A/N: Delays delays. I know. But now for more fascinating and exciting news! I've started a story with Sarbrook! And you should totally read it! Because it's going to be awesome! fanfiction dot net / s/8159937/1/The_Hollow_Man (Sans the spaces. Which I forgot the first time I put this chapter up.)
- 1913 -
- Farringham -
It didn't really matter.
At least that was what she was repeating to herself over and over again as she descended the stairs. She couldn't bear to look back, didn't want Martha to see the anguish that was threatening to tear her apart. She didn't think she'd be able to explain why she was so upset about what she had seen. It wasn't that she didn't trust Martha to keep her secrets, but well, she didn't really know Martha.
Calypso also had the sneaking suspicion that she had seen something similar to her own pain on Martha's face. That was really something she didn't want to think about. She didn't need to be consumed with jealousy along with her misery.
She wished Donna were here, she would know what to say. She wished she knew when or even if she were even going to see Donna again.
But she wasn't here now, so she did her best to convince herself on her own. John Smith wasn't the Doctor. Not any more than Jackson Lake had been the Doctor. Whatever he did with his time shouldn't bother her in the least.
Of course, it did.
It wasn't just that he was human, it was that he had forgotten her. Somehow that cut even deeper. Maybe she would have felt differently if it had been the Doctor who had chosen to move on, to leave her behind. Maybe not. It was difficult to think about anything practically right now.
It wasn't as though she had expected him to be exclusive with her. She certainly hadn't been exclusive to him. Though she had been more recently, and she was a bit unnerved to find that she hadn't really made a decision one way or another, she had just found herself gravitating away from the affectionate company of men. But that was the trouble with a life like hers, or the Doctor's. They were always moving in the wrong direction, always moving. Sometimes they knew each other very well, and sometimes they were strangers. She could hardly expect him to only have eyes for her every time they met.
Still, the image of him sitting cozy with that woman on the couch made her chest convulse. Calypso was finding it hard to breath in the stuffy building, surrounded by so many bodies as the students filed through the hallways. When she reached the kitchens, she had already come to the conclusion that the truck wouldn't be a proper escape. In the truck she would be hidden, confined, she could let her guard down there because she would feel protected. But the pain would become too real if she was alone, it would overwhelm her.
She needed to get outside. She was desperate for open space, fresh air. She had to see the sky. If she could just calm her breathing, everything would be alright. If she could just reach the yard without breaking down, she could push back all the demons that threatened to tear her down. She had to. Because if she lost it now, while she was so alone, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to stop.
There were few in the kitchen to give her pause as she rushed past them, but she didn't stop to explain. She could already feel her nerves fraying, the stuffy air was choking her. She took the last few paces at a jog, bursting out of the door and down the path until her feet reached the grassy yard. She gasped in the cool afternoon air, her chest rising with the effort. It hurt, but it was a physical kind of pain, one she could control. There was nothing dangerous in that pain.
She pointed her face up to the sky, closing her eyes so that the yellow of the sun was instead red against her lids. It warmed her and slowly eased the tightness of her muscles, and most noticeably, her throat. She ran her fingers through her hair and just focused on breathing.
She thought of the Doctor, and how much she missed him. He was so tantalizingly close, and yet more distant than he had ever been. More impossible to reach. It was made all the more obvious because she was certain now that she loved him. That was why she had slowly been alienating all of her would-be suitors, that was why her heart raced when she thought she caught a glimpse of the strange or unusual.
She remembered the first time she had met him, and how he had taken her hand and they had run. She remembered his inappropriately timed advances, and his sheepish apologies afterward. She remembered Christmas, when she thought she had lost him forever, and then thought she deserved to lose him. The picnic in the gardens. His silly grin. The Titanic.
She took one last breath and felt calm again.
He loved her. She knew that.
She finally opened her eyes, the urge to let her misery consume her had blown away like a frail leaf. She was going to be alright. They had a future. That was what she needed to remember. They had a future and she was a part of it.
Of course, she was in no hurry to meet with the Matron woman again, or really, to see John. But still she would be alright. She lowered her hands from her head and smiled, dusting her skirts consciously, knowing she had looked quite mad running out into the field as she had.
It was only a moment later that she realized she was not alone. One of the students stood nearby, watching her with a peculiar look on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just a bit out of sorts." She said with a short laugh, feeling a little embarrassed now that she knew she had certainly had an audience. But he didn't laugh with her, instead, he took several stiff steps toward her, and sniffed the air deeply. A smirk twisted at the corner of his lips but it seemed unnatural, as though he were a puppet with his strings being pulled.
"Hello hello." He said, his head tilting to the side. "Fine day. Yes, fine indeed. Are you from here? There is something about you that is so…" he trailed off, sniffing the air again. "familiar."
"No," Calypso took a step back, realizing that she had shivered. His tone was hollow, and there was something inexplicably uncomfortable about the way this young man looked. Something that frightened her. "I really must be going-"
His hand shot out and snatched her wrist faster than she could cry out.
"No. Oh no. I don't think that's a good idea at all. Stay where you are, shall you? There's a good girl." His voice had a sinister edge to it and Calypso searched the grounds, hoping there was someone else nearby. "I've some friends who are so interested in meeting you." She felt quite certain that she didn't want to meet any friends if his, now, or ever.
Part of her felt silly for being so threatened by him, he was hardly more than a boy, and he couldn't have been older than sixteen. He wasn't seizable enough to be very dangerous looking either, but then she hadn't been able to shake his iron grip from her arm.
"Excuse me." She tried to more forcefully yank her hand away, her own alarm starting to seep into her voice.
"No, mustn't stray. That won't do at all." He twisted her arm awkwardly which sent a shooting pain up her shoulder. She gasped and stared up at his eyes, they were dark and intense, and very focused on her. His smile, strange at first, now looked more menacing than ever.
But suddenly, his head snapped to the side, searching the school grounds. Something had caught his attention and he breathed in deeply. He was distracted enough that with a final jerk, she was able to pull free. She glanced over her shoulder as she stumbled away, trying to see if he would follow, but he didn't. Whatever it was, it had ensnared his attention fully. She watched as he strode off in the direction he had spun, moving with purpose and not once sparing her another look.
She took a moment to pity whoever else might come across his path and then ran, back into the kitchens and into the truck. Calypso didn't know what to make of his strange behavior, but she was hardly going to hang around and try to find out. She drove back to the village, perhaps a little unsafely. And for the first time that day, the Doctor was completely absent from her thoughts.
The door shook violently with a frantic pounding. Calypso jumped in her seat, scattering the papers to the floor. She had still been jittery after the incident that afternoon.
Just a schoolboy prank. She had told herself firmly, but it was hard to convince herself of that. She only just started to calm her nerves about what had happened when the knocking at the door had scared her half to death.
"Calypso!" It was a woman's voice outside, a familiar one. Martha. She sounded frantic. "Calypso, are you in there? God, I hope you are." She added more quietly. Calypso left the papers where they lay and crossed the small storefront to the entrance that had been locked for the night. Martha was clearly outline in the window, her hands pressed against the door. "Oh thank god." She said, a hesitant smile coming to her lips as Calypso went to unbolt the door.
"What's wrong?" She asked as she opened it, Martha didn't bother to come inside, instead she was trying to drag Calypso out. She was breathing heavy and her eyes were wide, it was obvious she was upset.
"The Family, they've found us. I don't know how," she shook her head, the strain on her face evident. "They took Jenny." Martha's voice trembled as she admitted that. "They've done something to her…she's not herself. And I can't find the watch either, I went to tell the Doctor, but well…I need your help. He's not listening to me."
Calypso felt a hollowness in the pit of her stomach. If the Family were here, they were all in danger. And if they couldn't find the watch…
Well, they had better find the watch.
"Where is he?"
"At the dance. We've got to find that watch." Martha said and Calypso realized that she was just barely holding it together.
"Alright," she nodded once, pushing away the thoughts of why he might be at the dance. "I have to lock up the office, but make sure he stays out of trouble. I'll be right behind you."
"Sounds like a plan, don't take too long though. I've already slapped him once today, and I've half a mind to do it again." Her smile had an edge to it as she disappeared down the street. Calypso returned to the office and stuffed all the papers into the safe, making sure it was locked. It would be a mess, and Mr. Finley would shout at her tomorrow, but there wasn't really time to worry about that now.
It was easy enough to find her way to the dance, there was only one hall large enough, and the banners had been up all month.
But now it was made more obvious when she could hear the screaming.
She started to run, now more alert of every shadow in the night. She rounded the corner and at last came within sight of it. People were streaming out into the street, running through the doors and stealing glances over their shoulder as if they were afraid of being pursued. As people scattered past her she tried to call out to them.
"What's going on?" But no one would stop to answer her question, some shouted responses, but they were impossibly to discern above all the screaming. She reached the gates and found herself jostled and bounced back as more people plugged the entrance, fleeing from the dance hall.
"Martha!" She cried out, searching the faces for someone familiar, but she couldn't see any sign of her or the Doctor.
"Calypso! You have to get out of here!" She suddenly recognized Colin at her shoulder, urging her to follow the direction of the crowd. His arm was still in a sling from his injury, but she found it was interesting that he had been well enough to attend the dance. She filed that away to be annoyed about later.
"What's going on?" She grabbed his good arm, pulling him to the side and forcing him to stop.
"Bad people," He shook his head, he was shockingly pale and visibly shaken by whatever had happened. "They've killed folk. We've got to get out of here!" He pushed her forward again but she stepped away.
"I can't, I've got a friend inside."
"Callie, you should run." He said very seriously, he hesitated another moment before bolting himself. She doubted Colin was very extraordinarily brave, but he certainly wasn't a coward. Whatever was going on was likely to be bad. Very bad. And Martha was tied up in it. Her skin felt clammy as she turned back to face the door, the majority of people had fled and she would be able to run into the hall. There were no more screams coming from inside, that did nothing to reassure her.
She took a few hesitant steps forward, willing herself to be brave. And then Matron Redfern was running out the door, followed closely by the Doctor.
Except it most certainly wasn't the Doctor, because he was looking terrified. She had never seen the Doctor afraid, but this man was. John and Matron both nearly ran her over as they were making their escape, the Matron giving a small yip as she realized Calypso was standing in their path.
"Whatever you do, don't go inside." John was warning her seriously. "They have some kind of weapon…" He shook his head, confused. "I don't know what it is." He looked at her carefully and there was that same tinge of recognition in his eyes. Likely from the dreams Martha had told her about, fragments of a forgotten life.
"Where's Martha?" She asked when it became apparent that no one else was coming from the door behind them.
"She-" His face clouded over and there was guilt written across his features.
"They took her hostage." Matron Redfern supplied. "They took both of us hostage, but she got a hold of one of their weapons."
"She made them let us go." John said, running his hand through his hair in a familiar gesture of frustration.
"You left her behind?" If the scene earlier in the day had left her feeling miserable, this revelation only served to make her angry. How could he leave her? The Doctor would never do the same in a situation like this. John was only a shade of what he could be, of what he should be.
He looked as though he would argue, make some excuse, but then his face hardened. "You're right," he nodded. "We have to get her back. Matron Redfern, I want you to get back to the school, raise the alarm and barricade the doors. Miss," he said, turning back to Calypso. "It might be best if you join her, I'm not entirely sure what their intentions are, but I doubt the village is safe at this point." He was finally resembling something of the Doctor when Martha came bursting out of the doors.
"Don't just stand there, move!" She shouted at them all. "God, you're rubbish as a human!" She shot a particularly nasty glare at John. "Come on!" That seemed to be all the encouragement they needed and John grabbed for the Matron's hand and they started to run.
"I think we're in some serious trouble." Martha risked a glance back at the hall before sprinting in the direction of the school with Calypso following closely behind.
