Chapter 1: How it all began...
Before everything went to hell, Helena had decided that it was a good day: she didn't oversleep, was at the lecture on time, got a straight A on an exam and the cafeteria served her favourite food. Naturally, something bad had to happen. But a prehistoric monster wandering around the library, trying to have her for lunch? That was a bit of an overreaction.
After eating, Helena and her closest friend, Rhys, went to the library to use the ninety minutes before the next practical class to check their results on their latest Virology exercise sheet. Upon entering the building, Helena always felt like she was suspended in time. Even in the most devastating Thunderstorms, it always seemed so tranquil inside, with barely a noise and often only the books as company. Because it was in the middle of lunchtime, the library was even less populated than usual, with only the Librarian, Mrs Dawson, sitting behind the check-out counter. "Do you smell that?", Helena asked Rhys while they made their way towards the tables "smells like a combination of wet animal and musk." "Probably just Mrs Dawson trying out a new fragrance. She never had a great taste in such things, anyway." Rhys answered with his light Irish accent, wrinkling his nose. The lanky, freckled, Irish guy with the black curls and emerald green eyes had a very reliable taste in clothes and fragrances, even if no one would believe that if they just saw Rhys with his preferred colourful, floral patterned shirts. Helena chuckled and they both made themselves comfortable at a table. Normally Helena and her rather practical sense of fashion, dominated by her love for cosy sweaters and comfortable jeans, were Rhys's preferred target for snarky remarks.
After a while, Helena needed to get a book, so she stood up. Accidently, she pushed her chair over and it hit the ground with an enormous noise, that seemed to boom through the whole building. "The perks of being alone in here. Normally, you would have gotten at least twenty noise complaints", Rhys noted with a grin. "Well, lucky me then", Helena replied and trotted off to find a book about Retroviruses. She sneezed, as the strange, musky smell was still in her nose. In front of one of the reflective walls of the quiet study cabins, she stopped and tucked a blond curl that sneaked out of her ponytail back behind her ear. For a minute, she stopped and looked at her reflection, blue grey eyes staring back at her from a rather small, heart shaped face, with her honey blond curls tied back in a ponytail for the lab work later today. When she turned away, Helena suddenly felt the faint tingle on her neck, like someone, or…something was watching her. Slowly, Helena turned around, and her heart started to race. That was completely impossible. This had to be a nightmare. She forced herself to breathe slowly, starting to move backwards inch by inch. In front of her stood the apparent reason for the musky smell, snarling and baring his intimidating fangs, his gleaming yellow eyes fixed on her, the lean, muscular body ready to jump: a full grown saber-tooth tiger.
Somewhere, Helena had read that when encountering wildlife, you should avoid sudden movements, slowly move away and don't turn your back on the animal. Sure, these tips were aimed at encounters with bears or wolves, but certainly they would also help with extinct apex predators. The tiger followed her but didn't seem too eager to jump or make any advance. Helena could understand why: the tiger didn't need to rush, because she didn't stand a chance. As soon as the tiger decided that he was tired of playing with her, she would be dead. There was absolutely nothing she could do against these fangs. Slightly shivering, she inched backwards, hoping that the beast would at least make her death swift and clean. Suffering and agony had always scared her more than the thought of simply dying.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist from behind. Hardly repressing a yelp, Helena turned her head to face a lanky, old man, with a rather withered face, piercing eyes, extremely furrowed eyebrows and ruffled silver-grey hair. Before Helena could utter even a word, he aimed a strange looking, thin and long device that produced a whirring, slightly uncomfortable sound at the saber tooth tiger. The tiger hissed, and ducked down, his tail nervously whipping from one side to the other. After a split second, the tiger backed off, apparently in pain. After it was out of sight, the man put the device back in the pocket of his navy-blue coat. He turned to face Helena, who starred at him in plain confusion. "That was just temporary. This tiger will be back, and then you need to be gone." He said with a Scottish accent and looked at Helena a bit confused. "Do I know you? You look somewhat familiar." "I am not going anywhere until you explained to me who you are and what the hell is happening here" Helena said in a trembling voice. "I am the Doctor." The man said with a mischievous grin "and apart from the obvious fact that a saber tooth tiger is on the loose in this library, I don't have the faintest idea what is going on here. Fascinating, isn't it?" "Fascinating? Is this your idea of fun?! We could have been dead by now, if whatever you did hadn't worked!", Helena hissed. "I knew it would work. I simply send out an ultrasound on a frequency that was mildly annoying for us, but pure agony for him. Now, if you insist on continuing to speak while you leave this library, whisper, or the tiger will come back even faster", the Doctor replied a bit impatient. "Fine", Helena muttered and started to sneak away to the tables to get Rhys and get as far away from this building as possible.
She made her way along the bookshelves slowly, but steadily. Helena couldn't believe she was still alive. There were the tables, just a few rows away. This Doctor could run off into any suicidal mission he wanted, she just wanted to get out of here and forget that this ever happened. "Rhys, get your stuff, we are going, right now!", Helena shouted as she could see Rhys sitting at his table, immersed in his various notes from the last lecture. Rhys looked up and his eyes widened in panic. An already somewhat familiar, musky stench hit her nose. She looked at Rhys, her eyes pleading, mouthing to him "RUN!".
She turned around, facing the snarling sabre tooth tiger once more, hoping that Rhys would get the cue and leave. The tiger fixed his gleaming stare on her, just like he did before, completely ignoring Rhys, whom Helena could now hear leaving. Pressing against her back she could now feel the chair and the shoulder strap of her bag. An idea flashed through her mind. This time, she would not go down without a fight, this might work. Slowly, she dug one hand into her bag, searching for the long, cylindrical flask she packed into her bag this morning, because of the long time she would spend at the university today, so she could freshen up. Finally, she found it and pulled it out. Now, she had to get into the right position, somewhere where she could disappear quickly, preferably with a few corners. Helena backed away until she was exactly in the right spot, the tiger following her every move. Her left hand was clutched around the flask, when she finally found herself in the right position. To both her left and her right side, small passages lead between the bookshelves. She just had to duck into one of them, run around a few corners and she would be out of here in no time at all. Childs play. Helena tightened her grip around the cylindrical flask and stood still. The tiger came closer. "Just a little bit more, come on „Helena whispered to herself. The he was close enough. with one swift movement, Helena rose her left arm, aimed for the tiger's eyes and pushed down the trigger of her Strawberry Milkshake 24-hour deodorant and sprayed it directly into the tiger's eyes. The beast yelped out of agony and irritation, and started to rapidly blink. That was Helena's cue, and she immediately ran into the ally at her right. Not looking back one time, she sprinted down the row on Organic chemistry, took a turn left toward the exit, then ducked into the section on Financials, and smashed into the old man from earlier at full speed. "Why are you still here? I specifically told you to leave!", the Doctor snapped at her after getting back up on his feet again. „Oh, you know, I wanted to get a good picture of the tiger for Snapchat", Helena sneered at him "He obviously found me before we could leave. Had to spray my deodorant in his eyes "„We? You weren't alone?" the Doctor asked. "Nope, my friend Rhys was here, too, but he got out safe because this giant fur ball was too fixed on getting me for some reason." „That is good to know. So, if you're stuck here with me, I suppose you could help me take our tiger down.", the Doctor replied. "Taking him down? You want to kill him? Isn't there any other way?" Helena asked. She didn't know why the thought of killing a beast that wasn't even supposed to be here and that had just tried to eat her made her feel so uncomfortable. "And what would you suggest?", the Doctor asked interested. "I don't know, couldn't you just drug him and turn him over to a zoo or national park?", she proposed. "Well, how convenient that I got those on hand.", the Doctor said, as he pulled a small cellophane patch from his pocket. „Those are mood patches that will put our little kitty into a dream state, which will make it possible for me to transport him safely to where he belongs." „You never planned to kill him?", Helena said surprised. "Did I use the word kill? I said I need to take him down. It was up to you to interpret it, and now I know enough for the moment to trust you.", the Doctor stated. "Because I interpreted your choice of words correctly? ", Helena replied confused. "No", the Doctor explained "Because even after something attacking you, killing it seems not to be an option for you. Enough chit chat. Let's get to work".
The whole plan wasn't actually very complicated. Helena just had to wait for the tiger to find her, and then their hopes rested on the tiger's fixation with Helena. She placed herself in the middle way between the book rows, right behind the last row with the wall in her back while the Doctor stood in a row a few feet ahead of her, the mood patch ready and waiting. Soon, she heard the familiar snarl and saw the tiger appearing between two rows, turning into the middle way, and closing in on her. Helena forced her heartbeat to slow down. This plan would, it must work. The tiger was now just five rows away from her, four away from the Doctor. What if the dose of whatever drug was in that mood patch wasn't enough? What if the tiger would notice the Doctor? Two rows away, one row away...the Doctor darted out of the shadows, jabbing the mood patch directly on the tiger's forehead. Its eyes rolled up until only the white was visible, the lean, muscular body became limb and collapsed upon the floor. Helena let out a huge breath and started shaking. "You seem very relieved. Were you doubting the effectiveness of my methods?", the Doctor asked mockingly. "Not for a second", Helena responded with a shaky grin. "Now, would you lend me a hand so I can get this sleeping fur ball back where he belongs", he said with a nod to the tiger's hind paws. "Sure", Helena said, grabbing them, "lead the way."
"I never actually got your name", the Doctor said as they carried the unconscious tiger through the library. "Helena. Helena McCormac.", Helena replied huffing. For a split second, she thought that a hint of surprise and recognition crossed the Doctors face. But that couldn't be, as they had never met before. „Pleasure to meet you, Miss McCormac.", the Doctor said. „We are nearly there." They went across a corner, Helena now heavily panting, starting to feel a stinging in her side, and in front of them stood...a large, blue police box, like the ones Helena had seen in Documentaries about the early 20th century. "Voilà!", the Doctor said grinning. „What Is that?", Helena asked with furrowed brows. "My vehicle", the Doctor responded, snapping his fingers. The door of the police box opened with a creak "Now, what do you say, Miss McCormac?", he said with a broad grin "Help me return this tiger to his rightful era and then...every planet in the universe."