Howdy, readers!
Getting in the groove of things again, so hopefully I get a decent schedule going on for updating stories now. :) Hope that all of you days have been groovy! Would love to hear all about how life has been going for you all.
Well, onto the new chapter!
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Chapter 6: The Approaching Storm
Aleena remained as still as possible, holding her breath as she gripped the hand railing at the top of the stairs. She shook from head to toe, terrified of what the shadow was, her heart racing all the way. But as the shadow came up the stairs, the light of the window showed her it was Philip. She let out a small gasp but made certain to not say anything. Something did not feel right because she saw that look in his eyes. Like he was in some kind of trance or something. She remembered how those in a trance had been described from her favourite book. Philip looked just like that, controlled by IT, the Black Thing. She even waved in front of his face as he stood there blankly at the top of the stairs to make certain. He did not even blink, just walked right by her and went into a cupboard of sorts. He came back out again with an arm full of brown bags that appeared to be baking flour.
She watched him head back downstairs and decided to walk close behind him, allowing his footsteps to mask the sound of her own. He walked around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, going into the kitchen. She edged along the wall, peaking around the archway. Inside, she saw a white table, with chairs all around it. An old iron stove that was burning with an extremely hot fire within. Cupboards all around with pots and pans hanging on racks. By the stove was an old woman, humming away as she stirred contents within a very, very large pot. Aleena stared at her, seeing how wrinkly and pale her skin was. She could even see all the blue veins along the woman's skin. The woman's dark hair was a mess, looking as though it had not been washed in months. The long nails on her hands looked about the same. She had a shawl wrapped around her that had so many holes in it Aleena very much doubted it kept the woman warm at all. The dress the old woman wore was just as bad, tattered around the bottom and hanging off one of the woman's boney shoulders.
"Just put the bags on the table, deary," the woman told Philip in a rasping voice. Aleena watched as Philip did as he was told before sitting down at the table. He sat there in a daze, just rocking slightly back and forth. Was there any way she could get in there and drag him out the front door? It was just right there. It did not even look locked. Aleena knew she could easily get them both outside. Just as long as he did not fight her as she dragged him outside. As she was contemplating this, the old woman finally turned, allowing her to see the woman's face. Aleena almost let out a gasp in surprise from the sight of her.
The woman's eyes were the first thing Aleena noticed. They were like snake eyes, bright yellow and slitted. Then there was her face which had scales mixed in with normal looking human skin. When she smiled at Philip, Aleena saw the woman's rows and rows of sharp teeth. Everything about this woman just screamed non-human. What was she?
"Eat up! Eat up, my dear. We have to get you nice and ready for tomorrow's feast," the woman said in glee, smiling away as Philip started to mechanically eat what was in front of him. Which Aleena just now noticed was a whole lot of sweets, from candies to cakes. The woman grinned from ear to ear, showing off her razor teeth as she stared at Philip hungrily. Aleena's eyes widened in alarm, realizing what this woman had planned for Philip. It was just like the story of Hansel and Gretel. Oh, god. She was going to eat him!
Aleena shook even more from head to toe, feeling her breathing speed up along with her hearts. Her mind was in a jumble, unable to think of what to do. She must have made a noise in her panicked state for the old woman suddenly looked up in a flash right at her. The woman's grin grew even wider still with a gleam coming to her eyes.
"Well, well, well. We have a guest!" the old woman said in delight, waving her arms out as she slowly stalked towards Aleena. "Come in, come in, my child! Don't be shy! There's plenty of food here for two. My, I say I've been quite famished lately. I won't mind a second helping at all." Her eyes grew sinister as she stared Aleena down. The smell of fish grew even stronger now, hitting Aleena with a force. "Now, tell me, how did you get in here?" Aleena felt too scared to talk as she stood there shaking. Fearing of what this woman was going to do, she felt like running away in a flight response. But seeing Philip there, stuffing his face with food that she knew would make him sick, she gulped and straightened her posture the best she could.
"W-what are you doing to my friend?" Aleena questioned, her voice coming out in a wavering fright. The old woman blinked, smirking as she now stared at the girl before her in with a wicked spark in her yellow, snake eyes.
"Hmm, interesting. No child has ever been able to resist me," she said in all but a purr.
"What are you doing to Philip!" Aleena shouted, trying to let her fright turn into anger for her friend's life.
"The same thing that I'll do to you," the woman hissed, going to grab for Aleena. She jumped back before the woman could get her, running away as the flight response in her took over. Her mind was so panicked that she did not even think to simply run to the front door. Which would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, in her panicked state, she ran down the hall from the stairs and into the large living room of the house. There was a large window leading to outside, right to where the main street was. When realizing where she had placed herself, she knew there was no way of getting back to the front door as the woman could be heard running right towards her. Only one way out now.
She managed to throw the window open and was just about to climb out when the woman grabbed her from behind. Aleena held on tight to the window sill, fighting to get out of the woman's grasp.
"Let me go!" she screamed, kicking her feet out to get the woman to let her go.
"I'm not having some child ruin a good thing I have here!" the woman shrieked, yanking Aleena to come back into the house. Fear pumped through the girl's veins and she closed her eyes tightly as all she wanted to do was get away. The woman let out a sudden shriek as Aleena saw a white light flash from her closed eyelids. She did not bother to find out what happened. All she did was pull herself up the tall window, getting at least one foot over the ledge. She was yanked back again by the arm as the woman grabbed her, hissing loudly. "I'll teach you a thing or two!"
It was sheer luck that got Aleena out of that situation. For at that very moment, a few cats let out a meow as they trotted over into the front yard. The smell of fish enticing them to come to the house. Even more were seen coming out of different alleyways towards the home. The woman let out a fearful shriek, all but pushing Aleena out of the window before slamming the glass closed. Aleena let out a grunt as she landed on the cold ground, looking back to see the cones on the side of the house lit up in a glow. The cats around the yard hissed, bolting away as though the cones had scared them. She did the same, running as fast as she could away from that place. Not even daring to look back in case the woman might start coming after her.
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Aleena panted as she was bent over with her hands on her knees to steady herself. She was currently by the edge of Central Park, ready to go into through the woods that would lead her to Hooverville. The sun was starting to go down, and she was certain by now Charlie and Marvin would be back in the town. They never stayed out late past dark on Solomon's orders on a count of all those people who had gone missing recently. First adults, and now children, too. She looked over her shoulder as she made her way through the woods, still shaking from the experience she just had. The fear of that woman suddenly coming out of the woods and grabbing her made Aleena speed up in her pace to get back into the shanty town and into safety. Soon, the shacks of people's homes appeared, bringing some of Aleena's fears down.
"There you are! About time!" she heard the voice of Marvin. She looked over, seeing him and Charlie slowly stroll over to her. "We got some bread and meat to eat tonight. Where's Philip? I'm stravin' and if he doesn't show up soon I'm gonna start cookin' without 'im." Aleena just stood there, in a daze of everything that had just happened. It felt so strange to be back somewhere that was perfectly normal after what she had just faced. How could all these people act like everything was fine when there were monsters living right under their noses in this very city? She was startled slightly when she felt something tugging on her sleeve. Looking down, she saw Charlie staring at her in concern. Swallowing heavily, she got down and gave him a tight hug, needing someone there to reassure her of some normality. She felt him patting her on the back as though doing just that, trying to let her know he was there for her.
"Hey . . . Aleena, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost," she heard Marvin say. She pulled away from hugging Charlie, looking back at Marvin with haunted eyes. He frowned as he stared at her, knowing something must have happened. "Where's Philip? What happened?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Aleena breathed.
"Try us," Marvin replied with a shrug.
So, Aleena recounted everything that happened. What she had learned from the boy back in the printing warehouse. Where she had gone. What she had seen. What was currently happening to poor Philip. Everything. She even brought out Samuel's straw hat in proof of her story. Marvin looked horrified while Charlie appeared to listen very intently to everything she said, even nodding his head every so often. They sat in silence for a moment while sitting inside of Aleena's very small tent. The night outside had settled and their stomachs were cramping from hunger. But none of them felt rather hungry now.
"I can't believe it," Marvin finally muttered. "Poor Samuel. That kid didn't deserve that." He growled, hitting his fist into his hand. "Damn that Diggs! He's been usin' us for food this whole time?!"
"And all for money, too," Aleena whispered quietly. She felt even more sick about that. How could anyone do something like that? All for greed? She looked to Marvin then. "What are we going to do about Philip? We can't just leave him there."
"What can we do?" Marvin said, shaking his head in regret. "It's not like anyone is goin' to believe us? Besides . . . how can we fight against somethin' like that? Philip . . . might even be . . . " They sat in silence again, feeling defeated already. Just then, Aleena looked up from where she had been staring sadly at her knees, seeing the way Charlie stared at her. A heavy frown was set on his face. Aleena gazed at him, seeing the resolve on his face. Slowly, her fear trickled away, replaced by a bold feeling.
"You're right, Charlie. We can't leave him behind," she nodded, looking at Marvin now. "We have to go back there and save him. No matter what."
"Yeah? And do what, huh?" Marvin countered sternly, frowning at the two of them. "From the sounds of it, that lady has some kind of way to control us. Even that, but how are we supposed to fight a witch?"
"I don't think she's a witch," Aleena mumbled.
"Whatever you wanna call her, she ain't human, that's for sure," Marvin grumbled, shaking his head as he lifted the cap off his head and rubbed a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I'll think of somethin' tomorrow. You said that's when she was plannin' to . . . well, do her so-called 'feast', right?" Aleena glanced over at the lingering timeline of Philip's, seeing the two entwined strings wrapped around each other. One being lighter in colour than the other, she knew this was the altering timeline that might be. The one that showed her of the strange woman's plans to kill Philip later in the night during a storm that would arrive tomorrow. Even though someone had discovered her and managed to escape, the woman was arrogant enough to think that there was no possible way a child could do anything against her and her life.
"Yeah. She wants to . . . eat him during the storm tomorrow," Aleena mumbled, swallowing heavily as her brave feeling started to ebb away, replaced with dread and uncertainty.
"Storm? She said there was a storm coming?" Marvin asked, confused by this.
"Uh . . . yeah," Aleena replied, realizing that she had messed up in letting her future knowledge slip. "I guess she knows it's coming somehow . . . Anyway, she wants Philip 'sweetened up' by feeding him all that junk. Otherwise, she won't eat him."
"Well . . ." Marvin rubbed at the back of his head, letting out a puff of air. "I guess we got time to figure out somethin' for tomorrow. Until then . . . I'm beat." He let out a sigh, placing back on his cap. "Come on, Charlie."
Aleena stayed in her tent after they left, knowing they were probably going to cook up the small bit of food Marvin had managed to get. But she did not feel like joining them as she usually did. She had long since lost her appetite. Instead, she sat there, curled up in herself with her arms wrapped around her legs and burying her head within her arms. The image of that woman coming after her played over and over again in her mind, making her shiver repeatedly. It was like those men killing Dwight and coming after her all over again. She had left Dwight behind to die . . . and now she was doing the same to Philip. Could she ever save anyone? Was everyone she cared about going to die because of her? She laid down in her bed of blankets on the ground, sniffling as tears slowly rolled down her face. The gentle hum of a star got her attention. She looked up, seeing the soft glow from the white star as it hovered closer to her. She had wondered where it had gone before, but perhaps it had been there with her all along and in her fear she never realized it. Holding out her arms to it, the star got into her hold, cuddling up to her so she could feel its warmth and gentle pulse. All the while she cried, holding the star tightly in her arms, wishing again to be back with Dwight and Lia at home and this be nothing more than a nightmare.
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She woke up very slowly the next morning. Groggily laying there in her pile of blankets while the white star hovered just there above her. It gave a hum in greeting, gently rubbing against her cheek. She mumbled in acknowledgement. Sitting up, she rubbed at her eyes, trying to get rid of the grim for them before leaving the tent. She blinked around, seeing the usual people milling around. There were two men fighting over what appeared to be a loaf of bread. But Solomon was coming over to stop them, so she did not worry. It was not as though fighting did not break out often around here. People always got desperate when hungry and would sometimes resort to stealing each other's food. She hurried off past the group of people who stood around watching the fight and Solomon breaking it up, wanting to get to Marvin and Charlie as fast as she could.
Aleena had to squeeze by a few people to get away from the crowd, getting a good distance from where the fighting was occurring. Catching a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye, she halted and turned around, staring at the three people who had joined in the group of others watching Solomon breaking up the fight. It—It was them. Her parents with their travelling friend. Well, at least her father was. She was not sure who the woman with the raven hair was. Though . . . she did feel that strange connection with that woman, too. But how could that be? That woman looked nothing like the slim brunette woman from before in the 1500s. She was much shorter, was a bit curvy, and was nowhere nearly as pale as that other woman. At least her father looked exactly alike as before. Besides a change of suit colour.
"You should probably avoid them for the day," came a voice beside her. Aleena looked over, seeing Bad Wolf standing next to her. "The timelines are shifting in dangerous directions if you stay around them for too long. The Doctor will be able to sense you if you do."
"Like I can sense him? How is that anyway? And who is that new woman? Why does she feel like my mother? And why are they—?" Aleena began to ask rapidly. Bad Wolf chuckled, waving a hand for the child to slow down.
"My, you speak just as rapidly as your mother does. Well, at least your mother's third face," Bad Wolf said, smiling away while giving a shrug. "Come. I'll explain while we walk." Glancing back to her parents and their companion, Aleena hurried off to follow after Bad Wolf.
"You said my mom's 'third face'?" Aleena began to ask. "What does that mean? She . . . She can change faces?"
"Yes. Just as your father can."
Aleena frowned, thinking this over. "But I thought you said I was a . . . a Wanderer like my mother. Not a Time Lord like my father. How can a species do the same thing?"
"Remember, a Wanderer and a Time Lord share many of the same things. But there are vast differences between them. Such as—."
"Such as my powers." Aleena nodded, remembering what Bad Wolf had explained. Though, she never really explained how a Wanderer had these powers. Just that they did from the energy called the Time Vortex, and that they were a new species to the new universe of which the likes no one had ever seen. How this was, Aleena had no idea. In fact, now that she thought about it, Bad Wolf did not explain a whole lot of things. More or else just saying how her powers worked (very similar to Bad Wolf's own apparently), how her parents travelled around in their TARDIS, and how she had gotten separated from them. Which happened to be because of a bad person from her father's past who had tried to kill her when she had been in her mother's womb. But her powers had saved her by an instinctual reflex to jump away to the safest point in a Wanderer's timeline. Her mother had done so too in the past, apparently, and Aleena had been old enough in her mother's womb to do as such, too. Other than this basic knowledge—that, and why it was important not to corrupt time—Bad Wolf never did explain much of else from her parents' life or their past. Just explaining how to live with Wanderer powers and such. Aleena always had the feeling that Bad Wolf was not really telling her everything.
". . . I'm not going to change like that . . . am I?" Aleena asked, hesitant for the answer.
"If you're ever close to death, yes. It's called regeneration. It is something which keeps you alive much longer than most species." Bad Wolf explained with ease, sounding as though regeneration was no big deal at all.
Aleena frowned, not really liking the sound of this. She liked the way she was now. She did not want to change faces. In fact . . . the very idea unnerved her. Terrified her even. She shook this idea off completely. It . . . it was not as though it could ever really happen to her, too. She could always figure out another way around it, right? "So, um . . .," Aleena spoke up, deciding to change the subject, "how is it we can sense each other?"
"Another trait of the species," Bad Wolf said, glancing down at Aleena with a small smile. As if she could tell the talk of regeneration had made the girl nervous. "But it is much different for a Wanderer than a Time Lord. For Time Lords, they cannot get away from it. Not ever. Even if they were to travel to the other side of the universe, a Time Lord can always sense where the other is."
"So . . . my dad can sense all Time Lords in the universe?" The very idea of something like that made Aleena stare back towards the distant figure of her father in awe.
Bad Wolf glanced back as well, seeming more sombre now. "Well . . . he used to. He's the last of his species now . . . at the moment at least."
Aleena looked back at Bad Wolf in shock, her expression turning sad. "Oh, no. What happened to the other Time Lords?"
"There was a very terrible war. Between the Time Lords and another horrid species called the Daleks. The whole planet of Gallifrey, your mother and father's home world, was wiped from existence. There is no more Gallifrey in this universe."
It was quiet for a moment as Aleena stared sadly at the ground. "That means my home world is gone, too."
"Hmm. I suppose so. Though, you were born on Earth, so technically this planet is your home now. Just as it is home for your mother and father, too." Bad Wolf stared at the girl, watching calmly how she appeared to ponder this for a moment before slowly smiling brightly.
Aleena grinned at Bad Wolf with a bounce in her step. "Yeah. I guess it is! I really do like it here on Earth. Even if people can be mean at times." She glanced around, seeing a few people looking at her strangely as she knew they only saw her talking to herself. Laughing nervously and in embarrassment, she gave them a quick wave before jogging fast to get away from any stray ears. "So, it's different for my mom, then? This sensing thing I mean."
"Oh, yes. A Wanderer can only sense a Time Lord or other Wanderers if they are close by. They can also block the . . . ah, 'signal' in the mind that allows one another to 'sense.' If that makes any logical sense."
"No, I get what you mean." Aleena shuffled her feet as she walked, wondering what to do now. "You're here for more than just talking, aren't you?"
"I suppose you could say . . . I'm here to give a little motivation." They stopped by a large tree, a place where it was quieter and away from others. Bad Wolf stood before her, staring at Aleena with that always calm expression of hers. "It seems you have a friend in danger."
The brunette shuffled her feet, feeling at a loss of what to say. Bad Wolf had never really been around much since that first day here in Hooverville. Why was she here now? "Yeah . . . I left him behind. I just . . . I got scared."
"Understandable. Anyone would be in that kind of situation. Especially being alone when meeting an alien for the first time."
Aleena felt startled. "That woman is an alien?" At Bad Wolf's raised brow, the girl let out a puff as a blush formed on her face. "Yeah, that was a stupid question. My parents and I can't be the only aliens out there, huh?" Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she let out a sigh as she stared around. Soon her expression grew uncertain. "How can I save Philip? What can I do? I just . . ." She glanced back towards the centre of the town. "Can't I go ask my parents for help? Better yet, I could ask Marvin to ask them for help. That way they don't know I'm here, so I won't be ruining the timeline, and—and—and then they can save Philip."
Bad Wolf shook her head, looking regretful. "I'm sorry. But the universe needs them for something else tonight. A storm is approaching New York, and if your parents do not act, then the planet will fall without them."
"Then . . . what am I supposed to do? I'm . . . I'm useless. I can't save him. I couldn't even save my own father." She bit her lip, feeling her hearts speed up as her anxiety grew. "I—I—I can't do anything."
"Don't sell yourself short just yet." Seeing the extremely anxious expression on Aleena, Bad Wolf sighed, trying to think of words to encourage the girl. "Look . . . it's like your parents always say: Fear makes you . . . survive, and . . ." A blush appeared on the blonde entity's face. "You know, I don't know exactly what they say, but it always seems to help the people they say it to." Seeing the young Aleena's disappointed frown, Bad Wolf gave a weak grin.
"Thanks," huffed Aleena. She sighed, sliding down to sit by the tree. "Maybe I could . . . No, that won't work. Or maybe . . . No. But how about . . . Nah." The girl let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing a hard hand through her hair in aggravation at her own stupid fears and inability to think on what to do.
"You could do what your parents always do," offered Bad Wolf.
"What's that?"
"Just make it up as you go along."
Aleena stared at her in disbelief. "Really? That's the best you can offer?" She sighed when Bad Wolf merely shrugged in response. "Guess I better get to Marvin and Charlie. Maybe they got an idea on what to do." Getting up from the ground, she began to walk away but paused to look back at Bad Wolf. "Thanks for your help. I know you're trying your best, so . . . thank you."
The blonde woman smiled, nodding in appreciation. "Though I know I cannot always give you the best advice, I promise I will always be there to help guide you when you need it the most. Just give me a call next time you're in a dangerous situation like that. Two heads are always better than one. At least, that's is what they tend to say." Just as the woman made to turn away, she looked back at the brunette. "Oh, and next time we meet, I should really show you how to block your senses. I doubt Wanda will realize what she's feeling when meeting you, and she wouldn't really care even if she did because she's just always so trusting. But the Doctor is always the ever-suspicious one. He'll be on guard the moment he senses you're not human. Even if he doesn't recognize that you're his own child."
Aleena nodded, glancing back towards the now very distant figures of her parents, seeing how they were talking with Solomon now after the fight had been settled and the crowd moved on. When she looked back again where Bad Wolf had been, she saw the strange woman was already gone. Aleena's face dropped as she felt disappointment. She wished Bad Wolf would stick around more. She would have liked having someone around from her parent's lives to keep her company and help her understand this strange universe she lived in. But the entity never seemed to want to stick around for long. Either that or perhaps the entity could not stay for too long in this world. Aleena would have also liked if Bad Wolf just told her everything she needed to know so she would not feel left in the dark anymore. Aleena never did like not knowing things. She wanted to know everything and just have that advantage so she did not feel so . . . hopeless.
Letting out a long sigh, Aleena slowly started off towards where she knew Marvin and Charlie would be. Maybe they had a plan in mind. Truthfully . . . she just felt at a loss of what to do for her own life. Let alone what to do for their lost friend. It was not like she could do anything to help anyone out if she could not even help herself. She grumbled in frustrated, running both hands through her hair as she just felt angry at herself. She was just so stupid, stupid, stupid, stu—
"Yo, Aleena. You alright?"
Aleena blinked, freezing on the spot with both hands gripping at her hair in mid-aggravation and one foot still in mid-step. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just peachy," she said quickly, blushing in being caught by Marvin and Charlie—who stared at her in confusion—in a moment of weakness. She dropped her hands from her messy hair, clearing her throat. "So . . . have we got a plan on what to do for Philip?"
"Yeah, I think I've got it all planned out," Marvin said smoothly, giving a confident grin. He rubbed his hands together as they began to march together out of the town. "Time to give old Diggs a visit."
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They each stepped into the warehouse one at a time, going in to see many kids already there for the afternoon work. It had taken them longer than normal to get there, as there had been a robbery at a food shop and of course the first people to be suspected of committing the theft had been the orphan children who happened to be walking by. It was not the first time they had been blamed for a crime around the city at the convenience of the policemen. Luckily a woman had helped them out in the end in describing an adult figure being the one to steal the food instead of a couple of kids. But all of this only made the three friends even more anxious and worried about their lost friend. Any time spent not trying to save Philip would be time closer to him being killed.
The printing press was working at full speed as there seemed to be a new set of papers Diggs wanted to be done for the next day. It appeared things were behind schedule as Diggs was out of his office, in the middle of shouting at the rushing kids.
"Get that paper running! And you! Get out on the street already! I'm not paying you to just stand around gawking!" the man yelled at the children.
"Yo, Diggs!" Marvin shouted loudly, earning the attention of all children around the room. "I gotta bone to pick with you!" Diggs turned, glaring at Marvin in annoyance.
"Look, kid, you're too late. I'm not hiring you again for being late. Either you get here on time to work, or you don't work at all," the man spat at them, going to stomp away from the three. "Can't you see I'm busy? My whole days' worth of papers had been ruined by water leaking from the pipes."
"So, is that why you sent Samuel and all the others to get killed? Because your papers aren't makin' you enough money?" Marvin retorted loudly. Diggs froze, as well as the kids working. The printing press even slowed down a bit, making it quieter in the room. They all sort of paused before slowly looking towards the nervous Diggs. The man quickly glared angrily, trying to not seem fazed by Marvin's accusation.
"What the hell you talking about? Those kids run off like all of you always do in the end. Like I really care if one of you dies when you run away. It's your own fault if that happens," the man said crossly, huffing as though he had nothing to hide.
"Yeah? And I say," Marvin pulled out the straw hat from his pocket, "I got proof you're sendin' us off to get slaughtered for money." Diggs only stared at the hat dumbly while the other kids either gasped or blinked in bewilderment. Marvin held the hat up high for all to see. "My friend went there yesterday! Saw an old hag who eats us kids for fun! And she's payin' off Diggs to send us there for delivery!"
"Is that all the proof you have? A dumb hat?" scoffed Diggs. He waved a hand at Marvin. "Get the hell out of my shop and don't come back! I'm not having some lunatic working for me!"
"It's true! He sends us to Lantern Circle, where there's a room filled with other children's clothing!" Aleena spoke up, getting up on top of a few crates to stand above all so they could see her. "I've been there! I've seen it! He's sent Samuel there, and now my friend Philip! He'll send you all there if you don't listen to us!"
"I said get out of my shop!" Diggs shouted, going to storm over to grab Aleena off the crates.
"Please, we need your help! We've got to stop this monster and save Philip! Save us all from becoming her next meal!" Aleena pleaded with the children. All who looked so hesitant to even breath. They all avoided her gaze, sort of shuffling their feet. The hopeful spark that had been in her slowly died as her shoulders slumped. Diggs let out a barking laugh, sneering at her.
"You think anyone is going to listen to you? Stand up against me when I'm paying them?" the man laughed in her face. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but money talks a whole lot louder than you do." He yanked Aleena off the crates, dragging her outside. "Get back to work!" The children in the shop got busy again, rushing around to do their jobs. The printing press picked up speed once more, filling the room with its sound.
Once outside of the tarps blocking the entrance, Diggs threw Aleena down to the ground. Letting out a huff from the impact, her cap fell off and her hair spilled out. The man laughed even more as Marvin and Charlie came quickly out of the shop, helping her up to her feet.
"Some broad trying to pass herself off as a guy. Now I've seen everything. No wonder you never know when to shut up," the man barked at her. He sneered at the three of them, chortling lightly. "You know, I'd say I'm impressed. Never had anyone figure out my side business. Not even my fellow, ah, 'associates.' But ain't no one gonna believe you. Not these dumb kids, not no coppers, no one. Best just never let me see your faces 'round here again."
Aleena glared at the man, gritting her teeth together, feeling her anger building. But then she glanced at his frayed timeline floating beside him. Narrowing her eyes at it, she saw Diggs—or rather what he called himself to the kids—going through a courtyard by an apartment building a few days from now, getting gun down by a rival gang right there and then. Her anger cooled somewhat as she stared back at the man.
"Have fun with Mineo on the 5th," she responded icily before grabbing Marvin and Charlie's hands and steering them off. Each of them completely missing the both confused and somewhat wary expression on Diggs before he too parted ways and went back inside his shop.
"Well, that was a bust," Aleena huffed, looking down the street towards where she knew Lantern Circle was. "I guess . . . that means we're on our own on this, right?" She looked back at Marvin, seeing the uncertain expression on his face.
"I don't know. I'd hope we'd get at least someone else on our side to fight that thing," Marvin muttered, taking the cap off his head to rub at the back of his head.
"Well, everyone else only cares about taking care of their own asses," Aleena grumbled, crossing her arms to glare back at the shop. "We'll just have to figure it out ourselves."
"No," Marvin said sternly, "Aleena, this isn't somethin' we can fight on our own. I mean . . . we're just a couple of kids. How are we supposed to fight against somethin' like that?" He waved his hands towards the far direction of where Philip was still being held and tortured.
Aleena threw her hands up into the air. "I don't know! But we've got to do something!"
"Look, if there's anythin' I learned bein' on these streets, it's that you gotta know when to call it. And I'm callin' it. Come on, if we hurry, we can go get Solomon and hope that he knows how to help." Marvin sped off quickly, followed by a reluctant Charlie. With a sigh, Aleena went after them. Half of her wanted to go back to Philip now. But the other, stronger half, thought that Marvin was right. He always had been. Besides the time stealing candy, of course. She had to trust his judgement.
XxXxXxXx
The three of them finally managed to get back to Hooverville just as night began to settle around them. They ran as fast as they could. The urgency of getting to Philip was great as each of them knew they were running out of time. It was already night and beginning to rain. The storm would be coming at any moment. Along with Philip's death. Aleena knew this especially as she was keeping track of how long they had through Philip's lingering timeline. She was so distracted by watching the string that the sudden appearance of a man holding a gun startled her. She and her two friends yelped in shock as the man pointed the gun at them. But he then quickly lowered it when seeing who they were.
"Damn, you kids scared me," the man sighed.
"We scared you? You pointed a gun at us!" Marvin barked, staring at the man as though he were crazy. "What the hell are you doin' with a gun?"
"There's monsters coming to get us. The same things that have been kidnapping people for months now," the man said gruffly. "So, you three better get back into town. Solomon is rounding up everyone. It's safer to stick with him." He pushed them towards town before turning back to guard the area. The three kids sped up in pace, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"What the hell? Some crazy woman stole Philip, and now monsters are comin' after the rest of us? What the hell is goin' on?" Marvin muttered as they jogged into town.
"I don't know. But I think we should find some place for cover," Aleena suggested, pointing towards some shacks to hide in.
"Good idea. You and Charlie find somewhere safe to hide. I'll go find Solomon and see if he can help us," Marvin said, pointing for them to go while he took off towards the centre of the town. Charlie let out a huff in frustration. Apparently, he was just anxious to get to Philip as fast as possible and was getting tired of these delays.
"I know how you feel, Charlie," Aleena muttered as they both went over to Mrs Betty's shack, hoping to find some place for cover. The woman was not there in her home. Things had been left out, untouched. There was even a fire still burning outside of the small home. What had happened to her? Maybe she was in the centre of town with everyone else? The edges of the town did seem rather deserted. "I don't know, Charlie. Maybe we should head back to where everyone else is. They do say there's safety in numbers." She glanced over, seeing Charlie nod in agreement. But before they could leave the small shack, they heard a whistling being blow outside as well as the cries of alarm.
Before they knew it, there was screaming, gunfire, and the strange squealing of what sounded like pigs. Aleena and Charlie both ducked down into the shack, getting low in the shadows of the small home. They held their breath as they saw a large shape come into the doorway of the home. The sight of the creature that stepped into the home made Aleena's eyes widened to their fullest. It was a tall, strange creature. It had the face of a pig, but the rest of its body was completely human. If she did not know any better, she would have said someone had cut off a pig's head and just glued it to a human body. No wonder that man said it was a monster. It sure did look like something one would call a monster. And the man had said 'monsters' so that must mean there was more of these things running around.
Fortunately, the pig creature seemed to not see the two children in the shack for it stepped back outside and ran off towards the screaming of the people through the town. Charlie and Aleena let out a collective sigh. Just glad it had left. But soon, terror went through them as they heard strange noises from above and the loud firing of weapons. The ground around them shook as explosions went off through the town. Fire could be seen erupting through the night all around through the doorway and the one window in the shack. Aleena sat frozen in fright, her body beginning to shake as everything felt overwhelming to her. She was only able to snap herself out of it when she no longer felt Charlie beside her.
"Charlie!" she shouted as she took off from the shack. She looked around frantically once outside, trying to see where her friend had run off to. Her eyes widened even more when she saw what was firing at Hooverville from above. It was a strange, metal . . . thing, with a long metal rod with a blue light at the end what she could only think of as an 'eye' of some sort. It had two arms, one that looked like a plunger and the other which must be its weapon as she saw beams of light coming out of the end before the discharge hit the place around her and sent off an explosion. The whole thing was shaped funny with a round, dome head, and strange, round metal pieces around the rest of it. It was like . . . some weird armored tank flying through the sky. It must be some other kind of alien species. She was shocked to see that there was actually two flying through the air firing at people. They were the ones that had been taking people? But why? What was the purpose? Did they eat humans the same as that one lady alien downtown?
She ignored the sight from above, looking even more frantically for her friend now. She finally spotted him running away from the scene around the edge of town, trying to escape in fright. She sucked in a breath as she saw his timeline wavering. It was changing. Something was going to . . .
"Charlie!" she screamed, rushing forward. Sprinting as fast as she could, she heard the firing of the metal creature's weapon as she neared Charlie. Just in the nic of time, she managed to push him out of the way as the shot made a fiery explosion right behind them. They each stumbled a bit from the blast but kept running. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing the centre of the town with a large group of people huddled around in fright. Her eyes held brief contact with the raven-haired woman's. Brown met grey as each stared at one another in shock. Aleena felt the draw to be with her mother and her father. But she ignored it and pushed onwards, disappearing behind another small building with Charlie.
Each of them managed to hide inside a small tent, hoping that they would be out of the way enough to avoid being fired at any more. Aleena got on top of Charlie, holding him close as he shook from head to toe. Tears streamed down his face as he made small whimpers. Aleena just held him tighter as the beams continued to rain down around them. If one of those beams hit their tent, she hoped that perhaps with her on top of Charlie it would be enough to save him as she took the full force of the deadly fire from above.
"The humans will surrender!" they heard the strange mechanical voice from the metal creature above them. Aleena looked outside of the tent, seeing that there was a cease-fire for now.
"Stay here, Charlie. I'm going to see if I can get a better look," she muttered as she quickly got out of the tent, ignoring the frantic tugging on her coat from Charlie. She stayed crouched in the shadows between the tent and a shack, watching the alien tank hover over the large group of Hooverville citizens. She watched as her father, towering in rage over what had happened to the humans.
"Leave them alone! They've done nothing to you!" she heard her father shout at the metal creature. She noticed Solomon stepped forward from where he had been standing next to her father, moving away from the group. Her father tried to grab the town leader as if to warn him of great danger. "No, Solomon, stay back!" But she watched as Solomon ignored her father's warning completely.
"I'm told that . . . I'm addressing the Daleks, is that right?" Solomon called out to the hovering metal creatures.
Aleena blinked in surprise. 'Daleks'? Was that not the species Bad Wolf said had fought against the Time Lords in a big war? She thought Bad Wolf said they had all been wiped out. Apparently not. This only made her wonder if there were any other Time Lords out there like her father, too. In fact . . . were there any more Wanderers, too? She knew Bad Wolf said she and her mother were the only Wanderers, but . . . there might be more. Right? Could always be. Maybe. Or maybe not. But it was nice to hope.
"From what I hear, you're outcasts, too," she listened to Solomon continue to try to speak with these Daleks.
"Solomon, don't!" she watched as her father tried warning Solomon again. She wondered why? Would it not be good to try to talk with the Daleks? Dwight always told her that talking could solve a lot of problems if people just gave it a try. And she knew Solomon believed in the same thing.
"Doctor, this is my township. You will respect my authority," she heard Solomon reply in a strict voice. He pushed her father away from him, nodding as though they would not argue over it any further. She saw how her father hesitated but moved back all the same. Glancing over, Aleena saw how her mother kept a steady and intense gaze on Solomon. As though preparing herself for something. But what? Aleena moved her gaze back to Solomon, watching him speak. "Daleks . . . ain't we the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin?" Solomon slowly placed his gun on the ground as a show of peace.
"Because, you see, I've just discovered this past day that God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was," Solomon continued to speak. "And that scares me. Oh, yeah, terrifies me, right down to the bone. But surely, it's got to give me hope, hope that, maybe together, we can make a better tomorrow. So I beg you, now, if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and stop this fight. Well? What do you say?"
Aleena smiled, knowing those were great words. Anyone would feel touched by them and understand to see reason. Solomon always had a way with people in that regard. Surely these Daleks would feel the sa—.
"Exterminate!"
Aleena gasped as the Dalek shot at Solomon without any hesitation. As though it did not care in the slightest about reason or to talk. It only wished to kill. But at the same time, she watched with wide eyes as her mother launched herself at Solomon before the Dalek even finished its cry, throwing both herself and the town leader down onto the ground and away from the blast that hit the dirt. Her mother then stood up—after making certain Solomon was all right—and faced the Dalek with a fury.
"Coward! You'd shoot a harmless being who means you no harm?! Just like that?!" she shouted at it. She marched forward towards it, staring hatefully at the metal creature while it just eyed her coolly with its dead blue light. "You really are vile creatures, you know that!"
"Wanda! Get back!" yelled her father. Aleena watched as he rushed up and tried to pull her back. But her mother stood her ground firmly.
"How can you shoot someone with such courage?! At least you can understand bravery!" yelled her mother. "Shooting the innocent doesn't make you brave or strong! It makes you weak! It makes you worse than anything in this universe!"
"Wanda, that's enough," her father ordered her shouting mother once more. But still, it seemed her mother was too angry to care about warnings.
"How could you have killed them?! They were just children! Why would you ever do something like that to children?!"
Aleena blinked, wondering what her mother was talking about. The humans in the town? Were they the children? Well, Bad Wolf did say that her father and mother were very, very old compared to normal humans. That she would be that old someday, too. So, she guessed humans were like children to their species. Huh. She never thought of it that way before.
"Kill me instead! Just leave everyone alone!"
Aleena snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her father shout. Gasping, she stared in horror as the Dalek aimed at her father, who stood in front of her mother to protect her, and seemed to be preparing to fire. But something changed. The Dalek seemed to be arguing with itself as it hovered there. Finally, the Dalek appeared to change its mind as it ordered her father to follow it instead. She let out a sigh in relief. It appeared her mother had as well as she held her father's hands in a tight grasp. Each of them whispered quietly for a moment before her father looked back at the Dalek once more.
"One condition! If I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here," he yelled at the Dalek. "Do you hear me?"
"Humans will be spared," answered the Dalek, sounding rather reluctant. "Doctor . . . follow."
Aleena let out another sigh of relief, glad that the two Daleks in the sky were backing off. She smiled as she watched her father and mother talk quietly amongst each other before giving each other a loving kiss. It was nice seeing them being so loving with each other . . . and so brave. She turned away from the scene, going back to the tent with Charlie inside.
"Come on, Charlie, all those things are leaving. Let's go find Marvin," she said to the boy. Charlie nodded in firm agreement, getting out of the tent as both of them began to search through the town for their friend. Things had really gone to ruin in the small shanty town. Fires were burning down homes and other things, shacks had been torn apart by the explosive shots from the Daleks, and there were more than a few dead bodies lying around the place. The echo cries for help only made the whole thing even eerier. Aleena tried to ignore all of this. She only wanted to focus on finding Marvin, and maybe Mrs Betty, too. If she focused too much on the chaos around her . . . she feared she might start going through another panic episode.
Finally, they came across Mrs Betty, sitting down in a shaking mess while another woman tried to comfort her. She was shaken up, but other than that she was fine. Aleena left Charlie with her while she continued on to search for Marvin. When she eventually found him, she feared the worst. He was underneath a large lumber piece that had been a part of a shack. His head was bleeding from a cut, and his leg did not in the best condition either as it looked a bit twisted. Her hearts raced as she quickly got the large lumber piece off of him and began to check him over. Seeing how he was completely motionless made her fear that he was already dead. But she let out a sigh in relief when she felt a pulse on his neck. Good. Just unconscious, then.
Hurriedly, she got him up off the ground, using his arm around her shoulders to keep him beside her as she began to walk with him. She wondered if there was any setup for medical care. There had to be, right? Marvin began to groan, making Aleena worried that she was hurting him.
"Damn. What hit me?" she heard him mumble groggily.
"Well, it looked like a whole beam from a shack," Aleena said casually, trying to sound more calm about the situation than she felt. "Could have been the whole house fell on you."
"Yep. That would do it," Marvin laughed weakly. He opened his eyes in a squint, glancing at her. "Charlie?"
"He's all right. I left him with Betty," Aleena assured him. "But don't worry about it now. Let's just find some help for you."
"I hope this doesn't ruin me workin' later," Marvin joked, closing his eyes as he just let Aleena carry him. Gazing around, she finally spotted that woman with the red leather jacket, the one who had been with her parents, tending to several people. It appeared she knew quite a bit medically.
"Excuse me," Aleena spoke up, hesitating just outside the small shack where the woman was working. She felt nervous, afraid this might be affecting the timelines if she talked with the woman. But Bad Wolf only ever said not to run into her parents. Never said anything about people who might travel with her parents, right? The woman glanced over, immediately looking at Marvin in concern.
"Bring him in," she said, waving Aleena to come inside the shack. Once inside, the woman helped Aleena place Marvin onto a makeshift bed made out of crates and blankets. The woman gently looked him over, being very thorough in her care. "Looks like a concussion and a sprained ankle. But nothing worse than that." The woman smiled, seeming to wish to give Aleena some assurance over her friend's health. "He'll be all right. Just needs to rest for a few days. I'll get some bandages for his head."
"Thank you," Aleena whispered quietly, watching as the woman left to gather up some clean bandages. She could see the woman speaking with another blonde woman, who appeared to be working with a few people in gathering supplies to help the wounded. Aleena knew that her mother was off doing the same in the rest of the town, helping people put out fires and bring in the wounded. They were all doing what they could to help. Even people they had never met. And what was she doing? Sitting here, hoping for someone else to help her? Why could she not be brave like her mother, who stood up against that Dalek, or her father, who went with the Daleks to save all these people here? She was brought out of her thoughts as the woman came back into the shack with clean, white bandages, beginning to clean and wrap up Marvin's head.
"So, what's your name?" the woman asked her politely, smiling at Aleena. The girl was about to answer but felt conflicted on what to say. This seemed to make the woman feel as though she were being shy for the woman smiled kindly. "What about your friend? Seems you really care about him."
"Yeah," Aleena mumbled, looking away. She glanced at the woman curiously. "Who are you? You and, um, those two other people. I saw you three coming in this morning."
"I'm Martha," the woman replied. "Then there's the Doctor and Wanda. I'm sort of . . . travelling with them at the moment." Aleena nodded, looking off towards all the fires still burning around. A gust of wind went through the air, bringing in the smell of an oncoming storm. The storm which would mean the death of Philip.
"Those two people . . . do they help others out a lot?" the young girl asked quietly.
Martha paused in her work, glancing at the girl. "Yeah. All the time, I think. Met them when they were saving me and a thousand others from dying."
Aleena held her hands tightly together, her mind and stomach churning. "Would you say they do whatever it takes to save others?"
Martha finished up her work, now checking Marvin to make certain he was resting comfortably. Turning to the girl now, she stared at Aleena curiously, wondering why this child was asking such questions. "I think so, yeah. The Doctor almost died to save me and the entire hospital the first day we met . . . and I know Wanda would do the same, too."
Nodding for a moment, Aleena tugged on her earlobe, still feeling as uncertain as before. But continued on with her questioning. "Do you think . . . that they get scared?"
"Well, I'm sure they do. Everyone gets scared every now and then. You think that everyone here wasn't scared tonight when we were attacked?" Martha stared at Aleena kindly, reaching over to pat the girl's shoulder in thinking the child was talking about being scared of the Daleks. Though, there was some truth to that. "It's okay to be scared. Fear drives us to stay alive during the worst times, I think."
"And it drives people to save others, too?"
"Yeah, I think that's what pushes the Doctor, and Wanda, to do what it is they do." Martha then shrugged. "Though, I don't know them that well yet, so . . . I could be wrong there." She was about to say something else to the child, concerned about why the girl was asking such questions. But then she was called away to come outside to help another patient into the sort of makeshift medical shack.
Aleena watched the woman leave, feeling emotions churning away within her. Fear being the main one. But, after sucking in a breath, she steeled herself as a new feeling came forth. The feeling of determination to save her friend. Glancing back at the still unconscious Marvin, she reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. "I'll get Philip back. I give you my word," she whispered to her friend. With this said, she left quickly, running off into the night.
Martha came back only moments later with a man, helping him to sit down so that she could clean up the cut on his arm. She looked over for the girl she had just been talking to but was surprised to see no one. Blinking, she gazed towards just outside the small area where she was with her patient, wondering if the girl were only just outside the shack.
"Hey, Martha. I got some more bandages, and it looks like all the fires are finally out," Wanda said as she came into the small space. The woman wiped away some soot that was on her face, giving a sigh from the tiring night. Noticing the companion's uncertain expression, Wanda frowned in concern. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, just . . . there was a girl here and I thought I might have you talk to her. She seemed really interested in you and the Doctor," Martha said, shrugging to continue with her work on the man sitting beside her.
"Did you happen to get her name?" Wanda questioned curiously.
"No, she didn't tell me."
Wanda hummed, then shrugged herself. "Well, maybe I'll run into her again later."
XxXxXxXx
The moment she was out of sight by others, she teleported herself directly to that woman's house. She knew she must have jumped somewhat into the future for the storm was upon them now with rain beginning to fall harder than before and wind gusting throughout the neighbourhood. She only had a little time left before that large lightning strike would happen. The same moment that woman would be killing Philip and placing him into the stove to be cooked. Aleena rushed over to the house. Her mind racing in trying to think of what to do. The only thing she could think to do was . . . but she had promised herself she would never do that again. She just . . . No, she had to. She knew her mother and father go through whatever it takes to save others. So . . . she had to as well.
Sucking in a breath, she hurried around back of the house, looking at all the windows with the strange red cones on the sills. She did not know what exactly they were, but they somehow kept away any cats from this strange alien lady. Something which terrified her for some odd reason. Aleena knew she would have to use this to her advantage. Concentrating, she focused her mind on the cones. She was never good at lifting so many things at once, but she ignored the pain in her mind as she pushed herself to get all the cones off the windows and to even open the windows themselves. Once this was done, she hurried through one window at the lower floor. Getting into the home, she felt the heat immediately radiating through the house. The stove must be going on full force with how hot it was.
Aleena moved as quietly as possible through the house, going down the hall towards the kitchen. Peeking around the corner, she saw the woman moving in a hurry through the kitchen. It seemed as though she were growing restless for her 'meal.' Aleena glanced over, seeing Philip sitting in a daze at the table. Still in the same trance as before. Though now his face and hands were covered in a sticky mess. A lot that looked like chocolate. He must have been eating that stuff all day and night. Only now it looked as though he were done with stuffing his face. Now he just remained in his trance, waiting for more orders. The woman turned to him with a gleeful smile, going over to the dazed boy with a large butcher knife in hand. Aleena acted then, rushing into the kitchen and ramming herself into the woman. Both of them fell to the floor in a huff as the knife fell from the woman's hands and to the floor. She stared at the girl on her with wide eyes before glaring viciously with a hiss.
"You!" she growled. "I should have known you'd be stupid enough to come back for your little friend."
"You're not going to harm him or anyone else in this town ever again," Aleena retorted lowly. She let out a cry when the woman lashed her across the face, knocking her clear across the kitchen.
"Ha! As if an insignificant child like you can ever stop me," the woman let out in a barking laugh. With a look of panic, Aleena hurried up from the floor, hushing into the living room.
It was a déjà vu of what happened yesterday. The woman chased after Aleena, with them both ending up in front of the rather large window again in the room. Though instead this time, Aleena faced the woman, having her back to the window as she glared at the hissing lady. The woman smiled wickedly, raising her hand up high that held the large knife. There came a blinding flash of lightning followed by the deafening crash of thunder. All of this happening at the exact moment the woman brought down the knife to strike Aleena. But the girl was ready, rolling out of the way in time and using the light and noise to keep the woman from noticing just how close she had brought them to the window. The glass shattered upon impact when the force of the knife hit it. The window was now wide open to the elements outside, bringing in wind and rain from the raging storm. Aleena held out her hand, making the red cones on the sill on the window fly away.
"No!" the woman screeched in fear, staring wide-eyed in horror at the broken window. She backed away as a cat jumped onto the sill, meowing hungrily at her. "NO!" She ran from the cat, going towards the back of the house. But she was only confronted by more cats who had snuck through the windows in the back. They all meowed at her, some even purring as they came up to her. She backed away in fright.
Aleena used all of this to her advantaged, jumping over a cat and running over to Philip. She grabbed his hand and yanked him from the table. She practically dragged him to the front door as he was still in a trance and his body did not want to move without being told so. When she glanced back at the woman upon hearing her piercing screeches, Aleena wished she had not. The woman had fallen to the floor, with the cats all over her—rubbing against her purring for food—and her face swelling up as though having a horrible allergic reaction. She was not breathing anymore, either. Clearly dead from whatever had happened to her from the cats. Aleena grimaced, turning her head away as she dragged Philip out of the house.
Well . . . that would explain why the woman had been so afraid of felines.
XxXxXxXx
"Oh, I feel l-l-like my st-st-stomach is going t-t-o turn inside-out," Philip groaned as he rubbed his stomach. Currently, he, Marvin, Charlie, and Aleena all sat in Mrs Betty's shack. The early morning light of the new day slowly rose over the city, shining into the broken doorway of their caretaker's home.
"It's from all those sweets," Aleena explained, handing Philip a nice warm drink of milk. Something she hoped would help flush out his system a bit. "If you drink plenty of water, and eat a lot of vegtables, it should help you start feeling back to normal. Just no more candy for a while."
"No more c-c-c-candy ev-er-er," Philip groaned, shaking his head and taking a long gulp of milk.
"No more separate jobs ever," Marvin said, sitting back in a makeshift chair and his injured leg propped up on a small crate. Charlie sat by him, widdling some wood in hand and nodding with a face that said 'never, ever, ever again.'
Aleena smiled at them all, feeling at ease in how happy they had been when she and Philip had gotten back to the town. Marvin had limped towards them, with the makeshift crutch he had been given, in such a hurry. Clear frantic worriment had been all over his face. Charlie practically flung himself onto Aleena and Philip, hugging them in relief. After that, they celebrated Philip's return and Aleena's heroic save of him. They all chatted in delight, just so happy to be back together again and for this crazy two days to be over. But as they chatted and talked, Aleena felt . . . different. Like she really accomplished something here tonight. She felt such an elated and warm feeling throughout her. Which made her wonder . . . was this something she was meant to do? Like her parents, was she meant to help people out in travels? Save the day and all that?
She glanced around at her friends, feeling as though her time here had finally come to an end. She felt more at peace with herself and with what she was than ever before. Something which these three boys had helped her with. More than they would ever realize. She hated to leave them, but there was just so much more meant for her out there. Things that she knew her parents would want her to experience as they did.
Very carefully, she got up from the floor in the shack, edging out of the place while the three were going about in their conversations. Neither one of them noticed her departure. She was glad for this. A part of her really did not wish to have to say goodbye. It just . . . felt too painful to leave her first real friends behind. But she knew she had to. She felt the call of time needing for her to be somewhere new. Just like Bad Wolf said would happen. Like her parents, Aleena decided to follow that call. So, she got to her tent, gathering up her hidden backpack, and made her way to begin her journey out of Hooverville. Though, she halted in place right outside her tent when a call came from behind her.
"Yo! Where do you think you're goin', huh?" called out Marvin. He limped over to her, staring at her in concern as he leaned heavily on his crutch. A bit of guilt went through Aleena as she stood there. Maybe she should think about saying goodbye. After all, with what they went through, she would hate to make them think something awful had happened to her.
"Sorry, it's just . . . It's time for me to head out," Aleena said, adjusting her pack on her back. "After all of this . . . those Daleks and that woman . . . it made me realize what I think I'm meant to do in the universe. I don't know if I'm right about this. But it feels right, you know?"
Marvin just looked confused. "What are you talkin' about?"
Tugging on her earlobe in uncertainty, Aleena shuffled her feet. "I never told you why I came to Hooverville. Mostly because . . . I didn't think you and the others would accept me. But also . . . because I didn't think you'd ever believe me." She stared at him evenly, feeling more confident now. "I came here in search of my parents. Well, mostly. It was also to find out where I belong and all that, too. But that's a different story altogether. Anyway, seeing my parents yesterday . . . and saving Philip . . . It's just shown me that there's a greater life meant for me out there. So I want to find it. To find them. I know they don't know about me yet, but someday they will. I want to be there for them when that day comes."
She blushed when seeing Marvin blinking at her. She did not mean to ramble on so fast. In fact, she never really talked much before because she had always been taught to keep her head down and be quiet in the past. Well, for the most part, anyway. Well, it was not as if she ever actually kept completely quiet, but she did try to. But now . . . she really liked voicing what she wanted to say.
"So . . . in other words, you're leavin' us?" Marvin asked quietly, looking down by this prospect.
"I'm sorry. I have to," Aleena apologized, truly feeling horrible by the sad expression she put on his face. This was the reason why she did not want to say goodbye. She hated to make her friends sad in any way. "I have to find my parents."
Marvin stayed quiet for a moment, seeming to take this all in. He then smiled, nodding at her. "Well then . . . do what you have to. You go find those parents of yours. And if things don't work out, well, then you know where to find us."
Aleena smiled brightly, going over to give him the biggest hug. "Thank you, Marvin. For more than you'll ever know. And thank those other two as well. Give them a hug for me. And don't worry about this Depression thing. It'll pass, trust me. As long as you three stick together, you'll make it through." Stepping back, she gave him a small saluting gesture before turning and leaving Hooverville for the last time.
XxXxXxXx
And that's the end of this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed! :) As always, any review would be much appreciated, always helps me make the story even better than before. But if I don't hear from you, then I just hope that you have an absolutely wonderful day. :)
Reviewers:
bored411: Well, we definitely got to see what it was about lol ;) Hope you enjoyed! So happy to hear from you again. I hope that you're doing well.
sketchtheunicorn: Aww, I'm just happy to hear from you again really. :) So glad you liked the last chapter. Hope that you'll like this new one as well!
mjhappy: Yay! Glad that it was. Hope you're doing well! :)
swimmjacket: I know. I wish she could go to them. I know that they would give her the biggest hug ever. But as Bad Wolf said, timey wimey stuff and all :( Hooverville is the best place I think Aleena could have gone during that time. But maybe there could have been a better place I suppose. Thank you for understanding my late chapters at times. Really hope that this chapter was good as well. And take care until next time! :)
ThatBlueStrawberry: You are indeed right, she did not stay for very long. It was a place for Aleena to find herself before moving on again. I believe she is going to become just like her mom and dad. You know, wandering around and such. ;) Hope to see you again in the next chapter!
Thanks again my lovelies for all the support! You're all amazing people.
~Tinker~