The Mystery of the Mystery House!

[The Eighth Doctor]

(With all the building going on 24-7 the smell of sawdust and paint would pretty much be present, but not dusty. Mrs Winchester had quite a lot of servants and maids about:)

The Doctor had to reluctantly leave his questioning with the butler to follow the rest but he was still troubled. There was just something odd about the handerkerchief on the butler's neck that raised a red flag. But if the fellow was injured wouldn't he had said something or had it taken care of? He gave a slight shake of his head, he had just entered the house and already it was living up to its reputation!

"Careful, Charley," he murmured. "Perhaps she just wanted a bit more fanfare? If you were just carrying a crystal ball now...But just look about you! All this marvelous architect! See that wall that looks like bird's eye maple? Well, it really isn't, she had the workers paint those tiny spots on it so it would look like what she wanted. And the inlaid flooring. I do hope we see that fireplace carved from a single block of redstone as well."

Mrs Winchester stopped and turned towards them so quickly she was almost run over by the group but she stood firm. "Screams, child? Or the wailings of a spirit? The cry of a lost child? I hear them too, you know. I talk with them. They talk with me. They tell me what to do and what to build. All of this!" She gestured up at the ceiling and walls. "Is what they wanted. And now." She stopped and eyed them. "They want you. You, the writer. You, the flyer and you, the enigma! And the fourth." Her lips became very firm and her chin jutted out at the audacity of the fourth to remain missing. "Well. Come along." She whirled about and continued down the hallway to a door almost large enough for an average sized person to go through.

The Doctor blinked. "Enigma? Me? Now where would she get that from?"

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler followed along, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the paint and sawdust that was around. Still, none of it seemed to bother him at the moment -- he hated the smell of new paint, though. As long as they were in an area of the house that wasn't being built, he figured he would be fine.

He heard the Doctor's comment and looked around. It was quite breathtaking, the detail and the largeness of the house. And they hadn't even seen much of it. However, he was pulled out of his admiration for the house at Mrs. Winchester's comment.

Had she seriously suggested that the house was being constructed by spirits. Frowning in clear disapproval, he commented just loudly enough for the Doctor and Charley to hear, "I want nothing to do with the demonic....I only came to see the house."

A thought frightened him -- how could these "spirits" know about him? Of course demons had knowledge, but it meant that they were dealing with real demons -- that or she had somehow heard their conversation and wanted to make them think that it was spirits.

Shaking his head, he continued to follow.

[The Mentalist]

The red-head butler followed behind the guests who were being lead by Mrs. Winchester. She wanted them inside, she was leading them somewhere, so he would follow faithfully. He would not say a thing until he was spoken to by Mrs. Winchester.

That was how he did things. He'd always done that with his master. If his master had guests, the butler would stay by him, as silent as a shadow until dismissed or told to answer any questions. That was his place right now, a shadow unless asked to speak.

As the butler followed, he felt unsettled by one of the men noticing the handkerchief around his neck when they'd been at the door. The man was clearly not from around here, to have shown concern toward a servant, but it was the fact he did notice.
How could he explain such a thing without sounding as strange? he could imagine himself saying it and it didn't sound all that sane.

"Oh yes, no harm done. I went to the basement to get some bread and a spirit in the form of my double attacked me. He took a knife to my neck and I was saved by a maid, then I banished the spirit who said he'd be back. Oh! And he also said a man called 'Jack the Ripper' had ran away from me at some point. So overall, no harm done sir, please enjoy your stay."

Of course, these guests- well maybe two out of three- seemed to understand the idea of spirits and were interested, perhaps they would understand the incident better than he could. But for now, he kept himself silent and stayed close behind them, making sure none of them wandered off, fell behind or got lost. He was especially suspicious of the pilot, who he'd overheard was very against the spirits and that he only 'wanted a tour of the house'. Such behavior would be watched and only if Mrs. Winchester allowed it-

But something nagged at the back of the butler's head. Jack the Ripper, just who was that fellow? He didn't sound all that kind, with a name like that. He actually sounded quite foul and yet, he sounded familiar. As the butler glanced at the wall, in some attempt to rid himself of these thoughts, his eyes went to a mirror. He watched it but only for a second; as he felt a strange feeling came over him.

His eyes saw London, late at night. Stars twinkled in the sky, laughing cruelty at what was below them. The butler stood, in a long black jacket and had a cane in his hand. He felt like a noble in his clothes and felt rather proud. As a few more seconds passed, his eyes started to notice other things. Reading a sign on he cobbled road, he saw the words,

'Dorset Street, Whitechapel district, London.'

Illuminated by gas street lights. As if in a dream, he walked forward unwittingly, to wards a flat. He gently pushed open the door and what he saw was far from refined. The room was covered in blood, strewn all across the walls and a man was hunched over a dead womens body, operating on her. He wanted to be sick at what he saw but he all he could do was smile. Clutching his jet black cane, he spoke to the man crouched on the floor.

"My my Jacky, look at the mess you've made."

The man who was crouched down, turned his head to look at him. His eye widened, his hand dropped the knife and he barged past Nicholas. He couldn't believe what he was saying or seeing! What was this monstrosity?! As the man ran away, he felt himself frown and heard himself speak.

"I know what you did to those women Jack, there's no point in running away! And I honestly thought you'd be over this by now. We're both much too old to be playing hide and go seek. But if that's what you want-"

He grinned madly and turned on the spot, starting to sprint after the murderer.

"THEN I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO PLAY ALONG!"

The man who'd been called 'Jacky' kept running as fast as he could, diving into various side streets in order to get away from him. Nicholas couldn't help himself, he was running after Jack! This was some kind of sick nightmare. As they both dived down another street, 'Jack' ran down it, only to be faced with a dead-end. Nicholas caught up and approached him, still running at him. 'Jack' tried to get away but stood, paralyzed with fear, at the approaching red-head. Nicholas lifted his cane up and was shocked to see the sword that had come from it. Running straight at him, the human fell to his knees. Nothing on earth could be as evil as the red-head running at him. He was a sign from the devil- He was the devil. Come to take him back. Nicholas screamed.

"BYE-BYE JACK THE RIPPER!"

He heard a loud crunch as the sword broke the bone.

His dream ended and the butler was nearly sick on the guests. His neck throbbed in pain and he felt so sick. His dream was awful, these spirits were just torturing him now. As he stumbled back to some balance, he could only watch in horror as he felt himself be physically sick on the floor, right behind his guests and in Mrs. Winchester's presence. He violently shook, looking very unwell and the handkerchief around his neck now dripping with blood. The butler felt as if death had just looked him in the eyes.

Even though he'd only looked in the mirror.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler watched in horror as the butler seemed to go into some sort of trance or had a vision or something of the sort. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened. He had glimpsed the butler look into the mirror, but what happened after that was off-putting.

It was then that Tyler noticed the butler's neck. The man was seriously injured. "Is there a doctor nearby?" Tyler asked Mrs. Winchester. The man was obviously physically sick. He had thrown up on the ground, and he was obviously suffering.

[The Eighth Doctor]

The Doctor turned around when Tyler did so and also noticed the state the butler was in. He quickly rushed up to help support him. "What on earth...? Mrs. Winchester, is there a bedroom nearby? We've got to get this poor fellow taken care of!"

"What is going on here?" Mrs Winchester shoved past Charley and Tyler. "Nicholas! What has happened to you? This way, bring him over to this room. Pilot, help him! You, writer, tell the girls in the kitchen we need some hot water and clean cloths. Down that way, Charles? Charles! Show her the way!"

[The Fifth Doctor]

((I wasn't planning to be anywhere near you guys, oh well ))

Charles ran down the corridor, waiting for the girl to follow.
Hey there Yadsh.

Charles turned around, "yes?"

Who said that? And why did he answer to it? This was weird, he pushed these thoughts out of his mind once more, and waited around the corner for the girl to come.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler blushed slightly at being referred to by his occupation. Pilot. Interesting. No one just called him Pilot. He had to admit, though, he liked being recognized for what he did.

Tyler rushed to Nicholas' side, immediately offering his help.

For some odd reason that Tyler couldn't explain, the moment he touched this Nicholas, he was reminded of someone that had been in his dreams. Someone that he was afraid of. He'd dreamed about a red haired person hurting him -- breaking his bones and beating him up. Shaking his head, he knew that this person couldn't be the one from his dreams. That person was fiction...someone his mind had invented.

[The Mentalist]

Song used (c) Nerina Pallot - Idaho. Excuse length, got a bit bored. XD

Taking the help he could from Tyler, Nicholas swung his arm round the guest's shoulder. He felt so ashamed. He could even hear Mrs. Winchester asking about him. The butler could feel the shame in him now, he could practically hear the scolding he would have got from his master if he could have seen him now. No wonder his master had looked angry in his portrait, he was a failure of a butler now, showing such disgusting behavior in front of guests.

As Nicholas struggled to stay on his feet, he tried to hold onto Tyler as best he could. He too also felt something in him as he stood with Tyler. This man was familiar to him. He couldn't place when or where, but he was familiar. Something about him said that they'd met before now. How was a mystery, but they had met. He felt it in his stomach... it was that or another bout of sickness.

Quivering, he tried to walk to the nearest room that Mrs. Winchester had signaled to. Trying to look up, he turned to her and meekly looked at her with a lot of guilt on his face.

"I'm terribly sorry for the trouble I've caused... my lady, these spirits are out for me, I sweare..."

As soon as he'd said it, he wished he'd said nothing about the spirits. Watching Charles leave, he frowned. Nicholas was sure he'd be fired for his comment so Charles would take his place. The butler felt even more sick now, his face as pale as a bed sheet.

~*~

Downstairs, the last few maids cleaned up the kitchen. Most of the butlers had gone to be now, the next few waking up for the new shift. Lily was by the sink, cleaning a few of the plates that had had sandwiches leftover on them.

As they'd been left, Lily had naturally sneaked a few bites of one. She adored the slices of meat and cheese they'd offered, they were so tasty. She'd offered the rest of the leftovers around too, there was no point in wasting them. Even though the house-staff were well fed, there was no point in wasting food and besides, the job was quite tiring, it took a lot of energy. At least, that was the excuse anyway.

The plates in her hands felt clean and shined with dishwater and bubbles. When no-one was watching, she popped a few like a child, quietly giggling to herself. It was fun, she could remember popping bubbles as a child with her mother in the park. Those had been nice times, walking through the town and staring at all the pretty dresses in the windows of all the shops they couldn't afford. She could remember some of them even now, especially a purple one. it had been gorgeous. The white ruffles sleeves, the buttons, it was like a princesses dress. She had (and still did) want it so much, it would make her feel like a noble and a treasure. It would be perfect for all the high class she would attend. Like all the grand balls, among all the other women with the beautiful dresses, the princes and nobles, all wearing the best and drinking all the finest of wines and champagnes. Her mind loved to wander and dream up such fanciful situations.

She was lost in one of her daydreams, about nobles and dresses until she heard a cry come from the door. A maid had come in, and she was shouting to whoever was left.

"Can I please get some hot water and a few clean cloths? Charles is coming for them. I think someone was sick-"

Lily added 2 and 2 together and stopped her cleaning. She placed the plate on the draining board, letting it drip and spoke to the maid that had come in.

"Alright, I'll go and tend to who was sick, would you be able to finish the dishes?"

The maid rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Let me guess Lily. It was Nicholas that was sick or at least you think it's him. You're never that quick to help anyone else-"

Lily frowned and looked a little angry.

"I think it was him and whats wrong with wanting to help him? I am happy to help everyone! He's just in some need right now, he needs help."

The maid smirked.

"You need help. You're under the illusion that no-one notices how you act around him but they have. We all get it, it's obvious and if he's not said anything by now, face it, he's not interested. So no, you can finish those dishes."

Lily stood for a second and stared at the maid who walked over to her, to get a cloth from the drawer. Lily couldn't believe what the maid had said to her and started to wonder if it was true, her stomach sinking a little. Even though he'd hugged her and thanked her, was that all just politeness? The maid passed to her side and smirked, speaking to her as she grabbed a few first aid things.

"Just for the record, you're not the only one who thinks about him like that. See you."

The maid was about to get up, until Lily kicked her. She stared angrily down at her, kicked her just once and yelled at her.

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! YOU KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT HIM!"

Like a teenage girl, Lily started to run off and away from the kitchen and the maid inside. The maid didn't stop taunting her though as she shouted back.

"NEITHER DO YOU!"

Lily tried to ignore it as she ran out of the kitchen and down the corridor, as tears welled up in her eyes. How could she have been so stupid! As she tore down the corridor and up a set of dusty stairs, she tried to stop herself crying. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been. She hated how stupid she'd been, hated Ellie the maid and for a second, hated this mansion. Remembering a song from her youth, he recited it in her head, it made perfect sense now even though her head was a mess.

"And oh, I've been dumb, I've been perfectly beautiful. Lain on my back buying lovers with stealth, but I'm sick of you all, and I'm sick of opinions, and I'm sick of this war I wage on myself..."

As she kept running down corridors, she understood it now. That was what she'd been doing. She'd been dumb, but pretty. She'd waited for him to say something and now, she knew he didn't care. And she hated it.

Accidentally stumbling into the guests of the house, she ran straight into the eccentrically dressed man (Eight!) and apologized quietly. Noticing Mrs. Winchester was there, she immediately apologized and courtesied, apologizing again. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tyler and apologized to him as well- then noticed Nicholas draped over him. She stared for a second at him and more tears welled up. Their eyes met for a second and for once, she was upset about seeing him. So much so, that she started to run off again, back down the stairs, vanishing down another bit of the corridor.

She knew she was acting like a child but she didn't care. Right now, she wanted to find a place to curl up and cry it out, alone. So she did. She found an empty room, barged in, slammed the door shut, lit a candle, sat in a chair and just cried.

She felt pathetic.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler continued to help the Mentalist to a bed. When a woman ran into him, he looked to her in surprise. He hadn't expected someone to do that. When he saw the look in her eyes, he stopped himself from saying what he was going to. It was clear from the look on her face that she had...feelings for this butler. And she was clearly worried about him.

Tyler was about to say to her, "It's quite all right....but....but.....can you help him?"

However, shes had gone and run off before he had the chance to voice his question. She had been deeply upset by Nicholas' condition. He wished that he could run after her and comfort her, but he knew that he couldn't. This butler had to be taken care of immediately.

[The Eighth Doctor]

The Doctor uttered a slight "Oof!" when he was run into and almost lost his hold on the butler's arms. "Oh my, what?" was all he could get out before the cause, a young girl with a very strained and tearful expression, jumped up, apologized and left again. He managed with Tyler's help to get the man on the bed before he could turn about to investigate further.

Mrs Winchester was calling out in an annoyed tone. "Lily! LILY! Come back here, you foolish girl! We need help here. Lily!"

"Let her go, I'm sure we can manage," the Doctor said quickly. He didn't know what had upset the servant girl but he was sure forcing her to come back wasn't going to help any. He gently took Nicholas' head and lifted it just enough to study the still bleeding wound. His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "It looks as if someone was attempting to cut his throat, although very slowly. Has there been any news of such attacks here?"

"Attack? On my property! Certainly not! I would hear of it if any occured." Mrs Winchester came over to stand by the bed, showing not the least bit of squeamishness (is that a word?) at the blood. "We haven't had anything like robbers or ruffians in ages!"

"It looks as if you may have them now. Where's some hot water and clean cloths?"

[The Tenth Doctor]

Once the Doctor had helped Tyler get Nicholas into bed, Tyler glanced around. "Is there a Doctor nearby?"" No one had answered this question that he'd posed earlier.

"I could run in get one if somebody gave me directions...." Tyler suggested. "Or we could call for a doctor somehow.....he needs professional help, I think."

Tyler shuddered at the suggestion that someone had tried to cut this man's throat. His own inspection of the injuries pointed towards the Doctor being right...but still, the thought of a murderer or robber gave him the shivers.

[The Mentalist]

As the butler was sat up on the side of the bed, Nicholas zoned out. His eyes looked distant, his skin was pale, cold and he was still sweating. The red-head was loosing huge amounts of fluid but couldn't even feel it soaking him.

His shirt had stained an awful color from the blood and was sticking to his skin, his jacket gluing to his wrists with sweat. The amounts of blood he'd lost was starting to get serious, the loss of water through sweat only making it worse. His hair had become filthy and had turned thick with grease, he was truly a state.

Yet he noticed nothing. He'd not felt Eight tilt his head up and their conversation hadn't even been heard. Nicholas was slowly drifting in and out of consciousness, not registering anything. Nothing seemed to enter his head and he just couldn't think. The pain was numbing everything, he could no longer feel most of body from his chest down wards. He only felt the occasional nip of his throat and the lightness of his head. As his hand started to shake, he whispered something hoarsely to the people around him, not much energy left in the man.

"I... I need to... lie down.."

As he swayed from his upright position, it was clear, this man was going to pass out soon. But from the look in his eyes, the whole world could've fallen down around him and he wouldn't have noticed. The butler hadn't even said how he'd got the wound or said a word to Lily as she'd ran away. His mind managed a small thought about her. He felt a small bit of sadness and wondered why she was crying, but that was all he managed.

He was truly drained, in every aspect.

[The Tenth Doctor]

As this injured man hadn't actually laid down yet, Tyler saw that his work wasn't finished yet. Trying his best not to injure the man further, he gently tried to help the man get into a flat position, but his efforts weren't enough. Glancing at the Doctor, he said, "I....I need some help...this man needs to rest, and he's going to pass out...."

He could tell from the way the man carried himself that he was starting to get woozy.

[The Eighth Doctor]

"I wish Charley would get back here with the water and cloth," the Doctor muttered. He carefully examined the wound again and noted the man seemed to be fading in and out of conscienceness. "Hang on there, old chap. Can you tell me what happened? Who did this to you?"

"Hush!" Mrs. Winchester said sharply. "He's about to reveal a message from the spirit world! Get back, let him speak, Enigma!"

"Don't be ridiculous, he's merely going into shock. And I'm the Doctor, not an enigma!"

His name and title made no impact on the matron. "The spirits had chosen him to be the vessel through which they'll reveal what they wish! Do not attempt to thwart them! Dire consequences will arise!"

"I'm not tryingto thwart anybody, I'm trying to save this man's life!" the Doctor snapped. "Charley! Where are you? Oh...couldn't you get another servant to help? Charley's lost somewhere!"

[The Mentalist]

The butler still stayed quiet, not budging from his position. Everyone was talking around him, someone even tried to move him but none of it seemed to work. He was just locked in some kind of trance, his face getting paler with each passing second. It was starting to get creepy, the way the butler just stared at nothing.

The words and questions were wasted on him but his mind was starting to click back into place again. He was lost in his head but he was at least thinking. Nicholas managed to get a few words into manageable though and let his mind settle on them. His thought was simple,

"...sleep."

Sure enough, he was starting to fade into sleep. That was what he thought it was anyway. Even as the door opened, his eyes were starting to shut, his body shutting down. Another servant appeared at the door. It was a lady but it wasn't Lily. This girl had darker hair, darker eyes and favored the color blue. She quickly walked into the room, carrying the requested cloths and water. It was the maid that had made Lily upset but this servant seemed to be all smiles.

Greeting all the guests, she gave a small courtesy to them in her uniform with a blue ribbon attached and went to Mrs. Winchester first.

"My lady, I'm told that you had asked for these. I took the liberty of bringing them up, I think Charles has got lost. Sorry for the delay."

Her dark eyes closed and gave the lady of the house a small nod. As she came back up from the nod, the maid noticed the butler and the state he was in. She nearly gasped and immediately went over to him, very concerned. He was a mess! The woman was disgusted by the blood pouring of the head butlers neck and the stains it made. His clothes smelled of sweat and iron, his skin still pumping out fluid like a river. The maid immediately went to take the bandage off of his neck, to replace it with the clean cloth and as her hand went out for it, she didn't expect what came next.

For as her hand drew closer, as it got an inch away from his neck, the butler grabbed her wrist. He didn't even need to look at her, Nicholas managed to snatch and still her wrist. The gears in his mind were starting to connect and move again, his thoughts and speech in motion. He was sleepy but stern with her, also answering the comments that had been made about him. Everything had been noticed, just not commented on until now.

"stay away from my neck... I'm sorry my lady... I am no vessel...I am a victim... and honored guest... I cannot explain what happened..."

His eyes then focused on the maid whose wrist he had a hold of. He looked at her, eyes slipping shut and flickering open again. The maid was scared and it showed, his grip was very weak, all his former strength gone. It was almost as if he'd breathed it all out.

"Ellie... go and get Lily... she can explain... so our guest can understand...what happened to me..."

He let her go and went back to staring at nothing. As the maid scurried off, she passed Mrs. Winchester and the guests without saying a word. The butler then mumbled something, shifting his weight and feeling some serious pain.

"I ... must lie down..."

Nicholas then tried to move himself into a lying down position, his arms shaking under his own weight. He just wanted to curl up under the warm covers and sleep. Sleep for quite a while, until all the pain left him.