20

'Darn it all! It's been half an hour!' said Lucien, walking up and down the kitchen, looking at the hole in the wall every few seconds, only to sigh and pace anxiously again.

'It's a long passage, apparently,' said Grace, her heart heavier than usual. 'I'm sure he'll be back soon enough...'

'Yeah, but it's agonising just waiting around like this!' said Lucien with another sigh. 'I want to do something! It would have been better if I had just gone myself!'

'It was the safest option, you said so yourself,' said Grace reassuringly. 'He'll be back. He's a very smart cat.'

'That he is,' sighed Lucien, sitting next to her on the counter. 'Hey, do you want to play cards?'

'Cards?'

'This wait is killing me. I need time to pass faster than this. Cards is a good way.'

'Well, Kuro did teach me how to play rummy...'

'All right then! Get the pack from the parlour... I say, isn't it getting rather cold?'

'It is...'

Grace looked out of the window. It was night already. She hoped it wasn't too cold in the passage; shouldn't they have sent Kuro to explore it in the afternoon instead? She fetched the pack of cards and took it to the kitchen.

'I lit the stove to keep the room warm,' said Lucien, rubbing his hands. 'Deal them out, please!'

'Good idea,' said Grace. 'Here, your cards.'

'They're twelve only...'

'Oops, I forgot it was thirteen!'

They played a quiet game to which neither of them paid much attention. They glanced from time to time at the wall, and Lucien jumped up thrice when he thought he had heard a sound from within, but there was nothing but silence in reality.

'It's been more than an hour,' said Grace as she showed her cards.

'I won,' said Lucien blandly.

'Congratulations...'

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

'I swear, if he takes much longer I'll go after him myself!' exclaimed Lucien with a sudden thump on the counter that startled her. 'I told him to hurry!'

'Let's wait half an hour more, and if he doesn't come back, we'll have a look,' said Grace worriedly.

'Yeah...'

*  *  *

Kuro walked anxiously down the dark corridor. His gleaming golden eyes began to dim as he went ahead, until the light within them nearly extinguished, and all he had to go by was his sense of touch. He walked slowly, and let his whiskers feel the way ahead. Gradually, the space grew wider, much to his relief, for the narrow, congested space had made him quite uncomfortable.

As he went on, the light came back in his eyes, even though it still seemed to be quite dark. Somewhere, a few drops of freezing-cold water dripped steadily, and Kuro winced when one fell on his nose. Another one slowly rolled down his fur, and he sprinted ahead to avoid this awful wet part – probably under some stream.

Kuro stopped for a moment at the thought. Here he was, trapped in a congested underground passage that was getting increasingly damp and cold, and all his instincts screamed at him to go back at once. Still, he trudged on. Lucien was his friend, after all, and somehow, here he was, going against his better sense and walking in danger, towards danger.

Plop! Another drop of water fell on his skin and made him shiver. It was getting extremely cold. What had possessed him to come down here at night, anyway? He really hadn't thought this through! Well, he had, but that stupid demon had been so hellbent on exploring it right away!

Kuro shook his head. He'd be sure to demand some well-earned treats from Lucien later on – and Grace, too! Then he stopped again. It was dark, but he had sensed something. He went forward cautiously and his whiskers gave him the signal. There was a boundary ahead! He walked towards the left, and the way was open. Did the passage fork here? He went down the open way and found that he could see around him after a while. What was the source of this dim light?

He walked on, faster than before, and soon came upon an unmistakable ring of blue light that glowed steadily at the end of the passage; it was a portal! But where to? He noticed a small, curved red line along the top of the ring as well – at the bottom, too – and at the sides. Kuro debated whether to attempt to go through the portal or not; but he decided on the latter. It had been enough time already, and besides, perhaps it was better to identify where it went to first. Lucien had once said that the shadowed realms had distinct portals which he had illustrations of somewhere. Why hadn't he had a look at them first?!

He turned back, noticing as he turned that the blue seemed to fluctuate between different shades. When he returned to the fork, he felt carefully around the barricaded part and felt a place where the stones had given way – due to all the moisture, perhaps – to a small hole. It was still enough to block out a person, but it was more than enough for a cat to squeeze through.

Kuro pushed himself carefully through the hole and emerged at the other end, which looked just like the passage he had left behind. He scurried down the dark stone, thankful that it wasn't damp anymore, but still increasingly disliking this uncomfortable journey. He stopped suddenly when he encountered a large wall. The passage had ended in the middle of nowhere. How come? It was rather anticlimactic after all this wait. There had to be something!

'After all, the barricade wasn't placed there for nothing,' said Kuro to himself.

Nothing, nothing, nothing!!!

Kuro jumped with fright at the echoes of his voice all around him, and it took everything in him not to rush back home at lightning speed. He walked around in circles, but all he came across was the hard, stony walls that truly looked like this was the end.

Just as he was about to give up and go back, he sensed a tiny opening. He squeezed through it at once in delight, only to accidentally push some large object down with a crash.

'So much for being quiet,' thought Kuro, careful not to speak aloud this time.

He blinked and adjusted to the dim light in the room he was in, supplied by a single candle. There were stacks of boxes and crates everywhere, and he quickly realised it was a cellar. Kuro smiled. Now things were getting interesting.

Suddenly, a large door opened and stunned him from the sheer light inside. He quickly hid behind a large crate and peered around slowly.

Two humans were walking down the steps and into the cellar, candles in hand.

'I tell you, you're just imagining things,' said one of them. 'There's nothing here! This place has driven you nuts!'

'I heard something, okay?!' said the other, looking around. 'You know how mad the Assistant will get if we mess things up. Better investigate properly!'

'Look, this box fell down,' said the first, approaching the box Kuro had knocked over when he had entered. 'I told you not to stack heavy things all in one place!'

'Whatever,' said the other. 'I guess that explains it, then!'

'Good! Now let's go back and do what we were told to! Guard the kitchen and make sure no one spoils the Assistant's monthly feast!'

'As if anyone would dare!'

'You know, I hear he's taking another girl's soul tonight...'

'His mansion, his rules! Who are we to talk?'

'You're right. Let's go before he notices we're not working. I still shudder to think what he did with the last person who didn't obey him!'

The door shut with a thud, and Kuro felt a pang of fright. Why were these humans talking about the Assistant again and again? Was he really close to – or worse, in the Assistant's mansion?!

It was the only thing that made sense... He walked past the crate and stopped in front of another, his heart beating fast. A box in the corner had a large red seal on it. Everyone in Hell recognised that seal; it was the Devil's stamp. That's when Kuro knew it for sure.

Their worst-case scenario had come true – he had really ended up in the cellar of the Devil's Assistant's mansion!