Not Ourselves

Tanith opened her eyes to the sound of sheets rustling. Ghastly had sat up in bed abruptly, his eyes dragged open and staring at the door. She smiled, closing hers again.

"Bad dream?" she asked.

"Yeah." He turned to look at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good." She encircled her arms around Ghastly.

"I had a bad dream too," she whispered. "It was about you."

"What happened?" She looked up at him, teary-eyed.

"You weren't able to save me from the Remnant," she said, her voice cracking. "And I… I couldn't control myself, and… you didn't make it through the fight."

"What fight, love?" His eyes slid down to lock with Tanith's.

"There was a fight," she said to him, closing her eyes and letting the tears slide down her cheeks. "A fight for revenge. You, Skulduggery, and Val were fighting me, Sanguine and Dusk. You killed Sanguine. Then Dusk got to you and…" Tanith took a deep breath.

"I thought he was going to turn you and make you one of his, but he didn't. He didn't turn you, he… He killed you. You were dead and I laughed. I laughed at you, there dead on the ground, kissed Sanguine on the cheek and left. Val and Skulduggery escaped while they could. He didn't say a word. And all she could say was, 'She walked away. She didn't love him.'"

She cried. Ghastly put a hand on her shoulder, holding her tight.

"It was all a nightmare," he whispered softly in her ear. "I'm here now, and so are you."

"I love you," she said.

"Love you more."

Ghastly let his anger fuel the flame in his hand. Tanith could see it in his eyes. Her black lips formed a smile. Her boyfriend grinned, straight razor in his hand. The vampire on her left's breathing became strained. Sanguine noticed and brought his arm to encircle her waist. She nodded and they stepped away.

The gun was in Ghastly's left hand, and he fired it mercilessly. It wasn't good, for his hand was trembling, and he hit Sanguine in the shoulder. He had been aiming for the heart. Tanith let Sanguine curse and let her go. She stepped up and bolted for Ghastly, the smile long gone.

She punched him in the face, taking the time to pull her sword out of its black scabbard. The bullet whizzed past her ear as she ducked quickly. The shadows, however, grasped her arm and the sword sent flying in her attacker's direction. Valkyrie swooped down for it, but Tanith was faster. She grabbed it, kicking Valkyrie's knee in return.

It buckled and Skulduggery caught her, cursing and firing. But Tanith was on Ghastly again. She swung the sword, cutting Ghastly's stomach. He kicked her in the gut and held his stomach, gritting his teeth with the pain. The cut was deep. His hand came away red and Tanith backed off, sheer panic on her face. She moved away quickly. Why…?

Dusk pounced on the already dizzy Ghastly Bespoke. Tanith held the syringe ready in her waistcoat. While Dusk finished him off, she moved her attack to the screaming Valkyrie Cain. Skulduggery's fist collided with Tanith's head so hard she could have died immediately.

The Remnant panicked. If Tanith was dead, then so was it. And it couldn't leave, not that it'd want to anyway. So it fought back. Cutting Valkyrie, or as she had come to realize, Skulduggery's weakness, on the arm, she felt Skulduggery's aggravation. It was so strong she was sure Dusk could feel it.

Dusk. She spun around and stuck the syringe into his neck before those fangs could get to her. The liquid went into his blood immediately, and he staggered back. She looked at what was left of Ghastly. Nothing but a bloody corpse. So she laughed, gave a farewell kiss to her ex-boyfriend, and walked away.