13 Novella 1

Blood

TW: self harm injuries and blood warning.

You open your eyes slowly, memories of what you did last night fresh in your mind. You shouldn't be content but you are. It's what you've been needing for the last four years. Proper relief.

You rise from the floor and head to the bathroom where you clean up the mess from the night before.

Tenderly you examine the wounds. You gasp at their severity in the bright light, and wince as the scarf peels back the top layer, the cuts oozing steadily in response.

You don't have any bandages -and there was no way you were telling anyone- so you simply pull on a black top that won't show the blood seeping through. You add some leggings and boots and head off to the console, having brushed your teeth and hair and made your bed.

"Good morning!" Calls The Doctor cheerily, and you force a smile in return.

"Where are we going today, forwards or backwards?" She asks as Yaz enters looking very pretty in jeans and a cute top, her hair in neat space buns.

"Mmmm, another planet! I don't mind when" you respond and she breaks into a bigger smile.

"Right you are (Y/n)!"she says and pulls down hard on a lever, the ship beginning to shake and wheeze as you take off. You cling to some rails as Yaz grabs onto a golden shard, The Doctor steadying herself on the lever.

You land more successfully than you could have hoped, your arms sore and tired from the strain of gripping the rail, but you hide it well.

The Doctor strides through the door, you humans following, stepping into a grand building, possibly a mansion, made of a deep stone like material but with a grey-blue tinge. Vases of flowers line the empty room as well as what you would call sofas, though a little oddly shaped.

A short, squat and poisonous green woman comes through the door with an indignant expression and demands why you haven't parked in the visitors bay, but rather the sires main room.

The Doctor smiles confidently and hands over the magic paper which has the woman blushing and apologising before leading you into a great hall filled with aliens. She leaves you to sort out the catering and The Doctor turns to you with a wink.

"Right you have one hour to explore, no wandering far and stay out of trouble" with that she walks off into the crowd and is quickly swallowed up. A little intimidated by the array of aliens, you head to the edge of the floor. Yaz takes a left and is soon gone from your field of view.

An alien with patchy red skin and a mane of brown fur approaches you. You avoid eye contact, but both their mouths smile.

"I've never seen one of you before, are you a relation of the Androgydes?" They ask politely.

"No I don't think so" you respond taken aback "I'm human" you say shyly.

"Really? What is your planet of origin?" They seem genuinely intrigued.

"Earth, it's in the- do you know the Milky Way?" You ask but they shake their head cheerily.

"Never heard of it, must be far! So maybe you've never heard of us! I'm a galanta-feros by the name of Drensun", my planet of origin is Belou in the galaxy of pachioca". You nod politely, but you have no idea what they just said.

They seem to understand and both their mouths smile again. A little overwhelmed, you excuse yourself and leave the hall into a corridor ending in a door. Intrigued you push on the bar in the place of a handle and it swings inwards.

Curiosity creeps up your spine, but The Doctor said an hour and it's barely been 20 minutes, you reason with yourself.

You pull on the door and find it dark, With a faint glow at the bottom, not too far. You give in and step inside, finding stairs and a banister to grip. Almost at the bottom you think you hear something, like the faint tingle of bells. Resigned to the worst, you continue until the next step leads you onto solid floor. At that moment you register a painful blow to the back of your head, and you're out like a light.

                           *              *              *

You sense rather than hear someone calling your name as well as soft fingers across your forehead. The touch frightens you and your eyes fly open, meeting a startled pair of hazel eyes looking at you in concern.

"(Y/n) wake up! Are you ok? Are you hurt?" She asks and you scoot away as a first priority, holding your throbbing head.

"I'm sorry I had to wake you somehow" she apologises and you nod to show you understand.

You survey your surroundings and decide you must be in a cell in the basement. You eyes meet The Doctor and you make a discovery.

Her ankles and wrists are shackled; she could probably only just reach you where you were lying a second ago. Your own ankles and wrists aren't bound, in fact you can stand and walk, which you do, scanning the perimeter of the cell.

"Why aren't I shackled?" You ask blankly, gazing down at The Doctor's kneeling form. She gets to her feet and straightens up but can't move any further. You are disgusted in yourself that you feel safe that she is now unable to touch you.

"I don't know" she answers puzzled, "But don't worry I'm sure it's a good sign" she says hopefully. You are not so sure.

"Depends" comes a female voice from the darkness, and you both turn you head in that direction to see a beautiful woman unlocking the door. She steps in and closes it behind her, locking it with a click.

"On?" Says The Doctor in a controlled tone.

"Which you feel is the better deal"she responds, the hairs lifting on the back of your neck at her addictive voice. It's low and light, but rich like dark chocolate to match her waist length brown hair.

She wears a simple white dress, and she should be human in appearance except she is over 6ft and pale as a sheet, with an unnatural sense of equilibrium apparent in the way she moves and carries herself. And of course she is stunning.

"What do you mean, better deal?" Asks the Time Lady quietly, caution in her voice .

"Well you see, I couldn't just let you go, dear no, you're far too nosy, snooping around my basement, and yet, your friend here did the same thing. I turned a potential disaster into what can be called my lucky day. You see, she smells so divine, I can't help but want her. It's perfect you see. I get to enjoy her, while you watch. It's the perfect punishment." She giggles. The Doctor stares at her with a hard look, while you begin to tremble. You were pretty sure she just told you she you smelled nice and wanted to enjoy you.

She walks over to you and you flinch, but her hand darts out and grabs your left wrist in an icy grip. You wince as she squeezes your fresh wounds and The Doctor senses your pain.

"Leave her alone" growls The Doctor in a voice you've never heard her use before. Low and dangerous.

"No" she says with a sly smile, and to your horror, slides up your sleeve and brings your still-bloody wrist to her mouth, licking it with a freezing tongue, making it sting. You struggle but you can't move, and look up at The Doctor, meeting her shocked and sad eyes. You shake your head and the woman pulls away.

"Mmmmm, she's sweet"

"(Y/n) what happened to your arm?" asks the blonde, her voice hitching. You shake your head, not noticing that the strange woman now has her face level with yours.

Realising too late what she is about to do, you open your mouth to scream as she reveals four inch fangs behind her rose red lips, instantly cutting off when she lunges and sinks them in your neck.

You gasp in surprise and are horrified to be able to feel the blood leave your body from the wound, sucked straight into the vampire woman.

"No let her go- Please you'll kill her! Use me instead! LET HER GO RIGHT NOW!" screams The Doctor, yanking furiously at her chains, but the noise simply echoes around your head.

Sweeping Dizziness threatens to envelop you and you feel the vampire follow you as your back slides down the wall.

You can hear The Doctor struggling in intense distress to free herself from the shackles with little luck.

Delirious and dizzy, you hear dry sobs from her direction but you soon lose focus as you feel yourself slump onto the floor, lying in agony while your blood is drained.

"(Y/n) hold on please!" Screams The Doctor desperately from somewhere far off, but your eyes flutter closed, and don't reopen.