The Doctor and Baba Yaga walked down the staircase, the dark abyss of it and the old walls made everything more creepy.

Suddenly they felt a presence approaching them. They saw nothing, they only head a familiar female voice.

"Doctor, can you hear me?" It was Mariah's voice, It had her usual cheerful and sweet tone, yet it sounded...Feeble, weak, lifeless.

"Mariah..." He said, both sad and happy to hear her voice once again.

"It's so good to see you again!" Even if he couldn't see her, the two could feel that she was genuinely smiling.

"The feeling is mutual, I really missed you..." the Doctor said, "But, if I hear you here, I believe that you didn't make it to the police box I talked to you about."

"Yeah..." Mariah said, she looked at Baba Yaga, seemingly glaring at him.

"Don't worry, I convinced him to pay for his crimes, even if you won't forgive him."

"...That's a relief, at least he won't kill you." Mariah said.

Baba Yaga was silent.

"Before I go further downstairs, I want to tell you something, mainly to you." a tear streamed down the Doctor's face. "I'm...I'm so sorry, Mariah, it's my fault you and your friend got killed...I should have protected you, but I failed. all I do is spread death everywhere I go..."

"Hey, hey! Don't be like that!" Mariah consoled her little friend, "It's not your fault if I'm dead, I did it by my own choice. I'm angry at him, putting Anatoly through Hell and giving my friends that hunger but, as for you...I'm very proud of you. You refuse to join them in desecrating my corpse, even if you were starving to death...You're stronger than any of us combined."

Her words were comforting, managing to calm down the Doctor's composure. "You're really good with words, aren't you?"

Mariah chuckled, "We'll meet again, oh, and one piece of advice: Beware of Karin, she's ill beyond repair, she'll rip the flesh from your bones. Good luck."

They felt Mariah leaving the staircase, and the two went further down the abyss.

The walls became dirtier and sootier.

Something approached the two, this time it was Gregor's ghost.

"Doctor!" He said.

"Good to see you again, Gregor." the Doctor said, smiling, "Do you feel better now?"

"Well, I'm dead, but it's better than last time we met." Gregor chuckled. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

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"Anything, big guy, anything."

"When you reach the room, please...Turn on the light, and don't forget us."

Gregor left the staircase, the Doctor and Baba Yaga went further down, the air pressure felt greater and greater...

Another ghost approached them, it was Anatoly.

"Oh, hello, Doctor." he said.

"Hello, Anatoly." the Doctor said, "Just like the other two, I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad to hear you in this place."

"Fair enough." Anatoly said, "It's constantly dark over here, it's a terrible place.

"Where's Karin?" Baba Yaga asked.

"Oh, she's just below us...Waiting to devour the two of you." Anatoly nonchalantly said. "The whispers told me many things about what happened to them...Worse than any war crime imaginable...Karin is at the bottom of this staircase, she might be alive but if you're not cautious you won't be it...See you soon."

Anatoly left the staircase.

The Doctor and Baba Yaga finally reached the room. The latter turned on the light and were welcomed by the person they expected: Karin.

"Took you long enough..." She said, here braid was untied, she has holding her knife and here eyes were filled with murderous intent.

She attacked with her knife, her reflexes were fast and the two barely managed to dodge her.

The meat made her stronger and managed to stab Baba Yaga with her knife, but with the last life force he had, he took off the knife, blocked Karin and stabbed in the chest.

The two fell down the stairs, the Doctor rushed to their rescue.

"Hey!" he said.

"...Chase...Karin...Let me die...It's what I deserve..." Baba Yaga said, as he inhaled his last breath.

The Doctor obliged and entered the room he saw.

The room was pitch black, the rot of decaying flesh is nauseating

"It must be where the corpses are located..." He thought, "No wonder he rarely comes here, this smell is unbearable!

He opened a door in the eastern section of the room. The ghosts of Mariah, Anatoly and Gregor appeared before him.

Saying that they were scary would have been an understatement. Covered in blood, with certain pieces such as the lip and jaw completely ripped off and lifeless black holes where the eyes should be.

"Nice to see you again, Doctor." Mariah "smiled".

"Blimey...If that's how their ghosts look like, I don't want to imagine the state of their corpses." he thought.

"You did, kid, you ended this tragedy." Gregor said.

"Well done!" Anatoly said.

"Where's Karin?" the Doctor asked.

"She's lost in the abyss."

"Her rage blinds her..."

"Ravenous, completely ravenous."

"I guess it won't be easy for her to move on." the Doctor said.

"Doctor, please...Turn on the light, and bury what's left of us." Mariah said.

"Turn on the light..." Anatoly repeated.

"Turn on the light, don't forget us..." Gregor said.

"...I will. I'll never forget you, guys, I promise." he to the light switch, not before saying one more thing in Ukrainian:

"До побачення, друзі, спочивай з миром." (So long, my friends, and Rest in Peace.)

Outside the rain had stopped, and the path was now freed.

The Doctor kept his promise. After finding a shovel, he took all the corpses (what remains of it) of Mariah, Anatoly, Gregor and Karin and gave them a proper burial.

He also buried the bones of the previous visitors, in a sort of "Tomb of the Unknown Victim".

He also took things linked to his friends, Mariah's necklace, Anatoly's glasses, Gregor's vest and Karin's knife and put them in his "Memorial of Fallen Companions" inside the TARDIS.

Before he entered however, he had one last vision of the ghosts of Mariah, Anatoly, Gregor and also Karin's.

They didn't look like walking corpses, they looked exactly how they were when alive, only with a ghostly aura around the.

They didn't say anything, they only waved goodbye to him, while slowly fading away.

The Doctor smiled, and waved at them too, and entered the TARDIS.

"They escaped from the Holodomor because they were hungry, and they killed each other because of it, such an ironic fate. Goodbye, friends, I would have liked to have you travelling in the TARDIS with me." he thought.

He pulled down the lever on the console, and the TARDIS started dematerialising, while only its wheezing, groaning noise echoed throughout the silent woods.