"Benny? You here?"
"Of course, Keira. You had a nightmare again?"
An unusually tall ten-year-old boy sat onto his bed and gazed at the girl who was standing in the doorway. She was three years younger than him and was very pretty, though her clumsiness was seen even from her pose. Quite short locks of a bit wavy jet-black hair were framing her face which was naturally pale but now even whiter - she was scared, and she was nervously playing with the edge of her pyjamas' sleeve.
"Come here, sis, it's all fine". For a stranger it could seem Benny was kidding about "sis" - he didn't look like Keira at all: his hair was of dark red pattern, curly and messy, it was impossible to comb it normally, eye colour wasn't green, like Keira's, but light hazel, and his skin was slightly darker than the girl's.
Keira slowly climbed onto the bed and Benny, having lied down again, cuddled her so that her head was tucked under his chin.
"I'm afraid of sleeping alone, brother", muttered the girl. "It seemed to me that... that I heard somebody breathing behind the window".
"Absurd, Keira, we're in the attic apartment".
"Benny, I didn't finish. It wasn't just breathing. It was heavy, like..." Keira hesitated for a second and gave out: "Whoooooh-het, whooooooh-het... like this. I know it doesn't sound much like it, but... it was technical or else. A human hardly could give out such sounds".
Benny looked at the wall clock. Two a.m.
"I can't understand how Norata's not scared to work nights... When he sleeps, I wonder?"
Normann Atan Leminan, or simply Norata, was Benny's and Keira's eighteen-year-old brother who had to take care of all three of them. It was so because all three had different fathers but the same mother, and Norata's father was more than reluctant to keep "such kids" - he could hardly bear Norata, and what to say about three kids... So when Norata got sixteen they moved to another place. And the oldest had to work literally all day and night to feed three people.
Hardly had Benny and Keira dozed off when it began again.
"Benny! Benny, wake up!"
"Hmm..." groaned Benny. "Wassermarrer?"
"Benny! Listen, Benny!"
The boy's mind, misty with sleep, still caught the sounds Keira had been imitating. They were coming from behind the window and were really somehow like a beast's heavy breathing. But an alive creature wouldn't be able to give out such sounds.
Whooooooh-het. Whooooooh-het. Whoooooh-het.
"Benny, I'm scared!" squeaked Keira.
"Shush! You're gonna attract it!" Benny sat up again and wrapped his arms around his little sister protectively. "If we sit quietly... it may go away".
Dead silence. The boy and the girl, clinging to each other, heard only their hearts beating. It was even scarier than when they woke up. And then it was once more, this time not going to finish.
Whooooooh-het. Whooooooh-het. Whoooooh-het.
"I've heard this sound somewhere..." murmured Benny, almost touching Keira's ear with his lips - so silently he was talking. "Something terribly familiar..."
Whooooooh-het. Whooooooh-het. Whoooooh-het.
"Me too", admitted Keira.
The door snapped closed, but the window, on the contrary, widely opened, and a rectangular shadow appeared against it. Benny and Keira couldn't even move - they froze, having clutched each other's pyjamas.
A figure in a long coat jumped onto the windowsill and then onto the floor from the rectangular shape soaring opposite to the window, and moonlight came into the room again - the shady object vanished. Benny intended to say something, but his tongue was wooden-like, as well as all his body except fingers - they were rhythmically clenching and unclenching folds of Keira's shirt.
The stranger cocked his head to the side - his face wasn't seen, but Benny could swear he was curious about two children in the room. Then he went straight to the bed, sat on its edge, and the kids finally could see his appearance. He was slim, with dark hair sticking up and round brown eyes which were giving him somehow surprised expression, but it was such bitterness in them that Keira sniffed quietly - she was too impressive. The stranger's clothes consisted of mentioned long coat, indigo suit under it and white trainers.
"B-B-Benny..." began Keira, but then her nerves broke down - she buried her face in brother's shoulder, and Benny felt damp patch growing on it. Immediately the stranger reacted - he reached his arm out and softly stroked the back of Keira's head with his fingertips. While he was doing it his face got so tender that Benny understood the stranger didn't mean to hurt. And the boy was never wrong with such feelings.
Keira turned around, her green eyes still swimming with tears and with fear. The stranger smiled at her and gently removed the salty streams from her cheeks with his thumbs.
"Benny, I'm not hallucinating", the girl said, voice shaking. "He's like us. Alive. Made of flesh and blood. Psychotic images don't have warm fingers".
"Naturally, sis". Benny collected himself. "Who are you? What do you want?"
The stranger's face fell, and he moved the forefinger over his tightly closed lips. Wait a second. He hasn't opened his mouth since he got here. Not a word.
"You... cannot talk?" horrified, asked Keira.
The stranger nodded, rage and sadness mixed in his look. Then he threw a glance over the room, grabbed a notebook and a pencil stub which luckily happened to lie on the bed table and began quickly writing with large printed letters: "WE NEED YOU. HELP US".
"Whom do you mean by "we"? You are alone here", mentioned Benny.
"I AM ONE OF MANY THROWN AWAY. WE ALL WERE CURSED. ALL PARTS OF US WHICH WE DIDN'T NEED WERE TURNED TO STONE, ICE OR ASH".
"You mean you didn't need to speak?"
"I HAD A PROHIBITION TO SAY MY NAME. THAT'S WHY THEY THOUGHT I DIDN'T NEED MY VOICE AT ALL. IT IS LONG TO EXPLAIN, THOSE PEOPLE HAVE STRANGE LOGIC".
"But... if you can't call your name..." here Keira hiccupped, but went on: "...how did others call you? And... I've seen you somewhere... and that sound... Benny said he knows it..."
The stranger widely beamed at the siblings and wrote: "I AM THE DOCTOR".
"I can't believe we are not dreaming! I can't believe we are in fiction now! I can't believe..." Keira was astonished, wildly happy and almost hysterical at the same time.
"Neither can I", chuckled Benny. He was better in holding emotions inside. "Doctor?"
The Doctor turned his tousled head to him - he had been entering some settings. This place was exactly like Benny knew - small box outside and large room inside, and the sound was truly its. Time And Relative Dimension In Space, recalled Benny and went on:
"Can you tell us why we're needed to you? And who are other ones? I have no doubt we'll wake up in our bed the next morning, but we'll have a lifetime during this... oops, I mixed something".
The Doctor grinned, and his fingers danced over the keyboard, then words began flashing on one of the screens: "YOU GUESSED CORRECTLY ABOUT WAKING UP, BENNY".
"Keira, concentrate, he's speaking", whispered Benny, pushing her ribs with his elbow, and the girl got all attention.
"ALL IMAGINATIVE CHARACTERS EXIST. ALL OF THEM, ABSOLUTELY. BUT THEY ARE UNLIKE PEOPLE - THEY CAN LIVE UNTIL THE LAST MEMORY ABOUT THEM DISAPPEARS. IT CAN BE A PICTURE, A MOVIE, EVEN A BOOK PAGE, EVEN THEIR NAME. ANYTHING THAT PROVES THEIR EXISTENCE. BUT WHEN IT'S GONE THEY VANISH TOO".
"Oh... That may be both blessing and curse", noticed Benny.
"DEFINITELY. AND TAKE IN ACCOUNT THAT PEOPLE WHO RECOGNIZE ONLY PRACTICAL USEFULNESS ARE REALLY WIDESPREAD. PARENTS WHO HAVE NO IMAGINATION. FRIENDS WHO LOVE ONLY THINGS THAT CAN BE BOUGHT FOR MONEY. IDEOLOGY THAT SAYS 'SAVE, SAVE AND SAVE MONEY'. NO WAY TO THIS". Here the Doctor put his palm onto his chest and closed his eyes for a moment. "IT COULD BE FUNNY IF IT WASN'T SO SAD. EVEN FEELINGS ARE BELIEVED TO BE BOUGHT FOR MONEY".
Benny stuck his tongue out - a mental picture appeared in his head: he saw teenage (and not only) girls who were saying "I don't believe in love. Those men want only one thing from us". Naturally - from you, if you dress and behave in such a way.
"YOU ARE VERY CLEAN KIDS. AND I BELIEVE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO HELP US. I SWEAR WITH MY HEARTS".
Keira giggled a bit, and the Doctor printed: "FINALLY. YOU LOOK MUCH CUTER WHEN YOU SMILE. AND YOU WILL BE EVEN CUTER IF YOU DRESS PROPERLY. BOTH".
"Oh gosh, I'm wearing my pyjamas!" exclaimed Keira. The Doctor gave out a choking sound - he must have been trying to laugh, but his lips, tightly accreted (thought they looked perfectly normal - as if simply closed), didn't let him give it out. Finally he just silently chuckled.
"Where are we?"
Benny was the first to step out of the door and look around. This was something like an abandoned city with buildings of all kinds, from pre-historical huts to superfuturistic skyscrapers. Time jumble, thought Benny. Even the plants here were from all possible epochs - Benny knew because Norata would often let him and Keira read his encyclopaedias. But the streets were empty, neither an animal nor an inhabitant would disturb the silence.
This time the Doctor was using a "hand speaker", as Keira called it: it was something like a bracelet with a keypad which made all printed words spoken.
"THIS IS THE WORLD OF PARADOX. ALL TIMES TOGETHER. THANK GOODNESS NOT SPACES".
"Are you sure that we...?" began Keira, but interrupted herself: she saw that there was one more creature nearby - a little blue-eyed kitten, white with stripy spots on the head and back. And that was unusual about it: tiny dark blue scarf was tied around the animal's neck.
The kitten meowed and rubbed its head against Keira's leg.
"Hi". The girl bended to tickle it behind tiny ears. "Aren't cubs adorable?"
"'Course, Keira", honestly agreed Benny. He often dreamt of having a pet, but they couldn't afford it. Naturally.
Mechanical voice sounded again: "HIS NAME IS LYLE".
"Lyle? Sweet". Keira caressed the kitten's back, then it ran directly to the Doctor and sat down next to him, purring. The Doctor crouched, and for some seconds the animal and the human were staring in each other's eyes. Benny could swear that for a brief moment he saw two narrow streams of glittering light coming from Lyle's eyes into the the Doctor's.
After this "staring competition" the kitten dashed away, then the Doctor stood up and explained: "HERE ANIMALS CAN CONNECT WITH US. IT'S RELATIVE TO TELEPATHY. I TOLD LYLE ABOUT YOU TWO, HE IS GOING TO PASS THIS INFO FORWARD. LET'S GO, WE WILL BE WAITED FOR. AND TAKE MY HANDS, SOMEONE CAN BE SUSPICIOUS ABOUT YOU".
That was the truth. While they were making their way through all ages' buildings Keira and Benny could often see faces appearing in their windows - those faces were either shocked or unsatisfied or disappointed. Not a tiniest smile. Even the air got somehow... tense. Why so?
"Doctor?" whispered Keira, her voice getting squeaky. Benny felt the Doctor's hand which was squeezing his own got sweaty. "Wh-why... are there no kids here, only us?"
Definitely, it was so - it seemed only grown-up people were glancing out, so tired they were. They all were like covered in dust. Their eyes were sunken and with shades around them, as if the inhabitants haven't slept for weeks.
"Stop vere you are!"
Benny and Keira started and froze, throwing terrified glances at each other and their benefactor. The Doctor frowned and pulled them closer, having transported his hands - now they were around shoulders of both siblings. Such a small embrace from the back.
A man in a wheelchair who must have ordered them to stop was moving towards them. He was very skinny and pale, dark-haired and dark-eyed, with sharp face and body lines. And also he seemed to have got older too early, that was the feeling Benny got when looking at him. The new person was dressed in a red jacket and black pants, no shoes - his bare feet were of stone grey colour. He is unable to walk now, that's clear.
"Doctor? Finally! I vas goinn to koll help!" He was speaking with some weird accent. Then he concentrated on Benny and Keira. "Human children?" His mouth curved - maybe it was a replacement for smile. And Keira noticed that she was not alone in being nervous - Doctor was breathing very heavily, and he was almost pressing his arms to her and Benny. "Vot your names?"
"I'm Benny Leminan, and that's my sister Keira", answered Benny.
"Viktor Krum at your ser-viss". Of course, of course. Not a very well-known character, but Benny realized why he was disabled now: because of his being a Seeker. Because of flying. "You can fly? So no walking!" - this came out in the boy's mind. "Vot you say, Doctor? To Mr. Holmes? Naturally. Come, kids. Don't be surprised, ve can communicate mentally, but ve kant do it vit you, becuz you are humans".
The street came to live immediately - the word "humans" attracted everybody. All windows were full of faces now, not just some of the windows. Doors burst open too, and the air filled with voices:
"Humans?!"
"Humans - here?!"
"Get them NOW! Get them!"
The Doctor really didn't know what to do. Viktor Krum's expression was also puzzled.
"Children!"
"The most violent creatures!"
"Get them! Catch the redhead, he must be the spy!"
Viktor Krum's face got even paler:
"I vish I had my broom here! RUN! Meet you all you-knov-vere, Doctor!"
There was no need to repeat - all of a sudden Benny and Keira found themselves floating in the crowd stream which consisted not only of humanoid creatures - mythical beasts, fictional creatures and like that were often seen there and here. Hands, fingers, claws, even beaks and paws were trying to get them, but the crowd prevented itself from performing the final catch.
"GET THEM BOTH!"
"Seed of violence!"
"They're here to destroy us! Kill them both!"
"Catch the betrayer too! Get him!"
Benny's head was empty - he just ran, clutching the wet hand much larger than his own. Then all of a sudden he felt earth coming away from his feet, raised his head and shook so that he nearly collapsed: he saw that the Doctor's coat transformed into a pair of huge brown wings flapping the air not without success. And the Doctor's expression was the mixture of astonishment and hope.
Soon Benny and Keira were hanging in the air, holding the Doctor's hands for dear life, and the crowd under them was booing and threatening the most horrible things. Of course the brother and the sister were to be amazed, or happy, or shocked by the fact they were lifted up by a winged man (and not simply a man), but they were too tired of all this to identify these emotions. Just relief that they got away.
But the flight was finished in the most uncomfortable way - all three of them smashed into some house's half-opened attic window and rolled down on the floor, covered in dust, dead insects and spider-web. Benny didn't pay any attention to anything - he just struck the floor, but as soon as he saw Keira lying without a move force returned to him.
"Keira! Keira, are you okay? Say something! - he shouted, having jumped up and caught his sister's shoulders. "Keira!"
The girl moaned and turned her head to Benny, her face deadly exhausted.
"I'm okay, Benny, I'm fine... Benny, we... we flew?"
The Doctor stood up and moved his hand over his new limbs that didn't vanish anywhere.
"Benny, what's up? I just... wished we got away..."
"HERE WE CAN WAIT FOR A WHILE UNTIL THEY CALM DOWN. EXPLANATIONS LATER. NOW YOU TWO ONLY NEED SOME REST. YOU ARE CHILDREN, WOKEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. SHOCK. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. AND THIS ALL. COME HERE". The "talking bracelet" must have broken - the words were hardly understandable. Benny obeyed - his legs were wobbling under his weight, and Keira also crawled closer to the one who revealed to be their protector now. The siblings were sitting close to each other, and the Doctor sat down on the floor near them and hugged them both, his wings covering the boy and the girl like some kind of feathery shield or cocoon. Where did they come from? Never mind, thought Benny. He suddenly felt really sleepy, but nevertheless heard Keira weeping - so silently because she was hiding her sobs. The Doctor's hand quickly flew from the girl's shoulder to the back of her head, stroking her black hair, and Benny tightened the ring of his arms around Keira. His sister was still so small. And needed the protection so much... Yes, Norata was doing all he could. Truly.
Benny had never realized he is only a ten-year-old kid as clearly as at this moment. So little. So useless. So unable to help... But Keira was still in his cuddle, rolled up in a ball and slightly shaking. And there was something else.
Da-bum.
Benny shuttered, having heard it. Rubbish. It can't be, his mind told him. But it was so.
Da-bum.
Doubled beat under his ear, right where his head rested against the Doctor's chest. Yes, the benefactor had told about two hearts...
Da-bum.
Benny drifted away, his cheek resting on Keira's black locks, and then something soft and warm touched the top of his own head.