Seconds and then minutes passed while Terrie played an intricate mind game against Hannah’s seemingly innocent notebook. Oblivious to this silent war the other students continued their studies in peace without even a glance in Terrie’s direction. As her mind battled against this immovable force the pressure built up. Words and phrases began rushing into her head. Memories of lost jokes packed in tight; cold nostalgia freezing her mind. A low scream built up in her head getting louder and higher until the high pitch scream dominated Terrie’s mind. Pain tore down her spine causing Terrie to cry out in agony and grasp for a friend’s arm.
Terrie’s fingers brushed against a cold, hard surface. The pain and pressure rushed out of her head and Terrie jerked her eyes away from the notebook. Glancing around the room the pain was soon replaced by fear. Everywhere she looked was still. No drop of a pen lid, no rustle of paper. Teachers and students alike sat cold and hard like marble statues. Terrie slid her chair back and stood up. Glancing at the notebook her mind began running through all the possible options but each one returned to the clean, blank pages of Hannah’s notebook. The searing pain had gone and the desire to write on the pages had diminished but that had been replaced by nothingness. No sounds, no movement, not even the ticking of a clock. Time had stopped dead leaving Terrie trapped at ten past three for an eternity. Gone was tea-time, break-time, lunch-time, home-time, telly-time, YouTube-time... any-time. Never again would she talk to another person or look forward to tomorrow. In despair, Terrie tried shaking her friend hoping for any sort of reaction... nothing.
Suddenly a strange noise broke the silence; a pulsating, electronic groan. Terrie spun round to find where the noise was coming from; eager to find the source. The sound grew stronger and a small breeze rustled the pages of nearby books. She knew that sound anywhere. Terrie rushed over to the lift shaft where a faint glow was shining up through the glass door. As the noise tailed off Terrie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was so sure she would wake up at any moment to find that this was all a dream.
The gentle click of a door shutting caused Terrie’s eyes to flash open. Maybe this wasn’t a dream. Maybe he was here after all. A voice drifted up from below, drowning out the sound of Terrie’s beating heart.
“Weeeell, what do we have here then? Something wrong with you, girl? Last time you sped off like that I ended up in the middle of a war with a daughter. Weeell, not a war as such and it was hardly natural parenting, but where are we?”
As this smooth, sing-song voice swept up through the lift shaft Terrie held her breath. Reaching out for the door handle she stepped into the out-of-bounds lift shaft, jumping into the basement below.
Terrie landed clumsily, falling backwards. Turning her head up a strong, skinny hand stretched out in front of her. For a moment Terrie just sat staring at his hand. A hand she thought she would never hold. Looking up into his chocolate brown eyes her heart fluttered.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those fan girls,” he said. “Yes I’m the Doctor: the one, the only and the best. No you can’t have a photo and I don’t do autographs.”
“Urm...” Terrie mumbled, coming to her senses. “I’m not a fan girl as such. Well, I, like, follow you a bit and I admire what you’ve done but I’m not planning to faint or start screaming or anything anytime soon. It’s just... well... you.”
The Doctor gave Terrie a lopsided grin. A grin that spread up into his warm eyes, making them sparkle.
“Come on then, allons-y!”
“Thanks.” Terrie smiled back as she reached out to take his hand. The Doctor pulled Terrie to her feet then looked around at the bare basement. The only light came from the empty lift shaft and the small windows of the TARDIS.
“Right, so where am I? When am I?” The Doctor asked as he strode around the basement. “A basement obviously and...” The Doctor held up his finger before licking it to taste the air. “Twenty-ten? Yes, twenty-ten, beginning of the year.”
“11th January to be precise; and you’re in the basement of my school. Do you know what’s going on? ‘Cos, like, time’s stopped and I’m a bit overwhelmed by this ridiculous urge to write in Hannah’s notebook. What the hell are you doing here? And, oh... wait! Hannah’s not here to meet you!”
“Who’s this Hannah then?” The Doctor asked with a cute but puzzled expression.
“Hannah Newcombe: my ridiculously random and slightly obse... friend. My life is her fault!” Terrie chuckled.
“Hannah Newcombe...” The Doctor pondered, pacing up and down. “Hannah Newcombe!” he exclaimed suddenly, turning on the spot. “I met a vet with the same name when I got stuck in twenty-twenty – odd way to say that year, it’s not like everyone has perfect vision, who’d want perfect vision, good old specs.” The Doctor winked. “Something to do with sheep too if my old brain tells me right...”
“Ur... will you excuse me a moment?” Terrie asked quickly.
“Urm.. sure?” The Doctor replied.
“Thanks.” Terrie said before running behind the TARDIS where she began to jump up and down and scream. Eventually she ran out of breath and calmed down. Peering round the side of the TARDIS she looked back at The Doctor. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I couldn’t help it. Ur... can we pretend that didn’t happen?”
“Pretend what didn’t happen?” The Doctor replied, grinning once again. “Right then, let’s see what’s going on. Maybe my old TARDIS has some answers; how’s about a look inside?”
Terrie nodded, lost for words. Not only had she met The Doctor in all his tall, skinny hotness but she was also going to step inside the TARDIS. Her heart raced as she imagined stepping through the narrow blue doors to see the wide console of the TARDIS stretching out before her. Terrie’s eager eyes followed The Doctor’s hand as it travelled to the pocket of his brown pinstripe suit to pull out the key. It was as if The Doctor was moving in slow motion as he lifted his key to the silver Yale lock.
There was no soft click as the Doctor inserted the key. Instead his hand began to disappear into the TARDIS. Pulling his right hand out the Doctor tried again, this time with his left hand. Again his hand appeared to be engulfed by the blue police box walls of the TARDIS. He place the key back in his right hand pocket, instead pulling out his glasses from his top inside pocket. Smoothly putting them on, he peered at the TARDIS, running his hands just about the surface.
“Sexy specs...” Terrie gasped under her breath.
“You think my glasses are sexy do you?” The Doctor said, standing up and turning to Terrie. Terrie blushed causing the Doctor to burst out into a grin before turning back to the TARDIS. “She seems to be in flux,” The Doctor frowned, glancing up and down the TARDIS doors. “Maybe we can’t get the old girl’s help after all.”
The Doctor turned back to Terrie and started walking in her direction. Suddenly a loud crash echoed around the basement and The Doctor’s eyes lit up, flicking to a point behind Terrie’s head. Slipping his hand into hers he whispered one word: “Run!”
Terrie held on tight to The Doctor’s warm, slender hand. Adrenaline pumped around her body while excitement downed out any fear and all her dreams were coming true. Running down the dark, unknown tunnels of the basement their Converses made no noise. Terrie’s deep breaths echoed around the walls as she clutched on tight to The Doctor, not wanting to lose him in the unexplored depths of the basement. Darkness encased the tunnels, thick and heavy as if they were drowning. Terrie wondered how The Doctor knew where he was going but held on tight, following him regardless.
Finally, a slender line of light appeared in the distance. Slipping out of Terrie’s grasp and slowing down to a walk The Doctor approached an ominous brown door that had appeared in front of them. Tapping on the wooden panels he listened intently to the echo.
“What was that?” Terrie questioned, taking a step towards The Doctor. “Why did we have to run?”
“That,” The Doctor replied, “was a young hora navashta. Not particularly dangerous on its own but the parents are probably close by. They must have used your friend’s notebook to temporal shift from a nearby portal. They feed off words and absorb time. Back when the Time Lords were around they kept them under control; they made sure time kept turning... Time kept turning and they would watch on, but that was never enough...” The Doctor trailed off, staring into the distance with his mind elsewhere.
Suddenly The Doctor turned back to Terrie, breaking the silence. “You know, there’s something different about you.”
“Well, my friends call me the only exception sometimes. Hannah even compared me to a pair of boys’ trousers!”
“No, something else, something special,” The Doctor replied, looking quizzically into Terrie’s eyes. “You should be frozen in time. You should be still and quiet like everyone else. Why are you different?” The Doctor reached out to touch Terrie’s cheek. “Only time-lord blood can overcome the time lock.”
Terrie stood looking back, barely breathing.
“I don’t know if it’s your hand on my cheek or the time lock but I don’t think I can move.”
The Doctor took a swift step back, dropping his hand. Terrie remained standing there, not moving a muscle. A cold sensation started spreading from her feet and up her legs causing her to gasp. Her legs felt cold and heavy like solid marble and the sensation moved higher and higher causing a tear to escape from the corner of her eye.
“Doctor, help me.” Terrie gasped, the effort making the cold spread even deeper.
Swiftly crossing the small gap between them, The Doctor placed his hands either side of Terrie’s head. Terrie watched his head bend down to meet hers and her eyes closed automatically. As their lips touched a new sensation swept over Terrie. The cold was replaced by a fire that raged to her fingertips and the ends of her toes. As the fire subsided Terrie was once again able to move and her lips responded to the firm pressure of The Doctor’s lips against hers.
Their lips moved together knowing just what to do next as if they were designed for each other. It felt like there were fireworks exploding and Terrie smoothly wrapped her arms around The Doctor’s neck while his hands moved to her waist. They pulled themselves closer together, absorbed in each other’s reality. Terrie was hyper-aware of every sensation: every touch of The Doctor’s fingers, every brush of his lips. They fitted perfectly into each other’s arms like two pieces of a puzzle; their lips moved together in one smooth dance and their tongues teased around each other. Terrie ran her hands down to the Doctor’s chest before breaking away with a gasp.
“I... forgot... to breathe.” Terrie whispered, holding on to the lapels of The Doctor’s suit as she waited for the light-headedness to subside.
“Weeell... that was something,” The Doctor said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “As I said, there’s something special about you.” The Doctor looked deep into Terrie’s warm eyes then lent over to whisper in her ear; “This time, don’t forget to breathe.”
Once again their lips touched and sparks exploded. Terrie’s skin tingled where The Doctor ran his fingers down her cheek and The Doctor automatically rearranged himself around Terrie as she wrapped her arms around him under his striped brown suit jacket. Fireworks exploded left right and centre and their three hearts pumped furiously. Their hands mapped out the contours of each other’s bodies and their lips moved together in one continuous string of movements. They fitted perfectly around each other and their bodies responded to each other as if their kiss had lasted for years instead of a few unmoving minutes.
Suddenly another loud crash followed by a series of animal-like grunts broke into their world. Once again they found themselves running. They sped down the dark tunnels, their fingers entwined.
It wasn’t long before they found themselves under the shallow lift shaft leading back up to the library. The Doctor helped Terrie clamber back up into the silent library before smoothly climbing up as well. The Doctor straightened up, looking around at the people who were sitting cold and stiff like marble statues. Walking over to the nearest student The Doctor pulled out a pair of red and blue 3D glasses and put them on. Next he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and the quiet blue hum filled the previously silent room. After a while The Doctor crossed the room to another student, again zapping them with the sonic screwdriver.
“Shouldn’t we do something about the hora navashta?” Terrie asked, crossing the room to Hannah’s notebook and picking it up absentmindedly.
“You’re brilliant!” The Doctor exclaimed. Snapping up he ripped off his 3D glasses and span around to face Terrie. “Words! Why didn’t I think of it?” Bounding over to the table where Terrie was standing The Doctor picked up Hannah’s notebook and a pen. The Doctor scanned through the pages of the notebook, occasionally pausing to read a paragraph or two more closely.
“This notebook,” The Doctor pondered, “is full of drafts for blog posts and Hannah types these up onto the internet every now and then so... no... wait, yes! Hannah types up these blogs and the hora navashta canfeed off the words. Rather primitive but it could work. How often does Hannah put up a new blog?” The Doctor asked, spinning back to face Terrie once again.
“Nowhere near as often as I’d like,” Terrie replied. “It really varies; she might put two or three up in a day and then not blog for weeks.”
“Hmm, might have to do something about that...” The Doctor tailed off and for a while the room was in utter silence. Not even the ticking of a clock could be heard.
“Got it!” The Doctor shouted. “One: we need to make sure Hannah updates her blog often enough; ‘B’, no, wait... two: we’ll have to find a way to make sure Hannah writes enough each week; three, or ‘C’: we should make sure it’s interesting. I don’t want to get bored when I check up on her posts! That’s a thing... I’ll have to make a blog account. Hmmm... Tardis_ is a bit predictable; maybe e? Yeah, that sounds good. Right then, alons-y!”
“Urm...” Terrie hesitated, not quite sure where or what she was meant to be doing. “How exactly are we going to make sure Hannah updates?”
“How about setting her a challenge?” The Doctor proposed, turning to a blank page in Hannah’s notebook. The Doctor handed Terrie the pen. “Go wild. Give her a list of blog titles which she has to use or something. I’m sure a minimum word count will cover the need for enough words and the threat of a light-hearted punishment will give her that incentive to keep up.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Terrie replied. Taking the pen she began to write immediately. Words flowed out of the end of the pen absorbing Terrie into a world of nostalgia.
“Doctor?” Terrie asked after a while, turning round. As she looked she was greeted by an empty room. The Doctor never stays to say goodbye. “Goodbye, Doctor.” Terrie whispered as the noise of the TARDIS once again reverberated around the otherwise silent library.
Terrie turned back to the notebook. The Doctor may have gone but she was not going to let him down. Determination raced through her veins and blog titles gradually began to fill the page. As she wrote down the last rule Terrie noticed the noise appearing around her that was gradually replacing the previous silence. Looking around Terrie saw the flicker of movement creep back into the bodies around her and once again the library was full of students studying and whispering quietly.
Looking up at the clock Terrie began to wonder when Hannah would return from her flute lesson. So much had passed since she’d left and Terrie couldn’t wait to tell her about meeting The Doctor. Most of all she couldn’t wait to tell Hannah that she was going to meet The Doctor in 2020. However, her memories were fading. The running, the hora navashta, the kiss: they all began to feel like some elaborate dream. Terrie was beginning to think that they were just another product of her frequently over-active imagination. Only the two pages of blog titles and challenge rules remained clear in her mind. Looking back over the two pages she had just written Terrie dismissed these thoughts. Not enough time had passed. Once again, Terrie concluded, her imagination had got away with her. Turning back to homework, Terrie awaited Hannah’s return.
Finally, Hannah walked back through the blue doors of the library. Crossing the room she went to sit back down beside Terrie who was busy working away at biology homework.
“Al’right?” Hannah asked, sitting back down in the chair next to Terrie. Noticing that her blog notebook was open Hannah picked it up to look at. As she read through the rules and blog titles Hannah smiled. Such a Terrie thing to do and she could do with a reason to blog more often. Turning to Terrie the two of them began to discuss the challenge. Ideas and extra rules were spoken about but Terrie’s meeting with The Doctor was never brought up. Terrie dismissed all she had experience as part of her over active imagination and Hannah was never informed. The real reason for why Terrie wrote that list was never to be rediscovered, except maybe now...
THE END
