Edited: 01/2016
-1483-
-Tower of London-
The door shattered as the man burst through, the candles sputtered but she could still recognize the man who stood in the room. He was the Duke of Buckingham, friend and confident to the king himself. But there was madness in his eyes that she couldn't explain, something that made her skin crawl.
He grinned as he eyed the occupants of the room, his eyes flicked over her briefly, but then moved to the princes, and lumbered in their direction.
"S-stay back!" She warned him, backing against the bed, but he wasn't listening. Her legs hit the side table and she reached back, clutching at the first thing her hand came across. "Don't-" she knew it was useless then, fear seized her and she swung around with the heavy pitcher, smashing it across his face with all her strength. His forward momentum carried him a step further, but his eyes had a glassy look now. She cracked the badly dented jug over his head again, and jumped out of the way when he collapsed in a heap.
"Blimey! Good shot!" She jumped at the Doctor's voice, he made his way to the duke and checked his pulse. "Never doubted you for a second." He said as he stood again, grinning like a madman.
"Is…is he dead?" She asked, the adrenaline in her body causing her to shake.
"No." The Doctor saw her bloodless fist still gripping the remains of the pitcher and he helped pry her fingers off the handle. "Not at all. Actually, he's likely to recover from that rather quickly. Sort of a benefit of the parasite. Then it's going to adapt him so he's less susceptible to that sort of thing in the future. So it's probably best if we move quickly." She stared at him, struck silent with growing horror. "But! Ask me about the good news again. Go ahead, ask me."
"What… good news?" She asked in a hollow voice.
"The good news, Calypso," he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her away from the unconscious man. "Is that I've found a way out." He gave her an encouraging grin, but looked disappointed she didn't perk up. "Right. You look a little frazzled. Totally understandable. Lot to take in all at once. Not to worry, I believe in you. I just need you to hold on a bit longer."
"You're…mad." She said, shaking her head.
"Yeah," he waggled his eyebrows. "But you sort of like that. We do need to get these boys to safety, though. So do you think can focus your attention on getting them dressed for our little trip?"
Her eyes were drawn to where Edward and Richard stood huddled together on the far side of the room, each looking petrified. Whatever was happening, she was determined to keep them safe. She took a deep breath, steeling herself and then nodded quickly.
"Atta girl," he squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. She turned to gather the boys' warmest cloaks, helping stuff their shaking arms into the sleeves and getting them into sturdy boots.
"Where are we going?" She finally thought to ask, as the Doctor was knocking against one of the walls.
"Well," he yanked a tapestry down to reveal a small wooden door in the wall. "I thought we'd give that well in the courtyard a try." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It doesn't actually provide any water, have you noticed that? Quite useless as a well. They'd be better off calling it a 'bad' or a 'poor'." He was lost in his ramblings, until the man on the floor let out a low groan. "That's our cue," he said, ushering them toward the door as he gave it a firm shove. There was tunnel beyond the door, it was just large enough to crawl through and it was thick with cobwebs.
"It looks scary," Richard whispered, coming up short as he approached it.
"Nonsense!" The Doctor said with a grin, grabbing one of the candles off the table. "It's an adventure!" The man groaned again and Calypso could hear him scrabbling at the floor, trying to rise. "An adventure that most definitely ends better than the one where we stay and try and fight the angry parasite man." The Doctor said with a grim look.
"I'll go first," Calypso said in a tight voice as she took the candle from the Doctor. "You make sure they follow." She told him firmly, despite the fact that the last thing she really wanted to do was crawl through the ancient tunnel. But she stooped down and shoved her hands through the sticky strands, forcing herself forward ignoring the shadows dancing around her.
The light from the room faded the further she crawled, which only served to fuel her speed. She could hear the boys scuffling along behind her, Richard making small nervous noises at the webs and the unfamiliar place. She was relieved to reach the end, where the tunnel opened into a murky gray room that she could stand in. There was a set of stairs that spiraled into deeper darkness below, Edward and Richard both popped up behind her, clutching hands.
"Stopping is not good!" The Doctors voice called from the end of the tunnel as he appeared. "Stopping is extremely not good!" He stood up as he entered the larger room, dusting his sleeves and creating an immense cloud around him.
"It's far too dark," Calypso shook her head. "We'll surely break our necks." The candle faded long before she could see the end of the stairs as they vanished into the black.
The Doctor frowned and peered over the edge of the stone platform where they stood, noting how the candlelight was swallowed up by the shadows below.
"Right. Safety first. You always did have a good head on you." He plucked the candle from her hand and blew it out. She heard it clatter on the floor nearby as they were plunged into darkness. "Let there be light!" Eerie blue light filled the room, the source was a long narrow cylinder that the Doctor held, though where he had produced it from, she had no idea.
She blinked in the sudden light, struggling to find the flames that caused the tremendous glow, but she could find none.
"Into the abyss." The Doctor said with a mischievous grin as he stepped past her and began to lead the way down the spiraling stairs.
She could hear the echoes of movement through the pathway they'd come through, it seemed there was no other choice. She gestured the boys forward and followed down into the depths.
The dust was thick under their feet on the stairs, and cobwebs tickled at her arms and neck even as the Doctor cut through them with the brilliantly illuminated pole. They moved with haste, but not so fast that they might trip and tumble to their deaths.
Edward had held fast to Richard's hand as they descended, but she suspected that was as much for his benefit as his brothers.
When at last they reached the bottom, she heard the Duke's voice howl above them, he was awake and likely had found the passageway they'd used to escape. Her eyes searched above them, but even with the Doctor's bright light, it was impossible to see any movement up that high. Regardless of the danger, she suspected it wouldn't be long before he were upon them.
The Doctor was busy frowning at an old rotting door that blocked their way. "Hold this a moment," he said to one of the boys, handing off his brilliant light and adjusting the tie at his throat. "This is a job for a professional." He threw himself, shoulder first, at the door. It rattled violently, and sent up a cloud of dust around them, but remained otherwise undisturbed. He slicked back his hair with a huff and threw himself at the door again and again.
Calypso could feel the tightness in her chest closing as she kept her eyes locked on the edge of where the light fell. She had unconsciously backed the boys away from the stairs and she could see Edward's hand shook as he held the illuminated pole. The light faded no more than ten steps up, and then the stairs curled around above them and shielded the light from penetrating further. Her eyes were fixed on that edge of darkness, terrified that at any moment, a dark lumbering shape would appear.
"Hurry," she pleaded as she saw the Doctor still struggling with the door. "Doctor, please hurry."
But it had the opposite effect as he stopped another run at the door and turned to her, a small smile on his face. "You called me Doctor."
"I- yes. That is what you said your name was."
"Yes, I did. Do you believe me?" He closed the gap between them, not quite touching her, but searching her eyes in a way that made her feel completely exposed.
"I…" she knew what he was asking, he wanted to know if she truly believed this man was somehow the one she had known from before. He had a different face, and yet he knew about the convent, and there was something inexplicably familiar in his gaze, something she couldn't quite place. Her mind drifted to the kiss from earlier and wondered what that meant if she did believe him. "I don't know."
"That's all right." His gaze relaxed and he smiled at her reassuringly. "You'll get it sorted."
The Duke gave an animalistic roar from above them, much closer now as it echoed down the passage. He would be on them soon.
"Right!" The Doctor tore his attention from her and returned to the task at hand. "Got one last trick up my sleeve." He lifted his leg and kicked at the door as hard as he could. With a suddenly splintering groan, the door flew wide and Calypso cried out in relief. "Hah! Picked that up from Donna. Boyfriends indeed." He straightened his jacket, clearly proud of himself, and then gestured through the doorway into the open night air. "Now, we run."
She didn't need a second invitation, she ushered the boys forward and they took off across the grass lawn. As she turned to ensure the Doctor was following, he clasped her hand in his own and led them toward the broken well. If the guards had been alert, they might have been quite a sight to see, but no alarm was called out from the walls. She had the unpleasant suspicion that the Duke had something to do with that, leaving no witnesses for whatever crime he had intended to commit.
They reached the well and the Doctor tore the lid free, revealing a long dark pit that smelled of old earth and must.
"Go on, who's going to be the lucky first jumper?" They all looked at him blankly, the horror at being told they would need to jump etched clear on their faces. "Well don't all volunteer at once." He huffed. "Oh give that here," the Doctor said, plucking the light stick from Edwards hands. "I've done it loads of times, watch." He stepped up onto the wall of the well, turned to Calypso and winked, "Geronimo!" he said and then he leapt into the middle of the well and plummeted.
Calypso gasped, reaching for him too late to stop his descent. She watched the light fall and suddenly hit bottom. It wasn't as far as she had imagined it, but it was much further down that anyone should be able to fall without seriously injuring themselves.
"See!" The Doctor shouted from below them, the light carried slightly out of the middle of the well where it had fallen. "Completely fine. They tossed all sorts of soft rubbish down here over the years. You should roll after you jump though, wouldn't want the next person to land on your head."
Calypso was frozen, but only for a moment, there was another howl from behind them. Still muted, but she knew they had little time. "Richard, come here." She said in a tight voice, helping the boy climb up to the edge of the well. She had to convince herself to release his shoulders as he stood on the stone rise, Richard looked frightened, but he gave a small smile and jumped out into the middle of the open well. Her heart stopped for the full seconds that it took until she heard the soft whump of a body landing.
"Richie?" Edward called down after his brother, his eyes wide with nerves.
"I'm fine," a small voice called back and Calypso nearly wept. "It smells bad."
"Well I'm sorry it's not the Ritz, Richie, but it is a means to an end." The Doctor humphed from down below. "Quickly with the rest of you."
It was easier to help Edward up, he even seemed almost excited at the prospect now that he knew no harm would come to him. "Hurrah!" He shouted as he hopped over the edge, his arms crossed over his chest. Her amusement at his bravery was quickly squashed by a new sound, an angry bellow, no longer muted, but loud as it carried across the field. She turned and saw the creature that had once been a man. He'd cleared the door, and he had spotted her. As she crossed to the far side of the well its legs powered him across the grass, much faster than she would have thought possible.
"Oh Gods," she whispered, watching him rush toward her. Her fingers clamped on the edge of the well, but the queasy fear in the pit of her stomach had frozen her limbs. She could not force herself to jump.
"Callie?" The Doctor called, she could see the light bobbing down below. "You've got to jump." The beast roared again, this time close enough to clearly echo down the well. "Callie, get out of there!" The Doctor shouted.
"I can't." She whispered, her legs rooted to the spot. The man was coming to get her, but she couldn't force herself to do anything but watch.
"Listen to me," his voice had gone very calm. "You've got to jump. It's all right, you'll be perfectly safe, but you have to jump now." She shook her head, frightened tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "You can do this. Trust me," he said in that soothing voice of his. She looked down and could just see his face illuminated in the cool blue light. "I'm the Doctor."
In that moment, she realized she believed him. The Duke was so close now she could see his grinning white teeth in the darkness and she sucked in a steadying breath before she hurtled herself over the well edge, her eyes shut tightly against the dark that would swallow her. Before she could fall, a hand grasped at her, causing her to scream.
The Duke had her by the shoulder and she swung sideways, slamming painfully against the stone wall.
"Calypso!" The Doctor's calm demeanor had broken and she was much more afraid of what this thing might do to her than of the fall. She reached up with her free hand and clawed at the Duke's face, treason under any circumstance, but she viciously dragged her nails at his eyes and felt his grip slip. There was a tearing sound at her shoulder and she felt the sleeve free from her bodice as she slipped away. Time slowed as she fell, tumbling down into the black, and then with a sudden burst, everything was gone.
