The Fear Factor, Chapter 8

‘Why are we here again?’ complained Mark.

‘Because we need to be here,’ answered Tom angrily.

‘I wanted to stay behind until Joanne woke up,’ said Mark worriedly.

‘She may never wake up,’ replied Tom, giving Mark an angry look, ‘so we need to be here to find out exactly what happened to her.’

‘She will wake up,’ said Mark defiantly.

Tom had waited until the Doctor and Caroline had left the cabin, and then he’d spoken to the others. He’d formulated a plan during the night. Determined not to let this Doctor push him around, he’d decided that their best bet would be to head back to the prison and find out exactly what had happened. Alex absolutely refused to go, but Danny, and to some degree Mark, had all been pretty eager. Mark in particular wanted to find out about Kate and also try and find some explanations to Joanne’s condition. Danny…well, he didn’t reveal what his motives were.

Alex had protested, but Tom had drummed the other two up so much that nothing could stop them. Alex reluctantly agreed to stay behind and look after the very ill Joanne.

Now Mark was regretting coming back to the prison.

The day had started miserably and the long walk from the cabin to the prison had been a very wet and cold one. Now Tom was standing beside the iron gate with his hands pressed against it.

‘You won’t find anything that way,’ laughed Danny. ‘You’re not a psychic are you?’

‘It’s worth a try,’ grunted Tom.

‘Kate will still be in there,’ said Mark nervously. ‘We should have called the police.’

‘No chance,’ said Tom as he pushed the gates open. ‘I don’t want the cops sniffing around here when I’ve got work to do.’

‘What work?’ asked Danny.

Tom didn’t answer as he led the other two inside. The prison grounds looked a lot different in the cold morning light. Now they could see everything: the chapel, the graveyard walls and the generator room, as well as the main prison building that housed the cells.

‘It still looks gloomy,’ said Danny. ‘I can’t believe we almost spent a night here.’

‘It was a big mistake, wasn’t it?’ said Mark indirectly to Tom.

‘Nothing is ever a mistake if you can correct it,’ said Tom darkly as he headed towards the chapel.

‘We’re not going in there, are we?’ asked Mark. ‘Kate’s gonna be in there.’

‘Wrong. Kate’s body will be in there. Kate herself is probably up there,’ said Tom, pointing to the sky.

‘I didn’t know you were religious, Tom,’ said Danny, who was becoming more and more fascinated by him.

Tom turned on his heel and looked at Danny. ‘Let’s get one thing straight, Danny. Nobody really knows anything about me.’

Danny watched as Tom turned around again and made his way to the chapel. He raised his eyebrows then followed the odd young man.

Arriving at the chapel, Tom, steeling his nerve, gripped the door knob and pushed the door open. He stepped into the room and then stepped back with a gasp.

‘What’s up?’ asked Mark nervously.

‘Is it Kate?’ added Danny.

‘In a way,’ said Tom slowly as if trying to work things out.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?!’ asked Mark.

‘Well, she’s not in here.’




Alex sat in silence in the cabin. In other circumstances this cabin might have been a cosy little retreat, but today all he wanted to do was go home and have Kate back.

A noise from the girls bedroom made Alex turn his head. He walked over to the door and into the bedroom. Lying on the bed was Joanne - and she had woken up!

‘Joanne? Joanne are you okay?’ asked Alex as he crossed over to her.

‘What’s happening,’ groaned Joanne. ‘I’ve got such a bad headache.’

‘Joanne, what happened to you?’ asked Alex, sitting beside her on the bed.

She winced in pain and tried to think back. ‘All I remember is Harold J Stevens.’

‘Who is Harold J Stevens? You kept repeating his name all last night.’

‘I don’t know. I’ve got this image of a man. He was calling to me, trying to get me to give in to him.’

‘And then?’

‘Then I blacked out.’

‘Yeah...’ Alex thought back to the previous night. ‘Then everyone went crazy. I can’t understand why you’ve woken up now.’

Joanne eased herself into a sitting position. ‘I just remember seeing Kate in a dream. She was walking through the forest and then…well, then I woke up.’

‘You saw Kate?’ asked Alex slowly.

‘Yeah.’

Alex tried to swallow. ‘Joanne, Kate’s dead.’

‘What??’ faltered the usually jolly girl.

‘She was killed last night in the prison. We managed to escape and get to this cabin. I don’t understand it fully. The Doctor and Mark found her body, but they didn’t tell me much more than that.’

‘Oh god.’ Joanne buried her head on Alex’s chest and he too found it hard not to cry again.




It was almost noon by the time the Doctor and Caroline had found the hospital in Little Newtown. They were both tired and Caroline demanded a cup of tea at the hospital cafeteria, but the Doctor said that it was imperative that they saw this man as soon as possible.

Now they were standing at the hospital reception.

‘And you are?’ asked the receptionist.

‘The Doctor, and this is my friend, Caroline Parker.’

‘And are you a relation to Mr Feathers?’

‘Not exactly,’ said the Doctor, ‘but I have reason to believe that he can help us with our investigations.’

‘And what investigations would they be?’

‘Ghost hunting,’ butted in Caroline.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. ‘Paranormal investigations. Look, I am the scientific advisor to UNIT.’

‘And who are they? A film crew?’

The Doctor searched his pockets and managed to produce an ID card. It had the name “Doctor John Smith” and contained a picture of a white haired man with a long, pointy nose.

The receptionist looked at it. ‘Is that stolen, because that’s definitely not you.’

‘It is!’ snapped the Doctor. ‘It’s me before I lost my hair.’

Caroline tried to catch a glimpse of the card. That definitely wasn’t the Doctor’s photograph. She thought back to their conversation on Theen and about how the Doctor’s people could regenerate themselves.

‘Look,’ he continued, ‘just call the number on the card. It’s in England.’

The receptionist eyed him up suspiciously. ‘Very well, sir.’

The Doctor grinned at Caroline. ‘Everything’ll be alright now.’

The receptionist spent a few minutes on the phone and quietly spoke to the operator and then put the receiver down. ‘Are you trying to play a joke?’

‘I don’t understand,’ said the Doctor.

‘The operator told me that the number you were requesting had been closed down in the late 1980’s.’

‘Ah…’

Caroline was certain the Doctor wasn’t going to get anywhere and decided to show some initiative. ‘Help!’ she screamed, and ran towards a private section of the hospital, screaming as loud as she could.

‘Stay there!’ said the receptionist to the Doctor, and made a run for Caroline.

The Doctor grinned. ‘Well done, Miss Parker,’ and he quickly ran around the reception desk and began clicking through computer files. When he was sure he had the information he wanted, he left the desk and followed the signs to the appropriate ward.




‘Here it is,’ said Danny slowly.

Tom and Mark looked down at the cross which bore the name “Harold J Stevens”.

‘So,’ said Tom, ‘here lies the grave of the mysterious Harold J Stevens.’

‘What do we do?’ asked Mark.

‘Nothing,’ said Danny.

‘We dig the grave and find out who the hell he was.’

‘You’re joking?!’ spluttered Mark.

‘Have you ever know me to joke, Mark? We dig and we dig until we find his body.’




It had taken a while, but Alex had managed to calm Joanne down and make her some pasta that had been left in storage at the cabin. Now the both of them were tucking into their tasteless, rubbery shapes, staring into their bowls and occasionally looking at each other when they didn’t think the other one would be.

‘So,’ said Alex after a long silence, ‘where do you think we go from here?’

‘Home,’ said Joanne quietly. ‘I hate this place. I hate this cabin, this forest and that evil, evil prison.’

‘The others seem to have different ideas. The Doctor and Caroline want to talk to that mad man and Tom and the others…well, you know what Tom’s like.’

‘Yeah I do, unfortunately. He needs the number of a good therapist,’ said Joanne as she stabbed at her twirled piece of pasta.

‘I can understand him to some degree. He lost his girlfriend too…’ Alex trailed off and stared beyond Joanne.

Joanne smiled weakly and put an affectionate hand on his arm. ‘We’ll find out who did that to Kate, and then the cops can sort him out.’

Alex sighed and shook his head. ‘It was a ghost, I know it. It was Harold J Stevens.’

‘Alex-’

‘No,’ interrupted Alex. ‘There was nobody else in the grounds with us.’

‘Well supposing this Harold J Stevens was some psycho who followed us? Did you think of that?’

‘Well-’

A knock on the cabin door made the two of them stop talking. Alex frowned and crossed to the door. ‘Is that you, Doctor?’ he asked.

‘Alex, it’s me,’ came a familiar, female voice.

Alex began shaking and flung the door open. The sight that stood before him made him fall to his knees and sob out loud.

Standing in the doorway was Kate.




It had turned noon and Mark and Danny were in the cemetery digging up Harold J Stevens’ grave. They had been at it for about 20 minutes and felt they were getting nowhere. Danny was about to give up when Tom walked through the gap in the small wall and shot him an angry glare.

‘Keep digging!’ ordered Tom.

‘Alright, alright,’ said Danny. ‘Anybody would think we were prisoners or something.’

Tom sneered and left the cemetery again. He crossed the prison grounds and headed for the chapel. The sun was trying to break through, but the clouds still threatened rain. He looked all around him and then stopped himself from heading any further. He listened to the slight wind that was blowing in the forest outside the grounds. The tree-tops could be seen blowing beyond the high prison wall. It must have been a nightmare to spend the rest of your days here with no friends, no family and no loved ones to speak to each day. Maybe that’s what had made Tom so bitter and uncaring. That’s how he felt of himself anyway. He had nobody to love anymore.

He turned around and began a steady walk towards the huge building which contained the prison cells and other monstrosities. How the government had let this place carry on for so long was anybody’s guess.

Tom arrived at the large iron doors and pushed them open with little effort. The musty air could be smelt inside. Although it was a fairly dull smell, Tom couldn’t help but think he could smell rotten flesh. Taking a deep breath and, covering his mouth with a handkerchief, the young man headed into the darkness. He could have switched the lights on that Danny had gotten working the night before, but that would have scared the ghosts away, he was sure.

‘Looking for someone?’

Tom felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. He was sure he’d just heard someone speak. He gritted his teeth and looked into the blackness. ‘Show yourself!’

Why was he doing this, he thought to himself. Why couldn’t he just let the spirits lie in peace. Perhaps it was him that had aggravated Harold J Stevens. However, every time he began to doubt himself he just thought back to what had happened to Vanessa. That fuelled his purpose and flared up his anger again.

‘Show yourself!’ he screamed into the darkness. His voice echoed an identical reply.

Tom yelled out in anger but then felt himself get pushed towards the floor. There was a sharp pain in his back where he had been thumped with some kind of object. He winced in pain and felt everything around him go blurry. His dark eyes looked all around for signs of his attacker. He felt somehow different. He felt odd, like his whole body could just float away. Then, from out the darkness, a figure stepped forward.

‘You called?’

‘Who are you?’ asked Tom.




The Doctor sneaked into the room and then closed the door behind him. Lying on the bed, neatly tucked under some white hospital sheets, was a young man with short, blonde hair. He was sleeping and lay very still.

The Doctor pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. He cleared his throat, looked around him and then spoke. ‘Mr Feathers?’ He looked back at the door and then to the patient. ‘Mr Feathers, can you hear me?’

‘Is that you, Georgie?’ mumbled Feathers, still with his eyes closed.

‘No. I am a friend though. I need to talk to you about what happened at the prison.’

Feathers frowned but his eyes remained tightly shut. ‘The prison?’

‘Yes. You and Mr Dodds visited there with an estate agent. You were the only one that came back. The other two were never found.’

‘Dodds…’ Feathers’ voice trailed off as he ran the name through his head. ‘I remember Dodds.’

‘Yes, he was your colleague. You wanted to buy the prison land.’

‘He’s dead,’ said Feathers.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’

The Doctor looked back to the door. He could hear footsteps coming down the corridor - and they were getting closer. ‘How did he die?’

‘He was killed.’

‘By whom?’ The Doctor was getting anxious now.

‘He was killed by me.’

The Doctor froze as Feathers opened his eyes.

‘He was killed by me! He was killed by Harold J Stevens! ME!’

The Fear Factor, Chapter 7

The group sat around on the grass beside the wall where the TARDIS used to be. The Doctor twiddled his fingers whilst the others remained silent.

After a while the Doctor leapt up. ‘Right, there’s only one thing for it. We have to go into the town, past the woods, and get us some help.’

‘This has turned into a disaster,’ said Tom quietly. ‘I’ve lost my van, Joanne’s been knocked out and Alex’s girlfriend has been killed.’

Alex glared at Tom. ‘Glad you put the van at the top of the list.’

‘Danny, you’re being very quiet on the subject,’ said Caroline, turning her head to her friend.

‘Yes I am,’ he said. ‘I’ve just got a lot on my mind at the moment.’

‘Like what?’ asked Caroline, eager to get some answers out of Danny, such as how he got the prisons generator working.

‘To be honest, I don’t want to leave here,’ he said, looking at the Doctor and Caroline. ‘I feel there’s a mystery to be solved and I want to be a part of it.’

‘That’s very interesting, Danny,’ said the Doctor, eyeing him up and down.

Danny shifted uncomfortably. ‘I just feel some kind of connection to the place, that’s all.’

A light, flickering in the distance, made Alex turn his head. The flicker was fairly dim and it was coming from the direction of the chapel.

‘Doctor, look!’ shouted Alex, his hand pointing towards the chapels window. ‘It must be Kate,’ said Alex excitedly. ‘She’s still alive! Perhaps you were wrong.’

‘Alex, calm down,’ said Mark. ‘I saw her dead as well.’

The light flicked off and Alex made a run for the chapel.

‘Alex, come back!’ shouted the Doctor. He turned to the others. ‘I want you all to get out of these grounds immediately. Whatever’s in the chapel isn’t going to make Alex feel any better. I need to get him out as well.’

‘Right,’ said Caroline. ‘Let’s get out of here.’




The Doctor had followed Alex and had arrived outside the chapel. He knew what was waiting in there. The lights had grown dim once again and the door was shut. There was no sign of Alex, but the Doctor could sense that not everything was how he had seen it previously.

A shadow flickered past the window. ‘Alex?’ whispered the Doctor. ‘Alex, is that you?’

There was no reply. A gust of wind blew up the Doctor’s coat and made him shiver. He gathered up his nerves and walked up to the door.

‘Is there anybody in there?’ he asked as he knocked on the wood. Again, no reply. The Doctor thought for a moment, straightened himself up and then said: ‘Kate? Kate, if you’re in there then open this door and show yourself.’ Silence. ‘If you don’t then I’ll have to come in.’

The door creaked open a little and the Doctor stepped back.

‘Doctor?’

The Doctor turned around. Standing behind him was Alex. His eyes were red and he’d obviously been crying.

‘Alex,’ said the Doctor quietly, ‘where did you go?’

‘I wanted to go in and see Kate,’ he said, his voice faltering, ‘but I just hung around here. I just couldn’t bare the thought of seeing her like that.’

‘And you don’t have to see her like that,’ said the Doctor, putting a comforting arm around the young man. ‘We’re all getting out of here. We can get Kate out of here tomorrow morning when I have some help.’

‘I heard you ask if it was her on the other side of the door,’ said Alex.

‘I don’t know why I asked it, Alex. Perhaps I was just hoping, like you.’

‘But you said that she was dead.’

‘She is dead, Alex.’ The Doctor looked back at the chapel and then back to Alex. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Alex nodded and fought back more tears as the Doctor led him away.




Caroline, Tom, Mark, Danny and the still-unconscious Joanne were waiting on the other side of the gates. The Doctor and Alex walked through the gateway and then closed the iron doors behind them. ‘Where are we gonna go?’ asked Danny. ‘We don’t have any transport, Tom’s vans gone and now the TARDIS. What do we do?’

‘There’s Little Newtown,’ suggested Tom.

‘That’s gonna be at least a three hour walk,’ said Mark. ‘There’s gotta be somewhere closer. I don’t fancy walking through those woods at this time of night.’

‘There’s a few holiday cabins in the woods,’ said Alex, sniffing away his last few tears. ‘Perhaps someone there can help us.’

‘Well, to be honest, I’d like to get into the town,’ said the Doctor, looking down the road.

‘Why?’ asked Danny.

‘I want to have a word with that man that went mad. The one that was visiting here with his partner and the estate agent.’

Tom laughed and kicked at the prison wall. ‘From what I’ve heard he’s turned into a nutcase. They’re thinking of moving him to the city. To a mental asylum.’

‘Then we have to go to him as soon as possible.’

‘Doctor,’ sighed Caroline, ‘we’re all tired and want some rest. Let’s just find one of those cabins. Then, in the morning, you can go for a trip to the town and see this bloke.’

‘Yes, but-’

Caroline stopped him. ‘One night won’t make any difference.’

The Doctor gave in and smiled. ‘I suppose you’re right. We’ve all had a tough time up here. It’s time to freshen up and get our bearings back.’

As they headed away from the prison, the gate slowly opened. From the darkness two eyes watched the group heading away. They would return. They would return.




Caroline opened her eyes, sniffed in the air and then closed her eyes again in delight. It was the smell of bacon and eggs. It was a smell she hadn’t had the pleasure of in such a long time. When she was little her grandma would always do her bacon and eggs. Her parents found it too unhealthy for her, but when they were away and she was staying at her grandma’s, she would break their rules and give her what she wanted. That was what a grandma was supposed to do, she thought. She missed her grandma. She was starting to miss Thornsby as well.

As she let herself be wrapped up in memories of bacon, the truth dawned on her again. She was in a strange place, in the middle of the woods with a group of teenagers, one of which had just been brutally murdered, and they had been terrorised by what she believed was a ghost. Life with the Doctor was never going to be simple, she thought to herself.

She turned her head. Lying next to her in the same bed was Joanne. She had slept all through the night and hadn’t woken since her fit the night before. Heavy sleeper? she thought to herself. Perhaps not.




On the other side of the cabin, things were a little more cramped. In the second bedroom lay Tom on the floor. Next to him was Mark and in the bed was Danny and Alex.

Whereas Caroline had awoken to pleasant thoughts, Danny was busy having nightmares of horses in Thornsby. Voices in his head told him what to do and more and more he felt that his mind was being taken over - controlled - by something that had crawled inside his mind back in Thornsby.




Caroline tidied up her hair in the mirror and then walked from the bedroom and into the main living area of the cabin. Standing at the cooker was the Doctor. He was wearing an apron complete with a chef’s hat. He smiled as Caroline entered the room.

‘How’d you know I like bacon and eggs?’ asked Caroline, as she pulled out a chair at the wooden dining table and sat down.

‘Everybody likes bacon and eggs!’ grinned the Doctor. ‘The bacon was in the freezer. It must have been left by the previous holidaymakers.’

‘You do realise that we’re breaking the law?’ said Caroline, leaning on her elbows.

‘Perhaps,’ said the Doctor,’ but it was either break the law or spend a night camped out in the cold.’

‘And what if the owner of the cabin comes around?’

‘Then we just explain to them what happened. We’ll be fine,’ he said as he shovelled an egg onto a plate.

‘So how are we going about everything today?’ asked Caroline.

‘Well, you lot are staying here,’ he said, placing the plate on the table in front of Caroline, ‘whilst I go into the town and chat to this Mr Feathers.’

‘Can’t I come with you?’

‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘I’d rather you all stayed here where I know you can’t get into trouble.’

‘Doctor, I’m not a teenager, you know. I’m a grown woman and I can make my own choices.’

The Doctor smiled. ‘Alright, alright,’ he laughed, ‘you can come with me. I’ll need the company on the long walk.’

Alex walked into the room, rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly. ‘That smells nice,’ he said.

‘Yes, just hang on and I’ll have some more,’ said the Doctor.

‘How are you feeling today?’ asked Caroline. She hadn’t wanted to ask about Kate, but felt it was best that he didn’t clam it all up.

‘Not too good,’ said Alex weakly. He looked at the Doctor and then leaned in closer to Caroline. ‘I feel like I’m falling to bits.’

Caroline took his hand and gripped it tightly. ‘It’s understandable.’

‘Kate and I had drifted apart over the last few months, but I still loved her.’ He tried to fight back the tears again. ‘I can’t live without her.’

Before Caroline could say anything else, a plate of bacon and eggs was thrust in front of Alex. ‘There we go, young man. Have to keep up your energy.’ The Doctor grinned.

‘Thanks, Doc,’ said Alex weakly.

‘Caroline, you better eat up and get ready to go.’

‘Where are you going?’ asked Alex.

‘We’re off to see Mr Feathers,’ said the Doctor as he returned to his cooking.

‘He’s crazy though,’ said Alex.

‘Some people say I’m crazy.’ The Doctor turned and grinned. ‘I trust you can keep the others here, Alex?’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘At the moment I really don’t fancy venturing back to the prison.’

‘I understand,’ replied the Doctor.




Outside somebody had been watching the cabin all night, waiting to make their move. A little while longer, just be sure the Doctor had gone, and she would make her presence known.

Kate shifted uncomfortably amongst the trees. She wasn’t sure what she was doing here, but she was certain that she had died last night.

Christmas Special - A Christmas From Long Ago

In a break from our ongoing story, "The Fear Factor", here is a little Christmas present from Darkpaths featuring a young Caroline and Danny. Normal story service will resume later in the week. Merry Christmas everybody!

December 25th 1997

Caroline's eyes snapped open. Something had woken her up from a deep sleep. A deep sleep where she

had dreamt of snow and hooded figures floating over churches. But as soon as she was awake the dream had already started to fade.

She rubbed her eyes and turned her head to her bedside cabinet. The digital readout on her clock told her that it was 08:00...and that it was Christmas day.

Christmas day! Brilliant!

She quickly sat up and got out of bed, scrambling around for her slippers. She eventually found them at the other end of her bed and was about to open the door to go downstairs when she heard the house

phone ringing.

She listened and could hear her mum speaking:

"Hello...yes. Yes, hello Danny. Well, yes, it is a little too early for you to be calling...I don't know...she should be up soon...I'll get her to call you back."

"Wait!" shouted Caroline, opening her door and running down the stairs.

"Slow down, sweetheart," said her mum as Caroline grabbed the receiver from her.

"Thanks, mum," grinned Caroline.

"And a Merry Christmas to you, too!" said her mum, rolling her eyes and walking through the hallway, back towards the kitchen.

"Hello?" said Caroline on the phone.

"Merry Christmas," came Danny's voice on the other end.

"Hey," smiled Caroline.

Her and Danny had been seeing each other for a few months now and things were going great between them. She hadn't gotten chance to see him yesterday as he'd been out and about with his parents, visiting relatives, but he had promised to call her.

"Have you opened it yet?" asked Danny.

"Not yet," said Caroline. "I've just gotten up."

Danny laughed. "I wanna be there when you open it."

"You can't come round here at this time, Dan. My mum'll go spare."

"Then come out. Come meet me. Down at the old house."

Caroline laughed. "How the hell am I meant to sneak out now? Mum and Dad'll be wanting me to open my presents."

"Offer to go to the shop or something," said Danny.

"You daft idiot," she whispered. "The shop’s two minutes away. The old house is five minutes away, not to mention the time we spend there."

"Okay, okay," said Danny, a little annoyed. "Why don't we meet tonight?"

"She'll wonder where I'm going."

"Tell them you're off to meet me."

"No way!" said Caroline, glancing back towards the kitchen, looking out for her mum. "You know how

worried they get."

"Caz, you're almost sixteen now. I'm sure they can trust you."

Caroline closed her eyes and then smiled. "Okay, I'll be there. But we'll have to be quick."




The day had passed slowly. After breakfast Caroline and her parents had opened their presents together. Caroline had gotten the latest Oasis CD and a new hi-fi system. Her Dad had gotten a pair of slippers and a few new shirts for when he was at work and her mum had gotten a new coffee machine.

There were more presents to come tomorrow, on Boxing Day, but this was all they were opening for now.

Then her grandma had come around for the Christmas meal. Caroline had eaten more than she could cope with and for the last two hours of the afternoon had sat on the sofa watching old comedy repeats on UK Gold.

She checked her watch. It was almost 6pm. She excused herself from the living room and ran upstairs. She went to the bathroom and brushed her long brown hair. She then applied some red lipstick and got




changed.

She went back down the stairs and back into the living room.

"Going somewhere?" asked her mum, her arms folded.

"I'm popping to Jenny's house."

"Dressed like that?" said her mum, indicating the blue dress she was wearing.

"Yeah. We thought we'd get dressed up nice and everything."

"Don't you even think of trying to get into any pubs," said her mum sternly.

"Don't be daft, mum," said Caroline. She had attempted it once, earlier in the year, gotten drunk and vowed never to drink again.

"And you're not off to see that Danny, are you?"

"No," said Caroline a little sheepishly.

"Right. Well, I want you back here by 8pm."

"You're joking? That doesn't give me much time!"

"You'll do as your mum says, young lady," piped up her dad, before taking a sip of sherry.

"Fine!" said Caroline, putting her jacket on and storming out of the living room.

When she had left her mum turned to her dad.

"Thanks, Tony, for the support."

Tony simply looked at his wife, shook his head and turned back to 'Only Fools And Horses'.




Caroline made her way down the snow-covered Lansdowne Ave and towards her and Danny's school. It was surrounded by fields and up on the top of a hill was an old, red-brick house that had belonged to the old school caretaker. He had long since died and the house had become neglected. Now the kids used it as a hang-out.

"Over here," said Danny.

Caroline smiled when she saw him standing inside the house, looking through one of the broken windows.

"Did you have any problems?" he asked.

"Not really. They think I'm at Jenny's, but I've gotta be back by 9pm."

"Ah, that's alright," smiled Danny, helping her over the window ledge and into the building.

They were standing in an old, large room with peeling wallpaper and rotten doors. Danny pulled an

ripped curtain across the window and crossed to the middle of the room where there was a blanket and a small candle.

"Did you bring it?" asked Danny.

"Yeah," said Caroline, going in her pocket and taking out a small, wrapped-up present.

Caroline sat beside him on the blanket and began to open the present. It was a small, black box.

She turned to Danny and he smiled, his perfect white teeth making her heart melt.

"What is it?" she asked nervously.

"Open it and look," he said, moving closer towards her.

She opened the box and inside was a small, golden ring with a glittering diamond on top.

"Oh my God!" gasped Caroline. "It's...perfect."

"It was my Grandma's. It was her wedding ring. She left it to me and told me to give it to someone I truly loved. Someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

Caroline turned to Danny. Her eyes were wet. "Thank you."

Danny leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"And I'll always feel the same," said Danny.

"Me too," said Caroline. "I don't want to ever lose you. Ever."




December 25th 2010: One Year Before The Doctor




Caroline sat in her living room, a plate next to her on the sofa with a few crumbs left over from a sandwich she had eaten. On the TV was the latest Christmas episode of EastEnders and there was a small glass of wine in her hand.

There was a knock at the door. She got up to answer it. Standing there was her landlord, Mr Cope.

"Hi, Mr Cope."

"I've told you before," smiled Mr Cope. "It's Brian."

Caroline smiled.

"You okay, love?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, a little tired and weary.

"You look shocking, if you don't mind me saying so."

Caroline sniffed. She had caught a cold a few days ago, but if she was being honest with herself she

really hadn't felt up to celebrating Christmas. Not on her own anyway.

"Just got the Christmas blues, I suppose," she said glumly.

"You need to get yourself a nice man," said Brian. "Me and my wife were together fifty years. You

don't want to be alone at this time of the year."

"I've given up trying to find anyone," said Caroline. "Years ago I used to believe that love was

forever. That you could love someone forever and it'd never change."

"If you work on it, then it's possible."

Caroline smiled. "I gave up on that a long time ago."

"Well, that's a shame." Brian turned to go. "If you ever need someone, you know where I am."

"Thanks, Mr. Cope," said Caroline with a little smile, and then she closed the door.

She went back to the sofa. Her phone was flashing. There was a message. She picked it up and looked

at it. It was from Danny.

"Merry Christmas x" was all that it read.

She hadn't heard from him in quite a while. She was about to write back, when her phone rang. It was Sarah. She answered it...and forgot all about the text from Danny.




Across the country, in Manchester, Danny sat alone in his cold, studio apartment. He sat holding his

phone in his hand, waiting for the reply from Caroline. A reply which never came.

He sighed and put the phone down and crossed towards the mantel piece around the electric fire. He took the top off a little, porcelain cat that sat on the mantel. Inside was a small, golden ring with a diamond on top. He picked it up and looked at it.

Then he shook his head and put it back in the porcelain cat.

"Merry Christmas, Caroline," he said, and walked away.




THE END

The Fear Factor, Chapter 6

In the stone room, Danny was busy trying to fix the large machine in front of him. Screws, nuts and bolts were strewn all over the floor and Danny bit his lip in concentration. He was determined to get this thing working even if he didn’t know how he was doing it.




The Doctor and Alex joined Tom at the cemetery. Tom was pointing his torch at one of the wooden crosses.

‘Well?’ asked the Doctor impatiently.

‘Look,’ said Tom, indicating with his torch beam.

The Doctor looked down and then back at Tom. ‘Yes, it’s a wooden cross. A grave for someone who was, no doubt, executed here.’

‘Look at the name,’ said Tom quietly.

The Doctor frowned, knelt down and then examined the clumsily scratched-in name. He froze when he read it.

‘Well?’ asked Alex who was trying to see.

The Doctor got to his feet and looked at Alex. ‘It says “Harold J Stevens”.’

‘Harold J Stevens? That’s the name that that figure said at the door; the name that Joanne kept saying.’

Tom shivered in the night air and shone his torch around. Then he noticed something. The candle light in the chapel had gone out.

‘Doctor,’ he said. ‘Look.’

The Doctor looked to where Tom was pointing. ‘The chapel. The lights have gone out.’

‘You don’t think something’s happened to them, do you?’ he asked anxiously.

‘We’ll just have to go and find out. Tom, keep looking for Danny, but be careful.’

‘Don’t worry, I will,’ said Tom as he disappeared into the shadows.

The Doctor and Alex set off as quickly as they could towards the chapel.

They found Caroline and Mark kneeling over Joanne and trying to wake her up.

Alex noticed that Kate was nowhere to be see. ‘Where’s Kate?’

‘What?’ asked Caroline.

The Doctor pushed in front and knelt beside Caroline. ‘What happened?’

‘That thing,’ said Caroline shakily. ‘It came back and we had to run.’

‘Where’s Kate?’ asked Alex again.

Caroline looked at the worried boy and shook her head. ‘I don’t know. When we ran from the chapel she was with us, but when we got out here she was gone.’

‘No,’ said Alex shakily. ‘We’ve gotta go and find her.’

‘Has there been any more movement or noises from the chapel?’ asked the Doctor.

‘No,’ said Caroline.

We need to go in there and find Kate and then gather ourselves together.’

‘And get out of here?’ asked Caroline.

‘And get out of here,’ confirmed the Doctor. ‘Mark, you come with me. Caroline, you stay and look after Alex and Joanne. Tom’s out looking for Danny.’

The Doctor and Mark set out across the prison grounds and towards the chapel. Eventually they arrived

and the Doctor grabbed the door handle, stopping and turning to Mark. ‘Be prepared for anything,’ he said solemnly.

Mark nodded grimly as they went inside the chapel.

The Doctor shone his torch beam around the room. There didn’t seem to be any sign of anything disturbed and everything was in it’s proper place. Then the Doctor’s foot hit something.

He looked down. Lying on her back was Kate, a pool of blood beneath her.

‘Oh my god,’ said Mark, backing away to the door. ‘Is she -?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid she is,’ he replied, as he examined her. He looked at the cross buried in her chest. ‘It seems like she was stabbed.’

‘By who?’ asked Mark, who still couldn’t comprehend what had happened.

‘Harold J Stevens?’ questioned the Doctor as he ran his finger through the blood-written name. He stood up. ‘Come on, we have to get out of here and call the authorities. Investigating ghosts is one thing, but a murder is another matter entirely.’




Tom had walked around the prisons perimeter walls and had stumbled across a small stone building that was situated low down in the ground. Steps led to a doorway and he decided to go down them. He pushed the door open and walked along a narrow stone corridor.

Sitting in the room at the end of the corridor was Danny. He was busy putting the final piece of the machine into place and grinned when Tom walked in.

‘Where’ve you been?’ asked Tom angrily. ‘We’ve been looking all over for you.’

‘I’ve been trying to fix this,’ said Danny happily. ‘Although I don’t know how I’ve done it.’

‘What is it?’ asked Tom, kneeling down beside Danny.

‘I guess we’ll find out in a minute.’




Loss and guilt. They were the only emotions that Alex was feeling.

The Doctor had returned from the chapel with Mark and broke the news to him gently. The girl he loved - the girl he loved more than anything else in the universe - was dead. Somehow she had ended up being stabbed with a wooden cross of all things, and now she was gone. The news hadn’t even sunk in yet.

The others had been kind. Mark and Caroline had offered their sympathy and hugged him, but the Doctor had remained cold about the whole situation. And Alex didn’t care what they thought anyway. The point was: Kate was dead. His only reason to be alive had been taken from him.

Now he sat at a distance from the others, lying down on the dry grass and looking up at the stars. He and Kate used to do that quite a lot. One day Alex had told her that he planned to travel to the stars, to discover new worlds, just like on Star Trek, but that was just a fantasy. In reality he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kate and he hoped she had felt the same. The last few weeks - maybe even months - hadn’t gone well though. Kate had become highly critical of his hobbies, especially this ghost hunting business, and she had only come along on this trip to keep an eye on him. To make sure he was okay.

It was his fault that she had died. It was his fault and he’d never forgive himself for that.




Suddenly, without warning, the entire prison ground lit up. Alex was blinded at first, but soon his eyes began to adjust. He saw the Doctor, Caroline and Mark standing around and looking about them. Soon he became aware that the light was actually radiating from different parts of the prison grounds. Someone had turned the floodlights on.




The Doctor stood with his hands on his hips, surveying the area and looking for the person who had turned the lights on. In the distance he saw a grinning Danny who was being followed by Tom. They reached the group and Danny grinned insanely.

‘What’s going on?’ asked the Doctor. ‘Where have you been?’

‘In the generator room,’ he smiled. ‘I got us some lights.’

The Doctor broke into a wide grin, looked around and clapped Danny on the shoulder. ‘Well done young man!’ he said excitedly. ‘It’s just what we needed.’

‘But how did you do it?’ asked Caroline, her eyes were red from crying.

‘I don’t know. When the candles went out the first time I just felt the urge to run. I found myself in the generator room and began fixing it. I don’t know how I did it.’

Tom looked around him. ‘Where’s Kate?’

The others went silent and Caroline and Mark looked to the ground.

‘Kate’s dead,’ said the Doctor. ‘We found her in the chapel and we don’t know who did it.’

Tom went cold. He never liked Kate, but he hadn’t wished any harm on her. ‘How’s Alex taken it?’

The Doctor looked across to Alex who had returned to lying on the ground and staring into space. ‘Not well I’m afraid. He seems to have shut himself off from the rest of us.’

‘Well we need to get out of here,’ said Caroline. ‘We can get in the TARDIS and leave.’

‘Agreed,’ said the Doctor, ‘but first we have to go and get the authorities. We can’t just leave Kate there.’

‘Right, let’s go,’ said Danny.

As Danny marched off the Doctor looked at him suspiciously.

“What’s up?” asked Caroline, joining him at his side.

“How did Danny fix the generator?”

“No idea. Perhaps he just guessed.”

“No,” said the Doctor, his face grim. “Something made him fix it.”




The group arrived at the place where the TARDIS had been left in a matter of minutes, but something was wrong - the TARDIS was nowhere to be seen.

‘We left it right here,’ said Caroline worriedly.

‘Of course we did,’ said the Doctor. ‘But it’s gone. It’s just gone.’




In the chapel, Kate’s hand twitched and flinched. Her eyes opened and she began to breathe again.

The Fear Factor, Chapter 5

Danny had no idea what he was doing. He was sitting in a small stone room with a large piece of machinery standing in front of him. The machine was connected to the ground and was about as a big as a large car, with lots of moving parts that had rusted in place.

‘What am I doing?’ he asked himself as he opened up a toolbox and removed a screwdriver. ‘What on Earth am I doing?’

He jammed the screwdriver in a hole in a side panel and began twisting. He removed the panel and grabbed another tool. He began twisting and turning various screws and dials, still unsure of what he was doing.

At least the voice had stopped - for the moment.




Caroline and Kate hid there faces, and Mark and Alex flinched. Tom simply stood his ground, looking mean and unfazed by what might be behind the door.

The Doctor grabbed the cold door handle, and, getting ready for the unknown, he flung open the door.

Nothing.

‘There’s nobody there,’ said the confused Doctor. ‘There’s nobody out here at all.’

Alex crossed over to the doorway. ‘But we saw somebody. Someone was standing at the door.’

‘Probably the same idiot who stole my van,’ said Tom.

‘Do you think the person’s taken Danny as well?’ asked Caroline.

‘I don’t know,’ said the Doctor slowly. ‘We’ve got to find him. He can’t be safe out there.’ He turned to Joanne and checked her over. ‘She’s unconcious at the moment, but I think she’ll be better soon.’ He crossed over to the doorway and then looked back at the group. ‘Alex, Tom, I think you two and I should go and take a look around.’

‘What about the rest of us?’ asked Mark.

‘Stay here,’ he said. ‘Take care of Joanne and wait and see if Danny comes back.’

‘And what if that person comes back?’ asked Caroline.

‘Then get out of here as quickly as possible.’

That last comment didn’t exactly put confidence into her worries, but by now she was beginning to put her faith into the Doctor with regards to these sort of matters.

After the three men had left, Kate shut the door and put the wooden barrier across it. ‘we don’t want any uninvited guests, do we?’ she said to Caroline.

‘I suppose not,’ said Caroline. ‘I think we should get some weapons ready.’

Mark, who had been knelt beside Joanne’s prone body, crossed over to the two girls. ‘It was a mistake to come here.’

‘I tried to tell you all,’ said Kate, ‘but none of you wanted to listen.’

‘It’s no use blaming anyone now,’ said Caroline as she sat down beside Joanne. ‘I wanted to come here as well. I thought it would be fun.’

Mark was still worried about Joanne and Kate could tell, so she decided to draw him and Caroline into a conversation to take his mind of it. ‘Have you ever had any ghostly encounters before?’

Caroline looked up at Kate. ‘Me? Well, kind of.’ She thought for a moment. ‘What year is this?’

‘What??’ laughed Mark in disbelief.

‘Just tell me what year it is,’ repeated Caroline.

‘It’s 2012, June if you really want to know,’ said Kate.

‘Right. Well, can you remember back at Christmas? There was some weird goings on in England. A small town called Thornsby?’

‘Yeah,’ said Mark. ‘It was all kept pretty quiet though. We didn’t hear much of it this side of the pond’

‘Typical,’ said Caroline sarcastically. ‘Anyway, Thornsby was brought to a standstill by these, well, I suppose you could call them ghosts, but they were something more than that. They were lost souls from another dimension. The ghosts were eventually defeated and that’s when Danny and I started travelling around with the Doctor.’

‘Where’ve you been?’ asked Mark.

‘Oh, here and about,’ said Caroline thinking back. She wanted to tell them all about her adventures, but it would take too much explaining. ‘What about you two?’

‘I’ve never seen a ghost,’ said Kate. ‘In fact I only joined this group to keep an eye on Alex. Sometimes he lets his hobbies take over his life.'

‘I’ve seen a ghost,’ said Mark. He was staring into the distance and he shivered. ‘It always freaks me out when I think about it.’

‘Tell me,’ said Caroline.

‘When I was little I used to visit my nan’s house. She lived in a big old house full of bedrooms and empty rooms that nobody ever went in.’ Mark shuddered and looked around him. ‘When I was about 6, I was running through the house and I went up the stairs. Standing in my nan’s room was a couple of kids dressed in old style clothing, you know, from the civil war or something. They laughed at me and then they just ran through the mirror in the room.’

Mark stopped when Joanne gripped his arm tightly.

‘Is she awake?’ asked Kate.

Caroline knelt beside her and examined her closely. ‘No. She’s still asleep.’

Mark winced as he prised Joanne’s fierce grip from his arm. ‘How the hell did she do that?’ he asked.

‘Harold J Stevens,’ whispered Joanne quietly.

‘Oh god, not again!’ said Kate. ‘Last time she said that everything went crazy.’

‘Now let’s all try and keep calm,’ said Caroline, trying to convince herself as well. ‘It’s just a name. It doesn’t mean anything.’

One of the candles began to flicker.

‘What do we do?’ asked Mark.

‘We do what the Doctor told us to do,’ said Caroline. ‘We get out of here.’

The candle flickered out just as a cold blast of air shot through the room. Unusual shadows seemed to be cast on the pale walls. The flames of the candles danced and jumped about; all the time threatening to extinguish themselves.

Caroline had broken out into a cold sweat as she watched the magical and eerie lights play before her eyes. They had to get out of here. They had to find the Doctor.

There was a heavy thump on the door.

‘Harold J Stevens,’ whispered Joanne again; still with her eyes closed.

Another thump. The three of them looked to Joanne.

‘Harold J Stevens.’

Another thump. A second candle flickered out leaving only two remaining.

‘Harold J Stevens.’

Kate darted across the room and pulled the wooden cross from the wall. She had never been much of a believer or in anyway religious, but this might protect them. She quickly scuttled back to Caroline and Mark.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ said Mark shakily.

Another thump on the old door.

Caroline grabbed one side of Joanne and Mark grabbed the other as they hefted the young girl to her feet. They edged towards the door as the third candle blew out. Time seemed to move so slowly as they stood beside the door that was now being hammered on at a regular beat. Joanne had begun to pant and sweat and she was having another fit.

Caroline extended her hand towards the door. She placed her hand firmly around the cool brass handle and flung the door open.

The last candle went out; the room was in darkness; the silhouette was there again, standing big and dark. Kate held out the cross and the three of them, half-carrying, half-dragging Joanne, ran for the door.

Caroline closed her eyes as she passed the figure and didn’t open them until they had gotten far away.




After a minute of running they collapsed to the ground. Caroline’s heart was pounding faster than it had ever done before and she could feel a headache coming on. Daring at last to open her eyes, she looked around. Mark was also lying on the ground with the now-calmer Joanne lying across his top half.

Kate - where was Kate?

Caroline looked around her in panic. Kate was nowhere to be seen. She looked back towards the area where the chapel had stood - nothing. She had simply vanished.




On the other side of the prison ground, the Doctor was blissfully unaware of what had gone on back at the chapel. He, Tom and Alex where busy shining their torches around and looking for any sign of Danny.

‘So, Tom,’ began the Doctor, ‘you don’t seem like the kind of person who’d be into all this ghost hunting stuff. What made you want to join?’

‘I didn’t join,’ said Tom, ‘I actually formed the group.’

‘But why?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Get Alex to tell you,’ said Tom as he walked off in the other direction.

The Doctor stopped and turned to Alex. ‘What’s wrong with him?’

Alex sighed and sat down on the dry grass. ‘About two years ago his girlfriend was killed. It was an accident and it happened in his flat. He never really said what had happened; something about him not fixing a gas leak. He never forgave himself. He began getting into all this weird occult stuff; wanting to bring her ghost up so he could talk with her.’

‘And did it work?’

‘He says it did, but he never speaks about it. He’s just so closed off from everyone.’

‘I’m sorry to hear all this, Alex, but unless others have hard evidence that this actually happened…well, there’s nothing to say it’s true. It could all be a part of Tom’s broken mind. I’m still finding it very hard to believe that ghosts and ghosts only are responsible for these things happening.’

‘I know that.’ Alex kicked at a stone. ‘But he’s that hell-bent on trying to track down ghosts…well, sometimes I wonder what he’s going to do next.’

The Doctor sighed. ‘Tom needs to be shown the way. I just thought you were all here to investigate.’

‘The rest of us are,’ said Alex sadly. ‘Me and Joanne are here because we are genuinely interested, Mark’s here because he had a few hauntings when he was little, and Kate is here…well, Kate’s here to keep an eye on me.’

‘Doctor!’ came Tom’s voice from the distance.

The Doctor and Alex looked around. ‘Where are you Tom?’

‘I’m over by the cemetery. I think you should look at this.’




Kate was huddled in the corner and had never felt more alone or afraid. She could hear movement in the room, but she didn’t dare speak, open her eyes or even breathe. She just hoped the thing would go away. She was still clutching the cross tightly in her hand, but she never believed anyway, and without faith there was nothing to save her.

Suddenly she heard the door bang shut and her grip loosened on the cross. She dared to open her eyes. The door was closed but the candles hadn’t come back on. She slowly got to her feet and looked around the room. No sign of Caroline, Mark or Joanne, but nothing else had been disturbed.

She crossed to one of the windows and looked out. There was no sign of anybody and the place was still in darkness.

She winced in pain when she felt a sharp sting in her chest. The pain was sucking the very breath out of her and she dared to look down - and almost fell over in shock. The wooden cross was sticking out of her chest and had been pushed in about 2 inches. She gasped in pain and collapsed to the ground, falling beside something warm and red - her own blood. And written in her blood were the words that had started this whole nightmare.

As her last seconds of life bled away she read the words: “Harold J Stevens.”

The Fear Factor, Chapter 4

Mark, Alex, Joanne and Kate were sat in the chapel. The walls were a mucky white colour and bare. Nailed to the cracked wall was an old wooden cross which, Kate was sure, contained woodworm. The camp beds and covers had been brought from the van by Mark and Alex.

Alex was stood beside one of the windows, looking out into the blackness, when his eyes widened. ‘Tom’s coming back, and he’s got someone with him!’

‘What?’ asked Joanne. ‘Do they look like ghosts?’

‘Don’t be daft,’ said Kate, crossing over to join Alex by the window.

‘It’s too dark to make out. There’s three of them,’ said Alex, peering into the darkness.

The others all backed away from the door when it opened with a loud creak and Tom marched in.

The first person was a woman with dark hair. She had a very natural prettiness to her and her eyes looked around the room nervously. The second person was a man, about the same age as the woman. He had short, slightly gelled-up hair. His jeans had mud stains on them and he looked a little annoyed. The final stranger was much older than the first two. He was tall, thin and had a shiny bald head. He wore a long black coat, black trousers, white shirt and a blue waistcoat. His pointed, cat-like face was looking around the entire room as if trying to soak in all the details.

‘And who are these people?’ asked Kate with her arms folded.

Tom flopped down on one of the camp beds in the corner of the room. ‘I found them creeping about outside.’

‘We weren’t creeping! And there was no need to knock me to the ground like that!’ protested Danny.

‘No, indeed. We were simply having a look around the place,’ continued the Doctor.

‘They’re all British,’ said Alex.

Tom was now engrossed in a magazine. ‘They seem harmless enough,’ he mumbled dismissively.

‘It still doesn’t explain what they’re doing here,’ protested Kate. ‘They could be dangerous.’

‘We’re not dangerous,’ said the Doctor. ‘And I could ask you the same question. What are you doing here?’

‘Ghost hunting,’ said Mark excitedly.

‘Ghost hunting?’ queried Danny. ‘Oh, well then, you’ll be at home with the Doctor and Caroline.’

‘You’re hunting too?’ asked Joanne.

‘Well, in a way we are,’ said the Doctor. ‘Caroline here wanted to do some investigating and we found out about this place.’

‘We didn’t hear a car driving up,’ said Alex suspiciously. ‘Even this far away from the gates we would have heard some kind of noise.’

The Doctor hesitated. ‘We…we walked.’

‘A long way from the nearest town, isn’t it?’ asked Tom.

‘Does it really matter?’ said Caroline quickly. ‘The point is, we all seem to be here for the same reasons.’

‘I think we should all have a sit down and talk about this. It’s best that we settle things now and get to know each other’

‘Suits me fine,’ said Mark, who had managed to keep his cheery disposition.

‘Whatever,’ said Alex. ‘But I don’t want you three ruining this investigation.’

A loud crashing sound interrupted the Doctor and made the group freeze where they stood.

‘What was that?’ asked Caroline.

‘It sounded like it came from outside,’ said Danny.

‘And in the distance as well,’ added the Doctor.

‘The van!’ shouted Tom, jumping up from the camp bed, throwing the magazine to the floor, grabbing his coat and torch and bolting for the door.

The Doctor watched Tom head into the darkness and stopped the others. ‘You come with me,’ he said, pointing to Alex. ‘The others, stay here.’

Alex was gob-smacked. ‘Now wait just a-’

‘Fine! Stay here then,’ said the Doctor as he headed for the outside.

Alex grumbled angrily and then chased after the mysterious man.




Tom had already reached the gate and yanked the hefty metal doors open. He was expecting to see his trusty white van, but instead he found nothing. The van had mysteriously disappeared and an empty space was where it had once been.

Tom looked around him, confused, when the Doctor appeared with Alex.

‘Where’s the van?’ asked Alex.

‘I don’t know,’ said Tom quietly.

‘What do you mean you don’t know?’ asked Alex. ‘You left it here. Did you leave the keys in the ignition.’

‘Oh, don’t be an idiot, Alex,’ said Tom angrily.

‘Where you followed here?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Not as far as I’m aware, but…’

‘But what?’ asked the Doctor, trying to look Tom in the eyes.

‘Well the others swear this gate was locked when we arrived. Then we heard a clanking noise and it was open.’

‘Kate told you!’ spat Alex.

‘I don’t believe you,’ said Tom, throwing his arms in the air. ‘You agreed with me that it must have been already open.’

The Doctor rolled his eyes and raised his voice. ‘Arguing will get us nowhere. I think it’s best if we all head back to the chapel and make sure the grounds are safe and secure. It’s obvious someone is playing a joke with you, and it’s plainly obvious that there is someone else out there.’

Tom and Alex looked nervously around them. The wind was picking up now and the noise of the rustling trees was getting louder.

‘We better get back to the others,’ said Alex quickly.

As the three of them turned, a chilling scream came from back towards the chapel. The three men looked at each other, the same thoughts running through their minds, and then they quickly sprinted back in the direction of the chapel.




‘Who is Harold J Stevens? Who is Harold J Stevens? Who is Harold J Stevens?’

‘Be quiet, Joanne,’ said Mark, who was fighting back the tears.

‘Who is Harold J Stevens?’ asked Joanne again.

‘What’s wrong with her,’ said Caroline anxiously. ‘Who’s Harold J Stevens?’

‘Don’t you start,’ said Kate, who was now warily perched on one of the camp beds in the corner of the room.

‘Where’s Danny?’ asked Caroline. ‘Where the hells he gone?’

The door was swinging open, banging in the wind and Danny was nowhere to be seen.

‘It’s too dark in here,’ sobbed Mark. ‘What’s wrong with her?’

‘Who is Harold J Stevens?’ asked Joanne again. Her eyes were white and full of fear.

The Doctor, Tom and Alex had only been gone for a few minutes when the candles had blown out and the wind had knocked the door open. Joanne had screamed and by the time Mark had fiddled around with finding a torch, Danny had disappeared and Joanne had gone into some kind of fit.

‘What’s going on?’ asked the Doctor as he and the other two burst into the darkened chapel.

‘She just started rambling,” said Caroline, “and then Danny disappeared.’




Out in the darkness Danny was walking across the prison grounds. He was wearing no coat and seemed defiant against the blowing wind. He had one purpose in mind and listened to the voice within his head.

Find it Danny. Find the object of which I seek.

‘I’m looking, I’m looking,’ said Danny. He wasn’t going to let this thing order him about.

It’s for your own good.

Danny located a small brick building and pushed open the iron door. Musty air got up his nostrils and he sneezed. Giving a final look around him he stepped into the doorway and shut the door.




In the chapel, Joanne was still shaking and mumbling. Her pupils were dilated and she was shaking violently.

‘Can you help her?’ asked Mark.

‘I could if I knew what was wrong with her,’ said the Doctor desperately.

‘What happened outside?’ asked Caroline.

‘Our friends’ van has gone.’

‘What!’ exclaimed Kate. She grabbed Alex and looked up into his eyes. ‘I knew this was a mistake.’

Suddenly the door was flung open again. A shape was silhouetted in the moonlight.

‘Whose that?’ asked Tom. ‘Speak up!’

‘Harold J Stevens,’ came the whispering voice of the figure. The door slammed shut again and the candles magically flickered back on. Joanne was unconscious and the wind had died down.

The Doctor looked at Caroline and then walked slowly to the door.

‘Don’t open it,’ said Caroline.

The Doctor looked back at her, grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.

The Fear Factor, Chapter 3

The sky was dark and the thunder clouds were rolling in. What was left of the summer-like evening had been replaced by eerie, deep darkness. The wind rustled around the tree’s that surrounded the walls of the prison and the grey, stone walls stood out like something alien amidst the thick forest.

Soon there came the sound of a vans engine. Through the trees and on the narrow roadway two headlights shone out.

The white van came to a halt outside the prison gates and Kate looked out of the window. ‘God, this place looks a bit dodgy.’

‘The pictures don’t lie, do they?’ gulped Mark nervously.

‘Come on guys,’ said Alex, getting out of the van, ‘don’t chicken out on me now.’

Tom clambered out of the drivers seat and slammed his door shut. ‘I don’t want anybody getting scared.’

‘I thought being scared was what we were doing this for,’ said Joanne.

The others looked blankly at her.

‘Y’know? The thrill of being scared?’

‘I’m not scared of anything,’ said Tom.

Kate shook her head and crossed over to Alex. ‘He needs his head sorting out.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Alex.

‘It needs reducing in size.’

Alex rolled his eyes and locked up the van as the group walked over to the large iron gates.

‘Anyone got any keys?’ asked Mark.

Kate put her hands on her hips and laughed out loud. ‘The ghostbusters do it again! We can’t even get in the damn place.’

‘We go over the wall,’ said Tom blankly.

‘You’re joking! That wall was built to keep prisoners from getting out, how the hell are we gonna get in?’ She pointed to the top of the wall. ‘Look – it’s even got razor-sharp barbed wire.’

Tom looked angrily to Alex. ‘You should have thought about this.’

‘Hey, don’t blame me, Tom!’ protested Alex. ‘We all should have thought about this.’

‘So do we go back?’ asked Mark. ‘I don’t fancy camping out in these woods.’

‘No,’ said Tom. ‘I’m going into that town we passed. We can get some crowbars or bolt croppers or something; force the gates open.’

‘And get done for criminal damage?’ said Joanne, raising her eyebrows.

Tom was about to raise his voice to her when there came a mechanical scraping from the gate. The five of them went silent. The sound was coming from the actual lock. After a few seconds the sound stopped with a clunk.

Alex stepped forwards and pushed the gate. It opened a little way.

‘Looks like it was open all along.’

‘Don’t be daft,’ said Kate. ‘That gate was locked when we got here. Someone opened it from the inside.’

‘Hello?’ called out Alex. There was no reply. ‘You see. It must have been open. And if there was someone on the other side then they would have popped there head out and said hello.’

‘Does it matter?’ asked Tom, pushing in front of them all. ‘We’re here now and we best get in before we get locked out again.’

Tom and Alex slipped around the gate. Mark and Joanne looked nervously around at Kate.

‘Any problems and you’ll back me up, won’t you?’ asked Kate.

‘Of course,’ said Joanne. ‘We all know what Tom can be like.’

Kate smiled at the couple and they followed the other two inside the prison walls.




Searching eyes watched the teenagers, concealed in the trees nearby.




The prison grounds were in darkness. Back before the place had been closed, floodlights would have lit the place up, but now the darkness was all that remained.

Alex got the large torch from out of his rucksack and switched it on. The beam lit up a little pool of light in front of them.

Alex moved it around. ‘Looks like that’s the main building over there,’ he said, indicating a dimly lit building.

‘Well we’re not staying in there,’ said Joanne. ‘To be honest I’d prefer to sleep in the van.’

Tom looked back at her. ‘We have the camper beds. We’ll just find the chapel and set up camp in there.’

‘The chapel?’ asked Kate.

‘Yeah,’ continued Alex. ‘These places always had a chapel - a safe house - for the prisoners to go for religious reasons.’

‘I bet they didn’t get much chance to go there,’ said Mark gloomily. ‘Not with the way they treat the prisoners.’

‘Never the less,’ said Tom, ‘it should be a safe place should any of our ghostly friends get up to their tricks.’

Kate shivered in the wind and looked around her. ‘Well can we get there now, please. It’s getting cold and I don’t like being out here.’

Tom leant in to Alex. ‘Shut her up, Alex. She’s starting to really get to me now.’

Tom took the torch from Alex and wandered off into the darkness. Alex frowned and motioned for the others to follow.




In the TARDIS console room the Doctor, Caroline and Danny were gathered around the console. The Doctor flicked a switch and the scanner switched on.

‘Can’t see much,’ said Danny. ‘Is that thing on the blink again?’

‘Don’t be silly,’ said the Doctor, ‘it’s just dark out there.’

‘But is it safe?’ asked Caroline.

‘Caroline, it’s one of the most haunted places in America. Apart from that, it’s safe.’

Danny crossed the room and took three torches from a large oak chest. He handed one to the Doctor, one to Caroline and took the third for himself.

‘I didn’t think you’d be the type to actually believe in ghosts and stuff like that,’ said Caroline.

‘I show a keen interest in all things unexplained. I might not believe in ghosts with clanking chains and white sheets, but I certainly believe their to be something that causes these manifestations.’

‘Imaginations,’ said Danny with a laugh.

‘I suggest you two put some coats on. It’s a summer night but the wind has reduced the temperature somewhat.’

After they were kitted out in their coats, the Doctor opened the double doors and they stepped out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor locked up the TARDIS doors and then joined his companions.

‘It’s a bit bleak,’ said Danny.

The three travellers shone the torches around. The TARDIS appeared to have landed next to one of the large walls on the inside of the grounds and over in the distance was a huddle of buildings surrounding a larger one.

‘That looks like the main building,’ said the Doctor, aiming his torch in the direction of the big building.

‘It looks a bit gloomy,’ said Caroline, pulling her coat tighter around her. ‘Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea.’

Danny winced.

‘You okay Danny?’ asked the Doctor.

Danny suddenly snapped back again. ‘What? Yes of course. Let’s go.’ And with that he strode off into the darkness, shining his torch ahead of him.

‘What‘s up with him?’ muttered Caroline.

‘Come on,’ said the Doctor, taking Caroline’s hand, ‘we’d better follow him.’

Danny had already gotten halfway across the grass covered grounds when the Doctor and Caroline caught up with him.

‘Slow down,’ said the Doctor. ‘There’s no rush.’

‘Doctor!’ said Caroline, gripping his arm. ‘There’s a light over there.’

The Doctor and Danny turned to where Caroline was pointing. In the darkness there appeared to be two windows with a dim light coming from them.

‘I don’t like the look of that,’ said Caroline.

‘It’s signs of life,’ said the Doctor. ‘That’s better than signs of death.’

‘And it’ll be a lot warmer in there,’ said Danny.

‘Yeah, but suppose it’s the...you know?’

‘The what?’ asked the Doctor.

‘What if it’s the ghosts?’

The Doctor and Danny burst out laughing. ‘Of course it’s not ghosts,’ said the Doctor. ‘Why would ghosts want to light up a room?’

‘To tempt us in?’ suggested Caroline.

The Doctor laughed again. ‘Come on, let’s go and see who’s at home.’

The two of them had almost reached the building when a sound came to the far right of them.

‘What was that?’ asked Caroline.

‘It sounds like rustling trees,’ said the Doctor, dismissing the thought.

The sound came again.

‘But there are no trees in the prison grounds,’ said Caroline.

The Doctor looked at Danny. ‘Well then, perhaps we better take a look.’

The three travellers changed direction and slowly walked towards a five foot wall with an opening to allow people to walk through. The Doctor shone his torch beyond the wall and it lit up a small, white cross. He shone his torch around, revealing more crosses. A few rows of them in fact.

‘Relax everybody, it’s just the prison cemetery.’

‘Cemetery?’ asked Caroline.

‘Yes, well they had to have somewhere to put the executed ones.’

‘Why not just send them back to the families?’ said Caroline.

‘Some of their families had no doubt disowned them. Some of them probably didn’t have any family to speak of.’

The rustling sound came again. The Doctor leaned forward to look at the cross more closely, but was distracted when he heard Danny yell behind them.

The Fear Factor, Chapter 2

‘So we’re going?’ asked Kate.

‘Yeah,’ said Alex ecstatically. ‘Tom said he wasn’t as convinced as me, but as long as we’re back before Monday - before he has to be at work - than we’re okay to go there.’

‘Monday!’ blurted out Kate, rising from the bed suddenly. ‘Your parents are back on Monday!’

‘Yeah,’ said Alex patronisingly, ‘and we’ll be back on Sunday evening. Relax.’

She fell back onto the bed and folded her arms. ‘Tom has weird reasons for being in this ghost hunt. Sometimes it seems as if he hates it.’ She sighed and turned her head to face Alex. ‘Anyway I’m not going.’

Alex laughed and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Don’t be silly. Tom has his reasons for being in the group and you’re as much a part of the group as I am.’

‘Come off it, Alex,’ scoffed Kate. ‘I’m not here for fun; I’m here to keep an eye on you. Make sure you don’t get hurt.’

‘Yeah, but surely you’ve got some kind of interest in it all?’ he said, putting an affectionate arm around her.

‘It terrifies me.’

Alex sighed and got up from the bed. ‘I’ll go make us some breakfast and then we can discuss it.’

‘When are you leaving?’ she asked.

‘This morning. We’re gonna head down that way for lunch and set up camp there or outside the prison over night and then come back tomorrow.’

Kate shook her head. She was so frustrated with Alex. She loved him so much and the thought of losing him made her feel numb.

She laughed to herself. Was she just being stupid? What could possibly happen to him? During the months that this odd little ghost hunting group had been formed, Alex, Tom and the others had failed to find anything of any significant interest. A few bangs here and a few creaks there didn‘t make a ghost. There was nothing out there, she tried to convince herself. Nothing out there and nothing to be worried about. She watched him leave the room and then the worries set in once again.




Caroline coughed, spluttered and stepped down from the ladder.

‘Problems?’ asked the Doctor from further down the huge bookshelf.

‘Not problems, Doctor. Just a lot of dust.’

‘Ah yes,’ said the Doctor, wheeling his ladders over to her. ‘I’m afraid these books don’t always get the spring cleaning they deserve.’

He dusted one of the books down and then placed it back on the shelf. Just as he turned to carry on talking to Caroline, a book slammed down from a high shelf and whacked the Doctor on the top of his head.

‘Oww!’ he shouted, and then looked up. ‘That book just fell on it’s own.’

Caroline smiled and picked the book up. ‘Looks like the TARDIS is trying to tell you something.’

The Doctor rubbed his head and smiled to himself. Then he took the book from Caroline.

‘She’s found the right one anyway. Picked it up from WH Smith a while back,’ he said, opening the pages. ‘Ah, yes. This is the best book on the subject. It lists all the best haunted places around Earth. I swear I’ve got “The Best Haunted Locations In The Universe” somewhere,’ he said glancing around him.

Caroline drew his attention back to the book. ‘That’s all very well, Doctor, but there’s nothing like a good old fashioned haunted house - on Earth.’

‘Sherman prison!’ said the Doctor excitedly, almost dropping the book.

Caroline frowned. He was looking at one of the pages and was engrossed in the contents. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Sherman prison,’ he repeated as if she should know what he was talking about. He soon realised she didn’t. ‘Go and get Danny up here. I’ve found the perfect place for us to take a look at.’




Tom’s large, white van pulled up outside Alex’s parents house and he beeped his horn. Sat in the back, amongst the work tools and sand bags, was Mark and Joanne. They were squashed in with all their equipment and travel bags.

Presently Kate and Alex left the house and headed for Tom’s van. Alex clambered in the passenger seat next to Tom, and Kate took their own bags to the back doors and hopped in, mumbling in annoyance at having to sit amongst the cement and sand.

‘Sorry about the mess,’ Tom called back, ‘I haven’t had chance to clear up my work stuff.’ He leant in closer to Alex and whispered, ‘I thought you said she wasn’t coming.’

Alex looked back at Kate and then to Tom. ‘She wasn’t gonna come, but I convinced her.’

Tom started up the engine and sighed. ‘If she complains again, I’ll lock her up in one of those prison cells.’

‘She’ll be fine,’ said Alex. He knew Tom had a temper and Kate would most likely help it to flare up.

The van sped off down the road and began it’s journey towards Sherman prison.

It was almost 5pm when the van drove onto the forest road that led towards the prison. The light was still good but the sun was casting an early evening orange glow on the tree’s. Soon the van stopped and they all clambered out. Mark stretched his arms above his head and yawned.

‘It’ll be getting dark soon,’ said Joanne, looking around her wearily. ‘I don’t fancy staying in this forest.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Alex, ‘we’ll get to the prison soon.’

‘Good, cos I’m not staying here. I’ve seen what happens if you stay in a forest at night. We‘ve all seen the Blair Witch Project.’

Mark laughed and gave Joanne an affectionate cuddle. ‘I’ll protect you from the ghoulies.’

‘Okay everyone, have we all stretched our legs?’ asked Tom from the drivers seat.

‘I think so,’ said Alex.

‘Good. Get back in and we can be on our way.’

‘We’ve only just got out!’ complained Kate.

‘Don’t antagonise him,’ warned Alex. ‘The sooner we get there, the more time we’ll have to rest.’

They all filed back into the van and it set out on the last leg of the journey.

‘You feeling alright, Kate?’ asked Joanne.

‘Yeah,’ said Kate gloomily. ‘I just wish I’d have stood firm and decided not to come on this trip. We’re too far from home.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ said Mark. ‘Tom and Alex know what we’re doing.’

‘Oh, I’m sure those two will keep us under control,’ said Kate sarcastically.

Tom’s head snapped around at an odd angle and he looked directly into her eyes. Then he turned back and returned to his driving.

The others hadn’t noticed and Kate felt a chill run up her spine.




“The last prisoner to be executed in Sherman prison was Sam Capewood of New Jersey. He was convicted of murdering a prostitute in the winter of 1975. Like most prisoners that were hustled away to Sherman, he was kept waiting for his inevitable death. He was badly tortured, and by the time he was executed in the electric chair, he was already more or less in a vegetable state.

The remaining prisoners were saved from terrible fates when the authorities discovered what was going on and closed the building down. The building remained empty for many years. Most of the torture chambers were cleaned up, but the graves in the prison cemetery remained, inhabited with the corpses. The land has been up for sale for many years, but so far buyers have either given the place a wide berth or been scared away by stories surrounding the place.”

‘Coming to the interesting bit now?’ asked Caroline.

The Doctor looked up from the book and smiled. “It is said that Sherman prison has the biggest number of haunting’s due to the sheer amount of men that were tortured and killed there. A proper investigation has never been set up due to the danger of visiting the place. This does not, however, stop irresponsible kids from attempting to investigate the place themselves. One such harrowing case was the story of Alex-”

‘Okay, no more,’ said Danny. ‘If we’re gonna go and visit this place then let’s get there and stop reading about it.’

‘You’re right,’ smiled the Doctor. ‘Let’s go and have some fun. Anyway, I’m sure the name Sherman prison rings a bell from somewhere.’

The Fear Factor, Chapter 1

The object blazed across the night sky, like a meteorite burning up in the atmosphere. It landed with a huge explosion in a clearing in a forest, leaving a huge crater around it.

From the smoke and flame a man walked up from the crater, his eyes flitting around, looking for any signs to identify where he was.

And then he collapsed to the ground in agony, his eyes flickering as if he was having a seizure. He gasped for air.

Before he was so certain of what he was there for, but now…now he had forgotten. He had forgotten who he was and what he was doing here.



Time passed…A lot of time passed…



The place was dark. The air was musty and visibility was low. It was as if the light had been banished from the building and silence hung over the place.

There was a sound and a shaft of light poured in. Voices could be heard in the distance. Someone was in the building.

And the building listened.

‘And here we have the main entrance corridor,’ said the stocky estate agent.

‘Are there no lights?’ asked the short man with brown curly hair.

‘I’m afraid not, Mr Dodds. This place doesn’t seem to like the light.’ He looked around nervously.

Another man entered through the door. He was tall, young and had short blonde hair. ‘It doesn’t look like much.’

‘Of course not, Mr Feathers, but no doubt you have plans to change all of that?’

‘I’ll be honest with you,’ said Mr Dodds, ‘we don’t want the building, we just want the land.’

‘I understand that,’ said the estate agent, ‘but I would be careful when talking about demolishing this place.’

‘And why’s that?’ asked Dodds.

‘It might not be that easy.’

Feathers laughed. ‘You don’t mean to say that the locals want this place kept?’

‘No, no Mr Feathers. Quite the opposite in fact. They can’t wait to have this place knocked down.’

‘Then why would we have any problems? It seems to me we’d be doing everyone a favour,’ said Dodds, who was becoming a little impatient with the estate agent.

‘You just won’t find it easy, that’s all.’ He shivered and then looked at his clipboard. ‘Well I think it’s safe to say that you can have the property. If you’d like to sign the forms then I’ll release it to you.’ He seemed eager for them to accept.

‘It’s pretty cheap,’ said Feathers, who had begun to wander further in the dark corridor.

‘Well that’s because no other fool would buy it,’ laughed the estate agent.

Dodds and Feathers didn’t laugh back. Dodds, because he hated jokes, and Feathers because, well… Feathers had wandered into the darkness.

‘Don’t go too far, Mike,’ said Dodds. ‘Mike? Are you there?’

There was no reply. The estate agent looked around him nervously. He had a bad feeling about this.

Then the door slammed shut behind the men, cutting off the light.

The place was in darkness and everything and everyone was silent.




Alex sat alone in the darkened living room, his computer screen casting a blue-white glow on his face. His eyes were transfixed on something on the screen. It was a website and it displayed a long text, and above that was a picture of a gloomy looking prison.

Alex’s eyes took in every bit of writing on the screen, sucking up every piece of information available to him.

‘You coming to bed yet, Alex?’

Alex didn’t notice the voice. If anything he found himself getting more and more engrossed in what he was reading.

‘Alex?’

Alex finally noticed the nagging voice behind him and pulled his eyes away from computer screen. He looked around and standing in the door was a young girl with long brown hair that fell over her shoulders. She was leaning on the door frame.

‘Are you coming to bed yet?’ asked the girl.

‘Oh, Kate. I was just reading up on some stuff,’ he said indicating the screen.

‘And I’m sure it’s fascinating, but your parents have gone away and we finally have the house to ourselves for the night.’

He still remained sitting by the computer.

‘Alex!’

‘Yes,’ he said snapping back to reality. ‘Bed? Yes. Bed. Now.’

He closed his internet browser and shut down the computer. Then, giving a last look back at the powered-down machine, he followed Kate up the stairs.




Kate snuggled up to Alex whilst he looked up at the ceiling.

‘Your parents should go away more often,’ smiled Kate as she hugged him.

‘We’re nineteen years old, Kate. I’m sure our parents have accepted that we’re adults,’ said Alex fiddling with her hair.

‘You okay?’

‘What?’ He turned to her. ‘Oh, yeah. I’m just thinking about what I read online.’

Kate sighed, and lay on her back. ‘You are on that thing too much, you know? What’s so interesting online that could drag you away from a romantic evening with me?’

‘I was reading on that ghost website. It was about a place called Sherman prison.’

‘And where’s that?’ asked Kate, with her arms folded.

‘Only about an hour away. In a town called Little Gainsborough. Apparently there were these couple of guys with an estate agent. They wanted to buy the place, but two of them disappeared and one of them came back a gibbering wreck.’

‘And what’s so important to you about it?’

‘Well it’s a perfect place for us to go and investigate,’ said Alex sitting up and resting on his elbows.

‘Alex, I already told you that I’m not keen on all that ghost hunting stuff.’

‘I know, baby, but…well, it’s something for us to go and check out.’ Alex pulled the covers up over him. ‘I’ll speak to the others about it tomorrow.’

Kate sighed, turned over and then went to sleep.




The woman snuck around the door, looking carefully around her. Unbeknownst to her, the great, green, tentacle monster was right behind her. It was only when she heard the squelching of the things sucker-pad feet that she turned around.

The monster growled and barred it’s ten-inch sharp teeth.

The woman screamed and made a run for the other side of the room.

A tentacle lashed out and grabbed the woman around the throat. It drew her in and -




The screen went blank.

‘Doctor!’ said Caroline and Danny in unison.

The Doctor was standing beside the controls on the large TV set that had been set up in the console room.

‘Yes?’ he said innocently.

‘We were watching that,’ said Caroline, a little annoyed.

‘I’m sorry, but when you told me we were going to be watching-’ he picked up the video case, ‘- “The Aliens Invade” I assumed it would be about alien abductions and alien strategy. Not a horror fest of feeble minded monsters roaming an old English house and ripping limbs for no apparent reason.’

Danny rolled his eyes. ‘It’s a film, Doctor!’

‘Yes, and I abhor mindless and senseless violence. That was utter rubbish,’ he said, removing the video and putting it back in it’s case. ‘I’ve seen all I can take of it.’

Danny shook his head and picked up the video. ‘Never mind. Caroline and I can watch it some time when you’re not here.’

Caroline sighed and then perked up a little. ‘Hey, Doctor, you know what I’d like to see?’

‘What’s that?’ he asked as he sat next to them on the sofa.

‘A good old fashioned haunted house film.’ She grinned with delight.

‘Oh, so you’re into ghosts are you?’ asked the Doctor.

‘It’s a load of rubbish,’ said Danny. ‘There’s no such thing as ghosts.’

‘I used to think like that, Danny, but I’ve seen so much in my lives that I can’t even say the words “doesn’t exist” anymore. Let’s just say that these days I have an open mind.’

‘Yeah,’ said Caroline, rounding on Danny. ‘And what about the ones in Thornsby?’

‘They weren’t ghosts,’ said Danny, laughing. ‘They were dimensionally changed beings.’

‘I love how you think you know what that means,’ laughed Caroline.

The Doctor jumped up. ‘Come on, Caroline, let’s go and look up some ghost material.’

Danny watched them go, got up and then felt his head hurt again. And somewhere he could hear a voice. So very, very faint. Calling his name.

Danny…Danny…




Alex, Kate and four other people sat around the circular dining table. There was Joanne, a slightly plump girl with an affectionate grin and her boyfriend Mark, a tall young man with gold-rimmed glasses that somehow didn’t suit him. Then there was the head of the group; a tanned young man called Tom. He’d formed the group with Alex a few months back.

‘This meeting is open,’ said Alex, who was holding a notepad and pen.

Kate rolled her eyes and Alex shot her a glare.

‘Okay, Alex,’ began Tom, ‘we don’t usually meet on Fridays. Why are we meeting here today?’

Alex bit his lip and then cleared his throat. ‘I believe I’ve found somewhere for us to go and investigate.’

‘And it couldn’t wait until Monday?’ asked Mark.

‘No,’ said Alex, looking straight at Tom, ‘it couldn’t.’

Tom sighed. ‘Okay then. Give us the details.’

‘And keep them brief,’ warned Kate.

Joanne shook her head. ‘Anyone would think we didn’t want to be in this group. C’mon guys, let’s have a bit of fun.’

‘We can have fun on the days the group meet. Friday is my pay day and I want to be out there spending my money,’ complained Tom.

‘You’ll get to spend your money,’ said Alex, trying to sooth Tom’s already growing temper.

He picked up his notepad, which had some hastily written notes on it, and then handed them a computer printout. On the printout was a black and white photo of the rather gloomy looking prison. Around the building was a high wall.

‘Where’s this?’ asked Mark.

‘This place is Sherman prison.’ He looked at his notes. ‘It was closed in 1976 due to certain disturbing circumstances.’

‘Circumstances?’ queried Mark.

‘Yeah. Apparently the place was free from state or normal law. It was able to treat prisoners how it wished, and that's why the government sent the worst of the prisoners and convicts there. Of course when the public found out about it, it was closed down immediately.’

‘I’ve never heard of Sherman prison,’ said Tom, putting the picture down.

‘Well you’ve heard of it now. Anyway the point is this: lots and lots of prisoners were killed in this place and apparently there are lots of bad vibes going on there.’

‘Still not getting excited,’ said Tom. ‘I want haunted houses, scary graveyards....you know? Not a boring old prison. I want something I can get my teeth into.’

Alex sighed. ‘They said these two guys disappeared a few weeks back. One of them escaped but he’s gone delirious.’

Tom thought for a moment, his dark eyes unreadable. ‘Where is it?’

‘A couple of hours away from us. In the middle of a forest with only a few holiday cabins surrounding the area.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ said Tom. ‘I’m going out now, and I’ll give you a call tomorrow and let you know my decision.’

With an air of coolness Tom stood up and left Alex’s living dining room.

The rest of them looked at each other.

‘Bloody ghosts,’ grumbled Kate.