Hello my dear readers, I'm back after few more exams to give you the second part of my short story!
I hope you like it, if you think that some things could be better do not hesitate to tell me. Again I repeat: this is Uni work, I'm not asking for reviews just to have a high number of reviews (you can share your opinion by PM if you want) but really to try and have a good grade as this is an exam I am supposed to hand on December 7th.
Enjoy! :)
Melody - x.
Part II
"What's all this?" she asked.
The Doctor had led her to the library of the manor where books were strewn over the tables.
"Dreams. Accounts of dreams, by different people, all throughout history. Schwarze Mann, Germany. Ulmo Nero, Italy. Baboulas, Greece. Or the Baudas, Lithuania. Monsters under the bed based on these dreams all around the world. You see, I have a theory."
"I bet you have." she said, starting to understand the kind of person he was: brilliant, and a little bit of a mad man.
"Proposition. What if no one is ever really alone? What if every single living being has a companion, a silent passenger, a shadow? What if the prickle on the back of your neck, is the breath of something close behind you? I think everybody, at some point in their lives, has the exact same nightmare. You wake up, or you think you do, and there's someone in the dark, someone close, or you think there might be."
River frowned a bit as she thought back to the most terrifying nightmares she had, a cold chill running up her spine. He faced her and continued with a lower voice, almost a whisper, the library not feeling as safe a place anymore:
"So you sit up, and light up the lamp. And the room looks different at night. It ticks and creaks and breathes… And you tell yourself there's nobody there, nobody watching, nobody listening, nobody there at all. And you very nearly believe it. You really, really try, and then… A hand reaches out from under the bed and grabs your ankle."
In a quick flash, the memory of the dream, the gloomy room and the cold sensation around her ankle came back to her and she looked back at him, a hint of fear in her eyes. How was that possible? What if he was right? What if there was really something hiding in the shadows?
"There are accounts of that dream everywhere and everywhen. Time and time again, the exact same one. Now, a very obvious question, do you know what it is?"
"Have you had that dream?"
He smiled, that girl was smart. And pretty. He liked that. He did not expected otherwise from someone bearing the same name as River Song.
"Exactly."
"No, that was me asking you." she said. "Have you had that dream?"
"I asked first."
"No, I did."
"You really didn't."
She looked at him defiantly for a second, but she gave in:
"Okay, yes, probably, but everyone dreams about something under the bed."
"Why?"
She opened her mouth to answer but truth was that in fact, she did not know. Why indeed? Why everyone shares the same exact dream at one point in their lives if it was not for one reason, one simple, but terrifying reason: that something was hiding under the bed.
"No matter how many times you looked under your bed, you found nothing but a lonely sock or a misplaced earring. But maybe there was more…"
Looking at him with her wide and terrified eyes, she asked with a trembling voice:
"How are we going to prove that?"
"By going back in time! Well, kind of. Well, not really. Well… not at all in fact, it's much less timey-wimey than that to be honest."
Timey-what?
Seeing he had lost her, he said:
"Do you remember where you grew up…?"
Everything was grey.
The sky was grey, filled with grey clouds. The naked trees were grey and so were the dead leaves in the dried grass on the grey and dusty ground.
A fence was circling up the domain.
River looked up and what she saw froze her: hundreds and hundreds of grey and black birds, pigeons and ravens on the roof and branches, their excreta covering the tiles and cracked walls adding more grey and misery to the place.
"I'm sorry." the Doctor started as he looked up at the metal banner above the gate where could be read 'Honorhall Orphanage'. "I didn't know this was where you grew up, if I had known I wouldn't have asked-"
"It's okay." she cut him off.
He looked at her, her fiery red hair contrasting with the dullness of the landscape around them. She was nice to be around, young and fresh as a flower, brilliant and brave.
Aren't they all? He thought, looking back into his past. How many times did he found brilliant companions… to only lose them, leading them by the hand to their own death when fighting evil aliens. But not this time. He did not want to lose her, not her.
As she looked back at him, she could perceive a hint of worry in his eyes and smiled to prove to him she was alright. He took her hand in his in a gentlemanly way and tilting his head, he asked:
"Shall we?"
She nodded and they both crossed the gate and walked up to the heavy wooden front door. He stretched out his hand and lifted the massive, goblin-shaped door knocker, producing a loud thud that echoed behind the wooden panel as it fell back.
After a moment, the heavy door opened, revealing a little bald man, looking lost.
"Yes?" he said with a tired voice.
The Doctor took out his wallet from his inside pocket and showed it to him.
"Scotland Yard." he said. "We're here to investigate and make sure everything is alright. Don't worry, it's just a routine."
The man looked behind the wooden panel as though someone was talking to him and turning back to them he just nodded and let them in. No one else was to be seen.
"Psychic paper." the Doctor whispered to River with a wink. "What is your name?" he asked louder to the man.
"Mr. Black." the man answered. "My office is this way."
He looked completely lost. How could that man run this orphanage?
The place looked abandoned: dust everywhere, not a child to see and above everything else, the walls were tagged. Every wall had a marking on it, with a red paint that looked like blood dripping on these grey and cracked walls.
'GET OUT'
'LEAVE'
"Sorry for the markings." Black said waving at the markings. "You know, the children…"
"Where are the children?" asked the Doctor as him and River exchanged a worried look.
"They're upstairs." he said. "My office is this way, this way…" he repeated.
As they reached the first storey of the building, River looked at the corridors facing the man's office. She leant in to whisper in the Doctor's ear:
"I'm going to look that way, see if I can find the children."
"Be careful." he whispered back, looking straight into her green eyes, serious.
She stayed there, motionless for a second, surprised by his concern before slightly smiling, nodding a yes to him and head into the corridor.
She started to walk down the corridor, but she couldn't hear the children. At the end of it was a door, she rested her hand on the doorknob and slowly opened it, making it creak sinisterly.
Like in a dream, she remembered the room she had in front of her. The big grey and gloomy dormitory with maybe ten bed on each side.
But still no children to see.
She closed the door behind her and leant in to look under a bed.
Nothing.
She sighed remembering the Doctor's words: "Maybe there was more". And she slipped under the bed high enough to let her and her bustle pass comfortably.
Looking around her there was nothing. She touched the springs and the mattress above her: nothing special.
The mattress sank in.
Again do not hesitate to tell me how I could make it better, I take constructive criticism very well :) I hope you like it so far :)