Another shortie with a cliffhanger. I almost thought it wouldn't get done in time.
Chapter 9 - Contradictive
When Valkyrie arrived at the Sanctuary, nothing seemed out of the ordinary apart from the fact that Skulduggery hadn't answered any of her phone calls or replied to any of her texts. Still, even that wasn't all too unusual. He tended to lose himself in his work and forget that the outside world existed. She had no reason to worry. Tipstaff was his usual, overbearing self, and the Elders were all fine and dandy, no one seemed to be dying at this moment in time.
He wasn't in their office. Okay, that was fine. He'd probably be back soon. In the meantime, she'd get some more work done. This vampire case was actually interesting.
She'd been working for half an hour when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" she called, not looking up.
"Have you seen Skulduggery anywhere?" Ghastly asked, closing the door behind him.
Valkyrie frowned. "Not since yesterday."
"No one's seen him since five, and he's not answering his phone."
"Maybe he's out? Following some leads?"
"The Bentley's still in the car park," Ghastly said, shaking his head. "No one saw him leave."
The frown on Valkyrie's features deepened, and she put down her pen. "I'll go look for him."
"Please do."
She'd been searching for an hour. She couldn't find him, and he wasn't answering his phone. He wasn't anywhere to be found in the Old Sanctuary, even though she knew he had a habit of wandering through the corridors when he was in a bad mood.
Now she was getting worried. It was an erratic serpent tying knots in her stomach
"I'm sure he's fine," China dismissed when she asked her to send someone to help look for him. "It's not the first time he's disappeared."
"He'd have said something," Valkyrie objected. "A text, a note, something."
Mild irritation twitched on China's features. "I'll send someone to look," she said tersely.
The serpent in her insides didn't calm down.
Skulduggery didn't usually get headaches. When he did, it meant that Vile was dangerously close to assuming control. Or his head had been stolen. That was another instance in which he got headaches.
He was floating in a hazy blur, devoid of light and consumed by the mind-numbing sensation of pins and needles that robbed him of all sensation in his body. Groaning, he shook his head (at least... he thought he was) in an attempt to clear away the ringing that echoed in it.
When he could finally feel his body and see where he was, he was taken aback by how dark it was. Even his eyeless sight couldn't penetrate it, but he seemed to be in a cell of sorts, shackled to a steel chair that was, in turn, bolted to the concrete floor. This wasn't anything new, if he was being completely honest, but something about the utter silence that surrounded him set off a fidgety nervousness in him that he hadn't felt in centuries.
"Is anyone there?" he called, his voice immediately getting swallowed up by the shadows. There wasn't even an echo.
"̢̭͓͔̣I҉'̝̭͎m̗̩̺̥ ̧̰̤͇̱̠̻h̥̥͕e̛̬̜͍̮r̰̱e̤͙̕.̴͕̞̗͕̝̼"͈̯͔͉̗̪͖
It was a high, rumbling echo that reverberated through his bones, made up of a ghostly choir of one person whose infinite voices filled the room, the sweet screech of a song that he found hauntingly familiar. The shadows shifted away from him, congealing into a hunched, oblong shape that gazed down at him with sinister glowing pits for eyes. Tainted light dripped down its outline, drawing lines of chromatic colours in its path that faded away almost instantly. It filled the room with a hot buzz of energy, and the sweet, cloying reek of decay made Skulduggery gag.
"Let. Me. Go," he said slowly, staring the… this thing… in the eye. "Now."
"͙͢Ṋ͜o̰̜͇̮̬̟͚͠t̝̻͈͇̙̳̙ ͍y̳͚͖̜̘e̤̰̞͎ͅt̺̯͖̲͎ͅ,"͖͎ the being said, impassive yet brimming with emotion. "̮̣̳̖̰̻͓͝Ị ҉͇͉̮̥̱͈̺n̫͠e͎̲̗e̢̖d̬̮̻͙͉͞ ̪̘̮̞͇̩ͅt̜o̷̪͔͙̯̮ ̖̭̺̭d͔̗̯̳̠͘o͢ ͇̹̣͍͉͉s̰͚̖͔o̯̭̞͘m͓͈̫͠ͅe͔̤̺̜̦͘t͉̬͇̤̜h̛̩̙̘̱̞̭i̫͔̰͓͍͎̺n͏̪̘̳̠͎̩͚g͔̺ ̲̲̥̯̞͙͠f̖̥i͟r҉͖̯͔s̫̭̠̙̠̘̝͡t̼͎͖̣͇͍"̼͎͉̪̜̥͇
A cold weight formed in Skulduggery's head, and he felt Vile's anxiety mixing with his own.
"Do what?" he asked quietly.
"̥̼̖̗S͎͝o̴̮̜̞̘̭̣̯m̗͡ȩ͙̰̭ͅṭ̶͉̼h̯̠͔i͠n͡g̷̱͍̹̫͓ ͙͕̻i̘̣̙̱m̡p̺o̻̘̗͙̮r̺͓̣̖͖̦͓t̵̪͔͔̮̣̺̘a̛n̹̣t̡,͎̙͔̪"̯̝̥̫̣͎̮
The figure said, looming over him. A long-fingered hand extended from its form, reaching towards his skull. He jerked away, but it hooked a claw in his eye socket and forced him to look at it. The presence of something inside his skull made his thoughts stutter to a halt, frozen in horror.
"Get off me," he hissed. The thing didn't respond, merely tapping its fingertips against his skull. With each tap, Skulduggery felt something toying with the energy that held him together, and sharp stabs of pain every time.
Then it settled.
"̨̟̣̘̟ͅF͙̘̠̲̱̙̩o̵͖̻u̜̞̦n̡̖̟̜̣̪̟d̞̲͇͍͔ ̦͓͍͓i͎̝̳̫͉t̖̣͙̺̭̘,̡͎"̳̼ the creature said.
Before Skulduggery could say anything, he felt an icy cold substance accumulating in his skull, and Vile screaming 'no, no no!' at him.
"Don't let them take it!"
With slow, precise movements, the creature extracted a writhing, shadowy black mass from his skull, and he felt himself instinctively gagging at the sensation. When it finally stopped, it held it out for him to see, like a child at show-and-tell.
"Give it back!" Vile screeched, slamming himself at the bars of his cage. Skulduggery could only watch as the creature compressed his armour into a solid sphere, about the size of Skulduggery's own fist, forcing its surplus energy deeper and deeper into its core until it was just a dull, round lump of black metal.
Hairline cracks started forming along its surface, and Vile's screams became less angry and more terrified.
"Stop! Stopstopstop!"
All Skulduggery could do was watch, stunned as the armour crumbled before his eyes. In a violent explosion of black dust, the power it contained burst out and smothered him, soaking into his bones, his very soul, sending Vile into a shrieking fit of agony whilst he himself choked on inky blackness.
"̥͙͎̩̩Ọ̣̰h҉͈̣͚ ̙͈͡g̲͖̟̯̳͙o̵o͈d͏̻̰̞,̝ ̜̺̜̰̖ị̩̘͇̬t̝̪͇̼'s̵̪ ̛͙̬͍͇a̖̱̲l̞͎̪̦̯l̦͝ ͉̟͝t͚͠h̠͎̬͙̹eṛ͇͔̥̤̪e̩̥͉̰̭̹.̹̰̲͖͖̞ ̳̪̪͔W̮͓̠̳̲̪̹͡h̷̪a̢t͏̝̠ ͠c̴͇̙̙̘o̻̪̫̰͘me̹͔̬̲ș̝͉͍̩ ̦̮̤n͏̲e̩̯͘x̳̺͇͓ṱ̺̮͓͇̳͝ ͇̥̬w̺͕͖̼͈̘͝o̠̘͖̕u̬̰̯͜ͅl̨̼d h̗̭̻̳ͅa̗v̡͙̹̝̙e ̥͍̲̖̥̞b̡̪̫̫e̻͚̝͓̬e̹̟̹̤͎̭n̕ ̮͖m͞e̬͕̫̠̣̘s̪̭̥̲̬͈ͅs͓̝y̵̮ ̴͖̗͍̜̤̙i̖̗͖̲̱͟f ̟͇͔͇̹̲̹i͏t̛ ͉̤͙̥͉͙͙h̯a̺d̯n̞͝'̨̙̰̹̬t̲̟̝̱.̟̮͓"͙̲̠͇̹̤̮
"Screw off," Skulduggery growled hoarsely, his hands shaking and false breathing heavy.
"Make it stop," Vile begged. "No more hurt."
Why did Skulduggery find his words so familiar?
The claws were back in his skull, hooked under his lower jaw and forcing him to look up.
"What are you doing?"
Pausing, the creature tilted its head, as if searching for an answer. Dear god, why did he have to be stuck with the psychotic entities?
"͇Į͓͖̟͎'̧͓̙̰͎m̼..̵̥̘.̵̗ ͙͔͔̖͞l̮̭̺̺̳̯͍e̞̖̺̰̻̣͖a̪̩̱͇͖ͅͅr͎̝̺̺͕n͚͇̕i̢̝͖͔n̳̪͖͚g̼͙.̳̥̰͎̝͠"҉̟͚̝
Before Skulduggery could say anything, he was screaming, with white hot pain piercing his entire being.