"Sorry, did you know him?" Asked Alison, as Kitty ran out of the room, presumably to rejoin 20 questions. Alison leaned forward, elbows on knees, and she looked right at the Doctor with no regard for the 'no staring' social rule. That meant two things: 1 - Fanny would be disappointed in her, and 2- This was a very interesting problem.
The Doctor half winced. "In a manner of speaking."
"How can you know someone in a manner of speaking?" Asked Alison.
"Well, you see, it's quite complicated. I won't go into too much detail"
Alison cut him off. "Oh, don't give me that, I live with the Ghost of a disgraced politician, I know what it sounds like when people try and avoid the truth, and right now I want solid facts."
The Doctor looked startled, but decided it was best to get it over with. "I'm the Doctor, I'm an alien, and I've already said that."
Alison gave him a look that clearly said, get to the point RIGHT NOW.
"What I haven't said yet is that...I can regenerate. When I die, all of the cells in my body change, and I become a new person. The person you just described is my past incarnation, so I know him in a manner of speaking."
Alison nodded.
"You're not going to question it?" Asked the Doctor, pleasantly surprised.
"Mate, I live in a house of Ghosts. I'm FAR beyond questioning something supernatural, especially when the explanation fits the pretty weird circumstances."
"Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains - however improbable - must be true." Said the Doctor, grinning.
"Oooh, that's a quote." Gasped Alison. "I should know this. Who said it?"
"Sherlock Holmes."
"Of course...." said Alison, slapping herself gently on the forehead. "Hang on a minute, how do you know a Sherlock Holmes quote if you're an alien?"
"I'm an extra terrestrial being, not a Caveman!"
"'scuse me, I a Caveman, and I know Sherlock Holmes! Great guy."
"You've met Sherlock Holmes! Sherlock Holmes was real!!?" Alison turned in the direction of Robin, who had just strode through the wall at the mention of 'Caveman'.
"No 'course not. I met Arthur Cone...Coney...."
"Arthur Conan Doyle. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!"
"Yeah. 'im. 'e came to the house for an event. Great guy." And with that Robin turned and strode back through the wall, his point proven. Alison shook her head in surprise. The things the Ghosts had experienced would never cease to amaze her.
"Ghost thing?" Asked the Doctor, interrupting her chain of thought.
"Er, yeah. One of them met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."
"Wow! The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! That's awesome!"
"That's what I said!" Agreed Alison. She grinned, and was about to ask another question, when she was interrupted by a chorus of shouts from the neighbouring room:
"What the Bally hell is that?"
"Mammoth?"
"No Robin, don't be silly, of course it's not a Mammoth, Mammoths don't have slimy feelers."
"Alson!! Alson!! Come 'ere!"
"Alison, I'm scared!"
"I think," said Alison to the Doctor, "we may have a problem."
"Ooh, excellent. I love a problem!" The Doctor answered, gleefully, and seemingly without thinking.
Alison gave him a funny look.
"I mean I love solving problems. I love solving them. That's what I mean."
********
At first sight, Alison couldn't understand what the fuss was about. The room looked the same as usual, apart from a door she hadn't noticed before was slightly ajar, and the Ghost Doctor was standing in the middle of the room. On the other side of the room, the Button House Ghosts had backed into the corner. The Captain stood in front of them, brandishing his stick in an attempt to protect his friends, though from what Alison was unsure.
"Guys, what on earth is going on?" Asked Alison.
"There...there was a thing!" Said Kitty, her voice high pitched with hysteria.
"'twas smalls and green." Added Mary.
"Was it a Ghost? Was it alive? Where did it come from?" Asked Alison, the flurry of questions escaping before she could stop them.
"We believe it was a Ghost." Said the Captain, nodding, but without moving from his protective stance.
"But how can it be a Ghost? We've never seen it before." Objected Alison.
"We don't know, but it's a Ghost. Pat touched it." The Captain answered.
"Yes, it was actually a bit disgusting actually." Said Pat, who was staring at his hand, which was covered in a thick layer of green goo, presumably passed on from the creature's slimy coating.
"Eeeeugh!" Said Alison, unable to contain her horror.
"Exactly." Shuddered Pat. "It's all sticky and clammy."
"I did tell you not to touch it yet!" Said Julian, from the corner.
"Right." Said Alison, heading off the flow before they got lost down a tangent. "So what happened next?"
"It run that way." Said Robin, pointing at the wall.
"Right." Said Alison, thinking. "Captain, you can stop doing that, it's not here, and we need a plan."
"Ahh, right you are Alison." He straightened up, and tucked his stick under his arm, before stepping smartly to the side.
"Plans! This is my area." Said the live Doctor, stepping forward. Then he leaned over and muttered to Alison. "Before I come up with a plan, can you please tell me what is going on?"
"An alien came out of....hang on where did it come from?" She raised her voice at the end, opening the question to the room. A chorus of "the door" echoed back to her. "An Alien came out of that door, and then it disappeared. They think it was a Ghost."
"Great." The Doctor muttered, half to himself. "An alien that I can't see, and that can't touch anything is loose in the house. This is going to be one for the books."
"Don't forget about other you." Reminded Alison, and the Ghost Doctor waved in the direction of himself, then realised it wouldn't make any difference. He sadly lowered his hand.
"Yes, not quite sure if that's a good thing yet." The Doctor replied.
"OI! I'm very good!" The Ghost Doctor defended.
"I suppose he just said 'Oi! I'm very good!' or something?" Said the Doctor, with a questioning look at Alison.
"Err...yes. How did you know?" Asked Alison, baffled.
"I used to be him." Replied the Doctor, as if this explained it. "Right. Plan." He clapped his hands together.
"Hang on, should you really be making the plans when you're the only one who CAN'T see Ghosts?" Asked the Ghost Doctor, and Alison nodded at his fair point.
"Should you really be making the plans when you're the only one who CAN'T see Ghosts?" She repeated.
"Your words or mine?" Sighed the Doctor.
"Errr...yours..." Alison answered, still trying to get her head around the whole regeneration thing.
"Well you tell me....." The Live Doctor continued, his irritation at his inability to see Ghosts finally bursting.
The Captain ignored the conflict in the corner, and turned to the other Ghosts. "We should split up. Patrick, Katherine, Thomas and I will take the West Wing. Robin, Mary, Fanny you take the East. Julian, go and find Humphrey and search the roof."
"Why do I have to search the roof?"
"Who put you in charge?"
"But I don't like the West wing. Can't we do the East?"
The Captain stopped the protests by holding up a hand. "Do you want to stand here all day, or do you want to find that thing?"
There were mutters of begrudging agreement (for once), and everyone turned away to search their respective areas.
"Hang on!" Said the Ghost Doctor, interrupting the discussion through which Alison was the conduit. "Where did they all go?"
"The Ghosts from here have gone." Said Alison, in answer to the Live Doctor's questioning look.
"What about my plan?" He asked, sounding hurt.
"Looks like they found one of their own."
She stifled a smile as both versions of the Doctor looked affronted that their leadership had been so blatantly ignored.
Thanks for reading! Please vote and comment if you are enjoying this, thanks so much for your support :) Part 3 is in the making and should be out soon.