IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT

Chapter Five

After the Doctor put Rose to sleep, he searched for any sign of Rebecca. He searched through her recent memories, smiling at some of the happier ones involving him and her.

I can see them too.

The Doctor paused in his exploration when he heard an unfamiliar voice inside Rose's head.

I am Rebecca, the voice thought to him.

"I am the Doctor, come forward and speak to me," the Doctor said aloud.

He took his fingertips away from Rose's head and opened his eyes. Rose's eyes opened and she sat up.

"Are you Rebecca?" the Doctor said to her.

"Yes."

"Why have you entered Rose's body?"

"I wanted to feel what it was like to be alive again. It's been so long."

"You do know that this is wrong, right?" the Doctor said.

"What is so wrong about it? She has control over her body," Rebecca said indignantly.

"I don't care. This isn't your body. If you truly are a ghost, your body is gone and it's time for you to move on to wherever you need to go. This is Rose's body, not yours."

"Why don't you love her?"

The Doctor was thrown off by Rebecca's question.

"Love who?" he said.

"Rose. You never tell her you love her. Matthew never said he loved me."

"Can we get back to the point? Are you going to leave Rose alone?"

"She loves you dearly; I see her memories and hear her thoughts."

"Which is why you need to leave. You are violating her privacy by doing that and…"

"Why don't you love her?"

The Doctor sighed angrily.

"I try to be patient, Rebecca, but my patience can run out rather quickly. I want you to leave Rose's body now!"

"What is wrong with men? Why can't they love in return?" Rebecca said angrily.

"Is that why you killed Matthew? Because he wouldn't return your love?"

"Matthew was my one true love as Rose is yours and every time I tried to let him know that, he ignored me. Then he ended up becoming engaged to some ugly old hag. I had an argument with Matthew and I stabbed him. I didn't mean it; I only had the dagger to scare him into loving me. I never meant to hurt him, Doctor. I would never hurt him."

"I believe you but what happened, happened, and it's time to let go and go find peace," the Doctor said.

"But how can I find peace?" Rebecca said, standing up. "Look at what I did!"

"I've done far worse than you," the Doctor said, standing up beside her, "and I've tried to make peace with myself. Now you must do the same and go to wherever you need to be. Rose is inhabiting this body. Now lie back down and let me wake her up."

He grunted when Rebecca slapped his face.

"Rose, I hope that wasn't you," the Doctor said.

"You are a pig. You lead Rose on, making her believe that you love her but you never tell her that you love her. Why?"

"Rebecca, what transpires between Rose and me is not your business," the Doctor growled. "Now leave her!"

"Why won't you tell her you love her?" Rebecca yelled at him.

The Doctor sighed.

"Because that phrase is overused to the point of being banal," the Doctor said. "Why tell her I love her when I can show her over and over that I do. That to me is more of a demonstration of love than a trite little phrase. I don't know what Matthew did to you. I don't know if he truly loved you or if you only thought he did but the man didn't deserve to die for loving someone else. I'm sorry, Rebecca, but perhaps you were a bit too demanding and you lost him to someone else. And I can believe you are a demanding woman since you won't leave Rose and you keep badgering me about my relationship with her. Wherever Matthew's gone and I'm sure he's dead by now, I'm sure he's found peace and it's time you did the same. Locking yourself up in a house and recreating your moment of shame for all eternity won't solve anything. And if you won't get out of Rose's body, I'll find a way to make you leave her!"

"What if she died? What if Rose died? Would you care then?"

"Don't you dare threaten her life, even as a joke," the Doctor snarled at Rebecca. "Get out of her body right now or…"

He yelled Rebecca's name when Rebecca suddenly dashed past him and ran out of the room.

"COME BACK HERE NOW!" the Doctor bellowed as he followed her.

Rebecca ran down the stairs with the Doctor in hot pursuit.

"REBECCA, GET BACK HERE NOW!" the Doctor yelled as he took the stairs two steps at a time while Rebecca reached the bottom and headed for the fireplace.

The Doctor tried to control his rage as he ran after Rebecca. It was his fault. He was the one that put Rose to sleep and now Rebecca had control of her body. The Doctor was impressed that she was so fast. He put on a burst of speed and grabbed her. Rebecca gasped when he jerked to a stop and made her stop as well.

"Get out of her!" the Doctor growled as he tried to force her to the ground.

"You're just like every other man! You use women and discard them whenever you want! Rose will be the same way!" Rebecca yelled at him.

"Get out of her!" the Doctor said, losing his patience.

He forced Rebecca to the ground. Straddling her, he put his fingers against her temples while she protested. He reached into Rose's mind and pursued Rebecca while she tried to flee to a distant part of Rose's mind. He managed to grab her and gritted his teeth while he forced her to get out of Rose. Rebecca howled in anger and frustration and then the Doctor could see no sign of her inside Rose's mind. He quickly woke her up before Rebecca could come back. Rose woke up and looked around in confusion when she noticed she wasn't in the bed anymore.

"What happened?" she said to the Doctor.

"Rebecca resisted when I commanded her to leave and she tried to run. She got down here before I caught up to her and forced her out of your mind."

"Where is she now?" Rose said, sitting up.

"Search me. She's not in you, I know that. Hopefully, she moved on to wherever it was she was supposed to go."

"Then you think she was a ghost then?"

"I don't know. She could have been a convicted criminal and was doomed to be a hologram for murdering Matthew and when you touched her back, you released her and she possessed you. There's no telling what she was but she's gone for the moment. So why don't you have a rest and I'll keep watch over you. Hopefully, we can leave here in the morning."

Rose nodded. The Doctor helped her stand up and they walked to the sofa. Rose lay down on it and the Doctor covered her up with the quilt before he sat down in the chair and kept a watch over her.

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