The Rose & Crown

Chapter Three

Clara struggled to open her eyes. Bright ambient lights pierced the darkness she found herself in. The resonance of people laughing, the murmured voices heard from unfamiliar faces, the sound of clinking glasses all filled her ears. Her eyes strained to focus on her surroundings like peering through murky water. Faintly, somewhere amongst the crowded sea of people, she could hear the Doctor's voice in only but a whisper.

"Clara."

Her eyes adjusted. The blurred images of rapid movement slowly took form as if she'd been looking through the lens of an unfocused eyeglass. The murmuring once heard before began to translate. The vast and seemingly endless crowd of people was taking on a more definite shape. The walls started to set themselves. A glossy floor could be seen below her feet. Again she heard the Doctor's voice calling to her, closer now.

"Clara."

At last, she could see everything. A party of sorts. A ballroom, perhaps. Paired couples in formal-dress were moving in rhythm to the sound of live music playing nearby. Yet something was different. Something strange. No details dispersed in the large room suggested where or even when she was. How did I get here, she thought? What is this place? The people in the room consisted of none she recognised, a mix of human and alien alike. A terrible feeling befell her as she noticed they had been staring at her mid-dance. Their heads were strangely postured and directed towards her. It was then she realised she was also dancing, but had yet to notice with whom.

A startling noise sounded nearby, unlike anything she had heard before. A low screeching as if whatever it came from had found its prey. Her heart, heavy with fear, pounded in her chest as she slowly turned to face her dance partner for the first time. To her horror, standing directly beside her was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen; something out of nightmares. A ghostly grey-coloured hooded spectre, which could only be compared to a reaper of death, floated like smoke and ash in her arms. Its face neglect of eyes and teeth like dark shattered glass pulled her in as if by hypnosis. She was frozen with fear. Her hands were entwined in its cold, taloned fingers. The creature opened its mouth and from it came the distinctly unforgettable sound of the Doctor's voice calling to her once more.

"CLARA!"

The spectre lunged at its victim, and then there was darkness.

********************

She awoke gasping for breath as if being saved from drowning. Her head, still fuzzy from the nightmare, settled as she consumed her surroundings. The control room of the TARDIS, a most welcomed sight to her at the moment. Across from her sat the Doctor, leaned far away from the centre console. For the first time in the past few months, his face left her with a certain calmness, nearly forgetting all that had led up to that point. Her eyes met his. His face showed signs of confusion and worry to which she matched as she tried to recall how she got there.

And then she saw it, plain as day, lying inches from her hand on the console. A giant worm the length of her forearm was blindly feeling its way over the buttons and knobs in front of her. She let out a scream and backed her chair away from the creature. "Doctor?!" she called, instinctively feeling the urge to smack the worm off the console.

"Don't touch it!" he ordered.

Her head ached as she tried to remember the last thing she had done before awakening on the time machine. "We're on the TARDIS. How did we get here? And what is that?!" she demanded, pointing at the insect draping itself over the controls.

"It's a memory worm. Deletes your memories."

She could sense a hint of uncertainty and frustration in his mannerisms as she realised he was staring at a second worm in front of him. "Okay, but where did they come from? Why are they here?"

"I don't know. I woke up the same as you. I've been trying to wake you for some time."

"Yes, I could hear you. I heard your voice in my dream."

"I'm not so sure that was a dream." He nervously bit his thumb, deep in thought.

She took the opportunity of momentary silence to familiarise herself with any other potential signs of things not having been there before. Of those unfamiliar things, she noticed their attire had changed. She gazed down the length of her to find she was clothed in a sparkling gold-coloured, tightly fitted cocktail dress with matching shoes. Both of which she had never seen before. Looking towards him, she observed his customarily donned hooded jacket and dark trousers had been replaced by a black three buttoned tuxedo and tie. "You're wearing a tuxedo," she noted, considering she hadn't recalled this version of himself ever wearing formal-dress in her presence before.

"So it would seem," he replied. After a moment, he stood from the console and rummaged around the room for a particular pair of padded gloves and a large zippered bag.

"Do you remember anything?" She watched as he hurried along the levels of the TARDIS control room. "Anything at all? Like maybe why we look as though we're receiving an award for the best-dressed time-travelling dynamic duo?"

"No. Yes. Well, maybe." Returning to the console, he put a glove on each hand, then carefully removed the worms and placed them delicately into the bag. "But I can't be certain until I discover what course of actions brought us here. Until then, I suggest you return to your life as normal and wait for my call. It may take some time to trace this all back to its point of origin."

"'Return to my life'? I want to know what happened just as much as you do."

"Well, according to the TARDIS, we've arrived just prior to your big date." He placed his arm around the small of her back and herded her towards the doors. "We wouldn't want to keep the poor lad waiting now, would we?"

"Oh my god!" Her head fell into her hands as her consciousness caught up with her. "I completely forgot!" She faced the Doctor and pointed an angry finger towards him. "I knew this would happen! I told myself, 'Not this time, Clara Oswald. Don't let the Doctor do what he does best!'"

"And what might that be?"

"Meddle with everything!"

Opening the door for her, she stepped into her living room to discover it looked just the way she remembered it. "And Clara," he added as she spun around to meet his gaze. "Wait for me." Then he simply nodded his farewell and closed the door to the TARDIS.