Chapter 6
Allyson's POV
Lora stormed into the kitchen and glared at me. "What were you thinking? Going off with a strange man you've never met before!" she yelled, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Lora, what's going on? First, I get taken out of class by who I thought was my substitute teacher. Second, I get taken prisoner on some strange alien ship. And hit upside the head, hard, by the way.
"And third, the Doctor brings me home in one piece and you blow up at him. And what was all that outside?" I carried on, going faster and faster, flailing my arms a little to emphasize my aggravation.
"All I want to know is what's going on." I said, a little more calm.
"And what this Phylacterium thing everyone keeps talking about?" I added, crossing my arms.
Lora looked up alarmed. There was something in her eyes, but I couldn't distinguish it. It was a cross between wonder, confusion, anger, and fear.
"Who said anything about the Phylacterium?" she asked, looking me in the eye. Even though she was the same height as me, she was oddly intimidating at that moment. I was in no position to get on her bad side. Not to mention, that slap earlier looked pretty bad.
"When we were on the Anguis ship, their leader kept asking me where it was. When I asked the Doctor what it was, he explained it to me." I said, my voice lower than before.
"I knew he was going to ruin everything that your father worked for." she said under her breath, but wasn't quit enough for me not to hear her. "What? What is going on?" I asked, starting to get worried.
"Come with me. I guess we have to discuss this now. There's no way getting around it." she said, taking my hand and leading me into the living room.
"Remember when your father went 'missing' seven years ago?" she asked, turning to look at me.
"Yeah. He was on his way home from work and no one heard from him again." I said skeptically.
"Maybe I should start from the beginning. Allyson, your father isn't missing. He's in Scotland. He was the one I was talking to on the phone this morning. He called to check up on us and see how you were doing." she explained, close to tears.
I didn't know what to say. After 7 years of believing my father was possibly dead, I find out that he's very much alive, in Scotland, and talking to the woman who I thought would never keep something like this from me.
"How could you keep this from me? How could you sit there day after day, knowing he was alive, seeing how depressed I was?" I asked, pulling my hands out of hers, feeling like someone just stabbed me in the heart.
"I did what I was told. He said that it was dangerous for you to know. He said if you found out, it could jog your memory." she said, tears falling freely now. "I wish I could tell you everything, but if I did, you would remember everything. I couldn't do that. I can't!" she yelled.
"You can't, but I can." came a voice from behind us, causing us to jump up from the couch. The Doctor was leaning up against the staircase, watching us.
"How did you get in the house?" I asked, shocked that he had broken into our home.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, reaching into his coat pocket. "You had a key hidden under the door mat. Not very original." he said, pointing the key at me and then throwing said key onto the end table.
"Anyway, like I was saying. After you got done shouting and stormed off, I went back to the TARDIS and thought. I pieced everything to together. If Lora doesn't want to or can't explain, I can. She can fill in the pieces that I couldn't figure out." he said, walking up and standing next to Lora and I.
"If you or I tell her, it could turn bad." Lora retorted.
"Don't I get a say in any of this?" I asked, a little upset that neither of them were acknowledging my opinion.
"No, because you have no idea what could happen." Lora said, no longer upset. I looked between the two and frowned. "Allyson, it's not that I don't want to tell you everything, I just don't want anything to happen. It's dangerous if your memory is restored. Anyways, I think your happier like this." Lora said, coming up to me and engulfing me in a hug.
"Okay. I'll let it go. For now. But I expect you to explain someday." I lied. I had full intentions of finding out what the hell was going on.
"Good. Now, lets start dinner. You've got an appointment tomorrow at 8 and I have to talk to your psychologist about your anti-depressants." she said, holding me at arms length. "Will you be staying for dinner, Doctor? I'm allowing you to stay until tomorrow, but expect you to be gone by tomorrow morning." she finished, glaring at him.
"Thank you, but I have to decline. It was wonderful meeting, Allyson. Lora, it was nice seeing you again, even if not on the best of terms." he said, turned around and left.
As I watched him go, I felt bad for him. He was doing what a friend had asked. Now he was being 'exiled' from this town because of something that happened between him and Lora. It was heartbreaking.
The rest of the night was pretty slow. Since it was Friday, I didn't have to worry about getting up and going to school tomorrow.
Lora made some kind of stew, but I wasn't hungry.
At 8, I said goodnight to Lora and went up to my room and locked the door. I changed into my pajamas and curled up onto my bed. I must have dosed off because the next thing I knew, there was a knock from somewhere.
I sat up and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes. Looking at the clock, I sighed. It was 11. Groaning, I flopped back down onto the bed and kicked off the rest of the blankets.
I jumped when there was a second knock.
"Hello?" I whispered, jumping out of bed. "o-r h-e!" I heard mumbled from the window. Cautiously I made my way over to the window and nearly screamed when I saw who it was. The Doctor was sitting on the ledge of the roof.
When he saw me come to the window, he smiled and waved.
I opened the window and shivered when the cold air hit me. "What're you doing here? If Lora finds out you're here, you're a dead alien." I whispered. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I wanted to talk to you without that-her listening in on us. Do you mind if I come in, it's a little cold out here." he stated.
When I moved out of the way, he climbed into the window and closed it behind him.
"Um, how did you get up her?" I asked, pointing at the window. He looked behind him and laughed.
"Well, it wasn't easy, but I had to talk to you. I could tell earlier that you had no intention of letting the subject go." he said, shrugging off his jacket and throwing it on the foot of my bed. "I'm here to answer any questions you might have." he finished, shoving his hand in his pockets.
I stared at him for a few minutes before deciding to start questioning him. "How do you know Lora?" I asked, deciding that was a good place to start.
"Well, to start off, Lora isn't human. She's we used to call Shifters. They were from the planet Kavra. If a Shifter finishes their schooling, they can change their shape. Kinda like a shape shifter. I think that's where humans got the name.
"She was fighting in the Time War when her planet imploded. It was a new weapon the Daleks came up with and were testing it out Kavra. There are only about a hundred left in the universe.
"I was the only Time Lord there at the time and she blames me for the destruction of her planet and race." he explained, leaning against the wall and going into his own little world.
"Lora said my dad wasn't missing. Do you know anything about that?" I asked, sitting on my bed and bringing my knees up to my chest, waiting for him to start talking.
"Your father is David Mathews Wayne." he said, looking at me. After a pause he continued. "While I was on the TARDIS, I looked up your file. What the Time Lords had on the Wayne family. I do want to congratulate you, your file is one of largest in the system. But also one of the most unfinished ones.
"Allyson" he started, coming over to me and kneeling in front of me. "Your family, the Wayne family is from the planet Valtera. Valtera was home to races who had no where else to go. Dryadalums, Nani, Lamia, Lupus, Monoceros, Syreni, Mediocris, Orcum, Serpens, Troglodytarum, Striga, Veneficus, Gryphem, Centaur, and Squids." he explained before I cut him off.
"Wait, Squids aren't alien." I said, stopping him. He looked at me funny. "Sure they are. Just look at them. They've got ten tentacles!" he argued.
"Anyway, like I was saying before you stopped me. Those were only a few. They all lived there, not in particular harmony, but there wasn't that much trouble there." he said.
"What happened to it?" I asked, not really wanting the answer.
"I'm getting there, hold your ducks." he complained. "Valtera was a beautiful planet. Forests everywhere! Flowers you would never imagine! It was a shame when it was sucked into the void.
"From what I read in your file, you did everything you could to stop your planet from being destroyed. You almost gave your life to save your planet." he said, looking me straight in the eyes. What he was saying didn't make any sense to me.
"Doctor, that's not possible. I've never even been off of earth before today." I said. I didn't want to admit it, but I was terrified at what the Doctor was telling me. There was no way what he was saying about me was true.
"Allyson, Lora already said it. Your memory has been blocked." he said. Suddenly, he grabbed my hands and held my hand between his. "Allyson, you're not human. Neither is your father. You were given fake memories to keep you safe." he said, squeezing my hands for reassurance.
Doctor's POV
I kept a close eye on her expressions, waiting for her to explode at me. She looked shocked, scared, angry, and then scared again.
"What do you mean 'fake memories'?" she asked, her voice shaky.
"All of your childhood memories are most likely not real. They were placed there to keep you from remembering your real past." I explained to her in a low, comforting tone. I felt bad for her. From what I had read in her file, she came from the most important family on Valtera.
"Allyson? If you want me to stop, you have to say something." I told her, squeezing her hands again.
"I don't understand! If I'm not human, what am I?" she asked, close to tears. I hesitated before answering her. If I told her, I ran the risk of her regaining her memory. It was hidden for a reason. I just didn't know what that reason was.
But if the Phylacterium was entrusted to her, she should be able to handle it.
"Doctor? Please tell me. I want to know. I need to know." she said softly. "You have to promise me you wont freak out. No yelling or break down." I said, standing up and sitting next to her on her bed.
"I...I promise." she said slowly, unsure of herself.
"You're a Sanguis, commonly known to humans as Vampires. Most of the stories you've probably read over exaggerate. They're simple creatures. They're old creatures. Some of the oldest." I explained to her, trying to make it a little easier for her to accept.
She didn't answer for a while and I was afraid I broke her. "I don't understand. How can I be a Vampire? There're so many different kinds Vampires that humans have created. Which one am I?" she asked, looking up at me with confusion in her eyes.
"Like I said, humans have exaggerated on their stories. Like sparkling? Sanguis don't sparkle. I think if one of you saw one that did, you'd probably destroy it the first chance you got." I said, causing her to laugh.
"Thank god." she said with a smile. "I don't think I'd be able to handle that."
"I've never understood why humans have this need to take such a brilliant race and turn them into stories that were supposed scar people and now they've turned into love stories." I said, crinkling my nose a little.
She laughed a little. I could tell she was skeptical about this whole thing, like she was going to wake up from a bad dream or someone would jump in at any moment and tell her this was all a big joke.
"Tell me about them." she said, sounding a little worried about what I would tell her.
"Well, Sanguis aren't that different from humans. The only differences are the immortality, strength, and the craving for blood. Very male orientated society though." I explained, watching her reaction.
She seemed to be talking things very well. Better than I had originally thought. It bothered me a little.