09 Doctor Who x Reader

(3)The Unquiet Dead

Gwyneth pours tea.

"First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man." Rose says angrily.

"I won't be spoken to like this!" Sneed says back.

"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!" Rose yells.

"It's not my fault. It's this house. It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs, the er, dear departed started getting restless."

"Tommyrot." Dickens comments

"You witnessed it. Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps." Gwyneth places the Doctor's cup on the mantlepiece beside him, and hands me a cup.

"Two sugars, m'am, just how you like it." She smiles.

"One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned." Sneed says.

"Morbid fancy." Dickens says.

"Oh, Charles, you were there." I Say.

"I saw nothing but an illusion." Dickens says denyingly.

"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up. What about the gas?" I spat.

"That's new, Miss. Never seen anything like that." Sneed says.

"Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through." I Say to the Doctor.

"What's the rift?" Rose asks.

"A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time." The Doctor says.

"That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations." Dickens then slams the door as he leaves.

"Echoes in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine." Sneed says.

~~~
The Doctor had pulled me out the room, "how are you feeling?" He asked worry wrapping his voice making me shake my head dismissively, "I'm fine" he looks at me for a moment placing his hand on the side of my head where a yellow glow radiates, "stop it" I Say in a stern almost parental tone, we then hear a voice almost whisper.

"Impossible."

We follow, to the Chapel of Rest and see Dickens takes the lid off Redpath's coffin, and waves his hand in front of the dead man's face. The Doctor and I watch from the doorway as Dickens searches the coffin.

"Checking for strings?" I ask catching him off guard.

"Wires, perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud." He reply's.

"Oh, come on, Charles. All right. I shouldn't have told you to shut up. I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas creatures." I Say.

"I cannot accept that."

"And what does the human body do when it decomposes? It breaks down and produces gas. Perfect home for these gas things. They can slip inside and use it as a vehicle, just like your driver and his coach." The Doctor says.

"Stop it. Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?" He says to the two of us.

"Not wrong. There's just more to learn." I smile.

"I've always railed against the fantasists. Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them, but that's exactly what they were, illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that. Injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack-o'-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Y/n? Has it all been for nothing?" He comments.

~~
The Doctor and I stand in the doorway of the pantry as rose and Gwyneth spoke.

"Mister Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, miss?" Gwyneth says.

"No, no servants where I'm from."

"And you've come such a long way." Gwyneth says getting closer to Rose.

"What makes you think so?"

"You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame. And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness, the big bad wolf. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss."

"It's all right."

"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it."

"But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?" I Say surprising the two.

"All the time, Miss. Every night, voices in my head."

"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key." The Doctor says.

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts." She says.

"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do." I Say.

"What to do where, Miss?" The Doctor and I look at one another before he spoke.

"We're going to have a seance" he says...