Smoke and Sand
Fandoms: Darkest Night Trilogy / Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13 for some strong language
Timeline: Darkest Night Trilogy - This story is one year after the events of the last book, so everything is fair game.
Doctor Who - New Who seasons 2-4 (10th Doctor), with very heavy emphasis on Blink. However, nothing from season five.
Fandoms - In this story, the end of the second season of filming for Darkest Night takes place in October of 2009, before any information on Waters of Mars was official.
Disclaimer: The characters from the Darkest Night trilogy belong to Tanya Huff and her publisher. The 10th Doctor, Doctor Who, and related characters are all the property of their respective people. David Tennant and Matt Smith (briefly mentioned) are also not mine (more's the pity). In fact, I think the only original character disappears almost immediately. No harm is meant, nor am I making money off of this, so please don't sue. Mistakes are all my own.
I am not familiar with a lot of fanfiction sites. If you would like to link this to people whom you think would like to read it, please ask first. Otherwise, do not repost without permission.
A magic spell gone awry soon has Tony and the cast and crew at CB Productions saddled with a stranger who claims he's a Time Lord. When people start disappearing, Tony has to hope the man isn't crazy if he ever wants to see his friends again.
It was the lack of news that bothered him the most. It had been a year since the announcement that David Tennant was leaving Doctor Who and fans had long known that there would be the four specials leading up to his exit. They had been given the 2008 Christmas special which actually upped the count to five, and then the Easter episode, 'Planet of the Dead', but then there had been nothing. There was no updates, no real news. Everything was just speculation at this point. In fact, the only solid news they had received was the announced casting of the eleventh Doctor.
Josh growled under his throat, rising off his chair to pace the room like a restless tiger. Matt Smith! Matt Smith as the Doctor. It was ridiculous! The guy looked like... he didn't even know, but Josh knew the guy couldn't be, wouldn't be the Doctor, not really. It was true that he knew very little about the actor, but he didn't want to know. He liked Tennant! David Tennant was the ultimate Doctor. He wanted his Doctor. And that brought his attention back around to the books that littered his desk, crowding his computer. It was highly unusual to see Josh pouring over books instead of World of Warcraft, but this was an emergency. He couldn't handle the not knowing. Each day that passed brought him closer and closer to a new special, but also to the end. He felt like time was slipping through his fingers and he had no way to stop what was going to happen.
Josh had dwelled in his helpless predicament all summer, trying to distract himself by obsessively studying the three seasons of the tenth Doctor's reign. He watched the DVDs time and again, each line memorized, every expression ingrained into his mind. It wasn't enough, though, and so, while mulling over his hopeless situation one day, he'd stumbled across a small shop selling strange and unusual books. Books normally weren't the type of thing that would even remotely distract Josh, but he considered the Library in recent episodes and figured maybe he'd find something exciting and different to shake up his world. All he'd found, however, was dust and musty old books. He'd wandered the few aisles of the cramped bookstore, bitter with disappointment, until something had caught his eye. He pulled the tome from the shelf, studying the red, leather-bound cover. There wasn't a title or author listed, which was fairly unusual for a book. He opened up to the first crackling page and had glanced over the table of contents. It had appeared to be a spellbook, which was enough to make him snort in disgust. He'd almost put the book back when he hesitated, his eyes locked on a title approximately two-thirds the way down the page. "Interdimensional Travel." He'd flipped to the page, studying the descriptions at a glance, but his mind had already started working. He hadn't been able to find the proprietor of the shop and so snuck out with the book.
It had taken two weeks for him to reach the point of readiness. His parents were out, leaving him alone. He'd cleared an open space on his bedroom floor, which just proved his level of determination, and set up everything he'd needed. It had taken him hours to pour out the various colored sands into the pattern the book detailed, setting pillar candles just so. He went to his desk, picked up the red leather volume and turned to study the design he had meticulously laid out. He had practically memorized the words he was supposed to say and began the lengthy incantation. It was convoluted, sounding to him like something foreign such as Spanish or Shakespeare, and hard to wrap his tongue around, but he'd read and reread until, even though he didn't understand exactly what he was saying, he could recite it.
As he spoke, the candle flames danced and giggled in the still air, moved by some unseen power. It made the light flicker and the shadows pace the walls in eerie silence. A thrill ran through Josh and he continued the strange litany, speaking the seemingly ancient words into the heavy air. The strange dance of the candles evened out into a swirl of bent flames as a wind that seemed to come from the center of the design itself forced them to move by its will. The words rose to a powerful crescendo and seemed to resonate deep within Josh's bones, the light making the colorful powder on the floor, which remained still and undisturbed, almost glow. Finally, as his words finished, the wind snuffed out the candle flames then disappeared.
All was dark. Josh blinked, straining to see into the inky black. He had put blankets over the curtains to make the room as dark as possible and hadn't planned for the possibility of the candles going out. He stumbled to his desk and opened one drawer after another, searching for his flashlight, then flicked it on. The beam was weak, the light dying. He headed back over to the circle and paused not far from it. A statue stood near the edge of the room. It appeared to be granite, old Roman-style gowns draped about the figure and great, full wings nearly touching the floor. The angel’s hands were raised, shielding its face in mute weeping.
"What the hell?" Josh muttered, walking up to the figure. How did a stone angel arrive in his room? Where had it come from? He walked toward the figure but halted suddenly, just out of reach. His eyes widened as he stared at the angel. "No," he breathed, his hands suddenly trembling. "It... it can't be." He reached out a hand, like he was going to touch the stone, but then pulled away fearfully. He'd used the episode Blink as a reference for the spell, and the weeping angels were in that episode. They were assassins, sending people back in time, but only when unobserved. When seen, they turned to stone. And there were four of them.
Josh scrambled backwards, into a corner, hitting his flashlight. Indeed, there were four statues in the room, all facing separate ways. "I didn't call you! How did you get here?" he said, his tone desperate. "He... he trapped you! You shouldn't..." But eventually, the light in the basement where the angels had been tricked by the Doctor into looking at each other had to burn out. If that wasn't the case, the room they were currently in was pitch black, and only the flashlight gave any illumination, and even that was dim and muddy as the batteries faded. He whimpered and looked to the far wall where the light switch was. The only way he could reach it was to look away from the four. Look away...
His head snapped back around. Three angels still stood, hands raised to shield their eyes, but one stood within feet of him. The hands were extended, reaching for him, claws sharp and menacing. The mouth was wide and twisted cruelly, fangs long and horrible in a seemingly safe visage. Josh shrank back into the corner. He would never be able to get to the light without taking his eyes off of one of them. The light of the beam was slowly dimming, fading into the blackness. His eyes teared up as he sank slowly to the floor, curling up in fear. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," he whispered in terror.
The flashlight ebbed until the total darkness reigned. Josh waited helplessly, whimpering. Something cold and sharp touched his cheek and he screamed.
Rating: PG-13 for some strong language
Timeline: Darkest Night Trilogy - This story is one year after the events of the last book, so everything is fair game.
Doctor Who - New Who seasons 2-4 (10th Doctor), with very heavy emphasis on Blink. However, nothing from season five.
Fandoms - In this story, the end of the second season of filming for Darkest Night takes place in October of 2009, before any information on Waters of Mars was official.
Disclaimer: The characters from the Darkest Night trilogy belong to Tanya Huff and her publisher. The 10th Doctor, Doctor Who, and related characters are all the property of their respective people. David Tennant and Matt Smith (briefly mentioned) are also not mine (more's the pity). In fact, I think the only original character disappears almost immediately. No harm is meant, nor am I making money off of this, so please don't sue. Mistakes are all my own.
I am not familiar with a lot of fanfiction sites. If you would like to link this to people whom you think would like to read it, please ask first. Otherwise, do not repost without permission.
A magic spell gone awry soon has Tony and the cast and crew at CB Productions saddled with a stranger who claims he's a Time Lord. When people start disappearing, Tony has to hope the man isn't crazy if he ever wants to see his friends again.
It was the lack of news that bothered him the most. It had been a year since the announcement that David Tennant was leaving Doctor Who and fans had long known that there would be the four specials leading up to his exit. They had been given the 2008 Christmas special which actually upped the count to five, and then the Easter episode, 'Planet of the Dead', but then there had been nothing. There was no updates, no real news. Everything was just speculation at this point. In fact, the only solid news they had received was the announced casting of the eleventh Doctor.
Josh growled under his throat, rising off his chair to pace the room like a restless tiger. Matt Smith! Matt Smith as the Doctor. It was ridiculous! The guy looked like... he didn't even know, but Josh knew the guy couldn't be, wouldn't be the Doctor, not really. It was true that he knew very little about the actor, but he didn't want to know. He liked Tennant! David Tennant was the ultimate Doctor. He wanted his Doctor. And that brought his attention back around to the books that littered his desk, crowding his computer. It was highly unusual to see Josh pouring over books instead of World of Warcraft, but this was an emergency. He couldn't handle the not knowing. Each day that passed brought him closer and closer to a new special, but also to the end. He felt like time was slipping through his fingers and he had no way to stop what was going to happen.
Josh had dwelled in his helpless predicament all summer, trying to distract himself by obsessively studying the three seasons of the tenth Doctor's reign. He watched the DVDs time and again, each line memorized, every expression ingrained into his mind. It wasn't enough, though, and so, while mulling over his hopeless situation one day, he'd stumbled across a small shop selling strange and unusual books. Books normally weren't the type of thing that would even remotely distract Josh, but he considered the Library in recent episodes and figured maybe he'd find something exciting and different to shake up his world. All he'd found, however, was dust and musty old books. He'd wandered the few aisles of the cramped bookstore, bitter with disappointment, until something had caught his eye. He pulled the tome from the shelf, studying the red, leather-bound cover. There wasn't a title or author listed, which was fairly unusual for a book. He opened up to the first crackling page and had glanced over the table of contents. It had appeared to be a spellbook, which was enough to make him snort in disgust. He'd almost put the book back when he hesitated, his eyes locked on a title approximately two-thirds the way down the page. "Interdimensional Travel." He'd flipped to the page, studying the descriptions at a glance, but his mind had already started working. He hadn't been able to find the proprietor of the shop and so snuck out with the book.
It had taken two weeks for him to reach the point of readiness. His parents were out, leaving him alone. He'd cleared an open space on his bedroom floor, which just proved his level of determination, and set up everything he'd needed. It had taken him hours to pour out the various colored sands into the pattern the book detailed, setting pillar candles just so. He went to his desk, picked up the red leather volume and turned to study the design he had meticulously laid out. He had practically memorized the words he was supposed to say and began the lengthy incantation. It was convoluted, sounding to him like something foreign such as Spanish or Shakespeare, and hard to wrap his tongue around, but he'd read and reread until, even though he didn't understand exactly what he was saying, he could recite it.
As he spoke, the candle flames danced and giggled in the still air, moved by some unseen power. It made the light flicker and the shadows pace the walls in eerie silence. A thrill ran through Josh and he continued the strange litany, speaking the seemingly ancient words into the heavy air. The strange dance of the candles evened out into a swirl of bent flames as a wind that seemed to come from the center of the design itself forced them to move by its will. The words rose to a powerful crescendo and seemed to resonate deep within Josh's bones, the light making the colorful powder on the floor, which remained still and undisturbed, almost glow. Finally, as his words finished, the wind snuffed out the candle flames then disappeared.
All was dark. Josh blinked, straining to see into the inky black. He had put blankets over the curtains to make the room as dark as possible and hadn't planned for the possibility of the candles going out. He stumbled to his desk and opened one drawer after another, searching for his flashlight, then flicked it on. The beam was weak, the light dying. He headed back over to the circle and paused not far from it. A statue stood near the edge of the room. It appeared to be granite, old Roman-style gowns draped about the figure and great, full wings nearly touching the floor. The angel’s hands were raised, shielding its face in mute weeping.
"What the hell?" Josh muttered, walking up to the figure. How did a stone angel arrive in his room? Where had it come from? He walked toward the figure but halted suddenly, just out of reach. His eyes widened as he stared at the angel. "No," he breathed, his hands suddenly trembling. "It... it can't be." He reached out a hand, like he was going to touch the stone, but then pulled away fearfully. He'd used the episode Blink as a reference for the spell, and the weeping angels were in that episode. They were assassins, sending people back in time, but only when unobserved. When seen, they turned to stone. And there were four of them.
Josh scrambled backwards, into a corner, hitting his flashlight. Indeed, there were four statues in the room, all facing separate ways. "I didn't call you! How did you get here?" he said, his tone desperate. "He... he trapped you! You shouldn't..." But eventually, the light in the basement where the angels had been tricked by the Doctor into looking at each other had to burn out. If that wasn't the case, the room they were currently in was pitch black, and only the flashlight gave any illumination, and even that was dim and muddy as the batteries faded. He whimpered and looked to the far wall where the light switch was. The only way he could reach it was to look away from the four. Look away...
His head snapped back around. Three angels still stood, hands raised to shield their eyes, but one stood within feet of him. The hands were extended, reaching for him, claws sharp and menacing. The mouth was wide and twisted cruelly, fangs long and horrible in a seemingly safe visage. Josh shrank back into the corner. He would never be able to get to the light without taking his eyes off of one of them. The light of the beam was slowly dimming, fading into the blackness. His eyes teared up as he sank slowly to the floor, curling up in fear. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," he whispered in terror.
The flashlight ebbed until the total darkness reigned. Josh waited helplessly, whimpering. Something cold and sharp touched his cheek and he screamed.