The Wardrobe
"Doctor, slight problem." Emily looked up at the Doctor. He looked so out of place standing on the doorstep of Longside Children's Home.
"What?"
"I'm pretty sure Maria isn't going to let some strange man up to my room to let him look in my wardrobe."
"Ah yes, I suspected as much. Umm… who's Maria again?"
"She runs Longside."
"Yes, yes of course. Don't worry, won't be a problem." He pressed the doorbell, a faint ding dong coming from the other side of the door. "I love doorbells, doorbells are great, I'm going to get a doorbell for the Tardis before I go." Emily shook her head, a confused smile growing on her face.
Suddenly Maria opened the door, and the Doctor held out his hand and held up a black wallet with a piece of white paper in it.
"Hello, my name's Mr. Smith. I work for the education board and I'm interviewing pupils from schools in the area to find out what they think of education.
"Oh yes, of course, come in Mr. Smith."
"Why thank you." The Doctor entered the hallway, a grin apparent on his face.
"I apologise for the noise," Maria said, an apologetic smile on her face. Emily smiled at the familiar clamour of her new home. "I'm just in the middle of making dinner, hectic time of the day, you know?" She shook her head. "You won't get much peace down here, why don't you go up to Emily's room?"
"Excellent idea." The Doctor swung round, nearly knocking a toddler off her feet. "Oh… sorry." He swiftly stepped around her and bounded up the stairs. Emily ran up after him.
He had stopped at the top of the stairs, hands outstretched as if trying to see in the dark.
"Third on the right," Emily smiled.
"Third on the right," he repeated.
They walked along the hallway towards her room and the Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a strange looking device, with buttons and a green bit at the end.
"What is that?" Emily asked, evidently confused.
"This…" he held the strange device up proudly. "This is my Sonic Screwdriver."
"Sonic what?"
"Sonic Screwdriver. It fixes things… like a screwdriver." He pressed a button and the green end of the screwdriver lit up and made a whirring sound, just like the Tardis had.
He swung open Emily's bedroom door and stepped inside.
"Whoa…" he spun round to face Emily.
"What?" He turned back to face the wardrobe.
"There's definitely something in here." Emily stepped through the door and shut it quietly behind her. She walked towards the Doctor and stood beside him, facing the wardrobe.
"This feels like Narnia," she whispered.
"Narnia's great, I love Narnia, lovely place."
"You've been to Narnia?"
"Of course," he nodded. "What, you didn't honestly think dear old Mr. Lewis came up with the idea himself, did you?"
Before today there would have been no chance of Emily believing him, but after seeing a blue box appear out of nowhere she was definitely becoming more open minded.
"Well… yeah."
"Nah," he smiled. "Me and Clive go way back." Emily looked confused.
"You don't look old enough to know C. S. Lewis."
"Trust me, I'm a lot older than you think I am."
Emily turned her head sideways.
"Forty?" she guessed. The Doctor grinned.
"Nine hundred and seven." Emily's mouth dropped open. She looked stunned.
"Anyway," he said, serious now. "Let's see about this wardrobe."
He pulled open the two doors to reveal nothing more than a few items of clothing on hangers and two pairs of shoes at the bottom. The Doctor pressed the button on the Sonic Screwdriver and it lit up once more, the strange mechanic whirring accompanying it as before.
He stared intently into the wavering green light.
"Hmm… interesting…"
"What?" The Doctor stepped out of the wardrobe.
"Delgadan. There's a Delgada in your wardrobe."
"What are Delgadan?"
The Doctor turned to face her, confusion and worry spread blatantly across his face.
"They're spirits from the furthest stretches of the universe. Hundreds of thousands of light years away. But why are they here?"
"What do they do?" Emily asked, concern slipping onto her face also.
"They drain your youth. If you had have opened your wardrobe at night…" he shuddered. "You would undoubtedly look at least nine times as old as you do now."
"Why are they here? Why Earth? Why my wardrobe?"
"One must have gotten left behind. They roam the stars and occasionally one gets forgotten."
"But why here?" Emily stressed.
The Doctor's face fell and he sat down gently on the bed, motioning for Emily to sit beside him.
"Delgadan are usually drawn to places of weakness and vulnerability. Children are more vulnerable than adults so that explains the Children's Home. But they are also drawn to areas of immense grief… which must explain why they chose you."
Emily took a deep breath, a lump forming at the back of her throat, tears pricking at her eyes.
"Emily…" The Doctor said softly. "I know it's hard… but if you told me what happened," he took her hand in his, "it might help me to get rid of it."
Emily looked up at the Doctor, eyes filled with tears.
"My parents… my parents died a year ago today. A car accident. They were driving us down to the beach to get fish and chips and…" Emily stopped, held her head in her hands and started sobbing.
The Doctor put his arm gently around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry Emily, I'm so sorry…" She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face.
"It's ok…" The Doctor sighed.
"I… I understand how you feel." Emily looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears once more.
"You do?" The Doctor nodded.
"I'm the last of my kind… alone."
"What happened to them? The…"
"Timelords."
"The Timelords…" The Doctor looked at the floor.
"There was a war. A terrible, terrible war. They were wiped out. Now I'm the only one left. A homeless traveller wandering the stars…"
Emily could have sworn she saw his eyes glisten just a little. He sniffed.
"Anyway… the Delgada."
"How do we get rid of it?"
"I'm not sure…" said the Doctor, a smile creeping onto his face. "But I'm sure we'll figure something out."