Hello all, so are you ready for a long chapter? I hope so. Now just a little A/N before you go off on your own: I have written this chapter so both parties can be present and accounted for. Therefore, I had to do a bit of "Duel Writing" (which is something I just made up and put in quotation marks to look important). So with any luck you all will understand exactly what is going on. Thanks.

A/N2: I did go a bit Stephan King a ways, its near the end; I don't think it's too graphic, but just letting you know ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

It seemed that with each passing second the screeching grew louder and louder. Lily knew they had to get out of there, and fast. She took a deep breath and uncovered one of her ears, and was met with the deafening sound; not that their hands were blocking much, but it was some protection.

Groping for John's hand in the clamor was like seeking for it the dark. Lily's head felt like it was about to explode; in fact, if they stood there long enough…but, she couldn't think of that now. Her only priority was to get John to safety, no matter what.

Finding his hand finally, she tugged on him; ignoring his groans of pain, pulling him towards the front door. She could tell that he wasn't faring any better than she with just one hand against the shrilling noise.

She released her other hand from her head, Lily had to steady herself as she reached for the doorknob, she wrenched the door open and threw them outside.

John allowed himself to be jerked down the walk, before he stopped suddenly.

The screams had stopped.

He blew out a sigh, "Thank God." He looked down at Lily who was looking about.

"No, no, please." She muttered.

"What was that?" He asked, worried by Lily's reaction, "Maybe we should get some help." He added when Lily's murmurs increased and her hands started to yank on her hair.

"From where?" She asked seriously.

John shook his head, "Whadda mean?"

Lily spread her arms wide, "Look about John,"

John did what said, cars were stopped in the street, but there were no drivers in them; the engines were still running. The newspaper stand that was located across from his house was empty; he could just make out the sound of static from the television that was on the counter of the stand.

"What's going on?" He asked, not liking the world Lily had just brought him to.

"Come on." Lily said, taking his hand and led him along, she pulled a necklace off from around her neck, attached to it was a small silver key.

Running across the street, John swept his head from side to side; it appeared that everyone had vanished, literally disappeared on the spot. There was a child's ball lying next to the fence, a discarded dog's leash on the walk, with no dog connected to it. It was as if he and Lily were the only living thing, besides the trees and flowers, left.

'But, that was impossible, wasn't it?' John thought.

He was stopped once more; he looked up at the blue police box. John registered the sound of a key fitting into a lock just as the screams started again.

He had only managed a shaky, "Wha?" Before being pushed inside. John landed sharply on a metal ramp, he made a slight grunt but it was drowned out by the noise, but it too was also cut short as Lily slammed the door shut. And silence greeted them once again.

"My God you're strong." He lightly commented, tying to his strengthening fear.

Lily briskly walked past him up the ramp to the platform, John followed her with his eyes, his jaw fell open. He knew that the box would have been much bigger than it looked on the outside, but this was…this was amazing.

"Welcome to the Tardis." Lily said.

John blinked, "Wow."

DXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDX

"Doctor, what do we do?!" Martha shouted above the screams.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and clicked the button, he ran it over the room, and his face fell.

"Everyone!" He yelled to the group, grabbing their attention even with their hands over their ears, "Follow me!" He motioned for them to follow.

Tish gathered her son up into her arms and grabbed her husband's hand as they ran out of the room. James and Francine followed, then by Leo and his family. The Doctor clutched Martha, and made sure that Stephan was with them. They met outside; they all were bewildered more than frightened. They had been waiting for Lily and John to join them, when the screams started. The Doctor didn't need to use his screwdriver to identify what had caused the yells. He had recognized the noise instantly.

Martha grabbed his hand, "Where's Lily?" Her voice quivered, her eyes frightened.

The Doctor looked, knowing that his wondering eyes would not find his daughter, "Come on." He said ignoring his wife's eyes and his family's questions. A breath of relief when he saw his wonderful ship. He knew that the screams would begin again soon, the sooner they were inside the Tardis the better.

"Everyone follow me, quickly as possible." The Doctor said leading them across the street and inside the ship.

Eleven people ushered inside up the ramp to the platform. Although, it was not the first time any of them had entered the Tardis, but it was still a sight to see every time.

"Doctor, what was that?" Martha asked her arm around her son.

"Grintri." He said.

"What are they?" Martha knew better, when the Doctor used that tone, it normally was always bad.

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXXDXD

"They're sort of like insects." Lily said to a confused John.

"Sort of?'" He asked.

Lily let out an exasperated breath, "Well, yes and no. They are very tiny when they are born, that's why we can't see them."

"That sound was a newborn?"

She nodded.

"So what do they do?" John asked, his hand grasping the back of the yellow jump seat that he was sitting on.

"They eat; humans, dogs, cats, anything meaty." Lily told him, trying to avoid his panic-stricken face.

"People? They eat people?"

"John calm down," She said placing her hands on his heaving shoulders, "We're safe in here, okay, we're safe." She whispered the last word, calming him down a bit.

"So where's the people, did they eat them?" John asked fearfully.

Lily shook her head, "No, there's only one."

"You sure?"

She nodded, "Yes, or we'd be dead by now."

"Oh, God." He whispered.

"John, we have to stop it, okay, because it's only going to get bigger."

"How much bigger?"

"Bout the size of one of those giant tortoises, you know from the Galapagos."

"But the people, where are they?" John asked again.

"That's what Grintri do, once they attach themselves to prey they take away any resources they can help them. People, dogs, anything." Lily said honestly.

"So, they're not dead?"

"No, once we kill it, then they'll come back all of them." She said promisingly.

Lily brought her hands up and cupped his face, "I will stop this, okay."

John looked very much like a small child, sitting there trying to keep calm. Lily never felt so guilty before in her entire life then she did in that moment. She never wanted to put John through something like this, not before meeting her parents.

"So, how do we kill them?" John asked her.

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD

"Water." The Doctor said looking at his wife.

"Water? That's it?" Leo asked, holding onto his wife.

The Doctor looked back at his brother-in-law, "Yeah, but have you ever seen a Grintri?" The Doctor knew that no one besides him had actually encountered, but the question was asked anyway.

Sighing at the silence of his question, "Grintri are very dangerous, they grow very fast, and they are quick as well."

"How quick do they grow?" Martha asked.

The Doctor shrugged, "It's probably reached its adult stage now."

"And how big's that?" James asked his arm around his wife as well.

The Doctor cocked a brow upwards at him, "Big."

Martha nodded, trying to wrap her head around the information she had been given, "Okay, so what do we do? I mean…how are we going to find it?"

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXXDXDXDDXDXXD

John swallowed the rising bile that had begun to creep up the back of his throat, "Live bait?"

He asked for the third tie since Lily had said it five minutes ago. For a prestigious doctor who would not give a second thought to cut into a human chest, was now feeling rather nauseas at the thought of offering a defenseless creature to the monster lurking outside. He remembered when Daniel had a pet snake; John couldn't bear watch his brother feed the animal. A poor mouse, wriggling to get free from his brother's grasp; trying desperately to stay away from the jaws of death.

"So, what are we going to distract it with?" He asked, not really wanting to know her answer.

"There's a fireplug in front of the house next to yours." Lily said, avoiding his question.

John nodded, "I don't have a wrench or anything to open it." He said, his unsettling feeling for killing a helpless animal was gone, and now replaced with a new kind of sick feeling. His eyes glared at her, "What kind of bait, Lil?" He asked again, his voice stern.

Lily scratched her ear then began to pull on the butterfly earring that dangled from the lobe, "I have something." She began, again ignoring him, "I've been working on it, I don't know if it's ready, but we have no choice."

John got off the worn yellow seat, "Lily…" He began, his voice unwavering.

But, Lily had rushed out of the room; John listened as her footfall became silent. He was not liking where this was headed. Her blatant avoidance of his twice-asked question was not a good sign. Standing alone in the main control room, or so he guessed, John did not feel alone. In fact, he felt secure and warm; he could also make out, he could have sworn was singing. It was distant, foreign, and beautiful.

Lily came back into the room, before he could ask about the mysterious singing; she thrust a small metal tool into his hand. He blinked at it; the size of it deceived the weight of it. It must have weighed a little more than a kilo, at least. He looked it over, various buttons, small knobs, and wheels decorated the minute device.

He looked back up at her, "What is it?"

"Well, it suppose to be a sonic-screwdriver. My dad has one; they're quite useful; except on wood for some reason." Lily said, matter-of-factly.

John's eyebrows raised, looking down at the device again. He shrugged, "And this will open the hydrant?"

She nodded, "Yeah." Lily's face fell, her eyes becoming small as her brow creased, her lips pressed together tightly, "I think." She had meant to say this in her head, but once the thought formed in her mind, her mouth wanted to say it.

Lily saw John's expression, but ignored it. It was what her dad did every time they found themselves in a tight spot. Denial, good in moderation. Her mind drifted to her family, she hoped they were all right. She could only believed that killing the Grintri would bring them back.

"Alright, let's go over this." Lily said, clapping her hands together.

Lily took the screwdriver from John's hands she turned a wheel a couple of times. She held it up for John to see, "John, now this is important, when I tell you to, you are going to point this," Her finger indicated to the top, it was capped with what looked like a clear top tinted green, "At the fireplug, and press the bottom button." She showed him the bottom of the tool; it was a small silver button. "Okay?"

John nodded, taking the offered screwdriver again, "But, what about you?" He asked, rephrasing his previous question.

Lily released a soft sigh from her lips, "Live bait." She answered, pointing to herself.

DXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDDDDDDDDDDDDDXXXXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD

"Doctor you can't be serious." Martha said, looking at him as if he had just suggested that he offered himself to the Grintri…well actually he did.

"All you have to do is get to the fireplug." The Doctor assured her, he handed her his sonic-screwdriver.

Martha listened to him as he told her how to operate the gadget, although she knew how to work the sonic; she'd known for years. But, the Doctor seemed to be on edge he wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

"Will Lily and John come back?" Martha asked, turning the knob without looking.

The Doctor nodded, "Yes, once the Grintri is dead, it will reverse everything."

"Good." She replied.

"Okay then, now, everyone; Martha and I are going to deal with this…"

"Wait, I'm coming too." Stephan said, his voice a little wounded that his father would exclude him from this one adventure, especially since this one seemed fun.

"Stephan…" Martha began.

"Let him come." The Doctor said, looking at Martha, "Well, I don't want arguing and the more hands the better."

He looked up and held a hand up, "And before anyone else starts, Stephan knows what he's doing,…sort of, but I can't keep track of all of you. So please no matter what, stay in here."

They all nodded.

"Okay then, Martha, Stephan stay close to me." He gently told them.

The both nodded in sync with each other.

"Ready?"

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXXDXXDXDXDXDXDX

"As I'll ever be." John said with a nodded, picturing exactly the route he was going to run. He didn't know what the Grintri looked like or precisely how quick the thing moved, but he was going to make sure that he would get to the plug as quick as he could.

It was in that moment that he trusted Lily more than anything, he trusted her with his life.

Lily motioned to John for her to follow her. They stood side by side, touching his chest lightly; John closed his eyes for a moment, feeling Lily's hand squeeze his other one. He smiled down at her.

"John." Lily said, she sound frightened.

"Yes?" He asked looking at her.

"I love you."

John Fenton would always remember the moment he felt the sudden burst of happiness that day, not to mention the tremendous amount of bravery that seemed to come from nowhere. He bent down and kissed her passionately, the pain in his chest thumped, but he ignored it. Nothing could ruin this moment, that was until he remember that they were about to go into the snake cage; towards the quite literal jaws of death. It was also that moment that he feared, not for himself, but for Lily. More than anything he wanted to switch roles with her, letting himself be the diversion, but he knew she would have none of it. He learned quickly not to argue with her, it would be better for him in the long run.

Pulling away from each other, Lily cupped his face with her and, "I promise that everything will be okay."

John nodded, believing her 100 percent.

She turned towards the door, her heartbeats pounding furiously in her chest, she removed her hand from John's face and placed it on the handle. This was it.

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD

This was it.

The Doctor looked once at his wife, then to his son. His thoughts on his daughter, wherever she was; wondering if he'd ever see her again.

Neither Lily nor the Doctor would know that standing in the exact spot, they opened the door at the same time, knowing that on the other side was going to be hell at its finest.

Lily looked about, the screams had stopped, which meant the Grintri was now grown. Somewhere a dangerous stealthy Grintri, that not only moved fast, but could kill with a single bite from its poisonous razor sharp teeth. She motioned the all clear for John, watching him with the screwdriver raised, as he weaved around the cars to the fireplug.

Lily knew in that instant that one of them was going to die, either the Grintri or her, and with her newly confessed love to John, she was going to make sure that this alien bastard was going down.

The Doctor had been scared only a handful of times in his entire life, none he wished to mention or think about. But he was going to add this moment to the list. With his wife waiting and his son hunting a Grintri alongside him, the Doctor had every right to be terrified, even if he wasn't going to admit it openly.

"Okay, then." The Doctor said, looking at his family.

Pulling the door open, they three of them stepped outside.

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXXDXXDXDXDXDXDXDDXXDXDXDXXDXDXDXDXDX

"Wait." Lily said, she turned on the spot and headed towards to the console, John watched her take one of the mallets that hung off controls.

She went back to him, the hammer poised and ready, "Mighty as well have protection, yes?"

John nodded, agreeing.

Lily took a deep breath, opening the door before she even exhaled.

Stepping out of the Tardis reminding Lily of that one time they had traveled to Winole, the planet had been deserted for centuries. This was no different, although with this Lily had been on this planet when it had been abandoned. And she, along with John, was going to stop it.

There was silence around them, it only could mean that the Grintri was grown.

It was then she saw it, crouching on top of one of the cars, its black eyes bearing down at them. She could see the black eyes bearing down at them. She could see the saliva dripping off the ends of its razor sharp teeth, knowing that a single scratched of even one of them, resulted in fatality. She could feel John tense at the sight of it, she had wanted John's first alien encounter to be pleasant. They would have made sure that he hadn't met up with Grintri until later on.

The creature was frozen on the roof of the blue color car, Lily made eye contact with it. As long as it focused on her, then John would be able to get into place.

"John?"

"Yeah?"

The both whispered to one another, afraid to speak normally.

"When that thing goes after me, you go to that hydrant, got it?"

"But," John said, his agreement to let her go instead of him seemed daft now that he was actually looking at the thing.

"Don't worry, I won't die on ya." She whispered a nervous smile in her voice.

"Okay." Lily said to herself, she stepped forward.

The Grintri growled softly, maliciously, wondering why prey had suddenly decided to come to it so willfully.

Lily smiled at the creature, "Hi." It was the only thing that popped into her mind as she swallowed, watching as the beast stooped lower, its hunches moving up and down; like a lion ready to pounce.

His name was the last thing she said before she took off to the left, away from the fireplug.

John watched in horror as the huge catlike monster leapt clearing a car with ease, it bounded after Lily. He watched for a moment, Lily sure did have a pair of legs on her. She weaved in between cars, she had a good lead on the Grintri. Snapping his eyes away from them, John ran across the street.

He stopped, his pulse quickening. Standing to his right, crouching low to the ground was the Grintri.

"Oh, dear God." He whispered, feeling his heart pound against his chest. This was not happening.

XDXXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXXXDDXXDDXXDXDXDXDXDXDDXXDXDXDXDXDXDDXXDXDXDXDDXXD

"Stephan! Duck!" The Doctor cried out as the Grintri sprang up, missing his son by mere centimeters.

The Grintri crashed to the pavement, its claws scraping against the road; trying to stop before it slammed into a car.

Stephan stumbled to his feet, striding over to the dazed beast, pelting water from the bottle he has snatched from the Tardis. It was not enough to kill it, as it was now fully grown, but it did slow it down. As soon as the liquid touched the rust-color fur, it bubbled and burned away like acid.

Standing back, the Doctor and Stephan watched as the Grintri gnawed at its matted coat, trying desperately to rid itself of the scalding pain.

"Martha! Get ready!" The Doctor shouted.

Her reply, however, was not what he was expecting. Father and son turned instantly at Martha's sudden scream.

Terror ran through them, there was another Grintri, and it had attacked an unsuspecting Martha.

The Doctor ran past the already injured animal, and hurried to his wife. She was pressed up against the rod iron fence, the creature hovering over her. Snarling at her, ready to strike for a second time. The Doctor picked up the screwdriver Martha had dropped in the abrupt attack. He pointed it at the hydrant, it burst instantly, water shooting out at the Grintri's back. It slammed into Martha, causing her to let out a yelp of surprise, feeling not only the harsh spray of water, but the weight of the creature. The Grintri howled in pain, the steady flow melting away the flesh. Martha scrambled out of the way of the dissolving alien, and into her husband's waiting arms.

The Doctor looked over at his soaking wife, she had a tear in her shirt, but luckily, the poisonous claws had managed to snag her shirt and not her skin.

"Dad!"

Both parents turned, the other Grintri was now up on its feet. Its jaws quivering as it growled, bearing its fangs, however, it was not staring at them. Rather what was to their right.

"Oh, my." Martha said seeing what the thing was staring at, "It's John."

Sure enough John Fenton stood, shell shocked and trembling as he looked down at the other Grintri. Although, he appeared to be a bit fuzzy, and the surroundings weren't entirely clear, they knew without a doubt that the man standing in the middle of the road, frozen in fear was John.

"What's he doing?" She asked.

The Doctor didn't know who or what she was talking about, so he shrugged his shoulders, to him, John seemed to be a hologram; rather along the lines of his 'emergency programme one'.

"John!" Martha called out to him, the young boy did not hear her; thankfully, neither did the Grintri. It seemed fixated on John.

"John!" Another voiced called out, it was more distant than Martha's, distorted, but possible to make out that it belonged to a woman.

The parents and brother gasped when Lily appeared alongside John, her hand on his right shoulder. Her eyes wide at the sight of the Grintri.

"So here's where it went." She managed to say.

Stephan stood next to his parents, "Look." He pointed to the Grintri, the body seemed to dematerialize for a moment, then it returned, looking as Lily and John did. Not whole, yet still very real.

"What's happening?" Martha asked, her voice quivering.

The Doctor watched in silence for a moment before answering, "There's two of them, well now only one of them. I guess…" He stopped short, Lily had now begun to move, shifting the Grintri's attention once more away from John. She was walking to stand in front of it, making sure that its back faced the fire hydrant. Of course, this was unfortunate that she now found herself trapped between to cars, one to her right and the other behind her. But, it was the best shot of the water to catch the Grintri off its guard. And ultimately kill it.

"Okay, John," Lily said, not caring about her volume this time, "Just point at it from there, the sonic has quite a range to it."

John felt very tired just then, his chest felt like it was constricting around his heart, he begun to feel very cold. Maybe it was the fact that he had only one shot at this, if he missed; the animal would seize upon his failure to trigger the hydrant and Lily would die. He couldn't let that happen, that wouldn't happen. Ignoring the pain rising through him, John aimed the screwdriver at the fireplug, pressing the button just in time to hear Lily scream his name.

The hydrant burst a second time, water jetting out; hitting the Grintri just as it leaped in the air.

Lily watched as the monster hurdled towards her, it fell into her as the powerful water spray collided with it. She felt a sharp, fleeting pain as she maneuvered the Grintri off of her and managed to scramble to the hood of a car.

The animal screamed in pain just as its kin had done moments before, the beast's body quaked with short jerky movements. The fur burning and flaking off leaving the skin to liquefying so that the crimson blood oozed. The muscles and organs were next to melt away, leaving behind the skeleton and a puddle of yellow-white puss, from which the organs left behind; quickly that too seeped into the ground and the bones became dust.

Martha lifted her head from the Doctor's chest when he had whispered to her that it was all over. A smile emanated from her lips when she saw the vanished people, now returned to their previous statuses.

The Doctor kissed the side of her head, moving it briefly to see Lily sliding off the car. A very annoyed driver questioning her, but she was ignoring him.

Instead, Lily was standing there, looking at John on the ground.

The young man's knees had buckled from under him and he was now laying on his stomach, arms at his side, his head turned towards her; his mouth ajar.

Her hand came up and touched her chest, slightly above her left heart. Pulling it away, she saw the smallest amount of blood on her palm. Lowering her hand, she took a tiny step forward.

"John?"

Okay and that's where I'll leave it. I know evil huh? I hope that the length didn't bother you. It was just that I have been tying to fit this one and the two previous chapters all in one. But, as you can see, that was quiet impossible. Also, I hope that the split conversation and action scenes were easy to follow. I know my previous stories have been well…complicated to understand, so I made a promise to make this one simple. So any questions, please feel free to ask.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading, now review!

VampMistress