A Field Below [Open]

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Susan Foreman wasn’t what one would call “social.” On the contrary, she was quite content to live her life without anyone beside her, if only because she recognized that her mental state was decreasing rather rapidly. Her food had begun to take shapes, her Chinese waiter’s face had melted, and there was a buzzing in her ear and, when she scratched at it, hornets stung her fingers. But there were no stingers in her fingers, because there were no hornets, and her waiter’s face was perfectly normal except for the rather puzzled expression at her rather alarmed one, and her food was perfectly normal… at least, as far as Chinese went.

“Ma’am, we can call a cab for you…”

She looked up at him, blinking rapidly. His face was still slightly deformed, but it was returning to normal quickly. “No, I’m fine,” she said, taking the last gulp of her drink. The carbonation burned at her throat, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. “I’ve just a tough day,” she answered, pushing the money towards the waiter. He took it from her cautiously, checking if it was real before putting it in the billfold. It was a lie about her day, but she lied about a lot of things.

“Are you sure you can make it out of here?” the waiter asked, and Susan heard a silent without getting run over outside our restaurant tagged at the end. He opened his mouth to say more, but Susan stared up at him, her dark blue eyes beginning to lighten. He swallowed back down the words and nodded, handing her the fortune cookie and getting the hell out of dodge.

Trembling fingers went towards the package and she cracked it open. She pulled the slip of paper from the confines of the disgusting shell.

“Your life will get more and more exciting.”

“Gee, let me just contain my enthusiasm,” she said darkly, leaving the fortune cookie on the table as she stumbled out of the restaurant. The ground kept shifting and moving and she was certain that the cracks in the sidewalks were leaking with blood. She covered her ears, unsure if the deafening loud sound was coming from the regular hustle and bustle of London, or if it was the voices again.

Except they weren’t voices, they were memories. The screams, the Daleks, the Master’s evil laugh, the Jinn screeching at her, and her life falling apart. She didn’t mind so much that she was going crazy, but she wished she could do it without losing her mind. People were beginning to notice. It wasn’t a bad attitude plaguing the woman; it was her overwhelming loss of sanity.

“Just shut up!” she snapped, pressing her hands over her ears as she hurried down the sidewalk to get away from the blood beginning to stain her feet. She broke out into a run, ignoring the people asking if she was okay, or the cars screeching to a halt and slamming on their horns, or anything. She finally came to a stop in the park and curled up next to a tree.

She shut her eyes tightly and her fingers closed over her ears, pulling several strands of hair out roughly. “Just shut up, just shut up,”

[Deleted]

Raya was wandering around in the form of a long haired brown-grey tabby cat. Mainly as quick, easy way for her to avoid the usual gangs out there. Also, a way to get a break from her detective, she may adore the man, but she really needed to get outside every so often.

She was stepping lightly around in the bushes, playing with a rather unlucky field mouse. Letting it go after she had her fun, and walked around the large park. Things always seemed so different when she was in another form than normal.

Suddenly Raya's ears perked, hearing the sound of a woman crying out. Her instincts instantly telling her to check out the noise.

Following the sound, she cautiously stepped out of the bushes. Staring at the curled up woman, before sitting down about four feet from the poor girl. Her tail swishing against the grass as it moves from side to side.

[Deleted]

The ground was shaking tremendously. Except it wasn’t, and Susan knew that it couldn’t be, or she’d hear a lot more screaming. She bit her knee to choke back a sob. She had never cared before that she wasn’t exactly… all there, except she had but she could live, but now it was different. It was controlling her – the faces of her Asian waiters, the food on her plate flopping about and imitating worms, and… and she couldn’t remember where she was. Somewhere with trees and the ground was a violent green and it was shaking.

Susan curled up tighter, digging her claws into the ground. What little food she had managed to shove down was threatening to come back. Just stop! Just go away! she thought frantically, looking up finally. A cat stared at her. “Just shut up,” she snapped. The cat’s face seemed to widen and spread, splitting apart and Susan could see its heart. Her eyes widened at the creature, terrified by what others would consider ‘cute’. She looked back down. “Just go away. You can be happy now, I’m dying!”

Sure, maybe she was hallucinating a cat, and maybe she was suffering from a psychotic breakdown, and maybe she was going to die very soon. But that was all fine, because she couldn’t regenerate. (Except she wasn’t so sure now if it was a ‘couldn’t’ or a ‘wouldn’t’). And she wished, oh how she wished that death had happened sooner. That she had died as soon as the Doctor left her. She wouldn’t have worried about David and her son couldn’t have died because she hadn’t been born…

“My head,” she snapped, pressing it against the dirt. “Maybe an elephant will come and step on it,” Susan giggled.

[Deleted]

Raya laid down, rolling over to follow the girl's actions. Something was trouble this woman, but she wasn't sure what. What she did understand was that the girl was suicidal.

Raya decided it was her duty not to leave the poor woman alone. After all, she needed help, even if she didn't want it. She could at least stay with her until
She got better.

Raya tried not to do anything that would possibly upset the girl further. But she did mew quietly, as if trying to tell her that it was going to be alright.

[Deleted]

This hallucination was rather persistent. Normally once she slammed her head against something, her clarity was returned to her for a moment or two. She made sure not to hit herself where there would be noticeable bruises. The last thing she needed in the last few stages of her death was attention. So, she tried to be normal when she left her apartment. She checked the mail although she knew it was empty, she went out to eat although she hated food, and sometimes she went to Totter’s Lane to stare blankly at where the TARDIS once was. It never worked.

Everyone knew something was strange about the dark-haired young woman who lived with herself. Her neighbors could hear screaming, dishes breaking, and things being thrown. At first they suspected she was being abused by a boyfriend or a husband, because they never thought she was being abused by herself. After the blank stares and the ‘you should just leave him, honey’ conversations, Susan told them very bluntly that her husband had been murdered some time ago. There were no more conversations but plenty more blank stares after it. She continued hiding under her bed and screaming as she felt time.

“Just leave me alone!” she repeated, glaring up at the cat. The cat meowed, having rolled over. Susan’s lips twitched into a snarl and she leapt to her feet angrily. The world spun precariously beneath her, but she caught herself and took off in the general direction of her apartment. “Alone alone alone alone alone!” she snapped, stumbling over her own feet but she continued to hurry away from the stupid damnable cat.

[Deleted]

“Just leave me alone!” she repeated, glaring up at the cat. The cat meowed, having rolled over. Susan’s lips twitched into a snarl and she leapt to her feet angrily. The world spun precariously beneath her, but she caught herself and took off in the general direction of her apartment. “Alone alone alone alone alone!” she snapped, stumbling over her own feet but she continued to hurry away from the stupid damnable cat.

Raya quickly scrambled to her stomach, her tail flicking back and forth. This lady needed help, and Raya would've been very happy to help out. Only if the lady hadn't started running off. Well more like tried to run off, she was stumbling over her own feet.

Now Raya was forced into a choice, she could follow the poor woman. And try to help her out while she was in cat form, or she could go home, and deal with a certain detective telling her off for the mall incident.

She went with the first option.

Carefully, she followed the woman, deciding to try a different kind of cat. Since she seemed afraid of her current version. Perhaps if she tried a Russian Blue, maybe that might be less frightening, to her.

[Deleted]

Susan’s head was throbbing. The world was teetering around her, making her stumble and wobble as she tried to find the ground. Her chest tightened, her hearts sped, and she clutched at her chest, her breath coming out in gasps as she tried to hold off on death. She was dying. And it was about time, she figured, except now she wasn’t so sure she wanted to die. She continued running away from the cat. It was a stubborn hallucination, she’d give it that much. No matter how many times she shut her eyes and screamed and covered her ears, it was still there.

She covered her mouth, muffling a sob as she looked behind her. The cat seemed to expand and changed, and she thought she saw it melting. She shut her eyes again, stumbling as a car nearly hit her. When Susan looked back again, the cat was a different one. Almost a blue, but it wasn’t blue, not quite. “Stop!” she screamed, wheeling around and glaring at the cat. A power line above her snapped and shot out energy as it fell to the ground. She clenched her fists, fire hydrants bursting and the car alarms screeching.

“Stop following me!” Susan bared her teeth at the cat – a hallucination it had to be a hallucination it couldn’t be real – and people were beginning to stare at her because they knew, they knew because they had been sent for her. The power lines on the ground leapt forward, and Susan likened it to a snake, the way the humans stepped back as it lunged towards the crowd, to the puddle. “Just stop it. Just stop it,” she snapped as the line fell in the puddle, crackling hideously.

Susan turned on heels and ran in the general direction of her apartment. She nearly hit a few more cars – getting scraped in the back by one of the mirrors on one of them – but she continued on her teetering journey to ‘safety’. But what was waiting for her there? If those people in the streets knew, if the cat knew, if the ground knew, if the air knew, if the sky knew, if she knew, if the waiter with the melting face knew, then who knew who else knew? Time knew.

Timeknewanditwouldn’tstopitwouldn’tstopwouldn’tst

Her hands and knees scraped the pavement as she fell near an alley. She retched, the bile golden and black. Susan coughed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She pulled her knees tightly against her chest, her fingers digging at her scalp. “I never wanted to be like this,” she whispered against her legs. “Shut up, Susan! I don’t care what you want,” she growled to herself, her shoulders twitching as her teeth dug into her knees.

“Arkytior,” she whispered again. Her eyes flashed the pale blue-white again and she growled and bit her leg, pulling back harshly. A small chunk of her flesh came off between her teeth, her blood dripping from her mouth. “Shut up,” she told herself, clawing her fingers down, leaving bright red trails of blood. The piece of her flesh fell from her mouth and she stared at it, disgusted.

shewasdyingandshedidntwanto

“I need help,” she admitted hoarsely, ashamed.

[Ace McShane]

Life had returned to being relatively normal for Ace lately since the whole craziness with the Djinn, Ace still didn’t understand how the heck the group she’d been with had managed to get out of that one, just lucky she guessed.

She weight tested a knife, balancing it on the back of her hand before slowly spinning it till she griped it in the palm of her hand “I’ll tak,” she gasp dropping the knife, time stopped for her, well it slowed way the hell down at least. It felt, for a moment, like she’d gone back down to one heart for a second before the second one started to beat again slowly at first beating once, twice before racing back to full speed and feeling like her hearts where going to burst out of her chest, softly “Susan.”.

What seemed like several minutes to Ace had only been a few seconds in real time. She noticed the guy behind the counter was staring at her like she was a proper nutter and the knife had impaled his floor “So you gonna buy that knife or where you just planning on stabbing my floor.” Ace recovered quickly “Sorry, hearts err I mean heart palpitations.” reaching into her pants pocket she pulled out some money for the knife and handed it to the guy. Shrugging she pulled the knife out of the floor and strapped it to her belt “Sorry about the floor.”

Ace hurried out of the store, stumbling as she did so the world slowly down before speeding up again “Ok, this is getting ridiculous.” Ace made a fist and thumped her chest a little, she started to follow the feeling in her chest.

Honestly, Ace had no idea what the hell she was doing she just knew if she went one way the feeling lessened if she went another it intensified so she figured follow the feeling as it lessened. It lead her to an alleyway and she stopped at the entrance, she thought she heard someone say something “I need help,”[/color]. Cautiously she slowly made her way into the alleyway “Excuse me, are you ok?”

[Deleted]

Raya tried to warn the woman about the car. But sadly "Watch Out Car!" In cat is a lot of mewing.

Luckily, the car barely missed her. Which made Raya feel so much more relieved. Though it might help if the poor woman would stop shouting at her. She was only trying to help the poor lady.

Suddenly, a power line snapped, fire hydrants exploded, and the parked cars were going off like an large earthquake happened.

Raya jumped as she saw the power line spark ferociously. Something was really off about this whole thing.

“Stop following me!” Susan bared her teeth at the cat – a hallucination it had to be a hallucination it couldn’t be real – and people were beginning to stare at her because they knew, they knew because they had been sent for her. The power lines on the ground leapt forward, and Susan likened it to a snake, the way the humans stepped back as it lunged towards the crowd, to the puddle. “Just stop it. Just stop it,” she snapped as the line fell in the puddle, crackling hideously.

Raya's tail twitched, as she watched the lady run away, quickly following after her. There was no way she was going to leave her alone. At least not the way she was at the moment.

She followed the seemingly crazy lady, into the alley. Stopping a few feet away from her. Waiting for the woman to allow her to come closer.

Her hands and knees scraped the pavement as she fell near an alley. She retched, the bile golden and black. Susan coughed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She pulled her knees tightly against her chest, her fingers digging at her scalp. “I never wanted to be like this,” she whispered against her legs. “Shut up, Susan! I don’t care what you want,” she growled to herself, her shoulders twitching as her teeth dug into her knees.

Raya couldn't help but feel sorry for Susan. She looked like she had been through so much, lost everything most dear to her.

“Arkytior,” she whispered again. Her eyes flashed the pale blue-white again and she growled and bit her leg, pulling back harshly. A small chunk of her flesh came off between her teeth, her blood dripping from her mouth. “Shut up," she told herself, clawing her fingers down, leaving bright red trails of blood. The piece of her flesh fell from her mouth and she stared at it, disgusted.

Raya wasn't sure what to do, this lady, Susan or Arkytior, just bit a part of her skin off. That's something you don't really see people do to themselves. Then she heard it.

“I need help,” she admitted hoarsely, ashamed.

That's all Raya needed to hear, and she walked up to Susan. Laying down by her, looking up at the poor woman. Trying to tell her that she was here to help as best she could. Then she heard a new voice, which made her look towards the new lady.

“Excuse me, are you ok?”

Raya mewed slowly at this new lady, again... She really should stop trying to answer people when she was in her morph form.

[Deleted]

The blood tasted awful. Not that Susan had expected for the blood to taste like roses or chocolate, but she certainly hadn’t thought it’d taste so… rotten. She spit it out, retching again. The flesh from her torn leg lay in a pool of her blood, but the blood wasn’t red it was black and it was moving and slithering. She shut her eyes, a sob hiccupping its way out of her mouth. When the eyes opened – blue instead of the white-blue – the blood was just blood, red and warm and irony and sticky.

She looked down at the chunk taken from her leg, and then to the cat beside her. She reached out a bloody hand gingerly. “I had a cat, I think,” she whispered, voice cracking. Her fingers nearly dug into the cat, her eyes becoming pale again. She blinked rapidly again and brought her hand to her chest. “I don’t remember… I don’t know…” She pulled her legs up to her chest, whimpering again. It was getting harder and harder to hold a steady train of thought.

“Excuse me, are you okay?”

Susan’s shoulders stopped shaking. “Look what we have here,” she snarled, her eyes the pale white-blue again. She looked up, a smile twisted on her face and the blood caked around her mouth. “Ace of Spades Ace of Spades Ace of Spades!” she shouted, jumping up entirely too quickly. The world swam before her and Ace’s face began to twist and snarl and melt.

She looked away, shutting her eyes tightly. “Stop, Arkytior! Shut up!”

[Ace McShane]

“Look what we have here,” Damn it, she hated it when she was right, sometimes. Ace had thought, well more hopped that the whole thing with her hearts had been a fluke but now she was starting to think that this whole Susan thing was going to be a permanent part of her life from now on. “Ace of Spades Ace of Spades Ace of Spades!” Ace rolled her eyes and started to say something back but stopped.

Susan seemed, even more nutty then usual and that worried Ace slightly. Then she saw the blood and Susan stumble, any hard feelings Ace had towards the woman went right out the window when she realized something was seriously wrong.

Moving over to Susan, Ace side stepped the cat nodding to it in acknowledgement “Fluffy.” she’d deal with it in a minute. Gingerly, Ace reached forward and held Susan by the forearm, not tight enough to hurt the woman but sturdy enough so she’d know she was there “Easy, Susan.”

[Deleted]

She looked down at the chunk taken from her leg, and then to the cat beside her. She reached out a bloody hand gingerly. “I had a cat, I think,” she whispered, voice cracking. Her fingers nearly dug into the cat, her eyes becoming pale again. She blinked rapidly again and brought her hand to her chest. “I don’t remember… I don’t know…” She pulled her legs up to her chest, whimpering again. It was getting harder and harder to hold a steady train of thought.

Raya purred softly as Susan reached out her hand towards her. She wanted to help, anyway she could. Even if that meant being passive as her fingers almost pressed into Raya's skin.

She watched as Susan retracted her hand, noticing how her eyes seemed to change color in time with her actions. The hardest thing was hearing the whimpers and sobs.

Then she noticed how she answered the new lady's question.

Susan’s shoulders stopped shaking. “Look what we have here,” she snarled, her eyes the pale white-blue again. She looked up, a smile twisted on her face and the blood caked around her mouth. “Ace of Spades Ace of Spades Ace of Spades!” she shouted, jumping up entirely too quickly. The world swam before her and Ace’s face began to twist and snarl and melt.

Raya stood up as soon as Susan did, worried that she might hurt herself again.

She looked away, shutting her eyes tightly. “Stop, Arkytior! Shut up!”

Raya looked up at the lady Susan called 'Ace of Spades.' Mewing at her for help.

Moving over to Susan, Ace side stepped the cat nodding to it in acknowledgement “Fluffy.” she’d deal with it in a minute. Gingerly, Ace reached forward and held Susan by the forearm, not tight enough to hurt the woman but sturdy enough so she’d know she was there “Easy, Susan."

Nodding back as she watched her hold Susan steady. Raya would've helped... Only, she didn't was a ticket for public indecency. So she stuck to closely following them.

[Deleted]

Out of the all the people in space and time, why did Ace of Spades have to be the one that found her? It could be worse. She could have gotten the Joy Toy, or even her grandfather. She felt a wave of nausea hit of her. Ace was saturated with energy from the vortex. Susan clenched her eyes shut again, wrapping her arms around her stomach, feeling the bile rise in her throat again. Ace of Spades Ace of Spades Ace of Spades! her mind shrieked, Arkytior shrieked at her. Susan’s hands moved from her stomach to her ears as she stumbled forwards, the world pitching around her.

“Easy, Susan,” Ace said gently, grabbing her arm. Susan stared at the woman and looked away, embarrassed by how helpless she was. Her eyes were pink from crying, and the skin was dark under her eyes from lack of sleep. Easy, Susan. She stumbled closer to Ace, another whimper coming from her lips. She was scared, she was more than scared, and… and she was dying…

Her eyes flashed, and she opened her mouth, her eyes locked on the woman’s neck. Susan put a hand over her own mouth. Arkytior hissed, wanting to tear into Ace’s neck. Susan kept her hand clamped over her own mouth, the teeth digging into the flesh of her palm. Blood leaked down her chin and dribbled down her neck and into shirt.

“Stop! I don’t want this,” she whispered. “I don’t care,” she muttered, raising her bloody hand to her ear. Pale white-blue eyes stared at Ace, bloody teeth bared. “I don’t care what you want,” she continued, and casted her gaze down to the cat. “Ace of Spades Ace of Spades Ace of Spades!” she shrieked, slamming herself into a wall and crumpling to the dirty ground. “Ace of Spades, Ace of Spades, Ace of Spades,” she snarled.

Easy, Susan.

She looked up at Ace, teary eyes wide and terrified. “I don’t want to die, Ace.” She reached out a hand to the cat, her hand resting on her neck. She felt an urge to squeeze, to snap the fragile neck, but her trembling hand moved, picking her up under the arms and holding the cat to her chest. “I don’t know what’s real anymore…and I’m scared…” she admitted bitterly.

And there was nothing they could do, Arkytior whispered. Because we shouldn’t exist.

[Ace McShane]

Ace watched as Susan stumbled making sure to keep a hold on her so the woman didn’t hurt herself more, she saw Susans eyes flash and her bite into her hand and the blood leak down onto the shirt “I don’t care what you want,” softly “But, I don’t want anything, Susan.”

And then Susan started saying her favorite nickname for Ace over and over before slamming herself into the wall and falling to the ground “Ace of Spades, Ace of Spades, Ace of Spades,” she snarled. Ace knelt down in front of Susan and next to the little cat that had been following them and placed her hand on Susans shoulder trying to comfort the woman in any way she could because honestly Ace had no idea what to do or how to help.

Ace watched as Susan picked the cat up and put it to her chest, she took her hand off Susans shoulder and used her index finger to run her finger from the top of the wet part of the cats nose to the spot between its ears, there was something not so cat like about the little fur ball but Ace wasn’t so sure about it yet.

Looking up at Susan again when she started talking “I don’t know what’s real anymore…and I’m scared…”[/color] Ace reached forward and took one of Susans hand and placed it on her chest so she could fell Aces hearts beat “I’m real, she took her hand off her chest and placed it back on the cat so she could feel the animals fur “He, no wait she’s real, focus on that. I won’t be going anywhere till we get you squared away.” Though, how they’d pull that off she was still working on.

[Deleted]

“Stop! I don’t want this,” she whispered. “I don’t care,” she muttered, raising her bloody hand to her ear. Pale white-blue eyes stared at Ace, bloody teeth bared. “I don’t care what you want,” she continued, and casted her gaze down to the cat.

“But, I don’t want anything, Susan.”

“Ace of Spades Ace of Spades Ace of Spades!” she shrieked, slamming herself into a wall and crumpling to the dirty ground. “Ace of Spades, Ace of Spades, Ace of Spades,” she snarled.

Raya mewed up at Susan, trying to tell her to calm down. Moving closer to the poor woman, wanting to comfort her somehow.

She looked up at Ace, teary eyes wide and terrified. “I don’t want to die, Ace.” She reached out a hand to the cat, her hand resting on her neck. She felt an urge to squeeze, to snap the fragile neck, but her trembling hand moved, picking her up under the arms and holding the cat to her chest. “I don’t know what’s real anymore…and I’m scared…” she admitted bitterly.

Raya purred as Susan reached out and picked her up. She nuzzled her head to Susan's chin, as if trying to comfort her. Feeling Ace's finger on her nose moving towards her ear, made Raya lean her head slightly.

“I’m real," she took her hand off her chest and placed it back on the cat so she could feel the animals fur “He,"

Raya mewed in protest to being called a 'he.'

"no wait she’s real, focus on that. I won’t be going anywhere till we get you squared away.” Though, how they’d pull that off she was still working on.

Raya fidgeted slightly in Susan's arms. She could only tolerate being held in short periods of time. However, that didn't mean she was going to run off. She was determined to stick around until she was sure Susan was going to be alright.