Madman in the Attic

by TuneoftheMoon

Months after their first encounter, the Doctor returns to his American stalker, this time appearing right in front of her house.

That Christmas changed my life forever.

It was around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve, although it was technically Christmas Day at that point, and as usual, I was fighting off sleep with the dark magical powers of YouTube. That night was a Markiplier marathon, nothing out of the ordinary.

I was almost finished with the Five Nights at Freddy's reaction compilation, when I thought I heard a sound from outside towards the street in front of my house. I brushed it off, thinking it was just a car squealing against the icy road, but the sound happened again, more clear than the last time. And clearly not a car.

When the noise resounded for a third time, I could have sworn I recognized it, but my mind, still in YouTube-Land, couldn't place it.

Curiosity turned me over, and I climbed down from my loft bed. Carefully and as quietly as possible, I lifted the blinds, and what I saw shocked me for two reasons. One, it was snowing, which hardly happened at the level it was happening, like something akin to a rainstorm, but snow; Two, hiding and being found again among the chunks of white was a sparsely illuminated blue box, austere in outward appearance, but I knew the majesty of what lay inside.

I grew excited, much more excited than any level of excitement I had ever experienced. I ran out of my room as quickly, yet as quietly, as possible, putting on my long tan coat and my snow boots before running out into the black and white night.

It was just sitting there, in the middle of the street. The TARDIS's doors were closed, the light on the top dark. I wanted so badly to open the doors and see what she was like inside, but that would technically be trespassing, and I didn't want an intergalactic criminal record. At least not right then.

I looked at the ground around the machine, and saw fresh footprints trailing away from the door, heading down the sidewalk towards the nearby church.

I eagerly followed the footprints, grinning like an idiot. Staring down at the ground, I ran after the prints ahead of me.

Sooner than expected, I found the end of the trail when I bumped into the source. He didn't expect me, so when he felt the force against his back, we both fell forward, me falling on top of him.

I stood up quickly, my mind exploding with sudden thoughts of how dumb I just was and how "I'm so sorry to have bumped into you!" and how he was gonna hate me now and-

"Hey, do I know you?"

A voice rang clear through the muddle of my mind, and I looked forward. Standing there was a man dressed in a pink button-up shirt, which was soaking wet, as were his dark gray trousers. He wore a red bow tie that leaned to one side on an angle, most likely due to his fall. His tan jacket had smudges of mud and bits of gravel stuck to it, and his dark brown hair was dripping wet from the faceplant, hanging in front of one eye like a curtain.

My mouth opened and closed wordlessly. I must've looked so dumb, just standing there gaping at him.

The man smiled. "Hello?" he asked awkwardly, leaning down to look at my face.

I brought myself back together, at first stuttering but soon able to fully speak again. "I-I… S-sorry, I don't think I know you. I must've mistaken you for someone else." My face flushed from embarrassment.

He shrugged. "Oh, well. That happens. Hey have you ever seen a big, six-story Santa Claus roam through here?" He used his hands to emphasize how large the Santa supposedly was.

"Uhh, no? No, I'm sorry to say that I haven't," I said.

"No?" The man, who I was quickly beginning to think was crazy, scratched at his wet head. "Where could he have gone?" he said through his teeth.

"What's your name?" I asked.

He stopped scratching. "Ah, name's the Doctor. What's yours?"

My eyes widened when he said that. Then I remembered that the sites about the Doctor said that he's had a few changes in appearance. "My name's Julianna. Is that box in the street yours?"

His eyes brightened at the sound of my name. "Wait, I remember that name. Hang on, are you the girl that planted a camera in my TARDIS?"

Oh, dear God, he remembered. "Y-yeah, I was the one."

"Of course! I thought I've seen you before! You got a haircut!" He smiled, and pointed to the stray strands of hair obscuring my vision.

"So did you." I pointed to the long strands obstructing his vision, and he combed them up with a hand.

"Yeah, I had a close scrape or two." The Doctor laughed. "Still getting used to this new face."

I smiled. "I kinda like it," I said. "But…"

The Doctor's smile faded. "But what?"

"But you're still not a ginger!" I laughed, knowing full well that he wanted so badly to be a ginger.

He gave a wary chuckle. "Yeah, I know. Oh well, there's always the next try."

I nod in agreement, then shiver. Even though I had a thick layer of fur on, it was still snowing, and it was still cold.

The Doctor saw my shiver, and realized that it was in fact cold and snowing and around 2:00 a.m. "We should probably get inside." He gave a little shiver.

"Wanna stop at my house for the night?" I offered before thinking.

"Why not?" He answered, smiling again.

The walk back to my house was when I started thinking. How on Earth was I going to explain why there was an adult male stranger in the house and why a massive blue box was blocking the street, etc.? Was I just supposed to say, "No, Mom, it's fine. He's an alien that travels through time and space saving planets that I stalked on our vacation to England."? Yeah, not happening.

I needed to hide him, but where? The stairwell from the computer room to the bathroom? Too cluttered. Basement? Again, cluttered, not to mention cold, considering the walls and floor are just unfinished stone. The attic? Around the holidays, my sister and I weren't allowed in the attic because Mom wrapped all the presents up there, and she didn't want us seeing anything, in case the currently-being-wrapped present was one of ours.

But, it seemed like a good spot to hide him. There was a bedroom, so he could sleep properly if he wanted. And there would be no reason to even go up there after the presents were set out under the tree.

I decided that's where I'd put him.

It didn't take long to get back to my house, but my mind runs at a million miles an hour, so I'd already decided by then.

The Doctor and I went to the back door, which I found locked. By force of habit, I must've locked it behind me, without first grabbing my key from the kitchen island. "Crap," I whispered.

"Need some help?" The Doctor leaned over me and used his sonic screwdriver to unlock the door.

His screwdriver was different. "Your screwdriver changed, too."

"Yep. It has more settings now."

"Does it work on wood yet?"

I heard a hiss, air being drawn in through teeth. "Ah, no, not yet."

The door clicked, and the Doctor opened the door with a flourish. I had to almost jump to catch the door before it smacked the wall and woke the whole house.

"Please try and be quiet," I said, looking at the Doctor, who was shaking snow off of his black boots. "I don't know if Mom and Dad are asleep, or if they're playing Santa as we speak."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, of course."

I opened the door to get into the kitchen from the pantry. Thankfully, that door was unlocked, or else we'd be stuck out in the pantry due to it locking from the inside, and it being a wooden door.

I couldn't see any light or hear anything, so that was a good sign. I warily padded through the downstairs floor, keeping the Doctor around three feet behind me in case of discovery.

No signs of active life. My whole attitude relaxed, my shoulders sinking in relief. I looked back at the Doctor, who was admiring the smaller of the two Christmas trees in the living room. "Oh, look at that! A little TARDIS ornament!"

I flushed a little. "I made that myself. Mom and Dad won't believe me when I say that you're real. They think you're just another story."

"Just another story? Do you tell stories often?"

I nodded, looking down. "I write a lot. I've actually won some awards for my stories. Heck, Mom even said that I should write about you."

"Well, have you written about me?" The Doctor glanced at me, holding the mini-TARDIS in his hands.

I nodded again. "I was planning to enter one into another contest, but I wasn't sure if they'd take it, because technically, it's using existing material as a base."

"But you just said that no one believed that I existed, they thought I was just another story." The Doctor seemed intrigued.

I shrugged. "I guess it might just be me, because the rules do say it has to be original, and using you as a character is kind of cheating."

"How is it cheating?" He almost laughed.

"I just said- oh, nevermind. We need to go." I looked at the digital clock by the TV.

The Doctor nodded, gently hanging the tiny TARDIS back on the little tree. I led him up the stairs to the second floor, then quietly opened the attic door, going up those stairs.

The attic was cold, but not as cold as the basement would've been. The red carpet was littered with stinkbug remains, but the Doctor didn't seem to mind. After all, we both knew he'd faced much worse.

I pointed to the last door on the right as we tiptoed to it. "There's a bed in that room, but it's a bit of a mess, so sorry."

"It's alright. For me being almost a complete stranger, you're being very kind."

"I wouldn't say that. I mean, I did stalk you and repeatedly look you up on the internet." I laughed, and he laughed along with me, until I yawned.

"I should get back to sleep." I waved goodnight to the Doctor, heading back down the stairs and getting back into my bed. I fell asleep quickly, but nervous thoughts lingered relating to the man in the attic.

Christmas morning. I woke up to my bed shaking and my younger sister shouting, "It's Christmas! Wake up, Julianna!"

"I'm taking Mom's side this year. Go the hell back to sleep," I mumbled into my pillow, but I'm not going to fall back asleep. Once I'm awake, I'm awake.

I lifted myself up using my arms, groaning curses at Ava. I climbed down from my bed and grabbed my Kindle, which was still queued up to Markiplier.

Around half an hour later, when Mom and Dad were finally up, the morning finally started like it always did. Mom taking pictures and ordering Ava and I to stay on the stairs until she's vacuumed Santa's footprints, and Dad getting started on our Christmas breakfast: cinnamon rolls shaped like a Christmas tree with sprinkles to match, and baked oatmeal.

Neither of those things mattered to me, though. Two things were on my mind: the presents arranged under the tree, and the man in the attic that no one else knew about.

I was filled with paranoia, but thankfully I hid it well. The gift opening commenced finally, and I almost completely forgot about the Doctor.

I remembered when I opened a small envelope containing a piece of paper. That piece of paper said, "Come see the new and improved Sci-Fi Museum, opening this January!" It was an advertisement for the brand-new alien exhibit at our local national museum.

My eyes widened, and a smile flashed across my face. I had wanted to go to this for ages, but I was suddenly nervous. No one caught my expression, though, and the morning resumed.

Once breakfast was served and everyone was eating, my mind went into overdrive. "Mom, can I eat in my room?" I asked her as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Why not stay down here and socialize?" she said.

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I don't need to socialize, I'm stuck with you people every day."

Mom shook her head. "Whatever, Julianna." Her tone was annoyed, but she had a small smile.

I took my plate, which had three cinnamon rolls, and went upstairs, looking as normal as any other day. I wasn't going to my room.

Instead, I high-tailed it to the attic to check on the Time Lord.

He was exploring the various rooms, pawing through boxes of old toys and memorabilia of when Mom and Dad were younger. He noticed my presence, and lifted his head to smile at me.

I waved with my empty hand. "Good morning. I brought breakfast."

"Thank you very much." The Doctor took the plate.

I nodded. "It's no problem at all."

We stood there in silence for a while, and it grew awkward. I slowly turned to go back downstairs, but a sticky plate suddenly blocked my vision.

"Don't you think it'd be odd if you went up with a plate, but didn't return with it?" The Doctor asked.

I leaned away from the plate, taking it from him. "Oh, yeah. Thanks."

"No trouble." The Doctor went back to shuffling through the old boxes again, and I went back downstairs, getting my iPod from my room in the process.

Once I had taken care of the plate, I sat down on the sofa and began to text my cousin.

"OMG ALEXIS" I waited impatiently for a reply.

"What happened?" Good, she was up.

"You know the Doctor, right?"

"Yeah, you've told me about him" She's the only one who understands even a little bit about the Doctor and my obsession with sci-fi.

"You won't believe this. HE'S IN THE ATTIC AS WE SPEAK"

"…you're kidding"

"I swear to God I'm telling the truth"

The text was described as 'read', but no reply came.

After a few minutes, a text came that said, "show me".

I opened the window blinds to see out into the street, and sure enough, the TARDIS was still sitting there. I made a mental note to remind the Doctor to move her somewhere else, and I took a picture of her as proof.

I sent the pic to Alexis, who immediately started freaking out. "OMG IT'S REALLY THE BOX"

"Yes it is" I said, a smug grin sneaking onto my face.

Mom started to walk into the room, and I shut the blind hurriedly.

"Who're you texting?" Mom asked. She always asked that.

"Alexis." It was almost always the same answer, for Alexis and I text pretty much every day.

Mom nodded, then said, "Could you open the blind behind you, please?" She gestured to the blind I just closed, and I stiffened.

"Uhh…" I thought of the TARDIS standing in the middle of the street, and cautiously opened the blind despite my mind shouting at me to not do so.

I lifted the blind, and almost gasped. Where'd she go?

Mom didn't notice my surprise. "Thanks."

"Y-you're welcome…" Seriously, the sites never said that she could teleport without the Doctor!

I started getting paranoid thoughts about where and why the TARDIS went. Determined to get answers, though, I took Mom's laptop and began furiously typing in the URL of one of the conspiracy sites about the Doctor: DOCTOR WHO?

I was practically an admin on the site, I was on it so often refining the content, so I was sure that I'd find an answer. I entered a discussion room with a few other experienced followers of the site.

"Guys! You WILL NOT BELIEVE what happened last night and this morning!" I typed eagerly.

"Oh hi, TuneoftheMoon!" ExpertWho411 replied. "What's up?"

"First, I have a question. Can the TARDIS teleport/disappear at her own will?"

"...There haven't seen any documented sightings of that. Why?" 8XPLAYalltheGAMESX8 said.

"Is this for another story?" ExpertWho411 asked.

"No… The Doctor is in my attic." I said warily, not sure how they'd react.

Like Alexis, there were no replies for what felt like an hour. Finally, ExpertWho411 spoke up. "Hey, that's a really good story idea. Is that the newest tale you're writing?"

"This isn't a joke! I saw the TARDIS in the middle of the street at around 2:00 a.m. and I followed footprints away from it until I ran into the Doctor, who looks different from the most recent sightings. I invited him to spend the night and he accepted and now he's in my attic eating cinnamon rolls." I said quickly, my hands repeatedly fumbling over words.

"SHOW US THEN" 8XPLAYalltheGAMESX8 demanded in neon green all-caps.

"Alright, alright! Gimme a second." I shut the laptop and carried it with me back up to the attic, grabbing my iPod from the sofa arm.

The Doctor was STILL going through everything. "My God, what's so interesting about a few dusty cardboard boxes?" I asked laughing.

He almost didn't seem to notice me as he opened the lid of a plastic box.

I tilted my head with a smirk, and made a show of taking the Doctor's picture, making sure the sound was up.

Then he looked up. He saw my arm extended in his direction and my smile. "Hey, what did you just do?"

"Took your picture," I said.

"Why?" the Doctor tilted his head along with me.

"Proof."

"Proof?"

I nodded. "Some people on a site about you don't believe that you're here in my attic, so I'm taking your picture."

The Doctor didn't seem too impressed with the idea, but he didn't protest.

I went back down the stairs, but instead of going downstairs again I shut myself in my room. I imported the picture from my iPod to the laptop and posted it to the conspiracy chat, deleting it afterwards from the computer. I didn't need Mom seeing this.

ExpertWho411 was the first to comment on the picture. "Wow, he really does look different."

"Told you." I typed with a smirk on my face. "Oh, gtg. Mom's called me."

"See ya." ExpertWho411 said before leaving the chat as well.

I left the laptop on my bed as I went downstairs to see what Mom wanted.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Where's my computer?" she said with her hands on her hips.

"I was using it," I responded nonchalantly, swinging my arms slightly.

"Why can't you use your own?" she asked.

"Mom." I slouched over, my way of warning that I'm going to state the obvious. "I've told you. My computer doesn't have Microsoft Word, and Dad's laptop is too slow."

She nodded as if she'd forgotten. "Oh, yeah. Can I have it back though?"

"I'm still writing. Use Ava's computer, it's faster than yours anyway." Normally I'm not so rude and to the point, but I need to research.

"If you're going to stay holed up in your room, you can at least get dressed. We're going to the girls' house today, remember?"

Oh my god. I forgot we were celebrating Christmas with my cousins. I groaned and went back to my room.

On the bright side, I would see Alexis. But I'd have to leave the Doctor here. All alone up in the attic, all day. This isn't gonna be good.

After putting on my favorite dress – modeled after the Tenth Doctor, made it myself – I snuck back up to the attic to tell him.

Still boxes. How many did we have? "Hey, Doctor. I'll be gone all day with relatives. Just a warning to not do anything stupid while we're gone."

"Alright. Should I stay up here?" he asked, looking at me. He noticed my dress, and a smile snuck up. "Hey, nice dress."

"Thanks, I made it after we first met." I leaned back on a heel, remembering the camera. "Anyways, you can explore the house while we're gone, but I'd advise you not to make a mess, in case we get back earlier than expected."

I didn't think he heard; he had ALREADY gone back to the boxes, and just nodded his head wordlessly.

I had the urge suddenly to test how well he really was listening. "I saw Rose Tyler today, also."

He nodded again, giving a small "Mm-hm."

I smirked. "And the Daleks teamed up with the Cybermen and are at the front door."

The Doctor's head snapped up, and he turned back to me with wide eyes. I burst out laughing, nearly doubling over.

"Kidding!" I managed to say. After my laughing fit, I started to go back down the stairs. "Really, though, don't make a mess please."

Spending Christmas with the people you love is fun and all, but I was glad to be home. I was constantly being asked about my dress, as if it was the first time any of my relatives had seen it, and Alexis wouldn't stop asking questions about what the Doctor was like.

On second thought, can we go back?

As soon as Mom opened the pantry door, she screamed. I ran to her to see what had happened.

The house was a mess: the counters were covered in various foods and science-y things, the playroom's shelves were empty and the toys were scattered everywhere on the ground floor, the living room was strangely left untouched, but the dining room. THE DINING ROOM. The Doctor had turned the dining room into a full-blown SCIENCE LAB. And sure enough, he was right there in that mess, doing some crazy experiment with the TV remote.

"Ah, there you are." The Doctor noticed my gawking at him and smiled at me. "Good news. His remote can now control everything in the house, as long as it's electric."

"What are you doing!?" I whisper-shouted at him. "I told you not to make a mess! What is this!?"

"Oh, umm…" the Doctor gave a nervous chuckle.

I sighed with frustration and facepalmed.

Then Mom came in.

"What happened here!? Who is this!?" She spouted questions at me, her tone of voice heavily implying that it was about to go down if I didn't answer.

"Mom, Mom, MOM!" I had to get her attention back, or else she wouldn't listen at all. "You know the Doctor, right? The time-traveling alien character of mine? Well…" I inhaled and extended my arms in the Doctor's direction. "Here he is..!"

The Doctor waved with a smile, not realizing how furious Mom was at us.

"How the hell did he get in our house!?" Mom shouted as Dad came into the room.

What Dad first said I'm not gonna say, but it started with "what the", and the last word rhymed with "luck".

"Dad, I can explain!" I said, waving my arms at him.

"Like hell you can explain! I'm calling the cops!" Dad said, pulling out his phone.

"No, Dad!" I jumped up and stole his phone from him, which made him even more furious. He glared at me coldly, on the verge of exploding.

Only then realizing how tense I was, I sighed slowly, and began to talk. "Last night, I was staying up late on my Kindle when I heard a noise from outside. I went outside and saw his machine, called the TARDIS, in the middle of the street. I followed footprints trailing away from her until I bumped into the Doctor. I invited him to spend the night, cause it was snowing really hard and it was two a.m. and he's probably here for a really important reason; he doesn't just show up for no reason. Whenever sightings of him occur, some form of disaster, conspiracy, or important happening either just happened or happen within a week after. So please, please, please don't kick him out, cuz he's also kinda fun to be with once you get to know him." I looked back into my parents' faces, which were perfect paintings of confusion, shock, and utter disbelief.

"Why can't he just stay in his… TARDIS?" Mom asked, tilting her head and crossing her arms.

"Uhh, she disappeared earlier this morning, when you told me to open the blinds." My face was flushed from embarrassment and felt physically hot.

"Oh, that's no issue!" the Doctor piped up. "She's in the backyard," he added with a bright smile.

"You're not helping," I said to him through my teeth.

Mom and Dad were both silent, and my mind began to race. What if they made him leave? What if there really was a disaster? What if my parents inadvertently brought the end of Earth as we know it!?

A sigh broke my paranoia. Turns out Mom and Dad had been discussing while I quietly lost my mind. "Alright, he can stay. But only as long as he has to," Mom said, and Dad grumbled, obviously showing who preferred what.

I beamed widely, and turned to the Doctor. "Did you hear that!? You can stay!" I squeaked like the fangirl I was and nearly hugged the Doctor, nearly.

His smile grew to match mine. "Cool."