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She walks across the road. The air around her is quiet; no sign of people anywhere. She knows this street. St. Ann’s Drive, Perivale, West London. And she knows the house that she is standing before. She opens the gate, walks up the path and knocks on the door. A woman who couldn’t be more than seventeen years older than her opens the door. The woman looks at her, and takes a drag of a cigarette. ’Where have you been, then?’ ‘Out in the wilderness,’ is her reply. She smiles, and notices the young man behind the woman. Her brother. She looks at the woman again, a big grin on her face. ’But I am home now. Hello, Mummy, I’ve missed you so much!’ ‘Hey, it’s okay.’ Alf opened her eyes and almost got blinded by the glare of the light above. A shape moved into her view. It remained nothing but a blur for a few moments before coming into focus. It was an Indian man with curly brown hair. Alf looked him up and down. A white uniform, and a name badge. ‘How are you feeling?’ the man asked. ‘I...’ Alf paused and looked around. She was in a hospital ward. She looked back at the nurse. She tried to gather her thoughts, but nothing wanted to come into place. It reminded her of waking up in Rukaar’s shuttle after crashing on that satellite; total dislocation. ‘It’s okay. No need to talk. You just rest. You got a nasty knock so you might be suffering from concussion.’ The nurse looked over at the doorway leading out of the ward. ’Your sister is awake, too. She wants to speak to you.’ ‘My sister?’ The nurse indicated the doorway and Alf looked. Standing there was Ace. Upon seeing her younger self everything came flooding back to Alf. Touching Ace and then blanking out, followed by... ‘I know who I am!’ Alf exclaimed. She laughed. ’It’s all come back to me, everything!’ The nurse looked a little unsure. He patted Alf’s arm. ’Yes, well. Erm... I’ll let you talk to your little sister.’ He beckoned Ace over. Once she had reached the bed, the nurse spoke with a smile. ’We’ve contacted your mother, so she should be here soon to take you both back home.’ Alf watched him walk away. ’Home?’ She sniffed. The memories of her home came rushing back. All the constant arguments with her mum. So much resentment and anger directed at her own family. Alf shook her head. She didn’t care about that anymore. After over a year without a clue to her past all she cared about now was the fact that she knew. Ace stood by the bed, eyeing Alf with uncertainty. ‘We can’t go home with mum. She’d throw a total wobbly.’ Alf looked at her younger self, confused. ’What?’ ‘Well, come on, think about it. How do you think she would react to seeing you and me here? She’d never be able to buy it. Not sure I do.’ ’What do you suggest, then?’ ‘We bunk out of here, innit? Simple.’ ‘Could do.’ Alf smiled and threw the bed covers off herself. Ace stepped back quickly as if bitten. Alf chose to ignore that for now. ‘Now, where are my clothes?’ For some unknown reason Alf felt like she was escaping from prison or something. It gave her and odd sense of excitement. Looking at her younger self she could see that Ace felt the same. *** Bradley eyed the two men in front of him. The big man did not interest him. An obstacle, little else. Plus the man was so full of life! Bradley could feel it, in the same way that he could feel the life essence of his usual victims. The younger man did interest Bradley, however. The clothing the he wore was nothing like Bradley had seen before, although he had to admit he liked it. The black trousers were made of some sort of dull material, and they were worn quite close to the skin. This made Bradley smile. Life surged from the younger man, but it was different from the way the large man oozed life. ‘Bradley?’ Bradley looked at the large man again, annoyed that his attention was being taken off the man who looked so much like Nicholas. ‘What?’ he snapped. The large man recoiled as if slapped. This made Bradley happy. ‘You don’t remember me?’ Bradley sighed and gave the man the once over. The large man was dressed in checked trousers, a white frilly shirt, with a blue long coat. A blue scarf of a slightly lighter shade than the coat topped off the ensemble. Plus he had a beard. Bradley did not like beards. He glanced at the Nicholas look-a-like and decided to ignore the small beard on that delicious face. ‘No, I don’t. Should I?’ ‘I’m the Doctor. Surely you must remember our time together?’ Bradley nearly spat on the ground. To think he would spend time with such a large and hairy man! The man wearing Nicholas’ face spoke. ‘Of course he doesn’t remember you, Doctor. This is 1986, remember? He doesn’t meet you for another fifteen years.’ Bradley found he could not take his eyes off the blonde man. It wasn’t only the looks that were the same as Nicholas, but the voice, too. The large man (the Doctor?) looked over at the Nicholas-a-like. ‘You’re right, Nick.’ He stepped towards Bradley. ‘Well let me introduce myself then. I am the Doctor, and this is my companion, Nick.’ ‘Pleased to meet you then, I suppose,’ Bradley said dismissively. He gave the Doctor a cold look and walked over to Nick. ‘And I am very pleased to meet you. You remind me of someone I know.’ He smiled. Nick opened his mouth to say something, but the words did not come out. Instead he let out a loud scream and dropped to the ground. The Doctor was on his knees besides Nick in an instant. Bradley just chewed his lip and watched. ***
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