The Mind Palace

Chapter Four

The Doctor opened the door completely, so the rest of us could peer in as well. I gasped slightly, and Irene turned sharply to look at me, grinning as though I were inferior, inexperienced. I was beginning to hate her more and more, though I knew to do so was petty and immature. I shook it off, thoroughly distracted by what the room held anyways.

The inside of it resembled a courtroom- a circular place, red, velvety chairs set along in it, following the room's round shape but leaving a large, empty spot in the center of it. Directly in front of this spot was a massive chair, larger and fancier than all the rest in the place.

The interesting part, however, was far more obvious than the specific features in the woodwork (which I can almost guarantee Sherlock was studying at that moment). It was the people (and I use 'people' very loosely here) that filled the giant place, all facing the man sitting in the big chair as he spoke words that, miraculously, I could understand.

They all certainly resembled humans. At only a glance, you wouldn't think anything of them. My eyes, however, chose to linger, and I noticed everything wrong with their faces. The mouths were all agape, in a way that made it seem that they couldn't close at all. Round, and like a dent in the skin- no lips or teeth. Frankly, they were terrifying.

The man at the front of the room, sitting in the chair, was actually slightly less scary than the rest of the creatures. He looked incredibly old- older than the Doctor- with crinkling pale skin and a sad old smile pasted across his lips in an extremely creepy fashion. He had no hair at all, and his eyes were a freezing cold blue.

I swallowed the fear that had welled up inside of me as the five of us slid through the partially open doorway and into the rather full room. There wasn't room to sit, so we stood in the back- none of the creatures seemed to notice us, and the man at the head of the room spoke on.

"The planet is small, tucked away in a corner of a tiny universe... What use is it to us, for this spot of land to be empty? It wouldn't be conviniencing, no one is under attack, we don't even know that a single being lives here at all!"

His eyes flashed up to meet us, and he looked unsurprised, as though he'd known we were there all along. His wide mouth spread into too big a grin, and it stretched his face in ways that looked terribly painful. "Of course, we know that it isn't completely empty."

The Doctor, who stood to my right, straightened his posture. "The pest controllers of the universe. I thought I'd gotten rid of you."

The stranger let out one, chilly syllable of laughter. "You got us off Earth. Temporarily, of course. The contagion on that planet is simply unbearable."

"You were the interface."

"You know very well how interfaces work, Doctor. Pick an image, a person- well, I suppose not in this case- have it run the system."

I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. "Sorry, if you aren't human, then what are you?"

The chilled laugh returned, but for longer this time. The "people" sitting in the chairs around the room burst into laughter as well, until the roar of cold, hard laughter was defeaning and the leader waved it away. It stopped immediately, and the room was silent. He cleared his throat. "You've really never heard of us?" He stared me down, and seemed to realize something after a moment, sitting back in his chair. "Ah. Human, of course. See, Doctor? Absolute, unintelligent swine."

Sherlock jumped in quickly, before the man could say too much more. "Right, please, prove your superior knowledge before we lowly humans begin to question it."

The wrinkly man twitched his nose, and sat up straight again. "We are the Shakri. An ancient Gallifreyan legend, seen as only a myth, while managing to be very real all along."

Sherlock began to pace back and forth, a few feet at a time. "Right, you called yourself what? 'The pest controllers of the universe?'" He frowned a bit, nodding his head in consideration. "Good intentions, bad procedure. Not sure this is exactly the right thing to do-" He stopped pacing, and stood staring at the man, sizing him up- "but I won't deny that it's a rather good idea."

"Sherlock," I muttered. If he got us in any trouble, any danger because of his running mouth...

He raised one perfect eyebrow, looking in my direction, questioning. "I said ridding the universe of bad things is a good thing, I'm agreeing with them."

Irene smiled slightly. "But they're wrong."

Jack quickly pulled her towards the door as the Shakri began to stand, one at a time, moving towards us as though obviously angered. They jumped over chairs, coming towards us very quickly, mouths agape all the while.

The Doctor pursed his lips. "I think we should all run very, very quickly..."

With those nine words, the five of us flew out the door and down the halls. The turns were suddenly unfamiliar, the walls changing as though they meant to trap us inside the place. I ran through room after room, unaware of who was with me, worried only about the things, these Shakri that could be anywhere around me.

Eventually, I was too winded to continue. I fell against one of the walls, gasping, hoping that somehow I would be spared by the things that were no doubt coming closer and closer, prepared to murder at any second. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for my demise.

Someone hit the wall next to me, falling to sit very close. One of the Shakri? I couldn't tell, but they were breathing very loudly, heavily, as well. Slowly, I opened my eyes, turning my head from its place in my arms to look at my apparent companion.

His dark curls were especially bouncy today, lifting with each breath he took. His eyes were covered by his hands, which held his face, blocking my view of his chiseled face and sharp cheekbones. He was just inches away, and no one else seemed to be anywhere around us. I could do anything, Everything.

"Sherlock," I whispered.

He lifted his head, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and brushing a stray strand of hair out of his eye with the other. He smiled. "John."

I blinked, long and hard. "Where- Where's everybody else?"

Sherlock shrugged, stretching his back against the wall. "Not sure. Different halls, maybe lost."

"Are we lost?"

He slowly stood up, leaning against the wall for support. "Probably." He stuck his hand out in front of me.

I took it, and he pulled me up, touch lingering even after he'd let go. His eyes were blue, green, and gold, all at the same time, and I lost myself in them. "Sherlock, I-"

The spectrums of color strung around his pupils widened as his pupils dilated. Out of hope? Surprise? Fear?

"I- think we should start looking for the others," I finished, chickening again.

He broke eye contact, looking at the ground, muttering something, then looking back up again. He was... Scared? Sherlock Holmes, the great detective, purely genius... Scared of me?

"Sorry, what was that?" I cocked my head.

"John I-" He met my eyes completely now, and reached for my hand, holding it in his. "I think we should start looking for the others."

Hand in hand, we began the walk down the long stretch of hall. Sherlock liked me, and I was scared out of my mind.