Epilogue
“Feel sick?” asked the Doctor.
“No, actually,” said Holly, as she kept a firm grip on the side of the console. “Did we make it in one piece?”
“Yep,” said the Doctor, checking the readings. “We just had to follow our course back. A couple of wires re-jigged and we’re back. Simples.”
“Don’t say ‘simples’” said Holly.
“Sorry,” said the Doctor, “but I tell you what – whatever hit us in the vortex and knocked us off course is still out there.”
“What was it?”
“Shall we take a look?” He switched on the scanner. A person clad in some sort of armour floated silently in the swirling vortex.
“It’s a person,” said Holly.
“In some sort of experimental time suit.” The Doctor nodded, remembering something. “The Time Lords were developing them during the Time War. They were supposed to replace TARDISis. Instantaneous travel without the use of a craft, combined with built-in armour.”
“What happened to them?” asked Holly.
“They didn’t work. Always went wrong. They never found their targets and usually ended up killing their occupants.”
“Damn,” said Holly.
“We better bring this poor unfortunate fellow aboard.”
A few minutes later the TARDIS doors were open and the Doctor had managed to lasso the person with a length of rope and was pulling it onboard. He dragged the body up the slope and then closed the doors.
“We’re moving again,” said Holly.
“Let’s get the helmet off and take a look,” said the Doctor.
He felt around for the catch on the helmet and with a satisfying hiss the helmet came free. Holly and the Doctor both gasped in unison as the helmet was pulled away.
“It’s Lilly!” said Holly as the blonde girl’s eyes flickered open and she groggily looked up at the pair of them.
“She found us instead,” said the Doctor.
“Hol..Holly...” murmured Lilly, focusing on the dark-haired girl. “Oh, god, have I missed you Dangerfield....kiss me.”
“All in good time,” said the Doctor. “What are you doing out here, Lilly?”
Lilly frowned and then her eyes widened as though she had suddenly remembered something horrible. “I had to come and find you...I had to...get back to you.”
“What is it?” asked Holly, trying to brush her hair out of her face.
“It’s my father...”
“What’s the Master done now?” asked the Doctor.
“He...he just deteriorated. He ....kept me prisoner.” She tried to sit up but couldn’t, instead falling back down. “I...I tried to track you down. He...he says it’s all Holly’s fault for the way I am...I’m not...I’m not the daughter I should have been.”
“You can’t believe that,” said Holly.
“I don’t...you are the best bloody thing to happen to me in ever...” She closed her eyes, fighting back the headache, “but he said he had a plan to make sure I was always with him. I’m...I’m worried, Dangerfield.”
Huxley, the first day Holly saw Lilly
By the time they had left the house for the crematorium, the rain had eased off. A large, angry, grey cloud still loomed ominously in the sky, but Holly was thankful that it was getting dry now.
The procession of cars wound their way down the tree-lined road that led past nice-looking detached houses, a school and an allotment, before finally coming to a stop at the gates to the cemetery, the tall trees looming over them and swaying wildly in the wind.
Holly exited the car and waited for the rest of the family to make their way into the crematorium building before she closed her eyes, allowing the tears to run down her face again. She wasn’t prepared for this. She wasn’t prepared to say goodbye to her granddad.
“Holly Dangerfield?” came a silky, smooth voice.
“Yes,” she said, sniffing away the tears and wiping her eyes. She turned to face the owner of the voice. A man with a receding hairline and high forehead stood before her in a dark suit. His face was stone-cold serious, his eyes unblinking.
“Yes, you are, aren’t you?” he said, his lips curling ever so slightly into a smile.
“What do you want?” asked Holly. “Who are you?”
The man went to his pocket and pulled out a revolver, aiming it at her chest.
“What the hell…!”
But Holly couldn’t finish her sentence. She couldn’t even finish her confused thought. The shot rang out and Holly fell backwards, the bullet striking her in the heart. She fell to the graveled driveway and landed in a crumpled heap.
The last thing she sure was the man kneeling over her, his mouth turned into a wicked smile. “Remember who I am. Remember me as the Master. And remember that now Lilly will always be mine.”
She tried to speak. She couldn’t even gasp as the last of her life ebbed away.
And then the man simply vanished before her eyes.
And Holly Dangerfield died.
The End
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