"It's a blue house." Jenna said quietly "Number 206, it should be around here somewhere."
Rose carefully guided the young woman through the abandoned streets. It seemed to her that they where heading back toward the lake. "I'm surprised anyone still lives here." Rose said. She found herself trying to slow the steady pace of the determined girl, "Are you sure this is the right area? We've passed more than two streets."
"Yes... yes I'm sure of where I am now" Jenna began to move faster.
"Well if you're sure then I should be going," Rose released the girl's arm "my friend will be looking for me by now."
"You can't leave!" Jenna turned quickly and locked eyes with Rose. "I've got to take you back with me."
Rose shook her head and stepped back in uncertainty "You're not blind" she said blandly. But the realization of it had no impact on her. She felt no fear, only a strange willingness to follow this girl. The muscles in her legs went slack as though they awaited an order from her bewildered mind. An order that had somehow been lost and was now unimportant.
"Come with me please!" Jenna insisted "You belong with us... you'll see."
"With... you?" she muttered.
"Rose!"
Rose jumped at the Doctor's voice. She turned to see him standing at the end of the street, a mixture of curiosity and confusion on his face.
"No!" Jenna cried out. She quickly stepped in front of Rose and once more looked into her eyes. Rose shook her head as the strange numbness began to fill it again
"Leave me alone" Rose whispered, then more forcefully... "get out of my head!" She brushed past Jenna only to freeze as she came face to face with a man dressed in beige."
"No time" the man stated, a man who had seemingly stepped from thin air.
"Rose!" the Doctor called out again. This time the panic in his voice was quite plain. Before she could turn to look for him, the man placed a hand on her bare shoulder. "No time... you come with us now" he stated plainly.
And she was moving, running alongside them. Behind her she could hear the Doctor's footfalls, hear him calling out to her, but she could do nothing to stop the pounding of her sandaled feet on the crumbling pavement. Eventually the houses disappeared, the pavement fell behind them and once more she felt the press of sand beneath her feet. In the distance she could see the water, and as they drew closer she could smell it. Inside her mind she screamed as the Doctor's voice grew more distant. She was helpless and she hated it, a prisoner in her own skull.
Finally they slowed to a stop as they approached a figure in black and two horses that startled slightly at their approach.
"I failed you!" Jenna cried.
"No child," the man in black answered "the gift failed. These things fade with time, but you are with us once more." He turned to look at Rose, who's eyes darted quickly to each of the three strangers but was still unable to move. "I am Meridian. Do not be afraid, we will not harm you." He reached forward and took her hand in his. His eyes widened suddenly and he released it. He looked at Jenna. "She's not the one."
"But the sphere," Jenna protested "you said..." she pointed to the mesh bag on Rose's hip. There the sphere sat, snugly settled in it's nest of shells, and emitting a steady and unwavering light.
Meridian nodded. "There was another with her" it was a statement.
"Yes," the man in beige responded "he follows us now."
"Then all is not lost," Meridian took her hand once more, "release her."
Suddenly Rose could feel her legs, instinctively she pulled back but Meridian's grip was like iron. With a fierce motion she lifted her free hand and delivered a stinging slap across his face.
Meridian winced slightly but seemed otherwise unphased. With a sad smile he pulled her forward and raised her shaking hand toward the nearest horse. He pressed her hand to horse's neck. "A gift for you outsider, though I doubt you'll know how to appreciate it."
Rose blinked, her eyes focused on the stretch of land along the water. She wanted to run once more, but this time was different. It seemed she'd been waiting ages to run, awaiting a signal to move. Her body was long, her legs already trembling in anticipation of the exertion. Rose ran her hand through the horses mane and realized with shock that she was seeing through it's eyes.
Around her the others began to move. Jenna and the man in beige mounted the other horse, and Meridian mounded the one standing beside her. As if in a dream she felt him lift her gently unto the horses back. Rose's eyes glazed over, she ran both her hands down the horses neck. Then a voice. It was the Doctor calling out to her once more. It seemed so far away.
"He's found us!" cried Jenna
Meridian let out a high whistle. That was the signal, that was what Rose had been waiting for. The horses began to run, but it was she herself that was running. Strong legs pounding into the sand as they sped forward.
"Rose!"
A distant cry from so far away. But she couldn't let this feeling go. Not now. She closed her eyes to block out the conflicting information and wrapped her arms around the beasts neck. Freedom, strength, power. A small smile curved her lips. Looking only through the eyes of the creature beneath her, she ran, and it was glorious.
The Doctor slowed his stride as the horses grew smaller in the distance. There was no way he could catch up to them now. His face turned to stone. The man that took Rose had appeared out of no where, and why didn't she struggle or cry out? For some reason it cut him more deeply than if she had. What kind of power could those people have over her if Rose, his Rose, couldn't fight back?
"The TARDIS."
He could find her from there. He turned and started west when he spotted a young boy staring at him. The boy was hiding at the edge of the sand, peeking out from among the low trees and scraggly shrubs that dotted the landscape.
"You!" The Doctor called out to him. "How long have you been there!"
The boy jumped and scrambled from the bushes. He ran clumsily over the sand. The Doctor sprinted forward and easily closed the distance between them. Grabbing the boy's arm he turned him to face him. The boy shrieked and began tearing at the arm of the Doctor's leather jacket.
"Do you know where they've gone?"
"I can't tell you anything!" the boy whimpered. "You don't know what they'll do to me if I do!"
"You don't know what I'll do to you if you don't!"
The boy stopped struggling, but continued to breathe hard. He looked up at the him with fearful eyes but said nothing.
The Doctor examined the boy. He was shabbily dressed, his face smeared with dirt, and from the smell of him he clearly hadn't had a bath in ages. A small drawstring sack hung from the boy's neck. The Doctor pulled the bag forward with his free hand and peered at the contents. A few coins, an earring, and part of an old watch. "Did you find these today?" he asked calmly "Do you come here everyday?"
The boy relaxed. He seemed calmer now that the questions were about him.
"Most days," he shrugged "people drop things, it's hard to find things that get lost in the sand."
"And those people, the ones you saw take the girl with them, do they come through here often?"
The boy's face paled noticeably despite the grime concealing it.
"I'm not going to hurt you," the Doctor said as he released they boy's arm "but I have to know where they've taken her."
The boy said nothing for a moment, he simply stared at his shoes, Then quietly... "She's a friend?"
"Yes," the Doctor said, relieved the the boy did not run away again "a very good friend."
The boy shuddered slightly and looked up at him "All right" he said slowly "but only 'cause I've lost friends too." He shifted his gaze to the far side of the lake "The truth is I don't know, I stay away from augments, but there's a woman who lives down there, she knows... and she keeps her mouth shut about it too." The ducked sideways and quickly dashed beyond the Doctor's reach. "If you're smart that's what you'll do!" he called back as he ran toward the forests edge.
The Doctor made a move to follow him, then stopped. "What's an augment?" he called out after him, but the boy continued running.
With a look of determination the Doctor turned and gazed across the smooth water of the lake.
"Well, she'll talk to me."