Chapter Twenty Two
As Tom was trying with Jodie to get the manhole cover open, he saw that one of the creatures had got to the bottom of the ladder. It tried to grab his leg but he quickly moved it away. He shouted to Jodie, ‘Come on, they’re here. One more try!’ He climbed another rung of the ladder and heaved his body and arm up under the manhole with Jodie.
Their effort now had more urgency behind it and the cover opened. Jodie helped Tom move it to the side of the hole. She then climbed up and got out first. It was pouring of heavy rain.
But before Tom could get out the creature at the bottom succeeded in catching hold of his leg. He tried to shake it free. He knew that if it pulled him back into the sewer, the creatures would rip him to pieces. He succeeded just before the creature could get its other hand to it. Tom then saw the remaining creatures arrive at the bottom before he clambered up the ladder to the surface.
But the creatures were coming quickly up the ladder as well. ‘COMES BACK! COMES BACK!’ they shouted. ‘WE KILLS YOU! WE KILLS YOU!’
Jodie helped Tom get up as he got out of the hole.
‘Quick, we’ve got to hurry; they’re behind us,’ he shouted as he got to his feet. They ran in the direction of North End Road but Tom soon heard the creatures behind them. Tom was tired but full of adrenalin and fear, which kept him going in the horrible weather.
‘COMES BACK! COMES BACK!’ the creatures screamed. They were now very close behind Tom and Jodie and would soon catch them up if they continued to run in a straight line. Tom then pulled Jodie to the right and they left the path, going uphill into the wooded Heath.
The Driver had just walked around the bend on Sandy Road in the direction of North End Road, when he heard some noises behind him. He turned around and saw in the rainy darkness the teenagers quickly emerge from the sewer and run towards him - chased by four of the creatures.
He was stunned. What in the hell was going on? he wondered as he saw the teenagers run up into the woods on his left. He was also curious as to why the creatures had bothered to chase the teenagers out of the sewer, for they were very scared about coming up to the surface. And where was the fifth creature? Something bad must have happened, he concluded.
He knew he would have to stop the creatures; otherwise they would surely be caught and then the authorities would know what had been going on at North End - would know about his involvement.
Tom and Jodie continued to run through the woods with the creatures noisily following behind them. It was dark and continuing to rain heavily but Tom took as much care as he could. This did not stop him and Jodie from nearly crashing into a tree, however. They then found themselves on another path, curvier than Sandy Road.
The creatures were not as close as they had been; they did not seem to be as quick as Tom and Jodie in the hilly woods. Tom continued to pull Jodie behind him. They were both out of breath but obviously did not want the creatures to catch them. The creatures seemed more crazed than before, thought Tom as he ran. Jodie’s hurting/probably killing one of them might be the reason for this.
They continued to run uphill and the wide stony path was getting narrower and steeper. It was very difficult to navigate and they crashed into some more bushes a few times. Behind them the creatures had stopped screaming but were still making a lot of noise as they ran on the path. Tom was aware that if he and Jodie slowed down the creatures would catch them.
The driver was trying to follow after the creatures. ‘Stop. Stop! Before someone sees you!’ he shouted, but they either did not hear him in the heavy rain or did not want to stop. He was not used to running and so found it difficult but he knew he had to try to keep up with them. He fell over a few times, once into a bed of nettles. He was now completely soaked. It’s too bloody dark as well, he thought to himself.
Tom and Jodie came out of the bushes and found themselves in an open area: the Hampstead Heath Pergola and its gardens beneath it were in front of them. Tom now knew roughly where they were; they would soon emerge onto the upper part of North End road. He pulled Jodie after him and had to duck his head to avoid an overhanging branch of a tree, as they went back into the wood. They began to descend now on a very narrow path.
‘COMES BACK! COMES BACK!’ shouted the creatures behind them.
Tom and Jodie came to the end of the woodland part of the path, which now turned to the left and rose up steeply towards North End road. Tom could hear a little traffic ahead of them. He dared not look behind him, for he knew the creatures were beginning to catch up to them. He rushed towards the road, pulling Jodie behind him. She was obviously as exhausted as he, and Tom knew they could not go on for much longer at this pace.
Harry had just passed the roundabout that led to North End Road. His windscreen wipers were on full. Damn, he hated driving in this weather, he thought as he passed Jack Straw’s Castle pub and entered the road – he could hardly see a thing in this poor visibility.
The creatures were now about five metres behind Tom and Jodie. ‘WE KILLS YOU! WE KILLS YOU!’ they screamed.
Tom saw the road in front of them; there was a car coming from the right a little too close for them to cross but he knew they had no choice. They quickly ran to the other side and up its bank, and found themselves facing a wall. Tom went left along the pathway alongside it, pulling Jodie behind him.
Harry could not believe what he had just seen. He had been driving at about 35 miles per hour; normally in this bad weather he would have driven slower but he was on the verge of completing the answer to the strangest investigation of his career and he could not wait to speak to Jodie. His heart was pumping with adrenalin and his eyes were focused intently on the road ahead.
Suddenly, two figures had run out in front of him. It was unbelievable: one of them looked like Jodie. There was no way he could mistake her distinctive petite figure. She was running with some male teenager. He briefly wondered if this was Tom, when he suddenly saw some other figures run out in front of his car.
Tom and Jodie suddenly heard a car skid and hit something behind them with a thud. ‘EEEERRRGGHH! EEEERRRGGHH!’ It was the creatures making similar shrieking noises they had made in the sewer when they had found the creature Jodie had probably killed. They were horrible piercing sounds of shock, anger, and grief.
Harry had braked as quickly as he could. But it was too late and he had skidded straight into the two creatures. One of them had ricocheted off to his left but the other landed on his windscreen.
Its face seemed to be staring straight at him, as Harry’s car came to a stop. Harry was astounded at what he was seeing. He was in shock and frozen in his seat; he could not stop staring at the creature, seemingly doing the same to him.
He felt his chest tighten and his breathing get shorter. He also felt some pain. There was no way these creatures could exist; it was not possible, he thought. But he could not deny what he was seeing.
Bloody hell, he thought, Jodie was telling the truth after all. He then saw two other of these ‘creatures’ pull the staring creature off his car, the rain washing its blood from his windscreen.
The driver had watched as the creatures got run over. He had been shocked and then approached the accident scene with caution. When he had got there he hid himself from view and saw the two remaining creatures pulling their now obviously dead brother and sister away from the road back to the pavement. They were screaming with grief.
The tube driver saw that the driver of the car, an elderly man, was in shock at what he was seeing and just stared at the creatures. The tube driver looked around him but could see no one else.
He shouted at the creatures, ‘Bring the bodies back here, away from the road!’ He had to do this three times before they obeyed him in their emotional state.
He then asked, ‘Where did the kids go?’
The remaining two creatures pointed to the woods across the road. The driver could see they were now totally disorientated.
‘Rig
ht. Take the bodies back to the sewer. I’ll try to meet you there later but if I don’t, stay hidden in your den.’ The tube driver then walked past the still stunned car driver who was now just staring straight ahead. He must be dead, the driver thought.
Harry was still alive, and had seen the creatures take the others away into the Heath on his left. The pain in his chest was getting worse, however, and the last thing he noticed before he passed out was one or maybe two figures quickly cross the road in front of him in the direction of the teenagers.
North End Page 23
