Valkyrie Investigates
Valkyrie Cain stopped in front if the burned building, aware that if Skulduggery found out she was here, instead of dealing with family matters like she had told him, she would have a lot of explaining to do. But she needed to know.
She stepped over a particularly large pile of rubble, and a car whizzed past behind her. She started, automatically picturing the Bentley, despite the fact that a car out at midday was completely normal.
It turned a corner and disappeared from her vision, and she relaxed. She wasn't afraid of Skulduggery, she told herself, she just didn't want to have to explain to him until after she had investigated. He was biased, would never be able to fund clues properly.
She stepped around the burnt and twisted spine of an expensive-looking book. The sight of it wrenched at her heart, but she told herself firmly that there was nothing she could have done.
Now she was standing where the main building had been, once. Before it had been blown apart in spite, abandoned in grief. She looked around her, saw all the places someone could hide, and groaned.
Well, she thought, no time like the present.
"China? It's Valkyrie. Skulduggery doesn't know I'm here. I need to talk to you."
She meant for her voice to carry across the entire lot, but it came out shaky, weak. Another couple of cars passed and turned the corner; she barely noticed.
"China?" she asked again, more loudly this time. She heard a faint rustling from behind one of the larger stacks of rubble. She took two steps forward, and then half a step back. A head poked out from behind it, but didn't move.
The head belonged to a girl, probably around Valkyrie's own age. She was pale, nearly unnaturally so, and had black hair which looked like it reached at least to her shoulders. It was her eyes that really stood out, however. The whites were black, and the irises and pupils were white.
Valkyrie stepped forward again, and the head disappeared again, only to reappear, along with a body, legs, and arms on the other side of the pile. Both the girl and Valkyrie took a few steps closer, until they were close enough to hear each other without yelling.
The girl eyed Valkyrie suspiciously. "Who are you?"
Valkyrie ignored her. "I'm looking for China. China Sorrows."
The girl looked at her for another moment, and then seemed to sag. She mumbled something that sounded like, "Oh. Valkyrie Cain, of course," but Valkyrie couldn't be sure.
The girl reached into a black bag that she had slung over one shoulder, and pulled out the tattered remnants of a hat.
"Do you know what this is?" she asked. Valkyrie silently shook her head.
The girl stepped closer. "It's one of the Detective's hats, Miss Cain. Proof that he is the cause of my mistress's downfall. Tell him that I don't appreciate it. Tell him that I'm coming."
With that, the girl tossed the hat to Valkyrie, who caught it without thinking. There was something about this girl that stopped her from returning it, and refusing. Valkyrie wasn't entirely sure what, so instead she asked, "And whom shall I tell him it's from?"
A grin spread across the girl's face, and it was not a nice grin. "Kestrel LeStarre," she said, and then turned and walked away, leaving Valkyrie alone with the hat.