John Constantine stood outside of a abandoned, rundown house. News anchors and cameras surrounded the house trying to get a scoop on the murders that took place last night. Bystanders stood by trying to figure out what happened.
"This is Vicki Vale coming at you live from the scene where gruesome murders occurred last night here in Gotham City," said a blonde female news anchor. "It appears that thirteen people have been murdered in house 113 on Blackwood Street, their bodies found in horrible conditions as if they were attacked by vicious animals. The police are working on trying to identify who the killer, or killers, are and what their motif was for killing these thirteen people. More on the story as it unfolds." Constantine scanned the scene. Obviously these people weren't killed by some ordinary person, and especially not some animals. Constantine knew that this house wasn't just a regular abandoned house. This house had a history of attracting cults, meaning that these people, most likely cultists, died by supernatural means, but what exactly, Constantine came to figure out. He just needed to get somewhere alone. He began to walk away before he was stopped by someone.
"Well, well well," they said. "If it isn't John. I wasn't expecting you here." John turned around and found one of his dear friends standing before him.
"Zatanna," he said in his British accent. "It's been too long."
"I know," she replied. She looked away from him for a second. Constantine could tell unpleasant memories flooded her mind. He cleared his throat.
"So, um, what brings you here?" he asked. "Madame Xanadu is not trying to make Justice League Dark a thing again, is she?
"No, but I was actually wondering the same thing about you," she said. The wind picked up sending his blonde hair and Zatanna's raven black hair all over the place.
"Hey, I asked you first," he said. Zatanna smiled. He liked seeing her smile.
"Well, if you must know," she started. "I was sent here by Batman actually."
"Is that right?" Constantine asked. "What is he busy or something?"
"Yeah actually," she said crossing her arms. "Him and the rest of the Bat-Family. Their trying to stop the Joker from doing something or other. Anyway, he sent me here to investigate for him. He knows I can handle this type of case."
"You mean Batsy knows about the house?" Constantine asked.
"Yep," Zatanna said. "So back to my question."
"Well, I also came to investigate," Constantine said. "Last night, I felt some type of disturbance. I don't know how to explain it, but it felt like some warning that something escaped."
"You felt it too?" Zatanna asked, her eyes getting big. John looked at her and nodded. "I thought it was some type of bad nerves or something."
"Well, glad to know I wasn't the only one," Constantine said.
"Agreed," Zatanna said. She put her hand on his shoulder. "John, I need you to tell me everything you know."
"Well, this house has a history for attracting cults," Constantine started. "So I'm thinking that a bunch of cultists ended up dying last night."
"But, by what?" Zatanna asked.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Constantine said. "I can easily perform some type of re-enactment spell to find out, but I need to get inside the house."
"Well, why haven't you got inside the house yet?" Zatanna asked.
"Because I needed to be by myself," Constantine said. "I can't perform a spell in front of all these people. I was just leaving before you stopped me."
"Oh," Zatanna said. "Well, we can leave together. Come on." Zatanna led Constantine out of the crowd of people to a dark alleyway. Gotham had a lot of dark alleyways.
"Okay," Zatanna said. "Take my hands."
"What are you doing?" Constantine asked taking Zatanna's hands.
"Getting us inside the house," she replied. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Edisni Su Teg." They were engulfed in blue light. Constantine felt his body move from one place to another. The light began to dissipate and their surroundings were completely different than before. Constantine and Zatanna were now standing inside the abandoned house. Constantine pulled Zatanna aside quickly as a policeman walked by.
"Cantatio est invisibilitas," Constantine whispered. He looked down at his hands and saw the they weren't there. His spell worked.
"Invisibility spell," Zatanna said quietly. "Why didn't I think of that."
"'Cause you're not me," Constantine said. Zatanna punched him in his shoulder.
"Oh shut up," she said. Come on, I can feel some faint, magical energy this way." Zatanna led Constantine to what was probably once a living room. Constantine looked around the room and the first thing that caught his eye was the pentagram drawn on the floor that was slowly fading.
"Bingo," he said. He walked over and knelt down in the middle of the pentagram.
"Well I guess it's confirmed," Zatanna said. "There was a cult here." Constantine put his hand on the floor.
"Mihi revelet Deus absconsa tua," he said. The pentagram around them began to glow yellow and and image glew above them.
"Z," Constantine said. "I need you to keep us from being spotted."
"Seye Detnawnu Morf Su Laecnoc," she said raising her hands. A faint blue bubble surrounded them and the pentagram. Constantine stood up and dusted off his hands.
"Now let's see what happened last night to our unlucky guests," he said. Him and Zatanna watched as the cultists opened the portal.
"They tried opening a portal to Hell," Constantine said. "This is obviously an amateur cult. They didn't even have the right ritual."
"So what did they open?" Zatanna asked.
"I guess we're about to find out, look," Constantine pointed at the image. They saw a black tentacle pierce through the cult leader. Then they watched the released demons attack the remaining cultists.
"By God," Zatanna said. "This… this is just… awful."
"I know," Constantine said. "But we need to know who they are." They listened in on the demon's conversation, and the image died out.
"Pride, Lust, Wrath, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, and Sloth," Constantine. "These demons are the Seven Deadly Sins, or embodiments of them anyway."
"Okay then," Zatanna said. "But that doesn't explain who they are, or why they were imprisoned."
"You're right," Constantine said. "But I may know someone who might know who these demons are."
"How convenient," Zatanna said. "Well, where is this guy?"
"New Orleans," Constantine said. "Z, how would you like to go on a road trip with me down south?"