The Venom In You

Part 6: The Black Markets

Wynn led me into the alleyway, leaving me falling over myself as I tried to keep up with him.

"Wait!" I called, making Wynn come to a halt. "I've got a bike."

Wynn grinned. "Ah the infamous Triumph?"

I scratched my head. "Um...not exactly."

Wynn followed me round the corner where I'd left Miles's bike. It worked better than my own, it was cleaner, bigger but more importantly, it was faster.

I handed Wynn my helmet, but he just laughed.

"If you're making me the damsel atop of this mighty steed then you're going to have to wear the helmet, my prince." He straddled the rear end of the bike and made a chivalrous gesture to the space in front of him.

Sighing, I pulled on my helmet and mounted the bike.

"You're going to have to hold on." I called behind me.

In response to my demand, he tightly wrapped his bare arms around my waist, with his upper body pressing against my back. The closeness of our bodies caused my breath to quicken and my cheeks to flush. I was suddenly thankful Wynn made me wear the helmet so he couldn't see the redness in my face as I looked into his eyes through the visor.

"To the black markets, o' valiant prince!" Wynn's delighted voice erupted behind me as I turned around to focus on the road in front of us.

I rolled my eyes as I revved the engine, even though I knew he couldn't see my disapproving gesture. Then, without further ado and with a more confident rev of the engine, we hurled forward into the shadowy depths of Old London, quicking up the dirt behind us.

***

We drove away from the stacked city buildings and flickering neon lights, to a lower level part of the district. It was bustling with people weaving in and out of stalls with prohibited food and drinks piled onto the tables. Pollution of the mind and of the air, masked the surrounding area. Even the mutated bugs native to Old London, avoided the black markets.

Parking down a side street, we entered the crowd of desperate people, pleading with greedy merchants for discounts on the cheapest meat laid out on the table. Anger rose within me as the paunchy stall owners laughed at how the malnourished reached eagerly for the pigeons with a month's wage price tag on their broken necks. Most of the stall owners worked with the merchants that controlled the food stocks, buying in demand items at a high price and selling them for an even higher one so that they never even graced the regular shops in Old London.

This was blood money, food and drink laced with the greed of those that benefited off the people's desperation.

"Through here." Wynn nodded towards a cobbled a side street which led to an old building, decorated with arched glass windows and built with uneven slabs of grey stone. As I looked up, I noticed a steeple atop the old building, but the thick atmosphere clouded its point.

"Is this a church?" I shouted at Wynn who'd already sped off towards the double wooden doors.

He stopped outside, waiting for me to catch up. "Yup. An old Catholic one. Pretty amazing huh?"

The few times I'd been here to bargain with stall owners, I hadn't came far enough through the markets to notice the church. Of course, Christianity along with most religions had died out before the Blood Uprising, paving the way for The Church of Red London, arguably more of a cult than a religion. The Red Londoners believed the rise of Sorcerers a few hundred years ago marked the end of humanity, God's ultimate punishment for a world that had become corrupt and evil. Perhaps it was true, in some bizzare way, but I wasn't one to sit back and let God's divine punishment get the better of me.

Wynn swung the doors open, revealing stalls stacked with glittering gold and silver. Well dressed women were giggling with others as they fluttered between jewels and pearls, holding them up to their silken dresses and waiting for their company to tell them how beautiful it would look on their porcelain skin.

"You think Dicer is selling my ring here?" I asked, with a hopeful look.

Wynn tried to stifle a laugh. "I doubt it. Dicer took the ring as a kind of trophy. We're here because jewellery isn't the only thing they sell here."

I bit my lip, looking around at the glittering jewels.

"Come on." Wynn whispered, moving swiftly along the stone walls till he got to a wooden door at the side. Upon opening the door, a spiral stone staircase was revealed.

"Where are we going?" I whispered, worried my voice would echo up the stairs.

Wynn flashed me a 'just wait' kind of look, so I let him take the first step. The stairs looked like they might crumble beneath my feet.

As I proceeded to try follow Wynn up the stairs, a force from behind suddenly slammed against my body, almost knocking me off my feet. I snapped my head round and gasped.

"Miles?" I held my hand out towards Miles who was looking up at me from the cold stone floor where he'd fallen after bumping into me.

Miles didn't take my hand, instead he looked around at the floor where things had spilled out his bag, and tried to scuttle them away. I leaned down and picked up one of the items that had fallen out his bag and held it up to my line of sight.

It was a vile of blood. Black blood.

"Miles." I looked at my brother, now rising to his feet with a rueful expression wiped across his face. "Why do you have Sorcerer's blood in your bag?"