DiabloCat: I can't believe I'm actually going to do this. This is my private fantasy world that I spend most of my life in. Now I'm posting it on the net. Oh well. Enjoy...

DEMON TRAVEL

"Hello Carleigh."

My eyes widened, and I closed my book with a snap. "Demon!"

He beamed at me, eyes twinkling. If it had been possible, I would have hugged him, but you can't hug someone who's not truly there. So I just sat and grinned.

"It's been ages since you last came!"

Demon shrugged. "I figured you needed a break after the last adventure."

I winced. "Yeah, being stabbed isn't fun. But I'm over that now. I presume you have an offer?"

Demon laughed. "Why else would I be here? You know I'm not the one for social visits."

"True. So where to this time?"

"Somewhere – different."

I stiffened at the tone of his voice. I don't like it when he goes all mysterious.

"Exactly HOW is it different?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well, you probably won't know it that well..."

"Demon, quit stalling." I looked him straight in the eyes. "Spit it out. Where are you sending me?"

He smiled. "The Island of Mata Nui."

The name seemed familiar, but it took me a while to place it. "Bionicle? You're sending me into Bionicle?"

"Yep. It'll be great fun!"

I stared at him. "But Bionicle's a toy, not a book."

He raised one semi-transparent finger. "Ah, that's where you're wrong. Books have been written on it. Besides, it's also a movie, and movies have scripts."

I waved a hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, I know that. I was just in one, remember?" I couldn't repress a shudder at the rather painful end I'd met. "But I haven't read the books. I didn't know they'd existed!"

"You've watched the movie."

"It's not the same."

"On the contrary. The books were written for the movie."

"Oh."

I bet anyone reading this will be bloody confused about now. You'll probably be asking yourselves a whole bunch of questions like: What the hell? Why is there a transparent guy in her room? What kind of name is Demon? And why are they talking about going into books?

Truth is, I don't know Demon's real name. I don't think he actually has one. Never really asked him. But we know each other pretty well.

My name's Carleigh Wred. I'm a total read-a-holic, majorly obsessed with books. In fact, that's how I met him. I was lying on my bed reading one day, when suddenly he was there. A weird transparent guy standing in my room. Scared the hell out of me! I was home alone, so I couldn't run screaming to Mum or anything. I threw the book at him, but it sort of went through his head.

Round about then, I decided he was a ghost. Went from scared to terrified, and tried to escape, but he waved his hand, and I couldn't move.

So we talked. Mind you, I didn't have much of a choice. He said he was a book demon. The Book Demon, in fact. I just call him Demon for short.

He said he was looking for someone with imagination, and a passion for books. Said I fitted both qualities well, so he had an offer to make.

I could travel in books. Meet the characters, fight alongside them, help them solve mysteries. His first offer was to go into Lord of the Rings. It was an irresistible proposition.

As you can imagine, I knew nothing about fighting, or riding horses, or any of that stuff. So he'd bestow me with some 'gifts'. I received a sword, and the ability to use it. I received the ability to ride horses, and to understand all tongues. Stuff like that.

But I wasn't invulnerable. I could get hurt – even die. The aim was to survive for as long as possible. When I died, I came straight back to where I was beforehand. Nice and simple. If I survived until the end of the story, I was free to live a life in that book until old age took care of me, exploring the various parts of that world.

The only conditions were that he selected the books, and that I was to have little 'challenges'. For example, in Lord of the Rings, he could make a little band of Orcs attack us. It didn't happen in the book, but it gives me a chance to prove myself.

I also had to be VERY careful. If I messed up, I could change the whole story. A world that had survived in the book could perish if I accidentally got a main character killed or something.

So far I've been in tonnes of books, and a couple of movies. Movies have scripts, see. I can travel in ANY literature. I could even go inside a maths textbook...but who on Earth would want to do that?

Anyway, as I said before, I've been in lots of books. I've been in popular books like Lord of the Rings (J.R.Tolkien) and Harry Potter (J.K.Rowlings). I've also battled in less well-known books like Ice Station (Matthew Reilly), Northern Lights (Philip Pullman) and Sabriel (Garth Nix).

If you think reading is good, let me tell you, it's nothing compared to actually being there.

As for movies, I've been in heaps. My very last 'mission' was in Pirates of the Caribbean. And, yes, Jack Sparrow is still very hot, even when he isn't Johnny Depp.

When I go into a story, I have to have an alibi. In Pirates, I was a young boy (bugger) named Jet, skilled with a sword and nautical life. I usually use the same name more than once. In Deltora Quest, I was again a boy named Jet. I often have to change gender, as sometimes their pretty anti-female. In Lord of the Rings, I was again a boy, but this time named Kia.

I HAVE been a girl. In that case, I'm usually called Catherine Kyte, nicknamed Cat. I like cats, see? And if I have to have a codename, like in Ice Station or X-men, it's usually Diablo.

And I don't always survive. I died in Pirates of the Caribbean. Skewered right through the middle on a sword. Managed to get the mongrel that did it before I died though. Ah, sweet revenge.

Well, that about sums up the whole story. Ah, I can just imagine the look on your face about now. Something like, "WTF? Is she CRAZY?"

Whether I'm crazy or not is of no importance. Just enjoy my tale, okay? It's the first time I've ever told anyone. Funny that. You can imagine how my parents would react if I told them. "Hey Mum, guess what? I've been travelling in and out of books this past year, along with this transparent guy only I can see..."

Yeah. Right. Now, back to the present...

"Alright, alright," I sighed. "I'll go. I need a break anyway. Stupid maths exams."

"Excellent!" Demon grinned, and then waved his hands around. My bedroom disappeared, and I found myself in the Title Page Dimension. Well, that's what I call it. It's blank, like a piece of paper, with little black lines running around everywhere. If you look closely, you can read the lines. They're the titles of various books.

Demon scanned the flitting titles, and then gave an exclamation. He reached out and snatched one of them up. "Ha! Got it."

"Nice. Now, what do I need?"

"Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Okay, you'll need a weapon – here you go." He pulled some weird looking sword thing out of the air. "Nice and strong, but not too heavy. I figured you'd need a bit of protection, so it conjures up a shield if you whack it in the ground. Also fires lightning bolts for long distance attacks."

I took the sword, and gave it an experimental swing. "Hmm, good weight. Lightning bolts huh? Neat."

"And here's the ability to speak and understand the various languages there. I don't think they understand English."

I reached out and touched the little ball of light he was holding. It sank into my skin with a little tremble of warmth.

"And that's about it."

"Aren't you going to transform me into a Toa thing?" I asked in surprise.

"Nah. It'll be more fun this way."

"What about a cover story?"

"Just say you're a being from a different dimension that's been sent to help," he shrugged.

"That's pretty close to the truth," I said. "But I don't think it will be a good idea to tell them they're just a bunch of toys where I'm from."

"Definitely not."

"Well," I said, gripping my new sword. "Let's get going."

There was a flash of light, and I found myself on the Island of Mata Nui. Well, on wasn't the right term.

Try floating a hundred feet above it.

DiabloCat: Yeah, I know it's weird. Makes perfect sense to me, but then again, I did create it all. Demon's my personal friend who I travel with. I've always had a secret dream of being able to travel into books. I usually just do it in my mind. Now it's on paper...God help us all.

Oh, and forgive my pathetic knowledge of the Bionicle world. If I get names and stuff wrong, please do not kill me.