Seeker

AN: Thank you to Kie 1993 and the anonymous reviewer for their comments on the last chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.

The two of them made their way up the slight incline that was the driveway of the orphanage, the rain battered an expensive-looking black carriage which was parked neatly just outside the front door, in front of it stood a creature- a lot like a horse but it was different; with emerald-green eyes it stood, it had no mane and no tail.

The Doctor, of course, walked straight in as if he owned the place, or tried too. He was gently pushed aside as two men carrying a stretcher stepped out, on the stretcher lay a grubby white sheet, you wouldn't have to be a genius to know that a body was underneath it. The doctor nodded solemnly to a large man who followed the other men, who were now loading the stretcher into the back of the black carriage, undertakers? Before once again stepping through the door and disappearing into the dreary, dark corridor. Amy made to follow but stopped when she spotted someone out of the corner of her eye, she took a few steps back and glanced up; at a window near the top of the building was a girl, she could only have been in her early teens, her dark hair was loose and some strands had fallen in her face, she was looking in the direction of Amy but seemed to look through her. The red-head waved, slightly uneasy, and may her way forward, feeling eyes on her the whole way.

A floorboard creaked as she stepped through the door and made her way up the hallway, the Doctor wasn't about and this unsettled her. She looked around and studied the walls; countless children's drawings smothered the red wall paper, two sets of stairs were to her right, one going up and the other going down. She wondered, at first, whether the doctor had gone down to the basement as she heard a loud shuffling noise coming from below her feet. She moved forward and peered into the gloom, the noise happened again but there was no light, no glow of a screwdriver, just the shuffling.

"That 'ill be the cat."

Amy jumped back, slightly startled at the new voice. She looked up to see a young girl sitting on the ascending stairs; she had light red hair and freckles and wore a pair of scruffy denim jeans and a hoodie. The little girl sniffed and held out her hand through the banister.

"I'm Laura."

Amy took her hand and gently shook it.

"Amy. Nice hair." She motioned to gently waterfall of auburn curls, which reached Laura's shoulder.

She sniffed again, "Cheers, I like yours too. Red heads are the best." A light giggle escaped her lips.

The two shared a slightly uncomfortable silence before the young girl spoke again-

"So, why are you 'ere? You part of that asylum lot?"

Amy raised an eyebrow, "Asylum?"

Laura said nothing but motioned towards a door at the end of the corridor which was slightly ajar. Amy took a few steps forward and listened;

"An asylum is no place for a thirteen year old, William!" a man shouted, with what sounded like a cockney accent.

"I understand your concern, Giles, but I can assure you that the girl will be taken perfect care of." An aristocratic and slightly calmer voice spoke.

Amy turned back to the young girl on the stairs who spoke-

"There 'ere for Alice. The nutty one in the attic."

Amy frowned, "She lives here?"

"Yeah."

"Well that isn't a nice way to talk about one of your friends." She said, crossing her arms.

Laura laughed lightly and shrugged, "She aint my friend, wouldn't go near 'er with a ten foot barge pole!"

Amy nodded slowly, "Why?"

"'Cause she's insane. Killed poor Charlotte, she did." Laura turned thoughtful, "Thirteen years old, an' already a murderer. How 'bout that?"

A voice came from the room opposite-

"Laura? You playin'?"

Laura stood and adjusted her hoodie, "Yeah!" She turned to Amy, "Nice to meet ya!" and with that she was gone and Amy was left alone to listen to the shouts coming from the room beside her.

After a few minutes, Amy had edged closer to the door. So when it slammed open she stumbled, a tall man in a suit stood directly in front of her.

"You one of mine?"

He didn't wait for an answer.

"Of course you are. Come on!"

And without such as an uttered word from her, he dragged her up the stairs with the other man following close behind, muttering that they couldn't do this and something about children's rights, to which the man who still had hold of Amy's wrist replied-

"That murderer is not a child!"

The rest of the short journey was silent, with the odd noise emanating from a creaking floorboard. When the three of them came to the attic floor a shiver made its way up Amy's spine; this place was beyond creepy, the wooden walls were painted a dull blue and the floorboards matched, because of this an eerie glow was cast over the three of them as they made their way towards the single door at the other end of the hall.

Amy raised a questioning eyebrow as the owner of the orphanage stared at the door, almost as though he were afraid.

"That's supposed to be locked."

Amy's lips quirked up a little. That must have been where The Doctor had gotten to.

)()()()()()()(

"Beautiful place to grow up." The bow-tie wearing man spoke softly as he leant beside the window.

Alice quirked her head to the side; anyone else who had just unlocked her door and had wandered in would have ended up either injured or, in the most serious of cases, dead. She remembered Charlotte and how the thing had killed her, why wasn't it angry now? Why wasn't it attacking this man?

For, it was never her. No. Never her.

She scoffed quietly, "You are wrong, sir. It is, in fact, a lonely and desolate place to live. It always will be."

The Doctor turned before speaking cheerfully—

"With a view like that?" He gestured to the maze of different streets, their lamps glowing in the light mist, behind the town stood mountains, shaded in a blue haze.

Alice merely smiled.

"Why are you here?"

The sincerity of her question caught him of guard, that much was obvious to the thirteen year old.

The man made to answer but the door of the room suddenly burst open. A tall, pretty red-haired girl stepped in. She placed her hands on her hips.

"So this is where you got to?"

The accent was unfamiliar to Alice but she kept back a frown as the girl turned to her, a smile on her lips.

"Hello," She said warmly, "You must be Alice."

Alice didn't answer, instead she turned to the only person she knew in the room. She looked past the taller man in the suit and cape and towards the owner of the orphanage.

"I have never had a visitor. Not a single one. Why do I now find three strangers in my room, uninvited?"

The man visibly gulped for there was fire behind the girl's eyes. Fire and frustration.

The rest of her face kept completely still and innocent, however, and The Doctor observed her as she stood.

"I want everybody out." Her voice didn't waver, "I want everybody gone, please."

Amy shared a nervous look with her companion. She took a sudden step back as Alice's voice become loud with anger—

"Out!" She demanded, "Everyone, now!"

The taller, prouder man- William?- stepped forward, evidently not fazed by the teenagers outburst.

"Now, girl." He took her shoulders, "Enough of this."

"I would warn you, William," She hissed his name, "I am not a patient person."

She spoke each word separately as though it was its own sentence as her anger grew.

William looked very taken aback, for there was no way that she could have known his name.

"Girl." He growled after composing himself.

But Alice was far from done, she turned to Amy—

"Amelia Jessica Pond. Like a name in a fairy tale." She mimicked The Doctor before turning to the man himself, "Rose Tyler. Martha Jones. Donna Noble. River Song- you liked her, didn't you?" She paused for a matter of seconds before sighing, "There, have I impressed you enough? Will you leave now?"

The Doctor knelt in front of her., a mix of confusion, adoration and anger painted on his features.

"How did you know their names?"

Alice scoffed, "You'd say that I am gifted. But it is not a gift, far from it."

"Stop this madness!" William scolded.

"It is not madness, sir! It is me, who I am! Will no one learn to accept it? I do not deserve to be tied up and kept like an animal! I am sane! I have forever been sane!" (She stood and stepped towards the asylum worker) "How can you sleep when it becomes dark? All of those people that you keep-"

"I help those people!"

"It is not help, it is a hindrance! Those people are misjudged! You kill the ones that you are unable to help, do you not?"

Amy watched the scene with surprised eyes as the young girl pointed a thin finger towards William's face.

"Know this! I will not be leaving with you today! I would rather hang myself from the rafters than become a slave to my own darkened mind! It will not happen and you will leave now!"

William faltered before nodding his goodbyes and hurrying from the room.

The remaining three visitors stood, utterly stunned and in silence as Alice wandered over to the round window and took her place in the chair next to it. She clasped her hands together on her lap.

"You're right." She said distantly, "The view can be quite amusing."

Amy leant forward and glanced through the dirty glass- William was running from the building like a mouse would run from a cat.

Alice smirked as her dark eyes followed his retreating form.