‘That wasn’t so difficult, was it?’ sneered Vrezan.
‘So what are you doing to do now? Electrocute me?’ The Doctor wished he hadn’t asked.
‘How did you guess?’ said Vrezan, faking a disappointed-sounding voice.
‘Why? What possible purpose could it have? And where are you going to get the power from?’
‘Like I said,’ continued Vrezan, ‘I am a part of this place now. I can draw electricity from my very surroundings.’
Vrezan closed his dark eyes and a second later a dull light flicked on in an old, long-dead bulb over their heads. He looked around and smiled.
‘Well done,’ said the Doctor, ‘you’ve succeeded in turning on a light. What other tricks can you perform? Any bunny rabbits hidden about?’
Vrezan sneered angrily and a faint hum began to emanate from the machinery connected to the back of the electric chair. ‘Do not provoke me, Doctor,’ he growled.
‘Now look, Harold, there’s no need for all this violence.’
‘I think we can dispense with calling me Harold, don’t you think?’
‘Then what do you want me to call you? What’s a popular name on your planet?’
‘My name is Vrezan.’
The Doctor nodded. ‘A War-Wraith? Am I right?’
Vrezan nodded.
The Doctor looked at Tom who was also smiling. ‘Tom, what good would switching on that electric chair do?’
‘It’d kill you,’ said Tom.
‘Exactly! And why would you want to do that?’
‘Because I want you dead,’ said Vrezan. ‘I’m already taking care of your other friends, and it’s time for you to join them.’
The Doctor tried to get up off the chair, but his arms and legs were strapped down. ‘What did you do to them?’
‘That’s no concern of yours. Let’s just say that they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.’
Tom and Vrezan laughed together, but Tom suddenly stopped and looked straight ahead as if he was trying to work something out.
‘This is what you want, is it? You want to skulk about these miserable old prison ruins forever?’ The Doctor had begun to get desperate as the electricity hum got louder.
‘It’s fun,’ grinned Vrezan. ‘Besides, eventually I‘ll expand beyond the grounds.’
‘Don’t count on it.’ The humming grew louder and louder and louder. The Doctor began to feel the hairs on his skin stand on end. His skin began to prickle and he felt pins and needles going through his arms and legs. ‘You must stop this now!’ he yelled to Vrezan.
‘I’ll only stop when you’ve been fried to a crisp,’ grinned Vrezan.
And then it happened. The machine exploded into life. The wires hummed with full power and the electricity was sent coasting through them, heading to the Doctor. Wires had been attached to the Doctors skin and when the electricity hit him it made the Doctor lurch forward. He screamed in agony as the power ripped through his already weak body. His clothes began to smoke as he convulsed in the chair.
For the Doctor, the pain was worse than he could have ever imagined. Even worse than that time when Tressure tortured him on Theen. This was worse than anything he had ever felt before. He tried hard to block out the pain, but it was no use.
Then, without warning, the pain stopped. The Doctor could still feel his skin smouldering and his clothes were charred and ripped. He forced his eyes to look up and saw a slightly unbelievable sight. Tom was standing in front of Vrezan. Vrezan was a few feet off the ground and bent back. His mouth was gaping wide open and a large iron bar had been thrust through his chest. Tom had his hand outstretched and was holding him place.
‘Tom?’ croaked the Doctor.
‘Get out now,’ said Tom quickly. ‘Get out before I change my mind. I can’t latch onto his power forever.’
‘I can’t,’ said the Doctor weakly. ‘The manacles are still around my arms and legs.’
Tom frowned and then, reluctantly, let his release on Vrezan go. Vrezan slowly floated to the ground whilst Tom began trying to break through the manacles. He concentrated hard and then the metal snapped open like plastic. ‘Go now!’
The Doctor stumbled out of the chair and collapsed to the ground. He looked across at Vrezan who was beginning to stir. His hand gripped around the bar and he slowly pulled it out of his chest. Then his head snapped around to look at the Doctor.
‘GO!’ shouted Tom.
The Doctor got to his feet as quickly as he could and began a very struggled run. Tom tried to block Vrezan’s path but he batted him aside and began floating very quickly after the Doctor.
The Doctor was shining his torch ahead, desperate to find the exit and get into the outside world when Vrezan levitated another piece of rubble and slammed it into the Doctor’s back. He fell to floor and rolled around in pain in the thick dust. Vrezan levitated another block of brick-work and brought it down on the Doctor’s leg. He cried out in pain.
‘You are a fool for even trying to escape!’ growled Vrezan.
But before he could say anymore Tom had returned and had forced the iron bar into Vrezan’s neck.
“PUPPET!” screamed Vrezan.
It gave the Doctor just long enough to stumble out of the door and back into the prison grounds.
He lifted his head and looked up towards the prison gates. In the distance he could see them opening, and standing between the iron doors was a man in black. His face was a blur and the Doctor passed out once more.
Father Tremond stepped into the prison ground and looked around him. The air was still and it was almost dark. He noted the buildings in the area. There appeared to be a large building, which obviously served as the main prison building as well as another, much larger building that housed the cells. Beside one of these buildings was an unconscious man. Tremond looked around him and then hurried over to the man.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
The man lifted his head and then smiled at the man in black. ‘Yes, I think I am.’ He tried to extend a hand. ‘Good evening, I’m the Doctor.’
‘Good evening,’ replied Tremond. The old vicar helped the Doctor to his feet. ‘Dear me, you are in a mess, aren’t you?’
‘Yes,’ said the Doctor with a heavy sigh. He looked back at the prison building and then, as if only just realising the man was there, back to Tremond. ‘And who are you?’
‘Oh, forgive me,’ smiled the old vicar. ‘I am Father Tremond. I come from Tom’s home town.’
‘Ah,’ said the Doctor, carefully considering his words. ‘I’m afraid there has been a little accident.’
‘I know, I know,’ said Tremond sadly.
‘You know?’
‘Yes. You see, I was fast asleep last night when I suddenly had this dream of Thomas. He was in pain and being goaded into doing bad things by a-’ he struggled to find a suitable word, ‘-by a demon.’
‘Tom must have used Vrezan’s own power to call out. His message reached you in the form of a dream!’ said the Doctor, excitedly.
‘I asked his brother, Jay, if he’d known where he had gone, but apparently they hadn’t spoken for a year or so. Ever since the unfortunate accident with his girlfriend. It was me who had to deal with Thomas’s foolishness. Ever since then I’ve felt some sort of bond with him. He’d always come to me in times of loneliness and sadness. I asked around and found out he had come here.’ Tremond shook his head. ‘Foolish young man.’
Danny had Kate pinned against the door and was refusing to let her go. His icy hands were tight around her neck and he kept laughing in a voice that she was sure wasn’t his own.
‘Let me go!’ she shouted through gasps for air.
‘Poor little Kate,’ hissed Danny. ‘Thought you could control Alex, did you? Thought you were the big boss lady? Poor little Alex!’
‘I don’t....I don’t under…understand!’ gasped Kate.
‘They never do, do they?’
With all of her might Kate managed to force Danny away with a shove of her foot. He recoiled back and landed on his backside, after tripping over one of the disconnected car head lamps. Kate went for the wooden cross and held it up in front of her. ‘I’m warning you, Danny, if you don’t calm down I’ll have to use this.’
Danny had started twitching and the smile had disappeared from his face. He held out a hand and looked away. ‘Please not the cross.’
Kate looked at the cross and then back at Danny. ‘You don’t like the cross?’
Danny curled into a ball and hid his face. ‘The cross will destroy us!
The ones from the church. The ones from the church will destroy us!’ he hissed.
A smile trickled onto Kate’s face and she walked over to him. ‘I don’t know who you are,’ she said, keeping the cross in front of her, ‘but you can help get Alex and Caroline out of that grave.’
‘No!’ hissed Danny.
‘YES!’ shouted Kate and thrust the cross towards Danny’s head making him scream in agony.
‘Very well. I’ll do it,’ said Danny.
Kate smiled and lowered the cross.
It was bad luck for Kate that she didn’t bump into the Doctor and Tremond on her way from the prison ground. Tremond, who had been in a little bit of shock over the announcement of Tom’s death, had requested to go back to his car for a flask of tea. The Doctor escorted the old man through the gates and opened the car door for him. Tremond sat in the drivers seat whilst the Doctor sat in the passenger seat. Both had their doors open.
‘Tom used to be such a good lad,’ said Tremond distantly. ‘His mother used to bring him to church every Sunday morning.’ He took a sip from his tea. ‘Of course he’d get into trouble like most boys of his age did, but he was a lovely little boy. Always happy to be alive.’
‘It seems that the Tom that I met was far from happy,’ said the Doctor flatly. ‘He was moody, secretive and didn’t seem to have a reason to be here.’
‘Yes. The death of Vanessa did that to him, poor boy. He could never forgive himself.’
The Doctor nodded slowly. ‘Vrezan’s twisted Tom up so much he doesn’t know what he wants. He’s not even the real Tom. Just an echo.’
Tremond looked at the Doctor. ‘This Vrezan - what exactly is he?’
‘He’s what the Time Lords called a War-Wraith. They come from the edge of the galaxy. They visit planets, bury themselves in people’s minds and absorb as much info as possible. Then they take over.’
‘But this is all absurd!’
‘Any more absurd than deadly, killing ghosts?’
‘But Venessa’s ghost. How do you explain that?’
‘I can’t,’ said the Doctor. ‘I can’t explain that at all.’
Tremond shook his head. ‘Where are the rest of these…Wraiths?’
‘I think this one is lost. He’s lost and on his own. He’s gotten so powerful that he has almost limitless control over the entire prison area and maybe beyond. All those that he touches seem to be affected by him.’ The Doctor thought back to Feathers, the estate agent, back in the hospital. He had gone so crazy that he thought he was Stevens and Kate was being kept alive by Stevens’ power.
‘Well, our main priority is to get those young people out of there and then sort out Tom and this Vrezan.’
‘Agreed,’ said the Doctor as they both helped themselves to some more tea.
Kate marched Danny across the grounds and towards the cemetery. Every now and again he tried to escape, but Kate would thrust the cross in front of him again and he’d cower onwards.
They arrived at the filled-in grave, and Kate stood beside the patch of earth. ‘Get digging,’ she commanded.
‘Dig?’ said Danny, his voice losing a little of it’s hissing.
‘Yeah,’ she reached for the spade and handed it to him. Danny looked at her in amusement, but he soon grabbed the spade when Kate held out the cross to him again. ‘Now dig!’
Danny dug as fast and as quickly as he could, but all the time he was wondering and thinking about what was going on inside his head. One minute he was fine and then the next....that thing had come back to torment him as if it was trying to take over.
And now he was certain that the Apparite that had taken control of his body back in Thornsby, was still in there.
Danny winced and put a hand to his head. Kate jumped into the pit and put a hand on Danny’s shoulder. ‘What’s up?’
‘I....’ he realised his voice had returned to normal. ‘I have a headache.’
Kate realised the cross wasn’t affecting Danny anymore. ‘What happened to you? Was it Stevens?’
‘No,’ said Danny. He looked at Kate and then threw his arms around her. ‘I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to explain it.’
‘Try,’ said Kate, trying to push Danny away.
‘That thing from another dimension. It’s still in there. Deep inside. It keeps trying to come to the surface.’
‘You need to tell the Doctor. He can help.’
‘I’m scared,’ said Danny, trying to stop himself from crying.
‘I think you better carry on digging.’
Eventually Danny had dug right down to Alex and Caroline. They appeared to be in suspended animation. A glow had surrounded them and had them frozen stiff. Kate touched Alex and the glow seemed to distort and she saw Alex blinking.
Danny looked at Caroline. She had a bony skeletal hand clasped around her neck and a look of pure terror on her face. Her mouth was wide open and a little bit of earth was on her tongue. He pushed her and the glow distorted and then vanished.
A loud gasp of air came from Caroline and she pulled the limp hand from around her neck. ‘Wha-what’s going on?’
Kate knocked Alex out of his glowing force field as well, and he too asked the same question. Stevens had somehow kept the two of them alive and protected from the mud and dirt, no doubt so he could finish them off later.
‘What about Joanne and Mark?’ asked Caroline, still spluttering.
‘Don’t know about them yet,’ said Kate. ‘We’ve gotta go and find them.’
The four them began a jog across the grounds. Danny hung back and then tapped Kate on the shoulder. ‘Kate, can I trust you not to tell anybody about what happened to me in the chapel?’ he whispered.
Kate slowed a little. ‘Danny, don’t you think you should tell them?’
Danny shook his head. ‘No. They can’t help me at all.’ He grabbed her arm gently. ‘Please, Kate, don’t tell anybody. They’ll not trust me again.’
Kate sighed and then nodded. ‘Okay, Danny, I promise I won’t tell anybody.’
Tom was lying on the floor, groaning in pain. Just when he thought the pain had subsided, the bar was thrust down through his stomach, clanging on the floor beneath him.
‘Does it hurt?’ growled Vrezan. He was standing a few feet away and levitating the iron bar. ‘Do you like it?’
‘No!’ groaned Tom, as the bar withdrew from him again. ‘Please, Vrezan! Please stop!’
‘Germ!’ yelled Vrezan, and slammed the bar through Tom’s ghostly form again. ‘Think you’re clever do you? Think you can spurn my offer of help? You are just my puppet. I can switch you off any time I like. You’re nothing!’
‘I’m sorry!’ yelled Tom. ‘I just lost my way. I didn’t know what I was doing!’
Vrezan lifted the bar again. ‘I can’t afford to be friends with someone who dumps loyalty because they don’t know what they are doing.’ He brought the bar down through Tom again. ‘You let the Doctor escape. Now I sense that another two have escaped. They’re massing against me! THEY ARE MASSING!’
Tom gritted his teeth through the pain. ‘They can’t harm you, Vrezan! We can defeat them together.’
‘Together?’ Vrezan laughed in amazement. ‘I don’t want your help any longer!’ He brought the bar crashing down again.
After Caroline had met up with The Doctor and Tremond, they had found Joanne cowering in the corner of one of the dark cells, but there was no sign of Mark, and Joanne clearly wasn’t in any state to give any answers.
‘What do we do?’ asked Caroline urgently. ‘Where could this Vrezan have put Mark?’
‘Perhaps he’s killed him, like he killed Tom,’ growled Alex. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think he’s probably hidden Mark somewhere,’ said the Doctor, trying to work something out in his head. ‘I think he’s probably put Mark in the same place as he put the TARDIS.’
‘And where’s that?’ asked Tremond.
‘Well, it’s quite clear that Vrezan has access to other dimensions that we don’t.’ He bit his thumb nail. ‘I just get the horrible feeling that we won’t be able to get to it.’
‘Then we must persuade this monster to come to us and reveal himself,’ said Tremond. ‘Maybe then we talk to him and get him to reveal your box, and Mark.’
‘Easier said than done. He has incredible powers,’ said the Doctor downheartedly.
‘Then we need to make a stand. Lure him into a confined space. Confuse him,’ said Caroline.
‘The chapel?’ suggested Alex.
‘It’s small and he seems afraid of it,’ said the Doctor. ‘Probably drawing off the human memories of Harold Stevens. Chapels are sacred places and if Harold was religious…then maybe that’s filtering through to Vrezan.’
‘He might let his guard down in there,’ smiled Caroline.
‘Then the chapel it is,’ said the Doctor. He turned to the others. ‘Kate, Father Tremond, come with me. Danny, Caroline and Alex; take Joanne to Tremond’s car and stay out of the grounds.’
Caroline knew that the Doctor meant it this time. She nodded. ‘Okay Doctor, but be careful.’
‘We will,’ said the Doctor. ‘Right, come on everyone.’
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