Crack!
It sounded as if glass had shattered.
"Ha ha."
Alan's eyes flew open, and he found himself lying on a bed.
The room was pitch-black. He fumbled to turn on the lamp at the head of the bed, and by its light, Alan glanced beside him.
Alice?
His eyes widened. Alan felt as if he were seeing an illusion.
"Darling, you're awake. Why not sleep a little longer?"
His wife, Alice, opened her eyes at just the right moment, her tone and expression almost exactly as he remembered them.
Alan said nothing. Barefoot, he got out of bed, looked over the room, then walked straight to the window and roughly yanked the curtains open.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck down, and he recognized the city before him.
New York!
Seeing that his expression was wrong, Alice twisted her waist as she got out of bed. She clasped Alan's hand with deep affection, only for Alan to shove her away.
"No. You can't be my wife. You're a prisoner of the darkness. My wife, she... she..."
Forgotten memories kept coming back. Alan clutched his head and backed away.
Her identity exposed, Alice's pupils turned pitch-black in an instant. She stared at Alan's face and tried to bewitch him.
"Alan, wouldn't it be good to stay here forever? We can live well here, safe and sound, together."
Crash—
A figure smashed through the window, shattering the glass as he came in, and slammed the fake Alice hard to the floor.
"Next time you dream, remember to dream a little smaller."
Constantine turned his head and complained to Alan behind him.
"A city as big as New York? Finding you was a real pain!"
Beneath him, Alice naturally wasn't going to stay still. She raised both hands and clawed at Constantine's