The Down and Outs

As she walked on aimlessly, she came to a place which, in that underground world, she had never explored. A passage led off to it obscurely, and to other recesses of a similar kind where sexual congress occurred in areas set apart. It was a hidden place, but you knew you were getting close by the character of the obscenities drawn, scratched and painted on the surrounding walls. Here, wealth and jewels were exchanged for acts of darkness; sly men in city clothes went to have their choice of ‘fallen’ Non Hemisphere women. Indeed, these underground caves formed a mini-quarter network of their own; as corruptively rich and prosperous as the Non Hemisphere was barren and poor. The temperature rose steadily as Kate approached. She, who had had no idea of going there, took off her mac under the impact of the heat. But a sudden gust of wind tugged it from her grasp, and with dismay she saw it being sucked down, far below into the verminous darkness of the sewers. She paused, frowning, hoping for a contrary gust to return it to her. But this failed to happen and at last she obliged to take a step in that direction. On it went fluttering before her, as if drawn by a compulsive force; she followed with the same dread as someone straying into the red, yawning mouth of a sleeping monster. The descent was something like a gullet, smooth and steepening; she began to be afraid that she would never emerge again; she resolved to abandon her mac and go no further. Then she lost her footing and, colliding with the walls, went down willy nilly; she fell in a heap within feet of where her mac lay. She stood up, not much hurt, and retrieved it. The fierce heat here was making her sweat; she was anxious to be gone. But round a bend just ahead, she saw the door that was the magnet for the lost souls who came here; it stood like a softly-glowing coal fire. The word ‘Whorehouse‘ was engraved in gigantic crimson letters above it, looking as if the rock itself was flesh and had received a brand. Rumours of voices and of an indefinable grating noise came from beyond the door; it was not quite closed and a ruttish perfume was wafting out. In spite of herself, she stood irresolute, breathing in the scent of sexual abandon, strangely penetrated by a fume of incense and ripe green apples. It was lulling and hypnotic and she might have been overcome had the door not opened at that moment. A businessman in a blue, pin-striped suit, his face smeared with red lipstick, emerged amidst clouds of steam which spurted intermittently as if being released from the spout of a kettle. A young woman followed, decked in a garment of diamonds and crisp, rustling bank notes; a bitten apple dangled at her cleavage and played about her breasts as she ran. Both were laughing; they chased each other like children, but with lascivious intent. Then, catching his hand, the girl drew him back inside the whorehouse door. Kate, half choked, turned in haste to make her way back to the main tunnel of the labyrinth. In the darkness, she felt a moist hand clasp its fingers round her wrist. She immediately tensed up, turning to face whoever her assailant might be. Instantly there was a blast of hot breath directed at her face, which loosened and relaxed her through her whole body. In that moment she must have closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw a man standing before her with one hand raised, in which there glowed an immense diamond which seemed to gather into itself all that was purity and light. Fascinated by the abnormality of its size, she raised her baffled head to take a look at the person who held it. He was slim and handsome, with long, dark hair; he smiled at her wryly, directing her to look into the diamond again. She did so and, as he brought it closer to her face, she gasped to see within it the image of an enormous mansion with a swimming pool rippling gently in its back garden. The man did not speak, but his eyes were eloquent, and they were fixed on her. He was tantalizing her with the world within the stone – her body for that unstressed, comfortable life. If she gave herself to him – and he was handsome and young – he implied that these things would be hers. Instead of poverty and aimlessness, he was promising wealth and splendour and a life apart. So why did she hesitate – so little to lose for so much to gain? A rigid logic seemed to nullify the temptation; to her alert mind, the diamond-enclosed house was more securely locked than dead flies in amber. The perfection of its world was inviolate for it lay within a priceless diamond. One could not be reached unless the other were shattered; surely that forced entry would half destroy its value? The handsome man seemed to read her mind, for his smile faded. He breathed on the gem and she saw the rippling water of the pool turn rigid with ice. Then, his eyes growing furious and black, he held up the stone and she watched it crumble instantly. With a cry, Kate turned and ran back to the main tunnel of the labyrinth. Once she felt the cool air of the subway on her face again, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. Then she pursued her way more slowly to the cut-throat Northern Hemisphere, as she tried to make sense of the experiment in her mind. That she had been tempted was clear; even now it pained her to think of that beautiful stone ruthlessly reduced to dust. But the tempter? As she emerged into the daylight at the end of the tunnel, all doubts faded. She had passed through the infernal kingdom. Though the handsome stranger had not come equipped with horns, or with a tail pushing through his clothes, she knew who he must be.