I get it, I get it. 'Where the heck have you been? I wanted this story UPDATED?!' I know. I won't go into details. But I would like to thank you for the reviews. They're kind and supportive, which is something I'm proud to have you as my readers for. But, I'm not going to dwel on self-respect. I'm going to tell you whats been running through my mind lately.
Alright, so you didn't want this story to end there, huh? Well, since you requested so nicely, I've been working on this chapter in the background. Without you all knowing. And I continue to do so with all of my stories. But, I took my time with this. I wanted to grab the ropes of this story again, reign it in. Develop it. Plan it. Cause a knife to be be twisted into a old wound. I decided to come up with a cleaver plot line to kick it back into gear.
I read through the chapters, and noticed a couple of things. I noticed how much you knew about certain characters, and this got me thinking. The minor characters where ones I took notice of. The ones that stuck to the backgrounds. I hadn't realised it before, but I do now. I notice their acts that were put in there by my subcontious mind. I don't know how, but they have really stured up matters in my mind.
Someone requested more schooling. But what if I changed a couple of things here? What if I add many fancy dinners and balls? What if a add spice to the meal? There were only a few things I could come up with until none had a meaning. Every strand tied with another, forming the idea that would take this story further. I hadn't thought I would do it, because its delecate and detailed. Its glamourous yet it forms a dirty plot full of lies. Like strawberries dipped in sour cream.
Well, Here is Blackthorn Academy. Thought out and a little darker than last time. Expect ball gowns, tuxedos and a whole lot of shit going down.
xXx
"Look here, Skeleton." Charlotte growled. "I told you what you wanted to know. I killed those people for fun, alright? I tried to kill you because I wanted her to be dead."
"Yes, you told us that." Skulduggery agreed, his posture was slanted, his chin rested on a half closed fist. "What we are talking about, is Onyx. I want to know why you did that. I want you to admit it to my face."
"Admit it? You talk as if you know the answer already."
"No, I've got ideas." He corrected. "I want facts."
"Love. Lust. Those two words describe it. I fancied you. Like a little two year old. I took after you because you were the best looking boy. I wanted to be there, in Onyx's place. I didn't like the way she got what I didn't. I guess you could say that I was a little jealous of her. Whats the difference? She stood in the background, watching you dance with Valkyrie. She could tell you were going to be with her. She always could. But she fell for you. You used her. Then, you took her life, didn't you?"
"Funny thing is, Charlotte." Skulduggery said. "You'll blame me, won't you? I never used Onyx and I never would."
"Then what do you call Valkyrie? Your toy?"
Valkyrie's back came off the wall. She stood in the shadows, her dark eyes illuminated by the light in the centre of the room. "If I'm his toy, Charlotte, you're his doll. Because you are easily manipulated."
"Says the girl who can't resist a boys charms."
"I think I've had enough for today." Skulduggery said, standing.
"You want to know something, Skulduggery?" Charlotte teased. "You want to know what the last thing Onyx said to me was?"
"No I don't," He said, his back to her. He had almost reached the door when she spoke.
"Skulduggery Pleasant wasn't always the hero he made out to be. He wasn't there to witness my rape."
The skeleton's fingers curled, his back turned. A black gaze from the corner of a eyesocket fixed on Charlotte as she sat there, smirking. "Didn't you know? It was a gang. They broke in, they pinned her down. Come to think of it, that was the time you two had your first child, yes? So now, answer me this. Was Amythist even your child? Was she anything like you? You can't answer? You already know, don't you? You were never a father to that child. Never were, never will be. You let them die."
His silence, agreed with every statement.
"Skulduggery," Valkyrie said, pulling on his arms. "Its okay, she's saying it to annoy you. Just ignore her." Her hands ran down his arms, clutching his in a sense of comfort. Skulduggery just stood there, unmoving. His gaze was fixed onto Charlotte, but he wasn't glaring. Valkyrie could almost smell the anger leeking out of his bones. It was like the smell of copper. Strong and wasn't easily banished. Valkyrie could feel that he was preventing himself from lashing out.
"Oh, but he knows i'm not. He could tell, even then. He could tell his daughter had the character of someone else. But he never questioned Onyx."
"We're going," Valkyrie said. "And we aren't coming back. You can rot in here for all I care."
"Goodbye," She mocked.
Valkyrie glared, opening the door and dragging Skulduggery out. She closed the door, and turned to look at him. But he was gone, stalking down the corridors. People avoided him, sensing his dark aura. Valkyrie ran up to catch up with him, unsure what moves to make. He didn't look at her, infact, he was walking faster. Trying to dislodge her from him. But she wasn't having any of it. She grabbed his hand, pulling him into a lone corridor. He tried to pull away, a uneasy shake rattling through him.
She grabbed his neck, pulling him into a hug. He froze, but didn't wrap his arms around her. Instead, he wriggled free from her. Backing away. He stood against the wall, his arms folded over his chest. Her heart was thudding in her chest, her hands had sweat coating the palms. She could sense the atmosphere. She could see Skulduggery's skull, almost hidden away by that hat. She felt a great sense of loss, like she had lost something through Charlottes words.
"Skulduggery," She whispered. She didn't let her voice become audable as she stepped closer to him. "I-"
"Don't."
She froze, her hand was reached out, ready to touch his cheekbone. The fingers spread and the muscles tense. She felt her heart flinch at his words, its fast past had been kicked out from under it. A punch had been dropped to her stomach with the look his was sending her. He had retracted another inch from her, his arms unfolding themselves as the gloved hands stuffed themselves in his pockets. His black, eye socket gaze fixed onto her. But not in the recent, kind way they had done to comfort her.
"Don't touch me," He said. "You can't. I can't do this anymore."
"What? Charlotte used that to-"
"I know." He said calmly, his voice shaking. "I know she used it. But i'm sorry. She's right. I can't let this happen to anyone else. Its better if I don't become anything with you or anyone else."
"Don't do this." She said. "Don't do this to me."
"I don't want to see anyone else hurt." He said. "I can't see you hurt. I don't want you to go through-"
"Why are you letting her get to you?! Did Charlotte doyou any favours? Ever?"
"I want to protect you."
"This isn't protecting me."
"No, its not. Pleasure doesn't turn into protection."
"But destroying me emotionally is?"
"I love you, Valkyrie." He said, reaching out to touch her cheek. She pulled back, but his hands gripped her face. Forcing her to look into his skeletal gaze. Valkyrie hadn't realised it before, but the teeth of his jaw were gently pushing against her lips to form his kisses. He was desperatly trying to teach her to understand his trail of thought, that he couldn't allow her to close. "I love you so much that it hurts." He kissed her again, but pulled away to talk. "Thats why, I want you to-" She kissed him, but he turned it chaste, pulling away a second after. "I want you to keep your emotions contained. I need to work solo for a while."
She felt his hands push her body away after one last kiss, his skull tipped at a funny angle she couldn't descifer. "I've got a lot more cases to work on, and they're dangerous ones. I can't have the girl I care so much for dragged into it. These are the kind of cases where I will get a grenade shoved in my face at every possible moment. I will never be safe on these cases. Even if I had no feelings for you, I wouldn't let you come. So don't think this is childish spite. But what I said is true Valkyrie, I can't be in love with you."
He took graceful, light steps towards the main passage way through the Sanctuary, but Valkyrie's hands grabbed his collar with enough force to bring him down and pull him into yet another kiss. He moved pulling away from her and she realised he had switched their possitions, so that his back was now facing the corridor. "Valkyrie," Came the low pur of his voice, gently whispering over her in a whimper. "I can't. I've got to go. My flight to Romania leaves soon."
"Romania?" She asked. "You're going to Romania?"
"And other places." He closed his hands around hers, bringing them to his face and gently kissing them with his teeth. Nuzzling his face into her palms. "I must go." He let go of her hands, turning and walking out into the light corridor. She ran out to follow, her heart pounding in her chest. Her throat tight with the words she wanted to spill out. She skidded to a stop in the middle of the corridor, looking around her. But Skulduggery was nowhere to be seen.
He was gone.
xXx
Rocket watched Valkyrie. Boots up on the desk, ankles crossed. Freshly curled locks of hair pinned up away from her face. Her leather pulled tight around her skin, forming a protective layer. In her hands, was a case file. One that read across the thick brown paper of the folder; Top Secret. This file was addressed to Valkyrie, and was for her eyes only. It was a document leading to Black Bird. A well known Hitman group formed thirty years ago. Their works were noticable and marked, due to the cross claws on the victims chest.
She didn't know why, but Valkyrie had been moody in the last few days. Her sharp tongue stung the people around her. When Rocket would ask about Skulduggery, Valkyrie would either change the subject or walk away. There were guards around her personal life, and those who dared to poke would provoke a propper ass kicking. Rocket knew there was something going on, but Valkyrie refused to talk about it. She was focusing herself on work, nothing else. She wouldn't even eat if it wasn't for Rocket bringing her food.
"The highest ranking detectives have been deployed to reign in these clans, am I right?"
"You are," Valkyrie said. "What I don't understand, is that why Eskrine wants me to go on such a mission."
"Its Romania," Rocket shrugged. "Nice country."
"I was hoping to avoid going there."
"Why?"
"It doesn't matter." Valkyrie said, raising her gaze through the glasses. Darquesse had improved long distance sight, not short. "But would you be willing to help me out on this?"
"Sure." Rocket agreed. "Are you going to cough it up?"
"Sorry?"
"Why are you avoiding Romania? And Skuduggery for that matter?"
Valkyrie kept her face blank, standing and taking her glasses off. She walked over to the cabnet on the far wall, opening one of the draws to a secret stash of treats and sweets. Valkyrie's teeth cracked the chocolate in her mouth in two, the delicious mixture melting in her mouth. The file was still in her hands, and she took a seat on the desk, filling Rocket in on the minor details that she needed to know. "There are two clans, Black Bird and White Wolf. Five members in each clan. We're chasing Black Bird. They're holding a Ball in Romania. The capital city, infact. Bucharest."
"So," Rocket nodded. "Once we capture these bad guys, who's after the rest?"
"Other Sanctuary members, is my guess. I don't care, as long as they catch them."
Other Sanctuary members, huh? Skulduggery, I'll bet your ass. "Alright." Rocket said. "When are we off?"
"Tonight," Valkyrie said. "Make sure you're ready."
Rocket gave a single fingered salute.
xXx
A grey suit had a fresh blood stain up the right side, but it wasn't this man's own blood. His shoes were polished with fresh water from puddles, his gloved hand locked around the gun in his right hand. With his other free hand, he adjusted his tie slightly, putting the soft blue peice of fabric back into place. His shoulders were tense, his body not relaxing from its stance as he walked back towards the hotel. His neck cracked when he rolled it, the bones snapping back into place after the the hand that had been clutching at it was shot.
His legs burned and his arms ached, but Skulduggery didn't let that faulter his step. He was in a bad mood, his usually calm look was replaced with fire. His hands clenched so tight that if he had a body, the skin would be bleeched white. There were police sirenes racing through the seeting sun of the Romanian skies. Tearing through the city to the next crime scene. He often wondered what it would be like as one of them, but the excitement was one thing he wouldn't count on to happen much.
Skulduggery wipped blood from his skull, his eyeless gaze drifted up to the night sky as a plane passed over head. He knew what it was like to fly, but not what it was like to fly with wings. Flapping them against the air currents. Feeling the wind rush under the feathers of those wings. Flying in the direction that freedom sailed. In the skies, there was peace. On earth, it was like someone had brought hell crashing down. And Skulduggey could fell the weight of that hell.
He opened the door to the private Villa he owned. He stripped the suit jacket from his back and emptied the contense of the pockets out onto the table. Once he had done this, he opened the door to the washing machine and put it in, but didn't set it spinning. He had the rest of his clothes to empty in there yet. He climbed the stairs, knowing that the burning in his bones wasn't going to be much of a help tomorrow morning. By which time the after effects would have kicked in.
Even when you're a skeleton, you still feel strain inside your physical structure.
He got undressed. Pulling the tie roughly loose from his neck and discarding it across the back of a chair in one of the many large rooms here. He undone the buttons of his shirt, then put that over the chair, and before he could finish getting changed, there was a loud, high pitched screech from behind him. Skulduggery paused, considering the possibilities of the person being a enemy. But when he heard a vase shatter, he decided against it and turned.
"Rocket?"
"I'm sorry!" She squeeled, attempting to pick the peices up. "Your half-naked presence scared me!"
"How, exactly?" He guestioned. "I'm just a skeleton."
"Yeah." She agreed. "Who knows, you might be hiding something down there."
He tilted his head at a angle, suggesting he was raising a eyebrow. "What would I be hiding?"
"I don't know..." She said. "...A baguette?"
There was a moment of silence, before Skulduggery roared with laughter.
"Shut up!" Rocket hollered. "It was a guess! I don't know what you shove down there! A spanner maybe?!"
He only laughed harder, propping himself up by the chair his shirt and tie were flung so loosely over.
"A baguette shoved down your boxers," Rocket said. "It would give a good impression that you've got balls."
He was silent, his shoulders still shaking.
"Be serious!"
He giggled a little more, then regained his composure, standing there like the laughter hadn't ever happened. "So," He said. "Your reason for coming to Romania to see me are-?"
"The new case."
"Ah. Well, If you'll excuse me, I need to get changed." He said. "After all, you don't want to see a baguette falling out my boxers, now do you?"
She blushed, walking out and shutting the door behind her.