Chapter 11

The next adventure started as usual, with one extra passenger. The TARDIS made its groaning sound, the Doctor flung open the doors to what looked like an ordinary town, in a somewhat dry location, and they stepped out. Only when the Doctor left the TARDIS, she immediately disappeared.

Pride frowned. The Doctor had a habit of bouncing around, but she couldn't have gone behind them while he was blinking, could she?

"Doctor? Doctor?"

He turned around, circling the outside of the TARDIS and peering back through the doors. No, she definitely was nowhere in sight.

Lilly frowned, watching him, but not being much help. "Where'd she go?" she asked.

"Well I don't know, or I wouldn't be looking."

"And she's never done this before?"

Lilly had to ask? "No. She obviously doesn't just disappear. And you should know that, because it would have been a useful ability in your home."

"I-well-okay." She took a deep breath, composing her stutters somewhat. "We should try to find her then. Maybe someone in town will know what's going on."

It wasn't an appealing idea, but she had a point. The two turned and headed into town. Whatever planet they were on, this part was dry. It wasn't quite a desert, but dust kicked up off the path, and the plant life in sight was sparse. It was also emptier than Pride had expected. Not a complete ghost town. He could see movement in some of the windows and heard voices further down the road. But one or two of the homes looked like no one had lived in them in a while, and there was no one out walking the street. It wasn't a good sign. Pride felt his guard going up, becoming more alert, and ready to move fast if need be.

"Come on," Lilly said. "I think everyone's gathered in that bar."

She headed further down the street, towards the bar Pride had heard voices from. Well, it was a good thing he was watching about, because clearly things like threat and danger weren't concepts to her.

The two entered the bar, and everything went silent, all the people turning towards them. Some people went back to their drinks quickly, though the way they whispered to each other wasn't encouraging. Others didn't bother. There was a kid, a little girl, clinging tightly to a stuffed rabbit like she was afraid, but also standing kind of distant from the nearest adult.

Lilly looked around at the people, not that there was a tremendous amount, even here. "Hi," she said. No one answered. She shuffled nervously. "What? Did we do something wrong?"

"You two from out of town?" the barman asked.

"Yes," Lilly confirmed.

Obviously, Pride thought.

"Well here's a suggestion, get out of town."

"Why? Is there something wrong?" When no one answered, Lilly shrugged her shoulders, stood up straighter, and hardened her expression, sort of. It didn't work. Lilly was many things and intimidating wasn't one of them. "I asked if there was a problem? Or is there something you're hiding?"

Well that was a great way to start a fight. Sure enough, one of the men at a nearby table stood up, hands curled into fists.

"Why you little-"

He raised his fist. Pride could just bring up the floor to shield them, give them a hasty retreat. But between the restraint put on his fighting, and the fact they still didn't have any answers, Pride, decided he'd be taking over interrogations.

Steeling himself, Pride grabbed Lilly's arm and screamed, ducking close to her like she was going to shield him. The man hesitated. Lilly looked confused, but as long as she didn't keep blabbing they'd be fine.

Another man got up and stepped between the two. "Come on now, leave them alone. They're kids."

Based on Lilly's brief grimace, she was older than she looked (though in the normal human capacity, unlike him and the Doctor).

"Mic, she said-"

"I heard what she said, but she just got here. She couldn't have known any better."

"I'm sorry if we caused trouble. We were just worried. We were looking for someplace to stop and everything seemed empty." Pride trembled and welled his eyes up. (Hitting a crying kid was not a good look.) Technically, most of what he'd said was true.

"Yes. There was an . . . incident," Mic said. He pulled up a chair and sat by the two. "About a month ago now, half the town disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Pride asked.

"What, just like that?" Lilly added.

Mic shrugged. "Well everyone was there one night and gone in the morning, without a trace. No one seemed to have seen it happen. It had some unpleasant consequences."

The girl, the one holding the rabbit, nodded. "They took my mom."

That explained the distance than. The woman she was near was probably some aunt or other distant relative.

"I say a foreigner must be behind it," the man from earlier, the one who'd wanted to punch them, leered.

"Anyone who comes into town is affected by it," the barman said. "I'd say if they knew something about it, they'd be smart enough not to come."

Pride felt Lilly's gaze fall on him. So, she'd realized it too. They had been 'affected', as the barman said. Whatever had taken the people in town away had taken away half their group. Sort of. Luckily none of them had split down the middle.

"Anyway, with the dangers in town, you can see why we don't want people stopping by," Mic said.

"That does sound bad," Pride agreed. "We'll leave."

"But-" Lilly tried to object.

Damn it. Was she really that oblivious? "Do you know anyplace really bad, that we should avoid on the way out?" Pride asked, cutting her off.

Lilly snapped her jaw shut. It seemed she'd finally caught on.

Luckily, if anyone else thought it was odd, Mic was still happy to keep explaining. He nodded. "There's an abandoned factory at the edge of town." Someone at the table facepalmed, while another rubbed the bridge of their nose. "It's supposed to be abandoned anyway. But lately the lights have been up and running again at night, and you can hear voices from it sometimes. Doesn't sound abandoned to me."

"Come on Mic. It's probably a malfunction, or kids around at worst," a woman at the nearest table said.

"I think you two had better go," the barman said as Mic got into an argument about the factory.

"I think you're right," Lilly quietly agreed.

She nodded, and the two of them headed back out.