Hello again! Here is the eleventh chapter- sorry it's shorter than my usual work. Remember, reviews means instant friendship!
Desperation flashing on her face, Martha jiggled the lock of the door angrily.
"Help me then!" she cried, listening to the Doctor's shouts. "Come on!" The old woman didn't move.
"It's locked Martha," she said. "I've tried that."
"Doctor!" Martha yelled. "What's happening?"
"Complications!" he shouted. "Sorry!"
"What do you-" The feral snarl cut her off. "What is it?"
"Scary," he said. "I'm trying to… trying to reason with it…"
"It doesn't sound like it wants to reason with you!"
"Yeah, helpful!" the Doctor half laughed. Martha bit her lip.
"What am I supposed to do?" she asked, her heart in her mouth. She listened to the awful slashing sounds outside and the Doctor yells of alarm- she didn't want to but she just couldn't help it.
The world around her shuddered and she stumbled as what she presumed to be the illusive creature fell against the exterior of the lighthouse. She swallowed. She was scared now.
"Doctor," she called in a wavering voice. "Doctor?" Silence. Panic bubbling up inside her, Martha pressed her face against the door. "Doctor," she whispered. She looked back at the elderly woman perched on the floor. "Oh my God." Mrs Lankinson couldn't bring herself to say anything.
Suddenly the door flew open and Martha was pushed off her feet as an invisible force propelled her backward. Something cold. She shivered. Mrs Lankinson, her pale eyes wide, stared at Martha.
"The shadows," she said blandly. "The shadows have returned." Martha knew was Mrs Lankinson meant by shadows now. She knew there was something there, she could sense it's cold presence, hear the rasp of its shallow breathing, yet all she could see was a slight shift at the corner of her eye.
"What do you want?" she whimpered.
"Come. Come with me." Martha remained still, frozen to the ground were she was sprawled, but Mrs L was already stumbling to her feet.
"Stop! What you doing? You're not going with it?" There was something about it, something that made Martha want to get as far away from it as possible.
"I have to," replied the older woman. "I have to… we're going up to the stop… we're going to meet with the others…"
"The others? The other people?"
"SILENCE!" Martha feet a cold hand squeezing inside her chest and she winced. "You will come." Martha got to her feet and firmly grasped Mrs Lankinson's chubby hand.
"Alright?" she whispered. "Hold on to me." She followed the 'shadow' out of the now ajar door and took a sharp turn to the right. She squinted in the blackness of the dim light and clenched her fists as Mrs Lankinson fell ahead of her. The shadow forced itself between them, and for the first time, Martha noticed others. Men, women, children and animals, walking forward guided by dozens of the shadows. Martha shivered as a few brushed past her.
Then, something grabbed hold of her arms. She gasped in shock, as a hand was clamped over her mouth. Someone's mouth brushed against her ear.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It's just me." It was the Doctor. A sigh escaping her lips, she fumbled for his hand and held it tightly.
"Oh God," she retched. "It's you. You're all right. Thank God." It was all she could do not to turn around and hug him.
"You can kiss me later," he quoted, as if reading her thoughts. He smiled softly, embracing her softly from behind, his hand wandering to her stomach.
"What happened?" she asked. "How did you get away?"
"Honestly… I don't know. One minute this wocking great alien monster is trying to bloody well kill me the next it's disintegrated in front of me and turned into a little bunny…you know. Then it slipped through the force field and I followed it sharpish and I waited under the stairs and I saw you coming past."
"And you're ok now," she hissed. "Completely healed?"
"Almost," he assured her. "Worked on Jenny, worked on me."
"How did you know where I was?"
"The killer came into the TARDIS in your form," he sighed. "I figured it out pretty quickly and I guessed that the force field around the lighthouse was hiding something like that."
"I'm sorry," she said. "You were so sick, and I was desperate to get back to my family and make sure everyone was safe that I thought I could track down the killer myself. Then there was this cat…I should have thought but…"
"Its ok," he said. "It's alright now. We're going to sort this out. We'll get you back to Latisha-Mickey and then you and me can discuss what to do next. How does that sound?"
"That sounds perfect," said Martha, caressing the palm of his hand. Then she was struck by a thought. "Doctor? How did you know that I wasn't ….me?"
"I just knew," he said simply. Her heart leapt.
"I love you Doctor," she said.
"I love you Martha," he said. Then he moaned softly as one of the shadows passed through him.
"Up the stairs," it whispered. The Doctor wrapped an arm round her waist and she leaned against him as they walked up the stairs.
"What do we do?" she asked. "How can we stop them? Are the shadows the killer? The killer's… followers."
"The latter," he said. "The killer was Mrs Lankinson, then that kitten in the TARDIS, then you, then that alien outside, then the bunny… oh what the hell… the bunny rabbit."
"So how does it work?" she asked slowly. "Why was I taken in here?"
"Why do you think?" he asked.
"Well they needed my body… what they made some kind of copy… so they took me here… so everyone here has been used to make as a copy… so all these people…"
"Have been kidnapped at some point by the serial killer," agreed the Doctor. "Exactly."
"But why? What's the point?"
"Well if people know what he looks like, well he'd be got pretty quickly, by the authorities and stuff. And besides, by imitating other people's bodies, then he can get closer to his targets."
"So is he a nutter? Or something more?"
"I'm not sure," he said. They reached the end of the stairs and fell into a large room surrounded by wide windows showing the wild coastline of Portland bill. The massive bulb of the light dominated most of the room, and the rest seemed to be conquered by the invisible but not quite invisible shadows. Martha looked around nervously.
"What now," she asked. Footsteps. Heavy, deliberate footsteps that struck irrational fear in Martha's heart. The doctor seemed to sense her discomfort and moved forward protectively.
"OK," he said. "We're okay," he said. Martha watched as a figure walked up the stairs and stepped into the light. Martha choked in shock and her knees buckled from underneath her. The Doctor leapt forward and caught her. She was trembling like a leaf in his arms.
"Oh my God," she gasped. "What the… oh Doctor…" He rubbed her back soothingly, pulling her discreetly into the shadows.
"There, there," he mumbled, disbelief numbing his every sense, his every reaction other than to protect this beautiful, distressed women cowering in his grip.
"I thought he was dead," she wailed. "Why… I thought I saw…"
"All hail me minions," boomed the haunting voice belonging to the figure- the killer? "Tis I, it is I. And you will tell me where the Doctor and Martha Jones are or I will kill everyone of you." The Doctor looked across at Martha.
"It's ok," he muttered. "I won't let him get you."
"But he'll kill them…" The 'killer' was striding along the people laughing as they quaked under his chilling stare. The Doctor grabbed her and pulled her out of his vision. He crushed his lips against hers. Martha's heart rate quickened. Was this the end? She clutched hold of him.
"Doctor," she gasped.
"I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm really sorry."
"We're going to die…" she said. "You're saying goodbye." He looked at her with dull brown eyes.
"I won't let you die," he said. She kissed her again, and then pressed his forehead against her. A jolt of power jerked through their minds and Martha sighed.
"Oh," she whispered, and slumped to the floor. The Doctor lay her down, hid her underneath a tarpaulin. He touched her arm silently and straightened up.
"I'm here," he said. He walked through the crowd of people who scattered to let him past. He stared defiantly into the face of Damien Lee.
"Doctor."
"Hello," he said. "What do you want?" a smile twisted on the evil man's face.
"We walk, we talk," he said and the two men left.
