A Life Less Extraordinary (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7 (The Loneliest Place in the Universe)



“Doctor,” said Holly, her head in her hands once again, “I’ve known you – or a variation of you – for a long time now. When are you going to realize that sometimes you need to tell me some things?”

“I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done things exactly the same as my other self,” said the Doctor, shrugging his shoulders.

“This guy didn’t seem like a prisoner though,” said India. “I mean why would you put someone who is a prisoner in a place with so much power?”

The Doctor shook his head. “When I say that he was a prisoner, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he was a criminal.”

“Ugh,” said Holly, shaking her head and closing her eyes. “Clarity, Doctor, clarity.”

“He was a Time Lord back in the day. I suppose you could call him a pre-cursor to me. His name was Mortimus. He used to monitor the timelines from the central processing centre on Gallifrey. He became…curious.”

“Let me guess – he decided to leave Gallifrey,” said Lilly.

“Sort of. He watched and watched and watched until he couldn’t watch anymore. He wanted to go and help. Now the difference between myself and Mortimus is that I don’t like to interfere.”

“Hah!” said Lilly.

The Doctor shot her a look. “I try not to interfere. At least not like Mortimus did. He used to meddle with time. He stole a TARDIS and rattled around the universe altering timelines and changing things. That’s when he earned the name the Time Meddler.”

“So he made the world a better place by changing things?” asked India.

“Not exactly,” said the Doctor. “At first he did, but soon he realized he could change things to benefit himself and started to act irresponsibly. I ran into him on quite a few occasions, but eventually the Time Lords caught up with him.”

“And so they put a known meddler of time in charge of time itself?” asked Holly.

“You can’t control time from the Zero Point. That’s the point. He was placed there at the end of existence to keep him away from anymore interfering. His punishment was to watch forever.”

“But you said he should have defused my wrist strap,” said Holly.

The Doctor smiled. “Believe it or not Mortimus changed. Some truly horrible things had happened to him during his time.” The Doctor looked distant for a moment. He looked sad. “He realized his mistakes and gladly took on the role at Zero Point. He’s been there ever since but has never put a foot wrong.”

“Until now,” said Holly.

“Until now,” said the Doctor. “He can’t escape from there. At least he shouldn’t be able to. And why would he revert back to his old self anyway?”

“Perhaps he was playing a long game,” said Lilly. “Like my father.”

“You mean he’s been biding his time, pretending to be good whilst he tries to break out?” said India.

The Doctor looked frustrated. “That doesn’t sound right to me. He had changed – I know he’d changed. So why do all this now?”

“People change,” said Holly, glancing over at Lilly, who saw her looking.

“Why don’t we just go back there and ask him?” said India. “I mean what harm could it do?”

The Doctor rapped his knuckles on the console and then looked up at Holly, India and Lilly. “Mortimus is the only person who can defuse that wristband and re-weave you into this new timeline. Maybe we should pay him a visit.”

“No,” said Holly, shaking her head. “I’m not willing to give up on everything yet. The Master changed my own history and I’d like it back.”

“You’ve already seen what happens if you try and correct it,” said the Doctor. “Time fights back. It doesn’t want to be changed.”

“You don’t understand,” said Holly, her eyes welling up with tears. “I found myself here in this silly old ship. It wasn’t always easy, but I’d like to think the three of our lives were better for it. Yours was at least, Lilly. You found some kind of peace at least.”

Lilly laughed and shook her head. “No chance in helping me, you silly cow.”

Holly stormed over to her and looked down at her. “Believe it or not myself and Lilly….well, we had feelings for each other.”

Lilly smiled. “You’re not my type. In fact I couldn’t give two shits about types. I’m exactly who I want to be.”

“Then I saved my Lilly before it was too late then,” said Holly, looking defiant.

“Well done on the saving,” said Lilly. “You got her erased from time.”

Holly was about to reached down and grab Lilly when the Doctor stepped between them and intervened. “There isn’t any time for this.”

There was a deep, low thud and the TARDIS juddered slightly.

“It’s the Nightmare, isn’t it?” asked Holly, already knowing the answer to her question.

The Doctor nodded. “It’s never going to stop following you, Holly, wherever you go.”

Holly looked and felt completely and utterly dejected. She had trusted the Doctor. She had truly believed that going to the Zero Point would have saved her, but now all she was worried about was how, if she could be re-weaved into this timeline, she was going to put her life back on track. The Lilly she knew was gone. The Doctor was also a totally different person.

There was the thud again.

“We need to go back to the Zero Point,” said India, “it’s the only way to stop this and save Holly.”

Holly smiled. This young girl was the one person who, despite everything, was willing to help her.

Holly noticed there was a flashing light on the side of the console. She frowned at it, recognizing seeing that same light before. “Doctor, what is that?”

The Doctor was so perplexed from the problems they were under that he didn’t even notice. He looked down at the blinking LED. “That’s the communications panel.” He crossed over to it and flicked the responder switch. “Hello?”

“Are you ever going to let me in?” came a familiar voice.

“Oh, no,” said India, backing towards Holly.

“Leave us alone,” said the Doctor, genuine worry on his face.

“Let him in,” said Lilly.

All three of them turned to face her. She was holding a small pistol and was aiming at Holly.

“Oh, Lilly, please…” said the Doctor.

Lilly squeezed the trigger and it just missed Holly and hit one of the metal beams surrounding the TARDIS console.

India yelped and Holly ducked.

“LILLY!” growled the Doctor.

“How many times do I have to tell you,” said Lilly, “that I have no desire to stay here and be reintegrated into society?”

“You can’t mean to go with him,” said Holly.

“You don’t know me, woman,” said Lilly, aiming the gun back down at her.

“Listen to my daughter,” came the voice over the speakers. “Now open up the doors and let your Master in.”

“You have no choice,” said Lilly. “I want to go with him.”

Holly closed her eyes. The Master had actually gotten what he wanted by erasing her. Without Holly to help ground Lilly had she had gone off the rails. He had succeeded.

“If you don’t open those doors I will shoot this woman through the head,” said Lilly. “Don’t believe me?” She squeezed the trigger and a shot rang out, hitting Holly in the right shoulder. She screamed and fell to the floor.

“NO!” shouted the Doctor, dropping to her side immediately.

Holly clutched at the wound in her shoulder as the blood seeped through her top. It was like pain she had never felt before and she could feel herself swaying, the room drifting out of focus.

“Now open the doors!” yelled Lilly.

“Let her go, Doctor,” said India, crossing over to the console and opening the double doors into the TARDIS.

Outside the doors the Master had clamped his own TARDIS onto the Doctors. He console room was in darkness as he calmly walked across the threshold into the Doctors ship. He wore a black suit with a high collar and had grown a beard. His eyes twinkled as he looked around the console room.

He tutted. “Dear me, Doctor, this place as seen better days.” He looked down at Holly and frowned. “And who is this?”

“It doesn’t matter to you,” said the Doctor. “No, I suppose it doesn’t,” said the Master. “Now, let me have my daughter back.”



To be continued...

A Life Less Extraordinary (Chapter 6)

 Chapter 6: The Curious Motives



“It’s trying to stop us, isn’t it?” asked India.

Holly noticed something different though. Her fringe was beginning to whip up a little, like there was a gentle breeze blowing on her forehead.

“Listen,” said India.

Holly narrowed her eyes to listen. Slowly there came the familiar wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS materializing. Just beside the lifts near the door the blue box solidified with a loud and definite thump.

The door opened and the Doctor and Lilly – the ones Holly had escaped from – emerged, looking around curiously.

“So you found me,” said Holly, backing away a little.

“What are you doing? What was your name again?”

“Holly Dangerfield?”

“What are you doing, Miss Dangerfield?”

“Freezing time by the looks of it,” said Lilly, nodding her head in appreciation.

The Doctor looked from his India to the crowd of arrivals and then spotted the earlier India. His eyes widened and he looked back to Holly, fury on his face. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m trying to put things right,” said Holly.

“By messing things up even more?” asked the Doctor. “I took me a bit of doing, but I managed to track you down thanks to the two anomalies.”

“The one at the cemetery in Huxley,” said Holly.

“That’s the one.”

“That was the Master killing me. So you have to believe me.”

“I do believe you,” said the Doctor, “but this is still not the way. Time is fighting back against you and you are becoming more and more dangerous by the second.”

“I don’t understand,” said India.

“Surprise, surprise,” said Lilly. “Red doesn’t understand. Remind me why we took you away with us?”

“You didn’t take me,” hissed India. “It was my choice.”

“What do you mean by me being more and more dangerous?” asked Holly.

“Your wrist. That device. It’s building up more and more.”

“I know,” said Holly. “That’s why I’ve got to put all of this right.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” said the Doctor, edging a little closer to her.

“Stay away,” said Holly, backing up and nearly colliding with the frozen, earlier India.

The four of them were distracted by the most hideous, horrible scream any of them had ever heard. It was coming from outside the entrance doors. Hovering over the row of taxi cabs was, what Holly assumed, the Nightmare.

Holly froze on the spot. It was floating horizontally, but it’s arms were outstretched and it’s head pointed unnaturally forward. It was pure white and had a female form, but wore no clothes. The head was bald but had female features. It had no discernible mouth, but the eyes burnt a bright red as the head turned to look at the four time travelers.

To Holly’s horror she recognized the creature. It looked like her.

“Oh my god,” said India.

“Into the TARDIS,” said the Doctor. “Quickly!”

“What the hell?!” said Holly.

“Oh, that thing’s got your face,” laughed Lilly as they ran towards the TARDIS.

The Nightmare sensed it was about to lose them and turned and aimed itself towards the windows. Holly shielded her face, waiting for the glass to shatter, but instead it just phased through and bore down on her.

“IN!” shouted the Doctor, literally dragging Holly by her arm into the TARDIS before slamming the doors behind them.

The Nightmare rammed itself head-first into the doors of the TARDIS, but a few moments later the box disappeared.



“What the hell is going on?” asked Holly. “Why did that thing look like me?”

“Hold on a moment,” said the Doctor, jumping from control to control. “I’m trying to make sure it’s not following us.”

“The Keeper said it’d always follow me, that it was after me.”

“Well the Keeper isn’t the most reliable person around at the moment,” said the Doctor, almost shouting at Holly.

“But you sent me to see him – or at least your real self did.”

“Holly,” he said, skidding around the console, “look at me.” He pointed to his face with both index fingers. “This is me. I may be a little different to the Doctor you know and love, but this is still me.”

“Doctor, maybe you should try and help her to understand,” said India, “because quite frankly my own brain’s starting to fry here.”

“Tell them about the Keeper, Doctor,” said Lilly, sitting on the sofa and putting her feet up on the arms. “Tell them about your realization.”

“Be quiet, Lilly.”

Lilly smirked and rolled her eyes.

“Tell me,” said Holly. “Please.”

The Doctor checked the readings one more time and then walked over to Holly. He scratched his chin and then looked at the wrist device. “If we’re going along the same thought patterns as my alternate self then he sent you to the Keeper because he said he would help you, yes?”

“That’s right.”

“Except your Doctor told a little white lie. I say a little white lie – I actually mean a massive, huge, whale-sized black lie.”

“What do you mean?”

“I suspect the idea was that the Keeper would re-write you into history.”

“Back up a moment,” said India, feeling confused.

“No,” said Holly, “he sent me back in time to try and stop the Master changing time.”

“Which is what confuses me because there’s no way that was ever going to work. The Keeper has the ability to defuse these situations. He would have rewoven you into time and discharged this wrist strap. This timeline would still remain, but you’d be able to still exist. Your original timeline can never return now.”

“No,” said Holly, shaking her head, “my Doctor wouldn’t do that to me. He wouldn’t lie.”

“He would if he knew there was no other way. If it meant protecting someone he cared about. If he’d have told you the truth you wouldn’t have gone through with it, would you?”

“No,” said Holly, feeling her world start to melt around her, “I would have tried to put it all right.”

“Exactly,” said the Doctor. He looked sad, pushed Lilly’s legs out of the way and sat down next to her on the sofa. “He knew the only way to save you was by sending you to the Keeper.”

“But hang on,” said India, trying to wrap her head around all of this, “none of this makes sense. The Keeper didn’t say anything about defusing the wrist band or anything. Why wouldn’t he tell us that?”

“Why indeed?” asked the Doctor. “It’s curious, isn’t it?”

“Did this Keeper bloke say anything to you about where he comes from?” asked Lilly.

“No. Just that he could help and that the timeline would become more and more unstable.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Those freezes in time that you experienced…that was not the reaction of an unstable timeline. That was a very strong-willed timeline trying to stop you.”

Holly looked dejected and began itching at her wrist. It felt hot and she felt pins and needles in her fingers. “What can we do?”

“Firstly we need to work out the Keepers motives,” said the Doctor.

“So we go to the Zero Point?” asked India.

The Doctor interlocked his fingers. “Perhaps, but there’s something you need to know first about the Keeper.”

The three of them stayed silent, waiting for an answer. “The Keeper isn’t just a resident at the Zero Point – he’s also a prisoner. His name is Mortimus and I used to know him as the Time Meddler.”



To be continued

A Life Less Extraordinary (Chapter 5)

Chapter 5 (The Nightmare)

Holly looked out of the window. They could make it, she felt sure. It was just a few feet down to the roof of the bay window below and then they’d be able to lower themselves down to the pavement and to freedom.

“Does this window open?” asked Holly.

“It’s a window,” said Roxy, “of course it opens.” Realisation dawned on Roxy’s face. “Oh, no. No way, Holly!”

“We can’t get out of the main door. That thing’s out there.”

“You still haven’t explained what it is,” said Roxy.

“We don’t really know ourselves,” said India, joining Holly beside the window. “All we know is that it’s here to stop Holly.”

“See this?” said Holly, holding her wrist up to Roxy. “This is the one thing that’s keeping me tethered to this timeline. If I take it off I go poof.”

“And that thing – the Nightmare – is here to remove Holly from this timeline. She’s an aberration.”

The Nightmare screamed again and rammed itself against the door.

Holly worked quickly and opened the window. “Your choice, Roxy. You can either come with us or let that thing get you. It might ignore you of course. But, again, it’s your choice.”

The thing banged on the door again.

“I’m gonna regret this,” said Roxy as her and Holly, followed by India clambered out of the window. One at a time they lowered themselves onto the bay and then gently clambered down the side of the window until they were safely on the ground.

“Come on,” said Holly, about to run off.

“We’ll take my car,” said Roxy, running over to the small, blue mini metro that was parked a little further down the road.

A few minutes later and they were speeding through the streets, India in the back whilst Holly sat next to Roxy, nervously looking in the rear-view mirror to see any sign of the creature that she still hadn’t even caught a glimpse of.

“So what’s the plan?” asked Roxy.

“To be honest I don’t really know. The Keeper was meant to try and help us.”

“Who’s the Keeper?” asked Roxy.

Holly looked at India and then back at Roxy. “Let’s just say that he’s someone who could possibly help me to put all of this right.”

Without warning a bright light suddenly exploded in the middle of the road. Roxy swerved and put the brakes on, nearly crashing into a couple of stationary cars parked at the side of the road.

“What the hell!?” she shouted, gripping the wheel tightly.

The bright light had faded and standing there was the Keeper. He was solid this time and a little bit of steam was rising from him into the evening air.

Holly clambered out of the car and stormed up to him. “What are you playing at?”

“I’m very sorry, Miss Dangerfield,” said the Keeper, looking apologetic, “but sometimes travel like this is unstable.”

“So you’ve arrived this time. Properly. I notice you’ve kept your clothes.”

Roxy and India were now out of the car and Roxy frowned. This was all becoming a little too complicated for her.

“I’m not exactly here,” said the Keeper, “I’m still projecting myself, but I’m in more of a position to help you now.”

“Like Al from Quantum Leap,” said Roxy.

Holly smiled at Roxy. She was glad her old friend was with her, even if it wasn’t the exact Roxy that she had left behind in her timeline.

“So what do we do?” asked India. “I mean Holly tried to stop the Master, but it didn’t work.”

“No,” said the Keeper, “and I think that’s a problem we may keep coming up against. Time is going to constantly try and work against us.”

“I wonder…” mused Holly, before dismissing the thought.

“What?” asked India.

“Well, your Doctor – I mean the one before he met you – is out in Huxley somewhere, yes?”

“Yeah, I guess. Just waiting to meet me.”

“Well why don’t we go and find him. He might be able to help.”

“I don’t know if I’d advise that,” said the Keeper.

“What have we got to lose?” asked Holly.

“This is my timeline we’re talking about,” said India.

“India, you know the situation,” said Holly, feeling sorry for the girl. “This timeline shouldn’t exist, but it does.” She shook her head. “This is what the Master does. You should know that as well. He perverts things for his own gain. He disrupts things and then makes the person its affected end up having to cause pain and heartache to put it right.”

“Classic Master,” said the Keeper, nodding his agreement with Holly’s definition of him.

“You said time would stop Holly,” said Roxanne. “How do we know that anything she does will put anything right?”

“The way I see it,” said the Keeper, walking away from them a little, “is that this timeline is becoming more and more unstable the longer Holly spends in it. The longer she’s here the more changes she can make.”

“But what help will that be?” asked Roxy. “Holly is dead in this timeline. She’s got no chance of putting anything right.”

Holly groaned and sat down on the curb, her head in her hands. “This is turning into an impossible situation.” She began itching at her wrist. “And this bloody thing is driving me insane!”

“What if she took it off,” said India, nodding at the bracelet.

“We have no idea what damage it would cause,” said the Keeper. He began to flicker. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the Zero Point. The generators can only project me for so long. I’ll be back.” He nodded and then blinked away.

Holly got up off the curb. “India, where are you now?”

“Right here with you,” she said, emotionless.

“You know what I mean. Where is past you?”

“It’s around two weeks before I met the Doctor and Lilly,” said India, looking at her watch. “So I guess I’m in the air at the moment.”

“On a plane?” asked Roxy.

“Yep. I flew in on an exchange programme to study at Huxley Uni. Stayed with a family called the Appleyards.”



Doncaster Airport, Three Hours Later

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” asked India.

The two of them were sat in Arrivals at Terminal 1. It had been a short, two-hour train journey down to the airport and it hadn’t taken India long to locate her flight as she flew in from New York. But she was nervous. She could see the Appleyards standing with a name sign with “INDIA” written on it. They were a lovely, young couple. The man, Brian, was a tall man with piercing blue eyes, jet black hair and a graying beard. He always dressed smart. The woman, Julia, was a shorter woman with long, curly hair that cascaded down her back. She always wore flowery dresses whereas he was always in v-neck sweaters and shirts. They had a little boy who was six years old – a lovely little boy called Frankie. They were the perfect little family.

India had settled in with them and had been there for just over two weeks when she had met the Doctor and Lilly struggling with a walking corpse. She had been taking a quiet stroll through the cemetery on her break.

That was where it had all started. She had made infrequent returns to the Appleyards, but the Master had continued to hound them until they had been forced to flee and stay away from Earth.

But this was completely different. This was totally surreal. She was sat, concealed amongst other waiting people, waiting for her past self to come through the gate.

“It will be fine,” said Holly. “You heard what the Keeper said – this timeline will become more and more unstable. So how much more unstable can you get than by screwing up the changed timeline.”

“It’s giving me a headache,” said Lilly, popping a headache table into her mouth and swigging it down with some apple juice. “I feel like I’m on one, long suicide run.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? When we reset this timeline back to how it should be I’ll get the Doctor – my Doctor – to come and find you.”

“I just keep thinking what would have happened if I hadn’t met the Doctor. I guess I’d just be living a normal, regular life studying and living with the Appleyards. I never imagined I’d one day go back to New York.”

“I promise you,” said Holly, taking India’s hands, “I’ll rescue you from your less extraordinary life.” She smiled.

India nodded, but she looked nervous and unsure.

“Hey!” came the voices of the Appleyards. “Welcome to England.”

India and Holly looked up as a carbon copy of the red-head emerged from the gates with her suitcase rolling behind her. She wore a pink blouse, jeans and a blue cap jammed onto her head. She looked nervous, but her eyes were glowing with life.

“I was so scared,” said India, watching herself. “I was so scared that I wouldn’t get on – that I’d miss my friends and family.”

Holly felt a pang of guilt in what she was doing. She felt it was so unfair. How could the Master have done this? By destroying her life she was now having to destroy India’s.

“What do we do then?” asked India, as Mr. Appleyard took the other India’s suitcase from her.

“We go and speak to her.”

“Are you sure?” said India, as they both nervously got to their feet.

“Yes,” said Holly. “You heard the Keeper – the more disruption we cause to this timeline the easier it will be for us to put it right.”

“Okay,” said India, “but this is gonna freak her – I mean me – I mean her…oh, Jesus…It’s gonna be weird for everyone.”

“Brave heart India,” said Holly.

They were about to step forward when the lights in the building began to flicker until it was in darkness with only the light from the outside streaming in through the large, glass windows. But that wasn’t the only odd thing. The hustle and bustle of the arrivals area had ground to a halt. People were stood, stuck doing one thing and not even moving.

“They’re frozen,” said Holly, tapping an old man on his cheek. “They’re frozen in time.”

To be continued...

A Life Less Extraordinary (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4 (Back To The Day Of The Dead)

Holly felt like she was being ripped apart. She felt like she was at a thousand and one different places all at the same time. She couldn’t see anything, just blackness and fading light from somewhere. She could hear screams and cries and echoes of people that had come before her.

She caught a glimpse of something – something silver slithering through the darkness – but she closed her eyes and kept them screwed tightly shut.

There came another scream – close to her face this time. It made her scream back. But the scream that screamed at her was more of a threatening cry. It terrified her.

She tried to claw out at whatever was in front of her, but her hands felt nothing. She wasn’t even sure she had hands anymore.

And then there was nothing. Just silence. She opened her eyes. She was floating through a white void. She couldn’t see India anywhere, but she soon became aware of an object floating in the void. The closer she came to it she realised it was a large, oak table. Two figures were sat drinking tea. She couldn’t make out much, but one looked male and the other female.

Holly tried to say hello but no words came out. But they must have somehow heard her as the people turned their faces.

Holly screamed as she recognised the melted, deformed faces of her Doctor and her Lilly.

“Concentrate, Miss Dangerfield,” came the distant voice of the Keeper. “Concentrate. You are close now. So very close.”

Holly closed her eyes again. She could hear something. It sounded like gentle falling rain and birds twittering somewhere in tree tops. She could hear cars driving on gravel and then she felt her bare feet touching wet grass.

She dared to open her eyes.

They had arrived. She was behind a large row of bushes that lined the gravel driveway leading to the crematorium. She frowned as she watched the cavalcade of black cars pull up and one by one her family got out.

“Hey,” came India’s voice from her sound.

Holly looked across to the red-head and almost did a double take. India was completely naked, crouched down and covering herself as best she could with her hands. To Holly’s horror she realised that she, herself, was also totally starker’s.

“What the hell, Keeper!” hissed Holly. “It’s the middle of frigging autumn!”

There was no response.

“Holly, look,” said India.

Holly momentarily forgot her nakedness and watched from behind the bushes as her past self exited the black car looking sad and lonely.

“This is weird,” said Holly.

She saw her father and her uncle remove their large coats and throw them onto the car seats. Her father gave her past self a gentle hug and then made his way towards the main doors. Her past self stood there waiting for the rest of the family to head inside.

And then a familiar voice was heard from behind her.

“Holly Dangerfield?” said the Master.

“It’s him,” said India. Holly noted the fear in her voice.

“Yes?” said her past self, turning to face the newcomer.

“We need to stop him now,” said Holly.

“You are totally naked,” said India. “You can’t just run out there.”

Holly had a terrible thought for a moment and her hand went to her wrist. She breathed a sigh of relief – the wrist band was still there. Still locked into her flesh like it was becoming a part of her.

“Yes, you are, aren’t you?” said the Master.

“What do you want?” asked her past self. “Who are you?”

The Master went to his pocket and pulled out a revolver, aiming it at her chest.

“What the hell…!”

“No!” said Holly, getting to her feet. She didn’t care if the whole world saw her in her birthday suit. She broke cover from the bushes and ran. And then realized she couldn’t run anymore. She was frozen in place. All she could do was watch as the Master shot her past self full-on in the chest.

“Remember who I am. Remember me as the Master. And remember that now Lilly will always be mine,” said the Master as her past self fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, the life draining out of her.

“No,” said Holly, her eyes streaming with tears. “Not like this. Not like this.”

With a flash the murderous Master disappeared. Time unfroze and Holly found herself breaking free and falling to the ground in a heap.

“Holly,” said India, also emerging from the bushes and dropping down to Holly.

“Am I okay? Am I okay?” asked Holly, not daring to look up.

“Look, there are people coming out of the building,” said India. “We need to get back undercover.”

India looked around her, stayed crouched down and crawled over to the car. She opened the back door and grabbed the two large overcoats. She crossed back to Holly and helped her up.

“Put this on,” said India. “You’ll catch your death.”

All Holly could do was kneel on the ground as India wrapped the coat around her and then herself. She knew the Master had stopped her from meeting Lilly, but she never could have imagined this. No wonder the Keeper said she was like a ticking time bomb.

“They’re coming,” said India, as she grabbed Holly and half-dragged, half-walked her to the line of bushes.

“We’re too late,” said Holly. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to wait for the Keeper to find us again and then we’re going to sort this out,” said India. She narrowed her eyes. She was almost speaking to herself. “You know, I remember reading something about a young woman getting killed in this cemetery. I thought it was weird at the time. They never caught the killer.”

Holly and India waited behind the bushes as the rain began to fall again. An ambulance was called – her parents and sister were distraught – and her dead body was loaded into the back of the vehicle. The police arrived and still they waited.

The sun began to set and finally – finally – the area cleared.

“Now what?” asked Holly, managing to recompose herself a little more.

“Do you have any friends?”

“Yeah but they’re gonna think I’m dead.”

India rubbed her eyes. “Where the hell is that damn Keeper?”

“Right here, ladies,” came his voice.

The two of them jumped. The Keeper was standing in a black suit, white shirt and red tie right behind them, but he looked different – he looked transparent like a ghost.

“What the hell’s going on?” asked Holly, getting to her feet and pulling the coat closed. “You send us back in time – totally naked – and then we can’t even stop the Master from killing me!”

“I do apologise about the lack of clothing,” said the Keeper, looking away from Holly, his face going red, “but – just like your escape pod – your clothes were also beginning to disintegrate from the Zero Point. As far you not being able to stop the Master…well, time has a funny way of controlling things.”

“No shit,” said India.

“Is that all you can say?” asked Holly, fighting back the tears and anger. “What are we meant to do now?”

“I suggest that you head into your town and find your friends. I shall consult the timelines and return when I can.”

“This is crazy,” said Holly, running her hands through her damp hair. “There has to be another way.”

“I shall consult the timelines,” he said again before fading away.

“So, your friends?”

“They may not have heard yet,” said Holly. “Let’s get to Roxy before anyone else does.”



Roxy screamed. Holly held her ears. India fell back against the hallway wall.

“Calm down!” said Holly.

“You’re dead, Holly. You’re dead. Julie Foster text me to tell me.”

“Yeah, well it’s all a little more complicated than that,” said Holly. “Can I come in?”

“No,” said Roxy. “You’re dead.”

“Please,” said Holly. “Let me come in. And we need some dry clothes as well.”

Twenty minutes later India and Holly had changed into some or Roxy’s clothes. Holly wore a yellow top with blue jeans and India wore a black skirt with a red jumper. India was a little more petite and compact then Roxy and the clothes were slightly baggy on her.

“So, let me get this straight,” said Roxy, holding her vodka and lemonade in her slightly trembling hand, “you are from a timeline where you never died. A timeline that no longer exists?”

“That’s right,” said Holly.

“Can’t be,” said Roxy.

“Oh, come on, Roxanne,” said Holly. “We’ve both watched Star Trek before.”

“That’s TV. This is reality.”

“And if you hang around town for a bit then in a few weeks we’ll have zombies walking the town as well.”

Roxy shook her head and laughed at the absurdity of it all. “This is crazy.”

“Look,” said Holly, getting up off the kitchen chair and sitting next to her on the sofa, “I don’t have time to try and convince you. Surely me standing here alive is enough proof?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.” She looked at India who had remained calm and quiet so far. “And where’s the redhead from?”

“This timeline,” said Holly. “She’s kind of helping me.”

“Yeah, helping her to repair her timeline by erasing my own,” said India.

“Right,” said Roxy. “Right.”

“I know how crazy this all sounds, but you have to believe me. I met a guy called the Doctor who’s actually a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. We travelled in a time machine disguised as a police box and went from planet to planet helping alien races and fighting monsters. Then I fell in love with a girl called Lilly, the daughter of a psychopath called the Master, who then decided to erase me from history to stop his daughter from turning into a good girl.”

Roxy frowned at Holly. “Wait, you fell in love with a girl?”

“Is that all you can say? What about the time travel?”

“What about Alfie. I didn’t know you fancied woman. Do you fancy me?”

“What?!” spat Holly. “No. I don’t fancy women. Well, maybe I do. I don’t know. Look, I don’t fancy other woman. Or you. I fell for Lilly.”

“Is she cute?” asked Roxy.

Holly frowned. “Yeah. I guess. She’s blonde.”

“Oh,” smiled Roxy. “Tell me all about it. Did you kiss?”

“You met her in the other timeline. She punched you.”

Roxy arched her eyebrows. “Lovely.”

“I feel like punching you now, Roxanne.”

“Look,” said India, “we’re getting nowhere here. Can you just agree to believe her?”

Roxy downed the last of her drink and then relaxed back on the sofa. She shook her head and looked at her friend. “Damn, Holly, life was always a bit wacky when we were kids, but this is taking it to a whole other level.”

The three of them nearly jumped out of their skin when there came a loud hammering on the door followed by an awful, guttural, female scream.

“What the hell is that!?” shouted Roxy, dropping her empty glass.

“That’ll be the Nightmare,” said India.

“Oh yeah,” said Holly. “I forgot to tell you about the time-eating monster that’s also coming for me.”

To be continued...

A Life Less Extraordinary (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3 (The Keeper)

Holly and India were led through the inner down, down another, stone, candle-lit corridor and to a large hexagonal chamber. A staircase spiralled around from the centre and led to a door further up the wall, but the majority of the walls were adorned with bookcases loaded with all manner of different types of books, not in any particular order.

In the centre of the room sat an arm chair and a small, round coffee table. Another door led off from next to the bottom of the staircase, and a small TV set sat against the wall opposite the armchair. Holly thought the TV looked incredibly out of place, despite it being an older looking one.

“Please, take a seat,” said the Keeper, placing his lantern down on the coffee table.

“Where?” asked India, looking around for any sign of somewhere else to sit.

“On the floor, of course,” said the Keeper with a smile. “The fire’s on. It’s quite comfortable.”

The fireplace was across to the side of the armchair and was already roaring away. The wood crackled and fizzed under the flames. In front of the fire was a large, soft, cream rug.

Holly looked at India and the pair of them shrugged and then sat down.

“Would you like some tea?” asked the Keeper, going to a small tea pot sat on the coffee table.

Holly didn’t really want to sit and drink tea with this strange man, but at the same time she was beginning to feel thirsty. She hadn’t had a drink since she had been back on Lunar City Alpha.

“Yes, please,” she said.

“Do you have any biscuits? I haven’t had a biscuit in ages,” asked India.

“Oh, my poor young lady,” said the Keeper, pulling out a packet of custard creams from a drawer and handing them to the red-head. “Bless you.” His eyes lingered on her inquisitive face and then he nodded as if realising something.

He poured them two cups of tea and then passed them to the girls as they sat cross-legged on the rug. He then took up position in the armchair and sat back, smiling.

“As delicious as this tea is - ”

“It’s Yorkshire tea,” said the Keeper, tapping his nose.

“As delicious as this Yorkshire tea is,” said Holly, putting her cup down on the hearth, “we did come here for a reason.”

“Of course you did,” said the Keeper, sipping from his own cup, “I don’t get many visitors unless there’s a reason.”

“Where exactly are we?” asked India.

“Zero Point,” said the Keeper, matter of fact.

“Which is what?”

He interlocked his fingers and put them to his chin, thinking. “How can I explain this...?”

“As simple as possible please,” said Holly. “I have a headache coming on and it’s been a very difficult day.”

He smiled at her. “The Zero Point is the last known moment and point of existence in any universe, reality or world.”

Holly and India looked around the room, their eyes scanning everything.

“How is that possible?” asked India.

“It’s a little difficult to explain the mechanics, but ultimately the universe has always been stubborn. Even when the last blink of light disappeared from reality, there was still this place. It’s like the universe has to have something survive.”

“But we’ve come from a healthy, full-functioning universe,” said India.

“Yes, and at the end of it all, when it’s all come crashing down and everything has ended, reality survives here in the Zero Point.” He took another sip of tea. “Very few people know about it and even less visit here.” He leant forward and looked directly at Holly. “Let me guess, the Doctor sent you.”

“That’s right,” said Holly.

“So it is true,” said India, looking uncomfortable.

“I told you,” said Holly. She turned back to the man. “How do you know him?”

“Oh, only in passing,” said the Keeper, brushing her question aside, “but I know that he is a good man. Infuriatingly good, but good none the less, and he must have sent you with good reason.”

“The last few months of my life were erased from ever happening and India took my place.”

“You make it sound like I did it on purpose,” said India. “My life is as important as yours.”

“Ah, yes, Miss Macleod, it is, but it is also a fabrication,” said the Keeper, pointing to her.

“It’s just an alternate reality,” she said.

The Keeper waggled his finger and shook his head. “An alternate reality where a reality runs parallel with another world is acceptable, but Miss Dangerfield has had her own reality changed. That is wrong. That is called meddling in time.” He looked a little distant for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” said India.

“Look, I’m not saying that it’s anyone’s fault other than the Masters,” said Holly, “but the Doctor sent me here for a reason. He wants me to put it right.”

“Putting it right might not be as easy as you expect.” He leant back in his armchair again. “There are always consequences.”

“What consequences?” asked Holly.

“To tell you before you follow your desire would give you a choice. You are here to put back what went wrong, yes?”

“Yes,” said Holly.

“Then the consequences won’t matter. The consequences have already occurred. You’ll just be putting them back again.”

India blew air out of her cheeks. “This is damn confusing.”

The Keeper chuckled. “The question is – should I help you?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” asked Holly. She hadn’t even considered the fact that when she got here she wouldn’t have help. “Surely you want things to be put right.”

“Child,” he said, with a chuckle, “your problems are just a drop in the ocean of reality.”

“But the Doctor said - ”

“Hush,” said the Keeper, his finger to his lips. “Of course I will help you, Miss Dangerfield.”

She relaxed and closed her eyes. “Oh, thank god for that!”

“More tea?”

“No, thank you,” said Holly. She hadn’t even finished her first cup. “How do we do it then?”

“Firstly you must discover what happened to cause the change in the first place.”

“So travel back to the moment it changed?” asked India.

“Exactly,” he said. “Once you’re there we can ascertain your next move.”

“So you’re coming with us?” asked India.

“I will be with you and yet not with you,” said the Keeper. He got up and walked over to the TV and switched it on.

“You can get remote controls for them now, you know?” said Holly.

The Keeper smiled at them. “Always in a rush.”

The TV screen cleared of static and showed hundreds and hundreds of coloured, wavy lines. To Holly they looked like jumbled up, inter-twining strands of wool getting more and more tangled up. One of the strands began to glow white and the Keeper clicked his fingers. The strand pulled away from the rest of the strands until it was isolated on its own.

“Is that my timeline?” asked Holly.

“Very good,” said the Keeper. He closed his eyes. “I can see it – the moment your world was changed.”

“Which was when?”

“You were sad. You were saying goodbye to a loved one.” His eyes were still closed, but Holly could tell he was frowning. “It was a rainy day. You exited a car where the dead are buried.”

“My granddads funeral,” said Holly. “That was the first day I ever saw the Doctor and Lilly. They were standing amongst the gravestones.”

“That was the moment it changed.”

“How?” asked Holly.

“That I cannot say. Not until you travel there.”

“But I might run into myself.”

“That hardly matters now. It is a false timeline.”

“Still in the room,” said India.

“We better get back to the escape pod.”

“I’m afraid the escape pod no longer exists. The Zero Point does not like aberrations.”

“What?” said Holly, getting to her feet. “Then how do we travel back in time.”

“You’re sat at the final point of time. I can send you anywhere.”

The three of them jumped when their came a loud hammering on the door back towards the exit.

“It’s that thing,” said Holly, nervously. “What is it?”

The Keepers eyes seemed to become darker as he looked towards the door leading to the corridor. “You are an aberration as well, Miss Dangerfield. There are things in the universe – Vortisaurs, Reapers and...other things that want to remove your from existence. That bracelet on your arm holds you in place, but all the time you are becoming more and more unstable. You’re like a bomb with the power continually building up. What is outside there is your worst nightmare.”

Holly looked worriedly at India.

“No matter where and when you go it will follow you through time and attempt to devour you.”

“Oh, joy,” said Holly, closing her eyes.

“But we will stay one step ahead of it,” said the Keeper. “The Nightmare will not prevail.”

India nodded. “Okay, well that thing sounds like it really wants to get in here.”

“It won’t get in,” said the Keeper.

“Still freaking me out though,” said India, her arms folded as the hammering continued.

“Holly,” said the Keeper, “there is one more thing before we leave – the timeline that has been created will become more and more unstable as you move through it. You must always remain focused on your goal. If you don’t you will be lost in the winds of time.”

“What are you the Keeper of? The amateur dramatic society?” said India.

The Keeper laughed and nodded his approval at the American girls joke.

“India!” said Holly.

“Look, I’m sorry, but neither of you seem to give a crap about what happens to me when you erase my timeline.”

Holly looked at her and put her hands on her shoulders. “I’ll do you a deal, India. If I manage to put things right I will get the Doctor – my Doctor – to come and find you.”

“But I won’t remember anything,” said India. “All my experiences will be gone.”

“I may be able to help with that,” said the Keeper, “but for now you need to go.”

“Okay,” said Holly and India together.

“Are you both ready?” asked the Keeper. “This is going to be a dangerous journey.”

To be continued...