Watch Your Back

1- In The Cold And In The Dark.

The night was dark, and the city of London was now bitter cold.

Light drizzle soaked the pavements, and built up on the roads, illuminated by the harsh flare of neon signs and the deep glow of late-night restaurants, their tinny music seeping through the damp air. The streets smelt of rubbish, tarmac, and cheap takeaway food.

The light of the Underground station nearby flickered limply. It looked like two of the three bulbs inside it had been shattered, as what was arguably supposed to be 'Chancery Lane' was now 'Chance' with a colossal dent and a spiderweb of cracks along the right hand side.

Edmund nigh on knocked out the final bulb as he cannoned towards the railings on a bike, leaping free, ditching the faithful machine in a heap on the floor and making for the steps downward at a dead sprint. Out of the drizzle, the Tube station was grimy, smelling faintly of piss, and the harsh, cheap lights lit up the tiny white tiles of the floor. Edmund's running footsteps echoed loudly as he shot through the open ticket barrier and made a split decision to try and get on the Central line.

Skidding onto the empty platform, Edmund could have cried as he realised he had sixteen minutes to wait before the next tube.

Trouble was, he didn't have sixteen minutes.

He ran the length of the platform, rounding the corner and flattening his body against the wall, listening intently. Three sets of feet came to his ears, and he cringed as he also heard three sets of voices.

"See him?"

"Nope. Little bugger."

"Reckon he's with Kovlova?"

"Course he is."

Faintly, and in front of him, Edmund heard the rumbling of a tube train in the distance, and the disgusting tiles he was pressed against vibrated loosely.

"Shit, Kem. There's a train coming on the other side."

"He'll be going for that one."

"Come on."

As the noise of the train got louder on the other platform, Edmund, heart pounding like a hailstorm, considered his options. Sixteen minutes - fifteen now - was a while. Was it possible that he could get to either adjacent station through the tube tunnels without getting crushed or electrocuted?

On any normal day, Edmund would have told himself he was mad. On that day, however, he'd already been through far too much to worry about dying. He didn't fancy his chances at the hands of his persuers, anyway.

Checking Cammie's watch, and giving himself fifteen minutes from that starting point, Edmund quietly sneaked out from his hiding place and stepped over the barrier which separated the platform from the dark abyss which was the tube tunnel. He could hear the other tube rumbling away in the distance, and he wondered whether his persuers had got onto it.

Not wanting to take any chances, however, he picked his way along carefully, before rounding a corner, turning on his phone flashlight, and venturing down into the cold and the dark.