Firstly, thank you to all those who read Although Bereft of You. you're all vey nice people. im glad i made some of you cry, not in a mean way, but that my writing made you cry. that makes me happy and makes me sound really mean. i'll stop now.

and this is something i just thought of as a random idea. let ne know if you want it finishing. enjoy

People rushed by on the busy high street, normal people going about their normal business. Cars rushed by, as did police cars, buses and baby prams. The only abnormal people were standing outside the bookshop. The man was hidden behind a huge pair of sunglasses and a frizzy wig. The girl looked tired and grumpy. Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery dubiously. "Do we really have to go in here?" she asked grumpily. "I would much rather be sleeping."

"Nonsense," he said, brushing away Valkyrie's complaints. "Bookshops are wonderful places."

"But you have all the books you could ever possibly need," she whined.

"I don't actually. I need the entire works of Agatha Christie."

"Are you looking for detective tips?"

"No. All of mine were blown up."

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery with an eyebrow raised. "Who would blow up your Agatha Christie books?"

"I did. I decided I needed some new ones. Come along now, we can't stand around all day; people will stare." He strode into the book shop and Valkyrie followed, wondering if she would end up quite as strange as her mentor.

The book shop smelt a little musty but it was hard to tell because the air conditioning was turned right up, freezing Valkyrie to the bone in a few seconds. The few windows that the shop had were small and dirty and let in little light. "Right, I'll head to the Crime section and you can wait here. I won't be long."

"Fine. But don't take ages; it's freezing in here." But Skulduggery had already left. Valkyrie collapsed onto one of the tiny armchairs. They'd been up most of last night hunting down an escaped murderer and now Skulduggery had dragged her to this bookshop. She just wanted to go to bed. However, this chair was so uncomfortable that sleep was impossible. She looked around and saw a few people browsing the various sections. There was an old lady looking at the hardback chart, her hair tucked into a flowered headscarf. A man who was chewing a cigarette glanced up as Skulduggery strode down the crime section. A tired mother was holding a baby and paying for a stack of baby books. This brought a smile to Valkyrie's face as she remembered the books her parents read to her when she was a baby. She got up and headed into the kids section. If Skulduggery finds me... she thought, wondering how much he would tease her for being here. As she thumbed the spines of books, she realised it had been a while since she'd actually read a book that wasn't related to magic, like the ones in China's library. She picked up copies of books she's read long ago, smiling. Suddenly she froze. Her hand shaking slightly, she pulled a book from the shelf and stared at it. "Skulduggery..." she called.

"Coming," he called back cheerily. He staggered into view, hidden behind the entire Miss Marple series. "What?"

"Put those down and look at this."

"Valkyrie, I don't read childrens' books. Well, only occasionally, but that's beside the point."

"Skulduggery..." she said in an evil voice. He dumped the books, drawing angry glares from the shop assistants and looked at the book Valkyrie was holding. He froze too. It was a hardback book, a nice normal hardback book. But on the front was a skeleton in a suit rendered in a monochromatic drawing. Across the top in orange, black and white writing was the title: Skulduggery Pleasant. "Well this is odd," he said finally.

"Super sleuthing, Sherlock."

"Indeed. The only question is whether we read it or not." She stared at him.

"What do you mean, whether we read it or not? Of course we have to read it! It's about you! Or at least someone who resemblesd you to the point wher it's just creepy."

"But what if it's prophetic? We could change the course of history by reading this book, we could change all of time..." There was a seconds silence before they both exploded into laughter. "Let's get them."

"Them?"

"Yeah, there's a whole series. Look, I'm on the front of this one. And the next one! This is just so cool."

"Get two copies of each; I'm not reading them after you've got your grubby little hands all over them. You treat books like... like..."

"Skulduggery, this is not the time to discuss my book etiquette." Leaving the Miss Marple books Skulduggery had stranded on the floor, they went to the check-out, paid for the books and headed back to Skulduggery's flat.

It was four in the morning by the time they were done and Valkyrie definitely wasn't tired anymore. The first two books had been an accurate description of their adventures so far, whilst also being a witty read. Skulduggery had pointed out that this was due to him being such a hilarious and witty man to write about, Valkyrie thought it was just the sheer quality of Derek Landy's writing. It was the third book that had Skulduggery pacing the sitting room and Valkyrie curled up on in her armchair with her eyes wide.

"We're going up against that Faceless Ones?" she finally said.

"No. Lightening doesn't strike twice, as they say."

"But it did. Two of the three are right Skulduggery."

"It can't strike three times."

"But if it could..."

"But it won't."

"But if it did..."

"But it won't."

"But it might..."

"You argue a fair case, but lightening doesn't hit three times."

"Try telling that to Roy C. Sullivan," she muttered

"What I want to know," he continued, "is how they've been so accurate in their description of us. They cannot possibly have guessed all of this."

"That is the mystery. It's a shame we didn't get the Miss Marple books. They could've really helped." Skulduggery shot her a filthy look. "Let me get my hat and we'll track down this 'Derek Landy', if that's even his real name."

"I'm sure it is, Skulduggery."

"That's what he wants you to think."

On their way to Landy's office, Skulduggery let out a curse. "What now?" Valkyrie asked.

"I've just realised," he said, "This completely ruins my plans for an autobiography. Now I'm really mad."