It was a Dumbledore sort of voice, only with, like, added bass, and a history of child abuse. Scarlet spun around, staring about her, hands flapping like there were spider webs around her. She took a deep breath, trying a smile on as he asked again.
‘Have you come to amuse us? You look young enough, if a little pale.’
‘Who are you?’
His chuckle was worse than his voice, and she shuddered. Where was Martin? Where the hell was she? And why was this paedophilic freak acting like she was some kind of exotic dancer. Her face was burning red and she covered them with her hands as the lights rose.
She was standing in a huge room, the ceiling far above her, and covered in white and gold patterns. All around her were people, men and women, dressed in what she could only describe as ‘magic-user wannabe chic’.
There were robes, real robes, big heavy things in purple and red and black, lined with fur. There was a lot of skin tight leather, and PVC. Actually, far more than she’d ever wanted to see in her lifetime. There were guys with far more hair than was healthy, and girls with none at all, and an inordinate number of people wearing sunglasses indoors. It was like the Blade film, only without Blade. Maybe she was Blade.
Maybe she was completely mad, and about to die. The man who had spoken stood, and she took a step back, involuntarily, her laughter dieing in her throat. He was big, tall and wide and imposing, and wearing very little. She thought it was called a loin cloth, but it was the scales covering the rest of him that made her cringe.
He was a sort of silvery-grey, like a fish left to dry out in the sun, and as he stepped down from the what, throne? Yeah, it was carved, and had these gold patterns all over it, it was a throne. As he stepped toward her, the scales moved, like loose skin shifting over old bones. They reached his face, where sharp features were drawn together by a pair of piercing green eyes and a hooked nose.
He came closer and she tried to step away, but she was frozen now, her feet refusing to budge an inch. How was there something worse on earth, than a demon was in hell? Actually, earth had both X-Factor and Big Brother, so that answered that.
‘You are in the Underworld, little girl, deep beneath the city. The question I would ask in return, if you aren’t the entertainment, which I will admit saddens me, is why are you here?’
She had to stop shaking, her voice couldn’t tremble, she couldn’t show how scared she was. ‘I, I, I,’ Oh, great start, Scarlet, really, good one. She took a deep breath.
‘I’ve come to get Martin.’
The man threw back his head and laughed, the nasty chuckle of earlier transformed into a roar that filled the vast space. The others sat around the room joined in, slapping thighs and pointing at her as if she’d said the funniest thing. She couldn’t help noticing that the laughter felt, in most cases, forced and a bit desperate. She also noticed the few who didn’t join in, those quiet ones who just sat and watched.
He stopped laughing and turned back to her. ‘We’ve waited a long time for Martin to pay us a visit. Why on earth, or under it for that matter, would I let you take him away?’
That was an excellent question. Unfortunately she didn’t have the first idea what the answer was. Well, mum always said be honest, and there was a first time for everything. ‘He’s teaching me to use magic, and I’ve missed two lessons, and that’s far too many.’
The man was staring at her, eyebrows raised. ‘Martin is teaching you? Well, this is interesting, is it not?’
He straightened, holding his hands up for the others around the room to murmur in agreement. ‘Are you sure he’s teaching you? He’s not just inviting you over in the hope of someday taking advantage of your young body?’
The man leant close in, his thin-lipped mouth curling in a sneer that made sweat break out across her forehead. She shook her head, not trusting her voice to work properly. The man/thing, whatever it was, nodded, straightening again. ‘Well, that is intriguing. Show me some magic, little girl. Show me some magic and I might consider letting Martin go.’
He stepped back, up the steps, and settled himself into the throne. He steepled his hands, resting his chin lightly on his outstretched fingers, and peered down at her. She stared back at him for a moment, then pulled the spell book out. This was it, really, this was as close to a magic exam as she was going to get.
She cracked it open and thumbed rapidly through the pages. She had one chance to do something impressive, to scare this guy into doing what she wanted. Then she found it.
For the destruction of darkness, the brightest light.
