Friends

The Little Girl was screaming from the corner…begging for attention to be set free from the monsters in the shadows that had trapped her. She so badly wanted to be free, and she knew how she could use her voice to be heard.

She chose Charlie, the person who felt her pain too because of the Doctor leaving all those years ago. Through Charlie, this little Girl could be heard, and nobody could ever question her existence ever again.

Through Charlie, the little Girl could have her fears and her terror heard, she could make them listen to her pain. The pain she felt when the Doctor left all them years ago, trapped her with these monsters in the shadows.

Oh yes, she could use Charlie alright.

She could use Charlie just because she wanted to; because she wanted somebody else to hurt too, just like how she had suffered for so many years. For all these years, she had been trapped with these monsters, nobody believing her existence.

And now, it was time to be heard.

Something inside Charlie couldn't stop as she sat up in bed, and screamed for what could have been hours. The voices were in her head; that poor, little Girl from the shadows, begging her to help her, to save her from the monsters too.

"CHARLIE, WHAT'S WRONG?" Her Aunt Marie crashed into her bedroom, taking a seat in front of Charlie and taking in her seventeen year old self. She wasn't awake; she was still asleep, eyes wide open and staring right at the shadows in the corner of her bedroom.

The more she looked, the more she couldn't look away.

"CHARLIE!" Aunt Marie screamed again, shaking her a little bit to try and wake her up, stop her from making such wretched screams of terror. She didn't stop, she couldn't have stopped; Charlie was echoing the Child in the corner, the same screams of fear echoed in the terrified, little girl.

Aunt Marie's heart broke as she sat, watching the pain unfold itself right in front of her, knowing she couldn't do anything to wake Charlie up at the minute, from the terrors effecting her sleep.

Aunt Marie watched in horror; tears streaming down her face in panic now as she realized there was nothing she could do. Charlie was like Marie's Daughter, and she loved her just like her Daughter too.

She held Charlie close, holding the rigid, screaming Girl in her arms, and cried into her shoulder whilst the screaming continued, waiting for Charlie's horrendous nightmare to finish.

Charlie's screams were ringing in Marie's ears, but she took the pain and the torture for her Child. Because she felt so useless, so torn up about not being able to do anything to help Charlie.

It was possibly the worst pain a person could feel.

It made it worse to know that the screams didn't belong to Charlie; the screams didn't sound like Charlie's screams at all. They were too young, too fragile…it was as though Charlie was screaming through another person.

A little Girl.

With a motherly bond, came a responsibility to make sure that that Child was always happy and content, and Marie felt that bond with Charlie. Having not being able to have Kids, she loved Charlie more than a person could love their Child.

And Marie prayed that there was something she could do, something anybody could do to stop this, to help Charlie stop screaming, to stop her terror at that very moment.

She prayed for a Doctor.

Charlie POV

I woke up with a slight ringing in my ears, remembering nothing that had happened from last night's dreams. I remembered a Girl…a small, blonde Girl with plaits and a heavy fringe, and she was dressed in Victorian styled clothes.

She wore a white shirt underneath a black, piny-styled dress, and she looked really poor and a little scrubby. But I'd never got to see her face…or into her eyes for that matter, because her face was always down.

The last thing I remembered from the dream was the little Girl screaming, and I mean really screaming. As soon as she had started screaming, the pain was horrendous; shooting through me at exactly the same time the pain had shot through this little Girl too.

Even now, as I turned in my bed and images of this little Girl shot through my head…all I could feel was pain running through me, making me whimper in agony. All that pain she had carried inside of her…it was horrendous.

She didn't want me to forget her, she didn't want me to forget she existed, but…I wanted to forget her.

The pain was too much for me to bear.

I forced myself up from bed, trying to put the images right at the back of my head as I got dressed into a casual, blue dress styled like a fifties dress almost, with a pretty bow at the front of it.

I dressed it with tights, tip-toeing out of the bathroom again, as I made my way onto the hallway landing, before catching two definite voices.

Callum and Marie.

"…she was screaming for ages…I didn't know what I could do!" My Aunt Marie sounded as though she had been sobbing, and because of how familiar it was to the little Girl screaming in my dream last night…I stopped and listened to what they were talking about.

"It was probably just a nightmare Marie, I know that Charlie said she's been getting a few of them lately." Callum said as comfortingly as he could, whilst obviously trying not to say too much either.

"No, it was worse than that Callum! So much worse than you can imagine…three hours she was screaming for, and then she just went limp and right back to sleep again. I've never seen anything like it before in my entire laugh!"

Something felt weird to me this morning though; rather than feeling awful for Marie's pain like how I would, I didn't. I was more terrified for the little Girl in my dream, like something was holding me to her, bonding us together.

I crept inside my bedroom again, shutting the door behind me as quietly as I could whilst Marie and Callum continued to talk downstairs, and I hurriedly blow dried my hair and brushed it swiftly.

It was then that it suddenly came to me, just like a really obvious epiphany hitting me right in the face. The reason why I was so keen to protect this little Girl, the reason why I had to do anything I could to keep her from harm.

I was the only thing she had; besides the shadows, I was the only example of her existence and it was only through me that she could be heard, it was only through me that she could have her pain, her terror, her torture heard.

And I had to protect her; I just had to.

Something told me that it was my job to look after this little Girl, keep her safe from the shadows, before I even thought of myself. She was in my head now, always there for me in the way I had to be for her.

And I would do it.

I would do everything in my power to protect the little Girl, to keep her away from them evil shadows, before I even thought of myself. I had to; the devotion I felt to her, to keep her safe from these monsters…it was unbearably potent.

I walked back outside my bedroom then, making it obvious that I was now around so that they could stop talking, and I walked down the stairs with a little more enthusiasm than usual, to be heard by them.

Of course they stopped talking before I had even got down the stairs, and I made my way through the downstairs hallway; the cold feeling pleasant against my feet, as I headed into the kitchen.

They were both sat round at the kitchen table, eyes flashed up at me before I had even got through the kitchen door, and Callum looked just as worried as Marie even did. If it wasn't such a serious matter, I would have rolled my eyes and told Callum to stop staring at me, before punching him in the arm playfully.

But it was a serious matter. And I knew they were going to talk to me about it; ask me what was going on. That same protection to keep that little Girl hidden and safe, away from them was back again.

I quickly put my eyes back to the floor, watching the kitchen stone flooring as I made my way over to the wooden cabinets, getting out a cup for me to have a cup of tea.

"Anyone want a cup of tea?" I asked as I boiled the kettle, knowing the silence would soon be overcome by questions and demands, and begs to tell me what last night was all about. But I wasn't allowed to; I couldn't hurt that little Girl.

"No thanks, love." Aunt Marie replied with a gentle voice.

"No thank you." Callum cleared his throat awkwardly, sounding as though he definitely wanted to talk to me about this. I sighed scornfully, and stabbed the spoon in the sugar bowl as hard as I could, grabbing a big spoonful of one sugar and pouring it into my cup hastily.

I retrieved the milk from the fridge, listening to somebody getting up from the kitchen table as the kettle boiled, only imagining who it was getting up. I poured the milk into the cup anyway, before placing it back in the fridge door again.

I bit my lip hard to stop myself from complaining as I heard the kitchen door shut behind someone, no doubt it had to be Aunt Marie.

Of course I was right.

As soon as we heard the living room door shut closed again, Callum was up from the kitchen door, standing besides me as I poured the boiling water into my cup, ignoring his hard stare that I could feel right on me.

"Who was the little Girl?"

"I don't know what you mean." I lied.

"The little Girl in your dreams…Marie said you were screaming…but it wasn't you screaming…it was in the voice of a little Girl."

"Oh," I replied nocturnally the best I could, trying to shrug it off casually.

"So, who was it?"

"How am I supposed to know?" I asked defensively, sighing heavily due to his annoying questions. I imagined he wouldn't drop it; that was what was annoying me even more, because I was an awful liar too.

"Charlie, what are you hiding? I can see right through you remember…who is this little Girl? Was it you…did you see yourself maybe in this dream…maybe when the Doctor arrived that night."

"I don't know." I retorted with attitude, emphasizing the don't as much as I possibly could, in order to at least try to get him to believe me as I sat down at the kitchen table. Callum was right there, taking a seat besides me, and questioning me with his eyes.

I sighed defensively, allowing myself to close up internally and holding my face in my hands securely and wishing that he would drop this. But of course, Callum always refused to listen to what I wanted to do.

"Charlie please…just tell me who it was in your nightmares last night." Callum begged me; letting his hand find my arm. "I want to know what you dreamt about last night." He added, but I shoved my arm away from his hand.

"Well maybe…maybe I just don't want to tell you!" I stormed back aggressively, feeling my temper flaring up due to all of his questions that he kept constantly asking me about this dream of mine.

"I'm sorry I hurt you Charlie, really I am, but I want to know-"

"It's got nothing to do with that!" I exclaimed in rage. I didn't understand why Callum couldn't just stop it; I couldn't understand why he really was that worried for, when it was just a silly dream.

I was more than used to the dreams.

"Well okay…why is it such a problem then? All you have to do is tell me what you dreamt about last night…who was this little Girl in your dreams? Just…tell me and then I'll drop it, I swear to you-"

"I don't know, okay! It was a blonde Girl, a little blonde Girl, about seven years old, but I never saw her face. She was screaming, begging me to help her out of the shadows, away from these monsters, and she was so lost, okay!" I exclaimed in rage, before dropping my head in my arms on the table in shame.

I had done it; I had gone and told him and let that little Girl down.

I felt one of Callum's hands brush at the back of my neck, before pulling forward and letting both his hands find each side of my face, pulling my face up to look at me. Except, he wasn't looking at me…he pulled me into his arms and hugged me instead, offering his comfort in return of me telling him everything about my nightmare.

I let him, hugging him back and thanking him silently for being here for me. Nobody else would have ever believed me; I had been through so many care homes, so many foster parents just because people thought I was mad.

Nobody believed me about the Doctor, and near enough everyone offered counselling, after shoving me back into yet another care home. I refused to talk about it, because all I'd be called is a blatant liar, so there was not much point in saying anything.

"Thank you for telling me…that's all I wanted. I want to help you Charlie, and I can…because I believe you. I believe everything you tell me." He promised me, pulling away from me again so that he could truly look at me again.

"Thank you Callum…for everything." I added the last part just in-case he was confused about what I meant. I was talking about everything that he had done for me. Because he had done so much for me, he had really been there for me.

He didn't have to be here for me if he didn't want to, he could have just turned his back on me the moment he dumped me.

But he didn't; he was constantly there for me, supporting me, and trying to be there for me as a friend. And I really appreciated him doing that, being there for me as a friend instead of running a mile when he had the chance.

"It's what friends are here for. I may not have acted as a very good friend to you in the past, not been here for you, but…I am here for you now. And I want you to know that I regret ever hurting you, more than anything else."

His eyes told the truth; green and lovely and rimming with honesty, of course I believed what he was saying. I just nodded, knowing what we had to do today, knowing we had to find the Doctor, one way or another.

And it was obvious from how difficult Callum found this, that I would have to be the one to suggest leaving now. Because we had to find him today, we both knew ourselves that he would be the one with all the answers.

I might have only met him once, but I already knew that he was alike anyone else in the whole world. He was a good Guy, the one who could help when nobody else could help. I'd had enough dreams about him to know this; I'd had enough dreams about him and his adventures to know that he was so much more than anybody else.

"I want to find him Callum…today." I pressed urgently, making sure that he knew that I was being deadly serious. I needed some answers, and inside my head, I knew that nobody else could have really helped me.

Only the Doctor.

Callum nodded, almost as if he knew this automatically, already. He probably did, I wouldn't have been surprised.

"Come on…let's go searching." He agreed, even though he knew that we both didn't have a clue on where to look, and even how to look really. Where were we possibly going to find him when he travelled across the whole of time and space?

I certainly doubted he would come back to the small, boring city of Spalding really.

But I didn't say a word of disagreement, as I got up and followed him out of the front door, because of the fact that I was already to go out and look as I was. I was still trying to take everything in as I shouted out to say goodbye and see Aunt Marie later on, when we could come back…even though I really wasn't sure what was going to happen over the next few hours.

"Where can we even go to look? I mean…do you really think he'll come back? He's been away for twelve years…can you really imagining coming back to a town as small as Spalding?" I choked out in a hurry, as I half-jogged, half-walked to keep up with Callum's long strides.

"It sounds to me as though he'd come back if he had something to come back for…something to solve, somebody to…save, you could say." He quickly added, throwing a lingering look at me as he said all of that.

I flushed embarrassedly, quickly putting my head down and going quiet as I followed him, ignoring his eyes. I didn't really think that myself, because I wasn't exactly somebody to come back to; I was a normal human being; unimportant, completely useless, and not needed at all.

The Doctor on the other hand…well, he definitely wasn't like anyone else, and I had to wonder if he was even human really. I seriously doubted it when he was so important in my dreams, so needed, so brave.

"He wouldn't come back for me Callum, I'm not important remember."

"I wouldn't say that…not with the dreams that you keep having and that little Girl too. If anything you're probably the most important person for the Doctor right now."He suggested, with a shrug of his shoulders.

Something told me he was just guessing that, but it was still nice to feel that needed, I had to confess.

We went into every shop in town, every restaurant, asked every person around town with me giving a perfect explanation of what he looked like, because I could remembered the Doctor so well, even after all these years.

But no, nobody had seen anything.

Not a single thing, and the more we kept searching, the more I could feel Callum getting more fed-up and probably useless too. We searched everywhere in town, asking almost everybody in town twice before I suggested to have a break and grab a drink and some food in Wimpy, after a whole eigh hours of searching.

The chips were so good after not eating all day, and the hot chocolates that we brought were just the best really, especially after so long trying to look for one, single Guy. One, single Guy who possibly had the answers to all of this; and the resolution to do something about it and save that terrified, little Girl.

"I don't know how we can find him…to be honest; I haven't got a clue about this. I knew all this already Charlie, but…" he trailed off, sighing helplessly in response. "I'm not sure where else we could look…do we go to London to search for him? Is he even in this time zone?" He asked himself with another heavy, frustrated sigh.

"I don't know, but…I have to know Callum. I have to at least try and get the answers I need, because this….well, this has been going on for too long."

"I know, I know." He agreed with a forced nod. I knew he knew that anyway, but it sounded like he wasn't sure on how he could possibly help me if we didn't find the Doctor. And the truth was…I was starting to feel at a lost point too.

But he said that he'd come back; he promised me, and I knew already that he kept his promises. I knew he did, he promised me he would come back. How could I lose faith when he promised me he would come back?

"He promised me Callum, he promised me he would come back."

"Yes, but Charlie…sometimes people break their promises Charlie. I know that's hard for you to…believe, but sometimes you just have to face up to it."

"I know that, and I know what you're talking about too. You're talking about you breaking that promise and dumping me even though you said you wouldn't, yeah? But its nothing like that, he's nothing like anybody else. He promised me ten minutes!"

"Well how can he be so perfect when ten minutes turned into twelve years?" He snapped, glaring at me angrily and taking me back for a second. Because he didn't know him…not like how I did, in my dreams, on that night…

He was perfect, to me anyway.

In my dreams, he was always the good person, and that was because he was the good person. He was a good person.

Callum sighed remorsefully as he saw me put my head down, but I refused to look up at him, because he didn't understand. The Doctor had had to go.

"Look, I'm sorry…maybe, and this is a long shot, but just maybe…the Doctor left something to help you without you even knowing it. Maybe…he's always been here for you, but…you just didn't realize?" He suggested, trying to be helpful.

That made sense…that made a lot of sense actually, and as he suggested the idea to me, I let myself have a good, long think about that. It made a lot of sense for him to do that, if he so much as thought that I needed something to protect me.

Protect me…

And then that's when it hit me…probably the most obvious thing that should have come to me really. It had been staring me right in the face for all of this time and I hadn't even noticed it. What was it that the Doctor had told me that night?

""This is a very important necklace, and I want you to always keep this in a safe place, okay? Because one day this little beauty…" he trailed off, kissing the green gemstone once, almost as if it was to wish me good luck or something. "Will come in handy." He added with a truthful promise ringing through the air.

"Oh my god…Callum, its obvious!" I exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm, making three teenage Girls sat at a near table turn around and giggle. But I didn't care; I didn't even really notice it.

Because it was so obvious to me now about what the Doctor had given me to keep me safe, to come in handy. The necklace, it had always been that necklace. I'd just been too blind to see it for all these years!

"What, what is it?" Callum asked me in shock, getting up from the table too, like how I had done. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him roughly after me, knowing that this definitely had to be right. It just had to be!

I pulled him outside the Wimpy restaurant besides me, and even though he struggled to keep up, he followed right besides me.

"That necklace…that necklace was the one he gave me and he said that one day it would come in handy. That's what I need to bring him back…maybe not to sort these nightmares out, these monsters, that little Girl but…to bring him back!" I exclaimed, feeling enlightened by the very knowledge of it.

Callum nodded, acting a lot saner than how I was, but that was just because of how excited I was getting myself. And that was only because I knew that the Doctor would be back now, like he always said he would be.

This had to be right!

"That makes sense." He agreed with a simple nod, still not getting as excited about it as I would. It surprised me a little bit, because I imagined that he would get excited about him coming back, ready to sort this all out.

"You aren't happy? Even after I've figured this out, so everything can be sorted out now, when he's back?" I asked him confused, trying to figure out why he wasn't as happy as me about this exactly. His mood didn't make sense to me.

"Yeah, no it is good news Charlie………I just don't want you to get your hopes up again, only to…well, be let down again. When he comes back, don't get me wrong…….I will be extremely happy, but until then…I just think we should be a bit more hesitant about it." He explained to me carefully.

"Well I believe in him. Its obvious he left this necklace with me to keep me safe...to come in handy one day…al I have to do is see why and how. And I'll do this…I'll do it for him." I replied stubbornly, full of self belief as I marched home quicker, hearing Callum sighing behind me quietly.

It didn't stop him chasing after me though, like I knew that it wouldn't.

"Okay then, so how are we going to work this out exactly?" Callum asked me as we practically ran back to my house. Well, I weren't running actually; I was walking with quick pace, Callum was the one who had to run to catch up with me.

"By getting the necklace, and trying something. I mean…it seems rather silly to me and it might not work, but…it's worth a try." I gasped out truthfully, rushing past the tiny, outside bus station.

He barely caught up with me, and as we raced home, I was only too glad that Aunt Marie had gone out early to get some food shopping for us, because I hadn't really wanted to face the questions if I was honest.

I was a coward like that.

I raced up into my bedroom, leaving Callum sat at the kitchen table, and searched under my mattress, where the necklace was still there, like how I knew it would be because it was where I last left it.

I took in the stunning green gemstone, wondering to myself if this really was the Doctor's plan for me in the future or if I was simply adding two and two together and coming up with five. Although I knew that there was a strong possibility that the second one was the real answer, it sounded like something alike what the Doctor might do.

That was what I thought anyway, however I was usually wrong about these sorts of things, but…I had faith. I had had faith for twelve whole years, so I wasn't just going to lose faith now, not after all this time.

I raced back downstairs with the necklace in the very palm of my hand, holding it as though it was the most precious piece of jewellery around, and that was only because to me, it really was just that. And in a way it was too; you couldn't find this on a market somewhere, not given by the Doctor anyway.

Callum was still sat at the kitchen table, and as soon as I was back in the kitchen, he watched me warily as I put the necklace on the table carefully. I could tell he was still hesitant about this idea, even after he said it had made a little sense, but I just knew myself that this made more sense than anything else.

"It has to be about this necklace…what else could he have meant when he told me that this would come in handy one day?" I asked him, knowing that this made a lot of sense. It must have been about this, because there was no other reason for him giving it to me.

The Doctor was too smart after all; he would already know if I needed some sort of protection or something, and how he could have help with that, even if he couldn't be around himself. That was how much faith I had in him.

"Well I'm not sure Charlie, but I don't think you should get your hopes up like this. If it fails then…well I just don't want to see you get hurt if it means that it's just a necklace." Callum warned me, making me click my tongue in annoyance.

"Haven't you been listening to a word I've said? Why would he leave an unimportant necklace here, if I wouldn't need it one day?"

"Urm…for a present?"

"That's not how the Doctor works…he would have known that I'd need protection one day, to keep me safe, from something or other. He said it himself when he told me that it would be useful one day; that was a complete giveaway!"

"Well okay, okay if you think this is going to work then-"

"I know it's going to work." I interrupted him, with pure honesty and trust because I trusted the Doctor completely. This was how he worked; how he did things, I could tell that in every dream I'd ever had of him, and I'd already had plenty of them.

"Okay, so…" Callum trailed off, taking a deep breathe and forcing himself to carry on with his sentence. "Where are we going to go to do this?" He forced himself to ask, making me smile instantly, because I already knew where we could go.

"I think I have the perfect place." I grinned at him.

And I did, and as we hurried there (no thanks to Callum, of course), I knew this was going to work. I just knew it…I had such a positive, trustful feeling and in the pit of my stomach, it was turning round awkwardly in excitement and anticipation to be seeing the Doctor again.

Finally.

The weather was cool; hot in the sun, a little chilly in the shade, with a light breeze in the air, as we hurried off to the park together, with Callum silently trying to work out where exactly we were heading to.

I could tell that he was, because he weren't even bothering to talk or even ask where exactly we were going. Not that I minded; it gave me more time to think about what exactly I was going to do when we got to the open meadow, because right now, I wasn't so sure what my options actually were, besides from having a necklace that I was somehow supposed to figure out on how to use. I wished the Doctor would have given me more clues on what exactly I was meant to do to bring him back.

But it didn't matter because I had all I needed in my hands, and I had faith in myself to work it out myself, even if he hadn't left me much clues at all. I would work this out on my own, for him, at the very least.

We finally got to the open meadow, a five minute walk from the start of the park, when Callum finally said something.

"What are we even doing in an open meadow, Charlie?" He asked me confused, sounding a little fed up with the walking by this stage, especially because I hadn't give him any clues whatsoever about where we was even going.

"I thought it would be a quieter place to do this…somewhere at least…more discreet." I explained, coming to a stop just in the middle of the field, and holding the blue necklace in my hand with uncertainty.

Callum sighed besides me, sounding as though he had given up.

"I really don't see how this is going to work to be honest Charlie…really, I don't. I mean how-"

"Shh," I hushed him hurriedly, rubbing the necklace over gently once, twice…and a third time. Of course nothing happened, like I didn't imagine it would work the first time. Because I didn't have a clue what I was doing, or how this was going to bring him back, but somehow I just knew that this necklace would be the end to all these problems and nightmares.

I closed my eyes, holding the necklace close to me, before bringing it to my lips, kissing it softly like how the Doctor had that very night.

I waited and waited with wide, anticipated eyes, expecting to see a blue box come out of nowhere, a slow, whooshing noise coming with it, but…nothing. Nothing happened, and the longer we waited, standing in silence, the more I could feel Callum's smugness.

I heard him sigh behind me after ten minutes.

"He'll come back Callum! He has to, he promised me!" I told him, because he did. He promised me he would come back, and I knew the Doctor would keep that promise. He was different from anyone else…he wasn't a failure.

"I know he promised you Charlie, but you're getting your hopes up for nothing! I'm sorry to say it, but I don't want to see you getting upset about this later, when you realize this yourself." He sighed heavily, telling me that he didn't really want to admit this himself either.

I felt like crying; I felt like breaking down, because even Callum had given up hope on the Doctor. And how I was supposed to keep faith when everything he said sounded like it was actually going to happen.

But I wasn't going to.

I stormed back towards the forest, letting Callum follow me if he so wished to, but it was up to him.

"Charlie, where are you going now?" I heard Callum say right behind me, hearing his footsteps behind me as we made our way back through the forest again together. I knew exactly where I was going.

"To get my tent, I'm staying here the night."

Callum sighed.

"It's worth a try Callum…if it doesn't work, then it doesn't work, and I'll just have to give up, wont I? but if it does…"

"Okay fine, but I'll stay here the night with you too. It's an insane plan Charlie, but I cant let you do this alone." He promised me.