Christmas Ghost Stories

Chapter Two: Marshmallows for Toasting

By Lumendea

…

The TARDIS landed with a soft thump and Jackie's voice ringing in both the Doctor and Rose's ears. Rose doubted they'd be back for Jackie's party but had promised to do their best to be back for Christmas Dinner the next day. The Doctor's tension was all but gone. He was thrilled to escape the domestic sphere of Rose's life and was giddy at the thought of an adventure. It almost made her feel guilty, but it had been Sarah Jane who dragged him into the kitchen, not her.

"We're in the old town," the Doctor said. He turned the scanner, and Rose saw older buildings and cobblestones streets under a thin dusting of snow. "Where is UNIT?"

"Uh, they've got stations around the old town," Rose said. "Near landmarks. Not sure which is closest."

"Then let's go and find them."

The Doctor took Rose's hand, and they headed for the door. Rose had left her coat on for the quick jump and was grateful as a cold blast of air hit her. Still grinning, the Doctor wasn't affected at all. They stepped outside, and Rose looked around eagerly. They were in a small alley surrounded by brick buildings. Next to them were the words 'Bad Wolf' sprayed in yellow paint across the bricks. Rose took the words in silently before the Doctor gently tugged her forward.

They reached the main street, and Rose started to smile. Around them, the buildings were decorated with lights and an old yellowish stone wall rose above a nearby one-story shop. Rose had never been to York. She'd thought about visiting in the past, but there were always other places that appealed to her a bit more. But as she looked around, she found herself smiling. The nearby old city gate was decorated with strings of white lights. With the sun still up, they were off, but she imagined that it was rather majestic after dark. Small decorations were mounted on the old city wall that ran along nearby and surrounded the old section of the city that they were investigating.

"It's lovely," Rose said.

"This section of York is still surrounded by the city's medieval walls," the Doctor told her. "They still retain all their principal gateways."

"Harriet said that all the ghosts were within the walled area."

"The entire circuit is approximately 2.5 miles (4 km), and encloses an area of 263 acres," the Doctor replied. "So that's still a lot of area."

"Any thoughts?"

"Nothing so far," he said. "I need to see one of these ghosts. The walls seem to be important as all the ghosts are in this one area."

"Maybe the period they were built in?"

"The walls contain part of the walls of the Roman fortress. There's Norman and medieval work too and then 19th- and 20th-century renovations."

"Oh… so that doesn't narrow it down."

"Not really," the Doctor answered.

"Then let's find UNIT and see if they have any more information," Rose suggested. "Harriet only knew enough to beg me to take a look." She couldn't help but smile.

"You loved it," the Doctor said.

"Maybe," Rose replied. She gave him a tongue touched smile. "Although, ghosts at Christmas," Rose said with a shake of her head. "Haven't we done this before?"

"Yes, but York is over 200 miles away from the Rift," the Doctor said. "So I doubt it's connected to the Gelth."

"Still, just seems like the wrong holiday," Rose said.

"Hardly. Christmas used to be the traditional time to tell ghost stories," the Doctor said. "What do you think originally inspired old Charlie boy?"

"Really?"

"Think of the song It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," the Doctor told her. "There's a line about scary ghost stories. It's a tradition that ended up a bit forgotten, but it's not an accident that the most famous ghost story period is one that takes place at Christmas."

"So ghosts in York at Christmas shouldn't surprise me?" Rose raised an eyebrow doubtfully, enjoying the look of indignation on the Doctor's face.

"Officially no," he replied. "But probably not actual ghosts. Then again, Benton isn't one to imagine things, so I'm going to assume that there's something to this."

"I guess we'll see."

"You don't seem convinced," the Doctor said in a teasing voice.

"There's something behind it," Rose said firmly. "Something technological or alien. If there is anything to this at all."

"Or both," the Doctor agreed. "But if what they're saying about the increase in the ghost activity is true then we need to be worried about how stable that system is."

"You think there's something to this?" Rose asked.

"How often is it nothing?" the Doctor countered.

"Touché."

Walking down the street, Rose stayed close to the Doctor. Lots of people were moving through the streets, music was playing, and laughter and voices were echoing off the cobblestones. Overhead, stars glittered in a clear night sky. The Doctor was grinning, much happier now that they were on the hunt for something. She almost laughed as his glee. Still, ghosts, it was hard to wrap her head around. If it wasn't the Gelth then what could it be?

They turned a corner to move away from the shopping crowd and check a side street. Rose slipped her left hand into her bag, ready to pull out her phone and just ask where the UNIT stations were. Then a man appeared right in front of them. He didn't come around a corner; he was just suddenly there.

The man was dressed in old style clothing, maybe the Tudor period, but Rose wasn't sure. He was looking right at them, and his body seemed corporal, but there was a strange softness to the light around him. It was like a halo of some kind. His image flickered, and Rose gasped softly. The Doctor pulled his hand away from her and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. The man's mouth moved, but he was flickering too much, and no sound came out. Then he vanished as the sonic screwdriver whirled. They were alone in the street again.

"That was… a ghost," Rose said finally. "That's surprising. Wasn't expecting… that. Did you get anything?"

"No." The Doctor looked down at the sonic screwdriver with a frown. "It was like there was nothing to latch onto."

"Ghosts aren't actually real right?" Rose asked, suddenly unsure.

"Maybe." The Doctor smiled again. "I don't know everything." He looked around at the buildings. "It is possible for mental impressions to get recorded on stone and then playback, but that didn't seem like that sort of event."

"Are you serious?" Rose asked.

"Yes," the Doctor answered. "Some of the ghost stories are real; they just aren't actual spirits. It's just a recording playing."

"And this wasn't?"

"No, it wasn't." The Doctor shook the sonic screwdriver. "There's something to this. Come on, let's find UNIT and see what they have to say. Let's head for King's Square."

"I could just call Kate," Rose suggested.

"Nah," he said dismissively. "Hopefully we'll see another ghost."

Chuckling, Rose tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand, and they walked down the street. Around them, shoppers were still at it, but the crowd was thinning a bit as people headed for home. It wasn't too cold, but the tip of Rose's nose was feeling the chill.

It didn't take them long to find UNIT. The Doctor had predicted their location with shocking accuracy. A UNIT mobile command unit was parked in the corner of the square. It stood out amongst the Christmas decorations, and the citizens were giving it a wide berth. Rose wondered how far the rumors of the ghosts had spread. Far enough that the Prime Minister was worried about a panic starting at the very least. Down the roads, she could still see the old town walls. They were in a good location to rush to wherever the next sighting was.

The poor soldier standing guard jumped a little when they walked up. His mouth started to open to send them away. Rose could see the moment as they came up that he recognized them. Or at least recognized her and guessed who the Doctor was.

"Hello there," the Doctor greeted the soldier. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler."

The soldier tensed, his hand coming up to salute while the Doctor huffed. "None of that. Who's in charge?"

"Kate Stewart and Captain Erisa Magambo," the man replied. He hurriedly stepped aside and opened the door. "Please, go inside. They're waiting for you."

"Thank you," Rose said to the poor shocked man.

He nodded, still staring at them in awe. Rose found it very strange to be included in the awe, but the Doctor just seemed amused. He was loving this. Shaking her head fondly, Rose followed him inside the cramped mobile unit. Computers and screens filled one wall with techs hard at work. There was a small walkway behind them leading towards a door that contained the commander's office. Kate was leaning over one of the computers and looked up as they entered.

"Hello, Kate," Rose greeted. "How is the family?"

"Gordon's in university which astounds me," Kate answered. "He's at home with his grandfather minding the baby."

"No Alistair then?" The Doctor asked.

"No," Kate answered. She rolled her eyes a little even though her smile was fond. "He told me yesterday to give you my regards when you inevitably showed up."

"In our defense," Rose said. "We were asked in."

"We'll sort it out as quickly as we can," the Doctor promised. He glanced around. "Not a lot of folks."

"We have patrols out in the city," Kate said. "Captain Magambo is checking a sighting that came in only twenty minutes ago."

Kate picked up a file from on top of the nearest terminal and handed it to Rose. "We don't have a lot of data yet. Not that we've collected, but videos keep popping up. Thankfully, so far most are believing that it is a prank or a play of some sort by locals." Kate smiled a little, a hint of amusement shining through her stoic expression. "Apparently ghost stories used to be a Christmas tradition."

"So I've heard," Rose said dryly.

"A Christmas Carol," the Doctor said. He looked genuinely shocked. "Honestly, one of the greatest novels of English Literature!"

"He's a Charles Dickens fan," Rose said. She smiled a little. "Met him not that long ago. He was nice."

Kate opened her mouth to say something only to close it and shake her head. Taking the folder, Rose flipped it open with a slight frown. The images inside were fuzzy, but the statement next to each statement gave a detailed description of the so-called ghosts.

"This looks fuzzy," Rose said, holding up the image. "You said there's video."

Kate nodded, and one of the techs started playing a video. Instead of a distinct person, there was a whitish blur. The only sound was static. It was a very classic ghost video, but it didn't fit with what Rose had just seen.

Noise at the front door made everyone look up, but then the guard stepped to the side and Benton came into view. He beamed at her and the Doctor, looking truly happy to see them. Benton was a touch heavier than he'd been when Rose had last seen him. There were faint stress lines around his eyes, but they were still a big improvement over when he'd been at UNIT. In the sea of uniforms, he was wearing a colourful Christmas sweater and looked very pleased about it. A few of the soldiers were glancing at him from time to time. It almost made her laugh.

Stepping forward, Rose hugged Benton who grinned and hugged her right back. "What happened to retirement?" Rose asked.

"I tried," Benton said. "I want the record to show that I tried, but this is the sort of thing that gets a man's attention." As Rose let go of him, he turned his attention to the Doctor and extended his hand. "Good to see you, Doctor."

"Benton." They shook hands as the other UNIT personnel shifted a bit nervously in the background. The mobile unit was officially a bit too small now. "Good to see you too."

"Thank you for coming," Benton said. "I didn't think too much of it at first, but once I reported it and UNIT started tracking the activity… well, you better come and see for yourself."

"What did you see, John?" The Doctor asked.

"I thought it was just a man in a costume. He looked solid and real," Benton explained. "But then he said that he was trapped and vanished. Not the strangest thing I've ever seen but unsettling, so I reported it in. I wasn't the first report, but my report was enough to get UNIT to take a look. That was last week."

"So what is going on?" the Doctor asked.

"Strange people in old clothing appear out of thin air and vanish moments later," Benton said. He gestured to a nearby computer. "UNIT has been plotting them out."

The technician hit a few buttons, and a map of York came up on screen with small dots scattered around it. Yet, all the dots were in the walled area or near Clifford Castle. There were many dots in busy places, but that might have just been the 'ghosts' being noticed rather than a real pattern.

"Any tracking of the time period?" the Doctor asked.

"Not with any success," Benton admitted. "Most people can't identify period clothing with any accuracy. And the only more modern report that came in was due to the 'ghost' being in someone's house."

"So there might be ghosts in more modern clothing, but they're not noticed," the Doctor said. "That is interesting."

"Well the frequency of the sightings has sharply increased over the last few days," Benton said. Another visual came up, this time with a sharply rising line of sightings. "Old York has a reputation for hauntings, they run ghost tours, but this seems to be something else. Some of the ghosts that locals have reported from time to time have been reported a lot in the last few days."

"I'd ask if it was hysteria, but we saw one on the way here," the Doctor said. Leaning forward, he studied the map. "If there's a pattern, we'll find it, but the real question is why now? If there is something strange going on why is it active now?"

"We're waiting for construction records," Kate answered. "Our thought is something was disturbed."

The Doctor kept studying the dots as Benton headed for the back and the tea table. Rose followed him, glancing back at the Doctor as Kate answered his questions about the timing of the sightings. So far, something alien under York being disturbed sounded like the most likely idea, but what would cause these ghosts? It didn't seem like anything was off with time.

"How is life on the TARDIS treating you?" Benton handed Rose the paper cup of tea. "Holding up alright?"

"I love it," Rose said. She allowed herself to smile widely. "We look after each other. We're a good team."

"That's not surprising," Benton said. "Alistair called me after his little trip with you."

"Oh, how did that go?"

"I've refused to see him in person," Benton grumbled. "Honestly, he finds a way to get younger. I'm afraid that if I see him with dark hair that I'll start saluting like I was a sergeant all over again."

"It was odd," Rose agreed. "And I didn't know him at that age. At least he was calm about it. That was a weird day."

"I'm just glad that everyone was alright."

"It worked out. But how about you? Retiring to York, that seemed a bit odd."

"I like this city. Nice people, a lovely wall to walk on for exercise. My niece and her son live in town, so I have family in the area." Benton patted his belly with a smile. "I'm finally learning how to cook more than the basics. And I've taken up baking. It's brilliant."

"Glad to hear it. I didn't realize that you had a niece," Rose admitted.

"I tried to keep my family out of this," Benton said. "Unlike Alistair I was successful. Janice is a good girl. Her parents, my sister and her husband, passed when she was nineteen in a car crash. I looked after her through college. She's a nurse."

"Has she seen any of the ghosts?" Rose asked.

"Uh no." Benton paused and frowned a bit. "That does seem odd. A hospital and yet no ghosts."

"They aren't ghosts," the Doctor said. He was grinning wildly and grabbed Rose's free hand. "Good to see you, John, but Jeopardy Friendly and I need to have a look around."

Benton just smiled and nodded. "Have fun."