Chapter 53.

Scarlet Circle.

Night was falling. Grace stood in the light of a little fire, with Rose by her side, and three armed men watching her closely. Ranu had been put in a little iron cage. He had to curl up to fit, and he looked miserable as he watched them through the bars.

In their short time together, Grace had already decided who these poachers were.

The blonde one introduced himself as Adam Foster. He was confident, vain, and a little violent on the inside. He was apathetic toward Ranu, but intensely interested in the girls, particularly Grace. He was curious about her. He wanted to know what she was. He was obviously the leader, and his companions, the hulking man and the bald one, were much less intelligent. The hulking one felt little aside from impatience. The bald one had sparks of violence and anger, but nothing else.

Adam wanted to put Grace in a cage as well, but Rose had negotiated her way out of it, claiming that Grace was harmless, and probably hoping she would stay that way.

It was the only thing that kept these men alive.

Rose insisted on talking. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"We can start with you." Adam crouched in front of them, grossly confident. "How did you get here? What are you doing here?"

"We came on, er, a rocket. Got beamed down to the surface to, uh, survey."

Adam cocked an eyebrow. "Right. So did we."

Grace groaned. "Ha. You're hilarious. Why are you killing this planet's animals? Don't you have your own ecosystem to ravage?"

Adam turned his attention to her, laughing. He prodded her shoulder. "She speaks!"

"She bites," Grace warned, slapping his hand away. "Are you the one killing the animals or not?"

"Yes. Did you know this planet is protected by the Shadow Proclamation?" He pulled out one of his knives, holding it over the fire until it was red hot. He gazed at it. "No one else comes here, so the animals… they're very rare outside of this atmosphere. Just gotta be sneaky." He waved his knife back at Ranu. "The bipedal ones sell the best."

He was referring to the boy as just one of the animals.

Grace almost lunged. Almost. "You've been… taking people?"

"Here and there. Nothing too serious."

"You're kidnapping people!" Rose snapped. "That's wrong!"

Adam rolled his eyes. "I suppose you think it's wrong to breed Ood, too. Same rule."

"Have you lost your mind?" Grace demanded. "Look at him! He is a child! He's a little boy! He's scared to death! You put him in a cage. How can you think that's okay?"

Adam glanced back again, and shrugged. "I like to think it's the money. But, more interesting than my moral dilemma, is what you might be. You are… outwardly human, but those eyes… and that glow. You're not from here. No… But where? What are you?"

Grace was tired of being asked that. "I'm not rare, if that's what you're asking. There are billions like me on my home planet, and they wouldn't be happy if you-"

"No, no. You see, I have this nifty little scanner, and it identifies everything within twenty feet of me, all the time." He pulled out a little device, showing it to them. "It shows some humans, one of the weird little cat-people, and then one big question mark. Can't identify you. I got this list from the Shadow Proclamation databanks – every species in existence. So either you're very, very new, or you're very, very old. Which is it?"

Grace was silent. According to the Doctor and the Curator, she was the last Lightbringer. Billions of years ago, the Time Lords had seen to that.

Adam hummed, flashing a curious, dangerous smile, and then he stood and wandered back to his friends. He spoke quietly to them, glancing back sometimes to keep an eye on the girls. He was careful to stand close enough to Ranu to be a threat, in case they tried anything.

Rose leaned in and whispered, "Calm down."

"I can't. Did you hear him?"

"I did, but-"

"I could take them all, right now." Grace felt the presence stir at the possibility. No one had hands on Ranu at the moment. She could take them all out without worrying about hurting him.

Rose grabbed one of her hands, squeezing it tightly. "I'm asking you not to."

She tried to pull away, and then gave in. Rose was afraid. She couldn't tell if it was because of her, or because of the situation, but the possibility that she was scaring her friend shut the presence down. She didn't want to be scary.

She shifted from one foot to the other, trying to shake away the energy building up inside.

But it was useless.

It was worthless.

It was pointless.

Because the little boy in the cage moaned that he wanted his brother, and Adam lunged at him, shocking him with a little device and making him scream.

Grace lunged.

Rose stepped in front of her to stop her, both hands on her shoulders.

Adam noticed and drew his gun.

He fired.

For a few heartbeats, everyone stood still. Rose still had Grace by the shoulders, but her eyes were wider, her pupils dilated. Grace waited to feel the impact of a bullet, but felt nothing. Adam waited with his gun extended, his eyes wild for combat.

And then Rose began to fall.

Grace held onto her, keeping her partially upright on her knees. "Rose? What's wrong? What's happening? Hey! Talk to me!"

She stuttered, and then looked down.

Her stomach.

Her shirt.

No.

Grace tried to hold her friend up with one hand, to investigate the growing scarlet circle on her stomach, but Rose suddenly slumped. Grace eased her onto her back, and stared in horror as blood painted the front of her shirt. Adam had shot her. She was shot.

This could not be happening.