Doctor Who BBCN10 - The Nightmare of Black Island Read Online Free Page B

brushed Rose’s hair. She jerked backwards, stumbling and almost falling.
    The Doctor caught her and hauled her to her feet. ‘Come on! We’re almost there!’
    They burst from the woods on to a tarmacked road, a cul-de-sac, lined with parked cars and small identical houses. Street lamps cast a harsh yellow glow and down the hill Rose could see the lights of the harbour.
    She hurled herself into the middle of the road, spinning round to stare back at the wood, oblivious to the rain. The creatures hovered at the tree line, as if wary about stepping out into the light. One of them, a squat lizard with claws that dragged along the floor, edged forward tentatively. Rose glanced nervously over at the Doctor. He was staring around at the houses in disbelief.
    ‘No, no, no. This is all wrong!’
    ‘What is it?’ Rose’s heart was in her mouth. ‘What’s the matter?’
    ‘This estate!’ The Doctor nodded at the houses. ‘It’s all wrong. Not in keeping with the rest of the village at all! Why do they let people build things like this? It’s not on, you know, modern estate like this in a conservation area. I’ve a good mind to write to the council.’
    Rose was speechless. The monsters were emerging from the trees now, there was nowhere to hide and the Doctor was wittering on about sympathetic building styles!
    ‘Still,’ he went on, ‘it’s probably attracting new people to the area and everyone living round here’s obviously doing quite well. Couple of cars in each driveway, quite a few four-by-fours. . . Which is good,
    ’cause it allows me to do this!’
    He raised his sonic screwdriver, winked at Rose and pressed his thumb against the button.
    Every car alarm went off simultaneously. Rose clamped her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the cacophony. The noise was horrendous, but she thought she could just make out the howls of the creatures over the din.
    22

    Then, just as suddenly, it stopped.
    Rose looked up. The Doctor was standing in the middle of the street, grinning happily. He tucked his sonic screwdriver back into his pocket and nodded over at her.
    ‘That worked, then.’
    The monsters were gone. It was as if they had never existed. She and the Doctor were in what looked like an ordinary housing estate.
    Unremarkable. Boring.
    Lights started to come on and curtains were pulled back as people stared out into their driveways. A door opened and a man in his dressing gown peered out at them, his face uncertain, angry.
    Rose cocked her head to one side, listening. From inside the house she could hear a child crying.
    Rose looked over at the Doctor. ‘Listen.’
    The Doctor had heard it too.
    ‘Yes.’
    The man in the dressing gown took a tentative step towards them.
    ‘What are you doing out there?’ he shouted. ‘Don’t you realise how late it is?’
    More lights were coming on all over the estate now, more curtains twitching. The Doctor started to make his way down the hill towards the harbour. He turned to Rose.
    ‘Come on. We’d better make ourselves scarce. Probably not a good idea to stay outside.’
    Rose hurried to catch him up. ‘You think those things are still going to be around? I thought you’d got rid of them.’
    ‘The noise seemed to scare them off, but I’ve got no idea where they went. And I certainly don’t know where they came from.’
    The faceless modern style of the estate gave way to a more rustic flavour, with small stone cottages, shops full of postcards and tourist paraphernalia, tearooms with posters advertising trips around the bay in their windows. Fishing boats and small yachts bobbed in the harbour, halyards clanking in the wind.
    23

    The Doctor strode down to the harbour wall, hands thrust into the pockets of his coat, and stared out across the water.
    ‘That’s one bit of the puzzle, out there. Sure of it.’
    Rose followed his gaze. ‘The lighthouse?’
    ‘Yeah. Maybe. Thought I caught a glimpse of a light out there when we were up on the cliff