Winter Rose, Book 1

The Story Begins

It was all over the news. The explosion of a shop in central London. And it just so happened to be the shop of the best friend of the young woman sitting rigidly on the couch in front of the TV.  Every other second she was glancing down at her flip phone, praying her friend would respond to her frantic texts. The woman's hair was still up in it's normal but odd teazed style. She'd only just changed into her night clothes when Jackie, the flat owner, had begun to freak out.

The door flew open, drawing the attention of the two women in the flat, and in stepped a winded looking Rose Tyler. Jackie was immediately all over her daughter. The odd haired woman stood by, waiting for Jackie to calm down before she could hug the living daylights out of her friend. Rose attempted to reassure her mother, saying she'd been outside when the shop went up. It was a few minutes before Jackie finally let go. Rose immediately saw her best friend waiting patiently and stepped over to the young woman.

"Come on Win, please don't try breaking my back this time." Rose jokes, making her worried friend smirk.

"Nope!" Win exclaimed, latching onto her friend before Rose could run. The blonde gasped as Win squeezed her as tightly as possible.

"This is what you get for not responding to my texts!" Win declared. Rose couldn't help but smile at her eccentric friend. Win was always an odd ball and full of quirks from the way she acted, to the way she dressed. Not that it really mattered to Rose, she found Win's company fun and enjoyable. Win finally let Rose go and stepped back, letting her breath once again. Jackie had gone right back to the phone and now was talking to any and all of her friends.

"I'm really sorry about not responding, Win. I was just in shock about what had happened." Rose tried to explain. Win sighed and nodded.

"Okay, I forgive you. But on the subject of what happened..." Win trailed off lifting her dark eyebrow into a high arch. Rose had always wondered the reason for her friends silvery white hair. It wasn't dyed, but her eyebrows were dark in contrast.

"Rose?" Win waved her hand in front of her friends face when she spaced out. Rose shook her head and pulled Win over to the couch and sat down.

"I'm not sure where to begin but, well..." Rose trailed off biting her lip. The man had told her not to tell anyone what had happened, but then he'd told her he was 'The Doctor.' Rose knew about Win's childhood struggles concerning what everyone had claimed was just an imaginary friend. An imaginary friend who'd also called himself The Doctor.

"Weeeell?" Win pressed, drawing out the word. Rose sighed again, deciding to just start from the beginning.

"I was supposed to take the lottery money down to Wilson, but he wasn't there. I heard something in the storage room down the hall and went to look. Next thing I know the mannequins are moving and they've cornered me!" Rose launches into the story using a hushed voice so her mother wouldn't overhear them.

"I thought I was gonna die but then there's this man who just grabs my hand, tells me to run, and then starts dragging me off behind 'im. We get to the elevator but one of those mannequins gets its arm in the door. So the guy just goes and pulls it off!" Rose lifted the plastic arm Win hadn't noticed until then to prove her point.

"When we get out I demand that he tells me what's going on. So he goes into this explanation about living plastic or whatever and waves a bomb in my face! Then he just shoved me out the door and told me not to tell anyone or I'll get them killed."

"And yet, you're telling me."

"Well, I wasn't, but then he told me his name, or what he's called or whatever, and I knew I had to tell you." Rose sighed and Win frowned in confusion. What was so important about this guy's name that Rose would tell her even after being told not to tell anyone or she'd get them killed?