DOCTOR WHO FIC: A Vampyre More Accursed [Eight, Romana II | 2/2 | PG13]
Title: A Vampyre More Accursed.
Author: jinxed_wood
Characters: The Eighth Doctor, Romana II, Historical Characters
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Minor stuff for Shada and the Gallifrey chronicles
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the Beeb, all I have is my Microsoft Word…
Summary: On their way back from Cambridge, Earth, the Eighth Doctor and Romana find themselves shunted off to 19th century Switzerland, and a dark and stormy night with Mary Shelley and Lord Byron...
Previous Part: PART ONE
~~A VAMPYRE MORE ACCURSED: PART TWO OF TWO~~~
Travelling with the Doctor was always, of necessity, an occasion to think quickly on one’s feet. “We need a plan, Doctor,” Romana said, as they ran down the stairs.
“Yes, yes, yes,” he said. “I see, yes, a plan….I’m open to suggestions.”
Mary Shelley was at the bottom of the stairs, a basket of faggots on her hand. “Stakes!” she said. “And I have a hunting knife to sharpen them with.”
The Doctor smiled widely, and helped himself to a stick. “Oh look, Romana, a plan!”
“How…organized of you,” Romana said, eying the basket doubtfully.
“But it’s a plan,” the Doctor said lightly, as he suddenly started to rifle through his pockets. “And one should always have a plan. Dib, dib”
“Dib, dib?” Mary echoed.
“He’s talking nonsense, as usual. One gets used to it, eventually.” She watched as the Doctor produced a ball of twine and bag of jellybabies from his waistcoat pocket. “Well, not always,” she admitted. “We should find Lord Byron.”
“He’s in the drawing room; it's this way,” Mary said, walking ahead. “Do you really think Doctor Polidori is such a threat?”
“Doctor Polidori is the least of our problems,” Romana muttered under her breath, before turning to the Doctor. “Any ideas about who the third person might be, Doctor, or are you just going to spend the rest of the evening cleaning out your pockets?”
The Doctor offered her a jellybaby, and she took one, despite herself. “I’m looking for our contingency plan,” he explained, smiling wryly at her as she bit the head off the sweet.
“A contingency plan, in your pocket?” Mary asked.
He looked at her with round eyes and, for a moment, Romana was strongly reminded of a certain previous incarnation. “But of course,” he said. “Where else should I put it?”
Romana sighed. “Care to share the finer details of this contingency plan, Doctor?”
“And ruin the mystery?” the Doctor asked. He had now moved onto the inner pockets of his frockcoat. This produced a yo-yo, a packet of polo mints, a Venusian star crystal… and a dog whistle.
“K9,” Romana breathed.
“As good a contingency plan as any, I think,” he said. He blew into it.
“What is that?” Mary asked.
“The cavaLry,” the Doctor said lightly.
“You have a mounted force nearby?” Lord Byron asked archly, as they entered the drawing room. Romana eyed the pistols in his hands and sighed yet again.
“Narvin will have a field day,” she said aloud
“Romana, my dear, stop fretting,” the Doctor said. “I’m sure Narvin would be very upset about the vampire outbreak and will thank us profusely for clearing it up.”
Romana threw him a look. “And afterwards we shall have tea and crumpets, and Narvin will tell me what a splendid job I’ve been doing as Lady President,” she drawled.
“Hmmm,” he murmured. “I doesn’t sound quite so likely once you put it like that…maybe you can get Brax to break the news to him instead.”
“Brax? How did you know about-” She caught herself just in time. “Never mind. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound, as these humans say, and K9’s offensive capabilities shall indeed come in handy.”
A loud knock resounded through the doorway.
Mary stopped sharpening her stake. “Is it your cavalry?” she asked anxiously.
“I’m afraid K9 is not the type to knock,” Romana said, as another bang resounded though the door.
“Here, take this!” Mary handed Romana the stake and started sharpening another.
“Oh dear,” Romana said, looking at it. “I have a bad feeling about this.” A flash of lightning filled the window and the thunder reverberated through the paned glass.
“It can’t be helped sometimes,” the Doctor muttered. “Shall we answer it?”
Romana clutched the stake tightly and nodded. If Narvin saw her now, he’d definitely condemn her as a retrograde. “You open it, and I shall lie in wait behind it,” she told the Doctor.
“One moment please,” Lord Byron said. “This is my house; it should be me who answers the door.”
“Those pistols will not work against a vampire, Lord Byron,” the Doctor said.
“Perhaps not, but they will give it pause,” Lord Byron said, as he cocked one and stuck the other in his waistband. “Mary, a stake please?” Silently, Mary handed him a stake and started sharpening yet another. Romana sighed as Lord Byron strode across the hallway.
“You know this isn’t going to end well,” she said. “That knock on the door is obviously a diversion.”
“It has occurred to me,” the Doctor said. “But you know what they say. It isn’t a trap if it’s already sprung.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard,” Romana drawled. “I wonder who it was who came up with that old chestnut.”
“Oh, somebody famous and dead, I’ve no doubt,” the Doctor said. “Heads I go upstairs,” He produced a coin.
“Doctor!” she said sharply. “I’m not going to fall for that old coin with two heads trick again.” She snagged the coin out of his hands and headed for the stairs. “Come on.”
“Wait, why are you going upstairs?” Mary asked, as she joined them, stake in hand.
“Call it a hunch.” Romana said grimly.
“Then I shall go with you!”
“Oh,” Romana said. “Well, that’s very nice of you…”
“But Lord Byron might need an extra stake,” the Doctor supplied. The sound of glass breaking came from upstairs, and Romana and the Doctor looked at each other.
“It sounds like Shelley’s room,” Romana said.
“They’re probably looking for a quick top up before the main event,” the Doctor said, as he took the steps two at a time.
“You’re not going anywhere without me!” Mary declared.
“But what about the door?” Lord Byron called after them.
“Prop a chair against it,” the Doctor called back.
Romana very much doubted that a chair would keep even a half turned vampire out for long, but they were quickly running out of options, and Shelley and Claire were the ones most in danger. They ran up the steps, and found Shelley’s door closed. The Doctor twisted the handle. It was locked.
“Rassilon blast it!” the Doctor muttered as he took out his lock picks. “We don’t have time for this.”
Romana put her ear to the door and made a face as she heard a noise she’d rather not identify. “I don’t think Shelley has much time either, Doctor.”
“Oh no, Percy,” cried Mary.
“Stay behind us,” the Doctor said, as he tried the door once more. It opened.
The creature looked up as the light from the hall fell on it. Blood smeared its mouth and chin, its extreme pallor noticeable even in the dim light. Bat like wings extended out behind it.
“That is neither the Viscount nor Polidori,” Mary said, raising her stake.
“No, this would be the root of the problem,” the Doctor said quietly.
“I am Haemar, last of the true vampires!” it said, grinning coldly aa it got up from its crouch on the bed.
“True Vampire? Oh, Haemar, you don’t even come close,” the Doctor said softly.
“And what would you know of such things, human?” it spat.
“Well, I get around a lot, you see” the Doctor said. “See a lot of new sights and people.”
The creature laughed, its eyes becoming darker. “And now you have found your resting place!”
“Oh dear, is that the best you can do?” the Doctor asked. “So much for a witty repartee, are you -”
Romana pinched the Doctor’s arm, startling him into silence. “Tell me, Haemar, what do you hope to gain from this?” A sharp cry echoed from downstairs and Romana felt her heart sink. “Damn it!”
“That was Lord Bryon” Mary cried out.
“And now you have your answer. Why should I savour the lifeblood of a poet, when I can have a Lord instead!” With a lithe leap, it jumped out the window, and the Doctor dashed out the door.
“I’m a fool!” he declared, as he darted down the hall.
Romana felt indecisive as she looked at Shelley on the bed. Quickly, she felt for a pulse, and found one. “He’s still alive,” she said hurriedly. “Mary, stay with him. I need to catch up with the Doctor!”
The front door was a wreck of splintered wood by the time Romana reached the stairs. Lord Byron was unconscious and held between two men. Romana could only assume they were Doctor Polidori and the Viscount. The Doctor stood in their way, brandishing his yo-yo as if it was weapon. “I’m warning you,” he said. “One more step and I’ll be forced to use this!”
One of the abductors, the younger one, let out a surprised laugh. “A bandalore? You expect to defeat us with a child’s toy?”
“Ah, I forgot the yo-yo went through a period of popularity in the early nineteenth century. I really must make a note to remember these things…” He rooted around in his pocket. “Aha! How do like them apples, eh?” The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver and Romana felt a wave of irritation as she crept down the stairs. Couldn’t he have mentioned he had his sonic screwdriver with him earlier!
“What, that puny piece of metal?” It was the younger one who spoke again. The older one, - the Viscount, Romana assumed - had seemed to have lost the ability to speak. He’d become a ghoul, not a half turned vampire, Romana suspected; a mindless slave.
“Ah but this isn’t just any piece of metal, this is a sonic device - and do you know what a sonic device does?” The Doctor caught Romana’s eye for the briefest of moments and then rolled his eyes towards the floor. Romana frowned, and then spotted the two pistols lying there. She looked at the Doctor and nodded her understanding.
“Oh please, do tell,” Polidori said snidely. Lord Byron groaned softly, and Polidori tensed. “This is my last warning, get out of my way or-”
“You’ll do what?” the Doctor said softly. “Your hands are already full. It’s me or Lord Byron, take your pick.”
“I pick you, Doctor.”
What happened next, happened in a blur. Haemar appeared at the broken door and threw himself at the Doctor. Romana dove for the pistols. The sonic screwdriver went off, making Polidori and the Viscount drop Byron on the ground and clap their hands over their ears. Haemar wrestled the Doctor to the floor, and Romana quickly cocked one of the pistols. “Stop!” she roared, using the voice she’d perfected over the last few months in council. The vampire looked up at her and laughed.
“A pistol? You think a pistol will work on me?” His grasp on the Doctor’s neck tightened, and Romana felt her own throat constrict as the Doctor went blue, his eyes fluttering closed.
“Maybe not, but it’ll work on your lackeys!” she said. She swung the pistol, aiming it at Polidori, who was curled up on the floor, whimpering.
The vampire laughed. “Do you think I actually care about them?” it asked. "When I have a member of the British aristocracy here to replace them? I shall have Lord Byron, heart and soul, he shall open the all the doors to the British peerage. I shall drink deeply, and slowly, and they shall welcome me with open arms!"
Lord Byron groaned and opened his eyes. “No,” he said feebly. “That must not be allowed to happen. "You must….kill me….”
"Quiet, human," Haemar hissed.
Romana watched as Lord Byron shut his mouth with an almost audible snap, his head falling to the floor once more.
"See?" the vampire crowed. "Already, I am capable of controlling his mind. Think what it’ll be like once we’ve commingled our blood!”
“I’d rather not, thanks all the same,” Romana said grimly, as she pointed the gun at Byron’s head. “Now let the Doctor go!”
“You’d never do it, you’d never kill an innocent man,” Haemar said smugly.
“It isn’t murder if the victim begs for it,” Romana said flatly.
“You don’t mean that,” it said.
“Oh, don’t I?” Romana asked. “Look at my face, vampire, am I lying to you?”
The creature’s eyes narrowed “You have no idea of the forces you’re tangling with, girl!” it hissed.
“On the contrary, I know exactly what I’m dealing with,” Romana said. “You, on the other hand, haven’t a clue.”
The vampire leaped, a blur of grey flesh and teeth in the air, and Romana threw herself to the ground as a red beam of light shot through the room accompanied by the smell of ozone.
“Mistress? Are you harmed?”
“I’m fine, K-9,” Romana said hoarsely, as she looked up at the blackened husk lying on top of her.
“I had difficulties with the terrain,” K-9 said. “My apologies for not getting here sooner.”
“Not need to apologise, K-9,” Romana said, as she pushed the corpse off her. “I’m grateful for your assistance.
“My pleasure, Mistress,” K-9 said.
The Doctor was already up and checking Lord Byron’s pulse. “Steady,” he said hoarsely. “But he’ll be out for a while.” He moved onto the Viscount. “Ah, dead, I’m afraid.” He felt for Polidori's pulse. "Thready, and getting weaker," he muttered. "That is not good. I've a feeling that if he dies, he'll rise again."
"You think the vampire infected him?" Romana asked.
The Doctor caught her eye. "I'd rather not have to kill him," he said. "it wasn't his fault the vampire infected his mind."
"Maybe we won't have to," Romana saId. "Remember that the Vampiric infection is fundamentally a psychic connection, made through the body's circulatory system. If we can shock the heart at the exact moment and restart the heart before the infection takes over--"
"Then we might be able to save his life!" the Doctor said excitedly. "Romana, that's brilliant - K-9?"
"Yes, Master?"
"We need to use your battery source!"
"Apologies, Master, the power output needed to destroy the Master Vampire depleted my batteries below optimum energy requirements to facilitate you plan."
"You know, you really should look into getting him a fission battery." the Doctor murmured anxiously. "He has an awful habit of running out of power at the most inopportune moments and we need a-” He stopped suddenly. “We need a key and kite!"
"Doctor, you're failing to make sense again," Romana said irritably, as she got to her feet.
"Am I?" he asked "I am" he repeated, as he pulled his TARDIS key and the yo-yo out of his pocket and handed them to Romana. "I knew this would come in handy again. Quick, we need to get to the roof."
Between them, they pulled Polidori towards the stairs, but halted as a gasp of surprise came from the landing above. Romana looked up to see Mary Shelley at the top of the stairs, her hand covering her mouth. "Doctor Polidori, is he dead? And what is that burnt thing on the ground - and the metal contraption, what -Byron!"
"He'll live," Romana said wryly, but Mary was already brushing past them to get to his side.
"I say," the Doctor said, his voice suddenly bright again. "I don't suppose you have a kite on you, by any chance?"
Mary looked up and glared up at him as if he had two heads. Romana couldn't blame her. "A kite, are you in jest?" she snapped. "This is not the time for childish games, Doctor!"
"Childish, me?" the Doctor asked, surprised.
Romana groaned. The human was becoming heavy and she was loosing the last of her patience. "Byron will live to write another verse, Mary. Doctor Polidori, however, may not, unless we prevent it," she said pointedly. So I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd just give us a direct answer."
Mary blinked. "No, we don't have one," she said softly.
"Oh bugger," the Doctor said. "We need to... my umbrella! It's definitely windy enough to work!"
"Your umbrella?" Mary asked.
"A parasol designed to keep off the rain," Romana said. "I gave it to your butler when we arrived."
"I'll find it." Mary said, standing.
"We'll be on the roof, waiting; I suggest that you hurry," Romana said, perhaps a bit more sharply than she'd meant to. She watched Mary run down a corridor, and hoped the girl didn't hold it against her. Leela always said she needed to be a tad less... acerbic, when dealing with people.
"Romana, time to move," the Doctor said softly.
"What?" Romana said distractedly. "Oh, yes, of course."
They dragged Polidori up a seemingly endless flight of steps and, at last, they found an access hatch to the roof. The rain fell mercilessly, and Romana hunched her shoulders against it, resigned to getting wet.
"He hasn’t much time,” the Doctor yelled, over the howling wind and rain.
“This might not work, Doctor,” Romana said, as she tied the key to the yo-yo string. “We’re relying rather heavily on blind luck.”
“Do we have a choice?” the Doctor said, as he laid Polidori on the roof and ripped open his shirt. He held out his hand for the key and yo-yo, and Romana gave it to him. He attached his sonic screwdriver to the end. “Hopefully, this will regulate the electrical shock enough to prevent serious damage,” he said, as Mary appeared through the hatch, the umbrella in her hand. A shard of lightning crossed the sky, and the Doctor looked up and laughed into the rain as the thunder rumbled. “Oh, this is wonderful,” he said. “Isn’t this wonderful, Romana?”
Romana smiled ruefully as her clothes began to cling to her skin. “Positively astonishing, Doctor,” she said, watching as he opened the umbrella, attached the yo-yo string to its red handle, and held it up. The high winds caught it and pulled it into the air as the Doctor adjusted the settings on the sonic screwdriver and held it to Polidori’s chest.
“Any second, Romana,” he said.
“Any second what?” Mary asked.
“You’d better stand back,” Romana said, taking her own advice.
“But I don’t understand!”
Romana gave her a brief, wide smile. “Tell me, Mary, have you ever met an American gentleman by the name of Benjamin Franklin?”
The sky blazed with another fork of lightning and hit the umbrella. Romana started to laugh as the energy coursed down the string and flared through the sonic screwdriver. Doctor Poldori screamed, his eyes shooting open as his back arched. The energy flowed through him, covering him in a brief nimbus of light.
And then it stopped. The burned remains of the umbrella fell to to the roof like an injured bird, and Doctor Polidori was suddenly crying and retching, babbling wordlessly.
Mary’s eyes widened. “What did you do? Did you just bring him back to life?”
Something in Romana’s mind clicked. “Oh no!” she said. “Of all the-- Doctor!”
~~~~~*~~~*~~*~~*~~~*~~~~~
"How was I to know?" the Doctor said, guilelessly, when they at last reached the relative safety of the TARDIS. "Mary always had such a fertile imagination; I was never in any doubt that the story was all of her own devising!"
"That's always the problem with you, Doctor," Romana said. "You never know, but you interfere nonetheless. You’re a Time Lord, you should know better!"
"Oh Romana, Romana, don't be cross with me," he cajoled. "I'll tell you what; we'll go to to Argolis for a relaxing cup of tea. You've always liked the pastries at Tiffany's and-"
"Doctor!" Romana said sternly. “Listen to me.”
The Doctor gave her an overly innocent look, as he looked up from the temporal meter. "Yes, Romana?"
"No more side trips."
"Of course, Romana," he said meekly.
Romana watched him as he checked the time display and looked at the chronometer. He seemed to understand her wishes, and she really needed to get home. There were several important meetings she needed to attend.
Well," he said eventually. "All seems to be in order... ready?"
“Ready,” she said.
He grinned at her. “Back to Gallifrey, then!”
She didn't believe him for a second.
~~~FINIS~~~
Author: jinxed_wood
Characters: The Eighth Doctor, Romana II, Historical Characters
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Minor stuff for Shada and the Gallifrey chronicles
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the Beeb, all I have is my Microsoft Word…
Summary: On their way back from Cambridge, Earth, the Eighth Doctor and Romana find themselves shunted off to 19th century Switzerland, and a dark and stormy night with Mary Shelley and Lord Byron...
Previous Part: PART ONE
~~A VAMPYRE MORE ACCURSED: PART TWO OF TWO~~~
Travelling with the Doctor was always, of necessity, an occasion to think quickly on one’s feet. “We need a plan, Doctor,” Romana said, as they ran down the stairs.
“Yes, yes, yes,” he said. “I see, yes, a plan….I’m open to suggestions.”
Mary Shelley was at the bottom of the stairs, a basket of faggots on her hand. “Stakes!” she said. “And I have a hunting knife to sharpen them with.”
The Doctor smiled widely, and helped himself to a stick. “Oh look, Romana, a plan!”
“How…organized of you,” Romana said, eying the basket doubtfully.
“But it’s a plan,” the Doctor said lightly, as he suddenly started to rifle through his pockets. “And one should always have a plan. Dib, dib”
“Dib, dib?” Mary echoed.
“He’s talking nonsense, as usual. One gets used to it, eventually.” She watched as the Doctor produced a ball of twine and bag of jellybabies from his waistcoat pocket. “Well, not always,” she admitted. “We should find Lord Byron.”
“He’s in the drawing room; it's this way,” Mary said, walking ahead. “Do you really think Doctor Polidori is such a threat?”
“Doctor Polidori is the least of our problems,” Romana muttered under her breath, before turning to the Doctor. “Any ideas about who the third person might be, Doctor, or are you just going to spend the rest of the evening cleaning out your pockets?”
The Doctor offered her a jellybaby, and she took one, despite herself. “I’m looking for our contingency plan,” he explained, smiling wryly at her as she bit the head off the sweet.
“A contingency plan, in your pocket?” Mary asked.
He looked at her with round eyes and, for a moment, Romana was strongly reminded of a certain previous incarnation. “But of course,” he said. “Where else should I put it?”
Romana sighed. “Care to share the finer details of this contingency plan, Doctor?”
“And ruin the mystery?” the Doctor asked. He had now moved onto the inner pockets of his frockcoat. This produced a yo-yo, a packet of polo mints, a Venusian star crystal… and a dog whistle.
“K9,” Romana breathed.
“As good a contingency plan as any, I think,” he said. He blew into it.
“What is that?” Mary asked.
“The cavaLry,” the Doctor said lightly.
“You have a mounted force nearby?” Lord Byron asked archly, as they entered the drawing room. Romana eyed the pistols in his hands and sighed yet again.
“Narvin will have a field day,” she said aloud
“Romana, my dear, stop fretting,” the Doctor said. “I’m sure Narvin would be very upset about the vampire outbreak and will thank us profusely for clearing it up.”
Romana threw him a look. “And afterwards we shall have tea and crumpets, and Narvin will tell me what a splendid job I’ve been doing as Lady President,” she drawled.
“Hmmm,” he murmured. “I doesn’t sound quite so likely once you put it like that…maybe you can get Brax to break the news to him instead.”
“Brax? How did you know about-” She caught herself just in time. “Never mind. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound, as these humans say, and K9’s offensive capabilities shall indeed come in handy.”
A loud knock resounded through the doorway.
Mary stopped sharpening her stake. “Is it your cavalry?” she asked anxiously.
“I’m afraid K9 is not the type to knock,” Romana said, as another bang resounded though the door.
“Here, take this!” Mary handed Romana the stake and started sharpening another.
“Oh dear,” Romana said, looking at it. “I have a bad feeling about this.” A flash of lightning filled the window and the thunder reverberated through the paned glass.
“It can’t be helped sometimes,” the Doctor muttered. “Shall we answer it?”
Romana clutched the stake tightly and nodded. If Narvin saw her now, he’d definitely condemn her as a retrograde. “You open it, and I shall lie in wait behind it,” she told the Doctor.
“One moment please,” Lord Byron said. “This is my house; it should be me who answers the door.”
“Those pistols will not work against a vampire, Lord Byron,” the Doctor said.
“Perhaps not, but they will give it pause,” Lord Byron said, as he cocked one and stuck the other in his waistband. “Mary, a stake please?” Silently, Mary handed him a stake and started sharpening yet another. Romana sighed as Lord Byron strode across the hallway.
“You know this isn’t going to end well,” she said. “That knock on the door is obviously a diversion.”
“It has occurred to me,” the Doctor said. “But you know what they say. It isn’t a trap if it’s already sprung.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard,” Romana drawled. “I wonder who it was who came up with that old chestnut.”
“Oh, somebody famous and dead, I’ve no doubt,” the Doctor said. “Heads I go upstairs,” He produced a coin.
“Doctor!” she said sharply. “I’m not going to fall for that old coin with two heads trick again.” She snagged the coin out of his hands and headed for the stairs. “Come on.”
“Wait, why are you going upstairs?” Mary asked, as she joined them, stake in hand.
“Call it a hunch.” Romana said grimly.
“Then I shall go with you!”
“Oh,” Romana said. “Well, that’s very nice of you…”
“But Lord Byron might need an extra stake,” the Doctor supplied. The sound of glass breaking came from upstairs, and Romana and the Doctor looked at each other.
“It sounds like Shelley’s room,” Romana said.
“They’re probably looking for a quick top up before the main event,” the Doctor said, as he took the steps two at a time.
“You’re not going anywhere without me!” Mary declared.
“But what about the door?” Lord Byron called after them.
“Prop a chair against it,” the Doctor called back.
Romana very much doubted that a chair would keep even a half turned vampire out for long, but they were quickly running out of options, and Shelley and Claire were the ones most in danger. They ran up the steps, and found Shelley’s door closed. The Doctor twisted the handle. It was locked.
“Rassilon blast it!” the Doctor muttered as he took out his lock picks. “We don’t have time for this.”
Romana put her ear to the door and made a face as she heard a noise she’d rather not identify. “I don’t think Shelley has much time either, Doctor.”
“Oh no, Percy,” cried Mary.
“Stay behind us,” the Doctor said, as he tried the door once more. It opened.
The creature looked up as the light from the hall fell on it. Blood smeared its mouth and chin, its extreme pallor noticeable even in the dim light. Bat like wings extended out behind it.
“That is neither the Viscount nor Polidori,” Mary said, raising her stake.
“No, this would be the root of the problem,” the Doctor said quietly.
“I am Haemar, last of the true vampires!” it said, grinning coldly aa it got up from its crouch on the bed.
“True Vampire? Oh, Haemar, you don’t even come close,” the Doctor said softly.
“And what would you know of such things, human?” it spat.
“Well, I get around a lot, you see” the Doctor said. “See a lot of new sights and people.”
The creature laughed, its eyes becoming darker. “And now you have found your resting place!”
“Oh dear, is that the best you can do?” the Doctor asked. “So much for a witty repartee, are you -”
Romana pinched the Doctor’s arm, startling him into silence. “Tell me, Haemar, what do you hope to gain from this?” A sharp cry echoed from downstairs and Romana felt her heart sink. “Damn it!”
“That was Lord Bryon” Mary cried out.
“And now you have your answer. Why should I savour the lifeblood of a poet, when I can have a Lord instead!” With a lithe leap, it jumped out the window, and the Doctor dashed out the door.
“I’m a fool!” he declared, as he darted down the hall.
Romana felt indecisive as she looked at Shelley on the bed. Quickly, she felt for a pulse, and found one. “He’s still alive,” she said hurriedly. “Mary, stay with him. I need to catch up with the Doctor!”
The front door was a wreck of splintered wood by the time Romana reached the stairs. Lord Byron was unconscious and held between two men. Romana could only assume they were Doctor Polidori and the Viscount. The Doctor stood in their way, brandishing his yo-yo as if it was weapon. “I’m warning you,” he said. “One more step and I’ll be forced to use this!”
One of the abductors, the younger one, let out a surprised laugh. “A bandalore? You expect to defeat us with a child’s toy?”
“Ah, I forgot the yo-yo went through a period of popularity in the early nineteenth century. I really must make a note to remember these things…” He rooted around in his pocket. “Aha! How do like them apples, eh?” The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver and Romana felt a wave of irritation as she crept down the stairs. Couldn’t he have mentioned he had his sonic screwdriver with him earlier!
“What, that puny piece of metal?” It was the younger one who spoke again. The older one, - the Viscount, Romana assumed - had seemed to have lost the ability to speak. He’d become a ghoul, not a half turned vampire, Romana suspected; a mindless slave.
“Ah but this isn’t just any piece of metal, this is a sonic device - and do you know what a sonic device does?” The Doctor caught Romana’s eye for the briefest of moments and then rolled his eyes towards the floor. Romana frowned, and then spotted the two pistols lying there. She looked at the Doctor and nodded her understanding.
“Oh please, do tell,” Polidori said snidely. Lord Byron groaned softly, and Polidori tensed. “This is my last warning, get out of my way or-”
“You’ll do what?” the Doctor said softly. “Your hands are already full. It’s me or Lord Byron, take your pick.”
“I pick you, Doctor.”
What happened next, happened in a blur. Haemar appeared at the broken door and threw himself at the Doctor. Romana dove for the pistols. The sonic screwdriver went off, making Polidori and the Viscount drop Byron on the ground and clap their hands over their ears. Haemar wrestled the Doctor to the floor, and Romana quickly cocked one of the pistols. “Stop!” she roared, using the voice she’d perfected over the last few months in council. The vampire looked up at her and laughed.
“A pistol? You think a pistol will work on me?” His grasp on the Doctor’s neck tightened, and Romana felt her own throat constrict as the Doctor went blue, his eyes fluttering closed.
“Maybe not, but it’ll work on your lackeys!” she said. She swung the pistol, aiming it at Polidori, who was curled up on the floor, whimpering.
The vampire laughed. “Do you think I actually care about them?” it asked. "When I have a member of the British aristocracy here to replace them? I shall have Lord Byron, heart and soul, he shall open the all the doors to the British peerage. I shall drink deeply, and slowly, and they shall welcome me with open arms!"
Lord Byron groaned and opened his eyes. “No,” he said feebly. “That must not be allowed to happen. "You must….kill me….”
"Quiet, human," Haemar hissed.
Romana watched as Lord Byron shut his mouth with an almost audible snap, his head falling to the floor once more.
"See?" the vampire crowed. "Already, I am capable of controlling his mind. Think what it’ll be like once we’ve commingled our blood!”
“I’d rather not, thanks all the same,” Romana said grimly, as she pointed the gun at Byron’s head. “Now let the Doctor go!”
“You’d never do it, you’d never kill an innocent man,” Haemar said smugly.
“It isn’t murder if the victim begs for it,” Romana said flatly.
“You don’t mean that,” it said.
“Oh, don’t I?” Romana asked. “Look at my face, vampire, am I lying to you?”
The creature’s eyes narrowed “You have no idea of the forces you’re tangling with, girl!” it hissed.
“On the contrary, I know exactly what I’m dealing with,” Romana said. “You, on the other hand, haven’t a clue.”
The vampire leaped, a blur of grey flesh and teeth in the air, and Romana threw herself to the ground as a red beam of light shot through the room accompanied by the smell of ozone.
“Mistress? Are you harmed?”
“I’m fine, K-9,” Romana said hoarsely, as she looked up at the blackened husk lying on top of her.
“I had difficulties with the terrain,” K-9 said. “My apologies for not getting here sooner.”
“Not need to apologise, K-9,” Romana said, as she pushed the corpse off her. “I’m grateful for your assistance.
“My pleasure, Mistress,” K-9 said.
The Doctor was already up and checking Lord Byron’s pulse. “Steady,” he said hoarsely. “But he’ll be out for a while.” He moved onto the Viscount. “Ah, dead, I’m afraid.” He felt for Polidori's pulse. "Thready, and getting weaker," he muttered. "That is not good. I've a feeling that if he dies, he'll rise again."
"You think the vampire infected him?" Romana asked.
The Doctor caught her eye. "I'd rather not have to kill him," he said. "it wasn't his fault the vampire infected his mind."
"Maybe we won't have to," Romana saId. "Remember that the Vampiric infection is fundamentally a psychic connection, made through the body's circulatory system. If we can shock the heart at the exact moment and restart the heart before the infection takes over--"
"Then we might be able to save his life!" the Doctor said excitedly. "Romana, that's brilliant - K-9?"
"Yes, Master?"
"We need to use your battery source!"
"Apologies, Master, the power output needed to destroy the Master Vampire depleted my batteries below optimum energy requirements to facilitate you plan."
"You know, you really should look into getting him a fission battery." the Doctor murmured anxiously. "He has an awful habit of running out of power at the most inopportune moments and we need a-” He stopped suddenly. “We need a key and kite!"
"Doctor, you're failing to make sense again," Romana said irritably, as she got to her feet.
"Am I?" he asked "I am" he repeated, as he pulled his TARDIS key and the yo-yo out of his pocket and handed them to Romana. "I knew this would come in handy again. Quick, we need to get to the roof."
Between them, they pulled Polidori towards the stairs, but halted as a gasp of surprise came from the landing above. Romana looked up to see Mary Shelley at the top of the stairs, her hand covering her mouth. "Doctor Polidori, is he dead? And what is that burnt thing on the ground - and the metal contraption, what -Byron!"
"He'll live," Romana said wryly, but Mary was already brushing past them to get to his side.
"I say," the Doctor said, his voice suddenly bright again. "I don't suppose you have a kite on you, by any chance?"
Mary looked up and glared up at him as if he had two heads. Romana couldn't blame her. "A kite, are you in jest?" she snapped. "This is not the time for childish games, Doctor!"
"Childish, me?" the Doctor asked, surprised.
Romana groaned. The human was becoming heavy and she was loosing the last of her patience. "Byron will live to write another verse, Mary. Doctor Polidori, however, may not, unless we prevent it," she said pointedly. So I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd just give us a direct answer."
Mary blinked. "No, we don't have one," she said softly.
"Oh bugger," the Doctor said. "We need to... my umbrella! It's definitely windy enough to work!"
"Your umbrella?" Mary asked.
"A parasol designed to keep off the rain," Romana said. "I gave it to your butler when we arrived."
"I'll find it." Mary said, standing.
"We'll be on the roof, waiting; I suggest that you hurry," Romana said, perhaps a bit more sharply than she'd meant to. She watched Mary run down a corridor, and hoped the girl didn't hold it against her. Leela always said she needed to be a tad less... acerbic, when dealing with people.
"Romana, time to move," the Doctor said softly.
"What?" Romana said distractedly. "Oh, yes, of course."
They dragged Polidori up a seemingly endless flight of steps and, at last, they found an access hatch to the roof. The rain fell mercilessly, and Romana hunched her shoulders against it, resigned to getting wet.
"He hasn’t much time,” the Doctor yelled, over the howling wind and rain.
“This might not work, Doctor,” Romana said, as she tied the key to the yo-yo string. “We’re relying rather heavily on blind luck.”
“Do we have a choice?” the Doctor said, as he laid Polidori on the roof and ripped open his shirt. He held out his hand for the key and yo-yo, and Romana gave it to him. He attached his sonic screwdriver to the end. “Hopefully, this will regulate the electrical shock enough to prevent serious damage,” he said, as Mary appeared through the hatch, the umbrella in her hand. A shard of lightning crossed the sky, and the Doctor looked up and laughed into the rain as the thunder rumbled. “Oh, this is wonderful,” he said. “Isn’t this wonderful, Romana?”
Romana smiled ruefully as her clothes began to cling to her skin. “Positively astonishing, Doctor,” she said, watching as he opened the umbrella, attached the yo-yo string to its red handle, and held it up. The high winds caught it and pulled it into the air as the Doctor adjusted the settings on the sonic screwdriver and held it to Polidori’s chest.
“Any second, Romana,” he said.
“Any second what?” Mary asked.
“You’d better stand back,” Romana said, taking her own advice.
“But I don’t understand!”
Romana gave her a brief, wide smile. “Tell me, Mary, have you ever met an American gentleman by the name of Benjamin Franklin?”
The sky blazed with another fork of lightning and hit the umbrella. Romana started to laugh as the energy coursed down the string and flared through the sonic screwdriver. Doctor Poldori screamed, his eyes shooting open as his back arched. The energy flowed through him, covering him in a brief nimbus of light.
And then it stopped. The burned remains of the umbrella fell to to the roof like an injured bird, and Doctor Polidori was suddenly crying and retching, babbling wordlessly.
Mary’s eyes widened. “What did you do? Did you just bring him back to life?”
Something in Romana’s mind clicked. “Oh no!” she said. “Of all the-- Doctor!”
~~~~~*~~~*~~*~~*~~~*~~~~~
"How was I to know?" the Doctor said, guilelessly, when they at last reached the relative safety of the TARDIS. "Mary always had such a fertile imagination; I was never in any doubt that the story was all of her own devising!"
"That's always the problem with you, Doctor," Romana said. "You never know, but you interfere nonetheless. You’re a Time Lord, you should know better!"
"Oh Romana, Romana, don't be cross with me," he cajoled. "I'll tell you what; we'll go to to Argolis for a relaxing cup of tea. You've always liked the pastries at Tiffany's and-"
"Doctor!" Romana said sternly. “Listen to me.”
The Doctor gave her an overly innocent look, as he looked up from the temporal meter. "Yes, Romana?"
"No more side trips."
"Of course, Romana," he said meekly.
Romana watched him as he checked the time display and looked at the chronometer. He seemed to understand her wishes, and she really needed to get home. There were several important meetings she needed to attend.
Well," he said eventually. "All seems to be in order... ready?"
“Ready,” she said.
He grinned at her. “Back to Gallifrey, then!”
She didn't believe him for a second.
~~~FINIS~~~