If Ghastly Bespoke was given money every time he thought of Tanith Low, he'd be a millionaire. She was all he ever thought about; that and a few other things. He checked the time every ten minutes and his phone in case he'd accidentally missed a call from her. He rarely used his phone, it wasn't of much importance to him. When the shop door opened, Ghastly's heart would race as he walked through, hoping it would be Tanith standing casually, staring at the mannequins. But every time he walked into the shop, it wasn't her. Of course he worried about her, what normal person wouldn't? Ghastly, among many others, had noticed Tanith occasionally acted differently from time to time, ever since they'd caught her and removed the remnant from her body. Tanith was a lucky one. For most people, once the remnant had been inside them for over four days, that was it. They latched onto your soul forever. But for Tanith, this wasn't the case. Even though Ghastly now had Tanith for himself, he still had to fight sudden urges to walk out into the world and find Billy-Ray Sanguine, to kill him in not the most civilized way.
Tanith had been to see Erskine earlier in the day, as he requested to see her at the sanctuary. Ghastly wasn't too keen on the idea himself, but let her go. He looked out of the shop window to see the orange street lights flicker on. The sky became grey and musty, and few drops of rain splatted against the windows. Ghastly sighed and frowned. He called Tanith a few times, but there was no answer, only her voice on the answerphone came through. He got up from his desk and grabbed a coat, heading out into the street. It wasn't long before Ghastly reached the sanctuary, pushing open the large doors. The Administrator, Tipstaff, came rushing through the corridor, busying himself around Ghastly. He swatted his hand and Tipstaff bowed, scurrying away. Ghastly strode down the corridors, eventually reaching Erskine's office. Ghastly let himself in without knocking, expecting to see Tanith sat across from Erskine, but she wasn't. Erskine looked up and smiled as his friend walked in.
"I would've expected a knock at the door, but then again, not from you." he said. Ghastly remained quiet as he stood behind the chair opposite Erskine Ravel's desk. Erksine dropped the paper on his desk and leant backwards in his chair. "I would assume you're not here for a chat," Erskine narrowed his eyes. "Or are you?" Ghastly gripped the top of the chair.
"Where's Tanith?" he asked. Erskine grinned.
"See, never a friendly chat. You're always deadly serious about everything." Ghastly glowered. "But, alas, I don't know where she is my fellow Elder, she left here hours ago." Ghastly frowned, his grip on the chair lessened.
"How long ago, exactly?" he asked. Erskine shrugged.
"Four at least." Ghastly stood up straight. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. I just- I've tried calling her but she's not picking up, it keeps going straight to answerphone. Do you think Skulduggery or Val have spoken to her?" Erskine shrugged again.
"Call them. Find out." Ghastly nodded and took Erskine's phone from his desk, dialing Skulduggery's number. He picked up, and Ghastly made odd facial expressions so Erskine couldn't work out what was being said.
"Both him and Val haven't seen or spoken to her. They're both coming here now." Ghastly put the phone back on the desk and sat down opposite Erskine.
"She's a big girl, you know, Ghastly. I think she'll be alright." Ghastly remained silent and stared at the ground.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie arrived ten minutes later, both of them walking into Erskine's office whilst being hassled by Tipstaff. Erskine ordered him away and he left, feeling sorry for himself. Ghastly stood up and noticed that even Valkyrie had a worried look on her face. The four of them sat together and chatted for a while, and neither of them could come up with a reasonable explanation to why she hadn't spoken to anyone.
"You don't think something's happened to her, do you?" Valkyrie asked and Ghastly gazed at the floor, trying to keep his mind away from the idea. "I mean, yeah, it's Tanith, and she can easily handle herself, but what if, oh I don't know, Sanguine came back and took her." Ghastly's head snapped up in her direction, and he realised how intimidating he could be sometimes as Valkyrie sat backwards.
"Sanguine? Why would he be back? Have you heard something?" Ghastly questioned. Valkyrie shook her head.
"I haven't. But I was speaking to China a few days ago, and she said she'd heard some rumours that he was back. You don't think he's got her have you? After all, when she was a remnant, they'd both planned to marry. But now it's gone, maybe he wants to get her back for it." Ghastly got to his feet.
"If it's him, and he's back, and he's got her, this time," he said. "I will kill him."
Tanith's eyes opened. She blinked a few times and looked around the room. She looked down and saw her hands and feet strapped to a chair. Tanith usually would've been able to easily break free, but there was something else keeping her bound. The light reflected off two silver pieces in her knees, and she suddenly realised she'd be nailed to the chair, again. An immediate wave of pain hit her and she groaned, and she tried to fight back the tears as she recalled the last moment she had been nailed to a chair. The moment she was tortured by Kenspeckle Grouse as the remnant worked through his body. She was sweating. Her hair stuck to her scalp and her body ached. She tried to move from the chair, but cried out as pain surged through her body. She stopped, and the large door in front of her opened. Shadows were cast over the doorway, so she couldn't make out who the figure was standing there. She saw the snide smile on her captures face. He snickered as he saw her writhe in pain. He stepped into the light and Tanith's heart raced, her eyes widened, her mouth dropped. She watched him spin the razor in his hand as he sneered.
"You've got to be kidding me." she said through the pain and bared teeth. He grinned and removed the glasses from his face. The places where his eyes should've been were black and empty. She could see the cut along his belly as his straightened up. She shook her head and her breathing became rapid. He stepped forward and smiled.
"Hello lil' darlin'" he said, his southern Texas accent sounding stronger than before. "Oh how I've missed you." Billy-Ray Sanguine flicked open the razor and Tanith screamed.