The Stronghold

Contract Of Doom

The young man was doubled over with laughter, trying to wolf whistle but failing miserably. A taller, stronger man was stood behind, looking mildly irritated. His eyes met mine and he sighed.

"I apologise for Shaade's behaviour," he said in an Illinois accent. "Something's happened to him, not entirely sure what. Oh yeah! His maturity vanished."

"Good to see you, Josh," I said, holding out my hand. He clasped it briefly with the flicker of a smile.

Josh and Shaade. Some of our closest friends but more like family, if I were honest. Husbands but polar opposites.

The former man, Josh, is tall, strong and calm. Spiky black/brown haired, blue eyed with a thin smile for anyone else but Shaade. He's also fire demon and more often than not smoke will curl from somewhere on his torso and something will melt. He's quiet and speaks with an American accent, having lived four years in the States, a year in Germany and then the rest of his life in the UK. He used to be a member of the Time Police but he got fired for being gay.

Another demon next. Shaade, a shadow demon, the god of light and King of the rainbows. Cocky, flirty and with a ridiculous brown-blonde quiff. His eyes are no colour that can be distinguished most days, especially when his shadow alter ego, Edaahs, is trying to break free. That's when his eyes go black with no sclera, iris or pupil discernible. Other than that they're pale blue with a mischievous, twinkling light in them.

Shaade can heal himself and anyone else using white light. The shadows attack and the rainbows can change the colour of things, as my hair and I have found out on many occasions. He's taller than me but hey, who isn't?

"Shaade, calm down and grow up," Georgina said. He wheezed a final giggle and straightened up, hands on the base of his spine to balance him.

"Sorry," he choked eventually. "Ah, still can't get over the fact that I never saw this coming when we were kids. I mean, I know most things!"

"Not as much as me," Georgina and I said in unison. I glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. She narrowed her eyes, a competitive smile on her lips.

"Honey, I have an empire," I said, beginning the battle. "Look around you. All this technology, all this money. All made by me."

"But not Kevin," she retorted, old Cockney brashness shining through. "And he's probably the best invention in here."

"I beg to differ," Shaade interrupted. "The ghost-to-reality machine is pretty good. There are a few things that could be ironed out, though."

"Like what?" I said, scanning Josh for any abnormalities. Apart from his large muscles (not that I'm jealous, or anything) he seemed fine.

"Like the talking feature," Shaade explained. "It needs to be taken out."

"Oi!"Josh deliberated about what to do before planting his hand on Shaade's head. His quiff was squashed and he wailed, hands flying up to desperately fix it.

"Oh Lord," I murmured, passing them by and going over to the bar. "I need a drink."

"No alcohol!" Georgina called.

I threw a bottle of Coke upwards and spun it, catching it and flipping open the lid on the bar surface. Smiling smugly I took a long drink, failing to notice the eye roll that was shot my way along with a pitying smile.

The bubbles went straight up my nose and I coughed, frantically swallowing the liquid. I coughed and wiped my watering eyes, placing the bottle down and taking a step away from it.

"That," I spluttered, "is bottled evil."

"No, you're just a greedy pig," Shaade said good-naturedly, bouncing over and grabbing his own bottle. He twisted the lid and drank it with ease, giving me a knowing glance. I coughed a final time and walked away, grumbling.