Thunderous applause erupted in the nightclub as Monsieur Evangeline took an extravagant bow and blew kisses to the audience. His sidekick, the rather more mysterious and reserved Englishman Mister Mania managed a quick wave, and then a brief smile could be seen beneath his pencil-thin moustache. With a few more bows to the enthusiastic crowd, Mania discreetly pulled his friend Evangeline aside, whispering into his ear as they disappeared offstage into the depths of the wings as though swallowed up by its blackness.
The walk to their shared dressing-room took them down what felt like endless steps, downward and downward, darker and darker to a dimly lit under-space beneath the stage.
"Must you always overdo it, my friend?" said Mania.
"Always leave them wanting more," replied Evangeline. "And in our case, always leave them wanting much much more."
Mania pushed Evangeline back toward the shadow of the corridor. "I have chosen someone for you tonight." His once calm expression flashed a sudden fearful gaze.
Evangeline returned the expression. "Must I bring her here?"
Mania grasped his friend on the arm. "Henri, we must. Don't think, don't ever think."
…
"I think you're taking me on a little adventure," said the woman dressed in scarlet led by Monsieur Evangeline into the underbelly of the nightclub. So soft was her voice that he hesitated for a moment. Should he have picked someone else, someone not quite so sweet and beautiful? But then what would that make him, a god, a devil?
Evangeline kissed her hand. "Indeed, my love, a daring adventure." He held her for a moment against the door to the dressing room and when he was ready he pulled the door open, ushered her inside and slowly closed it behind him. When he turned up the gas-lamp the woman screamed upon seeing the face of Mister Mania staring back at her from the corner of the room.
"What's he doing here?" she said. "I thought we were alone."
Mister Mania managed a smile. "No, just we four."
The woman looked back at Evangeline. "Four?"
Before either of the men could reply there was a sudden low growl, like a wolf hungry for dinner. And then she saw it- something she'd never seen before, something not of this world, something so utterly terrifying. She screamed. Two large glowing eyes bore into her and she was transfixed, unable to look away from the creature.
A force beyond her power was holding her prisoner, drawing her into the creature's path like a fly to a flame. All she could do was scream and scream as it drew her closer and closer to it. Her body dragged forward. Her entire being became smaller and smaller. Her body became less blood and bone, more dust and air until she was merely a trail of smoke, finding its way inside the shadow box on the table. The lid slammed shut on the box, trapping what was left of her inside.
"Have you had enough yet?" Evangeline directed his voice at the creature before his desperate eyes gazed at Mania. "Have we had enough?"
…
"Have you had enough?" Steven said as he followed Vicki out of the TARDIS into a dark space lit only by a small candle flickering solemnly in the corner of the room.
"No, I haven't had enough, it's too easy to tease you." Vicki tilted her head and smiled broadly. It was hard for him to make out her expression but he knew exactly from experience what she'd be up to.
"Alright, alright, so we're not in the far-flung future. We're in a…" he cut himself off mid-sentence and looked around. "Where are we?"
"Don't know. All I do know is that you bet we'd be in the future and I bet the past and this seems like the past to me."
Steven smirked. "What tipped you off- lack of electricity, lack of machinery, lack of anything?"
"Lack of the Doctor!" Vicki added as she looked around the room and to the few steps they'd taken from the TARDIS which was now hidden from sight behind an elaborate curtain.
Steven wasn't convinced that a large blue box would be well disguised inside such a small room but he was glad it stayed unnoticed in the dark corner, seeming to fade away into the blackness.
"The Doctor's probably stepped back inside to grab something," Steven said, taking a few more paces around the room to where a mirror was hung upon a wall and a table stood underneath it filled with an array of powders and make-up. There were dozens of bottles of potions and lotions as well as an assortment of brushes and costume jewellery. Vicki's eyes gazed at them in excitement.
"A dressing room?" Steven queried as he slapped Vicki's hand away, conscious of her fingers reaching down for the bottle of unknown and unlabelled liquid.
"What was that for?" she protested. "I'm not a baby, I wasn't going to drink it. It could be poison and believe me I've been around some poison on my travels."
Steven didn't know whether to ask. Travelling with the Doctor meant anything was possible. "Just try not to touch anything. It's going to be hard to explain what we're doing here. If the owner of this room comes back, we're in for it. Let's get to the Doctor and leave."
There was the sound of thunderous applause above them and then the stomping of footsteps. They looked upwards to the ceiling in synchronization.
"Must be quite a show going on up there," Vicki said. "Perhaps we could watch."
"Let's just find the Doctor."
As Steven said the words, light from a lantern illuminated the room and he stopped still, unsure of what was happening. His hands instinctively grabbed Vicki's shoulders and the two of them stood transfixed as the shadow on the blank wall in front of them came to life, creating a shape- a large image beginning to form from nothing. Vicki gasped at the silhouette on the wall.
"It's the shape of the TARDIS!"
They both turned back to glance at the table to where a small elaborate shadow-box stood perfectly still, unaided and projecting the image with a single lantern light placed behind it. Steven shuddered. Who had turned the lantern on?
He glanced over the box, peering down at it with intrigue as Vicki joined him from the other side of the table. The contraption was ornately decorated with a series of swirling gold and black patterns around the sides. The front was clear, showing only the shapes of the cut-out figures that were placed inside. Steven and Vicki had to admit they hadn't seen anything like it before, it seemed so rudimentary and yet beautiful at the same time. There was a box shaped cut-out at the front. Could that have been the TARDIS shape that they now saw projected onto the wall?
Steven turned off the lantern and tried to open the box but the lid was fixed shut and with the device still a little too hot to touch, there was no way of looking inside.
"Why was that a TARDIS shape?" Vicki asked, looking back at the wall which was now blank again. "It looked more like a TARDIS than just a box."
"Must be a trick. Let's ask the Doctor."
They fumbled in the dimly-lit space until they reached the elaborate curtain in the corner of the room. Vicki's hand reached slowly forward and pulled back the fabric. The TARDIS had vanished and so had the Doctor!
Seconds after Steven had turned it off, the lantern light in the room came to life again spontaneously and Vicki and Steven clung onto each other as a low growl rumbled around them.
"That noise didn't come from above did it?" Vicki asked.
"I wish it did. I don't think we're alone. Let's get out of here!"
"What about the Doctor and the TARDIS?"
"We can't worry about that now. Let's head upstairs and find out what the hell's going on."
Vicki didn't hesitate and they raced to the entrance, slamming the door behind them and finding the darkness of the corridor.
…
Venturing up the staircase, Vicki came to an abrupt halt at the last step forcing Steven to crash into her.
"Vicki!"
A sudden burst of noise greeted them immediately and they were aware they were no longer alone, instead surrounded by a gathering of performers parading along the corridors in costumes, in and out of various dressing rooms with only a few dim gas-lanterns lighting the way. It was so chaotic that Steven felt he was getting a headache just watching everyone blur around him. Before he had time to gather his thoughts, Vicki had set off and was already talking to someone by one of the dressing rooms. To find his way to her, Steven had to avoid a man carrying an axe and a woman with a snake around her neck.
He joined them eventually and did a double-take when he realised the woman Vicki was talking to only had one eye. Where the left one should have been was instead a gaping socket.
"Steven, this is Georgette." Vicki motioned to the woman.
He smiled politely, trying to ignore her unusual appearance and the strange facial tattoos.
"What happened to your eye?" Vicki asked suddenly.
"Vicki!"
The woman smiled. "It's quite alright, love. The Mademoiselle's only curious and it was what you call a battle scar of sorts. It happened live on stage. My husband and I have a knife-throwing act."
"Oh…" Steven and Vicki said at the same time as their expressions of surprise turned into those of horror. "Oh!"
They looked at each other and grimaced.
"These things happen in the theatre, my dears."
"Speaking of things that happen in theatres," Vicki said, trying not to stare into the vacant eye hole, "do you know whose dressing room that is downstairs?"
"You two a new act?" the one-eyed lady asked.
Vicki glanced at Steven and then cleared her throat. "Yes, that's right. We're the 'Tricky Twins', a macabre magic act."
Steven shook his head in disbelief. "Still trying to find our way around."
"Well the dressing room downstairs belongs to the hosts- Mania and Evangeline. They're the ones on stage right now, though I wouldn't go down there, they're quite secretive about their private quarters."
Steven and Vicki glanced at one another. "And no one else is down there?" Steven asked.
The woman laughed. "Who else could there be? It's always just the two of them." She was distracted by three glamorous singers and a stage-hand brushing past her.
"We need to have a chat with those men," Steven said aside to Vicki.
"We can't go up there dressed like this, we'll look suspicious…and boring."
Steven looked down at his suede coat and smart trousers. "You're right, let's grab some clothes off that rail."
Vicki's eyes lit up when she saw the assortment of costumes.
…
Steven laughed when he saw Vicki emerge from behind the changing screen. She was dressed in a long crimson Victorian style dress and had placed a large hat (which was slightly too big for her) onto her head.
"What's wrong?" Vicki didn't know why Steven was looking at her.
"Nothing, I was just thinking that I've never seen you looking so elegant, that's all."
"Don't get used to it." She smiled as she looked over Steven's choice of outfit. To her he looked like some kind of vampire in a white frilled shirt, tight pantaloons and long boots.
"Don't say a word!" he said, sensing she was about to make a sarcastic comment.
Vicki giggled. "Come on, let's meet these popular hosts!"
…
By the time they'd reached the wings at the side of the stage, the sound of applause was deafening and Steven and Vicki fidgeted on the spot as they peered onto the stage. The men's voices were so loud and commanding that they echoed through the club. Vicki tried to get a glimpse of them but their view was obstructed by a sudden puff of smoke that moved across the stage and shrouded the performers in mystery. But then as the fog cleared away, the sight of the two men became clearer and the travellers watched them transfixed. The two showmen were lapping up the praise, feeding off the audience and bowing in grandiose fashion. One of them blew kisses to the crowd whilst the other seemed to have a talent for receiving spectacular cheer. Vicki was so caught up in the excitement of being backstage that she almost forgot for a moment that they were still missing the Doctor.
They waited until the applause died down and watched the men leave the stage, heading toward a bar in an alcove of the nightclub.
"Let's try and blend in," Vicki said, but Steven was already marching onto the stage and down the steps with determination.
Vicki held him back. "Hold on soldier, why the rush?"
"The Doctor's missing and I want answers!"
Vicki pulled at his shirt sleeve and she could feel his arms tighten in fury. "Maybe they won't tell us if you interrogate them! Or maybe they'll have no idea what we're talking about."
He snorted. "I find that hard to believe. Vain creatures, look at them."
She looked over in their direction as one of the men kissed a woman's hand and the other downed a glass of wine. "Vain, yes, but we might need them to find the Doctor."
Steven gave in, she was right, they had to use the men to their advantage so he followed his friend towards them at the bar. A waiter carrying a small tray of drinks brushed past Vicki and she grabbed a glass of wine. She was about to take a sip when Steven took it away from her and handed it to another guest.
"The Doctor wouldn't like it."
She frowned but as soon as she reached the two show-men she curtsied and began fanning herself dramatically causing Steven's eyebrow to rise. He started to wish he'd had the drink instead.
"Oh, Evangeline and Mania, you were so magnificent, I can barely stand!"
Steven gulped. "What she said."
Monsieur Evangeline took Vicki's hand and kissed it whilst Mister Mania regarded Steven with caution.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the performance. We aim to thrill, delight and even…" he leaned in close to her and whispered, "…terrify."
"Oh, if only we knew how it all worked," Vicki said but there was a pause after her reply as Mania and Evangeline glanced at one another- almost an unspoken language between them.
"Tours are reserved for specific invited guests," Mania replied, looking at Vicki and dismissing her.
His eyes scanned over Steven and Steven felt unnerved by the sheer intensity of Mania's gaze. He looked like he was about to devour him.
"Oh please?" Vicki said, fluttering her eyelashes.
There was another delay as the two men once again looked at one another and seemed to communicate using only their intense stares. Vicki was astounded by how beautiful the men both were. Beautiful on the outside of course, on the inside they could quite easily be very different.
"Very well," Mania said. "Just you two for tonight."
As Steven and Vicki prepared themselves to leave, Steven caught sight of Evangeline's trembling hand grab Mania's arm. What were they up to and were they awaiting some terrible fate by following them down into the deserted depths of the dark dressing room? Even more worryingly, had the Doctor already succumbed to something sinister?
…
Leading the way down the spiralling staircase, Evangeline and Mania discreetly edged onward, hoping to have time to speak out of earshot from their over-eager guests.
"She's a child!" Evangeline whispered but with alarm.
"I know that," Mania whispered back. "But I think you're forgetting who got us into this. You think I wanted this? I have to make the hard choices!"
"And I have to lure them!" Evangeline's voice rose unintentionally.
Mania grabbed his friend's arm to silence him. "Dear Henri, we have to stay strong, don't you see, we are alone in this so we have to stick together."
"But Allen, for how long?"
Their conversation was interrupted as Steven and Vicki finally caught up, trying desperately to witness the heated but quiet discussion.
"Something wrong?" Steven asked.
"It's nothing!" Mania snapped, tightening his fingers and then instantly relaxing them.
"I mean, nothing to trouble you with young sir. If you'd like to follow us, we shall give you a tour of our dressing room, perfectly situated in the lower depths of the theatre. Some say deep into its very soul."
It was in absolute silence that they completed the rest of their trip down to the dressing room situated alone deep below the stage. Vicki had never felt such a chilly atmosphere from two people and although she wouldn't admit it, if Steven hadn't have been with her, she'd have felt quite afraid being left alone with them.
The door to the dressing room was opened by Evangeline who ushered them inside.
"Oh, it's very nice," Vicki managed to say before she and Steven found themselves being shut in alone.
"Are they locking us in?" Steven said.
"Didn't hear a key."
Vicki got down on her knees and crawled over to the door, placing her hands on the wood and peering through the keyhole. "I can see them," she whispered. "Bit dark but they're talking, I can hear them."
Steven joined her by the door, struggling to kneel down in his tight boots. He shoved her gently out of the way to have a look for himself. "It's like they're waiting for something to happen."
"Yeah to us!" Vicki stammered before she pushed Steven out of the way to peer through the keyhole again. "Evangeline has his face in his hands, Mania's comforting him."
"What are they saying?"
They both pressed an ear to the door and listened carefully.
Outside, the two men were unaware of listening ears and an eye occasionally appearing through the lock to spy on them.
Mania paced back and forth and stroked his thin moustache. "Is the thing even in there? I didn't hear it."
"Well it's not out here. It's probably asleep. Should we wake it?"
"It'll wake soon enough when it realises its dinner time."
Evangeline flinched, running his fingers through his long sleek hair. "I wish this would all go away."
"Me too my friend, but we started this."
"But must it go on forever? When does it stop?"
"Do you want to die?" Mania pleaded. "Then we can't ever stop!"
Inside, crouched on the floor, Steven and Vicki looked at one another grimly. They had not heard every word but they had heard enough. They were inside a room with something that wanted dinner and something that the two show-men were terrified of saying no to. Steven shuddered and looked around the room, getting onto his feet and pulling Vicki up with him who was finding it hard to move in the long and layered dress.
There was a sudden flicker of life from the lantern and Vicki jumped. The lantern coming alive meant something else could be alive too- just like last time. She huddled next to Steven and they both stood still unsure of what to do. They wanted to run but they needed to know what was happening.
Just as before, a shadow filled the blank wall and began to form into a shape, projected from the box on the table. Vicki narrowed her eyes as the form of a person began to appear. First the figure was stationary but then it started to move in different formations- arching its back, then sticking its chest out, holding a cane out in front of its body. There was no mistaking the figure before them- it was the Doctor!
"How can that be?" Vicki said as she glanced back at the shadow-box. "They can't have a cut-out of the Doctor. And it certainly can't move like that."
"I don't think that's an ordinary shadow-box, Vicki, and somehow I don't think it's a cut-out. The Doctor's stuck in there or something- he's got to be!"
"How? Oh, poor Doctor. That means the TARDIS must be in there too. But he's still alive isn't he, he's still moving and things?"
Steven watched the shadow Doctor move once again, almost pointing toward the box on the table. "He's communicating with us. Someone is stealing people and putting them in that box and whatever it is won't release them."
There was the sound of a slow clapping at the door and the two companions spun around to find Mania and Evangeline were now in the room and had witnessed their conversation.
"You've seen through the façade then?" Mania said, shutting the door behind him.
Steven marched over to him and grabbed his lapel. "Now, I don't know what kind of sick show you're running here but you release the Doctor at once before we call the authorities."
Mania took Steven's hand away. "If you bring more people here they will simply fade away like the dozens before them."
"You're luring people down here like sheep to the slaughter?" Steven felt his temperature rising.
Evangeline stepped forward between the two men and his voice was softer, pleasant. "We had no choice."
"There's always a choice," Vicki said. "What's in this for you then?"
There was no reply for a brief moment. Both Mania and Evangeline just stared downward, unable to answer. Vicki looked at them and didn't know whether she wanted to be angry with them or just pitiful.
"We never wanted this!" Evangeline let out with a desperate cry.
"Henri, stop!" Mania said. "They are never going to understand."
"Try us?" Vicki said.
A noise interrupted them and they were subjected to a bellowing rumble beneath their feet. They could feel the vibrations beneath the floorboards. Mania closed his eyes wearily. How many times had he heard the noise and how many times did he want it to stop?
Vicki kept her eyes on the shadow of the Doctor and she remained focused on him and not the sound of some unknown monster she dared not want to imagine. She also didn't want to think about what the Doctor was feeling, whether he was scared or angry or alone. Were the other victims with him? Was it too late to save them?
Evangeline sat down at one of the chairs by the table and sighed deeply. "It's all my fault."
"Too right it is!" Steven shouted as he arrived next to him at the table, hovering over him like a vulture.
"You don't understand." His lips trembled. "I brought that thing here. I'm its keeper."
Vicki pulled up a chair opposite him and grabbed his hand. "Tell me what happened, please? We're not strangers to the impossible, believe me."
Evangeline began to tell them everything. He told them of the beautiful girl with the auburn hair, the day he seduced her, the day he cast her aside and the day her family came for him for revenge. An aunt of hers was witch-like in every aspect and with her anger came a sequence of words, a chanting- a curse.
"There's no such thing as a curse," Steven said. "It's in your mind."
Mania slammed his fist on the table causing the box to jump slightly from its place. "Then what corner of hell did that thing come from?"
Steven sighed. "I don't know but there's probably a rational explanation. If the Doctor wasn't trapped he'd have some answers."
"The Doctor?" Mania said.
And just like Evangeline had told them of the auburn-haired girl and the curse and a mistake made, they told the men of the Doctor- the ancient traveller, the white-haired wizard, the man who could dive in and find a way out of the dark.
"But if he's trapped we're doomed," Evangeline said.
"Don't count on it," Vicki said. "We know our stuff too. We're quite the team. Just like you two." She looked at Mania. "You did this to protect him, didn't you?"
Mania bowed his head. "I thought he was cursed. The creature spoke to me, just weeks ago."
Mania looked at his friend, almost as if asking his permission. But unlike the shadow- box that wouldn't open the two men could no longer keep their secrets locked inside. So Mania started to tell his story with the same command and eloquence he would deliver on stage…
…
…Weeks earlier, jackets removed and hats placed upon the stand, Evangeline and Mania sat down in their dressing room and sighed with relief from another crowded evening at the nightclub. A night like many before.
"You're not quite yourself," Mania said as he poured wine for his friend, "on stage it's as though nothing is wrong but here you're distant, distracted."
"You can always see through me."
"Ever since we were young men. Now come on Henri, I've always been able to help you with life's obstacles. Won't you let me help you overcome this one?"
A tear fell down Evangeline's cheek and he wiped it away hastily. "I'm so afraid. A demon has cursed me."
Mania who was holding his wine glass, spilt the drink until it dripped down the tablecloth and onto the floor like blood. "You are confusing the shadow puppets with reality, my dear friend."
"Don't patronise me! This is real. It visited me. Whatever it is I summoned it here somehow and it wants me to help it."
Mania stood up and paced the room, sensing that his friend was confessing to something rather than concocting a peculiar lie. "What do you mean 'it'?"
There was a sudden draft and one of the candles blew out leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. It was followed by a low rumble that sounded like thunder and then they saw it. Behind the table there were two glowing green lights that looked like eyes but there didn't seem to be a physical form. Mania stood back in fear.
"What is that?"
The light from the lantern came to life and the blank wall along with it- sudden shadows dancing across- forming into shapes. Mania watched on as the little shapes began to merge and fuse together to become one entity. The shadow became a shape of the devil and it was staring right at them. Its mouth opened and it seemed to be laughing. It pointed at them and a shadowed finger beckoned them nearer and nearer. It wanted them, it needed them. They would do its bidding and if they didn't…
…
"It would kill you?" Vicki said.
Steven sighed deeply, for the first time feeling sorry for them but there was still anger in him as he thought of the other people they had lured below the stage. "You get to live I understand that, but you steal lives to do so. How can you live with it?"
"We don't know that they die for certain," Evangeline uttered quietly.
"But they're still lost," Vicki said.
"Never mind that," Mania said as he looked around the room as though searching for the demon, "shouldn't we think of a way to stop it?"
Evangeline looked at him hopefully. "You really want to give up? You don't know how happy that makes me."
"I just wanted to save you, Henri."
Steven ran his hand through his hair and shivered in the chilly room. "What do we do then? How do we defeat this thing?"
"It obviously can't feed without help or it wouldn't have recruited you two," Vicki said looking at the men.
"If we don't help it, it will kill us all," Mania said trying not to raise his voice.
"Seems to me that we should trap it. Give it a taste of its own medicine. If it likes shadows so much then why not put him in one of those boxes too?" Vicki said.
"He's too powerful, he'd break free," Mania said.
"Not if we create a new box," Evangeline told him. He looked at Steven and Vicki. "We're working on a new shadow-box for our act. We use new materials. It's stronger, bigger, more effective. Perhaps we can ensnare it within."
"And hopefully find the Doctor," Steven said.
Steven and Vicki helped the two men to gather all their materials and tools and all they would need to fashion the prison for the creature. Whilst they were fixing it together, Steven glanced at the wall and looked at the shadow Doctor, he had appeared again and was bent over as if watching them. To Steven it was a comfort to know the Doctor was there somehow, guiding them and encouraging them. It helped to know he was alive.
Steven watched in awe as the two genius artistes created a box so beautiful that they couldn't believe it was to house something so ugly.
Evangeline looked over his shoulder as he felt a breeze tickle his cheek. There was the sound of a creak in the floorboards again and then a grumble underfoot. "It's here," he said.
Their faces looked down at the floor and none of them new how to proceed. Vicki looked to the wall and saw the shadow Doctor pointing to what looked like behind the table.
"We have to get it in there now!" she cried.
Evangeline gulped and stepped forward with sudden bravery. "I started this, I shall end it." He beckoned the creature to him. "I have food for you. I offer me! Come and get me!"
Mania tried to race forward but Steven held him back.
"No!" Mania screamed.
It was too late, Evangeline was caught in some invisible force, a wave of something unclear sweeping over him causing him to lash his arms out in front of him, swiping something away. He wasn't giving up without a fight. He held his hands out in a strangling gesture and then stepped backwards, falling onto the table.
She didn't quite know what was happening but Vicki could make out two glowing eyes near the table next to Evangeline. He screamed. And then the eyes were gone.
Evangeline fell off the table and Mania rushed over to his aid, helping him to his feet. "Is he vanquished?"
Steven watched the lid of the new box slam shut and heard a deep roar fade away as it was sealed away from sight. "I'd say it was."
"But what about the other one?" Vicki said, staring at the delicate shadow-box on the table, the one which trapped the Doctor. "We've got to open it."
"It already is open my dear," said a familiar voice from behind her.
Vicki jumped in surprise and then raced into the Doctor's waiting arms. She inspected his face. He had colour and lines and expression. He was real! "Oh Doctor, you're not lost forever."
"Never left you my dear," he said bopping her nose. "And I'm very proud of you, both of you." He shook Steven's hand.
They were suddenly startled by the sound of confusion and whispered voices coming from the other side of the room and Vicki smiled when she saw a dozen or so people, rubbing their heads but completely unharmed. And the TARDIS! It was there, real and solid and humming with life.
"What's going on?" said the woman in scarlet.
Evangeline looked away from her gaze. Could he ever forgive himself even if they had all been spared?
Mania stepped forward, forever the story-teller, holding his arms out in a welcoming gesture. "My dear guests, you have been part of an elaborate show and you are very privileged to have won the grand prize for your participation. You shall all be treated to a night in the fanciest hotel in Paris."
The guests were dazed, unsure of what was happening but seemed to accept the explanation, having not remembered much of the events- perhaps too embarrassed to admit they were afraid. The Doctor helped the charade by chuckling to the other victims about how lucky they were to witness genius showmanship first hand.
When the guests had left the room, the Doctor turned to the great showmen and frowned. "I hope you've learnt your lesson hmm? And don't think we've forgiven you. I do hope you intend to live good lives helping people after this appalling deed."
Mania and Evangeline nodded. They were so tired they could no longer argue.
"But what about the creature or alien or whatever it is?" Steven said. "How did trapping it, release all of you?"
"It no longer had power, my dear boy. When one loses power it's hard to maintain strength."
"But what do we do with it now?" Evangeline asked.
"I suggest you put it to good use, young man, and that shall be your duty to make sure that thing is never released. If it does who knows where it might try and conquer next, who it may manipulate."
"But what is it?" Vicki asked.
"I've encountered a similar species," the Doctor said. "But none quite so powerful. The best place for it is in that box. But remember my friends, never open it, not for as long as you shall live and even beyond."
Evangeline took a deep breath and looked at Mania. It was over.
…
"Your drink, Doctor," Steven said as he handed a glass of milk to the old man as he sat in between him and Vicki at the table near the front of the stage. "I felt a right idiot ordering milk at a nightclub."
"Nonsense," the Doctor said, drinking a sip and ignoring the milk moustache that had formed above his top lip.
Steven was about to reach for his wine when he saw Vicki lifting the glass to her mouth. He snatched it away quickly. "Vicki!"
"I was thirsty."
He slid a glass of orange juice in her direction. "Which is why I got you this."
The Doctor chuckled as Vicki begrudgingly sipped it. She soon forgot her annoyance however when the lights dimmed and a mist wafted across the stage. The Doctor coughed and then a sound of eerie organ music filled the room.
"Here we go!" Vicki said, clapping her hands in excitement.
The two handsome show-men known as Monsieur Evangeline and Mister Mania took to the stage and bowed appreciatively to thunderous applause. Evangeline looked directly at Vicki and smiled.
He stepped forward. "Tonight, we bring you a show like no other, a show sure to terrify you to your very soul. A story of a demon and a curse."
Mania placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "The shadows are coming alive tonight Evangeline; shall we show them?"