#3 October 2001

Draw the Blinds on Yesterday Chapter Three: The Nature of the Catastrophe by Drutz

Before they could react the beast was upon them, knocking them to the floor. Saga landed on top of Constantine, forcing the wind out of his lungs. Bright sparks clouded his vision, as he lay prone, fighting for breath. Suddenly the weight of Saga was taken off of him, allowing Constantine to roll sideways and take stock of the situation.

The beast had hold of Saga, the man's mouth wide open in a silent scream. Feeling the pain in his chest Constantine knew that whatever this thing was, it wasn't a ghost. Looking around the moonlight grove Constantine saw a hefty looking log. Picking up his weapon he advanced on the beast, against his better judgement. Adjusting the log in his hands Constantine lifted it above his head, and swung with all his might.

The log hit the beast just below its 'head', causing the log to shatter. It felt to Constantine as if he had just struck a brick wall but it had the desired effect. The beast howled in pain, letting go of Saga as it did so. The little reporter crawled away as the creature turned to face Constantine, who was startled that the beast was still standing. The creature's hands shot out, reaching for Constantine's throat. Constantine sidestepped the lunge, taking a blow from one of the claws on his left shoulder. The talons cut through his clothing, biting into the flesh underneath.

Constantine howled in agony but the creature held onto his shoulder with a steely grip. Grabbing at the creature's wrist he tried to pry the talons open, but to no avail. He felt himself go dizzy as the pain increased, his vision starting to fog. With one last supreme effort, he placed a kick where he assumed the creature's knee was. The talons loosened as the beast howled once more in agony and Constantine pulled free. Before he could gather himself Constantine saw one of the huge paws come round, catching him on the jaw. He was sent sprawling to the floor, a coppery taste in his mouth and his head ringing.

This is it, Constantine thought. There's no way I can fight this 'thing'. He turned over, attempting to pull himself up, when the creature howled once more. Looking up Constantine saw the creature jumping at him, only just having time to throw his arms up to protect himself. Then the beast was on top of him.

It took a second or two for Constantine to realize that the beast wasn't moving. With a superhuman effort he rolled the thing from on top of him, realizing it was dead. In moonlight he saw a glint that caught his eye; grabbing at it he pulled it from the back of the beast. Then he lay there as the noise of people's voices, many voices, seemed to be getting nearer.

The paramedic had finished patching up Constantine's shoulder, cleaning up the wounds on his face. "I agree," he said.

"I'm not going, it's not life threatening is it?" asked Constantine, indicating his wound.

The paramedic shook his. Pulling his trench coat on Constantine took a packet of crushed cigarettes out of the pocket, lighting one. He saw Chief Constable Evans approaching, the big man making a beeline for Constantine.

"A busy night then, Doctor," he said, standing next to Constantine. "How's the shoulder?"

Giving his shoulder a quick rub Constantine smiled. "It's felt better but I'll live."

The big policeman smiled. "You're bloody lucky to be alive, but for what it's worth thanks."

Constantine nodded acknowledgment. "Any idea what it was?" he asked.

Evans shook his head. "The lab boys will look at it and see if it's some sort of mutation. I need you to make a statement sometime."

Taking a long suck on his cigarette, Constantine nodded as Evans left him. Turning to the ambulance driver Constantine asked for a lift back to the pub. "Sure, Mr. Constantine. It'll give us time to give you your tetanus jab." 

Getting into his room Constantine took off his trench coat, throwing it on his bed. Reaching into the pocket he took out the object he'd found in the beast. It was a knife of ancient Greek design, made of a black, obsidian metal. Putting it down on the bed he walked to the door, opening it and grabbing the figure outside, pulling the person inside the room.

The woman from the plane stood in front of him, a scarf on her head and dark glasses on her face. She really did have a classical beauty about her, almost unworldly. He pushed her on the bed, throwing the knife onto the bed next to her.

"Yours I believe," he said, sitting in a chair opposite her.

The woman picked up the knife, tucking it back in her coat. She sat there, as silent and still as a statue, while Constantine regarded her coolly.

"I should thank you for saving my life," Constantine said. "Seems your work here is done so I guess this is goodbye."

He got up and opened the door, expecting the woman to leave. She just sat there, looking at him from the depths of her glasses.

"It's not over," she said in a thickly accented voice.

"Pardon?" asked Constantine.

"It's not over," the woman repeated.

Closing the door, Constantine sat back in the chair. "What do you mean its not over? Is the creature not dead?" he asked.

A slight smile came to her lips, "Oh no, the creature's dead, but it is a product of the problem, not its cause."

"A product of the problem. What do you mean?"

"The creature was called into being by mistake; trapped here, it killed to live," the woman said, regarding Constantine still.

Constantine took this information in, digesting it. Then a thought struck him. "The first attack was on August 11th, the same day flight 1743 disappeared."

The woman nodded, the smile on her lips widening. "Yes, another product of the problem. The flight was displaced the same as the creature, but it was not trapped. It did however lose three weeks."

Constantine stood his mind racing, trying to take in all this information. He turned to the woman, "You say it's not over; does that mean whatever caused this could happen again? Another creature could be called into being?"

The woman shook her head. "No, tomorrow is a full moon. I feel that they will try to use the stone again. This time they may succeed in summoning him."

"Who?"

"Cthugha," the woman answered.

The name seemed familiar to Constantine. "That name was mentioned in Egypt, I think... worshiped as a god, I think."

The woman nodded. "If he comes he will destroy us all."

"Where's the superheroes when you need them?" muttered Constantine. "So I take it you want me to help you stop this?"

Again the woman nodded. "You have come this far, you must help me stop them."

Constantine sat there for a moment, considering all the information. "Okay. So someone here is using a stone, you say. What does this stone do?"

"It opens doorways to other planes of reality, other parts of the universe."

"So it will summon Cthugha. What if we destroy the stone?" Constantine asked.

"Then he cannot be summoned, and all will be as it should be," the woman answered.

"Well that's the how, now where is the stone?"

The woman shook her head. "All I know is it is near. When we are close I can find it."

"Well, as you're here I guess it's not in the village, so it must be on one of the farms."

"I, too, came to this conclusion. I have been to the Ennals' Farm and the Thompson's Farm, but it is not there."

"So tomorrow we check out the rest. Miss... ?"

"Ariadne."

Ariadne and Constantine spent the following morning going around the farms surrounding Lower Poolford. The first on the list was the old ruins of the Wainwright farm. Ariadne told Constantine that she felt no presence there. Next was the rundown farm belonging to Frank Corey. Ariadne said she felt no presence and Constantine thought all he might catch from the farm was swine fever.

The last Farm to try was owned by the Southwell family. Pulling up, Constantine saw Ariadne stiffen. "Is it here?" he asked.

Ariadne shook her head. "I'm not sure... I believe there is what you call a Ley line running through the farm. It is interrupting my senses."

Constantine got out of the car. "I'll have a mooch around, while you see if you can come up with something."

Walking up towards the farmhouse, Constantine saw two men in their late thirties working near a haystack. Two children ran past him; the smallest, a little blonde girl about eight, ran into him. The girl mumbled an apology as Constantine smiled at her.

"Ethel!" a voice boomed, making Constantine turn to face it.

A large, burly man in his forties was approaching him. He was dressed in plain working overalls, a large shotgun under his arm. Fixing a smile on his face, Constantine put his hands in his pockets, waiting for the man to arrive.

"Can I 'elp you?" growled the man, eyeing Constantine suspiciously.

"Hi," said Constantine, holding out a hand. When it wasn't taken, he withdrew it. "I'm looking for Upper Poolford. Am I near?"

The man grunted. "Go back outta 'ere, then turn left and keep going for a mile."

"Thanks a lot," said Constantine, turning and heading back to his car.

When he climbed into the car, Ariadne turned to him. "I can't sense the stone but there is something about this place." Ariadne said to him.

"This is the place alright," answered Constantine confidently.

Ariadne looked at him. "How can you be so sure?" she asked.

As he started the car, Constantine handed her a note. It said: There is something wrong here and I know that my family are doing bad things. I think that something will happen tonight but they always make me sleep. Please help me - Ethel.

The engine roared to life, and Constantine pulled away. "We come back tonight."

"Do you ever take those off?" he asked.

Ariadne turned to face him, "Let's just say it's better if I don't take them off," she said.

Before he could say anything she got up and moved towards the farm. He was about to follow when someone came out of the barn. Ducking back into his hiding place, Constantine waited until the man went into the farmhouse. After the man had entered the farmhouse, Constantine looked around for Ariadne, but he saw no sign of her.

"Damn!" he swore.

Making a quick decision Constantine ran to the barn, slipping inside and closing the door behind him. In the barn was a pickup truck, opposite a workbench. On the bench were two sets of chainsaws, with what looked like blood on them. Constantine felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, but he carried on to a staircase leading upstairs. With a deep breath he made he way up the stairs.

The upstairs of the barn was covered in small haystacks, except for two small beds. One of the beds was empty, but the bedclothes were covered in what must be bloodstains. The second bed, however, was occupied. A young man in his twenties was tied to the bed, a nasty head wound on the left temple showing he obviously wasn't there voluntarily.

Before he could do anymore, Constantine heard a footstep on the stairs below. Diving over the nearest haystack he crouched down, trying to keep his breathing slow and regular. He heard two sets of footsteps on the wooden floor, then a voice said, "No need to hit this one, Alex. He's still out for the count."

"Good!" said the one obviously called Alex, "Means he won't scream when we cut him."

"Damn, that's the best part!" said the first voice in mock regret.

The two sets of footsteps were heading away, a dragging sound indicating they had the unconscious man with them. Constantine waited until he heard the barn close before coming out from behind the haystack. Sure enough the bed was empty, no sign of anyone around. Looking out of the window, Constantine saw them drag the body to the shed opposite the barn.

Great, thought Constantine, now all I need is a plan.

The six adult members of the family were standing around the altar, the young man bound to it. The three men and three women started chanting. Jethro the eldest raised a knife above the man's chest. "La mayyitan ma qadurun sarmadi Cthugha!" he screamed, ready to plunge the knife downwards.

That's when all hell broke loose.

The pickup truck smashed through the side of the shed, scattering the Southwells in every direction. Mary Southwell picked herself up and ran past the pickup truck, at least as far as the door of the truck. Constantine flung the door open, slamming it into her. She hit the floor like a rock. Before he could do anything else the windscreen shattered, and Constantine was dragged out of the truck.

Alex Southwell had a firm hold on Constantine as his brother Brian grabbed him as well. Both men picked up Constantine and slammed him onto the hood of the truck. All the air was expelled from Constantine's lungs; he lay there, his shoulder screaming in agony. The sound of a chainsaw being started made him look up; he saw Brian raise the chainsaw above his head and advance on him.

Two steps away from Constantine, Brian stopped and pitched forwards. A shiny, obsidian knife was in his neck -- Ariadne was here. Alex looked at his brother in shock, never seeing Constantine's foot until it slammed into his face. Constantine slid off the hood, holding his shoulder in pain. "Are we having fun yet, children?" he hissed through gritted teeth.

Amongst the chaos Constantine saw Ariadne throw one of the Southwell sisters across the shed. Before Constantine could shout a warning, the second sister grabbed Ariadne around the neck. Ariadne slammed an elbow into the woman's stomach, pulling her head away from the woman's weakened grasp.

Everyone stopped looking at Ariadne. The scarf from her head had come off and her 'hair' was free. If you could call a mass of writhing snakes hair. It was obvious that Ariadne was a Medusa.

"Explains the glasses," said Constantine

Taking advantage of the situation Ariadne picked up a sledgehammer from the shed floor and slammed it into the side of the stone altar. The altar shattered into hundreds of pieces, showering everyone with fragments.

"It is done," Ariadne said, a proud smile on her face.

"Oh good," said Constantine. "What about him?"

Jethro stood in front of them, a shotgun leveled at them. Ariadne pushed Constantine aside, removing her glasses. A hollow scream filled the air, ending in a low gurgle. Looking up, Constantine saw a stone statue where Jethro had stood.

"The authorities will be after you now," Ariadne said, breaking the silence.

"What? The police?" asked Constantine.

"No. Others in the government. Your life will never be the same again, John Constantine."

She got out of the car placing a small kiss on Constantine's bloodied cheek. Constantine watched her as she disappeared into the night.

"You can say that again, Lady!"