Frozen in time
Chapter one
Eighty years after the last stand of the dead men, here Valkyrie sat. Darquesse was dead and Ravel had been executed for treason. Her parents had both passed away happily together, knowing everything about the magical world and all of Valkyrie's heroic acts, but not wishing to embrace the magic that they did have inside of them. Alice had gotten married to Dexter Vex when she was 57, and begun to study under Skulduggery on how to be a sanctuary detective. She and Valkyrie had both chosen elemental at their surge, and thought nothing of necromancy. Skulduggery had become the first mage ever to have a body reconstruction, mainly because he was the only walking, talking skeleton on earth.
And now Valkyrie was in a rather close relationship with him, their funny little ship name, Valduggery, spreading around the sanctuary like wild fire; along with the rumours of their nights spent together. Valkyrie knew in her heart that Skulduggery truly loved her, and that she loved him much. But she really does not think he would be ready for something like this.
She had killed Gods, beaten grown men senseless at the age of thirteen on rooftops, survived against the pain of Serpine's hand, all of this with Skulduggery at her side. But this? This was a whole new problem altogether.
In front of her sat a pregnancy test, with the colour blue on the little screen at the front, reading 7-8 weeks. With the advanced technology in 2093, the pregnancy test had been a huge help with many; turning blue if it was a boy, or red if it was a girl or just nothing if you were not pregnant. But here she sat, with a blue pregnancy test glaring at her. She was frightened. What would Skulduggery think? He told her they will not be having children until he says so. But she can't abort him, she would break her own heart and Skulduggery would find out.
She heard a car door slam outside of the home. Quickly picking up the pregnancy test, she ran to the bin and threw it inside. The front door opened and there was a shout from the door.
"Valkryie, I'm hooome!" Skulduggery sounded incredibly joyful. Telling him would make his day terrible. She sat back down on the sofa, and lay down like she was in the morning. In the morning Valkyrie had been suffering with morning sickness, and with the day off she had been given she decided to buy a test. Skulduggery walked through the living room door, pulling off his gloves. His new skin was a pale peachy colour, and his hair was raven black. He had light freckles on his cheeks and his eyes were a deep green. His body build was muscular and tall. He wore his usual pinstripe suit, and his hat in its happy position on his head. He had a goofy little grin on his face.
"Hello dear, are you feeling any better now? I was pretty worried all day". She nodded to him, giving a little yawn. As hard as she tried, she could not conceal the worry on her face, so she closed her eyes and hoped he wouldn't notice. But him being Skulduggery…
"Valkyrie, are you alright? You don't look too good. Should I call a doctor?" He said gently.
"NO!" She answered, a little too quickly for Skulduggery to think of it as a normal thing. She stood up, walking back into the kitchen, which was the same room as the bin that she had left the pregnancy test in. Skulduggery walked in behind her, then towards the kettle. He noticed it was already boiled, and begun to prepare a cup of tea. Valkyrie sat down at the kitchen table, thinking inside of her own head for a little.
Skulduggery left her in peace, knowing that if he pressed any further she would get grouchy and start yelling, and with his knowledge she can get pretty scary. He took the teabag out of the mug and walked over to the bin. He opened the lid and dropped the teabag inside. As he closed it, it registered in his mind that he had seen a little blue light. Opening the bin again, he spotted the source of the light. Carefully he lifted it out of the bin, looking at the stick. Then it all pieced itself together in his mind. She had stayed off because she was having morning sickness. She didn't want a doctor because then he would find out.
Skulduggery turned to her, holding up the pregnancy test. His face was one of slight irritation and upset.
"Why couldn't you have just told me?" He said. His voice had gone plain. Valkyrie looked up to him and saw what he was holding. Her eyes widened and her face paled further. Her mouth opened and shut as she struggled to find the words to say. Eventually she managed to say something.
"Please don't get mad" she whispered. Skulduggery stared at her, no emotions on his face. He turned and put the test back into the bin. He then walked over to her, looking down into her eyes.
"We can't keep it. You know we can't". Skulduggery still showed nothing on his face, not even the slightest bit of happiness or sadness. Valkyrie got annoyed. She stood up, confronting him.
"I am, Skulduggery this is my body and my baby. You can't stop me, and you won't." She had raised her voice at him. He showed that he was frustrated, and upset.
"It's mine too, and you know we can't have a child. You know that the world we live in is far too dangerous for it to be raised, I have told you this so many times". He yelled. Valkyrie never even flinched. She stood her ground and glared into his eyes.
"I bet that this is just because you lost your first child".
Then she felt an ice cold rush shoot through her, centring itself on the baby. Her vision had gone black and she heard a faint scream. It wasn't until her hearing had come back that she realised it was hers. She looked up through blurred eyes at Skulduggery. She noticed she was on the floor. His hand was covered in ice and he was whispering something. When he stopped her body began to warm.
All except for where the baby was resting. It all felt so still. She had known that babies grow fast for mages, and that usually by eight weeks you started to look like you were four months pregnant. There was no movement.
Skulduggery looked down at her, a dark glint in his eye. She saw the shadow lingering around his fingers. He smiled, and said:
"If you are having this baby, you will wait until I am ready. Until then you better wrap up warm, because he won't be melting or growing anytime soon". Then he walked out of the room. Valkyrie sat on the floor, thinking slowly though what he said, then it dawned on her.
Skulduggery had frozen their baby, in time.