The Orphan and Her Family

Chapter Thirteen

Jack places Sophie down on one of the pub benches, and Owen rushes over, bandaging the gunshot wound swiftly. Jack starts to grab different pieces of bar furniture, placing it in front of the door.

"So, if we barricade ourselves in," Owen says, grabbing a bar stool, "what happens to Tosh and Ianto?"

"Why are we still talking about this?" Jack grumbles, and then glances over at Sophie, "Tosh and Ianto can look after themselves." He places another table in front of the door, and glances over at Keiran, the boy who shot Sophie. He's laying on the bench opposite her, holding his shotgun tightly, "The kids are our first priority. Now, they've already been for him once. They're not going to give up that easily."

Gwen walks over to the dartboard blackboard and grabs the small piece of chalk laying on the rim. "So, have we ever heard of a species who strip human bodies of flesh and organs?"

Sophie squints, sitting up with a groan. Owen looks over, shaking his head, "What are you doing? You need to rest."

"It could be a Raxicoricofallipatrian," she says, ignoring the doctor. "Course, most Raxicoricofallipatorians would eat a human whole, and not bother chopping it up, but it's possible."

Gwen turns back to the board, "Right, so, Raxicorco... I'm sorry, what is it?"

"Raxicoricofallipatorius," Jack answers, then turns to Sophie, "They don't have the psychic abilities to control humans though."

She shrugs, "It's still possible. It could also be a Werewolf, although, I don't think there are a lot of them left." Sophie leans back against the wall, grimacing. "To be honest, there aren't a lot of alien species that I know of that could, or would strip organs and flesh from humans. "It could be a Krillitane subspecies that hasn't fully evolved, or the Rutans hoping to get some sort of military advantage, or even a Sontaran who is hoping the same thing. There's a small chance it could be a rogue Cyberman, but chances of that are very slim." Once Jack is sure the barricade is strong enough, he joins Gwen and Owen as they listen to her rambling. She continues to list off possible alien species, although ends up ruling most of them out.

"The rift could have something to do with it," Jack reminds her, leaning against the wall.

"With the rift involved, that adds a lot more species that can be added. Top of my list would be the Silurians or Seadevils. While they're both civilised species, strand anyone someplace without food, and anything is possible. Finally, I wouldn't rule the Vashta Nerada out." The group look at her confused, even Jack seems to be wondering what they are. "The Vashta Nerada are an alien race that live in the shadows, or are the shadows. Get enough of them in one place, they'll eat the flesh, organs, even muscles off a human, leaving them as a pile of bones. So, they could easily remove organs and flesh off of a body."

Jack points a finger at Gwen, "They're the most likely culprit. I'm assuming they can mind control people."

"Sort of," Sophie says, then shifts in her seat, trying to find a comfortable position, but only manages to pull her wound. Owen grumbles something, and marches over to Sophie. Jack pulls his coat off, folding his jacket, and slides it under her head as Owen lowers her back into a lying position. "Vashta Nerada can take over a host for a short period of time, especially if they exist in the shadows."

Gwen turns and writes it on the board, underlining it. She turns around to ask another question, and she sees a shadow cross the window. "Did you see that?" she asks nervously, pointing at the window.

"Something outside?" Jack asks. Sophie tries to sit up to see what they're talking about, but Owen grabs her shoulder and gently forces her back down.

One of the windows shatters, and everyone turns to look. "Was that the same one or different?" Owen asks Gwen, brandishing his gun. Jack and Gwen both pull their guns out, aiming them at the windows as well.

"He said they'd come back.," Gwen sounds scared, but is forcing herself to remain composed.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Jack orders. He glances over at Keiran, finding him pointing his weapon at the window as well. "We don't know who they are or what their intentions are."

Out of nowhere the lights flicker out, plunging the group into darkness, only aided by the late hour, and the lack of sun in the sky. "That doesn't seem ideal," Sophie mutters.

Keiran seems more agitated than before. He jumps to his feet, shotgun pointing wildly between the windows, "They've come back."

Something starts to bang against the door, and everyone jumps. Sophie moves carefully, trying to get her screwdriver out of her pocket. Keiran starts to walk toward the door, his gun pointed at the door as well. Gwen tries to get the boy to come back, but he just keeps blindly walking for the doors. The door stops rattling just as quickly as it started. The door behind the bar starts to rattle instead, the only thing holding it closed is a padlock and a chain. Jack leaps up against the door, pressing his back against it, trying to keep it closed. "Okay, so we didn't check the cellar," he shrugs.

Kieran looks between both doors, pointing his gun in both directions, "You can't let them in."

"Come back from the door," Gwen instructs him, trying to grab his arm.

He pulls away, begging them once again to not let them in again. Owen rolls his eyes, "Sit down. We've got this under control."

"You don't understand," the boy protests, moving closer to the barricaded doors, "You don't know what they're like."

The barricade falls down in front of the door, the being outside pushing the door inward. Gwen shouts for the boy again. The cellar door bursts open, and the three Torchwood agents open fire. Whatever is outside the door grabs the boy by his ankles, dragging out the door. He shouts for help, but Jack holds Gwen back from running for the doors. She tries to break free of the Captains grasp, the doors slamming as soon as Kieran disappears.

"It's pitch black. You don't have any tracking devices. You want to get yourself killed?" Jack asks angrily. Sophie moves to stand, grimacing and walking gingerly over to the group.

"Jack," she says, quietly. The Captain jumps, turning to find her leaning against the doorway.

"Go after Kieran and the others," Jack orders, "And be careful." Owen and Gwen dash out of the pub, leaving Jack and Sophie with whatever is in the cellar. "You shouldn't be on your feet. You're wounded."

"I'll be okay. Owen gave me some pain meds. We need to figure out whatever is in the cellar, try to determine what alien it is."

"I need to do that. You need rest." Sophie rolls her eyes, pushing past the Captain, she heads for the cellar. Jack curses under his breath, but moves so he's in front of her, "At least let me go first."

She gestures him forward, "Be my guest."

He nods thankfully, doing his best to make a quiet approach down the stairs. Sophie follows behind him, holding her screwdriver in one hand. With the other arm she leans against the wall, using it to give her leverage as she walks down the stairs. Jack holds a flashlight in one hand and his gun in the other. There are strange things in mason jars filling shelves lining the cellar walls, but Jack only scans over them quickly, as he hears panting from a corner.