Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

38. The Monsters In The Closet

THEY'RE GOING IN CIRCLES. Alex keeps trying to find reasons as to why George is like this. The Doctor is whizzing through not solving a Rubik's cube, while Aurora stares at him, both sitting next to George on his bed.

"Maybe it was things on the telly, you know?" Alex tries.

"Right," the Doctor muses.

"Scary stuff, getting under his skin, frightening him," he goes on.

"Mmm-hmm."

"We stopped letting him watch."

It makes the Doctor raise his head. "Oh, you don't want to do that."

"And Claire thought it might have been something he was reading," he says.

"Great. Reading's great." He turns to George. "You like stories, George?" He nods. "Yeah? Me, too. When I was your age, about, oooh, a thousand years ago, I loved a good bedtime story. The Three Little Sontarans. The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes. Snow White And The Seven Keys To Doomsday, eh? All the classics." He looks at Aurora. "Right?" She slowly shakes her head no. He sighs and throws the Rubik's cube away. "Rubbish. Must be broken. I hate those things. Better tidy it away, though, eh?" He stands up, takes the Rubik's and points at the closer. "How about in here?"

George's eyes widened in fear, gasping. Aurora arches an eyebrow. "No, better stay clear of the closet." Alex looks at her weirdly and the Doctor smirks a bit. "Right yeah. Cupboard." She tilts her head, looking back at George. "Why not in there, George?"

George seems properly terrified. "It's a thing," Alex explains as Aurora sits up, walking to the closet. "A thing we got him doing ages back. Anything that frightens him, we put it in the cupboard. Creepy toys, scary pictures, that sort of thing."

"And is that where the monsters go?" the Doctor asks. George doesn't move, looking at them with wide eyes. "Yeah."

Aurora tries to smile at him. "There's nothing to be scared of, George." Though, she gulps as she turns around, ready to open it. "It's just a... cupboard."

Her hand is hovering just above the lock... There's a sudden hammering that makes her jolt backwards, her heart hammering in her chest.

Alex sighs. "Front door."

Aurora and the Doctor watch from the half open door as Alex goes to the front door, and opens it. A man with his bulldog gets in without asking. "Evening."

"Oh, hi," Alex stutters a bit.

"How's Claire?" he inquires.

"Good, thanks." Alex still seems confused. "At work. Look, er, this really isn't a good time. Maybe later I..."

"And the kiddie?" the man cuts in, and Aurora can already tell that she doesn't like him.

Alex sighs, resigned. "Good. Yeah."

He nods. "You know how I hate to mention it, but it's that time again."

Oh. Must be the bills then. "Yes."

"And you know I like my money prompt."

The Doctor gets closer to Aurora, eavesdropping too, his torso just behind her shoulder because of their height difference.

"The thing is, I still haven't found anywhere since the shop shut, and Claire's wage only goes so far," Alex explains. "I thought we could, you know, come to some sort of arrangement."

Aurora looks at him over her shoulder, catching sight of George, looking at them. "We should distract him," she mutters to the Doctor.

He nods. "Right."