For the Sake of an Angel: Prologue

"One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel."

- The 10th Doctor, "The Girl in the Fireplace"

In all of her years spent tossed from boarding school to boarding school, Adelaide McLaughlin honestly could not remember the last time someone had pounded on her front door. Gentle knocks were common, as well as the occasional use of her doorbell when it chose to cooperate, but the noises coming from her front door sounded like someone seriously had some anger issues they needed to work out (potentially on her).

Still, the mystery person certainly knew how to get her attention. Adelaide contemplated not getting up from her comfortable position on the couch and actually nestled a little more into the corner she had been in for the past three hours. For her, it had been a day spent alternating between reading and writing without any form of human contact; thus, she had remained in her pajamas and was admittedly not the most presentable of women at the moment, but she luxuriated in her inactivity. Summer vacation was coming to an end, and within the next few days, school would be back in session, and Adelaide would return to her life as a twenty year old Marketing student who tried to make her life a little more interesting by telling everyone that she was studying Global Marketing while secretly wishing she could quit university and become a travel writer. Unfortunately, Adelaide was a very practical woman who was much too afraid of risk, and even more terrified of pursuing her dreams. She figured that getting a job in the business field would be a decent compromise, and hoped that the perks that came with the position included journeying to exotic places.

She sighed and laid her neck on the arm of the couch as she wondered if the obnoxious knocking would cease if she willed it away; however, the pounding instead intensified, almost as if the person knew that her mind had drifted off course. With a deep groan, Adelaide heaved herself off the couch and dragged herself to the mirror by the front door, where she quickly checked her reflection. Her strawberry blonde hair was tousled from having been flat against the couch cushions, and she quickly combed through her wavy bob with her fingers. As usual, her emerald pendant necklace hung just below her collarbones. Her skin was particularly blotchy today, but it at least brought out the light green hue in her eyes. She stared at her reflection almost irritatedly, but felt more amused at her appearance than anything else. "Fantastic," Adelaide snorted to herself, "I look like a Christmas present."

Forgoing her attempts at looking like anything other than a couch potato, Adelaide finally unlocked the door. Her eyes darted around the hallway confusedly, but no one was there. Only a package rested by her feet, and Adelaide bent to pick it up. She turned it over in her hands, noticing that there was no address, nor any postage stamps. It looked to be a Chinese takeout box, complete with some sticky remnants of peanut sauce on the top.

"But I didn't order any Chinese food…" Adelaide muttered, casting one more glance down the hall. Shrugging her shoulders, she went back inside and shut the door behind her. Strangely, the box itself was cold. "Not a fast delivery service then, is it?"

She set the takeout on her kitchen table and opened it up cautiously. Inside was not food, as she had expected, but a black t-shirt. Reaching her hand in, Adelaide held it up in front of her squinting eyes and nearly dropped it in surprise. It was a Doctor Who shirt, complete with the TARDIS and a Weeping Angel on the front. The words, "The Angels Have the Phone Box" blazed proudly across the middle. "Florence must have gotten me an early birthday present again." She mused, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Adelaide's birthday was September 19th, and wasn't for another three weeks, but her sister was known to be a bit forgetful. However, even she knew of Adelaide's love for the British television series. Unfortunately, Adelaide really hadn't had much time to rewatch any of the episodes recently, but perhaps she could squeeze in a few tonight. The Eleventh Doctor was her favorite, so she would definitely have to start off on season five.

Adelaide sniffed the shirt distractedly, and got a strong whiff of peanut sauce. Resigning herself to washing it tonight and hanging it to dry, she decided to push the Doctor Who watching to another date. It was getting pretty late, and tomorrow she would have to pick up her textbooks early in the morning.

Humming distractedly to herself, Adelaide hand-washed the shirt and hung it to dry in the corner of her room. After splashing some water on her face, brushing her teeth, and packing her backpack for the next day, she turned the light off and clambered into bed. Considering that she hadn't done much for the past fourteen hours, she was peculiarly exhausted. It only took minutes for her to drift off, and it only felt like minutes when she had to wake up again.

Her hand reached out to whack at the source of the silky male vocals and she sat up dazedly, forcing back a yawn. Stumbling out of bed, Adelaide entered the bathroom and started to get ready. She never felt truly awake until she showered and put her makeup on, even if it was only a thin black line on each eyelid and some shade of lipstick. In an attempt to feel more put-together, Adelaide had put on one of her favorite dresses, her comfortable gray ankle boots, and her usual pendant. Contrary to popular belief, she was an adult, and she would do her best to look like one.

She swung by her room one last time to grab her backpack, which contained her laptop, laptop charger, makeup, and some snacks, but stopped suddenly when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Heart pounding in her chest, Adelaide hesitantly stepped forward and grabbed the shirt hanging in her room. She squinted at the shirt in disbelief, then walked over to the window and held it up to the light. Nothing changed.

The angel was gone.

"What the hell." Adelaide's voice trembled as she forced herself to laugh. "Okay, Florence, you got me. Nice one, with the Chinese takeout weirdness and now this. You win."

A rattling noise echoed in response from her kitchen and her grip tightened on the shirt. "Florence? Is that you?" Adelaide mentally ridiculed herself for being so scared; there was no possible way that the angel had just walked off her shirt. "It's not real." She reprimanded herself, shook her head firmly, and then darted into the kitchen.

A relieved chuckle escaped her mouth when she saw nothing there. But then, the same noise came from behind her, and Adelaide whirled around, a yelp tearing from her throat.

There, in front of her, was a Weeping Angel. Its blank orbs stared into hers, and Adelaide quickly shifted her eyes to its mouth, twisted in a smile like it knew something she didn't. Its hand was an inch away from her shoulder, and its other arm was spread out to block the exit. There was no way out, not unless she ducked under its arms and made a run for it.

She was, quite simply, stuck between a rock and a hard place and she backed up until she hit the cabinets behind her. Her eyes were watering now, and she took turns winking each one. So far, so good. Now, all Adelaide had to do was call for help. She reached for her phone in her pocket, but stopped.

No, she couldn't endanger anyone else. There was no Doctor in this universe, and she would only be sending anyone who tried to fill his shoes to their death. Heart still racing, Adelaide felt very lightheaded, but pushed herself off the cabinets in a facade of sudden bravery. "Okay, angel, get out of here. Scram." Oh, god, she sounded so pathetic. "I have stuff to do. Very important… stuff."

Of course, the angel didn't do anything; how could it, when she was watching it? But, she wasn't about to close her eyes - that would be the stupidest thing she could possibly do.

And yet, her senses decided to do it anyways. A tickle built up in the back of her nose, and Adelaide fought the urge to swear. She held off the sensation for as long as she could, but she couldn't help it when, as an enormous sneeze erupted from her nose, her eyes squeezed shut, and her heartbeat stopped.

When it started back up again, the kitchen was empty and the angel's hands covered its eyes once more.

Adelaide was gone.