2016 (and 2017): Looking Ahead

We're around about a third of the way through "Resurrection". I've always envisioned the series as 16 stories, and so far that is still the plan. While the first third of the series has concentrated on getting to know Holly and Lilly, the next part of the series is going to concentrate on the relationships of the three time travellers with each other, and more emphasis on the Doctor and the Master.

The next story will be "Clarence", which will begin in January 2016. It's a more traditional story. The TARDIS lands on a remote Human colony which is being terrorised by a clown called Clarence. People are going missing and the Doctor, Lilly and Holly investigate Uncle Joe's Circus.






"The Edwardian Way", which is a kind of sequel to a "Darkpaths" story called "Lost in Time". It's also tied in to a spin-off story featuring the the Seventh Doctor and Ace called "The Ghosts of Gallows Inn". I'll be uploading "Gallows" before the Resurrection story, but you don't need to have read all three stories to enjoy each other, but it (hopefully) enhances your enjoyment.
The series then continues with





"Holly Dangerfield and the Book of Darkness" concludes the story arc that started with the very first
story as the Doctor returns Holly to her town. The Kro'Tenk, or Riders, or ready to break through into our world.

Then the Doctor takes on board a new companion in "A Beautiful Life". The Doctor takes the new companion to a planet called Vekash, a beautiful world populated by beautiful, artistic, intelligent aliens - but they soon discover that there is something dark at the core of the planet.








The series comes to another turning pont with "The Spires of Jacarthia", will see the continuation of the
Masters plan as the Doctor returns to Gallifrey to try and sort out the mess the Master has created. It will also see a heart-breaking decision have to be made from one of the companions. This should take us to the end of 2016.

Although it's a year away, I'm planning the next story, "UNIT: X" to kick-start 2017 as the series reaches its final third. The Doctor returns to Earth where he teams up with the new UNIT:X team to fight against an alien invasion from underneath London.








"Scouting for Aliens" continues the series with the TARDIS team getting trapped in dense woodland with a Scout group that are being pursued by tree-dwelling aliens.

The next story to come is "The Haunting of Mrs Webster", which is based on a number of events that actually happened to a lady I used to know when I was a child. The TARDIS investigates strange events as Emily Webster is haunted by a mysterious old lady and a monk.







The series takes a slightly more odd turn in "Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon". I originally wanted to
write this during the "Darkpaths" run, but had to cut it as I simply didn't have the time. The TARDIS lands on the Moon, where the Doctor encounters a mysterious, Human inventor called Dr. Who. It's a crossover with the Peter Cushing movies.

We head towards the finale, firstly with "The King of Jacarthia", which is the third and final part of "The Master Trilogy". The Master is in an almost unstoppable position and he holds all the cards as the Doctor and his companions work to try and bring him down.







The series will conclude with "Aftershock", dealing with the ramifications of what the Master has forced
the Doctor to do at the conclusion to the previous story. Hints of this story have already been glimpsed in 2015's special, "A Christmas from the Future?".








What lies beyond that? I cannot say yet. "Resurrection" as a series will end, but I already have ideas as to where to take this Future Doctor series next. My wife and I are adopting a child in the new year, so these plans may be scuppered as family life and time takes over, but I will try to continue to write an upload as often as possible.

As always if anyone wants to write for "Resurrection" then please contact me. Stories can be slotted in or writers can even tackle some of the stories already planned.

But for now, Happy New Year everyone!

Special - A Christmas from the Future?

He slept. Tick, tick, tick…




“Happy Christmas, darling,” said Helena Bradbury as he opened his eyes.

For a moment he wasn't sure of where he was and then that sinking feeling came again. He was still here. He was still trapped.

“I said happy Christmas, darling,” repeated Helena.

“What? Oh yes. Yes, Happy Christmas, Helena.”

Helena sighed and threw back the bed covers. She ran a hand through his brown hair and then kissed him on the lips. She looked at him for a good few seconds before touching the end of his nose. “I'll go and see if the kids are getting up yet.”

He watched as she put on her dressing gown and then turned to smile at him. She was truly beautiful. Long, dark curls and deep, brown eyes. He often wondered what he had done to deserve a woman like her.

And there was that sinking feeling again. He had done nothing. It wasn’t something he even wanted.

He turned to the window. It was still dark outside, but the clock said it was 7am, so it would at least be lighting up soon.

His first Christmas as this new person.

For a few moments he lay staring at the clock thinking about time; about all the travels he'd been on.

But he shook his head. That life was over.




Her name was Deanna, although she knew that it didn’t used to be Deanna…




Deanna was still asleep when the door opened, but she soon awoke when the light from the hallway outside streamed in.

“Happy Christmas, girls!” came her mums joyful voice.

“Happy Christmas, mum,” said Emma jumping down from the top bunk and kissing her on the cheek.

“What about you, Deanna?” asked Helena.

Deanna turned to her mum and smiled weakly. Then she got out of bed and crossed over to the woman and gave her a kiss. “Happy Christmas, Mum,” she said sadly.

“Cheer up, Dee,” said Emma, giving her a squeeze on the arm.

Deanna sighed as she looked down at her…sister. Yes, she thought. She’s my sister. But before she could reply to her the door burst open again and her younger brother, David came running in, presents gathered up in his skinny arms.

“Hey, slow down, David,” said Helena.

“Can we open our presents now, mummy?” asked David excitedly.

“Of course we can, dear. Just as soon as your dad gets up.”

“I'll check on him,” said Deanna as she brushed past her mum, Emma and the little boy.




She walked up to the master bedroom and knocked on the door. After a few moments she entered and found him sitting on the end of his bed putting his socks on. The radio was on and "Fairy Tale Of New York" was playing in the background.

“Deanna. Good morning.”

“Shouldn't that be "Happy Christmas, Deanna"?” she asked.

“Deanna, we have to try,” he sighed, “for the sake of your mum, your sister and your brother, we have to try.”

“I want my Christmas back home with my proper family,” said Deanna glumly. “Not with someone's idea of a family.”

“Well, as much as I hate to say it, Deanna, it's not going to happen. We're here now and there's nothing we can do. There’s no point in upsetting everybody else, is there? Now go down to your mum and I'll join you in a few minutes.”

Deanna sighed. “Okay, Doctor.” She turned to go.

“Oh, and Holly?”

She froze at her name. She hadn’t used the name Holly for a good few months now. It was buried with everything else she used to be.

“Don't call me the Doctor,” he called back after her. “It's Dad now.” He watched her leave and then dug into his pocket. He pulled out a long silver chain with a fob watch attached to it and closed his eyes.




Holly, or Deanna as she was now known, had tried her best to be happy, but it was getting difficult. For a while she'd completely forgotten all of her problems and felt like part of the family, but then she'd slip back into her thoughts again. Her thoughts of her real home and her real parents who would now never know the truth of what happened to her. And she’d never see them again. She’d never visit her granddads grave again. She’d never see Agatha grow up, and she’d never be able to say goodbye to her parents.

After they had opened their presents Helena went into the kitchen to begin preparing their Christmas dinner.

Deanna was sat on her own when Emma came back into the living room. The cat was playing amongst the discarded wrapping paper and Deanna was watching quietly. Emma sat down beside Deanna and put an arm around her. “You feeling okay?”

She looked at her younger sister. She couldn't believe how similar she looked to herself. “Oh, I'll be fine.”

“C'mon Dee, it's Christmas. We should all be having fun.”

“I'm trying to, I really am,” said Deanna.

“You and Dad are always so down on things. Anybody would think you didn't want to enjoy yourselves.”

Deanna turned to Emma. “Oh no, Emma, that's not the case at all.”

“Then what is the case?” asked Emma.

“It's too complicated…” trailed off Deanna.

“Oh, let me guess. Has Ian been messing you around again?”

“Ian? No, not at all. In fact he's been nothing but good to me. He bought me this necklace for Christmas,” said Deanna showing the golden chain with a locket on the end.

“Well what is it then? You were always happy, then a few months ago you both became…different. Sadder.”

Deanna felt like telling Emma everything, but then stopped herself. “Maybe I'll tell you one day.” She managed a weak smile.

“Do you think he’s the one?” asked Emma.

“Who? Ian?” Deanna laughed. “Nah! I’ve got my eyes on someone else. Trouble is I don’t think I’ll ever see them again.”

“Oh, who?” asked Emma, her eyebrows arching.

“Maybe I’ll tell you that one day as well, squirt,” she smiled.




For once, everyone was happy. The Bradbury family sat around the dining table. A turkey dominated the centre and decorations hung all around. The Doctor laughed out loud at some of the jokes that had been pulled from the crackers, and Deanna, Helena and Emma joined in. David just sat with his toy car trying to run it onto his plate. The Doctor and Deanna had forgotten their problems for now and things seemed right, although a little odd.

It was only when the lights started flickering that Deanna and the Doctor were brought back to their problems. Helena, Emma and David seemed to stop laughing, becoming frozen in mid-sentence whilst a blue light washed everything over. Only the Doctor and Deanna found they could move.

“What's going on?” asked Deanna.

“I don't know, Deanna,” said the Doctor.

A split appeared in the blue light in front of the dining room table. A woman with blonde hair emerged from the crack, looked around and then focused on the Doctor.

“Faith!” said the Doctor, surprised. “What do you want?”

“We've been observing you, Doctor,” said Faith. “I think you need reminding of the situation.”

“Tell Roger to stop spying on me. We don't need reminding of what's happened to us.”

“Really? Do you ever want to see your TARDIS again?”

“What?” The Doctor was lost for words.

“Do you want it back?” asked Faith again.

“Of course I do,” said the Doctor.

Deanna crossed over to the Doctor. “Now wait a minute, there's gotta be some catch in this. The TARDIS is gone. We did this for all of our sakes.”

“It’s not over, Holly. You can have the TARDIS back, leave here and never return.”

“Never return?” asked the Doctor suspiciously.

“Never return,” confirmed Faith.

The Doctor sunk back into his chair. “I understand,” he said sadly.

“What is it, Doctor?” asked Deanna.

The Doctor straightened up. “Faith, what would happen if we left Helena, Emma and David?”

She looked sad and blinked slowly. “Helena, your wife, would work herself into a depression whilst Emma would grow up into a life of substance abuse. Meanwhile, sweet little David would grow up into a miserable scrooge unable to understand why his father and sister left on Christmas Day.”

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. “You did this on purpose.”

“Indeed,” said Faith.

“That's cruel,” said Deanna.

“It wasn’t my choice. I’m just Roger’s messenger. You had to be made aware of the situation. You have a family now, Doctor, and you can't abandon them. You have to take responsibilities. You have to stay safe. The TARDIS has gone. Your old lives are over.”

“How can we go on? What about Lilly and Richard? Where are they?” said Deanna. She’d often wondered, but had been too scared to think too much about it.

“Unlike you they couldn’t bare to remember what they left behind. They have moved on.”

“So they don’t remember us?” said the Doctor.

“No,” said Faith, sadly. “Richard and Lilly no longer exist in this universe. They have gone forever.”

“If we give up. If we submit to this…then we will forget too.”

“You’re not the Doctor and Holly anymore,” said Faith as she began to step back into the split. “You shouldn’t even be here together. It’s too dangerous.” She straightened herself up. “You’re John and Deanna Bradbury. You have to start accepting that. It’s the only way you’ll ever be safe.”

The blue tint to their surroundings started to fade and Faith stepped back into the split. 'Goodbye, Doctor. We shall not meet again.'

With a crash everything sprung back into life. David was still playing with his toy car, Emma was firing off a party popper and Helena hugged the Doctor. The Doctor looked to Deanna and smiled sadly.

“Are you enjoying yourself, dear?” asked Helena.

“Yes,” said the Doctor, turning to his wife. “Yes I am.”

“This is going to be a wonderful Christmas,” she smiled and kissed him tenderly on his cheek.




He awoke. Tick, tick, tick…




The Doctor was lying in bed, the covers had been flung off him. He was still fully dressed, but he was covered in glistening sweat. He quickly swung himself off the bed and ran over to the mirror. He looked at his face and slowly his rapid breathing began to ease.

He closed his eyes and laughed to himself.

The door burst open and Holly ran in. She was out of breath and looked terrified.

“Are you alright?” asked the Doctor.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I had a dream.”

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed. “A dream?”

“I was…I was back on Earth, but with a different family. And my name wasn’t Holly anymore. It was Deanna. And there was this woman called Faith who said we had to forget who we used to be.”

“We?” said the Doctor, trying not to let on that he already knew.

“You were there.” She frowned and shook her head, not quite believing it. “You were my dad.”

“And where was Lilly during all of this?” asked the Doctor, sitting down next to her.

“This Faith woman said she was gone. Said she’d forgotten who she was. And they said another name as well. A man’s name. I can’t remember it now.”

“The dream is fading,” said the Doctor.

“But what did it mean?” said Holly, pleadingly.

“Nothing, I suspect.” The Doctor put an arm around her. She was still trembling. “The TARDIS has a way of enhancing things - dreams especially. It makes them all seem quite real, when they’re not at all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Have you ever met a family called the Bradbury’s?” he asked her.

She frowned. “I never mentioned the family name.”

He looked sheepish and then guided her up off the bed. “Bad dreams, Holly, bad dreams,” said the Doctor. He guided her towards the door. “Go back to sleep and in the morning you’ll have forgotten all about it.”

“But it was just a dream, wasn’t it, Doctor?”

“Of course it was, Holly,” he said. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” she said, turning and heading back into the corridor.

The Doctor crossed over to the mirror and touched his face. For a moment he thought he saw the woman - Helena Bradbury - standing next to him. And then she was gone.

“You never know though,” he muttered to himself. “The future is never entirely set in stone.”




The End?

Doctor Who: Resurrection returns in January 2016 with "Clarence".

The Fires That Burned Blue (Chapter 9)

Chapter 9 (Burn on Forever...)

She could smell…peaches. She hadn’t had peaches in such a long, long time. Not since that day Craig gave her some when they were both kids.

Craig…

She found it too hard to think about her friend. She could hear a noise to the left of her. It was a gentle, rhythmic beeping and she couldn’t decide whether it was irritating or soothing. She decided on the former, because she certainly wasn’t going to be falling asleep again.

Or was it something else that was keeping her from dozing back to sleep? It could have been the sharp pain in her chest. The niggling throbbing felt like someone regularly pricking into her chest with the tip of a knife.

Knife…she thought back to Craig again and the answers - or rather questions - that had come from that knife. She wondered if it had all been a dream. If it had been a dream then it would mean that she was still in West Fulton in her crappy life. If it wasn’t a dream then her life was about to get a little bit weirder.

And then she remembered the bullet hitting her. The bullet shot from that thug, Colin Dunlop.

Her eyes snapped open. Above her was a white ceiling with a lamp gently glowing down on her. She looked to her right and saw the young man known as Caleb fast asleep in a chair. She looked to her left and saw the other man - the Doctor - sat in an identical chair. He was busy with felt tip pens colouring in a colouring book.

Lilly managed a very slight laugh and then regretted it. The pain in her chest…

“Lilly,” said the Doctor gently. “Lilly, are you okay?”

“I’m…I’m fine,” she managed. It felt like she hadn’t used her voice in a long time.

“You need to take it easy. You need to rest.”

“Where am I?” she asked. She wanted to look around her, but she daren’t move another inch.

“Not on Earth,” he said with a smile.

“What?”

“Mr Dunlop shot you through one of your hearts. No hospital on Earth could have saved you.”

She started to panic. “Am I…Am I okay?”

He shushed her. “You’re fine. They’ve rebuilt your left heart. Good job you had two though. That one kept you alive long enough for me to get you here.”

“Oh, god,” she said. “Two hearts…I forgot I’m an alien.”

The Doctor smiled. “You’ll get used to it.”

“So if I’m not on Earth then where am I?”

“A medical space station orbiting the planet Citrix. The Healers here owed me a favour.”

“What!?” said Caleb, suddenly waking from his slumber.

“You’re still on the space station, Caleb,” said the Doctor.

“Is Lilly…?”

“Your sister’s going to be fine. Just fine.” He leaned back in the chair. “But we need to go soon. When we returned to the TARDIS I did a scan. The Master left in his own TARDIS, which means he’s finally finished regenerating.”

“And has a new face that none of us have seen,” said Caleb.

“And if I know the Master,” said the Doctor, interlocking his fingers and looking thoughtfully into the distance, “then he’ll have some kind of perception field on him.”

“Which…is?” said Lilly groggily. She was drifting out of consciousness again.

“It means that he could hide in plain sight and we’d not know it was him. So we need to go. We need to continue to mask our time traces and we need to run.” He looked at Lilly. “You up for a bit of running, Lilly?”

“Don’t be stupid, uncle,” said Caleb, shaking his head. “She won’t be running anywhere just yet.”

A thought struck Lilly. “What about my real mother?” she said, her eyelids heavy.

The Doctor looked at Caleb and then back down at the girl. “We can’t go and see her yet. It’s the first place the Master will go to plan his next move. We need to disappear off the radar for a bit and keep you safe. Then, when you’re ready, we’ll see what we can do.”

“O…Okay…” she drawled, and then fell asleep again.

“And I need to keep you safe.” He looked at Caleb. “I need to keep both of you safe.”




Holly sat there in silence as Lilly finished telling her story, her knees drawn up to her chin. She was wearing shorts and could feel the gentle breeze on her bare legs. The sun was setting now and it cast the both of them in a golden light.

Holly turned to Lilly. Her hair was looking even more golden than normal. She didn’t turn and look at Holly though. She just continued to stare out at the waves crashing in the distance.

“Where is this place anyway?” said Holly.

“No idea,” said Lilly. “The Doctor came here after Caleb died. He spent a lot of time just sitting here and staring out to the horizon.”

Holly shook her head. “How did he die? You told me that you killed him.”

Lilly breathed in and then exhaled in one, long breath. “I don’t know if I’m ready to tell you that part yet.”

“Because I’ll hate you?” said Holly.

Lilly turned. “No. Because I still hate myself for it.”

“You’re not a killer though. Despite everything you went through back in Scotland.”

“A killer is someone who kills somebody else, isn’t it?”

Holly didn’t reply.

Lilly shook her head. “So, no. I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

Holly put her hand on Lilly’s and Lilly turned to her. “You can trust me, you know?”

“Even after all that?”

“Even after all that,” she confirmed.

“What is it about you, Dangerfield?” said Lilly, narrowing her eyes. “You’re not a robot are you, like Craig?”

Holly laughed. “No. Absolutely not a robot. Flesh and blood through and through.”

Lilly managed a weak smile. “Thank you for listening.”

“And when you’re ready for part two,” said Holly, “just get the Doctor to book us a couple of tickets to Mystery Island and I’m ready for you.”

“But what happens when you go home,” said Lilly, “and I’m on my own again?”

Holly looked sad. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” She smiled again. “That’s the thing about bridges - you can cross them more than once.”

Lilly looked at Holly for a long time. She was a kind person. Too kind for her, but it made her feel happy. She opened her mouth to say something when…

…the sound of the TARDIS engines filled the air and slowly the box materialised. The setting sun made it look darker than it usually looked.

The doors opened and the Doctor emerged, his arms folded. He leaned on the door frame. “Okay?”

Lilly looked at Holly and then both girls nodded back at the Doctor. “Okay.”

“Hop on board then, ladies. I’ve got some news.”

The girls made their way across the beach and then slipped into the TARDIS. Holly caught the Doctor gazing out to the jungle beyond the beach and then he too turned and went inside.

“So what’s this news then?” said Lilly, sitting on the sofa and picking up a jelly baby from a glass bowl at the side.

“Well whilst you two were having your little chat I did a bit of digging. I went back to West Fulton.”

“What!?” said Lilly. “Why the bloody hell did you want to go back there?”

“Because that was where this particular incarnation of the Master was born,” said the Doctor. “Now we know he’s masked his time traces and he’s put on a perception field so we have no idea who he is or what he looks like. So I’ve just spent hours and hours trawling the CCTV footage of that area and I think I’ve found him.”

The Doctor flicked a switch on the console and a holographic image of grainy CCTV footage appeared.

“Most of the footage was corrupted - it must have been because of the effects of the Master’s regeneration energy, but it cleared up in one particular frame.”

The Doctor zoomed in on a particular section of an alleyway. There was the blurred face of a man standing beside a dumpster.

“The video cuts out after this, but we can only assume that this is the Master.” He pointed towards the top of the image. “See the few traces of flames that have just come off him.”

“Well, great,” said Lilly. “So my father looks like a grainy, blurry man.”

“A little faith, Lilly,” he said, pressing another button. “I cleaned up the image through the TARDIS filters and came up with this.”

The image was still blurry, but had been cleared up quite considerably. The face was stern looking with a receding hairline and a high forehead.

“He looks…familiar,” said Holly.

“Mmm-hmm,” said the Doctor, nodding. “I ran the image through the TARDIS scanning system.” He put his hand on Holly’s shoulder. “Did I tell you what a fantastic machine my TARDIS is, Miss Dangerfield?”

“Well I know now,” said Holly with a chuckle.

He smiled. “The TARDIS has picked this face up throughout time on numerous occasions in numerous times and numerous locations.”

“So it’s definitely the Master then?” said Holly.

“Yes,” said the Doctor. “Now I can’t pinpoint all of his locations, but a number of locations jumped out at me.” He folded his arms. “He looks familiar because we’ve met him before. The man at the cemetery back when we fought off the zombies.”

“They’re not zombies,” corrected Lilly.

“Wait a minute!” said Holly. “Yes, I remember him. He asked us what we were doing and then he legged it when the zombies came out. He came out of the funeral building!”

“That’s right!” said Lilly. “Oh my god!”

“That’s not all,” said the Doctor. “He’s also been spotted masquerading as a doctor at NESP headquarters. Remember the business with the Cybermen?”

Holly shook her head. “Why?”

“There’s more, Miss Dangerfield,” he said, rather more excitedly than he meant to sound. “When you and Lilly were locked in the prison he was posing as an Agent Matthews. According to reports Matthews came to the Rock. Turns out that Governor Wainwright was still alive until the Master shot him dead.”

“Matthews…” said Lilly.

“I know where you’re going with this one, Lilly,” said the Doctor. “Matthew was the name of the Time Lord that helped the Yaros when they arrived on Earth. The aliens on the Runswick estate.”

“Oh Jesus,” said Holly, her hand shooting to her mouth.

“Why is he doing this?” said Lilly slowly.

“I have no idea, but he’s been watching us. He’s been following us and he’s been aware of our every move.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We keep moving. We keep flying from place to place. Eventually we’ll find him again, and that’s when we stand and fight.”

“I need a drink,” said Lilly, getting off the sofa and heading towards the corridor.

The Doctor looked sad and then turned to Holly. “Are you sure you want to stay?”

Holly folded her arms and looked stern. “Now, more than ever, Doctor.”

“She may hurt you,” said the Doctor. “You know what she’s capable of now.”

“She didn’t tell me the story of how Caleb died.”

The Doctor swallowed. “Caleb’s death-”

“No,” said Holly, shaking her head. “When she’s ready she’ll tell me, but until then…just let her be. I’ll make sure she’s alright. I’ll take care of her.” She moved to follow Lilly and then turned back. “But when the Master rears his head again, just make sure you’re ready for him.”

The End


Doctor Who: Resurrection will return for a Christmas-themed short tale on Christmas Eve.

The Fires That Burned Blue (Chapter 8)

Chapter 8 (The Chase)

“Leave her alone,” said the Doctor, getting to his feet but still shielding Lilly and Caleb.

The old men and Phil, the barman, were cowering in the corner.

“She is nothing to do with you, Doctor,” said the Master, stepping a little in the pub.

“She’s under my protection now.”

“She’s my daughter!” spat the Master.

“That doesn’t entitle you to take her with you. Just because you’re blood it doesn’t mean you are the right person for her.”

“I am warning you. Step away from her or I shall kill these microbes,” he said, pointing to the cowering men.

“Listen to me-”

“Wait,” said Lilly, stepping forward and standing beside the Doctor.

“Lilly-”

“Please be quiet,” said Lilly. She lifted up her head and looked at the man claiming to be her father. “Why should I go with you?”

“Because you are my daughter.”

“Strange how you didn’t care for the last 24 years of my life,” said Lilly.

“I had my reasons.”

“Which were?”

“I can’t tell you that. Not yet.” His voice had taken on an almost pleading tone. “But you are my daughter and I care for you.”

She shook her head. “No you don’t. A real father would never leave their child in the filth and squalor that I’ve been living in all my life. With those horrible siblings and nasty father.” She started to cry. “Do you know how it is that I found that dagger?”

The Master didn’t say anything.

“I was standing in the lake because I was going…” She closed her eyes and then recomposed herself. “I was going to end it all. I was going to walk into the lake and finish all of this.”

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off.

“How many father’s would screw up their child’s life so badly that they didn’t want to live anymore? And my one and only friend - Craig - was just some twisted robot that you sent to spy on me.”

The Master didn’t answer.

“So no, I will not be going with you. I’m sorry. You’ve had a wasted journey.”

The Master still didn’t say anything.

“Say something then!” shouted Lilly.

But he didn’t. He simply turned and walked away.

The Doctor ran to the broken doorway and looked down the street as the Master disappeared around the corner.

When he looked back Lilly was curled up in the corner, her head buried in her hands, sobbing her heart out. Caleb looked between the Doctor and Lilly and shook his head, unable to find the words to say.

The Doctor took one last look down the street and then said darkly to himself. “He’ll be back.”




The Master was standing in an alley way, his back against the brick wall. There was the smell of rotting fruit somewhere in a broken, wooden packing case. He closed his eyes. He could feel the change coming now. He had been like this for long enough. If he was going to bring his daughter home then he needed to do it in a form that she felt comfortable with, not as a flaming, burning man.

He had to finish the regeneration. He held his arms outstretched and then allowed the change to come. The flames flickered and flared outwards and he screamed to the heavens as he felt his face twisting into a new form, the bones cracking and the skin stretching to accommodate new dimensions.

And then the flames began to die down and slowly a face emerged from them. It was the face of a stern looking man. He had a high forehead and slightly receding hairline. His eyes were dark and his face thin.

He cracked his knuckles and then shifted his shoulders around in his suit. He needed to find a new one. He needed to sort out his plan of action, and then he would be back.

He went to his pocket and pressed down on what looked like a small, TV remote control.

The sound of engines filled the air and a huge dumpster materialised. He looked back down the alley way and then clambered into the dumpster, closed the lid, and then, with the same sound as before, it dematerialised leaving nothing but the rotting fruit smell in the alleyway.




The Doctor was walking next to Lilly with his hands in his pockets. Caleb stayed a little behind them, looking at Lilly cautiously.

“So what do I call myself?” said Lilly, realising that it wasn’t really the most important question of the day.

“You’ve always been Lilly,” said the Doctor. “Why don’t you stay Lilly?” He smiled at her,

She looked back at him with sad eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “I suppose.”

“Look, are you sure you want to do this?” said the Doctor. “You don’t have to, you know?”

Lilly nodded. “I do. They may have been the worst family on the planet, but I want to look them in their eyes and tell them that I’m leaving.”

“You’ll love it in the TARDIS,” said Caleb from behind them.

“I’m sure I will,” she said blankly.

The Doctor and Caleb had gone into much more detail about the TARDIS after the Master had left. It had taken some time for it to sink in for Lilly, and she still doubted some of it, but anything had to be better than the life she had been living.

Just an hour ago she was ready to end it all.

They turned into Wardieburn Terrace and Lilly went to the door. She turned back to the Doctor and Caleb. “You two wait out here,” she said.

The Doctor nodded. “Take your time.”

When Lilly had gone inside Caleb walked to stand next to the Doctor, a frown on his face.

“Penny for them?” said the Doctor, noticing the look on his face.

“Do you think she’s gonna be okay?” said Caleb.

“She’s damaged,” said the Doctor. He pointed to his temple. “In here. She needs to heal. Only then will we know.”

Caleb was about to reply when there came a scream from inside the house - Lilly.

The Doctor and Caleb raced up to the door and piled inside. They turned the corner and saw Lilly standing beside the fireplace, her hand across her mouth. They followed her gaze down to the sofa where a man and woman - Lilly’s father and sister - were sat next to eat other, still and lifeless and with bullet holes in their foreheads.

“Oh my god…” said Caleb. “Did…did he do that? The Master?”

“No, pal, no,” came the leery voice. They turned and standing in the adjoining room looking through the sliding double doors was Colin Dunlop, a gun trained on Lilly and blood splattered on his face.

“And who are you?” said the Doctor.

“Colin Dunlop,” said Lilly, managing to find her voice. She was shaking as she removed her hand from her mouth. “Why?”

“I’ve got nothing to lose,” said Dunlop, his hand shaking as he kept the gun trained on her. “I ran. After I killed your brother.” He smiled at the memory. “Thought I’d finish the rest of you off.”

Lilly held no lost love for her family, but they didn’t deserve to be murdered in cold blood.

“She is not a part of this,” said the Doctor.

Dunlop turned and aimed the gun at the Doctor. “I don’t know who you are, mate, but you’re the one who’s not a part of this. Turn around and leave.”

“She’s not even related to them,” said Caleb, quickly. “She was adopted.”

Lilly hadn’t really seen it as adoption, more that she was being kept as a prisoner. Adopters wouldn‘t have mistreated their child so cruelly. “It’s true,” she said. “I hated them. You know I did.”

“What have I got to lose?” said Dunlop. “Tell me!” he shouted.

Lilly shook her head. “Nothing, I guess.”

“Please, Mr Dunlop,” said the Doctor, edging a little closer.

“Listen to him,” said Dunlop, laughing and nodding towards the Doctor. “Mr Dunlop. Mr Dunlop. Don’t make me laugh.”

“We can work through this,” said the Doctor.

“Too late.” He steadied his arm and pointed the gun in the vicinity of Lilly’s head. She closed her eyes.

“MOVE LILLY!” came Caleb’s voice.

And everything else was a blur. She heard the shot ring out - it was louder than she had expected it to sound, and she opened her eyes. In a split second Caleb had grabbed Dunlop’s arm, making him miss her head. But she still felt an impact. She was knocked off her feet as the bullet tore through her chest. Through her heart.

And the world dissolved around her as she saw the ceiling flash up in front of her. Her head hit the fireplace hearth and she drifted out of consciousness.




Caleb had struck Dunlop over the head with a glass vase and he had been knocked out cold.

“Tie him up!” shouted the Doctor as he raced over to the fallen Lilly.

Caleb searched around for something to tie Dunlop up with. There was nothing. He took off his shoes, undid the laces and tied Dunlop’s hands and feet together and then laid him on his side.

“Is she alright?” said Caleb.

“Call the police. They can come and lock this monster up.” He lifted Lilly up in his arms and marched towards the door.

“Is she alright?” said Caleb again.

“We need to get her to a hospital.”

“I’ll call an ambulance,” said Caleb.

“No. We need to take her somewhere other than an Earth hospital. She’s been shot through one of her hearts. We have only a small window. Get moving, Caleb!”




When they arrived back at the park the police were still in attendance, investigating the crater, and a crane had lifted the TARDIS up onto its side. A policeman noticed them heading towards the box.

“Excuse me, sir!”

“Listen,” said the Doctor, nodding back towards where they had come from. “Go to No. 4 Wardieburn Terrace. There’s been a murder. The suspect is tied up and unconscious.

“Just a minute-”

“Go now!” growled the Doctor as Caleb unlocked the door of the TARDIS and he kicked it open with his boot.

“What’s up with her?” said the policeman, going for his radio.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. She’ll be absolutely fine. Absolutely fine,” he said, disappearing into the darkness of the box followed by Caleb.




The Master stood in his darkened console room, his hands spread out on the controls as he tried to fight off the aching in his head.

“Everything okay?” came a voice.

The Master looked up. It was Craig, his arm now reattached. He was stood in a black suit, similar to the Masters, and looked emotionless.

“I failed,” said the Master. “She wouldn’t come with me.”

“I like your new look,” said Craig. “You should have let me deal with it.”

“You’re a robot, Craig,” he said. He looked at the readings. “And the Doctor has just taken off with her onboard. That meddling cretin,” he said, thumping the console.

“Chase him then,” said Craig, as if it was an obvious thing to do.

“He’s already masking his time traces. It’ll be difficult to track them down.”

“Then we’ll work on it,” said Craig. He put an affectionate arm on the Master’s shoulder. “Yeah?”

The Master nodded. “Yes. And then when I finally have Illithia with me, I’ll kill the Doctor.”

To be concluded...

The Fires That Burned Blue (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7 (Spirals)

On board the TARDIS Caleb and the Doctor were stood staring at the time rotor. Neither of them saying anything. Neither of them having the foggiest clue of how to go about locating the mysterious Illithia.

And then the clue flashed up in front of them.

It was a single flicker on a radar-like machine. It flickered over and over again.

The Doctor looked down at it and then shook his head before leaning in closer to look at it.

“What is it?” said Caleb, noticing the excitement in his eyes.

“It’s a sign. It’s very faint, but it’s a sign.”

“Do you think it’s her?”

“I don’t know,” he said, “maybe.” He looked at Caleb. “The essence of everything she is will be hidden. Locked away in an inanimate object. I used a fob watch. The Master used a fob watch too, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a fob watch.” He smiled at Caleb, his face barely able to contain the excitement any longer.

“Well don’t just stand there grinning like a loon, uncle,” said Caleb. He pointed at the radar. “Where is she?”

“Oh yes!” said the Doctor, snapping to attention and then haring around the console, flicking switches, turning dials, pulling levers and turning any other instrument he could get his hands on.

A holographic map unfolded from one of the emitters on the side of the console. It showed a map of the United Kingdom with a dot somewhere near the vicinity of Edinburgh.

The Doctor was hunched over the consoles trying to refine the search.

“Well?” said Caleb, excited to meet his sister.

“July 1st 1996. West Fulton near Edinburgh.”

“Where?”

“Scotland!” he said, his face beaming. “We’ve found her, Caleb. We’ve found her!” He embraced his nephew in a warm bear hug and then released him, holding a finger up his face. “Euro 96 will still be on…”

“Doctor?” said Caleb.

“Yes,” said the Doctor. And then his face fell. “But this must mean she’s released the essence of her Gallifreyan self if we’re picking up these readings. That also means that the Master will have detected it too.” He turned to face his nephew. “We must get to her before he does.”




Lilly looked down as the knife glowed white-hot in her hands. Spirals of energy and light flared up from the blade and homed in on her face. She was completely oblivious to the world around her. Completely unaware that the mother duck and her ducklings had swam for dear life to get away. Completely forgetting that she was knee-deep in the mucky lake.

She listened. She could hear voices coming from the dagger. Male and female.

You are my child…

You are my child…

You are my sister…

Illithia. You are Illithia. My sweet girl what have they done to you. My sweet, sweet girl…

I am Illithia… came her own voice. I am Illithia.

And then the knife went dead. She gasped. It felt like something had punched her in the chest. She released the knife and it fell into the water, sinking once again, but something told Lilly that she didn’t need it anymore. She had found what she needed.

But she was now gasping for air. She keeled over and fell into the water, barely managing to keep herself from going all the way in as she remained on her hands and knees.

She could feel a heavy pounding in her chest. Her heartbeat was thumping and thumping. No, wait…not just one heartbeat. There were two heartbeats. Her hand went to her chest. She had two hearts.

What the hell?!

And then she heard the sound. The same sound she had heard all those years ago.

She got to her hands and knees as the pain in her chest subsided just in time to see a blue Police Box materialised on the banks of the river.

The door opened and a handsome man with short, dark hair, stubble and wearing a grey blazer, white shirt and tie and dark jeans stood there, his face looking stern and serious.

“Illithia?” was all he said.

Lilly nodded slowly. “The voices. The voices called me Illithia.”

Another man appeared at her side. He was a little younger with dark hair swept back to stop his fringe from threatening to flop over his eyes. He had piercing eyes and pale skin. He smiled when he saw Lilly.

“You need to come with us,” said the first man.

“I…”

But Lilly didn’t have time to finish her sentence as the sky cracked open and a trail of smoke and blue flame came soaring in like an asteroid. It hit the edge of the lake with such a force that the police box was thrown into the air, a huge crater being created from the impact of the asteroid.

The two men were thrown from the side of the box and landed by the river bank.

Lilly stumbled backwards in the water as a flock of seagulls squawked angrily and then flew away.

Her ears were ringing as smoke billowed up from the crater.

“We need to go,” said the man, holding out a hand.

Lilly looked at him for a long while.

“You need to come with us now!” said the man.

And then the young man looked up, a pained expression on his face. “Please, Illithia. Trust me. I’m your brother.”




He emerged from the crater, his body still aching from the impact, but the flames around his face and hands still burning blue. He knew he couldn’t delay the change much longer. This new power of regeneration he had been given was a gift. He knew he had to use that gift to complete the change, but he felt so powerful right now. He needed to get to Lilly first. Once he had her he would change and finally live again.

The Master reborn.

He made his way up the side of the crater. The Doctor’s TARDIS was lying face down with it’s doorway blocked off, but there was nobody else to be seen.

He could hear the sound of sirens in the distance. No doubt his arrival had attracted the attention of the authorities. No matter, he thought to himself. Let them come.




The Doctor, Caleb and Lilly had made their way out of the park and had headed down a street and towards Lilly’s house.

“I don’t know why we’re running from the TARDIS,” said Caleb, out of breath. “My legs can’t take this kind of running anymore.”

“I’m so sorry,” said the Doctor, skidding to a halt, kneeling down and checking the braces on Caleb’s legs.

“I’ll be fine,” said Caleb, “but no more running. Please.”

“We need to draw him away. He can’t hold onto that regenerative power much longer. He’ll have to change soon. If we just run away in the TARDIS he’ll follow us. He doesn’t need his own TARDIS to travel in.”

“What a minute, people,” said Lilly, holding her hands up to halt the conversation, “this is all getting a tad bit confusing.”

“What do you want to know?” said the Doctor, turning to her and smiling.

“How about…everything!” She said. She pointed to Caleb. “He told me he’s my brother, but my brother’s dead. He was shot dead by Colin Dunlop.”

“Not exactly true,” said the Doctor, looking down the street for any sign of the Master.

“And why am I called Illithia? My name’s Lilly. It’s always been Lilly.”

The Doctor, looked down at Lilly and then back down the street. “Listen, we need to take shelter. We need to get inside.”

“Not at my house we’re not,” said Lilly.

“No,” said the Doctor. “Probably not a good idea.”

“How about over there?” said Caleb, pointing to a grotty pub called the Woodsman’s Axe.”

“That’ll do nicely,” said the Doctor.

They made their way across the road and went into the pub. The inside was dark and dingy. A collection of old men were sat around the side of the bar, supping on pints of real ale and playing dominoes.

The air was filled with smoke and the Doctor cough, waving his hand in front of his face to try and clear the air.

“What can I get for you?” asked a skinny man with a few strands of grey hair over the top of his head.

“Three glasses of orange juice,” said the Doctor.

“Put vodka in mine please, Phil.”

“Right you are, Miss Galloway,” said the barman.

“Alcohol? At this time?”

“I don’t know you, pal,” said Lilly. “Don’t presume to know me. Alright?”

When they had received their drinks they found a table in the corner. The Doctor sat down beside the window and keep peering outside, making sure he was partially shielded by the net curtain. “It won’t take him long to find us.”

“Right, who is he? Cos to me he looks like a bunch of blue flames, like the Human Torch or something.”

“Who?” said Caleb, confused as he took a sip of his tepid orange juice.

“It doesn’t matter,” said the Doctor, waving away the question. He cleared his throat. “Lilly, are you willing to believe anything we say?”

“No,” said Lilly bluntly.

“Okay,” said the Doctor slowly. “Well this may be hard work then.”

“Just tell me the truth and I’ll let you know whether I believe you or not.”

The Doctor nodded, took another glance out of the window and then leaned back in his chair. “The truth is that you are not from the planet, your father is not who you think he is, and you are not really called Lilly.”

“Crap,” said Lilly, drinking her vodka and orange juice. “You’re saying I’m some space girl from Mars?”

“Not from Mars,” said Caleb, his eyes bright with excitement, “but from Gallifrey.”

“Is that in Ireland?” asked Lilly.

The Doctor rubbed his forehead. “Just hear me out. Many years ago your mother - your real mother - had a…liaison with the man who is now after us. He goes by the name of the Master.”

“But he’s been visiting me all my life. He’s been paying my father to look after me.”

“And the first piece of the jigsaw slots into place,” said the Doctor, clapping his hands together. “Your mother believed you died when she gave birth to you, but really the Master had taken you away. He rewrote your biological data so you would appear Human and then took you to this place and paid the man who pretended to be your father to look after you. Your essence would have been trapped or stored away in some inanimate object, which you have obviously just released. It‘s how we were able to track you down.”

“The knife,” said Lilly slowly. “But…why?” said Lilly, scarcely able to believe any of this.

“That we don’t know yet.” He turned to Caleb. “This is your half-brother, Caleb, by the way.”

Caleb extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Lilly didn’t reciprocate the gesture. “Maybe we should just ask Magister.”

“Right now he is a raging monster, hell-bent on finding you. I don’t know why, but the Master has never done anything for the good of anyone.”

“But if he’s my real father then surely I have a right to get to know him.”

“That is your choice, Lilly,” said the Doctor, “but ask yourself this - why would he let you grow up in such a terrible background? He told me he wanted to make sure you were toughened up for the road ahead. He wanted you to grow up to be the person you should be.”

Caleb shook his head. “I’ve researched him. He’s had other children, but all of them have either disappeared, died or gone their own ways. You’re like his last chance option for a family I suppose.”

“I’ll admit I’ve had a crap life,” said Lilly, looking past the Doctor and into the distance.

“Is that the sort of father who you want?”

Lilly shook her head. “If this is all true then what do we do?”

“You come with us. With Caleb and myself. I’ll keep you safe until we can face down the Master without him being some otherworldly monster.” He leaned in closer. “Please, Lilly. Your mother was married to my adopted brother. We‘re technically family.”

“And why should I trust you?”

Suddenly the door blew inwards, splintering wood everywhere and throwing everyone off their seats.

The Doctor crawled across to Lilly and got in front of her, shielding her from the blue flaming man that stood in the broken door frame.

“Because the Doctor is the only one who can get us out of this alive,” said Caleb, his eyes full of terror.

To be continued...

The Fires That Burned Blue (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6 (Swing Out Sister)

Caleb sat on a beautifully carved wooden chair that sat near to the back of the console room. He stared down at the floor as he blinked slowly, carefully considering what had just happened. The last hour had been a blur. He had never expected to have been whisked away this quickly, although it was always a wish that he’d end up travelling with his uncle one day.

Back on Gallifrey, a long, long time ago, he had promised him that if he ever left their home world then he’d take Caleb with him.

Then Caleb and his father had had an accident and become trapped in a pocket universe. Life had moved on and the Doctor had left Gallifrey many years later with his granddaughter, Susan.

He hadn’t asked about Susan. She was only young when Caleb had gone missing. The Doctor didn’t always seem comfortable with family matters.

Time had moved more slowly for Caleb and his father, but a long, long time had passed for the Doctor and his mother.

The Doctor was stood beside the console room, his hands in his grey jacket pockets. He absentmindedly flicked at a few controls and then turned to look at Caleb.

“I don’t know,” he said simply.

“What?” said Caleb, confused.

“You were going to ask me a question.”

“Was I?”

The Doctor nodded and crossed over to him. He sat on the floor next to the chair, his hands in his lap. He looked at the time rotor as it rose and fell gently. “You were going to ask me if you think they’re still alive.”

Caleb closed his eyes and was amused at the thought. Amused that the Doctor could almost read his mind. “The question had crossed my mind.”

“The truth is,” said the Doctor, turning to face his adopted nephew, “that I don’t know. But what I do know is this: your mother and your father cared for you very much. They loved you. They loved you enough to sacrifice themselves so that you would be safe.” He got up off the floor and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “And your mother cared enough for us to find your sister.”

“That’s if Illithia is even still alive,” said Caleb glumly. “And she won’t know me or mum or anyone anyway.”

“That doesn’t mean that she can’t learn.” He crossed to the console. “The trick will be in trying to find her. And we have to move fast. The Master won’t let us just run, not if he knows that we’re going after her.”

“Can’t you scan for Gallifreyan readings?” said Caleb, crossing over to the console.

“It’d be like searching for a invisible needle in a sea of needles,” said the Doctor. He suddenly looked sad, and then shook away the thoughts of Gallifrey. He couldn’t afford to let his mind wander. He needed to stay focused.

“But you must have some idea.”

The Doctor scratched his chin. “Like me, the Master has always been drawn to Earth. If he really was checking on Illithia all of these years that we’ve been at each others throats then he may well have hidden her there. He was stranded on Earth for a time as well.”

“He said that she’s somewhere we’ll never find her.”

“Which means it’s not somewhere expected. Not a space prison or a Thal survival camp.” He tapped his finger on the top of the console. “It’d be somewhere normal. Dull and normal.”

Caleb shook his head. “Even if she is hidden how has he managed to hide her life signs? A Gallifreyan on Earth? Surely you’d detect her.”

“Unless he’s masked her somehow.” His eyes flitted from side to side. “He took her as a baby. Hid her away and changed her biological data.”

“That kind of technology is dangerous,” said Caleb.

“Believe me, I know.” The Doctor wandered away from the console, gazing into the middle distance, his hand stroking his half-grown beard. “The Chameleon Arch was in its infant days when you and your father went missing. The completed device rewrites your entire biological data. It can overwrite your entire self. Make you change from Gallifreyan to Human…to anything. I used it once, and the Master used the same tech to escape the Time War.”

“He ran from the Time War?” laughed Caleb. “The coward.”

The Doctor turned to his nephew. “You weren’t there, Caleb. It made us do…things…”

Caleb watched as the Doctor stared at the roundel-covered wall, deep in his memories.

“So,” said Caleb, trying to steer the topic back around to Illithia, “you think he rewrote her as a baby and then let her grow up with someone else while he checked up on her?”

“Sounds about right,” said the Doctor, “but we simply have no idea as to where she could be. No clue at all.”




The coffin was lowered into the ground. Lilly stood and watched on. Her sister’s eyes were full of tears, her father’s face a look of anguish.

Lilly didn’t care.

She didn’t care that her brother was dead. In fact…she was happy.

A few nights ago she had gotten in an argument with him. Again. But this time he had taken it too far. Archie had never used physical violence exactly. He had restrained her and forced her into her room to lock her up, but he had never hit her.

They were celebrating her 24th birthday…or rather she was sat in the living room with a glass of water whilst her and her family watched Bullseye, when Archie had come in and locked the door, closed the curtains and continually peeked out from the gap between them.

“What’s happened?” her dad had said, getting up from the chair.

“It was Dunlop and his lads.”

Andrea groaned. “What the hell now?”

“I’ve told you not to get involved with the Dunlop’s” said her father, joining her brother by the curtains.

Lilly looked down sadly at her half empty glass of water, remembering what Dunlop had done to Craig all those years ago. And then she realised it had been five years since he had died. Since the weird man had visited her for the last time.

Since she had lost the knife.

Nobody had reported Craig missing because there was nobody there to miss him.

She was the only one who had ever cared about him.

She was brought back into the grotty living room by the sound of screeching tyres.

“It’s them,” said Archie. He and his father went into the side cabinet next to the TV and took out two revolvers.

“Dad, what the hell!?” said Lilly, her eyes wide. “What are you gonna do, shoot them?”

“If they have to,” said Andrea, who had now taken up the lookout position by the window.

“Don’t be so bloody stupid,” said Lilly, getting up and trying to grab one of the guns off Archie.

“Back off,” said Archie, pulling away. He was considerably taller than her and Lilly couldn’t get near to him.

“Just keep out of this, Lilly,” said her dad. “Andrea, take her upstairs.”

“I’m not a kid anymore,” said Lilly. “You can’t treat me like that anymore.”

“Let’s go out there and threaten him,” said Archie.

“Yeah,” said her dad, loading up the revolver, “he won’t be expecting this.”

“What in the name of all that is holy…?!” said Lilly as they made their way out of the living room.

Andrea held her back and her dad turned to face her. “There’s nothing holy in this house, Lilly. There never has been.”

Her brother and father made their way towards the front door when Lilly slipped out of Andrea’s grip. She ran up behind them, pushed past her dad who fell to the floor and leapt onto Archie’s back. Lilly couldn’t remember much more other than Archie turning and slamming her back against the wall. She fell from his back and he turned around and smacked her clean in the jaw.

Lilly was knocked clean out.

When she woke up she was lying on her old bed with Andrea sat in the room crying. Apparently they had gone out there to deal with the situation, but hadn’t betted on Dunlop bringing a gun. He had shot first, hitting Archie right in the chest.

Archie had died in his father’s arms. Dunlop had escaped. They still hadn’t found him.

So Lilly didn’t care that he was lying dead in the coffin now on this grey summers morning as they lowered it into the ground. She felt bad for not caring, but all she cared about was the fact that at least one of the Galloway’s had now gone to where he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again.

She stood beside the grave for a long, long time. Her sister and father had departed a long time ago, neither of them saying anything to her.

And then she turned and headed in the direction of the park.




Lilly stood at the edge of the lake as a mother duck and her party of chick’s swam past happily. She frowned and then smiled. Why couldn’t she be a duckling? They didn’t have to worry about anything. All they did every day was swim. And at least they were a family. The mother duck would never do anything to hurt her children.

She closed her eyes and then the tears fell.

She sat down on the bank and took off her shoes and socks before stepping into the murky warm water. She stood there for a few moments and then closed her eyes again. She imagined a better world. A better place where she belonged somewhere. A place where somebody loved her. The next life had to be better than this.

She balled up her fist, screwed up her eyes and then screamed to the heavens.

And when she opened her eyes…there it was. Just at the edge of the lake.

The knife.

Lilly crouched down beside the lakes edge and reached out for the knife. She could feel it tingling. It had some sort of power locked away inside of it. It felt alien. The tips of her fingers were vibrating, but when she finally reached out and touched it the vibrating stopped.

The grabbed the knife quickly and looked at it, turning it over and over in her hands. It was true what she had said to Craig all those years ago - she had never taken the knife from it’s sheath.

She gripped the handle tightly and then pulled the knife free.

To be continued...

The Fires That Burned Blue (Chapter 5)

Chapter 5 (Life on a Knife Edge)

The Years had passed.

Things hadn’t got any easier.




Lilly was now 19. She had spent the last four years dodging her brother, sister and father, along with their dodgy dealings, and managed to move on from school and get a job working in a newsagents. It wasn’t a very well paid job, but it was something to start with. Something that might actually help to get her out of the danger she was constantly living under.

In the past four years Lilly had managed to lose nearly all of her friends, but thankfully Craig wasn’t one of them. Craig had remained there for her. And despite all the bad boyfriends and the trouble she had gotten herself into, Craig never judged her. Ever.

And Lilly had never had any cause to use that knife.

Until one time one winter.

Magister had continued visiting over the years, but his visits were becoming less and less regular. In fact by the time Lilly had turned 18, he had hardly been there in the last few years. Now she was 19 he hadn’t been since.

And she still hadn’t got to the bottom of where he had gone. He seemed to purposely visit when she was out, and every time she tried to trick him into thinking she had gone out, he didn’t turn up.

She was sat on the old bench looking out over the park when Craig came cycling up, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“You’ll die, you know?” said Lilly bluntly, nodding at the cigarette.

“Better than this place,” said Craig blowing smoke out of his mouth.

Lilly rolled her eyes. “You once told me not to make those kinds of comments.”

“That was before life went to shit,” he said, throwing the cigarette to the floor, laying his bike on the pathway and sitting next to her on the bench.

Craig had filled out in his later years and had become a doorman at a club in the town. He still had a kind heart, but he had developed an angrier side. His parents had divorced and his dad had become an alcoholic. Apparently. She still hadn’t met his parents in all these years. Craig had moved out when he was old too and hadn’t looked back.

“I’ve always liked you, Craig,” said Lilly.

“I’ve always liked you too, Lils,” said Craig. He looked at her. “I fancied you for a while back then.”

Lilly laughed. “That’s what I liked about you. We spent all that time with each other, but you were always a gentleman. Always.”

“I just knew I wasn’t good enough for you,” he said, lighting another cigarette. “Not that I’d say no now though.”

Lilly laughed. “Believe me, Craigy-boy, you’re not my type.”

“Cheers,” said Craig.

Lilly looked down at her hands and then back up to Craig. “How long have I known you, Craig?”

“Since we were both at playgroup together.”

“A long time, isn’t it?”

“It is,” said Craig. “Why do you ask?”

“Would you do anything for me? Would you help me with anything at all?”

Craig looked confused. “You know I would. Of course I would.”

“And that’s the problem,” said Lilly. She pulled out the knife from her coat pocket and turned it over in her hands.

“Jesus, Lils. Don’t get that out in public,” he said, looking around himself nervously.

“You gave me this for a reason,” said Lilly.

“Yeah, for protection.”

“From who?”

“From your family.”

“No,” said Lilly, shaking her head. “No, there’s something else. It’s a bit random, you see? I was looking at it the other day, thinking of returning it to you, when I noticed something not quite right with it.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a normal, regular knife, yeah, but there’s something about it. There’s something living about it.”

Craig looked worried. “You’re not making much sense, Galloway.”

“I put the knife to my ear. I could hear it talking to me. I could hear a voice telling me to draw the knife. To release what was inside.”

Craig didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t open it of course. I daren’t. And then there’s you, Craig. Always there for me. Always by my side. You had a brain about you, Craig. You could have gotten out of this crap-hole of a town. You didn’t.”

“I didn’t have any confidence-”

“Don’t give me that, Craig,” said Lilly. “You’re here because you have to be here. Because you’re watching me. Because you’re protecting me. You’ve been protecting me ever since I was little.”

Craig didn’t respond.

“I know I’m right. I don’t know how or why, but you’re working for Mr Magister, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry, Lilly,” he said blankly.

“Tell me more.”

“I can’t,” said Craig. “I…can’t. You have to find your own path. When you’re ready, the Master will come for you.”

“The Master?”

“Mr Magister. I told you it was latin for Master.”

Lilly shook her head. “If you’re such a good friend to me you need to tell me now what is going on or I swear to you that I’ll never talk to you again.”

“I’ve watched over you, Lilly. I did it for you.”

“Then tell me more.”

“I am not able to,” said Craig.

“Then this is goodbye,” said Lilly. She got up to leave and he grabbed her arm. His skin felt cold.

“Please don’t leave.”

“I’m sorry, Craig, she said, her face blank and emotionless. I need to find my own path, as you have already said.”

As she walked away she passed the pond, its water iced over. She pulled the knife from her coat pocket and looked back at Craig. He was sat staring out into space. She sighed, raised the knife above her head and then threw it towards the lake.




That night Lilly returned to the park bench. She was feeling guilty for what she had done, but she wanted some alone time. She wanted to just sit there in her usual spot and contemplate her future. But to her shock she found Craig still sat there. This time he was slumped forward. It was a bitterly cold night and a layer of frost had gathered over him.

She knelt down in front of him and shook him. He didn’t respond.

“Craig!” she said. “Craig, wake up!”

She looked around. She needed to find a pay phone to call an ambulance. She was about to run towards Grime St when a man came walking up. He was dressed in a black suit. He looked similar to Mr Magister, but younger. His hair was slicked back and he still had the goatee beard, but his eyes looked wilder.

“Hello, Lilly,” he said.

“Who are you?” said Lilly. “Did Magister send you.”

“Possibly,” said the man. He sat down on the bench next to Craig’s prone form and punch his arm playfully. “I guess Craig’s usefulness came to an end, eh?”

“I need to get him an ambulance.”

The man shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Miss Galloway. The hospital wouldn’t be able to help with his condition.”

“What do you mean?”

The man sighed, considered his options and then pulled and twisted on Craig’s left arm. To Lilly’s horror the arm came away.

Her hand went to her mouth to stifle a scream, but then she realised something was wrong. Where the shoulder joint was there instead was wires and circuitry.

“What. The. Holy. Hell?”

“He’s a robot, Miss Galloway.”

“But…how can he be? I’ve know him since I was a toddler. I grew up with him.”

“A growing robot. A self-sufficient robot that can grow and take care of itself. Even when it was a child it had the brain of a thousand intelligent minds.”

“This is impossible…” trailed off Lilly.

“It’s not impossible,” said the man. “Did you ever meet his parents?”

“Well, no. They were always out.”

“A-ha!” said the man, clicking his fingers.

“But he gave me that knife. From his grandfather.”

“A story concocted from nothing,” smiled the man. “And you took the knife.”

“What was the knife?” said Lilly, feeling herself being sucked into the man’s story. “I heard it talking to me.”

“It was your life line. Something that you could use when you were ready for the truth.”

Lilly stared straight ahead at him.

“And you threw it in the lake.”

Lilly didn’t say anything. She couldn’t believe what she was being told. It was…too out there. She didn’t believe in robots or anything like that. It was impossible.

The man got up, hefted up Craig onto his shoulders and began walking away.

“Wait!” said Lilly. “You need to tell me more.”

He turned to look at her, his arms wrapped around Craig’s legs. “Not until you get that knife back. And to do that you’ll need to find your motivation. When you get that, you will finally discover the truth and your life might make some more sense.”

She watched as the man disappeared into the darkness. She then turned to look at the iced-over lake. It could be anywhere now. Absolutely anywhere. She wasn’t sure where her life was headed and whether she should follow the path, but she did wonder for a good long while if she’d thrown her future away.

She looked back to the bench again and burst into tears, her hand to her mouth as she dropped to her knees. She’d lost Craig and she didn’t know how much more of this life she could take.

To be continued...

The Fires That Burned Blue (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4 (Flame On!)

The Doctor was sat at one end of the long, oak table with Caleb and Reikon on either side. When Celestia walked into the hall all three of them looked at her.

The Doctor couldn’t help but admit that, even now, she still took his breath away. Not in a romantic way (he’d never bother was such silly nonsense), but she was stunning. Her long, dark, red hair hung down over her shoulders; her head raised high. Her high-neck made her look taller than she actually was and her dark, green dress flowed behind her as she walked into the room.

She stopped in front of them for a few moments. And then smiled politely at the Doctor.

“It’s good to see you again, Celestia,” he said, getting up from his chair.

“And it is good to see a new you,” she said, smiling at him. “How many faces has it been now? Since the first one?”

“Too many to count,” he smiled.

“You should try hanging onto your faces longer,” she said, and then winked at him.

“Mother, can I ask a question?” said Caleb.

“Not just yet, eh, Caleb?” said Reikon quietly.

She straightened herself out, her face looking serious again. “If you are here, Doctor, then I can only presume that you’ve found my daughter.” She hesitated on the word ‘daughter’ and her eyes flicked to Reikon.

“No, not yet I’m afraid,” said the Doctor, sitting back down at the table. “But then I haven’t had the time.”

“It has been three months,” said Celestia, sitting at the far end of the table.

“For you, yes. But for me it’s only been a day. I’ve had to find time to…settle in to this body.”

“Doesn’t he look different?” said Caleb.

“Indeed he does,” said Celestia, staring straight ahead at the Doctor.

Nobody said anything for a good few seconds, and then Reikon cleared his throat. “Look, I’m sure there’s bound to be a little bit of…uneasiness between all of us.”

“There’s no uneasiness from where I’m sitting,” said the Doctor.

“Absolutely none at all,” said Celestia quickly.

“Oh, come off it,” said Caleb. “All three of you need to loosen up a bit. Look at you.”

“Silence, Caleb.”

“No, I won’t be silent, mother. I’ve been through the hell as much as any of you.” He folded his arms and looked between the three of them. “We need to look at the facts. Father and I were trapped in a weird dimension for…well, forever, and mother moves on and has a child with the devil himself.”

“Caleb-!”

“No, Celestia,” said Reikon softly. “Let him speak. We’ve all been bottling this up for too long. Things need to be said.”

“Thanks, father.” Caleb looked at his him. “You’re bound to be a little bit aggrieved.”

“I’ve accepted that your mother had moved on.”

“But to him?” said Caleb. “I wouldn’t accept it.”

“I can accept it,” said Reikon, “because I’ve been given this second chance. Just like you, Caleb.”

“Exactly!” he said, clicking his fingers.

“Then where is this going, Caleb?” asked Celestia.

“If father has accepted it then why haven’t you?” he turned to his mother.

“I accepted what I did, but it was before Koschei became the Master.”

“He was always a wild card though,” said the Doctor.

“I was lost and alone. I needed…a friend.”

“And instead you got a baby,” said the Doctor.

“A baby I thought was dead,” said Celestia, her voice echoing around the great hall.

“But the baby isn’t dead,” continued Caleb after a few beats. “It’s very much alive.”

“Exactly,” said the Doctor. “And that is the whole point of this. We need to find your daughter.”

Celestia relaxed and shook her head. “Where do we start?”

Before the Doctor could answer there was a huge explosion and the entire hall was rocked. Chunks of marble and masonry fell from the roof and a huge column tipped over, smashing the old, oak table in two.

The Doctor was thrown off his chair, landing on his back hard. He shielded his eyes as particles of pulverised marble and stone rained down on them. His ears were ringing and his arm hurt where he had landed on it.

After a few moments the Doctor scrambled to his feet. “Is everyone okay?” he asked - more shouted it than anything.

“Fine. Fine,” came Reikon’s voice amongst the dust.

“Caleb?”

“Still alive,” came the young man’s voice from under half of the broken table.

“Celestia?”

“What in the Matrix was that?” said Celestia, getting to her feet and brushing the marble dust from her dress.

The Doctor turned to face the window. Where there was once a balcony there was now a huge gap looking out oto the valley below. The Doctor peered over the edge. He could see the TARDIS way, way down by the lake, but nothing else.

“I can’t see anything,” said the Doctor. “What the hell caused it?”

There came a distant chuckle.

“Oh no…” said Celestia, fear spread across her face in an instant. She backed herself up to the far wall. “It’s him.”

“Where is he?” said Reikon, crossing over to his wife and putting a protective arm around her.

She looked at him for a moment and then relaxed a little. It had been a while since her husband had made her feel safe again.

The Doctor looked between the couple and got the impression that the two of them hadn’t been very close since they were reunited.

Outside the sky was getting dark. The three suns had set and the moon was beginning to rise. There was a gust of wind and the candles that were illuminating the great hall flickered and blew out.

“Stay here,” said the Doctor, pointing at Caleb, Celestia and Reikon.

“No way,” said Caleb. “We all need to stay together.”

“If it is the Master, then I’d rather you three not get in his way.”

“How could he have found out?” said Celestia, her eyes wide in terror. “I only told you three.”

“Oh, my dear Celestia,” came a silky voice, echoing from all around the hall, “I have been watching you for quite some time.”

“Where’s my daughter!?” she shouted up to the roof.

“She’s quite safe,” said the voice.

“Show yourself,” said the Doctor, looking all around for any sign of his old enemy.

“Good to see you looking so healthy again, Doctor,” came the voice.

“And how about you show me your face,” said the Doctor. “I’ve never been a fan of disembodied voices. I’m presuming you’ve regenerated too.”

There came the sinister chuckle again. The Doctor edged a little closer to the family. “When I say run…”

“You won’t be running anywhere. Any of you.”

With a burst of light a column of blue flame erupted from the shadows at the far end of the hall, casting everything in a blue glow. The Doctor tried to shield his eyes against the light as the flames moved closer. Slowly the flames reduced until instead a shadowy man was standing, flames covering his hands and obscuring his head.

“What have you done to yourself?” said the Doctor. He could already feel the heat coming from the man.

“I’m still regenerating, Doctor,” he chuckled. “I haven’t finalised a look yet.”

“It’s unnatural,” said Reikon. “It’s wrong.”

“Since when have I ever done anything that wasn’t unnatural,” said the Master, turning to Reikon.

“Last time I saw you,” said the Doctor, “you had an army of creatures with you - the Swytch.”

“Oh, the Swytch,” said the Master fondly. “Yes, they are a part of me now. I consumed them. They were merely a means to an end. They no longer exist.”

“You’re a monster,” said Celestia.

He turned to the woman, her red hair illuminated purple by the blue flames. “And you…I told you what would happen if you fought against me.”

“I can’t believe you’d kill your own daughter.”

“Where is she?” asked the Doctor. “Tell us.”

“Somewhere you will never find her.”

“Why her though?” said the Doctor, his eyes wide. “What makes her different from the other children you have had?”

The Master shook his flaming head. “Every one of my children is different. Every one of them serves a different purpose.”

“How do we know she’s even still alive?” asked Celestia.

The Master chuckled and stepped away from the three of them. “Because she is my next project. My…master plan, so to speak.” He laughed at his own joke. “I’ve been watching over her for years. Since before me and you and UNIT, Doctor,” he said, pointing to the Doctor.

“And you never said anything,” said the Doctor.

“The measure of a good man is on how many back up plans he has up his sleeve.”

“And that’s all she is,” said the Doctor. “A back up plan?”

“More than that, Doctor. I care for her like I have cared for the others.”

“A likely story,” spat Celestia. “If you cared for her you wouldn’t have pretended she was dead and hidden her away.”

“She needed to grow up away from you. You would have stifled her. Stunted her and made her become a positive role model. You would have fawned over her like a mewling deer does a doe.”

“There’s a song in there somewhere,” said the Doctor.

“I needed her to become like me,” said the Master, ignoring the Doctor’s attempts to rile him.

“Insane?” said Caleb.

“I’m not insane, young man,” said the Master, turning to face him. “But with me guiding her she can live up to her potential.”

“Tell me where she is!” yelled the Doctor.

The Master shook his enflamed head again. “I will never tell.”

“That’s all I needed to know,” said Reikon. He stepped away from Celestia and dived at the Master, his hands going for around his throat.

“Reikon, no!” shouted the Doctor, as the Master stumbled backwards. “It’s not worth it.”

Reikon’s hands burned and blistered in the flames. “Get out of here! Go.” He turned to Caleb. “Now! NOW!!”

“Reikon…” started Celestia.

“Please,” begged Reikon, turning to look at his wife, his face sweating from the heat of the flames.

“I love you,” she said, her voice barely audible above the crackling flames.

“Always,” smiled Reikon.

The Doctor looked at his adoptive brother as he struggled with the roaring flames of the Master. Reikon stared back at him and smiled sadly. And then he nodded. “Keep them safe.”

The Doctor nodded back to him, grabbed Celestia and Caleb’s hands, and then ran from the hall.

As they bounded through the wooden doors, the Doctor turned back just in time to see Reikon force himself and the Master over the edge where the balcony used to be.




By now it was dark outside and the silver moon cast pale light over the courtyard as they burst through the door and ran under the portcullis and made their way over the drawbridge.

“We need to go back,” said Celestia, trying to break free from the Doctor.

“Don’t be stupid!” yelled the Doctor.

“But Reikon might still be alive.”

“He sacrificed himself so that you could survive. So that I could find your daughter. I’m not letting you go back!”

“Please,” said Celestia.

The Doctor stopped and let go of Celestia’s hand.

Caleb stepped out in front of him. “Don’t you want to find your daughter? Don’t you want to find my sister?”

“She’s just a half sister,” said Celestia. “You heard what he said - she’ll probably be twisted and messed up in the head.”

“Father was only the Doctor’s adopted brother, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t care, does it, uncle?”

“No,” said the Doctor quietly. “I cared for Reikon as I cared for all of my family.”

“Don’t you love her?”

Celestia turned back to the castle and then looked at the Doctor and Caleb. “Find her, Doctor. Please. Find her and then come back for us.”

“Celestia…”

“I didn’t just get him back to lose him all over again. I know that she will be safe under your protection. But who will protect Reikon?” She closed her eyes and then opened them again, her face resolute. “Take Caleb and find her. Find Illithia.”

“Illithia?”

“That’s what I named her. Even after she had died. I called her Illithia.”

“I can’t change your mind, can I?” said the Doctor.

She shook her head. “If I find Reikon safe, we’ll find shelter. If anything the Master will come after you now, so you need to track her down and take her with you. He will keep following. Do you hear me?”

The Doctor nodded, but refused to meet her gaze.

“I don’t believe you’re doing this, mother,” said Caleb, trying not cry.

She walked over to her son, put her hands either side of his head and kissed his forehead. “You have a future. You have a future with your uncle and your sister. Not with me. Before you disappeared your uncle was going to take you away. Now’s your chance.”

Caleb opened his mouth to talk, but Celestia put a finger to his lips.

“Go. Go now.”

And then she turned and ran back towards the castle.

“We need to go,” said the Doctor as Caleb watched his mother disappear into the darkened courtyard. There was no sign of the Master or the flames. He was in there somewhere, but there was nothing they could do now. They had to keep on running.

The Doctor dragged the reluctant Caleb down the mountain path as quickly as they could. If the Master was out there somewhere it wouldn’t take him long to find them.

They stopped in their tracks just near to the base of the mountain when they heard a female scream echo around the valley.

“We need to move,” said the Doctor, dragging Caleb again.

They reached the beach and ran as fast as they could towards the familiar blue police box.

Caleb didn’t have time to say goodbye to his home he had only know for three months as the Doctor unlocked the door and then almost threw his nephew through the double doors.

He turned to look back at the castle just as a huge explosion of blue flames erupted from the windows, blowing two of the towers clean off.

The last thing the Doctor heard as he locked the door and set the TARDIS to dematerialise, was the sound of the haunting, chuckling laughter of the Master.

To be continued...