Martha seemed to be frozen, staring at the space where Damien was standing. His eyes were closed, his lips parted, completely still. A faint, yellowish light was shining in the pit of his throat, like a fairy light glistening at a child's party. As they watched, the light seemed to get bigger- bigger or closer, like a train speeding down a tunnel in the dead of night.
It was only when the light was at the crease of his thin lips that the Doctor jolted from his trance.
"Run!" he shouted. He grabbed her hand and tugged her away from the TARDIS. They darted along the open ground, past the lighthouse where all those people were sheltering and into the deserted car park behind the site. Then, with a shudder, the ground seemed to move and they both fell on to the hard concrete floor.
"It's happening," said Martha, her ribs aching. "It's happening again!"
"We need to shelter," he said. "The lighthouse will probably collapse and it will crush us if we get too close."
"The lighthouse?" Martha's heart stopped for a second. "Doctor the people… inside. They're going to die." He cussed softly and looked back at the lighthouse. Sighing, he looked at Martha.
"We're going to have to go in," he said.
"I know." She led the way, taking his hand tighter and running towards the tall building. But they never got there. The ground literally opened up and they stumbled back, yelling hoarsely. The lighthouse slid majestically into the crack in the earth so only the bulb was emerged from the tufts of grass. Martha swore she could hear distant screams inside the structure.
"What now?" she asked. But there was no time to answer. The scalding light burnt through the sky again and they dropped to their knees, burying their faces to the floor. Martha felt the Doctor's hand on her back, ushering her to her feet. She pressed her head into his long coat, which he pulled over their heads.
"Come on!" he said. "TARDIS!" Staggering across the now empty expanse, they made their way towards the time ship. Damien had disappeared. Kicking open the doors, they fell onto the metal mesh floors. Martha nudged the door closed and collapsed on the floor, her limbs shaking. The light shone through the small windows of the TARDIS; she kneaded her eyes to avoid looking at the light. She could see the Doctor pounding around the TARDIS; a blurry shadow in her restricted vision.
"Doctor," she managed, heaving her aching body towards him. "What are we doing?"
"No no no no no!" he growled, ignoring her. "Don't do this to me."
"She won't move?" Martha asked. He shook his head grimly.
"I was going to get Mrs L and Jason and all those Mathiella away to safety," he said. "We need to protect them from the Yukeletti."
"Then why won't she move?"
"I just don't know. She's very upset about it. Apparently she can't tell me."
"Why not?"
"She just can't," he sighed. He tossed back his head and clapped his hands together. "Right then! We'll need to tackle this alien minus immortal time ship!"
"What does it look like?" Martha asked.
"Dunno. Nobody does. The only people who have seen it…"
"Die."
"Yes."
"Like Harry Potter," she said idly.
"What?"
"You know, the chamber of secrets. The basilisk. Dumbledore sends down Forks the phoenix who blinds it and then Harry gets that sword and slices it's brain open."
"Thing is, it's not just looking into the Yukeletti's eyes that will kill you. It's its whole being." A roar shuddered the ground as something that sounded like rocks shattered down outside the TARDIS. Martha winced.
"What do we do?" she asked.
"Improvise." He ran to door, looked back at Martha, and seemed to deliberate. She folded her arms across her chest.
"I'm coming," she said wearily. He nodded once and ran out the door, leaving her sprinting to catch up. The moment she was out the blinding light hit her again; she looked determinedly at the ground and followed the Doctor's bright red converses. By the time they were on the road, her head was pounding. She let out an extra spurt of speed and caught up with the Doctor, scrabbling for his hand.
"We're almost there," he said. She noticed her was groping inside his large pocket and he extracted his sonic screwdriver. He gripped it between his teeth and pushed open a wire gate that barely broke his stride, and carried on until he reached Mrs L's road.
It was once again teeming with terrified humans and Mathiella alike, screams piercing the salty wind.
"Don't look up!" screamed the Doctor. "Don't look up!" But even Martha, immediately next to his could hardly hear his anguished cries. As he watched, several Mathiella glanced upwards at the sky- and fell, screaming loudly as their eyeballs were burnt from their face.
"It's useless," Martha said. "They can't hear us." The Doctor was doing something to his sonic screwdriver, but she couldn't see amongst the sprawl of the panicked locals. Then he held it up like a microphone, and spoke into it.
"LISTEN TO ME!" His voice rang out across the island; the screams subsided slightly. He licked his lips. "Listen," he repeated. "Don't look up. Don't even glance at the light if you do, your eyes will be burnt from your skull and you'll die. I know a safe place. Follow-" A shadow fell over the gathered people and the Doctor's words fell from his lips and dissolved into the silence. Martha forced her head down, staring at the road, her eye pricking with tears in the effort.
"Don't look up," said the Doctor quietly. "The thing… the alien is directly above us. If you look up-"
"Bullshit!" shouted a large, red-faced man. He swaggered up to the Doctor. "Listen mate, I don't know what your game is scaring us all like this-" He raised his head, as if to look up…
"Don't!" Martha cried, but it was too late. His mouth opened in a scream and he dropped to the ground, dead. Silence.
Then, as if the unknown man's death had been a trigger, the shrieking began again. Like a swarm of locusts, the residents of Portland began to spill out of the street and ran down the path to the beach.
"Wait!" shouted the Doctor. "Stop!" But they were deaf in their terror. A snarl could be heard from far, far above them and something smashed down on the houses of the street. Rubble flew everywhere and Martha ducked behind the bushes. When she looked up, the street was almost empty, all the former occupants fleeing down the hill. Another crashing blow from the monster sent the gravel she was standing on tumbling down the hill with her on it. She groaned, curling her hands round her stomach as she rolled down the hill. The brambles whipped her face, but provided a cushion to land on. She lay, dazed.
"Doctor!" she shouted. "Doctor!" She saw the people running along the stretch of the beach; saw pebbles skidding as their feet slipped on the unstable footholds. She ran over to them and grabbed the first person she saw by the shoulder- a woman.
"What are you doing, get off me!" she screamed. Martha ignored her.
"Listen," she said. "Run to Portland bill. There's a box, a blue box. It's safe in there. Trust me. Take your friends, take your family, and run there." The woman hesitated. Martha pressed a key into the woman's hand. "Take this. It's the key. Don't lose it." The woman nodded and continued along the beach. Martha grabbed another person and sent them on their way. Some people she was able to persuade, but others she didn't. Saving some, but not others. Just like being a doctor.
Again, the shadow fell across the beach. Martha kept her head down and carried on talking. Ushering people off the beach and towards Portland bill. She heard something smashing on the beach behind her, scattering the pebbles, provoking screams of both pain and fear. Another smash, closer this time. Martha ran forward. Where was the Doctor?
A third smash rippled the ground directly behind her. She screamed and fell. A tsunami of rocks carried her downwards to the waters edge and into the freezing cold grey waters of a typical British beach. She gasped in shock and stood shivering, gazing into the water. Then she saw something. A shape in the water.
It was horrible. Big, massive, and shiny. Spikes jutting from its dripping black flesh, brown slime oozing from its every pore. Something that resembled a mouth wide open in a snarl of rage. Martha realised with a jolt that she was staring straight at the true form of the Yukeletti- its reflection at least.
A scream washed over her and she plummeted into the icy waters.
!
!
The Doctor hurried down the hill, his feet tripping over each other in his haste. He'd awoken in wreckage of someone's home, unaware he'd even lost consciousness.
"Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster," he muttered. He rounded the corner and for the first time he saw the beach. He stopped. "Oh Rassilon." Deserted. He ran faster until he reached the beach. The stones were unsettled, bodies were floating in the water.
"Doctor!" He spun round, and saw Mrs Lankinson and Jason sheltering beneath the ruined pier. He threw his arms around them both thankfully.
"Where is she?" he asked. Mrs Lankinson shook her head.
"I don't know. I'm sorry." The Doctor twisted round in anger.
"And where's the monster?"
"Gone," she said. "Most people ran towards Portland bill. Apparently a woman told them to go to the blue box."
"Martha," he realised. "Is she there."
"I don't think so." Fear churning in his gut, he spun around again.
"MARTHA!" No reply. Then something caught his eye in the water. "Shit." It was a black leather jacket. He ran into the water, splashing it, tears running down his cheeks, and came out carrying Martha Jones. He laid her on the ground, muttering feverish pleas underneath his breath. He pounded her chest, chugged air into her lungs, checking her reaction every other breath.
Then she choked, sat upright.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes," he muttered. Her sopping wet hair stuck to her face, she was shivering. He hugged her close, rubbing her back. "You're ok."
"Doctor-"
"Have my coat," he said, wrapping the garment round her shoulders. "There."
"Doctor-"
"It's ok," he said. "You're ok, you saved people."
"Doctor, I saw it," she rasped. "I saw the monster." He shook his head frantically.
"No you didn't, because you're ok. You're ok Martha."
"The reflection," she explained. "I can feel…burning inside…" She took the Doctor's hand and pressed it to her chest. Her heart was pounding so fast the beats ran into each other. He shook his head.
"No," he moaned. She nodded.
"Am I going to die?" she asked. She was trying to be brave; but she couldn't keep the quiver from her lip.
The Doctor couldn't answer.