Prologue
Once upon a time, in the town of Ravenloch, there lived an old beggar woman in a wooden cottage. Every night, when the moon shone bright in the starlit sky, and the tawny owls hooted from the tree branches on which they were perched, the woman left the confines of her home and wandered into the wild forest that lurked ominously on the outskirts of the town. Sometimes she would be gone for only a few hours, and could be seen again the next morning sat on the stool just outside her doorway, running yarn through a spinning wheel while humming a delightful tune. Whereas, more often than not, she would disappear for days, weeks, and sometimes even months upon end into the depths of the darkened woods. And yet, when she returned, she would be sat on her stool once more, spinning her yarn and humming the same old tune - as if she had never even left.
The townsfolk often wondered what the strange woman did during her absences. Some speculated that she travelled to faraway lands that lay beyond the trees, while others suspected she was actually a witch who collected plants and herbs to be used for her many potions and magic spells. But no matter how much they wondered, no matter how much they gossiped and shared their stories, and no matter how many people tried to follow her into the forest, the reason for the woman’s disappearances remained a mystery. And after a while, the town grew bored of the guessing games; nobody seemed to care about who or what the woman was doing anymore. And so the woman was cast into the back of their minds, and was soon forgotten by many.
All except for one young girl.
The Mayor’s daughter had a curious and inquisitive soul. And she loved stories. If she wasn’t badgering her dad to read her a story before bedtime, she could be found sitting underneath the apple tree in her garden with her head buried in a book – and would not emerge again until her mother called her in for supper.
But above all else, the girl adored fairy-tales. And it was one evening that she overheard her parents talking in hushed tones about a strange, old witch who disappeared into the woods at night and was guarding a dark and terrible secret.
The girl was immediately intrigued by this tale. And she was determined to discover this great secret for herself.
So one darkened night, when the moon’s light was hidden by murky, grey clouds, and the tawny owls hooted ominously from the branches on which they were perched, the Mayor’s daughter made her way to the cottage and hid herself among the rose bushes in the garden. And there she began her watch.
The girl waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Until, finally, after what seemed like hours, she heard movement coming from the cottage, and saw the beggar woman making her away carefully out of the front door before venturing deep into the wild and twisted expanse of trees. The girl stayed in her hiding place for a few more minutes, just to make sure the woman was a safe distance in front of her. Then, when the coast was clear, made her way out of the bushes and followed the woman into the woods.
The Mayor’s daughter had barely made a few steps through the twisted path among the trees when the woman appeared in front of her, blocking her path. The girl let out a startled scream.
“Hush, girl,” the woman croaked, her voice was hoarse and rough.
The girl was silent at once.
“You’ve been watching Granny,” said the woman.
The girl remained silent, too scared to even speak.
“You didn’t think I could see. But Granny sees all. She hears all and knows all. You can’t fool Granny, oh no.”
“I-I’m sorry,” the girl stammered.
“You’re not. But it’s no matter. You can’t lie to Granny, my dear,” the woman chuckled, which then resulted in a hideous coughing fit. When she recovered, the woman stared at the girl curiously.
“Tell Granny what you want to know.”
The girl remained silent once more. She began shaking both from the cold and the fear.
“Cat got your tongue? Speak to Granny. She won’t bite.”
The girl gulped, then spoke in a soft voice.
“I…I wanted to know if the stories were true,” her voice grew quieter. “I w-wanted to know if you were really a witch.”
The woman started cackling, it was a horrible sound that echoed through the woods.
“Granny ain’t no witch, my dear. Oh no. Granny isn’t.”
The girl frowned.
“So…what do you do when you go into the forest?”
The woman smiled widely, revealing her rotting, crooked set of teeth.
“Yes. This is what you want to know. What they all want to know. Why Granny goes into the woods? What is Granny’s dark secret?”
The woman stepped closer to the Mayor’s daughter, who flinched and took a step back.
“I’ll tell the little girly, Granny will.” The beggar woman coughed, and began to sing a horrible out-of-tune melody.
“Deep in the heart of the darkened wood, there’s a secret to be told but never ever should. For in a crumbling castle lies a sleeping maiden fair, with lips red as rose and locks of auburn hair. And sleep she must do, for if the spell should ever break, a curse will unfold leaving chaos in its wake…”
The girl’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean?”
The woman tutted.
“Granny sings a simple song and girly doesn’t understand. Granny will spell it out, she will. Granny must. The girly must know.”
“Kn-know what?”
“Granny watches over a castle she does. And inside a pretty girly sleeps inside. All she does. Snore. Snore. Snore. She’s protecting the world, she is. Granny knows it. She must never wake. But Granny can see them, coming from the stars. Travellers from a faraway place. They’ll fall from the sky. And they’ll wake her up. Oh no, no, no. Bad people. They’ll wake her. They’ll bring a curse. Humans go sleepy-byes and then the world will fall to ashes and dust.”
The girl gasped.
“The end of days is coming girly. Granny can see it even now. They’re getting closer and closer.”
“But…but…what can we do?”
“Don’t let them wake her, girly. Don’t do it. No, no, no.”
“But who are they?” asked the girl.
The beggar woman grinned again.
“I know one name. Granny does. A lord of Time. Travelling in his blue box, a big world inside it.”
“What’s his name?” the girl said, now whispering.
“Granny knows his name. She does. Well one of them. He has many, many, many. But the name he uses, oh yes, the name he likes most of all, is the Doctor.”
The townsfolk often wondered what the strange woman did during her absences. Some speculated that she travelled to faraway lands that lay beyond the trees, while others suspected she was actually a witch who collected plants and herbs to be used for her many potions and magic spells. But no matter how much they wondered, no matter how much they gossiped and shared their stories, and no matter how many people tried to follow her into the forest, the reason for the woman’s disappearances remained a mystery. And after a while, the town grew bored of the guessing games; nobody seemed to care about who or what the woman was doing anymore. And so the woman was cast into the back of their minds, and was soon forgotten by many.
All except for one young girl.
The Mayor’s daughter had a curious and inquisitive soul. And she loved stories. If she wasn’t badgering her dad to read her a story before bedtime, she could be found sitting underneath the apple tree in her garden with her head buried in a book – and would not emerge again until her mother called her in for supper.
But above all else, the girl adored fairy-tales. And it was one evening that she overheard her parents talking in hushed tones about a strange, old witch who disappeared into the woods at night and was guarding a dark and terrible secret.
The girl was immediately intrigued by this tale. And she was determined to discover this great secret for herself.
So one darkened night, when the moon’s light was hidden by murky, grey clouds, and the tawny owls hooted ominously from the branches on which they were perched, the Mayor’s daughter made her way to the cottage and hid herself among the rose bushes in the garden. And there she began her watch.
The girl waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Until, finally, after what seemed like hours, she heard movement coming from the cottage, and saw the beggar woman making her away carefully out of the front door before venturing deep into the wild and twisted expanse of trees. The girl stayed in her hiding place for a few more minutes, just to make sure the woman was a safe distance in front of her. Then, when the coast was clear, made her way out of the bushes and followed the woman into the woods.
The Mayor’s daughter had barely made a few steps through the twisted path among the trees when the woman appeared in front of her, blocking her path. The girl let out a startled scream.
“Hush, girl,” the woman croaked, her voice was hoarse and rough.
The girl was silent at once.
“You’ve been watching Granny,” said the woman.
The girl remained silent, too scared to even speak.
“You didn’t think I could see. But Granny sees all. She hears all and knows all. You can’t fool Granny, oh no.”
“I-I’m sorry,” the girl stammered.
“You’re not. But it’s no matter. You can’t lie to Granny, my dear,” the woman chuckled, which then resulted in a hideous coughing fit. When she recovered, the woman stared at the girl curiously.
“Tell Granny what you want to know.”
The girl remained silent once more. She began shaking both from the cold and the fear.
“Cat got your tongue? Speak to Granny. She won’t bite.”
The girl gulped, then spoke in a soft voice.
“I…I wanted to know if the stories were true,” her voice grew quieter. “I w-wanted to know if you were really a witch.”
The woman started cackling, it was a horrible sound that echoed through the woods.
“Granny ain’t no witch, my dear. Oh no. Granny isn’t.”
The girl frowned.
“So…what do you do when you go into the forest?”
The woman smiled widely, revealing her rotting, crooked set of teeth.
“Yes. This is what you want to know. What they all want to know. Why Granny goes into the woods? What is Granny’s dark secret?”
The woman stepped closer to the Mayor’s daughter, who flinched and took a step back.
“I’ll tell the little girly, Granny will.” The beggar woman coughed, and began to sing a horrible out-of-tune melody.
“Deep in the heart of the darkened wood, there’s a secret to be told but never ever should. For in a crumbling castle lies a sleeping maiden fair, with lips red as rose and locks of auburn hair. And sleep she must do, for if the spell should ever break, a curse will unfold leaving chaos in its wake…”
The girl’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean?”
The woman tutted.
“Granny sings a simple song and girly doesn’t understand. Granny will spell it out, she will. Granny must. The girly must know.”
“Kn-know what?”
“Granny watches over a castle she does. And inside a pretty girly sleeps inside. All she does. Snore. Snore. Snore. She’s protecting the world, she is. Granny knows it. She must never wake. But Granny can see them, coming from the stars. Travellers from a faraway place. They’ll fall from the sky. And they’ll wake her up. Oh no, no, no. Bad people. They’ll wake her. They’ll bring a curse. Humans go sleepy-byes and then the world will fall to ashes and dust.”
The girl gasped.
“The end of days is coming girly. Granny can see it even now. They’re getting closer and closer.”
“But…but…what can we do?”
“Don’t let them wake her, girly. Don’t do it. No, no, no.”
“But who are they?” asked the girl.
The beggar woman grinned again.
“I know one name. Granny does. A lord of Time. Travelling in his blue box, a big world inside it.”
“What’s his name?” the girl said, now whispering.
“Granny knows his name. She does. Well one of them. He has many, many, many. But the name he uses, oh yes, the name he likes most of all, is the Doctor.”
The Eighth Doctor Adventures
Series 2 - Episode 8
A Castle Deep in the Woods
Written by Sam Rahaman
Autumn closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She held it for a few seconds, then she exhaled slowly and repeated the process.
She was sat, meditating, on the floor by the TARDIS console, with her legs crossed and the palms of her hands resting on her knees. Autumn loved the moments where she could be alone in the console room —no distractions from the Doctor or Tommy— just her thoughts to keep her company. It was a time where she could finally escape from the outside world, a time for reflection and contemplation.
It was a rare luxury, and one she seized at every opportunity.
Opening her eyes, Autumn reached down into her pocket and pulled out the strange device Tommy had given her a few days before. It was a strange little, green…thing. Tommy had called it an iPod – or something. He’d told her it could play music, and that some of the tracks might help with her relaxation.
She held it for a few seconds, then she exhaled slowly and repeated the process.
She was sat, meditating, on the floor by the TARDIS console, with her legs crossed and the palms of her hands resting on her knees. Autumn loved the moments where she could be alone in the console room —no distractions from the Doctor or Tommy— just her thoughts to keep her company. It was a time where she could finally escape from the outside world, a time for reflection and contemplation.
It was a rare luxury, and one she seized at every opportunity.
Opening her eyes, Autumn reached down into her pocket and pulled out the strange device Tommy had given her a few days before. It was a strange little, green…thing. Tommy had called it an iPod – or something. He’d told her it could play music, and that some of the tracks might help with her relaxation.
Autumn pressed the ‘play’ button, and almost immediately the music filled her ears and began vibrating throughout her entire body. It was hardly relaxing, but the beat was infectious. It seemed to be calling to her, almost willing her to get up and throw her arms up into the air and dance around the room wildly. But she contained herself. Instead, Autumn began bopping her head in time with the rhythm while tapping her hands on her legs, swaying her body from side to side.
The song finished, but Autumn pressed the back button so that the track played again.
After three listens of the track she’d already memorised the verses and the chorus, and on her fourth cranked the volume up to the maximum level and began singing at the top of her voice.
“I got this feeling on the summer day when you were gone. I crashed my car into the bridge, I watched, I let it burn. I threw your shit into a bag and pushed it down the stairs.
I crashed my car into the bridge. I don't care, I love it!”
Movement in the corner of Autumn’s eyes caught her attention.
She turned her head to her side and saw Tommy leaning against the TARDIS console, watching her with an amused expression. Autumn stopped the music. Then, slowly but gracefully, lifted herself up so she was standing upright; eye to eye with Tommy.
He was clearly trying hard to fight back a laugh.
“I, err- I didn’t know you were a fan of Icona Pop?”
Autumn coughed, regaining her composure, and then glared coolly at Tommy.
“I swear. If you ever tell anyone about this, I will personally locate and murder your entire family and send you a recording on YouTube.”
Tommy could no longer contain himself, and broke out into hysterical laughter.
Autumn glared at him, which only made Tommy laugh even more.
“I mean it, Tommy.”
Tommy tried to stop laughing but he couldn’t. And despite herself, Autumn found the corner of her mouth curling into a grin, too.
“How is he?” asked Autumn, hastily trying to change the subject.
At her question, Tommy finally ceased laughing and his face grew serious. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair; Autumn had noticed he did that a lot when anxious or worried. She liked his hair – it always seemed to reshape itself naturally, unlike hers which ended up all over the place after every adventure. That was probably a metaphor for something, she realised.
“Honestly? I…I don’t know. I mean, he says he’s fine. But he quite clearly isn’t. All through the day he keeps himself busy, doing his usual things, cracking jokes and fighting monsters. Then sometimes at night when I go to the kitchen to get something to eat, or can’t sleep, I see him, just… wandering around, like he doesn’t even know where he’s going, or standing in front of the console, staring furiously at that bloody code you stole off the Master.”
Autumn nodded. “The TARDIS will look after him,” she assured, “she’ll make sure he always finds his way back. The loss of Robin has hit him harder than he anticipated – harder than even I anticipated. And he’s blaming himself for a lot of what happened to her. There’s a part of him that wants to shut himself away, as he’s programmed to do, and a part of him that wants to carry on, make the most of his time with us, like he’s worried we’ve reached the end too.”
“Why would he think that?” questioned Tommy. “We’re young.”
“And have you ever looked back over his photo albums, seen him travelling with a group of pensioners?”
“What I mean is…” Tommy considered. “It’s not healthy. None of what happened is his fault, and there’s nothing other than coincidence to say that any of it’s going to happen again.”
Autumn ran her hands across the console absentmindedly, and then focused on Tommy.
“The Doctor doesn’t see it that way. If he hadn’t have agreed to let Robin and Chris come with us, she wouldn’t have lost the baby. She would have had the family she always wanted. She’d have been happy.”
Tommy shook his head.
“But she was happy, in the end. Yes, she lost her baby, but she came to terms with that. She has Chris. Together they can move on and rebuild their life. They have a chance for a fresh start. A new life.”
Autumn smiled sadly.
“But one the Doctor cannot be a part of.”
“If he feels like this family is coming to an end, do you think he might…” Tommy let that one hang in the air.
“What?”
“Go back?” Autumn’s eyes widened as she realised what Tommy was implying.
“To Gallifrey?”
The TARDIS lurched suddenly, throwing Autumn and Tommy onto the console floor, followed by a loud bang. The whole room began to shake violently as a beeping sound began emitting from the console screen.
Tommy reached over to Autumn and together they helped each other back onto their feet, gripping the console for support.
“What’s happening?!” shouted Tommy over the noise.
Autumn shook her head and reached for the console screen. She studied it carefully and her eyes began to widen.
“What?” asked Tommy. “What’s happening?”
“I…I think we’re being pulled across time.”
The TARDIS lurched once more. The cloister bells began ringing.
“It’s a summons.”
Autumn and Tommy turned to the direction of the voice. The Doctor was standing in one of the entrances to the console room. He was wearing his usual choice of garments, and, to Tommy’s surprise, was smiling widely at the pair of them.
The Doctor made his way over to the console and began hitting random buttons, and pulling at different levers.
“Doctor!” shouted Autumn, “Do you mind explaining what the hell is going on?”
The Doctor ignored her.
“Tommy, Autumn, you might want to hold on tight.”
“Why?” asked Tommy, although he was sure he was going to regret asking the question.
The Doctor beamed at him.
“Because I think we’re about to crash!”
***
The old beggar woman opened her eyes.
She was sat on a woodened stool in a large and luxurious bedchamber. Tapestries embroidered in gold and silver patterns adorned the walls, while suits of armour lined up in battle stances around the room, as if protecting the woman from an unknown danger, and a gigantic crystal chandelier was hanging proudly from the ceiling.
The woman lifted herself up off the stool, and slowly made her way over to the golden, eight poster bed, which was covered in silk sheets that were the colour of pure white. Lay on top of the sheets was a beautiful, young maiden, with flowing locks of auburn hair and lips the colour of rose. The girl was sleeping peacefully, with her arms placed one on top of the other over her chest, which was rising and falling slowly with each breath she took.
“The time is upon us,” said the woman, as she smoothed the quilt over with her wrinkled hands. “They have arrived. The end has come.”
***
The Doctor lifted himself out of the TARDIS, which was now lay on its side, and assessed the damage. Thankfully, the machine itself just had escaped with a few grazes and scratches – nothing major; they could easily be fixed.
He patted the TARDIS gently, which seemed to hum at his touch, and then glanced at his surroundings. It appeared they had crashed directly in front of a large forest. He turned in to the opposite direction, and in the distance he could just make out a town full of white bricked houses and cobbled streets, and a church spire rising into the sky.
Autumn and Tommy both appeared at the Doctor’s side, having made their way out of the wreckage.
“Well then,” said the Doctor, casting his arm out. “Here we are.”
“Where are we?” asked Tommy, adjusting his glasses that were now skewwhiff as a result of their heavy landing.
“No idea.” The Doctor replied, breaking out into a grin. “Exciting isn’t it?”
Tommy chose not to reply.
Autumn frowned.
“You said it was a summons? How did you know that?”
The Doctor was still gazing at the town, frowning deep in thought.
“I didn’t. And I still don’t”
“What?”
“It was an educated guess. I’d been receiving messages in the TARDIS a few days now. They needed my help with something. For what, I don’t know. I ignored them. Well, I guess they got a little impatient and brought us here themselves. How nice of them!”
Autumn rolled her eyes.
“And you didn’t think to inform us?”
“I was busy,” said the Doctor matter-of-factly.
“Doing what?”
The Doctor ignored her. He stepped forwards, still staring ahead, and muttered under his breath.
“Something’s not right…”
Tommy followed his gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
“The town,” said the Doctor. “Why is it so quiet?”
Tommy listened out carefully and realised the Doctor was right. A deathly silence filled the air, no sound could be heard from the town: no sounds of villagers shopping in the afternoon sun, no sounds of children playing in the streets – nothing.
Autumn pointed to the church spire, on which there was a clock.
“It’s midday. The bells should be ringing.”
Tommy noticed something in the distance, and felt a sinking feeling in the put of his stomach.
“Ah…”
Autumn glanced at him.
“What is it?”
“I know why it’s so silent,” said Tommy.
The Doctor looked at him, puzzled.
“You do?”
“It’s because there’s nobody there.”
“And how on earth do you know that?” asked Autumn.
Tommy pointed directly in front of them, the Doctor and Autumn following his gaze, and there they could see a huge crowd of people making their way towards them. As they came into view, Tommy could see that some were holding pitchforks and torches, all of them were yelling in their direction.
“They’re all coming after us,” said Tommy.
“Oh lovely!” the Doctor said, grinning to himself. “I do love a good mob. Shall we go see why they’re wanting to murder us?”
Autumn folded her arms and sighed.
“If we must.”
***
“I’m the Doctor!” said the Doctor, advancing on the mob, who continued to edge closer to him, barring their teeth and holding out their weapons of choice. “We’re pacifists!”
“We are not,” hissed Autumn, glaring at the Doctor.
“Believe me Autumn, it might be in our best interests right now.”
“I’m a pacifist,” added Tommy, and the area fell awkwardly silent. “If anyone’s interested…”
The townspeople turned in one smooth motion, cornering the TARDIS crew against a tree. Tommy tripped over the root and nearly fell over. They couldn’t go any further back.
“I fear we may be unfamiliar with your customs. Um…” the Doctor reached deep into his pocket. “A gift? Would you like a gift?”
Autumn rolled her eyes as the Doctor became tangled in his own attire. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She pulled a small pack of Custard Cream biscuits out of her own jacket pocket and tossed them to the leader of the crowd, who caught them, examining them strangely. Some of the other townspeople peered over his shoulder.
“You can eat them,” said Autumn. “When you’re trapped in a confined space, because your friend can’t even make a trip to a museum safe-“she gave the Doctor the evils “-these come in very handy.”
“You keep them in your pocket?” exclaimed Tommy. “We really need to get you some help…”
Surprisingly, some of the mob were beginning to lower their weapons, as if seeing conflict within the ambushed group was enough to assure them that they posed no threat.
“Who are you?” asked the Doctor, addressing the group. “And where is this? We’re travellers, you see-“
“It’s the curse!” cried a woman at the back of the mob. An elderly man put a comforting – perhaps protecting – arm around her.
“What curse?”
Some of the mob who had dropped their pitchforks raised them again. “You bear the curse!”
“Not as far as I’m aware,” replied the Doctor, raising his hands in a protective gesture, “though it would certainly explain that museum trip.”
“You know why you’ve come!” growled the bearded man at the front of the group. “You’ve come to wake the sleeping maiden, who’s hidden in the castle in the woods, to bring chaos upon us all!”
“Chaos!” added the young man next to him, purely for emphasis. Autumn waved her finger around her ear, sarcastically indicating to Tommy that the group were a bunch of nutters.
“Okay,” started the Doctor, charismatically. Autumn and Tommy were sure that by the end of the sentence, he would have won each and every individual in the mob over. “I was summoned, yes. I may even have been summoned for that purpose. But I assure you, I have no intention of bringing chaos upon you all, and if the person who summoned me wants me to do that, then they’ll be the one who has to deal with my wrath.”
The townspeople exchanged glances. Autumn suspected that they all secretly believed every word; but just as she was preparing for the obligatory “Why should we trust you?” moment, the man at the front of the group pushed the Doctor against the tree and held the pitchfork up to his neck.
“Hey!” yelled Tommy. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You’re next!” growled another man.
“We’ve been preparing for this and we don’t believe you.” The man stepped back, but not a sign of submission – more an indication that he was about to take a run-up. “You’re too late-“
“STOP!”
The mob froze and turned. A tall, grey-haired man with the traces of a sad smile across his face and a small scar across his left cheek addressed the gathering a few metres away. Autumn sensed the presence of an authority figure as the mob stopped paying attention to the TARDIS crew and started looking to each other.
“You will drop your weapons now,” ordered the man. The group obeyed, and he approached. Without even needing to be asked, the mob formed a clearing, which the man walked through, greeting the Doctor with a well-appreciated handshake. “I’m so sorry about all of this,” he murmured. “Welcome to Ravenloch. I’m the Mayor. Now let’s head back to the town – and I’ll explain as much as I can…”
***
“There was an old beggar woman. Called herself ‘Granny’… not that she ever spoke to anyone. Lived on the outskirts of the town, used to disappear all the time.”
Autumn analysed the Mayor’s office as he spoke. It had creaky wooden floorboards, and chairs that looked like they would fall apart if Autumn had sat on them after eating the biscuits. But it was homely – frayed pictures of his children lined the cabinet behind him; this was a man who spent his money on improving the lives of others, and found his comforts in familiarity. Or possibly, Autumn realised, it was just a town where everyone was poor.
“People began to make up stories,” continued the Mayor. “Outlandish stories. You know, why try to explain her disappearance in any ordinary way? People in this town like, er…” he smiled, speaking of his town as he might speak of one of his youngest children. “They like things that stop them being bored. Thing is, they end up scaring themselves with the stories they make up. Maybe they like that too. Better to be scared than to be bored.”
“Better to be anything than to be bored,” agreed Autumn.
“Anyway.” The Mayor sat down, resuming his story. “One night, my own daughter snuck out of the house, followed the woman into the woods. That’s what she told us, at least. She’s a right little fibber, our Annabel.” He gestured to one of the pictures; a small girl with a cheeky smile and blonde, curly hair, climbing up the same tree the TARDIS crew were threatened against earlier. “She said the old woman told her that a ‘sleeping maiden’ was hidden away in an ancient castle, and that by sleeping, she was helping to protect the world from a ‘terrible curse’.”
“What happens when the curse is broken?” enquired Tommy.
“The world will become ruin.”
Tommy scoffed. “That could mean anything. A series of violent earthquakes, an alien invasion, a Tory Prime Minister…”
“There was another prophecy,” added the Mayor. “At the end of days, travellers across the stars…” he glanced to the Doctor, who was now skimming through one of the Mayor’s books. “Travellers in a blue box…” The Doctor dropped the book and turned to the Mayor, suddenly interested.
“…would fall from the sky and wake the maiden. And that one of them…” he laughed, thinking to himself what an anti-climax the end was. “Would be called the Doctor.”
“What?”
The Doctor sat down opposite the Mayor, prompting Autumn and Tommy to also take a seat.
“I assure you,” said the Mayor. “I don’t believe any of the stories my daughter tells me – you should have heard the one about the fairy who said that the family would be cursed if we didn’t let her stay up an extra hour on weeknights.” He chuckled to himself, looking as he did to the picture of his daughter. Tommy wondered how much he resented work getting in the way of their family time. “But that’s just me. I might control what my townspeople do but I can’t control what they think, what they believe. They’re paranoid and suspicious folk, and they turned these stories into some sort of Gospel and decided to take matters into their own hands. They said they’d murder the strangers if ever they arrived.”
“Didn’t you try to persuade them out of it?” enquired the Doctor.
“I never expected the strangers to arrive. But I sense this time they really have… Doctor.” He let his inference sink in. “I can assure you, Doctor, and your, er… fellow travellers.” He looked awkwardly at Autumn and Tommy. “No harm will come to you. But I don’t know you got here, and if my townspeople are right about something, it’s that there’s something that ain’t right about that old woman. Maybe she’s behind it all. Maybe she’s planning something worse.” He leaned forward. “None of us really know anything about her at all.”
“Sleeping maidens,” remarked Tommy. “Batty old women. Old, quaint townspeople, and a Mayor struggling to keep control. It’s like we’ve been trapped in our very own fairy-tale.” The Doctor and the Mayor nodded, interested, but Tommy noticed Autumn, looking down at her lap, disinterested and perhaps just a little irritated. “What is it?”
“I hate fairy-tales,” she responded. “One thing children don’t deserve is false hope about happy endings.”
***
The beggar woman stood in a darkened chamber, located far below the castle. The only source of light came from her torchlight, which she carried in her hand, the flames of which made her eyes blaze menacingly.
“You know what needs to be done,” spoke a deep and guttural voice from deep within the shadows.
“Yes, yes. I knows it, I do,” replied the woman.
“Find her, the traveller’s friend. She is essential to our plans. We will enact our revenge upon the Time Lord, and he will feel our pain.”
“Yes, yes. He will. He’ll feel it,” the woman repeated
“Do not fail us,” said the voice.
The woman bent down and picked up a basket that lay beside her feet.
“I won’t, I won’t. I promise. I have something spectacular planned. Oh yes, yes.” The woman let out a sadistic giggle and bounced from one foot to the other in excitement.
“Then leave us. The Time Lord approaches. The final hour is almost upon us.”
“I will not let you down.”
As the woman exited the chamber she rummaged inside the basket and pulled out a gleaming, blood-red apple. She kissed it softly and caressed it with her wrinkled hands, and cackled to herself; her laughter echoing right the way through the castle and out into the woods that lay beyond the castle walls.
***
“Where are we going?” asked Autumn, as they left the town hall. The Doctor was striding; he seemed to have a direction in mind.
“Leaving, I hope,” said Tommy. “This can’t end well.”
The Doctor shook his head.
“I need to know what’s going on Tommy, we’re implicated.”
“Yes, and this whole thing has been set up for you as, I don’t know, some sort of trap-“
“Yes, it has. But why?”
“I agree,” added Autumn. “We should stay. It’s only just getting interesting.” They stopped by the TARDIS, clearly of two minds.
“Curiosity killed the cat,” remarked Tommy.
“Cats have nine lives,” re-joined Autumn.
“Time Lords have thirteen,” added the Doctor, almost competing. “Okay.” He clasped his hands together. “Plan. Tommy, we’ll venture into the woods and find the castle.”
“There isn’t a castle,” muttered Autumn, rolling her eyes.
“…which is why I’m taking Tommy. We’ll discover what’s really going on with open minds.” He poked Autumn’s forehead lightly. She looked back, unimpressed.
“I’ll keep watch of the cottage,” decided Autumn. The Doctor had fully expected her to make the decision herself. “I could adopt a Granny.”
***
The Doctor and Tommy made their way through the forest, the town now hidden behind a thick cover of trees. Tommy was reminded of his first encounter with the Doctor: the forest in the middle of London, protecting the TARDIS. How he had stumbled upon something so strange and random…
“Horses.”
Tommy snapped out of his trance and saw what the Doctor was talking about. Two horses, in the middle of the forest; both white and beautifully-groomed, waiting patiently for their arrival.
“Probably from the town,” said the Doctor.
“Or maybe put here for us. Some narrator,” suggested Tommy, “making sure we get all the tropes of a good old-fashioned fairy-tale. Let’s hope they don’t start subverting them by the time we get to the happy ending.”
“For someone so progressive and logical,” observed the Doctor, “you’re surprisingly superstitious about this. I didn’t think you were superstitious – you’re not even religious.”
“I don’t believe in God,” said Tommy, climbing up onto the first horse, “if that’s what you mean. I don’t believe in a being with those qualities, and I don’t believe in that mythical old creator guy everyone in this town and half the planet probably believes in. But after everything you’ve shown me, if you were to tell me that the universe I live in was the inadvertent creation of a cantankerous squid, I’d probably believe you. There’s weird stuff in this universe, and there are coincidences that can’t possibly be coincidences. Superstition when you’re travelling in the TARDIS is just called an open mind.”
The pair continued their journey through the forest on horseback, occasionally scratching their heads on low branches.
Tommy thought again to the forest in the middle of London; the airbag of a crashing TARDIS. He had felt drawn to it – there was a magical quality, a sense of the unknown, to the forest, and the closer he got to the TARDIS, the more he desired to know it. This forest was similar - in some respects. It felt magical again – a place where established laws could be broken. There was a sense of the unknown.
But that unknown repelled him. The closer he came to the castle, the less he wanted to know it. The magic of the forest felt dangerous – something which could be used against him.
In the distance, the castle beckoned. It was crumbling; decrepit. Bits had been chipped off the top, giving it the appearance of some sort of jagged rock, and the once-majestic archways had, through fallen bricks and eroded stones, developed the appearance of chasms, like the mouth of a grotesque beast. It was an architecture that needed no moat to ward off unwelcome visitors, nor gargoyles to convey an appearance of the monstrous.
“I feel drawn to it,” said the Doctor, taking Tommy aback. “The closer I get. Like something’s pulling me.”
“We should leave,” insisted Tommy. “Something in my gut is telling me that this isn’t right.”
The Doctor shook his head.
“There’s no choice, Tommy. We have to carry on.”
***
Autumn wished she’d given herself a more interesting task.
The Doctor and Tommy got to go off on a valiant quest to find a sleeping maiden hidden deep within a castle she was sure didn’t actually exist, while she had to wait for a doom mongering and, more than likely, psychopathic, old woman to show her face and question her.
Exciting stuff, Autumn thought to herself sarcastically.
But still, at least she had biscuits. And psychopaths were her forte anyway.
Not long after the Doctor and Tommy had made their way into the woods, Autumn had found herself a nice patch of grass just outside the beggar woman’s cottage and sat herself down in order to keep watch – but the woman was nowhere to be seen.
Minutes passed by like hours, and she was beginning to lose patience.
Autumn sighed deeply and reached into her pocket. She rummaged around for a second, and then pulled out a custard cream. She took a bite out of it and closed her eyes in satisfaction, savouring the taste. If only she had a cup of tea to go alongside it, then she’d be in heaven, Autumn thought to herself.
“Granny has tea.”
Autumn jumped at the voice and dropped the biscuit onto the grass. She turned around and saw a haggard looking woman towering over her. The woman wore a long, black cloak that was beginning to fray around the edges, with a hood that reached over her head; frizzed strands of thick, grey hair poked out of the sides. But what struck Autumn most about the woman’s appearance was that she only had one eye, which was a horrible, greenish-grey colour. Where her other eye should have been was just an empty socket.
Autumn fought down her sudden urge to retch.
“How did you…?” Autumn let the question hang in the air and drifted off into a suspicious silence.
“Granny knows everything, my dear. Oh yes she does,” replied the woman.
She beckoned to Autumn with her hands.
“Come. Come. Follow Granny inside, yes, yes. I has tea. Lots and lots of tea.”
Without waiting for a reply, the woman hobbled over to front door of her cottage, forced the door, and made her way inside.
Autumn slowly raised herself off the grass.
She knew she shouldn’t follow the woman. It was a textbook fairy-tale cliché: the woman was probably going to murder her or something, maybe drive a knife through her heart, or slip her some poison.
But even though Autumn knew she mustn’t, she felt a deep, burning desire to enter the cottage. She felt a compulsion to know who the woman was, where the woman came from, and what she was doing. And no matter how many times Autumn tried to rationalise the thoughts in her head, a voice in the back of her mind called out to her; almost as if it was egging her on.
Enter…
Without even realising it, Autumn began to move forwards. And within seconds she was at the front door. She reached out with her hand and grasped the ice-cold, metal handle and turned it slowly. Her heart began to beat a little faster.
Taking a deep breath, Autumn pushed the door open and made her way inside.
***
The Doctor and Tommy made their way through the ancient, crumbling, castle.
It was eerily quiet.
Their echoing footsteps were the only sounds to pierce through the silence.
Tommy wanted to say something to the Doctor. Perhaps urge, one last time, that they needed to go back, find the TARDIS, fly away and never return. But he remained silent. Tommy knew he wouldn’t be able to change the Doctor’s mind. Once the Doctor got invested in a mystery it was hard to pull him back out of it again.
A fatal flaw.
Tommy’s thoughts raced to the demigods he’d once read about and aspired to be in Greek myths: Heracles, Theseus, Perseus, so, so many…all great, noble heroes, undertaking valiant quests…most meeting a tragic end.
Tommy shook the thoughts out of his head. Now was really not the time for pessimism.
During their trek through the castle, the Doctor and Tommy passed large, 16th century styled bedchambers, a children’s nursery full of wooden toys, rocking horses, and dolls houses, a music room containing a large grand piano, and even a huge, magnificent ballroom that wouldn’t look out of place in a Disney film.
Every single room they passed was empty.
Tommy shivered.
Something about the place felt so…strange. It was almost dream-like, like it shouldn’t really exist. And yet, it did. Everything about it seemed impossible. But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be, they were really here.
The Doctor broke the silence, causing Tommy to jump a little.
“We’re getting closer…”
Tommy frowned.
“How do you know that? We’ve been walking for ages.”
The Doctor looked at Tommy curiously.
“Can’t you feel it?”
“Feel what?” Tommy urged. He really wasn’t liking this.
The Doctor spoke softly this time, almost as if he was in a trance.
“I don’t know…I just feel it. Something’s telling me I’m near, telling me that I should keep going.”
“You’re hearing voices inside your head and you suddenly think it’s a good idea to listen to them. Are you crazy?”
The Doctor ignored Tommy, and began walking again. Tommy rushed forwards to try and keep up.
“We should really go ba-”
The Doctor raised a hand, cutting Tommy off mid-sentence.
“It’s through here.”
The Doctor stopped outside a large, wooden door. He grasped the brass handle and turned it in a clockwise direction, then pushed the door open.
***
“So tell me, who exactly are you?”
Autumn was sat at a small wooden dining table, situated in the middle of the beggar woman’s kitchen. Pots and pans were scattered around the room, and battered, torn, recipe books were piled up on top of each other around the table.
The woman appeared to be guarding a basket containing random pieces of fruits rather protectively. And Autumn was sure she’d seen her caressing one of them. Perhaps she had a fetish, Autumn wondered with slight intrigue.
“I am Granny. Granny is me. Simple.”
The woman chuckled to herself.
“Quite,” replied Autumn, flashing a fake smile. “But we both know there’s more to it than that.”
The woman smiled crookedly.
“Why is old girly so suspicious of poor, innocent, old Granny?”
Autumn leaned forwards ever so slightly, resting her hands on the table.
“Because unlike my friends, I live in the real world. Castles deep within forests, sleeping maidens, curses to be broken…I know none of that really exists. They’re all lies, force-fed to children to mollycoddle and protect them from the real world. It takes more than bravery to defeat monsters, more than love to lift curses, and more than the universe is capable of to make way for a happy ending.”
“Old girly is so cynical.”
“Old girly has seen the truth for herself,” replied Autumn, bitterly.
“Oh yes. Granny knows. She does. You’ve seen so much. Lost so much.”
Autumn sat back in her chair.
“How could you possibly know anything about me?”
The woman smiled again and gazed at Autumn – as though she were reaching into deep into her soul.
“Granny has heard many things about you, Autumn Rivers.” Autumn hardened slightly at the sound of her full name, but the old woman continued. “Oh yes, yes, yes. Many things. I know you lost your family, friends, people. Oh yes, you lost people you loved, all those people, places, people, I know some of their names, up here. Shall we say some? Pandora, Mr Woodsworth… Mummy… Jamie.” Autumn tried to keep herself calm, but noticed that she had narrowed her eyes. The old woman continued. “You lost your home. So sad. So sad. Poor old girly didn’t deserve that.”
“Where have you heard this? Who have you spoken to?”
“Granny spoke to no one. No, no, no. Granny knows all, sees all, hears all. Granny is special. Yes she is.”
“You’re nuts.” Autumn stood up and made to leave, but all of a sudden she felt as if an invisible force was preventing her from moving.
“Granny knows everything about you, Autumn. Oh yes. She knows your dreams, all your desires. And your fears.”
Autumn looked at the woman, her heartbeat increasing slightly.
“My fears?”
“Oh yes. You are so strong. So brave. But you are a scared little thing, though you try and hide it well. Granny can see. And one thing has you scared most of all.”
Autumn remained silent. For once she could not speak a single word.
“Death,” said the woman, simply.
Autumn gripped the chair, and the woman smiled slightly.
“Yes. Granny sees. You run, run, run with impossible-blue-box-man, racing into the stars, going deeper into distant stars. But you know there’s one thing you cannot escape. Oh no. You try so hard, but old girly knows it cannot be done. The hands of death will grip you tight and squeeze, and squeeze, and squeeze until you fall. Splat. On the foor. Deaded. No more.”
An uncomfortable silence followed these words. Autumn hardly dared to breath, her heart was beating ten to the dozen.
“You lie,” said Autumn.
“Granny never lies,” the woman replied with a smile. “But Granny is nice. She likes old girly. And wants to give nice Autumn Rivers a gift.”
Autumn frowned.
“A gift?”
The woman nodded enthusiastically and pulled out a blood-red apple from her basket. It gleamed in the sunlight that shined bright through the open window. Autumn felt a compulsion to reach out and grab it. But she used all of her will and strength to stay where she was, rooted to the spot.
“An apple?” Autumn enquired.
“Oh no. Not just any apple. No, no. A magic apple.”
“There’s no such thing as magic.”
“This apple is unlike anything you have ever seen before, Autumn Rivers.”
Without even realising Autumn took a step forward.
“What does it do?”
“It grants wishes. Oh yes. To anyone who takes a bite. Munch, munch, munch.”
Autumn knew it was impossible. That what the old woman was saying couldn’t possibly be true. But still, somewhere, deep inside, she wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe that fairy-tales could come true. That a single bite could mean she lived forever.
No – Autumn shook her head. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
Why can’t it be real…
“Trust me my dear, just take a bite… one bite. And all your wishes, all of your deepest desires, will come true. That I can promise you. Yes, yes, yes.”
“You can’t grant immortality,” said Autumn, sensing that the old woman knew the wish.
“Granny can. Okay… Granny can’t grant anything. Granny’s apple can only do one thing for girly, whatever girly wants it to do, it can, but just one. It can be your live-forever apple. Old girly won’t always be happy, it won’t always be easy, and live-forever apple can’t bring back home and Jamie as well. But it will get rid of old girly’s fear. Forever.”
Autumn considered, studying the apple curiously.
“One time offer. Old girly turns around and the magic apple’s… pop…” the old woman stared out of the window. “Gone. No coming back. Time for old girly to take the apple while it can still be taken.”
Autumn reached out to take the apple, ignoring every single instinct she had which was telling her to throw the apple away, and run as far away from the woman as possible.
“Yes. That’s it girly. Take a bite. You know you must.”
“I must,” replied Autumn, her voice was almost dream-like.
Autumn took hold of the apple and slowly brought it to her mouth. She hesitated for a single second, then closed her eyes and wished.
I want to live forever.
She took a bite.
Almost at once the apple turned black as night, and melted in Autumn’s hands, like a pen that was leaking ink.
Autumn clutched her throat. It felt like it was burning. Her whole body was burning. She looked at her hands and saw black lines stretching throughout her body like veins. It was like a cancer spreading throughout her body.
The old beggar woman began laughing with glee as Autumn let out a hideous scream.
A single tear rolled down Autumn’s cheek. And with one final breath, she collapsed to the floor.
***
“Wait!” called Tommy. But it was too late. The Doctor had already made his way inside.
Just as Tommy was about to enter the room himself, the door was shut by an unknown force. He tried turning the handle but it wouldn’t budge, and no matter how hard Tommy pushed against the door it remained firmly shut.
Panicked, Tommy began pounding on the door with his fists.
“Doctor?! Doctor, what’s going on? Let me in. Open the door!”
But the Doctor couldn’t hear him.
The Doctor gazed around the room. It was a beautiful bedchamber fit for a Queen. He noticed that tapestries embroidered in gold and silver material, which bore the mark of a rose, decorated the walls, while suits of armour were lined up on either side of the room, protecting the eight-poster bed that was situated at the far end of the chamber.
And it was there the Doctor now looked.
A beautiful maiden was lay on the silk sheets, sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the goings on of the outside world. She wore a stunning blue gown that was decorated with silver jewels, and a golden tiara encrusted with glittering rubies rested on her forehead.
The Doctor fought an internal battle raging deep inside his mind.
One side of him, the rational side, was screaming to run away, to find Tommy and get out of the castle immediately. But he felt an ever growing compulsion to step forward, to reach out to the maiden and take her in his arms, the desire grew stronger with every second.
The Doctor stepped closer.
And closer.
And closer.
Within seconds he was at the maiden’s bedside.
He tried to pull back, but felt a push against his mind – it was willing him closer.
Kiss her…
The Doctor bent down slowly, so that he was metres away from the maiden’s own face. She looked even more radiant up close. The Doctor caressed her face, softly, with this hand and brushed his lips against hers.
Almost at once the ground beneath the Doctor’s feet began to shake, and the image of the castle slowly faded away. The castle walls became the interior of a space ship, the bedchamber revealing itself as a control room; filled with dozens of monitors and flashing control panels. The maiden became a hologram image, and then disappeared in an instant.
Chains shot up from the ground and locked around the Doctor’s feet, preventing his escape. No matter how hard he tried to pull against them he could not break free. Cloaked figures began walking towards him, their cackles echoing around the control room. One of them held Tommy, who was bound and gagged and looked severely beaten.
The Doctor fell to his knees.
Tommy was right – he’d been right all along. This whole scenario was designed specifically for the Doctor; one that the Doctor would not have been able to resist. This was a trap. And the Doctor had walked right into it.
“Wh-who are you?” the Doctor asked finally, his voice no longer held the same air of confidence and surety that it usually did. For once he sounded defeated.
The figures laughed collectively, then one stepped forward – the Doctor presumed he was their leader. The lead figure spoke with a deep, guttural voice, and an air of triumph.
“We are the bringers of death. Welcome, Time Lord, to the end of all things.”
The song finished, but Autumn pressed the back button so that the track played again.
After three listens of the track she’d already memorised the verses and the chorus, and on her fourth cranked the volume up to the maximum level and began singing at the top of her voice.
“I got this feeling on the summer day when you were gone. I crashed my car into the bridge, I watched, I let it burn. I threw your shit into a bag and pushed it down the stairs.
I crashed my car into the bridge. I don't care, I love it!”
Movement in the corner of Autumn’s eyes caught her attention.
She turned her head to her side and saw Tommy leaning against the TARDIS console, watching her with an amused expression. Autumn stopped the music. Then, slowly but gracefully, lifted herself up so she was standing upright; eye to eye with Tommy.
He was clearly trying hard to fight back a laugh.
“I, err- I didn’t know you were a fan of Icona Pop?”
Autumn coughed, regaining her composure, and then glared coolly at Tommy.
“I swear. If you ever tell anyone about this, I will personally locate and murder your entire family and send you a recording on YouTube.”
Tommy could no longer contain himself, and broke out into hysterical laughter.
Autumn glared at him, which only made Tommy laugh even more.
“I mean it, Tommy.”
Tommy tried to stop laughing but he couldn’t. And despite herself, Autumn found the corner of her mouth curling into a grin, too.
“How is he?” asked Autumn, hastily trying to change the subject.
At her question, Tommy finally ceased laughing and his face grew serious. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair; Autumn had noticed he did that a lot when anxious or worried. She liked his hair – it always seemed to reshape itself naturally, unlike hers which ended up all over the place after every adventure. That was probably a metaphor for something, she realised.
“Honestly? I…I don’t know. I mean, he says he’s fine. But he quite clearly isn’t. All through the day he keeps himself busy, doing his usual things, cracking jokes and fighting monsters. Then sometimes at night when I go to the kitchen to get something to eat, or can’t sleep, I see him, just… wandering around, like he doesn’t even know where he’s going, or standing in front of the console, staring furiously at that bloody code you stole off the Master.”
Autumn nodded. “The TARDIS will look after him,” she assured, “she’ll make sure he always finds his way back. The loss of Robin has hit him harder than he anticipated – harder than even I anticipated. And he’s blaming himself for a lot of what happened to her. There’s a part of him that wants to shut himself away, as he’s programmed to do, and a part of him that wants to carry on, make the most of his time with us, like he’s worried we’ve reached the end too.”
“Why would he think that?” questioned Tommy. “We’re young.”
“And have you ever looked back over his photo albums, seen him travelling with a group of pensioners?”
“What I mean is…” Tommy considered. “It’s not healthy. None of what happened is his fault, and there’s nothing other than coincidence to say that any of it’s going to happen again.”
Autumn ran her hands across the console absentmindedly, and then focused on Tommy.
“The Doctor doesn’t see it that way. If he hadn’t have agreed to let Robin and Chris come with us, she wouldn’t have lost the baby. She would have had the family she always wanted. She’d have been happy.”
Tommy shook his head.
“But she was happy, in the end. Yes, she lost her baby, but she came to terms with that. She has Chris. Together they can move on and rebuild their life. They have a chance for a fresh start. A new life.”
Autumn smiled sadly.
“But one the Doctor cannot be a part of.”
“If he feels like this family is coming to an end, do you think he might…” Tommy let that one hang in the air.
“What?”
“Go back?” Autumn’s eyes widened as she realised what Tommy was implying.
“To Gallifrey?”
The TARDIS lurched suddenly, throwing Autumn and Tommy onto the console floor, followed by a loud bang. The whole room began to shake violently as a beeping sound began emitting from the console screen.
Tommy reached over to Autumn and together they helped each other back onto their feet, gripping the console for support.
“What’s happening?!” shouted Tommy over the noise.
Autumn shook her head and reached for the console screen. She studied it carefully and her eyes began to widen.
“What?” asked Tommy. “What’s happening?”
“I…I think we’re being pulled across time.”
The TARDIS lurched once more. The cloister bells began ringing.
“It’s a summons.”
Autumn and Tommy turned to the direction of the voice. The Doctor was standing in one of the entrances to the console room. He was wearing his usual choice of garments, and, to Tommy’s surprise, was smiling widely at the pair of them.
The Doctor made his way over to the console and began hitting random buttons, and pulling at different levers.
“Doctor!” shouted Autumn, “Do you mind explaining what the hell is going on?”
The Doctor ignored her.
“Tommy, Autumn, you might want to hold on tight.”
“Why?” asked Tommy, although he was sure he was going to regret asking the question.
The Doctor beamed at him.
“Because I think we’re about to crash!”
***
The old beggar woman opened her eyes.
She was sat on a woodened stool in a large and luxurious bedchamber. Tapestries embroidered in gold and silver patterns adorned the walls, while suits of armour lined up in battle stances around the room, as if protecting the woman from an unknown danger, and a gigantic crystal chandelier was hanging proudly from the ceiling.
The woman lifted herself up off the stool, and slowly made her way over to the golden, eight poster bed, which was covered in silk sheets that were the colour of pure white. Lay on top of the sheets was a beautiful, young maiden, with flowing locks of auburn hair and lips the colour of rose. The girl was sleeping peacefully, with her arms placed one on top of the other over her chest, which was rising and falling slowly with each breath she took.
“The time is upon us,” said the woman, as she smoothed the quilt over with her wrinkled hands. “They have arrived. The end has come.”
***
The Doctor lifted himself out of the TARDIS, which was now lay on its side, and assessed the damage. Thankfully, the machine itself just had escaped with a few grazes and scratches – nothing major; they could easily be fixed.
He patted the TARDIS gently, which seemed to hum at his touch, and then glanced at his surroundings. It appeared they had crashed directly in front of a large forest. He turned in to the opposite direction, and in the distance he could just make out a town full of white bricked houses and cobbled streets, and a church spire rising into the sky.
Autumn and Tommy both appeared at the Doctor’s side, having made their way out of the wreckage.
“Well then,” said the Doctor, casting his arm out. “Here we are.”
“Where are we?” asked Tommy, adjusting his glasses that were now skewwhiff as a result of their heavy landing.
“No idea.” The Doctor replied, breaking out into a grin. “Exciting isn’t it?”
Tommy chose not to reply.
Autumn frowned.
“You said it was a summons? How did you know that?”
The Doctor was still gazing at the town, frowning deep in thought.
“I didn’t. And I still don’t”
“What?”
“It was an educated guess. I’d been receiving messages in the TARDIS a few days now. They needed my help with something. For what, I don’t know. I ignored them. Well, I guess they got a little impatient and brought us here themselves. How nice of them!”
Autumn rolled her eyes.
“And you didn’t think to inform us?”
“I was busy,” said the Doctor matter-of-factly.
“Doing what?”
The Doctor ignored her. He stepped forwards, still staring ahead, and muttered under his breath.
“Something’s not right…”
Tommy followed his gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
“The town,” said the Doctor. “Why is it so quiet?”
Tommy listened out carefully and realised the Doctor was right. A deathly silence filled the air, no sound could be heard from the town: no sounds of villagers shopping in the afternoon sun, no sounds of children playing in the streets – nothing.
Autumn pointed to the church spire, on which there was a clock.
“It’s midday. The bells should be ringing.”
Tommy noticed something in the distance, and felt a sinking feeling in the put of his stomach.
“Ah…”
Autumn glanced at him.
“What is it?”
“I know why it’s so silent,” said Tommy.
The Doctor looked at him, puzzled.
“You do?”
“It’s because there’s nobody there.”
“And how on earth do you know that?” asked Autumn.
Tommy pointed directly in front of them, the Doctor and Autumn following his gaze, and there they could see a huge crowd of people making their way towards them. As they came into view, Tommy could see that some were holding pitchforks and torches, all of them were yelling in their direction.
“They’re all coming after us,” said Tommy.
“Oh lovely!” the Doctor said, grinning to himself. “I do love a good mob. Shall we go see why they’re wanting to murder us?”
Autumn folded her arms and sighed.
“If we must.”
***
“I’m the Doctor!” said the Doctor, advancing on the mob, who continued to edge closer to him, barring their teeth and holding out their weapons of choice. “We’re pacifists!”
“We are not,” hissed Autumn, glaring at the Doctor.
“Believe me Autumn, it might be in our best interests right now.”
“I’m a pacifist,” added Tommy, and the area fell awkwardly silent. “If anyone’s interested…”
The townspeople turned in one smooth motion, cornering the TARDIS crew against a tree. Tommy tripped over the root and nearly fell over. They couldn’t go any further back.
“I fear we may be unfamiliar with your customs. Um…” the Doctor reached deep into his pocket. “A gift? Would you like a gift?”
Autumn rolled her eyes as the Doctor became tangled in his own attire. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She pulled a small pack of Custard Cream biscuits out of her own jacket pocket and tossed them to the leader of the crowd, who caught them, examining them strangely. Some of the other townspeople peered over his shoulder.
“You can eat them,” said Autumn. “When you’re trapped in a confined space, because your friend can’t even make a trip to a museum safe-“she gave the Doctor the evils “-these come in very handy.”
“You keep them in your pocket?” exclaimed Tommy. “We really need to get you some help…”
Surprisingly, some of the mob were beginning to lower their weapons, as if seeing conflict within the ambushed group was enough to assure them that they posed no threat.
“Who are you?” asked the Doctor, addressing the group. “And where is this? We’re travellers, you see-“
“It’s the curse!” cried a woman at the back of the mob. An elderly man put a comforting – perhaps protecting – arm around her.
“What curse?”
Some of the mob who had dropped their pitchforks raised them again. “You bear the curse!”
“Not as far as I’m aware,” replied the Doctor, raising his hands in a protective gesture, “though it would certainly explain that museum trip.”
“You know why you’ve come!” growled the bearded man at the front of the group. “You’ve come to wake the sleeping maiden, who’s hidden in the castle in the woods, to bring chaos upon us all!”
“Chaos!” added the young man next to him, purely for emphasis. Autumn waved her finger around her ear, sarcastically indicating to Tommy that the group were a bunch of nutters.
“Okay,” started the Doctor, charismatically. Autumn and Tommy were sure that by the end of the sentence, he would have won each and every individual in the mob over. “I was summoned, yes. I may even have been summoned for that purpose. But I assure you, I have no intention of bringing chaos upon you all, and if the person who summoned me wants me to do that, then they’ll be the one who has to deal with my wrath.”
The townspeople exchanged glances. Autumn suspected that they all secretly believed every word; but just as she was preparing for the obligatory “Why should we trust you?” moment, the man at the front of the group pushed the Doctor against the tree and held the pitchfork up to his neck.
“Hey!” yelled Tommy. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You’re next!” growled another man.
“We’ve been preparing for this and we don’t believe you.” The man stepped back, but not a sign of submission – more an indication that he was about to take a run-up. “You’re too late-“
“STOP!”
The mob froze and turned. A tall, grey-haired man with the traces of a sad smile across his face and a small scar across his left cheek addressed the gathering a few metres away. Autumn sensed the presence of an authority figure as the mob stopped paying attention to the TARDIS crew and started looking to each other.
“You will drop your weapons now,” ordered the man. The group obeyed, and he approached. Without even needing to be asked, the mob formed a clearing, which the man walked through, greeting the Doctor with a well-appreciated handshake. “I’m so sorry about all of this,” he murmured. “Welcome to Ravenloch. I’m the Mayor. Now let’s head back to the town – and I’ll explain as much as I can…”
***
“There was an old beggar woman. Called herself ‘Granny’… not that she ever spoke to anyone. Lived on the outskirts of the town, used to disappear all the time.”
Autumn analysed the Mayor’s office as he spoke. It had creaky wooden floorboards, and chairs that looked like they would fall apart if Autumn had sat on them after eating the biscuits. But it was homely – frayed pictures of his children lined the cabinet behind him; this was a man who spent his money on improving the lives of others, and found his comforts in familiarity. Or possibly, Autumn realised, it was just a town where everyone was poor.
“People began to make up stories,” continued the Mayor. “Outlandish stories. You know, why try to explain her disappearance in any ordinary way? People in this town like, er…” he smiled, speaking of his town as he might speak of one of his youngest children. “They like things that stop them being bored. Thing is, they end up scaring themselves with the stories they make up. Maybe they like that too. Better to be scared than to be bored.”
“Better to be anything than to be bored,” agreed Autumn.
“Anyway.” The Mayor sat down, resuming his story. “One night, my own daughter snuck out of the house, followed the woman into the woods. That’s what she told us, at least. She’s a right little fibber, our Annabel.” He gestured to one of the pictures; a small girl with a cheeky smile and blonde, curly hair, climbing up the same tree the TARDIS crew were threatened against earlier. “She said the old woman told her that a ‘sleeping maiden’ was hidden away in an ancient castle, and that by sleeping, she was helping to protect the world from a ‘terrible curse’.”
“What happens when the curse is broken?” enquired Tommy.
“The world will become ruin.”
Tommy scoffed. “That could mean anything. A series of violent earthquakes, an alien invasion, a Tory Prime Minister…”
“There was another prophecy,” added the Mayor. “At the end of days, travellers across the stars…” he glanced to the Doctor, who was now skimming through one of the Mayor’s books. “Travellers in a blue box…” The Doctor dropped the book and turned to the Mayor, suddenly interested.
“…would fall from the sky and wake the maiden. And that one of them…” he laughed, thinking to himself what an anti-climax the end was. “Would be called the Doctor.”
“What?”
The Doctor sat down opposite the Mayor, prompting Autumn and Tommy to also take a seat.
“I assure you,” said the Mayor. “I don’t believe any of the stories my daughter tells me – you should have heard the one about the fairy who said that the family would be cursed if we didn’t let her stay up an extra hour on weeknights.” He chuckled to himself, looking as he did to the picture of his daughter. Tommy wondered how much he resented work getting in the way of their family time. “But that’s just me. I might control what my townspeople do but I can’t control what they think, what they believe. They’re paranoid and suspicious folk, and they turned these stories into some sort of Gospel and decided to take matters into their own hands. They said they’d murder the strangers if ever they arrived.”
“Didn’t you try to persuade them out of it?” enquired the Doctor.
“I never expected the strangers to arrive. But I sense this time they really have… Doctor.” He let his inference sink in. “I can assure you, Doctor, and your, er… fellow travellers.” He looked awkwardly at Autumn and Tommy. “No harm will come to you. But I don’t know you got here, and if my townspeople are right about something, it’s that there’s something that ain’t right about that old woman. Maybe she’s behind it all. Maybe she’s planning something worse.” He leaned forward. “None of us really know anything about her at all.”
“Sleeping maidens,” remarked Tommy. “Batty old women. Old, quaint townspeople, and a Mayor struggling to keep control. It’s like we’ve been trapped in our very own fairy-tale.” The Doctor and the Mayor nodded, interested, but Tommy noticed Autumn, looking down at her lap, disinterested and perhaps just a little irritated. “What is it?”
“I hate fairy-tales,” she responded. “One thing children don’t deserve is false hope about happy endings.”
***
The beggar woman stood in a darkened chamber, located far below the castle. The only source of light came from her torchlight, which she carried in her hand, the flames of which made her eyes blaze menacingly.
“You know what needs to be done,” spoke a deep and guttural voice from deep within the shadows.
“Yes, yes. I knows it, I do,” replied the woman.
“Find her, the traveller’s friend. She is essential to our plans. We will enact our revenge upon the Time Lord, and he will feel our pain.”
“Yes, yes. He will. He’ll feel it,” the woman repeated
“Do not fail us,” said the voice.
The woman bent down and picked up a basket that lay beside her feet.
“I won’t, I won’t. I promise. I have something spectacular planned. Oh yes, yes.” The woman let out a sadistic giggle and bounced from one foot to the other in excitement.
“Then leave us. The Time Lord approaches. The final hour is almost upon us.”
“I will not let you down.”
As the woman exited the chamber she rummaged inside the basket and pulled out a gleaming, blood-red apple. She kissed it softly and caressed it with her wrinkled hands, and cackled to herself; her laughter echoing right the way through the castle and out into the woods that lay beyond the castle walls.
***
“Where are we going?” asked Autumn, as they left the town hall. The Doctor was striding; he seemed to have a direction in mind.
“Leaving, I hope,” said Tommy. “This can’t end well.”
The Doctor shook his head.
“I need to know what’s going on Tommy, we’re implicated.”
“Yes, and this whole thing has been set up for you as, I don’t know, some sort of trap-“
“Yes, it has. But why?”
“I agree,” added Autumn. “We should stay. It’s only just getting interesting.” They stopped by the TARDIS, clearly of two minds.
“Curiosity killed the cat,” remarked Tommy.
“Cats have nine lives,” re-joined Autumn.
“Time Lords have thirteen,” added the Doctor, almost competing. “Okay.” He clasped his hands together. “Plan. Tommy, we’ll venture into the woods and find the castle.”
“There isn’t a castle,” muttered Autumn, rolling her eyes.
“…which is why I’m taking Tommy. We’ll discover what’s really going on with open minds.” He poked Autumn’s forehead lightly. She looked back, unimpressed.
“I’ll keep watch of the cottage,” decided Autumn. The Doctor had fully expected her to make the decision herself. “I could adopt a Granny.”
***
The Doctor and Tommy made their way through the forest, the town now hidden behind a thick cover of trees. Tommy was reminded of his first encounter with the Doctor: the forest in the middle of London, protecting the TARDIS. How he had stumbled upon something so strange and random…
“Horses.”
Tommy snapped out of his trance and saw what the Doctor was talking about. Two horses, in the middle of the forest; both white and beautifully-groomed, waiting patiently for their arrival.
“Probably from the town,” said the Doctor.
“Or maybe put here for us. Some narrator,” suggested Tommy, “making sure we get all the tropes of a good old-fashioned fairy-tale. Let’s hope they don’t start subverting them by the time we get to the happy ending.”
“For someone so progressive and logical,” observed the Doctor, “you’re surprisingly superstitious about this. I didn’t think you were superstitious – you’re not even religious.”
“I don’t believe in God,” said Tommy, climbing up onto the first horse, “if that’s what you mean. I don’t believe in a being with those qualities, and I don’t believe in that mythical old creator guy everyone in this town and half the planet probably believes in. But after everything you’ve shown me, if you were to tell me that the universe I live in was the inadvertent creation of a cantankerous squid, I’d probably believe you. There’s weird stuff in this universe, and there are coincidences that can’t possibly be coincidences. Superstition when you’re travelling in the TARDIS is just called an open mind.”
The pair continued their journey through the forest on horseback, occasionally scratching their heads on low branches.
Tommy thought again to the forest in the middle of London; the airbag of a crashing TARDIS. He had felt drawn to it – there was a magical quality, a sense of the unknown, to the forest, and the closer he got to the TARDIS, the more he desired to know it. This forest was similar - in some respects. It felt magical again – a place where established laws could be broken. There was a sense of the unknown.
But that unknown repelled him. The closer he came to the castle, the less he wanted to know it. The magic of the forest felt dangerous – something which could be used against him.
In the distance, the castle beckoned. It was crumbling; decrepit. Bits had been chipped off the top, giving it the appearance of some sort of jagged rock, and the once-majestic archways had, through fallen bricks and eroded stones, developed the appearance of chasms, like the mouth of a grotesque beast. It was an architecture that needed no moat to ward off unwelcome visitors, nor gargoyles to convey an appearance of the monstrous.
“I feel drawn to it,” said the Doctor, taking Tommy aback. “The closer I get. Like something’s pulling me.”
“We should leave,” insisted Tommy. “Something in my gut is telling me that this isn’t right.”
The Doctor shook his head.
“There’s no choice, Tommy. We have to carry on.”
***
Autumn wished she’d given herself a more interesting task.
The Doctor and Tommy got to go off on a valiant quest to find a sleeping maiden hidden deep within a castle she was sure didn’t actually exist, while she had to wait for a doom mongering and, more than likely, psychopathic, old woman to show her face and question her.
Exciting stuff, Autumn thought to herself sarcastically.
But still, at least she had biscuits. And psychopaths were her forte anyway.
Not long after the Doctor and Tommy had made their way into the woods, Autumn had found herself a nice patch of grass just outside the beggar woman’s cottage and sat herself down in order to keep watch – but the woman was nowhere to be seen.
Minutes passed by like hours, and she was beginning to lose patience.
Autumn sighed deeply and reached into her pocket. She rummaged around for a second, and then pulled out a custard cream. She took a bite out of it and closed her eyes in satisfaction, savouring the taste. If only she had a cup of tea to go alongside it, then she’d be in heaven, Autumn thought to herself.
“Granny has tea.”
Autumn jumped at the voice and dropped the biscuit onto the grass. She turned around and saw a haggard looking woman towering over her. The woman wore a long, black cloak that was beginning to fray around the edges, with a hood that reached over her head; frizzed strands of thick, grey hair poked out of the sides. But what struck Autumn most about the woman’s appearance was that she only had one eye, which was a horrible, greenish-grey colour. Where her other eye should have been was just an empty socket.
Autumn fought down her sudden urge to retch.
“How did you…?” Autumn let the question hang in the air and drifted off into a suspicious silence.
“Granny knows everything, my dear. Oh yes she does,” replied the woman.
She beckoned to Autumn with her hands.
“Come. Come. Follow Granny inside, yes, yes. I has tea. Lots and lots of tea.”
Without waiting for a reply, the woman hobbled over to front door of her cottage, forced the door, and made her way inside.
Autumn slowly raised herself off the grass.
She knew she shouldn’t follow the woman. It was a textbook fairy-tale cliché: the woman was probably going to murder her or something, maybe drive a knife through her heart, or slip her some poison.
But even though Autumn knew she mustn’t, she felt a deep, burning desire to enter the cottage. She felt a compulsion to know who the woman was, where the woman came from, and what she was doing. And no matter how many times Autumn tried to rationalise the thoughts in her head, a voice in the back of her mind called out to her; almost as if it was egging her on.
Enter…
Without even realising it, Autumn began to move forwards. And within seconds she was at the front door. She reached out with her hand and grasped the ice-cold, metal handle and turned it slowly. Her heart began to beat a little faster.
Taking a deep breath, Autumn pushed the door open and made her way inside.
***
The Doctor and Tommy made their way through the ancient, crumbling, castle.
It was eerily quiet.
Their echoing footsteps were the only sounds to pierce through the silence.
Tommy wanted to say something to the Doctor. Perhaps urge, one last time, that they needed to go back, find the TARDIS, fly away and never return. But he remained silent. Tommy knew he wouldn’t be able to change the Doctor’s mind. Once the Doctor got invested in a mystery it was hard to pull him back out of it again.
A fatal flaw.
Tommy’s thoughts raced to the demigods he’d once read about and aspired to be in Greek myths: Heracles, Theseus, Perseus, so, so many…all great, noble heroes, undertaking valiant quests…most meeting a tragic end.
Tommy shook the thoughts out of his head. Now was really not the time for pessimism.
During their trek through the castle, the Doctor and Tommy passed large, 16th century styled bedchambers, a children’s nursery full of wooden toys, rocking horses, and dolls houses, a music room containing a large grand piano, and even a huge, magnificent ballroom that wouldn’t look out of place in a Disney film.
Every single room they passed was empty.
Tommy shivered.
Something about the place felt so…strange. It was almost dream-like, like it shouldn’t really exist. And yet, it did. Everything about it seemed impossible. But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be, they were really here.
The Doctor broke the silence, causing Tommy to jump a little.
“We’re getting closer…”
Tommy frowned.
“How do you know that? We’ve been walking for ages.”
The Doctor looked at Tommy curiously.
“Can’t you feel it?”
“Feel what?” Tommy urged. He really wasn’t liking this.
The Doctor spoke softly this time, almost as if he was in a trance.
“I don’t know…I just feel it. Something’s telling me I’m near, telling me that I should keep going.”
“You’re hearing voices inside your head and you suddenly think it’s a good idea to listen to them. Are you crazy?”
The Doctor ignored Tommy, and began walking again. Tommy rushed forwards to try and keep up.
“We should really go ba-”
The Doctor raised a hand, cutting Tommy off mid-sentence.
“It’s through here.”
The Doctor stopped outside a large, wooden door. He grasped the brass handle and turned it in a clockwise direction, then pushed the door open.
***
“So tell me, who exactly are you?”
Autumn was sat at a small wooden dining table, situated in the middle of the beggar woman’s kitchen. Pots and pans were scattered around the room, and battered, torn, recipe books were piled up on top of each other around the table.
The woman appeared to be guarding a basket containing random pieces of fruits rather protectively. And Autumn was sure she’d seen her caressing one of them. Perhaps she had a fetish, Autumn wondered with slight intrigue.
“I am Granny. Granny is me. Simple.”
The woman chuckled to herself.
“Quite,” replied Autumn, flashing a fake smile. “But we both know there’s more to it than that.”
The woman smiled crookedly.
“Why is old girly so suspicious of poor, innocent, old Granny?”
Autumn leaned forwards ever so slightly, resting her hands on the table.
“Because unlike my friends, I live in the real world. Castles deep within forests, sleeping maidens, curses to be broken…I know none of that really exists. They’re all lies, force-fed to children to mollycoddle and protect them from the real world. It takes more than bravery to defeat monsters, more than love to lift curses, and more than the universe is capable of to make way for a happy ending.”
“Old girly is so cynical.”
“Old girly has seen the truth for herself,” replied Autumn, bitterly.
“Oh yes. Granny knows. She does. You’ve seen so much. Lost so much.”
Autumn sat back in her chair.
“How could you possibly know anything about me?”
The woman smiled again and gazed at Autumn – as though she were reaching into deep into her soul.
“Granny has heard many things about you, Autumn Rivers.” Autumn hardened slightly at the sound of her full name, but the old woman continued. “Oh yes, yes, yes. Many things. I know you lost your family, friends, people. Oh yes, you lost people you loved, all those people, places, people, I know some of their names, up here. Shall we say some? Pandora, Mr Woodsworth… Mummy… Jamie.” Autumn tried to keep herself calm, but noticed that she had narrowed her eyes. The old woman continued. “You lost your home. So sad. So sad. Poor old girly didn’t deserve that.”
“Where have you heard this? Who have you spoken to?”
“Granny spoke to no one. No, no, no. Granny knows all, sees all, hears all. Granny is special. Yes she is.”
“You’re nuts.” Autumn stood up and made to leave, but all of a sudden she felt as if an invisible force was preventing her from moving.
“Granny knows everything about you, Autumn. Oh yes. She knows your dreams, all your desires. And your fears.”
Autumn looked at the woman, her heartbeat increasing slightly.
“My fears?”
“Oh yes. You are so strong. So brave. But you are a scared little thing, though you try and hide it well. Granny can see. And one thing has you scared most of all.”
Autumn remained silent. For once she could not speak a single word.
“Death,” said the woman, simply.
Autumn gripped the chair, and the woman smiled slightly.
“Yes. Granny sees. You run, run, run with impossible-blue-box-man, racing into the stars, going deeper into distant stars. But you know there’s one thing you cannot escape. Oh no. You try so hard, but old girly knows it cannot be done. The hands of death will grip you tight and squeeze, and squeeze, and squeeze until you fall. Splat. On the foor. Deaded. No more.”
An uncomfortable silence followed these words. Autumn hardly dared to breath, her heart was beating ten to the dozen.
“You lie,” said Autumn.
“Granny never lies,” the woman replied with a smile. “But Granny is nice. She likes old girly. And wants to give nice Autumn Rivers a gift.”
Autumn frowned.
“A gift?”
The woman nodded enthusiastically and pulled out a blood-red apple from her basket. It gleamed in the sunlight that shined bright through the open window. Autumn felt a compulsion to reach out and grab it. But she used all of her will and strength to stay where she was, rooted to the spot.
“An apple?” Autumn enquired.
“Oh no. Not just any apple. No, no. A magic apple.”
“There’s no such thing as magic.”
“This apple is unlike anything you have ever seen before, Autumn Rivers.”
Without even realising Autumn took a step forward.
“What does it do?”
“It grants wishes. Oh yes. To anyone who takes a bite. Munch, munch, munch.”
Autumn knew it was impossible. That what the old woman was saying couldn’t possibly be true. But still, somewhere, deep inside, she wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe that fairy-tales could come true. That a single bite could mean she lived forever.
No – Autumn shook her head. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
Why can’t it be real…
“Trust me my dear, just take a bite… one bite. And all your wishes, all of your deepest desires, will come true. That I can promise you. Yes, yes, yes.”
“You can’t grant immortality,” said Autumn, sensing that the old woman knew the wish.
“Granny can. Okay… Granny can’t grant anything. Granny’s apple can only do one thing for girly, whatever girly wants it to do, it can, but just one. It can be your live-forever apple. Old girly won’t always be happy, it won’t always be easy, and live-forever apple can’t bring back home and Jamie as well. But it will get rid of old girly’s fear. Forever.”
Autumn considered, studying the apple curiously.
“One time offer. Old girly turns around and the magic apple’s… pop…” the old woman stared out of the window. “Gone. No coming back. Time for old girly to take the apple while it can still be taken.”
Autumn reached out to take the apple, ignoring every single instinct she had which was telling her to throw the apple away, and run as far away from the woman as possible.
“Yes. That’s it girly. Take a bite. You know you must.”
“I must,” replied Autumn, her voice was almost dream-like.
Autumn took hold of the apple and slowly brought it to her mouth. She hesitated for a single second, then closed her eyes and wished.
I want to live forever.
She took a bite.
Almost at once the apple turned black as night, and melted in Autumn’s hands, like a pen that was leaking ink.
Autumn clutched her throat. It felt like it was burning. Her whole body was burning. She looked at her hands and saw black lines stretching throughout her body like veins. It was like a cancer spreading throughout her body.
The old beggar woman began laughing with glee as Autumn let out a hideous scream.
A single tear rolled down Autumn’s cheek. And with one final breath, she collapsed to the floor.
***
“Wait!” called Tommy. But it was too late. The Doctor had already made his way inside.
Just as Tommy was about to enter the room himself, the door was shut by an unknown force. He tried turning the handle but it wouldn’t budge, and no matter how hard Tommy pushed against the door it remained firmly shut.
Panicked, Tommy began pounding on the door with his fists.
“Doctor?! Doctor, what’s going on? Let me in. Open the door!”
But the Doctor couldn’t hear him.
The Doctor gazed around the room. It was a beautiful bedchamber fit for a Queen. He noticed that tapestries embroidered in gold and silver material, which bore the mark of a rose, decorated the walls, while suits of armour were lined up on either side of the room, protecting the eight-poster bed that was situated at the far end of the chamber.
And it was there the Doctor now looked.
A beautiful maiden was lay on the silk sheets, sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the goings on of the outside world. She wore a stunning blue gown that was decorated with silver jewels, and a golden tiara encrusted with glittering rubies rested on her forehead.
The Doctor fought an internal battle raging deep inside his mind.
One side of him, the rational side, was screaming to run away, to find Tommy and get out of the castle immediately. But he felt an ever growing compulsion to step forward, to reach out to the maiden and take her in his arms, the desire grew stronger with every second.
The Doctor stepped closer.
And closer.
And closer.
Within seconds he was at the maiden’s bedside.
He tried to pull back, but felt a push against his mind – it was willing him closer.
Kiss her…
The Doctor bent down slowly, so that he was metres away from the maiden’s own face. She looked even more radiant up close. The Doctor caressed her face, softly, with this hand and brushed his lips against hers.
Almost at once the ground beneath the Doctor’s feet began to shake, and the image of the castle slowly faded away. The castle walls became the interior of a space ship, the bedchamber revealing itself as a control room; filled with dozens of monitors and flashing control panels. The maiden became a hologram image, and then disappeared in an instant.
Chains shot up from the ground and locked around the Doctor’s feet, preventing his escape. No matter how hard he tried to pull against them he could not break free. Cloaked figures began walking towards him, their cackles echoing around the control room. One of them held Tommy, who was bound and gagged and looked severely beaten.
The Doctor fell to his knees.
Tommy was right – he’d been right all along. This whole scenario was designed specifically for the Doctor; one that the Doctor would not have been able to resist. This was a trap. And the Doctor had walked right into it.
“Wh-who are you?” the Doctor asked finally, his voice no longer held the same air of confidence and surety that it usually did. For once he sounded defeated.
The figures laughed collectively, then one stepped forward – the Doctor presumed he was their leader. The lead figure spoke with a deep, guttural voice, and an air of triumph.
“We are the bringers of death. Welcome, Time Lord, to the end of all things.”
TO BE CONTINUED
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NEXT TIMEIn Slumber Repose
The Doctor begins to realise the full extent of the trap he has been thrown into, and Autumn is placed in the most difficult situation of her life. For once, the Doctor and his friends will not be able to walk away from the adventure in the same way they'd arrived. In all the truest stories, there is a price to be paid. Episode List: 1. The Magic Box 2. Dinner With Nobody 3. Passing in the Night 4. A Shop For Limbs 5. Material Values 6. The Cloud Beneath The Sea 7. Wish You Were Here 8. A Castle Deep in the Woods 9. In Slumber Repose 10. From Hell 11. Under Ice 12. Waking the Witch 13. The Morning Fog |