CHRYSALIS

FEAR HER

I follow the Doctor out of the Tardis.

There's a Shayne Ward poster advertising his greatest hits album tacked onto a fence.

"So, near future?"
"I had a passing fancy. Only it didn't pass, it stopped."

We walk down the road with a 'London 2012' banner.

"30th Olympia."
I link my arm through his, "This is great."
He beams, "Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about... wrestling each other in the sands with crowds stood about, begging... no, wait a minute... that was Club Med." He laughs at his joke, nudging me, "Just in time for the opening doo dah, ceremony... tonight, I thought you'd like that. The last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much and watched it all over again. Fella carrying the torch... lovely chap, what was his name?"
I notice several missing posters tacked to the lamppost, moving closer to investigate, while the Doctor carries on oblivious.

"Doctor..."

He rambles on.

"Doctor?"

He continues.

"You should look."

"Do you know those, those things?" He finally walks over to me, "Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius." He reads the posters, "What's taking them, do you think?" He looks around the street, "Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this. Why's it so cold...?" Is something reducing the temperature...?"

"It says they all went missing this week? What would do something like this?" I turn at the sound of a door opening, a woman dumps a recycling sack on the pavement outside her house and hurries back inside.

"Whatever it is, it's got the whole street scared to death. Doctor, what...?" I turn to look at the Doctor, but he's already at the other end of the road."

I hurry along the road, a car jolts to a stop as the engine gives up. Stopping to watch there's a council worker, approaching the vehicle.

"There you go. Fifth today. Not natural, is it?"
"I dunno what happened, I had it serviced less than a month ago."

"Nah, don't even try and explain it, mate. All the cars are doing it. And do you know what? It's bonkers. Bonkers."
The driver gets out of the car.

"Come on then, pal. I'll help you shift it. The quicker you're on the way, the happier you'll be."
The two of them start to push the car.

"Do you want a hand?" I ask.

"No, we're all right, love."
I grin, "No you're not. I'm tougher than I look, honest."

I position myself behind the car and help push. The engine suddenly springs to life, causing the councilman to fall over.

"Does this happen a lot?"
"Been doing it all week." He grunts.

"Since those children started going missing?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."
"Every car cuts out. The council is going nuts. I mean, they've given this street the works. Renamed it... I've been tarmacking every pothole..." He gestures proudly, "Look at that. Beauty, init? Yep! And all that is because that Olympic Torch comes right by the end of this close. Just down there. Everything's got to be perfect, ain't it? Only it ain't."
"It takes 'em when they're playing."
"What makes them?"

"Danny... Jane... Dale... snatched in the blink of an eye."
I can hear the Doctor pleading to a man, who looks about to beat him up.

"We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look, or sound, like any of them."