I'll make this chapter as long as possible.

On an interesting note, here are my friend's worst jokes EVA!

Her- Why didn't Johnny wear his shoes?

Me- (thinking: I have no idea where this is going) Cause he couldn't be stuffed?

Her- Cause Johnny's a goldfish!

~Silence~

~Nervous laughs from her~

~More silence~

Me- I don't get it…

Her- Ha ha…yeah…ahem, I don't either…

Her- What kinda tree grows from your hands?

Me- (thinking: this better be good) *sighs* What?

Her- A palm tree!

Me- *grumbling* LOL

Her- Really?

Me- No

Her- Oh…

~awkward silence~

Honestly, I worry about her. But then sometimes she also "worries" about me.

Awkward conversation full of "worry-ness"-

Me- *groans* I feel weird.

Her- You are weird!

Me-*glares* I have this awkward feeling in my stomach…

Her-Hmmm, are you in love?

Me- *stares* Uhh…no.

Her- Then you're pregnant!

Me- *staring even more awkwardly* NO!

Her- Are you sure?

Me- Do I look sure?

~She peers closely at me~

Her- No.

Me- *Sighs*

Just to make it clear for you guys- NO I'M NOT PREGNANT!

If you don't have a clue where these jokes are going or just don't get it, don't worry, I don't either! But if you do then god bless you!

Anyway, carrying on…

~Val's POV~

Me and Skulduggery are driving towards China's place in the hideous pink beetle and it's me in the driving seat.

The tension is killing us.

I grip the steering wheel so tightly, I'm practically yanking it out of its socket. Skulduggery is yelling me all sorts instructions though I'm not paying any attention to whatever he is saying. A bubble laughter surged up inside me and for some crazy reason, I felt like pushing down the accelerator as far as it can go and throwing my head back and laugh like crazy.

Yup, I'm definitely not myself these days.

"We're here Valkyrie, you can park beside that green car. Carefully, if you can," Skulduggery said weakly.

I parked as carefully as I could, though slightly scraping the green car in front of me. I slowly turned the engine off and Skulduggery and I both sighed and leaned back in our seats in relief. After what seemed like ages, he turned to me and cleared his throat.

"Well that was….uhh..," he started. I could practically see him rummaging through his "Dictionary of Encouraging Words to Complement Valkyrie's driving" in his head.

"Violent?" I suggested.

Skulduggery sighed and gave up. "Yeah, violent."

"Hmmm…," I began. "Maybe a car isn't right for me."

He turned to me sharply. "Why not? Cars are right for everyone!"

"I don't know. How about I ride a motorbike like Tanith? And maybe she could teach me!"

Skulduggery grumbled. "Yeah right!" he said as he got out of the car. I sighed and reached back and grabbed the bag containing the scepter pieces, and then got out.

"What you need," Skulduggery was telling me as I locked the car, "Is a lot of practice! Take your time. A wise man once said that slow and steady wins the race."

"And does this "wise man" have a beard or moustache?" I grumbled.

"I'm not quite sure actually," Skulduggery muttered tapping his chin.

"I'm too dangerous on the road anyway," I said glumly as we walked to the door.

"Don't worry. How about I make a sign to tape on the window? It could say something like "Dangerous driver: If you want to live, then stay a mile away from this car"!"

I stared at him and sighed. "Make it big," I snapped. I looked at the door and had a queasy feeling in my stomach. "I don't know if I should go in there. I don't think China has forgiven me for destroying her shelf and her books."

"You'll be fine," Skulduggery assured.

He rang the bell and the door was soon opened by China's assistant.

We stepped inside and followed the assistant to a wide room with a Victorian dining table and chairs in the middle and at the back was a wide staircase that up but then split into two directions. Lounging on the chair was China, Ghastly and Fletcher, while Tanith stood leaning against the rail of the stairs. They seemed to be having some sort of a tea party. Awkward.

"I'm sorry," began Skulduggery. "Are we interrupting something?"

They turned to us surprised. Tanith winked at me.

"Ah, Skulduggery and Valkyrie! Please sit down. No, we were just having some tea," said China giving us a dazzling smile.

I sat down heavily on the chair and put my bag down while Skulduggery kept standing and leaned against the wall.

Fletcher turned to me raised his brows. "Hey, what's up? You look knackered."

I gave out a quiet moan.

"Driving?" asked Ghastly.

I moaned louder.

"Ah," he said, as if he understood everything.

"Valkyrie + Driving = Dangerous," muttered Skulduggery. I gave him a glare.

Suddenly, a loud bang and an "Ouch!" came from upstairs followed by some colourful swearing. We all looked up.

"Who's that?" asked Tanith biting off a doughnut.

"Oh, that's a "strange" visitor I had last night. She came knocking at my door well past midnight asking for a place to stay," explained China.

I turned to Fletcher since he was staying here too, but he just shrugged.

"I didn't see her at breakfast. She left before I woke up, and has been away all morning. I only saw a glimpse of blue or black when she came back an hour ago, but not properly 'cause I was sitting at the far end of the library."

"Her name is strange," began China.

"Oh that's fine," Skulduggery said. "I mean we've all got strange names. Like I'm Skulduggery and Ghastly is…well Ghastly!"

Ghastly gave him a look and I smiled.

"Not I mean her name is Strange!" China snapped. "Electra Strange."

Electra Strange, I thought. Why does that ring a bell?

The clack, clack of footsteps hitting wooden floor boards, interrupted my thoughts. A figure walked down the stairs and came to halt at the bottom. A girl stood there tapping away furiously at her cell phone. She suddenly froze and looked up and blinked.

Holy smoke! It was Miss. Strange! From the sanctuary.

She looked way different than before, more girl than woman. Instead of the suite, she wore a black velvety top which went all the way down to the middle of her thighs, light blue jeans and black Ugg boots over the top. Her hair was no longer in a bun, and instead it was out and was swaying around her shoulders. Her streaks were still there, though.

"Er…hello?!" she said uncertainly.

We stared at each other until China broke the silence. "Miss. Strange-," she began.

"Electra, please," Electra replied.

"Well Electra," China began again. "Are you well rested?"

"Oh yeah. I had a long nap at my friends place," she said. She then finally caught sight of me and raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Hey!"

"Hi," I said back awkwardly. We smiled and nodded awkwardly at each other.

"Where is the wacky skeleton Dude? Mr. Pleasant, right? Is he here?" she asked looking around.

Skulduggery stepped out of the shadows and tilted his head at her. "Wacky skeleton dude?" he asked.

Electra shrugged and smiled sheeply.

"Electra, would you like something to eat?" China asked gesturing to the table of snacks.

"Oh that's okay, I'm fine-Hey is that a doughnut?" she said as she reached for one. A huge grin appeared on her face as she took a bite. "I love doughnuts! There just all sugar and happiness, ya know?" she said as she kept munching.

She really wasn't "Miss. Strange" the polite, any more.

"Please sit down," China smiled.

Electra grabbed a chair and swung it backwards as she sat down so the back of the chair was facing the table.

"Well Electra, let me introduce you to Ghastly Bespoke, Tanith Low and Fletcher Crane," China said.

"Hiya!" Electra said to everyone.

"So Electra, could you tell us a bit about yourself?" asked Tanith standing up straighter.

"Well you know my name, I came to China's," said Electra nodding at China. "With my best friend Phantom-"

"Phantom?" asked China, suddenly alert.

"Yeah, he is my rat," she explained.

"Rat?" yelped China springing to her feet and banging into Tanith behind her, almost spilling her tea.

"Oh don't worry! He is not an actual rat!" Electra said hurriedly. "He is a phantom in the form of a rat!"

Like that's supposed to make her feel better.

"Well, wh- where is he?" China quivered as she sat back down. "In his cage?"

Electra snorted. "Of course not! He is right here!" she said pointing no her neck.

We all peered closely at her neck and a second later, a little white nose peeped out from behind her neck, curtained by her hair. Then, slowly, a face poked out and then a body and then a tail.

I couldn't resist it. I let out an "Awww!"

Electra smiled and put her hand near "Phantom" and he jumped on. Finally out of the dark, Phantom rubbed his head with his paws. Looking more closely, he was completely white with weird black marks here and there. He had large, slanted, black eyes and two large ears though one was a bit bitten of the edge.

China yelped again.

I turned to Skulduggery who, to my surprise, was right there beside my head. A tingly feeling shot through me and fought the urge to "accidentally" nudge my head against his.

"What's a phantom?" I asked Skulduggery, turning my head the other way so he wouldn't see me blush.

"Ah, well a phantom, is a spirit of a dead person, especially those who have been murdered unfairly, that hasn't been at rest," he said straightening up. "Usually a phantom haunts a particular territory where the death took place and causes a lot of havoc, until someone comes and either frees the phantom, binders it into an animal form or puts it to force rest."

"So you bound this phantom? Nice" murmured Tanith.

"Does it have a name?" asked Fletcher.

"Er…well," Electra started, "His does have a real name,…it's…um…Sheldon."

We all became silent and then Tanith burst out laughing.

"Ahaha! SHELDON! Ha!" she practically shrieked. One by one we all started to laugh and by now Tanith was nearly on her knees. Even China cracked a smile but unlike Tanith, she remained her posture.

Electra was using all the energy she could muster to hold in her laugh. The phantom was the only person who didn't seem to find it funny. In fact he twitched his nose angrily.

"No of course it's not a bad name!" Electra said hurriedly to the Phantom. "Tanith just has a…erm…health issue where her…uh, rib bone becomes dislodged and uh…tickles her?"

We stared at Electra as if she was insane! I mean seriously, a rib bone! Blimey, she was worse at excuses than me!

Electra shot Tanith a look and she tried to stifle her laughter failing miserably.

"Anyway," Electra continued, "I'd prefer if you just call him Phantom. He doesn't seem to mind either. Anyhoo, what else? Er…I'm 19. I've no idea where I come from. My favorite food is anything chocolate or anything else with lots of caffeine. Oh and I'm a coffee addict. I'm allergic to-"

"Why don't you tell us why you're here?" Ghastly interrupted.

"Oh, well um… for a place to stay?"

We gave her the "that load of crap doesn't fool me" look.

"Nice warm hospitality…"

We kept "looking".

"Oh fine!" she grumbled. "I've come looking for a mentor to help me control my powers."

"Oh well that shouldn't be a problem," Ghastly smiled. "Are you an elemental or adept?"

"Neither," she replied.

"Oh, er…necromancer?"

"Nope. Actually I control, well…electricity."