Valkyrie never finished her apple. She decided partway through her meal that she had never been less hungry in her entire life, had tossed what was left in the garbage. There was no compost in the hotel room.
Tanith gave a loud yawn, stretching her arms in the air, brought them round Ghastly's neck. "Well, I'm completely knackered."
Valkyrie mumbled her agreement.
"So the plan is that Tanith and I share a room, and you and Valkyrie get the other one?" Ghastly confirmed, looking at Skulduggery.
The skeleton was standing apart from them, staring out the window at the rapidly darkening sky. Below them, cars raced every which way. It was a plethora of red, green, and yellow.
"I don't see any other possible arrangement. I'm certainly not sleeping in the same room as either of you."
"Oi!" said Tanith sharply, but the edge was lost with her exhaustion.
"It doesn't matter anyway," Skulduggery told her, "I won't be joining you for a while."
Valkyrie spun to face him. "Why not?!"
"I have things I need to do."
"What kinds of things?"
"Things that don't include you. Any of you."
"Fine," she said, scowled. "Be mysterious. I thought you'd have been grateful to leave your façade off for a bit."
Ghastly appeared concerned. "Is this a late night stroll? Or something dangerous?"
"Can't it be both?" Valkyrie asked, "I've gotten in to loads of trouble just minding my own business."
"Thank you, but I'm quite sure I can manage."
"You say that, but then you get captured." Valkyrie declared.
"I promise I won't."
"I'll hold you to that."
"I expect you to."
"Good. Just so we're clear."
"We're clear."
She ran up to him, gave him a hug. "I've kind of forgotten about your coat," she whispered, "I left it in the car."
"Are you saying I'll have to retrieve it because you're too lazy?"
Valkyrie giggled. "Might be."
"Right then. I'll do that," he started for the door. "Bonne nuit, tout le monde!"
Valkyrie threw one of the poutine forks at him. "I said no more French!"
But he was already gone. The fork hit the door and fell with a clatter. Valkyrie sat on the floor with an exasperated sigh. "I need to sleep," she announced, went to the entrance to her room.
"Sure you don't want your suitcase?" Tanith asked, getting up to hand it to her.
Valkyrie took it with a grimace, shut the door behind her.
Valkyrie lay in bed that night, wearing her red satin pyjamas, with her head resting on the most comfortable pillow she'd ever had the pleasure of using. It was peaceful, there were no bad guys trying to kill her… yet. And she was in a new country. And, one of her best friends was not evil and was pregnant! Everything was going swell.
But it wasn't. She couldn't sleep.
Valkyrie didn't know why. She was exhausted. The curtains covering the full-length windows looked like hooded figures, sinister and grey. Had this room always been so small? Why was it that she could still hear the sounds of cars? Shouldn't there be a law against that?
There was a siren in the distance. Valkyrie wondered what it was for.
It was late, unbearably so. Or was it early? She just couldn't tell; conscious thought had long since fled. All Valkyrie knew was that she wasn't alone anymore because there was someone else in the room, and they were by the curtains and they were dressed in black. Her headache had returned.
The figured flickered, like something out of a bad horror film. One moment it was next to the window, and then it was on top of her, strangling her. Valkyrie tried to yell but she couldn't get any oxygen in to her lungs, couldn't physically manage it.
Her attacker's image gave a wobble. It was back to the window. It gave a smile, only one side of her lips twitching upward. Darquesse.
Just let me out. It'd be the easiest thing in the world. Quicker than falling asleep.
'Go away,' Valkyrie shouted in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, counted to ten.
Or tried to, anyway. A scream pierced her ears, she jolted upright, saw who'd made the noise.
Her head was being torn apart. She was burning, burning…
The whole world was on fire. Tanith and Ghastly and Alice and her parents.
Skulduggery stood facing her in the hotel room. The curtains were open. They could see the flames lick at the glass.
Some of his bones were broken, twisted at odd angles. He looked defeated.
"This is what happens when you're too weak to fight her off," He told her, motioning toward the carnage.
"I'm sorry," Valkyrie sobbed from the bed, "I didn't want this to happen!"
He ran up to her, leaned over. His hands gripped her shoulders, digging in painfully. "Valkyrie," he said, "Valkyrie, Valkyrie."
She looked down at his bare ribcage. It seemed so delicate, so exposed. She reached out to touch it. Just the slightest contact was made.
The instant she did so, his bones began to turn to dust. White, powdery, reflecting orange off the fire that was building higher and higher and higher.
Skulduggery gazed at her with horror written in to those dark sockets. "This is what you do," he whispered. "Destroyer."
"No," she cried, her voice cracking, "No!"
He watched her as his skull faded away. "Valkyrie, Valkyrie…."
"Valkyrie!"
She sat up suddenly, shaking the bed with the sudden movement, gasped for air. She whipped her head round, searching for the next vision. What she got instead was a snowy skeleton, kneeling on the floor by the side table.
Valkyrie took a peek at the clock.
"Was I dreaming?" she asked him, unable to believe the amount that her voice was trembling. She felt cold. She'd kicked the quilt off.
"I would hope so," he replied, just as softly. He brought a hand up to her cheek, wiped away a tear there. "I hope I never have to hear you scream like that about something real."
Valkyrie winced. "Was I really that loud?" Her thoughts turned to those of dread. "Do you think I woke anyone up?"
"Yes," he said, "But that's not the point. Are you okay?"
She chewed her lip. "Just a nightmare, nothing I haven't dealt with before."
He nodded, pensive. "You shouldn't have to deal with them."
"Where did you go?" she said, an abrupt change of subject. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about her dreams.
He tilted his head, stood, walked over to where the blankets were lying in a tangled heap. "Oh, you know me. Here, there, where didn't I go?"
She gave a smile, the lids of her eyes weighing heavily down. "And how does a skeleton like you walk around in a city unnoticed, I wonder?"
"Please, Valkyrie. I mustn't give away all my tricks."
"No, but seriously."
He gave a shrug, taking one of the sheets into his arms and spreading it apart.
"Scarves," said Skulduggery. "The secret is the scarves. You never actually see anyone's face when it's this cold out. Throw on a scarf or two and you're set to go."
Valkrie twisted on to her back so she could see him. He draped the sheet over her, tucking it in. Next came the quilt. Skulduggery went round to pull it over her entire body, with the exclusion of her face.
She tugged the fabric so that it formed a bundle, a loose cocoon. "Thank you," she said.
"Always. Do you need anything else? You don't have to worry about getting up tomorrow; I'm giving you all a day off to adjust."
Valkyrie hesitated before asking. "Sing to me?"
Skulduggery chuckled, distinctly at ease. "Better shove over, then. Can't do a song properly from the couch."
"'Right." She moved so that he had enough space. Skulduggery settled on the bed, looped an arm behind her neck. She nestled in to him, head propped up by his chest.
And he began to sing. It was a song that she didn't know the title of, though she'd caught him humming it before. Probably one of the old songs that he liked.
"Summertime, and the living is easy. Fish are jumping and the cotton is high. Your daddy's rich, and your mamma's good looking. So hush, little baby, don't you cry…."
Valkyrie felt her eyelids droop, she yawned. She fell asleep, and this time there were no dreams.
AN- Well, wasn't that just pure Valduggery fluff. I'm sorry about the number of clichés in this chapter. I really didn't expect it to be like this. Just review and let me know if I did an okay job, yeah? Right, you're all awesome. First time doing a dream scene, so please let me know how I did on that as well.
Bonne nuit, tout le monde - Goodnight, everyone.
Song: 'Summertime' by George Gershwin