AN:
There may be errors in this. For example, you might see words between "[i]" and "[/i]". This indicates thought, or a brief shift in POV. It's bothersome, I know, but I am working on it ;)
Glass breaking sounded up ahead, and someone let out a shrill scream. My attention was at the front of the room in an instant, the Doctor with me all the way. "What's happening? Can you see?" I asked frantically, hopping out of my chair and crossing over to the Doctor's.
"Someone's fallen," he answered, hopping out of his own. "Come on!"
I followed him through the crowds of people, thickening as every second brought about a new curiosity. The Doctor and I weren't just curious. We actually wanted to get to the bottom of things. For some reason, my heart pounded, and I couldn't tell if it was because of doom or excitement that something was actually happening.
Finally, we arrived at the body of a young woman, eyes glazed over and fixed on the ceiling, a broken martini glass smashed on the floor. The Doctor bent down, checking her over, but I think everyone in the room guessed what the verdict was, but I was the one who asked it. "Poisoned?"
"'Fraid so."
"She looks so young..." A thought came to mind. "Could she be linked with Raymous?" Suddenly, another scream sounded, more of a shriek than anything, yet it still made my heart jump.
The Doctor stood up, eyes fixed on the area. "I don't know, but I have a feeling I know of one death she could have a link to." Once again, we were bounding off, this time a puzzled audience curiously watching us.
This time it was a man, maybe nearing his 40's, or already there. "Okay, so it's not just youth," I deduced aloud, continuing to make further observations. My eyes fell to the man's hands. No broken glass. "Was he even poisoned?" I asked expectantly.
"Look again."
I gave the Doctor a puzzled look, then placed it on the dead man's face. A crimson substance began to drip from a corner of his mouth - blood. "Okay." I tried to take it in, my head bobbing as I did so. "Poisoned. So? What can we do to stop this?"
The Doctor stood up from his knelt position, eye level with the martini glasses upon the table beside him. His mouth opened just so slightly, to take in a short gasp of air. This was my signal to stand, a sense of dread tugging at my heart so that it pumped a little faster. It didn't help that he refrained from answering me. "Doctor, have we just witnessed a planned murder?"
But he left my side, right then and there, weaving off into disappearance. After a moment of impatient searching, I found him up on an elevated platform near the front of the ballroom. "Attention, ladies and gentlemen! There has been a murder! Two, actually. Someone's on a roll tonight."
"Do you know what's caused it?" someone called out, desparation clear.
There was another sickening thud to the floor, but by now it was just old news met with a few whispers. I looked to the Doctor like everyone else - for answers. He did look completely in control of the situation, and perhaps he knew something I didn't. In fact, I was sure of it. "Three. And I'm guessing counting?" He snapped his fingers at a short older gentleman, wearing a wig. "You! You look like the stereotypical Paige. Who all came here and in what order?"
The little man blinked, taken aback by this stranger's abrupt behavior, but began reading off a scroll anyway. "Miss Destiny Weaver. Sir Charles Dougan. Lady Melanie Laviathian. Miss -"
The Doctor held up a hand. "Stop right there. Is that all who appear to be dead?"
The real Paige looked over the people, then turned his attention back to the Doctor. "Yes."
"And it's my assumption that each were told to sit and take a drink?"
"That is correct."
Right there, everything inside me was slowing to a halt. Things were fitting together, and it was worse than I thought.
"And it is true that the drinks are blue? Much like the, 'New Liquid' your king was presented with very recently? I mean, a different shade, yes, but still a distinctive shade of azure."
The New Liquid! Surely not! "Doctor, you are not saying that..."
He traveled down the platform to a spot where he could give me direct eye contact. "You were the one who said 'planned murder.'"
Planned murder. For everyone...everyone who drank the drink. No.
He placed a pondering finger on his chin, and circled once before commencing to everyone in the room. "The drinks are poisonous!"