Punishment
It had been bad, of course it had. When had ever one of John Constantine´s cases not been bad? But it wasn't his fault, not this time, it was time itself that had been their enemy. The boy was dead an hour before he and Zed even arrived at the edge of the small town in the middle of nowhere. Zed knew John was aware of the timetable that he hadn't been able to save that boy even when they would have figured out where to find him sooner. No word she said reached him and as he disappeared behind the door with the endless corridor she called Chas even when he spends some family time right now. This was more than a bit urgent.
Chas arrives only a couple of hours after the panic call from Zed, he knew it hadn't been a good idea to let John out of his side but he had to live with this right now, the more pressing matter was John or better the mental condition he will be found in.
Zed is waiting for him at the door; her worry was painted onto her face. She leads Chas to the door and he knows exactly where to find his friend. One of the more gruesome rooms in the house, depending on your mental state of course.
Chas sighs and opens the door; with one hand on the left wall he passes the endless numbers of doors until he finds the right one. Zed is close behind not wanting to get lost. "What kind of place is behind that door?" She asks unsure if she really wants an answer.
With a hand on the door knob Chas turns to her. "Punishment." He says and opens up the door. Not really understanding what he means by this Zed follows through the open door and stops.
Only a few meters away from her on the ground lays John in his trench coat, empty bottles all around him, an empty pack of cigarettes was thrown away. The brick walls around them have blood all over it, it looks like it flows out of the wall and now inside Zed hears crying. Cries for help and also angry judging voices that blame everything at John. Phantoms or Shadows walk around the room. Only ghostly figures that seem to disappear when she looks too closely. A cold feeling starts to crawl under her skin and she wonders how someone can stand to be in this room for longer than 5 minutes.
Chas walks slowly around his friend and knees down. With a softness that you wouldn't think his giant hands are capable of Chas starts to peel the latest whiskey bottle out of his friends unconscious hands before he carefully lifts the limp body into his arms. John is lighter than he thoughts but when you only live of smoking and drinking alcohol it is no wonder.
Getting his emotion under control he turns around and starts carrying John out of the room. Zed seems to wake up out of her frozen state and holds the door for them. Before she walks ahead of them to do the same at the main door.
This room is designed to lock yourself in your pain, to get punished as you feel the need for it. It hurts you not physical, it shows you your fears, milks your regrets and transforms then into monsters that will taunt you until you get yourself out of it. Only guilt is keeping you inside, guilt and regret. Both of which John has enough. They had only seen a glimpse at the horror due to John´s unconscious status the effects of the room are less.
Careful not to wake his friend Chas carries John into his bedroom, Zed pulls the blankets back. They pull of the coat and the shoes and cover John´s body with the blanket. He gets a chair to sit next to the bed, he wouldn't want John to wake up alone. He will be angry and uncooperative and denial any help but he won´t wake up alone.
Zed dead tied on her feet from the long day, the devastating case and John just lays down on top of the cover next to John and falls asleep and Chas watches over both of them.