Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. This story is based on actual events, though many aspects have been changed.
The Doctor's chin was in the palm of his hand, supported by the elbow he'd set on the table. His glasses were on his nose. Though I knew that he didn't need them, I still found them adorable. He was intently focused on the book that was sitting on the table. After a few hours of searching, we'd found something about the Salem Witch Trials. I was reading over his shoulder. Or, I was at least trying to. His scent kept wafting through my nose, and made it incredibly hard to focus.
When I did managed to focus, I learned quite a bit. Mary had been accused by multiple girls, and then she'd been sentenced to death. She'd been hanged with seven others on September 22nd, 1692. It was hard to read that, and not want to do anything to change it. She was one of the most wonderful people I'd ever met. She should be able to live out her life, and meet her grandchildren.
"Here we are!" The Doctor exclaimed, stabbing his pointer finger onto the page on the right. "The actual cause was never discovered. No one knows exactly what happened."
"So we've got a clean slate?" I asked.
He nodded. "Nothing to go on." He ran his hand through his hair and pulled his glasses off. "Blimey, we've got our work cut out for us."
"Where do we start?" I gingerly pulled myself up to sit on the table.
"Well," He rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on. "I suppose we'll have to talk to a few of the girls. And some of the 'witches'. Maybe some of the townsfolk again."
"Could we visit Mary?"
His eyes were glued to my face. I felt like I was in the spotlight. I didn't like it. So, I looked down at my feet, as if it would get him to look away.
"Catherine, you have to understand that bad things happen-"
"Yeah, I know, but could we see her?"
He was silent for a moment, his eyes fixed to my face as if he was trying to see what was going on in my mind. Something in me thought he actually might be able to. Even though I'd gotten to know him so well, there were still things I didn't know.
Finally, he nodded. "Sure,"
I nodded in return. "Awesome," I slipped off the table and onto my feet again. "Where do you wanna start?"
"Well," He reached up to casually run his hand through his hair, and then rubbed one eye beneath his glasses. "Let's start with the witches." He stood and grabbed his overcoat from the back of the wooden chair he'd been sitting on. He flung it onto his shoulders, and shot me a smile. "Allons-y?" His hand popped out to me.
I grinned, and reached out and took it. Then, we started back towards the village.
I clung to the Doctor's side as we slowly paced through the long hallway of the prison. It was nothing like the prisons I'd seen on TV back home. Those had white walls and doors with locks; there had been security. This one was more like something you'd see in an old western, only less complicated. On either side of me, groupings of metal bars were separated by wooden posts. Men leaned through the bars on the left, and women on the right. All of their faces were gaunt and expressionless, their eyes dull and without feeling.
A large, gangly man was several steps ahead of us. We'd met him outside. He'd stopped us. The Doctor had solved the problem by flashing the psychic paper (I still wasn't used to that). I'd leaned forward to sneak a peek at what he'd made it say, and found myself a little upset when I read that he'd labeled himself a doctor of the mind and me his maid servant. However, then we entered the prison and all thoughts of anger disappeared.
As we walked past, my eyes were attracted to a woman whose pale skin stretched over her bones so sharply I was afraid she'd fall to pieces. Her eyes bulged out of her head, and her skin was splotchy and yellow. One image came to mind. An image of the Jews of the Holocaust.
"Do they feed them at all?" I whispered to the Doctor, staring at the woman.
He squeezed my hand comfortingly, but didn't reply. Most likely because he knew I wouldn't like the answer.
We walked on for a few more moments, and then the gangly man stopped. He unlocked one of the multiple iron-bar doors with keys he'd had on his belt, and opened the door.
"You'll have to go in," He said. "The witches aren't allowed outside their cells for visitors."
The Doctor pulled me inside, and I felt a shudder go down my spine as the gangly man slammed the bars shut. The sound that came from it bounced off the stone walls. Once the sound faded, I looked to the people sitting on the floor of the cell. There were at least twenty, all of them different ages and appearances. My hazel eyes scanned and scanned, and then they met the person I was looking for. She was huddled in the corner, her shawl pulled tightly around her. She looked sickly.
"Who are they…?" I heard a man whisper to someone from the other side of the cell.
"Maybe they've been accused, as well?"
Suddenly, the room burst into whispers. The Doctor wormed through a group of people, now standing, pulling me behind him. I mumbled apologies to the people I bumped into, though I tried to avoid their eyes. They were still hollow, and that scared me.
"Mary?" The Doctor called once we were through the crowd.
She shifted her shawl, and her eyes lit up. I was relieved. At least not everyone lost that spark of life in this place.
"Miss Black? Doctor?"
I smiled. "Isaac sends his love." I didn't know why I said it. I suppose because that's what I'd want to hear if I were put in prison. Not Isaac, though…
"Oh, child, it's wonderful to see you!" She was quickly on her feet, and wrapped me in her arms. I happily returned the hug. "But wait," She forcefully pushed me away. There was a petrified look on her face as she tightly held my shoulders in her frail hands. "You haven't… Have you been accused?"
"No!" I shook my head. "No, not at all. We came to talk to you."
"We're trying to figure out what's happening," The Doctor said, offering her a gentle smile. "You're willing to answer a few questions, aren't you?"
"Of course!" With that, she pulled us both down to sit on the floor with her. It was hard to sit in the large dress I was wearing, but I somehow managed, and could still feel the cold, cobblestone floor beneath me.
"What do you want to know?"
My eyes shifted to the Doctor questioningly. He jerked his head, telling me to give it a stab. I turned back to Mary, and thought up a place to start.
"When did it all start? The witch thing, I mean."
"All of it? Well, let's see," She clasped her hands in front of her. "Oh, years ago. Um, 1688, I believe; same year as the explosion."
"Explosion?" The Doctor leaned forward onto the balls of his feet. Unlike me, he was crouched. "What explosion?"
"You haven't heard the story?" She asked, looking between the both of us. We both shook our heads. His hair flopped around a bit, while mine stayed in its bun (Little Mary, as I'd started calling her, had insisted on doing it that morning). "Well, it's quite fantastic. Something fell from the sky one night. All of the people in Salem heard the crash, and saw an explosion, but when we went to look for the damage, we found nothing. No one could find any damage anywhere."
"Well, that's…" The Doctor took a deep breath. "Odd."
"Oh, it was!"
I glanced at the Doctor. He was deep in thought, and I decided to let him think. "Mary, the girls, what sort of things do they do? Why do people think they're being attacked by witches?"
"All sorts of nonsense," She uttered, frowning. "They twitch, and move oddly, and scream in pain. They say that while a 'witch's' head is inclined, their necks are broken. They murmur gibberish."
"Do you know where we could find one?"
She looked down at her hands in thought. "Two of the most active live in the Putnam household. Look there."
I nodded, and got to my feet. I brushed the wrinkles and dust off of my dress, and smiled down at her. The Doctor stood as well.
"Mary, we're going to do everything we can to help," He said with a solemn face. "That much I can promise."
"Your efforts are appreciated greatly," Mary stood as well, nodding with a curtsy. "And, if I may ask a favor, tell Isaac and the children I miss them?"
I reached out to put her frail frame into my arms. I didn't want to leave her here in this dark, cold prison. "Of course." I released her and went to stand at the Doctor's side again.
She inclined her head. "It was wonderful to see you, my dears, and good luck in your investigation."
We both shot her one last smile, and then turned to go call the gangly man to open the door and let us out.
The Doctor and I were standing at the gate to a decent sized house a few minutes out of town. It was made of dark wood, warn to a light brown in some places. There were a few small children running around in the yard. Two girls were playing with dolls, and a boy had a toy horse and was making it gallop around the area he was sitting.
"Should we go in?" I asked, looking up at the Doctor.
He took a deep breath, and then nodded, slowly pushing the gate open and stepping onto the bright green grass of the yard. I tentatively followed, watching the children as we walked towards the front door. They stared at us with wide eyes. They'd all ceased what they'd been doing.
I tore my eyes away from them and watched the Doctor's back. We stopped at the front door, and he reached out to knock. I swallowed the developing lump in my throat, and reached for the Doctor's hand. I didn't really even notice what I was doing. That's how often we held hands. Other than gently gripping my hand in return, he didn't react to my touch. I wondered if he felt the same spark fly between our separate skins that I felt.
Suddenly, the door opened and a man with a sour face stood in the frame. "May I help you?"
The Doctor pulled the physic paper out of his pocket. "I'm the Doctor, and this is my assistant, Ms. Black," He said in a convincingly official voice.
"We did not send for a doctor." The man mumbled, his brow furrowing suspiciously.
"Yes, well, I heard about your daughter and just figured I'd come and take a look…" The Doctor got on his tippy-toes and tried to look past the large man. He set himself back on his feet and grinned at the grumpy man. "Is she home?"
The man stared at him for a moment, but then nodded and stepped back to allow us to enter. I offered him a curt nod upon entry, but he ignored it and shut the door.
"She's in there." He jerked his head towards a door to the right. It was open slightly, and little light shined through the crack. "You have half an hour." With that, he spun on his heel and left us beside the door.
The Doctor grabbed my hand and pulled my gingerly through.
The first step I took into the room was challenging. Not because I was having a hard time walking, but there were things covering the floor. Paper, stuffed animals, you name it and it would be there. It was also a bit dark, so it was a challenge to know where things were and weren't. A young, familiar girl was sitting in the far corner of the room with her back to us. Her right arm was placed on a table, and her elbow was moving from side to side.
The Doctor cleared his throat, and there was a quiet sound as the girl dropped whatever she was doing and turned around.
Ann Putnam, the girl I'd bumped into our first day here, was staring at us. She never blinked, and her face was completely blank of emotion. She looked a bit creepy, to be honest. Kind of like those little girls and boys in horror movies that end up being the devil or something. Her eyes flickered to mine for a moment, and I felt my stomach jolt. I moved to stand slightly behind the Doctor, and her eyes moved back to him.
"You're Ann then, yeah?" He asked.
She just stared.
"Well?"
Her lips pursed, and she slowly got to her feet, standing with her hands clasped in front of her. "Yes…" She finally spoke, though it sounded literally painful.
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Catherine."
I raised a hand to wave. "Hello…" I mumbled, still afraid of the little girl.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright?"
She stared at him, her eyes wide. "You're different than the others…" She whispered. Her voice was scratchy and she stuttered over her words here and there.
The Doctor's brow furrowed. "What d'you mean?"
She took a few steps closer. "Can you help us…?"
"Help who?"
A loud crash came from the other room, the one we'd just come from, followed by a scream. The Doctor turned to me. "Stay here," He said before charging through the door like a superhero. I wanted very much to follow him. I was extremely scared of being alone with Ann. However, I didn't budge. I stayed right where I was.
I turned slowly to find her staring at me with those unfeeling eyes again.
"I want to show you something pretty…" She whispered, turning back to the table she'd been sitting at. She pulled one of its drawers open, and pulled something from it. She cupped it in her hands, keeping it from my eyes, and turned back around. Slowly and without looking up from her hands, she crossed the room to me. I wanted to turn and run to hide behind the Doctor, but my legs were frozen. My heart beat rapidly against my ribcage as she approached, and my hands started to shake in their cold sweat.
When she was only a few feet away, she looked up at me. For the first time since I'd met her, I saw emotion shine through her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
That emotion was sadness.
She opened her hands, and something black flew from them towards me.
Before I fell into darkness, I was able to shout one word.
"Doctor!"
A/N: Ah, and there's the cliffhanger I told you all about! Any ideas? Any whatsoever? I can't wait til you guys read the next one. Oh, that one was so much fun!
Anyways, I decided to post this a day early. I had a sick day and got some writing done (I should've been doing my homework, but whatever), so... yeah. Of course, I watched a bit of TV as well, and spent the entire day in my pajamas. My mom took me to see a doctor (not THE Doctor, sadly), and I'm negative for strep throat, which is what we thought I had.
Do any of you think Ann is a bit creepy, or is it just me? Because, seriously, there's nothing creepier than a small child who doesn't blink or speak. That's what horror stories are made of. I originally had it more creepy, but decided to make it... less...
I have a feeling there was something I wanted to tell you guys, but I forgot... I think... Not sure what it was... Oh well, I'll think of it eventually...
Thanks for reading! I love reading your comments and hearing what you have to say. It just makes me feel so good inside.
Love you guys! Bye!