Beyond The Void || doctor who

Chapter Twenty-One: A Selfless Plan

Jess, Elaine, and the Doctor followed the burly man begrudgingly; Jess, with her nose still trickling a small stream of blood. She wondered if the Doctor could feel a burning sensation on his back from Jess's irate stare. Before this fiasco, Jess was having the best Christmas of her life. But now, she was stuck in a sketchy underground facility following her two closest friends to what could very well be their demise.

"Hey Jess," Elaine said, nudging her side. "You don't really think my dad's the bad guy here, right?"

Jess turned to stare her best friend in her steel eyes. "It seems too...fake." They began to pick up the pace. Jess struggled to keep up; her short legs were no match for the others' longer ones. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole C.H.A.I.S.E. thing was a hoax."

She saw the Doctor raise a brow.

"What do you mean?" Elaine gaped at her.

"Everything seems so planned. I don't think this whole 'secret alien intelligence facility' is the whole story." Jess eyed their guide, whose hand was hovering over his pocket. "I think this is a setup. Someone wanted the three of us to be right here, at right this moment."

The three captives stopped.

"We have to keep moving," Brock said, his tone monotonous.

Elaine glanced at Jess, her eyes saying What are you up to?

Jess looked ahead, beyond Brock. In the distance, there was a dull light. Maybe it's an exit.

She locked eyes with Elaine, then with the Doctor. He nodded, and Elaine bit her lip with uncertainty.

"Vatican cameo," she shouted, grabbing Elaine's hand. With her other, she pulled the sonic screwdriver from her sleeve and brought it to Brock's neck.

"If you know anything about us, you'll know how screwed you are right now." His black shades fell to the floor with a clank.

Jess aimed the tip of the screwdriver at his hand, sending the gun he procured flying across the floor. Jess picked it up, moving it between her hands in curiosity.

"Jess," the Doctor warned, sending her an ancient glare.

She huffed, slightly annoyed, but tucked it in her jeans.

"Is that an exit down there?" Jess questioned, pointing towards the dull light.

Brock didn't say anything. Jess brought the screwdriver back up to his face.

"I'm not sure if you heard me. I said, is that an exit?"

Brock nodded.

"Thanks man!" Elaine blurted, running down the corridor. Jess began after her.

"Jess, wait." The Doctor grabbed her wrist. He locked his multicolored eyes with her own. "I need to find out what this place is."

Jess scoffed and recoiled her arm from his grasp. "Of course you'd be stupid enough to stay."

He stepped back, confusion clouding his eyes.

"You know what I mean." She put the screwdriver back in her pocket. "You'd risk your life to find amusement in danger. It's what you always do."

"I don't 'always do' that!" he retorted, his arms crossing at his chest.

Elaine tugged on Jess' sleeve. "Come on guys, let's go."

"Hold on," the Doctor said, turning around.

"No! You're not gonna change the conversation on me—" Jess began, but the Doctor interrupted.

"Shh!" His eyes moved towards the ceiling. "Brock's gone."

Jess looked behind the Doctor. Where the tall man stood moments ago was nothing but a wall.

"Is this another setup?" Elaine said, her eyes moving upward as well.

Jess looked up. Red lasers pointed at the three of them through a thin glass ceiling. Men in SWAT gear ran down the corridor with large guns in their hands. Jess' eyes met with the Doctor's, a wave of fear spreading throughout her whole body.

"What do we do?" she whispered. They were surrounded, all except for that light at the end of the hall....

The Doctor nodded his head.

"On three, you two need to run." She grasped the screwdriver tighter in her hand.

"What are you up to?" Elaine said, stepping towards her.

"One."

Elaine tried to pry her from where she was standing. "Jess."

"Two."

The Doctor grabbed Elaine's hand.

"Three."

She pointed the green light at the ceiling, and the whole building shook with the impact of the glass and the men as they fell to the floor. The Doctor had dragged Elaine almost halfway to the illuminated door. Jess raced after them, a trail of unscathed men at her heels.

"Go, go, go!" she screamed at the two of them. They held open the metal doors for her, but the men behind her were getting closer.

"Come on Jess! You can make it!" Elaine yelled. But Jess knew her plan had worked too well. She had saved her friends, but at the cost of her own freedom. She held the screwdriver in the direction of her friends. With an almost deafening buzz, the gargantuan doors slammed shut.

Jess's feet dragged to a stop. Turning around, she faced the swarm of men with her head help high. A single tear rolled down her sweat-drenched cheek.

Reaching behind her back, she procured the gun she got from Brock. Her finger traced the barrel, down the back and across the magazine. It rested on the trigger, stagnant.

"Put down the gun, girl," an unfamiliar voice rang from behind a shield of men.

"Who are you?" she demanded, the gun gripped tight in her hand.

"Oh, no one important really." The men stepped aside, leaving a path down the middle. A woman emerged from behind them. Her blood red lipstick was the same shade as her suit. "Just someone that thinks it would be in your best interest to put down that weapon before you hurt someone."

Jess let the gun fall from her grasp.

"My name is Constance Winfield, and I'm afraid you may be in terrible danger, Miss Bennett."