October 18, 2023

Gino's boat rocks gently on the water of one of the Grand Canal's many offshoots. Nathan has been out and about for hours, exploring every artery and vein of Venice's watery body, getting the hang of navigating them. It was smooth sailing until his scar burned like grains of salt sprinkled over an open wound. He stares at the ruin in front of him, transfixed.

"What do you mean you found the Doctor?" Jamie's incredulity bleeds through the phone. "Is it stalking you? Did it come up to you again? You're okay, aren't you?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I haven't actually seen Doc yet. But I can feel its presence and I know it's here. Hiding in this abandoned house I was passing."

The majority of the ruins in Venice, Nathan learned from Gino yesterday, are not located on forgotten islands like Poveglia. Many can be found right in the heart of the city. Old, dilapidated houses and palazzos stand amongst its touristy hustle and bustle like parasitic fungi in an otherwise healthy forest—the colourful kind, pretty even in its decaying state of rot.

Nathan doesn't know what story lurks behind the house in front of him and its ruined state. It may have been too costly to fix, or a monumental status might have kept renovations at bay. Perhaps the relentless passage of time has swept through bureacratic and human memory alike, wiping them clean of this place and allowing uncertainty over who actually owns it to flourish.

Whatever it used to be, it's the Doctor's home base now.

"What house?"

"Just a random-ass house. I pinged you my location, so you should be able to find it. It isn't very far from our hotel, I think, but don't take my word for that. To be honest, I haven't been here all that long myself. I just stumbled across it while out with the boat and figured I should let you know."

"You're not inside right now, are you?" Nerves sneak into Jamie's voice. "You're still on the boat where the Doctor can't reach you?"

"I am. I have weapons here, though." Nathan nudges them with his foot—an axe and a knife he bought en route, carefully positioned so they're less likely to catch the eyes of curious tourists, gondoliers, and anyone manning boats labelled polizia, guardia or carabinieri. "So if I went in, I wouldn't be unprepared."

"Do you want to go in? As in, do you think now is the right time to try and kill it? Because the doctor will know you—we—are coming. It has to be able to feel you there as well as you can feel its presence."

"That's the thing. Maybe it doesn't sense me properly this time around." Nathan touches the sensitive patch of skin on his abdomen. "My scar hurts, but the pain is a lot fainter than it was during any of the previous times I experienced it. I've been here for a few minutes and I still haven't seen any movement through the doorway or the windows. So I got thinking, and I thought maybe the doctor is nocturnal. We've never encountered it in daylight. It could be sleeping in that house, and if so, this might be the best chance we're going to get."

"Daylight," Jamie mutters in that tone she always employs when she's about to get tentatively optimistic. "Shit, you could be right! If it's dormant, then we totally need to take advantage of that." There's stumbling around at the other end of the line, followed by a quietly hissed profanity, which means Jamie is once more facing the consequences of trying to move faster than human beings should go. "You got weapons, you said?"

"An axe and a knife. To start with."

"Perfect. I asked Veronika how she thought we should kill the revenant—staking, burning, decapitation—and she was like just do all of it. Which sounds fantastic to me."

Nathan will settle for any lethal method that doesn't involve guns. "I like the sound of it, too. I mean, I don't  like it, but... You get it."

Jamie's laugh overlays what Nathan has come to recognize as their hotel room door's characteristic groan of displeasure at being opened. "I do. And we're going to kill this thing so hard. But wait for me, okay? Because, you know, safety in numbers."

"Will do. See you in a flash."

Jamie hangs up with the promise to be there as soon as she can manage. According to Nathan's estimations, this could take anywhere between ten and twenty minutes, depending on if she travels on foot or hails a water taxi. Add an extra ten minutes to that in case she gets lost in her attempt to find this inconspicuous, tiny ruin of a house that Maps doesn't mark too well.

Nathan will have to play the waiting game a while longer. But that's okay. If the Doctor still hasn't showed its mask by the time Jamie gets here, that will at least lend credence to his theory the creature sleeps during the day.

Nathan leans back, relaxing in the sun to the best of his ability. He continues to marvel at the decrepit state of the abandoned house. It makes his shabby bungalow back home look like the Playboy Mansion. Orange stucco covered its walls in its heyday, but precious little is left of that layer—grey, worn stone and rusty drainpipes glare at him, vulnerable and exposed to the city.

The doorway doesn't seem to have sported an actual door in a long time. This gaping maw further lays bare the house's shadowy interior, empty save for stray debris. Iron bars as rusty as the drainpipes block off the windows on the lower level. The upper levels windows aren't fitted with glass; these, too, are black holes leading to unknown horrors hidden in the dark. Only half-open, rotting wooden shutters, coated in chipping blue paint, ward off visitors.

A perfect resting place for a revenant.

It gives Nathan the creeps. He lets his mind wander, hoping to submerge himself in thoughts less tethered to the beast awaiting inside. He distracts himself thinking about how easy—how pleasant, even—it was to be making his way through Venice with a boat of his own. Taking to the water in this fashion didn't dredge up bad memories quite so intense as the ones accosting him when he got on Giovanni's. Being in control of the vessel himself made him feel safer, more in control of his own mind.

In fact, Nathan only thought back to the night that scarred him for life while attempting to boost his own confidence. Gino's instructions and warnings on how to handle his boat and what to expect on the canals came fast, and, although he did his best, weren't tailored to a blank-slate beginner like Nathan. But Patch Booker once handled a motorboat like it was simple, and Nathan's self-esteem may be at the bottom of the sea with Derek's ashes sometimes, but anything Patch Booker can do, he can do better.

And when he says 'anything', he means anything. Patch asked Jamie out once, so Nathan is going to one-up him on that when this is over, too.

But if she loves you, she'll die.

The words Derek spoke in his dream strike hard as they invade his mind again. He promptly chokes on his own spit; the boat rocks beneath him while he hacks and coughs. Out here by himself, he has time to think—too much of it. Last night's unpleasant memories encroach upon him, a riptide sweeping his hopes away and leaving only anxiety in its muddy wake.

Derek always lies—Nathan has been repeating as much in his head like a mantra. But even Derek speaks the truth at times. And yesterday, on that yacht, he did. Nathan knows he's a risk to Jamie, that he's still jeopardizing her every moment they're together. He has known this since the moment the Doctor jabbed its sharp finger at his chest.

He's the reason Jamie's golden video idea became such a mess. It's him the Doctor is after, and Jamie already came close to becoming collateral damage once. All of this is his fault.

You're the worst thing that could've happened to her, and she's too blind to notice it.

Nathan stares at the weapons by his feet, unblinking. He's such an idiot. Why didn't he tell Jamie to stay put, convince her he can handle this by himself? Because he's capable of it, and he should. He might just get her killed otherwise. Just like he once did to his mother.

This is his problem. Jamie shouldn't be risking her life for a penniless nobody with only sins to his name. He isn't worth that. He shouldn't have called her in the first place. She wouldn't have been rushing over to help him if he hadn't.

Nathan really is one of the worst things that could've happened to her.

But there's still time left to fix the catastrophe at hand.

Jamie isn't here yet and definitely won't be arriving for another ten minutes or so. The Doctor is still asleep. Nathan picks up the axe he bought, clutching it in his lap. A decade of surviving crime and poverty taught him how to handle himself in a fight—skills he ought to be putting to good use for once. Sneaking up on an unsuspecting enemy and decapitating it should be a cakewalk.

He'll get it done, smooth and easy. Neutralize the foe, take the worst danger out of it before Jamie even arrives. He's put her in enough mortal peril already—this time he'll protect her right. He owes her that much.

When she notices he didn't wait for her, Jamie will be annoyed for sure. But once she learns the reason why, once she sees all that's left to do is stake and burn, she'll understand. And then she can focus on those equally important things she's so good at; unearthing information about the victims and making a channel-saving video.

Nathan will handle this. The Doctor will be no match for him, his axe, and his temporary appetite for destruction.

The revenant's undead life ends today.