Evie couldn't sleep. She'd locked the door as the Doctor had instructed, but surely an alien, a Slytherin or whatever the Doctor had called them, would be able to get through a locked door. In the end, after an hour or so of lying on her back staring at the canopy above her, Evie got out of bed and, knowing it would seem completely mad if anyone saw her, climbed underneath the bed instead. She rested her head on a rolled up blanket and pulled another over her, both taken from the trunk in the corner, making sure she was completely hidden underneath the bed.

The teenager couldn't explain why, but she suddenly felt a lot safer with the drooping fabric around the bottom of the grand four-poster bed hiding her from view. Gradually she felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier and soon she was asleep.

Not for very long though.

A scratching sound woke her suddenly and she tried to work out what she was doing lying on the floor under the bed. The scratching stopped and a rattling sound took its place. Carefully she slid her head and shoulder out from under the bed and stared at the door. As her eyes became accustomed to the dimness in the room she noticed that the door was shaking. Someone or something was trying to get in.

She shot back under the bed, trying to think of a plan, as the door opened with a low creak. Evie shrank further into the shadows under the bed as two pairs of feet walked towards her. These were no feet she'd ever seen before. They were green and leathery, almost like a rhinoceros' feet, except they had three toes at the front of the feet with long, talon-like nails.

Ramming her fist into her mouth to stop herself shouting out, Evie waited, bracing herself for whatever was coming. She wasn't exactly scared; adrenaline was coursing through her veins. One pair of feet came so close to her that she could easily have touched it. The other pair moved over to the dressing table and, whatever was attached to the feet, started rummaging through the drawers and in the collection of items on the surface.

"It's not here." A female voice said. A voice that seemed so familiar and yet the teenager was still unable to place it.

"Neither is she." A male added. The same male she'd heard outside the Assembly Rooms.

"Well where is she?"

"The door was locked from the inside. The key's still in it." The male reasoned, shuffling away from the bed. Evie groaned inwardly at her stupidity, clamping her eyes shut for a second or two. She hadn't even considered that that would be a dead giveaway that she was still in the room. These creatures were smarter than she'd given them credit for. "So either she left through the window or…"

"… or she's still here." His companion added with a touch of amusement in her voice. "Where would a skinny little girl hide, I wonder?"

"In the cupboard…?"

"Behind the chair…?"

Evie took several deep, steadying breaths, knowing that they were just playing with her. The creatures knew exactly where she was hiding and it was only a matter of time before they found her. Silently she screamed for the Doctor in her head. If only they had some kind of telepathic bond. Surely someone like him would know when she was in danger. But here she was, hiding under a bed, waiting to be discovered.

Sure enough, before she knew it, there was a pair of green rhino feet either side of the bed. Slowly a matching long, green, claw-like hand reached down either side and lifted the drooping fabric, revealing her hiding underneath. Two green faces, complete with massive black eyes and a relatively small, oddly shaped mouth peered at her.

Evie gulped. Before she could even open her mouth to say anything, one of the creatures had jabbed her in the arm with a device that looked remarkably like a gun and the teenager had felt a warm, woozy feeling washing over her. Fighting as hard as she could against the sleep that was threatening to engulf her, Evie glared at the creature on her left who had pulled her out from under the bed, as though she weighed nothing more than a rag doll.

As it lifted her into its arms, Evie blinked twice before blackness covered her vision and she passed out.

x

The Doctor was restless. He couldn't stop thinking about the pendant he'd taken from Evie. He'd never noticed it before, but now it wouldn't leave him alone. All sorts of questions were buzzing around his head. Where had she got it from? How could she possibly have got it?

He knew what it was; the sonic screwdriver had confirmed his suspicions. But it being in Evie's possession was almost impossible. The Doctor knew where it was supposed to be; or rather who was supposed to have 'acquired' it. And, as far as he knew, they were still safely tucked away in the Stormcage Containment Facility.

So how on earth did Evie Jones have a GallifreyanRuby hanging on a cheap silver chain around her neck?

He knew there was something drawing him to the teenager and he guessed it must have been this. No, not only this. The Ruby was definitely a big pull – he didn't like to think about the last time he'd seen it – but there was something else about Evie. He loved her attitude, her guts and her unflinching curiosity. And that was just for starters. She reminded him of someone.

Finally, after a very long time of lying awake staring at the ceiling, the Doctor decided he needed to find out the truth. Carefully making his way along the pitch-black, thickly carpeted corridors he realised almost straight away that something wasn't right.

The door to Evie's bedroom was ajar and, scanning it with the sonic his fears were confirmed; alien activity. Bursting inside it was painfully obvious that Evie, and her intruders, had vanished. Clapping his hands to his head, the Doctor pulled a face.

"Think, THINK!" He ordered himself, hitting his balled fists repeatedly into his head.

His thoughts weren't coming to him clearly, but in a jumble that he needed to sort through. Why had they taken Evie? They were looking for the Ruby. Why did they want the Ruby? Members of the Slitheen family were notorious crooks. Where had they taken her? Their ship.

"Yes!" He cried, laughing aloud to himself. Without thinking, he leapt out of the room, sprinted along the corridor and jumped down the staircase into the entrance hall. "No!" he said as he reached the door. "There's something else I need…"

"Doctor Jones?" Mr Darcy appeared on the landing, looking down at him with curious alarm. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes!" The Doctor told him grinning. "Something is definitely the matter. And you, my dear Mr Darcy, can help me out."

"Help you, sir? How?" The man asked, hurrying down the staircase towards the Doctor.

"Very important question… do you have any vinegar?"