Val's Pov

(Valkyrie is 17 in this story)

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"VAL!" the voice on the other end squealed. Valkyrie smiled and held the phone away from her ear so that she didn't go deaf. Tanith was definitely up to something, Tanith hardly ever called, preferring to simply turn up outside Gordon's house when she wanted to see her. The fact that she had called instead raised many questions.

"Hey Tanith, what's up?" There was an evil laugh on the end of the phone. Valkyrie was amused and worried at the same time. She knew that laugh.

"Guess what?"

"This doesn't sound good." Tanith ignored here and continued speaking.

"Skulduggery is away for the weekend and we are going to have a sleepover!" She squealed.

"Um, okay…but if that's all, why are you giving me your creepy laugh?"

"You'll see, I'll be there in a little over an hour," then she hung up.

Uh oh. Valkyrie knew Tanith's idea of a sleepover was always a bit extreme, but Tanith's laugh and responses didn't raise a great deal of faith in Valkyrie and she knew Tanith had something planned. Owell, no one can stop Tanith when she wants something, so I may as well get ready. She went upstairs and pulled out her stash of money from under the draw in the study desk and drove to the shops. Haha, such good timing in getting my license. Valkyrie drove up to the shops and bought a ton of lollies and chocolate. The two girls went through them like locusts. Shit! Valkyrie just remembered that she had thrown away her old pajamas because they had gotten too small. With another curse, she paid for the food and ran out of the shops. She then drove her car to the closest clothes shop se could find and looked at her watch. Only 40 minutes left. Crap! After looking around for 25 minutes she found some pajamas that she liked and went straight up to the counter and bought them. There was not enough time to try them on. She hoped they would fit. She got to Gordon's with 8 minutes to spare, only to find Tanith's bike already in driveway. Shit, she's early…and I really have to cut down on the swearing. She grabbed the bags and ran inside, where Tanith was already making herself at home. As usual. She looked over to see an amused Valkyrie in the doorway, holding huge bags of food in her right hand and another bag in her left. Valkyrie knew what was coming next and braced herself.

'VAL!" Tanith squealed so loud that Valkyrie winced and wished she could cover her ears. All of a sudden a huge weight rammed into Valkyrie and she staggered and dropped her bags. She looked up and laughed. Tanith was gripping her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Can't…breathe…Tanith." She managed to force out.

"Oh right, sorry", Tanith let go and stepped back. That was when Valkyrie saw the mischievous smile that went with the evil laugh and she remembered her worries about Tanith's plans. Although now that she thought about it, she wasn't worried anymore. The sneaky, troublesome that came out when she was with Tanith surfaced, and she found herself eager to find out what Tanith had in store.

"So, what are we doing tonight Tanith." She asked.

"Not now" she explained. "Later." But she couldn't hold in her grin, and Valkyrie's worries came up all over again.