Chapter 11 (Quick)
The Doctor, myself and Holly were sat on the small wall at the front of our house, the three of us leaning in to look at the live video on the telephone. I looked across at the Doctor who was deep in concentration. He really did come from another time. Certainly somewhere further away than the 1980’s.
“Mum,” came Eve’s voice on the video.
“Yes, sweetheart?” I said, glad to still be hearing her.
“Something’s not right.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s getting cold in here. The lights are flickering.”
“We can see, Eve,” said the Doctor, pointing at the lamp beside the armchair as it sporadically dimmed again and again. “Just try to remain calm.”
“She’s not going to hurt you,” I said, although I didn’t fully believe it.
“Listen,” said Holly, “when all this is over your life will get back to normal. You’ll be able to live happily in this house again.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Even if we sort this out now there’s no way we’re staying here. I don’t care what Miss Quick is, but it’s tainted this house. It’ll always be evil.”
“Mum, can you see that?” asked Eve, “in the middle of the room? It’s like a shadow?”
The three of us peered closer. Sure enough there it was - a very slight, thin shadow, the height of a small Human being, starting to form in the centre of the room.
“Try to remain calm, Eve,” said the Doctor, going into his pocket and taking out a notepad and pen.
“It’s freezing in here,” said Eve, rubbing her arms to keep warm.
“It’s the atmospheric disturbance,” said the Doctor, the pen top in his mouth. “She’s trying to manifest.”
Now the shadow was wider and resembled a person – the silhouette of a person.
“This is amazing,” said Holly. She suddenly noticed the fear on my face. “That’s if it wasn’t so scary for Eve.”
“It’s scary for me, Holly,” I said. “I just want a normal life.”
“Eve...” came a crackling, distant voice on the phone followed by a worried yelp from the teen.
“That was her, wasn’t it?”
“Eve,” said the Doctor, dropping his notepad and pen and leaning in even closer to the phone, “talk to it.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Anything.”
“Hello,” came Eve’s nervous voice.
“I am here to rescue you,” came the whispering voice. It was starting to sound more like an old ladies voice now.
“I...I don’t need rescuing. My mum isn’t going to hurt me.”
“That’s it, Eve, carry on,” smiled the Doctor.
“You have been protected from evil since you lived here. I have watched.”
The shadow was now standing in front of the terrified Eve.
“You have it all wrong,” said Eve. “You’re confused because of what those horrible people did to you all those years ago.”
“She’s very good,” smiled the Doctor.
I simply wanted all of this to be over.
“Your mother will hurt you.” The shadow was now shimmering. There was colour coming to it.
“She won’t. Have you ever seen her hurt me?” asked Eve.
“You had nannies to protect you.”
“They weren’t protecting me,” said Eve. “They were just looking after me until my mum could return. You have to believe me.”
“But I can keep you safe.”
“My mum can keep me safe. I love her. She’s all I need in my life.”
The shadow shimmered for a moment; almost as if it was letting the words sink in.
“I have something for you,” said Eve, uncovering the bones. “This is your Human body. We know what they did to you.” She held out her hand to show her the jewel. “This is linked to you, isn’t it? The Doctor said it records your memories and transmits them back.”
“That is correct,” said Quick.
“If I give you this jewel it will make you whole again. It will make you complete. That’s what the Doctor said.”
The shadow looked down at the jewel.
“Miss Quick, can you hear me?” said the Doctor to the phone.
The shadow looked across at the phone and walked towards it.
“Doctor, be careful,” said Holly, grabbing his arm.
“Listen to me, Quick. I know who you are. I know you are here to help. When that couple hurt you they also damaged you. Your physical form you’d created rotted away in that attic and your real self, the self I’m talking to now, became detached and lost.”
Quick continued to listen.
“If you take that jewel from Eve it will rebuild you. I can take you back to your people.”
“I don’t know you,” said Quick.
“I’m the Doctor. I fix things. That’s all you need to know.”
“Let me in, Miss Quick,” I found myself saying. “Let me in and let me show you how much I love my little girl.”
“No,” hissed Quick.
“Please,” I said. I then closed my eyes. “If you let me in and you see I mean her harm then you can do what you want with me.”
Quick stayed silent for a moment, as if in thought.
“Please, Miss Quick. I love my mum,” said Eve, tears in her eyes.
There was another moment of silence, and then the front door swung open. I looked at the Doctor, who looked at me and nodded and then I ran into the house. The air was cold and the atmosphere felt electric. I ran straight past the strange, shimmering shadow and threw my arms around Eve. We hugged tightly and didn’t let go until I was aware that Quick was standing just behind me.
The two of us turned to face her. She was now the perfect outline of an old woman, albeit with her features in shadow.
“See?” I said, smiling with tears in my eyes.
Eve reached out her hand, the jewel carefully balancing in her palm. “This is yours.”
The shadow reached out its own, frail hand, the same hand that had grabbed me and scratched at me. But right now I didn’t feel frightened. It took the jewel calmly and reached up to its forehead, placing the jewel in the centre.
Quick seemed to gasp. I don’t know if it was pain or joy. I don’t know, but she threw her arms out to her side as the jewel glowed green. It glowed brighter and brighter until it enveloped her entire form. I backed away with Eve towards the armchair as the Doctor and Holly rushed in.
The rest is blank. The light was so bright it blinded us. When we both opened our eyes the Doctor and Miss Quick were gone with Holly peering from around the doorframe.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“The Doctor took her outside. He’s taking her back to her home world. He said something about her true form not being able to be seen by Human eyes.”
“So it’s over?” asked Eve.
“I think so,” said Holly.
I looked at Eve and we both collapsed into each other’s arms, tears of joy flowing from our eyes. It was over.
Finally.
The Doctor returned around two hours later just as I’d finished boiling the kettle for our third cup of tea. He looked tired as he removed a pair of sunglasses from his eyes, smiling at the three of us.
“Everything okay?” asked Holly.
“She’s fine,” said the Doctor. “She was a little confused, but I soon helped her to piece everything together. She’s very sorry to you both.”
“Oh,” I said, not really knowing how to respond to that. I’ve never had a scary ghost apologise before.
“She’s back with her own people now. They’re going to help to rehabilitate her into the world and she’ll eventually go back out there again to help people.”
“What about her body?” I asked, noticing the skeleton lying on the floor.
“Well this was always just a construct made by her. It’s not her real form. But I tell you what,” said the Doctor, kneeling down over it, “why don’t we give her a proper burial?”
“But she’s alive,” said Eve. “If this was just a body she created for herself-”
“I think a burial might help you to have some closure on this,” said Holly, “don’t you think?”
I nodded. It was true. And we couldn’t have a skeleton hanging around the place.
“I also did some digging,” said the Doctor, wrapping the skeleton back up, “into the Horner’s.”
“Oh, yes,” I said, wondering what had happened to that vile couple.
“Well, it turns out that not long after they murdered Miss Quick they sold this place and took their children with them. They moved up to Scotland and continued to hurt their children.”
“That’s terrible,” said Eve, sitting next to me and taking my hand.
“Yes, it was. That was until a plucky time traveller decided to report them to the authorities.”
“What?!” said Holly. “But doesn’t that change history?”
“How?” asked the Doctor. “We never knew anything of their lives. I’m simply a part of their history. Anyway the Horner’s were locked away and their children were adopted by a lovely couple living out in the country where they lived happy and safe lives.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” I said, feeling myself welling up again.
“Right then,” said the Doctor, getting to his feet. “I suppose we have a funeral to go to. I better make the arrangements.”
“And then can we go and find Lilly?” asked Holly.
“Yes,” smiled the Doctor. “I promise.”
“Doctor, just one more thing,” I said, grabbing his arm. He looked down to me. “Do you really think ghosts exist?”
He looked across at the picture of Julian above the fireplace and smiled. “I think that ghosts exist.” He knelt back down in front of me and pointed to my chest. “Our loved ones never really die. They continue to live on in our hearts. As long as they live on within us then they will live on forever.” He leant forward and kissed me on the forehead. “And so will Julian.”
I smiled, my eyes wet again as the Doctor got up and carried the bundle of bones out of the living room. I pulled Eve in close and hugged her tightly.
“It’s all over, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said, with final assuredness. “It’s all over.”
The End
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