It had been about six weeks since Clara had run into the time-traveler who called himself The Doctor. Life returned to normal, and it left her wondering if those sort of adventures were rare. She had his number if she ever needed to call him in case aliens decided to drop by, but how would she know? No one even knew about the aliens in the Tube before and she definitely wasn't one to go and hunt down conspiracy theories. Clara Oswald was a grown woman who had plans after the Maitlands were well enough on their own. She'd get a job teaching then save up money to go traveling.

All of those plans didn't stop her curiosity from being pinged when Artie and Angie came home that afternoon talking about a rumor they had heard. There was a story going around about an old Victorian manor outside of London known as "Albany Road." Everyone had heard of it of course, but now the old stories of it being haunted were coming back. Clara dismissed their stories as just stories. Ghosts weren't real, and they'd been saying those sort of things for years. Yet, Artie insisted that people had been disappearing. Angie told him he was stupid for believing it, but it made Clara pause. People had been disappearing off the trains and that turned out to be true. What made this different from that?

That weekend Clara took the bus out as far as it would go in town and headed to Albany Road. Something told her there was more to the whole thing than just a silly ghost story. The front gates had rusted and were falling apart. The old manor loomed up the road and it felt like someone was watching her. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. But, then again...

It couldn't hurt just to ask about it. Could it?

Clara dug her phone out of her pocket and pulled it out, finding the contact information of 'THE TARDIS.' She pressed the phone to her ear as it rang and rang.

"Come on, come on! Pick up!"

DUE TO DELAYS THE 7:00PM BUS IS CANCELLED. PLEASE REROUTE.

Annabell sighed in irritation, looking at the watch on her wrist. For all the advancements The Conclave spoke of? Things were constantly breaking down. Still, they were led to believe this was life as normal. Only those from The Belly (as it was oh so affectionately called) knew different. She had been born in The Belly, and when she saw the world up above for the first time? She couldn't believe it. Now it made her skin crawl, but she had to keep the role up.

Even if she did miss teaching.

Her legs uncrossed and Annabell pushed herself up from the bench in the bus station. She straightened her dress and grabbed her coat. From the pockets she pulled out a small case of cigarettes and started to light it. It would be a long walk back to her apartment, so she might as well enjoy herself. Maybe she'd see some of the sights on her way back. It was a dream of hers as she chased the imaginary amber leaves that they said fell from real trees in the fall. A dream that soured and dried up when she finally got to the surface.

She almost regretted the decision to move upwards. Regrets, bitterness, and cheap wine was the life that Annabell lived, when she wasn't singing for the people she couldn't stand. They said she was a rising star in the music scene. Not that she cared. Her dark red lipstick stained the end of the cigarette as she shrugged on her coat. All she hoped for at the moment was that some fan wouldn't find her. Unless, of course, they wanted to offer her a ride home.