Meanwhile, in the TARDIS
The beeping, that darn beeping. And not the good beeping, the bad kind! The we-are-going-to-the-wrong-place kind! The- you get the gist.
Jenny didn't even ask what was going on, running to the other side of the console. The work of six pilots, two non-human brains.
Systems crisis. Multiple system fail-
She didn't have another moment to think, the
TARDIS spun violently through the time vortex, causing her to latch onto the railing. They watched as the mavity went wild, books tumbling down from the corridor, kinda likely maybe definitely possibly having an effect on history. She tightened her grip on the railing, wrapping her legs around another part of it, the sounds of a blaster firing ringing through her ears. She didn't remember why, but it's there. The sound won't stop, it won't stop it won't stop it won't stop-
"I have a body, I have a mind, I have independent thought. How am I not real?" Would she even admit it still hurt?
"They've blasted through the beams. Time to run again. Love the running. Yeah?" Ok, that was definitely her. She remembered that. First day. Did love the running though. She needed an adventure, not life-threatening peril! Peril, peril.
"You're my daughter, and we've only just got started. You're going to be great. You're going to be more than great. You're going to be amazing. You hear me? Jenny?" Dad's voice. The younger him. She got to see a few versions, every time it happened. To run. To be a kid. But it still hurt. Never got long together.
Suddenly, the ship's doors burst open. The atmosphere inside the ship flew outward. At least they must be somewhere, not in the time vortex. Extra force pulling at her jacket, at his coattails. He practically flew towards the doorway, his feet hitting the edge of it as he desperately tried to grab hold of something ... anything! Good thing she had those anti-mavity gloves she'd been working on... why did it feel so satisfying to have made something?
At the last second, his fingers grabbed hold. He managed to haul himself back up towards the console as the force of water, random inventions, random pieces of Lego sets, old paintings, things from old rooms flew past him, falling into whatever was out there. He managed to get one hand, now both hands, back on the console. He chanced a look back over to her.
Okay, okay, all she had to do to stop what could be her death and his regeneration—
There came a sound from in front of him. They turned back to look. Fire burst up the central column of the console, slightly cracking it. They'd likely only be able to make one more jump after they crashed.
Jenny threw herself at the console unit, almost smacking into the buttons and levers. She was not a big fan of pain.
Then there was a loud thud, sending them both into a wall...
"Dad, are we lost?"
"Well, yeah."
Maybe telepathy wasn't so bad.
Both of them groaned as they slowly down the wall, landing with a thud.
Some might argue his outfit needed some work, but what did she care? Well, maybe she could, what was the word, do some ribbing towards him about it?
She was going to feel this for a while...
And then a large sum of water landed on them.
So that's where the pool went in all of that.
The Doctor opened the door... to a blaster being pointed at his face.
"Ah."
It may take them a few more hours to get to Wolfsburg, give or take.
Back with The Sands...
"Hunter, grab the camera. I can't hold it through the mask." The woman held the mask steady, putting it onto her face... how long ago was this? Two years? Four? Six? "Ok. I'm gonna sneak up on him."
And the little jump from the back of the couch to David's shoulders... "Aah! Aah!"
"Oh!" From Jordan, face in a book...
"You freaked me out. Come over here!"
"What are you doing? Mom!"
"This is so brilliant, Hunter."
"Not brilliant."
"Aah! It's not funny."
"Would you put the entrails down, please?" David came into his room. Maybe he hadn't been tough enough on him.
Hunter paused. The recording, I mean, no longer playing with the fake entrails. Wasn't his fault they helped distract him. Distract him from that empty feeling...
"Hunter, this has to stop. It was ok when you were a kid, but it's time to grow up."
"Dad, I'm not fourteen for two months." Hunter argued.
"You've got to start living in the real world. Ok? And in the real world, there's no Destruktor. All right, there's no Mutilator. There's no Aliens." It was time to put his foot down.
"Just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it's not true." Hunter tried to retort.
After all, he had so much evidence. The existence of a supposed superhero in New York, ghosts near Colorado, 'Cryptids' across the world, reports of aliens across or around New York more recently, especially in a town in Illinois.
"...I miss her too." David laid his eyes on the screen. "One more of these, one more, all this goes away. Ok?" He gestured around the room. So many pictures of scaring Jordan... why hadn't he done something earlier?
"Yeah. I got it." Hunter sighed a little.
"Goodnight."
That Night
Hunter didn't sleep that night. Jordan didn't sleep either, a box of tissues at her side.
"It's alive, it's alive!"
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Even it was for a little while, they could feel like kids again. When everything was ok. When mom was alive, when they lived halfway-normal. But now it's just them and dad? Well, they're less formal. He's learned to cook pasta, she's figuring out what's eventually rent, the world's not given them a cent.
Up late, watching old horror movies, and yet things could still scare them.
"What if we do Zombieland next?" Hunter tried to remain quiet enough.
"R-rated, no way." Jordan replied. "The second one's PG-13."
"Why would I watch the second one if I haven't seen the first?"
"Maybe when you're older."
"Come on, when will we ever get the chance?"
"..Fine." She smiled a little.
"M3GAN?"
"Werewolves Within."
"Van Helsing?"
"Ghostbusters, all three."
"Five Nights At Freddy's?"
"An American Werewolf In London?"
"Werewolf By Night."
They should probably update their list. It's not that the two of them talked much. Jordan didn't have many friends, Hunter did. She was fine with having a few close friends, he had whoever would want to be like him. She didn't do well with new people, he did just fine. Where were they going off with their lives? Who knew, they didn't. She had to be the mature one now, the responsible one. He still had more time than her to be a kid, to have adventures.
Jordan glanced at the wall. The Blue Box images. 'T.A.R.D.I.S'. A man in a blue suit, across all those locations. It had to be fake, right? She didn't want to believe it, she was meant to be the mature one. Youngest daughter of seven, the oddly sharp teeth, they never questioned it, the sounds of howling at night that they didn’t hear anymore, how she apparently tried to never let go until they were two, the times she’d not be around at night, or… their last memory of her.
Another six weeks, and then they would probably be back on the road.
"We're still gonna be friends when we grow up, right?" Came from Hunter's mouth. "Like, you'll call, right?"
Jordan held back a sigh. Hunter probably still thought he could become a millionaire off of just playing video games. "Of course." She smiled.
But then it came, four knocks on the front door. Who would be knocking on a Friday night? Ok, maybe it was Saturday morning. Hunter made a grab for the TV remote, hitting pause.
Jordan pushed her glasses back on her face, getting herself off of the couch. Might as well go together.
As the two reached the door...
"Do you want to open it?" Hunter asked.
Jordan rubbed an eye, putting her glasses back on. She was tired, dammit. "You do it." That's the thing when it was family... she could just say what she wanted to say most of the time.
Hunter opened the door. A thick, brown envelope sat at the welcome mat, a red line of what might be yarn vertically around the middle.
The two shared a look, before they looked out the door, Jordan squinting. There seemed to be a man standing behind a tree, on the shorter side, an umbrella with an unseen question mark handle in hand as he walked past said tree, vanishing.
"Why are you two waking me up right now? It's the middle of the night." The three now stood around the counter.
"It's five in the morning." Jordan corrected, trying to keep upright and not pass out.
"Just open it." Hunter forgot that either of them could've done it themselves.
"Dear Sands Family, Greetings from Wolfsburg, Romania."
"Romania? Who's from Romania?" Jordan's eyebrows rose.
"Vampires." Came out of Hunter's mouth, earning him a look from both. "What, I'm just saying."
Jordan smiled a little as David continued. "We regret to inform you of the passing of your Great Uncle Dragumeer... dragomir vookavik... Dragomir Vukovic." David continued, ignoring his past failings. "Your presence is requested soon for the reading of his last will and testament three months from now, at which time possession of Wolfsburg Manor will be transferred to you."
"Wolfsburg Manor?" Hunter questioned.
"Dragomir?" Jordan shared a look with him. "There was a creepy guy outside."
"Yeah, with an umbrella! Look, there's a number. Call it if you don't believe us." Hunter continued.
The two siblings shared a look. Sometimes, just sometimes, they got along. Right now? They'd just stand in silence.
"Well?"
"What'd they say?"
"That was the executor's office. It looks like your mother's Great Uncle has left us everything, including his castle." David sounded exasperated.
No, no, no. There was no way they would move again, right?! Jordan would hate if-
"See? I told you. We're rich!" Hunter only thought of the upsides.
"I don't know, Hunter." David admitted, phone still in hand.
"How come mom never told us we have relatives in Romania?" Jordan asked the simple question.
"I have no idea," David admitted as Hunter dialled up a friend.
"Dude, I'm going to Romania. Yeah, I don't know. Let me ask." His head turned to David. "Hey, dad, can we go see Dracula's castle?"
...No reply. "Ok. Well, he's undecided. Yeah. Ok. Yeah, I'm gonna go pack." Hunter had to try and stop himself from running out of the room.
"Dad, your- you're not seriously considering this, are you?" Jordan couldn't think of going purely internet-only, with two friends. Yes, it was easier. Much easier. Wayyyyy easier. But it still wouldn't be the same.
It wasn't like they were struggling to keep the house or anything...
The Next Night...
17/4/24
You can't close your eyes to the truth you know is out there.
Why wasn't Jordan more excited? There's a hundred and four days of summer vacation! Well, when you're probably going to move again, it's hard to stay positive.
"Here we are, kids. We made it. Welcome to Wolfsburg airport." David tried to put a smile on their faces.
"Aw, cool, silver bullets." Hunter practically dragged Jordan over. She just didn't get how he could have so much energy. There may be some envy in there. For once, they both wore their Destruktor shirts.
"I will rip flesh from bone,"
"And stitch it into a bonnet."
"Destruktor III. Fashion kills."
Jordan looked down at a pamphlet. "They've got a festival going on."
"A festival?" Hunter's eyes lit up... not literally.
"'Wolfsburg Moonlight Mania: The Greatest Festival In The Galaxy.' Huh. Big expectations." Jordan adjusted her glasses.
"Come on, what's it for?"
"They have it every year to honour the 'Wolfsburg Beast'."
"What's the beast?"
"I was getting to it. 'Every year, in July, at the full moon, the beast appears atop the highest peak in town and howls his warning.'" Jordan could only see it as some sort of local legend. Then again, with what her and Hunter believed in...
"Warning to who?"
"'Vampires, as Wolfsberg belongs to him.'" Jordan noticed the spelling error.
"Huh, perfect for horror nerds." Hunter commented.
"Hunter, we're horror nerds." Jordan deadpanned. Couldn't they get along for a while?
Hunter couldn't resist speaking his mind. "Maybe you won't have cooties when we show up."
Jordan rolled her eyes. "Shut up."
"Hey, let's go!" David called over, almost distracted by a picture on his phone, an old tree with something scratched on... 'F.V + D.S'.
There were clearly people there for the festival, way too prepared.
"Hey dad, can we see the beast?" Hunter looked up to him as they got close.
"Whatever it is, we're not here to see the animals." David glanced around. "Maybe later."
"You need taxi?" A man said in a Romanian accent, pale and bald.
"Yes. Uh, we're going to.. 1212 lichenthro... lycan-"
"Lycanthrope-" Jordan corrected, before Hunter could.
"Wolfsburg Manor, of course." The man took their luggage, popping open the trunk as David began checking his wallet for the right amount of cash.
Jordan practically screamed as she looked into the taxi. "What is that?!" She couldn't hide her distress.
The black dog barked madly at her. Hearts racing, pupils shrunk, like the whole world was tuned out, all blurry, white noise around, the barking just getting louder and louder in her head-
"Ahh, he is Rasputin. He is man's best friend, all bite, no bark, ha ha!" The man got into the drivers seat.
Jordan wasn't... the rest of the world wasn't there, just that infernal barking ringing in her ears...
Hunter gently elbowed her, snapping her out of that.
Jordan looked over to him. David was already in the car, waving for them to get in, earphones in Hunter's hands. The wired kind... cheap.
Jordan slid into the car, left earphone in her right ear, held in a weird position. Dad wouldn't care about her complaint, and Hunter just didn't share her fear...
Hunter paused before he got in, hearing the sound of something whirring, catching the tiniest glimpse of something blue fading into nothing in the distance.. and a man in all black (hat included) walking away with an attempt at dramatic flair.
The two siblings kept hitting shuffle on the playlist, going from 'Rainfall ASMR' to something by Shag Carpeting, from Friday I'll Be Over U to the Star Wars theme... this was going to be a long taxi ride.
Meanwhile, back with The Dorktor and his kid...
Thirty Minutes Prior
Jenny clung to the railing in a cat-like fashion.
"You said the locks were fine!" Jenny returned to standing on two feet, hands moving, all twelve- no, wait, perception filter must be damaged, ten fingers shifting position.
"It's not my fault the Raxacoricofallapatorians had bad aim!" The Doctor scrambled to his feet, still damp. He was gonna need a change of wardrobe.
"Those were Raxa-Rax-Racacor-?" Jenny struggled to pronounce the species name...
"Slitheen."
"Those were slitheen?!" Jenny couldn't hide her excitement. She'd been shot at by a species she hadn't seen before! "I thought they were mutated limes!" She tried to make a remark.
"Right, no popping out for anything, not after you almost caused world war six that early." Great, he was mad at her. But that can always change.
"Only by six years!" They were in turkey after the jump, she had a flowerpot...
"Still. No TARDIS flying for you. No touching the controls, nothing." The Doctor produced a glass bottle labelled Cerveza Cristal from one of the roundels on the wall... no, no more. Not right now, he needed to hide it away.
"Not fair." Jenny did a childish voice, but smiled. She knew she could sneak in a trip or two. Maybe check in on Tenny...
His eyes shifted to another roundel, not properly fully closed. He dug his nails in, prying it open. A package, with a note...
'You'll need these, use it when the time is right.' - You.
Great. A package from one of his future selves. Or maybe one of his past selves sent it... that didn't matter, he was quintessentially The Doctor, no matter the body. No matter how much he changed. Same time lord, different face.
Then the phone outside of the TARDIS began to ring... oh no.
The Doctor took it off of the hook, and...
"Oi, Spaceman! Where the bloody hell are you!"
Ah.