All around the tiny cell voices rang out in shrill panic. There was nothing Vespera could do and she watched exhausted as many of the cells occupants ran at the exit door. On the other bunks, Sophia pulled her sister out of harm's way as Jordan and a man called Bow put themselves between the two woman and the terrified mob. The red haired stranger sat cross legged and silent one hand clasped over her numbered wrist, the hollow smile still playing on her lips.
As the first blow struck the door it swung open scattering people left and right with its force. Armed men swarmed into the room, the strange weapons held in front of them like shields. There was no General this time but in the centre stood the Doctor a small bag at the ready eyes scanning the terrified crowd dispassionately. Dim lights flickered on overhead and Vespera had to cover her eyes after the perpetual darkness of the room. People tried to press themselves against the walls away from the armed men but the cell was too small and there was nowhere to hide.
The Doctor pointed at the nearest person and two of the guards dragged Adam to his feet pinning his arms behind him. The Doctor tilted Adam's head as he had done with Vespera and pushed the man's lip up slightly so he could look at his incisors. Adam baulked at the Doctor touching his mouth and was rewarded with a blow to the stomach. The Doctor sighed and waited for the soldiers to pull the wrenching man to his feet again.
"Keep it still gentleman or we'll be here all day."
He pulled Adam's lip up again and had another look in his eyes.
"Well it seems when he recovers the General can be informed that this batch was not a complete failure. Hold it outside and let's have a look at the next one."
The two men pulled a still stunned Adam from the cell. Another two soldiers grabbed Tryst, Vespera thought with a little too much eagerness. The Doctor repeated the same procedure but at the end rubbed his temples.
"No, not yet, throw it back and get me another." Tryst was sent stumbling backwards, Vespera grabbed the woman before she could hit the floor and pulled down next to her on the bunk. The next person was one of the still unconscious bodies on the floor, the Doctor raised the woman's eyelids and then checked the neck. He stood up vexed.
"Dead, put it with the biological waste for a DNA wipe, then burn it."
The sorting continued amongst the rising fear within the cell. Another of the woman on the floor was declared dead and sent for burning while Nico, Rachel and another unconscious man were sent out of the room supposedly to join Adam. The Doctor seemed particularly pleased with the lawyer and she was bundled out of the room, almost fainting, but still with more care than the other three. Eventually the Doctor turned to Sophia's small group huddled on the hard bunk, the woman seemed to shrink back over her sister as the soldiers approached while in front of the bunk both Jordan and Bow looked ready for a fight.
Nearby the red haired stranger straightened, Vespera felt the subtle change in the woman's emotional state as this new situation presented itself, anger washed over the tint suppressed fear, blocking it out almost entirely.
"Hey it's my turn to play Doctors and Nurses, haven't played that since I was a nipper." The red head called out brashly. The Doctor stopped his advance towards Sophia and turned to the woman.
He motioned to the guards who crowded round the stranger, she held out her arms as they reached for her, grinning impishly.
"Give me a hand up, these cots play havoc with your back." The men stopped puzzled, but both reached out and pulled her to her feet. It did not escape Vespera's notice that by offering the men her hands the red head had thrown them off balance and they had not pinned her arms as effectively as they had with the others. The woman nodded at the approaching Doctor.
"Hang on, gonna sneeze." She took a hurried breath and the Doctor backed up a few paces a look of pained disgust on his face. The red head shook her head and sniffed.
"Maybe not, carry on Matron." The Doctor once more advanced. The woman was at least a head taller than him and he had to reach up to grasp her face, as he did so she sneezed blinding him and sending him stumbling backwards .
"Whoops my bad."
The Doctor fell against one of the soldiers sending the man sprawling over one of the unconscious bodies still to be examined. The soldier's helmet came off and Vespera heard the crack as his exposed head came into contact with the cell wall and saw the bright red smear as he slid towards the floor. In the chaos that followed Vespera found it hard to see or believe what happened next. As the soldier hit the floor both the prone man he had fallen over and another lain nearby seemed to spring into a hunched crouch. They seemed almost bestial, hands drawn into claws mouths hung longing half open, for a moment Vespera even imagined their eyes seemed to glow red in the dim light. Then with unimaginable speed both fell on the half conscious soldier, using their nails to rake at his flesh, biting and tearing at his face until their mouths were wet with blood.
People screamed, the horrified Doctor scrambled backward out of the door as the soldiers piled in weapons raised. Light flared from the gun's torches just like it had under the gap of the door and Vespera heard a high pitched unearthly shriek rise from the two creatures. There were shots, cries and screams all around as the cell's occupants tried desperately to get out of the way of the two monsters. Vespera saw the red head shake free of one of the men holding her only to be struck hard with a gun butt by the other. She fell, blood streaming from her temple.
Immediately the two beasts seemed to frenzy. She could hear the dying shrieks of one as the armed men concentrated their fire but the other cleared the crowd of soldiers in a single bound and stood sniffing the new scent in the air with undisguised relish. The red eyes fixed on the prone woman and its mouth gaped hungrily revealing two large curved incisors already stained with blood. It crouched, poised to spring at the new food source.
Vespera moved between the red head and the creature without thinking, bundling the mix of fear, anger, revulsion and pain inside her into one tight hot ball of negative emotions. The thing ignored her and leapt and as it did she thrust the bubble forward out of her body with every ounce of strength she had left, force feeding the beast all the emotional horrors she could dredge up from her psyche . The effect was instantaneous, the creature screamed and scuttled backwards clawing it's head as if trying to dislodge the barrage of feelings from its brain.
Vespera collapsed to her knees sweat pouring from her skin, her breathing shallow and fast, the action had been too much for her, her head swam, but her attack had still lacked potency. Already the creature was shaking off the effects of her assault the terrible eyes now focused on her, it began to crawl forward.
"Move." The voice was deep and accented, melodious with a wealth of undertones too great for her to comprehend. It resounded inside her head filling her mind and lifting her heart, coursing along that undefined connection she had felt earlier. Feelings which were not her own surged into her through every barrier she had ever erected to defend herself. She sensed darkness and anguish mixed with passion and patience, a mind beyond endurance almost torn in two. The voice came again more urgent than ever.
"You will move." Beneath her, her legs tried to force themselves under her and she staggered two steps sideways as the creature inched closer. But there was no more, voice or no voice her legs could no longer bear her and shaking, half laughing, half crying she sank once more to the floor.
She looked up to see those terrible eyes staring into her own, the rank teeth baring down, she cried out, her mind flooded with terror. She heard the speaker again, felt a mind full of torment and rage crying out into the darkness.
"Kill it."She had no more energy but half raised a hand ready for one more assault before the monster tore her to pieces. It raised a claw like hand to strike her down, a triumphant look on its face.
There was a dull thunk. The creature dropped, a look of pain and surprise imprinted on its face, mouth still agape. Shaking violently Vespera raised her head. One of the metal bars ripped from the sleeping bunks pierced the thing's back at the chest, pinning it to the concrete, already unnaturally dark blood began to coat the floor below. As the pool edged towards her Vespera felt herself being picked up and steadily carried away from the carnage as around her the soldiers began to pull the remains of the fight from the room.
The occupants of the cell stared in numb silence as she was lifted through them and placed carefully on one of the bunks at the back of the room. As she looked up the red head came into view, drying blood now coating one side of her face, her eyes strangely dull and passive. Vespera watched as the woman pulled a blanket from one of the upper cots and place it over her shaking frame before arranging on the edge of the bunk, as if on guard, eyes watching the activity of the soldiers and the rest of the prisoners in equal measure.
Vespera tried to sit up but her body wouldn't let her. Something was wrong, the red head felt oddly docile, the medley of anger and fear from early vanished as if it had never been. The gaping wound on her forehead was so deep Vespera was sure she could see bone but the woman showed no signs that it was even there. At the back of her mind the connection with the unknown voice seemed to throb like a beating heart. Although silent for the moment Vespera got the distinct feeling whoever the voice belonged to was watching her intently, the sensation made her skin prickle uneasily. She eyed the red head again, trying to take her mind from the other consciousness as exhaustion began to make her eyes heavy.
"What's your name?" The woman continued to stare at the activity blankly, when it came, her voice was cumbersome in sharp contrast to earlier.
"Angel."
"Did you kill the...creature?" Angel didn't even glance at her. Her answer was slow and hesitant.
"Yes."
"Thank you." The woman was silent. Vespera's eyes once more went to the wound on her forehead.
"Doesn't that hurt Angel?" The silence continued. The cleanup operation seemed to be over and the armed men were beginning to remove themselves from the room. Vespera could feel herself beginning to drift, she clung onto consciousness unwilling to drift off in this new situation. Angel straightened as the door began to close once more plunging the room into darkness, her voice clung to the gathering shadows.
"You should sleep now. I will keep guard."
Vespera felt herself slipping away. She tried to pull her mind away from the tendrils of sleep that were trying to take hold, away from the rest her mind and body so desperately needed not trusting the safety of her surroundings. She felt the connection in the back of her mind bloom, the voice came, shrouding her mind and dulling her senses, carrying her under with it in an embrace she could not resist.
"I will keep guard. Sleep."
Then there was only darkness.