Slither

Notes: I know a poltergeist is a ghost. Here it's a demon. Also, thanks for the awesome reviews. I blushed reading them. ^^

Slither
Chapter 4

Balthazar didn't have to wait long to discover that apparently he was allowed to tag along on more than one exorcism with Johnny. After a night spent flirting shamelessly with Constantine, there was no time the next day to further his cause. Angela had called in a panic, apparently dodging furniture at a poltergeist haunting as far as Constantine had been able to figure before the call cut off. They'd grabbed Constantine's bag of tricks and headed out, flagging a cab and making it to the suburban house in record time.

XxXxX

Getting out of the car and watching Constantine pay the driver distractedly, Balthazar glanced up and down the deserted street, making sure no mortals were likely to interrupt them. Not that he cared. To be honest, he'd tried to care what happened to Angela and only managed it when he reminded himself how much he annoyed her. He knew that he'd miss the satisfaction he got from knowing that she wanted Johnny just as much as he did. She was the competition, but having her around made the thought of winning that much sweeter. He also knew Johnny would be upset if she were to die, and that alone made her worth protecting. It was an odd feeling to actually care about someone else. It complicated his life, but he didn't give a damn. Hell couldn't stop him now and whatever it was that he felt towards Johnny was all his.

“Fucking hate poltergeists.” Constantine was muttering, leading the demon towards the house. It looked like a typical suburban bungalow, manicured garden and perfect front for a multitude of sins. Balthazar knew the type all too well.

“What's the plan, Johnny?” Balthazar asked as they reached the door and opened it a crack, pausing to see if anything came flying at them.

“Find Angela, go from there.” Constantine replied, lighting up a cigarette before pushing the door open fully and stepping inside. Balthazar followed, letting his long, agile tail unwind from around his waist. It usually came in handy in such situations and he liked having a little extra to protect himself with.

The house was a wreck on the inside. Furniture lay smashed to kindling in the hall, glass and china shards littering the bloodstained carpet and deep claw marks gouged into the walls.

“It's a demon. A strong one, Johnny.” Balthazar informed the exorcist quietly, eyeing the gouges in the wall. He could feel the power radiating from the house and for the first time a trickle of apprehension made its way down his spine.

“I know. Watch your back.” Constantine replied around his cigarette, knowing Balthazar was strong enough to take care of himself but worried about Angela. She tended to want to shoot things that attacked her, and demons didn't usually work that way.

“Living room.” Balthazar whispered, following John to the entrance and feeling the waves of power much stronger from within. Constantine stopped in the entrance, surveying the scene before him.

Wreckage littered this room as well, a coffee table destroyed and smouldering in the centre. A television set had smashed over it, insides turned out onto the carpet and cables thrashing sparks around the empty, broken screen. An armchair was shredded and destroyed against one wall, its matching couch upturned and providing shelter for Angela, who noticed them and frantically waved them over.

“John,” she gasped in relief as they dodged a barrage of books that shot out from the upturned bookcase and slammed themselves into the floral wallpaper, pages flying. John ducked behind the couch, Balthazar following, and they sat for a moment watching the rest of the books kamikaze against the wall above where they sat. Once the bookcase was exhausted of ammunition silence fell over the house again and Angela stared at Constantine with wide eyes.

“Where are the owners?” The exorcist asked, rooting around in his bag.

“In the upstairs bedroom. They're dead. It looks like the husband killed the wife and then himself.” Angela explained, ignoring Balthazar and watching Constantine take off his jacket and roll up his shirtsleeves.

“Right. Here's the plan. Angela, take this.” The exorcist passed the detective one of his holy water bottles, taking the battered bible from from his jacket and sliding it into his back pocket. “Balthazar, I need you to distract it while I bring it out.”

Balthazar smirked, his eyes glowing brightly and his tail slithering from side to side as he crouched in readiness to fight.

“Anything you say, Johnny.” The demon purred, enjoying the way Angela scowled at him in undisguised hatred.

“When I bring it out, throw the holy water at it. As long as Balthazar can keep it off me for long enough I'll send it back where it came from.” Constantine instructed Angela, giving Balthazar a nod to show he was ready.

“Time to be distracting.” Balthazar grinned, before standing up and striding confidently into the middle of the room. Constantine, secretly thinking that Balthazar was distracting enough without trying, stood up as well and headed for the corner, raising his tattooed arms in front of him.

XxXxX

“Into the Light, I command you.” Constantine's growled voice ordered from behind him as Balthazar hopped up to perch on the wreckage of the coffee table, his tail swishing behind him like a cat.

“Come out, come out...” He sing-songed, “I'm sure you know who I am. Lucifer will be ever so pleased if you manage to kill me. Why don't you give it a try?” He challenged.

The taunting worked and Balthazar leapt back to dodge a chunk of the television as it came flying at him, exploding in a shower of sparks against the wall.

“Really, you just aren't trying, are you?” The halfbreed smirked, ducking to avoid more flying debris as John bought the tattoos on his arms closer together, gritting his teeth in exertion.

“Die...” A hiss of a voice sounded from all around, seeming to come from the very walls of the house. Balthazar couldn't tell which direction it was coming from and narrowly avoided a chunk of the table - the sharp, splintered wood shooting past him. A table leg followed, which Balthazar knocked out of the air with his tail before it could hit him. It spun off and landed against the ruined couch with a clatter, making Angela jump.

“Your aim could use a little work,” Balthazar purred, gracefully crouching to avoid more debris and spinning to kick away a vase that exploded into shards of flying china and rained into the wall like darts.

“Into the LIGHT!” John roared, finally managing to bring the tattoos together. A flood of darkness swept up into the room for a moment, forming itself into the tall, thin figure of the creature they were fighting.

“Do you think being able to see me is going to help you?” The gaunt demon hissed, skin like old, yellowed paper and balding head covered by a battered trucker's cap.

“Might help with this,” Angela yelled, throwing the holy water. The bottle shattered against the wall next to the demon, raining shards of glass and water down on the skeletal creature. It howled in rage, rounding on the detective as its skin began to melt away in sizzling patches, its eyes burning.

“Bitch!” It rasped, raising an arm and sending debris at her from three separate directions. Her eyes widened as she realised it was much too fast for her to dodge, John's yell to get down ringing in her ears. She expected pain, but all she felt was a sudden rush of movement and the cacophony of noise as the makeshift missiles hit the wall she'd been standing against.

“What the-?” She gasped, looking up from where she found herself sprawled on the floor only to find Balthazar perched over her, having knocked her out of the way.

“It's time to let the grown-ups play, detective.” Balthazar said, his eyes glowing eerily. He didn't wait for a reply before jumping back to avoid yet more pieces of flying furniture, taking his place between the poltergeist and Constantine.

XxXxX

John watched Balthazar save Angela, his respect for the halfbreed rising. He was a competent fighter and having someone at his back was much easier than working alone. Watching Balthazar twist and move to avoid everything the poltergeist was throwing at them wasn't hard on the eyes, either. He pulled out the bible he'd tucked into his back pocket earlier and flipped to the right page, not needing to use his charms when he already knew the type of demon they were up against. He was glad of that and began reading aloud, knowing that his halfbreed companion couldn't hold the creature off alone forever.

“I'll bring your pathetic, traitorous heart to Lucifer myself, Balthazar.” The demon rasped, slinging endless barrages of wreckage at the slick little halfbreed, who dodged the blows meant for him and deflected the ones meant for Constantine. “Leaving Hell and falling in love with a human – Constantine, even – what the fuck is wrong with you?”

Constantine's chanted words faltered a little at that, eyes catching Balthazar's in question. The halfbreed gave him a helpless shrug and a wicked little grin, darting to the side to avoid another attack and turning his attention back to the flannel-clad demon.

“Oh, who knows. Sticking to the rules is so boring, I've never been all that good at it.” Balthazar replied, the strain of keeping the demon occupied for so long beginning to show. His golden skin was shining with sweat and his breathing had become rougher, his speed beginning to fail him. Constantine read the passages faster, able to see Balthazar tiring and wishing the poltergeist would hurry up and die.

“I'll take you back to Hell with me, Balthazar, maybe Lucifer will let me help punish you.” The thin demon leered, its skin beginning to curl and peel away as Constantine's chanting started to take effect.

“I think you'll have to get in line,” Balthazar shot back, gasping as he dodged a little too late and the jagged edge of a plastic speaker case opened a ragged cut across the side of his ribs. Bright blood blossomed out to stain the white shirt John had leant him and he fell to one knee, wincing in pain. Constantine's chanted words took on a snarled urgency as the slowly disintegrating poltergeist loomed over Balthazar, who looked up at it with defiant, glowing eyes.

“This is it, Balthazar.” The demon sneered, raising its arms. Sharp, jagged lengths of wood swept up into the air, hanging tilted towards the kneeling halfbreed, who took a deep breath.

“I don't think you give me enough credit.” Balthazar claimed, waiting until the very last moment to move. Once he saw the shards of wood begin to fly towards him he leapt to the side, sweeping his tail around to knock the next barrage out of the air. Constantine finished his passages and slammed the bible closed the same instant the demon screamed shrilly, eyes widening to pitch black pools in its skull.

Ducking down to join Angela behind the couch, Constantine ignored her clutching at him, eyes focussed on Balthazar. As the poltergeist shrieked and burst into a ball of hell-fire, the halfbreed had nowhere to shelter. All he could do was attempt to leap back before the explosion, which rocked the very foundations of the house, sending dust and smaller debris shooting out in a shock wave. It blew Balthazar back against the wall with a crunch, everything going black. The last thing he heard before unconsciousness swept over him was Constantine shouting his name over the roar of hell-fire, pieces of the plaster ceiling raining down around them.

TBC