Another rewritten chapter, posted on May 14th 2008.

Chapter one : Demon's threat

It was raining again. It was one of those kind, warm rains of the spring. It soaked John Constantine's clothes, his dark hair, it was like the Heaven itself was grieving over Chas Kramer's death. The raindrops whispered quietly, caressing exorcist's face. The scene looked so peaceful, the only thing that spoiled it was the grave the tall man was standing before. Constantine looked up to the gray clouds and sighed.

An unusually soft whisper escaped his lips. "You had to take him up there, didn't ya?"

The burial had just ended, it was about a week since he saw Chas alive for the last time. There was a bitter taste in Constantine's mouth that he always experienced when he's lost someone close to him. But this time it was different- there were many ghosts following him, he knew that, seeing them floating around him sometimes, accusing him of their death...truthfully. However, Chas didn't haunt him, although he had every right to. Constantine saw this as a sign that the boy that helped him to defeat Mammon would be dead by law only. It lifted his sorrow a little.

He leaned down to the grave of his apprentice. I'm sorry for everything, kid. God, I was so stupid! Look at me now. It's my fault you've died and I can't do a thing 'bout it. At least I hope that I'm not mistaken and that you'll join the half-breed crew. You'd be only one of them I'd like to see.

It was like an answer from the Heaven. The cloud covering the sun moved aside and a sunbeam landed on Chas's gravestone. It was still raining, but a rainbow appeared over the cemetery. Constantine smirked a little and gave a silent nod. Thanks. He straightened up and wanted to leave but before he could, someone shouted his name. And he knew that "someone" very well.

"John! HEY, CONSTANTINE! Damn, could you please just slow down a bit and turn around?!" A female voice, quite deep. He didn't have to think long before he knew who she was.

Angela. Angela Dodson. Detective Dodson. Or many other names he gave her in his own imagination that he would never use when speaking to her. She ran to him, her brown hair fluttering around her face. It was hard to hide his smile, although a bit saddened from the funeral. Looking for something in her purse, she stopped before him, trying to catch her breath.

"Hi. Phew, I'm not exactly fit enough for running. I thought for a moment that you were deaf."

"I am, when it comes in handy," he replied, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"So you are-"

"Yes, I am rude wherever I am." The quotation made her laugh. He sounded exactly like she did when telling him this.

Giving him a playfully strict look, she folded her arms. "Tell me something I don't know. Then she got serious again. "John, I need your help. We've got a new case and it's quite...well, disturbing. Usually I'd try to handle it myself but there's something I think you should see. I know this is not the best time to bother you, but..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Actually, it looks kind of like the stuff you're interested in."

Constantine seemed to be interested. "What's the case?"

"Ahem...could we speak somewhere...in private?

"Yeah, sure. It's not good to be overheard now. The half-breeds are quite pissed off at us. Know any safe place?"

Angela put her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm a cop, right? I should know some...but nope. Perhaps my flat would be OK, if you don't mind. It's just a few streets from here."

"Sounds good," he muttered.

Later, Angela's apartment

"Hey Duck," Constantine smirked, scratching cat's head. The cat purred, quite shocking him. Did the animal just purr?! I mean, every normal cat would be freaking mad if I used it as a gateway to Hell. This one's gotta be either special or mental.

Angela prepared some coffee and while they sat down at the table in her kitchen, she started to speak. "Okay then. Well, yesterday someone called us that one of his colleagues haven't come to work for four days. No note, no message at all. He didn't reply when they've tried to visit him in his flat. We broke in the apartment today in the morning." The exorcist saw behind her mask of calmness. She was shaking, her eyes tracing whole room nervously. "I've never seen anything like that in my whole life. A human body - or, more precisely, it's pieces - all over the place. Even his colleagues weren't able to indentify him. Until we've found the missing part of his head, of course."

He also noticed that she looked very pale. He interrupted her, wanting her to calm down a bit. The describing of the body wasn't exactly the way of chilling out. "I understand. Who was the guy?"

"A half-breed guy, John. He was named Andrew Radim. An artist, from what I've heard. A painter. Some of his works were quite succesful."

"Right. How about the place? How did it look like?"

"Quite red, if you ask me. Lots of blood. However, one half of the flat was very messy, as if someone's tried to find something hidden. We've asked his workmates about anything that anyone would want to steal from him, but obviously had no luck on that. And from the look of the place I'm sure that whatever was the murderer looking for he's found it."

He leaned foward, gazing at her intensely. "Anything unusual about the place?"

"Not really. The flat was just the workaday type, quite small. But there were some things quite resembling..." she swallowed, her voice shaking now, "...Mammon. His sign, painted by the blood of the victim. And some of the walls were destroyed. By fire."

Constantine frowned. "Does bloody look like him." Then he studied Angela's face again. She was still shaken but looked better, as if it helped her, to speak about the murder with someone who knew what all of those signs could mean. And yet it attracted him somehow, to see that this woman would not break and cry every time she saw something similiar. Angela was not weak.

She saw his searching look and raised eyebrows questioningly. "So?"

"So what?" he smirked. "Of course I'll take a look at it."

Angela smiled widely, looking relieved. "Well, I suppose that means we'll really see each other around," she laughed.

"I suppose so." He returned the smile.

"Still..." she continued, "...if you don't want to work on that, I'd understand. It looks quite dangerous-"

She didn't get any further. John Constantine, the calm, level-headed and cynical John Constantine, was laughing uncontrollably, unable to stop. He just couldn't believe it, she was telling him that something was dangerous!

It was so unexpected that she just stared at him for a few seconds with her eyes wide open. The sound was quite strange and unusual, yet it wasn't unpleasant at all. After all, he's still just a human, she thought. She tried to give him an are-you-normal? look, but when her eyes met his, she joined him in laughter, both hands gripping the desk of the table firmly. The exorcist calmed down after while, wheezing and wiping the tears from his eyes. "Really, Angela, that would bother me a lot," he said, still grinning. "The whole community of half-devils and creatures of evil wants me dead, the big Boss of Hell loves me so much he gave me a third chance of life, hoping I would screw it up again. Dangerous? Everything's relative." he ended with a chuckle.

"What a funny guy," she rolled her eyes. "I guess you're in then. Any ideas?"

"For today? Nope. However, I'd like to see the place where you've found the body. Tomorrow."

"No problem. Can you be here about, let's say, 10 in the morning? It'll be easier to get there together, at least I won't have to explain that much."

"Yeah, aside from the gossip that you're sleepin' with the occult guy." Again, that usual smirk. "I'll be here."

She gave him an incredulous look. "Now that would make a good reputation." Why do I think he's enjoying this?

"Just hope your colleagues won't require you to tell 'em some details."

"What would I give for such a ready tongue as you have."

"A ready tongue?" He grinned and put a chewing gum to his mouth. "You have no idea."

After the discussion, John Constantine left Angela's apartment and went to his own, hopefully to get some sleep. But he doubted he would sleep well - there were too many questions troubling him at the moment. Why was Radim killed? Who was the murderer? Why was the victim's blood used for painting the symbol on the wall? Why exactly was it painted there? And why the fuck I had to forget my umbrella again? It started to rain again, but the raindrops were colder now.

But that was just one half of the questions. The other part was about detective Dodson. Constantine wondered why did she have such an effect on him - he never noticed good looking women around him, especially because most of them were half-breeds. Seeing what's underneath, he could never appreciate how they looked like on outside. With Angela, he appreciated every tiny detail. Her eyes seemed to look right into his soul, despite of the fact that he always used mental shields to protect himself. And when around her, he finally felt he could trust someone, in a way that not even Beeman or Henessy were trusted. And stop it right now! he ordered himself. Of course, there was no denying he was attracted to her - both physically and psychically. Too bad he was too proud to admit it. And he could not risk her safety. He knew that if they got any further, she would soon end up like Chaz, Henessy, Beeman and many others.

He shook his head, getting the thought from his mind. He breathed in deeply and smiled. Constantine couldn't even remember when he smelled the night air for the last time, so fresh. It was hard to quit smoking, but it was worth it. Sometimes he thoughtlessly searched his pocket for the cigarets, but otherwise he was doing fine. Life was much better without coughing, sharp pain in his chest and the constant taste of blood in his mouth. Thanks Lu. Pretty kind of you. Have you ever considered being a doctor? I could never imagine being healed and brought back to life by Satan...I'd say I'm just lucky. And...what the fuck?!

Constantine entered his flat. The living room was dark, everything was quiet but he could feel there was something wrong. He switched on the light. A demon-like creature was standing there, the intensively green eyes glistening in the shadows.

I suppose my luck ends here...

So, how do you like the rewritten version?