Here's me paying it back, I wrote a whole chapter this morning, just for you people! I was just tapping away at my Ipod screen, no idea how much I was writing. When I uploaded it to my Word document, my mind was blown. 2000+ words to this chapter!This will be the longest one I have ever written. EVER. i was really happy about it. I was going to make this a filler chapter, but then... Lightbulb! I fixed some stuff, and then I finished writing. And this turned out to be a pretty good one too! I have two puns in here, I want to see if you can figure them out. its in diolague between Charlie and Alice.
Alice was in complete disarray. She was confused about the Doctor, and why she knew him, why she loved him. She was confused about why Jack wouldn't let her know about her past. Which lead to more confusion, like why Jack was going to let a 'paradoxal' girl out on the streets. Why would Jack, after all these years, suddenly just let her out on her own? Really, though, it's what she wanted, some freedom from the Torchwood tower. But to be put out on the streets, when someone important shows up, and told to leave, how else would she be?
Dazed, and slightly confused, Alice decided to hit the town. It's was her one get-out-of-jail-free-card after all. So she set off at a speeded walk, towards her favorite place to shop with Gwen, the candy store. It sat right across the street from her, and all the lights were still on.
The front was light up with it's usually bright rainbow colors and happy toys, candies, and other bright, happy, assorted things. it almost reminded her of what Willy Wonka might have done if he has owned a window shop. The front window read, "The Tower Candy Shop." she always thought this funny, because it was named after the tower where she lived, and the man who owned the store always talked about it. He had crazy stories about it, none true, but still about as wild as what really happened there anyway. Alice never let it slip that she knew things about that tower, just let the old man ramble on about it, smiling innocently the whole time.
As she pushed on the door, she heard the familiar little tinkle of the old bell on the door. The smell of sweets and tarts flooded her nose, and she smiled at the sight of her old friend. He was a short old man, white headed, but he was always smiling. Alice liked him for this, the only person in the world who never seemed to have any problems.
"Alice! My favorite costumer. Here for some of your own chocolate-dipped cherries? Or maybe something new, like a fruity chew?"
"I don't really know, Jack let me out on my own tonight. I was surprised that you were still open this late."
"Don't ever worry, you young-heart, I will always be open if you need me to be."
"Thank you, Charlie, you are one of the best people I know."
"I have to lock up the back of the store, but you can stay as long as you like. Try something, even, a free treat to my favorite young lass." with his perfect smile, he walked around the corner of the counter to the back of the shop. Alice knew that there were many doors, and that he would check them all, so she had plenty of time to herself.
She took a seat at the counter, on one of the old bar stools, and looked around. The store was very different with no one in it. It almost seemed too much for just one person to take in. She turned more in her seat, and looked at the soda fountain behind the counter. It never had anything in it, because Charlie didn't think drinks satisfied someone's need for sweets. As she continued to turn in her seat, she noticed a very odd looking painting tucked behind a box in the back storage, behind the counter. Alice knew very well that no one was supposed to be behind the counter unless they had permission.
'He won't mind though, he knows me very well. He would have let me if I asked.' Alice jumped the counter, being as light on her feet as possible. He was an old man, but he was as sharp as a whip. Pushing through the beaded entryway to the back storage, Alice kept her eye on the painting and her ears on Charlie's very distant footsteps.
The front of storage was bright and filled with candy boxes. But after the first few steps, it turns into what it should be, storage. The painting that she had seen had been a reflection, one of the mirrors that made the storage look much bigger. So using her line of vision, she traced the reflection back to another mirror. This one smaller but closer to the painting. Across the way from the small mirror was the painting, but also across the way was a very large bear trap. Now why Charlie would need a bear trap, let alone right in his candy shop, was a complete mystery to Alice. Cautiously, she crept closer, stepping lightly inside the trap, trying not to set it off. Scared of the trap, but in a trace with the painting, Alice had completely forgotten to listen for Charlie. His voice was close, too close for her to make a clean getaway. So she snatched up the painting, it being small in size, tucked in her shirt, and zipped up her light jacket. Jumping out of the trap, snagging her pant leg on the teeth, she almost feel face first to the floor.
"Alice? Are you alright? I'm done locking up, I'm coming up front now." Charlie was right around the corner from her, his voice very close now. Ripping her pant leg, she ran around the next corner.
"Alice?"
"Charlie? I was calling for you, but you never answered, so I decided to come see if you were alright."
"I'm fine dear, but you appear to be bleeding, what did you do?" Alice didn't remember getting cut or bleeding. She looked down to figure out where she was bleeding, and saw a big red spot on her pant leg, right where it had ripped off in the trap.
"Oh! I fell over a box, I didn't even realize I had started bleeding! I'm sorry to have worried you, Charlie, I'll clean it right away."
"alright, I'll get bandages, wait right there." As Charlie turned back around to face the trap, Alice turned stone cold. She saw, stuck on one of the teeth, a portion of her pant leg, smeared with blood. She held her breath, hoping that Charlie's eyesight was worse than it was. Charlie paused, but he didn't look at the trap, but where the painting had been sitting. Scratching his head, he turned to glance at Alice, who was 'studying' her injury, aware of what he was looking for. Shrugging, he went to retrieve a bandage for Alice.
As soon as Charlie's back was completely gone into the next room, she ran to the trap, snatching up the piece of cloth, and shoving it into her pocket. Alice, still standing by the trap, didn't hear, again, Charlie re-entering the room. He held a very clean, white bandage in his hands, and a pair of scissors. trying to look innocent, Alice looked at Charlie, then at the trap.
"Why is this here, Charlie?"
"It's to keep the monsters from stealing my goods." he said this with a very big smile, but in a dead serious tone. If Alice hadn't been bleeding so much, she would have questioned this further. But the pool of blood had grown, and Alice wasn't feeling quite as sharp as usual.
"Let's get you bandaged and back home, dear child, we can't let Jack get too worried now."
"Yeah. But I still have to tell him I almost killed myself on a box!"Charlie chuckled,
"Dear Child, I don't know how Jack keeps you alive, the way you are always getting hurt!"
"We know how, by keeping me at home all the time. 'No fun. No life. No candy!' that's what his rules sound like to me..."
"He means well, dear. Don't worry, it'll all sense eventually. And if it doesn't, well, let's just say life doesn't always make sense."
"Charlie, how do you always know just what to say? Is that what wisdom is? Being able to tell what is needed to be heard?"
"Wisdom? I am but an old man, I am not wise, but caring. I listen to my heart, and speak what troubles my mind. You should too, young Alice, because then you never have to worry about your troubles."
"you're a good man, Charlie B. Rown, and I'm glad you're my friend."
"I'm glad you're my friend, little Alice, the child who can brighten even a sour queen's day."
"I must be getting back, Jack will be worried."
"then go, child, I will clean up. Its late, you must be tired."
"Bye Charlie! I'll see you soon!" Alice yelled as she ran out the door.
"That child, God bless her heart, because she's about to break it..."
She had almost forgotten her painting in her shirt, and as she was running out of the light of the shop, she took it out. Looking at it now, she realized the painting, was in fact, not a painting, but a piece of parchment. And on this parchment was what looked like circles, all intermixing with each other. Large and small, thick and thin, all the round lines on the parchment looking very strange to her. She knew immediately that it was alien, and that Jack would know what it was.
Rushing out of the light of the store, Alice ran across the empty street to the tower, finding the back entrance, she waited as it lowers her in. Sitting cross-legged on the stone, she studied the circles more. It looked rushed, as if it was scribbled, onto the parchment. This lead Alice to believe that maybe it was a type of language. This was probably the prettiest she'd seen in a long while.
The stone stopped, as did two voices that Alice didn't notice till they had hushed. looking up sharply, she glanced quickly all around her, trying to find Jack. Instead, her eyes fell on the Doctor, who was sitting in Jack's chair. Panicking, Alice stood quickly, causing a head rush, and she stumbled off the top of the stone. Falling off the ledge, she thought she was going to hit the floor. But, never failing, Jack caught her on her way down.
"Alice! Why do you always fall off this thing? I need to install a safety net for you."
"Maybe we could get bean bags to soften the fall?" Alice joked. She and Jack always seemed to make the best out of a dangerous situation.
"Jack, I have something I need you to read."
"what is it? A boys love letter? The answers no."
"Don't be daft, Jack! It's alien writing!" Jack lowered her to her feet, and she handed him the parchment. Looking at it intensely, Jack tried to decipher the circles.
"How do you know it's even a language?"
"Do you see the roughness of the inner circles? No one would scribble an art piece, they would finish it perfectly."
"those are some serious decoding skills you've got there, Alice."
"thanks." She smiled at this, she loved it when she was able to point something out to Jack that he didn't notice.
"Wait a moment... Did you two just mention circles?" Alice jumped, she forgot that the Doctor was sitting there. He had gotten up and ran over to them. Taking out a... Well she didn't know what, with a green light and hovered it around the parchment. Flipping it up, he seemed to be reading something, he gasped. Snatching the parchment from Jack, his eyes trained back and forth over the circles.
"What is it, Doctor? I couldn't read it, and I have the TARDIS translator."
"Oh... Jack, this is so beyond what we thought it was..."
"What do you mean? Is this another clue to my past?"
"Oh, yes it is... Where did you find it?"
"uh... It belongs to my friend, Charlie."
"Charlie... Charlie what? Charlie Greg? Charlie Water? Charlie Akers?"
"Charlie B. Rown."
"AH HA! It all is starting to fall into place! Sorta of... Good man Charlie B. Rown! Doing his ever good duties! Makes good candies too, I might add. Well, whenever he was given this, it was about ten years or so ago."
"But I only got here recently! There's no way that has anything to do with me!"
"That is very untrue! Time has a way of working itself out very funny. Anyways, you wrote this note."
"What?" Jack and Alice chorused together. How could she have written it?
"But I don't even know what it says!"
"Well first off, that's because it's in old Gallifreyen, only timelords know this language. how you know it is unknown to me! But the best part is what it says!"
"What's it say?"
"'Find the Doctor. He knows of the things I speak.' Well that doesn't make sense, you never said anything!"
"Doctor," Jack said, "The back. There's more on the back."
"What did I say there, If I did write it?"
"Well, roughly translating,' I, who grew in the different time, need to find he who fathered my life. For he is the warrior to destroy the Dark Hall, ending my eternal torments.' and it was signed by Alice H. Tyler."
so I'm posting this early, because my last chapter was just...short. And I hate to leave you with such a short chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well as the last!
Please Read and Review!