• LONDON 1905

    It was the kind of place that 'decent' people wouldn't dare tread, the surrounding town would repel even the lowest of the low of modern society. There were but a few people living in the slums of the east end, their environment was so brutal that only a few unlucky souls would survive. There were no visitors to this part of London, they were too scared. Mother's pleaded for their Daughters to stay away, for fear of loosing them entirely, Father's banned their sons from playing anywhere near the border. It soon became a desolate, angry place. The few inhabitants turned to stealing, Prostitution, anything to get their hands on a bit of money. They became distant, separated from the rest of London by an invisible barrier. They created their own religion, or lack of it as the case may be, eventually a society evolved around, sex, money and stealing. At the center of this society, and indeed the town, was a derelict Pub. It was called] 'The Black Horse', and it every reflected the society around it. The windows were broken, and badly repaired with molding wooden boards, some of the brickwork and crumbled to the ground where it lay, forgotten and unwanted on the surrounding floor. The whole building looked incredibly uninviting. Every now and the a drunkard or two would stumble through the dilapidated oak door, singing merrily or swearing to high heaven. Their appetites for filled for the night, they would return home to beat their wives or children, or worse still hang around the pub, waiting for one of the pretty, pretty bar tenders to emerge after their shift.

    Inside the Pub it was dark, clammy, and even more uninviting than the outside. Their was a Bar, to which young girls had jobs tending, or waitressing, there were a great deal of tables, they all had only two chairs, meaning that this was a place for dealing, not socializing. Some came though, to meet friends, get severely drunk, to try and grab the waitresses skirts as they walked by, they never got far without money. The waitresses did not mind, for they were used to this kind of behavior, quite often the right amount of money would get a man alone in a room with them for half and hour. There were men who came every night for this, and more. It was a bleak place for any outsider, but the people here, who had no other meaning to their lives, created meaning, they smoked, wiled their life away in drink, but had a good time doing it.

    There was really no other pub in the east end, so 'The Black Horse' had plenty of business. One night a young girl, aged only 15 , walked up to the gloomy pub. She was nervous, her mother had told her not to be, but she couldn't help it. This was all new for her, it wasn't exactly something she wanted to do either. She wanted to sail the seven seas! She wanted to live the life of a pirate, She wanted to meet a dashing young sailor, who would sweep her off her feet and away into the sunset! Her dream was abruptly halted as she walked into the pub's door. She stepped back in surprise and brushed crumbs of wood off her new dress. Mother had bought it for her as a sort of 'going away' present. But she was unsure of it's real meaning. She opened the door and looked inside. It looked dark, dark but very busy. She slowly walked into the room, she gathered her confidence and went over to one of the bar tenders.

    "Um, I'm supposed to be meeting someone, A Doctor? Do you know where i can wait for him?" She asked,
    "Why yes love, If you go through that door and look for room 11, you can wait in there" She replied sweetly, Pointing at a door partly concealed by a table and chairs.
    "Thanks" and the girl smiled and headed off toward the door.
    Behind the door was a long corridor with doors leading off to rooms right along each side. She slowly walked past the doors, checking what number was written on them. She could hear groans and sighs from behind the doors, Her nerves returned as she found door 11. She knocked and found no reply. Her hand shakily reached out to turn the handle, but suddenly the door opened and she stepped back in fear. The room was dark, so dark that she could not see a thing. She could sense a man standing before her. He spoke in a low, gruff voice, that emanated a sense of madness,
    "Why, Come in my Dear, you must be getting cold in that hall, Come in , Come in, I am The Doctor" He stepped aside as the girl walked in. She could still see nothing, but she heard The Doctor walk behind her. He put his hand round her waist and guided her over to a wall, talking smoothly the whole time. He turned her to face him and lent forward. He whispered into her ear,
    "Don't be nervous, Just relax, I wont hurt you" The words soothed the girl and she relaxed. The Doctor was considerably taller than her, at least topping six foot five, He put one arm round her shoulders, pulling her towards him, the other delved into his pocket. The girl could still not see anything, but was silently waiting for it to begin. Suddenly the man pulled his other hand out from his pocket, it was wielding a sharp Kitchen Knife. The girl sensed there was something wrong and tried to pull away, but The Doctor had a firm grip on her shoulders. She tried to scream but the Knife plunged into her heart before she could make a sound. She stared in shock at 'The Doctor'. He smiled as he let go of her dying body and she fell to the floor, Landing in a heap of limbs and blood. The Doctor wiped his knife on a handkerchief and left it beside the dead body. He smiled once more and left the room, silently closing and locking the door behind him.