Stellar Collision

Chapter 28

The Doctor had reached the sixth floor bypassing the elevator and running for all he was worth up the stairs. He headed straight for Melody's apartment. He knocked loudly several times and shouted Melody's name through the door. He got no response. By then Dayle B had caught up with him.

She was out of breath. "Try the knob." she suggested. He did and found it locked.

They looked at each other. She shrugged. "Sonic that bitch." He obliged.

They entered Melody's living room to find it in utter disarray. A small mirror knocked off the wall, shattered. The coffee table had been set on end. A potted plant broken, soil everywhere. The Doctor felt the knot in his stomach grow larger. When they walked around the sofa, they found Melody herself lifeless on the floor.

"Oh my GOD!' Dayle B yelled. She immediately went to her neighbor and checked for a pulse.

The Doctor ran further into the apartment shouting for Dayle. He burst into the back bedroom and found nothing out of order. No sign of her at all. He was beside himself. If anything had happened to her...

"Doctor! She's coming around!" He headed back out to the living room and found Dayle B knelt on the floor helping Melody up to a sitting position. He crouched there in front of her, watched her eyelids flutter. She took a deep breath in and coughed.

The Doctor examined her arm, pointed to a raised purple welt. "It look like she's been stung. The effects can last several hours but she should be alright." He did a quick scan with his Sonic, saw her vitals were fairly stable.

"Melody..." he said softly. "Are you alright? What's happened?" He watched as her eyes came into focus on him.

A look of panic came over her. "Mrs. Anderson!" she croaked, coughing some more.

Dayle B looked from Melody to the Doctor in confusion. "Mrs. Anderson?"

Melody sat up a bit straighter at the sound of Dayle's voice. "Dayle! You're Ok! When I saw that... that creature grab you, I-I-I tried to hit it with my English Ivy plant. And that just made it mad and it... it zapped me with something. That's the last thing I remember." She put a hand to her head, confused.

The Doctor stood up, feeling numb. He paced. "Melody. The creature. Why was it here? When exactly did Aaron return?"

Melody still looked disoriented but her wits were returning quickly. "Aaron?" She gave an angry little laugh. "What's he got to do with anything? That bastard apparently cleaned out my bank account and ran off to Florida with some female mime he'd met while busking out on Euclid avenue."

The Doctor and Dayle B looked at each other, speechless at the news.

Melody held out her hand for help up. He and Dayle B both pulled her to her feet. She swayed a bit but made it to the sofa.

Dayle B was beyond confused. "Well who the fuck was the creature then!?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you! It was Mrs. Anderson! She comes nearly every morning to give me knitting lessons. She was here as usual and we had our tea and watched a little Downton Abbey together. There was a knock at the door a-a-and it was Dayle and when she walked in..." Melody shook her head, clearly having trouble accepting what she'd witnessed. "When she walked in, Mrs. Anderson just changed. It was like her body melted away leaving behind a giant red cockroach thing. It was horrible!" She was shaking.

"Who is Mrs. Anderson?" The Doctor asked Dayle B, mystified.

"The old woman down the hall. With the cane. You and Dayle A were on the elevator with her the day you came back." Dayle B gasped, her hand to her mouth. "Arc must have taken her!"