Just as in the courtyard, the black-and-white hallways were deserted. Through the windows of the classrooms, I could see all the students with their heads bent over their textbooks and worksheets. Their lives were just as ordinary as they had been a few measly minutes ago. And here I was following a complete stranger through the halls of my school just because he said so.
The Doctor reached into the inside of his pinstripe suit and pulled out a small, gleaming silver contraption. I noticed that it had a small blue light at one end. To me it looked like some sort of fancy pen. The Doctor pointed it straight out and the little device started to trill softly.
"What is that thing?" I asked. The Doctor continued what he was doing.
"It's called a sonic screwdriver,"
"Screwdriver?"
The Doctor turned and frowned at me. "Yes; it's a screwdriver. Why is that so hard to believe?" I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender and followed him the rest of the way through the hall.
The soft trilling noise coming from the screwdriver was constant. The Doctor frowned at it and turned it off with a groan. "It's not picking up any signals: which means we're in the wrong place." Without a backwards glance at me he launched off and up the stairway. I dashed after him.
I caught up to him at the top of the stairwell. He was pointing the screwdriver directly out in front of him again. But this time the instead of the soft trilling downstairs, the screwdriver was beeping shrilly.
"It's a wonder no one can hear that," I commented. The Doctor turned back to me with raised eyebrows.
"Anne Worthing, you're a genius!"
"Come again?"
The Doctor was spinning on his heel from one end of the hall to another. "The energy in that garden downstairs was enough to draw me towards it. And if I'm correct on what we're facing, then tearing up a few weeds should be enough to drag it into the courtyard."
My head was starting to pound. "I'm so confused," The Doctor looked at me as if I had just drooled down the front of my shirt.
"I just need a little more time to fully plan everything. How 'bout I explain everything in the garden? Meet me there after school?" The Doctor asked, stepping closer with every question. I felt heat rise into my face.
"Do you promise to answer all of my questions?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. The Doctor stared me down hard and smirked.
"Oh you're good. I'll answer any question you have about our current situation; after that we'll have to see."
It seemed like that was all I was going to get from him at the moment. I sighed and extended my pinky finger. "Pinky promise?"
The Doctor looked at me as if I had just gone crazy. "A what?"
"A pinky promise," I exclaimed. "How could you not know what a pinky promise is?" The Doctor's face remained blank. "Just stick out your pinky finger."
The Doctor hesitated before doing so. He seemed cautious at this simple thing. And when I showed him how to wrap the pinkies together, he stiffened dramatically. Then his face broke into a smile.
"How clever!" His smile looked to be gleaming. "Okay then, pinky promise." With that, he turned around on his heel and started heading for his class.
The day dragged by. I couldn't focus on any of my classes. The only thoughts that swam through my head were filled with the garden and warm brown eyes.
The second the last bell rang throughout the school, I leapt out of my desk and sprinted down the stairs to the courtyard. Students spilled out after me; to head for the vending machines. I ignored them and stood beside my bench in the garden. I was just standing there, minding my own business when a pair of hands yanked on my jacket from behind and into the bushes. I landed hard against something firm.
"Careful there," The Doctor's voice sounded from above. I glanced up to find his brunette head haloed by the faint England sun. Heat flooded my face and I quickly steadied myself and ducked my head to hide it from the Doctor.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked. The Doctor raised his hand and beckoned me to go deeper into the grove of thick undergrowth. We barely managed to reach the oak tree again. The Doctor stared up at the tree branches and closed his eyes once more.
"An Ala," He said after a minute of dead silence. The Doctor's brown eyes opened and turned to look at me. "Go ahead and ask your questions,"
"Firstly, what's an Ala?" I asked. The Doctor sat himself cross-legged on the mossy ground.
"An Ala is a creature from the planet Aloviti. They've been known to steal another creature's identity, but only while the sun is up. At night, they are forced to leave the creature's body and rest in a sanctuary. These sanctuaries are always places of nature; such as this garden."
My head started spinning. But I forced the dizzy motion to cease and looked back to the Doctor. He was staring at me as if he was waiting for me to run for the hills. To prove I wasn't going anywhere, I sat down directly in front of him. This action caused him to give me a small smile.
"Say these Ala things exist, why do they need to live inside other creatures?" I asked. The Doctor was giving me the impression that he already knew what questions I was going to ask and had prepared himself.
"An Ala does not feed the way you or I do. They survive off living energy. They don't even have to possess someone to steal their energy. All that energy that they take is stored in their area of sanctuary." He cut off and glanced upwards. "I believe that this particular Ala is storing all that energy inside this oak here. I've heard that the places where they store stolen energy is unaffected by the common laws of time and space. That would explain why we felt like we were inside this garden for a few minutes when in reality we were in here for thirty."
"This is crazy," I breathed, holding my head in my hands. "How do you know all of this?"
"I'm the Doctor,"
I glanced back towards him and observed him for what felt like the first time. The Doctor looked to be in his mid-twenties. Warm brown eyes; soft-looking brunette hair; a slightly freckled face; he looked normal. Yet here he was, talking to me about creatures called Ala and planets and living energy. How did he know these things? Was he some kind of government agent or something; trained for an alien invasion? If so, why would he be in a school of all places? These questions pounded against the inside of my skull and I felt like everything I'd ever known was a lie.
"I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to walk away right now." The Doctor said slowly. "But I would also appreciate the help if you're willing to give it."
"Will it be dangerous?" I asked with a shaky voice. The Doctor blinked.
"That depends on how aggressive this Ala is."
My shoulders drooped. "What would I have to do?"
The Doctor gave me a small smile of encouragement. "I just need your help destroying this garden; more specifically the giant tree behind me."
I glanced up to the high branches. "If we do this, will all that energy you were talking about get out?" He nodded. "I guess I could do that."
"That's the spirit, Anne Worthing," The Doctor leapt to his feet and offered me a hand up. I narrowed my eyes at it and stood up on my own. The Doctor's smile faltered and he pretended to swat a bug away from his face. "First thing's first; we need to get it here. So here, take this axe." He shoved a heavy axe into my arms. I stared at him with astonishment.
"Where did you get this?"
"I borrowed them from your school's gardening department. Now on the count of three, swing that thing as hard as you can at the trunk. If I'm right, the Ala will come immediately to try and protect its home."
I swallowed and braced my arms against the axe's weight. "I hope you're right."
The Doctor laughed loudly. "Don't worry, Anne. I'm almost never wrong!"
I snorted at his arrogance. The Doctor raised up three fingers; then two; then one.
And with all the strength in my arms I swung the axe at the tree trunk.
"What in heaven's name do you think you're doing?"
I spun around to face a very tall man with a balding head and steely gray eyes that were gleaming with rage.
"Mr. Walters?"