Author's Note: Why do my side characters always turn into my favorite OCs? *insert crying emoji here because I love Katerina a little too much*


Chapter 6

"It's been…the last few weeks, I don't know what it is. It's like…something's trying to talk to me." It sounded so crazy, saying it out loud. She drew into herself, turning away. Her father didn't believe in anything outside of himself. She—well, she wasn't so sure.

And she was even less sure after these last few weeks.

The Doctor stopped, leaning against the wall, one eyebrow raised. "Oh? Do tell."

"You believe me, then?" Her voice was soft. "No one's ever—"

"Oh, that's a shame." He never broke his gaze from her, and a little smile turned up his lips. "There's just something…believe-able about you. Continue."

"I'll….I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and it's like….like I can hear something. But when I listen, it's all so silent." She turned away, closing her eyes for a moment. "It's almost like….like it's talking in my head. But that's crazy!" she added quickly. "I know it's crazy, and Father's threatened to send me back home to be looked at but I know I've heard it, I know it."

"And what does it say?"

"It says….help." She paced off down the hallway, wishing she could disappear inside her coat. "Always help. Crying out. Help, help, help. And then it disappears like…like a whisper of wind. I can't quite catch hold of it."

He held out a finger and motioned for her to come. "Come here," he said. She took a cautious step closer—was he going to stare at her like her father always did? Just sit there, and stare until she felt like collapsing? And then he would shake his head and turn away without a word, leaving her to sit there, still withering from the force of his sharp gaze.

But the strange man reached forward, and brushed a wisp of her hair behind her ear.

Her breath caught. That was a—rather familiar gesture from someone she hardly knew. She looked up, eyes wide.

"Doctor?"

He pressed a finger against her temple and just stood there for a long moment. His hand was warm against her cheek, and his dark eyes—well, they looked like he had lived so long and seen so, so much.

Suddenly, she wondered what he was.

"Slight psychic ability." He pulled back and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Thought so. Manifests occasionally in humans. Mostly just interpreted as perceptiveness until things like this happen. You're picking up on some kind of outside force, something most people wouldn't be able to hear or see. Now, the question is, what is it?"

She blinked. Was he saying she was psychic?

He was just as crazy as she was.

She smiled, just a little.

"Ah, there's that smile." A little grin twitched around his lips and his eyes twinkled. "Something tells me nobody's seen that in a while, hmm?"

She smiled a little more. Yes, she rather liked this odd stranger, who was definitely not an inspector and possibly not even human. "Doctor…" The smile dropped. "Doctor, there's more."

"There's always more." He straightened, and he seemed to radiate eagerness. What had he said about a slight psychic ability? Did that mean she could sense things—people? She stared at him for a long moment. Yes, she was definitely feeling his emotions.

So that was how she had always known what kind of a mood her father was in, before he even sat down.

He whipped a pair of glasses from some hidden inside pocket and started forward. "Show me."

She had to run to keep up with his long strides. "Left at the corner, then right, we're getting to the edge of the base," she panted. "And please slow down. I don't have ridiculously long legs like you do. Anyway….you might want to keep an eye out. I think father's got the staff trained to apprehend me. They all think I'm crazy too." She smiled a little humorless smile. "I've…well, I've learned the backways."

"Backways!" He grinned. "Backways are where all the best secrets are hidden."

"Or worst…" She looked away. "That's not all, you know. Waking up at night. Sometimes during the day, I'll feel….like something's tugging at me. Desperate. I think it's in pain." Her voice was soft, so soft she didn't think he could hear her. "I don't know, I…I can never get a hold of it." She turned a last corner. "Here. We're here."

The metal hallway ended at the edge of a crevice, the edges cracked jaggedly as if it had been ripped open. Just as the shadows were beginning to recede into grey, the bottom could be seen, cracked and pocked with small, deeper crevices that led into blackness. Cold air seemed to flow from the opening.

She shivered and pulled her coat closer about her.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to the edge, peering over his glasses into the abyss. She stepped to his side, keeping a few feet away from the edge.

"Doctor—do you see it?"

He nodded, eyebrows shooting up. Cracks and crevices formed words across the floor and up the walls.

HELP.

ALONE.

HELP.

And—

She jumped back, her hand flying to her mouth. "Doctor!" The word came out in a little squeak. "That's…."

He peered back down into the crevice. New cracks had formed along the far wall, spilling down onto the ground. K….A….T….

She closed her eyes, hugging her arms around herself. She almost couldn't bear to look at it.

"Katerina," she whispered. "It says Katerina."