It was bigger than she had originally thought, Jo realized when they reached the side door of the church. Compared to the rest of the town, it was majestic and ancient.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and held it up to the door's lock. It clicked and the door opened a crack. He and Jo cautiously slipped inside. They found that they were in a hallway running along the side of the church against the outer wall. They went left and walked all the way to the end of the hallway. There was a door that opened to a staircase.

"I didn't know this church had a basement," Jo said. "It doesn't look like it would."

"I think you're not supposed to know that there's a basement." The Doctor fiddled with his sonic screwdriver and tapped it against his hand. A little light glowed at the end.

"Come on, Jo," he said, taking her hand. He led the way down the stairs into the blackness below.

At the bottom of the stairs they found another door and it opened onto a dimly lit room. It was cold and wet like a dungeon, with only candles to light the way. There were faint moans and cries echoing off of the walls. Jo shivered and took a few steps into the room. To her right, there was the sudden clank of chains tightening and a feral hiss close by her ear. She gasped and the Doctor pulled her out of danger. A woman with red bloodshot eyes and a foaming mouth was chained to the wall by her wrists. She opened her mouth and snarled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth, complete with oversized incisors.

"Stay behind me," the Doctor said, pushing her behind him. "Be careful. They are venomous and desperately thirsty."

He advanced through the room, looking at all the people. They appeared to be at different stages of transformation, some going wild and insane at the scent of Jo's blood, others in a nearly comatose stage with their eyes rolling back into their heads as they leaned against the stone walls.

"Why are they locked up down here?" she asked.

"They're waiting until their conversion is complete," the Doctor said. He leaned forward to inspect one vampire who looked like he was sleeping. The person lunged forward with such ferocity that the Doctor almost lost his nose to its snapping jaw. He jumped back.

"Once they're stable, there's probably some sort of initiation to prepare them for their new form of life." The Doctor stopped in front of an empty space. One shackle was still hanging on the wall, but the other one was missing. A few broken links of the chain were scattered across the stone floor.

"Ah, this would account for our killer," he said. "One of them must have escaped and gone mad, killing that girl in the crowd."

"Doctor," said Jo, nervously, "Do you think the others could break loose?"

"Oh, very probably, with the right provocation," the Doctor said nonchalantly. Jo looked back at the room full of vampires all staring hungrily at her and she tugged on the Doctor's coat.

"Let's get out of here," she suggested.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "Here we go, this might lead us somewhere important." He took another flight of stairs back up to the ground level, Jo following closely behind him.

At the top, they opened another door that led into a vestibule beside the sanctuary. The door into the sanctuary was cracked open and the Doctor went over to it and peeked through.

There were two men, presumably vampires, restraining Enoch and they were looking down at someone kneeling on the floor before the altar. The man's face was shielded from view, but the Doctor could see he was wearing a long black cape.

"My lord, it's just impossible. He has no blood. He has already been converted," said one of the men holding Enoch said.

"You're right," said a soft, silky voice. "It is impossible. Unless you're telling me that he is the Defender."

"He isn't one of ours," replied the man. "We checked, and no more have escaped. He must be the Defender."

"Is that so?" purred the voice. "Well, then, kill him."

"With pleasure," snarled the man. They forced Enoch to his knees and one man held him in that position while the other reached down into a pew. He brought out a wooden stake and held it above his head, prepared to stab Enoch in the heart.

"Actually, not now," said the voice. "We need a new scape goat since our other man looks innocent now. We shall give this Defender to the people to burn at the stake." There was a pause, and then their leader spoke again. "Our two guests can come out now."

Jo looked at the Doctor, surprised. The Doctor opened the door and walked into the sanctuary. Enoch and the two vampires turned to look at him. The cloaked figure did not move from his meditating position.

"I could smell your fresh blood from the moment you entered the must be the man with the blue box," the kneeling one said. "I have been waiting for you a long time."

"I'm sorry, but I must confess, I have no idea who you are."

"I am Draculda," said the man. "Known to my subjects as Lord Carrion." He rose slowly and turned around. The first thing that struck Jo was how similar he and the Doctor looked. It wasn't anything striking, they just both had silver curly hair and a beaklike nose. But, while the Doctor was kindly, this man was foreboding and evil.

"If you know me," said the Doctor, "Then you must know that I cannot allow you to continue in this way any longer."

"That is not your place to say," Lord Carrion replied. He turned to Enoch. "This is my true enemy. You, man with the blue box, are just a sign, a symbol of legends that brings us to our final confrontation."

Enoch stood and the other vampires backed away from him.

"Are you prepared, Draculda?" Enoch asked. "Are you sure you are ready to face the power of the Defender?" he stepped forward, toward Lord Carrion. "You know that you will not be facing one mortal man alone, but you will face ten generations of Defenders. All of their knowledge, all of their wisdom, all of their pain, and all of their power." When he said the word power, he jumped forward to Draculda and grasped him by the shoulders. The evil vampire whipped out a stake from behind his back.

"Watch out!" Jo screamed.

"Jo, over here," the Doctor pulled her down behind a pew and there was an enormous crash. Wood splinters flew above their heads and there was a loud sound like hammers pounding and peals of thunder. Curious to see what it looked like when vampires fought, Jo peeped above the edge of the pew. Before she could see anything, the Doctor pulled her down again. It wasn't a moment too soon, because a silver candlestick landed in the seat right next to them.

"Come on," said the Doctor, tilting his head toward the back of the church where the main doors were. "Crawl under the pews. Quietly, now." They slowly army-crawled across the wooden floor, feeling the vibrations of the fight. There was no yelling like in a normal fight, but the pounding and banging and punching made ten times as much noise as a human fight.

When they had reached the doors, the Doctor pushed Jo out into the cold night.

"Run," he told her. "As fast as you can. Go back to the place where you found us. Dr. Eli Torneau has a shop there and he will take you in and keep you safe. Stay there until I come to get you." Before she had a chance to argue, the Doctor disappeared inside the church again. Jo crossed her arms and frowned, trying to think of something useful she could do. She hated the idea of running and hiding, especially while her two friends were in danger.

Keeping as quiet as she could, Jo sneaked back inside the church. She knelt down behind a pew and watched from her hiding spot.

The Doctor and Enoch were working together to beat down Draculda, who was nowhere close to giving up. Though Enoch was supernaturally strong, so was Draculda. The Doctor was using some of his best judo moves, but Draculda seemed to be just as good, if not better.

The fight seemed to go on and on, and the more they attacked, the messier the church got. Everything up by the altar was broken or had been thrown across the room. The first few rows of pews were demolished and the floor had large holes in it, exposing the rafters.

Finally, Enoch caught Draculda in a chokehold while the Doctor was distracting the vampire with a well-placed punch.

"Surrender, Draculda," Enoch said in his adversary's ear. The vampire struggled fiercely, but he was unable to break free. "Surrender or we will destroy you," Enoch warned him.

"Destroy me?" Draculda scoffed. "As if you ever could. You are one of this primitive race and easily subdued."

"You forget that you, also, are one of us," Enoch said. "You're no longer in your original form. You've had to take the form of Lord Carrion."

The vampire sighed and relaxed. "You're right." There was a pause, and then he broke free with a sudden jerk. Enoch grabbed him and they struggled. Then they crashed to the ground. There was a sickening crunch and their fighting ceased. Enoch rolled off of Draculda's back, revealing a wooden steak sticking out through the villain's back. Enoch looked down at his own chest, which had a gaping, bloodless hole in the center of it. He rolled onto his back. Jo and rushed forward down the aisle and knelt beside the Doctor who was propping up Enoch's head on his knees.

"Did it pierce your heart?" the Doctor asked.

"I think so," Enoch said, his voice weak as death was on his doorstep.

"It's okay," Jo said, wiping his brow gently. "You're going to be alright."

Enoch smiled sadly. "We all know that I'm dying." Jo looked up at the Doctor, hoping he would offer some miracle solution, but he only smiled sadly at Enoch.

"Goodbye, Jo. Goodbye, Doctor. Please, choose another Defender to take my place. Someone has to make sure all these new vampires know about the other way of living." He closed his eyes and breathed for a few more seconds, then passed away.

Jo's eyes filled with tears and she bent down to kiss Enoch's cool brow. The Doctor wrapped his arm around her and she leaned her head against his shoulder. Enoch did not look dead, though they knew that he was. He was perfectly preserved in his bloodless state for all eternity.

? ? ? ?

It was a good thing that most of the vampires who had been under the influence of Draculda had actually wanted to give up terrorizing the townsfolk, and when the Doctor showed them the books and the tapestries, they were quick to embrace Enoch's way of living. There were a few who struggled with it more than others, but they all formed a sort of support group to help keep everyone accountable. Families were restored, the missing ones found, and a new Defender was chosen. It was the vampire they had rescued from the stake that day when Draculda's curse was broken.

Jo and the Doctor only stayed around long enough to see that everyone was settled in and then they paid their respects to Mrs. Silver. She shared a tearful goodbye with Jo and managed to thank the Doctor twice before they marched off down the road, back to the field where the TARDIS was waiting for them and, hopefully, Metebelis III.