Mythical Creatures Scene 3: Tempus Vivat
He spent the rest of the day exploring the shops, watching the people, and playing with a set of five resonant metal sculptures in the street. Children climbed on top and banged their heels against them to make them ring, and the Doctor made them vibrate with the sonic screwdriver, testing their full range of sound. For a moment, he thought he saw the woman from the bookstore giving him a funny look.
As twilight approached, he decided it was time to head to the show. The street had nearly cleared out; most people were inside the restaurants now. He caught a hint of movement in an alley next to a place called the Rusty Scuffer and turned to look. It was the only alley he’d noticed on this entire strip, and the only really dirty place visible. He saw a face in the shadows, pale, surrounded by a mane of black hair. The young woman it belonged to crept toward the center of the alley, then saw him looking at her, hissed, and ducked behind a trash receptacle. Her entire body was pale and clad in black, and something wasn’t right about her. Something more than simply being so pale in summer.
Carefully, he began to step toward the alley. He could hear her backing away, trying to stay hidden. Then a flock of pigeons took flight, blocking sight and sound, and he lost track of her. Rather than search, he decided to let it pass and just go to the show.
He used his psychic paper as a press pass, and they let him in without a ticket. The band had already started; they were playing “Tainted Love.” For some reason he’d always liked that one, so he shrugged and joined the dancing crowd.
Seeing them in person instead of a cheap black-and-white newspaper article, he was absolutely certain they were Letitia’s children. He knew Forest’s eyes.
They played several original tunes, then took a break, so he went and got some food and a drink. He could probably afford one or two more before the watch money ran out, but then he’d need some way to get breakfast, so he decided to make this one last. No particular reason to get drunk, anyway; he preferred to do that among friends, and he didn’t have any at the moment.
After the break, the band launched into more original tunes. The music wasn’t bad, in the way that their mother’s books weren’t bad: enjoyable, but unlikely to make a huge contribution to human culture in the long run. The first song he recognized was “Eye of the Tiger.” It was too powerful to ignore; he set his drink down and returned to the floor.
For a moment, a roving spotlight fell on him, pausing as it changed direction, and he looked up at the stage. He thought the girl was looking at him, straight into his eyes as if she recognized him, even though she hadn’t been born then.
* * * * *
“And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night, and he’s watching us now with the eye…” Tansy froze as her eye fell on someone in the crowd, someone who was, according to her mother, a last known survivor. He was watching her in return. She barely pulled herself together in time to finish, “of the tiger.”
Then the spotlight left his face, and by the time her eyes adjusted, he was gone. She couldn’t have imagined it, could she?
Before she had a chance to do anything, the band launched into the next song on the play list. She had no choice but to join in. When she got a chance, she gave Forest the we-need-to-talk-right-now look.“What is it?” he asked when the song was over.
“We need to do Tempus Vivat,” she hissed.
“But we’ve never played that one out before!” he protested. “I don’t know if we’re ready.”
“We have to be,” she insisted. “He’s here.”
Forest gave her a you’re-out-of-your-mind look, but he agreed to do the song.
* * * * *
When the spotlight moved on, the Doctor happened to glance toward the bar, and there was the young woman he’d seen in the alley. She was putting the moves on someone, and as she tossed her head, a light glinted off her teeth, and he realized why she had seemed unnatural.
She was a vampire.Not like the great vampires who could drain an entire planet over time, or even the vicious haemovores from a dark future; this kind were simply ordinary people who had been altered. It was like a disease; victims were barely alive but unable to die, and unable to resist sustaining themselves on other people’s blood. In most cases, they could act almost normal, and in the dark, no one suspected anything. They didn’t usually kill, but they did hurt, and they could potentially infect others. She had to be stopped.
There were a few ways to kill them, but more importantly, there were a few cures, one of which the Doctor could implement with very little trouble.
As he wound his way back to the bar, the song changed to another original. He ignored it. Taking one last chug of his drink, he slammed the glass down on the counter, strode up behind the man the vampire was seducing, and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“Bugger off, mate,” he snapped, feigning drunken overconfidence (which was, in fact, different from his usual sober overconfidence). “That’s my date.”
Unfortunately, the unwitting victim didn’t back down so easily.
“I was here first,” he sneered, standing up. “You think you can come in here with your prissy accent and take my woman? You got another thing coming!”
“Yeah, I got her coming,” he smirked. “And if you think being English is prissy, you’ve obviously never seen a real football match. And I don’t mean that nancy game you play with all the padding.” Then he turned so only the man could see his face, and dropped the act. “You don’t want this one,” he whispered, nodding toward the vampire, willing him to understand. “Trust me.” It worked; even if he didn’t know the details, the man nodded and slipped away quietly.
The Doctor turned back and flashed his most charming smile at the woman – not that it mattered, because she was looking for a meal, not a dance partner, but he had to pretend he didn’t know that. “What do you think?” he asked. “You ready to go, or do I have to buy you a few drinks first?”
“How can I resist a voice like that?” she purred, taking his hands. She was cold and had almost no pulse. “Where are we going?”
“How about the office?” he suggested. “I can pick the lock on the door.”She led the way. As they slipped through the office door and closed it behind them, he could hear the next song beginning. It started with a pair of drums, pounding like a human heartbeat. Then a second pair joined them, throwing off his concentration for a moment. Two heartbeats, overlapping.
“What’s the problem, baby?” his erstwhile date asked, running a hand down his chest.
“No problem,” he lied, taking her in his arms. “Just noticing the music. New song.” In the distance, Tansy began to sing, lightly at first, “Tempus vivat.” Time lives.
“Give me another minute, and you won’t even hear it,” the vampire hissed. Gradually, more percussion and the guitar and keyboards joined the heartbeats as Tansy repeated the line. The vampire pressed her body against his and began to nuzzle his ear.
The song was all in Latin, and the lyrics were about time, comparing it to a river, the wind, a man. Tempus saltat… time dances. The vampire sank her teeth into his neck, and he gasped. He’d heard what it was supposed to feel like, but he wasn’t really prepared. He clutched at her back, trying hard not to cry out. It didn’t hurt… not exactly. It wasn’t the first time today that someone had made him feel that way, but it was much more intense. Tempus amat… time loves. He couldn’t help moaning as she drew his blood from the wound.
Then suddenly, the vampire screamed and pulled away from him, and he dropped to the floor, trying to catch his breath and bring his mind back into focus. Tempus vivat.
“What’s happening?” she cried. “What’s happening to me?” She was gasping for air, as if she’d forgotten how to breathe. Color came back to her hands as she stared at them. Then she clutched her chest. Tempus vivat.
“My heart…” she whispered.
“It’s beating,” he said.
“But… but how?” She was too amazed to remember that he shouldn’t even know what she was. Dominus Temporis vivat.
“Most people’s life force is only enough to keep you animated, but mine brought you back to life,” he grinned, still a little out of breath. Dominus Temporis vivat.
All she could do was stare at him. “What are you?” she asked.
Dominus Temporis vivat. The words finally sank in. Dominus Temporis… Lord of Time… Time Lord. The Time Lord lives.
They knew.
He pushed himself to his feet and ran back to the hall.
Scene Selection
1. The Earth Line 6. Three Days 2. Based on a True Story 7. Cassiopeia 3. Tempus Vivat 8. Connection 4. Green Light 9. No Happy Endings 5. Reunion Commentary