Chapter 10: Arguments and a trip down memory lane

When Valkyrie got home it was half-past midnight and her dad was not happy. In fact he was furious, worried and having a nervous breakdown. As soon as she walked in he had started shouting so loud it didn't sound like him. He put Lisa to bed then started to interrogate her.

"Stephanie where have you been?"

"I was round Hannah Foley's again dad. I thought I told you where I was going in the note?"

"No you said you'd taken Lisa for a walk and you hoped to be back by eight."

"OK I'm sorry. Lisa fell asleep round there and me and Hannah were talking we forgot about her and lost track of time. And my phone was on silent so I didn't hear it ring."

"And I suppose you never thought to look at a clock and call me when you realised it did get late?"

"Well I saw the time at ten and thought you wouldn't be home yet so I started walking home with her when we ran into a little difficulty. Scariest thing ever actually and you really wouldn't want to know."

"What happened?" he asked impatiently. Normally she would feel scared into telling him (or whoever it was interrogating her) but after how long she's been on his side of the stick she felt normal.

"I ran into some gang. They started following me around and I was scared so I went to JJ's."

"JJ? JJ Pearl?"

"Yes. We stayed there for a while until the gang had gone and when you called me again his mum kindly offered me a lift home."

"OK Steph. It's been a busy and horrifying night. You get some sleep OK?" he had calmed down a lot now. He was back to his old self.

"Night dad." She said giving him a kiss on the cheek before walking up the stairs. After she shut the door she touched the mirror and the reflection stepped out.

"Get into my pyjamas then get into bed," she told it and it did that while she left through the window and went down to the pier, where Skulduggery was waiting.

"Alright what do you want to talk about?" she asked but already knowing the answer.

"Valkyrie I know you already know the answer to that." He said casually.

"I know but I was hoping you would want to talk about something else first?"

"OK how was your dad?"

"Oh he was fine. I just kept him waiting for god knows how long and he was worried sick,"

"He was fine? He didn't yell?"

"Of course he did you doofus!"

"Ah." He said. "Still using the sarcasm then?"

"Yes I am." He stared at her but she tried not to notice. He was waiting for her to tell him what she was going to do. She knew it. But she didn't want to.

"Valkyrie, sooner or later you're going to have to tell me what you're going to do about the baby." She looked at her shoes. She'd been doing that a lot lately. It was the only thing she thought she could do without messing up.

"I don't know Skul. I'm only sixteen. Do I really want to have a baby now? And a half-vampire at that!"

"Valkyrie I know what you're trying to do but it's not going to work. I'm not telling you what to do with it. It's your choice. If you want it, you keep it. If you don't you can either abort it and have but put it into care."

"You know, this isn't an easy subject to talk to you about." She said. Just then a shapeshifter walked over to them.

"Hey Val, Skul. Just wanted you to know that I have nothing to do with Dusk anymore. He was always a useless dad anyway. And I think it should steal Valkyrie away from you Skulduggery. Me, her and Tanith are going to have some girl talk." Rolanda said as she gently pulled Valkyrie away from him. Oh god Valkyrie thought. She knew what this was about. The same thing Skulduggery was talking about. She walked along the path until she came to Tanith's black motorbike.

"Right Val. I know this is hard for you but need you to talk to me," Tanith said.

"I know I do Tan but I can't. This is a really big decision I have to make and all I've got is people trying to talk to me about it instead of letting think about it."

"But why wouldn't you talk about it when you first found out? Instead of bottling it all up?"

"Well I think it's a good thing I didn't tell you. You would have just told Skulduggery wouldn't you?"

"What-?"

"He told me that you told him about Darquesse, Tanith! I wasn't ready for him to know but no, you had to tell him didn't you!"

"I did that for you," Tanith said looking offended. "And what kind of role model am I if I don't do things for your safety?"

"Telling Skulduggery my true name is Darquesse is going to keep me safe? I didn't know how he'll react Tanith that's why I didn't tell him! And you can't stand there and tell me what to do because you're not my mum!"

"I'm not trying to be. I'm trying to be your friend but a secret like as big as a baby hurts me that you didn't tell me! And don't bring your mum into this Val. It's not my fault she's..." Valkyrie cut her off with a stare.

"Not your fault she's what Tanith?" Valkyrie challenged.

"Not my fault she left you,"

"You make it sound like she left intentionally!" She screamed.

"Well I didn't think you would want me say it the other way Val." Tanith screamed back.

"But I didn't want you make it sound like she wanted to leave us."

"Well what am I supposed to say? She's dead Val? There happy? You mum's dead. Finished never coming back so you'll have to talk to someone else," Just then Tanith was flung back by a blast of air and hit the side of someone's house really hard. Valkyrie walked over to her and knelt beside her.

"Tanith Low don't you ever speak to me again. Especially if all you're going to do is slag off my mum," then she stood up and walked away while Rolanda went to help Tanith up. Tanith was her ride home after all.

As Valkyrie was walking away she noticed that Skulduggery had been listening and, when he walked over to her, she hugged him tightly and started sobbing into his chest... again. He started to calm her down and lead her to the Bentley then they drove to Skulduggery's house. She sat on the sofa in his lounge with a blanket round her and stared into space while he made her a cup of tea. She took it and thought about her mum.

Melissa Edgley gave birth to her daughter not realising it would claim her life. One night, while she and her husband were asleep, an evil sorcerer broke into their room and cursed her. It was his revenge on Valkyrie Cain on behalf of the revenger's club.

"You harm my friends,

Now I harm yours,

This woman will die

When her child is born" He said in Egyptian. He left soon after that.

When Melissa woke up the next morning she didn't feel well. She said she wanted to be sick but it would come out. No-one noticed the mark on her arm the shape of a scarab from Ancient Egypt. She was calling her husband and daughter every five minutes to get her something to eat, drink or to make her more comfortable against her pillows. This carried on for a few weeks before she felt the pain in her arm and noticed the death mark. She didn't know it was a death mark but she thought nothing of it anyway. The pain was from where she had been leaning on it making the mark burn.

However one month after the curse was placed upon her, Melissa went into labour with a lot of pain and screaming. After hours she eventually gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Her breathing had started to slow. She had been given an injection to stop some of the pain all over her body but that had only made her screams stop.

Desmond and Stephanie Edgley (the real one) waited outside when the doctors discovered that Melissa was so ill that they had to wait outside while she gave birth. The doctor had said at the beginning she was very weak and they may not be able to do a lot for her. Desmond was pacing back and forth while Stephanie sat reading a magazine to take her mind off things. A few hours later the nurse came in.

"How is she nurse?" Desmond asked shakily.

"I'm afraid, Mr Edgley, that your wife is very ill. There isn't a lot we can do for her now but I fear you should prepare for the worst," the nurse replied. Desmond put a hand to his mouth and tried not to cry.

"Can we see her?" Stephanie asked.

"The doctor said she needs peace and quiet but you may go in if you're quiet. The baby is in there as well. She's perfectly healthy and will be OK," Then she left and Desmond and Stephanie followed her into Melissa's room. Melissa was lying in bed breathing very lightly as her breath got shallower with each one. Stephanie and Desmond went either side of her and held her hands. Desmond kissed her forehead and she smiled him a weak smile.

"I love you," she whispered

"Shhhhh," he whispered back, he couldn't help it, tears were trickling down his cheeks. "You should rest," she looked at Stephanie who also had tears falling. She lifted her hand to stroke Stephanie's cheek and ~Stephanie held her hand there while using her other to stroke Melissa's cheek.

"I'm so proud of you Steph," she whispered, even quieter than before. Melissa Edgley closed her eyes and let out her last breath. She couldn't help it; Stephanie let the tears pour out of her eyes as she squeezed her mother's hand. Desmond was squeezing the other one, then he went to see his new daughter.

"She hasn't got a name yet sir. Did you think of one?" the nurse said.

"We agreed on Lisa a few weeks ago. So that's what it will be. I want her name to be Lisa Melissa Edgley," he said.

"That's a lovely name sir," the nurse said. She looked really sorry for their loss and left them alone for a while. Stephanie didn't leave her mums side. She started to stroke her arm but pulled her hand back suddenly at her forearm as if she had been burnt.

"What the-?" she asked herself. As she lifted up Melissa's sleeve she noticed the scarab. She touched it and felt the same pain as she did the first time. The mark burned her every time she tried to touch it. That's when it struck her. Melissa was never ill, she was cursed. Someone had cursed her. And a follower the Ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun by the look of the symbol.

She got up and went over to Desmond who was cradling baby Lisa. She noticed the cute little baby looked just like Melissa. She had the same colour eyes as Stephanie, a dark brown somewhere between her mum and dad's, but apart from that it was a baby version of Melissa's face.

"Dad I'm going to go and get some air." she said. Then she left before he could reply, took out her phone and called Skulduggery. She told him about the mark on her mums arm only to have silence down the other end of the phone. He picked her up and told her about the pharaoh Tutankhamun being a Vampire. For over a year she had been studying Ancient Egyptian. On Lisa's first birthday she was grabbed from behind, as she was walking home from the pier late at night, and had a hand clasped over her mouth so she couldn't scream. Then darkness.

"Valkyrie?" she heard someone calling her name, but it was so distant.

"Valkyrie? Wake up," Skulduggery.

"Huh?" She asked. She hadn't been asleep, just still staring into space.

"Are you home?"

"Yeah I'm here. What's up?"

"You're thinking about your mum again," it wasn't a question. He could tell these things.

"Yeah. I can't help it. It's been nearly two years. He killed her Skul. He killed my mum by putting a visible mark on her to show he cursed her and no-one noticed, not even her, until it was too late. There was nothing I could do. Of course I'm going to think about her,"

"What else?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're thinking about something else. What?"

She sighed. "Tanith,"

"Oh yes. What was all that about?"

"She was pestering me about the baby. How the hell am I going to make a decision if all everyone will do if pester me about it?"

"She worries about you, but you didn't need to bring your mum into it. You know she's not trying to be your mum. You've always seen each other as sisters and you over reacted a little bit when all she done was try to help you."

"I know. There was no need for it, but you all know this is a hard time of year for me," He sat down next to her and put an arm around her.

"I know Valkyrie. Just remember if you ever need someone to talk to I'm here. If it's something like you think you're the evil sorcerer who thinks you're going to destroy the world, it's pretty obvious you don't know how I'll react. But please don't ever be afraid of me. You are the one person I don't judge, no matter what you do,"

She nodded and put her head on his shoulder.

"Skul," She said as she lifted her head to look him in the eye socket.

"I don't want this baby,"