Magic in London

Whistling - Part 7

The stairs led down into darkness and Chuck was sure his legs would give way at any point and he would end up tumbling down into the darkness to never be found again. He knew that he had to keep going though, not just for Fiona but for the little boy that was close behind him.

"It's not far to go," Toby said.

Chuck's eyes were slowly starting to adjust to the darkness, and he was sure he could see a spark of light in the distance, although he also thought that it might be a trick of the mind. He didn't reply to Toby, instead focusing on taking each step as it came, lowering his wobbly feet onto the next step and hoping there would be one there.

The light at the bottom of the stairs grew and grew, until Chuck was eventually convinced it wasn't just in his imagination. The bottom was insight. At the bottom of the stairs was a long corridor made from bricks, that was lit by candles that looked like those in the entrance hall. At the end of the corridor was a large metal door that looked like it would take a lot of strength to push. Along the corridor on both sides were also wooden doors, that were padlocked shut.

"So the door at the end?" Chuck asked Toby.

"Uh-huh, that's where the shadow person will be if it's still down here."

"Great, are you scared? I feel like we should be scared right now."

"You're a grownup."

"Grownups get scared, you know."

Toby walked up ahead, leaving Chuck behind. He had a tough look on his face, hoping that if he played the part he wouldn't feel as scared as Chuck looked. He had only run away in an attempt to save Fiona from harm. He walked up towards the door, knowing that he wouldn't be able to open it by himself. Earlier, when George opened the door, he used a spell. Something that was beyond Toby's ability by at least a couple years of learning.

"Help me open the door," Toby said pushing on it and Chuck stood next to him and leant his weight on the door as well.

It didn't budge at all. Instead, it stayed firmly in place. Chuck was sure they weren't going to be able to open the door. There was a brief moment where he thought that maybe it just wouldn't open, and he could just turn around and go back home. He could then just forget about everything he'd seen and try to carry on as normal.

Just as that idea was cementing itself into his mind the door opened. The resistance disappeared and both Chuck and Toby fell through the doorway into a brightly lit room. It was almost blinding the look at.

"Did you think to knock?" a boy said in the middle of the room.

He was wearing all black, and his eyes were completely black and empty looking towards them. His hair was also slightly moving, as if a gentle breeze was strolling through it.

"George?" Toby asked.

"George is dead," the boy said.

Toby moved forward, but Chuck reached out and stopped him. He was looking around the room. Fiona, and woman, two children and a man were tied up and suspended in the air. The bindings around them weren't rope, or anything that Chuck had ever seen before. It was like whisps of shadow had been tied around their arms, hands and feet.

"What have you done to them?" Toby asked, his false confidence fading.

"Oh, hehehe. He's wise not to let you near me, that's for sure. Don't worry. Your friends are safe and sound for now. I'll kill them later. For now, I'm just going to leave them there for a bit and let them suffer. You can join them if you like, or you can leave. Toby, little Toby. I know you've not been here long, so you don't know how things work around here. You've never treated me poorly, so I'll let you live if you leave now. And you. I don't know you at all, so I have no quarrel with you. Leave with him and take him far away. Don't ever come back and I'll never hurt either of you. I promise. This is my pocket universe now."

"Just let them go," Chuck said, talking through gritted teeth.

"No. No I don't think I will. I'm sure you understand that don't you. They've kept me here for years, locked up down here. I'm not a bad guy, but I'm very angry. These people think I'm a monster just because I'm not human, because I'm made from the shadows. They keep me locked up down here like a freak and for what? So they can practice their spells and their magics on me. How is that fair? Do you know how much pain they've caused me over the last few decades? More than I could in three lifetimes at least. Whatever I did to deserve this treatment, I don't know. But I have served my time. So please, just listen to me and leave. I'm not going to ask you again because believe me I'm going to kill everyone else in this room and it's going to be painful. You can't stop me so don't even try."

Chuck looked around. It looked like everyone else in the room was out cold, and they wouldn't be able to help anyway. He looked at Fiona's lifeless face and hoped that she would wake up and tell him what to do. He knew that he couldn't take on the monster inhabiting George, not by himself and not even with Toby. He started to realise that leaving would be the best option. He could get Toby out alive and then turn him over to the police, let them reunite him with his family and that would be the end of it. He couldn't save Fiona, or any of the others.

Toby screamed. His wails ear-piercingly loud. The light in the room dimmed as the spider shadow Toby affectionately called The Creature seeped into the room through the cracks in the ceiling. It formed along the ceiling, hanging above George and roared at him before dropping to the floor.