Soul's Shadow (Doctor Who - SI)

Part XIV (VII)

I felt a jolt and stumbled backwards, hitting against warmth. Arms hastily wrapped around my shoulders, holding me close and tight so nothing could drag me away again. I held my breath, listening for screams or the sounds of struggling, straining my ears to catch whatever sound the shadow creatures might make - if any.

The darkness was absolute.

As was the sudden silence.

"Shit, shit, shit," muttered someone, Bor?

"They let go." A simple statement that tumbled from my lips, almost whispered. I couldn't feel the cold anymore and the silence was proof enough that Bor also was free.

"Yeah, they did." This time it definitely was him.

"I want to see, damit!" called Meyla.

"Don't you touch that light, girl!" scolded Donna as some rustling resounded through the darkness. "'S bad enough those creepy things are still around, but at least they're not attacking anymore."

"Might feed on the luminesce energy of the devices," mumbled the Doctor and a whir from his screwdriver accompanied his words. Not the blue light though, he had probably deactivated it. "Can't get any readings. It's as if they're not even here."

"Shadows," grumbled the Master. "What do you expect? How about we move? I'm not a fan of standing amongst those things, attacking or not."

"Yeah, me neither," I agreed, but only dared to move when he did, letting go of my shoulders.

"The corridor ahead was relatively free of debris," came Darwil's voice. "Let's move slowly. And stay together as much as possible."

No one objected. Because, there was no better option. I felt a hand slip into mine and was confused for a moment, because it didn't feel like I had expected. It was softer and smaller and...

"I really hate not seeing anything here," mumbled Donna. "This is ridiculous. And scary. Really is scary, isn't it? Why don't they attack in the dark? Can't be literal shadows, now can they? And if they are, who or what is casting them?"

I smiled at the gesture and held on to Donna, weirdly happy about having her as my support. I wasn't able, nor willing to accept that she might actually be a friend to me, yet, too scared of the possibility of her faking it, or using my trust to gain some benefit. Not that it would be like her to do so, but it wouldn't be the first time my judgement in a human was wrong. It would be nice, though. Just knowing that I maybe wasn't cursed to be alone. Or stuck with only people who accepted me because I was useful to them.

Speaking of whom, I was wondering where the Master was. In the darkness I couldn't pinpoint where the other people were and only heard the noises their steps made, the rustling of their clothes and gear and their breathing. My main focus was on moving forward without tripping, so it was extra hard to make out anything else.

After a while we came to a fork and we decided to make light for a few seconds to see where we were heading to.

"They haven't attacked again, so I assume they are literally bound to light in some way," said the Doctor, his tone by far too casual for the situation. "Might not be fast enough to get to us. And if they do, we drown them in darkness again. Worked the last time."

"I really don't like this," whimpered Meyla. "What have they done to Ulkta?"

"Might be best to never find out," sighed Donna. "I do wanna find the poor woman and help, but not if we have to endanger everyone else in the process, yeah? Maybe send out a bunch of people afterwards, get a rescue mission going."