THE SCAVENGER HUNT

Chapter Seven

“Ah, here we are,” the Doctor said, opening the heavy wooden door. “My torture chamber collection.”

Rose stepped into the room and froze. All around her were various torture chamber and execution devices. She looked at the Doctor.

“You…use this stuff on people?” she asked, worried.

“Nah, I would never be that cruel. This is more like a chamber of horrors type thing. Everything in here is a reproduction.”

He noticed that Rose let out a sigh of relief.

“Why? You think I drag people in here and torture them?” he said in disbelief.

“Sometimes, Doctor, I’m not sure what you’re really capable of.”

The Doctor gave her a hurt look.

“I may be capable of many things, but torture isn’t one of them,” he said. “I fancy myself a lot more merciful than that. No, this is another kind of collection I have. Mind you, everything does have working parts and I could use it if I wanted to, but I’m not going to.”

Rose nodded. The Doctor looked over to his left and looked at her with a gleam in his eye.

“Although, if you are brave enough, I can demonstrate one torture device.”

“On me?”

“Yes, but it’s not going to cripple you in any way and I promise I’ll let you up when you’ve had enough.”

“What is it?”

He smiled.

“The Chinese Water Torture. Care to try it out? After all, it’s only a simple drop of water to the forehead. Only a simple drop, how bad could that be?”

Rose looked where he was pointing. In the corner there was a long wooden table with leather straps on it. Positioned above the head was a large copper bowl. Rose looked at the Doctor.

“All it does is drip water on ya?”

He nodded.

“Yes, but that’s the beauty of it. It’s so innocent looking and yet so fiendishly clever. But, if you’re scared of a little drop of water and don’t want to test it, that’s perfectly fine.”

“And you don’t ever get the urge to do this to people, eh?”

“Well, only to you,” he said, winking, “and I’m only doing it because I know you’re not gonna end up crippled or dead. Now, you might go insane, but since you’re loony enough to travel with me, it won’t be a big adjustment for you when you go completely crackers.”

“And you promise you’ll stop when I tell ya to.”

“No, Rose, I’m just gonna keep on going until you’re foaming at the mouth and running naked through the TARDIS,” the Doctor said, incensed.

“Just making sure,” Rose said as the Doctor rolled his eyes.

He led her over to the table and helped her lie down so that her head was positioned directly under the bowl. Rose looked at it and noticed a tiny hole was drilled into the bottom.

“Now, first off, we have to secure you with leather straps, so you can’t run away,” the Doctor said.

He fastened the straps around her ankles, wrist and neck. Rose gasped when he pulled the strap tight on her neck and fastened it.

“Do you have to fasten this one?” Rose asked him.

“Which one?”

“The one around my neck.

“Well, yeah, that’s what keeps your head immobile.”

“It’s uncomfortable.”

The Doctor gave her a patronizing look.

“Yes, Rose, that’s why it’s called a torture device and not a lay here and have a jolly good time device. If I left the neck strap undone, you could move your head around which defeats the whole purpose. The object is to have the water drip on your forehead in one place. It won’t kill you to have your head immobile for a short time. Just relax.”

He reached down beside the device, grabbed a metal bucket and went behind to a spigot. He filled the bucket halfway with water, turned it off and poured the contents into the copper bowl.

“Now,” he said, setting the bucket back down. “Since I have you in my complete power, I will reveal my true purpose for getting you to test this device. See, I want information from you. I have this odd feeling that when you worked at the parallel Torchwood, you told them all about me and I want to know what you said.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

He leaned over.

“Lies. You will tell me everything I want to know, or I will leave you here until you are stark, raving mad!”

“You better not or I’ll shove your head in the guillotine over there and chop it off.”

“Oho, but how will you do that if you’re confined to this table?”

Just then, a single drop of water fell onto her forehead.

“And so, the torment begins,” the Doctor said, melodramatically.

He leaned back up.

“In the meantime, I will continue talking and let the water do its work until you are ready to confess all to me.”

Another drop of water fell on her forehead.

“How does that feel?”

“Not bad, it’s kinda soothing actually.”

“Yes, well, that’s also the beauty of it. It is actually very peaceful in the beginning. In fact, in India, they have a very similar device to this, except it drips out mineral oil. They use it as kind of a spa treatment. But…just wait, because soon you’ll go from feeling pleasant to panicky. Mwahahahahahahaaaaaaa!”

Rose rolled her eyes when he giggled.

“Now, interesting fact for you before I go fetch the item on the list. Although this is called the Chinese Water Torture, it wasn’t invented in China. It was invented in Italy. The reason it’s called the Chinese Water Torture is because the Italians thought associating it with the orient would give it a sense of mystery.”

“Hmmm, very interesting.”

“Yes, it is. See, you learn all sorts of things when you travel with me.”

“Yup, I do.”

She blinked her eyes when another drop of water hit her forehead.

“Ready to confess now?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, well, I can wait as long as you can,” he said, shrugging. “In the meantime, I will show you the item on the list. Luckily, it’s portable, so I don’t have to set you free. It’s right over here.”

He walked over to a large metal cupboard, opened it and brought out a glowing metal object that resembled an enormous boot. He brought it over to her.

“This is known as The Iron Boot. See, the tag even says so. This is actually another fiendish device. You see, the boot is large because both legs were put into it and tightened until the knees were together. Then, they took little wooden wedges and drove them between the knees with a mallet. And, they kept on driving wedges in until the pressure caused the leg bones to snap in two.”

“Ugh!”

The Doctor nodded.

“Not a very pleasant thing to endure. Sometimes, they also left all the metal casing off the boot and just used the frame, so they could pour hot lead or boiling oil on the tootsies for extra torment.”

Rose stared at it.

“Sometimes it’s hard to believe human beings are capable of doing that to other people,” she said, softly. “We’re supposed to be so civilized, but in a lot of ways we’re worse than animals.”

“Yes, but you have to realize that there are some species who are even worse. Human beings are capable of cruelty, but they also can be compassionate and merciful and giving and loving towards others. This stuff here wasn’t used by the majority of people, Rose, you have to remember that. The majority of human beings go about their daily lives trying to do good deeds and care for others. It’s the sick, twisted minority that used this stuff. Trust me, if you were all a bunch of slobbering sadistic maniacs, I wouldn’t care about you like I do.”

He leaned over.

“And speaking of slobbering maniac, how’s the torment coming?”

Rose gasped when another drop of water hit her head.

“It’s annoying now and I’m starting to lose feeling in my body from the neck down.”

“Mm-hmm, well, that’s the second stage of it. I told you the good feelings wouldn’t last forever. See, like I said, that’s the savage beauty of this device. You’d never think in a million years that a drop of water would do so much mental damage to a person, but if you’re strapped in tight and can’t get away from it, then panic and fear sets in and after awhile, you’ll do or say anything to get away from it.”

“Yeah, I can see that now. I’ve had enough. You can let me up.”

“Are you ready to confess?”

“No, but I’m ready to kill ya if you don’t undo the straps and get me out of here.”

He sighed.

“Oh, alright, but I expect a full confession from you after we get done with the hunt,” he said, undoing the straps.

Rose let out a sigh of relief and quickly sat up when he undid the neck and wrist straps.

“I hope I never go through that again,” she said, as he finished with her ankles. “I understand now how a plate feels under a leaky faucet. That drop of water started to feel like a sledgehammer hitting me.”

“Yes and think about this. You were only strapped down for a few minutes, try laying there 5, 6, 10, 12 hours with the water dripping relentlessly on your head.”

“Ugh, yeah, I can understand now how some people went crazy from this,” she said.

The Doctor took her hand and led her to the cabinet.

“I want to show you this too,” he said, reaching inside. “You see, not only do I have Earth torture devices, I have some from other planets as well.”

He held up a small silver ring.

“Care to try this one?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

“Will it hurt?”

“Um…well, it would if I left it on long enough, but I won’t go that far.”

Rose held out her hand.

“You’re a very brave woman, you know that?” he said, slipping it on her ring finger.

Rose stared at the ring.

“So, what is it?”

“It is known as the Ring of Fire and Ice. It was originally used by the inhabitants of Pluto eons ago.”

Rose shrugged.

“It’s not doing anything to me,” she said.

“That’s because I haven’t turned it on yet.”

He took her hand. Rose watched as he turned a tiny dial inside the ring. He finished turning it and watched her intently.

“Tell me if you feel any different,” he said.

Rose shrugged.

“I don’t feel anything…wait, I feel hotter. The room’s suddenly warmed up. Does this ring change the room temperature?”

“It changes the temperature, but not for the room,” he said.

He turned the dial the other way.

“Not how do you feel?”

Rose paused a moment and then she began to shiver.

“Cold, really cold. I feel like I’m chilled to the bone now.”

That’s because you are,” he said, slipping the ring off her finger. “This ring manipulates your body temperature and causes it to go way up or way down. Leave it on long enough and your insides will either bake or freeze into solid ice.”

“And this was used on Pluto?”

“Yup, long ago, the Plutonians were involved in a bloody, civil war that completely devastated the planet and turned it into the barren rock it is now. This ring was used by both sides for extracting information or execution.”

He put the ring back in the cabinet and pulled out a small metal box.

“Now, this one I won’t ask you to try out because it can cripple you. It’s called The Etcher. It’s used by members of a totalitarian government on Gelfax Sixteen. You see this large hole in the front. They put your hands in there and a low intensity laser runs all over them and cuts patterns into the back of your hands. Sometimes they would increase the intensity, run it along your wrists and cut both your hands off. That’s why it’s called The Etcher.”

Rose made a face when he put it back in the cabinet.

“Other than that, I have mainly Earth devices. I have the Rack, the Iron Maiden, the Guillotine, the Pretzel, which was used in the Far East. They would tie you onto a wooden pole in weird positions and leave you hanging there between those two poles for hours or days on end or they would tie one arm and leg to the pole and leave you hanging like that with heavy weights tied to your other limbs. Very nasty and painful. Oh, and this…” he said, ushering Rose over to a wooden structure, “is the cousin of the Guillotine. It’s called the Halifax Gibbet. Heard of it before?”

Rose shook her head.

“It was used in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1286 to 1650. Same concept as the Guillotine except that instead of facing down, they made you face up, so the last thing you saw was the blade coming towards your neck.”

Rose flinched at that.

“There was one way you could escape execution though. If you were lucky enough to wriggle your head out of the hole and leg it out of the city, they let you go free. However, you were banished forever and if you so much as put a toe back inside the town, they would grab you and execute you again.”

“Did anyone ever do that?” Rose asked.

“Yes, there actually was one fellow named John Lacy. He was the only one who did it. But, after seven years, for reasons known only to himself, he strolled back into town, they caught him and…”

He made a slashing motion across his neck.

“Why would he be dumb enough to do that?” Rose said.

“Why does any human do dumb things? Because they think they can get away with it. After seven years, he figured that if he went back, everyone would forgive him because he had done the impossible. Unfortunately, he was proved wrong. It’s that old human urge to press your luck, you know.”

“Well, if I was risking being put into a thing where you had to watch the blade come down on your neck, I think I would resist the urge to press my luck.”

“This coming from a woman who strolled into Magpie’s shop by herself and got her face sucked off her body.”

“Now, wait a minute, I didn’t know that was going to happen--”

“This coming from a woman who just stood there in a hallway while a werewolf ran towards her.”

“I was in shock--“

“This coming from a woman who actually followed a creepy tattooed clone who called her by her full name when she had never set foot inside the building before.”

“I was investigating--“

“This coming from a woman who actually went up and touched a Dalek when she didn’t know what it was or what it was capable of.”

“It was in pain and I was trying to help--“

“This coming from a woman who risked being consumed by the power of the vortex because she couldn’t follow orders and just stay put.”

“This coming from a man whose butt I’ve had to save numerous times including the incident where I did take the vortex into my body. This coming from the man who has made a whole freakin’ career out of pressing his luck!”

The Doctor fell silent when she put her hands on her hips and gave him a pointed look. He cleared his throat.

“Anyway, I believe we’ve lingered here long enough. There are other items on the checklist and from here on out, I’ll be just as clueless as you are as to their whereabouts. So, come on, Tyler. Time’s a wastin’”

Rose snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Always an excuse whenever someone’s about to prove him wrong,” she muttered as he grabbed the clipboard.

She grabbed his hand and walked with him out of the room.

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