Chapter Sixteen:

The Doctor and Scarlett waited in the shadows, hand in hand, while watching the Calvierri School intently. The man they had just met – who introduced himself as Guido – had just set off, planning on creating a distraction so that they could sneak in and see just what happened to his daughter and the other girls.

"You have my daughter. Isabella!" yelled Guido, trying to push past the guards.

"You're not coming in, stop there!" the guards shouted, "We've told you..."

The Doctor took his chance and gave a small tug on Scarlett's hand, leading her sneakily past the guards and into a side door. The door shut with a small thump and they made their way down some stone steps leading them into a chamber. On the wall facing them, there was a mirror.

"Hello, handsome," the Doctor grinned, walking immediately over to the mirror and checking his teeth.

Scarlett rolled her eyes playfully, letting go of his hand so that she could adjust his bowtie. He grinned, dropping one eye into a wink and checking his appearance in the mirror once more.

"Who are you?"

Scarlett started, spinning round quickly to see a group of girls dressed in white standing in front of them. The Doctor did the same, turning back to check the mirror quickly. They weren't visible. "How are you doing that?" He turned back to the girls. "I… am…" Back to the mirror. "… loving it!" And then finally, back to the girls. "You're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter – will be shorter. I'm rambling."

"I'll ask you again, signor, signora. Who are you?" the girls said again in unison.

"Why don't you check this out?" the Doctor grinned, holding out a wallet that shows an ID with a photo of an old man.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Scarlett reached up to whisper in his ear, "Library card."

The Doctor glanced down at the wallet before putting it away in disappointment. "Of course, it's with… He's… I need the spare," he sighed, "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in…" he paused to glance back at the mirror. "Am I thinking what I think I'm thinking? But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless…"

"Doctor," Scarlett said, bringing him back from his reverie.

"Leave now, signor, signora, or we shall call for the steward… if you're lucky," said the girls.

"Ooh," the Doctor grinned, but his face fell as the girls hissed and opened their mouths, showing the pair their fangs as they advanced on them. His eyes widened and he grabbed Scarlett's hand, running towards a doorway.

"Tell me the whole plan!" he yelled back at them, causing her to cringe in desperation. Yeah, like that's going to do any good. "One day that'll work. Listen, we would love to stay here. This whole thing… I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!"

"Doctor!" Scarlett said more urgently, before taking the lead and tugging him back up the stairs to safety.

By the time they got outside, it was already dark, and they didn't stop running until they bumped into Amy.

"Scarlett! Doctor!" she yelled.

"We just met some vampires!" the Doctor said excitedly.

"We just saw a vampire!" Amy said back with just as much enthusiasm.

They both started to talk at once, their voices overlapping.

"And creepy girls and everything!" the Doctor said finally.

"Vampires!" added Amy and Scarlett couldn't help but laugh at their happiness.

Amy grinned and grabbed the pair in front of her, making them join her in jumping up and down excitedly until Rory finally caught up.

"We think we just saw a vampire," he said, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Amy was just telling us," the Doctor said, brushing him off.

"Yeah!" nodded Amy. "The Doctor and Scarlett actually went to their house."

"Oh," said Rory, deflated. "Right, well…"

"Okay, so," said the Doctor, slapping his hands on Rory's cheeks. "First, we need to get back in there somehow."

"What?" Rory practically yelled.

"How do we do that?" Amy asked.

"Back in where?" Rory tried again.

"Come and meet our new friend," Scarlett smiled, offering Rory her hand who took it willingly. As thrilling as vampires in Venice sounded, she didn't want Rory feeling neglected because of it.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows slightly at the sight of their intertwined hands but said nothing. He simply stuck his nose in the air slightly before leading the way.

When they reached Guido's house, he immediately laid out a map of Venice on the table for the group to ponder over. Amy and the Doctor sat around the table while Scarlett sat on top of it, her legs dangling off the edge. Rory sat a few inches away, on top of a pile of barrels.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in," explained Guido. "The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside," said Amy knowingly.

"No," replied the Doctor immediately, and Scarlett couldn't help but agree.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" she whined.

"We pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in."

"Oh," said Amy. "So you do know what I was going to say."

"Are you insane?" asked Rory.

"We don't have another option."

"He said no, Amy. Listen to him."

"There is another option," said Guido, pointing in Rory's direction. "I work at the Arsenale. We build the warships for the navy."

The Doctor stood up, moving closer to the barrels and sniffing them, "Gunpowder. Most people just nick stationery from where they work."

Rory slowly slid off the barrels and backed away into a dead rabbit hanging by the fireplace. The poor thing couldn't catch a break.

"Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive," said the Doctor.

"What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?" Guido frowned in reference to his daughter.

"I'll be there three, four, hours tops," shrugged Amy.

The Doctor frowned, shaking his head adamantly. "No, no, no, no, no, no. It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go," he took a seat on the bed with a sigh. "But I have to know. We go together. Say you're my daughter."

"What? Don't listen to him," snapped Rory. He'd be damned if he let Amy go into that place with no protection.

"Your daughter? You look about nine," Amy smirked causing Scarlett to laugh.

"Brother then," the Doctor shrugged.

"Too weird," said Amy and Scarlett hit her arm, knowing what she was about to say next.

"And no, he's not going to be your fiancé, either," she said.

Amy shrugged. They had always been pretty good at figuring out what the other person was thinking.

"I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé!" Rory said.

"No, no, you're right," Amy nodded.

"Thank you," said Rory, letting out a small sigh of relief.

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor. You should do it."

"Me?" he frowned.

"Yeah! You can be my brother," grinned Amy, ruffling his hair playfully.

"Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's okay?"

"I'll go, too," Scarlett added, before any arguments could occur.

The Doctor – who had been smiling at Amy and Rory's interaction – turned his head to look at her. "No!"

"Why not? Amy's going and it would be safer if there were two of us." Amy and Scarlett had always been close and the idea of the former being in danger scared Scarlett. She would much rather she was there with her, if not to protect her, then to at least make her feel more at ease.

"No, I'm not having you go, too," said the Doctor. He openly refused to let that girl go there without him.

"But –" Scarlett started.

"The answer is no; a big, fat no."

Scarlett sighed, knowing he wasn't going to give up any time soon, "Fine."

"This whole thing is mental!" yelled Rory. "They're vampires, for God's sake."

"We hope," replied the Doctor, who had visibly relaxed since Scarlett had agreed with him.

"So if they're not vampires…" Amy dragged off.

"Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire."