The Nightmare of Black Island

by Mike Tucker

  Mervyn had shaken himself free and pulled on his jacket, prepared to head out into the night and confront Nathaniel Morton then and there. He had barely made it 100 metres across the dark car park at the back of the pub before the first of the night's creatures had driven him back.

  That had been two hours ago and Mervyn had stood in the window, staring into the night, ever since. Beth had never seen him angrier or more despairing. She had tried to talk to him but the anguish on his face had frightened her more than she dared show. Now she tried to convince herself that Ali was a sensible girl. That she knew the dangers of the night and would find herself somewhere safe to hide until it was dawn.

  Beth looked over at the clock that hung above the bar, watching the second hand making its way inexorably around the face. Dawn was such a long, long way away.

  The door of the pub crashed open and Beth swung round in fearful anticipation. The Doctor breezed through with Bronwyn in his wake. He crossed to the bar, flashing a brilliant smile at Beth.

  'I know!'

  The assembled villagers watched him in open-mouthed amazement.

  'I know how to deal with this. At least I know how to start to deal with this. Bronwyn's idea. Brilliant. But I need your help.'

  Mervyn charged across the pub, catching the Doctor by the lapels of his coat and slamming him back against the wall.

  'No, Mervyn!' screamed Beth. 'Don't.'

  Jeff Palmer stepped forward. 'Don't be foolish, Mervyn.'

  'The only foolish thing we've done has been to let this man and his friend anywhere near our daughter.' Mervyn Hardy's voice was shaking with rage.

  The Doctor shook himself free from the big man's grip, looking round at the hostile faces in the pub.

  'I haven't got time for this. Rose is in trouble and I need your help to rescue her.'

  'Oh, so now you need our help,' Mervyn sneered contemptuously. 'You sent your friend up to the Morton place, and now she's trapped there, and our daughter with her!'

  'You mean to say that Ali...' The Doctor looked from Mervyn to Beth in alarm.

  Beth came out from behind the bar, her face pleading. 'You said you were going to help us. And now Ali is out there, like Mervyn said. With those things...'

  Unable to hold it in any more, the tears started to flood from her eyes. She buried her face in her husband's chest.

  'Now listen to me.' The Doctor's voice rang strongly across the pub, confident and controlling. 'I said I would help and I meant it.'

  'Help? Poking around on Black Island with that mad old bat.' Mervyn nodded at Bronwyn.

  'Yes, poking around on Black Island. Very interesting poking. Interesting and informative poking that might just hold the key to what is going on here. We found machinery in the lighthouse –'

  'That lighthouse hasn't been used for years,' Mervyn interrupted.

  'Well, it's being used now! Perhaps if you'd done some poking of your own, you might have found that out for yourselves!'

  'What sort of machinery?' asked Bob Perry.

  'Alien machinery.' The Doctor kept his voice level. Alien machinery that affects the minds of your children, that keeps you docile and afraid and stops you thinking straight. Alien machinery that has paralysed you into inactivity.'

  A low muttering went around the pub.

  Alien?' Bob snorted. 'What? You think you and your girlfriend are like those two from The X-Files or something?'

  'Yes.'

  'You're having a laugh.'

  'Do I look like I'm laughing?'

  'Now look, it's our daughter out there.' Mervyn's voice was low and dangerous. 'And she's –'

  'Completely safe if we wake everyone up!' shouted the Doctor.

  The pub went silent.

  'The creatures are created by the children. That's one reason why you didn't want to call anyone for help, isn't it, Mrs Hardy? You worked it out. You knew that the creatures only appeared when your children fell asleep, and you were afraid. Afraid that if anyone found out your children would be taken away'

  The Doctor looked at the expectant faces surrounding him. 'Whatever is going on at the rectory relies on the dreams of the children. Not any adult dreams, not the dreams of babies, but the dreams of children. Young, imaginative children.'

  The Doctor beamed at Billy Palmer. 'But what happens if we stop them going to sleep? No nightmares, no monsters.'

  Mervyn snorted. 'Don't be daft, man. We can't stop them sleeping indefinitely!'

  'Not indefinitely.' The Doctor rounded on him, looking him full in the face. 'Tonight. Just keep them awake for tonight and I will finish this once and for all. Keep them awake long enough to clear the woods of monsters, long enough for me to get to the rectory. Then I will rescue my friend and your daughter.'

  Beth Hardy clutched at her husband's arm. 'Mervyn...'

  Mervyn looked down at the frightened face of his wife for a long while, then nodded. 'Promise me this will work, Doctor.'

  'It will,' said the Doctor. 'I promise.'

  'What do you want us to do?'

  The Doctor turned to the crowded pub. 'Go home, all of you. Go home and wake your kids up. Tell your neighbours to do the same. Get hold of anyone who has children and let them know. Get the kids out of bed. Let them watch television, drag out all their toys, play tiddlywinks with them, make them dance, make them sing.'

  The Doctor bounded over to the jukebox, hauling a handful of coins from his pocket and pushing them into the machine. He punched at various buttons and 'Staying Alive' by the Bee Gees started to blare from the speakers.

  'Play them records, give them chocolate, fizzy drinks, enough Tartrazene to have 'em bouncing off the walls! Anything! Just don't let them sleep. Starve Morton of what it is he needs!'

  The Doctor crouched down next to Billy Palmer. 'This tunnel of yours, how do I get there?'

  TEN

  Rose eased the door open and peeked out into the corridor, checking to see if the coast was clear. Motioning to Ali to stay put, she stepped on to the landing, padding cautiously over to the banisters. The old house was dark and quiet, the only sound the muffled beep of the medical equipment from the dining room.

  Rose peered down into the hallway, clutching at the banister rail for support. Her head was still spinning, the drugs that Peyne had pumped into her making her dizzy and nauseous. All she wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep, but she had to take the chance that Ali had given them. They weren't going to get a second go at this.

  She had splashed handfuls of water on to her face from the little sink, desperately trying to shake the lethargy from her limbs. She had hoped that they might be able to escape through a window, shinning down a drainpipe or something into the garden, but the windows were shut tight, glued into their frames with year upon year of paint. Even if they had been able to open a window, it was a long way down and Rose wasn't sure that she'd make it in her current condition. It was more likely that she'd end up flat on her back with a broken leg or something.

  No, they had to take the chance of getting out the same way they'd come in: down to the cellar and back out through the tunnel. Then she had to find the Doctor and let him know what she had found out. Which wasn't much. Other than discovering the truth about the masked nurses, she was no closer to finding out what Morton was actually up to.

  She suddenly felt a surge of anger. Where the hell was the Doctor? Surely he had finished looking over the lighthouse by now? Surely he had noticed that she'd been gone hours?

  'Rose?'

  Ali was peeking through the crack in the door. As Rose turned to tell her to shut up, her foot caught on something and she nearly fell. She looked down to see what she had tripped over. Cables snaked up the side of the staircase, cutting across the polished wooden floor of the landing and vanishing down the corridor. Rose knelt down, puzzled. The cables wound across the hallway and vanished with a tangle of others through the wall into the dining room. She frowned. Most of that wiring made its way down to the cellar, so where did this on
e go?

  As Rose started to follow the winding cables, there was a squeak from Ali.

  'Where are you going?'

  Rose hurried back to her. 'I've found something. I just want to check it out.'

  'You're not gonna leave me here, though!'

  'I'll be two minutes.'

  Ali caught her arm. 'Please!'

  Rose sighed. Ali was right. She couldn't just leave her here. 'You still got that key?'

  Ali pulled the heavy brass key from her pocket and held it out to Rose.

  'Right. Let's try and delay them finding out we've gone for a while.'

  Rose locked the door, then slipped the key into her back pocket. Hopefully when the nurses next came to collect her they would forget that they'd left the key in the lock and spend precious moments searching for it. That might give her and Ali some extra time to work out where the cables went and get out of the house.

  'Right,' said Rose. 'Now, follow me, but quiet.'

  The two of them crept along the corridor, wincing at every creak of the ancient floorboards. If anything the upper part of the house had seen less maintenance than the lower level. Wallpaper bulged alarmingly in several areas and huge brown patches on the once white ceiling showed that water was getting in from somewhere.

  The floor was thick with dust and footprints were clearly visible down the length of the corridor, following the trail of cable and wiring. Rose strained to hear any sign of life, but her head was still muzzy, her ears ringing.

  They rounded a corner. The corridor in front of them ended at a tall, elegant door, its once pristine varnish now scuffed and faded. A ragged hole had been torn through the wall next to the frame and the cables wound their way through the broken plaster.

  Rose chewed her lip nervously. The corridor was a dead end. If someone came up behind them now, they would be trapped, but she was damned if she was going to leave without finding out what was on the other side of that door.

  A sudden thought struck her. When she had been at the back of the house she'd noticed a fire escape. If she had the layout of the house right... She crossed to a window and peered out into the wet night. The fire escape was right there! Rose gave a smile of satisfaction. They wouldn't have to go out through the cellar after all. If only the window would open.

  She pulled at the catch. It was stiff but it moved.

  Ali gave her a curious look.

  'What are you doing?'

  'Getting us a way out, I hope,' said Rose. 'Let's see if our luck is holding, shall we?'

  She gripped the bottom of the old sash window and heaved. With a terrible rattle, it slid upwards. Cold air and rain swirled in.

  Rose could have cried with relief. She stuck her head out of the window. The courtyard below was dark and empty. A badly fixed security light banged back and forth in the wind, sending fingers of light dancing across the wet flagstones.

  Rose ducked back inside, crouching down and gripping Ali by the shoulders.

  'Right. There's a ladder out there. A fire escape. I want you to climb down, get over to the tunnel and go!'

  Ali looked frightened. 'What about you? What are you going to do?'

  'I need to look inside that room.' Rose nodded over at the door. As soon as I've seen what's inside, then I'll follow you.'

  Ali shook her head. 'I want to stay with you.'

  'No.' Rose's voice was stern. 'You've got to go! If I don't get out, if they get me again, then you have to find the Doctor and tell him where I am.' She ruffled Ali's hair. 'I need you to do this for me. I need to know that you're safe. OK?'

  Ali thought for a moment, then nodded solemnly.

  'Good girl.'

  Rose caught Ali under the arms and swung her up on to the window sill. Ali grimaced as rain splashed against her face, ducked through the window and carefully lowered herself down on to the metal platform of the fire escape. The ladder vibrated alarmingly.

  'It doesn't feel very safe.' Ali looked up at Rose nervously.

  'You'll be fine.' Rose tried to sound confident. 'These things always wobble a bit. Now go. Quick as you can!'

  She watched as Ali turned and made her way unsteadily down the rickety fire escape, brushing her wet hair out of her eyes. She reached the bottom and hovered nervously next to the wall of the house, staring at the dark courtyard. Then, with a last look up at Rose, she dashed across to the lean-to, splashing through the water that was pooled on the flagstones.

  The little girl reached the shed and, with a little wave back up at the house, vanished from view. Rose gave a sigh of relief. She was safe. From the aliens inside the house at any rate. The dark woods were ominous and oppressive, but for the moment they were mercifully free of the roars and shrieks of the creatures. Ali was a smart girl and she knew the woods like the back of her hand. She'd get home OK... wouldn't she?

  Desperately trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing, Rose pulled her head back inside and slid the window closed. The cold rain and fresh air had cleared her head a little and the sickness in her stomach was slowly fading. Brushing her hair back, she crept down the corridor to the door, pressing her ear up against it and listening for sounds of movement from within.

  She frowned. She couldn't hear movement, but rather something that sounded like... breathing.

  She pulled back from the door, unsure about what to do. Perhaps the six ancient figures downstairs weren't the only patients that Morton had locked away.

  Tentatively she reached out for the brass door handle. It turned easily and the door swung open. Rose stepped into the room beyond.

  And felt the scream start to build in her throat.

  The big Range Rover swung into the estate, lights blazing, and pulled up on the edge of the wood in a shower of spray. The passenger door swung open and the Doctor bounded out into the rain.

  'OK, you wait here and keep an eye out for us. If anything with big pointy teeth comes out of the woods, leg it!'

  Mervyn nodded, his face grim. The Doctor gave him a reassuring smile. The drive up from the pub had been a fraught one. The children were waking up, but it was taking a while and a few monsters still stalked the streets. The dent in the side door and the thick, dark ichor that was splashed across the bonnet of the Range Rover evidence of a closer encounter with one of the creatures than either Mervyn or the Doctor had wanted.

  'Doctor, I'm sorry.' Mervyn held out an apologetic hand. 'For earlier...'

  'Oh, don't worry.' The Doctor shook his hand vigorously. 'I do this sort of thing all the time!' Then, with a broad grin, he slammed the door and vanished into the trees.

  Mervyn watched him go. 'Yes, I'm beginning to believe that,' he muttered finally.

  Peyne tapped at the controls in front of her in puzzlement. Readings were slowly shutting down across the board. One by one, read-outs were starting to drop to tick-over levels, lights going dark on banks of instruments.

  She glanced over at the others. Her technicians were darting from console to console, the once quiet air of efficiency starting to acquire a tinge of panic.

  'Hadron!' she barked at one of the hurrying figures. 'What is happening?'

  The masked figure quickly came over. 'We're not sure, Priest Commander.' The voice was muffled and indistinct.

  Peyne tore off Hadron's mask with an angry snarl.

  'What do you mean you're not sure? Subconscious brainwave activity energy is dropping to unsustainable levels!'

  'Yes, Priest Commander.' The Cynrog technician shuffled under her glare, forked tongue flicking across his thin lips. 'But the fault is not here. The fault seems to lie with the imagers themselves.'

  'Impossible!' snarled Peyne, thrusting the flaccid human mask back at him. 'Check the generators! At once!'

  As Hadron saluted sharply and hurried out of the ward, Peyne turned angrily back to the dropping readouts. The Synod was relying on her. The entire campaign plans of the Cynrog rested with her. All had been going exactly as planned until now. Until the arrival of this
interfering Time Lord. She gritted her teeth. They could not fail now. Not when they were so close to completion, so close to being able to leave this primitive backwater planet. She longed to feel dry sand under her feet again and the warmth of the suns on her skin, not this constant grinding dampness.

  She wriggled uncomfortably in her human disguise. She wanted to be free of the constraints of this unpleasant body and the constant irritation of Nathaniel Morton. But she would do her duty; she would complete her mission.

  Abandoning her useless controls in frustration, she crossed the ward to one of the sleeping figures. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. These humans were weak, feeble things, susceptible to every disease the planet had to offer. It amazed her that they survived at all, let alone that they made it into old age like these pathetic specimens. But for now the humans were necessary. More than that, they were essential and so she would bide her time. When the moment came she would enjoy the subjugation of this miserable planet. She would enjoy watching Balor destroy it if he saw fit.

  She ran a hand over the forehead of the sleeping figure.

  'Soon, Balor,' she hissed. 'Soon.'

  Rose stared in fascinated horror at the room. It was huge and very dark, a library by the look of things: bookcases on every wall, the shelves piled high with ancient, dusty tomes. Like practically every other room in the house, the furniture had been cleared away and the resulting empty space adapted to another purpose.

  Here the once elegant antique tables now groaned under the weight of alien machinery, lights glimmering in the gloom. The thick cables that wound into the room coiled their way up the tall bookcases, splitting and dividing, spreading out through the room like a tangled spider's web, looping their way to four heavy, ugly clusters of alien technology, one hanging in each corner of the room.

  Energy crackled from the machines, sending flickering fingers of electricity arcing across the library. There was a smell like summer lightning. And hanging in the midst of the lightning was the thing.

  Rose took a tentative step into the room, trying to get a better view through the dancing spears of light. The thing was huge, a mass of glistening flesh hanging suspended in the electrical web. Rose rubbed at her eyes. It was difficult to make out its shape properly. One minute she thought she could see scales and ridged skin, the next it looked like fur or, worse, like dead, pale human flesh.