Heather woke to a throbbing headache. As she slowly sat up, Heather thought, Ugh, what happened? The last thing I remember is going into the Doctor Who area. Boy, I hope that I didn't faint… Hey! As her senses cleared and her brain unfogged Heather was startled to her feet by the sudden realization. -Wait! Where the flying fudge is everyone?!
She surveyed the landscape and saw no one. No signs of life were present anywhere her panicked eyes darted. There was no trace of human (or anything else, for that matter) activity.
There wasn't even dirt on the floor and the interior of the building appeared as if freshly scrubbed, pristine and white. There were shiny chrome elevators behind her and the walls were bare, seemingly stripped clean. Heather leaped to her feet, alarmed. T-this has got to be some kind of hallucination, right? Maybe a dream or something. Maybe it's a nightmare...but I'm awake...lucid dream? Damn, my first lucid dream and no Tom Hiddleston in sight. Cursing her bad luck, Heather continued to scope the area out, searching for anything that would tell her where to go next.
Spotting her fez on the ground a few feet away, she stuffed it into the bag containing her earlier purchases. Remembering her cell phone, Heather rooted around for a moment and pulled the device out of her purse, which she had chucked into the purchase bag earlier along with the merchandise, to check if she had reception. With a signal she could call someone and ask what exactly what was going on. Heather pressed down on the power button to activate the screen. Nothing. That's weird...I could have sworn it was fully charged this morning...
She tried again, pressing the button harder, and shook the phone up and down, attempting to somehow turn it on by sheer force of will. The screen stayed the same stubborn black, and Heather frowned, tan forehead wrinkling slightly. Hmmmm…
Shaking it off, Heather attempted to rationalize this new development. Well, this is a dream, right? I mean, it has to be, the entire con couldn't have just disappeared. That's crazy. So, it kinda makes sense that my phone wouldn't work. Adds to the adventure.
Determined to explore more of this strange dream, Heather cleared away the last of her headache, and took a few steps forward. When she moved something bumped against her chest. Reaching into her inner jacket pocket, Heather pulled out her sonic, fondly recalling all of the times she had watched the Doctor use his to get out of scrapes. She considered it, tossing it up and down in her palm lightly, feeling its comforting weight, and decided to keep it out. Who knows what I might meet in this crazy dream. After all, in a place like this, this thing might actually work! Ha!
With a grin and newfound energy, Heather continued forward, determined to explore her new environment.
l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l
Man! That's the 5th door I've tried! Why are they all locked?
Heather had been walking down this plain white hallway for the past twenty minutes, according to her pocket watch, trying to find something...anything. She had been rattling every doorknob and looking into every alcove, and yet still the place appeared to be abandoned. When she had put her ear against one of the doors, she had heard nothing inside. Shifting the weight of her bag from wrist to palm, Heather thought, This is a pretty boring dream! There's not even any… Hey! What was that?
Catching a glimpse of color out of the corner of her eye, Heather turned quickly to face the end of the corridor, brown ponytail swooshing neatly around in a semicircle. Determined not to let the only interesting thing so far in this dream get away Heather took off at full speed, set upon catching the creature, whatever it was. After all, this is a dream. What's the worse that can happen?
With beige jacket flapping open and bag banging against her thigh, Heather skidded around the corner at the end of the hall, and ran after the creature. An odd sound echoed in her ears...something like a "tick-tock". She brushed it off as only the regular noise of her pocket watch and continued on.
Finally having caught up with the thing, Heather shouted, "Hey! Wait!" and jogged closer. "Do you have any ide-..." As the creature turned around, she trailed off, horrified at what was in front of her. She recognized it, in all its decadent cruelty; the porcelain skin, the empty eyes, the fluffy old wig. She had seen it before, for this creature had stalked in her nightmares for weeks.
l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l
The TV's faint glow spread throughout the room, and a 10-year-old Heather lay on the couch, loosely wrapped in a burrito of blankets. The sound was set to low, and outside the living room window Heather could see nothing but darkness. The house was silent, save for the noise coming from the television. Her hazel eyes reflected the images shown, the pictures of roaring fireplaces, of broken clocks, and of course, the Doctor. He was dancing, and after he danced he fought, shattering mirrors, and saving lives. The monsters he fought in this particular episode of awesome were clockwork, and their bodies were cold, only full of cogs and gears. They had a broken ship, and were searching for parts. Body parts.
When Heather's eyes finally closed that night she could see them reflected under her eyelids, the ticking of their bodies haunting her ears. She could feel them in the room, could feel them scanning her, looking for usable organs. She didn't sleep very much that night.
l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l
Snapping out of her shock, Heather returned to the present. As the monster slowly reached a gloved hand for her, the "tick-tock" sound returned louder than ever. The mechanical thunder filled Heather's mind, and a sense of dread came over her. Just because this was a dream didn't mean she couldn't be scared.
Heather bolted.
She ran again, trying to outpace a monster that would never grow tired, her brain attempting to frantically remember the way back to the elevators. Her legs pumped. Her heart pounded. Her mind raced. She managed to run faster than she ever had before, and in her blind panic still gripped the sonic screwdriver tightly in her slick palm.
Screeching around the final bend in the corridor Heather could see the metallic doors of the elevators. A quick glance over her shoulder told her that the clockwork creature was right behind her. Heather sprinted, completing the final stretch, and jabbed the "Up" arrow with an unnecessary force, willing the doors to open quickly.
As they slowly slid apart Heather jumped in and frantically pushed the nearest button, "Mezzanine", and watched as the doors slowly, slowly, ever so slooooowly squeaked together. In the next few moments Heather realized that they weren't going to close fast enough, that the monster was going to get her, kill her, harvest her. As one mechanical arm reached through the gap in the doors for her, Heather raised the only weapon at her disposal: her sonic.
"Nooooo! You can't have my organs!" she shouted desperately, raising the screwdriver. A high buzz sounded in her ears, and a green light was reflecting within the elevator. The creature dropped, its circuits fried, and Heather sank to the floor. The doors finally shut, soft Muzak began to play, and Heather stared at the sonic in her hand with a sense of awe, trying to calm down. She sank to the carpeted floor, her knees filled with jelly, and thought, What if this isn't a dream?