The Slender Man // OPEN

Getting the hang of things in the real world once more, River had almost forgotten what it was like to be back here. Things have changed, and that was a fact, but she couldn't continue to linger on the thoughts of the past for long. She had met with Siren, giving her a momentum to pass onto the Doctor, mostly because she couldn't bear to do it herself. There were some things in the universe that were just no longer meant to be. Her days with the Doctor were one of them. It was simple; she aged and he did not.

She had been walking around on the outskirts of London, just heading in to see how things had been doing in the present time. It had been quite some time since she had visited the city. It reminded her of her time growing up with her parents, from when she was still known as "Mels". She laughed lightly at the thought. Heading into the older areas of the city, she noticed that it was starting to get a bit dark out, causing the chill in the air to become more prominent.

Sighing, she zipped her coat up as she cleared her throat. It was a very chilly night, and she had a feeling she'd have to get a hold of her father at some point to find out what was going on for Christmas. She hoped that the angels had not gotten hold of him yet. She hoped the Doctor had found him by now. She also hoped that they were able to find Amy. She worried for the two of them and felt terrible for having to separate them, but it was the only way to keep the Angels off their tails.

Walking through the strangely empty city, a steady snow began to fall, creating a bit of a slippery surface to the sidewalks. Although this did not bother her, she tended to wear boots with a bit of a heel, and this posed as a bit of difficulty to walk faster than normal. It wasn't that she was in a hurry, it was just how she walked. Something caught her eye though, a swift shadow that had quickly passed by. Narrowing her eye, she began to follow it, wondering what it might be. Suddenly, she was stopped though, feeling the aura of something quite menacing. Turning her head slowly, she noticed a shadowed creature in the distance, watching her. She took a moment to step back, pulling out her gun. Something wasn't right.

Just what was he doing wandering around London at this time of night anyway, Ben thought to himself as he pulled his jacket tighter around him. In three years it still seemed as though he hadn't learned to dress for the weather of this place, but then he had learned that doing so was a physical impossibility. Of all the places in the universe, why did his commandeered TARDIS have to crash in the most unpredictable place in the universe climate wise? Just his luck, but then he knew it was his own fault for stealing the thing in the first place. He'd only wanted a little joy ride and had every intention of returning it, but he really should have known better with a war going on and all. Not just any war either, he reminded himself as snow began to fall, blanketing the darkened streets and already crunching underfoot. Usually, there was nothing like a good walk to calm the mind ready for a restful nights sleep, but the timing could have perhaps been better.

Sighing as he decided that he would be best returning to his place of residence, nothing more exciting than a one bed flat with the lowest rent he could find, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. A figure in the shadows, or so it seemed, which vanished as soon as it had seemingly appeared. Something compelled him to follow, even though he would most likely regret this decision. He lived with enough regrets to be able to tell himself that one more wouldn't hurt, but he would really need to start learning to be more careful. Especially in a place like this after dark, but being ignorant of ones surroundings was potentially more dangerous than investigating what didn't feel right. No matter what ones race, a little caution and a will to survive lingered in the subconscious, something that came in very useful at times.

Not finding what he was looking for, Ben sighed again as he put his hands in his jacket pockets and began to head home. Rounding the next corner, he found himself coming face to face with a woman sporting a rather large hair do and carrying a gun. Just who was she, he briefly wondered before a shadowy figure once again caught his eye. An ominous presence was lurking in the shadows just ahead, causing him to halt and squint as he attempted to identify it. He was too far away though, and unarmed saved for a sonic pen that he barely knew how to use. Perhaps he would be best keeping his distance for now, but he couldn't help but be concerned for the welfare of woman who stood slightly ahead of him. Whoever this was definitely didn't seem friendly, in fact they gave him the creeps!

Narrowing her eyes, she couldn't help but feel as though something was strangely familiar about it. She had read myths about it before, she thought. A shadowed, tall, slim creature that was faceless. "Ah yes," her lips curled into a smile at the thought. "What a pleasure it is to be in the presence of such a famous creature... I do hope I do not go missing..." she laughed. She did have a vortex manipulator after all.

Before she could decide what her next move was though, she noticed that someone else was in the area. Turning her head toward the young man who was in her line of sight, she was a bit relieved that she was not alone. "Ah, well hello there, sweetie. Don't be shy, come on out!" she called him over. "I do not feel quite comfortable facing such a creature on my own," she smiled at him.

She kept her gun in the general direction of the thing, which stood there, menacingly with a faceless gaze. "Odd things these are... they supposedly come up to you when you least expect and rip your face off... not fun, not fun at all. At least I have a way to get out of here. What about you, honey? Are you from around here? This doesn't seem like a typical London event."

Sweetie? Did the woman think he was a kid or something, he wondered as the woman took note of his presence and addressed him as though he were young child. He was 197 years old, for crying out loud, but then the sultry tone of voice suggested that this was probably the way she talked to everyone. Perhaps he really was a child after all, at least as far as his people were concerned. After all, only kids got so defensive like that after all!

Of far greater concern though, was the figure in front of them that now appeared. Approaching the woman with the gun, the creature seemed even more terrifying, and he swallowed as he gazed upon it. Three years in London and he'd never seen anything like that! There wasn't anything much more terrifying to him than a Dalek, but he had to admit that this came pretty darn close!

"Yeah, I kind of like my face where it is", he laughed nervously in response to the gun toting woman as the thing seemed to glare right back at them. Perhaps glare was a bad choice of words, given that the thing appeared to be faceless itself, but he could feel something upon him that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Turning briefly to face the woman as she mentioned having an escape route, he shrugged slightly as she asked him where he was from. He tried to keep the pain from his face as he responded, although his estrangement from home had been his own fault.

"Not really, been hanging around for three years now", he answered, "and I don't think this is a typical anywhere event, that or I've been living under a rock!" He added as he wondered just who this person was. She obviously was no stranger to the weird, wonderful and quite frankly terrifying, which made him wonder who exactly she worked for.

Shrugging it off for now though, Ben turned his attention back to the creature before them.

"Okay, so what is it and how do we kill it?", he asked in a more focused tone. They couldn't leave something that dangerous roaming the streets after all, for one that would leave a terrible mess!

She smiled at his reaction, and although most people would have freaked out, she could tell that he obviously had dealt with some strange things in his life. When he had asked how to kill it, she continued to watching it, treating it as though it were a weeping angel. These things were sly; they loved when you made sudden movements. That's when they usually went in to attack.

"Well, the only well known way to kill it is the use of sunlight, and it doesn't look like we have any of that near by, now do we? I'd say our best chance is to run before it gets us," she smirked. "How exciting!" she out her gun back into the holster, knowing it would do no good. "My name is Professor River Song. And you are?" she introduced herself without breaking eye contact with the being.

"Nope so that could be a problem", Ben laughed nervously in response as his hearts sank. The creature was still giving the pair a faceless stare, as if daring them to move or try something. Truth be told, he didn't have any idea of what he could try in this situation. Unless sonic devices could suddenly reproduce sunlight then his pen wouldn't do any good. They could just leave it here, otherwise some clueless human/s could come blundering along and find themselves facing a sticky end.

Although he really didn't like it, sometimes discretion really was the better part of valour. Now they knew it was out here, either one or both of them could do something about it once they had planned a course of action. The only scenarios he could come up with right now though would lead him to certain doom. Could he even regenerate, change his face, if he didn't have one to change?

As the woman introduced herself, the young Gallifreyan flashed her a small smile as he responded.

"Ben Cross", he replied using his human alias. After all, as far as he could tell this River Song person was human. It seemed she knew of more than most, so perhaps believing that he was actually not of this world wouldn't be too far a stretch, but for now he would keep his own council.

"I'm so glad you're having so much fun", he commented almost sarcastically before flashing her a more genuine smile. "Saying that, I actually can't help but agree with you." he commented as he turned his attention fully to the shadowy entity stood before them. "Except of course, someone's bound to come blundering along getting themselves killed. No use it being us though I guess", he finished as he glanced around for an escape route. Running would be a very bad idea, after all, so perhaps slowly backing off? He'd never seen anything like this, so perhaps the good professor might have a better idea of their next course of action. He hoped.

"Oh, I wouldn't say we're running away. I'm planning on setting up a trap for it. You see, it can't make sudden movements until it feels the fear or someone flinches. If you keep still for hours on end, it forces itself to stay there, but will attempt to hide in the shadows," she explained. "If we can get this right, we may be able to go forward a bit in time to day light... with the being still there."

Oh, how she loved having complicated, puzzle like dilemmas. It was always fascinating to her how things like this worked and when she was able to figure them out, it made things much more interesting, and she became much to coy about her intelligence. Moving a strand of hair from her face, she looked around, and then to her vortex manipulator.

"If only the Doctor were here. I could just use the TARDIS and then things would be so much easier," she sighed, shrugging. Oh well though. She had better things to worry about - like that demonic thing. "So we need to trick it into believing something is staring at it... and they're not too bright. I think a mirror would work."

"Right", Ben responded with a nod as the professor made clear her intent on doing quite the opposite of what he feared. The trick was, how exactly? Whatever this thing was, it sounded as if sudden move of any kind could be bad, and he had to admit that it was taking some keeping his fear in check. He was more afraid of what could happen than of the creature itself, but a human encounter could prove deadly.

It was then that River mentioned going forward in time, and he looked at her slightly agape as he wondered briefly if she was in fact a Time Lady and had her own Tardis! That theory was instantly dismissed though as that would be far too incredible. Especially when his eyes fell upon the vortex manipulator that lay strapped on her wrist. He'd heard of them, but they of course required a very specific code to work properly, or at all for that matter. Did that mean she was a Time Agent then, he speculated before mentally scolding himself and bringing himself back to the reality of his extremely precarious situation.

It was then that he found himself agape for the second time in a rather short space as she mentioned The Doctor. The man was legendary, and not always for the right reasons, but how could this woman possibly know of him? He'd most likely ask later if possible, but for now he needed to think. She had mentioned a TARDIS being useful in this situation, but he surmised that she meant one that could actually travel. His was only a block or two away, but it was hardly a factor here. Or was it...

Looking around some more, he then had an idea.

"Would it be possible to lure it to a window or something?", he wondered allowed before realising that it probably wouldn't work. The only reason it would follow them would be if it actually intended on murdering them. Sighing, he then turned back to look at River as he risked blowing his cover.

"There's a TARDIS just a couple of blocks away", he informed her rather sheepishly, "but the travel mechanism is broken. The other functions work, as far as I know, so maybe there's still something there that could help?" For what he really didn't know, in fact the Earth phrase 'grasping at straws', came to mind. If nothing else though, it should at least have a reasonably sized mirror on board!

A TARDIS? So he was a Time Lord! A larger smile curled on River's lips when he spoke of this, and boy oh boy, things were just getting better every moment. "Well, well. Hello, Time Lord." she laughed lightly. She was actually surprised that there were more Time Lords out here. The only ones she knew of really were the Doctor and The Pariah.

"Well, maybe I can figure something out. I'm pretty good with navigating a TARDIS, and if I hook my vortex manipulator up to it, there's a chance that I could probably get the Time Travel working on it," she nodded. Oh, she loved tinkering.

She looked around for a long moment. "We need a mirror. We need the TARDIS to land exactly in front of the creature, and open the doors with the mirror. It will force itself to stay completely still after that, until the sun comes out and then it will perish."

He had been all ready to deny any allegation of him being anything but human, despite the fact that evidence pointed otherwise and that he would have been a fool to plead otherwise. The connection between him being a Time Lord and knowing where to find a TARDIS wasn't too hard to see by someone who knew another of his race. Ben had never actually met the doctor, but the man was a legend. A legend with an affinity to Earth, so he'd heard, so he guessed, or rather hoped, that he would bump into him somewhere along the line. He had yet to, and he had quickly realised that it was rather unlikely that they would ever meet.

What made him pause though, was the mention of this woman being able to navigate TARDISs. Surely only someone of his race could do such a thing, and even then they would have to be far more experienced than he. Ben of course had intelligence, he could practically make a computer of this world sing and dance, but when it came to fixing a machine of his own peoples creation, that was another matter entirely. He had after all taken the thing on a random joyride to let off some steam, he only wished now that he had taken the time to look into the mechanics some more. Perhaps then he would be home by now.

"You're Gallifreyan too?", he asked before giving the creature a sideways glance. This reminded him that they had more pressing concerns right now, causing him to adopt a more serious expression.

"The TARDIS in question is just a couple of blocks away from here. The only thing damaged in the crash was the travel mechanism. Otherwise the Chameleon Circuit is online and it will appear as an old outhouse of some kind. If you think you can get it working and it might help, then great!" His momentary excitement about the prospect though was shatter as he frowned deeply. "Trouble is, what do we do about him in the mean time? The second we move he's gonna come after us right?" He then broke out into a cocky grin that wouldn't have looked out of place on a human of the age he was posing as. "How good are you at running, professor?", he asked with a hint of mirth that was hardly appropriate, given the amount of danger they were both currently in. Still, as the humans said, if one didn't laugh then they'd cry! Or something like that...