Chapter Text
“Wasn’t it nice of Aunty Edna to leave us the house?”
“Again, how was she related to us?” Asked Thomas in a bored teenage drawl.
Thomas, his dad and Stu, a student, were moving into the house, which a mysterious ‘Aunty Edna’ had left them in her will. Thomas wasn’t happy about moving away from all his friends in Cardiff, into the Welsh hills. His dad however, couldn’t wait to get away, ever since Thomas’ mum died. Stu – who was named ‘Stu’ by Thomas – never said a work, he could read and write, but Thomas doubted that he could speak English.
Thomas was plump, short and had a small amount of patience; he had blue eyes and his hair is mousey and has a texture like hay; he was the exact image of his dad. Stu was tall and thin, he had dark hair and blue eyes; he was very active and was a fast runner. While Thomas was in his late teens; Stu looked in his early thirties. Thomas’ dad was in his fifties.
“Aunty Edna is my great aunty, so your great, great aunty.” Answered Dad. “How are you in the back?” Directing his question to Stu. “You okay?” He asked. Stu made the double thumbs up sign and went back to staring out the window.
“Are we nearly there yet?” Whined Thomas, for the seventeenth time, not because he really cared, but he wanted to annoy his dad.
“Yep, you’ll be able to see the house soon” answered Dad, oblivious to the whine in Thomas’ voice.
“There it is! Our new house!” Announced dad, proudly. It was a dark, damp mansion; in need of a pot of paint and some decorators. It had five floors (not including attics and cellars of which it had many.) It looked like it had just come straight from a Hollywood set.
“How many bedrooms do we get each?” Asked Thomas.
“Well, there are seven bedrooms so you can choose.” Answered Dad.
“How many do you want?” Thomas asked.
“I want two, please.” Said Dad. Stu put up one finger.
“I will have…” Thomas paused; maths was not his strong subject. “Four then.” he added after he worked it out.
“Sure you will,” said dad slowly and very sarcastically. “Sure you only want one Stu?” Asked Dad. Stu nodded.
The door creaked open. Inside; darkness. Dad flicked the light switch. A low but huge chandelier flickered into life. They were in the hall. To one side was a grand staircase, spiraling up; along the other side was a series of doors, five in total.
“I want these rooms!” Stated Thomas indicating to the four bedrooms on the first and second floor. Dad sighed.
“What room do you want, Stu?” He asked. Stu nodded to the only door on the fourth floor.
“Ok then, I’ll have the third floor.” Said Dad.
Thomas lay wide awake on his very cold bed; the light of the full moon was coating his room. He could hear his dad muttering, so he decided to go shut him up. He crept up to the third floor and into his dad’s room. The darkness was so thick that you could hardly walk through it. Thomas flicked the light on. His dad was flat out on the bed; mouth motionless, but the muttering continued somewhere above him.
He crept up to the fourth floor walked over to Stu’s room and pulled open the door…
The light was on. Window open. Bed empty…
Trap Door; open!
The muttering was more like talking now, coming from the hatch way.
“Come on… Please just OPEN!... Finally… now light Please.”
Thomas climbed down into a dark, damp corridor. A small blue light was bobbing further away from him. Thomas crept after the light.
Slam! A huge heavy door slammed behind him. He was trapped. The light stopped moving. It slowly got closer; he could now hear footsteps running.
“Man!” Yelled Stu, loudly in an American accent. “This is really, really, bad. And the controls are on the other side. Wait; I programmed it to close when I went back through.”
“Ssttu!” Stuttered Thomas. Stu whirled around.
“Or, it thought Thomas was me.” Concluded Stu. “And why do you call me Stu?” He asked.
“Because you’re a stu – dent.” Answered Thomas.
“Okay. Well my name is Captain Jack Harkness. But call me Jack because its quicker to say.” Explained Jack.
“Are we stuck in here?” Asked Thomas.
“Yep, well we can’t get out that way, but we can try that way!” Jack spun round and pointed in the opposite direction.” Onwards, hey.” Nudging Thomas in the ribs.
“Wait” hissed Jack. Thomas stopped. It had been about five minutes since they had started walking. Thomas spun around. Jack was standing stock still.
“What? Asked Thomas, loudly.
“Sshhh,” Jack pointed into the darkness. “There is something moving,” he hissed.
Bam! Something hit him hard. Thomas hit the wall with a dull thud. He turned to see what hit him. Jack was lying near him, motionless. Someone was crouching over Jack.
“Who are you?” His voice was higher than he would have liked.
“Don’t worry, he’s ok, well he’ll be ok, but we need to move him.” Said the stranger, ignoring Thomas’ question.
It had been three minutes since the ordeal. Jack was still out cold.
“What is the matter with Jack?” Asked Thomas.
“Hmm, come look at this, see what you think.” Answered the stranger pointing at Jack’s side. Thomas gasped. A huge rip in Jack’s shirt showed a long jagged wound. Thomas backed around the other side and pulled his knees up to his chest.
“Is he ok?” Asked Thomas.
“He’s dead…” Started the stranger. But then Jack sat bolt upright, gasping for air.
“Jack, calm down, mate, you’ve got a nasty gash there, so take it easy.”
“What was that?” Jack asked the stranger.
“I would have hoped you were more worried about your friend or happy about the fact I’m here.” Said the stranger, pouting at Jack. Jack sighed.
“I can hear Thomas crying and whimpering behind me and I’m delighted that you’ve finally come to save me but I’m more worried about if it will attack again.” Answered Jack, “Again, what was it?”
“No idea; but you gave it a great bop on the nose.” The stranger grinned insanely. Jack made a whatever sign on his fingers.
“Anyway, I thought when I asked for backup I would get Gwen or Ianto.”
“But I wanted to come.” Whined the stranger. “And I wanted to get this back.”
He held up the torch that Jack had used to see where they were going.
“What the hell is happening here? Yelled Thomas finally getting them to notice him.
“Thomas, it is ok, we have it under control, don’t worry, we will sort it out.” Jack spotted something in the shadows and nudged the stranger.
“Or” Jack interrupted, “we thought we had it under control and now we are as good as dead!” He exclaimed.
Crunch! Blood everywhere! He tried to look at the attacker, but there was nothing but a blur. A thick black blur. As soon as it came it went.
“Is everyone ok?” He asked. Jack was groaning on the floor and the stranger was on his feet, smiling at him.
“Thanks. I’m fine. It just seemed to want Jack, oh and my name is Dr John Smith but call me The Doctor.”
The Doctor then moved over to Jack.
“You alive?” He asked, kicking Jack.
“Ow. Touch me, you get covered in blood,” moaned Jack.
“Quit the moaning and get up.” The Doctor ordered. Jack reluctantly got up. And fell over again.
“Ow, ow, ow, that is not fair, it only went and busted my leg!” Jack yelled.
“Shut it or it will come back,” hissed The Doctor. “Thomas, help me get him upright.”