Lives Of Immortals WIP Lilah

The ship's interior was reddish-brown overall. It wasn't the warm interior of some spaceships Rose had seen; there was a particular lack of chairs. Rose had been reduced to sitting on the floor. Nevertheless, at least the labels were in English, and the food was edible, even tasty. Having something to munch on immediately made her feel better. Her burgeoning Time Lord senses felt calmer now. Even the buzz in the back of her brain felt quieter.

Around her were several men and women in suits. Rose assumed that these were some sort of futuristic space suits, but she couldn't be sure. Occasionally, someone would stop and look at her, and she smiled back. She had no idea who these people were, or why they had come from the future. The older Doctor wasn't heloing explain things at all; instead, he was reading an on-board magazine. His dark blue eyes seemed uninterested in the spectacle around him, and no one commented on how out of place he looked in his hoodie and jeans. Rose herself had been given a warm coat to counteract the decreased temperature in the ship. The Doctor had nearly slapped the person who tried to offer him a coat.

 Rose moved her chair closer to his, and leaned over to him, saying “What's that magazine about? Is it vital intel?”

“It's a children's magazine from the future,” said the Doctor. There was no trace of irony in his voice, and in fact she detected annoyance at being interrupted.

“So, vital intel, then.”

“Definitely. Knowing what society teaches the children is one of the best ways to learn about it,” said the Doctor. He didn't elaborate past that, and continued reading.

Eventually, a person walked up to him. His suits, like the others, were covered in tubes, with orangeish metal over a strong black net. The person took off the helmet, and revealed a brownish face, with dark green eyes. He smiled, and raised his hand with three fingers outstretched. Rose guessed it was a future equivalent of a wave. “My name is Halvan. You are Rose Tyler, and the alien entiry known as the Nytharthol--.”

“I prefer the Doctor. You and your kind have come a long from home. I'm not fully aware of the technological timeline of this dimension, but you have some good kit on you. Time travel tech is hard to come upon.”

“We didn't come upon it. We made it. Relics from the past,” said Halvan. There was a note of pride in his voice.

“The past? You mean, like now? We don't have time travel tech,” said Rose. Nothing in this ship looked like technology in this era.

“We know. We're here to stop that from happenning. This year—it's known as the Covenant Year. Our ancestors made a deal with a group of creatures, and they changed us inside. They changed our biodata, and turned our kind into monsters. In desperation, we've sent a team back to change it,” said Halvan.

“Monsters? What sort of monsters?” asked the Doctor. “And how many of you are there? This ship's pretty small. Can't fit but more than five. Not a lot of force behind this effort.”

“The time-ship that was being kept by Torchwood mutated, and began to change the world. Monsters began to appear all over the land, and rip us to pieces. We tried to defeat them, and establish a new society, but every time one of us regeenerated, we would go madder and madder. And now, our population has gone insane. Most people in our time have become roving lunatics. The only lucid ones left have decided to go back, and stop this event from ever happenning. And we need your help.”

“Why would I help you? You kids played with the fire of Time Lord biology, and you got a bad burn. That's part of life,” said the Doctor. He still hadn't looked up from the magazine.

“We weren't referring to you,” said a woman who walked up. Her eyes were a deep purple, and she glared harshly at the Doctor. “We were talking about Rose Tyler.


Lilah watched how the sky had changed rapidly outside. Just a few hours ago, soldiers had been milling about, claiming that there was a flu or something going around. But Lilah knew better. The Cyber-men crisis that had occurred in her high school years had taught her about how the government tried to hide strangeness. Even now, the government radio was a constant alarm about “staying calm.”

The sky didn't seem calm, though. Dark creatures were stirring, and darker voices were in her head. She could hear them whispering, trying to give her advice. The voice had started after the car crash. The doctors had considered her dead, but her heart had restarted. Or hearts, rather. Her life was a medical miracle, but one the doctors had been loathe to speak about. As if they were afraid someone would interfere.

The man who had eventually discharged her had been a wonderful Doctor. He had never given his name, nor ever revealed his eyes. He had arranged for a constant supply of a certain drug to be sent to her location, and made her promise to take it, saying that the drug would help her symptoms.

“What's my disease?” Lilah had demanded. The Doctor hadn't given her a straight answer, but promised her that she had gotten a much better deal than some others with the procedure.

Lilah had constantly taken her drugs without fail. That scared her; she was frequently forgetful. Yet her mind could not forget to take her dose. She had done some experiments; eventually she realized there was no actual day that she hadn't taken her dose on 4:48 every two days, on the dot. No matter where she went, or what she decided, she always found herself taking her dose.

Except that the package that mailed in her dosage hadn't arrived today. It was 4: 30, and she only had one dose left . She wasn't sure what would happen in two days. But looking at the empty streets, she had a feeling the package might be delayed a bit.

Her uncle was upstairs, asleep. He was slumped in his chair, and she worried whether or not she would be able to get groceries in time. Food was running out, and the assuraces from the military that “help would be coming soon” now seemed hollow. Whatever Torchwood had been doing had gone very wrong. Lilah hadn't gone outside, but somehow could sense that some sort of evil creatires were outside. It was like the feeling you got about the monster under your bed; she just knew. Her practical brain laughed at that fear. Not that she would have a choice. Food was running out; she would need to go outside whether she liked it or not.

Her eyes turned to the door. Her mind's sixth sense—the same sixth sense she had gained since the flash of light, a sense that had only gotten stronger since her crash—told her something was coming. Grabbing her ax, she walked to the door. Outside, she saw a man with a brown coat, and a woman wearing a purple suit, running fast. They looked scared. Out of reflex, she opened the door.

The man and woman looked over at her, and ran to the door. Before she could complain, the man had closed the door. He reached into his coat, and then mutterred “No screwdriver!”

The woman placed a chair under the door, and peeked out the window. She looked outside, and then looked at Lilah, and said “I'm Clara, and this is the Doctor. Sorry to barge in, but we're being chased.”

“Story of my lives. Wonderful place, by the way,” said the Doctor. He peeked outside, and then immediately drew back.

“Is he out there?” asked Clara.

“'Fraid so,” said the Doctor. Lilah walked to her window, but was yanked back by the Doctor.

“Bad idea. No, VERY bad idea,” said the Doctor. He raised his hands to his temples, and frowned. “Must think, must think.”

“Do you have any idea what those things are?” asked Clara.

“No idea. Used to be human. Now it's being controlled by something else,” said the Doctor.

Lilah had no idea what they were talking about. “Get out of my house.”

“Shh. Something's coming, and it's not friendly,” started Clara.

A loud thump came from the door. It sounded like someone breaking down the door.

“Doctor, let us in,” said the voice. It drove shivers down her spine. An image started in the back of her mind, like a shadow.

“What's your name?” said the Doctor suddenly.

“Lilah, and--”

“Lilah, hi! Nice name. Like lilies, or rose. Anyway, I'm going to need to borrow your ax,” said the Doctor.

“You have a plan,” said Clara anxiously.

“Yes. Lilah, I need your ax,” said the Doctor again.

The thumping sound came again. Lilah thought, and gave him the ax. The Doctor grinned, and pointed upstairs.

“Get going, Lilah. I'm dealing with this,” said the Doctor.

“I'm not leaving you alone with that thing,” said Clara.
“Never said you were. You're the diversion,” said the Doctor.

“Just the diversion? I feel unappreciated,” said Clara cheekily.

The Doctor thought, and said “Okay, you get the ax,” throwing the ax to her.

She looked shocked. “What do I do?”

The door split open from force from outside. Lilah caught the gaze of what was outside. It was a deep veiny red, with a sense of malignancy. There was a smell of death from it.

“GO UPSTAIRS!” said the Doctor.

Lilah followed his instructions, as chaos erupted downstairs. She heard shouting from the Doctor, as Clara seemed to be hacking away at whatever was outside. Sharp squelching sounds came from below, as Lilah ran to check up on her uncle.

His face looked stricken.”What's going on?”

Lilah opened her mouth, but didn't know how to explain it. Instead, she found herself ingesting the pills she didn't even know was in her hands, swalowing down her medicine. She knew without looking it was 4:48.

A sudden bang impacted the room's door. “Lilah, let me in.” It was the Doctor's voice, and Lilah opened the door.

The red creature, itys body cut open, rammed through the open space. It threw Lilah like a ragdoll, and she slammed into the wall, a loud crack emmitting from her neck. Her uncle barely rolled away an inch before the creature grabbed him, and acovered its body with his. It grabbed his limbs, and carried him out the window. Lilah soon lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she was in the bed of her uncle's room. The Doctor was pacing the room, and Clara was looking at her worriedly. She felt different somehow

“Lilah, are you okay?” asked Clara.

“Where's my uncle?”

The Doctor, hands clasped behind his back, shook his head. “I'm so sorry. He was kidnapped.”

“By what? What was that thing?” asked Lilah. Her voice sounded wrong, all wrong.

“By what used to be human. Some sort of monster. I'll find him. But right now, tell me—how do you feel?”

“Angry.”

“I meant, physically.”

“My voice is all wrong. What did you do to me?”

Clara and the Doctor exchanged glanced. Then Clara showed Lilah her face in the mirror.

Lilah had been born with the features of a daughter of an Irish immigrant—red hair, stark white skin. Her red hair was still there, but her eyes were a deep dark brown, and her face was a mixed light brown.

“What the f...”