Some Go Mad

"I've got the tickets," Doctor said, turning from the counter to face Rose.

But Rose wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were fixed on a window of the train. In the compartment was sat a single man. His dark hair was disheveled. His grey eyes had that same look Rose knew so well from all of the photographs she's seen. He wore no smile, but a grave expression that bordered on mad. Edgar Allan Poe was worried.

Without looking to see that the Doctor was following, Rose walked forward towards the train. She knew where she wanted to sit, if only she would be given permission. She stepped aboard, walking down a narrow hallway until she got to the compartment she was looking for. She knocked on the door then opened it, only briefly glancing behind her at the Doctor, who had kept up her pace.

"Excuse me," she said, voice quiet but quavering slightly with exhileration. "Can we sit here?" Rose gestured to the open bench across from the man.

Edgar hardly looked up as he said, "Please do."

"Thank you, Mr. Poe," Rose breathed. She slid the length of the bench to sit across from the author and the Doctor sat beside her.

This time, Edgar did look up. "You know who I am?" he asked, referring to her accent and the fact that he highly doubted any of his stories had become known across the pond.

Rose looked to the Doctor, not knowing how to respond to Edgar's question. He took the initiative. "Mr. Poe, I'm John Smith. This is my partner Rose Jackson." He turned his head to wink at Rose. "We're reporters from a newspaper in London. We're doing a piece on you," he explained.

"Reporters?" Edgar asked. "What, both of you?" He looked over at Rose, who blushed in return.

"Yes, both of us."

"So," Rose blurted out. "Where are you going, Mr. Poe?" She knew exactly where he was headed to. What she didn't know was why he never made it there.

"New York," he said. "I'm visiting a friend. What I'd like to know is how did you two know I was going to be here?"

Rose opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the Doctor. "You're lying," he said, brows furrowed over his eyes. "You're not visiting a friend and you're not going to New York."

"Doctor," Rose hissed.

"Doctor?" Edgar asked. "You're a doctor now, are you?"

"No, no, I'm not a doctor, I'm-"

Rose sighed. "Is this really the time, Doctor?"

The Doctor, who had leaned forward in his seat to peer across the space at Edgar, sat back against the bench and coughed. He smiled at Rose, sheepishly, and Edgar, apologetically. "Right. Sorry."

"I don't understand," Edgar said, then looked quickly out the window. The whistle blew. Once the train began moving he let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the two people sharing the compartment with him, who were staring back at him in confusion.

"What are you running from?" Doctor asked. The question caused an even more pressing silence to fall on the companions. But the Doctor knew. He knew that look. The look that was in Edgar's sad, dark eyes. He was scared of something and he was running. Doctor could empathize; he'd never once stopped running in all the years of his lives. "What's got you so frightened that you're running away?"

Edgar took a deep breath. "You're not from around here, are you?" He looked between Rose and the Doctor. "You were going to say that you're called 'The Doctor', weren't you? I've heard about you."

"You've heard about me?" Doctor couldn't hide the giddiness he felt at Edgar's words.

He nodded. "The things I'm running from, the things that are after me, they don't much like you. They talk about you all the time. Stories they've been told by their master. They've said horrible things."

"What have they said?" Rose asked, leaning forward in her own seat.

Edgar looked straight at the Doctor as he replied. "They said you destroyed your own planet."

Suddenly, before either Rose or Doctor could react, the compartment went dark. Not as if the lights had been put out, but as if a black blanket had been draped over them all. Instead of hearing the roar of the train as it rolled down the tracks, there was only silence, and a faint fuzzy sound, like the static on a broken television.

Edgar swore quietly, and there was a sound of him fumbling in his pockets for something. "They've found me. I thought I'd lost them. I'm sorry."

A loud bang sounded and then there was nothing.

***

Rose woke up to a bright light shining in her eyes. For a moment, she forgot what had happened. But then it all came back to her and she sat up quickly, almost knocking heads with the Doctor, who had been leaning over her. She looked around, seeing that she was in a dirty, dusty old room. The light was coming from a window, whose curtains were thrown open (though they wouldn't have done much good anyway, as Rose could see multiple large holes in them). Doctor stood beside the bed she was laying on, and behind him she saw Edgar sitting in a chair, head in his hands.

She threw her legs over the side of the bed, almost kicking Doctor, and walked over to Edgar. She kneeled in front of him and put her hand on his knee. "Edgar?"

He breathed out deeply through his nostrils. "I thought they were gone. I hadn't seen them in...weeks. I thought maybe...I don't know."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Edgar." She turned to look at Doctor. "Do you know what's going on? What are they?"

"They're old," Doctor said slowly, taking a step towards Rose and Edgar. "They- They don't even have a name anymore. I thought they had all died out. I guess I was wrong, too. What they're doing messing with Edgar, though... I haven't the faintest idea why they'd be doing this."

"And their master? Who do you think that could be? He or she has obviously got to be the reason why, right?"

The Doctor shook his head. He really didn't know, and there wasn't much that he didn't know. He hadn't seen this race in hundreds of years; since his childhood back on Gallifrey. They were almost as old as the Time Lords. He'd almost forgotten about them. They were a mostly friendly race, but friendliness, Doctor knew, was something that could be lost over years to madness and spite. And when lost to madness and spite, even an entire race could be deceived by someone who seemed to be able to take all of their problems away.

"They're going to come back," Edgar whispered, gripping handfuls of his hair and pulling. "They always come back."

Rose gently removed Edgar's hands from his hair and placed them on his legs. "It's going to be alright, Edgar. We'll help you." She glanced at the Doctor, who was now standing next to her. "Right, Doctor? We can help him, right?"

The Doctor nodded, though he wasn't so sure.

***

It had been almost a week since that first day when Rose and Doctor had met Edgar on the train. The entire time they'd stayed in that small, dank room, only venturing out when they needed to eat.

Edgar was slowly losing his mind. Every tiny noise they heard he believed to be Them coming to get him. Whenever Rose or Doctor left the room, he feared they wouldn't return because They were going to take them. Rose was quickly losing her patience. She had known that Edgar had problems, but this was ridiculous. He was a frightened little boy and she was growing tired of comforting him.

One day, after listening to Edgar ramble on and on about the dangers of leaving the room for almost three hours, Rose finally snapped. She stood up from the chair she was sat in, crossing the small space between herself and the deranged man. She stabbed her finger into his chest. "You are starting to get on my last nerve, Mr. Poe," she said. "I'm getting sick of your constant whining. We are here to help you and all you've been doing was driving me bloody mad."

Doctor stood close by, watching to make sure the girl didn't do anything too drastic. He understood why she was angry. He'd seen it before. Someone wanted to go see their hero, a favorite actor, historical figure, etc., but it turned out that they aren't who they thought they'd be. He had watched Rose over the course of the last week. Her face fell when Edgar walked in from having been bathing, the light that had been in her eyes when she had first seen him was slowly lost. She had quickly grown sick of the once beloved author.

"Do you see that man standing over there?" Rose was saying, her eyes glancing towards the Doctor to make sure that Edgar looked, at least for a moment, at him, too. "He has been chased by creatures that would make the things chasing you seem like bunny rabbits. He lives all by himself most of the time. He murdered his planet, his own people, and look at him. Look at how much of a man he still is! I used to think you were a hero. You persevered even when people told you to stop. But now I know that I was very poorly mistaken. You, Edgar Allan Poe, are nothing but a fake. You're a scared child, running from something you don't even understand. I've seen this man," she pointed at the Doctor, "walk right up to an enemy and face him. And he had no fear. What does that make you, Mr. Poe?"

Edgar's eyes had slowly focused in on Rose's face as her words wore on. His face fell when her words sank in and he slouched in his chair. He didn't even try to offer her an answer, only sat in the chair and despaired.

Rose shook her head at him, tears finally springing up and sliding down her cheeks. She turned away from the broken man in front of her and walked over to the Doctor. She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the door of the room. "Come on," she said, not glancing back at Edgar. "We're leaving."

The Doctor didn't say a word. Who was he to stop her? This was where she'd wanted to go, and now she knew that it had been a mistake. He couldn't force her to stay. So he followed after her, quietly closing the door behind the two of them. Before they reached the stairs, they heard a loud cracking sound from the room. Rose only paused for a moment, then tugged the Doctor down the stairs with her.

***

"We have to go back," Rose said.

The Doctor looked up from the controls he'd been messing with and stared at her. "What? I thought you didn't want to be around him."

She shook her head, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I don't mean back to the room," she whispered. "I mean to the hospital. He deserves to see us one last time before he dies."

Doctor didn't know what to do. He knew what went on with Edgar the last few days of his life. He wasn't sure if he wanted Rose to see him like that. "You know he'll be even more mad than before, don't you? Are you absolutely positive you want to do this, Rose?"

The girl nodded. She was sure.

The Doctor hit a few buttons. The TARDIS lurched and in a minute's time, they were standing in the doorway of Edgar Allan Poe's hospital room in Baltimore, Maryland. Doctor squeezed her hand once. That was Rose needed to be able to walk into the room.

Edgar's eyes were closed. Rose couldn't tell if he was sleeping, or only trying to block out the world. His chest rose steadily. Even in the quiet state he was in, Rose could tell how worse off he was than he had been before. She wondered if maybe she should have listened to the Doctor. Maybe she shouldn't have come. But then his eyes opened, and Edgar said her name.

"Rose!" he exclaimed. His voice was tiny and scratchy. It was hard to hear.

Rose ran over and stood next to the bed, wrapping his hand in her own. It was cold, and yet still sweaty. His eyes were wide and glazed over. She knew it was almost his time.

"They said They would go after you, once they were done with me. They said They were going to kill you."

Rose smiled, shaking her head and feeling tears form in her eyes. "They didn't get me. I'm still here. I'll always be here."

He smiled at her, and Rose realized that he hadn't done that even once before. Edgar Allan Poe had just smiled at her. The tears ran freely now. The Doctor stayed back, leaning against the door and watching the pair's exchange.

"I'm sorry," Edgar said. "I'm sorry for how I acted." His voice was growing smaller and smaller. His eyes getting farther and farther away from her.

Rose smiled at him. "I know you are. I forgive you."

Edgar nodded, eyes closing slowly. His fingers slackened. Rose knew it wasn't time just yet, but she didn't want to be there when it happened. She quickly kissed his forehead then ran over to the Doctor. She looked up at him once, then left the room, trying to find a real doctor so that Edgar wouldn't be alone when he said his final words and took his last breath.