by Cavan Scott
The woman shone her flashlight in the Doctor’s face like an interrogation lamp. ‘They did what?’
‘It wasn’t us,’ the Doctor insisted. ‘We heard Noah scream.’ He pointed at the boy’s leg. ‘He’s twisted his ankle. It’ll be sore for a few days, but nothing that won’t mend.’
Charlotte got up and brushed herself down.
Bill sidled up, keeping her voice low. ‘You felt that too, right?’
It took Charlotte a moment to realise Bill was talking about the paralysing sense of dread that had accompanied the Shining Men.
The Shining Men! Her footage!
Charlotte snatched her mobile from the ground and checked the display. ‘Yes! It recorded!’ she said, opening the video app. Rows of eerie eyes stared out of the screen, not quite in focus but better than anything she’d seen online. This was awesome!
‘How did you find us?’ the Doctor asked, daring to take a step nearer the angry woman.
‘What’s it got to do with you?’
He tapped the side of his head. ‘Inquiring minds need to know.’
The woman looked down at her grandchildren again. ‘The man at number fifteen, he told me he saw torches on the playing fields, running towards the trees.’ She kissed the top of Masie’s head. ‘What were you thinking?’
‘We were looking for Mum,’ the girl replied.
‘Oh love. She won’t be out here.’ She shot a look at the Doctor. ‘With these people.’
‘Who are you calling people?’ the Doctor snapped. ‘I mean, obviously we’re people, but not bad people. We’re good people.’ He turned to Bill. ‘Tell her we’re good people.’
‘We are,’ Bill said, joining him. ‘I promise. The Doctor’s right; we were just trying to help.’
The old woman’s eyes fixed on Charlotte. ‘What about that one. I’ve seen her hanging around the street. You’re living out of that camper van, aren’t you?’
‘I’m with them,’ Charlotte said quickly.
‘You are?’ the Doctor said.
‘She is,’ Bill told him.
Charlotte realised she that still had her phone up and dropped it down before the old woman could get the wrong idea.
Too late. ‘Were you filming us?’ The woman started rummaging around in her anorak pocket. ‘That’s it. I’m calling the police.’
‘No need,’ the Doctor cut in. ‘We’re already here. Look.’ He fished a battered leather wallet from his jacket and flashed it in front of the woman’s face. ‘See?’ His face fell for a minute, and he glanced at the wallet. ‘You do see, don’t you?’
‘CID?’ the woman said, and the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.
‘If that’s what it says, then who am I to argue?’
She peered at him with renewed interest. ‘You’re here about my Sammy?’
The Doctor slipped the wallet back into his coat. ‘And that would be Noah’s Mum,’ he said, obviously bluffing although the woman didn’t seem to notice. ‘Your daughter.’
‘That’s right.’ She tapped her expansive bosom. ‘Hilary Walsh, that’s me.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Hilary Walsh,’ the Doctor replied. ‘I’m the Doctor, this is Bill and this …’ He turned to Charlotte and coughed slightly. ‘This is Cryptogal-UK, our … forensic investigator. Hence the inappropriate phone.’
Hilary stared at Charlotte. ‘What kind of name is that?’
Before the Doctor could say ‘I told you so’, Bill cut in: ‘It’s her code name. For, you know, undercover investigations.’
It was a nice try, but it was clear that Hilary was never going to buy that.
‘My name’s Sadler,’ Charlotte said, stepping forward and held out her hand, trying to look official. ‘Charlotte Sadler.’
Hilary glared at the hand as if it was covered in dog muck. ‘Well, whoever you all are,’ she said, turning back to the Doctor. ‘I need to get these two home.’ She pulled away from her grandchildren and tutted. ‘Coming out here in your pyjamas.’
‘You’re in your nightie,’ the Doctor pointed out, and Bill kicked him in the shin.
‘We put our coats on!’ Noah told her, wiping his nose.
‘You’ll catch your deaths.’ She shone her flashlight at the lad’s ankle. ‘Can you walk on it?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’ He looked like he was going to start crying again.
‘I’ll carry him,’ the Doctor offered.
‘You will?’ Bill said.
‘Don’t sound so surprised,’ he berated her.
Hilary looked like she was going to argue, but Noah already had his arms raised, the Doctor hoisting him up into the air. The boy held on tight, giggling as the Doctor made a play of dropping him.
‘Careful!’ Hilary snapped.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll have him home in no time,’ the Doctor said, marching off, before realising that he had no idea where he was going. ‘It is back this way, isn’t it?’
Grabbing Masie’s hand, Hilary bustled past him, showing the way with her torch. ‘We’ll go the long way round. I don’t fancy climbing up that bank.’
‘Me neither,’ the Doctor agreed, following after her. ‘What do you feed these kids? He weighs a ton!’
‘That’s rude!’ Noah said, laughing again.
‘Don’t take it personally. He’s like it to everyone,’ Bill said, tramping after them, before turning back towards Charlotte. ‘You coming?’
Charlotte unclipped her smartphone from the monopod and fell in alongside her. ‘Of course,’ she said, grinning. ‘Where would you two be without your forensic investigator?’
As they walked, Charlotte couldn’t shift the idea that they were being watched. She glanced over her shoulder and, just for a moment, thought she saw eyes glowing between the trees, but then they were gone and the wood was dark.
Chapter 8
A Visit from the Doctor
Whether he was a real policeman or not, the Doctor made good use of the walk out of the woods and back across the playing fields. He quizzed Hilary about her daughter’s disappearance; how she had slipped out when the kids were in bed and didn’t return. Bill chipped in with questions of her own, discovering that Hilary had been staying with her grandchildren ever since their Mum had vanished, and that the police’s door-to-door inquiries had been next to useless.
‘Don’t you know all this, though?’ Hilary said, as she bundled Masie through the gate that led onto Brownie Hill.
‘Oh, you know what it’s like,’ the Doctor said quickly, sharing a secret smile with Bill. ‘The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing.’
‘Typical,’ Hilary clucked. ‘Just like the council. That’s how monstrosities like that thing happen.’
She jabbed a finger at the building site beside the playing field. Charlotte couldn’t see what was wrong with it herself. The house looked like every new build she’d ever seen; a bit on the large side, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Bill seemed to agree. ‘Looks OK to me,’ she told the old woman. ‘Going to be impressive when it’s finished.’
‘If it’s finished,’ Hilary replied. ‘Can’t believe they got planning permission. There was nothing wrong with the house that was already there.’
‘It was falling down!’ Masie said.
‘They could have done it up,’ Hilary argued, obviously not one to let someone else have the last word. ‘At least it had character, not like that eyesore. And the garden …’ Her voice became wistful. ‘Sammy loved that garden. Mr Cragside used to let her climb the big tree he had out the back.’ She closed the gate behind Charlotte. ‘They’ve pulled that down too. Nothing short of vandalism, if you ask me.’
Charlotte had a feeling that Hilary Walsh would let you know her opinion whether you asked her or not.
Bill at least still seemed interested as Hilary guided them across Brownie Hill and into Bugs Close. ‘You’ve lived here a long time, then?’
‘All my life,’ she replied, leading them t
owards a small semi-detached house halfway down the road. A blue Fiat Punto was parked on the paved drive, a row of evergreen shrubs and bushes leading up to the front door. ‘This was my place before I moved into the flat. Sammy bought it from me and Ern.’
‘Keep it in the family,’ the Doctor said, carrying Noah up the path. ‘I like that. I had a family home once.’
Hilary looked at him quizzically as she unlocked the door. ‘What happened to it?’
‘Moved on. Didn’t like the neighbours.’ He hefted the boy in his arms. ‘Where shall I put this?’
Hilary held the door open for him. ‘You better take him straight up to his room.’
‘Gladly,’ the Doctor said. ‘Can my squad come too?’
Bill and Charlotte had already stepped into the cosy hallway.
‘Doesn’t look like I have much choice. I suppose you’ll be wanting a cup of tea?’
‘If it’s no bother,’ the Doctor said, grinning as he kicked the door shut for her.
‘Well, it is late …’
‘We’ll just stop for one, then. Seven sugars for me, Bill’s sweet enough already. Masie, can you show me to Noah’s room?’
The girl led him upstairs, Bill following.
Hilary looked at Charlotte with thinly disguised disapproval. ‘And what about you, Cryptogirl?’
‘I could murder a coffee,’ she replied, flashing Hilary her most charming smile. ‘Ta!’
She skipped up the stairs to join the others, who were standing in a typical boy’s room. There were gaming posters on the wall, action figures crammed into storage boxes and Lego scattered on the floor like a booby-trap just waiting to be stepped on. A desk sat beneath the window in the corner, piled high with comics and magazines, the accompanying chair heaped with crumpled clothes.
The Doctor planted Noah on the bed. ‘Nice duvet,’ he commented, before helping the lad remove the welly boot from his damaged ankle. The Doctor probed the offending joint before prescribing a course of daydreaming and ice cream. ‘You’ll be right as rain in no time.’
He spotted a book beside the bed. ‘The Goblins of Neverness,’ he said, picking it up. ‘I haven’t read this in years.’
‘It’s Mum’s,’ Noah told him. ‘She lets me look at it. She’s had it since she was a little girl.’
‘She likes fairy stories?’
Noah nodded. ‘Nan says she always has. I do too.’
The Doctor put the book on the bed and surveyed the messy room. ‘Tell me about this dream that wasn’t a dream.’
‘Mum was standing over there,’ Noah said, pointing to the window.
‘Covered in leaves and dirt.’ The Doctor moved over to the window. ‘Which is why you went down to the woods.’
‘Noah said she needed our help,’ Masie told him.
‘And then a Shining Man took her,’ Noah said. ‘Pulling her down into the floor.’
The Doctor pointed at Masie. ‘But you didn’t see any of this?’
She shook her head. ‘No, but I saw the footprint.’
‘And the leaf,’ Noah reminded her.
The Doctor grinned. ‘A footprint. I love a footprint. Especially a spooky one. It was over here?’ He crouched down and ran his fingers over the carpet.
Charlotte peered over his shoulder. ‘There’s nothing there.’
‘But there was,’ Masie insisted, pulling away from Bill. Even Noah jumped from the bed and limped over, but Charlotte was right. The carpet was in dire need of a vacuum, but there were no footprints in sight.
‘It was there,’ Masie said, her hands balling into fists by her side. ‘It really was. We didn’t imagine it.’
‘No one said you did,’ the Doctor said, sniffing the ends of his fingers before producing his blue and silver gadget again.
‘What is that?’ Charlotte asked.
‘The sonic screwdriver,’ said Bill as the Doctor ran it over the carpet. ‘And before you ask, I don’t know what it does either.’
‘It helps. Unlike some people,’ the Doctor said, returning the screwdriver to his pocket. ‘Most of the time, anyway.’
‘But not today?’ Bill asked.
The Doctor didn’t answer. Instead, he bent over and licked the carpet like a cat lapping cream.
‘Now what are you doing?’ a voice barked from the door. It was Hilary, carrying a tray loaded with steaming mugs.
The Doctor rolled his tongue around his mouth. ‘Twenty per cent wool, eighty per cent polypropylene, and a dash of pan-dimensional energy. Interesting.’ He jumped to his feet, facing the increasingly outraged grandmother. ‘Hilary, you’re about to tell us we should leave.’
‘I am.’
‘Quite right too,’ he agreed, walking briskly from the room, only stopping to pluck a mug of tea from the tray.
Hilary stared after him in amazement as he trotted down the stairs, taking an appreciative sip. ‘Of all the cheek …’ she began as Bill and Charlotte made their excuses and chased after the Doctor.
‘I think I like him,’ Charlotte as she closed the front door behind them.
‘He has that effect on people,’ Bill said, looking up at Hilary’s scowling face at the window. ‘Ninety-nine per cent of the time.’
‘That much?’ the Doctor said, waiting for them on the pavement, tea still in hand.
‘So now what?’ Charlotte asked as they joined him.
‘Now,’ he replied, looking her straight in the eye, ‘you tell me everything there is to know about the Shining Men.’
Chapter 9
#fearthelight
Bill liked Charlotte. Not like that. The vlogger was a little too boyish for her underneath that beanie and bomber jacket.
No, it was the way she accepted what was happening, even if that meant putting up with the Doctor. While Bill thought he was all kinds of brilliant, she could see how easily her tutor rubbed people up the wrong way. She had no idea if he did it on purpose, or just didn’t realise, but either way Charlotte just went with it. Bill would have to look up her videos when she got home.
The vlogger led them across Bugs Close towards a camper van that had seen better days. Rust eating the battered wheel trims and the chipped yellow paintwork boasted a large collection of dents.
Charlotte slid open the side door. ‘Excuse the mess,’ she said, beckoning them in. The place almost made Noah’s bedroom look tidy. A sleeping bag was scrunched up on a seat that doubled as a bed, the Formica cupboards piled high with plastic plates and bad snacks. The floor wasn’t much better, scattered with copies of Fortean Times and Preternatural Monthly, the electric lantern hanging from the low roof offering little illumination.
‘Life on the road, eh?’ said Bill, clambering into the van.
‘I’ve seen worse,’ the Doctor said, depositing himself on the back seat. ‘I had a friend who lived in a double-decker bus. She had a thing about leopard-print curtains and dancing hula girls.’
‘Sounds great,’ said Charlotte, pulling the door shut beside Bill who’d perched on a rickety chair that folded down behind the passenger’s seat. ‘Velma’s a bit of a state, but she keeps me warm at night.’
‘Velma?’ Bill asked.
‘The camper van,’ the Doctor guessed, looking around. ‘I had a car called Bessie once.’
Bill raised an eyebrow. ‘And a TARDIS called Sexy.’ She turned to Charlotte. ‘He thinks I don’t hear him talking to her.’
‘What’s a TARDIS?’ the vlogger asked from where she was crouched on the floor. ‘Is that your blue box?’
The Doctor drained his mug and changed the subject. ‘Let’s see what you’ve got, shall we?’
Charlotte retrieved a chunky laptop from one of the cupboards and squeezed onto the back seat beside the Doctor. Resting the computer on her knees, she opened the lid, pulling off her beanie hat to reveal tightly cropped hair. The laptop booted up, the light from the screen reflecting against her eyebrow ring.
‘OK, the first sighting was a month ago. Since then, Shining Men have been
spotted all over the country, usually on street corners, and always looking the same. Tall and thin, with long dark hair, blank faces and glowing eyes.’
Bill shivered, remember the lights between the trees. ‘Like we saw in the woods.’
Charlotte glanced up from the screen. ‘I’ve never seen so many in one place. They’re usually alone.’
‘And how many have you seen?’ asked the Doctor.
The vlogger shifted uncomfortably on the seat beside him. ‘Before tonight?’
He nodded.
‘OK, I haven’t actually seen any at all,’ she admitted. ‘Not first hand. I’ve seen photos though, and videos. Lots and lots of videos.’ She returned her attention to the laptop, swiping her hand over the touchpad. ‘I just need to get online and … there.’ She swivelled the laptop around so both of them could see. ‘You can always find a Wi-Fi signal if you know where to look.’
A website full of grainy images filled the screen. Each had been taken from a distance and had one thing in common: a tall, shadowy figure just out of focus with a pair of glowing eyes.
‘At first it was just in the UK, but there have been sightings in America. Canada too.’
‘You said there were videos?’ the Doctor prompted.
Charlotte pulled the keyboard back round and checked her bookmarks. ‘Here you go.’
A video was already playing when Bill could see the screen again, shaky footage from a mobile phone. It showed an underpass beneath a busy road, the excited chatter of teenagers in the background, before a Shining Man appeared in the mouth of the tunnel then disappeared again a second later.
‘Can I see that again?’ the Doctor asked.
‘They repeat it,’ Charlotte said, as the footage replayed, this time slowed right down so the apparition lingered.
Bill leant in. It was difficult to make out any details except for the luminous eyes which shone like a cat caught in headlights.
‘You must have seen these before,’ Charlotte said, playing a similar video, a Shining Man appearing beside a motorway this time. ‘They’ve been all over the news.’
‘We’ve been away,’ Bill said, leaving the explanation at that.