Author's Note: Happy New Year!
Chapter 9
"We saw a ghost." The older Doctor paced back and forth in front of the collapsing doorway of a house, his gaze fixed on the group. "Caught between two time streams, she had her existence torn across history. No human can survive that. Something's sucking time energy from this neighborhood, and if—"
"No!" The other Doctor nearly shouted the word. "No, that's not possible. She couldn't have—maybe she got dropped in the future. Which means we'll catch up to her—"
The sound of running feet cut him off and both Doctors whirled to see Rey emerge from a nearby house, flying down the street. Recognition and relief dawned across her face and she started to smile, nearly stumbling forward into the Doctor's arms.
And then Edward was stumbling forward, shoving her to the street. She let out a cry of indignation at the rough push, and leaped to her feet, her staff at the ready—just as he collapsed.
The color drained from his face and he crumpled to the ground. She let out a little cry and started to drop to her knees beside him, but the Doctor pushed her away again, dropping to his knees in her place. The other Doctor joined him and together they lifted Edward and carried him to the porch of the nearest house, laying him on a half-collapsed bench. Rey watched, frozen in shock, as the two Doctors huddled around him, murmuring together.
And then her Doctor turned, and his face was grim.
"His mind's been eaten." He took a step towards the group, and the other Doctor followed. "There's a creature here. Nebulous life form, no body. It feeds on people's minds, gorging itself on their consciousness, their very being." His gaze glanced over Rey, and she shuddered.
It could have been her—
"Everyone out of the way." The other Doctor pushed his way through the group, his eye fixed on the house that Rey had emerged from. "If it wants mine, it's going to work for it!"
"Bright blue…." Her Doctor strode after him, muttering under his breath. "Bright blue…time energy….oooh that's it! That's it!" He pushed past the other Doctor and flew up the steps to the porch, shoving the door open and bursting inside.
The other Doctor just looked at him for a moment. "Yep, still me." He nodded before following him inside.
For a moment Rey just stood there, trying to process everything that had just happened. She stared at the open door, where the two Doctors had disappeared. She stared at Edward, lying unconscious and pale on the porch. She stared at Laila—and—and—
The woman. The woman who was with Laila. She knew her.
She was the timestream ghost.
"Laila." She tried to keep the breathless fear out of her voice. "Who is—"
Their eyes met. And in that instant, Rey could see that Laila knew.
"We've got to get you out of here." Laila hurried to the woman's side. "This neighborhood's dangerous. I don't know how this all works but you need to leave. Now."
The woman looked between Laila and Rey, and her eyes swirled with fear. "The way you're looking at me. Both of you. It's like you know something. It's the way you looked at me. Laila. The same way you looked at me—"
"Allison, please. We can change it." Laila hurried forward, practically dragging the woman after her. "Surely we can change the future. One right move, right? Isn't that how it works?" She looked at Rey. "You've traveled—you've traveled through time. Things can be changed—"
Rey shook her head. "I don't know. But if they can, the right move is getting out of here. Now."
Footsteps pounded through the living room and dust flew up in great clouds as the two Doctors dashed through the abandoned house, the floor creaking beneath them.
"I will speak to the creature that stole his mind!" The Doctor shouted, his voice echoing off the walls and through the rooms of the old house. "We will speak—well—that'd be I—but you get the point! We want to speak to you!" A presence wafted around him, and he could feel its fingers brushing him, as if curious—and hungry. Very, very hungry.
"You have no right!" He turned in a circle, searching for a hint of the invisible creature, some shadow or wobble in the air that would betray its presence. The older Doctor came up behind him, his sonic screwdriver clutched in one hand, his gaze hard and dark. "You have no right to land here and make these people your food supply! To glut yourself on their minds like vultures on some dead animal!" He started forward, through the living room and down the hallway—
And skidded to a stop, the other Doctor—his past self—nearly running into him from behind.
There, in a little room that had once been a bedroom, the TARDIS split the wall in half.
But it wasn't the TARDIS. It was some twisted copy of it, half-eaten, gnawed away at, distorted—and screaming in pain. The Doctor saw horror wash over his past self's face, and he knew, as if they were a copy of the same person, that the same horror filled his own features.
"Release her!" His voice filled with the pain of the TARDIS, his own TARDIS, warped and twisted.
"You will let her go." His past self's voice was hard, hard but filled with fire. "Now."
The creature wafted around them, its invisible being swirling like clouds of mist, sending fingers out to each Doctor. And it seemed it was laughing—laughing at having found such a delightful meal, something that would last it for a very, very long time. And then it drew back from the Doctors, centering all of itself on the TARDIS—and immediately, both Doctors felt it bite down on the consciousness that lay inside their beloved ship—hard.
And the TARDIS shivered and let out a silent scream.
A wobble seemed to move through the swiftly darkening neighborhood as Rey and Laila hurried Allison towards the sign, towards the edge of the dusky street. Rey stiffened and glanced around—that wobble looked familiar. It was the same thing she had felt in the future, when—
She heard Allison let out a little gasp beside her, and felt her stiffen. And then her hand passed through nothing. She whirled with a little cry, and her eyes met Laila's across the space where Allison should have stood.
"Doctor!" Rey and Laila flew through the empty living room, their footsteps pounding across the creaking floor. "Doctor, we need you—" She dashed down a little hallway, Laila nearly tripping over her—and skidded to a stop, her hand flying to her mouth.
The two Doctors stood staring at the TARDIS.
But it wasn't the TARDIS.
It was a nearly-empty shell. And it was crying out in agony.
She shook her head, steadying herself against the doorway. "No….no. No…."
"Falling Star Lane." Her Doctor turned, and his voice was dull. "Falling Star Lane—I knew it was the key. But not like this. Not my TARDIS. I never thought—"
"Falling Star Lane." The other Doctor spoke, his voice dark. "This is the falling star. The TARDIS. My TARDIS."
"It grabbed a hold of it. Thought it'd gotten a good snack." Her Doctor spoke again, his words tumbling over each other. "But it can't eat the TARDIS. The TARDIS resisted. It fell, catapulting us out. Dropping us in different times as it fought the creature." He began to pace, raking his fingers through his hair. "Landed in this neighborhood. Years ago. And stayed here. All these years. And it still couldn't eat it. Because the TARDIS isn't just any little consciousness. Oh no, there's all of time and space in there. So all it could do was bite it. Twist it. Chomp on it. And grab anyone else who stepped into the neighborhood while it was at it!"
"It's sucking time energy." The words came out before Rey could stop them. "It's sucking time energy—"
"Exactly!" Her Doctor whirled to face her, pointing a finger at her. "Ooh you're good! That's exactly it! The TARDIS—it's trying to sustain itself, to fight the creature." He began to pace again. "So it's sucking time energy into itself, drawing it from the surrounding area—Laila! Rey—an hour in the future. Laila—80 years."
Laila started, and stared at him, her eyes wide. She looked as if she didn't have an ounce of an idea what he was saying. She opened her mouth to speak—
And then the three of them whirled as the other Doctor dashed towards the TARDIS.
"I've lost everything." His voice was dark. "I've lost my people. I've lost Rose. I won't lose my TARDIS too." He slammed the door open and stepped inside, disappearing into the half-light that was the inside.