"What was that?" Rose asked The Doctor
"An echo..." He said, trailing off. His face had gone pale
The yellow light dissipated. They had seen the image of a girl strapped to a chair.
"Do you know her?" Rose asked the doctor, trying but failing to read his expression
"Not sure. Faces are always reused," he said, distracting himself with the buttons on the TARDIS. "That's one of the reasons I like going to Earth," He said with a grin.
"Time Lords look like humans," Rose responded with a chuckle
"Nope, Humans look like Time Lords." He said, looking at her with a playful smile. "Elvis looks like my uncle!" he said, laughing.
"What about me?" Rose asked curiously
"Nope," he said matter-of-factly. "One of a kind!" he yelled, clicking his teeth together with emphasis.
"One in a trillion," he kept rambling as he went back to working on the TARDIS. Well, it's more like 400,000 in 340 million. Well, that's just the planets close, so it's like 126 million in 487 trillion, but that's not counting other solar systems and universes..."
"Doctor," She began as he continued to ramble on
"Doctor," She said again, but he continued, still distracted
"Doctor!" She finally yelled.
This got his attention.
"Ya sorry, where to now?" He asked, but he still seemed distracted
She tried to continue like nothing happened. As she returned her bubbly smile, she began to walk toward him. But hesitated for a second, unable to shake the feeling something had changed.
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In the cave
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Back in the cave, I tossed and turned on the chair. My dreams tonight turned into memories, ones I had almost forgotten. Their truths seemed more like fairytales.
I remembered walking under a burnt orange sky. As the first sun began to set, the silver leaves of the ironwood trees were set ablaze as they reflected the sun's last rays.
I hummed as I walked around the perimeter of my family garden. I snuck glances at the guard sitting at the entrance as he drank his tea. He eyed me suspiciously before downing the rest.
In an attempt to escape his suspicion, I removed my sandals and brushed my feet along the soft red grass.
Risking another glance, I watched as his eyes drooped shut. I couldn't help but let out a little chort before quickly clasping my hands over my mouth. I almost felt bad about sneaking those sleep aid herbs into his tea.
Almost.
I would probably be back before he woke up, but I quickly clasped my sandals before scurrying off into the woods beside the garden.
Running through the woods, I came across a clearing where a boy sat staring off into the distance. The view from this hill was magnificent at this time of day. Slowing down, I got on my toes, hoping that by tiptoeing, he wouldn't notice me. I slowly began to sneak past, but he startled me as he spoke up.
"Hello," he said, not even looking up at me
"How did you know I was here?" I asked, trying to hold back a smirk
He just shrugged and smiled at me. I still didn't quite know his name I only met him a few weeks ago. I had run into him on one attempt to lose my guard.
He didn't ask, and neither did I. It felt good to be a normal girl for once.
Every six days, I would find an elaborate way of slipping out of the garden unnoticed and made my way to this hill. And every six days, he would be sitting here waiting. It had been our little secret.
"I brought something," he said softly, bringing me back from my thoughts.
I studied his face, uncertain, but his mischievous smile drew me closer. I couldn't help but lean in as he stuffed his hand into his pocket. He pulled out small delicate plant.Its petals curved and folded into themselves. I delicately grabbed the flower by the stem as I marveled at its color. It was such a vibrant red that it looked like it could have been painted.
"Wow." I gasped as I studied the delicate flower. "What is it?"
"It's a rose," he said, turning his attention to me
"It's beautiful," I said, still mesmerized by its color
"It is," he replied more softly this time. I noticed then that he hadn't glanced at the flower.
My lazy smile twisted up in disgust as his eyes slowly faded to black. This corrupted dream was quickly turning into a nightmare. I couldn't look away, however, as I felt like I was being sucked further and further into the blackness in his eyes.
A prick on my finger took my attention away from him and I turned back to look at the rose in my hand. Its color seemed less vibrant than before, but my thoughts focused on my thumb as a line of red trickled down the finger. It struck me all of a sudden what the rose had reminded me of.
Blood.
I watched the drop fall as I sunk further into the abyss. I'm not sure what got into me, but I couldn't shake the feeling starting to form in my mind. RUN.
