His fist swings and lands clumsily on her mouth. Her lip is split; she tastes blood but the punch lacks power. She steadies herself.

Frowning, he cries, ‘Now look what you made me do!’

He raises his arm but not before she launches a punch at his Adam’s apple.

He makes an odd gurgling noise and staggers back choking, clutching at his throat.

Her neck sore from his grip, her breathing shallow, she shoves him aside and tries to sprint away, but his foot slides across, tripping her and she falls forward, her arms spinning in front of her.

She lands on all fours.

Glancing behind, she sees him moving after her, his face purple with fury. The knife is almost a metre away and she scrambles for it, but it’s not close enough.

His hands grip her ankle and he wrenches her back along the cold concrete floor.

She screams angrily, kicks back at his face and hears his nose crunch. His grip loosens and she hauls herself forward quickly to grab the edge of the blade, which slices into her palm. She feels no pain, just warm blood. She runs to the steps but he’s right behind her and grabs her hair. She spins around and faces him.

Their eyes lock.

She feels no fear.

She has faced a monster before.

And she doesn’t hesitate.

She thrusts the blade into his stomach. It slides effortlessly through the rubber suit and into his belly.

Jamie blinks, his face losing colour. He runs the tips of his fingers across her cheek and steps back, the blade still inside him, a look of confusion on his face, as he slowly drops to his knees.

Archer wastes no time in climbing the stairs. As she steps into the doorway, she emerges into what looks like a utility room. Inside is a worktop and various tools fixed to the wall. A drill, a hammer, a saw and an axe, a torch.

Exiting the space, Archer’s bloody handprint smears the door as she hauls herself through it. Her eyes squint at the natural light that floods in from the kitchen and she winces at the bleeding wound in her hand, a pain on a par with her crippling headache.

She feels her lip beginning to swell and wipes blood from her mouth with her uninjured hand. She makes her way to the hallway but the tapping noise starts again and begins to increase with an intensity before slowing again.

Her heart skips.

She looks behind her. It’s coming from the utility room.

Could it be . . .?

She hurries back and glances down at Jamie who is still on his knees, staring down at the knife in his stomach.

The tapping is coming from behind the wall on which the tools are fixed. She searches the wall and finds an inset door handle hidden amongst the tools. Lifting it out, she pulls open a hidden door.