The Thirteenth Doctor: The Halfway House by Tom Beech

*Tom Beech is back for the incredible second story of his new saga for the Thirteenth Doctor! This is a great one! Enjoy!*

PROLOGUE

The Doctor, Yaz, Graham, and Ryan were currently present in the TARDIS console room. A perfectly fine hum echoed in the TARDIS, underscoring a friendly environment between friends. Ryan and Graham were idling in the corner of the vast space, leaning against an orange crystalline pillar. Meanwhile at the centre console, it seemed that Yaz and the Doctor were mid-conversation. “You were gone for weeks! You said, ‘back in a day’. Then when you came back you were ragged, and you said you lost someone.” Yaz inquisitively asks under a veil of banter. Yet the Doctor remains distracted by the console’s various flashing lights and ominous beeping. Her hands moving instinctively around like a blind professional chef. “Yaz, I’m a busy person! I’ve people to see things to do etcetera etcetera! If I remember rightly, you guys wanted a bit of a break in Sheffield. I gave you that and used the time to meet an old friend before he died. That’s all.”

“Are we gonna meet them?” Yaz asked optimistically. The Doctor squirms around the console, leaning to reach for a switch… “Well... awkward thing with time travel is that you might have met them already! Or they haven’t met you when you’ve certainly met them! Or even worse, we might not have met at all! Me being me... I’ve had loads of awkward moments like that.” The Doctor chuckles to herself while Yaz leans in against the console, “Y’know Doctor... There’s so much we don’t know about you.” The Doctor brushes off the statement as a slow blinking light distracts her on the console... Her eyes widen as she swiftly turns to hold Yaz close, yelling to Graham and Ryan, “Brace for impact!”

CHAPTER ONE

Having taken their positions... The gang ready themselves. Yet without a single bang or rumble... The TARDIS instead ceased... It’s groaning slows to a gasping crawl, the sound of a dying animal clinging to an ideal of safety. The gang look in awe as the warm orange glow dims and shifts to a shade of red... Battlestations. The Doctor without a word uttered leaps to the controls. She awkwardly flips switches desperately to restart the TARDIS. Almost like someone desperate to get a phone charger to work. Constantly unplugging and re-plugging. Soon, even the bright disastrous red begins to dim, overtaken by a cold, dead shade of black. It slinks its way across the walls and crystalline pillars... Plunging the TARDIS in a shroud of fear, encasing Yaz, Ryan, and Graham in the void. Only the white of their concerned eyes pierce through... Finally, a voice breaks through the darkness, “Doc? What’s happenin’?” Graham speaks through shuddering teeth. His breath is a visible, frozen mist... The warmth of the TARDIS has been extinguished. The Doctor continues vainly, rubbing her numbing hands together for some sense of warmth. “Don’t panic! We’ve hit a...” She looks around her trying to fixate on something, “A cold spot, in the universe... It’ll be alright! It’s like defrosting a windshield in winter... With no ice-defroster.” Graham chuckles at the joke but then stops suddenly... “Why can’t I see anything? I can’t even feel me feet on the floor...”

“Yeah, neither can we...” Both Ryan and Yaz speak in an odd unison. “Look, it’ll be fine I’ve told ya. The cold spot has just frozen the systems. So, no lights an’ no central heating! Just hold on to each other for a moment I’m gonna try and pilot us to a star or something, Y’know using natural resources! It’ll toast us up nicely...”

She continues to flip switches while behind her, the white of her friends’ eyes have gone... “You’ll burn us.” Her ‘gang’ say in unison. The Doctor stops her movements, sighing fearfully while she turns slowly. She’s met with a void of darkness. The kind of darkness that as a child if you were to stare into, it would stare back deeper... “Whatever you are... Whoever you are. You’ve made the biggest mistake of your existence.” The Doctor’s confident voice rings out into the void endlessly. “You have one chance, coz’ I’m nice. Bring back my friends.” Finally, the faint ringing of the cloisters echoes out. Seemingly purging the dark from the room. It shifts and snakes towards the main ramp of the console room.

Eventually moulding and shifting into a central figure standing before the Doctor. “That’s better! Ya see, I wasn’t just flipping switches. My TARDIS has a living, breathing firewall. You were gonna get pushed out eventually. An’ sure, ya squeezed in but that’s all you could do. Just play around with me lights an’ give us a little scare.” The ‘figure’ twists it’s head curiously. If the Doctor didn’t know any better, its mouth seemed to twist into a smile before sinking into the floor below her. leaving an empty console room. With her friends absent, the Doctor stands frozen, her eyes widened as the TARDIS groans to life and limply makes a landing.

In the still, lifeless landscape an engine roared, and the desolate foliage twitched for the first time in centuries as a wind blew through them. Soon, the visage of a blue police box fades in and out of view, cutting through the stale landscape portrait. It finally stabilises with its roof lamp dimming and the windows staying a calm hue of yellow. From within the inner sanctum of the police box, the Doctor bursts out, her eyes are rabid with determination as she immediately dives to the ground to inspect the foliage.

Her eyes focus intently on the limp stands of grass, they widen as the thin strands crumble in her delicate fingertips. “Wherever we are ol’ girl, it’s very much against living life.” She stands, placing her hands on her hips looking towards her ghost monument. Placing a palm on the front door the Doctor sighs, “We’ll find em’... Graham, Ryan, Yaz. Whatever took em’. It wanted us to come here.” She leans her head against the door, “Oh but Doctor! It’s clearly a trap! There’s certain death on this planet!” She says mockingly with a wide grin while pushing back from the door and spinning on a heel.

Her face soon drops as her eyes lay upon a ghastly sight. It stood atop a hill, proud in the fog ridden distance. A structure of infinite age and impossible architecture. It’s imposing silhouette fills the Doctor’s eyes, after a moment the Doctor claps her hands together and begins to stride towards the hillside. “I love a spooky building! Best part of my workday. If there’s any answers, they’ll be in there.” She treks her way as gracefully as a bear with boots too big for its feet along the dried, yellowing grassland. Stopping momentarily to stare behind her. She’s sure that she’s being followed as she plods on, almost losing a boot in the loose soil...

CHAPTER TWO

The interior of the strange structure is as desolate as the world outside. The walls are cracked with years of neglect, the floor is splintered with mossy floorboards. Yet standing at the far end of one of the many rooms, is a group of vacant figures. They stare through a cracked window. Looking towards the vast, foggy landscape. Their eyes lack any signs of life as they continue to stare unblinkingly. Their heads twist curiously in unison as they spot an approaching female intruder in a light grey coat. The intruder seems to struggle against the ground as it continues to walk towards them.

In what seems like a hundred rooms away. A crude ritual of creature and machine is taking place. Rows of figures surround a seated pair of three beings. The figures look almost exactly like the singular entity that invaded the TARDIS. Their bodies are composed of a pure black substance. It shifts and moulds on them, running like a sickly river. Pressed against their foreheads are rusted apparatuses of some kind.

They pulsate with a strange energy, shocking the three beings. Their wails of pain seem to be celebrated by the surrounding beings. In desperation, the ‘sacrifices’ join hands as their faces contort and twist. Over time, they seem to be changing, transforming into humanlike features. They grow noses, mouths, ears, and their eyes suddenly burst wide open with a pure, brilliant white. With their mouths they utter their first word in unison... “DOCTOR!” Soon after, the beings that surround them chant, “Doctor!” “Doctor!” “Doctor!” The forced repetition seems like an all-important recital. The three figures look in a daze at the pulsing, chanting circle around them and with their new faces. They express fear...

The Doctor continues to struggle through the marshland. Her boots sink deeper and deeper into the soil. The higher she hikes, the more loose the soil becomes as she scrambles upwards. After clinging on to a rugged rock surface she feels a strange tugging as a rough material wraps around her leg...

CHAPTER THREE

After the crude ritual, the newly expressional beings are escorted down the grime-filled hallways. Their footsteps make no sound as they impact the flooring. Each being is pushed through a rusted door. They stand motionless, blankly starring at their dingy environments. They make no reaction when the cell door is slammed behind them.

The Doctor is currently in a struggle against the decayed foliage that has wrapped itself around her. She claws at it with her fingernails, ripping and tearing at the brittle stems and vines. She bemoans to an invisible crowd, “You lot make Krynoids look tough!” She continues to grunt as she chomps her teeth into a loose vine. After the toothy assault the vines recoil and slink into the ground. She lays back against the soft soil, heavily breathing while she digs her hand into the soil and inspects it with a critical eye.

“It’s from Earth. Definitely, corrupted for sure.” She sits up and claws against the soil and stands. She looks aghast as the structure is now only a couple of steps away. “Hmm, why go to a building when the building can come to you? I Love it!” She makes a steady jog but stumbles from her aching legs. She decides to slow herself down as she reaches a cracked set of wooden doors. They creak at even the slightest touch of her hands.

The figures at the window would express concern if they could. The intruder in the hills is now at their very doorstep... Preparations had been made for this kind of thing, but it has been such a long, long time since they were enacted. The figures finely turn in unison, seeming to follow a creature that has grown a bushy moustache and thick-rimmed glasses. This being assumes the identity of Dr. Abrams.

A female doctor beside Abrams assumes the personality of a Dr. Hazel. Each being takes their place as they are suddenly greeted at the door by thunderous knocking. In actuality, it was a light rapping at the cracked wooden door but because of the beings’ new sense of hearing, it was deafening. In order to cease the banging, Dr. Abrams bellows in a voice as rough as a torn violin string, “Please! You may enter...” Dr. Abrams clears his throat forcefully, making sure to wipe away the excess black substance leaking from his mouth. In mere moments, the cracked wooden door opens and very soon Dr. Abrams is to meet another ‘Doctor’...

CHAPTER FOUR

Yet, despite the commotion on the other side of the door… The Doctor enters to find the building is empty. She is unable to see the voided creatures… “Hello!” The exhausted form of the Doctor fumbles in. Her boots clack on the marbled flooring. After gently closing the door, she takes note of her surroundings. Modern, yet gothic inspired. The walls are flaky with dried, cracked plaster. She places a delicate hand upon a blackened section of wall only to recoil it soon after. It left a cold, stinging sensation on her palm. She grimaces while holding her hands against her head, aiming to quell a sudden headache.

She stumbles on the cracked marble floors as a thunderous, rhythmic banging floods her head. The Doctor’s eyes twitch under her closed eyelids as she breaths... gaining focus again... The headache subsides. Upon lifting her hands from her head, she curiously inspects the blackened residue on her palm. It looks fused to the delicate skin, creating a thin layer of ‘skin’... Cautiously, she lifts the black layer with a coarse fingernail. As it slowly rises her eyes widen in absolute shock as the layer clings desperately to her palm. With a quick yank, the layer is peeled off...

The Doctor makes a closer inspection only for the strange, black mass to suddenly writhe and break from her grip. As it splats on the floor, she takes a few timid steps as the substance slithers to a wall and plants itself. “The whole building is ‘crawling with em’.” The Doctor contemplates as she cautiously proceeds down a ragged corridor. While mostly barren, the walls feature the same visage of the black, slippery substance. She takes care to notice odd markings, drawings in fact. They’re crude in nature in that they are abstract expressions yet told through stick figurines... She smirks at the human expression of imagination. Eventually getting too engrossed in the impromptu gallery as her boots dig into a cracked pothole of marble, tripping her into the nearby wall with a thud. She winces while placing her bare hands on the wall for stability. Upon lifting herself she becomes eye-level with faded lettering embossed into a rusted, neglected brass plaque.

She takes a step back with a curious smile as she breathes onto the plaque to mist it up, therefore allowing her to rub away at it with her coat sleeve. Through vigorous swipes the majority of the plaque becomes clear: THE HALFWAY HOUSE- HOME FOR TROUBLED YOUTH- ESTABLISHED 1954- DEDICATED TO SIR... Disappointingly, the lettering becomes nigh-on unreadable with only a few letters legible these being O, H, U, I, C.

The Doctor furrows her brow as she plods on, fed up with the exaggerated guessing game she falls out to the hollowed-out corridors of this ‘Halfway House’. “Ello! Anyone home?! I’m the Doctor... I’m also looking for my friends. I kind of got lost ‘halfway’ to my destination!” She snorts to herself at her lame joke, confident she’s the only living being in the room. She scans her eyes across the walls, now understanding that this is a facility, surely there’s some signage. The Doctor stares blankly at a wall, almost wanting to ‘will’ nicely detailed map into existence. She sighs after staring unblinkingly and swerves on a heel around a corner. Little does she know, the black substance that existed on the wall has grown and shifted into the map that laid in the Doctor’s mind.

Behind her, a swarm of the same, expressionless beings stand. “Why does she not see us?” A being says in a shrill cry. The others seem to nod in unison. Dr. Abrams turns slowly, he struggles to pivot as his limbs are sticking to the dusty marble flooring. If he could emote, he would perhaps emote a level of frustration for his fellow kin. “We must have patience; it is clear that this being cannot perceive our dimension. We must cross the threshold and align ourselves to hers.”

The Doctor pokes her head into a splintered doorway, making sure to keep her neck away from the cracked, wooden borders. She slowly scans her eyes into the room but with the incredibly dark lighting, she can only make out silhouettes along the walls and in the centre of the room. With a warm grin she strides in, positioning herself in the centre. “Hiya! Like I said before, I’m the Doctor I need help etcetera etcetera...”

As she talks, she dives her hand deep into her coat pocket. Fishing around for a small, silver cylindrical object, the sonic screwdriver. In order to vanquish this awkward conversation of the darkness, she wields the screwdriver into the air and activates it. The room is illuminated with a bright, brilliant yellow... As the corners to the room are flooded, a ghastly sight is slowly revealed, like a magician revealing a truly horrid trick up their sleeve. Sat in the furniture are completely hollowed-out skeletons. The Doctor jumps back, aghast at the sight. She readjusts the screwdriver towards a rusted lamp beside a skeletal form. The bulb reawakens after what must be decades of neglect, dimly illuminating the room.

The skeletal victims are still as harrowing but under the dim lighting, the Doctor can carefully examine them. She kneels thoughtfully, gripping a skeletal hand carefully with the grace of a truly caring physician. “Sorry mate... I just need to give you a little once over.” She brings the hand close, with a critical eye she spots that the bone is scorched and charred black. Yet, unlike typical charcoal, it doesn’t rub off when she applies her thumb to it. “It’s like your bones were charred already.” She mumbles to herself as she looks over the corroded hand.

Suddenly, another detail catches her attention, on the skeletal palm is a steel plate... She tries to lift it but finds that it’s snugly fitted. After rubbing a thumb against the surface, her eyes widen to find that the metal plate has been screwed in place... She gets to her feet and turns away from the skeleton, eyeing the rest of the charred remains. Oddly enough, their positioning is that of normality. They show no signs of struggle, fear even. The Doctor, puzzled, places her arms on her hips... As the skeleton begins to rise behind her...

CHAPTER FIVE

Moments earlier as the Doctor examined the skeleton. The strange beings had followed her to the abandoned lounge, they stood in a circle, surrounding their unknowing prey. A section breaks apart, allowing Dr. Abrams to push through. He circles around the crouched Doctor; his eyes widen with curiosity as his face nears hers. He looks down to see that the Doctor has discovered the metal plates on the skeleton’s palm.

Dr. Abrams jumps in shock when the Doctor rises and places her hands on her hips. Dr. Abrams smirks as he sidesteps past her and sits in the chair that is occupied by the skeleton... He adjusts his position, taking care to lay his hands-on top of the skeletal remains. He begins to wince with pain as his limbs begin to melt and bubble away, changing back into the black, sticky substance. It begins to coat the skeleton’s limbs, shifting its colour to a deep black...

Eventually, enough of the skeleton is covered for Dr. Abrams to take control. The skeleton begins to rise as the Doctor ponders, oblivious to this danger as the skeleton reaches for her head with its palms... The steel plates spark and pulse with energy... “I’m really hoping the gang’s alright.” The Doctor mumbles as she holds her hands together, rubbing them nervously. She gets ready to move ahead but feels a sudden heat by the side of her head. She turns to investigate but is immediately met with the charred visage of a Skelton gripping to the sides of her head!

She screams as she tries to struggle and pull away, but the bony grip is unbreakable as the skeleton’s jaw hangs open and cracks off, smashing upon impact to the floor. Just as the Doctor has loosened her grip, the steel plates shock each side of her temple. She shudders and drops violently to the floor. As she fades in and out of consciousness... She swears that she can hear a room full of excited voices and see between nearly closed eyelids... A horde of entirely empty figures.

The sound of her coat dragging across cracked marble woke the Doctor up. Her eyes flashed open, her pupils dart around her eyes just as quickly. She makes note of her surroundings... Ahead of her, she’s behind dragged by two beings composed of a pure, black substance. “Oi!” The Doctor yells out, catching the attention of the two beings. They stop dragging and turn their vacant faces towards her. The Doctor only just makes out that their faces seem to be dripping with the black substance. Her face spells a concoction of fear and morbid curiosity as she breaks free from their slippery grip to eventually stand. She examines her coat to find horrid, black splotches. Her face cringes inward. “This coat came from the finest tailors from Sheffield I’ll av’ you know! This isn’t gonna wash out is it?” Her quip gets no response from the beings as they turn their heads. “Okay...” the Doctor says, stepping back cautiously. “Tough crowd, I’ll be seeing ya.”

She turns to a sudden sight of a man in a lab coat and a bushy moustache. The man seems to struggle speaking as his tone of voice raises from a low, dull whisper to random levels of increasing volume. “Hell..O, H, how can I help you? I’m... Dr. Abrams.” The strange, bespectacled man coughs violently before wiping his mouth with an open palm. He wipes a strange, grey residue on his clean lab coat, smearing it. The Doctor raises an eyebrow before striding past him impatiently, she twists her head to face Dr. Abrams behind her.

“I’m looking for answers, for my friends. Standing around talking to you won’t get me anywhere.” As she turns her head back, she’s suddenly greeted with Dr. Hazel. Her smile is unnatural as she awkwardly plays with her dark, frayed hair. The Doctor takes a step back, almost bemused at the sight, “Hi, sorry for nearly bumping into ya. I’m looking for my mates. They’ve gone missing, then I end up here and I’d find it hard to believe that the two aren’t connected.”

The strange woman twists her head to the side, making a lop-sided examination. Her eyes look glazed and colourless as they stare deeply back into the Doctor’s. Dr. Hazel rolls her jaw, generating a sound akin to a question... “Are you really a Doctor? We need a Doctor.” Dr. Hazel’s voice sounded shy and incredibly unsure of itself. The Doctor takes a step back, she can see in the timid woman’s eyes a shine of desperation. “Yes, I am the Doctor and I’ll help you if you promise to help me in return.” From behind Dr. Hazel the figures approach their featureless faces share an uncanny similarity to a sad puppy. “We are happy to help you Doctor, please. We apologise for our mistreatment of you. If you follow us, we’ll gladly answer your questions.” The Doctor strides forward, “First things first, who are you guys?” Footsteps approach from behind the Doctor and in mere moments, an icy breath hits the back of the Time Lord’s neck... “We are the Voidkind.”

The Doctor is currently being led down a distorted corridor. Yet, unlike her previous exploration, the ward seems livelier as similar figures wander around them. Noticing the Doctor’s idle staring, Dr. Hazel speaks up. “We weren’t always like this. We had our own actual forms. With facial features and everything... They were stripped away when we fled from the war.” The group sidestep a distraught member of the Voidkind. It’s blackened figure rocks back and forth on the floor of the ward corridor. “You’re refugees? I’m sorry.” The Doctor says sincerely. “Have you developed matter manipulation then? Why do you and that other Dr look...”

“Human?” Dr. Abrams speaks up from behind the group. His face is yet again emotionless. “It’s a survival mechanism. It allows us to flee terrible situations, like the complete obliteration of our home-world.” The Doctor twists her head back, “if it’s a survival mechanism, why can’t you all do it? It seems pretty important.” The Doctor fine-tuned her response for passive aggressiveness towards the ‘shifty’ Dr. Abrams. “Not all of them have the ability to change one’s form Doctor. We’re stuck like this. In fact, until you came here, we were trapped in another dimension. We were unable to interact with you or anything in this physical realm.”

“So that’s what the weird substance was.” The Doctor responds as she scratches her palm intently. “Failed attempts at crossing the breach.” Dr. Abrams finally expresses an emotion, remorse. There were those that couldn’t bare being confined within a lost dimension. They yearned for physical contact and wanted to live. They got their wish now; their loose matter exists along the walls and floors of this structure.”

The group arrive at a set of crossroads. The corridors stretch almost Infinitely into a void of light. The darkness lingers as a reminder of the invasion in the TARDIS. Pieces begin to click together in her mind... “This isn’t your building then? The Halfway House?” The Doctor enquires as Dr. Abrams leans against a brittle wall. “We’ve merely inhabited this building. It was seemingly abandoned by its human owners. All the equipment and rooms have been left untouched. We’ve tried to cure our condition with their scraps... There are some that have not fared well with the process.”

“How so?” The Doctor strides up to Dr. Abrams, her curiosity is peaked. “It’s better to show you Doctor...” With a quick gesture, the group are herded forwards into the everlasting void of the corridor...

The group arrive at a corridor which is featureless except for a single, corroded cell door. “Our worst cases are back here, the ones that couldn’t handle the rejuvenation process.” Dr Abrams unlocks the heavy door, allowing it to swing open into an empty void of light. The Doctor stands ahead of the group, her eyes dance with the flickering of dust erupting from the doorframe. “How Long has it been since you’ve opened this door eh? It’s filthy! So far, you’re failing your quality of life checks.” She strides into the room; her form becomes shrouded in the darkness. Moments pass and a slightly nervous voice rings out, “Actually! Can ya stick on some lights?” The Dr’s oblige and with a creaky flick of a switch the small cell is bathed in light and the Doctor is met with an incredible sight. Three members of the Voidkind... Chained together.

CHAPTER SIX

The Doctor stands in the centre of the room. Her mouth is agape as she scans her eyes across the rusted manacles clamped to the limbs of the Voidkind. She finally ends her scan at their vacant, blank faces. Yet she’s intrigued to spot human features like sunken eyeholes and nose indentations. Yet, their mouths are non-existent... The Doctor twists her head back to the doorway, with a stern face she speaks lowly, “you’ve gone an’ locked these guys up cause they’re different?”

“They’re dangerous.” Dr. Abrams steps to the Doctor, his form already imposes on the lack of space in the cell. From the shadowed space of the cell, the Doctor stands straight to meet the challenge of the dubious ‘Dr’. “Dangerous how eh? They’re chained up! You’ve got loads of you wandering about.” She turns to look at the captive group. “What did you do to them?” Dr. Hazel timidly steps in, sidestepping and sandwiching herself between the sparring doctors. “They came to us like that Doctor.” She speaks calmly with understated seriousness. “They need our help; we have the equipment but none of the expertise! We saw that you possess technology outside our own. Your portable device and transport outside?”

“I can’t use my ship... The TARDIS.” The Doctor intercuts, looking deep into the vacant eyes of Dr. Abrams, “I can’t trust that it’ll go okay.” She pauses thoughtfully as she looks upon the shrivelled forms of the captive Voidkind. “You said you had equipment? Is it what did this?”

“They are the result of a failed procedure. These three in particular wanted to change themselves, pollute their forms. As you can see from the humanoid features...” Dr. Abrams leans forward, dragging a slim finger across the viscous face, outlining the protrusions. “They seemingly wanted to assume a ‘human’ form much like yourself Doctor.”

“Maybe they were human already.” The Doctor interjects, commanding the attention of the room as it suddenly cuts silent. The three figures lift their heads, almost in confirmation. “I don’t know if I can reverse this. At all... I can’t just stand here and let them suffer. I’ll help ya, but I’m doing it for them. Not you.”

“Very well. We’ll have them brought along with us. We must head to intensive care.” Dr. Abrams responds coldly as a pair of heavy built Voidkind approach and remove the restraints, eventually lifting the beings up from the floor. The Doctor, gulps at the sheer display of physicality before she is herded out of the cell by Dr. Hazel. As they march further down the corridor, larger gatherings of Voidkind have amassed, creating a nervous spectacle of the Doctor...

CHAPTER SEVEN

After an eternity of shuffling down the distorted corridors the group arrive. The lack of lighting wasn’t the first thing that caught the Doctor’s eye. Although the murky atmosphere did a great job of obscuring the contents of the ‘Intensive Care’ room. What actually drew the Doctor further into the room was the strange set of chairs bolted into the mossy tiles. They seem to have been hastily done as they aren’t centred and feel loose as the Doctor prods them thoughtfully. After which she looks upon the ghastly entourage. Dr. Abrams is stood in the doorway, his arms are crossed. The Doctor sighs before standing to her feet, feeling the rough metal of he chairs beneath her fingertips. “Just show me ya tools and we’ll be good. You got that? I’m helping these first, then I’m sortin’ all this out.”

She strides to a dilapidated corner of the room. Dr. Hazel is hunched over an ancient steel desk, continually prodding at machinery that is hot to the touch. Her fingertips become red and sore as she continues... Driven to some higher purpose. The Doctor finally approaches cautiously, gently guiding the Dr’s hand. “Careful! You don’t know what you’re touching...” She pauses as she looks upon the discombobulated mess of wiring and charred hardware. “This isn’t from round ere’ but someone has done a ‘wonderful’ job of lashing it up” Soon a flurry of footsteps approach from behind, Dr. Abrams is leading the group with stern, vacant eyes. “If you don’t mind Doctor, we’d like to seat the patients.”

Behind him, the deformed Voidkind are huddled in fear, the chairs are familiar to them. They drag and pull away from the group but see helpless as their slippery forms struggle against the tiled flooring. The Doctor feels helpless as this travesty unfolds, she’s a spectator to the cruelty. Eventually, the figures cease and allow themselves to be latched up into the corroded chairs. Their limbs are once again bound by aged leather straps.

“There’s no need for this.” The Doctor speaks calmly, trying to reassure the figures and herself that she’s made the right decision to help them. The victims look on at the Doctor, hope in their eyeless sockets. Dr. Abrams approaches and firmly places a hand on her shoulder. “We’re doing the best for them. What you’re about to do, it will change the course of our mission.” The strange Dr had a vicious glint in his eyes which made the Doctor feel queasy, like the surface of her skin had been penetrated with sharp pins in a sudden wave. She looks back over the controls, her hands hover over exposed wires and bent, misshapen diodes. Almost automatically her hands move to reconnect and clip together the pieces.

Dr. Abrams looks over curiously as he looks across to nod at his assistant. The Doctor is now knelt at the control panel, a flurry of buzzed and rapidly moving hands browses the innards of the dead machinery. “You’ve had some cowboys in here!” He head is fully submerged in the machinery now, making an odd sight as her body looks half eaten by the panel. After several awkward moments, her head emerges looking flushed with spots of black oil leaking into her bright, blonde hair. She gets to her feet and looks across sorrowfully at the vulnerable Voidkind. “Right, it’s ready. I’ve rearranged some of this faulty wiring.” She holds her head down to finish connecting pieces. She mutters to herself suspiciously, “It’s far below what you lot must be capable of though. Something isn’t right...”

“Is everything ready Doctor? Time is of the essence if we are to help them. Their suffering must end.” Dr. Abrams interjects, snapping the Doctor out of her trance as she responds, “yeah, all good. I’m about ninety five percent sure anyway. Your ‘equipment’ is really clunky, it should be enough to reverse the ‘void process’. They should be able to fully grow their facial features again. Then we can go about fixing everyone here. Then I want you off this planet... You got that?”

The air was filled with tension as the two doctors stared each other down. Eventually, Dr. Abrams breaks the stalemate by nodding, “That is agreeable. Let’s commence the procedure.” The Doctor takes her place behind the controls, flicking dials and lifting stiff levers. Soon the machinery warms up, a constant whirring and hoarse groaning erupts from the neglected machine gives the gathered Voidkind a startled jump. Almost like they reacted to the noise... Above the noisy commotion, the Doctor yells out, “I thought they couldn’t hear anything?!” She gestures to the group of cowering Voidkind, to which Dr. Abrams responds. “It’s nothing, they can sense things in a different way to us. It’s like they run in a system of their own...”

“A hivemind?” The Doctor questions, sensing the pieces come together. Before she has time to get an answer. The three Voidkind are writhing in pain in the chairs. Their movements are beast-like, clawing at the metal frame of their confined seating. Their heads thrash about with little change to their ‘human’ features. The Doctor looks on worriedly as she wields the sonic screwdriver to gather a reading. “Something definitely isn’t right! They shouldn’t be in this much pain! What’s happened!?” She rapidly kneels down to the control panel, desperately ripping and pulling wiring and circuit boards until the whirring slows to a dying crawl. Eventually, she rises from the ground. Satisfied she’s solved the situation. Yet, as she turns to look at the Voidkind... Her eyes widen in absolute horror as her close friends... Ryan, Yaz, and Graham are lifeless in the steel chairs...

CHAPTER EIGHT

Time seemed to slow infinitely as the Doctor sprinted to the corner of the room. The soles of her boots cracked the tiles as each footstep pounded the ground. She finds herself suddenly stopping at the chairs, her momentum almost loosening the bolted chairs. With breathless vigour she moves her hands over her friend’s necks, checking for pulses. Her breathing is erratic but soon slows to a calm as her fingers pick up faint pulses... She smiles gleefully as she holds them close. “Brilliant! You guys are alright...” Her words are warm yet sorrowful as she lowers her head down, a fire stirs in her eyes. “Now...” The Doctor slowly stands, her fists are clenched. Behind her a large gathering of Voidkind have amassed... Their forms cast a shadow, blocking the dimmed light from the Doctor’s face. Her voice is low, almost a growl as she grits her teeth. “You planned this all along didn’t ya? I’ve come in and like an idiot, I’ve just made a huge mistake. Things didn’t seem right. The reason you’d chained them up, this whole rigamarole... It was all just rubbish.”

“There was no deception Doctor.” The members of the Voidkind spoke in a harrowing unison, their heads twisting at every syllable. “We required your help. In order to escape our demented existence in a realm beyond.”

“By chaining up and zapping my mates!?” The Doctor stomps a foot down, rage swelling inside her. “How many times have you done this? How many innocents have died from these cruel acts? You didn’t use to look like humans... You’re just stealing their looks!”

“We admit... There were many setbacks. Look around you Doctor.” The form of Dr. Abrams rises from the shadowed floor. His head is now a featureless black. Yet his clothes remain as he slowly strides towards a cowering Dr. Hazel. “Even our ‘successful’ attempts are flawed.” Dr. Abrams places a soft palm on the top of Dr. Hazel’s soft hair. She twitches nervously under the ever-tightening grip. The Doctor attempts to step forward but finds that her boots are swamped with the black liquid. Her face twists into a scowl, “stop this now! You don’t have to do any of this.”

Almost in defiance, Dr. Abrams look across and with extreme force, Dr. Hazel’s voided head is crushed, pools of black liquid spill onto the floor and down her lab coat, her body twitches violently as it seems to be absorbed into Dr. Abrams. The Doctor struggles against the floor, sensing an extreme weak point in the foundation as she presses hard against it. Despite the commotion, the Doctor keeps track of the audible cracking of the tile beneath her as she decides to stall for time... “You’ve crosses the line now mate. I was all for helping ya. I could’ve got you to a new home, saved you from being stranded here.” She looks across morosely at the blanked Voidkind. “All of you...” Dr. Abrams finishes with his massacre, simply tossing the lifeless form of Dr. Hazel aside. Her clothing slowly sinks into the floor, flooding the white tiling with a sickly black. “Your words, your promises mean nothing Doctor. Your friends that you have sworn to protect lie limply behind you. You have no way of escaping us now.”

“Wanna bet?” The Doctor smirks as all around her the floor breaks up. Casting several Voidkind into the cavernous depths below, the voiceless screams echo into the void below. Dr. Abrams charges forward in desperation as the Doctor and her comatose friends fall from her grip into the dark below...

CHAPTER NINE

The Doctor felt weightless as she fell through the cavern. Jagged rocks and debris from an eternity of neglect narrowly miss her as her mind races at a thousand miles an hour. In the free fall, the Doctor puts the pieces together, remembering what Dr. Abrams let slip...

“Hivemind.”

The word swirled in her head as she suddenly realised that she needed to make a safe landing somehow are none of this mess will be solved. First though, she had to see what she was about to hit. Quickly diving into her coat pocket, she wields the screwdriver, facing it forward, charging like a medieval jouster into the never ending dark. With a brilliant flash of yellow the bottom of the pit is clear... Piles of dead Voidkind. She looks behind her, laying flat as to keep the pressure from focusing on one point of her body. Doing so she spots her friends still limp in their chairs, she nods, hoping they’ll be fine... She closes her eyes and impacts into something fleshy yet solid.

Moments later, the Doctor opens her eyes to find that her calculations were correct. She struggles to pull herself free from being imbedded in a small pile of Voidkind remains. After clutching to some nearby rocks she stands triumphantly, overlooking the ruins that have lain beneath the Halfway House... Scanning her eyes cross the environment she finds her friends similarly sprawled on the ground, they seem to have only sustained cuts and bruises as they slowly wake and stand. “Ryan? Yaz? You alright?!” Graham immediately kneels to help lift the two to their feet, his grandfatherly instincts kick in. Eventually the two stand and check themselves over realising that they’re covered in some sort of black fluid. “This is proper gross! It’s like snot or summat.” Ryan bemoans as he flicks the substance from his hands. “It looks like motor oil,” Graham chimes in, looking at the substance between a finger and thumb. He presses his nose close to it, “smells like it too”.

“Don’t touch any of it!” The three stand in shock as they look across to finally see the Doctor bounding down this strange mountain towards them. “Doctor!” They each exclaim in unison, slightly freaking the Doctor out. “Don’t, just don’t I can’t get over what happened in the TARDIS.”

“Yeah, about that. What happened?” Graham asks breathlessly. “I told you! We hit a ‘cold spot’ then things went dark...” The Doctor says reassuringly. “Never mind that where on Earth are, we?” Yaz cuts to the point. Stepping ahead of Ryan and Graham, taking charge.

“Well, Yaz, you’re right about being on Earth... I guess.” The Doctor says, shaken by her friend’s uncharacteristic hostility. “A lot’s gone off while you’ve been gone. I have a plan though.”

“Like you always do!” Graham cuts in optimistically. Lead on Doc, we can walk and talk right Yaz?” He looks across to Yaz disarmingly and she retreats back into the group of three, arms crossed. “Brilliant, right gang... Let’s get to work.” The Doctor exclaims while clasping her hands together, leading the expedition...

After constant trekking, the group continue through the cavern. Led by the Doctor with the focused, yellow light of the sonic screwdriver. “Okay, here’s the lowdown. We got caught up in something mid-flight... The cold spot. That froze us including the defences. You guys got taken the ‘Voidkind’. They’ve been squatting ere’ and plan to take human form.” She looks behind her at the bemused faces of her friends. “You were the final phase.” They make their way through the cavernous ruin. They pass remnants of old and newer architecture that have been ripped apart, dragged up like a deeply embedded splinter in which the victim believed that if they scratch and scratch... The splinter will leave them be. This didn’t seem to be the case in this instance. Whoever constructed this building hoped to ‘scab’ over the wound, hoping that it’s too deep into the skin that it’ll no longer plague them.

The Doctor tuts as she absentmindedly kicks away rubble, revealing a pale, sun-damaged sign: THE HALFWAY HOUSE EST. 1866. She grimaces while pulling herself away to further explore deeper into the cavern... “What are we going to do? It’s like they had an army up there, ready to rip you to pieces!” Yaz jogs ahead, hopping over sharpened debris. The Doctor slows down in order to allow Yaz to catch up, eventually raising an eyebrow suspiciously. “You saw them? But you were all comatose, in the chairs. There’s no way you’d have seen em.” The Doctor probes curiously but her line of questioning is broken by Graham and Yaz behind her. “She’s not wrong Doc, me and Ryan saw them. It’s like...”

“Like we were awake...Sleeping.” Ryan cuts in ‘assisting’ but not really.

“We were somewhat aware of what was going on. Like we’d been put into the back of our own eads’ when you saw us in that room & we got chained up. We wanted to scream, to call out and let you know that it was us. But there was something stopping us.” Graham continues shakily before holding an arm over Ryan. “The Hivemind.” The Doctors mutters as she leans up against a rusted sheet of metal. “That’s it isn’t it? Surely... They all seem to run as one.”

“So that ‘Dr’ isn’t the big bad?” Ryan leans next the Doctor, he looks breathless. “No, doesn’t look like it. It may have split itself into another personality. Not unlike something else I met a long time ago.” The Doctor looks into the distance, eyeing a flickering light swinging in the cave. “We need to move on.” As the group move ahead, Ryan struggles, with pained yells he clutches his chest and keels over. Graham and Yaz quickly huddle around him with the Doctor breaking them apart to get a closer look. After kneeling to reach him, the Doctor gently handles him, moving him towards the light and immediately looks concerned as beneath his skin... black liquid pools through. Leaking out and dripping onto the Doctor’s hands. “No, no, no...”

She shakes her head while propping Ryan up against the steel sheet. “Ryan, look at me right now.” She speaks authoritatively as Ryan’s head rolls to face her. His features are slowly shifting, disappearing behind a layer of black sludge. Graham pushes in from behind, almost knocking the Doctor out of the way. “RYAN! Mate!? Come on, wake up please!” He grips his grandson’s shoulders shaking him. He suddenly stopped by a soft hand on his own, “Graham, you need to stop. It’s gonna be alright. You need to look at your hands.” The Doctor speaks with caution and steps back as Graham timidly stares at his hands. His eyes widen and his mouth hangs agape as his hands start turning a sickly black... “Doc? C, can you help us?” Graham crumples against the sheet metal next to Ryan, him and Ryan have succumbed to the Voidkind sickness.

The Doctor stands back and looks upon Yaz, her sickness is slow allowing ample time for the Doctor to speak to her. But Yaz doesn’t want to speak, she trembles as the Doctor approaches her. “Doctor, are they dead?” Her words cut through the Doctor. Stopping her in her tracks. Her eyes spark with an uneasy determination. She holds on to Yaz’s shaky hands gently. “We don’t have time for this Yaz, we have to go. There’s a light over there, maybe we can sort all of this. This ‘Hivemind’ has to have a centre somewhere so why would there be a light in this abandoned cave?” Yaz doesn’t comprehend fully, only shaking her head and casting her eyes at her friends that while breathing, look a dull, dead grey... “YAZ!” The Doctor yells, snapping her out of it. “Do you trust me?” Yaz froze at the words.

For once it wasn’t just a statement. This was it. The last straw, the final call to arms, do or die... The Doctor’s face was stern and solid. This wasn’t fun and games, this was now life and death. “Yes. I do.” Yaz spoke definitely as the Doctor gripped her hand. “Brilliant!” The Doctor responds with a large smile. Her happiness is suddenly broken as in the corner of their eyes, Ryan and Graham suddenly rise from their slumped, crumpled position... “Oh God...” Yaz stammers as she stumbles behind the Doctor. “We have to get out of here now.” The Doctor says coldly trying to gage the situation as she cautiously steps back. After some steps the pair are frozen to the spot as a low rumbling of primal grows echo through the cave system... Behind Ryan and Graham, a horde of shambling, rabid Voidkind stand. “All them corpses back there, they weren’t dead.” Yaz stammers, terrified... The Doctor grips her hand suddenly and the pair sprint towards the dim light at the end of the cave.

...

The duo ran further and further into the cave system. They constantly catch themselves on the sharp rocks and pieces of glass but persevere, nevertheless. Eventually, they reach the source of light and are greeted with a stomach-turning sight, a bloodied steel door. After timidly placing their hands on it, they open the door and are met with a vast space... Yaz stumbles forward while the Doctor slams the door and locks it tightly with the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor breathlessly turns to find that the room they found themselves in was populated with similar installations of machinery and haphazard wiring.

However, the true centrepiece was a huge metal structure akin to a cage. Its spiked metal struts crack into the cavern roof like steel roots of a mechanical tree. Inside the ‘bars’ of the cage there was a dormant creature, it’s featureless and composed of the pure black substance. “The Hivemind. The cause of all this mess, the aggressive plants outside, the walls... The whole complex. This is the very nerve centre of ‘The Halfway House’...” The Doctor confirms as she braces forward hopping over the wires and even more debris. On a table closest to the cage, a withered piece of paper is lain. The Doctor eyes it, resisting the urge to handle the paper.

In between the smudged ink and blood, she makes out haphazard sketches of the cage ahead of them. Yaz stumbles behind the Doctor placing a trembling hand on a steel pillar. The Doctor immediately notices and rushes to her side, holding her shoulders as they slowly lean back. The Doctor eyes Yaz’s trembling hands worriedly, her hands are turning a pitch black. If she doesn’t think of something soon, she will lose her friends to the sickness forever. After such a small impact, the room began to slowly rumble, a low growl echoed from the inside of the strange contraption. “Doctor, what do we do?” Yaz stammers as she struggles to lean against the rusted steel. The Doctor dashes her eyes around, trying to find something, anything... “Doctor!” Yaz exclaims, snapping the Doctor from her trance. They look to each other as a shadow grows next to them. “I’ve got summat... You might not like it though.” The Doctor replies, slowly looking to her side as a ginormous, fleshy creature rose against the cage. It’s blackened skin bubbles and boils as it thrashes against the cage...

CHAPTER TEN

“I need an itty bit of a minute to think.” The Doctor says as she faces away from the thrashing monstrosity. “That’s clearly the physical form of the Voidkind Hivemind. So, why’s it locked up?” She turns towards Yaz like an arrogant university lecturer. “Maybe... It’s being protected. Rather than being confined. Y’know? Destroy the brain... Destroy the creatures!” The Doctor jogs excitedly on the spot, finally feeling the pieces come together. “Of course, they want to separate themselves from it. Break free from the union. The only way they figured to do that was to split themselves, steal human forms.”

“They hate it but can’t live without it.” Yaz replies as she struggles to breathe. “Exactly. I just need a way of disabling it rather than, Y’know killing it. If I can paralyse it, it should stop the Voidkind’s shenanigans.” The Doctor scans the dusty worktops. As she’s lost in thought... “Any ideas to do that?” Yaz snaps as she clutches her side painfully. After lifting her hand off she spots the dripping, black substance. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap like that.” Yaz relents while breathing shallowly. The Doctor takes brisk steps towards Yaz and holds her gently, guiding her to an abandoned desk. “Ere’ just sit down. You don’t need to apologise, I got us into this mess and I’m gonna get us out of it.”

The shambling army of rabid Voidkind approach the cave entrance slowly. Their ceaseless screams and guttural cries reverberate off the walls. Leading this ghoulish charge is Ryan and Graham, their forms flicking between their normal selves and the dammed uniformity of the Voidkind. With outstretched hands they guide the beast-like group through the twisting and turning caverns, eventually reaching the locked steel door...

...

Inside, the Doctor ruffles her hair stressfully, trying to kick her brain into action. At least, that is how she acted to Yaz. In reality, the Doctor had a plan. Yet she is trying her hardest to avoid it. Her deep thoughts are interrupted by the sound of intense banging on the closed steel door. Its surface is constantly bombarded by impacts, buckling it slowly. The Doctor swiftly turns to Yaz, “We need to find out how to open the cage.” Her words are sincere which baffles Yaz even more. “You what? We can’t let that thing out!” Yaz panics as her chest feels tighter, her throat feels like a flood of sludge. “Yes, we can Yaz. I’ve got a plan, if it works... It’ll sort all of this.” Yaz looks into her eyes for the truth and finally sees it. They nod together in unison as they shuffle across the cage looking for an opening. “There’s a reason they’ve shoved their own kind down here. The reason this beast is caged up down here...” the Doctor mumbles to herself as her hands grip on a silver handle. “They were its food.”

Above the commotion, Dr. Abrams continues to rally hordes of Voidkind. Amassing an army to head into the depths below. Those that stumble in the halls are absorbed by the stronger forms. The walls of the Halfway House are crumbling around them. Finally, the creature known as Dr. Abrams emotes panic. “They’ve released the Entity.”

After several blows, the steel door finally rips open, allowing a flood of Voidkind to push their way through. The beings scurry and rush the enclosed space, knocking the worktops and obliterating the obsolete machinery as they fill the room, casting it into a pitch darkness. With the lack of light, they struggle to find their prey, twisting their ‘ears’ to any semblance of sound they can grasp until... A loud whistle draws them near a barred structure and a loud, female voice calls to them. “Oi! Come on in! The space is delightful in here.” Without a moment’s thought, the ravenous creatures burst and force their way through the bars. Scraping and sliding their sickly forms and eventually packing themselves tightly into their new space...

From behind the cage the Doctor smirks as her ‘fool proof’ plan has come to fruition as she shuts the cage door quietly. Before them stands the Doctor and a shuffling, weakened Yaz. The Doctor steps forward arms outstretched in a ‘victory pose’. “I’m sorry to do this to ya, really I am. This all needs to be dealt with though, and you’re too dangerous to let loose.” The Doctor sighs to herself before she unsheathes the sonic screwdriver from her coat. “Dinner’s ready.” With a small press on the silver device, the lights in the enclosed cave system blast on, blinding the Doctor and Yaz momentarily.

While they recover, the rabid Voidkind are crippled entirely, they kneel and move jerkily on the floor as the sudden bombardment of lights affect them massively. Worse still, they are blind to the monstrosity behind them as it begins to rip and tear into them. Feeding on their voided forms. Yaz looks away, pained and in shock while the Doctor looks on, contemplating her next roll of the dice. Still looking away and trying to shield her ears from the shill cries of the dying Voidkind Yaz interrogates the Doctor, “was this necessary?”

The Doctor takes a moment to respond as she continues to be lost in unbearable thoughts. “I... Don’t know Yaz. I thought, if I fed this ‘Entity’ bad food, this rabid strain of the Voidkind... it’ll get sick and die or something like that. It’s not effected it at all has it?” The Doctor places her hands on her hips disappointingly. Yaz snaps her head back, infuriated with the Doctor, “you’re... Disappointed? After all this you’ve done, you’re now feeling disappointed?” The Doctor finally turns her head away from the massacre, “Yaz, I don’t know what to think, I’ve been thrust into this problem. I’m just throwing stuff at a wall and hoping it sticks.” She eyes Yaz’s deteriorating form, “I don’t even know if I can fix you guys. By killing the Hivemind it should purge you lot of the infection. Eat it away...”

“It hasn’t though has it?!” Yaz violently coughs a thick black substance onto an overturned table. It starts to grow and crawl away but before it even reaches the end of the table... It bubbles and burns away, dissolving into a fine powder. The Doctor’s eyes widen in a ‘eureka’ explosion... “Yaz? Did you know why they chained you guys up?” Yaz slowly looks around, formulating an answer. “Coz’ we were different. We could have some kind of influence I guess... What does that mean?”

“It means you’re a corrupting influence!” The Doctor beams as she paces the room. “They wanted you locked up and silenced cause you could change things... They made sure that you three couldn’t make this ‘society’ collapse. You couldn’t work as food for this Entity.” Yaz looks worriedly as the monstrous substance in the cage ceased thrashing. “You’re bad medicine.” The steel door falls behind them, clanging into the rocky floor surface. Yaz and the Doctor turn to face the gaping cave entrance and are frozen to find amongst the swirling sand and dust is the figures of Graham and Ryan...

Upon nearing the entrance of the underground system, Dr. Abrams freezes, his eyes turn a pitch white... His newest minions have seized their target. His crooked form leans back, casting his eyes to the cracked, dripping ceiling. His mouth opens wide, baring jagged teeth.

In tandem with this, both the corrupted forms of Ryan and Graham freeze. Their eyes roll until they reach an unnatural white. Their mouths open wide, their jaws hang unnaturally low... Though their mouths don’t move, a withered voice seems to crawl from their possessed forms. The Doctor and Yaz look on with a horrified gaze. “I have you surrounded Doctor...” The voice sounds like a shrill whisper as it simultaneously comes from Graham and Ryan. “There is no escape... I have you trapped with the Entity. Soon you will be devoured, and your knowledge will form the next evolution of our consciousness.” Ryan and Graham begin to shamble towards the Doctor and Yaz, their footsteps plod against the cave floor. Filling the room with a dull, ticking echo. A literal countdown to the end of their existence.

While keeping both eyes focused on the approaching problem, the Doctor pats her hands around the cage door. Yaz continues to hold her chest as she begins to feel weak, her knees buckle against a sudden force from within, she turns her face away as she feels something cold grow against her face...

The Doctor quickly holds onto Yaz’s shoulder delicately, slowly turning her around to face each other in the eyes. “Yaz?” The Doctors asks, almost choking on the utterance. “Y... Yeah Doctor?” Yaz stammers, truly afraid of what is to come as she grimaces in pain. “I need you... To be really, really brave. I’ve got to let the Entity out.” Her face is almost stoic, with just a hint of sorrow. Yaz struggles against the Doctor’s grip in defiance. “You can’t!” She wails now as she grips her chest and looks upon her hands, they are featureless... “It’s the only way to stop all of this. I’ve figured it out, if the Entity takes you, and absorbs your corruptive influence... It’ll stop it. You need to trust me.” Before Yaz can object, the world seems to freeze as the metal cage door clicks open...

Above the cave system, Dr. Abrams is losing his form. His ‘human’ persona is melting away as his clothes rip away and pieces of him drop off as he wanders the wards of the Halfway House. The Entity has been released and it is ravenous...

The Doctor quickly dives out of the way as the cage door is burst open. The door itself is thrown with such velocity that it embeds itself into the cave walls. Causing them to crack ferociously... The Doctor’s eyes widen as she realises that she may have miscalculated... The Entity slowly slides across the cave floor, leaving a sickly trail of black ooze, remnants of the rabid Voidkind. It approaches the forms of Graham and Ryan tentatively as they continue their approach unflinchingly. Yaz, witnessing this scream to her friends but struggles to lift herself up against the rocky surface of the wall. Her hand is suddenly met with the Doctor’s... “Doctor! You’ve got to help them! That creature is gonna eat them!” Yaz pleads, not understanding why the Doctor remains still with sorrowful eyes... “DOCTOR! Why are you just standing there!” She tears her hand away as she limps away towards the creature.

The Doctor, meanwhile, looks on, a tear in her eye as she foresees the damage this action could very well cause. Yaz stumbles determinedly towards the creature as it slowly rises to tower over Ryan and Graham. Then... Just as she reaches her friends... their ‘Void’ forms are drained from them, the black substance leaks away from them... Drawing into the Entity. Yaz looks in amazement as she finally recognises her friends as they fall limply onto the floor. The Entity suddenly snaps its head towards Yaz, sensing the darkness within her as it suddenly latches to her...

What was previously known as ‘Dr. Abrams’ is now feebly crawling on the cracked tiled floor of the place he called home. The walls around him leak and spill with a bubbling, black substance. The floors and wooden structure creak and groan under the intense pressure as pieces of walls fall on top of the decayed form of Dr. Abrams. The tiles crack and splinter as he drags his body across... His plans have truly fallen to pieces.

Yaz’s eyes widen with fear and understanding as the Entity slowly wraps itself around her. It’s fleshy tendrils leech the black substance from Yaz. Her screams are stifled as she feels the Entity draining her, her legs give way as her eyes gaze upon the Doctor before she collapses to the floor... Soon after, the Entity slides towards the Doctor. It’s movements are ferocious as it nears her. The Doctor however stands unflinchingly, “I’ve got nothing mate. You’ve had your fill... Now you starve.” The Entity slowly wraps its tendrils around the Doctor, trying to leech any ‘Void’ substance from her but finds nothing. Discovering this, the Entity repels from the Doctor and begins to crawl away through the cave entrance. The Doctor closely follows after checking over her friends. Their faces are pale, but they are slowly breathing. Her plan worked, but the Doctor thinks upon what the cost is...

The Entity, having used up its entire food resources is slowly dying as it feebly crawls along the cave entrance. Its blackened visage fades rapidly as it’s tendrils weakly drag itself across the floor. The Doctor only needs to walk briskly to keep side by side it. “I’m sorry. I mean, if you can even comprehend me, I’m sorry. This shouldn’t have been done to you. Made to cannibalise your own kind for some lofty idea of evolution. Constantly eating up your own life forces, burning them up for just a chance a survival. That sounds too familiar... Much too familiar.” The Entity makes no effort to acknowledge the Doctor as its tendrils finally stop dragging it. It’s the end of the line, if again, it could comprehend that. The Doctor sympathetically kneels next to the dying Entity, she stays reserved as she continues her eulogy. “That’s the thing though, you’re just the physical part of the ‘Hivemind’. The real problem is upstairs. You were split in two as a silly attempt of survival. When that backfired, well... ere’ we are.”

She looks sternly at the withered Entity as its form begins to deflate against the rocky surface. “You were only fifty percent of the problem. But you still ate my friends. I can’t forgive you for that, no matter your hardship.” The Entity expels a ‘final breath’ as it finally withers away into nothing. It’s flesh bubbles away into a thin, colourless liquid, washing into the rocks at the Doctor’s feet. The Doctor breathes a heavy sigh as she plods forward. Plunging her hands deep into her stained coat pockets.

The pale figures of Yaz, Graham, and Ryan slowly rise from the rocky surface, their eyes blink achingly as the deep blackness in their eyes fade away. Their breathing is harsh, restricted as they cough and splutter to life. Yaz is the first to rise fully, stumbling towards her friends, laying caring hands on their shoulders. “Are you guys alright?” Yaz speaks with a hoarse voice and is met with the unsure nodding of Graham and Ryan.

They huddle close together, trying to find warmth but are soon interrupted by a low buzzing and a brilliant glow of yellow light. Casting a shadow over them is the smiling figure of the Doctor. “The Entity is gone, dissolved. It won’t harm anyone else anymore.” She speaks commandingly with a hint of reassurance. Her friends aren’t buying it as they look on and stumble towards her.

The Doctor stands aside, letting Ryan and Graham pass her, they shoot wary glances as they lead on through the cave. The Doctor turns back and is met with a harsh glare from Yaz, her hands are wrapped across her chest as she shivers between her cutting words. “We need to talk, Doctor.” There’s a pause between them that lasts for an eternity. “Later Yaz. I still have to deal with the second half of the Voidkind Hivemind. Let’s get out of here and we can talk it over.”

The Doctor says dismissively as Yaz leads on, brushing past the Doctor. Finally, the Doctor lifts a loose rock from the wall beside her, carefully aims it into the barbaric cage room and fires it with a powerful strike. In mere moments the cave collapses, crushing the metal cage, the rusted structure rips and bends apart. The desks and computers in the room are similarity buried by the rubble. Satisfied, the Doctor nods and moves to join her friends further up the tunnel.

Having retraced their steps in an awkward silence the group finds themselves in the desolate landscape. The foliage is desecrated and now a thin layer of ashes. The powder crumbles beneath their footsteps as the team head to the lone figure of the police box. The bottom of it is now coated in the ashen substance it’s swirled around from the wind. Graham and Ryan don’t hesitate to enter the TARDIS. Pushing the doors weakly and vanishing into the vast space, Yaz stands just at the threshold and turns back to face the Doctor. She’s already nearing the decayed structure of the Halfway House.

The halls are empty, the sounds of misery and decay are silenced as the Doctor’s boots clack against the tiled floors. Her face is stern as the Doctor scans the corridors searching for her prey. Eventually she hears the sound of harsh, dying, gasping breaths. She cautiously approaches the source, the lounge. Finally, her figure stands in the doorway, casting a shadow on the decrepit form of Dr. Abrams.

He sits in a chair; his arms lay by his side limply. His eyes are deeply sunken in and leak a colourless substance. “Tears?” The Doctor says coldly as she approaches the dying adversary. “Keep back.” Dr. Abrams coughs violently as he struggles to lift his arms in defence. The Doctor now stands by his side, her face is stern, yet her eyes portray a hint of sorrow. “What’s your name? Y’know, your actual name before you took ‘Dr. Abrams’?” The weak form of ‘Dr. Abrams’ coughs deeply, thin fluid leaks from his mouth and eyes as he seems to be melting in his chair. “I... Can’t remember. As Voidkind, names weren’t necessary. We had uniformity.”

“In your opinion.” The Doctor cuts in coldly, “your plans nearly killed my mates. What I had to do to stop you might’ve ended everything.”

“I know... I felt it, all the fear, the betrayal... It was wonderful Doctor.” A smirk grows on the creature’s face. The Doctor turns away in disgust, but her arm is held by a slimy, decayed hand... “Did you truly wish to deny us a chance to survive?” The melting figure hissed with an emotionless face. Yet the Doctor could detect sadness within the creature as the black substance that flowed on the creature slowed to a crawl. “Yes mate, I did...” She looked sorrowfully, “I’ve seen the lengths people go to for ‘survival’. I learnt a long time ago that everything has its time, and everything dies. And yes, your kind suffered greatly in whatever war you waged. But clinging desperately to ‘life’ like this...”

Her voice raises as she clenches a fist in frustration, “These people had hopes, dreams, nightmares all of their own. Taking that away from them was far worse than slaughtering them!” The Doctor stands angrily and begins to walk away. “You’ll starve in several minutes. Use them to think on the lives you’ve taken. Those you assimilated, discarded in the cave below. I’m sorry it had to end like this. Your people shouldn’t have had to follow you to this end. There should’ve been another way. The Doctor finally leaves the room as Dr. Abrams withers slowly in the chair. As the Doctor exits the Halfway House the walls finally crumble and break apart. The cracks spread like a broken mirror as she finally exits leaving behind her the carcass of the Halfway House...

EPILOGUE

The engines of the TARDIS were humming steadily. Yet the mood in the ship was far from that. Twenty minutes had passed since the climactic battle of the Halfway House. The Doctor is cautiously looking over Graham and Ryan within the TARDIS medical bay. It’s relatively the size of an average clinic, yet the draws and cupboards were filled with infinite items. The Doctor only needed her eyes and screwdriver to finalise her checks. “Blimey Doc, this place is huge. Way bigger than the local GP…” Graham jokes while being closely examined. “Yeah,” the Doctor smirks, “It’s a shame it takes ages to see a Doctor though, we’re incredibly understaffed.” Graham chuckles after sliding off the table. Ryan soon hops on and struggles to sit still as the Doctor lights up his neck with the screwdriver. In between buzzes Graham speaks. “Doc? I can’t remember what happened in that cave, everything went black and cold, Y’know like the TARDIS when we were first taken.”

“Your memories will return Graham, it’s a side effect of the Voidkind. They changed you, almost erased your personalities.” The Doctor distractingly prods the screwdriver into Ryan’s neck causing him to help in pain. “Ah! Sorry Ryan. Just an average bit of medical negligence!”

“It’s alright Doctor, quick question though, how did you stop the bad guys then? It must’ve annoyed Yaz... She hasn’t spoken to us in ages.” The Doctor gives a silent nod, refusing to answer. Finally letting Ryan and Graham exit into the console room. They are greeted by Yaz, her arms crossed staring down at the Doctor as she awkwardly stands at the console, her hands hover nervously over the controls. Her friends stand behind her, their eyes pierce through her back, the Doctor can’t avoid the subject any longer. Yaz stammers nervously, “Doctor, you did a terrible thing today. Now, I don’t have a clue about how you think, but you could have told us, told me what you were planning!”

“Look, I don’t know what more I can do other than say sorry.” The Doctor laid her hands on the console stressfully. The tips of her fingers turn a ghostly white. “There’s no point apologising! You let that monster; creature-thing eat us!” Yaz cuts through. Both Ryan and Graham gasp in awed shock, they slowly move away from the Doctor... “I didn’t know if I could reverse what the Voidkind had done! I panicked. I had bigger things to deal with.” The Doctor snaps back. “Bigger than us?!” The gang cry out in unison. “I told you all that night in Sheffield. Travelling with me is dangerous. Bad things can and will happen! I’m not just escapism from your boring lives!” The gang stands in a stunned silence. Realising the bite of her words, the Doctor relents. “I... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“Now listen ere’ Doc.” Graham interjects, stepping forward to the Doctor, shielding Ryan and Yaz. “Our lives may be ‘boring’ to someone like you... But that doesn’t give you the right to play God with em’ Yes, we agreed to come with you, but this is a two-way street. A bit of Give ‘n’ Take! We knew the dangers following you. But today, we came second.” The Doctor responds with a voice of filtered fury, “Don’t you ever dare think that I’m incapable of helping my friends... I had a plan, it was stupid yes, but I couldn’t think fast enough! At the end of the day, I knew what I was doing. Telling you all about it might have spoiled the plan. You were absorbed into a consciousness; what you knew or would know they would know too!” The Doctor stands her ground, her raised position in front of the console casts a shadow on her friends. “You’ve right messed us around Doctor.” Ryan speaks with a disappointed tone as he turns his back to leave the console room. Graham follows soon after, leaving Yaz standing before the Doctor. The Doctor often handled criticism well from past experience. Usually being able to internalise the crippling self-doubt and guilt. In her thirteenth incarnation however, she was much more prone to emotional heartbreak.

She could handle it from Ryan and Graham. But from Yaz? No. It just hurt too much, she could see too much of herself in her. Yaz’s sense of morality and curiosity rivalled that of her own. It may as well have been a picture-perfect clone standing on the ramp of the console room, arms folded and scowling directly back at her... “I don’t know if I can forgive you Doctor.” Yaz finally spoke up again. Her voice cracking at ‘Doctor’.

The Doctor lowers her head away from the warm console light, casting her face in a deep shade of black. “Yaz. I don’t expect you to. I tested all of your faith in me today. I played chess blindfolded with pieces as sharp as blades. One wrong move and my hand would’ve been sliced up. There was something, in the back of my mind Yaz! It Urged me to carry on. It’s like I knew I was going to fix everything by beating that monster before trying to sort you. Even if it meant leaving you behind for a short while. I didn’t though! That’s what matters, you’re all still here. All still safe...”

She grows a warm, friendly smile to her friend. Yaz however, looks unconvinced as she turns the opposite direction from Graham and Ryan and headed to her room. This left the console room empty again... The Doctor stood still as a desecrated statue... While around her time moved slowly on. The TARDIS eventually lands, it’s humming slowed to a crawl as Graham and Ryan eventually leave together. Their hands on each other’s shoulders. Graham gives a last look to the Doctor and offers a small ‘we’ll be alright Doc’ wave before they exit. Finally, Yaz lifts a bag through the wooden doors.

She turns to the Doctor before leaving and the Doctor begins to speak. “Yaz, before all of this started... You asked me what I didn’t want you guys to know about me.” Yaz nods silently in response. “This was it. I make sacrifices Yaz, in the face of absolute evil. I do what I have to do. I know what I did to you guys was terrible, but you have to understand. Travelling with me isn’t always fun and games. There are things in the universe that exist to mess with the universe, to exploit it for their gain... I’m here to fight them... Any means necessary.”

Yaz nods her head and exits through the doors. Yet again, the TARDIS stands on the stone steps of a murky backdrop of Park Hill. The gang step out to look sorrowfully at the brilliant, blue police box. “The Doctor needs a wakeup call.” Yaz says as she heads home. Eventually, Ryan and Graham head their separate paths, leaving the TARDIS to stand, its roof lamp diminishing. The Doctor stands alone as the harsh echo of the doors locking themselves ring out in the vast console room. She turns on a heel timidly and plunges the silver lever downward, triggering the ancient, Lonely engines in a pained groan...

END...