"My god" Skullduggery said, taken aback, "China?" he asked incredulously. China stood up carefully and nodded gravely before meeting his sockets, but the eyes that fell upon Skullduggery were not recognized by anyone in the room, least of all China herself. Deep black circles engulfed wrinkled and bloodshot eyes, and her hair that was usually dark as night was showing streaks of gray, her perfect porcelain skin was now waxy and her lips were chapped. "Sadly old friend, it is me" she smiled sadly revealing stained teeth and spoke in a raspy tone, her eyes caught sight of Valkyrie before returning her attention to Skullduggery "it is me" she repeated and sighed, "not even I can look perfect when I haven't slept in an entire month".

China didn't look up from her mug the entire time they were sitting around the coffee table in her living room, Valkyrie was curled up in an armchair but she couldn't take her eyes off of China, but not because of her beauty, but because of how horrid she looked, Skullduggery sat poised on the couch next to china and finally broke the silence "how did you end up like this?" he asked. China took a shaky breath before speaking "it all started about a week after that whole business with the sanctuary" she began "nothing out of the ordinary happened, nothing at all, not at least until I fell asleep, that is". China seemed hesitant to continue speaking but shook her head and continued "then came the nightmares, horrible, horrible nightmares" she sobbed a little and started to cry a little, Skullduggery wrapped an arm around her to try to bring her some comfort "what were they like?" he inquired in a careful tone. She attempted to regain her composure and spoke through a few tears "they were like images seared into my mind, while they occurred I could just feel this burning, and every night, every damned night no matter what was different, they were always there". Skullduggery's interest now peaked he moved closer and spoke in a soft tone "who was there?" at this question China started to cry harder and lose control of herself , Skullduggery then turned her towards himself and placed his hands on her shoulders and asked a little more forcefully "China who was there?". "The, the Faceless ones" she stammered through her sobs and cries, and at this Skullduggery noticed Valkyrie shifting suddenly uncomfortable in her chair.

"Valkyrie, this wouldn't happen to be anything like the nightmares you've been having recently, would it?" Valkyrie nodded slowly and sat up straight in her chair. "Is there anything you have in your library, anything at all that could help?" he asked "trust me I've looked, there's nothing about anything like this" came her reply. "Couldn't this all be a coincidence?" Valkyrie said as she spoke up, "I mean, it could all be just nightmares, we were both at the farm at some point and we both have had interactions with the faceless ones" she reasoned "when they came through some kind of disease or energy probably came through with them, China could be more affected because of the history she has with them". "Valkyrie has a point" Skullduggery said as his phone buzzed in his pocket and he read the message sent to him, "Come on Valkyrie, were needed in the sanctuary" she nodded and stood then began to follow Skullduggery to the door before she turned back to China "I hope you feel better" she said, and China with her head in her hands just waved her hand in the air to shoo her away.

Valkyrie had started to enjoy the nice long relaxing car ride to the sanctuary, almost to the point where it had put her to sleep, almost. By the time they reached the sanctuary it was around mid-day and the traffic in and out of the sanctuary was fairly heavy, they parked on the opposite side of the road and got out of the car, the bleak surroundings were only made that much more so by the clouds that were starting to form overhead. As they made their way to the sanctuary a loud clap of thunder and a flash of lightning in the distance promised a storm so they quickened their pace and avoided the passerby who some of which Valkyrie recognized and they entered the sanctuary. As they moved through the dizzying amount of corridors in the sanctuary she spoke up "so what's all this about?" she asked him, her tired legs struggling to keep up with his stride. "Truth be told I haven't the foggiest" he said, his mind seemingly somewhere else, "that's comforting" she said sarcastically, "in this strange age of man's technological magic, people feel that laziness is acceptable" he said "it's not strange" she replied "you're just old" she continued, smiling to herself. Skullduggery straightened his tie as she followed him into the waiting room "I prefer experienced" he said as he took a seat, "oh thank god a chair" Valkyrie exclaimed as she rushed to the seat beside him "I haven't sat down in forever" she groaned sinking into the plushy seat. "Valkyrie" Skullduggery said flatly "you were sitting in a chair five minutes ago in the Bentley" at this she shooed him with her hand and rested her head back against the seat. That was when a man kicked in the doors and shot her right between the eyes.

Authors note: so wow, productive chapter, as always comments questions and everything in-between is warmly welcomed, and a big thank you to Kristen for believing in me x3