“We kind use this place to chill out,” explained with Raven with as much enthusiasm as his lanky frame could muster, “You know, when the rock gets too much for you?”

Phoenie took a chance and peered through a gap between the more fearless Theseus and Andromeda, then pulled away glad she could only see a fraction of the ill-lit room and its battered, clawed, collapsed sofas. She had a good idea of what ‘chill out’ activities took place in that room, and the thought sickened her.

Joel was right at home with the hovel, however. “There’re some proper seedy rooms if you don’t know where you’re looking though, so you gotta watch where you’re going. Man, this one time I walked in on Doyle and—“

“Don’t you think Doyle’s suffered enough indecent revelations lately?” asked Kaori.

“No,” said Lyra.

“As revealing as Mr Kennedy’s sexual affairs are,” said Phoenie, wincing at the thought of even seedier rooms that what they’d just seen, “We have more important matters to be focusing on. Mr Gibson, where do the masters of this establishment reside?”

“Aww, man, that’s a few turns away,” he replied, gesturing with his frail arms, “All sealed off and stuff though. Proper VIP area. Heard they got some cute girls back th—“ He was silenced by Kaori’s elbow.

“There’s a whole other section of the club for ‘mature’ members,” she explained, “The only ones our age who get back there are whores,”

“Place is full of surprises,” mumbled Theseus.

Lyra chuckled. “Ye don’t be knowing the half of it. The World’s End is just a scratch in the surface. Rope in the twats, get ‘em addicted, drag ‘em under.”

Theseus swung his light away from the room and down the corridor. “For someone who hangs around this joint you’re awfully cynical,”

“Ye think I be letting myself get used by these guys?” she replied, “I be the one using them, let me tell ye. Besides, someone’s gotta be keeping these idiots from selling their souls ta the devil,”

“Somehow I think we’re more alike than you realise,” said Theseus. Phoenie wondered what he could be getting at and was ready to question him when Andromeda stopped her.

“Quite a little machine they’ve got running here,” she said, “We’ll have to poke around a bit some other time, see if there’s anything we can rat out to force a proper investigation from the authorities,”

“Absolutely,” replied Phoenie. That was more Andromeda’s arena than hers, though. She was trying to expose the supernatural, not fight for the human rights of people more-than-willing to give theirs away.

The group weaved its away through the labyrinthine corridors, with every set of rickety stairs they descended leading to ever-grottier passageways, where the pitter-patter of vermin feet echoed alongside the dripping metronome of old pipes. How many had wandered drunk and delusional down here, never to be seen again?

Then, after another twisting descent of clanking steps and loose handrails, the group came to a lone passage that ended with solid metal doors three meters high. The dull surface was etched with runes, decorated by painted symbols, all trailing around a design of concentric circles and geometric divisions, as if someone had taken linguistics of yore and mixed them with the universal language of mathematics.

“That’s the place,” said Joel.

John walked over to the foreboding entrance and swept his hand along its dull surface, fingers tracing lines invisible to the others. “Used to be high security,” he said, “Evidence of locking mechanisms inside. Rusted away centuries ago. Just a couple of metal slabs now. Theseus, you ought be able to handle these, they’re not as heavy as they look,”

Theseus strode forward and pushed his bulk against one of the doors. With little effort it creaked open, the scraping of metal on stone echoing throughout the labyrinth – hopefully not loud enough to alert anyone to their presence – and Theseus slipped through the gap and into the shadows. Moments later he returned, shaking his head.

Chapter 48
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