The Doctor expected nothing but death. He turned away and waited for the sensation of teeth breaking his flesh, but nothing happened. He looked at the creature. Its irises were milky white and it had a confused look on its face. The creature let go of his hands and laid hers on the Doctor's chest. It moved face-to-face with him and sniffed.
The creature then backed away, growling at the Doctor before running out of the tunnel and out of sight.
The Doctor lay on the ground, shell-shocked. He was so deep in his trance that he couldn't concentrate on the world around him. He only regained his composure when he felt two hands on his shoulders.
"Oh god! Doctor!" he could just make out the words. He blinked, trying to bring his senses into focus.
The slap across his face finally brought him back.
"Doctor, snap out of it!" Peri cried, panicking.
"Peri? Peri! What are you doing out here? It's not safe," the Doctor said.
"I was looking for you," Peri answered, "I went into the TARDIS to put on some warm clothes and when you didn't come in, I came out to look for you. What the hell happened here?"
"I don't know," the Doctor answered, "It took me by surprise though, I can tell you."
Peri helped the Doctor to his feet and together they walked over to the body of the young man. The Doctor bent down to have a close inspection. Peri turned away in horror and disgust.
The corpse's eyes were wide open and the skull was almost visible through the skin. The skin complexion was grey and the only sign that there had been any life at all in this body was the bite mark on its neck. The bite was lined with bright red blood. The creature must have struck an artery. The poor young man didn't stand a chance.
"Sucked bone-dry," the Doctor muttered, a note of sadness in his voice.
"By what?" Peri asked, "what? Like a vampire or something?"
She felt silly mentioning the possibility. She'd seen Cybermen, Sontarans and Daleks but even after all that, she still couldn't accept the possibility of vampires existing.
When the Doctor didn't reply, her blood ran cold.
"But I thought vampires were a myth, Doctor," she said.
"Oh, every myth starts with a seed of truth, Peri," the Doctor replied. "However, that's not what's bothering me most."
"Then what?" Peri asked, concerned.
"The creature that attacked me was small," the Doctor said, "It looked like a child."
Abby walked barefoot through the snow, back to the warehouse. She and Owen had been hiding there since they arrived from Los Alamos.
However, she wasn't thinking about Los Alamos or even Owen. She was thinking about that strange man in the red coat. He had a weird scent that she'd never smelt before. Her curse allowed her to pick victims that were healthy. She could tell by the way someone smelled if there was something wrong with them. If they had cancer or a terminal illness, she would leave them alone. Diseased blood was no good to her. A dead man's blood was fatal.
Which is why 'Red Coat' (as she had decided to call him) was so confusing. At first whiff, Abby perceived a perfectly healthy man in his late forties but when she got really close, she could smell death on him. He almost reeked of it.
There was a moment some fifty years before when she attacked an undertaker but was put off at the last second because the smell of the corpses he dealt with had clung to him.
'Red Coat' was different. This smell came from him. How can a man be alive and dead at the same time?
That wasn't the only question on her mind. When she was on top of 'Red Coat' and about to strike, she heard and felt two heartbeats in his chest. 'Red Coat' was no ordinary man. She needed to know more.
She walked through the door on the warehouse and down into the dark basement. Owen was sitting on a couch with a blanket wrapped around him, waiting for his friend to return.
He smiled, but it disappeared when he saw the concerned look on Abby's face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, quietly.
"Nothing," she said.
"Okay," Owen said, hugging the blanket closer to him.
Abby saw the slightly hurt look on his face and walked over to sit beside him. She put her arms around him. They sat in silence for a while before Owen finally got up the courage to ask, "Are you… hungry anymore?"
Abby sighed. "No," she said.
"Good," Owen smiled, meekly.
"But someone saw me," Abby finished.
Owen met Abby's gaze. "Are we gonna have to leave again?" he asked.
"I don't know," Abby said.
"What happened?" Owen asked.
"There was a man in funny clothes, like a clown or something," Abby said, "He saw me when I was feeding. He called out, so I went after him."
Owen shivered. As much as he loved Abby, he would never get used to her vampire side. Even though she had helped get rid of his bullies back home, it always bothered him when she talked about her attacks.
"I was on top of him, but I stopped," Abby said.
"Why?" Owen asked.
"Do you know what kills vampires?" she asked.
Owen was taken aback by the unexpected question. He thought for a second.
"Um, sun light, wooden stake through the heart," Owen said, thinking of all the methods he'd seen in movies, "garlic?"
"I guess," Abby said, unsure how much of that was true, "but blood from something dead can kill me. It's like something in my mind warns me not to drink it."
"So?" Owen asked.
"Owen, this man was dead," Abby said, "He was alive but dead as well."
"How?"
"Owen," Abby said, "I need your help."
At that Owen stood up, ready to do whatever Abby asked. She smiled.
"What can I do?" Owen dutifully asked.
"Do you still have that knife?" Abby asked.
"Yeah," he said, pulling the blade from his back pocket.
"I need you to get some of his blood for me," Abby instructed, "I can't do it because he's seen me already."
Owen looked at the knife in his hands. He'd never got a chance to use it and he was unsure whether he would be able to go through with it.
Then he looked back at Abby, beautiful Abby, his only friend in the world, and he knew he would do it, gladly.
"What does he look like?" Owen asked.