FOUR| IT TAKES TRUST TO TURN DARKNESS TO LIGHT

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JOHN CONSTANTINE was extremely hard to figure out. He was kind of an asshole, but at rare times he could be strangely sympathetic. Olivia wondered if he played the role of an arrogant heartless bastard as a defense mechanism-as a safety net. It was like he rather people hate him than care about him. It was as if he thought that knowing him, allowing him to be apart of your life was a burden. It was like he saw himself as a burden.

It would explain a lot. It would explain why he was afraid to trust Zed, even though he knew she was telling the truth about her powers. He witnessed what she could do firsthand, yet he abandoned her back in their hotel room and resorted to climbing out of a bathroom window than have a little faith in her. Now he decided it was a good idea to break into the psychic's home and crash on her couch.

Olivia rolled her eyes at her father's slumped figure. He looked peaceful and for once like he wasn't stressed out. The wonders of sleep. The nightly escape from the hell that is life. She had spent the last hour studying Zed's drawings that were scattered across every inch of her studio apartment. It was like a hurricane had hit her home, and she wondered how the hell she got around this place. Although, she had to admit it was a bit creepy that every drawing was of her father. All except one.

One that she couldn't seem to put down. It was of a girl huddled up in a dark corner. Shadows swallowed her whole while it simultaneously looked like she had a slight glow to her. She looked terrified yet like she was longing to succumb to the darkness. It was haunting. But again, she couldn't seem to put it down. It was like she was drawn to it. She really wanted to know what had gotten Zed to draw this. What is it a vision? What is it meaningless and just simply an idea she was toying with at the time?

The jingling of keys as it fumbled in someone's hand. The twist of the door lock made Olivia snap her head up from the picture. Zed walked into her apartment with a look of defeat on her face. She paused instantly when her eyes made contact with Olivia's. She gave the psychic a timid smile. Zed's eyes softened but then she took one look at John's sleeping figure and they hardened once more.

John stirred awake almost as if he could have sense her anger. He rubbed his eyes. "Hello, luv. Is it morning already?"

She glanced down at him. "You leave when I want you, and you're here when I don't. I'll make it easy for you." Her tone was monotoned before it shifted into rage. "Get out! Get up!" She lunged at him yanking him into sitting position. It was very amusing from Olivia's perspective.

"Oh, don't be that way, luv."

"I don't want you!"

"I had to verify that which you provided. A strict security protocol is, in fact, required in my business." He explained.

Her anger seemed to dissipate, but it still lingered within her; it was just less prominent. "I still don't know what you do."

John swayed his head side to side slowly to work the kinks out of his stiff neck. "What I am, as you have so conventionally portrayed as an exorcist, demonologist and occasional dabbler in the dark arts." He peered up at her. His tone suddenly became cold. "Now, the question is who are you?"

"I'm Zed." She replied honestly and casually.

"Right. Zed Martin." He dug in his pockets then pulled out a piece of paper. "I found your three-month lease." He stood up abruptly. He was standing so close to her that their chests were almost touching. There was a little too much sexual tension in the air that Olivia felt like she was intruding on something. She felt like she should've left. "So, what's a chica bonita in her mid-twenties doing slumming it in a one-horse Welsh mining town in the middle of Pennsylvania?"

"I travel a lot." She said simply. Well more like dancing around the question.

"Right." He said with a smirk as he nodded his head. "Well, there's only two types of people who travel a lot. Those in the circus and those on run," he studied her place as he wandered away from her, letting out an empty chuckle before turning back around, "and curiously, I'm not seeing any funny wigs or face paint."

"I know what I'm running from. Do you?" She challenged him.

"You came to me, not the other way around. You step into my world, you'll be staring down demons, devils and the like. Those things in your paintings they're real." John told her harshly, and Olivia couldn't help but glance down at the picture that was still very much in her hands.

John began circling Zed. "Yeah. It won't be bad memories nipping at your heels, but the scourge of hell gunning for your soul. And when the bell rings, then you'd best be ready, willing and able to answer something far more deadly than a charcoal pencil."

John stopped behind her. He spoke directly into her ear. "Now, if you can handle that, then we can talk business. If not, then we go our separate ways and I never see your pretty little face again."

Zed spun around on her heels. Her face held determination. There was a small smirk on her lips. "I ain't going anywhere." She told him much to his disappointment. He wanted her to run. To bolt like Liv had done. And if it weren't for the unfortunate fact that Olivia didn't have anybody but him, then he would want her to leave him behind too.

A loud and slight irritating siren wailed throughout the town. The sound was muffled by the fact that they were enclosed by walls, but it was still audible. "What is that?" Olivia asked them reminding them yet again that she was still around.

Zed took two steps back deciding that now was probably best to put some space between her and John. To be fair, she didn't realize how close the two were. They listened carefully to what the young blonde had spoken about. "Is that what I think it is?" John asked the Latina.

"A mine collapse."

The three of them rushed over to the mine. Smoke filled the air along with the lungs of the miners who fled the doomed tunnels. Olivia ran towards one of the miners who collapsed onto the dirt ground. "Hey! You're alright. Here take this." She gave him her unopened bottle of water that John had bought her from a convenient store that they had stopped at before Zed's apartment.

The man accepted the water with shaky hands. "Thank you." He choked out before desperately drinking the water until it was half empty (or half full).

She gave him a smile before asking him what they were all thinking. She was crouched beside the man while John and Zed were towering over them. "What happened here?"

"It all came down right on top of us."

"Did your hear knocking?" John asked the man urgently.

"Yeah. It's in there." He said as he pointed to the tunnels.

"All right. Thanks mate." John told him as he patted him on the back. Constantine managed to slip out without Olivia or Zed's knowledge. They were too busy helping the man on his feet and to the ambulance that had just appeared on the scene.

"Thanks again." He told them.

"You're welcome." Olivia said to him before turning away from him as Zed followed her movements. She paused momentarily searching her surroundings. The blonde turned to the psychic. "Where's John?"

Zed hasn't noticed his absence until know. But hey, that'd explained the peace and quiet the two had undergone for a while. "I don't know."

Olivia had begun to slowly panic. She didn't know where this all came from. The fear that he had abandoned her begun to creep up on her. Maybe it was because after her mother's death she was afraid to be alone. Or maybe it could be he had abandoned her once before, so she was afraid he'd do it again. After all, he did it to Zed a few hours ago.

"Hey, it's okay." Zed to told her softly as she gently grabbed her shoulder. Olivia hadn't been aware that she was suddenly breathing heavily. If Zed hadn't brought her out of her thoughts than she most likely would've had another panic attack and those weren't fun. It felt like she couldn't breathe. Her chest felt tight and she'd begin to choke. And every breath she would manage to get through her pipes burned her lungs. Her arms would sometimes go numb too. Thankfully, the last time she had one was at the hospital after it dawned on her that her mother was really gone. It didn't last as long as the others since nurses quickly came to her aid.

"Let's go find him." Zed gave her a smile. She nodded slowly then mumbled an "okay".

"So is John your friend?" Zed asked Olivia. She had been curious or their relation since she met them. She never saw Olivia in her dreams or visions of John, however, something about her felt familiar. Like she has seen her somewhere, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Olivia snorted at her question. Zed gave her a quizzical but still amused reaction. "Sorry." She giggled. "Uh, no, he's not my friend."

"Uncle? Brother?"

"You're getting closer." She told the brunette. She flashed her a smirk. "He's my father."

Zed's steps had slowed momentarily before she picked up her pace to fall back in sync with the blonde. "Wow. If I'm being honest, I wasn't expecting that. He doesn't seem like the father type."

Olivia frowned slightly. She was still a little bitter about his absence in her life. She couldn't help it. "He wasn't until a week ago. Well, more like yesterday." She replied flatly.

Zed decided it was best to not say anything else. It was obvious that their relationship was a sore subject. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together to know that John was clearly an absent father who recently had custody over his kid. Now, she was curious about her mother. But she wasn't going to pry.

The two ladies stopped when they spotted a car that was oddly filling up with muddy water. They stared wide eyed at the vehicle almost frozen in time. "Oh, my god." Olivia mumbled simultaneously as Zed said "John!"

The two bolted to the car. They looked around the almost vacant lot frantically for anything they could to get them out. Olivia had just found a brick and turned around to smash the window open when Zed had already pried the passenger door open. John fell onto the floor covered head to toe in muddy water.

"Are you okay?" Both Zed and Olivia asked the Englishman.

"Yeah." John coughed violently. "I had it under control."

"You almost drowned in mud." Zed pointed out.

John shook his head. "No, I was, uh thinking up a spell in my head."

"Seriously? You can't just say thank you to someone who saved your life?" Olivia said, and John peered up at her through his dirty eyelashes.

He sent her a glare. "What? You two friends now or somethin'?"

Olivia shrugged. "Yeah, I like her."

Zed grinned. "Awe, I like you too." She beamed, and John was instantly annoyed.

"Go check on the driver." He demanded Zed, and she did it because she was genuinely concerned. Now, if he told her to do anything else that didn't concern the well being of an innocent, she'd tell him off for talking to her that way.

Olivia helped John back to his feet, which shocked her. She thought his ego would be too big for him to accept her help. She then headed to the other side of the car to find Zed peering into the car with a crestfallen face. She looked to the driver seat fearfully, and she wasn't surprised at what she found. The man was dead. Eyes open and dull.

"Don't torture yourself over it." He told them. "There was nothing we could do for the blighter."

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"I don't understand." Said Zed as the three of them walked down the streets of the Pennsylvania town. They caught the eyes of those around them, although their sights were mainly on John. He was covered head to toe in mud that had dried with the sun that beamed down on them. But the two ladies weren't so squeaky clean either. Zed had mud stained on the bottom of her white T-shirt, and Olivia's hands were smeared in the dirt substance from when she helped John up. "What was in the car?"

"That's the price of doing business with yours truly. I tried to tell you." He told her as he strolled down the sidewalk unfazed with his hands stuffed in his pants pockets. His hair was no longer styled in its usual do but slicked back due to the muddy water.

"I know." She replied with pursed lips. "I'm still here."

John turned to the wandering eyes. He had enough of the staring. "Piss off. There's nothing to look at." Olivia laughed softly since she didn't expect his hostility to actually work. The people had begun to carry on with their day.

"So what's going on exactly?" Olivia asked him. She walked in between John and Zed.

"Back home, our miners called em' Coblynau, but you see em' in every culture. They're the spirits of dead miners. They knock on the walls to warn of danger." John explained.

"So, these Coblynau they're protecting the miners? They warn them of the danger instead of causing it?" Zed asked him for clarification.

"So, basically all of this goes against their nature? Which means something is controlling them." Olivia said to them.

John nodded with a smirk playing on his lips. "That's right. Traditional Coblynau they never rise to the surface, and they certainly don't murder."

"So, what's the explanation?" Zed questioned.

"Could be the rising darkness." Olivia's heart clenched at the name. "Something's forcing evil to the surface in waves. It's changing the rules. I'm sensing a little of the human touch. Like someone's calling these spirits on purpose. Nothing says payback better than death by demon. If I'm right, then someone's conjuring these bad boys from close by."

"Like a miner." Said Zed. "I heard they're all gathering at the pub for an emergency meeting."

John looked down at his clothes. "Then we need to change, luv. I'll meet you there."

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Olivia was annoyed with John's rash actions. He had demanded she'd stay behind. Again. Of course, this time she fought him harder than before but it was to no avail. He promised her that as soon as they head back home she'd begin her lessons. And that would make him feel more comfortable with allowing her to tag along. She stopped fighting him, but was planning on sneaking out and following them. John must've known she'd do this, since he chanted an incantation that made her fall asleep.

When she awoke she was lying in her bed at the hotel, the blanket had covered her. Zed came shortly after without her father. When she asked, she simply said that he had something to take care of. The two decided to get to know each other a little better while they were waiting for him to get back. They learned a lot about each other. Granted, none of them were that important just hobbies and things like their favorite color. They both shared a passion for art.

Two hours later, John lazily entered the room. He was drained from his battle with the miner's wife. It had turned out that Lannis's wife was the culprit. He glanced back and forth between his daughter and Zed. Zed lied sprawled out on his bed, while Olivia sat crisscrossed on a chair by the bed. They both were sketching in a comfortable silence.

"Moving in, are we?"

Zed looked up at him with smirk. "You wish." She lazily glanced back down at her sketchbook.

John shrugged off his coat. "Well, I'm afraid I'm in no mood for sparring tonight, darling."

"Of course not. You almost died." She told him. She didn't need to be there to know what happened. She already foresaw it. Olivia peered up at him at Zed's words. That was new information for her. She almost lost her other parent tonight, and she didn't even know.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." She half-lied.

John tossed his coat onto the other chair beside Olivia. "No, you didn't. You just wanted to make sure I didn't run out on you again."

Zed's jaw visibly clenched. "Was that the plan?" She asked him as if she wasn't offended even in the slightest. Olivia could tell it bothered her by the way that she refused to make eye contact with him.

"Listen, Zed there's no denying that you, provide moderate value in the field."

"I saved your life."

"Well, that's debatable."

"She did." Said Olivia. Her sight was trained on her drawing inspired off a picture of a beach she found on google.

John rolled his eyes. "The truth is, I work best alone."

"Me, too."

"I always put myself first."

"That's the only way I've survived."

"Everyone who puts their trust in me dies." John then said strongly and she no longer had an answer. Olivia saw the look John gave her from the corner of her eyes, and she knew that this statement was meant for her ears as well. Regardless, if John knew it or not. The glance could've been instinctively, which explained why it lasted a split second.

Zed stopped sketching immediately. She sighed before finally looking at him. "Okay, you got me. You see, John I've been waiting for you and you found me. I don't know what I've been waiting for, and you don't know what you've found."

"The question is, are we gonna help each other out or not?"

A/N

I can't wait to fully start writing this story. The idea/plot I have planned for Olivia is making me so excited. I just hope it comes out like I pictured. And I hope you all like it.

I'm also excited for the legends half of this book 😂