Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. I merely borrow them to torture them every now and then. Warnings: Child murder.
Chapter Two
The TARDIS jolted as it materialized and the Doctor snatched up the old sonic, pocketing it. "Are you coming or not?" he asked, unintentionally letting out some of his anger.
For a moment Peri considered, the Doctor was, for once, actually giving her a choice, she could choose not to go, to stay in here and wait for him to get back and never speak of what had happened again and…No, she turned to him, glaring, she refused to just stay and cower inside the TARDIS. "Of course I am"
The Doctor blinked at her once and she took it as a sign of approval for her choice. He opened the doors and stepped out onto the crowded street, scanning the area with the sonic, leaving Peri to run after him.
Suddenly, he turned and looked at her in concern. "I could take you home, if you really wanted to, we aren't so far off, just a few years into your future."
Peri stopped abruptly, completely thrown off by this seemingly random subject change. "What has that got to do with anything?" she asked incredulously. "I never said I wanted to go home. I mean just because I happened to get a bit mad at you, doesn't mean I wanna leave. Why would you even think that?"
The Doctor smiled, shaking his head fondly, stubborn girl, honestly her loyalty would never cease to amaze him. "No reason, it's just today has been rather rough on the both of us. I was just wondering if you hadn't had enough. Like Tegan…"he said in a sad voice.
Peri grinned, any previous felling of animosity vanishing at the sight of his sadness and she elbowed him playfully. "Hey, you're not getting rid of me that easily Doctor…and yeah, so today's been a bit rough, so what. Besides strangely enough things are even worse back home. Anyway," she looked up at him. "What kind of friend would leave you to face that lot alone? Especially seeing as I know what they can do," Peri said, giving the Doctor what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
The Doctor smiled back saying nothing but blushing slightly as he quickened his pace, walking briskly towards the building, pausing at the doors before heading to the back alley. This version of the Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria was similar to the second one they had visited, inside families were having fun and the children were playing, except for the fact that the three main animatronics were visible and in the corner there was some kind of puppet. Interesting.
Behind him Peri rolled her eyes. 'Typical,' she thought 'here I am, basically pouring my heart out and what does the guy do? Wander off on me…Honestly!' But she grinned again, racing after him and catching up just as he entered the back alley. In the back of the building was an emergency exit, which lead directly to the parts and services room, which was a stroke of luck as that was the only room that always had its door open. The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver and quietly worked on the door, grinning triumphantly at the small click it made when it opened. Cautiously, he pushed it open and peeked inside, a hand held out behind him to stop Peri from entering. Inside the restaurant he could see one of the animatronics, Golden Freddy, his mind supplied, talking to five children. Taking this as a sign that they were at the right time period the Doctor crept inside, and Peri took the opportunity to look in. She gazed helplessly at the small group, unable to stop herself from wondering if they were the ones. Momentarily she debated on whether or not she would have the time to rush in there and stop it from happening, regardless of what it would do to the web of time, but a near imperceptible shake of the Doctor's head made her give up. It was no use, these children were doomed.
The Doctor held his hand out wordlessly to her and she quietly ran across the room to join him, grasping his hand in hers, moving closer to him as he whispered. "I believe the er, Golden Freddy suit was the one used for the murders. So, I'm afraid to say that this is it Peri."
The animatronic's head suddenly whipped around and stared at the parts and services room, as if he had heard every word the Doctor had said. Its eyes narrowed and it started to move towards them. Peri's eyes widened and the Doctor tugged on her hand, dragging her further back into the room, frantically whispering "Hide." Not that she needed telling, of course, hiding was the first thing on her mind right now, only it seemed that they were trapped. Luckily for them, the Doctor spied a large box and pointed it out to Peri, who sighed in relief. The box was in fact a spare music box, made for the marionette in case the other one broke down. As it was though, it made the perfect hiding spot for the two travelers. The Doctor opened the lid with a speed that under normal circumstances would've shocked Peri, but as it was speed was probably the best thing. He climbed inside then held out his hand to Peri so as to help her. The young American smiled gratefully and muttered her thanks as she struggled inside. Once in, she curled up into as small of a ball as she could and held her breath as the Doctor dropped the lid, plunging them in complete darkness. As he did so, the sound of a suit falling off could be heard, evidently the golden robot had given up his chase and gone back to his original victims, and the sound of childish gasps of terror rang through the room. Peri whimpered and the Doctor delved into his pocket, pulling out to sets of ear plugs. Handing two to Peri he mimed putting them in his ears and she nodded, shoving them in as he did the same.
It seemed as though they had put them in place just in time as not a second later the pizzeria was filled with bloodcurdling screams and sadistic laughter as the murderer began his work. The Doctor paled and glanced down at Peri who had her hands pressed over her ears, desperately trying to block out the noise that wasn't removed by the ear plugs, and her eyes were screwed shut. She was also, the Doctor noted, breathing rather heavily and seemed to be bordering on hyperventilation. He raised his sonic with one hand, pressing a button, around them the music box's eerie theme began playing, blocking out the remainder of the noise. Then putting it back in his pocket he reached out for his companion, who jumped, startled by his touch. The Doctor pulled her close to him protectively, putting his hands over her own, holding the terrified girl to his side.