The Meeting House sign comes as a welcome relief as the breath is torn from my lungs. Sweat drips down my back as we try the door which is, thankfully, open. As soon as the door is shut, I lean against it, trying desperately to get my heart rate back to normal as it threatens to leap from my chest.

"Well, you definitely know how to fuck up on a grand scale, don't you, love?"

I look at The Other. Its out of breath too, but not as badly as I am. The back of its shirt is clinging to it, a darker shade of purple than the rest of it. It goes to sit on one of the chairs, swinging it around so that it's straddling it.

"What was that thing?" I don't take a seat, even though my legs are trembling from exertion. "How do I put it back?"

"You? Put it back?" The Other throws its head back and laughs, the sound echoing hollowly around the empty meeting hall. "You don't. Maybe if you've got the hotline for the Papacy you might be able to find someone with the know-how, but honestly, without someone from the Dark, you're probably stuck with this thing."

The Dark Dimension, the place from which creatures like The Other come.

"You're saying that you know how to banish it? Tell me how."

The Other shakes its head. "Look, I'm only a baby darkling. We don't mess around with The Malignant either. They're as dangerous to us as they are to you."

Well, at least this creature has a name now, something I can research, look for. I doubt my mother made any notes in her journals about something like this, but it can't hurt to check-

"Look, love, I can see the cogs turning in your head, but if it were as easy as one person waving their intent around and some magic rocks, there wouldn't be any Malignant entities left to summon. I know you want to fix this, but honestly, both of us are in over our heads. We're best off just raising the alarm and waiting it out here."

The Other rubs at its face. It looks tired.

"What is that thing doing out there?" I ask, glancing back at the door.

The Other massages the bridge of its nose for a moment, before it looks me up and down as though assessing me. Then it sighs, and looks away again.

"The Malignant's driving forces are to invade, control, and destroy. In this plane, that's going to be mostly humans. It'll start with the people in your tower block. Once it's moved beyond that and gained contact with people outside that space, it'll wipe out its previous hosts. It'll keep going until it's wiped out everyone and everything it can. It won't rest, it won't sleep, and it won't stop. It can't be reasoned with, it's entire being was created for this task."

A weight settles in my stomach.

"How fast can it spread its influence?"

The Other's mouth turns downwards.

"Fast."

"We have to stop it now," I say, putting my hand on the handle of the door.

"The only way you're going to stop it is if you light that block on fire and kill every person who tries to escape. Are you really going to do that?"

My hand tightens on the handle.

"We need to be smart. Sensible. By being a hero, you're only going to get yourself caught by this thing and then we're going to have to kill you or let The Malignant do it once your use has run out. What you need right now is to own up to your mistake and call on any allies you can find to reach the people who can do something about this."

I drop my hand.

Allies.

I don't have any. Since my mum died, no one has been around. Not in a way that matters.

"The silence here is speaking volumes, love. You do have some friends don't you?"

I swallow hard. "Shut up. Don't insert yourself into my life. I'll find someone to contact."

"I didn't insert myself into your life. You summoned me," The Other points out and I hear the creak of its chair as it stands up.

"I didn't summon you," I snarl, turning round. "You were the last thing that I wanted to summon!"

The Other makes a soothing gesture towards me. "I didn't ask to be summoned, and yet here we are. You and I and The Malignant."

The Other is walking towards me now, still making pacifying gestures, holding up its hands so that I can see where they are at all times. Something about the way it moves is wrong. It's joints bend at angles that they shouldn't, arachnid like.

"The Other are abominations. Evil entities that are-"

"Yeah, I know what they write about us, love, but have any of those people you're quoting ever met one?" The Other asks.

I know that my mother never met one of the The Other. It's no where in her journals at least. Taking my silence as confirmation, The Other comes to a stop before me and tries a smile in my direction. As its smile widens, a second set of teeth drop down, sharp, serrated and mean looking.

I take a step backwards and the smile disappears.

"Shit, shit, shit," The Other quickly puts its hand up over its mouth. "Yeah, sorry, forgot that the prey instinct might kick in if you saw those. It's just a biology thing, honestly. We can't smile without them making a show. I'm not going to eat you, promise."

It's a promise that I'm not sure The Other is going to keep. Oh god, do they eat people?

"Look, why don't you tell me your name, love? You know? A bit of human civility. Put us both at ease," The Other offers, dropping its hand again and holding it out to me to shake.

I stare at it, then back up at the vaguely human face. The Other just waits patiently for me to awkwardly reach out my own hand.

It's palm feels human. That's the most disturbing thing about it.

"Sor-" I stop, realising it might not be a good idea to tell this thing my name. But it's too late.

"Sore? Your name is 'Sore'?" The Other asks, and it smiles but only a half-smile this time, the razor sharp teeth barely sliding down beneath it's top lip.

"No. My name is Soren," I say. "What's yours?"

The Other shrugs. "We don't have names. There's no need of it where we're from."

So that's that then. I've given up my name and The Other has given up nothing.

"You can give me a nickname if you like?" The Other offers, and once again there's that unnerving serrated smile.

"No thanks," I say, pulling my hand back and looking at the ground. "We really need to work out what we're-"

"Hello? Is anyone in there?"