by Sean Stone
“What happened?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“We’re here,” I replied.
The green light faded and revealed that we were no longer in the cinema. We were standing on cobbled pavement under a great stone archway. In front of us was a vast selection of market stalls that stretched for miles and hundreds of people were bustling around. It looked a lot like Victorian London.
“Let’s get on with then, shall we?” I said and delved into the fray.
16
When people talk about the black market you don’t usually get a literal market place. You expect to find some shady website with stolen weapons on it. Well, when it comes to the supernatural it’s a little different. If you search the internet you’ll find several crappy sites claiming to have love potions and rituals to summon Satan. You’d never find the real stuff that way. There are several websites, shops and other places you can go across the country to find magical merchandise but if you want the really special stuff, stuff that your average sorcerer couldn’t whip up, you go to the black market.
We made our way through the crowds of shoppers as I tried to remember where the stall we needed was. The good thing about this place is it rarely changes. People don’t move their stalls or shops around very often because it makes them harder to find in a market place the size of a village. The thing was I hadn’t been here for years so remembering my way around was proving difficult. I’d first been brought here by Rachel when I was a teenager. Despite the fact that I was little more than a prisoner to her she actually taught me a lot about magic and the supernatural. I think I learned more from her than I did anybody else. She was a horrible person but an astounding teacher.
“Christmas curses! Get your curses for Christmas!” a stall owner yelled as we passed.
“What’s a Christmas curse?” Ashley asked me.
“Some things are best left unanswered,” I replied, avoiding the gaze of the seller and ushering Ashley and Leah away. A general rule is the people shouting about their wares aren’t the ones with the good stuff to pedal. Those with the good stuff don’t need to shout about it. People will always find them.
“What’s that?” Leah asked pointing at a stall covered with dancing ferrets. That alone wouldn’t be weird at all but these ferrets had started to decompose. Most of them had lost at least half of their fur, the flesh that was uncovered was green and more than three of them only had one eye.
“Necromancy,” I muttered more to myself than to Leah.
“What’s that?” Leah asked.
“Nothing you need to worry about. Look away,” Ashley said at once and fixed me with a scowl.
“I told you not to bring her here,” I said. It wasn’t my fault the kid was being exposed to things most adults shouldn’t see.
Ashley spent most of her time from then on trying to stop Leah from seeing anything inappropriate which frankly, was a waste of time because there’s nothing in the black market that’s suitable for a child. After a very long time walking through the crowded place I finally saw something familiar. There was a pub — yes, there are buildings in the black market, it’s not all market stalls. The pub was called the Black Market. It wasn’t the only pub in the place but it was the first to claim the name, not that it brought it any extra business. The reason I was so happy to see it was because it acted as a landmark to me. I now knew the way to the stall with the bloke I thought could help us. I took a right until we come to a narrow alleyway which stretched on forever and had more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film. Once out of the alley I turned right then left then right again and there was the stall I was looking for under the old oak tree. Only when I approached I saw that it was not the same stall. The stall I was looking for was run by a man and he sold spells. His stall was covered with old books and crusty sheets of parchment. I was sure he only put the spells on parchment for effect but that was irrelevant now because this was not his stall. This one was run by a tall fat woman who seemed to sell fruit.
“Fruit?” I asked her, raising an eyebrow.
“Fairy tale enchantments,” she explained in a croaking voice.
I looked down at the array of fruits before me. The only thing I could think of was the sleeping curse in the apple Snow White had eaten. “I can guess this one,” I lifted an apple and juggled it in my hand. “But what are the rest?”
“Well, there’s the pear that grants super-strength,” she said, pointing a chubby finger at the pear.
“What fairytale is that from?” Ashley asked.
“Avocado Baby,” the woman said.
“That’s not a fairytale!” Leah shouted aggressively. The old woman looked at Leah as if she was the first child she’d ever laid eyes on.
“It’s a book for kids ain’t it?” the woman shot back. “The pumpkin turns into a carriage,” she continued.
“Who would want that?” I asked.
“I dunno,” she shrugged angrily. “Do you want sumin’ or what?” she demanded.
“Yeah, the guy who used to have a stall here, where is he? His name was Ryan, I think.” I hadn’t seen him for years so remembering his name was tricky.
“I know where he is. I could tell a customer,” she said, raising her eyebrows questioningly.
I sighed. “Alright, how much is…” I looked over the array of fruit. “The pear.” At least the strength might come in handy in the future.
“Two-hundred,” she said. If she was charging that much for a pear then I was seriously undercharging my customers.
“How strong does it make you?” I wanted to know what I was getting for two-hundred quid.
“Hmm,” she considered the question. “I’d say not as strong as the Hulk but stronger than Where’s Wally.”
“How does that help? I don’t know how strong Where’s Wally is!”
“Alright! No need to get shirty. You’ll be about as strong as a weak Superman.”
“Oh! Just give me the pear,” I snapped. I clearly wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of her which probably meant she was a fraud.
“Two-hundred.” She held her palm out. I took four fifty-pound notes from my wallet and went to hand them to her.
“I only take Scottish money,” she said. Now I knew she just being difficult.
I scowled at her. “Take the money,” I growled. She took the notes without protest and then handed me the second smallest pear on her stall.
“You can put it in your pocket. It won’t crush,” she assured me. I gave it a quick squeeze to test her claim and found her to be telling the truth. Maybe she did make quality products after all. I forced the pear into my coat pocket and then waited.
“What? Oh yeah, Ryan. He’s moved to a building shop now, ain’t he?” she said. “Go that way.” She pointed to her right. “Then left at the jinn stall. Fifty metres up you come to a building and it’s the one next to that. On the right.”
“Thank you, “ I muttered and then skulked away from the woman.
The shop was nothing to shout about. It didn’t look any larger than my storage unit back in Maidstone. Still, I suppose a building was a step or two up from a market stall. Like the other buildings in the market, it had that old Dickensian style to it like I’d stepped into Oliver Twist. The walls were old and wooden and there was one large pane glass window that was so filthy I couldn’t see anything through it. The door was wooden with eight squares of glass that were as dirty as the main window. The wooden sign on the outside said “open” and I stepped inside. A bell rang as we entered although there was none above the door. Magic. Inside the store was actually smaller than it looked on the outside. Some sort of reverse Tardis effect. There was just enough room for the three of us to get in before we reached the counter. The dark wooden walls were bare with the exception of a sign which read: No magic inside the building. I assumed that dissatisfied customers had resorted to magical retaliations in the past. Behind the counter was one bookcase which stretched from one end to the other. Bizarrely there were no
books on it. No sooner had we arrived in the store then a section of the bookcase swung outwards to reveal a doorway. Ryan came out. He was a fairly tall man. Thin but not frail. His skin was tight and pasty and he had a tattoo of a knife on the side of his neck. His light hair was greying heavily and he had it pushed back over his head. He wore dark jeans and a shirt that was missing the top three buttons and had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He kicked the bookcase closed with the back of his foot and then planted both hands on the counter as he examined us.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t little Eddie Lancaster. Not so little anymore though,” he said in an accent that told me he was from Kent. You don’t pick up on things like that when you’re a teenager. There was something horribly familiar about him but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. “Rachel used to bring him by when she wanted spells,” he told Ashley reminiscently. “I heard you’d run off. Maybe I should tell her you stopped by.”
“No need. She knows where to find me,” I said sourly.
“I imagine she does. I haven’t seen you here for a very long time. Not since Rachel brought you by when you was a kiddy.”
“I haven’t needed to come by,” I replied.
“But you have now and you’ve brought a friend.” He nodded at Ashley, then he noticed Leah and smiled broadly at her. It was supposed to be friendly but it just looked creepy. “Two friends.”
“We need a few things and thought you might be able to provide,” I explained.
“Naturally.”
“Your shop looks a bit bare, though.”
“I keep it all out the back. Away from sticky fingers,” he told me.
“Smart.”
“So, what can I do you for?” He spread his arms wide dramatically.
“I need to summon an imp. And possibly bind one.” His eyebrows shot right up to the top of his forehead.
“Ha! You take after ya teacher don’t ya? It was never the simple stuff with Rachel, not gonna be with you either,” he said.
“Do you have what I need?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. Lucky for you I’m not known for dealing with simple stuff. I’ve got the spells you need. Wait here.” He walked back behind the bookcase and the door closed behind him.
“Well that was easy,” I said to Ashley, grinning. It’s nice when things happen without trouble.
“We haven’t heard the price yet,” she said in a pretty morbid tone. “How much does he usually charge for things?”
“You know,” I said, thinking back to the times Rachel had brought me here. “I don’t remember Rachel ever paying him.”
“She didn’t seem the sort to pay for things,” said Ashley.
“Who’s Rachel?” asked Leah.
“A very bad lady,” Ashley replied and left it at that. It was probably for the best, telling her about Rachel would only give her nightmares.
The door opened again and Ryan returned with two rolled up sheets of yellowed parchment. Both were tied with neat red ribbons, like something right out of a fantasy book.
“So,” he said as he placed them down on the counter. “One summoning spell. One binding spell. I haven’t seen Rachel for a couple of years now. How is she?”
“Rachel? Not too well, I’m afraid. She’s in prison,” I told him.
He looked at me in confusion. “Prison? What kind of prison?”
“Just a normal human prison.” He clearly thought I was joking.
“No human prison could hold Rachel. Not unless she wanted to be in there,” he said uncertainly.
“She certainly doesn’t want to be there. As I recall, she told me she’d rather be dead,” I told him, relishing in the memory of her being dragged away by the police.
“Why doesn’t she just break out then?”
“She can’t. I stripped her of her powers before she was arrested. And then I made sure she could never take magic ever again,” I said proudly. He didn’t share in my joy.
“You stripped my sister of her magic and locked her up in a grotty human prison?” he said slowly, glowering at me all the while.
“Your sister?” I repeated. That’s why he looked so familiar. I could see it now. The eyes and nose were almost identical. “I… oh.” I backed away from the counter but there was nowhere to go. I didn’t hear it or see it but I felt his spell fall around us, locking us inside.
“Eddie?” Ashley asked nervously.
“It’s alright, Ash,” I lied.
“It most certainly is not,” Ryan said. For a guy in his late forties he sure could move fast. He pushed one hand on the counter and then sprung over it like a man twenty years younger. I brought my hands up to attack but his fist smacked into my face before I could. I staggered back against the wall. He raised his fist at me and my head exploded with pain, like little bombs scattered throughout my brain were detonating over and over again. I fell to my knees in agony. Ryan grabbed Ashley by the hair, pulled her in front of him and pushed a knife to her throat. I didn’t even see him pull out a knife. Leah was cowering in the corner, sobbing loudly.
“Shut that fucking kid up,” Ryan hissed.
“Leah, it’s okay. We’re just practising,” Ashley said, her words trembling. “Just look away. Face the wall and count to a hundred. We’ll be done by the time you finish.”
“You promise?” she sobbed.
“I promise.” Slowly she turned away and although she was still sobbing she began quietly counting.
“Now, let’s have a chat about how we’re going to help my sister,” Ryan said.
“You might as well kill me because I will never help that bitch,” I hissed through my pain. I had both hands on my head trying to heal myself but his spell was stronger.
“Oh, little Eddie, that is the wrong—” Ashley thrust her head back and I heard Ryan’s nose crack from the blow. With amazing speed she grabbed his wrist with both hands and twisted. That too cracked and the knife clattered to the floor. His spell had fallen the moment she attacked him and I darted for the knife. At the same time she stepped around and using his arm she managed to flip him through the air and brought him down hard on the counter. I heard several things crack that time but surprisingly the counter stayed in tact. I pushed the point of the knife into his throat and glared down at him.
“A for effort,” I said.
“But E for execution,” Ashley finished.
“Now, unless you want an actual execution I suggest we resolve this right now,” I warned. I couldn’t kill him with Ashley right there. As much as I really wanted to. She’d seen me kill enough and was already too scared to stay around me for long. At the same time I couldn’t walk out of here whilst he held a grudge against me. One nemesis was quite enough for me.
“I’m not resolving anything with the piece of shit that put my sister away,” he spat.
I made a small growling noise. He obviously had no idea how much effort it was taking to not kill him right now. I really, really wanted to. “I’m guessing that this is a warlock’s blade. Specifically your blade,” I said and gave the knife a little jiggle. A bead of blood escaped his neck and ran down the metal. “Imagine if I destroyed this and released all the magic from it. Then I could lock you up too and you’d know exactly how your sister feels.”
He glared at me with pure loathing. “What do you want?” he growled.
“First, I want those spells. Free of charge. Call it compensation for attacking us. Second, I want you to forget about this business with your sister when we leave. No repercussions.”
“Alright! Agreed!” he shouted.
“Get the spells,” I said and Ashley picked them up and popped them into her coat. I withdrew the knife and backed off allowing Ryan room to get up. He ran his hand over his wrist to relieve himself of the pain and then held his hand out.
“What?” I asked. Leah stopped counting and turned back around. Ashley grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.
“My knife,” Ryan said.
�
�Oh, no,” I said and grinned at him. I was glad Ashley was behind me because the look on my face was no doubt filled with malicious pleasure. “I’ll be keeping hold of this. Call it an insurance policy. If I catch the slightest whiff of you or your sister, I’ll destroy it.”
“You can’t—” he came towards me and I pointed the knife at him stopping him in his tracks.
“You bastard.”
“I was trained by your sister. Behave yourself, Ryan,” I said and then the three of us departed the store. I could see why he was so upset. Although his magic would remain all the while his knife was in tact, it would be weaker the farther he was from it. But, I had to think about my own safety and I was not going to have him coming after me. I would have preferred to destroy the knife and kill him but Ashley got in the way of that. Maybe I could come back and do it later.
We only got a few metres from the shop before I heard him shouting through the market place. “Stop those thieves!” The whole market place fell silent and everybody turned to look at us. And I mean everybody. Hundreds of people, all looking at us.
“Fuck,” I said. “Run!”
17
Nobody tried to stop us as we charged through the crowds. Although they all stared as soon as we started running they darted out of our way. The other people weren’t what I was afraid of. I wasn’t even that worried about Ryan who was storming after us. The market has its own security system and it’s the sort you can’t reason with. There was an easy way to call the security system off but it involved discarding the stolen items and that was something I could not do. I could throw the knife away but I needed the spells. If only I’d knocked Ryan out before leaving he wouldn’t have been able to raise the alarm.
“Why didn’t you use that memory-erasing potion you have?” Ashley demanded as we ran. Leah was in her arms and clinging onto her for dear life.
