THREE| THE DARKNESS BENEATH

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THE NIGHT had been quiet, and Olivia wasn't sure whether or not she liked it. She grew up in a loud and colorful household. Her mother was always so vibrant and wild that it followed her everywhere she went and rubbed off on those around her. Maybe that was the reason why she was always happy with life even when she felt like it was missing something. Now that she was gone she felt lonely and dull like all the color of her life was buried six feet under with her.

She tried to distract herself from her thoughts, which had been working for a while. After she had left John on the rooftop, Chas had taken her back to the Mill-house where she unpacked what little belongings she had in her new bedroom. When that ended quicker than she would've liked, she sought out a new distraction. She sat crisscrossed on her bed with her back against the frame. A copy of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare had now held her attention.

Once she was able to push back the reminder that this was the book her mother had begged her to read so she could have someone to discuss it with, was when she could actually get into it. Jace had just taken Clary to the greenhouse to watch a flower that only bloomed at midnight, when a soft knock on her door had stolen Olivia's attention. Still reading she softly called out to whoever was on the other side, "Come in."

John leaned against the doorframe with his hands pushed deep into his pants pockets. His sleeves were rolled up his arm, and his trench coat had been discarded somewhere the minute he got back from the bar. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and Olivia peered up at him. He had entered the room so quietly she assumed that whoever had knocked earlier had simply left. She placed her bookmark within the two pages (because she refused to fold the corners of a book) before placing it on the nightstand. She could tell by the look on his face that he was hesitant to pass the threshold.

"You can come in." She encouraged him.

John crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. His hand rested on his lap. He studied their surroundings briefly before finally looking at her. This was the first time he was fully looking at her. She wore black joggers and a baggy, faded, white Taylor Swift t-shirt. Her long, wavy, blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her ocean eyes bored into his light brown eyes intensely that it dawned on him that he had been staring for too long.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I-uh-just wanted to check on you." He gave her a cocky smirk that-despite what he believed-didn't do a good job of masking his uneasiness.

Olivia gave him a shy smile. "This is uncomfortable for me too." She told him in hopes that he'd take comfort in the fact that he wasn't alone in his discomfort. But after hearing the words fall from her mouth, she had begun to regret them. "I-I don't know why I told you that." She added with an awkward laugh.

"But I'm fine."

"Okay." John replied before he stood to his feet. He reached the door when a thought crossed her mind.

"Can-can I ask you something?"

John glanced at her from over his shoulder. Her face held an eager expression yet her blue eyes were hesitant. "Sure."

She waited for him to reach her side again before she confided in him. "You said something about the rising darkness earlier. I think my mother's death was a result of that."

John frowned. "I don't think-"

"I saw something." She cut him off defensively. John's brows raised at her sudden claim. "I found her body." She swallowed when her throat had suddenly become dry. She blinked away her tears. "And there was this thing. I saw this shadow of a man with red eyes." She paused to sneak a glance at him. She couldn't decipher the look on his face.

"I'm not crazy." She said strongly out of fear that he thought she was insane. She felt insane thinking about what she saw that night. She knew it could've been a figment of her imagination-of her hysteria. But she knew deep down that what she saw was real.

John raised his hand up to his chest. "I never said you were." He flashed her a sympathetic smile. "I believe you."

"You do?" She peeked up.

"Now, what you saw exactly I cannot say. It could be a plethora of different things." He regrettably informed her. "But I can try and find out if it meant that it brings you at least an ounce of solace."

She toyed with the ends of her sleeves anxiously. She glanced up at him earnestly. "Can you teach me how to do magic, or whatever it is that you do?" He was immediately taken back by her request. "I want to be able to protect myself."

John scoffed. "And? Come on, luv, we both know that's not the only reason."

She gazed into his eyes with a sense of determination. "I want to stop the rising darkness. It may be the only way I'll be able to move forward. I want to make sure that whatever it was that murdered by mom burned in hell."

John's jaw locked momentarily. He swayed his head side to side indecisively. "I don't know, Olivia." He replied softly.

She shrugged. "Fine, don't teach me. I'll just go over to that gigantic library of yours and teach myself. I mean, that's what you did after all?" She said nonchalantly, but John knew this was her way of trying to break him.

He couldn't help but smirk. "All right, fine." He caved and it evoked a smirk out of her. "Under one condition."

"Let's hear it."

"If I do this-if I teach you," He instantaneously became nervous, which shifted towards Olivia, "then you let me get to know you. I think that's fair."

Her eyes dilated with surprise. She didn't know what she expected, but it certainly wasn't that. She never thought he really cared to know her hence the awkward and somewhat cold relationship they have. But she can't be at fault given he was the one who stopped coming around when she was a kid. He had left her with so much confusion-with so many questions.

"Okay." She replied rather meekly much to her annoyance. She cleared her throat before sounding more confident with her decision. "Okay, yeah. You got a deal."

"Deal."

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"Uh, working on your skills?" Chas asked John as he came down the stairs. John sat with Olivia at the table shuffling cards. The Englishman looked so focused on the task at hand. He has been messing with it for two hours. She would be lying if she said it didn't catch her interest. She however was far more eager to begin her lessons. He promised her that he would teach her last night, and she would've brought it up today but he looked irritated. So she decided it would probably be best to leave it alone for now.

"Just one. Patience." He turned himself around in his seat to get a better look at his best friend. "Where the bloody hell have you been?"

"I had to wait till the daily double." He jumped to his own defense. "It was your only pick that paid off." He swiftly pulled out an envelope full of cash and handed it over to John.

"Capnomancy isn't an exact magic. Divining the future through the movements of rising smoke, it's a tricky business." He told them as he counted the money. There had to be a least five hundred dollars. At least that's all she could make out before he put the money back into the envelope.

"I would think you'd be an expert." Chas retorted.

John ignored his remark and slapped Chas in the chest gently with the envelope of cash. "Saddle up. We're heading to Pennsylvania. Look at the map."

Chas leaned over the table to gaze upon the scry map. Before Liv had chosen to leave, she finished the map. It was coated with drops of her blood that foresee that something supernatural will take place in that area. A certain drop stood out amongst the others. "One of the drops is wet."

Constantine hummed in response. He began to pack a bag. "Our destination is the tiny town of Heddwich. According to local papers, a mining boss was just flash-fried in his shower."

"Well, you're on your own."

John stopped shuffling with his belongings immediately. He turned to Chas in bewilderment. Chas sighed before explaining his reasoning for not being able to help him with this particular job. "Pennsylvania? The succubus on a freight train?"

"That warrant still stands?"

"Funny what a long memory the law has when it comes to train derailments." He replied and Olivia glanced back and forth between the two through narrowed eyes. She found the whole conversation extremely odd.

"What the hell do you two be getting into?" She asked them with raised eyebrows. John and Chas just shared a glance as John smirked smugly as usual.

"It doesn't matter, because you'll be staying here under Chas's watchful eyes." He stated, and Olivia gaped in disapproval.

"What? No. I'm going." She exclaimed as she rose to her feet. John spun around on his heels ready to protest, but she didn't allow him the chance too. "You said you'd teach me about all this. So what's the harm in you just letting me at least shadow you for this one?"

"We made a deal." She reminded him with a smirk. "You teach me, and I'll let you get to know me. It's a long way to Pennsylvania, perfect for bonding." John glared at his stubborn daughter slightly whereas Chas smiled proudly. It was refreshing to see him being the one to get his arm twisted.

"Fine." He huffed and Olivia grinned brightly as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. She felt very much accomplished with herself. "Pack lightly and quickly."

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Olivia was beginning to think death was starting to follow her everywhere. She walked alongside her father as they watched a group of men carrying the casket of the mining boss who had passed away recently. John took one last drag of his cigarette before tossing it onto the ground putting it out with his foot. Olivia's nose scrunched up with disgust. She hated that he smoked, and he didn't help with attempting to change her mind when he basically just littered.

"Where to first..." John thought aloud.

"How about the bar? That's where the miners are gathering." She suggested and Constantine slowly turned to look at her perplexed. She could see a bit of concern in his chocolate brown eyes. She knew he was worried and curious about how she knew about that. It was as if he was trying to link this to the incident on the rooftop the night before. He brought his concern over how she was able to see passed the glamor to her on the flight to Pennsylvania. She told him honestly that she didn't know how she did it, and he simply said they'd figure it out together during her training then.

Olivia rolled her eyes before tearing a flyer off the wall behind her. She held it up for him to read it's content. "They put it on a flyer. I'm not some kind of psychic."

"Right." He nodded firmly. He took the flyer and read it over before tossing it in the nearest trashcan. "We'll start there. Follow me."

"Where else am I gonna go?" She replied sarcastically, and he chuckled humorlessly. She said she'd allow him to get to know her; she never once said that she'd stop teasing him or stop pushing his buttons. It was too much fun.

"You know what-" John began as they took the corner, but he cut himself off when he collided into a woman. She was of average height. She had long, beautiful brown curly hair that stopped at her mid back. Both John and the woman swiftly dropped to the floor to help her pick up her belongings that scattered across the pavement.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She apologized in a rush. Her movements became far more frantic than earlier. The two finally looked each other in the eye and their reaction was very different to say the least. John looked at the woman as if he was mesmerized with her beauty. Whereas the woman stared at him like she had just seen a ghost. Olivia thought the reaction was definitely weird.

"Well, the apologizes are all mine, luv." John replied charmingly making the blonde girl roll her eyes at his shameless flirting. "Let's, uh, get you sorted, yeah? If there's one thing I know my way around, it's rubbish." He put all her belongings back into her bag. Well, all except one.

They both simultaneously rose to their feet. John handed her bag back over to her and she took it absentmindedly. Her sight never drifted from his face. It was so intense that it had begun to make him uncomfortable. "It's you. You're you." She breathed.

"That observation always ends in the same way, and it's never in my favor." Said John as he turned to Olivia. "Let's go."

They took two steps before the brunette had blocked their exit. "I dream about you. I was starting to think you weren't real." She sounded extremely creepy, but Olivia had experienced things far more creeper than a stalker. She heard the sound of crunching paper below her. Her sight drifted downward and landed on an impressive yet familiar drawing underneath her boots. She bent over raising her foot so she can pick up the paper from the ground.

"Who are you?" The woman asked John.

"We should be asking you that." Olivia said coldly as she handed John the drawing of himself.

He took the drawing with careful fingers. He skimmed it before fixing the woman with a harsh glare. "Some kind of carnival quick-draw artist, are we? Perched and peeking in a window. Scratch out the visage of some poor lonely sod, and then bump into him as if you're his long lost lover. Tongue in his ear, hand in his pocket, I bet. It's a nice play, luv, but I think I'll sit this one out."

John attempted to go around her yet again but she bumped him back with her chest. "No." She said firmly almost in a shout. She pointed a finger to his locks. "It's the blonde hair. The curled lip. The bad posture."

"I have excellent posture." He countered defensively, and Olivia snorted.

"Do you though?" She teased with squinted eyes and her arms crossed over her chest.

John pointed a stern finger at his daughter. "Hush, you." She threw her hands up in mock surrender. Her blue eyes swirled with amusement.

"I've seen it all." The woman carried on not giving much attention to their recent banter.

"Well, not well, apparently." He took a pencil from her bag and poked holes into the paper where his eyes were. He then stuck the pencil behind her ears then held up the drawing for her to see. "There." He gently pressed the paper to her chest forcing her to take it back. "Eyes are much darker than this one."

This was getting them nowhere, and they were wasting time. Olivia sighed heavily then left the two to continue their conversation. She knew John could handle himself on his own anyway. But she wanted to prove that she could handle his lifestyle. So she wandered to the bar to find any information she can on the mining boss.

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Olivia sat at the bar with her head resting in her palm. She had been eavesdropping on the miners meeting, but so far she hasn't picked up on anything ear shattering. She was strategizing in her head about how she can get any information out of any of the miners, or locals without coming off as a nosy teenager. The only person apart from the bartender that was willing to talk to her was the lonely ex-pastor beside her.

The bell that hung from the doors of the bar chimed melodically announcing that someone new has entered the establishment. "Olivia." John said strongly, almost scolding, when he spotted her at the bar. He didn't appreciate that she left him alone with what might be a deranged con artist. She took a sip from her glass as she glanced over at him lazily.

He snatched the glass of dark liquid out of her hand flashing her a stern look. She rolled her eyes. "Relax, it's soda. I'm a minor they wouldn't give me any alcohol even if I asked." He brought the glass up to his nose and sniffed it clearly not believing her. He looked in a mix of relief and annoyance. She held her hand out for him to return her drink back to her, which he did when he realized it was coke.

"I don't know why you're acting this way. I mean, you did let me take a sip of your whiskey on the flight when I asked to try it." She added with pursed lips.

John smirked smugly. "That was different, luv. Not many people noticed."

"Your kid?" The pastor asked John with a slight smile, almost reminiscent.

John shifted his weight from one leg to the other nervously. He then smiled genuinely that it warmed her heart. She forced herself to look down at her glass of soda. "Uh, yeah. She's my daughter."

He extended his hand out for the man to shake. He figured he might as well try to get some information out of him. "John Constantine."

The man shook his hand. "Stout."

John leaned against the bar causally turning on his charm. "That kind of irony is hard to ignore, isn't it? The town's symbol being a dragon and this sorry soul burned alive."

"So, what's your take on it?" Olivia chimed in on the conversation nonchalantly. She glanced at the man beside her with her head tilted to the side a bit out of curiosity.

The man pondered on it briefly. "Fire in the pipes? It's rare. But it happens in mining towns."

John shrugged his shoulders. "Well, maybe if there's fracking. But isn't it the land of hard rock mining?"

"What do you know about it?"

"Grew up in Liverpool, mate." John answered. "Breathed in more coal dust than fresh air as a lad."

Olivia frowned. "Sounds awful." She muttered.

"Lannis! Hear!" The miners in the short distance all toasted loudly.

"Must've been a good bloke."

The pastor glanced over his shoulders at the miners momentarily then turned back to John with a look of utter disgust. "Lannis was a bastard."

"Wow." Olivia whispered. She had to bit down on the inside of her cheek to refrain from laughing at the man's bluntness.

"But they closed the mine for a day. Fellas around here don't need an invitation to get skinful." He continued.

"Have you considered actual dragons as the guilty party?" John joked purposely so that his next statement wouldn't come off too out there. "There's no natural explanation of what happened to poor Lannis is there?"

"You got that right." Another random face at the bar said suddenly. "But it weren't no dragon that took Lannis and the others."

"There were others?" Olivia asked him.

The man nodded. "Nine others. All in the last year."

John and Olivia shared a smirk before John spoke to the man who was one of the fellow miners in this town. "They died like this bloke?"

"Mining accidents. Some of the boys are saying we dug a little too deep." The man explained. "We knocked on the door of hell, and now hell is knocking back."

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John insisted that Olivia should wait back at the hotel when he left to check out the mine and Lannis's wake. She only agreed because she was exhausted. And she didn't feel right with crashing a wake for a man she didn't know. It was disrespectful in her eyes, but John will be John. She didn't know how long she was asleep for exactly when she woke up to voices.

She searched the floor for her boots that she had taken off before she crashed on her bed. She made out one voice to be John's but she didn't know if someone was here with them, or if he was on the phone with Chas. Or he was talking to himself, which is something she wouldn't put past him. "I have visions I can't control." She heard a soft, feminine voice utter as she put her boots on.

She walked into the other side of room where John was staying and stopped abruptly at the odd scene in full display in front of her. The girl from the street this afternoon was gripping onto the forearm of a shirtless John Constantine. "Loneliness. Pain. Desperation. These things motivate you." She said with her eyes closed.

"What kind of a person is motivated by these things?" She opened her eyes and met his. They stared one another down engulfed in a thick tension. "So much guilt, John Constantine."

"Uh? Should I leave you two alone?" Olivia asked them awkwardly making them quickly separate from one another.

"Okay." John sighed as he tore his gaze off his confused daughter. "You want answers?" She nodded. "Let's see what you got."

"Park it." He demanded and she sat down on the chair. "You'll do everything I say, you understand?"

"Yes."

"Close your eyes. I want you to see an image in your mind. It's a total whiteout. Absorbing all sound, except for the sound of my voice. Are you with me?" She nodded her head. She was swaying slightly like she was in a trance, a state of peace.

Olivia watched with intrigue as John grabbed a container full of some black goo out of his coat pocket. "There's a white dove lost in a snowstorm. You need to save it. Hold out your hand. Open your senses. Let the dove come to you now."

John placed the black goo into the palm of her hand and the minute it made contact with her skin, the brunette fell back screaming in pure agony. Constantine began to shake her by her shoulders roughly. "Zed! Zed! Zed!"

Olivia rushed over to them. She knelt down in front of Zed. "What's wrong with her?!"

"She's feeling whatever it is she's seeing in her vision." He replied rather calmly for the situation, but maybe it was because he was used to stuff like this.

"What? Visions?"

"Zed! Zed! Zed." The last time he called her name was more softer given she had begun to come back to reality. She looked at them with doe eyes. "You saw the fire."

"Was that the man in town who was burning?" She asked him still shaken up from the vision.

"What else did you see?"

"A tall cross."

Olivia studied the brunette closely. "She's a psychic." She breathed out in awe.

"All right. You did a cracking job. Well, we're on to something, you and me." John told her as Olivia stood to her feet and helped her sit up right instead of that uncomfortable slouch position she was in. "I'm just gonna take a quick change, then we're gonna get to the bottom of this, all right?"

"Olivia, can I talk to you for a second?" John said to her softly as he shrugged on his shirt and began to button it up.

"What's up?" She asked him when he suddenly began to shove her into the bathroom using her shoulders to guide her to the window. "What's your problem?!"

He shushed her quickly. "Out the window." He demanded.

"What?" She gaped. A small laugh at his behavior bubbled out of her. He was seriously willing to climb out a window than face the woman in the other room.

"You heard me. Out the window." He yelled in a whisper still pushing her gently towards the bathroom window.

"Oh my, god, you're cracked." She told him as she began to climb out the window.

"Indeed, I am. Now go."

"John?"

"Hurry." He panicked pushing her leg that was slung over the exterior still of the window. She slapped his hand away gently.

"I'm going!" She hissed.

A/N

Sorry this was really long.