three days! I hate Christmas. I hate the arguments, and I hate the rush, and I hate the buzz off it, I'm such a big Scrooge :} but hey, I'm still here, writing this for you, so if you wanna cheer me up a bit, give me some ideas for where to take the story next! :D I've got the China bit covered, but to be frank, I've got no idea exactly how they're going to get Skulduggery back, so I need some ideas on that pl0x :D
VALKYRIE'S P.O.V
We were all back at the mansion, and sat around the great big dining table on the second floor. This was where Gordon had Christmas dinner if he ever had any friends to invite round.
"So who was that Alex Live guy?" Fletcher asked, flipping the table protector up and down.
"There was something weird about him," I said, smacking Fletcher's hand away. It was annoying.
"Yeah. What's with the whole telekinesis thing?" He asked.
"Telepathy," Tanith corrected him quietly.
"Same difference," Fletcher said.
"Okay," I replied. "Back to the subject," I paused. "We need to look up a bit more about this Alex Live guy. I don't really trust him, and I'm not sure if he was telling the truth when he said he worked for the Sanctuary."
"Why would he lie about something like that? Most everyone who doesn't work for the Sanctuary hates the Sanctuary. He could at least fake something cooler than that," Fletcher said, grinning.
"Yeah... Maybe he said it so that you would trust him, Valkyrie," Tanith suggested.
"Just because somebody's in the Sanctuary doesn't mean I instantly trust them, I mean, look at Crux," I snorted.
"Well, maybe he realised he had made a mistake when he said it," Ghastly said, "And that's why he offered to talk to Fletcher for you, to try and gain your trust that way?"
"What is it with this whole trust business? Why does he need me to trust him? What does he want from me, exactly?" We sat in silence for a while, thinking up possible answers to my questions. Occasionally, one of us would open our mouths to speak but then close it again abruptly, shutting out stupid ideas.
"Well, you know who's good at finding stuff like that out?" Ghastly said after a long while.
"Skulduggery Pleasant." The four of us said together.
"Well done, Fletcher." I said as we patrolled around the house, looking for the skull. "You hid it somewhere 'safe', let me repeat that 'SAFE' and now you've forgotten where that safe place is."
"It obviously means it's very safe if I can't find it," He said from the other end of the corridor.
"Obviously." I said, rolling my eyes. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Tanith. The house was too big to shout across. "Hey, Tan, you got any luck?"
"No, but you should try Ghastly. I'll call you if anything's up," She said, and hung up. I dialled Ghastly's number.
"Ghastly, you got anything?"
"What rooms have you covered?" He asked, not bothering to answer my question.
"Half of the second floor, and Fletcher's done the whole of the third floor."
"Ah, okay, well, in that case... There's only one room left to look in." Ghastly said, mysteriously.
"Which one?"
"The kitchen." Really, I was expecting something exciting.
"Oh." I called to Fletcher. "Fletch! We're going to the kitchen!"
"Oh yeah! That's where I left it!" He came bounding up to me, and I rolled my eyes.
We ran down the stairs and met Tanith and Ghastly at the bottom, then followed them into the kitchen.
Fletcher went over to the cupboard under the sink and rooted around, bottles of bleach and kitchen roll flying out all over the floor.
"Gotcha," Fletcher said, and with one last reach into the cupboard he pulled out the skull. "Let's get to business."
We had combed the whole of Gordon's library for a book that would tell us how to get Skulduggery back, but with no luck.
"You know, Val, there's only one other place we can go now," Tanith said from behind a bookcase.
"Yes, yes, China's library," I said impatiently.
"Do you think there's going to be anything there?"
"No, but I think China might know someone,"
By this point, we were walking down the stairs towards the front door.
"Like who?" She asked, jogging to keep up with me. Usually, it was the other way around.
"Someone who will know how to get Skulduggery back." I said, slipping my shoes on and walking out of the front door... The front door reminded me of Skulduggery, and when he blasted his way through it... when he rescued me for the first time. And then couldn't fix the door. I laughed at the memory. Tanith raised an eyebrow, and I just glared at her.
"How, exactly, do you expect us to get to China's? We have no car-" She said, trying to be logical.
"We have Ghastly's van."
"Oh." She said, and I stopped and leaned against Ghastly's van as he and Fletcher walked out of the front door.
"Where are we going?" Ghastly asked, unlocking the driver door.
"China's," I replied.
"Valkyrie, it's not a good idea telling her what we're up to. She could tell anyone," Ghastly said - the voice of reason again. I sighed and rested my head against the van, smacking my forehead.
"I know that, Ghastly," I said after a considerable amount of head-hitting. "But it's a risk we need to take." My voice quivered. "We need Skulduggery." I felt tears, so I swung my head back to try and drain them back out. I took a deep breath.
"Hop in," Ghastly said, trying a smile with me. It didn't work.
I made a resolution not to smile until we got Skulduggery back. If that meant forever, then so be it.