The Siren of Night

Night

The screams echoed as the Siren civilization was being wiped out. They came like a horde, a swarm of monsters. They slaughtered everything in their path. There was nothing left. The surviving members of their species tried fleeing their homes into the wilderness of Night. The lumbering monsters chasing them destroyed everything in their path so their masters can achieve their goals.

May 17, 2011

Earth

It was the middle of the night and the Doctor was installing his dematerialization circuit for what seemed like the millionth time and ran another test of the dematerialization. He closed the panel and sealed it. He kept muttering words in his native language hoping that that would somehow help. The Doctor pressed several buttons and pulled a lever. The wheezing sound of the TARDIS's cylindrical engines. The Doctor cringed. He was prepared for sparks to fly and everything to fly south, but it didn't. He checked the screens and monitors. He had to read it again to make sure. He face lit up and an enormous smile on his face. He started laughing and jumping up and down.

"I did it. I did it! I DID IT!" he cheered, "Now, I need to test it. Are you ready for a little ride Old Girl?"

The TARDIS whirred in response.

"I knew it. You are just as eager to go somewhere as I am," the Doctor said, "Okay let's go."

The TARDIS whirred again and the Doctor responded, "I'll come back. I have to. There is a Rift here, remember. It's pretty tame now, but it could open and when that happens, everything will come down."

The Doctor moved around and pulled another lever. The central column moved up and down. There was no grinding or sparking. The dematerialization was going perfectly. The Doctor watched the screen and jumped up in happiness. "We are in the Vortex! Now, time to set up temporal orbit to calibrate some things."

In the sub station, the sound echoed throughout the entire building, but no one was woken up. The napkins and other loose things went flying all over the place. After about a minute, the TARDIS had completely vanished into the Time Vortex.

May 18

Earth

"Only two and a half more weeks of this," groaned Alex as she came down from her room into the Russo's loft.

"Only two and a half more weeks of what, Birthday Girl?" asked Theresa as she was finishing making breakfast with Harper.

"Of school, duh," replied Alex, "And don't call me birthday girl. It's cute and annoying."

"Today is your birthday," said Theresa, "So that makes you Birthday Girl, if you like it or not."

"Okay, if you insist," Alex said rolling her eyes, "I'm going to go downstairs to get away from the birthday happiness."

TARDIS

Time Vortex

"Everything is checking out good," said the Doctor, "I definitely fixed you, Old Girl, but for how long? That's the question."

The TARDIS started to pick up on a transmission that was leaking into the Time Vortex. The Doctor noticed it and jumped up. He looked on the monitor on the control console and said, "That's a mayday. Where are you coming from?"

The Doctor watched as the TARDIS traced the signal to the planet Night during the 422,152 AD. The Doctor breathed in loud and said, "That's quite a distance in the future. What's the message connected to the mayday?"

The Doctor read it aloud, "Help. Anyone help. They found us. They are killing us over and over again. This is to anyone else who has survived the Slaughter and the following holocausts. We repeat. Help."

The Doctor stopped reading and his blood ran cold. Mainly for what the message said about the Slaughter. He had never heard of that event and then it said following holocausts. He should have known what it was. The Doctor was more worried about the fact that the message said they. It didn't name anyone, but it acted as though everyone knew who 'they' were. He didn't want to go to Night, but he had no choice. It was in his blood and he could go now that his TARDIS was finally fixed, but he had an obligation. His ship was time machine though, but he wanted to show Alex an alien world that was far away from any she had been to.

"Stop arguing with yourself!" the Doctor yelled at himself. He smacked himself repeatedly on the right side of his forehead. He added, "So many voices. All fourteen of them. Okay! That's it. I've decided. I am getting someone to talk to. Listening to all your voices, all my voices, is driving me nuts!"

The Doctor pushed a lever back up and the TARDIS control column moved up and down. The Doctor closed his eyes and listened to the beautiful sound of the TARDIS's vworping. "It's been way too long. Way too long."

May 18

Russo Loft

Alex was at the stairs when the air around her started moving. It was a feeling she felt before, but she didn't know where. Theresa and Harper felt it too and Theresa asked, "Alex, where is that coming from?"

Before she could answer, the vworping of the TARDIS could be heard. The TARDIS light at the top appeared and slowly the TARDIS materialized behind one of two chairs in the living room area. The TARDIS door opened and the Doctor popped his head out with the biggest smile any of the family had ever seen. He said, "She's fixed."

"I can see that, and you had to pop into my living room. That thing is fine downstairs, but in here it's just in the way," said Theresa.

"It won't be here for long," replied the Doctor, "I'm going on a little adventure to an alien world and all that."

"But why?" asked Theresa, "You'll miss Alex's birthday."

"No, I won't miss...wait, it's your birthday?" asked the Doctor, "You never told me."

"It's not something I'm big on," answered Alex.

"That's completely understandable," said the Doctor, "I'm sometimes the same way."

"Where're you going?" asked Alex. She was hoping she would be able to ditch school and go on a trip during her birthday.

"Night," said the Doctor.

"Night?" asked Harper, "You're going to go to the other side of the planet."

The looked at her and said, "No, my dear friend, Night the planet."

"There is a planet called Night?" asked Theresa, "That's not very alieny."

"Because it was named by humans. It was a human colony established during the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. After that empire fell, the planet receded back to the jungle world it was. It's in a proton star system. It's quite a beautiful planet."

"When are we going?" asked Alex.

"422,152," answered the Doctor.

"What?"

"That's when we're going. The year 422,152," said the Doctor, "We can leave right now if you want."

"She has school today. She can't go," said Theresa.

"It's a time machine, Mom," replied Alex, "I can leave and have a little fun and be back right after I left."

"I'll go with her and make sure nothing bad happens," said Harper.

The Doctor looked at Harper. He was surprised and asked, "You want to go to?"

"Why not?"

"I didn't think that you would want to go," said the Doctor, "You can go if it's okay to Alex."

"It's fine," said Alex, "I just want to go somewhere."

"Okay," said the Doctor. He looked behind Alex at Theresa. She nodded and the Doctor said, "Let's go then."

"Yes!" said Harper. She looked at the surprised faces of everyone in the room and she added, "I mean yeah sure, let's go."

The Doctor stepped out of the way and held the door open for Alex and Harper. They walked inside and the Doctor followed. Theresa ran up to the door and quietly opened the door and went inside.

The Doctor added the destination and the year into the TARDIS's systems and he pulled a couple levers and turned a sphere on the right side of the controls in front of him. The two on the stage looked at the center column move up and down and the familiar sound of the TARDIS engines. Theresa stared on from the door and walked into a sound room that was close to her. The two girls didn't notice her, but the Doctor did. He said, "We'll be there in bit. I need to go check something out."

He ran to the sound room where Theresa was. He walked in and stared her down. "What are you doing?"

"It was a spur of the moment thing and when I realized I shouldn't you had already done something."

"Well, Theresa, you're stuck with us," said the Doctor, "But I guess it's good because I got a transmission from the planet in the year 422,152. It was a distress signal. Something bad happened and I'm going to find out what it was, but I didn't want to go alone."

Theresa went from nervous to angry, "You tricked my daughter to go to another planet in the distant future just so you can go and find out what it is and you wanted someone to go with you."

"That's about the sum of it, yeah," said the Doctor, "Alex has magic though. She can defend herself. I didn't think about Harper going being a bad idea until just now. She doesn't have magic."

"What about me then?" asked Theresa.

"You weren't part of the trip. You snuk onboard," said the Doctor.

"I'll give you that one," said Theresa. Their conversion was ended by a big thud.

"We've landed," said the Doctor, "We'll talk about this later."

"Agreed," said Theresa.

The Doctor came out of the sound room and said, "We got company."

Theresa followed him out and said, "Hey, girls."
"Oh, Mom, why did you have to come?" asked Alex.

"Sorry," said Theresa.

The Doctor broke up the conversation, and walked outside. He walked to a drop-off outside the TARDIS and stared in awe and disgust at what he saw. The three came out and walked to where the Doctor was. They gasped at what they saw down below.

"Good God, who did this?" asked the Doctor. His anger was boiling over inside him. Down below, there was a massive city that completely ablaze. Buildings were still collapsing.

"Doctor, what's that smell?" asked Harper.

"Death, Harper. That's death. Countless bodies being roasted in that inferno. Who knows how many innocents. Who would do such a thing?"

The four of them watched as the fire licked the night sky on the planet Night.

Chapter 2

"Who did this?" the Doctor asked again, "Who did this! Whoever did is going to pay. I don't know what species that city belonged too, but that's murder, mass murder. Senseless killing."

"Who would to this?" asked Theresa.

"I don't know," said Alex.

"I going to find out and they will regret doing this," the Doctor said. He was starting to calm down. After several moments of silence with tension so thick it could be cut with a knife, the Doctor broke the quiet and said, "We're being watched."

The three looked at him and Harper asked, "How do you know?"

"I know when I'm being watched," said the Doctor, "We're being watched from behind the TARDIS and right behind the tree line of that forest. Don't turn around. I'll deal with it. I'm certain it's only one thing, but it may be more."

The Doctor turned around and slowly walked back to the TARDIS. He had his head down, but glanced to his right. He saw the reflection of two eyes. He put his hand in his pocket and pressed against the TARDIS doors, outside of the creature's line of sight. He took out a ball the size of a tennis ball, but it was metal. The Doctor squeezed it and with lightening speed, he threw it into the tree line. It hit the target and a howl erupted from the foliage. The Doctor ran into the trees and pulled out a limp woman from the trees. The Doctor laid her against the TARDIS and waited for her to wake up again.

"Doctor, who is she?" asked Harper.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that she's not human."

"But she looks like it," said Theresa.

"Actually to me, she looks Time Lord," said the Doctor, "But she's not that either."

"How do you know?" asked Alex.

"Her eyes reflected light as much as a cat's eyes would. Human have no reflection. Time Lords have some reflection, but it was hardly noticeable. This woman is something else. She might not even be in her true form," the Doctor.

He took out his screwdriver and turned the dial at the center of the device. He used it on the woman, scanning her biological makeup. He opened on her eyes and shined the yellow light into it. He stopped scanning and looked at the reader on the side of the screwdriver. The Doctor's face turned grim and sighed, "Oooh. It's a good thing, a very good thing, that you snuk onboard, Theresa. If it had been one of the guys, this would be a little tricky."

"Doctor, what is she?" asked Alex.

"A siren," said the Doctor.

"What's a siren?" asked Alex.

"A siren from Greek mythology," said Harper, "I would have thought even you would have known that."

"But I don't," said Alex, "What's the big deal with the siren and guys?"

The Doctor stood up and asked, "Seriously? Sirens can make males of most species into drones to do anything they want to. Only a handful of species are immune to the Siren's Song."

"What are they?" asked Theresa.

"Mostly the races from the Dark Times, including my own people, the Time Lords. Other than that there are the Great Vampires, the Sontarans, the Rutans, the Dragocenes, the Ogrons, the Pantheon Members, the Charchoones, the Weeping Angels, the Pyroviles, and the Daleks," told the Doctor.

The siren coughed and opened her eyes. The Doctor turned around and crouched down next to her. She looked at the three females staring down at her. She looked to her left and saw the crouching Doctor. She opened started talking, but nothing came out.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and said, "Save it, Siren. That won't work on me."

She stopped and said, "It was worth a shot."

"How can she understand you and us understand her?" asked Harper.

The Doctor didn't look at Harper and said, "The translation circuit in the TARDIS. It gets in your head and lets you understand most languages."

"I thought it was all languages," said Alex.

"I used to think so too, but there are things in the universe that are beyond the knowledge of the TARDIS, but that's a lesson for another time," said the Doctor. He looked at the siren in the eyes and asked, "What happened here?"

The siren didn't answer. She didn't trust him. She knew there were little species immune to her song, but the ones that looked like the Doctor were either dead or psychopaths.

"It's okay, Siren, I'm here to find out who did this and to punish them," said the Doctor.

"Doctor, how do know her people aren't responsible?" asked Theresa.

"I can tell by the way she's acting and her looks. I lost my planet and I know how that sits in a heart. Her world was attacked and she's not trusting anyone. I understand that completely." He turned his attention back to the siren and said, "If it makes you feel better, I'll tell you my species. Do you want me to do that?"

The siren looked at him and nodded.

"I'm a Time Lord from Gallifrey," said the Doctor.

She looked into his eyes and could read he was telling the truth. She threw herself on him and started crying. The Doctor held her as she cried. He told her, "It's okay. It's okay. Just tell me what happened. You're safe now."

"They came out of nowhere. Without warning, they blasted us from space and before we knew what hit us, they were on the ground killing us without and remorse or mercy. They were lumbering giants. They were as tall as this blue thing," the siren continued.

"What's your name?" asked the Doctor.

"Sireus," said the siren, "I'm named after my people's original planet, Sireus. It was destroyed in the Slaughter."

The Doctor moved Sireus and she leaned on the TARDIS again. He asked her, "What's the Slaughter?"

"You don't know?" asked Sireus.

"No, I don't," answered the Doctor, "I heard it on the transmission. It sounds like a major event."

"You must be from the Days of Life."

"The what?" asked the Doctor. His interest was exploding.

"The Days of Life were the days before the Slaughter. It was when the universe was filled with life and millions upon millions of species. It was before they came into the picture. They came and killed everything. They were indiscriminate. When the Slaughter ended, over half of life in the universe was killed. After that, holocaust after holocaust followed. Now there are less than one hundred species alive in the entire universe. Dead galaxy after dead galaxy is all you find. There was nothing that could stop them."
"Who came and did that the universe?" the Doctor asked. His stomach was in his throat and he felt like puking. The three humans didn't know how big and packed the universe was with life, so they weren't as effected, but they were unnerved.

"The name of their species is lost to time, but they are known for their ruthlessness and cruelty. No one could bargain with them. There was nothing they wanted except for you death. Nothing more and nothing less. Do you know of any species like?"

"Just one," the Doctor spat, "But it can't be them. They all died. Where did they come from?"

"Throce Threythace," said Sireus, "In the revolution 2011 CE."

The Doctor's blood ran cold. His eyes widened and he looked back at Alex, Harper and Theresa. He stood up and said, "Get in the TARDIS now. I need to talk to Sireus alone."

"But..." Alex started.

"GO!" the Doctor boomed. He pointed to the TARDIS. They all three went inside the TARDIS and when the doors shut, the Doctor looked at Sireus and asked, "Are you telling me that the Slaughter starts with Earth in the year 2011."

"Yes, why?"

"That's where we're from, and according to you that is the Doorstep to Doomsday."

"But there is a story," said Sireus, "A story every species that is alive today has. It says that there is one thing that can stop the Slaughter and prevent all of this from happening. The largest part of that legend is the statement, 'A girl at the heart of it all.'"

"A girl at the heart of it all," said the Doctor, "I'll remember that."

"You need to because part of that story has come true already," said Sireus.

"What part is that?"

"A Lord of Time will come and the rewriting would start," said Sireus.

"Rewriting of what?" asked the Doctor.

"Time," said Sireus, "I saw that necklace on the female in the middle. The key in the clock. That will be incredibly important and will be your answer to saving everything."

"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor.

"I need to talk to the females," said the siren, "One of them is going to be very important in the future."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"I'm gifted. I can see time and all the possible outcomes of things. I can see that you met my species before. It was back on the cruise ship in the Pacific ocean. You killed Poseidon and the renegade sirens that followed him. I also see what's going to happen to that family you currently live with. Only one of them will survive the Slaughter."

"You don't know that!"

"But I do, Doctor," said Sireus.

"If you could read time, why did you not trust me?"

"I can only read time of a person if I have been with them for several minutes. It's not perfect, but it's still a gift. Now send out the females. I need to talk to them."

"About what?" asked the Doctor.

"The things to come."

Chapter 3

The Doctor walked into the TARDIS and said, "The siren is a prophetess and she has something to tell you three."

"Why?" asked Theresa.

"I don't know. Go ask her!" the Doctor snapped at her.

"Hey! Don't get snappy at me," said Theresa.

"I'm sorry, but I got some news that I don't like," said the Doctor.

"Well, okay then, don't do it again," said Theresa.

"It'll happen again. It's in my nature," said the Doctor.

Alex nodded and Harper said, "Yeah it is."

After that, the three humans left the TARDIS. The Doctor followed behind. His demeanor completely different from the time he first met the siren.

Sireus looked at the three humans and then back to the Time Lord. She went back to the humans and forced a smile. The Doctor went up to the three humans and said, "There is nothing I can do here. When she is done talking to you, get back into the TARDIS and we will go to the sub station."

"Why? That was fast," said Alex, "We usually do something to save people."
The Doctor didn't answer, but the siren said, "That's because there is nothing to save. Our time has come, but there is hope. It rests with you."

The Doctor silently walked back into the TARDIS. Theresa saw him walk inside. She wasn't around the Doctor as much as the girls were, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the Doctor was so unnerved he couldn't even hide it and when he said that there was nothing he could do, that worried her.

She turned back to the siren and siren told her, "The first is for you. You won't see it but these two girls will be very important in the days to come, but for completely different reasons, and I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" asked Theresa.

"The events that are to come and the losses you will suffer," said Sireus.

Theresa felt sick to her stomach and asked, "Is that all?"

Sireus nodded. Theresa walked back into the TARDIS and the two girls were left outside. Sireus looked at Harper and said, "You are the voice of reason in a time where there is no reason at all. You need to be ready when reason is needed."

"How will I be the voice of reason?" asked Harper.

"You will know," said Sireus. Sireus turned to Alex and said, "You are the most special of them all."

Alex was stunned when the siren said that. She asked, "What are you talking about? What do you mean that I am the most special one of them all."

"You are part of the key that can turn the tide. You are part of the key that will save us all," said Sireus.

"What key?" asked Alex.

Sireus walked up to Alex and looked at Alex's necklace. It was the one that had a key in the clock. The siren looked at Alex's face and said, "This necklace is going to be the answer for the Doctor when he is all out of answers. When all of his hope is gone, this will remind him of something that could reverse all of this and prevent the Slaughter from happening."

The siren walked back and from behind her a blast of orange fire rain down from the sky. When it hit the ground, the city exploded and collapsed. More fire blasts rained down on the planet. Sireus sighed and said, "They're here, but I told you what I needed to. Now go before you are caught in one of those blasts."

They both walked back to the TARDIS and went inside it.

The Doctor ran around the control console and saw what kind of ships were in orbit. His blood ran cold. He froze. Alex ran up to him and asked him, "What's attacking the planet?"

"Something we will worry about later. We have to get out of here," the Doctor said and he pulled a lever and the TARDIS was off again.

Sireus watched the TARDIS dematerialize and vanish. She looked up at the sky and saw a blasts of fire barreling towards her, and in an explosion that made the whole cliff collapse, Sireus was incinerated. After twenty minutes of bombardment, the planet was a burning cinder and the ships that were in orbit flew away searching for more life to that needed to be killed.

Waverly Sub Station

May 18

The TARDIS materialized in its normal spot in the restaurant, and the four of them exited. The Doctor said, "Let's all forget what happened on Night and just enjoy Alex's eighteenth birthday."

"That sound good," said Theresa and she walked off upstairs.

Harper and Alex stayed with the Doctor. Harper asked, "What was that all about?"

"I don't know, but I do know something is coming. There is a storm on the horizon and it will turn everything upside down, but let's not think about that know."

The Doctor's mind went back to the ships that he scanned and he knew it was impossible what they were, but they were there. They were there right in front of him. Alex and Harper walked off. They tried to forget what had happened. The Doctor continued to stand there. He knew the danger that was coming. The others couldn't even begin to comprehend it, but he knew, and he knew everything would start on Earth. Earth is the planet the that will herald the monsters that will come and kill the universe.

The End