Warnings: Brief descriptions of violence and mental manipulation/torture, mild language

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

Chapter 2: Be Our Guest

Falling through a portal wasn't nearly as awful as TV made it out to be. Sure, Leah's entire body from her fingers to her toes tingled with energy the moment she passed through the vortex, but she was hardly disoriented. If anything, she was a bit nauseous. The queasiness in her stomach reminded her all too fondly why she hated riding roller coasters. That one school trip to Six Flags had been absolutely dreadful.

For a second, the portal continued to swirl in front of Leah. Then its revolving motions grew smaller and smaller until it finally closed on itself with a tiny hiss. It took what little light there was with it, leaving Leah standing in relative darkness.

Leah Thomas, you are so royally screwed.

The reality of her situation hit Leah as she stared at the dull grey wall where the portal once was. Once was, as in it was gone. Vanished. The only known gateway to her home, to her family—cut off.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, GOD! What were you THINKING? Leah panicked. You've gotten yourself kidnapped—or would it be abducted in this case? Oh, whatever!—and the portal that brought you here isn't open! How are you going to get home now? You might never be able to get home. You might never see your family again!

Leah wrestled to stop her panicked thoughts from spiraling completely out of control. Okay, okay. Calm down. It's not the end of the world. She mentally cringed. For all she knew, it might as well be. But at least it's not Eve who's here in my place.

Surprisingly, the thought didn't bring as much comfort as it should have.

It was at that time Leah realized she had stopped breathing entirely.

Breathe, you moron!

But what if the air is toxic? The thought briefly crossed her mind. Nothing guaranteed that the creatures needed oxygen to survive.

You have to breathe in sometime, she reminded herself.

She held her breath for as long as she could until she was forced to take a tentative breath. Not choking on the air, Leah inhaled deeply, exhaling shortly after. Just remember to breathe. Hyperventilating would only hinder her ability to think clearly.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins, her heartbeat beating a mile a minute. She needed to be mindful of how her body reacted. The last thing Leah wanted was to go into shock and not comprehend what transpires around her. She needed to have a calm, rational mind.

When she calmed herself—at least marginally—Leah noticed the lack of weight that usually rested on her nose. Her hands shot to her face. My glasses! She mentally groaned. They must have fallen off when she was grabbed earlier.

She knew she should have gotten them tightened when she went shopping the other day.

Of all the days she chose to wear glasses instead of contacts!

Leah shook her head. First things first, she thought, gazing around her surroundings for the first time. Where am I?

She strained to see around her. Not only was everything blurry thanks to her lack of vision, but the room itself was dim at best. There's no visible door either, Leah observed regrettably.

That's not ideal.

She still didn't know who had taken her either, but given that she had seen a freaking portal appear in her sister's bedroom, Leah was going to go out on a limb and guess that the "visitors" were not human. As in probably not supernatural, but likely alien. It sounded ridiculous, but Leah wasn't ignorant enough to think humans were the only form of intelligent life in the universe. Besides, who hadn't heard of Area 51's existence by then?

Squinting her eyes, she determined that the walls were made of some type of metal, like steel. The metal lacked the right shine to be steel though. Its texture appeared grimy.

Yuck! she thought. They need to hire a housekeeper. Leah's mood lifted slightly as she pictured the absurdity of an alien job interview. Then it wavered. What if that was the reason she was taken? To become their one woman cleaning service?

Oh no.

No, no, no, no, no, NO.

Leah Thomas fully refused to become some creatures' personal maid, especially if she was being held both against her will AND without pay. It was completely unacceptable. There was no way that Leah was donning a French maid outfit. EVER. Especially for a bunch of kidnappers who steal women away from their family.

Leah's eyes followed the smooth, rounded path of the wall, which led to what she assumed was a console or control board in the front of the room. It was white in color, appearing almost blinding in the dark space, and countless silver switches and blinking buttons covered its surface. I wonder what it's for. Leah pondered if she was in a Transporter room, kind of similar to those in Star Trek. Perhaps that was her ticket home. She'd just need to figure out how to use those buttons and switches first. Easy.

Yeah, good luck with that! The little voice inside Leah's head scoffed. You'll probably end up opening a portal in the middle of the ocean or something.

Gee, thanks for that vote of confidence.

She noted that there were no windows, which made her ponder if it was an interior room. A window would have been exceedingly helpful to make sense of where she was. Instead, Leah didn't have a clue whether or not she was even still on Earth.

I could be in a building somewhere, contemplated Leah, though it was rather unlikely. A portal seemed more advanced compared to what modern 21st century technology could achieve. Leah paused.

Could be the government. She wouldn't put kidnapping past them.

However, Leah was about 89% certain she wasn't dealing with anything human at this point.

Leah finished her initial scan of the room, but for love nor money, she could not find who, or what, had pulled her into the portal in the first place. The room was completely void of all personnel. That made no sense to her.

I know I'm a bit clumsy sometimes, Leah mused, but I'm not THAT much of a walking disaster. I was definitely pulled in.

As she thought about it, she remembered something grabbing her before she was yanked through the portal. Leah slid her hands over both her arms. Weird. Nothing appeared to be touching her right now.

The room appeared to be empty of any other beings beside herself, but her body was still tense. Even with her winter jacket on, she continued to feel the freezing cold sensation dripping down her spine. Everything in her gut screamed 'danger!' and wanted her to run for the hills.

That meant whatever kidnapped Leah might still be in the room.

Her right hand went to her pocket and grasped her knife. The words 'You are not alone' fleetingly crossed her mind. No sh*t, Sherlock! Leah couldn't remember where it was from or who said the phrase, but she had a strong urge to find whoever did and punch them in the face.

Oh, did Leah wish she could see auras like her sister could. Something told her it would be helpful right about now.

No matter. She wasn't about to let them take her by surprise. Leah was determined. If she was going down, she was going down fighting!

Yet, according to her eyes, she was alone. All Leah could hear was the soft echo of her breathing, the drum of her heartbeat in her ears, and the faint sound of a clock ticking.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

Wait a minute. Her eyes scanned the room around her again, and Leah tightened her grip on her knife. There are no clocks in this room.

If there wasn't a clock, then where was the ticking noise coming from?

As Leah listened closer, she realized the ticks made more of a clicking noise, one that wasn't consistent in timing as a clock would be.

Click-click, click, click-click-click!

Whatever the noise was, it was entirely unpleasant. The sound was high pitched and piercing in the air, like the sound of nails on a chalkboard. Leah grimaced. It was one of her least favorite sounds.

Click-click-click, click-click, CLICK-CLICK-CLICK!

She desperately wanted to cover her ears with her hands. How had she not heard it before? It wasn't an easy noise to ignore.

The longer she listened to the clicks, the more Leah thought she caught the overall tones. Bursts of hostile and frustrated clicks were the most prevalent, but Leah thought she could also hear a slight undertone of panic in some of the clicking noises as well. She speculated that the noise might be how the creatures communicate with one another.

That probably means their plan didn't go the way they wanted it to, she thought. The right corner of her lip curled upwards for a split second. Good. She'd rather be a thorn in their side than a pawn to be played.

Once more, Leah's eyes swept the room, finding nothing had changed since she last—

Hold on.

Her eyes steadily trailed to her left, drawn to the side like a magnet, or a moth to flame. If she had felt a dripping cold sensation before, now it was as if ice had been poured directly down her back. Leah shivered. Physically, nothing was there, and yet…

Quickly, she gazed around the room again. This time, Leah's eyes were attracted to two other sections as well. But why? she thought. She didn't see anything particularly dangerous except for maybe the console itself...unless—

Unless her eyes could see past something she could not.

Her eyes widened. Maybe that's where the creatures are, concluded Leah, watching the three spots cautiously. While she had been processing her apparent kidnapping earlier, they had let go of her, thinking she wasn't going to cause any trouble during their bickering.

Boy, were they going to regret that decision.

Now that she knew approximately where the aliens were, Leah deliberated what her next step would be. Should she try pursuing peaceful negotiation? Strike preemptively while she had a chance? Make a run for it?

Well, there was no visible door, so unless Leah could suddenly run through walls like Kitty Pryde, escaping was off the table.

That left negotiating with her kidnappers, or attacking them, and probably dying in the process. She wasn't particularly fond of dying, and the creatures hadn't exactly responded to her family's questions when she and her family had confronted them earlier that year.

xxxxx

The three women sat on the floor facing one another as they waited for the "visitors" to arrive. Eve was on edge the entire time, and Leah and her mother took turns calming her when she'd get worked up.

Leah had just gotten Eve to laugh at a dumb joke she'd found on the internet—it had something to do with a Scooby-Do meme, which Leah simply didn't understand but knew Eve enjoyed—when the room grew terribly cold. Her sister stiffened beside her, looking towards the ceiling. Both she and her mother held one of Eve's hands tightly. The hair on the back of Leah's arms stood on end, and a cold shiver ran down her back. She fought a full-body shudder.

Eve gulped sharply. "They're here."

Their mother wasted no time, getting straight to the point of their meeting.

"What are you, and what are you doing to Eve?" They were met with silence. Leah tried.

"If you are here in peace, please reveal yourselves to us. We will not harm you." She waited a moment. "Give us a sign if you are peaceful." The room remained unchanged, quiet. Eve continued to look up at the ceiling in fear. A couple minutes passed, and still, nothing changed.

Leah and her mother shared a look, conveying the same thought to one another. They needed to know what these "visitors" reacted to, where their loyalties lie.

It was time to change strategies.

"What you are doing to my daughter is wrong, immoral, and evil," chided her mother.

"Yeah, do you like frightening a young girl by watching her while she sleeps, you creeps?" Leah followed. The atmosphere changed slightly, but Leah didn't stop. She was on a roll, and nothing was going to stop her. They hurt her sister. No one got away with that.

"You're nothing but a bunch of bullying PERVERTS who are too cowardly to show yourselves to three GIRLS!"

Leah's mother frowned at her, and Leah had the barest amount of decency to look a bit sheepishly back at her in return.

Alright, so Leah may have gone a little overboard in her statement—she admitted it—but she wasn't about to take any of her words back. Eve feared these beings. Obviously, they weren't up to anything good if they wouldn't reveal themselves to her or her mother.

The air around her shifted, dropping even lower than the already chilly room. A burst of freezing air breathed down her neck, and she remembered that there wasn't a vent behind her, only a solid wall. Eve's grip tightened further around her hand.

"Oh!" Leah exclaimed. "Can you guys feel that?"

"Yes, I can," replied her mother. Eve only nodded, refusing to take her eyes off the ceiling, though her head tilted in Leah's direction.

"That is so weird," she mused out loud. Leah released her mother's hand, testing the boundaries of the cold air surrounding her. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Leah couldn't help it—she was curious.

"The air around me dropped just like that," she said, snapping her fingers to demonstrate, "and there's no vent or draft that could have caused it."

Her mother lifted her free arm to investigate the air surrounding Leah too.

"It doesn't seem so cold by me," said her mother, dropping her arm a moment later. "Something you said must have triggered them."

Leah couldn't help the grin that slipped onto her face. "Fascinating."

She wondered if they were offended because she called them perverts, or because she accused them of being scared of girls.

Leah lightly scoffed. With their luck, they probably were dealing with a group of misogynistic creatures.

Her mother's frown deepened. "I wouldn't call it fascination, what they're doing to your sister." The comment slapped the grin off Leah's face. Right. Leah glimpsed at Eve. Her traumatized sister was sitting right next to her, and here she was, finding their "visitors" interesting.

She bowed her head in shame.

"Whatever creatures you may be, you are not welcome here," declared Leah's mother. "I want you to leave this house and never come back!"

The cold air surrounding Leah moved, drifting to her mother, and hanging over her like a thick fog. Still, her mother didn't even flinch at the temperature change, her posture remaining poised and dignified. Eve's breath hitched.

All was unmoving for what felt like minutes.

Then, just as fast as it had appeared, the cold sensation dispersed. Warmth flooded back into the room, and Leah felt Eve's body relax.

"They're gone."

"Do you think they'll return?" asked Leah, looking at their mother.

"I'm not sure." Her mother shrugged. "But I don't trust whatever they are." She turned to Eve.

"Eve, you will be sleeping in my room from now on," she said. "Grab what items you need from in here and bring them to my closet." Eve quickly got up and rushed to her own closet, collecting a couple days worth of clothes.

"This room will be closed off from here on out. No one is to go in here unless I am here to go with you. Is that understood?"

xxxxx

Thinking back on it, what they had done had been incredibly risky, and possibly counterproductive. Could the creatures even understand English? Leah furrowed her brow. No. Even if the beings couldn't understand English, they should have been able to understand their basic body language and tone.

Back then, her family had the advantage of choosing the environment they wanted to confront the creatures in; but Leah didn't have that luxury anymore. She was on their home turf now, and if she didn't think things through, her life might very well end today.

No, it won't end today. I won't allow it. Leah thought of her mother running towards Eve, and of Eve as she had pushed her out of harm's way, Eve's arm reaching towards her as she fell through the portal. I'm getting back to my family no matter what.

Leah pulled her knife out of her pocket, flipping it open. She knew what she had to do.

"Alright you little bastards, listen up!" she said, storming forward, knife in hand. The clicking noise ceased, but nothing else moved in the room. She assumed she had their attention.

Leah squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. If she was going to pull this off, she at least had to act like she was the one in control.

"You created the portal that brought me here against my will," asserted Leah, glaring coldly around the room.

"I don't know why you tried to kidnap my sister or what you planned on doing with her, but I will NEVER let you touch her again," she said darkly, pointing her her knife to her left. "Not while I'm still breathing."

"If you can create a portal to bring me here, you can create one to take me back." the young woman said, bringing her knife closer to the spot where she believed one of the creatures stood. "So, I'll make this simple for you." Her ears caught a couple of alarmed sounding clicking noises.

"Open the portal and let me go," she commanded, "or else I will use my knife to cut up this certain section of air. It would be a shame if I accidentally made someone into sushi." Internally, she cringed at her words. Please tell me that came off as threatening. More clicking echoed throughout the room, but the portal didn't reappear.

"I'm not joking!" Leah shouted forcefully. "I'll do it! I will use my knife!" The number of clicks increased.

Come on, she thought. Don't make me have to use Clove. Don't make me have to hurt you.

The portal remained sealed off, and she sighed in resignation. They left her no choice.

She lifted her arm to strike. Just as it began its downward swipe towards the section of air, her arm stopped dead in its tracks.

Leah's eyes widened, and her breath hitched. Helplessly, she attempted to move her arm in any direction. When it wouldn't budge, Leah desperately tried shifting any of her appendages, any at all, to no avail. It was no use. Not even the tips of her fingers would twitch. Leah found herself unable to move any of her limbs.

Her heartbeat spiked. She had made a terrible mistake.

In her moment of boldness, Leah forgot to check the section of the room behind her. And because of that simple mistake, she was now at the mercy of her kidnappers.

Instead of feeling intense fear as she had anticipated she would, an overwhelming sense of love washed over her entire being, drowning out all of Leah's pooling anxieties. It ebbed away through her panic, her courage, her fright, and settled deep within her bones. No longer did she have any worries about getting home, about what the creatures were, about why she had been taken in the first place. And why would she? Leah was in a blissful state of euphoria, her body slowly destressing and going slack. The grip on her pocketknife started to lessen.

That's it, encouraged a voice in the back of her head. It soothed her mind's inner turmoil, and all she wanted was to hear that voice again, listen to that voice again, obey that voice again. Relax. Let go of your weapon. You don't need it.

The voice was right. Why did she need the knife? She was happy. She was loved. She was safe. And if the voice wanted her to let it go, she should listen.

No, don't listen to it! Another voice, a vaguely familiar one, shouted in Leah's mind, cracking the layer of tranquility resting over her head. DO NOT drop your knife!

Leah didn't understand. Why did this familiar voice disagree with the other voice? She was happy. She was loved. She was safe.

No, you are not safe! it shouted again, its sound taking on a feminine edge. Remember where you are. Remember WHO you are.

Leah blinked.

Why did that feminine voice sound so familiar?

The other voice boomed over her wavering thoughts. Obey us. You will obey us!

Leah frowned. That didn't sound so nice.

Actually, as she thought about it, the voice itself sounded off somehow, grating, raucous, almost inhuman. It wasn't as soothing as it was before.

The crack in the layer of tranquility surrounding her mind spread further, deeper.

A wave of warmth passed over her mind, submerging Leah's doubts under its surface. Drop your weapon! Leah relaxed and the grip on her knife lessened a little more. She was so close to true happiness. All she needed to do was let go of her knife, and she would know endless bliss.

Leah, remember the family who loves you.

The layer of tranquility around her mind shattered like glass.

Memories swarmed Leah's head: memories of her mother and her sister watching movies together, spending their late nights talking together, cooking meals together, laughing together. Memories of her mother hugging her and her sister, and of Eve's hand tightly grasping her own.

Memories of Eve as her eyes met Leah's, her arm outstretched towards her sister as she was tugged into the portal that took her away from her home.

Another wave of contentment flooded Leah's mind, but it felt forced, fake, rather than genuine. It attempted to submerge her growing resolve, threatening to engulf her psyche forever.

Not on my watch! declared the voice in Leah's mind, a voice which broke through the surface of the euphoric wave. No wonder why Leah thought the voice in her head sounded familiar—it was her own.

Leah felt the inhuman presence trying to take control of her head, to make her submit to them, to relinquish what control she held. She could feel the growing pressure in her mind as they attempted to push down Leah's subconscious.

They're attacking my mind, she realized. If they managed to subdue her mind again, Leah knew they wouldn't allow her to be able to break free. She needed to fully take back her mind, and she needed to do it NOW.

It was hard to concentrate with a hostile entity attempting to forcibly take over her body. She tried, but Leah couldn't think of anything logical that would work to protect her mind.

So don't think! she heard her inner self say. Follow your instincts!

Leah could feel her own hold on her mind slipping, so she took her own advice. Eyes shut, she fell into her imagination.

Two white feathery wings wrapped around her mind securely, a faint glimmering tinge surrounding each feather. Gold-colored energy emitted from the wings, pulsing through her mind several times until all Leah could see was a brilliant light that blinded her. The wings unfurled to reveal their vast wingspan, only to flap and send a large burst of shimmering gold energy flying through the air. Distantly, she could hear the other entity scream as it was burned from her head.

Her eyes snapped open. Without any hesitation, she launched herself towards the creatures, slashing the air where she believed they were. Part of her expected to hit nothing but air, but evidently, she must have hit something in her own physical attack.

Dark orange liquid gushed out of an invisible wound where her knife had cut, and she heard a small thud as what she assumed was the body fell on the floor in front of her.

Leah hesitated for a split-second in shock, her mouth gaping.

Oh my God, she thought. Did I just KILL something with Clove?!

On the bright side, Leah was now 100% sure that she wasn't dealing with anything human.

Swiftly, she continued to swipe her blade through the air, pivoting around so fast that her long hair flew into her face. Leah momentarily wished she had brought a hair tie so she could have tied her hair up in a ponytail.

"Take me BACK!"

She continued to swipe her knife around in case another creature—which Leah was officially going to call an alien from then on—tried to sneak up behind her. With the exception of the one alien that she had nabbed with her small blade, she had yet to successfully harm anything else. A loud piercing click echoed throughout the room, but Leah continued to attack.

Abruptly, invisible hands grasped both her arms, forcibly preventing Leah from assaulting any of the aliens further. She fought against their hold.

"Let go of me!" yelled Leah, trying to escape the secure grip, and yelping when one of the alien's hands harshly squeezed her arm. It caused her to accidentally drop her knife, and she knew she wouldn't be getting it back anytime soon.

Another series of clicks went off before Leah was roughly dragged from the room kicking and screaming. Sometime when she had been restrained, a door had appeared, but Leah barely noticed in her desperate fury.

The hallways were as dark as the room she was taken from, the only light coming from artificial light sources that were in the ceiling above her. While fighting against her transparent kidnappers, her mind barely noted that the light sources were quite spread out and were few and far between.

After taking countless twists and turns, they finally arrived at their destination. While still holding Leah's arm, one of the aliens touched the wall, and the outline of a simple door appeared. It slid open, and Leah was thrown into the pitch-black room before the door slammed shut behind her, disappearing and merging with the wall. Everything fell silent.

Leah scrambled back to her feet, charging at where the door used to be.

"Let me out! LET ME OUT!" she shouted as her fists pounded on the wall. Her hands hit the wall again and again and again.

It was hopeless. The wall didn't budge. Her fists didn't even make one dent in it.

Her shouting got softer and softer.

"Please," she said, "I just want to go home."

Feeling drained, Leah fell to her knees, leaning on the wall for support. Involuntarily, tears started trickling down her face, and she quietly sobbed. Leah was trapped in an unknown location, and she knew the chances of her escaping were low. She had no glasses, no knife, no idea how to get back home, and now was trapped in a room without a door. She sniffled.

No, thought Leah. This isn't a room.

It's a prison.

The room was cool, but she didn't feel the same freezing sensation down her back anymore. She was alone, at least for now.

Leah pulled her winter coat closer to her, in part because she was cold, but also because she wanted some form of comfort. She sat for a few moments, attempting to stop her tears and even out her rapid breathing.

Just as she started to calm herself down, Leah was hit with a surge of lightheadedness. She felt faint, woozy, and she convulsed unexpectedly. It lasted only a moment—less than a few seconds, really—before it passed, and Leah felt normal once again. With so much on her mind, she hardly noticed, simply believing it was from shock.

Unknown to her, the whole universe shuddered too.

Author's Note:

Hiya! Miss Moira here! I want to thank each and every one of you who have followed and favorited my story so far. It's my very first fanfiction, so I am just thrilled to death people like it.

Some of you are probably wondering when the Doctor will show up. No spoilers, but there will be one more chapter before the Doctor makes his dramatic entrance into our tale.

Reviews are welcome! I'm just a writer trying to improve upon her skills, so I appreciate any feedback others give me. :)