The shimmer in the air was getting stronger. The Doctor, crouched down now, was muttering something under his breath, but his words were lost in the growing hum of energy surrounding us. Rose, still standing close by, watched the Doctor with that same look of trust I'd seen earlier—like she knew he had everything under control.

I, on the other hand, felt like I was losing grip on the situation. My heart was pounding in my chest, and every instinct told me to run. But I couldn't. Not with these two people who had taken me in without a second thought. I couldn't leave them now.

"Doctor?" I called, my voice shaky, but loud enough to cut through the noise.

He glanced up, his eyes wide with excitement. "Yes, Camille? What is it?"

I swallowed hard. "What do you think is causing the anomaly? Is it—" I hesitated, unsure how to phrase it. "Is it dangerous?"

He straightened up, brushing his hands off and looking thoughtful. "That's the fun part. We don't know yet! But the fact that it's pulling you into it... it's a sign that this anomaly isn't random. It's connected to you somehow."

I blinked. "To me? But why me?"

"I'm still figuring that out," he said, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Time anomalies don't usually pick people at random. There's something about you, something in your timeline that's drawn it in."

My stomach dropped. "But how? I don't even know what's going on!"

Rose moved closer, her voice gentle. "It's a bit overwhelming, I know. But don't worry, Camille. The Doctor's right. There's something about you—some link. We'll find it. Together."

The Doctor turned back to the shimmer, completely absorbed in his work now. He was holding his sonic screwdriver, watching the way the shimmer flickered with the device's readings. It hummed softly, a high-pitched whine that seemed to sync with the pulsing energy in the air.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," the Doctor said, more to himself than to anyone else, "but this might be bigger than I expected."

"Bigger?" Rose asked, concern creeping into her voice.

The Doctor didn't answer right away, just continued his scanning. The shimmer flickered violently for a second, then seemed to stabilize, though it still pulsed like a heartbeat.

"It's coming from the future," the Doctor said, finally looking up from his device. "Far in the future. Someone—or something—is trying to interfere with time, and somehow you got caught in it."

I took a step forward, almost tripping over my own feet. "Wait, what? But I don't—how could I possibly be connected to the future? I'm just... just a girl from the twenty-first century."

Rose gave me a reassuring look. "You'd be surprised how often the universe likes to pick regular people for extraordinary things. Sometimes, it's just the right person in the right place at the wrong time. It's all part of the adventure."

I glanced at her, trying to process it all. The future. Time travel. The Doctor—who, for all his eccentricities, seemed like the kind of person who could pull this all together and somehow fix whatever was broken. But still… "What does this mean for me? Will I ever get back to my own time?"

The Doctor straightened up again, casting me a serious glance. "We'll get you home, Camille. But first, we need to figure out why you're involved in all this. Once we know what caused it, we can stop it—and that means solving whatever mystery is out there. If you're part of this anomaly, we need to find out why."

"But what if I can't help?" I asked, fear creeping into my voice. "What if I just—"

"You're already helping," Rose said, cutting me off with a smile. "You're here. That's what matters. And besides, we won't let anything bad happen to you."

The Doctor waved his hand dramatically. "No one ever gets left behind on my watch. And the future's not a place for fear. It's a place for discovery. Now, let's get moving!"

He turned and started walking towards a nearby tree line. Rose followed, glancing back at me and gesturing for me to join them.

"Wait," I said, my legs still feeling like they were made of stone. "Where are we going? What's next?"

Rose looked back over her shoulder, giving me a reassuring smile. "We're going to follow the anomaly. It should lead us to the source of it, and then we'll figure out how to stop it."

The Doctor was already well ahead, scanning the air with his sonic screwdriver. "We're not far. This anomaly's spreading. We've got to hurry, Camille!"

I glanced between them, and then something inside me clicked. I wasn't sure why I was so scared—I'd never done anything like this before, and I wasn't sure I had the courage—but I had to try. This was bigger than me, bigger than anything I'd ever known. And the Doctor was right: someone had dragged me into this mess. And now it was up to me to help fix it.

With a deep breath, I stepped forward, my feet moving before my brain had even fully processed it. I caught up with the Doctor and Rose, trying to stay calm.

As we walked, I looked up at the Doctor, who was talking animatedly about time distortions and the potential consequences of future interference. His words were filled with such enthusiasm and energy that I couldn't help but be drawn into it.

"Just stay close, Camille," he said, as if sensing my anxiety. "Everything's going to be all right. You'll see. It's all part of the plan."

I nodded, more to reassure myself than him. "Right. Part of the plan."

For the first time since this strange adventure began, I felt a flicker of hope. Whatever this was, whatever the future held, I wasn't in it alone. And maybe, just maybe, I'd find my place in all this chaos.

The Doctor's pace quickened, his steps precise and purposeful as he led us deeper into the trees. I stayed close behind, trying to keep up, but the ever-growing sense of urgency in the air was hard to ignore. Rose was right beside me, offering a small smile, but I could tell even she was feeling the pressure of the situation. The Doctor, however, was completely absorbed in the task at hand. His focus was unwavering, like he could already see the puzzle pieces fitting together in his mind.

"What do you think this anomaly is?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. My words seemed almost foolish in the grand scheme of things, but I had to ask. I needed to understand.

The Doctor stopped suddenly, causing both Rose and me to nearly bump into him. He turned, a spark of excitement in his eyes. "Ah, that's the thing! It's not just an ordinary time anomaly. It's... well, let's just say it's a glitch in the space-time continuum. But there's more to it than that."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Glitch? Like a software bug?"

"Exactly!" The Doctor's face lit up. "You see, the universe operates on a set of rules, right? Time and space behave in a certain way. But sometimes—just sometimes—something happens. A little hiccup, a blip. It's like when you're running a program on your computer and suddenly, something goes wrong. The glitch spreads, and you can't really track where it started. But you can trace the ripples it causes. And that's what we're doing now."

My brain was spinning with the Doctor's words, but his enthusiasm made me want to believe in it. It sounded like he knew what he was doing, and maybe that was enough for now.

"Wait a second." Rose's voice broke through the fog of confusion. "The anomaly... it's tied to Camille. That's what we've been trying to figure out."

The Doctor gave a quick nod. "Yes, exactly. It's all connected. And the reason Camille's involved—well, it could be because of some latent connection to the future, or it could be something more... personal."

I froze, my heart thudding in my chest. "Personal? How could it be personal?"

The Doctor glanced at me, his expression softening just slightly. "Sometimes, the universe picks people for a reason, Camille. Whether it's the way you were born, the way you live, or something entirely random. It's all part of the bigger picture. The trick is figuring out what that picture is. And sometimes, the people who are involved in the strange and wonderful things like this—well, they're not just bystanders. They're meant to be part of the story. Your story. The story of the universe."

I swallowed, trying to process his words. Everything about this felt too big, too overwhelming for me to comprehend. I wasn't anyone special. I was just a girl who'd stumbled into a world I didn't understand. But the Doctor's presence—his conviction—made me want to believe in something greater than myself.

Rose glanced up at the Doctor, then at me. "You don't have to be scared, Camille. The Doctor's been doing this a long time. He'll get us through it."

The Doctor started walking again, leading us toward a small clearing ahead. The energy around us felt like it was pulling us in, like the air itself was thick with anticipation. I couldn't help but feel that whatever we were about to find, it wasn't going to be a simple fix.

As we reached the edge of the clearing, I could see a strange, swirling light in the center of it. It flickered like a flame, only it wasn't a flame at all. It was something else—something beyond my understanding. The light was brighter now, its pulse almost rhythmic, like a heartbeat. The Doctor stopped a few feet away from it, scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. His brow furrowed as the device emitted a series of rapid beeps.

"This is it," he muttered under his breath. "This is where it started."

I hesitated, stepping forward only when Rose gave me a reassuring nod. The light was mesmerizing, but it felt wrong—like something was off. "What is it?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

The Doctor didn't answer right away. He was too focused on his readings, watching the way the anomaly moved. "It's... like a crack in time. But it's not just a tear—it's active. It's trying to pull things in."

Rose crossed her arms, looking at the glowing anomaly warily. "So what do we do?"

The Doctor glanced back at us, eyes sharp with purpose. "We stop it. But we need to figure out how it's linked to Camille. It's targeting her somehow. I just don't know why yet."

I felt my pulse quicken. "How am I connected to this thing? I mean, I didn't ask for any of this."

The Doctor smiled at me, but it was a sad, understanding smile. "You're here because you're part of the cosmic web, Camille. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control. But that doesn't mean you can't change them. The future's written in the stars, yes. But how it gets written, well, that's up to people like you."

His words were comforting in a way, but also terrifying. I felt small, like a single dot in a vast, chaotic universe. But as I watched the Doctor's hands hover over his sonic screwdriver, and as Rose stood beside me, I felt something shift inside me. Maybe I wasn't as helpless as I thought. Maybe this wasn't just about the anomaly—it was about understanding the connection, the reason why it chose me. And if I could figure that out, maybe I could help fix it.

The Doctor's voice broke through my thoughts. "All right, Camille, I need you to step forward. Get closer to the anomaly. I know it sounds crazy, but I think it's trying to communicate with you."

I hesitated again, my heart thudding painfully in my chest. But something in the Doctor's tone told me he knew what he was doing. Slowly, I stepped closer to the glowing, pulsing light. It hummed now, like the vibrations of a guitar string—deep and resonant.

"Don't worry," Rose said quietly beside me, her hand briefly touching my arm. "You're not alone in this."

The warmth of her touch steadied me. I took a deep breath, then moved a few more steps forward, my hand reaching out toward the light. The moment my fingers touched the edge of the glow, the entire space seemed to shift. The air grew thick with energy, and I could feel it crawling under my skin.

And then, as if the universe itself had decided to speak directly to me, I heard it. A voice, distant yet clear, calling out from the anomaly.

"Camille..."

I froze, my heart skipping a beat.