Chapter 3 – The Red & The Black
The faint humming of a sonic screwdriver reverberated down the nearly empty corridor of Coal Hill School. Jenny quickly flashed the device over the east entrance door, making sure not to miss a single inch of the steel and glass structure. Her human assistants were busy dragging some desk out of a nearby classroom to form a makeshift barricade across the corridor. Danny even broke into the caretakers cupboard in an attempt to find something to slow down anything that breached the first two lines of defence. He wheeled a large metal bucket towards the barricade, inside were several paint tins, some liquid polish and a green wire that would normally be used in flowerbeds.
Clara temporarily stopped building the fortress made of desks just as Danny was stretching the wire across the corridor, "Do you think that's going to stop a rampaging creature from another dimension?" she frowned at her fellow teacher.
"I'm sorry, I haven't done this before", he huffed in response, "this kind of stuff works in films so why not now".
The brunette didn't even want to begin to pick the holes in Danny's logic, instead she inspected the other items he had acquired, "Which film did you get this idea from ", she held up a tin of paint, "Home Alone?" she chuckled.
Danny snatched the can away from Clara, "It was either this or the broom", he tipped the contents of the tin out until it covered most of the floor, "even I know that you don't poke giant wolves from another dimension with the end of a broom".
"Alright that's the door sorted", Jenny picked her way through the barricade, stopping to admire Danny's handiwork, "redecorating?" she snorted and pocketed the screwdriver in her hoodie. Danny mumbled something under his breath but didn't respond to the Time Lady's comment. "Now we need to find any potential weak spots within the building", she turned to Rosie, "have you heard of anyone going missing in the last few hours?"
The teen shook her head slowly until a thought began to flash across her brain, "Actually I heard some of the Year 9's talking during lunch, apparently someone didn't turn up for school today". Conveniently there was a few pictures from last years Christmas play on display in the corridor. Rosie quickly scanned the images until she found who she was looking for, "That's him, back row, second from the left".
"Josh Dyson?" Danny stated with a fearful glance towards Clara, "he normally comes in early to study in the library".
"Then that's our next destination", Jenny said to her team, "might be a long shot but maybe there's been some activity in the area".
Everyone agreed and started heading in the direction of the library but not before Danny had retrieved a length of rope out of his metal bucket. Clara frowned at him in confusion, "I bet you were in the Scouts when you were younger".
Danny arranged his fingers into the scout salute, "Looks like my big secrets out", he replied with a smile filled with embarrassment. Despite the gravity of the situation, Clara couldn't help but laugh at the Maths teacher. It was a mocking laugh, Danny was a genuinely funny guy but that tended to disappear when he got nervous. Sadly that was usually quite a lot when he was around Clara. A few days ago she found it slightly annoying but today was a completely different story. If they got out of the school alive, maybe Danny Pink was worth another chance.
The convoy was halted on the corridor leading down to the library when a small group jumped out of a classroom, lead by Head Teacher Jenkins, "Oh Mr Pink, Miss Oswald", he sighed in relief, "we thought that one of those creatures had gotten inside". The Head Teacher was armed with a wooden ruler and behind him were a few Year 11 students, equipped with items stolen out the PE store room.
"I see the students are taking this seriously", Jenny commented. The Year 11 boys had removed their ties and wrapped them around their head like a bandana. One of them had even gone as far smear some black substance across his cheeks like camouflage, "This isn't one of your stupid human action movies", she added with a biting tone. The boy in question looked slightly ashamed with himself and gingerly removed the tie from his head.
Clara stood back and watched the younger Time Lady in action. She was acting completely different to when she first met her back in the TARDIS. It was like she had assumed The Doctor's position as leader, even going as far to mirror the older alien's mannerisms, "Where's The Doctor", Mr Jenkins asked, noting the dark haired woman from the group.
"Not here", was the only answer Jenny chose to give. Instead she scanned the corridor, trying to find any tear in the dimensional barrier. She suddenly paused at a door as the screwdriver started buzzing frantically, "But something else is here", she commented nervously.
"It's the stationery cupboard", Mr Jenkins replied, "nothing in there but pens, paper and the odd stapler".
"There something much bigger in there than a stapler Mr Jenkins", the red head put the screwdriver away again and began looking around for something. Suddenly she noticed one of the students had a hockey stick in his hand. Without hesitation she snatched the stick out of the boys hand, "You need to stand back", she said gravely.
The group of students and adults slowly backed away until they were pressed up against the wall. Jenny took a deep breath and gingerly approached the door. Her hand hesitated a few inches away from the handle as she took a deep breath to settle her nerves. In one swift motion she slammed the handle down and flung the door open. She took a guarded position in front of the door but nothing came out, "Can you see anything?" Rosie whispered, she was hiding behind Clara for her own protection.
Jenny took a couple of steps towards the cupboard and poked some of the shelves with the hockey stick. A pad of paper tumbled to the floor, followed swiftly by several boxes of pencils. They clattered against the floor, startling the group. The Time Lady finally worked up the courage to stick her head inside, "Nothing", she grumbled, "just an ordinary, boring stationery cupboard", she added, slowly backing away from the door.
The group relaxed and Mr Jenkins stepped forward, "Well thank you for unduly frightening my students Miss Smith", he grumbled. Jenny was about to apologise but suddenly a couple of object flew out of the cupboard, skimming past her shoulders at a tremendous speed. They were barely a metre long with a blue scaly body, leathery wings and several rows of sharp teeth. One of them immediately attached themselves to the neck of Mr Jenkins, taking a huge bite out of the man's flesh. He barely had time to scream in terror before the winged monstrosity tore a hole in his throat. He gasped for air as blood spurted out of the wound, covering the two students nearest to him. With a strained gurgled he collapsed to the ground with a solid thump. His body twitched a couple of times behind his bled out on the cold, tiled floor of his school.
The stunned shock of the speed of the attack quickly gave way to sheer terror as the hallway was filled with the panicked screams of children and adults alike. The creature not tearing chunks out of the now deceased Head Teacher buzzed directly at Rosie but she was saved by one of the Year 11 students and his cricket bat, "Quickly, get inside that classroom", Jenny barked, fending off the winged monster.
Bored with feasting on Mr Jenkins, the other creature turned its attention to Danny. It flew directly at the Maths teacher who stumbled in his attempt to get away. Once again the creature went straight for his throat but he caught the winged monster in his hands just inches away from his flesh. Danny shook in terror as the beast snapped its already bloodied jaws viciously in the area of his jugular vein. His life flashed before his eyes and he was certain that he could see a teenage boy with olive coloured skin watching over him. He turned his head as much as he dared and mouthed a silent apology at the figment of his imagination.
He closed his eyes in anticipation of the sharp teeth sinking into his flesh. Moments later he felt a sudden rush of air followed almost immediately by a crunching squelch. He opened his eyes and saw that the creature was now gone and standing over his prone body was Jenny with a bloodied hockey stick. There was a furious look on her face and her green eyes seemed to flash with anger. Danny twisted his head and noticed the twitching body of the creature several metres down the corridor, "Thank you", he wheezed once his composure had returned, "you saved my life".
"Yeah", Jenny sighed and helped Danny to his feet, "don't mention it". Danny could see that the Time Lady was conflicted but he wasn't sure why. He didn't get a chance to ask her though as the sound of shattering glass broke his train of thought. He looked up and saw a hole in the window a little further down the corridor. The creature must've broken through and flown outside.
With the immediate danger over, everyone took stock of the situation. Clara was shielding Rosie's body with her own, once again the blonde haired teen had ignored the instruction to hide. The body of the Head Teacher lay where it had fallen, just a couple of metres outside the cupboard. The speed and violence of the attack had been terrifying, "Is everyone alright", Jenny asked.
"No everyone's not alright", Rosie sobbed as tears streamed down her face. Her eyes remained fixed on the body of the Head Teacher as Clara gently rocked her in an attempt to soothe the traumatised youngster.
Jenny grasped a fistful of her red hair in one hand and slammed the hockey stick against the opposite wall. The blow created a huge hole in the flimsy plaster, "I shouldn't have done that", she shook her head in disbelief.
"You killed that thing", Clara commented, "you probably saved us all but the-" she suddenly stopped as the words jammed in her throat.
"Go on, say it", Jenny spat, "the Doctor wouldn't have poked around in the cupboard like that", she dropped the stick to the ground and it rattled against the hard floor. She placed her hands behind her head, "I placed everyone in unnecessary danger".
Clara felt conflicted as the young Time Lady threatened to crumble under the weight of her own guilt. She wasn't actually going to criticise her handling of the situation and in actual fact The Doctor probably would've done the same thing. "Poke it with a stick", she snorted gently to herself, "that's what the bow tie wearing Doctor used to say". Jenny slowly turned her head towards Clara, "He loved nothing better than walking up to something dangerous and poking it with a stick".
"Bet this didn't happen to him though", Jenny slowly walked towards the lifeless body of the Head Teacher. She removed her hoodie, making sure to take the sonic screwdriver out the pocket and draped the item of clothing over his face. The red head then crouched over the still twitching body of the winged killer, "If it wasn't so deadly I would almost call this thing beautiful", she sighed, gently brushing it's scaly skin with the tips of her fingers.
Suddenly the cupboard was illuminated with a bright light and the small group was fearful that more of those winged monsters were about to burst through. To their surprise the head and torso of a young boy burst through the light, "Help me", he pleaded, "please help me", just as quickly as he appeared, the boy disappeared again.
"Josh", Clara jumped to her feet, "he's still alive in there". The English teacher noticed that Jenny was still stationary, hesitating over her next course of action. Taking matters into her own hands Clara quickly looked around and found a concrete pillar that extended from the floor to the ceiling. The school teacher grabbed the rope that Danny had brought along and quickly began to tie it to the pillar.
"Clara, what are you doing?" Danny asked.
"Someone needs to save him", she replied, tying the other end of the rope around her waist.
"Clara don't", Jenny snapped, "I forbid you from doing this, Mum would let you".
The brunette paused briefly before returning to her knot, "You said it yourself, The Doctor's not here". As she finished the knot and checked it was secure, Clara had an epiphany. Despite their outward appearance the alien women were just as fallible as any human. Sometimes if you wanted someone saving, you had to do it yourself. "If I'm not back in five minutes", she paused and shrugged, "just wait longer". Ignoring the pleas of Danny and Jenny, Clara ran and the glowing column of light and leapt through, disappearing with a blinding flash. She had a student to rescue and nothing was going to stand in her way.
A/N - I had a trawl through some of the stats that FF give you and somewhere in this chapter is the millionth word that I've uploaded to this site. Here's to a million more...hopefully.