iWarning! These next few chapters are gonna contain some Valguine. Weird, I know, but I 3 the pairing and there aren't many stories on it. Don't like the pairing=Don't read the chapters
Thanks for your reviews so far guys x
TheSquirrelLordess
The next morning Valkyrie felt a hand dragging her of the sofa. She jerked awake as she hit the floor and tried to scream as a hollow man dragged her across the carpet. She was handcuffed with her own set of handcuffs and tied up with rags and strips of cloth. She thrashed around by the hollow man continued to pull her out the door and throw her into a van. She hit the floor hard and blacked out as the hollow man climbed into the passenger seat. The driver chuckled and left.
Valkyrie woke up in a huge room with nothing but stone walls and a single window. She looked around and her eyes widened as she noticed the bodies littering the floor.
"They're the ones whose ransom weren't paid" said a familiar voice and Valkyrie spotted a blonde Texan sitting amongst the carnage.
"Ransom?"
"That's what these people do. They think sword-lady might give up some cash for me and Funny Bones might part with his dosh for you. I'll probably be one of them in about a week." He drawled, gesturing to the dead bodies around him.
"Got it" Valkyrie sat on the floor and looked up at the roof. She stood up and inspected the window.
"You aint gettin' through that. The best mortals can make enhanced with magic, that's what that is"
Valkyrie didn't doubt that was true but she hit it anyway. She went and sat down again.
"Once we're out of here y'all be in big trouble…" he began but Valkyrie cut him off.
"Do you really think this is the time?"
Sanguine nodded and there was silence until a huge, muscly man covered in tattoos came and grabbed Valkyrie.
"Hey!" she said and lashed out but the room was bound and the man caught her punches and picked her up easily. He handcuffed her and dragged her away. Sanguine watched as he opened the door and made a run for it but was blasted back by a thin woman who pushed the air, lazily. Valkyrie was carried away, screaming and tied to a chair in another room. The got out the knife and Valkyrie opened her mouth to yell again but stopped when she noticed the cameras in the corner of the room. They would probably send this to Skulduggery. She had to be strong for him.
"Hi there!" she said, waving at the camera's cheerfully.
"Shut up" the tattooed man said and the stick-thin woman drew the knife across Valkyrie's stomach. "You're going to have to do better than that" she said but her teeth were gritted and a bead of sweat ran down her forehead. The woman threw the knife away and pulled out a whip. She hit Valkyrie across the face and blood ran down her cheek but she never stopped smiling. The woman threw her across the room and she hit the far wall. She slumped on the floor and chuckled weakly.
"Nice one"
The woman was getting irritated and she walked forward and kicked Valkyrie with steel-toed boots. Valkyrie grunted but didn't make any other sound and gave a thumbs up to the cameras.
"We don't want to kill her…" tattoo man warned and the woman took a deep breath before dragging a rather beaten-up Valkyrie back to the room. Sanguine's jaw dropped when he saw her and she laid on the floor amongst the dead bodies, looking up at the roof. Here, where no one could see her, a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Y-you alive over there?" Sanguine asked, moving slowly to where Valkyrie lay.
"Barely" she croaked and passed out. When she opened her eyes Sanguine was bent over her.
"I thought you were dead" he said.
"Isn't that what you wanted?"
"I want to kill you. Can't let them spoil the fun" Sanguine said but he looked unsure. Valkyrie sat up and ripped some cloth from her pyjama top. She mopped up her face and tied it around the wound on her stomach. She tried to finish the knot but her hands were a mess and she hissed in pain and dropped the cloth every time she'd nearly finished.
"Um... Sanguine? I know this is a weird request but I need someone to finish this knot."
"Um... ok" Sanguine shuffled over awkwardly and tied the knot.
"Thanks"
Sanguine moved back to where he was sitting before and watcher her as she shivered. He took his jacket off and threw it at her and she caught it with ease, pulling it over her shoulders. She smiled weakly and fell asleep. She was leaning up against the wall and a piece of hair drooped across her face. Sanguine fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear. While she was sleeping she looked so innocent, but Sanguine knew how dangerous she could really be. He remembered how she could flip and kick and punch in one fluid motion, sending her enemy's flying in all directions. He'd nearly laughed out loud when he discovered Skulduggery Pleasant's new partner was a little girl. He stopped laughing when she escaped.
Valkyrie rolled over in her sleep and her cheek was pushed up against the wall. Sanguine chuckled as she started sliding down the wall. Valkyrie hit the floor and jerked awake.
"What are you looking at?" she said as she sat up and checked her wounds.
"Your face is bleedin' again" Sanguine pointed out. Valkyrie nodded and wiped the blood off her face.
"Why they doin' all that to ya anyway?"
"They want to send a video to Skulduggery, I think"
"That's a pretty bad beatin' for a video tape"
"I wouldn't let them get to me. I didn't make a sound unless I was laughing at them and it annoyed the woman. I think she would've killed me if that man hadn't reminded her they needed me for the money"
"Too stuborn for ya own good"
"That's what most people say"
The sun was setting outside the single window and Valkyrie yawned. She'd spent most of the day sleeping but she was worn out.
"Let's clear the floor" Valkyrie said, pushing the bodies to one side of the room.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to wake up and have a dead guy looking me in the face"
Sanguine watched her for a while before moving a few of the bodies around him. There was now a clear space in the middle of the floor and the bodies bordered the room. Various pools of blood littered the floor but it was better than before. She laid down where there didn't seem to be too much blood and closed her eyes. Sanguine looked outside and decided sleeping would be a good way to pass the time. He laid down on the other side of the room and feel asleep before he was shaken awake by the sound of screaming.
"What in the name of-"
He stopped when he saw Valkyrie with tears running down her cheeks and her eyes wide open.
"Sorry. Did I wake you up?"
"Yeah…"
"I get nightmares. I should've told you before I feel asleep"
"No problem. You alright?"
"I'll live"
Sanguine nodded and returned to his position on the floor. Valkyrie started singing softly. She didn't sing any particular song but she started singing 'The Power Of Love' and changed songs until she reached the beginning of 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved'. She sang the first few lines then stopped because it made her think of Skulduggery. She wished he would come but wanted him to stay away at the same time. She had a horrible feeling Ravel would pay the ransom if it made Skulduggery calm down and she knew the Sanctuary needed as much money as possible with the crisis of the 'Supreme Council' (a group of agents who watched over Ireland and would 'help out' if anything cropped up) watching their every move.
Sanguine listened to her singing and found he was disappointed when she stopped. The silence that followed was thick and uncomfortable for Sanguine.
"Nice singing" de drawled to see if Valkyrie was still awake.
"Sorry if I stopped you sleeping. I forgot you were there"
"No it was actually pretty good. You sing often?"
"No. Stage fright or something I guess"
"Stage fright? You're Valkyrie firggin' Cain!"
"I know right? How dumb is that?" she chuckled "There's so much people don't know about me"
"Fill me in"
"You really want to hear my life story?"
"I've got nothin' better to do"
"Fine. Just so you know I'm missing out everything you could use against me"
"Naturally"
"Well I was a mortal before my uncle died and Skulduggery saved me when these weird people tried to murder me. From then on I stuck with Skulduggery and he let me tag around after him. We went on all sorts of cases together. Things were going pretty good until a while ago when my reflection went crazy and I tried to kill it. I missed and killed my family. After that things got from bad to worse as I got shunted into the past. I met Skulduggery when he was younger and his brother Berty. When I got back Berty followed and we started dating. We were going to get married"
"Were?"
"He cheated on me with China and then Fletcher, who'd my ex by the way, came to rub it in my face"
"Oh. Bummer"
"Yeah. I got my revenge though" Valkyrie smiled evilly
"What did you do to them?"
"Ok. Tell anyone this and you die a horribly painful death"
"My lips are sealed"
"Well when I get really angry or upset, sometimes I have special powers"
"Special powers?"
"Yeah. I can't always tell what they're going to be. In this case I got the power to steal anyone else's power. I'm now officially the world's last teleporter and I grabbed China's power to charm people while I was at it."
"You're jokin'"
"I swear to you I'm not even kidding. When we get out of here I'll show you if you like"
"So if I really annoyed you then you'd go crazy on me?"
"In this building our powers are bound but otherwise yeah"
"So why didn't you get these powers in other fights we had?"
"I couldn't do it in the beginning. It's only recently that I've been able to fuse Darquess' pow-" Valkyrie stopped and realised her mistake. She bit her lip and prayed Sanguine hadn't heard that last bit.
"Darquess? What's she got to do with this?"
"Nothing"
"Liar"
"It doesn't matter"
"You know her don't you? You know where she is? You were goin' to say somethin' about fusing her powers with yours weren't you? You guys must be pretty close"
"Sanguine now you have that information I'm going to have to kill you"
Sanguine didn't doubt her for a second.
"Wait a minute here. How d'you know I was gonna tell? There wouldn't be any reasons to arrest ya if an escaped criminal hollered somthin' about Darquess. They'd think I was crazy"
"They'd think you were even crazier if you knew the truth"
"The truth?"
"Look. I'm going to tell you what I know but if you so much as whisper a word, or even a hint, to anyone-"
"I know. Just get on with it"
Valkyrie took a deep breath. She wasn't entirely sure why she was telling him this but he was right about the Sanctuary thinking her was crazy and maybe if he knew about Darquess he'd leave her alone and realise he had no chance.
"I'm Darquess"
"You what?"
"Stephanie Edgley is my given name, Valkyrie Cain is my taken name and Darquess is my true name. I got it sealed ages ago so don't even try that"
"Does Funny Bones know?"
"He does. The special powers I get are when Darquess comes out. She's like my subconscious. My bad mood, as Skulduggery likes to say."
"Who woulda thought?"
"Not me that's for sure"
"So how'd you figure it out?"
"Before I met you we fought Serpine. In that battle the book of names fell and I caught a glimpse of my true name. A little while later the visions about Darquess began and I got my name sealed. Skulduggery found out a little while after that"
"Who else knows?"
"So far the list is me, you, Skulduggery, my reflection, Tanith and the remnants"
"I wondered why she worshipped you when that thing was in her"
Valkyrie laughed as the sun started to rise.
"So what about you? Were you born without eyes? Were you ever a mortal? Do you have a family?"
"In answer to the eyes question' I was born with eyes. Some darn witch cursed 'em off after I killed her daughter. I loved my eyes. Bright green with flecks of blue" he smiled as he remembered the way they sparkled when he looked in the mirror, "I have a family and you've met my dear Pa. I had a sister but she disappeared off the face of the Earth a while back and was never seen again. I was born into magic"
"Cool." Valkyrie said unwinding the bandage around her stomach and taking off Sanguine's jacket.
"What are ya doin'?"
"If those guys come back I don't want them to know I've been patching myself up. Also, if I get another cut like this one" Valkyrie said gesturing to the cut on her stomach "I need you to patch me up if I've passed out. I don't plan to die any time soon and too much blood loss could easily be the end of me"
Sanguine nodded and Valkyrie threw him the jacket and the cloth she was using as a bandage. The door slammed open and Valkyrie gave a sad smile as she was dragged away. When she was thrown into the room again her shirt was torn and there were dozens of tiny cuts along her back. Her arm was bent at an odd angle and it was obviously broken. Blood ran from Valkyries forehead down her right cheek.
"If you could get to that patching up that would be great" she whispered before she slumped to the ground. Sanguine ripped some bits of cloth from his own clothes and some from her shirt and began bandaging her up. She woke up as he finished bandaging her head and she sat up.
"How bad is it?"
"I managed to patch you up ok"
"Thanks" Valkyrie touched her head and stood up.
"Where ya goin' now?"
"I want to look out of the window. To see if I can get any clues to where we are" she stood at the window for a moment but shook her head. "Nothing but fields"
Sanguine stood up and went over to her. He passed her his jacket and she took it, gratefully.
"It's freezing in here"
Sanguine raised an eyebrow. The room was pretty normal temperature and she was supposed to be used to Irish weather by now. Valkyrie wobbled a bit as she stood.
"Maybe you should be sittin' down with all those injuries and all"
Valkyrie nodded and dropped to the floor. She swayed a bit and Sanguine looked down on her.
"You feelin' alright?"
Valkyrie shook her head and Sanguine put a hand on her forehead. He pulled it back, sharply.
"Now that's a fever if I ever saw one" he mumbled and paced the floor. Valkyrie watched him before she felt dizzy and laid down. She fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next morning when the sun was rising. Sanguine was poking her awake.
"The troublesome two'll be turnin' up soon. I already took most of the bandages off for ya but there's a few you'll want to do yourself. Valkyrie nodded and removed the rest of your bandages from her chest and thighs. A few minutes later, the door slammed open and Valkyrie was dragged for another round of torture. The thin woman was furious as Valkyrie didn't even say anything as she was whipped and cut and thrown around like a rag doll. She sat there with the same bored expression and the muscly man noticed how pale and weak she was. The woman finished throwing her against a chair and the man put a hand on her shoulder.
"Look at her. She hasn't got long left anyway. Let her die with the other bodies and that way we won't have to move her there" he growled. The woman nodded and Sanguine rushed over to her as soon as the door closed. Her chest was rising and falling but her eyes were glassy and Sanguine patched her up as best he could. She sat up and had to lay down again. Her head was spinning like crazy.
"I'm not gonna lie. You're not lookin' good"
"They're not coming for me anymore. They think it would be easier if I died here" her voice sounded oddly slurred.
"You're gonna die?"
"I wouldn't be surprised. If you want to finish me off you'd better grab your chance"
"They took my razor"
"Strangle me or something"
Sanguine frowned as he looked at her. Her dark hair contrasted her white skin and her eyes stood out more than they should. She was still pretty even in this state. He tilted his head at her.
"Maybe you'll live"
"I wish" Valkyrie said, chuckling. She fell asleep and Sanguine found he was worried she wouldn't wake up. He scolded myself for getting so attached to Valkyrie and sat and watched her sleep. He drifted off and woke up to the sound of his name being called.
"Sanguine?" Valkyrie croaked.
"Yeah?"
"Sorry to wake you up but I don't think I'm going to last much longer. If there's anything you wanted to do, now's the time" Valkyrie braced herself for the pain and nearly fainted again when she felt Sanguine's lips push against hers. He kissed her and she gaped at him when he pulled away. Sanguine nodded and felt the heat rise in his cheeks.
"Y-you ok? 'M sorry about that I just figure if I'm not gonna see you again I might as well."
"Fine" Valkyrie said and summoned enough energy to lift herself up and rest her head on Sanguine's shoulder. He smiled at her and she fell asleep again. Sanguine realised he'd have to find a way out of here and fast if he wanted to keep her alive. Suddenly, he had an idea. Sanguine wrapped Valkyrie up in all the 'bandages' he could get and picked her up. She was incredibly light and Sanguine had to problem lifting her with one hand and pounding on the door with the other. He hit the door until the woman got irritated and came to check what the noise was. What she wasn't expecting was Sanguine pelting past her at full speed as soon as the door was wide enough and sprinting down the corridors.
"GAVIN!" she screamed and went to chase after him but she was nearing the door already. The muscly man who must've been called Gavin came stumbling out of one of the rooms leading for the main corridor and tried to barrel into Sanguine as they stepped outside. Sanguine sank into the ground and Gavin flew straight past him. Sanguine still had hold of Valkyrie and tunnelled to the Sanctuary. He left her outside Nye's lab and pounded on the door before disappearing just in time to be unnoticed by Nye as it opened the door and spotted Valkyrie. It grabbed her and began working straight away. It instructed Clarabelle to call Skulduggery and she did.
"Hello Skulduggery. We've got Valkyrie here at the Sanctuary. I thin-" but Clarabelle was cut off as Skulduggery hung up. A few minutes later, he shot through the door and Nye but a hand up to show it was still working on Valkyrie. Skulduggery watched patiently for a few hours as Nye flew around getting various pieces of equipment and connecting tube after tube to Valkyrie. Valkyrie herself was lying on the hospital bed still bandaged up with various bits of cloth. If he could Skulduggery would've paled as Nye removed the cloth to reveal the horrible gashes and cuts all over her body. He gritted his teeth as he noticed the blood and bruises all over her face. Her arm was still bent at an awkward angle and her shallow breathing was worryingly irregular as Nye hooked her up to a machine with a dozen different screens. Skulduggery didn't know much about these machines but he knew a heartbeat when he saw one and hers was slow and weak. Nye hooked up a few more wires and stood back to admire its work. Valkyrie still had her eyes closed and Nye took out some needles and injected some purple liquid into her arm and held it in place as the skin rippled and the bone healed itself. He repeated this on a few different injuries which all healed remarkably quickly.
"Why don't you use that on our injuries usually?" Skulduggery asked, annoyed that there was such a quick way to heal injuries that usually took days to heal even in the magical community.
"Because it's incredibly painful and if she could feel pain right now she'd be screaming and begging for it to stop. Also before you ask, I don't know how she got here there was a knock on my door and she was there on the floor" its high voice echoed around the hospital ward. Nye went off to do some other work and Skulduggery never tore his gaze from Valkyrie. After a while, her chest shuddered and Valkyrie gasped for breath. She opened her eyes and caught sight of Skulduggery.
"Valkyrie! I saw those awful videos but we couldn't find you anywhere and then we saw the one when they said you were dead and then I get a call from Clarabelle saying Nye's got you here. He doesn't know how you got here. Do you remember anything?" he said, rushing over to her.
"I don't remember how I got here" Valkyrie said, reminding herself that she wasn't exactly lying. She was asleep when she was bought here but it didn't take a genius to figure out Sanguine had escaped and taken her with him.
"Are you ok? You looked pretty beaten up in those videos but I didn't realise it was that bad. You were still smiling!"
"It wasn't so bad. I barely felt that last one at all"
Just then Nye came in and poked her arm.
"Does that hurt?"
"No"
"What about that?" he poked her head.
"Not really"
"And this?" Nye poked her stomach where the cut ran across.
"OW!"
"I'll take that as a yes" Nye said scribbling down something on an old clipboard. Valkyrie looked around the medical bay and thought about Sanguine. How weird that he'd kissed her. Maybe she'd imagined it in her half-dead state but it felt so real. Skulduggery watched her as she thought.
"You're thinking"
"I am. It's actually quite a good thing to do"
"What are you thinking about?"
"Lots of clever little things"
"Give me an example"
"I'm just trying to remember how I got here"
Skulduggery nodded and Nye came back in.
"You're healing remarkably quickly. You should be ready to go as soon as you feel strong enough. Nye detached the machines from Valkyrie and she sat up, swinging her legs out of bed and stumbling towards the door.
"You coming?" she asked Skulduggery who was still lost in thought.
"I suppose I'd better keep an eye on you" he said, standing up and following after her. Ravel saw them and hugged Valkyrie.
"You're alive!"
"I think so" Valkyrie said and hugged him back.
"We've actually got a new case for you guys. Do you think you're ready to go back to work?" Ravel asked Valkyrie. She nodded so Ravel continued, leading the way to his office, "It's nothing major. A sensitive says she's seen what Darquess looks like but she won't tell us. She says we'll think she's crazy. We need you to go question her and find out as much as possible so we can track Darquess down. The sensitive's name is Freya Madame" Ravel flicked through some papers on his desk and gave them a file with a picture of a young woman on it. She had white skin, white hair and white eyes and Valkyrie thought she resembled a ghost.
"We're on it" Skulduggery said, snatching the file from Valkyrie and waving goodbye.
"Bye Ravel" Valkyrie said and Ravel waved, cheerfully. Once they were in the Bentley, Skulduggery drove down a small country track. Valkyrie was tossed around in the car as they went over bump after bump.
"Are we nearly there?" Valkyrie asked as they swerved round a corner and went over a particularly big bump. Skulduggery smacked his head on the Bentley roof and he hissed with pain.
"It's that house at the end of this damn road" he said and Valkyrie saw a small building on the horizon at the end of the winding track. They pulled up outside the bungalow and knocked on the door. Freya opened it and her eyes widened when she saw Valkyrie.
"We're here to ask you some questions about recent visions" Skulduggery said, stepping inside.
"I d-don't know anything" Freya stammered. She was so white she appeared to give off a pearly glow and the white dress she was wearing added to the affect. Her pale eyes never left Valkyrie as they moved to the living room.
"We think you do. We think you saw what Darquess looks like and all we want is answers"
"No!" Freya ran to an armchair and ducked behind it. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at Skulduggery and he nodded back at her. Valkyrie activated China's power and Freya came staggering out from behind the chair and kneeled at Valkyrie's feet. Her eyes were wide and she grasped Valkyries leg with bony hands.
"You! I saw you as Darquess, ruling the shadows. So much power. I love you, I want to help you rule, help you destroy. Please let me be your humble servant" she grovelled and Valkyrie dropped the power with disgust. Freya stood up and darted away with a look of horror on her face.
"Please don't kill me" she whimpered.
Valkyrie left the room and called back to Skulduggery "We've got the info now let's go home"
Skulduggery gave an awkward wave to Freya who was still cowering in the corner and started to drive the Bentley along the road back.
"What are we going to do about Freya?" Valkyrie asked.
"Nothing. The Sanctuary will call her crazy if she mentions you"
Valkyrie nodded but she was worried. Freya had to be dealt with. Valkyrie remembered how easily she had gotten Freya to reveal her darkest secrets and had no doubt Nye could find a way to get the truth from her. Skulduggery dropped her at Gordon's and Valkyrie went into her bedroom, locking the door behind her. She pulled out her mobile and dialled the number that Sanguine had given her back when they were in the Bentley.
"Hitman Deluxe at your service" a tired voice drawled down the line.
"I need you to do a job. I'll meet you at Aranmore Farm at 8pm to discuss details" Valkyrie didn't even wait for Sanguine to reply before she hung up and looked at the clock. 6pm already. Valkyrie got changed into her normal clothes from the spare clothes she kept at the medical bay. She hated the hospital gowns and didn't want to walk around looking like she was wearing a bed sheet so she had a spare change of clothes at Nye's just in case her own clothes were torn to shreds. Valkyrie had a shower to wash the blood that had dripped into her hair a day ago down the drain. She got dressed into her work clothes and brushed her hair before grabbing a bite to eat and heading out to Aranmore farm. It was a long way away but Valkyrie could easily steal a mortal's bike when they weren't looking. She pinched a strong looking bike and got to Aranmore farm on time. She shook her windswept hair so it looked almost normal and saw Sanguine rise up through the earth. He froze when he saw Valkyrie.
"How much do you usually get paid for this kind of job?" she asked him.
"Er... depends on the person"
"You remember about Darquess? A sensitive called Freya Madame figured it was me and I need her gone. Permanently"
"You got it. Have you got an address?"
"Yes" Valkyrie handed him a slip of paper with her details on.
"That lowers the cost a bit. We're lookin' at about 10 000 at the mo"
"That's fine" Valkyrie pulled £5000 out of her pocket "You get the rest when you've done the job"
Sanguine nodded and got ready to sink through the ground. As he was lowering he heard Valkyrie's voice ring out above him.
"One last thing- don't leave the body behind" and with that she was gone.
