Part One can be found here.

The lounge was dark, the curtains wide open to reveal the streetlamps were on, casting pools of yellow light against the night. Martin was back in his rags, but she barely saw him before mum grabbed her for another hug. Normally, this much proximity to her would have led to shouting and possibly throwing things, but it wasn’t so bad this time around. Mum pushed her back, staring at her with the same eyes she got after a bad parent’s evening at school, kinda worry mixed with the threat of death.

‘You shouldn’t have come, you shouldn’t have, what could have happened?’

‘Well, let’s think, shall we? I could have gone into hell, faced down a demon, and rescued you. Or, you know, I could have stayed here and become some scary blimp creature, living on microwave pizza and staring blankly at the walls when they shut the TV off after I failed to pay any bills.’

The sentence was slightly too long for mum to take in, so she just hugged her again. When she escaped this one, she turned to speak to Martin. The lounge was empty but for the two of them, and she ran to the front door. It was closed, and when she yanked it open, the street was deserted. With a shake of her head, she closed it slowly, and turned back into the house. They had a lot to talk about, her and Martin and her and Mum. But it could wait until the morning.

‘Mum, I’m going to bed.’

‘OK, honey.’

‘You aren’t going to do anything stupid whilst I’m sleeping, are you? You know, like get sucked into hell or anything.’

She was met with silence, and managed a smile as she made her slow way upstairs. Slumping onto her bed, she reached with one hand for her laptop as she kicked off her shoes. Dragging it onto her lap, she logged in. The screen went black, the cursor appearing. She almost howled as the words appeared.

…There, doesn’t that feel better? Now, after all that, does Tumblr really feel so important?…

Actually, yes, it really does. She sighed in pleasure as the blackness went and the screen lit up to windows. She clicked on the Internet explorer symbol, and watched in horror as it dissolved, followed by the rest of the screen. A face appeared in the resulting blackness, thin and pale with heavy, dark brows. ‘You haven’t destroyed my name, little girl, you promised–‘

She screamed, and threw the computer across the room…

Part One can be found here.

Her hands were shaking. ‘I have your name. I command you by right. Harm my mum and…’ What? What the hell was she going to do? Then inspiration struck. ‘I’ll leave this castle and shout your name from the mountains, so every other being here knows it.’

He paled, though she hadn’t thought it possible, and his hand dropped. She had him. She had him! Trying hard to look casual, she turned her back and walked across to Martin, shaking him gently until his eyes cracked open. He sat up quickly, hands out to brace himself, and shook his head, blinking furiously. She helped him stand, then was thrown forward as mum crashed into her, arms wrapping around. She managed to turn and return the hug, clinging to her like a wino with his last can of Special Brew.

The three of them looked at the demon, stood further away now, eyes shadowed, face expressionless. His voice was the sound of the dying– enough already, just, he sounded creepy. ‘You will destroy any evidence of my name. Should you fail in doing so, I will hunt you. You have made an enemy today, Scarlet Parker, be careful next time you step this way.’

‘Yeah, ‘cause I was really planning on coming back to hell soon.’

‘You’ll be back.’

She shivered, and he was gone. The torches guttered, as though a wind blew through the hall, then one by one they went out. As the darkness grew, Martin grabbed their hands and dragged them toward the door through which they had entered. They ran down the corridor, chased by a blackness far darker than the simple absence of light, and racing with it the laughter of the dead, newly awakened and angry. She snorted, shaking her head, even as her hands shook.

Before them, the dull light of the sky flowed lazily in through the front door and they ran harder. Her sides were hurting, her breath coming in gasps and she slowed. Martin yanked at her, nodding over her shoulder. She glanced behind and saw the demon, his face emerging from the darkness, huge and fierce, and she shrieked and sprinted for the door.

They burst out onto the plain, and kept running, ignoring the laughter that chased them toward the mountains. Back between the cliffs and through the valley, and finally they paused, her hands on her knees as she bent over, sucking in air. She pulled the book from her waistband, cracked it open at the page, and spoke the words, until the light blinded her and she stepped forward.

Final instalment: Wednesday 6 November