Untold Knowledge (Doctor Who x Genius Fem! Oc) [Book 1]

Chapter 48: Fear Her

The moment they arrived at the correct home, Echo rang the doorbell once and proceeded to wait for the owner to answer. Though, when they didn't get an immediate response, the Doctor impatiently knocked on the door itself. She smiled at him fondly, then looked back to the door just as the mother of the house opened it. "Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is my Echo and this is Rose. Could we perhaps see your daughter?" he asked kindly, not caring how mad he actually sounded.

Just the mentioning of her child gave her a powerful flash of anxiety. "No, you can't." she instinctively replied without thinking.

Without an ounce of fight, their smiles remained unaffected. "Okay. Bye, then." They turned and began to walk away, knowing they wouldn't need to try to hard to sway this woman.

With a moment of consideration and even hope, the mother couldn't help but stop them. "Why? Why do you want to see Chloe?"

They immediately knew their opening was upon them. "Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought. Well, we thought, she might like to give us a hand." he replied with a subtle, trustworthy aura surrounding all three of them.

"Sorry to bother you." Rose said just as politely.

Echo nodded as they then turned to leave again. "Yes, many apologies. We'll let you alone, with no one to talk to. Farewell." she added without giving her a second glance.

Trish quickly jumped on the possibility of helping her daughter become  herself once again. "Wait! Can you really help her?" she pleaded, her distress becoming more apparent with every passing second.

They gave her kind, knowing looks as the Doctor nodded. "Yes, we can." he promised with complete confidence in their abilities to succeed.

Only moments later were they allowed to enter and shown the sitting room. "She stays in her room most of the time. I try talking to her, but it's like trying to speak to a brick wall." she explained, desperation to help her daughter swiftly bubbled to the surface. "She gives me nothing; just asks to be left alone."

"What about Chloe's dad?" Rose wondered, seeing no sign of another house-hold occupant.

"Chloe's dad died a year ago." she answered grimly.

Having been listening to her carefully and reading her body language, Echo nodded in complete understanding. "Congratulations to you both." she replied as she analyzed all she could.

Rose gave her a baffled expression, "Echo!" she said, ready to begin scolding her.

But Trish shook her head, "No, she's right. He was an awful man." the woman clarified, easing the tension the best she could.

Ready to continue their investigation, their attentive Time Lord stepped forward a few inches. "Well, let's go and say hi." he suggested, immediately noticing how affected she truly was by the mere mention of her only child.

Unsure, Trish tried to stall for more time. "I-- I should check on her first. She might be asleep."

"Why are you afraid of her, Trish?" their Doctor inquired gently, wanting nothing more than to help them both.

With hesitation, she felt the need to justify her fears. "I want you to know before you see her, that she's really a great kid."

"We have no doubt of that." Echo reassured with honesty lacing her every word.

"She's never been in trouble at school." the disturbed woman continued. "You should see her report from last year. All A's and B's."

Sensing just how off their situation seemed, Rose then got an idea. "Can I use your loo?" she politely asked, wanting to have a proper look around.