Chapter 12 – Save yourself.

'Wow, this is amazing,' Faye says as she looks at the shelving. The Doctor smiled as he watched her with intense curiosity, she was holding his hand as they strolled down one of the many aisles. 'I love that even though there's so many different cultures and they are literally alien, many species have preserved their literature in book form,' she says as she lets go of his fingers to pull a random hardback off the shelf, it was a little misshapen and looked like the paper had bubbled and burnt in places.

'Ah! I wouldn't.. touch that,' he said a little too late as Faye had already opened it. It was his fault for reacting so slow, he was too absorbed in what she was saying, she raised a brow and looked over at him, he had pulled a face and reached out with his hand before closing it. She holds the book gingerly, and gives him a questioning expression. 'It's uh, made out of uh... well,' he starts, and Faye winces waiting on his answer. 'It's made out of their slave's muscles, dried and then inscribed on,' the Doctor mumbles apologetically.

'Ew,' she says wanting to drop the it but out of respect for her love of books she placed it gently on the shelf and poked it back into place. She shuddered and looked at her hands, 'I'll definitely need gloves next time, that is a grim thought.'

'You still want to read it?' He says surprised.

'Of course, I want to learn about the culture, and not just the nice bits, that's not what the culture is, that's cherry picking,' she laughed. The Doctor grins and grabs her hands pulling her out the aisle and towards a seating area, he spins her around before picking her up and putting her on the table. 'You're a fool,' she smiles brightly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She was dressed in a simple pair of jeans, an off the shoulder top, covered in sequins that created a rainbow shimmer of the fabric. Her long hair was pulled into two bunches and she had a ribbon headband keeping most her fringe back. 'So, how much longer have we got here? I mean, I don't think that I have the appropriate life span to see everything in this place,' Faye grins as she pulls at his brace. He rolls his eyes and rested his hands on her knees as he stands in front of her.

'Shut up, you have plenty of time left, I'll make sure of that,' the Doctor says simply. He didn't even want to think about what time she would have left, humans aged so quickly. 'Are you hungry? It's about lunch time, and it's been a while since we had something,' he says changing the subject.

'Time for tea?' Faye teases lightly. 'Scones, jammy dodgers and a pot for two?' She adds, knowing that it was a joke between them. He grins and taps her nose before nodding.

'Indeed. I'll nip back to the TARDIS and bring back supplies, feel free to explore,' he smiles, 'though in this area, I'd avoid picking up anything with the colour blue in it,' he says looking around. 'Or purple...' he adds as he reads the exhibition names he turns to leave but comes back and pulls a face as he continues to speak. 'And even this pearlescent looking colo-'

'I'll not touch anything, I feel that if I do I'll need gloves and a shower afterwards,' Faye laughs rolling her eyes as she interrupts him. He nods and squeezes her knees, happy with her answer. 'I won't go far either,' she reassures knowing that it would be the next thing that he'd say. 'Besides, I have my phone, I'll call you should I need anything,' Faye says simply.

'That's right. Okay, I'll be back in a squib of a toglit's neval,' he grins, 'don't get lost,' the Doctor he says again, worried that somehow she'll vanish. She gave him a look at his patronising tone and he got the message. 'Alright, alright,' he laughs. 'I'm going, I'm going,' he smiles.

I watch as he strides away down the stairs and kick my legs a little, hearing my heels click against the table. My head has begun to ache a little, but I'm going to assume that it's because it's warm in here and I've not had anything to drink since breakfast. This whole trip has been like a dream, I mean I could have never have imagined anything like this, especially with a man like him. It's hard to not feel anything but friendship towards the Doctor, even thinking about how I shouldn't be feeling any romantic towards him makes my heart hurt. It's just so hard not to get swept up in all of his enthusiasm and the world that he's showing me. I'm kinda glad that I delved into his memories, it means that I've had some warning as what happens when you fall in love with the Doctor. I've strictly told myself I'm not going to be doing that and set myself up for heartbreak. Though I'll admit, we've been getting more comfortable with the whole physical contact deal and that's a slippery slope. I sigh and rub my eyes, trying to get out of my head. I need to do something, he's going to be at least a half hour. He'll get wrapped up in something when getting lunch and then he'll become distracted and it'll be a while before we get anything. Hopping off the table I wander towards a door, it looks like it'll lead to the balcony overlooking part of the library. That'll be a nice wander. I push open the door and shiver as a large breeze flows over me, crikey that's cold. I rub my shoulders and walk through, I look around, I will never not be amazed by this place, in one exhibition it felt and looked like we were underwater. My hair waved in the tide and I had unfortunately worn a dress that night and spent most the time trying not to do a Marilyn Monroe. It was beautiful and agonizingly romantic. If I didn't know any better I would think that the Doctor was attempting to woo me by showing me the universe in one go.

I run my hand over the banister as I walked along the balcony, there were aisles of books here as well, I had to resist picking one up to read. The lights around me begin to flicker and I tilt my head, that's strange, they don't normally do that. Though what do I know? I seem to trip over my own feet and I stumble quite heavily onto the floor, my headache kicks up a rather painful notch. I hiss in pain as I rub my temple, 'fuck,' I groan, I feel drained. Getting up I look around, I seem to be in a different area? Is this because I fell over? What the hell is going on? I take out my phone and dial the TARDIS. The Doctor adjusted my phone when we first left so that I could make calls no matter the time or distance. He picks up after a couple of rings,

'Faye? It's pretty distorted, everything okay?' He asks, sounds like he's in the kitchen, making a mess as usual.

'I uh, I fell over and-'

'Are you alright, or do you need me to bring some medical stuff,' he interrupts, the worry clear in his voice.

'No, no, I'm fine I think. I mean, I don't know where I am, and uh, well the strange thing is I was on the balcony and that's where I fell and I'm not there any more. I'm in the library I think, but not where I tripped,' I laugh a little trying to alleviate some of the tension, he's gone very quiet on the end of the phone and it's making me nervous. I look around and try to figure out how to get back to where I was. There was an ominous creaking noise and the paranoia flooded my mind. 'I don't think I'm alone,' I whisper into the phone as I edge down the aisle towards the light.

'Faye, this is going to sound strange, but remember the graveyard? Remember what I told you? Don't blink, don't take your eyes off of the noise, stare into the dark, you do not blink. Do you understand me?' He demanded, his hands began to shake as he furiously tried to figure out something. Shadows are getting deeper further down the shelves and the creaking is rhythmic, I can feel myself beginning to cry, I don't think I can do this.

'I'm scared,' I admit, hearing the crack in my voice. Am I going to end up like the others? Am I just going to be another memory he traps away?

'Faye, I will find you. I promise, you still owe me at least a few more years,' he says trying to make me smile. It works, I feel my heart skip, but then it crashes as I hear a book fall off the shelving and scratching.

'Oh god,' I say through a sob, my eyes swimming with tears. 'Tell me how to save myself, Doctor. Please,' I mumble into the phone. 'Please,' I beg.

'Where are you?' His voice sounds strained and full of hidden panic. I look around, looking for a clear indicator of where I might be. The candles are burning lower and lower, it isn't helping at all. I can feel my pulse rising, a lump rises in my throat. I put my back to the shelf and begin to sidestep down the aisle, keeping an eye on the shadows.

'I uh, I don't know I can't read the language,' I reply, my throat going dry. I look around at the shelves, pawing at the books. Nothing, it was useless, the words were mere scratches. As if someone had run their nails over the brass plaque at different angles. Another book falls off one of the shelves making me jump and I clap my hand to my mouth to stop myself from making a noise. I spin around, my hands are now clammy, gripping the phone tight to my ear. 'Doctor...' I say quietly, her heart now racing.

'I know! I know! Faye, I'm trying I really am, please, just remember what I said,' he says I can hear him frantically pressing buttons on his console. 'Remember what I said?' He asks.

'D-Don't blink,' I mumble. 'Don't blink,' I repeat to myself. I back up to the shelving and think hard, I need a weapon, or something. I mean I can't just wait for him to save me. I find a bit of loose wood and pry it from the shelf without looking, by the feel of it, it's a few inches long, pretty hard and there feels like a metal plate came along with it, so hopefully there will be some sharp nails in it. It's not great, but it's better than nothing. The creaking is getting louder but I still can't see anything. I raise my hand slightly, holding up my make do shiv, something is going to lose an eye, or something at human eye height. I feel my tears drop onto my cheek and run down to my chin, 'it's close,' I whisper into the phone, I can hear him cursing and the TARDIS complaining as he programs her.

'I'm here Faye,' he reassures. I smile and breath out a little heavily as I hear his voice. Suddenly the creaking stops next to me and I feel my heart jolt into my mouth. There's a crash beside my head and a hand thrusts it's way through the shelving and wraps it's fingers around my wrist, almost crushing. I scream loudly and twist around to try to grab the shiv that this thing was trying to get me to drop. My phone falls to the ground and I hear the Doctor calling for me, pulling at my hand I furiously try to pull myself from it's grip. More books fall away from the shelf and I get to see this creatures face, making me scream even more.