Her chestnut eyes locked with the man's glowing blue eyes, Lila struggled to put it to words, somehow, she knows him, but she doesn't, and the man confirmed that it was intentional, that he didn't want anyone, except the few, to know of his existence.
Lila's inability to recount her run-ins with him are part of that, as he explained why.
"Let's… say… it's… better… that… way…" the man said with a grin, his pale lips pulling back.
Once this concludes, she won't remember him, and he'll make sure Theodore couldn't find remnants of him in her memory.
"How…?" Lila's aghast that this strange man seemingly knew about Theodore and how he's able to read her mind, the grin never leaving the strange man's face as he informed her that he's been watching them, shall he say.
Defensively, Lila raised her fists, prepared to force answers out of the strange man, but she felt some force come over her and her arms forcibly went to her sides, the strange man shaking his head disapprovingly as he told her that he wasn't keen on their private lives.
"What… where's Theodore?" Lila dropped the act of pretending Theodore's the Doctor, since the strange man knew who he was, causing the strange man to give her the answer, in the way of turning his head.
Following his eyes, Lila's heart dropped as she sees Theodore restrained to a table propping him up, drugged out of his mind with a separate tube stuck in his mouth with a honey-colored substance being forced down his throat, tubes sticking out of his arms like he's Bane, an EKG machine nearby, and red coming out of the tubes into vats on opposite sides of him.
"Theo!" Lila ran towards the unconscious man, he didn't stir, no matter how much Lila tried, and she was stopped by the strange man who reappeared behind her.
Turning around, Lila stared at him accusingly, claiming he's responsible for this, and though the accusations were inflammatory, the strange man never raised his voice as he insisted that he wasn't responsible.
In fact, if not for his intervention, Lila would've been like this, too, and because she's merely human, she would not survive what's being done to Theodore.
Gesturing, Lila demanded the strange man help her rescue Theodore, pleading with him, "He doesn't have much time!"
Despite her pleas, the strange man wouldn't heed, instead telling her, "We… have… all… the time."
In broken English, the strange man with a smug smile, tells Lila that Theodore won't die, yet.
Yet.
The strange man's more interested in talking with Lila and even though she's close to clobbering the strange man for delaying Theodore's rescue, he remained firm that he wanted to talk to Lila.
Forced while helplessly looking up at Theodore, Lila's forced to give what the strange man wanted, so she talked, gritting her teeth.
"What… the hell's going on here?" Lila's chestnut eyes swelled with anger as she stared at the strange man, demanding answers from him, he remained calm, his tone never changing.
Theodore and Lila's presence on the island didn't go unnoticed, oh no, they were made within a day, and it was only a matter of time before they were captured and brought to the cellar of the winery.
"His… father… knew them… quite… well… thought… he killed… them all," the strange man informed Lila that Theodore's father had an encounter with the people responsible for Theodore's fate, nasty pieces of work they were, vampires to some, monsters to others.
They took pleasure drinking the blood of humans, like humans do wine, and Theodore's blood is no exception they're aware of his blood, and want to keep him drugged like this for centuries.
The Family.
Nothing else about them, other than that they were a family that lived long enough to become cemented in the memories of Theodore's father.
He and Theodore's mother encountered them in France, at the time, the Family posed as a high-class family with rotating servants, and accusations of some of the servants going missing.
Medikus and Sarah intervened, though it would not be the last time they encountered the unusual family.
The last encounter had Medikus destroy them with a calculated rigged explosion, in hopes of finally destroying them for good, as they're prone to regenerating destroyed or damaged parts of their bodies, drinking blood of humans helps maintain their ethereal youth and their ability to regenerate, the bomb was made with help from UNIT due to the threat the Family posed.
Medikus made sure that no one survived, but as the strange man tells Lila, the Family ensured their reign continued beyond the grave.
"You… met… her," the strange man informed Lila that she and Theodore unknowingly met the last surviving member of the Family.
A daughter.
She'd come to the island sometime ago, fleeing from crimes committed in the mainland, killed all but a few reluctant individuals she kept for a spell, afterwards she committed to restart where her family left off some decades ago.
"The winery!" Lila tensed up as the strange man confirmed that the winery was used to drain victims of their blood, which was then bottled.
The vintage wine.
Which led to the realization of why the people who drank them gotten sick.
"It would seem… she got… greedy," the strange man talked about the Family's daughter falling into the same trap as everyone fell into at some point in their lives, greed.
The isolated nature of the island kept victims from leaving easily and while that lasted for centuries, the modernization of the world meant that the disappearances weren't easily swept away.
As she had to learn the hard way, she couldn't operate the winery without regulatory bodies questioning her every detail, from sanitation and standards.
The concept of money wasn't something the Family bothered with, but as the strange man aptly said, the taxman cometh.
It was bound to happen sooner or later, as the strange man pointed out that Theodore and Lila been looking into the discrepancies by the winery with Al's help.
Alluding that he intentionally set everything up for them to arrive here and becoming captured by the daughter, only made the strange man land on the top of Lila's… list.
"Why?!" Lila choked as her emotions tried to push through the door, as the strange man plotted for this to happen.
In his unusual fashion, the strange man explained that he wanted it to be them that came, so that the daughter sees Theodore, and because it'd give him an opportunity to speak with Lila.
"An effing phone call would suffice!" Lila shouted at the strange man, her temper rising by the degree, as she struggled to fight against whatever forces prevented her from tearing into the strange man.
Chuckling, the strange man glimpsed to Theodore, as he laid on the table, red coming out of the tubes, intended to become wine for the daughter and her family.
Oh, yes, she didn't come to the island alone.
Still annoyingly vague, the strange man didn't elaborate further.
Lila struggled with her internal thoughts, wanting to rip him out of the table he's strapped to, but the strange man prevented her.
Panicking, Lila motioned with her hands erratically as she begged the strange man to let her save Theodore.
Despite fear in her chestnut eyes, the strange man refused to budge, and though Lila was an arm's length from him, she found she couldn't inflict harm to him, to force him out of the way.
"I've been… meaning to… discuss… some… things," the strange man tells her as Lila helplessly stood idly, unable to rescue Theodore.
His pale skin, the uncomfortable sight alone made Lila's heart racing, as she wildly gestured towards the strange man, begging him.
Unflinching, the strange man informed her, "It… would seem… that you… owe me… tsk… a… favour… after all… I did… a great deal… for you… if not… for me… well… let's just say… tsk… there'd be… unforeseen… consequences."
Evasive as always, the strange man insinuated that Lila owed him, for something she can't remember, and when she called him out on this, he made it apparent that she didn't have room to argue with him, after all.
Internally, Lila panicked, she couldn't reach Al, it's almost like the strange man blocked her from trying, and as she sees the helpless Theodore being used as a blood bag, she chewed on her inner lip.
Against every notion in the whole world, Lila gritted her teeth as she asks, "If… if I help you… will you help him?"
The strange man stiffly moved his head, affirming that he'll help Lila save Theodore.
"What… what do you want from me?" Lila broke down, begging the strange man to tell her what he wanted to repay the perceived debt, like talking with the Devil, he immediately took interest in the situation.
Adjusting his tie, the strange man glimpsed to the casks of wine, the blood wine's kept elsewhere due to the requirements varying too much to keep them with the normal wine.
Looking back to Lila, the strange man said with his glowing eyes locked with her chestnut eyes, "In time… I will… call… upon you…"
Without giving her the gritty details, the strange man's keeping it vague what he wants from Lila, and used her desperation to compel her into agreeing to his vague request.
Tears running down her eyes as she's frustrated, Lila insisted that she'll do whatever the strange man wanted, just save Theodore!
A small smile appeared on the strange man's face as he then reached out to shake Lila's hand and she bitterly shook it, the coldness from his hand sapped the heat from hers, before a burning sensation took its place.
Leaning forward, the strange man tells her, "He… must… live…"
Using her desperation against her, the strange man forced her into agreeing to help him, carte blanche, once she's already agreed, he informed her that Theodore's meant to survive, despite how it looked from Lila's perspective.
"Just… just help him!" Lila bitterly implored the strange man to uphold his end of the bargain and the strange man released his icy grip on her hand, before turning his attention to Theodore.
Silently without moving, his glowing eyes stared at Theodore, the tubes taking blood out of his arms suddenly stopped, becoming clear, the paleness of his skin slowly turning flush.
Tubes popped out of Theodore's arms and mouth, laying limp against the poles set up to keep them from crinkling, the EKG machine that tracked his vitals froze, as though he's still attached to it.
Everything the new Family did to Theodore was undone by the strange man and he didn't lift a finger.
Amazed, Lila briefly stopped, but once she snapped out of it, she rushed to Theodore's side, undoing the restraints as Theodore slid down the table, a light thud as he rested at the bottom.
Before she's able to kneel beside him, the strange man stopped her, telling her that after he leaves, Al will meet her, worried about their absence, and he will then give Lila information that the strange man gave her, about the Family.
"Why?" Lila asks the reason why the strange man helped her, without her realizing, and he gave her his reason, because he has his reasons. Had she or Theodore have no uses for him, well, he wouldn't be here, to help them.
Pedantic, this man.
"He… must… live," the strange man bluntly reminded Lila that Theodore needed to live for that reason.
Nodding as her chestnut hair stiffly moved, Lila acknowledged the strange man's request, before asking him, "Who… what… are you?"
Since it won't matter, the strange man told her as much, once he leaves, she won't remember this encounter, even Theodore wouldn't find it wedged somewhere in her brain, the strange man tilted his head towards Lila as he gave his answer, "A… means… to… an end… I… must go now… miss… Watson… be sure… I'll be… back… to collect… my repayment."
Like that, he was gone, and when Lila opened her eyes, her mind felt like it gotten lost in the fog, when it finally came back to her, she noticed instantly that Theodore's on the ground, as she rushed to his side.
As she caresses Theodore's expressionless face, Lila heard Al moving around in her head, panicking as he asked where they went, and she told them that they're in the winery's cellar.
Without fail, Al appeared beside her, his walnut eyes widened as he sees Theodore's unconscious body, before noticing the empty tubes swaying listlessly against the poles.
"The Family!" Al winced as he instinctively knew the culprits behind the disappearances.