Her chest burning, both lungs prepared to pop, her feet throbbing in pain as she forced them to run beyond reasonable, covered from head to toe, in a mix of her own blood and sweat, Lila fled through the darkness, unable to stop, though her legs wanted to give out from under her, her feet wanted to stop dead in her tracks, but she pushed through, putting her adventuring to good use.
Only as much as she can before her legs physically gave up, sending her to flying for a few seconds, before falling to the ground in a loud thud, Lila face down with an audible groan.
Slowly, she raised her head, the sharp pain from hitting her head putting her in a daze, when she heard a set of footsteps in front of her.
Pushing her chest up from the ground as her chestnut eyes struggled to see through the darkness ahead of her, Lila heard the footsteps coming towards her.
Oh, what the hell's going on, now?
"An interesting character, you are," Lila heard a posh man compliment her, though she doubted it was, as she sees a man, roughly forties, but hard to tell for certain because of his well-kept mustache and prim beard, step towards her.
It's the man from before, the one she stupidly went with looking for Theodore.
Horror 101, Lee!
Using the little anger, she held within herself, Lila forced herself up from the ground, eyes practically burning redder than the sun orbiting Krypton, she didn't care to try and talk.
Grandpa always said she had the Irish fighting spirit.
Her school records backed her up on that.
Attempting to punch the man, Lila threw several punches, wanting nothing more than to pulverize the bastard.
Only after the final attempt, did Lila realize that she wasn't landing a single punch, that the man wasn't even flinching, all she was doing's hitting nothing.
It only amused the man, as he remarked, "Quite a fighter, too!"
Her fists bawled, Lila pointedly asked him, "Do you have a few screws loose, buddy, I think I found them, want them back, let me come a little closer!"
Physically, her legs wouldn't move, she's stuck in place, as the man walked towards her, his hands behind his back.
Even at an arm's length, Lila couldn't hit him, her fists wouldn't move, either.
The man knew this as he leaned forward, Lila sees the intensity of those dark eyes, as he tells her with a flicker in them, "Many have tried to harm me, my dear, many failed."
Stuck in one place, unable to escape, Lila's forced to watch, as she hoarsely asks him, "What the hell did I do to you?"
Unfazed by her, the man replied with, "Not you in particular, my dear, you're simply a means to an end."
Eloquently, the man tells Lila that he simply didn't care about her existence, but he'd been waiting for an opportune time, and well, the time's now.
"If you didn't care about me, what the hell's the point?" Lila struggled to gesture towards him, as the man walked around her, his intense gaze that would make someone like Ted Bundy turn tail and run.
As he walked around her, studying her, the man pointed out, "You know why, my dear. You've met them, surely."
It reached her mind as Lila sputtered, "You… them…"
Harkening back to Pete when he told them about his wife dying, the choice of words, it finally resonated with Lila.
This…
This…
He was Rommy's husband that Layne grew quickly absentminded talking about.
He killed Ellie!
Matilda!
And…
Silently, it's as though he knew what she was thinking, giving her a silent nod, as she looked on in horror, seeing the man in front of her, again.
"You!" Lila screamed as she tries desperately to free her hands, wanting to wring that bastard's neck!
He killed her!
He killed her best friend!
"Why?!" Lila struggled to breathe as the realization hit her like an 18-wheeler truck.
Unflinching, the man tells her why, "She… was a means to an end…"
He killed Bill to get to her.
He wanted Lila…
To get to Theodore.
Oh, but he assured Lila that he wasn't going to kill her, not yet anyway.
As comforting as a liner from Freddy Krueger!
"Who the hell are you?" Lila demanded to know who this man was and what the hell's his problem, which the man helpfully told her.
Not that it helped, in any way shape or form, just made things more terrifying as they are.
"I've lost my name many centuries ago, my dear. You may refer me as the Master," he called himself.
Alone with the psycho, Lila struggles, as the Master told her not to waste what little of her strength she had left, he didn't want her to squander it.
"What the hell's your problem, pal?" Lila demanded answers as to why the Master held such a deep-seated hatred towards the Doctor, that he ruined lives just to prove a point, and the Master replied to her in a low voice.
Shaking his head, the Master asserts, they aren't the Doctor, fakes, he called them, undeserving of the title, that he simply saw it his duty removing them any means possible.
"You're killing innocent people just to spite the guys who call themselves the Doctor?" Lila angrily summed as the Master stood quietly.
Sighing, the Master informed her that it was their choice, this was their consequence.
As if this made anymore sense than the damn Wishmaker!
"I've told you this before, my dear. I never forget a face," the Master smiles at Lila, but that smile wasn't genuine, it was like someone had to watch a video just to figure out what a smile was, it was that terrible.
Struggling against the force keeping her in place, Lila desperately fought against it, wanting to break free, but she couldn't break free, and she became exhausted, much to the Master's amusement.
He watched her like a damn serial killer having caught a victim, struggling to escape, knowing full-well they can't, waiting for the right time to either kill them, or torture them up until he decides he's had enough entertainment.
"Medikus thought he could kill me. Tortured me to death. How long do you think you can survive, my dear?" Lila heard the Master ask her, expectant that she wouldn't answered him, not in the fashion he expected.
It gave Lila the moment of clarity that she desperately needed.
She wasn't in Hell.
Though, compared to this, it would be Heaven.
The Master trapped her mind, brought here to this labyrinth, with the explicit goal of torturing her until he had his fill, and and after that, God only knows what he planned for her, then.
"Oh, I hope he kicks your ass black and blue with red all over you!" Lila hoarsely shouted at the Master, proclaiming that Theodore will be the last thing the Master sees before the aloof giant goes nuclear warhead on him.
Having seen a preview of an angry aloof giant when he was trapped in the simulation a few weeks back, believing that she'd died within it, Lila didn't need to imagine what he'll have in mind when he catches the Master, and it wouldn't be in a simulation this time, either.
It'll be bloody, that much Lila can say.
"Will he?" the Master raises his fine brow at the thought, scoffing at it as he informed Lila that he doubted Theodore's capable of the feat, but Lila insisted that he hadn't seen the aloof giant angry.
Trust her.
Though Theodore's the nicest man Lila's ever met, complex, but thoughtful, he's got a temper, and he plays it by the hilt.
Hurt anyone he cares about; he'll handle it with "care."
Since Lila melded with him, well, the Master just signed a death sentence, complete with XOXO at the end.
Seeing the Master unfazed by this, Lila sheepishly added, "… He's… strong?"
Even though he wasn't a full-blooded Time Lord, Theodore can out bench body builders 10:1 and when sufficiently angry, it increases two-fold.
Again, the Master remained unfazed.
They're transported somewhere else in the endless maze, this one looked no different than a torture chamber from "Hellraiser" without the kink.
Chains with hooks, medieval torture devices, everything one expected from this twisted cat who stared at Lila and regarded her nothing more than something to use and dispose of once he's done with her.
"I do wonder, how long do you think you'll last here?" the Master casually asked Lila as her hands and legs been restrained midair by phantom chains latching onto them from seemingly nowhere.
Struggling, Lila tried putting on a brave face, but that proved impossible as she's unable to hold it long, the feeling of dread wouldn't dissipate long enough for her to hold it for long, and the Master knew this.
"Why?" Lila tried buying time, trying to cling to some sliver of hope that Theodore's working his magic as she speaks, as she sees the Master going towards a tray of assorted surgical tools.
Like picking out wine for dinner, his hand glided over the tools, before resting on the syringe filled with a clear substance, the Master casually tells her, "Because it amuses me."
As blatant as the man can be without raising his voice, he told Lila that it's just as he been telling her, he regarded her as nothing, her whole species, as that, nothing, unless they serve a purpose, he doesn't care.
In her case, though, she does have uses for him, though they're limited, once he succeeds in his plan, maybe he'll keep her around.
A miracle this man didn't get more dates!
That was sarcastic, by the way!
Raising the syringe, lightly taping the needle as he checked for blockage, the liquid softly spittles at the pinhole, before he moved towards Lila, fully intent on touring her, and there's nothing she can do to stop him.
And he knows that.
"I don't even know you!" Lila protested that the Master had no reason doing this, while she got up to trouble, none of it warranted this reaction, but the Master didn't care.
Reaching out, the Master grabbed one of her arms, though she tried, she couldn't fight against him as he prepared to stab her vein with the syringe.
As he's close to her, he whispered in her ear, "Inopinatum parate, puella."
Just before he's ready to stab her vein, there's sudden movement, the Master becoming alarmed as he broke away from Lila, holding the syringe as he stood quizzically in his dungeon, his darkened eyes searching for the intruder.
Struggling, Lila's chestnut eyes moved, when she caught an outline, and she saw a familiar face.
Hamon…?
Hamon!
Thank… thank whatever deity Gallifrey prayed to for that old fart!
She quickly noticed that the Master held an air of contempt, as he stared at Hamon walking through the darkness, fire in those eyes of his.
When they spoke to each other, for some reason, Lila couldn't understand them, which shouldn't be possible, since she melded with Theodore, she knew the Gallifrey tongue like it was her first language.
She did manage to parse some words, this must've been an older variant of the language before it went through an overhaul, as a language did over the course the centuries.
As the short conversation ended, the Master softly scoffed as he said in a tongue that Lila understood, "You've no idea what's to come, headmaster."
Hamon done something that freed Lila from her confinements, sending her to the ground, though not without Hamon catching her, appearing at her side.
"You cannot run, forever, child, I will find you, again," the Master wasn't angry at the sight that his quarry's free from her chains, helped by his former headmaster.
Rather, he made it clear that he'll just find her, again, but make it where this won't happen, again.
Like that, Lila's groggy eyes opened, making note she was in the Smith's family home, her mind coming back to her, she remembered clearly, now.
When they went to the station, everything was fine, they met the old Silurian who showed them everything under the sun.
Lila started feeling sleepy, enough to almost fall asleep standing up, Theodore sent her to a room booked under his title, and she went to take a nap.
For some reason, she couldn't remember that.
Her groggy eyes slowly swaying, they caught sight of figures standing on opposite sides of her, and heard voices.
"Uncle!" Lila heard Theodore choked as she felt his gentle hands around her face, his fingers slowly rubbing her cheeks, and the connection she had to him reignited with her feeling everything he felt.
He was scared out of his mind.
Panicked and went to Hamon for help.
Her chestnut eyes swayed towards Hamon, a pale look in his face.
Hamon touched her hand as he asks her, "I am a stranger traleling from the East, seeking that which is lost…"
Muttering, Lila says, "I am a stranger traveling from the West. It is I whom you seek."
It proved satisfactory for Hamon, as he and Theodore helped her slowly rise from the ground, her mind hazy as she regained use of her limbs.
Theodore never left her side, cooing in her ear as he held her close, rare anger in his icy blue eyes, it was directed towards Hamon.
Once Lila's mind finally rebooted itself, she's distraught as she described everything that happened to her, up until when she discovered the true culprit behind Bill's death, that caused her to break down, and cried into Theodore's arms as she learnt the horrible truth.
With a warm wash rag, Lila wiped away the tears from her face, not covered in blood like she thought she would've ended up in, but Hamon told her that had she been trapped long enough, her body would react as if it happened for real.
Like the Matrix scene.
"Who… who the hell is he?" Lila asks Hamon, since he had some history with the Master, and the usually bubbly Time Lord became disheveled, a look in his eyes unseen before.
Moving to the plush couch where it's more comfortable, Lila sat as Theodore tended to her, his anger towards his beloved Uncle still present, Lila felt it all, and clearly something happened during her comatose state.
Fetching her some tea to help, Hamon's eyes didn't cross Theodore's as the weary Time Lord sat down across from them.
Holding her close, Lila felt Theodore's negative emotions, as Hamon revealed to her.
"The Master whom you encountered… was my former student," he sighed heavily.
TO BE CONTINUED…
"The Bad Day"