Up, Up, and Away

Chapter 12

"And aren't you just dolls!" The woman lounging on the sofa exclaimed, petting the head of one of Marjorie's sisters. The little girl loved the attention, and the other kids were having fun entertaining the adults with their playing, singing, and dancing.

"So, Doc, what do we do now? Seems we're stuck up here too," I reasoned. The Doctor was lurking around the edges of the room, running her fingers along the walls and fondling any kind of decorations she could find.

"I'm just trying to think. We've got a whole lot of people to save here, and my plan isn't quite complete," she replied, scrunching her face up to examine a brooch resting on the mantel.

"Well you've got the beginnings of a plan at least, that's good!" I encouraged. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

"Not really- I lied. Sometimes if I tell myself I have a plan, one pops into my head."

"Didn't work?"

"Not a bit," she whispered, frustrated. She picked up vases and sniffed them, looked suspiciously at mirrors and photographs, and even ripped off the petal of a flower, only to stick it on her tongue.

"Mm. Just as I thought- lilies. Really old ones too, I'd say about... three months. Must've been the last time they left the flat," The Doctor mumbled, mostly to herself. I was only following, but decided to change my focus and help out a little more by examining the people. I looked out into the crowd, and for the first time, noticed something felt wrong, but I couldn't identify it.

"Eh, Doc? You notice something... off?" I asked, leaning in closer to the Doctor. When she didn't react as urgently as expected, I reached out and held her elbow lightly. She gently pulled away to turn around and match my view.

"Something's wrong. Something on the edges, but I can't see it. I can't- I can't focus-"

"Don't move a muscle," The Doctor warned, voice demanding. I froze at her command, but couldn't figure out why we were in such danger.

"Tell me everything you see, Graham. List it all."

"Well, there's the bar with some people at it, there's those big windows, and there's people milling all about. I don't know what else could be- oh!" I exclaimed, finally noticing what was hiding directly in front of me.

"The people, Doctor! The bartender. The waiters. The staff. What's wrong with them?" I asked, avoiding eye contact with all of them. They weren't smiling like the rest of the people. They weren't having fun, which was typical of staff, but they looked as if they weren't feeling anything. Their faces blank, their eyes empty, and....

Two shadows.

"Act normal, like nothing's gone wrong. I need to think a moment," the Doctor worried, putting a hand to her head slowly.

"We can't go down, the Vashta have us trapped," she started, rushing over to the windows and pressing her forehead to the glass.

"The building has four shadows now, all around the building. And they're growing out. See those smaller buildings around us, all dark? They've gotten everyone in there," she said, voice tinged with dread.

"We could go up- not that it would help. We'd just lead the Vashta up too. But somehow we have to move everyone out of harms way. And I need to get a closer look at those staff. Keep a watch out, Graham," The Doctor ordered. I didn't want her going alone, but she took off before I could get a word in. I knew she was very capable on her own, too.

I took my phone out of my pocket and discreetly texted Ryan, just to check up.

It read, 'You okay, son? Where are you?'