Chapter 224
Valkyrie put her phone away with a scowl and walked quickly down the dark street. It was early evening, the time Elsie was supposedly most active, and raining sheets. It had taken two days to gather information, and awful weather had come in from an American hurricane. Between the black skies, tarmac and dark brick buildings, Valkyrie could barely see a thing. Her hood was up as far as it could go, but the wind would pick up suddenly and send water lashing across her face and down her neck every thirty seconds, so she was wet inside her coat.
She'd been to a few places that afternoon trying to track down where Elsie slept at night but hadn't found it. She had found some of the places she occasionally hung around when she was with the other three teenagers before they got powers, and when she was alone. She also had a photo of her but she doubted she'd miss the girl in a crowd. She'd chosen a distinctive style.
She sighed as she finally got close to the tiny tea shop on the edge of town and found it was closed already. There was only one final place she knew Elsie hung out at, and she had no clue if she'd be there or if she'd be alone.
The river was overflowing already, rushing faster than it had when she'd crossed the bridge on a mission into the countryside some months ago. She'd remembered it from the willow tree not far away. Then, it had been a warm day in autumn, and the ground had been almost entirely red with leaves. She'd remembered how beautiful it was and it stuck in her mind. She wondered if Elsie had slept under the bridge to avoid her parents then too.
The rocks to get down were slippery and she wished she had control of the Elements to keep her steady. She slipped twice, catching herself with her gloved hands, and got down to the concrete base of the bridge, noticing how close the water was to the edge of the small pathway between the water and the bottom of the curve of the bridge.
Four people were down there. Three men with scruffy beards. One of them was sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a tight grip on his blue, stained backpack and the other two were packing their things into their bags to move, though now stilled to watch her. And sitting not far from the cross-legged man was Elsie, looking at her almost blankly.
But not quite. She knew Valkyrie was looking for her the moment they locked eyes.
Elsie half got up and Valkyrie gave a nod to the men as she went around them to Elsie. When they realised she wasn't after them, they ignored her and went back to packing, though she knew they were keeping an eye on her.
Elsie stood and began wringing her hands and looking ashamed.
"Elsie O'Brien," Valkyrie stated. "We need to talk."
"Oh, that's not me," she tried.
"Hmm, no, I know that's you. Do you mind if we have a little chat?"
Elsie shook her head. "I had nothing to do with anything my friends did," she said quickly, taking a step back and shaking her head. "I promise."
"Okay, well this will be easy then. As long as you've done nothing wrong, we can work together. How does that sound?"
She shook her head. "I don't want anything to do with this."
"It's not a choice Elsie," she said softly, suddenly grabbing her wrist and putting the shackle she'd had hidden in her fist on her. "Please turn around."
Elsie looked at the fist around her wrist and her face dropped and body sagged. Turning slowly, the seventeen year old let Valkyrie shackle her hands behind her back.
"What's she done?" One of the men asked behind them.
"None of your business gentlemen. Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"
Of course they didn't, and Valkyrie couldn't possibly leave them with nowhere to go when they were expecting at least several inches of rain in the next few hours and maybe more after that. It was going to flood badly in this area, something she'd read on the internet from past articles when she was looking up the small town. It happened almost every year without hurricane fed rains. The three men followed her and Elsie to a nearby ATM and Valkyrie withdrew some money for them and they thanked her profusely and wished Elsie luck, before leaving the two girls alone.
"That was nice," Elsie said almost too low for Valkyrie to hear over the sudden onslaught of faster rain.
Valkyrie didn't say anything to that, just pulled her along to where she'd parked Gordon's old car and put Elsie in. She called Ghastly. He picked up on the third ring.
"Hey, have you left?"
"No, why?" He asked.
"Come to the Sanctuary. I have the fourth teenager."
"Oh, good. See you there."
They rang off and Valkyrie glanced at Elsie who was staring at her knees in silence. Valkyrie started the car and put on the heat before turning to her.
"Turn to the door," she directed. Elsie looked at her with wide eyes and then did. She undid one of the wrists and held on tightly to the other. "Sit forwards." Elsie did and then let Valkyrie put the cuff back on her other wrist easily, not attempting to fight her at all. She then put Elsie's seatbelt on for her. "There. We'll talk at the Sanctuary. Okay?"
Elsie nodded her agreement and Valkyrie took them over there, driving much more cautiously in the dark rain. She worried the Spiders could do something on a day as dark as this, but hoped, hoped despite knowing it was ridiculous, that they wouldn't come out in the rain.
She pulled up outside the Sanctuary behind a familiar white van and got out before going around to Elsie's side and helping her. Unless she was an amazing actress, Elsie just seemed like a scared and perfectly normal girl with a lot of piercings.
They got into the Sanctuary and Valkyrie pulled down her hood. Ghastly was waiting for her with a stack of clothes in his hands and immediately looked Elsie up and down. Dexter and Erskine were with him also, though they had obviously come in from a last assignment of the day and were dirty and worn down. Erskine immediately put out a hand and pulled the water from Valkyrie and threw it hazardously out of the front doors before Valkyrie stood them still and he did the same for Elsie, who looked in amazement at the ball of water Erskine collected before it was sent shooting out of the doors as well and she was left dry.
"Let's go to the back," Valkyrie said quickly, not wanting to draw the eyes of Sult or Strom. The men nodded and they walked as fast as Elsie's short legs would let them to a meeting room far away from the rest of the Sanctuary they were fairly sure would give some privacy.
"Sit down Elsie. We just need to talk."
Elsie slowly lowered onto the wooden chair and Ghastly took a seat opposite her. Dexter and Erskine sat in the other two chairs, Erskine on the one next to her, and Valkyrie sat on the table with her knees between Erskine's and Elsie's.
"Right. So Argeddion gave you powers, right?"
"Oh, um, yeah. You know about that?"
"Tell me how it happened."
Elsie told them how she met Seán as children through their mothers being best friends, and how through Seán she met Kitana who Seán liked hanging out with, and who Doran was hanging out with. The three became friends and Elsie said they were all friends, but the way she described them to Valkyrie didn't make it seem as if that was the whole picture. "We were behind the school, mitching off maths. That's where we went when we were supposed to be in class, behind the sheds out the back. We were all normal. The lads were trying to impress Kitana and I was just sitting there, and then I felt sick. Like, hot and sweaty but also really cold, you know? Like I had the flu or something. And I looked up and the others were the same. We just thought it was a bug. We went home, and we all had the same dream about Argeddion. I can't remember much of it, just this man in white and he was giving me something. A gift. I woke up the next morning and… and I just knew. I knew the power inside of me."
"How did it make you feel?" Valkyrie asked.
"I didn't like it," she said immediately and bluntly. "Kitana said it was amazing but… I don't know. It was like there was a part of me that wasn't me. It was – what's that word? Unsettling."
"So the four of you had powers," Valkyrie nodded, noticing how Elsie was beginning to shiver in the cold room. "What did you do?"
Elsie shrugged. "We messed about for a few days. The more we used the powers, the stronger they got. Seán was really excited, he was talking about being superheroes and whatever. Doran called him stupid, he said we should rob all the banks in the country. Kitana said this was going to make her famous. She'd always wanted to be a model or in the movies or something. It was going to make her a star."
"What about you? What did you want to use your powers for?"
"I liked Seán's idea the most," she mumbled more softly.
"So what happened?"
"I don't know. We were all getting along great, we were all laughing and trying to decide what to do, and then…"
"Then?" Valkyrie encouraged.
Elsie hesitated. "There was a bouncer in a nightclub who never let Doran in because he was underage. Doran was always talking about him, about how he was going to go up one of these nights and kick his teeth in. And that's what he did. He went up, the bouncer told him he wasn't getting in, and Doran used his powers. He put the bouncer in hospital. I think he's still in critical condition. Doran was laughing when he told us about it."
"How did Seán and Kitana react?"
"Seán was quiet at first, but Kitana kept asking all these questions, like what did it feel like, stuff like that. You could tell she was really into it, and because she was into it Seán got into it."
"And that's how it started."
"Yeah. Then it got really out of control. They killed Kitana's ex, they killed this guy who turned up and started telling us about the magic police… they killed Doran's brother…"
"What do you want to do Elsie?"
"Like, now? Stop them. Or help you stop them. I don't want these powers. I don't like them. They make me feel sick and I'm worried who they'll kill next. Do magic people have stuff to get rid of magic?"
"We do in some ways, but I'm not sure we do for your magic. We're currently working on it. Other people were given magic like you and your old friends, but not nearly as much. We picked them up as we heard about them and they're downstairs in a sleep while we work on a cure."
Elsie bit her lip and fiddled with a lip ring between her teeth. "I don't want to be in a sleep."
"I understand. It is hard for us to trust you, you realise, because of these powers and what your friends did."
"Oh no!" Elsie said suddenly, interrupting her. "I wouldn't expect you to. I just want to help. I don't mind if I have to wear these handcuffs."
Valkyrie smiled. "Well, I think we can make this work then. I'm going to put both on one of your wrists so you can move but not have magic, alright? And then we're going to work together to take down Kitana, Seán and Doran. Can you tell me about their plans?"
"I mean, I don't think they really have any," Elsie said as she put her hands out at Valkyrie's instruction. "The lads do what Kitana tells them, and Kitana does whatever she feels like."
"Patrick Xebec was killed because he was a threat, but their real targets have been the bouncer, Kitana's ex-boyfriend and Doran's brother. They're going after people who have treated them badly at some stage in their lives. Does Seán have anyone like that?"
"No. Not that I know of. His parents are nice. Doran's dad is drunk most of the time and Kitana's parents are never home, but Seán's whole family is lovely. Seán wouldn't hurt anyone."
"His powers are corrupting his mind, Elsie," Valkyrie said softly, looking into her eyes. "He's not who he used to be, and he wants to impress Kitana."
"But still, he's wouldn't. He's not like the other two. He's nice."
"He's an accomplice to murder. We have to stop him before he makes things worse for himself. Can you think of anywhere they might go, any score they might have to settle? If we get there first, we can take them by surprise and arrest them and they can be a part of getting their magic removed," she said.
"I can't of anything. I'm really sorry. It doesn't even make any sense. Kitana didn't care about her ex. Not really."
Valkyrie shrugged. "Then she's just looking for excuses to hurt people. And soon she won't need excuses. She'll just do it."
"I don't know where she is, honestly. The only… the only place I can think of that has people she'd like to hurt would be, you know, our school. You don't think she'd do anything there, do you? We have friends there."
"Well, we already have eyes on the place. If they turn up, we can deal with it. In the meantime, we need to work out where you're staying. The Sanctuary here is not necessarily the safest place, but I doubt Kitana or the others will find it, so you'll be safe from them while we work things out."
"Thank you. I really appreciate that."
"That's fine. I'd like to go take you to meet someone downstairs, someone who was working with Argeddion. How does that sound?"
.*****.
Elsie's POV
When Valkyrie asked if she wanted to meet someone that worked with Argeddion, she had thought Valkyrie meant a criminal. She had laughed in Elsie's face and explained that Tyren Lament was a good person, and so were his three companions. Then she'd finally introduced herself and her brothers.
Erskine Ravel was, in a word, simply captivating. At first he'd been quiet, but then he'd grinned and bumped her shoulder, whispered a joke in her ear, and she had no idea what to think. The smirk on his lips didn't leave in all the time they walked through the Sanctuary.
Dexter Vex was handsome. She didn't know how to describe him other than that, and he didn't say much at all. He stuck by Valkyrie's side and they spoke in low tones she didn't hear when other people weren't around, his hands in his pockets. Valkyrie was gorgeous too. She was far more beautiful than Kitana, and Elsie could only imagine how angry that probably made her ex-friend. She never liked pretty girls, and girls prettier than her were even worse. Though she suspected Kitana would still find a way to mock Valkyrie. She couldn't help but be in awe of her and intimidated by her height and muscular shoulders and legs, but truly doubted Kitana wouldn't try to make fun of Valkyrie for that simply because it wasn't the type of beautiful Kitana was.
Ghastly Bespoke was something entirely different. He took her by surprise when she first saw him at the front entrance, but then he ended up being really cool. He had a deep chuckle of a laugh, awesome clothes and he was a tailor. She couldn't remember anyone who made her feel quite so safe when she was in their company – her dad, maybe, back when she was a little girl, but that was it.
They walked by those grey-clad men and women, and she caught sight of her reflection in the visors of their helmets. Walking between Ghastly and Erskine, behind Dexter and Valkyrie, she suddenly realised how ridiculous she looked. Fat, ugly, wearing clothes she once thought disguised both of these facts. These were exceptional, magnificent people she was around, and who was she? Take away the powers she hated and she was a nobody.
"Lenka?" Valkyrie asked at a doorway. "Oh, hi Kenspeckle."
"Valkyrie," a voice came, disgruntled and irritated. "How on earth did the Sanctuary completely miss the entirety of the Accelerator when they mapped the place? How stupid are they?"
"I have no idea. I'm glad you're here though, I've someone for you to meet. Elsie," she said, standing back and beckoned her closer. Ghastly put a soft hand on her shoulder blades to encourage her forward, "is one of the people with those sudden powers. You know the three teenagers that messed me and Skulduggery up? She's the fourth in their group, except she's not a sociopath and she's helping us. I figured, since she's mentally sound, you could use her to work out a cure."
Kenspeckle, and old man with a puff of white hair around his head and wrinkled clothes on his thin body, immediately hustled over to her for inspection. "That is useful," he nodded, looking into her eyes and grabbing her chin for easier access. "Yes, this could be useful to me. Thank you for bringing her to me, Valkyrie."
"That's fine, she'll be staying at the Sanctuary for the next little bit while I catch the other three. Could you make sure she has somewhere to sleep?"
"I'm not your maid, you know," he said, rolling his eyes and going over to whatever electronic he had been looking into before they got there. "But I'll tell someone else to do it, I suppose. Bazaar?! Where are you?"
At first Elsie had entirely no idea what he was talking about until a girl somewhere between her and Valkyrie's height came out of nowhere and grinned massively at Valkyrie.
"Valkyrie!" The woman said. "It's good to see you again! I'm working with the good Doctor now."
"I see that."
"I want to kill him."
"I also see that."
"Will you be mad if I do that?"
"I think I might be. Please don't kill Kenspeckle."
"Damn," she said and shrugged. "We haven't made any more progress than the last time you saw us. It's just more of a mess. We found a nest of rats. I had a Cleaver move them outside."
"I'm glad they weren't hurt. This is Elsie, by the way. Could you make sure she gets something to eat and all?"
"Yeah, sure. My Mummy's going to be here soon though so I'll be busy then, but I'll work something out."
"Ah, I'm happy for you. Well, I'm going to let you go and leave Elsie with you. Elsie, why don't you help Kenspeckle and Lenka. Don't think Kenspeckle doesn't like you either, he's just like that all the time. He's actually very nice. Give me your phone number and you can text me if you need anything or think of any places Kitana might want to go to."
Elsie did what she was told and got a farewell from the muscular people before they filed out the door and left quickly on their long, long legs. She took a deep breath and turned back to the room. Kenspeckle was looking in deep interest at whatever he was looking at, and Lenka was counting wires.
Elsie has joined the fight!