I Didn't Mean It (Doctor Who)

Ch.4: Dancing in the Dark

Recap: Everything around me felt as if were not really happening. Everything was milky white and blurred as if I were in a dream, and it felt as if I were floating.

"Doctor! Help...me!".

~oOo~

I jolted up from where I lay leaned against the TARDIS door, waiting for my vision to slowly quit spinning.

"Doctor?" I called groggily. There was no answer. I slowly got to my feet. It was weird, I didn't even remember losing consciousness.

My handcuffs were mysteriously missing, leaving only sore red rings on my wrists in their place.

I lifted up my shirt sleeve to look at my scratch wound, but there was nothing there. The only evidence that I had of getting scratched by one of those creatures is that there was a tiny spot of black pulsing on my arm. It was as if someone had smudged a light layer of soot over it.

I bent down to pick up something from the ground, realizing it was the Doctor's so called 'sonic screwdriver'. I knew if he were going anywhere, he would take this. That meant he was in trouble.

I plucked it up awkwardly from the ground, feeling like a child touching things I shouldn't, and shoved it in my pocket.

I slowly opened the TARDIS doors and stepped outside, looking cautiously around me. The area appeared to be clear of Xylima.

The scenery looked exactly as it had when we got here, except it was late afternoon now. I must've been out for a while.

I walked along the slightly less-crowded sidewalk and stopped at the dark alleyway where I saw the shadowy girl earlier, cautiously beginning to walk towards it. Steady streams of water dripped down from the walls, pooling on the ground below. I heard a faint noise coming from below me, like a soft humming. A pile of strange-looking leaves lay in the corner, but there were no trees within a 100 mile radius of the area.

"Those don't belong there..." I murmured, slowly brushing them away to reveal a small square of metal lay underneath. I gently touched it with my fingertips, hissing and withdrawing my hand as I realized it was burning hot. The humming from below me grew louder, bordering overwhelming.

There was a strange popping noise, and I soon found myself falling through what used to be solid ground as the metal square caved in, taking me with it. I barely had time to yelp as I went tumbling into the darkness that lay underneath the ground and straight into someone's arms.

"Huh?" I asked, blinking rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I sighed with relief at the sight of a familiar outline above me.

I threw my arms around his neck, "Doctor! I was looking for you everywhere!".

"I put you in the TARDIS but the Xylima got me, I woke up down here. That trapdoor you fell through is automatic, if it senses movment or feels pressure it gives way," Doctor explained hurriedly, "Do you have my sonic screwdriver?"

I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to him.

I wriggled out of his arms and awkwardly backed away, only to be dumped on by the pile of leaves from above.

I sighed, shaking my head and sending leaves fluttering to the ground around me. Doctor chuckled, reaching up to snag a leaf from my hair. I scowled, throwing a handful of leaves back at him, which landed uselessly at his feet.

I jumped, my mood rapidly changing from amused to terrified, as I heard a loud crash from somehwere behind us. It was pitch black around us, the grate in the ceiling like a lone spotlight shining down on us.

"Doctor...W-What was that?" I asked, trying to hide the fear in my voice. I'd always had an irrational fear of the dark. Maybe it wasn't so irrational anymore.

He opened his mouth to say something when the trapdoor above us closed, engulfing us in darkness. I stood there, trying to force my eyes to adjust to my black surroundings. A cold rush of air sent shivers up my spine, and a sharp sense of fear flooding through me. I felt creatures stirring from everywhere around me, but I couldn't see them. Faint shadows moved across the walls, and I reached out, struggling to touch whatever was moving around me, but felt nothing. I began to run towards where I thought the Doctor was, heart pounding.

"Doctor! Doctor where are you!" I shouted, my voice echoing across the walls.

"Alice! I'm over here, come to the light of my sonic!" I heard the Doctor's voice from a distance.

I whipped around in circles, looking for the faimiliar dim green light. I spotted it fainly glowing in the distance, seeming comically disembodied in the darkness, it's strange sound bouncing off the walls.

"Doctor, it's too far away! T-there....are...creatures..." I stuttered, gasping for breath.

"They'll disappear once you get close to them! Alice, just listen to me and walk towards the sonic screwdriver."

I took a quick breath from my inhaler and shakily began to walk towards the green light, feeling as if I were walking on a tight rope. I tried to ignore the slithering sounds coming from all around me, but realized it was futile. I was close to it now, I could see faintly see the Doctor's face.

Just a few more steps... I thought, reaching out towards him. I gasped with relief as I finally got to him, embracing him in a hug.

"Let's find a way out of here," Doctor said, grabbing my hand and guiding me down the dark tunnels.

"If there is a way out of here..." I muttered.

"Hey! Are you doubting me?!" The Doctor asked offendedly.

"No! No, not at all! We're only in a pitch black tunnel crawling with aliens that can knock us out at any moment and take us far away from the TARDIS, therefore trapping us forever in the 1920s. Or we can just get killed. But I definately am not doubting you!" I said sarcastically, crossing my arms over my chest.

I could imagine the Doctor's pouting face through the darkness as he said, "Fine! I'll get us out of here with or without your trust!".

I gasped as I saw light at the end of the tunnel, "Doctor look!".

"See I got us out of here easy! A little bit too easy..." He said, trailing off at the end.

Suddenly something black came springing out of the shadows, tackling the Doctor to the ground.

"Doctor!" I shouted, sprinting towards him.

I screamed as I went flying to the ground.