When the Doctor said they would go to the past for their next trip, Violet had no idea she would be forced to face it literally.
The Time Lord's plans had been delayed by the deep state of meditation the sorceress had fallen into. Rose told him she hadn't moved from her spot on the bed for at least a day when the worry for her friend pushed the human girl to ask his assistance.
Glazed black eyes staring at nothing, weight abandoned against the headrest of her bed, and unnatural tension crackling in the air. Not even the Doctor had been able to wake her up.
"Whatever she's doing, it blocks out all the interferences from the outside. I guess we'll have to wait for her to wake up on her own"
"But soon or later she will need to sleep, eat or say something"
"You forget she's not human. Fascinating, this is another thing I didn't know about sorcerers" he replied, "Maybe I can test her a little..."
"Not a chance! You won't do anything without her consent"
The alien frowned in disappointment but didn't argue with her, leaving the room to check on the TARDIS. He needed to reassure himself those radiations of magic didn't upset the time machine. The last thing they needed was a sudden blackout in the middle of nowhere.
Rose left too, wondering if Violet was studying for another enchantment. If she remembered clearly her words, the sorceress would need concentration and time to come up with whatever she was cooking up in her brain.
As the other two occupants of the TARDIS waited eagerly for Violet to wake up, the sorceress was currently locked up in her mind.
Opposite to what one would think, there weren't colors or memories running in front of her eyes. There was only a dark infinite and absolute silence.
No, it wasn't even only dark... more like the deepest black someone could ever see. Sorcerers usually described it as an absence of color, but in Violet's case, it was a bit more identifiable being used to the strings of life appearing randomly everywhere.
The contrast of the colorful threads against the infinite made it easier to bear.
Steven once told her in his case he saw himself, only himself distorted and repeated continuously. As if he was watching through a myriad of mirrors, something that deeply irritated him.
Usually, they were things that could drive a sorcerer mad without proper training, and even then, there were still cases of insanity in more experienced individuals. The trigger could be virtually anything and a deeper connection with their source of power led to confusion, overloading feelings, or even a complete absence of restraint.
Shrugging off those thoughts, Violet felt the concentration return as she focused on the object of her study.
The Doctor.
Sadly, she had no gift of foresight but there was something that enticed her curiosity. The girl evoked his reflection and the copy of the Doctor smiled at her mischievously.
Violet stood up and stepped forward, placing her hand on his head as his body disappeared and only the strings of life were visible. The shape of the body wasn't important, that much she had already guessed, but the knots were too many and too intricate for her liking.
Finn always told her not everything was meant to be analyzed but the sorceress knew whatever the Doctor had was important. A binary system of knots that somehow led to a double set of organs, if what she had observed on the Doctor was true then his biology was more complicated than she had thought.
Nothing screamed alien more than that.
But what was the purpose? He didn't look particularly old maybe in his forties, even if his eyes were too much experienced. Note to herself, Violet thought, ask the Doctor how old is he.
Poking the two knots on his brain, the sorceress watched with interest a fluctuation as several colors darkened for a second. Her fingers pried open the knots to find what was provoking the change, unraveling the essence of the Doctor.
As she proceeded to work on his structure, Violet saw much more clearly how her first glance had been partially wrong. It was an ensemble so tight and layered that she had mistaken it for a single string, but it wasn't true.
There were two different sets, completely detached one from the other like a spare copy of himself ready in case of necessity. Another thing she needed to know...
For now, she needed to wake up. There were still things to understand before going on with her study and she had an idea he would only share information with her in exchange for the many tests the Doctor asked to do on her. A proper deal between species interested in each other.
-.-
What she didn't know was that the Doctor, much to Rose's excitement had decided to bring them to the past. In a place where, as soon as the trio stepped out of the TARDIS, people screamed in horror at the apparition of a luminescent old lady.
"I can't believe it" she commented as the Time Lord talked excitedly with a familiar-looking man on stage.
Rose had disappeared in the crowd a couple of minutes before and she still had to join them. The Doctor was out of himself for the joy when a blue cloud flew around the hall before leaving the place, eliciting screams of terror as the public rushed to the exit. It would have been funny if Violet didn't know exactly what was going on, or rather, who was playing around with the people of the city.
"Have you seen Rose? We have to follow the presence before it leaves us behind!" she asked, not expecting much from the alien as he still was examining the corpse on the floor.
The old lady laid motionless in a heap, completely unresponsive to the Doctor's prodding sonic. Violet noticed the distinctive smell of scented oils on her clothes, the ones you could find in a mortuary when the departed is readied to be buried.
"This is interesting. Dead, her body is already decomposing and yet this woman casually strolls around Cardiff" the Doctor observed.
"I heard of something similar happening in the sixties near Prague" Violet commented, "My grandmother is Czech and always shares stories of things she saw with her grandchildren. Beware of the dead, they are dangerous, she always says but I had no idea what she meant"
"Until now... good old grandma" he replied, "We have to take into account the possibility that aliens are involved in it"
"Maybe. Let's find where the blue mist went and grab Rose quickly. If they are playing around with corpses we could start with cemeteries or mortuaries"
The blond girl had just come inside the hall accompanied by the man who was holding a show that night, seemingly arguing with him as they joined the other two.
"Guys, I just met Charles Dickens!" she exclaimed, pointing to the bearded old man with a giant smile.
"This is not the time to greet celebrities, Rose" Violet smiled at the younger woman's excitement.
"That's right. We have a slight problem with zombies right now, but it's a pleasure to meet you, Charlie. Can I call you Charlie? I'm a fan" the Doctor added.
"A fan?"
"Short for fanatic. Very appreciative of your work, almost a devotion in a manner of speaking"
"I'm sure you're confusing him, Doctor"
"And you're scaring him too" Rose whispered to the sorceress with a smirk.
As Rose got updated on what the Doctor and Violet observed, Dickens watched the trio with barely hidden interest and disbelief at the same time. The girls followed the tall male too easily to be strangers and the Doctor had the natural charisma of a leader in his eyes, but neither of the women took too seriously him, hence the little smirks and nudges they gave each other. An attitude that polite society didn't like at all lately, too much freedom for a pair of young unmarried ladies in the company of a man.
There was also the increasing number of oddities they talked about, things that Dickens didn't understand and didn't exist not even in London, the heart of the modern industrial revolution.
Strange things were his passion but the mystery they had found in Cardiff was, even more, captivating with the presence of people so peculiar.
"I think we'll have to follow the traces this thing left behind. So, we can find where this poor lady came out. I bet it will lead us to a cemetery" Rose offered, "I'm not exactly dressed for a trip among the graves, but I'll make do with it"
"You'd do better to at least cover yourself a bit better, Rose. I can feel goosebumps on my arms from the cold already" Violet said.
"Okay, then. Let's go hunt the zombies, girls" the Doctor kissed his sonic before leading the way out of the theatre, not even paying attention to Dickens who quietly fell in step with Violet and Rose.
"I can't believe we're hunting for zombies" the sorceress snickered excitably, "I'll have something to show off with Steven and Finn when you bring me back to London"
"Do you want to leave us then? I thought you would stick around longer"
"I can't. My family is planning Finn's coming of age ceremony and they need me for the preparatives"
"A ceremony? Like those you see on tv in period dramas?"
"Not really. The name stuck around, but in truth, it's more a tradition to celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday. My aunt and grandma want a huge party, so they are planning even if we still have a year"
"Cool, so then you'll have a ceremony too soon or later"
"In five years. I'm still twenty" Violet shrugged, not wanting to divulge too much with Dickens so close and rudely eavesdropping on their conversation, "I'll explain more later. Now let's pay attention to what the Doctor is doing. I can see the cemetery is not our destination"
And she was right. The Time Lord had followed the remaining traces of the blue gas to a pretty elegant building that Dickens had recognized as a funeral parlor.
"Why are you following us?" Rose asked.
"I want to say some words to the jolly fellow who ruined my show tonight. Even if I'm still uncertain of how he managed to produce such an effect"
The Doctor had tried to tell him it wasn't a special effect, but the old man refused to believe his words. Not interested in explaining the same thing over and over, they let him walk ahead and knock at the door as soon as the Time Lord confirmed there were traces of gas around the house.
"Everyone here has gas" Dickens commented.
"But this is a special kind of gas. Doctor, I think there is something we have to discuss at this point" Violet said, "I think this time your usual kind of... friends have nothing to do with this accident"
"Do you want to bet?"
"I would never spill your money when I'm sure to win. Trust me, this is something else"
"Let's get inside and see who's right then!" he smiled widely as a shy maid opened the door to see people lurking out in the snowy streets.
-.-
"This is preposterous, absolutely impossible" Dickens gasped.
The maid was terrified by the trio in front of her, not only because they had demanded to speak with her master but also for the immediate reply of the spirits to the taller man's presence. She had had nightmares about his face, nothing clear enough to establish what he would do the day of their encounter, and yet the feeling of dread still gripped her heart in a vice.
The corpses ready for the burial had sat up and climbed out of their caskets, glassy blue eyes staring at the intruders with malevolence as they pleaded to be saved.
Gwyneth, that was her name, had a deep understanding of voices and presence normal humans couldn't sense as they had accompanied her for all her childhood, but she was in no way a sorcerer. Once in her family history, there was a woman who had had true magic, but none of her children had inherited the same gift. It was nothing to be proud of, according to her parents and Gwyneth knew better to speak of similar things with strangers.
"They claimed to be simple hosts trapped in someone else's body. And that they're dying" the Doctor said, "But I heard them talk about a rift. It's what they're using to pass through in this world"
"You say it as if they were ghosts or something. But it can't be, no sir, it's simply madness!" Dickens babbled.
"We're open to other theories, Charlie. But not even you can come up with a plausible explanation for zombies without branching into the supernatural"
"You are enjoying yourself, aren't you? Doctor, be serious for a while please" Violet smirked amusingly, "What is a rift?"
"A weak point in time and space. The connection between this place and another, is usually the cause of ghost stories most of the time" he shrugged, "Are you still convinced my friends have nothing to do with it?"
"Just let me do my investigation, Doctor"
The Time Lord left the sorceress in the corridor to join Rose and Dickens as they interrogated the undertaker and his maid. The blond human had taken upon herself the task of gently prying answers from Gwyneth, who seemed to know much more than her master about the presence in the house.
Rose didn't miss the wary glances she had thrown to the Doctor and the worry in her eyes when the corpses dialogued with them. It was only a feeling, but she was pretty sure there was something she didn't want to talk about in front of the others, maybe a new piece of information that could be useful for the Doctor or Violet.
At this point, after seeing aliens prowling around and sorcerers hide in plain sight, Rose figured she was beginning to develop a sixth sense for recognizing strange things in the context. Where the two non-humans couldn't reach, the Tyler girl wanted to give her input.
Violet in the meantime was following the faint traces of familiar cold energy in the corridor that led to the chapel of rest, where the empty bodies were once again laid in the caskets. The undertaker had tried to nail the lids, but the wood had several deep scratches where they had been ripped off with horrific strength.
"I know you're here. I'm alone, my friends can't hear you" she tried to call for the presence she had felt before.
No one replied, but Violet had the sensation they were watching her carefully to evaluate her level of danger probably, something she found very clever. Even for the dead, it wasn't wise to challenge a sorcerer.
The icy presence of someone in the room was unmistakable and Violet smirked in satisfaction when a raspy voice came from the corpse of a young man.
"Sorceress. I bet you're dying to know who you are talking with. I had a good chance to trick the alien into doing my bidding but your presence here is an inconvenient"
"I guess you had some tearful story ready. Maybe a good plan to make him pity you"
"Humans and aliens are easy to trick. You only have to give them whatever they wish the most and they'll come to you. In his case, the eagerness to prove himself would have been the perfect way to take advantage of him"
"Tell me who you are. Maybe I can still help you to find some peace"
"In my case, peace comes with another's death. Do you think your Doctor would ever be willing to kill someone to save my existence? In some way, if you let me go on with my planning, he would be spared from a heartbreaking decision"
"So, revenge. The oldest plague of this world"
"Exactly. I thought our persecution was a thing of the past, but I was wrong. Cardiff is a hole of deceit and hatred that devoured half of my family and as its last victim I'm seeking revenge"
"I can understand your feeling, truly" Violet commented hearing the desperation in the voice, "But the Doctor would never allow you to punish the city for a single person's crime. Because from what I'm hearing, your intentions will involve all Cardiff, guilty or not"
"Can you blame me?"
Violet didn't reply, knowing she wasn't in the right state of mind to take decisions. Her heart screamed in pain for her fellow sorcerer, but the Doctor would never forgive her for acting alone.
The presence left the chapel as soon as the Time Lord appeared in the room, apparently to warn her they were ready to have a séance.
"Violet, are you alright? Did you find something?"
"Yes, I think this is much more serious than a haunted house, Doctor"
"I wanted to have a séance and use Gwyneth as medium..."
"It would be useless. I talked just now with our ghost and I can guarantee he gave me a good idea of what he wants. Just let's go to talk with Rose, no need to involve the other three humans"
"Why? What did he tell you?"
"It's a vengeful sorcerer, basically out to rip apart the city as soon as he gathers enough energy"
"But he's dead now. How much damage could..." he began.
"Sorcerers are dangerous even without a body. A strong conscience is enough to be a serious problem for everyone here"
"So... no séance?" he pouted.
The sorceress snorted inelegantly and pushed him out of the chapel, grateful the Time Lord had tried to lift her mood. There was no need for it now that she knew how to contact the spirit haunting the house, the only thing to do was chat again and find a compromise. It would have been more useful a name and more details but Violet understood the ghost's wariness.
She only hoped they wouldn't have to spend the night there.
Rose met them in the kitchen where Gwyneth was preparing tea for everyone, apparently a bit startled by the maid's knowledge of their lives. It was something worth mentioning to her friends and she could see from Violet's face that she had some news too. That house was already creepy with the ghosts, but now the girl in front of her was talking about things she didn't even understand.
How could a simple maid in Cardiff know about modern London? And why had she mentioned another man lurking in the Doctor's eyes? He was coming... but who and when?
When she talked with Violet about it, Rose didn't expect the complete confusion and the delicate frown on her face.
"Maybe the rift is influencing her" the Doctor piped in, "It wouldn't be the first time a human gain the 'sight' because of it"
"She's not like me. That much is certain, I don't feel anything coming from her" Violet commented.
She recognized the sight as a gift many sorcerers had, but nothing else could prove an actual bond with magic.
The Doctor was beginning to feel out of his depth with that mystery. He was an expert in dealing with aliens and potential dangers for the Earth, even if sometimes the Time Lord tended to put himself on the line too much.
How can someone deal with an incorporeal presence that floats around you, snickering in your ears as flesh hands can't grab it? Violet seemed to have an idea and for once the Doctor was in the uncomfortable position of letting someone else take the lead of the mission.
"You know, since we're talking of a ghost, we could banish it like in..."
"No, Rose. You can't" Violet interjected, "First, this spirit was a living person, not a malevolent thing. Second, you would only be added to his death list if you insult a dead sorcerer like that"
"So malevolent is the right way to describe them. Especially with the murder plan" the Doctor commented.
"A murderous ghost?!" Rose exclaimed.
Violet ignored the bickering pair. The presence was pulling her to the chapel once again where, she was sure of it, another corpse was being used as a vehicle to speak with her. Finally getting rid of the unpleasant hat Rose had placed on her head as they dressed up, the sorceress grabbed their hands and led the way to the faint bluish traces of gas under the closed door.
"This is macabre" she heard the blond human behind her comment.
"I see you brought some friends with you, sorceress"
The Doctor watched warily as a young man turned his empty gaze on them.
"I told you. If we have to reach a compromise, the Doctor would like to be present too"
"He's an alien. And the pet-human girl can wait outside"
"Pet...?!"
"Rose, focus. Yes, normally they couldn't get involved in our affairs but nothing here is very common and your very presence is a violation of our rules. You're deliberately influencing a human girl to believe she has the sight when in truth everything she saw is a lie"
"Not really. She can see things because I have sight. A good alternative in case my first option is a failure, I'm sure you already worked out the problems with this particular form of possession"
"My grandmother is an expert on possessions. You can't get too far from the rift that sustains your existence here, just like the corpse in the theatre. The old woman was too far from you and 'died'"
"Clever girl, your grandmother"
"So, if you can't send the corpses to this person, Gwyneth would be influenced to do your bidding" the Doctor frowned as he summarised what he had managed to understand with the pieces of information he had.
"You are strangely cleaver for an alien"
"Don't tease me, Casper. You don't want to make me angry" he replied, almost growling at the lack of sympathy the presence was showing.
"Don't waste time, Doctor. Threats don't work as long as you don't have a trump card" Violet reassure him.
"You think you'll manage to cast me out. Not long ago you pitied me and wanted to ease my pain, now my race is willing to put me down like a feral beast"
"Because it's what you are at this moment. The remains of your personality are showing only what were your feelings as you died. It's kinder to give you peace"
The air became increasingly colder and Rose shuddered, pulling her shawl tighter around the shoulders. At her side, the Doctor watched the blue gas permeating the corridor disappear in the lamps and he wondered if there was something they were missing.
The presence knew how to possess corpses, but what the use of the substance fluttering in the air? Was it intentional or a collateral effect?
"I think we have to move now," he said, pulling Rose and Violet out of the room, "Do you have an idea of how to banish this ghost?"
"Find and destroy the tether. There has to be something in the house capable of stopping the energy that comes from the rift"
"Let's blow it up then! It would spare us time"
"I would like to remind you Gwyneth and the creepy undertaker live there" Rose commented, "You have a passion for explosives, haven't you?"
"No, blondie. It's called being efficient. Do you know where this random object is? No, so then we eliminate all the possibilities at once"
"A bit over the top, but intelligent," Violet said, "Now, you only have to convince the owner"
-.-
In the end, the mention of blowing up the house-made the undertaker faint. The Doctor didn't count it as a failure, but they still argued with Dickens about it, who still didn't understand what was going on between them and the incorporeal presence in there.
He had followed them in the chapel, paying attention to stay hidden, and felt dread pervading his mind as he couldn't find proof of tricks. The cold could easily come from an open window, but the eerie voice and the corpses sitting up with empty expressions seemed too true to be illusions.
"I demand to know what's happening, Doctor. You speak about possessions, haunted houses, and ghosts, but these... things don't exist!"
"If you believe this, then why are you still here? You help or go, the choice is yours but don't waste my time" the Time Lord replied flatly.
"Come on, Doctor. Do you expect me to believe this charade?"
"I don't expect anything from you, Charlie"
The Time Lord knew the ghost would try to stop them, otherwise, it would have been too easy, but it wasn't necessarily a problem. Whatever trick he used, they were all ready to deal with it when necessary.
Violet reassured him nothing would happen to the dead sorcerer. Disappeared the tether, there wouldn't be anything to tie him to this world and he would go back to be … well, dead.
"I think we have to move quickly. I can feel movements inside the chapel, he's working on something" Violet said, pushing Gwyneth gently out of the kitchen, "You have to go now"
"I can't, miss" the maid replied, "There is something I have to do before leaving this house"
Rose and Violet thought nothing of it and let her go.
"Come on, girls. I want to see this rift and scan it with my sonic" he smiled.
The sorceress was a bit curious about finding a name, but she supposed the ghost would never speak now that they were ready to banish him. And also his story elicited her curiosity, making her wish to erase the source of his despair. The Doctor had scolded her for entertaining such a thought and warned her to avoid whatever temptation she felt to change history.
"Promise me you won't take the bait, Violet," he said when Rose and Dickens went to search for Gwyneth who had been absent for five minutes and still had to leave the premises.
"This is your field of expertise, Doctor. Time and space are a bit too hard to understand for me" she joked, a small crease of frustration in her brow as she thought back to the feelings the presence had passed to her in the chapel.
"We'll give him one last warning. If he gives us a name, I won't give you chance to search for this person"
"I know. But just one question. If you could go back in time and stop Jack the Ripper for example, do you still consider yourself capable of turning a blind eye, knowing what he has done?"
"Travelling through time has its perks but changing a fixed point can cause even more severe consequences. So no, I wouldn't. It's hard to understand, Violet, but my entire life I've seen the universe on the verge of a collapse because things like these had happened"
"But you still interact with people, somehow your presence here changes something"
"Nothing important. No one remembers a random man appearing and disappearing. Besides I don't always look the same, my face changed many times from my birth. But we'll talk more about it later if you wish"
Violet nodded in confusion and filed that information for another time. Another piece of a puzzle she still wasn't sure she would be ever able to solve.
-.-
"We have no time to waste, Rose. If you haven't found her, then Gwyneth is already outside" the Doctor commented.
"But none of us saw her pass!"
"Then let's check everything is in place and then we'll do one last round" Violet offered, giving a small packet of matchsticks to the Doctor.
Dickens and the trio went to the cellar where the undertaker had most of his 'clients' ready to be carried out to the cemetery the following day. The oils did nothing to masquerade the stench of death and humidity, something that disgusted deeply the girls, but the Doctor encouraged them to resist a bit more.
"The rift is close. This is the center of the activity and the perfect place to establish a tether on this world without interruptions"
"I think there is someone here, Doctor," Dickens said at the back of the group, "The lamp was still warm when I touched it"
"I told the undertaker to avoid this place as he left the palace. What was he doing here?"
"Gwyneth" Rose shuddered, recognizing the white apron tossed over a closed coffin.
The girl had noticed something at the entrance but as she came closer it became obvious to her where the girl had been all that time. She had searched for her in every room and yet not once did she think to go to the only place the Doctor had forbidden her to check alone.
A rustle surprised Violet, who shrieked and grabbed the Doctor's arm as a freezing hand grabbed her wrist. The sorceress shrugged off its hold and backed away cautiously.
The dead were sitting up slowly from their coffins and her eyes met the empty ones of a young woman with a badly concealed gash on the forehead.
The Time Lord pushed both the girls behind him as Dickens used the lit lamp he was holding to fend off their aggressors. Violet could feel a bruise forming on her skin, but at that moment there was no time to worry about it.
"Come out. We know you're here" the Doctor said with a strong voice, "We're dying to meet you"
"Doctor!" Dickens exclaimed in horror at the macabre irony of the alien.
Instead of hearing the same incorporeal voice, the group saw a small figure striding forward with uncertain steps from the back of the cellar. Rose gasped in despair when Gwyneth, mortally pale and expressionless, took a deep breath and began to talk.
"I warned you this would happen. The rift is more powerful than I thought, it's killing me but I can finally leave this place"
"You can't be killed. You're already dead!" Rose exclaimed, "And you murdered Gwyneth too!"
"I need hands to execute my murderer. Don't worry, I made it painless for her. After this last act, my existence will cease to exist completely but I don't regret it"
"I'll make you regret all of this myself!" she replied, barely kept out of the Doctor's way by Dickens as the Time Lord stepped forward.
"We want to give you some closure, but this is not the way to go"
"I don't care. Step aside and get out. As soon as Mr. Gareth dies, I'll be satisfied. I gave up my plans on Cardiff for you, be grateful I'm not dragging the whole city with me"
"Because there's still some good in you if you can tell the difference between your assassin and the rest of the world. It won't matter how he died very soon because his life is already dwindling but you can save yourself!"
"It matters to me!"
The dead stepped forward and their hands stretched forward, nails ready to dig in their flesh like predators.
Dickens ran out of the cellar screaming like a madman while the Doctor pushed the girls into the dungeon's corridor and closed after them the metal mesh door.
"Tell me you can see their strings!" Rose exclaimed as she flattened against the wall.
"No! This is an enchantment, nothing to cut here" she panicked, "Right now, they are less alive than your mannequins friends"
"I regret meeting you, little sorceress. How sad to see our race deteriorate like this, but it's a good thing neither of us will be able to see it getting worse"
"I don't want to die here!" Rose cried.
Violet tuned out their voices as the Doctor blamed himself for having dragged the two girls into a dangerous situation, there had to be something she could do to save them. Ideas bumped confusedly all around her brain but nothing seemed good enough or achievable from behind a grate.
Her power reached out to test the range of action but it wasn't enough to get close to Gwyneth's body. As much as it pained Violet, attacking her directly would at least buy them some time and maybe open a way out. The ghost wasn't so powerful to keep a steady control over her body and the corpses too at the same time during a direct attack.
"We have to kill her too" the Doctor sighed, apparently reaching the same conclusion, "Whatever the ghost did to her, she won't be the same Gwyneth anymore"
"She already died, Doctor. There is no more life into her" the sorceress replied.
"You don't know this!" Rose protested, "She's just an innocent girl!"
"But do you remember, Rose? I can see it, I know she's not here anymore"
The blond human choked back a sob as the eerie empty eyes of the maid stared at them. Gwyneth's body was standing still under the vault as the corpses around her tried to pry open the door that separated them from the alive trio.
"From here, I can't reach anything or create an explosion without dying ourselves" the Time Lord said with a frown, "I can't see a way out. I'm so sorry girls"
The man wrapped an arm around their shoulders and pushed Violet and Rose back as much as he could, but they all knew it was useless.
Violet had no way to reach Gwyneth that smirked at her from the other side of the cell and the Doctor had no idea how to step around the mob in front of their door.
Just as they were panicking and hoping for a quick death, a stench of gas and a loud voice from outside the cell made them jump in surprise. Dickens was shouting something to them but it became clear only when he came closer.
"You'll kill us too this way!" Rose exclaimed.
"You two, go outside and wait for me" the Time Lord snapped, pushing the girls toward the author as Gwyneth felt the gas choking her thanks to Violet's manipulation of the room.
"Come with us, Doctor. I can detonate this place from outside" Violet said, pulling his arm toward the door.
There was no way he could risk his life more than he had already done, shielding the two girls with his own body earlier. He wanted to see if Gwyneth had a chance to be saved and to speak again with the ghost, but Violet could recognize a lost cause when she saw one. The Doctor was a good person and he had gone through a fair share of troubles, but he still had no idea of the deep darkness that resided in a vengeful sorcerer's mind.
She wanted in a way to protect him from harm and herself from the truth too. Violet had wanted to believe there was still something to save but Gwyneth's body had been the last straw.
Her power was crackling furiously and Violet felt satisfaction at the fear she saw on her face when the power raged in the room.
As they stepped out of the cellar and went into the street, the Doctor felt a shiver run over his spine at the raw anger washing over the building and engulfing it in flames. People around the street screamed when with a roar the fire swallowed the funeral parlor and he knew at that moment that Gwyneth had finally been put to rest.
It was terrifying and marvelous to watch at the same time. Her power was overcoming rapidly the small defences the ghost tried to put up but they went down easily and Violet felt the rift snapping shut.