TIME LORDS DON'T CRY

CHAPTER SIX

The Doctor put a protective arm around Marie.

“Get behind me,” he whispered, “and whatever you do, don’t go near him.” Marie obeyed him silently.

The Doctor smiled at the..thing. “Hello. Nice farm.”

Slowly, by degrees, he and Marie backed towards the window, hoping fervently the thing that called itself Uncle Tobias wouldn’t notice. The Doctor tried to stall for time.

“I was out for a little stroll, noticed your nice barn–I love old barns, by the way…wonderful craftsmanship these old time builders had, eh?”

The thing that was Uncle Tobias merely stood there, staring out of vacant eye sockets. That worried the Doctor more than if it went after them.

“What is he waiting for?” The Doctor whispered to himself.

Out of the murky shadows, another form appeared, then another. The Doctor swung his torch around and studied each of the newcomers. One had the appearance of a young man, dressed in hunting clothes. The other was a woman seeming to be of middle age, wearing a faded dress and an apron.

The two new humans both had their eyes wide open, but there was no spark of life in them. The skin on their flesh was pale, almost transparent. The two of them, as one, turned to look at Uncle Tobias. He nodded to them silently. The newcomers in turn, stared at the Doctor and Marie. Slowly the pair of them walked forward, arms outstretched.

The Doctor, backing towards the window, stepped abruptly on something soft and narrow. A screech rent the air. He’d stepped on the cat’s tail. The two newcomers halted, startled by the noise, and that was all the time the Doctor needed.

“Sorry about that.” He muttered to the cat, and, scooping up Marie, bolted through the bottom of the broken window.

Marie struggled against him.

“No! We can’t leave him there!” She cried.

“Don’t’ worry, sweetheart, I’m sorry, but that’s not really your uncle any longer.” The Doctor reassured her as he ran.

It wasn’t easy, he found, running away from the monsters with a little girl who didn’t want to run.

“Not Uncle Tobias,” she sniffed, “Chauncey, my cat. I can’t leave him. He’s my best friend.”

The Doctor stopped, and heaved a sigh of resignation.

“It’s a good thing I like cats.” He muttered. The Doctor frowned. “Or do I? You know, I haven’t the foggiest idea.”

“Call him,” he said to Marie, “maybe your cat will follow us.”

Before she could call out though, the Doctor felt something brush against the back of his leg. It was the cat. It must have followed them out the window. Marie picked that cat up and the Doctor led the way into the woods.

“Come on!” The Doctor whispered sternly, gesturing ahead with his torch, “Alons’y,” off the beaten path and into the woods. Let’s not make this any easier for those zombie people than we have to, ey?”

Deep piles of dead brown leaves cracked beneath their feet as they walked rapidly into the woods. Overhead, the branches bent down, reaching tentacled fingers to grasp at their clothing.

After walking for about twenty minutes, they came to a tiny clearing. The moon dodged in and out of heavy clouds, making their deadly game of hide and seek even more dangerous. One false step and a broken arm or leg would end the game rather quickly.

The Doctor paused and sat on a rock. He looked at Marie, as she was sat on the ground beside him, stoking her cat and whispering reassurances in its ear.

“Are you alright?” the Doctor asked anxiously. Marie looked at him and nodded. “What happened to your Uncle? And how did you get into that old well?”

For a long moment, Marie simply sat petting her cat. The Doctor folded his arms and waited patiently. She’d been through a lot. He’d let her speak when she was ready. Marie looked up at him for a long moment before replying.

“He came home from hunting one night, he’d been out all night. I–I heard him screaming, in the woods. That was about a month ago.”

Marie grew pale again, and trembled slightly. The Doctor got up and kneeled down in front of her. Putting his hands upon her shoulders.

“What happened after that?” he asked softly, petting Marie’s cat, but looking sadly into the girl’s eyes.

“He began acting all strange.” Marie said, giving a shudder.

“Uncle Tobias would shut himself up in his room for hours and hours. The dogs became afraid of him. They loved him before, but after he…he changed, they wouldn’t go anywhere’s near him. Sometimes I’d see strange lights under his door and hear all sorts of odd noises. I got worried and knocked on his door, and he’d….”

Marie’s voice trailed off. She looked down at the ground and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“He hurt you?” The Doctor asked gently, taking one of her hands in his and gently squeezing it.

The girl was fighting back tears and merely nodded again. The Doctor put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her.

“It’s okay.” he murmured softly, “Everything’s going to be alright, Marie, I promise. I’m here now. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

As he hugged her, a strange thing happened to the Doctor. Inside his head, he got an odd sensation. Like something that had been missing. An emptness, which had suddenly been filled…then, the sensation flitted away, like a butterfly evading a net.

Abruptly, the Doctor’s face registered bewilderment.

“What was that all about?” He asked himself.

Before the Doctor could take the question any further, a crash sounded just feet from where they were sitting. Three lifeless forms walked automaton-like into the clearing. It was Uncle Tobias and his friends. The Doctor gathered Marie to him.

“Run!” the Doctor commanded.

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