Aquiver -> J. Constantine

18

"It's arranged. We'll be left alone."

John made his way to the gym equipment that they were going to use as a place to tie him down. He sat down and put his hands around the spreader.

Upon his order, they tied him down nice and tight. Jade paced back and forth as she watched the veins on John's wrists. Instead of their usual blue, they had turned bright red. It worried her. All of it did.

Anne Marie nodded at her gesturing at the tape recorder. Jade hesitated before turning it on. The recorded voice of John broke the silence as he did his incantations.

"Our help is in the name of the lord. Who has made heaven and earth. The lord be with you." Anne Marie prayed.

She then marked Zed's forehead with a cross. The action was repeated twice more with Jade and Chas. They weren't taking any chances tonight.

Anne Marie then focused on John. "The lord be with you."

She splashed him with holy water, expecting some kind of reaction. Both she and John seemed surprised when there was none. It did nothing to hurt him.

"What's wrong?" Zed asked.

Jade felt a sinking feeling in her stomach upon seeing their faces. It didn't work, or it wasn't going to work. It was written all over them.

"At this stage of demon possession, the holy water should cause a violent reaction." Anne Marie explained.

John closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. He was hoping it hadn't gotten that bad, but he was mistaken. It pained him to even say the words out loud.

"It's been too long. It's in me too deep."

Jade went to argue when she was interrupted by the sound of screaming outside. It made goosebumps appear on her skin.

They turned to look towards the opening of the gym just as a man was seen flying through the air and disappearing into the hallway. The sound of his body falling down was all that could be heard.

"What's going on out there?" Chas wondered.

A man with a head covered in snakes walked through the door. The sight made everyone tense. The snakes moved away revealing the face of a man with eyes with slits.

The eyes of a snake.

"The brujería. They are not happy with you, John." he exclaimed.

His voice made Jade shiver. Whatever he was, he was not human. And yet being in his presence made her feel nothing compared to what she felt when in the presence of angels.

"Identify yourself." John ordered the man or demon.

In order to defeat whatever evil just walked through those doors, they're going to need to know what and who he is. And they can never resist making themselves known so they can spread word of their cruelties.

"I've been known as Nahash, the trickster, and now as Vicente. And you know me as you know all earthly temptation."

Anne Marie tensed. "He's the tempter."

Jade shared a confused look with Zed. They didn't know what that meant. Christian myths didn't mean much to them. Out of habit, they looked at John who seemed to understand exactly what that meant.

"The original serpent from the garden of eden," John inhaled sharply, "so, what have the brujería promised you, then?"

That was the second time within a couple of days that the brujería were mentioned. A name tied to warlocks that should be gone, extinct. And yet they somehow survived and persevered.