XVII
Jack Gruntler's visit

Manchester
Max Hollerford's residence
1775

It is late in the afternoon and the Butler is taken straight to the hospital not long after he wakes up again. Horace has been arrested and put in a dungeon while the police decide what they are going to do with him. Max agrees with Master Franklin, who is very hesitant at first, that Penny and Phillip will stay in the house for the time being.

Max and Victor leave to go to the hospital with the Butler and comes back during the afternoon to announce that the Butler will be in good health after a long rest. It is a true miracle that he is still alive. All is well and good.

But April knows that there is something wrong. Rose seems to be afraid about something else and she refuses leave the children's side, so April feels like she cannot speak to anyone about what is going through her mind.

It is impossible for the Butler to still be alive after the bullet pierced a hole in one of his lungs, but April only has suspicions. Someone is keeping him alive. Someone else knew what Horace was going to to and informed the Butler.

April leaves the house alone about thirty minutes after the Butler is taken to hospital. She walks down the streets back towards the Tardis.

The blue police box stands alone at the side of the road near the river. Ivy has started to overgrow around the Tardis which seems strange to April as she has only been there for just a little longer than a week.

April halts for a long while as she stands right by the Tardis. She lifts her hand and places it on the blue wood. She is certain she hears a small rumble from inside as she does so.

The outside of the Tardis looks worn out and tired as if being apart from the Doctor puts pressure on the ship. As April stands outside the Tardis, she understands the strong love the Doctor has for his ship. At first she always found it weird to watch him talk to the console or stroke the outside exterior, but now she understands how he feels. The Tardis is alive and is his friend; his only home.

April then feels a rush of emotions for the Doctor and Terry, suddenly wishing that they are here with her and Rose. She wants the four of them to be back together again. She wants the Doctor to hold Rose's hand and tell her that everything is going to be okay like he always does. She wants to hear the bleep of Terry's handheld device. She wants to hear the Doctor to talk about something that interests him so much that he speaks in such a fast pace it is hard to distinguish one word from another. And above all, she wants to reunite her friendship with the Doctor.

But the Doctor believes April to be dead.

April doesn't realise how dark her life was when the Doctor wasn't there to help. But then the Doctor has lost her trust. He took her away from everything she loved and continually lied to her. But April feels that she can forgive the Doctor for that, just to have him there with her again.

The Tardis is dark and grey on the inside, only being dimly lit but the low green lights on the console. It is eerily quiet inside and it only hums quietly as if it is breathing in its sleep. April closes the door behind her, shutting out the light and the city outside and looking into the darkness around her. She still remembers the shadow from when she first woke up and even if it isn't really there, she still feels a little uneasy. Darkness is all around her and she cannot see much but the dim green lights.

But April knows the Tardis well enough to carefully tread along the metal flooring to get to the console through the darkness. She runs her fingers along the metal railing to her right, feeling for the stone pillars she passes before she reaches the console. The dim green light shines brightly in her eyes, making them ache as she looks down at the buttons. But then she quickly finds the button she is looking for and twists it clockwise. The Tardis suddenly hums back to life as all the lights switch on. The Tardis rumbles as if to say hello as it starts to wake up.

April glances around the console room as the darkness disappears and is overtaken by the warmth of the light. She smiles at the Tardis feeling so alive around her.

"Hello again." April says softly and the Tardis rumbles in response. She looks at the tube in the centre of the console and slowly reaches out to place her hand on it. It is cool and she can feel it slowly starting to warm. She then brushes her fingers on the tube and sees the amount of dust she has picked up from it. April sighs as she rubs the dust away. "Right, are you going to help me get through to Jack Gruntler?" April asks as she places her hands on her hips. She looks at the console expectantly but it doesn't rumble in response.

April only waits a moment, looking at the console with her hands on her hips before she realises that the Tardis has nothing else to say to her.

April hums pensively and turns on the spot, checking every shadow that hangs around the room, making sure that she is truly alone. She then sighs heavily before walking around to the other side of the console to where the phone is. She picks up the receiver and puts it to her ear.

It is a bit of a surprise to her to hear it ringing on the other end of the line but she waits, listening to the ringing as she twiddles the cord between her fingers. Eventually the phone is picked up on the other end of the line and April instantly knows that it is Jack Gruntler before he even says anything.

"I hope you've answered to tell me that it was you that made sure your Butler survived after being shot." April says confidently as she perches on the edge of the console, just feeling relieved to be talking to Jack Gruntler again, even if he does sometimes irritate her.

Jack Gruntler clears his throat. "He is my Butler and he's out there to look out for your brother. That psychopath tried to kill him off. My Butler knows when he needs to save his master." Jack's voice is low and even but it seems calming to April.

"But that bullet pierced a hole right through one of his lungs," April says as she shakes her head in disbelief. "There was no way he would have survived that!"

"Of course he would. They would have been able to donate a new lung for him."

"Not in this day and age."

"Well he is my Butler. I need him."

"Meaning you don't know where you'd be if you didn't have him." April mocks him.

Jack hesitates for a moment as if he is thinking carefully. "Yes of that sort," He says hastily. "Listen, April, we need to meet. Somewhere quiet preferably," Jack sighs. "Meet me in the graveyard by the Bellingham family's grave stone in ten minutes."

The line goes dead and April holds the phone away from her ear for a moment as she looks at it. She then places it back down on its headset and the Tardis lets out a little rumble.

"I'm going to have to get back the Time book, aren't I?" April mutters aloud.

The Tardis rumbles again.

April lets out a sigh before turning, knowing that at some point, she will have to go back to the bedroom again, but it is as if the Tardis is answering her call for she finds the Time book sitting on the leather seat. April breathes out a sigh of relief as she rushes to the chair, sweeping the book up into her arms and holding it close to her. It isn't until that moment that she realises how much the book means to her.

She flicks through the book and finds the last page she wrote in.

The book has become a diary to her and every so often the Tardis will reply to her thoughts or give her warnings. The last page she wrote on was the day before they left the parallel world, writing down the events of the battle in Antarctica and her conflicting feelings about Will. How little she knew back then about what was going to happen to her next. April feels a heavy stone drop in her stomach and she feels hollow at the memory, but she has to move on. She has to see Jack Gruntler again and she has to let the Doctor know that she is still alive before they can bring him and Terry back.

April leaves the Tardis without further ado and makes her way back to the church north of the city. Only this time she feels far more concerned about what she might see there. The sudden appearance and disappearance of the stone angel startled April and she knows that there is something alien about it.

She stands by the gate and looks up at the exterior of the church. And Max is correct. There are many different stone angles high in the walls. Only this time they are not covering their faces, they are all looking blankly ahead.

April cannot shake off the feeling that they are watching her, so she pushes open the gate and makes her way through the graveyard, avoiding going near the actual church itself. Max is also correct in saying that everything is a big set up. The police have taken Nathaniel down to the station to ask him a few questions and April hopes that she will find out more about the situation when she returns to Max's house.

The air around her is rather misty and the grass is damp as if there has been a downpour of rain. But it hasn't rained all day. April's trainers squelch in the muddy, damp grass as she makes her way up the hill and back down again until she reaches the row where the Bellingham's grave is. She suspects that she is a little early seeing as Jack is not there yet, so she makes her way down the row. She stands in front of the gravestone and reads the engravings.

"Here lies Beatrice Bellingham and her loving family." April sighs as she feels something drip on her head. She looks up at the sky and can just about make out the dark clouds above her through the mist. Another splash of rain drops on her cheek.

"It's beginning to rain." Jack says.

April turns to her right to see Jack standing there, only a few paces away from her as he leans heavily on his walking cane. The way he stands only reminds April of the way Major Rodger Barratt used to lean on his cane sometimes, only Jack looks like that he really would not be able to stay upright if he didn't have it.

"Well it's nice to see a familiar face again." April says, sighing as she fully turns to look at him. She has never felt happier to see him again.

"Because everyone here is a stranger to you."

"Even my twin brother was a stranger to me."

Jack sighs and nods. "That's what the Cytracik does."

"And it just had to pick on me."

There is a long pause between April and Jack as they look at each other. The mist still hangs in the air around them and somewhere in the distance, a tawny owl hoots.

"Please, Jack," April says in a low voice. "You must tell me what the hell is going on here."

Jack smirks. "Are you meaning hell in its metaphorical sense?" Jack seems a little amused but April only returns him with her scowl. Jack sighs. "This is only a minor distraction. Your main job is to destroy the Cytracik. But the Doctor chose to travel. He wanted to go to 1774 in an attempt to destroy the Cytracik but of course that backfired. Now you're stuck without him and he is stuck at the turn of the century. You have the Devil on the loose, April, and he's bringing back all the spirits of the dead," He watches April shuffle uncomfortably on the spot before he continues. "This isn't your normal alien case you're dealing with. It's the supernatural this time. That shadow you thought you saw in the Tardis was not a figment of your imagination. He didn't realise it but the Doctor parked right on top of where the spirit was buried. It would've killed you if you hadn't woken up at that time."

"Well then I'll be moving the Tardis elsewhere."

Jack shakes his head. "Not when the Devil is roaming the streets you won't," he warns. "The Devil is bringing back the spirits and they won't be able to return to the underworld until the Devil is destroyed. For the time being our world is colliding with the world that no human has ever been able to fully comprehend. Like I said this is only a minor distraction. Once the Doctor is back, you can leave this city and not return. I'd advise that now you have reunited with Max, you stay together."

The rain starts to fall continuously.

"What about the stone angels?"

"What do you know of them?" Jack asks.

"Nothing," April replies. "I saw one by the Bellingham's grave and it disappeared a minute or two later. What are they, Jack?"

"They're alien's for sure. The universe's loneliest creatures. These angels, they may look it but they're not weeping. They're only shielding their eyes so they won't see one another," Jack turns his head a little as if he is trying to rid a cramp in the back of his neck. "April, they will be your deadliest enemy if you and Rose don't buckle together and destroy them."

"Does Rose know of them?"

"Of course she does, she was there when they took the Doctor!"

April pauses for a moment as her scowl increases. "What?"

"When you look at them they look like a harmless statue. But the moment you blink, they will move. They will take you back in time to be killed."

"Sounds a lot like the Cytracik," April murmurs. "Max was taken back here to die."

"Well a lot of angels were taken back with him when you were separated. They are the goddesses of time and they will change it at any chance," Jack then gestures to the sky. "They all fell from heaven and took this as revenge."

"Anything else?"

"There are two spirits that are haunting both you and Rose and you mustn't let them control you like they already have."

April guiltily looks down at the wet grass.

"The spirit in the Tardis and the girl in the mirror."

April looks back up at Jack. "Who?"

Jack looks pensive for a long moment as if he is trying to figure out what he wants to say. "April, now that I've mentioned this to you, you must promise me that you'll try avoid looking at your reflection as much as you can because now you have heard of her, you will see her."

"Who is she?" April asks in a low voice.

"A young girl that was living in the orphanage. She was bought by a Welsh family who played around with voodoo. They did a lot of silly things like contacting spirits and played with the Devil, but the family had strict rules they all abided. But this young girl was afraid with what they did. She ran away back to the orphanage when she was fifteen and they followed her. They killed her in the bathroom and sewed her lips together in fear of her telling everyone about their tricks. They threw her body in the ocean but her soul stayed alive in her reflections," Jack breathes out heavily. "Rose has got herself trapped in fear from seeing the girl. Once she is seen, she can never be unseen."

April pulls at her hoodie around her chest as she folds her arms.

Jack Gruntler raises an eyebrow. "Not exactly appropriately dressed for this period are you?"

"What am I supposed to do?" April hisses, trying to ignore Jack's snide comments.

"The Devil is looking for something, or someone to possess and if it's not the weeping angels then I fear that you, Rose or Horace could be the next victims."

"Oh great, brilliant. That's really great," April hisses. "So how does any of this connect? The weeping angels taking the Doctor have no connection to the Devil and the spirits whatsoever."

"The angels fell from heaven and want to take revenge on those who get in their way. The Devil has come and terrorised the city. He wants to turn the human race into slaves in hell."

"That doesn't answer my question, Jack. How does this link together?"

Jack hesitates for a little too long. "It doesn't. Not yet anyway."

"What?" April splutters before walking up to Jack. "But you're the one who knows everything! You must know that there is a link somewhere. Help me out!"

"I've tried the best I can, April. I told you what is going on but it seems that the weeping angels and the spirits are two completely different scenarios that are up your backside. The only link is that it all seems to be very religious based and religion seems to be high in the city," Jack changes his weight on his walking cane. "Once you destroy the weeping angels then the Doctor and everyone else that was taken will be back to their rightful place. The Doctor is living in his own hell: away from the Tardis, away from Rose and in belief that you are dead."

April looks at Jack hard but then her face softens. Her death will make much more of an impact on the Doctor then she originally thought.

"What about my nightmare?"

"I have nothing to say about that, April. I can't. What the Cytracik left you and your brother is nothing for me to sort out. It's up to you."

"But you have to help me out!" April cries.

"And I have, April Hollerford," Jack sighs. "As long as you and Rose are brave then you will be safe from the Devil. If you have the ability to force yourself to believe that these spirits aren't here and that the Devil isn't real, then you and Rose will be truly safe. What's bringing Him here is everyone's belief in Him and their fear."

"That'll be easier said than done."

"Not unless you burn Horace's metronome and retrieve his family portrait," Jack shuffles uncomfortably on the spot. "His metronome must be found and burnt. It is completely out of its time which is dangerous enough in itself, but it is also a call for the Devil to come to you. The angels have some sort of connection to the Bellingham family and they will show Horace's, if not, your fate through the portrait."

April nods as she tries to take everything in. There is so much going on and a lot of jobs that needs to be completed, but April cannot lie to herself. She is terrified. The angels that move with a blink of an eye seem like an impossible thing to destroy.

"As long as you, Max and Rose are brave, then you will be safe. If you burn the metronome, hold possession of the Bellingham's family portrait and destroy the angels then you will be safer. But the moment you show any hint of fear, especially about that spirit in the Tardis, then you will be the Devil's next victim. As long as He ignores you, you are safe."

The rain falls down harshly and a tawny owl continues to hoot in the distance. April looks at Jack who looks like he is in pain the longer he stands there. His face scrunches up in mild pain as if his knee and ankle joints are aching under his body weight. April knows that she has to let him go. He has to go home and rest. He has done what he needed to do: he saved his Butler from death and he has warned her to help her – something he gave up doing for the Doctor. But April wants him to stay. She feels safe in his presence and she worries that fear will only take over once he leaves.

"Will Sullivan," April's voice cracks as she says his name aloud for the first time in a while. "Am I to see him ever again?"

Jack shakes his head. "Will Sullivan is dead. In this world he is dead and there is nothing you can do about that. In this world, he only knows you as Declan's daughter. He doesn't really know who you are. The Will in the parallel world did know you. He loved you, April, but you can never be reunited. You have to accept that. You have to accept that your boyfriend and UNIT died during the Battle of the Cytracik. You are never getting them back. They are gone. Move on."

"But how do you do it?" She asks abruptly. "The Doctor knew you in this world but he was still able to visit you while we were over there. How can you jump from one universe to the other and I can't?"

"Because I am the one who knows all." Jack says in amusement. He then pauses for a long time as he watches April as she tries her best to not cry.

April feels tears sting her eyes but as one slips out her eye and runs down her cheek, she lets it fall seeing as the rain is heavy and it might not look like a tear.

"It was," April begins but pauses for a moment as she thinks about her words. "It was a strange relationship with Will. I hated him to begin with but he proved me wrong. We were inseparable, constantly being separated. I can see that now. But no matter what he chooses to do with the rest of his life now. I don't care that he killed Peter Bursnell, nor do I care that he wasn't good allies with the Doctor or about the affair he's had with many other girls, but I know that I will love him for the rest of my life. Even though I can never see Will. See my Will. I will forever be in love with him and I was a fool to tell him no."

Jack lets out another sigh, suddenly feeling rather sympathetic for the girl who has fallen in love with a dead man. "If you want to hold onto anything from him I think I'd better give this to you," he pulls out a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his blazer and walks up to April. "It's a note he wrote for you but was never brave enough to give it to you."

April looks at the folded paper in Jack's hands before taking it, trembling ever so slightly.

Jack looks at April expectantly but she does not open the note and he knows that she isn't going to until he leaves. "Good luck, and through all this, maybe you might learn one or two things about my Butler." Jack says and with that, he disappears from view.

There is silence apart from the patter of rain and the hooting owl. April is left standing by the Bellingham's grave for a while as she clutches onto Will's note. She stares blankly at the space Jack Gruntler stood only seconds ago.

April's hair sticks to her face as the rainfall becomes heavier. It is as if the downpour is waiting for Jack to leave before starting. April is soaked to the bone, her clothes sticking to her skin, but she doesn't wait another moment before unfolding the note.

The note is dated to the time just after Christmas with UNIT. During the happiest moment of her life just before Aaron Brimikawood's post-traumatic stress disorder took over and before she met the Nobody that broke into her hotel room.

She can hear Will's voice whispering the words on the paper in her ear.

April,
I love you.
Will