"I told you I'm done with it all!" Mum said to her friend as she swept our kitchen floor.
"I still don't understand why, Valkyrie," a man's velvet like voice said sadly.
"Don't call me that!" she shouted. I heard what sounded like a pot being slammed against the counter. Her voice was shaky as she said; "Don't you ever call me that again."
"Calm down . . . Stephanie," the man told her. Another slam came and I knew that the pot fell on the floor. "I just want to know why it's been eight years when you said you only were going to take a year off to take care of your daughter."
Mum's voice suddenly flared with anger. "That was before he was murdered!" I backed away from the door I was behind, afraid that she'd come bursting through it at the mention of my father's death, but still, I listened to their conversation.
"What does Fletcher's death have to do with you leaving Ireland and magic?"
"It has EVERYTHING to do with me leaving! Magic killed him, magic made me evil, and magic is what made my parents disown me. Magic ruined my life!"
There was a long pause in their conversation as mum's friend tried to take what she said in. I wasn't quite sure what they were talking about. Magic? I thought that was fake! "Are you ever going to teacher her?" the man finally asked.
Mum's voice became slick with sarcasm. "Yes, of course I'm going to teach her about the thing that ruined my life."
"Well, you don't have to be rude about it," the man said jokingly. I could just imagine the death stare Mum was giving him. She hated those types of jokes. Even though I was eight, I knew that for a fact. "Well, if you want I could-" he begins.
"NO! You're not going to teach her magic either!"
"What if people come after her? You know you have a lot of enemies, Val- I mean Stephanie. Maybe I could stay for a bit, and just explain to her what to do if someone does come around looking for trouble." I was hypnotized by his voice and their words. Magic and enemies- did Mum used to be that cool? If so, why would she leave that world even after some hard times? What made her become a single mum that works constantly at a job she hates when she could work at a job with something as cool as magic?
"Look, I appreciate you coming here and offering to protect my daughter, but I moved here to Colorado to get away from the your world. I've been here for eight years and haven't been attacked once. I'm sorry but I'm never going back. There's just to many awful memories, Skulduggery," I heard her voice crack at the mention of his name. Who ever this Skulduggery man is, it's obvious that he used to mean a lot to Mum.
There was another long pause and I thought this could be my chance to sneak through so I could get to our bathroom since I'd been standing here for half an hour waiting for them to be done talking so I could go pee. "I guess I should be going," Skulduggery whispered, sadness and despair filled his voice. And I guess I won't be going pee for the next few minutes. I thought. I know I shouldn't have heard any of this conversation, so I ran to the couch where I was sitting watching "Sponge Bob Square Pants" on the TV.
I heard Mum take a deep breath and the heavy, wooden kitchen door squeak open. A few seconds later, the two old friends walked to our front door. I watched as Skulduggery wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Mum stiffened then relaxed and hugged his waist, resting her head on his chest. "You know where to find me if you need me," Skulduggery told her.
She nodded in response. Then looked out the window and smiled. "Damn, how the hell do you still have the Bentley?" she asked him with a small laugh (I had no clue why she was cussing in front of me since I was eight. Nor did I know what a Bentley was. But I didn't say anything.)
"Well, I don't need to save you anymore, so that kind of helps me save the car."
Mum rolled her eyes and punched his arm playfully. He smiled at her sadly. I could just see the sorrow in his chocolate colored eyes as he looked at me and tilted his hat in a goodbye. He opened the door, but stopped when Mum said; "Skulduggery, tell Ghastly and the others I said 'hi' will you? And if you get Tanith back, give her a huge hug for me." Skulduggery nodded and I could see the slight, sly smile on his lips. "Thanks." After that, he was gone.
I couldn't stop thinking about what I had heard the rest of the day. Before I knew it, it was time for bed.
I was lying in bed, still awake and thinking. I looked at the clock by my bedside. It read 10:45. I sighed and tried to stop my mind from wondering for the night.
I was just about to fall into deep slumber when I heard glass shattering and items falling over. Mum was shouting, her voice terrified but firm at the same time. I jumped out of my bed onto the soft carpet and walked down to the hallway. I hid in the shadows at the bottom of the steps when I saw the big, bulky men wearing black. I had to hold in my scream when I saw Mum pinned to the wall by black shadows that were jutting from one of the men's walking cane. Hello again, Valkyrie. It's been a long time hasn't it," the man said.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Mum shouted at him. She struggled, but the shadows got tighter, locking her in place. Was this what Skulduggery had meant by enemies?
"Just visiting my dear, old friend," the man with the cane told her.
"We aren't friends!" Mum snapped.
"We were."
"Why are you actually here?" Mum said. Slowly, I inched through the shadows, getting closer to the chaos. One of the men turned as if he felt my presence. I had thought he didn't see me, when strong hands grabbed my arm. I let out a little scream and started to kick the man when I was lifted up off the ground. Mum and the other men looked our way. "Leave her alone! She doesn't know anything, please just leave her!" Mum begged. "She doesn't even have magic!"
"Are you sure about that?" the main man asked.
"I think I would know if my own daughter had magic." Mum hissed back.
"I would leave her, if it wasn't part of the job," the man explained looking at me. By now, tears were streaming down my face. I was terrified. I didn't know what to do and by the look on Mum's face, she didn't know either.
"What job?" Mum's voice was weak and strained.
The man looked at the ground when he said; "To kill you and your daughter."
Mum stiffened. "Why? Who gave you this job?"
"I don't know, Valkyrie."
"So you take a job from someone you don't know. A job that just so happens to be to kill an old friend of yours and an eight-year-old girl! I always thought you were crazy, now I know you're insane!" Mum yelled.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be!"
"Do this job, and Skulduggery will hunt every last one of you down. He won't make your death quick, you know that right? He'll give you an agonizing death and leave you to die!"
"He won't find out."
"H-how do you know?" I managed to get out in a little squeak. The man looked at me. He flicked his cane and I saw the shadows let go of Mum. She crashed to the ground and tried to get up, but was to slow. The shadows joined together and made a sharp point. The man sent the point into Mum's stomach. "Mummy!" I screamed.
"Now for you," the man told me, his voice thick with anger. I looked at Mum's body on the ground, bleeding onto the white carpet. All the men were looking at me, so they didn't see Mum slightly raise her arm. A shadow sped towards the man's cane and knocked it across the room. Another shadow hit the man that was holding me. I dropped to the ground. The three men that hadn't had a shadow shot at them looked at Mum just as a block of shadow hit them all in the head, causing them to become unconscious. The man that had the cane reached out to grab me, but another spike came flying and pierced all the way through the man's hand. Then a block hit him too.
"Run!" Mum said when I looked at her. I could see the tears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to bring you into this, love." I ran to her and grabbed her hand. Her voice was quiet as she pulled my head down to whisper in my ear. "Find Skulduggery."
I looked at her and she smiled slightly. I knew her life was about to be over. "Mummy," I cried.
"I love you. Now, run." Her hand went limp in mine and the tears started flowing harder. I let go of her hand and stood up just as the man who killed her did. He charged at me and I looked around. I couldn't get to the door so I ran to the open window. It was a long way down from where we were.
I looked back at Mum, and the man. He was getting close. I had no other option.
I jumped.