Where Waves crash and Journeys end (Doctor Who/Broadchurch)

10

Alec found himself at the Traders', a warm blanket wrapped around his legs. On the nightstand next to his bed was a cup of tea, still hot and refreshing as he took a long sip. That wasn't the only thing surprising him - his pills had been refilled one by one. Altough he couldn't remember going to the doctor. How was that even possible?

Maybe the girl had...no. She didn't know more about him as he had told her, he hadn't mentioned his condition. He hadn't mentioned a single bit of it. But how then could he explain otherwise? In his world, there existed no such thing as magic or other odd things - his world, his life belonged to a normal police inspector trying to get his job done. A world far away from all strange things like creepy fobwatches or monsters he couldn't see. A normal world full of normal people doing normal jobs for living. His mind had played a weird trick on him. And nobody, really nobody could convince him otherwise. 

Why then it seemed to him he wasn't alone?

The lights in the room were dimmed which now started flickering on and off. Alec swallowed and buried his face under the blankets like a little boy being scared of the dark. Back in his childhood, he had done that often to hide from possible ghosts. Until his mother had come and said: "Alec, there is absolutely nothing to be scared of. We'll protect you!" And then, with his parents' death everything had just increased. He didn't know he still had this fear. 

The fear of sensing something scary. Out of the world he knew. 

It was already midnight, the moon casting its bright light in the room. In the distance, the waves could be heard crashing against the shore and back, nothing unusual. Everything was completely silent, waiting for the next day to arrive. 

The DI sighed in relief, it had been his mind again. There was nothing odd, no strange girls, no invisible monsters...no time to even think of that. He just needed some rest and tomorrow, he would tell Miller. He was pretty sure that she would ask him out for not showing up to work. But now, it wasn't his concern. 

So, Alec yawned and took another long sip from the tea before slowly drifting away in the Land of Dreams. Which - to his surprise - turned out to be just like normal human dreams. Boring. 

But still better than waking up drenched in sweat. 

You may won't believe it, but for the very first time, Alec Hardy was sleeping wonderful. 

Brilliant.

The next day started just like the others. Alec sat in his office, drinking his cold morning coffee and prayed to God his colleague since 24 hours wouldn't barge in. She could still blame him, there was time enough. But he couldn't tell her the truth. Not yet. 

Hearing someone knock at the door, the DI froze. But it was just Brian, handing out the results from the forensics on Dannys body. He shot an angry look at him, like he wanted to speak for Miller going "You left me alone with a corpse". Seconds later, he rushed out without even saying one word, shutting the door behind him. 

Alec rolled his eyes and put on his reading glasses, flipping through the first sheet. There were several cuts and bruises over the childs' pale skin as if the killer had enjoyed torturing him before taking his last breath. Around his neck was a dark mark like someone...or something... had strangled him very hard. The Detective began to sweat, ruffling his hair nervously. His vision started to blur, Alec gasped for breath.