This is my entry for a competition on Facebook, But I was actually very proud of it, so I'm posting it here =]

xDBx

Skulduggery Pleasant: The Endless Night

How much trouble can you make in a night?

"Skulduggery, its quarter past eleven, why are we going out this late?" Valkyrie was asking. They had gotten in at ten thirty that night after another case, and then less than an hour later, Valkyrie was woken from her sleep. "Well, we were given another case, but this one is best done ASAP. So get dressed and hurry up." Valkyrie repeated what he said under her breath and got ready. For a normal case. Right?

"Hey Skul... I really don't like the feel of this place. It feels like it shouldn't be here." Valkyrie whispered as they neared the crooked mansion. "Don't be silly Val; this place has been here for ages. This is the first activity in the vicinity!" He comforted her; she didn't buy it, but she nodded her head none the less. "Well come on then!" The car was stopped and the detectives got out.

As they were walking up the path to the building the rain lashed down on the pair, Valkyrie felt even more uncomfortable now. Her hair was sticking to her face, her clothes to her body and if that wasn't bad enough she felt physically ill just from the feel of the place. No matter what Skulduggery said, she knew he was just as uncomfortable as she was, it really wasn't meant to be here.

"Alright the plan is we go in and... we have a look around and... well, we find the problem."Skulduggery explained and rubbed the back of his head, skull.

"I think I could have gotten that myself." Valkyrie breathed sarcastically and they entered the house.

"Skulduggery, I think I found something." Finally after getting lost multiple times, chased a few times and even defeating a couple of creepy bad guys they had found something. Valkyrie held the small red box in the palm of her hand unwillingly; it felt wrong there much like the whole space around them.

"What is it?" The skeleton asked casually from across the room, thoroughly inspecting the wall sized bookcase.

"I'm not sure, it's a small red box. Should I open it?" She held it in front her face, checking it out at all angles.

"Sure, what harm could a small red box do?"

Valkyrie shrugged and opened the box. At first there was nothing, "Apparently, not much." Then the clock struck 2 am. There was a blinding light the sounds of clocks ticking and chiming, pendulums swinging, the room was spinning. "SKULDUGGERY!" Valkyrie ran towards her partner just as blackness enclosed around them.

Val POV

I shot up, dazed and confused to tapping on my window. Wait, my window? I'm in my room? The tapping carried on and I walked over, opening the window to let Skulduggery in. "Skulduggery, what just happened?" He cocked his head.

"Well you just opened the window. That I was tapping on, to wake you up." He sounded confused at my question.

"Yeah, I got that, but we were just at Mable Manor? Don't you remember?" I walked over to my bedside table.

11:15 02/06/10. It can't be! This is earlier! Why doesn't Skulduggery remember? How did this happen?

"The box..."

"Valkyrie? Are you okay? You mentioned Mable Manor... that's where we are headed. Has something happened?"

I'll wait until we get there, I can figure this out. I was the one that opened the box, so I must be the one who remembers it.

"No it's fine, I'm fine. I'll meet you by the Bentley." I grabbed my clothes and got into them, jumping out my window to land on the floor. I still don't understand this.

When we got to the house, the same things happened as they did before, and soon enough I found myself back in the room with the small red box. "Okay, Val, you've been acting weird all night, I'm going to put it down to lack of sleep. We just need to search this room then we can go back ok?" Skulduggery was headed for the mantle where the box was, instead of over to the bookcase.

"Hmm, might be sooner than we thought. Valkyrie, come and have a look at this box." He went to open it, and I ran over to him, but I was too late. Not again. The blackness surrounded us.

Skul POV

I found myself outside Valkyries house. Hold on, outside Valkyries house? But we were just at the manor! Splaying my hand out to raise me to her window I find her already sitting on the mantle. "Valkyrie, what just happened?" I asked her the same question she had asked me earlier on this evening.

"Ah, so you remember this time." This time?

"This time?" I voiced my thought. How peculiar, maybe this isn't the first time this has happened to her. She was acting pretty strange earlier, and didn't seem surprised at anything that happened, she even knew her way around.

"Yeah, it's 11:15pm on the second of the sixth." She said casually.

"Impossible, that was over three hours ago!"

"I know, this is the third time. The first time I opened the box, this time you did. But last time, you didn't remember anything! That was why I was acting strange." Well it makes sense. The box? What could that box be! I mean, you don't sense anything when you hold it, other than it shouldn't be there. THAT'S IT!

"Oh! Valkyrie the box is a replay. It's an eraser!" The look of bafflement on her face nearly made me laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that it has two purposes. To replay is to keep someone in one time span. Normally used to slow time down to the future, meaning that it will replay the time over and over again until the person or object it is protecting is safe.

The other purpose would be to erase, to undo your mistakes. It takes you back in time for a few hours, so that you can fix something you did wrong. Usually very useful, however they are very rare, but could also be the reason for this case."

"It's plausible. But what would it need to protect? Unless it is a who. Wait, Skulduggery does the box need to be opened to send time backwards?"

"No."

"No?"

"Nope. As long as it is opened twice at the same time that's all it needs to keep replaying at that time over and over again."

"So what you mean to say is that because it is now... half past eleven, we have two and a half hours to find whoever it is that the box was protecting?"

"That is exactly what I mean to say."

"Then why are we still standing here, get to the Bentley, I'll be there in five."

"Alright then." I got to the Bentley and thought about how we were going to do this. By the time we get there it's going to be quarter past twelve, we would need to avoid bad guys and wrong turns and we would need to get past that room. "What are you doing Skulduggery? An impression of the thinking man?"

"Yes. I was thinking. Now get in, we have a lot to do."

We got to the manor, and we managed to successfully make do of three bad guys that would have caused major problems, thanks to my amazing plan. Now we were in the room, the time is quarter to two that's not a lot of time. "Valkyrie hurry up, we have fifteen minutes!" We rushed through the room to a door.

"Skulduggery, something isn't right."

"I know." The feeling surrounding this room was nauseating, if I had a stomach, it would be churning. "Definitely not right."

"Hey, is it just me or does this make you think of Alice in Wonderland. You know, with all the doors?"

She was right, the room had five doors, each led somewhere different and only one was the right one.

"Ah. This may be a problem." Suddenly the room was spinning and the familiar sounds of clocks and chimes were ringing in my head. I just let it take me.

"Skulduggery, I'll be down in a minute. This time, screw traffic laws." I heard Valkyries voice from above me. She was true to her words and less than five minutes later we were speeding down the roads towards Mable Manor. Again.

"Left," Back inside the house Valkyrie must've nearly memorised the clear paths, "Left, Bald dude third corridor down then another right." After that, we found ourselves back into the box room, running towards to room of doors. This time we had a lot more time to work with. "Alright its one o clock, we have an hour until we are pushed back. What door should we take?" I placed my hand on a door on the far left of the room, it was black and had a lion craved into the wood, I felt the air inside, and moved on to the next, feeling each one for a minute or so.

"The red door, the black door and the glass door all have substantial movement from inside them, the other two, don't. But that doesn't mean they are out of the picture. Valkyrie you open that door, while I open this one, it'll be easier." I opened the door, but Valkyrie was struggling.

"It won't open!" hmm... I shut my door and Valkyries flung open violently.

"So you can't open more than one door at once. This complicates things slightly, what's the time?"

"Quarter past one."

"Alright, do you have your cell on you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm going to go in here and shut the door; once its shut I want to see if you can open your door, okay? Call me if you can." I opened the door and stepped inside, there was green lighting down a small corridor, and my phone rang.

"I got in, but it's creepy, I mean, even worse than just the room of doors. Hold on, there are loads of doors down here, should I open them?"

"Yeah, but be careful Val. I'm not going to hang up until we are both in that room ok? If something goes wrong, or is not right get out of there."

"Not right? None of this is particularly right is it? But yeah, I got it. I'm just opening the first door now. That's weird... It's just a mirror, do you think it's just there for show? Or is it just a really self centred bad guy?" she chuckled down the phone, I could hear her leaving that room, and walking back further down the hall.

"Valkyrie, I'm going back down to the room of doors, this is a dead end." And it was, the long hallway had just takenme to a wall, "I'm going to go through the glass door okay?"

"Yeah sure, I'm onto my fourth door down this hall, just opening the fifth, but" She screamed. "Get away from me! Who are you and what do you want?"

"Valkyrie! I'll be with you soon!" I heard a male chuckle down the end of the phone as I ran back to the hall of doors.

"Oh look, you found me, but I think your time's run out, and next time I won't be here, and it'll be harder to catch me." That was followed by a maniac-type laugh and once again just as I was opening the door to the room of doors the chimes started ringing and again everything went dark.

Val POV

That man really gives me the creeps. All I can see in the back of my mind was the way he held himself, if I thought the room of doors reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, this guy was the hatter.

"Valkyrie we're nearly there, that man, what did he look like?"

A creep. "Well, he reminded me of a version of the hatter. But, probably I'd describe him as the hatter's gist. The evil side. He was pale not dusk pale but pale enough to notice and he was tall with a hat you would expect to see Springheeled Jack wearing. He was wearing a tailed coat but I couldn't make out many details on it in the dark... But one thing caught my eye..."

That's right that was the thing that made me notice he was there...

"What was it?"

"A brooch. No bigger than a two pound coin, but it glowed. I don't know, it had a certain pull to it... He obviously didn't want to hide properly where he was in the room because it pulls you towards it mentally... it's how I knew he was there."

Skulduggery suddenly stiffened his posture.

"What did it look like?"

"It looked like a swirl, basically." I was flung backwards as the car gained an alarming amount of speed. "What is it Skulduggery?"

"It's time."

"Time for what?"

"No, the brooch. It is time."

"I'm still not getting it, you're starting to sound like a bad preview for Doctor Who."

"Stephanie," Uh oh, he never uses my given name. "You're not listening, that brooch is time. That would make that man you saw, Seconds Passing."

"His name is Seconds Passing? How uninventive."

"Now is really not a time to joke, Seconds likes to play games. If you win, you live. If you do don't,"

"You die?"

"Not exactly. He changes your time, erases your existence until a later date."

"So what, he keeps you until he wants to let you go?"

"Pretty much. But there's one mistake he's made." He made a fast U-turn and sped up even faster.

"Skulduggery its midnight, and you are going the wrong way."

"No I'm not, Mr Passing has made a mistake you see, I know a girl who he kept, the one game at which he cheated. She won, yet he took her anyway. The mistake he has made Valkyrie is that the year he let her go, happened to be the year he wakes back up."

"You mean she's here?"

"Yup." He popped the 'p' and she laughed.

"Okay, and what can she do to help us?"

"Probably nothing. But she's very good at tactics. Not her own though, god no, she's terrible. Never thinks ahead that girl, no. But, she has a knack for picking up other peoples tactics." I shrugged, it's best to let him think he's right but...

"What if it wasn't a mistake?"

"Excuse me?" He looked at me, seemingly surprised.

"I mean, if he owns time. How would you be able to make a silly mistake like that? You say the girl he took here and now won, but he took her anyway, and this is the time he meets us. I don't think it was a mistake."

"He took her to the next round..."

"Exactly. Are we nearly there? It's half twelve!"

"We're here." We had pulled up in front of a block of apartments, and we got out. Using the air to take us to a third storey window. Skulduggery tapped on the glass.

"Doors are for people with no imagination. More like doors are for people with sanity... What is it now Skul?" A girl had opened the window for us, she looked about my age. She had dark brown hair with a black fringe. Her eyes were an emerald green.

"Delphian, this is Valkyrie, Valkyrie, Delphian."

"Delphian Bleak, at your service." She saluted at Valkyrie with her index and middle finger. "Now what is it?"

"It's Seconds." The girl froze in her tracks.

"That cheater! I swear, what has he done now?"

"Well, I had thought it was just a silly mistake. But Valkyrie didn't we realised, in theory he didn't cheat."

"What do you mean he didn't cheat? I won fair and square!"

"We know, he didn't cheat because... He took you to the next level." She turned around slowly.

"Next... Level?"

"Yeah. Up at Mable Manor. Have you not noticed the time shifts?"

"Yes, thank you very much. And it's really irritating to have to re-live that five times."

I froze. Five times. Five doors, I found him in the fifth door in the corridor of the fourth door...fifteen past eleven. Fifth door!

"Skulduggery."

"Yes Valkyrie?"

"Five."

"Excuse me?"

"There were five bad guys in the house. There were five turns we had to take; the night replays itself from fifteen past; there were five doors in the room of doors; I found him in the fifth door in the corridor of the fourth door. Five."

"So he's going to be in the fifth door? I would have checked that last..."

"That's the point Laten." Delphian said, already in protective clothing by the looks of it.

"Laten?"

"Sorry, Skulduggery. But that's his point, he thinks you will check it last, but he gave you the hint nonetheless. But I'm guessing this door will be a lot harder to work with. Now, we can sit here until time changes, you can get here on the way from Valkyries house and we can get there ASAP." Again the times shifted, ringing in everyone's ears right in the back of my mind, Seconds was still laughing until I woke up.

I ran into my closet, got changed and jumped back out of my window, racing to the Bentley,

"Let's go." And we did. We sped to Delphian, and from there we sped to the manor.

Once we got to the room of doors, a voice came from somewhere causing us all to jump.

"Ah, so you're smarter than you seem. Who was it? The skeleton or the girl that knew how this was meant to go, but how much have you actually picked up? Can you really win this?" It was him. As soon as his voice appeared the picture formed in the back of my mind.

"Yes we can, I've beaten you once don't forget." Delphian spoke.

"I know. That's why your here. So good luck!"

I really am starting to dislike him more and more.

"Guys, its one o clock we have about an hour." I tell them, heading towards the fifth door.

"Let me go first Val, I don't want anything happening to you. Del, you go last okay?"

"Okay." I nodded at the skeleton man in front of me and he opened the door, lighting a flame to be able to see down the corridor. I lit one too for extra light, and I heard Delphian light one too, so I looked back to find her with a flame glowing black, but it still let off light.

"What is that?" I had to ask, it looked strange.

"It's fire. I'm an elemental necromancer. It's painful to try at first, but some people can do it afterwards."

"Wow, how does that work?"

"Well, I use death and life to re create the elements. Really, it could be classed as illusion, but technically it's not."

"That's cool! Do you think I could learn that?"

"I bet you could, yes."

"Girls, we're at the fifth door, if something happens Valkyrie you have to run."

"Right." So not going to happen.

"Promise me." I hesitated,

"Right." And he sighed, knowing it wasn't going to work. Delphian chuckled behind us.

"Are you done?" Both of us nodded and skulduggery flung open the door.

"Mirrors?"

"Looks like it, a room of mirrors, a room of doors and now this, what's next, a room of windows?"

"Skulduggery!" I pointed ever to the mirror where I saw Seconds, but he had already moved.

"He went this way!" Delphian yelled, rushing the opposite way to the mirror, where his reflection would have been.

"You guys are better at this than I gave you credit for. However time is still ticking and you are yet to find me."

The voice was coming from the way we were heading, but that just made us re think our moves, we carried on. I could hear ticking inside my head now and by the look of the other two so could they. No pressure. "Skulduggery we have fifteen minutes." I informed him, and carried on running when I had an idea. The mirrors weren't ceiling high. I stopped and got the other two's attention, putting my fingers to my lips I moved the air to rise me higher, until I was able to see above the mirrors.

I saw him; he was sitting down hunched over. In a completely separate room! I swiftly showed the other two the way to surround him on ground and we checked each mirrored wall.

Each one was solid; we couldn't pass through without breaking or smashing the glass. But we only had five minutes, so Skulduggery kicked down one of the mirrors and miraculously it didn't smash, it was plastic!

Seconds POV

Hmm, this is getting rather boring I think. They won't find me, and eventually I'll get bored, and that's no fun. Suddenly there was a crash, and I looked up startled at the very people I was playing with. How did they manage that? "How did you figure it out? I was sure you would lose!" I screeched while I laughed at my so rare defeat staring me right in the face.

"We have ways. Now stop time from repeating itself!"

Well, I did loose. So I will, just give me just a few more seconds...

"Sure!" The clock struck two and I giggled Just one more time. I watched them fade before me, as I laughed and jumped, giddy. I skipped over to my bedroom, throwing the small box into the fire. It was only that simple. I thought as I slipped away into myself.

Valkyries POV

I dashed back over to the window and looked down to find Skulduggery on the phone, to Delphian I would think. "Yes, he would stay true to his word. As we are still in 2010 and even better still in Ireland, I think this is the last time we will have to live through this night."

"Thank heavens. Skulduggery, you really do get me into the worst situations you know that right?" I heard her on the other end and laughed, causing Skulduggery to look at me. Delphian sighed on the other end.

"Well, goodnight you two, glad that this is no longer an endless night, right?"

"Yeah." Skulduggery and I both said, as we looked at the moon. Total cliché but we live with it.

So what did you think? Please tell me! =] xx

xDBx