The morning dawned cool and clear, the sky turning bright blue as a golden glow was cast over the land. It was late January, and the new year had brought so many new possibilities and ideas to the world. But in a small, cramped apartment in the middle of New York City, Megan Harper had slept through her alarm. The 22-year-old girl was living on her own for the first time, having just graduated from college. She was been lucky enough to hold a decent job working in the marketing department with Macy's, but if she didn't get there in twenty minutes she'd be in trouble. Megan skipped breakfast and grabbed her purse. She paused just a second to grab her headphones from the nightstand before rushing to the nearest subway station. She nearly knocked over a tall man in a long brown coat as she sprinted down the steps, but she didn't even look back. She pushed through the doors just as they were closing and collapsed onto one of the seats. She put her headphones in for the ten-minute ride uptown to the store she worked at.
Emerging from the station, Megan was only a block away from Macy's and still had plenty of time to get there. She walked more leisurely now, enjoying the bright and cold morning in the city. She paused at a crosswalk, looking at the crowd on the other side but not really seeing anyone. If she had been more attentive to her surroundings, she would have noticed that the man directly across from her was the same man who she had almost knocked over this morning. The red hand changed to a white walking man, and as Megan stepped off the curb, she glanced down at her phone to read a text that had just buzzed in her hand. She looked back up to see the man in the coat walking directly toward her. As he passed, he reached across her body to grab onto her upper arm. She didn't even have time to react as he turned her to walk alongside him before he spoke in a smooth British accent.
"Hello. Just keep walking, and don't look alarmed. I'm the Doctor, and I need your help." He let go of her arm and kept walking. Megan could have easily turned and run, but there was something about this man that made her trust him. In hindsight, she realized that it was really a stupid thing to do, without even knowing him, but she did it. The Doctor took long strides, and Megan had to practically jog to keep up with him. This continued for almost three blocks, when suddenly he stopped. Megan walked right into his back and almost fell, but he turned quickly and grasped her shoulders to steady her.
"Do you trust me?"
"Wh-what?" she was caught off guard by his question.
"I said,-" The Doctor was cut off by Megan.
"Yeah, I heard what you said, I just don't know why you even asked. I just followed you for three blocks without even knowing your name. Apparently I trust you. I have no idea why though."
"That's all I needed to hear. Now, I need your help. But you need to promise me something."
"And that is?"
"You will listen to what I say and you will do exactly as I say, no questions asked. Got it?"
"Wait a second, this is not some kind of weird fetish thing, is it? If you're trying to play your own little Fifty Shades of Gray thing I will call the cops right now, I swear to God" Megan backed away and held her phone up like a shield. The Doctor's eyes widened and his cheeks turned bright red.
"What, no! Of course not! I'm trying to fix something, and I need your help. You're Megan Harper, right? Yes, of course I'm right. Don't ask how I know your name. There will be time for that later. Right now, though, we need to run!" The Doctor grabbed Megan's hand and began sprinting down an alley. She shrieked in surprise but followed him. Glancing behind her, she noticed three cloaked figures floating towards them. Megan did a double take; they were actually floating. Hovering above the ground menacingly, they moved swiftly down the alley after them.
"Doctor! What are those things!" She shouted.
"They're called Obrigsaar, do I have to explain now or can I do it later when they aren't trying to remove our souls?"
"Um, later, I suppose…" For the second time that day, she nearly fell as the Doctor came to an abrupt stop. "What the hell! Why are you stopping, they're right there!" She screamed, turning to see the Doctor fumbling with the lock on an old blue police call box. "I really highly doubt we will be safe in there, I really think we should just run!"
"Ahh! Come on old girl, stop being difficult. I promise never to spill tea on the console again!" The lock clicked and the door swung in smoothly. The Doctor smiled and stroked the doorframe. "That's it, sexy!"
"DOCTOR!"
"Right, then, in we go!" He yanked Megan through the door and slammed it shut behind them, right in the cloaked faces of the Obrigsaar.
Megan pulled her wrist from his grasp and drew in a deep breath to yell at him for risking her life and trapping her in a phone booth. Instead, though, she choked on her words as she found herself in a room bigger than her entire apartment, full of metal instruments and a big glowing cylinder. Megan's eyes widened and her heart pounded as she took it all in. With one hand on the door handle, she stared straight at the Doctor.
"It's bigger on the inside." He beamed and jumped down from the platform he was standing on.
"Ha! I know!" He laughed like a child and grabbed Megan's hands. He spun her around and away from the door before bounding back up a half flight of steps to the center console. Megan couldn't help but to smile. She stared up and down and all around the room. There were stairs leading up and down from the main level, leading to walkways that opened up into hallways.
"But…how big is this place? And how can it be bigger on the inside?" She followed the Doctor to the console and sat down on a chair. He peered around the glowing cylinder and metal parts to look at her face. She gazed around in wonder, before noticing him watching her. "What?"
"Ohhh nothing, just that a moment ago you were accusing me of kidnapping you to play out a fetish." Megan blushed.
"Yea, well…obviously there's something out there that was following us. And you know my name, how do you know my name? And this! You still haven't told me how this is possible!" The Doctor looked at Megan more seriously now.
"Weeell, I guess if I want your help I'm going to need to tell you some things. Alright, allons-y!" He took her hand and led her down a flight of stairs and into a hallway. Her eyes widened as she realized she couldn't see the end of it. They only walked for a few seconds before he opened a door and led her in. The room was small and dark, but lit well with candles in sconces all around it. There was quiet classical music playing in the background and a table all set up with tea. The Doctor swung off his brown coat and hung it on a hood by the door. He pulled out a chair and Megan sat down. He sat opposite her and poured her a cup of tea. As she stirred in sugar and milk, he began to talk.
"My name is the Doctor. I look like a human, but in reality I am an alien." Megan looked up in shock, but stayed silent. "I have two hearts. And I'm 1200 years old." Megan sipped her tea, eyes wide and staring at the Doctor. "I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I travel through space and time in this machine, called a TARDIS. That stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. I go where and when I'm needed, and help whenever I can. Right now, the Obrigsaar are hunting me through time and space trying to steal my soul."
"That sounds like dementors from Harry Potter or something, stealing your soul. Plus they're cloaked, and they float around."
"Weeell, JK Rowling is a dear friend. I may have given her some ideas for those books. But oh well! Enough of that! The Obrigsaar are trying to steal my soul because everyone's souls have power in them, and they have found a way to power their city using souls. Unfortunately, that means that they are stealing souls and leaving empty shells behind. I can't let them do that. Buut, when I confronted them earlier today in 1920's France, they seem to have figured out that my soul has more power than human souls aaaaand now they're tracking me. So I went into the future a teensy bit to see who's soul they would get next and it was yours." He looked at Megan gravely, brown eyes boring into blue.
"Ok, so what are you going to do about that?" The Doctor's eyes crinkled into a smile.
"Ohhh, those are fightin' words my dear! That's what I like to hear!" The Doctor jumped up from his chair and galloped out of the room. Megan followed and found him back in the console room. "Hold on to something because here we goooo!" He pulled a lever and Megan grabbed onto a railing as the whole room lurched violently.
"What's happening?"
"We are time traveling! Ha-haaa!" The TARDIS whirled through the vortex. "Before we arrive though, I thought you'd like to see space." Megan looked at the Doctor, who was smiling brightly.
"Really?"
"Really." He poked a button and the TARDIS came smoothly to a halt. "Ready?" He took Megan's hand and opened the door. She slowly walked to the opening and looked out in amazement. The silky black sky was dotted with stars, glowing pink and blue and gold before her eyes.
"Oh my God…it's amazing. It's beautiful. I just…I have no words. This is incredible." Megan stared at the vast expanse, then turned to see it all reflected in the Doctor's eyes.
"Ready to go discover it all?"
"All of it?"
"Once we solve this teeeensy issue with the Obrigsaar. You help me, I reward you. Anywhere in time and space. Anywhere and anywhen! So, allons-y!"