Doctor Who: Disappointment
Rose screamed as the vampire's fangs sunk into her neck. Her scream quickly turned into a moan of both pain and pleasure as the tall, blond man drank greedily. Tears ran down her face as she felt herself grow weaker by the moment.
"ROSE!" the Doctor's scream broke through the sound of the vampire's lapping just beneath her right ear. She heard his Converse squeak as he sprinted across the room, the slap of rubber, the clang of the steel bars as he was halted by the doors of her prison. "Rose!" he gasped, sounding as if his breath had been knocked from him.
She opened her eyes, the effort costing her a lot more than she thought it would. He was there, his face almost as pale as she felt, his fingers reaching through the bars as if he could pull her away. She stared at him, memorizing his face.
"Let her go!" The Doctor demanded, the sonic screwdriver already working on the deadlocked door. He slammed his hands on the bars, the useless screwdriver sliding quietly back into the pocket of his long, brown jacket.
"Let her go," he demanded again, his voice close to breaking, "please!"
The vampire pulled away, holding Rose against the wall as he turned to face the Doctor. His mouth was covered in her blood, crimson rivulets dripping down his chin. His glowing green eyes looked directly at the Doctor, evaluating.
"Please," the Doctor said, his eyes on Rose. Her lips were blue, the faint flush gone from her cheeks.
"Why?" the vampire asked, his head tilted curiously. He looked at the creature in his arms, seeing nothing special in her. He looked back at the Doctor, his pale eyebrow raised in question.
The Doctor was taken aback. His mouth gaped, opening and closing like a stunned fish.
"I," he stuttered, "I need her," he said, his quick wits abandoning him.
The vampire was not impressed.
"There are others," he said with a shrug, turning back to complete his meal.
"No!" the Doctor shouted, desperate to stop him, "Take me instead!"
The vampire laughed, his voice rich and surprisingly hearty.
"Instead? What makes you think you can escape?"
The Doctor's face hardened, his typically open face dark.
"The question is; what makes you think you can? Stop now. This is the only chance I will give you."
The vampire laughed again.
"You are brave, little human, I'll give you that. But then, so was she," he said, nodding to the almost comatose Rose hanging limply in his arms. "She didn't beg for her life." The vampire looked back up at the Doctor, his bloody grin revealing the razor sharp fangs, "She begged for yours."
The Doctor's eyes widened, "No," he whispered, shaking his head in disbelief.
The vampire shrugged, "She was a fool to think I'd keep my promise. After all, what would hold me to it? My sense of honor?" He laughed again before turning his back on the Doctor and resuming his meal.
"NO!" the Doctor screamed.
The vampire ignored him, sucking up the last, delicious drops of his repast. So it was a shock when he was ripped away from his meal and sent spinning into the wall.
The Doctor pressed his advantage, his forearm digging into the vampire's throat as he shoved him against the cold wall of the cell. There was a brief scuffle as the vampire attempted to use his superior strength to break away but was quickly thwarted by the Doctor's iron grip.
The vampire paused in his struggle, sniffing deeply at the arm that held him against the wall. His eyes went wide in shock.
"You are not human!" he croaked, confusion clouding his eyes.
"No," the Doctor growled, "Now, before I kill you, give Rose back her blood."
The vampire snarled, revealing his still-dripping fangs, "Impossible."
"Which part?" the Doctor asked, a wooden stake appearing in his hand as if by magic pressing into the vampire's ribs.
The vampire's grew still, the snarl fading from his face, "The woman's blood," he said, "it cannot be returned to her. She can only change or die."
The Doctor snarled this time, the action twisting his face, "I won't accept that. There has to be a way to save her! Tell me!"
The vampire's eyes flickered to Rose and then back to the Doctor, "It is too late; the choice has been made."
The Doctor bristled, "What do you mean by that?" he asked threateningly.
"She's dead," the vampire said simply.
The Doctor paled, throwing the vampire roughly aside as he spun towards Rose.
Her body lay against the wall, her arm reaching towards him, her brown eyes empty and lifeless.
"No," he whispered brokenly, "Rose, no," he whispered, ignoring the blood drying in flakes across her milky skin as he reached to find her pulse. She was cold, even to him. "No," he said again, his head shaking in time with his hand, hovering over her cerulean lips, waiting for the moist warmth of her breath.
The Doctor did not expect the cold arm to come around his neck, the moist breath, thickly smelling of Rose's blood, wafting across his cheek as he was yanked away.
With a roar of anger and grief, the Doctor slammed his attacker back into the wall and, without bothering to break out of his grip, spun and slid the wooden stake between his third and forth ribs- into his heart.
The vampire crumbled to dust and the Doctor staggered into the wall, left off balance by his sudden absence.
-000-
The TARDIS moaned as he carried her limp body into the ship. He laid her on the infirmary table, almost weeping as the built-in sensors failed to detect even a hint of life.
He leaned over her, looking into her sightless eyes, hoping for a spark, something, anything. After a moment he closed his eyes and shuddered.
And a drop of his blood from the quickly-healing scrape on his forehead dripped silently into Rose's open mouth.
The sensor's wailed in protest as her vitals soared. The Doctor's eyes snapped open, and as he watched, Rose's eyes came back to life.
"Rose?" the Doctor whispered, a huge smile stretching across his face.
"Doctor?" Rose croaked.
"You're safe," the Doctor said, "We are in the TARDIS, and you're okay." He grinned even wider, wrapping her in a tight hug.
"Doctor," Rose said, her voice trembling slightly, "I'm not sure I'm okay."
He pulled away slightly to look at her, his brow wrinkled in a frown, "What's the matter? What hurts?"
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and fearful, "Nothing hurts, it is just…"
"What?" he asked, his voice going up an octave, "What's wrong?"
"I'm really, really hungry," she whispered.
He laughed, hugging her close once again, "Oh, Rose, you had me scared for a moment!"
Her fingers gripped his shirt tightly, pulling him close as she stretched to whisper in his ear, "You should be scared," she said, her voice tight and pained, "I'm hungry for you."
Before the Doctor's immeasurably swift brain could process what she had said, her fangs were in his neck.