she sighed. “Ok, Alex. It’s time you knew everything. But, I’m not going to tell you…I’m going to show you.”
PART II
CHOSEN
10
What time is it?” Gabriella barked.
I looked at my watch. “It’s almost one,” I said quietly.
I was still pressed against the wall, beads of sweat trickling down my forehead. I couldn’t think straight. It felt as if the thread which held my world together was coming loose. “Good, there shouldn’t be any trains then.” “Trains?” I managed to ask. Gabriella shot me a glance which suggested I be quiet. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me into the bathroom and pointed to the sink. “Clean yourself up. You look a complete state,” she ordered.
I turned to the mirror and heaved. My mouth and chin was smeared with TJ’s blood. My knuckles were coated in it. I froze, staring at the fallout of my actions.
“Alex!” hissed Gabriella.
Her voice snapped me back into reality. I washed the evidence off my mouth and hands, watching as the blood diluted into a pale pink under the flowing tap. Shaking, I shut off the water and dried myself with a towel. “Come on,” commanded the girl with the answers. Together we slipped quietly down the stairs and out the front door. “We need to head for the tube station,” she said. I followed her down the road a little way, where her bike stood parked. “Get on the back.”
I obeyed without a single argument. I felt numb. Gabriella was the key to it all. Why didn’t I see it before? I’d known from the start that something was up with this girl, how had I failed to connect the dots? The answer was glaringly obvious. I’d been blinded by her beauty.
As I put my arms around her waist, I laughed humourlessly to myself. I would have killed for the chance to ride together on her bike. Now I nearly had and felt nothing but sick to my stomach.
Gabriella kicked the bike into action and we surged down the road. Parked cars blurred into trees and shops as we sped into town. The bike slowed as we neared the alleyway where I’d… I didn’t want to think about it.
I noticed with shock that the alleyway was completely empty. There was no evidence that anything had happened at all. The bins had been tidied and the blood-stained concrete had been cleaned. TJ was gone. Those around acted as if nothing had happened. They ate food from kebab shops, chatted and smoked in drunken bliss.
There were no police in sight. No yellow tape. No crying witnesses.
Nothing.
Gabriella twisted the accelerator and we sped up again, climbing the hill towards the north part of town, where the tube station was situated. We arrived at the station and I clambered off the bike. My guide stepped off afterwards, killing the ignition and pocketing the keys. “Do you think it’ll be safe here?” I asked nodding to the bike. She gave me a glowering stare. “Who the hell cares?” The tube station was closed — a black gate pulled across the entrance, barring the entrance. Gabriella gestured towards it. “Would you like to do the honours?” she offered wryly. “Ella, I don’t think we should be breaking in here. It’s illegal.” She shot me a cold glance. “Yeah maybe we should just stick to GBH.” I winced.
“Fine, I’ll do it then,” she sighed.
Gabriella glanced around to make sure no one was looking. This part of town mainly consisted of supermarkets and car showrooms, so was pretty dead at this time of night. Just a handful of drunks stumbled past, cans of beer clutched in their hands. When they’d gone from sight, she positioned herself in front of the barrier. Stretching her arms wide for greater coverage, she yanked hard against the gate. With a scream it snapped off its hinges and into her hands. She placed the entire thing against the adjacent wall. My expression must have been one complete shock, because she laughed.
“Oh come on Alexander, did you really think you were the only one?”
We went inside and hopped over deactivated barriers.
Leading the way, Gabriella headed in the direction of the platform. We descended a few flights of concrete steps and jumped more barriers. When we reached the platform, I took her arm. “What now?” I asked. “We keep going,” she stated in a matter of fact tone and jumped down onto the track. My heart lurched in response. “Are you insane?” I hissed. “You’re going to get yourself killed!” Gabriella glared at me. “Alexander for the love of god get down here!” I stayed perfectly still, wondering if she had actually lost her mind. She put her hands on her hips impatiently. “You want to know what’s going on, right?”
I stayed on the spot for a few more moments, thinking. I need to know.
I nodded.
“Then stop being such a baby and get down here.”
So against my better judgment, I lowered myself onto the tracks and followed Gabriella. We ran between the rails for what seemed like forever. Eventually the tube went underground. I could feel the track sloping under my feet as we entered the yawning black mouth. We were plunged into complete darkness, but that didn’t seem to bother my guide.
“Take my hand,” she said without breaking her stride. I closed my palm around hers and felt the familiar crackle along with a harsh tug as she surged forward, pulling me along.
Incredibly, not long after, my eyesight seemed to adjust to the dense darkness and things grew clearer. Not a huge amount, but enough that I could make out the track and tunnel walls.
Ahead I saw the dim light of a station platform. As we reached it, Gabriella slowed. “We need to get out here and change to another platform,” she informed me. I followed her, leaping up onto the platform with surprising ease. The tiled sign said Earls Court.
Not stopping, Gabriella paced along the tiled corridors of the station, leading us to another platform and back onto the tracks. There was a strong smell of diesel here and a flash image of thundering tubular trains shot into my mind. I shook it away.
Once again we sank into darkness, and once again I became blind. We ran in silence for a few more minutes and just as my eyes were beginning to adjust, Gabriella stopped. I barged into her, and felt her body tense up. “Alex, be careful,” she hissed. “Oh I’m sorry if sprinting through pitch black tunnels makes me a little clumsy,” I bit back. I heard her stifle a laugh. “Fair enough.” Then she became serious again. “Okay, it’s around here somewhere.” “What are we looking for?” I quizzed. “You’ll know soon enough,” was the reply.
My guide busied herself with whatever she was looking for. I could vaguely see her rapping her knuckles against the dank concrete walls. The thuds sounded hollow and echoed around us. Gabriella shuffled further along the track, repeating the process. As the minutes wore on, I could sense her getting more and more frustrated. She swore under her breath.
Something caught my attention. I turned around, staring into the gloomy distance. I squinted my eyes, forced them to focus. After several seconds I deduced that it was a glowing yellow orb. I continued to watch it, trying to get my head around what it could be. It grew steadily and then broke into two. Two pulsing yellow orbs. I craned my neck forward trying to make sense of what I was seeing. The cogs finally turned and a cold sweat washed over me. Headlights…train headlights. My heart jumped into my mouth. I reached out, aiming for Gabriella’s shoulder. She tried to shake off my hand when I found it. “Stop it! I’m trying to concentrate!” “Ella,” I squawked frantically, “there’s a train coming!” “What? Oh, just our luck!”
The headlights grew larger. I could make them out now; they shone in the gloom like two menacing eyes hovering above the hidden jaws of some foul beast, racing towards us, hungry and terrifying.
I could hear the sound now. The rhythmic clacking and screeching as it rattled along the rails. The vibrations raced along the tunnel and up my feet. Small stones and hidden debris started to tremor on the ground, like the tap of a thousand impatient fingers. Adrenaline started to flow through my body as my fight or flight reactions kicked in. The train was coming too fast and we were too far down the track, I didn’t think there was time to get back before it reached us. But we had to try.
