Author's Note: So my friend got me into reading Skulduggery Pleasant, and I fell head over heals in love. So I wrote this story. I haven't read Death Bringer yet, so please no spoilers. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Did I forget anything? (Checks desk, cluttered with papers for the next Skulduggery Pleasant novel) Oh right! Disclaimer: I am NOT Derek Landy, as much as I wish I was. I am only a fanfiction writer who loves witing(Duh!) and enjoy putting characters in novels through situations that she made up. Thanks!

The February night was icy and as dark as coal, as a man dressed in a well-tailored suit and hat walked silently down the street. A few blocks behind him, a teenage girl with midnight hair followed, just as silent, through the maze of alleyways. The man paused at the corner, crouched down and beckoned to her to hurry up. She reached him and knelt down, eyes flickering at the shadows along the sidewalk, watching warily for something.

"I don't know Skulduggery, something seems off. It's too quiet." She whispered. He nodded in agreement, but his attention was focused on what was around the corner.

"There's the apartment. The murderer probably has a trick up his sleeve, so be on the lookout." He said casually, standing gracefully up.

"What's the plan?"

"What plan?"

"The one that tells me what to do when we get there!" The girl said in an exasperated tone.

"Oh that plan."

"Yes?"

"I don't have one."

With that, the Skulduggery walked swiftly across the street. The girl followed him, anxiously rubbing the black ring that lay ice-cold on her finger. She stopped outside the apartment, taking in the grimy walls, spray-painted with the names of gangs, the shattered windows, barred with iron, and absence of anything green. On the corner, a lone streetlight flickered faintly. She got a distinct feeling that something was watching them with malice, as the hairs on the back of her neck pricked up. With one last quick glance around, she hurried inside to find Skulduggery. He was on the second floor waiting patiently for her.

"Enjoying the view out there, were you?" He was grinning as he teased her.

She glared at him. "Can we get this over with? Something's giving me the creeps."

"I agree. Ladies first?"

"Actually, I prefer the person who has the gun to go first."

Skulduggery smiled and cautiously opened the door, gun at the ready. Inside, the room was a mess, clothes strewn across the floor, some in bags. Newspaper clippings were everywhere, talking about murders, murders, and more murders. .

Skulduggery looked around "He's not here, but we should search for evidence anyway."

"Does this guy have an ego or what? He's clipped out everything talking about the murders he committed." The girl replied, ruffling through some of the clippings. She turned toward Skulduggery. "I got nada."

"Same here. Come on, let's go."

"Kay."

The girl followed Skulduggery back out of the apartment, to the desolate street they had started on. Something still seemed off to her, but she couldn't place it. She walked faster, and Skulduggery followed her lead, sensing the same thing she did. They didn't care about silence now as they left, and because of that the girl didn't hear the creature following her preparing to attack.

Her shock absorbent outfit protected her from the hard and icy pavement – lessening the blow when something whipped out and hit her from behind. None the less, the blow was enough knock her off balance and send her sprawling, slamming her head against the grimy building. In the fraction of a second it took for her to get hit, Skulduggery had already rolled and whipped out his gun. An icy roar blew his hat off, revealing the skull, not skin, that lay beneath. He fired three bullets, each hitting the creature with a satisfying thud, and by then the girl had already gotten to her feet.

The creature roared again and came out of the shadows it had hidden in. It was huge, a solid wall of muscle and black matted fur. It stood on two legs the size of tree trunks and was heavily built. But its face was its most terrifying aspect. One eye was red, the other yellow, and a jagged scar stretched through the lower half its face. Then the scar opened revealing jaws filled with teeth, filed to sharp points. And it was mad. The bullets wouldn't kill it but they did hurt it.

The girl ran to where the skeleton was crouching and helped him up. She snapped her fingers and kindled the sparks that were created into two balls of flame. Skulduggery followed suit, holding his gun in one hand. The air was alive with tension as both sides waited for the other to strike first. After a minute of standstill, Skulduggery spoke.

"Come on Valkyrie, let's give this monster a run for its money." The skeleton said, with mischief in his voice.

The monster roared again, and this time a hoard of answering roars followed his. Three more creatures leapt threateningly out from behind the far street corner. Though not as large as the first, they were still menacing. Growling, they stalked forward.

"Uhh…Skul?" Valkyrie said in a tiny voice. "Ugly here's brought company."

"I can see. Forget what I said before about fighting." Skulduggery said in a quiet voice. "Run on three. One. Two. Run!"

They sprinted through the neighboring alleys, and back to where the Bentley was parked. The monsters chased them for a while giving up only when the pair sprinted down an alley to narrow for them to pass through.

"What ever happened to 'three'?" A breathless Valkyrie asked when they were seated and buckled in the car. Skulduggery drove out of the alley and onto the lit road before answering.

"It got eaten by a pack of werewolves." Skulduggery replied.

Valkyrie paled. "Is that what those creatures were?"

Skulduggery nodded slowly. "I haven't seen them for a while."

"So what are we going to do about the murderer? He must have escaped."

"I have a feeling the werewolf was the murderer. A highly dangerous one too. He knew we were coming, so he evaded us until the full moon so that he and his turned would be able to catch us off guard." Skulduggery snorted.

"Well, it worked."

"Thank you Captain Obvious."

Valkyrie turned her body away from the window and crossed her arms, frowning."What's your problem? We escaped alive. Well, in my case at least."

"I had to leave my hat."

There was a moment of silence as Valkyrie digested this information.

"Your hat? Really Skulduggery?" Valkyrie was trying hard to suppress the laugh in her throat. She was failing miserably and Skulduggery glared at her.

"Yes, my hat! Do you know how much it cost? It was a good hat! Very fine leather!" Skulduggery grumbled indignantly.

"Can't Ghastly just make you a new one?"

"You're missing the point of my ranting!"

Still laughing she changed the subject. "Okay! Okay! Can you drop me off at Gordon's?"

"I was planning on heading there anyways. I recall him writing a book on werewolves and I think it would be useful to have the information when we go up against them again."

"What?"

Skulduggery glanced over at her, the black holes where his eyes had been boring into her. "You can't assume they'll stop hunting us." he said turning his focus back to the road, "After all they got my hat."

"Stop grumbling about losing it."

"I'm not. If I know one thing about werewolves, it's that they'll stop at nothing to find you after they have something that was very dear to you, in my case, my hat."

"Then what's to stop them from attacking us now? They could be following us, ready to kill us!"

"The moonlight's waning, it's almost dawn. Like vampires they shed their skin in daylight, and assume human form, but retain some of their strength and speed. They'll wait at least till tomorrow before attacking. The full moon ends in two days."

"Oh."

They sat in the car in silence for a while, the only sounds being Valkyrie's breathing and the smooth sound of tires on pavement.

"You can fall asleep if you want. It's been a long day and I know you're tired." Skulduggery said gently.

Though she wouldn't admit it, she was tired.

"Thanks" She mumbled as she curled up on the seat, asleep as soon as her eyes closed.

Authors Note: Good? Not Good? Utter Failure? Bloody Brilliant? To be continued or not to be? Hope you liked it! Chapter Two and Three up soon! Thinking about expanding this chapter a bit, it's a little fast paced.