The first thing Mickey was aware of as he regained consciousness was the smell; a musty damp odour mixed in with something fainter but just as unpleasant. He risked opening his eyes a crack, but it was so dark he couldn't see anything apart from his own body, and realised he was sitting down. Tied up, too, judging by the rope cutting into his wrists and ankles, which seemed to tighten as he struggled to get free. He could feel something sticky on his forehead and caked to the side of his face, and there was a violent throbbing in his temple where the man had struck him.

"Hey!" He croaked, starting to tug at the ropes more violently, but there was no answer, and his voice sounded strangely muffled. I'm in a cellar, he realised. That weird guy knocked me out and tied me up in his cellar. The thought filled him with cold fear and hot anger, and he fought the urge to struggle against the ropes again. He waited until the conflicting feelings subsided and then forced his mind blank, thinking hard.

The man needed him for a reason; therefore, he needed him alive. And it wouldn't be long until he came down and hopefully turned on the light. Feeling more fear than relief at having to face the creepy man again, Mickey changed tack. Rose will notice I'm gone, she'll save me. This thought had the desired effect; he felt his pulse slow as he calmed down.

Then his heart raced faster as a horizontal chink of light appeared, high up on the opposite wall, and widened - the door opening, letting light fall through and onto the cellar steps. The man's feet came into view below the door as he started down the steps, and Mickey noted irrelevantly that he wore very shiny black shoes. Then he descended, closing the door behind him, and the room was cast back into pitch darkness. Mickey started to wonder whether the man could see in the dark, when the light overhead suddenly blinked into life and he was forced to squeeze his eyelids shut as light burned into his eyes. His head split with agony. He heard the man moving around, but unable to move or look at him, he had no idea what he was doing.

"Who are you?" Mickey spat through gritted teeth as the pain ebbed. He clenched his bound fists behind his back. "What do you want?"

"My name is Tobias." The man replied. He was silent for a few minutes, and Mickey risked opening his eyes slightly. They had just about adjusted to the flickering bulb overhead, and he only had to blink a couple of times before Tobias came into focus. He was standing a few yards away with his back to his prisoner, head bent over something he was holding in his hands, looking at intently. All Mickey saw of him was longish, greasy black hair, falling over the collar of his immaculate black suit.

In front of him, on the other side of the room from where Mickey sat, was a huge object draped in a few stapled together sheets. There was no telling from the shape what it was, but was instantly suspicious. The light above was flashing strangely, and as he glanced up, Mickey spotted a bundle of wires leading from the bulb and disappearing underneath the hidden shape. Tobias was muttering under his breath, and, straining his ears, Mickey could just make out some of what he was saying.

"There…is it enough? It should be enough…" He suddenly froze, then spun round and fixed Mickey with a wicked grin, which coupled with his strangely silvery eyes, made his face sinister, and induced a shiver in his prisoner. The object in his hands was a small rectangular console, like a Gameboy, with an antenna waving erratically from the top. It had started making faint bleeping noises as soon as Tobias focused it on Mickey.

"What's that?" Mickey gasped, curiosity ignited. He tried to lean forward to see the device more closely, but the man snatched it back out of sight, stuffing it into an inside pocket of his suit. Mickey slumped, disappointed. "So, what are you going -"

"Tobias?" It was Sarah Jane's voice, and it came from the top of the stairs, behind the cellar door. "Toby, are you down there?" The door handle rattled, to no avail; Tobias had obviously locked it. The man looked slightly annoyed, but after a few seconds called up to her.

"I'll be right there, dear." Throwing a last glance at Mickey, Tobias mounted the stairs and was at the top in a flash. He unlocked the door, reaching out at the same time to switch the light off. The room was plunged into darkness once more. The door shut with a click, but just before it did, he could have sworn he saw two eyes hovering by the door, glittering with silvery light. Then they swiftly vanished. Mickey shivered as he remembered Tobias' strange silver eyes, and made up his mind. There was no way Tobias was going to let him go – so he would have to escape, now, while he was alone. He stretched his arms backward away from the chair, squeezing his fists. His wrists stung as the rope chafed them, and he bit his lip but didn't stop. He began to slowly wriggle his hands free.

Ten minutes later, the rope fell to the floor behind the chair. Mickey was on his feet in an instant, stumbling slightly from being in the same position so long. He rubbed his wrists absently and felt wetness come away on his fingers. Blood. Wincing from the stinging pain, Mickey carefully set off in what he hoped was the direction of the stairs.

Rose hesitated as the door swung half-open silently, trying to peer inside the hall without making a noise. She was quite sure she hadn't done anything that would unlock the door, and her danger sense was tingling. Heart thumping, Rose slowly stood up, then reached out and gently pushed the door open all the way. There was a scuffle in the hall, and Rose's heart leapt into her mouth. She found herself taking steps backwards, away from the house, and forced her legs to be still, and then to take small steps forwards. As quietly as she could, Rose stepped over the threshold and into the hall, arms tensed and hands curled into tight fists.

The hall was empty, dark and silent. Beginning to relax slightly, Rose took a few more steps, bolder now. As she stopped to glance into the living room, a dark shape slowly emerged from behind the open door and advanced down the hall, making no noise. Until the door banged shut behind him. Rose spun round, heart thudding, and opened her mouth to scream as whoever it was suddenly loomed in front of her, raising what looked like an umbrella to attack…

At the last instant, they recognised each other. Rose swallowed the scream and said, somewhat more shakily than she would have liked, "Mickey?"

"Rose!" Her friend dropped the umbrella. "You're here to rescue me, then?"

"Um, yeah." Rose grinned, pulling him into a hug. "What happened?" She asked as they let go.

"A man -" Mickey began, but they both froze as the lights from a car washed through the window over them.

Rose ran to peer through one of the windows in the door. "Oh God. They're back," she muttered. "I thought we'd have more time…"

"Is it Tobias?" Mickey asked, then answered Rose's unspoken question. "It was him, he knocked me out and -" He was cut short by the sound of car doors slamming, and raised voices.

"You should have known it was a trick! You should have called his mobile! You -"

Mickey swore, and Rose looked round wildly for an escape route. "No time. Follow me." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door of the cellar. Flinging the door open, he flicked on the flickering light and gave Rose a push to start her down the stairs, pulling the door shut behind them.

"What -"

"Not now!" He hissed. "Just go!" He waited until she was at the bottom of the steps, then switched off the light. The room plunged into blackness, and Mickey groped his way down the steps, feeling the wall with the hand that didn't still clutch the umbrella. He found Rose's hand again in the darkness and pushed the handle of the umbrella into it.

"Mickey, what -" But he was gone, leaving her alone. Rose crouched against the side of the staircase, where she was invisible from the doorway. Mickey scrabbled for the chair, almost fell over it, threw himself onto the seat and grabbed the ropes, twisting them round his wrists and dropping his arms over the back of the chair. If Tobias didn't look to closely…

The door crashed open and the light exploded. Mickey groaned, trying to look as if he was just waking up. Keeping his eyes almost closed, he watched as Rose flattened herself against the concrete staircase, gripping the umbrella. She gave a wink in his direction, not knowing if he could see her or not, and tensed as she heard Toby begin to descend the stairs towards them.