Hello. This is a rewrite of Doctor Who from Season 1 Episode 1 and hopefully continuing throughout the series. As the season goes on, more characters and relationships will be introduced. I split the first episode up into three parts and will post the other two parts tomorrow!
Yawning, Belle French pulled herself out of bed before carefully selecting an outfit and getting dressed. Her father was downstairs in the kitchen, eating cereal and watching the television.
"Goodmorning father!" Belle greeted the man happily before grabbing some toast and coffee and heading out the door.
"Have a nice day at work Belle," Her father replied and then added, "And remember Gaston, you, and I are meeting for dinner at Granny's after work!"
"Yes father" She sighed. She loved her father but why he always pushed Gaston on her, she was never sure.
The rest of the day proceeded just as everyday in her life had. She went to work at the library, helped customers and organized books, ate lunch with Gaston, and then returned to the library. Finally it was the end of the day and she just had to close up. She had just shut down the lights and was about to lock the door when she realized she had forgotten to put the cashbox in the safe in the basement. Storybrooke was a fairly safe town, and she was pretty sure no one would rob the library, but still, she would worry less if she put it in the safe so she quickly grabbed the box and rode the elevator into the basement.
Stepping out of the elevator, she walked into the room the safe was in and put the money in the safe. Turning around to leave, the door slammed shut. She screamed in terror and tried to get it to open but it was locked.
"Help!" She yelled, "Let me out!"
Then she heard an odd sound and as she looked around, she saw that one of the books that been scattered around the old storeroom was levitating.
"What the hell," she said out loud and walked up to it to try and grab the invisible string that must be holding it up.
"This isn't funny Gaston!" She yelled angrily as she walked toward the book, only to find that it was now moving toward her. "Seriously, stop it! This is stupid." She yelled, but the book continued to move toward her and soon others joined it, moving toward her menacingly.
The books opened up and were about to snap shut on Belle when a hand grabbed hers and pulled her out of the storeroom.
"Run dearie!" The voice yelled and pulled her along as they sprinted out of the storeroom toward the elevator. The books followed them, snapping open and shut hungrily.
The pair of them made it into the elevator, the man fighting off the few books that tried to slide in as the door shut. He finally tore the last book in two and the elevator doors shut with the pair safely inside.
"Did Gaston put you up to this?" Belle demanded from the stranger. "Is this some stupid prank of his?"
"Whose Gaston?" The mysterious man asked Belle.
"My sometime boyfriend" She answered. "Which you must know since surely he put you up to this. Who else would have wanted to terrorize me with books? He always did say I read to much for his liking."
"Sounds like the kind of man I would have nothing to do with." The man grinned. "Maybe he should be your ex-boyfriend."
"Well it's really none of your business." Belle replied, offended.
"Sorry, of course not." He retorted and then stared straight ahead at the elevator silently.
"Well then if it wasn't Gaston, who was it?" Belle asked, "I don't see Mother Superior doing this."
"Mother Superior?" The man replied angrily.
"Yes," Belle retorted annoyed, "She runs the library."
"She's dead." He replied.
"What?" Belle gasped, shocked. "Are you serious?"
"Always." He answered mysteriously.
"Who are you?" She asked desperately. "What are those things? What in the world is going on?" She shouted as he didn't answer but instead moved quickly out of the elevator and through the library.
"Those are just books except they have been animated by a device in the clock tower, which just happens to sit right on top of this library."
Belle listened to his explanation, running to keep up with them man as he continued to the stairs that led to the clock tower.
"Lucky for you," the man continued, "I am going to destroy the animation device with this bomb."
He grabbed her arm and shoved her out the front door of the library. "Now you need to go run along home. Go have dinner with that terrible boyfriend of yours, Garry or whatever his name is. And don't tell anyone about this."
And with that the mysterious man who had saved Belle's life, slammed the door in her face and turned toward the stairs to run up the clock tower.
Belle, always a curious girl, still had no idea who the man was and she just had to know who her savior was, so she pulled the library doors back open and yelled in, "But who are you?"
"I'm the Monster" he spun around and told her.
"Well I'm Belle." She responded and for some reason, unknown to her, she curtsied.
"Pleasure to meet you Belle," he replied, "Now you need to run! The bomb is going to destroy this building."
"But my books!" Belle gasped, "There must be another way. Don't you have a smaller bomb? One that won't destroy the whole library."
"Oh of course, let me just reach into my pocket." He retorted sarcastically. "Libraries can be rebuilt. This machine must be destroyed. Now go." He sneered at her, "Before I make you."
And with that he turned and ran up the stairs to the clock tower and Belle ran out the front doors of the library. She had gotten about twenty meters down the street when the explosion hit and the library shattered. She tucked the half book from the elevator under her arm and quickly walked to Granny's where she had agreed to meet her father and Gaston.
When she got to Granny's everyone was talking about the explosion. The fire trucks had driven past the diner only moments ago, heading toward the library.
"You're okay! Oh Belle, I was so worried." Her father pulled her into a tight hug as soon as she walked into the diner.
"I'm fine." She replied, wanting to tell her father about the mysterious man who had saved her life but she knew she couldn't. The man had warned her not to tell anyone.
Her father led her over to a table where she sat down. The waitress came over and her father struck up a conversation with the woman about the explosion and about Belle but Belle wasn't paying attention. She couldn't get her mind of the Monster.
Gaston soon burst through the doors and immediately walked over to their table, pulling Belle off out of her seat and planting a kiss on her lips, even as she shrugged away.
"I was so worried darling! The fire trucks went to the library and I had no idea if you were inside or not."
"I'm fine Gaston," She smiled at him, assuring him she was okay, and they sat down on the booth seat across from her father who was still talking to the waitress.
"What happened Belle?" Gaston asked her.
"I have no idea." She responded, "I had already closed and was standing outside when it happened. The whole thing just went up in flames and I ran over here to find my father."
Before Gaston could respond, Maurice, Belle's father, had grabbed her attention. "Belle, Ruby here thinks you could make some money out of this."
"Yeah," Ruby chimed in, "I'm sure Sydney would pay handsomely for an interview with you for the paper."
"Thank you but I'm really not interested." Belle told the waitress.
"Belle honey," Maurice turned to her as Ruby walked away, "The library just burned down. You're out of a job and I don't have the money to help you out. I think you should do the interview."
"I'm really not interested." Belle responded. She had nothing to tell the newspaper. She had already lied to her father and she didn't like that but she couldn't tell him the truth and she definitely didn't want to lie to the newspaper or tell them the truth.
"You know, I'm not really that hungry Dad, why don't we just go home?" Belle wanted to get out of the diner where everyone was staring at her and gossiping about the explosion.
"I have a better idea" Gaston interjected smugly, "Why don't I take Belle to the Rabbit Hole? She survived a serious explosion and that calls for something more than coffee."
"Okay" Belle's father responded, "You two have fun!" And with that he stood and gave Belle a hug before leaving.
"I'm not really in the mood for that either Gaston." Belle responded, "I really just want to go home."
Gaston looked like he was about to argue so Belle continued, "Have a fun night with the boys and drink a round for me. I'll see you tomorrow." She kissed him on the lips, which seemed to appease him and so he left Granny's at well.
Belle sat there for a couple minutes before she also got up and left. She flipped through the half book as she walked home and though it saddened her, she realized she wasn't going to be able to fix it and so tossed it in the trashcan at the edge of her driveway as she walked home.
Her father was already asleep when she walked in and so she tucked herself in bed, tossing and turning all while thinking about the magical man she had met before eventually falling asleep herself.
She awoke the next morning to the alarm ringing and quickly got out of bed going to get dressed before realizing that she had no job to go to today. Well she was already up and so she went into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee before sitting at the table.
"You could always work at Game of Thorns if you want." Maurice offered as he prepared his own breakfast.
"Father, you don't need another employee." Belle responded, gently turning the man down. In reality, her father couldn't afford another employee, even herself, and Belle did not really want to work for her father's failing flower company.
"Yes, well I'm sure somewhere does." Maurice said without much enthusiasm.
Belle was about to retort when she heard a knocking on the door. She went to answer it and found the man who she had met yesterday standing at your door.
He looked at her with confusion before asking sharply, "What are you doing here?"
"This is my house." She responded evenly, not backing down even thought his question had been harsh.
"Well then I must have made a mistake." He went to shut the door but Belle grabbed him.
"Why? Because I'm here?" She asked offended.
"No. Because you are human and clearly not a book."
"Clearly" She responded, "Now come in!" She grabbed him and pulled him into her house.
"Hey Dad, someone is here to interview me about the explosion! I'll be upstairs." She called to her father as she pulled the Monster upstairs into her room.
"That's a smart choice Belle!" Her father yelled, "Make sure you get paid well!"
With that Belle and the man had arrived upstairs in her room. As soon as they were upstairs, he pulled himself away from her hand and snarled at her, "Do not ever tell me what to do."
Belle pulled back, the look in his eyes was dangerous but she didn't feel scared, just mollified that she had acted so brashly, dragging a complete stranger into her bedroom.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I just need some answers. You destroyed my library! And really we should go the police."
The man wasn't really paying attention; instead he allowed his eyes to wonder around Belle's bedroom.
"Hmm, maybe you are a book." He suggested playfully, "You certainly seem to have more of them up here than there are people in this town."
"I love to read." She sighed, "Which is why I'm so upset you destroyed my library."
"Your library?" He asked doubtfully, "I thought you said Mother Superior owned it."
"Well yes," Belle responded, "But I'm the one who takes care of it, or well took care of it." She looked over at the man but he wasn't paying attention.
Instead he was staring into her mirror. "Interesting." He said looking at himself, "Sharp features. And what's with this hair?" He floofed his own hair as he looked into the mirror.
"Haven't you ever seen yourself before?" Belle asked him confused as to why he was looking at himself with such surprise, but when he didn't respond she continued with her previous train of thought. "Anyway, we should go to the police. You said Mother Superior is dead and the police definitely need to know that."
Before he could answer there was a knocking on the door and Belle ran down the stairs to get it.
There floating in front of the door was the half book she had thrown away yesterday. She screamed as it came at her and the Monster quickly ran down from her bedroom. He grabbed the book from in front of her and seemed to wrestle with it before finally grabbing some sort of knife from his pocket that had a blue glow and stabbing it into the book. The broken book fell to the floor, now still.
"That was what I was looking for." He smiled at her. "And now it is dead."
He stood up and walked toward the front door. "Thanks for your help. I'll be off now. Goodbye dearie." And he slid out the front door.
But Belle wasn't one to let some mysterious man who had destroyed her, yes her, library go that easy and so taking a deep breath she ran after him.
"Hey," she called out, "You can't just leave!"
"Yes I can" He replied. "I can do whatever I like." He continued to walk down her driveway and she continued to chase after him.
"There was a floating book! An army of floating books! And you aren't going to tell me anything about it?" She was getting angry now.
"No, I'm not. It has nothing to do with you." He replied shortly.
"I'll tell the police!" Belle just had to know and this was her last resort, threatening him. "I'll tell them about you!
At this he stopped and turned around. "Threatening me, dearie, is really a terrible idea." He smiled but it was cold and sent chills down her spine. "If you tell the police, people will die and I think that is something you care about."
"You won't let people die." Belle responded evenly, hopefully calling his bluff.
"And that is where you are wrong. I'm not some hero that came waltzing in to save the town. I'm a monster and if you tell the police they will die and I will do nothing to stop it."
This caused Belle to pause but yet she couldn't shake the feeling that he wouldn't let them die and so she continued, "But you saved me."
"Yes," He sighed heavily, "I'm not sure what came over me. It's appearing now it's a mistake anyway since you're about to kill part of the human population."
"I'm not going to tell the police." She said sighing as well, "Can you please just tell me who you are?"
"I told you" He replied gruffly, "I'm the Monster. The one lurking under your bed. The one waiting for you in the dark." He laughed menacingly at this.
"Is that supposed to be scary?" She replied, still not afraid of the man in front of her.
"Yes. I generally scare people." He replied.
"Well you don't scare me. And I'm not going to call you the Monster. What is your real name?"
"You can call me whatever you like, but that is my name." The man replied seriously.
"I shall call you Gold," Belle decided, "after the color of your eyes."
He looked at her like she was crazy but didn't argue so she continued "Now come on, tell me about he flying books! Why were they attacking me?"
"So it's all about you, hmm?" He replied tauntingly.
"Well they were coming after me!" She replied annoyed at him.
"No, dearie. They were coming after me. You just happened to be there as well. In your house, the book didn't come until after I was there."
"So it's all about you?" Belle asked jokingly.
His reply however was dead serious. "Yes. In this case it is."
"Well aren't you self-assured?" She said.
"Not usually." He responded.
They had started walking again and had now reached the end of her driveway. He turned to the left and began to walk down the street and she followed.
"So you came to battle the evil books? Who else knows about these books?"
"No one." He paused, "Well now you know but other than that, no one."
"So before today," She looked at him seriously, "you were all alone."
"Yes." He said looking at her, "I still am all alone. I've been alone for centuries."
"But I know now." She responded, "So you're not all alone." She smiled at him but he ignored her walking on and so she said nothing for a while, just following him before eventually continuing the conversation. "How did my library turn evil?"
"The machine in the clock tower was controlling it. It animates inanimate objects and it did that with your books."
"So you admit they are my books!" She smiled as though she had won some great battle. He merely looked at her but she wasn't deterred and continued. "How did you destroy it then?"
"The bomb destroyed it and books are now safe to read again!" This time he smiled at her.
"Well thank goodness for that." Belle replied happily, "I'm not sure what I would have done if I could never read a book again!" She turned serious then. "Who did this? Who would want to make books hurt people?"
"That's a long story." He responded, "Longer than this walk is going to be."
"Oh" Belle responded. "Well hopefully it wasn't someone trying to destroy the next generation. Books are the future!"
He laughed at how sincere her love for books was and responded with a smile, "I think if someone wanted to destroy the next generation, they would have found a more direct way to do it than destroying books."
She laughed as well, "Hey, an uneducated youth is a terrible thing to happen to the world."
He nodded, "That it is." But then he stopped laughing and turned serious. "They want to destroy this world. Kill all the humans on this planet."
Belle stopped walking at this and gaped at him.
He simply nodded seriously and then asked her. "Do you believe anything I just said?"
Belle thought about it for a bit and then responded, "I'm not sure. I don't think you are lying but then all this sounds so impossible. Who are you really? You surely aren't a monster."
He stopped walking as well and turned toward her. "I am a monster. Don't ever forget that. I have seen terrible things. I have done terrible things." He paused and looked at her. "Do you remember when you were a kid and you were afraid of the boogeyman in the closet? Afraid of the monster under the bed? And even when you were older and you knew, logically that it couldn't possibly be real, but yet you were still afraid to get out of bed in the middle of the night?"
Belle felt a shiver run through her as she thought about that illogical fear of the dark that all humans have. Unconsciously she grabbed his hand and held it and he didn't drop it but continued his explanation.
"Humans have always been afraid of the dark. Since the beginning of time to the end of time. Always been afraid of what hides in the shadows, of what comes out to play at night."
He dropped her hand as though it had burnt him and then continued. "That's me. That's who I am. Now go home Belle. Forget you ever me." He paused and almost turned away but then added softly, almost pleadingly, "please."
With that he walked away and Belle watched him walk off down the street before turning back to walk to her own house. As she walked away she heard a strange sound, as though something was taking flight and she ran back to Gold only to see nothing there. Turning she walked back to her house.
