It was darker than usual in the control room. The lights were an unhealthy shade of green that cast dark shadows in the corners and crevices. You could hear the whirring echoing down the hall, slow and constant. This should have been reassuring. To hear the droning of the engine as it carried them over Earth. But it had been two weeks since she'd been home and Naira was beginning to feel lost. She wondered if this was what the Doctor felt. She wondered if this was what he felt constantly, the darkness surrounding him and an endless uncertainty about whatever world he stepped into. But, she supposed, he had the Tardis.
There was however, something else that was disturbing her. Something in the air that made her feel nauseous and it seemed that every day it got worse. As if she was getting closer and closer to some sort of impending doom. For the far left corridor she heard a shout, and then angry footsteps. Z appeared in her line of view with a scowl on his face.
Well she assumed it was a scowl, she couldn't quite understand his facial features, but nonetheless he didn't exactly look happy. "He says it will take another day to get us out of orbit! Can you believe this? Naira, are you listening? You might not have a job to get back to but tardiness is a severe offence where I'm from and-" He paused, his large mouth gaping, "You're not even listening are you?" Naira nodded, "Just trust him, if he says it will take another day, that's what it's going to take." Z sighed dramatically, "He said it would take a day a week ago, I'm starting to wonder if he knows what he's doing." The girl frowned, "Do you want to try fixing this thing?" She questioned defensively, he shook his head.
Well, shook as in he moved his head in a circle. That apparently was his way of indicating 'no'. And as in 'he', Naira understood that Z was in the 'male' form of his cycle currently or at least he was the equivalent of what a man is in human terms. She found this out after running into him as he came out of the bathroom and he'd been so shocked to see her, his towel fell down. She wasn't really sure what she was supposed to be looking at, or not looking at, but after much reading about his species she'd assumed that he was a physically a man for the moment. But as the boundaries of sex and gender are so lose with his kind it was hard to pin it down to one or the other, so to speak.
Naira rolled her eyes, he's always panicking. She'd only known him a little while, but if there was one this she knew for certain, it was that Z was a big wimp. "My Granny always gave me tea when I felt nervous, do you want some tea?" He 'smiled' and replied, "Tea would be good." She was developing a habit for making tea the past couple of weeks, she'd given him over a 100 cups and each time he'd stay calm for ten minutes until he found something else to panic about.
As she rose to stand a jolt ran through the control room, when she moved to steady herself she found Z stood right next to her. Ridiculous, she thought, He's a 7ft tall alien with more muscle power in one leg than I have in my entire body and he's clinging onto me for safety. "Its stopped now, you can let go." Z turned his deer-ish features towards her, "Sorry" he said, but he appeared reluctant to let go. A set of footsteps came hammering down the hall and the Doctor appeared out of breath and concerned. "That wasn't me!" He said through gasps. Z squeaked and began running around the consol shouting "We're going to die!" Naira frowned, it wasn't that she wasn't scared, it was that she'd had so many near death experiences recently the whole mystery of nearly dying wasn't really working on her. "What do you think happened?" The Doctor shrugged, "Beats me, all I do know is we're possibly plummeting to our deaths and consequently the deaths of many others." Naira's frown deepened as she cursed aloud. "There's no need for that!" He yelled defensively, Naira shook her head and began attempting to calm Z down from breaking something. "FIX. IT." She shouted. Obviously, this had more effect on the Tardis than it did on the Doctor, as just as she finished saying it all the chaos ceased
With a dramatic drop of his arms, the Doctor shouted, "You do that for her but not for me?" at the consol. The Tardis appeared to creak in response but Naira was certain she was imagining it. Z stopped weeping and straightened out, "We're not dead?" The girl shook her head, "Not yet."
The Doctor was at the door before Naira could say 'stop', but thankfully he didn't open it on another poisonous dust cloud. That had been an interesting day. "Where are we?" She shouted. "Hungary." was the response she got. Naira thought for a moment, "Is that in Europe?" she asked, "IS THAT IN EUROPE?" He repeated. "I'm American." She said with a sigh, "We don't learn much about the whole Europe thing." "What's an America?" Z said through tears. "I'll tell you another time." Naira responded. Suddenly, the Doctor was stood right in front of them. "COME ON THEN. Busy, busy, busy. Something's been interfering with my equipment and I have a feeling it's because of something out there." He pointed out the doorway. Naira's uneasiness grew worse.
Z grabbed her hand as she began to walk away. She didn't mind that he was so scared of everything, she just wished he would be scared somewhere else.
They walked across a field, further and further away from the Tardis and closer and closer to the large looming mansion that spread out before them. "What is this place?" She said with a gasp. "A mansion, a very old mansion" the Doctor responded. Z said something behind her that she couldn't make out, but if it was anything close to what she was feeling she was certain he was cursing. "THAT WILL BE WHY!" The Doctor shouted triumphantly, "Some humans have got some sort of tracking device, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR ALIENS, in a mansion?" The stopped at the top of a small incline as he pointed out various bits of equipment set up in a small camp outside the old building. Naira wanted to ask what they were going to do next, but the Doctor was already racing down the hill to introduce himself to a set of scared looking Hungarians. "Should we follow him?" Z whispered. "Well it's not like we can go back." Naira responded.
Hesitantly, they made their way down. At first she was surprised to hear them all speaking English with American accents like the rest of them, but it occurred to her that it was probably thanks to the Tardis. She heard the shrill voice of a woman to her left and saw she was in a heated conversation with the Doctor. She felt the sudden need to defend him, despite the fact he was probably wrong, "Is something the matter?" she said, mustering all her courage. The woman shook her head, "Finally I can speak to someone with a bit of sense." She pushed back to Doctor and thrust her hand out for Naira to take, "Ada Cseh, pleased to meet you." "Naira" the girl smiled back.
Thankfully some sort of cloaking device stopped them from seeing what Z truly looked like; Naira thought they would probably foam at the mouth knowing they were in the presence of an actual alien. To them he probably looked like a probably scared looking basket ball player holding the hand of a teenage looking Native American girl. "And this is?" the Hungarian woman said, indicating to Z. "This is my brother...Adam." She smiled and turned back to Naira. "Could you please tell your friend that he has no right to trespass h-" "ACTUALLY, I do" the Doctor interrupted, pulling out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket, he put it in her face with a triumphant gleam in his eye. Ada stood aghast and turned to her small crew, looking for support. No one gave her any. The Doctor winked at Naira, who rolled her eyes in response. Z was still clinging to her hand. "So what's the problem here?" The Doctor grinned, Ada grimaced, "We're looking for aliens. There was a meteor crash here in 47 and we're certain it contained an alien life form that's inhabited the mansion in front of us." Naira snorted, even she knew that the only life form that travelled on meteors were the worm species in the Carina Nebula, and they couldn't breathe oxygen. They'd learned that one the hard way. She assumed that Z and the Doctor were thinking the same as they were trying not to snicker.
After a while the small group of scientists became a little more accepting of their presence, and began to tell them about their plans. It turned out they'd heard some strange noises but none of their equipment was picking up anything. The house itself was pretty strange too, they'd come to the conclusion it was built like a Russian doll. There were layers upon layers of house and they further you went in the older the house got, as if someone had been building it from the inside out. The feeling of uneasiness grew in Naira; something told her that this place should be left well alone.
The group decided to spend the night back at the Tardis and return in the morning, the Doctor wanted to see what the fuss with this mansion was all about but Naira wanted to go home. She lay awake for a while, until she heard a knocking at the door. Z appeared around the side, "I was wondering if perhaps you wouldn't mind if-" the girl interrupted him by patting the bed beside her. "Nightmares?" She question, he 'nodded' in response and sheepishly squeezed in beside her.
She fell to sleep quickly; she supposed it was easy when you had your own personal heater curled up around you. She also supposed that despite his skittish nature having Z around wasn't so bad; it was like having a little brother in a big brother's body. She'd never wanted one of those but nonetheless, Z was nice to have around.
They had an early morning, the Doctor was busying running around setting up with the Hungarians for the day's expedition into the mansion while Naira was busy devouring her weight in cereal bars with the intern. They were ready by 11am but Naira still couldn't shake the feeling that whatever was waiting behind those doors was going to end up affecting them badly.
It was eerie inside, the walls were creaking and the windows were rattling even though Naira was certain the wind wasn't blowing outside. It was dark, the wallpaper was coming off the walls and it smelt like rotting meat. Naira threw her hand up to her nose, and Z threw his hand around Naira's. He was whimpering and muttering something. She supposed she would have to be composed for the two them. The Doctor however was bouncing around, picking at the walls and fiddling with door knobs.
But then he stopped. He froze, dead in his tracks. Naira followed his line of vision down a hallway. She let go off Z's hand and stood beside the Doctor. "There's something bad down there." She whispered, "We need to go." He shook his head; even in the dark she could see the anger on his face. "Go back to the Tardis." He ordered, "Take Z and just go." Naira put her arm through his, and firmly responded, "If you're stupid enough to go down there I'm stupid enough to follow." He was about to respond but a shriek came from behind them and surprisingly not from Z.
The woman, Ada, was leaning over a chest next to them her face set in another scream she apparently couldn't voice. The Doctor pushed her aside while keeping everyone else away. He shut the lid and turned to the group with his face drained of colour. "Go." He said quietly, "now." He pushed the group of Hungarians out of the door, Naira didn't hear what he said to them next but she assumed he'd terrified them because they ran off as soon as he'd finished. The girl's curiosity took over. Quietly she opened the chest, and suddenly everything around her went quiet. She didn't hear the Doctor or Z shouting her name; she didn't even feel him pulling her away. There was only silence. And then she screamed. Fear and pain took a hold of her.
She was outside, on the floor, clawing with her hands at the gravel. Crying and screaming, with no end in sight. Z was tried to comfort her, he put a hand on her back, but she pulled away disgusted. She didn't want anyone to touch her.
The Doctor knelt in front of her, he'd seen what she had, but he appeared barely fazed. "We need to go, now. This isn't something I can fix Naira I'm so sorry." But Naira was done being scared, she knew what she'd seen and now she was mad. "Who did that? That poor man." she said through sobs. The Doctor shook his head, "I'm not sure." Naira gritted her teeth, "I'll bet it's in the centre of that mansion." Without waiting for a response and with a new vengeful resolve Naira stormed back in.
She could feel the Doctor running behind her and hear Z cursing colourfully, but she was too angry to care. She'd just seen the remains of a human being, stuffed into a chest. Probably wasn't even that long ago, she thought, His family probably think he's missing. She stifled back another sob and clenched her fists, alien or not whatever had done this had to be brought to justice.
Her resolve lasted for all of 10 minutes, which was when the floor gave way and collapsed under her feet. She screamed loudly, and the Doctor grabbed her hand but he wasn't strong enough, so they both fell. They landed on solid ground in the darkness, the Doctor lit the hall with his sonic screwdriver, but it still wasn't enough. Naira pulled herself up and shouted up through the hole, "Z? ARE YOU THERE?" "NAIRA ARE YOU OK?" came the reply, "GO. GET. HELP" she shouted back. She didn't need to ask him twice, she heard his footsteps running away from them. Naira assumed he'd be a while and even though this place made her sick she needed to understand what was going on. The Doctor, on the other hand, looked less willing, "Naira, you have to understand, once we do this, there isn't any turning back." Naira understood, Naira understood far too well, but she was certain that if they didn't figure out what was going on more people were going to die.
They walked for a while in silence, but the further they walked the worse the smell got. "Are you okay?" Naira shook her head, she wasn't okay, but she'd manage like she always did. The Doctor pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and passed it to her. It smelt like lilies and managed to cover the smell a little, but her queasiness didn't dissipate.
Then she saw another chest. She knew what was inside. It made her tear up a little. It was like someone was leaving the clues, whoever was doing this wanted to be found. She had a horrible thought that this was how they got the previous victims. She pulled at the Doctor's sleeve, "This way." He grimaced in response but walked ahead of her. To the side of the chest, hidden by the shadows was a door, Naira watched the Doctor step through, but she couldn't move. She couldn't even speak. As one hand held her in place another covered her mouth. Then the darkness came.
Darkness for so long that Naira forgot where she was, and then all too soon she realised. Her eyes opened wide as she tried to figure out where she was. It was dark, and it smelled like death. The walls and floor were tiled with what were once white ceramic tiles, but now they were dirty with grime and something else. The air tasted metallic, but Naira resolved that it would be even worse to breathe through her nose. The room itself was occupied by two objects; a claw-foot bathtub and a large metal table. Naira was sat on the floor, much to her disgust, but as she tried to stand up her legs gave way and she collapsed onto the floor. A sound came from the direction of the bath tub. Slowly she picked herself up, but she wished she hadn't.
The bathtub was filled with blood. Naira was sick. It was too much for her to handle. She positioned herself in the corner and was sick. She was sick until she began dry heaving and even then it didn't seem like enough. There was a ripple in the blood, Naira looked up and prayed that there was nothing in there. She prayed to every god she could name and to all of her ancestors to protect her, but even she knew that it wouldn't work.
A hand came out first. White skin pulled over bony hands stained with blood and gripped the edge of the bathtub, and then the other hand broke the surface. Slowly a head emerged from the blood. Dark sunken eyes bore into Naira. She couldn't scream. There wasn't time.
A shriek left the creature's mouth, it sounded like laughter. This thing was enjoying her fear. But the worst thing about this creature was the worst thing that Naira could have possibly imagined. This creature was human. Completely human.
She threw her hands up to protect herself, but she knew it wouldn't help. A hand grabbed her, but it wasn't the creatures. It was the Doctor's. He was pulling her through a door she hadn't seen and down a dark hall. She was barely breathing and she couldn't feel her legs, but it didn't matter. Nothing really mattered to her anymore she just wanted to get out. Before she could acclimatise to her surroundings she was being lifted through a hole into Z's arms and then carried into the light, but the darkness came over her again.
She woke up in the field outside the mansion. Z was gripping her fiercely, "You're awake, thank the gods." He sighed, nestling his head in the crook of her neck. "Where's the Doctor?" She mumbled. Her nose filled with the smell of burning, the mansion was on fire. The Doctor walked up the hill, but he was too far in the distance to see what expression he was wearing. "What was down there Naira?" Z asked sheepishly, "What kind of monster was hiding down there?"
Naira could barely respond. She felt weak and scared. But by the sound of the roaring fire that was taking over the house behind them Z was sure he heard her say, "Sometimes humans make the worst kind of monsters."