The Mystery of the Mystery House!

[The Eighth Doctor]

Even though most of the house was dark and empty one could still sees flickers of light from lanterns and hear the sounds of hammers and saws at one end of the huge mansion looming in the darkness. Not many people visited the place, most were convinced the owner was quite mad and would have little to do with her. Only the workmen she hired stayed on the property and only because of the large pay they recieved. So it was an odd place, largely deserted but still very busy.

A very small figure carrying a lit candle made its way through room to another room, seemingly talking to herself but occasionally waiting and perhaps recieveing a reply. It was Mrs. Sarah Winchester, owner of the mansion and heiress to the great fortune of the Winchester Rifle Company. Yes, she was rich beyond any perosn's wildest dreams but where did that wealth leave her?

Alone. Her beloved baby daughter gone, her husband gone, her relatives gone. All that was left were the ghosts. The ghosts that whispered to her from every corner of the house, the ones who told her to build and keep building, to furnish rooms for each person killed by the rifle her husband had made and sold. Their blood was on her hands, they said and it was up to her to please them. That was why they took her daughter, her man. They would take her too, some day.

She entered the tiny room in the midst of the sprawling halls and quietly closed the door. There were other ways out of the room but only she knew where they were. Only she knew by heart the hidden passageways, the secret doors. Her servants were forever being startled by her sudden appearence where they worked and she had heard rumors that she herself was a 'haunt'. It was one of the very few things left that amused her.

She opened a closet and chose the robe she would wear that night. She needed to speak to the spirits once again, to recieve further instructions on what and where to build and what materials to be used. Money was no object, what did she care if mirrors had to be imported from France, or cabinet hinges to be from England? What else did she have to spend it all on anyway? She tenderly caressed the locket about her neck, the one thing she truly cherished. In it was tucked safely a lock of her lost baby's hair. No amount of money would ever separate her from that.

It was time. The bell tolled and she sat down on the floor. Eyes closed, breathing softly, she opened herself to the surrounding spirits again.

************************************

The TARDIS console room was also dimmed, but only because of a few hours' resting. The Doctor was relaxing in one of his favorite over-stuffed chairs, reading over an old newspaper he had plucked from the almost-toppling stack. It was a peaceful scene, until the Doctor sat up, staring at the front page. His eyes lit up and an excited smile filled his face.

"Yes! The very thing! Exactly the thing! Charley!" He sprang up from his chair and bounded over to the console. Immediately the lights flared up as he went over the controls. "Charley!" he shouted again over his shoulder. "I found the very place you need to go and see! You'll love it! Come see!"

With still no answer coming he shrugged. "Oh well, she'll agree when she sees this. I know she will."

The newspaper he had tossed aside showed a headline in large letters "Aviation Show in San Jose!" Underneath it had an etching of the old-fashioned planes to be present. Underneath was a smaller set of letters almost as an afterthought 'Rose Show To Begin Today in San Jose!'

[The Mentalist]

It was late in the house, that was certain. The stars were out, shining very brightly in the clear sky, there for all the restless and rich to gaze upon. But only the rich. The working class could not afford to gaze at such diamonds, they had too much to do. It was late indeed, but there was no time to rest. Money was indeed short and to work for just the day was a novelty not yet experienced.

Certainly not by the serving staff here anyway! The serving staff of the Winchester Manor often worked constantly into the night, tending to both Lady and workers needs. They were always on hand to do whatever was asked of them, even if it was into the ungodly hours of the morning.

The staff all worked around the kitchen as calmly as possible. It was indeed getting late, so the workload was lifted a little, but only for a while. About 6 maids scuttled around quietly, chatting and placing old brass pans and pots back where they belonged, while about 3 butlers cleaned various things. The chef and gardener were already resting now, the serving staff left to deal with the night, as always. Most of the staff were very well dressed for staff, their clothes very respectable. They thought themselves lucky, to have such fine clothes, their Lady was very generous- or just had too much money to spend on herself...

They were a good team, the staff working in the kitchen. The girls were pretty, kind and well spoken. They dressed in long black skirts and shirts, with white ruffles on their collar and a white apron. They were never stained nor dirtied, the staff were of the highest standard. All hair was tied up in a bun, with a small white headdress. The men were all butlers, dressed in the finest swallowtail type suits. Their black trousers never had a crease in them, their shirts didn't either and the shoes they wore were never dirty. Most wore white gloves and a black tie, but what made them all different was their shirt choice and hair. Of course the colors of the shirt were not to be too bright and the hair was to be short, but the rest was left to them.

One maid was sat at the table, starting to polish some silver spoons. She gently ran the spoon with the liquid, trying not to spill any on the clean table. Across the table from her, a seat down, sat a red headed butler, focused intently on the knives he was cleaning. He made sure not to cut anything, be it his hand or the cloth he was using. The brunette maid watched him, blue eyes watching his every move, a tiny smile on her face.

She liked to see him work, watching as if he were a small bird flying outside her window. She'd always wanted to be as grand as he presented himself. Which he had every right to do, for he'd been the Master's butler. His right-hand man, of sorts. Everyone knew who he was but no-one had known the Master as well as he had. They had always gone around with each other, one never without the other, he was one of the only servants to have left the house on multiple occasions. The red head butler had never been the talkative sort, but from pieces she'd heard, he was a well traveled man because of his master. They'd said he'd been to India and the United Kingdom! She could only dream of such places. She kept watching, looking at his eyes as they inspected a knife. They were deadly weapons, another thing she'd heard was that he'd been trained to use one of the master's rifles! One of the Winchester rifles, he could use one and apparently quite well. But even then, his eyes were different. When the master had been around, she could swear his eyes were a brighter blue and looked more happy but they didn't anymore. They'd got darker and his heart heavier. She knew he was troubled, even though he hid it. She kept watching, his movements not as clean and smooth as they had been. The spirits of the house, they upset the red butler and made him uneasy. Some of the other servants had even said he'd been possessed a few times, by the old master no less! But they were just stories. Nicholas had not yet said whether it was true or not.

As he finished the knife, he looked up to the servants around him. Placing it down, he smiled at them all and asked, in a very refined manner;

"Has anyone tended to the workers needs yet?"

His eyes went to the clock as there was a resounding 'No' passed around the room. They waited on his command as he stood up, swallow tails still on the chair. He paused and the brunette maid notice something in his eyes change. She didn't say anything but just watched.

"Then I shall go and ask what they want. Please be ready for my return."

A few nodded then went off to get ready, while the brunette maid stood up, speaking shyly. The red head butler turned to the door, only to turn back when spoken to.

"I'll come too Nicholas! I'll help..."

The maid waited for his reply. He looked at her and smiled.

"By all means, Lily. Please do. Oh and everyone, please be ready for tomorrow, there is the Aviation Festival on, our Lady may bring some guests home."

Both servants left the room, closing the door behind him. Both went upstairs, not saying a thing to each other. She was just too shy and he just didn't want to say. In all honesty, he admired her too. She was a very pretty girl and she was so careful, so dainty. He wished he could have such a pretty girl to himself, but that would be very unprofessional. Love when serving was unprofessional. So he would say nothing.

Walking up the grand stairs th two heard the sounds of various tools, clattering and clanking off of metal and wood. This was normal, it didn't bother them too much. Lily was a little frightened of the loud noises but she didn't fear too much. Nicholas was there, he was strong man, he'd help. At least she hoped he would help. Entering through the workers doors, the two servants nearly tripped over one. Quickly dodging him, Lily stood shyly, waiting for Nicholas to do something. Kneeling down to the grubby man, he smiled.

"Good evening sir. Would you like anything?"

(Anyone feel free to be that worker. There's plenty for everyone.)

[Charley Pollard]

If Charley was ever fatigued from the various journeys that the Doctor took her on, she refused to show it. Even now in the hallway just down from the console room, she could hardly keep herself awake. Sure, the adrenaline was enough to make her lively whenever they actually went anywhere, or when the Doctor was ready to show her something new. But now that they were stopped and ‘resting,’ as the Doctor put it (as in, he was sitting in a chair and reading rather than attempting to sleep), Charley was finding herself beginning to droop off into a light sleep. She was curled up against the wall, pen and journal in hand, having just finished her latest log of their travels minutes before. If she were any less stubborn, she would have asked the Doctor just exactly how to get to the room that he had given to her so that she could properly sleep, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She would look around again later, sure to find it. Besides, it didn’t seem like he ever slept. What, did his race not need to? She’d probably question him about it eventually.

The sound of the Doctor shouting her name made her eyes flutter open. Charley gazed about herself wearily, unsure at first if she had just begun to dream or if he had really called her. She shut the journal with a resigned sigh as he called her again, announcing that he had somewhere that’d she ‘love.’ She was a tad cross that she’d not been able to sleep properly in the short time that she had been travelling with the Doctor, but again, the exhaustion wasn’t something that she’d be quick to let on to the Doctor. The fact that he was always finding somewhere new to take her was indeed enough that she would feign annoyance around him, however. He would be a fool to think that any of her acting was real though, and she knew that he could tell she absolutely loved the travelling, seeing new things, running into danger, and everything that came with it otherwise.

Charley stuffed the journal and writing materials away just as she entered the room with the console, featuring the Doctor practically dancing around it. He must have decided to go… wherever it was without her agreement, sure that he had a winner. She noticed a discarded newspaper nearby and bent over to pick it up, figuring that it featured whatever he was taking her to see. “‘Aviation Show in San Jose,’” she read aloud. “And a ‘Rose Show.’” Walking closer to the Doctor’s side, Charley watched in amusement as he keyed in their location into the console and worked the ship into their travel. “Really, Doctor,” she said dryly, “I know you found me on the R101, but that doesn’t mean I always enjoy looking at anything aviation-related.” Despite the sarcasm in her voice, she was hardly able to keep the look on her face to accompany such. The teasing edge found its way across her features, and she was hardly able to hold back a slight smile.

How could she argue where he took her anyway? Of course she found almost anywhere he took her or anything he showed her to be interesting in some way or another. That was besides the fact that no matter where he took her, even if meant to be a holiday, always ended up with some sort of crazy adventure or another. But she loved it, every minute of it. Her old life, she could never go back to that. She had been running away from it at the time she met the Doctor anyway. The high-class life… what was that? She couldn’t do it anymore, the proper way she had to be, the dresses, the part about having everything chosen for her. She much preferred this free-spirited life, adventure at every corner, being able to visit anywhere or anytime she wanted. Or the Doctor wanted. It didn’t matter. It always proved worth it in the end.

“So where are going first?” she asked excitedly. “The middle of a stand of roses? Right by a set of planes?”

[The Fifth Doctor]

Charles was polishing some spoons, as he usually was, he looked up The Aviation Festival, lovely, and I almost forgot about it too.

Charles put his spoons down for a minute and wondered, why were they building more rooms, there were already like 90, and there were almost 30 fireplaces! Lady Winchester must be insane, but, it gets me money, so, I'll just have to keep going.

Charles picked up another spoon, and started cleaning.

[The Eighth Doctor]

For a moment the Doctor's face showed a shade of dissappointment at Charley's tone but he glanced at her just in time to see the slight smile do a quick dance across her features and he smiled in return. "Oh I just thought you might like to see a wider variety of aircraft, ones that we don't have to be aboard ourselves and tackle unknown aliens along with flying monsters. All that lead up to the airships and beyond! And who knows?" here his voice took on an air of coy amusement. "You just might meet a handsome pilot to interview."

[The Mentalist]

From upstairs, the two servants did their rounds of the workers, getting a whole list of orders. Some workers just wanted a drink, while others wanted food. The two servants had their heads full of orders and once they were done, evaded tools and walked round workers to get out.

As they left that part of the building, the two shook some dirt off of their clothes and turned to one another. The lady maid looked upset- more concerned than anything else. Taking a strand of brown hair from between her eyes, she spoke to the butler in a small whisper.

"The lady is building so much, is it really necessary?! I don't understand..."

The butler, still dusting himself down, also replied in the same manner.

"No, I do not understand the need for so much more either, but I don't think it's our place to question the lady, yes? Anyway, let's get those things together, before we forget."

She nodded and replied.

"I'll go and get started... I'm not sure if there is enough bread left in the house, could you go and get it from the cellar outside?"

He smiled.

"Of course. I'll be back in a minute. No less."

The two parted ways, the maid then going down the stairs and back into the kitchen. The butler then went outside into the grounds to find the cellar.

~~

The maid entered the kitchen, asking everyone available to gather round the table. One by one, she said the orders, in the hope that some would get done. To the man polishing the spoons, she asked;

"Sorry Charles, can I ask you to tend to one of the sandwiches? Sorry to disturb you..."

She waited for any colleagues input, she didn't want to sound too bossy. She just wanted in done, in true Winchester staff time!

~~

The butler then exited the manor through a side door. Taking refuge in the shade of the hedges that ran around the house, he walked, gazing up at the stars. He took in the fresh air and stared up at the sparkling diamonds, as he went toward the cellar. There was something about stars, he liked them perhaps too much. He couldn't understand why- he just did. They made him feel different.

As he kept going to the cellar, he watched the sky until something caught his eyes. Something was moving in the trees; probably some bird. He turned back to the path, finally seeing the cellar. HE heard something move in the trees and as he went for the cellar door, spun back round. Glancing round, he saw the strangest thing.

Two people were standing in the tree. One was a teenage girl in a long black jacket, with hair covering her face and, from what he could see, only one arm! The other was a man standing on the other branch, knelt down. He had long hair, beard and had strange colorful tattoo's. He didn't wear formal clothes, he wore a shirt and trousers. He watched the two, they looked like they lived in a poorer area. The teenager looked like she was a street child, an urchin of sorts. Her face was sour and he didn't like the look the other man bore. He spoke to them both, trying to sound aggressive.

"State your purpose here!"

He tried his best not to look worried. Perhaps they were spirits. They might have to come to haunt him. He tried not to sweat. The teenage urchin spoke first, in no language he had ever heard.

"Ikeremu? Tousa refaga hetryu. Hitsa ima Haga!"

She laughed, pointing at the butler. The male shook his head while a smile, replying in a much thicker accent.

"Konocare thyufa, hetrya koboo gertayuma, utiro! Fegateru."

The male then turned and waved.

"Goodbye Mr. Butler."

In a blink of an eye both vanished. The butler was left shocked and in a pool of sweat. They were spirits! Come to haunt him! Come to haunt the house. They had to be. They didn't speak right.

Shaking it off, he opened up the cellar and got the bread. He then just sat there, on the floor. He didn't want to move at all. Those people, those two, what the heck were they?! Holding the bread, he sat tight for a while, staring at the other side of the cellar. He could see his breath in the air and it was the loudest thing in the room, the sounds of hammers and tools the only thing louder. He watched a little mouse scuttle across the floor and then saw something else in the light. He saw a foot, then a voice rang in his head.

"What's the matter posh-boy? Scared of a couple of kids?"

He held the bread a little tighter and frowned at the foot. It then came into the light more, slowly showing itself. He was in shock and had to stop in the middle of his sentence.

"No! Whatever gave you that idea sir, I was merely evading their-

He stopped dead and stared at the figure. The man was a mirror image of himself! Except with a different expression, madder eyes and he was covered in blood. He looked mad. The man looked insane.

"That's a shame. You used to be able to kill people like that in less than a second."

The man just grinned at the butler on the floor. He bore his teeth which were pointed and dreadful shade of red. This man would kill him. This night was too strange. He hated it. He screamed, in total fear and despair.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

The birds flew from the trees and he prayed to god that someone would save him.

[Charley Pollard]

Charley’s smile turned into a grin. “Ones that we don’t have to board ourselves?” she asked, playing along with his teasing inflection. “Doctor, normally I’d question your sense of adventure, but in this instance, I appreciate your caution in the matter.” She squinted a moment longer at some of the actual details that the paper held, then returned the newsprint to where the Doctor had earlier discarded it. She thought back to Ramsay and their failed attempts to domesticate the creature. “Though I wouldn’t exactly mind the voltisaurs again. They were rather cute. Not to mention, fun to ride.” She smiled again as the Doctor mentioned that she might fight a handsome pilot to interview. “Now you’re talking!” she said with a laugh. She nodded towards the console, waiting for the Doctor to get them there. “Ready when you are!”

Making sure that she had her things ready and secure, Charley waited, ready to exit the TARDIS when given the go-ahead. Her travel journal at her side, Charley somehow felt a little more prepared to face the outside world. 1910… Two years before she was born. She wasn’t too far out of her own time of 1931, so things shouldn’t be too strange for her. Still, she loved when she got to visit other places and other time periods. Perhaps this trip would be a simple little one where she could get a great look at all these planes that the Doctor was telling her about. And, like he suggested, perhaps she would be able to find a handsome young pilot that she could talk to. Er, interview. Of course, that was her first item of business. Or at least that was the story that she was planning to use!

When the TARDIS engines at last came to a halt, Charley was brimming with excitement. “I get this one!” she called eagerly. Her previous feelings of weariness were long gone now, replaced with the anticipation of a new adventure. Charley tugged open one of the TARDIS doors, expecting planes, or at least a place quite near them. Instead, she stared out at a dark, empty room, and an abandoned one at that. She took a cautious step out, glancing back at the Doctor with a flash of confusion. She rolled her eyes slightly. “Really, Doctor, your landing skills leave a lot to be desired.” She walked into the room, glancing around. “It’s so dusty!” Sure enough, the room about her was dusty, as though unused, mostly empty but for a few building supplies that were forsaken as well. “Hardly the Aviation show,” she commented. She paused, glancing around, interested nonetheless. “But still… What do you suppose this place is?”

The words had hardly escaped her lips when a scream from outside the house caught her attention. Charley’s head snapped in the direction in which she heard it, and her blood ran cold. She raced to a nearby window, seeing little because of the night. Trees were all around the house, and despite how dark it was, she did manage to see two people running from the house in what she could only presume to be the source of the scream. “Down there!” she cried, then turned around and ran out of the room, assuming the Doctor was at her side. “Oh, Doctor, you do know how to land us in the middle of trouble, don’t you?”

[The Fifth Doctor]

Charles looked up,
"oh, yes, sure," he said putting down his spoons, and started to make some sandwiches, or at least he would have, if he hadn't suddenly heard a scream from outside, he turned his head toward the source of it.

"Sounded like one of the butlers, i'm going to go investigate, anyone want to come with me?" he said looking at the others gathered around the table.

[The Eighth Doctor]

The Doctor had followed Charley out and a puzzled expression crossed his face when he surveyed the dark room. fished out a light from a pocket and the area took on an eerie glow. The dust rose as he slowly walked about and he almost tripped over some scattered tools on the floor. "This is supposed to be an open field," he muttered to himself. "An old orchard just outside of town. How could the TARDIS be so off? Interesting room though, look at that woodwork!" He held the light up to show it. "Whatever this place is, it's not just an ordinary home. They wouldn't put so much effort and cost like that in a regular house. But why is it abandoned?"

His musings were interrupted by the scream that had alerted Charley and he too ran to the window. Although his light was stronger than Earth flashlights its width was rather small and revealed nothing outside. The intensity of the cry alerted him to the fact it was far more than a simple fall or kitchen accident. "Door, door, where's the door?" Shining the light about inside revealed a large heavy and carved door at the other end. He sprinted over and found it was locked. No surprise there. He handed Charley the light as he fumbled for his screwdriver.

They heard the satisfying 'click' of the lock being breached but even as he turned the knob the door wouldn't budge. He tried again hen threw his shoulder against it. He felt the faint give of the wood and then stepped back, panting a bit from the effort.

"Interesting. This door seems to have been nailed shut, from the other side!"


*******************************************

Her seance over, Mrs Winchester was making her way to another room when she too heard the sharp scream. The terror and anguish it held struck a dagger to her old heart but she stood firm, not letting it show. Was this another sign from the spirits, was another life taken because of her? No, she shook her head. There had been no rifle shot, that sound she was too familiar with. But what then? What were the spirits doing? None of the 'messages' she recieved mentioned this, was it perhaps, a rogue spirit?

She turned, her original route forgotten, and made her way to the large kitchen. Most of the servants would be there, busy with the food for the workers. She wanted to make sure that no matter what this was, no matter what had occured, nothing must interferr with the building. That must continue at whatever cost!

Even if the cost was human life.

[The Mentalist]

The two people who'd seen the Butler before hand, turned to look back as they heard a scream. They looked confused for a second and then turning to each other, the girl spoke.

"What the?! Did we do that?"

The male who was decorated colorfully looked at the moon for a second. Then biting into his thumb, drew a small blood circle on his palm. Detailing it with various odd symbols, he then flexed his hand, feeling a surge through it. His red tattoo on the top of his arm glowed bright and then he slammed his palm on the ground. The girl jumped back as the ground below him produced a shiny metal orb on the top. It was made of iron, mostly of all he could collect from the tiny deposits in the dirt below them. He frowned, picking himself up and the ball in his non-bloodied arm. He gently tossed the ball up in air then threw it back wards toward the cellar. His accent was slight as he spoke.

"No, that was not us. I felt something else in the ground. That is beyond our control. Now come on!"

The two then raced off, neither rattled too much by what had gone on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The severing staff, now crowded around the table, stirred at the scream. It had been pretty scary. Whoever it had come from was in some serious trouble.

Lily frowned, looking around the room, her stomach sinking further as Charles stood up. She'd done a quick head-count and she knew exactly who wasn't there. As he spoke, she answered.

"Yes. I'll come Charles. I know who that was... I sent Nicholas to the cellar, it could only have from him. I've never heard such a scared man."

She shuffled to beside him and her fist clenched. Those spirits, they'd either scared him to death or were going to haunt him. She couldn't let either happen- and she didn't have time to stand around here! Staring off, she moved to the door and slid outside, hoping Charles would follow.

Quickly she walked outside of the building, gently opening the large doors to the mansion. She watched her step as she got to garden space between the front of the house and the hedge, only to be amazed at what she saw in the sky.

She left herself for a second just staring up at the stars. She was amazed at the mass of them and just how beautiful they were. She hadn't seen stars for such a long time. How she'd missed them! Softy, some music played inside her head and she wanted to sway to it. She could feel it, the lyrics gently floating through her. This type of music was new to her but it was nice anyway. It puzzled her to how she knew it, hearing a few words of the song clearly.

"There's a girl, there's a girl, there's a girl, there's a girl and she's down by the river. In her own creepy world, there's a girl, there's a girl and she's down by the river. It's time to consider, that baby is a sinner..."

She frowned at the lyrics. These weren't nice at all- until she felt something in her head. It tapped into her minds eye and played out to her. It was so vivid! Like a strong dream.

*

They'd been running for hours. Her feet throbbed and her hand ached, it had been gripped so tightly. The breath left hr and a wheeze filled her lungs. Looking forward and up,s he saw a man in a blue and white shirt. She frowned but wasn't shocked by his appearance. It was Nicholas from the house! But he looked more tired and his hair was a blonder color. He looked back to her and spoke to her.

"You can't stop. You chose this, run with me and don't slow me down."

She kept running and tried to reply, it coming on with a hoarse whisper.

"I can't keep going! The authorities will find us and I know this is wrong. We shouldn't-"

He kept going.

"But we are."

*

Lily woke back up, looking for Charles from behind her. That was a strange vision. Taking her eyes away from the stars, she looked back for Charles, hoping he'd follow soon. She wasn't going to find him alone, the spirits scared her too much. If they could scare Nicholas that bad, she knew she wouldn't last a second left with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the cellar, the butler still lay on the floor, staring and shaking in fear at, what he thought was, an apparition before him. He was terrified by him. The blood, the smile, the exact likeness, all of it was just too real. His hand shook over the bread, knowing his fate was sealed if he didn't move now. So he had to move. Now!

Trying scramble to his feet, he rolled over onto his front, on his hands and knees now. Feeling the sweat drip off of him, he dropped the bread. It didn't matter now, his situation was life or death. The blood lust in the air proved it. The figure grinned behind him, licking his razor sharp teeth and speaking to the butler.

"Aaw, you running away now? That's a shame. That's not like us. Not like us at all."

The butler turned round, his eyes staring intently at the figure. US? What on earth was this thing talking about?! It was no part of him and yet, by all appearances sake, they could be mistaken for the same man very easily. His eyes widened even more as he saw the grin the other man had. Those sharp teeth, he was a monster... Trying to scurry off, he tried to crawl out, almost in tears. This was harrowing.

As the figure shifted forward, he spoke again.

"Please don't disappoint me like this, you're making us look like fools. We've killed thousands and yet, you've been reduced to this. You can't run. No. And do you know why? Because that's what our victims used to do. They used to crawl away. I've seen so many great killers run from us. Maxim Petrov, Peter Sutcliffe, Geraryu the Red, even Rassilon himself ran. EVEN JACK THE RIPPER RAN FROM YOU!"

The butler turned round, enraged by the figures words.

" I DID NO SUCH THING! I AM NOT A KILLER!"

The figure stared and then screamed at him.

"LIAR!"

The figure then launched into an attack, taking a blade to him. Stabbing the back of the crawling butler's jacket, he pinned the tail of his jacket to the floor and stamped on the back of his leg. Taking another knife to him, he pinned down his other arm via his suit and then stood on the butlers back. A foot stayed on the ground, the butler trying to escape. Flailing wildly the butler was in tears, crying like a small boy. The figure then leaned down to him a hand grabbing the back of his head and tugging the red hair back. He was furious.

The butler felt his head go back and cried even more. He knew exactly what was to happen, if someone didn't come and save him.

"This is it... I'm finished..."

[The Fifth Doctor]

Charles ran.
It was the only thing he could do, he ran, and kept running, until he had reached the cellar.


"I don't care if you were lost in the Pacific Ocean, do not ignore me like that. Understand?"

Charles woke up, staring at Nicholas screaming on the floor, and then suddenly, pain. Pain always came after the visions, but it wasn't very helpful, at the moment, he was just as hopeless as Nicholas.

[The Eighth Doctor]

The Doctor pounded on the door then shook the handles. It was futile but he hated being frustrated like this. The sonic screwdriver worked wonders on moving parts but against plain nails and boards it was no better than an Earth tool.

Turning back into the room he searched about for something to use as a pry but all the room held were window panes leaning against the far wall, piles of bricks and dust. "I suppose the only choice left to us is the windows," he muttered.

[Charley Pollard]

Charley stood by, watching impatiently as the Doctor tried to work the door open. “Come on!” she muttered, staring at the useless door. There were always obstacles like these, it seemed. There was someone screaming that they could hear outside those windows, and here they were, stuck in a room from a nailed-shut door! She had hardly thought about going after the person in question, just knew that they had to help. That’s what they did, right? The Doctor was looking around the room though, and she knew it was apparently useless to try the door. What about that tool of his? Would it really not work? “Don’t tell me, Doctor, that your screwdriver thing doesn’t work with wood.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm, but she somehow knew it had to be true. Why else wouldn’t he have tried it? Unless there was something to force it open with. Charley half-thought about throwing her weight against the door, but the Doctor seemed to take to the window next. If that was the only way, then she was up for it. She glanced down at her clothes; it was a good thing she had definitely gone with trousers for the day.

Charley rushed over to the window, moving the latch so that the window was unlocked. The top was covered with dust, another clue that the room was most definitely unused. She wrinkled her nose as the amount of grime that covered the edges of the windows, but still reached for the edges to make a pry at the windows. She grunted a little in exertion when she realized that they were stuck. “It doesn’t seem like it’s been used since it was put in!” she exclaimed. Though only moments, it seemed like ages in her haste to help the screamer. At last, and with a little whine, the window popped and moved. She looked out towards the ground. “At least you landed us on the first floor,” she muttered, “even if it wasn’t quite the Aviation Show.” Charley sat on the window sill, pushing her legs through before ducking her head out. She pushed herself off and landed on the ground, glancing back up at the Doctor. “Hurry, Doctor!”

[The Eighth Doctor]

"Oh it would work with wood, if the lock had been made with it," the Doctor answered. "Unfortunately nails are just driven and while the sonic screwdriver -could- loosen them up we seem to be on the incorrect side to do so." For a moment he considered heaving a brick through one of the windows to open it but another glace at the glass changed his mind. "Oh, Tiffany!" he exclaimed. "No need in breaking -that-!" To his relief he saw that Charley had forced one open without damaging it and he grunted as he folded himself up a bit to follow her out. "Yes, one thing in our favor. We don't have to tie sheets into a rope to get out! Now let's see. Now that we -are- out, where exactly are we?"

He fished a flashlight out of a pocket and shone it about them. Concrete benches, neatly trimmed shribbery and lawn greeted them through the gloom. "A park? No, not with the house. But this seems to be maintained better than that room! Well, Charley, which direction to go first?"

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler sighed in frustration. He had been scheduled to be in an air show, as one of the pilots. However, bad weather had prevented this from happening. It was reported that there would be thunderstorms the following day. Still, he hoped that they might be able to host it the following day. Finding himself stuck in San Jose, he might as well explore the place.

Besides, he enjoyed walks. Not being from this particular city, he liked to explore. He didn't know why...he just did. The weather was warm, not uncomfortable though. He happened to be taking a walk near a big house when he heard a scream. Glancing around in panic, he tried to see if anyone else would be there to help.