A/N: I giving you this as compensation really, it's the only one I've actually managed to complete...so many stories at once! I'm an idiot.
Chapter 5 – Test Of Stealth
His head was in a total spin.
He was only vaguely aware of stepping silently through the door into the next room, still carrying Rose's dead body in his arms. He felt so numb. So…hurt. He wouldn't cry. No. He wasn't going to show any weakness to whomever it was that had dropped him here. It was what they wanted to see.
But that still didn't stop the bulldozer of utter misery from drilling through his brain.
Swallowing his despair, he looked up into the room he had since entered.
There were torches burning in brackets on the crumbled slanted walls that formed a long chamber of a room, providing wanted heat since he and Rose were still water drenched. It was like a tornado had brushed through this room of the house, as all the furniture was either upturned or totally ripped apart and distributed carelessly all over the floor.
There it was, that note. The note of foreboding, this time with the letter 'E' on the back.
It was remotely difficult to retrieve the note whilst holding Rose, but somehow he managed it without moving her too much.
Stealth is a most useful of tools,
Not a patter of feet on floor.
The ghosts here feast on sound,
Guarding that far door.
"Ghosts?" he wondered aloud, glancing back up at the far door.
Then he saw them.
They were wearing long white cloaks with hoods that shield their face in total blackness, except for two eerily spooky red lights that placed as eyes in the darkness below the hood. They were rippling into existence when just a few seconds ago the room had been empty, gliding around the floor soundlessly in no particular direction, passing through the furniture on the floor. He readjusted Rose's weight in his arms – okay, so he wasn't exactly Charles Atlas in this body, but the thought of his quest to return Rose home physically made him stronger.
"Talk about a trademark ghost," the Doctor muttered to himself, staring at the sight.
And then the ghosts stilled.
And looked straight at him.
They hadn't liked that.
He held his breath, suddenly unnerved as the faceless figures continued to stare at him with those terrifying red neon-like eyes.
Then, as soon as they looked – they snapped out it again, going back to their original routine of gliding about, doing nothing.
'Note to self: do not start singing.' He thought distinctly, quietly allowing himself to breathe out.
Okay, so that was the deal. Get to the door without making a sound and he was free to move on. Simple enough. He suddenly found himself extremely glad this incarnation of himself didn't have a fetish for squeaky trousers.
He looked up once more to the door, mentally planning his route from point A to point B, trying to choose the most direct, yet obstacle free route on offer.
Her first process of elimination of course, was to determine where the hell she was.
She had been walking through the arcade a while now, observing whomever passed her by without appearing to be a stalker. The people here were a total spread of lots of different lifeforms, squelch monsters; three armed men, ten-eyed woman and even humans were mixed in too. A different planet, perhaps.
This could be an arcade. It seemed like an arcade – toy-grabbing machines, penny pushers, and mini bowling alleys and shoot 'em ups dotted about everywhere.
Okay, so that was a good start. She was on a different planet, in an arcade.
She couldn't remember where she had come from to begin with – so for all she knew, this could be were she lived her day-to-day life. Had the flat in London with Jackie and Mickey all been part of the game?
Neither side of the argument gave leeway to the fact of whether the Doctor actually existed or not.
She passed another statue of the Doctor, this time giving her a reassuring smile to work with. He had to exist. If he didn't exist…her life was nothing but a horrible filthy streak of lies.
She looked away from the Doctor's double once more to the arcade, scanning the users for any hint of a clue.
She found it.
"Sir?" she found herself asking a smartly dressed employee wanderin aimlessly around. He seemed eager to finally be disturbed. "Can I ask you a little bit about Time Catcher?"
He was moving slowly, but that was the general idea.
He dared not even to take a breath as he progressed, sure he'd been in this room for over half an hour minutes now but he was still only halfway across the room. Every step they were glancing evils at him, and frankly, he felt intimidated. It was a rare feeling for him. Funny really, now it was coming in bucketfuls.
His only comfort of success was the feeling of Rose in his arms, knowing he would prevailand he wouldn't let her rot in this place, this hell, even if it cost him a life or two. The atmosphere in the room was so tense, though it was only from him. The ghosts continued to glide about, not really caring for they weren't the ones in peril.
He was still only halfway across the room though.
A ghost suddenly appeared in his vision, the red eyes staring straight through him like it couldn't even see him.
He then realised it was going to pass through him.
There wasn't even anytime to move as he suddenly felt a rush of what seemed like cold wind rattle up his spine, instantly making him involuntarily gasp out loud in shock and discomfort.
Mistake.
The ghost suddenly whirled around as did he, a sharp pain sparking across the top of his arm immediately. He just about saw the unfathomable claws of the creature slipping back inside its cloak, the Doctor biting his tongue to try and stop himself from crying out loud at the pain now shooting through his arm.
For a few more seconds it just stared at him, listening intently for anything to signify there was a presence there. He held his breath once more.
A little longer and it turned away, gliding from him.
The first thing he did was to turn his head towards where the pain ebbed, seeing the stain of blood on three slits cut into his sleeve. Great. Another suit ruined. He was beginning to run out of them now; he might have to start wearing blue…
There was no time to stop the bleeding, so he looked instead back up to the door, glad to see the way was almost devoid of the ghosts and their sharp claws.
He began to walk forward.
And tripped right over a fallen chair.