You only come down here if your only other option is the gutter. The room is so small that the shitter isn't even attached to the room. Gotta go down the bloody hall to even use the loo and there's always a line. The room's got a stove for heat but the thing doesn't work at all, the bed's nothing but a metal frame not a mattress to be seen. The girl up front is nice, her name's Pam or Sam or something. She's cute, pretty sure she fancies me. My mind's not on that right now though, right now I'm fighting off hypothermia with a six-pack and making smoke rings in my cramped little room.

Pam or Sam was on the phone with one of her girlfriends when a tall man walked into the flat complex. The man was in a dark suit and shades which in and of itself was odd Pam thought as she looked onto the man; considering it was almost nine o'clock at night. He approached her counter and though she couldn't see his eyes she could tell his gaze never left her. "C-can I h-help you?" She said, swallowing dryly in her throat. The man tilted his head to the side slightly as she spoke to him. "I am looking for John Constantine." He spoke each word slowly and carefully, almost like he was reading off a script. Pam or Sam cleared her throat. "A-are you with the bobbies?" The man once again tilted his head. "Yes. Where is he?" Pam or Sam opened up her book, trying to hide the shiver down her spine. "H-he's in room 300." The man turned from her without another word and made his way towards the hall. Sam or Pam breathed a deep sigh of relief once he left, hoping that whatever he wanted with John it wouldn't get too messy.

The shaded man made his way up the stairs and down the hall towards the room the woman at the front desk said John Constantine was staying at. He knocked on the door. "John Constantine." "Strewth!" I cursed under my breath and hopped to my feet. Hoping it wasn't a bobby who got called because of my fags I decided to hide Constantine style, in plain sight.

Well not exactly in plain sight but, you get my point. Simple misdirection magic and this guy fell for it like a novice. The bastard may have had the look but I knew from the minute he walked into the room that he wasn't exactly normal. He looked around the room for a few moments and then left. Once I heard his footsteps fade I came back and breathed for the first time since he came in, ever see a smoker try to catch his breath? Back downstairs the man headed for the door, he seemed rather upset but Pam or Sam had been trained to say goodbye to everyone who left the building. "H-have a good night sir." She managed to get out. The man stopped in his tracks. "You lied to me." This caused her eyes to widen. "E-excuse me?" He half turned to her, his voice changing. "You said that was the room of John Constantine. No one is in that room." He said in a dark whisper. "M-maybe he was in the loo?" With that his arm seemed to change as if the flesh was molding into something awful. 'What the hell' was the last thing that ever went through that girl's mind. I really wish I had learned her name, she deserved that much.

I needed some things, I ran back up to my flat and grabbed my bag. On her counter I laid out a few key items: a deceased crow ready to drained of its blood, the long dead spine of a cat, a bucket to make the mixture and a ceremonial knife. I took the blade in my hand and slit the bird's throat, letting its precious blood drain into the bucket and then added the crushed spine. I grabbed the bucket and took it beside the horribly mangled body of Pam or Sam. I grabbed the back of her skull and allowed the contents of the bucket to be poured down her throat.

Once the mixture was in her stomach I stood up and held my hand above her corpse. "In nomine creatoris, a quo anima defuncti inferam et revertatur in terrestri exercitu tenebantur." I said aloud, after a few moments that felt like an eternity the mangled corpse rose to stand. Its jaw opened wide and let out a scream of horror and pain. "What have you done!? There was no more pain! There was only peace! Why!?"

It demanded answers but it was not her soul that I wanted. With its prize suddenly gone the demon of course would follow to see what had taken the soul. The corpse fell back onto the ground and over it laid the image of the demon. It was even more grotesque than the poor girl's corpse and even though it was only there in astral form the stench from the bloody thing loosened my stomach even more than it already was. I composed myself though and narrowed my eyes at the creature. "Human, you have some audacity to summon me here." I smirked at his posturing "Well I figured since you couldn't find me yourself I'd might as well rub it in your ugly fucking mug. Now, you're out of your jurisdiction. You've punished an innocent, but you're supposed to be in hell with the damned." The demon blinked its blood red eyes and was taken back a bit by the human's confidence. "What I have heard of you is true John Constantine, but I was summoned." This passing of the buck caused me to get a wee bit madder, "Oh sure, and you get to have your fun. But you owe her chum! You killed her and you owe her something in return." I gritted my teeth, "Her flesh for your name you bastard! Tell her your name!" The demon let out an audible growl or sigh, honestly I didn't care. "You truly do know the rules, very well."

The demon's visage vanished there was a strange calm when suddenly the poor woman's mangled corpse shrieked, her soul desperately trying to get out of that stinking carcass Whatever name belonged to that demon had her terrified. I couldn't let her go without the name, "Before you go, tell me the bastard's bloody name! If you tell me then I can get him for what he's done to ya!" Her soul looked at me with lifeless yet frightened eyes. "Grafficane!" She shrieked and was gone. Grafficane, the scratch dog of the Malebranche, now this was getting interesting. Who summoned one of the Malebranche to come after me? Well, I'll just have to ask em real soon.

So now Grafficane knew that I was onto him, and he knew that he couldn't come back to the complex because he figured I would surely have a trap set up for him, so he would try to trap me instead. The demon made his way to the tube, hiding in a dark corner and waited. After a few hours a lone bum came by to sleep on the bench to escape the freezing street above, poor bastard got turned into a Jackson Pollock painting.I heard about the bum while I was passing a Telly the next day. There was a message written in blood in Latin that said, 'Abscondere et quaerere' So, this was a game to him then. Well, ready or not here I come ya bloody bastard..

I had a pretty good idea where the tosser wanted me. Connected to the tube was one that had been abandoned for quite some time. Old, rickety, dark. Graffiacane was trying to scare me, and under normal circumstances maybe he would but all he's done is bring me bloody piss to a boil. Around midnite I sneak my way in and whistle, wanting to let my presence be known. "Oi Graffiacane, come the fuck on or fuck the fuck off." I say, my voice echoing in the darkness. I know he's there, the very smell of him assaults my nostrils. He's sizing me up. "Come on, I'm here. If ya ain't gonna kill me I've got laundry to do."

"You have a big mouth on you Constantine." A dark whisper fills the room, I shrug off the chill down my spine. "I can smell you fear, it is so delicious. I can't wait to sink my claws into you, what I shall do to you will make what I did to the sow look like an Angel's kiss!" With this I couldn't help but to laugh. "You laugh!?" Demanded the voice, "Have you any idea how close you are to the end of life here on this Earth?"

"Oh mate, one of us is gettin' off this bloody planet tonight and it ain't gonna be me." I say, lighting a fag. "Me and me old mates used to come here often mate. Good acoustics to rehearse our music."

"You what?" Asked the demon. His confusion, now that was bloody delicious.

"I know how you bloody demons operate, always trying to go for the scare cause ya think ya can mate. I've got a couple'a places like this scattered around London, never got to use it before like this." I pull the fag out of my mouth and flick it to the ground. Once the heated tip hit the ground there was a reaction, a large sigil on the ground appeared on the ground. "Now gasoline dissipates pretty quickly on the ground but with a neat little preservation spell it can stay on the ground until I'm in need of it." The demon was caught in the circle, bloody perfect. His meat suit began to sweat. He was scared now. "In the name of the creator, he who gave birth to the universe, to heaven and hell I command you back into the void to never return. Hear my words, I who am the bane of the three fallen I command you leave this place forever more!" With that, the demon's meat suit began to melt under the heat of the flames to reveal his horrid visage. I smirk as I see it and salute with one finger. It roared in pain and anger as the flames swirled around it. Once the fire dissipated there was nothing more in the circle.

I lit another cigarette and took a long drag in victory. "Rest well Pam, pray ya don't gotta see my ugly mug on the other side." The broken metro felt lighter with that, guess even the dead need a good laugh now and again.