A/N: Cliffhanger! lol!

Chapter Ten

For One Extra Minute

When Leville had said the corridors could get confusing, he hadn't been lying. They seemed to sprout off in every direction, and every turning they chose seemed to be the wrong one. Twice they reached dead ends and once they emerged in a kitchen containing a rather bemused looking chef before they actually found the staircase.

Out of breath, the Doctor looked at his watch and cursed. Ashley peered over his arm, also panting heavily.

'How long?' she asked, knowing the answer wasn't going to be good.

'One minute.' The Doctor replied. 'We're going to be too late.'

He bounded up the stairs; taking them three at a time while Ashley hurried after him. He ran straight towards the service doors, kicking a pan across the floor as he went causing it to clatter noisily, and burst out into the grand hall. Ashley stumbled out behind him, and then both came to a halt.

The nearest partygoers stopped and looked at them in bewilderment. They stood perfectly still, champagne in their hands and frozen smiles on their faces. They quickly looked disgusted at the sight of the two quite sweaty and quite dishevelled intruders, before turning to each other and muttering amongst themselves. The Doctor looked to the right, saw a dining chair and pulled it towards him. He hopped up onto it and raised his hands.

'Everyone!' he called loudly. 'Everyone, can I have your attention please!'

A hush fell over the room. Someone told him to get down off the chair. Someone else stated that he had drunk too much free wine. A murmur began to ripple through them all again.

'Please shut up,' the Doctor told them sternly, and they did. 'You're all in danger. You need to get out of here right now. Get in your ships and your… your limos, whatever, and leave. Get as far away from here as you possibly can. You've only got forty seconds!'

The room was so silent that they could almost hear the bubbles popping in the champagne. The Doctor's eyes scanned them all, waiting for them all to turn and run out of the doors. Ashley stood awkwardly, prodding at her jaw. Then, somebody laughed nervously. It spread quickly and all of a sudden everyone was back to chatting and dancing. The Doctor looked around in disbelief, and then looked towards Ashley. She shrugged in response.

'What's wrong with you people?' the Doctor cried, but his voice wasn't carrying as well over the sound of everyone in the hall. 'You have to get out of here! Now!'

'Oh get down,' a man called to him. 'You're getting that chair all dirty.'

The Doctor's eyes were almost bulging in complete astonishment. 'You're all going to die if you don't get out of here right now!'

A few nervous faces looked towards him, but they had all decided that he was more of a nuisance than anything else. He realised that no one was going to listen to him. He jumped down off the chair and moved to Ashley, running his hands through his hair.

'Why are humans so thick?' he cried.

'Um, human here.' Ashley reminded him.

'We need to get them out of here,' the Doctor insisted. 'Any second now they're all going to-'

He was cut off as a sudden brilliant light filled the room. He automatically shielded Ashley and squinted through the brightness at the people around. They screamed as violet lights shot down into them. Glasses of champagne crashed to the floor and doors around them thudded as people tried to run. Then the sound came.

It was an awful squelching sound. Someone screamed so loudly that everything just seemed to buzz for a few moments, and then there was more screaming. The squelching got louder, and then something started clicking.

'We have to get out of here.' The Doctor told Ashley gravely. 'Right now.'

'We don't know where the TARDIS is!' Ashley cried, barely audible over the screams and the awful sounds.

The Doctor looked around, and saw the first Verschling. It had a tiger pelt draped over its back. It turned its head up to the ceiling and roared deafeningly, before leaping up across the huge room and grabbing a chandelier. It swung there like some kind of grotesque ape, examining the carnage with its beady eyes, and then it looked to the Doctor and Ashley. They stared back in horror.

'What the bloody hell is that!?' Ashley cried.

It seemed to grin and readied itself to pounce.

'Go!' the Doctor yelled, shoving Ashley back towards the service doors. More deafening roars broke out all around them, gradually replacing the agonising screams. The Verschling on the chandelier pounced from its perch as the Doctor and Ashley scrambled to get back through the doors. They slammed them shut and the Doctor quickly grabbed a nearby broom and jammed it through the handles. Seconds later there was a thud on the other side, and then an angry bellow.

'That's your broom, isn't it?' Ashley said breathlessly.

'I love that broom.' The Doctor replied.

The sounds coming from the hall were horrendous. There were only a few human screams now – the rest weren't human at all. More thuds sounded on the barricaded service doors and Ashley backed away slowly. The Doctor grabbed the heavy metal shelves against the wall and shoved them up against the doors. He moved back, joining Ashley's side. They stood there for a moment, listening to the madness that lay on the other side.

'Did those things… Did they just burst out of those people?' Ashley asked quietly.

The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it hard. 'We were too late.' He said quietly. He turned to her. 'I'm sorry.'

Ashley looked back solemnly and said nothing. There was a louder thud on the doors and the two of them looked back to it, watching them rattle and shake. The broom held, but it was obvious it wasn't going to hold for long.

Ashley swallowed hard. 'Doctor, I just want to say-'

'Don't.' the Doctor replied. 'Some things don't need to be said.'

Ashley fell quiet, and waited for the broom to give.