Doctor who

12/22/2011

Chapter One

The snow continued to fall to the ground, and it was already knee deep. Edel Kinsington pulled her thin sweater tighter to her chest as she took a step into what was the only obstacle between her and her car, cursing herself for the millionth time since she left the school for not wearing a thicker coat. As her foot sank into the cold, white abyss, she realized that she had completely underestimated how deep the snow was, and completely lost her footing, causing her to fall face first and sink to the cold pavement below. She laid there, for just a moment, contemplating to not move. To let the snow continually pile above her, soon the guests would leave from the same party she had just fled, trampling over her cold, lifeless corpse. She would be found once the snow began to melt, and no one would really miss her, not for long anyway. Maybe a few kids from school, although once she really thought about it she realized no...no they wouldn't, since her death and/or disappearance would get them out of class, and then they would have to find another teacher, a process that would take longer if they wanted someone with her credentials, let alone someone who had them at such a young age. Edel sat up slowly and sighed, she was irreplaceable...and needed to hold on to the hope that someone, somewhere needed her. She was just being melodramatic because of the party, surely she could think of someone. She hoisted herself out of the snow and chuckled at herself, humored by the fact that she was waist deep in snow, where normal heighted people would probably be knee deep. She began to cross the street to her car, knowing that she wouldn't be able to drive until the snow plow came through of course, but nevertheless, it would be warmer in there. As she trudged across the street, she was thankful that she wasn't closer to a bigger city. The backwoods of West Virginia where she lived was nice, peaceful, quiet and the two hour trip to parkersburg was something she usually avoided, but that was the biggest city around besides Charleston, but that was too far a drive.

Also, too big of a city.

She glanced back to the apartment she had just fled from as she made it to her car. Why did she have the terrible habit of running away? She wondered. She silently pleaded for her car to get warmer faster, when suddenly, it stopped all-together. "Dammit..." She muttered and tried to restart the car repeatedly. First the party, well actually-first the crappy day at school, then the party, and now this? Perhaps fate was telling her to give up. Not only would no one miss her, but now even the universe seemed to want her dead, lifeless, and/or without hope.

She climbed out and debated going back to the party, anywhere warm, but decided she would wade through the snow a bit towards a small diner. The bell above the door rang as she walked inside, and headed straight to the bar seats, which she always loved to sit at. She glanced around, noticing that only one other person besides the staff was in there, a man asleep at the other end of the bar. She sat down and ran her fingers through her, now frizzy, damp hair and sighed. The waitress walked up, an older, heavyset, blonde woman with a big smile, "What can I get you honey?"

Edel smiled back, "Just coffee please."

"I'll be right back with it, you must be freezing!" the waitress said before running back to the kitchen, obviously more worried about the gossip going on back there than anything else. Edel looked back to the sleeping man, wondering if he was all right, among other things. Something about him drew her attention, distracted her from her prior (and depressing) thoughts, and the cold. She scooted down to a seat closer to him, noticing his brown suit, smooth brown hair, and the fact that he smelled like cherries and custard. An oddly sweet smell, for a dude, she noted. The waitress bounced back in, coffee in hand along with a doughnut. Edel smiled at the gesture, kindness wasn't as rare among the people up here in the mountains, but it was still rare. "On the house." The waitress said with a grin and then looked apprehensively at the sleeping man, "He's been there since about six this morning, in and out of sleep and whatnot."

Edel felt a strange sympathy for the man...Something had to be wrong with him, perhaps the same that was wrong with her.

"He looks cold, think you could bring another coffee? It's on me." She said, taking the coffee from the waitress with a smile.

The waitress smiled and nodded, "No problem Hun, but you'll have a tough time with that one."

Edel took off her sweater, which was now wet from the melted snow, and set it down in the seat next to her. She really had no idea why she was doing this. Not so much helping the stranger, she did stuff like that quite often, no...it was how she was going about it. Waking him up meant she would have to talk to him. What if he was handsome and kind? Or what if he was hideous, rude? Her heart stopped for a moment as her social anxiety kicked in, but she brushed it off. She overcame this, there was no need to force it back now because she randomly felt the need to be a chicken again. She brushed her dark honey-blonde hair behind her ears, took a deep breath, and tapped his shoulder. The man nestled his face closer into his arm, but didn't stir anymore past that. Edel shook his shoulder then, suddenly eager to wake him up. "Sir?" She whispered, but then let her volume increase, "Sir? Wake up." The man stirred and moaned, swatting her hand away.

"Sir?" She asked again.

He bolted up, locking his hazel eyes on her, "How old do I look exactly?"

She was shocked for a minute, at the level of consciousness he had to be just woken up, his English accent-which was something along the lines of rare to nonexistent for someone in West Virginia, and his question-which was strange and caught her off guard.

"I'm sorry?" She finally managed.

"I asked how old you thought I was. You keep calling me 'sir.' I am not a sir...or, well, Rather I could be, now that I think about it...it's just I prefer not to be? Or perhaps I don't think I should look like a sir...do I look like a sir?" He rambled, moving his hands constantly as he spoke. Edel was still taken aback, both at the sudden animation and at the random string of questions. She settled on the only one that made sense, "Well, Now that I can actually see your face, no...you don't look like a sir." She smiled.

"So I don't look respectable then?" he said with obvious mock anger.

"No, you don't look old. You definitely look respectable..." she said, oddly fascinated by the lightness she heard in her voice just now. Thirty minutes ago, she was ready to lay in the snow and freeze to death, was she seriously flirting just now?

He smiled and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks, "Well, that's good I suppose. So, why exactly am I awake right now?" He asked right as the waitress bounced in yet again.

"I asked her to wake you up, been awhile since you last did, We were startin' to worry you went and died on us." She said with a hardy laugh as she placed the coffee in front of him. He raised an eyebrow and the waitress nodded to me, "It's on her, don't thank me." She said and then winked at me before she went back to the kitchen.

"I suppose I should thank you then?" He asked, holding out his cup.

"No need to, it's cold as...well, it's really cold out there." Edel said, clinking her cup to his in a toast. A toast to what? Perhaps neither of them really knew.

"You almost said, 'cold as hell,' didn't you?" He smirked and added more sugar to his coffee. Edel blushed, "No, I didn't actually."

"Sure seems like that's what you almost said."

"I didn't!" She huffed. The man laughed at her, "Right. So, does my coffee bearing savior have a name?"

This was always the part she hated, because she always felt the need to explain her name, because if she didn't then someone always asked her too.

"Edel." She said simply, readying herself to tell the long tale of her name's origin.

"Edel? That's quite an interesting name." He said happily and then repeated it, as though trying it out, "Edel...I like it. Is it short for Edelweiss? Edelia maybe? Or maybe your name is really Edward?"

She blinked, no one knew that, "Edelweiss..."

"Drat, I was hoping it was Edward..." he said and then grinned at her.

"Nope, it's not Edward. My grandmother asked that, as her dying wish, my parents named their firstborn Edelweiss...like the song from that one musical." She said, feeling the need to explain it anyways, even if only briefly.

"The sound of music, wonderful movie. Quite liked mrs. Andrews in it, she's quite the character," he smiled, "sad about your grandmother though, my condolences."

Edel chuckled, "Oh, don't worry. She didn't die, she's still kicking."

The man furrowed his brow, "So...how was it her dying wish? Was she I'll at the time?"

"Just an eccentric." She shrugged, grinning.

"Must be where you get it from then." The man muttered to himself.

"What about you? Surely you have a name too...Or is it Edward?" She giggled, if it was she was running for the hills. There was no need to get all Twilighty up in here.

"Doctor." He said, turning his attention to his coffee as he sipped it.

"Doctor? Doctor Who?" She asked.

"Just the Doctor."

She raised an eyebrow. "That might top Edelweiss."

"Hmm...I prefer Edel actually." He said, and right as he opened his mouth to say something else, her phone rang.

She didn't recognize the number, but something told her to pick it up, something in her gut. She took a deep breath, "Hello?"

"Miss Kinsington? Is this you?" A young voice asked shakily. It was one of her students that she had just given her number too. A young girl struggling in class named Ansley.

"Yeah, it's me. Do you need help with something?"

Edel heard Ansley let out a shaky breath as though she were crying. "Ansley? Are you all right?" Edel asked, something foreign spiking in her system.

"I...I didn't know who else to call." Ansley said slowly between little sobs. Edel didn't know anything about the girl's home life, but from what she had seen Ansley was quiet, withdrawn. A good kid, but kept to herself. Edel felt her heart rate picking up speed, something was definitely wrong. She knew the man at the counter, Doctor? Was watching her, but slowly her recognition of even that was fading.

"Ansley, what's wrong?" She asked gently.

"It's my mom..." She said and then paused, "It's a long story, but... I need help..." Ansley said as she began to sob harder with each word.

"Ansley, What happened? I need you to listen to me, okay?"

Edel was not met with a reply, but more sobs.

"Okay?" She said louder.

"Okay..." Ansley hiccuped quietly.

"Do you need to call anyone else? Like the police or something?"

"Yes." She replied simply. Edel began to rub her temple, she was starting to assume the worse, based on her own experiences.

"Okay. Call them, I'm on my way." Edel said and then hung up as she stood and gathered her things.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked.

"It's a girl that lives down my street, something's wrong." Edel said, pulling on her coat.

"You don't possibly plan on going out there, do you? It's pitch black, there's a blizzard, and you can't even move your car because there's about six feet of snow!"

"I do, and I will."

"You're insane!"

"She's in danger!" Edel yelled and then immediately hated herself for doing so. She had no idea what was wrong, and was letting her imagination leap ahead of her.

"And you will be too if you go out into that Edel." He said as he stood and pulled on his coat.

"What are you doing?"

He sighed, "I have a better and faster way to get there."

"But-"

"Besides," he grinned, "isn't your car broke down?"

Her mind went blank, how would he even know that? He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door, "Thanks for the coffee Amanda!" He yelled as the door slammed.

The Doctor pulled Edel to the alleyway beside the diner and was running straight to a phone booth.

"I didn't know they even have these anymore!" Edel said, "And that's your plan? Call a police car? Genius!"

"Not exactly." He yelled back at her as they ran.

"Not exactly? Where are you taking me?"

"Just...I'm helping you, alright?" He said as they stopped at the door if the police phone booth and he cracked open the door.

"Just hurry!" She yelled, pushing him in and falling with him. Her breath immediately caught in her chest, it wasn't a phone booth at all, let alone the size of one.

"No time to explain, obviously." He said as she gaped.

"But...I need to get to Ansley..." She said breathlessly as she took in her strange surroundings.

"You will. What's her address and when did she make the phone call?" He asked as he hurriedly pressed buttons on some strange control center-esque thing in the middle of the...whatever it was. Edel looked at him blankly, "What?"

"Just answer me!" He yelled over a whir that began the same moment he began to speak. Edel rattled off the address and guessed about five minutes ago. The Doctor straightened his bowtie and pressed in some numbers or coordinates or something.

The room/box/magic schoolbus shook and then stopped as suddenly as it began.

He nodded to the door, "Go!"

Edel was confused, but acted on adrenaline alone. She turned to the door and quickly opened it, almost falling from shock when she saw she was right outside of Ansley's house.

"I put you five minutes before she made the call, go to her." He said from behind her. Too worried about Ansley to even question it, Edel ran to the door. As soon as she hit the porch steps, Ansley ran out, slamming the door behind her.

"Miss Kinsington?" The girl asked in surprise, tears filling her eyes. Edel nodded and took the girl into her arms right as the door flew open. Out ran Ansley's mother, a worn woman in her early thirties, looking absolutely ratty and holding something long and wooden in her hand.

"Who the hell are you?" The mother yelled.

Before she could say anything, Edel was silenced by the onslaught of sirens.

"I really don't know where to begin asking questions..." Edel said with a grin, lightheaded and confused out of her mind, as she walked back over to the blue box and the strange man after being interrogated by police. Luckily, there was still record of Ansley calling her on her cell to clear her name completely.

"You could always start by thanking me for calling the police." He grinned.

Edel rolled her eyes, "Who are you?"

The man shrugged, "I told you, I'm the Doctor."