Chapter 4

The Lord of Darkness walked quickly back to his private chambers, yes it was time to bring Paul fully up to date with what was going on and show him the bigger picture. The task ahead was going to be difficult and he needed Paul to be fully aware of just what was at stake.

Paul slowed down as he approached the door to the Lord of Darkness's chambers, in all the years that he had walked by his side he had never set foot beyond the very threshold that he stood before now. And for some reason he now found himself feeling nervous, more than he had ever done so before in his entire life.

He went to knock on the door but before he could it swung open seemingly of its own accord.

"Come in Paul, I've been waiting for you" The Dark Lord half chuckled as he saw the obvious look of surprise on Paul's face. He was sat in a high backed chair that was placed near some velvet curtains

Paul entered and did his best not to look around, what he did see surprised him. The whole house was rather lavish and grand but yet this chamber was understated and simple. He could clearly see a huge but plain four poster bed and a rather large desk, the rest of the room was pretty much bare, with just a few choice pieces of art dotted here and there.

The one thing that did however constantly catch his eye was the pair of purple velvet curtains near which his master was seated and the more he looked at them, the more he began to notice how they appeared to be moving as if caught in a slight breeze. Which was strange because not only was there no breeze to be felt but they were hung on an inner wall so there was no window behind them.

"You might be wondering why I asked you to join me here" .

Paul nodded "Yes, in all these years you have never asked me to attend to you here. Is there something in particular you wanted, my lord?"

"Yes, of a matter of fact there is" his voice was cold and emotionless.

Paul tried his best not to gulp, well not too visibly. He had always wondered what went on in here when the Lord of Darkness was alone and now he was terrified that he was about to find out first hand.

"Calm yourself Paul, I can sense your fear from here not only that but if your heart beats any faster I'm afraid it might burst" .

Paul gave a little nervous smile still unsure of what was happening. The Lord of Darkness gestured for him to come closer.

"I see you have noticed the curtains, would you care to see what is behind them?"

He stood up and walked over to the pull cord, Paul moved and stood next to him just like he always did, an ever faithful servant at his masters side. The Lord of Darkness tugged on the cord and the curtains opened with a slight swoosh.

There before Paul was a large, no a huge antique mirror. As he peered into it, a mist formed in the reflection before him and from out of that mist came the Lord of Darkness, no he thought how can this be. He went to take a step back but found his path blocked by The Lord of Darkness, who now had a hand on each of his shoulders holding him firmly in place.

"Behold, the Purity of Evil...the very Heart of Darkness...let me introduce you Paul to my soul"

With that the Lord of Darkness pushed Paul forwards and he stumbled up against the mirror. At first he was afraid that he was going to crack it but no he was wrong, so very wrong.

He looked up in horror as two arms extended out of the mirror and grabbed him by the lapels pulling him towards a snarling face that revealed two very pointed teeth. But that wasn't was scared him to the point of screaming, it was the black eyes that swallowed up his very soul.

As Paul started to scream, the Dark Lord closed the curtains speaking quietly as he did so

"Try not to kill him my brother, I still have need of him"