Having returned to the church, Andrew immediately confessed to John and the girl.
Her name was Candy. She was a girl about twenty-five years old or so, although she looked just like a teenager. She was not so tall and looked incredibly pretty. Her body of an inverted triangle type, as well as slender legs, came from her mother. Swimming and dancing only emphasized these features. Nature rewarded her in full without stinting on gifts: sophisticated facial features with large brown eyes, small and neat nose, and large eyelashes. Small eyebrows added expressiveness to her whole appearance. She also was the owner of lush red hair below the shoulders long, and its combination with the eyes created a bright and unforgettable image.
Mind, decency, and determination were her main character traits. Very rarely, life made her lose control; that’s why she was at a loss after these events.
“Candy, is it your name?” John began. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, but just a little bit. There are a lot of rumors about you that you’re an exorcist, loner, and generally unsociable.”
“Like that. What could’ve happened to you, I have seen just once before. Therefore, it’s very important for me to know what you’ve been doing lately.”
She’s turned to the priest and asked in disbelief:
“How did I get here?”
“You’ve come less than an hour ago. I’ve asked you, but you’ve kept mumbling something under your breath. You’ve just sat with a detached look. Suicidals and insane people usually come in this condition. The criminal chronicles will soon write about those who I didn’t manage to help. I’ve decided it’d be better not to push on you.”
“Wait… I’m starting to remember that moment. I’ve prayed for His help. Hmm … I cannot remember exactly what happened, but I was sincere in my entreaty.”
“Then a woman came in and asked to confess her. When I’ve returned, you’d been no longer there. Praise the Lord, and I guessed to check out the room leading to the courtyard. Having seen what was happening to you, I’ve immediately called Constantine. He specializes in such cases.”
“John, what has eventuated to me?”
“A creature from another world has been trying to take control of you. It’s so atypical. It makes my hair stand on end. Call your parents now, and you have to… no, never mind. I’d better call the cops to bring you home. Good? Fine! Just one more thing, tell no one about this case. I wanna see who’ll be really upset about this failure.”
Candy got the phone and called a mom:
“Yeah. Yeah. Everything’s fine. I’m in the church now. Don’t worry. Yes, exactly, all is well. How many days? Impossible! For me, it was like half a day.”
“John, Andrew. I haven’t been at home for two days. Omg! I wanna know what happened to me.”
“I’ll try to help you,” he answered and turned to Andrew. “Andrew, bring her up to speed while I’m calling cops.”
He nodded. John got the phone and called the police station’s number.
“Hi there. It’s been a while,” John said to Angela. “There’s an unusual case. Yeah. It’s much, even for me. Accompany the girl home, ok? Fine. Me? No thanks. I’m on my own. Be sure to talk to her at your leisure,” then he added. “Your cases are somewhat similar.”
He got off the phone.
“John, a few words,” Andrew picked him by the elbow and took aside. “I can be useful to you, John. Ask for help, if needed.”
“Andrew, all who assist me dies. Three of them have perished the year before last. I don’t wanna you repeat their fate.”
“Where are you going now?”
“I’ll pay a visit to Gabriel. I’ve got a topic for a conversation.”
“Is she still alive?” He replied with notes of surprise.
“Ha! Where should she go?!”
“It’s strange that none finished what you’ve started.”
“Started by her …” John corrected him.
“Say “hi” from me. I’ll be glad to see her at a confession.”
In the last few years, they haven’t communicated. Gabriel has continued hating him, and John didn’t care at all. During this time, she only several times has found out from Midnite about the state of John’s affairs, rather out of old habit, than for making some decisions.
Having turned into a mortal, Gabriel lost the ability to change herself by force of her will. This made her decide on a style that would not only suit her but also be practical on a daily basis. In recent events, where she lost her divine origin, she looked rather androgynous. She didn’t have a magnificent bust, as well, she’s got an oblong figure, and her short haircut was divided into two parts using curls. With this, she met her new life.
The first thing she did was grow hair and straighten it because she wanted to make some modern haircuts. Her choice was a long hair haircut with a shaved side, having left her natural blond color unchanged.
Her character traits practically didn’t change. Powerfulness, self-confidence, assertiveness, arrogance, selfishness were all that she inherited from staying for tens and hundreds of thousands of years on Earth in the status of leader of the Order of Light.
Gabriel, dressed in a snow-white medical gown, was lying in an ordinary mesh office chair. Everything around emphasized the asceticism of the owner: from interior details to furniture and equipment. In her look and movements, it was clear that she struggled to restrain herself in order to avoid a nervous breakdown. Her right hand spun a ballpoint pen relentlessly, having tapped it on the table. The storm was growing up. It was not average strife between feelings but a war. “What happened to me? Why did I make concessions? Do I really hate him? Why have I agreed to meet John? It… It was just for saying that I keep hating him and how much pain and suffering he’s brought into my life! … that… that the hatred hasn’t abated but on the contrary. It doesn’t matter what he wants to tell me! I’ll slap him! No, I’ll do this twice! As many times as I need!” A work spirit has disappeared without a trace. With an empty look, she’s turned on a monoblock, took a mouse, and began moving a cursor on the screen.
The assistant entered the office.
“He’s got unforeseen problems,” she said impartially.
“Ha! When was it different?”
“They need another forty minutes in order to get there.”
“Gosh! We’re several blocks away from his house!”
“Ma’am, you’ve got no color. How about taking a bath or shower? This will definitely help relieve stress.”
“Lemme think for a couple of minutes.”
She’s left, having left her alone.
“How he does piss me off!” She’s thrown the mouse at the wall, so it’s shattered into pieces. “Jerk! He cannot even show up in time so that I can outspeak him everything. Bitch! I cannot even brawl with him like with a real man.” An empty vase got her angry and was sent in the wall direction. “… lives in his own world, following his own sense of time! Fucking selfish asshole!”
Her anger has been replaced by indifference. She’s fallen into the chair and stared at the wall with an empty look. The first memory that came to her was the moment when Constantine’s parents, after clinical death and weeks of unusual behavior, brought John to church. It’s been the first time they’ve met. She hasn’t seen anything like this before. Gabriel has clearly remembered these events: “Two adults with a kid of six or seven years old, although no… he was a little bit older, have entered a cathedral. The boy has considered with interest the frescoes and shelves inside.”
“Here we’re, John,” his father said, having seen a priest.
John has looked toward the holy father. Then his gaze slid over me, sitting in the chair. I’ve smiled at him affably and said something like: “How are you?”, then I’ve got up and gone to him. At that moment he’s started shouting: “Don’t come any closer! Help me! She’s not a human. Stay away, the creature!” After that, John has grabbed the first thing that was close to his hand. It was a candlestick. Having stood in a rack, he’s prepared to fight.”
It’s shocked everyone around. A few burning candles rolled under a bookcase. In small steps, he’s walked over to a table and taken a knife in the other hand. I’ve made an attempt to approach him in order to calm down, but in response, he’s tried to strike a clumsy blow with the knife.”
“But after, I did everything possible, for many years, to set him on the path of a normal person. If only he had followed my advice, I’d not have become mortal and have been here. Working like ordinary people! What a humiliation!”
A paper tray flew into the wall.
“I hate him! After all, he had enough arrogance to make an appointment with me without any excuse. Where and when the fuck it’s convenient for him!”
The second vase has shattered into smithereens.
“I’m sure he didn’t even guess to buy me a “please, excuse me” gift.”
The assistant has returned to the sound of the broken vase. She’s looked at the pile of trash and the paper thrown about the floor.
“I need to clean everything here,” she said forcefully.
“Yes, you do. I’ll take a shower. You’re right.”
She got up and headed out. Having taken a towel, underwear, and costume, she went through the hall to the shower. Having closed the door, she threw off the gown. Having unbuttoned the blouse, Gabriel felt relieved. She looked in the mirror, having put a hand in her hair to make sure that everything’s fine and there’s no need to pay a visit to a hairstylist yet.
The skirt with pantyhose followed immediately after the heels. She tiptoed back to the mirror. There was nothing but panties, bras, and modest earrings. Having taken off the bras, she looked at her breasts and nipples for a while. She repeated the breast contours with her hands a couple of times. Some thought got lost in her head, ran a little bit, and then was cornered and left for later. Having taken off the rest, she went to the shower. Warm water with a strong stream knocked out all negative emotions from her, having brought so desired calm, while liquid soap and shampoo set a new mood. Having lathered the neck, shoulders, chest, her hands slid down. Several fingers wanted to set a brand new rhythm for today, but the “cooled” head said: “No.”
John was in thought. Recent events have added some uncertainty to how a conversation with her should be started. Every time he imagined the scene of a meeting with Gabriel, he immediately recalled the attempts of an Angel-like creature to enter this world.
In a state of uncertainty, he crossed the “BWC Pharm” checkpoint, having ignored a guard’s question: “Who’re you?”. The parking looks endless: there were thousands of parking lots outside, even not counting the underground ones.
The company has been located on the outskirts of Sylmar and, thanks to the length of the laboratories and technical buildings, went towards the mountain, where it most likely didn’t end. A part of the functional structures was taken underground, thus having formed a full-fledged city.
The main hall was full of visitors, where a manager-receptionist met him.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m John Constantine. I gotta meet Gabriel.”
“Please, one second, sir.”
The second lasted at least three minutes.
“You’ll be met.”
After some time, Gabriel’s assistant left the door of the auxiliary room. She noticed John by his specific appearance: he looked disheveled and a little bewildered by so many visitors. As a cherry on the cake was his specific smell after applying dark magic. Being the assistant of Gabriel, she has been absolutely not embarrassed because she had seen more than that. Having approached him, she held out a hand and said: “Kaya.”
Kaya was a middle-aged woman who went through a lot with Gabriel and was involved in her case, but at the same time, she was able to preserve such character traits as friendliness and cordiality. She was Latino-American, and damn looked like Salma Hayek.
“Surprised that I’m a human?”
“…something like that. All the same, I expected to see a half-breed Angel in her inner circle. I wouldn’t be surprised even to see Demon one.”
“John, Right? Well … in that state, we go nowhere.”
“What’s wrong with me?” He critically examined himself.
She caught herself thinking that John’s meeting with Gabriel may end with anything, even a joint dinner. It’s one step from hate to sex. It’d be wrong if his smell and look would interfere with this.
“We’ve got the labs there. It’s a clean area, you know. How about your smell? It seems you had a difficult day, having taken into account your specific activity,” she exhaled.
“You’re right. It’s noticeable,” he stared at her. “This morning was difficult for everyone.”
John received a guest card and passed the turnstiles. Kaya went him through a passage, having led to the service elevators. Having come to one of them, she entered her access code and pressed the button. John, with all his appearance, collected oblique views of all whom he came across. She was twitching from one foot to the other, having been torn by curiosity. All the same, it was difficult to find someone in Los Angeles who wouldn’t hear about him.
“John?”
“Ya!” He answered sharply.
“In vain, I was so harsh,” he thought, but the natural stubbornness didn’t allow him to apologize.
“I wanted to ask you what happened?”
“In the morning or in general?” He was silent for a while. “I could’ve said something, but it depends on your knowledge of who Gabriel is.”
“The overthrown half-Angel. She’s become a human because of you.”
“Ha-ha-ha, Kaya! Do you believe it? Having judged by your face, not so.”
“It’s still so unusual for me.”
“The real world is wise worse.”
“… and creepier.”
“You’re a romantic person.”
“What about you, John?”
“I’m tired of running around with thread and sewing it up. There’s no time to look around. According to the current events, it won’t appear.”
The elevator has arrived, having opened its doors.
“Have you ever thought about the family?”
“It’ll be the first to be hit. My sister’s gonna come soon. She planned for a long and tedious talk about family life.”
The doors closed, and the elevator began lifting. On the screen ran numbers measuring the underground floors. Despite the fact that John smelled not of morning freshness, she wanted to get closer.
“Looks like she works in a bunker.”
“After some troubles, she also lives there.”
Kaya waited for any reaction except silence.
“I see,” he dispelled the silence.
The elevator opened, having presented to the gaze a spacious hall with a small number of militarized guards. They were all ordinary people, like occasionally snooping around the staff in lab coats. The walls of the hall were panels on which various landscapes were changed. As planned by creators, this was supposed to help employees not to be depressed. In the form of a small addition, key information was displaying about the functioning of the object, which was understandable only to the initiates. One large corridor connected the hall with another one of the same sizes, which split up into several small ones forming branches. Kaya went to one of them, having invited John to follow her. Having taken out a card, she’s opened the door of one of the rooms.
“The bath amenities are over there,” having turned on the light, she pointed to one side. “Suits, shirts, underwear are in the wardrobe. You’re welcome. You can manage it, can’t you?”
Having looked around, John added with a smile:
“Is there a bath ducky?”
“Yeah,” catching a pass, she answered calmly. “The second box on the right.”
John made a satisfied face.