ONE| NON EST ASYLUM

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OLIVIA EDWARDS came as a surprise to the warlock a few years ago. He was very young at the time, and he was nowhere near ready for that kind of commitment. John would often travel from place to place because he couldn't afford to stay in one place for long. He had no job and resorted to magically rigging the lottery to make ends meet. He could barely take care of himself let alone take care of another human being.

Well, there was that, and the fact that he was absolutely terrified to be a father for quite a few reasons. Over the course of his life so far, he had managed to be make a great deal of enemies. Enemies made of actual flesh and bones, and others creeped in the shadows, rising from the darkest pits of hell. Literally. And the fact that John never really had a great father didn't help. He didn't exactly know how to be a dad, since he didn't have a good role model in that department. The fear of becoming his father burned deeply in the back of his subconscious.

But as cliche as it sounded, the minute he held that baby girl in his arms he made a promise to keep her safe no matter what. John felt with his lifestyle, with the undying truth that everyone he loved and loved him in return perished, he decided she was better off without him. However, he couldn't get himself to fully let her go, and it resulted in him visiting her from time to time on random days, holidays, and certain birthdays. But soon after an incident forced his hand, he was left with having to cut ties with Olivia completely. His abuse of alcoholism enhanced as an outcome.

Today became too eventful even for a man like John Constantine, who battles actual demons and demons of his own while simultaneously finding the time to troll the bars for one nighters where he can escape the constant anguish that is his life. When he checked himself out of Ravenscar Psychiatric Facility, he thought the only trouble he had on his hands was helping his late oldest friend's daughter. But things had gotten far more complicated when he received a call about his daughter.

John Constantine fought long and hard to shelter Olivia from his lifestyle. Yes, she was aware of who her father was and what he could do. Her mother never tried to lie or kept such things from her. Caroline Edwards was attracted to John years ago not only for his good looks and charm, but because of his abilities. She was always obsessed with the supernatural. She found herself in her teen years choosing to be huddled up in her bed with a good science fiction or fantasy novel than socializing with others. It was a fascination that followed her to her adulthood having become a philosophy professor.

Chas Chandler was annoyed with John. Not only did he call him out of the blue asking for his help with Liv Aberdine, but his aloof nature towards his daughter and their current situation angered him. It took a little convincing from the Englishman's best friend to get him to agree to signing the custody papers. Not to mention, the fact that he had to turn his cab around and refuse to help Liv unless he changed his mind.

Chas stood awkwardly in the waiting area at Child Services. His hands twitched at his sides as he shifted his weight back and forth between each leg. It wasn't necessarily uncomfortable for him to be here exactly, it was moreover the fact that John had left to wait in the car. Leaving him to wait for a kid that wasn't his. And everyone around knew that too. It made John look unfit to take care of his daughter. Constantine was already not off to a great start with the whole father thing.

Olivia walked outside of the office with her social worker, Anne Wheeler. Anne was a rather petite, dark skinned woman. She had soft chocolate brown eyes, and a smile that was warm and welcoming. However, his attention didn't linger too long on the social worker, but instead on the blonde sixteen year old beside her. It took Chas by surprise how Olivia didn't look at all like a girl who had just lost her mother. She held herself well. Her posture was straight and tall. Her eyes held no emotion, but he still could tell she was strong.

In reality, Olivia was trying not to fall apart. She was fighting to breathe, fighting to function, and fighting to not break. She just wanted this to be over. She was tired of the questions. She was tired of people asking her if she was okay. She was tired of everyone looking at her with pitiful eyes. Olivia was over grief and death only after two days of experiencing it. She wished she could skip to the part where everyone had told her 'it gets easier'.

"Mr. Chandler." Anne greeted Chas. Her eyes wandered around the room. Her smile had vanished. "Where's Mr. Constantine?"

Chas smiled at the woman nervously. "He, uh-" he cleared his throat awkwardly, "he's outside taking a call." That was a lie. Clearly. From what he remembered, his exact words were 'I'm gonna light a cig, you'll wait for her, yeah?'. But they both knew that meant he was lounging in the car in self pity blasting his radio. Olivia rolled her eyes. She wasn't surprised that he wasn't there to meet her.

"Alright," She sighed before turning to the young girl, "this is where we say goodbye. I'll call to check on you in a month. But if you need anything don't hesitate to call me, okay?"

"Okay." Olivia muttered giving Anne a forced smile that didn't fool any of them.

Anne turned to Chas, her previous expression of tenderness that she had put on for Olivia had transformed into one of professionalism. "Now, as for her belongings. Do you know whether or not Mr. Constantine would rather prefer to pick them up from here when it's all fixated, or would he prefer to have it sent to his residency?"

"John is pretty busy with work, so I'll just pick them up for him. I'll even bring her with me." Chas told the woman, and she looked unimpressed.

"Very well, Mr. Chandler. We'll give you a call when it's ready for pickup." Chas nodded awkwardly, and she looked back to the blonde girl. "Take care of yourself, Olivia."

Chas gave the teenager a nervous smile when Anne had left them alone together. Thankfully, she returned it. He was worried she was gonna end up being one of those teenagers who opposed authority figures. The ones who rolled their eyes constantly, listened to rap or rock music loudly, chewed and popped their gum obnoxiously, had a bad texting habit, and ignored adults completely. Although, he could admit part of this fear stimulated from the fact that she was John's daughter.

"You ready to go?" Olivia nodded her head while she adjusted the small black backpack that carried a tiny portion of her belongings. More like a few pairs of clothes, headphones, her phone charger, and a picture of her with her mother. She had the plain Jansport backpack resting lazily off one of her shoulders.

Olivia followed Chas to the car. She was honestly confused when she learned he drove a cab especially given that he wasn't a cab driver. But she made a mental note to ask him about it later. She spotted her father leaning against the hood of the cab sporting his usual attire, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips as he fiddled with a lighter.

Chas awkwardly dismissed himself. He got inside the car starting it up as an excuse to escape the tension for a brief moment. John studied his not-so-little girl carefully. The last time he saw her was her sixth birthday. He remembered holding her tightly, closely to his chest, fighting his tears when he made the decision to not be apart of her life. It wasn't a decision he made lightly. What had made it all worse was she didn't understand why he was sad. She assumed she'd see him again in a few weeks. Now, she's standing in front of him all grown up.

"Olivia." He tried to come off cheerful but it came off strained instead. He winced internally.

"John." She replied with a small nod, and it threw him instantly. He didn't know what to expect when coming here, but he didn't expect for her to call him by his name. But he couldn't really blame her. He hadn't done anything to earn the dad title.

His smile disappeared quickly. "Let's go. I have a job to do." He told her. His distant attitude that she was used to from him made a reappearance. He walked around to the other side of the car, swiftly sitting on the passenger side. Olivia exhaled a deep breath before getting in the back of the car.

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Olivia sat on the hood of Chas's cab. She needed some fresh air having been cooped up in Child Services for two days. John stood a few spaces down with his sight stuck on the building they were parked in front of. He still hadn't uttered a word to her which she didn't really care to be honest. It was far more easier than trying to strike up awkward conversation.

She wished this was all just a nightmare. That she would soon wake up and nothing would have changed. Her life would've been exactly the same. Exactly like it was two days ago. She would have her mom. She could feel her warm embrace again. Hear her gentle words of encouragement when she doubted herself. Their traditional Friday movie nights. Her cooking. She would be worrying about trying to get into a good art school after she graduated. She would spend time with Aaliyah. But that was all gone.

A police car pulling up in front of the building pulled her out of her thoughts and back to reality. She noticed John glancing at her from the corner of her eyes before he quickly everted his gaze to the woman getting out of the car. She wondered how long he had been staring.

"Thanks for the ride." Liv Aberdine told the officers with a sad smile. Her sight drifted from their retreating vehicle to John Constantine. Her eyes widened, but Olivia couldn't make out wether it was out of fear or relief. She stride over to them.

"You always carpool with the cops?" John teased solemnly.

"My friend was killed last night." She admitted somberly to him. It was so sudden and hit so close to home for Olivia. The blonde teen forced herself to look away momentarily blinking away tears at the memory of finding her mother's body a few nights ago.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Olivia told her sadly and simultaneously as John said "Well, I'm sorry to hear that." The two shared a quick glance.

Liv gave the young blonde a small smile before showing John a photo she had on her phone. She couldn't get a good look from her angle, but from what she able to see was a carving on a door with an eye smacked in the middle. It reminded her of hieroglyphics etched inside pyramids. "I found it on my door. What is it?"

"The Eye of Horus." John said. "It's an Egyptian symbol of protection. Or so they say."

"There was a man in my hallway last night. I think he killed Talia." Liv told him uneasily.

John smirked at her ignorance. He banged on the hood of the cab getting Chas's attention, but the abrupt loud noise and sensation caused Olivia to jump. Chas got out of the cab. "Liv, meet Chas, my oldest mate. He made the carving that kept you alive."

"I'm glad your safe." Chas flashed her a small smile before rushing back into the car. He clearly wasn't the social type Olivia thought.

"He's not much of a talker, that one." John brought truth to her assumption when he took notice of the small frown on Liv's lips. "Now, down to business. If we don't get you somewhere safe, bodies will just keep piling up." Her father's words ran fear into her veins. She was never around him enough to get used to his line of work. Whenever he did come around when she was a kid, it was always him who came to her. And now she was just thrown into it without a chance to prepare herself. Maybe she would get use to it quickly given this was her life now.

"Why would anybody want me dead? I'm a nobody."

Olivia noticed how his aloof expression had changed to a serious one. He was in his element. "I hate to burst your bubble, luv, but you're not a nobody. I knew your father. Jasper Winters. I promised him I'd look after you."

That last remark stung Olivia a bit. It hurt her to hear him promise he'd look after another man's daughter when he never bothered to look after his own. She bit down on this inside of her cheek so hard she drew blood. The taste of copper was unpleasant. She forced herself to not think about it, to not show how much it bothered her. Because it very much stuck with her, and she hated it. She could've sworn she had gotten over her feelings of worthlessness and abandonment that he had caused.

Liv shook her head. "That's not possible. My father died before I was born."

"Well, whoever told you that was lying." John frowned suddenly. "Jasper died last year. He was a good man, too." He dug around in the inside pocket of his trench coat before pulling out a tiny package. He held it out to Liv. "Here. Open this."

Liv opened the package with delicate fingers. She grasped the pendant gently, and slowly raised it up to get a better look at it in the sunlight. "It belonged to your father. He wanted you to have it."

"Oh, my god." Olivia exclaimed suddenly when a black van sped through the parking lot ramming straight into Liv's workplace. She slid off the hood of the cab and bolted towards the building to help those inside. She could hear John's protests in the distance. Something along the lines of her name and that she was crazy for running inside.

"Is everybody okay?" She asked them as she helped one lady back onto her feet.

"Everybody out!" John shouted as he came up behind his daughter. "Chas, get them out." The bigger man heeded his words taking the hand of the lady Olivia had helped up and leading her out of the wreckage.

"Are you out of your mind?!" John told her. His choice of tone was foreign coming from him. It was the first time she's ever heard the angry parent voice from her father. "You have no idea what we're dealing with. You can't just come barging into the scene all guns blazing."

She narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't appreciate his sudden choice to scold her. "People could've been hurt. I couldn't just stand there knowing I could help them."

Liv interrupted their stare down unknowingly. She eyed the placement of the van before bending over to pick up something from the rubble. A black metallic name plate with her name engraved in white bold font rested in her fingers. "That's my desk. I should've been sitting there."

John growled under his breath tearing his gaze off his stubborn offspring. "Whatever's after you must be able to track you, feel your energy. It won't give up until you're dead."

The trio cautiously walked towards the front of the van. John lead the way while Liv and Olivia followed behind him. The two girls stopped on either sides of him. Olivia froze on spot at the sight of what she was greeted with. Hanging from the broken windshield was the corpse of a woman. She had blonde, tangled hair. Her skin was pale meaning she had been died for at least a few hours. Her lips were blue, and her eyes were pure white. And despite the fact that her body lied face down on the hood, her head was turned to them. But what scared her was the dead woman was breathing erratically and demonically. It was as if she was emitting low and deep animalistic growls.

"What the hell?" Olivia muttered in disgust.

"Oh, my god. Talia." Liv exclaimed. "She's alive."

"What part of any of this makes you think she's alive?" Olivia asked her with furrowed brows, and John sent her a warning glare. She didn't mean to come off harsh. She was on edge and has seen some crazy shit. Not to mention, this was now the second dead body she's seen in two days. She's just thankful that this didn't happen to her mother.

"No, she's not. Something's using her. This is all wrong they never operate in the open like this." John said as he eyed the body of Liv's friend Talia. The breathing from the corpse silenced completely meaning that whatever possessed it was gone now.

"Liv?" John called out when it grew quiet. He turned around only to find his daughter standing there smirking at him.

"She's long gone." Olivia told him. She was wondering how long it would've taken for him to notice. The poor girl had bolted to her car she had left parked over night the minute Olivia confirmed that her friend was still very much dead.

"Brilliant."