The Time Travelers Wife

The Monster

"This way please." Cleopatra said with ease as she glided down the halls. Anne-Marie took everything in. The ancient, well not so ancient now, hieroglyphics on the walls. the beautiful illustrations. They still looked fresh. Anne-Marie cautiously reached out to touch the smooth wall. "Please don't touch." Cleopatra said. Anne-Marie looked at her. Cleopatra's back was still turned. Anne-Marie silently followed the Doctor as the descended farther into the palace. The air felt colder and the Doctor realized they were going underground. He drew Anne-Marie closer to him making sure not to loose her.

"So, tell me more about this. Monster." the Doctor tried not to sound too enthusiastic. Anne-Marie looked up at him and he couldn't help but hide the smile over the fact there was a monster in Egypt. Anne-Marie shivered. She wondered what it would look like. Would it have claws the size of her head? Could it swallow her whole? Would it be slimy or scaly? Anne-Marie shivered again and decided it was best not to think on it. She would know soon enough.

"It started as one and turned into many." she paused. "When i first saw him, the first creature, it was all i could do to help from screaming." Cleopatra's voice drifted down the hall and echoed off the walls.

"So it's a person." the Doctor said his voice still full of delight.

"Yes he was human. I'm not so sure anymore." Cleopatra said looking back at them. She paused at an entry way. They could hear heavy breathing and snuffling. Like something big and heavy moving around slowly. "Not to late to turn around little one." Cleopatra said glancing down at Anne-Marie, but she simply shook her head no.

"I want to see." she said her voice shaking a little. the Doctor began to get worried. Sometimes the things he see are the stuff of nightmares. What was he thinking bringing a ten year old child with him on his adventures. Before he could push Anne-Marie back down the corridor and tell her to run for her life Cleopatra stepped through the doorway and Anne-Marie followed. Anne-Marie gasped in astonishment and covered her eyes. The Doctor came in and took everything in. He blew out his breath. This was the stuff of nightmares.

Before them, in cages, were several beings. They were clearly people at one point but everything human about them seemed to be wiped away. Their eyes puffy and large, their limbs dripped with some sort of green ooze and were covered in boils that seemed to burst heal and burst all over again. Their hair was stringy and chunks had fallen out leaving it patchy. Their feet had swollen three times past their normalcy and seemed ready to burst at the slightest movement.

"What is it Doctor?" Cleopatra asked. She sounded pained. Like any respectable Pharaoh would seeing their servants suffering the way they were. The Doctor stood as close as he could without getting in the creatures grabbing range. For they had long over grown nails all sharped for digging through skin and bone.

"Well it looks to me like a sickness." the Doctor deduced. He pointed the screw driver at a pile of goo that had built up on the floor. It clicked and the Doctor nodded carefully. He had figured out what it was.

"What is that contraption?" Cleopatra asked coming to stand next to him.

"Screwdriver. Sonic screwdriver." the Doctor said waving it in his hands.

"How does it work?" Cleopatra asked snatching it out of his hands and examining it.

"Hey! No!" the Doctor said taking it back.

"How dare you." Cleopatra said indigently.

"Apologies Pharaoh but nobody plays with my instruments." he said firmly. Cleopatra nodded in understanding.

"Very well but what is wrong with my people?" she said gesturing to the many cages. The Doctor wondered how many there were. "What is causing such a thing. Surely no disease i've seen has caused this." she continued. Anne-Marie was whimpering.