Chapter 2

The First Night/Day

Part 1- The First Night

Marksborough, Maine

10:47 pm

Ianto sat alone on the hotel's expansive, glassed-in porch. It gave an amazing view of the surrounding forests, as it faced away from the town and the hotel was on the outskirts. The town itself was a ten minutes drive away from the school and a five minute walk from the hotel.

He paused in his readings to look out of the glass ceiling. He had spent so much time in London and Cardiff he had forgotten what the night sky in the country looked like. They weren't near any large cities, the town itself had less than two thousand occupants, one hundred of which lived at the school.

The stars twinkled at him and he sighed.

He looked back at the packet he was reading.

Alice Trails

Under position Assistant Headmistress was typed but crossed out by pen. Underneath was scribbled, Headmistress. Looking at the date she was appointed Ianto found it to be just two days ago, when the first Headmaster had died.

No wonder she was busy.

Ianto slowly worked his way through the packet, nothing standing out. When he had finished, he tidied up and headed up to the room he was supposed to share with Jack and Owen.

He knocked politely on the door labeled 217 and waited for one of the occupants to open the door, moving closer to it as a young man passed him in the small hallway. The door opened.

It was Owen.

"Thank God," He let Ianto in, "Jack's been going on about the TV service here."

"No, that was you," Jack corrected, "I was going on about you complaining. You know," He addressed Ianto, "I don't think Owen here likes anything. He hates the country, he hate America, he hates me, he hates you, he hates the weevils."

"You try being followed around by those things," Owen said, "I know it makes it easier to catch them but it's a pain in the ass having a huge, ugly weevil following you around."

"And some people say facing death changes a person for the better," Ianto said, handing Jack the papers he had read, "There's nothing really big in there. Alice Trails was hired seven months ago along with a nurse and a gardener, both of them left a week ago. Nothing much, all the other teachers have been here over a year, except those three new hires,"

"About those three," Jack said, "Martha just sent a note saying Trails couldn't find the information on the three, she was going to give us their qualifications until her new secretary could file their information."

"Kay, I'll just get those when she's done," Ianto said, hiding a frown. He wanted to know as much as he could about the new secretary. There was something familiar about her, and he didn't like not being able to remember. Ianto wondered if the other two had any idea, "Did she look familiar to you? The secretary."

"No," Jack said, sitting down on one of the double beds, "Why?"

"Just wondering," Ianto replied, sitting down on the other bed, "Right. Are either of you planning on sleeping?"

Owen just shook his head and resumed flipping through the ten channels on the television. Jack turned to Ianto but the Welshman cut him off before he could speak.

"And I mean sleep sleep, as in sleeping… alone," Ianto glared half-heartedly at Jack. The immortal just laughed and held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, just joking."

Owen rolled his eyes and Ianto proceeded to get ready for a shower and then sleep.

Across the hall, Tosh and Gwen were doing the same. Neither of them noticed the dark shape move past their window.

10:43 pm

Rory couldn't get to sleep.

After they had unpacked and settled into the hotel room, the Doctor had left to go to the TARDIS to run some scans, as he claimed. Amy and Rory had gotten ready for bed and watched some television.

It hadn't been long before both of them were yawning loudly, and Rory had decided it was time to get some sleep.

Except he couldn't.

Amy was next to him, sleeping soundly, smiling slightly in her sleep.

Ten minutes more of lying there, Rory decided to go for a walk outside. The moon was nearly full and should give enough light for what he planned to do. He had seen a nice, medium-sized garden out in the back of the hotel that went up right to the edge of the forests that dominated the area.

Rory pulled on a shirt quickly and quietly, trying not to disturb his sleeping wife, and, after pulling his shoes on and finding a warm jacket, left the room.

He looked back at the door, making sure to remember the number- 211. He headed off down the hall, looking for the stairs they had taken to come up to their room earlier. He passed another man in the hallway, squishing himself against the wall to pass him in the tiny hallway.

Jogging down the stairs, Rory came to an exit and walked out into the beautiful garden.

What he suspected was an already spectacular garden in the daytime was just magnificent at night. The exotic plants, similar to the school's as Amy had pointed out earlier, reflected the moonlight in just the perfect way to make it seem as though the whole area was glowing.

Rory wandered for a few minutes, relaxed. The night was cool, but not freezing, just the perfect temperature for a moonlight stroll.

He didn't really pay attention to where he was going, he just was following a small path that led away from the hotel, parallel to the road. He might have been heading towards the school, but he wasn't sure.

About ten minutes later, he saw two people walking towards him, coming from where he now determined the school to be.

The couple was holding hands and laughing. Rory thought it seemed a bit cheesy, but they seemed happy, who was he to care?

As they drew near, Rory thought he recognized the voices, he wasn't sure, but they seemed pretty familiar.

He raised a hand in greeting, just to be ignored. By now, he could hear the two speaking clearly.

"Come on, he won't notice," The man was whining.

"I bet he will," The woman replied.

"We'll be out of there in five minutes, promise," The man replied.

"But you'll probably mess up, or he'll just be awake," The woman said, stopping.

"If he is, we'll just run," The man said, "I'll take us away as quick as I can. The TARDIS'll probably take us to somewhere like Paris. I'd like that… Paris. Haven't been there in a while, and that was during the French Revolution…"

Rory frowned, he now knew exactly who the voices belonged to, but he was sure the Doctor was in the TARDIS, and Amy was safe in bed…asleep. Not wandering around having a suspiciously romantic moonlight walk with her old friend.

Rory backed down the path slowly, keeping within hearing distance, but hoping they wouldn't see him. He wanted to know what was going on.

"I thought you were sure," The Doctor said.

"I am," Amy replied, "But I just don't want to take the risk."

"You've been taking risks your whole life, how's this one any different?"

"He's my husband." Amy said, sighing.

"So?"

"As in… he loves me."

"And you don't, that should make it easier." The Doctor said.

Rory nearly tripped over his own feet at that. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He though that was behind Amy… he had really thought she… Maybe she would deny it. He waited impatiently for her reply.

"It should… but I think he actually does love me," She said, "But I still like him, as a friend."

"What!" Rory couldn't help it, he didn't believe any of this.

The two froze, the Doctor glaring, and Amy looking startled.

"Rory?"

"Amy! What are you talking about?" Rory asked furiously.

"The truth," the Doctor said. Rory was too angry to notice how cheesy the other two were still sounding.

"What?"

"Rory," Amy said, "There's something I have to tell you… I don't love you… I love him." She looked at the Doctor in the way she normally looked at Rory.

"I don't believe this," Rory said backing away, "You said you were behind tha-" He stared. Both the Doctor and Amy had vanished. He ran forward.

They were gone.

Rory stared, not sure whether to start looking for them, or just run away. He was positive he hadn't blinked or looked away. So where had they gone?

The stories the Doctor had told them came to Rory's mind. Ghosts, but not ghosts.

He decided on the second option.

He ran.

Michael sat quietly on Jacob's bed, staring out the window as the trees waved back and forth in the storm. There wasn't any lightning or thunder, but that didn't make this storm any less dangerous. If a tree fell on the road leading to the village, St. Aquinas' would be isolated for days. If wind blew over a power line, or a tree knocked one down, they would be without power for a week.

He moved to a more comfortable position- legs crossed with his back against the wall, he put the pillow on the far end of the bed.

The ancient house creaked as it was battered by the rain and wind.

Michael couldn't help but hope that a tree would fall on the wing of the building that housed the classrooms. If that happened, they would hold class outside, on the lawn. Michael hated being indoors, that's why he loved this school, with its expansive grounds the students were allowed to explore on the weekends- when their homework was done, of course. It reminded him of where he was from, the better side of it, at least.

He moved over to the side of the bed and slid off it, bored of watching the storm. He made sure to place the pillow back at the head of the bed. Jacob wasn't very mean, but Michael didn't want to be caught sitting on the older boy's bed.

Michael moved quietly over to his bed, taking care to dodge the weak floorboards. Aaron Larcksty, the dorm head would give him hell if Michael woke him up. Unfortunately for all the boys on the hall, Larcksty was a light sleeper.

Not noticing the figure in the doorway, he pulled himself onto the tall bed. He moved around to set his alarm clock.

He froze.

"Derik?" He gasped, staring at the older boy. Derik was smiling, his dirty-blond hair falling into his vivid silver eyes. He was medium height, but so skinny and thin it made him seem taller.

"Hey Mikey," The older boy grinned, "Long time, no see."

"Derik… how?" Michael jumped off his bed, moving across the room. This wasn't possible. Derik was… "You… you-"

But he was here. Maybe Michael had dreamed it. He did have a history of nightmares. Especially here.

"Mike, I know what you're thinking, stop making things up," Derik frowned at him.

"But, He- He got you," Michael stuttered.

Derik shook his head frowning, "No, he didn't. Mike, you know how I hate it when you lie. Don't do it."

"I'm sorry, I won't-"

"You will," Derik was glaring at him now, "I can't keep forgiving you like this."

Michael's heart seemed to not want to beat any longer. How could Derik take this one thing away? The one thing that was most important to Michael? His trust.

"I won't," Michael wanted Derik to smile again, not this alien look of anger marring his pale features.

"You will," Derik crossed his arms.

No. No, not like Him, you can't be like Him. Michael was frozen.

A floorboard creaked outside of the room. Just like the night before.

"There you are," He snarled. Michael backed away, hitting his back on the bed. Derik moved over to Jacob's bed as He stalked in.

"Derik, why-" Michael tried to say, but was grabbed by Him. His large hand wrapped tightly around Michael's, He pulled hard, throwing Michael to the ground.

"That'll teach you to run away," He snarled, again, the smell of alcohol washed over Michael. He whimpered and tried to crawl to the older boy.

Derik pushed him away.

"Derik!" Michael was crying now. Why was Derik doing this? Why was he abandoning him?

"Shut up," The older boy said, taking a hold of Michael's wrist, just like He always had.

The man stalked towards the boys, holding His arm back, ready to smack Michael backhanded.

"No," Michael whimpered, struggling for the first time ever to get out of Derik's arms.

The hand moved back, pausing for a moment before it began its downward swing.

Michael shut his eyes, ready for the external pain and trying to bury his internal one.

"Hey! Michael... Michael! Wake up!"

Michael was shaken awake. As he opened his eyes, he stared right into the face of his roommate, Jacob, and standing next to him.

Aaron Larcksty.

"You alright?" Jacob asked, concerned, "You were screaming and you almost fell off the bed. You having a nightmare, or something?"

Michael nodded, still staring at the dorm head.

"Right, thanks for waking me up kid," Larcksty snarled, "Some of us are trying to sleep here."

"Sorry," Michael muttered, "Won't happen again."

"Yeah right," Larcksty snorted, "Twitchy little git you are, I bet I'm gonna be in here every other night. I'm dorm head, not the baby-sitter."

After another muttered 'sorry' from Michael, Aaron left.

"Can't let him push you around," Jacob said, moving back to his own bed. "Just makes him feel better about himself. He's just a bully 'cause he doesn't feel secure 'bout anything else."

Michael gave a small smile. He was one of the few younger boys to have an older student as a roommate. "I'll try."

"Kay, and I hate to say it…" Jacob said, "But he's right, you were making a huge rackit, and we need our sleep. So listen, you have another nightmare, tell me about it and I'll try 'n help, kay? Besides- helps to talk 'bout it."

Michael nodded, smiling at the other boys kindness. "You remind me of a friend I had."

"Good friend?" Jacob asked, pulling the covers over his legs before turning on his side to see Michael.

"Yeah, real good."

"What was his name?"

"Derik." Michael said softly.

"Cool name," Jacob grinned, "Where's he now?"

Michael frowned and choked back tears.

"Oh," Jacob said softly, "Sorry."

"Not your fault," Michael said softly before leaning over, and switching the bedside lamp off. He curled up under the covers, closed his eyes, and prayed he wouldn't wake up in another nightmare.

Part 2- The First Day

6:58 am

"This place is beautiful," Amy said quietly as she and Rory walked quietly out of the hotel and down the short path that led to a small parking area.

"Yeah, it really is," Rory smiled, "Reminds me of that one moon or something, with the plants that would glow when the person near them was happy."

Amy smiled, "Yeah, that place was pretty cool."

"Cool? What's cool?" The Doctor bounded up to them, probably from where he had been hiding in the TARDIS which was parked a hundred yards to the right, out of view behind a thick grove of pines.

"Nothing," Amy said, "Where've you been?"

"In the TARDIS, scanning the area," The Doctor replied before turning to her husband, "Rory, any repeats of last night?"

"No," Rory shook his head. On his way back to the hotel the night before, he had run into the Doctor and had told him, nothing too specific, what he had seen.

"Well, if it happens again, just tell me," The Doctor said.

"If what happens again?" Amy asked, "Rory?"

"I saw something last night," Rory said, "It wasn't really a ghost, but it wasn't real either."

"What was it?" She asked.

"Don't remember," He lied, "It was really late."

"Okay," Amy said, not believing him.

They walked down the road, chatting about previous adventures, taking the time to catch up.

When the school came into sight, Amy looked over at the Doctor.

"So what's it you want us to do?" She asked, "I get that we're supposed to look for anything odd, but is there anything you really want us to do?"

"Just keep an eye out, anything weird just tell me," The Doctor said, then grinned, "And if I'm in class, just send me an email, and I'll get it," He grinned even wider, "I've got my own email now! It's jsmi-"

"Yeah Doctor, I know," Amy said, "Secretary, remember? You're the one that got me hired."

"Yeah, still not sure why, or how," The Doctor admitted, "Another thing you might want to look into, Amelia- Why does she trust me so much? I mean people normal trust me… and tell me everything about their lives.." He frowned, then looked back at Amy, "But this is a bit beyond that."

"Right I will," Amy moved closer to Rory as a van drove past, stopping as the driver waited for the wrought iron gates to swing open, "Oh, and just so you know, everyone has an email like that. For me it's just awilliams and Rory's is rwilliams."

"Right," The Doctor nodded, dodging his way clumsily around the closing gates.

After the short walk up the gravel, loop driveway, the Doctor stopped by the door, "Well, I guess I'll see you in a couple hours. Let me know if you find out anything," He pushed open the door and walked into the school.

Amy and Rory followed more slowly.

"Um, see you in a couple hours then…" Rory said awkwardly, remembering his walk from the night before.

"Yeah, see you," Amy smiled, pushing open the door to her new office, ready for what the day might bring.

7:15 am

"Oi! Watch your driving!" Owen shouted as Jack swerved around the three people walking on the side of the small road, big enough for only one car. Jack thought he recognized the new secretary, but he was too focused on trying to get used to driving in an American car.

"Sorry, would you like to drive?" He retorted.

"Actually I would," Owen said, "Oh wait, I forgot. Someone forgot to not throw out my license when I died," He looked over his shoulder to glare at Ianto, "I still need that, you know."

"It'd be a bit hard explaining that to the DVLA(A/N- as I'm American, I'm not too sure if this is correct, in America it would be the DMV),'yeah, this guys been dead for three months, we'd like to get him a driver's license," Jack said.

"What's got Owen riled up?" Tosh asked Ianto as quietly as possible.

"He spent the night with Jack in the lobby," Ianto said, "They were arguing about the TV last night and I told them to leave. I was trying to sleep."

"Ah," Gwen said, holding back a smile, "No wonder."

Owen had been having trouble coping with the fact that he was technically dead, and didn't actually need to do the human things such as sleeping and eating. It was actually useless for him to try. It ended up making the doctor even grumpier than usual.

The car stopped more gently than the day before, but still spraying gravel over the grass on either side of the driveway.

Ianto pushed open the door on his left and jumped out, moving behind the vehicle to open the trunk and grab the cases containing items they might need, specifically Tosh's scanning equipment and Owen's medical kit.

"Here, I've got it," Gwen grabbed the lighter but larger case that contained Owen's medical scanners.

Ianto nodded to her in thanks and they followed the rest of the team into the school. They passed three teenage boys leaving the school. Ianto watch them head down the driveway and head off the grounds in the direction of Marksborough. He turned around and followed Gwen inside.

"Hey!" Martha Jones grinned at them as she walked out of a nearby corridor, "You lot get a good night's sleep?"

"They did," Jack said, motioning to the three who actually needed the sleep, "Where're you staying? We didn't see you at the hotel."

"I'm staying here," Martha said, "I'm over in the east wing, where all the faculty who don't live in Marksborough stay during the school year. So, you guys ready to begin?"

"Yeah," Jack looked around, "We were thinking, Owen could go around checking people out, medically."

"See if there're any drugs in their systems, or any sort of abnormalities," Owen informed the other doctor, "Any uniform abnormalities throughout the whole school might point us in the right direction."

"Good idea," Martha said, "I won't be able to help you, I've got a Skype call with my boss this morning, wants to know how you lot are working out here. I'll be able to work with you more this afternoon."

"Okay," Jack turned to Gwen, Ianto and Tosh, "I was thinking you three, well mainly you two," He pointed to Gwen and Ianto, "Could go interview the people who work here, maybe some kids if you have the time." The two nodded, "And you," He pointed to Tosh, "Could scan for any alien activity."

"Okay," Tosh moved to take her equipment from Ianto, "Oh, Jack, I thought it might help if I went around with Owen. You know how the hub can track alien lifeforms on the move? Well I found a way to duplicate that into a handheld device, it just doesn't cover an area as big as Cardiff, but it should cover the school. It's just not so precise, I have to be really close to the alien to be able to tell what species they are, if we've met them."

"Good idea," Jack said, "And good work. Right, you lot go do those things. I'm going to check out the building and the grounds. Explore some."

His team nodded and headed off. Jack moved to leave, but paused and turned to Martha.

"Seen him? Since the last time we talked, I mean," He asked.

"No- Well yes," Martha smiled, "Sorry, it was almost right after I left you guys. Had some trouble with those ATMOS systems, in the cars."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Jack said, "So was he behind that? Choking the Earth to death?"

"It was this race called the Sontarans," Martha said.

"Yeah, I've heard of them, clone race," Jack said, "Really ugly, love fighting."

"That's them," Martha smiled, "Well, he managed to stop them," The smile slipped off her face, "An eighteen year old boy died to stop them."

"I'm sorry," Jack said, meaning it.

"Yeah, well, he saved the world from being choked and used to create millions more Sontarans," Martha said.

"So, he still alone?" Jack asked.

"No," Martha shook her head, "He's traveling with this woman, Donna," She laughed, "Donna Noble. She's good for him."

"You think he'll come here?" Jack asked.

"No," Martha said, "Don't think so. Couple reasons. A- not sure whether this is alien or not, and B- it isn't in England. He is the worst driver, we only managed to go to America twice, the rest of the times he tried we ended up in Scotland or London. And don't even talk about the time periods, we'd always end up somewhere two thousand years late."

Jack grinned, "I know what you mean."

"Well, I've still got his number, if we really need him," Martha said, "When I left, I gave him my phone. That's how I got him to come, when we were dealing with the Sontarans."

"Well, that's always an option," Jack said, "but like you said, might not even be aliens."

"Yeah, oh, darn, it's almost seven thirty, I've got to go," She said, going back down the hall she had come from, "They serve lunch at twelve thirty in the cafeteria, I'll see you there."

Jack nodded and headed up the stairs in the entrance hall, ignoring the sound of the fronts doors opening once more, ready to investigate.

7:20 am

"Michael! Wake up!"

Michael was shaken awake by his roommate.

"What?"

"It's almost seven thirty," Jacob said, "Don't you have a class?"

Michael shot up in bed, "Crap." He jumped out of bed and ran to the closet, "Why didn't my alarm go off?"

"Don't know," Jacob said, looking at the clock, "It battery powered?"

Michael shook his head as he grabbed some pants and a clean, white collared shirt.

"Weird," Jacob muttered, "Hey, the caf's closed now, so I grabbed you a muffin."

"Thanks," Michael said as Jacob put the food on his bedside table. The younger boy noticed that his roommate wasn't dressed in the school uniform- khaki pants, black shoes, white collared shirt with a blue and silver striped tie. "Don't you have class?"

"Nope," Jacob said, "Inter-nat relations is cancelled 'cause the Headmaster's… gone, haven't had Med class since Nurse Abby left and Ms. Trails can't teach our 'clase de espanol, francois, e latin', she's too busy with her new…duties. So me, Kyle and Devin got permission to go to Marksborough."

"Cool," Michael said as he put on his tie and started eating the blueberry muffin. While he was in eighth grade, Jacob was in eleventh, meaning he was allowed to visit the town without an adult. The underclassmen had to wait for the designated day (every other Sunday) to visit the town, and that weekend's trip had been cancelled due to the Headmaster's death.

"So, you need anything?" Jacob asked, "I could get you something, need a jacket? It gets cold up here in the winter."

"Yeah, probably," Michael said through a mouthful of muffin.

"You're an adult small right?" Jacob said, hopping off his bed and grabbing his wallet from his jacket pocket.

"Mm hmm," Michael mumbled, grabbing his back pack and shoving books into it.

"Right, see you at dinner," Jacob said, leaving.

Michael went over to the window after he had pulled on his shoes, sitting on his roommate's bed to tie the laces.

He watched as Jacob, Kyle and Devin exited the school and walk around the van parked in front of the school. Michael recognized the van from the night before. He also recognized the man standing near the vehicle, holding a metal case as the one who had seen it. Soon the man walked forward and was obscured from view.

Michael walked out of his room, ready for class, his bag over his shoulder, but stopped when he heard voices.

A man was talking about drugs and abnormalities. Michael had no idea what he was talking about, but he was curious and the boy settled himself and the top of the steps to listen.

Then they mentioned aliens. He almost gasped, but covered his mouth.

Ailens? What would they have to do with the haunting?

He listened as the group dispersed, leaving only the woman staying at the school and a man Michael guessed to be the leader of the newcomers.

Once again, they mentioned aliens and something that sounded suspiciously like time travel.

These people are crazy.

Michael noticed the two had stopped talking and there were footsteps coming up the stairs. He looked around- nowhere to go.

He walked down the hall, halfway to his bedroom before turning around and heading back to the stairs.

A tall man wearing a long, dark-blue coat came into view, he walked around Michael and headed off down the hall. Michael watched him go, before heading down the stairs.

The front door was open, and three people were standing in the entrance hall. The one who was talking had a English accent and the strangest choice of clothing Michael had ever seen. He was accompanied by a man and a woman, when the woman spoke, she had a Scottish accent.

Michael had made it to the foot of the stairs and was heading off to his first class- history, when the first man walked up to him from one of the nearby halls he had disappeared into a minute before.

"Oh, hello," He grinned at Michael, "I'm the D- Mr. Smith. I'm a bit lost," He whispered as though confiding in Michael, "Can't find my classroom."

"Which one?" Michael asked, he was usually very shy, but something about this man made him feel less shy than normal.

"History." The man grinned, "It's my first day."

"That's my first class," Michael said, "I'm going there right now."

"Thanks," The man said and they headed off.

Michael ignored the now-familiar but still terrifying whisper of sound that followed them down the corridor. Michael knew for a fact He couldn't be here.

But then why did it seem to become more real with every passing day?

Michael shivered and led the new teacher through the school, trying and failing to ignore the sounds.

Right, got some good news- the play I was in is now over! as in, I've got more time! Yay! So, I hope that chapter wasn't too bad, overall, I think it was fine, but... please review and tell me what you think!