Skulduggery Pleasant The Darkest Hour

Chapter 2

The first lead which China had given them turned out to be, what they called it, a dead end. Skulduggery and Valkyrie found themselves on a street two hours away from Roarhaven, a street just littered in bungalows. Valkyrie looked out of the window, staring at the pretty gardens as they passed. She figured she was supposed to act upon everyone's advice, maybe she should start decorating Gordon's house- no her house the way she wanted it to look.
Her thoughts were soon halted as the Bentley stopped at the side of the road, cutting off the entrance to a driveway which led up to one of these bungalows. Stepping out of the car, she glanced up towards the house. It wasn't well kept like the other houses in the street. All the other houses were bright with pretty gardens which held freshly cut grass and colourful flowers. This bungalow had a wilderness garden, one which hadn't been cut in a few weeks. The home itself was dark inside and appeared to be empty.
"Where are we, Skulduggery?" Cain asked as he moved to her side.
"This, Valkyrie, is the most recent, closest disappearance to Roarhaven." He said chirply.
"There is no reason for you to sound happy about that." Valkyrie rolled her eyes.
"Yes there is."
"And what is that reason?" She replied as they begun the small walk up to the varnished front door.
"It means that these people, who are missing, have a chance of still being alive." Skulduggery stopped, opening the front door. As they stepped inside, he retrieved the small pouch of dust from his pocket, sprinkling it around to test for magic.
"Anything?" Valkyrie mused as she wandered around the living room.
"Nothing much." He sighed, putting the pouch away. Cain rolled her eyes as she began to look further, stepping into the kitchen.
"Don't go too far, you don't know if the perpetrator is still here." Skulduggery said.
"I'm sure your magic pouch would have picked up on that."
"Dust, Valkyrie, Dust." Pleasant exasperated. Valkyrie chuckled and wandered into the kitchen.
The kitchen was dimly lit. It was mostly clean, with the odd plate and cup scattered on the work top. She wandered through, looking into the fridge.
"Nothing in the fridge, Skulduggery."
"You're not supposed to be looking for food, besides, didn't you just eat?"
"No, I don't mean it like that. There's no food in the fridge, maybe they moved out…" Valkyrie reasoned.
"Lack of food in a fridge doesn't hold the answers to everything." Skulduggery mentioned from the other room. Valkyrie went silent as she thought this through. Of course Skulduggery was right, there was probably more to the case than an empty fridge.

As the room was deemed clear, the young adult walked with silent feet back into the living room. Skulduggery had his back turned to her as he surveyed the bookshelf in the far corner. Valkyrie would have asked what he was reading, or what he had found. She opened her mouth to voice one of these questions but…

"ACHOO!"

The book which Skulduggery was reading clattered to the floor and he spun, facing Valkyrie. Stunned by her own sneeze, but shocked by her partner's reaction Valkyrie laughed. The shoulders on her skeleton friend visibly relaxed.
"Did you have a nice jump there, Skul?" She giggled. He huffed and turned back to pick the book up.
"I thought you didn't get scared? Did you let your guard down?" She grinned as she began to make her way over.
"Are you quite finished?"
"Just…" Teasingly, Valkyrie held up her hand, displaying all five digits as if to say 'five minutes' however there was a clatter upstairs.

Instantly, Skulduggery pushed past Valkyrie, sprinting up the stairs with the girl hot on his tails. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as they began searching each of the rooms, looking for the intruder. All doors apart from one opened to reveal nothing. The last door had both Skulduggery and Valkyrie surrounding it. Valkyrie watched the indications made by her partner, counting down from three before they stormed into the room. Skulduggery's gun was loaded and ready to fire, and Valkyrie had a ball of fire ready to throw. Both detectives were ready for anything, ready for battle.

What they weren't ready for, was a cat.

"Ah, see, Valkyrie? I told you it was nothing." He unloaded his gun and placed it back into his holster.
"Wait? What? You never said anything!" She growled, punching him in the arm.
"And that goes to show, you must be ready for everything and anything." He nodded, patting the cat on it's head before walking out of the room.
"We can't just leave the cat, Skulduggery."
"Oh, we can't?"
"No." Valkyrie stood next to the cat, folding her arms.
"Yes we can, his owner will be back for him soon enough, so come on."
"Okay, but if there's no owner by Friday we're coming back, okay?"
"Okay." Skulduggery replied as he begun to make his way down the stairs. "Come on, we best start heading back before it gets dark."
Valkyrie sneezed again, before making her way after Skulduggery.

The Bentley was warmer than usual, she managed to process as she sat silently in the car. Her head was almost resting against the cold window pane as she watched the sun set beyond the horizon. The headlights of the car began to get brighter and brighter as the night set in. Valkyrie sniffled before covering a cough.
"You sound like you're getting a cold, Valkyrie." Skulduggery pointed out.
"No, nonsense. It's just a tickle, it'll be gone by the morning." She replied.
"You're tired, if you're unwell you don't have to come with me tomorrow." He replied.
"What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Well I was going to go look in China's library in the morning. I was reading some of the books in that house. If we can figure out what type of books they are, maybe we can piece something together about this person." Valkyrie nodded.
"And tomorrow afternoon?"
"Well that's when tomorrow morning will play its role. Everything will come with time, Valkyrie." Valkyrie coughed. Skulduggery's skull turned towards her, so his eye sockets were actually looking at her while he drove. "Maybe I should take you to get something for that cough."
"No, I told you, it's fine." Valkyrie smiled. "I'll get a good night's sleep and I'll be at the High Sanctuary tomorrow, ready to work."
"Okay…as long as you are sure." Skulduggery said, turning back to the road.
"Oh, I am sure."