As We Keep Running

Floor One

"Are you sure this is such a great idea?"

Though his back was towards me, I could imagine the Doctor smiling as he waved the sonic screwdriver above our heads and in front of us. "Of course not."

The stairs went for longer than I imagined. We finally hit a landing- and then, of course, began to go up again. The walls continued to have those strange names etched into them. They seemed endless. There must have been hundreds of thousands of names, and not a single answer.

"Here we are," the Doctor said. I had been so distracted by the names that I didn't notice the door before us.

He tried the handle- it was unlocked. The look of pure excitement on the Doctor's face was contagious. I couldn't help grinning myself.

Behind the door was, as expected, amazing- but not in the way I'd have wanted it to be. They were hills. Real hills, that seemed to go on forever. There was sun, there was grass, there were flowers. If I hadn't been feeling it, I would be in awe. But what I was feeling was impossible. I'd seen this before. I'd lived this before. And I knew what was coming next in this was not going to be good.

"Doctor," I said, "are you feeling what I'm feeling?"

"If you feel like this is all to comfy and safe, then yes."

Now that he mentioned it, the place did seem perfect. A little too perfect. "Well, that and... I've been here before, but I haven't."

He glanced at me before looking back at the plains before us. "Kind of like a forgotten dream that you're just remembering now."

"Except this isn't a dream."

"Except this isn't a dream..." he repeated.

We stood in the doorway together for some time, just looking, waiting for something to happen. Of course, nothing did. After a while, the Dotor turned to me. "You know we need to go in."

"Well, we don't need to..."

"Yes, we do. Now. Fast."

"Where's the fire?"

"Behind us."

I turned to look back at the stairwell, and saw a light green cloud coming up the stairs, towards us. I wasn't sure what it was- to be honest, I'm still not quite sure what it was. What I did know is that the Doctor and I needed to get away from it. Fast.

Without thinking, I stepped backwards onto the grassy field. The Doctor reached out to help me back to safety before quickly realizing that there was no safety and hopping(when I say hopping, I mean literally, hopping) to where I stood.

He shut the door behind him. "I didn't realize there was a time limit."

"You don't suppose... You don't suppose that was the sky, do you?" He looked confused, so I kept talking. "I mean, that color green. It was the same color as the sky, outside. I would know, I remember feeling like I'd never seen a color quite like it in my life."

The Doctor slapped his forehead. "The TARDIS!"

"We can't go back, Doctor."

He sighed, exasperated. "I do hope she finds her way to us somehow."

"Yes, well-" Before I could continue, a horrid screeching sound sliced through the air around us. I recognized it, and finally, the memories clicked. "DOCTOR!" I shouted, trying to speak over the noise- and failing. "THIS IS A DREAM I'VE HAD!"

I couldn't hear his response, but I saw his lips moving. He was trying to speak.

"DOCTOR! I'VE BEEN HERE IN A DREAM BEFORE! DOCTOR!"

Suddenly the screeching noise cut off. "I CAN'T READ LIPS!" The Doctor shouted before noticing the quiet. "What is it?"

Before I could get out the words, we were surrounded. Spider-like creatures formed a circle around us. Red eyes glared at us, and fangs were bared. They stoof tall around us, reaching ten or eleven feet, legs extended. While their legs looked slimy, the body was strangely hairy.

The Doctor and I stood back-to-back. "I've been here in a dream," I whispered. "This field."

One of the creatures lunged at him, and he kicked it off, nailing it between the eyes. "The question is..." He kicked another one off of him. "What happens next?"

The next few moments were a blur. We kicked our way out of the circle of creatures and began to run. The two of us found a woodsy area, and I began knocking on trees. The Doctor followed my example.

"Exactly what are we looking for?" He shouted, the creatures approaching at a fast rate.

"A way out. I remember!"

Finally, I tapped once, twice on a tree, and the trunk simply... Opened. Inside was a skinny tube, and though the chances of The Doctor and I both fitting in were slim, it was our only chance. He noticed my find and shoved me into the tube, quickly following.

The opening to the field shut off quickly, my last glance being two bright red eyes. Then it was just the Doctor and I, shoved into a cylinder about two feet in diameter. It was bright. I could see everything quite clearly. I knew that we were shaking, and I figured that this was the way up.

"So what now?" I asked. It wasn't even funny how close the Doctor was to me. If I'd wanted to, I could have kissed him there and then. That thought was almost running through my mind. Almost.

"I guess we just go ahead and stay here until we're shoved out or something." He smiled, raising his eyebrows. "Until then, I guess we should get cozy."