Soul's Shadow (Doctor Who - SI)

Part XIV (XIII)

The mass of shadows below us was nauseating, making my stomach twist and my head hurt by simply watching. There were more of them than had been in the corridor, crawling above and below and within one another. All of them were caged within a sort of bowl in the ground, with a single door at one side that led into the safety of darkness. The way to the door wasn't even far, not more than a short sprint. But it was down there in the light of yet another set of lamps the Doctor couldn't reach with his Sonic Screwdriver.

Again I felt the shadows tugging at me, somehow resonating with the part inside my memories that hurt the most. Maybe I should have been more insistent on learning how to set up a mental barrier, but now it was too late anyway. If it even was anything from outside of me. Ever since the last dream I was slowly consumed by all the darkness that had once made me decide to end everything. Maybe it had simply never truly gone away. Maybe I had only suppressed the darkness, had hidden it below adventure and danger and the illusion of warmth I stole from the Master. Maybe it had simply been enough to point out the facts that I wasn't more but a toy and that there was nothing waiting for me at the end of everything. Would I be forced to leave... to go back to where I came from... There was no place to return, no family or friends to wait for me, nowhere I could go to and nowhere I would ever belong.

Sure, I could simply enjoy the moment and take whatever was offered to me, but my brain refused to do that. Stubborn thing.

"Isn't there an alternate route?" asked Donna. "God they are so... so... I can't believe how many there are. They can't all be dead, can they? Those poor souls."

"Ergh! You're too soft, woman," sneered the Master, scowling down at the mass, his hands gripping the low metal bar that separated us from the hole. "A hindrance, that's what they are. The rest doesn't matter."

"You said they remember. They know they were people at some point."

"Or maybe they are just bundled and totally random memory fragments."

I glanced down, mesmerised by the sheer uncountable number, the frantic movement, the longing as they got aware of us, one by one, hands raising upwards, reaching, grabbing, wanting.

Just like me. Desperate not to be forgotten, not to be a prisoner of being lonely within the mass. Part of it and yet as separate as one could be.

Only that those weren't only longing, they also were destructive, maybe without even knowing it, wanting to drag us down to them, with them, into the darkness... Give them anyone and they will be pleased for a moment.

"A sacrifice," I mumbled, more to myself than to anyone.

"Not going to leave anyone behind with those!" objected Donna. "I'm glad we didn't lose anyone in the corridor. T'was close enough." And with that she strode away to the Doctor, leaving me alone with the Master.

At first I didn't even notice, too busy watching the mass below us, not quite sure what exactly it was I was feeling at the sight. The run from before still sat in my bones. We had all done our best to get away from the creatures only to now have our way blocked by them.

"A sacrifice," repeated the Master, stepping behind me. "A distraction. Not a bad idea. I bet they'd attack all at once and leave the rest a small chance to slip away.

"Mhmm... Or maybe not."

The Master moved closer, his chest touching my back as he placed both hands on the metal bar to either side of me. His breath ghosted over my ear, voice low and almost excited when he spoke next. "Who shall we throw down, then?"

I huffed, trying to suppress the shudder that went down my body from having him so close to me. "This might not even work, mind you."

His lips caressed my ear, making the hair on my skin raise. "Or shall I choose?"