The Infernal Doctor

Introductions

             Will rushed ahead of us, but he slowed down a bit, trying not to look as if he was running from something. Running from me....and the obviously painful subject of Tessa. The Doctor kept his hand placed firmly in mine, comforting me. He didn't care what everyone else thought of us holding hands, he just wanted my distress gone; and slowly it did. My distress over Will and his feelings slowly melted away as the Doctor held my hand, running his thumb in circles over the back of my hand. I suddenly realized it wasn't just circles. It was an intricate pattern he was doing. A big circle, then smaller circles inside of it, with lines and other symbols. He kept tracing the same lines over and over again. He was writing in Gallifreyan, I realized. I desperately wanted to know what he was writing, but the Tardis didn't translate Gallifreyan. The Doctor had told me that. Suddenly, the circles became legible, and I could understand what it said. It didn't turn into English, but I understood the symbols, nonetheless. It said.....It's alright, Love. I sucked in a sharp breath. "What," the Doctor said in confusion. "Nothing," I replied. I didn't want him to know that the Tardis translated it for me. He would be baffled that the Tardis had translated Gallfreyan...just for me, when it didn't do it for anyone else. Why did the Tardis translate it? I was more confused than anything, but I sent a silent thanks to her. Thank you, Old Girl, I thought, using the Doctor's pet name for her. "No. Come on, tell me," he whispered as we neared the dining table. I really didn't want to say anything....I just didn't want him to take back those sweet Gallifreyan words. He gave me a pleading look, and I caved. Damn him, why did he have to have so much power over me? Before he could sit down at the table I stopped him, turning him to face me. Everyone at the table stayed quiet, obviously picking up that we weren't ready to proceed the introductions. "What you were tracing on my hand," I started, in explanation," I knew it was Gallifreyan." I stopped talking, bracing myself for what I had to say next. He looked at me expectantly, not sure where I was going with this, and....was that unease in his eyes? "The Tardis translated it for me," I breathed out. His look of unease, turned into outright fear. Fear of what I now knew, but he hid it well. His face, slightly tightened, turned into a look of complete and utter astonishment. "The Tardis translated Gallifreyan for you?" He said loudly. He glanced to the side, quickly, and looked back at me. "She never does that," he said, more to himself than me. "Why doesn't she," I asked. "It's her natural language, so she never finds the need to translate it. But, for some reason," he continued,"she translated it for you. On purpose. She wanted you to know what I was tracing on your hand." He said, looking up, sheepishly. "Old Girl," he muttered,"what are you doing?" Someone cleared their throat from across the table, and we both whipped our heads to the side to see everyone still staring at us....and the Doctor was still holding my hand. He had never let go. We quickly pulled our hands apart and took our seats. Two men stood up at the end of the table and from Will's disgusted look, he wasn't quite fond of either of them. They both looked similar in appearance, but the way they held themselves you could see they had entirely different personalities. The older one seemed more kind, while the younger one looked as if he were angry. I couldn't tell if that was his normal face, or if he was just angry. The older of the brothers spoke,"I am Gideon Lightwood, and this is my brother, Gabriel." The younger man, Gabriel, attempted a small smile, trying his best to be polite. I smiled at the two of them as they sat down. Next, Charlotte stood, pulling up a red haired man, fiddling with bolts and screws. "You already know me, but this is my husband, Henry Branwell," she said, trying to get his eyes off of whatever he was working on. He looked up and smiled, mumbling a hello, then quickly looked back down and continued working. I could tell he was obviously a very nice man, but he was too absorbed in his work to make conversation. He reminded me of the Doctor, always fiddling with things no one else would understand but would use nonetheless. Charlotte smiled at us, apologetically, before taking her seat. Next, Will stood up, along with a black haired and blue eyed girl who looked exactly like him in every way possible. "I'mWilliam Herondale, though, you already know," he smiled,"and this is my little sister Cecily." She waved to us, shyly, before sitting back down. Finally, the girl who had, so kindly, helped me with my dress earlier stood up. I already knew who she was, so she was introducing herself, solely for the Doctor's benefit. Then a fair haired man, who seemed to be of Asian descent. "I am James Carstairs, but you can call me Jem," he said in his melodic voice. Then suddenly, I heard a woman singing a terribly morbid song, which seemed to be coming from the kitchen.

"Oh, her father led her down
the stair,
Her mother combed her
yellow hair.
Her sister Ann led her to the
cross,
And her brother John set her
on her horse.
'Now you are high and I am
low,
Give me a kiss before ye go.'
She leaned down to give him
a kiss,
He gave her a deep wound
and did not miss.
And with a knife as sharp as a
dart,
Her brother stabbed her to
the heart."

"Who in the bloody hell is singing those horrid songs," I asked in a whisper. Tessa looked at me and just sighed, "It's Bridget, the cook." "Your cook sings about murder and betrayal?" She just cast her eyes downward, "Yes." "Well, isn't that cheerful?" The Doctor asked sarcastically. Though, with him you could never tell. Charlotte began speaking to drown out the rest of Bridget's mournful tunes. "There is one person missing from the table," she said with a sad smile,"Jessamine Lovelace, but maybe she'll be back before you all leave." She said with hope, but her eyes told a different story. This Jessamine girl wouldn't be back for a while, and everyone knew it. "Where is she," I asked. They all glanced down, before Will finally spoke, his voice holding no remorse. He obviously wasn't very fond of this Jessamine girl either. "She's in prison....for betraying us." They all cast their eyes down in sadness. It was obvious no one was going to clarify how she had betrayed them; but however she did it, it was obviously horrible, but they all still loved her anyways and hoped she would be back soon. Charlotte looked at us, her face saying, Now you introduce yourself. We took the hint and both stood up. "Umm, I'm Rose Tyler," I said hoping that was efficient enough. The Doctor looked at me smiling, "And I'm the Doctor," he said, on the verge of laughter at their confusion. We all looked around in awkward silence, when the doors to the kitchen banged open. A woman came out, pushing a cart and efficiently going from one person to the next, giving us all a plate and was quickly gone again. We had all started eating when suddenly Gideon spoke up,"So where are you all from?" "London," we said in unison. They all looked surprised at this news,"I've never seen either of you around London before," Gabriel butted in. "It's a huge city. What, do you expect to know everyone who lives here, Lightworm," I heard Will say, and I started giggling uncontrollably. "What," he asked me, a smile on his face. "L-Lightworm," I choked out in the middle of my laugh. The Doctor was laughing, also but much less than me. Will just told me, through a chuckle, to be quiet and offered no explanation to the name, Lightworm. However, the youngest Lightworm, Lightwood, I corrected myself. The youngest Lightwood brother looked a bit annoyed. We continued the rest of the dinner making polite conversation and getting to know one another. I found I enjoyed Gideon's company, who was much nicer than Gabriel. I also liked Henry, though he spoke little. Cecily seemed nice but she was very shy and didn't talk much, and by her appearance I would guess she was around fifteen years old. I also quite liked Jem and that beautiful voice of his. When we had all finished our dinner that Bridget woman came back out, still singing those horrifying songs. She gathered up our things as she sang her song. Once she had gathered all of our dishes she left the room in a flurry. Charlotte stood up and began to excuse herself,"I'm sorry but there is important business I must attend in my office, I hope you all have a good evening." She left, with Henry following close behind her, obviously taking that as his cue to leave. Will and Cecily also stood up, Will saying something about knife throwing and for some reason, the Lightwood brothers followed. Jem and Tessa both stood also and said they had to plan things for the wedding and they left in quite a hurry. Then Sophie said,"I'm very sorry to leave you here alone, but I must get to work." She walked towards the kitchen, obviously, going to help Bridget clean up the kitchen and do dishes. I looked at the Doctor, and he stared at me. "So, what do we do now?" I ask tentively. He looked a little nervous but said,"Why don't we head to your room and talk about that thing that happened earlier." I was quite surprised he had brought it up. I thought I was going to have to beg him to talk to me about it. Apparently not.