Authors notes: This chapter does contain some old fashioned uses of words that mean something else today, so please bare with them. It is 1890 after all. ;)

I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter. It was a pain to write and fathom out, so please let me know if you think it works.

Chapter 23

The Children of the Night.

Somehow the Doctor talked Mr. Bram Stoker into having tea with them, and somehow convinced the woman behind the desk to let them eat here despite not having a room. It was also a little late for tea, most of the hotels patrons in the dining hall were already leaving for bed, but the woman seemed only too happy to be flexible if only to accommodate her guests.

Raven didn't know how he did it. She hadn't been paying attention. She'd just sat in a corner and tried her best to meditate in these unsuitable clothes as the Doctor and Stoker talked with each other.

She was amazed at how easily the Doctor could communicate, talk to people and get them to open up. It was almost like magic, a magic she hadn't the foggiest how to cast.

They finished their conversation and the Doctor approached, telling her they were to have tea with Stoker. Raven shot him a look which marked him out as a hypocrite.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"What did you say about not interfering?" Raven asked, raising an eye brow.

"I know what I'm doing." the Doctor said confidently. Ravens mouth shifted to one side of her face. "I've been doing this for over several hundred years, I know how to tread lightly into anothers footprints." Raven looked forward to when the Doctor screwed up somehow so she could say 'I told you so.'

The creature looked in through the windows at the man and the girl. The man seemed to be in an animated conversation while the girl looked as stiff as a board. The girl was dressed strangely, as if not of this place. The man also had subtle hints in his attire that he was otherworldly too.

They were soon joined by another man coming down the stairs, and all three sat down at dinner.

To make conversation less awkward with other people Raven tried out another spell. Removing her cloak of perception and instead replaced it with a spell that altered the way people saw her attire, so instead of the 21st century clothes she was wearing they'd see whatever they expected a girl of her age to wear in this time period. She only hoped she'd cast it right, it was so easy to get a spell like this wrong. The Doctor said she'd looked 'lovely' but she was aware it didn't work on him. When Bram Stoker joined them for dinner he didn't seem to bat an eyelid. So she guessed it worked.

The Doctor stood up and shook his hand. Stoker looked slightly taken aback by this behaviour obviously wondering why the Doctor was treating him like an old friend. The Doctor had apparently already introduced himself as a broadly researched scientist.

"This is my niece, Raven." The Doctor said, finally remembering she existed.

"Delighted." The man said smiling at her in greeting, he maintained eye contact and his eyes didn't wander, so she guessed her new spell was working.

Keep your back straight. The Doctor telepathically spoke to her, and she instantly felt her back straighten. Despite not seeing him she could sense the Doctor laughing at her.

Doctor, screw you! She sent back to him.

"Raven is a student of the more ethereal sciences." the Doctor said. Ethereal sciences? Raven questioned in her mind.

"Supernatural?" Stoker asked, "How fascinating. I always thought science dealt with the tangible truths of our reality."

"Wait until string theory," the Doctor quickly joked. "No, science investigates even the most intangible claims of the supernatural in its search for facts about the deeper workings of the universe."

"Ah, and what truths had this led to?" Stoker asked.

"Not a dicky-bird." The Doctor laughed. Raven got the sense he was mocking her and her abilities again.

The two sat and ordered a pot of tea for three. Raven wasn't hungry so she didn't ask for anything. The two began to converse about mundane stuff Raven wasn't interested in, but she listened to see if she could tune into this little thing called 'small talk' people seemed to be so good at. They discussed the Lyceum Theatre which Stoker owned. The Doctor even name dropped Oscar Wilde's name, though that might have been a mistake as it seemed to be an uncomfortable subject for him.

Bram Stoker married the woman Oscar Wilde most sought after. The Doctor explained to her telepathically. He wouldn't have been happy with her anyway. He wasn't so... inclined towards the feminine, shall we say. Raven got the picture.

Now, they moved onto an actor called Henry Irving. "It was a crime you know." Stoker said, "That Irvings Hamlet was not reviewed by any critic at the time of its performance. An absolute crime. The performance practically came to life on the stage. The immersion of the mind to the illusion was so palpable, and Mr. Irving as Hamlet was a master stroke!"

"Tell me, was it true that he found your review of it and actively sought you out?" the Doctor asked.

"Absolutely, he's a very fascinating man. You'll like him, Doctor." Bram Stoker was practically fan-boying over this Irving guy in the same way the Doctor was over him.

"I've met the man." the Doctor said as he scratched at a side burn. "He's not really to my tastes, but I guess you can't like everyone." He was being diplomatic.

Henry Irving was an arrogant manipulative, pompous windbag. He sent to Raven telepathically. And far from being the best actor of his age, I thought he was the worst. But popularity can make you 'go' far when you have zero talent or substance. Why did he emphasise the word 'Go'?

"I agree, I think he's a pompous windbag myself." Raven's face dropped at the sound of this from Stoker, who not a moment ago had been singing Irvings praises.

"I'm surprised to hear you say that." The Doctor said.

"It's true. I am his manager so I guess I have to like him on some level." Stoker waved his hand. "He's a marvellous actor, but utterly full of himself."

He has a love-hate relationship with Irving. The Doctor sent to Raven telepathically.

Love-hate? Raven questioned.

Yes, it's kind of like when two people can't stand to be in each others company, but can't stand to be apart from each other either. When what the other does just drives you up the wall, but something about them keeps your friendship strong. The Doctor explained.

That sounds like complete, and utter crap. Raven sent telepathically. How can you both love and hate someone at the same time?

You'll find out. The Doctor added mysteriously.

And what is 'that' supposed to mean? She asked.

You'll find out. The Doctors attention returned to Stoker.

"Ah, but we are neglecting the young lady." Stoker said suddenly. "What say you on Henry Irving?"

Raven was aware her eyes grew wide at finally being addressed. Her mouth froze and she didn't know what to say.

"I'm... not interested in the theatre." She managed to say. Stoker looked at her like she was something from another planet, and she felt intimidated. "I read books." She added to see if that made things any better.

"She's from the United States." the Doctor explained quickly. "A long distant niece. She came over not too long ago." Stoker seemed to accept this explanation. Raven's accent did standout here, as did her raspy voice.

"I see. Well, let me be the first to welcome you to civilisation." Raven looked at the Doctor with a clueless expression. Is this 'United States' a bad place to live? She asked.

Well, last time I was there, I got shot. The Doctor sounded like he was joking so she decided not to take him seriously. I'll take you there one day. It's not as bad as its made out to be.

"So you read plenty of books? What subjects, my dear?" Stoker asked.

"I'm reading a book called the Time Machine, by H.G. Wells." Raven said. Stoker looked unsure as if she'd said something wrong.

"I've never heard of it." Stoker said scratching his beard. "I've heard of the chap, but his works are rather mundane."

It hasn't been published yet! The Doctor told her.

How was I to know?! Raven sent back to him.

There is a publication date in the book. The Doctor told her.

Yeah, re-printed 1955. Raven was getting annoyed at the Doctor for this small slip up.

"My dear niece is a little mixed up. She was test reading a book for a friend that has yet to be released to the public." The Doctor explained trying to cover her tracks, and he glanced at her. "She does tend to get confused quite easily."

First shot fired and Raven gently curled her long fingers up. He's not trying to be personal, She told herself, he's just covering your ignorance. That thought didn't make her feel any better.

"I've been introducing her to a lot of the literary greats. In fact recently she was reading Mary Shelly's Frankenstein." The Doctor said.

"A tad morbid for my tastes." Stoker said, "and I'd hardly call it great literature. More like fanciful science."

"Well, we all have our opinions." the Doctor shrugged.

"So, what brings you to this jolly seaside town. Business or pleasure?" Stoker asked.

"Pleasure mostly. I'm viewing a property in the area." The Doctor lied, probably just as a cover story. "I love the countryside around here, it's all so peaceful and relaxing."

"Honestly, I personally find the countryside to be anything but 'relaxing.'" Stoker cleared his throat. "I see it as barren, empty, and dead. Like how one might see a desert. Especially at night and there's not a human to be seen." as if on cue a wolf howled into the night. "I prefer the atmosphere of humans than mother nature." Stoker cleared his throat again before asking. "Oh, what exactly are you a doctor of?"

"Oh, well umm, everything really." The Doctor said sheepishly, "I'm a student of all sciences. I used to teach at Cambridge, but recently I've been travelling around a lot. I want to broaden my nieces mind you see. Expose her to new ideas and ways of thinking. And I feel maybe the British sun might bring some natural colour to her face."

Was the Doctor just inept or was he teasing her? He's just baiting you, bide your time and you can get back at him, just have patience and the moment will come. Despite that advice she rummaged in her brain for a good come back, but by the time she got it, the conversation had moved on and it wasn't worth the effort to say.

Since they had travelled together Raven was aware that the Doctor was bulletproof to insults aimed at himself, she didn't know how he did it. But he was protective when it came to the rules of time. A small smile appeared on her face. Oh, she was really going to annoy him with this.

"Have you read many books Mr. Stoker?" Raven asked in a lull in the conversation, "Any dealing with vampires?"

"No, I don't believe I have." Stoker said. "I read plenty while I was young. A mysterious illness you see, as a child robbed me of my energy. It's gone now, but I spent most of my childhood bed-ridden in my family home. But great old mother would always bring me books. If I couldn't run around like everyone else, then I would gorge my brain in literature." Stoker was derailing what she was trying to do, so she tried to refocus the conversation.

"Funny, I thought vampires were all the rage. Everywhere. Its a popular subject to write about."

"I can't say I have noticed, my dear."

Raven, what are you doing? The Doctor asked, panic rising in his communication and his face looked worried. She wasn't going to do anything to damage history, but just do subtle things that'll annoy the Doctor, and this was certainly annoying him.

"Really? Nothing about the undead who stalk the night in search of blood?" Raven asked, adopting a chill to her voice. "Doesn't the abbey look delightfully creepy in the night sky?"

Stoker looked like he was a little unnerved by her, and the Doctor just looked at her disapprovingly. He tried to gently kick her under the table, but a quick shield of black energy protected her.

"I say, your niece is a rather... unusual individual." Stoker said out loud.

"You don't know the half of it." The Doctor said, standing and taking Raven by the arm. "Could you excuse us, please?" and he forced her out of her chair and took her into reception.

"What are you trying to do? Force the Web of Time to unravel?"

"Stop patronising me." Raven shot back. The Doctor sighed and ruffled his hair.

"Look, I'm sorry." He was sorry? "But tonight is an important night for Stoker, he must be inspired to write Dracula."

"And I doubt we're helping by having dinner with him." Raven shot back.

The Doctor suddenly looked Raven up and down. "What?" Raven asked, the penny was in the air, and suddenly it dropped. "I'm not a Vampire!" she said.

"Yet he's going to describe a creature that looks most like you." the Doctor said, "I think you were his inspiration for the modern take on Vampires." The Doctor smiled as if this should be charming, it wasn't to her. "You've become a part of your own history."

"So your problem being?" She asked, and the Doctors mood turned again.

"What 'I' was doing is subtle, and I'm not talking about his future works. You're trying to force it. It's like taking a wrecking ball to try to carve out the statue of David."

"You dragged me into dinner with a famous author who isn't famous yet, I didn't ask for it." Raven shot back.

"If you have a problem with me, deal with me. Not the Web of Time!" He said sternly. "Do you really want to be known as the girl who ended the Universe? Because you could be, if you don't treat Time with care and respect."

Raven stared daggers at him, he'd pushed precisely the wrong button, the 'destiny button'. She'd now had all she could stomach of this arrogant Time Lord for one night, so she pushed past him and roughly shoved him with her power.

"Raven, where are you going?"

"Somewhere I can be away from you!" and she stormed out of the guest house, the Doctor calling after her.

"Raven, come back!"

The strangely dressed girl argued with the man and eventually she stormed out. The creature knew the art of divide and conquer, but in this case the quarry was already dividing itself. The girl walked across the street, down a set of steps and through a dark tunnel that led to the village.

The quarry is divided, now to conquer.

Raven stamped outside and was determined to go straight back to the TARDIS. She was angry, he had pushed the 'destiny button', he shouldn't have pressed the 'destiny button'. But even as she emerged into the cool night air, her temper began to simmer down.

You're being stupid. She told herself.

He insulted me. She argued back.

So? You insult him plenty of times before. Her mind told herself.

Yeah, but I'm trying not to, and he makes it difficult.

She stopped as she rounded a corner and saw the TARDIS. Raven leaned against the wall and took several deep breaths. She can't return to the hotel, she'd be admitting defeat and showing how immature she had been. Screw that! On the other hand, she didn't want to return to the TARDIS, because that too would be admitting defeat.

So she looked over at the lights that made up the old fishing village, and decided to go exploring instead. For extra protection she cast a cloak of perception around herself again. She'd heard of how dangerous the past could be, it was a different place so she needed to take precautions, especially at night. Even if she did meet some unfriendly locals, she could rip them out of reality as easily as snapping her fingers.

Raven walked towards some steps and descended them down into a small tunnel that took her to a set of stone steps which she used to descend into the village.

It was smoky, smelt of hot coals and had the faint odour of dead fish, which she hated. She ignored it as she descended into the back alleys of the town. It was dark, and mysterious and she liked it. It was kind of quiet, but through some pub windows she saw people drinking. She didn't know why, but she liked to observe people having a good time, though she'd never want to join in. Weird and creepy she knew, but that was how she felt. She watched as the people inside talked, toasted each other and fell around laughing at whatever had just been said. She just stared at the scene longingly, a frown creeping across her face as if she was looking at something she knew she couldn't have. She breathed in deeply and sighed before moving on.

Raven came to an opening and saw the ruined Abbey silhouetted against the night sky high above. It was darker than the dark clouds above. It kind of felt a little creepy to her, part of her told her to stay away, another part told her to run towards it. She didn't know how long she was staring at it for. Maybe a minute or two. She wasn't worried, no one could pay any attention to her and if there was any threat she could sense it coming miles away.

"Hello!"

Raven shrieked and fell backwards onto her backside as what looked like a boy appeared in front of her. The boy was maybe younger than she was by a year or two. He was wearing a flat cap, a white shirt with braces, tattered trousers and worn shoes.

"I didn't think I'd see a posh lass like you 'round 'ere." Raven took a few seconds to process this, the accent was quite thick but after some concentration the meaning came to her. She guessed "Posh" meant 'upper class' and "lass" meant 'girl'.

"You can see me?" Raven asked, looking around at everyone. They all appeared to be ignoring them.

"Yes, I can see ya.'" the boy said, "Names James Driftwood, at your service." He bowed to her in a gentlemanly fashion tipping his cap.

Ravens guard was immediately up. This person could see her, that made him something more than just human at least.

"You're wearing some really queer clothes aren't you?" James said. Raven guessed he meant 'weird'. So, he could see not only through her perception barrier but through her projection too? She got up and looked at this boy dead in the eye.

"Who are you?" She said, before altering the question to, "What are you?"

"Ey?" He asked, shrugging "I'm James, and I'm a fisherman. What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?"

He thinks I'm pretty? Some part of her mind squealed. Shut it, I'm not going through that again!

"I'm…" she hesitated "…exploring."

He looked her up and down again and seemed to be fixated on her form. "You're not one of those 'ladies of the night' are you?" Raven knew exactly what he was referring to.

"No, I'm not, and I warn you to keep your distance!" she said fixing him with a nasty stare.

"Oi, calm down love. Just that most lasses cover up from neck to toe, not displaying nowt." He explained.

"I'm not displaying anything, and my eyes are up here." Raven said, "If your eyes wander again, I'll rip them out."

"Oi, Oi, calm down, calm down." He said holding his hands up defensively, "I didn't mean nowt by it. You're just an unusual lassy, and you talk all funny, like."

Rolling her eyes Raven pushed past him and walked down the street to put some distance between her and him.

Suddenly he was in front of her again! And she fell back onto the ground in surprise. She didn't even sense it. In fact, she couldn't sense this boy at all. It was almost as if he wasn't there, yet he clearly was.

"Please, don't walk away like that. I don't mean nowt." James said apologetically reaching down to help her up. She refused his hand and got up by herself.

"Why can't I sense you? Why doesn't anyone here pay attention to you?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Because, my little flower." He smiled. "I am a 'child of the night'." His teeth were so white, unnaturally white for the time-period. She expected to see fangs, but none were present. You read too many books. She told herself. Suddenly the boy held something up for her to see, it was on a chain. It was her broach! How did he get that?! That broach meant a lot to her, and it also contained the TARDIS key.

"You'll be a dead child of the night, if you don't give me that back!" Raven threatened, charging herself up.

"Not really a threat to me, lass." The boy said. He turned heel and ran, Raven fast on his tail.

She conjured a wall of energy in front of him and… and… she couldn't believe it. He'd just leapt straight through it! She removed the barrier so she could carry on running.

He ran straight towards a wall and… he vanished through it. Raven held up her arms and caught herself on the wall before she went straight into it. It was a solid wall, but the boy, James had ran straight through it.

This was making a creepy sense to Raven as she conjured a portal to follow him through the wall.

Her threats to make him a 'Dead Child of the Night' were empty to him, because he was already dead.

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: The argument between the Doctor and Raven was a little difficult to write. The Doctor is usually quite playful with his companions at times, but Raven isn't one who appreciates playfulness. But I hoped it felt natural. I did want the Doctor to subtly mock Raven but without being too insulting.

I want Raven and the Doctor to have one of those relationships where they do get on each others nerves and do mock each other for their respected imperfections, but the relationship is respectful. A little like how the 8th Doctor was with Lucy Miller in the Big Finish audios, but on another level. This is also how Raven eventually develops her quick, dry wit.

I always got the sense Raven was one of those people who would rather sit and watch people interact rather than take part in it. Which is why she listens to the Doctor and Stokers conversation without chiming in because she wants to picking up on how to talk.

I was a tad unsure about whether I should've left in the bit where the Doctor suggests to Raven that Stoker's inspiration to re-write what Vampires were was based on Raven's appearance. I knew if I did, the Doctor would think it charming, Raven would think it insulting. But I wasn't sure if it jarred at all.

Stokers opinion on Irving and the countryside were actually his own opinions on the matter.

Hope you all liked the subtle hint at the Love-Hate relationship Raven is going to develop with a certain character in the TV show. ;)

I've tried to write James Driftwoods accent out, but I was unsure if the Fanfictionnet reader would pronounce any of it properly. I've found it'll always say 'read' as in 'reed', but never as 'red' when needed, if you understand my meaning. So how was it going to deal with a Yorkshire accent? Thankfully it seems to understand the word 'Nowt' which means nothing.

Since this is pre-Time War and with the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey still in working order it means that Time is a lot more inflexible than it is in the new series. At least, that's the sense I'm getting with the original series and the Big Finish audios. Which is why the tenth Doctor can drop hints to Shakespeare about what he's going to write, but the Sixth Doctor couldn't be explicit about the future to H.G. Wells.