Part One can be found here

‘The Council! The council have got him, they have, the sisters told me.’

The knife paused above her cheek, close enough so she could see her eyes, reflected and distorted in the blade. She swallowed, dropping her head as he let go of her chin. She’d broken. All he’d done was wave the knife at her and she’d given in, just like that. She’d betrayed him.

Her palms were wet and she was breathing hard and the knife was still in front of her, and she didn’t care that she’d broken, he was going to cut her. Actually cut her. She started to shake, little tremors that became whole-body shaking. She was heaving and gasping and shaking her head and rat man stepped back, a look of disappointment on his face.

‘Alex, ‘es with the Council, bastards.’

The American wandered into the dining room, idly tapping on a phone. He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. ‘What did you do?’

Rat man grinned. ‘Waved my knife at ‘er. Seems the agents aren’t as tough as they once were.’

Through the haze, what he said sunk in and she shook her head. ‘What do you mean, agents?’

Alex crouched down beside the chair, until his eyes were level with hers. He smiled, teeth showing. ‘You’re good.’ He glanced up at rat man. ‘Are you sure she was telling the truth.’

The other man nodded vehemently. ‘Oh yeah, no doubt. They get that look in their eyes, you know, desperation.’ He said it like Scarlet would have said chocolate, or Depp, and she squirmed. Alex turned back to her. ‘Who do you work for?’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t, I’m just looking for Martin.’

‘How convenient. Why are you looking for him?’

She dropped her eyes, mumbling. ‘He’s supposed to be teaching me, magic.’

His hand grabbed her chin, more roughly than Rat man, and pulled her face up. ‘I’m sorry, you might have to repeat that.’

‘I’m Martin’s, you know, student, apprentice, whatever.’

Alex stared at her for a few seconds, and she tried to relax her eyes, to see what he was thinking. Right, that was gonna work. He stuck out a hand and when it came back into sight, it held the knife.

His grip on her chin grew stronger, and he laid the flat edge of the knife on her cheek, pointing to her eye. ‘I can blind you faster than you can think. One simple movement. So tell me again, who are you?’

‘My name is… Joanna Slater.’ Better this time, quicker. ‘I’m a school girl, that’s all. Martin is teaching me magic and I haven’t had my last two lessons so I came looking for him, then you came in, so I hid, then I went searching and went in the Underworld, and then I met the sisters and then you found me and that’s it, that’s everything, I swear it.’

She sucked in a breath, and peered down at the blurred tip of the knife, then up to Alex. He was shaking, and the knife dropped away as he stood. The shaking became laughter, huge belly laughs that had her smiling, then not, then smiling again and wondering why. What the hell?

Alex turned, handing the knife back to rat man. When he turned back, she jumped, grabbed the seat of the chair. His face was blurry, shifting like the dodgy plasticine effects in Evil Dead. When the blurring stopped, he was changed. Still the same face, but the width was gone, and the menace, and he looked actually quite nice.

Rat man had done the same, and though he was still a little rodenty, his face was fuller and kinder. Alex was still chuckling when he pulled her from the seat. ‘Please, come into the kitchen. Would you like something to drink, or eat?’

She nodded and he rooted through the fridge, pulling out bread and cheese as rat man flicked on the kettle. When he shoved a mug of tea in front of her, she sipped greedily, ignoring the burning lips. Alex sat opposite her, resting his arms where her head had been only a few minutes ago.

‘I did think your disguise was particularly good.’ He chuckled again, shaking his head. ‘Now I know why. I’m sorry, Joanna, our mistake.’

She hadn’t had a chance to figure our what was going on, but as the tea boiled its way into her stomach, she raised a hand. ‘So, what the hell’s going on?’

‘We made a mistake. We are working for Martin. Our job is to find him if something like this happens. We thought you were from the Underworld.’ He turned and spat onto the floor when he said it. ‘Apologies, old habit.’

Huh? She’d preferred lying on the table, things were simpler then. ‘Sorry, so you work for Martin?’

Alex nodded. ‘We’re called Watchers. People hire us when they think something might be going a bit wrong. You must have noticed by now, things in our world are a little different to things out there. People disappear, more often than you’d think. Martin thought he was going to vanish, and wanted us to find him if he did. Turns out it was a good call.’

She nodded. It made sense, sort of. Right now, anyone who gave her tea and bread was a good person. She’d think a little more when she had time. She took another glug of tea, and placed it back on the table. Moments later, accompanied by a squeak from her, rat man took it, emptying it down the sink, and returned for the plate.

She grabbed at it, but he took it anyway. ‘Sorry luv, no time, we gotta go.’

‘What, go where?’

Alex looked at her, brow creased. ‘To find Martin of course. When I say people vanish, what I meant was, they vanish, and turn up in the foundations of the next Tesco express. Only they don’t actually turn up, of course.’

She went cold, and scrambled up. She pulled her t-shirt away from her stomach, aware of the cold clammy damp. Her jeans were chafing, scratching at her legs. ‘Um, are there any clothes here, wherever here is?’

Rat man nodded upward. ‘Go ‘ave a look. Think a teenager lived ‘ere, before.’

Wondering what ‘before’ meant, and not daring to ask, she climbed the stairs, and found the bedroom filled with Green Day posters. Whoever had lived here had at least had some taste. She opened the wardrobe, found something far too small, but at least vaguely cool, and stripped off, pulling on the strange jeans.

This was creepy. Not as creepy as the sisters, but creepy still. Who had lived here, and where had they gone? She hauled the jeans closed, sucking in her gut until the button closed, and threw on a baggy t-shirt and jumper. She found a jacket hanging behind the door and took that too.

Rat man was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He looked so different now, but as he looked up and watched her coming down, the twinkle in his eyes was just the same as when he’d been holding the knife. What was she doing here? It didn’t matter, they’d find Martin and everything would be alright. Assuming he wasn’t already…

She swallowed, pushing past rat man and back into the kitchen. Alex was holding the door open, and they stepped out into the night, Scarlet clad in a strange girl’s clothes, with two men she knew nothing about, in search of The Council. If she wasn’t so terrified, it might actually be quite cool. This was a full blog post, maybe a couple even.

Next installment, Wednesday 11th December

Part One can be found here

She was warm. If she kept her eyes closed, she could maybe just stay here, undisturbed. And warm. She smiled. ‘Splendid, she’s ‘wake. ‘Ere, Alex, our little witch ‘as woken up.’

She groaned and opened her eyes, seeing little except the pasty face peering down at her. He looked how he sounded, small and bitter and not unlike a rat. She was lying on a table, like, a dining table, with her feet hanging off the end, and she rolled onto her side.

She’d misjudged the size of the table and rolled right off, landing hard on the floor, and shouting in alarm. As the pain sank into her left arm, she held it with her right hand, and despite her best efforts, a few tears ran down her cheeks. She scrubbed them away, looking up at her captor.

She was kidnapped, properly-held-against-her-will-by-mysterious-men-kidnapped. She almost laughed, it was so ludicrous. Then Alex leant over her, and the humour died in her throat, crawling down into her stomach to curl up into a hot little ball and hide.

Where the other man was skinny, Alex was wide and his face looked like someone had smacked him with a saucepan, many times. His nose was flattened across his face, and his smile was leery and contained more than a hint of menace. She shuffled back, her head bumping against the top of the table.

She thought about scrambling under it, when he grabbed her, his hand tight around her arm.

‘Ow, let go, that hurts.’

He sneered. ‘Please believe me, little girl, that doesn’t hurt. You’ll know when it hurts.’

She was sweating now, and glanced around. They were in a kitchen, though she wasn’t convinced it had been used for doing any cooking in. Dirty plates were piled high in the sink, plastic cartons spilling out of the bin and onto the floor. It smelled in here, of old food and rot and she wrinkled up her nose.

Alex pulled her forward, and she stumbled, losing her footing. She wasn’t light, god knows, she wasn’t light, but the American barely seemed to notice, dragging her across the floor and throwing her into a chair. She rubbed her arm where he’d grabbed her and bit her lip. She tried to picture Martin, but could only see him in his tramp outfit, grubby and a bit creepy. I’ve been through hell, I’ve actually been through hell, this shouldn’t be scary.

It was, though. Was mum panicking yet? She probably wouldn’t call the police, they might come round and discover the dodgy lead from next-door’s satellite dish. But she’d be worried, calling everyone they knew and asking about her. She might never see her again, never get the chance to cuss her latest horrible hair cut, or take the piss when she tried to use some ‘cool’ expression.

The thought was far worse than she’d expected. Alex bent down, his face stopping inches from hers. ‘Where is he?’

‘Huh?’

‘Where is he? You know him, you know where he is, so where is he?’

‘I don’t know, I don’t know who you mean, who do you me—’

He hit her, his hand catching her cheek bone and slamming her head around. Her neck cracked and she swore as lights flashed before her eyes and she swooned. She’d imagined swooning, but it had always been following a meeting with some gorgeous person. This wasn’t like that.

He was back in close. ‘I have neither the time, nor the patience, I really don’t. My friend here, he’d be happy to play with you. Maybe I’ll let him, just for a while. Or you can answer my questions.’

‘Why do you want him?’

‘He stole something. My employers want what he stole.’

‘Do your employers own them?’

Alex raised an eyebrow. She went on, wincing at the pain opening her mouth caused her. ‘So, your employers are paying you to steal something from someone who already stole it?’

Alex raised his hand and she cringed. ‘I don’t know where he is, really, I don’t. How did you find me?’

She’d try anything now, anything to make him put his hand back down. He sat back on his heels, both hands folding in front of him. ‘You left some pretty serious residue back at Martin’s place, when you jumped out. Clever hiding spell you used though, didn’t see you at all. But we came back, had another look round, and saw what you’d left behind. You might like to work on your subtlety.’

She sniffed, affronted and embarrassed at the same time. It hadn’t even occurred to her she might be leaving a trail. Probably looked like she saw people, green tracks to say where she’d been. ‘So who are your employers?’

Alex snarled, and put his foot between her legs on the chair, shoving it until she tipped over backward. She held her head up, but the impact still drove it into the kitchen floor and she howled as her teeth slammed together. Rat man bent over her this time, broad smile showing dark, dirty teeth.

‘We’re gonna play for a bit, ‘ee says we can play. Would you like to play with me?’

She bit her lip, feeling the blood well up and into her mouth. She wouldn’t cry, she wouldn’t. He grabbed her hand, and yanked her to her feet.

Part One can be found here

Scarlet stood up, blinking and stamping her foot. ‘I’m cold, I’m hungry and tired. Everyone I’ve met has lied to me, or wanted to kill me, so could you just speak normally, please?’

The maid reached out, resting her hand on Scarlet’s arm, and pulling her back down to sit on the sofa. She smiled, and Scarlet noticed for the first time that her teeth all ended in points. ‘Sit down, sweetheart, and relax. You have asked our names, and what we are. You have only three questions you may ask, so think about the last carefully.’

Scarlet’s mouth opened and closed, and she clenched her fists, bringing one to her mouth where she bit down hard on her knuckles. How the hell was she ever going to put this in a status update? Thank god she wasn’t on Twitter, there’d be no chance.

She took some deep breaths, and closed her eyes, and pictured her bedroom really hard. When she reopened them, the gently-swinging lamp was still there, and three pairs of eyes still bore into her, waiting. She groaned, wrapping her hands over her stomach. Only one question. She knew what she had to ask, but she was so desperate to ask more. Who were these people?

The Crone was still knitting, hands moving slow and steady, and for the first time, Scarlet realised how quiet it was. She could hear the steady breathing of the women around her, the deeper scratch of air being hauled slowly into the Crone’s weak lungs. She was safe here, possibly. It felt safe, but it also felt safe like standing on the edge of a long drop. Where she stood was fine, but one step in the wrong direction and everything changed.

‘I’m looking for my teacher. He’s called Martin. Where is he please?’

The sisters looked at one another, the Maid rocking her head from side to side. ‘Tell me, what does he mean to you?’

‘He’s teaching me how to use magic. I saved mum from hell, like, last month? So now he’s showing me how to do all the stuff.’

‘That’s what he is to you, but what does he mean to you? Who is he in here?’

The Maid leant forward and tapped her on the chest, above her heart. She bit back the smart retort about hearts being some random bodily organ, that everything that mattered took place above the neck. That was one of those steps in the wrong direction. And she wasn’t sure that down here, it was completely true, either.

‘He’s a friend, I think. I mean, I came here, to find him, so I must care about him, I guess?’

‘But you don’t know?’ The Crone leant forward, hands speeding up, top lip curled in a sneer. ‘How can you not know something so important?’

‘I just, I haven’t thought about it, I mean…’

She trailed off, and the Mother stepped in. ‘Leave her be, poor thing, she’s tired and hungry, and come all this way. I’d say that tells us everything we need to know.’

Scarlet flashed her a grateful smile and sat back into the sofa. The Mother nodded, leaning forward to pat her leg.

‘Your friend is no longer here, although he was.’

The Crone placed her sewing on the arm of her chair. ‘Your teacher is with The Council, answering questions he’d would rather not be asked.’

‘Your man is not long for this world, although not through his own design.’

Scarlet blushed, staring at the Maid. She shook her head. ‘He isn’t my man. I’m not even…’ she trailed off, her cheeks growing redder. ‘How come he’s with the council? They came looking for him, they couldn’t find him.’

‘Sorry, dearie, you’ve had your three. Perhaps the men who came looking weren’t from the Council.’

‘But…’

She stopped, blinking, feeling the cold drips of water as they struck her shoulder, sinking through her t-shirt. The lamp was no longer swinging, and was in fact, a street lamp. She was stood, beneath the awning at the front of Dingwalls, staring up at the light. A couple of passers-by were staring at her, muttering something about drugs and she blinked again, dropping her head and wrapping her arms about her.

The night was colder now, later, though how much later she didn’t know. The rain had slackened off, a thin drizzle that promised to last for hours. She sighed, shaking her head, ropes of wet hair slapping gently against her cheeks. She knew where he was. Sort of. What now?

‘Ello love, you’ve been bloody ‘ard to track down, I’ll give you that. You wanna come easy then?’

She didn’t have the chance to answer, as an arm came around her chest, and a hand pressed against her nose, and the light blurred, then faded altogether.

Part One can be found here

‘Hello dearie, do come into the light, won’t you?’

She raised both eyebrows. ‘Umm, light? You’re, like, blinding me.’

The woman who had spoken, sat in the armchair, leant forward and squinted at her. Scarlet stared back, taking in the leathery skin and gummy half-smile and eyes white with age. The staring contest was short. Whatever she could or couldn’t see with those milky eyes, they made Scarlet’s water and she looked down.

When she glanced back up, the old woman was nodding. ‘She has the sight, this one, strong, too.’ She was addressing the other two women, but she turned her attention back to Scarlet now. ‘You can switch it off, dearie, it’s really very easy, you know. Blink a few times, and remember how things normally look.’

Scarlet blinked, trying to see the darkness behind the women, and just like that, the glow was gone. It was replaced with shadows, that jumped as she took a step forward, eyes fixed on the lamp that hung from the ceiling. It looked as old as the woman to whom she’d spoken, but the light was bright and demanding.

The other two turned now, and Scarlet squirmed as they stared at her. The one nearest, looking over the back of one of the sofas looked like her mum, hair pulled back off her face and lines beginning to creep out from her eyes. The other, sat on the second sofa, had turned her entire body and was, without putting too fine a point on it, breathtaking.

Scarlet had conflicted feelings about this. She paid very little attention to boys, mostly ‘cause the ones at her school weren’t worth talking to, but also ‘cause some of the girls were. The woman staring at her now was like everything she imagined a woman could look like. Long, gorgeous hair, and a face she could stare at for, like, hours. She was really fit, and only a few years older than she was.

Her mouth was open, and she shut it, cheeks reddening. The young woman smiled at her, and she grinned weakly in return, clutching her hands before her like she was in the Headteacher’s office. She was, just, amazing.

‘Welcome, girl, what is your name?’

She opened her mouth to answer, and closed it again, the words from the big man in the Underworld coming back to her. She glanced at all three women, seeing them waiting, and swallowed. ‘Umm, I’m Joanna. Yeah, Joanna Slater. Who are you?’

The three women kept staring, smiles spreading across all their faces. The young one patted the cushion beside her. ‘That is well done, Joanna, you are cautious already.’

‘Sad in one so young.’

‘Everyone is young in your eyes, sister.’

The older woman grunted, leaning back in her chair, and reached for a piece of wood that lay on a table beside her. It was a disk with grooves around the edge, and thread dangling from it. The old woman settled into a rhythm, lifting first one thread, and then another, fixing them into the grooves. The centre of the disk was hollow, and emerging slowly from it was a colourful piece of string, like a shoe-lace.

Scarlet stared at it, mesmerised, until the woman sat beside her coughed quietly. Scarlet blinked and glanced around. The woman who looked like mum but not, shook her head. ‘That is not a game we play with young ones, sister, you know that.’

The older woman grunted again, and her movements lost their hypnotic rhythm. Scarlet looked around, at the damp, dark and shook her head. Where the hell was she? ‘Look, sorry, but I’m looking for someone, so, like, who are you please?’

‘Sisters, dearie, just like you. You may call me Crone, it feels right, these days.’

‘Oh, hush now, that’s not true.’ The middle aged woman waved away the Crone’s words, and placed her hand on her chest. ‘You may call me the Mother, which has always been suitable, and this is Maid.’

‘OK, so, like, what are you?’

The women looked at one another and back at her. ‘Sisters, dearie.’

Part One can be found here

She was in Camden! She was miles from home, no Oyster card, no money, nothing. Also, no jacket. She scampered into the entrance to the tube and wrapped her arms around her, staring out into the rain. It was coming down in sheets, and she was drenched to the skin. She sniffed. This sucked, just, really sucked.

She could be at home, watching Potter musicals, eating pizza. But no, she had to run about like a hero, like she had some ability to do something. She wallowed. She was good at wallowing. Some days the world was out to get her, and other days, it just sucked, but either way, it was without a doubt, someone else’s fault. She sniffed.

OK, this was boring. Martin had come here, after leaving the Underworld. What had he meant by ‘an understanding?’ She should have read the meeting books thoroughly before she came here. She was so sure she was going to find him, and get her lessons, she hadn’t really thought about anything else. But the books would tell her something, something useful. Maybe.

She looked behind her at the barriers. She could jump them. She snorted, gaining funny looks from the people rushing past. She couldn’t jump anything, except maybe Johnny Depp’s bones. That was a weird expression, why bones? Then again, it seemed kinda fitting for Johnny.

Scarlet peered down Camden High Street, the lights of the market peering back through the rain. He was here, somewhere. Possibly. She tried to remember her lessons, and ignore the shivering. She should be able to see this stuff now. She slitted her eyes, and saw even less than before. This was stupid.

Scarlet rubbed her temples and tried to relax, lifting her shoulders up to her ears, and letting them drop, taking deep breaths. She looked again down the street, still gently rubbing her temples, and suddenly, she saw it. There were people rushing back and forth, but two of them stood out, lined in pale green light.

She gasped, staring at them. They looked no different, but they were, oh yeah they were. One came past her, glanced up, and gave her a nod, the slightest hint of a smile! She clenched her fists in front of her chest, like she’d just won Miss World. She could see them!

She was part of something, something, like, so much cooler than, well, anything else. She watched the other, walking away from her, until the strange green outline was lost amongst the rain. This was just so amazingly cool. She had to be careful, not geek out too much and embarrass herself. It would be like when she discovered someone at school who read Manga. She’d stalked her, like, completely, for weeks, until she couldn’t hold back and unleashed a torrent of fan-y geekness at her. Turned out Manga wasn’t quite such a big deal for that girl, and Scarlet had crept home and hidden for the next three days.

If Martin was here, he would show up, somehow. Would he be easier to see because she knew him? He’d said something like that, that she would begin to recognise certain auras. She took a deep breath, and stepped out into the storm.

The rain had lessened slightly, and only felt like someone emptying a bucket of water over her head. She was, at least, too wet to care now, and her t-shirt was black and in no way see through, which was a relief. She had to keep pulling it away from her waist, not that it made any difference, but most people were hurrying by, faces down, so they didn’t see anyway.

She headed over the bridge, glancing down into the murky waters of the canal. The shop fronts, decorated in giant shoes, and airplanes were lit up, showing like ghosts through the downpour. She’d only been here a couple of times, and it was so cool, even in the rain. To her right, as she came off the bridge, a tiny street led down between market stalls, and over the road, the stables…

A green hum lit the evening sky, like there were green strobes pointing up from the middle of the stables. He had to be in there. She dashed across the road, avoiding suicidal cyclists and in through the wooden gates. The smells attacked her stomach, chinese and indian, mexican and the old classic, fried chicken, all reminding her of how long it had been since she ate.

Staring in envy at the food stalls, she rounded the corner and gazed at the building that was lined with a patina of green light. How did no one else see it?

Closer inspection revealed it to be a concert venue, called Dingwalls. The doors were shut up, the lights off and she circled it, passing more inviting food stalls, steam rising up through the rain. She whimpered, turning away to focus on the hall.

She tried the front door, and it cracked open. Looking guiltily behind her, she slipped in and pulled the door closed. She was breathing hard and giggled. She could add breaking and entering to her rapidly growing CV, god this was so stupid.

She walked past the front desk, and through into the venue. It was small, tables lining the outsides, the stage forlorn and drab in the dark. The light was all around her, but she realised it grew fainter the higher up she looked. The floor beneath her feet was pulsing, and looking at it longer than a few seconds made her want to hurl.

Whatever she wanted, was down, down in the darkness, in the gloom and… what was it with people and going underground? Why couldn’t they all have nice, top-floor flats with good visibility and a well-marked emergency exit? Stomping around the venue, she found the door marked ‘NO ENTRY’ and, just for shits and giggles, entered.

A steep set of steps led her down into the darkness, the green glow stronger here, but casting as much shadow as it did illumination. The floor below was filled with dust, and old chairs and tables, and nothing remotely resembling a captured magician. She searched around, avoiding sticking her hands in anything too dirty.

Scarlet was close to giving up hope, or at least, shouting until someone appeared, when she found another door. This one was unmarked, but the handle was dust-free, and it opened silently. More stairs, deeper into the earth. She would have said deeper into hell, but at least there they had the good sense to be above ground.

It smelled of damp, and the air felt thick, as though she could scoop it up and hold it. It smelled old as well, like Grandad’s house, after he died. The floor beneath her feet was slightly sticky, and greedy for her shoes. She stepped slowly forward, shielding her eyes with one arm as the light grew ever brighter.

She rounded a corner, and before her lay possibly the last thing she’d expected to see. There were two sofas, and a large armchair, an old, metal stove bearing a kettle, and, each lit up like candles, three women.

Part One can be found here

She hadn’t done this one, not yet, but it needed no ingredients, and sounded impressive, and that was enough for now. Maybe. The others around the room were watching her, leant forward, arms resting on legs as they stared.

She was a performing monkey, or soon would be. And to think, she used to get nervous when she had to give a drama performance. Her hands were shaking as she lifted the spell book. This was no good, she wasn’t even going to be able to say the words properly.

She let the book drop, looking around at the eager, greedy faces. ‘OK, which one of you did the invites for this thing? I mean, really, these outfits, have you even used a mirror?’

That was better. She was met with a chorus of hisses and sneers, but no one got up, or challenged her, and she managed a weak smile. The guy on the throne was the real deal, whatever that meant, but these others? Wannabe was pretty close to the truth she reckoned.

She spoke the words, slowly, carefully, putting her weight behind it, just as Martin had taught her. She squeezed her eyes closed, as soon as she said the last word, and was pleased she did. She heard the gasps as light filled the room.

Holding the book up as a shield, she peered out through slitted eyelids. A ball of light, bright enough to make her eyes water, hung in the air before her. She stepped back, glancing around the room. Many of those hissing at her moments earlier were smiling and clapping. The few who had remained silent when the big man was holding court were still silent, watching her.

The big man himself was on his feet, applauding along with the rest, climbing down again from his throne. ‘Excellent, outstanding. It appears you are the entertainment after all. Not quite what I imagined, but entertaining nonetheless.’

He stepped closer and she got a whiff of him, the faintest scent of hospitals and burning rubber, hidden behind some nasty aftershave that made her nose wrinkle. He came around the light, a huge silhouette that blocked it out. She lowered the book and waited, hands on hips.

His voice was lower, no longer meant for the others in the room. ‘Who is your father, girl?’

She raised her eyebrows, ignoring the shaking in her legs. ‘The name’s Scarlet, man… thing. And actually, who my father is is none of your business.’ OK, that was stupid, just plain, mum-level stupid. She coughed. ‘Where is Martin?’

The big man rocked back on his heels, folding his arms before him. She strained to see his expression, but the light behind still painted his face in black shadow. He chuckled, the sound climbing up her back and stroking her neck so she squirmed. ‘You have spirit. I will know who your father is, and from where you came.’

‘No you won’t. And ‘from where I came?’ Really?’

The light was fading, just enough for her to see his forehead crease, massive eyebrows meeting above his clear eyes. They stared at one another for a moment, long enough for Scarlet to realise the room had gone silent. The others might not be able to hear, but they knew something was happening.

The shaking had become quite serious, and her palms were slippery against the cover of the book. She put it into her pocket, and put her hands back on her hips. The room was silent. This was like one of those awkward moments at a party, when she realised she didn’t have a clue what to say, or how to say it. Like all parties, then, really.

The big man’s face changed, like flipping channels, and he threw back his head and roared with laughter. The tension broke and she surreptitiously wiped her hands on her jeans, glancing around the room. He stopped abruptly, and spread his hands before him. ‘Martin isn’t here.’

What? ‘What? You said he’d come to visit, you said you’d let him go.’

Tears stung the corners of her eyes and she blinked them away, taking a step forward as she waved her finger at him. He shrugged. ‘You are in the Underworld. I would have thought the name might have given you some clue as to the honesty of its denizens.’

‘Huh?’

‘I lied.’

‘But, but… hang on, my spell brought me here, it said he was here.’

The man shook his head, smiling. ‘Spells can be tricksy, and unreliable. Martin was here, not so long ago, but he and I, we have an understanding now. Maybe this is the last place the spell could track him to.’

She stepped back, turning from the big man and staring into the darkness above the assembled watchers. What the hell was she doing here? She was sixteen, inept at pretty much everything except social media and quoting Harry Potter, so what was she going to achieve? Everyone here was older than her, by quite a long way.

She turned back to him, grinding her teeth together. ‘Would it have hurt you to just tell me the truth?’

The big man rocked his head side to side. ‘In truth, perhaps not, but then I would not have known whether your tales of being a magician were true. Martin is teaching someone…’

He trailed off, still watching her with that amused air that made her want to punch him, like, really hard. What a dick. She pulled the book out and turned back to the rescue spell. Perhaps she just hadn’t thought about him hard enough.

She realised, with a sinking heart, that she had no ingredients with her. She couldn’t do it, even if she wanted to. The big man was still watching her, one chunky eyebrow higher than the other. She glared at him. ‘How do I get out of here?’

For a second, she thought he was going to laugh again, and she swallowed hard, the tears threatening once more. Instead, he nodded. ‘I can help you with that. Where would you like to go?’

‘I need to find Martin.’

‘Well, perhaps he did mention where he was heading when he left here. Let me see…’

He didn’t say anything, but a bright light appeared before her and she took a step toward it. His voice chased her from the Underworld. ‘Such a pleasure to meet you, Scarlet. A word to the wise, be careful in who you give your name to, not everyone is as kind as I am.’

She stepped through, and into the driving rain. The clouds of earlier had lived up to their promise and she could barely see the lights that blurred before her eyes, barely see anything but the wall of water. She turned slowly, looking for something she recognised, and froze, staring in amazement at Camden Town Tube Station.