Call of the Spirits: Chapter 5 (Balloon)

The Doctor scrambled into the upside-down TARDIS and then fell up to the console. As gravity re-stabilised him, he raced around the console and set the time machine moving.

He thought about things for a moment. How was he going to direct the TARDIS directly into the other TARDIS? It was a very dangerous thing to even attempt to do. He could blow a hole in the space/time continuum. A hole that the universe would never recover from.

He bit the end of his fingernail, thinking about things carefully. And then he simply shrugged. He had no choice. He had to attempt it.

So he set the co-ordinates for the Battle TARDIS, crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.




Danny sat against the cavern wall, his knees drawn up towards his chest and his head lowered.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head.

Adrian sat beside him. “I know it’s a bit of a shock, but do you trust us now?”

Danny looked at him. “I trust you. I’ve always trusted you. But the others…I don’t know.”

“Please, Danny. Please.”

“Can you get that one out of me?” asked Danny, hopefully.

Adrian sighed. “Yes. We can at least try.”

Danny shook his head. “I thought it would have come out of it’s own accord by now. Being in it’s own world and everything.”

“Maybe it likes it in there,” said Adrian.

“I think it does. And that’s what I’m worried about. I’m worried that it’s been in me that long that we can’t be separated.”

“That’s a possibility,” said Adrian. “But you haven’t turned yet. Even if it is still inside you, I think you’re the one more powerful.”

Danny closed his eyes and balled up his fists.

The two brothers both looked at each other. They had both sensed something. The ground was trembling under them ever so slightly. They both leapt to their feet and looked around, worriedly.

They could hear something coming from the outside. It sounded like a loud, thunderous roar.

“Outside!” said Adrian.

The two of them ran through the cave tunnel and out to the surface. Hanging about ten foot above them was a glowing, shimmering object. The ground was beginning to tremble even more violently.

Danny was finding it a struggle to stay on his feet. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” said Adrian. “Nothing like this has happened before.”

Danny looked around him. Shadowy figures with cloaks were beginning to scuttle across the ground and towards his and Adrian’s location.

“It’s Brandon’s lot,” said Adrian, as Brian Cope and the other’s emerged from the cave.

“They’re heading for us,” said Danny.

“You lot, back inside,” said Adrian, pointing at the half-formed creatures.

“What is Brandon doing?” said Mr. Cope, slowly and sluggishly.

“Nothing that concerns us,” said Adrian.

The air was suddenly ripped open and the shimmering light blurred and then came into sharper focus. Hanging above Danny and Adrian was the familiar, blue form of the TARDIS.

“Oh my God!” said Danny, smiling up at the time machine.

The land shook violently and everybody was thrown to the floor.

Danny looked up as the Doctor opened the door and looked down. “Oh my days!” he said.

“Doctor, what are you doing?” said Danny.

“I’m trying to land the TARDIS…with great difficulty!”

“You need to go back!” shouted Adrian over the thunder. “You’re damaging everything.”

“I know!” said the Doctor. “But I needed to get here. I need to shut the power down to this world.”

“You’ll hurt my friends,” said Adrian, indicating the cowering group of people.

“Friends?” said the Doctor. “What do you mean?”

Danny got to his feet. “It’s true, Doctor. There’s two lots of them. The ones that follow Brandon - the bad ones - and the ones that follow Adrian. The ones that follow Adrian are slowly mutating back.”

The Doctor looked from Danny, to Adrian, to the small group and then back again. “We still need to shut this world down, though. I can get you all out of here.”

“Danny!” shouted Adrian.

Danny looked to where Adrian was pointing. Brandon’s group was almost on top them.

The TARDIS lowered slightly so it was within touching distance of Danny.

“Give me your hand,” said the Doctor. “I’ll get you all out first, and then come back.”

“Is that wise?” said Danny, gazing up at him.

“Just give me your hand!” shouted the Doctor.

The TARDIS lurched sideways and Danny leapt up and grabbed the Doctor’s hand. He managed to pull him up into the doors as Adrian watched on.

The TARDIS was rocking backwards and forwards and was becoming more and more unstable.

“Jump, Adrian” shouted Danny.

Before Adrian could do anything, the TARDIS lurched backwards and then vanished.

There was a loud explosion that seemed to come from all around.

Brandon’s group had arrived, and gazed into the sky.

“What’s that?” asked Cope, using his voice for the first time.

“I don’t know,” said Adrian, worriedly.

The sky then lit up. There were flashes of light all over. Lightning struck down, blasting holes into the ground.

The cloaked figure of Brandon slowly walked up to Adrian and then lowered his hood. His features were much more Human than the others, but he was still hideous to look at. He smiled, his jagged teeth caked with goodness knows what.

“What’s going on, Brandon?” asked Adrian.

“Freedom,” rasped Brandon.

They all looked to the sky as large holes ripped into thin air. It was like the sky was melting away.

“What has the Doctor done…?” said Adrian as he watched on in horror.




Caroline stood at the hospital window, looking out over the still and half-empty carpark. It was now close to midnight and things were quiet. And that’s when Caroline noticed it. A tiny, almost-invisible flake of snow float from the sky. She watched it fall past the window and land on the outside ledge and melt away. And then there was another. And another. And soon the sky was filled with the falling snowflakes.

In August.

Cath had also noticed.

Caroline turned to her adopted mother and smiled sadly. Both of their eyes were red from crying, but they were over the worse of it. They had both had a good cry and had both apologised for what they had done or said, but Caroline had a feeling that it was going to take a long time for the both of them to get over this.

“They’re coming, aren’t they?” said Cath, nodding towards the window.

Caroline nodded gently. “Yep. They’re coming, and only the Doctor can stop them.”

“The bad people,” said Cath.

“The bad people,” repeated Caroline.

She grabbed Caroline’s hand and kissed her on the back of it. “You’re going back to him, aren’t you? The Doctor.”

Caroline nodded again. “I have to. I have this power inside me. You know that. I have to try and use it for some kind of good. Maybe that’s why I’m here.”

Cath looked at her daughter and then pulled her in and embraced her tightly. “Please take care, sweetheart. Please.”

“I will, mum,” said Caroline.

The two women broke apart and stood there staring at each other for a few moments. And then Cath went to her handbag and pulled out a small, oval-shaped pendant attached to a chain.

“What’s that?” asked Caroline, as her mum handed it to her.

“Something I was given a while back,” said Cath. “There was a note with it. It said to give it to you when you needed it the most. When things were ready to be finished.”

Caroline nodded. “When things are ready to be finished.”




Back at the church, Jayne, Margot, Ben and the rest of the group were standing outside. The snow was coming down thick and fast and the ground was rumbling. The cracks in the sky were violently shimmering. Everything went still and silent for a few minutes, and then…

BANG!

Every one of the cracks exploded, throwing Jayne and the rest of them to the ground.

The air was humming with power and the group slowly staggered back to the relative safety of the church.

“Look!” shouted Margot, pointing towards the sky.

Jayne could hardly believe her eyes. Everything they had worked towards over these past few centuries had come undone as she saw hooded figures - one after the other - slowly stream out of the cracks around the centre of Thornsby.

“What has he done?” whispered Jayne.

Next time: Matthew Cole wakes up, and Caroline has another surprise waiting for her. Coming Saturday 16th November.

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 4 (Landscapes)

Jayne was standing in front of the time machine’s doors, her arms outstretched, preventing the Doctor from getting to the ship.

The Doctor was frowning and shaking his head in disbelief.

“Please, move out of the way, Jayne.”

“You’re crazy,” said Jayne, pointing a finger at him. “We can’t open it. It’d be like letting water out of a bath. They’d all pour through.”

“But I need to get in!” said the Doctor. “If I can’t get in then I can’t try and fix your mistake.”

Jayne laughed. “That’s it, use the old ‘blame technique’ again. I know we messed up. I know! But I’m not going to let all our efforts over the past few centuries come crashing down because of you.”

“You wanted my help.”

“This isn’t helping.”

The Doctor attempted to get past Jayne, but she kicked him back and he staggered against the wall.

“Ben! Ben! Get down here now!” shouted Jayne.

“This is unnecessary,” coughed the Doctor, rubbing his ribs.

Almost instantly Ben appeared in the room. He glanced at the Doctor and then, confused, at Jayne.

“Get him out of here,” said Jayne, still up against the metal time capsule.

“Jayne…” said the Doctor.

“What the hell’s going on?” asked Ben. “I thought he was helping us.”

“Just get him out of here now!” said Jayne.

Ben looked apologetically at the Doctor and then helped him to his feet. He escorted him through the door, through the room of interested onlookers and then up the staircase and out of the church.

“You need to help me, Ben,” said the Doctor as they emerged into the cool night air.

“Whatever Jayne’s said, it’s for our own good.”

“Do you really believe that?” said the Doctor. He pointed at the ever widening cracks of light in the sky. Now there were curious onlookers taking photo’s and pointing at them. “That is the reality of the situation. This world is about to crack open. They keep pushing and pushing and pushing. I need to open up the box. They’ll come through, but it’ll relieve the pressure. And then I can fix this.”

Ben looked for a moment as if he was about to let the Doctor back in, and then shook his head. “No, sorry, Doctor, but we’ve stuck with Jayne this long. We can’t abandon her now. If I were you I’d find another way.”

“Ben!” said the Doctor. But it was too late. Ben had gone inside and locked the door behind him.

The Doctor looked around him frustrated and then kicked at a patch of grass. There was only one other way to deal with this.

He had to take his own TARDIS inside.




Danny stood on the edge of the cliff, gazing out into the distance, unsure of what to make of the landscape in front of him. It was almost too much for him. He’d seen different world’s before, and strange, strange creatures, but this was different. This was like something out of a nightmare. A terrible, terrible world from your worst dreams.

A black, oily sea swirled below him at the bottom of the cliff, frothy waves crashing against the rocks. The sky was orange and yellow and grey. Lightning seemed to strike down repeatedly and at odd angles, lighting up the sky and causing the loudest thunder you’d ever wish not to hear. He’d had a vision of this place back in Manchester, but this was even more awful than he had remembered.

The ground he was standing on was cold with snow under foot. His feet were numb and there was a constant vibration coming from it, almost like a humming sound.

All around were twisted, dead trees, their gnarled branches reaching up towards the dead sky, pleading for some peace.

Danny turned to face his brother. “So this is where you’ve been for the last ten years?”

“Like I said, time moves differently here.”

“But why come back? Why bring me back? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because I want you to try and understand what’s happening here.”

“Jayne’s already told us. We had the complete works. The cock-ups with their time machine, the members of her group leaving…everything.”

“But you don’t fully understand this world.”

“It’s just the inside of a TARDIS gone wrong.”

Adrian laughed and shook his head. “It’s much, much more than that, Danny. Much more.”

Danny frowned. “Why are you being so drawn in by them? And why haven’t you converted like the others?”

“Because I offered to help them.”

“What?” Danny could scarcely believe what he was hearing.

“Because when they took me across, they had every intention of converting me, but I told them I’d help them. I got them on my side.”

Danny shook his head and gazed out to sea again. “Why would you want to help them? They’re crazy!”

“Because,” said Adrian, walking up behind his brother and talking over his shoulder, “each one of those crazy beings used to be a Human being.”

“You’re beginning to sound like Don.”

“Don was misguided,” said Adrian. “And not all of them here care about being saved. Brandon doesn’t. He wants to get back to our world, but he wants revenge. There’s a few that follow him, but on the whole the rest of them just want to be rescued. You and the Doctor can do that.”

“Then why didn’t you just come through when I first met the Doctor? Why the cloak and dagger?”

“Because I couldn’t just slip through then. The fabric between the two world’s wasn’t weak enough. Now I can. But I did send a messenger.”

Danny thought for a moment, and then shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. “Please tell me that one that’s inside me isn’t sent from you.”

Adrian was quiet and never flinched.

Danny shook his head again. “Thanks a lot, Ade.”

Adrian grabbed his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Danny, but there was no other way.”

“But it never told me anything. It just tried to take over me.”

Adrian looked away. “Yes, that was my fault. We thought he would be loyal to us, but he wasn’t. He went rogue. We had no idea, and by the time we realised he’d screwed you up inside, you’d already flown away in the Doctor’s TARDIS.”

“Can you get him out now?” asked Danny, feeling the mental itch in his head again.

“Maybe,” said Adrian, “but you’re gonna have to come with me first.

“Why?”

“Because if I show you something, you may realise that they aren’t as bad as you think they are.”




The Doctor struggled through the streets, every now and then clutching at his chest. He turned into Pasture street and fell against the level crossing barriers that had come down. He watched as the train whizzed by. When the barriers came back up he fell to the ground.

It couldn’t end now. It was too soon. He had to fix this first.

For a moment he felt like he couldn’t go on. And then he saw something. A figure. A woman. Wearing a cardigan and a skirt. She had greying, blonde hair, a lined faced, but looked elegant and kindly. She smiled at him and pointed to the ground.

The Doctor looked. Next to him was a broken tree branch.

He turned to smile at the woman, but she had gone.

He reached for the branch, grabbed it as tightly as he could, and hauled himself onto his feet. Then, using the branch as a support, he made he way onwards towards his TARDIS.




Adrian guided Danny through an icy, rocky area surrounded by tiny, leave-less bushes and dying weeds poking out through the pure white snow, until they reached a cave. They made their way into the dark cave, careful not to slip on the snow, which, strangely had also settled deep into the cave, until they saw an orange glow from up ahead.

Danny felt frightened, but something inside him told him not to be.

Eventually they emerged into a clearing. Here there was no snow and the ground was just mud and dirt. There was a circle of huddled figures, all sat around a fire which was burning brightly in the centre of the clearing.

One of them turned to face Adrian and Danny, and Danny recognised him.

He was twisted and deformed and wearing a cloak, just like the other Apparites, but his face was familiar. Just.

“Mr. Cope?” said Danny, gawping at Caroline’s landlord. “But, I saw them take you. I saw them change you.”

Brian went to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“Brian was one of the first to be affected. As soon as he got here he began to change back.”

“But how?” said Danny, eyeing the old man up carefully.

“It seems that the people they absorb, the more they begin to mutate back to being Human beings. It’s coming full circle in a way.”

Danny looked around the group. There were people he didn’t recognise, but then there were those that Jayne had shown pictures of. Lilly and Penny and the old priest Father Ainslie, all in different states of evolving back into Human beings.

They all watched Danny with curiosity.

“This is not all,” said Adrian. “Follow me.”

They went deeper and deeper into the cave until they reached a room bathed in green light. Inside the room was a glowing, mushroom shaped object. It looked just like the TARDIS console, except this one was all overgrown with vines and writhing, metal wires, reaching and burying themselves into the cavern walls.

“I’ve been here long enough to work out all of these things,” said Adrian, touching the rusted console. “This is the central control unit of this time ship. This is the thing that’s keeping this whole dimension together.”

“Then why don’t you open it? Shut this place down for good.”

“Because it’ll destroy everything inside it. And we can’t do that,” said Adrian, staring Danny right into his eyes. “We can’t just destroy these people.”

“Then let me,” said Danny.

Adrian held him back. “You don’t understand. Even if I wanted to, I can’t get into the console to shut it down. When it exploded, it tuned itself into the nearest person it could find.”

Danny frowned. “Brandon?”

“Brandon,” confirmed Adrian with a nod. “He’s the only one who could shut this place down. Or perhaps the Doctor.”

Danny growled and kicked at the bottom of the console.

“There’s one more thing,” said Adrian, “and you’ve got to remain calm when I show you this.”

“Go on,” said Danny, not sure he could take any more surprises.

Adrian took him to a glowing, deformed circle - reminiscent of a TARDIS roundel - which was set in the cavern wall. Adrian opened up the circle and inside was an alcove.

Danny stared into the alcove and then raised his eyebrows in shock at what was inside.

“Is that…?”

“Yes,” confirmed Adrian. “Yes it is.”

Next time: The Doctor goes on a trip, and Cathy Parker gives Caroline something important...Coming Wednesday November 13th.

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 3 (Scars)

Caroline’s adopted Father - Tony Parker - had been rushed from their home in the village of Tealby to Thornsby General Hospital about an hour ago.

The Doctor had offered to take Caroline there in the TARDIS, but she had declined, telling him that he’d only end up getting them trapped on another world in another time again. Instead she hopped in a taxi on the rank beside the train station and headed to the hospital.

Once there she made her way to reception and asked for directions,

Eventually she found her way through the many green and white-painted corridors until she arrived in the room where her Father was resting.

She stepped into the room and froze when she saw her Mum and Dad.

Her Mum got to her feet, opened her mouth to speak and then stopped herself.

“Is he okay?” asked Caroline, a little shakily.

Cathy Parker made a head movement that was somewhere between a shake and a nod. “The doctor’s aren’t sure,” she said, her voice trying to hold back the emotion.

“How did it happen?” asked Caroline, stepping a little further into the room.

Her Mum placed a hand on her sleeping Father’s hand, squeezing it gently. “He’d been overdoing it recently. The garden was getting more and more overgrown. I told him not to…it was just so stupid. He tried to cut the stupid, blasted tree down and that’s when it happened.”

Caroline shook her head, noticing her Mother beginning to cry. She wasn’t sure what to do so just put her hand on her arm and rubbed it gently.

“Caroline,” said Cath, “I’m so sorry.”

Caroline wanted to hug her and tell her it’d be okay. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell her that the lies she had told her for all of those years were okay.

“What’s wrong?” asked Cath, noticing her daughter’s dark look.

“I know,” said Caroline. She knew this wasn’t the time or place, but she couldn’t help herself.

“You know what?” asked Cath, looking worried.

“I know everything. About you and Dad. And about Thomas and Rebecca, and about me.”




In the depths of the Doctor’s TARDIS, Matthew Cole was still and silent in his stasis tube. But his mouth was curled into a menacing smile, his eye twitching.

And in his head, Matthew dreamt. He dreamt of evil and wicked things. Evil and wicked things that he wanted to do to the Doctor…




Cathy and Caroline Parker stood next to the bed containing Tony Parker, staring at each other. Now Caroline came to think about it, they didn’t even look alike. Caroline was much smaller than Cath, and she never even had the same colour eyes as her or Tony.

She swallowed and stared up at Cath.

“How?” said Cath, nervously.

“Did you think I’d never find out?” said Caroline, trying to hold back her anger.

“Caroline, who told you?”

“Friends of Thomas and Rebecca. Friends of my real parents.”

Cath held out her hands. “Sweetheart, you have to understand why we kept it from you.”

“Don’t call me that,” snapped Caroline. “What am I meant to understand?”

“They said that bad people would come for you.”

“If they were so bad then why didn’t you just move out of Thornsby and take me with you? Instead you stay in the place where these bad people are.”

“Your father and I still don’t know exactly what they mean.”

“The ghosts. The things. They’re creatures from another dimension. They’re the bad people.”

Cath shook her head. “This is all getting confusing.”

“The point is, mother, that you never told me anything. You were overbearing and overprotective of me. The least you could have done, when I was old enough, was to tell me the truth.”

Cath slumped down onto the end of the bed, just missing Tony’s covered up legs. “Caroline…”

“Spare me your tears Cathy,” spat Caroline. “I’m through with them.” She pointed a finger at her. “Did you know that I was pregnant.”

Cath looked up. “What?”

“Yep,” said Caroline, arms folded and nodding. “I was pregnant. Met a guy called Steve. Really nice bloke as well, but because I’m not normal, those bad people came for the baby. They took it away and made sure there was no trace of it. And then Steve left me.”

“Caroline, I’m so sorry…”

“I don’t want your sympathy. I just want you to know that if you had told me the truth, I might have been able to save my baby.”

Cath put her head in her hands.

“And then there’s the Doctor. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what’s happened. He came to see me, didn’t he? Back in 1998. And he erased my memory.”

“I told him. I told him!”

“Spare it!” snapped Caroline, pressing her face right up to Cath’s. “You’re pathetic. You’re nothing but a pathetic, whinging, lying waste of air!!”

Cath looked at Caroline. Her eyes were black and her skin had gone almost luminous. There was something wild and unnatural about her. She was foaming at the mouth and her hands were shaking.

“Caroline,” said her mum slowly, “you need to calm down.”

Caroline’s eyes flicked down to her hands. They were glowing white, just like they had back in 1902 when she was with William. The power running through her was coming to the surface again.

“Why should I calm down?” said Caroline.

“Because you can’t control it. You need to calm down.”

Caroline held her hands up. She could feel all of time and space running through her. She felt so alive - and so angry. She could feel the thoughts of the Apparites and could see everything that the Ancestors had seen. This power was hers and she could use it for whatever reason she wanted to.

She reached out a hand towards her mother’s throat. She would start here, with her. She would snuff out the liars life and put a stop to her lies.

And then Cath slapped her.

Caroline staggered back against the wall, clutching at her stomach, the power slipping away from her once again and returning to within her.

“Caroline…?” said Cathy, nervously.

Caroline looked at her, tears in her eyes. “Oh, Mum,” she said.

“Come here,” said Cath, holding out her arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” said Caroline as she fell into her mother’s arms and sobbed.




In the room adjacent to the crypt, the Doctor stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the metal tube-like TARDIS that had once resembled a wooden shed. It looked cold and dead, but he knew that deep inside was another dimension, fighting to break through into this world.

“Strange, isn’t it?” said Jayne, joining him in the doorway.

“Indeed,” said the Doctor. “It almost doesn’t seem possible.”

“It looks so quiet.”

“TARDISes are good at disguising themselves,” said the Doctor. “Well, most of the time,” he said with a little smile.

“Did you examine it?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, “but I can’t really tell you anything more than what you already know.” He walked across to the tube and touched it. “Everything you told me is true. It’s a Battle TARDIS. An old 80-Q-S type. And that General Helix…it sounds like he’s the same General who’s now living in the future and in charge of the Eyeglass.”

“But can we do anything?”

The Doctor staggered back again and fell against the wall. He went for his pills in his jacket pocket and swallowed two of them quickly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Just holding back death,” said the Doctor, slumping into a sitting position.

Jayne crouched down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about all of this.”

The Doctor smiled sadly. “You did what you could. You’ve been here for centuries.”

“And I haven’t gotten us very far, have I?” Jayne sat down beside him. “All I did was lose more and more team members and cause more heartbreak. You say April died in the future?”

The Doctor nodded slowly, remembering the power-mad Captain April Nivere and her death at the hands of Tressure.

Jayne shook her head. “I never meant that for her.”

“I know you didn’t,” said the Doctor, “and for what’s it’s worth, I don’t blame you for any of this. You were all misguided, yes, but things just spiralled out of control.”

“Can I ask you something, Doctor?”

“Of course.”

“Do you believe that we are all here for a reason? That we are destined to have one path and one path only? Because I can imagine myself being stuck guarding this stupid thing forever.”

“Oh, Miss Robson,” said the Doctor, looking towards the ceiling. “Destiny is never a fixed thing. Well, most of the time it isn’t. It depends on who it affects. But right here and now we are in control of our destinies. Never let anything stop you doing what you want to do.”

Jayne nodded. “So we have a way out of this?”

The Doctor got to his feet and walked towards the metal tube. “We have a way out of this. I need to shut down the inner dimensions of this TARDIS. That‘s the only way to even hope to put this right.”

“But how?”

“I’m going to open it up.”

Next time: The Doctor goes on a dangerous mission. Coming Sunday 10th November.

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 2 (Brothers)

Caroline and the Doctor sat quietly in the back of the car whilst Danny rode in the front with Margot. After the initial shock and disbelief that his brother had actually returned, he had gone quiet. He sat in the front passenger seat, biting his fingernails and staring out of the window.

The car pulled up to the park and they got out, making their way down the winding path that led past the bushes and towards the old, wooden bandstand which stood on the other side of the park.

Danny was shaking a little as they approached the bandstand and he walked a little way ahead. As he approached, Adrian had his back to Danny.

Jayne held out an arm to stop him. “Danny, just be careful okay?”

“He’s my brother,” said Danny, trying to get past Jayne.

“We don’t yet know what he’s doing back. It might be a trap.”

“He’s my brother,” said Danny again.

Danny pushed past and made his way up the steps to the centre of the bandstand. Adrian slowly turned to face him and Danny gasped. He hadn’t changed at all. Hadn’t aged a single day. He still wore the same clothes he had left in for college that day, and even his bag was the same - still full of holes, threatening to widen and let his college books fall to the floor.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“Hi, Dan,” smiled Adrian.

“You…you haven’t changed,” said Danny, trying to compose himself.

“You have. You look old,” said Adrian, smiling.

Danny laughed, the tears starting to fall from his eyes. “I thought you were dead.”

“I didn’t even realise.”

The two of them stared at each other, and then they both embraced in the centre of the bandstand.

A little way off Caroline watched on, smiling at the reunion. She had always known about Danny’s heartbreak at losing his brother, but he had always clammed up about it. He didn’t really tend to talk about it. She was happy for him.

“It’s been so long,” said Danny.

“It’s difficult to understand,” said Adrian.

“What do you mean?”

“Time. Time moved so slowly there. At different speeds sometimes. It’s difficult to work out what’s going on.”

“You were there, weren’t you? With the Apparites?”

“The who?” asked Adrian as they released each other.

“A name my friend came up with,” said Danny, pointing towards the Doctor.

“You need to be careful of your friend,” said Adrian.

“What do you mean?”

Adrian tilted his head to the side. “Is it still inside you?”

Danny had forgotten. He had been taken the pills he’d received on Xanji-For, and they had dulled his senses to the creature inside him. He had forgotten it was even in there.

“Yeah,” said Danny, “but I can’t hear it at the moment.”

Adrian took his hand. “I can help get it out of you.”

“What? How?”

“You need to come with me.”

“Come where?”

“Back to our side.”

Danny frowned. “Our side? Adrian, you’re not one of them, you’re one of us. A Human being.”

Adrian shook his head. “You’ve only heard one side of the story, Dan. You need to come with me. Now.”

“I can’t,” said Danny.

“I’m sorry,” said Adrian, grabbing Danny’s arm tighter, “but you have no choice in the matter.”

There was a gush of wind. Then, with a flash, he and Danny were gone.




As soon as Danny and Adrian had disappeared, the Doctor, Jayne, Caroline, Margot and Ben had piled back into the car and they had driven as fast as legally possible through the streets of Thornsby, arriving just ten minutes later at St. James’s Church.

The Doctor hurriedly got out of the car and made his way through the old building and down the stone steps towards the crypt.

“Hold on a minute!” yelled Jayne, trying to keep up with him.

The Doctor turned to look at Jayne and then stumbled. He leant against the wall and clutched at his chest.

“Are you alright?”

“Doctor,” said Caroline, pushing past Jayne and getting to the Doctor’s side. “Are you alright?”

“Just gone a little weak,” said the Doctor, giving a little smile.

“You should have brought your walking stick,” said Caroline, helping him to straighten up.

“I’m not finished yet,” he said, grinning and continuing on his way down the stairs.

“Wait!” said Jayne. “You can’t just go barging into our base of operations.”

“Do you want my help or not?” said the Doctor, sternly.

Jayne was quiet for a few moments and then reluctantly said, “Yes.”

“Good,” said the Doctor, standing in front of the door to their HQ. “Now if I remember, last time I was here, I heard the voices on the other side, but there was nothing there.”

“The time barrier,” said Jayne. “It’s a second-”

“Yes, a second out of time,” said the Doctor, irritably. “Re-tune it now.”

Jayne glared at him and then spoke into a walkie-talkie. “Switch off the barrier, we’re back with the Doctor.”

There was a hum from the other side of the door and Jayne pushed her way inside.

The team were busy looking at all the data they had gathered from Adrian’s appearance in the park, but they looked tired and fed up.

“People,” said Jayne, ushering the Doctor and Caroline inside, “this is the Doctor.”

The rest of the team nodded their greetings to him.

“I want you all to work with him. We need to get this sorted out.”

One of the older members of the team, Michael, approached Jayne with a piece of paper. “We may have a problem, Miss Robson.”

Jayne looked at the paper and then showed it to the Doctor.

“Hmmm,” said the Doctor, “I need to see that TARDIS right now.”

“What is it, Doctor?” asked Caroline, trying to get a look at the piece of paper.

“Come with me,” he said.

They left the crypt and went back into the picturesque area outside of the church. The sky was getting darker and Caroline noticed that it had gotten colder. She could see her breath in the air.

“Look,” said the Doctor, pointing towards the fountains in the Old Market Place.

Caroline squinted. The air was shimmering and a small slither of light was appearing above the fountains.

She followed the direction of his finger. Above the White Hart was another slither of light. It was getting bigger. And then another slither of light, this time next to the flyover on the other side of the church area.

“Are these what I think they are?” asked Caroline.

“They are indeed. The Apparites are coming through again.”

“But how?” asked Caroline. “This didn’t happen before. Not in this way anyway. Last time I had to touch it and that’s when the gap - the one gap - began opening.”

The Doctor shook his head. “It’s like a piece of paper. Pour enough water on it and eventually the whole sheet will go soggy and split open. Adrian coming through and then going back - with Danny as well, with an Apparite trapped inside - was the final push they needed. The barrier between the TARDIS dimensions and ours is at it’s weakest.”

Caroline ran her hands through her hair, looking lost. “Then what do we do to stop them?”

“I’m not sure we can,” said the Doctor, worriedly.




They made their way back to the control centre and Jayne brought another piece of paper to show the Doctor and Caroline.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s not just Thornsby,” said Jayne, “they’re starting to appear all over the surrounding area. Cracks forming. Nothing coming through yet, but they’re there. In Yarathorpe, Suntersby, Fallington. It’s only a matter of time.”

“I need to see that TARDIS, Jayne,” said the Doctor.

Jayne nodded. “We can’t open it though. They’ll come through.”

“They’re going come through anyway,” said the Doctor.

Before they could leave Caroline’s mobile began ringing. She frowned and reached into her jeans pocket. She looked at the readout and frowned, answering the phone.

“What do you want?” she said.

She listened to the voice on the other end of the line. Her face slowly sank and turned to white. She swallowed hard and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll be there,” she said shakily.

“Caroline?” said the Doctor. “Caroline is everything okay?”

Caroline put the phone back in her jean pocket and looked at the Doctor. She shook her head. “No. That was my Mum - my adopted Mum,” she said, shaking her head at her mistake.

“What is it?”

“It’s Dad. He’s had a heart attack.”

Next chapter: Caroline confronts her parents with the truth. Coming Thursday November 7th.

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 1 (Home)

August 13th, 2012




The still, warm summers evening was broken with the sound of the fabric of time and space being ripped open. Slowly a blue box materialised.

Upside down.

Inside the box - the space/time machine known as the TARDIS - the Doctor, Caroline Parker and Danny Lennon were stood around the mushroom shaped TARDIS console. The Doctor flicked a switch and then smiled.

“Did we make it?” asked Danny.

“We made it,” said the Doctor, relieved.

“Where did Jayne go?” asked Caroline, looking around her.

“The hologram must have shorted out. Not that it matters anymore. We can go and meet the real Jayne.”

“Fun!” said Caroline, folding her arms and walking to get her coat.

“You won’t need your coat,” said the Doctor. “It’s a lovely warm evening out there. Middle of the summer in fact.”

“Brilliant,” said Danny. He watched Caroline as she made her way towards the exit doors. “Are you alright?” he said, catching up to her.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, sighing. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She smiled at him. “Just…stick with me, yeah?”

“Always,” he smiled.

The Doctor watched his companions quietly and then opened the door. The two of them stepped outside…

…and fell upwards!

“Oh no!” said the Doctor, racing after them.

When he had finally gotten the right way up and outside the TARDIS he found Caroline and Danny in a heap on the ground.

“What happened?” asked Danny, getting up. “We fell upwards.”

“I’m afraid I landed the ship upside down,” said the Doctor apologetically. “The anti-gravity stopped working as you stepped outside and actually…well, fell to the floor.”

“Great,” said Caroline, getting to her feet and brushing the dried grass from her jeans. “We’re in the back garden of my flat.”

“Yes,” smiled the Doctor. “Welcome home.”




Underneath St. James’s church was a hive of activity once again. The map above the consoles was showing a red dot flashing in the vicinity of People’s Park.

Jayne emerged from the ante-chamber. “What’s up people?”

“You finished in there?” asked Margot.

“Yes, the Doctor’s up to speed on the situation. He should be here now if he followed the signal down correctly.” She put her hands on her hips. “Now, what’s going on?”

“We’ve had a materialisation. Not just a split second fade either. This one’s fully formed and on our side.”

“What?” said Jayne, frowning. “How did it manage that? Usually they need a full on crack to come through.”

“God knows,” said Margot. “Do we investigate?”

“Do I like cheesecake? Of course we should.”

It only took a few moments, but soon they had all piled into Margot’s car and were driving through the sunny-evening streets of Thornsby, heading towards the park.

When they eventually got there they found the park deserted, apart from a young man wandering, a little disorientated across the road.

Jayne, Margot and Ben got out of the car and walked over to the young man.

“Is everything okay?” asked Margot.

The young man blinked slowly and tried to focus on the three people. “I’m sorry? Do I know you?”

“You look a little lost,” said Jayne. “Where have you just come from?”

The young man suddenly recomposed himself and straightened himself up. “You’re Jayne Robson, aren’t you? And Margot Dunlop and Ben Featherstone?”

“Yes,” said Jayne. “How do you know our names?”

“What year is this?”

“It’s 2012.”

“Jesus,” said the young man, rubbing his forehead. “Have I really been gone that long?”

“Who are you?” asked Ben, getting impatient.

“I want to see my brother, Danny.”

“Danny?”

“My name’s Adrian. Adrian Lennon. It’s been a bloody long time since I saw him.”




Caroline unlocked the back door at the top of the fire escape and the three of them stepped into the kitchen.

“Fancy a cuppa?” said Danny.

“Go on then,” said Caroline. “I’m off for a shower.”

“Ah,” said the Doctor, peering his head around the doorway into the front room. “I see the coffee table’s still not been swept away.”

“Who did you think would do it?” asked Caroline, glancing at the broken glass, “the house fairy?”

“You mean you don’t have your own house fairy?” asked the Doctor as Caroline strode off towards the bathroom and shut the door.

“No jokes, Doc, please,” said Danny, filling up the kettle and getting out three mugs.

“I’m just trying to cheer her up.”

“Doctor, she’s just found out she’s adopted and is descended from a bunch of time travellers from the future. It’s going to take a while for her to cheer up.”

“I suppose,” said the Doctor, grabbing a dust pan and brush from underneath the sink and sweeping up the broken pieces of glass in the living room. “I just find these situations very difficult.”

“So others you’ve travelled with have had similar problems?” said Danny, pouring the hot water into the mugs, drowning the teabags.

“Some have. Some haven’t. Each react differently to different situations.”

“I’d have thought you’d be a seasoned pro by now.”

“Not yet,” said the Doctor.

Danny smiled as he squeezed each of the teabags with the teaspoon and then added the milk. “At least I know what happened to Adrian now. Not that it’s any comfort to know that he was taken by them. But at least I know something more.”

“I’m sorry about that,” said the Doctor.

There came a knock on the door. The Doctor made his way down the stairs to the front door and opened it. Standing there was the blonde, curly-haired Margot.

“Ah, the liar!” smiled the Doctor.

“You know why we had to lie,” said Margot. “We couldn’t tell you the truth back then.”

“But what a lie,” said the Doctor. “Hiding in tunnels from ghosts, indeed!”

“Anyway,” said Margot, pushing her way inside, “that’s not why I’m here.”

“Do tell,” he said, letting her up the stairs to the kitchen and Danny.

“It’s Mr. Lennon I’m here to see.”

“Oh?” said Danny, taking a sip of his tea and purposely not making a fourth mug for Margot.

“Yes. It’s pretty urgent actually.”

“Go on then,” said Danny, leaning on the counter.

“It’s your brother: Adrian,” said Margot, half-smiling, half worried.

“What about him?”

Margot looked at the Doctor and then back to Danny. “He’s back.”

Next chapter: Danny goes on a trip, and Caroline receives some shocking news. Coming Monday 4th November.

Story 2.6: Call of the Spirits

Danny shook his head and gazed out to sea again. “Why would you want to help them? They’re crazy!”
“Because,” said Adrian, walking up behind his brother and talking over his shoulder, “each one of those crazy beings used to be a Human being.”

August 13th 2012

The Doctor finally get's the TARDIS to where he needs to be - the church in Thornsby containing the shed containing the dimensions of the Apparite world. He has one thing to do - shut the place down for good.

Meanwhile, Danny reunites with his long-lost brother, but his brother his different. His brother has been changed.

Caroline also has to face up to a few things - namely the parents who adopted her when she was a baby. Can she ever get over the secrets that were kept from her?

Thing's are coming to a close, and not everyone's going to get out of this alive...

This is the final story in season 2 for The Doctor, Caroline and Danny.

Beginning Friday 1st November