Up, Up, and Away

Chapter 5

"Vashta-what now?" Asked Graham, putting his hands on his hips. The Doctor leapt into action, sonic-ing the entire room. There was one window, which she made sure was as tightly closed as possible, and that the curtain covered it completely.

"Vashta Nerada. It's an alien species that disguises itself as a shadow. As soon as it gets a hold of you, it won't ever let go. It'll eat the meat off of your bones before you know what's happened," the Doctor explained, making Ryan shudder.

"Your parents weren't skeletons, were they?" Ryan asked Marjorie. She gave him a look that could kill.

"No, dewdropper, keep up with the conversation," Marjorie scolded, obviously deflecting the topic off of her. Ryan was just confused about the term.

"Oi! What'd you just call me?" He asked, throwing his hands up in the air. She raised her eyebrows and folded her arms, snarky reply locked and loaded, before the Doctor intervened.

"Hey, knock it off the lot of ya! We have work to get done!" The Doctor exclaimed. I heard her mumble under her breath, but wasn't sure the others did. The Doctor wondered why the Vashta Nerada didn't eat Marjorie's parents immediately. And more importantly, how they were maintaining vessels. She put the sonic away and grabbed Graham's shoulder.

"I need you and Yaz to talk to the kids, see if they've seen anything. And if they have, settle 'em down. Ryan, Marjorie, and I will visit the neighbors. Who's upstairs from you, Marjorie?" She asked.

Marjorie looked uncomfortable when she answered, almost as if she didn't want to say.

"The Vanders. You shouldn't go up there, though. Maybe not the Vanders, but the higher up you go, they'll have a fit," Marjorie warned. The Doctor lowered her brow and examined a crack in the wall.

"Why not? Neighbors aren't friendly?" She asked, turning her attention back to us. Marjorie gave her a look of disbelief.

"Well as you can see, we don't have a lot of money 'round here. The higher up you go, the bigger the dough; that's what Willie says. Everyone upstairs can afford to be up there. They're safe, while they leave us poor folk down here to get eaten by the monsters," Marjorie complained. Something clicked in my head.

"Wait... those apartments they're building out there, the tall ones- they're not just to fit more people? They're to get the rich folk off the ground?" I asked, receiving a nod from Marjorie. I scoffed.

"Cowards! Does the whole city know about the shadows?" I asked.

"Not shadows," the Doctor pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. Everyone knows. It's been on the radios and everything, I can hear it when they're havin' parties upstairs," Marjorie replied. I shook my head in disgust.

"They just keep building, up, up, and away from the problem," I stated, more for myself than for anyone else. I couldn't imagine how anyone could ignore a problem this large. Especially when people were dying.

"No, no, no! That's an awful idea!" The Doctor looked angry, genuine disbelief, at the ignorance of the wealthy.

"They're building up, building out, projecting more shadows on the streets below; that's how the Vashta Nerada move. What are they going to do when the sun doesn't reach the sidewalk anymore? They'll be stuck. They're cutting themselves off. They'll all die!" The Doctor finished speaking and the reality hit us like a brick.

"We have to save them. We should get moving," I suggested, grabbing Graham by the elbow and tugging him to the door. The Doctor nodded and followed.

"But first, a little stop in my TARDIS."