Despite the fact that the morning began with the first rays of the sun, John didn’t wake up from the squeak of an annoying alarm as usual, but from her touch. Their eyes met.
“We have something to do before you leave.”
“We didn’t manage to do anything yesterday.”
“But, let’s start with the pleasant.”
“From the dessert?”
“Yeah.”
An hour later, they took a shower and began dressing. He caught himself thinking that this question should be asked:
“Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
“Did we have sex?”
“I don’t think so. It’s for the best. Help me fasten the bra and dress. This should not bother us and be taken into account.”
“Good. Let’s discuss matters at breakfast.”
A hearty breakfast was served by the assistant.
“Gab, one more time. I need access to Heaven.”
“Here we go again… It’s strange that you don’t need a pass to Hell.”
“When it all starts, I’ll need intel and maybe help from my guys.”
“Then, you’ll turn to me.”
“They may reach you sooner. Don’t wriggle!”
“I cannot believe that I’m letting you persuade me. Give me your hand.”
Fingers closed their palms. She, having bowed her head, silently began moving her lips.
“Done. If I die, you learn how to reach Heaven.”
“But…”
“Don’t set conditions, but give thanks.”
“Pfft! Thanks.”
“Have you finished? Let’s get started!”
She headed to the exit.
“Don’t forget your stuff.”
Having gone down the elevator, they went to another wing of the building. The corridors stretched one by one and looked like each other. Having stopped at the next inconspicuous door with only numbers and a few letters, she turned to him and winked. Having opened the door and crossed a threshold, they found themselves in the Сontrol Сenter. There are security guards, operators, and an endless stream of data on screens that are located everywhere. In addition to the security, who already knew who had entered, no one even raised their eyes: everyone was busy. A feature of this building block was that the System read all people’s parameters: gait, movements, facial features, facial expressions. There’s no chance for an invisible penetration of unauthorized persons. She walked confidently between the rows of operators.
“Follow me.”
Having followed her, he was immediately identified by the System that named the visitor.
“John Constantine.”
“How does it know me?”
“I’ve added data about you just in case if you’d like to visit.”
The doors closed behind them as soon as they went inside.
“Hmm, there’s no single half-breed,” he stated.
“Here we go. This is Lewis and Sarah.”
“Good mornin’, John Constantine.”
“Do they know me?”
“She even knows what was in Balthazar’s package when he came to you the day before yesterday.”
“Well-informed guys.”
“Yes. Their tasks are to understand what is really going on.”
“When was the last time an Angel managed to go to Earth?”
“For a long time. Officially, it was the Republic of South Africa’s nuclear test.”
“Very well. What happened to it then?”
“He could put him into a human body, and he was able to live an ordinary human life, without particularly conflict with the soul of the body owner,” summed up Sarah.
“Who were these exorcists?”
“They’ve been aborigines: catholic priests and voodoo shamans.”
“Sum it up.”
They both looked at Gabriel, having asked for permission to divulge information.
“John, it’s possible to remove the “nuclear” word from the phrase and replace it with another,” Sarah suggested.
“Balthazar has not been the first who tried,” added Lewis.
“Apparently, he won’t be the last.”
“John, are you sure?” Gabriel interested.
“This is just an assumption.”
He looked around and reasked.
“What did we come here for?”
“Just introduce you to them. Sarah and Lewis will provide me and you with the necessary data. Oh, I almost forgot. We’ve got the twenty-first century, you know. Button phones are a distant past.” She handed him the box with the iPhone. “No more difficult than opening a beer bottle.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Let’s go to the warehouse,” having left the Control Center, they continued their journey through a series of endless corridors. Having stopped at the door without an inscription, Gabriel went inside.
“Come in, come in!”
She opened it. By smell and appearance, the room resembled a back room of a medieval inquisitor. John came in with his mouth open, having ignored Gabriel. He’s taking in turn packaged ingredients, staring and putting them back in place. She decided not to interfere and just silently stand by.
“It’s great to see something like this in such a modern building.”
“You never know what awaits us. Want peace: prepare for war.”
The dim light helped to make out the rows of jars with potions and various mixtures. It seemed that they were endless.
“I’ve asked to prepare a backpack with goodies for you: holy water, crosses, moths, ingredients for curses, and blessings.”
“What’s this for?” He got a Glock 45.
“Just in case. Can you use it? Good boy! That’s all.”
As soon as they were alone in the corridor, she touched his hand.
“Just fueling emotions.”
“I see,” he grabbed not tightly her fingers.
When they got to the lobby, John’s phone rang.
“What’s up?”
“John, you have a meeting with Steve,” Andrew said.
“The abbot, right?”
“Correct. You’d expect an unpleasant conversation on the latest events.”
“Holy Shit. Do you trust him?”
“Rather yes than no. Do you know your sister is coming soon? She’s registered for the seminar “Harmony with yourself.”
“I’m even afraid of thinking about it. She still raves about the idea of creating a family.”
“For herself?”
“Nah! For me!”
Gabriel began giggling. He pulled her neatly by the hand down, having made it clear that he had noticed her antics.
“Well, that’s it. Take care of yourself. Bless you?”
“It’s too much.”
John raised his hand in farewell, turned, and went to the door. Once at the parking lot, he realized that he had forgotten to call a cab. “I have to find out what happened to Candy. Maybe she’ll remember something else.”
“It’s time to go to the police station.”
As if reading his mind, a cab appeared near.
“Sir, where are we going?” A half-breed Demon hailed him through the open glass.
“No way! I’ll go next.”
“No need to wait. I don’t bite, Constantine,” and added politely. “Please, take a seat!”
“To the police station.”
“We’re on the go.”
The car started off with a rough start and soon became in the morning traffic.
John’s cab was parked near the main entrance of the police station. In general, John didn’t like this place. This was due not so much to their activity as to the number of half-breed Angels. Until they crossed the line, their relationships remained at the level of hostility. Ordinary police officers saw in Constantine only an obstacle in the official version of investigations. Contacting him for help was considered a sign of bad taste, but Angela was an exception among them. Half-breeds initiated a chain of internal investigations into the case of Mammon and Angela in the hospital in order to remove her from the position, but an independent investigation has shown that she acted according to the charter, and subsequent sessions with psychologists only confirmed her normal mental state. For Angela, the conclusion was more than enough. The experience of the past was more important than bureaucracy and paperwork. John rarely contacted her, having tried to reduce the number of contacts to a minimum. He reacted coolly to her attempts to build friendships. Therefore, the recent call of John was a complete surprise for Angela. She realized that the case with Candy is unusual. She was able to verify this when she saw Candy’s condition when she arrived at the office.
Having twisted the phone in his hands, he decided to irritate those present with his appearance. “It’s their problem, not mine.” With this thought, he entered the office.
Having gone to the reception, he turned to a policeman.
“Is Angela Dodson there?”
“Works with documents. How to introduce you?”
“John Constantine.”
“Down the corridor further…”
“Gotcha.” He cut off, having said over his shoulder.
Having come up to the office, he entered. Those present grimaced and gave him contemptuous glances. John answered them in the same way and went straight to her table. Of the fifteen investigators, eleven were half-breeds. Angela didn’t hide the joy of seeing him.
“Oh my gosh! John! Did you come to say something interesting?”
Their eyes began cutting him to pieces.
“No. I just have not seen you for a long time, and that case with the girl.”
“Yeah, she’s fine. Thanks,” she understood what he was driving at. “Are you hungry? Let’s eat chicken noodles?”
“Damn hungry!”
She quickly packed up her bag. John stepped aside, having let her go to the exit. He again looked at those present.
“Why are you so tense?”
Without waiting for an answer, he went after her. After half a block, they crossed the road, went into a restaurant, sat down, and made an order.
“In vain, you provoke them. They may be helpful.”
“Do you know how many of them are half-breeds?”
“A couple of people. I’m not sure…”
“Eleven.”
“Wow! It’s many…”
“They’re a part of a big problem, but not a part of its solution. How long have they been working?”
“There are a lot of newbies after finishing an academy. Some of them have been transferred from other states. Many old cops have retired that year.”
“I see. Do you trust each other?”
“So-so. Everyone who’s allowed knowing or not, across the state, knows that I hid the Spear of Destiny. I can’t completely trust anyone now, not even you,” she grimaced in a smile.
“It’s ok. We’ve got some problems of a different nature.”
“What happened to her, John?”
He was silent.
“Jooooohn?”
“Yes. I think about how to say it. They tried to use her for the same purpose as you.”
“Who?”
“None of the possible questions have a one hundred percent answer. Did you talk to her?”
“Do you think this will happen again?”
“Maybe. They can simply try eliminating her.”
“Could there have been other cases?”
“No. You would know that for sure. It must be done so that this won’t happen again.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have agents?”
“I do. The question is what to look for. What’s the marker, John?”
“What did Candy say?”
“A set of strange things that are simply impossible to put together.”
“And you were silent all this time? Tell me everything.”
The waiter brought the orders.
“So listen…”
She began the story by saying that she flew in the clouds.
“It’s impossible.”
“Listen further. She literally immediately began to assure me that she wasn’t a suicide. I’ve checked the files. There was no suicidal behavior for her. Then she said that she’s been working on the PC, looking through FB publics, and listening to something on TV in the background. After that, she’s noticed the first failure in her memory.”
“Hmm.”
“You wanna say something?”
“Not yet. Go ahead.”
“She called her friend and made an appointment. As I later found out, she didn’t come to the meeting. The next thing she remembered is that she was running around and trying to catch a cat. Then she doesn’t remember anything, following by the sun’s position, from her memories, at least half a day has passed. According to the description, she was at the other end of LA from the meeting place: in the observatory area. Next, she hugged the cat and jumped from the pier. Then she flies again, and it’s not clear where. Somewhere she’s talking with different people, whose faces she couldn’t remember. Then the temperature began changing; she felt this by her skin. There became unbearably hot. Candy started talking about something with someone. She generally doesn’t remember this moment well.”
“Stop.”
“What’s up, John?” With notes of challenge and easy playfulness, answered Angela.
“Where’s the cat?”
“What cat?”
“She jumped with the cat.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even guess such a thing. What do you think?”
“There was no pier,” John answered with pressure.
“But she clearly remembers it. We have restored this moment of her day. We went to the place and conducted an investigative experiment.”
“There was no pier! There was none of what she told! All this was only in her imagination from where the subconscious fished out the necessary picture so that,” he helped with chopsticks to get noodles into the mouth, chewed and continued, she managed to take a couple of sips, “the main thing is not objects, but the cat.”
“John, say it as it is. How you usually do it.”
“It all looks as if she has been there.”
“Where’s there?”
“In Heaven and Hell.”
“Impossible!”
“My surprise is not less than yours, but a little different. There are a lot of strong mediums who can go to Hell in the world.”
“How many?”
“Up to five thousand, I think. For example, you and I can; such a rare ability and, nevertheless, we’re sitting face-to-face.”
“I can’t.”
“You can, Angela. Here’s not the technique itself, which can be learned, but being of a medium matters. If you gather all in LA, there are you, me, your sister, Gabriel, Balthazar, Midnite, and two more, but you don’t know them. Your sister has left the game, alas. I’m sorry. Candy simply couldn’t, I’m sure, go to Heaven. It’s not enough to be a medium or something like that.”
Clouds hastily hid the sun. A stormy front was approaching from West. The TV in the background told them that the city would be covered with a wall of rain and it’ll be better to wait it out or pick up a strong umbrella. The waiter came up to them and politely asked:
“Angela, would you like anything else?” A negative nod conveyed the initiative. “Constantine, Should I repeat the drink?”
“No thanks… but coffee,” he turned to Angela and continued. “Access, in plural meaning, to Heaven for mortals, during life, is strictly limited. There are no more than ten ones, according to the latest info. They’re concentrated among the heads of denominations. No … it definitely cannot be. Repeat word by word what she experienced there: felt, saw, heard, etc.”
“It won’t be that simple,” she sighed.
“You’re a medium.”
“I haven’t been there!”
“But you can reach her state of excitement from what she experienced. Then it’ll be much easier for you to tell.”
“How do you know what Heaven is? You weren’t there, were you?”
“I was not… but it won’t be difficult for me to distinguish truth from a lie, fiction, or obsession.”
“I’m ready,” her hands were trembling. “I’ve had that feeling… a feeling of serenity and calm. Everything I’ve looked at, no matter what I’ve tried to focus my eyes on, got familiar features for me, which aroused confidence. At first, it’s annoyed me a little bit. Not even that, there’ve been no negative emotions. I couldn’t get angry, annoyed, or hate. All of these feelings have been no longer available to me. It’s been a surprise… I’ve been surprised, and at the same time, a feeling that I was chosen hasn’t left me … being exceptional without a single note of egoism. I’ve wanted … I’ve wanted to share my experience and impressions with everyone around me. Having been surrounded by these feelings, I’ve spent a lot of time. It’s been some kind of an amazing dream, something that I used to daydream about. Contours of unfamiliar figures have appeared. By nature, I’m rather shy, although I’ve tried not to show it, but… it didn’t work for me anymore. I’ve trusted them, understood, and loved. It was so unusual for me to experience similar things to strangers. They’ve approached me. I’ve exchanged thoughts, emotions, impressions with them. We were one. There was no need to speak out loud. It’s so easy and simple to find people whom you understand without a single word. I don’t remember the essence of the conversation, but I’ve experienced a feeling of supreme bliss. I’ve wanted to sing, dance, have fun and live. Gradually, the situation began changing. It’s become much warmer, and anxiety has appeared. The hotter it became, the faster the anxiety changed into panic and hysteria. I’ve wanted to run away as quickly as possible. Having looked around, I’ve seen only void. It has been strange. I’ve distinctly felt its aggressiveness towards me. First of all, I’ve prepared to defend myself. The void has begun painfully striking me in the form of memories from my childhood, and as it’s seemed to me, from past lives. Time, if it was there, flowed slowly. I’ve been sure that I could see every grain of sand in a sand hourglass before at least one of them fell. Three figures have appeared on the horizon. They’ve quickly approached me… and stood watching my reaction. I’ve had no thoughts about how to stop this. I’ve been completely helpless. After an infinitely long period of time, it’s stopped. I’ve looked around and seen myself laying on the beach. The cold wind has pierced me through. There’s been nobody around. I’ve got up and wandered back to the city,” having left the form, Angela caught her breath and asked John. “We good?”
“She’s been there, but not on the pier or the beach.”
“So, what’s happened to her?”
“She’s been immersed in this state. Bloody Hell!” She looked at him questioningly. “Who gave her access to Heaven? … Just as simple as a subway pass.”
“Any suspicions?”
“Not yet; it’ll be necessary to talk about this with Gabriel and Balthazar.”
“She grimaced.”
“He’s still the enemy for me, but he’s pulled me into this.”
“In whaaaat?”
“… In showdown about Suicide Channel and why it still works… and people often began taking their own lives. His role in this isn’t clear to me. He makes himself a victim: “He doesn’t get what kind of bad guys got into his sphere of human addictions.”
“Hmmm… I can’t believe that Balthazar doesn’t know anything…”
“At the same time, I’m only from Gab. You won’t believe but, she wiped feet on her pride and suggested not only intel but also help.”
“Ha-ha-ha, John. You’re being led to slaughter. Looks like you interfere with both of them, and each wants to get rid of you by the hands of a competitor.”
“It seems that a third force is forming, which they know about, but they tell me nothing.”
“Your death will untie their hands in struggling for power over people.”
“Exactly. But it’s not clear what, in reality, is worse for them. I’m or this third force.”
“Constantine… John… listen to yourself. Where are your interests here?” She put her hand on his.
“If there weren’t my interests, I’d not save Candy. Her rescue is our life. No kidding. We were too close to the epicenter. Again, as before, the interests of mankind go hand in hand with mine.”
“Yes…”
“… or, do you think that after I leave or die, someone will forget that you’re a strong medium? They’ll try using you blindly or openly very soon. You’ll be the first whom they come.”
“Thanks, John. I understand and appreciate you.”
“That’s why I’ll try to keep you on the sidelines, but … Angela. You’d be ready to stand side by side.”
She faded a little, having taken a few sips of the juice. Behind the window, rain began drumming with a growing rhythm.
“Don’t be afraid to die. It’s much worse to remain a surviving extra, knowing about your inevitable fate. What else did she remember?”
“She says that she visited different places, very often her description came down to visiting different churches of different faiths, walking and all that. We asked people who could see her.”
“So what?”
“Alas, only those who’s seen her before the disappearance answered positively. All the others haven’t seen her, or they can say with a great deal of doubt that it was she … Can this visit give the person any supernormal abilities?”
“Yes. History knows such cases when a person could become partially invisible, could be in several places at the same time, could move at an unnatural for human speed, master telekinesis, could treat simple diseases by willpower, show telepathic abilities and more.”
“Oh-my-good! It’s cool!”
“Sooo, if she was there, someone gave her access. I can’t imagine that the one who gave it to her let her go for a walk, just like that, around the city.”
“Escaping?”
“Does she remember something other than the city, well, and flights?”
“Nothing…”
“If she had really been there and had contact with the Angels, then the walls would certainly not have stopped her.”
“At first, she was clearly seen by…”
“Lemme guess. There was not far from the monastery.”
“Exactly, except for mirages that weren’t confirmed by recordings from surveillance cameras. There was an observatory, city hall, stadium…”
“I need to make a call.”
He unlocked the phone and called Midnite.
“What’s up, John.”
“Hi, there! Any updates? What do half-breeds talk about?”
“Nothing special, John. Everything’s quiet and smooth. Surprise me! You always do that.”
“The average person was in Heaven.”
“Are you kidding me? It’s what we can only daydream about.”
“Yeah. Especially you. Then she visited Hell and returned to Earth, after which she “staggered” around the city.”
“Information verified?”
“How can you check this?! No, of course, no, but intuition doesn’t fail me. The problem is not that she was in Heaven, but who that fucking person who gave her access.”
“Go on.”
“After a while, she was clearly seen in the city. She herself unaccompanied was visiting various places, there are more than enough witnesses, but cameras show nothing.”
“What did it end?”
“I’ve banished an Angel from her who wanted to repeat the success of his relative from the recent past.”
“We’re head over heels in shit.”
“Listen, just listen, as if you don’t know anything.”
“How about you?”
“I’ll dig deeper.”
“Ha-ha-ha. Another phrase is better here: I’ll stir up a bunch like a boar.”
“Okay. I’m not alone.”
“Who can you have this kind of conversation with?”
“Angela’s with me.”
“Dang! This is that lady who owns Spear of Fate! Say hi from me.”
“It’ll be done. See ya round!” He ended the call. “Midnite’s greetings to you.”
“I know him?”
“I think so, but for professional activities. He runs a club for half-breeds and all about that.”
“That’s it. I got who he is. Should I pay a visit to the monastery?”
“Don’t hurry up. I have a meeting with the abbot. I wanna hold it without pressure from outside.”
“Well, I’m leaving. I’ve got a lot of paperwork to be done. Do you have any money?”
“Not so.”
“I’ll pay John,” she turned to the waiter. “A bill, please!”
“Right away, Angela… By a card or cache?”
“By an app. Do you have any umbrella?”
“Yes, we do. I’ll bring it now.”
The waiter returned with it and gave it to Angela. After that, he received payment and generous tips.
“And where are you going?” Angela asked John.
“Haven’t decided yet. I’ll go along the street. I need to think it over carefully.”
“There’s raining cats and dogs.”
“Never mind.”
“I see. I’ll be in the office if needed. Wait for the news.”
She got up, thanked the waiter for the umbrella, and went outside. John, a few minutes later, went to the exit too.