As the doors opened, Constantine pivoted around and aimed his shotgun into the hydrotherapy room. The flashlight attached to the gun illuminated a grizzly sight. There was a body floating face down in the pool. It was wearing a white shirt, bloody red bullet holes staining the back.
Fearing the worst, Constantine and Chas entered the room. Anput and I walked in behind them. We could feel a demonic presence here stronger than any we had felt in the building so far. There was also a slight tingling at the back of my mind, like a feather tickling the back of my brain. I forced that feeling aside as Constantine splashed down the steps into the pool. I followed him in. My assignment waded in the waist-deep chlorinated water and turned the floating body over. Thankfully, it wasn't Angela. It was Manuel, the scavenger. He was dead, his body cast aside like a used car with way too much mileage on it.
"Uh, John?" Chas said, noticing something. I had been looking for what Chas was seeing, and when I found it I suddenly became very afraid. The water behind us started to bubble like a sea monster was rising from under the surface. "John!" Chas called, desperate to get his mentor's attention.
"Look!" I shouted, pointing a shaking finger.
Constantine looked behind him as something exploded upwards from the pool. As a reflex, he aimed his shotgun at it, but stopped short of pulling the trigger when he realised who it was. It was Angela, or at least it was Angela's body. Her eyes were an unearthly blue colour. Her skin was pale with veins sticking out. Demonic energy came off her in thick waves. Constantine realised with a start that she was possessed by Mammon himself. She growled at him, sounding like a rabid dog. A small smile played on her lips as Mammon recognised the enemy.
"Shit," Constantine muttered. It was my thoughts exactly. Constantine dropped the gun into the pool and grabbed Angela's neck and face in his hands. She grabbed hold of his upper arm and throat as Constantine began to chant in Latin. His voice was desperate. I chewed on my lip. I knew I had to help him, but I didn't know what passing through Angela while she was possessed would do to me, other than it wouldn't be very good for my health.
Angela cocked her head at Constantine, like she was curious. Then she shoved him sideways into the water. Constantine hit the bottom and Angela held him there. He kept a hold of her, but could no longer say the words needed to weaken Mammon. I dove under the water and grabbed Constantine's arm. I pulled on it, hoping to get him out from under her. Angela roared under the water as I tugged on my assignment in vain. Then Angela was suddenly gone, jerked upwards and off of Constantine.
Constantine and I burst through the surface, my assignment gasping for air as we saw Chas, his hat and gun cast aside, dragging Angela out of the pool. Anput was doing all she could to help him. Angela was roaring and screeching in protest. Constantine grabbed her and shouted "Pull!" He and Chas lugged Angela, struggling and fighting, onto the tiles at the edge of the pool.
Her battle continued there as Chas fought to hold her arms down and Constantine kneeled over her, slipping on the wet tiles. He grabbed her head and resumed chanting in Latin. I kneeled on the other side of Angela, opposite my assignment. I grabbed his arm, trying to give him as much strength as I could. Anput was doing the same to Chas. It was a difficult struggle. Mammon was fighting back hard, and winning. The demon roared and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Mammon was realising that Constantine was weak, even with my added strength. I knew that it wouldn't be enough to stop the devil's son. He could very well win.
But then something happened. Angela's eyes rolled back into her skull and her body tensed up. Her eyes swiftly became clear and human again. She gasped for air as colour slowly reappeared in her skin. Constantine and Chas were relived. Anput and I were not. We knew it wasn't over yet, not by a long shot.
John stroked Angela's hair and whispered her name. Chas let go of her arms. Angela blinked and looked up at John. She seemed glad to see him.
Then her expression changed. I knew what was happening and felt an ill feeling in my gut. Angela's face scrunched up in pain as Mammon worked his way into her womb. She began to gasp sharply and I winced. It couldn't have been a pleasant experience.
"Angela, what is it?" John asked.
Angela gasped again in terror and sat part way up, clutching her abdomen. Chas supported her head as her stomach began to convulse. It was as if a giant parasite was wriggling and squirming underneath her skin. Briefly what looked like a demonic face could be seen pressing up from inside Angela's body. I gasped and scooted a fraction away. Angela grabbed Constantine's arms. "Get it out!" she cried in desperation.
Constantine was sickened by the thought of this monster trying to chew his way out of the woman he was beginning to fall in love with. He placed his hand over Angela's stomach and pressed down on the demon inside, chanting with the most forceful voice he could manage. Angela kicked her feet wildly and grasped Constantine's coat. She gasped and whimpered in pain, continuing to shout "Get it out!" I put my hand over Constantine's and attempted to do my part in weakening the demon. Constantine's eyes squinted shut with the effort and his voice grew horse. He was struggling, feeling ill and dizzy. It wasn't long before I too could feel my strength waning. My arm felt heavy and it became difficult for me to give Constantine enough power to stop Mammon. I realised with a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach that unless Chas and Anput also stepped up to help, we would fail.
I raised my eyes to my sister, wondering why she wasn't helping us. She was standing behind Chas looking shocked. The look I gave her said it all, though I also vocalised it. "Anput! you have to help! And get him to help! We can't do this alone."
Anput seemed to finally snap out of it. "Right, Sorry," she muttered.
She nodded quickly and whispered in Chas' ear. He could already see that Constantine was fatigued, and Anput's nudge drove him to his final decision. He knew the words because had read them a thousand times. This was as good a time as any to put what he had learned to use. Chas closed his eyes and started to chant the same Latin words as his mentor. Anput placed her hands on his shoulder to give him a boost of power. Constantine looked at Chas with something like surprise on his face. Seeing his apprentice behaving this way boosted his own strength. He started chanting in a stronger, more forceful voice. He leaned in closer so that his head was next to Chas'. The two men spoke in unison, demanding that Mammon leave Angela's thrashing body. I felt a small amount of pride rise up within me, bringing with it a surge of my own power.
At last Angela lay still and the mass in her stomach stopped wriggling. Mammon was still there, but he was temporarily weakened and beaten back. We had bought ourselves a bit of time.
Angela closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness. Constantine, Chas, Anput and I were breathing hard with exhaustion and relieved that this part of it was over. I realised that we were all dripping wet, though the water was probably mixed with a fair amount of sweat by now.
"Oh my God," Chas breathed. He sat back suddenly, as if he just realised what he had done. He stared, shocked, at Angela's prone face.
Constantine sat back, panting hard. His lungs must have felt like they were on fire. He looked up at Chas, impressed and proud. "Not bad, kid."
Chas smiled and chuckled. Anput and I beamed as well. It was the most positive thing Constantine had ever said to him. I felt that tickle at the back of my skull once again and my face fell. I made eye contact with my sister. She sighed softly and nodded. She had felt it too.
Chas looked at Angela again and addressed the demon that still lurked not too far away. Wanting to be like his exorcist mentor, he declared, "'Not bad.' you hear that? You know why that is? It's because this is Kramer. Chas Kramer, ass-"
Chas never got to finish his sentence as he was grabbed by invisible hands and wrenched upwards towards the ceiling. Constantine tried and failed to grab him. He blew past Anput as my assignment and I struggled to get up on the slippery tiles. We could only watch in horror as Chas was slammed against the ceiling. He grunted as the wind was knocked out of him. Then he was smashed onto the tiles hard enough to shatter them. I realised that if it was force enough to do that, then it would also be sufficient to shatter his ribs. Chas crashed into the ceiling and floor once again with equal force. Then he lay dead still on the broken tiles.
Constantine and I ran up to him. I looked to Anput. She solemnly turned to me and whispered "good bye."
I knew that as soon as Chas died, my sister would disappear. I nodded at her and also whispered "good bye."
Anput nodded back and looked at Chas once again. After she disappeared, she would escort Chas to his final resting place before possibly hanging around to wait for me to finish up with Constantine. I wouldn't be able to see her during that time, but it was still a small comfort for me to know that she would be there.
John didn't have this comfort. He looked shocked and numb. "Chas," he said quietly, placing a hand on his stricken friend's heart.
Chas was struggling to breathe and a small trickle of blood was flowing from his nose. His broken ribs must have punctured his ribs and heart. An image of massive internal bleeding came to my mind, but I shoved it away and swallowed hard. Constantine stared down at him, possibly wondering how this could happen. He was going to lose another friend, someone who had done everything he could to help him. And one so young, too; Chas was only twenty.
Chas looked to Anput, then to Constantine. "You're right, John," he managed to say. His voice was barely audible. "It's not like the books."
"No," John agreed. "It isn't." Chas had known that this job would be dangerous, but spending all his time sitting in the cab reading had softened him to the threats and dangers. Now he was suffering for it.
Chas took his last, desperate breaths, then I felt his life force leave. At the same time, Anput disappeared, leaving Constantine and I alone in the room with the unconscious Angela and the invisible being who had murdered Chas.
I licked my dry lips and found my voice. It sounded hollow with anger. "John, I think we should make whoever did this show their face."
Constantine said nothing. He stood, baring his teeth in fury and undoing the buttons on the cuffs of his shirt. He rolled up his sleeves, stepping away from Chas' body as he did so. He was breathing hard through his teeth, gathering the strength he needed. I used some of what remained of my powers to help fuel my assignment as he slammed the conjuring tattoos on his forearms together.
"Into the light, I command thee," he growled. As the two halves of the conjuring symbol neared each other, the shadows in the room seemed to lengthen and spread as if they were alive. "Into the light, I command thee," Constantine grunted as his arms were forced apart against his will. Someone didn't want to be seen. Constantine fell onto one knee withone hand on the floor to support himself. I kneeled with him as he pressed the tattoos together again. His voice seemed to become unworldly as the shadows around us grew again. "Into the light, I command thee! Into the light, I command thee!"
For a second, I thought I could see the image of giant wings unfurling from the shadows. That's when I knew for sure who was hiding. I had known it all along, of course, and I felt a grim satisfaction that I wasn't disappointed.
"INTO THE LIGHT I COMMAND THEE!"