Doctor Who: The Adventures of The 14th Doctor

Skinwalkers (Part 7)

The Doctor had just returned to the farmhouse and was greeted warmly by Nimona. "Thank you so very much Doctor, I made a cherry pie just for you."

"Where's Larn? Have you seen her?" The Doctor asked as he wiped his face with a napkin as he swallowed his last mouthful of cherry pie.

"She went to watch over the cows in the field. I told her not to be too long." Nimona replied.

When an hour passed, The Doctor became more uneasy. He went to the field, only to discover that all of Nimona's cows we're dead.

"Oh no, no no no!" The Doctor cried as he began to search for Larn, "Larn! Where are you? Answer me!"

Like the first corpse he had examined , the cows' lips, eyes and internal organs were gone. But there was no sign of Larn...or any human remains.

The Doctor rushed back to the farmhouse, calling for Larn.

Chloe looked up at the Doctor, she could tell by the look in his tired blue eyes that her warning had not been heeded.

"Tell me what you know about the Sherman Ranch." The Doctor said quietly, as if he was fighting to keep his voice under control.

"Come back here tonight at ten o'clock, then you'll get your answers." Chloe replied.

"Doctor, are you sure it's safe for you to leave at this late hour?" Nimona been devastated when they hadn't been able to find Larn.

"I won't be gone long." The Doctor replied. Nimona sighed, "In that case, I'll leave the door unlocked for you. Stay safe Doctor."

The Doctor gave a curt nod as he left the farmhouse.

Chloe was waiting for him, like she said she would and she ushered the Doctor inside the store as quickly as possible.

To the Doctor's surprise, the small store was packed with people, men and women, all of them looked exactly how he felt.

"I already told them what happened Doctor. They're here to help."

A man, in his late fifties, approached the Doctor shaking his hand, "I'm very sorry about your daughter Doctor."

"Thank you." The Doctor choked out. "And you are?"

"Tucker Garrison. You've already met my wife, Chloe." The Doctor nodded, "What can you tell me about the ranch?" he rasped.

"That place is cursed Doctor. Plain and simple." Tucker replied.

"So the ranch is haunted by the spirit of an evil shaman?" The Doctor was trying to process what Tucker had just told him.

"The Skinwalker!" Chloe corrected.

"Right, the Skinwalker...." The Doctor replied.

"The Skinwalker is very powerful." Chloe continued. "I'm surprised that you and your daughter have lasted as long as you did....she's a demon..."

The Doctor felt his stomach turn to ice. "She?"

"No one knows her name, but she took over the ranch shortly after those scientists were killed." Tucker said. "Then that's when everything went to hell."

At first, only livestock had been taken or killed, their mutilated carcasses left behind. But then when people would go to the ranch looking for work......they would never come back.

Chloe and Tucker insisted that the Doctor stay with them until he could figure things out. As the trio made their way home, the quiet street erupted in ungodly wailing.

"Dammit!" Tucker swore as he grabbed the Doctor and his wife by the hand.

"What are we running from?" The Doctor demanded as his ears filled with the sound of snarling and gnashing teeth.

"Wendigos!" Chloe gasped out. "They work for the Skinwalker!"

The smell of decaying flesh hit the Doctor's nostril's, making his stomach churn.

The Doctor turned seeing something straight out of his nightmares. Guant figures, that must have been human one day, their skin clinging to their bones....

Tucker tripped and a wendigo lunged, ripping into its new meal. "No!" The Doctor cried. Chloe grabbed him by the arm. "It's no use Doctor. He's gone." Tears poured down her eyes as she yanked the Doctor away. Tucker's screams echoing in the night.