lostwolf | Evolution of the Wolf

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

Chapter 5. Houses are Evil

Rose wandered along the beach, relishing being alone. The ship had been beginning to feel claustrophobic; all that space, all those rooms, and yet she had felt the presence of the Doctor and Jack like an uncomfortable itch on her skin. She’d always been such a tactile person, but right now, even when numerous walls separated her from her travelling companions, her personal space felt invaded. She wanted to be alone. The only company she felt able to endure was the TARDIS’s, but she could not stay submerged in their link indefinitely, however comforting it might be.

Poor child, such pain, such grief.

Rose came to a stumbling halt, snapped out of her reverie by the sudden voice in her head. Something had penetrated her psychic shields. She hurriedly reinforced them, looking around her in panic.

‘I am sorry, I did not mean to startle you. Your pain, it was so loud, I could not ignore it. Forgive me?’ A tall, willowy, humanoid woman stepped from the shadow of a crystal rock formation into Rose’s line of sight.

Rose frowned. She shouldn’t have been broadcasting. Perhaps her skills hadn’t advanced as far as she had thought.

‘My name is Silva,’ the woman continued.

Rose studied her carefully. The colour of an English sky after rain, Silva’s skin gleamed, almost pearlescent. Jet black hair cascaded in soft waves round her face and down her shoulders and the hand held out towards Rose was elegant, the three fingers long and slim. She was quite beautiful. Her eyes, however, unnerved Rose a little; they were expressionless, huge and entirely black. Looking into them was like staring at a mirror – these were no windows to the soul, they reflected nothing of their owner, all one saw in them was oneself.

‘I’m Rose,’ Rose’s reply was courteous, but laced with caution.

‘Rose. A beautiful name, like its owner. Please, I find communicating like this hard,’ the woman ceased speaking, Do you mind if I communicate like this? My species find speech tiring.

Rose was surprised Silva could still communicate with her telepathically, given the barriers she’d erected. She felt no sense of threat, however. By nature friendly, Rose found her distrust and reticence fading away.

’Skay. I was surprised, that’s all.

Ah, you are a telepath. No wonder I felt your grief. Your pain is terrible, little one, how do you bear it?

Rose frowned, I don’t know what you mean. I’m not in pain.

Silva reached out, the tip of one finger tracing a path along Rose’s temple. Oh but you are. You have lost someone close to you and it is like a wound in your soul. If you would let me, I could help you. I could show you how to reach those that you have lost. I would like to help you, Rose.

Rose jerked away from the woman’s touch in alarm.

‘That’s very nice of you, but I’m fine, really. Look, I’ve gotta go. I’m meeting my friends and I don’t wanna be late. It was nice meeting you, yeah?’

Rose backed away and, turning on her heel, headed back towards the boardwalk. She could feel Silva’s eyes on her as she retreated and found it impossible not to focus on what the woman had said to her. Grief. Pain. Rose faltered. Mum. Maybe Silva was right, after all.    She had lost someone. She’d lost Jackie. She wondered if Silva really could help her contact her mother. Her heart pounded at the possibility. The Doctor had said there was no way, but, after all, he’d been wrong before, hadn’t her? Rose looked back over her shoulder. Silva was still standing where she had left her, looking after Rose.

Let me help you, Rose. Let me ease your pain.

Rose turned away again and continued to walk towards the boardwalk, though her pace had slowed.

I will be here, if you change your mind, little one. I will be right here.

*********************

After two hours of trudging round the shops, Jack and the Doctor sat opposite each other sipping Triosian nectar as they waited for Rose. The Doctor was trying hard not to fidget. He was failing.

‘She’ll be fine,’ Jack said firmly, for what felt like the hundredth time. ‘This place is safe as houses.’

The Doctor failed to look reassured. ‘This is Rose we’re talking about. And what’s that mean, anyway? Safe as houses? Houses are among the least safe things in the universe. They fall down, burn down, are full of sharp things, things that can electrocute you … they’re nasty little death traps. Just because you get all attached and have warm fuzzy feelings about them doesn’t make them any less deadly. I could put a pink bow on a moothlot and call it Bob, it wouldn’t stop it ingesting my eyeballs as an hors d'oeuvre and then sucking up my intestines like spaghetti… if she’s not here in five minutes I’m going to look for her’.

‘What’s a moothlot?’

‘Rose!’ The Doctor sprang to his feet in surprise as Rose flopped into the chair next to Jack. He sat down hurriedly as he realised he looked a bit of an idiot. ‘Where’d you spring from?’ He said nonchalantly. Excellent save, he thought.   She’ll never guess I was … what was the earth phrase? Wigging out? Yep, that was it. Not that he had been, of course. And even if he had been, which he hadn’t, she certainly wouldn’t have noticed after that masterful diversionary tactic.

‘Got ’ere a few minutes ago. Caught most of your houses are evil riff’.

Bugger, thought the Doctor. Think, think. ‘It’s a bit like a cross between an anteater and a bear,’ he said calmly.

‘Eh?’

‘A moothlot. You asked, I’m telling.’

‘Oh, right.’

Jack interrupted the uncomfortable silence that followed by thrusting a menu at each of them and signalling for a waiter. As they perused their menus, Jack found himself wishing the Doctor had taken them to the second planet in the Thoraxas system; at least there he would have had the comfort of extreme drunkenness while dealing whatever the hell was going on between Rose and the Doctor. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough he could get plastered on sugar, like the Time Lord. Ever the optimist, he reached for his nectar.

Chapter 6