Doctor Who: Inner Time
Episode I: From the Shadows
Chapter One: Any life up there?
Jania Tiriel rounded the corner of the crowded street in London, England. She wasn't watching where she was going, and nearly ran into a man, who spilled his coffee all over himself in effort to avoid her. "Oh, sir! I'm sorry!" she called, as she continued her way, him glaring at her.
Jania Tiriel was a musician who had been out of work for months, one of the only people who still spent time with her – or considered her worthy of said time – was a young woman named Kyra. The two had met in line at the unemployment office and after discovering that they were both artists they had decided to spend some time working together once every week.
After all, they had little else to do. Ever since Jania had thrown a cup of punch in her director's face when he had made a pass at her, her life had been a living hell; her director had blacklisted her because she had gotten him taken in for questioning at the local Police Department – as a result no director or any other musical form of work would hire her because the blacklist would pass to them.
Kyra, on the other hand, was out of work because she WANTED to be out of work; she was a veteran, a young woman of twenty-seven who spent most of her time locked up in her flat painting things that nobody wanted. These paintings made her feel better because they were one of the only outlets she had to pore her anger and resentment towards the people who had given her orders to do as she did during her last assignment.
Sighing to herself Jania took the strap on her violin case and pulled it up over her left shoulder. Humming sadly, she kept on going towards her flat, away from the busier parts of town. She went up the stairs inside and sat the case down by her couch. She flopped down on it, worn out from the long week. But it was finally Saturday. And tomorrow was the one-day she hadn't committed herself to looking for work somewhere or another in order to earn enough money to live off.
Jania went downstairs once more, deciding fresh air would do her good. She walked to the back of the building and sat in the grass under a tree. Leaning against it Jania stared up at the stars in wonder. She had always been curious about the stars and often she would just go outside, look at the sky and whisper 'any life up there?' and one of the many thoughts that ran through her head while she was standing in line was 'What's more is there to this Galaxy than what the tiny planet earth knew?'
Jania lived in a three story flat a few blocks down from Kyra, the two young women would sometimes visit each other for lunch just to make themselves feel better though usually the only visited on that one day a week; namely Friday.
Jania was sitting there, feeling lonely and tired as she saw her life pass before her eyes, dreams and hopes all for naught and even her longing for a better future seemed pointless right now… in fact, other then the buzzing in the back of her head that had been present since the beginning of the week. Jania wasn't all that sure she WAS alive.
There was a burst of staticy noise and suddenly all of the lights, radios, TV's and other electronic devices across the block switched on. Suddenly, a voice could be heard through the static, "Ja-na," called the voice softly, "Ja-na! I can help you, I can answer those burning questions of yours, Ja-na," said the voice, the mispronounced ja-na sounded hissy and staticy as it called to the young woman sitting under the tree.
The lights in her flat flickered and went out, as did the other lights around the block, the car lights and nearly ever single bit of electrical machinery near Jania. Glancing back as the voice caught her attention and the lights flickered out, she jumped up from her seated position. Her heart pounded in a sort of strange fear. Yet curiosity got the better of her, as it had before, though never in a way such as this. Shaking her head the young woman headed inside and up the stairs of her flat.
She looked all around her as she climbed the stairs, glancing at nearby buildings and shadows as if for hidden answers. She continued her creep up towards her own flat, the voice still echoing slightly in her memory. She went to the door and slowly opened it. The darkened kitchen across the room seemed ominous in the sunset, as it had cast an eerie red glow about it.
The voice had come from the television. A dark red-colored static illuminated the black silhouette of what looked like a king cobra. Gasping in surprise the young woman took a step back, "Who are you?" she blurted out, "What did you say?" the shadow suddenly sprouted a pair of yellow eyes, "I said," the voice hissed, "That I can tell you what ever you need to know Ja-Na," the shadow slowly began to sway back and forth, "Do you want to know what is out there Ja-Na?"
She could feel her mind fogging... as if she was slowly falling asleep. Jania fell to her knees on the floor, a strange sort of sleep trying to take over her. She bent over to her hands on the ground. Realizing vaguely the weird connection between these events in her home, she turned her eyes away from the television as she struggled to push herself up off the ground dizzily. Staggering backwards away from it, Jania pushed away at the darkness in her mind.
There was a roar from the TV and suddenly the glass part of the screen vanished as the shadow thrust its hand through it and lunged for the woman. Dodging the shadows hand Jania grabbed a hold of the clicker behind her and changed the channel. The creature shrieked as its solidity began to fade and with another shriek it pulled back into the TV – just as Jania turned from the room, started at a jog and turned into a blind dash as she reached the door.