“You may select one pair of undergarments, one undershirt, one pair of socks, pants, shirt, coat, and boots. If you attempt to take anything else you will go in as you are now.”
I didn’t fancy that last option so much, so I made sure to only grab one of each item from the bins. None of the clothes were particularly new, and they were all the same dull grey color. I went through the tubs looking for items that didn’t have holes in them, and did a fair job of finding them in my size for the most part. I dressed in my new uniform and then moved against the wall when the guard motioned for me to do so.
“Place your hands on the wall and spread your legs.”
I gave him a questioning look, but followed his orders. Thankfully all he had in mind was a quick pat down. He was just double checking that someone hadn’t slipped something into the bins for me. Relief washed over me as he stepped away. That could have gone a lot worse.
“Follow me; the warden would like a word before you go into the pit.”
Well that didn’t sound promising.
The warden’s office wasn’t what I expected. While the rest of my brief stay had been in rooms of solid stone or rough tile, this room was warm and inviting. His office would have felt right at home in any of the manors I had visited while handling my duties as a member of the Ascendancy. The dark wood and leather theme was offset by warm colored rugs and curtains. The overall effect made it look more like a small reading parlor than the prison warden’s office.
The man was sitting in his chair looking out the window, his back turned away from me. The guard shoved me down into a chair and waited behind me. Every now and then he would tap his billy club against one of my shoulders to remind me he was there. It was a rather unpleasant sensation and for the first time I was hoping to just get this over with. How bad could it actually be in the pit?
“Thank you for taking the time to sit with me for a moment, Edward.” As if I had a choice. “I like to take a moment with all of the prisoners before they are introduced to the general population, just to go over a few expectations that I have.”
“I appreciate your time, sir.” It didn’t seem as if it would be in my best interest to rile the man further.
“I sincerely doubt that, but I will tell you what I have to say anyway. Adam called and asked me to extend you every courtesy that I could, which is why you received some healing before joining the rest of the inmates. He seemed to think you deserved it, and while I can’t directly disobey an order from him I have different plans for you.” He turned his chair around to face me.
This really wasn’t going to be good. The family resemblance this man gave off was too great to be discounted. My last act in public had been to threaten the life of his brother. The expression on his face gave nothing away, but his eyes told a different story. He was happy to have me here as his plaything, and whatever he had in store for me was going to be horrendous.
“I see you have noticed the family resemblance. Right after Adam called I received a deeply concerning call from my brother. I assured him that I had the perfect way to handle it. Most of our inmates start out in the general population, and then depending on their actions they either stay there or end up in the pit. The pit is reserved for our most vile criminals, men who have come here and for whatever reason cannot seem to control themselves. Violence against other inmates, rape, stealing, all of them earned their time in the pit and most of them will never come out of it.”
His cold eyes watched me; they held just a hint of smug satisfaction. “So instead of starting your stay with us in general population, you will start it in the pit. After a year, if there is anything left of you, we will transfer you back and see if you can fit in with the rest of our prisoners.”
The warden gave me an expectant look, as if he was waiting for me to cry or give him an indication that his intimidation had worked. For me the game had already started. Weakness would be death in this place so I chose to bury it. “I guess I will see you in a year.”
“I think that will be unlikely.” This time the smile reached his eyes.
So he had something planned for me in the pit. I would have expected nothing less from such a vile man. It surprised me that he had taken the time out of his day to tell me what he was planning to do to me. It must have been the narcissistic streak that he shared with his brother. I would be sure to show him the error of his ways. He motioned for the guard to take me and then turned his chair to face the window. The entire meeting had just been to try and intimidate me. Instead he had given me a heads up, and I planned to be ready for whatever was coming.
Sam pushed me forwards into a large circular room. In the center of it was a large steel grate held in place by four huge chains. There was another prisoner waiting on the grate and Sam motioned for me to join him. I took my place and gave the other man a once-over. He wasn’t anything special. If anything he looked a little bit out of shape to have been working in the mines for long.
When he met my eye I said, “Edward.”
He nodded. “Chris. I haven’t seen you around the prison. What could you possibly be being sent to the pit for?”
“I made some important people angry.”
He gave me a sad smile. “I haven’t worked in the mine for over a year.”
“How did you pull that off?”
“Bribed the right people and my family paid for a few favors.”
“So what happened?”
“The money stopped coming.”
I gave him a nod. “It’s easy for people to put you out of mind, after a long enough time.”
He didn’t say anything else. The grate below us started to shake and then it started to move lower in jerky spurts. Each of us moved towards one side of the wobbly platform and took hold of the chains to help keep our balance. I looked over at Chris and could see that he was shaking with fear. I was going to have to distance myself from this man to survive. Something in me wanted to protect him from what was coming, but I didn’t know if I could risk it.
The platform continued to move down into the dark. At least for the moment the ride had smoothed out. There wasn’t much to see, the passageway we were in wasn’t much larger than the grate itself. I spared Chris one last look when the platform started to shake and I knew that his fear had reached a new level of terror. A wet spot bloomed on his pants as the grate slipped out of the passage and we could now see what was waiting for us below. If he was that scared, the warden might have understated things, a bit.
A loud noise echoed up towards us as the men below banged tools against the hard rocks. The rhythmic sound was used to instill fear and to get the men below ready for what was coming. Fresh meat. Men circled around where the grate would eventually stop. All of them had a hungry look in their eyes, but it was just the two of us coming down. The warden had neglected to send down any supplies.
Some of them held shovels and pickaxes, others seemed to be content to sit back and watch the show. I could feel my magic rising even with the runed cuffs on. I would only call on it as a last resort. The last thing I wanted to do was give away all my secrets on the first day. As we drew closer to the bottom the lights started to flicker, making the men below us seem even more intimidating. The sound came to a crescendo, and then as one they stopped.
The grate stopped five feet from the ground forcing us to jump off of it. I did, keeping an eye on the men around me. Chris clung to the platform as if it would somehow take him back to the surface if he waited long enough. The glance back towards Chris had made me vulnerable and that was when the first man rushed me.
His strike was clumsy at best, at worst it made my counter to it that much easier. I loved when these muscle-bound types came in swinging wide as if some kind of half circle punch was going to get anything done. I ducked underneath the swing and landed three quick blows to his ribs. The man rushing from behind me took a foot to his gut, and I spun around finishing him with a knee under the chin. The sound his teeth made when his jaw snapped up let me kno
w he would have a few less of them when he woke up.
The first man was back now and this time he approached with a little more caution. We circled each other for a moment before he rushed at me. I let him hit me and twisted my hips at the same time, flipping the larger man below me as we hit the stone floor. He tried to wrap his arms around me but I still had one arm free. I slammed it into his throat, rolling off of him as he struggled to keep breathing. A savage kick to the face ended the horrible gasping noises he had been making; there was no time to screw around. Three more men were approaching, all of them moving with the practiced grace of trained fighters.
Chris screamed behind me, and a quick glance over my shoulder showed that he was being pulled from the grate. Turning back towards the three men I barely had time to get my hands up before the first punch hit my arm. I felt the other two men spread out keeping me in the center of their triangle. I launched myself at the first man hoping to break free, and only managed to land two punches before I received a vicious kick to the side knocking me away. The men waited to see how I would handle the damage they had done and continued to circle around me.
I waited until the man I hit was in front of me again and tried the same strategy. This time I landed three punches before the kick came in from the left knocking me away. When I stumbled, the man from the right darted in and tried to land a blow to my back. Off balance, I managed to grab his wrist and throw him towards one of the other men. They fell to the ground as their feet tangled and I went after the one that remained standing.
He came at me with a few feigned punches and then went high with a kick. I ducked under his extended leg and delivered a blow to his kidney as I moved behind him. He came in again, this time with an aggressive kick aimed at my head. I feinted the same move and he rounded off his kick bringing it down in a violent arc to where I would have been. Instead I had moved back and now rushed forward and kicked him as hard as I could in the stomach. When he doubled over in pain, I moved behind him and relocated his balls with another kick. He fell to the floor moaning with pain. I managed to land a glancing blow to the side of his head before the other two men surrounded me again, using their bodies to block me from their wounded friend.
Chris’s screams continued in the background. They had his legs now and it wouldn’t be too much longer before they had him off the platform altogether. One of the men facing me was bloody already and the other had almost not been touched. My first instinct was to finish off the wounded one but I thought they would expect that. They rushed at me at the same time I turned towards the man I hadn’t hit yet and smashed my heal into his instep. I paid for the move by absorbing a blow to the back from his friend. I turned with the blow and brought my knee up into the stomach of the man that dealt it.
This time I took a glancing blow off of the back of my head. Ignoring it, I drove my elbow up into the man’s face as he bent from the blow to his stomach and then stepped around him. He ended up taking the next punch for me, which brought a smile to my face. I shoved his body back towards the first man I attacked and this time he stepped out of the way letting his friend fall to the ground.
He dove towards my legs and I barely had time to step back before he would have grabbed one of them. Instead of continuing backwards I dropped down bringing a knee into his back. He rolled quicker than what I thought was possible and soon I found myself face down with one of my arms twisted behind me. He slammed my face into the rock as I struggled to break free. I could see his friend getting up so I called on my gift for the first time. I tried to keep it subtle so hopefully no one would notice.
Barbs appeared on my skin where he was holding my arm. As they sank into his flesh he was forced to let go. I left him to puzzle out what happened while taking out the man that had just climbed back to his feet. I cleared the distance before he had his wits about him and sent him back to the ground with a shove. I landed on his back with both knees, sending the air out of his lungs before smashing his face into the stone floor three times. There was a possibility that he was still alive, but I wasn’t that concerned about his wellbeing.
The man I had cast a spell on was still kneeling, looking at his hand trying to figure out why he was bleeding. I kicked out at his kneecap and was thrilled by the sound it made when the kick connected. The large crunch sent him to the ground in a heap. His bleeding limb was forgotten as the new pain exploded up his leg. I kicked this man once in the face and then made sure he was out by slamming his head into the stone. I looked up in time to see Chris being carried away.
I moved to follow and four men stepped in front of me. One of them moved in front of the rest and spoke. “You are going to fit in fine down here. On the other hand.” He motioned over his shoulder in Chris’s direction. “He isn’t going to cut it.”
When I moved to get around them he smiled but stayed in front of me. “It’s not worth it, friend, let this one go.”
“Where are they taking him?”
“Some of these men have been down here a really long time. Do you really want to know where they are taking him?”
I had my ideas what was about to happen to him, and if I could have prevented it I would have. The fact is no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fight through every man here to save him. “So do you speak for the others?”
“No, I’m not in charge down here, he is.” He pointed behind me.
I followed his extended arm over my shoulder and was surprised to see a man sitting on a throne carved out of the stone. He had two men kneeling in front of him, his hands resting on their heads. Below them were two more men with pickaxes, looking to give anyone with ideas about approaching second thoughts. Our eyes met for a moment and he smiled.
“Welcome to the pit.”
1
Mathew
November 1923
It was the morning after my first kill and I woke up refreshed. The steak and whiskey from the night before had been delicious and the bed was more comfortable than my bunk had ever been. If I was disturbed by the events of last night, that feeling must have washed away with my dreams. Instead I felt invigorated, like something long buried had been set free.
There was enough time left to make myself look presentable before my meeting with Elijah Cane. I felt a small sense of shame when I looked in the mirror. My suits hadn’t been completed by the tailor yet, and the clothes I had on were second hand at best. When meeting with the most powerful Warlock in the west it paid to be dressed a little better.
After the meeting I would have to decide on just how much I should tell Adam. After last night I was sure that I was going to be offered a more permanent role in Cane’s organization, but did I really want Adam to know everything? My gut feeling was to give him just enough information to let him know I was doing my job, and not enough to bring down the fury of the Ascendancy upon me.
Walking out of the hotel, I had the valet hail me a cab. I provided the address for the Prince and the Pauper and ten minutes later I was standing outside. Once I went in I had to be fully committed to my cause, there was no going back now. Cane was going to want me to kill again, I was sure of it. If that’s what it took to get in, was it still worth it? I examined my feelings about the night before and decided that murdering someone was the least of my worries right now.
I shoved my fear of the unknown to the side and made my way across the street. When I entered the building a little bell sounded over the door giving the shop a feel of old world charm. The feeling continued as I entered and looked around. The hand-carved wooden shelves and prominently displayed cash register was a nice touch. The batwing doors leading into the back of the shop made it all feel very quaint and inviting. The shop also reeked of elegance, I felt as if just breathing the air was costing me more than I could afford.
Cane made his way out of the back room as I approached the counter. He was just as I pictured him from the night before at the bar. His short stature and white hair would have made him easily forgettable in a crowd, and yet somethin
g in the way he moved spoke of extreme confidence. His eyes met mine and they were slightly yellow with a red iris. A small shudder ran through me and I felt the goosebumps form on my arms. I was sure that I had kept my face clear of any emotion, but that was my first encounter with the demon Cane kept trapped inside of himself.
When he looked back up at me any hint of the red in his eyes was gone. They had returned to a normal brown color. He smiled as he spoke. “I received word early this morning that your assignment had been completed. Bravo, my boy. You work fast and that is something that I have a need for.”
“I’m happy to have been able to offer my assistance. There is the small matter of my compensation.”
“Oh yes, you have earned every penny. I wasn’t sure that I could count on you, but I stand happy to be proved wrong.” He motioned for me to follow him. “Come with me and we will get you all squared away.”
He slipped through the saloon-style doors into the back of the shop and I had no choice but to follow him. I was shocked at how different the back of the shop was from the front. The back of the shop was set up to be simply comfortable. There was a closed door to the right that probably led to Cane’s workshop, and a door to the left that went to his office. The rest of the space was dedicated to jars of ingredients. I had never seen so many apothecary materials in one location before. It was a truly stunning accomplishment.
Cane pointed to one of the open chairs in front of his desk as he walked behind it. Before addressing me he turned to his right and opened a small safe that had been set into the wall. He pulled out three envelopes before closing it. He set all three on the desk and then turned to face me.
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