The Shakespeare Code- Part 3

Once we reached Bedlam I saw two statues of angels, I shivered and avoided making eye contact, just in case. The mad house was in a very old building with about five stories. It looked like one of those places where a horror film would take place. Everyone was silent until we got inside.

Once inside, I could hear the groans and shouts of the inmates, trying to call out for help. Martha's eyes widened at the site and Shakespeare tensed. The Doctor stayed silent and I just stared silently. I was getting angry and did not care who saw it, or took it out on.

A warden came to us and asked us why we were here. I spoke up. "We are here to visit Peter Street, the Globe architect. And before you ask, we do not want any 'entertainment'." I snapped. The Doctor put a hand on my right shoulder. I calmed down, but not by much. The warden opened his mouth and closed it several times. He was probably thinking when had a women had yelled at him last.

"Very, well. Follow me."

The Warden turned down the hallway and we followed. Martha lost it and snapped at Shakespeare. "How could you put your friend in here?"

William looked down and said "I've been mad. I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves it's purpose."

Martha looked astonished. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't...what happened."

Before Shakespeare could answer, I cut in and said softly "You lost your son to the Black Death."

Will nodded his head and said "My only boy. I wasn't even there when he passed on."

"I'm really sorry Will." Martha said.

"I am too." I added.

"It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be..."

Shakespeare paused and said "Oh, that's quite good."

I giggled and said "You should write that down."

Will thought about it and said "Hmm, maybe not. A bit pretentious?" The Doctor gave sort of a shrug and before he could answer we got to the cell with Peter Street. The warden warned us by saying "They can be dangerous, m'lord. Don't know their own strength."

I whipped my body around to look at the warden with such intensity that he took a step back. "I think it helps if you don't whip them! Now get out!" I pointed at the door.

The Warden got out of the cell as fast as he could, and locked us in. I looked at Peter Street sadly. He was crouched up against the wall, muttering to himself. I let The Doctor walk over to him and do his Time Lord stuff.

I barely listened, just stared at the spot that I knew the which would appear. Then I heard the words "...All Hallows Street." I saw the witch appear saying "Too many words!"

The Doctor whirled around to see the witch and instinctively backed up to protect his companions. I stepped up to stand next to The Doctor. "Get back." The Doctor whispered. I shook my head 'no'. This witch was not the one I had talked with before. It was much older and looked more like a proper witch.

The witch took a shaky hand out towards Peter Street saying "Just one touch of the heart."

I jumped between Peter and the witch, knowing that being from a different universe would protect me. I would not see more people die. The witch touched me with her hand as The Doctor shouted "Susan, no!"

But I continued to stand, even though I was in excruciating pain. In amazement the witch drew back her hand and said frightened "What are you?"

I smiled and warned her "Be careful who you anger. By the way, since you ignored my earlier warnings, I will give you one more. Just one. If you don't leave this planet right now, I won't hesitate to destroy you."

"Never." The witch crackled. "This planet is mine!"

"Well then." I smiled. "You have just made another enemy that knows your name."

The witch looked astonished. "No human could possibly know of us."

I smiled even more and said, "Want to bet? I name thee Carrionite!" The Carrionite screamed and vanished from sight. I put out a hand to lean on the wall. I was still in pain. How come on every adventure that I go on, I end up getting hurt? I thought to myself. At least I saved Peter.

The Doctor ran over and said "Susan, are you alright?"

I swallowed and said "I'll be fine."

Martha came over and said "Okay, what the hell was that?"

"That, Martha," The Doctor said turning to face her "Was a naming. There's a power in names." The Doctor frowned. "That's old magic. Susan, there must be something you can tell us that will even the odds."

"But you said that there's no such thing as magic. You said it was science." Martha said.

"Well, it is." The Doctor countered.

I took my hand off the wall and said to Martha "Think of it this way. If people from the BC era could somehow travel into the future and see things like-" I stopped, noticing Shakespeare was inching closer to our conversation.

I started again, but this time in a whisper "Like cars, and planes, they would think that it is magic even though we call it science. So, the quote witches end-quote, must be very advanced for us to think that they have magic but in reality it's only science."

Martha looked blank as she said "You lost me at BC era."

The Doctor decided to help me out. "It's just another form of science. Humans, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of number, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."

"Use them for what?" Shakespeare said. We all jumped and The Doctor said "The end of the world."

Once we were back to the inn where Shakespeare was staying, Will was splashing cold water over his face. Martha was watching the Doctor pace about while sitting on a chair and I was sitting on Will's bed while staring out the window.

The Doctor said while continuing to pace "The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend."

"Oh Doctor." I said. "Every legend is based off of a truth. The legend is when that truth got stretched."

"Very wise." Shakespeare said. "I'm going for real." He added while he dried off his wet face with a towel.

"Okay." Martha said. "Now that we have identified them, what are they after? They use words, so it is connected to the play, but how? What's it all for?"

"A new empire on Earth." The Doctor said angrily. "A world of bones and blood and witchcraft."

Martha stared at The Doctor and said "But how?"

The Doctor says "Well, it's his play."

Shakespeare sighed. "I told you, I've done nothing."

"Wait." I jumped in. Everyone looked at me. "What were you doing last night when Dolly came in?"

Shakespeare raised an eyebrow and said "Finishing the play."

I leaned forward and said softly "What happens on the last page?"

"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and provoking as usual..." Will trailed off realizing that he had no clue what happened at the end of the play. "Except those last few lines. Funny thing is... I don't remember writing them."

"That's it!" Martha exclaimed. "It's the play! The witches must have used you to write those lines but why..." Marth trailed off. The Doctor jumped in. "They used you, William. They gave you the final words. Like a spell, like a code. 'Love's Labor's Won'- It's a weapon! The right combination or words, spoken at the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! You were right, Susan and Martha, the play's the thing!" The Doctor started walking out, to probably find a map, I suspected, and said looking over his right shoulder at Shakespeare "And yes, you can have that."

I laughed but the look on Shakespeare and Martha's faces were priceless, so I continued laughing. "I...wish I...had a...camera." I breathed, clutching my stomach. I stopped laughing long enough to say to Martha "Yes, he does that a lot. You'll get used to it." The Doctor came back in with a map and set it down on the desk. I immediately found All Hallows Street, pointed to it and said "There it is!"

The Doctor said "So, here's the plan. Martha and Susan will come with me to track them down and Shakespeare, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop the play!" I winced. I knew that the witches will stop him. "I'll do it." Will said.

William Shakespeare shook The Doctor's hand saying "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing. It's marvellous. Good luck Doctor." "Good luck, Shakespeare." As we headed for the door I called out to Will, steeling The Doctor's line. "Once more unto the breach!"

"I like that. Wait a minute...that's one of mine!" The Doctor turned around and said to William "Oh, just shift." I laughed as we ran down the stairs, ready to go on a witch hunt, ignoring the pain from almost being killed earlier.

We ran through the busy streets of Elizabethan London. I kept up with The Doctor but Martha was a little bit behind. I was about to say something when The Doctor came to a halt and said "All Hallows Street." I stopped but Martha ran into me, knocking us both down onto the ground. "Martha." I groaned as I picked myself up. I held out my hand to her, she takes it with surprise and I lift her up. My body protested but the pain was letting up, so I didn't think anything of it.

I brushed all the dirt off my jeans with my hands, looked around and said "Which house?" Immediately, the door in front of us sung open by itself. "I hate when stuff like this happens." I groaned. "You never go in a creepy house that opens the door for you. People always seem to miss that in the horror movies. Same goes for splitting up."

"But I like exploring creepy houses." The Doctor whined. I face palmed. "Anyway, since the witches are in there, we have to go in." The Doctor continued. Martha said "Doctor, I've been wondering... you say the Carrionites want to destroy the Human race, but this is 1599, and Susan over here, has already proved that the Human race is still around in 2013." I winced. "So does that mean it's already determined that we stop them today?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but I beat him to the answer. "Martha, have you seen 'Back to the Future'?" Martha said "Sort of, wasn't it Marty McFly goes back and changes history?" "Yes." I said. "That movie is right. Time is in a constant flux, anything can be rewritten, including you." "Not everything." The Doctor jumped in. I groaned, not wanting to explain my word choice and said "Can we go in the the creepy house with the witches now?" I whined.

Once we came to a door at the top of circling wooden stairs that creaked every time you stepped on them. I looked at The Doctor and said "There through here." The Doctor looked annoyed. "You couldn't have told me earlier?" He asked. I gave a sharp look to The Doctor and said "No, I couldn't have."

"What-" Martha started. I turned to her and said "I will tell you when I'm ready and not before." "Ready?" The Doctor cut in, distracting us for the moment, as he opened the door. Inside was exactly like the t.v. show. Old glass bottles and containers on shelves and a big witch cauldron in the middle with the fire beneath it green and blue.

Behind the cauldron was the witch that we had seen earlier in Peter Streets cell. Dammit I thought. I was hoping to see the younger one that I spoke with yesterday. "Oh, I think death has been waiting for you a very long time." The Witch said to The Doctor. The Doctor looked startled for a second then it quickly vanished. I spoke up. "Nice set-up you have around here. You could fool almost anyone with this witch cover thing."

"Ah, the impossible human." I winced at her wording, thinking of Clara. "I hoped to see you again. You have been a puzzle to me. A riddle. No human could have survived my touch which leaves me with two choices. One: You aren't human, but you would smell differently. One is definitely not it. Two. Now two is you are from a parallel universe, am I correct?"

I stared at her with hatred and stayed silent. "Oh, Doctor. A naming only works once." The witch laughed. It must have read his mind. I thought. "It cannot kill us but the same cannot be said of you and your companions." The Witch suddenly turned to face Martha. "I look upon this bag of bones and I name thee Martha Jones." I saw Martha's eyes widen as she fell to the floor. I caught her and laid her down gently. I stood up and faced the witch.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have done that. Now I'm angry. Seeing a human male angry is one thing and you should be scared. But having a human female angry at you, well, you should run for your life because I'm not afraid to take it from you." I ended up yelling the last line.

"I don't think you can do that." The witch said. "If I'm not mistaken, you are still in pain from my earlier attempt to kill you, am I not mistaken." The witch held out her and mumbled something.

The Doctor said to me "What does she mean?"

Suddenly the pain that was almost going away flared back to life, even harder this time. I grabbed onto The Doctors arm hard as I could and tried to remain conscious. I gave out a tiny moan and bit the inside of my cheek till I felt blood. The Doctor took one look at me and turned back and said to the carrionite "What are you doing to her?" The witch did not answer but I felt the pain growing and slowly I fell to the floor next to the wall. I was half sitting, half lying on the floor.

The Doctor crouched down to me and felt my forehead with the back of his right hand. His eyes widened. "You're burning up." He said. "Just stay awake while I handle this. Don't you dare close your eyes." The only thing I could do was nod. I was getting hotter as The Doctor stood up and said "One thing you should never do, if you value your life, is to get the last surviving Time Lord angry."

The witch took a step back and said "Time Lord?" "Oh yes, the last of my kind. You might know me better as the Oncoming Storm." The Witch took out a doll and a needle. Seeing the doll and needle reminded her of reading 'The Crucible' during high school. The Doctor saw it two and was trying to get more time by doing the thing he did best, talking.

"Now you might call that magic... I'd call that a DNA replication module." The witch raised an eyebrow and said "What use is your science now?" The witch asked. The Carrionite stabbed the needle into the doll. The Doctor let out a cry of pain, clutched his chest before collapsing on the ground.

I vaguely saw Martha get up. She glanced my way then she paused, not sure what direction to go in. Mine, or The Doctors. I swallowed and made the choice for her by saying "Go to The Doctor." Martha nodded but she clearly wanted to help me.

The last thing I saw before blacking out was The Doctor and Martha running over to me.

I woke up in my Tardis bedroom. Wait. I thought. Why am I in here. I'm supposed to be in Elizabethan England. I felt something wet against my head. I reached up and felt a damp towel.

I felt the Tardis's presence in my head. About time you woke up. Martha and The Doctor are worried. You can't keep on almost dieing on every single adventure that you go on.

I groaned. "I know." I said. "I don't do it on purpose. I was like that back at my old job…." I trailed off.

The Tardis said I'm sorry that I had moved, but If I hadn't The Doctor would have been stuck in your universe.

I know. I said.

The Tardis said Can I let The Doctor and Martha know that you are up? I sighed. Only let The Doctor come in. Tell him I want an answer from my earlier question. My room got warmer as the Tardis asked May I remind him of the question?

"Yes." I said out loud. "Tell The Doctor that his time's up to answer my question which is: Is there any way to contact my family? And then tell him this. I know there's a way, you did it for Rose."