Scotland's Mist

Chapter 13

The mist crept upon them, almost gently this time. The Doctor shook Rose's shoulder, and she roused with a low sound of confusion. She lifted her head from the Doctor's chest to glance around at the descending mist.

It moved gracefully across the grass, carrying more wind with it this time. Rose fully sat up, the Doctor's coat falling across their laps. He followed her up and rested his forearms on his thighs, their shoulders touching.

They watched as the mist didn't shield them, but instead rolled and moved across their legs, crawling up them.

Without saying a word to each other, they both stood, Rose shoving the coat at the Doctor, which he quickly put on. The mist followed them, tracing cool paths on their bare skin where there hadn't been a temperature before. Once it crept up to Rose's face, she started to panic.

"Doctor," she said worriedly, "It's not protecting us, like yesterday."

"No, it's not," the Doctor agreed.

"Can you hear it?" Rose asked, glancing up into his eyes, "Is it speaking to you?"

"Yes," the Doctor tugged her close to him, shielding her with his arms, and she wasn't sure why. "I can hear it. It's not speaking, it's hissing. Listen closely, Rose, and you'll hear it too."

Rose gripped the Doctor's coat, trying to let the sound of the mist wash over her, to see if she could understand. The silence in the forest turned loud in her ears, and she heard it: the hissing. It was much like the sound of a parselmouth in Harry Potter, Rose decided, but even more menacing. She listened, but the TARDIS didn't seem to be translating what the mist was saying.

"Doctor, can you understand it?" She whispered.

The Doctor took a pause. "Yes."

"I can't."

"That's alright."

It turned dead quiet, aside from the mist whispering through the trees and around their clothes. It crept along Rose's collarbone, lifting and pushing against her skin and towards the Doctor.

Now was usually the moment when they would try to run, but the Doctor seemed glued to the spot. He pulled her flush against him, his arms wrapping around her entirely. Rose tried to keep an eye on some part of the mist, which was nearly impossible with the way her head was crushed to his chest.

The Doctor heaved a sigh under her cheek and started hissing in time with the mist, his voice carrying an eerie tone through the woods. Rose listened, trying to figure out why the TARDIS wasn't translating it. The Doctor's hissing turned rapid, overpowering the mist completely and tightening his hold on her, almost restricting her breathing.

That was when the movement started. Rose started to be pulled out of the Doctor's grasp, and he stopped hissing to grasp for her desperately. "No!" He shouted in English, grabbing her by her hoodie and trying to pull her back.

She wasn't sure why she was being pulled, but grabbed for the lapels of the Doctor's jacket, sharply jerking her wrists to pull them back together. The Doctor landed his hands on her waist, gripping her hoodie and t-shirt in his fists.

"Don't let go," he said, his eyes alight with frantic energy.

"What did it say to you?" Rose asked, feeling fear creep through her at the unseen pull. She wasn't convinced that it was the mist.

"It wants to take one of us, Rose, it's gonna trap one of us if we get separated, we have to hold on." The Doctor emphasized this with another pull, knocking her forearms against his chest.

"Not lettin' you go," she replied, readjusting her grip. "Not if I can help it."

He was about to reply when the mist pulled away suddenly and swarmed in on both of them, obscuring each other from view.

The last thing the Doctor heard was Rose's strangled scream as they were ripped from each other.

"Rose!" The Doctor shouted, running the direction she had just been, hoping to catch up with her. "Rose! Rose!"

There was no answer. He waved his arm in front of his face to get the mist out of his face, but it was still clouding him completely. He stopped, his insides reeling cold, as he realized exactly what had just happened.

The mist had stopped speaking to him, and Rose was gone.