bearing in mind, valkyrie is twenty-two, and pretend Terry Wogan is still presenting on Radio 2 D:

OH & I'd also like to wish a very happy birthday to Jackson Rathbone (not like he's reading this, but yeah :D)


"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Valkyrie sighed. We'd been driving for about three hours now, and I still had no idea where he was taking me.

"You feel like telling me where you're taking me?"

"Nope." Skulduggery replied, smiling.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, staring through the windscreen.

Skulduggery had randomly walked into the mansion today while I was eating Ready Brek in the living room and told me he was taking me on a road trip, and to pack a bag. So I did, and now he was driving me out to the middle of nowhere. No Tanith, no Ghastly, no Fletcher.

I could only wonder what he had in mind.

Skulduggery turned a sudden corner, jolting the 1954 R Type Bentley Continental onto two wheels.

"What was that for?" I asked, pissed off after being flung into the passenger window.

He pointed through the windscreen absently. "Badger." I nodded and raised an eyebrow. "What? I'm not in the mood for murder today." I stared at him, and he didn't react.

"Skul, seriously, where are you taking me?" He didn't speak. "You're not taking me to some remote forest to..." I stopped.

"Oh, God no, Valkyrie!" He looked astounded. "Is that what you've been thinking this whole journey?" He looked away from the wheel at me. I nodded sheepishly.

"Sorry," I laughed, and he shook his head. I stroked his bony cheek. "I know you're a gentleman, really," I reached behind the seat and pulled out a 1.5l bottle of Coke that I'd been keeping behind there for a long time. Skulduggery's gaze followed the bottle as I brought it into the front.

"Where the hell did you find that?" He asked.

"Ah it's been there since like July, I put it there in case of emergency."

"And what emergency might that be?"

"Lack of caffeine for prolonged periods of time."

He nodded. "I see."

I laughed, cranked the bottle open and took a giant swig, then passed it to him. He hesitantly took a sip.

"You drink like a woman," I said, laughing at him.

"And you drink like a man," He replied to me, and in return receiving a punch in the arm.


"Are we there yet?" I asked again.

"Nearly."

"You're just saying that to shut me up aren't you?"

"Possibly."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Why did I agree to this?" I said in a stupid voice while yawning dramatically.

"Because you're deeply, madly in love with me and my puppy dog eyes were just too much for you to handle." Skulduggery stated. I snorted.

"You don't even have eyes,"

"Yes, I am aware of that." He took another feminine sip of Coke. I wondered where it went once he drank it, seeing as he had no insides. He noticed me staring at his torso. "You like what you see?" He said in a mock-Russian accent and started dancing in the seat, and I burst out into laughter. It was probably one of the funniest things I'd ever seen him do.


I prodded the buttons on the radio, trying to find a decent station, but it seemed like all the channels he had tuned into this car was Classic FM and BBC Radio 2, 3 & 4.

He liked his Terry Wogan in the mornings.

I kept pressing buttons, and a sharp buzzing noise erupted from the radio and Skulduggery smacked my hand away, switching the radio off. I laughed.

"Stop that," He said, and I abruptly stopped laughing.

"Why are you pissy?"

"I don't like people messing around with my car, that's all," He looked at me and reached over, running a long finger along my jaw line. "I'm sorry, Valkyrie." I nodded, and he moved his attention back to the wheel.

"So, whe-" He shushed me before I could continue. "Skul, where a-" He shushed me again. "WHERE ARE YO-"

"Lalalalala! I can't hear you!"

"How old are you, Skul?" I laughed.

"It shut you up though, didn't it?" He grinned.

I sighed and rested my head back on the headrest, shutting my eyes.


I woke up to the sound of Sinatra pouring out of the car stereo, and Skulduggery singing along. His voice was soft as velvet, and unexpectedly gorgeous.

"Wow," I said, impressed. He abruptly stopped singing and looked away, embarrassed.

"I thought you were still asleep..." He said.

"No, carry on, you're amazing," I think that was the first compliment I'd ever given him.

"So people say." He tried to regain his posture.

I grinned and looked away, out of the window.

The pine trees outside were dusted with snow, and the forests stretched on for miles, covering whole mountains.

It looked oddly like Canada.

"Skul, where are we going?" He breathed a sigh of relief, obviously happy we had moved away from the subject of his singing abilities, but said nothing. "I give up. Just take me wherever you want to," I waved my hand, resigning.

"I already am, silly," He chuckled. "I am, after all, the designated driver."

"Just let me ask you one thing," I said.

"Fire away,"

"How much longer until we get there?" I asked, exasperatedly.

"A couple more hours,"

"But for you, I doubt a couple means two, right?"

"Right."

I leant back and kicked my feet up onto the dashboard. Skulduggery smacked them off, but I stuck my tongue out and lifted them back up.

This was going to be quite a road trip.


want me to continue the story? load me up with some reviews and story alerts, and I might :)