VI
Totally alone
Eighteenth Century
Manchester
Max Hollerford's residence
1775
Max wakes up with a start from the rapping at the front door. He feels dazed for a moment as his office comes into view.
It is almost dark outside and there are no candles alight in his room. His mother's letter sits on the desk in front of him and the book he has been reading has fallen shut onto the floor. Max groans as he rubs his eyes, frustrated with himself for falling asleep by his desk. He has lost at least two hours of his day.
The front door raps once more and Max quickly comes to his senses. With a grumble, he eases himself out of this wooden chair, stretching his legs as he does so and picks up the oil lamp on his desk. He lights it and walks out of his study and down the quiet corridor. He questions himself as to why none of his servants are opening the door for him but quickly remembers that he has dismissed them all for the day. He makes a mental note to himself not to let Master Franklin know anything about him dismissing their servants when he returns.
It isn't even that late into the evening, possibly around eight o'clock and Max feels hungry.
When he enters the large hallway that is also dark like the rest of the house, someone raps on the door again, only this time louder and more impatiently.
"I'll be with you in a minute!" Max calls in a grouchy voice as he settles his oil lamp on the floor in the middle. He then goes around the hallway, lighting the other lamps before picking up his oil lamp again and walking over to the front door. He squints his tired eyes from the light of the lamps before turning the door handle and pulling it open.
Rose Tyler stands on his doorstep.
"Rose," Max says in surprise. "I wasn't expecting to see you again. What are you doing here?"
Rose looks from left to right suspiciously and Max suddenly notices the fear in her eyes.
Max frowns as he starts to wake up properly. "Rose, what's wrong? Where's the Doctor?"
"Mind if I come in?" Rose asks.
Max pauses for a moment before nodding. He steps to the side to let Rose in who strides forward and halts in the middle of the hallway. Max peers outside, scanning the dark empty street before closing the front door and locking it. When the door is closed, Rose turns to face Max with a forced smile as she holds out a little pill box.
"Your medication on the Doctor's orders." Rose says.
Max looks at her suspiciously with a raised eyebrow. "For what?"
"You know," Rose replies bluntly before she shakes the box. "Four a day on an empty stomach."
Max takes it cautiously before examining the box. "Will it…?" He stops.
"I'm afraid not," Rose says quietly. "It can only extend your life a little. I'm sorry."
Silence fills the hallway.
Max looks up at Rose and takes in a deep breath just to ease their tension. "You look like you have been through the wars since I saw you earlier this afternoon."
"So do you."
"I just fell asleep for a couple of hours when I probably should not have. Where is the Doctor?"
Rose shifts on the spot just as the tears fill her eyes.
"Rose?" Max asks cautiously.
Rose shakes her head and drops her hands to her sides. "In this city, somewhere," She replies, trying to keep her voice strong as if everything is going to be okay. "I lost him earlier today but he'll be back."
Max knows that Rose is lying but proceeds to say nothing else.
"He's sent me on a job that needs completing so I'd best be going." Rose goes to pass Max but he grabs onto her arm to stop her from leaving.
"What about my sister?"
Rose hesitates as she purses her lips thoughtfully before nodding. Just by watching Rose's attitude and body language, Max knows that she is definitely keeping something hidden from him and he does not like it. However he doesn't want to pry too much. There is something up with April and for some odd reason it feels as if Rose and the Doctor are purposefully keeping her away from him.
Rose turns to look at Max. "I'll let you know the moment she comes back to her senses," Rose then sighs. "Could you let me go now?"
Max remains silent as he releases his grip in Rose's arm.
Rose only nods to Max before she leaves the house without another word. Max remains standing in the hallway as he gazes out into the dark streets.
April can feel the coldness of the metal flooring underneath her and the calm rumble of the Tardis tells her that she is back in the console room, safe.
Yet she does not want to move.
Although the rumble of the Tardis calms her fears ever so slightly, April hopes that the Doctor, Terry or even Rose is around to be there by her side. Someone must have heard her. However the longer she waits, the more she realises that there is no one else in the console room with her. No one comes over to help her back on her feet.
She is alone.
April eventually rolls over on her back, breathing heavily as she looks up at the brightly lit ceiling to the Tardis console room. The hum continues to ring in her ears and April takes in the treelike pillar that looms over her; the metal railing to her right; the hexagonal shapes in the yellow walls and the cream leather chair that she can just about see in her peripheral vision. She takes in one last gulp of air before sitting up on her elbows. Her head spins with dizziness but she forces herself back onto her feet, taking in the empty console room.
April stumbles on her feet as she tries to take in the world round her and reminds herself that she is safely away in the Tardis and not stuck in her nightmare. But what was that creature lurking in her bedroom?
April trips over her own feet and she clutches onto the side of the console to regain her balance. She looks down at the green light radiating through the buttons on the console and tries to focus on one thing at a time. The console around her wavers from side of side slightly as her head continues to spin and she holds onto the side tightly to stop herself from falling.
Before April knows it, she finds herself running around the console, pressing loads of different buttons and pulling down leavers. She speaks aloud to the Tardis in a panicked voice, demanding to know where the Doctor is, but the Tardis only rumbles in response.
From the time that she has been asleep, April knows that something has happened to her friends but cannot quite see what. She doesn't even know where the Tardis is parked. They have to be somewhere and obviously the Doctor, Rose and Terry have gone exploring around wherever they are. But April cannot quite ignore the feeling that something is wrong. Something definitely seems not quite right. She wants to turn to her Time book and communicate to the Tardis with it, but the book is back in her bedroom and she doesn't want to risk going back there. Not right now anyway. Even if that shadow was a fragment of her imagination. But it feels real.
April isn't too sure on how long she has been standing beside the console for but her head slowly starts to stop spinning and she feels more secure standing on her own two feet. Her breathing starts to slow down back to its normal pace again.
April has her eyes focused on one of the buttons that controls the Doctor's musical playlist he has continued to fill up since they have been in the parallel world.
April presses the play button to see what the Doctor was last listening to. It is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
The music echoes across the console room, filling in April's ears.
She slowly loosens her grip on the console as she listens to the slow beat of the music that fills the air around her. She continues to look down at the console, taking in long and deep breaths as memories from the last battle with the parallel UNIT and the British army against the Nobody's flutters around in her head. The music reminds her of the fear everyone lived through as she tried to decipher what the nursery rhyme was telling them. She remembers the cries from now Brigadier Aaron Brimikawood as he lost his leg; the cries from Ireen at her husband, Harry's funeral; and the screams that filled the television centre when Monroe was shot in the head. She remembers the very long and cold winter they lived through, but somehow that cold weather does not compare to the icy feeling she feels while she is stuck in her nightmare.
April is then reminded of Will Sullivan, the man who she has unexpectedly loved so dearly, she now will never see him ever again. His absence is everywhere around her and she feels as if a huge chunk of her heart is missing. It is almost as if her body and her mind can no longer function properly any more.
April's vision starts to blur as tears sting her eyes. She sobs quietly as the music continues to play. And the longer she stays there, the more her sobs start to overcome her mental state.
That is when April starts to scream manically.
