After ten minutes, Angela woke up to find herself in a bathtub. She cautiously raised her upper body and noticed the blonde man sitting next to her.
Constantine sat beside the bathtub with an expression of extreme discomfort. He turned to Angela and said, "I'm sorry, there seems to be some misunderstanding. I thought you were one of those guys who have done some business with me in the past but have rather uncivil debt collection methods."
"What the hell?!" Angela exclaimed, followed by two coughs. The severe vomiting she just experienced left her stomach convulsing.
Constantine pursed his lips, showed an expression of helplessness, and said, "I have already called and confirmed with Midnight Daddy, it was indeed him who referred you to me. I am genuinely sorry. Given the increased frequency of creditors knocking on my door, I have been overly cautious, which isn't entirely wrong, is it?"
Angela used all her strength to sit up in the bathtub, leaning against the wall. Tilting her head back against the wall and squinting her eyes, she took a deep breath trying to alleviate her physical discomfort. Then she looked at Constantine and said, "You crazy man! They say you're a phenomenal detective, but in my opinion, you are nothing but a fraud."
As she struggled to get out of the bathtub, she scolded, "I should never have placed any hopes on you charlatans. How could such things be real? Get out of my way! I'm leaving."
"Hold on!" Constantine reached out to stop her, asking, "Don't you want to know the real reason your sister died?"
Constantine stood up, blocking Angela's path. But with water dripping from her body and her wet clothes clinging to her, her gorgeous figure was even more apparent. As Constantine reached out, his hand grazed her waist, and he recoiled like someone shocked by electricity.
However, it was not because this sexually interested rogue suddenly grew a conscience. It was the very apparent police badge on Angela's chest that discouraged him. He could handle trouble from demons, but if he was actually caught by this lady cop, it would take considerable effort to escape.
Angela glared at him and said, "I've told you, get out of my way! Don't expect me to believe a word you say, you fraud!"
As Angela and Constantine were at an impasse, there was a sudden loud bang outside the bathroom door. On hearing it, Constantine turned around, and a magic glow ignited in his hand. He held his finger to his lips signaling Angela to remain quiet and wait, and then he cautiously moved towards the door.
As soon as his figure disappeared beyond the bathroom door, Angela stepped out of the bathtub and peeked from the door crack, only to see a terrifying black monster standing at the entrance of Constantine's apartment.
"Wha..." Angela began as she stifled her scream in sheer terror. Then she witnessed an intense dark energy wrap around Constantine's body.
With a stern voice, Constantine said, "Demon from the depths of hell? What are you doing here? I don't recall ever making a deal with you...you're trespassing."
The demon shrieked in a sharp voice, "Constantine, you owe so many debts and have angry demons after you. You will pay the price!"
Constantine snorted dismissively. "I might pay my dues, but you're not the one to judge me. Not even your boss can. Get out!"
The demon roared, and countless energy-formed worms surrounded it like a storm, then swarmed towards Constantine.
Constantine extended one hand, and the dark energy transformed into flames that incinerated the worms almost immediately. The flames spread to the demon.
As the demon constantly screamed, Constantine extended his arm forward, and a surge of energy blasted out. The demon howled in agony, "It's impossible!! Where did you get such abundant energy? You sold your soul!"
Seeing the demon slowly vanish into the flames, Constantine chuckled, "Only now you figured it out?"
Standing still, he flicked his arm and turned back. Seeing Angela standing in shock by the bathroom door, he said, "Oh! Uh... it was just the mailman. I sent him away. So let's go back to discussing your sister."
"But I clearly saw..."
"Ah, yes. I have a habit of praying when receiving mail; it looks somewhat strange, but don't mind it," Constantine hastily explained.
Because he knew that without Spirit Vision, ordinary humans wouldn't see demons. He guessed Angela probably saw him gesturing at thin air.
As a natural born spirit communicator who could see these unique entities since birth, Constantine was used to others' astonished expressions. When he was younger, he might have explained that he wasn't crazy. But now, his attitude was, "I am crazy, what can you do about it?"
The reason he stayed in Gotham for so long is because no one here treats him like a madman. There are people crazier than him in Gotham, after all. What is yelling and gesturing at empty air compared to staging mass murders, kidnappings, or bombing attacks? As long as none of that happens, they would still be considered good citizens.
Constantine turned to walk towards the sofa, seeing that Angela hadn't moved from her place, he turned back and asked, "What's the matter?... Alright, my earlier actions were wrong, I apologize. I was a little on edge, just consider me a lunatic if you wish."
"I saw it! That demon! It was… it was a demon, right? Black… surrounded by a swarm of bugs and then you summoned a different kind of fire and burned it to death…"
Angela stuttered this out and then covered her eyes, rubbing them fiercely, saying, "No, that's not right! I should have stopped seeing these things when I was 12, how am I seeing them again…."
However, Constantine's eyes were wide open. He quickly walked up to her, took Angela by her wrists, removed her hands from her eyes, and staring into them he said "You can see these things? Are you a psychic?!"
"Hey! You damn bitch! Are you messing with me?!" Constantine violently let go of Angela's wrists, and said, "From where are you? Do you not know the rules of this trade? Exorcists can't meet each other. Even if they want to visit, they must notify in advance!"
"No, I'm not. I'm not an exorcist... otherwise, it would be no need for me to come and find you." Angela took a deep breath, calming her somewhat frightened emotions, and said: "Do you remember what I told you? My sister and I, from a young age, could see such things."
"I thought… the things you were referring to were just common ghosts and creatures. Children are more spiritually perceptive, seeing those things wouldn't be unusual."
"But, you never told me… until now you could see demons!" Constantine raised his voice. He discovered that Angela doesn't seem to understand the severity of this situation. Placing his hands on his hips, shaking his head in despair, he explained.
"Everyone who can see demons, are the ones singled out by demons. That is to say, only if your soul is marked by demons, they will allow you to see them. This has nothing to do with any spiritual perception, it's a curse, a terrifying curse."
"But I never believed that!" Angela hurried to the couch, collapsed onto it, and said somewhat desperately, "My sister and I could both see such illusions. She told our parents about all of this, but they treated her as mentally ill and sent her to the insane asylum."
"I used to be scared of these things, but later I started to deny their existence, believing they were all hallucinations…" Angela took a deep breath, held her forehead and sat down, then said, "Until I was 12 years old, and I stopped seeing them completely."
Constantine stood still and said rather coldly, "What makes you think suddenly you couldn't see them?"
"Because I never believed they were real, as long as I didn't believe, they couldn't hurt me!" Angela emphasized.
"No." Constantine disagreed. He sat down opposite Angela, looking into her eyes and said, "It's because they chose your sister."
Angela stared right into Constantine's eyes, there seemed to be a mesmerizing power in this man's eyes that made people sink deep into them, unable to extricate themselves.
Suddenly, she saw a hint of sorrow in Constantine's eyes. Such an emotion should not be present in his gaze. She heard Constantine say:
"Whether they are identical twins or fraternal twins, the souls of all twins have a substitutable property. Demons only need one."
"They placed a curse on both of you, letting you see them. But afterward, you could no longer see them, not because you stopped believing, but because..." Constantine paused for a moment, before saying: "Among you and your sister, the demon chose your sister and abandoned you."
"Impossible!" Angela shouted. "You don't understand, we are the same, we…"
"Nothing is impossible." Constantine lowered his head, reached out to pick up the cup of water in front of him, and drank it in one gulp. But he seemed to have more he didn't say.
Angela's emotions, on the other hand, seemed to have collapsed. She shouted: "You damn liars! Demons, devils, it's all illusions, I never believed…"
"You're definitely an accomplice to the killer! You've all conspired to kill my sister and are trying to blame it on a demon. This is just a hoax. I will bring you to justice."
Constantine sighed, looking at Angela who was riled up in front of him. He'd seen many like her, who didn't believe in the supernatural. Apparently, Angela was one of them.
"If you don't believe me, then you can leave," Constantine said with apparent fatigue. He turned away, took another sip of water, stood up, and intended to go to his bedroom.
Suddenly, he heard a slight movement and the sound of a bullet being loaded from behind him. Turning around, Angela had pulled out a gun, pointing it at Constantine, its dark muzzle sending a chill down his spine.
From her tear-streaked eyes, it was clear that this police officer had reached her breaking point. The stress she had been subjected to had finally shattered her.
Constantine's gaze turned even colder as if he was done talking nonsense with Angela. He waved his hand, the gun was slapped out of her grip, then he walked into his bedroom without turning his head, slamming the door shut with a "bang".
He had just reached his bed, loosening his tie, removing his jacket, when he heard the sound of soft sobbing outside the door. Constantine stood in the middle of his room, lighting a cigarette.
He took a puff, cocked his head back, and exhaled slowly.
Angela, sobbing leaned onto the back of the couch. She heard the bedroom door open, but didn't have the heart to look up until a shadow covered her head, the scent of tobacco wafted over. She looked up and saw Constantine's face.
Constantine lowered his head to continue smoking, then in a slightly hoarse voice, he asked, "How old was your sister?"
"…Like me, 27 years this year."
Constantine closed his eyes and said, "I see."
He took another deep breath and said, "As I said before, you're suddenly not being able to see them isn't a coincidence. This is also related to your sister's death. She was probably taken away by demons."
"How do you know?" Angela tried to resist one last time.
"Because when I was 27, they came for me too."