TURN ME ON, DEAD MAN

Chapter Seven

After eating, they walked with Paul back to his house while John dropped the other Beatles off at their flats before he went home to Cynthia and Julian. By the time they got to Paul's house, Jane and her parents were home so they quickly met them before bidding them all good night and letting Paul know that they were be outside at five in the morning. Paul stood at the front door and waved goodbye to them. He waited till they were out of sight before he went back inside and shut the door.

They went back to the TARDIS and went inside for the night. The Doctor went to his library while Amy and Rory went to the room they shared and got ready for bed.

"Quite a day, eh?" Rory said as he shut the door and they began to undress. "I'm so glad I followed your lead and decided to travel with the Doctor. Always wanted to meet one of the Beatles and now I've met all four of them. It's something to tell our children if we ever have any."

He fell silent when he noticed Amy looked sad.

"Amy? Are you alright?" he asked, crossing over to her.

"I'm just worried about Paul. All of them, really, but Paul especially. What if those loonies make their move while we're in here?"

"They won't," Rory said gently. "The Doctor said he won't die until September 11th."

"Yeah, won't die but that doesn't mean he couldn't be kidnapped tonight and held until they killed him," Amy said. "What if something happens to him before tomorrow?"

Rory took her in his arms and kissed her forehead.

"He's with Jane and her parents and we'll see him at five in the morning. I think he'll be alright for tonight, love. Just quit worrying about it."

"I'm trying; Rory, but I can't help it. I got to know him today and he's such a sweet guy. I hate to think that someone actually killed him. What if that Mister Brown and Mister Jones did it? Shouldn't we be keeping an eye on them? What if they're keeping Jane's house under surveillance? What if..."

Rory put his hand over her mouth and Amy fell silent.

"Amy, you can't keep watch over him 24/7. I told you, he's with Jane and her family, they'll keep an eye on him and so will his neighbors. Just relax and try to get some sleep, yeah? You won't be any use to Paul if you're knackered."

Amy nodded and sighed as Rory kissed her face and neck. She put her arms around him neck and Rory opened his mouth so she could snog him. They sat down on their bed and spent an hour nuzzling, kissing and petting one another, giving each other some soothing comfort before they decided to go to sleep. Amy fell asleep in Rory's arms. For awhile she didn't dream but a few hours in, she had a horrible dream where she was tied up to a tree, forced to watch while Mister Brown and Mister Jones beat Paul McCartney's body until he was near dead and then they slit his throat while they laughed. Amy's eyes snapped open. She looked at Rory who was snoring softly and she slowly moved away from him to the edge of the bed. She sat up and slowly stood up, careful not to wake her husband. She went outside the room and walked to the console room.

The Doctor was sitting in his chair, relaxing while he listened to Mozart playing from his console. His eyes were closed but he sensed Amy coming and opened them.

"Everything alright?" he asked her.

"I'm just worried about Paul, Doctor," Amy said as she squatted down beside him.

The Doctor smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Paul's safe. He's with Jane and her family and I doubt someone will make a move if he's around others. The whole idea is to make it look like Paul had an accident."

"Do you think Mister Jones and Mister Brown are behind it?"

"Dunno. They seem like the shady types that would carry out an execution. On the other hand, they could just be hired muscle for the real mastermind and they're sent round to try to get the Beatles to agree to work for this other person before they get their hands dirty with killing someone."

"Paul won't agree to work for them."

"I know. I believe that's why he ended up dead. I've been thinking it over and one thing that I realized is that before Sergeant Pepper came out, Paul didn't do any hard drugs. He said so himself in an interview. He smokes pot and takes an occasional Quaalude to wind down but that's it. Suddenly, Sergeant Pepper comes along and he's giving interviews and admitting to taking LSD."

"So? Lots of people experimented with it in the '60's, right?" Amy said.

"Yes, but Paul was insistent that he would never do that sort of thing. He wouldn't use cocaine or heroin so it seems a bit odd that he suddenly fancies LSD only months after he dies. You've met him and spoke with him, Amy. Does he seem the type to suddenly decide to take harder drugs after he made up his mind he wasn't going to?"

"No. I can't imagine him doing that, sitting in a corner or something tripping on acid. It doesn't seem like him. But this double...he thinks it's alright to do that, yeah?"

"Yes, but I think it's more than that. I think it's more than personal preference. I have a feeling that the LSD is part of the larger agenda. But I still have to fit that puzzle piece into its proper slot. I just know that it seems odd that Paul not only starts taking acid but he goes on record saying that he sees nothing wrong with it. Has to be a connection somewhere between his double and the sudden use of LSD."

"How did he die?" Amy said after a moment of silence.

"Car crash. At least that's the legend. He lost control one night and crashed his car and he was decapitated."

Amy made a face as her hand went up to her neck.

"And someone started putting all these clues on the record albums?"

"Well, supposedly that someone was John. John wanted the world to know the truth so he started inserting all these clues on the songs and on the album covers so someone would finally figure it out. Again, that's a part of the legend. I don't know for sure if that's true but if your best mate is killed and a double is thrust upon you and you want people to find out, what better way than to hide the clues inside your songs and on your albums."

"And they said if you play some of the songs backwards, you hear some of these clues," Amy said.

"Yup. Have you ever done that?"

"Played record albums backwards? No," Amy said.

The Doctor got up and walked over to his computer terminal. He stopped the Mozart and looked at Amy.

"Ever heard Revolution 9?" he asked her.

"A long time ago. I remember it was weird and I hated it."

"Yes. It was created by John and Yoko and the other Beatles fought to keep it off the White Album but in the end John and Yoko won out. I have the song in my database and I can get the TARDIS to play it backwards. Have a listen, it's fascinating."

Amy nodded. She sat down on the floor beside the Doctor's chair. He cued up Revolution 9 and commanded the TARDIS to play it backwards. Once it started, he sat back down and he and Amy listened. Amy's eyes bulged when a few seconds into the song, she heard a childlike voice saying, "Satan, look at me, please."

"What? Did I hear that right?" Amy said to the Doctor.

"About Satan? Yes, there are a couple of bits related to Satan in addition to the Paul is dead stuff," he said.

They listened. Amy couldn't make out everything but she heard more about Satan before she finally heard the phrase turn me on, dead man repeated over and over.

"This is what you get when you play the phrase number 9 backwards. That's why it keeps repeating because John inserted that into the song many times. Now, listen and you'll hear the actual car crash."

Amy heard a screeching that sounded like skidding tires followed by a crashing sound. Then she heard someone repeating "Get me out," over and over. Then she heard the sound of crackling flames and in the middle of it, a high-pitched voice saying "Paul is doomed." Her blood ran cold as she imagined Paul trapped inside a car, screaming in pain while he burned to death. She then had a thought.

"Wait, you said he got decapitated so how could he be screaming, "Get me out?" she said.

The Doctor chuckled.

"I didn't say the clues were absolute proof, I'm just letting you hear some of the clues pertaining to the legend and let you decide for yourself."

As Amy listened, she suddenly had a disturbing thought.

"What if it doesn't matter?" she murmured.

The Doctor jerked his head down.

"I'm sorry?" he said.

"What if what we do doesn't matter in the end? We tried to help Van Gogh and he still ended up killing himself. What if we save Paul and instead we just delay the inevitable," Amy said, her voice cracking with emotion.

The Doctor got up and got down on the floor beside her. He put his arm around her and Amy wrapped his arms around him while the Doctor laid his head on hers.

"You can't think that every time we help someone," he said gently. "You can't think that what we do won't make a difference in the end. That's defeatist talk and you can't be a defeatist and travel with me. Otherwise you'll eventually come to the conclusion that nothing you do matters and you won't help anyone and you'll be no use to me or anyone else."

"I just don't want Paul to die," Amy sobbed. "I had to come to terms with Vincent killing himself and thinking..."

"Thinking what?" the Doctor said when she trailed off.

"Thinking that he might have committed suicide because I didn't stay and marry him. What if I'm the cause of his suicide?"

"Pond, you can't do this," the Doctor said, cupping her face with his hands. "You don't know that. You don't know why he killed himself and you can't torture yourself with what ifs. You had a choice to stay with him and be his wife and you declined. Right or wrong, you chose your path in life and right or wrong, so did he. Same with Paul. I know you care for Paul and I know you and he have become friends but sooner or later we're gonna have to leave him behind and leave him to make his own decisions and determine his own destiny. Now, we have an opportunity to save his life and stop a gross injustice from being committed, what happens afterwards is up to him and if it so happens that we leave and the next day he walks across the street and gets hit by a car then unfortunately that was a consequence of not allowing him to die in this car crash that was depicted on Revolution 9 or whatever method was used to kill him. If you truly care for him, you'll help save him and then keep him in your heart and trust him to fate or luck or his destiny, whatever it may be. But you can't sit around and think what if, what if, what if all the time, Amy, it'll drive you insane. So will you stop second guessing everything and worrying about what might happen if Paul is or isn't rescued?"

Amy nodded and the Doctor gave her a firm kiss on the forehead and put his own forehead against hers.

"Promised ya I wouldn't kiss ya anymore but I think the occasion calls for a friendly kiss, especially if it makes you feel better. Does it?"

Amy laughed through her sobs.

"Yeah, it does," she said.

"Good. Now I want you to go back to bed, relax and snuggle with your husband. We're gonna see him in the morning and I promise you, he'll be alive and well when we walk up to his house. Okay?"

"Yeah," Amy said, nodding.

The Doctor gave her another kiss on the forehead and smiled when Amy hugged him. He returned the hug and patted her back. He wished her goodnight and watched while she walked to the back door. Once she was gone, he got up off the floor, went to his monitor and started up the Mozart again.

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