THE HIDE AND SEEK COMPETITION

Chapter Five

The real Doctor took a short break and looked around. He'd been walking towards the canyon but so far he was the only person around.

"Hmmm, where would I hide if I were Rose?" he muttered. "Perhaps I should try that canyon?"

He flipped the cover on his teleporter and put in 98 north. There was a flash and he was closer to the canyon. He thought for a moment and tried 97 north. This time he found himself inside the canyon. He looked around and put his hand against the wall of the canyon. He looked behind him trying to find any sort of trail or path up but he didn't see any. He walked off, seeing if there was anywhere to hide.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Let her go, Doctor!" Tarana said as the Doctor pulled the unconscious Rose towards the doorway.

Behind him, she could see a corridor. She flexed her claws and hissed, determined not to let the Time Lord take her friend away. She bared her fangs but the Doctor smirked at that and bared his in return. She tried to lunge at him but he dropped Rose, grabbed her by the arms and tripped her with his leg. He let go of her arms and she dropped to the ground. She rolled when he tried to stomp on her and when she leapt up, he lunged at her and barreled into her, knocking her back. Tarana raised her arm and brought it down, slicing his cheek open with her claws. The Doctor growled in anger and decked her face. Tarana was knocked back against the wall and the Doctor grabbed her and repeatedly slammed her against the rock wall until the wind was knocked out of her. He let go and she slumped to the ground. The Doctor smirked at her, walked back to Rose, hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and walked towards the doorway.

Tarana staggered to her feet, growling in frustration as the door closed behind him, blocking her from Rose. Realizing she needed help, she inputted 0 on her teleporter and hit the enter button. She frowned when nothing happened and she tried it again.

"No, don't do this to me!" Tarana said as she tried it for a third time.

She tried 99 south in order to get out of the canyon and it still didn't work. She ran over to the wall and tried to open it but she couldn't find any way to open it. She finally decided to go back outside, thinking that perhaps the teleporter doesn't work indoors. She raced to the ladder, went up and went back down the corridor back towards the cave opening. When she reached the opening, she spun around and gasped when she saw the Doctor walking towards her. He was about twenty feet from her and his face brightened when he saw her.

"Tarana! What luck!" he said, waving to her. "I…"

He froze when Tarana roared and ran towards him, claws bared.

"Where is she?" Tarana yelled.

The Doctor turned and ran and jumped onto a boulder. He spun around and jumped past her as Tarana tried to swipe at him.

"Tarana, it's me. What are you doing? Stop!" the Doctor said.

"Where's Rose? What have you done with her?" Tarana snarled as she spun around.

"What? I haven't found Rose yet. I'm looking for her," the Doctor said. "Just calm down. Don't attack, please. I didn't do anything!"

Tarana froze when she noticed his cheek didn't have the scratch marks she'd given him earlier. She stared at him, confused, as the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

"I came here about a half hour ago. This is the first spot I came to," he explained to her. "I haven't found Rose yet and I haven't done anything to her. I don't understand why you're trying to attack me."

"Rose and I…we came here together and we found this cave," Tarana said,pointing behind him. "We explored it and found an underground room. Rose went down first and this wall slid open and you came out. Suddenly, you attacked Rose and started dragging her back towards the room. When she resisted, you bit her with fangs and she passed out. Then you attacked me and I attacked in return and slashed your cheek…but your cheek is fine," she said, staring at his cheek in confusion.

"Tarana, whatever you saw, that wasn't me. I don't have fangs and I'd never attack Rose. But can you show me where this…other me took her?"

"Follow me," Tarana said, grateful that it wasn't her friend that harmed Rose.

They ran back into the cave and Tarana showed him the trapdoor. The Doctor went down first and Tarana followed him. Tarana showed him the wall and the Doctor felt along it.

"I couldn't find a way to open it," she said.

"I think I might have a way," the Doctor said, whipping out his screwdriver.

Tarana watched while he aimed it at the wall and breathed a sigh of relief when it slid open.

"This little doodah opens most anything," the Doctor said to Tarana. "Follow me and stay alert."

Tarana nodded and they walked into the corridor. For about five minutes there was nothing except stone walls, then the bile rose in Tarana's throat when they suddenly saw dead and decaying corpses scattered along the path.

"Now I definitely don't do this," the Doctor said as he stopped at a corpse and examined it.

"Some of these have been fed on," Tarana said as she examined another. "The belly's been ripped open and the entrails are missing."

"Hope his entrails didn't end up in the sandwiches," the Doctor said. "Whatever this thing is, Rose is in danger of being its next meal. Come on; let's get to her before that happens."

They walked on. The farther they went the more corpses they found and Tarana began to wonder if her friend would be amongst them.

"Why would this thing look like you?" she asked.

"Shape shifter perhaps?" the Doctor said as he looked around. "If it feeds on flesh, it could use the shape shifting to lure people in. Ah!" the Doctor added when they found an opening in the wall to their left. "Keep close and keep quiet and keep your fingers crossed."

Tarana wasn't sure why she should cross her fingers but she kept quiet and stayed behind her friend. The stench of rotting flesh had been growing but now it was overpowering and now there were other animals besides humans among the dead. Then the corridor widened and they walked into a large stone room. On the other side the corridor continued but in the room there were piles of corpses. Tarana gasped and seized the sleeve of the Doctor's coat. He turned and she pointed to Rose lying in the corner amidst other dead bodies. There were puncture wounds in her neck and dried blood was streaking from them down to her clavicle.

"No, no, no," the Doctor said as he and Tarana ran over to her.

He knelt down and checked her pulse.

"She's alive," he said.

"Thank the gods," Tarana said.

The Doctor did a quick scan and looked at the results.

"Her respiratory functions have been slowed. She's probably in a coma. I have a feeling this thing acts like a spider. Paralyzes its prey before it feeds. Luckily, I might have just the thing to counteract the poison."

He reached into his trenchcoat pocket and pulled out a small bottle filled with a pale pink liquid.

"Took along some things just in case, stuff I thought might be useful. This antidote works on most poisons. Not all, but most and I'm hoping it'll be enough to bring Rose back to us. Hold her head up for me."

Tarana helped him and the Doctor opened her mouth and poured a tiny bit of the antidote into her mouth. He messaged her throat until she swallowed it and put the cap back on the bottle.

"We need to get her back to the arena," Tarana said. "The problem is, I tried the teleporter in here and it didn't work."

"It didn't?" the Doctor said.

"No, it must not work indoors."

"I don't see why not, most teleporters do," the Doctor said. "Here, I'll try mine. Well…you punch in the coordinates and hit enter after I pick up Rose."

He gathered Rose into his arms and watched while Tarana opened the flap on his teleporter and input 0. She hit enter and the Doctor and Tarana looked at each other when nothing happened.

"Odd, that shouldn't be doing that," he said to her. "No matter, we'll go back outside and try it there and…"

He jerked his head around when he heard a hissing sound. The other Doctor stepped from the far corridor into the room and smiled, showing them his fangs.

"Well, now…it seems I have more guests for dinner," he said to them.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next

Your Name or Alias:      Your E-mail (optional):

Please type your review below. Only positive reviews and constructive criticism will be posted.