Chapter 1
Jecca is a pretty normal person; she's pretty average and a little more reserved, and she'll do everything to avoid overtime at her job. Not because she hates her job at all. In fact, she enjoys it; what she hates is the people who take her working as an opportunity to attempt conversation with her. If it weren’t for the fact that she was born with a spinal problem (She doesn’t remember where or what, so don’t ask), she would assume the chronic migraines were from the person who talks her ear off about conspiracies when he clocks in. She was always a skeptical person and didn’t really care to look into the new or unknown.
And her day was like any other, with the new and not-so-rare addition of rain, but that was pretty typical of London. Jecca liked the rain, which seemed normal for someone who grew up with it all the time (or maybe not. She met plenty of people who hated it). But it was extra nice with the fact that she was alone in her car, that is, she was alone while being surrounded by a dozen other drivers like her who wanted to get home but couldn’t due to the thousands of other drivers who were probably gonna die of road rage in the next ten minutes. Jecca sat there, listening to the annoying sound of horns honking, and turned up the radio, which was playing some sort of gospel hymn. She didn’t like it, but that’s what would drown out the impulsive thoughts of swerving off the road into the pond on the left of her.
She felt a very sharp pain behind her ears and a slow throbbing in her head, like a very painful and slow heartbeat that would punch you every time it beat.
“Damn it.” She spat, massaging her forehead. She picked up a small leather satchel from the car floor and opened it up, looking for pain relievers and shuffling mostly trash and receipts around in the bag, before frustratingly realizing that she had left them at her flat. Dubble damn it, she thought to herself, she sighed, sinking into her seat and sighing exasperatedly.
She looked up and saw that to her right, the lane had opened up to a small detour through a very sketchy country lane. The drive would have been at least 5 minutes longer had it been a regular day without the god-awful traffic, but it was about to be 15 minutes shorter than a routine by the looks of it. Jecca quickly signaled to the other vehicles of her change in routes by mindlessly swerving towards the exit before it was too late, and felt her car slow down because of the rubble under the car.
She was tired, and she felt the headache start to go away. She sat totally still, knowing that if she moved, she would get vertigo and a chain reaction leading back to the throbbing pain. She sort of relaxed, though, sitting still and reaching over, turning the obnoxious sounds of ‘handles Messiah’ and listening to the rain hit her window. She rolled her window down and rested one arm on it, feeling the rain hit her arm. They were cold drops, but as was expected, near the end of summer into the colder seasons.
She sat there and was breathing a bit slower, closing her eyes longer when she blinked. This was better than having to wait in an annoying line in traffic for half an hour. She was about to close her eyes again when a tall man jumped in front of her car.
“Ma’am!” He exclaimed, Jecca hit the brakes, and the car slid, spritzing mud at him. he seemed unfazed at his trousers now being covered in mud and ran to the left side of her car. Jecca felt a headache come back, and she felt adrenaline and anxiety wake her up.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jecca yelled at the man
“Where am I?” He asked, ignoring what Jecca had said. He was a mess and scuffed up with mud and dirt all over him. Like he had decided to roll in mud. And he was excited, much too excited for a man who jumped in front of her car.
“London, sir, are you okay?” Jecca asked, trying to see if his eyes were dilated. He was probably Ill or something. He smiled and fixed a mud-coated bow tie.
“I’m fantastic! well, sort of- it depends on the year-”
“The year?” Jecca asked, getting more lost and concerned the more he talked.
“Yes! Speaking of which, would you happen to know the date?” He asked, grinning warmly.
“August of 2025,” Jecca responded. She couldn’t find a problem in his eyes at all; he seemed good. So either he was having an episode, or he was really good at hiding that he was high.
“That’s a start!” He exclaimed. he was dusting off dirt and slugs off himself and looked back over at Jecca.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a washroom?” He asked, attempting to fix his hair. Jecca was about to say no to this man and drive off when a chunk of mud the size of a pie tin landed on her lap, and the man flushed up a bit as Jecca swept it off her lap onto the floor.
“Get in the car,” she groaned, trying to massage her temples again. The man ran to the other side of the car and opened the door, sitting down and looking at her. Jecca tried to ignore his stares and twisted the ignition key again. She tried to remember where the nearest mental hospital was. It was uncomfortably silent, and Jecca, who normally loved it when things were quiet, was considering whether she should yell at him or kick him out of the car.
“So, madam, what’s your name?” He said, examining the trash on the bottom of her car. Jecca realized the stupidity of what she had done. She let a madman in her car, and he wanted to know her name.
“I’m afraid I’m not gonna say,” Jecca replied, trying to be polite to him. he looked sort of confused by this but nodded understandingly.
“Fair enough. Do you go down this road often?” He asked. Jecca was now convinced that he was going to murder her. She would be on the next true crime podcast, except she would be a mention of one of the many different women killed.
“Pardon?” Jecca asked defensively. He stumbled, hopefully to make what he just asked less creepy.
“I mean, you know, small talk. Isn’t that what humans do in the modern day?” He responded charmingly. Jecca was confused when he said ”humans,” as if he were not a human.
“You need to work on your small talk, you sound like you’re going to murder me.” Jecca laughed, trying to add a little more humor to the fact that she had decided to make such a dumb decision.
“Oh, sorry for the panic. Just needed to ask a question.” He replied, smiling, comforting her.
“Ok, before I get you a shower, you’re going to answer a few questions,” Jecca said, now entering back into the city limits. He smiled and looked out the window at the raindrops on the car.
“Like a trivia? I love trivia, trivia is cool.” He said, bouncing his foot rapidly.
“Ok, first question,” Jecca thought for a minute on what the first question even was. She had many, too many questions, and all he talked about would only make her question his sanity even more. He waited patiently and stared at her. “Right, first question, why would you jump in front of my car?”
Jecca internally knew that she wouldn’t get a reasonable answer; after all, the man was obviously not exactly right in the head. He shrugged and started checking his tweed jacket that was now covered in dried-out mud.
“Well, you see, it’s sort of a long story, but in a nutshell, I crashed my ship and needed to know where and when I was at.” He responded as dirt landed at the bottom of her car. Jecca nodded, trying to be as respectful to him as possible.
“Sorry, but what do you mean by ship?” She asked, turning into the car park and looking for her usual spot.
“Oh, you know, like a rocket ship except big and blue and a box.” He responded.
“Ok, second question, what do you mean by “When” you had landed this, er... box?” Jecca asked. He pulled a little gadget wand thing out of his pocket and flicked it, and it did nothing, adding another question on top of her pile of mysteries.
“It time-travels, but it doesn’t do it right half the time.” He ranted
“Time travel?” Jecca was getting lost, but thought she would stick to the questions and get answers later.
“Right, right, ok... erm, pardon, but what is that?” Jecca asked, she suspected it to be a vape or some sort of flask with marijuana in it. The man flicked it again in his left hand and smiled when a small green bulb at the top lit.
“Sonic screwdriver!” He responded. Jecca had almost half forgotten about her migraine up to that point, until he turned it on, and an annoying buzzing sound started playing from it. She reached over to grab it and turn it off, but the man moved her hand away from it and turned it off, placing it in his lap.
“Ok, yeah, sure. But what is that?” Jecca asked, getting slightly annoyed.
“Well, it uses sonic waves to do things, like boil an egg, make things grow, and detect things.” He said, fiddling with his hands. Jecca was most certain he had some form of ADHD because every time she looked over, he was doing something new and was examining the car. Jecca parked her car and opened the truck to grab a small purple umbrella, and they both started walking to her flat a few blocks away.
“Boil an egg?” Jecca asked, confused and slightly amused.
“Yes! Wouldn’t suggest it though, I haven’t gotten the timing right.” He admitted, shrugging. Jecca almost laughed a little, but stopped thinking it would be wrong to laugh when he was obviously ill.
“Ok, one last question. What’s your name?” Jecca asked, hoping to give the mental ward some sort of information on who he was. He smiled at the question.
“I’m the doctor,” He responded, fixing his bow tie that was also covered in dirt. Jecca rolled her eyes.
“The ‘doctor’?” She asked, the rain got heavier, and she walked closer to him, trying to keep him dry under the umbrella.
“Yes!” the doctor responded. He noticed the gesture and nodded, smiling.
“Doctor who? Do you have some sort of licence?” Jecca asked, turning the corner.
“The doctor.” He said simply.
“Do you have a nickname I can use?” Jecca asked, walking into the building and checking in at the desk.
“No, not exactly. Why?” He asked, slightly offended.
“Well, the name ‘the doctor’ isn’t exactly well... a name?” Jecca said, walking into a small, crowded lift, realizing that they would be having this crackhead discussion in an elevator of people who probably knew her.
“If it wasn’t a name, I wouldn’t have it!” He responded confidently.
“Well, yeah, I guess... but, erm... It’s sort of misleading and, um,” Jecca knew in a public setting like this it would be troubling. After all, it was illegal and could lead to misunderstandings and assumptions. The doctor nodded, waiting for an answer from her.
“Well, it’s sort of illegal, impersonating a medical professional,” Jecca whispered. The elevator was really quiet and awkward.
“But I’m not! It’s my name!” he exclaimed, going slightly annoyed and a light red. The people around glanced at him, and then a double-take at his appearance, and the lift got very quiet. The good thing was he didn’t smell like anything, so that was good, or maybe it was a bit more of a mystery.
“Alright, but we are figuring out a nickname,” Jecca said in a whisper. He nodded. After 5 painfully silent minutes, with the occasional glance from people at the mud-covered doctor and him exchanging weird looks with a polite smile back. They got to their floor, and instead of awkwardly scrambling out, everyone scrambled to the side like how Jecca imagined the Red Sea would have parted in the bible.
Jecca walked out, uncomfortable, and waited for the lift doors to close before finally saying something. “Alright, the bathroom is down the hall, and it’s the first door to your left. I might have a pair of sweats you could borrow. Just put your dirty clothes by the door.” Jecca said, reaching her flat at the end of the hall and scrambling for her keys in her satchel.
“Thank you, it should be a quick shower, and then I should be out of your hair! *Hopefully*” He coughed. Jecca looked at him, confused.
“Hopefully?” Jecca asked. Hoping he wasn’t trying to get a free meal or night’s sleep or something. Jecca just wanted to get this man in and out of her flat. This wasn’t gonna be some sort of sleepover or late night. The man tensed some kind of and changed the topic.
“Why don’t we just get on in?” He asked, grabbed the keys, and opened the door. He walked in, and Jecca sighed, expecting the reality of her murder due to her poor judgment and use of her frontal lobe, before walking into her flat too.
