Hands seized Valkyrie from behind. Skulduggery tried to fight, but there were too many Redhoods. She glimpsed Ravel being thrown to the ground and shackled, and then someone hit her and the world spun. Her knees gave out, but she wasn't allowed to fall.

Baron Vengeous came into view. From this close, he looked like a corpse. "Take the skeleton and the Elemental to the Racks," he told someone. "I want them screaming before the hour is up."

"And the girl?"

Vengeous barely glanced at her. "Take her to Professor Nye. Tell it, it can do whatever it likes to her."

"Wait," a rich, powerful voice sounded from behind. Mevolent's voice. He studied her coldly. His eyes piercing. "It seems like the skeleton has a new person that he cares deeply about," Mevolent sneered. "That's what makes you so weak skeleton." Mevolent turned to Baron Vengeous. "Take her to the Racks too. Make the skeleton watch her scream."


Valkyrie slumped against the cold, hard metal pole. Her wrists burned. She was on her own, Skulduggery and Ravel dragged elsewhere. The cell was quite spacious, though she couldn't move. She could picture a group of Redhoods regarding her silently. Water dripped down from a leak in the roof but she couldn't see where it was. The bars were gleaming, reinforced. Outside the cell the Rack was rusted. Obviously they didn't expect anyone to escape those bars. Valkyrie couldn't help but wonder why. The white artificial light stabbed her eyes, harsh.

Her mind was blank of any ideas. Skulduggery could not watch her scream. She knew she would try, though she could not get the grotesque sight of Stephanie when she was tortured out of her head. Skulduggery can't have his heart broken once again. Valkyrie smiled grimly. Skulduggery didn't have a heart, literally speaking.

Something fiery burned in her guts. She would not would not would not scream. The feeling of determination filled her. Cold and hard. Solid. Reliable. New strength surged through her.

Footsteps clicked on the rusty metal floors.

Dread surged through her. She forced it back with her determination. Redhoods arrived at her cell, and inserted a key. Six marching Redhoods filed into her cell. Baron Vengeous himself strode though. He glowered at her. In his hand he held a mean looking whip. Barbs lined the whip, deadly looking. The whip looked tough. Valkyrie forced herself to look up into the face of Vengeous and the whip.

"Mevolent ordered me to torture you first so that skeleton" he spat out the word "can hear your scream first though he can't see what is happening." He raised the whip…

…and the barbs sunk into her flesh, for they had taken off her jacket. The pain was excruciating. The barbs were lethally sharp. A scream fought out of her mouth, but Valkyrie choked it back. Tears blurred her vision. The wound burned.

Again, the whip landed.

Again.

Again.

Again.

And a scream broke free, reverberating, for the pain was too much too much too much and the wounds burned and her back was on fire and she couldn't stop the screams that followed…

Thank you guys for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed it I will post second chapter soon!