The Monk's Altar

Chapter 5

It was a strange thumping noise that awakened the Doctor in the middle of the night.  He lifted his head from the pillow but was careful not to disrupt Rose from where she had ended up on top of him, head on his chest.  She was wrapped so tightly around him that it was going to be quite a problem to get up if he wanted to investigate. 

She stirred, either by the sound or his own movements, and she pressed her face farther against his chest, her nose in the center, right between his hearts.  He ran a hand up her back, which without knowing, he had wrapped around her shoulders, and sighed.  The noise had stopped, but he was still on alert, waiting for something else to happen. 

A rattling at the door forced him to roll Rose off of him so she was facing the wall and spooned up behind her, shielding her with his body.  This woke her, of course, and she tried to sit up, but he pressed her back down, his motions clearly warning. 

Her breath hitched and he could feel her heart pounding with fear at the concept of the door being opened.  He wanted to fill her with reassurance, to tell her that it was alright, he had her and was not going to let anyone hurt her, but that was going to be impossible.  Their only defense, at the moment, was to pretend that they were not there. 

There was the sound of a huff of breath outside the door, easily frustrated.   The rattling grew stronger and more intense, the shaking making Rose press back into him, hoping for security.  He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist, his hearts thumping erratically against her back, and turned over his shoulder to look at the door.  It was lucky the monastery was so sturdy, otherwise the person, or whatever was on the outside would be finding their way in.  

She tried breathing through her nose to calm herself, but it only succeeded in ratcheting up her anxiety, fear crawling in from the darkest places of herself.  She was afraid and she didn't care who knew, even if it was the person beyond that door.

Luckily, the only person aware was presumably the Doctor, who was keeping a steady eye on her as well as hand, she could tell.  They both lay quietly until the rattling stopped, followed by a low, inhuman growl before footsteps that sounded very odd walked away.  Rose couldn't tell if the steps were strange because of the stone the being was walking upon or because it wasn't human.  She shivered at the thought. 

When the Doctor sighed and relaxed, though he didn't take his hold from her, she could finally breathe again.  

"We have to warn Lekan," she said, trying to get up, wriggling in the Doctor's grasp, but he pushed her back down easily, as he was significantly stronger than her. 

"No," the Doctor replied.  "It was here for us, whatever it was.  It won't bother Lekan or the others."

"Then why did it come to us?" she whispered, already having a feeling that she knew the answer. 

"Because you're human."

She sagged back and he gathered her up as she rolled over towards him, feeling safer facing him then the wall.  He seemed afraid too, though neither of them would tell the other that they were afraid of something like this, for very different reasons.  Rose was afraid, not of dying, but of leaving the Doctor on his own. She doubted that was very good for him.  The Doctor was simply afraid to lose her.  

He sighed heavily for the second time, squeezing her before pulling the blankets up over them again and burrowing down in the covers.  "Go to sleep, Rose."

"I can't, now," she murmured.  

He chuckled in a forced sort of way.  "Yes you can," he said softly, "I need you to, you're going to need rest."

"We'll go swimming tomorrow?" She asked.

"Did you bring a swimsuit?"

"Yes."