In Los Angeles, occult detective John Constantine is called in by Father Hennessy to exorcise a girl possessed by a demon trying to break through to Earth, which should not be possible under the rules of a standing wager between God and Lucifer for mankind's souls. Constantine's driver and apprentice Chas Kramer waits in the car as Constantine doesn't believe he's ready to exorcise demons. Constantine later meets with the androgynous half-angel being Gabriel. He asks Gabriel for a reprieve from his impending death from lung cancer caused by prolonged smoking. Gabriel declines, telling Constantine that he exorcises demons for selfish reasons and cannot buy his way into Heaven, because of the life he took.