The Girl Who Ran

Chapter 5

As soon as my feet left the TARDIS, I felt my head reeling. It was like one if the most extreme cases of déjà vu, but even more so, because I knew exactly what was going on and what the events would be.

We had landed somewhere dark, and I couldn't see anything, but I could hear the music and the constant rumble of high schoolers talking and laughing and dancing. And somewhere out there, on that dance floor, was me.

And Paul.

And Spencer.

It really didn't matter in the end who I ended up with, I suppose. Or at least, now it didn't. Perhaps if I had chosen differently, it would matter a great deal.

Someone bumped into me in the dark.

"Ouch!" I shouted, a bit too loudly.

"Sorry," said Rose. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Still in here," he called from within the TARDIS. "I'm trying to rig up the light on top to help us find a way out of this room."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to get a flashlight?" I suggested.

Even though I couldn't see her, I'm almost positive that Rose shrugged. "He likes to show off," she said.

Almost immediately, the light on the peak of the box blinded us both, not helping us be able to see anything.

"Ah, there we go," said the Doctor, coming outside. As my eyes adjusted to the sudden flood of light, I noticed a door on the right side of the room. There appeared to be an abundance of shelves lining the entire room, with cans of food stocked high on every one. The school cafeteria, I assumed.

I reached out for the door, then paused. This was my past. My own, real past. I could tell you exactly what was going to happen and with what results and there was nothing that I could do to stop it. Was there?

The Doctor bounded past me, and before I could ponder any further, the flashing lights and pulsing beats from the dance floor overwhelmed my senses. Neon pinks and yellows and blues flew across my vision, while the thunderous chorus of an obnoxiously famous pop song blasted my eardrums out of my head.

"What is this!" The Doctor shouted, turning around and glaring at me. "This isn't your house. This isn't where Charlotte disappeared from!"

"Of course not!" I yelled back over the music. "This is where I was when I heard she had gone missing."

Then something strange struck me. Maybe it was the lighting, or the atmosphere in general, but...this man standing in front of me, the Doctor, was familiar. A sort of funny familiar. "Hold on a second," I shouted, even though I was talking more to myself than anyone else. "Hold on just one second! It was you!"

I walked out the door and walked around the Doctor. The dance music and lights faded into the background as I looked him over. The striped suit, the all too casual converse shoes and the hair sticking up in every direction. There was no doubt about it.

"You were the one told me that my mom was missing. You showed me some papers, saying you were from the FBI and you walked me home, and you told me that I had to stay there. I was devastated." To me it was clear what must happen now. The Doctor would go out there and fulfill his destiny towards my younger self. He would take me by the hand, pull me away from Paul and Spencer and make the most miserable night in my life even worse than it already had been.

"Get in the TARDIS. We have to go."

Those were not the words I had expected to hear. "What do you mean?" I asked. That's not what was supposed to happen. "You're supposed to tell me about my mom's disappearance. That's how it happened. That's how it has to happen."

"Yes," he said, "but maybe not right now. Listen, I know that I'm going to take you away from here, but I don't know why yet. I refuse to do it just because you told me I would. I must have had a good reason to. So back to the TARDIS. We're going to find out when Charlotte actually vanished."

"Three hours ago." I stated with absolute certainty.

Rose cocked her head to the side. "Did he tell you that too?" I nodded. "Doctor, I think we'd better get going and figure this out as soon as we can. I thought our adventure with Charlotte was done, but now I'm positive that the two events are connected."

The Doctor walked around in circles, his hands clasped behind his back. "Yes, yes yes. I think you're right, Rose. let's figure this out."

With that he pounced back through the double doors of the TARDIS and Rose and I followed into the coral room.

"Three hours, you say? Your house. Right. Off we go then!" He pulled a lever and immediately the room began to shake. We were off again, away from the dance. We would return, I knew, but for some reason, I didn't know if I actually wanted to.

[A/N: I am so sorry this is so short. I am so sorry I never update this. I am so sorry that this advances the plot almost zilch. However. I have a plan. I think you might like my plan. I hope you do. Oh well. Also, I really don't have a lot of time to write this story because I'm writing a book for a school project, an that takes up all of my creative juices...I hope you can accept my apology.]