Aquiver -> J. Constantine

13

The words of the priest echoed throughout the small church. People couldn't tear their eyes away from the man who could perform miracles.

Or so he claimed.

Jade was skeptical of the priest. After visiting her home, it felt odd to come back to this. A life with demons and ghosts and magic and telekinesis.

"We done with the boring part, yet?" John asked as he came up behind Jade and Zed.

Zed slapped his chest signaling him to be more respectful. At his bewildered face expression, Jade snickered. She loved seeing John Constantine getting lectured like a school boy.

"This is the part y'all have been waiting for."

That got the attention of the trio. The priest started praising God's power and saying how they were all going to witness it. Jade thought it to be nonsense until the priest removed a blind man's glasses.

She watched with narrowed eyes as he laid his hand on the blind man's eyes. Nothing happened, however. No sparks nor divine light. But the moment he removed his hand, the man cried out in joy that he could see.

Everyone in the church cheered at the supposed miracle. It was unnerving and seemed fishy. More likely it was a scam than a miracle.

"This is just ridiculous," Zed turned to John, "you brought me here for this?"

It was annoying, Jade agreed with that, but something was going on here. Whether a scam or something more sinister. She trusted John's instincts.

He shrugged. "You brought us here. Your vision, if I recall correctly."

Zed recalled the snakes around her legs and shivered. Not the most pleasant psychic experience of her life. Especially not the setting of it which was in the middle of her art class.

"They're all so hungry for something to believe in. He's just preying on them."

"Yeah, well, suckers make easy prey."

Not that Jade disagreed with that, it's just that looking around the people in that church, it was clear it meant something to them. This whole miracle thing. If they believed so strongly, it had to be for a reason.

She wouldn't be surprised if her own brother was among the crowd. He was most definitely not a sucker but the prospect of not being in a wheelchair would've been enough to get him here if he knew about it.

"Just because people believe in something doesn't mean they're suckers. You can be a sucker without believing in God." she argued.

Zed frowned. "They're not suckers, they're just not jaded like John. They're still searching for the magic in their lives."

It would be better for them if they never found it. Finding out magic and demons are real has only brought the trio pain and suffering. The appeal of it had worn off a long time ago.

"Didn't take you for a religious one." John commented.

And she wasn't. Not really. Zed wished she could believe in something so strongly as everyone else. Yet after everything she'd seen, it was difficult to do so.

"I don't know what I am. But I like to believe there's a," she struggled to find the right words, "guiding hand in it all."

Jade considered her words for a moment. She could use a guiding hand by this point but she was more likely to get that from John than some all-powerful being.

The thought of there being something else out there was almost unbelievable. Emphasis on almost.

"Guiding, judging. Damning. He's a jack of all trades, really. I mean, I'm not critiquing or anything, but I'm pretty sure he's not very keen on me." John said.