North End

by Jason Nevercott

  Chapter Fifteen

  On Thursday, two days after Tom had seen Jodie to her house, she phoned and arranged to visit him. In the time since he had last seen her, Tom’s positive feelings of relief and happiness at rescuing her were replaced by the realisation that the creatures still existed and, therefore, still posed a danger to others. This meant that, although he did not like to admit it, he had a moral duty to do something about them. The only question was what?

  He went over in his head what the options were and when Jodie telephoned him he decided that he would discuss them with her. She came around just after 2 p.m., looking much improved, thought Tom. She had her blonde hair newly spiked up, had plenty of makeup on, and wore a short denim jacket, a t-shirt, and some jeans. There were no signs on her of her ordeal. He made her a cup of tea and they went into the lounge.

  ‘So, did your parents give you a hard time?’ he asked.

  ‘You can say that again,’ she said. ‘They just wouldn’t leave me alone from the time that I got home. They asked me where I had been, who I had been with, whether I had taken any drugs, how much I had had to drink...I felt like I was being interrogated.’

  ‘Well. I suppose it shows they care about you,’ he said.

  ‘Yeh, but it was bloody embarrassing. I mean they also asked me if I had been raped or was with a boy. After about half ‘n hour of it I just said I was tired – which I was – and went to bed. Then yesterday a policeman and woman came and repeated the process. I told them I was with a friend and had been upset and so didn’t contact anyone. I didn’t give any details, and to be honest I was still upset and so cried a lot. Eventually, I just stormed up to my bedroom.’

  ‘You weren’t tempted to tell the truth?’ Tom asked.

  ‘At the time I felt “No way”. My parents already thought I was into alcohol and drugs too much. That would only have confirmed this even further. But, it’s funny because the male detective seemed to know that something had happened to me on the tube by his questions. And afterwards, I thought I maybe should have told the truth, or some of it at least.’

  ‘Well, I don’t blame you for not doing so,’ said Tom. ‘I mean if you think about it, it’s completely unbelievable. In the 21st century in North London there are creatures who eat humans. I had difficulty believing it myself after I’d seen them for the first time, taking you. Anyway, I’m glad you’ve recovered from your experience. You look like you feel 100 times better.’

  ‘The first night I got back I just slept until about two the next day. When I woke up my mum was there looking at me as though I were coming out of a coma. But I felt ok. Yes, it was a bad – very bad experience – but I still couldn’t believe it happened, you know, like it was a bad dream. So after I woke up and realised that it was over, I felt fine.

  But later after the police went I did feel a little weird and that I could very nearly have been killed and then...well, who knows what. Then I did feel very upset again and I couldn’t stop crying at the thought of it. But after I’d spoken to my friend Jenna and some others, and watched a bit of tv I felt better again and now I’m sort of ok.

  Anyway, I decided I had to contact you again,’ she finished. ‘I had to thank you again for what you’d done. Without you I would now be dead.’

  ‘Look, as I said on Tuesday, I should’ve helped you sooner. So don’t feel like you owe me anything. But I would appreciate it if you would tell me all that you can remember about Sunday night,’ Tom said.

  ‘Well, I can’t say I remember everything about that night because I was pretty drunk. I’d had an argument with one of my friend’s friends at the pub we were all at and was so pissed off that I left to go home. But I didn’t tell anyone and just left. I remember walking around for a while trying to find a tube station. Then I can just about remember getting on a tube at Leicester Square and falling asleep. I do recall there weren’t many people around on the tube that night.

  The next thing that happened is I was waking up and being dragged out of the tube into a tunnel by a very strange-looking man who I now think must have been the driver of the tube. I struggled and shouted but then the creatures took me off him. They were hideous but I couldn’t get away from them. I screamed for help but they kept on carrying me somewhere. In the end I must have passed out because my next memory is waking up in the room where you found me.

  It was dark and smelly and I could hear rats scurrying around. I was thirsty but there was no water and I was tied up. I could also feel some things like bones on the floor. I just freaked out and passed out again. Then I woke up again just before you rescued me. I thought you were one of the creatures about to kill me,’ she finished.

  ‘This driver, could you describe him?’ Tom asked, now excited.

  ‘Well, I didn’t really see much of him. But he wasn’t very tall...he had a bald patch and a funny kind of rat-like face. He was also quite fat and his eyes were...also very intense and squint-like,’ she replied.

  ‘I saw this driver at Golders Green station on the day I rescued you!’ Tom said. ‘It was when I was leaving the station just before I went to North End. I thought someone was staring at me and looked around but I couldn’t actually see anyone looking at me. But I did see him. This means that he must have seen me before or the creatures must have given him my description...God, this is mad!’

  ‘So the driver is involved with the creatures. He finds them victims and meets them at the disused station?’ Jodie asked.

  ‘Yes, it seems that way. It now all makes sense. I thought the driver might’ve been involved but I just couldn’t believe it. But now we know it’s definitely true,’ Tom said wondering why he had not worked it out before. ‘The question is what do we now do about the driver and the creatures? I mean you were probably not their first victim and you certainly won’t be their last unless someone does something about them first.’

  ‘Actually, I was thinking along the same lines myself,’ said Jodie. ‘I mean we can’t let anyone else suffer. I know what I think I should do but what about you?’

  ‘Well, I thought of several options after I’d dropped you off the other night. The first one was to go to the police again and tell them exactly what happened. I would now have had you to back me up,’ Tom said. ‘But then I thought they still wouldn’t believe us – it’s just too crazy.

  Jodie responded. ‘Not necessarily.’

  Tom ignored this, thinking Jodie obviously wasn’t thinking clearly. ‘Well...I then thought I could get a video camera and film the creatures in their den. Then they would have to believe us. We could also show this to the media. This would force the authorities to do something and would also warn people about the creatures.’

  ‘Yes, but that would be dangerous,’ said Jodie. ‘You could get caught. The creatures will probably now be much more alert than before. We were probably the only people to have ever been in their den and got out alive.’

  ‘You’re right but we – I – must do something. The creatures must be stopped. The only other option is to return to North End and kill the creatures myself,’ said Tom.

  ‘Listen,’ said Jodie. ‘I’m in this now with you. You saved my life, and I don’t want anyone else to go through what I had to. We do have to do something but there is no reason to risk our lives again unless we really have to.’

  ‘All right then so what do we do?’ asked Tom.

  ‘I think we should contact the male detective again and just tell him the truth. We could now back each other’s stories up,’ said Jodie.

  ‘Yes, but there’s no way he’ll believe us,’ replied Tom. Why didn’t Jodie realise this? he asked himself. ‘Look, I told you about the policeman that I spoke to after I first saw you and escaped from North End. The detective’ll also wonder why you did not tell him yesterday when he interviewed you. No, we’ll have to think of something else.’

  Tom then had an idea. ‘I know: why don’t we try to get the driver sacked? That way, he won’t be able to bring any more victims for th
e creatures. The only other alternative would be to kill him as well as the creatures. But I don’t think we are at that stage yet.’

  ‘No, let’s not go down that road, but how could we get him sacked?’ asked Jodie.

  ‘Good question. I don’t really know. I didn’t consider him before when I was thinking about what to do,’ replied Tom.

  Another idea suddenly came into Tom’s head. ‘Why don’t you say that he attacked you? You obviously wouldn’t mention the creatures. You could say you escaped from him but was so embarrassed about it and being drunk that you stayed with your friend.’

  ‘Yes, but the detective will want details, which if I get wrong will make him think I am a complete liar. Then he won’t do anything. And anyway, the creatures would still be free and could escape somewhere else. No, I think I should just tell him the truth. That way, there won’t be any inconsistencies.’

  ‘Well, I don’t agree,’ said Tom, still thinking that Jodie would make herself and him look stupid, without first getting further evidence of the creatures’ existence. ‘There’s just no way they‘ll believe you.’

  ‘Look, the detective who interviewed me did seem to think that something had happened to me on the tube: he specifically asked me this, and also said something like I could help him find the reason for other missing people. I know what happened to us was crazy and, yes, unbelievable, but I have a feeling that this detective will believe our story. And if he doesn’t then at least we will have tried.’

  ‘Well, I still don’t agree,’ said Tom now realising that Jodie was too strong-minded a girl for him to change her mind. ‘But if that’s what you want to do, I’ll back you up.’

  ‘Come to think of it, the detective also gave my mum his card with his details,’ said Jodie now getting the card from her handbag. ‘Ok. I’m nervous but I’ll call him now’. She then dialled the number on the detective’s card, but it went straight to his answer phone.

  Tom gestured for her to end the call, thinking he could still change her mind, but Jodie blurted out a very short version of what had happened to her and Tom.

  Tom listened to her, thinking how strange it would sound to someone who had not witnessed what they had. When she finished, he said, ‘Well, at least he’ll have time to reflect on what you’ve said without ruling it out straightaway. But in the unlikely event he does believe our story we still have to do something ourselves in the meantime. The driver could catch someone tonight for the creatures. We’ll have to follow him; maybe see where he lives and what he gets up to. We might even be able to get some other evidence of the creatures to back our story up.’

  ‘That’s not a bad idea and could help the police to catch him and the creatures quicker. But we’ll have to be careful,’ Jodie said.

  They then decided on their plan of action. They would hang around Golders Green tube station until they spotted the driver and then follow him. They would start doing this today. It was 4.36 p.m.