(This novel is based on a story by Tom Baker and Ian Marter.)
John Ferguson hadn't moved in hours. He sat almost frozen in terror in his rocking chair, holding his rifle up, waiting for one of those abominations to strike at either the windows or the doors.
He couldn't figure out why they hadn't made a move? There were hundreds of them in the woods. They literally sprang out of nowhere, like Demons from hell, though they looked more like Scarecrows.... Scarecrows with flaming red eyes and clawed hands! John was only barely able to get away from the monsters on his tractor when they first attacked. He had been forced to leave a young family he had spotted on the other end of the fields, cornered by those awful things against a tree. The family even called to him for help, but he had no choice but to leave. There was nothing he could have done, but the misplaced guilt would stay with John for the rest of his life, however long that may be.
He had also been forced to abandon his tractor in the struggle. When he tried to drive it through a field, the monsters swarmed his vehicle from all sides, stopped it in its tracks, and turned it over. John was able to crawl out unseen and get a good head start on the creatures into the woods however. Once he made it back to his farm, Ferguson noticed the creatures were no longer following him. In fact they were nowhere in sight.
The only village on the island was six miles away and he would have to go through more woods along the way. Ferguson felt it would be better to hold up in his house for the time being until the authorities could deal with this crisis.
Now however several hours had passed and there was no change. Had those things been dealt with? Had they overrun the island? Had they just forgotten about him? There were too many what ifs and eventually it got to the point where John couldn't take it anymore and he peeked outside.
It was completely pitch black outside, but even with that John was still sure there was no one there. For just a second however he thought he could see his own scarecrow standing in the middle of the field move, and he even shot at it.
"I must be going crazy" he thought. "Scarecrows don't move. Something made of straw couldn't lift up a tractor!" This must be some kind of ridiculous prank. The young punks from the village playing a joke on us country folk? I don't believe in magic". He tried to reassure himself
Suddenly however Ferguson heard a scream from his cellar, enough to make him jump and drop his rifle. He thought about making a run for it, but where would he go?
Holding his rifle firmly in his hands, John Ferguson ventured into his cellar, more terrified than he had ever been in his life.
John crept down the stairs, pointing his gun ahead at all times. The cellar was pitch black and he could barely make out anything ahead. As he searched around, suddenly the farmer felt something hold onto his leg for a moment before he pulled free. He turned around only to see nothing, though he could hear a hideous, high pitched scream echoing through the darkness. After he reached the bottom of the stairs and started to search the cellar, John heard the door to cellar slam shut, and he ran back to the stairs, only to see two piercing red flaming eyes at the top.
John lifted his rifle. "Stay back, I, I, I mean it. I don't want to hurt you, but". The figure didn't respond, and instead slowly moved down the staircase.
As it got closer John could see that it resembled a Scarecrow, just like the creatures in the woods. Its face was a bag, with red firey eyes with no pupil in the sockets. Its mouth was also twisted into a hideous, rictious grin, whilst its fingers ended in razor sharp, metal claws stained in blood.
Ferguson pointed his rifle right into the beasts chest, but it didn't back down. With no choice, Ferguson fired at the Scarecrow three times, but the creature wasn't even phased. It simply grabbed Ferguson's rifle and snapped it in half.
The monster then dug its claws into Ferguson's stomach. He screamed in agony and was brought to his knees as the monster twisted its hands deep into his guts. He tried to fight back, but it was no use. The creature was a lot stronger than its withered frame would suggest.
After digging in deep the monster tore out Ferguson's insides, causing him to collapse onto the floor. The few organs left inside his stomach, dropped out as he tried to get back up. Everything faded to black, with the last sight the farmer saw being the Scarecrow wrapping his own intestines around its neck like a scarf whilst smiling and blowing a kiss at him!
Just a few seconds later Ferguson started to wake up. He wasn't in his dark, dank cellar however. The place he awoke in was unlike anywhere he had ever been before in his life. The ground was burning hot, the sky was nothing but fire, and the entire landscape around him, the huge rocks, even the sand was completely red and scorching to the touch. Though the seemingly never ending lake just behind John was bright purple. All around were the deafening and pitiful screams of damned souls.
"Where am I, how did I. What is this place!" John shouted in panic. Deep down, however he knew where he really was. A place that had terrified him for his entire life, but that he never actually believed in until now.
"No, no, no it can't be. I'm not dead, I'm, I'm a good man. I've never done anyone any harm, why am I here!"
Suddenly several hideous creatures began to emerge from behind the rocks in response to John's anguished cries. They were all roughly six feet tall, with black skin, 6 limbs, 2 arms and 4 legs, as well as two heads. They all had long sprawling tails, each of which ended in spikes, whilst their heads all had two horns at the top. Their faces were long and ended with mouths filled with sharp teeth and and each had three, piercing blue eyes with long thin, green pupils.
The monsters scuttled towards John pushing him back to the very end of the lake. There was nothing John could do to defend himself against the creatures, and though he tried to run through the Demons, one of them easily batted John backwards with its tail, sending him head first into the lake.
The water burned John's skin. The pain was absolutely overwhelming, and he struggled and struggled to swim back to the shore. The monsters meanwhile were laughing at John's pain and taunting him. Still Ferguson was determined not to give up. He fought through the pain and paddled harder to the shore, but just as was within a few feet of it, a woman, with a burned, mutilated face emerged from the water in front of John and tried to shove him under. John fought back, but more figures emerged from the waves and started to push him down too. After a few minutes of struggling, they eventually dragged the hapless farmer beneath the surface of the burning lake.
Meanwhile across the gulf of time and space, the TARDIS was nearing the end of its long journey, much to the relief of its pilot.
"Ah Elena my dear, have you seen Yarox?" The Doctor said as he walked out of the Library.
"He's down in the garden again as always."
"Well in all fairness to him, he's never seen an actual sky before. He's never seen a landscape or trees or anything but cold, empty corridors and rooms. Still can you be a dear and let him know that we've landed. He'll finally get to see a planet."
"I'm amazed it's taken this long? We must have been travelling for a month." Elena replied.
"What do you expect? We were at the very end of the universe itself. Besides I told you the TARDIS journey's are completely random. Still I must admit I do hope after all that time its somewhere nice. Also for Yarox, as you never forget your first alien planet."
Yarox had come from trillions of years in the future, in a time when most of the stars and planets had gone. His people were the final descendants of the human race and various other species throughout history. The indomitable will of humanity had helped them endure through countless wars, alien invasions and even home planets and galaxies burning out. By the time of Yarox's people however, humanity and the other species who had cluttered together and interbred into one new race, had finally begun to wonder why they had bothered for trillions of years?
They had struggled and struggled through so much, and what for? To live in a cold, desolate spaceship, still struggling to survive every day, with no future in sight, except to sit and wait for the last sun to burn out?
Yarox joined the Doctor more to escape his awful existence back home than anything else. He was still quite fond of the old man however and his travelling companion Elena even more so. She was quite unlike anyone he had ever seen. In Yarox's time humanity were a clone race. There was very little distinction between most people overall, as they were all created from the same few batches of humans. Individuality was also erased mentally for the most part in the cloning process too. It was an attempt to ensure that there would be no infighting during such desperate times. No prejudices, no individual desires, or goals that weren't for the good of the species could be afforded in Yarox's age.
Yarox looked exactly the same as his other 10 thousand brothers. Elena who had a single gigantic eye at the centre of her head, and long flowing, orange hair meanwhile, looked like a monster to Yarox's people when she and the Doctor first visited their vessel (and saved them from the last of the Daleks.) The Doctor who always dressed in the most emaculate, sharp penguin suits was also somewhat striking to Yarox's people too, but for once he didn't stand out the most in a crowd. (At least not physically anyway. His personality always ensured someone would take notice of him, for better or for worse.)
From the start however, Yarox could see that the Doctor and Elena though different, were good people. Granted that was only because they had saved him from a cull. In the far future due to the finite resources, there were regular culls of people. The culls grew larger every year due to the resources depleting.
After joining the TARDIS, Yarox had used the Doctors projector in the Time Lord's garden to create holographic images of the skies of all of the worlds his people's ancestors were said to come from. Yarox spent entire hours just staring at the beautiful alien sky's and imagining what it must have been like to live under them.
"Yarox" Elena shouted.
"I'm here, have we landed!" He replied excitedly as he jumped up.
"Yes finally. Who would have thought it'd take so long to journey to the end of time and back" She joked.
"Come on, the Doctor thinks we might have landed on earth."
"Is it during your time?" Yarox asked.
Elena had come from the 31st century, long regarded as one of the greatest periods in human development when their technology had not only reached its peak, but they had formed many strong alliances with alien species. She'd told Yarox all about her upbringing and it had utterly fascinated him. Even the more ordinary mundane details such as the fact that she could choose when she wanted to eat, and had parents who genuinely cared for her, fascinated Yarox. He wanted to visit her time more than any other.
"Sorry I'm afraid he thinks we've landed during the early 20th century. Its a, eh interesting period in human history to say the least." Elena said.
The Doctor waited patiently by the console. According to its readings, they had landed on a small island just off the coast of Scotland. "It will be nice to get some fresh air." The Doctor said to himself. "I don't know how poor old Yarox coped all that time cooped up in that dreary ship. Not that you're not cosy old girl, but you know what I mean." The Time Lord said with pride as he tapped the TARDIS console.
"Ah Yarox nice to see you again, I was starting to wonder if I'd just dreamed you travelling with us?" The Doctor joked.
"I'm sorry Doctor I just had to see all of those different landscapes. They were so beautiful."
"Yes well now you'll finally get to see the planet at least some of your ancestors came from for real." The Time Lord said with a massive smile on his face, barely able to contain his glee. He always enjoyed his companions first trip to an alien world the most.
Outside the TARDIS however was a fairly dull landscape. Nothing but a field with a scarecrow stuck straight in the middle. At the end of the field there was a massive forest.
The sky was grey and cloudy and there was also fierce wind in the air. Still to Yarox it seemed like the garden of Eden. He got on his knees and touched the grass for a few minutes.
"I knew you'd like earth. Come on lets see if we can find a better spot" The Doctor said as he headed towards the forest.
Yarox was a little confused by the Scarecrow. It didn't look like a real person, but then again neither did Elena. When they reached the edge of the forest Yarox asked the Doctor about the strange figure in the middle of the field.
"That, that man back there, he looks like he's tied up, should we not help him."
The Doctor laughed. "Don't worry my boy he's not real. Just a bag of straw to scare off some primitive animals. Nothing more."
"But I saw him move!"
"What?" The Doctor said, preparing to believe it, considering the type of things he'd seen. The Doctor ran back to the scarecrow and examined it.
"You must have been mistaken Yarox. It really is just a bag of straw. Come on." The Doctor said confidently.
Yarox still wasn't convinced. He was sure that just for a moment he not only saw one of its arms move, but its eye sockets flash red! Still he felt it was best for the moment not to question the Doctors judgement. Perhaps it was all part of a trick to scare away the animals?
The trio wandered through the Scottish woods for about 20 minutes or so, not encountering anything particularly interesting. Though Yarox was still marvelling at the sights around him. He must have spent five minutes just staring at a small robin in the distance before the Doctor and Elena noticed he wasn't behind them.
"Finally some signs of life" The Doctor bellowed. The trio had stumbled upon a small cottage, surrounded by a field.
"It looks boarded." Elena said, somewhat concerned "Whoever's in there doesn't want anyone coming in
"Well even more reason to investigate. Come along." The Doctor replied.
"Are you crazy? Whoever's in there could shoot you before you get within ten feet of it." She said.
"True, but if that house is boarded up, don't you want to know why? Whatever they want to keep out is roaming the woods, it could be around any tree, waiting to pounce on us if we go two feet further."
The Doctor approached the house slowly calling out to anyone inside. When he reached the door however he saw it was open.
"Looks like it was broken into. I just hope that whatever did this isn't still inside." The Doctor said, as he Elena and Yarox investigated the house. Inside it was seemingly deserted, but most unusually there was a line of straw from the door that led to the cellar.
"Please don't go down there. You won't want to see it" A voice from behind said once they had reached the cellar.
The Doctor, Yarox and Elena went into the living room of the house and saw a young girl, no more than 13, hiding behind a nearby sofa.
The girl was a little taken aback at Elena's single eye, but Elena reassured the girl that she was here to help.
"What's down there?" The Doctor asked.
"The remains of old Mr Ferguson. Those things they, they tore his guts out. They left him to rot."
"What things?" The Time Lord asked.
"The Scarecrows."
"Scarecrows?" The Doctor said?
"They suddenly came alive. They attacked us. Me and my mum and dad we were on a picnic when those things, they." The girl started to sob, and Elena hugged her.
"Please don't cry, you're safe now." Elena said as she tried to comfort the young girl.
"No, no I'm not. They're all around. I managed to run away, and I've been hiding in here for the last few days, but I hear them. Every night, they shamble about in the woods. I hear them howling and screaming, wondering when they'll come for me. They…"
She paused for a few seconds.
"They what?" Elena asked gently.
"They said they were from hell itself. When they dragged me and my parents away, they told us they'd burned in the fire, and that we would too."
"Where's hell?" Yarox asked.
"Its a mythological place where the souls of the worst people go when they die. I like to keep an open mind, but I've always found the concept rather fanciful. Then again it has emerged in many separate culture's not just here but around the galaxy." The Doctor said as he clutched his lapels, thoughtfully.
Suddenly the the trio were alerted by a screeching noise from outside.
"They're here, they're here" the little girl screeched as she hugged Elena more tightly.
The Doctor looked outside to see four Scarecrows standing in the field.
"We have been waiting for you. You will free our master from the pit and he will burn this earth to cinders." One of the monsters chanted as it pointed at the Doctor, whilst the other three cackled.
The Demons advanced on the house, with two breaking their way in through the windows, and another coming in through the door. Elena tried to overpower the monster that came in the front door with her Acturan kung fu, but it was no use.
She kicked it in the chest, but it didn't even flinch. Elena then tried to punch it in the face, but she burned her hand off its flaming eyes.
"Get her out of here now, get the girl to safety" the Doctor said to Yarox as he tried to fend off one of the Scarecrows with a chair only to be hopelessly overpowered.
Yarox however couldn't leave the Doctor and tried to restrain the Scarecrow from behind. Unfortunately another one of the beasts jumped Yarox and lifted him into the air. He kicked and kicked at the monsters face, but again it didn't react.
The Doctor then ripped the bag from the Scarecrow's head, hoping he could perhaps learn what is was they were really dealing with. Underneath however was a hideous, rotting face. Most of the flesh looked burned off, its hair was thinning, whilst one of its eyes was missing. Its teeth meanwhile were broken and rotting which it revealed as it smiled.
The Doctor tried to punch the monster in its rotting face, only for his fist to go straight through its head. The Scarecrow then laughed at the Doctor before throwing him into a wall. It then tried to ram its claws into his chest, but the Doctor evaded the monsters attack and used his body to ram the Scarecrow into another of its kin that was attacking Yarox.
Elena meanwhile was able to overpower her Scarecrow by flipping it over her shoulder out of the front door.
The little girl had sat at the back, too terrified to make a move against the monsters, or even run away in case more of the creatures were waiting outside.
The Doctor Elena, and Yarox ran towards the little girl and tried to flee, but the three Scarecrows were blocking the door and the only way out was down into the cellar, or up the stairs. The Doctor chose the latter option, but as he ran up the stairs, he could see the fourth Scarecrow waiting for him at the top, smiling whilst licking the blood from its claws, with its flaming tongue.
The Doctor told them to get back to the cellar, but the little girl refused too.
"We have no choice, we're surrounded" Elena said to the screaming girl, as the monsters on both sides closed in on them.
The Doctor had no time to argue and so he simply ran down the stairs to the cellar, knowing his companions would follow.
Down in the cellar the Doctor could see the rotting remains of the house's former owner. The young girl couldn't look at it. She had known Ferguson in life. He and her father were great friends, and he even used to babysit her.
Whilst Elena comforted the now hysterical girl, the Doctor noticed a window at the top of the cellar.
"Quick get the girl through that window. I"l hold them off." He said.
"How on earth will you even" Elena said, before the Doctor cut them off.
"I'll win them round with my charm just like I did you two, now go" the Doctor said firmly.
As the Scarecrows came tumbling down the steps to the cellar, Elena didn't question the Doctor any longer and crawled through the window. She needed to make sure there were no monsters outside waiting. Yarox then helped to push the girl through the window, before following whilst the Doctor stood in front of his companions as the Scarecrows drew nearer.
"Now then you told me that you were waiting for me?" The Doctor said with a faux confidence and bluster to cover up his fear as he clutched his lapels.
"What may I ask for?"
The unmasked Scarecrow spoke.
"Our master, Scratchman was sealed in the pit millions of years ago. He has been clawing at your reality, peeking into its dreams, stealing souls. Now he will finally walk this earth thanks to you."
"Scratchman?" "You mean…. the Devil?"
"That is what you would call him. He has always been our master. Though he is the master of you all."
"What on earth do you mean? Master of us all?"
"You are all destined for his pit one way or another."
"Well if that's the case why does this Scratchman fellow need to come here then? Also what about heaven? If there's a hell, then shouldn't there be a heaven?"
"Heaven is a lie told by the master to give you all false hope that you can escape his grasp" the creature sneered.
"Well that's a rather bleak view to have of life my boy isn't it?" the Doctor said in an awkward, humorous tone.
"Still whoever your master is I don't intend to help him escape. Judging from you lot, it seems whoever locked him in the pit had a good reason too. I'd thank them if I could."
"Stop wasting time. The master waits." The unmasked Scarecrow shouted as it attempted to hold the Doctor, who ducked and picked up John Ferguson's rifle from the floor only to see it had been broken.
The Demons laughed at the Doctor who backed into a corner.
"You will suffer for making him wait longer than he needed to."
"You should tell this Scratchman fellow, that's no way to get people to do him favours." the Doctor replied before throwing a large bag of compost behind him into one of the Scarecrow's faces. It didn't hurt it obviously, but when the abomination cut it open, the compost briefly blocked its vision. The Doctor then ran past the other two fiends to the window.
As he climbed through it however, one of the beasts, the unmasked Scarecrow in fact jumped up and held onto the Doctor by his foot as he was almost clear. The Doctor tried to pull free, but the monsters metal claws dug deep into his ankle. Fortunately however Elena and Yarox quickly came to the Doctors aid. It was still no use however, as the strength of the Doctor and his companions combined was still no match for the undead brute. Elena started to kick the Scarecrow over and over again. She didn't hurt the abomination but she distracted it long enough for the Doctor to wiggle his foot free and then kick the monster in the chest knocking it back into the other Scarecrows.
"Thank you" the Doctor said as he rubbed his foot. "We need to get back to the TARDIS now"
"Please, find my parents" the young girls cried.
"I will do all I can for them" the Doctor replied gently. "I just need to get you back to the TARDIS. You'll be safe there while I look for your parents, and figure out what is going on."
"What do you mean the TARDIS?" She asked
"You'll see when we get there. Come on." The Doctor said.
The Doctor and his companions ran back the way through the woods. It was beginning to get dark and more and more Scarecrows were crawling around. The Doctor and his companions kept hidden by crawling along the undergrowth, to the large field where the TARDIS was.
"That blue box?" the young girl asked completely perplexed?
"Trust me it's a lot tougher and bigger than it looks. You'll be safe in there." The Doctor said confidently.
The foursome decided to make a break for it across the field, but as they neared the TARDIS suddenly a metal hand came bursting out of the ground and latched itself onto Yarox's foot, causing him to trip.
The Doctor turned round, only for two more sets of metal hands to burst out of the ground in front of him, after which dozens more hands emerged out of the field all around the Doctor, Elena and the girl.
The Time Lord looked back into the woods to see several more Scarecrows emerging from them, brandishing their claws, roaring and hissing. The Doctor was forced to sacrifice his coat that they had grabbed onto, whilst he helped Elena and even the girls help pull Yarox free from the Scarecrow's grip.
The foursome then bolted into the TARDIS, slamming the doors shut before the Scarecrow's could follow.
The monsters clawed furiously on the door screaming at the Doctor to let them in.
"Fool you could flee to the end of the universe and he'll still claim your soul. You'll have to die one day!" One of the Scarecrow's shouted.
The little girl was so scared of the monsters taunts that she almost hadn't noticed how massive the inside of the TARDIS was compared to the tiny blue box she'd seen in the field.
"Don't worry. None of them can get in here now. We're safe, for the moment at least." The Doctor assured the young girl as he checked the console.
"What are you looking for?" Elena asked as the little girl held onto her for safety.
"Signs of an interdimensional disturbance. Those monsters said they wanted me to free their master from the pit, wherever that is."
"It's hell." The young girl shouted.
"Well wherever it is, I think its most likely another universe. Those creatures whatever they are, must have created a rip into our reality. I might be able to track it here."
The Doctor messed around with the controls for a few minutes. whilst the monsters continued to shout and claw on the doors.
"What is this place?" the young girl asked about the TARDIS somewhat frightened.
"It's a time and space machine." Elena said to the girl.
"A space ship? Are you, are you aliens!"
"I'm not. I'm as human as you. Well more or less, I'm part mutant on my mother's side, Yarox is part alien, and the Doctor over there is completely alien. He's a Time Lord, but don't be scared he likes humans." Elena said to the girl.
"They're my favourite species alongside the Therons of Venus" the Doctor said proudly as he adjusted the controls.
"Humans have better music, but Venusian food is better." He joked, though none of the others were exactly in the mood for humour. To be fair it wasn't a joke. This Doctor was perhaps a little bit more of a trencherman than his previous incarnations, and it showed.
"Aliens and Demons? I can't believe this is happening", the girl said.
"Well trust me those things out there are aliens too. They're dishonest about where they came from, but well hopefully we can find out the truth." The Doctor assured.
"Ah, I've located it. There's a tear on the other side of the island. Just as I thought. It looks like its splintering. Very soon there will be more rips on our side." The Doctor said as he left the room.
"Where are you going?" Yarox asked.
"To whip up something to sever those monsters from whatever's projecting them into our reality. When I unmasked one of them in the house, my hand went through it. They're projections, given enough of a boost to affect this reality, but that's all they are. If I can interfere with them then we can stop the monsters. It should be easy, whatever is projecting them is already unstable. Hence why they're solid one minute and then a mirage the next like back in the house. Come on, you can help me. Better than just sitting here and listening to those things moan."
The others followed the Doctor, though just before she left the console room, Elena looked on the scanner. She could now see what looked like hundreds of Scarecrows all amassing outside of the TARDIS.
"I hope he's right about those doors holding." She thought to herself.
On the other side of the island meanwhile the Scarecrow's had almost finished their blood ritual.
"Please, please stop." Mary, one of their sacrifices begged as the leader of the Scarecrow's sliced into her stomach again.
"Why, why are you doing this" she pleaded, only for the Scarecrow to laugh at her pain.
The Scarecrow's claws suddenly became red hot.
"No, no please" Mary screamed as she struggled to get free.
Fortunately just as the monster was about to sink its burning hot claws in, a red whirlwind appeared in the sky, causing all of the Scarecrows to bow and chant in unison.
"He has come forth. Oh praise him!"
To Be Continued.