Chapter 7

"Ok, my turn: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with..." Amy looked around. "N and C."

"Nightmare Children?" Amanda glared at her.

"Ooo, you're good at this game!" Amy said cheerfully, keeping a wary eye on the circling darkness above them. "Your turn!"

"Amy, there's nothing to see apart from the floor and the Nightmare Children. You've used all of them about twenty times each!"

"Now, now, Amanda," Amy chided. "I'm only trying to keep our spirits up till the Doctor comes to rescue us."

Amanda looked at her hard. "Are you sure he's going to come for us?"

"Of course! The Doctor never gives up on anyone; he'll come for us, just you wait. Now then, your turn."

Amanda rolled her eyes – then stopped mid-roll and gulped. "Ok then...I spy with my little eye something beginning with N, C and D."

Amy frowned. "What?"

"Nightmare Child descending."

They both looked up and watched a piece of the darkness break away from the whole and drift eerily towards them.

Amy swallowed. "I hope they're going to explain why we're here now."

xXx

"Lift going down." Lawrence mimicked. "Doors closing."

"Oh, shh." Jill turned to the Doctor. "How high are the chances of us dying in this ridiculous rescue plan?"

"Oh, not high at all," The Doctor said airily as the lift clanked downwards, deeper into the bowels of the warehouse. "Well, maybe one...two is quite likely...over three has a fifty fifty chance...now, the probability of us surviving..."

Jill looked at her ex-husband. "Let me out of here."

"You volunteered to come along," John reminded her sternly. "So you're staying."

"John – "

"That's final."

As Jill pouted, the Doctor got out his sonic screwdriver and gave it a quick buzz. Instantly the lift picked up speed and raced downwards.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She shrieked. "Are you trying to kill us now to save us the trouble?"

"Calm down dear," The lift was slowing already. "I was simply speeding us up a little – the Nightmare Children have been doing some tunnelling." True enough, they could now see that the walls on either side of the lift were now made of roughly hewn earth and rock.

"Doors opening." Lawrence remarked as they reached the bottom. The Doctor was first out, jumping impatiently on the balls of his feet as all the others clambered out after him.

"Come on, we don't have all day!" He called as he pulled a wind-up torch from his pocket and clicked it on. "We have a double A to collect!"

"Uh, Doctor," Rory said slowly. "I'm not in much of a hurry right now."

"Why not, are you chicken? Bwak buk buk bu – " The Doctor turned back round. "Oh. Actually, neither am I."

The caves in front of them were rough and twisting, as though a giant worm had gorged its way through the soil. However, the beauty of it was spoiled by three Nightmare Children blocking the way, their shadows pooling around them.

"Time to get back in the lift, I think." Jenny commented as they started to slowly advance, but whirling round they were just in time to see the lift disappear from view.

They were trapped.

xXx

"Hello," Amy forced a smile as the Nightmare Child hovered in front of her. "What's your name?"

"We HaVe No TiTlEs." Amy saw Amanda flinch in surprise: the voice was eerily like John's. "We ArE oNe. We ArE tHe NiGhTmArE ChIlDrEn."

"Alright then," Amy tried to sound more confident than she felt. "Since you can talk, you mind telling us why we're here? Because for all I know we're on a holiday in Scotland."

"YoU'rE lYiNg."

"True, but it was a good try."

The Nightmare Child paused. "YoU aRe NoT a ThReAt, AnD cAn Be EaSiLy DiSpOsEd Of."

"Then you might as well tell us what the hell you're planning!" Amanda called from the other side of the room. The Nightmare Child turned and studied her with eyes the crimson of Billy the Puppet's.

"YoU aRe AfRaId." It observed. Amanda said nothing. "It TaStEs...ExCeLlEnT."

"Chicken or beef?" Amy enquired calmly. It turned back to her. "So come on then, what's our purpose? Don't tell me," She suddenly understood. "The Doctor has lost a lot, and so has Hoffman. We're bait." She met its gaze. "But for what?"

"To OpEn ThE rIfT aNd FeAsT oNcE aGaIn."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

The Nightmare Child smiled, showing a mouthful of razors. "MeMoRy LaNe."

xXx

"What do we do?" Hoffman asked, not looking away from the advancing Nightmare Children.

"I don't know, any bright ideas?" The Doctor asked. "Anyone? No-one? C'mon people, we're about to die, anything might work!" Rory stretched. "Ah. Not the person I would've asked for, but desperate times etc."

"What? No, I was – "

"Good luck Rory." He was shoved in the back by someone – probably Jill – and he found himself in the no-man's land between them and...them. They'd stopped and were staring at him quizzically through their big red eyes.

"Rory, I don't want to hurry you, but doing something NOW would make a big difference to our chance of surviving." The Doctor hissed from behind him. Rory gulped and did the first thing that came into his mind.

"She said I love you boy I love you so," He started, his voice wavering. "She said I love you baby oh, oh oh, ohh."

"Oh, Jesus." Hoffman muttered, but he was shushed.

"She said I love you more than I could say, she said I love you ba-a-aby." The Nightmare Children grinned simultaneously, and started forward. "So I said," Rory continued quickly. "What you say girl can't be right: you can't be in love with me, we only just met tonight. So she said, boy I loved you from the start: when I first heard love goes down something started burning in my heart." And then he stumbled on a stone and lurched into the Doctor. The Nightmare Children saw they're chance and moved faster. "I said STOP!" Rory roared the last word and grabbed the UV light from the Doctor's pocket and thrust it in their faces. The Nightmare Children screamed as they're eyes were burnt by the sudden bright light and they gathered up in balls of shadow and flew back the other way. Rory stood there panting, holding the light aloft. Then –

"Nice," Hoffman commented. "No offence though, but I prefer Eminem."

The tense atmosphere disintegrated. "Nice one, Rory Pond." John smiled approvingly.

"He's smiling," Lawrence said. "That alone should scare you." John scowled at him.

"Ok," The Doctor started forward. "Let's go, shall we? And on the way, I'll explain what I think they're planning."

"When he says he 'thinks'," Jenny rolled her eyes. "He means what he's recently figured out."

"Precisely," The Doctor beamed. "It's a long story, so shall we get going? I'll explain on the way."

xXx

"Memory lane?" Amanda snorted. "What the hell?"

"YoUr ImPuDeNcE wIlL bE OvErLoOkEd." The Nightmare Child continued. "MeMoRy LaNe Is A cHaRgE oF HaZmA pArTiClEs CoMbInEd WiTh A sMaLl ChArGe Of ElEcTrIcItY. ThEsE cOmBiNeD pRoDuCe ThE aBiLiTy To DrAw OuT mEmOrYs AnD aMpLiFy ThE eMoTiOnS iN tHeM tO uNlImItEd HeIgHtS. ThE rEsUlTaNt EnErGy – If CoRrEcTlY aPpLiEd – WiLl RiP tHe WaLlS oF tHe VoId ApArT."

"That's well and good...well, not really," Amy nodded. "But...what happens to the Doctor and Hoffman after that?"

"ThEy WiLl Be NeCeSsArY tO kEeP tHe VoId OpEn."

"What does that mean?" Amanda asked.

"I know," Amy said coldly, bile rising in her throat. "It means that they're going to be kept as a back-up supply...they're going to be tormented for infinity whilst everything burns."

"YoU aRe PaRtIaLlY cOrReCt. ThE vOiD wIlL bE uSeD aS wHaT yOu HuMaNs WoUlD cAlL a StOrErOoM – eXcEsS eNeRgY wIlL bE sToReD tHeRe."

"And it'll be channelled through them." Amy fought down the rising panic. "And they're coming down here now."

Another Nightmare Child swooped down and spoke to the first with almost exactly the same voice. "ThEy ArE oN tHeIr WaY – sEaRcH pArTy SuGgEsTs ThEy HaVe NoT cOmE aLoNe."

The first nodded. "ExCeLlEnT...mOrE tO fEaSt On."

"You can't do this." The two turned to look at Amanda, who looked terrified.

"We CaN," One said. "AnD oNcE tHeY aRe HeRe We WiLl LeT tHeM hAvE tHe PrIvIlAgE oF wAtChInG yOu DiE."

xXx

"Seriously, next time to Eminem." Hoffman moved up beside Rory as they walked, the Doctor's torch the brightest thing in the atmosphere.

"How was I meant to choose what to sing?" Rory snapped. "Besides, didn't you hear what the Doctor just said? About how you and him are going to be used."

Hoffman winced. "Ah. Yeah. But, to be honest, you wouldn't mind that would you?"

"What?"

"Why don't you like me?"

Rory laughed sarcastically. "Oh, let's see: you flirt with Amy, you try to kill Amy – "

"You see me as a threat." It was Hoffman's turn to laugh as Rory's mouth dropped open. "Close your mouth kid, you'll swallow a fly." He frowned. "Actually, there are no flies down here, so relax: take your time in closing. Anyway, I'm just interested."

Rory closed his mouth. "Well, mainly 'cos – " He looked Hoffman up and down pointedly.

"I didn't know you rolled that way, Rory."

"No! It's just – you – "

"Seriously, you think Amy thinks I'm better than you?" Hoffman chuckled. "Rory, you need more self-esteem."

"Why?"

"Trust me; she's mad about you, no-one else. The fact she wants to marry you should say enough, but you're just badly intimidated by everyone else. You'll just have to inflate your ego a bit more...five minutes ago should've helped."

"Why?"

"Jesus Rory, you fought off Nightmare Children simply by singing: that's got to be good."

"Or it simply means I'm bad at singing." Rory smirked.

"You should hear me try to rap!"

"Alright – "

And then there was no more time to say anything as a ball of darkness descended on their heads and swallowed them whole.

xXx

"We're screwed." Amanda finally voiced what the two of them had been thinking.

Amy shook her head. "No we're not – the Doctor will think of something."

Amanda snorted. "Him? Please, they're just as screwed as we are. I highly doubt any of us are going to get out of here alive."

"Well in that case, are you going to answer my question?"

"Which one?"

"Mark Hoffman. Do you like him or not?"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Fine, yes, but I don't see – "

"Knew it!" Amy grinned. "This is great, when he finds out – "

"No." Amanda glared at her. "No way in hell."

Amy stopped grinning. "Why not?" Silence. "Amanda?"

"It wouldn't work."

"But he – "

"Yes, maybe he likes me too, but I can't risk it." Amanda smirked at Amy's face. "How stupid do you think I am? You don't ask someone you just met questions like that unless you have an ulterior motive."

Amy winced. "Yeah, I forgot that bit. But if you know..."

Amanda sighed. "John wouldn't approve."

"Oh come on, coming from someone who's been divorced I don't think you should take his love life tips seriously."

"Emotionally there can be nothing there."

"But there's already something there, you can't just avoid it!"

Amanda didn't meet her eyes. "Just don't tell him, ok?" Amy squirmed. "OK?"

"Alright, I won't." Amy finally agreed, making it clear she didn't like it. "But I still think – " She jumped as a Nightmare Child appeared right in front of her.

"YoUr WaIt Is NeArLy OvEr."

"What does that mean?"

"YoUr FrIeNdS aRe AlMoSt HeRe."

Wanted to post up Halloween edition of ABC, but I haven't worked on this for ages so I thought I'd update this first. Happy Halloween if ABC isn't done in time!