Hi everyone! I wanted to post sooner but it had been a very hard month for me so...But I'm back with a new chapter that I hope you will like! Like always don't forget to tell what you think of it! One million thanks to my beta.

Chapter 27

As they returned to the mostly empty room, one of the sculptures near a curved desk started to turn around, slowly revealing a vaguely humanoid face on its peak. The Doctor perked up at the sign, like he had waited for something like that to appear and increased his steps with an obvious bounce to it. Donna was not far behind, smiling brightly as she was looking around with bright eyes. Rose for her part, choose to stay close to the TARDIS. Since the revelation that they were all alone on that planet, she couldn't help but have the feeling that the Doctor was hiding something, and she prefered to be ready when everything started to go down.

As soon as the two of them were close enough, the face started to smile, a very convincing expression of joy illuminating her features, making Donna slow down a bit. She looked over to Rose, who's nervousness was visible from her spot, and decided that her friend had probably had the best idea after all. She took a few steps back, letting the Doctor, who seemed not bothered one bit by this weird phenomena take the lead. When he was finally close enough to it, the mouth on the carved face opened, letting out a slightly robotic female voice.

"I am Courtesy Node seven one zero slash aqua," the face said in a monotone. "Please enjoy the Library, and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers, regardless of species or hygiene taboo."

Donna, somewhat fascinated by the technology displayed here, stepped closer to it, her hand moving like she wanted to touch it but stopped at the last moment. "That face, it looks real," she said to no one in particular, her voice wavered nervously on the last word.

"Creepily real…" Rose agreed, still remaining a few meters behind. She shivered at the silent stare from the statue and looked around apprehensively. With their luck, that library was REALLY haunted.

The Doctor, not really realizing how much his friends were starting to freak out, put a hand on Donna's shoulder with a forced smile, trying to pull her away from the desk. "Yeah, don't worry about it"

But she was not letting it go, shoving his hand with a swift movement. "A statue with a real face, though?" She turned to Rose, who was still doing her best to keep her distance. "Do you think it's an hologram?"

"I prefer not to think about it at all," she responded, with a forced laugh. "Can we get going now?" she asked the Doctor.

But before he could respond, the Node spoke again, making Rose jump once again. She was definitely not a fan of that thing, way too lifelike. "Additional. There follows a brief message from the Head Librarian for your urgent attention." It took a brief pause, her almost lifelike eyes locked in the Doctor direction, not bothered by Rose's response. "It has been edited for tone and content by a Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows: Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The library has sealed itself, we can't... Oh, they're here. Argh. Slarg. Snick. Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm units for the comfort of other readers."

An eerie silence hovered around them as they looked nervously at each other. "So that's why we're here," said the Doctor in the women's direction before turning again to the statue. "Any other messages, same date stamp?" he asked hopefully, hoping to gain any hint on what happened here and why they were asked to come.

Courtesy Node blinked. "One additional message. This message carries a Felman Lux coherency warning of five zero eleven…"

He made an impatient gesture, not really in the mood to listen to all the disclaimer." Yeah, yeah, fine, fine, fine. Just play it."

The face somewhat nodded, like he had understood what the Doctor had said. "Message follows: Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember, if you want to live, count the shadows. Message ends."

Rose had already been ready to bolt to the TARDIS before, but now she was ready to run at the first inkling from the Doctor. "What does that mean?" she asked instantly, as Donna moved closer to her. She was obviously not the only anxious one.

His face was grave and serious, his sonic screwdriver firmly planted in his hand. "That means stay out of the shadows."

Donna looked around with a worried look. "Why, what's in the shadows?"

But he didn't respond and turned around, wordlessly walking back to where they came from, his face furrowed and pensive. Donna, and Rose, who didn't want to stay alone with the Node, followed him, not really sure how to respond to his sudden moodiness. They stayed silent a moment, with only the sound of their steps echoing around the empty hall to break the quietness. But as they got down one of the impressive stairs, Rose could not stay silent any longer.

"Okay, what is happening?" she finally asked, not really keen to lengthen the oppressive atmosphere any longer. She had been all for the trip, a planet made of books? Count her in. But now it was starting to morph more and more into a horror movie, and she was not ready to take out the role of the blonde who died stupidly at the beginning, thank you very much.

He sighed, his eyes looking tired and worn out. "I'm not really sure, but I'm sure it's nothing good."

"That does sound very ominous!" Donna joked while trying her best to lighten the mood that a definitely took a turn for the worse in the last ten minutes.

They had stopped at the floor dedicated to the great explorer, and Rose would have been delighted if not for the fact they were completely alone, and that the Doctor was clearly keeping things from them. "And still no idea who it came from I suppose?"

"Nope," he replied while looking around with a visible air of curiosity, his hands firmly in his pocket with a relaxed posture. The very image of tranquility. However Rose was not fooled, and she was confident that Donna, who stared at him with a dubious look on her face, was not buying it either. He continued to walk for a few seconds before realizing that his two friends had stopped, their arms crossed and a mullish expression on their faces. "What?" he finally asked when he realized they were not budging. But as he said the word, the lights behind them flickered and turned off one by one, submerging the path they came from into full darkness.

Without a second thought he lunged at them and grabbed their hands, realizing that by the time they noticed what was happening, it would be way too late for everyone. They had a look of surprise on their face, but they had no time to express any interrogation as he pulled them with force, driving them to move. "Run!" he screamed before taking off in the opposite direction, making sure that they were right behind him.

"What's happening?" Rose shouted as she did her best to keep the rhythm of the Doctor and Donna. Once again, she made a mental note to increase her cardio in the near future. She really had grown complacent in the last few years…

He took a brisk turn to the right, as the left was plunged in full darkness. "Not the time to explain!" he yelled back, pushing Donna in front of him, who almost tripped as a result. But fortunately, as the darkness was gaining on them, there was a door only a few meters away from them. He was the first one to reach it, but as he tried to open it, the door refused to budge.

Donna was not far behind, soon followed by Rose. "What?! It's locked?" she asked while trying to catch her breath when she saw the Doctor fight with the door.

"Jammed," he grunted. "The wood's warped." He even tried to push against it, but the door wouldn't move a centimeter. He rammed his shoulder in it for good measure but still nothing, they were stuck.

"Doctor, use your sonic!" Rose urged as she looked nervously to the blackness rapidly approaching.

His tense smile was enough of a response for her. "It's wood..." He had at least the decency to blush a little bit.

"You mean in three years you didn't think about upgrading the sonic?" To say Rose was outraged was putting it mildly. She had told him million of times to add the feature, and now they will probably suffer a horrible death just because he's too stubborn to listen to a word she said. And she wouldn't even have the pleasure to know what she died from. "I swear if I die today, I'm coming back just to haunt you!" her response full of infuriation.

He turned around, the door completely forgotten. "Excuse you? How can you…!" He started with outrage all over his face, but before he could continue, he was brutally shoved aside by Donna.

"For the love of God… You two stay back!" Donna called out before swiftly kicking the door open wide in one movement. The Doctor didn't wait one second more, pushing them inside as the darkness closed on them, making Rose nearly collide with a column as she stumbled inside. Donna held it closed as the Doctor took a book and squeezed it against the door handle, making sure the door would stay close.

"Oh. Hello," he said as he turned around and noted the security camera that was hovering around. "Sorry to burst in on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?" But the globe only switched itself off as a response, falling to the ground.

"What that thing?" Donna asked while helping Rose dust herself off, as she looked around the richly decorated room.

"More importantly, where did you learn to burst doors like that?" Rose had been so pissed off at the Doctor, she had literally forgotten all of her training. But she was very impressed with Donna's skills. If one day she wanted to stop travelling with the Doctor, Rose would definitely urge UNIT to recruit her.

"Yeah well, you know, boyfriends," Donna replied with an embarrassed smile. "Sometimes you need the element of surprise."

"Remind me to take classes with you." Rose laughed as she sat down in one of the chairs, trying her best to regain her breath and composure.

"Wherever you want!" Donna joked before turning to the Doctor. "What was after us? I mean, did we really just run away from a power outage?" she asked bewildered that it was even a possibility in her life now. Killed by an angry lightbulb.

"Possibly…" the Doctor replied distractedly, his attention fully on the security camera.

Rose stood up, sliding just behind the Doctor trying to understand what he was doing. "Find anything?" she asked when he didn't move an inch, his brow deeply furrowed.

"Gotcha!" He said, startling her as he suddenly stood straight on his feet, missing her by only a few centimeters. "I found the neuro center!" He took the camera and showed them a little panel on its side with different sentences scrolling down. But as they were reading what was on the screen, the Doctor's shoulder slumped.

"Ooo, I'm sorry. I really am," he said with a sad voice to the camera. Touching it gently, as Donna and Rose looked at each other with surprise. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" He turned to them with a sad smile when he realized they didn't understand. "It's alive."

"You said it was a security camera," Donna asked, understanding less and less by the minute.

"Well…" the Doctor started, but was cut out by Rose who took the camera from his hands with a frown. "What does it mean by 'The library is breached. Others are coming.'?" she asked.

Donna was starting to feel really disgruntled at everything with the lack of response from basically anything since they came to this place. And right now? She would give anything to get back to the TARDIS. Maybe at least then she would understand something. "Others? What's it mean, others?" But neither the Doctor or Rose replied. She turned to one of the Nodes she saw while entering. "Excuse me. What does it mean, others?" She asked the machine, hoping it would give her something, even if the face made her want to turn away. But the head was motionless.

The Doctor shrugged, putting the camera back on the ground now that it was of no interest. "That's barely more than a speak your weight machine, it can't help you."

"So why's it got a face?" she asked out loud, wondering why every interface looked straight out of a horror movie in this century.

"This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death," the Node responded instantly with a bright and happy smile towards Donna, who jumped back in pure shock.

She turned around, facing the Doctor and Rose, who had turned white as a sheet at the revelation. "This is a real face?" Horror would not even begin to cover what she was feeling right now. The Doctor only shrugged, obviously finding it completely normal. The fact that he didn't even seem bothered at all was completely mind blowing to her. But she didn't have time to ponder more on the question as Mark's face spoke again.

"It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks," he continued, the robotized voice still converting joy and delight. "Please enjoy."

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Rose whispered as the remaining color in her face drained. In the next second, the Doctor was near her, anxiety bleeding out of him like a beacon. His hands hovering around her shoulder, wavering like he didn't want to startle or spook her.

"Hey it's okay. In this century it's like donating a park bench." He smiled, hopeful and bright. Trying his best to cheer her up. But she only looked more consterned, suddenly alarmed to cross donated body parts all around the place.

Donna raised her arms to the ceiling, rolling her eyes at his stupidity. No wonder he was getting nowhere with her. This man is an idiot. An idiot in love, but an idiot still the same. "Oh my god, Doctor! It's donating a face, not your discarded couch!"

He raised his head, clearly annoyed by her interruption but his eyes suddenly went wide. "Donna, stay back!"

She jumped instantly, turning around, almost waiting to see the Node coming to life or something. "What? What's happening?" she demanded when she couldn't see anything. Well, not anything that was not here two minutes before.

He pointed to where she was approximately a few seconds before. "Count the shadows."

She squinted, only seeing the triangular shadow and nothing else. "One. There, counted it. One shadow," she said, giving up on what the Doctor was trying to show her.

Rose frowned as she realized what was happening. "Wait, what's casting it? There isn't light coming from above."

He smacked himself in the head, making Rose look at him with surprise. "Oh, I'm thick!" He started pacing back and forth in front of them, moving away from now an amused Rose. But the more he was turning around, the more it was making her dizzy. "Look at me, I'm old and thick. Head's too full of stuff." He ran his hands through his hair, appearing like someone had thrown a firecracker into it. "I need a bigger head."

Donna snickered at the image. "Bigger and you wouldn't make it through the door," she joked, making him stick out his tongue in response. But the fun was short lived as the light suddenly dimmed around them. The adjoining corridor was now even completely black.

Rose gestured to them to come closer, not liking one bit, what was happening around them. "I don't like this." She turned to the Doctor who was now back at her side. "I think we should go back to the TARDIS and see what is happening."

"The power must be going," Donna said hopefully. But the look on the Doctor's face was anything but reassuring.

"Donna, this place runs on fission cells. They'll outburn the sun," he said patiently, already pushing her in the direction of the only corridor which was still lit up, at least for the moment. Rose was looking around, trying to find anything that could look like a switch but to no avail. However, she was making sure to not approach any dark area, keeping the Doctor's warning by heart.

"So why is it dark?" Donna asked while still trying to find the logic in everything happening.

Rose turned, one hand still on the desk in front of her. "What the Doctor is trying to say, it is not a natural phenomena." She smirked when she heard him grumbling about how they had no respect for him. They were still very anxious, but it was nice to see they had not lost their playfulness.

"Reminder. The library has been breached," the Node suddenly blurted out, making them all jump out of their skin. "Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder." As it was repeating himself, Rose retreated to Donna, putting her behind her as they were examining the Node. She exchanged a look with the Doctor, who looked as serious as her. It was coming. "The library has been breached…"

As soon as it finished his sentence, the door opposite to them was suddenly blown open in a flash of bright light, making them shield their eyes at the sudden brightness. As their vision slowly adjusted, six spacesuited figures slowly appeared, crossing the doorway carefully one by one making Rose go on full alert. They all stopped as they saw them, at the exception of the one in the front, who continued to walk until she was face to face with Rose, who braced herself for a fight as she put her hand on her weapon, just in case. She felt the Doctor right behind her, his sonic brushing her thighs and she knew Donna was not far from her and probably as ready as them. So when the leader stopped in front of her, adjusting their polarising filter so they could see their face, she didn't move a muscle. They were ready.

But to their surprise, the feminine face that appeared in front of them was smiling brightly. Extremely pleased to see them. "Hello sweetie!" Her voice was full of joy and childlike delight, the familiarity so obvious that Rose could not help but wonder about it. But the blinding smile on the stranger's face dimmed consequently as the Doctor pushed Rose aside, his face pale and grave. She even took a step back, her demeanor subduing, a stark contrast with before.

"Get out," he said in a hard voice, showing that he was not joking in the slightest. "All of you." he continued in the direction of the rest of the group. "Turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren you came to the library and lived. They won't believe you."

But the enigmatic woman, who was visibly the leader of the group, only turned around trying her best to ignore him completely while she was taking off her helmet. "Pop your helmets, everyone," she said somewhat harshly, like she was bothered by something. "We've got breathers."

"How do you know they're not androids?" asked one of the women as she looked nervously to their group.

"Because I've dated androids. They're rubbish," she said with what Rose supposed to be humor. The woman was regal and uniquely beautiful, but no matter how much she stared at her, the woman looked like a stranger to her, and with how much Donna and the Doctor were frowning she was visibly not the only one to not recognize her at all. She could not help but feel bad for that, as she was sure she was missing a critical point at the moment.

"Who is this?" One of the other explorers shouted in annoyance as he approached them. The more he looked at them disgruntled, the more Rose had to hold onto Donna, who was rapidly losing patience. "You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives," he accused the woman, not even looking at them.

The leader shrugged, a forced smile on her face. "I lied. I'm always lying. Bound to be others."

But before the grumpy one could open his mouth again, Rose lost it, her restraint going up in smoke as the more time was passing the less she was understanding anything. "Ok stop! Everyone stop!" she shouted, making everyone pause as her interjection. "Ok now." She pointed to what she supposed to be the leader. "Who are you exactly? And why are you here?"

The woman's face closed up completely as Rose's harsh tone. "Professor Song. River Song," she answered flatley, her eyes firmly planted on her, like she was trying with everything in her to not look at the Doctor.

"River Song, lovely name." The Doctor stepped forward, oblivious to the tension growing around River, only focused on how to save everyone. "As you're leaving, and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again. Not one living thing, not here, not ever."

"You said professor?" Donna asked with interest, sensing that something was not right and that was somewhat linked to River Song.

River smiled at Donna, but she was clearly wary of her. "I'm an archaeologist," she said, her voice short but still friendly.

"Oh god really?" grunted the Doctor with dramatism. "Tell me you are joking."

River didn't look pleased at his exclamation and her closed face became even more somber. "You have a problem with that?" she said with a brittle tone.

His smile was almost sarcastic. "I'm a time traveller! I…" But before he could finish, Rose put her hand on his mouth, stopping him mid tirade. "Not the time Doctor, we don't want to anger the only possible ally on this planet, ok?" she hissed in his ear. If River didn't want to kill him soon enough, that would be a miracle.

"I don't care about all that, I'm mister Lux." Lux butted in pompously as he snapped his fingers. "Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts."

The Doctor rolled his eyes so hard, he could almost see his own brain. He nudged Rose away, signaling her he would try to play nice for the moment and sighed. "Oh for the love of…" He stopped as he saw one of them move in the direction of a dark hallway. "You stop right there! What's your name?"

The woman sent a nervous look in the direction of River who stayed impassible. "Anita?" she replied a little bit nervous at his sudden burst out.

"Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared. No, bit more scared than that. Okay, do for now." He turned around and pointed to the one closer to the door. "You. Who are you?"

"Er, Dave," he said, rather surprised that someone was talking to him.

"Okay, Dave…"

"Oh, well..." Dave interrupted him with a timid smile on his face. "Other Dave, because that's Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we…"

The Doctor made an impatient gesture, clearly not in the mood for any digression. "Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?"

Other Dave peeked down the hallway for a second."It's a bit darker I would say."

"How much darker?" the Doctor asked strongly, his eyes hard, all traces of smile completely missing from his face.

Other Dave squinted as he looked at the hallway, trying to find the difference from before. "Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now."

"Seal up this door," the Doctor commanded seriously. "We'll find another way out."

Rose bumped Donna discreetly, who was still looking curiously at River Song, making her turn slightly "I need to talk to the Doctor for a second, don't move," she whispered as Donna nodded. She seized the Doctor's arm, using the fact that everyone was still distracted by the Doctor's quip about the hallway to drag him to the side, making him yelp in surprise.

But before she could unleash on him, Lux called on them loudly, "Where do you both think you're going?" He turned to the woman they supposed was called Evangelista as it was the only one who had still not spoken. "Miss Evangelista? Give them the contract before they have the foolish idea to walk around the library!"

"I'm Mister Lux's personal everything," the timid woman stammered as she smiled slightly. "You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experiences inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation." She took out three stacks of paper from a side pouch, and handed them over proudly. But before Donna or the Doctor could take them, Rose snatched them in one swift move.

"We don't have time for this." She passed them to Donna without breaking eye contact with Lux. "Destroy them please," she said to the redhead, who looked delighted at the idea, while Lux sputtered in rage. She turned briefly to River, who was doing her best to not smile at the scene as Rose pushed the Doctor to the nearest desk. "Can you calm down mister high and mighty please? I only have for a few minutes." River nodded, the sparkle in her eyes back again.

As she could hear River placade an infuriated Lux in the background, Rose forcely sat the Doctor down, who could not help but smile a little bit at her passion. "Now. Talk."

"Rose, we don't have time to…" he started to say, but Rose was fed up with his nonsense and it was most definitely starting to show as he closed his mouth with an audible clack when she crossed her arms.

"If you don't start talking right at that instant, I swear on the TARDIS, I will hide everything you love!" The gleam in his eyes and his smirk was reponse enough for her, and before he had time to put his foot in his mouth once again, she continued, "just one more thing… Make a quip on me again, and I will make sure you'll share Donna's bathroom from now on. And kiss your banana bread goodbye."

The horror on his face could have been hilarious if not for the fact he was hiding crucial facts from her. "Assemble everyone. I'll need to explain to them too…" he finally conceded after a few seconds of silence.

At least they were getting somewhere.