My Final Chapter
Chapter 4 – Found
A/N: Hello all, I'm sorry I've abandoned this story for so long but I'm working on coming back and you'll see great things coming for the Princessg101 page. Until next time guys, which will definitely be in a month, ENJOY! R&R PLZ!
After leaving Scotland Yard, Sky and the Doctor went straight to the abduction site. The street was bustling with foot and car traffic. A little irksome but still the perfect cover for father and daughter to do some poking around without being noticed. As a layer of precaution, they also wore perception filters around their necks to assure they wouldn't be noticed. "Found anything dad?" Sky murmured into her earpiece. She was standing near the intersection, serving as lookout.
"Nothing," the Doctor whispered. "We're missing something. Come to the alley. I could use an extra pair of eyes."
"On my way," Sky calmly slid her hands in her pockets and walked down the street. She smoothly slid into the alley and found her father, halfway down, next a dumpster. The only thing actually in the lane. "This is it?"
"This is it."
"Can't be," she knocked on the thick metal, listening to the dull ring. "It's just an ordinary trash bin."
"Your uncle Mickey once got abducted by a trash bin." The Doctor nodded at Sky's raised eyebrow. "True story. Ask him about it sometime."
"Oh I will," Sky promised. "Think that could be what's happening this time?"
"No, that was courtesy of the Nestene Consciousness. You know what happened there."
"Say no more," Sky forestalled him there. "Alright, so not the Nestene, I do have a working theory."
The Doctor folded his arms, "Let's hear it then."
"The Pact, if this the Pact, they're sort of replaying your greatest hits. The Nestene, the dimensional walls, the robots. Have you ever encountered anything that was remotely like this? A flash of light and then disappearance?"
"Several times," the Doctor ruminated on it. "It's good theory, quite probable. But without more evidence, I couldn't tell you which of my adventures they're trying to recreate."
"Well let's review what we do know." Sky looked around. "The light was caught by the CCTV but still went unnoticed by the people walking by. To emanate from here and be caught over there, it would have to be extremely powerful.
"And if it was really that bright, it would have broken any perception filters," the Doctor caught on.
"Precisely," Sky pointed to the mouth of the alley. "So we're too far in." They walked closer to the street and looked around. "Something's missing."
"Obviously, there's nothing here. Nothing that could have lured a person."
"No I mean remember what the detective said? When she came, she said there was nothing but a water fountain. So -" Sky made a circle with her arms. "Where's the water fountain?"
"Huh," the Doctor frowned. "That is very strange. Given the direction she was walking on the video. It would be about here." He held his hands over an approximate space on the wall.
"Hmmm," Sky crouched down to her fingers over the brick and concrete. "No discolouration, no rust, no sign of a pipe. If there was a fountain here, the city definitely didn't put it in, and it wasn't here for long."
"Part of the trap. Knew that already but it's nice to have the confirmation."
"It does beg another question though," Sky said pensively. "Fake fountain, perception filters, how did the victim even know it was there? What could a fountain have done to be noticed?"
"Unless," the Doctor intoned. "It wasn't the fountain."
"Someone lured her but why? And why did she come back? What did they do to her? Why a drinking fountain of all things?"
"Someone being lured to drink…" the Doctor stopped dead. A scene from many lifetimes playing before his eyes. "Coffee."
"What?" Sky asked.
"Hold on," the Doctor put in a call. "Yes, hello Detective Latimer please. HALLO DETECTIVE! Yes, did you happen to get those results back from lab regarding the water? Not yet eh? That's fine, that's fine. Also what can you tell me about Ms. Campbell's personal life? Anything of interest? Family? Friends? Partners? Really…I see. Alright thank you. I'll be in touch. Goodbye."
"What did she say?"
"Mary Campbell, career woman. Parents and sister live in another city, modest social circle. Quiet, ordinary."
"And that's a bad thing?"
"Not necessarily. But for the purposes of this trap, it might just be the sweet spot. A more recluse person might avoid interaction, a more outgoing person might talk, bring more attention."
"Ummm," Sky scratched her head. "You've got me and lost me at the same time."
"When you meet someone you fancy, what's often the first thing you do?"
"Invite them for a drink." Then it clicked for Sky. "But typically you go to coffee shop or a bar, not a drinking fountain."
"All depends on the hook," the Doctor sighed. "Like a poor unseen office temp meeting a dashing executive that offers her a cup of coffee at the office."
"I've heard that story before," Sky said slowly.
"I've lived it," the Doctor sighed.
"But does that mean…the water…"
"Pen in a cup."