Chapter Twenty Seven
Tom looked behind to see Terry following after him and Jodie. But he could see from his face that he no longer seemed as keen as he was to be in North End. He was also looking at his watch. Tom himself felt tired and his head was pounding a little but his adrenalin kept him going, probably like Jodie, he thought.
They approached the Control room and Terry insisted on trying to open its door but it was locked, like before. They then walked over the bridge that led to the disused platforms. They checked both until Tom showed Terry the tunnel where the creatures’ den was.
Just as Tom was about to descend into it, Terry stopped him. ‘look, kid, I do believe something has happened to you two tonight, not only because Harry told me you were in danger but also because of your appearances. I still don’t know what did happen, but anyway it’s obvious to me that this “driver” is not here anymore. And so there’s no bloody way I’m going into a rat infested tunnel to waste my time trying to look for him.’
‘But, we can show you the creatures’ den and the prison where I was held near the death pit,’ Jodie implored. ‘Then you’ll—-‘
‘No, no.’ said Terry. ‘Look I’ve had enough. I’ll take you home and you can come to the station to make your statements tomorrow. Come on, both your parents must be worried, especially yours.’ He looked at Jodie before moving in the direction of the stairs to the emergency exit.
But Tom was not happy. ‘We can’t go now; there’s proof down there. Come on, we’re tired as well but we’ve got to see this through to the end.’
‘Tomorrow!’ Terry said, obviously very irritated, with his back to them.
Tom knew from his previous experience with Terry that there was not much point in arguing, besides which he no longer had the energy to do this. He then remembered the long walk up the stairs and his heart sank even further.
He took Jodie’s hand and reluctantly followed after Terry. Tom was exhausted as he walked up the long stairs, again pulling Jodie. When they got to the large corner step where they had fought the creatures successfully, they rested. Jodie was almost asleep. Terry was also very tired, Tom could see.
He then thought he had to try one last time to change his mind. ‘Look, if we go now, the driver may get rid of the evidence in the creatures’ den. You said yourself that you’d read in the local newspaper about someone else having encountered the creatures, so it’s not just me and Jodie who say they exist. And what about the detective, Harry? He ran over two of them.’
‘All this can be done tomorrow,’ said Terry, ‘after you’ve made your statements.’ He got up. ‘Now, come on. It’s late and I’ve had a long eventful night.’
That makes three of us thought Tom as he accepted defeat. He helped Jodie up, and they then ascended the rest of the stairs.
The driver had forced himself to wait a little longer and was rewarded when the teenagers and the policeman walked up the long staircase again and then rest. The creatures’ den not being discovered and the teenagers’ having to make a statement gave him a little hope: it seemed the police still did not believe the teenagers’ story. He knew he had done the right thing with his hiding the bodies of the creatures and cleaning up the blood.
He ascended the concrete stairs away from the teenagers and the policeman to the lift engine room, where he intended to ambush them.
As Terry, Tom, and Jodie approached the door to the engine room, Terry said, ‘That’s strange; I could have sworn I closed this door.’
Tom became scared and looked around him. He also got closer to Jodie, while they all looked into the room again. This time, Terry found the light switch, which he turned on, much to the relief of Tom, who could now see there was no one in the room.
But Terry said, ‘Hang on. What’s this?’ as he walked towards what Tom could now see was another door in the room. This one was closed. Terry opened it and entered it.
Tom became tense and got in front of Jodie. Terry seemed to take ages in the room and Tom’s eyes darted around him.
‘Nothing here,’ Terry said as he eventually emerged from the small room.
Hell, Tom thought, he could sleep for a week after all this mental and physical stress. They all then walked up the stairs to the exit. When they were outside the surface building, Terry closed its door. They then left the fenced off area. ‘I’ll call the British transport police before I finish my shift to get these gates locked,’ he said, as he closed them with Tom’s help.
After this Terry took Jodie home, much to the relief of her poor parents, thought Tom. Terry then dropped him off at his house. ‘Come to the station tomorrow,’ said Terry. ‘I’ll leave a message for Harry’s colleague, Sarah. Take care.’ He then drove off.
Tom opened his door and quickly went straight upstairs to bed. It was 5.56 a.m.
The driver had decided not to ambush the teenagers and the policeman. He had begun to have doubts about doing this as he had walked up the stairs to the lift engine room. Even if he succeeded in killing the policeman and teenagers, he would have to dispose of their bodies in the creatures’ den. He would also have to destroy the den. How could he achieve these things in his current physical state in the time he had? The police would obviously do a search of the station when the policeman failed to return to his car.
Furthermore, while he was intrigued by the creatures’ apparently having attacked someone else - he had thought they seemed a little shifty when he visited them after work yesterday - he also realised that this added to the case against him. This would also be helped by the person who had run over the creatures being a detective, who could still be alive – what coincidence was this he wondered, as he remembered the car driver staring transfixed, like he was dead? No, he thought, even without the teenagers and the policeman, it was only a matter of time before the authorities knew what had been going on.