Monsters [Doctor Who]

C H A P T E R S I X T E E N

Chapter 16:

Augusta's POV

"Auggie," the Doctor said, turning to me. My body was trembling, and my face was frozen in shock. "Auggie! Auggie, are you--"

"Stop," I whispered. The Doctor crouched down in front of me, and I gasped, moving back. "No, I-I... I'm sorry, I--" it became hard to breathe, my eyes widened and I clawed at my throat.

"Auggie! Auggie, calm down! Calm down!" He said. "You're having another attack, calm down."

"I-I-I-I," I stammered, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I--"

"What's wrong with her?" Jack asked, stepping over. I yelped and stepped back, my hands covering my ears, they were laughing again, they were laughing! I can hear it, it's coming from the walls! It's in the room! They're in the room! They're coming to punish me!

"I'm so sorry," I cried, tears falling out of my eyes. "I-I-I--"

"Hey, hey," the Doctor said, his voice really calm and soothing. I stopped and looked at him, "It's okay. No need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."

I stared at him for a few seconds, "They're coming," I murmured, trying to slow my breathing. "Th-they're coming and--"

"Nobody's coming," he insisted. He took a step closer, and I stayed where I was, watching him. He knelt down to my level and smiled at me, "It's going to be okay," he promised, taking my hand away from my hair and holding it. "Are you okay now?" He asked when I had began breathing normally. I gave him a small nod, but my hands were still shaking slightly.

"Good," he nodded and messed up my hair.

"Sorry," I murmured, looking at my feet. "I didn't mean to act like that, I just-- what you said... It reminded me of something and--"

"Hey," he smiled at me. "S'okay. You were scared. It's okay now."

I numbly nodded, standing back up. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," he smiled. "Why don't you go sit down while I-we check over the bodies?" He suggested and motioned to the empty chair beside a table.

I nodded obediently and silently sat down at the table, while the trio talked about the 'dead' bodies.

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV

As Auggie went to go sit down, he pulled Rose aside, "What is it?" She asked.

"What do you think set her off?" He asked her in a hushed tone to keep the other two from hearing them.

"Uh... Probably when you scolded the gasmask-people like they were kids, why?"

He sighed, "Why would me scolding someone else cause her to have a panic attack?" He wondered out loud.

"You said that she was from a abusive home, right?" Rose asked, and he gave her a slight nod. "Then, maybe it's that. She's probably afraid of being scolded or something."

He frowned, shaking his head, "No. That wasn't it. I scolded her for blowing up her room just last week and she didn't have a bloody panic attack," he sighed. "It's something else. Something else triggered it. Before she was in that kind of home."

Rose looked confused, "Wait, where was she before she was in the abusive home?"

He grimaced, he didn't want to tell Rose how she told him that she was experimented on, but she would need to know either way. "She told me that before she was in her foster home, she was experimented on," he explained, and Rose's jaw dropped.