(A/N) *Holly*: Dia daoibh, my readers! Yes, a bit of Irish for you!
This is Chapter 4 of Reuniting, and we are continuing on from when Sabrina told you Holly collapsed, and-
*Sabrina*: YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD THEM WHAT HAPPENS AFTER, YET?
*Holly*: (winces) Sabrina! Stop shouting in my ear!
*Sabrina*: Sorry! But I can't believe you haven't told them!
*Holly*: I was just getting to it actually! And then you burst in and- Wait. How did you get past security?
*Sabrina*: You had a lazy security guard, he was sleeping!
*Holly*: Damn lazy guards...
*Etheran*: Afternoon, ladies.
*Holly*: Etheran?
*Sabrina*: Etheran?
*Etheran*: Yeeeessss?
*Holly and Sabrina*: HOW DID YOU GET IN!
*Etheran*: (shrugs) Teleported.
*Holly*: Damn, forgot about that...
*Sabrina*: How could you forget?
*Holly*: Slipped my mind.
*Sabrina*: ...
*Etheran*: Anyhoo, how could you not tell them what happens next?
*Holly*: (sigh) First Sabrina now you, who next?
*Skulduggery*: Hey Holly.
*Holly*: I had to bloody ask, didn't I?
Ahem.
WARNING! RATED M FOR GRUESOME SCENES. CONTINUE AT OWN RISK.
MORTAL COIL SPOILERS AHEAD.
Anyway, you've been warned, and if you're still here, great! :D
On with the story!
Enjoy, this is where it gets interesting! (A/N)
Chapter 4: A Not-So-Pleasant Surprise, Part 1
Group POV
They all sprinted into Holly's room, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Holly?" Etheran called, his expression worried, "Holly? HOLLY? Don't play jokes Holly, this isn't funny!" He began searching, and was just about to open her wardrobe doors when Sabrina noticed a small note on Holly's black bedsheets.
"Look," she whispered, and walked over slowly and picked up the folded paper. She opened it and her brown eyes scanned the sheet.
It read: "Dear Avanti,
We have the seventh member.
Shouldn't have left her alone after she collapsed.
A mistake on your behalf, we believe.
She may need medical attention, too.
-Diablerie."
A flurry of emotions displayed themselves in her features. Anger, then worry, and the last was hopelessness.
She looked up into the eyes and eye sockets of the other four, desperation in her eyes.
"The Diablerie have her."
"No.." Etheran looked at Skulduggery, his eyes pleading, "We have to get her back. We have no choice."
"That's not possible," Valkyrie shook her head in denial, "we basically killed them before Skul was taken. There is no Diablerie.
"Right?" She looked at Skulduggery.
He, again, had an interest in his hands.
Sabrina narrowed her eyes, "Is there something else, Skulduggery? Something we don't know?"
"Skul?" Valkyrie's voice was weak,
"Um, the Diablerie may have been teaching students to be the Next Generation of Diablerie, just in case anything happened to the original members..."
"They WHAT? YOU NEVER TOLD ME!"
"Believe me, Val, I wanted to! But Guild kept saying he wanted just the Sanctuary Official's to know! I was going to tell you after the fight, but I obviously couldn't!"
"YOU COULD'VE TOLD ME WHEN YOU CAME BACK!"
"Well after a year of non-stop torture you'd think I'd forget things like that!" he snapped, but sighed, calmed down, and continued, "I wanted to tell you, believe me, I did, there was just never any time. We were always too busy, that's why I wanted to tell you after..."
Valkyrie sniffed, "Well, I guess we better just leave it, and rescue Holly." She ripped the note out of Sabrina's hand and read it. ""The seventh member"? What do they mean by that?"
"Well," Etheran began, "there's loads of members in the Avanti. Holly was the seventh, I was the sixth. Sabrina is the ninth, and Taylor is the twelfth. Taylor uses the symbols, like China. She owns a library too, and when we need information we go to her. It's safer than China anyway."
"True," Taylor agreed, "I probably have more books than her anyway,"
"I see..." Valkyrie re-read the note, ""Shouldn't have left her alone after she collapsed," so was it them that made her collapse?"
"I don't know," Sabrina replied, "she just fell, and I checked her pulse. It was barely there, so I ran out to get you guys." She shrugged, "What will we do?"
"Find where they are," Etheran suggested, "but where would that be?"
"Not where the original Diablerie were stationed," Skulduggery mused, "no, they'd change location. Keep people like us off their path."
"Somewhere... unexpected." Sabrina was in deep thought.
"Where we wouldn't think of going?"
"Yeah..."
"But where would that be?"
Etheran thought about Valkyries question...
Somewhere we wouldn't think of going...
"She may need medical attention, too..."
How about Kenspeckles? The place is abandoned anyway, start there.
The voice in his head sounded an awful lot like Holly's... But something in his gut told him to trust it, so he repeated the message, "How about Kenspeckles? The place is abandoned anyway, why not start there?"
Skulduggery looked at Etheran. "Where did you get that idea?"
"Just came to me." Even if he didn't have eyes, Skulduggery's glare could kill.
"Yes. Let's start there."
And so they left.
An hour later.
WARNING. THIS IS WHERE THE GRUESOME SCENES ARE.
MORTAL COIL SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Hibernian Cinema was old, covered with cobwebs and cracks. Paint peeling off the walls, posters for old movies still hanging, layered with dust. It used to be busy, a place full of gathering crowds, but that was long ago.
The screen hadn't been used in quite some time, and shifted with a bang that made Taylor jump. It showed a door, gray and creaking, that the group hopped onto the dust-covered stage, and walked through slowly.
The walls were gray, not their usual medical white. An old nurses trolley, equipped with needles, filled with odd green and purple liquids, and rusting scalpels, sat lonely in the hallway. The bright fluorescent lights flickered on and off, with a buzzes and cracks. It certainly added to the theme of abandoned.
Yes... It was that voice again, This is the right way, keep going. No, NO! Go back and turn LEFT. The voice was very demanding, but they doubled back after Etheran saying he "thought he heard something back here,".
There was blood on the walls, still dripping onto the tiled floor. A body was below, sprawled stiff. It was a young woman, maybe early teens. She had long brunette hair with red at the ends. She was wearing jeans, a red t-shirt, and green Vans. She was covered in plenty of blood. Etheran turned away from her, covering his nose from the smell of the still-rotting corpse. She looked like she was thrown at the wall, and hit it with such an impact that she died instantly.
One of the victims of a Remnant, no doubt.
There were more, but they had stopped bleeding. The first still was, and it was horrible. They hurried on, not wanting to see anymore half-rotten corpses of the Remnant's hosts.
They reached a room that look OK. The walls were a light gray, which means someone had been taking care of it. There was a tattered mattress on the ground in the corner, with a note placed in the middle. Etheran ran over and opened it, his blue eyes skimming the page.
Skulduggery moved towards the mattress and knelt down beside it, while Etheran was reading the note.
It said, "Avanti,
If you have received this note, then that means you have picked up on the clue.
However, your seventh member has been removed from the premises.
Chuala muid sí liom bheith ag léamh.
- Diablerie."
""We heard she likes reading"? What does that mean?"
Valkyrie was downright confused, Where'd you get "We heard she likes reading" from?"
"It's what chuala muid sí liom bheith ag léamh means."
"Look," Skulduggery was holding something up.
A blue hair. The same color blue as Holly's side fringe.
Sabrina sighed, "At least we know we really are on the right track..."
"Think guys!" Etheran snapped, ""We heard she likes reading,"..."
China's, idiot!
"China's!" He exclaimed and everyone turned to look at him. The voice had been right twice before, why not now? "Yeah, READING. Holly often went to China's for information Taylor didn't have, or just for leisure. Any free time we had, she could be found there, just reading." Taylor looked annoyed. "Don't worry," Etheran said, "she never had any information either."
"So, China's next?" Sabrina sighed, "This aught to be fun! "Hi, we're looking for the Holly Swift's unconscious body, seen it anywhere in your library?" Brilliant..."
"Relax, 'Brina. We'll find her."
Sabrina sighed again, "I really hope we do..."
OK! I know it seems rushed but here's Part 1, Part 2 is in Holly's POV from when she collapses onwards.
Please review! Let me know what you think so far, and I hope you like the story!
- Holly