Two chapters in a week! I'm on a roll! Except I don't think anyone's reading this. Shout out if you are.
As they reached the counter to talk to the young receptionist, whose name tag said "Taylor", Dani could see what the Doctor had been talking about. There seemed to be sadness and even fear in those eyes. As they waited for Taylor to finish something, her eyes wandered to the older receptionist next to her, the one who had checked her in. She glanced at her name tag, but then noticed something written underneath her name. Even though she was wearing glasses, she still had to squint to read what it said, which was "Owner." Dani had to hide her smile, as she realized what that could mean. She quickly elbowed the Doctor.
"Oi, what was that for?!" The Doctor said in an annoyed whisper.
"Look at what it says underneath her name tag." Dani whispered back, pointing to the woman's name tag.
Thanks to the Doctor's genes, she had superior eyesight, and therefore didn't need to squint to read what it said. Her eyes lit up after she read what it said. And also had to throw a kudos to Dani for catching it. Despite the fact that she appeared to still be tired from the night before, her observation skills were on par today.
"Brilliant observation!" The Doctor whispered. "That might just be a part of the puzzle here."
Taylor looked up from the computer, and both the Doctor and Dani could tell from the red rimmed eyes, that she'd just been crying. Which did seem unusual. Actually, it seemed unusual that a receptionist would be this upset. Both of them shared a look before Taylor spoke.
"Can I help you guys with something?" She asked in a polite voice that barely masked the trembling in her voice.
"Hi there!" The Doctor said. "Terribly sorry, but me and my mate, Dani were just wondering if you could help us one of the rooms here."
"No problem. Which room did you need to find?" Taylor asked.
"We're looking for the sauna." Dani said. "We keep asking for directions, but we seem to always be getting lost."
"Uh yeah. I can help point you in the right direction." Taylor said."It can be hard finding rooms here because it's so big. Just give me a second." Taylor turned to the other woman with that appeared to be a nervous expression.
"Um, mom. I'll be back. I'm just going to help them find the sauna. Taylor said nervously to the woman who The Doctor and Dani now figured out was her mom.
Aha! The Doctor and Dani looked at each other with triumphant looks on their faces. That was another puzzle piece. And that's why Taylor looked upset. Her mother must have been one of the first staff members to be put under the control of the "goddess." It all made sense to both of them now.
"Of course honey!" Angela said cheerfully, which was frankly starting to get on Dani's last nerves. "Just don't forget to come back for the meeting!
"I-I won't." Taylor stammered a bit. She then composed her self and walked out from behind the desk. "It's this way." She said, and led them out of the lobby and into one of the hallways.
"Really appreciate this." The Doctor said, as they followed her. "Always getting lost wherever we go."
"It's no problem." Taylor said. "I'm happy to help.
When they were safely out of range from the lobby, and at the entrance of the sauna, The Doctor discreetly glanced into the sauna to make sure that no one was in the vicinity or in the sauna room. After confirming that there was no one in there, the Doctor gave an inconspicuous nod to Dani.
"Well, here you are." Taylor said with fake cheerfulness. "I hope you enjoy it. It's one of our most popular treatments.
"Actually... We didn't need to find the sauna." Dani said. "We actually wanted to talk to you alone, and we figured this would be the best place to do it.
Taylor looked alarmed. "I swear I didn't do anything!" She said fearfully. "I'm just trying to survive."
"You're not in any trouble." The Doctor said, noticing the teenage girl's panicked expression and trying to calm her. "But we know you know what's going on here. We just need you to tell us."
Suddenly, Taylor started crying. "It's all my fault." She sobbed.
Dani put a comforting arm around the sobbing girl. "What's your fault?" She asked in a soothing voice.
"I let her come in here. I convinced my mom it would be ok and now she's a mindless servant and soon everyone will be too." Taylor said, sobbing harder.
"First of all, nothing is your fault. Second of all, Why don't you tell us the story?" The Doctor said in a calm voice.
Taylor finally calmed down enough to speak. "Well, um, my mom had been trying to find yoga instructors and none of the ones that had applied were qualified enough. Well, this woman came in and had great qualifications, but my mom wasn't sure she had enough, but I convinced her to hire her. Next thing I know, she's leading the rest of the staff in a yoga session. I stayed behind, so I could mann the desk, and i heard some weird chanting. So I peeked in the room, and she'd, she'd" Taylor started sobbing again.
"Hey, it's ok. What did she do?" Dani said in a comforting voice.
"She'd put them under some kind of hypnosis and told them that she was some kind of goddess and to worship her!" Taylor said, between sobs. "And when they came out, they were almost like zombies, except they all had smiles on their faces. It was so creepy. And I saw my mom and I just couldn't handle it. I ran down the hall, but was caught by this woman who told me that I couldn't stop it and that soon she was going to take over the world!" Taylor slumped on the floor and curled into a ball.
"And it's all my fault!" She cried again. "If I hadn't told my mom to hire her, then my mom wouldn't be under the control of some woman claiming to be a goddess and none of the other women here would be either."
Dani and the Doctor shared a concerned look with each other. That sounded like Faenia. Clearly Taylor had been going through a lot. They needed to reassure her that none of this was her fault and that they were going to save the day, so to speak.
"Taylor, look at me, hey?" The Doctor sai kindly to the frightened and dejected teenage girl, who was still curled up, looking at the floor. She gently nudged Taylor's face upwards until she was looking into the Doctor's eyes. "This is most definitely not your fault. You didn't know that some Kura would come and put every human woman here in a hypnosis state with her singing and chanting so that she could conquer the human race."
"Wait, what? You said human like she's not human." Taylor asked, confusion now replacing her sadness.
"She's from the planet Kardia." Dani said, matter of factly. "They're normally peaceful, but she decided to go off on her own and try to take over ancient Rome. We thought that she'd been taken back to her planet to be imprisoned, but somehow she escaped and now she's here." Dani said, shrugging her shoulders.
"What? How do you know this? And hang on. You guys don't seemed to have been affected from last night." Taylor said slowly. "Who are you guys?" She asked.
"It's a long story as to who we are." The Doctor said. "But the reason we're here. Well why we figured we're both here is to stop her. I promise you, we won't let anything bad happen, not if I have anything to say about it." The Doctor said in a determined voice.