Chapter 8

Milady

Milady’s gaze is hazy at first. But slowly, the empty street comes into view. The sky is grey with streaks of red and pink, and the air flickers and twitches. It feels like she's viewing the world through a filter. Her heart takes a leap.

“We did it! Gullvi, we crossed!”

She turns to her. Gullvi isn’t there. It’s Lucy. Milady freezes. Where’s Gullvi? She snaps her head around. The street is empty. Damn it. What’s wrong? Where is Gullvi? Fuck…

“What’s.. happening? Where are we?”

Lucy sways and stumbles. Damn, not now. Milady turns to the opening they came from .. No, they need to close the portal. Damn.. They need to get their ass moving. She can think about what went wrong later.

She takes Lucy’s hand and drags her with her.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Lucy struggles against her pull.

“What’s happened? Where are we?”

“It doesn't matter, it's part of the show, okay? Let's go.”

“You didn’t tell me about this… “

“It was a surprise, okay? We need to go.”

She pulls Lucy with her and hurries down the street. The portal will be easily recognised, or so the books say. Her gaze darts frantically, scanning the street for any signs of the portal. The air is still, terrifyingly so, but she presses on.

“I want to go back…" Lucy whimpers.

“We will, okay? Just a bit further.”

She turns a corner, and there it is. A door in one of the houses lining the street shimmers. She drags Lucy to it, knocks, and the door swings open. Lucy starts to pull away.

“I don’t want to… I want to go back. You never told me about this.”

But Milady drags her inside, and the door closes behind them. They stand in an empty room, abandoned from the looks of it if it ever was inhabited. Difficult to know in this middle-land. A fallen chair lies in the corner, and the window on the other side is broken. In another corner, the air is flickering, wisps of glimmer twirling, and she knows that’s the portal. Now it’s just to cast the spell, and they will get back to Gullvi.

She takes a deep breath and silently repeats the words before spreading her arms wide and casting the spell. Nothing happens. She hesitates. She remembered the spell; she’s sure of it. She tries again. Nothing. Why doesn’t it work? She tries another spell, but the portal won’t close. Is it the wrong house? No, this is the one; she can feel its power. What’s wrong? A shiver of something she hasn’t felt for a long while creeps up her spine. Panic. This is not how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to cross the worlds, and the rest would be easy. And Gullvi, Gullvi, should be there. No, focus. Focus. You can do this. The spell doesn’t work. Is it the wrong spell? No, the books said this was the one. What else?

“Milady, there is something here.”

Lucy’s terrified whisper reaches her through the panic. Milady turns. Shadows are gathering in the corner, black wisps taking shape. Fuck. They’re running out of time. She turns back to the portal and casts the spell again. Nothing. Damn. She flinches a glance at the corner. The shadows are growing stronger. They are coming for them. Damn it, they need to get back. She takes Lucy’s hand and runs out the door. The street has lost its grey shimmering, and instead, wisps of darkness flit through the air. Something is watching them; she can feel them biding their time. She runs through the streets until she sees the portal to go back.

She hears Lucy scream, but she doesn’t look back and drags her into the hole and everything goes black.

The basement slowly materialises, and Milady staggers and falls to her knees. Gullvi… She blinks, and the world takes shape. Gullvi lies at the edge of the star, unconscious.

“Gullvi!”

She scrambles over and shakes her. Her eyes are closed, her head lolled to the side. On her neck, dark patches have started to spread. She’s not unconscious; she’s leaving her body. Fuck.

“Gullvi! You need to wake up! Wake up!”

Gullvi doesn’t move. Her pulse! She needs to check her pulse. Milady frantically finds her wrist. The pulse is barely there.

“Damn, Gullvi! You need to wake up!”

“What’s happening..? Where did we go..?”

Lucy wobbles over to her, her legs barely holding her upright.

“Why is Gullvi on the floor? Why..”

She starts to retch, staggers away and throws up in the corner. Fuck.. Milady looks around. The portal has closed behind them, but the veil is still thin. They shouldn’t be here.

“Lucy!”

Lucy looks up with glazed eyes.

“Help me take Gullvi upstairs!”

Her gaze flickers, unfocused.

“Lucy!”

She sways, then staggers back to Milady, wiping her mouth. Milady hoists Gullvi up by the arms.

“Help me, we need to carry her upstairs. “

Lucy crawls over to her feet, stumbling as she gets up, but takes hold of Gullvi’s legs. Together, they slowly manage to pull Gullvi up the stairs and into the living room. The teapot and the empty cups still stand on the table. As soon as Lucy has let go of Gullvi, she scrambles away and throws up in the corner. Shit, what are they gonna do? They shouldn’t be here; the veil is too thin.

Shall she call an ambulance? What the hell shall she tell them? They can't come in here. How will she explain this? She crawls over Gullvi and starts to pump her chest in desperation. Nothing happens, and Milady slumps back against the wall. Damn it. Gullvi suddenly stirs, and Milady hears her mumble something.

“Gullvi!”

She shuffles closer and puts her ears against her mouth.

“Shadow Man…" Gullvi whispers. "You need to go and see the Shadow Man.”

Shadow Man? What the heck does he have to do with this?

“Go… see… the Shadow Man…”

Gullvi’s head falls to the side, and she goes unconscious again.

“Gullvi! Gullvi, come back! Come back! Don't die on me; come back!”

But Gullvi lies unresponsive, and the dark patches have spread.

Fuck.. Shadow Man. What does he have to do with any of this? Damn.. But it’s her only clue. She gets up. Lucy is huddling in a corner, and she calls out,

“Stay here! Stay with Gullvi, I need to go.”

“Where?”

Lucy peers at her with hazy eyes.

“Find the Shadow Man.”

“The… Shadow Man? The one that I saw?”

“Yes.”

“You know about him?”

“Yes. Just stay here, stay with Gullvi.”

Milady runs out the door and out on the street. Okay, Shadow Man, how does she find him? Shadow Man… Damn, you don’t find the Shadow Man, he finds you. She runs down the street, frantically scanning the surroundings. How do you find the freaking Shadow Man?

Something flickers in the corner of her eyes. A black cape disappears behind the corner. It’s him! She runs after, but the street is empty as she turns the corner. She looks around. Fuck. She runs down the street until she comes to an alley. It’s empty. She lost him. Shit. She turns and lurches backwards, almost falling to the ground. He’s standing in front of her. His face is hidden under the cape, but she has a feeling that he’s smiling.

“What do you want? Who are you?", she asks.

“I’m the one running this world.”

What the hell..?

“I'm the one letting people in and out of the shadow worlds", he continues.

What is he talking about? I don’t have time for this shit.

“Can you help us? We did something wrong. We opened the portal and passed the worlds to get you back. But something went wrong, and Gullvi is dying.”

“I know you did it wrong. I know you did it wrong because I'm not the one that you thought I was.”

What the…? What is he talking about? They didn’t believe anything about him. They’ve just followed the guidance of books.

“But can you help us? I need Gullvi back; I need to put things right.”

He shifts where he stands, and she can feel him smiling.

“What do you have to offer? There is always a price for everything.”

“I just paid a price! Gullvi is almost dead. I paid a price.”

“No, that was the price for the guardians. I have a price as well”.

Fuck. What is the price? What is the price? Is she the price? Do I need to get a chicken? Fuck..

“So what do you want?”

“I want a piece of this world.”

What the heck is he on about? What does that mean, a piece of the world?

“ I will come to you, and I'll tell you what I want.”

He’s gone, and Milady is left alone in the dark alley. Damn.. What just happened? Did she just make a deal? Or did she screw up? Damn it, there’s no time. Maybe she did mess it up, but she needs to get back to Gullvi.

She sprints back and hurls herself into the house. Gullvi has pulled up and is leaning weakly against the wall. She’s awake! Milady runs to her, kneels and takes her hand.

“Are you okay? Gullvi?”

Her eyes are closed, but Milady can feel the smallest squeeze of her hand. She stays by her side, and Milady doesn’t know how long it takes, but slowly, Gullvi opens her eyes.

“I saw the Shadow Man", she whispers.

“You saw him?”

Gullvi nods.

“When you were gone, and I passed out. I saw the Shadow Man; he came to me.”

“What did he say? What did he tell you?”

“He told me to tell you to go to him.”

“But I did, and I met him. And he said there was a price to pay, and I asked him what it was, and then he said he would come, and he disappeared.”

“So the worst has just started then", Gullvi whispers before her head falls to the side, and she goes unconscious again.

Damn it. Damn it! What does that mean? What the hell is happening? She shakes Gullvi, but she doesn’t move. Fuck! Why did Gullvi become the price? Why couldn’t she close the portal? She slumps against the wall.

She stays by Gullvi’s side until she starts to shiver from the shock, and she gets up and brings them a blanket. Sometimes, Gullvi stirs but never awakes enough to talk again, and in the end, Milady drifts off into a restless sleep. When Lucy sees there’s no more movement, she carefully picks up her shoes and backpack and runs.