Unto the Universe

Chapter Eleven: The Hound of the Crack: Secret of the House

By Lumendea

AN: I am doing a very poor job of controlling the length of episodes so far this season. One more chapter after this.

…..

Rose had a moment of satisfaction as the Darson's eyes widened. They spun to face the hound, which advanced slowly on them. At that moment, Rose was suddenly very willing to believe that there had been some sort of defense up against the hound that they had interfered with. They looked like people who were terrified of the creature before them. Maybe all of it hadn't been a lie. Dashing forward, Rose dodged between the pair and swung at the neverwere. It jumped away and snarled before vanishing.

She didn't wait for what the Darsons were going to do next. Running down the corridor, Rose searched for the stairs and rushed up them the moment she found them. Once she made it back into the kitchen, Rose was on more familiar ground. Behind her, she heard the Darsons calling for her but didn't stop. She didn't trust them and wanted a united front with the Doctor and Jack to confront whatever was happening.

Rose made it to the front door of the house and reclaimed her coat. It was still downpouring outside, but the layer of material was better than nothing. A flash of lightning illuminated the outside, and Rose headed off into the night, keeping her sword out and at the ready.

Rain immediately poured over her head. Thunder rumbled, and Rose couldn't even stop to enjoy the storm. Something was very wrong in this house, and she trusted neither the Darsons nor the hound. But right now, she was happier with the idea of dealing with the hound.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted into the night as she headed away from the doorway and searched for any lights.

…

The Doctor's eyes were better than those of a human, which he was grateful for as the small group searched the dark land around the house. Light was dimly showing through the windows of the house, but it did little against the gloom. A dark and stormy night, this certainly was. If he was human, the Doctor might have thought something more was afoot.

Conan Doyle certainly did. The man was holding a lantern high and inspecting the iron fence that topped the old stone wall with great interest. But a neverwere wasn't a fairy. Those were something very different and not a creature he'd ever let his companions near. A sick feeling had planted itself in the Doctor's gut. Neverweres were too common in the universe now. He'd gone centuries never encountering them, but ever since the Time War, they'd been all over the place. If not for the rift guiding the evolution of his species and his use of the TARDIS, he wouldn't even know it. He'd be as blind to their effect as Conan Doyle was.

His senses were on high alert, but he couldn't pinpoint the neverwere. Something about this place, something about the entire moor, if he was honest, had a strange echo of time across it. If he had the TARDIS and could check the instruments, he suspected that he'd find the area was a still point in time. Hopefully, whatever was happening here was an accident of some kind, but he couldn't help but be suspicious of the Darsons. There was something about those photographs and the house in general that seemed wrong. He just wished he knew what it was.

"Doctor," Jack called from the shadows of a nearby tree. "Come and look at this."

"We found a strange stone," Conan Doyle said. Water was dripping down his face, but his eyes were bright. "There were odd markings all over it. The storm knocked over a tree and dislodged it. I don't think it was the iron at all! Or perhaps the markings are lined with iron!"

Indeed, Jack and Conan Doyle were standing beside a smooth stone with a metallic circuit built into it. The craftsmanship was impressive, and the Doctor knelt onto the cold and wet ground to get a better look at it. The torchlight didn't allow him to see the finer details, but he recognized it.

"Field generator," the Doctor said softly. "It was damaged, so I can't say for sure, but it seemed that it was keeping the neverwere out. This was built to blend into the landscape." He eyed the downed tree with its roots protruding. "Could be part of a larger system hidden underground."

"Can it be fixed?" Jack asked. He looked towards the house. "Because that thing is definitely hanging around the house now."

"All that would do is trap it in the house," the Doctor answered.

"That might be for the best then," Conan Doyle said. "We retrieve the others and trap the beast. This storm is fierce, but it would be better to be outside in it than near the jaws of that hound."

"He has a point," Jack agreed. "We could come back when it is light and investigate the whole area. The person who built this knew what they were doing."

"The Darsons?" Jack asked. "You think they're behind it."

"There's a lot of coincidences piling up here for my taste," the Doctor said. "We need to find Rose. I'd like to hear what the Darsons have to say as well." He turned and started moving back around the side of the house. The darkness and rain slowed him down, but the field generator had tipped his suspicions about the Darsons over to outright distrust. And he'd left Rose inside with them.

"Doctor!" Rose's voice rang out through the night.

"Around the right side," he shouted back. His hearts slowed a tiny bit after hearing her voice. It was tinged with anger and worry, but not fear.

Rose appeared a few moments later in the light of the lanterns. Rainwater was already drenching her long blonde hair and running down her face, but her eyes still lit up at the sight of him. The Doctor was certain his own gratitude at seeing her face was reflected in his eyes.

"The Darsons did something that caused this," Rose explained in a rush as she closed the distance between them. "The hound… I think it led me to a lab in the basement."

Jack rushed over with one of the umbrellas and covered Rose's head. She offered him a grateful smile. "Here," Rose said. She held her phone up so the Doctor could see her photos. "They have a lab of some kind with this machine. Emily Darson said that they were time travelers who got stuck. They said that the hound was an accident."

"An accident," Jack repeated. Water dripped from his hair, and he looked up at the house critically. "I don't know. Something feels wrong here, more than two displaced people." Jack's eyes were on the nearby wall. "What's with the photographs, Doctor?"

"I found a bunch of duplicates," Rose offered.

"Some of the photos shouldn't exist yet," the Doctor explained. "I recognized a few of them." His eyes were studying the photo of the machine. "I thought I might be mistaken at first, but it seems not."

"Which means that they didn't just get here by accident," Jack said. "I doubt they'd have the photos then."

"Unlikely," the Doctor said. "But I'm not sure what is happening here. That machine has to be important. If they were trying to get home and created a neverwere then they've made something much more dangerous than a time machine."

"They lied then," Rose said. She didn't sound surprised. "So, plan? I gave them the slip, but they were more than a bit menacing after I found the lab." She paused and glanced at Jack. "They know that we're not from this time and know that you're a Time Lord."

"That's not good," Jack said. "Time Lords are considered myths in the future."

"Probably for the best," the Doctor said. His tone was neutral and raw. A shiver rolled down Rose's spine. "Come on."

"What is happening?" Conan Doyle demanded. "You are speaking like madmen!"

"Rose found something inside. The Darsons have more of a connection to the hound than they have let on," the Doctor said.

"That does seem to be the best conclusion," Conan Doyle said. "To build such defenses without a true threat of danger seems unlikely." He was frowning at the stone. "But it is their purpose that eludes us." He eyed the Doctor seriously. "You believe them dangerous?"

The Doctor blinked in surprise at the man's calm reaction before chuckling. He supposed that he shouldn't be surprised. For all of Conan Doyle's fascination with the supernatural, he was still an intelligent man even if he'd be fooled by cardboard cutout fairies.

"Very dangerous, and we don't know the extent of their abilities. Stay together," the Doctor said. "We're better off if we don't let them separate us again."

"What are you worried about?" Robinson asked. He was not as calm as his friend. "Should we hitch up the horse and risk the storm?" He looked up at the sky. "We are a few miles from town, but we might make it."

"You two are welcome to go," the Doctor said. "But I'm not leaving until we get to the bottom of this," the Doctor answered briskly. "Now come on." He gestured with his head towards the house.

Rose wasn't surprised when Conan Doyle and Robinson followed. Even with the strange things happening here, five against two likely still seemed like good odds. Charles and Emily were waiting in the entryway for them, their expressions calm and thoughtful. Rose hated it and gripped her sword tightly. Her clothing was drenched, and a headache was building behind her eyes.

"Ah, good, you are all safe. The hound vanished a short time ago, and I feared that it had found all of you," Charles said almost pleasantly, but he was eying Rose and the Doctor with care. "Lady Rose, please, you must remain close to my wife and I. That weapon of yours seems to frighten the hound away."

"The hound you had a hand in creating," the Doctor said.

"It was an accident," Charles insisted. He sighed loudly. "Doctor, we hope that you can help us."

"What happened? What exactly happened, and don't give that story about an accident sending you back to this time. That's clearly a lie." The Doctor gestured around the house dismissively. "This place is too perfect. You came here to run experiments and bit off more than you could chew."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Emily said softly.

"Enough of this," Conan Doyle said sternly. He kept the firearm aimed at Charles Darson. "I will not claim that I know everything that is happening here, sir, but it is clear that you have been deceitful. I am not inclined to think that the hound drove us to your doorstep."

"You flatter me, Mr. Conan Doyle," Charles said with a smile. "We mean you no harm, nor your companion. Once we resolve this, both of you will be free to go. After all, you are known in history as if your friend." He gestured at the Doctor, Rose, and Jack. "But I require that these three remain."

"Oh, that didn't sound ominous or vaguely threatening," Jack said with narrowed eyes.

"Put the gun away," the Doctor barked with a scowl.

"I will not, these two-"

"Put that gun away!" the Doctor shouted, turning to glare at Conan Doyle. "I'm not in the mood to argue!"

Conan Doyle took a step back but slowly lowered the gun. Rose shifted closer to the Doctor. She didn't take his hand but brushed her shoulder against his arm, seeking to reassure him that she was there. Turning his attention back to the startled Darsons, the Doctor narrowed his blue eyes on them.

"Start with who you are," the Doctor ordered. "Who you really are and talk fast."

"You said that we were exactly what you needed," Rose reminded the Darsons. "Needed us for what?"

"The experiment has gotten out of hand. When we came to this area to study the still point in time, the plan was to stay a year." Charles swallowed, a sick expression washing over his face. "There was a village then."

Bile burned Rose's throat, and Jack growled behind her. "What did you do?"

"We put defenses around the house to shield the area from the experiment, but it went wrong. Instead of the house being the epicenter of the experiments, it shielded the house instead. Everything around the house was erased and forgotten. That hound was the strongest of the never-weres."

"We were able to defuse most of the others," Emily added with a shiver. "But… but the temporal event we created is growing."

The Doctor was about to ask another question when a howl ripped through the house. Charles and Emily both flinched, and Rose raised her sword. Thunder shook the house, and they all backed towards the door. The hound appeared at the end of the hall into the entry, eyes flaring as they reflected the light of the lamps.

"Outside," the Doctor ordered. "We can buy some time by fixing the defenses."

"Fixing the defenses?" Charles repeated.

"They were damaged in the storm," the Doctor said. "That's what let the hound in. Come on! Then I need to look at that machine of yours." The last sentence came out more as a growled threat than anything else. "And have a discussion about your ethics."

"It was an accident," Emily insisted, but she headed for the door. "We never meant for any of this to happen!"

"Accident or not, people have been erased," the Doctor snapped. "Outside!"

The hound lunged, and Rose jumped forward to swing her sword at the creature. It dodged the blow, jumping out of reach and watching her. Behind Rose, the others headed outside, and Rose eyed the hound carefully as she began to back up. What kind of dog had it been, she wondered as the hound's ears tilted as it listened to the sounds of the others outside.

"So, what's your next move?" Rose asked. She didn't expect an answer. Then her gaze softened. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you." Rose could sympathize with its anger. That headache was getting worse between her eyes. "But harming them or us won't change it."

The hound peered at her and then threw its head back to howl before vanishing. Rose stared at the empty space for only a moment before rushing out the doorway to join the others.