She couldn't take it anymore. It has been two days since she came up with her plan, which naturally failed. Her parents weren't leaving her alone. Valkyrie was sitting at the table staring at the cup in front of her.
"Steph! Oh here you are. I. Need to go and fetch some things for dinner. Go get yourself ready." Her mother suddenly tells her. She answers by pushing her cup away and getting up at the door she is struck with a plan.
"Mom, I" Fake cough. "I really don't feel good. I want to go to bed. Can I please stay? Please mom?" Valkyrie asks her mother. There isn't really that much acting needed as she really is feeling horrible. And it works. Her mother looks up from the paper she has been reading.
"O honey! Of course. I'm sorry I wasn't thinking. Do you need anything?" Her mother asked her voice full of motherly concern.
"No mom I'm fine." Valkyrie tells her mother heading to her room. She stays there until she hears the car driving off. At the open window she again tries to get air in her control but there is nothing. She feels like cursing but knowing that her time is limited she grabs her coat and ran outside. There is not enough time to go to Skulduggery's house but she can make it to her nice without her parents noticing.
At their house she rang the bell a few times before starting to notice that all the windows and curtains where closed. She remembered overhearing a conversation between her parents that Fergus and Beryl where, for the first time, going out on the boat that was left for them by Gordon. She had assumed Carol and Crystal would stay home. After pressing on the bell for another few minutes. There was no answer. Feeling the dread settle in her she turned around and started walking back to her house. After a few steps she had the impression that someone was looking at her. She turned around. Out of the corner of her eyes she could have sworn she saw movement in the top window of the second floor. Feeling weird she turned around and started walking, a little faster this time. A sudden cloud burst made her dripping wet at the time she arrived at the house. The house was still silent which meant that her parents and Alice was still not home. She started to head upstairs in the bathroom she striped her clothes and got into the shower. She opened the hot water and allowed it to spread over her. In a few minutes her body started protesting against the heat. Even then she didn't move. She allowed her mind to go blank. In an hour her body had blister but was also used to the heat of the water. As she got out of the shower she noticed that there were no towels in the bathroom. Her mother must have washed them. She picked up her clothes and sprinted to her room. As she got an old jersey over her head she faced the mirror. Breathing deeply she held out her hand but not touching holding her breath she touched the cold surface. Reluctantly she took her hand away and so did her reflection. Like so many times in the past weeks she felt tears in her eyes and the panic rising to her throat. At her bed she misjudged the distance between the bed and the bed table and hit her foot against the bedpost. This made her lose control. The bed, table, lamp and alarm were all in plain sight and were also in direct line of fire. Within minutes her room was a complete mess. She fell on her knees and pressed her palms to her face. A familiar metallic smell reached her. As she looked at her hand she saw they both had deep cuts with blood still gushing out. By now she had lost complete control and curling into a ball and holding her legs she cried. In the distance she heard a door opening and a sharp intake of breath.
"Stephanie?" she heard her father asking. Valkyrie managed to look up at them and had to agree with their facial expressions. Seeing their eldest daughter in a room where the bed was turned upside down, an alarm and lamp that was now in pieces and her lying in a bundle with blood around her. On impulse she decided to allow the darkness that has been fighting to take control over her, in. if the darkness took her life away then maybe it will also bring it back. If this didn't work she had no idea what to do. The past seven years could not have been a dream. She wanted to go back to saving lives and fighting crime and most of all she wanted and needed her partner back.