Welcome to the House! Introducing our newest contestants!
A voice startles everyone in the room from a light slumber. They begin to get up.
We have, John "The Doctor" Smith!
A man in a leather jacket rises up from the ground, wondering how in the hell he got there. He looks around and sees a multitude of other equally confused looking people getting up. A bright light enshrouds him for a moment, high-lighting him as his presence is announced. It fades and the voice continues.
We have, James McCrimmon!
Another man, wearing a brown pin-stripe suit stands as well. Readjusting a magnificent sweeping duster, he looks at the people who are joining him on his two feet. He squints through the light shined in his face, blocking him from examining his surroundings.
We have, shrouded in mystery, "The Caretaker"!
Straightening his bow tie and brushing dust off of his tweed jacket, he scans the area. It's very dark and he can't see farther than the group of people around him. There's a plush carpet beneath him. He's particularly unfazed by the light blasted in his face.
We have, the "Bad Wolf" Rose Tyler!
The blonde woman covers her ears as the announcer's voice booms overhead. She's got bad enough of a headache as it is without the noise and light.
We have, Martha Jones!
The beautiful dark-skinned woman cringes in annoyance as the loud voice exaggerates the 'o' in her last name, making it unnecessarily long. She squints as her eyes are afflicted by the rapid changes in brightness.
We have, Donna Noble!
The red-head hates the way he changes the tone in his voice up and down as he says her name. In one of those rare moments, she keeps her mouth shut, listening as the rest of the group are introduced.
We have, Amelia Pond!
The Scottish woman with the flaming hair and attitude doesn't stay quiet, especially since the 'o' in her name is stupidly exaggerated too. "It's Amy whoever you are!" she yells. Her voice is ignored.
We have, Rory Williams!
The mild mannered nurse cringes too. Apparently fueled by Amy's outburst, the strange voice holds out every single vowel in his name.
We have, River Song!
The magnificent, bushy curls of her hair bounce about as she shakes her head and scowls The disembodied voice really has a thing for holding out the o's.
And, last but not least, we have the Impossible Clara Oswald!
The petite brunette seems to be the sole exception to o stretching, since it was clipped short in an attempt to start the s faster, but the voice held onto all the a's desperately instead, so it wasn't a positive trade off. Finally the light illuminating her stops, and her eyes begin adjusting to the dark once more.
Turns out she doesn't need to. The voice is silent for a moment as all the lights snap on, revealing a rather extravagant room. Everyone stops examining each other to look about the room in varied degrees of annoyance, awe, curiosity, boredom, and/or displeasure. Only the woman whom the voice called "River Song" truly looks bored. Like she's snatched from normal life and dropped into unknown places all the time.
We all knows the rules, but our contestants might not! So let me explain.
They all stop looking around and pay absolute attention.
Your one and only rule: Survive.
The whole group becomes concerned at this statement, but very few of them show it. River still looks bored.
From what, you will find out. There may be monsters, there may be traps, you may have to fear your very rivals in this room. Only time will tell, but this much is certain, ten will enter and only one will leave. Good luck contestants, for the House is already plotting your deaths.
The ten people look at each other, not saying a word, as the very building wakes up around them.
—
"Well," begins one James McCrimmon loudly, getting everyone's attention, "Might as well get to know each other better than just our names, as it seems we are stuck in a very dangerous situation."
Rose tentatively moves towards a long table in the center of the room. Around it are ten chairs and a meal is piled high on silver plates. She finds a place and sits. "Join me?" she asks the group.
Grudgingly, they move to join her. There's a brief test of wills between the "Caretaker" and John between the chair at the head of the table since the one on the other side was immediately taken by River. Eventually, John wins out and sits, Caretaker taking the seat on his right. Rose is sitting on his left, and the rest of the group picks out their spots at random.
After an uncomfortable silence, Clara speaks up. "Think the food's safe?"
"Good question," says John.
The Caretaker grabs an apple and turns it over in his hands. He carefully examines its surface, sniffs it, and pokes it several times. Then he takes a bite, slowly chewing and swallowing. "Well, if I wind up dead, then you'll know," he says without concern in his voice.
"That... That is..." Martha, being appalled by his blatant disregard for his welfare, finds herself at a loss for words.
Rory sort of sticks his hand in the air. "I'm a nurse, so I might be able to help," he pauses for a moment. "I'd need some equipment though."
Martha glances up. "I'm a doctor," she says, then looks at Rory. "Not trying to outdo you or anything."
Rory shakes his head. "It's fine, we'll work well together then."
She nods, then turns to John. "You were introduced as the Doctor, would you actually happen to be one?"
"PhD, but not in medicine," he replies.
Martha looks around the table. "May seem silly, but what are your professions?" she asks.
James pipes up. "Same as him," he says, nodding to John, "PhD in astrophysics, science things of that sort."
Rose looks around slightly sheepishly. "I work in a shop."
"Not the only one without a Doctorate, I'm just a temp," Donna states without enthusiasm.
"Schoolteacher," says Clara.
They look at River.
She doesn't speak for a while. "Professor Song, archeology," she finally says.
The Caretaker cocks his head. "Didn't you do that one dig near Cairo, discovered a hidden tomb or something?"
She smiles. "Yes. 842 sarcophagi, very few in tact though. A lot of them were simply wood, nearly 300 of them were animals as well. Only found 23 human that weren't rotted or destroyed in some way. Water tower of some date farmer had been leaking into the tunnels for years."
He nods. "Still impressive."
She shrugs. "They were Romans, hardly so."
Rory makes a sound of indignation. "Nothing wrong with Romans. They were a powerful empire."
She smirks. "Should've stayed out of Egypt."
He scowls, but doesn't argue further.
They turn to Amy expectingly.
She rolls her eyes. "Kissogram."
Nobody seems fazed in any degree, so she shrugs.
"And you?" asks Martha, looking to the man in the tweed jacket.
He just shakes his head and remains silent.
"Blimey," starts Rose, "Really playing up the 'mystery', aren't we?"
He smiles and continues his silence.
James speaks next. "So, something rather pressing, anyone have any idea about our current situation?"
"Well, I was just working really. Helping a customer then... then just this," says Rose, confusion on her face and in her voice.
Rory chimes in. "Just working too, don't remember how I got here."
Everyone gives similar answers.
"Anyone have any idea as to what to do next?"
A chorus of "no"s and the shaking of heads is the unfortunate reply from everyone but River, the Caretaker, John, and James, who asked the question to begin with.
He nods. "In that case, maybe we should just investigate our surroundings. Stick together."
River gets up, ignores his advice, and stalks towards the nearest exit, an old wooden door that looks as though it might lead to a basement, making this the ground floor. Stairs lead upwards from the next room over, so it must be a multi-story house though.
John rises. "I'm going to the next room over, it looks like a mud room. Anyone with me?"
Rose stands as well. She looks around but everyone else seems hesitant. John starts towards the archway leading to the entrance hall wordlessly and Rose quickly follows.
James rises next. "Wait a moment."
John pauses, giving Rose time to catch up.
"We'll all meet back here soon, got a watch?"
"Yes," replies John.
The Caretaker holds up his arm in response, showing off a very expensive looking piece.
"Meet here in an hour?"
"Fine," replies John curtly. "Coming Rose?"
She moves up next to him. "Yeah, right behind you."
They exit.
Martha stands and moves around the table to join him. "I'll stick by you then."
Donna follows her example. "Me too Spaceman."
"Spaceman?" he says, a priceless look of confusion and indignation on his face.
"Yeah," she replies, "All the astro stuff. That's got to do with space, right?"
He nods slowly. "Yeah, but you don't need to call me spaceman."
"Well, you look like a Martian with your hair all over the place."
"Spaceman it is," he says with a resigned sigh. "Let's head up those stairs in the next room over."
He leaves and they follow.
"Just us left then," states Amy as she gets up.
Rory stands up and pushes his chair in behind him.
The Caretaker doesn't want to pair up with anyone, alone is better, but the four of them are all that's left.
Clara, Amy, Rory, and he follow the previous three to head up the stairs.
As they make it to the next room, Clara stops by John and Rose.
"Should I stay with you guys? So every group has three?" she asks.
Rose was about to say what a good idea that would be when John interrupts.
"No, we're fine," he moves up next to Rose, standing a little closer than absolutely necessary. "Better with two."
Clara nods, not wanting to cross him. The man looks as though he's stormed the gates of hell and destroyed it all. Devil, demons, and everything. She moves up the stairs, right after Rory.
Rose turns to John. He simply turns his head, piercing blue eyes locking to hers.
She gives him a tongue-in-teeth smile. "Better with two?" she asks curiously.
He turns away, but not before she catches the hint of a smile.
—
The stairs are plush, soaking up every sound, a red velvet carpet covers dark wood which is polished to shine under the bright light from the electric chandeliers. The the three of them ascend soundlessly, turning right when the wide path splits in a T, and continue up the narrower set as the four behind them turn left. It's irrelevant which way one turns going up however, because everything on the second floor seems connected by the circular balcony around the chandelier that illuminates both floors. On the side, shelves cover every inch of wall-space and are crammed full of books of all sizes and colours.
The rails around the circle in the floor are the same polished dark wood. The elegant wood paneling of the same shade runs halfway up the walls before giving way to mahogany wall paper covered in patterns. The two are separated by a long strip of lighter coloured wood and the quarter rounds are extravagantly patterned. The lighting perfectly accents everything. A cushion covered bench fills a nook under a window. James goes up to the window but can see nothing but blackness outside.
The group off four climb another flight only accessible from that side and disappear from view. Donna and Martha spread out among the floor, looking around the shelves and over and under tables. Counter tops along the walls of the other side of the room are adorned with a selection of foods and alcoholic beverages of many kinds. Wine, scotch, vodka, whiskey, you name it, it was on tables, counters, and racks along with many fine crystal glasses. Some bottles had dust on them, others were more recent. The food, mostly cheeses and breads, looked fresh, and several coolers of ice are sitting on the floor.
He turns his attention back to the window. It seems that the window isn't just dark because it's night out, it's pitch black. Like it was spray painted over.
Suddenly, the whole house groans and creaks as if it was battered by strong winds. John keeps his eyes locked on the window, and for a moment something flashes in it. Something like a face, but too quick to be certain. He turns away to find Donna and Martha looking all around. Just as suddenly as it began, the the house stops making noise.
They hear a short scream from downstairs, and the three of them lock eyes for only a moment before they all rush for the stairs.
—
River did not feel like being part of a group, she didn't feel like sharing. What she did feel though, was the urge to find a gun, so she went off by herself to find a weapon. The old door did lead to a basement, as she had expected. She also expected no one would follow her down here because of the "terrible danger" they all seemed to be in, and who would want to be in a creepy basement full of monsters? River is used to dank and dark underground places, and nothing down here bothers her.
Rather than electrical lighting, small blazing torches are in sconces along the wall. The flickering cast strange shadows over the crates, barrels, shelves, and other sorts of things for storage. Rolled up carpets lean against support beams. The occasional oil lamp hangs from the rafters. Someone must've been down here recently, otherwise none of these would be lit.
She begins popping tops off of barrels and crates as well as glancing over the shelves. She finds silverware, salted meat still lying among the white-ish grains, fresh vegetables, canned food, a box of tools. Endless useless baubles and junk. She finds a crude machete and claims it at once. It is a bit dull, so she grabs a nearby iron tool to sharpen it on.
She hears a grand creaking from above, whatever it is, it must be loud. All the torches flicker in a short breeze. There must be an exterior cellar door. Excited with the prospect and a newly sharpened weapon, she moves again as the noise from above stops to find a way out.
—
The group of four climbs the second set of stairs. The case opens up into a hallway that ends in a large black window which would be above the main entrance. It's decorated with chairs and an end table with a clay pot of flowers and an empty silver bowl. The hallway splits in a cross shape and Rory and Amy go right while the Caretaker and Clara go left.
"Is there something else I can call you?" asks Clara. "The Caretaker is going to get annoying."
He's quiet for a moment. "Theta. Call me Theta."
Clara cocks her head ever so slightly. "Unusual."
"That was my nickname back in the Gallifrey Academy. Theta Sigma."
She nods. "Theta it is. Gallifrey Academy though... Is that in Ireland?"
"Something like that," he says as he opens a door on their right, revealing a dusty, cobweb filled room with spare furniture. He closes it again.
She opens the opposite door to reveal a large room full of...
"Bunk beds!" cries Theta gleefully.
All the sheets are fine silk, elaborately decorated with gold trim, but the five bunk beds are still bunk beds.
"Really?" she asks dubiously.
He flings himself upon a bottom bunk. "Bunk beds are cool, Clara Oswald."
Suddenly a scream is heard from downstairs and he hops up and rushes from the room, Clara right behind him. They meet the other two in the hall and they turn to rush down the stairs.
—
The first thing John notices upon walking into the room was the fact that where a door once was, a solid wall of bare red bricks has taken its place. Rose walks up beside him and sighs in exasperation. The archway opposite the one they just came from appears to enter into a sitting room, as plush and royal looking seating as well as a grand marble fireplace claims the majority of the room.
"Now what?" asks Rose in annoyance.
"Let's keep looking around," he says, equally irked.
The two groups pass by them and they both move past the grand staircase and through the arch into the sitting room.
Shelves of books line free wall-space. John moves over the them and begins examining the spines.
"Some advanced reading here," he announces. He runs his fingers over a particular title, Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics. He's always been interested in these kinds of things, but pursued a career in history and became a professor of it at a university.
He turns to Rose when she she makes a pleased "ooh" sound. She was currently holding a battered copy of Oliver Twist in her hands.
He smiled. "Fan of Dickens?"
She nods wordlessly, flipping through the first few pages.
"I'm his biggest fan," he announces with a grin.
Rose moves over to a free space and leans against a wall. A wall that quickly fell back and dumped Rose into darkness with a scream that was quickly cut off.
John dives forward in a futile attempt to keep her from falling.
"Rose!" he cries as the wall slaps shut again. He cautiously approaches the space where she disappeared, and nothing happens. He pushes on the wall and a collection of swift footsteps come rushing down the stairs and into the room he's in.
"What happened?" cries Martha.
"Rose... She just- the wall- the..." he takes a deep breath. "The wall opened up and she fell back," he gives the wall another shove and kicks it for good measure, hard enough to feel it through his sturdy boots. "It won't open again!" he yells in anger.
James moves forward to try gingerly stepping on floorboards and pushing certain planks on the wall. Then he pulls back. "I got nothing."
Clara looks to the Caretaker. "Can you figure something out Theta?"
People express silently confusion at his new title, but he carries on without caring.
He glares at empty space for a moment while he speaks. "What was she doing before she disappeared?"
"She leaned on the wall with a book."
He moves over and grabs a book before returning to the wall. He waves. "Wish me luck," he says jovially and leans against the wall. There's a pause in which he just stands there, shoulder against it, and everyone's relieved. Then the wall splits and he half falls, half jumps into the dark. The wall snaps shut behind him before anyone can react.
There's a moment of silence.
"That's two down." A voice behind them snaps them out of their reverie.
They all turn around to see River standing there, a machete hanging at her hip, leaning against the frame of the arch.
He shrugs her shoulders. "A shame, he was a real pretty boy."