Part One is here

‘Have you ever heard of Red Riding Hood?’

As far as questions went, it was about the last thing she expected to be asked. She blinked and took her sage from behind her ear. Maybe this stuff was hallucinogenic. Maybe it leached through the skin. She kept it there more than she should. Martin kept telling her off for it. She looked at the sage and put it back behind her ear. It was too late now anyway.

‘Sorry?’

‘Red Riding Hood. Most dimensions know it as a fairy tale.’

‘Um, yes. I mean, I have heard of it and it is a fairy tale.’

He nodded, coming around the table to sit on the end. The other three looked bored and impatient. He clasped his hands before him, eyes lit up.

‘There are dimensions where it is more than a fairy tale, though in truth, most fairy tales have some basis in reality. Red Riding Hood has more than most. You know the story, yes?’

‘Um, girl wears red hood, goes to granny’s house and finds wolf instead, chops him up.’

‘That will do. What we are interested in is what she used to chop him up. The blade had been gifted her by her father when she was still in the cradle. It may not surprise you to hear that her father was an assassin, mostly absent from her childhood due to the demands of his unusual occupation. Red was adept with the blade before she became a teenager. A wolf is difficult to kill, but still no match for cold steel and the skills that she possessed.’

Scarlet burst out laughing. ‘Okay, this is too cool. You guys are completely mad, but it’s still cool. Any chance of getting something to eat please?’

The man waved to those behind him and one pulled a phone from his pocket. The man brought her attention back with a wave of his hand. ‘The knife wasn’t just a good blade. It was enchanted, engraved and blessed by one of the gods and highly valuable. We would like it.’

Scarlet was nodding, trying to keep the smile from her face. ‘So you’d like me to go and get the knife from Red, right?’

‘Exactly. She isn’t fond of men, but you are not much younger than she and you have power.’

‘Oh. Hang on, Red Riding Hood happened ages ago, surely she’s ancient by now?’

The man shook his head. ‘Stories do not work like that. Once someone is immortalised in story, well…’

‘Wow, that sucks. Is she old enough to buy beer?’

His face reddened and he flapped his hands. Scarlet smiled and walked past him to sit in his chair. She leaned close into the other three and whispered in a loud voice. ‘Is he the only mad one? I mean, do you guys think he’s mad or are you in it with him?’

She finally got a smile from one of the others but the man himself laughed and turned to look at her. ‘They think I am unhealthily obsessed. But mad would be a little too strong a term I believe. You will do it?’

She shrugged. ‘Why not? Where is she?’

‘You will need to travel to another world, a different dimension.’

‘Oh bloody hell. Can’t you just put me in the van and drive me there?’

A uniformed guard entered with a plate of food and she fell on it, trying to ignore the strange green stuff that might have been salad but could easily have been an alien species trying to attack her. Same difference. She finished and pushed the plate back. ‘Before I do this, you have to show me that Scarlet isn’t being, what did you call it, reconditioned any more. Sounds like something you do to a car anyway.’

One of the men pulled out a tablet and tapped on the screen. When he showed it to her there were four screens, CCTV cameras if she was any judge. Which she was, cos school had a bunch and these had the same dodgy-budget-horror-movie quality to them. On one, Skinny Scarlet was sat in a cell staring at the wall. Her hands were clenched tightly together in her lap and she looked tired, but otherwise alright. The camera wasn’t adding any fat at all.

‘Okay, let’s go. Quick.’

Before I have the time to change my mind or realise how stupid an idea this is and bottle out and just go home. She thought about her bed and sighed. She could go, right now. Why should she save her anyway? If they hadn’t run, she’d be at home, wallowing in a nice normal, comforting pit of depression. These guys seemed perfectly nice anyway, not like she’d said they were.

She remembered the weird sick feeling in the back of the van and the smile Martin who wasn’t Martin had worn. Yeah, okay, they were evil. Maybe not Hitler evil, but just as bad. How could you have magic and ban people from using it?

The ingredients were already mostly laid out and the man who’d convinced her to do this incredibly stupid thing finished them off while she stared at a photo he handed her. It was of a forest, sunlight streaming through the trees to illuminate a hut. Hut wasn’t the right word. This was a hut as much as Harrods was a shop.

It had levels and a thatched roof and veranda and granny had been seriously loaded if this was where she lived. She stared at it until her eyes began to water. Then she checked the ingredients. They were laid out perfectly. She made sure she had everything in her bag to get back and pulled her phone out. She had about 20% left so she took a photo of the room and switched it off.

With a deep breath she cast and the light appeared. Beyond it the four men smiled. That probably wasn’t good. She stared at the photo and stepped through until the concrete beneath her feet became the crunch of the forest floor. She still held the photo and moved it up before her, matching the house on it to the one right before her.

She was here, wherever here was. She was about to meet Red Riding Hood. Possibly. Or a very confused old lady. Far more likely. She took a step toward the cottage and froze as a howl split the air. Suddenly, the peace of the forest struck her as more of a hush, a pregnant pause as though everything was waiting for something.

She spun, sweat trickling down her forehead and saw a pair of yellow eyes, huge and staring straight at her. This then, was the something. The wolf howled again.

Next Installment Wednesday 16th April

Part One is here

Martin turned away and she was pulled from the van by her legs, kicking all the way.

‘MARTIN, WAIT, WHAT’S GOING ON?’

She surprised herself, her throat giving way as she screamed. The man she thought she knew paused, turned and came back. The inspectors dropped her, literally, and backed away. Martin watched as she got to her feet, fighting the urge to cry and rubbing her elbows where they’d hit the ground.

‘Why are you calling me Martin?’

‘That’s your name.’

He shook his head. ‘My name is irrelevant. My title is Head Ward of extra-dimensional studies.’

‘Catchy.’

He raised his eyebrows, fractionally higher than before. ‘You know me, in your dimension.’

It wasn’t a question, but she found herself answering.

‘You’re my master, you’re teaching me magic.’

‘Ah.’ A smile split his face. It wasn’t quite right, like milk left out overnight. You wanted to trust it, but you knew it you put it on your cereal you’d regret it later. ‘How quaint. Things are a little different here.’

‘Why?’

‘Why?’ He put his hands behind his back, settling onto his heels. It was such a familiar gesture that a lump formed in her throat. ‘It has been this way for sixty years and it is this way because it has to be. The world was lost, for many years and we cannot let it become lost again.’

‘I’m not sure how you could lose the world. I mean, I’ve lost mine, but that’s just me. Surely you couldn’t all lose it at the same time, that would just be—’

‘Terror invaded our world and millions died. This is not something to joke about.’

‘But why does it have to be like this?’

He sighed as though she were really stupid. ‘Because we have to maintain control.’

‘What, over all those sixteen year old school girls who are just poised to take over the world?’

‘Scarlet knew what she was doing.’

‘She’s sixteen.’

He shook his head. ‘Make no mistake, age means nothing. There are plenty of sixteen year old capable of terrible things.’

‘Well, yeah, you should have seen this text post on tumblr the other week, serious trolling, but I mean—’

‘You mean very little and say a lot.’

‘Why are you in charge?’

He looked surprised at the change in tack but took it well. ‘I am a member of the council.’

‘The Council? You mean the magic council?’

‘Of course. Who else do you think runs the country?’

Her mouth dropped open and before she could say anything else, the inspectors returned. They dragged her through the massive gate before which she’d been standing. Martin came in also but headed in a different direction. She was lugged along the main road, past open fields. It was like being on an airfield and the massive hanger they were walking toward did nothing to dispel the feeling.

The doors were already open and they strode out of the evening sun into the gloom of the hanger. There were buildings inside it, long flat grey boxes with tiny windows and flat roofs. They put her down enough for her to use her feet and the three of them approached the nearest. In through the door and down a corridor that looked like a hospital and smelled like a gym.

Another door and when it swung open, she saw within a cell, not much larger than Martin’s bedroom and bearing a remarkably similar bed. And nothing else. They shoved her in and slammed the door. She turned, about to commit the terrible sin of cliche by thumping on the door and demanding to be let out. But some things were beneath even her, so she settled for trying out the bed.

The mattress was made of something resembling wood, with about as much give, and she gave up lying down pretty quickly. Mum would be worrying by now. Well, not worrying, but certainly wondering. She could pace. People paced in jail cells, didn’t they? She gave it a try, taking the three steps from one end to the other and turned, before giving it up as a bad job.

The light was already fading and soon the cell was plunged into complete darkness. This could be a good time to panic. But she’d run today and cried more than usual. She stretched out on the bed, wriggled around for half an hour and finally fell asleep.

The door opening woke her. Apparently she didn’t wake up quick enough, because they slammed it against the wall a few times until she sat up and waved a hand. She looked around for a mirror and was relieved to see there were none. If she was going to be dead or in another dimension soon, she really couldn’t care less about how she looked.

The inspector in the doorway tapped one hand against the door frame and his foot on the stone floor.

‘Could you be any more of a stereotype? Just calm down, alright?’

He sneered at her and went on tapping. She stretched and yawned. And stretched some more. And yawned a bit. Another stretch. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out the cell while she gave him her sweetest smile. She had somehow woken up in a good mood. That never happened, unless Lara was there and that had only happened twice. The thought made her insides tighten and her smile widen.

Then she remembered everything that had happened yesterday. Weird how being in another dimension still didn’t take away from the hurt of being dumped. Her smile faded as the guy in the uniform dragged her down endless passageways until they reached a double door inlaid with blacked-out glass panels.

He pushed one open, shoved her through, and she found herself in a massive room. That it was big was about the only interesting thing she could say about it. That and the narrow table that filled the centre and was sat at by four men. All staring at her. She put her hand to her hair, feeling the inevitable post-sleep wind tunnel effect and groaned.

‘Come forward.’

She stepped closer to the table, trying to stand up straight. ‘There are four of you. Are you the head of the Council?’

‘Do you really think the head of the council would be here to deal with a nobody like you? We are the heads of council for extra-dimensional occurrences.’

‘You guys just love the crap titles don’t you? Where’s Martin?’

They looked at her blankly. The same one spoke again. ‘You are here to be judged.’

‘Yay.’

‘And it would behove you to take it a little more seriously as the sentence may well be death.’

She feigned a yawn. What was with her today? Of the four men, three frowned at her as if they had special powers in their foreheads. The fourth sat back, watching her with a wry smile. Three against one. She was going to die. But somehow, she still couldn’t bring herself to be too bothered.

‘Please, come and stand at the head of the table.’

She headed around until she could see all their faces without them having to turn.

‘Name?’

‘Joanna Slater.’

‘Why are you here, Joanna.’

‘My friends call me Jo. I was using a seeking spell to get home and accidentally went to the wrong house.’

‘How did you do that?’

‘Um, well, I may have been a bit careless with how I laid out the ingredients.’

She couldn’t decide if the creased brows and open mouths were amazement or disgust, or maybe a bit of both. ‘I see. Why did you run when we came to collect you?’

‘The people in the house thought I should. And they were right. You threw me in a van and put me in prison for the night. That’s not very nice, you know.’

The relaxed one smiled again, but the other three glared. ‘She will be dealt with. You will go home. We can send you, or you may perform the spell yourself.’

‘What, I can go home? Right now?’

He nodded and she busied herself with her bag. She had most of the stuff spread out around her and her bundle of sage tucked behind her ear before she stopped. Dammit.

‘What about her?’

The men turned back to stare at her. ‘Who?’

‘Scarlet, the girl who tried to save me?’

There was silence for a moment, before the smiling man spoke. ‘Why do you want to know?’

‘I think you’re doing nasty things to her and she doesn’t deserve it.’

‘Nasty is a very subjective word.’

‘Assuming that means what I think it does, I gotta disagree. Nasty is nasty.’

He rocked his head from side to side. ‘She is being reconditioned, to ensure she fully understands what is expected of her.’

‘And then?’

‘If we believe she is suitable, she will be allowed back into society.’

‘Yeah, see, that’s not good enough. Can I save her?’

The men chuckled. Actually chuckled. Spitting at them probably wouldn’t help her get what she wanted, so she ground her teeth together and waited. They were making eye contact, raising eyebrows and being all mysterious. Maybe she should pretend to go home and go to the gate instead. She could remember what it looked like.

‘What would you be willing to do?’

‘Ewww. Not that.’

He shook his head, still smiling. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, how far does your intention to rescue her go?’

She shrugged. ‘I dunno.’

‘Hmm.’ What did that mean? He was looking at the others and one by one they nodded. He turned back to her. ‘Perhaps there is something you can do. There is something we need, maybe you can get it.’

‘Yeah, sure, what is it?’

‘Tell me, have you ever heard of Red Riding Hood?’

Next Instalment Monday 14th April

Part One is here

As the inspectors bundled them into a van, Scarlet couldn’t take her eyes off her counterpart. Her eyes flicked about like a deer in the headlights and she kept mumbling under her breath. What was she going to do?

The van was dark and smelled of sweat. It reminded her of the changing rooms at school. She was shoved in first, but Skinny resisted and spoke louder, her mumble becoming a casting. Scarlet gasped just before a night stick cracked across Skinny’s head. She slumped forward as the man who had hit her growled into her ear.

‘Don’t even think about it. You ain’t done anything wrong yet, so why ruin it now?’

Skinny was dumped on the floor of the truck and the doors were slammed shut. Scarlet slid off the seat and lifted Skinny’s head into her lap. She had a moment to think about the insanity of having her own head in her lap before the van lurched away and they both slid until they hit the back doors.

Skinny’s eyes fluttered open and she stared up at Scarlet. ‘They’re taking us to a camp. They’re going to hide us.’

From the shaking in her voice and the quivering chin, Scarlet assumed that was a bad thing. Being hidden didn’t sound all that bad. ‘What does that mean?’

Skinny sat up quickly, groaned, and put her head in her hands. ‘It means we disappear. No one hears from us again and that’s it.’

‘So what actually happens to us?’

‘I don’t know.’ She started to cry, big heaving sobs that Scarlet recognised only too well.

‘How can you not know?’

‘Because no one ever finds out. No one ever escapes or comes back.’

She buried her head and Scarlet moved back to the seat. This wasn’t good news, but having to deal with the sound of her own crying, which was horrible at the best of times, was too much. She stared through the tiny barred window on the side of the van. The streets they drove through were familiar, save the lack of people. Those she did see were going about life quite normally. Where was the magic?

How, in a world where everyone did magic, was no one doing it? The van halted and she examined the road outside. There were more cameras, CCTV on, like, every lamppost and shop and even the bins. Someone was watching everything. It could be big brother, it could be father Christmas. Then again, it could be more of the nasty sods that had chucked them in the van. Inspectors. This was a strange world.

She blinked. She’d just thought this was a strange world. Not, oh my god I’m in another dimension and how the hell did I end up here? Oh no, just, this is a strange world. When did this become normal? She really wanted to be freaked out but it was the coolest thing ever. Except for the being in the back of a van. Maybe she should leave.

They moved again and she pulled the ingredients out of her bag and laid them out. The shifting floor made it tough but she got it pretty close to right. She began to cast, but seconds into the chanting her head swam and she badly needed to vomit. The casting faltered and she swore. She took a few breaths and tried again. Same thing.

Skinny smiled sadly. ‘The vans are coated. No one knows what they use but you can’t do any magic.’

‘And you’re only telling me this now because?’

Skinny shrugged. ‘What’s the point? It’s over. We’re dead.’

Scarlet squinted at her and shook her head. Was she really this dramatic? ‘Why?’

Skinny almost leaped from her seat, hands shaking, before she subsided back against the door of the van and laughed in that way people do just before they shoot themselves. ‘You don’t come from here, you don’t know what it’s like.’

‘But you can all do magic. Why haven’t you changed things?’

‘How? We’re tracked, every second of our lives. Everything we do is monitored. They test us, whenever they want, just to make sure we’re still loyal.’ She spat out loyal and looked down at her hands. ‘I could make a pretty good illusion when I was six. I could make fire when I was eight. Only I couldn’t do it in class, because it was dangerous, and I couldn’t do it outside because magic’s forbidden on the street and mum gets pissed if I do it at home…’

Scarlet looked at the floor of the van, frowning. They could all do magic. How did this place suck this badly if they could all do magic?

The van lurched to a stop and the doors dragged open. Skinny was taken beneath the arms and pulled out and the doors slammed closed again. Scarlet threw herself against the doors, thumping on them with her fists. ‘Let me out, bloody let me OUT.’

The van pulled away and she moved to the window, pressing herself against it. She just made out a struggling body being carted away through a gate bordered on both sides by high fences. She slumped down from the window onto her knees. The van turned a corner and she was flung sideways and slammed her hands against the floor.

A cold settled over her, like she’d come out without a coat. Actually, she had come out without a coat. She should have learned by now. Where had they taken Skinny Scarlet? That was her fault, completely her fault. And maybe Martin’s, but mostly hers. She sniffed, admitting for the first time that now might be a good time to be scared.

She pulled her phone from her pocket. No signal. No 3G. She shoved it back in, resisting the urge to chuck it at the van wall. This wasn’t fun any more. The van came to a halt, the doors opened and a face appeared. Warmth flooded her as the familiar sight of Martin filled her vision.

‘Thank god, it’s you.’

His eyebrows raised slightly before he spoke. ‘Welcome to the extra-dimensional holding cell. You will remain here until the decision is made regarding your termination.’

‘Martin?’

But he’d turned away, not an inch of recognition on his face and the masked men appeared, hands reaching for her.

Next Instalment Friday 11th April

Part One is here

The door being smashed in was the last sound she heard before the back door slammed and they ran. The garden was just large enough to fit a chair and mum’s ashtray in, although both were conspicuous by their absence. What was it with the scary healthy thing? They ducked through the gate and down the alleyway, heart hammering in her chest.

Skinny Scarlet was away like some crazy running fiend and Scarlet attempted and failed utterly to keep up.

‘Hold on, please, blimey, just hold on would you?’

Her counterpart turned and looked at her. She recognised that look, she’d seen it in the mirror enough times. Part sadness, part contempt, all Scarlet. She hissed and stopped as she caught up, bending over to heave in great lungfuls of air.

‘God, where did you learn to run?’

‘I’m track champion for sector six.’

‘Track champion? God, when did I become such a dick?’

Skinny Scarlet folded her arms and gave Scarlet another of her favourite looks. She blushed. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean that.’

‘Mmm.’

Skinny grabbed her hand and set off running. ‘They’ll be finished in the house in a couple of minutes and start on the streets. We need to find you somewhere safe.’

‘What about Martin’s?’

‘Who’s Martin?’

She stopped dead in her tracks but skinny kept running and she was dragged off balance, landing on one of her knees. She yelped and bit her lip. She’d cried enough for one day. Actually, she hadn’t cried nearly enough, there was plenty of time left. A drop ran down her cheek and she scrubbed it away. Skinny was staring at her. ‘What, bloody what?’

‘Why are you so upset?’

‘Why am I… What do you think? I’m, what did you say, in another dimension, my master’s just buggered off to Australia, my girlfriend broke up with me and some weirdos are chasing me for no good reason. Seems pretty reasonable to be upset actually.’

‘Oh, goodness, you’re gay?’ Skinny glanced around, eyes wide again. She put her finger to her lips. ‘Keep that quiet, it’s dangerous here.’

‘Lucky you told me that, cos I was going to tell all my other-dimensional friends. You know, all those people that have queuing up to say hi since I got here.’

‘I mean it.’ Her brows came together in a way that was almost comical. Then a sound from behind that was almost certainly the garden gate being slammed got her off her knees and running again. Scarlet took the lead, heading for Martin’s place and crossing her fingers.

The estate was the same, except the grass was cut and there was no rubbish. At all. It was a bit creepy, though not a patch on the shouting voices that were chasing them between the tower blocks.

‘Why do they want me?’

‘You’re other-dimensional. I think you must be. Coming through must have triggered an alarm.’

‘So why do they want me?’

‘You’re different.’

‘You mean fat.’

Skinny actually laughed. It sounded a little like a horse throwing up, but it was better than the condescension she’d had so far. ‘No, I mean you’re different. You sound different and look different and you definitely think different.’

They reached Martin’s before she could respond and she pushed through the bin doors. Skinny followed her with a look of trepidation. Scarlet shoved open the door to Martin’s and stepped in. It was empty. The floor was bare concrete, the walls bare concrete. In fact, the theme was entirely bare concrete. The bedroom was equally bare. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

‘What were you expecting?’

‘My master lives here.’

‘Your master?’

‘Um, yeah, you know, the guy who teaches me… magic.’

‘You have a master?’ Her voice carried the same level of awe Scarlet had when Lara told her she’d been on the Harry Potter studio tour. Having a master couldn’t compare, though, surely?

‘How many students does he have?’

‘It’s apprentice, and just me, I think.’

Skinny did the thing with her eyes again and Scarlet leaned back against the wall smirking. Then a thought struck her. ‘Hang on. You do magic?’

‘Of course, doesn’t everyone?’

Okay, that wasn’t fair. She’d come to a dimension without Martin, where she was skinny and could run and actually looked really hot and now everyone did magic. She’d called this upon herself, thinking her day couldn’t get any worse. This was her fault.

What was she thinking? Of course it wasn’t her fault, it never was. This was Martin’s fault. If he hadn’t buggered off to Australia the whole thing would never have happened.

‘So everyone does magic?’

Skinny nodded. It was her turn to smirk. It looked bad on her, really bad.

‘Of course. How else do you think we learn things?’

Scarlet scrunched up her face. She was about to say it wasn’t fair then saw Martin’s face and stamped her foot instead. The skinny her was really annoying. And not gay. Weird. ‘How does magic help you learn things, I mean, other than magic?’

‘How do you learn things in your dimension?’

Scarlet shrugged. ‘A combination of TV, shouting and youtube.’

‘Youtube? All that’s good for is government promotional stuff. There’s nothing useful on there.’

Where was she? She’d come to an evil, terrible place. And she’d been to hell, so she was qualified to say. Skinny was still talking.

‘We learn using spells. You cast your memory lock and read for an hour and you’ve got it.’

‘Why not just use wikipedia?’

‘What’s wikipedia?’

‘Right, just imagine all of the smartest people you can think of and put them all in the same room. Then imagine you can ask them any question you like and they have to answer.’

‘So like the Forum then?’

Scarlet ground her teeth together. Fine, she wasn’t going to win this. Actually, the spell learning thing sounded like a really good idea. She’d have to bug Martin about it when he got back. Or when she got back. Speaking of which.

‘How do I get home?’

‘How did you get here?’

‘I used a seeking spell, for my bed. Only, my bed turned out to be your bed.’

‘That’s very odd. Did you follow the spell properly?’

‘Did I follow the spell properly?’ Skinny glared at her as she mimicked her voice. ‘Probably, mostly, yeah. Maybe a bit careless with the ingredients.’

She looked at her feet and scuffed one shoe against the other. Martin had talked about laying them out right at some point. Maybe. But he hadn’t stressed how important it obviously was. Clearly his fault. She dug through her bag for the right ingredients and began laying them out on the floor. Skinny watched, hands on hips.

‘So that’s it, you’re just going to leave?’

‘Why the hell would I stay here?’

‘Um, well, maybe because I just rescued you?’

‘Well, yeah, thanks for that. But I mean, there’s already you here so why would I stay?’

Skinny bit her lip and Scarlet paused, sage gripped between finger and thumb and watched herself. She recognised the awkward shuffle and the downcast eyes. She knew what was coming next and winced as Skinny opened her mouth. ‘We could, you know, hang out.’

Crap. Now she was feeling sorry for herself and herself. This was just stupid. She was torn from her thoughts by a crash just outside. She grabbed for the ingredients, shoving them back into her bag and stood. Skinny watched the door, hands shaking. Scarlet took her hand and squeezed it.

‘Thanks for the rescue.’

Skinny looked at her, as if trying to decide whether she was being sarcastic, then smiled. ‘Not very good, though, was it?’

‘How did they find us?’

‘My tracker.’

‘Your tracker?’

Skinny tapped her neck where Scarlet could see a lump, about the size of a dice, protruding beneath the skin. ‘What is it?’

‘Everyone has a tracker. You get them at birth.’

‘How come?’

‘We might be terrorists.’

‘So how come you learn magic?’

‘Everyone learns magic, you just do. It’s like learning to talk.’

That was so cool. Imagine if everyone could do magic. The streets must be filled with illusions and crazy money-seeking clouds and all sorts. The door flew open and men rushed in. They wore dull grey uniforms and riot gear, helmets with plastic face masks. She was about to put her hands up when one grabbed her by the hair and threw her on the floor.

‘Hey, what the hell?’

‘Shut it. You’re under arrest. Keep quiet and do as your told.’

Her head was spinning and she looked to her left. Skinny was face down beside her, chewing on her lip, tears streaming down her face.

Next Installment Wednesday 9th April