Doctor Who: New Series Adventures [044] - Dead Of Winter by James Goss

Author:James Goss
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Media Tie-In, Action & Adventure, Fiction
ISBN: 9781849902380
Publisher: BBC Books
Published: 2011-04-28T07:00:00+00:00

9. Cos they're all so important

10. And Rory has to come last.

I can already see the Doctor opening his mouth to

explain.

'Oh, skip the lecture,' I growled and, before he had a

chance, I ran off down to the beach. I was going to rescue

Rory.

A Letter from Maria

St Christophe

7th December 1783

Dear Mother,

I got scared. For a while I was on my own in the clinic.

And it was all quiet. I went back to my room and wrote

letters and read a book. I kept out of trouble.

I looked down at the beach, but I could not see anything

- just a lot of mist.

Eventually I left a letter for you in the post tray.

I heard footsteps behind me.

It was the Elquitine sisters. Standing there. Blocking

me off. There was something NOT RIGHT about them.

They were not smiling, just standing there, blankly.

I talked to them, but they did not answer.

Their heads swung from side to side, like the puppies

when they're looking for something to hunt. Yes, that's it,

The sisters were hunting.

Mother, I was frightened.

But I did not want to go outside. And I did not want to

go towards them. I had to, but I did not want to.

I edged closer and closer, pressed up against the wall.

Their heads swung towards me, following my every

footstep. They smiled, a cruel empty smile.

I edged past them and away. I did not look back. I

knew they were watching me.

But THEY DIDN'T WANT ME. So that meant that I

could run and run and run and I would be fine.

Wherever I went, there were other patients. In the

corridors. Searching. Steadily searching. Moving ever so

slowly forward. Like hungry ghosts.

I decided to rush upstairs to my room.

One step. Two steps. I crept up the stairs, feeling the

wood creak beneath my feet. I tried to keep calm, to be

brave. No worse than sleeping through a thunderstorm.

No worse.

I reached the first landing and turned, and my legs

turned to liquid.

Standing at the top of the stairs was another patient,

the sad Austrian who couldn't play chess, his mouth set

in a toothless leer. Ever so quiet. Waiting.

I threw open the door to the cupboard under the stairs

and hid in there, quivering.

Suddenly.

Horribly.

I realised I was not alone in there. I could hear

breathing.

Then a terrible green glow lit up the cupboard under

the stairs. I was about to scream, and then something

stifled me. Oh it was HORRID!

Mother, they were the worst moments, truly. But don't

worry - see, I am writing this letter to you, so I must be

fine. The Doctor made it all right in the end.

Then a voice said, 'Shhhh.'

It was the Doctor. He was looking at me. The green

glow was the light from his sonic screwdriver. He looked

awkward.

'Hello,' he whispered.

'Hello, monsieur,' I whispered back.

'Sorry about that,' he said. 'I was hiding.'

'Me too.'

'I know.'

'Are there, by any chance, an awful lot of patients

roaming the corridors behaving most creepily?' he

asked.

'Yes.' I nodded solemnly.

'Oh well,' he said. 'All my fault. Something has got into

them. They're trying to find me. I gave them a tiny little

bit of my brain. Not much. A few memories, a colour I

never really cared for.

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