Hellfire Gas Station

*Hellfire Gas Station* is a horror scene involving John Constantine. It's meant as a prequel to *Zatanna: The Mistress of Magic*.

FADE IN:

EXT. HELLFIRE GAS STATION - NIGHT.

It's night time in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing but the Arizona desert for miles around as well as a small run down gas station called *Hellfire Gas Station.* The numbers on the electric sign have all died and it's dimly lit inside. A beat up taxi cab suddenly pulls up the gas station and out of it steps John Constantine, an almost finished cigarette hanging from his lips. He hands the driver a couple of bucks before he drives off. John finishes his cigarette and throws it to the ground, stepping on it with his shoe.

INT. HELLFIRE GAS STATION - NIGHT.

He walks into the dimly lit gas station. The only other person in there is a chubby girl with glasses at the cash register. She's watching something on her phone at the moment. John walks down the potato chip aisle and gets to the drink cooler. There's not much in there. John walks over to the cash register.

JOHN: Excuse me, love. I couldn't help but notice that your drink coolers haven't been restocked.

The girl looks up from her phone and shrugs.

CASHIER GIRL: I guess someone forgot to restock them. There's some drinks in the back. I'll go get you one.

JOHN: Thanks a bunch.

The girl nods and walks into the back of the gas station. John stands at the cash register for a moment before he notices something on the ground. He kneels down and touches it. It's a strange viscous black goo. He grimaces for a moment before the girl comes back out with a cold beer.

CASHIER GIRL: There you go. Will that be everything?

JOHN: I'll take a pack of cigarettes too.

He hands her his ID. As he does, a little bit of the black goo gets onto the girl's hand. She looks at his ID for a moment before stopping suddenly. She stares at the ID blankly. John notices this and waves his hand in front of her face.

JOHN: Excuse me? You alright there, love?

The girl's eyes then go black and she roars, knocking John back with immense strength. He collides with a post card rack, sending post cards flying all over. John groans in pain and sits up slowly. He looks around and finds that the girl isn't at the cash register anymore.

JOHN: Ah, bloody Hell...

He slowly stands up and looks around the store. He hears a scurrying noise in the chip aisle. He slowly walks down the chip aisle and ends up back at the drink cooler. Suddenly the lights in the store all go out and a bright orange light comes from the end of the aisle. John turns and sees the girl, her head aflame. She's not possessed by a demon... she *is* the demon. Belial to be exact. She smiles deviously at John.

BELIAL: Hello, Johnny...

JOHN: Belial...What's it been? Eight years?

BELIAL: Heheh! It *has* been a rather long while, Johnny. My, how you've grown.

JOHN: Heh. What are you doing here? I know you didn't just come up to the surface to exchange niceties.

BELIAL: My, my, straight to the point as always. Why can't a demon just want to come up and enjoy Earth?

JOHN: Get to the fucking point before I deport your sorry ass straight back to the fiery depths!

Belial sees how serious he is and stops with the pleasantries.

BELIAL: Alright, I'll cut to the chase: Lilith wants Zatanna Zatara. Her father Giovanni just isn't doing it for her. She'll stop at nothing to get to her.

John is a little shocked by this. Belial steps closer to him. As he steps closer, the bags of chips on the shelves start to catch on fire.

JOHN: Really? And just what does Lili plan to do with Zatanna once she gets her?

BELIAL: I'm afraid that's classified information, Johnny.

Belial tries to stroke John's cheek but John grabs her hand and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a small spray bottle of holy water. Belial's eyes widen in fear.

BELIAL: Is...is that holy water..?

JOHN: Yes. Freshly made holy water. Now you can either tell me what I want to know or I spray this on your hand.

BELIAL: Grrrr...Alright, fine! I'll tell you what you want to know.

John slowly lets go of Belial's hand.

BELIAL: It is said that Zatanna Zatara could become the most powerful of all magicians. There is an ancient energy inside of her. An energy that Lilith wants. If Zatanna were to ever tap into this ancient energy, she would become the Mistress of Magic.

JOHN: Hmm...I see. So, let me guess; You came here to kill me so that I can't protect Zatanna even though she's perfectly capable of protecting herself. Is that what this is all about?

BELIAL: Well...Not really, no.

JOHN: Oh?

BELIAL: Yes. Believe it or not...Lilith can never have that power. No matter what. If she were to obtain that level of power then she could transform Earth into a second Hell. Two Hells is one Hell too many.

JOHN: Then why can't you just get Lucifer to help you? He's the King of Hell, he can stop her!

BELIAL: Lucifer is no longer ruling Hell! He's gone to Los Angeles to run a night club of all things along with that demoness Mazikeen. Lilith has taken over and she plans to use Zatanna's power to kill Lucifer and rule Earth! We have to do everything in our power to make sure that she never gets to Zatanna!

John takes all of this in and sighs. Belial gives him a pleading look.

JOHN: Alright, alright. I'll make sure I protect Zatanna. Lilith won't take this world.

BELIAL: Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Belial smiles and does a little happy dance. John can't help but chuckle before his expression gets serious.

JOHN: You know what I have to do now, right?

Belial stops dancing and nods. She walks right up to him, her head still flaming.

BELIAL: Do it, John. I'm ready.

John puts both of his hands on both sides of her head. He speaks an ancient Latin spell. The floor under Belial starts to break apart, revealing a fiery Hell portal. Disembodied burned hands grab Belial by the feet and pull her down into it. The portal closes instantly and the lights in the store come back on. John grabs a not burned bag of chips and walks up the cash register. He grabs the beer and a pack of cigarettes and leaves a few dollars on the counter. He then walks out.