CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

Screams

(M)

Charlotte Watch could see into the future. She knew she was going to die today. She knew that she wouldn't live to see her brother again.

Charlotte had seen four hundred and ninety years of life, and never had she felt anything like Miss Cain. She radiated power. Power that could not only do much good, but much evil as well, Charlotte saw a struggle in Valkyrie's future, there would be times when there was no hope, but times when there was joy. She saw children and marriage and happiness, but also death and blood and agony. But there was one constant in Valkyrie Cain's life and that was Skulduggery Pleasant.

He would fight to get his friend back when – not if – she slipped over the thin line between good and evil, he would fight with her against all her enemies, he would be there until the end, until the day they both died.

Charlotte knew she was going to die, though she hadn't seen it. She'd seen The Meaning, The Reason, the place for the universe. A thing all sensitive's saw before they died.

She saw the monumental role that Valkyrie Cain would play, either destroying the world or saving it. Skulduggery was her protector, her partner, in love and crime.

The universe was preparing itself for something. It had been for centuries, creating people of such massive power, placing teams of this all over all the worlds, waiting for them to come together, to fight against... It—the end of days.

And It was close now, so very, very close. The time was coming when the key players in this game would smash together: the protectors of the universe and their protectors.

Charlotte was very glad she was going to die before It came.

"...Charlotte? Charlotte! C'mon! Snap out of it, we've got to keep moving, we've already lost too many!" Charlotte looked up, tears in her eyes.

"The skull is in that tent." She said making her way to the opening flap.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Azz lunged to her, just as she pulled open the flap.

The tent was much bigger on the inside then on the outside. Bars a metre (3 ft, roughly) apart were the only thing someone would be able to walk on, in the very centre of the tent was the skull.

Below the bars, something screeched.

"How-" Azz started.

"Are-" Blessed continued.

"We-"

"Going-"

"To-"

"Get-"

"Across?"

"Simple." Charlotte said, handing the whistle to Blessed. "I am a sensitive. I can feel where to walk."

"Yes, but can you jump that far and keep balanced? Maybe we should signal May, she'll still be in control."

"No, she's going to go into the portal. I can make it." Lie.

Blessed and Azz exchanged a nervous glance. "I'll be on look-out." Blessed said turning around to face the hostile camp.

Charlotte and Azz continued inside until they reached the bars. Charlotte turned to the young woman. "Alithea, I want you to tell Crepella that I love her and that I will always be with her, in some way. Tell my brother that I forgive him. And tell Valkyrie to prepare herself—something's coming."

"You do it."

"If I make it back."

Without another word Charlotte hopped onto a bar. Not the closest, but the second closest, the first was booby-trapped. Charlotte heard a noise below her and shuddered, hoping that whatever was down there killed its prey quickly.

The next bar only had one safe spot, to the side of her a bit, the size of a shoebox. Charlotte took a deep breath and jumped. She made it, only one foot could fit. Charlotte kept going onward, slowly making her way toward the skull, all that mattered for her now was that she made it there and threw it back, then she would try to make it back—and fail.

So now she was doing the last and most important thing she would ever do.

There was one point where it looked like she would fall, but she stayed on by the skin of her teeth. She stopped in the middle, directly in front of her brother's skull.

CPOV

There it is—his skull—now just pick it up—and throw it back—Azz caught it—good. I make my way back—I'm so close now—was I wrong?—no—I slip—falling—longer than possible—falling then—I'm there—at the bottom—a scream from above—poor Azz—having to see this—or hear it.

There's something here—in the dark—coming for me—a growl—a screech—there's more than one thing—what does it matter—how I die—I stand up—smiling—determined that I won't scream—they're coming—they're here—pain—so much—they're ripping me open—feasting upon my innards while I still live.

The last thing I hear are my screams.

Okay, so this is where Basic Bookworms writing ends. I love the work, and am honestly scared I will muck this story up.

I might be a couple of days to update, I'm working on updating "Well this is interesting." Check it out, it's being re-written. Though, I have no beta (clearly) and my grammar isn't that good either. But it's completely different, just the same title (: xx

xDBx