Disclaimer: Wow, you people must be dumb, to think I own this, and I'm writing fan fiction. Think about it.
Chapter 1: Through the Mirror
A girl was wandering aimlessly around town, the winter wind and falling snow nipping at her face harshly. In an attempt to make herself warmer, she pulled the overly-large, striped scarf she wore around her mouth. She tugged on the long black trench-style coat she was wearing, the length of it covering most of her thighs. The girl sighed in boredom and pulled the pair of goggles on top of her head over her eyes. The lenses of the goggles were a dull green, yet hid her eyes well. She continued her wandering.
The girl looked to be in her mid twenties to early thirties, but the vast majority of her face was covered by the large hood over her head and the scarf she had recently placed around her chin.
The few that passed slowed down to stare at her as they passed, finding the set of goggles covering her eyes, exotic yet intimidating. But quickly they would speed up, as if scared of her. She breathed a heavy sigh, the water vapour escaping her lips, creating a small cloud through the fabric of the two toned scarf.
It was a struggle, walking through the three foot snow that covered the ground. She found it somewhat uncomfortable at how quiet it was. It was an eerie silence as there were no cars on the roads, and very few dared to venture out in the biting cold and harsh wind. Something also felt wrong to her, as if someone was messing with nature, yes, something most certainly was not right. She was sure of that much. The girl let out another deep breath as she stared up at the angelically white sky. She entered the large cathedral before her, pushing open the large doors, disappearing from sight as she was engulfed by the darkness.
On the other side of the town a young man was treading through the three foot snow. The tail of his long overcoat dragging on the white substance as he moved forward, hands in the pockets of his blue suit trousers. As someone passed him he turned to them quickly, and shouted over to them. "Hey, excuse me?" The middle aged woman turned to face him in surprise, her curly blonde hair flying around her face. "When is it?"
She stared at him, "When is it? What do you mean by "when"?"
Instead of paying attention to the woman in front of him he looked around at the world around him, "What day is it? What month, what year?"
"June twenty-first, two-thousand and nine… May I ask why?" The woman gripped onto her bag tightly, thinking about just walking away from this stranger.
"June?" He exclaimed, shocked, "Well why is it snowing? It shouldn't be snowing, not in the middle of summer…" he questioned to himself more than the woman.
As if thinking he was talking to her she began, "It's been snowing for two weeks non-stop. I think it really is starting to take a toll on both transport and business."
He ran a hand through his wild, brown hair, "This is just strange." He muttered before turning away from the woman, moving through the snow quicker than previously. He stuck his hand into the pocket of his overcoat and brought it back out, holding a bulky, silver pen. The man pressed a button on the device and it began buzzing. He pointed it to the sky then horizontally in a circle around himself. The pen's buzzing grew in pitch as he faced east. He let go of the button and proceeded to head in the direction the noise had grown.
He began pressing the button again and followed the direction when the pitch increased. Soon enough he came to a stop at a small shop. It was closed as far as he could tell, and he noticed there was a back door that he could in through. When he reached it he once again pressed the button on the device and pointed at the lock. When he heard a "click" he pushed open the door with a large amount of effort to enter a store room. He closed the door quickly and stared at the frame, ice covering the gaps between the wall and the door. He closed the door swiftly before scanning the room with the silver contraption. He ran over to a corner of the room, pushed a large stack of boxes out of the way to find something very strange was huddled up against the wall, shivering with a thin blanket wrapped around it tightly.
It was a child.
"Erm, I don't really know what I'm doing here," The goggled girl said as she sat in one of the middle pews of the cathedral. Silence bar her voice filled the darkness. She still had her hood up and her goggles on, but she had lowered her scarf so it only covered her neck. "-Seeing as how I've kind of lost faith in you… but, I need your help, your wisdom."She paused and clasped her bare hands together, "Something's wrong, not just the unseasonal snow, but something just doesn't feel right. It feels unnatural, as if someone's playing with the world… it feels like something, or someone has appeared from nowhere, and has suddenly done something to affect the weather in such a way." The girl shifted uncomfortably on the wooden bench, and then bit her lip, chewing on the bottom skin. "One moment it was the warmest summer I had seen, the next; it was the coldest, even colder than any of the winters we have ever lived through. This doesn't feel domestic, human… I know how stupid I must sound at the moment but I don't care." She shifted once again, the feeling of discomfort coming from the idea that someone was watching her.
She continued hastily, "I've seen people wandering through the snow, but they didn't seem normal. It was like they were a part of it… if that makes any sense. Hmm, the basic reason I came to you was to ask for your help, send someone, anyone who can stop this… Thank you Lord."
The girl was about to get up when she heard the cathedral doors swinging open. She turned around quickly to see a young man clad in a long overcoat enter. But just as quickly she looked she turned back around, nervousness filling her to the brim. He slowly made his way down the aisle and stopped when he reached the same row as the girl.
As he stopped he calmly sat down beside her, facing forward acting like he hadn't even noticed her. She had that same strange feeling again, the feeling that something wasn't right. She had the notion that he wasn't human, they way he walked in as if he was superior and then they way he calmly sat beside her. The girl tugged on her scarf and brought it up over her lips, concealing even more of her face from sight. She stared down at her hands, hoping that the man would believe she was praying and merely leave.
Unluckily for her that didn't happen, instead he decided to start speaking, "Lovely weather isn't it?" He began chirpily, giving her a kind look. "Not every day you get snow non-stop now is it?"
"Yeah, wonderful…" She replied sarcastically, then staring down at her watch she decided that she should be leaving soon, and stood up from her seat, yet stopped when the man spoke up.
"I see you're praying."
"Well noticed." She deadpanned.
"But you're not really are you?"
"What makes you say that?" She retorted out of irritation.
"You are talking to me."
"Well you started it!"
"You don't seem like the kind of person to believe in God, either."
"Well, I guess you're kinda right-"
"Kind of" He corrected.
"Yeah, whatever." The girl muttered, "What are you doing here anyway? You aren't praying much either."
"I'm looking for something or someone more precisely."
"What? If it's someone who works here then I'm afraid you're out of luck, the cathedral has been deserted ever since it started snowing, no one knows what happened to them, the priests I mean." She said, drifting off into her own thoughts. "Then again, I have seen a few rather suspicious people lurking about the place…"
He perked up at this information; although vague it was striking an interest in him. "People? What kind? Did you see their faces by any chance?"
The goggled girl widened her eyes, "Well, they were wearing some kind of cloaks, but their faces were completely hidden." she retorted, tilting her head ever so slightly so she could see him through the corner of her eye. "Sorry, but I have to be somewhere."
She began walking to the end of the pew but stopped when the man stuck his legs out farther. The girl refused to look at him, so continued staring ahead of her. He noticed her actions and spoke up, "Why won't you look at me?"
She released a low groan of frustration, "You seem like a self-loving, overly confident idiot, and I cannot be bothered with people like you."
He stood up, blocking her way even more. She turned her head to the side so that she wasn't staring straight at him - she felt uncomfortable staring into someone's eyes, even if they couldn't see hers. "Are you gonna move aside or what?" She questioned sourly.
He shifted backwards, "You don't even know me, so how can you decide what I am like?" She then noticed his eyes, and how they didn't fit this body and face of his. He began, "And no. I am not going to move." the man stated simply, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He stared at her, almost as if he could see through the green lenses of her goggles, she averted her gaze in uneasiness. "What's with the goggles, eh?"
"I like them," she retorted, gripping onto the cuffs of her coat sleeves. "Why do you ask?" Subtly she moved backwards, yet at the same time trying to keep her body as still as possible. It seemed like he hadn't noticed. She bit down on her lower lip, the small pang of pain somehow making her feel in control, if only by a small portion.
"I find it uncomfortable when I can't see someone's eyes," He narrowed his eyes, "Especially when I'm talking to them." The man hinted, a small smirk coming to his lips.
The girl glared at him through the lenses, "Are you implying something?" He gave her a look of innocence and shrugged his shoulders. "Do you want me to take these off?"
"Well, if you don't mind…" he started.
She flashed a smug smirk, "Let me think… no." She span on the spot and swiftly began walking towards the other exit of the pew, the man advancing after her.
He grinned, obviously enjoying this small feud somehow. He continued following her as she made her way along the cathedral side aisle. The man caught up so he was now on her left, his eyes lingering on the hooded figure. "Why not?"
Abruptly she came to a stop, and pouted childishly, "Maybe I don't want to," she said in an even more childish fashion. "They are my eyes after all." She carried on stubbornly, crossing her arms and cocking her hip to the side, facing the brown haired man confidently, forgetting her earlier thoughts on him being non-human. "And who are you to tell me what to do?"
"Just your average guy, well, a traveller if you want to be a tiny bit more precise. You come here often?" He questioned,
The goggled girl let out a low growl of irritation."No, but it doesn't matter now, I have to go."
"What are you hiding?" He questioned bluntly, growing a tad more serious.
"Nothing." She muttered crudely, arching her neck to glare up at him. "And what does it matter to you?"
Smirking, knowing he had gotten a proper reaction out of the girl he began once again. "I just want you to take your glasses off, that's all"
"They're goggles you dolt." She said as she removed the goggles and let them hang around her neck, underneath the scarf. She relaxed her arms and let them drop to her sides, "Happy?"
He raised an eyebrow at her bluntness and sudden change in mood. "Very" he smirked as he dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out the pen-light from earlier and pointed it at the girl. The buzzing that was released by the instrument was low in pitch, not at all what he was expecting.
The girl flinched when the blue light shone brightly in her eyes, and looked away quickly in attempt to shield them from its painful glow. "What's that for? Was that your plan all along? Try to blind unsuspecting-stupid-person just for the fun of it!"
"Well I wasn't expecting that at all." he murmured to himself as he tapped the silver instrument. He took off running towards the front of the room.
The girl cocked and eyebrow at him, "What the heck? You harass me then just run away muttering to yourself you insane weirdo?" She exclaimed and starting running after him.
When she reached him he had stopped by the pedestal on the elevated platform, and was waving the pen around, as I if scanning the area around them. "What's your name then?"
She stared at him, dumbstruck "I'm not gonna tell you" she replied defiantly, clenching her fists, "I don't even know who you are."
"Oh really? I thought we were the best of friends." He breathed sarcastically but continued anyway, "I'm the Doctor."
One of her eyes twitched uncontrollably, "Doctor what now?"
He smirked; he always found a small flash of enjoyment whenever someone asked that, "Just the Doctor." He turned back to see she was staring at him incredulously, "No, really, just The Doctor."
The girl nodded slowly, having the sneaking suspicion that he was in fact, insane. "Yeah, and I'm just the Boxer." A look of surprise rolled across her face as she thought of something, "That actually sounds a heck of a lot cooler than my real name."
The Doctor furrowed his brow and shook his head as he turned back to the pedestal, "And what would that be?"
"Ree." she answered without thinking, but slapped her hands across her mouth only a second after. "Bollocks."
He chuckled to himself as he looked over at the doors on either side of the cathedral, "It's nice to meet you Ree. Oh!" the Doctor snapped his head up and stared down at her, "Sorry for shining this in your face earlier," he said, pointing to the pen in his hand, "thought you were something else."
She rubbed her coat sleeve under her nose to cease the itching that had appeared. She played with the goggle straps that hung loosely around her pale neck. A few moments after the brunette had spoken a thought dawned upon her. "What else would I be?"
He stared down at her with his brown eyes, "I don't know. Some strange four eyed alien or something similar to it. The goggles certainly didn't help at all." He began heading for the door on the far left hand side of the building, Ree following closely behind him. "But the weather isn't natural, something's controlling it."
Ree grinned to herself, "That's what I thought," she agreed, "But what I don't understand is what is causing it."
"Neither do I, that's why I'm here." He brought his pen back out and began scanning the area once again. They had entered a small room that held a set of stairs, "You haven't by any chance seen something that has a lock on it. I have a key and I'm not completely sure what it's for… Just a question, but have children been disappearing by any chance?"
"Yes! Why, have you found someone?" Ree questioned eagerly.
"Actually, yes, little girl, said she was called Lea. Scared to death by the looks of things, muttering something about cloaked women."
"Ever since the snow began to fall children started to disappear, and it turned out they were all girls. But they weren't the only ones disappearing." Ree began, not picking up on the small thing the Doctor had mentioned. "Some people think they may have just moved out until the snow disappeared; others think they may have died in the snow. But in all honesty, that's a bit extreme don't you think?"
"There are a thousand possibilities" The Doctor began messing with the pen he was holding, pressing a button and whacking it off of his hand. Who knows what good that'll do.
"What is that?" The hooded girl asked referring to the silver device he was holding onto.
"What's this? Oh, this is a sonic screwdriver, carry it with me everywhere." He shoved said gadget into his pocket and began clicking his fingers in rapid succession. "Think, think."
"That reminds me of the time in my maths class that our teacher started going on about Super-sonic flies." She let out a half hearted laugh, "That was one of strangest lessons I've ever had." The Doctor ignored her ramblings and escorted himself into another room and began searching through it eagerly. "What exactly are you looking for?"
"Something alien, strange, exotic, out of place, whatever you want to call it." He jumped on top of a long table and ran his eyes over everything in the room. When Ree merely stayed stationary he called over to her, "Help, maybe?"
Ree rolled her eyes and began copying the Doctor's actions, moving boxes and searching behind them. She even decided to mock him by picking up a candle and pointing it at everything, making a buzzing noise with her tongue as it hid beneath her scarf. When The Doctor noticed he glared at her, yet tried to suppress a smile as the corners of his mouth moved upwards. "Beep, beep!" she sang as she spotted a large piece of ice, which looked a lot like it was holding a door shut. It reached from one side of the wall to the other, covering everything in its path. "Well someone's had a huge leak."
The Doctor appeared next to her in an instant, and Ree lifted up her candle and pointed it at the ice before smacking it against the palm of her hand. "Oh darn it, I guess my little tinker toy died right before I could use it. What a shame…"
He ignored her remarks as he touched it with his index finger. When his flesh made contact with the solid something in it began moving and soon a claw emerged, swatting this way and that, trying to reach the Doctor. Ree let out a startled yelp as she jumped back, grabbing onto the Doctor's arm purely out of reflex. Noticing, she quickly dropped it and edged away from him, hiding her face in her hood further as she felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "Erm, Doctor, what the hell was that?"
He ignored her, a glint of amusement in his eye, "This is fantastic!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, "I saw something similar to this earlier…It's amazing…"
"And?"
He grinned, "It's alive."
"Alive? So…not human?" Ree questioned.
"Not human." He agreed before clasping his hands together and bouncing on the balls of his feet before running off towards the stairs from the previous room. Ree had to stretch her legs as far as possible to keep up with his lanky frame, charging after him as he ran up the steps.
"So aren't you gonna try and melt it with your doo-da?" Ree shouted as she advanced after him.
"No, it's too thick, and plus, it's alive."
"Well, that never stopped me." They reached another floor, but nothing was in the room. Yet the two strangers could both tell something was there, hiding in the shadows, out of sight, out of mind. The Doctor was on his way to checking the beams when a terrified scream echoed from downstairs in the main hall. Ree and the Doctor exchanged a look before bolting their way down the steps.
When they appeared in the hall they stared at the sight before them and in an attempt to hide, crouched behind the first pew. Ree nudged the Doctor on the shoulder, "What are they doing?"
Standing there in the middle of the aisle was four hooded figures and kneeling down in front of them was a woman with curly blonde hair - the woman the Doctor had spoken to earlier. The hooded figures circled the woman in an animalistic fashion, as if they were waiting for the moment to strike. Slowly, one by one, they dropped their hoods to reveal four pale-skinned women beneath them. They all had a large mop of black hair and a large amount of blue patterns covering the vast majority of their beautiful faces.
"Doctor, who are they?" Ree muttered, poking him on the arm to gain his attention.
He rose up from the ground silently, "The real question is: what are they?" The four women continued their never ending cycle of revolving around the shaking blonde, and began baring their teeth, the canines much longer and sharper than what was human. Gradually, the four pale women stopped, turning to a crouching position, about to lunge. "Excuse me," The Doctor piped up, gaining the attention from the quad. "Can we talk for a second?"
They all exchanged a look before one spoke up, "Kill him." They uttered in a velvety voice, rolling off of her tongue like silk.
"Wait, let's just talk for a second" The Doctor didn't look at all bothered or scared by the fact that someone had just been ordered to kill him.
A single woman stepped forward in The Doctor's and Ree's direction, a look lust in their vibrant gold eyes. She snarled in a beastly nature before speaking, her voice coming out more as a hiss, "Why should I speak to a Sun Child?"
"Sun Child?" Ree asked herself, still hidden behind the pew.
"For weeks we had barely any food, surviving solely on the animals that lived her. Then all of a sudden, two Sun children run straight towards us." Ree chose this moment to jump up and make herself known. When The Doctor stared down at her he noticed she had her goggles over her eyes once again. "Make that three," the black haired woman added, tilting her head to the side as she gave Ree the same look. "We really will have a feast tonight then won't we?"
"Are you the ones affecting the weather?" The Doctor asked, ignoring the woman's previous remarks.
"The Attor need somewhere cold to survive, this pathetic planet was the best place to begin." She replied, licking her lips, as if restraining herself from killing them, then and there.
"But if we're "Sun Children", as you call us then why come here? And why not go to the Arctic or Antarctic?" Ree intervened, pointing out an obvious fact to the Attor. They were in fact both very, very cold places.
She cocked her head again, her eyes darting from face to face, "Food is scarce in the lands of tundra."
The Doctor furrowed his brow, "Wait, you said to begin, you're restarting here?"
For the first time the female smirked, "It's perfect, it's thriving with meat, there's almost no effort in manipulating the atmosphere and we are the most superior."
"You manipulated the atmosphere?" Ree muttered to herself, confused.
"I am the superior being here" The Doctor said, gripping his hand tighter around the screwdriver clasped between his fingers. Ree gave him a look but remained quiet.
"No Sun Child is more superior than the Attor Makers" She hissed, baring her teeth threateningly.
"I am no Sun Child." The Doctor responded simply.
Ree arched her brow at his strange behaviour, but continued. "If you're controlling the weather and it's only in one specific place then this is like a freezer isn't it? 'Cause I noticed on the news that the snow comes to an abrupt stop just around the borders of the town." She chewed her lip, contemplating her thoughts. Her eyes widened, unnoticed to everyone else, "You're keeping us here as resources, we're so close that you can grab us with no problem."
"Ah-ha! Ree, you just sussed this out." The Doctor uttered vociferously, a grin stuck on his thin face.
She gave him a bored look, "Honestly? Could you not have figured this out yourself?"
"Well, actually, just thought I'd give you some glory, eh, yeah." He muttered, running his hand up the back of his head.
Ree, without a second thought slapped him across the arm.
"Ow, what was that for?" The Doctor questioned, rubbing it gingerly.
"For being an obnoxious idiot"
"Callianta, stop conversing and kill the inferiors!" one of the other Attor screeched before running towards The Doctor and Ree themselves. The others were treating the woman cruelly, as if playing with her in a sadistic way - scratching her, shoving her around then throwing her to the ground without a care. The woman wailed in pain, clutching at her arm as she fell upon it awkwardly. "Miak, call our sisters!" she called to one of the two surrounding the middle aged blonde.
One nodded quickly before her whole body became completely see-through, just like ice. Her body sank to the floor and she disappeared out of sight.
Ree's mouth fell open as she stared at where the woman had previously stood, "I so want to do that."
"I'm sure they can do a lot more than that, but for now, run!" The Doctor shouted as he grasped her arm and dragged her through a new door, the two pale skinned women on hot pursuit.
"What are you doing!" Ree bawled, staring at him as he closed the door they had just ran through and began running his screwdriver around the frame and lock. "Your little twiddle ain't gonna do much to stop the freezer specialists!" As she continued banging could be heard against the old wooden door.
The tall lanky man ran past her, his eyes searching the area around them actively. "Attor means poison not ice. They're called that for a reason."
"And what reason would that be mister fancy pants?" She ran over to the door on the opposite end of the room only to find it was locked. "Just my luck"
"They're skin is lined with a thin layer of poison that can cause a creature's muscles to spasm uncontrollably, eventually killing them." He muttered running up beside her, pointing his device at the lock on the door. "Kick it!" He lifted his leg up and began thrusting it upon the wooden plank, Ree joining in after a few moments.
"Ha!" Ree cheered as the door flew open to reveal a set of steps falling underneath the floor that instantly started just behind the door. Before she noticed it Ree was tripping down the steps clumsily, eventually being enveloped in the darkness from below, out of the Doctor's sight. "Oh bollocks." He heard her voice mutter harshly from beneath the darkness.
He rolled his eyes and began his ways down the steps, closing the door behind him. He grunted as he tripped over something, yet stayed standing. "Ree, are you okay?"
"What the hell do you mean am I okay? I find some freak who tells me to take off my goggles, running around with a little pen light, find some weirdoes who paint their faces and turn into blocks of ice, then decide they want to kill us and then fall down a set of bloody stairs, not knowing if I'm going to survive or not and you stand on me! No, I am not okay!" She attempted to slap his arm but ended up hitting a stone wall. She cursed under her breath and gripped her hand in pain.
The Doctor pressed a button on his screwdriver and it glowed in a blue light, illuminating the sand stone walls around them. A long passageway continued farther than the eye could see, but the Doctor ventured down there anyway. Ree gave him a disbelieving look, shaking her head as she jogged to keep up with him, her scarf billowing out behind her gracefully.
After running down the passage way for a few minutes it opened up into a large gothic room. It was a beautiful sight indeed, with numerous large stain glass windows, traditional glass chandeliers and perfectly hand crafted furnishings, it was a classic roman cathedral hall. But, unfortunately for both Ree and The Doctor the large room was filled with pale, black haired figures, all of which were female.
Ree swallowed audibly, fixing her goggles purely out of discomfort and fear, "Doctor, what do we do?"
"Well, running wouldn't be a good idea seeing as how the passageway is blocked." As he said this, the girl turned her head to see that it was in fact being guarded by multiple Attor. "I guess we just wait and see what happens."
Ree gaped at him, dumbfounded, "And what if they decided to eat us? Then what?"
"They won't."
"Great Creator! We bring children for the upbringing, please feast upon their souls of Sun." An Attor said from behind them, one Ree could only assume was Callianta from the prominent hiss in her velvety voice.
"You don't say." She groaned sarcastically, frowning up at the man.
"Bring forward the insect child." One of the Attor called from the front. Multiple females stepped forward, roughly grasping their thin, clammy hands around her arms and body.
"I'm not a bloody insect for crying out loud! These are goggles you plonkers!" Ree cried as she was dragged away by the Attor. "Hey, don't touch there, that is a very private part!"
The Doctor turned to the females standing by the front, who simply looked the more superior out of the large coven. "What are you going to do to her?"
The tallest stepped forward, in clear sight of everyone in the room, "The Sun Child will be placed with the others, till we decide otherwise."
"You're holding others?" The Doctor uttered incredulously, his mind reeling with thoughts.
"Of course, they are our sacrifice for our Creator."
"What the bloody hell are you doing you twats? I have rights, I demand a lawyer!" Ree screeched as she was dragged into another room, one much smaller than the previous. Roughly, she was thrown against a stone wall, gasping as her back hit it with a great amount of power. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fought back the headache that was beginning to form.
"You will beg, insect child!" One of the three Attor cried as she slapped Ree across the face with no mercy. As Ree thrashed this way and that the pale creature grew restless of the human's antics quickly, grasping Ree's face firmly between her two unpleasantly cold, damp hands. She ripped the scarf off from around the girls face, closely followed by her dull green goggles.
Ree growled in irritation at the female's actions and glared up at the alien with two, haunting blue eyes. "You do not touch the goggles." She thrusted her head forward, pulling the hands of the creature with her as she head-butted the fiend, causing both herself and the victim to flail around in a daze. "What in the world are your heads made of?" she raised her brow, "Wait, don't answer that. I don't think I really want to know…"
"You should stay silent, that way they don't hurt you." A little girl said from beside her. She had a mane of long, mousy brown hair, and two innocent, scared grey eyes.
Ree stared down at her in shock, before noticing the numerous young children sitting in the same room, all around eight to ten years old. Another thing she noticed was that they were all girls.
The same Attor spoke up, "You should listen to your little friend." She said, and spat at Ree, exiting with the other two, closing a barred door behind them.
As soon as they had disappeared Ree turned to the girl beside her, "Why in the world are you here?" She questioned, grabbing her goggles and placing the comfortably on top of her head.
The brunette stared up at her, "I don't know, they brought me here, said they would help me find my mum." She gazed at the goggles upon Ree's head, "What are they for?"
Ree furrowed her brow, "They don't really have a purpose, just a family item that I've had for years. I'm Ree by the way." The blue-eyed girl murmured, smiling down at the child kindly.
The little girl returned the smile, "I'm Tara"
"Well Tara," Ree began, pulling her hood back up over her head, "I'm gonna get us out of here." At the mention of this, all of the girls in the room looked over to her in hope, starting to listen to her more closely. Ree stared down at them, before grinning manically, "Okay, so here's the plan my little munchkins."
"Why of all the planets in the universe, choose Earth?" The Doctor asked the tallest female, hands in pockets.
The woman paced around a large mirror, stealing glances at the "male Sun Child". "Food as you already know, plus it was the nearest living planet at the time." She grinned, her top canines resting against her bottom lip. "You're a rather peculiar one, male child; may I question this creature's label?"
"Doctor." He bluntly replied, edging away from the Attor that was eyeing him strangely. The Doctor shook his head before continuing, rummaging in his pocket before pulling out a key, with three small clocks hanging off the handle. "Do you have any idea what this is for?"
A large echo of gasps swept through the hall, all the Attor stared at it with a look of longing. "Where did you find that? Give it to me!" An Attor beside him slowly raised their arm, reaching out for the key in his hand.
He raised it high above his head, tutting as he did so. "I don't think so. First, bring Ree back here, unharmed." The tallest nodded to one who ran off in the direction of Ree, "And, I would like to know exactly who you are, and what this Creator is."
The tallest looked down at the Doctor with hate in her eyes, but answered anyway, "I am Sian, Mother of the Attor. The Creator is our life force, everything we are. He is the reason we live, to serve him till our blood runs dry and our eyes close for the last time. We are slaves to our ruler.
And he is closed right behind this mirror, the Door of Vur. With that key we will open it to allow our lord the pleasure of destroying the Sun Children of this world once and for all." She said, just as the Attor sent for Ree came back, a panicked look upon her face. Sian gave her a questioning glance before speaking, "What is wrong Mira, my child?"
Mira stared up at the Mother, confusion sweeping over her beautiful features, "The children, they have all escaped."
Sian's eyes widened before she turned to face the Doctor sharply, anger and fear slowly growing inside her, "Do you have anything to do with this, Doctor? Or was it your little friend perhaps?" The Doctor remained silent, slowly lowering his hand down to his side. "If it is so, then she shall die sooner than expected," She then turned to face the surrounding Attor, "Set out and find them. Bring them back, dead or alive, I don't care."
As her orders echoed through the hall, Attor began scattering, disappearing through doors.
"The cathedral has catacombs stretching underneath the whole city; each outlet leads to a completely different area in the city, I'm pretty sure there are around twelve alternate exits." Tara said to Ree as they were quickly wandering down a tunnel, "If we take the next right on this one, it leads to a room I'm sure you'll want to see."
Ree stared down at her, an incredulous look in her eye, "How old did you saw you were?"
The girl grinned up at her, "Nine years and two hundred and sixty five days. But anyways, I've wandered in here a lot of times, so I basically have this kind of map imprinted in my brain, everything is from memory now."
They came up to a split in the tunnel, Ree stared down at the brunette in expectation, "Well, come on, you're the brains of the smurfs, which way?"
"If we want to get out we go left, it leads up to beside the town library, but there is a room that I've been to a few times, and there is something I want to get."
"I'm sorry Tara but I really need to get these girls home, it's not safe for them here." She said, urging the others girl down the left tunnel. She stopped when she noticed Tara had begun running down the other end. "Tara!"
Ree looked between the girls and where Tara had disappeared, finding it difficult to choose between the two. "Okay, girls, Tara said, that if you just keep following this tunnel it should lead you out to beside the library, I'll meet you there, then we can all go home, okay?"
She nodded, and with a pained look in her eyes, tore away from the girls to run after Tara, anxiety slowing rising in her gut. The tunnel ran on longer than she had expected, but she eventually came to a stop at a door. It was left open, obviously because Tara had been in. Cautiously, Ree entered, scanning the room for anything that looked particularly out of place.
Tara was standing it the farthest corner, staring down at something in her hands. Ree gingerly walked up behind her, staring over her shoulder to the item she was holding.
It was a mirror, around the size of a sheet of A4 paper, about one centimetre thick. It wasn't fancy, decorative or beautiful, it was just a simple mirror, yet the girl seemed so mesmerized by it, as if was a part of her.
Ree spoke up, seeing her reflection and the girls in the glass, "Is this what you're looking for?"
Tara nodded absent mindedly, still staring at it intently, yet staring at her face in it.
The goggled girl began to gently pull the nine-year old out, eager to escape this place. But she was jostled out of her thoughts by the sound of Tara's voice, "Can't you hear them, Ree? The voices, that cry out in agony, anger, fear. They're calling Ree, calling for the ones called the Doctor, and the Knight."
Ree stared down at her in confusion, disbelief swirling through her. "What voices, Tara? It's just a mirror."
"Can't you hear them? Why aren't you listening? You should be listening, they are begging now; begging for you to save them, listen!"
Ree let go of her and took a step back, growing scared of the child in front of her. But as she let her guard down she began to hear them, swirling through her mind like a hurricane. The crying, screaming, pain, fear, it was more than she could handle.
She fell to her knees, clutching at the side of her head, as if trying to numb the pain.
"Listen to the Ree, feel it, they need you, and your body needs them." Tara's eyes were now a frightening gold, that of an Attor.
Ree gazed up at her in fear and sympathy, still clutching at her head as the pain grew as the volume of the voices increased. Suddenly, she lashed out, snatching the mirror from Tara and throwing it against the nearest wall. She didn't hear the shattering of glass, but didn't care, as she sighed in relief as the noise died down. She slumped, relaxing as the pain subsided.
She snapped her head up to Tara, noticing her eyes were back to their usual grey, beautiful and shinning like stars from the night sky. Ree grasped her arms tightly, "Tara, are you okay?" The girl nodded, and Ree pulled her to her chest, locking her in a fierce hug.
Tara's bottom lip began to jitter, and soon, tears were pouring out of her eyes, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, it never did that before." She sobbed into the goggled girls shoulder, "I was so scared Ree. I want to go home."
Ree stroked the girl's back comfortingly, "Don't worry I'll get you home, I just need to do something first."
She stood up and walked over to where she had thrown the mirror. It was still it one piece, but a large chunk had been taken out of the wall. As Ree picked it up, she saw not her reflection, but the face of another woman: perfect, blonde locks, bright green eyes, and a quirky smile. It was nothing like Ree.
She stared at it for a few more moments, before tucking it under her arm, grabbing Tara's hand and running from where they had come. They came to the split, where Ree had left the other girls. She stopped and let go of Tara's hand, "You know where to go from here, I need to go back, I left someone and I am not a person to leave anyone behind. So, the other girls went that way, you should catch up with them, and please stay safe."
Without another word, Tara nodded, and began sprinting down the tunnel. Ree stared after her for a few moments before running down the other tunnel, leading her closer to the Doctor.
The blue-eyed girl stared down at the mirror she was holding, uncertain at what it was.
"It's just a mirror, what harm could it do?" She looked over it once again, and then noticing the small key hole on the left side, was upside down. As she turned it the right way around, she swore that she heard the relieved sighs of people, yet there was no one near.
Ree stopped in her tracks, now noticing that she was, in fact lost.
"Seriously, this is probably the worst time for this to happen. Trust me to get lost in a straight tunnel." She stared at her surroundings, taking in every little detail, the wearing of the walls, the small and large stones left on the floor from the crumbling of the walls.
The whispering began again, gentle, caring, guiding. It was telling Ree where to go, with its echo of a voice.
Time, we are running out of time.
Ree followed the instructions of the voices, finding that there were a number of twists and turns she had never noticed before.
The sun is falling…
She eventually found her way back to the cathedral hall, pushing up a floor tile with a great amount of effort. She was on the far side, currently out of sight. The hall which the Doctor was standing within, along with a large number of Attor, had more than thirty had an even greater number gone.
The voices began their whisper again.
Hide, child, hide from the poison.
She quickly complied, quietly, quickly pushing the tile further upwards so that she could get out from under floor. Gently putting it back into place, the goggled girl silently rushed to stand behind a column, only a few yards away from the ten-foot mirror.
She ran her eyes over the room until they landed on the Doctor, who was calmly standing in the centre, yet, was in a heated discussion.
"What is this key for, Sian? I understand it means something to you, so tell me what." He questioned, referring to the key in his hand.
"And what does it matter to you, little Sun Child. You have no right to speak to us as if you are greater, pathetic pest you are." Sian replied, a hiss now evident in her voice. "What good does it do you anyway? It's not as if you will ever leave here alive."
Ree edged forward, placing the mirror gently against the pillar, picking up a thick piece of wood in front of her. She lurked up to stand behind the mirror, hidden by it unbelievable size. She listened into the conversation more eagerly.
"It matters to me because you are endangering the creatures of this planet, their planet. I will not let you hurt them, not anymore." The Doctor said.
Sian smirked at this, "Well then Doctor child, best get to work shouldn't you? I'd like to see you try."
Ree saw this as her time to act, stepping out from behind the mirror, swinging the wood in one fluid motion, hitting the Attor in the side of the head with a great amount of force. Sian fell to the floor, unconscious.
Something surreal happened then, suddenly, the other Attor fell to their sides, unconscious.
"Knocked you out cold didn't I? Well, at least a little colder…" The brunette let the wood drop to her side, letting it clatter to the floor. "Ah, great now I've got splinters, thanks you apple core – whatever you're called."
The Doctor stared at her incredulously before speaking, "Ree? You're still here?"
"Of course you nut, didn't think I'd honestly ever leave a man behind?" She looked around at all of the Attor, confused, "Was I really that boring?"
"No, they are all connected to their Mother, Sian, a telepathic bond." The Doctor said, running to Ree's side, "They all share the same pain, just like an echo."
Ree nodded dumbly before looking up at him, "Key." She said, stretching her hand out.
"Why?"
"Just trust me, Sparky." Ree replied, leaning on her hip.
After a roll of his eyes and a sigh he handed it over to her, watching as she gripped onto it tightly before walking back over to where he had left the mirror.
The Attor began to awake and some where even arriving from all of the doorways. Ree ran over picking up the mirror, the voices now back in her head, strangely enough a comfort.
Quickly, she walked back over to the Doctor, mirror and key in hand. "I think it fits with this," Ree murmured, but then motioned him to the key-hole on the larger, free standing mirror. "But this one has a key hole too."
The Doctor stared at both, "Don't open that one." He said, referring to the longer one.
"Why, what's wrong with that one?"
"For one it is called the Door of Vur and apparently some kind of god lives behind it."
"Ah, yes, not a good idea then is it?"
"No" He said, a half hearted chuckle escaping his lips.
Attor began hissing at them, now fully awake, inching closer and closer.
Ree stared down at the mirror in her hand in anticipation. "What do I do?" She said to the mirror, feeling somewhat stupid.
Open the door.
The Doctor began running around, looking everything over with a new burst of energy.
Set us free, Knight.
Ree was frozen in fear, looking between the Doctor, the slowly approaching Attor and the mirror, confusion sweeping over her.
The Doctor called to her, "Ree open it, now!"
She didn't know if she should trust him, but she did, and as the Attor lunged she placed the key in, unlocking it quickly. In a flash of white light, wisp like entities swarmed out of it, heading straight for the oncoming Attor.
The females all stopped, fighting the wisps in a futile attempt to be rid of them. They screamed, pain, anger, fear, all evident in their velvety voices. It brought Ree to her knees, feeling the cries in her head and around her, it was overwhelming. She dropped the mirror, clutching the sides of her head in hope of vanquishing the pain, but to no avail. Ree curled into herself and out of the corner of her eye saw the Doctor running around, and then coming towards her.
He picked up the mirror, and somehow understood what he had to do. He pulled the key out, and with it went all of the wisps and the Attor, pulled back into the mirror.
Silence filled the hall, and Ree only heard one last thing before she lay down in exhaustion.
Thank you…
She didn't understand why the voices were thanking her; she had caused so much pain to those creatures, and hadn't stopped it.
The Doctor shook her out of her thoughts as he brought her in some form of a hug, helping her stand up from the ground, and walking out.
"Thank you so much Ree, and you too Doctor." A tall, brunette said, as she pulled Tara into a tight hug and led her away, nodding to the two adults in thanks.
Ree let out a happy sigh, wrapping her arms around herself, "I loved that little girl, freaky brainer but all the same, awesome." She chuckled to herself, turning to face the Doctor. "Well, I have to admit, I've had an okay day, bar the odd death threat and strange voices, and a fair amount of running and falling. It was a pleasure meeting you Doctor," She said shaking his hand, "But I have to be somewhere, I'm already around three hours late." She stared off in the distance sheepishly.
The Doctor smiled, "It was wonderful meeting you too Ree."
The Doctor began walking away, but turned around swiftly when Ree called to him, "Would you like to come with me?" She said, and after a questioning glance from him, she elaborated, "I mean, I'm going to see my mum, and she would love you, and it will be warm, and we'll have food. You'd love her."
The Doctor's smile faded, dark memories returning, stopping him from following her. She noticed his reaction, and her joy slowly disappeared, "Okay, it's fine, I guess I'll see you around." She said turning and walking away, leaving him standing there in the snow, alone.
With a quick thought, the Doctor ran up to her side, a quirky smile on his face. "I'll join you."
Ree's face brightened up, and she nodded shyly, "So, you like having conversations with homicidal weirdoes, aye?"
The Doctor and Ree eventually arrived at a large set of flats, stopping at the front door.
"Hey, mum, it's me." Ree said into the intercom, waiting for a reply.
A few minutes later, a panicked voice came over, sounding relieved. "Oh my Ree, I'm so glad you're okay, I was so worried-"
"Yeah, yeah, can you just let us up please?" Ree interrupted.
"You're not going to tell her I'm here?" The Doctor asked from her side.
"Nah, she'll just be over the moon to see someone new." Ree answered, waving him off.
"Okay, dear, it's open for you know," The door buzzed, "I'll see you in a few minutes." Ree shook her head in amusement, pulling the door open and allowing the Doctor in before walking up the stairs.
They walked up to flights of stairs before walking along a corridor, stopping at door number 264. Ree knocked on it loudly, before it opened quickly, to reveal a short, brown, short haired woman, who looked to be in her mid forties. A large smile broke across her face when her eyes landed on Ree, and she brought her into a tight hug.
She let go of her, before allowing her to step in the room, closing the door behind her, not even noticing the Doctor in the hallway. Ree stared at it incredulously, before tapping her mother on the shoulder, "Mum, you just slammed the door, in my friend's face."
Her mother stared at her in confusion before realisation dawned on her. She quickly swung the door open to show the Doctor standing there, confused. "Hello, I'm the Doctor." He said, thrusting his hand out towards her to shake.
She ignored it as her eyes widened, and she brought him into a great hug, ignoring his hand, "Wow, it's so wonderful to finally meet one of Ree's friends. Do you work at the gym with her?" The Doctor, stayed quiet, trying to comprehend what was happening, "I'm so sorry, please excuse my manners; I'm Pamela. It's a real pleasure to meet you."
The Doctor smiled down at her as she allowed him in, offering to take his coat. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Would you like a cup of tea dear?" She asked both him and Ree.
"I'm fine thank you, Mrs…?" The Doctor began, expecting an answer.
Ree answered him, "Knight, Ms." Nodding to her mother as she left to go into the kitchen.
"Knight, really? Ree Knight, that sounds a bit weird don't you think?" He said, sitting down on a couch across from her.
"It's Reegan Knight, actually, just Ree sounds nicer, and doesn't sound like regal."
Her mother walked back in at this point, carrying two cups, one with tea and the other coffee. Pamela handed the coffee to Ree, "Here you go, and take that coat off, it's boiling in here."
Ree stood up and removed the coat, hanging it up on the rack by the door. "And take those old goggles off, you don't need them." Her mother continued.
Ree glared at her before sitting back down, leaving the goggles on her head.
"So," The Doctor started, "Do you live here?"
"No, actually live in the centre of Stirling, just visiting." Ree answered, "I became worried when there was word of freak storms up here in Dollar, and so, I decided to come meet her."
"Ah, well, the snow should begin disappearing soon." The Doctor said.
Pamela huffed, "I'll be more than thankful if it does… So, where do you work, Doctor?"
"Oh, me? Part time in Stirling Royal Infirmary-"
"Is that were you two met? Reegan gets into the worst of cases; boxing seems to get her hurt an awful lot. Breaking fingers, wrists and quite often a bad case of bruising." Ree's mother replied. "She wanted to go into the army as well, but I made sure she didn't. She's so like her father."
"How so?"
"He was in the army, pilot so he was. She even has his goggles, although they weren't the ones he used there. He was always one to hate war, but he said, that by being in the army, he thought that he could take one small step to stopping it.
Then one time, hit by a shot in the leg, stopped him from going right out there. So, he became a nurse, and helped in the infirmary. Didn't matter what side the people were fighting for, he helped them anyway." Pamela sighed, "He was a wonderful man so he was, had a great influence on her."
"Yeah, well he was a great man…" Ree added, "Hey, mum, we saw some aliens today."
This caught the Doctor's attention, yet he wasn't expecting this reaction.
"Really, what kind?" Her mother questioned eagerly.
"Apparently some called Attor." Ree replied, ignoring the Doctor completely.
"Wow, that explains a lot, never liked them neither I did, all egotistical and, well insane."
The Doctor stared at her in confusion, "So you know about the Attor?"
Pamela stared at him as if it were the most obvious question in the world, "Of course, shouldn't I?"
"He seems to know quite a lot too, he even has this fancy pen. Hey, why don't you show her?" Ree said.
"It's a sonic screwdriver Ree."
Pamela perked up, "Really? I haven't seen one of those in such a long time."
The Doctor furrowed his brow, "How do you know so much?"
She leaned forward, "Well, there are a lot of aliens coming here, and I'm also an alien."
The Doctor's eyes widened, but stopped when a loud laugh came from the both of woman in the room. "Honestly, what in the world would make you think that was true? I was just trying to sound somewhat smart." Her mother said.
The evening carried on, the three adults conversing lightly. Ree looked to a clock on the wall, "I'd better get going mum, it's getting late."
She stood up getting ready to leave, and the Doctor followed suit.
Pamela walked them to the door, "It was nice seeing you dear, and a pleasure to meet you too Doctor."
Finishing their goodbyes the Doctor and Ree walked out, down the two flights of stairs and out into the street.
The Doctor turned on her, hands in his trench coat pockets once again. "You enjoyed today?"
Ree shrugged her shoulders, "Aye, apart from the fact that I was more than likely gonna be eaten, yeah, it was a good time. Exhilarating I think is the word."
"We could more days like this; everyday could be like this one." He said.
Ree tilted her head, "Get straight to the point Sparky."
"How would like to travel with me?"
She nodded yet didn't seem all too keen, "Yeah, well you see, I'm not that interested in the world."
"I can show you other worlds then."
She narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean…"
"Ree, I have a ship, one that can take us anywhere in the universe. Anywhere you want to go."
"So, are you admitting you're a Martian or something?"
"No, I'm not a Martian, but I'm not human either." He clarified, "Look, I can take you as far as you want in the future, and still get you back in time for dinner. So what do you say?"
Ree thought for a moment, trying to think about what he could possibly mean, but came up with nothing. "Okay, show me the way, Sparky."
Yay, finally, it is DONE! Well, that took way too long, a couple of months, but atleast I'm done now. So this is the beginning of a story featuring my character Reegan Knight. Just as a heads up, this starts between the final scene at Bad Wolf Bay and Runaway Bride. Yeah, but I will have around two or three original chapters.
So, tell me what you think!