Terry got back to his car at 12.46 a.m. It was now on its own: Harry’s car had been driven away to Golders Green police station. Harry himself was now in Intensive Care in the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead. He had suffered a severe heart attack and it was not certain that he would survive the night.
Terry had walked through the woods, eventually calling out for anyone to respond to him, but no one did and he encountered no one. He thought he had heard a female screaming but could find nothing when he went to investigate. But Harry had said there were teenagers in trouble for some reason, and so he decided he would now drive around the area in case he could find them or anything.
It was just after 1 a.m. when the driver heard the two remaining creatures come up the final steps to the landing at the top of North End’s Surface building. They were still very upset and angry. ‘WHERE? WHERE? WE KILLS THEM! WE KILLS THEM!’ they shouted.
‘Calm yourselves down or you won’t get any revenge – you’ll just get caught!’ he told them. ‘Come on. I’m going to need your help to bring them here. They’re in the woods nearby.’ The driver knew there was a risk someone could see the creatures and him with the teenagers but he could not manage both of them himself.
He opened the exit door and went outside with the creatures behind him. He then opened the gate to the fenced off area and looked around him for signs of people. He could see no one and beckoned the creatures to follow behind him.
It was no longer as dark with the rain gone and so he had to be careful. He turned left and crossed over the road half walking/half jogging. The creatures were looking all around them at what was still an unfamiliar world to them. They had calmed down a little now and were quite nervous, he thought. But then he knew they were very scared of being on the surface.
After a couple of minutes they got to the wood, which was a short distance on their right, and reached the place where the teenagers were. The driver stopped the creatures. ‘Don’t do anything here; someone’ll hear us!’ he said.
The creatures agreed but were now more agitated. The driver then grabbed Jodie while the creatures both took hold of Tom. The teenagers still seemed to be unconscious.
They made their way back to North End with the driver in front. He was very nervous and listened carefully for any cars or people. Then as they were about ten metres from the entrance, the driver heard a car coming.
He quickly put Jodie down behind a car, crouched down, and gestured for the creatures to do the same. He knew that if the car stopped, its occupant or occupants would see them.
The tube driver looked up from behind the car as it got nearer. Damn, he thought, it was the police! He quickly ducked down and tried to control his breathing. Hell, it was all going wrong tonight, he thought. The police car seemed to slow down. The tube driver could hear his heart beating.
The car then went on its way. The driver breathed out with relief. He quickly grabbed Jodie and with the creatures carrying Tom crossed the road to the fenced-off area. They entered the surface building. The driver put down Jodie and let the creatures pass him. They then threw Tom down on the floor almost on the stairs and were about to attack him.
‘No. Not here! I’ve told you already. It’ll be too messy. You’ll have to wait until you get them in your den,’ said the driver to the creatures urgently. He knew he would have a lot of trouble stopping them from losing control.
Tom regained consciousness as he heard the driver say this to the creatures, who seemed to listen to him. Tom then remembered how the driver had ambushed him and Jodie with the branch. He recognised where he was now – back in bloody North End again! He could feel the pain in his right shoulder which he landed on when the creatures dumped him on the floor. His head was also throbbing where the driver had hit him with the branch.
He looked over at Jodie to the right of him in the semi- darkness. Her hair seemed matted probably from blood and she was still unconscious; he prayed she was still alive. He then tried to loosen the string tying his hands and feet. His feet seemed tightly bound but the string tying his hands was not as tight as it should have been.
The driver and the creatures then came over to him and Jodie. He could see the driver picked up Jodie and put her over his shoulder. The driver then seemed to wait while the creatures grabbed hold of Tom, one taking his upper arms the other taking his legs. Tom pretended to still be unconscious. The creatures smelled strongly of old dirt, body odour, and human waste and Tom could easily have passed out again.
They handled him roughly and he could feel their hatred of him as they said to each other, ‘We kills this one first’.
They began their descent down the stairs. The creatures went first with Tom, who could hear that the driver had a little trouble keeping up, with Jodie over his shoulder. ‘Slow down,’ he demanded of the creatures.
After a few flights of stairs they reached the room where the lift engine was. ‘Stop here for a minute,’ the driver said to the creatures as he put Jodie down. Tom could hear the driver breathing heavily. The creatures looked back at the driver with impatience and dropped Tom on the floor again. This time he landed on his side without any pain.
‘Come over here, you two,’ the driver said to the creatures. Tom heard them go into the lift engine room.
Tom knew the driver did not trust them not to attack him and Jodie. But Tom used this break to further unloosen the string tying his hands. He knew he could probably get them free with one more last effort. His whole body ached and was stiff. He looked over at Jodie and could see that she was at least breathing, which made him feel much better. The driver and the creatures then came back, picked them up, and continued their descent.
After a few more flights of stairs they went through the doorway leading to the disused lift and final stairway. ‘Stop,’ the driver said; he was even more out of breath than before, thought Tom.
Tom felt the creatures eventually look back at the driver. They were obviously impatient to get to their den to – to – Tom could not finish the thought.
‘I said stop,’ the driver said. ‘Don’t worry, when you get to your den you can do whatever you want to these two, but until then you’ll have to wait. I’m not clearing up your bloody mess.’
Tom opened his eyes a little to see the creatures looking at each other. They then dropped Tom again with impatience and anger. They also stomped on the landing at the top of the stairs with frustration.
The driver, who had already put Jodie down, said, ‘Come back here, before you do anything stupid,’ and beckoned them back through the door to the previous stairs away from Tom and Jodie.
Tom knew that this could be his only opportunity to escape and started to try to unloosen his hands again. He quickly succeeded and then tried to untie his feet. But it was no good, there were too many knots. He then remembered his Swiss army knife in his pocket and quickly got it out and opened its biggest blade.
He quickly cut away at the string and then ripped the gaffer tape off his mouth. He tried to be as quiet as possible; he knew that the driver and the creatures could return at any time. He could hear them arguing about them through the door.
He went over to Jodie and cut through the string on her hands and then feet. She started to move and looked up at him. He could see her eyes staring at him as he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring look. He then pulled the tape off her mouth and helped her up.
They were both a little unsteady on their feet and leaned against the lift door while their legs got back to normal. Tom had his knife at the ready in case the driver and creatures came back: he was not going to be caught without a fight. He then looked at Jodie to see if she was ready to move, before helping her to the top of the stairs.