Hill House Eight vs Hill House Five
May. 27th, 2019 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quipxoticAfter a lot of planning and outlining, I'm actually at work at "Hill House Five." It's just really slow going and feels doubly so since I've written all of it before with a different TARDIS team in my now abandoned "Hill House Eight." I'd hoped to be able to use more of what I'd written previously than I think I'll be able to, which is a bummer. Want an example of why? Under the break I'm going to post the beginning of the second chapter of both versions. The second chapter because I haven't written the first, a "present day" intro featuring the Twelfth Doctor, Bill, and Nardole, yet. None of it's scintillating, it's all just setting up the setting and the situation, but for a few chapters that are all having to do the same work the changes are interesting, at least to me.
And just one more warning, all of this is really rough, so I'm sure it has all sorts of errors and issues. I guess what I'm saying is reader beware.
Hill House Eight
Fog shrouded the house and its hills, making all the normal early morning sounds seem distant and unreal. In amongst the bird song and hum of cars journeying to and from the nearby town, there was another sound - a strange wheezing of a different kind of vehicle as it materialized.
Engines thudded and the light on top of the police box dimmed as the TARDIS finally landed. The door opened and three people stepped out.
Liv Chenka led the way. “What was that about?”
“The Old Girl seemed reluctant to land.” The Doctor held up a small device covered in readouts and lights. “Wonder if it has something to do with the odd readings I’m getting.”
“I wonder if she knows something we don’t?” Helen Sinclair closed the door behind them and looked around. “Although, this place doesn’t look dangerous. It’s…peaceful.”
“Beautiful even.,” Liv agreed. “I don’t trust it.”
“It’s Earth, isn’t it?”
“A lot of places look like Earth.”
“That’s true, but this time Helen is right - it is Earth. America, although the ship’s systems didn’t give me an exact time or location.” The tracker beeped loudly and he hurried off in the direction it indicated. “Maybe we’ll find out when we get wherever this is pointing?”
“There’s a house,” Liv pointed out as they got closer. “A big one. Not sure I like the look of it.”
“It is a bit gothic, but maybe that’s just the fog? Doctor, don’t!” Helen reached out to stop him but he was already pushing open the double doors. “We can’t just walk into someone’s home.” Horrified, she turned to Liv for support.
“Evidently we can.” The MedTech shrugged and gave a half smile as she followed the Doctor inside. “Just keep an eye out for people pointing guns at us, that’s usually what happens next. ” She looked around the entry foyer. “Wow. Someone went a bit overboard with the carpentry and statues-”
Human figures were everywhere in the form of freestanding statues and decorations on the ornate grand staircase. A large stained glass window at the back of the main foyer filtered the early morning light to create pools of color on the floor and walls. Hallways and room lead off in four directions on the main floor and the grand staircase divided to curve to the second floor on both left and right. Above the three travelers, a humongous iron chandelier swayed slightly even though there seemed to be no breeze.
“This is amazing!” The Doctor ran up the grand staircase, completely oblivious to the opulent surroundings. “I’ve never seen readings like this. It’s not just physic energy, it’s almost strong enough to be a signal. A beacon perhaps? Which suggests an artificial construct, but I see no indications of anachronistic technology, no Artron energy, nothing that would seem to indicate alien involvement or time travel…outside of ourselves, of course. It could be naturally occurring, but these readings-”
“Doctor, what are you going about,” Helen asked, but another voice interrupted her.
“Who are you?” A tall man with dark hair raced down the steps. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that bore stains of dust and something oily. “What are you doing here?”
“Look,” the Doctor showed the device to the unimpressed stranger. “It’s almost off the scale! Quite, quite remarkable.”
“He gets like this when he’s excited.” Liv approached, nudging the Doctor behind her as she held out her hand. “We’re sorry for barging into your home, Mr.-”
“Crain. Hugh Crain. You can’t just walk in here-”
“I’m sorry, but the door was unlocked.”
“Really?” His frown deepened. “I’m sure I locked it last night.”
“Anyway, I’m Liv, this is Helen, and the man babbling incoherently in the leather jacket is the Doctor. We’re-” Liv paused and searched for a believable cover story.
“Researchers,” Helen supplied helpfully, “from England. On a grant to study…naturally occurring…” She looked at Liv in a slight panic, having suddenly run out of ideas.
“Energy fields,” Liv continued. “They can cause all sorts of strange phenomena…apparently. You haven’t noticed anything odd going on around here have you?”
Hugh Crain narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”
“Well-” Liv glanced at the Doctor but he was completely ignoring their conversation. She punched his arm.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Explain to Mr. Crain the effects of what you’re tracking.”
“Potentially all sorts of things.” The Doctor counted them off on one hand. “At lower levels, headaches and paranoia. In more extreme cases, hallucinations and tears in local space-time.”
“Headaches?” Hugh considered for a moment. “That could explain…is it dangerous?”
“Hugh?” A woman wearing a silk dressing gown made her way cautiously down the stairs. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Liv. I think it’s fine. This is my wife. Liv, these people,” he gestured at the three travelers, “are studying some environmental hazards, is that right?”
“Close enough.” The Doctor flashed his psychic paper. “Dr. John Smith and these are my research assistants and friends, Helen and Liv. I believe your husband called you Liv also? That’s a coincidence-”
She nodded. “Short for Olivia. It’s nice to meet you all, but it’s really early. The kids aren’t even up yet-”
“Of course,” the Doctor replied, “I’m sorry for disrupting your morning but, with your permission, I’d like to investigate further.”
“It’s something that causes headaches, Liv.” Hugh gave her a raised-eyebrow look.
“Are you having headaches,” Liv asked, stepping forward and looking at the woman closely. “I’m a MedTec…ah, a medical professional. Perhaps I can help?"
“It’s fine.” Olivia dismissed the question with a wave and took a step back. “I’ve had migraines most of my life-”
“But they’ve gotten worse since we moved here,” her husband persisted. “Tell me, Doctor, if you find the source of this energy field can you get rid of it?”
“I’m not sure,” he grinned, “but I’m happy to try.”
“We’re fixing up this house to flip it, so cash is pretty tight.” Hugh shrugged, embarrassed. “I couldn’t pay you much-”
“You don’t have to pay us anything,” the Doctor began.
“Exactly,” Helen chimed in, “that’s really not how we work. But if we’d be glad to help you, if we can.”
“What do you say?” Hugh turned to Oliva. “It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? Might help the kids too.”
He looked so hopeful that she couldn’t resist grinning at him. “Fine. We’ll try it. It’ll be nice to have some new faces around the place. Our caretakers, the Dudleys, are very nice people, but they’re not big on conversation.”
“Excellent!” The Doctor clapped his hands. “It’s settled. My friends and I will explore outside while you finish your morning routine. Then we’ll come back in, what, about an hour?”
“Great,” Hugh smiled. “When you get back, I’ll give you a tour of Hill House.”
“Ah,” the Doctor laughed, “that’s very apt given the Gothic architecture.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Hugh glanced as his wife, “it’s just what the house is called.”
“Named after the book,” Helen asked. “By Shirley Jackson?”
“Named for the Hill family who built it.” He shrugged. “I’ve heard of Shirley Jackson - our middle daughter likes her books - but I didn’t know she wrote anything about a Hill House.”
The Doctor and Helen exchanged a look. “Right. Probably just a another coincidence.” Helen smiled as she and the others made their way back outside. “We’ll see you in a hour.”
Once they were outside, Helen turned to the other two. “Was that weird?”
Liv nodded. “Seemed pretty weird to me.”
“Nonsense. They were perfectly welcoming. Makes for a nice change from our usual reception.” The Doctor studied the tracker. “The levels are much lower out here. It’s definitely something in the house.”
“Hill House, do you really think it’s a coincidence?” Helen pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Could we have arrived before the book was written? I didn’t think it was based on a real life situation, but-”
“No,” the Doctor pointed a a vehicle in the driveway. “That station wagon is definitely a 1980s model and The Haunting of Hill House was published in 1959. But it is odd - it was far and away Shirley’s most famous work. By this time it’s already been adapted into an equally famous movie.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Liv shrugged. “This is practically the dark ages from my perspective. But that book, didn’t both of you mention it when we were in that dying TARDIS?”
“Yes, it’s the quintessential haunted house story.” The Doctor shook his head. “It’s interesting but probably not relevant. Come on, let’s do a bit of exploring.”
-- --
Hill House Five
Fog shrouded the house and its hills, making all the normal early morning sounds seem distant and unreal. In amongst the bird song and hum of cars traveling to and from the nearby town, there was another sound - the wheezing of a different kind of vehicle as it materialized.
Engines thudded and the light on top of the police box dimmed as the TARDIS landed in a nearby forest. The door opened and a blonde young man in a cricketing outfit hurried out. “Let’s see,” the Fifth Doctor held up a small device that beeped periodically. He turned slowly in place until the sound became stronger. “This seems to be the direction.” He glanced impatiently behind him before striding forward. “Tegan? Nyssa? Hurry up, I don’t want to lose the trace.”
“Keep your shirt on, Doc.” Tegan followed Nyssa out of the TARDIS and closed the door. “What’s gotten into him?”
“I don’t really know.” Nyssa frowned as she walked beside her best friend. “He came out of the workshop this morning muttering about time anomalies and hooked that device to the console. Then the ship began to shake-”
“Yeah,” Tegan huffed a laugh, “that part I felt. Nothing like being woken up by the TARDIS doing its best impression of a clothes dryer.”
“The ship’s sensors indicated we’d come through some extreme temporal turbulence. The next thing I knew we were here, but he never really explained why we’ve come.”
Tegan sighed. “Great. Well, when we catch up with him that’s the first thing we’ll get sorted.” She glanced around. “Looks like we’re back on Earth at least. I wonder when? Wait,” she squinted into the distance, “is that a house?”
The trees thinned and the two young women stepped into a clearing. The large grey shape of a turret emerged from the fog. As they walked around to the front of the building, they realized it was part of a Tudor-style mansion. The windows were dark and there were no signs of life within.
Tegan whistled. “Who lives here, Dracula or Frankenstein?”
“Neither,” the Doctor replied as they joined him a short distance from the structure, “unless we somehow found ourselves in the Land of Fiction.”
“Do you mean that metaphorically?”
“No, it’s a pocket dimension I’ve visited a few times.” He turned his attention from beeping device to his friends. “Decided to join me at last?”
“Some of us don’t have legs as long as yours blondie,” Tegan quipped.
He eyed her footwear. “I suppose the heels had nothing to do with it. When will you learn to wear sensible shoes?”
“I’ll have you know these are my sensible shoes,” Tegan began, but Nyssa interrupted her.
“Doctor, will you please explain what’s going on? How can we help if we don’t know why we’re here?”
He looked confused. “Didn’t I say?”
“No,” they yelled together.
He pushed back his panama hat and pocketed the tracking device. “The TARDIS detected a temporal anomaly. When I scanned it, guess what I found.” He leaned forward. “Artron energy.”
Nyssa raised her eyebrows. “Signs of time travel?”
“Perhaps. Certainly not something you’d expect to find on Earth in the 1980s.”
“Could it not be one of your other selves?”
“Nyssa’s right, you come here so often I’m surprised you don’t bump into yourself all the time.”
“No, the TARDIS’s energy patterns are unique and easily identifiable, at least me.”
“Perhaps it's the Time Lords,” Nyssa began.
He shook his head. “I detected no sign of Time Lord technology. But it was strange - the traces of Artron energy were mixed with several other elements, some of which could have psychic properties and others which I couldn’t identify at all. It could be evidence of experiments in time travel or, if this were another planet, I’d suspect a natural phenomena, something organic to the environment, but here-”
“So, what does all that mean?”
“No idea.” He grinned at them again. “Exciting, isn’t it?” The Doctor strode off toward the house. “Come on, the energy field seems to be coming from inside.”
“What are you gonna do?” Tegan and Nyssa hurried after him again. “Knock on the door and ask to see their time machine?”
“I thought I’d introduce myself.” The Doctor knocked on the door. When no one answered, he knocked again. “Hello?” He tried the door handle. “Unlocked. Hello! Is anyone in there?”
“Oh honestly.” Tegan pushed past him into the house. “Hello?” She looked around main entrance hallway with an expression of admiration mixed with disgust. Gorgeously sculpted human figures were everywhere in the form of freestanding statues and decorations on the ornate grand staircase. A large stained glass window at the back of the main foyer filtered the early morning light to create pools of color on the floor and walls. Hallways and rooms led off in four directions on the main floor and the grand staircase divided to curve to the second floor on both left and right. Above the three travelers, a gigantic iron chandelier swayed slightly even though they felt no breeze. All the elements were beautiful individually, but put together they created an atmosphere of gloom and foreboding. “Welcome to Hill House,” Tegan scoffed. “Clearly someone didn’t know when to leave well enough alone with the decorating. Building a place like this is just asking for it to be haunted.”
“Now Tegan, it’s not polite to just barge in-”
“You want to find this Artron stuff? How’s standing on the front step yelling going to do that?”
Reluctantly, the Doctor stepped inside. “I suppose you’re right.”
“It does happen. Quite frequently, in fact-”
Nyssa rolled her eyes at their companionable bickering and moved to join them. As soon as she stepped inside, an excruciating pain seared through her head, nearly blinding her, and she cried out.
Instantly, they both rushed to her. “Nyssa?” The Doctor took her arm to steady her. “What’s wrong?”
“This place. Don’t you feel it? There’s something...wrong here.”
“Wrong? How? What do you feel?”
“A presence. Old. Evil.” She met the Doctor’s eyes. “Hungry.”
“Really?” The Doctor looked at her closely. “What else do you sense?”
“Doctor!” Tegan glared at him. “Can’t you see Nyssa’s in pain?” Taking Nyssa’s arm, she led her to sit down on the central staircase. “Whatever you want to know can wait until she feels better.”
“Of course.” He rolled up his panama hat and stuck it into his coat pocket. “Stupid! So very stupid, Doctor. Psychic energies! Nyssa’s telepathic abilities would make her particularly sensitive…Nyssa, I’m so sorry. I should have taken more care.”
“It’s fine, Doctor," Nyssa insisted, but she was still very pale. “It’s starting to ease up now.” The three of them looked up at the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching from above them. “It sounds like this place isn’t as empty as we thought.”
“Who are you?” A tall man with dark hair raced down the steps. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that bore stains of dust and something oily. “I thought I heard someone scream-”
“Yes, that was us I’m afraid...or rather, my young friend here.” The Doctor ran up the steps and held out his hand. “How do you do? I’m the Doctor and this is Nyssa and Tegan. I assume you must be the owner of this,” he looked around, “...lovely home. Quite Gothic. Bit on the nose for my tastes but still, it does set a mood. What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t.” The man blinked and shook the Doctor’s hand looking utterly bewildered by the torrent of words. “I’m Hugh. Hugh Crain.”
“Lovely to meet you, Mr. Crain. I’m afraid we let ourselves into your home, although the door was unlocked-”
“Hugh?” A beautiful woman wearing a silk dressing gown walked cautiously downstairs. “Is everything alright?”
“Liv...yeah, I think so. The Doctor and his friends were about to explain-”
“Look,” Tegan interrupted, “the Doctor’s science experiments can wait. Nyssa’s ill. Could we have a glass of water for her?”
Nyssa waved away her concern. “I’m fine, Tegan.”
“No you’re not.” Tegan looked to the woman. “Please?”
“Of course.” Liv Crain walked between her husband and the Doctor. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”
As the three women walked down a hallway to the right, Hugh Crain turned back to the Doctor. “That woman - Tegan, was it?” She said something about a science experiment?”
— —
In the kitchen, Liv handed a glass of water to Nyssa who winced slightly. “Thank you.”
“Still hurts?” Tegan sat at the small table beside her friend. “I could run back to the TARDIS, get you something for it-”
“No, I’m sure it’ll pass. It’s just strange, I don’t get headaches as a rule.”
“You’re lucky.” Liv sat down across from them. “I have the worst migraines. They’ve been particularly bad lately, ever since we moved into this house.”
The young women exchanged a look. “When was that,” Nyssa asked.
“About a month ago. My husband and I flip houses. I’m an architect, you see. I design the houses and Hugh builds them…or in this case repairs them.” She sighed and stared into the distance as if remembering something. “We’d hoped to have this place fixed up and ready to sell by the end of the summer, but it’s taking longer than we planned.” Liv’s eyes refocused on her two guests. “What about you? What’s your story?”
“My name’s Tegan Jovanka. I used to be an airline stewardess before I met the Doctor. Now I travel with he and Nyssa here.”
“And who is he, this Doctor? Why are you all here?”
“The Doctor was tracking some sort of energy-”
“Artron,” Nyssa supplied.
Tegan waved her hand. “Yeah whatever. All that scientific mumbo jumbo is more your area than mine. Anyway, he tracked whatever it was to this house.”
Liv frowned. “Is this stuff dangerous?”
“Artron energy can be quite beneficial to humans.” Tegan nudged Nyssa, reminding her that now might not be the best time to bring up the fact that neither she nor the Doctor were human. “But the Doctor said it was mixed with other elements, some of which are unknown. We came here to learn more about it.”
“So...you’re what? Scientists?”
“That’s exactly what we are.” The Doctor grinned as he followed Hugh into the kitchen. “Well, Nyssa and I are at least gifted enthusiasts, Tegan is more of a-”
Tegan narrowed her eyes. “Watch it.”
“Research assistant,” he finished grinning at her. “Mrs. Crain, I was just explaining to your husband how important it is that we get to the bottom of these energy readings.”
Hugh touched his wife’s shoulder. “He said it could cause side affects. Like headaches, Liv-”
“Really?” Liv looked up at the Doctor. “Is it...can you fix it if you find out what it is? Our children live here with us.”
“I’ll certainly do my best,” he promised her, “if you and your husband will allow us full access to the house.”
“What have we got to lose, Liv?”
She studied the Doctor’s face for a few minutes longer before nodding.
“Great.” Hugh smiled. “If you’ll come with me I’ll give you a tour of Hill House-”
Tegan laughed. “You call it that too? Mind you, it does look like a haunted house-”
Hugh frowned. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
“Hill House. The novel by Shirley Jackson. They made it into a movie too.” Tegan shivered. “Creepy stuff.”
Hugh and Liv looked at each other and shook their heads. “Never heard of it,” Hugh said. “This place is called Hill House because the Hill family built it and lived in it for decades until we bought it from them.”
“Seriously?” Tegan raised an eyebrow. “That’s a weird coincidence.”
“But hardly relevant at the moment.” The Doctor ushered his friends from the room. “Right now, a tour sounds a splendid idea.”
“Doctor,” Tegan whispered as Nyssa and Hugh went ahead of them, “what about what Nyssa felt?”
“I don’t know. This place practically pulses with energy fields, it could just be a side-effect.”
“What if it isn’t? She said something here was hungry and evil.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time we’d run into evil. I don’t know, Tegan,” he said to forestall her asking him more questions, “until I have a chance to look around and do some tests I won’t know anything. Just...keep your eyes and ears open.”
“Don’t I always?”
And just one more warning, all of this is really rough, so I'm sure it has all sorts of errors and issues. I guess what I'm saying is reader beware.
Hill House Eight
Fog shrouded the house and its hills, making all the normal early morning sounds seem distant and unreal. In amongst the bird song and hum of cars journeying to and from the nearby town, there was another sound - a strange wheezing of a different kind of vehicle as it materialized.
Engines thudded and the light on top of the police box dimmed as the TARDIS finally landed. The door opened and three people stepped out.
Liv Chenka led the way. “What was that about?”
“The Old Girl seemed reluctant to land.” The Doctor held up a small device covered in readouts and lights. “Wonder if it has something to do with the odd readings I’m getting.”
“I wonder if she knows something we don’t?” Helen Sinclair closed the door behind them and looked around. “Although, this place doesn’t look dangerous. It’s…peaceful.”
“Beautiful even.,” Liv agreed. “I don’t trust it.”
“It’s Earth, isn’t it?”
“A lot of places look like Earth.”
“That’s true, but this time Helen is right - it is Earth. America, although the ship’s systems didn’t give me an exact time or location.” The tracker beeped loudly and he hurried off in the direction it indicated. “Maybe we’ll find out when we get wherever this is pointing?”
“There’s a house,” Liv pointed out as they got closer. “A big one. Not sure I like the look of it.”
“It is a bit gothic, but maybe that’s just the fog? Doctor, don’t!” Helen reached out to stop him but he was already pushing open the double doors. “We can’t just walk into someone’s home.” Horrified, she turned to Liv for support.
“Evidently we can.” The MedTech shrugged and gave a half smile as she followed the Doctor inside. “Just keep an eye out for people pointing guns at us, that’s usually what happens next. ” She looked around the entry foyer. “Wow. Someone went a bit overboard with the carpentry and statues-”
Human figures were everywhere in the form of freestanding statues and decorations on the ornate grand staircase. A large stained glass window at the back of the main foyer filtered the early morning light to create pools of color on the floor and walls. Hallways and room lead off in four directions on the main floor and the grand staircase divided to curve to the second floor on both left and right. Above the three travelers, a humongous iron chandelier swayed slightly even though there seemed to be no breeze.
“This is amazing!” The Doctor ran up the grand staircase, completely oblivious to the opulent surroundings. “I’ve never seen readings like this. It’s not just physic energy, it’s almost strong enough to be a signal. A beacon perhaps? Which suggests an artificial construct, but I see no indications of anachronistic technology, no Artron energy, nothing that would seem to indicate alien involvement or time travel…outside of ourselves, of course. It could be naturally occurring, but these readings-”
“Doctor, what are you going about,” Helen asked, but another voice interrupted her.
“Who are you?” A tall man with dark hair raced down the steps. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that bore stains of dust and something oily. “What are you doing here?”
“Look,” the Doctor showed the device to the unimpressed stranger. “It’s almost off the scale! Quite, quite remarkable.”
“He gets like this when he’s excited.” Liv approached, nudging the Doctor behind her as she held out her hand. “We’re sorry for barging into your home, Mr.-”
“Crain. Hugh Crain. You can’t just walk in here-”
“I’m sorry, but the door was unlocked.”
“Really?” His frown deepened. “I’m sure I locked it last night.”
“Anyway, I’m Liv, this is Helen, and the man babbling incoherently in the leather jacket is the Doctor. We’re-” Liv paused and searched for a believable cover story.
“Researchers,” Helen supplied helpfully, “from England. On a grant to study…naturally occurring…” She looked at Liv in a slight panic, having suddenly run out of ideas.
“Energy fields,” Liv continued. “They can cause all sorts of strange phenomena…apparently. You haven’t noticed anything odd going on around here have you?”
Hugh Crain narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”
“Well-” Liv glanced at the Doctor but he was completely ignoring their conversation. She punched his arm.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Explain to Mr. Crain the effects of what you’re tracking.”
“Potentially all sorts of things.” The Doctor counted them off on one hand. “At lower levels, headaches and paranoia. In more extreme cases, hallucinations and tears in local space-time.”
“Headaches?” Hugh considered for a moment. “That could explain…is it dangerous?”
“Hugh?” A woman wearing a silk dressing gown made her way cautiously down the stairs. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Liv. I think it’s fine. This is my wife. Liv, these people,” he gestured at the three travelers, “are studying some environmental hazards, is that right?”
“Close enough.” The Doctor flashed his psychic paper. “Dr. John Smith and these are my research assistants and friends, Helen and Liv. I believe your husband called you Liv also? That’s a coincidence-”
She nodded. “Short for Olivia. It’s nice to meet you all, but it’s really early. The kids aren’t even up yet-”
“Of course,” the Doctor replied, “I’m sorry for disrupting your morning but, with your permission, I’d like to investigate further.”
“It’s something that causes headaches, Liv.” Hugh gave her a raised-eyebrow look.
“Are you having headaches,” Liv asked, stepping forward and looking at the woman closely. “I’m a MedTec…ah, a medical professional. Perhaps I can help?"
“It’s fine.” Olivia dismissed the question with a wave and took a step back. “I’ve had migraines most of my life-”
“But they’ve gotten worse since we moved here,” her husband persisted. “Tell me, Doctor, if you find the source of this energy field can you get rid of it?”
“I’m not sure,” he grinned, “but I’m happy to try.”
“We’re fixing up this house to flip it, so cash is pretty tight.” Hugh shrugged, embarrassed. “I couldn’t pay you much-”
“You don’t have to pay us anything,” the Doctor began.
“Exactly,” Helen chimed in, “that’s really not how we work. But if we’d be glad to help you, if we can.”
“What do you say?” Hugh turned to Oliva. “It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? Might help the kids too.”
He looked so hopeful that she couldn’t resist grinning at him. “Fine. We’ll try it. It’ll be nice to have some new faces around the place. Our caretakers, the Dudleys, are very nice people, but they’re not big on conversation.”
“Excellent!” The Doctor clapped his hands. “It’s settled. My friends and I will explore outside while you finish your morning routine. Then we’ll come back in, what, about an hour?”
“Great,” Hugh smiled. “When you get back, I’ll give you a tour of Hill House.”
“Ah,” the Doctor laughed, “that’s very apt given the Gothic architecture.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Hugh glanced as his wife, “it’s just what the house is called.”
“Named after the book,” Helen asked. “By Shirley Jackson?”
“Named for the Hill family who built it.” He shrugged. “I’ve heard of Shirley Jackson - our middle daughter likes her books - but I didn’t know she wrote anything about a Hill House.”
The Doctor and Helen exchanged a look. “Right. Probably just a another coincidence.” Helen smiled as she and the others made their way back outside. “We’ll see you in a hour.”
Once they were outside, Helen turned to the other two. “Was that weird?”
Liv nodded. “Seemed pretty weird to me.”
“Nonsense. They were perfectly welcoming. Makes for a nice change from our usual reception.” The Doctor studied the tracker. “The levels are much lower out here. It’s definitely something in the house.”
“Hill House, do you really think it’s a coincidence?” Helen pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Could we have arrived before the book was written? I didn’t think it was based on a real life situation, but-”
“No,” the Doctor pointed a a vehicle in the driveway. “That station wagon is definitely a 1980s model and The Haunting of Hill House was published in 1959. But it is odd - it was far and away Shirley’s most famous work. By this time it’s already been adapted into an equally famous movie.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Liv shrugged. “This is practically the dark ages from my perspective. But that book, didn’t both of you mention it when we were in that dying TARDIS?”
“Yes, it’s the quintessential haunted house story.” The Doctor shook his head. “It’s interesting but probably not relevant. Come on, let’s do a bit of exploring.”
-- --
Hill House Five
Fog shrouded the house and its hills, making all the normal early morning sounds seem distant and unreal. In amongst the bird song and hum of cars traveling to and from the nearby town, there was another sound - the wheezing of a different kind of vehicle as it materialized.
Engines thudded and the light on top of the police box dimmed as the TARDIS landed in a nearby forest. The door opened and a blonde young man in a cricketing outfit hurried out. “Let’s see,” the Fifth Doctor held up a small device that beeped periodically. He turned slowly in place until the sound became stronger. “This seems to be the direction.” He glanced impatiently behind him before striding forward. “Tegan? Nyssa? Hurry up, I don’t want to lose the trace.”
“Keep your shirt on, Doc.” Tegan followed Nyssa out of the TARDIS and closed the door. “What’s gotten into him?”
“I don’t really know.” Nyssa frowned as she walked beside her best friend. “He came out of the workshop this morning muttering about time anomalies and hooked that device to the console. Then the ship began to shake-”
“Yeah,” Tegan huffed a laugh, “that part I felt. Nothing like being woken up by the TARDIS doing its best impression of a clothes dryer.”
“The ship’s sensors indicated we’d come through some extreme temporal turbulence. The next thing I knew we were here, but he never really explained why we’ve come.”
Tegan sighed. “Great. Well, when we catch up with him that’s the first thing we’ll get sorted.” She glanced around. “Looks like we’re back on Earth at least. I wonder when? Wait,” she squinted into the distance, “is that a house?”
The trees thinned and the two young women stepped into a clearing. The large grey shape of a turret emerged from the fog. As they walked around to the front of the building, they realized it was part of a Tudor-style mansion. The windows were dark and there were no signs of life within.
Tegan whistled. “Who lives here, Dracula or Frankenstein?”
“Neither,” the Doctor replied as they joined him a short distance from the structure, “unless we somehow found ourselves in the Land of Fiction.”
“Do you mean that metaphorically?”
“No, it’s a pocket dimension I’ve visited a few times.” He turned his attention from beeping device to his friends. “Decided to join me at last?”
“Some of us don’t have legs as long as yours blondie,” Tegan quipped.
He eyed her footwear. “I suppose the heels had nothing to do with it. When will you learn to wear sensible shoes?”
“I’ll have you know these are my sensible shoes,” Tegan began, but Nyssa interrupted her.
“Doctor, will you please explain what’s going on? How can we help if we don’t know why we’re here?”
He looked confused. “Didn’t I say?”
“No,” they yelled together.
He pushed back his panama hat and pocketed the tracking device. “The TARDIS detected a temporal anomaly. When I scanned it, guess what I found.” He leaned forward. “Artron energy.”
Nyssa raised her eyebrows. “Signs of time travel?”
“Perhaps. Certainly not something you’d expect to find on Earth in the 1980s.”
“Could it not be one of your other selves?”
“Nyssa’s right, you come here so often I’m surprised you don’t bump into yourself all the time.”
“No, the TARDIS’s energy patterns are unique and easily identifiable, at least me.”
“Perhaps it's the Time Lords,” Nyssa began.
He shook his head. “I detected no sign of Time Lord technology. But it was strange - the traces of Artron energy were mixed with several other elements, some of which could have psychic properties and others which I couldn’t identify at all. It could be evidence of experiments in time travel or, if this were another planet, I’d suspect a natural phenomena, something organic to the environment, but here-”
“So, what does all that mean?”
“No idea.” He grinned at them again. “Exciting, isn’t it?” The Doctor strode off toward the house. “Come on, the energy field seems to be coming from inside.”
“What are you gonna do?” Tegan and Nyssa hurried after him again. “Knock on the door and ask to see their time machine?”
“I thought I’d introduce myself.” The Doctor knocked on the door. When no one answered, he knocked again. “Hello?” He tried the door handle. “Unlocked. Hello! Is anyone in there?”
“Oh honestly.” Tegan pushed past him into the house. “Hello?” She looked around main entrance hallway with an expression of admiration mixed with disgust. Gorgeously sculpted human figures were everywhere in the form of freestanding statues and decorations on the ornate grand staircase. A large stained glass window at the back of the main foyer filtered the early morning light to create pools of color on the floor and walls. Hallways and rooms led off in four directions on the main floor and the grand staircase divided to curve to the second floor on both left and right. Above the three travelers, a gigantic iron chandelier swayed slightly even though they felt no breeze. All the elements were beautiful individually, but put together they created an atmosphere of gloom and foreboding. “Welcome to Hill House,” Tegan scoffed. “Clearly someone didn’t know when to leave well enough alone with the decorating. Building a place like this is just asking for it to be haunted.”
“Now Tegan, it’s not polite to just barge in-”
“You want to find this Artron stuff? How’s standing on the front step yelling going to do that?”
Reluctantly, the Doctor stepped inside. “I suppose you’re right.”
“It does happen. Quite frequently, in fact-”
Nyssa rolled her eyes at their companionable bickering and moved to join them. As soon as she stepped inside, an excruciating pain seared through her head, nearly blinding her, and she cried out.
Instantly, they both rushed to her. “Nyssa?” The Doctor took her arm to steady her. “What’s wrong?”
“This place. Don’t you feel it? There’s something...wrong here.”
“Wrong? How? What do you feel?”
“A presence. Old. Evil.” She met the Doctor’s eyes. “Hungry.”
“Really?” The Doctor looked at her closely. “What else do you sense?”
“Doctor!” Tegan glared at him. “Can’t you see Nyssa’s in pain?” Taking Nyssa’s arm, she led her to sit down on the central staircase. “Whatever you want to know can wait until she feels better.”
“Of course.” He rolled up his panama hat and stuck it into his coat pocket. “Stupid! So very stupid, Doctor. Psychic energies! Nyssa’s telepathic abilities would make her particularly sensitive…Nyssa, I’m so sorry. I should have taken more care.”
“It’s fine, Doctor," Nyssa insisted, but she was still very pale. “It’s starting to ease up now.” The three of them looked up at the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching from above them. “It sounds like this place isn’t as empty as we thought.”
“Who are you?” A tall man with dark hair raced down the steps. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that bore stains of dust and something oily. “I thought I heard someone scream-”
“Yes, that was us I’m afraid...or rather, my young friend here.” The Doctor ran up the steps and held out his hand. “How do you do? I’m the Doctor and this is Nyssa and Tegan. I assume you must be the owner of this,” he looked around, “...lovely home. Quite Gothic. Bit on the nose for my tastes but still, it does set a mood. What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t.” The man blinked and shook the Doctor’s hand looking utterly bewildered by the torrent of words. “I’m Hugh. Hugh Crain.”
“Lovely to meet you, Mr. Crain. I’m afraid we let ourselves into your home, although the door was unlocked-”
“Hugh?” A beautiful woman wearing a silk dressing gown walked cautiously downstairs. “Is everything alright?”
“Liv...yeah, I think so. The Doctor and his friends were about to explain-”
“Look,” Tegan interrupted, “the Doctor’s science experiments can wait. Nyssa’s ill. Could we have a glass of water for her?”
Nyssa waved away her concern. “I’m fine, Tegan.”
“No you’re not.” Tegan looked to the woman. “Please?”
“Of course.” Liv Crain walked between her husband and the Doctor. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”
As the three women walked down a hallway to the right, Hugh Crain turned back to the Doctor. “That woman - Tegan, was it?” She said something about a science experiment?”
— —
In the kitchen, Liv handed a glass of water to Nyssa who winced slightly. “Thank you.”
“Still hurts?” Tegan sat at the small table beside her friend. “I could run back to the TARDIS, get you something for it-”
“No, I’m sure it’ll pass. It’s just strange, I don’t get headaches as a rule.”
“You’re lucky.” Liv sat down across from them. “I have the worst migraines. They’ve been particularly bad lately, ever since we moved into this house.”
The young women exchanged a look. “When was that,” Nyssa asked.
“About a month ago. My husband and I flip houses. I’m an architect, you see. I design the houses and Hugh builds them…or in this case repairs them.” She sighed and stared into the distance as if remembering something. “We’d hoped to have this place fixed up and ready to sell by the end of the summer, but it’s taking longer than we planned.” Liv’s eyes refocused on her two guests. “What about you? What’s your story?”
“My name’s Tegan Jovanka. I used to be an airline stewardess before I met the Doctor. Now I travel with he and Nyssa here.”
“And who is he, this Doctor? Why are you all here?”
“The Doctor was tracking some sort of energy-”
“Artron,” Nyssa supplied.
Tegan waved her hand. “Yeah whatever. All that scientific mumbo jumbo is more your area than mine. Anyway, he tracked whatever it was to this house.”
Liv frowned. “Is this stuff dangerous?”
“Artron energy can be quite beneficial to humans.” Tegan nudged Nyssa, reminding her that now might not be the best time to bring up the fact that neither she nor the Doctor were human. “But the Doctor said it was mixed with other elements, some of which are unknown. We came here to learn more about it.”
“So...you’re what? Scientists?”
“That’s exactly what we are.” The Doctor grinned as he followed Hugh into the kitchen. “Well, Nyssa and I are at least gifted enthusiasts, Tegan is more of a-”
Tegan narrowed her eyes. “Watch it.”
“Research assistant,” he finished grinning at her. “Mrs. Crain, I was just explaining to your husband how important it is that we get to the bottom of these energy readings.”
Hugh touched his wife’s shoulder. “He said it could cause side affects. Like headaches, Liv-”
“Really?” Liv looked up at the Doctor. “Is it...can you fix it if you find out what it is? Our children live here with us.”
“I’ll certainly do my best,” he promised her, “if you and your husband will allow us full access to the house.”
“What have we got to lose, Liv?”
She studied the Doctor’s face for a few minutes longer before nodding.
“Great.” Hugh smiled. “If you’ll come with me I’ll give you a tour of Hill House-”
Tegan laughed. “You call it that too? Mind you, it does look like a haunted house-”
Hugh frowned. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
“Hill House. The novel by Shirley Jackson. They made it into a movie too.” Tegan shivered. “Creepy stuff.”
Hugh and Liv looked at each other and shook their heads. “Never heard of it,” Hugh said. “This place is called Hill House because the Hill family built it and lived in it for decades until we bought it from them.”
“Seriously?” Tegan raised an eyebrow. “That’s a weird coincidence.”
“But hardly relevant at the moment.” The Doctor ushered his friends from the room. “Right now, a tour sounds a splendid idea.”
“Doctor,” Tegan whispered as Nyssa and Hugh went ahead of them, “what about what Nyssa felt?”
“I don’t know. This place practically pulses with energy fields, it could just be a side-effect.”
“What if it isn’t? She said something here was hungry and evil.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time we’d run into evil. I don’t know, Tegan,” he said to forestall her asking him more questions, “until I have a chance to look around and do some tests I won’t know anything. Just...keep your eyes and ears open.”
“Don’t I always?”
