Day Six!

'You're not from Earth?' asked Beth, her eyes widening in disbelief.

'Well, no but some of my best friends are human,' he said cheerily.

'But you don't look alien' she persevered.

'Oh, aliens come in all shapes and sizes and some look, well, just like you and me,' replied the very human looking Doctor.

As they entered the kitchen, the cook was silently barking out orders as the maids and footmen busied themselves with their duties.

'The kitchen is the heart of the house, I always find,' said the Doctor. 'And more importantly, the best place to find - yah, here we go!' He carved two generous slices from a fruit cake that was still warm on top of the oven and handed one slab to Beth. They sat on stools in a corner of the busy room, watching the silent servants and tucking into the cake.

'The question is, why are you here?' wondered the Doctor, 'I can think of quite a few reasons why someone would want me out of the way for eternity, but why you?'

'I think it has something to do with this,' said Beth between bites, showing the Doctor the advent calendar. 'It used to belong to my grandma's great-grandmother. That's her in the picture.' Beth pointed to the baby in the photograph. 'And look. In this window...'

'Is me,' finished a puzzled-looking Doctor. He removed a pair of dark rimmed glasses from his breast pocket and perched them atop his nose. 'I see what you mean about the hair.'

Beth smiled as the Doctor tried to make light of the situation but she could sense his concern. He fished in his pockets and pulled out a long cylindrical object with a blue light at one end.

'I wonder what would happen if I did this...' The Doctor activated the device which emitted a whistling sound as the blue light lit up. 'Now that's interesting,' muttered the Doctor, engrossed in his experiment. Beth glanced around.

'Doctor,' she stammered.

'Oh, now aren't you a clever little thing?' he murmured, clearly distracted by the calendar.

'Doctor!' Beth half screamed, her chest tightening with fear.

The Doctor looked up and saw the maids advancing menacingly towards them; their arms outstretched, with pure white unseeing eyes. The Doctor eased Beth back into the corner as the servants' relentless advance continued. They were going to be torn limb from limb. Beth closed her eyes tight as the nearest maid reached towards her...

TO BE CONTINUED...