CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who, and I am making no profit off of this.

Rose and Ileana decided to give the publishing company a quick once over while they searched for any indications of an alien presence having ever been there. The employees were very tight lipped and wouldn't tell either of them anything except for what Rose knew was a carefully rehearsed speech that came from the top. The company executives were obviously doing damage control.

Following a hunch, Rose turned invisible and followed Victoria back to her desk. She watched Victoria interact with her co-workers and waited to see if she caught any clues from their conversations. She hated eavesdropping, but she had to search for clues somehow.

She was sure that Victoria was the link somehow. She still believed that she was innocent, but something told her that Victoria was being used. It came from when Victoria told them that her boss made her stay extra late for no apparent reason recently and wouldn't take no for an answer. Something about that made Rose suspicious. It made her wonder if the boss needed Victoria there for an alibi for something.

Rose wanted to see her boss, and that was why she was standing there invisible. She wanted to observe this woman in action and see if she was a Carrionite or not. She was sure that she would be able to feel it if she was.

Her Bad Wolf side came out in full force when a young woman in a business suit wearing glasses with thick lenses walked into the room. The woman looked at Victoria like a predator looks at its prey.

Rose instantly didn't like her, and she watched her intently to make sure that she wasn't going to do anything to Victoria. She already thought of Victoria as a friend even though she had only just met here, and she knew that she wasn't going to let anything happen to her on her watch.

"I just wanted to thank you for staying late the other night. I won't forget what you did. You're a valuable employee to me, Victoria. I'm going to put a little extra in your pay this week for going above and beyond the call of duty," the woman said to Victoria in a sweet tone.

Victoria lit up not just at the money but also at her tone of voice. Rose guessed from her behavior that she wasn't used to being treated nicely by this woman and that she had felt unappreciated by her until now.

"Thank you, Miss Bouchard," Victoria said with a large smile on her face.

"It's the least I can do. All I ask is that you remember my generosity to you. Maybe it'll make you think twice about ever leaving us," Miss Bouchard said with a grin and a wink at her.

Rose could see that grin transform into a calculating smile though once she turned around. Something was definitely wrong here!

Rose looked closer at the woman and began to read her timeline. She saw the woman calling herself Lilith and attacking the Doctor and Martha in 1599. This was one of the Carrionites that Martha had told her about. Somehow she had gotten free from the crystal ball that she had been imprisoned in in the TARDIS!

She then saw how they had escaped. She saw the TARDIS falling to the ground from space due to the damage inflicted on it during the Doctor's last regeneration. During this time the Doctor had almost been thrown out of the TARDIS, and he had had to hang on to the entrance for dear life as the doors had been thrown wide open.

It was during this time that the floor grill covering the crystal ball containing the Carrionites flew off, and the ball went flying out the open TARDIS doors. The Doctor had been more worried about saving himself at the time and had not noticed it. The ball had then cracked into a million pieces upon impact with the ground freeing the three of them.

Rose began to follow the Carrionite down the hall while Lilith walked away from her, unaware of her presence. She followed her to her office and managed to slip inside quickly just before she shut the door.

Now they were alone, and Rose watched while Lilith summoned the other two on her newest crystal ball that she pulled out from under her desk.

"All goes according to plan, my mothers. Victoria Collins will be my alibi once our plan goes through. No one will ever suspect me of anything because Victoria and I will be able to show that we were here working together on the night in question. They won't know about the two of you acting on my behalf of course," Lilith said to the other two Carrionites with a laugh.

"The plan will proceed then. By this time tomorrow, this publishing company will be run by you. Then you will publish a new edition of Verity Newman's book that will contain a hidden spell of our own devising inside of it. Once this special book is read aloud at the next press conference by her, we will be able to set our other sisters free upon this world at last!" Mother Doomfinger said to her with a cackle.

"The best part of this plan to me is that UNIT will never suspect that she is our unwitting accomplice in our plan due to our having attacked her several times. No one will even think twice of investigating her because she's the poor hapless victim," Mother Bloodtide said with glee.

"It is a perfect plan, my sisters. I will ensure that it stays that way too once I get rid of the eavesdropper amongst us!" Lilith said as she suddenly turned and stared right at Rose.

Rose dropped her invisibility as she confronted the Carrionite directly.

"Give me your best shot. You'll find that your power doesn't work on me," Rose said as she summoned the Bad Wolf.

"Not directly perhaps because I cannot divine your true name. Arkytior is only the name that your mother gave you. Your true name is only to be found in the Vortex and in the mind of one other. I do have another name though that will have an effect on you I think," Lilith said as she smiled a wicked grin.

She stood up and pointed her finger at Rose as she said, "I know a name that holds incredible power over your hearts. Your hearts clutch in fear at the thought of what you may learn about a woman named . . . Redfern!"

One of Rose's hearts shut down immediately, and the other began to slow. The Carrionite had gotten to her through her own fear and jealousy about the Doctor's past!

Rose collapsed on the floor as Lilith laughed with an evil joy.

Suddenly out of the mirror behind Lilith's desk, a woman stepped silently through the glass and stood behind the cackling Carrionite. The woman quickly pushed Lilith to the ground from behind and grabbed Rose in one swift moment. She took Rose with her through the mirror to safety.

Rose looked at her rescuer and smiled. It was Sister of Mine. The youngest member of the Family of Blood had repented of her past recently and was now trying to make up for it in whatever way that she could.

"Hello, Rose! You once let me go when you could have imprisoned me forever. Now it's time for me to return the favor and make things up to the descendent of someone else who I once wronged. I'm going to help you protect Verity Newman. No one's using her to do anything," Sister of Mine said with a determined look on her face.

Next: The Carrionites' plan goes forward while Rose tries to recover from Lilith's spell.