The Time Lord's Time Traveller
Chapter 1: We're Just Getting Started
"Come on Ella! You haven't hung out with us for weeks, please!" I look up at my best friend, Eliza, who pouts at me and I giggle at her childish behaviour. I look over at my mug, filled with the strong brown liquid that has been my lifeline for the past week. I have not been able to live without my precious coffee.
"Eliza, it's only been a few days, and I've been busy, I have to get this article to the agency by tomorrow morning, you know that." She humphs and leans against the door frame to my office, or namely, the spare bedroom in my apartment that I turned into an office for me to work in. Pictures of my friends, family and work colleagues surround me on the different pin boards around the room, my many deadlines for the 3 articles I am writing this week, appointments and as well as the main articles that I have written, which are very few, but hopefully, not for long.
"Well, I can't take it anymore. I can't leave you alone up here, it would be playing my mind all night and you can't leave me with a worried conscience." I laugh, picking up my coffee mug and taking a sip, sighing as I feel the little boost to my system.
"No, you don't have a conscience Liza, you just want a quote, on quote 'partner in crime' tonight and no one else will go with you, so you come in here and annoy me until I feel so guilty and come out with you." She looks up hopeful.
"Is it working?" I sigh, looking at my laptop. It's screen buzzing at me, I do need a break, I've been working non-stop for 4 days straight and it's taking a toll on my brain, maybe going out for a few hours will be good for me. But on the other hand, Eliza surely has a trick up her sleeve, it's never just going out for a drink with her, boys will be involved and I am certain that, despite my best efforts, she would have set me up with a date. But I can't let her go as I know she'll be making sure to make me feel guilty for it later. I groan and she laughs and dances around.
"Yes! Yay! Yay! Yay! You won't be sorry; I'll hook you up with some cute English boy! I promise!" I look over at her, that confirms my suspicions.
"No, no no! None of that! You know how I hate arranged dates, I'm only coming out for a few hours and I'm not drinking. Got it? No hook ups, no, boys, nothing, just two girls hanging out." She nods.
"Okay, okay! Can I dress you? Please?" I shake my head.
"Absolutely not! You will make me look like I'm easy and a slut, no thankyou. I will dress myself." She groans.
"No baggy clothes then missy! You have to look presentable!" I look over at her.
"Hey! I always do thankyou very much!" She rolls her eyes and races out.
"I'll pick you up at 8!" I sigh and turn back to my laptop, gnashing my teeth together. I hate my life sometimes.
-#-
"So I was like, 'what's going on?' and he was just like 'whatever you want'." I hear laughter and I glare at Eliza, she never told me that she planned a date for me. She shrugs innocently and laughs along, this guy is so boring! I cannot take his sexist jokes and his pointless conversations that are filled with insults to females and people with a dream. I hate this creepy guy that Eliza must have dragged off the street, promising alcohol and me. I look over at her as she shrugs, looking admirably at the guy who has his arms around her. How can she let someone that she doesn't even know do that to her? I swirl the coke in my glass and look at the clock, 10:30, can I escape now I wonder? I cannot deal with one more disgusting, lust filled look from this guy, it's clear he was expecting a prostitute or some slut who would gladly crawl into bed with him. He looks at me like I'm a piece of meat.
"So, gorgeous, what do you do in your days?" I notice his friend who is with Eliza prodding him on; I look up at his cheesy and creepy grin feeling the need to slap him in the face.
"I'm a journalist, I write articles for newspapers and magazines." He laughs.
"I thought you were going to say something big and important, like scientist, or psychologist, like most girls like you are, what? You don't want to 'change the world' little missy?" I look over.
"And journalism is not important? And it doesn't 'change the world'?" He shrugs. "Let me ask you something. Do you read magazines?" He nods.
"Yeah!" I smile sweetly; this guy is going to get it, I'm not leaving here without taking his eyes out.
"Do you watch the news?" He nods.
"Well, only when hot chicks are on the screen but yeah." I sigh and glare at Eliza.
"And do you look at photographs of models that have been air brushed so much that they look nothing like the real person?" He nods.
"They are fit! Hell yeah!" I growl and glare at him.
"Well, let me tell you, magazine articles are written by journalists, those 'hot chicks' on TV are journalists, the photographers that take photos of all those models you boys probably drool over, are journalists, do you understand?" He shakes his head, looking a bit intimidated.
"And do you see articles on the terrors of today that feature starving children, cures for cancer, corrupt governments and stories of pain and hurt, informing people of today's challenges and things that we can do to help?" He nods.
"Yeah, but they are so boring, I'd take a model to that any day," I laugh sarcastically at the two boys high fiving in front of me.
"Well, those 'boring articles' that you are referring to, provide information to the public to help 'change the world' as they open up people's eyes to issues that we face, so you see I am making a difference, aren't I?" He gulps as he realises how angry I really am and I stand, pushing my chair back.
"Now, if you excuse me, I must go, I have a lot to do to 'change the world'. And you," I look at Eliza. "I will call you tomorrow; don't think you're not getting out of this, I'm not exactly happy with you right now and you owe me 2 hours of my life, 2 hours that was wasted listening to you two rant on about 'fit' women in bikini's, and stupid street racing. Good night and farewell gentlemen, if I see your faces again in my lifetime it would be too soon." I leave money to pay for the drinks I consumed and leave the bar, frustrated that Eliza would even think to do that.
I grumble to myself as I walk through the streets of London, passing people in the street. I hate feeling that way around other people, this night was a mess! I can't believe that I fell for her little tricks, again. I am so stupid. I feel a tingle in my body. I wrap my jacket around myself and hope that the walk to my apartment isn't too long, it's freezing. Suddenly, thetingling intensifies and I stop in the middle of the street, shaking. It travels up my body and I can hear ringing in my eyes, I have to sit down as a feel dizzy and my legs give out from underneath me. Great, and now I'm feeling ill, that's perfect. As if this night could get any worse.
Suddenly I feel a shock wave go through my body, and I feel like I'm being dragged backwards. The environment around me changes, the light dims and the ground feels different, I'mnot on the dirty streets of London anymore; I'm in somestrange room. What the hell? Where am I? How did I get here? So many questions wiz around my head and I can feel a head ache coming on. I pinch my nose and groan. A man in a bow tie and tweed jacket looks up from where he was sitting, reading a book. He smiles at me, obviously recognising me.
"Ella! My Ellie-girl! You're here! Great! So I was thinking of taking you and Amy to see the Mountains of Leme, they are gorgeous. You'd love them! They are made of emeralds and glisten in the bright light of the '3 Suns'. I have to say, they are breath-taking, much like you!" I look up and stand slowly, pushing myself against the barricade behind me as he stands up from a step and comes over. This guy sounds like he knows me, and by the sounds of it, he's known me for a while. Am I dreaming? I must be, this can't exist, this looks like it's come out of a book, it must have, I'm actually at home right now, on my couch and I'm dreaming.
"Umm, I'm sorry, but who are you?" He stops coming towards me, and looks confused and hurt? Does he look hurt?
"Ellie-girl? What's wrong? You're looking rather confused tonight. Are you feeling ill? Ella, what's wrong?" I look up, confused as he feels my forehead. I look around away from his worried gaze. Who is this madman?
"I'm not sick, just confused, where am I? Do I know you from somewhere? Well, you apparently know me, but I'm sorry, I have no memory of you." He looks like he's about to burst into tears.
"Ellie-girl, please tell me you know who I am, please." I look into his eyes, feeling fear and confusion.
"Umm, nope, sorry, but I'm guessing you'll tell me how you do and we'll go off somewhere and then I'll wake up, feeling annoyed that it was all a dream." He stops.
"You think you're dreaming?" He looks like he's about to cry, he stops, walking backwards and places his hands to his face, I want to reach out and touch him, to stop him looking so sadand I don't know why. This guy is a stranger, and yet I feel the need to comfort him.
"I'm sorry; it's just that you told me this would happen and that I would have to let you adjust, I should have known that this would happen sooner or later, I'm sorry Ella." I look at him, gripping the cool metal behind me, trying to calm my thoughts down and come to a rational conclusion about all of this, but I'm coming up blank.
"I did?" He nods. "Okay then, why do I not remember any of this?" I whisper, looking around the room, the place looks, extra-terrestrial, like some sort of space ship, an alien spaceship. How can that be?
"This is a little strange, I'm not used to you not knowing me, well, in the past I've met you pretty early on in your travels, but not this early." I look around at focus on a screen. I then turn back to him as he leans against the machine in the middle of the room.
"I'm sorry, but I'm really quite confused, and if I'm honest with myself, a little frightened. I don't know where I am, and I don't know who you are." He nods.
"Of course, okay, first meeting, here we go." He clears his throat, and stands up straighter. "My name is The Doctor, and this is the TARDIS, my time travelling space ship. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space." I cock my head to the side, looking around at the surroundings.
"The Doctor? Doctor who?" He smiles and chuckles a little.
"I love it when people say that, especially you, nothing, just The Doctor." He smiles, I look around the place.
"Well, then, the TARDIS? It sounds like a name in a book." He smiles.
"I'm sure it does, and it may be in a book, somewhere, in some universe." He shrugs and I slowly walk up to the console, and touch it, yep, feels very real. It hums under my fingertips and I gasp, stepping back. The Doctor laughs.
"She likes you." I look up.
"Who?" He smiles at the console, running his fingers along it.
"The TARDIS, she likes you. She's alive." I nod.
"Okay, this is strange, I feel like I'm Alice and I've fallen down that rabbit hole into a strange and frightening world." He smiles to himself.
"Curiouser and curiouser," He murmurs, I smile at him a little.
"So, I guess you know me really well? Especially if you're quoting my favourite tales," He nods.
"I've known you for a long time actually; you could say we're, friends, of sorts." He smirks a little and I have a feeling that we are more than just friends, but I don't question it. I look at him, not having had a good look, now that I have I conclude that he actually is really good looking, and that his style, though strange, fits him really well.
"Well, this is going to take some getting used to, if I'm going to be in this dream for a while." He shakes his head.
"You're not dreaming." I look up at his hurt expression.
"So you're saying that I'm actually in a time travelling spaceship, with a madman who has a strange dress sense that I have apparently known for a while and I have no recollection of it whatsoever?" He nods.
"Well, I'm not a man, I'm an alien." I shake my head.
"What? No! You look human!" He chuckles.
"No, you look Time Lord, we came first." I shake my head.
"Time Lord, is that your species?" He nods.
"Yeah, yeah it is. So, what do you think?" I look up. "At all of this? What do you think of all of this?" I sigh, feeling something in me snap and the pressure that's been building inside of me explodes. I feel the weight of what is happening hit me like a ton of bricks and suddenly I feel the need to sit down.
"I don't know." I sit in a seat nearby and put my head in my hands, covering my face and trying not to cry, I can feel the sobs building up in my chest. What does all of this mean? Am I stuck here? This guy knows me very well, so I'm guessing I meet him frequently. Am I a time traveller myself? Is that how I don't know him? I don't know; I have no idea, what's happening? "I don't know what to think." He sits beside me and pulls me into his side.
"Hey, hey, Ella honey, don't cry, it'll be alright. We have fun, you and me, we always have a laugh." I look up, a tear falling from my eye.
"Do I ever go back? If this is not a dream, and you say that you know my very well, I'm guessing it means that I meet you often. Do I ever get to see my family or friends again?" He sighs.
"No, I'm sorry Ella. I am, but like I said, you and I have loads of fun together, and you have all of our adventures to look forward to." I look up and he smiles, holding me close. I hear footsteps.
"Doctor, the TARDIS has hidden my bathroom again and I really need a shower! I swear, you tell this machine that I need to keep myself clean and that I don't appreciate its tricks and jokes." I don't look up but I look at the Doctor. "Ella?" I stop and turn to the person.
"Amy, you need to slow down." This girl, Amy, runs forward and pulls me into a hug. I stop, not sure on what to think. I just stand there.
"Oh! I've missed you, I haven't seen you for ages, not since the dramas of Venice and those vampires, but I'm sure you know all about that." She pulls back to look at me and I look over at the Doctor who is throwing his hands in the air.
"Amy! Did you not listen to me? I said to slow down!" I look over at her and the Doctor.
"Venice? Vampires?" I murmur. She looks at me.
"Oh! I'm sorry, how could I be so stupid. You mustn't have experienced that before." I look over at her. I almost collapse, who is this woman?
"Amy, this is a brand new Ella, she has not experienced any of this at all." Amy looks at me.
"What? You haven't? Ella, do you know I am?" I look at the Doctor and back to her.
"No, sorry," She looks at the Doctor.
"Oh Ella! I'm so sorry." She pulls me into another hug and this time a hug back, a little, I just need someone to hold at the moment. This is getting too much.
"Well, umm, I'm Amy; it's nice to meet you. My fiancée Rory is currently upstairs in our room doing, I don't know, something, I'm sure you'll meet him later." I nod and look at the Doctor. He comes over and pulls me to his side.
"It's okay, I'm so sorry; I know this is all too overwhelming, I'm sorry." I look up at him and suddenly I feel my legs give out and a rush come over me. I look up at the Doctor who holds me firmly on my feel. I look over at Amy who looks scared and grabs my hand.
"What's happening?" The Doctor looks apologetic.
"I'm so sorry Ella, you're leaving, you're going into my past now. I'll see you soon, but not like this, not in this body." He smiles and kisses me on the forehead as I feel a massive pull and I'm gone.