Up, Up, and Away

Chapter 9

The Doctor sprinted into the street, sonic-ing a path through the shadows in front of us. I could practically feel the Vashta nipping at my heels, closing in as we ran.

"No! The window!" Marge yelled, pointing at her flat. Shadows were spilling in through the opening, slowly but deadly. We reached the door in under five seconds, and the Doctor flung it open, eyes wide in panic. If we were too late...

"Get inside!" The Doctor shouted as we entered the home, even before assessing the situation. The others must've had the same idea as the Doc, as they were rushing inside the TARDIS.

Graham was inside already, making sure the kids were safe, but Yaz was outside, herding the last of them in. I didn't even have time to blink before the Doctor threw herself at Yaz, knocking her on her back, inside the TARDIS doors. They both hit their heads pretty hard, and didn't get up right away.

Without the Doctor's sonic, the clear path disappeared and the Vashta began closing in. Marjorie and I leapt onto the sofa, but the shadows kept rising. I could hear the kids crying and yelling, but I knew they were safe inside the blue box.

"Ryan! Catch!" Graham called. He picked up the sonic from the unconscious Doctor's hands and threw it out of the TARDIS. I caught it and sonic-ed the shadows away. At some point I must've grabbed Marge's hand, because I noticed that we were holding onto each other for dear life.

As the floor cleared, I pushed Marjorie ahead of me into the TARDIS. I was just about there myself when something grabbed my ankle.

"Ryan!" Marge yelled. She was about to come back out to help me, but was stopped by her siblings. They pulled her back from the TARDIS door as Graham fought his way forward.

I pulled, but I didn't make much progress. I looked down and saw the darkness creeping up the back of my shoe. At that point I did the only thing I could think to do; bent down and untied my shoe.

My foot came slipping out and I launched myself forward into the police box. Graham caught me and pulled me inside. Marge slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it. I turned and looked out the window to see the Vashta tear my shoe apart in under a second. It was devoured, and I couldn't help but think what it could do to a living person.

"It ate my new trainer!" I exclaimed. Graham punched me in the arm, looking angry, but then his face contorted and he wrapped me in a hug. Stubbornly, I returned it. I felt him exhale, and could practically feel his smile.

"I'm just glad you're alive, son," Graham said, pulling away, but still gripping my arms.

Marjorie was sitting on the ground, surrounded by her siblings who took turns hugging her. A few were still crying, and she tried to soothe them. Graham went over to help, and I went to check on the Doctor and Yaz, who were still passed out on the floor.

Before I could do that, the TARDIS began shaking. The windows filled with black, and steam started rising from the console.

"What's going on?" Marge asked. She gripped the kids tighter, and held onto the railing.

"I don't know how to fly this thing!" Graham shouted.

"Well neither do I!" I replied, running around to look for some kind of hint. There had to be instructions on the wall or something. Like a driver's manual! Did time machines have driver's manuals?

I picked a switch and forced it up, then began cranking what I assumed to be the steering wheel. Those were the first two things I usually saw the Doctor do. The TARDIS started making that whooshing sound, and I laughed breathily, thankful to be moving.

The box shook like we'd hit something, and almost as soon as the whooshing started, it stopped again. I lowered my eyebrows in confusion and raced over to the door. There was light coming in, no more shadows, but I didn't think we moved much.

I pulled open the door to reveal that we were in the penthouse again, the one with the party. And people were staring.

"Hi..." I said, not sure what else to do. It was dead silent as I took a step back into the box, nodding awkwardly, and shutting the door.

"Where are we?" Graham asked. I shoved my hands in my pockets.

"Upstairs. We didn't go far, and at the moment, we're in the middle of a party," I explained. Graham nodded and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Marjorie asked, standing up. She was holding two of her sisters' hands to reassure them.

"I'm going to talk to some people. It's what the Doctor would do. You guys weren't up here long, you couldn't have figured out much," Graham replied. I nodded.

"Yeah basically we just saw the shadows creeping up and we went to you guys as quick as we could," I agreed. I walked over to Yaz and took off my jacket, balling it up and putting it under her head like a pillow. Graham saw what I was doing and did the same for the Doctor.

"If you're going, I'm coming with you," Marge argued. I rolled my eyes. I didn't want her in trouble again, I didn't want to be responsible for someone else's life.

"I don't know that that's the best idea-"

"I'm going. I'm taking the kids with me, too. I can't leave them alone and I can protect them better with me," she told us. Nobody could argue with that girl.

"Okay then, you can't walk out there with them looking like that, though. We'll have to try and find the wardrobe," I said. She nodded, knowing that we would draw even more attention to ourselves if a lot of poor kids came busting out into the crowd of rich folk who had just witnessed a police box land in the middle of their flat.

"Well, off we go. Hear that kids? Stay together. It's big in here," Marge announced, making a whole chain of hand holding children. If one got lost, the Doctor would kill us.

"Off we go."