Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I make any money from it.
A/N Thanks for the amazing reviews on the last chapter. I really do appreciate all the feedback.
Here is Part 1 of story #9 Ghosts of Oldbank. As I previously mentioned, it is based on one of my favourite audios ever. You'll see soon enough which one it is.
Happy Reading!
Ghosts of Oldbank: Rift
Rose swirled the straw in her pink and yellow drink, trying not to scream in frustration. It had been a week; a WEEK. A whole bloody week since she and the Doctor had slept in the same bed and spent more than a few minutes alone together.
Immediately following the day after their ordeal with Cassandra, the Doctor had announced that since it was almost Rose's 22nd birthday in relative time, they would be spending it in 75th century Monte Carlo. Rose had been excited, and her apprehension at his refusal to come to bed the previous night had all but evaporated. Fitz was ecstatic at the chance of gambling in a casino in the future.
However, upon landing in Monte Carlo, the Doctor had bet Fitz that he would win more money in the casino than Fitz. They had shaken on it and had headed to the casino with a hundred credits each. The competition was to last a week and the person with the most money at the end would win. Rose was the impartial judge since she wasn't much of a gambler.
Every day, the Doctor and Fitz would spend their time gambling for hours while Rose visited various shops, spas and shows in Monte Carlo. She even managed to drag them both to a few of those. But the Doctor somehow always managed to bring Fitz with them, and after the third time that he did it, Rose realised that something was definitely up.
The night before, she had told him that she loved him. They hadn't said it since the first time nearly a week ago. The Doctor had looked very startled at that and had kissed her hastily, and then tried to distract her with the history of the opera they had just seen. Rose was definitely worried.
Today was their last day in Monte Carlo and the day of Rose's birthday. She had woken up to a big bunch of pink roses and a beautiful pair of silver earrings. The Doctor had left her a note wishing her a happy birthday and telling her he would be gambling the whole day to make sure he beat Fitz in their bet. She met Fitz for breakfast, who promised her that he would get her a gift after he had won the bet with the Doctor. He had then toddled off to the casino.
Rose had already been missing her mum and with the Doctor being the aloof git that he was being, she had hit the bar right after breakfast. It was only her first drink but she was already bored of it. They had spent her last birthday at a casino as well but only Rory had been gambling at the time, and the Doctor and Rose had spent their time watching shows and stopping a minor alien incursion. She missed that, she realised. She missed the Doctor. Whatever it was, she had to find out what was bugging him so much. She couldn't take the aloofness and the rift between them any longer.
With a determined sigh, she downed her drink and left the bar. She was about to head to the casino when she saw the Doctor and Fitz returning. Judging from their faces, the Doctor had won.
"I bet my whole stack on black," said Fitz sulkily, as soon as he saw Rose.
"Let me guess, it fell on red," she said sympathetically.
Fitz groaned as the Doctor laughed. "Prudent gambling, Fitz," said the Doctor, clapping his shoulder. "You will learn."
"So, what are we doing for the rest of the day?" asked Rose.
"It's your day, doll," shrugged Fitz. "Sorry about the present though."
"It's okay," she said, waving it away. She wasn't too invested in gifts, and it was the thought that counted. "Are we staying here or going somewhere else?"
"You choose," said the Doctor. "As Fitz said, it is your day and you get to choose."
She forced a smile at that. I just want us to go back to being us, she wanted to scream but some part of her wanted her to just enjoy her birthday and worry about the Doctor being a git later. It wasn't everyday that you turned 22, even if you lived in a time machine.
"I'm all for going somewhere else," she said with a shrug. "I think I've had enough of Monte Carlo. Will the randomiser still work?" she asked the Doctor.
"Of course," he said. "Come along, you two. Back to the TARDIS."
"So, what's the randomiser?" asked Fitz once they were back on the TARDIS.
"We spin it and the TARDIS lands us whenever it stops," said the Doctor. "Do you want to spin it, Rose? It's your birthday after all."
Rose nodded and spun the randomiser, hoping that the TARDIS would land them somewhere nice where she could actually get the Doctor to open up a bit. The randomiser stopped and the Doctor finished the rest of the landing sequence as they arrived at their destination.
"So, where are we?" asked Fitz eagerly.
"21st century, France," said the Doctor, looking at the coordinates.
Rose raised her eyebrows at the destination but noted with relief that she didn't have to change her clothes. The jeans, sky blue jumper and her leather jacket would be just fine.
"21st century. Isn't that where you're from, Rose?" asked Fitz.
"A bit ahead of Rose's time, I'm afraid," said the Doctor. "It's 2014. November, if I am guessing correctly."
"Right then," said Rose. "Let's go outside."
Without waiting for them to respond, she opened the doors and stepped outside. It was nighttime, and they had landed just outside the gates of an old abandoned castle. It was a chilly night and there were overgrown weeds and dead trees all around them. It didn't seem like a there was a living soul within miles of them.
"Charming place," said Fitz as he emerged after Rose. "Any idea what it is?"
"Oldbank," said Rose, pointing to the brass plaque that was falling apart.
"Not sure about the bank part but this is definitely old," said Fitz.
"Ah, do you want to try again, Rose?" asked the Doctor as he took in their dreary surroundings.
"No," she said, still looking at the castle in the distance. "I think we should go exploring."
"You're joking right, doll?" asked Fitz and even the Doctor looked surprised. "That looks like it might actually be haunted."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Well, if you two are going to chicken out…"
"Fine," said the Doctor, looking a bit concerned at her odd request but deciding to humour her since it was her birthday. "We'll need torches," he said, rifling through his pockets and tossing them both a small silver torch each. "Let's go explore."
The three of them opened the rusty, creaking gates and tried not to shiver at the echo it made in the silence. Not even insects seemed to live there, it was that quiet. They walked up the path covered with undergrowth from unknown vines and arrived at the massive, old door. It was almost falling apart and it only took a single push from the three of them for it to swing open.
The inside was quite dark and dusty. They switched their torches on as they looked around the main foyer. There was a grand staircase in front of them and the stairs were in surprisingly good condition despite the thick layer of dust. There were several doors leading to different part of the castle all around the stairwell, and it looked like the inside was definitely in better shape than the outside.
"So, where do you want to start?" asked the Doctor.
"I vote for going back to the TARDIS," said Fitz plainly. "This place is giving me the shivers."
"Let's try over there," said Rose, pointing to the door on their immediate right. They started to walk towards it, only to hear a small, low whistle.
"Christ! What was that?" asked Fitz in a whisper.
"Must have been the wind," said the Doctor, though he did glance around suspiciously.
"Look at this," said Rose, shining her torch on the door that they had been about to go through. The French words shimmered into English. "The Phantasm," she read. "Looks like it's been scratched by someone's nails."
The whistling sound repeated again, closer to them this time. Fitz jumped violently and clutched Rose's arm. "We should really go back," he said.
A small, childish giggle followed the whistling sound as it grew fainter and fainter as if someone was running away from them. "That is not the wind," said Rose, feeling a sense of thrill despite the chills she was getting.
"This place is haunted," said Fitz. "We should be getting out of here."
"Nonsense," said the Doctor firmly. "I do not believe in ghosts. There is always an explanation. Come along, the giggle went this way."
He led the way through the door with the scratched words. It opened into an ordinary hallway with rows of doors on either side. The closest ajar door led to a study with an old chandelier and dusty carpet. All the furniture was covered with white, muslin sheets. There was a high window that looked over the gloomy grounds behind the castle.
The sound of tiny chiming bells rang from behind them and they turned around sharply, only to find that there was nothing there. The giggle sounded again, before a female voice started humming the chords to Cliff Richard's 'Theme for a Dream'.
"The ghost knows Cliff Richard?" asked Fitz incredulously.
"Daddy!" The shout was louder and clearer than anything they had heard so far. It was followed by the sound of someone playing David Bowie's 'Life on Mars' on the piano.
"That's it," snapped Fitz. "I'm out of here. Whatever that thing is playing is weird and I'm done."
"Stop freaking out, Fitz," said Rose. "It's just David Bowie. Trust me, people will be going crazy for him in the future."
"This is fascinating," said the Doctor, scanning the air around them with his sonic screwdriver. "There is no one else here except us."
"What about the noises though?" asked Rose.
"They're ghosts!" he answered excitedly.
"I thought you said ghosts weren't real," said Fitz, looking around apprehensively.
"Well technically, ghosts are imprints of the dead but these ghosts, they are alive," said the Doctor.
"Alive ghosts?" asked Rose, raising her eyebrows incredulously.
"No, no, no," said the Doctor with a laugh. "The people that these ghosts belong to, are still alive. They aren't here, of course," he added to the alarmed looks from his companions. "But they might have passed through here over the years and somehow, an imprint of them got stuck in this castle. I wonder how it happened," he mused.
"Uh, I don't know if you two have noticed," interrupted Fitz. "But the sounds have all stopped."
"So they have," said the Doctor. "Well, nothing here to see. We should explore the rest of the place."
He walked over to the door, only to have it slam shut just as he reached it. In the dungeons of the castle, the Phantasm opened his eyes slowly. "Ah, yes. Finally," it hissed.
Back in the room, even the Doctor's sonic screwdriver would not open the door. "The window!" Rose pointed. Fitz tugged on the window handle to open it, but it seemed to have been sealed shut, just like the door. Somehow, the window panes had also acquired a dark tint that had not been there before.
The room felt like it was being pressurised as a small green glow began to rise in the room. Fitz and Rose screamed, the pressure getting too intense for their human bodies. Just as suddenly as it had happened, it stopped and the glow flashed a brilliant green before the room went back to normal again.
Rose fumbled around blindly, spots dancing in front of her eyes. Her hand encountered a velvet sleeve and she grabbed it. "Doctor?"
There came a strange echo as he replied with a 'Yes?' Rose blinked to clear her vision and saw Fitz staring open-mouthed in front of him. She followed his gaze and her jaw dropped.
There were three identical Doctors in front of them.
A/N End of Part 1. Thanks for reading.
As you've probably guessed, it is going to be based on Caerdroia. Seriously, it is an amazing audio and completely worth listening to. Haunted castles, a mysterious entity, and three Doctors, it is going to be amazing to write.
Part 2 will come with more explanations and further action. I know this chapter was short, but I wanted to set the scene before I launched into one of the most confusing stories ever.
The next chapter will be up soon. See you then. Let me know what you thought of this one.
~ Phoenix