by BBC
‘I’m real!’ he said. ‘I’m here and I’m real!’
He looked down at Luke’s body and he started to laugh.
Elsewhere…
Luke opened his eyes and he blinked. Where was he? For a moment, he couldn’t remember what had happened. He looked around, but everything was dark. He moved to try and find the light switch, but then he remembered…he’d seen this darkness before. Through the doorway in the corridor. It was where the Nightmare Man had been standing. It was his home. It was darkness. It was a black void. It was cold and terrifying and there was no way out.
‘Please! Can anyone hear me? Let me out!’
But Luke Smith was alone. All alone in the Nightmare Man’s world.
Chapter Twelve
Terror at night
Sarah Jane lay on her bed and yawned. She was tired, but she couldn’t sleep. She glanced over at her clock. It was nearly 1 a.m.
‘This is silly,’ she muttered to herself. She switched on her bedside lamp and reached over for her book. Then she remembered that she had left it in the attic. She sighed, got up and pulled on a dressing gown. Then she left her room and started to climb the stairs towards the top of the house.
In the attic, the Nightmare Man was relishing being alive. He was like a child, swinging from the beams and jumping over the desks. He looked at Luke’s unconscious body and started to laugh again. Then, he heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
‘Night, night,’ he whispered, with a giggle, before fading away.
The door opened and Sarah Jane entered. She jumped as she saw Luke, apparently asleep on the sofa. Then she smiled. At least tonight he was getting some sleep, even if he wasn’t in bed. She found a blanket and pulled it over him. He looked so peaceful. She saw the discarded digital camera on the floor next to him and went to pick it up. Luke’s last night on Bannerman Road…she smiled. It would be good to see the party again. Sitting down, she pressed rewind and then play on the camera. And she smiled as she watched the guests from earlier. It really had been a lovely evening.
Back in Luke’s bedroom, Clyde and Rani were still fast asleep. Which is why they didn’t see the Nightmare Man step out of the wall. He looked down at them and smiled. They were going to be the first of so many…
Sarah Jane was smiling as she watched the video of Clyde snoring. She hoped Clyde and Rani would still come round to visit her after Luke left.
Then the screen went dark and there was a burst of static. Suddenly, Luke’s face filled the frame.
‘I need to tell you about the Nightmare Man…’
The Nightmare Man stood over Clyde and Rani and waved his hand over them.
‘Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he squeals, let him go. Eeny, meeny, miny –’
His hand stopped over Rani. He smiled down at her.
Sarah Jane watched the video in shock. She watched as Luke fell asleep. She watched as the black smoke came out of him. And she watched as the Nightmare Man appeared in the attic. She dropped the camera and ran over to Luke.
‘Luke! It’s your mum! Wake up!’
In Luke’s bedroom, the Nightmare Man placed his hand on Rani’s forehead. He shuddered.
‘Oh, what sweet dreams. Soon change that...’
He stood back from her and clasped his hands together. There was an unearthly crackling sound and black smoke started to appear around his hands – he was creating pure nightmare energy! He reached down and touched Rani’s forehead again. She started to whimper as the nightmare energy entered her.
‘Please, Luke!’
Sarah Jane was almost hysterical. She couldn’t wake Luke no matter how hard she shook him.
She turned and screamed out. ‘Mr Smith, I need you!’ And as Mr Smith opened, she continued shouting. ‘K-9! K-9, where are you?’
She started to shake Luke again. ‘It’s your mum! Wake up!’
Sarah Jane’s voice was echoing throughout the house. The Nightmare Man smiled.
‘Voices crying out in the night…’
He looked down at Rani as she started to flinch.
‘Aw,’ he said with a grin. ‘Is someone else about to have a nightmare?’
Chapter Thirteen
A world of nightmares
Rani Chandra yawned as she opened her eyes. She was on the sofa in her living room. In the background, she could hear a reporter reading the news. She must have dozed off in front of the telly. Stretching as she woke up properly, she looked around for the remote control.
‘Questions were asked in Parliament today about the Prime Minister’s handling of…’
Rani found the remote and switched off the telly. She yawned again. Suddenly, the TV switched itself back on. The same newsreader was sitting in the same BBC news studio.
‘Oh, well, that’s nice,’ said the newsreader.
Rani blinked. What an odd thing for a newsreader to say, she thought. She switched the television off again. Instantly, the newsreader re-appeared on the screen.
‘No, go ahead. Switch me off.’
Rani stared at the screen. The newsreader stood up and moved in front of her desk.
‘I’m talking to you, Rani,’ she said.
Rani jumped off the sofa and crawled towards the television. She crouched in front of it.
‘How? How are you doing that?’ she whispered.
‘I’m Louise Marlowe, BBC News,’ replied the newsreader.
‘But…you’re talking to me!’ said Rani.
She reached up with her hand and gently knocked the screen. It was glass. It was solid. It was a normal television.
Louise Marlowe’s smile suddenly became a snarl. ‘Didn’t your mum ever tell you not to sit so close to the screen?’
And suddenly, impossibly, she reached through the screen and grabbed Rani’s wrist! Rani started to scream and struggle.
‘Get off me! Get off!’
But it was no good. The laughing newsreader just pulled her arm back into the television – taking a screaming Rani with her. Rani was pulled right through the screen!
The Chandras’ living room fell silent as the television set switched off.
In Luke’s bedroom, the Nightmare Man was grinning down at Rani. He could taste her fear. And he loved it.
‘Oh, but I need so much more!’ he said. Then he looked down at Clyde. ‘Oh, hello…’
Sarah Jane was crouched next to Luke as K-9 scanned him.
‘My sensors indicate that Master Luke is asleep.’ K-9 almost sounded sorry. He knew that Sarah Jane needed more information.
‘I know that,’ she replied.
She spun around and looked at Mr Smith. He was examining the footage on Rani’s digital camera. On his screen, an image of the Nightmare Man grinned at Sarah Jane, making her shudder.
‘And what about you?’ she asked Mr Smith. ‘You got anything?’
‘I’m scanning the alien’s face and running a check through my –’
But Sarah Jane turned away from him. She was scared and she was impatient. She needed her son back.
‘What’s wrong with you two?’ she said. ‘Don’t you see? That creature stopped Luke telling us about him, but oh, he’s clever. Luke didn’t record the video because he was scared, but because he knew we’d find it! He knew we’d save him!’
She crouched down next to her son and stroked his face. ‘Please, Luke, wake up,’ she said, with tears in her eyes.
For a second there was silence in the attic. Then, Mr Smith spoke. ‘I’ve completed my scan, Sarah Jane. Luke’s Nightmare Man is a Vishclar from the Saretti dimension. There are stories throughout the universe of them attempting to break into our reality.’
Sarah Jane stood up again, full of hope. The creature was just an alien. ‘Stories? So people have stopped them! How?’
‘I am still searching for that information,’ replied Mr Smith. Sarah Jane turned and looked at Luke again.
‘Please,’ she whispered. ‘Please just be okay.’
Chapter Fourteen
Trapped!
Luke was alone. Completely alone. Surrounded by a black void that was neither hot nor cold. There was no up or down. No left or right. It was just darkness.
‘Hello,’ he said, quietly. He heard his voice echo once. Hello. Then again. Hello. And then again and again. Hello… Hello. Suddenly it was echoing faster and louder and faster and louder, surrounding him! His own voice taunting him. Hello hello hello hello!
‘Stop it!’ he shouted. But, of course, that just added to the noise.
He started to panic, started to run. He couldn’t see where he was going. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls. It was all just darkness. His echoing voice started to fade away and for a second there was silence. All Luke could hear was his own heart beating. He tried to stop panicking. There had to be a way out. He knew that he just needed to stay calm. He felt for his own hands and legs and arms. He was real. He existed. He could breathe, so there was air. This was a real place. He just needed to be logical.
And that’s when the real terror started. Again, it was just noise, but it was so much noise. Metallic voices screaming out the end of the world and his mum crying. It was one of his worst memories – one of his real-life nightmares! The Daleks’ invasion of Earth! And there were more! Maria’s voice sounded over the Daleks, saying how she was leaving for America. Her voice saying goodbye, echoing and getting louder. The time Clyde had been possessed and had been made to forget who Luke was. His best friend calling him a freak. The voices were overlapping, getting louder and louder. It was terrifying!
Luke started to panic, his breathing getting faster and faster. Suddenly, there, in the distance, he could see one of the blood-red doors from his nightmare. He had no choice. He ran towards it. Anywhere had to be better than here! He reached the door and pushed through it. As it slammed shut behind him, he realised he was in the nightmare school corridor. All grey. All twisted. Children’s laughter taunted him, as did the sound of his mum humming Brahms’ Lullaby. The voices from his real-life nightmares mingled with the laughter and the lullaby.
‘It’s not real…’ he whispered to himself.
But the endless noise just got louder...
In the attic, Sarah Jane was searching through a box of alien objects. ‘We’ve got to find a way to talk to him!’
She held up what looked like an ordinary piece of concrete. It was actually all that remained of an alien invader who’d tried to take over the people of Chiswick by disguising itself as a bridge. It had been telepathically controlling people. Sarah Jane and the gang had managed to defeat it and now…she looked at the rock. Through a small crack, she could see alien wires. There had to be some way they could…
Sarah Jane stopped. She put down the rock. She stood there, frozen.
‘Mistress?’ asked K-9. He could sense her fear levels rising.
‘I forgot,’ she whispered, appalled at herself. ‘Clyde and Rani…’
She’d just remembered that they hadn’t gone home after the party! She’d been so scared about Luke that she hadn’t thought about them. They were in the house and so was the Nightmare Man!
She started to run.
In Luke’s bedroom, the Nightmare Man was resting his hand against Clyde’s forehead.
‘Oh, yes, bring on the nightmares…’ he said, smiling.
And Clyde blinked. For a moment he couldn’t remember where he was. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was in a burger bar but, strangely, it looked like he was working there! He was wearing a horrible pink uniform and he was holding a spatula. But he didn’t work in a burger bar. He knew he didn’t.
‘Hello?’ he called out. ‘Anyone there?’
Suddenly, there was a whirring noise from the main doorway. Clyde looked over and there, on an old lady’s mobility scooter, was an old lady. She had old lady clothes and old lady hair. And there was something wrong about her. Something broken. She smiled as she drove her scooter towards the counter where Clyde was working.
Clyde let out a small yelp as he suddenly realised who she was. She looked older and she looked strange, but it was her. It was Sarah Jane Smith!
‘You still serving burgers?’ she said. ‘I always knew you were a stupid boy.’
Clyde just stared at her, horrified. How could this have happened?
In Luke’s bedroom, the Nightmare Man was laughing as he fed on Clyde’s fear and confusion. He could feel Rani’s terror as well. Two children already under his spell and a whole world waiting…
‘Oops,’ he said to himself, laughing, as he heard Sarah Jane rushing towards the bedroom. He took a step back, then simply stepped through the wall.
The door burst open and Sarah Jane ran in. ‘Clyde! Rani! Wake up!’
She continued shouting their names as she crouched down and started to shake them. But they wouldn’t wake up. She was too late. Sarah Jane looked at Rani, blinking back tears.
‘I’m sorry…’
Rani blinked as bright lights suddenly surrounded her. She looked around, confused. Where was she? What happened? She had a vague memory of being on the sofa in her living room. She could remember the TV was on. A newsreader. She gasped as suddenly she remembered. She’d been pulled into the television! She looked up and let out a scream as she saw the newsreader, Louise Marlowe, standing over her.
‘What are you?’ she asked.
The newsreader smiled. ‘Louise Marlowe, BBC News.’
Rani’s eyes started to adjust to the brightness and she realised where she was. It was a television studio. It was the BBC News studio. In front of her was a camera, and behind that, it was just darkness. The bright studio lights were shining down onto her and Louise. And behind them was the newsdesk.
‘This can’t be happening!’ said Rani, shaking her head.
The newsreader reached out a hand. ‘Breaking news, Rani. I need you.’
‘What do you mean?’ Rani shivered as Louise reached down and touched her hair. Then she looked down and saw that her clothes had changed. She was wearing a smart newsreader’s suit – just like Louise. She stood up and felt her hair. That had changed as well. She was a newsreader! She looked around at the cameras and lights. ‘But I shouldn’t be here! I don’t know what I’m doing!’
‘You are a journalist, aren’t you?’ asked Louise.
‘I don’t understand!’
Louise smiled gently. ‘Come and sit down.’
She led Rani round behind the desk and they both sat down. Rani stared out at the dark studio.
‘What am I meant to say?’ she asked.
‘Duh!’ replied Louise, pointing at the camera.
Above the camera was an autocue. It was like a computer screen, showing the newsreaders what they had to say. Rani started to read it.
‘Her name is…’ She stopped. ‘Sarah Jane?’
Louise, her fellow newsreader, smiled at her. It wasn’t a nice smile.
‘You and me, Rani. We’re going to tell everyone who she is. We’re going to destroy Sarah Jane Smith!’
Sarah Jane entered the attic. She was scared and alone but, most of all, she was devastated about Luke, Clyde and Rani.
‘I can’t wake them up,’ she muttered.
For one of the first times in her life, she felt like giving up. She just didn’t know what to do.
‘Sarah Jane,’ said Mr Smith, his voice surprisingly gentle. ‘You still have the sentient concrete.’
She walked back to the table and picked it up. ‘Which has electrical circuitry in it.’ She started to think. She wasn’t just going to give up, no matter how dark and scary the world seemed. ‘K-9! Could you use this? Could you use it to talk to Luke?’
‘Affirmative,’ K-9 replied.
Sarah Jane, full of energy and determination, put the piece of concrete next to Luke’s head. K-9’s probe extended and attached to the alien device.
‘Working…’ said K-9.
The wires in the rock started to glow!
‘Master L
uke,’ said K-9. ‘Can you hear me? Master Luke?’
For a moment, it looked like it might work! But then the wires in the concrete stopped glowing.
K-9’s head lowered. ‘I regret I have insufficent power,’ he said, sadly.
‘Perhaps I can help?’ announced Mr Smith. ‘If I was connected to K-9, I could boost his energy levels.’
Sarah Jane ran back over to her box of alien objects. ‘What do you need, Mr Smith? I’ve got stuff here from planets across the universe. Mind control devices and alien plants! Just tell me what you need!’
‘I need a USB lead, Sarah Jane,’ replied Mr Smith.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…
In the cafe, Clyde looked up at the big clock, annoyed. It was ticking loudly but the hands on the clock weren’t moving. He wanted his shift to finish so he could go home and work out what was going on. He was preparing a burger for the elderly Sarah Jane.
‘Go easy on the sauce,’ she screeched.
‘But I don’t get it!’ said Clyde. ‘Where’s Luke?’
‘Oh, he’s such a clever boy. He’s working for the government now, says he’s going to be an astronaut!’ Sarah Jane leaned forward and whispered. ‘I went to space once.’
Clyde already knew this. He’d heard about Sarah Jane’s adventures in time and space with the Doctor. He’d met the Doctor himself. He’d even been in the TARDIS!
‘Yeah, I know,’ he said. ‘With the Doctor.’
‘Oh, I told you?’ Sarah Jane looked upset. ‘I get confused. The Social reckon I’m losing it! They want to put me in a home. I told them: I’ve got a home, thank you very much!’
Clyde looked at her and felt his heart breaking. He’d seen this sort of thing before. A friend of his Nan’s had moved into a retirement home called “Lavender Lawns”. He’d been to visit her a few times and some of the residents there were... confused. It happened to some people as they got older and it was always very sad. Clyde realised that it had happened to Sarah Jane.