I was curious. I had always been curious. My mum always said that it would be the death of me, but I could not help it. I had to eavesdrop on every conversation, couldn't wait till morning during Christmas and I couldn't stand any other surprises. I wanted to know everything. Where other people would walk away or stop talking, I would always inquire further, much to other people's annoyance. You'd think that I'd have no friends, the way I behave, but there's Dee. She's my best friend, have been since we were little. She has learned to ignore me whenever I get too curious and she is the only person who can hold me back when I am around strangers.
My curiosity has often gotten me into trouble, like this time when some kids in school told me that there were ghosts in the creepy house at the edge of our village. Naturally, I had to investigate this on my own. It was dark, old and dusty and there wasn't anyone living in there, or so everyone thought. I was ten and I dragged Dee with me. There were no ghosts, obviously, but we got the frights of our lives. It was absolutely terrifying. A hermit lived in the house, and no one had ever seen him – except for the older townsmen. We were on the second floor – which was very dangerous; the floor was old – and he chased us down with a stick.
That wasn't all, because on the stairs, my foot got stuck in the stairs. Dee hadn't noticed this and she was already out of the house before I could yell after her. I tried to pull, and pull – it hurt – and suddenly I got loose, but I stumbled and fell over, down the stairs. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital. My mum was cross with me and she refused to explain what had happened. She did say that I had been lucky – I had landed on my head. You'd think that this would've taught me a lesson, but it didn't. I'm still as curious as ever and I would never turn my back on a challenge. I will, however, never set foot in that house again.
It was a slightly sunny day – at least there was no rain – and we were outside. Dee, myself and Chase, a friend of ours. We were bored, didn't know what to do. We decided that we could play a game, but we had been doing that all day. It was nearly evening and Dee had to leave soon enough. We were just strolling down the street, in a more quiet part of the town. There were two sorts of bricks in the street and I was playing a game with myself; I could only touch one colour. This was why I was hopping from one stone to the other, careful to avoid the 'dangerous' colour, as I called it. Dee and Chase just walked next to me quietly, watching me for the most part. I was usually the more talkative one.
"Oops. Dinner."
Dee suddenly said and I turned around, stopping my little game. We usually forgot about time, so all of our parents were used to it that we were always late. We did try to be on time, it just never worked out. I giggled.
"See ya then." I waved and she grinned.
"I'll walk you home." said Chase and I nodded, watching them walk away.
I strolled further down the street. I didn't have to be home for another hour and I decided to walk around a bit more; I usually don't spend that much time at home, much to my mother's annoyance. I crossed the street, wondering if there was something I had not yet explored in this town. I chuckled at the thought.
Suddenly I saw something peculiar in the alley as I crossed the street. Usually there were only bins and bags of rubbish there, but it was something else. Of course I had to check it out, see what it was, and I did. When I walked into the alley, I frowned at the sight of the box. It was a blue box, with a sort of thing on top of it, which looked like a siren. Spelled in white letters were the words 'police public call box'. I had no idea what that meant and I had never seen anything like it before. I shrugged and carefully walked over to it, touching it. It was made of wood. I walked around it for a moment, but it was simply a large box. I walked back to the front, to the door and took a deep breath. I pushed it open; it was unlocked.
I let out a yell as I stepped inside. My eyes grew wide and I felt my heart beating faster than usual. I stepped back, slammed the door shut and ran. The inside of the box was bigger, much too big to fit in there. In the middle was a tube, of some sorts, with wires and some sort of buttons at the bottom all around. That didn't bother me much, but the inside was simply impossible and I didn't believe my own eyes. As I ran out of the alley, I ran quicker and then I stopped at the other side of the street. Surely my eyes had deceived me. I laughed at my own silliness, but nonetheless I walked away, ran actually, back home. I didn't even notice the only other person in the street, watching me.
A few streets from my own house I stopped running to catch my breath, my heart still thumping like mad. I leaned against a wall, closing my eyes for a second and wondering what exactly had just happened. I put it down to me being a little crazy and my mind playing tricks on me. Perhaps I was going crazy, or crazier and someone should put me in a mental hospital. I laughed again at my own fright and opened my eyes. I pushed what I had just seen to the back of my mind, far away so I would forget, mostly forget that I was going crazy. Any other person wouldn't have run, they would've looked for a rational explanation, as I was sure there was. I looked at my watch and decided that it was best to just go home now.
Before I could resume my way a furiously hissing cat ran by, faster than I'd ever seen a cat run. Chasing after it was a man in a long brown coat. I frowned at the sight and shook my head. This was getting ridiculous. It was really time to go home now. I had seen my share of weird things for the night, I decided. I found myself quickening my pace and got there faster than I usually did. I entered the house, shrugged out of my jacket and threw it on the table next to the hall stand. Then I proceeded into the kitchen, where my mum was making dinner. As she saw me, I noticed her glance at her watch, surprised and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Then her eyes got earnest and I frowned.
"Mum, what's wrong?"
I heard her sigh and I crossed my arms, guessing at what was probably wrong.
"Drew is gone again. Sasha's already gone looking for her." I sighed.
Drew was my little sister; she was ten, three years younger than me. Ever since our dad had left three months ago, she barely listened to my mum anymore. She got upset really quickly and walked away, which she had never done before that. I could understand though, my sister had been really close to my dad, closer than any of my other siblings, or even me. Sasha was my two year older brother, but I knew he'd never find her. He usually went looking for her too, to no avail. He never knew where to look, because he mostly never bothered to talk to her. Too young and all that. I was sure that was puberty kicking in. I knew that I might have a chance of finding her; I knew her favourite places, besides, she usually went to the same place.
"I'll find her."
I told my mum and left the kitchen, grabbing my jacket and pulling it on. I strolled out on to the street and stopped, thoughtful. Last time she ran away, she was sitting under the bridge on the river bank. Our dad took us to the river a lot when we were younger. I knew that the spot under the bridge had become my sister's escape place. I liked to come there too, it was a nice place to just be alone. I put my hands into my pockets and started walking there. The sky had become somewhat darker, but not due to nightfall; clouds had moved in and I feared that it was going to rain soon. The streets were quiet; it was near dinner time now, but I didn't care. I had lived in this village since I was born, but I never got bored of it. It wasn't that something different happened each day, because it didn't, it was just nice. Plus, I knew all the places I liked.
I didn't know what happened next, because it happened so fast. One minute I was just walking there and the next I was lying on the ground. My cheek hurt and I brushed it with my hand. I looked at my fingers; blood. I looked around frantically and noticed something behind me. I scrambled to my feet and spun around, noticing that it was a cat who was now furiously hissing at me. I recognized it at the cat which had been chased by that man I saw earlier. I wasn't afraid of cats, but something about this cat made me want to run or hide. It had dark brown stripes and the rest of its fur was a shade of grey. I would have actually found it beautiful – and it was, sort of - if it hadn't looked so scary. Its eyes were a yellow green and penetrating as if it could look right through me and see my soul.
Then it lashed at me and I jumped back, stumbling as I did so. There was a rip in my jacket and my arm hurt. I ignored the pain and I felt fright striking me, my heart nearly thumping in my throat. The cat was in front of me and I only managed to stare at it as I sat on the ground, holding myself up with my hands, wanting to run away, but I couldn't. I wasn't sure, but I thought that usually cats didn't just attack people and I had done nothing to hurt it. My initial fear, when I saw it, had been proven right by its attack. It was inches away from me again, standing before me and I saw it coming at me again, I closed my eyes tightly, not being able to move because of the shock, and then I felt nothing. Nothing happened.
There was a buzzing sound, not like a bee though, more mechanical and furious hissing, which I knew was the cat. After a few seconds I finally dared open my eyes, carefully I did so and what I saw was a man standing in front of me. He was wearing a long brown coat and to my surprise I realised this was the man I had seen earlier, chasing the same cat. He had big brown hair and he was looking at me with concern in his eyes. Yet, there was also something that I didn't recognize. He put something in his pocket that I didn't quite see. My eyes searched for the cat and I noticed it was lying upside down and I couldn't help but gasp. It looked as if it was dead. I know it had attacked me, but I would never wish anyone dead; human, animal or otherwise.
"Did it bite you?" the man asked, and I stared at him. "Did it bite you?" he asked again, more urgently this time. I shook my head.
"No... It... it just scratched me."
I felt the pain in my arm and cheek again, but I didn't look at either one of those wounds. I scrambled to my feet and kneeled down beside the cat, afraid to ask if it was really dead. I could see his shadow as he leaned over me and I looked up, knowing that he knew what I was thinking. Not literally that he could read my mind, but he could probably read my face.
"It's not dead." he said, reassuringly.
He picked it up by its tail and I gasped, but he didn't seem to hear me. I bit my lip and walked after him, catching up with him a few feet down the street. I ignored the pain in my arm and I didn't look at it; I never much liked blood and I didn't want to see how bad it was. Judging by the pain, it was at least a gash from my wrist halfway up to my elbow. I was too preoccupied by this man to bother with it, too. As for my cheek, I really thought my arm was worse off.
"Who are you?" I asked curiously as I eyed the man I had now caught up with. He looked at me for a moment, but he seemed reluctant to answer. I frowned.
"It doesn't matter. You should have someone look at that cut." he pointed to my arm and I looked at it now.
The bit of the sleeve of my jacket that wasn't ripped was blood-stained and wet. I tried to roll up the sleeve, but I stopped as the material touched the cut and I winced. I looked back at the mysterious man who was holding the cat at arm's-length, probably afraid that it might come back to life and scratch or bite him too. I wanted to ask him again who he was, curious about him now, but something stopped me and I didn't ask. Also, I was aware of the wound now, I had seen it and that didn't make me feel any better, but I was too curious to turn around and go home.
"Why are you following me?"
He stopped and turned to me. I stopped, shocked and I stared at him. I had just been attacked by something and he had saved him. Did he not think that I wanted an explanation? How could he just wander off after that?
"I want answers." I simply said and he rolled his eyes.
"What's it with you humans," he said that as if he wasn't. The idea was ridiculous and I couldn't help but quirk my brow. "Always asking questions. What's your name?"
"Jamie." I answered, before I realised that I probably shouldn't have told him. At least not until he had told me his name.
I noticed him glance past me, as if he was looking for an escape route, but as I turned my head, I saw that he was looking at the box I had seen earlier. I looked back at him, then at the box again and then back at him again. He was frowning at me, at what I was doing I'm sure, but I didn't care. Everything fell into place, sort of. The strange things I had seen tonight where connected; he knew exactly what the box was. Then I thought I had gotten it all wrong though, maybe this man had just saved my life from a cat gone crazy and he had been wondering what a strange box like that had been doing on the streets. I rolled my eyes at myself as I turned to look at the box again.
He looked at the cat in his hand and walked past me, seemingly forgetting all about me. I spun around and watched him. He disappeared into the box on the other side of the street and my first thoughts came back to me. It was crazy, but why couldn't they be true. I wanted to slap myself, tell me I was dreaming, but at that moment I felt my arm sting again and I looked down at it. I pulled off my jacket, in a way that it still covered my arm. I pressed the rest of the jacket down on it, wincing as I did so, to keep the blood from coming out of the wound. I ran across the street towards the box, and entered.
"I'm dreaming, right? This is a dream." I voiced my thoughts.
The man was standing at the console. He had tied the cat to a chair with some ropes; it still looked dead to me, but it was probably unconscious. That was if I could trust this man, if he was telling the truth. I looked at him and he looked back at me.
"What are you doing here?"
He didn't look happy to see me, but I still had unanswered questions. He had his jacket hung over the railing near the door and I noticed he had been wearing a pine striped suit underneath it. My eyes fell on his cream coloured Converse sneakers and I frowned. Odd combination, I thought. I looked around me, remembering why I had ran out earlier. I breathed out deeply and looked back at the man.
"What is this place?" he seemed to think it through before answering. "Who are you?" I immediately added. "This is my spaceship." he said, carefully.
"Right." I laughed. His serious look told me that he wasn't kidding.
"I'm the Doctor." I quirked a brow.
What sort of name was that? I didn't comment though. I had to let this sink in. There was no such thing as spaceships and I knew that he had to be joking. Then again, how could a place like this, fit in a small box. It couldn't be a trick, it had to be real. I stumbled backwards and grabbed the railing, breathing out very deeply to try and relax. I knew that I had to look shocked to him, and to be honest, I was. I had never really believed in spaceships or the like, but something told me that I just had to trust this man. Something in his eyes, his looks, told me that he was telling the truth. I bit my lip and looked over at the unconscious cat. I remembered the Doctor asking me if it had bit me.
"Why did you ask me if it bit me? Cats don't bite. They scratch."
"This one does." he answered honestly. "It's alien, and poisonous."
I stared at him, I had to believe him, but it was still hard.
"You said spaceship. Are you alien?" he seemed to think about this, like it was a difficult question.
"Yes." he simply said and I nodded weakly, understandingly.
"That alien attacked me." I was referring to the cat. "Why should I trust you?" I did trust him, I felt like I could, but I still had to ask.
"I don't mean anyone any harm. Not all aliens are like that, you know."
"So, what, you're like a protector?" I realised that he had saved me. He shrugged.
"I help out sometimes. Earth has been known to be under alien attack."
"Really?" I raised my brows curiously. "How come I don't know about it?"
"I usually jump in, save the day. No one who needs to know."
"Oh, so you're earth's anonymous saviour?" A sarcastic grin spread across my face.
"Yes." he said with a smug look on his face, but I could see it was a show. I laughed.
Suddenly my head was spinning and it was not because of all the information that had filled my head just now. I felt very faint and the room was uncomfortably moving. I could swear the Doctor had a double and I blinked. My feet felt weak and I realised that it had to be because of the blood I was loosing. I hadn't realised it was that bad. The doctor seemed to notice and he walked forward, saying something but I couldn't hear what he said. I clutched my hair, still afraid to look at it and I felt my legs giving away, but before I hit the ground, something caught me and I passed out.
I woke up, feeling something soft underneath me and I opened my eyes, blinking at the bright light of the hospital room. I needed a moment to wake up, but when I did, everything from the past few hours came back to me and I sat up straight, making my brother, who sat next to me, jump. There was a bandage around my arm and, as I touched my cheek, I felt a bandage there too. My brother stared at me, slightly shocked and I grinned sheepishly at him.
"You okay?" he asked, and I nodded.
"You scared us. What happened?" he asked, concern in his voice.
I knew I couldn't tell him, because he'd never believe me. He'd either think I was crazy, or – by some miracle – he'd believe me. I was close to him and I knew I could tell him everything, but this was just too weird to be told. I wondered to myself if I would believe it if he told me, and I knew I probably wouldn't. I looked at him, his face expectantly and I sighed. Had he ever laughed at me or called me crazy? I couldn't recall a time when he had and I decided that maybe it was better if I did tell him, I needed to tell someone.
It was then that I noticed something move at the edge of the bed. My eyes flashed towards it and I jumped, letting out a yell. On the edge of my bed, resettling itself, was a cat, the very cat who had attacked me, the cat who was the reason for me being here. I stared at the cat, then at Sasha, who looked at me with a frown. I stared back at the cat who looked up at me. A look in its eyes that I could actually identify as confusion, but I didn't understand; it wasn't vicious anymore. At least it didn't look vicious anymore, but I was wary, cautious. It sprung to its feet and walked over the bed towards me, I pressed myself back into the pillow.
"Oh don't worry." It said and I stared at it. It was speaking,to me,in English. "I won't harm you."
I still stared, frozen-like, but I noticed from the corner of my eye that Sasha also had a shocked look on his face. He mouthed 'it talks?' to me and I was certain that he was thinking he was going crazy. My hand found his and I grabbed it, squeezing it; to show him that he wasn't the only one hearing the voice but also because I was slightly shocked.
"You talk?" I managed to get out.
"Of course I talk. What do you think I am? Filth from that..." it seemed to be struggling to find the word. "Filthy neighbourhood? Or, your planet even." I could've sworn it had a disapproving look on its face. It had a rather posh accent.
"But, you attacked me."
"Yes, I am sorry about that. I was... under the influence."
"Of drugs?" the words just came out, without thinking. It stared at me.
"Of Sandrosynesin." I was confused; I had never heard of that before.
Then he – his voice was deep enough to be that of a male – started explain to me, and a still rather shocked Sasha, about his journey to our planet. He had been part of a wealthy family, the royal family as we knew it, but because his brother had wanted all the power to himself – I rolled my eyes; could've been something that happened here – he had him taken captive. Fortunately for him he had someone from the inside help him and he got away. Sandrosynesin was a tiny nanobot that was used to inject to make someone angry, vicious and it would make the person or rather alien attack everyone around him. It was used in wars, wars on his planet, when no one was willing to fight each other. The nanobot he had been injected with was flawed and so he had no control over who he attacked, there wasn't a specific species programmed. He had to flee - someone made him flee – and he had ended up on earth. The Doctor had found him, found the cause of his problems, apparently the man was smart, and had fixed him so he was back to normal. I blinked a few times as he finished his story, unable to say anything.
"What are you?" asked my brother, incredulous.
I giggled; I had forgotten about him. The cat lay down on my legs, apparently offended by his question and it kept quiet. So I told the story of what had happened to me today, about the cat attacking me, about the box and about the Doctor.
"It was the man who brought you here?" I frowned. "The doctors said a man brought you here and then left."
"Must have been." I said and wondered if I'd ever see him again. I frowned again.
"What?" I shook my head, but I was actually surprised that he believed my story. Though with a talking cat, how could he not.
"What's your name?" I carefully extended my hand towards the cat and slowly stroked his head. He seemed to enjoyed it, I just hoped it wouldn't scratch me or bite my hand off.
"Felix." he said, slowly.
"Felix the cat." I chuckled and Sasha too laughed. Felix looked at me and I could read in his expression that he was confused.
"Jamie! You're awake!"
Mum burst into the room and hugged me tightly, practically pushing Sasha aside. I winced as she pressed my cheek against her chest, but she didn't seem to notice. She let go of me and eyed Felix, who I was still patting. She raised a disapproving brow and I swallowed.
"Can I keep it?" I asked and my mother stared at me.
I noticed Felix lift his head, staring at me too. He sprung up and jumped into my neck; I didn't flinch and he leaned closely towards my ear; it tickled slightly. My mum was looking at Sasha, who was trying to convince her, but I didn't hear exactly what they were saying.
"I'm not a pet." Felix hissed at me.
"You've got nowhere to go." I reminded him.
"Fine." he jumped off my neck and settled in my lap.
"You know I don't like animals," my mum started. "but I guess I can make an except ion."
I let out a small yell of joy and threw my arms around her neck, hugging her. She disentangled herself from my grip, her look not exactly disapproval, but nothing near approval either. She sat down in a chair next to Sasha.
"You rest now." she said.
I didn't feel tired, but I leaned back anyway, stroking Felix. Today my life had changed, yet I knew that even with the knowledge of aliens and something more out there in the universe, everything would probably get back to normal soon. The Doctor was gone and I had a feeling I'd never see him again. Not only did he save the world, apparently, but he also saved my life. I would never forget him, but I would move on, live my life as always, with the exception of a talking, poisonous, alien, cat to keep me company.