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A Recognised Loss
Part 11
The Doctors' yell chilled Rose right into her soul – she recognised his tone of voice – he only ever used it when there was trouble. She dropped the plates and ran toward Venetias' bedroom, a million scenarios flashing through her mind at once. She came to a stop in the doorway, panting, her eyes wide and frantically glancing around
'She's gone Rose' the Doctor softly told her. Rose froze – it couldn't be
'Gone? What do you mean gone? Gone where?' she began to panic as her eyes began to well.
'She's just not here' the Doctor gently told her, Rose looked around the room at the open cupboard and the abandoned book
'Who's taken her? Who has my baby?' she cried. The Doctor walked up to her, his hands on her shoulders
'I don't know' he gravely told her 'But I'm going to find out, and that person will have hell to pay' he vowed. Rose nodded but her lip continued to tremble
'My poor baby' she whispered as she frantically wiped her tears away with the back of the hand.
The Doctor began to search the room
'What I don't understand' he began as he opened draws and looked in cabinets 'is why anyone would want to take her'
Rose joined him in the search occasionally stopping to wipe away her tears. The Doctor pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver and held it up into the air – Rose smiled sadly
'You still have that thing?' she asked, he nodded
'Yep. I'm just searching for any other wavelength so we know if someone – or something – was tracking her' Roses' eyes opened wide
'They've been following her?' she asked desperately pleading for it not to be true. He dropped the Sonic Screwdriver back into his pocket
'Nope – just thought I'd better check' he assured her. Rose stopped her pacing for a moment when she came across a photo of herself and Venetia, she stroked the photo
'Where are you?' she whispered to the picture as her tear drops soaked it.
Venetia felt like she had been running forever, her little legs continued to pound against the pavement under her, her breath had become shallow and irregular, and she could feel her cheeks flushing. She began to slow down, her hand still holding onto Winnie who was flailing along beside her, she slowed down to walking pace and saw a bench – she gratefully dropped onto it.
'We'll just rest for a minute Winne' she assured the teddy bear. Her eyes were wide in the darkness as the evening drew close, she could feel her heart pounding as people walked by her staring. She looked at her teddy before she closed her eyes
'You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think' she muttered the words of her favourite Winnie the Pooh story over and over again trying to convince herself that she would be alright. She was so sure that she was close to the river – but she'd been running for what felt like hours and it seemed the further she ran the further away from the river she became. She blinked back the tears and fear that was threatening to overwhelm her. She hugged Winnie close to her heart
'Even when we're apart I'll always be with you' Venetia whispered to her bear recalling the words her father had read to her from the story before promising they were true.
'It's okay Winnie' she reassured the bear 'We're not alone – Daddy's with us' she told Winnie before she stopped to think.
'What would Daddy do?' she asked herself remembering his stories. Then she knew she couldn't give up – she had come this far and she most certainly would find the river – even if it was the last thing she did. The little girl jumped off the bench, her blonde curls now tangled together, her breath was becoming visible in the night air but Venetia didn't care – she had a plan. She grabbed Winnie and began to run again.
The Doctor froze as he found the Winnie the Pooh book – the words on the page leapt out at him
'Rose' he called softly – she was at his side in a second
'I think you should look at this' he told her as he read the words of the story. Rose frantically scanned the page before looking up at him, her eyes wide and afraid
'She wanted answers didn't she?' the Doctor thought aloud – Rose slowly nodded her head before it hit her.
'So she thought she could find the answers in the river like Winnie the Pooh could?' she realised frantically, she brought her hands to her mouth as she truth dawned on her. The Doctor stared worriedly at the page for a moment as Rose stood up and clutched at the photo of her missing daughter.
'My poor baby' she whispered to the photo 'What answers are you searching for?'
The Doctor turned to look at Rose, his eyes dark and dangerous
'I'll get her back – I promise' he vowed to her. She could tell that he meant it – he would protect her with the last breath in his body – it was in that moment Rose realised he really was a father.
The Doctor strode out of the room pulling his coat on in the process; Rose followed him putting her jacket on as well
'Does she know how to get to the river?' the Doctor asked as he opened the front door, Rose stopped to think
'I don't think so…' she began but then she remembered 'Oh! Mum used to take her there when she was little; she always loved to watch the boats'
The Doctor nodded as he slammed the door shut behind him. He offered his hand out to Rose who readily accepted it
'Lead the way' he commanded; together they ran down the roads hand in hand just like the old days – except they weren't running from danger now, they were looking for the little girl who lit up both of their lives.
Venetia had stopped running and now walked slowly through the dark London streets, she shivered as she huddled into her coat – the air was getting colder as she approached the river. Her face was a mixture of fear and worry as she wandered further and further away from home and into the darkness. She knew she was getting closer, she could smell the water – if only she knew what direction to go in. She carefully climbed on top of a bench still holding onto Winnie – she looked out trying to decide what direction to go in, then she saw the river. It was a huge body of water, dark and gleaming in the darkness, a few lights sparkled off of it but the river absorbed the rest of the reflections – the water almost seemed black under the faint gleam of the moonlight. Venetia shivered as she clutched Winnie closer – she had a bad feeling.
'We're almost there' she told her teddy as she jumped down from the bench. The sound of her tiny footsteps echoed off every wall as she made her way through the darkness towards the river bank, she shivered ignoring the hairs that were standing on end at the back of her neck, she just repeated the same phrase over and over again
'Even when we're apart I'll always be with you'
When Venetia finally reached the river it was most defiantly night time, the sun had disappeared hours ago and the moon had come out in its place. The stars lit up the night sky, barely visible due to the fog that covered London; she gazed at the stars remembering their names trying to distract herself. There was a long bridge that went over the river, she looked at it thoughtful for a moment then she turned to her teddy
'We're gunna go over that bridge, okay?' she asked the bear who didn't reply.
'Okay' she assured herself as she walked onto the bridge. She stopped dead in the centre looking down over the viscous waves that crashed and dived into one another. All lights drowned in the darkness of the river, she knew if she fell in that she would never be coming back out. With Winnie tucked inside her coat she leant forward over the railing holding on tightly – she could feel herself shaking as she looked down into the darkness.
'Okay' she assured herself again 'I'm looking into the river'
As she looked down she could just about make out the reflection of a little girl with a halo of blonde curls, her face was pale and rosy rings circled her cheeks, her eyes were wide and frightened as nothing reflected back in them – her mouth was red and parted. She looked into the river searching for answers but all she could find was herself
'What's the answer?' she whispered to the river, the wind howled splashing gentle droplets of water up into her face. She stared at the river angrily
'Who are my parents?' she asked the river now shouting 'Who are they really?' she screamed as tears began to fall down her face. She stared down into the river still only able to see the hysterical little girl in the waves – then she realised the truth.
'It doesn't matter who they are' she whispered to the river as it dawned on her 'Whoever they are, that's who I am as well. I'm the same as them' she whispered to herself as a chill ran through her body. She blinked back her tears and stepped back away from the edge, she turned to go home when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see where the hand came from. The scream of a petrified little girl echoed off all the buildings in London reverberating back to its' source – the river hungrily accepted the screams that showed no sign of stopping.
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