The Literary Spider,

Carlton stood before the door of the Third Eye for a long time, contemplating what would await him inside. The he gave up guessing, and went inside anyway. To find the entire tavern in the middle of a brawl.

He was just quick enough to avoid the first fist that swung towards him, but he was unable to block the second. He was thrown off his feet as the breath whooshed out of him and he hit the wooden panelling of the wall with a thud. Grimacing, he spat blood and staggered to his feet. All around him, big, burly men were being thrown over tables and chairs, and there was the sickening sound of bones shattering. Carlton looked around, panicked, and aimed a wild punch when he felt someone closing in. He felt the victims nose collapse under the strain.

Behind the bar, two young barmaids were crying and hugging each other. Carlton made his way over and crouched next to them, ignoring their stricken faces. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked gruffly. The first maid, a woman with a pixie cut and too much eyeliner, nodded, but beside her the other girl shook her head. She rolled up what Carlton had taken to be a black sleeve, but under closer inspection was dark red and sticky with blood, to reveal a messy gash around three centimetres long, glittering with powdered glass. A tear dripped on to it and the girl hissed. Carlton tutted and tore a strip off his jacket, wrapping it around the cut. The girl cried again. ‘What’s your name?’ he asked softly. He had to lean in close to hear the reply ‘Sophie’

Eyeliner girl was whispering franticly. ‘I don’t know what happened. There was this man, a regular of ours, Jamie, and he was sat there drinking. Then this big guy, never seen him before, walked in and slammed a bag on the table. Whatever it was, he looked pretty angry about it, and he kept trying to give it to our Jamie. Jamie was terrified though, he wouldn’t take it, and then, totally out of the blue like, the man punched him in the face. Then, you know what people are like when they’ve had a bit much to drink, everything just went mental, and people just kept joining in. I nearly got a black eye, but poor Sophie here got a smashed bottle stuck in her arm. I got it out like, but it looks pretty nasty.’ She paused to take a breath, poor girl looked really torn up.

‘Are either of the men still here now?’ Carlton asked. The girls shrugged. In the chaos though, he could see it would be hard to tell. He cringed as a body flew over their heads and smashed into a conveniently placed mirror. Clutched in his hand was something black and white and, ironically, red all over. A newspaper.He quickly slipped away (after leaving more strips of his jacket and warding off wads of cash from an hysterical and grateful Sophie) to find what he had come for.

IIn a long forgotten corner of Wales, three people met under the cover of darkness. They walked through back alleys and side streets, looking over their shoulders at various intervals, and then finally, they stopped. It was the tallest of the three that spoke first ‘We may not have much time’ he said. The others nodded sombrely, and a woman with an Irish lilt to her voice, chimed in quietly.

‘We know that Damika, what we don’t know is what to do about it. We all know the Bloodreds are dabbling with the shadow arts, expanding their repertoire, and every day we get closer to oblivion. They must be stopped. The best thing to do would be to murder someone big, someone on their hit list, and they’ll be there quicker than bees to a honey pot. Then we kill them.’

The first man, Damika, spoke again, his voice so cold it was icy ‘Once again Lily, I know times are bad, but we’re not desperate enough to kill someone on our side. You want to prevent The Burning Times as much as I do, but the fact of the matter is, we must consider war as an option. If we come out against The Bloodreds openly, it will be dangerous, but we will have surprise on our side, and we cannot afford to wait much longer’ He glared around, as if daring someone to contradict. A soft voice spoke up from a girl, no older than 13.

‘I know what we have to do Dami. Lily’s right, we have to kill someone important. I know who’ she whispered. Damika smiled at his pet name and glanced at his little sister, deciding to humor her ‘Go on then, who love?’

‘We have to kill Detective Carlton.’


There it is. I hope against all odds you like it, whoever you are. I shan't start blogging here, as I'm inclined to go on, so I'll see you very soon with an assortment of news. 


Eight-Leggedly Yours
The Literary Spider