There's something thrilling about being in places you know you shouldn't. At this point it was an addiction. I wondered if you felt this way, if you were tantalised with the danger we experienced as much as I was. I knew you were.
That's how you find yourself walking to a nearby 24 hour shop at midnight, feeling the breath of potential stalkers on the back of your neck. Squeezing your house key in your pocket, warming your cold hands.
That's how you find yourself weighed down with fear, and weightless with pleasure. Being face to face with the eye of a Dalek, knowing you are seconds away from infinity.
And that's why danger is so addictive. You teeter on the edge of losing everything you have ever known, and keeping everyone you have ever loved. The rush is like no other. And in that way, adrenaline is the heroin of the sober.
We were stood in front of the manor. The overcast sky laying upon our heads, casting the dull world into a deep shadow. The broken doors now clinging to their hinges, and nowhere in sight was the dull yellow demolition tape which hung loosely from its frames. The outside windows were decorated with the red, white and black emblem, the flag wriggling in the breeze. Men in round green helmets stood strategically around each entry, unmoving. We started moving towards the one stationed upon the main entrance. He flinched, gripping the gun in his hands tightly, pointing the cylindrical barrel at each of us, moving it as though it were a Newton's cradle.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" You took a second to think of what our personas would be, pulling out your psychic paper as if it were a weapon. For the first time he seemed visibly shook, and only muttered "Pass." You folded it back and lovingly placed it back into your pocket. You never did tell me what it had said on there.
It was such a richly furnished place, as though it were a Doll's house the had been enlarged. A log fire crackled to the side of us, dancing in the pale light of the room. To the left of us was a deep umber wooden staircase, with a bannister as thick as an oak branch. Towards us strolled a man, no taller than 5"8 in a grey suite. He was decorated with a cigar between his yellow teeth. He stopped, raising his arm and stamping down. Two words slipped through his clenched lips, to which neither you or I responded to. His eyebrow raised, and his fingers hovered above the hanging gun at his hip. You showed your paper again, wearing the contempt in your face as if it were a medal of honour. His hand dropped and he blew smoke around us. With no other words uttered, he gestured towards the staircase, you followed his direction pulling the sleeve of my jacket.
"What did you show him?" I asked
"I'll tell you later, Yaz. Stay by my side and don't wander off." Your voice was low and commanding, a tone I had not heard before. I felt as if you were hiding something from me, I knew that you were hiding something from me.
We strayed into a few rooms, their interiors matching the rest of the manor. Apparently we had found nothing. I asked whether we should try downstairs instead.
"No. Listen to me, Yaz, do not go downstairs. Do not leave my side, do you understand me?" I felt myself frown at you, and struggle from your grip, your hands fell from my arms as I stepped back. Being in Nazi Germany, surrounded by men who would push their rifles to my head and pull the trigger without hesitation didn't scare me as much as you did in that moment.
"I won't" Was all I said, you nodded and politely smiled back at me. Your eyes were heavy. Usually the worry in your face was like a heavy duvet, making me feel warm and protected, this time they were boulders, hard and cold, crushing me.
"Nothing. There has to be something, I traced the distortion back to this exact date. There's something here, and it should be in one of these rooms." It was more like you were thinking out loud rather than speaking to me. You pointed your sonic around, and started scanning the walls and floor, every few seconds looking at it in disappointment, until it started to beep. "Beeping? How can it be beeping? I didn't install a beeper? What does the beeping mean?" You started running forwards, making the noise louder. We turned a corner and you stopped suddenly, making me run into your back. You grabbed my hand, I knew it was more to comfort yourself rather than me. In front of us was two men and a woman.
"We need to go" You whispered to me, backing away. They started to follow.
