The Collapse Of Innocence

Warning! Mortal coil spoilers

Disclaimer; I own a cat, a bat, a rat and a pheasant but sadly not Skulduggery Pleasant. The books belong to Derek Landy and if you review I'll give you candy!

I trudged despondently to the only place I felt safe, The Hibernian Cinema. Out of the jumble of my thoughts one in particular stood out. "What happened? It cried "what the hell happened?" I felt myself agreeing with it. I often agreed with my thoughts, I felt that they deserved it. They were like protective older brothers, surrounding my brain with a blissful mist that blocked out all the badness in the world, except for that one thought. It took over my brain, permeating my protective thoughts. It had momentarily felt as if a glacier had flown through me and then I must have blacked out.

Random snatches of memory surfaced. Who was Darquesse? And why did she look like Valkyrie Cain? I needed Kenspeckle to check my thoughts. I knew he could do that, He had just gotten a new batch of medicine and I was his usual test subject. He would be pleased that I had something which required the medicine. Every time he dosed me with a test batch, he told me that sooner or later my brain would crack and I would lose most of my intelligence. My brain had done just that until that dark, invading thought cleared up any damage until I was as intelligent as I had been before the trials.

"Kenspeckle?" I called, upon reaching the Lab. It was obliterated and no-one answered my call I was worried now. Kenspeckle always responded to my calls. I called again, louder this time and my voice echoed throughout the lab. I listened for a reply but all I heard was an irregular dripping noise. I followed it to its source. The operating room. I reached out and flicked the light switch. Miraculously it worked. I peered tentatively inside and staggered in Horror. Kenspeckle was lying on the table but he was not alive. No-one with that amount of flesh left could possibly be alive. I retched at the sight. Another disjointed memory floated to light and I screamed. I had killed him, I had mutilated him in this way I looked at my hands in disgust and a solitary tear dripped down my face. "run" my thoughts urged me. "Run until your legs and chest burn then run some more. Keep running until you die" I took a deep breath; my thoughts had always protected and guided me and told me the right thing to do. They had never lied to me before so why would they now?

I glanced back at Kensp- the corpse I hastily corrected in my head, calling him by his name would only make it worse. I sighed once, another tear escaped and I turned and ran.