… Her belly was sore, the normally soft flesh oddly tightened, as if already feeling an inward strain. She turned on her side, and studied the shape of her profile carefully. It couldn't be seen yet. She had no idea how fast it would be.
The woman suddenly flew at the mirror, breaking into noisy sobs, slamming her body onto the cold glass.
"Father!" she wailed, and slid down onto the floor. She buried her face in her knees, crying over and over again;
"Father! Father!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chas sat in the middle of a desolate bowling alley, legs stretched wide, staring vehemently into the black hole at the end. He lifted a beer bottle to his lips and swallowed a mouthful, wrinkling his nose. It really didn't taste that great.
"You been in my fridge again?" Chas jumped as John's voice sounded behind him. "Guess this means you'll be bunking on my couch. Again. No driving under the influence an' all that." The exorcist sat by a scoring pillion and gave him a cynical look. Chas shuffled round so he sat facing his mentor and grinned sheepishly.
"I had a bad day?" he said, hoping it would be enough of an excuse.
"Mm-hm." John tutted, and said; "I'm sorry I left you alone at Midnite's. I figured it was better if you sat things out."
Chas grinned. Alone, huh?
"Oh, right," he responded in an over exaggerated manner, "and there I was thinking you wanted to wrap me up in cotton wool and shove me on a shelf!"
"Cute," said John, giving him a mock frown. He dug around in his pockets and produced a packet of chewing gum. Glaring at it, he muttered;
"I hate this stuff."
"Better than the alternative, Johnny-Boy," Chas said, "believe me." A sudden uncomfortable silence settled over the pair at this comment. It was the first time that Chas had directly though about what had happened to him, and a sudden weight had appeared in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't even really understand why it hurt so much. He was okay, after all. But it did.
Noticing the look on his apprentice's face, john decided he needed to change the mood, and said;
"So kiddo, seeing as how you're constantly bitchin' at me about being left behind, do you wanna know what Midnite told me tonight?"
"Cool!" said Chas, immediately brightening up. He shuffled along the alley so he ended up sitting perhaps four feet away from Constantine, looking like a kindergarten brat at storytime. "So, man, what happened?"
"He shit himself."
Chas burst into laughter at this, and said;
"What the Hell!" His mith vanished, however, when he saw John's face. He was staring at him moodily, and Chas realised perhaps this wasn't so funny.
"Finished?"
Chas nodded meekly, and John took an emphasised breath before continuing;
"I told him about the soldier demon and he practically crapped his pants. Said he'd been hearing rumours all week, about run-ins with renegade lower level demons. the real thing, not just half-breeds. So, i suggested he used the Chair. Said he already had. And what he saw was not good. There's a hole in the barrier between our plan and the preternatural one. Something came through, and left the door open. Things have got in. Folks are working on repairs, but Christ knows whta's already here."
John bit on a strip of gum and sighed heavily.
"I had an ordinary day once. I remember. It was a monday. I went fishing." Chas grinned slightly at the idea of John Constantine fishing.
"Catch anything big?"
"Jack Shit."
Chas stood up, draining the last of his beer, and clapped a hand on John's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Johnny-Boy. If we're really as screwqed as I think we are, at least you'll go down with a clean bill of health."
"Kid, you're everything a comedian should be, except funny." Chas shrugged off this comment and headed to the upper floor of the Bowlerama. As he flumped on the tattered brown couch though, the fear that he had covered only moments before eith humour hit him hard. Soldier demons were loose on Earth, he'd already seen that. But there could be anythng prowling the streets. Chas knew that they did terrible things just through possesion, desrtoying the witnesses emotionally as well as their vessels. John was enough evidence for that...
Chas slumped on the couch, feeling the beer ease into a twilight state between sleeping and waking. Clinging momentarily to the last few strands of conciousness, he prayed he didn't dream...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the street below, a young woman with self-illuminated turquoise eyes gazed up at the Bowlerama, hugging herself. There was a ripple through the air, undistinguishable to most, and she gasped. One of her children was dying...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hm, okay. Not sure if I like this chapter. I'm beginning to suffer writers block. Please review and maybe it'll help! xxx