Turns out the 'empty house' isn't so empty after all...Please leave a review to tell me what you think so far!

Enjoy :D

Chapter 5

"You're right, I can feel a hatch here under my feet." Digory whispered, shifting his candle to the other hand.

"Okay, yes I can see it!" Polly muttered back, holding her candle to the area he had indicated. Sure enough there was a trapdoor similar to the one in her house.

"I'll blow my candle out so I can lift it." Digory said, doing so. Polly nodded,

"Careful." She warned but he managed to get it open fairly easily and they both looked down a bit nervously into the cluttered room the hatch had revealed.

"Gosh." Polly breathed. "Well...shall we?" she blew out her candle and set it down alongside Digory's, making sure there was no trace of flame left alive – the last thing they needed was a fire.

He nodded and swung his legs into the gap created by the trapdoor and then dropped lightly to the floor of the room. Polly gulped and sat, her legs dangling from the hatch, unwilling to jump down for fear of falling. Digory meanwhile had stood on a chair, bringing him level with Polly's hips and (while she was dithering) he grabbed her gently but firmly by the waist and lifted her down and into his arms. She squeaked with shock and hit him once she was sure she was safe but he just grinned and set her down on the floor, jumping down from the chair afterwards.

She narrowed her eyes at him and brushed off her dress, "Thank you."

"Not a problem." He smirked and she gave a small laugh which turned to a gasp as she looked round the room.

"Oh!" She said quietly – she'd never seen so many books; they were everywhere in towering, unsteady piles – some that reached to the ceiling. Tossed in with the books were delicate looking vials of liquid and various caskets, tatty papers and several crates.

The two took it in with wide eyes. "This isn't what I expected." Polly murmured and Digory made a small noise of agreement. She walked slowly over to a pile of books and retrieved the top one, dusting off it's faded cover.

"The Arts and Aims of Black Magic." She read, squinting to read the chipped print. "Black magic?" She dropped it as if it were hot coal. Digory moved backwards warily, starting to feel extremely uneasy about whatever they'd stumbled across, but he accidentally knocked over a crate. The crate's lid flew off as it hit the ground and it's dubious contents spilled over the carpet, Polly turned round sharply at the commotion and then let out a piercing scream as she saw a stuffed snake near her feet.

"Shush!" Digory hissed but it was too late, there was a noise from downstairs. "Wait here." He told Polly and she nodded mutely, terrified.

Digory wasn't feeling so comfortable himself but he walked out of the room nonetheless and stared in horror at the familiarity of his surroundings – they were in his Aunt and Uncle's house, he was sure, and that must have been his Uncle's study.

"Damn." He seethed, "I have to tell Mum." He looked behind him briefly but quickly decided that his Mother had to know what her brother was dabbling in and ran to her room. He didn't bother knocking but burst in and yelled when he saw the empty bedroom.

"Mum!" He dashed out of the door and downstairs, searching frantically for her.

Meanwhile Uncle Arthur had emerged from Digory's bedroom and was making his way towards his study with a sinister smile on his face.

Polly had backed away into a corner of the room, unable to bear standing in the midst of all that horrible stuff from the crate, when she heard footsteps.

"Digory?" She asked nervously but there was no reply. The next thing she heard was a click from the door that seemed to echo through the small room and made her jump, then the door swung open and she uttered a small scream to see Uncle Andrew in the doorway.

"What? But – I -" She stammered, "I'm sorry we – I didn't realize -" Her mouth had gone dry with fear but he just smiled.

"No matter, my dear." He said, waving a long, thin hand. "No matter." He looked at her for a moment and then shut the door.

"I – I need to go -" Polly said in a voice barely more than a croak.

"Yes, yes." He came a little closer. "But first may I put your mind at ease; you see, I don't mind you having found this little lair of mine." He said with what Polly supposed was meant to be a comforting smile. She was not reassured. "In fact I applaud your intelligence and adventurous spirit." He continued with a polite bow. She bit her lip and backed away still more. "And what's more, I'd like to give you something."

"No that's alright, really it is. I didn't actually mean to -" Polly began to protest but he cut her off.

"I insist my dear, I absolutely insist. Since you are such good friends with my nephew too!" He crossed to a desk hidden beneath all the clutter and pulled out a box, bringing it carefully over to Polly. "Here." He whispered, sweeping off the lid dramatically.

She couldn't help but gasp as she saw lines and lines of beautiful rings, all sparkling and shining with an almost unearthly light that both drew her in and made her afraid.

"They're beautiful." She breathed. They were in brilliant shades of yellow and green, and the overall, bewitching effect was that of a myriad of jewels. She leaned in closer and noticed they seemed to be making a noise, a faint humming...but that couldn't be right, surely? When Polly blinked her eyes felt heavy and a small smile was playing about her lips, she didn't hear Digory as he rattled the doorknob and then began to pound on the door when he got no response.

"Polly!" He shouted, pressing his ear to the door but he couldn't hear anything.

"Beautiful." Polly whispered again and Uncle Andrew grinned savagely.

"Try one on." He encouraged. Polly tilted her head to the side dreamily and nodded slowly as she held out a hand. Uncle Andrew slipped on a glove and picked up a green ring gingerly, looking greedily at Polly all the while and paying no attention to his nephew outside.

"Here." He said quietly and slipped the ring on her finger.

Digory slammed on the door in frustration and then froze as he heard a scream.

"Polly?" He shouted, then there was silence. He stood there, his chest heaving with his heavy breaths, why wasn't she answering?

There was a click then a creak and the door slowly opened to reveal Uncle Andrew.

"Ah, Digory. I was wondering where you'd got to." He said casually. "Come in."

Digory narrowed his eyes and followed his Uncle into the study. "Where's Polly?" he demanded. "And my Mother?" There'd been no sign of her throughout the house.

"Gone." His Uncle answered, threading his fingers together and regarding Digory over the top of them. "One more permanently than the other."

Digory's hands balled themselves into fists. "What have you done?" He hissed furiously.

"Calm down, dear boy. Your Mother is simply taking some air. She's gone for a walk with my charming wife." Digory was about to speak but he cut him off. "And before you say she's not well enough, she was feeling much better this morning, you'll be glad to hear.

"Fine. Then where's Polly? She was here, I heard her scream." He pressed, glancing quickly round the room.

"Ah, now that is a more complicated affair I'm afraid." Uncle Andrew replied with a shrug. "And it all begins a long time ago..."

"Don't bother spinning me some yarn." Digory snapped. "Just tell me where she is."
"My, my." His Uncle said, raising an eyebrow. "Patience, my boy, patience."

Digory clenched and unclenched his fists but eventually decided he'd just have to listen. "Fine."

"Well," Uncle Andrew began, leaning back leisurely. "It all started with my Great-Aunt, she was somewhat an outcast in the family, she had...peculiar interests, they thought anyway. She was a powerful person, yes powerful indeed and I believe they were scared of her." He leaned forward, his eyes glittering. "You see she held magic in her blood – a heavy burden to bear."

Digory scoffed and Uncle Andrew;s eyes flashed menacingly. "You won't doubt for long, boy." He snapped and then resumed his previous air of calm. "She would not mix with any of our family but for one, one who she believed carried the same burden. Another magician in her bloodline." He grinned so that he looked quite mad. "Me."

Digory, despite being a little scared, could not help himself from making a disbelieving noise. "That's rot." He said dismissively. "You're mad."

"Indeed?" Uncle Arthur said quietly but still with a twinge of menace colouring his words. "We shall see. But how and ever, this Great-Aunt of mine left me a secret from her deathbed, her life's work – a discovery of such massive proportions that -"

"Get on with it." Said Digory.

Uncle Arthur leaned forwards and fixed him with such manic eyes that Digory took a step back. "The secret of travel between worlds, my boy." He whispered and then rubbed his hands together, seeming to relish the crack of his knuckles.

Digory's mouth fell open. "You really are mad." He said, "But what's all this nonsense got to do with Polly?"

"Everything, you see I have sent her to another such world." His Uncle said, crossing his arms and looking at Digory with distaste as the boy started to splutter. "You know I had rather hoped the magic would show itself in you, but...ah well. Another generation. Another chance." He shrugged.

"You can't have!" Digory shouted eventually after getting over his shock.

"Well I have." Uncle Arthur said. "See here." He opened the box of rings and showed them to Digory proudly. "These are the key, green to go and yellow to return. They're the tickets, as it were, and that's how young Polly was whisked away."

Digory realized he was shaking but somehow couldn't seem to stop. "They – they work? Will she be hurt? Can she get back?"

"I have no idea." His Uncle said, raising his eyebrows. "I tried to do tests on guinea pigs but they can't really tell you much, and besides they couldn't come back when I sent them." He explained with a sigh.

"So you tested it on a human girl?" Digory shouted, losing any trace of calm.

"Ah such sacrifices need to be made by men of importance such as I." He said breezily.

Digory was now shaking violently and at these last words a bolt of anger flashed through his eyes. "Coward." He spat and Uncle Arthur recoiled.

"Me? On the contrary, I am a genius."

"You. Are. A. Coward. She'll be terrified, scared out of her mind. How will she even know which ring to use to get back?" Digory yelled with icy intention, hatred for his Uncle coursing through him like poison.

"Oh that shouldn't be a problem, seeing as she's only got the one ring." Was his callous response.

"WHAT? YOU SENT HER THERE WITHOUT ANY MEANS TO RETURN BY?" Digory punched over a pile of books and glared at his Uncle with a rage that was no longer controlled.

"Temper, temper. She does have a way of getting back. You." Uncle Arthur said calmly.

Digory stepped forwards. "Me?"

"Of course. I'll give you one green ring and two yellow rings, you pop off to get her and bring her back and we can have a nice chat about it over a cup of tea, hmm?"

"You think I'll talk to you again after this?" Digory snapped incredulously. "I'll go but you shan't hear a word about it as long as I live."

Uncle Arthur's face whitened in anger but he didn't press the matter, simply holding out the rings and dropping the two yellow ones into Digory's left hand pocket.

"Here." He said, holding the green ring out to Digory. "Say hello to the dear girl for me."

Digory gritted his teeth, "You're disgusting, cruel and cowardly. I hate you and I'll hate you forever." He said flatly before slipping the ring on his finger.

The last thing he saw was Uncle Arthur's long, narrow face twisted in a mixture of anger and glee.