A/N Happy Holidays everyone no matter what you celebrate (or have already celebrated)! And if I don't update before the new year; Happy New Year!
Brittle Bones
~Chapter 3~
The Kinleys
"Woah there! The road's been blocked, sir." A man held up a hand in front of the Doctor and Avery looked at him with confused eyes. He was wearing strange clothing which Avery did not recognize from any of her history classes. Granted her history classes had never focused much on these centuries…
From the way the man postured himself and the way he spoke as though people gave him authority no matter what, she figured he was some form of security.
"Oh, right," the Doctor began, pulling out something from his pocket. "I'm the Doctor."
Avery watched the man stare at the psychic paper for a while, seeming unsure how to react to them.
"No matter, sir," said the man when the Doctor tried to push past again, "This way is sealed off to the public."
"What are you hiding from the public?" asked Martha.
"Oh, we're not hiding anything. We're keeping people from panicking."
"Panicking?" asked the Doctor.
The man sighed, "Look, doctor Smith, the people know of the murders. But we cannot have them seeing the bodies."
"Because of the state of them?" asked Martha.
"Uh, who are you?"
"These are my assistants, so answer them as you would answer me," added the Doctor quickly.
"Well, yes. Because the state of them. There's really not much left to keep from the public's eye but, uh… I've got my orders. We're waiting for doctor Estling to turn up."
"Yes, we just talked to him. He might not be here for a little while. So, maybe we could have a look instead?" offered Avery.
"Uh-"
"I was sent here to help the good doctor Estling, so, if you wouldn't mind?" added the Doctor.
The man caved, giving off a sigh before stepping aside.
"Thank you, uh…"
"Police officer Stan Smith, sir."
"Right, Stan, thank you," said the Doctor, patting him on the chest before hurrying into the alley with Martha and Avery hurrying along as best as they could.
The alley was literally just a small path between two houses. Perhaps it was six hundred meters long, perhaps shorter. Either way, it was small enough for Martha and Avery to barely be able to walk next to each other. A few bins were stood there, stinking up the alley tremendously, and there was only one door leading into the house to the right, however it was barricaded shut.
Police officer Stan followed them as they neared the small splatter at the end of the alley, near a large stone fence making the alley a dead-end. Whoever had been murdered might have tried to run here to get away from something… however, the dead-end had sealed their fate.
"Oh God…" whispered Martha in disgust.
The Doctor crouched down in front of the heap of skin and liquids. There was no bloody mess nor were there any bones left. Just a heap of skin and what looked like glue.
"So, Martha, what does your expertise tell you happened?" asked the Doctor as he took out his sonic screwdriver. Martha crouched down next to the Doctor.
For a moment, Avery stood there on her own, simply looking down at her two friends as they engaged in a discussion over the dead 'body'. Avery tried to add some comments of her own, though was not really heard. She felt out of place there. Alone.
Angry.
Officer Stan came to stand next to her, his arm brushing up against hers, "This is just like the other bodies."
"There's literally nothing left," said the Doctor. "No bones. No muscles… It's like someone took it and left the rest behind."
"But how?" asked Martha.
"I can't find any traces of alien technology. So whoever did this didn't use anything mechanical."
"So nothing alien?" asked Avery, relieved to finally be heard.
"Oh I wouldn't say that. There's still the possibility there's something going on here… Either way, I can't say this is the work of a human. Unless the skin isn't intact anymore."
Martha and the Doctor stood back up, and Stan finally spoke up again, "Aliens?"
"Outer space things. Not from Earth," explained the Doctor quickly, not bothering to keep the secret from the poor man.
"What sort of doctor are you again?"
The Doctor only grinned at that question.
"Oh heavens. Another one?" Doctor Estling's voice echoed against the walls of the narrow alley. He appeared behind Avery and Stan only seconds later, looking past the four of them towards what was left of the body. He squeezed past and grabbed the skin immediately, not bothered by it anymore which caused Avery and Martha to glance at each other surprised. He lifted the skin up and stretched it out, revealing a face, "Oh, dear… Poor Myrtha."
"Oh no…" said Stan quietly.
"You knew her?"
"Small town, doctor," said Estling, standing back up again. "Everyone knows everyone."
"Who was she?" asked Martha.
"A young, naïve little thing. Lived downtown and worked at night. Forced into that life, she was. Abandoned by her father. Her mother died when she was just a little thing. She didn't know what else to do. Ah, but everyone knew her. She was the sweetest thing."
"Unfortunately, all the men in town knew her just a little bit too much," added Stan.
"All the men?" asked Avery, raising an eyebrow at Stan and Estling.
Stan blushed while Estling had the decency to ignore Avery's question and pretend he had not heard it.
"The previous bodies, who were they? Any connections?" asked the Doctor.
"No connections at all. The most recent body we found was of a little boy. The Kinley's youngest son. Joseph, the big brother, was the one to find the body. Poor fellow…"
"And, uh, where do the Kinleys live?" asked the Doctor.
"Why do you ask?" asked Stan.
"We, uh, wanted to do some follow ups," lied the Doctor.
Estling looked slightly offended, but told them the address nonetheless. Avery could barely keep up with the Doctor as he ran off with Martha in tow, and only five minutes later they had arrived at the house belonging to the Kinleys.
They had reached a part of town that looked a little less glamorous than the market place had looked, or the street where the Tardis had landed. Laundry was hanging from each window, and Avery could easily tell that what had once been white shirts or dresses, were now beige coloured from unremovable dirt and sweat. The windows were all broken, barred with pieces of wood to keep the cold out and there were multiple houses on that street which had large holes in their roofs. The house they knocked on the door of was one of those houses, and Avery could not help but wonder how mankind could ever have lived like this.
Up above them, the chimneys coughed out dark smoke which disappeared against the by now darkening sky. To their left the sun was going down, giving off an orange glow to the sky, while the sky to their right was already a shade of dark blue. One imminent star was shining brightly already, and Avery smiled, knowing she had been to that star once. She thought it strange how much bigger her world was than the world of the people here, and yet they were the same people; they were all human. Just from very, very different times.
The door opened finally, revealing a young boy around the age of sixteen.
"Yes?"
"Hello," the Doctor smiled kindly at the boy. "Is this the Kinley residence?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess… Why do you ask, sir?"
"I'm the Doctor and these two ladies are my assistants." Martha and Avery waved at the boy. "We have some questions about your younger brother-"
"Tristan?" asked the boy quietly. "I-I thought doctor Estling had already asked us everything he needed to know?"
"He has but-"
"And the police?"
"They have too, but we're new in town, here to help solve the, uh, murders. We need to hear it again."
"There's not much to tell, really-"
"JOSEPH!?"
"I'm here da'!"
A man appeared in the doorway, his hand quickly grasping the boy's shoulder, "Don't disappear like that… Oh, hello."
"Hello, I'm the Doctor and these are my two assistants, Avery and Martha."
"They're asking about Tristan. They're helping doctor Estling."
"Well, then read his report. We ain't talking about Tristan no more," the father said angrily, going to slam the door shut in their face.
However, Avery took a step forwards, pressing her foot in between the door and the doorway. She put on a smile, pretending the father's strength had not almost broken her foot, "Please, sir, we'll be gone before you know it."
He glanced at her. Then at her foot. Then at the Doctor and Martha. And lastly at his son who was stood next to him still. His eyes flashed a hint of pain and distraught for a moment before he finally opened the door again, nodding his head.
"Very well… Come on in."