I stood over the TARDIS' controls. It had been a while since I went and told someone about my self of my own free will, "A near daunting task." Now she's inside my head. She know why I do things, maybe? Can she understand, that's all I've looked for, since the time war. I've met many, fallen in love. But, even then. They didn't understand. None of them could. The closest would have been Donna, and she nearly died over the understanding. I've had so many companions, and with them I've been so alone. All I do is drift about, in and out of peoples lives. In and out of planets.
I slapped my forehead, "I told her so much about me, and didn't ask one bloody thing about her... Now that's just a bit lopsided." I started throwing switches and turning levers. Then the sound. My calling card. That wonderful, beautiful sound. Jordan came out of her room and walked into the control room, "Doctor? Where are we going?" I smiled, soft, happy, "We're going somewhere pretty to talk." The dun, of landing sounded. "Well, off we go then." She smiled and hopped out of the TARDIS, right on to bad wolf bay. Jordan looked around, "Where are we?" I stayed silent for a bit, "I guess this'd be the equivalent of me favourite restaurant. Bring all the best girls here." I laughed a bit, "That a stupid thing to say?"
Jordan raised an eyebrow, "Do you always travel with girls?" I laughed, "Well, men aren't much fun to look at after a while. Plus, a guy won't stop when I need it, not unless they have a woman involved in it. That one girl I told you about, Amy, she brought her Fiance along. Good bloke. Nice guy, only man who ever kept me in check. I liked Rory. Rose had her boyfriend on for a bit, but, he only became useful once they weren't a thing." Jordan had her hands behind her back and she looked out towards the sea, "And Rose is someone important to you, like a girlfriend or something." I threw a rock into the water, "She used to be. She were important to a me. Not so much now. Lifetimes ago. What about you, got a bloke?" Jordan shook her head. "No. I don't. If I did, don't think he'd appreciate me going off with some strange guy. Nor do I think I'd bring him along."
I smiled behind her. "Ah well, then. What about your parents, your life." We sat down and she began to tell me about her past, her parents, her moving around a little bit between a couple towns. Docile. It were nice hearin' about it. I just sat and listened. She just talked. Listening to her made me feel simultaneously old and young. "It's been so long since I've slowed down Jordan." I looked up at the clouds, lost in their fluffyness. "You do that a lot you know?" I snapped out of my reverie. "Do what?" She pointed up, "you get lost in the clouds. You'll say something, and boom. Not here. Where do you go Doctor?"
I smiled, "I don't go anywhere, I'm so wonderfully here. I spent my last life locked up in the TARDIS. I didn't go out for anything. Who knows what happened or didn't happen. I spent all that time just alone. Till I died a very silly death. I was standing near that railing and the TARDIS, kinda, jerked. I fell over the railing and split me head open. Had to be the dumbest thing yet. I mean, 'least I didn't trip over a brick." Jordan chuckled. I took a deep breath. Oh! I, "have a couple of things to. Auck. I'm doing it again. I've got a couple things for you. Here." I held out both my hands and she put hers under mine. I opened em, out of one fell out a key to the TARDIS out of the other a telephone. "Welcome aboard Jordan. Pleasure to have you." I put my arm over her and led her back into the TARDIS and with a skip I was up on the control panels spinning nobs.
"Well, Jordan. Wanna call your parents? That phone can call anyone in the universe if you've got the number." I winked. "I'll leave you to that. I'm going to fly us somewhere. Somewhere, new to you." She took the phone and hesitated for awhile, staring at it, I figured she was deciding on who to call. She gradually typed in a number and held the phone up to her ear. “Hey dad.” She said. “Are you busy? Okay. Well I won’t make it long. Just letting you know I probably won’t be home tonight. I’m on an intergalactic mission, that okay? Glad you think so. Alright, well I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
Jordan hung up the phone and pocketed it. "How're they? Must be kinda hard to explain the sudden disappearance. Oh well. Soon, relatively, I'll take you back and introduce myself and, like, explain some things." I had the feeling, just like all my last companions, at some point I would need Jordan and I was sure at some point, she'd want to leave. Man, I'm a depressing inner monologuer. Oh well. I threw a final switch and the TARDIS landed. "Here we are then!" Jordan narrowed her eyes, "Where's here?"
"Well, you may not be terribly enthused about this, but, while you were off on the phone with your mum or Dad, I received a distress signal a sort of S.O.S. We're on a planet called Coblist, it's a strange planet, planet of forgotten... Dreams? I don't know I'm a little hazy. Oh well, off we go then Jordan. On and out into the murky where ever." We stepped out of the TARDIS into a very dark room. "Doctor? I can't see a thing..." I fumbled around in my pockets. "Ah! Here we are." I handed her a torch and she flicked it on. The light didn't help much. "This hallway is... Painted black. Blimey. What is even the point of that, most depressing hallway ever. Hands down, and normal hallways are no cake walk. But, this, oooh, this takes the... Pie." Jordan let out a small laugh despite herself. I pulled out my sonic, "Okay so the distress signal is coming froooom, over there." I pointed down the hallway, "Well, that's convenient."
We slowly made our way down the hallway. "Think think. Ah, blast it think." Jordan shown the light on me to reveal that I was running my hands frantically through my hair. "Yes? Any one reason we're shining a light in my face, love?" I couldn't see her facial reaction, I had a bloody light in my eyes. "What are you trying to think of?" I raised my right hand shielding my eyes from her torchlight. "I'm trying to think about this planet. I recognise the name, but, I've completely forgotten what it is... exactly." Jordan turned the light off me and it grazed a small white box. "Wait, wait, wait, wait wait wait, Jordan turn your light to the right, very slowly."
She did as I said, it revealed the little white power box. I grinned, "Well, how bout we say onsies to the lights and be done with all this gloomy blackness." I pointed at the box with my sonic. With the little screech the lights came on, this hallway was actually made up of light panels, sterile white light. A few of the lights didn't work. "Oh no. Oh no, oh no. This... This does not look good at all." What Jordan did next was evidence that she had always been a bit like me or she was turning into something like me. She smiled, "What is it?" I smiled too, this would prove to be thrilling. "This is a chula Med ship. That means nothing to you, but, oh, ohh does it mean something to me. Look out for Gas-masks, love." Then I whispered to myself, "Are you my mummy?" I saw a shiver run down Jordan's spine.
"Off we go then, come on!" This was a crashed Chula med-ship, and I knew exactly what this planet was. I was the worst thing to ever step foot on this planet. This was the planet of nightmares manifest. As we run down the hall I soniced open a side door, we ran out. Fields of red as far as the eye could see, Gallifrey. "Doctor? What's going on? This looks completely different than when we were looking down on it." Out of the corner of my eye I saw something that I wish I hadn't, there were a tall forest, each of the trees had multiple shadows. "Oooo, it is all coming together now isn't it. We're going to go around that forest. Quickly." I grabbed her hand and we set off in a dead lock sprint. When we got to the forest edge it had shifted. The forest now seemed to stretch miles to either side of us. We were no longer on Gallifrey either, The sun was going down and the grass was green.
"Jordan... Flip your light on." She produced the torch and flipped it on. "Doctor." I interrupted her with a hand. "Shhh, don't make a sound and follow behind me completely. There is no room for error. I didn't want to look back. I didn't want to look back and not see the TARDIS. We slowly walked through the forest, I shined the light everywhere. Surveying every inch. "Doctor," Jordan whispered, "What's in this forest?" I didn't look at her when I talked, "Vashta Nerada. Ever looked around on a sunny day and seen what you thought was dust floating around? Those are singular Vashta Nerada. Made docile by the sun. But, here in the forest where they're born we have no such luck. They can strip you to bone in seconds. Brutal nasty little beasts." Almost as if to prove my point a deer walked out of the shadows to our left and shuddered. With in seconds it was a pile of bones, I pulled Jordan quickly behind me. "We need to run. Now!"
We took off, a sickening gnashing sound on our heels. Getting closer and closer. Just as it seemed it were about to catch our shadows and consume us. We broke out of the forest. "Doctor, where the hell are we?" I sighed, "We're definitely not on the planet of forgotten dreams, this is the planet of nightmares manifest, and I am probably the best thing that's ever happened to it. The planet itself feeds off of the worst nightmares of a group and simulates them on the surface of a planet. I don't know if the Vashta Nerada back there could have actually hurt us, but I wasn't willing to take that chance. I'm worried about something else entirely showing up... These are just images here. So none of these will really have any lasting affect. But, there is one beasty in my nightmares if an image is taken of it, that image itself becomes one."
Jordan was looking over my shoulder when she spoke, "I'm really hoping this creature you're talking about isn't made of stone." I rolled my eyes, "Well, technically they aren't made of stone. No one really knows what they look like, because when you look at one they cease to exist, they are just a statue. But, the moment you turn... oohh... I get it. Jordan, do not blink and do not look into its eyes. Just look at a shoulder or in the general direction of it. Wait, how many are there?" Jordan held up two fingers, and then three. I shuddered. They were multiplying.
The light slowly dimmed. A light Drizzle falling down. "Jordan... There's three behind you too. It's getting dark..." Jordan stepped a little closer, "Doctor, if it gets dark. We're done." She shined the torch on the Angels having to go between them, the light not being wide enough to cover them all. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a bigger light. Two of them. "Here." Jordan dropped the now ineffective torch and flicked the other one on. They were closer now. It was pitch black out now, the rain was picking up and a wind had begun to howl. "Jordan, when I say so, we're going to run to the right. We're going to run as fast as we can as far as we can." Jordan nodded. The rain had started to get in my eyes, making it very difficult to see. I could feel mud under my shoes.
"Run." We did. Lightning started to crackle in the air. Jordan and I kept looking over our shoulders, we would hear the sound of stone, and the sloshing of mud beneath many quick feet. We'd look back and their claws would be out. Eyes screaming at fangs bared. I could feel both my hearts beating at a crazy pace. But, I were still smiling, looking over Jordan seemed to be too, same frantic look, we were being chased by Weeping Angel's and neither of us had the proper decency to be fully frightened. Yet. When I glanced at Jordan I forgot to look over my shoulder, and I felt something heavy connect with my shoulder. An Angel had tried to grab me, the grab turning into a hit. I hit the ground, sliding in the mud and smashing my shoulder. My light broke under me. I heard the hiss of the Angels. Luckily for me, Jordan reacted quicker than the angels. She had her light on them before they could reach down and snap my neck.
She were no longer smiling, mine had disappeared as well, all I could think about were the bloody pain in my shoulder. Jordan's hair was pinned to her face, she had to brush it about. The rain was getting in the way of our sight. I looked at what I had bashed my shoulder against and I knew exactly which nightmare we were in. "Jordan, we need," I were interrupted by the flickering of Jordan's light, "No... Run, run and run fast." I scrambled my feet and Jordan grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind her for once. I'd have laughed if I weren't terrified. As she dragged me I kept my head turned, Jordan's light shining back. They were a fair distance behind us. I sighed relief and broke my own rule. I blinked. When I opened my eyes they were right there.
I stopped Jordan and spun her around. "Jordan, something is off." She frantically stared at the Angels. "What, is it, Doctor?" I tapped the Angels with my Sonic Screwdriver. It whirred. The distress signal is coming from," I walked about in circles briefly, "Here." I stood in between all six Angels. I motioned to Jordan to come too, "But, then I can't watch them." Lightning flashed. "Well, Jordan, someone needs to knock me out." I nearly laughed. "That does sound strange. But, here. If I go unconscious, then hopefully my nightmare will cease to be a thing. Then, hopefully. The guy here sending out the signal will have a slightly more tortured mind then yourself and we can group up." I was starting to yell, the wind had quickened and was nearly howling. I didn't want to look at the graves. I knew what would be written on them. I had this nightmare more often than any other.
"Jordan I need you to hit me right here," I pointed to a spot in the lower middle back of my head, "and I need you to do it now." Jordan looked to each of the angels and ran forward. I felt the light smash over the back of my head and it all went black. Last thing I heard was Jordan scream.
To be continued in Night four...
