Child of Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Afraid of the Dark

Time: Over One-thousand Five-Hundred Years Ago 

Location: Gallifrey 

A young boy (well, he looked young, by our standards, but in 'human' years he was far older) sat still and upright in bed, listening. With trembling hands, he pulled back the sheets and lowered his head over the side, looking underneath and breathing a relieved sigh when there was nothing, and no one, there. The barn he slept in, shrouded in both moonlight and shadow, was quiet, and he lay back again, still listening intently. 

        Every creak and squeak caused his blood to run cold. He wondered desperately if fear of the dark was something that goes away, or if you have it all your life. That wouldn't do. As it was, the other boys laughed at him. Imagine going to the Academy and crying every time the floor groans in the dead of night! 

        The door the barn squealed open on its hinges, and his breath caught in his throat. 

        "Who's there?" he said hoarsley, beginning to tremble again. He pulled the quilt up to his throat. 

        "It's only me." 

        "What do you want? Who's me?" said the boy accusingly. 

        "Grandfather Paradox! Who did you think it was?" the other boy retorted, stopping at the entrance to the loft bedroom. "Koschei." 

        The boy in bed dragged a sleeve across his face and sat up. "Oh. I'm sorry. It's your da's barn and all--" 

        "Sorry for what?" shrugged Koschei. "It's not my barn. You can sleep in it whenever you want. You don't have to, though," he added, almost haughtilly, with the air of someone who's making an effort not to sound concerned. Then, "Why don't you come inside and sleep in the dormitory, like us?" 

        "They laugh at me," the other sniffed. "The boys."  

        "For being afraid of the dark? They're stupid, Thete," Koschei sat on the bed next to him. "They'll poke fun at anyone given the chance. They do to me." 

        "They make fun of you, too?" Theta Sigma, or Thete, as his few friends called him, blinked in surprise, perking up. 

        Koschei looked down. "Yes. But you don't have to be afraid of the dark," he added, "If you think about it. If we didn't have night, we couldn't see the stars." 

        The young Doctor looked out of the skylight at the sparkling sky, and felt a bit better. "You don't laugh at me." 

        "Don't be stupid. That's because I know how it feels." 

         Thete looked at his hands, reluctant to sound silly. "But...I think that something lives under my bed..." 

        Koschei started to scoff at such a childish superstition, and then paused, swinging his legs off of the bed and rolling underneath. "There's only one monster under here!" he said, his voice muffled, and Thete bent forward, concerned. His friend's head appeared over the side, grinning devilishly. "Me!" 

        Thete recoiled, and then pulled a face. "But it's true! Something grabbed my foot once. Spoke to me." 

        "It was probably one of the boys, playing a joke on you," Koschei returned to where he had sat. "Anyway, the worst monsters aren't the sort that live under your bed." 

        Thete hugged his knees, and they were both quiet for a few moments. "I suppose," he said finally, and paused. "What do they make fun of you for?"