Part 1

Everything was fine before the aliens popped out and pretty much killed everyone. Those that didn't die immediately lay dying slowly from their injuries. I was the only one that survived unharmed. Well, I guess not completely unharmed, I got a few cuts and a crap ton of bruises, but a million miles better than anyone else.

Anyone who knew me before these aliens appeared would ask me "But was everything really fine before?" I was always complaining about something. I'd normally reply with a quip about the economy, we'd laugh and continue on with other conversational topics.

Now, I would definitely say that whatever I was complaining about was not important compared to everyone, you know, dying. I'd never seen so much blood in my entire life. I'd never heard anyone scream in mortal terror or cry out in pain, or even try to speak and choking on their own blood.

Too graphic? Sorry, but that's how it is.

It was a beautiful Christmas party, and I would've agreed, had it not been two days after thanksgiving. My entire family was completely obsessed with that holiday, and started putting up decorations in late October. The Christmas songs started in November and the parties right after thanksgiving. It was a nightmare.

But the aliens crashed appeared right around the start of the white elephant gift exchange, and the nightmare truly started.

Aunt Charlene had just opened a present to receive a potted bamboo plant- how it had been wrapped, we'll never know- when she was gutted by a huge green monster that had sprung from Jon Carlson's body, leaving him dead as well.

The world around me blurred as panic erupted. People being slaughtered left and right. I ran, dodging the aliens and screaming in-laws and trying to get out of the house.

I ran into someone and nearly fainted as he grabbed both of my shoulders and stopped me In my tracks.

"What's happening?" he asked. My mind whirled and all I could reply with was "You're Scottish?"

He shook me a bit and it helped clear my head.

"What is going on. What species is attacking?"

"Aliens are attacking us. Jon Carlson was one of them. He killed Aunt Charlene. They look like E.T. but super tall and murdery. Is that a species?"

"I don't think so. You're in shock. Come on, maybe once you calm down you can help me figure out what happened."

I thought that was a grand idea, so I sleepily followed him. Someone next to him suddenly spoke and she was British. I wondered why the hell the British were helping me.

"The Doctor, asking someone to help? Now that's something you don't see everyday."

"Clara, she's the only witness. We have to know which species slaughtered everyone but her and why."

I hardly paid attention to the conversation as I was led into something blue that changed the scenery to a nice silver. I was helped into a chair and I blinked a few times.

There was a console in the center, completely covered with buttons, switches, dials, screens, monitors, gauges, you name it. A small door sat across the large room, and a hallway branched off from the main room. The ceiling was held with arches and the top of the console was covered with circular symbols. It seemed strange that the house the party was at had such a room.

Someone, the man, I think, slipped some sunglasses onto my face. A whirring sound filled my head and I involuntarily winced. I'd always hated high pitched noises. Slowly, my common sense returned, and my brain suddenly began working again. I got a better look at the people around me, and I also remembered the fact that pretty much my entire family was slaughtered by Jon Carlson and his friends. I realized that I was covered with blood. My nice clothes were now ruined. Thanks Jon, glad you can ruin something again, just like you did at my birthday party a few years ago. (He wanted me to cut the cake myself and I ended up nearly cutting my fingers off. I warned him that I was no good with knives, but did he listen? The scars on my left hand give the answer.)

The man was old, with wrinkles and gray hair. He wore all black and was very tall. I regretfully remembered that I was the shortest adult in my family and I hated this man for reminding me. The girl next to him seemed centuries younger than the old man, with short brown hair. She wore a nice dress and seemed worried. Had I been wearing a dress I would probably have the same expression.

"Listen. I've reactivated your cerebral functions to get some information. You'll need to sleep for at least 12 hours afterwards or you'll have a killer headache." The old man removed the sunglasses from my face and I blinked a few more times.

"So… you seem to know a lot about my 'cerebral functions', old man, so why don't you tell me what's going on and why you've transported me into some sort of spaceship. Did my cousin refurbish her room? I don't think Stacey even likes space." I rubbed my head. I was rambling. Was I still in shock? Probably. I've never gone into shock, but I'm not sure I like it.

"You were attacked by aliens. Were you any less observant you probably would've been killed too." The old man grumbled.

"Doctor," the young woman scolded as she smacked his arm. "She's in shock, are you going to be rude to every alien attack survivor?"

"Wow. Low blow, old man, low blow," I snapped and stood up. I felt a bit dizzy, and had to grip the chair in order to stay upright.

"Can you just describe what happened?" the old man asked as he turned to a monitor and began fiddling with it.

"I told you. Jon Carlson and his E.T. looking friends murdered everybody. Don't you listen to me at all?" I licked my lips, then grimaced as I caught a few specks of blood with my tongue. I tried not to think about it as I glared at the old man.

The young woman touched my shoulder gently. "He's just moody, seeing so many dead before he could help. He doesn't understand what others go through."

"I understand perfectly. The sooner we figure out what the hell killed all of those people, the sooner I can stop judging you, all right?"

I raised an eyebrow as the young woman guided me away. "Let's get you cleaned off, he needs some alone time."

We headed down a corridor and eventually into a bathroom. The hallways reminded me of one of those stupid mazes at amusement parks which were way too hard for the age group it was targeted at. How Stacey had such a big space in her house boggled me, making me think that this was some kind of underground fallout bunker. Damn, Stacey, your family is crazy. And I always thought she was more of a zombie apocalypse kinda girl.

The young woman sat me down and grabbed a towel.

"You know, I can clean myself off," I said as she began wiping off the blood on my face and arms. The water was supremely cold and I squirmed a bit.

"Don't even worry about it, you need some rest."

"So… what's with him? You guys, like relatives or something? I've never seen you two at the christmas parties. Probably grandfather and daughter-slash-granddaughter?"

The young woman chuckled. "No, I just travel with him. Met him a while ago, been travelling the world."

"With a man so old? No offense, but he looks over a hundred years old. Can he handle such strenuous journeys?"

"I've never heard of him being described as old. He is rather old, now that I think about it. Definitely got a few centuries on him."

I blinked and thought for a moment. "Okay, it must be my head, or something, but it definitely sounded like you just said centuries. As in plural of the whole hundred-year thing."

The young woman didn't even stop as she agreed. "That's what I said."

I pushed the towel out of my face. "So you're saying that the old man out there is at least 200 years old."

"Closer to a thousand, I think, actually. He's been travelling a lot."

I rubbed my forehead. "That's not possible."

"This entire machine is impossible. That man out there is impossible. The things I've seen."

"That's… nice. Listen. Can you escort me and that old man out there over to the nearest insane asylum? I think everyone here's been infected with a case of acute insanity."

The young woman gave a smile. "So innocent," she whispered and tried to dab my face again with the towel. "Listen. My name is Clara Oswald. The man out there, he's called The Doctor."

I frowned. "Just… The Doctor? What's he got a doctorate in?"

"I'm not sure, that's just his name."

Great. Meeting a mysterious old man who is 100 years old, talking with some crazy lady, and watching my entire family get murdered. This has been a wonderful day. To be honest, I was 100% expecting to wake from a coma (after christmas so I don't have to suffer any more christmas parties) and live on in a sane world. But with each wipe of the cold water on my face, that percentage was lowering, fast.

We sat in silence as she finished cleaning off all of the blood that covered my skin. She left me in the room so that I could remove my clothes, and I stared at the floor. Nothing was making any sense any more. I slowly removed my shirt and frowned. My binder was soaked with blood and most of it had already dried. I used the wet towel to clean off the wet blood and then slowly removed it as well.

I spent a while cleaning myself off as a note slipped under the door. I grabbed it and read it slowly out loud once I was sure the person was gone. "New clothes, your size, take the main corridor down until you see the sign for the pool. Turn the opposite way and take the first left. Then unfollow these directions and I'll take you back to The Doctor. Clara."

I folded the note, wrapped a towel around my chest and did as the note said.

I would describe the closet to you but it might take too much time. So many clothes. I settled on a nice, black button-up shirt with a silky looking red vest, black pants, black shoes, and black tie. There was even a binder that made me incredibly happy. Once I was all dressed, Clara met me back at the bathroom and she led me to the main room, where the Doctor was fiddling with a knob.

"We've returned," Clara said. The Doctor turned and saw me not covered in blood. He bounded down the steps.

"So. Are you ready to tell me what happened?"

"Are you ready to be nicer to me?" I crossed my arms. The Doctor's face scrunched up for a moment before sighing.

"Alright. Tell me everything that happened, exactly as it happened."

"Only if you promise to explain everything else to me afterwards."

"It's a deal."

So, I did. I spoke of Aunt Charlene getting her stupid bamboo plant, of Jon Carlson and some of his friends turning into the aliens and then murdering everyone. All the way up to when The Doctor grabbed me and hauled me inside.

As the last words exited my mouth, the room shuddered. Huge scratching noises came from the door and The Doctor jumped to the monitor. It switched to a camera outside and guess who was there. Jon Carlson (probably) and his buddies, trying to get inside the room. They too were covered in blood, and yet it most likely wasn't theirs. Typical Jon Carlson. (And friends.)

"They're outside," The Doctor exclaimed like it wasn't obvious from the camera feed. He began hurrying around the console, hitting pretty much everything in sight. A huge warping and groaning noise filled my eardrums as the room shook even more.

"What the hell!" I shouted and grabbed onto the railing of the stairs.

"I'm not sure," The Doctor panted. "But I'm pretty sure-" he jolted. "They look like Slitheen."

"What are Slitheen?" Clara and I cried out at the same time.

"Deadly species. Well, more like family. From the planet-" another jolt. "Raxacoricofallapatorius. Came here years ago to first destroy it, and then another came to get home. But the last Slitheen was reverted back to an egg and raised by another family. They can't possibly-" a final jolt, and then another groaning sound filled the air. The room went still.

I was sick to my stomach and nearly vomited, but managed to fight it and ended up puking in my mouth. Gross. I looked back up as The Doctor leaned back into the chair.

"Do you impress every girl who comes in here like this?" I asked and walked over to him.

The Doctor was silent. He actually wasn't silent, but wasn't talking to me. Instead, he was muttering to himself. "Another Raxacoricofallapatorian family, perhaps? What do they have against Christmas parties?"

"Doctor!" I shouted. "You owe me an explanation." The old man sighed.

"Alright. Aliens attacked you. There. Explanation complete."

I groaned. "No, about everything. Who you are, what this is. I'm sure someone as crazy as you has an entire speal created."

The Doctor stood up. "I'm The Doctor. That's Clara. We a're time travellers. This is a time machine. I'm an alien, she's a schoolteacher. Caught up? Good, because we have to figure out what these aliens have against christmas parties."

"That is not what I expected," I said after a long pause. Clara patted me on the back.

"It wasn't what I expected when I met him either. You'll get used to him."

I doubt it.

The Doctor walked outside and Clara followed, gesturing me outside. I took a huge breath and walked outside. I certainly wasn't at Stacey's house anymore. Instead, we were in the middle of a cornfield. I turned around and saw the blue box that definitely did not look like it held a bathroom, a pool, a closet and a huge console. Needless to say, I fainted.

Part 2

My eyes jolted open and the first thing I saw was corn. It stretched endlessly above me like it was the sky. It wasn't, but that's how similes work. I groaned as my head pounded for a few seconds, and then forced myself to stand up. The corn was taller than me (great, another thing to make me feel short) and the people I was with and the blue box were nowhere in sight.

"Hello! I'm still here!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

A farmer poked his head around the corner of corn. He cocked his head, then pulled out a shotgun. My heart leaped and my hands flew up in the air.

"What'chu doin in my field?" the farmer asked.

"I was with people, and I fainted, and I guess they left me here. I can leave as soon as you can point me to where Seattle is."

"Seattle? That's like, a hundred miles away, sweetie. You're in Montana."

I nearly fainted again. "Montana?"

"That's what I jus' said. You hearin' me, girlie?"

"I'm a guy, thank you. But can you help me get home? Take me to a bus station or an airport, or anywhere but here. I'll gladly get off your property."

"I ain't doin' it for free, 'guy'," he mocked. I scowled.

"Please. I'll pay the price, I just want to get home." I accidentally reminded myself of how my entire family was murdered and I felt sad. It was a bit hard to feel sad with a shotgun pointed at me, however.

The farmer chewed on, nothing, I guess? He didn't look like he had anything in his mouth.

The Doctor and Clara burst through the corn and nearly plowed into me. The Farmer cocked his shotgun and I groaned.

"He was going to help us get home, and you ruined it. The two of you ruined my chances of getting home."

"Sorry, Mr., er, farmer. We're with the corn inspectors, we've come to inspect your corn." The Doctor waved a piece of paper that I swear had the actual credentials needed to be a corn inspector. I didn't say anything in case The Doctor was bluffing. The farmer seemed to believe it, and left straight away.

"What? Are you actually a corn inspector?" I asked once the farmer had left.

"Psychic paper. Shows whatever I want it to show." He flashed it at me and it was just a blank page. I shook my head.

"Your advanced technology is making my head hurt again," I replied with a grimace.

Clara chuckled as The Doctor pocketed the psychic paper. He frowned and looked around (hey, I can rhyme, er, kind of.).

"So, Mr. alien, what are you doing meddling with us lowly humans?" I asked sarcastically.

"I'm protecting you from all kinds of destruction. Do you even know how many time's I've-" The Doctor started, but Clara cut him off.

"Doctor, calm down. She's poking fun at you. You're really on edge today, aren't you?" Clara asked.

"You were there, you saw what happened. I couldn't stop it, I can never stop it. This girl's entire family is dead because I didn't make it in time."

"Um, I'm a guy," I tried to interject, but Clara retorted back.

"Yes, but what you can do is figure out how to stop this whole thing from happening again before more families are slaughtered. So you learn to stop behaving like a child, or more people will get hurt!"

The Doctor fell silent. I felt really bad for provoking that argument. I sheepishly dug my hands into my pockets, and found something interesting. I pulled it out, although it felt really awkward with The Doctor and Clara facing away from each other.

It was a piece of bamboo. It was perfectly cylindrical. It was odd that a piece of bamboo would be inside a pocket, but it was the most normal thing out of the situation. I slipped it back inside my pocket and sat on the ground.

Now would be a really great time to remember that I had left my phone at the party. But who to call? My friends probably thought I was dead, kidnapped, or whatever. I thought of Charlie and how he told me all the time that I was worth something. I really needed that now, because my anxiety started creeping back. It wasn't bad, I've never been driven to anything extreme, but it felt nice to have someone believe in you every now and again.

Most of all, I wanted to go home. I'm sure Rose would let me stay over. Her older brother had an apartment near the Space Needle and an extra bedroom. Anything but to be stuck in a cornfield in Montana.

A rip and a roar later, another E.T. monster burst from the corn and had me pinned down by my neck. I squeaked as it bared its teeth at me and raised it claws to disembowel me like it had my family. I had a wild thought, and I executed it without really thinking about it. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bamboo piece. The alien stopped and looked at me with wide green eyes.

"Where'd you get that bamboo?" The Doctor asked. I didn't reply as I tossed it into the cornfield behind me. The alien rushed off after it. I took deep breaths and didn't move. I was shaking pretty badly and was afraid I'd fall over if I tried to get up. I watched as The Doctor pulled out those sunglasses he put on me earlier and slip them on. He looked around, then took them off again.

"It's got the same biometrics as a Slitheen, but completely different subspecies. I'm not even sure Raxacoricofallapatorians have any subspecies. I'm going to have to do a lot of research."

"Research?" I groaned and pushed myself onto my arms to get a better look at him. "To hell with research. I want to stop these aliens from killing any more innocent people. I'm not sure if it's going to keep me sane, but it feels like the right thing to do. So I'm going to figure out what the hell a 'Slothen' is and you two are going to help me."

Clara raised an eyebrow while the Doctor scoffed.

"I clearly said Slitheen," the old man said.

"See. Now you know what it's like to not be heard. Come on, old man, we can start by helping me up and taking me over to that impossible machine that made me faint when I saw it."

Clara grabbed hold of my hand, which I had outstretched, and pulled me upright. The Doctor glanced around until he had chosen a direction and began wandering off. Clara walked with me to make sure I didn't fall over again. I seemed to have a habit of that. Perhaps the floor and I should be more than friends.

"So, The Doctor," I called out. He grunted, not turning his head, acknowledging that I had spoken. "That box. Inside is a different size than the outside. Can you explain that?"

"You wouldn't understand," The Doctor replied.

"Try me," I said with a smirk.

"Trust me. I need small boxes and a pedestal, so it's pretty hard to explain without those. It's bigger on the inside, that's all you need to know."

"Thanks, I feel so informed."

"Usually he's springing to explain everything and everything about his wonderful technology. I'm sure he'll return to normal after all of this is over." Clara smiled. "We'll make sure that everything is fine. The Doctor can help, that's what he does."

I licked my lips and sighed. I certainly hoped so, since I didn't really have a family to return to. As I said earlier, I did have Rose to stay with, but it won't be the same. My anxiety pressed harder on my chest. I thought of my family, how I had told them that christmas parties in November were stupid, and we fought, and I just wanted to see them again, to apologise, to hug them.

Oh man, this is getting depressing. I was pretty depressed at the time, but I don't want to dump any of my problems on you, dear reader. Have a joke.

Okay… maybe I don't have any jokes handy. Just think of something happy, and I'll try to move on from this sad part of the story.

I saw the blue box once more, standing there. It was hard to imagine such a huge place inside of it, and I really just wanted it to be a different one, one with a normal size inside, one with, well, whatever blue boxes have inside of them. But as the door was opened by The Doctor, my wish had not been granted. Inside was the enormous, futuristic time machine that I had explored earlier. The two stepped inside as though nothing was wrong, and I stood outside, staring at the inside of the machine.

I saw Clara motion me inside and I frowned. Like, chill, Clara, can I not just look at things for a long amount of time without doing anything? I eventually did walk inside and the change of atmosphere was stunning. I tried not to faint again. I did feel dizzy, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the whole 'my family's dead' thing or if the floor wanted to go steady.

"So, we need to find out what these creatures are, what they want, and how to stop them," The Doctor said with a flourish and flicked a few switches around the monitor.

"And how do we do that, old man? It's not like we can just find one and ask, I mean one was about to rip me apart, and I don't think it was willing to talk. Maybe, tell me how much it would kill me, or whatever, but nothing like 'I come from the planet Raxatorentinofallingapartius and I just want to be friends. Why do people always run away from me when I slaughter their whole family?' Like, that's not going to happen."

"That's it. We can talk to one!" The Doctor exclaimed and started pulling levers.

"Um, that's the opposite of what I just said, so I'm not sure you heard me. Don't talk to the murderous aliens. Hear me now?"

"Oh, I heard you. But it makes it more fun when I don't listen." The Doctor pulled a few levers and the room started shaking again. I grabbed onto the railing once more and felt my shoulder pinch in pain. I glanced down at my shoulder to see a rip in the button-down shirt and a small spot of blood. I touched it and saw that a cut sliced my shoulder open.

"Great, now the alien cut me, too. These things are savage. Better watch out, Doctor, they might…" I released a breath and stumbled forward. Had I not been holding onto the railing, I would've toppled over and landed face-first onto the metal stairs, which would not have been fun.

The machine stopped. I barely noticed as all of the color left my face and my vision filled with dark spots. The Doctor was there, in front of me, peering into my eyes with a small flashlight. I tried to turn away from the bright gaze into my eyes, but his hand grabbed hold of my chin and forced my head to face his. His conversation with Clara was muffled, but I could barely make it out.

"She's not losing much blood. But yet her symptoms seem like she's been losing enormous amounts of blood. Nonresponsive, pale, faint, we could lose her at any moment."

Okay, let's take a break here. The Doctor doesn't really seem to notice, or care, but I am most definitely a boy. Just putting that out there. Just because I don't have the things, doesn't mean I'm not a male. Well, not biologically speaking, but that's how I identify. Don't argue with me, just accept it, and I won't care about whatever you are.

Okay, back to me dying or whatever's going on.

"Well, do something!" Clara shouted.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" The Doctor ran off, and returned with his sunglasses and a paper towel. He ripped the sleeve off of my shirt (how rude!) and began dabbing at it with the paper towel. He slipped the sunglasses onto his face and stared at my wound like he was trying to light it on fire with his mind.

"Doc...tor," I whispered. "What's happening?"

"That's… no. It's impossible. And… what it's doing is even more impossible."

"It's a thing so, so not really impossible." I rubbed some sweat off my forehead. Every second I felt less real, like I was fading out of existence. Great, I don't even get to die, I just get to fade out of existence. Like I was never even there in the first place.

"Doctor, she's… vanishing!" Clara exclaimed.

"Wow, it's like it's happening right in front of us. I'm doing everything I can to try and stop it, but there's not much I can do, we're dealing with time energy here."

"Time? Energy? What?" I asked, my voice sounded a million miles away.

The world slipped away from me like one of those little plastic things in gift shops that are really hard to hold on to. Sometimes they had glitter, little toys, or whatever inside of them and all you would do with them is try to keep a grip on them for more than five seconds. Oh, shut up, you know what I'm talking about.