Whispers before the Darkness
a story by J. Merrick
Chapter Two
The Doctor knew that the feeling that was pulling at the back of his mind wasn't just from Clara staring at him expectantly from behind him.
He knew what this book was.
He knew what it contained.
He knew what it meant.
He also knew that the way he was currently acting was probably frightening Clara, but he needed the time to pull his thoughts together. Not only to provide an explanation, but because he knew that the clock was already ticking before he wouldn't be able to anymore.
It was funny, for a man that lived in time he was always running short of it.
"Doctor," came the soft voice of his…what were they now? Companion just didn't feel right; it was too soft of a word. Assistant was well out; she was obviously more than that.
"This book," he finally replied, pulling himself out of his thoughts while turning around to look at her, "is something that should not exist."
"I know, you said that," she responded, walking towards him and then looking slightly surprised as he started walking away from her. He had to keep some distance between this book and her; it was already too late for him. He could still protect her though.
"I want you to think back to Gallifrey," he continued as he walked into the TARDIS, willing his most trusted companion to read his thoughts and lead him on a path that wouldn't put him at odds to the power of this book.
The TARDIS was powerful, but he didn't want to know if He could get in.
"Remember all the stories that were told about the creatures the existed before us," he said, rounding another corner, "The creatures that our parents used to tell us would come and grab us should we ever misbehave."
He could feel her nod behind him, they all were told the stories.
"What if they were real?" he continued, "What if those Old Gods lived and breathed, waiting for someone to make a mistake and give them a chance to enter this world?"
He walked through his first doorway, thankfully it actually involved doors. The TARDIS had brought him to its library, and he hoped that she knew what the book was. That she was prepared for it.
"During the last days of the Time War," he continued, walking deep into the library's stacks, "Many heralds of these Old Gods started seeping through the locks that the old Time Lords had put on them."
"Like the Nightmare Child?" Clara asked, surprising him that she knew about it.
"Exactly," he responded, rounding a corner and going through another, closed, doorway. He marveled at the powers of the TARDIS when he saw that she had brought him into a round room with a podium in the center.
"You're telling me that things like the Horde of Travesties were just heralds?" she questioned, sounding slightly frightened at the prospect.
"Exactly," he responded, placing the book with the leathery appearance on the podium, its mere presence seeming to bring shadow to the space around it, "This book is itself a form of a herald as well."
"For what?" Clara asked as he grabbed her hand and walked her out of the room.
"The Unspeakable One."
X X X
Clara sat in the TARDIS counsel room with her feet hanging over the ledge. The Doctor was currently in one of the many storage areas of the TARDIS looking for a trinket that he said would help the two of them.
She wished that he would just sit with her for a moment, wrap his arms around her, and whisper how everything was going to be okay.
She needed that lie right now.
The Doctor had told her about the stories of the Unspeakable One, and how merely the book alone was enough to draw his attention. Apparently it had been used by the Time Lords during the Time War itself because if there was one thing that the Daleks feared more than the Oncoming Storm, it apparently was a God that scared him.
That's what scared her the most.
She hadn't been completely honest with the Doctor lately, after everything that had occurred on Trenzalore. She had been open and honest about just about everything that she remembered from the echoes of her lives, but there was just one thing that she hadn't been able to fully discuss yet.
The Time War.
She knew that he would have questions after she had asked about things only a Time Lord alive during the Fall of Gallifrey would know. It hurt her so much to keep these things from the man she…well. From that man.
What were they?
He was more important to her than just about anyone alive, and when they ran together she never wanted it to end. She was introducing him to her dad! Why couldn't she just open up completely to him?
She looked over her shoulder; feeling like something was watching her, yet finding nothing there. She looked up at the TARDIS counsel, as if asking it if it knew what was going on.
She looked around the room and wondered if the fact that it held no corners was deliberate, after hearing about the dangers of rooms with corners.
The Hounds.
She shivered; she had never been a fan of dogs to begin with. Now with the possibility of the Hounds of Hell on the trail of a man who she would never leave the side of…
As if reading her mind the Doctor walked into the room.
"Finally found what I was looking for!" he announced, holding a map in his hands. Clara stood up from where she was sitting, the Doctor immediately noticing the look on her face, "Are you all right?"
"I'm scared," she replied, honestly, walking into his arms as he wrapped them around her, "I know it's silly-"
"It is not," he replied with a level of intensity that gave her pause, "I'm scared all the time!"
"Of what though?" she asked, looking up at him and that chin.
"Well, losing you for starters," he replied, laying a kiss on her forehead before walking over to the TARDIS consol and laying the map down.
"Now! After the conclusion of the Time War I had thought that these heralds that summoned these beasties would have stayed within that lock. Turns out I was wrong. The one that is currently in our possession was supposed to have landed and stayed in a house in Arkham in America that was built to hold it."
"Wait, someone built a house specifically for a book that could summon that," Clara asked, slightly bewildered.
"Well of course, it's the obvious thing to do," the reply came without a hint of irony, "Find a book that summons a being that will tear your soul to shreds for all eternity, build a house. As natural as a banana."
Despite the seriousness of the situation a laugh came to Clara, which the Doctor returned with a smile.
"So this house was built to contain this book," Clara prompted the Doctor, who finished unrolling the map.
"Yes, the house was built by a university of all things," the Doctor continued, "They have an entire department dedicated to these things. Well, they had an entire department I should say, turns out that they mysteriously went missing right around the turn of the century."
"So are we going back to when they disappeared?" Clara asked as she walked over to stand next to the Doctor and saw that he had circled the map around where 'ARKHAM' was written.
"No, that would be madness," the Doctor replied, "Plus it would stir up all sorts of wibbly-wobbly that I don't want to tear open with having two of those books in the same place."
He put his arm around her shoulders, "No, we are going there right now. Well, I say right now, but I just mean this current time. Best to keep the book out of the time stream."
Clara nodded, thankful for the Doctor's closeness. She just couldn't shake the feeling as if she was constantly being watched.
Little did she know that the Doctor could already feel the breathing of hounds around every corner.
X X X
He watched as she walked around what she had declared as their 'living room.' It was a concession he had made when she agreed to spend more of her time on the TARDIS. He would have to do domestic-like things with her.
He was perfectly fine with that to be honest.
She was currently on the phone with her father, catching up with him. She called him once a week now, her experience having brought the two closer back together than they had been since her mother's death. She had so wanted to tell her father that all the conspiracies that he had ranted on about had been true, that he wasn't crazy, and here was her Time Lord boyfriend who could show him the stars.
He had told her to wait, it would probably be better to get to know his traveled through space and time first before also saying that aliens existed.
Thus the dinner they were supposed to have.
He was really excited about that, somehow. They were growing so close together, and yet…she was hiding something from him. Something important, he could taste it.
She would make fun of him and his Time Lord senses before getting a wistful look on her face, but it was true. There was this feeling that was just hanging on the end of every single one of her sentences, every single one of her looks, every single touch.
It was only fair though, because he hid so many things from her.
Like right now, he was holding something from her that he was sure Ace would have tried to beat him with her baseball bat for.
He wasn't within the vaults of the TARDIS just looking for the map - that had taken less than five minutes. No, he had gone and investigated the book. He was slightly ashamed to say that he could already feel it's deadly contents calling out to him.
He could already feel it singing to his hearts.
He could feel its pulse double his own.
He could feel the temptation closing in on him; He was standing over him.
He had broken down, and picked up the tome knowing that he was signing his soul over to eternity, but the beating in his ears was like what he had felt in the Master's mind.
Luckily at the last moment he had seen a piece of paper sticking out of the tome that screamed 'READ ME FIRST, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ ME FIRST.'
He had seized it like the lifeline that it was, because he knew what would happen if he opened the book. He had been the one to suggest building the house during the closing days of the Time War, knowing that things would fall through the cracks. He couldn't tell Clara that, she had already punched his arm the time that she thought he had been holding monsters inside the TARDIS.
She knew his greatest secrets, but he feared what would happen when she learned his big secrets.
The letter had scared him almost as much as the site of the book. The lettering had been tense, as if written by a man that knew he was close to dying.
To the Mad God of Time-
If you are reading this, I am but dust. I have failed to out run the hounds. He has caught me.
I have heard stories batted around about how you were the one to lock the Old Gods away.
I pray that they are true.
If you are reading this, he is already watching.
His hounds are already running.
Run as fast as you can, don't let those bastards get you.
Please, He needs to be locked away again.
It had been unsigned. He had been ready to put it away, knowing already that he would have to be making the mad attempt to lock this evil back into the Time War when he saw a hastily scribbled note on the back.
Beware the Cult of Azathoth. They point the Hounds on their way.
End Chapter Two
A/N: Once again, thanks for reading. Thanks for the great response so far as well! Please let me know what you think by reviewing!