Chapter Text
chapter 1
Isobel was sleeping over at her best friend Amelia's house when he came. She didn't really like sleeping there because of the crack in Amelia's wall. It was really scary and sometimes they could hear voices. But it was still 10x better than her own house.
Isobel didn't think my parents even remembered she existed most days. They always bought enough food and clothes but they didn't really care about her the way parents should. Amelia's Aunt, Sharon, always told Isobel that she would be lucky to have her as a kid and that her parents didn't understand how lovely she was. Isobel knew Sharon was just saying it to make her feel better... not that it worked.
Anyway! Amelia decided she was going to try praying to Santa to fix the crack that night.
"Dear Santa. Thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you, but honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall. Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know it's not, because at night there's voices, so please, please, could you send someone to fix it?" She pleads "Or a policeman. Or a-"
She was abruptly cut off by a loud noise outside that made Isobel jump. They quickly ran downstairs to see what was going on.
Just before Amelia ran out she finished her conversation with Santa "Back in a moment."
As she did that Isobel looked out the window and whispered "thank you, Santa" There was a blue police box waiting for us.
The girls skidded to a stop outside in the garden, the doors to the police box- which was turned on its side- opened and someone threw out a grappling hook and a man climbed out. It was weird because police boxes aren't that big. Maybe the man was just really dramatic.
"Could I have an apple?" The stranger said "All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new. Never had cravings before."
'He's really weird' Isobel thought as he looked back into his box.
"Whoa. Look at that." He said.
"Are you okay?" Isobel asked him. He was sopping wet. She thought that Santa sent a strange elf this time.
"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."
'What? How can you fit a library inside of something so small?' Isobel was startled out of her thoughts when she heard Amelia's clear, Scottish accent.
"You're soaking wet."
"I was in the swimming pool." the elf said.
"You said you were in the library." Amelia reasoned.
"yeah" Isobel agreed " you cant have been in the swimming pool and the library. The books could fall in!" She cringed at the idea of wet books. they're supposed to be treated like your most prized possession. maybe she only thought that because they were her most prized possessions, but still.
"so was the library." the elf said, answering Amelia.
"are you a policeman?" Amelia asked. He did just jump out of a box labelled police but it's better to be safe than sorry.
"why?" He asked "did you call a policeman?"
Amelia decided we'd made enough small talk and secretly, Isobel was thankful for it. It meant Amelia could resume her role as the outgoing, confident, talkative little girl and Isobel could hide behind her, hoping no one asked her to speak. "Did you come about the crack in my wall?"
"What crack" he asked curiously before keeling in pain.
Isobel looked at him in serious concern while Amelia asked "Are you alright mister?"
The elf/policeman began to speak once more before being cut off by a groan of pain. afterwards, a golden mist escaped his mouth. entrancing Isobel, she almost reached out to touch it but it disappeared too quick.
Finally, she decided to ask the question aching to be said since she stepped foot in the garden that night "who are you?"
"I don't know yet, I'm still cooking." all his answer did was confuse the girls even more. 'Still cooking? He's older than we are and no one says were still cooking. Oh great, now I want a cookie.' He continued but Isobel didn't hear it, she was too busy thinking about cooking and cookies, she only managed to catch Amelia's reply.
"No, it just looks a bit weird"
"No no no, the crack on your wall," He clarified, "Does it scare you?"
"Yes" they said in unison. That thing was terrifying. It looked like some twisted smile. Always repeating the same thing.
'Prisoner 0 has escaped'
"Well then, no time to lose! I'm the Doctor, do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander off." The man- no Doctor says. Curiosity then got the better of Isobel and she started walking towards the box. It was such a pretty shade of blue, it made her want to stand there all night, taking in the slightly chipped paint, the ridges in the wood, the way it sits in the moonlight.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Isobel turned sharply in time to see the doctor stagger after walking into a tree.
"Are you all right?" Asked the red-head.
"Early days. Steering's a bit off." The Doctor explained, as if that made any sense.
As we walk into the kitchen, Isobel chucked the doctor an apple to satisfy his 'craving'. Then she rushed upstairs to grab a towel for him. She had to sprint past the door on the landing, its strange. Like there should be something there bit there isn't, and it made me feel funny.
Going into the bathroom, she grabbed the first towel she saw. A small, fluffy white hand towel that sat on a hanger by the sink. Suddenly Isobel was overcome with an overwhelming number of voices, drowning out the real world with their overlapping craze.
voices. so many voices.
'prisoner 0 has escaped'
'what's wrong with you?-'
'prisoner 0 has escaped'
'through some we saw silence'
'𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘮! 𝘤𝘰-𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳-'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'𝘴𝘩𝘩, 𝘴𝘩𝘩. 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯-'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵-'
'prisoner 0 has escaped'
'𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘓𝘶𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘴!'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘹'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'𝘣𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯?'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'prisoner 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0 𝘩𝘢𝘴…'
'𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 0'
'prisoner...'
tap, tap.
Isobel startled, turning around in the blink of an eye, she assumed a defensive stance, only to see it was just Amelia. Amelia, eyes concerned, began to bombard Isobel with questions.
"are you okay? what was that? do you want me to tell Aunt Sharon when she comes back? do you need to sit down? do you want some water? do you want to go home-"
"Amelia. Calm down, please. I'm fine" she said quickly, wanting to process her own thoughts about what had just happened before telling anyone else.
"Okay" Amelia responded "Lets go downstairs and forget about this"
Once they arrived in the kitchen Amelia turned on the stove and Isobel handed the doctor the towel she went up to fetch earlier. He thanked her with a small smile and turned to face Amelia, who was now cooking bacon.
Perched upon the table, Isobel began to swing her legs while waiting for Amelia to finish cooking. Though, honestly, why the Doctor couldn't do it was beyond her. The bacon took a while to cook and Isobel was easily bored so after only a few minutes, she leapt off of the kitchen table and paced around the floor in circles.
"Ah, bacon!" the doctor said before spitting it out " bacon. that's bacon. are you trying to poison me?
Next, Isobel got out a tin of baked beans and took over from Amelia cooking for the Doctor, who still seemed unable to do it himself. Isobel wasn't sure how to feel about him. Something inside her told her she was supposed to like him, but that was proving to be a difficult feat.
"Ah, you see? Beans." He said eagerly " beans are evil. bad, bad beans" His entire attitude changed once more but this time Isobel couldn't honestly say she blamed out him. Beans are evil.
Amelia got some bread from the cupboard and the doctor said "Bread and butter. Now you're talking."
The girls looked at each other, hoping he would like that meal, but he ended up chucking it out the front door and it landed on a poor cat.
"We've got some carrots." Amelia said; the girls were really desperate now.
"Carrots? Are you insane?" he looked at us incredulously, then made his way to the freezer "No. Wait. Hang on. I know what I need. I need, I need, I need fish fingers and custard."
Isobel got a tub of ice cream for Amelia and herself to share and they sat at the table. Me and Amelia on one side, the doctor on the other.
"funny" Amelia said, starting the conversation. Isobel thought this was confusing. Why would you just start a conversation by saying one word and not elaborate?
The Doctor seemed to understand though "Am I? Good. Funny's good. What's your name?"
" Amelia Pond." Amelia said.
"Isobel Jasmine Reed" Isobel responded in the same manner.
"Oh, those are brilliant names. Amelia Pond. Isobel Reed. Like names in a fairy tale. Are we in Scotland, Amelia, or England?"
"No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish."
"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now." The Doctor didn't realise the weight this subject has.
"She doesn't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt." Isobel said for Amelia. She knew this was a hard subject for Amelia.
The Doctor realised the significance in his words and tried to make Amelia feel better "I don't even have an aunt."
"You're lucky." She replied
"I know." He said with enthusiasm. Then his tone went more serious "So, your aunt, where is she?"
"She's out."
"And she left you all alone?" He addressed this solely to Amelia.
"were not scared." She replied, half defensively, half like she's trying to convince herself its true.
"Course, you're not. You're not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of a box, man eats fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?" He looked towards us, waiting for a response.
Isobel tilted her head as Amelia said "What?"
"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."
As they walked into Amelia's bedroom, the trio was greeted by the terrifying crack in the furthest wall from the door. The Doctor walked straight up to the crack and inspected it while Isobel and Amelia leaned against the doorway, Amelia with apple in hand.
"You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen." The Doctor said.
Amelia took the apple and gave it to the doctor saying "I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them." She had carved a smiley face out of the skin.
"She sounds good, your mum." The doctor tossed the apple in the air and caught it, "I'll keep it for later."
Isobel really wanted the crack fixed and all the others were doing was talking about apples so she spoke up, "Doctor, the wall."
"Yes!" He nodded, getting back on track, "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing. Where's the draught coming from?"
Out of his pocket, The Doctor pulled a weird silver thing with a blue glowey part at the end. He turned it on and waved it across the crack. It made a sort of high-pitched buzzing sound.
"Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey." He stated, "You know what the crack is?"
"What?" Isobel responded.
"It's a crack." He then paused, looking back to study the crack some more, "But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall."
huh? what did that mean? "Where is it then?" Amelia inquired.
"Everywhere. In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom." As he talked, he ran his finger across the crack, "Sometimes, can you hear...?"
"A voice?" Amelia asked.
Isobel continued her thought: "Yes."
An eerie sound came from the crack. Consequently, The Doctor walked over to Amelia's nightstand and emptied the water on to the floor. Then he placed it against the crack and placed his ear on the other side.
"Hey!" Isobel protested, "Someone's got to clean that up and something tells me its not going to be you."
Through the crack, the trio heard someone saying "Prisoner Zero has escaped."
"Prisoner Zero?" The Doctor repeated thoughtfully.
Then Amelia repeated the sentence too, "Prisoner Zero has escaped. That's what I heard."
"What does it mean?" Isobel asked nervously. That crack has been the source of far to much unease for her to neglect asking a meaning.
"Prisoner Zero has escaped." the thing on the other side repeated. Isobel was starting to wonder if that was all it could say. Certainly seemed like it.
"It means that on the other side of this wall," The Doctor answered my question, "there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner." He then turned from the wall to face me and Amelia "And you know what that means?"
"What?" we responded.
"You need a better wall." He stated bluntly. He moved Amelia's desk away from the wall with the crack and up against the window "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or..."
"What?" Isobel asked, disliking the way he trailed off when the girls believed they had a right to know; more so Amelia than herself, but still.
"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?" The doctor asked us.
"Yes." Amelia responded.
"Everything's going to be fine." He stated.
' oh great.' Isobel thought, 'not disconcerting at all(!)'
The Doctor then moved next to Amelia and took her hand, attempting to offer comfort. Amelia took Isobel's hand with her other one as the doctor had to use his glowey thing for something. He turned it on and the crack opened up.
"Prisoner Zero has escaped." The same voice called, though we were still unable to see what spoke, "Prisoner Zero has escaped."
"Hello?" The Doctor called, "Hello?"
A giant eyeball moved into view. It had a blue iris and was definitely not from Earth. Isobel thought it was awesome because it was obviously her first encounter with an alien, but also, it proved aliens are real. How cool is that?
"What's that?" Amelia asked The Doctor. The eye looked around the room for a few seconds longer before sending a ball of white light at the doctor before the crack closed.
"There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new." The Doctor exclaimed cheerfully.
"What's that thing?" Isobel asked excitedly.
Amelia, however, wasn't so enthusiastic about the situation and asked apprehensively: "Was that Prisoner Zero?"
"No." The Doctor replied, "I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard. Whatever it was, it sent me a message." The Doctor waved a black wallet at us, "Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message."
He then opened his wallet to read off of a piece of paper inside it, "Prisoner Zero has escaped. But why tell us? Unless..."
"Unless what?" Isobel asked. Seriously, did he not understand that trailing off like that was aggravating?
"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know." He seemed nervous. That did not bode well for us as he seemed to know what he was doing.
Following The Doctor as he sprinted out the room Amelia asked "Does he seem kind of nuts to you?"
"Yes," I exclaimed, "Isn't it wonderful?"
The Doctor stopped abruptly in the landing, spinning around to face us. "It's difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing. In the corner...of my eye." Isobel followed his gaze to see a room she never noticed before. That's funny.
A bell went off outside. Startled by the sudden noise, Isobel jumped slightly, knocking her out of her thoughts, and subsequently making her forget about the mysterious extra door. The Doctor franticly rushed back down the stairs and into the garden, screaming "No!" all the way.
As he raced through the garden, he shouted to the girls "I've got to get back in there. The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!"
Once the trio had stopped running and were back where they met, Amelia said, "But it's just a box. How can a box have engines?"
"It's not a box. It's a time machine." The Doctor responded.
"What, a real one?" Isobel asked in fascination, "You've got a real time machine?"
"Not for much longer if I can't get her stabilised. Five minute hop into the future should do it." The Doctor reasoned.
"Can we come?" Amelia asked him.
"Not safe in here. Not yet. Five minutes. Give me five minutes, I'll be right back." He explained. Isobel nodded at him dejectedly to show she understood that he couldn't take them, but was unable to hide my disappointment while doing so.
"People always say that." Amelia grumbled.
"Am I people? Do I even look like people? Trust me. I'm The Doctor." He didn't wait for anyone to answer his question and jumped back into his box with a final cry of "Geronimo!"
As soon as the girls saw the box disappear, we ran off to pack our bags for when The Doctor returned in 5 minutes. They raced outside with their woolly hats and winter coats over their pyjamas. They sat on their suitcases in the garden and waited.
And waited...