Nightmares
It was midnight in the streets of Dublin. Far below the silver clouds, three people were walking through the deserted streets. There was no one else in sight, but he woman in front kept glancing from side to side, as if to check that they weren't being followed. Although she was walking at an even pace, her face a mask of calm, there was a definite sense of urgency in her manner, as if she had something important to do that couldn't be delayed. Almost as if she was on some sort of vital mission.
Behind her though, the two people following showed no such feelings. Mother and daughter, the resemblance was almost uncanny. The same straight dark brown hair. The same soul-searching grey eyes. The same full lips, slightly parted, with the upper one slightly out of proportion with the lower. Yes they looked alike – they even had the same expressions, mirrored on each face. But not the sort of expression you would expect to see on the face of someone walking through the streets of Dublin at midnight. On a normal person, you would expect to see uneasiness, tinged with a little fear and nervousness. Perhaps a little trepidation or anxiety. But none of these expressions could be found on their faces, not a trace. Instead, both faces were filled with the marks of undying, unconditional love.
Yet in spite of their obvious connections, this love, powerful and true was not directed at each other. It was for the woman who they were following, a woman who they would follow to the four corners of the earth and back again, they loved her so much.
She was tall and slim, an elegant silhouette against the streetlamps. Every step, every movement she made radiated grace and elegance. Her hair, a flowing waterfall of inky black cascaded down the sides of her face, stopping only when it reached her waist. It perfectly framed her face, a face that had captured the very essence of beauty. Beauty that is only seen in the faces of angels painted by old masters, beauty that exudes traces of fairy magic and princesses. Two clear blue eyes, the colour of icicles and frozen lakes in winter stared out of a visage of ivory silk. Her lips were the colour of frozen rose petals, and carried within them a smile that could break your heart forever, a smile that would fill you with such warmth that you would never want to be anywhere else rather than at her side, because that was the only place you could ever feel happy again.
But she wasn't smiling. Her lips were set in a thin line, the curves of her face betraying no emotion. Only her eyes, filled with apprehension, let on to the fact that she wasn't as calm as her outward appearance suggested. As she walked over the deserted pavement, her eyes darted around, checking for signs that they weren't as alone as they seemed. She was uneasy, which was an unusual emotion for her to feel. She didn't like the job she had to do tonight. Bringing two strange people, neither of them particularly powerful mages by the looks of it, straight to headquarters, without any explanations or other details? No reasons given as to why it should all be kept an absolute secret? No, there was something distinctly odd about all of this, and she didn't like it. Not one bit.
Suddenly she turned, twisting into a defensive position, hand to her stomach. There was someone behind her. A person was stalking them, silently and stealthily creeping along the empty street. She could feel it, could sense their presence. For a moment she stood there, body tense, eyes roaming in all directions for the unwelcome intruder. Then she relaxed. From behind a boarded up shop walked a man, a man who radiated pure power, in a way that made you want to curl up in a ball and stay there. Behind the woman, the two other people crumpled under his icy gaze. But she didn't so much as bat an eyelid. She knew this man very well, and she was so not scared.
"Bliss," she acknowledged him. "It's ... good to see you"
He nodded his head in return, noting her hesitation. "I'm afraid I can't say the same for you. The last time we met, I believe you administered a third attempt on my life" He smiled slightly. "One day I hope to be able to do the same for you."
The woman laughed. "So, what brings you here today Bliss," she asked, still keeping his unfathomable gaze. "I thought you didn't approve of Serpine's methods any longer."
"Well, I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied, his face suddenly serious once more. "I thought that you'd had enough of these things. I thought that you were getting out too. But it seems..." He hesitated."It seems I was mistaken." He turned in his heels to go, but the woman caught hold of his sleeve to stop him
"Bliss. What is the matter with you? You know how I feel, who I'm loyal to. You know I'm not going to change. And up until now, I believed you felt the same. What changed your mind? What has changed all this about you?"
The man called Bliss gazed hard at her for a moment, as if deliberating whether to say something. But he didn't. Suddenly coming to a decision, he twisted on his heel and in the blink of an eye, was gone. It was as if he had never been there,
The woman winced slightly as the ripples of air he had used to speed away rebounded on her. Then she seemed to recollect herself slightly. Gesturing impatiently for the other two to follow, she began to walk again through the streets. The three of them moved smoothly over the pavement, never stopping, never hesitating. Still leading, the woman with the long black hair looked just as calm and composed as before their meeting with the mysterious Bliss, but inside, she was seething. Serpine, Mr Bliss. Was everyone keeping secrets from her? Perhaps they thought that she couldn't be trusted. Perhaps they didn't think they could rely on her to keep their precious little secrets safe. Her perfect face hardened as she thought about this. Anger boiled through her veins. She was one of their most loyal supporters. Her dedication to the cause had never wavered. Yet here they were deciding that she should not be told what was going on. Almost blind with rage, the woman was speeding through the streets in such a fashion, she nearly missed her destination.
But she spotted it in time and stooped, suddenly freezing into place beside an old, disused warehouse. It was falling to pieces and had a general air of unwholesomeness about it. This was it. Beckoning to the two behind her, she walked through a door that was hanging off its hinges, undoing the protective spell that surrounded it as she did so, and began to make her way through the deadly labyrinth of passages that was Serpine's inner city hideout.
Following her, both mother and daughter were becoming slightly uneasy. The passage they were in was damp and slimy, and sloping steeply downwards, as if they were headed downhill. The final silver glimmers of light from the friendly moon vanished, leaving them in total darkness. Though now without a light to guide the way, they still continued determinedly onwards, tripping and sliding on the wet floor at every step. Deeper and deeper into the depths of the earth they went, turning corners right and left through a seemingly never ending maze, until finally, they came to a halt outside a door. Battered and bruised, they waited.
It was an ancient looking door and covered in shadows, illuminated only by the flickering light of the flames that burnt in an empty torch bracket on the wall. Standing back, they waited while the woman they had followed all this way pressed the palm of her left hand against its rusted old lock. For a second, the lock was enveloped in a dazzling blue light, then there came a quiet click and the door swung open. The woman drew back, gesturing for them to enter, and they did so, knowing that they would have jumped off a cliff if she so desired, they loved her so much.
She watched them enter, conflicting emotions running through her head. Why shouldn't she know what was going on? Why were they keeping everything so hushed up? And most importantly of all, why were they keeping secrets from her in the first place. Her, one of their most loyal and faithful supporters of the Faceless Ones! Overwhelming curiosity and inner rage at being kept in the dark finally got the better of her, and she stepped forward so that she was close against the door. Taking care to stay out of sight, she positioned herself so that she could clearly see and hear everything that was going on inside the room. She didn't like listening at keyholes, but sometimes, there was justification in snooping about.
Inside, the room was bare. It was a relatively large room, about as big as a school classroom, but the emptiness made it feel vast. The only furniture at all was two chairs in its centre. There sat two people. They weren't moving, or even talking. They were just sat there, staring at each other with looks of deepest loathing. Just sat there.
But then the man with his back to the door lifted his head to see who had just entered the room, and the woman hiding behind the door had to stifle a gasp. She knew this man. Knew him only too well.
Skulduggery Pleasant began to rise from his chair, his eyes filled with confusion and alarm at the sight of his wife and child walking towards him with bemused glances around themselves. A look that quickly turned to horror as the other man got to his feet with a demented smile, pulling of his right glove to reveal a hand that was skinless and glistened with crimson blood.
The woman crouched behind the door didn't see Nefarian Serpine raise his hand to point at the two people who had just entered the room, too blinded by her own tears to witness the destruction of life she had caused. But there was no way she could block out the screams. Three screams that were filled with the notes of pure torture and pain, screams that curdled her blood and tore apart all the heart she had left. Two screams that ended abruptly with the annihilation of two more lives, but one scream that continued on in sounds of anguish. The scream of a man who had just seen the two people he loved, who he would have given his life to protect, die screaming and in pain before his very eyes. His scream was of pure agony.
Numerous years later, China Sorrows woke up with a start, screams from centuries ago still reverberating though he mind. Screams she could never forget.
