Magic in London

Magic in London: Whistling Part Three

There was an awful sinking feeling in Chuck's stomach as he stepped into the darkness. The thought of a train tearing through the tunnel and ripping him to pieces was more than enough to make him feel sick and he was surprised he was able to stand with how wobbly his legs felt. Never in a million years would he think to walk onto the tracks. He was the type of person who would stand as far away from the platform edge as possible even if it risked losing a place on a packed train, but he didn't have a choice. Not with the shadow spider following him. He could just about make out Fiona in front of him, walking in the middle of the tracks and holding up the boy over one shoulder. He followed her as they followed the tracks along, twisting through the passages. From the distance a rumbling sound of moving trains echoed. They moved through different tunnels, taking different choices at random, at least that's what Chuck felt. They carried on until Fiona stopped walking.

"What now?" Chuck called out, trying to ignore how much he wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

"We fight," Fiona said, coming to a stop and placing the boy down against the wall.

"What? How?"

"You just need to stand back and let me handle it. We're safe here. These tunnels aren't used anymore for trains, it leads to an abandoned station. So we're safe. At least until that thing gets here."

"Oh, God."

"Stop whining. I've already got one child to look after. Just stay back and I'll deal with it. Now that he's asleep the monster won't have as much power. I just needed somewhere to fight it head on. Hold this light up and point it the way we came."

Fiona tossed over a torch to Chuck that she'd kept in her pocket. He caught it in fumbling hands. He turned it on and held it upwards towards the decaying tunnel they'd just ran down. It looked old and like it might just fall over at any moment. The roar of the monster echoed through the tunnels getting closer and closer.

"Just make sure you keep the light on it, so I can see," Fiona said.

She took out the knife from the pocket on her trousers. It glinted in the reflection of the light. As she stood waiting for the monster to arrive, she twirled it in her hand. The blade was long and thin, with one side slightly serrated. The handle was just as thin, with a rounded end. Another roar and Chuck had just enough time to question how he found himself in the situation before the monster came into view. Its legs were pitch black as it crawled along the ceiling towards them. Chuck moved backwards, fighting the urge to turn, and run away.

"Keep that light on it Chucky boy or you're going to be dead in a moment. I'll make sure of it."

The monster drew closer and roared at them both, baring its shadow fangs towards them. Its numerous luminescent eyes glistened in the light, the only part of the creature that wasn't completely black. Fiona held the knife out in front of her and flicked it towards the beast while giving a sharp whistle, a spark glistened, and a small ball of flame jumped from the pointed end of the knife and dove through the air towards the shadow creature. The spider swiped at the ball of flame with one of its legs, extinguishing it at once, and then it dropped to the floor. The creature seemed to fold into itself and in an instant, it was standing the right way up. It started moving again, crawling towards Fiona. She moved backwards and flicked another fire ball towards it, but it ended with the same effect. She held the knife all the way up, towards the ceiling and then quickly moved her hand so it was outstretched to her side and then flung her arm forwards as if she was swinging a sword with some resistance. A vibration in the air shimmered and shot towards the approaching spider. It shielded itself from it, curling up into a ball and hiding its face, but the wave moved over it. Dust and specks of brink started to rain down from the ceiling.