Chapter Thirty-Nine (Derpy`s Point of View)
The Doctor began to pace the floors of the TARDIS, his mouth talking faster than his own brain could comprehend.
"Just smile and nod whenever he takes a breath," I laughed towards Dinky, who was giving me a blank stare at what he was talking about.
"...that species wouldn`t really do the job, now would it? And how would they not know how the ground turned from grass into porcelain, did they just wake up one day and the ground was changed? A little weird if you ask me," he said. "Girls, what do you think?"
"I agree with whatever you just said," I nodded halfheartedly.
"Same here," Dinky tried not to laugh.
"But this place is weird, don`t you think? Come on, you must have some opinions!" the Doctor exaggeratedly sighed.
"I don`t know, I think it`s... kind of pretty, I guess. If the TARDIS brought us here something might be wrong. I say we wait it out," I suggested.
"I`m with Mommy," Dinky nodded.
"Alright, then, we can wait it out. So, wanna go head out again and see what else is up?" Before any of us could say anything, the Doctor knew our answers and grabbed our hands. "Anyone need a coat before we go?"
We shook our heads and walked outside, the Doctor still trying to sort out everything that was going on. The snow still fell onto the ground in light traces, the crunching underneath of our sneakers still faint. I almost slipped but thankfully the Doctor caught me right before I would`ve touched the ground.
"Oh, that`s pretty," Dinky giggled, pointing towards a fountain. The water changed colors and sprayed in circular patterns, hypnotizing her for a brief second before she snapped out of it.
I nodded but the Doctor`s gaze locked onto a young girl sitting alone on a bench inside of a playground. "Doctor, what`s wrong?"
"I want to go talk to her," he frowned. "You two can stay here or keep walking." The Doctor had a sensitive spot for crying or sad children.
"Why are you going to talk to her," Dinky asked.
"Children cry because they want attention. But when they cry silently, they want the opposite. And no one is going to her. Usually you see a child crying by herself and you say 'hey, I`ll talk to her and see what`s going on', but they won`t look her way. Something`s wrong that they all know, but don`t want to talk about it," the Doctor muttered.
"I can go with the Doctor. You can go head over and play on the equipment, alright?" I suggested to Dinky.
"Alright, but be quick," Dinky smiled back.
The Doctor looked at me before heading over. We sat on both sides of her and she kept her head down.
"Hey, are you alright," he asked her, "why aren`t you playing with the other kids?"
The girl looked up slowly, memorizing our faces for several seconds each. Her hair was dyed completely black, her makeup dark, her eyes a crystal blue. She had a stocky black shirt and black jeans, and a pair of combat boots. She looked down, shrugging.
"That isn`t known correct as a response to my question..."
"I`m just..." the girl`s voice was fragile, like she had been crying.
I wrapped an arm around her and tilted myself so I could see her. "What`s your name?"
She waited a while before speaking. She muttered something under her breath.
"Alright, well, what`s wrong?" the Doctor tried again.
"...things," she said self heartedly. She dropped a card of paper on the ground, a red line cascading up her arm from her wrist to her forearm and I gasped. The Doctor frowned knowing that the cut most likely wasn`t an accident.
I picked the paper up, and a picture of an angelic blonde haired girl, about 7 years old, stared back at me. "Aya Monzel" it read in big, bold letters, "December 17, 2003 - December 17, 2014."
"The obituary is on the back," the girl sniffled.
I flipped it over. "December 17, 2003, a little angel Aya was born to the parents Derrick and Roselyn Monzel. Sadly, they both passed in a tragic car accident in 2011, the only survivors their daughters Lindsey and Aya. The survivors remained under the care of their grandmother, who was murdered shortly after. The murder pulled the gun on him afterwards.
"Aya had remained under the care of her big sister, Lindsey until December 17, on her 7thbirthday, when somebody lit the house on fire." I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and I blinked them away rapidly, handing the Doctor the card, unable to read any more.
This girl was obviously Lindsey, and her sister, parents, and grandmother had died, all within 3 years of time. The Doctor read it and shut his eyes, sharing the same expression as Lindsey.
"I`m sorry, I`m so, so sorry," he sighed.
"She died yesterday," Lindsey exhaled, a silent tear creeping down her cheek, "and I could have saved her. Instead of worrying about everyone else there, I could have remembered she hurt her knee the day before and couldn`t run-"
"-Don`t let yourself think like that," the Doctor firmly warned her, "because you`ll end up believing it yourself."
She shook her head. "I already do."
"Look, you have to put it behind you. There was nothing you called do, alright?" I said. "If you keep it there in your memories, you`ll never see the end of it."
"They found the man who killed her," she whimpered. "Earlier this morning he turned himself in. Complete sociopath."
"Mental issues, huh?" the Doctor asked.
Lindsey nodded. "I just feel so lost now," she whispers, looking up at me.
"Oh, come here," I frowned, pulling her closer to me. Lindsey rested her head against my shoulder and sobbed, the Doctor reading the obituary one more time.
We stayed like that for a while until Lindsey apologized for getting emotional and walked home, thanking us for talking to her. We found Dinky and decided to head back to the TARDIS.
"What I don`t get," the Doctor started, "is that the Mayor said they don`t die. But for Lindsey, half of her family`s gone. So quickly, too, I may add."
"They didn`t pass of natural causes, however," I reminded him.
"Hm..."
"So, what did I miss?" Dinky asked after a few more moments. The stars began to pin themselves to the sky and the sun was replaced by a full moon.
"Nothing too extreme, just a girl," I answered for him. The Doctor stared off into the oblivion and wandered deep into thought.
"Let`s go find a graveyard!" he suggests loudly, running quickly in another direction.
"A graveyard...?" I asked as Dinky and I ran after him.