Into the adventure...
Chapter 3
Saturday 1st January, 2005
The thing about running was that it was widely accepted as a recreational activity by the majority of the population. It was a way to keep fit, healthy and a beyond obvious way for people to work off all they had eaten over the winter period under the pretence of 'New Years Resolutions' when, in reality, it was an idea dropped just after the first day of trying. That's what Grace assumed was going on outside at that very moment. Hundreds and thousands of people running about, trying to keep up the notion that one jog will be pivotal in changing their lives. Inevitably, it never would be that simple and a single run made on a whim would do nothing in the grand scheme of things.
But, Grace was running for an entirely different reason.
It was on that day that she decided to look more into the unknown and non-terrestrial occurrences. That's how she found herself phoning up an old woman after finding a rather peculiar article in the local newspaper. That's how she made up her mind to check out whatever anomaly was potentially taking place and that's how she currently found herself sprinting as fast as she could underneath the earth, winding around an array of freshly made tunnels whilst running from a huge spider-like creature with hands at the end of its legs and squid tentacles for a face.
She hadn't meant to annoy it; truly she hadn't. It was just a rather unfortunate turn of events that started with her making a pun about hands and then ending up with a sentence for execution. It was no wonder really that it was offended, it was even less a wonder when it became upset to the point where it wanted to eliminate to source of its current low self-esteem.
It was an incredibly touchy creature, truly it was.
Overly-sensitive.
The only issue now was getting away from this special snowflake of an alien that was hell-bent on killing her. Grace was never the athletic or even slightly sporty type, in fact, the most exercise she ever did was purely mental – which she thought was exhausting enough on its own – so when her breathing turned from deep, controlled gulps into shallow hiccups that burnt and twisted every time her lungs contracted with whatever air they could consume, it became incredibly apparent that her time to escape was pouring past her like a harsh winters breeze powering on its determined path through its frozen country.
Her vision began to blur as the oxygen began to stop reaching vital organs. Her chest ached immensely and her hand clutched it tightly as her body finally gave in. Grace swayed slightly before colliding with the wall beside her. It was freezing, muddy, wet, slimy and the ridges in its curved surface dug into her arm, leaving bruises to form that littered her shoulder, but that didn't stop her from moving. Her body may have been shutting down from exhaustion but that in no way stopped her brain from racing at a million miles an hour. Death or survival? That was the only question she needed to keep dredging her aching body across the wall that painfully supported her.
An awful screech sounded in the distance before a closer noise became clearer. A sickening crunch and the clicking sounds of arachnid legs coming into contact with the walls and each other. A foreboding feeling settled deep within her gut – it was only a matter of time and her situation was truly and utterly dire. She had but one chance to get away from that thing and she couldn't let her deteriorated body be her downfall, so, with haste, she pushed herself off the wall. Stumbling slightly, she found her balance and began to run once more; only it was more of a limp-hobble-skip that was barely fast enough to keep up with the average New Years jogger. It wasn't enough, that was glaringly obvious and with the black and brown blotched shapes that had attacked and smothered her vision? Falling seemed like the only possible outcome and only reasonable one realistically.
Hands to the ground and knees imbedded in the dirt, it was no wonder Grace had accepted this as the end. There was nothing to do, nothing to say. Her body had shut down and she was only barely hanging onto consciousness. All she could process were the grim sounds that were only moments away from her inevitable "pop off" that would happen within seconds.
At least it's an interesting way to go.
She managed to let out a small, sparing laugh at the absurdity of it all. She was going to be brutally murdered by a giant squid-faced-hand-spider all because she was bored and wanted something interesting to do. To say she succeeded in her quest was an understatement.
Grace closed her eyes and waited for her fate to take her, only – just as she was sure her end had descended upon her – large hands encased and gripped her shoulders tightly. The hands roughly hoisted her body up off the ground and onto her feet. Her arm was placed lazily over a shoulder as another arm slid around her waist and held it in a tight grip. It took slightly longer than it should have for Grace to realise she was being supported.
"You may not like this, but I need you to run, Grace. I need you to run as fast as you possibly can and not stop. Can you do that for me?"
Grace nodded her head numbly, not processing or particularly caring who had hauled her up. She followed their lead as she was tugged roughly through the tunnels, barely taking in anything around her as she fought to remain conscious – the only thing truly remaining was her desperate and primal need to survive.
After running for a short – or was it long? – while the extraordinarily weakened woman was pulled into an off-shooting tunnel and, as they slowed to a halt, Grace began to violently gasp for air as her lungs begged desperately for replenishment. Whoever had saved her slowly detangled themselves from her and lowered the exhausted woman to the ground as gently as possible.
Soon her saviour crouched down in front of her. Grace couldn't focus on anything; no shapes, sights, sounds or anything that could trigger a sudden realisation of familiarity. She had run too long and too far trying to escape. There was nothing left in her to keep going. Then, if only to take her mind off her aching chest, there was an absolutely excruciating pain that erupted on her lower leg. An injury the woman had completely forgotten about when she had been consumed with the all-encompassing adrenaline that had kept her alive for the hours she clearly had been running for. She had received the injury in her initial escape from the creature. It had crushed her to the ground in a flurry of madness and anger; its fury making it pierce her leg with its volatile and deadly sharp legs. Escape came to her in the form of tearing her leg away from the creature, making her wound form a massive gash which she fully ignored in favour of escaping her assailant.
Now, it seemed she was paying the price for it.
She needed to let whoever was with her know that her exhaustion was not all her weakness could be attributed to. With shaking fingers attached to a limb full of tremors, she attempted to gesture towards her leg. Was it enough? She couldn't tell, all of her thoughts converged on that one point on that single task that urgently needed completed.
Survival or death?
There was only ever one answer to that.
With quivering lips and gasping breaths, mangled words attempted to form. Only a few letters managed to emerge before she could no longer speak, her mind finally started to waver as a flow of tiredness washed over her. She fought it with everything.
Soon, she felt a presence closer to her and the barely comprehensible "Oh God" that came from in front of her. A hand came into contact with her cheek as it forced her head forwards.
"I can fix this okay? Just don't close your eyes. A few more minutes, hold on for a few more. Do you understand?" The voice was distanced and disembodied, but she did understand it, fully and wholly.
There was shuffling close to her. If this "fix" didn't come soon, well, the choice would no longer be hers to make – her body seemed desperate to change the answer to the question, but the oceans would run dry and the Earth would roast before she ever let that happen. Death was not an option, never was, never would be and today was not the one that she would allow the darkness to take her. There was too much left for her to experience and discover, too may unresolved relationships and problems. No, today was not the day and so, with steel in her eyes, she flooded the blackness with light long enough for whoever was with her to heal her.
A coolness soon unfurled across her lower leg, spreading deep into her skin until she felt a peculiar tingling overcoming all the agony that previously ravaged the area. A sigh escaped her lips in immense relief. Whatever had been used felt like pure serenity; even as she felt every cell in her wound slowly merge themselves back together. It was a feeling unlike any other – like a shot of pure energy being injected into her blood stream.
Her arm, slightly stronger now, slid downwards as her curiosity filled fingers felt over the gash. They, however, soon jerked back with more power that she should have been capable of. The wound was almost completely gone and in its place was a small ridge that seemed to be weeks into being healed – it should have been impossible.
"Don't worry about it. Should be about five minutes before you have enough strength to move on again."
Taking it in slowly she moved her eyes toward her wound. The hazy static that clouded her vision slowly evaporated as her sight transformed into unparalleled clarity. A small line. That's all there was. Red and ridged, but nothing more.
What the hell!
Then, almost as soon as it hit her, something crucial came to mind – something that had previously been neglected until that very moment. She was not alone and whoever saved her was just an arm's length away. With care, dark-green eyes lifted towards the figure opposite her. It was a man, but, not just any man; one with a large pair of ears and nose, one with incredibly close-cropped hair, one
with an affinity for leather jackets and one who had royally pissed her off on Christmas morning. Of course, it had to be him. His royal bloody highness, the Doctor. Grace was truly ecstatic.
Rolling her eyes, she sat up a bit straighter, "Oh… it's you." She said with mocking distaste. Truly, she was annoyed at him, but that could wait for later when they were in a safer circumstance. Right then, he had saved her and as much as she wanted to go off on one, she knew she couldn't. it wasn't fair nor right to treat him that way after he had risked himself for her. It was fruitless anyway to attempt it; she doubted he even understood what he had done wrong. So, with a small smile etching its way across her face, she continued to speak; "How's it going Doc?"
His eyebrow quirked upwards as a mildly annoyed expression spread across his features. It was fake, she could tell and even if it was convincing, well, there was no way to disguise the relief and concern that dominated his gaze. Guilt began to swarm within her as she realised how much of an idiot she had been and how much she had unwittingly thrown onto the man she had, merely a few weeks ago, dared to call friend.
What have I done?
If she hadn't been there then none of that mess would have ever taken place. There was no excuse, no reason and no extenuating circumstance… only her own severe lapse in judgement to blame.
But, regret, anguish and guilt were never going to be the emotions needed to get up from their precariously concealed position and get the two of them out of there safe, free and unscathed – certainly it would never stop that creature from harming others; a creature that was so clearly out of depth, place and context on planet Earth. In a way, Grace felt incredibly sorry for it and its terrible predicament but, the overwhelming consensus in her mind was wanting to march right up to it and kick it for being such a colossal dick head.
Realistically however, that was just a bad idea no matter which way she put it and no matter how righteous and justified she felt, it was just going to end up with her just a bit, slightly dead.
And that was just a bad life choice in general.
No, she had to work as a team with The Doctor and make a solid plan without being a brain-dead, lump of a liability – it was just slightly disheartening that her body was still not even close to being ready for harsh movements. Still, it was at least strong enough for her to sit up just that little bit straighter.
"I hardly think that's the question you should have asked me. You almost got yourself killed!" The Doctor loudly proclaimed jolting Grace slightly from her thoughts. She had been so engrossed with her own musings that the question she had originally asked him had faded from her memory into oblivion; only now being resurrected from its inky depths.
She rolled her eyes, "Slightly bad move on my part. Most likely won't happen again…" Grace said waving her hand in inconvenience, hoping her eyes didn't betray her, "…probably." She muttered low enough to be the sole witness to the words.
The Doctor paused, looking as if he were about to speak once more, before releasing a sigh with an unparalleled air of defeat. Standing up briefly, he walked the miniscule distance over to her side of the tunnel and sat himself down next to her. Looking solidly at Graces face he noticed the ache of regret that barely hid concealed beneath the surface of her tired features. Seeing her this hurt, defeated, exhausted – damaged was something that he had never wished nor wanted to see. After all it was one of, if not the main reason he left without her in the first place; something he only now realised may not have had the effect he intended to leave behind.
"What are you doing here, Grace?" He asked sincerity seeping into each and every syllable that exited his lips.
Grace simply shrugged, "Was just a bit bored really. Saw this article in the paper and thought I'd give it a look and now here we are." She looked to him, "What are you doing here?
"'A bit bored' seriously? That's one of the stupidest reasons I've ever heard and trust me, I've heard plenty." The doctor looked over his shoulder sending an incredulous look to the young woman who, to her credit, looked a teensy bit, slightly guilty. Pulling on her earlobe she winced slightly.
"Well… I mean. I finished Uni last year, I'm just ever-so-slightly unemployed and about three weeks ago everything that so many people called me crazy for, was proved one hundred percent real. You, Well, not you specifically – I haven't been weirdly stalking you for years or anything weird like that – but other people from different planets, species from other worlds – beings who are aliens from the Human perspective and you just expected me to sit down and keep feeding into the boring routine I'm supposed to follow? No! you opened my eyes, Doctor, and nothing can stop me from seeing everything now." She paused gathering her thoughts before looking steadily into the Doctors chilling-blue eyes, "I need to see Doctor, just a glimpse of something incredible and just more. I've lived complacent and comfortable for too long. Well no more. It's time I did something worthwhile."
No more.
Oh, how the doctor knew those words all too well. Two simple yet catastrophic syllables that led to death, destruction, downfall and his own personal deterioration. A necessary evil that ultimately led him to the man he had become, one that should not have even survived to partake in the conversation he was currently having.
No more.
But, much to his own personal obliviousness, The Doctor had failed to take this glaring red light for what it was – an alarm that would only blare louder as time passed and pieces of Grace slowly became lost and foreign. He seemed, in that moment to be slightly too enthusiastic towards her after her speech. After all, who was he to deny the woman an adventure? Even after that day's catastrophe.
"The dangers out there are beyond anything you could ever imagine. Whatever species you managed to rub up the wrong way here is nothing but child's play compared to what I've seen and compared to almost any other planet anywhere in space or time. Could you handle it?" The question was left hanging for no more than a few milliseconds before Grace was ready to answer as confidently as she could, only, it would have to wait for who-knows-how-long before she could allow the words to manifest into sentiments she would never be able to take back. The click-clack-click of the creature had become increasingly close the tunnel in which they hid. Only seconds remained before it was at eye level with them.
Both alien and human staying as silent as the grave. Their hands finding one another's in comfort whilst neither dared release any breath.
Then there it was.
It's putrid smell leaving wisps of foulness to enter their nostrils. It took almost everything in Grace not to balk at the very thought of it and made her wonder why she had never noticed that pronounced odour before.
It's head turned towards them.
Her eyes looked directly at it.
Her hand tightened around the Doctors own.
He did the same.
Then as if by some ill-conceived draw of luck, It moved onwards down the tunnel leading off into a separate chasm.
Shaking her head, Grace knew that they needed to get the hell out of dodge before that creature realised it had just lost its prey. She turned her head towards the man beside her.
"That thing does have a bit of a whiff about it, doesn't it?." She stated, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
The Doctor gave her an incredulous look before he was suddenly jerked upwards. Grace had, somewhat painfully, managed to haul herself and the Doctor up off the ground. He gave her a look of concern and confusion, but before he could question her any further he found himself suddenly tugged further down the tunnel – his body catching up to his arm after a few seconds of stunned faffing about. Soon he matched graces stride as they twisted down into a new intersection. They went left and ran for a few minutes more before their pace steadily slowed to a halt.
Grace lifted their conjoined hands with a half-hearted "whoo!" Before letting go and leaning up against the wall behind her. Sitting just didn't seem like a safe or even particularly viable decision at that point. The extra step of standing up was not exactly the best tactic when needing to escape from a psychotic squid-hand-spider that was hellbent on her elimination from life.
The Doctor hesitated for a moment, before coming slightly closer to her. "Are you all right? You're not hurt or…?"
Grace shook her head. "No, no just a bit knackered is all." She finished on a weak chuckle. She sighed when the familiar buzzing of a certain screwdriver – that definitely wasn't the product of a man that just didn't know when to stop when it came to multi-purpose devices – raked up and down her body. The Doctor let out a small grunt when the results came back with a perfect report card, whilst Grace simply shook her head at him, the side of her mouth quirking up in amusement.
He moved to the other side of the tunnel, eyes drifting towards the direction they came from; Graces soon travelled to the same destination. It was in this action the she realised they hadn't even gone that further into the tunnel and that unbelievably, they were incredibly exposed.
Go figure.
Trying not to think about their position, her eyes slowly drifted back to the man across from her only to find that his were already locked gravely on her. It wasn't a kind or welcoming gaze, it was harsh, cold and calculating. The concern he had previously for her had vanished into the ether, leaving nothing but a passive casing, shielding a brew of stirring and highly provoked anger, annoyance and severe irritation beneath. In a way, it was almost as if being scolded silently by a parent who just wanted a picture-perfect child. It was greatly unnerving, causing Grace to shift awkwardly on the spot; her feet scraping over one another and her hand tugging the segment of hair closest to her face.
She laughed nervously. "So…uh…what was that thing? Cause I don't know about you but I've never seen anything like it. I mean it's a bit weird isn't it having a creature combo'd with those three things. Honestly, spider body with human hands for feet? What is the point? It cant have any evolutionary purpose that would be in any way beneficial! And don't get me started on the logistics of having a bloody squid for a face…"
As she spoke, the Doctors overly-harsh stare began to soften. He couldn't stay mad, no matter how hard he tried – he wasn't even sure if he wanted to. Each word that exited her mouth was just nonsensical babble that didn't really amount to anything and looped round and round and round and didn't have any intention of stopping. It was very easy to zone out to. The incessant need to talk for a very long time – ordinarily – would have driven him up the wall within seconds (he was only a man of very few words himself after all) but with her he almost found it endearing – almost.
After a while it could get quite, very, annoying.
"… So I mean can you see where I'm coming from? Of course you do but..."
"…Squib." The Doctor interjected, desperate for her to just. Stop. Talking.
"What?"
"Squib."
"You what?"
"It's a squib."
"Confused."
"The alien… is a Squib." He said slowly, desperate for her to finally use the intelligence he knew she stored somewhere deep within her mind. He may have also been a smidge exasperated too.
Graces face scrunched violently before it relaxed, and finally, scrunched hurriedly back up in equal
disgust.
"Squib?!"
"Yup…"
"That is such a stupid name. You sure you're serious? Like serious, serious?"
"Deadly." The Doctor stated a tad irritated. He didn't want to get overly frustrated with her, after all she was a human up against her first alien looking alien, but that didn't mean he couldn't be just slightly ticked off at her constant questioning over the exact same topic. He could handle it if the questions were at least different and varied, not stuck on a perpetual loop, condemning him for all eternity.
They stayed silent for a few moments before Grace became slightly agitated. So many questions flooded and flowed into her already overwhelmed mind. Where was it from? Why did it take such offence and why on earth was it tunnelling away under the soil of an old woman's garden? And that was just the tip of questions she had planned to fiercely onslaught onto the Doctor. However, such thoughts were quickly qualmed when the man in question shook his head with a slight chuckle. Her gaze snapped up towards him at that.
"I can practically hear the thoughts ticking around your head; like the words you want to say have already been spoken just through that intense look you have." He said slightly mocking of her. Grace glared as her arms folded in front of her. The Doctor coughed. "Okay fine, it's from the planet Cadmius's second moon Arcindate, its here because, well, it's an incredibly dull place to live really – never could understand why anything would want to live on Arcindate – and I have no idea why it's so offended. They're usually such peaceful creatures…" He trailed off giving a half-accusatory-half-curious look. What had she done?
She rubbed the back of her neck and laughed weakly. "Well…you see I…" She started, but was interrupted by an incredibly large screech that sounded off far too close to them for comfort, causing the woman to gulp deeply and look towards the Doctor with fearful determination. She took a stride forward before grabbing the Doctors hand, his eyes looking at her confused before he too heard the gruesome sound of their deaths looming ever closer, "…we need to go now Doctor." And with that she began running in the opposite direction of the creature – Squib – that followed them. The Doctor ran with her at the same pace, desperate to escape with their lives.
The tunnels blurred as each of them adopted its form of vision. The focus was solely to survive. They had to. Just had to. But, as time went on, it was becoming clear that Grace could no longer keep the pace she once had. The Doctor was now ahead of her and almost dragging her to make sure she kept up. Grace was exhausted, weak, tired and desperate to just lie down and sleep. Her legs began to hurt with every step taken. A slick flame that twisted and burrowed its way deep beneath the flesh, settling deep within her joints and marrow. It was like her entire body was slowly beginning to combust – each of her bones slowly turning to dust. Her breaths came out as short hiccups, head feeling as if constantly dwelling within intense motion blur and her heart feeling like it could erupt out of her chest at any given moment.
She let go of the Doctors hand.
Grace looked around where she was, taking in her options and possibilities. Off to her right was a crevice that could easily fit two people and to her left was nothing but solid earth. So that was her choices; crevice or keep running until a new tunnel came within view. And there was no way she could keep running much longer.
Crevice it is.
"Grace come on! We need to go."
Feeling her hand being taken once more all she could do was shake her head and whisper a quiet 'no' that was barely comprehensible.
The Doctor, however, did not so much as loosen his grip. "You can't be serious? Grace you understand that if we stop, we die right?"
"Of course I know…" she began slightly sharp, "…but I can't keep going Doctor. If I keep doing this I'm going to collapse like last time and then we will be completely nothing but Squib dinner." She nodded towards the gap in the wall, "There's a crevice just there that could fit the both of us and then some. Just give me five minutes. Five minutes and we can keep going again."
Giving her an unsure look, the Doctor looked into her eyes for any signs of self-doubt or any inkling that she could change her mind. He found nothing but confidence and exhaustion.
Grace stared at him intensely, trying desperately to give the impression of confidence when in reality that mask was just as flimsy as her reasoning for stopping. If he agreed then whatever happened would be on her.
He sighed. "Two minutes. We cant afford to lose any more time. We cant even afford to lose this..." he trailed off before leading them both into the small gap in the tunnel – Grace headed towards the back whilst the doctor kept watch near the entrance.
The inside was noticeably darker than the rest of the interconnecting trails of tunnel and was significantly more damp. Water trailed from the ceiling and slid down the walls in thin strands which heavily resembled the pulsing veins that often protruded where the skin was thinnest on the wrist. A small light emerged onto it, glimmering as more water trickled down the now glistening wall. An obscured image of mangled features was what it had become – a mirror that reflected nothing but horror and fear. Fingers reached out to touch its cold fluidity. They grazed across it gaining a small sheen that coated finger tips. Grace looked at the substance curiously, her eyes being reflected in distortion on the top of her own skin. She was transfixed, unable to do anything more than simply stare at that liquid which seemed to be more viscous that normal, holding a transparency and lustre that, to all appearances, obscured reality entirely.
After some time her concentration shifted back towards the wall which seemed thicker with the substance than it was before. She could clearly see her entire body now. It was misshapen and different; an arm in the wrong place, her neck bent sharply to the side and and eye slowly sliding down her dripping face. It was almost a if her own reflection had taken up a career of being a cubist artist. Grace moved her face closer to the substance and her own peculiar mirror image. One hand reached for her real face in confirmation that she herself was not misshapen, and the other landed centrally in the middle of her abstracted reflection.
Then, everything changed.
The light tones of her skin swirled and merged with the blonde of her hair and brown of her jacket forming into something else entirely. Soon even the colours changed turning more grey and dull. Each shape formed together as if they were small drops of rain that had been magnetised together. It was hard to make out exactly what was happening and harder still to keep a hold of the fleeting thoughts that seemed to be stolen as soon as they had been born. Then, the shapes began to form together manifested into an image that was clouded and obscured with smoke – that was until the silhouette solidified into permanency.
The image was of a woman, familiar in every way possible, yet strikingly different; for the woman standing there was in fact Grace… Just not as she knew herself to be. She was wearing a grey satin dress and jewelled earrings that shone, her long golden hair now cropped just above her shoulders and her dark-green eyes impossibly deeper in colour and devoid of any emotion. Her hand was steady as she held a black metal object between her reddened fingers.
Then she lifted it.
It was soon very apparent as to what she had been holding.
The version of Grace in the reflection strode quickly and purposefully towards her. No words were spoken as she looked into the endless depths of her normally vibrant eyes. The pain and emptiness was almost too much to bear. Graces reflection never flinched when she made her living counterpart stare down the bottom of the barrel, her eyes seemingly staring right through her as her fingers squeezed tightly on the trigger – not so much as a choice of final word or plea for mercy as the bullet found its mark.
Taking an involuntary step backwards, Grace sucked in in incredibly deep breath as pain erupted on her forehead. Her hand reached violently upwards, padding the skin desperately trying to find the wound. Only there wasn't one. The skin on her forehead was perfectly smooth and her fingers devoid of the sticky red substance that should have smothered them. She look up to the liquid mirror, eyes wide and desperate, only to find it had gone, leaving no trace of ever being there in the first place. The wall was completely dry. She reached her hand towards the wall cautiously, her fingertips twitching inches away before a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Grace?" The Doctor asked in concern, his brows furrowing as worry shone in his eyes. "What's wrong?"
Grace still wasn't present, at least not mentally, so when she turned around to face him with the empty eyes her invisible counterpart seemed to possess, it struck the Doctor as alarming immediately. He took a step forward, her eyes were still completely unfocused as he did so.
"Grace?" He tried once more albeit with considerable amounts of caution.
He put his hand on her shoulder.
Graces eyes focused with the piercing clarity of a finely cut diamond as she leaned closer.
"Something horrifying is to descend upon us."
She spoke the words so softly it was as if she was communicating with the wind itself. But, the Doctor heard it, every bit. He leaned down to meet her at eye level, trying to decipher any information he wished he could pull from their depths of ether.
"What?" He spoke almost as softly. He was confused, concerned, but overall more than a tad more curious than what would have normally been expected from a situation such as that.
Her eyes glazed over once more and the Doctor became frustrated. He grabbed her other shoulder shook her. It was only mean to be slight, but ended up more violent in fear than he intended.
"What's going to happen? Grace, tell me!"
"I'm telling you to stop!" Grace yelled as she yanked herself free from the Doctors harsh grip. Grace rubbed her shoulders, wincing slightly as slight spots of pain rose to the surface of her skin. She gave him a glance that held caution, confusion and a bubbling pool of anger. "What in the hell was that for, huh?" She winced once more.
"You know I have an older brother. I'm used to being ruffed around a bit. But usually I did something to deserve it and then there is the glaring fact that he is, well, my brother. Do you see where I'm coming from?" She said with slight exasperation.
The Doctor seemed to become nothing more than the living personification of confusion at that point. He moved his head from left to right before leaning forwards. A perplexed smile emerged as he put his hands together in one resounding thud. "Absolutely no idea, but what I do want to know is why on Earth do you think something bad is going to happen? What do you know? Also sorry for hurting you a bit." He shrugged giving a brighter grin that before.
"Yeah its not exactly fun being a human salt shaker." Grace grumbled to herself petulantly before really taking in what the Doctor said. It was absurd, unrealistic, stupid and not to mention impossible. They had only been inside that small alcove for a few seconds which was nowhere near enough time to suddenly gain knowledge – Knowledge of what exactly? It seemed like he was suggesting the future – which was completely mad – but honestly, he was an odd bloke anyway, probably got a bit bored, slightly flustered and had a minor hallucination. Yeah that seemed like it.
By why did that not seem like it was the right answer?
Her arm dropped fro her shoulder to her side. "What do you mean? Something bad's going to happen? How am I supposed to know that?"
"That's what you said. 'Something horrifying is to descend upon us' that's what you told me a minute ago. Now are you gonna tell me what it is, or keep it to yourself?"
Grace shook her head and let out a disbelieving chuckle, her arms folding over one another as her chin rested on her fist, a stray finger pointing out to the side. "I don't remember that." She dropped her arm and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't, so whatever information you're looking for? I don't know what to tell you, but its not there and I kinda doubt it ever was…"
"…it was, it definitely was…"
"…But, what we need to do now is keep moving. I want us to get out of here alive and to be able to get some really strong paracetamol 'cause my head is killing me." Grace said as she moved towards the tunnel once more, only to be stopped in her tracks.
"You were really upset about your head a minute ago. Seemed like you were in a lot of pain and by the look on your face I'm guessing you don't remember that, do you?" The Doctor asked rhetorically, knowing full well his words to be true.
Grace shook her head in denial. "It's been two minutes, we need to go. Don't mind me. I'll figure it out later. Now, what we really need to focus on is getting out of here and – not to give you any false hope or anything – I got down here through a tunnel that seemed as endless as the first level of the maze in Labyrinth, so maybe were closer than we think, yeah?"
The Doctor had to admit that even he couldn't argue with that. But, he would check into that when they got out. He couldn't leave it – he just had to know.
Grabbing her hand, he made his way towards the tunnel. "Okay fine. But once we get out I'm gonna run a few tests to see what's going on okay? Okay good. Nice chat. Moving on."
He began to pull her towards the brighter tunnel, the light blinding him momentarily before he finally realised what a great-big-massive-mistake he had made by not checking the space in which he was to step out on. If he had checked maybe they would have been able to get out with less fear that they ended up with, maybe then he could have gotten safely away with no scrambling about and maybe then would he not be face-to-face with the creature that had hunted them since they had arrived.
The Squibs tentacles oozed a gunge that resembled the salivated drool from a hungry dog, turned brown with the mud it had chosen to dwell within. It had no eyes, mouth, nose or ears on its sickly pale face, only indentations to give the idea that, at one point in their evolution, they may have possessed those features. The smell was putrid, vile and burned the nostrils of both the man that stood before it and the woman slightly behind. It was toxic. The creatures jet black legs rubbed together making a hissing sound before one of its bladed appendages slammed into the wall next to the Doctors head, its foot of hands green with mould, black with gangrene and yellow with infection that would never cause it any harm. It was leaning closer, closer, closer, closer…
…until it wasn't.
Grace had hauled him back inside the crevice, hurriedly motioning at him to keep as still and quiet as possible, to which he obliged immediately. Both their hands holding each other for all the comfort that they could accumulate. And with a quick, worried glance between one another before turning back to the creature, they stayed motionless and waited.
Grace held her breath tightly.
The rusting sound persisted and was followed by an incredibly loud screech that held so much anguish and fury that it caused both the Doctor and Grace to shrink slightly in fear.
It seemed like years before its perilous wailing began to fade into the distance, its massive body scraping loudly against the sides as it went. The Doctor poked his head out first to see if the danger had passed for now and was short followed by Grace who popped her head out just below his own. He two of them gazed into the direction it went before letting out two sighs.
Grace chuckled slightly. "Bloody hell." She said in disbelief.
The doctor looked down at her and gave a look that was nothing short of agreement. It was indeed 'bloody hell', well, almost, but that was besides the point.
It wasn't long after that when they began to sprint once more, not taking anymore chances.
—***—
In the end Grace had been right, that had been the tunnel that she had originally come down and it hadn't taken long before they reached the ladder that they needed to ascend before they could finally see daylight once more. The ladder was black and rose into the manhole that capped their escape. The area was also darker, not as dark as the alcove but it it was the kind of blackness that was still and promoted nothing but silence in the eerie stagnant surroundings. The main source of
light came from the golden rim that outlined the manhole, giving it the appearance of the sun peering from behind the moon during a solar eclipse.
Grace leaned in towards towards the Doctor, a massive grin breaking out on her lips. "Told ya I knew where I was going." She said cheekily nudging him with her shoulder slightly.
The Doctor played along also leaning closer slightly, his own smile playing out. "That was complete dumb luck and you know it."
"Call it what you will, point remains… I still found it." She teased before stepping out closer towards the ladder.
The Doctors eyebrow raised. "Don't you mean we? 'Cause I don't know if you've noticed yet, but there are two of us."
Grace simply waved her hand giving a short sound of dismissal. She walked over to the ladder and put her hand on the rung closest to her height level. It was instantly freezing to touch, making her jerk her hand away from it instantly. Grace glared at the rung, almost daring it to displease her once more.
"You good over there? Not having another episode again are you?" The Doctor called from slightly further away, to which Grace promptly flipped her middle finger and gracefully flung it over her shoulder, causing the Doctor the chuckle slightly at her antics.
"You coming or what?" She called over her shoulder. He caught up to her rather quickly. Stepping before her, he put his hand on the rung and started climbing, Grace following suit. It soon became known that they both had underestimated the height off which they had to climb.
"This might take a while." The Doctor said, looking hopelessly upwards.
"Really now? I hadn't noticed." Grace replied dully.
"No need to get snarky."
"Well, what else am I supposed to do?"
"Talk maybe?"
"About what?" Grace relied back slightly incredulously. She was really, pretty, incredibly tired already – talking would just add to it in the worst possible way.
"Well.." The Doctor began, "…how about you tell me how you managed to make one of the most peaceful creatures in the entire Traflinax galaxy become a bit partial to murder?"
Grace scoffed. "I made a few puns about hands and slagged the state of them off. It didn't say any out loud 'cause, you know, I didn't want to hurt its feelings. How was I supposed to know that morse code was the only way it could speak? Why would an alien from a galaxy far far away know bloomin' morse code anyways? It's bloody morse code?!" She finished loudly.
The doctor looked down to give her a look of disbelief, starting to open his mouth to retort before it promptly closed in fear. For below them, at the bottom of the ladder was a face of oozing tentacles attached to a slick, black and shimmering body that held moulding hands at the ends. It had been silent, so silent that it had almost caught up to them without even capturing their notice once – not even an inkling that something had followed them. The blue eyes of the Doctor landed directly onto the gruesome beast, before they settled onto Grace.
"Grace, if you look down don't panic or freak out."
The woman in question gulped. "It's here isn't it?" She asked full well knowing the answer to her question.
The pair of them shared a silent look of understanding before they began to ascend faster, taking extra care not to slip or make any sudden movements that could trigger the alien into doing anything more rash than it already had. Only, that plan would have worked, if the Doctor hadn't slipped slightly, allowing for a small bang to echo throughout the empty space they temporarily inhabited.
Then the creature let out a piercing screech; its legs clambering ever faster up those freezing rungs, gaining on its two prey faster than it had previously.
"Go, go, go, go!"
They clambered and raced and lept up those god-forsaken, frozen rungs, desperately trying to outrun that foul-smelling adversary.
It didn't take long for them to reach the top at the speed they had gone at, then again, it also hadn't taken their vengeful hunter very long to be just moments from their feet. They came to a stop at the top and Grace became increasingly anxious by how long they had to wait to get the bloody manhole open. She looked down – only a few moments before it caught them – she looked up – the Doctor was fiddling about and struggling to open the round, metal hole cap.
"Hey Doc, don't want to worry you, but by my estimation we have literally only seconds before we feed slobber-chops down there. Kinda need to get a shift on with the manhole." She said nervously.
"Nearly…got..it." The Doctor proclaimed in an incredibly strained manor. His sonic screwdriver had already failed to work since it wasn't deadlocked or even locked in the first place. It was too heavy for one person to lift no matter how strong that person was. Not even his superior biology could help him this time.
"Oh, for goodness sake." Grace was annoyed and scared and anxious and flustered. She climbed up to the same level as the Doctor, putting her hands on the other side. She looked him dead in the eyes before she began to count. On the mark of three they lifted the lid of the manhole, but only barely, and pushed it to the side, both of them grunting and groaning with the effort. The Doctor came out first and quickly hoisted grace out after him – the creatures leg only a centimetre away from swiping her own leg.
They faltered for a few seconds in the sunlight before running off once more; each of them exhausted beyond belief but too riddled with adrenaline that they would never stop. Soon a familiar blue police box came into view. This only provoked the two to sprint harder and faster.
The creature was still gaining on them.
The Doctors head turned to the side to look at Grace, the creature then back at his ship. It was even closer than it ever had been, just within arms length – that went for the Tardis and creature respectively. But, the Tardis was that tiny bit closer. The Doctor took out his key, shoved it desperately into the lock, turned and opened it – both Grace and the himself tumbling in through the doors as they shut loudly behind them. The creature crashing into the fortress that the Tardis truly was. It's legs clambering over the sides as it let out one last primal screech before stopping completely. It was almost as if they were camping but instead of it being rain on the tent roof it was a giant, homicidal spider that slightly more than pitter-pattered above them.
Leaning against the door of the Tardis, both the Doctor and Grace looked at each other briefly before laughing maniacally with each other. They stood up still laughing and embraced one another in relief that they had survived that ordeal.
"God that was a bit intense, wasn't it?" Grace said whilst pulling away.
The Doctor grinned. "Oh yes!"
Grace began to reply to the incredibly exited man before she stopped immediately in her tracks. Her eyes wandering into the large expanse she had just entered into. The room she was in was beyond what she could have ever expected. The dimmed, golden lights were soft and hazy, giving a very relaxed and homely feel to the room. There were coral-shaped beams that stretched and were woven impossibly upwards into the rafters. Wires were scattered everywhere as if the whole machine was slowly getting pieced back together and, in the centre, surrounded by a fence of metal railing and a moat of metallic grating was the most incredible thing she had ever seen. Stepping closer towards it – up the steps, her hand trailing across the railing – she watched as the buttons and levers lit up and let out an almost silent series of beeps and, letting her eyes trail upwards, she became in awe at the blue piston that rhythmically bolted upwards and downwards in the centre. Laying the palm of her hand on it she took and incredibly deep breath, almost as if the act itself was the most calming thing she had ever done in her entire life.
"So I'm assuming you like her then. The Tardis?"
Grace turned around, her awe now moulded deeply into the features she held upon her face. "I think she's wonderful. And you weren't kidding either; the inside is bigger than the outside, but the outside is also smaller than the inside, right? It's another reality." She finished amazed.
The Doctor smiled going up to the console with her. "Not quite. It's another dimension."
"That's incredible." She let out a disbelieving laugh, turning around on her heel and pivoting on the spot.
"Hey what are we gonna do with the – ahhhh!" Grace began in question, but ended in immense pain – an incredibly sharp throb in her leg and more specifically, the one that had been injured previously.
What's happening?
The Doctor moved quickly towards her, steadying her body as she began to sway. "Hey, hey, I've got you. Don't worry it's just the medicine I gave you wearing off. A quick visit to the med-bay and you'll be fixed up in no time."
Grace groaned and rolled her eyes. "Great. Let's just hurry before I bleed to death."
"That's is my intention."
"Shut up."
—***—
Grace lay on the hospital bed bored out of her mind waiting for her leg to heal and for the Doctor to finish looking at her scans. It wasn't a particularly interesting room, the walls had a warm yellowish tinge to them and the was some medical equipment that she recognised and other ones which she had no bloody clue.
She tapped her finger impatiently on the railing of her bed, whilst her other hand played lightly with the IV that led from her wrist into whatever medicine she had been given to heal.
Boring, boring, boring.
Her mind couldn't handle the constant sound of absolutely nothing, it needed some sort of stimulus, a task, a thought – anything. But all she could think of was to dangerously tug at an IV, tap her fingers obnoxiously and, as she thought it, began to hum – it was rather loud and out of tune but at least it helped make the silence more bearable.
However, this only went on for a few moments before the Doctor started to become annoyed at the tuneless throb that invaded his ear canals.
"Can you stop? I'm trying to do things here."
"I've never felt time move so slow. You have any good conversations on you?" She asked hopefully.
"I literally talked to you five minutes ago." He sighed dramatically, "And can you stop messing with the IV? It can damage your nerves."
"They're already pretty damaged after today..." She mumbled to herself bitterly.
Soon however, a new though entered her mind begging for itself to be shared. "So…why does a Squib understand morse code? It's a bit of a redundant way of communication."
The Doctor turned towards her, his body leaning back against the desk he was working at. "Not for a Squib. It really is like a spider or a fly, it feels vibrations through its feet – or… uh… hands – and translated then into perfectly dictated words. Morse code is fantastic for a Squib." He said in boredom as if what he said were the most basic and boring of facts. Then he stood up, another question occurring to him. "So how do you know morse code?"
Grace shrugged her shoulders. "The usual. I just got a bit bored." She let out a smile in good humour.
"I have a feeling this is a theme with you."
"Oh yeah."
The Doctor smacked his hands together, making Grace jump slightly at the sudden loud noise. "So, I guess this is a good time to mention that it will take a few weeks to heal from that leg wound."
"So, I'm staying here?" Grace asked pointing down towards her bed.
The Doctor smiled and shrugged. "Well I can't let you go home with that nasty thing on your leg now can I. You'd just end up a bit dead now wouldn't you?" He added slightly condescending.
Grace looked down with a chuckle and shook her head. "No, I suppose not."
The Doctor got up from his station and began to leave with the promise of being back as soon as he could. His retreating form exiting the doorway as he mentioned something more about giving the Tardis a little bit more of a fix up, but just as he was about to leave her sight Grace sat up and called out to him, causing the man to stop in his tracks and look at her in varying shades of patience and impatience that equalled out surprisingly evenly.
"You never answered my question before." She paused to look at him, gage his reaction. He nodded at her to continue. "You never answered when I asked why you were there in the first place."
He leaned against the doorway, a more serious look encapsulated his face as his arms crossed in front of him. His head nodding towards her solidly just the once. "The Tardis picked you up on the scanner. I couldn't leave you inexperienced by yourself down there – that's just stupid. So I came down to make sure you were alright. And good thing I did too or you would have been dead by now. I'm just going to take the Squib back to Arcindate and then i'll be back. Is that alright?"
Grace nodded her head and yawned heavily once the Doctor left the room, the days events finally catching up her in full force. All she could think about as her eyes began to close was that she was actually, truly on the Tardis and that she had to stay for at least a few weeks. It also occurred to her that, if she played her cards right, she could potentially convince the Doctor to let her stay longer and, if she played them completely flush, there was a possibility she could convince him to take her on another adventure – obviously one with a lot less spidery-ness and gunge, but after today she knew she would crave experiences such as this one for the rest of her life. Even if the Doctor told her a resolute no she would still find things like this wether he liked it or not.
She was a Blakely after all and adventure had always run in her blood, right from the very start.
A smile appeared on her face as her thoughts formed into nothingness.
Oh what fun… and what heartbreak she would have.
So, this took longer than expected and, well, it was supposed to get released on january 1st 'cause I thought it would be nice to release it on the date it was set but nooopee that didnt happen. Well, over a month later and here we are with this massive chapter. I really wasnt sure wether to break it into seperate parts or not, but oh well it's all here now.
So, I really wanna know what you guys think of this chapter because there are points I'm proud of but I'm not sure if it flows well or is just a bit janky overall.
So, any comments are welcome wether positive, constructive or you're confused or have a theory. Comments really help keep me motivated and try to do better.
Disclaimer now though is that the next chapter will probably take this amount of time to get posted as I have so many assignments for uni coming up this month and I think I'm actually gonna die.
Anyways...
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.
-Live long and prosper.
