Neverwhere

Lamia leads Door, Hunter, and Richard to a door in an alley, marked “The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Houses”; a sign below that reads: “Down Street Please Knock” (293). Richard knocks, and the four are led down several flights of stairs by a footman. He leads them to an elevator, which descends until it reaches a platform. They emerge to find themselves 20 feet away from a ledge to a long staircase that spirals down to a floor that is several thousand feet below them. The only way to reach the path is to walk across a wooden plank. Richard struggles with crossing it because of his fear of heights, but Door and Hunter coax him across.

They start down the long, descending road. As they lose sight of Door and Hunter, who are ahead of them, Lamia tells Richard that her price for guiding them is some of his warmth and they kiss. When they separate, Lamia’s skin has color and her breath fogs the air; Richard, however, feels frozen and begins to pass out. Just as Lamia is about to take his life, the Marquis de Carabas arrives and threatens to kill her if she doesn’t restore Richard’s warmth. She breathes into Richard’s face, and he regains consciousness. The Marquis tells him that they must catch up with Door and Hunter. Richard spots them across the way, one level below where he and the Marquis are standing, but the Marquis points out that Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar are standing in the shadows another level down. The Marquis realizes this trip to Down Street is a trap, and he tells Richard to run and warn Door and Hunter because he himself can’t run again yet.

Mr. Vandemar captures Door, and when Richard asks Hunter to save her, the bodyguard kicks him to the ground instead, revealing that she is the traitor. Mr. Croup asks for the key they got from the Black Friars. To spare Door’s life, Richard says he has it and digs into his pocket. He notices something that hadn’t been there before, but he pulls out his flat key and offers that instead. Unfortunately, they’re not fooled by this ruse, and Mr. Vandemar starts kicking Richard repeatedly. Door admits that she carries the key, and after they discover that she also has the obsidian figure, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar lead her away―but not before giving Hunter a spear as payment. She intends to use this weapon against the Great Beast of London.

Richard asks where Door is being taken and who is behind Hunter’s betrayal and employing Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. The Marquis finally catches up; he points a crossbow at Hunter, demanding that she lower her weapons and answer Richard. She reveals that Islington is the one responsible for everything. The Marquis instructs Richard to collect the spear, and then the three of them continue on the road, with Hunter walking ahead of them so the Marquis can keep an eye on her.

Hunter, the Marquis, and Richard walk for hours. They reach the entrance to a labyrinth; at the end of the labyrinth is Islington, and within the labyrinth is the Great Beast. The Marquis and Hunter explain to Richard that Islington lives in a citadel that acts as its prison—though Islington is still an angel, it is not a good one. The Marquis says, “When angels go bad, Richard, they go worse than anyone. Remember, Lucifer used to be an angel” (324). After Richard says he’s had bad dreams about the beast, the Marquis says he’ll take Hunter on while Richard waits outside the labyrinth. Richard decides to go with them, though, because he wants to save Door. Hunter explains that without Islington’s token, which is supposed to ensure safe passage through the labyrinth, they’ll never make it to the other side. The Marquis then produces Lord Portico’s identical obsidian figurine, and they proceed. 

Mr. Croup, Mr. Vandemar, and Door walk through the maze, guided by Islington’s token. Door antagonizes the men by calling out their fear of the beast and asks if they plan to sell both her and Islington. When Mr. Croup laughs, she realizes Islington is not her ally, and she begins shouting to draw the beast out. Mr. Vandemar silences her by shoving a handkerchief in her mouth. Awaiting Door’s arrival of Door, Islington dances and sings, caressing a giant door in its chamber. When Croup, Vandemar, and Door reach the end of the labyrinth, Islington lets them in.

The Marquis, Richard, and Hunter also follow the lead of Islington’s token. But when the Marquis injures his foot on the bones of a corpse in the labyrinth’s marshlands, he drops the token into the murky water. He asks Richard to retrieve it since the Marquis is still holding the crossbow aimed at Hunter; just as Richard is about to reach it, the token sinks into the bog. Immediately, the Great Beast of London arrives. Hunter grabs the spear and faces off against the beast, which looks like a boar the size of an elephant. The beast charges, and Hunter makes her move—but she is not fast enough. She drops the spear, and the beast’s tusk rips open her side. The beast crushes her and disappears. 

Hunter expresses remorse for betraying Door and Richard. She then sacrifices herself by calling the beast back so that Richard can kill it with the spear. Before she dies, she tells Richard that he is now the greatest hunter in London Below and gives him her knife. She also instructs him to put the beast’s blood on his eyes and tongue; the Marquis explains that this will allow Richard to lead them through the labyrinth. The Marquis tells Richard to run ahead because Door is waiting for them, and when Richard reaches the door to Islington, he opens it with ease.

Richard finds himself back in the Great Hall where he and Door drank Islington’s wine. He finds Islington, Mr. Croup, Mr. Vandemar, and Door, who is chained up between two pillars. Islington has Richard tortured so that Door will give in and do what the angel wants. When Islington senses they’re not alone, it sends Mr. Croup to investigate and then chains Richard between two pillars as well. The presence it felt was the Marquis, whom Mr. Croup captures; the third member of the original party is also chained up. 

Richard asks why Islington is doing this, not understanding how an angel could do something so inherently wrong as killing Door’s family and kidnapping her. Mr. Croup says that Islington has lived too long to know the difference between right and wrong anymore. Islington reveals that it is being punished for not preventing the sinking of Atlantis. When the Marquis guesses that Islington instigated the tragedy, the angel screams, “They deserved it” (331). So, in truth, Islington was imprisoned because he caused Atlantis’s destruction. 

Approaching Door, Islington says it was interested in her family because it knew they had the ability to open doors. While it had the door that would lead out of its prison, it needed the key that the Black Friars were guarding and someone to open the door. Islington was told it would be released once it had earned forgiveness, but it got tired of waiting and sought out someone to help it escape so it can invade Heaven. 

The angel reveals that it had Door’s family killed―though it implies that someone besides Door is still alive. Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar then tampered with Lord Portico’s final journal entry, which had actually warned Door not to trust Islington. Richard insists that Door won’t do what Islington wants after all the trauma it put her through, but when Mr. Vandemar starts cutting off Richard’s ear, she yields. 

Door is partially released from her shackles and she touches the prison door; a keyhole appears. Islington hands her the key, and she uses it to unlock the door. As she starts to open the door, Islington tells Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar that they can kill Door, Richard, and the Marquis when he leaves. The Marquis speaks up, reminding Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar that they’ve not yet been paid. They confront the angel, and Islington promises them rewards once it rules over all of creation. Dissatisfied with the response, the assassins begin walking toward Islington; it’s at that point that Door opens the chamber door. Islington is ecstatic, but it soon realizes that the door doesn’t lead to Heaven when a forceful wind begins to blow, pulling everything toward the doorway. Richard looks out the door and sees that he is looking down into space. As everyone clings to the pillars to avoid being sucked into the void, Door reveals that the key Islington took from her is fake—a copy made by Hammersmith. She has used her powers to summon a door “[a]s far and hard away as [she] could” (338).

Islington tries to bargain with Door to shut the door, telling her that it knows where her sister is; Door’s sister is alive because Islington initially captured her to see if she had the power to open the door. But, before Door can respond, the angel is sucked through the doorway, as are Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. Just before Richard’s manacles give way, the door slams shut. The Marquis asks Door where she sent Islington and the assassins; she responds that she doesn’t know and that she’s tired. She frees herself, Richard, and the Marquis, and then she and Richard fall asleep holding each other. The Marquis eventually joins them.