Chapter Seventeen:
Scarlett sat between the Doctor and Rory in a gondola as Guido, who was dressed in Rory's clothes, guided them along the canal. They had just dropped Amy off at the Calvierri School and were giving her enough time to open the trap door before they entered.
"She'll be fine," the Doctor said, sensing Rory's unease.
"You can promise that, can you?" Rory snapped back. If anything happened to Amy, Rory wouldn't hesitate to hit the Doctor.
Frowning, Scarlett placed her hand over his in an attempt to provide some comfort, and he smiled gratefully. The Doctor's eyes flickered to their hands with a small frown and Scarlett realised that he was worried, too. Not quite as much as Rory, but he was worried nonetheless.
"He'll trust you, eventually. Don't worry," Scarlett whispered to him with a small nod towards Rory.
The Doctor nodded with a trace of a smile on his lips, grateful for a little bit of attention, and any kind of reassurance Scarlett could provide.
"We're here," said Guido after a few minutes of silence. The Doctor was the first one to climb out, followed by Rory.
When it came to Scarlett's turn, the Doctor held out his hand at the same time Rory did, causing them to turn and glare at each other. Scarlett sighed and shook her head at their childish behaviour before taking both of their hands and jumping out of the gondola with a little hop.
Taking a lit torch from Guido – who had decided to stay behind – the Doctor opened up the gate and Scarlett cringed at the loud creak that emitted from it.
"Right," said the Doctor when they were finally inside, "I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back –"
"What happened? Between you and Amy? You said she tried to kiss you," Rory said.
The Doctor stopped when they reached a wooden door.
"Now? You want to do this now?" the Doctor whispered.
"I have a right to know," Rory frowned. "I'm getting married in 430 years."
The Doctor swung open the door – still holding onto his torch – and they squeezed into a narrow passageway, slowly but surely making their way along.
"Look, she was frightened, the Doctor was frightened, and I was frightened," Scarlett explained, staying close to two of her closest friends. "We almost died, but we survived and the relief of it all… so she tried to kiss him. But I stopped her – you're welcome for that, by the way – and afterwards, she admitted that what she did was stupid. So no harm, no foul, yeah?"
They continued on for a minute in silence before Rory spoke again.
"And you would've kissed her back?" he asked, jealousy seeping into his voice.
Scarlett rolled her eyes in exasperation as the Doctor shook his head.
"No, I would've kissed her mouth."
"Funny," said Rory, his face remaining impassive.
"Rory..." the Doctor stopped. "Rory, she tried to kiss me because I was there. It would have been you, it should have been you. That's why I brought you here."
Rory nodded – although he didn't seem any happier – as a strong gust of wind suddenly rushed down the tunnel, blowing out the torch and removing their only source of light.
"Can we go and see the vampires now, please?" the Doctor whispered before dropping the useless torch to the floor and setting off again, Rory and Scarlett following suit.
It didn't take long for them to reach the end of the passageway and when they did, the Doctor jumped to open up the grate, moonlight streaming down on them.
"Well, then, give me a boost," the Doctor said, turning to Rory. The younger man groaned before hoisting the Doctor onto his shoulders. He struggled for a moment before finally pulling himself up through the hole with a heavy sigh.
When Scarlett craned her neck back, she knew that he wouldn't be able to get up there without some help so she turned to Rory with a hopeful look in her eyes and when he saw it, he couldn't say no.
"Come on, then," he said, bending down slightly and feigning annoyance.
Scarlett jumped on his back with a grin and, with help from both boys; she managed to end up next to the Doctor who then reached down to pull Rory up. "There we are," he grinned before lowering his voice to a whisper, "Amy! Where's Amy?"
"I can't see a thing," Scarlett whined.
"Just as well I brought this, then," Rory smiled smugly, pulling out a miniscule torch from his clothes.
The Doctor turned, pulling out a long large torch from inside his jacket. "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight," he explained.
"Yours is bigger than mine," said Rory, embarrassed.
"Let's not go there."
Scarlett snickered before shaking her head quickly to remind herself of the situation. "Is now really the time for penis jokes? Doctor, I would've thought you were better than that."
The Doctor – whose cheeks had turned red at the mention of the word 'penis' – shrugged apologetically, muttering a small "Sorry."
She rolled her eyes in response, flinging her arms around both of them and exploring the desolate room. "Can we just find Amy and get the hell out of here?"
"But if we cancel now, we lose the deposit on the village hall, the salsa band…" Rory dragged off in a sigh, clearly not wanting to change the subject.
"I still don't know why you couldn't just get a normal band," Scarlett muttered and luckily, he didn't hear. He was too busy following the Doctor over to a chest on the ground. Frowning at their sudden absence, Scarlett traipsed after them both, before jumping back in shock at the contents of the chest… and the smell. The smell was pretty bad.
"What happened to them?" Rory asked, taking in the skeletal remains.
"They've had all the moisture taken out of them," the Doctor explained.
"That's what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own," Scarlett noted.
"Yeah," nodded the Doctor, "Except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies."
"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?" asked Rory, sounding more worried by the minute.
"Maybe not everyone survives the process," the Time Lord replied, looking sad at the mere thought.
Rory sighed in frustration before turning and pointing to the Doctor, all fright being replaced by anger. "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks. It's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down," he spat. "Amy is in there and if you hadn't of stopped her; Scarlett would be there, too. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around!"
Before Scarlett had a chance to stop him from saying more, they were interrupted by voices speaking in unison.
"Who are you?"
"We should run," the Doctor stated the obvious as he held up the ultraviolet light. "Run!"
He didn't have to tell them twice. Turning quickly, Rory and Scarlett ran through the courtyard and down the corridor, the Doctor following them with the girls not far behind.
"Cab for Amy Pond?" the Doctor asked nervously as they ran into Signora Calvierri and two others. They turned, but the girls had approached from the other end of the corridor, blocking their escape.
"This rescue plan, not exactly watertight, is it?" smirked Signora Calvierri.
"Ha-ha!" the Doctor yelled, holding out the light to ward off the girls.
"Rory!" yelled an approaching Amy, with a young woman dragging behind. Scarlett assumed it was Isabella; Guido's daughter.
"Amy!" Rory replied.
"Doctor!" Scarlett shouted, hoping he would get the hint.
"Scarlett!" the Doctor answered with a grin, grateful for a little bit of comic relief.
"Quickly, through here!" Isabella yelled, leading them back the way they came to the underground stairs. The girls didn't hesitate, and followed immediately.
"They're not vampires!" Amy explained after a few minutes of running.
"What?" Scarlett asked as the Doctor paused to sonic the door closed behind them.
"I saw them, I saw her. They're not vampires. They're aliens!"
The Doctor laughed, "Classic!"
"That's good news?" Rory practically shouted. "What is wrong with you people?"
"Oh, Rory," Scarlett smiled politely, pausing to give him a comforting pat on the shoulder before answering his question, "so much."
A/N: So, I wanted to ask you all a question; I was thinking of going back and changing this story into a third person's perspective, but I'm not entirely set on the idea. I think it would be a better way of getting everyone's thoughts and feelings across but I've never done that before so I'm still a little unsure. Opinions would be wonderful and as always; thank you for reading! Xx