The Companion

~Harry’s POV~

Coming back to the studio in the morning and being aware of the fact that a feeding crack was in our midst made me feel a lot more preoccupied than I would have been if this were something that I actually understood in the way the Doctor did. As much as I tried to put it to the back of my mind, it just kept floating to the surface, doing its best to distract me what I was supposed to be doing.

“Harry? Harry? Are you alive in there?” said Julian, who was sitting outside the booth.

“What? Huh? Oh sorry,” I said, as I realised I’d gone into a bit of a trance state… again.

“I think you better take a break, Harry. You’re looking a bit off,” said someone else from the back of the room, though I couldn’t quite pick up who it was.

“No, I’m fine, I’ve got this,” I said.

“Harry, that’s the sixth time you’ve been distracted, at least,” said Julian

“I won’t let it happen again.”

“Come on, mate. You’re not looking well. Take a break, get a drink and we’ll let one of the other boys in,” said Julian.

I gave a sigh of defeat as I slouched out of the booth, running my hands through my hair. Why, why couldn’t I just pull myself together?

“I’m sorry, man,” I said to Julian.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve done some good work,” he said kindly before I left the studio and made my way down the hall slowly.

As I walked I became lost in my thoughts once again. Why was this happening here, why us? What was it that drew the cracks here and what exactly did they want, if anything but to consume? So the Doctor’s TARDIS exploded at some point, getting that. Kylie had filled me in on everything she knew. But what caused it? Why the shop and the studio specifically… and, of course, how do we fix it? It obviously wasn’t going to be easy considering the fact that it wasn’t a terrestrial anomaly but something far beyond the understanding of the human race. However, the fact that it posed a serious threat to so many people I cared about made me want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. I knew I had to trust the Doctor on this but I just wished he’d figure it out without running off all the time. I mean… with a mind like his surely he could…

“Holy shit!” I heard a shout from down the other end of the corridor where the sitting area was. I ran to the end and had to grab the doorframe to prevent myself from falling as I almost bolted past the room.

“What’s… oh no,” I said for my eyes were drawn straight to the couch against the wall where the cleaner had collapsed and what was more, the crack had opened and bright light was streaming from it. Thin tendrils of light had started to creep across the woman’s body engulfing her.

“Get back!” I shouted to the rest of the boys and they quickly obeyed orders all except Louis who was frozen on his spot on the end of the couch closest to the crack. “Louis! Move!” I yelled but he seemed to be in so much shock that he physically couldn’t.

“Louis, for fuck’s sake, get over here!” Niall yelled as he made to move towards him.

“No, don’t go near the light,” I said, grabbing Niall’s arm.

Louis seemed to finally come to his senses as the woman was almost fully consumed by the light. He jumped up and dashed across the room at top speed, trying to put as much space between the crack and himself as possible without leaving the room.

“Shit,” Niall whispered, next to me, watching on as the crack fed on the woman.

“What’s it doing?” said Liam.

“I… eating her,” I said, not being able to think of a better description of what was actually happening. The light flickered slightly and slowly began to fade, as did any trace of the woman who had collapsed on the carpet only moments before.

“What happened to her?” I asked.

“Happened to who?” said Louis.

“That woman… the cleaner lady,” I said.

“What are you talking about, Harry?” said Louis, frowning slightly.

“The woman that was on the ground just before,” I said, starting to get slightly frustrated.

“Mate, I think you’re a bit out of it. There wasn’t a woman on the floor,” said Liam.

“What do you…” but before I could finish my sentence I remembered something the Doctor had said the night before: “You weren’t a time traveler prior when the incident occurred but even if you were, it wouldn’t have changed things because she was part of your own personal timeline. It was your own history changing.”

“But why can I still remember?” I said, more to myself than the other boys.

“What are you on about?” said Niall.

“Of course, of course,” I said as I began to pace, the brainwave coming to me like a train of thought. “She wasn’t part of my timeline, somehow and because I’ve traveled with the Doctor I was able to remember her but the boys haven’t and so to them she was erased. But what does the traveling have to do with it? Why-“

“We’re still here, mate,” said Niall, grabbing my shoulder but not unkindly.

“Sorry, I…”

“Liam, Julian wants you to pop into the booth for a bit,” said one of the sound guys who had popped his head around the door.

“Sure, mate,” said Liam and as he walked out he looked back with a slightly concerned expression aimed in my direction.

“What was all that about, Harry?” said Louis, coming over from where he had been before the woman had disappeared. I assumed he was referring to my wild brainwave.

“Just… I was trying to make sense of…” I said, unsure of how to finish the sentence.

“Of what?” said Louis.

“Of… oh never mind,” I said, sighing. A bit of a heavy silence followed this as I brushed my hands through my hair once more.

“Hey, would you look at that. It’s glowing,” said Niall, pointing over to the wall. Just as he said this I caught a glimpse of the softly glowing light before it intensified again.

“Just when I thought it had had its fill,” I muttered, glaring at the crack.

“Curious,” said Niall, walking slowly towards it.

“Niall, don’t go near it,” I said, trying my best to stay calm.

“Relax, Harry,” said Niall, growing ever closer to the light.

“Please, Niall just get away from it!” I said, raising my voice but just as I said this the tendrils started to creep from the crack once more.

“Aren’t you interesting,” said Niall, reaching out to the ribbons of light and everything seemed to slow down. I knew what was about to happen before it actually did. Concentrating on the light more than anything else he wasn’t looking where he was going. His foot caught on the leg of the coffee table in between the two couches and he tripped.

“Shit, that hurt!” he said from the floor.

“Are you all right, mate?” said Louis, making to go and help Niall up but I grabbed him before he could.

“No, look,” I said, pointing at where Niall was, my voice shook slightly.

“What?” said Louis.

“The light is all ready taking him,” I said, a lump rising in my throat.

“What are you on about?”

“Look at him! Look at the light! It’s eating him!” I yelled, pulling at my hair, not knowing what to do.

“I feel weird,” said Niall, from the floor.

“Get away from it!” said Louis, suddenly realizing the danger.

“I can’t move, can I? My ankle’s busted!” Niall yelled right back.

“Help him, Harry! You know what this is all about!” Louis yelled.

“I can’t,” I said, weakly, feeling like even less of a man as my eyes grew watery.

“But you know about this!” he yelled.

“I don’t… I just know that… that…”

“What? What’s going to happen to him?”

“We won’t remember him,” I said, sniffing. “I can’t do anything.”

“Oi!” Niall yelled. I looked over and could see the fear in his eyes as the light began to obscure his figure. “What’s happening?” he whispered looking me straight in the eye.

“I… Niall, don’t worry. The Doctor will help,” I said.

“The Doctor? What’s he got to do with any of this?”

“Everything… trust me,” I said, a tear rolling down my cheek.

“You can’t just let it take me!”

“I wish I could do something, Niall I…” but before I could finish, the light consumed him and began to fade as it had done before.

“Arrrggh, I must remember!” I yelled. “I have to remember! I have to!” I got up and started pacing; concentrating every atom of my being on remembering Niall… the light was slowly fading… I couldn’t forget… it was getting darker… “I can’t forget!”

“Forget what?” said a voice from far away.

“I can’t I can’t… I can’t forget!”

“Harry?”

“No, I can’t I…”

“Oi!” and I felt a blow to my head.

“What was that for?” I yelled, looking up to see Louis with a hand raised, eyes widened.

“Sorry, mate but you were off your rocker. I had to snap you out of it,” he said looking guilty.

“What?” I said and was mildly surprised to find myself sitting on the couch.

“You were saying something about remembering… remembering what, exactly?”

“I… but I can’t remember.”

Notes