AN: Did you all have a great spring break? I'm sorry this is being uploaded later than I wanted it to, but I have not had a chance to sit down at the computer for a while. Anywho, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 27
Everyone sat silent for about three seconds, but I immediately rushed to Gwyneth's side, propping her motionless head against my shoulder. Rose was right behind me. "Gwyneth?" she whispered. "Are you okay?" I observed the other occupants of the room. Sneed looked guilty, Charlie was muttering to himself, and the Doctor was looking right at me. I couldn't really tell what he was thinking, but I tried not to glare at him. How could he be so oblivious? I feel almost betrayed that he would even consider not only risking an innocent girl's life, but dishonoring the dead of a species. How would he feel if Rose was possessed by a (supposedly) peaceful but unwelcome alien? He would protest greatly. I rub my temples slightly as the Doctor and Rose move Gwyneth into the next room. What if I'm thinking too far ahead? This Doctor still is suffering from the worst decision he's ever made, or so he thinks. Yes, maybe 10 or 11 would protest against the bodies, but not the Doctor standing before me.
I take a deep breath and listen to the voices drifting in from the other room. "What are they?" comes Sneed's voice. I walk into the room and sit next to Rose who is watching Gwyneth. "Aliens," the Doctor says abruptly. "Like foreigners, you mean?" He shrugs. "Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there."
He slightly nods towards the ceiling, but Sneed doesn't catch it. "Brecon?" he asks. The Doctor realizes his mistake and just flows with it. "Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff, but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."
"Which is why they need the girl," Dickens chimes in. Before the Doctor can reply, Rose snarls, "They're not having her." She said it with as much ferocity as I feel. "But she can help," the Doctor protested. "Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through." My eyes never left his as I said, "Yeah, only for the low price of one innocent girl and millions of our beloved dead!" The Doctor looked confused, but before I could explain myself, Dickens finally seems to grasp the idea of the Gelth. "Incredible," he breathes. "Ghosts that are not ghosts, but instead beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers." The Doctor nods, confirming it. "Good system, it might work." Again, Rose protested severely. "You can't let them run around inside of dead people."
"Why not? It's like recycling," the Doctor argued. "Seriously though, you can't," Rose tried. I stayed silent, knowing I would have the time to argue my point. "Seriously though, I can," the Doctor continued. Really, did he think he owned us? "It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them, even in death."
"Do you carry a donor card?" Oh, here we go.
"That's different, that's-"
"It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying."
That's it. "Doctor, could I speak to you for a minute. Alone." I walk into the room where Rose was trapped, the Doctor right behind me. "What?" he seemed annoyed. I start to open my mouth, then close it. I have to be careful on how I word this. "Look, Doctor, I know that this whole experience is hitting a little too close to home, but you can't just trust a species that may or may not have been affected because you are grieving and guilty about the events of the Time War." He flinched at the name. "You don't understand," he whispers tensely. "You weren't there."
"I know, but I know more than you do about the entire situation." His head shoots up. Ooh, should not have said that. "What do you know of the Time War," he states slowly walking closer to me. I stumble backwards a bit. "You know I can't tell you." I'm up against the wall now when he finally realizes what he's doing. He backs away, looking apologetic. "It's okay," I gasp, shaken by the encounter. I never really thought about it, but the Doctor could be a very powerful enemy. "Look," I mentally scold myself for what I'm about to say. "Think about it this way, what if, and don't take this the wrong way. What if," gulp, "Susan was possessed by an alien. How would you feel, if she spoke to you. You would know it wasn't her, it would be completely heartbreaking."
The Doctor is glaring at the floor. Now you've done it, Alice. "She is gone, and never coming back. Do not speak of her ever again." I keep my mouth shut, waiting for what comes next. "I have to do this, I cannot leave a species struggling for survival," he turns towards the door. I grab his arm and he spins towards me. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe they're lying? That maybe there is something else going on here?" I hated not being able to outrightly tell him that they would be receiving more than a few unwanted visitors. He yanks his arm from my grasp. "I can't allow them to die, Okay?" He looks furious. However, I don't spare him my own anger. "If you do this, I will fight you the entire time." He sighs and starts toward the door again.
"Then I'm sorry that I have to do this."
He slams the door. "No!" I cry, rushing to the entrance. I hear the sound of his sonic and the click of a lock as I jiggle the doorknob. "Doctor!" I scream, but it's too late. He's gone, leaving me unable to stop the disaster that follows.
0000000
(Rose P.O.V)
The Doctor strides into the room, and Rose can immediately tell that he's fuming. Alice does not follow. He stalks over to her. "Where's Alice?" she asks worriedly. "We argued, so she's cooling off," comes his vague answer. Rose could tell there was more, but she didn't want to push him right now. The Doctor turned to Gwyneth, looking surprisingly gentle as he says, "Look, Gwen, you don't have to do anything." She looks up, giving off an aura of courage and certainty. Rose felt less conflicted as Gwyneth said proudly, "The angels have been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me what I need to do." The Doctor seemed a little taken aback by the girl's intensity and faith. However, he snapped right back into his determined self. "We need to find the rift. The house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where the most ghosts have been seen?"
"That would be the morgue," Sneed replied. Rose sighed, wondering if this was the least creepy to anyone else. "No chance you were going to say gazebo, eh?," she joked. As the group headed towards the stairs, she stopped the Doctor. "Shouldn't you go get Alice?"
His expression darkened. "She'll only hold us up," he said coldly before pushing past Rose and following the others. She observed the Doctor's puzzling behavior before slowly walking towards the others, hoping Alice was okay.
0000000
I threw another broken hair pin across the room in anger. That was my last one! I had been trying to pick the lock for the past 30 minutes, but they make it look a lot easier on TV. I slump against the doorway, worried sick. What was happening? Had they already summoned the Gelth. Was Gwyneth already dead? I put my head into my hands and breathed deeply to prevent hyperventilation. I really didn't need to have a panic attack right now. I pressed my cheek to the floor, trying to peek through the small space below the door, but I couldn't see or hear any people. Okay, Plan B.
I stood up, scooting backwards. I clenched my fist. Here goes nothing. Wham! My foot hits the door with a sickening crack. It took all my willpower not to scream out in pain. I didn't break my foot, but I sure as hell bruised it. I limp over to the door and lean slightly against it: no give. I did nothing to weaken the door. "UGH!" I moaned as punched the door. Again, gonna have a large bruise there tomorrow. I search around the room, looking for another way out. Aha! The window! I quickly grab a potted plant and throw it through the window. It shatters into a million pieces, surprising the commoners roaming the streets. However, it probably shocked them more when I came leaping through the opening a minute later. Now, I need to find the side alleyway that leads to the morgue. Maybe I can intercept the Doctor, Rose, and Charlie when they try to escape the Gelth. I only hope I can get there in time.
0000000
(Rose P.O.V)
Rose shivers slightly as they step into the basement. Metal compartments line the walls, a few open and the white sheeted bodies visible. "Urgh, talk about Bleak House," the Doctor mutters. Rose leans over to him, a thought crossing her mind. "The thing is Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869."
"Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing." Rose sensed a kind of seriousness in his voice, so she assumed that time has been changed in a negative way during his lifetime. Dickens interrupted her thoughts by exclaiming, "Doctor, I think the room is getting colder." Rose did notice a different type of chill in the room now. It was not a good feeling. "Here they come," she whispered. Everyone looked towards the gaslamp as the familiar blue tendrils formed a humanoid figure. It spoke with it's multiple voices. "You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him." Rose felt a little uneasy of how they were worshipping the Doctor, but she had a more pressing matter to deal with. "Promise you won't hurt her," she addressed the Gelth. "Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth!" they ignored her. Rose didn't like how they pointedly avoided her question. The Doctor stared at the Gelth with an unclear expression on his face. "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?"
Gwyneth spoke, as if in some kind of trance. "My angels, I can help them live." The Doctor just nodded. "Okay, where's the weak point?"
"Here, beneath the arch," gestured the Gelth. "Beneath the arch," echoed Gwyneth. She shuffles over to the weak point, slightly moving into the gaseous Gelth. "You don't have to do this," Rose reminded her, but Gwen was already gone. "My angels," she whispered. "Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through," the Gelth commanded, not sounding helpless anymore. "Yes," Gwyneth said. "I can see you. I can see you. Come!"
"Bridgehead establishing."
"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!"
Her head was thrown back and her arms spread out. "It is begun," the Gelth said suddenly. "The bridge is made."