A/N: Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews, I love getting them! Please keep writing them! xxx

I'd really like to be able to write something one day that I can write "I own this" all over it – sadly it's never going to be this story.

12/11

Well, nearly all my charitable feelings towards the Doctor have disappeared. The hot water bottles clearly didn't help as I woke up this morning feeling distinctly bleugh. If anyone is wondering that is indeed a technical medical term and means generally bunged up with a dash of sore throat – not fun. I got up and dressed though because I was always being told to "soldier on" and do the whole mind over matter thing when I was growing up. Also, the Doctor made me breakfast and the most wonderful cup of coffee.

After I'd eaten and blown my nose about a million times I felt very much more the thing so I foolishly agreed to explore the city we had landed in. The fact he was pulling his best puppy dog eyes at me probably had something to do with it – no one, except perhaps me, should have access to such excellent bribery tools.

The city was pretty fantastic though. It mixed the architecture and atmosphere of Paris with the canals and mystery of Venice but without the decay and modernisation that both suffered from. Visiting a place that combined me two favourite cities on Earth was pretty exciting. However, I couldn't help remembering that I had first visited Paris in the middle of a heat wave, with a cold.

The city was called Anestra, something to do with stars. It was the year 4289 and an early evening in summer. All very romantic. Except I started coughing and couldn't stop for a while.

Apart from my hacking coughs there was nothing to spoil the evening – that is until we found an elaborate palace that the Doctor said "shouldn't be here" – he is always saying that. So off we went on a little investigation. I wasn't so ill that I didn't enjoy – I was actually already more than a little annoyed with this random palace. It contrasted sharply with the beauty of the city around it. I thought it looked a bit 70s/80s retro – a style I'd never liked – but the Doctor said it was from another planet who's name I've….forgotten, damn. Anyway, whatever, I thought it looked ugly and tacky. And not even tacky chic like Blackpool, just plain tacky.

Well, to cut a long story short, we found out that the Doctor was right (of course) this woman from another planet had come from another planet (well, duh) and declared herself a goddess. She was nothing special back home but the natural powers of her people looked that the powers of the gods here.

We met her, really nasty piece of work, used to getting her own way. There was something a bit odd about her though, she seemed to sort of shimmer sometimes and the way she acted was just wrong somehow.

The Doctor acted like a right smart arse (as usual) and got us into more trouble. Actually he got me into more trouble. The "goddess" appeared to have taken a shine to him so she punished me for him being a cheeky bugger. It should be noted that it was at this time that a splitting headache was added to my list of ailments. Well, at least it stopped him being cheeky. He was very angry actually and demanded to be told what was going on.

From what I could make out through the stars floating around my head, it sounded pretty horrific. She'd been having them worship her for about six months and had demanded a sacrifice every month. One of the population was killed, slowly, in front of her and the rest of the city every month.

There were gullies in the floor. Blood had flowed down them to where she stood in the middle.

I think it was then that I noticed that what I had taken to be blood red lipstick was simply blood red lips. Full stop. She had to have been drinking the blood.

The Doctor looked completely disgusted. I still kneeled on the floor. My head pounding and I think I must have cut me knees when I fell because I looked down and saw red and threw up.

It wasn't the sight of the blood that did it but the knowledge that at least six people, and quite likely more, had lost their lives where I was kneeling.

The Doctor ran to my side before anyone could stop him and he rubbed my back until he was sure I had stopped throwing up and the made me lean back against his chest. The reassuring double beat of his hearts helped to slow my own pulse but I still felt like I had run miles.

We were picked up and dragged from her presence. Well the Doctor had managed to walk but my legs felt like custard and they weren't responding to my commands. We were locked in some sort of cell; even there the hideous retro style was continued.

The Doctor took me in his arms and we lent against the wall for a few minutes or hours. Time was elastic. When he judged that I was recovered enough to sit by myself he got up and went to inspect the door. I had only been watching him idly until he mumbled something about the "goddess" assuming too much and put a hand into one of his pockets and pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

God, I love that man.

He had pointed it at the lock, it had whirred a bit and the door had swung open. After a quick check outside, he came over and pulled me to my feet. Keeping his arm around my waist to make sure I didn't fall, we left the room and tired to get out bearings.

When I asked him where we were going, he seemed a bit surprised that I was talking, albeit in a very hoarse voice. From what I gathered from the fairly long and involved ramble that followed he had picked up something I hadn't. This was hardly surprising, even when I hadn't been hit round the head he still noticed more than I did.

According to him, the behaviour of the "goddess" over the sacrifices wasn't consistent with that of her people. They had a reputation for being supremely indifferent but not intentionally cruel. The systematic executions weren't normal. And she hadn't been too bothered with the fact we knew she wasn't an actual deity. Obvious conclusion – she was being possessed by something that needed blood. Well, the Doctor said it was obvious but I wasn't so sure. Apparently the solution to this situation was to – oh my god I've completely forgotten. Maybe I was hit harder than I thought. But I remember stuff after that so…if he's made me forget I'm going to kill him! Complete bastard messing with my memory!

Ah, I've remembered. Panic over and scratch that about the Doctor being a bastard. I think it has something to do with the medicine I've been taking.

Anyway, the Doctor worked out that the only life form that needed blood was a – whatchamacallitbloodthingy, and that it only needs red blood cells. Something about haemoglobin. The people of the city's planet only have red blood cells hence the whatchamacallitbloodthingy (lets call it a haemaglobinate from now on) going to that planet. Also they're really superstitious there which helps when trying to set up a "goddess".

When the Doctor had decided all this we went to pay she/it a visit. The Doctor told it everything we (well he) had worked out. I've never been sure of this practice of his, could be better to employ a little mystery, and this time my fears were proved right.

The haemoglobinate left the "goddess"'s body, killed her in fact – the Doctor told me later that she'd been long dead. The haemoglobinate had a vaguely human shape except that it had no features and spoke directly into your mind – I didn't appreciate that. Also it didn't have any skin or clothes or anything, it just looked like a constantly moving, flowing mass of blood – very unnerving.

Because it was talking to us telepathically it widened the telepathic field and I could hear the Doctor talking back using his mind – I probably would have been able to do it as well if I hadn't been feeling too sick to try. Anyway they had this big long chat all about power and, of course, the Time War got dragged into it and the Doctor went all hard and ruthless and there was a lot of cold anger around. In my mind for god's sake!

At about that moment I realised that the haemoglobinate's legs had been sort of oozing across the floor until it had reached my foot, travelled up my leg and was sucking my at my cut knee, trying to get the blood off it.

I couldn't move, I was completely frozen with horror at what it was doing. Just thinking about it now makes me want to throw up. The Doctor had the presence of mind to drag me away from it though and broke my daze when he did so, thank god.

The haemoglobinate began to writhe and the blood that flowed through it began to look dirty, a shadow spreading from the point that it had taken blood from me. It screamed once, long and loud, inside our heads and then blood just cascaded to the ground as if the invisible force field that had been holding it together had disappeared. I suppose that is exactly what did happen.

I couldn't stop shaking for the longest time and I felt so awful. On top of my cold symptoms, a splitting headache and a cut knee I also had the added moral pressure of having caused the death of another living thing. However unintentional it was.

It took us a while to get back to the TARDIS but when we did, and I had brushed my teeth about ten times to get rid of the taste of sick, I finally got round to nursing my cold. I think the Doctor felt guilty because he was unnaturally useful. He got me all tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle, a cup of coffee and that strange medicine that's making me feel scarily calm – I'm so calm though that I can't make any enquiries. He's supplied Pride and Prejudice for me to watch and I have a feeling that I'm going to fall asleep to the reassuring beat of two hearts again. What a darling.

A/N: that was quite a long chapter really! I didn't find it that easy to write so if anyone has any tips or has noticed any tense rubbishing up please let me know and I'll try and fix it.

I also don't own Pride and Prejudice (it's the tv version with Colin Firth if anyone's wondering, bloody brilliant) so I better say that.

Please R&R, much love xxx.