A Breath Away
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Previously, in chapter seven...
"Oh my God," Rose uttered under her breath, her face paling as she looked at Mrs. Johnston. "When I got over there, Estelle told me that the Doctor had left an hour or so before I arrived." She slapped her forehead, much like she'd seen the Time Lord do on countless occasions. "I'm so bloody stupid! They've got him!"
"How can you be sure?" the widow asked, looking at Rose with great concern.
"Because Estelle said you called there, but you didn't. And you said she called you, so she was trying to cover her tracks and keep me from lookin' for him, probably thinkin' that I was here. Then there's the fact that Estelle knew we were plannin' on stayin' here with you, so that means the Doctor was there - she can't deny it - because there's no other way she could've known about that change in our plans. He went there and they took him somehow! They've got him," she whispered the last three words to herself before running out of the kitchen.
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Chapter Eight:
Rescue Me
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"Rose! Wait!" Mrs. Johnston ran up behind her just as her hand clasped the front door handle. "You can't go out there! It's nighttime now!"
"They won't be lookin' for me - they've already got the Doctor," Rose replied sternly, unlocking the bolts on the door.
"Just stop and think for a minute," the widow began, placing a firm hold on Rose's wrist with her hand. "There's more than one of them - I should know - they kidnapped me, too! They could be out there just waiting for you to come looking for him! And although I don't remember much of what happened to me, I think it's pretty safe to say that it's too dangerous out there."
"Yeah? Well, I don't care," Rose replied angrily, pulling herself free from Mrs. Johnston's hold. "I'm not gonna let 'em sacrifice the Doctor!" She pulled open the door with such force it slammed against the wall beside them.
"Fine. I'm coming with you. Here," the widow stated sharply as she pulled an umbrella from the bin beside the door. "grab a weapon."
Rose took the parasol, grinning slightly as she watched the woman take one for herself. "Mrs. Johnston, are you sure?"
"Well, I certainly can't let you go alone, and I wouldn't mind giving them a little payback for trying what they did on me. Besides, I've heard that everything's always better with two." As they began running, she turned to Rose. "Call me Gabrielle."
"All right," Rose replied.
They ran into the night, full of purpose as they headed toward Lord Lupus's home.
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It didn't take long for the two women to reach their destination, each stepping quietly up to the large house, keeping a keen sense of awareness of any movement around them. The brisk journey there had been uneventful, save for a few wild animals crossing their path. Now though, it was time to get down to business.
"What do we do now that we're here?" the widow whispered, looking up at the two-story building.
"We go inside, rescue the Doctor, and hope like hell we can get back out before we're caught."
"Well, you make it sound simple enough," Gabrielle sighed. "How do we get in?"
"Magic door," Rose said ominously. "The one that takes us into the basement."
"The basement?"
"Yeah. That's where they took me and the Doctor when we were kidnapped. And I'm willin' to bet that's where they like to do all their sacrificin', 'specially since Lord Lupus probably doesn't get around very much, and I doubt he goes down there. Besides, with Estelle in on this whole mess, she probably tells him things to keep him from goin' down there anyway."
"How would he get down there? Even with Estelle's help he's still in that wheelchair. I doubt she could manage getting him down there, much less back up those stairs," Gabrielle quietly pointed out.
"He's got a lift built right in the house."
"Really? He must've had it built when he moved in."
"Yeah. Goes from the top floor down to the cellar. Come on," Rose urged, "time's wastin'."
The pair walked around to the back of the house, their path illuminated by moonlight. The stairs leading down to the basement were just around the corner. Rose and Gabrielle looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing to move forward. They eased their way down the cement entry, both cringing at the sound of dry leaves crushing beneath their feet.
Rose clasped the door handle and was visibly shocked when it turned by her hand.
"It's not locked," she whispered to her acquaintance.
"That's good, isn't it?" the widow whispered back.
"Could be a trap. You sure you want to go through with this? You could always stay out here, be a lookout in case someone was comin'," Rose offered, figuring Gabrielle was probably much safer here than within the dwelling.
"And do what? Yell down to you that someone's approaching? Kind of defeats the purpose of us being all quiet, don't you think?"
The Doctor's companion actually smiled at Gabrielle's tart retort. "Come on then," Rose began, opening the door slowly.
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Mrs. Johnston stepped closely behind Rose as they entered the long hallway, letting the younger woman take the lead, as she had done from the moment she realized the Doctor was in danger. There was an obvious admiration in her eyes, watching as Rose opened each door they came upon bravely and hopefully.
The basement was much larger square foot-wise than the house itself, which meant a longer search for the female duo. Rose was meticulous in checking every room, while Gabrielle was grateful that no one had yet discovered their trespassing.
"Maybe he's not here," the widow whispered after Rose checked within the fifth closed door.
"Why do you say that?"
"There's bound to be at least a few people waiting in anticipation for a human sacrifice. But there doesn't seem to be anyone around."
Rose walked up to the sixth door, grasping the handle before replying. "The Doctor was able to get us out of here because there was only one person down here other than me and him. My guess is they keep their victims here drugged until the party starts, that way no one has to stand guard." With those words, Rose opened the door then peered around, and gasped. She'd finally found him.
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"Doctor," Rose whispered, fingertips on his cheek as she tried to rouse him while Gabrielle worked on freeing his bindings. "Doctor! Wake up!"
Once the widow had removed the ropes from his extremities, both women stood closely above him, staring for a moment as each wondered how they would carry the unconscious man out of this place.
When the Doctor suddenly shuddered and convulsed, it was all either could do to stop themselves from making a sound at being startled by his actions.
His eyes opened slowly and he blinked quickly several times, focusing on the women above him. "Hello!" he grinned.
Rose immediately clasped her hand over his mouth. "Shh! You're gonna let 'em know we're here!" she whispered urgently. "You've got to keep your voice down, all right?"
The Doctor nodded with Rose's hand still covering almost half of his face.
"Think you can stand?" she asked quietly.
Again, the Doctor nodded, then reached up and removed her hand from is mouth. "I think I can talk quietly as well, given half the chance," he hissed a bit indignantly.
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The Doctor was finally up on his feet after much maneuvering and great balancing. He'd been laid within a half-casket much like he and Rose had before, only this time he'd been tied up properly along with the blanket of drug vapors wrapped up to his chest.
Rose stood in front of him, looking at him worriedly. "What do you remember?" she whispered.
"Everything, I suspect," he quietly answered.
"Yeah, don't think that's possible."
"But I do," he grinned.
"I don't think you do, at least you didn't the last time."
"Honestly Rose, I'm fine. I came here, met with Lord Lupus and explained we'd be staying with Gabrielle. When he and I ran out of tea, I went to the kitchen to get more only to be surrounded by three very tall and quite smelly men, who immediately threw one of those chemically soaked coverings on me. I realized they were attempting to try and drug me again, so I switched to my respiratory bypass system long enough to make them think I had inhaled the sedative. I was even hoping that they might think they'd accidentally killed me, but," he looked around the room, "I suppose they didn't."
"You can't just go shutting down your bodily functions like that," the widow whispered with astonishment.
"Oh, but I can. I'm special. Very special. Not from around here, you might say. Loads of distinguishable things, anatomically. Of course, to do that I had to slip into a self-induced trance for a while, and, seeing as I still have my memories this go round, I'd say I was successful."
"Not quite," a voice growled from behind them. "I believed you had to be a different species; hearing your words only confirms this."
The women held up the umbrellas they carried defensively while the Time Lord bent sideways a little, peering around the gnarly man addressing him.
"Oh, what's that?" The Doctor pointed behind the tall being. "A magic door?"
"What's with this 'magic door' talk?" Gabrielle whispered to Rose.
"I'll explain it later," Rose replied quietly.
"Do you mind?" The Doctor asked, turning to face the women for a moment. "And put those parasols down. You could poke a person's eyes out with those, you know," he spoke with a reprimanding tone. He then returned his focus to the newest addition to their group. He seemed to study the hairy fellow, calmly quirking an inquiring eyebrow. "So, who are you, then? What do you call yourselves?"
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