Ordo Ab Chao
Chapter V
Late at night, local hospital
"Are you listening, Mr. Constantine? I said you have stage 4 cancer…"
The doctor had continued on but Constantine had stopped listening after he first heard cancer. It wasn't that he was surprised to have it, more that it was happening now, now when he was giving his all in an attempt to save the world from whatever madness had been cooked up in the shadows. But that's how life works, isn't it? Dropping more weight on your shoulders when you swear you're already carrying all you can bare.
The pretty doctor by the name of Kendra eventually left the room leaving Constantine alone with his two friends Chas and Zed. Really his only friends left that weren't ghosts already. They had tried offering words of comfort as well but they fell on deaf ears and eventually Constantine simply asked them to leave the room so he could be alone for a while.
As soon as they were gone he had used magic to keep the machines running as though he were still attached to them and then pulled out everything the fools at this hospital had stuck in him. It took a little while but he was up and fully dressed before anyone was the wiser.
Opening the window Constantine saw that he was on the fourth or fifth floor but it was dark out and across the way was a series of buildings with rooftops high enough for him to work a little of his arts. He stepped back a bit and cast a spell that allowed him to walk on air as if it were ground then carefully stepped out of the window. Anyone that had bothered to look up would be treated to the sight of a man in a trench coat walking across the sky.
When he touched down on the rooftop Constantine took one last look back at the hospital and then turned away in search of the nearest place that sold cigarettes.
Unknown time, unknown place
A cold wet plop smacked him on the face and stirred John Constantine back to consciousness. He tried to sit up but immediately regretted the choice and let his head flop back down on what he assumed was a bed.
He was wrong.
He cracked his head on the concrete and it sobered him up enough to realize where he was and what was happening. Around him were three or four empty bottles of alcohol with another half empty bottle directly within arm's reach. He was in a park under a statue and that wet mess he'd felt was bird crap from the animals perched atop the statue.
"Bloody buzzards," he cursed and wiped the shit from his face with his hand. He burped and this caused the alcohol in his system to reassert its dominance and his world became a spinning blur of color and scenery. He reached for the bottle through the hazy vision, swallowed two large gulps and then let himself hit the ground again.
He could hear the laughter as people passed by him on their way to complete their daily tasks. Children mostly with the occasional voice of an adult using him as an example for why their children should remain in school and off drugs.
"Drugs are bad!" he shouted for no reason at all.
Among the humans were the otherworldly creatures that only he and those like him could see. They too were taunting and mocking him. The great John Constantine reduced to a drunken stupor in the park. The image of all mages who was unable to save anyone in all his years of fighting against the darkness. His mind turned to all those he had failed in his past and it made bile build up in his throat so much so that he turned and vomited right next to where his head was lying on the ground.
The most recent memories of the two brothers he had failed came into his mind followed quickly by the man named Mason Jungers. Constantine had gone to him with all intentions on keeping him alive only to have his death on his hands as well. His use of magic and lack of explanation led to Mason freaking out and falling to his death. Another in the long list of good gone bad he'd been a part of over the years.
Constantine's vision was a blurry swirl of twisted demonic creatures, unaware humans, and bright colors. All of which randomly fluctuated and moved every time he turned his head too fast or burped. Through his hazy glare, he was able to make out the outline of his bottle and lifted his shaky hand to pick it up.
It was right there.
He closed his hand and felt only air.
"What the hell?"
He tried again and only got air.
"Come here you stupid fucking bottle! You can't move! You're a bloody inanimate object!" he slurred his words, mispronouncing them as he cursed the bottle of alcohol over and over.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen..." The voice sent a cold chill down Constantine's spine. He suddenly felt the temperature rising as if he had been dropped into hell without his notice.
His eyes were still on that bottle when he said, "I don't know who ya' beastie but this ain't the time to be tryin' ol' Constantine."
"Ha ha ha ha…" The laugh was colder than the voice. It wasn't a joyful laugh or even one of amusement. Constantine felt fear.
He slowly looked up at the figure standing over him and using magic to straighten his eyesight, saw only a small unassuming man of middle age. The three-piece-suit the man was wearing was impeccable however and Constantine noted it. He shifted his perception deeper than the usual amount it took to see the everyday creatures and that was when a crown of flame exploded over the man's head and a fiery figure of beauty and terror so great Constantine had to look away.
"You're…you're…."
"The First…"
'He's here for me…so soon…' Constantine's mind went back to a banishment that had happened years ago. Some place out in London back when he still had a somewhat decent reputation there.
"I said stay out!" Constantine had shouted at the parents of the possessed teenager he was attempting to save. The demon had proven a bit harder to remove and the screams had drawn the parents in, exactly what the demon had wanted.
The mother and father stood there for a moment staring at their daughter, clinging to a corner of the roof upside down like a spider. Her head twisted around completely so that her body was upside down but her head was facing the right way up. Her mother gasped, covering her mouth and her father fell to his knees crying out.
"I said get out!"
Too late.
The demon lunged from the roof tackling the mother and biting down into her neck, ripping away a large chunk of flesh from the throat. Blood almost exploded from the wound and splashed onto her son who drank it up like water in a desert. The mother tumbled backward trying to stop the flow of her life essence with her hands but it wouldn't help. The father cried out again and the demon advanced on him but Constantine had set up protections by then and the creature was repelled when it tried to attack so it turned its attention to Constantine.
When it reached him it found similar protections and stopped in its tracks to sniff at its prey."…Constantine…John Constantine…."
Now curious and slightly worried that this demon knew his name, Constantine lashed out with a spell of entrapment and gripped the possessed teen's body in his hold. "How do you know my name, mate?" the demon inside resisted so Constantine tightened his hold. "Oi, I asked you a fucking question." He invoked more dominance.
The demon clearly yielded, "…it's whispered in circles of privilege…"
"What's said about it?"
The demons resisted again and this made Constantine even more curious and angry. He began to inflict harm onto the demon and it cried out in pain. "…that yours is the only soul he will come to collect himself…"
"He?"
"Stop it! You're hurting my child!" the father screamed from the floor. He was of course ignored.
"Who is he?!" Constantine demanded.
"...The First of the Fallen…"
That memory made him chuckle a little at first before giving in to full out laughter. The laughter continued until Constantine began to choke and then he vomited all over the ground. The First took a step back and made a face.
"Enough of this." With a wave of his hand, Constantine instantly sobered up.
Constantine got to his feet and brushed himself off. "Neat trick, mate." He was nervous and hoped his shaking wasn't visible.
"You are right to be afraid." The First said. "But I am not here to claim your soul. Not this day."
Constantine visibly relaxed but still stayed a good distance away. He was using his arts to make sure that he didn't have to look upon the beings true form again as it was too much for his mortal eyes to behold. Just the memory of it alone was enough to make his eyes water. "Then why are you here?" he finally got the courage to ask.
"To see you in in the flesh. I've heard so much about you over the years."
Constantine scoffed. "I bet you have. Straight from the mouths of your little minions I sent burning back to you." He started patting his pockets for his pack of cigarettes. The First produced a cigarette out of thin air, "Do I look dumb to you?" ignoring the offer.
"Yes, you do. That, however, is beside the point. You're already going to die, Constantine. I don't need to do anything else but wait." The First held the cigarette out and a small smile spread across the human visage he was using.
Constantine took it and gave it a sniff before lighting it up.
"You know how things work, John. May I call you John?" the First folded his arms behind his back and then began to walk without looking to see if Constantine was following him.
"Yeah, mate I know how things work. Give and take and all that. Rules and regulations, power struggles and coups." Constantine noticed that everyone around them had suddenly been frozen in place. The entire city, birds, trees, trash blowing in the wind. Even the demonic creatures were frozen in place. The First was a being of great power.
"You've done good work in my eyes on numerous occasions. Many times you send my competitions minions back and that is always a good thing. Why just recently you sent me those nice brothers to play with. What were their names?" the First made a thoughtful face. "The Parish brothers I believe. Yes. The Priest, oh how he fought. I take great pleasure in breaking the religious who end up in my realm. They can never accept that God would abandon them to such a fate." He laughed.
"Make your point and leave me be," Constantine said rudely. "You'll have time enough to torture me when I get there."
The First eyed him like a lion eyes a gazelle. "Your suffering will be legendary, John. A thing to make what I put Hitler through look like kindness on my part. Oh how succulent and sweet a victory it will be to finally feast..." he leaned in so close Constantine could smell the sulfur in his breath. "...on your soul..." he stood up and smiled the bloodcurdling way only a prince of darkness could. "Goodbye for now." Before he vanished, The First waved his hand and instantly restored the alcohol back into Constantine's system.
The feeling of instantly becoming drunk made Constantine retch several times so that his stomach greatly pained him when he finished and blood was mixed in with the vomit. He collapsed down onto some surprisingly soft grass and closed his eyes in an attempt to make the world stop spinning. It did nothing for a while and then blackness overcame his senses and he was lost in it.
Much time later
He felt cold hands slap him on the face, softly at first but then with a bit more force. He struggled and regained some consciousness but his head was ringing badly and his vision was blurred. He could hear what sounded like a man's voice repeating his name.
Constantine…
Constantine…
John Constantine…
He felt something coming up and prepared to vomit but was able to keep it in for a bit longer.
He felt a hand grip his wrist, "Let help you up." A man with an unfamiliar voice said. Constantine felt the world move and he was hoisted up to his feet by someone with surprising strength. He immediately doubled over to rest his elbows on his knees so things would stop spinning and straighten out.
"Bloody hangover..." Constantine grumbled to nobody in particular. He started to feel a bit better, "Look, mate, thanks for the help and everything but I'm fine now so I'm just gonna be on me- Constantine stood upright and looked at the man who had helped him and jumped back several steps.
The man had no face.