Frankly, she should have seen through it all. The pretty-boy looks, the mushy declarations of love clearly taken from corny romance novels. He had been obvious, but she had been blind.

His gaze certainly was addictive, his touch and kisses more so. With every visit she left wanting more. More. And he knew this, he abused this, twisted her around his finger. Used her.

Perhaps it was because of the danger. Meeting up in strange, dark places to avoid being seen together. She knew full well that if they did not watch out their passion could well result in her becoming like him, or worse (or better?) dead. There was something exciting about cheating on her partner.

But maybe it was not. Judging by her other partner, it seemed she had a thing for men who would listen to her every word, yet were still strong minded… just not as much as her. Her life style was so high action that she wanted a calm, mild-mannered man, but one still in touch with the world of magic. He had been perfect. Many called her bossy, and they were certainly right. Ordering someone around like him. His condition alone dictated that he should hold a sense of power over her, but he seemed different. The seemingly endless amount of affection he had for her went to her head and she thought he was under her control. Tame.

Well. Long story short, he really was not.

His long lifespan had allowed for his knowledge of the human mind and body language to be far greater than anyone else's and he had used this to bag her. No mind-control or reading, no remnants, no magic. It had been knowledge that had bested her. It was almost funny.

The first thing that should have roused her suspicions was the disappearances of Ghastly Bespoke and Skulduggery Pleasant. Barely a week prior he had casually brought up where they lived in conversation, and she so foolishly gave the locations to him. What harm could there be in giving the information to a young, exiled and most importantly tame creature? Besides, she could not even think straight at the moment he had asked; her mind and all reasoning was lost within a sea of bliss.

Once she found out that they were missing she had pushed away all but him, even her official boyfriend. What use was an idiotic, big-haired boy now anyway? Frankly one of the main reasons she kept him around was his teleportation talent, but without her second father what use were these crime-fighting missions? Sure, they had been fun, but she was only doing them for him. They found the bodies a few days later, both very dead.

He had been there for her, comforted her until she was back to her old self and ready to get back to work. The reflection now led her other life completely now. No longer could she become that other girl; her mind and body were now completely integrated into the ways of magic.

Fletcher Renn was the next body found.

Upon identifying him she found herself only feeling slightly upset. As if a cat of hers had been found dead by the side of the road. She should have been horrified by this… and yet she was not, so set off back to the house of the man she now lived with. When she spoke of the events later she found herself crying yet not completely understanding why that was.

The next month was spent bounty hunting. Her fighting and magic skills were exceptional and being emotionally unattached to all but one person proved helpful in such tasks. Whether killing or finding missing people, she excelled. No questions asked.

It was only in the seconds before the deed that she finally realized her mistake. They were kissing, not unusual. Her top soon ended up on the floor, not unusual, they hadn't been strangers to each other's body in a long time. His mouth at her neck, not unusual. His teeth ripping through her skin to get to the blood underneath, unusual. Body pinned beneath his and life-fluids being drained she found herself unable to move. Her blood flowed from her body into his mouth near willingly, and with each beat she grew weaker, eyes fluttering and voice silent, too surprised to acknowledge than the man she loved was nothing more than a monster.

"Sorry, love." He whispered near raggedly at some point before she lost consciousness, and not because of mixed emotions. "Your usefulness ran out."

"Oh." Was her final word before the world went dark.

Two people barged their way into an apartment high up a tower block. The locked door had not been a problem and they soon blasted it open to find they were too late. Sprawled on a bed half-clothed was a young woman, eighteen at the most with dark hair, darker eyes and pale, near white skin. Yet that may have been due to the blood drained from her system.

Their team had been on the trail of this particular serial killer for nearly seven hundred years. A vampire craftier than most. His ploy was to approach any women traveling with high profile members of sanctuaries and other such crime or 'evil' fighting crews and make them reveal information to him through seduction. When their use was over he would eat them and leave without a second thought onto his next target. Knowing how he worked he probably had another woman waiting for him already.

"That's her isn't it?" One asked, a woman. "The last of Skulduggery Pleasant's little gang."

"Poor sod. Didn't see it coming." The other muttered, a man.

"She should have." She snorted. "He picked on the ones fairly new to the world of magic. Bastard. How cruel can you get?"

"I guess no one told her that a vampires nature never changes."

"Ha, a moral vampire. Let me know when you find one of those." The woman sighed, leant down and slid her eyes shut. "The Vampire's latest victim. May you rest in peace, Stephanie Edgley."


So, that was my first ever one shot. I hope it doesn't suck too much! I plan to do more in the future, although probably not for Skulduggery Pleasant. I got the idea while listening to 'Monster' by Lady Gaga, which is a very cool song.

Don't worry, I am still doing The Dispossessed (next chapter's almost done) and none of the events in this correspond with the ones in my other fiction. Thought I'd mention that just in case

Writing style in this = weird. Sorry about that! I wasn't really sure how to go about it…

Thanks for reading! ^^