Mia sat down at a table, John giving her another disgruntled look. She took her spot without even asking or paying attention to his gaze. The left side, the window, his spot.
Chas gave him a look as he sat beside her so there wasn't a close ranged fight and at least a table would keep his best friend from strangling the young woman. Hopefully, there were no mage wars, he was badly outnumbered.
Constantine flopped in the empty bench across from them rather begrudgingly until his eyes set sight on the waitress coming toward them with a hot pot of coffee in her dark fingers. She was not very tall, but of Native birth. Despite the powdered blue outfit that graced her body, she was beautiful. She probably desired brightly colored patterns that would match her skin tone way better than any old diner outfit, but she did wear a large beaded necklace in the vibrant red and blues in the shape of a Thunderbird.
Pouring their coffee into over eager cups flipping over she smiled at them all, her voice low and soothing although the beads hanging from an arm cuff around her wrist rang softly in the quietness that was thick between them.
"You guys hungry or just coffee tonight?"
"I want some..." Constantine started before the woman across the table interrupted.
"Ladies first." she quipped.
"Now if there was someone other then the waitress who was a lady," he smirked, ignoring the look from his friend across the table.
"Go ahead, Mia," Chas said, his hand on his cup of coffee and her eyes fixed on the stubborn demonologist who had been his best friend for many years across the table.
"Thank you. I would like oatmeal and if you have any fruit back there that would be good on top, please add that. Especially if its cinnamon and apples."
The Native woman chuckled.
"I think I can do something about that." she smiled a braid falling over her name tag although not before Constantine caught sight of the simple name beneath it.
"Eggs and toast, wheat, here. Love the necklace Amy, must mean a lot to you dove."
The woman smiled at him, a wink of her brown eyes making him shift forward and somewhat behave himself.
"Any soup and bread if you have any left. I'm not much of a breakfast person but taking the chill out would be nice thank you, Amy." Chas replied kindly before taking a drink of his coffee, the warmth of it filling his very core and enough energy to deal with the tempest brewing at the table, nonetheless the one outside which now seemed mild.
"I'll be right back" the waitress replied as she turned to go feeling the blonde man watch her leave. She didn't mind, sometimes a little flirt meant a big tip, and right now she could use all she could get. Not a single trucker had rolled through tonight, the weather making them pull over on the side of the road and take a break. On the upside, that meant breakfast would be swamped.
Mia looked outside, sipping her coffee as she played with the necklace around her neck. The thick black velvet choker graced her next in a Gothic style, which seemed to pretty much be her theme. The medallion on it though caught more than her fingers attention. A silver snake twisted around and eating the tail of his foe, the gold snake, who in return was twisted around and eating the silver one's tail.
"The Auryn?" John's voice pulled her back into the present, his voice low and pleasantly not so annoying.
She looked down to it with a nod.
"Yes, I picked it up with my momma in New Orleans," Mia said wistfully.
"Where is she now?" Chas said curiously, trying to get some information about the girl beside him besides the obvious fact she was very powerful.
He knew that's why the English man across from him was giving her such a hard time, he was actually very attentive of her, maybe even a little frightened of her. For years Constantine was the only one that would fight the darkness, the only mortal that could see the sun and the night, and know the two were entwined. He lost all he had for such knowledge and lost everyone he ever came close to. If Chas didn't have twelve souls left, he too would have been lost to the darkness they have battled together for over twenty years.
"She's gone," Mia said simply which could mean anything.
"I don't think she would take a trip and leave you alone, love. How long have you been by yourself anyway?"
"About seven years. I was thirteen when she left, I am twenty-one now."
Chas ran his hand over his beard leaning back in thought his eyes fixed on the mage across the table then back to the young lady beside her.
"And what about your father?"
"I don't know anything about him." Mia sighed moving some runaway hair to behind her ear not wanting to go back into the tempest that caught her gaze. She knew that soon, once again, she would be on her own.
"Probably better that way, Mia, fathers aren't any good anyway."
"Some fathers." Chas corrected. He considered himself a good dad to his little girl, although she was grown up now.
"Right. Some fathers." John agreed for his friend's sake. He knew Chas made a good dad, just wished his own was a good man too.
Chas was about to say something when a familiar ring tone filled the quiet diner. Both his and Mia's eyes turned to John, who gave a look like he didn't want to be bothered, then even more of one when he saw the name… Oliver Queen.
"Hello mate. Didn't think I would be hearing from you." he replied into his cup of coffee, each word muttered stickily "Who did you kill this time."
Mia noticed his brow furrow deeper and deeper as the conversation between the Vigilante of Star City and him. Only able to hear one side of it, of course, unless she cast a spell on the phone before the call. Not that she cared much until he said he would be right there.
"Going to Star City?" Chas stood up, putting his winter jacket on before paying for everyone's warm-up meal to the nice pretty waitress who was busy pouring over a book in a language people long forgot.
"No, actually he wants me to meet him in Central City. At S.T.A.R labs."
"Well, come on let's go then," he replied watching his friend fix his tie which was fruitless anyway since as soon as he bound it up, he just undid it once again.
"What about the girl?" John spoke low, his gaze watching her ask the waitress for a to-go cup of coffee.
Chas took a moment to think, he wanted so badly to help her but two things came to his mind: her want of help, and the constant bickering between the two people who were so similar it was almost scary.
"I'll take her to Central City with us, maybe she will like it."
"Don't do that mate, we have an issue with Mr. Allen, the Flash. I am not going to be bloody responsible when she learns his identity and then blabs it to the world or whatever."
"Then we swing by home and let her stay there."
"Alone, in my house? No way."
"If she even wants to John, you know that its the right thing to do. You two exerted a lot of power tonight. You will be snoring in the back seat of the car all the way to Central, let her at least sleep there."
"Bloody hell. Fine but you are staying with her. Don't let those pretty little fingers touch a damn thing in my house."
"It's not even your hou..."
"Don't start with me mate." John nodded as he interrupted. "Just do it."
Chas nodded and headed with the two mages back to the taxi, opening the door for Mia as they got there. The rain was heavy and thick, it was almost not individual drips but a torrent of a wet blindness, covering them, pressing into the darkness with an audible foreshadowing of things to come. John noticed it too, his shoulders heaving into a sigh as he threw open the door and with only a small look around, got inside.
Mia, on the other hand, seemed to gather strength from the downpour, she no longer looked spent and tired but revived as if it was her morning shower. Sipping the coffee she thanked Chas with a kiss on his cheek and slid into the cab beside Constantine.
"Mia." Chas started as he got in, the car starting at the same time as his words.
"Yes, Chas?"
"If you don't have a place to go, we have a place. It's safe for someone like you." he looked at her in the rearview mirror.
"Safe for someone like me? If its a woman's shelter or something, no thanks. I've been there and done that."
"No love," John started slowly offering her one of his smokes. "My house filled to the brim with every protection spell under the sun plus a few surprises of its own."
Mia looked out the window lighting the cigarette he offered. It sounded like a great idea, out of the rain and into somewhere safe, truly safe. Well, as safe as she could be. The past haunts those in the present and forebodes the future.
"Okay. Yes…" she replied finally sounding as if she was trying to make up her own mind still as she spoke.
"You can get a shower, have some tea and warm up a bit. Have a good nights sleep then be on your way if you wish. If not, we can use someone like you."
Her head whipped around, her wet fishtail braid smacking the window with an odd noise.
"You are asking for my help?"
"Not help yet, love. Trust me, Chase and me have been down this road together a long time, and if you are with us things might just get worse for you."
"Or better" the driver added as he turned off the main road and started to take a path that snaked its way through woods.
Mia watched the trees and John watched her. If she was who she said she was, she could see it. Any minute.
The men in the car saw darkness press into darkness. Shadows of the trees within the lines of the forests, cast upon dark lands as they extended unnaturally out from the light of the two dim headlights rolling down in front of them. The petrichor of rain and wood filled the senses off balanced only by the all too familiar smokey burning tobacco that lingers long after the flames of a cigarette were gone.
Mia saw something completely different. Through the gnarled oaks with fluttering grey leaves, she saw an army. Multitudes of ghastly forms screaming and crawling over anything including each other through the pillars of trees. Fumbling dead forms of grey, long and deformed with soulless eyes that searched for any light. She gripped the door handle tightly as they flooded over the car, like a stampede of elongated corpses.
"There are too many souls wandering these woods. All lost in their sad purgatory, drudging their way as an eternal funeral march," she whispered, her eyes darting around her.
Her reaction and words did not get passed the warlock beside her who slowly reached up and touched her shoulder, his hand giving her a comforting squeeze. Her words, on this at least, were true and his hunger for knowledge about her sated.
"Now I believe you. mate."
Authors note – this chapter might have been a bit slow, but I had to introduce Mia and her role in this story. Also to establish her background a bit. Did you guys figure it out? Who her mother was yet? Why her name is Mia? Recognize the title? I just had to bring Amy into this story, love putting my own characters as well as some others from other peoples stories into my own. Brings the whole thing to life.
Thank you to Julie Flash_Katie237 for letting me work the other side of her plot, from Constantine's point of view instead of her wonderful story which was with Barry and Oliver's point of view! Love working my stories in with yours!
IF you want to read why Constantine is leaving at Olivers phone call, Check out her story, Wounds of the Soul here on Wattpad and