“Yeah.” I let the word hang in the air as Tommy stuffs his hands further into his pockets. If he wasn’t the prettiest human around, I’d think he was as nervous as me. “I’m up early and it’s pretty late . . . plus I don’t really know the city yet.”
“I suppose. Can I at least walk you to the Tube?”
“Yeah.” I guess I’ll have to brave it at some point. “I mean thanks. I’d like that.”
“Good.”
We continue to walk in silence for a couple of minutes, making our way back along the river, which now seems to have a thousand diamonds sparkling on its surface. I’m not certain where we are exactly, but Tower Bridge winks at me on the horizon, so I know we’re on the right track.
“We’re here.” Tommy stops in front of a darkened coffee shop and points to a sign. “London Bridge Tube. You can get pretty much anywhere from here.”
“Perfect.” I smile. And I keep smiling. Dear Lord, I’ve forgotten how to use my words. I clear my throat and it comes out all horrible and hacking, not the ladylike way I was intending. “That’s great,” I try.
He takes a tiny step closer. I can feel the heat coming from his skin: it’s cool out now, but he doesn’t seem to notice the cold, and I can’t stop staring at his strong, sinewy arms. It’s his turn to clear his throat. “So,” he murmurs.
“Yeah. Home time.” I hold my breath, unsure what to do as he inches towards me. His strong hand catches hold of mine and lifts it to his mouth, pressing a whisper of a kiss on to the sensitive skin of my wrist. My insides melt immediately.
“I wish I could walk you home.” He lowers my hand and takes a step back, an unwelcome breeze carving between us and snapping me back to my senses.
“You can, if you like?”
“Oh, it’s not that.” He gestures back the way we came, towards the Tower. “I live over this side, though, so. . .”
“Fair enough.” I can still feel his lips tickling my skin and have to hold back from begging him to do it again. “See you in a couple of days, then.”
“You will.” He smiles. “I had a great time with you tonight, you know.”
“Me too.” I turn towards the Tube station. “Bye, Tommy.”
“Bye, Niamh.”
I practically float to the red-brick entrance, where I pause, glancing back under the guise of rooting for my travelcard, but he’s already gone.
I descend the steps, hot air wafting past me as I leave the street above. It’s eerily empty down here and my footsteps ring on the tiles. I beep my travelcard, feeling very big city, and pass through the barrier. The long, clunking escalator plummets into the depths, below the surface of the earth, where no one will find me. Jesus, I need to stop this, put the brakes on my overactive imagination. I hurry down the gliding steps and realize I’ve underestimated the height of this thing, I can barely see the bottom. I really hope there are other people waiting for trains down there.
I’m halfway down when the lights go out.
My head jerks back as the escalator jolts suddenly, stopping in its tracks. I struggle to see my hand in front of my face until my eyes adjust to the little emergency light, way down at the bottom of the handrail. I try to focus on it, but it’s there one minute and gone the next, replaced with darkness. Or a shadow.
I hear it then, from below me. The scraping of metal on metal. As though someone is dragging something sharp across the sides of the escalator. It’s excruciating. The sound tears through the silence and I could swear it’s getting closer. The darkness is closing in on me and I realize.
Someone is on the escalator with me.
I flash back to every stupid kung fu film my dad has ever made me watch and grip the rubber handrails either side of me, push down on my arms and blindly launch both legs out in front of me.
Nothing. My feet drop, clunking back on to the metal step. I pause, trying to breathe as quietly as I possibly can. The only sound now is my heart beating at my eardrums. Until a long, slow scratch sounds on the metal panel directly in front of me.
Nonononono. I take a deep breath.
Not today, Satan.
I kick out again and this time my feet connect with a body, a gust of breath telling me I’ve hit my target. I throw my body backwards before whoever it is can drag me down with them, my ribs crashing against the step’s sharp edges. There’s a muffled thud below and I begin to run blindly back up to the surface, climbing the steps two at a time until my thighs are screaming at me to stop.
Light sears into my eyes as the escalator moans back to life beneath my feet. It’s undoing all my hard work, carrying me back down towards my would-be attacker. I brace myself, ribs aching but ready for a fight.
Only, there’s no one there.
I allow the escalator to carry me the last few steps, confused. Where did they go? I definitely just booted someone down here, but there’s not a trace of them. My feet follow an empty, curving tunnel, my eyes darting around the dirty tiles. A low, agonized whine starts to burn into my ears.
