Doctor Who BBCN10 - The Nightmare of Black Island Read Free

from her eyes and shuffled over to where the Doctor was prodding at the console. ‘Don’t you ever sleep?’
    ‘Nah. Tried it once, didn’t like it. I prefer it when it’s quiet.’
    Rose gave a snort. ‘Yeah, right. Like it’s ever quiet with you.’ She nodded at the console. ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘It seems that you’re not the only one who was having nightmares.’
    He cocked his head to one side and peered at her. ‘Can you remember what your dream was about?’
    ‘Things. Creatures. . . ’
    ‘Creatures?’
    ‘Yeah, I was at the coast. Not a beach with sand, but lots of rocks. . .
    and a lighthouse. There was a storm. And a kid, a little boy who kept laughing. Then this thing came out of the sea, a big sea monster sort of thing, four arms, breathing fire. It killed a man, a fisherman, and it was starting to turn on me. . . ’
    The Doctor’s frown deepened. ‘Well, isn’t that strange.’
    Rose was puzzled. ‘Why? What’s up with that? It was just a dream, wasn’t it?’
    The Doctor nodded at the screen in front of him. ‘Seems like you and the TARDIS both had the same dream. We picked up some very odd readings while you were asleep. I’ve been tracing them back to their source.’
    Rose crossed to his side, peering over his shoulder. ‘Oh, my God!’
    On the screen was a long stretch of rocky coast, harsh and windswept. Out in the waves was a jagged lump of black rock, the long, slender shape of a lighthouse stabbing towards the heavy clouds.
    ‘That’s the place!’ Rose stared in disbelief. ‘That’s where I was in my dream!’
    8

    The Doctor looked up at her with a mysterious twinkle in his eyes.
    ‘And if the place is real, then the creature might be real as well. Shall we go and take a look?’
    Before Rose had a chance to answer the Doctor darted round the console, spinning wheels and pumping energetically at some of the TARDIS’s more jerry-rigged controls.
    With a grind of ancient engines, the TARDIS started to turn, and Rose realised with a thrill of terror that quite possibly she was about to confront the creature from her nightmare.
    9

    The moon gleamed fitfully through the long fingers of cloud that scudded across its face, sending sparkling highlights flickering over the foaming waves. The storm that had whipped the ocean into such a frenzy was far away now, the rumble of thunder just a distant boom over the hills, the lightning a faint glow occasionally illuminating the sky.
    A new sound joined the rhythmic hiss of waves on shingle, a rasping, grinding noise, rising and falling in pitch, building in volume until, with a loud thump, the TARDIS appeared from nowhere on the cliff top, incongruous among the windswept gorse.
    With a rattling of the latch, the door swung inwards and the Doctor stepped out into the cold night air, coat billowing in the wind. Rose emerged tentatively after him, looking around nervously.
    The Doctor spread his arms wide and took a long, deep breath.
    ‘Come on, Rose. Get a good lungful of that fresh sea air.’
    Rose pulled her parka tight around her. ‘You’ll get a great lungful of fresh sea water if you’re not careful. It’s freezing out here!’
    ‘It’s a bit fresh, I’ll admit.’ He twirled, fixing her with a piercing gaze. ‘Is this the place?’
    11

    Rose nodded, stepping closer to his side and shivering. ‘Yeah. It is.
    The same as I saw in my dream. It’s weird.’
    ‘Marvellous!’ The Doctor smiled happily, pulling the TARDIS key from his pocket and locking the police box door.
    Rose turned slowly around. Everything was horribly familiar. The tall, jagged cliffs, the brooding sky. Along the coast she could see the lights from the village, tucked into the curve of the bay, a tiny harbour jutting out into the cold grey sea.
    A noise made her jump, a long wail, drawn out and plaintive. On the next headland over she could see the lights of a lonely farmhouse, a trail of smoke whipped from its chimney by the driving