Chapter 8: Non Est Asylum Part 7

John is counting out a number of hundred dollar bills and hands them to a large guard.

"Three hundred, four hundred, five hundred dollars." He says as when he hands the money to the guard.

"Just to have sex on a rooftop?"

"That's your excuse?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"It's a fetish thing." John replies as he looks up to a multi-level parking garage. As he says this Liv head snaps around. She sends a glare at him.

"Now that is just disgusting!" Kendra exclaimed. She looked slightly green.

"I agree. You really should've thought of a better excuse." This came from Anna Marie.

"Save it. I don't want to know." The guard says as he shakes his head.

"One more vital detail. There's an extra hundred in it for you if you keep this by your side." John hands him a lightbulb. "If it glows, call me immediately."

"It's not screwed into anything…"

"Just keep an eye on it and call me. You have my cell phone number." John ends the conversation, hoists his bag, and heads for the parking lot.

They soon reach the top. John starts painting a curious symbol on the concrete roof.

"What is it?" Liv asks as she watches with interest.

"Demon Seal."

"You get that off the internet?"

"No. This one's a proprietary design. Triangle of Solomon with some Elder Runes and Enochian Script. If Furcifer wants you, it'll have to enter the circle and then I can order it to hell." He explains the design as he finishes the final stroke. He places the brush aside. "This should do it. Time to step into the circle." She does as asked. "I know you're scared, luv. But we have to do this. We won't make it to sunrise if you don't."

"Ominous."

"Should? Should!"

"What about you? Are you scared?"

"Every time." John assures her. He holds out a hand. It is the moment of both truth. Truth and trust. Liv takes a deep breath and steps over the line and into the Seal.

Unbeknownst to them, the guard below is unaware of the danger near him. His phone glitches. He tries to restore it. The bulb behind him begins to glow.

Above on the roof, the two sit. Liv looks at her protector curiously. "Where do you come from, John?"

"The sordid passions of my parents."

"This may not be the time to say it, but that was actually quite humorous." Sara said, fighting a smile.

"You do that a lot, you know."

"What's that?"

"Deflect emotions with humor."

"Do I."

"C'mon, John. I'm trusting you with my life here. The least you can do is share one small personal detail."

"My mom died giving birth to me."

"Or one big detail. I'm sorry." She whispers back, regretting asking him.

Those who didn't know felt awkward at the revelation. What they were learning was extremely personal.

"My dad said it was my fault. He had a nickname for me. I heard it every day. "Hey there, Killer." And after a night at the pub, which was every night, he'd punch my head and say, "That's what you get for what you did to your mom, Killer." He said.

"I'm sorry." A whisper came. John didn't reply.

"That's awful. Do you ever wonder sometimes? What your mom was like?"

"No point in wondering. I'm going to find her. When I was a teenager, I started reading every book I could find on the occult. Taught myself spells, rituals, curses. I had a knack for it. Learned to conjure all kinds of dead things. Just not her. Not yet." The conversation is cut short as lights flicker. Both rise to their feet. "Get ready." They hear steps from behind as the guard enters. John sighs. "I told you to call my cell phone."

"You really don't want to be here right now." Liv calls out to the man. He just stands there.

John gets a closer look. "Oh yes he does. That's not the guard." The guard stands there. Liv grasps her pendant. The guard is actually the demon Furcifer. It grins. "Steady Liv." He called to her before addressing the demon guard. "You want here? Go get her, chief."

"All part of the plan."

"If you insist." The demon steps into the seal to Liv's horror. John, who has been near the electrical panel, flips it off. The roof lights die and he launches into an intense chanting to dispatch the demon. It doubles over in pain.

"Furcifer de hoc mundo exisse… De nomine Dei iuberis… De hoc mundo exisse in nomine Dei iuberis." He chants.

Within the smoke the demon laughs. It straightens up. He has taken John's form. He has pitch black eyes. The demon John looks at the living one with an amused expression. "Nergal said your rituals lack the power of intention. How does it feel, Constantine, to lock eyes with your future?" It asks.

"Creepy. I prefer the living version of you."

"As do I. As do I."

"It's a little unsettling, to be honest. Not my best look."

"Only a question of time before you belong to us."

"Hell must be short on souls if you're bothering with a sorry one like mine."

"On the contrary, we count on you to provide a fresh supply." Furcifer said. He turned to look at Liv "Tonight it's your turn." He raises his hand and an arc of energy appears from the panel. The lights around him are restored.

"That hurts."

"Liv, run!" John shouts to his companion. She doesn't need telling twice. She turns but cords snap to life and bind her.

"And this is the point in time where she'd be electrocuted."

"John!"

"Your arrogance has brought me to the heart of a city at night, you fool." Demon John says as he raises his hands. An electrical storm has formed over the city and lightening races across the sky in a dazzling display. Lightning flashes across the sky. "In this place, I'm God."

"Overconfident much?"

"That reminds me. Almost forgot." John picks up a flare gun that had, before this moment, been hidden. He aims it and fires the flare.

The flare flies. Ritchie looks up and sees it. "Hope this works, John." He says as he opens his laptop. He enters a string of command codes. The lights of Atlanta blink out. Entire power grids go dark, one by one. The lightning storm dies and Demon John looks around in confusion.

"What's this?" Furcifer exclaims.

"The power of intention." John pulls out a match and lights it. He drops it onto the seal. Due to the flammable nature of the paint, it catches and spreads into a fiery circle. The cords that had held Liv loosen, allowing her to dive out of it.

Demon John steps forward. Unexpectedly, Astra steps from behind. She is dressed in powder blue pajamas. She begins to move forward to get to John. Demon John roughly grabs her shoulders to prevent her reaching him

"Don't fall for it, Constantine."

"John, is that you?" Astra calls out. John is struck speechless in disbelief.

"Astra…" John breathes.

"John!" She cries out as she steps forward. Demon John holds onto her. The mere sight of Astra sets John emotionally adrift. "Get me out, John. Please." She is sobbing now. "Please get me out of here…"

"Did you hear that? The girl's in pain. Are you really going to fail her again?" The demon asks. He wraps an arm around Astra in a mockery of the embrace John had given her. "Release me and her soul is free."

"Audite me, libera daemonium…" Joh chants.

Liv looks at Astra, only she's not Astra. A devilish imp with a mischievous and cunning grin. "John! Stop! That's not Astra. It's not her!" She calls in warning.

John stops chanting. He turns to Demon John. "You think you can mess with my life? I got news for you, mate. I'm coming for Astra. And then I'm coming for Nergal. You pass that along… in hell! Per judicem vivorum et mortuorum! Se denim mundi Creator! Qui habet potestatem mittere in infernum! Ut abire ex regno protinus!" He finished chanting. Furcifer and the imp go up in flames. The two flames spiral up into the sky until they extinguish abruptly. John sits with his back to the wall, a haunted look present.

"Are you okay?" Liv asked, concerned for her father's friend.

"I have a colleague down there, he'll drive you home." He tells her. "Go." His voice breaks. He turns his back to her. She leaves.

"I don't think it's such a good idea for you to be alone right now."

"Who's Astra?" Liv asks as Ritchie drives her home.

"She was the daughter of a friends of ours in Newcastle. England. A demon possessed her. So John, he decided to conjure a more powerful demon."

"Nergal."

"What's up with demons and stupid names?"

"He said he'd order it drag the lesser demon away."

"It's a demon, of course it's not going to listen to you."

"Thanks for your opinion. I'm well aware of that now.

"But it took Astra instead."

"After tearing her apart in front of us. John believes he has every situation under control. And he makes you believe. That's his magic. And his curse. Stay away from him, Liv." Ritchie warns her. She looks out of the window and her eyes widen.

"Hey, this is Edgewood Avenue. John taught me how to scry today and this street came up on the map. Stop." They stop and Liv steps out.

"Let go! Let go of me! Who did this? What kind of monster would do this to a boy?" A grieving mother cries out. A dead body, her son, is laid out on the sidewalk. His throat is torn out. Seeing this, Liv feels her sorrow turn to anger. She returns to Ritchie.

"A demon."

"We know, Snart."

"I'm just saying…"

"There's a time and a place for everything. This is not it."

John is sitting at the pub. He and the Bartender were speaking. Chas enters and makes his way over to the two.

"Chas, just in time to settle a bet. Most influential band. Barkeep credits The Ramones for the music, fair enough, but The Pistols. The Pistols were dangerous." The drunken man speaks.

"Liv stopped by the Mill House to grab her bags. Said something about a cousin in California. She isn't coming back, John." Chas laid the pendant down on the bar counter.

"Good. At least some of us have some common sense." Zed says. Her tone was joking but she was dead serious.

"Suppose we're not all cut from the same cloth." John picks up the pendant. He closes his eyes, relieved.

"Is she safe out there?"

"She will be. With Furcifer gone, I can put a cloaking spell on her." He says as he pockets the pendant.

"Liv spent an hour in the map room before she left. Scrying like you taught her. Look, it's happening everywhere…" Chas unfolds the map of the US. Hundreds of blood droplets are dried on it. Even John is surprised. "She wants you to keep fighting. Sounded a lot like her father when she said it, too."

"Did she now?" He asks. He raises his now empty cup. Chas takes it and puts it down.

"Maybe you'll never be able to forgive yourself for what happened to Astra, but if you want to give her loss some meaning" Chas points at the map "then do something." He takes the map and leaves.

"Interesting coincidence. Ritchie had to drive 20 blocks out of his way to pass Edgewood Avenue and stumble onto the crime scene." The bartender, now Manny, comments as he puts a fresh pint in front of him.

"He made me pay for gas." John replies.

Small chuckles escape from a portion of the audience.

"You scared her away."

"Kind of the point."

"You're failing to grasp the stakes here, John. The darkness is rising around us. Liv's power is valuable—"

John snaps "So is her life! If Liv was going to join our fight, she had to see the risks for herself." He calms himself down before continuing. "All I did was give her a choice. It's more than Astra ever had."

"You do care. Huh."

"You said 'our' fight. Does that mean you're going to help us?"

"What do you think, damn angel."

"It's what you wanted, isn't it? And you call me a con man. Pick up the tab, would ya? You bastards are going to owe me." He pushes the pint away and stumbles out the door.

John walks down a street. From off-screen we hear him talk. "My name is John Constantine. I am the one who steps from the shadows, all trench coat and arrogance. I'll drive your demons away, kick 'em in the bollocks and spit on them when they're down, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack." He stops as multiple thugs surround him. "I walk my path alone because, let's be honest…" As the men raise their guns, looks around. In one small motion he raises both hands. They are engulfed in flames. "Who would be crazy enough to walk it with me?"

The scene turns to a drawing as an unknown artist sketches it. She is surrounded by many other pictures of the man.

"Lots of people it would seem."

End Chapter

A/N: Phew. Episode 1 is done. It only took five chapters and 40 pages on Word… 12 more to go, not counting LoT. Also, I give hearty thanks to Vumanchu for aiding in the writing of the story. Anyways, as always, hope you enjoyed it and keep watch for next update. Have a good day!