Evie was about to open her mouth and start berating the Doctor for what she considered his inability to do anything right, when there was a click and the creepy, hotel lobby music started playing again. She whirled on the spot, rushing to see who could possibly have turned it on. There was no one around; apart from the other six people congregated on the stairs.
"There's no one here." She told the Doctor, who was looking at her hopefully from the staircase leading to the floor above.
He gulped. "OK. This is bad." He said slowly, turning and heading back towards them. "At the moment I don't know HOW bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good." He rubbed his head, thinking. "Are there any more of you?"
"Joe… but he's tied up right now." Rita informed him. Evie arched an eyebrow at Amy, who shrugged.
"Doing what?"
"No… I mean he's tied up right now." She repeated. The Doctor looked bemused and his companions exchanged another look.
Rita hadn't been joking. The Doctor led them into a large dining room cautiously. Evie could hear a strange sound – a mixture of laughter and talking in high pitched voices – coming from the other side of the heavy wooden doors. At first she was confused; Rita had only mentioned one more person, but there was clearly some kind of party going on in the room.
Then she went inside and her mouth dropped open. Tens… possibly hundreds… of ventriloquists' dummies were seated around circular tables, chattering and chuckling of their own accord. Their heads bounced on their spindly wooden necks, giving them the appearance of living things.
As they filed into the dining room behind the Doctor, the noise subsided immediately and every single one of the dummies turned their heads to face the newcomers. It was horrific. There was a creaking sound as their necks moved, following the Doctor's progress around the room, weaving between the tables and examining the creatures closely.
It was a couple of moments before Evie spotted a dark haired man sitting at one of the tables, lashed tightly to his chair with a length of thick rope. He was dressed smartly, as though he was actually attending an important dinner with the dummies. Something about his crisp white shirt, navy blue suit and bright yellow tie contrasted horrifically with the situation and Evie had to look away.
"Hello… I'm the Doctor." Her father said confidently, striding towards the man.
"You're going to die here." He said, his voice sounding exactly as the girl had expected it to; smooth and cultured. There was, however, an edge to it that sent shivers up and down her spine.
Trying to make light of the situation, as always, the Doctor joked, "Well, they certainly didn't mention THAT in the brochure!" Then he turned away, walking between the tables once more and raising his voice to a more business-like tone. "Is Joe there? Can I have a quick word?"
"Oh… it's still me, Doctor, but I've seen the light." Joe said, as though he thought the Time Lord was stupid. The Doctor had placed a chair in front of Joe's table and was sitting on it backwards, his legs either side of the backrest. The dummies were still watching him closely. "I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy and soon… he shall feast!"
"Well, you've been here for two days." The Doctor pointed out. "What's he waiting for?"
"We weren't ready. We were still raw."
"But… now you're what? Cooked?"
There was a maniacal glaze in Joe's eyes. "If you like. Soon you will be, too. Be patient… first, find your room."
Evie gulped, not liking the way he said the sentence. There was something so normal about the phrase, 'find your room', and yet there seemed to be a thinly veiled threat behind Joe's words that chilled her. Beside the brunette, Amy took an involuntary step closer to her husband, not aware that she had even done it. Their granddaughter looked quickly at them, gauging their distance from her, before closing the gap quickly.
"My room?" The Doctor asked, shooting a quick look over his shoulder, as though checking they were still standing by the door.
"There's a room here for everyone, Doctor." Joe told them, his gaze shifting to the six people standing at the back of the room. Several of the dummies turned their heads to follow his gaze. Amy shifted uncomfortably, pressing herself closer to Rory, as did Evie. "Even you."
The Doctor did not react. "You said you'd seen the light now."
"Nothing else matters anymore; only him. It's like these things…" Joe glanced at the dummy seated beside him. "I used to hate them! They make me laugh now." He broke off into peals of forced, maniacal laughter. Evie shivered as the sound tore through the silent room and seeming straight into her body. "Gottle o' geer… gottle o' geer!"
The dummies began to laugh at his imitation of them, joining in with his own laughter. It was a strange sound; somewhere between desperation and madness and it made Evie feel faint with anxiousness. It was unnatural and so, so wrong. This realisation seemed to dawn on the others as well, as they moved closer together, Rory putting out a hand and drawing Evie closer to him in an act of instinctive protectiveness. His other hand was firmly around Amy's waist, holding her close.
"You should go…" Joe warned in a lower tone, his voice barely reaching the huddle standing by the door. "He'll be here soon."
The Doctor stood up slowly, before hurrying to the other end of the room and returning with a trolley used to move stacks of chairs around. He wedged it underneath Joe's chair firmly.
"I think you should come with me." He said, levering the device and starting to push the man through the maze of tables.
Closing the door behind them, the Doctor led the way back to the reception area. He lowered the trolley and left it leaning against the back of Joe's chair, before pacing backwards and forwards thinking hard. Evie hoisted herself onto the reception desk and folded her arms as she watched him, waiting for whatever he was about to say. The information she'd heard and learnt since they'd arrived at the hotel was swirling around inside her mind, desperately trying to form itself into an idea that made any sense.
"Why you four?" The Doctor demanded at last coming to a halt a little way away from them. "That's what I don't understand. Aside from all the other things I don't understand."
"What does it matter? Sooner or later someone will come along and rescue us." The Tivolian said hopefully. "Or enslave us."
Evie growled softly, rolling her eyes. She couldn't like that man… there was something about his defeatist attitude that grated on her. She was a fighter; the idea of rolling over and taking what anyone and everyone threw at her was not something she understood. Evie couldn't understand the way his mind worked. Her instincts were to fight against whatever was going on; either physically or with her brain. He just seemed to be waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen.
The Doctor looked similarly unimpressed by his statement. "First, we find the TARDIS. Quick thing before we go… If you feel drawn to a particular room, do NOT go in. And make sure someone else can see you at all times."
"You're sticking with me, kid." Amy muttered under her breath to Evie, raising an eyebrow warningly. "Your mother would kill us all if something happened to you."
The brunette smirked. "Alright, Gran… keep your hair on!" Then she slid off the desk and stood in front of Amy. Despite the fact that at the moment there was only a year or two's difference between their ages, Amy stood well over a head taller than her granddaughter. "But you do realise that –"
"You can take care of yourself?" Amy finished for her, grinning. "Yeah… we know!"
"Back to the task at hand?" The Doctor suggested, shooting them an exasperated look. The two women smiled weakly and turned to listen to what Rita was saying.
"Joe said 'he' will feast… Is there something here with us?"
There was no time for the Doctor to answer, because as soon as the woman had finished speaking, Joe began to laugh. At precisely the same moment, Evie, Amy, the Doctor and Rory – who had been standing in a row – turned their heads as though in synchronisation.
"Something to add, Joe?" The Doctor asked pleasantly.
"Here comes the candle to light you to bed." The man said, smiling nastily. "Here comes the chopper to chop off your head." It took a few seconds for Evie to recognise his words as part of a nursery rhyme. "Chop, chop, chop, chop."
Howie was the first to react, panicking slightly and throwing up his arms. "Can we do something about him?" He demanded as Joe continued to chuckle to himself.
"Gaffa tape?" Evie suggested, holding up a roll.
"Where did you get that?" The Doctor asked incredulously.
His daughter winked. "A good girl scout is always prepared."
"But you're not a girl scout." He pointed out in confusion. Evie just smirked and threw him the tape.
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