Owen stood back and watched as Abby sucked on the Doctor's neck, glad to see this man was no longer a threat.
So enthralled was he that he didn't see Peri get up. He didn't notice until she was rushing past him, grabbing Abby, pulling her away from the Doctor and throwing her to the side.
Then, completely ignoring the two children, she turned to check on the Doctor. He was still conscious but his face was very pale. Peri lifted the Doctor's hand and pressed it to the bite mark.
"Here," Peri said, "That should stop the bleeding."
The Doctor nodded meekly. His gaze was fixed on Abby.
"So what now, Abby?" The Doctor whispered.
Abby turned to Owen. His face was red from being pressed into the snow. There was a graze on his cheek. She turned angrily to the Doctor.
"Your friend hurt Owen," she said, turning to Peri.
"Abby, no!" the Doctor tried to yell. "That's enough!"
But Abby started walking towards Peri with a ravenous look in her eye.
Peri turned and hugged the Doctor.
"I'm sorry, Peri," he whispered.
Abby took two steps towards Peri and then stopped. She felt a pain in her chest. Her hand moved to her heart and she looked to Owen with a worried look on her face.
"Owen, something's wrong," she said in a tiny voice.
Her features had morphed back to their original form and she looked like a frightened little girl.
Owen turned to the Doctor, "What have you done?"
The Doctor was gathering his strength. Only one of his hearts was beating due to the lack of blood circulating around his system. He managed to stand up using the tree as a sort of crutch. Before he could answer, Abby fell to the ground in agony. She felt her body being rocked by an explosion in her chest.
Whump- whomp. Whump-whomp. Whump-whomp.
Abby fell into a coughing fit. With every rasp, plumes of grey smoke erupted from her mouth. When she looked up, her eyes were glowing like gold.
"SHE'S BURNING FROM THE INSIDE!" Owen screamed.
"That's not ash, Owen," the Doctor said, "It's dust."
"What's happening to her?" Peri whispered.
"At a guess," the Doctor started, "I'd say that her heart has started beating for the first time in years."
"How?" Peri asked.
"Blood is life, Peri. The blood of a timelord, even more so. You've seen it before. The body dies, and the system starts anew," said the Doctor.
"She's regenerating?" Peri asked.
"Or a very close approximation," the Doctor said.
Owen wrapped her arms around Abby, trying desperately to soothe her coughing fit. With every cough, huge clouds of dust erupted from her mouth and settled on the snow.
"Where is all that dust coming from?" Peri asked the Doctor.
"She must have been dead for centuries. The blood in her veins has long since congealed and decomposed to the point of dust. Her new heartbeat is causing it to circulate back to the lungs and be expelled," the Doctor said, watching with intense interest as Abby continued to bellow the dust. "Fascinating," he remarked.
"Can't we do something?" Peri asked.
Owen was crying as Abby finally stopped coughing. Her skin had started to glow. She grew so hot that Owen had to pull away to avoid burning himself on her skin. The snow at her feet had melted to water then boiled to steam.
"Owen, step back here," the Doctor called.
"What have you done to her?" Owen wept.
"Get back here now!" the Doctor ordered.
"What are you?" Owen demanded.
Peri, knowing what was about to happen to Abby, grabbed Owen and hugged him tightly to her, shielding him from the blinding light radiating from Abby.
A second later, there was a great flash as Abby's body exploded. Then there was silence and darkness.
It took a while for their eyes to adjust back to the darkness. When they did, the Doctor, Peri and Owen saw Abby. She looked almost exactly the same. Same face, same height, same weight. The only difference was her hair. Her flat dark brown hair had changed into light blonde, similar to the Doctor's hair but longer. She was staring down looking at her hands.
Even in the moonlight, Abby could see something different about them. They were pink, not pale. She put her hand on her face. Her face and hands were both warm. Warm. Something she hadn't felt in a long time.
She hadn't felt cold for a long time either. The steam from the melted snow was now settling on her legs and cooling rapidly. She was freezing. She wrapped her arms around herself to warm up.
Owen instantly stepped forward, removing his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders.
"What's happened to me?" She asked Owen.
"I don't know," Owen said. He turned to the Doctor, "Are you a wizard?"
"No," the Doctor answered, "I'm a doctor."
"A-a-am I a-alive?" Abby asked, stuttering from the cold.
"You were always alive, Abby," the Doctor answered, "but now you're human again."
Abby smiled, unsure. She wiped the Doctor's blood from her chin and looked at it. For the first time, she didn't feel that hunger she always felt when she saw blood. Instead, she felt repulsion and every instinct telling her to get rid of it. Despite these instincts, she brought the fingers to lips and licked at the blood as though testing her new body. The taste was vile and her entire body screamed out in protest. She turned away from the group and spat it out again.
"I'm normal!" Abby said, gleefully.
The Doctor smiled. Despite being almost eaten alive by this little girl, he was pleased. As he'd expected, this little girl wasn't a vampire by choice and he was glad that he could have helped, although he hadn't counted on human regeneration.
Abby stopped. Her hand moved to her temple and her face became troubled.
Owen stopped too. "Abby, are you okay?" he asked.
"My head," Abby said, clutching a fist to her temple. "All those things I did. All the people I've … aargh!"
She fell to the ground again, screaming. The Doctor rushed over to quickly examine her. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was bleeding.
"Oh dear," he said, worriedly.
"What is it, Doctor," Peri asked.
"Is she changing again?" Owen asked.
The Doctor scooped Abby up in his arms and started running back the way he and Peri had come.
"Back to the TARDIS," the Doctor cried, "NOW!"