Up, Up, and Away

Chapter 4

She slammed and locked the door behind us when we were all in. I was standing in the smallest room I'd ever seen, just big enough to fit us and one stove. There was a door in the corner, but it too was locked. The walls were once white, but now covered in so much grime that they were brown and soggy. It smelled like mold.

There were candles everywhere, on every surface possible. They were on the ground, on top of the stove, even on top of the door frame. They were cheap, unscented candles, with really no purpose during the day time. So why have so many lit?

"I just saved all of your lives, the least you could do is not judge my home," the girl scolded, brushing her hands on her apron and beginning to unlock the other door in the corner. I noticed her thick brown hair was tied back in a messy braid, and she looked unkempt.

"Oh, we're not judgin' at all, trust me. We've seen all of it," the Doctor reassured. I still couldn't help my cheeks from flushing.

"What's your name?" Ryan asked, following the girl first through the now opened door. It led to another room, just big enough to fit a couch. She motioned for us to sit down, and we all did except the Doctor, who kept standing. She examined everything in the room, from the dusty door knobs and abundance of candles to the side of a big wooden cabinet.

"Marjorie. The boy is my brother, Willie," she replied. The little boy's head popped up from behind the couch, making us all jump.

"My name is William, not Willie. I'm a man!" he exclaimed. I chuckled as Marjorie put her hands on her hips and threw a thumb over her shoulder, motioning for him to leave the room.

"Scatter, little man. I don't want you getting any ideas. And all the rest of you in here, I know you're hiding. Go play in the kitchen for a bit I have some visitors to catch up with," Marjorie called. I was confused at first, but then I saw children appearing in numbers as if they were walking through walls.

The Doctor pulled her ear away from the wooden cabinet when we heard giggles from inside it and kids burst out.

Two climbed from under the couch, another three from a tall cupboard on the wall. One had himself sitting right on top of the cupboard. All 7 of them left the room, as Marjorie did head count. After they were out, she locked the door behind her, trapping us in the small room with her.

"Are those all your siblings?" Graham asked, running a hand through his thin grey hair. She nodded and crossed her arms.

"Yeah. We were left alone while our parents went to work. The kids were inside but I ran out when I saw my folks coming down the street, and I went to talk to them but... they weren't the same. They just looked at me with these- these empty eyes. Like it wasn't them in there anymore. They had-" Marjorie choked on a lump in her throat and I reached up to grab her hand, encouraging her to go on. She nodded and continued.

"They had shadows. Each of 'em. There were shadows where there should have been none. It was dark out, but the shadows were darker. The blackest black I'd ever seen," she explained. The Doctor froze, and grew pale. I'd never seen her truly terrified before, let alone this serious. She had always maintained some lightheartedness even in the most grave situations. But this- the light went out.

"What happened to your parents, Marjorie?" She asked, voice monotone, and suggesting that she already knew what had happened.

"They laughed, but not a normal laugh. It was empty. And then they started walking toward me, so I ran back to the house and locked the door. I saw them out the window, they stopped and then turned around towards a drunk walkin' down the street. They walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders, and I don't know what happened, but he got emptied out like them," she told us, on the verge of tears.

I stood up and rapped my arms around her, and surprisingly, Marjorie hugged me back. All traces of the feisty girl we'd met ten minutes ago were gone. She was just a teenage girl now. Just a scared girl, trying to take care of herself and her siblings.

I led her to sit down where I had been, the spot on the couch in between Graham and Ryan. Graham put a hand on her shoulder and Ryan looked a bit uncomfortable. I remembered once when we were in primary school, I started crying, and he was so baffled he went and threw up. He's never dealt well with people crying.

I knelt in front of her and held her hands until I felt the Doctor's brush my shoulder. I stood up and followed her to the corner of the room, which didn't give much privacy, but 2 meters worth. I looked up at her, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. She kept staring at the ground.

"What is it? I know there's something wrong, I know your face," I asked, which made the Doctor grin. It was the saddest grin I'd seen in my entire existence.

"You know this face. I've had others. Three faces ago, I met this problem for the first time, and I lost someone. Someone I didn't know yet, but who knew me. I lost her to these creatures. We have to stop it, we have to act quickly or-" she stopped to breathe in and close her eyes. When she opened them, I saw the flicker of light in her eyes. She finally met my gaze and paused.

I grabbed her hand, the one closest to the wall, so that no one knew but us. So it could be our moment, and so I could have her focus on just me, just for a moment.

"We'll stop it, Doctor. We always do. And the last time you faced these things, you didn't have us. You didn't have me. I'd throw myself in front of any monster in the universe if it saved you. We're stronger together," I said, squeezing her fingers, "remember that."

She held my gaze for a second before swallowing. She turned to the couch, game-face on, and I knew a plan was already formulating in her head.

"Doctor, what's goin' on here?" Asked Ryan. I scanned the room, assessing a now standing Ryan and Graham, along with Marjorie, who had dried her tears and returned to her former stance. She was tough, that one.

"The shadows. They're called Vashta Nerada, and they're not just shadows at all."