The power of his strike forced me down onto the glass platform, the impact from my now swollen and bruised face causing a crack to appear in it, and a thin line of hot red liquid to start rolling down my forehead. I looked up at him once more, his cold purple eyes staring through me and into my soul, blocking out the screams and cries from everyone around us.
I forced my arms to move as I tried to grab the sword in front of me, but before my aching fingers could wrap themselves around the ink black handle, the glowing white blade shattered under the giant foot of the creature in front of me.
I let out a painful groan seeing as moving my left arm caused my cracked rib to only crack itself even more. In the end I couldn't restrain myself anymore, and the tears I had been holding in behind stinging eyes started to roll down my heated cheeks.
This was never meant to happen. This isn't how it was supposed to end…
How the hell did this all even happen…?
A low steady beeping was reaching out to me through the darkness. Every beep soon became louder than the last, and it started to wake an annoyance in me. I didn't want to leave the comfortable blackness around me, but I knew the only way to make the noise stop was to wake up and turn it off. After a few more beeps I finally forced my eyes open and shut off the alarm, the new silence almost deafening to my ears.
It took me a while to wake up enough to look at clock on my nightstand, but as soon as I saw the glowing numbers I quickly grabbed my glasses and jolted out of bed with such speed that I fell onto the floor in the process.
"Shoot! Shoot, shoot, shoot! Damn it, I'm gonna be late for school!" I tell myself as I put on the black spectacles and hurried over to the closet and pulled the white doors open, only to be met with a bunch of clothes falling out in front of me. Oh, right, I was supposed to organize my clothes yesterday. Anyways, no time for that now!
I grabbed a pair dark jeans and a random short sleeved shirt before putting them on and hurrying downstairs, brush in hand and forcing it through my short messy locks. Once I entered the kitchen I threw the brush on the dinner table, knocking over a candle that I didn't care about since it wasn't lit, and grabbed two slices of bread from a cupboard before running into the hallway, grabbing my keys, putting on my converse and jacket, and practically flying out the front door.
The cool winter air hit me hard in the face, and it didn't take me long to realize that it was raining as well, which didn't exactly make my situation any better. I let out an irritated groan muffled by the bread in my mouth as I left the shelter of the small roof above the door and within seconds I was already soaked and my glasses were like drenched windshields. And as if it couldn't get any worse, as I reached for my jacket's hood, I noticed that I'd taken the jacket without one.
Of course.
I started running like crazy, seeing my neighbors looking at me like I'd just escaped a mental hospital, and looked down at my wrist, only to realize I'd left my watch at home. I reached for the phone in my pocket, but realized it was home as well. I cursed under my breath as I ran past a cyclist, and soon she was cycling next to me with a funny expression on her face.
"Where are you going in such a hurry, Felix?" the woman asked, and only then I noticed that it was one of my dad's co-workers that was talking to me. I slowed down just barely to look at her and flashing an annoyed smile.
"I'm going to the North Pole to drink tea with Santa. It's Monday, where do you think I'm going?!" I exclaimed, irritation clear in my voice, and I could hear a snicker from the lady beside me.
"School?" she asked, and I let out an irritated groan, hurrying my pace as I realized running at my top speed wouldn't be fast enough, and she started going faster as well.
"Where else would I be going?!" I almost screamed back at her, lactic acid burning my legs from the inside out as I went Sonic the Hedgehog once I saw the roof of my school behind a small forest of trees.
"Even though it's Christmas break?"
I stopped dead in my tracks, almost falling over from the sudden action, and the lady continued a few more meters before slowing down and stepping off her bike, walking over to me with a half opened umbrella.
I just stood there dumbfounded, letting the cold rain drench my already soaked clothes even more before she held the umbrella over my head, now shielding me from the water pouring down around us.
"Y-You're joking, right?" I say with a shaky voice, breaking the awkward silence between the two of us. At this she starts laughing, and I can feel my face heating up as I sink into the ground. This did seriously not just happen, right? And all my neighbors saw me too! Please tell me this isn't real. It's just a dream, right?
Of course it isn't, that'd just be stupid.
"Oh, it's almost ridiculous how much you're like your father. He always rushes to work without even checking if he's supposed to. I can't even count how many times I've seen him standing outside the doors when it's weekend." She said once she'd stopped laughing, and I started to scratch the left side of my neck, something I always do when I'm embarrassed. Come to think of it, I guess that's something dad does as well.
"I'll… take that as a compliment." I said, smiling nervously at her, before stuffing my hands in my jeans' drenched pockets. I heard her laugh again, and when I looked up at her she was smirking at me.
"So, are you just going to stay out here, or do you want me to follow you home?" she asked, and I smiled at her.
"Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Marie." I said, and she handed me the umberella before walking back to her bike and grabbing another one. And when we started to head back home, I just couldn't wait to go back to bed and stay there for the rest of the day.
Once I'd finally arrived back home I told Marie goodbye and went inside, kicking off my soaked black converse and pulling off my socks, before taking off my jacket and walking into the kitchen to have a real breakfast. I pulled out a chair and sat down, letting out a heavy sigh and leaning against the backrest.
So, I've totally just embarrassed myself in front of my whole neighborhood, that's not something you do every day. I laughed and turned my head to look at the knocked over candle… only to see it standing up like it did before I knocked it over. I stood up and took a few steps back, surprise definitely visible on my face.
"Wasn't that on the floor before I left?! I'm sure it was! I knocked it over, and it fell! Or, maybe I just imagined it? Y-Yeah, that must be it! I was just really tired, and imagined that I knocked over a candle! Yeah! That's the only logical reason, so I don't have to worry, because it's not like there's anyone else but me in this house! Yeah!" I almost screamed out to myself, seeing as screaming always calms me down for some reason.
I started laughing, though I could hear the nervousness in my voice clearly, and as on reflex I backed over to the pot cupboard and grabbed a frying pan. Just in case.
I decided not to stay down here any longer and started to head back upstairs to my room, the thought of lying down in my cozy bed causing a loud yawn to sound through the empty house.
As soon as I got up to the living room I could see my bed through the open door, I started running towards it and the moment I set my foot inside the door, I jumped across the entire room and landed face first in the messy and unmade covers.
I let out a deep sigh and buried my face deeper in the mess that was my heaven, and I instantly felt sleepiness fall over me like a heavy blanket. I closed my eyes and let the frying pan drop to the floor, I let out another yawn, and soon I felt my mind slip away into dreamland…
CRASH!
The loud and sudden noise echoed through the second floor, pulling me out of my dream-state and back to reality in a second. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, eyes wide and my mind on hyper mode, trying to process what was actually happening.
Did someone break an entrance?! Are they gonna rob me?! What if they take something valuable?! Or worse, what if they hurt me?!
All these thoughts caused me to hyperventilate, and I could feel tears forcing their way to my eyes. But I roughly wiped them away and steadied my breath. I reached down for the pan beside me and grabbed the handle tightly, before as silently as possible, making my way out of the room.
I stopped once I reached the door, and steadied my grip on the pan. I took a deep breath, and jumped out.
Nothing. The relief I felt when I found nothing and no-one in the living room was overwhelming, and I had to let out a chuckle of joy. But I knew I couldn't let my guard down, because since I didn't find anything up here, it meant that whoever broke in must be downstairs.
I sneaked over to the stairs and made my way down, as quietly as humanly possible, and it wasn't until then that I heard a weird sort of "woorping" sound. And strangely, it almost felt familiar.
I stopped, shook my head, and closed my eyes. I needed to concentrate.
If there's someone in the house my only ways of escaping is either through the front door, the door to the garden, or through my window back upstairs. The kitchen is three doors from the bottom step to the left, the knives are attached to the wall above the counter, in case of absolute necessity. If I make it out, I can run to my grandparents, that's just four houses from here, and call the police. If I don't make it that far, I'll lock myself in the bathroom next to the kitchen, if not to stall time, then at least to protect myself from getting hurt.
I took another deep breath.
"You can do this, Felix. If your brother could do it, then so can you." I tell myself in an effort to make me feel brave, and adjust my grip on the pan.
I finally took the step onto the bottom of the stairs, and the weird noise was starting to die down. Before it did though, I took a moment to listen to it more closely, and once the realization struck me of what the source was, I almost dropped the frying pan in surprise.
I covered my mouth with one hand to keep myself from gasping aloud, and I took one step back up the staircase.
There is no possible way for it to be, yet they sounded exactly the same. How I hadn't recognized it earlier almost chocked me, but I wasn't surprised that I didn't. I know what the source is, and I know where it's from, but how it was able to be here…
"It doesn't make sense!" I whisper shouted into my hand, and carefully made my way off the stairs.
Just around the corner to my right was the first floor living room, and through the wall right behind me was my parents' bedroom. That's where all the noise came from.
I started moving around the corner, making sure to not make a sound and keeping my back to the wall as I did, and after a few seconds of this sneaking, I stopped outside the bedroom door. I heard rustling inside, like if someone was looking frantically for something, and I took one last calming breath.
Before I kicked in the door.
"Whoever you are, get the hell out of my house before I-!" I cut myself off mid-sentence.
The sight I saw was describable, but unbelievable.
A blue box, at least two meters tall, with double doors and a sign above them that read PUBLIC CALL POLICE BOX in glowing white letters. A British telephone police box was standing inside my parents' bedroom, fully lit up and still sounding that weird noise, though it was very low.
I stumbled a few steps back, letting the pan slip out of my grasp before dropping down on the floor, gasping for air. The chock was too much for me, and I started hyperventilating again. It didn't make any sense…
"This doesn't make sense. This shouldn't be possible, this CAN'T be possible! It's not real! It's just a dream, right?! It's just a dream! I'm just dreaming! Yeah! I'm just dreaming that the TARDIS is in my house, right in front of me, just within my reach! Because in reality, it's not!"
"Okay, you need to calm down before you go completely bonkers."
Someone was holding onto my shoulders. Someone's strong hands were gripping my arms worryingly, keeping me in a steady hold. Someone whose voice was so familiar that it was impossible for me to process it. It had a place somewhere in my mind, but I didn't know where.
Then finally, I looked up…
And was greeted with a smiling face and deep, sad eyes.
"There we go. Just breathe in slowly, and let it out."
Without really thinking, I did as the calming voice told me to and closed my eyes, sucked in a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, and let it out. I repeated this process a few times before I finally managed to calm down just enough to look back up at the strange man.
"All better now?" he asked, and I slowly nodded my head, never taking my eyes off him. He smiled again and let out a relieved sigh, before finally letting go of my arms and standing up again. He reached out his hand towards me, and after a slight hesitation, I took it, and he helped me up from the floor.
I took a step back, earning the most subtle of surprised looks from him, before taking one more calming breath.
"Ehm… w-who are you, and how did you end up in my house?" I asked, hearing my voice stutter and crack slightly. He looked a bit more confused, but then he seemed to remember something, and let out a small chuckle.
"Oh, right, we haven't met before, have we? Sorry, I must've mixed something up. Right, well, I'm the Doctor, and who might you be?" He said, that smile still on his face, giving him a sort of childish appearance.
But the Doctor he was indeed. From the accented voice to the talk to the face to his eyes, he couldn't be anyone else.
His hair was in a fashion just like my own, though mine was black, and his brown. Deep green-brown eyes that were the opposite of my large purple ones, yet I found a familiar sadness in them. And a sharp jawline that was in no way like my rounded and scarred one.
And around his neck, was the iconic red bowtie.
A sudden and strange feeling of acceptance washed over me, and I finally told myself what I should've known the moment I saw him.
The eleventh regeneration of the Doctor, from one my most absolute favorite TV-shows since for as long as I can remember, was standing in front of me. In my home. In my world.
"I-I'm… My name is Felix. Felix Birch. It's nice to meet you, Doctor…?" I say, trying to sound curious and a bit confused, so he would think that I don't know who he is. After all, if I do something wrong to make him suspicious of me knowing about him, all of time and space could get messed up. And then who knows?
"Oh, just the Doctor. Now then, as for your question of how I got here…" He said, looking directly at me, and stopped himself from talking for a moment. I looked back at him, but could barely stand the strange look of sadness in his eyes, so I averted my eyes from his and gave him a small smile.
"Yeah, I'd really like to know how you got your telephone box through the door to my parents' room." I said, and let out a small laugh. The Doctor looked taken aback for only the shortest moment, before he let out a slightly nervous chuckle.
"Oh, right, sorry about that. Didn't mean to land her in the house, I was trying to aim at your backyard. Though I have no clue how she got inside. From what I saw she didn't break through the roof… Did she? In that case, I'm so sorry about that!" The Doctor ranted on, panic slightly noticeable in his voice, and hearing him like this, I couldn't help but laugh.
Confusion was finally visible on his face, mixed with a sort of relief, and he let out another nervous chuckle. I calmed down after a minute or so, and looked back up at him with a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, Doctor. The roof is completely intact. You haven't broken anything." I say, and the Doctor let out a short laugh of relief.
"Good, I hate it when that happens. Well then. Back to your question. I don't exactly know how we ended up here. You may not believe it, but this isn't just any old police box…" He said, a slight smirk on his face. Again, I acted confused and surprised. Again, because I don't want to mess up space and time.
"Then, what is it?" I asked, acting even more curious, which I for the most part actually was.
I mean, be honest with yourself. If your favorite character, from your favorite show, game, movie or whatever, came to your house and was pretty much offering you a glimpse of their world, wouldn't you be curious and excited as well?
That's what I thought.
He smiled and walked over to the box, giving it a pat before he leaned on it, looking at me again.
"It's a spaceship." He answered, that childish smirk back on his face, making him look like a twelve year-old. I let my excitement show, earning a genuine smile of happiness from him, and I breathed in slowly.
"Are you serious?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"Why don't you take a look?" He said, nodding towards the door beside him.
Was this happening? Was this really happening? This was all too much for me to take in, but I knew I couldn't let it show. For the Doctor, it was probably just like any meeting with a new companion, and letting them see the TARDIS for the first time. But for me, knowing that this was never supposed to be possible in the first place, it was overwhelming.
I took a step closer to the door, and suddenly, strange thought struck me like a bolt of lightning.
What if it isn't how it's supposed to be? What if it isn't bigger on the inside? In this world, for anything to have a bigger interior than exterior would break the laws of physics. So what if the TARDIS is effected by our physics and is broken? I know it's alien technology, but still. How would the Doctor get back if that's the case? If the TARDIS' inside shrunk, he's stuck here, and won't be able to return to his own world!
I took another step, still having these thoughts running through my head at a million miles an hour.
But instead of letting my panic continue, I sucked in a deep breath and calmed my racing mind down.
No, he's gonna be fine. Everything is going to be okay.
I stopped when I was right in front of the blue double doors, and let my hand rest on the handle. I looked up at the Doctor, and he gave me a reassuring smile, which I returned shortly, and turned my attention back to the door.
I guess this is it. I took one last breath, and pushed the doors open.
