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Chapter Text

The Doctor curled up on the floor of the library in the TARDIS, the look on Donna’s face would forever be burned in his memory. There was a cold emptiness in the TARDIS without the fierce woman. It was silent for a long time as the Doctor allowed himself to wallow.

Without warning, the Doctor felt the TARDIS being pulled out of the vortex, “What?” He cried out loud, before remembering that he was all alone. The TARDIS landed with a crash, and so the Doctor threw the doors wide open, only to find an unfamiliar, tall, blonde woman standing there politely and patiently, holding a large envelope.

“Telegram for the Doctor.” She said cheerfully with a smile. Thanking her, the Doctor accepted the telegram, and opened it up.

To my esteemed friends,

I have acquired an illustrious estate through the death of a distant relative who I’ve never met. I thought it only fitting that I invite you all to attend a dinner party on its grounds. It will certainly be a night to remember. However, the estate is quite peculiar. It only exists in the year 1920. To enter its grounds, you must be dressed entirely with clothing of that era. If you carrying anything from the modern world, the house will simply never appear for you. And not only your clothing, but your attitude must reflect the time. I have included your unique characteristics on the back of this invitation. My driver will pick you up and take you on a road that can only be driven by his mysterious time traveling automobile. Then, almost like magic, the place will appear.

Joey Graceffa

The Doctor gave a grin, this was just what he needed right now. A mysterious adventure in a peculiar time-locked mansion. Flipping the envelope over, he found his characteristics: He was the Physician. He laughed, grabbed his nice suit that he wore on the Titanic, and, trying to ignore the twinge of sadness in his heart, placed down his sonic screwdriver and psychic paper; He knew he would not get to see the house with such technology on him.

A young butler escorted him into a car and the Doctor found himself riding into a courtyard containing ten other people. They all looked young: probably all within the range of 20 to 30 years old. They began to introduce themselves: There was Shane, the renegade, Eva, the journalist, GloZell, the jazz singer, Oli, the big game hunter, Justine, the gambler, Andria, the fixer, Matt, the Professor, Sierra, the heiress, Lele, the hustler, and Tim, the Mobster. The only one who seemed to be missing was the mysterious Joey. The Doctor had never met Joey Graceffa before, but that didn’t necessarily mean Joey hadn’t met him.

The Doctor immediately knew that he was the odd one out, as he quickly realized that everyone here were relatively well-known as YouTubers from the 21st century. It was odd. What was odder were the butler and maid in the corner, but just as he had begun to make his way towards them, a figure climbed down the staircase.

“What do you guys think?” The man, despite his more formal look acted incredibly casual. He must have been Joey. There was a bit of applause, and so before Joey continued: “Welcome to my new house.”

“This is yours?” Lele asked, seemingly confused but quite impressed; it seemed clear that everyone else’s information was just as vague as the Doctor’s, but they at least seemed to know this Joey.

“I actually have inherited this house from a distant cousin twice removed.”

“My cousins got me nothin’.” GloZell joked, but the Doctor could already tell something was off, but whether Joey was aware of it or not, he wasn’t sure.

“You all look amazing tonight in your 1920s attire.” Joey continued, sounding as if he was reciting from a prepared speech. He then froze, looking at the Doctor with pure confusion, “Who are you?” The Doctor looked up from the mantle he was examining.

“I’m the Doctor.”

“Yes, but, what’s your name? I’ve never met you, and I certainly didn’t invite you.”

“Yes you did.” The Doctor held up his invitation for Joey’s inspection. “I haven’t clue how you managed to contact me, but you’ve done it.” Joey’s confused face thought for a moment, then shrugged,

“Martin must have messed up the invitations. So, Doctor, what’s your name.”

“The Doctor.”

“That’s no name.” GloZell laughed,

“That’s what I’m called.” There was a murmuring that crossed throughout the room, but eventually, people shrugged and accepted it without much problem.

“I want to introduce you all to my wonderful staff that actually came with the house.” The Doctor grinned, the more suspicious and mysterious this was getting, the more he felt that usual thrill cross his hearts. “Arthur, who is head of staff,” Arthur gave a friendly bow, “Sarah, the maid,” Sarah gave a quiet, polite, curtsey, “and then there’s Marvin, who’s the groundskeeper. Dinner is almost ready, but until then, let’s get to know each other a little bit more, and have some drinks.”

Joey led them into a room filled with games and cards and such. The Doctor sat down at the chess board with Eva, who seemed a clever girl who appreciated a challenge, and quickly beating her in six moves. She stared at the board:

“How’d you do that?”

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” The Doctor made a lopsided grin.

“You’re weird.” She laughed, and the Doctor gave a shrug,

“Not the first time I’ve been told.”

“What’s your job, in 2016 I mean?” She asked investigatively, I’ve never seen you on YouTube before.”

“Oh, I’m a bit of a traveler I suppose. I’m not really on any social media.”

“Why are you here then?”

“I got an invitation, same as you, thought it rude not to come.” She nodded, grabbing a drink from a passing tray. The Doctor then jumped up,

“Let’s go explore, shall we?” Eva smiled,

“I’m down if you’re down.” She then approached Joey.

“Can we like, look around?” She asked,

“Uh, no, I think we should just stay down here.” Joey responded, “Dinner’s almost ready, so I think we should just hang out here.” Eva nodded.

“Okay.” Then returned to the Doctor who said,

“A lack of permission never stopped me before.” She gave a mischievous grin and the two of them snuck up to the second floor, pausing at to top of the stairs. There was a body, just laying there. Blood on the carpet. It was dragged around the corner, and Sarah stepped out in front of them with a scratch on her right cheek,

“The dinner’s ready.” She said, trying to usher them downstairs,

“Who was that?” The Doctor asked, unable to contain the fury in his voice.

“You should probably head downstairs.”

“Oi, tell me who that was and what you were doing.”

“You’re not allowed up here.”

“I answer to a higher authority than you. Tell me.” The Doctor growled.

“Doctor, we should just go back down.” Eva whispered nervously, the Doctor took a moment to glare into Sarah’s eyes, then followed Eva.

“We shouldn’t tell them.” Eva decided,

“I agree.” The Doctor nodded, “The last thing we want here is throw everything into chaos.” There was a humored cheer when the Doctor and Eva returned,

“Where were you guys?” Joey asked, looking suspiciously between the two.

“I was in the bathroom.” Eva lied.

“For that long?” Joey said disbelievingly.

“We got lost on the way, we couldn’t find it.” The Doctor pitched in,

“Oh, okay. Why were you with her?”

Suddenly, Shane grabbed a slip of paper from between the plates.

“Read it.” Matt said excitedly.

“Ooh! Y’all jealous I found a clue?” Shane laughed, opening it, and began reading to himself, just as Sarah entered with a large platter.

There was coughing, gagging, and Shane began to cough up blood. Everyone began to scream. Shane was on the ground now,

“I think I got poisoned.” He coughed,

“You’re the Doctor, help him!” Justine cried, and the Doctor dropped to his side,

“Do you know what you were poisoned with?” He asked, running through the list of Earth poisons in his head.

“I don’t know!” He coughed,

“It must have been the maid!” Eva said accusingly.

“I’m reading the telegram.” Matt said, snatching it swiftly. “It says he’s been poisoned.”

“Does it say what kind?” Eva demanded, thinking quickly.

“No.” Joey grabbed the paper out of Matt’s hands and began to read:

“In fifteen minutes you’ll be dead, your lungs filled with blood, however, you know I love games. There is an antidote hidden on the first floor of the house. If you and your friends are wise enough, they’ll be able to solve the clues and save you. The symbols of your cult mark the clues leading to the antidote. It all begins with your last dish of the night. May you die in a horrible pain, my cursed enemy.”

“That’s the last dish,” Andria said, pointing to the dish in Sarah’s hands.

“What does she have under there?” Oli asked nervously.

Sarah placed it on the table.

“I’ll open it.” Sierra said boldly, then pulled open the dish to reveal a severed head. A real, human head. There was screaming, and the Doctor was disgusted, but it wasn’t the first bleeding head he’d seen, and a man’s life was on the line, so he went straight in,

“There’s something in its mouth.” He observed, pulling a small roll of bloody paper. He read the note, “Something is not okay with this room. I like it in a perfect order, but certain things wander around the table instead of finding their perfect fit. Can you figure it out?”

“We have to look for this symbol.” Oli observed, pointing at the small red symbol in the corner of the paper,

“That symbol means something.” Lele said confidently, but the Doctor knew it was no rune of any language.

“Look for clues!” The Doctor said, things were really getting interesting now.

“I found something!” Matt soon cried, it was a glass holder with one glass and the red symbol on it. There was a scramble to get the right glasses into the placeholders, but soon they did, and a large chest opened towards the back of the room, causing GloZell to cry out in surprise. There were three locks, they needed to get all three vials of the antidote.

“In the first floor study, one key to life is as high as the mountain top.” Eva began to read, “In the library is the second key which lies hidden beneath nine circles of hell described by letters and words. In the foyer, it’s the third key to life, which can easily be found, but no one person can retrieve it without the helping hand of a friend.” The Doctor sprinted to the library, and began looking for books and started piecing clues together, two devils, he ran around quickly, how many souls must he prevert? There are three young ones, those must be it, he gives them a riddle.

“We’ve got a key!” The Doctor heard Joey calling, There’s three young ones, I need to know their age, if you multiply their ages, you get 36, okay, a+b+c=36, if you add all these ages together, then you will get the number of devils. His mind was running a thousand miles a minute, he had to save this man, Okay, there are 13 devils . The Doctor continued his math, “I’ve got it!” He cried, throwing the numbers into the combination lock in the box beside him. It popped open, revealing a key. Grabbing it, he sprinted back and tossed it to Joey, who got straight to work getting the second vial of antidote.

“Three minutes!” The Doctor called out, being as impeccable with keeping time as the title, ‘Time Lord’ implied. He ran into the foyer. This was a game. They would have to push the box through arm holes into the exit hole. They began to work, but it was not as easy as one might think. Using his long arms, the Doctor tried to memorize  every hole in the maze, but there were points where others had to reach, and he did have to admit, he wasn’t as good at team sports as he was solo.

“Time’s up!” The voice of GloZell rung out, and the Doctor dropped to his knees, “Shane is dead.” The Time Lord put his head in his hands.

“I could have saved him,” He kept whispering, “If I had moved just a bit faster. If I had used a better technique.” Eva tried to grab his arm to help him to his feet, but he jumped up on his own and they returned to the now dead body of Shane.

Then, there was the arguing, the pointing of fingers. They first turned on Tim.

“Aren’t you like, a murderer?” Lele cried out,

“Joey invited us all here!” Oli accused.

“The Doctor wasn’t even invited, he won’t even tell us his name!” The memory of Midnight sparked in the Doctor’s head. He had just wanted to help them, and the humans, the species he so loved, had turned on him, trying to throw him out into the extonic sunlight. He winced at the painful memory, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“What was that? Realized you’ve been caught?”

“What do we do with the body?” Justine finally cried out, “Okay, I don’t care who killed him, we need to get rid of it.”

“The body?” Joey cried out, and the fingers kept pointing.

“Quiet!” The Doctor shouted, and the room fell into silence, “We need to figure out if there were any clues on his person.” There was a slight nod of agreement, and Joey began to look.

“Listen to this, listen to this,” Joey said,having found another note, “If you’re reading this, I have failed in my mission. My killer is not who you might think it is. It’s the house itself which is possessed with an ancient evil that has locked it in time. I came here tonight with the intention of destroying it. I am a member of a secret organization known as the Society Against Evil. We’ve been battling this wicked force for centuries. There are four artifacts which the evil has hidden behind a series of puzzles and clues. If they can be gathered and a binding ritual performed, the evil will be locked away. However, to complete the final task to retrieve each artifact, the group must vote on two people who must undertake a dark challenge. Tragically, one of them will die. But to help you along the way, the Society Against Evil has marked the clues with their symbol. You have until sunrise to recover the artifacts before you are trapped here forever. What lies ahead will not be easy, but I’m afraid you have no other choice if you want to get back to your current time.” The Doctor didn’t want to be stuck without a TARDIS. He had done that before with Martha, but then he had his sonic screwdriver. He had nothing right now, nothing but his mind. So he only had one choice.

“Guys, I think we should leave.” Joey said, “Follow me, I have a car that can take us out of here.” There was a nod of agreement, and they began to make their way to the car.

Without warning, an explosion rocked where they stood, and the car was blown to pieces. There was a loud scream and they saw a humanoid shape in the smoke that surrounded the wreck.

“Back inside.” The Doctor heard himself ordering, “Back inside, now!” He didn’t know who that figure was, but he knew he should not approach with so many civilians around. He would just have to play its game.

Chapter Text

There was a loud commotion, and an abundance of curses, as the group hurried back inside.

“Okay, think, think, think, think, think.” The Doctor’s mind was racing, trying to figure out the creature they had seen in the smoke, “Humanoid, hooded, must have a sense of modesty, grey skin, or maybe a mask –“

“What the hell was that?” Lele cried loudly.

“I don’t know.” The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, “Could just be a Pilot-Fish…”

“Here’s the thing,” Oli announced, “I’m trying to get back to 2016. We’ve got to find the four artifacts, or we can’t go home: That’s what it comes down to.” There was a murmur of agreement.

“We’re all gonna die!” Justine cried dramatically.

“We need to get out of here. I know that I haven’t checked my email in like, 48 hours.” Lele gasped.

The Doctor began examining the room, there had to be some sort of clue.

“What are you doing?” Tim asked, a little more aggressively than the Doctor would have liked.

“Looking for a clue, there’s no point in delay.” Tim nodded, and motioned for everyone else to do the same.

“Should we split up?” Eva asked. The Doctor hesitated, then gave a short nod, but just then, Sarah came in holding a large box and placed it on the table.

“This arrived in the post earlier today.” She said, lifting the top.

The room was filled with screams as she uncovered a hand in a glass dome. In it was a note. The Doctor grabbed it and began to read aloud:

“Her essence can speak to you through the spirit board in the library, giving you clues, however, it requires great strength to speak from across the grave and can only occur once an hour.”

“Spirit board!” Justine cried out, pointing to an invocation on a board. Eva grabbed it:

“We call you now to bless our meetings. Heaven's promise our spirits thrive so now from the living let the dead come alive.” A chill ran through the library, “Greetings spirits, speak to us.” Suddenly, the board lit up the letters, and the Doctor read them out as they shone:

“B-o-o-k-s. Books.” The group scattered and began looking through the book cases. Of all the times to not have his Sonic, this was one of the worst. Hell, if he had his TARDIS, they could just leave. But he scrambled through as well, feeling useless. He opened a cabinet, and within found a chest with a lock. Great, even more reason to miss his Sonic. “There’s a chest!” The Doctor announced, pulling it out of the cabinet and resting it on the table,

“This book has a number on it.” Eva observed.

“Oh! You’re good!” The Doctor grinned, looking at the platform that the hand was on, there were eight dials. “We must have to find eight of them.” There was more scrambling, and soon all eight books were lined up each with arrows. The Doctor began to switch the dials and, with a pop, the lights around the hand lit up. There was a cheer, then a quiet voice whispered into the air,

Three, five, four, seven.

“Three, five, four, seven!” The Doctor announced loudly as the voice kept repeating itself. Eva entered the code into the chest, and it popped open.

“Chess pieces!” She announced, pulling them out, the Doctor began to read the note:

“30 men and only two women, but they hold the most power. Dressed in black and white, they could fight for hours. The ladies need to find a perfect pair, a handsome knight on their right with a flair. Yet one of these ladies is in deep sorrow. Her white bearded husband with not have his home tomorrow because a vicious bishop took his house, a beautiful, medieval castle.” The Doctor ran to the chess board. He knew chess through and through, his people invented the game after all. He shuffled the pieces around knowingly, when a drawer popped open. Oli was the first to grab the note:

“Today’s experiment was a success. The machine was able to consume the life force of two college students and produce an ungodly monster. However, the machine’s demand for power is endless. I’m using an ancient artifact with an origin I do not wish to know as a source, but it has come with a price. My mind can no longer distinguish between reality and nightmare. I’ve locked the key to the machine inside the green cabinet in the ballroom, but my scattered mind cannot recall where I left the combination on the first floor. All the thoughts I can hold, are the four elements of triangles I learned as a boy; fire, water, air, and earth.”
“Let’s split up.” The Doctor announced. The moment he walked into the room, the Doctor saw a large, metal heater. Grabbing it, he plugged it in. If this wasn’t fire, he didn’t know what was. There was a five on the outlet, so he hurried out to where Eva, Sierra, and Tim were looking for earth outside.

“There’s a handprint!” Eva was exclaiming, and the Doctor ran over, pulling up the cover, there was the number two.

“I had five.” He said, and the four of them ran back inside.

“We have three for water!”

“We have eight for air!” They hurried over to the combination lock for a cabinet. Lele slid the numbers into place, and grabbed the note,

“The ungodly machine is in the basement – Oh god, not the basement – The cog key will ignite its wicked engine, but understand, once the machine has been started, it can only be stopped by the loss of an innocent life.” The Doctor felt his hearts clench. “Two guests must be selected by the vote of the group to be locked in the machine. Then, those two must each choose a partner who will aid them in defeating the machine.” The Doctor closed his eyes, he knew he could easily do a puzzle, but to leave a puzzle in another’s hands? Everyone started pointing fingers, saying who they wanted to kill off.

“I have an idea.” The Doctor said, and all eyes were on him, “We all can all write down the name of the person you want to attempt the final task and put it,” The Doctor grabbed a hat off the cabinet, “In this hat. I’ll draw two names who must compete.”

“Oh my god.” Joey was first to break the silence. They broke into groups, Eva and the Doctor were pulled out by Joey, Justine, and Sierra. “I may not know you, but you’re smart, and I really feel like I can trust you.” Joey whispered to the Doctor, who gave a curt nod, “I think we should join an alliance.”

“Me too.” Eva nodded, “But who do we kick out?”

“I’ll do it.” The Doctor stepped forwards, “Eva, will you please be my partner?” Eva nodded nervously.

Once everyone returned, they began placing names in the hat to see who would compete with the Doctor. There was a silence, then the Doctor whispered, “Andrea?” There was a gasp, “Pick your partner.”

“I’m gonna pick… Justine.”

“What?” Justine gasped, “No! I’m an idiot, you don’t want me!”

The four of them walked into the basement. It was old and lights flickered on and off. It looked almost like a laboratory, and machines littered the space. Eva began to read the directions,

“To free the artifact from the bowels of the machine, it must be forced into malfunction. The two guests selected by vote must be locked in a separate glass chamber.” The Doctor and Andrea were each locked into their separate chambers, hearts beating fast. “The machine is started by placing the cog key in the center console. However, the other chamber will fill with a noxious gas killing the guest whose partner was not quick enough. If after thirty minutes, the machine has not malfunctioned, both guests will be killed by the machine and a monster will emerge.” Eva and Justine began as a timer flicked on,

“What?” This is not even in English, it’s just all these weird symbols.” Eva cried out,

“Can I see it?” The Doctor called to Eva through the glass, Eva nodded and brought him the blueprint and a decoder. The Doctor’s mind worked fast, “Left to right, up, up, down, up.” Eva ran to the machine and switched the levers the way the Doctor had instructed, and the lights on the machine went out. Eva ran to a vat of water, where she stuck her hand in and began to unscrew a bolt at the bottom. The Doctor could tell from the way her hand slowed that it was ice cold. She opened the control panel.

“What do you see?” The Doctor called to her,

“Uh, wires! Coloured wires!” Eva easily got through the green, yellow, and red wires, when she cried out,

“Blue! Where do I put the blue?” The Doctor looked at the chart she placed in front of his face.

“Third row, fourth column.” Eva ran back and placed the wire in, just as Justine had removed her bolt. The sound of a machine powering down echoed through the air, and Andrea’s chamber filled with black smoke.

“Andrea!” The Doctor cried, running to her case, searching the control panel and desperately smashing buttons, “There has to be a way to override it, she needs to get out!”

“Doctor,” Eva’s hand was on the man’s shoulder, “It’s too late. She’s gone.” The Doctor dropped his head as a drawer opened, and inside rested the artifact. Eva picked it up, along with the next note,

“I could have saved her, there was a way, there had to have been.” The Doctor whispered.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Eva said, and the now three of them walked up the stairs. There was a cheering when they came back, but the Doctor’s eyes were still heavy with the death of Andrea.

Chapter Text

Matt placed the artifact on the mantelpiece, then, Oli went to the side of the mantle, and grabbed a slip of paper that was poking out. He began to read,

“You’ve been warned, one among you in league with the evil of the house.” There was a gasp, and the pointing fingers came out again.

“How did you even see that paper from that far?” Justine asked Oli,

“I have good vision!” He said defensively,

“Yeah right!” Tim said,

“What about you? You kill people for a living!” Matt yelled at Tim,

“Only people who owe me money! Not my friends." The mobster responded,

“Pointing fingers is not going to resolve anything!” The Doctor said,

“Yeah, who are you, then? Came waltzing in here, no one’s ever met you, and you won’t even tell us your name!”

“It’s John, John Smith!” The Doctor responded, feeling a maddening sense of deja vu from Midnight,

“But no one’s ever even met you before!”

“The Doctor’s right!” Eva was on her feet, “Pointing fingers isn’t going to help anything. There was a note with the artifact, let’s just read it.” There was a nod, and she picked up the note. “Oh!”

“What is it?”

“It’s a picture.” The Doctor looked at it, it was of a woman, she had beautiful brown hair and green piercing eyes with emerald earrings and a red scarf. Eva read the note, “The location of the next artifact can only be found by speaking to the woman in the photograph. The inconvenience is, she’s no longer with the living. To get answers from across the grave, you must perform a seance, but, to ensure the circle does not open a doorway to unwanted spirits, there must be acquired a unique part of her beauty, an article of clothing or her birthstone.” She turned the picture over, “If you seek the three, you must study the picture, giving it all your attention, but must tear it to pieces right after you proceed. Once the objects have been found, return them to the golden dish, and the seance ritual will be revealed.” The Doctor quickly and easily memorised the picture. They ripped it up, and they were on their way. A drawer on a small mantelpiece opened, containing three keys.

“Let’s split up into three groups!” Lele called, gaining a nod from the rest of the room,

“We know all the rooms downstairs, we should check the upstairs.” The Doctor said reasonably,

“You’d know.” GloZell said,

“Excuse me?” Eva said, coming to the Doctor’s defence,

“Oh, come on! How do you not see it.” GloZell laughed, “Everyone else here knows Joey, and Joey knows us, then there’s ‘John Smith’, I doubt that’s even his name, he shows up, and he’s figuring out all the puzzles and putting on such a show. Someone died, do you see the way he acts, he loves this. If anyone’s behind it, it has to be him.”

“Don’t be daft, you saw the way he was when Shane and Andrea died,”

“Oh, yeah, he’s just got you wrapped around his finger, doesn’t he?”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Well, just watch yourself, girl, or you might be the next to go.” And with that, they split into groups.

The Doctor, Eva, Sierra, and Joey were in a group. They went into the spare bedroom that was full of wigs. They began to look around, when Joey said, “Now that we’re alone, who do you think is working with the evil spirit?”

“I don’t know.” Eva said,

“I think it’s you.” Sierra said,

“What, me?” Joey gasped, “Why?”

“We’re in your house.”

“I don’t think it’s anyone.” The Doctor said honestly, “I think this is all a ploy to get us to fight amongst ourselves, to break up the bonds formed.” There was a silent nod. “Come on, let’s keep looking.”

The Doctor soon noticed a crease in the wall, and pulled it. It opened, revealing a small bathroom. In the shower, rested a wig, and he knew that had to be it. Grabbing it, he hurried out, “found it!”

“Nice!” Eva said, then, as they went downstairs, “We found the wig! Meet us downstairs!” Once all the belongings had been collected, anther drawer opened up. Inside, the Doctor found, was a scroll with a map of how to do the seance and a note.

“You are now ready to speak to the dead,” the Doctor read, “You may construct the seance circle enclosed with white sand. There was a pail of white sand outside, that Oli noticed, grabbed, and brought in. “And each participant sits in front of a candle. One among the group needs to act as the voice of the deceased, and sit in the center of the circle.” The Doctor began pouring the sand in the circle, then made the triangle in the middle.

“Who’s going to be the voice?” Eva asked. The Doctor was the first to sit down in front of a candle. This whole event reminded him of midnight, there was no way he was going to get possessed again as well.
“I’ll do it.” Everyone turned to Eva. The Doctor gave her a nod of good luck, and she sat in the circle. Tim began to read the invocation;

“Caroline Eastwick, you who lived yesterday, hear these words, hear our cry. We seek your guidance in recovering an ancient artifact cross now the great divide and show yourself here.” In the circle, Eva made a gasp and began to speak;

“I am here.” She said, her voice now mystical and far away, “My name is Caroline Eastwick. I’m speaking through the mouth of your friend. I was taken against my will and buried in a coffin bound with an iron chain. My life was taken in order to hide the artifact from the living. To retrieve it, you must find my coffin, exhume it from the earth, and release me. You must also find the key to unlock the chain that seals it. The path that leads to the key starts at a fork beneath the weeping tree. Take the low road. I do not know where the coffin has been buried. I remember being carried past the red stone. Near the back, near the back of the house! Hurry! Release me from this hell!” Eva’s head drooped, and the Doctor knelt before her,

“You alright?” Eva looked up,

“Y-yeah. Just a bit shaken up.” The Doctor and Eva joined the group heading for the key, the Doctor lead the way. Then, the were confronted with a piano. The Doctor immediately noticed, that only two of the keys were white, the others black. He opened the piano, and inside rested a small box. He opened it up, to find it was a music box. After listening twice, the Doctor played the song, and underneath the piano, a rusty, metal key dropped out.

“Nice job! Let’s go!” Lele said, and the five of them hurried off the try to find the group with the coffin.

They hurried over to find the rest of the group uncovering a coffin. “I do not like this at all.” Justine said,

“We’ve seen so much death already, what is your problem all of a sudden?” Sierra asked, the Doctor gave her a low glare,

“Just because you’ve seen a lot of death, doesn’t mean you should normalize it. It’s not a game. It is the destruction of a living being and should not be taken lightly. I don’t care how much you’ve seen.” The Doctor felt the eyes of the guests on him, then Oli said,

“You’ve seen a lot of death, haven’t you?” It wasn’t question, and the Doctor’s lack of a response was answer enough.
“And remind me again why we trust this guy?” GloZell said,
“I have the key.” The Doctor said, on the ground in front of the coffin and unlocking it. The Doctor pulled the coffin open slowly, expecting to see another body, but it was empty.

“Where did the body go?” GloZell asked after a moment of silent confusion, and the Doctor picked up the small note inside,

“I can feel your presence near,” He read, “my spirit will soon be free. There is only one more task ahead of you. The hiding ritual used to conceal the artifact required an unwilling soul to be buried alive and it was mine. Now another unwilling soul must be buried to reverse the spell. Only then will the artifact rise from its earthen tomb. I know it is a horrible thing to require, but if I told you in the beginning, you would have never come this far. The group must vote, but only one name will be drawn this time. That person must be taken away, against their will and buried alive in this coffin. Please do not fauter now.” There were whispers as they returned inside to find the hat. The Doctor didn’t vote, not wanting to have anyone go through this,

“I think it was John.” GloZell said, she was the only one who called him by his false name,

“I think it’s Eva.” Tim said,

“Why would you think that?” Eva said, “I’ve been nothing but helpful.”

“You are too clever. I think you know because you set all this up.”

“Let’s just vote.” The Doctor said, and the names were placed in the hat. The Doctor pulled out a name, staring at the paper,

“What does it say?” GloZell asked,

“Eva.” Eva seemed frozen to her spot, then, instead of running like what everyone seemed to expect, she fell to her knees,

“No.” The Doctor whispered,

“I won’t let them take you.”
“You have to.”

“I’ll take your place.”

“Don’t you dare.” Eva grabbed his hand, “They need you.”

“Please. Don’t let them do this to you.”

“Goodbye, Doctor.”

“No!” The Doctor called out as Tim and Lele placed her in the coffin, she sobbed the entire time. Matt kept a foot on it as they began to shovel the dirt back onto her. The Doctor closed his eyes, dropping to his knees, there was no other way. He tried to tell himself, there was no other way.

“Wait, wait, wait, guys, do you hear that?” Justine asked, everyone fell silent, “I think she stopped.” There was a sound like thunder, and the Doctor followed it, and there was a marking on the ground,

“Dig here.” He said, grabbing a shovel himself, and soon they pulled up a black pyramid-shaped box. The Doctor opened it to find the artifact.

“See, it was all worth it, Doctor.” Tim said, the Doctor shot him a glare,

“No it wasn’t.”

“What’s that?” Lele and Justine said in unison, pointing to a wooden box,

“Let’s open it inside.” The Doctor said, everyone nodded in agreement and followed him.

Chapter Text

    “So, what do we do?” Lele asked as they all sat at the table inside,

    “Guys, I mean, we’ve just killed Eva.” Matt said, “We buried her alive.” Then, GloZell turned herself on the Doctor,

    “We buried Eva, but you were acting like you were just so sad, and I just don’t believe that you were really so sad. I didn’t buy the act at all, John.”

    “You didn’t buy my act ?”

    “No, not at all, you were, aw, you no, this is my friend.” 

    “She was my friend!”

    “You just met her.”

    “We were going to travel.”

    “I don’t believe that.”

    “Why weren’t you sad?” Joey asked GloZell,

    “What?”

    “You’re acting as if we just lost a football match, I’m not sure if you’ve forgotten, we’ve just murdered someone. If the Doctor’s upset that is perfectly understandable.”

    “Don’t act as if it’s the first time you’ve murdered someone.” GloZell spat at the Doctor, “You said yourself you’ve seen a lot of death, I assume that was your own doing.”

    “I fought in a war, GloZell, of course I saw a lot of death.” GloZell said nothing, and the Doctor picked up the box, focusing his anger, and smashed it on the table. Inside was a paper that just read, Idle.

    “Idle is when something is running on and on, right?” Joey asked, “So maybe we need to turn something off of idle?”

    “Very clever, Joey.” The Doctor forced a grin,

    “Or maybe we need to turn it back on so it’s up and running.” Matt suggested

    “Or maybe it’s just letters to a code.” Lele said,

    “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, what’s this, mean anything?” Oli asked, indicating to a code on the clock,

    “Letters become numbers and numbers become letters.” Joey read out, paused, then exclaimed, “The clock’s not moving, that means it’s idle!”

    “Oh! I am so thick!” The Doctor jumped up, “The clock hands. I is nine, d is four, l is twelve, and e is five.” They slid the clock hands into place. The moment, they were in place, four books were sent catapulting out of the bookcase revealing a key hole and another picture. 

    “Let’s go look out there.” Justine said, and they all began to walk out, when Tim grabbed the Doctor’s arm,

    “Look, look right there.” He pointed outside to where a car was sitting under a tree. “There’s a car right there.”

    “Why are you telling me?”

    “I need backup.” The Doctor nodded,

    “We should let the others know.” 

    “Let’s let them look for the key, and we’ll check it out real quick.” The Doctor rolled his eyes, and stepped into the foyer.

    “Tim and I think we saw something suspicious outside, we’re gonna go check it out.” He called,

    “I’ll come with you.” Joey suggested, the Doctor shrugged,

    “More backup is never a bad thing.” There was a nod, and together, the Doctor, Tim, and Joey made their way to the car, once they got there, the Doctor said,

    “I know there’s no way this is our ride out, we need to keep an eye out. Watch each others back.” There was a nod, 

    “Oh! Here we go!” Tim reached through one of the windows of the locked car, and opened the door. Tim climbed in,

    “What are you doing?” Joey asked,

    “Come on, this is our ride out.” Tim said,

    “Check the glove compartment.” The Doctor said, ignoring the fact that Tim was all for himself. 

    “I found something!” Joey shone the flashlight on what he found. There was a picture of a man, and a note,

    “Slow down? What is that supposed to mean?” Joey asked, then, the Doctor knelt down to the brake pedal, and sure enough a key was there. Tim tried to put the key in the ignition, when the Doctor grabbed it,

    “Let’s try the trunk.” Joey suggested, and the three of them walked around to the trunk, and the Doctor unlocked it. Inside, rested a mannequin of a little girl. The Doctor picked it up,

    “Let’s take this back to the others.” He said, Joey nodded.

    The three of them entered the room the others were in, carrying the mannequin. “We’ve been looking for the girl.” Matt said,

    “She was just tied up in the car outside.” Joey said, and Tim began reading the note.

    “All my life I wanted to go to a dance. Nothing fancy, I just wanted a boy to ask me. Then Calvin came along. Only, it turns out dancing isn’t what he had in mind at all.”

    “Okay,” Sierra said, “Calvin is some sort of psychopath who set this room up.”

    “I think we have to put these in order.” Joey said, and they examined a picture that had been found in the room. They shuffled the mannequins, then a drawer popped open. Joey began to read the note inside,

    “To my employer, I have hidden the artifact given to me as you requested in my new art installation on the second floor. I’m afraid it can only be experienced with two guests selected by a vote. They should be prepared to play perverse games.”

    Once they had voted, the Doctor already volunteering himself, the Doctor pulled out a name, “Joey.”

    “What? Who put me in there?” The two of them walked to the location written on the note. When they walked in, Joey’s first words were,
    “What the-” As the room was covered in mannequins in surprisingly little clothing. “Wait, there’s a clue right here. “Start the party with a spin of the bottle, and swap spit with your plastic friends.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow, he’d done many things, but that did not include a makeout session with mannequins. “Kiss them enough and you will get a key from under the door. The Doctor and Joey sat down and the Doctor spun first, it landed on a mannequin in a nighty. The Doctor gave her a small kiss on the cheek, unsure what else to do. Suddenly, under the door. They slid it into the lock on a desk, and the drawer below opened. Inside was a journal. The Doctor picked it up and began to read,

    “This is a murder journal. Inside, you must write the names of two people who will die a horrible death.”

    “Two?” Joey gasped, the Doctor sat down on the floor, head in his hands.

    “I can’t do it.” He whispered, “I can’t take two innocent lives.” Joey held the book,

    “We don’t have a choice.”

    “I know.” Joey sat down next to him, “Who should we choose?”

    “GloZell has had it out for you this whole time.” The Doctor nodded,

    “She has good reason to.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Doesn’t matter.”

    “Yes, it does.

    “You really don’t want to know.”

    “But I do. Please, if we’re–” The Doctor cut him off,

    “We can’t be.” Joey nodded solemnly,

    “Who else?”

    “I don’t know.”

    “What about Tim? He’s only playing for himself. We know that.” The Doctor nodded, then to spare Joey the guilt, he began to write their names. Because the TARDIS was in the future, his English handwriting was a little rough, but it made do.

    Suddenly, there was screaming downstairs, and the Doctor felt tears tugging at his eyes, he looked at Joey, who had a hand over his mouth. Joey whispered,

    “Oh my god.” He then turned to the Doctor, “I don’t want them to know that we put their names in the book.” The Doctor shook his head,

    “We need to tell them. They’ll be suspicious. They know GloZell wanted me gone.” Joey nodded, 

    “They’ll understand we had no choice.” Then, the screaming quieted, and with a pop, the cabinet doors opened revealing another artifact. The moment they got down the stairs, Justine cried out,

    “You guys, Tim and GloZell died!” The Doctor held his head down,

    “We know.”

    “What happened up there?” Lele asked,

    “There was a journal,” Joey said, “a death journal upstairs, and we had to put two names in. Whoever we put in there would die.” There was a silence, the Doctor moved across the room and placed the third artifact on the mantle. Only one more.

    Then, there was a deep roar from outside, everyone screamed, “What was that?” Sierra asked, and another drawer popped open, Oli grabbed the note inside, 

“The house can tell someone’s trying to imprison it. It’s unleashed its guardian to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Chapter Text

Joey turned to the Doctor, “What the hell was that noise?”

“I don’t know.” The Doctor said honestly,

“I think something’s coming for us.” Justine cried out,

“Something or someone?” Sierra asked,

“That was definitely something.” Joey and Lele agreed,

“It just depends on your definition of people.” The Doctor said reasonably,

“Guys, don’t forget, GloZell and Tim are dead.” Oli said and turned to the Doctor, “And somehow you manage to go into every one of these and come out on top.”

“Leave him alone.” Joey said, “He’s just clever.”

“We have three artifacts, guys.” Matt said, “We are one more away from getting back to 2016.”

“We found a clue upstairs.” The Doctor said, pulling it out. There had been a ticket with the artifact. It was a circus ticket. Everyone looked at the ticket, then the Doctor flipped it over and read aloud, “Round and round the room we go.”

“What if there’s a carnival ride?” Matt suggested,

“Or a merry-go-round.” Sierra said,

“There’s a record player.” Oli observed, “And a rotary phone.” Underneath the phone, rested a note.

“The carnival is coming to town,” Justine read, “follow your nose to the show.”

“It smells like orange.” Sierra observed. They walked around the house, looking for the source of the orange smell. Having superior Time Lord senses, the Doctor found a hidden box.

“Look!” Joey cried out, as he saw the box that the Doctor was pulling from a cabinet.

“It’s an admission box.” The Doctor said, recognizing the striped pattern. He pulled out the ticket and slid it in. The box jumped open with a bang. Inside were two clown masks and a note that Matt began to read,
“Now you see me, now you don’t. Time is not forever. Time runs out. Your share is only one sixth of an hour, not a moment longer.”

“Look at this.” Oli said, pulling out a piece of paper he must have found,

“The Guardian is awake. It’s rage can tear asunder both tree and mountain. There is a melody that is played when horses run in a circle that will summon the Ring Leader and his cursed carnival. His whip and wit has the power to subdue the monster. The first key to unlocking the horses waits in the river that flows to the sky on the back of the estate grounds. The two wearing the clown masks will be invisible to the Guardian and should search for clues. The rest of you must hide from the Guardian past the grass line on the back of the estate. Every five minutes, a gong will sound and one of the masked guests must run to the exchange circle and place the mask on another guest. The Guardian patrols the grass-covered area. If everyone is captured, the guardian wins and the artifacts will be recovered by the house and you will be back to the beginning. Please decide among you who will wear the masks first.”

“Should we have our fastest people without masks then?” Matt suggested, “You guys are wearing heels.” He gestured to the girls,

“We’re fast.” Lele said defensively,

“Well, I was just looking out for your safety and your ankles.”

“Yeah, what do you have against girls?” Sierra said,

“Relax.” The Doctor said, “I know we’re all a bit touchy at the moment, but I know from experience that heels are hard to run in. There is no doubt that if given proper shoes, you would outrun all of us.” The girls seemed content with that statement, and mentioned no more of it. Each guest grabbed a flashlight, when there was a banging on the windows. There were a few screams, and a large, muscular, humanoid creature was banging on the windows. The guests ran outside to the safe zone.

“Guys, we need a plan.” Oli said,

“Let me try to talk to him.” The Doctor said,

“What?” Oli laughed, “You can’t be serious. Does it even know English?”

“No, but let me try.”

“What?” Matt said, but didn’t argue.

“Who’s going out first?” the Doctor asked, and Sierra and Justine ran out.

The Doctor examined the creature, making an educated guess as to where he was from and what language he would speak.

“Hello?” The Doctor called out to the creature,

“Who are you who calls to me? I did not know there was another Vita speaker anywhere.

“I’m the Doctor, I’m here to help. Who are you?”

“I am viribus from the bellator regiment of Pina Silva, I repeat, who are you who calls to me? What is your name, rank, species, and planet of origin.”

“The Doctor, Doctor, Time Lord, Gallifrey.”

“Time Lord!” Viribus snarled, “You slaughtered my people. Why else would I reside on this pitiful planet?”

“I swear, it wasn’t me. I tried to save your people, I really did, but there was nothing I could do, I promise I tried, it wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t save you, I couldn’t save anyone. I never can.”

“I don’t believe you! You slaughtered them! I will kill you!” Suddenly, Viribus lunged at the Doctor from across the safe zone, so the Doctor did the one thing he was best at, he ran. Then, he heard the sound of soft music alongside Viribus’ screams,

“No! You can’t! You can’t!” The Doctor looked to where Joey and Sierra were standing. They were on a pillar holding a music box to the air. There was a bang and a puff of smoke, and a man emerged. He was a ringmaster, and beside him was a young lady.

“Come on, there’s no need to hide in the wood.” The ringmaster laughed, “Everybody’s welcome at the show.” The guests began to walk towards the ringmaster, who then pointed at Viribus, “You! Come here and knee before me you ungrateful runaway.” Viribus came over and knelt in front of the ringmaster,

“That’s no way to treat a bellator.” The Doctor said,

“Excuse me?” The ringmaster raised an eyebrow,

“It’s the highest warrior class there is on Pina Silva, probably in the whole Procol Galaxy.”

“Whatever do you mean?

“Viribus. He’s not from here.”

“I am aware, but this is no man, it is a monster.”

“Depends on your definition of monster. I mean, I’m sure to him, you’re the monster.”

“It is my monster, I do what I want with him.” The Doctor narrowed his eyebrows,

“You have one warning, release him, or there will be punishment.”

“I doubt you can do anything to me.”

“Just you watch.”

“I think a celebration is in order.” The ringmaster said, turning away from the Doctor and back to the guests who had been listening intently,

“Yes! Celebrate!” The ringmaster’s girl cried,

“For the return of our beloved, Sam.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow, they stole one of the greatest warriors in their galaxy, and called him Sam? “Thank you, my esteemed guests. I ask you to join me in the evening of the thrilling, bizarre, of the carnival.” The ringmaster laughed, “Follow me!”

They followed the ringmaster across the grounds, “What was all that?” Joey asked, “He can’t be from space, can he?” The Doctor grinned, “Oh, Joey, there’s so much to see out there. You could join me, if you wanted.” They then turned the corner, and revealed a large circus with tents and jugglers, and concession stands, and stilt walkers.

“How did you not know this was in your backyard?” The Doctor asked Joey, who shrugged,

“I need your ticket please.” The ringmaster said, and the Doctor handed the ticket over, and they continued to follow the ringmaster into a tent.

“Is that the artifact?” Lele pointed to a desk where the artifact rested,

“This is my greatest achievement.” The ringmaster announced, “It took me half a life to get. But I will make you a deal. Find me two willing participants for tonight’s show, and I will loan you the artifact. I must warn you, this show sometimes can be quite precarious.” The guests began to confer,

“I’ll go.” The Doctor announced once again.

“Do you like, get a high off of killing people, because you’ve done every one of these, and haven’t yet died.” Matt said,

“Yeah, why don’t you die?” Oli said,

“I think GloZell was right,” Justine said,

“Yeah!” Sierra agreed,

“Alright, I won’t volunteer.” The Doctor stepped back. It didn’t matter, they clearly were going to vote for him anyway. The ringmaster pulled the first name out of the hat,

“Doctor.” He announced, then pulled out another, “Oli.” There was a gasp,

“Who put Oli in there?” Sierra asked,

“So I have my two participants for tonight’s show. The rest of you can enjoy the show with our crowd. Now, gentlemen, you will be performing three acts for tonight’s show. The first one is a strong man feat, the second, a juggling act, and the third, the tightwire walk of death.” The Doctor nodded, this would be easy. Oli went on the strong man feat first, “Swing the mallet and hit the bell.” The ringmaster announced. It took Oli two tries, but he hit the bell the second time. The Doctor was handed the mallet. Because he was a Time Lord, he was considerably stronger than the average human. Grabbing the mallet, he took two steps forward, and smashed it down. The bell clanged loudly, and there was a burst of applause. “It is now time to test your dexterity, coordination, and concentracion with a little bit of juggling.” A new man, presumably a juggler, said. Oli went first, and with the first throw, he dropped all his balls. There was a groan from the crowd, and the Doctor stepped up, already knowing he would win. He used to skip classes at the Academy to practice his juggling, this was nothing. He and Koschei used to use perigosto sticks to play games of four-dimensional juggling. The Doctor was handed the balls, and began to juggle. The juggler began adding balls to the Doctor’s collection, and he easily juggled them as well. Eventually, the Doctor caught all his balls, and finished. There was a cheering from the crowd. The guests were silent, unsure what to think.

“Now,” the ringmaster said, “For the grand finale, the tightwire walk of death!” Oli went first again, managing to get about halfway across the wire, before falling off. The Doctor went next, thinking this a bit unfair, as a Time Lord had much better balance and coordination than a human. He easily made it across the tightwire. There was a polite applause, and the ringmaster said, “It all comes down to the audience vote to decide the fate of these two performers.” The Doctor and Oli were put in two water drop chambers. The top would close when someone fell in, and they would drown. “So let’s begin!” He shouted, “You will either boo or cheer. Whoever gets the most boos, goes down in the tank.” He held up his hand to Oli, “Performer number one!” There was cheering from all of the guests except Joey, who stayed silent. But the rest of the audience booed loudly, “Number two, Doctor!” The audience cheered loudly, outnumbering the booing guests. Joey cheered with them.

“We have a winner!” The ringmaster announced, “Doctor!” And Oli went down,

“No, please!” The Doctor begged, “I can give you something more valuable than him, let him go!” The ringmaster raised his eyebrows and laughed, “What might that be?”

“Blood.” The Doctor said, “The blood of a Time Lord. If you spare his life.” With the flick of a switch, Oli was released, coughing and choking,

“And where can I get this blood you speak of?”

“Me. I will give it to you.” It was then when the Doctor realized how eerily quiet the tent was. The ringmaster’s eyes lit up,

“That explains much. I will keep you.” He grinned, holding a knife to the Doctor’s throat, “You will be a valuable part of my collection.”

“But if I go with you, will you let Viribus go?” The Doctor asked,

“You mean Sam?” The ringmaster laughed, “Deal.” Viribus’ chains were dropped,

“We can’t just let him take the Doctor!” Joey exclaimed,

“Why not?” Lele asked, “We voted him in to die. Now Oli’s safe and we have the artifact, we can leave.”

“No, we can’t.” Joey said, “We can’t leave him. He’s smart we need him.”

“He’s clearly working with the evil.” Matt said,

“No, why would he let Oli go, then? He could have let him die. He also released Sam.” Then, at the sound of his old enslaved name, Viribus ran at the ringmaster, knocking both him and the Doctor to the ground. The Doctor quickly recovered and jumped up, he watched the ringmaster on the ground, then two gunshots rang out through the air, and Viribus and Oli collapsed to the ground.
“No!” The Doctor dropped down to Viribus, who whispered,

“Doctor, I forgive you.” The Doctor felt for a pulse, but there was none. His mind was empty. He was gone. He then turned to Oli, the shot had been for the Doctor, he knew this, but it slid by, hitting Oli squarely between the eyes, dead in an instant.

“I’m so sorry.” The Doctor whispered, then stood up and strode across the room to the ringmaster.

“You will regret this. You forget who I am. I am the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, the Destroyer of Worlds.” The Doctor almost winced as he used the name the Daleks had placed upon him, then added, “That’s right, that’s me. The last Time Lord.” The Doctor watched as the ringmaster’s face turned from confident, to terrified. The fear in his eyes shone through, then, with one final bullet, he pressed the gun to his temple, “No!” The Doctor lunged for the gun, but the trigger was pressed. Three corpses littered the ground, and the Doctor dropped to his knees. It was all his fault. He felt a hand on his shoulders.

“Let’s go home.” He heard Joey say. He stood up, and walked back to the house, feeling so empty.

Once they returned to the house, they each grabbed an artifact off the mantelpiece. They were almost home. 

Chapter Text

The Doctor set up the ritual they were supposed to do, as the rest of them huddled together to confer. Once he finished, the Doctor handed the invocation to Joey and sat in the middle. Everyone else each sat in front of a candle, and Joey began to read; “With the thread of the crimes of your own design, I bind your evil seven times.” The Doctor began to wrap the artifact in the middle with string, “I bind you from behind, I bind you from before that you’ll hurt my people nevermore. I bind you from the left, I bind your from the right. I bind you day by day and I bind you by night. I bind you from below, I bind you from above, I bind you with your own evil within, so let this magic unfold. Goddess of the darkest night, bind the presence that haunts this home in thy sacred fires of eternity.” The black smoke had been rising around them, dropped to the floor, and all was quiet.

“Did we do it?” Matt asked. There was then a loud, low laugh that echoed throughout the room.

“Guys, I don’t think it worked.” Joey said through the screams of the other guests,

“What if there’s something in here that we’re missing?” Sierra suggested, “What if there’s another clue?”

“Let’s look for it.” The Doctor said, standing up. No one followed him, and they returned to whispering to each other in hushed voices, but with the Doctor’s superior hearing, he heard them say,

“He set up this whole ritual, it has to be him who sabotaged us.” Lele was saying,

“But after the circus, I’m not so sure he’s working with the evil.” Sierra admitted,

“It must have all been set up.” Matt said confidently, “They planned it out.”

“Can I ask, what is a Time Lord?” Justine asked,

“I don’t know, but he called himself the Bringer of Darkness, Destroyer of Worlds, and Oncoming Storm, so I think he’s some kind of demon.”  Matt said,

“I think he’s an angel.” Joey said, “You know, a protector. It wouldn’t be that far fetched.”

“How many angels call themselves a destroyer of worlds?” Lele said, and Joey shrugged,

“I trust him.”

“You have ever since you two went into those ‘perverse games’ together. What happened there?” Joey stood up,

“I’m going to go help him. He wants to get out as soon as possible.” Joey joined the Doctor who pretended to be examining a painting. “They think you’re a demon.” Joey admitted to the Doctor.

“Yes, that would make sense.” The Doctor said, pretending he didn’t hear them.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve got a history.”

“What are you? What is a Time Lord?”

“To put it simply, I’m an alien.”

“Oh.” Joey was quiet for a moment, “Where are you from?”

“Gallifrey.”

“Where’s that?”

“You wouldn’t know.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Why did you leave?”

“Because it’s gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was a war, and we lost. Everyone did.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Doesn’t matter,” The Doctor was on his feet, “We’ve got a clue to find.”

“I’ve found it!” Joey called after a few more minutes of looking, pulling a black box out from under a desk. Inside was a key and a note. Joey began to read; “I’ve cast out demonic spirits and seen the devil himself, but nothing could prepare me for what I found here. This is truly the house that evil built. It haunts my every moment and as the days pass, I see more innocent lives devoured in its terrible mouth. I’m trapped in the back basement until I can find release from this evil.”

“I think we should go to the basement.” The Doctor was the first to speak, there was a nod, then Lele said,

“Wait, what if he’s trying to lure us down there? It could be a trap.”

“What else are we supposed to do?” Matt asked, “Wait until morning?” There was a murmur of agreement, and they began to follow the Doctor downstairs, unlocking the door with the key.

“Don’t.” A man, who seemed to be a priest, said, the moment they reached the bottom of the stairs, “Don’t get any closer.”

“Hey guys,” Joey said, pointing to a chalk drawing at the priest’s feet, “That looks like what we just tried to do.

“What happened?” He asked,

“We were trying to bind the evil so that we can get home.” Justine said,

“Were you able to accomplish anything?”

“No, it didn’t work.” Sierra said,

“The evil in this house gathers its strength from its five owners, and when they are released, that’s when the demon will be weak enough to banish.

“That’s why it didn’t work.” Joey said,

“I am one of the five former owners trapped in this house.” The priest said, “But I, I lost my faith. I failed to exercise a demon out of an innocent girl and because of that, she died. I just need your help. I need my cross so I can restore my faith and be released. I am trapped inside this circle of protection until my faith is restored. For you to retrieve my cross, you must perform an exorcism. And for that, you need to gather holy water and a rosary. They’re both in separate rooms, hiding on the second floor. This is my bible.” He handed the bible to the Doctor, “Take it, you’ll need it. Now that you’re on the path to do the exorcism, be aware demons will be haunting you.” They all entered the second floor, and split into two groups. The Doctor, Joey, and Sierra in one, and Matt, Justine, and Lele in the other. The Doctor’s group found an unlocked room, so they entered. Inside was a massive wardrobe. Down the left side of it are images of demons, and on the left side was the image of an angel. It had a four number combination lock on it.

“Look at this,” Sierra said, holding a piece of paper, “Raum.” She read aloud,

“Raum is, in demonology, a Great Earl of Hell.” The Doctor suggested, Sierra and Joey shrugged, and they continued to look.

“I found another one.” Joey said, “Dantalion.”

“He’s a Duke of Hell. I think we’ve found what links them.” The Doctor said,

“Incubus.”

“A demon.”

“Forneus.”

“Great Marquis of Hell.”

“Xaphan.”

“Fallen angel, demon of the second rank.”

“Belial.”

“The devil.”

“Moloch.”

“Canaanite god of sacrifice.”

“Wait.” Joey said, proceeding to count the demons, “There’s thirteen demons and one angel, what if it’s supposed to be a bible verse?”

“Brillant!” The Doctor picked up the bible, flipped to the reading 13:1 and began to read, “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, I saw the beast rise up from the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his horns, ten crowns.” Sierra put in the combination seven, one, zero, one, and the lock popped open. Inside was a note,

“Find the seven blasphemous names scattered throughout the room. Turn the corresponding dial to the first letter of their name in alphabetical order.” Sierra read, and the Doctor went to place the names in alphabetical order. He then twisted each dial to match the demon names, and a drawer in the wardrobe opened. Inside was a letter and the rosary beads. They met Justine, Lele, and Matt in the foyer who had the holy water. The Doctor began to read the letter,

“You now have the items needed to perform the exorcism, but only two may journey into the darkness and face the demon. They must be selected by vote. First name drawn will assume the role of the first exorcist, and the next name drawn as the second exorcist.”

“I watch a lot of scary movies, I’ll do the exorcism.” Matt said, everyone turned to him,

“Okay.” Lele said,

“I’ll–” the Doctor began, but Matt stopped him,

“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer anyone but you. Since you’re working for the house, I would die with you down there with me.” The Doctor stepped back,

“If that’s what you want.”

When they went to vote, the Doctor said, “Alright, so Matt’s already volunteered, so we only need to draw one name.”

“Um–” Matt said, “I did, but I feel like I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“You can’t do that!” Lele said,

“Let’s just vote.” Matt said, and so they did. The Doctor sturred the hat, and pulled out a name,

“Justine.”

“No! I can’t go in the basement!” Justine cried, and the Doctor pulled out another name, expecting it to be himself, but instead,

“Matt.”

“Well, you got your wish.” Joey said, clearly unhappy with Matt to say the least,

“Well, I would really love to know who actually voted for me.” Matt said,

“I did.” Justine said,

“Me too,” Lele and Sierra said in unison,

“Let’s just go.” Matt mumbled, as he and a weeping Justine entered the basement.” This being the first time the Doctor was left in the room, the Doctor noticed everyone listening. There were screams from the basement, and the whole room was silent. Suddenly, the screaming stopped, and there was silence. Matt reentered the room, head held low, Justine nowhere in sight. Matt was holding the cross, and simply said,

“I killed her.”

“What?” Sierra cried,

“It was an accident.” He admitted, “There was a note, and Justine was struggling to hold the girl down, so I skimmed it, and all I saw was that I needed to pour the holy water onto her, then place the rosary beads on Justine. In rereading it, I saw I could have killed her or me. I didn’t mean to. I would have killed myself instead.” There was a cry of uproar, but the Doctor silenced the other guests.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He said, “You did everything you could, and it wasn’t your fault.” And with that, he picked up the cross, and headed to the basement, followed by Joey, Lele, Matt, and Sierra. He handed the cross to the priest, who said,

“Thank you, thank you, I’m free.” Then turned around, grabbing a book, “I kept a journal with my observations of the other owners. It will help you find them.” The Doctor held the book and they returned upstairs.

“At least we know what we have to do.” Joey said, “Four more owners.” But Matt laughed,

“Don’t even read the book, it doesn’t matter. We killed off all of our friends just to get the four artifacts and then we found out we need to do more just so that we can kill even more people to hopefully get out of the house. This is never going to end and we are all going to die.” The Doctor gave him a sad simile,

“You can’t lose hope. Not now, not ever. When you lose hope, all is lost.”

Chapter Text

The Doctor opened the journal to the first filled in page. On the left were the words he read out; “Madison developed a taste for men and soon the pool was filled with her victims. In time, her conscience began to whisper and guilt wracked her. The house moved on to another owner by keeping her trapped in the house. The key to her room rests on the first floor and can only be found by breaking open the world.” On the left was the drawing of a mermaid.

“The world!” Lele exclaimed, pointing to a globe at the side of the room. Matt broke it open to find nothing.

“There’s another one.” Joey pointed out, and that one too held nothing. They continued to break globes and maps, when the Doctor found a statue in a cupboard. It was a man holding the world, and so the Doctor unscrewed the top, and sure enough, there was a key. They went to the second floor, and the first door, the key unlocked. When the door opened the Doctor looked into the bathtub, and there rested a mermaid. Her mouth looked like it had been ripped open, and she was chained to the wall.

“Please help me!” She cried, “House, the house, it lied to me. It said I would be free, but now I am in chains. I hated my husband, it’s true.”

“What happened,” The Doctor knelt down beside, her,

“He was a very, very bad man. But the worst part is, I’ve lost my daughter too. The only way I can be with her again is if I find her favorite doll, and then I make things right with those I have killed. You,” She pointed at the Doctor, “Can you help me do those things?”

“Yes, I can. I’ll do everything in my power to help you. Just tell us what we have to do.”

“I wrote the names of the men I murdered in my diary on the counter. Those names, they need to be measured by the letter in coin. And my husband, my husband kept a stash of golden coins in the dining room. There must be enough to pay for them. All you need to do is you have to retrieve three bodies of the innocent men that are chained to the bottom of the pool. But the pool is guarded by my wicked sisters. Anyone, anyone of you who dares to enter that pool will be torn into shreds. But, they can be lured away by a very special song. You have to find it. After that, you will be shown where to find the doll.”

“Thank you.” The Doctor said, “We will do as you’ve asked.” And with that, the five of them exited the room.

They entered the room to find a coin counter. “We need to put the weight of the coins of the sin.” The Doctor recited, “And the sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. I assume because we’re dealing with money, the sin is greed.” There was a nod,

“I think we need to find the money.” Joey said, and they began to look, after a few minutes, the Doctor noticed a grate on the floor. Pulling up the grating, he found a box.

“Let’s weigh it.” Matt said,

“No, we need to weigh the weight of sin.” The Doctor pointed out, and pulled out the diary with all the names in it.

“What if we count the letters.” Joey suggested,

“Forty-three.” The Doctor said, and began pulling forty-three coins out of the bag and weighed it, “two-hundred and sixty.” Joey put the combination in the lock, and with a click, the chest popped open.

“Play this record to lure the evil mermaids out of the water.” Sierra read, “But once they’ve come to the source of the song, you must find a way to keep them there.” The five remaining guests walked out to the pool with the record to find two mermaids in the pool. Each one with a ripped open mouth and sharp, pointy teeth.

“We need to find a record player.” Lele said,

“There’s one in the ballroom!” Matt exclaimed,

“How are we going to trap them?” Sierra asked,

“What about the pool house?” The Doctor suggested, “That locks from the outside, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does!” Joey exclaimed.

They placed the phonograph in the pool house, played the record, and hurried out. Sure enough, the two mermaids walked exited the pool, tails quickly becoming legs as they exited. Once they entered the pool house, the five guests jumped out from behind them, Joey slamming the door closed, and the Doctor quickly locking it. At this, the mermaids hissed and clawed at the door, and the guests hurried to the poolside,

“I’ll go in.” The Doctor said, stripping down to his boxers,

“I’ll go too.” Joey said, stripping down, but leaving his shirt on, “The Doctor and I are gonna jump in,” Joey said, “We’re gonna bring the bodies up to you guys. You guys gather them together and start looking in their pockets. The mermaid said there’s something in them, okay?”

“Okay,” Matt, Lele, and Sierra nodded, The Doctor dove in, as did Joey, and they began to release these men. By halfway through it, the Doctor could feel his respiratory bypass kicking in.

Eventually, they had released the last man, and the Doctor came up for breath. “Do demons just not breathe?” Matt asked accusingly as the Doctor and Joey both exited the water,

“Oh, that, respiratory bypass, and I’m not a demon.” The Doctor said,

“What are you then? Because if we’re going to survive with you, we need to know.”

“Yeah, what is a Time Lord?” Lele asked,

“I’m an alien.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Sierra said, but Lele shrugged,

“That’s not the most outrageous thing that’s happened.”

“So are you some sort of warrior?” Matt asked, “Destroyer of Worlds? Oncoming Storm? Bringer of Darkness?”

“I– It’s not what I stand for. I cross galaxies and save civilizations.”

“Do you see that?” Lele said, just as Matt was about to respond, “At the end of the pool!” The Doctor dove back into the waters alongside Joey and together they pulled it out.

“What is it?” Sierra asked,

“It’s a chest!” Joey shouted back, “But it’s locked!” The two of them exited the pool once more,

“We found a pocket watch.” Lele said, handing the Doctor the watch. Flipping it over, it said,

“The moon commands the waters and tells it what direction to flow from new moon to full moon.” The Doctor read,

“There’s a black circle on the turtle's.” Matt said. They noticed that the turtles that surrounded the pool each had a moon on them, and some of them had tiny turtles next to them, giving them the number combination. Inside the chest was a note on a tablet,

“The doll dwells inside a wicked little house which waits in the north corner of the third floor. Two guests, selected by vote, must place this tablet on the mantle outside the room and the door will be opened. But, what lies inside will haunt them forever.”

“Yeah, let’s take a vote.” Matt said,

“Yeah, let’s definitely take a vote, ‘cause I know exactly who I’m voting for.” Sierra said,

“It’s about time.” Lele agreed,

“It’s time for Matt to go.” Sierra said,

“This seems a little irrational.” Matt said defensively,

“No, who votes Matt?” Lele asked, and Joey, Sierra, and herself raised their hands in the air,

“Matt, you made it very clear you wanted to die earlier today,” Sierra pointed out,

“I still get a vote though!” Matt said defensively.

They returned to the house, where they voted again. The Doctor knew it would be him and Matt because Sierra, Joey, and Lele were definitely voting for Matt, and Matt was definitely voting for him. The first name was pulled out,

“Matt.” The Doctor then stirred the hat again, “The Doctor.” He grinned, “Well Matt, off we go.” Following the instructions, Matt and the Doctor entered a room full of dolls. Some were burnt, others missing eyes, some dismembered. It was not a pretty sight.

“I hate dolls.” Matt said. At the center, were two dollhouses, and two glasses of a red liquid, the Doctor read the note underneath;

“Both of you take a drink if you want to know more.”

“What is it? Is it blood?” Matt asked, the Doctor smelt it,

“No.” They shrugged and both took a sip. The Doctor couldn’t identify exactly what it was, but knew one thing for sure,

“Poison!” He gasped, unsure how the house managed to find a poison that affected his physiology, and he and Matt both dropped their cups. A letter slid under the door, and the Doctor hurried to grab it. “You just drank poison.” He read, “There is only one portion of the antidote and the only way to retrieve it is to search your side of the room for three dolls that best reflect the rhymes in your storybook, and place them in the proper setting in your house. When you think you’ve completed your house, slam the book on the table, and if you are correct, you will get the antidote, if you are wrong, you will get more poison. It is now time to start the timer and begin reading your rhymes.” The Doctor grabbed his rhymes and began to work, he was quick and efficient, finding the dolls, he finished first, but began to second guess himself,

“How close are you?” Matt asked,

“I think I’m done.” In an instant, Matt through his book on the table before the Doctor could respond. The Doctor knew it was the moment of truth. If Matt had it right, the Doctor would die, but if he was wrong… Matt drank the poison, then, gagged, knocking over his house, and collapsed on the sofa. The Doctor sunk to the dead man’s side, “I’m so sorry.” He whispered. Then, another note slid out from under the door. The Doctor read it, The antidote is attached to the back of the drawer. Turning around, he found the antidote, and drank it. The moment he swallowed it, a doll fell out of the bottom of the drawer. Picking it up, he walked back down to where Lele, Joey, and Sierra were sitting. There was a cheer when the Doctor entered.

The Doctor explained what happened in the room, and the four of them returned to where the mermaid was chained. “We’ve done as you’ve asked.” The Doctor handed the doll to the mermaid,

“You found it.” the mermaid gasped, “Thank you.” She disappeared.

“What now?” Lele asked,

“We just need to find the next owner.” Sierra said, and Joey responded,
“Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Joey picked up the book of owners and relayed the information, “His name is Colin Wentworth, he’s from New Haven, Connecticut and fought in the Great War.” He continued to find that Colin was a World War I soldier who was obsessed with gold. “He has the power to leave the house at any time but he refuses to go out without the stash of German gold he recovered during the Blitzkrieg. Colin liked to move the gold daily and one of his hiding spots was in a locked box. He kept the combination hidden in riddles which he wrote down in a notebook. Something to do with the number of letters in the answer.” The four of them began to look around the room,

“Look!” Sierra pulled the safe out from under the table,

“It’s three numbers.” Lele observes, and they continue to look,

“Have we checked the study?” Joey asked, everyone shook their heads, and they entered the room to find it right on the desk. The Doctor read the first riddle,
“It can be dropped from the tallest of buildings and survive, but drop it from the smallest ship and it won’t.”

“Paper.” Joey said effortlessly, “P-a-p-e-r, so, five.” Lele entered the number five,

“What is so delicate, that even mentioning it breaks it.”

“Oh! I’ve heard that one before!” Sierra exclaimed, “It’s silence.”

“S-i-l-e-n-c-e, seven.” Joey said,

“If you give me food I live, if you give me water I die.”

“Fire.” Lele said at once,

“F-i-r-e, four.” Joey said, and Lele entered the number. It unlocked, and inside was a brick of gold. Joey read the note, “Dad, I’m sorry I’ve not visited since returning from the war, I have been trying to help the men, they are struggling with the shock of coming home. I’ve been so consumed with helping them, I feel like I haven’t left the top floor of the estate.” They climbed the staircase, and at the top there is a young man, who vaguely reminds the Doctor of Captain Jack Harkness. He was holding a gun.

“Put the gun down.” The Doctor said, stepping forward,

“Where did you get that?” He asked the Doctor, pointing at the gold in his hands,

“In the safe downstairs, it has no value to me, so if you put down the gun, I will give it to you.” Colin nodded, putting his gun away, and, as promised, the Doctor handed him the gold.

“It’s coming back to me now.” Colin said,

“Can you help us?” Joey asked,

“You want me to help you?” Colin asked,

“Yes.” Sierra and Lele both said quickly,

“Alright.” Colin said, “If we’re gonna get out of here, we’re gonna need some gear, okay?” He picked up a rucksack, “This is my rucksack, if you need anything along the way, just let me know, okay?”

“I’m scared.” Lele said,

“The other thing we gotta do, we gotta get outside. I gotta get to my two-way radio to my CO. He’s going to give us out mission’s objective and he’s gonna tell us where to go from there, alright.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting stuck for a hundred years with this guy.” The Doctor heard Lele said, as if he needed any more similarities to Captain Jack,

“Follow me.” Colin said, and they proceed down the stairs. Once they got on the balcony, there was a bang, and Colin pulled out his gun and shot into the night.

“What did you just shoot?” Joey cried,

“Get on the radio, they think I’m a deserter.” The Doctor grabbed the radio, thinking quickly,

“Hello, this is Greyhound One, do you read me?”

“One of the Brits, are you? Where’s my soldier?”

“He was taken to a special ops mission, sir, he’s just returned and awaiting orders, sir.”

“Very well, soldier. Listen up, there’s a small rotunda in the south side of the estate. Inside are top secret documents that we need badly. However, it’s guarded by a vicious sniper with a wicked eye who shoots at anything that moves.”

“Do you have any advice, sir?” The Doctor asked,

“If I were in your boots, I would circle around to the far side of the estate and frag that dirty Jerry with a grenade through the window. The Documents inside should give you the next step. Good luck soldier.”

“Over and out.” The Doctor responded,

“Guys, we can’t do this?” Lele said,

“But we’re YouTubers!” Joey gasped,

“I sit at my computer and sleep until two pm.” Sierra cried,

“Hey,” Lele said, “You were in a war, weren’t you?”

“Yes.” The Doctor said, dreading the place he knew she was going,

“You’ve killed people. Why can’t you do it?” Everyone was looking at the Doctor, who just stood up and said,

“Let’s move.”

“I think he has PTSD.” The Doctor heard Joey whisper to Lele, “Maybe it’s best if he doesn’t do it.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve never killed anyone before. I don’t think I could live with myself, it’s not his first time.”

“I don't think that makes it any easier.” Joey admitted. They began to move around the estate, when suddenly, bullets are flying everywhere. The rest of the guests began to run, but the Doctor pulled Joey around the corner, the rest of the soon following the lead. They walked around the other side,

“Who’s throwing the grenade?” Colin asked,

“The Doctor.” Lele said, the Doctor stood up, he had to do this, to save them.

“I need you to run a b-line up to the rotunda and I need you to throw it through the window, alright?” The Doctor nodded, pulling out the pin and running. Ducking behind a bush, he throws the grenade into the window and runs back just as the grenade exploded. They ran into the shed they just blew up, and Sierra grabbed the briefcase.

“Operation heatwave, burn before reading?” Sierra read. The Doctor looked at Colin, who was lighting a cigarette,

“Can I see your lighter?” He asked, and Colin handed it over. The Doctor lit the side of the briefcase that clearly had some sort of flammable coating. “Two, seven, seven, two, zero, zero.” The Doctor read out the combination. Joey put it in and began to read,

“Operation heatwave in process is experiment 2772 a gone mutation serum which will transform a common soldier into a monsterous killing machine. However, the experiment subject got loose and killed the scientist. The operation was never able to recover the doctor’s private records which contained valuable information. Your mission is to enter the lab and retrieve the records.”

Colin led them to the lab and broke the door open. The Doctor was the first in, spotting the documents Joey close behind him. Then, there was a bang and the Door shut. There was a large mutant in the room with them. He was chained to the wall, and Joey started to panic, the Doctor began to read the documents, “I’ve been developing an antidote that will reverse the effect of the rage virus. You must find three different solutions, and combine them together. Once it is done, you must inject it into him.” The Doctor heard gunshots outside as he and Joey looked for the vials of solutions. The two of them found the three solutions as quickly as they could, the Doctor mixing them together, lunging up, and injecting it into the mutant. The mutant fell to the ground. As Joey grabbed the box, the Doctor knelt by the mutant, “Hello, what’s your name?” But he didn’t respond. There just wasn’t enough human left. They carried the box outside and opened it up. Inside, there was a key and a note that Lele read,

“It’s going to be a brutal war to get the gold. The two best soldiers must be selected by the vote of the group to go inside the east side guest house and battle for glory. Good luck.”

“That’s it, that’s where the gold is, it’s in the house.” Colin said.

They returned to the house to vote. The Doctor could hear the whispers,

“He’s been in a war, he’d obviously win.”

“Who do you think would have a chance against him?”

“I don’t know.”

“But we can’t vote for him.”

“Who else is there. He’s got to go.”

The Doctor pulled out the first name, “Doctor, that’s me.” He gave an obviously fake smile, then pulled out the second name, “Sierra.”

The Doctor and Sierra entered the room they were instructed to go to. The radio turned on and a voice sounded, “Alright soldiers, listen up, take a seat and touch nothing.” The two of them sat down. “Now, this is all out war and you two are caught in the middle. Despite your best efforts, there will be a casualty tonight. Open the box in front of you, do not show the other soldier what’s inside.” The Doctor did as he was told, opening it to find the game of battleship, but with soldiers. “Do not touch the revolver until told to do so.” The Doctor looked at the gun on the table. He really didn’t like guns. “Each player must place their soldiers on the battlefield in the most strategic positions.” The Doctor placed his down, knowing the places where people just didn’t hit. “On your turn, announce a pair of coordinates. If a soldier has a soldier on that space, they must pick up the revolver, place it to the side of their head, and pull the trigger. The battle will end when one of you puts a bullet through your skull.” The Doctor was first, judging by the place she put her hands, the Doctor made a guess,

“B-4.” Sierra cursed,

“Hit.” Sierra grabbed the gun, hands shaking, held it to the side of her head and… blank. Both breathed out a sigh of relief. “E-2.”

“Miss. F-6.”

“Miss. B-1.”

“Miss. E-10.”

“Miss. B-9”

“Hit.” The Doctor picked up the gun, placing it to his temple, he pushed the trigger… blank. He breathed a sigh of relief. “H-8.”

“Hit.” Sierra picked the gun up again, placing it to her head. Her finger pressed the trigger and… a gunshot rang out and her lifeless body fell to the floor.”

“Sierra.” He whispered as the radio turned on again,
“You made it through private. Now get that gold over there and get out of here.” The Doctor carried the gold out to Colin,

“Take it.” He spat, “I hope it was worth it.”

“Yes.” He grinned, “It was.” He and the gold both disappeared.

Chapter Text

“It’s almost morning.” Lele observed. The Doctor pulled out the book again, “Vincent Wells is a madman.” he read, “He sees impossible things, horrifying things. He would stare endlessly at light bulbs. I never knew what he saw, but it seemed like he was trying to burn holes into his eyes. His sanity may be gone, but his heart is good. He hid something in the dining room; I was never able to find it.” There was the pop of a cabinet opening, and Joey called,

“Look at this!” Joey pulled out a book out of the cabinet. Inside contained a key to a room on the second floor. They walked up to the second floor, and opened the door with the key. Inside was a man in a straight jacket. He looked disheveled and had the flicker of insanity about him,

“Vincent?” The Doctor said calmly, “Vincent, are you alright?”

“Who are you?” He demanded, stepping into the corner,

“Did the doctor send you?”

“Why, do you need a Doctor?” The Doctor asked,

“No! Please, I told them everything I know, every last vision, please leave me alone!”

“We’re not here to hurt you Vincent.” The Doctor said calmly, approaching the man, “We’re here to help.”

“Be careful in this house.” Vincent said, When I first came here, I thought it was going to be like the home that I never had. I thought I would show the world that what I see is real. I know that now. And this house has become a dark and unfriendly place that has locked me in this straight jacket!” He began to struggle, when the Doctor placed his hands on his temples, calming the mind, he slipped into a sitting position,

“How do we get you out of this jacket?” The Doctor asked him,

“There are three keys that are needed to unlock this jacket.” Vincent said, “But you’re gonna have to dive inside my hallucinations to find them.” The Doctor nodded,

“Tell us what we have to do.”

“If you go to the landing, there’s an ink blot card. It’s gonna show you to my most vivid hallucination.” The Doctor nodded,

“We’ll free you Vincient, I promise.” And with that, the last three guests left the room. On the landing, the Doctor opened the box, inside was an ink blot, and on the back was a map. They headed to the first location, the greenhouse.

When they got there, they began to dig through plants trying to find a clue. Suddenly, there was a scream, the Doctor ran to Joey,

“It’s a skull!” He pointed to the ground where a skull lay, and the Doctor pulled out a book he’d found,

“I believe there is a way to merge plants and flesh to create an entirely new species of swamp man. I made a mistake with my first subject in creating an abomination which I soon must destroy before it destroys me. I devised a new method for burying the flesh so it merges with the root system of the plants.” Then, there was a banging and mutant zombie-like creatures began to grab at the greenhouse. Joey, Lele, and the Doctor began to dig, when Lele let out a scream,

“A hand!” She called.

Soon, they had all of the body parts and started to bury it in the compost heap. Without warning, a large plant covered creature came bursting out. The three of them ran out of the greenhouse, only to find the mutant completely obliterating the other zombie-like creatures. Once there was silence again, the three of them ran back to the greenhouse to find a key. Then, ran to their next location. In the back, there are large rocks covered in different types of masks, and in the middle is a woman with a mask on and a samurai sword. On a tree rested the clue, the Doctor began to read,

“The face is really the mask and the mask is really the person. Unravel the five identities hidden behind the masks. One will lead to the nex and the order must be perfect or you will disturb the butcher of flesh. If an incorrect mask is taken from the wall, she will come for blood. To protect yourself from her deadly blade, you must be wearing a burlap sack, she will then take on and return to her station. The next mistake there will be one less sack for protection and the guest without one the Butcher will violently removed from the hallucination. Begin with the demon who is dreaming.” They looked up, unsure, until Lele pointed out a moon.

“Ready?” Lele asked, and each placed the sack over their head and pulled it off. Lele then pulled her sack off and began to read,

“Music plays, the dancers pose, and the liar’s nose grows.” The Doctor grabbed a pinocchio-looking mask off the rock and read out the next clue,

“Forged in hate, I am the vessel of your nightmares. The protector of your fear.”

“This one has armor!” Joey pulled it off and began to read,

“As you burn in the depths of hell, demons will spread your ashes.”

“This one looks burnt.” Lele pointed out, so they pulled it off, “I’ll be your second skin, but of dark and wild nature.”

“There’s a wolf up here.” The Doctor pulled it down, “I hear with no ears, I see with no eyes, I taste with no tongue, I kiss with no lips.”

“But – these all have faces.” Lele pointed out,

“Not this one.” The Doctor approached the samurai and pulled the mask off revealing a face without a mouth underneath. She attacked, stabbing Lele.

“Run, Joey!” The Doctor called, grabbing his hand.

They returned to the house to find Lele enter next to them. “It was just a hallucination.” The Doctor grinned, and inside the samurai mask was the second key.

“One more to go.” Joey said, reading the note that was in with the key,

“The final hallucination is buried in the darkest part of Vincent’s psyche. One of you must be selected by vote to sit in the chair of a mad man. You will find the hallucination waiting for you in the basement.” The Doctor held out the hat, and watched as Joey and Lele placed in their votes, Lele voted for the Doctor, and Joey for voted for Lele. The Doctor pulled it out.
“Doctor.” They all walked into the basement. An electric chair rested. In the center of the room and the Doctor sat down in it, positive he was going to die. Joey began to read,

“My name is Dr. Price and I have developed a unique treatment for overcoming hallucinations. The voted for guest needs to take a seat in the learning chair and must be locked into the chair by securing the straps.” Lele began to lock the Doctor down as Joey continued, “Located across from the learning chairs are crates containing metal rings. Both contenders not in the chair must each stand behind the chalk mark on the floor across from their respective electrical rods. They must get the five rings, one on each rod. Missed rings will give the guest in the chair a little shock. Whoever three rings around any of the electrical rods will complete the circuit and cure the hallucinations of the guest in the chair. However, the guest who failed to save the guest in the chair first will be electrocuted through the electric wristbands that must be placed on each contender’s wrist.” Joey and Lele both placed the wristbands around their wrists. There was the sound of the bell, that signified the beginning, and Lele and Joey began to toss the rings. With each miss the Doctor felt electricity pour through his veins. He screamed. Joey was the first to make a ring, and he was quickly followed by Lele.

“Yes! I got a second one!” Joey exclaimed, then Lele did as well. Then, with a final clang of a ring and a scream, there was silence. Lele was on the ground, wristband burnt. Joey ran to the Doctor, unlocking his chains.

“Doctor, are you alright?” The Doctor gave a light nod, and let Joey help him up. A jar of a thick liquid lit up behind them, and Joey reached in to pull out the key.

They walked up the stairs in silence, unsure of what to say. They entered Vincent’s room. “I’ve got the keys.” The Doctor said, delicately unlocking Vincent's straight jacket. Vincent turned slowly to look at the two of them,

“I’m free.” He said unbelievingly, then, his eyes locked on to Arthur, the head of staff, who had just appeared behind them, “You.” They turned to Arthur as Vincent continued, “I don’t envy the road that lies ahead of you, the owner of this house is a monster! You can have it all. The house! The hallucinations! The madness!”

“That will be all, Vincent!” Arthur stepped out in front of Vincent,

“You don’t control me anymore.” Vincent said, then turned to Joey and the Doctor, “I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen. I told you there was someone working with the evil.” Vincent paused, then said, “If I were you, I’d run.” The Doctor grabbed Joey’s hand, and they ran out of the room just as Vincent disappeared.

Chapter Text

Vincent caught up with the Doctor and Joey easily, knowing every inch of the house. The Doctor felt a hard blow to the head and hit the ground.

The Doctor opened his eyes to find himself on a concrete floor. He was chained down, “Joey?” He called, seeing the unconscious body across the room from him. Joey slowly awoke,

“Doctor?” He called back,

“I have a box.” The Doctor said, pulling a black box beside him, “Do you have a key?”

“Yeah, can you pass it across?” Joey asked, grabbing a key off the floor. The Doctor sent the box across, and the Joey unlocked it. Inside was a key, a pocket watch, and a note. He began to read,

“You’ve been injected with a serum of my own creation. By the time the sun rises at 6am, you will be as complacent as well trained animals, and ready to join the house staff.” Joey looked at the watch, “It’s 5:30 now.”

“The key, can it unlock the chains?” Joey tried them and with a click of success, they fell off him. Running to the Doctor, he unlocked his chains too.

“We’ve got a half-hour.” The Doctor said, “Allons-y!”

They ran into a room that could only be Arthur’s bedroom. The Doctor grabbed a key from a shelf, “I’ve got a key.” He said, running to Joey,

“I’ve found something.” Joey said. Inside was each one of the guests fingerprints except the Doctor’s. There were written words that said,
“Brother, you’ve humiliated me, betrayed me, enchained me in a dark corner of your new estate. You brought me here to help you clean things up, but really you needed to stab me in the back to show the wicked presence your loyalty. Someday, the key to my cell will be found, and when that day comes I will repay this betrayal with blood. I know you’ve hidden it behind a trail of gems, the first of which lurks beneath the surface of a reflecting pool.”

“Let’s head to the pool.” Joey said,

“This key fits in this door.” The Doctor observed, and they exited the room. Suddenly, an alarm started ringing, “Oh, it’s times like this I miss my sonic screwdriver.” The Doctor whispered,

“Sonic what?” Joey asked as they ran. Then, they overheard Arthur talking to Sarah and Marvin. Marvin was checking the sides of the house, Sarah was inside, and Arthur was behind.

“Come on, this way.” The Doctor signaled for Joey as Marvin passed them. They made it to the pool unseen, but there were no gems,

“There’s a fountain in the front yard.” Joey said, and they ran to the front yard. After ducking out of sight from Marvin, they made it to the fountain and found a chest. Joey read the instructions, “Under the water are three invisible stones, place them on my crown and I will repay you tenfold.” The Doctor grabbed the diamonds out of the water and placed them into the chest and it popped open.

“Marvin, Arthur, I see them!” The Doctor heard Sarah call. Grabbing the two rubies from the chest as well as the note, the Doctor and Joey sprinted into a bush as fast as they could where they couldn’t be seen. The Doctor read the note,

“The spirits will speak words to help you restore my evil eyes, so I might guard the house with my wings.”

“The gargoyle!” Joey whispered,

“You stay here, I have a plan.” The Doctor whispered to Joey, and ran to the house. Instead of going inside, the Doctor began to climb up the side of it, grabbing hold of window sills until he made it to the gargoyle. He placed the rubies into the Gargoyle, and behind him, a drawer opened. An emerald was inside as well as a note. The Doctor climbed back down the house and returned to Joey.

“That was amazing.” He whispered, and the Doctor began to read,

“I overlook the back of the estate, and wait to feast on green. A metal spiral of pain will lead you to my table of blood.”

“Oh! There’s a spiral staircase at the back of the house.” Joey whispered,

“Okay, let’s head in the front because Arthur’s patrolling the back. Wait for Marvin to turn the corner, then we can sneak in.

Once Marvin headed towards the back of the house, the Doctor and Joey went hurrying into the house. They hid around the corner as Sarah walked past, then headed for the backyard. Just as Marvin turned the corner again, heading back to the front, and Arthur turned his back, the Doctor and Joey hurried up the spiral staircase. They placed the emerald in the statue, and a map and key slid out. “Okay, we need to go back to the basement.” The Doctor realized, Joey nodded, and they walked down into the basement. Joey slid the key into the locked door, and with a click, they entered. Inside, was a man, tied with rope to the wall, who only could have been Arthur’s brother.

“Hello.” The Doctor said softly, beginning to untie the ropes,

“My brother’s a dead man.” The man said, the moment he was free, one hand was a hook and he stormed out of the room before another word could be uttered. He walked up to Sarah, who attacked, and he easily flipped and stabbed her. He tried to protest, but Joey pulled him away,

“You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“But he’ll kill them.”

“There’s no other way.” The Doctor sunk to the floor, knowing Joey was right. Marvin was next to die, but then, Arthur shot him, and he fell. But, he pulled a gun out on his brother, and shot him dead. And with that, just like all the other owners, he disappeared.

“The sun’s coming up!” Joey said, “We need to do the ritual again!” The Doctor grabbed the sand and they began to work. The Doctor sat in the middle as Joey read, “With the thread of the crimes of your own design, I bind your evil seven times, I bind you from behind, I bind you from before that you hurt my people never more. I bind you from the left, I bind you from the right, I bind you by day, I bind you by night. I bind you from below, I bind you from above, I bind you with your own evil within, so let this magic unfold, goddess of the darkest night bind the presence that haunts this home in thy sacred fires of eternity.” The dust that was forming around them settled.

“We need to bury them.” The Doctor said. They dug the hole as the sun began to rise.

Once they finished, they walked out of the estate, feeling safe for the first time. A car was waiting for them, and they sat together in silence. They arrived at Joey’s house, and they both got out, the TARDIS not being far from there, but Joey invited him inside. They sat together quietly. Soon, the Doctor knew it was time for him to go, “Come with me.” He said, “Come travel.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Joey said, the Doctor nodded, “But visit me.” The Doctor gave a false smile, “Yeah, sure.”

“No, next week. Two o’clock. Be here.” The Doctor smiled,

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

“I want it next week in your time too.” The Doctor nodded. “I look forward to it.” Joey gave a smile,

“I’ll see you.” Joey grabbed his friend in a tight embrace. “Please come back.”

“I will.”