Author's Note: Chapter Three is finally up and it's the longest one yet! Although you can blame Shadow Hearts for the lateness of this update this time around. Anyway, thanks go to Holli, who was the only person to review the previous chapter.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and is used without permission.
Nightmare Syndrome
By Jack of the Pelt
Chapter Three
Darkness Falling
"So, what do we do now?" asked Michael.
"I think we should pay a visit to the museum." replied the Doctor. "There might just be some more clues to what's going on here."
"But what about Rose?!"
"I don't think she's still -"
But before the Doctor could continue, there was a loud bang behind them as the door slammed shut, and they both spun around. Michael's jaw dropped in total horror when he saw what was standing there.
The creature could only be described as some kind of warped medieval knight, tall and thin, and clad head to foot in spiked armour that looked as though it was made from black iron and crimson leather, two huge horns jutting out from the sides of its head, making it looked even taller than it's already impressive height. Only its forearms were uncovered, leaving green-purple skin exposed. When he actually saw how long the creature's arms were, Michael realised that this must have been the thing that had made him drive off the road and crash his car. "What in hell's name is that?!" he said in disbelief, staring at the monstrous demon that must have come from the very depths of hell itself.
Before the Doctor could reply, however, the creature was crossing the distance between them with a speed that belied it's large size and apparent heaviness, letting out a deafening screech as it did so.
Panicking, Michael blasted it with the shotgun, making him stagger back with the recoil.
The creature, however, didn't even seem fazed and had now reached them. It easily swatted the man away with one of its massive gauntleted fists while grabbing the Doctor round the throat with the other, lifting him clear off of the ground.
"Die, Time Lord," it growled in a harsh metallic voice, the Time Lord struggling as it slowly squeezed his throat.
"YAAAHHH!!!" cried Michael as he leapt onto the thing's back, and he started hammering the back of it's head with one hand while the other was wrapped around it's neck. It staggered forward a few steps having been put off balance by his sudden attack. It let go of the Doctor, who collapsed to the floor in a pile at the monster's feet.
Suddenly, the creature swung it's body around violently, making Michael lose his on it. He landed in a heap in one of the corners of room, dazed, but unhurt. He sat up and shook his head, as if the dizziness he felt would go away if he did so, but then he noticed that the monster was looking straight at him "Kill you first, ape!" the creature snarled, as it snatched a long rod-like object from it's waist. There was a click and the rod extended to about three times it's original length, a sharp spear point now at one end.
Michael stared at the weapon for a few seconds, and even though the monster's face was covered by a helmet, he was pretty sure it had a nasty smile upon it's face. If it had one, that is. "Oh, shit," he muttered as the beast started to walk slowly towards him. He could now see that the creature looked less primitive now; wires and pipes snaked out from underneath it's armour, sometimes going back underneath it's protective covering, sometimes actually going into it's flesh. Michael tore his gaze away from the monster and climbed to his feet, looking desperately around for a means of escape, but found none. His salvation, however, came from a most unexpected source.
"Excuse me?" asked a voice behind it, and the thing spun around, growling. Michael could see that the Doctor was now on his feet and holding a slender metallic object in his hand, pointing it at the monster. "This is the sonic screwdriver, it's a sort of Gallifreyan Swiss army knife if you were wondering, and if I press this," he pressed his thumb down on the device, and the creature dropped the spear, falling to it's knees. It grabbed the sides of it's head and gave out the most disturbing noise Michael had ever heard, like nails going down a blackboard mixed with a dog crying out in pain.
Still pointing the device at the monster, the Doctor ran pass it and helped Michael to stand. "Quick, let's go!" he said as they ran out of the door, the Doctor half dragging Michael with him. "I don't know how long the sonic screwdriver can keep this up!"
They charged down the corridor as fast as their legs could carry them, running down the stairs and finally bursting out of the hospital's front doors, both of them almost skidding to a halt. Michael tried to catch his breath, but somehow the Doctor seemed to be unaffected. Suddenly, with a loud bang, the sonic screwdriver exploded and the Doctor dropped it to the floor, crying out in pain and then sucking his fingers. "Oh dear," he said sadly. "I think I better make a new one when I get back to the TARDIS."
Michael looked around quickly, realizing how dark it was outside. "Jesus," he gasped. "It's got dark quick out here!"
"Indeed," the Doctor agreed, nodding, the torch once again in his hand. "Night must have fallen while we were in here." He looked behind himself, back into the hospital. "We'd better go or that creature might catch up with us." He then hurried off down the street, not bothering to see if Michael was following.
"Wait for me then," Michael muttered sullenly as he went to catch up with his companion.
***
Report, Captain.
Your Darkness, I have visual confirmation that the target is indeed a Time Lord.
Did you attempt to eliminate him?
Yes, my Queen. Although I regret to inform you that I have failed in my mission. I will now receive any punishment you deem appropriate.
There will be no punishment. The Time Lords are a wily species and very difficult to catch. How did he escape?
He used some type of sonic device to subdue me. What are my orders?
You will follow him, and see if there are any more of his people present. If there are, observe from a safe distance. If not, then destroy him. Either way report back to me.
Orders received and understood, my Queen.
***
"Doctor?" asked Michael as they rushed down the street in near darkness, with only the Doctor's torch lighting their way.
"Hmmm?" he replied.
"I have two questions for you," Michael said. "One, what was that thing, and two, what did you do to it?"
"Well, the answer to your first question is I don't really know, but I do have my suspicions, while secondly I somehow knew that frequency was painful for it, but the odd thing is don't know how I knew that either."
"What?"
The Doctor shook his head. "It's as if somebody told me what to do -" He suddenly stopped in his tracks with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Yes, maybe someone did…"
Michael halted a few steps in front of him and turned to the Time Lord. "Just what are you trying to say?" he said.
"Oh, nothing, nothing," He started walking again, and Michael did likewise. They both walked in silence for a while. "Ah! Here we are!"
"Hey, Doc?"
"Yes?"
"How did you know that this place was here?" Michael laughed. "More voices in your head?"
"No," the Doctor replied, and he pulled the letter he had found from his pocket. "This has a map with directions to the museum drawn on the bottom." He then, replacing the letter back in his pocket at the same time, marched up to the door and entered the building after opening it.
"Obviously," muttered Michael as he followed him inside.
***
They soon found what they wanted on the second floor of the museum. A small section that was devoted to the seemingly infamous Maynard Chancellor and his trial, and they were now examining a map displaying the location of his hut by the lake.
"That's where we want to go," the Doctor said, pointing at the symbol that represented the hut.
"Why there?" queried Michael.
"Because I have a feeling we'll find out exactly what's going on there."
"Well, let's go then!"
The Doctor shook his head. "Wait a moment, Michael, I just want to have look at the history of the surrounding area."
Michael sighed. "Okay, but please make it quick," he said. "We might find Rose there."
The Doctor had already wandered off in a random direction. "Yes, I think we will, and probably Sarah and Harry too." He stopped and started to read a plaque by an exhibit.
Michael, less interested in what the museum contained, wondered over to a nearby window, staring mournfully out. He had been trying to keep calm, but he was sick with worry. What if he couldn't find Rose? He would never, ever forgive himself if he didn't, and neither would -
"Why do you think they call it Velial Lake?" the Doctor called suddenly, braking him out of his reverie.
Michael looked in the Doctor's direction. "I don't know," he paused, thinking for a moment. "Perhaps it's a Native American name?" he said after awhile.
"No, I don't think so; according to these exhibits no Native American tribes have ever lived in the area," The Doctor said. "But does sound quite familiar for some reason…"
"Well, you've probably heard it before somewhere" Michael said. He then turned back to the window - and his eyes widened in terror. "Doctor," he said, calling the Time Lord over to the window. "I think you better take a look at this."
"What is it?" the Doctor said as he walked over to join him.
"I think we have company!"
Outside they could see hundreds of red eyes glowing balefully back at them. "Oh dear," murmured the Doctor simply.
"Are they what I think they are?"
The Doctor nodded. "Our little skeletal friends? Yes, I very much think they are." He spun around and started to move a heavy looking cabinet against the door. "Quick, help me with this."
Michael complied, and soon they had the cabinet in front of the door. "Do you think that will keep them out?" he asked.
"No, but it will give us time to think of a more permanent solution."
"What got those things so active all of a sudden?"
"Perhaps they've run out of food, or maybe -"
The Doctor never finished the sentence. There was a banging coming from behind the door they had barricaded. "Open the door, Time Lord! OPEN IT NOW!" roared a voice from the other side.
"Or that?" finished Michael for him.
The Doctor nodded again. "Indeed," he replied.
"It's that guy in armour, isn't it? He's controlling those things outside and leaving them out there to make sure we don't escape?"
"Most defiantly," the Doctor agreed.
Michael became aware of a loud hum that seemed to be steadily growing in volume. "What's that?" he asked, worried.
The Doctor didn't answer, but instead crouched down behind an old oak chest and gestured for him to do likewise. It was large enough for anyone crouching behind it to be hidden from anyone standing in the doorway.
There was a large explosion and the cabinet and the door behind it were thrown across the room, debris flying everywhere. A few moments later the demon they had encountered earlier stepped into the room. "I know you are here, Time Lord!" it shrieked in its metallic voice. "Ssssshow yourself!"
"Why should I?" the Doctor's voice shouted back at him seemly from the other side of the room. "You're going to kill me anyway!"
The monster chuckled. "I can make it quick and painless for you or sssslow and agonizing! The choice is yoursssss!" They heard it's footsteps as it stalked over to were the Doctor's voice had come from.
"How'd you do that?" asked Michael in amazement.
The Doctor grinned. "Simple," he replied, beaming. "I just threw my voice."
Michael risked a quick glance over the top of the chest. When he saw it, he suddenly realised that this creature was different to the one they had encounter back at the hospital; it's armour was less extravagant and the horns on its head were smaller. Not that this made much of a difference, this one was still trying to kill them.
"Don't you have another one of those screwdriver thingies?" he whispered to the Doctor.
"Unfortunately not," he said. "But I do have an idea and I'll need your help…"
"What do I have to do?" Michael whispered eagerly.
"I'm going to cause a distraction, and when I do run behind that display over there," he pointed towards the display, which was directly behind the monster, "and when I give the signal, push it over."
Michael nodded. "Gotcha," he said.
Without warning the Doctor sprang out from behind the chest. "Excuse me, over here!" he cried.
The creature swung around. "DIE!!!" it growled, and a large metal tube emerged out of it's wrist. It pointed it at the Doctor, and a bolt of purple energy leapt from the tip. The Doctor, however, quickly moved out of the way and the bolt hit the display that had been behind him and it burst into flames.
The Doctor had by now ran around the thing so it's back was now facing the chest. As the thing prepared to fire again, He ran behind the display the Doctor had pointed out.
"Now, Michael!" cried the Doctor as he jumped behind another display case, dodging another bolt.
Using all his might, Michael pushed the display over. With an almighty crash, the cabinet fell on top of the creature, pinning it to the ground. As it made an unearthly screeching sound, it's limbs flailing, the Doctor ran over to Michael and, grabbing his arm, dragged him over to the doorway.
They both stopped at the threshold of the door and stopped, realising that the creature's scream had changed in pitch and was now more of a wail. There was now a shrieking and clattering noise coming from the floor below, and they looked at each other, worried.
"He's calling reinforcements, isn't he?" said Michael.
"I'm very much afraid he is," responded the Doctor. Both of them turned around, looking for another way out, but by now the room was slowly being consumed in flames. "Quick, grab that rope over there!" The Doctor pointed at a long rope that was coiled by a display of a small boat.
Michael did so, his eyes watering from the smoke, while the Doctor ran over to a window and heaved it open as it groaned in protest. Michael had already tied the rope around the base of the nearest display when the Time Lord had finished.
"I think that display looks heavy enough to support our wait," he said to the Doctor. The Time Lord nodded in agreement and Michael threw the rope out of the window. "Who's first?" he asked.
"After you," offered the Doctor. They both knew that neither inside or out side was particular safe, but at least they weren't trapped when they were outside.
Michael nodded and climbed out of the window and down the rope while the Doctor watched. When he had reached the bottom, the Doctor climbed out the window himself, but stopped when the monster underneath the cabinet spoke.
"You may have defeated me, Time Lord!" screamed the creature. "But there are many more of usssss! You are only delaying the inevitable!"
The Doctor said nothing and climbed down the rope. The last thing he saw were the skeletal creatures flooding into the room, only to be consumed by the rapidly spreading fire.
***
"Anybody home?" asked the Doctor as he knocked on the door of Maynard Chancellor's hut. He and Michael had reached the small shack by the lake after a short walk. They could still see the museum, still burning brightly. "Obviously not," he muttered as he went to open the door when he received no reply.
Michael, who was standing just behind him, rolled his eyes. "Like you were expecting a reply!"
The Doctor turned to him. "Well, it never hurts to be polite," he said with a grin. "Let's go inside." And with that he opened the door and walked into the hut, Michael close behind.
Inside it was almost empty, except for a bed up against the wall opposite, where a small figure lay curled up on the bed.
"ROSE!" Michael shouted in joy, hurrying over to where the girl lay. He shook her gently by the shoulders. "Rose, wake up, please."
"The girl opened her eyes. "Mmmm?" she asked sleepily, opening her eyes, which widened happily when she saw who it was. "Dad? DAD!" she flung her arms around her father and gave him a crushing hug.
Michael hugged her back. "Oh, Rose! I thought I'd never find you!" he said with evident relief.
"Dad, I had a really horrible dream," she said. "I was in a town and it was all dark and there were all monsters there. You were looking for me and I met this woman who was English -" she stopped when she noticed the Doctor. "Who's that?" she asked.
Michael looked back at the Time Lord, who gave small wave and smiled at Rose. "Hello!" he said cheerfully.
"That's the Doctor," explained Michael. "He helped me find you."
Rose smiled back at him. "Hi," she said. "Thank you for helping my dad to find me."
"He was in my dream too," she said. Rose looked back at her father. "I don't like this place, dad, I want to go home."
"Yeah, me too," he said, "Come on, let's go." He took her hand and lead her outside, the Doctor following him for a change.
"No way man!" shouted a voice when all three of them were had left the building.
The small group turned around to see a familiar figure emerge from the darkness. It was Kevin, the young man from the hospital and still had the gun from the first meeting.
"I knew I should have killed you the first chance I got!" he shouted again. "And you've got that girl with you!"
"Now Kevin, calm down," the Doctor said calmly, hoping he could reason with boy this time.
"Shut the fuck up man!" screamed Kevin, and he pointed the gun at them. "I'm gonna kill you all now! There's no way that girl's gonna take my - what the hell are you guys looking at?!"
The other were all staring fearfully at something behind him. "Er, Kevin, I think you should look behind yourself," said the Doctor.
"Do you think I'm stupid or something?" he shouted angrily, waving the gun around. "I'm not gonna fall for that!"
"You really should, human," growled a metallic voice from behind him.
His eyes widening in fear, Kevin swallowed and turned around to see one of the armoured monsters looming over him.
"Oh, no," Michael murmured, as they all took a step back. "I knew there was more than one of them!"
"That's the leader of the Mist Knights," whispered Rose fearfully.
"You were trying to harm the Successssor?" It roared at Kevin.
"But I'm a Successor too! Laura Cantrell was my great great grandmother!" Kevin shouted back at the creature despite his fear. "Take me instead of that -"
He never got to finish the sentence. The creature simply swatted him away without a word and he landed in a heap a few feet away, unmoving.
The thing then stalked towards the Doctor, Michael and Rose. "Give me the girl," it growled, reaching out an armoured claw towards Rose, who held onto her father tightly.
"Over my dead body!" shouted Michael as he drew his daughter closer.
"If need be," it snarled back.
"You're a Velialian, aren't you?" asked the Doctor suddenly, moving in front of the pair.
It stopped and cocked it's helmet covered head at him. "You have heard of my speciessss?" it asked.
"Yes, you Velialians have a reputation of being a nasty bunch of cruel sadists."
Ignoring the taut, it spoke again, "I am Witch Guard Captain Kalhazad of the Endless Pain of the Velial Empire, leader of the personal body guard of Our Lady of Nightmare, Meiidi of the Dark Dream."
"That's a bit of a mouthful isn't it? And I thought my lot had a penchant for long names!" The Doctor gave him a toothy grin. "Can't I just call you Fred? Or how about Dave?"
"Enough!" he roared. Kalhazad grabbed the Doctor's throat and almost immediately place the palm of his hand on his other arm onto the Time Lord's forehead. A split second later the Doctor collapsed to the ground in a heap.
"What… What did you do to him?" asked Michael, stunned
"HA!" Kalhazad barked, swinging his body around to look at him. "He is now reliving the most horrific experience in his life over and over again, which is what I'm now about to do make you do!"
Before Michael could react, the Velialian gently placed his palm onto the man's forehead. There was a bright flash, and everything went black…
***
Alice kissed Michael softly on the lips. "I'll see you tonight then, after I get home from work?" she asked, afterwards the kiss. "You can leave Rose around my sister's house for the night and we can celebrate our anniversary with a nice romantic dinner at home."
Michael smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?" he inquired, with a smile on his face.
"You can get those thoughts out of your head right now, young man!" she scolded playfully.
Michael laughed and sat back in his chair at one of the tables outside the café. "You know me too well, Alice!" He said, grinning now. "It's wonder you married someone like me!"
"Yeah, but you're cute, that's why!" Alice said, laughing herself, but then she stood up from her own chair. "My lunch break is over now, I have too get back to work. See you tonight, Michael," she said, smiling. "I love you."
"I love you too, Alice, goodbye," Michael replied and he watched her as she went to cross the road.
He then saw the car coming down the street, much faster than the speed limit, but hadn't seen it and Michael knew it was going to hit her. He was on his feet in an instant, knocking the chair back, and shouted a warning. The driver of the car hit the brakes, but it was far too late and the car struck her, tossing her body into the air like a broken doll, hitting the road a few seconds later.
"NOOOO!!!" he screamed, rushing over to were Alice now lay, but he knew it was no good. She was dead. He knelt down by her body and started sobbing uncontrollably.
And this event happened again and again and again…
***
"Dad!" Rose said, kneeling beside her father's prone body, feeling totally helpless.
Meanwhile, Kalhazad looked around himself in satisfaction. Both the Time Lord and the human adult would be no further trouble. Now all that would remain would be to take the human child to his queen.
He turned to the girl. "You will come with me," he growled at her.
"I'm not afraid of you," she said bravely.
"Yes you are," he said. "I can practically taste your fear. Delicioussss…" He picked her up and placed her over his shoulder. She struggled, but it was no good, as he was far too strong.
"DADDY! HELP ME!" screamed Rose as she was carried off into the surrounding darkness, but Michael didn't react, as he was trapped within his own mind…
To be continued…