In Hiding

Chapter 2 - Invisible

(George POV)

Twigs snapped underfoot and dirt flew up around her as George ran through the woodland. Not caring where she would end up she ran along the gravel paths with only one thought in her head; 'Get as far away from them as possible so they can't see me'.

She had been running for what felt like an hour but was probably only minutes, even so her lungs were burning from the exertion of an unexpected run. As she ran she thought back to how she had got here two days ago when she had finally put into action her plan to leave her home life behind. Her journey had taken her away from her home town to the edge of the next county, using a bike as a means of less easily detectable transport. The bike then had to be discarded as she entered the wooded landscape of the large forest reserve that resided in that area, hoping to get far off the beaten track where anyone from her former life would not bother looking for her until she came up with a more permanent solution.

Until this morning George had not yet encountered any other people in her stretch of wood, but that changed when she had been awoken from a restless sleep by a loud rustling in the bushes around where she slept. The leaves on the bushes had been disturbed and bent backwards as if someone had pushed through them recently. Thinking that she had been discovered George had quickly packed up the small bag she had taken with her and set off at a fast pace through the trees. It wasn't long before she had heard footsteps behind her, following at a distance. That was when she had broken into a run knowing for sure that whoever it was, was after her.

George knew she was making too much noise as she ran and that whoever was following her could easily do so by the trail of destroyed foliage she was leaving in her wake. Before she had time to think about where she was actually running to, her foot caught an exposed tree root causing her to trip, slamming into something solid in front of her as she fell. From where she now knelt on the ground she looked up to see what she had collided with but to her confusion she saw nothing visible before her.

George slowly got to her feet and felt the air around her with her hands; her left hand struck something solid that appeared to ripple in the air as if it were made of water yet it felt solid. Thinking that must have been what she had bumped into she stepped backwards away from it and felt around to try and see how large it was. Behind her she could still hear the set of footsteps drawing nearer, they sounded only a few feet away as she froze on the spot. Not able to move forward around the invisible barrier, she turned around to face whoever was chasing her.

George could not see anything behind her either and wondering if she was going mad she called out.

"Hello? I can hear you so you might as well show yourself", she called loudly. After a minute with no response she tried again.

"You've chased me all this way so why are you giving up now?", once again her question was met with silence. George's mind was now going into overdrive, doubting whether she was making all of this up or if the invisible things were really there. The sound of the footsteps had stopped and there appeared to be no one following her anymore so George started running once again, swerving right around the invisible blockage in front of her.

After a couple more minutes of running, the sound of footsteps was suddenly closer than before and this time were joined by a second pair. George was abruptly grabbed from behind and roughly shoved up against the side of a beech tree by invisible hands. She cried out in alarm and tried to wriggle free but her attackers bound her hands with rope that strangely became visible once wrapped around her wrists. They held her up against the bark of the tree as she heard a high-pitched beep move from one side of her head to the other.

"Commander, my scanner reading detects that this life-form is human and is in the latest known location of our escaped fugitive", the voice was distinctly male but deep and nasally.

A second voice then replied; "Well then this pathetic human must be the one we are looking for, execute them immediately Stark".

Alarmed at what the second voice had said George attempted to loosen the bonds arounds her wrists; these invisible people seemed dangerous and why did they refer to her as human?

"Please, I think you've got the wrong person. I'm not a prisoner or a fugitive, I don't understand what you're talking about.", George pleaded, now frightened for her life. Her captors stopped the talk between them to laugh at what she had said.

"Silence human, you can only speak when I say you can. Stark what is going on, this was the only human life form in the area", the Commander demanded his voice accusing.

"I will scan again, Sir", replied Stark as George heard the beeping sound repeated. "It appears I was mistaken Sir, this human appears to be female not male and there are now multiple life form readings in the area", Stark admitted with a hint of hesitation.

Their conversation had done little to ease George's worries at having been captured my invisible attackers that may or may be real; or human for that matter. At least it now seemed that she was not the person they were looking for.

"You incompetent fool Stark!", snarled the Commander, "now we have to neutralise this human".

George was then forced down to her knees before something crashed down on her head in a stinging blow and she cried out. The hands that were holding her let go and she slumped to the ground; she heard her attackers disappearing away from her as she laid there in shock.

A/N: Introducing my OC George who will be joining Ross on this adventure.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Doctor Who, only my OC character George.