Chapter One:

The Air B&B was unlike any Air B&B that had been rented before. It was in a cul-de-sac of expensive houses though it was clear this one was the prize. It was two stories and very high up. On the first level elegantly barred doors allowed you to see through to the pool area and beyond to the back port that lead to the waterway. A garage promised to stretch in deep and it could be assumed that a nice studio apartment nestled on the other side of that. It was dark gray with a roll of steps that lead right up to a bright yellow door and windows that stretched like wide eyes to invite anyone that pulled up.

Inside it was a masterpiece. The house was built in a U shape of white curved walls with brilliantly accented décor and doors that lead to the massive lanai protecting the pool and backyard from Florida bugs and Florida weather. To the right of the entrance was the formal dining room filled with boxes and scattered technology and beyond that rested the show living room for guests. It held large ceilings and a fireplace in the center of the room separating it from the actual living room with blankets and noise from TV shows being watched.

Beside that was the kitchen with heavenly skylights leading to a far less formal dining area and a terrace to look out to the water.

Everything was windows and white walls that bounced the light to every corner of the home even in the middle of the night. It was beautiful. And it was very much in use.

"Do you need anything while I'm up?"

"No, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure? Some milk?"

There was a pause, "Yeah…maybe some milk."

"Coming right up!"

It took only a minute for Alexys to return with the glass of milk and a can of Coke. She offered the glass to Alex who thanked her while she nestled into her side of the sofa, cracking open the can as she did. From behind them came a blur of golden retriever that sat at Alexys' side waiting for a specific invitation.

"Hicks, up!" she smiled, patting the space between her and Alex.

Alex adjusted himself to make space for the dog on the couch while looking to the TV, "What do you want to watch?"

"I'm up for anything," Alexys looked to the dog again with an insistent and polite tone, "Hicks, come on, up."

The dog looked between the two nervously.

Alex sighed, using a tone that often got Hicks to believe the invitation was genuinely for her, "Hicks, come on. Up."

The dog leaped into action and found her way between the two. She rustled around until she was comfortable with her body draped over Alexys then dropped down with a sigh. Both Alexys and Alex laughed to themselves at the display of absolute comfort, commenting on the mannerisms of the dog.

"We've got Doctor Who, Sherlock, Scientology Documentary," Alex listed off some things before grabbing the mouthpiece of his hookah and inhaling.

Alexys looked to the TV screen with the urge to say Doctor Who but decided instead to muscle through the hour and lifetime long episode of Sherlock they had begun at the last Air B&B, "Why don't we finish Sherlock?"

Alex was pleased with the thought. He had already finished seeing it but recommended it to the friend at his side with hopes that she would enjoy it too. There was an understanding that she wasn't too big a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch but her opinions of Martin Freeman were very high. He put the show on using the app on his phone before switching to his game of Choices. At his side Alexys also pulled up her phone to complete her Choices game.

A gasp escaped the left side of the couch.

"What's wrong?" Alex lifted a brow with concern.

With mock tears but still some genuine emotion Alexys replied, "I didn't know the game would get so real."

He chuckled and looked forward to the screen, "Oh, this is a really interesting part."

Alexys took the cue to pay attention, locking her phone as she did.

The two continued that way, only getting up to refill their drinks or grab a snack or to pack another one of Alex's bowls. It was a blissfully calm evening that demanded no exertion of energy. Hicks came and left as she pleased but she never ventured too far from the living room where the two enjoyed their night.

"I'm gonna take her O-U-T," Alexys jumped to her feet at the end of the episode with need of a good stretch and a desire to make sure Hicks was taken care of before.

"Are you sure? I can go," Alex offered, feeling pangs of guilt that his friend was going through the effort.

Alexys nodded, turning on the light as she walked out, "Don't worry. I've got it."

They smiled their parting while Alex remained where he was. His eyes drifted through his phone between text messages, updates on fantasy football, updates on important news articles, and the games he had. He was as content as he could possibly be in a room alone with a promise that a friend would return. But there was something pulling at him.

Truth be told, there was always something pulling at him. He suffered but hid it as deep as he possibly could. He took the necessary steps with therapy, group therapy, had even gone to an inpatient facility—where he met Alexys—but there seemed to be a pain that would never loosen up and whenever he found peace there was almost always a bomb dropping in his life that promised there was no peace to be had. He was in pain. He was in genuine pain and the pleasure of company only fought it back so much.

But none of that was at the forefront of his mind though it did linger tentacles around his thoughts. The forefront of his mind was that something odd was bothering him. An uncharacteristic anxiety took over. It wasn't that anxiety was uncharacteristic (oh no, he came from a family that carried it in their stomach) it was the form of this one, the weight of this one, the way it presented. He wondered if Alexys could tell there was something so off not even the Green Dream could deafen it.

Alexys walked in with a smile as she took her seat again.

She had the anxiety too. But she chalked it up to the random bursts she felt throughout her life. It wasn't uncommon and the uncommonness of it was not uncommon either. She took a sip of her Cola and hoped that it would pass but a glance toward Alex made her curious. Could he feel it too?

"Do you want to keep watching Sherlock? Or?"

"Uhhh…hmmm. I'm not sure," she answered, again feeling as though she should pick Doctor Who but something stopped her.

"What are you feeling? Are you hungry?" Alex asked, not hungry himself but knowing it was around eating time and wanting to make sure his friend was taken care of.

"Hmmm…yeah. I guess I could eat," Alexys answered, not exactly hungry herself but knowing that it was around eating time and wanting to make sure her friend was taken care of too.

"What are you in the mood for?" Alex pulled his phone from the arm of the sofa as he pulled up UberEats or any of its competitors.

"I don't know," there was a flicker of light, "Did you see that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing," Alex spoke, scrolling through the app, "Do you want Mexican, Pizza, want to try Sonics?"

"It's really bright," Alexys squinted against the brightness, "I forgot to turn off the light."

"It's fine," Alex offered her the phone, "You can pick something—"

Alexys had gone stiff. Her eyes focused on the left side of the room at the space between where the small one-seater and TV sat. Her face was scrunched in concentration, eyes narrowed.

"Are you okay?" Alex was frightened. Alexys had been known for spirituality and an uncanniness about her that could be explained as eccentric. She liked tarot cards, she liked crystals and gems, she liked the odd and often had odd dreams. Alex had had his own experiences—still unsure if it could be labeled as supernatural or delusional—but if anyone were going to see anything odd it would the woman at his side.

"Yeah…it's just. Do you feel that?"

Perhaps he did. There was a strange quiet from everything around and yet there was loudness. Almost like two plastic bags wrestling against each other except only on volume one. But the sound travelled. It travelled through the ears and through the eyes and through the mouth inside the body like little bursts of static electricity running up the arms and into the collarbones. It was strange.

"Alex…" Alexys' voice dropped down to nearly a whisper, "Do you hear that?"

VWORP, VWORP, VWORP.

Their hands jumped at each other as they leapt to the center of the couch in hope and terror.

At the left hand side of the living room faded into view an old blue police box. It was very boxy, very square, an old worn out blue like faded jeans. It looked as if it had been through stuff but more like recovering from going through stuff.

The two on the couch were silent. They were absolutely silent with their mouths agape and eyes the size of saucers. They grabbed onto each other's hands as both went through their internal inventory of possibilities.

Alexys considered if she had possibly taken any sort of LSD though she knew she couldn't have because the only mind altering substance she had was like one hit off of Alex's hookah the other night but possibly the water that came from the reservoir had been tampered with and suddenly she and the rest of Pasco County were going to be hallucinating an entire wave of cool alien invasions—she had written a story like that. Alex went through his mind to calculate what medication, if any, he had taken that day and could it be possible that he took more than he thought, was it a bad strain of Green Dream and if so how was it affecting him this badly, but worst of all he was allowing himself to believe that one of his greatest fears was coming true: he was losing it and he was coming to the delusion part that came with it.

But he looked to Alexys and she could see it too. How could it be a shared delusion?

The door creaked open and they jumped again.

Who would come out?

Alexys had her suspicions, Alex had his hopes, Hicks had her bone.

"Oh, this is fantastic!"

Alexys screamed a high pitched joy as the Ninth incarnation of the Doctor emerged with his long leather coat and bright blue eyes. Alex also made a noise of joy but more to the satisfaction that it was the Doctor yet not with satisfaction toward which one. Hicks jumped up from her place and trotted to the man with her pink blanket in mouth and tail wagging.

"Hello, Hicks! Good to see ya, been keepin' busy?" the tall man asked as he lowered himself to pet the golden retriever.

Hicks whined in a display of remembrance and desire for affection as if she had never been shown affection before. If Alex wasn't so stunned by the arrival of the Doctor—regardless of incarnation—he would have made a comment as such. But he and Alexys were both in complete silence as they looked to the man in the black leather coat. Their eyes drifted to the TV screen every now and then as if to search for Doctor Who the show to confirm what was occurring.

"You," he motioned to Alexys with a wicked smirk, "You're comin' with me."

"Yes!" she squeaked before jumping to her feet but she stopped in mid-step to look back at Alex, "I…I can't go without my best friend."

"I don't need him now, I need you."

Alexys visibly melted but regained her new found composure, "This is my best friend though. My best best friend. I can't just leave to traverse the skies without him."

The Doctor took her hand immediately quelling any other word of resistance she might have offered, "I'll be back for him later, I promise."

"Go!" Alex urged, thinking to himself realistically that he could use the time—however long—to prepare for his own exodus from Earth, "Have fun! Come back for me!"

"Are you sure?" guilt riddled her entirely at the thought of leaving with one of Alex's favorite heroes: the Doctor.

"Yes!"

She ran back and gave him a hug before pausing to look into his eyes, "I'll be back for you. I swear and I don't swear."

"I know," he smiled and extended his right toward her while placing his left against his chest.

She grinned and followed suit and the both slapped their hands and chest twice in sync.

Alexys ran off, jumping into the Tardis with an overdramatic exclaim, "It is bigger on the inside!"

"I'll show you something else that's bigger."

The door shut and the VWORP, VWORP, VWORP signaled the retreat of the blue box and the blue moon princess. Alex gave a head tilt at the connection wondering if perhaps her instagram handle had confused some distant moon race of the future into believing that she was the rightful heir to their thrown. She would love that.

He let out a deep breath as he sat back down on the sofa. If this was a delusion it had to be strong because it affected everything—sight, smell, touch, hearing, he could even taste a faint hint of boiled cabbage in the air—and now Alexys was gone. Alex calmed himself a moment then jumped to his feet deciding if this were the way to go then he would go in head first. He shut off the TV then walked toward the hallway but that feeling came over him again.

Alexys probably could have felt it a while before but suddenly it was there and he steeled himself for disappointment but suddenly the sound came VWORP, VWORP, VWORP and a slightly newer, slightly bluer Tardis arrived at the right side of the room. Alex was frozen with possibility as the door opened.

"You! Where do you think you're going! It's my turn with you!"

Alex wasted no time with the summoning of the Eleventh Doctor and his wily grin. He rushed to the Tardis with no need for explanation. Excitement colored his eyes as the tall Doctor with his bowtie and hair dropped his hands on his shoulders, then the sides of his face for a deep kiss to the forehead. Alex shuddered.

"I had no clue how much I would miss you, Alexander," the Doctor spoke with tenderness Alex was not prepared for.

"Well then next time don't keep me waiting!" he teased, wrapping his arms for an embrace around the Doctor.

"Now, by my calculations this should be the first time we have met," Eleven mused returning the embrace, "Yet you seem to find me very familiar."

Alex looked from side to side before pulling back and admitting, "I'm just leaning into it."

The Doctor laughed, "So adaptable. Now let's go, don't forget your glasses or the dog or…is that a…Is that a hookah?"

The screwdriver was out pointed toward what Alex had dubbed Odysseus, "Would you like me to bring it?"

"No, no," he gasped, reading the findings with a laugh then looking to Alex, "You cheeky boy."

"Would you like me to bring it?" Alex repeated his question with a grin, pondering the possibility of getting high with the Doctor.

He seemed to consider it then shook his head, "No, no, we've got things to do, places to see, people to meet. Let's go! Let's go!"

Alex rushed into the Tardis as the Doctor closed the door, exclaiming all the things they had to do without giving any detail.

Hicks sat looking toward the Tardis with blanket in mouth.

There was silence.

The door opened once more and Hicks trotted her way inside as Alex exclaimed in the same overdramatic tone as Alexys, "It is bigger on the inside!"

The Tardis left in a VWORP, VWORP, VWORP of noise leaving the Air B&B on its own in emptiness with only the reminder that it had once been occupied.