The Last Guardian Of Gallifrey

The Empty Child. Part 2

Italics is Gallifreyan
'Quotation marks are thoughts'
"Speech marks are talking"
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The Guardian's P.O.V
We turned to the sound of the young girl's voice. I stood up straighter to seem taller and more intimidating, not that it worked really.
"And how do you know that?" My voice was monotone and cold. The doctor glanced down at me, almost shocked at my sudden behavioural change.
"'Cos I do. And I'm telling you, don't answer it." She shot back at me. A small but noticeable smirk made its way to my face. I liked her sass, it amused me.
"Well, if you know so much, tell me this. How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not." The doctor started talking and faced the Tardis. I looked around and couldn't help but giggle.
"Doctor.. she's gone.. your talking to yourself."
"Oh" was his only reply causing a disappointed look to find it's way into his face. I have to look away and bite my lip to hide my ever growing smile as the Doctor answers the phone.
Once again I get distracted by the cat and pet it as the Doctor gets frustrated as confused by the voice on the phone. I swear I heard it say mummy.
My curiosity got the better of me and I walked over to the Doctor to listen in. He crouched down and out the phone between us so I could hear.
"Are you my mummy?"
"Who is this?" I asked
"Mummy?" The childish voice asked
"How did you ring here? This isn't a real phone. It's not wired up to anything."
"Mummy?"
Once the child spoke the dialling tone sounded the Doctor put the phone back and knocked on the Tardis door calling for Rose.
"Well" I began "that was certainly... something." I looked up to the Doctor with an amused look. He, however, did not have the same look. His face held a look of curiosity that was aimed at me.
"What?"
"What was that earlier, with the girl, you got all defensive. You have also been acting.. odd." He kneels down and holds my face in his hands, looks me dead in the eyes
"What's wrong?" As he said those words I froze. With a small sigh and a quick lick of my lips, I tried to think how to phrase my problem.
"You see.. uhh.. why is it so hard to explain" I avoided all eye contact and my hands were visibly shaking from my nervousness.
As I was stuttering I felt two warm hands cover my own. I relaxed slightly. The Doctor was holding my hands as he smiled warmly, he then ruffled my hair slightly and placed a comforting kiss on my forehead. "There is no need to worry. How about you explain everything once we get back to the Tardis after figuring out what's gone on here, hmm?"
I nodded and felt relieved now that I don't have to explain my self in the middle of an ally.
Suddenly, we both hear a noise and run out of the ally. As we run I effortlessly match the Doctor's pace and skilfully climb onto a dustbin with the Doctor as we hear a woman.
"The planes are coming. Can't you hear them? Into the shelter. None of your nonsense, now move it!" We look over the wall and see a middle-aged woman shepherding a young boy into an air raid shelter. At the same time a man, I guess to be her husband comes out of the house. "Middle of dinner, every night. Blooming Germans. Don't you eat?"
"I can hear the planes"
"Don't you eat?"
"Oh, keep your voice down, will you? It's an air raid! Get in. Look, there's a war on." I had to smirk at that 'haha get told.' Of course I didn't realise that the Doctor could hear that thought.
"I know there's a war on. Don't push me."
As the family enter the shelter, I nudge the Doctor as I see the girl from the ally enter the house through the garden and go to the kitchen. We nod to each other and some how enter and join the feast with other children without getting caught.
At the table, I don't listen to what they are saying and the only thing that catches my attention is when a kid called Ernie says the girl's name. Nancy.
It's brilliant what she's doing really. Feeding the kids who are sleeping rough in London, feeding them during air raids. Fantastic.
They are now handing round some meat, one slice each, and the Doctor takes the plate next and cheerfully says "Thanks miss."
This causes the children to panic.
"It's all right. Everybody stay where you are!" Nancy calms them.
" Good here, innit? Who's got the salt?" The Doctor's comment lightly snort with laughter, drawing attention to me and my presence at the table. A few children laughed at me, causing me to adopt a stupid grin at the sound of their laughter. I love making them laugh. I continue to make stupid faces as the Doctor and Nancy talk.
A young girl comes near my my chair and shyly looks up and holds her arms up. Immediately, I pick her up and wrap my arms around her securely to keep her balanced on my lap. She leans into my touch and relaxes and I can't help but smile. This reminds me of the children on Gallifrey and how they would all run to me as I walked down the street to meet the High Council. They always wanted me to play but I never could, so I would just start off a game and then get back to my duty.
I'm pulled from my thoughts as the Doctor says something that catches my attention
"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all, as long as the bombs don't get you."
"Something wrong with that?" Nancy fires back.
This time I interrupted " Wrong with it? It's brilliant!" This once again caused the attention to be back on me. The sight of me holding the little girl caused Nancy to smile softly and so did the Doctor, who had a knowing look on his face as if he understood as realised my natural instincts towards children. I want to protect. I want to guard.
"Why'd you follow me? What do you want?"
"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask."
"I did you a favour. I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling you."
"Great, thanks. And I want to find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one. I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that?" Nancy's only response was taking the Doctor's plate away.
Once again I space out and focus on the little girl I am holding and feed her the extra slice the Doctor took. The Doctor asks about the thing we were chasing in the Tardis but a knock at the Doctor seemed to make them all jump.
"Mummy? Are you in there,mummy?" A child? The girl in my arms turned round to hold onto me, putting her head in the crook of my neck. She was afraid.
I got up, still holding the girl, and walked to the window with the Doctor to see a little boy in a gas mask.
"Mummy?"
Nancy turned to everyone and asked " who was the last one in?"
Ernie, I believe, turned to us and just said "them"
"No, they came round the back. Who came in the front?"
Some boy owned up and it seems he didn't close the door. With this information Nancy runs to the front door and bolts it. Me and the Doctor follow and I speak up
"What's this, then? It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."
"I suppose you'd know"
"I do actually, yes." My voice was just above a whisper and my smile fell at the many memories of being left out of a real childhood.
Nancy's eyes softened and I could feel the Doctor's burning gaze, confused and concerned.
"It's not exactly a child."
"Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"
Once again we run to the dining room and Nancy looks panicked
"Right, everybody out. Across the back garden and under the fence. Now! Go! Move!"
As the children grab their coats and run out side, I help the young girl in my arms by putting on her coat and comforting her.
"Come on sweetheart you gotta go. It's just like a game. Just like chasing. You have your coat now go on. Go."
The gas masked child continues to call out and put a hand through the letter box.
"Are you alright?" The Doctor asks and he goes to touch his hand.
Suddenly something breaks behind us causing the hand to retract and Nancy to complain about not letting it touch you.
They continue to talk and apparently this child is "empty". It seems that this child can also make the phone ring and causes a toy monkey to start up, which is interesting and weird.
Nancy leaves and the hand comes back through the letter box, once again begging to be let in by mummy.
I notice there is a scar on the back of his hand and I begin to go through the possibilities of what he is.
'What we know is an object crashed in London. There is a boy with abilities and he is looking for his mummy, but seems to be following the same group of people, one person in the group that is seen as a parental figure... Nancy. A boy goes out on the air raids, with a gas mask, looking for his mummy and is somehow transformed whilst wanting to know who his mum is. The object has something to do with this.. but what?'  I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the Doctor unbolts the front door. When it opens the bit is nowhere in sight.
"Oh ok, he can also disappear or is just very good at hide and seek." I say trying to lighten the mood. The Doctor flashes me a quick smile and takes my hand, we follow after Nancy.
"So what were you thinking about then?"
"How did you know I was thinking about something?"
"You failed to notice how I called us both chickens."
"Oh really? Yeah I totally missed that. Anyway, I was just thinking about what we know so far.. I think the object we were chasing is linked to the boy and his abilities, he seemed human enough." The Doctor nodded at my logic.
"You are very good at this you know. Sure you haven't done this before?" I know he was joking but I did use to do a lot of problem solving and worked out battle strategies when I was still the Guardian back on Gallifrey.
"Yeah always been a fan of a good mystery. Come on Nancy is only up ahead."
Nancy seems to be putting away food from the house we were just in and stands up to see me and the Doctor smiling at her.
"How'd you follow me here?" I let the Doctor do the talking now.
"I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it."
"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to."
"My nose has special powers." I had to smirk at this.
"Yeah? That's why it's"
"What?"
"Nothing"
"What?"
"Nothing. Do your ears have special powers too?" I chuckle to myself. I knew that Nancy would be amusing.
"What are you trying to say?" You could tell that the Doctor was playing along now.
"Goodnight mister." I needed more information so I kind of ruined the good vibe here by talking
" Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right? The thing we're looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station."
"Can you take us there?"
"There's soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through."
"Try me." Me and the Doctor grin a little.
" You sure you want to know what's going on in there?"
"We really want to know." Me and the Doctor both said at the same time, we just looked at each other with an amused look at what we just did.
"There is someone you need to talk to first."
"And who might that be?" I was curious now.
"The Doctor." I leaned back a bit and had a slightly confused face. I turn to the Doctor and he seems to have the same expression.
As Nancy walks off we follow and mouth "the Doctor".

Umm hello. It's been a while. Don't be mad please.
I do have a good reason. I have recently been doing some of my year 11 mock exams and I'm not gonna lie but this year and most of next is going to be slow. When the new week begins I have more mocks and more again around the start of 2020, which then leads on to my real GCSEs. I am so thankful for all the support this book has gotten and I am happy that you all seem to enjoy the story so far and keep an eye out for more chapter updates.