Chapter 1. The unexpected visit

It was a time of rush hour on a fine day of May. People were returning home having stood in traffic jams, bypassed each other on sidewalks, hurried up to get to families and friends as quickly as possible in order to spend a regular weekday, sharing news and experiences. Many treated Thursday as a little Friday. For them, it was a start point for calling friends and buddies to decide how they would like to spend Friday night. There were always congestions at this time, but today was a special day. The cherry on the top was an accident, where a car had lost control and plowed into the shop. By miraculous coincidence, no one was hurt. The sun absolutely didn’t care about this and slowly, giving the last rays of light, disappeared beyond the horizon. A string of street lamps lit up and if we were a bystander we’d notice John Constantine with a bottle of beer who having sit at the open window on a barstool watching pedestrians. He didn’t need to take bins or use his abilities cause he knew, just knew, now, there’s one or even two half-breed Angels inspected the scene of the incident and gave soothing and instructive advice to the participants. Having looked around at the street, John took the last three sips and realized it was no longer interesting for him. He wanted to eat. So, he looked around his apartment and froze in thought, but this state didn’t last too long. He went to the fridge, having left the wet marks which were set by an empty bottle on the table. After that he hit once or twice the bottle about the stove, passing on, having repeated this action on a cutting table.

Some thought was spinning in John’s head, which he unsuccessfully tried to form. All these attempts drove his frenzy, and it was impossible to throw it out like the beer bottle. Opening the fridge, he didn’t find anything edible except for beer and cheese.

“Weeeell, that would help a bit. I hope some miracle will happen, otherwise, I’ll have to borrow at Jack's pizzeria again. Maybe get a pizza right away?” John appealed to himself and immediately answered. “No, definitely I’m waiting for a miracle.”

A voice of an announcer came from a radio receiver on the background: “This weekend Robert Plant will perform in The Viper. He’ll sing not only well-known hits but also some new singles from the “Carry Fire” album. Details can be found on the club's website. In the meantime, we’ll listen to Led Zeppelin's song Stairway To Heaven.” The first chords began being heard, after which the lyrics went to sound, which John began singing along.

“There's a lady who's sure

All that glitters is gold

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

When she gets there she knows

If the stores are all closed

With a word, she can get what she came for

Oh oh oh oh and she's buying a stairway to heaven...”

He opened a new one. A cap followed the empty bottle into the trash can. John leaned on the table and sipped some beer.

“It’s cold. That’s exactly what I need!”

Having starred at the wall and took a sip by sip, he didn’t notice how half an hour had passed. Miracle stubbornly didn’t want to happen.

“So… it’s pizza. Fine! You had a chance to surprise me,” John looked up, obviously speaking to the Lord.

A landline rang. All his attention was instantly focused on it, but not a single muscle moved on his face. The telephone didn’t give up.

“Okay, okay, I'm coming. Damn you! Yes! Who’s it?” He answered in a habitual-dissatisfied voice.

“John, hello! How are you doing, brother? Eternity or even longer I didn’t hear you,” a female lovely-singing voice came from a handset. “Do you still live alone?”

“Yeah,” John replied with obvious displeasure. Of course, he was expecting something, but the sister’s voice clearly didn’t suit as a main event of the evening.

“Are you really busy or trying cheating me? What’s up with your mood?”

“Yeah. Something like that. I've got unsolved issues. As well, there’s a thought that cuts my brain apart, but I cannot formulate it. Food and beer are over too.”

“You absolutely don’t care about yourself. You feed your cat don’t you?” Stacy asked strictly.

«It’s recently eaten at the neighbors and run for a walk around the block.”

“Don't you keep him at home?”

“It knows how to stand up for itself. Everyone knows him here,” he answered being on the rise. “Why did you call for?”

“I could smell your friendliness a mile away, Jooooohn. Couldn’t a sister just call you? Since you’ve asked... I’ll be in the city at the seminar in a few weeks. I thought that meeting and drinking coffee or several bottles of beer would be a great idea. What do you think?”

“I don’t think so.”

“John, you’re creaking like an old dresser. You're over thirty. It’s about the time to raise a family. Let some girl enter your world.”

“You have no idea what you're talking about.”

“John, look around. The world doesn’t stand still, everything changes around. Everything’s in motion. Life’s full of actions. I understand perfectly well that you had to go through like a lot, but… this is not a reason to put a cross on yourself. After all, you’ve been given a second life for a reason.”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t want relationships in the first life, so at least take a chance in the second one. Don’t be afraid to bear more responsibility. Stop thinking only about people, mind about yourself.”

“You know how much I hate these conversations.”

“I know, but Jooooohn! So… when I'm in LA... I’ve got a friend here. I don’t push on you, but you have to come back to reality.”

“Your suggestion has become even worse. I’ll cope with this issue by myself since you insist, but I don’t wanna forcibly go on a date.”

“I’ve made the decision to help you. Shaking-up obviously won’t hurt you. Don’t even think of hiding from me when I get to LA, okay? Are you listening to me? John!”

“Okay. Alright. If I correctly get I have no choice, right?”

“Exactly! My brave brother’s going on a date! Booyah! All the while, bye! It was nice to hear you.”

John has hung up the phone.

“Maybe she’s right? I'm out of it now... but I’ve got some time before she comes.”

The fridge door swung openly. The last bottle of beer stared at him.

“I’m going to finish it and order pizza.”

John didn’t work the same way as before. He received all the money for his existence from donations that people paid him as an exorcist. Despite the fact that John Constantine was a bit arrogant, cynical, sometimes rude, and generally a man with bad manners, he couldn’t have compromised with a conscience in the matter of money. He took as much as they gave, never asked for more. Demons, Angels, half-breeds always use the most defenseless people for their manipulations. During his short life, John visited the poor neighborhoods often enough, thereby he was sure that half-breeds' expectations were that help might not come in time. Such cases, in general, didn’t cause a huge resonance, as if it were someone from a rich and well-known family. Every time helping people, without himself noticing, he caught their looks of appreciation. These moments gave him faith that this world won't be torn apart in the struggle between Angels and Demons for people’s souls.

John began pacing the room. Having turned on light, he came back to the window. “It’s time to have a bite. Delaying it makes no sense.” Having dialed the pizzeria, he greeted and made an order. A manager said in a polite voice that everything would take about ten minutes. "That's great.” A little time passed and the doorbell rang.

“Just five minutes passed... It’s too early for pizza delivery. Damn it! Did I really start going crazy?”

Having gone to the door, John, without hesitation, opened it and froze in shock. Balthazar stood in front of him in a business suit, and as always, gleaming with his snow-white smile.

Balthazar hasn’t changed at all, he still looked like a man in his mid-thirties, or forty, or maximum forty-two. Superpowers gave him an opportunity to take on any appearance, but most of all he liked being Latin American. He seriously believed that his look was simply created for business suits, which he had in abundance. Good suits have been his weakness, which, in general, he didn’t hide. He has dressed a two-piece suit and dark blue vest with an almost imperceptible white cage and snow-white shirt on cufflinks with a bright orange tie and handkerchief. The set was completed by brown shoes. He liked to experiment with hairstyles, so he preferred Spanish haircuts and proven masters. His appearance contrasted sharply with how John looked like and what he was dressed.

“Holy s**t! What the heck! Get out of here!”

“John, John. Take it easy! I’m also glad to see you no more than you, but… I have something to tell.”

“Go to f*cking Hell until I personally send you there.”

“John, John. Calm down! We need to talk… I really think so.”

“I don’t care. You’ve killed my friends. They’ve died through your fault. I don’t intend to forgive you for this. I’m categorically opposed to having in common with you.”

“Nobody offers you a common cause. I don’t impose my society to anyone… but it’s the moment when I simply… just wanna share my thoughts.”

“Say what you want and get out,” John snapped. “I'm hungry. Beer is over too. The last thing I wanna do is having a long conversation.”

“Well. Wouldn’t you be so kind and lemme in?”

“I don't care about decency.”

“Neighbors shouldn’t hear such conversations. I’m sure that they’re not so happy about such a neighborhood anyway. I’ve just got out of the grocery store. I’ve grabbed two bottles of Jim Beam and various snacks,” he showed the package.

“Hmm. I don’t care, though ... you’re right. Okay, Balthazar, give it to me.”

“He has thoroughly prepared which means there’ll be a serious conversation. I’m sure he doesn’t expect to leave me without finishing two bottles?” John thought. He took the pack with drinks and food and by the gesture invited him over.

“John, you forgot something. After all, I cannot pass just like that to your apartment.”

“Right. It just flew out of my head. So... no luck for you. Come next time,” he answered in an indifferent voice and spread his hands.

“Sometimes I don’t understand your jokes,” Balthazar said.

John went deep into the apartment, took a chair and set it near the door, after which he sat with his legs crossed:

“I don’t share your friendliness. I’m listening to you very carefully.”

Balthazar shrugged. He didn’t count much that John would show hospitality.

“Okay. In a nutshell, the picture looks like this: after we’ve failed, something strange started to happen.”

“You speak unclearly. It’s stranger than you, standing on the threshold of my apartment is difficult to come up with.”

“So, we’ve lost a lot of half-breeds. There’s been an incident with Frank Makler. Well, do you remember that guy? Yeah. I see from your face you do. He was a significant figure at that time and he was engaged in charity. As mother Teresa, he spent all his life haunting thresholds of big corporations in order to get even a penny. He wasn't afraid of humiliation. He just did his job. As a self-respecting Demon, I’ve got plans on how to elegantly destroy his reputation, as well, the charity foundation. Among the means were everything: fraud, hacking accounts, reputational losses, family problems, sex scandals, employee theft, etc. The list of what can affect a person or company in our money-based and global world is limitless.

“Cut to the chase, Balthazar! My patience is running out. Pizza will be delivered at any minute.”

“Wow! It’s nice! I love pizza! Just say it’s seafood-free.”

“Without. Keep going I have all the attention.”

“We haven’t killed him. Do you remember his death? He was shot right in his office. He got dozens of bullet wounds. Everything was in the blood. He had a meeting before that. I’ve picked up the records. There’s nothing there that could be a cause. I’ve listened to all his calls, hacked his computer, looked through messenger contacts: in a word, nothing. I’ve checked all of my half-breeds who worked for his company, no one is higher than an average employee. John, I tortured them to be sure that they were telling the truth because I… I was confused. After we’ve been defeated, someone tries to take our place.”

The sounds of someone’s steps became louder. It should be a pizza boy. Having risen on a stairwell, he was surprised to see a picture where John was sitting on a chair in the doorway, while a businessman in an expensive suit stood in front of him and tried proving something to him with using gestures.”

“John Constantine! Good evening, sir. Your pizza is here!”

The boy went to the door, having squinted at the strange man.

“Hot! It’s fine! Here’s the cash. Take ten bucks tip, ok? There won’t be enough to pay for it. Let them loan me the rest.”

Balthazar pulled a Jackson out of his pocket and gave it to the boy. Having taken the money, he continued staring at him.

“I think you're bad.”

“You’ve got no idea how much, especially when I’m hungry. I would’ve eaten you! Boo! I’m just goofing around.”

The boy grinned and ran down the stairs.

“So, then you say that you didn’t do this, right?”

“I’m one hundred percent sure my guys did not. There are just Angelic half-breeds from the department heads to VPs. Someone’s playing with us. Didn’t you have a feeling that something’s going wrong?”

“Honestly, this thought sometimes visits me for at least six months. The hell with you! Come in.”

John set aside the chair, put the pizza on the cutting table and went back to the door. Having performed at least twenty movements with the hands, saying something under his breath, he added with the spelling words:

“Balthazar, you’re one time allowed to enter the house of John Constantine.” “Welcome here. One pizza for us won’t be enough for sure.”

“We’ll order more. I took a beef tenderloin, German sausages, cheese, and others so far.”

Balthazar walked into John’s apartment and began looking around.

“You know, it's a cozy place. You’ve even got a bar.”

“Pff! It’s the main part of the interior. I couldn’t do without it.”

He silently pulled the first bottle of Jim Beam out of the bag and opened it. The aroma of bourbon made him smell. Honestly, Balthazar hadn’t chosen Jim Beam quite a long time ago. He preferred more status liqueurs, but not this time. Knowing John’s unbearable character, a bottle of two expensive alcohol and he would’ve decided that Balthazar is trying to buy him over. Therefore, Jim Beam perfectly fits into the interior of his apartment. In mind, Balthazar praised himself for this choice.

Having taken two glasses from John’s hands, he examined the bottle once again and poured out the whiskey. John pulled ice from the freezer, threw two dice and offered it to Balthazar.

“Oh no, thanks. I drink it warm. I see John, my presence infuriates you. It’s time to sort things out about your friends.”

“Well, try,” John grimaced at the thought that Balthazar will be justifying now. It would at least look awkward, and most likely very strange. "It means that they’ve strongly stepped on toes if he’s ready to discuss such topics." He took a sip of whiskey, put down the glass and grabbed the first slice of pizza.

“Let’s bury the hatchet until morning, no more. This should be done, otherwise, you’ll ignore everything I share with you.”

“Okay! Okay… I’ll try, but I don’t promise.”

“Indeed. I have nothing personal about your assistants. I’m not pleased to know that they’re dead, not you. Your death in those events would be just a feast for us.”

“But I died then ...”

“Yes, John. Everything’s as you say. But Lucifer has decided, and we execute his decisions implicitly,” Balthazar twisted a displeased grimace. “He’s wanted you to live. Oh my God! What’s a ridiculous mistake. His desire to drag you to Hell was bigger than our goals on Earth. Both of your friends came to Heaven. After some time, their meaningless life would lead them to us, but you’ve popped out like a jack-in-the-box in their calm and measured existence.”

“You seem to forget that if I hadn’t stopped you with the son of Lucifer, Hell on Earth would be no different from the real Hell.”

“In general, with the guys, everything’s well. I wanna add one more thing,” Balthazar drank some whiskey, put down a glass, took a slice of pizza helping by another hand so that the toppings didn’t fall on the floor and on the expensive suit. After that, he continued. “Let's look at your friend Beeman. Yes, precisely those who helped you with the Bible of Hell and supplied you with various useful ingredients. At some point, the fate of all life has been decided in his small and cramped closet in a bowling club. He’s managed what the world would be like, having guided you with his finger. In very deed, his knowledge and skills helped you come on time. We’d been in a lack of twenty seconds. His knowledge was appreciated in Heaven at the proper level. John, we can surely talk about promotion. From an unknown person, a clerk in a bowling club, he’s immediately got to Heaven in the circle of those who explore Hell. You do know how to get in Hell, but I can, it’s in my power, to talk to him about giving you temporary permission to stay in Heaven awhile. You’ll be able to talk to him face to face.”

“Is this a deal?” Having finished the second slice of pizza, John took up the third one and drank up whiskey.

Balthazar politely filled John’s glass, having picked out a couple of pieces of ice, then poured more for himself.

“No, John. This is a kind of a welcome gift. I’ll take on these commitments. Not a problem at all. Your intern is in business too.”

“So… what do you want from me?”

“Do you remember what you told me? Let me refresh your memory. You’re going to protect this world, John; neither more nor less, the whole world, from our confrontation and several times you did it. As for a mortal, it’s an excellent result. I’m saying it without ridicule. After the death of Beeman, you’ve lost a person you trusted and who’s managed to interest you in occult investigations. Honestly, I also went through this breaking, breaking stereotypes, John. My pride didn’t even let me think about coming to you.”

Having finished his part of the pizza, John looked questioningly at Balthazar.

“Are you looking like that because of pizza or stereotypes?”

“Both.”

“Order another one. They made it very well. I wouldn’t have come to you, but it seems to me that half-breeds Angels, after winning the last conflict, have decided that it was time to get rid of us completely.”

“Well, I don’t see anything bad in this. I think you’ll agree.”

“Yes, John Constantine, it sounds tempting. I ain’t lying now, but only on one condition that peace prevails on Earth. Wars, violence, murders and so on will disappear. Think John, think. Before continuing, I’ll eat two more slices, take the remaining ones.”

John quickly ate them when they were still warm, without waiting for Balthazar to free himself, poured one more glass. Having made a call to the pizzeria, he heard on the line a grating girlish voice. It was clearly a teenage girl who worked in the evenings to earn money for all sorts of trinkets. John caught himself that he thinks about people from the bad side too. "No, she definitely helps a family, she’s a good girl." After placing the order and finishing the call, he picked up a glass and slowly drinking, stared at Balthazar eating a pizza.

“Does it bother you that I’m staring at you while you’re eating?”

“Not at all, everything’s fine. When you go to Hell I’ll be eating your brain and that won't worry me either. So never mind about it,” Balthazar replied with a full mouth.

“A tempting prospect…”

Silence set where everyone minded his own.

“It’s difficult to draw any conclusions without having any intel or, especially, facts. Let's go back to where we started: “a charitable foundation”. So… what was Frank Makler doing?”

“He helped people through various educational and medical organizations. At last year’s charity conference, he said that he had many ideas about how to make the world safer, smarter, and so on in the same vein. At the same conference, during a cocktail party, he mentioned your name several times. I don’t know in what context. They’re all rumors now. The project has been launched at the end of January of this year. I don’t know what stage of implementation it was, but it seems to me that the reason for his death lies here. By the end of February, we’ve managed to steal a project’s summary. The main one is called “Prometheus”. It’s about improving the half-breeds’ relations with each other and all of them with people. It includes several smaller ones. In the last days of his life, Suicide Channel sharply criticized him.”

“Hmm...”

“John, I don’t want you to believe me a word. Perhaps they provided me with misinfo, or forced me to see a fake just to divert my attention.”

“You wanna say that he’s killed because of his activity against half-breeds?”

“Does that seem strange to you too? I thought so. Therefore, we’re going to the second part.”

Balthazar has turned because of knocking on the door.

“John, it’s pizza, here's the money. I’ll pour the glasses.” “Wow... what a great smell!”

“Yeah, it’s hot!”

“Quickly give it here! Slices are as scalding as they’re from a volcano. John,  do you watch TV channels? No? I see.”

“You don't watch the news, you make them. They’re two huge differences. You’re an owner of a media holding.”

“That's right. Therefore, I watch a stream of REAL news. A news release is arranged that you cannot describe all the events, you make cuttings, teasers, crawlers. So… we’ve lost our influence on people in at least twenty States. It’s difficult to work there.”

Balthazar has glanced at the TV on the wall which was working in a mute mode.

“It’s what we need! Do you have paid channels?”

John has nodded negatively.

“It’s bad.”

Balthazar has taken a remote and started flipping channels. Then he’s stopped at a news report.

“Here we go! John, you're welcome to the real world! It’s what George Carlin said about suicide’s popularity. How you can see it’s Suicide Channel. Yeah, you’ve heard correctly. I’m sure that your concerns were related to that you heard about it, and then you simply forgot being in an everyday rush. But ... But, the aftertaste remained. John, this company has been registered in LA, as well, there are literally no us. There are only angelic half-breeds and regular people. They make a show of suicides and often it happens under shouts about the love of God and everything in the same way. Watch it!”

Balthazar has added sound.

A caster was speaking:

“These two daredevils are going to jump without a parachute. Their love of God is so unlimited that they’ve decided on a brave deed. Today they’re going to die in the name of the Lord.”

A camera showed these guys. They were no older than twenty:

“It'll be cool!”

“Yeah! We’ll do it!”

Balthazar has removed the sound.

“John, where did the criminal code goes... police, FBI? Why didn’t they stop it? Why the channel hasn’t been closed yet? I'm sure this is the tip of the iceberg. They keep me 100 miles away from their business.”

“... but not me.”

“Knowing your reputation, they’ll have no other choice. We don’t control the cops or the FBI. If they allowed it to go, then this is definitely a key piece of the puzzle.”

“Are you gonna say, based on all of this, that they prepare to replace you?”

Balthazar has stopped moving his cheekbones. The pizza hung in the air.

“I am, John. Peace all over the world is canceled. You will just have a good and bad cop at the same time. There’ll be no options for you.”

“Yes. This is definitely not good.”

“John, listen to yourself, where is your inner fire? What’s wrong? You’re just over thirty. They systematically kill people. Half-breeds Angels, I’m repeating to you according to words, systematically kill people. This is our privilege, they don’t fight evil, they struggle with us.”

“I'll do it for sure! Really… It sounds disgusting. I’m against of your overwhelming influence on people. I agree with you that Suicide Channel must be closed. I’m against people dying after hearing enough of not only Demons but also Angels half-breeds.”

“I do recognize you now. You’d get back in good shape. And yeah... by the way… it’s not my business, but… find yourself a co-pilot.”

The rest 22 chapters you can find at constantinerb(dot)com