Part 8 (1/2)

77.Miss Peyne shot them a vicious look and instructed them to be quiet. Then she turned to Rose, her mouth widening unpleasantly.

'Well, my dear, I'm impressed. You seem to be taking all this in your stride.'

Rose tried to sound more blase than she felt.

'Well, you know. When you've seen one alien species that disguises itself as human, you've seen them all. You'd get on well with the Slitheen. You can trade fas.h.i.+on tips.'

'Ah, the dear Raxacoricofallapatorians. They do try so hard to integrate themselves seamlessly into society, but all that gas, it's so undignified.'

'Who are you?'

'Ah. Direct. Good.' The lizard tongue flickered out. 'We are the Cynrog. I am Peyne Tek Verlap, Priest Commander of the Third Cynrog Scientific Militia.'

'Miss Peyne.' Rose snorted. 'Very good. Very original.'

'An amus.e.m.e.nt. And an ident.i.ty for the necessary dealings we have with your unpleasant species.'

'And what dealings would those be, eh?' Rose was bolder now, looking Peyne full in the face. 'Kidnapping old people, drugging them up to the eyeb.a.l.l.s. Does Morton know what you get up to in his cellar? Can't imagine he manages to get down here with his wheelchair and that. Don't think he'd be happy.'

The wide smile faded. 'You're quite right. Nathaniel does find it difficult to get down here, so we should be polite and pay him a visit, don't you think?'

Peyne gestured towards the stairs. 'After you, Miss Evans.'

Ali watched from the doorway to the cellar as Rose was ushered up the stairs by the grey-skinned monsters. Her heart was hammering in her chest. Monsters. Real monsters. Not like the ones from her nightmares, not like the ones that she drew night after night, but something far more tangible and terrifying. Monsters that hid under human masks!

78.Rose vanished through the door at the top of the stairs and the monster that had once been the frightening woman slammed it shut. Ali crept back down the stone steps and crouched at the bottom, leaning against the cool of the wall and wondering what to do next. She knew that she shouldn't have followed Rose, but in the end it had seemed that she didn't have much choice.

She had waited in the lean-to for what seemed like for ever after Rose had vanished through the cellar window. Eventually she had decided that she would count to 100, then go and get the others. The first 100 had come and gone. Then another, followed by another. The clouds had started to close in overhead and the sky had grown darker. Night was starting to fall and Ali was getting scared. As the sky grew black and the rain became heavier she knew she had to make a decision. Either to go back down the tunnel and fetch the others or to find out what was happening to Rose. She peered down the tunnel, but now, in the fading light, it seemed far blacker than it had earlier. The little LEDs in her torch barely made an impression on the gloom. Besides, Ali reasoned, if it was getting dark, then the monsters would start to roam the woods. It was always at dusk when you first started to hear them the roars and howls. She hoped her friends had had the sense to leave before it got too dark.

Aware that she was probably going to be in big trouble when she got home, Ali had edged her way across the courtyard, eyes fixed on the narrow window that Rose had vanished through. The window was heavy and it had taken all her strength to lift it. The smell of the cellar almost made her sneeze, it was so dusty and dank.

'Rose?' she'd whispered as loud as she dared. 'Are you there?'

Silence.

So, with a last look around the courtyard, Ali had taken a deep breath and slipped through into the dark cellar. The floor was further down than she had realised and she'd nearly overbalanced as the window swung shut behind her. Teetering precariously on the window sill, she swung round, lowering herself down 79 slowly until she touched the floor with the toe of her trainers. The cellar was dark and empty, but Ali had heard noises coming from the door on the far side of the room, and voices. Sneaking over, she had peered through the gap into the corridor beyond, watching as a tall lady and several of the creepy masked nurses had surrounded Rose.

Then had come the part that nearly made Ali scream, the part where they had ripped their faces off, revealing the horrible monsters underneath. She had wanted to run and hide, but she knew that if she made the slightest noise the monsters would capture her too. Now she waited in the dark, waited until she was certain that they had all gone, then slipped through into the corridor once again. The noise from the strange machinery was giving her a headache, so she stuck her fingers in her ears. Slowly she made her way towards the door at the top of the stairs. Holding her breath, she reached out and turned the handle. It wasn't locked and the door swung open. Ali paused for a moment. This was the point of no return. She thought about the tunnel and the wood full of monsters that she would have to go through if she tried to go back. Then she thought of Rose, alone and in the clutches of these new monsters. Rose was her friend. She couldn't leave without trying to help. With a deep breath, Ali stepped through the doorway and into the house.

The Doctor and Bronwyn huddled at the base of the lighthouse, their backs pressed against the wet steel trying desperately not to attract the attention of the hulking monstrosity that snuffled and sc.r.a.ped at the ground on the other side.

The falling of night had been like a signal for the creatures to appear. All across the island they had swarmed out of the sea, slithering and crawling over the rocks. Something huge had swept above the lighthouse on leathery wings earlier. The Doctor still hadn't managed to get a good look at that particular monster, though perhaps this was a good thing.

The two of them had headed away from the coast and back towards 80 the lighthouse. Bronwyn had pleaded with the Doctor to try and make it to the boat. Surely they would be safe out at sea? The Doctor had refused. Once they were out on the open ocean, they would be trapped, easy prey for any of the creatures that could swim or fly. No. They needed room to manoeuvre, not to mention time for him to formulate some kind of plan.

The sickly glow from the lighthouse and last remnants of the dying sun had afforded them glimpses of the things that now prowled across Black Island. Some crawled on squat legs, others writhed on tentacles. Spider shapes and dinosaur shapes mixed with strange combinations of scales, feathers and fur. The creatures truly did come from the imagination of children; they conformed to no known process of evolution. Limbs and bodies had been thrust together with imaginative abandon, the colours of their hides drawn from the palette of a nursery-school painting set.

Not that it made them any less dangerous. Each of the shambling horrors was equipped with a fearsome armoury of fangs and claws. The Doctor had watched as just one of the monsters had cut a b.l.o.o.d.y swathe through the colony of seals, wiping out dozens of them with each swipe of a razor-sharp claw.

He had had to stop Bronwyn from rus.h.i.+ng forward to try and save them. Instead, he had dragged the old woman away. And now they were trapped here, back at the lighthouse, hiding in the shadows, desperately trying to stay out of sight as the monsters spread out across the island.

The fact that the creatures had appeared within moments of the machine in the lighthouse springing to life had connected two more pieces of the puzzle and the Doctor had started to formulate some very nasty theories. He badly needed to examine the machine more closely, disable it if at all possible, but when they had arrived at the lighthouse they found the doorway blocked by a shambling, lank-haired beast with huge tusks, gnawing on the remains of one of the unfortunate seals.

Keeping to the scrubby gorse bushes and darting from boulder to boulder, they had managed to make it around to the far side of the 81 lighthouse. Now the Doctor was just waiting for the right time to make a dash for the doorway.

He peered around the base of the lighthouse. The creature had its back to him, concentrating on its meal. A thick tail, studded with wicked spikes, thrashed aimlessly. There was no chance of getting past that without being torn to pieces. The rest of the monsters were concentrated over by the decimated seal colony, feasting on the corpses that littered the rocks.

'What are we going to do?' Bronwyn's voice was trembling. 'The things are everywhere.'

'If we can just get back inside the lighthouse I can lock us in.' The Doctor brandished his sonic screwdriver. 'It won't take long. We just need a few seconds to get through the door.'

'We'll never make it with that thing in the way.'

'We need a distraction, that's all.' The Doctor took another peek around the lighthouse. 'And I think one is just arriving.'

The distraction came in the form of another of the beasts from the children's nightmares. Gorged on seal, a spindly spider-like creature clattered towards them, mandibles dripping with gore. The thing blocking their way to the lighthouse gave a low grumbling roar, its tail smas.h.i.+ng down on the rocks. With an ear-splitting screech, the spider thing launched itself forward and the two monsters crashed together, tumbling end over end down the slope towards the thunderous surf.

Seizing the moment, the Doctor caught hold of Bronwyn's hand, hauling her up and dragging her around the doorway. He bundled her inside the lighthouse, heaving the heavy steel door shut with his shoulder. Leaning all his weight against it, he fumbled for his sonic screwdriver. It sprang to life with a keening buzz, the blue light at its tip fusing the metal of the door to its frame.

The Doctor worked at it for a few seconds, then stood back with a satisfied grin.

'That should hold 'em.'

As if on cue, something huge slammed against the door, shaking the whole lighthouse. The Doctor jumped backwards.

82.'Well, I think think it'll hold them. For a while. Well, a bit of a while.' it'll hold them. For a while. Well, a bit of a while.'

Bronwyn gave him a hard stare. 'So have you locked them out or us in?'

'Let's just hope they don't like canned food, eh?' said the Doctor. Morton's office in the old rectory was dark and quiet. In the centre of the room sat Morton in his wheelchair, fingers steepled and pressed to his lips, his eyes closed.

A fire cracked in the large old-fas.h.i.+oned grate and the music of Elgar drifted across from an old-fas.h.i.+oned record player: the last bars of his cello concerto. As the last note faded, a high screeching roar came from outside as something huge and monstrous lumbered past the house.

Morton opened his eyes and smiled. He wheeled himself over to the desk, picking up a heavy framed photograph. The picture was himself as a young man leaning on a cricket bat. The picture had been taken on the lawn out front many, many summers ago. Morton Sighed. He had been through so much since then. So much pain and torment. But soon, soon it would all be finished.

The heavy door to his office swung open, shattering his peace, and Peyne pushed Rose roughly into the room. Morton swung around in his wheelchair, a frown furrowing his brow. He didn't like people entering his office unannounced. His frown turned to surprise.

'Miss Evans? And Miss Peyne.' He gave the alien a puzzled glance.

'You've slipped into something more comfortable, I see. I hope there is an explanation for this.'

Peyne crossed to his side. 'I found her in the power room,' she hissed.

'Really?' Morton looked up at Rose curiously. 'You really are very persistent, Miss. . . ' He c.o.c.ked his head to one side, looking at her expectantly.

Rose shuffled uncomfortably. 'Evans, I told you.'

'Oh yes? That's hardly original, even in Wales. There really is no point in lying to me any longer. You might as well just tell me the truth. It will make things so much easier in the long run.'

83.Rose s.h.i.+vered. She had the feeling that he wasn't bluffing. 'Tyler. It's Rose Tyler.'