Bad Wolf From Space

4. Prequel Meetings

I was ten when I first met the Master.

The Thames had frozen over, and I had dreams of an alternate timeline with Clara and the 11th.

My mum was worried since the power had gone out in greater part of London, but had yet to reach the Powell Estates and so we traveled to the Clark's house on the outskirts of the city to stay until the worst of the weather lifted (The Wednesday Gals, were close enough to be sisters and so all of Jackie's friends family became ours).

Stuart Clark looked frazzled as he welcomed us into his home, the voices of his children as they raced through the hallway causing his eyebrows to crinkle.

"Warm up by the fire. Sarah's making hot chocolate for the kids."

"I would like something with a bit more kick." Jackie stamped her feet on the provided carpet in front of the door. "Come along, Rose, come out of the cold."

A thin chuckle escaped him, "I believe she has the fixings on the stove."

I had been staring down the road, an odd sense of foreboding rising within me. It was like standing on the edge of the cliff with the wind at my back. It would be so easy to fall.

"Rose!"

"Yes mum."

I had warmed by the fire and soon grown tired of being jostled around by the rambunctious Clark children. They all looked similar with either golden brown or auburn hair and mischievous grins.

Snowflakes had started to fall outside and the night was clear so you could see the stars but the inside of the house had begun to feel stifling.

"Mum, I'm going to dip outside for a bit. I'll be back in five."

"Be careful, stay in sight of the house."

I smiled as I heard my mother go back to listening to the latest gossip from Sarah Clark.

"There was some sort of grand party down the road. Many visitors, there was even a reporter."

"Do you think someone famous lives down there?"

Stuart spoke up, "I doubt it. There is only that one abandoned mansion. I doubt anyone would live there for any long period of time."

I shook my head as I stepped out into the cold. Mittened hands rubbing together in front of my already cold nose.

I could understand how the Rose, from the other timelines, could have gotten her more selfish, unlikable tendencies. An only child to a single parent mother who gave unconditional love like she gave out the recent gossip to her Wednesday gals.

Perhaps I would have turned out similarly if I hadn't had a past that made me more grateful for every moment of real love and independence.

I stared up at the cold night sky lost in my thoughts.

I barely noticed the rumble of a car until it had pulled up alongside me.

"What's a lost little lamb doing outside all alone?"

I wrinkled my nose before looking at a handsome man with a strong jaw and intense gaze, the very epitome of a Bond villain.

He even sat in a red convertible, his neat and elegant suit dusted with the snowflakes but he seemed to have no cares for such things.

I glanced at the windows that lined the house behind me, the family distracted and Jackie with her back to the window.

"I'm enjoying the night air and the beauty of the universe."