And my new story begins! I have been a huge fan of Doctor Who over the years and decided that I wanted to finally write a fanfic. I will still be continuing updates with A Destiny Awakens and Everlasting Vow, though so I have not forgotten them. Enjoy, readers!
Click! Click!
The sound of a camera's shutter going off as a young woman photographed a client under the heat of beaming studio lights. Sweat began to perspire on her forehead and threatened to fall into her studying eyes. A mob of chestnut curls sat on top of her head in a messy bun, as she finished her session. Her client was an elderly lady who decided to get herself photographed professionally for the first time in years and was very pleased with the service.
"All done, Mrs Hurley," smiled the young woman as she carefully placed her camera away in its protective bag. "Shall we schedule for you to come by next Tuesday to pick up your prints?"
"Oh bless you, Willow. You are such a darling," smiled Mrs Hurley, giving her a quick hug.
"Just doing my job, Agatha," smiled Willow, happy with the outcome of the session. Waving off Mrs Hurley, Willow quickly packed away her lights and stashed them away in a lockable cupboard before leaving the studio that she rented a few times a week. Gripping onto her bag, she took in a deep breath of the crispy air and began her way back to her small apartment.
Her blue converses kicked up some undisturbed snow and water started to seep through, drenching her socks. Willow was looking forward to having a nice, warm shower and a cup of hazelnut tea; her favourite. Suddenly, walking past an electronic store with multiple televisions in the front window with News 24 broadcasting a video of a smoking Henricks, she crashed into a tall man with a leather jacket who stood in the middle of the pathway.
"Oh I am so sorry, sir," she quickly apologized, swinging her camera bag back over her shoulder as she had accidently dropped it. The man just simply smiled at her and continued to watch the news.
The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Earlier reports in that the fire had spread throughout the store…there is very little chance of saving the infrastructure…
"Oh my goodness! Rose!" Willow exclaimed before taking off towards the direction of her best friend's apartment, leaving behind a bewildered man who stared after her, a frown creeping onto his brow.
…
"I'm fine, really Will," assured Rose, over the phone. Willow had tried to rush over but all of Central London was closed off so she was unable to get the bus to the Powell Estate. She managed to reach her own apartment and called Rose; sighed when she answered.
"Well I'm going to pop over tomorrow to make sure," said Willow, letting her stubbornness get over her. Rose laughed and Willow imagined her shaking her head. She never usually let her stubborn out but when it came to her best friend, Willow was very protective.
"You are too caring, Will. And too stubborn," chuckled Rose, fully knowing well that once Willow had made up her mind, it takes a lot to change it. A trait that Rose would admire time and time again even when it used to get Willow into trouble when they were younger.
"See you tomorrow," said Willow, cheerfully. Placing her phone back on its hook, she wandered, with her cup of tea in one hand, to her sun room where many sketches and paintings hung in every space on the walls. Her current painting was of the deep space, filled with stars and planets. Calm washed over her, as she sat down on her stool and began to add a few more stars.
Along with photography, she fell in love with space when her father brought her a telescope for her 10th birthday. They would spend countless hours looking up at the stars and talking about dream adventures. Willow would have sketch every constellation she would see in the night sky through the telescope and her father would sit there photographing the night sky.
Willow placed her paintbrush down and glanced over to the only photo she had left of her parents. Family photo of their visit to the local museum for her 10th birthday; a new exhibition of Egyptian pharaohs was there, and because her mother was a history buff, they took this chance to see the artefacts. That was the last time that they acted like a family.
She shook her head to forget her thoughts and continued to paint up until the late hours of the night.
…..
"There's Finches…you could try them," suggested Jackie, making herself a cup of tea and smiling at Willow who had just walked in; using her spare key that Rose had given her a few years back. "They've always got jobs."
"Oh, great. The butchers," laughed Willow, plonking herself down onto the sofa, lying back on the pillow.
"You alright, Will?" questioned Rose, glancing over to her tired best friend who had her left hand on her forehead and her eyes closed.
"Just didn't get a lot of sleep last night," explained Willow, pulling herself to a sitting position and began to play with the fraying ends of the sofa.
"Nightmares again?"
Willow simply nodded and tuned back in to Jackie's talk about compensation. She rolled her eyes and gave Rose a 'does she ever shut up' look before jumping at a sudden rattling at the door. Rose flew out of her chair to investigate, blaming her mum for not nailing the cat flap so that the strays wouldn't get in.
Willow was on edge all morning, for her nightmares were trying to tell her something. Sometimes her nightmares are just bogus but every now again some would come true like Rose's work blowing up; she had dreamt that a few days before it actually happened. It freaked her out when she predicted things and last night was all about mannequins.
"Must've got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" said an unfamiliar voice from the front door. Willow heard a slight commotion and more talking before the man she had crashed into yesterday at the television store, was standing in the living room, staring at her intently.
"You?!" she exclaimed, startling Rose who was about to make coffee for the strange man.
"Me?" he questioned, pointing to himself. Willow stepped forward and started studying the man, unsure of his intentions.
"Oh, have you two met already?" asked Rose, from the kitchen.
"Briefly. I bumped into him yesterday when I saw the news," explained Willow, watching carefully as he picked up a magazine, an envelope with Rose's name on it and then looking at the mirror, moaning about his big ears, as if he hadn't seen his reflection for a long time. "You are a strange one. What's your name?"
"I'm the Doctor," he smiled, before shuffling a pack of cards from the coffee table. And you are?
"Willow Clarke."
"Nice to meet you Willow Clarke," said the Doctor as the cards went lying around the room. Bemused, Willow began to pick up the cards so that Jackie wouldn't get annoyed with the mess. She heard scuffling by the sofa and thought the odd man was getting up to mischief again.
"What's that then? You got a cat?" asked the Doctor, leaning towards the sofa. Suddenly a mannequin's arm leaps out and grabs him by the neck.
"We did have, but there's these strays, they come in off the estate…" explained Rose as she came in seeing Willow kneeling on the ground mid-action staring at the Doctor who was being strangled viciously by the hand; trying to fight it off.
"I told Mickey to chuck that out…" she said, not registering the danger and sat the coffee down on the table. "Honestly, give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don't even know your name, Doctor… what was it?"
Jumping out of her strange trance at the sudden mannequin arm, Willow rushed to get the arm off the Doctor, who face was slowly going red. As soon as she touched the end of it, electricity shocked her and the arm let go, instead to grab tight on her wrist. She backed off and started to thrash her arm about to get rid of it, a determined expression on her face.
The Doctor got confused at the lack of screaming from the girl and seemed drawn to her in curiosity. Quickly grabbing his sonic screwdriver, he managed to disable the arm before it did any more damage.
"Are you okay?" he asked, chucking the arm to Rose and began to examine Willow's wrist. It had turned red and she was lightly cradling it.
"Its fine," assured Willow, confused with how the Doctor's mood changed.
"Why didn't you scream?" he asked, bluntly, startled when Willow looked up at him with deep blue eyes, swimming with wisdom and sorrow; an old soul.
"I've seen worse."
So what is this secret that Willow is keeping? This actually won't be explained until later chapters as it is part of her story.
So please review and tell me what you think of this chapter. And ask any questions, related or non-related.
Night, readers xx