I'm not... 100% happy with this one. I lost steam about halfway through.
The only character I own here is Clove Fitzpatrick, and the given name for Skulduggery was my idea. Might do a oneshot about that someday, too. Clove was a guardian for Skulduggery in his childhood years.
I forgot to reply to reviews for the first chapter, so let me get that done now.
Nina Sabrina: Aaw! Thanks!
MyNameIsClassified: Cool, thanks! I'm glad I got it right.
Youknowitknowit (aka LionsandTrolls, Mortis Mayhem): I... wow... thanks! I'm really happy that my writing fits into that super rare category, it means I'm doing something right. And yes, that was a good speech that makes up for the absence. Ooh! A cameo? Yayyy!
RapscallionJones (Guest): Thanks! Yeah, I think my incessant paranoia contributes to that XD
Okay, I'm done. Enjoy.
You're No Monster, I Promise
Clove Fitzpatrick was awoken by the ear-splitting sound of a child screaming in the middle of the night. The high-pitched shrieks grated against his ears and sent cold, distressing dread coursing through his chest.
"Veil!" Clove barked urgently, throwing the bedsheets off of himself and racing out of his bedroom, charging down the hallway and into Veil's room. "Veil, what happened?!"
His six-year-old charge was sat bolt upright in his bed, screeching like a rabid Banshee and clutching his scalp in a grip that almost tore out his hair. In the dim light of the room, Clove could see the faint glinting of the hot, salty tears that soaked the poor boy's face.
"Nia, what's wrong?" Clove asked, striding over to the bed and sitting down on the edge and carefully placing a hand on Veil's shoulder. Immediately, the violet-eyed child lunged at him and caught him in a grip of iron around his chest. Jeez, it actually hurt, too.
"I… I d-don't w-w-want to be a… a-a m-monster!" Veil sobbed into Clove's chest.
"Hey, whoa, what are you talking about?" Clove flustered; carefully prizing Veil's arms from around him and running a gentle hand through his charge's messy blond hair in an attempt to calm him down. "What happened?"
"I-I… I had a… a n-night… nightmare," Veil whimpered. "I… I-I was… was hurting everybody, and… a-and I liked it! Y-you were th-th-there, and… and y-you were tell… telling me to s-stop, but… but I d-didn't l-listen!"
Sympathy and horror immediately tugged at Clove's heart, and he gently cradled Veil closer to him.
"No, no, it's just a bad dream," he reassured. "You'd never do something like that. That's not you."
"P-promise y-y-you won't… w-won't let me d-do that? E-ever?" Veil begged.
"I promise. You are no monster. I promise."
Clove bit back a scream of agony as the shadows pierced his leg. He deserved this. He'd made a promise and he'd broken it. He'd failed.
"It's not your fault," he choked, ignoring the thick, coppery tang of blood in his mouth. "I-I should've kept my promise."
Veiled (such a bad pun, why did he have to do that in the worst of situations?) in shadow as he was, the armoured necromancer betrayed no emotions, but Clove liked to think that there was recognition and sorrow in his eyes.
Another spear of shadows was sent through Clove's hand, making him grimace. Everything hurt. There were corpses everywhere; they'd all been torn apart by shadows; blood soaked the sand crimson, swirled into the choppy ocean waves and stained the froth pink.
"Don't pretend you can't hear me," he reprimanded firmly, desperately trying to ignore just how impassive his attacker was. "Just know that I'm sorry, and… I forgive you for what's happened, because none of it was your fault."
Vile tilted his head to one side.
"You're no monster. I promise," Clove murmured as tears streamed from his face. "Remember that, Veil."
Ffffuuu... I don't like that ending, but I really just had to finish this thing, otherwise I wouldn't be feeling comfortable with writing anything else.