Adventures of a Lifetime
~ oOo ~
Chapter One: Displacement
"One-shot decaf caramel soya dry cappuccino." She blinked for a moment, trying to remember before turning towards the cups, only to stare at the takeaway cups.
"What size?" She turned her head to look over at Jana who was currently at the till.
"Medium." Jana's brown eyes blinked back, as she tucked her short curls behind her ear. Nodding she turned back to the cups and grabbed the paper cup before reaching over to the syrups. Quickly forcing the caramel out, she headed to the coffee grinder where the decaf packets sat and mindlessly set to work. Only coming out again once she noticed the froth from the soya almost spilling out of the jug. Hitting the jug on the counter to get rid of the bubbles, she then grabbed a spoon as she poured it into the paper cup.
Fighting off a yawn she blinked and turned to the customer, who stood there patiently waiting. It always amazed her how people could be so patient in a coffee shop, especially if you hadn't noticed them entering. They tended to stand at the counter until you felt a stare on your back, in which you'd end up turning to see them standing there not making a sound.
"Would you like chocolate?" She looked at the woman who glanced up from her phone.
"No thanks." The woman shook her head, shrugging inwardly she reached over from a cup cover and a lid and then handed the drink off. The woman smiled and said a quick thank you before turning towards the door.
"Bye!" She smiled at her, before her eyes darted to the clock. The two of them went back to cleaning up what they could before closing as the door closed behind the customer. "Five minutes to go, can you go rinse the dish washer out?" She turned towards the older girl, who was finishing washing up the inside parts of the oven.
"Sure." Jana shrugged before heading to the back. She looked towards the door to see if anyone else was coming in before turning back to the sink to wash up again. Humming along with the music from the speakers she turned to the counters and wiped them down. Chucking the blue towel in the bin she looked up and made her way to where the pastries sat. She divided what was left of them into two bags and put two in a container for whomever was there in the morning. She walked back to the till in time to see the time change. Grinning she grabbed the keys and locked the door so no one could enter as they tidied up.
The music seemed louder without the noise of chattering customers, she raised a hand to her aching temple. The weird feeling she'd been feeling for weeks starting up again, it was like clockwork always at the same times in the day. Reaching into her back pocket she took out the painkillers she'd been recently been keeping in there. She shut her eyes as she felt her body shift in place, it was like her spirit shifted out of her body. Tingles broke out across her skin and a brief feeling of agony slipped through before suddenly everything was normal again.
Shaking her head in a daze, she carried on excitement for what awaited her outside the door. Her movements were quick and familiar, the work of tidying up the coffee shop quick due to experience and having already mostly finished it in the last hour. Jana took out the trash while she turned off the lights and logged out of the register. Smiling she grabbed the keys and her bags from the back, and then locked the door behind herself.
"Here's the keys," She handed them over to Jana, as she felt it beginning to rain. "See you in two weeks!"
"Thanks, have a good time." Jana waved back and headed in the opposite direction towards the bus station. Her rucksack on wheels bumped along the pavement as she awkwardly shuffled her headphones into place and them got her old iPod to play, the sound only came out of the left side but she refused to part with it. Conscious of the rain starting to fall down she quickly pressed shuffle and quickly put up her hood. The iPod went back in her pocket as the music began to play, she walked along to the beat occasionally nodding her head. Eagerly her pace quickened towards the direction of the underground, not bothering to wait for a bus when the walk only took under twenty minutes.
She pulled out her phone, having to type her password out since her gloves covered her fingerprint. Scrolling through her contacts she quickly typed out a message.
Wanna see a movie when I get back? You know you want to ;)
She typed out then sent the message to Jen. She skipped slightly as she crossed the road, the excitement shocking her system and making her want to jump around giddily. She couldn't help the smile from stretching out across her face. Her sister would end up agreeing as she usually did, her friends always seemed to keep bumping their cinema meetings. And Jen loved having her as an older sister, no matter what she claimed to say when she was annoyed. They always had the best talks to and from the cinema, catching up with each other's lives. Lena was the best elder sibling, if she did say so herself. Last time they'd ended up talking about robbing the local library, and her sister had labelled herself 'The Library Killer', Jen had told her that beginners needed to start somewhere (the library being a good starting ground!).
On my way to the station. I'll text you when I arrive at Grandmas xx
She sent to her mum, her gloved fingers tapping on the screen. Was it still so joyful that she could use her phone with her gloves on? Yes, yes it was.
Alright how was work? xxxx
She smiled down at her mum's message.
Great! Can't wait to start work at the school now! Xxx
She sent back, she had the whole of the week off to spend at her Grandmothers before she came back for a few weeks and then started working officially as a Teacher Assistant at one of the local Primary Schools for the new term. It had been a bit more than a year she'd been volunteering there for two days a week and now they wanted her full time! And she was going to be paid for it. Happiness flooded herself again, as she put her phone into her pocket.
Her suitcase rolled along the ground behind her, the small rucksack looking thing carried everything she needed for her week-long stay. She hadn't seen her grandmother since July and she was egger to spend time with her again. Humming along she made her way carefully across the pavement, stepping around or hoping over puddles. Her concentration focused on her shoes in case they caught on the pavement and tripped her up when she wasn't concerned on where to step next.
Reaching to her shoulder she adjusted her backpack's shoulder straps as her long coat flapped against her legs. Suddenly the rain started pouring down harder, huffing in annoyance she tugged her hood down further since she didn't want to fetch her umbrella out of her bag. The ends of her wavy hair quickly getting wet, her footsteps quickened. The station was only about seven minutes away now, then she'd get to sit down on the tube damp. Great.
"… a dream is a wish your heart makes…" She sung quietly conscious of her mother's comments that she really shouldn't sing out in public. A grin threatened to overtake her face at the thought, knowing that only she could hear herself. She giggled as the beat making her footsteps lighter, a strong urge to dance nearly overtaking her. But with great restraint she carried on walking along knowing that there was a time limit, the coach would leave without her if she was late.
She hummed along as she looked about the darkening street, almost near the station. She stretched her only free gloved covered hand out in front of herself, she wiggled her fingers for a moment before stuffing them back into her red coat pocket. It was unexpectedly chilly, the day before she'd been out in just a cardigan.
The thought of dinner suddenly overtook her mind, what did she want to eat? She had the leftover sandwich in her rucksack, then there were also the pastries if she wasn't that hungry. Or she could buy something at the train station when she got to Victoria. Pondering as she strolled along with a skip in her step, as she raised her shoulders and buried the bottom of her face in the collar of her mustard yellow scarf. Her long wet high-lighted hair blew into her face in the slight wind, so she turned her head in the direction of the wind causing the strands to move over her shoulder instead. A force suddenly propelled her forwards, and her feet moved quickly to try and regain her balance.
"Huh?" She blinked taken back for a moment awakening from her thoughts as she looked down to see that she'd tripped on a piece of uneven pavement. She frowned down as she shook her heeled boot to rid herself of the pain in her toes. "Geez…" She forcefully lifted her backpack on wheels over where she'd tripped. "Why does this always happen to me?" Groaning she reached a hand out to steady herself on the wall of someone's house, she didn't bother looking at it until she was suddenly jolted. Pain flittered through her head, the force of it taking her by surprise, her body felt lit up from the inside as if something was pulling her apart. Not this again, it wasn't even the right time of day! The force of it drove her to her knees, the wet ground causing her black jeans to get soaked.
It was worse than anything she'd ever felt, is stabbed through her chest sharp and wrenching, like something was pulling her apart. She gave out a low cry as her hands tightened around her luggage, her nails dug into her palms as they clambered for grip. Her knuckles whitened from the strain.
Help!
Help me, please…
She mentally cried out, something within her seeking guidance in a desperate plea. Her eyes opened again to see her entire being shifting, Goosebumps raised across every inch of her skin, her hair felt on end and something seared in her chest. The pressure on herself built, like a wave stretching until she thought she would combust. Her heartbeat pounded, sounding overly loud over any other noise, she could hear herself screaming out of her mouth and inside her own mind, and she could hear a distant high-pitched cackle of glee in the distance.
"Help!" She cried out, tears leaked out of her eyes as she tried to breathe. What was happening? "Please! Someone help me!"
Her vision flickered as if she was seeing two different environments, the familiar street she'd been walking along and an office that was obviously high up if the windows gave anything away of the central London skyline. Day and night. Flickering like some turning a light switch on and off.
The feeling felt endless, there was no sign of it stopping. The only outlet was the scream rising within her. She felt tears running down her cheeks as black sports started appearing in her vision and then suddenly a great pull tugged at her into nothingness.
Silence rang though her ears, like a high pitch noise.
The blinding light was too strong for her eyes, they squeezed tight in an effort to not see the glare. Her cornea were already sensitive enough to sunlight, but this light was such a pure whiteness that it staggered her. She couldn't see a thing, one moment she was kneeling on the ground the next was a feeling of weightlessness and an overall feeling of something terribly wrong until her closed eyelids were no longer being glared at and her body felt the full force of gravity.
She screamed as her knees hit the floor, the pain aching through her body. Her hands flew out in an attempt to steady herself. It wasn't much use as she slammed into the floor, her bag falling out of her death grip. She lay on the floor for a while, unwilling to get up and find out where she'd be taken to. Where whoever had abducted her pulled her through so much pain to bring her. They could damn well wait while she recovered. Her limbs felt numb, and she had to squish the rising bile rising in her throat. The world continued to spin as she lay down, the side of her face to the cool floor.
Finally deciding to look up she took a moment to realise that she definitely wasn't were she just was. For one, she was inside somewhere, somewhere that looked suspiciously like an office. Which was odd, because she had just been walking home down a street and there were no offices nearby which she could have accidently stumbled into. Or a stranger passing by would have dragged her into to help. Her stomach churned and her head felt light as if it would float away like a balloon.
With her breathing finally under control and her heart no longer threatening to burst out of her chest she lifted her head and pushed herself up with effort. Her elbows skidded on the ground and her breath caught in her throat as her muscles strained like they did after a hard workout. Gearing up again she grabbed onto the side of a desk sending an odd look at the weird steampunk lever behind her. Concentrating on her task she heaved herself up until she was on her feet. Her eyes caught on the windows ahead, where it once looked like glass panelling separated an office manager type from the usual grunt workers. The glass lay on the floor, most pieces had been swept up but obviously not with much care. Minding her heeled boots, she sidestepped it with the practiced steps of a dancer or gymnast. Her eyes locked on her target, she edged closer to the view only to stop short at the look of the river Thames.
Where was she? What had just happened?
She was in central London, very high up from what she could see outside the windows. And it wasn't a familiar vantage point so she'd never been in this building before. But she could definitely see the ground below. Stepping back slightly as her vision wobbled, she remembered that she was terrified of heights, why did she keep forgetting that?
But it was daylight outside, and there were no leaves on the ground so it obviously also wasn't autumn. More importantly, buildings were on fire not just one, smoke billowed out covering streets. What on earth was happening?
She glanced back at where she'd gotten off the ground to see an office space with desks facing away from the window and towards a blank white wall. Weird. Why were all the desks facing that? She looked over at the chunky laptop facing away from the office chair, on the table of the manager's office, shiny silver metal gleamed in the empty space a few scattered papers lay on the table. She walked over and picked up the office name plate, it was clear with an Arial font in gold spelling out 'Yvonne Hartman'. There was no job title underneath, which was odd.
She looked back towards the other desks, noticing the computers on them also looked old. And then she finally noticed some odd shaped grey mound pushed together behind another steampunk lever, and she definitely didn't want to take a closer look at that. Actually, she no longer wanted to even be in this room. Maybe if she travelled down and exited the building and made her way to Victoria coach station she'd wake up from this nightmare. She hurried over to where her bag had fallen, jerking it up forcefully she quickly made her way out of the creepy room.
The hallway looked outdated, the creamy walls with white panelling and tube lighting on the walls, and the floors were black. The windows at the end of the corridor had old office blinds that covered the view but let the sun light in. she walked over to the lift area a little further down her suitcase wheels the only sound heard. And on the wall right next to the lift a clear sign with a black logo that looked like a 'T', she felt the blood leave her face and shivers broke out across her skin, she eyes welled up with tear threatening to fall.
"No." Her teeth chattered together as her throat felt like it was closing up. "This can't be real!" She shook her head, fear welling up inside her. "It's fictional, it's a fucking television show!" She turned her head away from the sign, but the Cardiff bunker set flashed across her mind. The dinosaur flying in the rafters, the sound of computers beeping away a man in a long coat suddenly sitting up as air filled his lungs.
She impatiently pushed the button of the lift repeatedly. There was no way she was doing this, she wasn't going along with this day dream. There was no way she was in a building called the Torchwood Institute, there was no way she was in the Whoniverse. She didn't even want to contemplate that she was in an episode where Daleks and Cybermen could threaten her life. Suddenly the thought of getting to ground level seemed to be the clearest path to reality. Perhaps if she was on the street then this would all melt away and she would be back where everything made sense.
The lift was on its way up, would it have an office worker inside when the doors opened? Would they cart her to security questioning how she got inside? Or would there be freaking Cybermen ready to upgrade her and she'd become an afterthought of the universe sucked into the void? Fearful she pressed herself against the wall along with her suitcase, at least anyone coming out would probably head straight to the room she'd just left and wouldn't turn their head in her direction.
She slapped her hand over her mouth so her shaky breathing wouldn't be as noticeable. The ding of the lift forewarned the doors opening, a man in a suit rushed along the corridor pursued by a blonde in bright blue covering her upper body following behind him. Six other people hurried after them, none of them looked in her direction as they made their way to the room she'd vacated. She swiftly made her way into the lift they'd left and pressed 'G' for ground, not waiting to see what had their attention. Though at the back of her mind she had a pretty good guess. But that didn't matter, it wasn't real. It wasn't real.
The ride down was long, it left her with too much time to think and second guess herself. She wanted to be back where everything made sense, but the longer the lift doors were in her sight the less that seemed likely to come true. Abruptly a force effortlessly lifted her to the top of the lift, it was like gravity suddenly cut off or she'd been magnetized to the ceiling. The power of it gave her no leeway, its strength felt like it was trying to violently pull her up. And then as unexpectedly as it had started it stopped, she dropped down tumbling into her suitcase which had also flown up. Then the lift doors opened and she unsteadily got to her feet and rushed out. It was too much. The entrance was empty, there was no one sitting at the visitor desk so she didn't feel embarrassed in her sprint to the exit.
She looked up at the building she'd been in only to step back in surprise. It was Canary Wharf Tower; her dad had worked in this building years ago as a programmer. The blinking light at the very top giving it away. But what she'd seen in there, was another world, a fictional world. Yet as she looked at the buildings around her, some were still on fire. There were dead bodies in the street, people were looking up at the sky. The only logical answer was staring her right in the face no matter how much she wished it wasn't true.
She was a long way from home.
~ oOo ~
Author Note: So that was the first chapter, there's so many insert stories that the main character immediately arrives at the start of an episode and joins the plot that I wanted to explore what would happen if the character would just run away from it before she met any of the characters. Marlene won't meet the Doctor for a couple of chapters, this will hopefully get you to experience this character, you'll get to see her accept her new life without having to be thrust into the thick of things. This story won't just include episodes from Doctor who as you'll start to see, and you'll read about Marlene developing relationships with other people before she makes the conscious decision on whether or not she'll want to join the Doctor on adventures.
I've also been writing this for a while now, so you'll be getting regular updates. I've got an actual plan with this story compared to the other ones I started writing when I was younger. The updates will be every Monday, and I hope they bring a bit of joy into our lives in this time.