Chapter 11 The One with the Nightmares
Here's a nice juicy chapter to make up for the silence these last few weeks! Hopefully I'll be able to crack on and get some chapters backlogged so that when college starts up again I can still post (semi-)regularly!
I own nooothing but Florence!
Florence tossed and turned in her sleep, throwing the covers off of her body as her skin burned, a light sheen of sweat encasing her. She was having a nightmare, involving the werewolf, and the never ending hallways of the Hotel. She was running, faster than ever before, almost slipping with the effort of every twist and turn on the ancient red carpet beneath her feet, which were clad in ridiculous heels to go with her fancy graduation gown. She reached the door at the end of the hallway and, with nowhere else to run, entered. The werewolf bashed at the door behind her as she turned to face a whimpering sound coming from the centre of the room. It was herself, cradling the body of Sarah as Sally's own lay next to her, their flesh torn to shreds just as the girl's in Provence had been. She looked down at herself, who had mascara running down her face as she cried out, screaming when she saw the real Florence standing in front of her.
"It's your FAULT!" She screamed, pointing a crimson finger at her. "Why didn't you check on them! Did they vanish the moment you reunited with your precious Doctor?" She spat out the name as real Florence tried to back away, shaking her head at the scene.
"I… I… they're not dead, they can't be d-d-"
"How would you know?" The fake Florence hissed. "When was the last time you checked? Why don't just time travel ahead and attend their funerals? You don't care." Real Florence sunk down to the floor, the dark blood spreading from her best friend's body and edging towards her heeled feet, the first splinters of the breaking door scattered around her, and the fake her gave her a hideous grin before she looked up and saw a clawed paw reaching for her head.
Florence awoke with a start, scratching at the pin prick feeling in her arms and sitting up in bed. She looked around the room she was in, it was the same one she had fallen asleep in on the TARDIS. Her own designated room, it offered a strange sense of comfort, as if she knew she belonged there. She swung her legs to the floor, wincing and pulling back when her feet initially met carpet, her nightmare still fresh. She padded to the door and stepped out of the room, but not before grabbing a long silky dressing gown to cover her pyjamas. Wandering down the less scary, much warmer atmosphere of the TARDIS corridors, she noticed that the decor was also still that of her bow tie Doctor, and she hoped that this meant the burning was just from the adrenaline of the nightmare, and not a jump.
She realised she was wrong however, when a door to her left opened and out popped the familiar, but distinctly absent from her recent visit, face of Rory, a mug full of what smelt like coffee in hand.
"Florence!" He grinned when he saw the clearly freshly woken woman in front of him. "Just woken up? There's some coffee in here if you fancy?" She nodded slowly and followed him into the kitchen, a new room of the TARDIS which she paused briefly at the novelty of. She took the mug of coffee with a smile from the man, but continued to frown at him.
"You… uh." She wasn't entirely sure how to word things anymore, without risking messing up timelines. "You're here." Rory pulled a face and shuffled on his feet.
"Riiiight, yeah. Early for you is it?" She nodded. "Something happened. Can't really talk about it? I'm good, Amy's great. The Doctor is… the Doctor. You're good too?" Florence just nodded again. "Good. Good we're all good."
"Yup." They stared at each other for a second but Florence let out an awkward laugh. "Oh fucking hell, this is ridiculous! Thank you, for the coffee! Good morning. What have you guys been up to in my absence?" Rory laughed and bobbed his head, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Well, recently? There was, well, a big old situation, not really sure what to tell you about that… oh! Did some pirate-y things! That was… interesting." Florence snorted slightly,
"Fucked up timelines are so rubbish, well I've just met Vincent Van Gogh!" Rory smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Yes! Amy told me about that, said you were very peppy on that visit! Can inform you that there is no Picasso or… Warhol in your future with us yet." Florence sighed dramatically,
"Well What is the point?! I may as well go home!" But even when she said 'home' the images of Sally and Sarah from her dream flooded her mind, and she coughed and turned away from Rory. "Um, where is the Doctor, then? And Amy? Preparing for the next excursion?" Rory didn't seem to notice her mood swing, instead picking up another mug of coffee (she assumed for Amy) and walking towards the door, nodding at her to follow.
"In the console room, he's been moping about a bit since you - older you - left. No difference there." Florence laughed as they walked through the corridors of the TARDIS.
"It's like he hasn't been experiencing my jumping for longer than I even have…"
"I like to think of him as just a bit of a baby to be honest." Rory commented and Florence nodded, bumping into his side with her shoulder.
"His sonic screwdriver is like a rattle innit." They both let out a laugh.
"Hello, dear." The Doctor called to her the moment she and Rory stepped for in the console room, Rory making a beeline to give his wife her coffee while Florence ambled over to the distinctive tweed coat on the other side of the console.
"You mean me or Rory there, Doctor?" The Doctor spluttered a bit before grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into an only slightly awkward hug where she attempted to neither spill her coffee nor suffocate herself in his chest. He pulled back after a moment and looked down at the shorts, vest and robe she still wore, and the baby blue nail polish of her bare toes curling on the cold glass floor. "Where are your shoes?"
She laughed slightly. "Some of us have been sleeping, Doctor. Might come as a surprise to you… Actually, do you ever sleep?" She shook her head slightly, before darting her eyes towards Amy and Rory briefly. "Never mind, ignore that. I jumped in my sleep apparently, just been with Vincent Van Gogh." The Doctor bobbed his head in understanding, smiling slightly.
"Oh Vinny… That was a good one!" Florence gave him a look and jutted her head subtly at the couple opposite them again. "Oh! Yes!" He waved his fingers between the two of them and her. "That's all sorted now! Plenty of fun between then and… this time, here, now." Florence smiled at him.
"Good."
"Good." The Doctor repeated, looking down at her bare feet and drifting his eyes up her body slightly, causing Florence to raise an eyebrow at his once over.
"Shall I go and get changed?" The Doctor shook his head distractedly before quickly lifting it back up to look her in the eyes.
"Yes. Yes, that's probably for the best." He lifted his arm to lean casually on the nearest part of the console, which happened to be the swinging monitor which buckled under the pressure and caused him to stumble slightly. Florence let out a laugh and crossed her arms over the silk material of her pyjamas,
"You good?" The Time Lord slicked his hair back into position and straightened his bow tie.
"Good, I'm good good goo- OW!" He was cut off by pain coming from within his jacket pocket, and startled Florence out of her amusement as well as the Ponds out of their conversation. She reached forward to help him just as he whipped the leather wallet out of his pocket and mumbled something written on it. "Please save me from the monsters." He flipped the wallet shut and began to flick switches on the console. "Well. Haven't done this in a while." Florence frowned, sharing a confused look with Amy and Rory,
"Haven't done what? What is that thing anyway? Where are we going?" The Doctor ran around to the Ponds' side and continued inputting their destination.
"We're making a house call! And Florence, dear, best you get changed now." He pulled the final lever and the room shook beneath them, Florence muttering under her breath about rushing her around as the Doctor tried to push her stumbling figure towards the doorway as the ship set into motion.
The Doctor was impatiently pulling on his braces and shuffling on his feet when Florence reentered the console room fully dressed, donning an oversized khaki utility jacket over her black v-neck and blue jeans with combat boots adorning her previously bare feet. She rolled her eyes at his huff when she ("Finally!") waltzed back in, patting him on the chest as she made her way to the open doors where she could faintly hear Amy and Rory. The Doctor closed the door behind them both and Florence looked around at their less than exciting surroundings, she sidestepped the puddle they had parked near as Rory turned back from looking up at the large block of flats located just past the gates in front of them.
"No offence, Doctor."
"Meaning the opposite." The Doctor noted as he followed the path Florence took closer to the Ponds.
"But we could get a bus somewhere like this." Rory continued, looking unimpressed.
"The exact opposite."
"Well," Amy tried to reason, "I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory."
The Doctor disagreed, stomping ahead, pulling his screwdriver out of his pocket and waving it around. "Yes, it can." He told them. "Course it can. Planets and history and stuff. That's what we do." The trio followed him along, out of the garage space and headed straight towards the flats. "But not today. No. Today, we're answering a cry for help from the scariest place in the universe. A child's bedroom." Florence skipped up to join his side, shoving her hands in her pockets.
"So…" She began. "What's the wallet then? Is it ID? A texting service? What?" The Doctor took the black wallet out of his pocket again and held it out to her to take from him. She reached over and plucked it from his hand, opening it and closing it multiple times, staring intently at the white paper inside. "It's just a blank piece of paper?"
The Doctor nodded his head as if expecting her response, taking the wallet back from her, throwing it in the air and catching it. "It's called psychic paper. It says whatever I want it to say, and can sometimes translate low level telepathic frequencies into messages for us. But you've never been able to read it."
Florence pulled a face. "Oh great more weird stuff about me." The Doctor laughed and wagged his finger at her,
"Nah, I've met a couple people unable to read it, it's not always about you, Florence." Florence poked her tongue out at him.
"Funny. So what, this one had a message on it?"
"Yup, 'please save me from the monsters'." He read from the paper, and led them towards the lifts of the building, where Rory turned and asked,
"'Please save me from the monsters'? Who sent that then?"
"That's what we're here to find out." The Doctor told them, hitting Rory lightly on the head with the leather wallet and putting it back in his jacket, leaning forward and pressing the button to call the lift, which began to whir.
"Sounds like something a kid would say." Amy commented, Florence nodded.
"A terrified kid." She agreed.
"Exactly. So scared that somehow its cry for help got through to us in the TARDIS." Florence frowned and looked around at the building they were in.
"And what, it's coming from Earth?"
"Exactly." The Doctor repeated, just as the ding of the lift signalled its arrival. "Ah. Going up." The four of them crowded into the lift and the Doctor pressed the button for the sixth floor. "Right, splitting up, knocking on doors, finding child. Sound good?" The three companions nodded, but Florence still had one question.
"Sure but…" The lift shuddered to a stop and the doors creaked open. "How will we know what kid it is?" The four of them exited the lift and the Doctor spun on his heel to consider Florence's question.
"Well, uh, yes. Not sure. Interested to find out. Go with your gut." He gave her a wink before turning back around and wandering off, hands in his trouser pockets. Amy and Rory scoffed slightly at his response in unison, Florence pulled a face at the couple-y action.
"Helpful as always." Amy quipped before pecking Rory on the cheek. "Right, let's get questioning. See you in a bit." With that she flounced off down the corridor to their right. Florence wiggled her fingers at Rory in farewell before turning and climbing the stairs next to the lift to see what the other floor had to offer.
After receiving no answer on the first three doors - she did suppose it was late at night - as well as an angry old man who started complaining about the lighting in his kitchen causing his eyesight to fail him, Florence turned her attention to the chipped paint of the door in front of her, and raised her hand to knock firmly. It swung open after a couple of moments and a slightly older woman with cropped hair answered with a concerned look on her face.
"Hello? Can I help you?" Florence smiled brightly.
"Hi there, I hope you can. I'm working for the council and there's been some concerns about children's safety in the playground next door. Do you have children living with you?"
"No, I don't." The woman answered, and Florence gave her a tight smile, she wondered how long this night would be if all the flats came up short.
"Okay no trouble…"
"Shouldn't you have a list of who lives here at the council?" The woman asked suspiciously, and Florence hesitated slightly.
"Yeah… that's a good idea! I'll, um, suggest it to my manager! Thank you for your time!" She sped off down the hallway and didn't stop at another door until she heard the one she had just visited close. She sighed at the wariness they would inevitably raise, but as always still went along with the Doctor's strange plans. Knocking on the next door, she heard the soft barking of a dog just before the door opened and a little ball of fluff trotted out to say hello, Florence cooed and bent down to stroke the little thing before looking up to greet the owner. It was a teenage boy, looking as if he would rather be doing anything else other than answering the door and looking after the dog that was cradled in her arms.
"Hiiiii." Florence drew the word out, planting a friendly smile on her face, although getting no emotion back from the teen in front of her. "Wondering if you could help me, we've had some concerns about young children's safety in the building. Do you have a little brother or sister? Or are you… concerned about anything?" The teen crossed his arms and frowned.
"No and no. Unless you mean our landlord being a prick." Florence paused in shock at his words, but nodded after a moment.
"Okay, yep, cool. Not exactly what we're looking for but…" She let the dog go and it ran back into the flat.
"Is that it?"
"Um, yeah. I guess so…Thank you for your ti-" Florence was cut off as he slammed the door shut, she stood in front of it staring at the wood for a few seconds before deciding to cut her losses and try to find the Doctor, Amy, or Rory. If she was going to have to deal with moody little shits, she at least wanted them to have to deal with them too. She heard voices from the bottom of the staircase she had climbed earlier and began to stroll down them to join the rest of their little team back by the lift. Amy and Rory smiled when they saw her, and Amy wiggled her fingers at her as if she were a child,
"Anything? Any ghosts or ghouls?" Florence shook her head and crossed her arms, leaning against the wall as they waited for the Doctor,
"Nope." She gestured to the floor above. "Unless you count a moody teen with a prick of a landlord." Rory laughed and pointed at her,
"Ah yes I may have met said landlord…"
"Hey." Amy greeted as the Doctor bound over to them. "Any luck on your end?"
"Three old ladies, a traffic warden from Croatia and a man with ten cats." The Doctor seemed excited at his findings, though Florence noted he made no mention of finding the child.
"Ten cats?" She repeated, just as Rory asked.
"What are we actually looking for?" The Doctor turned to answer Florence first, raising his arm above her head and leaning against the same wall as her, their height difference meaning she only just felt the tweed sleeve ruffle her hair.
"Ten cats." He told Florence again, and they both shook their heads at the quantity, before he turned to Rory. "Scared kid, remember?"
Amy looked back at the direction she had come in. "I found scary kids. Does that count?" The Doctor looked distracted all of a sudden and straightened up, taking Florence's hand and dragging her past the Ponds.
"Er, try the next floor down." As they left, Florence turned and waved at the confused couple with an equally puzzled expression on her own face. "Catch you later."
"So…" Florence began, letting the Doctor lead her down the hallway, swinging her hand in his. "You found the kid?" He turned and gave her a cheeky grin.
"Of course. Well, I think… What gave me away?"
"You're as subtle as your screwdriver, dear." He rolled his eyes and drew them to a halt outside a door, fixing up his bowtie with a flourish.
"Yes well… shut up." Florence let out a loud laugh and knocked on the door, letting the Doctor throw up his psychic paper as a man in his thirties opened up and poked his head out.
"Oh right." He said, looking pleasantly surprised, before either the Doctor or Florence could say anything. "That was quick." The two time travellers looked at each other curiously, the Doctor double checking his paper.
"Was it?"
"Claire said she'd phone someone. Social Services." The man explained, and Florence and the Doctor both smiled.
"Yes." Florence spoke for them. "That's us!" The man looked back inside before lowering his voice slightly.
"It's not easy, you know, admitting your kid's got a problem." Florence nodded empathetically while the Doctor shuffled on his feet, clearly keen to start asking questions.
"You've got a problem. We've got a problem. I bet they're connected, I'm the Doctor, this is Florence. Call me Doctor, call her Florence. What can I call you?" Florence shook her head at him, before sticking her hand out to shake the man's.
"Alex." The man, Alex, told them.
"Hello, Alex." Florence greeted. "May we come in?" Alex stepped aside and ushered them in, past a door with a child's drawing on it and the name 'George' written.
"So," the Doctor began, glancing at the door before following Alex into the living room, "tell us about George."
Florence sat on the sofa next to the Doctor, so close their thighs were flush against each other, and he peered over her shoulder as she flipped through a family photo album. After the adventure with Van Gogh and the still disconcerting nightmare she had had the night before, she had suddenly found his presence rather calming and enjoyed the firm touch that assured her he was real. She wasn't overly worried about the dream, in some ways it had slipped from her mind, but hints of it still lingered, the carpet in the flats hallway still unnerved her slightly, and red of the Doctor's bow tie reminded her a little too much of the blood soaked bodies in her arms. She turned the page of the album again, hardly looking at it herself but not wanting to keep the Doctor from his investigation.
"Ever since he was born he's been a funny kid." Alex's voice cut through her absent minded flicking, and she closed the book to look at him.
"Funny's good." The Doctor told the worried father, throwing his arm around Florence's shoulders. "We like funny, don't we?" Florence nodded, smiling at him.
"Funny isn't bad."
"It's just… He never cries." Alex explained. "Bottles it all up, I suppose. Tell him off, he just looks at you."
Florence frowned. "How old is he?"
"He was eight in January. I mean, he should be growing out of stuff like this, shouldn't he?" Alex asked them, and the Doctor shrugged slightly.
"Maybe. It's got worse, though lately?" Alex nodded.
"Yeah. We talked about getting help. You know, maybe sending him somewhere. He started getting these nervous tics. You know, funny little cough, blinking all the time. But now it's got completely out of hand." Alex stood in frustration. "I mean, he's scared to death of everything."
"Pantophobia." The Doctor told him, out of the blue.
"What?"
"That's what it's called. Pantophobia. Not a fear of pants though, if that's what you're thinking. It's a fear of everything. Including pants, I suppose, in that case." Florence nudged him with her elbow, he was rambling again. "Sorry. Go on."
"He hates clowns." Alex told them, and Florence pulled a face.
"That's fair, I'm still scared of them."
"Old toys." Alex listed. "He thinks the old lady across the way is a witch. He hates having a bath in case there's something under the water. The lift sounds like someone breathing. Look, I don't know. I'm not an expert. Maybe you can get through to him."
"I'll do my best."
"Um maybe, it's best if I go and see if he's awake, you may have to come back tomorrow or something…" He trailed off and Florence was concerned that maybe they would have to come back tomorrow and while, what with their fancy time machine, that wouldn't take them long, there was a worry about what may happen to the young boy so frightened by monsters in the nine hours they would be gone.
Her concerns were slightly lessened when the sound of a small crash came from the closed door of the child's bedroom down the hallway, and suddenly she was less bothered by missing the danger and more bothered by what could be happening in the bedroom. The three adults jumped up and ran to the source of the sound, Alex ran in the room first to make sure his son was unharmed.
"George? You okay? What's the matter? Oh. Never mind. Were you having a nightmare, son?" Florence could hear the sounds of Alex picking up what was likely a broken glass or lamp in the room from her and the Doctor's positions just outside.
"Wasn't a nightmare. I wasn't asleep." Came the young, but strangely self assured for what Alex had described as the more terrified child, voice of George. The Doctor took that as his cue and stepped into the room, causing George to look at him from his place on the bed. "Who are you?" He asked curiously.
"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor told him, stretching his hand out for Florence to take and join him at his side. "This is Florence."
"A doctor?" George asked, looking between the pair at his door and his dad. "Have you come to take me away?" The Doctor shook his head, smiling gently at the child.
"No, George. I just want to talk to you."
"About what?" He asked quietly, and the Doctor stepped further into the light.
"About the monsters."
Florence crouched and gently tugged on the Doctor's tweed sleeve as he sat on George's bed playing with a Rubik's cube, she smiled gently at George's curious face before whispering, "Doctor, I'm gonna see if I can find Amy and Rory, let them know where we are." The Doctor smirked in response.
"Good idea, telling them to stop bothering the neighbours eh?" Florence gave him a look.
"You mean the ones you told us to bother, yeah?"
He paused in his fiddling. "Yes."
"Great, I'll be back soon. Don't fight any monsters without me." She gave him a wink and patted his knee before standing tall and bidding Alex and George a soft farewell, raising her hand at the Doctor's call after her of,
"Be careful!" She opened the front door and stepped out of the small flat into the yellowish lit open air of the building, turning right and walking back into the direction of the lift Amy and Rory had continued their search in. She assumed they must have made it up a couple of floors by now so pushed the button for the floor three up from the one she was currently on. The doors creaked closed in front of her and she looked at the dingy walls around her, carefully not to touch anything more in case it all fell apart just with a nudge. The whirring of the lift stalled slightly and Florence rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Oh come on don't stop." She muttered, before the lighting above her flickered ominously and there was a jolt. Florence looked up at the light and as it shut off once more bathing the lift in darkness she suddenly found herself and the metal death trap dropping suddenly, she screamed as the lift continued to fall, fast and unforgiving, and stumbled when it stopped. She fell to her knees and closed her eyes, breathing heavily and ran her hands over her body, as if making sure that all her limbs were still accounted for.
She opened her eyes, and looked around at a room that was decidedly not the lift she had nearly died in. The tiles beneath her feet were black and white checkered, old fashioned like she had always imagined her dream kitchen to look, while the hallway was dark, with wooden panelling and an eerie silence to boot. She made her way down the hallway, running her hands against the walls to reassure herself that it was all real, and began to wonder how on Earth she would get back to the Doctor, as well as where Amy and Rory were. Although, the latter was solved when she turned the corner into an entrance hall and spotted the married couple standing over an overturned and empty birdcage. She let out a sigh of relief and made her way towards them, though the sound made the unsuspecting couple jump and spin around with a yell, Amy raising what looked like a frying pan up in defence. Florence let out a short laugh and held her hands up in surrender.
"Woah! Just me… are you two alright? Where are we?" Amy lowered the pan and shrugged.
"No clue." She answered, nudging the empty birdcage with her food. "There's nothing here, empty kitchen, empty hallways. Nothing."
"Except an eye in a drawer…" Rory added.
"Except an eye in a drawer." Amy agreed, and Florence shook her head.
"What? An eye?"
Amy nodded and raised her frying pan up once more. "Yep, and check this out." She rapped against it with her knuckles, causing a hollow thudding sound.
"It's wooden? Weird." She looked around at the entrance hall they were standing in, hands on her hips. "Riiiight, so. Any ideas on how to get out? Front door?" She joked, but her smile fell when Rory pulled a face. "What not?"
"It's just…" He began, motioning the door behind him. "All the doorknobs seem to be gone."
"Gone?" Florence repeated.
"Well," Rory clarified, "gone or never there to begin with. Not sure which is more unnerving." Florence turned to look at Amy, hoping for some answers, but she was busy looking up at the clock near them, running her hands on its face.
"And this clock." She murmured.
"What about it?" Rory asked.
"Look, the hands, they're painted on." Florence held her hands up and backed away from the object in question.
"Okay this is weird." She sighed. "How did you guys get here? The lift?" Rory laughed and bobbed his head in agreement.
"The lift." He agreed. Amy turned away from the clock sharply upon hearing one of the most disconcerting sounds in the history of tv and film (no, Florence was not exaggerating): children's laughter coming from an unidentifiable source followed by the sound of footsteps. Whether they were running to or from the trio, she couldn't be sure.
"Okaaay, don't like that…" Florence muttered, before looking over her shoulder at an empty doorway. "Let's try this way." She led them out of the entrance hall and down another hallway towards what she hoped would be a clue to a way out. The trio stopped at the bottom of a staircase and Florence was about to suggest climbing up them before she was frozen into place once more by the sound of children's laughter ringing in the hallways and footsteps - she was going to go with 'towards them' now.
"You hear that?" Amy whispered, and Florence looked around to find the source.
"Yeah…" Rory stepped away from the staircase. "Wait a minute…"
"They're getting closer." Amy told them, causing Rory to look back at her in confusion.
"They?" Florence pointed to the closed door near them,
"I think it's coming from in there…" The two women followed Rory over to the ominous looking door, the laughter quietening slightly as they approached. Rory took a deep breath and stretched his hand out to push it open while Amy held up her frying pan in defence. It swung open to reveal a wooden raggedy looking doll that was easily over six foot tall, towering above the three of them with a fixed scowl painted on its larger than normal head.
"Absolutely not." Florence cried out, though it was drowned by the married couple's screams, backing up immediately. "What the fuck is that?" Amy peered closely at the figure in front of them,
"Oh, it's just a. It's a dummy." She breathed in a relieved tone that Florence did not understand. "Oh, it's just a dummy."
"Just!" Florence looked at her in bewilderment. "Just? It's fucking terrifying!"
"This is weird." Rory agreed, but Amy merely smiled at him mockingly,
"Yeah, says the time travelling nurse." Rory reached forward and knocked his knuckle against the doll's head, before Florence smacked it away with a tut. "Yeah, er, let's just leave that for now." Amy suggested. "Come on." The three of them turned away from the creepy doll and headed not to the original plan of the stairs but through a door to the side of them.
"I do not like this place." Florence whispered as they continued by torchlight. "Any clue where we are yet?" Rory gave her a look and nodded his head slightly in the direction they had come from.
"I'm gonna say, dolls house?" He suggested cheekily, causing Florence to roll her eyes.
"Oh yes of course, silly me." She was beginning to resent the Doctor for his easy job of chatting away with Alex and George.
"Why aren't there any lights?" Rory questioned suddenly, when they found themselves once more in a corridor lit only by moonlight (that she couldn't even see the source of) and their one torch. "I miss lights. You don't really miss things till they're gone, do you? It's like what my nan used to say. You'll never miss the water till the well runs dry."
"Rory." Amy warned him, as if used to his nervous ramblings.
"Where exactly are you going with this?" Florence asked him.
"Except light, I mean, not water." He continued. "Lights are great, aren't they? I mean if this place was all lit up, we wouldn't even be worried at all." Assuming she would be getting no answer, Florence turned to question his wife,
"Where exactly is he going with this?" Amy stopped him in his tracks with a firm pat on his chest.
"Rory. Panicking, a bit." He nodded quickly.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." Florence laughed slightly,
"Weird coping mechanism, Rory. 'I miss lights, lights are great!'" Rory rolled his eyes,
"Oh yeah because you're not known to ramble, Flo…" She opened her mouth, whether to reprimand the nickname or to defend herself even she wasn't sure of, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a bedraggled man running up to them.
"Help me, please!" He looked wildly at each of them, clearly fearing for his life, but from what, they couldn't see. "Keep them away from me! Keep them away!" The source of his fear was soon revealed when a wooden arm shot out and grabbed him by his shoulders, standing over him as he fell to the ground, screaming. Florence watched in horror as his hands paled and elongated, his head enlarged and strawy hair grew to his shoulders as he turned from flesh to wood in moments. Amy grabbed Florence's hand with her own and clutched the fry pan tighter.
"I take it all back." She told them, voice trembling. "Panic now." Florence's heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest when the two dolls turned and faced them, and despite their painted expressions, they looked menacing.
"Ooohhh my god!" She screamed and dragged Amy and Rory back the way they had come, the sound of the dolls following them spurring them to move faster.
"Don't run away. We want to play." They changed from behind them, and Florence threw open the first door she saw and dragged Amy and Rory into an empty library with her, pressing their backs against the door as they shut it. They breathed heavily and looked down as the laughter stopped and the shadows of the dolls moved away from the door, footsteps following.
"Absolutely the fuck not." Florence panted and she leant her head back on the oak panels. The peace lasted only moments before the footsteps returned and the banging and laughter continued with full force, accompanied by the jostling of the doorknob near Rory's side.
"Lock it!" Amy yelled at him, as they struggled to keep the door closed, but Rory shook his head.
"There isn't a lock." He informed them, Florence pressed both hands and her full weight against the increasingly heavy pressure as the door began to shift open slightly,
"Noooo!" She yelled, pushing harder as Rory moved further into the room to find something to block the door.
"Come on!" Amy cried as Rory rolled a large thread reel in front of the handle to block it, just in time as the straw hair of the dolls began to appear around the door. The banging continued but the three were able to move back and catch their breath once more. Amy paced up and down the length of the room, running her hand through her hair,
"We can't stay in here." She decided, looking around erratically. "We've got to get out!"
"Er, how?" Rory asked, and Florence shook her head,
"Our one exit is blocked."
"Well we have to take control." Amy told them simply. "Take control of the only thing we can. Letting them in." Florence frowned at the suggestion.
"Sorry?"
"Letting them in?" Rory shared in Florence's confusion.
"It'll surprise them. We open the door and we push past them. Kick them, punch them, anything, okay?" Florence didn't think it was the best idea, but also had few of her own to offer that didn't involve prying one of the windows open and jumping out into the abyss outside.
"Time to play." The doll's chimed from outside, still banging on the door. Florence rubbed her forehead wearily.
"Right okay, go on then." She assented, getting a nod of agreement from Rory.
"Okay." He grabbed a mop from the corner and held it up while Florence grabbed the abandoned saucepan in order for Amy to grab the reel blocking the door ready to let the offending dolls in.
"Amy, come on." Rory called as the door flew open, one of the dolls falling onto its face in the rush, Rory swung the mop at the other, pushing past, Florence doing the same with her frying pan. The two ran towards the staircase safely, but Amy wasn't so lucky. Florence turned at her scream of their names coming from the ginger,
"Amy!" One of the doll's had grabbed her, and Rory could only watch as his wife shuddered and transformed into the same dolls that had been chasing them, completely with ginger hair and a little bonnet that distinguished her. The dolls began to sing as they walked towards Rory and Florence, an ominously nursery rhyme that Florence was sure would not be allowed in schools.
"Tick tock goes the clock, and all the years they fly. Tick tock and all too soon, you and I must die." Florence grabbed the still frozen in shock Rory, who was looking at his transformed wife with wide eyes.
"Rory, come on." She grabbed his jacket with more force. "Rory!" He let her drag him up the stairs with her, finally turning away from the Amy doll. They took the stairs two at a time before racing through the corridors, Florence stopped suddenly when she heard an all too familiar voice rambling from the left of them. "This way!" Rory was yanked once more along, throwing his mop out at the rapidly approaching dolls to keep them at bay, Florence pulled him towards another set of stairs leading them back to the entrance hall, where she spotted the familiar floppy hair yelling from below. "Doctor!" She called out, racing down the stairs to meet him as Rory continued to push the dolls with his weapon.
"Florence! Rory!" The Doctor called, grabbing Florence into a tight hug of relief before pulling away in concern. "Where's Amy?" Rory gestured to the ginger doll he was currently beating with a mop at the top of the stairs, causing the doctor to turn away and back to the open air.
"Oh, no. George! George, you have to face your fears! You have to face them now."
"George?" Florence asked, spotting Alex defending himself from another doll with a giant pair of scissors. "What's happening?!" The Doctor waved her off slightly.
"No time to explain!" He continued shouting to the sky as the dolls enclosed on the four of them. "You have to open the cupboard, or we'll all be trapped here forever in a living death. George!" Still nothing was happening, and Florence began to bat at the outstretched arms with her frying pan. "George, listen to me. George! George, listen to me. George! End this. End it. End it now!" Suddenly the dolls stopped moving, and Florence peered around to spot the little boy dressed in his pjs looking up at them all, still with some fear in his innocent eyes.
"George!" The Doctor called down to him, "George, you did it. You did it." He comforted the young, frightened child who was bathed in orange light below them. "Hey, it's okay. It's all okay now. Everything's going to be fine." Florence shifted her eyes to see the dolls start to creak as they directed their attention to George, she grabbed the tweed jacket next to her and tugged lightly.
"Doctor…" she warned, just as he too noticed the movement of the dolls.
"No! No!" He yelled. "No, no, no, no, no. George, you created this whole world. This whole thing. You can smash it. You can destroy it." The boy shook his head fearfully at that, and the Doctor turned to Florence. "Something's holding him back. Something's holding him back. Something." Florence shook her head in confusion,
"Like what? What is it?" The Doctor paused before turning to Alex, straightening suddenly.
"That's what did it. That's what the trigger was. He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted, that someone was going to come and take him away." Alex looked uncomfortable.
"Well, we, we talked about it." Florence frowned at the interaction, clearly missing something from her time in the doll's house, but the Doctor seemed to understand.
"Yeah, and he heard you, Alex. A Tenza's sole function is to fit in, to be wanted, and you were rejecting him." Florence looked on in worry as the dolls continued down the stairs.
"We just couldn't cope!" Alex cried. "We needed help!"
"Yes, but George didn't know that." The Doctor told him, firmly. "He thought you were rejecting him. He still thinks it." Alex looked panicked at the Doctor's words.
"But how can we keep him? How can we? He's not…" The Doctor looked Alex in eyes, despite his own attempts to look away,
"Not what?" He pushed, before Alex cracked,
"He's not human!" Florence gasped as the dolls began to surround George.
"Doctor!" She cried out, before turning to Alex. "What does it matter?! You love him, don't you?" Alex looked over at his terrified son. Nodding numbly. "Then tell him!"
"Dad!" The small boy yelled out for the own person he could look to to save him, and Alex pushed the scissors into the Doctor's arms and raced down the stairs, pushing the dolls aside and grabbing George into a tight hug.
"Whatever you are, whatever you do, you're my son, and I will never, ever send you away." He wrapped his arms even tighter as the dolls all stopped. "Oh, George. Oh, my little boy."
"Dad." George cried into his shoulder. The windows blew open behind them and a bright light entered the room, encompassing them all with warmth. Florence gripped the Doctor's hand tightly in her own, squinting at the light and missing his soft smile down at her.
Once the light had faded, Florence found herself crouched against the wall next to the grubby lift that had transported her to the dolls house, she rested her head back lightly and took a deep breath, thankfully at least that George's mode of transporting them all back was infinitely less painfully the the universes decision to drench her in molten lava every time it threw her around. She clambered to her feet and made her way toward the flat that she knew held the once again happy family. She leant her body against the wall that separated the flats from the open air below and shoved her hands in her jacket while she waited for the Doctor to make his appearance. Soon enough he appeared at the doorway and spotted her, face exploding into a gleeful grin and waving his hands about and heading towards her. But was stopped by Alex calling out to him,
"Doctor, wait." The Doctor turned,
"Sorry, yes, bye then!"
"But…you can't just..." Alex stuttered out.
"It's sorted, you sorted it, good man, Alex. Proud of ya!" He rushed out as if rehearsed, eager to get back to Florence, but Alex grabbed him again,
"What, that's it?" The Doctor gave Florence an impatient look before turning back to the concerned father,
"Well," He told him, "apart from making sure he eats his greens and getting him into a good school…"
"Yeah, but is he gonna, I dunno, sprout another head, or three eyes, or something?" Alex asked, and the Doctor laughed slightly.
"He's one of the Tenza, remember." He reassured him. "He'll adapt perfectly now. Hey!" He pointed down at the child who had followed his father out of the flat. "Be whatever you want him to be." He turned and continued in his original destination of meeting Florence, grabbing her into another tight hug and lifting her off her feet momentarily, throwing an arm around her when she'd landed and headed towards the lift once more. A few steps in he spun them rather suddenly and called out to the pair still standing by the door. "I might pop back around puberty, mind you. Always a funny time." Florence laughed slightly before the two of them waved at the father and son, spinning back around and continuing their walk down the corridor.
"So…" Florence began, looking up at the Doctor with a curious expression. "The Tenza, go on then. What's he when he's at home?"
"Ohh fascinating creatures!" The Doctor told her, excited for the lesson he was about to impart. "They're a semi-brood parasitey empathic species, they infiltrate families and just live out their lives, completely harmless until threatened of course…"
"And how did you realise George was one? Because before I left you had no clue." Florence reminded him, and he stuck his chest out proudly, launching into his retelling of his intelligent realisation that George was a Tenza while Florence watched him speak with a small smile. He looked down at her as the reached the bottom floor, stopping across the car park from where Amy and Rory sat.
"What?" She shook her head and ducked out of his hold.
"Nothing, you just think you're so smart, dontcha?" The Doctor laughed and pinched her side as she edged away from him.
"Oh but I am so smart." He told her with a wink, and she rolled her eyes at his cockiness, slapping his hand away with a laugh. Her laughter stopped as she doubled over in pain, the too familiar burning launching from her chest and spreading down her legs, she fell onto all fours as she cried out, opening her eyes and seeing nothing. The whispers glided over her skin as she held onto familiar phrases to keep her grounded and her focus away from the pain, she focused on what she knew to be the Doctor's voice whispering and calling out to her on occasion. She braced herself, taking a deep breath before opening closing her eyes and reopening them quickly; her hands were pressed against cool grey pavement and she looked around her for any clue as to where she had landed, seeing bustling group of humans (or at least what she believe to be humans) ignoring her presence and milling about along the large plaza. The sound of water came from behind her and she sat up to see a large fountain, complete with one familiar blue box parked in front of it, she sighed in relief and headed towards it, looking out around her as she did and stopping when she saw the large brown modern building nearby. She frowned and tilted her head in realisation.
"Cardiff?"
Ooooo Cardiff! Only a handful of episodes this one could be….
See you for chapter 13! xo