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'This is it...' said the Doctor, the first step under his foot, the second waiting. Ace hovered behind them, nervously eyeing the building before them.
'What's wrong, Ace?' asked the Doctor, gently resting his hand on her shoulder.
'I can feel something...' she said hesitantly, eyes brimming with fear.
'Mmm,' was all the Doctor would give as a form of reply, and started to walk towards the door; plain except for two brass numerals and a bright shiny handle reflecting the faces of streetlights and stars alike.
'Professor!' said Ace, bounding up the steps after the Time Lord. 'Wait for me...'
The Doctor removed his hat and gently rested his ear against the door in the hope of hearing any form of noise or movement. Nothing. He looked at Ace, who looked back, biting her lip anxiously. The Doctor replaced his hat and knocked three times on the door, a hollow echo on the tense air. The door opened slowly, light creeping out from the room beyond and into the deep shadows of midnight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 figure stood in the doorway facing the Doctor and Ace, completely black seemingly because of the spreading curtain of light that burned behind him.
'Doctor?' came a voice from the shadow in the wave of brightness.
'Yes..is that John?' The Doctor tried to make out the man's features but couldn't see anything in the immense bottom of the ocean blackness.
'Yes..come in...' he stepped back into the room, allowing the Doctor and Ace to enter the flat.
'What time is it?' asked the Doctor, turning to look at the large clock, his eyes were captured by the curious cluster of thick shadows in the corner. Before he could open his mouth, a dark figure detached itself from the darkness, dragging a wave of blackness behind him. The man was dressed entirely in black, from his long black swept hair to the soles of his scuffed black boots. He lifted his head to look the Doctor straight in the eye. The Time Lord looked at the dark strangers' face and turned slowly to see that of John's. They were completely identical.
The hands on the clock face indicated the time to be 12.30.
'It seems I'm a little late...' the Doctor said, an apologetic smile haunted his face. He saw the mask of fear that danced in a sweaty fever over John's face. 'I'll soon sort all this out,' he said, adding in a hushed voice, 'Don't you worry.'
'Who's the geezer in black, Doctor?' Ace slowly moved her eyes between the two men and came to the conclusion that they were twins of some sort or other.
'It's a long story, Ace.' The Doctor answered, his view point gliding to the man in black.
'Well, Doctor, tell the child.' The dark figure smiled broadly, blue eyes glinting in the dark, far corner of the sparse room.
John, who had remained silent up to then, reached out and clutched the Doctor's coat sleeve.
'You've got to help me, Doctor, he won't leave.'
'I'll see what I can do, john. How long has he been here?'
'Since...12.00,' piped up the dark figure. 'The time you should have also arrived.'
'Oh shut up!' retorted the Doctor with a scowl written in his eyes. 'No-one is taking any notice of you.'
'Oh no? If that's the case, why is your friend here sweating so much?'
'Please, help me Doctor...' John's eyes held a pleading look words couldn't portray.
Ace had watched all of this with a bemused look. She let her rucksack slip off her shoulders and hit the floor with a dull thud.
'What's going on, Professor?' She pinned him down with a questioning stare, refusing to allow the Doctor to wriggle out of the way.
'Have you ever heard of the Dark Region? Or the Homeland?' he asked, knowing full well that Ace had not.
'Of course not...why, is that where that geezer comes from?' said Ace indicating the dark figure in black.
The Doctor nodded, 'Yes. The Homeland is that place what you humans would call 'hell'.'
'What? Do you mean some guy in red with horns sticking out of his head, living in a pit full of fire?' Ace's interests had picked up enormously at the prospect of seeing just what 'hell' was really like.
'No, no, no, that's just stupid human myth. The Homeland and more prominently the Dark Region is where everyone's darker side lives. You, me, everyone has a darker side to their nature in some shape or form. They congregate in the Homeland, where they suffer until they are accidently released.' His eyes flicked momentarily to the shady figure in the far corner. The figure grinned back.
 
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the homeland page3
