Chapter 11: The Soul is on Fire
A/N- Hey guys! So I'm so sorry for not posting last week. Like I said last chapter, I'm getting really busy with school and the last two week have been hell for me. By the time I had time to post the chapter it was already the middle of the week and I just decided to wait. Seeing as I'm really busy, I also don't really have time to write so I think I'm just going to post every two weeks. Again, I'm really sorry for this. I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to BBC
Bottom of the River- Delta Rae
Hold my hand
Ooh, baby, it's a long way down to the bottom of the river
Hold my hand
Ooh, baby, it's a long way down, a long way down
It didn't take them too long to catch up to the other hearse. It had stopped at a large house and on a sign beside the door read 'Sneed's Funeral Services'. A shiver ran through Kit when she read it.
Kit, the Doctor and Charles Dickens piled out of the carriage and walked towards the door.
"Funeral services?" Kit questioned. "So, we have ghost like gas things and now a place with dead bodies. Oh, this is going to end well."
The Doctor nodded in agreement. "It definitely feels like the right place, doesn't it?"
They got to the door and Kit looked around. "So what's the plan? Should we barge in and get Rose? Or we could sneak around the back? Or—"
"We could knock," the Doctor interrupted, knocking on the door using the knocker.
Kit frowned. "Yeah, if you want to take the fun out of it," she grumbled.
The waited for a minute or two before they realized that no one was going to answer.
The Doctor huffed. "Typical. Maybe you're right, Kit. Maybe we should sneak around the back."
Kit was about to reply when Dickens pushed pasted them. He went up to the door and knocked even louder. Kit could hear Charles mumbling under his breath about no one having any decency anymore. Kit and the Doctor exchanged bemused looks.
Much to the Doctors and Kits amazement, the door opened to reveal a young girl about the same age as Rose. Kit was suddenly hit with familiarity. She had seen her before but she couldn't place where. It was like having a word on the tip on her. She knew this was going to annoy her for the rest of the day.
"I'm sorry, sir. We're closed," she spoke softly and kept her head down.
"Nonsense. Since when did an Undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master," he ordered.
"He's not in, sir," she told him closing the door.
Charles stopped the door from closing fully. "Don't lie to me, child!" He yelled. "Summon him at once!"
The girl's eyes looked down nervously. "I'm awfully sorry, Mister Dickens, but the master's indisposed."
As she was talking Kit and the Doctor noticed the gas lamp go on.
"Having trouble with your gas?" The Doctor asked nodding to the lamp.
"What the Shakespeare is going on?" Dickens mumbled as the flame kept getting bright and brighter.
The Doctor pushed passed the girl and barged inside. He went straight for the lamp and pressed his ear on the wall.
"You're not allowed inside, sir," the girl urged nervously.
"Yeah, he's not listening anymore," Kit explained.
"There's something inside the walls," the Doctor muttered.
Kit shook her head. "See, told you."
"The gas pipes," the Doctor announced. Kit made her way to the wall that the Doctor was at and pressed her ear to it. "Something's living inside the gas. Do you hear it?" He asked her.
Kit stilled and listened intently. She could hear a faint whispering. She nodded and continued to listen.
Suddenly she heard someone yell, "Let me out!"
Kit immediately realized who it was. "Rose!"
The Doctor took off running with Kit right behind. The Doctor ran right into an older man coming around the corner.
"How dare you, sir," he shouted trying to stop the Doctor but he just pushed past him. He moved in front of Kit to stop her. "You can't be here!"
"And yet here I am," Kit retorted and moved past the man.
They ran towards the shouts of Rose. They rounded a corner and came to a stop in front of a door which they assumed was where Rose was. Much to Kit's surprise, the Doctor kicked the door open.
They saw Rose being held by two zombie-like people. "I think this is my dance," he told them and pulled Rose to him.
"It's a prank. It must be," Kit heard Charles say beside her. "We're under some mesmeric influence."
"We're not but hey, if you want to test them to find out, be my guest," Kit hissed, getting tired of his excuses.
"Kit's right, the dead are walking," the Doctor explained without looking back. He then looked at Rose. "Hi."
Rose forced a smile. "Hi." She turned to Kit. "Kittredge," she acknowledged.
Kit smiled. "How are you?" She asked jokingly. "You seemed to have gotten kidnapped and locked in a room again. Let's not make this a habit."
Rose rolled her eyes and looked to Dickens. "Who's your friend?" She asked nervously.
Kits smile widened. "He's Charles Dickens."
Rose smile seemed to grow even more forced and Kit could see the shock in her eyes. "Okay."
They turned back to the zombies in front of them. "My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?" The Doctor questioned.
"Failing. Open the rift. We're dying," They spoke at the same time. Their voices not matching the bodies. "Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us!" They exclaimed.
Suddenly they opened their mouths and screamed. Blue light flowed out of their mouths and into the gas lamps. The bodies fell to the ground. Everyone was quiet and stared at the bodies in shock.
"Well," Kit finally spoke, "that was… different."
There was another long pause. "Does anyone want tea?" The girl asked quietly.
The Doctor gulped loudly. "Tea sounds nice."
They moved to a different room without saying a word. They sat down as the girl went to make the tea. No one was really sure what to say. Everyone seemed deep in thought.
It was the old man that spoke first. "Well, I am very sorry for what has happened but I must ask that you leave after the tea," he instructed.
"Leave?!" Rose shouted standing up. "You want us to just leave? After everything?!" The girl had come back with the tea and Kit took a cup getting ready for what was going to unfold. "First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man!" Rose finished causing Kit to choke on her tea as she tried not to laugh.
"I won't be spoken to like this!" He yelled back.
"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies!" Rose continued, ignoring him. "And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!"
"Not bad, Rose," Kit muttered to herself. She was starting to have a new respect for the blond.
"It's not my fault. It's this house!" The old man shouted but then calmed down slightly. "It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs—"
"The stiffs?" Kit questioned, giving him a disapproving look.
He sighed. "The er, dear departed started getting restless."
"Tommyrot," Dickens mumbled under his breath.
Kit rolled her eyes. "Seriously, dude, still? You saw it yourself!" She argued but Dickens just turned his head away from her.
"They walk," the old man jumped in. "And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps. One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned."
"Morbid fancy," Dickens spat and stood from his seat.
"Oh, Charles, you were there," the Doctor added.
Dickens huffed. "I saw nothing but an illusion."
"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up," the Doctor barked.
There was a long and awkward pause. Kit cleared her throat. "Okay, so what about the gas that came out of the bodies?" She asked.
"That's new, ma'am. Never seen anything like that," the old man replied.
"Means it's getting stronger," the Doctor pointed out. "The rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through."
"What's the rift?" Rose asked.
"A weak point in time and space," the Doctor explained. "A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time."
A memory suddenly popped in to Kit's head.
Six-year-old Kittredge was laughing. She jumped on the big couch on the second floor on the control room.
The Doctor was running around the console muttering to himself until he looked up at her. "Kittredge, stop jumping on the couch. You're going to hurt yourself," he insisted.
She frowned but didn't stop jumping. "But I'm bored, Doctor! I want to go on another adventure!" She complained.
"And we will but the Tardis needs to recharge," he tried explaining to her.
Kittredge gave him a puzzled look. "Recharge? How?"
A smile spread across the Doctors face. "Well, stop jumping and come down here and I'll tell you." Kittredge jumped off the couch and ran down the stairs. She looked over at the computer screen that the Doctor was looking at but there was nothing but shapes. "The Tardis is sitting in the middle of something call the rift."
Kittredge frowned. "The rift?"
"Yes, it's a weak point between time and space," he told her.
Kittredge scratched her head. "I don't get it."
He laughed slightly. "No, I didn't think you would."
"Why is it here?" She asked curiously.
"Very good question, Kittredge. Let me tell you a story," he said.
Kittredge's face lit up. "Okay!"
"Many, many years ago I went to 1860. While I was there I met an amazing girl named Gwyneth. She sacrificed herself to save the whole world and because of the sacrifice, it opened up a rift right here in Cardiff," he told her.
Kittredge tilted her head to the side. "I still don't get it."
He laughed. "Don't worry, you will when you're older. I'll even show you how I recharge the Tardis."
She snapped out of her memory when she heard the door slam shut. She looked around and realized that Charles had left.
She sighed. That had been the first thing the Doctor taught her. She understood what he was talking out now and she even know how to recharge to Tardis like the Doctor said she would. Kit looked over at the girl that was pouring tea. She wondered if this was the moment when the rift opened and if the young girl was the Gwyneth in the Doctors story. She really hoped not because it would mean the girl would die.
"I'm going to check on Charlie." The Doctors voice made Kit snap out of her thoughts. "You two stay here and don't wonder off."
The Doctor left and the remaining four sat in an uncomfortable silence.
"Well, I should probably start washing the dishes. May I be excused?" Gwyneth asked the old man.
"Yes, yes, go," he waved her off and she left the room. "When will you be leaving again?" He asked them rudely.
Kit scoffed. "Hm, I don't know, maybe when there isn't zombie-ghosts trying to kill everyone?"
Kit walked to the door where Gwyneth left from. "Where are you going?" Rose question. "The Doctor told us not the wonder off."
Kit wanted to laugh. She almost forgot that people took those words seriously. She figured Rose would learn soon.
"I'm just going out of the room. I'll stay in the house so it's not like I'm really wondering off," she shrugged. "Plus, I don't want to stay in the same room anymore with him," she glared at the old man who glared back.
Rose looked between Kit and the old man. "I'll come with you," she concluded.
They left the room but not before Kit gave the man one last glare. They started walking aimlessly down the hall. Neither of them talked. They weren't really sure what to say to each other.
Rose finally spoke, "The man really is horrible."
"God, he's the worst, isn't he?" Kit joked.
The both laughed. Kit was happy that they were getting along. Kit didn't really have any friends, which happened when you spent your life in the Tardis but it was nice to talk to another girl.
They suddenly noticed Gwyneth walk into a room and Rose walked a little faster trying to catch up with her. When they came into the room, Gwyneth was lighting one of the lamps. Rose went towards the sink and started washing the dishes.
"Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping," Gwyneth urged rushing over to Rose. "It's not right."
"Don't worry, Gwyneth, Rose would love to do all the dishes for you," Kit grinned which caused Rose to glare at her. "Anyways, you work way too hard. You need a break."
Gwyneth smiled gratefully and took the cup that Rose was washing from her hand. "That's alright, miss, I don't mind. At least I get paid for the work."
"And how much do you get paid?" Rose inquired.
"Eight pound a year, miss," She replied.
Rose jaw dropped. "How much?"
Gwyneth shook her head. "I know. I would've been happy with six."
Rose looked to be in shock. "Inflation," Kit whispered to Rose. She gave Kit a puzzled look. "She probably makes the same as you did when you were working at the shop."
Rose nodded understanding what Kit was telling her. "So, did you go to school or what?" Rose finally asked.
"Of course I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper," she said proudly.
"What, once a week?" Rose questioned.
Gwyneth nodded. "We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second."
Rose laughed. "Me too."
Kit looked down at her shoes. She felt excluded from the conversation. She had never gone to a real school. She was homeschooled by the Doctor and honestly she loved it. When he was teaching her history, they went to the past. When he was teaching her science, he took her to meet people like Albert Einstein. She even met Mary Shelley when she was doing English. The Doctor always made her lessons an adventure and she was always thankful for that.
Rose and Gwyneth laughed together. "Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own," she confessed.
"I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys," Rose told her.
Gwyneth suddenly stopped laughing and grew serious. "Well, I don't know much about that, miss." She turned and started washing the dishes.
"Come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same," Rose pushed.
"I don't think so, miss," she replied.
Kit touched her arm getting her attention. "Hey, you can tell us. It's not like we're going to say anything. It's safe space, promise." Kit gave her a reassuring smile.
"There is one lad," she finally told them. "The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him."
"I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum," Rose confessed.
Gwyneth straighten which made Kit laugh. "Well, I have never heard the like."
"Gwyneth, you should just ask him out. The worst he could say is no," Kit tired.
"And with you're looks, I doubt he would," Rose added.
Gwyneth paused. "I swear it is the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding," she then looked over at Kit, "and you wear such strange clothing."
Kit shrugged. "I wanna start a new fashion trend," she lied.
Gwyneth just shook her head. "You talk like some sort of wild things."
"We are! We're young, Gwyneth, we're suppose to be wild. It's our only time to be crazy. If we don't we'll never learn about ourselves," Kit remarked.
"Oh, I don't know…"
"Kittredge's right, Gwyneth. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed," Rose insisted,
She frowned. "Oh, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve."
Kit grew sad. She understood what the girl was going through. She had lost her parent when she was a baby and she just got separated from her Doctor.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Rose muttered, looking away from Gwyneth.
"Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me," she smiled. "Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss," she said to Rose and then looked at Kit. "Or perhaps all the lost souls you couldn't save."
Kit froze and became ridged. "What? How do you know that?" She questioned.
Gwyneth seemed to realize her mistake and looked away from Kit. "I don't know. The Doctor must've told me."
Kit could tell she was lying. "I never told the Doctor anything," she hissed.
Her mind and body were on high alert. She didn't think Gwyneth was a threat but she knew never to judge a book by its cover.
"Oh, then it was just a lucky guess," she rushed out. Kit jaw tighten but she decided to leave it alone for now.
There was a pause and then Rose muttered, "My father died years' back."
"But you've been thinking about him lately more than ever," she turned to Kit again. "You've been thinking about your father too," she shook her head," no, not your father but a man very much like one."
Kit's eyes widened. "Gwyneth, how do you know that!?"
She shook her head and forced a smile. "Mister Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, miss?" She asked, changing the subject.
Rose seemed to relax but Kit was still tense. "No, no servants where we're from."
"And you've come such a long way," Gwyneth told them and Kit sucked him a breath between her teeth.
"What makes you think so?" Rose questioned, her smile fated.
She stepped closer to them, her eyes in a haze. "You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame. And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far," she explained to Rose. "The things you've seen. The darkness, the big bad wolf." Her head snapped towards Kit. "Any you, you've flown further than anyone. You're not from anywhere. Running from one place to another. Oh, all the wonderful and beautiful things you've seen," she frowned. "Yet, you've seen such horrible thing. Things that keep you up at night."
"Gwyneth, stop!" Kit pleaded.
She looked at Kit in shock. "And you've done such terrible things. All that blood on your hands."
Tears were threatening to pour from Kits eyes. "Please stop!"
"You're alone, so alone but you have a job. The most impossible job, to save him!"
"Gwyneth!" Kit finally snapped.
This seemed to bring her out of her weird daze and she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss. I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it," Gwyneth confessed to her.
"But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?" The Doctors voice came from behind Kit, making her jump.
She turned around to see the Doctor leaning up against the door frame. "Thanks for scaring the shit out of be, Batman!"
She wondered how much he heard. She hoped not too much.
The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her and looked back at Gwyneth for her to talk. "All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head," she confessed sadly.
"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key," he tried explaining to her.
"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts," she told him.
"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do."
"What to do where, sir?"
"We're going to have a séance," he grinned.
"Oh, you have to be kidding me!" Kit shouted. I'm having a really shitty day!