TURN ME ON, DEAD MAN

Chapter Nine

Amy yawned and glanced up at the clock in the studio. It was nearing midnight. After eating breakfast at Jane's house, they walked to Abbey Road with Paul. Amy thought it strange that he didn't have a car of his own and asked about it before they left Jane's house.

"Oh, I have a car," Paul said.

He pointed to a white Aston Martin parked beside the curb near the house.

"That's mine. I don't use it in the city very often since London is a nightmare to drive through. I like to drive into the country though when I have the time and that's when I use it. The house is right down the street from the studio and like I said, the neighborhood is pretty safe for me to walk through. Other than that, we all use John's car and ride together. Saves time and petrol."

That had been nearly 16 hours ago, now Rory was asleep beside her and the Doctor had his eyes closed as well, although Amy thought he was meditating rather than sleeping. The Beatles had recorded several tracks, most of them Amy recognized from Sergeant Pepper and they worked on Octopus's Garden for awhile. They had taken a couple of breaks to go and eat and they had gotten some Chinese takeaway early in the day and reheated it up for supper. The other thing that happened was Mister Brown and Mister Jones returned to once again talk to George Martin. The Beatles, by now thoroughly sick and tired of the interruption, fought to keep their tempers under control while they stood outside in the hallway with her and the Doctor and Rory and waited for them to leave. This time George Martin screamed at them to leave and never come back and they could hear him through the door. To their relief, they did just that but Amy noticed that both men stared at Paul with evil smiles on their faces while they walked past him. The look they gave him was almost predatory and it chilled her to the bone. She silently made a decision to stick by Paul and make sure nothing happened to him, now and for the rest of the night.

Finally, a half hour after midnight, George Martin told everyone to go home for the night.

"We'll take a day off tomorrow so everyone can recharge their batteries," George told the band while they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank God," John said. "I'm gonna go home and sleep for twenty four hours straight."

"Sounds good to me, mate," Ringo said, "But I think I'll sleep for forty eight."

"You're always trying to outdo me, Starr," John said. "It's getting to be annoying."

He noticed Paul passing by him.

"And I'm sure Paulie will be having sex nonstop till he comes back to the studio," he said loudly.

"That's between me and Jane and no one else," Paul said over his shoulder as he left the studio.

"Damn, you mean I can't bring the wife and kiddy over and get some pointers on my technique?" John said as Ringo sniggered.

"Nah, I don't want you scaring Jane's parent's again," Paul said airily as he walked out of the room.

He paused and noticed Rory was asleep. The Doctor and Amy were giggling at George who pretended he was about to punch him.

"Should I wake him up in a violent manner?" George asked his friend.

"Nah, might make him cranky and he might attack," Paul said. "Use the gentle approach."

"Bugger, that's boring," George said as Amy laughed.

He bent over and shook Rory's shoulder.

"Roooory," George said in a falsetto voice while everyone in the room giggled, "love, it's mummy. We're at gran's now, wake up."

His eyes closed, Rory grinned at that while everyone laughed harder. He opened one eye and looked at George.

"Funny, you don't look like my mum," Rory said.

"I've gone into menopause and my hormones went wild," George said, using the falsetto voice as everyone laughed.

He switched to his normal voice.

"I envy you," he said to Rory as he straightened up. "I've been wanting to sleep all night and I come out here and you're living my fantasy."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. It got a bit boring listening to the same songs for sixteen hours," Rory said, stretching.

"You're telling me?" George said while his band mates howled with laughter. "I'm the one playing the ruddy songs; I know full well how boring it is to play them over and over."

Rory stood up and stretched his back.

"Is it time to go?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, they finally let them go for the night," the Doctor said, standing up.

"Are you staying for a few days?" Paul asked. "I wouldn't mind if you came back over in the morning and walked with me again."

John looked at George and Ringo.

"When did Paulie become so needy?" he said as George and Ringo snickered. "He never asks us to go for walkies but total strangers? Sure, come along with me as I watch the sunrise. Makes me feel like an old used boot and here I gave Paul his lucky break when he joined the Quarryman. Some thanks!"

"Right, John, like you would tear yourself away from Cynthia and your stash of pot to come and walk with me," Paul said.

John raised his eyebrow.

"Wanna say that a bit louder, Paul? I don't think the bobbies down the street heard you mentioning my pot supply," he said. "Not to mention this lot could be a bunch of police informers."

"Nah, we won't tell anyone about your pot," Rory said.

"Better not or you'll get the Scouser Special," John teased, holding his face up to his face.

George put his hand on John's shoulder.

"There, there, Johnny, remember the last time you used the Scouser Special? We had to rescue you from the Black Hole of Calcutta."

"Oh yeah," John said, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "I owe you for that. Although...it wasn't that bad being crammed in with all the other prisoners. I was just getting to know that muscular transvestite, Frodo, he was a top bloke and he promised to bugger me so gently I wouldn't be able to feel it."

Paul rolled his eyes.

"And on that note, I believe I will take my leave," he said as everyone laughed. "Good night everyone!"

Amy glanced up at the clock and her heart raced. It was now nearly 1 a.m. on September 11th. She knew that the stories said that Paul crashed his car at night and she suddenly had an urge to stay near him.

"Doctor," she said softly, leaning into his ear. "It's September 11th now."

"I know," the Doctor said. "We'll have to be extra vigilant tonight."

"Well, do you mind if I walk Paul home and come back to the TARDIS? I don't want something to happen to him."

"Good idea. Rory and I will follow at a distance and if you like, we'll stay near his house tonight and keep a watch until 5 a.m."

"Yes, please, I wanna do that."

The Doctor nodded. He smiled and patted her shoulder and whispered to Rory what they were going to do while Amy walked off to find Paul.

She found him just outside the studio, finishing a cigarette. He smiled when he saw her come outside.

"Hey, just relaxing a moment. I know I don't have far to walk but I've been on my feet for sixteen hours and right now my house seems like it's in China or at least that's what my feet are telling me. So I thought I'd have a fag and let my feet realize the inevitable."

"I was wondering if you'd like me to walk you home, give you some company on the way."

Paul beamed.

"I'd love that," he said, dropping his cigarette and crushing it out with his foot. "The Doctor and Rory don't mind?"

"Nah, it isn't that far from where we're staying," Amy said. "I told them my idea and they were okay with it."

"What about you? Will you be alright walking back by yourself? It's a safe neighborhood but still..."

"Nah, I'll be alright, I can take care of myself."

"I can believe that actually. Well then, ready to go?"

"If your feet are up to it."

"Ready or not," Paul said with a shrug.

Amy laughed. Paul took her hand and they walked off. The two of them chatted quietly while they headed towards the house. Halfway there, Amy suddenly had a funny feeling they were being watched. Figuring it was the Doctor and Rory, she turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw Mister Jones, Mister Brown and a third men following them.

"Paul," Amy said, tugging his hand.

Paul gave her a questioning look, saw she was looking behind her and looked back.

"Oh...fuck," Paul muttered when he saw Brown and Jones. "Amy...get behind me, I'll sort this out. Once I get done fucking up their faces, they'll finally learn not to harass us anymore."

"No! Paul, run!" Amy said urgently.

"Run? Amy, they're just gonna follow us and keep on harassing..."

"No, they wanna kill you! We have to run!"

Paul gave her a confused look but he looked over his shoulder and noticed the maniacal look in the three men's eyes. He suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that Amy was right. He looked at her and leaned in close.

"Okay, we run. Head towards my Aston Martin. The roads won't be as congested now and we can drive towards the countryside."

Amy didn't like the idea of Paul being behind the wheel of his car now but she knew they had no choice. His Aston Martin was the quickest way to get away from the men. She nodded and Paul gave her hand a squeeze. He counted to three and screamed NOW as they broke apart and sprinted towards the car. Amy's heart raced when she heard Brown scream "Get them!" and she ran as fast as she could, making a beeline for the Aston Martin as Paul raced beside her. Amy could hear the cursing of the three men behind her but she kept her focus as her feet pounded the pavement. She hoped that the Doctor and Rory were catching up to the men. She had no idea if they saw what had happened but she hoped that her husband and friend weren't far behind.

After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the car.

"Door's unlocked, get in!" Paul yelled at her.

Amy lunged for the door handle as the three men yelled more curses. She and Paul flung themselves into the car and slammed the doors. Both of them locked their doors and Paul stuck his key in the ignition.

"Come on, come on," Paul muttered, his hand shaking as he turned the key.

The car roared to life and Paul switched it into first gear. The three men behind them cursed louder as the car zoomed out into the empty road and sped away. Paul let out a sigh of relief before he let out an angry yell and slammed his hand down on the steering wheel.

"Damn those mother fuckers. What the hell is their problem? Bunch of fucking nutters!" he yelled.

He calmed down and shook his head.

"Don't worry, Amy," he said as he drove. "I have some friends that live out of town. One friend I know of has a large house and he's a night owl. He'll be up at this hour. We'll go there and ring the police while we hide. Hopefully, by the time the sun's up, the fuckers will have fled and we can come back. Goddamn it, I'm so glad I don't have to go in tomorrow. It's bad enough spending long hours recording our songs without losing valuable studio time. Nutters."

Amy laid her hand on Paul's arm and he smiled at that while he drove. Being in the car with him on September 11th terrified her and she said a silent prayer to God that they would survive the night. Paul seemed to be calming down the further they got away from the three men and she figured he would be extra careful since she was sitting beside him. Still, she knew she would rest easy when they reached his friend's house. Luckily the traffic was light and they quickly got out of the city and drove into the countryside. Paul kept checking his rearview mirror and with each glance, he calmed down further when he saw no one was following them.

"I think we lost them. I just hope they didn't turn and go back to the studio and ambush the others."

"If he did, the Doctor would have made quick work of them."

Paul grinned.

"He's that tough?"

"Very tough, he may not look like much but he's an expert fighter and he can make those three men regret ever coming to the studio."

"Same with John. John was a teddy boy back in the old days and he got into his share of punch-ups and always won. They'd be wise to steer clear of him."

Amy slumped down in her seat and wiped the sweat from her brow. She glanced out the window and looked at the darkened countryside whizzing by the car. She debated whether or not she should tell Paul what she knew about his death. She wanted to warn him but she didn't want her friend to think she was a nutter.

"Paul?" she finally said.

"Hmm?"

"Do you believe in having premonitions? Like having psychic ability?" Amy asked him.

"Like ESP?"

Amy nodded.

"Yeah. I've had dreams that have come true before and had gut feelings that turned out to be right. I s'pose that could count as ESP, why?"

"I just think that you should be careful tonight," Amy said. "Especially driving this car."

"You mean like getting in an accident?" Paul said, glancing at her.

"Yeah. It's just a gut feeling," Amy said.

"Don't worry. I'm keeping my eyes on the road," he said. "We're nearly there so just relax and...oh...fuck!"

Amy's eyes bulged.

"What? What is it?" she said, panicking as Paul suddenly sped up.

"They didn't have their headlights on and..."

She screamed and lunged forward when a car suddenly came out of nowhere and rammed into the back of the Aston Martin. Paul cursed and quickly corrected the car before they went into the ditch. Amy tried to put her seatbelt on but the car rammed them again and her hands flew out as she caught herself on the dashboard. Paul gritted his teeth as he tried to speed up and get away from them. He squinted his eyes when the car, who was driving without its headlights on suddenly turned them on and turned them on full blast. Paul tried to see out the windshield past the light reflected on it. Then the car sped up, got alongside them and hit the backside. Paul cursed as the car was pushed off the road and he and Amy screamed as the car rolled down a steep embankment, turned over and landed upside down in a field beside a large hill.

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