The sounds of running feet echoed down the empty corridors. Breaths came sharp and scared, punctuated every now and then with a small sob. Sides hurt and legs ached, but still the woman ran. She ran to an intersection and went left, still running. She couldn't stop. She had to keep going, but it felt like her legs were going to give out. She slowed to a stop, listening carefully. Her legs trembled. The only sounds were her heavy breathing.
Goosebumps rippled over her skin.
The lights started to flicker and dim. Inky darkness covered everything.
She could see it out of the corner of her eye. She turned, trying to see through the shadows. Skittering behind her and she spun, seeing nothing. Whispers all around, horrible things that danced in the dark. She turned and turned, true terror welling up inside. Deep, dark laughter from behind her and she turned and screamed.
Then there was silence.
Alex was reading a book in the console room when something went bing. He looked up from the book with a frown.
Bing.
"Doctor," Alex shouted, going back to his book. "The TARDIS is doing something."
A few seconds later the Doctor jogged into the room, a toothbrush in his hand. "What was that sorry?"
"The TARDIS is-."
Bing.
"-Doing that."
"Huh." The Doctor pulled the scanner screen around and inspected the readouts. "We're picking up a distress signal."
"Are we."
"From a deep space mining station."
"Fascinating."
The Doctor looked over at Alex. Alex raised his eyes from his book and looked at the Doctor.
Bing.
Alex sighed and closed the book. "Just getting to the good part," he muttered. "Alright. Let's go satisfy your rampant curiosity and see if we can help them."
With a thump the TARDIS landed.
"Okay," said Alex. "So where and when are we?"
"The year three million and seven, by Earth time. We're somewhere right in the middle of Keltozan Asteroid Belt. I think. The scanner looks like it's playing up again."
"I keep telling you to fix it," Alex said as the Doctor whacked the sides of the screen.
"And I will," the Doctor replied. "Eventually."
Alex rolled his eyes and walked over to the doors. "Is it safe to go outside?"
"Atmosphere's breathable," the Doctor called and Alex opened the doors.
Outside was a corridor. A completely ordinary corridor. It was square, metal, had lights of the ceiling and was very much ordinary and very, very boring.
"Didn't you say there was a distress signal coming from this place?" Alex called over his shoulder.
"There is," said the Doctor, walking up behind him.
"Well this doesn't seem very… distressed to me."
"No it doesn't," The Doctor agreed. "So why is there a distress signal?" With that the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and walked away down the corridor. Alex sighed and followed, closing the TARDIS doors behind him.
For a few minutes they walked in silence, following the twisting maze of corridors. "Are you thinking that it's just a bit too quiet?" Alex asked.
"Yes I am."
"Oh good I was wondering whether it was just me."
"This is a big mining station. We should at least be able to hear the engines."
"There aren't any alarms either. This ship was giving off a distress signal. So where are the alarms?"
"Good point Alex. Let's see if we can find one of the crew members."
They walked for a few minutes more, then Alex grabbed the Doctor's arm, pulling him to a stop. "Doctor wait. Something doesn't feel right."
"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked. His sense were much better than a human's, but Alex's were even better than his.
"Can't you feel it?" The Doctor shook his head. Alex frowned, struggling for the right words. "It's like… something that's not quite there. Something at the back of my mind, or in the corner of my eye."
Then a man burst around the corner of the corridor, waving a rifle. He was short but broad, with dark skin and short hair. Sweat dripped down his face and his eyes were wild. He saw them and screamed, the rifle coming towards them. There was a blur and the Doctor was pulled to the ground, bullets whizzing over his head. Another blur and the gun was yanked from the man's grip and Alex hit him across the face with it. The blow sent the man stumbling into the wall with a hand to his face and a look of shock. The Doctor picked himself up as Alex neatly disassembled the gun.
"Thanks," he said.
"You're welcome," the angel replied, tossing the pieces of gun away.
"You're real," the man whispered, looking like he didn't believe it. "You're really real."
"Yes we are," The Doctor said, kind but cautious. "Why did you try to shoot us?"
"Thought you were more of those things."
"What things? Aliens?"
The man shook his head. "Don't make me think about them. I – I can't do it. I won't make it." He looked at them with wide eyes. Alex could smell the fear coming off him. "You have to get off this station. You're not part of the crew, so however you got on, get off the same way. There's… something here."
"What? What's here?' The Doctor said, his voice still low and kind.
The man breathed heavily and licked his lips. Then the lights above them flickered and dimmed for a moment. "Oh God it's found me," he whimpered. "Oh God no it's found me." The man stumbled away from the wall and started running.
"Wait, no, come back!" The Doctor shouted after him.
"Get off this ship!" The man screamed over his shoulder. "You have to get off this ship!"
Then he rounded the corner and was gone.
"That wasn't you with the lights was it?" The Doctor asked. Alex shook his head still looking at where the man had disappeared. A slight frown furrowed his brow. "What is it?"
"A couple of things. Firstly I managed to get a look inside his mind when he looked at us."
"And?"
"Nothing. His mind is completely scrambled. I could see some coherent stuff, mostly early memories, but when I tried to look at anything more recent everything got all… muddled and blurry. He couldn't even remember his own name. It was like something got inside his mind and tore him apart from the inside."
The Doctor stored that fact away for later use. "And what else?"
Alex hesitated. "I didn't hear him coming. Until he rounded that corner I couldn't hear him at all. And when he left I stopped hearing him as soon as he was out of sight."
The Doctor looked the corridor up and down. "Something very wrong's going on."
A scream echoed down the corridors. "That's the guy from before," said Alex.
"Come on!" the Doctor yelled, taking off. Alex followed, easily keeping pace. They rounded the corner as another scream rang out.
"This way!" said Alex, taking the lead as they hurtled around a corner. They took a right and then a left and skidded to a halt. Lying in the middle of the corridor was the man. He was laid out perfectly straight with his hands by his side, stiff as a board. As the Doctor and Alex approached they could see his eyes, wide with fear. Alex could already tell he was dead.
"I can't see any wounds," Alex said.
"I wouldn't expect any," The Doctor replied, frowning. "You said his mind felt scrambled. Scramble the brain too much…"
"No more person," Alex finished. He shivered, rubbing his arms. "We should leave. The longer we're on this ship the more I get the feeling that it's a bad place to be."
The Doctor looked at him with concern. "You're sure."
Alex nodded. "I don't often get scared, you know that. Not many things unnerve me. But this place is freaking me out. I keep feeling like we're being watched."
The Doctor hesitated, then nodded. "I'm getting that feeling too. There's something here that's twisting our perceptions, working on our base fears. We need to get back to the TARDIS."
"Can you remember the way back?"
The Doctor nodded. "This way."
The Doctor led the way through the corridors and intersections, mentally reversing the route they'd taken.
"Have you ever encountered anything like this Doctor?" Alex asked.
"Something similar, once."
"What was it?"
"The Devil."
"… Really?"
"Sort of. It was the truth behind the myth, according to it. But it died, fell into a black hole. This can't be because of it."
"We hope."
The Doctor internally agreed with Alex. He felt they were getting close to the TARDIS when the lights went out. The Doctor froze and heard Alex do the same behind him. The lights started flickering on and off, sometimes dim, sometimes bright.
"Doctor?"
"Stay close Alex."
"You can count on it." The Doctor felt, rather than saw, Alex move closer behind him. He set off again, slower this time so as not to lose his way in the dim light. He rounded a corner and let out a sigh of relief. The corridor ahead was dark, but he could see the shadowy outline of the TARDIS. He quickened his pace.
"Come on Alex," he said. "Let's get out of here." He took out his key and reached for the door.
The lights came on and the Doctor's hand passed through empty space. He jumped back in surprise, his hand recoiling.
"It's still doing it," he said. "Messing with what we can see." He paused, waiting for a reply. "Alex?" He turned to find an empty corridor. "Alex?" he shouted.
There was no reply.
"What's going on here?"
"Doctor slow down."
"Come on Alex," the Doctor called back. "We're almost there."
Alex sighed, peering through the gloom. He could hardly see and it bothered him. All he could make out of the Doctor was a shadowy figure walking quickly ahead of him. And the feeling that he was being watched, the tingle on the nape of his neck, just kept getting worse. Every few steps he would throw a look over his shoulder, but nothing moved in the shadows behind him.
Alex looked ahead as the Doctor rounded a corner. "I've found it," he called. "The TARDIS is just around here."
"Oh finally," Alex said with relief. He rounded the corner at a run and-
The lights were on. Alex blinked, confused. When did the lights come on? He looked back down the corridor. The lights were on all the way along. He looked back and realised the corridor ahead was empty. No Doctor. No TARDIS.
"Hello?" he called. "Doctor? Are you there?"
There was no answer. Then, like a faint whisper in his ear, or someone speaking from so far away.
You're mine now, little angel.
Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun.
Sorry it's been a while. Been busy with university stuff.