‘Ah come on Jason you know no one ever pays attention when she’s talking,’ his flatmate chuckled, making inappropriate gestures with his hands in front of his chest.
The girl was an ex-model dating a member of another band. No one knew what it was she did but somehow she was indispensable.
‘I wasn’t on the door when they came in, that was Dave.’ The bouncer frowned, ‘Give me a sec.’
They backed away a little further as he spoke into a radio. Whatever was said the bouncer turned back and waved them in.
‘Cheers mate,’ Jason said as he began the descent down the metal stairs. This was the back entrance. What roadies ever went in the front way? Catching his reflection in a mirror he noticed for the first time just how bad he was looking. And grinned. His t-shirt was a present from his dad. The 1998 world tour t-shirt for the band. All the roadies wore band shirts. He’d read that in a magazine once.
He took a moment to mess up his hair even further and noticed his flatmate frowning. A bored-looking girl handed them a pass each and directed them to the stage.
‘Wonder if they’ll let us help out,’ Jason mused.
‘Why would we do that?’ his flatmate asked, following him into the dark, hot room. Red lights danced across everything, making people seem as if they were wearing masks. But he was more interested in getting to see the band so he didn’t pay too much attention.
‘We got passes to go backstage numpty, why wouldn’t we go?’ Jason asked. ‘Besides the roadies usually get free beers.’
‘Lead the way!’ his flatmate shoved him forward.
They made their way between throngs of gyrating partiers. Envying and despising them at the same time. He couldn’t help thinking some were wearing weird makeup and wondered if there was a support band that wore stage makeup.
When they arrived backstage they discovered chaos. Roadies running everywhere, groupies being forced back out by irritated security, and Cherry running around in a complete flap.
‘Are you the extra roadies?’ one huge guy asked, shaking his head at the mess. ‘It’s total mayhem. Paul fell and injured himself trying to shift the lights, pulled out a bunch of wires, and now the only light that bloody works is the red one.’
‘Shit man, that’s crazy,’ Jason’s flatmate said.
‘Not sure what you can do to help but you’d better get in there or you won’t get paid.’
Jason and his flatmate pushed through the curtain. It never occurred to Jason that it might be time to do a runner, his hero was on the other side of that chaos.
‘Hey you! New guys, over here.’ It took them a minute to respond but when they did there was a sigh of relief from the guys trying to hold up a massive speaker.
‘How did this happen?’ Jason asked.
‘Idiot support band started flinging stuff, no one knows exactly what caused it but everything just started crashing down. They’re playing slightly less chaotically on the smaller stage whilst we get this stuff cleared up.’ Jason learned the guy was called Geoff.
‘Cherry said you guys were here to sort it,’ another guy added.
Jason looked around at the chaos, if they thought he was meant to be here he’d best do something before they chucked them out. He looked at his flatmate, ‘Mate, if you go up the stage ladder there you can grab the cable and haul the light back and secure it.’
‘Sure no worries,’ his mate said. He was a recreational climber when he could afford it. The height wouldn’t bother him, nor would finding the right knot to use. Assuming that’s what was needed, Jason had no real clue.
The rest of them continued to hold the speaker still until the weight of the light had been removed.
‘Brilliant, now the other stuff.’ Jason worked for the best part of an hour sorting things he’d never sorted before. When he was handed a beer, he knew everything was back to rights.
‘Thank you so much,’ Cherry gushed. ‘I made some calls earlier and thought no one was going to come. What’s the name of your company? I’d like to use you again. It’s not just this band I run around after.’
Jason was at a bit of a loss, faced with this stunning blond, but his mate was never tongue tied in front of women.
‘Band Mates,’ he supplied with a grin. ‘‘Here I’ll give you my private number so you can call me direct any time you need us.’
‘Thanks so much.’ Cherry held out her phone for him. Somehow the pair got chatting whilst Jason just stood open mouthed. ‘There’s another gig next weekend, here again, but a different band. It would be great to have you on hand. You’d be paid, of course, a sort of sitting fee if you like. You’d get to see the band, free drinks, and if we need you your fee would go up to your usual rates.’
‘Sounds good.’ His flatmate smiled. ‘I don’t think we have anything scheduled for next weekend, why don’t you give me a ring tomorrow and I’ll check the diary.’
‘Great, I will do, and thanks again for tonight.’ She tottered off.
‘I think you just found gainful employment mate. All we need is a website and a little more time with Cherry,’ his flatmate said. ‘Good job you learnt all that project management stuff at college.’
Jason frowned, he’d forgotten that part of the course, nothing huge mind you, just the basics.
‘Wait, did you just tell her we were a business?’
‘Yup, we’re a backstage problem-solving team called Band Mates. We’ll sort the website tomorrow.’ He bounded off to talk to some of the roadies.
‘Great job sorting it all mate,’ Gary said slapping him on the back as he went past. The rest of the group followed suit, and Jason’s expression could easily have been confused with someone who’d just got laid for the first time.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: MAËL
Mike opened the door of his empty apartment. Light flooded the room and welcomed him home. It was one of his favourite things about the place. The amount of light that came through those huge windows. The downsides, when you thought about it, were multitudinal. He couldn’t leave dirty washing lying about, the garbage bin too full, cooking smells permeated every square inch, and, if you lived with a woman like Joy, there was a certain amount of cleaning that had to happen.
He had travelled through the night and knew she would be at work until after lunch, unaware that he was back. Feeling guilty for his behaviour he put his laundry in the machine. Emptied the bins, swept the floors, and put everything back to rights. Determined to get control of his darkness he pulled out the little book and curled up on the sofa.
He barely got a chapter in before his phone rang.
‘Hey mate, you fancy getting together this week?’ Stan asked.
‘Hi, not sure I’ll have the money. Saving for an engagement ring.’ Mike smiled.
‘Oh, look at you all ready to settle down!’ Stan laughed warmly, softening the insult. ‘Well, anytime in the next couple of weeks if you fancy it, works for me. Then I’ll be away for a fortnight. Thought it might be fun to grab a drink – nothing wild mind, even I like a quiet night out.’
‘I can’t quite believe that,’ Mike laughed. ‘Maybe next week, I’ll give you a ring.’
‘Sure, but don’t leave it too long, I might make plans.’ He rang off and left Mike looking at his phone. Did Stan somehow know what had happened on the company trip? He shook it off and went back to the book.
Joy found him asleep with the book on his face when she came in.
‘Hey sleepy head, when did you get back?’ she said, leaning over the back of the sofa to plant a kiss on his forehead, the book held aloft in her free hand. ‘What are you reading?’
‘Hey, yeah, I slipped out late last night.’ He sat up rubbing his eyes and reaching for the book. ‘It’s just something from an old bookstore I stopped in the other day. An old self-help, keep calm, live better type thing. I thought it would be interesting but so far I don’t think I’ve taken a single word in.’
‘Doesn’t sound very interesting.’ She laughed. ‘I’m going
to make some dinner, would you like a sandwich?’
‘Er, yeah, thanks.’ He rubbed his eyes. ‘Eugh I’m so tired.’
‘Well let’s eat, then we can stick some soppy movie on and slob on the sofa.’ She ruffled his hair and went to the kitchen. ‘What happened to all the food?’
He looked at her, confused.
‘In the fridge?’ he hedged.
‘It’s all gone off, there’s mould on everything,’ she said.
‘Is the fridge still on?’
‘Yes.’ She sounded like she didn’t believe the fridge being off for a few hours could cause such quick degradation of food.
‘You want to order in or should I nip down to the deli and get us something?’ he offered.
‘How about, you clear out the food whilst I nip down to the deli?’ she grinned as he opened the fridge and was hit by the smell.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ he said through his hands. ‘Maybe there’s something wrong with the cooling system.’
‘Maybe we should have someone check it before we re-fill it with food?’
‘Maybe,’ he said.
He dumped everything into a black bag. The smell was foul. Everything was either turning black or covered in mould of various colours. And yet the fridge was cold, and the light came on. He called a repair man, then dumped the black bags in the garbage chute.
And whilst Joy was gone he checked the markings. They all seemed to be intact. What the hell was going on?
‘I got coffees too, I assumed the milk would be off,’ Joy said as she came back in.
‘You’re an angel.’
They ate at the coffee table with all the windows open to try and get rid of the smell.
‘Ugh, it’s so bad.’ Joy laughed, grossed out.
‘I know; I’ve put some baking powder in to try to absorb it. The man should be here soon.’ Mike glared at the offending fridge as if it had done it deliberately.
When the repair man arrived, it didn’t take him long to check it over.
‘You’ve got two choices; I can repair it but it will probably go again in a week or two. Or you can replace it – which you’re going to have to do shortly anyway.’ He gave one of those oh what a shame it’s going to cost you more than you thought grins.
‘Let’s just replace it?’ Joy said smiling.
‘Yeah, I guess that’s the best idea.’ Mike grimaced.
‘I can get you a new one now and fit it this afternoon, or you can go fridge shopping if you want to weigh your options.’
‘What’s the one you can get?’ Mike asked, he wasn’t into shopping for white goods.
‘There’re three choices but I think only two will fit the space.’ He handed Mike three flyers, each with a slightly different fridge on. Mike handed them over to Joy.
‘You decide,’ he told her.
‘Wise decision,’ the repair guy said, then went about explaining the benefits of each.
‘How come you can get those three today?’ Mike thought to ask.
‘Deal with the supplier, these are the three they keep in stock. So, they’re easy to get hold of at short notice. The prices on these brochures have a 20% discount on the shop price,’ he explained. ‘It works out well for me and my customers.’
Mike assumed that meant that they got a 20% discount which was probably half the discount he got; putting money in his pocket for each sale. Mike nodded his head. And Joy bounded across to where he’d perched himself to show him which she’d chosen. It was a white fridge, not unlike the one he had already, and not that different from the other two on offer. He wondered what had made her decide on that one.
‘Works for me,’ Mike said.
‘Right I’ll go get it, might take me an hour to get there and back. Gonna need to bring my apprentice to move it.’ He smiled and left.
‘Our first purchase for our joint place.’ She grinned and did a little twirl. ‘Mike, what happened to our food?’
‘Hmm?’ he asked turning to look. Had he finished it all off without thinking?
What he saw stunned him. The sandwiches were already going mouldy. The coffees were cold with a thick layer of something grey on the surface. The cakes, not even out of their wrappers, had things growing on them.
Then he noticed the book. And wondered.
‘Maybe the whole apartment’s too hot,’ he suggested, retrieving the book and putting it in his bedside cabinet. ‘Pull the blinds down and open the windows more. I’ll bin all this.’
‘Do you think it’s the apartment that’s infested?’ Joy asked.
‘No, I…’ he frowned. Could it be something in the apartment other than the book? He’d checked all the protection markings in the corridor and entrance but hadn’t looked at the ones over the windows. That was foolish of him. Hadn’t Sparky said keeping his darkness at bay would prevent him from seeing everything in the Demon realm?
‘I’m going to go and buy bleach. And whatever else the assistant at the hardware store recommends. You look for the source of the mould!’ she spun on her heel and went out again.
He glared around the apartment. Then locked the door so she couldn’t just walk back in. If he had to let the darkness rise he didn’t want her seeing it.
Having had it so close to the surface so recently it was like an over-eager dog waiting to be let out into the garden again. It came willingly. Like a swirling oily mist, filling every molecule as it swarmed to be what it was meant to. All the power, all the strength, all the heightened senses, and increased intent. It wasn’t the thing that made him a Demon, no, he was a Demon from birth. It was the thing that gave extra power to him as a Demon. A will to survive and the evolutionary tactics to do so. Without it, he was pretty much just an immortal human with great bedroom skills.
The symbols shone bright and red. On walls, on windows, on doors. Not one seemed out of place. And if none were out of place that could only mean one thing. Someone was using a magic greater than his own. Mother had said there were very few with that ability still in existence. So now he was looking for the symbol that looked like it was where it should be but had been changed to do something other than what he intended.
There, on the window near the bed. There was something strange about that one. The flow was the wrong way, anticlockwise. No wonder everything was going mouldy. It meant someone, or something, could look in without the occupants being aware of them. A reversal of the symbol he’d put there himself. All he had to do was go out onto the narrow ledge beyond the window, scrape off the symbol and redraw it.
There was a knock on the door, which he went and opened without thinking.
‘We brought your…fridge,’ the repair man faltered.
Mike frowned at the two men and the fridge on the trolley.
‘So you did,’ he said. They took a small step back. He frowned deeper. ‘Well come in then.’
They scuttled past him as he stepped backwards and opened the door wide. As he watched them get to work he forced his darkness back down. The symbols became almost invisible again. By the time Joy returned he was having what could have passed for a normal human conversation with the repair man and his apprentice. He just didn’t feel like his normal self. Not as human as he had before.
They spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning. Then, not wanting to risk buying food to eat in the flat, he suggested he take her out for a proper meal. Slipping a slow acting sleeping draught in her last drink. She would be drowsy in the morning as if she had a bit of a hangover, but it was better than her waking in the middle of the night to find him balanced precariously outside, painting on the window with his own blood.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: MAËL
If he’d been a human, he would have fallen to his death at the first gust of wind. As a Demon, with his darkness near the surface, his balance was perfect. The ledge was covered in sulphur deposits. The outside of the window. A hand print on the wall. But all of it was within that small space. He kicked the sulphur on the ledge with his foot to disperse it a
nd let the wind carry it away, then brushed the deposits off the walls and windows.
He scraped the dried blood with a long narrow knife. Blood that wasn’t his. Then slicing into his forearm, he tucked the knife into his belt and pulled the special writing brush from his back pocket. It wasn’t unlike a make-up brush in its precision and density. But no make-up brush would ever be made with the hairs this was made of. Dipping it in his blood he began to redraw the symbol, careful not to lose contact with the glass until it was complete. Then he added a few more to the ledge and walls. Symbols that would warn him if anyone was there. Any Demon that is.
He watched Joy sleeping for a while as his self-inflicted wound healed. This is what they would have seen. His apartment from this perspective. They could see everything except inside the bathroom. But what were they looking for?
He walked back along the ledge to the furthest window from the bed. Then crept back in and pulled it shut. Joy stirred, the beginnings of a bad dream tugging the corners of her mouth. He tamped down the darkness before it gave her nightmares. He didn’t dare climb into bed with her, so he opened the little black book and sprawled out on the huge sofa. It was as if the very act of reading it brought calm.
Then he remembered. He’d promised to let Sparky know if anything weird had happened. Well, a lot of weird had happened. Maybe Sparky would have some answers.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: BLACK
Task: Go out of your way to eat whatever you want in excess, order pizza at work or take in a picnic hamper. Eat and drink as if you can’t get enough; and everything you can’t finish, throw away. Do not share.
The Soul Game Page 14