Chapter 2: Complete strangers

Anna tried to prise Mike's hands off her neck but they didn't give way, Mike then pulled her over, pinning her to the ground. Anna stared at her brother's contorted face. Anna could feel a strong wind blowing, and then she heard a groaning sound coming from somewhere. Was she imagining this, were these merely effects of suffocation on the mind? Then a man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere grabbed Mike and tried to pull him off, then he was joined by a girl, they both managed to pull Mike off. He rolled away from them and got to his feet, his arms raised and his fingers curled. He was breathing heavily and looking ready to attack again. But now he was focussing on the man that had pulled him off Anna. Then his briefing slowed down and the expression on his face returned to normal, he lowered his arms and looked at the three of them, then he focussed on Anna.

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"I dunno," Anna replied, approaching him cautiously, "You just went mad."

"Good thing we got here then I suppose," the man said.

"And who are you two then?" Anna asked, "Sapphire and Steel."

"Of course they're not Sapphire and Steel Anna," Mike said, "Since when did Steel where a leather jacket."

"Fair point," Anna replied, "I suppose their not the Avengers either," they both laughed at this idea.

"What are you two talking about?" the girl asked.

"30 or more year old TV Rose," the man explained, "Doesn't get repeated very much."

"Right," Rose said slowly.

The creature could hear people conversing around him, he could see them, smell them, almost feel there presence. It felt as though he was one of them. It felt a body, a body it inhabited. The creature had found this body and used it to attack. It saw all life as a threat to it, the body turned right and the creature saw through its eyes the girl it had tried to attack. Hatred spewed through his mind at the thought that she had survived the attack. He looked at her, remembering her appearance for future reference. She would not survive a second time.

Mike felt his fists clench, he was feeling anger, anger towards his sister. He didn't know why. A hissing snarl escaped his lips; the man and the girl were still talking while Anna was just listening. None of them noticed him, he couldn't make out what they were saying, all he could recognise was the anger he was feeling. He pulled his arm back and swung it at Anna; the man reacted almost instantly and grabbed it before it made any impact. Mike glared at the man, still hissing and snarling. Then Mike lashed out at him, striking his fist into the man's head knocking him to the floor. Then he turned towards Anna again, she saw the look of evil on his face again, he had his arms raised ready to strike. Anna turned and ran, with Mike following close behind. The girl stayed standing where she was, the shock of what had just happened still sinking in, it had happened quickly. The man got to his feet beside her, he was looking very worried.

"What's wrong with him Doctor?" the girl asked.

"I don't know Rose," the Doctor replied, "I think we'd better find out."

They both ran after Anna and Mike, both with thoughts racing through there minds about what was happening.

Anna turned down a steep slope which led to a field with a cycle path running alongside it. She looked round to see Mike stop at the top of the slope. He bent down and leapt through the air, turning round as he did so and landing on his feet in front of Anna. She started to back away from him cautiously. Mike swung one of his legs at her, hitting her behind the knees, knocking her over. Mike bent down, kneeling on her waist to keep her on the ground and once again started to strangle her. Anna tried to through him off but without success, he was to strong for her. She looked into his face, into his eyes and she saw pure madness in there, nothing else.

The creature looked at its victim, seeing nothing but terror on her face. It liked to see that in its prey, fear, fear of death, fear of it. And nothing else. The creature forced tighter grip around the girls neck, she would be dead soon…very soon.

The Doctor stopped at the top of the slope, and looked down to see Mike and Anna at the bottom. Rose caught up with and looked at the sight as well.

"There's something really wrong here," the Doctor said and ran down the slope.

Mike looked up to see the Doctor running towards him, he let go of Anna and leapt at the Doctor knocking him to the ground. Rose ran down the slope after the Doctor and stopped next to Anna; Rose saw that Anna was unconscious and breathing heavily. The Doctor got to his feet as Mike lunged at him, arms outstretched. The Doctor grabbed them and they grappled with each other like two sumo wrestlers, except without all the weight. The Doctor could see that Mike wasn't himself; the look of evil on his face was a definite sign of something he didn't like.

The creature had attacked the man, merely to prevent him from interfering again. The girl had been weakened by his attack, and he would kill her when it had finished the man off. But the creature felt something inside; memories that weren't his were flooding through his mind. He saw images of a first day at school, a whale plummeting towards the ground, a birthday party, going to the cinema with friends, a person dressed as a bird hanging from the ceiling and being whacked with pieces of card with comic strip action effects on them (like splat or pow). The creature was slipping out of control, it was losing again.

Mike let go of the Doctor, once again suffering from shock at what he had tried to do. He looked at Anna, then at Rose and then the Doctor.

"What's happening to me?" he asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, "But I'm going to find out and stop it."