Chapter 1: Introductions
'This is ridiculous.' She thought, sitting at her small antique desk in a well lit room. On her laptop a Microsoft Word page was open, but it was completely blank. After straightening herself in the old grey office chair, she rubbed her temples and forehead, dressed in her usual attire of grey-blue jeans, a blue and white striped scoop-neck top. The only unusual detail of the outfit was a small pentagram pendant, which seemed somehow out of place in the ensemble. She sighed and stood up, took a stroll around the well-decorated room, filled with various anime posters, figures and stuffed toys and slumped down onto the antique-looking bed. In front of her on a small bookcase was a 2.5 liter fishtank, containing one very excited little beta fish. The girl tilted her head up to look at the fish and spoke: "There's no way I'm going to write a story, let alone one good enough for Naïka to enjoy reading it". The fish swam in circles around the front of the fishtank, as if it was pacing, or perhaps it was to cheer its owner up? She spoke up again: "Its ok Claude, you don't have to worry so much. It's my problem, but thanks for being so cute." She smiled at Claude's reaction, as he pressed his nose to the glass of the fishtank. Claude then drifted down towards the gavel, his fins danced elegantly as he landed on the bottom, pointing at a set of keys not too far away from his fishtank.
'That's right. I haven't left the house at all for a few days now. I've been studying for my Chemistry exam' she picked up the keys and got off the bed. "Yeah... I could use some fresh air. Thanks, watch the house while I'm gone" there was silliness in her tone, of course the fish could not watch over the house in her place. Nevertheless, the idea amused her and Claude seemed to like it too as he swam laps around the small tank. After putting on her coat, mittens, Slytherin hat and scarf she locked the house and walked down the poorly lit street. The ground was covered in patches of ice, but the wind had died down and it was getting dark, meaning less people would be out and about. She took out a card from her coat pocket, a purple OC Transpo pass card, the name "Alexandra Portnaud" is visible on it as well as a picture of herself, she then placed the card in her jeans' pocket making place for her house keys. Once Alexandra had reached the end of the street, a school stood in front of her. She weaved around the dark playground fenced off by the school gates, at night it seemed more of a prison than an elementary school. The park was a shadow of its former self at night, the pathways were hidden amongst the dark grass and the structures twisted and mixed with the shadows of the evening. The only well-lit area was the basketball court near an old rink, which was the path Alex took. However, she continued past the rink into the darkness, where a large set of four swings stood silently in the night. She passed the first swing and sat on the second, putting her hands on the chains, she smiled as if greeting an old friend.
The stars in the sky twinkled above and the moon peaked over the horizon, watching over Alex as she swung back and forth, wrapped up in her thoughts. She was soon torn away from her thoughts when a dim light appeared from the center of the soccer field in front of her. It was accompanied by the most unusual sound, a cross between a broken siren and grinding sound, like nothing she'd ever heard. Immediately, Alex dug her heels as briskly as she could into the frozen ground below her swing and it came to a sudden halt. Something began to take shape where the light and sound was emanating; as the grinding sound faded the lines of the brilliant blue box became more crisp and clear. Alex began to approach the box, but after taking a few steps she could see the words "Police Box" written on the side, there was no mistaking it. Her legs froze for a moment then she made a dash through the darkness, burst out of the school grounds, and returned home as fast as her legs could carry her. She entered the house almost violently, it didn't matter 'mom will not be home tonight' she thought entering her room and grabbing the cell phone off her bed. Alex' fingers shook as she unlocked the phone and searched through her contacts; she stopped on the one marked "Naïka Devars" and selected: call cellphone.
The ringing continued for a short while it seemed endless to Alex however, 'Dammit pick up!' she yelled in her head knowing her friend liked to listen to the ringtone assigned to her cellphone. A voice picked up: "Hey Alex!" could be heard on the other side in a happy tone. Alex could feel her throat tightening from an asthma attack because of her careless running, her words became split by heavy breathing: "You'll ne-ver... believe what... I found!"
"Nani? Alex what's going on, is everything ok?"
"TARDIS! Naïka there's a TARDIS! I-I SAW IT!" She began to cough trying to clear her throat
There was a long pause before Naïka answered: "Alex wait there! DON'T MOVE!"
She hung up and Alex let her arm drop onto the bed as the cellphone rolled a bit further on the sheets. Alex then went to take her medicine; no doubt Naïka was on her way and wanted to see this for herself, after taking the doses she lied down on the bed.
Naïka's mind raced: 'Did she really see it?! No, it's so unlikely. But Alex wouldn't lie! I wonder if..' her thoughts were abruptly cut by the chilling wind as she stepped outside with her backpack, coat and Hufflepuff scarf. She dashed for the Blair bus station near her house, avoiding the occasional pedestrian, and the moon was ahead of her as if guiding the way. Once at the station she went down the flights of stairs, stumbling once or twice despite trying to be careful, her desire to get there was stronger. Catching a glance of the monitor, she bit her lip, 'Tabarnaque!' she thought shoving open the doors to exit the station. There stood the 124 city bus, she had just made it, flashing her pass to the bus driver she grabbed a seat and breathed a sigh of relief. All there was to do now was wait until it arrives at the right stop, Naïka took out her Ipod touch and it opened to a theme of the 11th Doctor. 'Oh Ipod! I love you' she smiled as she put her earphones on and relaxed, watching the street names pass by on the bus' monitor. The world around the bus seemed to meld into blackness, only when passing lamp posts did the darkness surrender its secrets to the viewer. At every stop the bus made her thoughts seemed to change, and so many questions arose clawing for a truth: 'Did it really exist? What did Alex see? Is she alright? Why is it here?' Songs from continued to be played by the Ipod, sparking the fuel of Naïka's questions as their grip tightened on her mind. Once she saw the display again it was her stop and she quickly rang the bell to get off. As she stepped off the bus she was struck by the cold wind once more, which made her, let out an annoyed groan. It wasn't too far to Alex' house now, she walked down the icy roadside in the dark. The crunching of the ice and snow was the only sound to be heard but it was ignored by Naïka, the weather wasn't important, she had a desire to fulfill and nothing was going to stop her, she had to know more. Walking up the driveway to Alex' house, she dropped all her questions and prepared for an answer and rang the bell. As soon as she did, the door opened with a crack and Alex invited her inside. Cups of tea were already set on the table in the kitchen, Alex spoke up:
"Did you want some tea? Or you just want me to cut to the chase?"
"What happened Alex?"
"I told you, I saw a Tardis, at the park. As soon as I did I came back here to call you."
"The park? The one with the boat?"
"No, where the swings are. Right in front of them is where the Tardis is parked."
At this point Alex walked away from the kitchen table, it was clear that they were going to investigate the box before anything else. She got all her winter garb on and took a tote bag with her; it was black and decorated with a few pins. "Come on, I'll show you." Alex' tone was serious; she felt her friend did not believe her. Naïka' eyes lit up at the thought of seeing it in person, but she was taken out of that fantasy by her friend's explanation. "I haven't seen anybody enter or exit the Tardis; we should check that before we do anything." They walked along the road and followed the same path to the swing set, "You think he's still in the Tardis?" Naïka asked. "I'm not too worried about that, but I want to make sure it's safe to go in"
"The Tardis doesn't have any traps."
"What if someone is waiting to ambush the Doctor and gets us instead?"
"…True." Naïka thought about it for a moment as they arrived at the swing set, the Doctor was not always well-liked, even if he meant no harm. Alex wasn't ready to risk getting her friend or herself injured if that was the case. She walked around the large blue box as Naïka observed its splendor; Alex stopped at the door of the curious object and waved her friend to come closer. She pointed to the set of footprints leading away from the Tardis, but there were none leading back in: "That means whoever left the Tardis, hasn't come back yet." A click came from the door and as Alex looked around Naïka was nowhere to be seen. She approached the Tardis door and spotted her friend, peering through the window with a big smile on her face. Alex smiled back, relieved, she tried to open the door but Naïka had locked it on her way in. "Really? I find you a Tardis and you thank me by locking the door in my face and leaving me out in the cold." She teased; Naïka sighed "Fine!" and unlocked the door. Entering the Tardis, its was much larger on the inside than the outside, a large gallery with an interesting centerpiece awaited those brave enough to venture inside and a hallway seemed to indicate many more rooms beyond that. With a sense of adventure the two girls turned to each other and said "Hide and seek?" in unison. They both giggled, "Not it!" Alex ran off deeper into the Tardis, her voice fading away. She passes doors left and right as if they appeared out of nothing, and suddenly threw herself into a doorway on the left. The room was filled with costumes, almost dedicated exclusively to them, with the exception of a few boxes here and there. Alex looked and the detail in the individual costumes until she heard "Hmm... not here" from the hallway, she quickly hid herself under the nearest cardboard box.
Naïka opened one door at a time hoping to catch a hint of where Alex could be hiding, all the rooms were so varied; a pool here, a room full of statues there. But to no avail, Alex had hidden herself well it seemed, she continued to search but froze when she heard the entrance door of the Tardis open. A male voice shattered the silence floating about the Tardis: "Well, that's been taken care of. Where to next?" Naïka's knees shook, she knew to whom that voice belonged to and she feared the worst. The door next to her opened suddenly and she was pulled into the room. She turned around to find Alex closing the door behind her, "Who's here?" Alex whispered. "The Doctor..." Naïka whispered in return. They both pushed the door open a small crack and they could see the Doctor in the main hall, at the console. "Were sitting ducks. We might not be able to get out, but we could get closer to the exit." Alex whispered this hoping Naïka would be able to remember some kind of escape route, but had no such luck. After a few tense moments, the Doctor walked away from the console and out of line of sight 'it's now or never' thought Alex grabbing her girlfriend's hand and pulling them both out of the room. With a quiet "Geronimo!" they dashed out of the costume filled room, ran down the hallway but came to a screeching halt when the Doctor looked in their direction. Alex pushed Naïka into the statue filled room, but Naïka was holding her shirt and they both fell into the same room with the door close on them. Hearing the footsteps approaching they hid in a tall closet nearby holding their breaths, they couldn't tell what was louder the footsteps or their heartbeats, as they heard the door to their room open Alex clutched Naïka's hand fearfully. She replied by stroking Alex' hand with her thumb, the Doctor could be heard searching through the room "The one time, the one bloody time I leave her unlocked!" the closet doors opened. In a blue suit, red tie and red converse shoes; it was the Doctor he looked a mix of puzzled and annoyed, the two girls stood before him both surprised and scared. The Doctor sighed and gestured that they get out of the closet, "What are you two doing here?" he said as they did so. "We found her and decided to look inside, since we saw you were gone." Naïka spoke up, while Alex shrunk beside her quietly. "Well, I suppose there's a first time for everything." He said exiting the room; the two friends followed him to the main hall. Naïka decided to point out "Why did you leave her unlocked? Don't people get curious?"
"No you two are the first; most humans simply walk by and ignore it. Especially at this hour."
He did have a point; most people would be at home eating dinner at this time, not at a park in the cold.
"You are different."
Those words resonated with Naïka, but she quickly came back to her senses: "I really should go, if not I'll never want to leave!" she let out a forced laugh and headed for the exit.
"I am about to leave, would you like to come?"
Those words made her turn on her heels, all of her attention focused on the Doctor. Through all this Alex remained silent, none of it was addressed to her, and she gathered her things to leave. Naïka continued the conversation, highly interested.
"Where are you going?"
"Not sure, wherever you would like! I just need to get her up and running"
"Erm, is the monitor supposed to do that?" She knew it wasn't but she didn't want to act like a know it all in a ship she didn't know how to fly.
Both the Doctor and Naïka worked to fix the monitor, but nothing seemed to work. They pulled levers, pushed buttons but the static on the monitor remained static. Alex saw they were having trouble, and picked up the sonic screwdriver near her. After a quick look around, it seemed a wire was loose on the panel behind her. With a little dexterity and a quick buzz from the sonic screwdriver, the monitor showed its normal scanning screen. The sound of the buzzing had alerted Naïka who wished to hold the screwdriver. Alex handed it over and prepared to leave, when she was stopped by her friend who was holding her by the hood of her coat.
"Where are you going?"
"Out, you two are going on an adventure. The Doctor doesn't take more than one companion."
Naïka's inner fan eagerly corrected her "Amy and Rory? Rose and Micky? He does take more than one"
The Doctor was stunned "Excuse me... How do you?"
Alex answered this question "She knows almost if not everything about you and aliens, she'd be a good asset."
Naïka sprung up and gestured to Alex while flustered "I don't know EVERYTHING!"
"Hmm. That could be helpful."
"I b- Really?"
Naïka was pleasantly surprised to be accepted by the Doctor. Alex decided to take this opportunity to slip away, but it wasn't so, her girlfriend had already grabbed her coat hood again. She pulled until Alex was next to her again and grabbed her arm. The she looked at the Doctor and pouted: "She has to come too!" Her friend made eye contact with the Doctor but look away within a split second to stare at the floor, her cheeks turned red. "You're going to keep pouting until I say yes, aren't you?" the Doctor sighed knowing the answer that would come was a "Yup!" happily exclaimed from the girl smiling ear to ear. After a short silence of exchanging stairs between the Doctor and his companion to be, he sighed and folded "Alright, but you have to follow my instructions." Alex was surprised but replied instantly a "Yes Sir!" putting her hand to her head in an army-like salute at the responsibility that had been imposed. "ADVENTURE!" Naïka cheered, breaking all previous seriousness established by her friend. She replied with a hug and thought to herself; 'I'll do everything I can to be of help, so Naïka can have all the adventures she wants and spend as much time with the Doctor as she wants. I want her to be happy.'
"Alright ladies, where would you like to go?" the Doctor had his usual smile, as if he had some crazy adventure planned for all three, but that would be impossible.
