Chapter 58
Nothing to Fear.
The mist made Raven feel very cold, and not for the first time she wished she'd picked out clothes practical to adventuring in instead of just practical to her meditations.
The place was quiet except for their footfalls, and Raven had the uneasy feeling they were being watched. They probably were.
The lie Raven had told rolled in her head.
I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid. She told herself.
She looked to the Doctor. But he did not look scared, he took things one step at a time.
Wait, why was Raven so concerned? She had powers to match the Mistresses! No matter what she threw at them Raven was sure she could protect them from it.
But after the first ten minutes of walking nothing had appeared at all.
Raven blew at the mist and watched the water vapour part. "What's she going to do? Vape us to death?" She asked dryly.
The Doctor didn't respond. He'd become as still as a statue.
"Doctor?" Raven asked, his hand was clamped down onto hers and she couldn't pull free. When she tried to make him let go she found... that the Doctor had turned to stone! He was just frozen in place while he looked up at something in the sky. "Doctor?!"
The mist began to part, red flames licking at what was approaching. Raven felt the intense heat as a large lava lake materialised in front of her. Out from this soup of molten rock rose a creature. A giant creature, with horns like a dears antlers, a face as red as Lucifer's, white hair, and it's eyes. It had four, glowing, red eyes.
The giant creature stood at an impressive height which made Raven and the Doctor like Lilliputians in its presence.
"The time has come, daughter of mine!" It said.
"No!" Raven looked up in horror and shook her head. "No!"
"It is time for The End." It pointed down at her and the Doctor. Raven stood in front of the frozen Time Lord. "Move aside, daughter." He wanted the Doctor!
"No! No! You can't have him!" Raven said to the monster. "The Doctor is mine. He's mine! Do you hear me?! You can have the rest of the universe, but I claim the Doctor! The Doctor belongs to me!"
She was stunned to silence as the Doctor statue shattered and all sense of life from him vanished.
"I grant you life after." The monster said, "That is enough generosity."
Raven shook at the loss of her friend. It can't be happening now! No! No!
Glowing runes appeared all over her body, across her arms, legs, torso and head.
"No! No! No!" She screamed, shaking her head.
"Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead." That was the Doctors voice! "Zagreus sees you in your bed."
"And eats you when you're sleeping!" Raven finished and focused her mind. Suddenly she was cold again. The monster vanished and Raven had hold of the Doctors hand very tightly. A moment passed before Raven realised it was an illusion.
"Raven, you can relax your grip now." and she did. She was terrified.
"What's the point of doing this?" Raven asked.
"I think she's playing with us." The Doctor said and proceeded to lead her further into the mist.
"Doctor, I didn't say anything did I?" Raven asked, feeling a little embarrassed. Her cheeks had gone red, but thankfully the Doctor was looking away from her.
"Nothing." The Doctor said, "Only you expressing the proprietorial view you have of our relationship."
"A what?" Raven asked. "Look, umm... I..."
"You were in the heat of a moment Raven." The Doctor said, "Pay it no mind."
Ravens cheeks went even redder with embarrassment.
"Just remember, it's only an illusion." The Doctor said. Thankfully he did not pry into what had frightened her so.
They walked for a while, every now and then the Doctor came to a stop like he was sensing something, and he squeezed her hand just a little tighter each time as if apprehensive. But nothing appeared.
A little while later something did appear. A silver man, followed by several other silver men. Seven-foot tall and with handlebars in their heads.
Cybermen!
"You will become like us, you will become like us, you will become like us!" They chanted.
"It doesn't exist, Raven." The Doctor insisted as Raven wanted to shrink away from the metal giants. "Say it. It doesn't exist!"
"You don't exist!" Raven said, and the Cybermen vanished.
Raven let out a long sigh of relief.
"That's your fear?" Raven asked, "Cybermen?"
"No, not anymore, not for a few centuries." He said, "Must've been one of yours again."
Raven didn't bother denying it. Those Cyborg Zombies creeped her out.
"Why did it manifest for you this time?" Raven asked.
"I'm not sure." The Doctor questioned, tugging her along.
"Why haven't we met many of your fears yet?" Raven asked.
"We have. I just ignore them." The Doctor said.
"Doctor, can these things hurt us?" Raven asked.
"I wouldn't like to find out. After all, whatever gets created in the Land of Fiction is just as deadly as the real thing. The same may apply here too." This disturbed Raven. That meant when she'd imagined her father, her father was actually, physically here in some way.
"Just do what I do." The Doctor said, "Focus and meditate. Zagreus sits inside your head,"
"Zagreus lives among the dead." Raven said out loud, then began reciting the rhyme under her breath.
"That's the spirit." The Doctor said. Suddenly he stopped and looked directly at her. He looked like he was reacting to something, but Raven couldn't think what. It was almost like he was listening to a conversation she couldn't hear. Eventually, the Doctors expression relaxed.
"What?" Raven asked.
"Nothing, just another illusion." The Doctor said.
"What illusion?" Raven asked.
"Come on, do I have to explain everything to you?" The Doctor snapped. Raven froze as the Doctor said this to her.
"Sorry I asked." Raven said with an attitude rolling her eyes.
"Don't give me that attitude either, Raven!" The Doctor snapped. Raven leaned away from the Doctors outburst.
"You forget who you're talking to." Raven warned, her eyes glowing.
"You really are your father, aren't you." The Doctor said. Raven's powers faltered for a second at the hurtful statement.
"I am nothing like my father!" Raven fumed back. "You said I'm nothing like my father."
"Yes, and I'm starting to think I was mistaken." The Doctor said, his now cold eyes drilling into her, "You react emotionally to everything, despite being calm, 'balanced and centered'. You murdered the Shaydes, you got Armstrong Killed, half of that ship got turned into Cybermen while you bungled around! You destroyed Maria and her vampires, you failed to save Kasey, and then there's what you did to Barriss! A great track record isn't it."
"I'm trying to be good!" Raven ripped her hand away from the Doctor as he looked at her darkly. "What do you want from me?"
"You're just like the Mistress! Excuses, excuses, excuses! 'My upbringing has so damaged me.' or 'I'm born to be evil but I'm trying to be good,' or 'I suffer, struggling with my inner darkness.'" The Doctor breathed, "A really good person wouldn't whine so much!"
Raven took a step away, the Doctor advanced. "Maybe you really are evil!" The Doctor said, his hands reaching out for her neck. "Maybe I should end it before it has a chance to flourish." Raven stepped away in horror at what the Doctor had become. He'd turned on her! He'd lost faith in her! He thought she was evil and he was treating her like the rest of the world did.
She'd lost her friend.
Avoiding the Doctors grasping hands Raven turned and came face to face with Armstrong! Half-Cyberman, half-human. "You killed me!" He said painfully through a voice that sounded strained and half robotic.
"I'm sorry!" Raven was so upset. She turned and saw the haunted face of Bram Stoker!
"The horror." His eyes stared blankly ahead, "The horror!"
"I'm sorry!" Raven shrieked and turned again, and her face went white. Kasey! Sad, little, tear-streaked Kasey. "You didn't save me."
"I'm sorry!" Raven shouted and tried to move back away from the smaller Time Lord and felt the Doctors hands grasp her throat!
"No magic that desensitises you to the deed, I kill with you, demon, with my bare hands!" and Raven's windpipe began to collapse and the Doctor just looked down upon her in rage and disgust.
She felt herself being shaken, her head lolled backwards and forwards when it should be held steady and Raven's mind came back into focus as the Doctor, holding her shoulders, shook her back to reality.
"Raven! Raven!" He shouted, "Wake up, it's an illusion."
"An illusion?" Raven asked as everything went back into place. The Doctor was looking at her kindly and concerned, not judgmental and cruel. She so wanted to reach forward and hug him, to feel secure. But as more of Raven awoke, she settled for packing her feelings back down into a sealed box and shutting the lid.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When she opened her eyes she was calm again.
"Are you alright? You looked like you couldn't breathe?" The Doctor said.
"I'm fine," Raven said, looking up into the Doctors kind eyes. "It was just an illusion." Raven took a deep breath again.
"What were you sorry about?" The Doctor asked.
"Nothing, let's carry on." And Raven took the lead rather than talk about what she'd experienced. She grabbed the Doctor by his wrist and yanked him along.
No more spectres jumped out at them for a while as Raven kept her emotions in check. There were a couple of things that almost manifested. She guessed they must be fears of the Doctor, because she didn't recognise half of them. The slimy face of the Valeyard, the Doctors destiny. Some kind of planet, ravaged by time with countless gravestones around. A strange kind of machine, dome-shaped, with a plunger sticking out of it and a glowing white eyestalk. Two lights flashed on its head and it swivelled around like a tank. Raven didn't know what it was, but despite its trash-can like appearance, it had an air of menace to it. Whatever it was it quickly vanished.
Suddenly, they both came to a stop as they reached a wall. Feeling around it they found two more walls had appeared either side of them, and one behind them. As they looked around they found the walls had contracted and were coming even closer together, trapping them in a confined space.
"Remember, nothing to fear, but fear itself." The Doctor said, right before the floor gave way and the pair fell a great distance down and into some slimy black liquid which swallowed them both up.
Raven panicked, she still could not swim, and now she had to put a fear of drowning into her list of fears. Suddenly her mind had visions. The Doctor dead in her arms, the TARDIS a crumbling shell around her. The world dead at her feet. Her father sitting on a throne in a sea of lava, the sky blackened. The pointing, accusing hands of the dead. "You did this." They called. "You did this." They thought she was a monster!
Control, control! The Doctor would want me to control myself. It's an illusion, just an illusion. Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos. She recited in her head and she kept reciting until her mind calmed down. It wasn't easy, but she managed to quieten her mind. It's just an illusion, an illusion. The Doctor is alive, and if the Doctor is alive then... well, if anyone could defeat her father then the Doctor was the man.
She opened her eyes in the dark liquid, and her mind was instantly asking where the Doctor was?
She saw him, he was floating lifeless near her. But the Doctor could swim, surely?
Using her powers she raced over to him, took him under his arms and together they shot towards the surface. Breaking it Raven took a thankful lungful of air and she lifted both herself and the Time Lord clear of the liquid.
He was limp in her arms, and his face was haunted. He was trembling. What was he seeing that was so disturbing to him? She helped him out by focusing her mind on his, and she sent calming waves into his brain. Typical, the Doctor knew what to do, but was no good at doing it himself. The Time Lord looked like he was in a slight daze now, but he was peaceful.
Raven was spooked and she nearly dropped the Doctor as a large black, block fell from the sky, skimming near them by inches. Raven looked up and saw several blocks falling. Quickly, she focused and hovered out of the way of them as they fell. The blocks were trying to knock them back into the liquid.
The Doctor suddenly came to and realised his feet were dangling in space. He grabbed onto Raven and wrapped his arms around her neck since she was the only thing keeping them suspended.
"Relax, Doc." She said quickly, "We're in a bit of a situation here." She said as she avoided another black block.
"Did I miss something?" The Doctor asked.
Casting a black disk beneath them Raven set the Doctor down, then stood on the disk herself and used it to navigate. The Doctor gripped onto her shoulders so he didn't fall off if she had to quickly navigate out of the way of a falling block or something as they moved.
"What is that?" The Doctor asked, looking down at the black liquid. Raven's dark disk was highlighting the white outlines of something reaching up at them.
As Raven looked down what she saw was creepy and nightmare-inducing. Slimy, black stained hands were reaching up like the living dead, clawing for the surface. Or in this case, clawing for them, and they were closer to the black sea than Raven liked.
A hand brushed past the Doctors leg and he lept back before it could grasp his trousers. Raven raised them further out of the reach of the grasping hands. But then something large and dark began to emerge from the sea. A monster of nightmares. It wasn't an octopus, but it had plenty of long wriggling tentacles, a big, round black body and a long stalk on which was a hate-filled eye.
"Call me Ishmael." The Doctor said.
It's tentacles reached for them, but Raven, though panicked, kept her cool enough to keep their platform in existence as she swerved and avoided its grasp. As she flew, she had the image in her head of many black tentacles reaching for her. Raven suddenly added tentacles to not her fear list, but just her 'creepy list'. The Doctor let go of her shoulders and nearly fell off the platform. Raven's powers clamped over the Doctors ankles so he didn't fall off.
Unfortunately, the strain of doing all this was too much for Raven and she didn't see the giant tentacle coming right at her, and it swatted both her and the Doctor off the platform. She had no idea how long they fell for, but Raven managed to cushion herself with her powers. But she didn't have the concentration to do the same for the Doctor as he landed sharply on solid ground.
Raven was up in an instant, ready to defend them. But the Doctor didn't get up.
She nudged him with her boot, then when he didn't respond she knelt down and shook him. He was unconscious! "Oh, perfect!" Raven spat sarcastically, her heart racing, and she just managed to conjure a shield before a tentacle crushed them underneath it.
They had to get out of here and fast.
They were on a beach of black sand. Not far was a cliff face and going up the cliff face, almost sheer, was a winding stairway that looped around from side to side across the cliff face. It was an escape, but there was no way she could drag the Doctor up there. She could fly, but she didn't have the concentration and the physical strength to carry his prone form up there now, she was too tired. If only she was more powerful, if only she was stronger.
Raven quickly came to a decision. She didn't want to do it, but it was the only thing she could think of to keep the Doctor safe.
When the creature broke off its attack Raven collapsed her shield. Knelt down next to the Doctor, supported his head and his legs from under him. She muttered her chimes and focused. Raven collapsed her hands together and the Doctors form vanished as she brought her hands together. When her palms met his form had collapsed and vanished. When her hands parted there was no trace of him. Raven felt the Doctor land in the safest place she could think of. Her mind.
The creature tried to attack again, but now with just herself to support Raven was up in the air and soaring towards the top of the cliff faster than the creature could reach for her. She was out of its reach and out of the mist before she knew it.
Somewhere in her mind, she felt the Doctor laying prone and unconscious. This was her most personal space. But she trusted the Doctor not to go snooping around. If he did, then she'd introduce him to the darker side of her mind.
Oh, who was she kidding? He'd probably be fascinated by it, not scared.
Rachel felt empty inside as she sat outside the Headmistresses office, battered and bruised but otherwise okay. Her hoodies hood was over her head so she could hide within its darkness.
Doctor Pertwee had seen to her injuries since the school nurse had gone home and both he, herself and her Dad had gone immediately to the Headmistresses office, catching her as she was about to leave. Rachel had never seen her Dads so furious, and the Headmistress didn't look happy about being approached just as she was about to go home. Upon seeing Rachel's state the Headmistress just shrugged and said, "She's a naughty girl, and a bully, she probably deserved it."
Even Rachel couldn't believe she'd said that!
Doctor Pertwee and her Dad refused to budge from her path and she had to turn back to sort this out.
Most of the raised voices from within the office came from Doctor Pertwee, her Dad's voice sounded upset but level, and the mistress's tone was just dismissive.
Rachel couldn't hear the conversation clearly, it was mostly muffled. But Rachel just stared ahead at the wall, totally dead inside.
Where was Garfield? Where was her friend? She wanted her friends. But they were gone, they'd turned against her. What happened to Garfield Rachel didn't know, but he wasn't here with her.
Rachel began to think of all those happy memories she'd had with her friends, now they felt tainted. They were darkened now, knowing where they'll end up.
Crying about it won't fix things. Said a voice in her head. Focus on the now, not the past. The past is the past, no matter if it's miserable, chaotic, or happy, don't focus on what came before. Focus on here and now, where you exist. That's what you can change.
It was good advice that her brain was giving her, but what future did she have with no friends? What was wrong with her that makes people turn against her without even talking to her about it? She'd prefered if she were called out, so she could potentially modify. Sure, there would be squabbles and arguments over it, but she'd think about it and take it onboard. But they didn't even give her that chance. They silently judged her, silently came to a conclusion and coldly left her.
Rachel didn't cry. She didn't have any more tears to give. People were just horrible, and childish, and utter monsters.
Speaking of monsters, into reception came Mister Vale, looking arrogant as ever as he strolled up to her.
"Good grief, what happened to you?" Did he sound concerned? Rachel didn't look away from that spot on the wall she was focusing on.
"What do you care?" Rachel said levelly and coldly like she'd expect Raven to speak.
"Have you been getting into fights?!" Mister Vale accused.
Rachel froze, she had no answer for that. Mister Vale had already assumed she was the bad guy. He'd probably think she deserved this beating too.
"You never showed up to your detention. That means you'll serve another weeks worth of after-school detentions." Mister Vale taunted. Rachel did not react. "You're a nasty piece of work. Your father is a nasty piece of work."
That got her attention and her eyes rolled to look up at Mister Vale. She didn't care about herself anymore, but she was going to draw the line at someone insulting her Dad. Her Dad was lovely, he Dad was nice.
"Don't you speak that way about my Dad." Rachel hissed.
"I don't mean your Dad, I meant your father." Rachel's expression became curious.
"It's the same thing." Rachel said.
"No, a Dad and a father can be two separate things." Mister Vale leaned in closer, "Just like you are."
He grabbed onto the lip of her hood and pulled it down sharply over her head and she vanished totally into darkness.
Funny, she didn't know her head could vanish so deeply into her hood.
Her head was suddenly snapped back as if gravity had decided to shift. She clenched her eyes as she felt her head fall back and she felt like her head was upside down while her body was the right way up. It felt weird.
When she opened her eyes she saw something which made her jaw drop, or from her heads perspective, rise up.
Before she could process what she had seen the hood was pulled back up over her head, gravity reasserted itself to the correct position and her head and face were revealed to Mister Vale.
He noticed the astonished look on her face. He smiled, satisfied.
"There are four walls." Mister Vale said, "One of them must break."
The door to the Headmistresses office was wrenched open and Rachels Dad came out.
"Come on, Rachel, we're going." Her Dad told her. Rachel had the inkling she'd just seen something weird, but oddly, it was as if the memory was evaporating away until she'd forgotten it entirely.
"You can't just pull her out of school, it's against the law!" The Headmistress said.
"I assure you," Doctor Pertwee began, "He has every right to, if he has concerns Miss Rachel is being abused."
"Don't be absurd." The Headmistress dismissed.
"If this happened the other way around," her Dad said suddenly turning on the Headmistress rather aggressively, "If the roles of Rachel and Dolores were reversed. What would you have done to Rachel?"
The Headmistress didn't speak. But she stood defiant. Her face looked like she knew which answer she'd like to give, but knew it wouldn't be well received. "Leave the school premises, before I call the police." She then looked smug, a look Rachel had never noticed her express before.
"The Police?!" Doctor Pertwee exclaimed.
"I feel threatened by this mans behaviour." The Headmistress smirked.
"You realise I won't back you up on this." Doctor Pertwee said, "Call the police, and I'll tell them the truth, and I'll tell everyone about your ridiculous behaviour."
"Dolores's father is the head of the police department." The Headmistress's smirk went even wider, "And he shares my passion about stamping out bullying. We shall see who is believed." She then turned to Rachels Dad, "And I believe her mother is also your boss." That was news to Rachel, and her Dads expression dropped. Then the Headmistress turned to Rachel. "Rachel is coming to school tomorrow, or there will be consequences for both of you."
Rachel swallowed, and looked away. She waited for Mister Vale to give her that sadistic, pleased expression. But Mister Vale had vanished! She never saw him leave.
"Now, that is an unbelievably childish attitude to take." Doctor Pertwee fumed.
"And you're fired." The Headmistress said casually. "I can't have people on my staff who stand in the way of my vision."
"You can't do that. It breaks all kinds of regulations." Doctor Pertwee said getting more irritated.
"I have the ear of someone who can make it happen, and she shares my passion too." The Headmistress's smirk became eviler.
"Rachel," Dad said, "We're leaving, and I don't care about the consequences." Her Dad turned to the Headmistress and said firmly, "My daughter is not coming back!" That knocked the Headmistress's confidence back, because her smug look vanished. Her eyes refocused on Rachel.
The drive home was quiet and sombre.
Rachel leaned her head against the cars door pillar and watched the world go past and she lamented at how quickly her world had fallen apart. One she felt was so secure, so permanent, and yet within a few short days it had all fallen apart, and she didn't know why. If it wasn't for her Mum and Dad she'd consider doing something dark.
But what hurt more was the idea that she did do something wrong, she didn't know it was wrong, nobody called her out on it, and instead just reacted. That's how her friends had just behaved as if they wanted an excuse to condemn her and destroy her, and they had won. Her confidence and spirit were utterly broken. Her friends had all betrayed her. Well, except for one of them.
Rachel slowly dug her phone out and sent a text to Garfield asking if he was okay after she was attacked.
Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds, and still no reply. So Rachel put her phone away.
It wasn't until late into the evening that Rachel got a reply.
-I'm in jail. He'd sent.
-Why? What did you do? Rachel asked.
-Dolores's father is the head of police. After the attack, he picked me up.
-What's the charge? Rachel sighed. What trouble did Garfield get himself into now?
-I don't know. Something to do with Maria. Rachel, they're talking about throwing the book at me. :(
-They can't throw the book at you if they've got no evidence.
-They don't care. They'll look bad if they let me walk.
-Garfield, what are you charged with?!
There was a long pause before Garfield answered.
-Dolores' said I assaulted her.
-But you were being held down! Rachel couldn't believe this. After a long pause more messages came.
-Maria's also saying I assaulted her too! Rachel, I promise I didn't. I just accidentally brushed up against her when we were in Mister Bins class!
-Garfield, they won't believe her. If it's true then why didn't she report it when it happened?!
-It's my word against Dolores and Maria's, and Dolores's father doesn't sound like he thinks his daughter and her friends could ever be a problem.
Again, Rachel couldn't believe this!
-What about Stella, Victor, Rich? Aren't they backing you up?
-They're saying they saw me do it.
This was beyond belief! Did the whole world hate her that much? Hate anyone who stood by her?
The next text was badly typed.
-Thy wnt to take me phon of me ttly.
And for the rest of the night Garfield didn't talk to her.
-Leave Garfield alone! Rachel sent to Stella. He did nothing wrong!
Stella's reply came rather quickly.
-Look, perhaps you should keep a low profile and hope all this will blow over. Maybe Dolores will ask you to be her friend again, and maybe you can make peace with her.
-Keep a low profile?! I've always kept a low profile. Dolores keeps coming to me! Rachel sent back, getting frustrated at this. It didn't sound like Stella at all. She was asking Rachel to kiss Dolores's ass. But Rachel wasn't so weak to give in. Dolores could jump off a cliff face for all she cared.
-I don't think I'm willing to be friends with someone who can't understand simple advice. Rachel did understand the advice, she was just aware of what it meant. It was advice to ass kiss an asshole, and Rachel was not willing to do that.
Rachel was formulating a reply to say just that when the text box vanished and a message came up indicating Stella had blocked Rachel's number. For gods sake, Rachel never knew Stella could be such a total, ignorant, ass-kissing bitch! A quick check showed the same with Victor and Richard. Both had said only one thing before blocking her.
-You shouldn't have made that picture. From Victor. But she never made that picture? Why wouldn't anyone believe her?!
-I can't be friends with someone who spreads awful rumours about people. From Richard. What awful rumours? She hardly ever spoke about Dolores outside of school. She was an irritation, just that. But Dolores wasn't central to her life! She just wanted Dolores to go away!
Rachel curled up on her bed. She'd had everything she'd always wanted, and it was destroyed all because of one narcissistic, arrogant, paranoid, stupid bitch! Rachel seethed under her bed. She so wanted to strangle that bitch and rip out her throat for what she'd done.
When her thoughts turned back to Garfield her anger turned to depression.
Garfield was now suffering greatly because he chose to stand with Rachel instead of against her. He could have just stepped aside, but he didn't. Now he was suffering the consequences.
People hate her, Rachel realised, and they hate her so much that anyone who defends her automatically becomes a target to be destroyed. She felt like her presence was a stain. That any who stood with her, or defended her became the target of her own enemies. She could understand why most would want to abandon her. But she never expected it of her friends, never, ever. She thought they would all be like Garfield and stand with her. The speech Richard made about standing with her and supporting her against Dolores's tyranny, those words and feelings she'd felt at the time felt hollow now.
Promises were made, support was given, but when it came down to it that trust was misplaced, and she was pushed under the bus, and it was all because of Dolores' s lies! What pressure would be needed to turn Garfield against her? Her own mother? Her Dad? Was trust always so easily broken? She couldn't trust anyone, anyone.
Tears began rolling down her cheeks.
She didn't want friends anymore, she hated them! She hated everyone! She hated the universe and everyone in it. The Universe could die for all she cared! All she wants now is to be left alone!
Break the wall, break the immersion. Said her mind suddenly. There are four walls, one must break.
Suddenly, a shudder went through her mind. Like it was trying to make her wake up. The tears stopped coming as something floated back up into her mind. Something she'd curiously seen, but had forgotten about just as quickly. The thing she saw in the hood of her hoodie when Mister Vale pulled it down over her head. How could she forget that?
She loosely crossed her arms looking down at the blue hoodie she wore, the one she always wore.
Rachel unzipped it so it was fully open, slipped it off and laid it flat on the ground so she could see the inside lining. It was so black, pitch black, and there was no shine from light catching the edges of the material.
Gently, she rested a hand on the hoodies interior and her hand sank down, down, and down, into the floorboards.
Rachel snatched her hand back, then moved the hoodie so she could look under it. There wasn't a hole there. So how did her hand disappear down below the floorboards?
Replacing her hoodie she again lowered her hand, and again it vanished down into a black abyss. Gently leaning forwards, Rachel slowly pitched herself into the void.
She felt her weight shift as the gravity acting on her torso decided it no longer wanted to be 'down' anymore, but aimed at where her feet were pointing. Which was weird, because her lower half told her down was into the floor.
Rachel straightened out her body and she sank completely into the black void within her hoodie. She stood up in the void and looked back, she could see her room as if she was looking up at it from the floor. But her sense of gravity told her the room had been tipped onto its side, but the bookcase, bed and wardrobe, all still sat perfectly where she'd left them like they were nailed to the floor.
That's when the void vanished and two large doors opened up. Beyond which was a massive chamber, filled with an assortment of objects which made the place look very homely. But what stood out were the shelves of books on one side, and in the middle was a hexagonal console of polished wood, standing atop a stand of cast iron. A blue glass column rose up out of the centre of the console and into a dirty, iron chamber with six girders sprouting from it which came down around the console like spiders legs.
She stepped over the threshold of the door, and she had to pinch herself so she knew she wasn't dreaming.
It was exactly how she'd imagined it, how she'd dreamt it up. This place was Raven's safe haven from all the troubles of the Universe.
This place was the TARDIS!
Her blue hoodie was the TARDIS!
And she was standing right in the middle of this fictional creation!
To Be Continued...
Authors notes: The ridiculous conversation the Mistress had with Doctor Pertwee and Rachels Dad was intentionally ridiculous. ;)
The big Monster which eventually chased Raven and the Doctor I've tried to make a mixture of fears I know both Raven and the Doctor have.
There is a reason the Mistress dropped the Doctor and Raven into that place. All shall be revealed soon. ;)
Some small edits might be made as I listen to this on the FFNet text reader.
Cheers