The Third Encounter
PART II
by John Seavey
10 seconds ago. She collapsed against a wall, panting for breath. She was in good shape, but the chase she'd been on had taxed even her athletic frame. Finally, though, it seemed she'd finally lost her pursuer. Gingerly, she examined her arm. The blouse was ripped clean through where it had clawed at her--that was a close one, she thought to herself, it had almost caught up with her--but mercifully, she had only gained minor scratches.
Sucking in her breath, she was preparing to run again when a hand grabbed her shoulder.
15 minutes ago. Mel heard an insistent, harsh rapping on the door to her cottage, and she jumped off her exercise bike to go and answer it.
Typical, she thought to herself. No callers all afternoon, but now that I'm just beginning my workout, everyone's going to pop out all at once.
She walked over to the door and cautiously looked out through the peephole. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the sad-faced little man, his features creased in impatience as he tapped the door repeatedly with a question-mark handled umbrella. He wore a chocolate brown coat over a truly ghastly outfit, and she was not pleased to see him at all.
She put the chain in the door and opened it a crack. "Go away," she said.
"Mel," he said in a Scottish burr, "is that any way to greet an old friend?"
"Old friend?" she shrieked. "You lied to me, used me, betrayed me, dumped me on an alien planet and didn't bother coming to find me until it suited yet another one of your little games! You're a plotting, lying, manipulative, treacherous little--oooh!" She slammed the door again.
The tapping began again. "Mel," the Doctor said, muffled slightly by the door, "let me in. It's important."
She opened the door again. "I haven't seen you for five years--not since Ace dropped me back home in Pease Pottage. What's so important that you need me now?"
The Doctor glanced around furtively. "I can't say. Not out here. Just let me in. The safety of the entire universe is at stake."
She looked at him doubtfully. "No games this time? No tricks?"
"I promise, Mel. The entire universe is in great danger. Now please...let me in."
"Alright," she said reluctantly, beginning to unlock the door.
One hour ago. There was a flash of actinic, multi-coloured light, and a sound too high to be a scream. The air seemed to bulge, as though the landscape was a piece of canvas with someone pressing on it from behind. Finally, there was a sound like thunder, and the Doctor staggered out of nowhere to collapse face-first onto the ground.
12 minutes ago. Just as she was closing the door in order to remove the chain, a well-aimed kick sent it flying in at her. She fell back, momentarily stunned, and the Doctor stepped over the threshold with an evil grin.
"Stupid, gullible meat!" he snarled, his Scottish burr lapsing into a choked growl. "To think that the Ka Faraq Gatri would have travelled with one such as you." He flexed fingers that had somehow developed into talons and sprang at her.
Despite the bump to the head, Mel's reflexes were as sharp as ever. She flung herself to the side with a shriek, thanking Providence she didn't have a hallway off her main door. The Doctor-thing missed her by inches, but landed on its feet like a cat and spun around to glare at her. Its eyes, she now noticed, were a midnight black...an icy, numbing black...pinning her like a snake's eyes, draining the strength from her limbs. How could she hope to defeat something like this? How could anyone?
Smiling, it closed in for the kill.
19 minutes ago. The Doctor opened his eyes, only to find a close-up view of several blades of grass staring back at him. In order to remedy this, he rolled over.
"Well," he said out loud, "no harm done." In his mind, though, he was coming to several rapid, unpleasant conclusions.
One, there was no way he could have survived the Vortex unaided. Therefore, something must have aided him.
Two, such a being could also have steered him to this location, wherever it was.
Three, since the villains he fought were usually gloating megalomaniacs, it was likely that the same being that had attacked his TARDIS had steered him here--most likely for some sort of unpleasantness.
Four, he didn't have a mental sense of the TARDIS; meaning either it was destroyed, or it had been removed to another place and time altogether.
Which meant that he needed to get moving, find out where and when he was, and find some way to put things back on his terms.
He got to his feet a bit unsteadily, and started looking for the nearest signs of habitation.
12 minutes ago. She couldn't move. She couldn't fight. She couldn't escape. It was useless to try, useless to hope. All she could do was wish that the end, when it came, would be quick.
As the Doctor-thing closed in on her in an almost leisurely fashion, drool dribbling down its face, something sparked within her. That was what it wanted, she thought, forcing the idea through her paralyzed mind. It wants you to give in to despair. It wants you to give up hope.
Melanie Bush had never given up hope in her life, and she wasn't going to start now.
She fell backwards as it came at her, and mule-kicked it in the chest with both legs. It staggered back, startled, and Melanie rolled back to her feet, using the forward momentum to propel herself into a run. She headed straight out the door, running for the village, and didn't look back.
The thing smiled. "Not so worthless after all, I see! Very well--a chase, to whet the appetite!" It ran after her in easy, loping strides.
Now. Mel screamed loudly as a hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Easy, Mel, easy," said the man, a handsome fellow with straggly brown hair. "I won't hurt you. I'm the Doctor," he said, adjusting his velvet coat, "and I'm here to help."