Chapter 5

Walking down the stairs with Tom at her side Sarah had a moment of pure fright as she saw that the room at the bottom was again full of creatures. There seemed to be more of them than the day before and the memory of those fangs and claws, especially now that she knew they weren’t just props, made her insides feel weak. She faltered in her descent as the faces began to slowly turn towards her, as one by one the creatures became aware of her presence. Swallowing down her revulsion she noticed their reactions as they sensed her; flared nostrils catching her scent, hungry tongues twitching over lips and dark soulless eyes seeking her out.

Tom stopped beside her and she took the opportunity to assess what she would be walking into in a moment or two. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry as they stood there quietly, patiently, giving her time. Likewise, the creatures below didn’t move, even their gazes stayed transfixed on her, and she had the odd impression the moment was suspended in time. She had a brief flash of an image, almost like an out-of-body experience, of herself looking down on them all from above and couldn’t help wonder at the absurdity she had found herself in.

Assessing the almost still-life scene below her she wondered about the creatures. She had always believed in knowledge overcoming fear and wished she knew more about the dangers she faced, even which creatures to be more afraid of, as she was sure her limited knowledge from the fantasy books she had read would be inadequate in her current situation. As if reading her mind Tom spoke quietly.

‘See that group over by the window?’ he spoke without pointing, his voice low as if to avoid drawing more attention to them. Sarah nodded as she noticed a group of young men, she counted five youths and one older man that she could imagine were all part of some sort of gang that she wouldn’t want to cross. ‘Werewolves,’ Tom stated simply.

She looked at the youths and wondered how they had become the creatures of lore. They all looked so similar to each other that they could have been related and she momentarily felt something akin to sympathy for the group. The feeling fled as she saw one of the youths grinning at her before running his tongue over his lips and laughing. She wasn’t sure if his taunting implied hunger or something else.

‘What no female werewolves?’ she tried to sound flippant but her words nearly caught in her throat as she shoved them out of her mouth.

‘Not here,’ Tom answered simply before continuing. ‘That group over with Delia …’ She searched the faces below until she caught sight of the vampire, her features were transformed into the demonic mask she had worn earlier that day in Sarah’s room and as she looked at the man and two women standing next to her she didn’t have to be told they were vampires as well, although Tom still said the word.

‘What about those women?’

Taking Tom’s earlier lead Sarah was reluctant to point so instead just gazed at the small group of beautiful women. They looked harmless compared to the others in the room and as she watched them, smiling and laughing in a friendly manner, she felt herself compelled to meet them. She was sure they would be willing to help her and felt herself almost smile back at the intoxicating group.

‘Nymphs.’ At Tom’s words, the illusion vanished and Sarah caught hold of her emotions in confusion. ‘Mostly harmless,’ he continued. ‘But not to you, especially if they felt you had wronged them. Or they were bored. The rest you see are hags,’ Sarah’s eyes instantly moved to one of the older women scattered around below her. ‘Changelings and of course the giant leeches.’

She barely suppressed the shudder at the term leech and was surprised there was more than one in the building, one had been more than enough to give her nightmares.

Her gaze was still on the old woman below her, the hag, and she didn’t need an account of what those women did. She could tell by looking at her deformed face and maniacal gestures that hag was just another word for witch. The woman looked like she had just jumped out of Sarah’s childhood fairy tale book after trying to stuff some children into an oven or cursing a princess. She felt a moment of pure fear as she remembered the stolen strands of her hair.

Sarah was sure she wouldn’t be able to continue to descend into the death pit of a room below her. She had to admit that this was one time where knowledge hadn’t helped her, as her rational mind tried to sort out the fact from fantasy. Her body felt as though she was made of stone as panic began to rise. She grabbed hold of the railing tightly as if to stop herself from falling.

Slowly she became aware of a warmth travelling up her other arm from where Tom’s hand lightly encircled her wrist. She remembered his comment about his touch and protection and suddenly the touch felt reassuring rather than her earlier thought of it being restricting. Bracing herself she willed her body into movement and they continued slowly descending towards the crowd.

‘They look so human,’ Sarah whispered, not taking her eyes off the mass below them. If she avoided looking at their eyes, she would think they were regular people.

‘They are humanoid creatures,’ Tom explained quietly as if this explained everything. She looked at him in irritation and he continued, ‘creatures that have the appearance of humans.’

‘What about the creatures that don’t look like humans?’ Sarah had to ask. All the faces below her were familiar in their human appearance and yet she found them to be some of the most terrifying faces she had ever seen. She wasn’t sure what she would do if she saw a creature that didn’t have any resemblance to normal.

‘They aren’t here,’ Tom reassured. It would have been more reassuring for him to say that they didn’t exist but Sarah was content to take whatever assurance she could from the conversation. ‘The creatures here have all been invited by my f … friend,’ he stammered, catching himself at the last minute. She wondered over this slip, it wasn’t the only time he had stumbled on the term. ‘They are all known to him and they are all ones that have common interests and get along reasonably well with each other.’

Sarah pondered his comment. She had assumed that all the monsters would get along - them versus her, a bad versus good situation – and hadn’t thought about them fighting with each other. She quickly realised she would not want to see a fight between any of the otherworldly creatures waiting in the room below.

‘What sorts of common interests?’ The morbid curiosity within her forced the words out of her mouth while her mind screamed at her to let it rest. She was sure it wasn’t board games and walks in the park that interested them.

‘They are all ones that visit your world regularly.’

Sarah wondered why they would visit her world, as Tom had said there were hundreds of realms to choose from and was curious what would make her realm so appealing. She didn’t think it would be easy for the monsters to hide what they were in the real world and thought it would be easier for them to stay in a place where they could just be natural. Noticing again the hunger and lustful joy on the faces of the mob nearby she quickly realised that she might not want to know. The other realms may not be as appetising.

Sarah wanted to ask more questions, there was just so much strangeness to comprehend, but as her high-heel boot stepped off the last stair she was aware of her mouth drying up and her throat closing on the words as she found herself on the same level as the creatures. She couldn’t have spoken if she had wanted to, and the sudden quiet of the room didn’t make her want to either. As they moved through the crowd, she avoided looking into those dark orbs that she could feel peering at her from the faces of the creatures in the dim room.

She sensed they knew that things were different with her now. It was as if they could tell she had changed more than her clothing since they had last seen her. Her attitude had been altered during the night, her fear towards them was heightened and tinged with knowledge. She hadn’t known the truth about them yesterday when they had been willing to fight over her as Tom lay at her feet unable to help, but now she knew their secrets. Still, she knew the knowledge wouldn’t save her from being a meal.

They must have heard her scream during the night and were probably as curious about what had happened as Delia had seemed to be. Yet she saw no emotion on their faces as she passed; no relief that she was alright, no empathy for what she had endured or even anger at what had happened to someone in the same building as them. Instead, all she saw was hunger and evil, a desire from each of them to be the one to claim her. She knew that any one of them would end her life in a moment if Tom gave them even half a chance, she was just a food source to most of them, a big, juicy steak that was being walked around to tempt them.

Nearing one of the windows Sarah had a quick urge to throw off the heavy curtains and let all the monsters burn. She wasn’t sure if it would work for all of the creatures in the room, and she knew it would cost her life if any survived, but strangely she felt that exacting revenge on even a few of the creatures would be worth it. Hearing a growl from one dark corner of the terrible room quickly made any such impulses flee in fear and confusion. Feeling Tom’s hand tighten on her wrist at the same time made her wonder, was she so easy for every creature in the room to read, including him, and was his squeeze a sign of protection or a warning. She still didn’t know which side he was on.

As Tom led Sarah towards the door, he wondered just how else he was going to be punished for his act of kindness. He fleetingly returned to his daydream of having left her on the side of the road, a thought he instantly dismissed as he knew what would have happened to her. It was too late for regret anyway, he would just have to use his skills to get her out alive; if he could. Still, as he could feel the burning looks from the creatures he passed, he groaned silently and condemned himself again.

Feeling her tension as she moved, almost robotically, beside him he sent out more magic through his touch as he tried again to soothe her while keeping them moving. He wasn’t afraid of the monsters in the room, he knew they wouldn’t hurt him, but he knew what they would do to Sarah if he even hinted at indecision. His momentary blackout the day before was enough proof if he needed any. They were listening to him, so far, but it was under protest and there wasn’t a single creature in the building that he could trust with a human. He needed to stay in control if he was going to pull off this performance.

As they neared the front door, he braced himself for what might be outside. Ignoring the mounting fatigue from lack of sleep and the constant use of his magic he focused instead on the danger surrounding them, both within the building as well as the dangers outside. The threat inside he could manage, for now, but he felt helpless against the things that were hunting outside, hiding in the cloud. He tried again and couldn’t sense anything amiss beyond the walls of the building but that didn’t mean they weren’t there, he had missed them before.

He wasn’t sure what he would do if he couldn’t get Sarah back to her realm this time. It wasn’t safe for him to keep trying to go outside, especially if he couldn’t sense when the creatures were close. Still, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep her in the building for much longer.

Even though he had placed wards around her room in every way possible he couldn’t count on her to stay within the safety he had created for her. All she had to do was walk out her door without him for one of the creatures to pounce. Then there was the constant threat of the creatures getting creative, they were bored being cooped up inside. She was a diversion and an intriguing one.

Tom hated all the indecision and uncertainty he felt, it was unfamiliar to him. Under normal circumstances, he always had a plan but these circumstances were far from normal, even for him. The pressure was getting to him and the tiredness wasn’t helping. Still, he had to keep pushing himself, for his own sake as much as for Sarah’s.

He opened the front door of the mansion and peered out into the daylight. There was no sign of clouds, real or supernatural, and the morning haze had already dispersed. Hesitantly he ushered Sarah outside, keeping an eye on the horizon and any threat that might be lurking. Stepping outside after her he closed the front door firmly, once again taking in their surroundings before giving her a small nod and beginning to make his way to his car. He sensed more than saw her following closely behind.

His heart hammered as he moved the short distance to where his car was parked. It was in the same place he had left it on the night they had arrived, it wasn’t as if any of the creatures were going to complain about him blocking the driveway. He reached the vehicle and stretched his hand out to touch the hard metal to reassure himself that it was real. They had only been outside moments and had reached the car quickly but it had been long enough for him to nearly lose his senses.

Jumping into the vehicle Tom felt the tightness of his chest ease and his breath came more freely once he heard the reassuring thud of Sarah’s passenger side door closing, enclosing them in the impression of safety that the strong steel offered. He had never felt such fear before, had never even known fear before, and the tension he felt was dizzying. Doing his best to suppress it he hoped that Sarah hadn’t noticed, now was not the time for her to lose confidence in him.

As he started the car and drove away from the mansion Tom concentrated on the skies noticing Sarah doing likewise. There was nothing ominous, the sky was clear as far as he could see. Still, he couldn’t relax, he knew how quickly they could appear and he continued to survey the horizon worriedly.

‘When we get to your car we won’t have time to fix it. The banshees could be on us at any time,’ he said, laying out a plan while focusing on the road and sky simultaneously. He kept his tone calm and hands steady, maintaining the illusion of confidence. ‘So just grab your things and I’ll take you to the edge of this realm. You can go through the portal again and then take my car to your hotel.’

‘But what about you?’ Sarah asked, there was a shock in her voice that he was sure would be in her expression as well if he had been able to take his eyes off the view outside his windscreen for long enough to check.

‘I’ll be fine,’ he assured her, hoping to convey confidence he didn’t feel. ‘I won’t cross the portal and I’ll teleport back to the house once you’re safely through.’

‘But won’t the banshees know you’re teleporting?’

Tom shook his head calmly as he inwardly cursed himself for telling her earlier about the banshee’s sensing the use of magic. It would be easier if she didn’t ask too many questions. ‘I’ll be gone before they have a chance to sense it,’ he lied.

Teleporting wasn’t always an instant occurrence, it could take time to summon up the amount of magic needed and larger distances took larger amounts of magic. Using his magic might work as a beacon, leading the banshees straight to him. While he was preparing to teleport he would be a sitting duck. Still, this wasn’t something he was about to share with her.

‘You could come with me,’ she said almost shyly after a few moments of silent driving, ‘the other creatures … surely you would be safe from them in the real world.’ He could tell that she was warming to her idea as she spoke, ‘I mean you don’t hear of strange clouds taking people there.’

‘Have you seen a tornado, I’m sure poor Dorothy would disagree,’ Tom answered humorously, he hated to crush her and tried to keep his tone light. For some reason, it mattered that she cared. Still, he needed to get her to safety. ‘I’m not safe there at the moment either. The banshees are still able to find us and they still take creatures, they are more subtle about it than here but having humans around doesn’t stop them. That’s why it was decided we’d be safer here.’ He hoped he had covered the bitterness of his tone, he didn’t like being told what to do and the command to meet in this realm still rankled at him. He would have preferred to risk it with the banshees in the real world but now that he was here he knew he wouldn’t be allowed to escape for long.

‘But are you safe in that building? Can’t they just come in and get you all?’

Tom shook his head again. ‘The building is special, as you know.’ He threw her a half-smile at his comment. ‘It can protect us. For now.’ The last words he mumbled under his breath but she must have caught the words or the tone.

‘For how long?’ she asked seriously.

He hesitated to tell her more but he needed her to do what he said without resistance. One thing he knew about her already was that she was very good at resisting and answering her endless supply of questions seemed to help quieten her. Still, there were some things he wasn’t willing to share.

‘Someone’s turning up soon. He’ll be able to help us,’ Tom put an edge of finality into his tone without sounding too harsh. He didn’t want to talk anymore about his situation at the mansion and the man they were expecting.

Tom turned his full attention back to the sky outside his windscreen, he wasn’t afraid of much but there was something about those screeching banshees that disarmed him. There was also the fact that he didn’t know what they and their masters were doing to the creatures they captured. He had always liked to know how things worked and why, it was what had gotten him interested in magic, illusions, in the first place. Not knowing what trick was being pulled on them now made him feel uneasy as if he were drowning at sea and any lifelines he might be thrown would probably lead him into even more trouble.

As they neared where they had left her car Tom bit down hard on a groan. He could tell even in the distance that the car wasn’t in the condition they had left it. As the vehicle came closer into view any hope of just restarting the car and sending Sarah on her way again disappeared, even though he knew that idea wasn’t his most noble and wasn’t the plan they had agreed on. Even if the car had been found in working order sending her out on her own into unknown peril from any kind of strange, hungry beasts without even knowing if she could find the road back to her world was inhuman of him. He smiled slightly at the term.

Tom pulled up close to the damaged car, not wanting to venture outside the comforting protection of the steel shell of his vehicle that he had falsely assured himself was some defence against the things out there that would hurt them. He looked over at Sarah, surprised that she hadn’t said anything or even made a sound as she looked out the front windscreen at the car that had transported her into this realm. Her pale face and the slack open mouth she wore didn’t surprise him as she surveyed the twisted hunk of metal parked in front of them.

Opening his car door Tom made a move to get out and have a closer look but suddenly Sarah’s hand was on his shirt, balling the material into her fist as if to stop him.

‘You can’t go out there!’ she spoke with certainty, tearing her eyes away from the scene of destruction as she impaled him with a matching look and tone.

‘The things that did this to your car are long gone,’ Tom answered her calmly. ‘They only come out at night. The only thing we have to worry about is clouds.’ The skies outside were still clear.

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He watched her carefully as she turned her huge green eyes back to the wreck in front of them. Her hand was still on his shirt and he realised that it wasn’t the things hiding in the clouds that she was afraid of now. If some beast had been able to do this to her car, she was probably wondering what they would have done to her if she hadn’t gone with him that night. Tom didn’t answer her unasked question and continued getting out, the feeble resistance of her hand slipping away from his shirt. He heard her slowly exhale before doing the same.

He approached the wrecked car carefully, noticing the long gouges in the twisted metal, the shattered windows and the dented panels. The broken glass sounded loud in his ears as it crackled under his shoes. His senses were heightened by every sound.

Reaching the driver’s side door, he leaned in carefully through the smashed window to see if he could salvage anything. It appeared to be a lost cause. Her possessions were strewn all through the interior of the car, her wallet torn, money, cards and receipts all scattered. Opening the door to lean in further he located her phone, noticing the bite mark that had punched a hole, neatly, right through the centre of it, big enough that he could push his little finger through if he tried.

Scooping up as much as he could, Tom dumped the items into the handbag he located on the passenger side floor. Locating the lever for the boot he eased himself out of the ruined vehicle and retrieved a small, faded suitcase from the back which had miraculously survived intact. Turning with the scant offering he faced Sarah who was standing right behind him, arms folded as if she were cold and that same pale shocked look on her face. She didn’t move to take her bag from him, fear rooting her to the spot as her eyes took on a glazed unfocused look. She looked vulnerable with the blank look and in the borrowed clothing, no longer the confident, elegant woman he had picked up days before.

Moving away from her he carefully stowed her things into his car, silently giving her a few moments to process the scene of destruction. He was worried about how much more she would be able to take, so far she had proven an ability to adapt but with each new development, he was sure it wouldn’t be long before she completely broke down. If that happened, he wasn’t sure what he would be able to do to help her. He had never been in a situation where he had to put someone else’s needs and emotions first, and he certainly had never wanted too before.

Walking back to stand behind her he looked at the damage silently, trying to imagine how she must be feeling. It was pointless, he didn’t have the experience to understand how someone human would feel. Instead, he opened his mind to her. It felt like invading her privacy but he wasn’t sure how else to connect with her, the blank look she wore wasn’t very inviting. He wasn’t rewarded with much for his efforts but could sense some hazy emotions that helped to paint a bleak picture. Confusion, anger, hopelessness, anxiety and most prominently fear.

Tom rested his hand gently on her shoulder, his thumb curling across the back of her neck. He closed his mind to her thoughts and resisted the urge to comfort her using magic. Instead, he just stood there with her. He hoped she would understand that it was as human as he could be.

‘We have to go,’ he hated the harshness of his tone as he dropped his hand back down harmlessly by his side. It frustrated him to not be able to help her but he couldn’t risk using any more of his magic than he had to while outside. They were in danger every moment they were away from the mansion and any use of magic might be their downfall.

Surprisingly Sarah turned to him immediately. ‘Alright.’

She started moving back to his car decisively, calm and more in control than he had seen her since he had revealed what was going on at the mansion. He was temporarily stunned by the transformation but didn’t waste time looking for answers as he followed her back to his car.

When Sarah had looked at the twisted car-shaped mess in front of her she hadn’t been able to believe it was the same vehicle that she had been driving a short time before. The same car that had taken her from her sister’s wedding, a day that had been so beautiful and serene, and deposited her into the nightmare she now found herself in. It was unrecognisable, and with its destruction went the last of her delusions.

She hadn’t bothered to help Tom look for her stuff, it had felt irrelevant. There had been just this overwhelming hopelessness inside her and her mind had gone blank with the horror of it all. Now she completely understood the danger she was in, the danger that Tom had been telling her about since he had found her. Still, being told and seeing the carnage were completely different things and she shuddered with the fear that had been on the edge of her being, a constant companion since the ghosts had hurt her. Their attack paled compared to what the other creatures would do to her.

When Tom had come up behind her, she still hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away from the car, her last link to independent freedom had sat crumpled and twisted in front of her. She had felt his touch and drew some comfort from it, knowing she wasn’t completely alone. They had to leave and she knew it was true, they couldn’t stay there and there was nothing to stay for. A wave of rousing anger had flared inside her as she made her way back to his car. She would not live in fear anymore.

They drove on in silence. Sarah nursed the sparks of her anger as they drove, worried about the all-consuming fear returning. She kept reminding herself that she would only have to endure this place and the horror it contained for a short time longer. Soon she would be home.

Wordlessly she looked at the landscape, although there wasn’t much to see. There were no houses, wildlife, traffic or anything remarkable to navigate with. Instead, there was just grassy flat ground interspersed with a few trees here and there. The sun was warm and bright in the blue sky and the trees were familiar but there was something about the area that assured her that she was in a foreign place.

Suddenly Tom stopped the car. They were in the middle of the road surrounded by nothing but grass on either side. Nothing was interesting about the place where they had pulled up and she turned to him in question.

‘I guess you can’t see it,’ he said with a reassuring smile. ‘Just in front of us is the portal.’

Sarah looked out the front windscreen into the land that looked as unremarkable as it had moments before. There were no hazy lights or glimpses of another world on the other side and she felt a moment’s disappointment.

‘I guess I’ll have to trust you,’ she spoke without bitterness, resigned that she couldn’t do any of this without him and relieved that she couldn’t. This was not a place she wanted to be on her own. Soon it will all be over, she reminded herself again.

‘She’s all yours,’ Tom indicated to the car as he kept his tone light, and she was glad for it.

Getting out of the car Sarah quickly made her way around to the driver’s side and slipped in behind the wheel. Under normal circumstances, she would have loved the chance to drive such an impressive-looking vehicle but there was nothing about these circumstances that was normal.

‘I’ll look after her for you,’ she said seriously as he leant through the window towards her, knowing it must have been hard for him to lend his car to a virtual stranger. If it had been her car there was no way she would loan it out. She knew she was only talking about the car because it made it easier to ignore the danger he was putting himself in for her to get away safely. There were no words that she knew of to convey how grateful she was. Instead, she just prayed he was right about being able to get back to the mansion before the banshees found him. ‘How will I return her to you?’

‘Don’t worry I’ll find you,’ Tom winked as he spoke and she didn’t doubt that he would be able to locate his car wherever she took it. She suppressed the idea of going on a nice long road trip before he came looking for her. ‘Just drive straight ahead,’ he continued, pointing at the plain road in front of her. ‘I’ll do the rest. And before you know it you will be back home.’

‘Thank you, Tom,’ she spoke softly, hoping to convey all the appreciation she was feeling in those few words.

Turning quickly from him, silently amazed at how hard it was becoming to say goodbye to the man that had saved her countless times, she focused on the task at hand.

Driving the car the short distance forward didn’t take much concentration but keeping her mind on the place she wanted to go to did. Tom had said her only job was to point the car in the right direction and he would do the rest, but she remembered him saying that you decided where the portal was to take you once you were crossing through it.

Not taking any chances with the portal she kept her mind focused on home and even thought about her sister for good measure. Sarah couldn’t be sure when she was supposed to have crossed the portal but as she continued rolling down the road with no change to the scenery and with the image of Tom still caught in the rear-view mirror, she knew that something had gone wrong.

As the car began to reverse back to him Tom tried to cover the defeat he was feeling. He knew he could set a portal’s destination without crossing through it himself, he had done it many times before. There hadn’t always been much entertainment around for a young boy with magic, his life had been mostly made up of lessons and strict guidance so changing the destination on a portal while someone was passing through had been a pretty amusing prank. Still, the car hadn’t passed through. There was something more going on. He again had the feeling of being controlled by a puppeteer and he wasn’t happy about it.

He watched wordlessly as Sarah got out of the car and moved decisively towards the spot where the portal was. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for but wasn’t about to tell her when she unknowingly stepped through the portal again, and again nothing happened. Turning she moved back into the realm with him and he sighed with relief. If he had tried to grab her he might have found himself in another realm and she would have been left alone in this one for the few moments it would have taken him to return. Moments that could be devastating in these surroundings. He kept his expression neutral as he willed her to stay where she was.

Knowing he would have to be careful how he told her that their plan had failed he braced himself for her questions. He wondered how she was going to take the news that they only had one option; to return to the relative safety of the house. He opened his mouth to explain but before he could form the words he heard a noise, unfortunately, a familiar noise. Sprinting the few steps between them Tom grabbed Sarah’s arm roughly and half dragged her towards his car, not wasting a moment on speech and ignoring the look of concern that creased her face.

It had been a risk to use his magic on the portal, it took more magic than he had implied and he was sure the banshees would have sensed it. He had known from the start that if they hadn’t noticed the use of his magic on the portal then they definitely would have sensed him trying to teleport. He hadn’t planned on getting out of this situation without being captured, he had accepted it as it had been the only way to get Sarah back to the safety of her realm. It hadn’t worked, she was still there with him. He could feel his fear from earlier returning, the fear that had never been for his own safety.

The noise was getting louder, he could feel it arc through his body like electricity. The feeling intensified as it started to overcome his senses. He tried to focus through the pain, his one thought was to get Sarah to safety. If only he could get them into the car he could drive them to her realm.

Even while he tried to act out his plan Tom knew that it was too late for them. There was nowhere to hide. The house was too far away, the car wouldn’t offer any protection on its own and the banshees would just follow them to whichever realm he chose if he could even get the portal to work. Still, he had to try.

As they moved, he could tell the moment Sarah heard the noise too. The shock that had stiffened her limbs seemed to evaporate as she began to move more on her own propulsion than his. He stumbled with the suddenness of the change and too weak to catch himself fell to the ground, crawling the short distance to crouch next to his car. He looked up longingly at the door handle knowing he didn’t have the strength left to reach up and grab it, dashing his last hope of escape. As he looked at Sarah he could tell she knew it as well; the banshees had found them.

They huddled together and he spoke into her ear, having to yell over the rush of noise as the creatures centred in on them. ‘Close your eyes no matter what.’

He hoped she had heard as anything she might have said was swallowed up in the noise surrounding them before it could reach him. Memories echoed through his mind of the creatures finding him the day before; the noise and the pain, the paralysis and the anguish but most devastatingly the loss of his magic. He could feel it happening again. It felt like the creatures were reaching inside of him and painstakingly carving out a part of him that was deeply enmeshed into every fibre of his body.

Tom wished he could cover his ears against the noise, although he was sure it wouldn’t help, he couldn’t let go of Sarah. It was as if the noise was coming from within him and outside of him at the same time. He was becoming the noise as it entered his being, tearing him apart and rebuilding him in moments, each shriek from the banshees more painful than the last. It was something that every part of him was repelled from but was something he couldn’t escape.

Tom squeezed his eyes closed tighter against the dark light that had surrounded him but it didn’t help. The evil glow of the light joined with the sound as it also became a part of him and overcame his senses, draining away any strength he had left. He became more sensation than man as he lost knowledge of where his body ended and where the outside forces began. All he knew was pain. He felt himself falling through the blackness as it claimed him.

Sarah could hear the noises. She had covered her ears but it did little against the screeching and she could see the darkness surrounding her even through her closed eyes. Her fear paralysed her and remembering the effect of the creatures on Tom she hoped he was all right. She could no longer feel him holding her, or even feel him close to her, it was as if her skin was numb and her senses all off-kilter. She couldn’t tell if he was still with her and felt her fear heighten at the thought that she might now be alone with the creatures.

Suddenly the screaming abated and the silence that surrounded her felt eerie and disconcerting after the assault on her ears. She had the odd impression that the noise was still out there on the other side of a buffer, almost as if she was enclosed within the darkness. Another noise replaced the shrieking, a sound like birds flapping their wings or leaves caught up in the wind and soon she became aware of a sensation of movement. The sensation continued as she felt propelled in a strange almost dreamlike way upwards and outwards, almost like floating but there was also the impression of speed.

Ignoring Tom’s earlier request, she couldn’t help but open her eyes a crack. She could see only blackness but it was a raging darkness like fire around her, the tongues of flames as dark as night. Trying to close her eyes again against the image she found they wouldn’t obey. Her rebellious eyes widened and she suddenly found she couldn’t blink.

The darkness was mesmerising and as she watched she soon didn’t want to look away for fear of missing a moment of the darkly hypnotic dance. Sarah knew that the dance wasn’t only around her, it was everywhere, and she focused on the movement she was submerged in. It surrounded her, immersed her and overtook her.

As the sensations continued her fear started to abate, replaced by an odd calmness that felt like it was coming from outside her being. It had a tranquil quality that she could immerse herself into completely and never care about another thing again. There was no pain or discomfort, no worry or fear. She remembered a distant concern of not knowing where she was going and dizzying vertigo created by the sensations overtaking her but those feelings were beyond her now. Her mind gave up any resistance as she accepted what was happening to her, a heavy lethargy replacing the earlier fear and revulsion. She hoped the sensation would never end.

After what felt like an eternity, she realised that the calm feeling was subsiding. She felt lost without it as if a part of her was leaving too but as the seconds passed she realised the feeling had eased to a state that she wondered if she had felt anything at all. Like waking up from a dream when you weren’t even aware that you were asleep, the last wisps of dreams slipping off to another world while your brain focuses on what you have woken to.

At this thought, she climbed carefully to her knees on the gritty hard ground and looked around slowly. Even though the lighting was dim she instantly could tell that she had never been in the place before, and she had no idea how she had come to be there. She was no longer anywhere near Tom’s car, nor even outside.

Sarah leant forward at the hips, peering out into the gloom without making too much movement. She could see that she was inside a large room, similar to a warehouse or loading bay but with a low ceiling and more length to the room than width. To one side of her, there was a large solid wall that appeared to be made out of some strange material almost like natural stone in a cave. Looking to the other side her blood ran cold; there were cages as far as she could see.

As her brain filtered this information she realised with a start that she was also in a large cage, similar to a prison cell in a movie. She could now make out the old bars in front of her and on her left. Bars that connected to the cage beside hers, enabling her to see uninterrupted through to the cages beyond. Feeling dizzy from the bars crisscrossing her vision in the dim room she looked again in front of her, focusing on the narrow strip of ground between her and the row of cages opposite.

Shuffling toward it carefully in the dimness she cried out in shock as her hand came in contact with something. Something she hadn’t expected in her cage, something like fabric and flesh. She wasn’t alone. There was someone in there with her and she prayed that whatever was so close beside her, close enough to nearly touch her with its body, was human.

Steeling herself she risked a glance and breathed a sigh of relief as she recognised the magician. The fact that he wasn’t completely human didn’t escape her judgement and she resisted the urge to rage at him that he was the reason she was in all this trouble in the first place. She knew it wasn’t fair to blame him for their current situation but she wasn’t feeling very gracious after finding herself trapped in a cage.

Concern outweighed her bitterness as she noticed he wasn’t moving. Tom was lying on his stomach, his face turned away from her and she quickly moved closer to check he was still alive. He had almost seemed immortal to her over the last few days, besides his first interaction with the banshees before she had known what he was, and she hadn’t considered that the danger to him could be life-threatening.

Rolling him onto his back she winced as he hit the ground, wondering why the impact didn’t wake him. Placing her hand on his chest she felt the rhythmic movement, feeling relief that he was still breathing at least. Remembering how he had been after his first attack from the banshees she moved away again hoping he would recover on his own. She didn’t know how else she could help him.

Moving to the front of the cage Sarah looked around the vast room. The light seemed to be coming from the left and she wondered if that was the exit. Unfortunately, it seemed they were in the last cage so the lighting was poor and it was hard to make out much of the room while looking into the light. She let her eyes adjust to the gloom again and peered out at the cages beside hers and the row of ones on the other side of the narrow walkway.

Most of the cages that she could see from her vantage point appeared to be occupied, although by the deathly hush in the room she had at first expected them to be empty. Not a sound emanated from the hunched, dejected forms she could see. The silence was unlike anything she had experienced before and she was startled when it was unexpectedly broken.

It was a muttering coming from the cage directly opposite hers. The words weren’t anything she recognised but she felt that the mumbling had started mid-sentence as if the person had been interrupted from their earlier rant. Not liking the madness of the rambling still she felt she had to try to communicate with the person, the others seemed even less approachable in their stony silence.

She cleared her throat, ‘Excuse me.’

There was movement in the cage opposite and Sarah quickly recoiled in horror as she saw the unhuman eyes peering back at her from the occupant. The gloom obscured the details of the creature as it crouched at the back of the cage. She tried not to look too closely, those eyes told her everything she needed to know about the monster and she didn’t want to know what he was.

‘So, they got themselves a human,’ the creature spoke quietly, his masculine voice ringing out clearly in the vast room. It wasn’t a question.

‘Where are we?’ Sarah asked before she could think of the dangers of talking to whatever creature was in that cage. She needed answers and she noticed that none of the other creatures appeared interested in their conversation.

‘That’s quite a delicacy,’ he continued talking, not answering her question nor taking his feral eyes from her. ‘They will be happy with that. Been a while since they had a tasty human.’ He sniffed the air in curiosity. ‘Ah, the other is a bit human too. Covered in magic though, kind of like all his human flesh has been marinated in it,’ He spoke in disgust as if disappointed before chuckling longingly. ‘Not as good as a human. It will be like the old days …’ His voice fell away quietly but it didn’t disguise the edge it carried that matched the look in his evil eyes.

Deciding she didn’t want to hear anything else the creature had to say, and afraid of trying to continue their strange conversation, Sarah moved to the back of the cage with Tom, closing her ears to the insane ramblings of the monster that was now deciding the best way to eat a human. Apparently, there was more than one recipe and she was appalled, feeling bile rise into her throat at the descriptions and the images they invoked in her mind. The thought that his descriptions might be depicting her future made her stomach flip with fear. She closed her eyes and wished that she could go back again, back to Tom’s car, back to the creepy building or better yet back to her home with her job and friends and nice normal life.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work and as she opened her eyes again she saw the light dim at the other end of the large room and heard the shuffle of footsteps and instinctively knew that things were about to get worse. Grabbing Tom by the arm she tried to rouse him, urgently whispering his name and shaking him as best she could but it was useless, he wasn’t going to be able to help her. She didn’t get any time to try again as she heard the scrape of feet on the flooring nearby and she knew they were coming for her.

The monster in the cage across from her had given up his ramblings and was now chanting and screaming in a feverish state. She saw the large shape of the newcomer as it approached and noticed how the other creatures moved away when it was near. Their stony silence was replaced with a chilling fear. The mad creature quietened down instantly as the creature closed in on her, the silence was almost a relief.

Sarah stared up at the massive bulk of the creature as it turned towards her. It was hideously deformed and she was glad that the dim lighting hid most of the details of its deformity from her as she waited in fear for what would happen next. She knew that whatever it was it wouldn’t be pleasant. The creature looked down at her with feral eyes, exactly like the ones owned by the mad thing in the other cage, any expression in them unreadable.

As she looked into his eyes she realised that it had become impossible for her to look away. Deep in the orbs, it was wild and mesmerizing, like a dark fire, and although she willed herself to turn away she wasn’t able to break the stare. As the creature opened the cage Sarah moved forward fluidly, as if unafraid of the creature in front of her, before standing beside him as if she was comfortable in his presence. Inside she was screaming, silently reeling as she tried to stop herself from following him meekly along the narrow path between the cages towards the door. She tried to take control over her disobedient appendages but nothing she did would work as she obediently followed him into the unknown.