Chapter 1

Sanguine's guts were on fire. The burning ate at his insides while he panted on the floor. The girl. The girl did this to him. He had her murder just in his grasps, but he failed to do it. He cold only wait until that day made sense. That was when Vaurien Scapegrace wandered through the door.
"Get out of my face you wretched little moron!" He screeched at him.
"Yes, Master," he whispered, "but the new Zombie Horde was wondering what we do next." Sanguine stared at Scapegrace with pure hatred. How did he believe this idiot was a Killer Supreme? Why was he lettin' him live now?
"Well, I don't know. So you tell your little horde, that they just have to wait. And if you dare come to me with such insolent questions again then I will kill y'all off, one by one. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Master," he said and left.
Hate zombies. Hate Scapegrace. Hate the girl. His mind ran over what she said the last time... He really wanted to get at the girl. He couldn't kill her, she was too "special". But intimidating her wouldn't be that bad, would it? He heard that her friends never died. Well, if he couldn't have her, then he'd have to have all her little friends then. Sanguine wondered if he could kill Skulduggery Pleasant. The Skeleton Detective. Sanguine liked to see the fear in his prey's eyes as the blood ran out of their body. It would be a waste to kill the detective. He made the plan more fun. The girl would be in pieces without her little detective. Patsy Cline's Crazy filled the room. He would have to change that ringtone. Sanguine looked at the number and flipped open the phone and held it to his ear.
"Hello, Chains,"he said.
"Do you have the device?" He asked. No greetings. The strong and silent type.
"Yes. Got Scapegrace and his brainless minions guarding it. Told 'em not to touch it though."
"Are you sure that they can be trusted?"
"Yeah. They got nowhere else to go. Pretty sure he knows if he don't do what I say then he's dead. Well, more dead. He's still annoyed I ripped his arm off the last time." Sanguine smiled at the memory.
"You need to be ready, Sanguine. Now the Sanctuary's gone, they're making mistakes. But, they've still got Detective Pleasant. I need you to do a little research task, Sanguine. Go to The Old information broker. See what he knows of Darquess. Then tell me what he knows."
"The Old information broker?" Sanguine asked, shocked.
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"No, but where is he? I thought he died a long time ago, to be honest."
"Where do you think he is? The Old Street."
"Hmm. Should have figured that out, really." Chains hung up. Darquesse? Chains wanted to know more of a girl who's supposed to bring back the end of the world? Great. Sanguine's smile got even wider.