The Restless Dead [Open]

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It was going to be a long day for Serenity, mostly because both she and Sorina knew she hadn’t slept well last night and would not fall asleep again for a long time. Besides that there was a particularly difficult spirit trashing the church. Vengeful poltergeist would be a better word for what she and Sorina would be dealing with. This child had been brutally murdered about two years ago and was building up rage ever since. Both of her parents had passed on about a year ago and now there was no one to hold her back, no one but Serenity. 

Bibles were flying around and if nothing was done quickly soon pew’s would be caught up in the storm but most of the animosity was only something Serenity could see, the rage coming off the girl in waves only effecting the spiritual world. Sure the flying objects were annoying but the spiritual energy was lashing out around her attempting to keep any other dead creatures back. It didn’t quite work on Serenity herself but it still wiped her hair around her face and caused her heart to skip a beat every time a new wave hit her.

Serenity strode into the hurricane, her forehead a blazing maroon keeping an eye on the many possible futures ahead of her. She was not a fighter so her only strength in this matter was she came prepared for many futures and could look at many simultaneously. It wasn’t easy to do but she could keep up her determined front for long enough to help this child calm down. 

Serenity finally planted her feet as she knew she had about two seconds to get her ghosts attention before she would have to dodge a flying candlestick, ”Hey there little Supergirl, you wanna hear a story?” Serenity took a step forward as she could feel the anger off the girl dissipating as the confusion came in full blast. The childhood name and phrasing that her parents would have given her was so contradictory to what she had been feeling for the last year it shocked her into listening.

The ghost turned and focused her rage after the momentary pause in the assault, ”No… no… no…” 

Serenity pushed forward until she was only ten feet away from the confused little girl, ”There once was a Supergirl named Mandy, she was very brave and strong but a bad man came and took her away from what she knew.” Serenity took a measured step left to avoid a bundle of coins but her eyes never left Mandy’s. ”The bad man hurt her and she fought back making sure that he would never be able to hurt anyone else again.”

Mandy made sure to kick up a fuss ”I don’t like this story.”Mandy whimpered sadly the storm calming form a hurricane to a bad thunderstorm. 

A knowing smile flashed across Serenity’s face as she rocked backwards to avoid yet more flying rubble, ”But Supergirl defeated the bad man in the end, don’t you know Mandy he can never hurt you or anyone else ever again. You made sure of that sweetheart.” She smiled at the ghost lifting up a hand for her to take, which she knew little Mandy would.

She finally saw the form of a small scared child. ”Are you sure he’s gone for good?” she sounded so broken and Serenity wrapped the girl in a hug cradling her head against her shoulder.

”Yes sweetheart yes he can’t hurt you anymore, but you know you don’t belong here right?” She looked the girl in the eye, ”There’s so many cooler places for a girl your age to be right now don’t you know that being dead is awesome once you get to go to the fun places.”

Mandy blinked a pair of pale brown eyes at the medium, ”Like Winterland?” Serenity was always amazed at how resilient children were. Even in death.

”Yeah exactly like Winterland,” Serenity smiled at her and gestured over her shoulder, ”Hey you wanna meet a friend of mine? This is Sorina, she may just look like a dove but she can talk how cool is that?” Serenity smiled at the child conspiratorially, ”I bet you can tell her all about Winterland and how cool it is.” Yeah she could see a very irritable bird in her future but it also was going to help the girl deal with the fact that she was going to have to cross over soon or become almost as bad as the man that killed her.

She chuckled at the two spirits chatting away and trying to listen to the fast tirade of the other, but Serenity was not going to be to much more helpful in this talk. Serenity was good at talking down vindictive spirits but Sorina had a skill for telling them exactly what they needed to cross over. It didn’t help that the medium was about to collapse from exhaustion. She just needed to get back outside the front doors of the church so the child didn’t see what happened to the girl who just helped her. 

The doors creaked open with not a small amount of effort on the blonde’s side and she took a few shaky steps towards the stairs and collapsed leaning on the stone railings. It wasn’t easy keeping thousands of timelines strait in her head while fighting off the spiritual waves around her. She would need a minute before she was ready to open her eyes again… maybe ten. 

Words: 953

Tagged: Open

Muse: At Wit's End - Hans Zimmer

Notes: I mostly just had this plot idea in my head and wanted to write it, I figured what the heck I'll make a thread of it.

[Deleted]

Constantine was late again! He'd gotten a lead that there was some "spooky shit going down" at the church by picking up on some homeless chatter on the walk home from school. It was amazing what you could hear by actually taking the time to listen to the din around you. Stephen spent the night researching the building before deciding to take action. From what he could deduce, he'd be dealing with the spirit of an angry child. He could understand the angst built up from being a child, dead, and alone. His childhood hadn't been a cake-walk either; it'd been full of demons and angels all trying to get revenge on his father by getting to him.

That was all in the past, except for how it forged the troubled teen into the cold person he appeared to be. Either way, he'd figured out that the kid died about two years ago due to the church, funeral records, and the kind of acts she was taking. If he'd been a little girl, murdered in an alleyway and mutilated almost beyond recognition by some monster, he'd be quite cross. The breaking point seemed to be the death of her parents, another understandable scenario. Everyone cares for their parents in some way.

As the moon leered overhead, his footsteps echoed off the brick walls and soulless marble of monuments leading to the church. It was visible in the distance, and soon he could hear that voices were propagating from inside. "Shit..." he muttered. He remembered the last time some amateur ghost hunters walked in on some nasty spirits. They were extremely lucky he arrived when he did, they almost set the ghosts off like a bomb (literally). Why is it me who has to deal with this stuff? Mom and Dad never have to get involved with this, do they? Sighing as he approached, his hand pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, placed it in his mouth, and pulled out his lighter when he arrived right at the church doors. The lighter opened, and his thumb caught the rough surface of the flint-wheel, when a figure almost tumbled out the doors.

The cigarette fell out of his mouth and the lighter went back into his pocket while he approached and held his hand out, "Are you okay? Don't you know what you're dealing with? Spirits are dangerous..." In an instant, his long coat was draped over the girl's shoulders while he took a peek through the crack in the door. Already, the spirit seemed to be moving on, but it was peculiar to see a bird, he recognized it as being a spirit of some sort since it conversed with the girl, talking. After being sure there wasn't any problem inside, he turned back to actually get a look at the person he'd lost his coat for. They were blonde, pretty regularly dressed, but there was something ODD about her. Shaking his head, he reassured himself, You're just imagining things Stephen. She's not different from anyone else, is she?

WC: 509
Music: Furioso www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI7wEhuKKDw
Tagged: @reni

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The clairvoyant needed a moment after dealing with that kind of spiritual energy, she was not about to deal with the magician a moment before she wanted to. Yes on a better night, when she was not sleep deprived, she would have greeted him outright with a shake of his hand and left before he had a chance to even ask her name. Although she had to hand it to him, the coat was a nice touch. It dwarfed her small size but she was used to the feeling. She just needed another moment or two to breathe and she would be alright. 

Sorina glanced out of the church while talking to little Maddy, while she was concerned about the girl in front of her she knew how much it took out of her partner to use those kinds of skills. Though who the new guy was she was slightly puzzled at and why he was looking right at them another mystery. Once she pushed her green eyed friend back to sleep she would ask all about who this new kid was, it was certainly not someone who had been in town the last time they were here.

"Are you okay? Don't you know what you're dealing with? Spirits are dangerous..."

The blonde couldn't put it off any longer, she sighed and opened her eyes. Her hand found itself rubbing her forehead, still aching from the constant barrage of visions from not to long ago. From experience she knew she was sleep deprived, sore, and ticked off. Three things she tried not to let get in the way of her words, a tradition she would be carrying on tonight."I'm fine," She pushed herself to her feet turning to see Constantine for the first time with her own eyes. "but you Constantine, you would have been late." Alright she may have still been slightly grumpy.

She was not a fan of working with a vengeful spirit and for a child to build up to this kind of rage over a year it was shocking someone hadn't heard about it sooner. No, she was still annoyed she had to be here in the middle of the night to deal with a vengeful spirit. It was not the highlight of her week.

Words: 381
Notes: Sorry the post's not inspired
Tagged: stephenjconstantine

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It was just before Constantine was going to introduce himself that the woman took the initiative. Great, he thought silently, she knows who I am. Only a few types of people knew who he was before he introduced himself, and most of them weren't strictly human. Of course, a demon or angel wouldn't probably waste their time trying to save the soul of a little girl, unless that girl was the key to ending the world. They had a funny disconnect with humanity, and only stepping in when it pleased them or if they had to. That oddness he'd detected earlier seemed different than what he'd expect from either one of those entities. Indeed, he'd only felt a similar air of discontent around his mother, since she seemed to "know" all.

Although, caution seemed like the logical course of action, the woman peaked Constantine's curiosity. Politely, since that was the way one dealt with supernatural beings that could be immensely more powerful than they appear, he shrugged and held his hand out, "You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Miss...?" he let the question hang out in the air while he waited for an answer. More observations went through his mind, forming connections with other facts, and drove onward to a conclusion. This woman, whoever she was, didn't take off the coat or let it fall off her shoulders immediately. That meant she was mortal, or mortal enough to care about the body she was in. If that were the case, she couldn't know Constantine because of his parents. That was a relief. She was raised in human society, based on her clothes and the natural ease she had with talking, and she had a companion who was a spirit of some type. Therefore, she was a medium of some sort. Determining what she could do would only be a matter of asking, though reading thoughts would mean she would probably be rambling out what he thought as he thought it to prove a point. However, based on her "late" comment, she knew he would be coming. She could see spirits, talk to them, and had precognition.

Almost accidentally, he mumbled barely above a whisper, "Just who ARE you?"

WC: 370
Music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i9u_hucAUs <= you should listen to this while you read or post.
Tagged: Serenity Swanson

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Serenity's eyes looked Constantine up and down, while she had never met his parents she had heard about them. It was impossible to deal with spirits for one's entire life and not hear about some of the other people in the business of the supernatural, if only because some spirits talked about them. She had her abilities on top of that just to round out all her knowledge on a certain person standing before her. She had known someone had been in town while she had been gone but she had honestly presumed it was another medium. Although magicians seemed to be much more common in the world today.

She raised an eyebrow at the politeness he showed, most people in a town like this just wanted to pummel you first then once they make it to the hospital deal with the niceties. She was exaggerating of course but she was annoyed. She placed her hand in his "Serenity Swanson, previously Mockingbird." Usually she wouldn't have thrown in the fact that she was a presumed dead hero but it would save Stephen time later when he would be useful. If the future went the way it seemed they would need to get to know each other better anyways might as well save him time in the process. Although she thought he would find it amusing that most of the press thought she was a telepath.

She glanced back at the sanctuary over the other blonde's shoulder, it was wrecked totally and completely pew's lay astray and all in all it looked like a tornado had hit just the inside of the building. "If you had taken much longer you would have had trouble containing her," Serenity probably would have had trouble if she had been twenty minutes later, the place would have looked much worse and by then there would be much more broken glass flying around.

She finally chose to address his whispered comment, "As for who I am, I'm currently living at the big T shaped tower over there you tell me Mr. Detective." She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. This might be a fun night after all.

Words: 366
Notes: Sorina's off with Maddy just so ya know, and I could find a pretty picture for the top but i'm going for speed
Music: Myst Main Titles
Tagged: stephenjconstantine

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As Serenity introduced herself, Constantine blinked in recognition of the name. She was mortal indeed. At least, that's what everyone believed. In a sweeping motion, almost like a bow, Constantine lifted her hand to his lips and then gently released it. His mother's manners were rubbing off on him, it seemed. He spoke softly, "A pleasure, Serenity. I'm Stephen Constantine," He paused and added, "as you already know, since you have precognition. I had to introduce myself, didn't I?" He smirked at that last part before contemplating how long he could've kept the time paradox going before actually mentioning his name. But if she saw herself saying the name, then does that mean she can know anything she needs to know? No, He shook his head, even Dad said his walk with God in the woods was surprising for him.

"Would I?" Constantine replied to her statement in a sardonic tone, almost issuing it as a challenge, "Assuming I'm right on precognition, you must see the most probably number of infinite universes made by each decision, correct?" If his smirk and smile could've gotten larger, it would've. It was almost frightening how easy she was making his deduction "web" fill out in his mind. She did know what he'd say, of course, and he knew that. Finally, he had someone he could talk to and would just know what he meant, somehow. That assumed, of course, that they became friends later on. That was a rare luxury for forlorn Stephen, since his childhood was wrought with destruction and none of those friends survived.

Before Constantine asked his final series of questions and made his final comments, he noted she still had his coat. He liked his coat, and he almost felt naked without it. Perhaps it was a security blanket and holdover from his father always protecting him, but it wasn't silly to be attached to a piece of clothing. The situation is similar to Indiana Jones and his hat. "So," he looked over towards the direction of the tower, "is this the moment you ask me to join the titans, or is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship? I'm not the one wearing the coat like Bogart, so that isn't my line."


WC: 374
Music: If you could read my mind www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqMG3VR5PP4
Tagged: @reni

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Constantine was very entertaining to say the least, first the coat and secondly the kiss on the hand. He was caring and chivalrous two things that were almost extinct in people today, especially around the tower where most of the females around didn't appreciate the sentiment. They more wanted to train and hang out and go fight the good fight which was all well and good but Serenity was not a brawler. She went out of her way to make sure she could sidestep them as often as she could get away with. "I can search through your future when your name is called in class tomorrow," College students were easy to read because someone was always looking up their records that she could view. People's names were written all over their lives, now finding the real name of some of the street kids was more problematic, doable for someone like herself but just slightly more challenging.

She continued her words without missing a beat, "Yes as of twenty minutes ago in our timeline you would have been late. Thirty minutes ago you had a choice between articles to choose from in one timeline you were on time this timeline, well not so much." She gestured at the room behind you, "If I had been twenty minutes later I wouldn't have made it in the door, she was going supernova." She sighed and saw the little girl about to cross over it was nice to see her passing on so soon after such a trauma in her life.

Oh now he presumed that she was a Titan, now that was funny. No she wasn't a titan but she did help them more often then not because they tended to end things with the least loss of life. Serenity tended on the lazy side, she didn't want to deal with spirits going blowing up in her face every day. "Honorary Titan," She shrugged the coat off her shoulders and tossed it over to the teen but not before palming the cigarettes from his coat pocket, "And no not asking you to join. So I guess this is the start to a friendship." She said a smirk making it's way across her delicate features. She looked at the cigarettes in her hand and waved them in front of her new blonde friend, "I'll take these though, they will kill you, friend." She'd walk by a trashcan on her way home so she didn't have to worry about where to put them. Why all these superhero's thought it was so cool to smoke was beyond her, it just made it harder for them to catch the bad guys who were actually at the top of their game.

Words: 452
Notes: Nope
Tagged: stephenjconstantine

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The fact that Serenity could search into his future sort of set Constantine on edge. It meant that she could find out everyone's dirty little secrets, and maybe she could blackmail them for it. Maybe she'd done that in the past, and maybe she'd do it in his future. She'd know that, of course, even if he didn't. What really bothered him was that she could see his whole timeline and all the possibilities. Amazing, the little voice at the back of his head spoke, mimicking Morgan Freeman, that someone so powerful, and with so much potential, could help people and have a pretty face. He almost slapped himself, "Shut up Morgan Freeman."

As Serenity sighed, Constantine turned on his heel to see the girl finally at peace, and he smiled. No, it wasn't a smirk like before, nor was it a nervous smile or one meant to set people on edge. It was a genuine, content smile. Even if he hadn't helped her himself, someone had. That smile changed to a sad smile as he thought about the conditions that allowed for the spirit to leave the body. The world is a cruel place. A lump formed and dissolved in his throat as he tried to retort, "I-I," He breathed, "at least it's all taken care of, isn't it?"

Honestly, Serenity didn't seem the Titan type to Constantine. They wore flashy costumes and didn't deal with stuff like this. So, as he rotated back on his heel and caught his coat, he didn't look surprised. However, the second his coat was back on, he seemed more than a little peeved, "Hey, Honorary Titan, that's stealing. Gimme those!" his hand flew up and snatched at the cigarettes hanging tauntingly in front of him, but it was to no avail. For whatever reason, Constantine couldn't get them, but he chalked it up to "She knew what I was going to do before I did it." and sighed. "A lot of things could kill me," he closed his eyes as he calmed himself down, "but I'd rather be given a bloody choice." In shock, he covered his mouth. He'd used THAT word, "Oh my God I'm becoming British." He stared at Serenity and then narrowed his eyes, "See what you did? Don't tell me it gets worse, does it?"


WC: 387
Music: None
Tagged: @reni

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Serenity shifted her gaze from the two spirits back to Constantine, "Yeah it is a good thing," she was sure that whatever was on the other side of the veil was better for the child especially if her parents were there waiting for her on the other side. She let a smile cross her face as Sorina started finishing up coaching the child. "Sorina is very good at that, it helps having a ghost around." It was nice that someone was actually able to see her lifelong companion, it was nice not to have to sidestep this part of her life. Sorina was such a big part of her life and that wasn't going to change any time soon, but most people she met wouldn't even believe she existed even if she told them about her.

She pulled the cigarettes out of his reach with small movements finally putting them back in her pocket, "This isn't stealing it's called an intervention, and I really don't like the smell." She sent a smirk his way, yes he had been through a lot in life but so had she and it was nice to at least come across someone who could understand the dark side of this world, that things do go bump in the night and sometimes it was up to the few people with the ability to help to fix it. "Well smoking makes all those other things more likely to kill you. Try running from a demon when you can't catch your breath." She wanted him to stick around as long as possible and smoking decreased his odds, no matter how cool he thought it was.

Oh and now the british accent was coming out yes he did have a very subtle british turn of phrase that if you weren't looking for it wouldn't be noticeable but apparently when he was frustrated it came out. She'd have to keep an eye on those occurrences in the future. "I think it's bloody brilliant if you ask me." No she was not complaining about the accent at all.

Sorina finally came flying out of the church and landed on an arm Serenity had outstretched for her. "This is Stephen Constantine, John Constantine's son." Sorina looked back and forth between the two, well at least this one wasn't selling drugs to the city.

The dove fluttered her wings to get more comfortable, "Nice to meet you we've heard a lot about your family." Most of them were good but they had also heard about the massacre from years ago. That one sent a ripple through the supernatural community -something that big always would.

Words: 392
Notes: And he get's Sorina's approval not easy to do
Tagged: stephenjconstantine

[Deleted]

Although Serenity seemed happy about crossing over, it was something that bothered Constantine. He'd never experienced it, of course, since he'd never died. His father had gone to hell and back more than once on business, but he'd never been to those realms that seemed as far off as the land of Nod, and just as elusive as pleasant dreams. The uncertainty, as he knew it, was oblivion. What did nothing feel like? What is nothing? What's it like to be unconscious? What is cognition? The uncertainty of "life" after death kept him up at night. Even so, he didn't cherish the thought of being a ghost from then till the end of time. Before Sorina returned, Constantine turned to Serenity and asked bluntly, "What's Sorina a ghost of, or who?"

"That's STILL stealing." Constantine took a step towards her, but, instead of reaching into her pocket, he stopped and then rubbed the back of his neck. She probably knew one reason why he kept the cigarettes on him, even though fate prevented him from smoking them, because he kept one in his mouth to try to keep him from being hungry. It was this hunger he sought to stave off when he stuck the cigarette in his mouth earlier. It was the price he paid for leaving home in a hurry after reading into it too much. Does she know that I haven't eaten? He rubbed his temple and let out a sigh, "I'm starving to death, that'll kill me before a demon will."

With a smirk, and a little bit of an embarrassed blush from the British incident, he watched Sorina land. The voice wasn't surprising, since spirits can do that, so he responded promptly, "Nice to meet you too, Sorina."

Now, back to the matter of getting his cigarettes back. His plan was perfect! There was no harm in asking, since Serenity knew the question was already coming, so he half mumbled, "Since it's late, you're exhausted, and I'm famished, want to grab a bite?"



WC: 338
Music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VMCiewc7mE (no I'm kidding, there was no music)
Tagged: @reni