(Chapter 1) The Man In The Corner Booth
Everyone has those days where they don't feel like doing anything and they stay indoors and sulk and complain about everything. And it is completely okay to feel that way because after all we are human and we can't always help it, and life can be a bit overwhelming sometimes so it is very understandable. That Saturday morning was one of those days for Emma Carlton. She had woken up early to see her mother go off to work and she went down to the kitchen. When Mrs. Carlton saw that her daughter was still wearing her pajamas she put her hands on her hips and raised a single delicate eyebrow.
"What are you wearing?" she asked.
Emma, who was rummaging through the fridge for something to drink, looked up from her task.
"They're called pajamas mom. It's a special article of clothing one would usually wear to sleep in for comfort."
"Yes but you are in fact not sleeping so why are you still wearing pajamas?"
Emma shrugged and went back to the fridge. She pulled out a jug of orange juice, and got a small cup from the pantry.
"Are you not planning on going out today?" Mrs. Carlton raised her eyebrow again.
Emma shrugged while pouring the orange juice into her cup.
"Well if you change your mind you know where the car keys are. I'll be home by seven, so you can make dinner or get some take out," Mrs. Carlton said.
Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes since her mother repeated the same thing every day before she left for work. It was always the same lecture, in the same tone and at exactly the same time. Ever since her parents had divorced, Evelyn, Emma's mother, had started to work longer than she had to. Emma barely saw her father anymore, pretty much only for the holidays and sometimes her birthday or when he was driving her to school or some other event.
Evelyn Carlton left after a few minutes, leaving Emma to herself in the silent and slightly cold house. So she went back into her room and read for hours while eating anything sweet she had found in the kitchen, including a box of Twinkies. She soon grew bored and put her copy of Lord of the Flies down. Emma cleaned her room up quickly and changed into a pair of dark jeans, a grey shirt and a pair of flip-flops. She walked downstairs, taking her time, and then she grabbed her keys from the bowl in the kitchen table where her mother kept them. She headed outside and climbed in the car. She had one thought in mind and that was relieving the boredom, so she headed to the one place that could never fail her.
Manny's Milkshakes was the most wonderful place Emma had ever known. When she was much younger her dad took her there when he had taken her to the zoo. She had been uncomfortable at first because the diner was full of mostly tough looking bikers and bearded truckers, all who seemed to enjoy pie more that any other human being in the would could or even should.
She had ordered chicken fingers, which were as good as they could be. But then her cookies and cream milk shake arrived and she felt like she had found a pot of gold and the only thing she could think was that she couldn't wait to come back again. After that Emma and her father had frequented the small diner, almost never accompanied by Evelyn who said it was a bit suspicious and a lady did not belong in a place like that.
Evelyn was a good woman. She worked hard to support her daughter, and she was kind, loving and very smart. The only problem with Evelyn was that she sometimes forgot to take other people into consideration, which made her seem cold and a bit detached. But Emma knew her mom did not mean it, so she mostly ignored it.
Evelyn was also very beautiful. She had straight brown hair light green eyes and was neither too thin nor too curvy, but just right. She also was the perfect height, and many people were surprised that she was almost forty and that she had a daughter who was seventeen years old.
Emma was always told that she looked a lot like her mother, but she would only roll her eyes and smile, or smile shyly and shrug.
But she did look like Evelyn, only her hair was longer and a bit wavy. Her eyes were a light brown, like her dad's and she was taller than her mother, almost 5'9" and she did not have the perfect body like her mom. She still felt comfortable with herself even if she didn't feel beautiful.
She drove into the parking lot of Manny's and climbed out of the car. The first thing she noticed was that the diner was pretty much empty. She walked inside and the small bell on the door rang out, giving Emma a strange feeling of comfort and familiarity. Behind the bar was Manny Jacobs, the owner of Manny's Milkshakes. He was a big and bald man with round glasses and a scraggly brown beard. He smiled when he saw Emma walk in through the door, just like he always did.
Usually Merry or Mika were waitresses but today neither of them was at the diner, and as far as Emma could tell, Manny was the only person working.
"Emma, good to see you!" Manny greeted her like any of her family members would or maybe an old friend.
"Hi. Um . . . is there no one else working today?" Emma asked, looking around the place.
"Nope, just me today. Both Merry and Mika won't answer the phone even though they have shifts. But that's fine, I've been having a slow day and almost no people have come in today. Just a few bikers . . ." Manny lowered his voice and leaned in closer. "And also that guy over there." He nodded toward one of the booths in the corner and Emma turned to look, her curiosity getting the best of her.
In the booth was seated a man, with his attention in a book. He was wearing a maybe purple- maybe brown coat, black jeans and boots. And to top it all off he had a bow tie, his hair was dark and a bit messy and he had . . . quite a chin.
"He ordered a cup of tea, but I told him we had none and he settled for a simple glass of water, and then he asked if we had fish finger and custard. I told him no and he sat down over there. He's been here for about an hour, keeps glancing at the door every five minutes. Strange fella."
Emma smiled.
Sometimes, Manny was more of a gossip than any old lady.
He straightened up and smiled at Emma. "So then, what'll it be today?"
"Same as always, please."
Manny nodded. "Chicken sandwich and cookies and cream shake coming right up!"
Emma took a seat on a tall stool and picked at her shirt, waiting for Manny to come back with her food. Once in a while she would sneak a peek at the stranger in the booth, who was still reading his book without apparently noticing anything else.
He was in his late twenties, and was fairly attractive.
Emma turned back to face the counter in front of her and tapped her fingers against the slightly stained surface.
She knew she could have stayed home and ordered Chinese food, but driving all the way to Manny's was always worth it. The service was great and the food was amazing. It was like going to a family dinner only better because Emma's family wasn't nearly as great as Manny's.
It used to be better, of course.
After her parents' divorce Emma felt like she no longer belonged anywhere in the world. She no longer had that sense of being safe when she was at home, because without her whole family under the same roof it was like there was no family.
Sometimes she slept over at her dad's apartment, which most people would find exciting except it really wasn't. Mike Carlton had a girlfriend, Carrie Gregg, who was only about ten years older than Emma herself and who had been Emma's babysitter when she was younger. The whole situation felt over dramatic and extremely cliché.
But before the whole Carrie thing, five years ago Emma was happy. She had nothing to complain about. She had a roof over her head, food on the table, clothes, shoes, and both her parents. They would have dinner together and talk about their day, and then on weekends they would go to the movie theater or just stay home and watch something on TV together like a normal family. Then next thing she knew, Emma was in the middle of a war between the two people she loved more than anything in the whole world. Her mother won custody but Mr. Carlton was allowed a few visits per month and life went on.
Emma adjusted.
She had been twelve at the time, only a child. But now she was almost eighteen and she would become an adult, and she would be able to make all the right decisions unlike her parents.
She didn't ever complain, she just thought to herself how things could have gone differently and she would still be okay with her boring old life.
There was a loud crash from the back of the diner and Emma jumped in her chair. She peered into the window that let clients see into the kitchen but she didn't see anyone, not even Manny.
"Manny?" she called out.
There was a long silence that seemed to drag on for ages.
"You okay back there?" Emma called even louder.
She jumped down from her seat and walked around the counter and to the door leading into the kitchen. She threw open the door and opened her mouth to call out Manny's name again. But instead she took a step back and gasped.
Behind the door was a life size angel statue, one hand covering the angel's face and another reaching out as if to touch or grab something.
She was about to close the door when she heard the shout.
"Stop!"
Emma froze not knowing what was happening.
Maybe someone decided to attack Manny, maybe this was a robbery and she was completely vulnerable because she had no way of defending herself.
"Alright. Okay, don't turn around just keep your eyes on that."
Emma swallowed.
"Don't move, don't look away. Don't even blink!"
There was a lot of rummaging from behind her but Emma refused to turn around.
"You're British," was all she managed to say.
"Well no, it's a bit more complicated than that," the man said.
"What is someone from England doing in Kansas?"
There was a long pause.
"I thought I was in England," the man half whispered to himself.
The statue was still there looking at Emma with its hand reaching out.
She took a deep breath and thought about closing her eyes but thought better of it, because she certainly didn't want to know what would happen if she did.
"Um, what exactly is happening? Because I am very confused at the moment and-"
"Hang on! Why am I in Kansas? I am pretty sure I set course for London," the man went on, ignoring Emma's question.
"Well clearly you didn't," Emma said.
"Ah, that would explain why they don't serve tea here."
Emma sighed. "Yes, okay. But-"
"Or fish fingers and custard. How do you not have fish fingers and - "
"PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS HAPPENING!" Emma shouted and turned to face the man, forgetting about the statue.
She let the door close and frowned at the stranger.
The man from the booth pushed her aside and opened the door.
The statue was now reaching out with both hands and it seemed to be snarling at them, with its mouth open is a silent scream and glaring eyes.
"Uh . . . I don't understand. H- how did you do that?" she stuttered.
The man closed the door and pointed a long metallic wand like instrument at the door handle. There was a whirring noise followed by a loud click, and then the man grabbed Emma's hand and was running out the diner.
They ran and ran until they were behind what seemed to be a gas station.
"What's going on?" Emma asked.
"Long story, hard to explain but I'll try to anyway," the man said. "Come on."
She followed him behind a large dumpster, which was probably a bad idea but at the moment she didn't care at all.
Behind the dumpster was a big blue box. On the top of the box were printed the words Police Public Call Box, and right atop the big box was a light bulb. Emma thought it was nice and original, though very strange.
"I'm Emma."
"I'm the Doctor," the man said.
"Doctor who?" Emma asked, a bit out of breath.
"Just the Doctor."
"What kind of doctor are you?" Emma frowned.
The man grinned and fixed his bow tie with both hands.
"The good kind."
(Chapter 2) The Angels Around The World
The Doctor opened the door to his box, and moved aside so Emma could enter before him. She was hesitant at first, since the box was barely the size of an elevator, and she doubted they would be able to hide there for long without getting noticed. She slowly stepped inside, and when she looked around she saw a very spacious room with some sort of console in the middle, on top of a kind of platform.
Emma stared and then blinked a few times as if that would change anything.
She walked slowly out of the box, backwards, and without looking away. She was afraid that if she did look away the room would simply disappear. She quickly looked at each side of the box, convinced that it was some sort of illusion or a very mysterious mind game. But there was nothing there, except the blue box, which every so often made soft noises as if it were trying to communicate.
All the while, the Doctor was leaning against the doorway, grinning as Emma thought of a way that this phone box was even possible.
She ran back inside and she stayed there, looking around, confused.
"It called the TARDIS," the Doctor said from behind her.
Emma turned around and raised a questioning eyebrow. "TARDIS?"
"Stands for time and relative dimension in space."
The Doctor walked in front of Emma and smiled.
"It's . . . bigger on the inside," Emma said softly.
"Yes, I'm glad you noticed that. So, what do you think?" The Doctor raised his arms and spun around, gesturing to the whole room.
Emma couldn't help but smile at first, and a nervous giggle escaped her lips.
"It's insane, and impossible in so many levels. But it's beautiful," she said.
The Doctor smiled wider and took her hand, and he pulled her to the center of the room, releasing her when they were in front of the console. He started pulling many levers and pressing confusing buttons that, Emma thought, were too random to actually have a purpose.
"So the statue. Explain?"
The Doctor pulled one last lever and the TARDIS shook, it made loud whirring and whooshing sounds, and there was one final thud. The Doctor ran to the door and threw it open. He never paused, he just left and Emma had no choice but to follow, closing the door behind her.
The Doctor was right outside, with his hands on his hips and a wide grin spreading over his face. Emma paused to see what he was looking at, and she could feel her heart rate growing, becoming almost painful.
They were no longer behind the gas station, but they were now in the middle of a town square. It was nearly dark and there were many people who stopped to stare at the strangers and they were all dressed weird, Emma thought. The women wore long gowns and the men wore suits and long coats.
"Ah, here we are. France, August 13, 1874."
Emma turned to face the Doctor.
"What?"
"Didn't you pay attention? I said TIME and relative dimension in SPACE."
"Meaning what exactly?" Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Meaning I'm a time traveler. I've been through time and space many times for many years, now. Just me and my TARDIS, we've been all over," the Doctor sighed.
Emma slowly took this in, considering everything and finally deciding that it didn't matter, because she actually didn't feel worried.
"Must get lonely. Being alone all the time," Emma said softly.
The Doctor smiled sadly.
"I've learned to cope, and I'm not always alone." He looked at Emma, his eyes bright with excitement. "Come on."
The Doctor led Emma down a couple of streets, as if he knew the place like the back of his hand, and he probably did. They stopped at a small restaurant, where people were all dressed fancy and had great posture and manners. Emma felt so awkward, in her old jeans and t-shirt, and she could have sworn every single person there was whispering about her. The Doctor happily settled down in a table for two, right next to a window, and Emma did the same.
"Alright. Now can you please tell me what the hell this is?" She asked.
"Ah, yes. Explanations are very hard to do, I must say. Where to start?" He scratched his chin and looked across the table at Emma.
"Well I set course for London, year 2013, but it seems I landed in the wrong place. I was looking for an old friend of mine who sent a message, asking for help. I received a strange signal, and I headed into the diner. Then you came in and you know the rest, of course."
Emma nodded.
"And the statue?"
"Yes. Weeping Angels, that's what they're called. Nasty creatures, feeding on time energy, always looking for trouble," he said in a low voice.
"But they're just statues," Emma said, smiling slightly.
The Doctor scoffed. "That's like saying the TARDIS is just a spaceship."
"Isn't it, though?"
The Doctor frowned deeply.
"No! The TARDIS is the most important object in time and if it fell in the wrong hands the world- no, the universe and the entirety of time and space would be in danger and who knows what would happen? Actually, I do. Bad things would happen. Am I rambling? Sorry, I do that a lot. People usually ask me to stop, or they just tell me to shut up. You can too if you like, though it is a bit rude when you think about it, telling someone to shut up. Though you could find a better way of asking I suppose, but no one bothers to, so I guess-"
"Doctor, please, shut up!" Emma said quietly.
"Right, yes. Where were we? Ah, the angels." His face darkened. "They are not just statues. They are creatures that don't care, and they destroy people. They are a messy thing, and not at all my favorite subject."
There was sadness in his eyes, it made him look old and tired and there was also anger, the anger of a man who had seen enough.
"What did they do to you, the angels?" Emma asked slowly.
The Doctor never answered, because in that moment a very well dressed waiter walked toward them and leaned close to him, whispering something in his ear. The Doctor seemed surprised at first, then he seemed to understand and he nodded at the waiter. He thanked him then turned back to look at Emma.
"We have to go," he informed her.
"Why?"
The Doctor smirked. "They refuse to serve us, because you are half naked and scaring away the costumers who are wearing clothing."
Emma looked around and found a few waiters shooting her dirty looks, and a girl a bit older than her was whispering something to a young man who kept glancing over at their table.
Emma stood up and quickly left the place, not bothering to wait for the Doctor, but his legs were so long that he managed to catch up in a moment.
"Don't feel bad. The French can be a bit rude and it's not just you. Unless it was just you, in that case, you really shouldn't visit again."
Emma tried for a smile and failed.
"Why are we here anyway? Why am I here? You could have just left me there. You didn't have to bring me along. Why should you care what happened to me when you don't even know me and I'm not important?"
She felt angry all of a sudden, but she didn't even know why. She just felt anxious about everything.
"Well you are important. You have a part in history just as much as anyone else and there are people out there who you haven't met yet but you will meet, and you have your whole life ahead of you just waiting to-"
The Doctor had stopped next to an alley, and was staring into the darkness. Emma turned to look and saw that in the shadows was an angel, both hands covering its face and she realized why they were called weeping angels.
"Oh, no," the Doctor whispered.
"It could just be a coincidence, right?" Emma looked at the Doctor, who appeared to be in shock. "Doctor?"
The Doctor grabbed her hand once more and he pulled her away, running down the street and scaring quite a few citizens.
"There's no such thing as a coincidence," he shouted.
He was pulling at her hand so hard that Emma actually believed it was becoming numb with pain. She tripped over the cobble -stones of the town square but the Doctor pulled her along without stopping until they reached the TARDIS and Emma stumbled inside, struggling to find her footing. The doors were closed and the Doctor was once again pushing buttons so quickly that Emma wondered how he could even keep track of it all.
"What? What's wrong now?"
"I was wondering why they were at the diner at all, and then I realized they were following me, not just for the hell of it but for a reason. There is always a reason and let me tell you, it is never a nice one."
Emma stumbled again as the TARDIS "moved" and she held on to the edge of the console for balance.
"Why would they follow you?"
The Doctor wiggled a few things and then watched something on a screen.
"It is a very long story, with many tricky details and important facts with lots of characters. I could write a book, but that would take longer. Forget the book!"
The TARDIS landed and made some of its funny noises.
Emma lost her balance and fell to the floor.
"What are you doing on the floor? Get up!" The Doctor helped her on her feet.
"Alright, the TARDIS is disguised, so the angels can't find me. Only problem being I can't leave or they will track me down, and I can't just keep on running . . . That is actually very ironic. Inside joke thing, forget I said it."
Emma moved her hair away from her face. She looked straight into the Doctor's eyes and he looked back at her. There was a long moment where the only sound was Emma's breathing and the TARDIS's soft noises.
"Why don't you just stay in here?" Emma asked slowly.
"All by myself?"
Emma shrugged. "I could visit you, if you like," she added quickly.
The Doctor shrugged a shoulder as if he didn't mind, but there was a spark in his eyes, which proved he was hoping she would say that.
"You can tell me your stories," Emma smiled.
"I don't have any stories."
"I can see in your eyes that you do. And you're a time traveler, so you ought to have at least one interesting tale."
Just like that, it was decided that Emma would come back to see the Doctor so he wouldn't get bored while he established a plan, and she would also bring him news about the angels.
The TARDIS was concealed behind Manny's, which was now closed because the owner appeared to be lost somewhere in time.
Emma went home, had a sandwich and thought how she might be going crazy, because things like time travel or statues that moved were not real.
And there was definitely no such thing as a mad man with a big blue box.
(Chapter 3) The Story Of The Bad Wolf
"So what are you?"
Emma was seated on the floor of the TARDIS while the Doctor appeared to be fixing something on the console.
"We've gone over this. I'm the Doctor," he replied without turning around.
Emma had her legs crossed and was leaning against a metal railing. She had woken up earlier than she had to, seeing as it was summer. She had told her mom she wasn't planning on going out, but right after she was gone, Emma threw on a pair of jeans and a blue shirt and flew out the door.
"I know that, but I don't believe you've ever been to medical school or that you are human, no offence. So what are you, like, in general?" she asked.
The Doctor turned to look at her, frowning.
"How'd you know I'm not human?"
Emma raised a single eyebrow.
"What, you mean other than the bowtie and the chin?"
"Oi! Bowties are extremely cool. And what is wrong with my chin!"
Emma laughed and stood up off the floor.
The Doctor turned back to his work, but he was smiling, the way someone would when they were with friends.
"Seriously, though, what are you?" Emma leaned against the console.
"I'm a Timelord, from the planet Gallifrey," he said.
Emma blinked.
"Never heard of it," she said.
"You wouldn't have."
Emma shrugged and moved on to her next question. The night before, while she was in bed, she had made a mental list of everything she wanted to ask. She knew it was a bit silly but she had always been a curious person and couldn't help it.
"So you are an alien from space?"
The Doctor grinned. "Yep. With two hearts."
"Okay, now you're just showing off."
"If you think that's me showing off just wait until you hear more," the Doctor moved from the console and face Emma.
"Okay. Tell me a story," she said.
Emma walked to one of the chairs by the railing and settled down.
The Doctor followed her, removed his coat and sat next to her. He cleared his throat and Emma was reminded of when she was younger, her parents were out late and she had to be put to bed by her babysitter, Carrie. Carrie would sit on the edge of her bed and read to her, or sometimes she would make up stories and Emma wouldn't be able to go to sleep because she would stay up all night, thinking of what could have happened different or what characters were not needed. She had never told anyone that deep down she wanted to be a writer, and she wanted her stories to inspire and comfort kids like her.
Emma pulled her knees up against her chest and waited for the Doctor to start.
"Alright. I will tell you the story of a rose," he had a far away look.
Emma half snorted. "That sounds so . . . dramatic."
The Doctor shot her a look and she said, "Sorry, sorry. Continue."
"Sometimes when you least expect it, amazing things happen, and all you can do is be thankful that they did because without them life would be so different. That includes meeting people, because when you meet someone your life can just change in a second. There was a man who was angry, and bitter, and extremely lonely. He went around thinking he was perfectly okay, but inside he was burning with all these emotions that were very far from okay. He was alone for so long that he forgot what it was like to even have a friend, and he was really not that nice.
But one day he met her, Rose Tyler, completely by accident and it was so unexpected that he didn't realize who she was at first. He just thought she was someone who happened to be there, and that he would never see her again. He met her in a shop, of all the places, a shop. The place was dangerous, roaming with creatures, and he saved her. He saved her and then moved on, not even looking back."
Emma's eyes were wide.
"What were the creatures?" she asked quietly.
The Doctor smiled. "Living plastic. Mannequins, to be exact."
"Weird," Emma whispered.
"Right. Well, the next day came and he was looking for the living plastic. He followed the signal to a flat and when he got there he was in awe. A girl opened the door. But it wasn't a girl. It was the girl, the girl from the shop. And that's when he realized she wasn't just a passing stranger, but he didn't know yet how important she was.
The two of them defeated the living plastic. I'd say the three of them but Mickey didn't do anything except coward.
She traveled with him and they did so many wonderful things it felt like a dream, but everywhere they went they were followed by two words. Bad wolf. They ignored it at first but in the end they were important words that were necessary in their journey because Rose was the Bad Wolf. Together they saw the Earth's last day, battled ghosts, saved London, helped a boy find his mummy, and they even defeated one of the most hateful species in space, the Dalecks. It was great until the man got hurt, and he changed in many ways. Physically he was different, and also mentally, because Rose had made him a better person. At first she was reluctant and did not believe that this new face was the man she had first met. But finally she realized the man was still the same, and she kept on traveling with him for a while. With the man's new face they also did many amazing things. They saved Christmas, they met the queen, and they even visited New Earth. But it soon ended and the man was once again by himself. She was gone, and the man never told Rose that he loved her, which he regretted. He saw her once more, but after that he never saw her again, but he was sure that she would be happy and that made him feel at peace. Because if she was happy that meant he could be happy too."
There was a long silence. The Doctor just stared ahead and Emma looked down at her feet, thinking.
"That was really sad. It isn't fair that the man was finally happy and then Rose was just taken away from him like that."
The Doctor smiled down at her.
"Don't worry. The man was happy again, and he got better."
"What happened to him after Rose was gone?"
The Doctor stood up and stretched out his long legs.
"Maybe another day?"
Emma was about to protest but she thought better of it.
"Sure. So, what now?"
The Doctor put his hands on his hips and frowned. "I don't know. What do you want to do? I've never actually done anything with anyone on the TARDIS."
Emma shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we can just read or-"
"Yes, reading! Come on, to the library!"
The Doctor was running out of the control room and Emma followed.
When the Doctor had mentioned a library Emma had assumed that it would be a small room with a couple of bookshelves and a few chairs. Instead she walked into a huge room, maybe twice or three times the size of her local public library. As a person who valued reading more than breathing, Emma couldn't help but laugh out loud at this massive room. It was like something out of a dream.
"How many levels?" Was all she managed to ask.
"I don't know, around four or five. But that doesn't matter, because every book you could ever want is here and isn't it amazing?" The Doctor was running around the isles of shelves, his boots stomping on the floor.
He was a bit like a small child, Emma thought, but sometimes you could see the sadness in his eyes and the child was gone and replaced by a man who was much older than he looked.