"In the name of Adonai the God of Israel: May the angel Michael be at my right, and the angel Gabriel be at my left; and in front of me the angel Uriel, and behind me the angel Raphael, and above my head the Sh'khinah." The darkness of the wooden shack seemed all encompassing, like nothing could possibly penetrate it, or escape; but yet, from within the dark, a small voice seemed to make itself known. The wind outside howled relentlessly, the rain of the day also hitting the small, almost pointless window like bullets. The mere thought of bullets caused the owner of the voice, a small girl, to shudder in disdain and horror from what memories were being trudged up. There was nothing to do in here, other than to be left in solitude, and with solitude came thoughts.

Pushing herself up from her bunk, a bunk which was simply a slab of wood with the thinest pillows and blanket, she glanced to the window. There wasn't much in way of light here, a simple lamp burned brightly, but even that seemed to be dwindling pathetically and the light being swallowed by the darkness. It was so thick, and heavy that even the small sliver of moon which had appeared through the clouds struggled. Nothing, not the lamp, or natures own lights; the sun, or moon, and even the stars could do anything to shake the darkness away. This night was darker than dark, and all there seemed to be currently was darkness.

Her bright, luminous almost electric green eyes narrowed sceptically at the dark sky outside. The rain was ceasing, not that that meant anything, but it definitely did seem like the night was darker than usual. The rain continued, bucketing down heavily, the clouds seemingly unrelenting in unleashing their heavy load, the tracks of raindrops were watched, her small head tilting as she wrapped her blanket around herself and took to kneeling. The bunk made the slightest creaks from her light weight shifting, but that soon echoed off into the dark corners of the building.

There was a noise, a familiar noise which had now haunted her dreams and bought dread to her ever waking moment. Her stomach dropped, flipped, turned, everything and anything as she tensed in her bed. Footsteps. Heavy, booted, thundering almost against the wet mud and ground outside as they came her way. She could confuse the loud noises for thunder, but even thunder sounded slightly kinder than this. Raking a thin hand through her hair, she looked worriedly around. There was no point in fighting back, or even trying to resist. These men would drag her out of here kicking and screaming, sometimes they'd even just knock her out and take her away. She'd then wake up in that place, surrounded by all sorts of medical equipment and a man bent on hurting her.

Swinging her thin legs over the bunk, she shakily stood. Her legs wobbled a little from the lack of food, and she stood, wrapped in her thin grey blanket, no expression on her face and looking determinedly at the door. No more kicking and screaming. Over the gradual time she'd been here, her resistance may have never quelled, but she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing her terrified. They would win that way. And her spirit was a lot stronger than they gave her credit for.

Despite not wanting to show fear, she still flinched when the door was practically kicked open. More force was sent in the doors direction than what was necessary. Blinking slowly, she looked from the uniformed men; the rain dripping off of them, making their uniforms seem darker then even the shadows in this space, to the boy they were seemingly dragging along. Much like herself, or anyone here, they acted as if he was the worst thing they'd ever had to touch, or be near. Both men dropped the boy, as his legs gave out they even shoved him fully to fall against the hard, unforgiving ground before they turned and made their way back to the door. They didn't want to linger in here, even as the boy managed to get himself up and off of the floor and to stand watching them, there were no words exchanged. Unceremoniously, the door slammed shut, the sound thudding heavily, and also mutely as silence returned. The clicking of the lock just signalled again, that there was no escape from this space. Not unless they wanted her, or now the boy out.

There was a growing empathy, she didn't want someone else to suffer the same fate as herself. With or without the locked door, there was nowhere for either of them to go. No one left, other than one specific way. She stood and watched the boy, he slowly turned and looked at her with confused blue eyes. Confused blue tear filled eyes. He seemed as taken back by her being here than he himself did on the whole. It was like he did not expect anyone else to be present, yet the sight of the smaller female took him by momentary surprise for a moment. Seeing as how she did not move a muscle towards him, he realised she was as much a prisoner as he now was. Picking up his feet, he briefly looked to the scuffed wooden boards beneath his feet before quietly and steadily moving over. Slowing down he stopped a few paces from her. She assessed his appearance just as much as he was assessing hers.

He was taller than her by a fair few inches, he was rather slim too. Not unhealthy slim like she was, but still slender. Peeking out from underneath the cap on his head was tangled brown hair. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he cleared his vision and looked around at the lack of furniture within shack. Turning and looking too, she looked back at him. She had been in and out of these quarters for the last few months. It was bleak back then, and if anything it became worse with the changing of the seasons. The summer had bleached the wood to a sandy colour, but now the rainy weather was causing mould to creep in the corners. There was nothing to this one room which could be so captivating. Two bunks for sleeping was about the largest pieces of furniture in the room. They were the only real furniture in the room.

With a sigh which seemed to rattle in her chest, she sat down while pushing tangled auburn hair out of her face. It wasn't that long ago that they had cut her waist length hair off. Now it was growing back in odd lengths and at strange angles. It was forever getting in her eyes now. Sitting on her bunk, she pulled her legs up and pointed towards the other bunk opposite to hers. With a growing frown, the boy seemed to sense that this was now his. The creak which the bunk emitted when he sat down echoed painfully in the room. Sitting still didn't last long because he soon buried his face in his hands. He tilted his head to the side when he felt sudden movement. Looking to the small hand which was held out to him, he looked at the measly scrap of bread.

He looked from it to the girl and then back again. He wasn't hungry anyway, but there was no way he could take food from this girl. She was impossibly thin, her fingers bony and skeletal while her arms didn't seem in much better shape. The fact that she seemed to almost collapse in walking over here signalled that she was already drained from the treatment inflicted on her, and that he was probably going to wind up in a similar manner in a matter of weeks.

"Who are you?" Finally trusting himself to speak without his voice cracking, he looked to the small figure beside him.

"Liesel," the girl looked somewhat bemused by the name, like she hadn't had to speak it in so long. It was alien to her, but seemed to bring little comfort to him now that a name could be placed to a face. "You?"

"Erik."

"You... you are different." Liesel said while breaking the chunk of bread in half. She put her piece in between her teeth while reaching out for his hand. He tensed and went to pull away only to have the other half placed within his palm. Making him clasp onto it, she patted his hand gently. Reaching up and removing the piece between her teeth, she looked at him sadly. "You must be different, or else you wouldn't be in here with me."

Liesel's words caught his attention then, his attention no longer staring at the bread he could still see from within his fingers. He couldn't help but muse whether this was as much as he was going to get. It was clear, from what he'd seen so far, that food wasn't on the agenda. "What do you mean?" He asked lowly, he suddenly felt extremely tired. Everything was catching up with him and all Erik wished to do was to sleep and pray that this was really all just a horrid dream. Even though he knew, deep down, he'd wake and would still be in here.

She tensed, looking slowly to him and then to the untouched bread still in his hand, she mused over her next words. "You must be different, or else you wouldn't be in here with me." She repeated slowly while turning and kneeling by his side. He frowned over her repetitive moment yet turned and looked at her. Sitting cross legged on the hard surface, Erik picked at the bread and waited for her to continue. He still didn't feel hungry, but by the looks Liesel kept sending his way, he got the feeling he should force it down because he didn't know when he'd next be eating. "Have you ever found yourself seemingly able to do the impossible?" Liesel asked quietly as if they were being listened to. For all Erik knew, they could be, he didn't know. "What did you do?" From the tense look he sent her way, she instantly realised that her hunch was right. They were alike in more ways than one, it seemed.

"What did you do?" Erik asked instead. He didn't exactly wish to repeat his experiences just yet.

Liesel looked at her hands. Placing them together she rubbed them fiercely. What was a murky lit cabin suddenly got lit up dimly by the lights coming from her hands. Small sparks whipped off and flicked away from her as she did this. "I don't know how it works. And...I struggle to do it when put on the spot..."

"But you did it just now." Erik couldn't help but blandly state.

"It's different. You should know it's different." Liesel sent him a look and shook her hands free of the energy. Little bolts fizzed and impacted against the wooden flooring before the space returned to its darkened state again. The lamp still flickered dimly in the corner.

"How long have you been on your own?" By the looks of things it had just been her in here for a while. Erik watched as Liesel moved slowly from his side and over to the window. She struggled to see out of the high set window, her fingernails barely gripped onto the windowsill. It was like it was purposely set high so she couldn't see out of it, but it wasn't that. She was just too short to see through the panes of glass. Standing and awkwardly moving over he tapped her on the shoulder, she looked to him weirdly as if she had forgotten he was even present. She edged away and let him look out too. There wasn't much to be seen. Around them were similar darkened buildings. Above them the night sky looked down with darkened clouds and fractured moonlight.

"Months...I think, I don't know...I can't remember." Liesel's voice came out in a rushed tone.

"Would you like to look out of the window?" Erik asked quickly changing the subject. Her sudden frantic eyes and scared expression caused his stomach to lurch and for a small ounce of guilt to kick in. He didn't wish for such a question to cause her such discomfort.

Liesel frowned yet nodded. She watched confused as he moved around her. Linking his arms around her small waist he easily picked her up. She was so light, she hardly weighed anything. Placing her hands on the windowsill she looked out at the night. He managed to peek over her shoulder too. Such a simple thing seemed to cause her to smile. He frowned, how could she find it within herself to smile? Perhaps after being here so long, suddenly having someone to speak to could cause a splinter of happiness, or content to settle within her tiny body. Finding similarity with another could ease her somewhat. But the freedom to look out of the window caused her to smile.

"Put me down, Erik." Liesel wiggled in his arms slightly before he did as she asked. She slunk away from the window and huddled back on her bunk. He glimpsed out of the window and spied soldiers patrolling. Quickly moving away, he sat down on his bed, he didn't need to dwell over what would happen if they saw him still up and looking around out of the window.

Looking to Liesel as she laid down, Erik did the same. His head rested against a barely existing pillow, as he pulled the thin cover up and over himself. His earlier exhaustion had disappeared as it slowly sunk in that he was not within his own room, in his bed, in his family home. Wincing he put his forearm across his eyes. He looked over the appendage when shuffling happened to the side. Seeing Liesel by his side he wiped his eyes and looked at her.

She sat down on the edge of his bed. "They can take everything from you, even your life. But it doesn't change who you are...my father used to say that it was the hardships which shape us into who we are meant to be." Liesel explained while twiddling her thumbs and fingers. "When they come, and they will, just...do as they say." Liesel paused and looked at him sadly. "We are different, you and I, and though the Doctor has an interest in us, I do not know how long this will last..."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Simply put: I don't want you to die." Though perhaps foolish of her considering everything around them.

"What'll happen?" Erik didn't want to ask, but found himself doing so. His voice was hollow as he looked up at her. She tensed and looked to the side with narrowed eyes. "When they come, what happens?"

"The Doctor happens. We will only leave here when he has a need to see us." Liesel said while rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Biting her lip she looked at him sadly. It was a look which didn't even need explaining. Erik had already seen the different equipment which was hung up in that office. The office where... "Sleep, Erik, or try to." Liesel moved back to her bed and wrapped herself up in her cover again and shut her eyes. Her voice had cut off his earlier thoughts. He didn't wish to think of the last time he saw his mother.

"Your father," Erik turned his head and looked to her. There wasn't that much space between their beds so he was able to see her eyes open and look to him. "He sounded like a wise man."

"He was," Liesel's eyes slid to a shut again as she fell silent.

Erik just laid and watched with jealousy as she somehow managed to drift off to sleep. She became so still and silent that if he hadn't been speaking to her moments ago, he would've believed she had already passed on. Pulling his arm out from underneath the cover, he tentatively rolled up his sleeve. The material caught slightly, and caused a small twinge to spread through him. In dark ink the number 214782 stood out despite of the darkness surrounding him. Running a thumb across it he briefly spared a look to Liesel before turning onto his side and curling up into a ball facing the chipping wood of the wall.

----

(A/N: I merged 1+2 together and surprisingly, not, it makes for a much better chapter!

Edited: 7/June/2019.

Reedited: 13/August/2021)