LOVE + FEAR

THE DAY I MET JOHN CONSTANTINE

— T W O   Y E A R S   E A R L I E R —

Raven screamed when she awoke in the unfamiliar car — but no sound came out. The duct tape over her mouth sealed all syllables. Gray bindings burned against her wrists and ankles.

"Bollocks... "

Raven's head slowly turned to the side, glaring at her captor behind the wheel. He reminded her of an Egyptian relic, once gold, now faded, with his sandy blond hair and a tanned trench coat. A cigarette perched between his lips.

The middle-aged man glanced her way. His gray eyes widened. "Oi, you're up —"

"Mmm-mm-mmph! " Raven raised her bound hands. The muffled sound she made was barely audible above the murmur of ABBA on the radio.

Her captor's gaze darted between her and the black abyss that surrounded the car, "Sorry, love. Didn't have time to untie you—"

Wisps of shadows materialized at Raven's command. A thick tar-like mist lingered over her mouth. The duct tape vanished.

"Who the hell are you —? You know what? Forget it. I don't care! Let me out! Right now!" Raven demanded.

"Will you just —OI! Quit moving around —!" Raven turned her back toward her passenger door, thrusting her joined feet at her abductor. Shadows ate at the duct tape caging her legs.

The car jolted from their movements as Raven aimed kicks and shouts at the stranger. He kept one hand still on the wheel. The other mercilessly swatted back at Raven.

"Let me go — get off of me!" The pair struggled across the front seat; Raven had somehow ended up upside-down beside the blond as he awkwardly held her knees together. His hair was now lopsided from one of her kicks (although it wasn't that well-kept to begin with) and his cigarette had fallen to the floor of the car.

"You kick me one more time, love —"

"Get away from me — ugh! You smell bad!" Raven's nose wrinkled at the combined smell (it was its own entity, really, far too powerful to simply be an aroma) of liquor, brimstone, and vomit.

"I will turn this car around! Bollocks, those wankers are gaining on us." Her captor's eyes drifted to the rearview mirror. Headlights flashed in the reflection. "I need to focus — here."

The middle-aged man gestured at the radio. Her eyes widened as the dials moved without the slightest touch. He has magic too. But he's old. And I'm pretty sure he's drunk. I can take him.

Music suddenly blared from the dashboard above Raven's head. She winced as ABBA filled the car, and her abductor sang along.

"Don't go wasting your emotion," Raven expected a hoarse, croaky singalong — instead, her captor had a pleasant baritone. And that only made her hate him more, "lay all your love on me!"

Raven finally unfastened her fists and aimed two fingers at the man. "Azarath metrion zinthos!"

The man cursed allowed as a shadow bolt flew past him. The window shattered where his head had been.

He glared at Raven, "Hey! This is a rental! If you're going to do target practice in the car, you could at least aim right and save me from misery!"

"You are the most annoying person I've ever met!" She yelled at him.

"Some grateful lot you are! Right after I rescued you from those nuns," He said, gripping the wheel with white knuckles.

Raven stopped thrashing against him, shocked he would stoop so low. "Rescued me? Seriously? You think I buy that?"

"What, you think I would've taken you by choice? The only reason why I dragged you out of there is 'cause I don't need another name on my ledger! You mean absolutely nothing to me, love — and believe me, it's better that way."