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The Church was just as Evie had imagined it would be; cold, dark and creepy. It was almost indistinguishable from the Church her grandparents had dragged her to every Sunday for the past five years. As she walked down the central aisle of the Church at the Doctor's side – a very surreal moment – the teenager was very aware that the big slabs of slate that covered the graves of the rich and important people of the neighbourhood were much more recent than they'd ever been. Walking over them gave her the creeps.

Oblivious to her discomfort the Doctor was waving his sonic screwdriver around looking curious. Evie listened to the strange whirring until it almost became background noise. She kept forgetting that everything she took for granted, mainly electricity, hadn't even been invented yet.

"Do you believe in God?" The Doctor asked suddenly, making her jump as he broke the uncomfortable silence in the Church.

Evie shrugged. "I guess… I mean, otherwise what's the point? I mean, why go through all this if it just ends? There must be a plan, some point to everything. What do you think?"

"Jury's still out." He said shortly. She sighed and rolled her eyes, hating the way he'd ask a question to find out her opinion and then just give her a closed answer in response. It was so annoying.

"So what are we looking for? Something paranormal?" She asked, staring into the darkness. He started to laugh, irritating her further. "What?"

"Paranormal is ghosts… which don't exist, by the way. The closest things to ghosts in existence are the Gelth." The Doctor told her, concentrating the screwdriver on a particular spot. Evie didn't even bother to question the word 'Gelth'; she probably wouldn't understand the explanation anyway. "WE are looking for alien activity… ah!"

He jumped forwards, dropping to the ground and putting his ear to the ground. Evie stared at him with her arms crossed over her chest. If she hadn't started getting used to his peculiar behaviour she'd have been alarmed, but she had and she wasn't.

"What are you –" she started. The Doctor grabbed a handful of her long skirts and pulled her to the floor. "What the –"

"Shhhh!" He said. The teenager looked outraged at being shushed, but he ignored her expression and pointed to the stone floor. "Listen!"

Evie pressed her face to the floor as well. The hard stone was freezing and she recoiled slightly at the shock. Then she put her head on the ground and did as the Doctor had instructed. She listened. She listened as hard as she could. There was a strange sound, almost mechanical from under the ground. Listening harder, Evie suddenly realised that the floor was gently pulsing and vibrating. Horrified, the teenager sat up, staring at the Doctor. He looked grimly back.

"What is it?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"I don't know…" The Doctor said slowly, narrowing his eyes. "It's a ship of some kind but the big question is… who's on it?"

x

The Doctor had decided that, now they knew where the space ship was hidden, they needed to try and work out what kind of alien owned it before they attempted to tackle it. Evie was very quiet on their walk back to the Meryton Arms. The Doctor noticed and slipped his hand into hers comfortingly. He gave it a squeeze and she glanced up at him.

"You alright?" He asked gently. It always took him by surprise to remember that his companions had never experienced anything like he had in his time. Evie had slipped into the life so easily, had never once seemed completely fazed by anything that was thrown at her, that he hadn't even considered the possibility that she was scared or confused by anything.

She nodded hesitantly. "I guess… it's just a lot to get your head around… I mean, being shoved into this crazy, made-up world was one thing and now being told that there's an alien space ship parked under the Church...? It's just…"

"Mind blowing?" The Doctor finished. Evie nodded with a massive sigh. He smiled down at her, wrapping an arm loosely around her shoulders. "Don't worry kid, you'll get used to it."

"Really?"

"Nope, probably not! But where's the fun in that?" He asked grinning. "When you start getting used to it all the adrenaline, all the excitement, it all vanishes. And that's boring!"

Evie laughed and shook her head. "I suppose."

If she was truly honest, the teenager wasn't as freaked out as she thought she should be. Everything was so strange and new and different, but Evie felt totally relaxed about it. After the initial shock of realising that a) she was inside a 200 year old novel and b) there was an alien space ship underneath the Church, she was just excited; excited about where she was, excited about the prospect of meeting an actual alien and excited about what that might mean.

"So, Miss Jones," The Doctor said interrupting her thoughts, "bedtime?"

She stared at him, taken aback, wondering what he meant. At her expression, the man's brain connected his words with the less innocent meaning of his words and he blushed.

"Oh… I didn't mean…" He was bright red and Evie couldn't stop herself grinning.

"I know." She laughed. "Besides, we've got our reputation to consider, my darling brother."

At her words, and the realisation that she wasn't awkward after his accidental insinuation, the Doctor smiled and offered her his arm. Taking it with a polite bow of her head, Evie grinned and allowed herself to be steered in the direction of the inn. As they approached, they passed several coaches heading away from the Assembly. Evie knew she and the Doctor were attracting some curious looks; disappearing from the ball and appearing again a while later walking into the village from the dark countryside. There'd be plenty of questions tomorrow, but they could wait until then.

On the landing between the doors to the bedrooms that the Doctor had hired for them, both hesitated. Suddenly everything felt more real to the teenager; before now it had all been a massive adventure and now she was actually going to be going to sleep in this strange place and waking up here in the morning.

"Night…" She said with a smile. The Doctor returned the look before Evie forced herself to turn around and go into her bedroom. She leant against the door closing her eyes and resting her head against the dark wood breathing in and out deeply.

After a couple of minutes she heard the door opposite close as well and she went to the bed. Struggling, she finally undid the buttons at the back of her dress and stepped out of it as it lay in a crumpled heap on the floorboards. Looking down, she realised she needed to hang it up before it got spoilt. Then she remembered that there weren't any clothes hangers so, instead, she draped it carefully over the chair in the corner.

Before climbing into bed, she looked out of the window. The moonlight was shining across the street, giving everything a silvery glow. But Evie hardly noticed. Her gaze had fallen on the hooded figure standing beneath her window, looking directly up at her.

In an instant the teenager was in the corridor, hammering on the Doctor's door. He flung it open, staring at her wide-eyed.

"There was… outside… watching me…" She stammered, unable to get her words out. "Someone was watching me."