A/N: Hey guys, so I'm Chelsey and this is my story A Haunting Melody. My lovely friend Mandy is to thank for beta-ing my story as well as naming it! So I really hope you guys enjoy! PM or review pleaseeeeee :)
My name is Sage Waters and I have the most average life. No, really. Everything about me is perfectly ordinary. From my dull brown hair, dark eyes and large nose to my very thin body. I'm pretty sure the only redeeming quality I have is my full, never-been-kissed lips. Yeah, those are pretty much what make me look decently attractive, that and my voice.
My voice is what sets me apart from everyone else. I began singing when I was only three and I haven't stopped since. So, of course, my story of how I met the Doctor began with me singing. I was in my university's auditorium rehearsing my part for the musical.
I was playing Christine from The Phantom of the Opera. I was the lead, and I was only a first semester freshman. Me! This meant all of the upperclassmen pretty much hated me, while my conductor and director loved me. Oh well. As far as I was concerned that didn't matter. I'd earned my spot fair and square. In rehearsals I'm on top of everything. They never have to ask me to stop or correct me. And they never need me to re-sing a part or remind me of a line.
I was more excited for that role than I'd ever been in my life. As a child my favorite musical was always The Phantom of the Opera. While the other kids were learning songs to Annie and Mary Poppins I was learning every word to Christine's songs. Even now, I know them all by heart.
Admittedly this should give me some comfort but I'm a bit of a perfectionist, being a complete music nerd, so I have to get every note right. Every time. So I was in the auditorium every free moment I could spare. I lived on campus so some nights I was even there until 2am while everyone else was in their rooms sleeping or studying for exams. Nights like that, all by myself in the quiet auditorium, I just lost track of time.
Have I mentioned even my understudy hated me? I've sung first soprano my entire life so it's easy for me to hit the high notes required by Christine's role. But my understudy? She was a senior in her last semester and always ruled the musical scene. Until I got there that is. Problem was this was also her favorite musical. But she was only a soprano two and couldn't reach the notes needed for the role. And she wasn't nearly as good of a singer as I was. I'm not trying to brag it's just true. Knock on wood. It's my gift. But I'm getting completely off topic.
Where was I? Oh, yes. The Doctor.
I met him the night before opening night. I was, of course, in the auditorium after a seven hour rehearsal. I'd just wanted to practice my songs one more time, just to be sure I had them right. I was so glad I had no classes the next day. I was definitely going to be sleeping in as late as possible. I planned on waking up just in time to get to school for mic check, costume changes, and makeup application.
I was halfway through singing 'Phantom of the Opera', just humming in the Phantom's part, when a steadily growing grinding and wheezing noise began to echo around me. I looked up at the stage and was startled by a large blue police box sitting in the center of the stage. Had that been there during rehearsal?
I stared at the box stupidly expecting it to move and shook my head. It had probably been set up by the prop department whilst we'd been rehearsing. I never notice anything when I'm in my element.
Ah, well. Back to my music. I finished my song, forgetting all about that blue box, and began to singing 'Music of the Night'. It was one of my favorite songs.
I was singing softly to myself when a gorgeous tenor voice echoed mine. I looked up, surprised, to find a tall man in a pinstripe suit, brown trench coat, and sticky-uppy hair singing along with me.
"You have a wonderful voice," he said.
He stepped out of the blue box closing the door behind him. He took a strange metal tube from his pocket and pointed it towards the door behind him. It beeped twice like a car, its light flashing. I stared at him incredulously. What the hell?
"Oh," he said suddenly. "Don't stop on my account! I'd love to hear more."
He hopped off the stage and made his way to the piano bench beside me. Sitting down he splayed his hands across the piano's keys.
"I could play for you! If you'd like."
Remembering to close my mouth I blinked a couple times to be sure he was really there.
"I—uh—wait! Who are you? And how did you get in there? And what's it for?" I asked pointing at the blue box he'd appeared from.
He looks at me with an arched eyebrow, one of surprise and intrigue.
"You can see it?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah?" What did he think I was, some sort of idiot?
His eyebrows rose.
"Huh! I swear I turned on the perception filter. It shouldn't register in your mind."
"Okay…?"
"Well," he said interrupting. "I'm the Doctor. And I got here in that."
He pointed at the blue box.
"But—how? That's just an old fashioned police call box prop!"
His brows rose even higher. "How did you know it was a police box? No one ever gets that right! First the perception filter… oh! What about this?" He asked excitedly, fishing around in his breast pocket.
He pulled out a sort of leather wallet and flipped it open. Inside was a blank sheet of paper, old and yellowed.
"What about it?" I asked.
"Well, what do you see?"
"A wallet with a bit of paper inside…"
"No, what does the paper say?"
"Nothing. Are you blind?" I asked confused.
He jumped from the seat staring at the paper and then back to me. He gave me a large grin.
"Oh, this is brilliant! Fantastic! Amaz—"
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked with a frown. "Are you crazy or something?"
He frowned.
"Words like that have no place in a beautiful girl's mouth."
I felt my cheeks grow red and had to remind myself that I didn't know this man. And he'd appeared out of a stage prop. And I'd not noticed it at all.
"Enough with the flattery! How the hell did you get in here? And what kind of a name is 'The Doctor'?"
He smiled and shook his head. He stopped, staring at the police box on stage and then turned to me slowly.
"You know? This would be a lot easier to explain in the TARDIS." He offered his hand to me. "C'mon, allons-y!"
I looked at his hand, then up into his face where a childlike grin was growing on his lips. For some reason his excitement was infectious. Despite my better judgment I reached my hand out tentatively. With a grin he grasped it and pulled me from the piano bench and tugged me towards the police box.
As he towed me up the stage steps towards the police box doors I decided he must be in the prop department. I'd probably seen him before but never noticed.
He stopped abruptly in front of the police box and I ran into his back.
"Oops, sorry," he said steadying me on my feet. "Okay, so this is the TARDIS."
He unlocked the door with a key in his pocket and pats the door.
"Now be nice, dear!" He said to the box doors as he opened them. "Yes, I know you hate it when I bring in strays. Just play nice!"
I stare at him hard. Is he talking to the stage prop? Seriously? Oh-my-gods! I'm following around a nutter! And I'm holding his hand? The sad thing is I kind of like it. His fingers curl perfectly around mine as if they were meant to be there.
He smiles back at me, sensing my confusion and throws open the doors to 'the TARDIS'. He pulls me through the door quickly and I'm about to protest. There's no way he's trapping me in a tiny box all alone with him! Bad things happen to stupid girls. But before I have the chance to freak out my eyes take in a vast room. A room with a large machine in the center of it. A glass pillar connecting floor to ceiling. My jaw drops and I gasp at the sight.
"This—this is amazing!" I dash up the steel caged stairway to look at all the knobs and levers on the large machine. "It's gorgeous! And—and—it's huge! This is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen!"
His smile grew and he wandered over to join me.
"I'm glad you like her. She can be a bit sensitive so it does her good to hear compliments from someone other than me."
"You make it sound like a living thing."
"She is. She's the TARDIS."
"But what is a TARDIS?"
"The TARDIS is actually a living thing. TARDISs are grown, they aren't built. Their Dimensionally transcendental. Actually that's what TARDIS stands for; Time And Relative Dimension In Space. She's a space ship and a time machine."
I blink at him. Part of me wants to be like 'Yeah, whatever nutcase' but as I look around the room, this infinitely large room crammed into a small police box, it sinks in that he may be telling the truth. My eyes widen.
"No freaking way! Holy shit, I'm in an actual spaceship? This is incredible!"
He frowns at my language, wagging a finger at me as a scolding parent would.
"You really need to work on that sailor's mouth, missy."
I bite back a laugh.
"Sorry Doctor. Sorry… TARDIS."
He smiles at me and then glances at the machine behind me. It's making an odd series of sounds.
"She likes you. Surprising actually. She doesn't usually take to anyone I bring in at first. Suppose you're a bit special in that aspect."
I blush and decide to change the subject.
"So what was with the blank paper?"
He grins as if remembering and pulls it out of his coat pocket. He holds it up to me.
"This is psychic paper. It shows the person who looks at it whatever the user wants them to see. Only the most brilliant minds will see nothing. Like Shakespeare. He could never see what it was projecting. And now that you mention it… it didn't work on you either. I guess that's another thing that makes you special."
He stops rambling and frowns.
"Blimey, I don't even know your name."
I laugh.
"It's Sage. Sage Waters."
"Sage…" he repeats thinking. "Sage Waters. Pretty. I like it. Your parents named you well."
I blush again.
"Thank you."
"So. What are you doing singing in an auditorium all by yourself at three in the morning?"
My jaw feels like it's about to hit the floor and I reach out and yank the watch on his wrist towards me.
"Oh, God! It's 3AM? I have to be back here for costumes and final mic check in… Ugh! 13 hours? I haven't even finished my essays! Now my nerves are gonna kick in."
I sank down onto the nearest seat. He propped himself against the console with a shrug.
"I don't know why you'd be nervous. I think you'll make an excellent Christine."
"How'd you know I was Christine?"
"Isn't that the songs you were practicing? For Christine's role? The Phantom Of The Opera is one of the most amazing musical masterpieces ever created. My personal favourite. One of the best of the 1900s."
"I know! It's my favorite as well! I've adored it since I was a child. I would run around my house singing it at the top of my lungs. My parents weren't too fond of my singing to say the least."
We both laughed.
"I'm sure they're proud of you now."
"Well, they were less than thrilled when I told them my major was in Musical Theatre. My dad literally had to sit down so he didn't pass out. He was hoping for something more epic. Like Law school. My mum took it a bit better though. She was just glad that I was happy. She helped me prepare for my audition to get into the program in the first place. Sorry, I'm rambling aren't I?"
He smiles.
"Not to worry. I do the same quite frequently. This gob never stops. I could give you a run for your money. In fact, one time, I literally talked for three hours straight before realizing my companion was no longer in the same room as me. Kind of upset that I'd been talking to myself. I got over it of course. I mean I can't possibly have blamed her for walking out. I could never stay mad at Sarah Jane."
He laughed quietly, reminiscing.
"Sorry," I said interrupting his thoughts. "But what do you mean by 'companion'?"
"Well, I travel a lot. And honestly travelling alone can get quite lonely. Imagine the only person you have to talk to is yourself. Amazing, that you can learn to hate your own voice. So I have people travel with me. All over time and space. From planet to planet."
"You have people actually go with you?" I asked, surprised by my own excitement. "I mean, you actually fly around with people in your spaceship?"
His smile widened.
"Yup," he said popping the 'p'. "What's the point of having a time machine and going on fantastic adventures if you have no one to share it with?"
"That makes sense. It would have to be amazing to see what you've seen. I can't even imagine it."
"Well, maybe you'd like to see it for yourself? Then you wouldn't have to imagine."
"Really?" I asked my eyes opening Bambi-wide. "See other planets?"
He smiled.
"Any place. Any time. You pick."
I gape at him.
"Could we—could we go to see The Phantom of the Opera? Back when it was new?" I asked my voice in awe and childlike excitement.
"You know? That'd be a perfect trip for you. You could see Christine for yourself. And now that I think about it, I've never actually been. But first there's something I want to show you. Something special. Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course! I'll go anywhere with you! I mean—I meant—any place would be amazing to see," I said blushing.
He grins as he kicks some levers, smacks some buttons, and jumps into a frenzy of twisting and spinning dials. The floor rocks a bit and I balance myself against the steel railing. But before I have the chance to ask what's going on the shaking stops. He turns to me and holds his hand out.
"Do you trust me?"
I stare into his eyes and let my hand reach out and clutch his.
"Yes," I said immediately.