Scarlet squeaked, and yanked the necklace off, clutching it in one hand and holding it away from herself. At the same moment, their guide took her elbow and steered her firmly away from the stall, and back into the press.
She stuffed the necklace in her pocket, avoiding the curious looks from Martin as they rushed through the market. More stalls, more strange-looking people, but eventually they emerged from the crush, out from the corridor of stalls, and came to a crossroads.
Was it still called a crossroads when there were, like, seven corridors? The thin man took them down one without hesitating, and the matting disappeared from beneath their feet, the lights dimming to one naked bulb every ten feet or so. She looked down, watching her squelching converse, and the rat that ran carelessly over her feet.
She shrieked, stopping just short of jumping into Martin’s arms.
‘What is it?’
Martin was there, concern and worry, and her face reddened, glad suddenly for the dim lighting. ‘Umm, nothing, really, sorry, just surprised, that’s all.’
The thin man was smiling. ‘You are deep beneath London. This is more the rat’s home than it will ever be ours. We are trespassing here.’
She nodded, her mouth filling with moisture. Was that supposed to make her feel better? Probably not, thinking about it. They continued, the smell of mold growing stronger, the soft drip of water encroaching on the muffled conversations following them from the market.
The tunnel branched, and as the thin man stepped to the left, she hesitated. The way ahead was dark, the light bulbs continuing in the other direction. ‘Any chance your master lives down that one?’
The thin man shook his head, still walking. Dammit. Martin patted her on the shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, I have the strongest feeling I know who we are going to meet. We have an understanding, he and I.’
The phrase brought back images of the huge scaled man she’d met last time she’d been here, and she shuddered. Was he going to be wanting entertaining again?
She could still see her feet as she followed them into the darkness, but soon even they disappeared. The noises grew louder, the water sounding from all around them, the scratching she was now fairly certain was rats, coming from above and below.
This was a little like being summoned to the head teacher’s office. Her imagination was providing things far worse than what was likely to happen, although, Underworld, skinny guy with a knife? Her imagination was probably getting it just right.
Her feet came back into view, and with them, the walls, slick, and covered in orangy-green slime. The light was blue, almost white, and came from everywhere, slight but strong enough for her to see that the thin man had stopped, and was pushing the wall. With the faintest of groans, the hidden door swung in, and he vanished from view.
Martin followed, and she hurried to get in before she was left alone in the dank tunnel. Beyond lay a small set of steps, which she climbed, and stepped out onto a walkway. The light was bright here, and she squinted as the gloom fell away.
She looked around, mouth hanging open. They stood on the edge of a swimming pool, though not like she was ever going in there. The water was the source of the light, glowing, filling the room with the white iridescence. Despite that, the top of the water was littered with flecks of dirt and dust.
She thought they were alone, and was about to ask the thin man what was going on, when the huge man she’d met before burst from the pool, water streaming from his scales. He came almost completely out of the water, before crashing back down, sending waves over the edge of the pool to lap around her beleaguered Converse.
She stepped back as he came to the side of the pool, resting his arms on it, and staring up at them. His face split apart, the scales shifting like sand from a buried foot emerging from the beach. ‘Scarlet, Martin, how lovely to see you, please, make yourselves comfortable.’
Scarlet looked around for a chair, then back at him. He shrugged. ‘I’m sorry, you’ve come to my private chambers, I don’t entertain many people here. Please, bear with me.’
He lifted himself from the pool, and led them through a doorway on the far side, into a lounge area with seats. The walls were dryer here, and the light came from shuttered, old-school lamps, similar to the one used by the sisters.
It smelled of the sea, salty and ancient, but the chairs were dry and she sunk gratefully into one. The man nodded at them. ‘My name is Seeker, for now.’
Scarlet was struck by the sudden insight that she had no idea what Martin’s real name was. Seeker sat opposite, and folded on long leg over the other. ‘I am sorry to have you brought here like this, but you see, we don’t have a great deal of time.’
‘About three days, I’m guessing.’
He raised an eyebrow, and she found herself staring as his face shifted around. She could watch it for hours, it was better than TV. ‘So you know what is coming?’
She shrugged, finding nonchalance coming easier this time. She was getting better at this. ‘What does any of it have to do with you, if you don’t mind my asking?’
She could feel Martin’s look of surprise, but she ignored it, keeping her smile to a minimum. That was cool, that was better that cool. She was talking to a seven foot tall dude who lived in a swimming pool, beneath Shepherds Bush, and she was acting all calm and collected. Hah.
Seeker sat back, steepling his fingers before him. ‘Well, you see, I have an interest in the world continuing past Christmas day, and—’
‘Why are you called Seeker? Why not Dave, or Ahmed?’
That was less cool. That was, in fact, very much uncool, and a bit geeky. Dammit.
‘I find things that people want. In this instance, I am finding information. Someone is attempting to raise the Undying, which means someone has found the grave. If there is someone out there with that knowledge, I should be able to find it.’
Martin spoke for the first time since they’d got in there. ‘What will you do with it, once you have it?’
Seeker spread his hands apart, and smiled. ‘I will ensure that no one else has it, of course.’
‘So why do you want us?’
The smile widened. ‘Well, a little bird told me that you have a very clever computer, and that computer might have given you some information which may prove very useful to my search.’
‘A little bird? Do you mean twitter?’
‘Friends of mine. Friends who have both the time and inclination to browse Tumblr.’
Scarlet blinked. It was one thing to be deep beneath London talking to a guy who looked like a cross between the mummy and the little mermaid, it was entirely something else when he started talking about Tumblr.’
‘You’re telling me you use Tumblr?’
He shook his head, sniggering. ‘God no, what a terrible thought. I tried facebook, for a time, but it’s such a time suck, and I always end up feeling… diminished.’ He shook his head, frowning. ‘But some of my people do, of course.’
He leaned further forward, holding one hand up before him. ‘So tell me, Scarlet, what did you find on your Tumblr account this morning?’
‘What’s it worth to me?’
He opened his eyes a little wider, then grinned, and clicked a finger. She saw them from the corners of her eyes, dark figures appearing from the two doors, spreading out around the room.
‘Well, your life, for one thing.’
Next Installment Friday 14th February
