Chapter Eight
Trapped
When Valkyrie woke up all she saw was darkness and when she finally became conscious enough, she felt she was on some vehicle, bumping across the road.
She tried to raise her head, but suddenly her forehead stroke something hard above her. Valkyrie spread out her tied arms and legs and found out she had limited movement, and her blood ran cold through her body.
She was trapped in the boot of the Bentley.
She screamed and struggled in the boot. Her throat was aching after the chloroform and the driver or anyone who passed the car could scarcely hear her desperate cry. Then she realised of something even worse.
How long had she been here? How much oxygen was there left until Sanguine finally brought her where he wanted to go?
When she had been laying in the dark for further troubled minutes she felt the car slow down in speed. She was sure, but she didn't dare to bring her hopes up. Then a faint, white crack of light appeared at the side of her, and the door of the boot swung open. The cool, welcoming air touched her face and she gulped it in thankfully. She couldn't see Sanguine as he was completely in shadow as he blocked the light. Valkyrie saw the stars in the sky beyond him and cried.
It was night! Her parents would be worried sick about her. And what about Lorcan? Would he notice she was missing, that she needed help? Before she could say anything, Sanguine, with his brown leather jacket back on, his cowboy boots and the Stetson, he reached down at her and viciously grabbed a chunk of her hair.
With that, he pulled her up and dropped her on to the hard, tough ground. Whilst all this Valkyrie kept screaming and struggling. Sanguine started laughing.
"Scream all you want lil' lady, but no one could hear you from miles around."
He kept on his usual sunglasses even at this time of night, as it disguise the horrific fact that he had no eyeballs. He left Valkyrie kneeling against the back corner of the car to breathe and stretch. Valkyrie looked at him with complete loathing.
"So, you finally came back to fulfil your promise." Her voice was small and faint, but she didn't care.
"Oh, Valkyrie, you don't know how much I've been looking forward to this. But I'm afraid I'm going to finish this little cat and mouse chase we have."
Before he walked towards her, about to drag her away again, she wanted to find out something first. If she was going to die tonight, it wouldn't really matter, but if she somehow got away, then that would be a bonus after she manages to get away from Sanguine's clutches a second time.
"Before you kill me, I want to know who you've been working for."
She asked this quickly as Sanguine's hands were only inches away from her scalp.
Gratefully, he dropped his hand, considering her question. He moved his head to the side, scrutinising her with empty eyes.
"Why shall I tell you?" His deep Texan accent echoed around Valkyrie. Since she came out, she noticed that they were in a clearing of a wood. By the density of the trees, she figured they were deep in.
She gulped before she answered hoarsely.
"If you're going to kill me, I want to know why and who sent you to kill me."
He smiled crookedly at her, mockingly.
"I'm not being paid for this. This is particularly my will and pleasure to finish you off, girl."
"Yes, but before? The real people you were working with when you pulled the wool over Vengeous eyes. Now, who could be possible to do that, I wonder?"
Valkyrie shifted her feet and her hands to decrease the pressure of the ropes around her wrists and ankles. Sanguine had made it very tight, so to be sure she wouldn't slip away. She waited for Sanguine for an answer.
"I certainly wasn't working for the Vengeous guy, but he sure heck gave me lotta cash to get rid of you and that skeleton."
"Yes, but who were you really working for?" She insisted.
Sanguine raised his eyebrow. "Why do you wanna know?"
Valkyrie shrugged.
"Dying wish." she answered simply as that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Alright, I'll tell ya." he went on his knees and knelt towards Valkyrie. She tried to move away from him, but he was so close to her that she couldn't move. He was right next to her right ear.
"The people I am working for is The Diablerie."
Then a roaring sound of a motorbike. It was heard coming closer, alarmingly closer.
Sanguine rose from Valkyrie's side and tried to find where the sound was coming from. When he took all his attention away from Valkyrie, she hurried out of the ropes by setting fire to it by her hands. She quickly burnt the ropes away from her wrists and ankles without burning herself.
She saw the motorbike now. Black and lean like a Panther, as it was driven professionally through the dense trunks without crashing in to one. It was coming closer, and it was going at such a speed that it looked like it wasn't even going to stop after it had driven over the both of them.
Sanguine stood up, alarmed and looked as if he was going to embrace the bike coming head on to him, but when it was only meters away, it skidded to a halt.
Valkyrie dragged herself up from the ground, helped by the corner of the back of the car to her feet and almost collapsed as her legs gave way underneath her, as they were incredibly numb. When she got her balance, she stared back in astonishment that the bike had stopped and was facing Sanguine. The person sitting in the bike was tall, slender but muscular, and dressed in brown leather. Valkyrie knew whom the bike belonged to, and with a stab of hope, she started smiling gratefully.
The driver still sat in the seat and removed the helmet. Her long, blond hair streamed out and she waved it loose.
"Tanith!" Valkyrie screamed thankfully. Mistakenly, Valkyrie tried to run across to Tanith Low, as Sanguine was standing there, very dumb folded, but just when Valkyrie had passed him, he reached his arm out and aggressively grabbed Valkyrie by the shoulder and was taken back into his evil clutches.
"Well, well, well. Couldn't get enough of me eh, beautiful?"
Valkyrie struggled in his arms and tried to get out. She kicked, scratch and even conjured flames from her hands, but nothing would get him let go of her.
"Let go of her!" Tanith ordered. She came off her bike and with a swipe of her arm to the side; she held her sword out in front of her at Sanguine.
He smiled at the sword she held, almost in pity. Then he threw Valkyrie onto the ground, and took something out of his pocket.
When Valkyrie had sat up straight, she saw something that look like a Swiss Army Knife but when he pressed a button on the side of it, a long, slender razor-like sword stretched out in front of her eyes from the base.
"You see, before I had a small razor. But now we're square."
Tanith posed herself, smiling too. "But I will still kick your ass."
"We will see about that, pretty lady."
They approached each other, and Valkyrie warned Tanith not to be so cocky.
"It's okay Val, just leave him to me. I won't let him hurt you."
"But I'm worried about you!" Valkyrie exclaimed.
Tanith hissed at Valkyrie, not looking at her but keeping her eyes on Sanguine's.
"Not now, Valkyrie!"
She focused on Sanguine, both of them rotating around in a circle. Sanguine broke the tense silence.
"I've been hoping to see you again."
"Really? I don't usually get that compliment, because most people I've fought before, I never see them again." Her voice was hard, but playful.
Sanguine gazed at her and swooned, "God, you're beautiful."
"Do you really want to fight me if I'm that nice?" She questioned him, pausing in the circle a moment.
"Nah, because you need to tamed, need to be taught not to break men's hearts."
Tanith smiled, and started to circle with him again. She teased him. It was her plan to make him not concentrate and keep him talking.
"Like I did with you? Ah…" She tilted her head and pouted. She gripped her hilt and swung it towards Sanguine.
The action started before Valkyrie's eyes, and trying to help Tanith, she shot small fire sparks on to Sanguine's boots, so he skipped about frantically while trying to defend himself with his light-saber-like sword. Valkyrie laughed at the stupidity of him trying to dodge the small flames on the ground. Make him dance, she thought.
There was a clash of metal as the two swords collided. But Valkyrie had to admit that Sanguine was a skilled swordsman. He neatly dodges Tanith's quick strikes and put in some vicious attacks on Tanith too. But Valkyrie knew Tanith was talented and she wasn't doing her best yet by far.
When they had decided to cool it down for a while, as they both had been fighting for ten minutes none stop, Sanguine decided to ask Tanith something.
"I was wondering, about that date?"
"Ha, you wish!"
"Why not?" he asked annoyed. "I mean if I don't finish you off tonight, then what do you say?"
"That you would be finished tonight and because of that, we won't go out. And, besides, I like men with blue eyes."
Sanguine found this particularly funny. "Good one." he started swinging his sword over and under his arm. "But whose to say I didn't have blue eyes before?"
"Then I say, 'why aren't they in your head?'" And she copied him with her sword but done it much faster, in an attempt to threaten him.
"Shall we proceed?"
"Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough."
And with that, they charged towards each other brutally whilst Valkyrie stood up and tried to distract Billy-Ray on his steps. At least she was helping Tanith without actually being in the fight, Valkyrie thought.
Sanguine seemed even more possessed as he threw his sword almost amateur-like and without a sense of direction. Tanith jumped up, down and sideways, trying to dodge the razor sharp blade that threatened to cut her any second. Then, suddenly as Valkyrie shot a powerful gust of wind in the knees of Sanguine, he was knocked off balanced and skidded on the ground and he scraped the end of Tanith's sword in his shoulder. He cried and thudded on to the ground, blood coming out of his wound. He dropped his weapon and clutched his wound. However, to Valkyrie's surprise, he started laughing.
Tanith quickly snatched up his sword and stepped back cautiously, and then he said. "Looks like you win."
Tanith approached him, "Yeah, I do that. Will you surrender?"
"Now? We have just started to get to know each other. I think we'll meet again, pretty lady."
In addition, he turned to see Valkyrie standing few yards away from him. He gave a look of such hatred and hurled his body at her feet and attempted to grab her ankle as he disappeared in the dirt where he laid, but before he could pull her down with him, Tanith struck his occurring wrist with her blade, a deep graze prevented him, and he slivered back into the earth; where Valkyrie knew where he belonged.
Tanith came to Valkyrie and asked how she was.
"I'm fine." Then Valkyrie stopped and looked at Tanith Low. "I can't believe you're back!"
Then Valkyrie hugged her. However, surprisingly, Tanith did not break it but embraced it.
"Good to see you again buddy." She whispered.
Valkyrie and Tanith stopped hugging and Valkyrie thought about what had just happened, then she turned to the Bentley.
"Should we return this to Skulduggery?" She asked Tanith, but Tanith seemed to be getting a spare helmet out of her bike boot.
"We have to get out here, quickly, and on the bike!" She chucked the helmet to Valkyrie in an urgent manner. Valkyrie stood still, not knowing why it wouldn't be better to return in the comfortable car, but then again she loved going on the bike.
"Why?" she said, "We can't leave it in the middle of here, what if someone finds it?"
"They won't be able to find it because it won't be here."
Valkyrie put on the helmet confused and sat behind Tanith who was already starting the engine.
"It's got a bomb in it." Tanith answered her dumb folded thoughts.
"What!"
The motorbike zoomed out of the clearing, on the direction Tanith had come from before.
And answering Valkyrie's disbelief, behind came an explosion, and Valkyrie and Tanith felt pieces of debris falling on top of them and the heat of the flames just meters away from them.
Valkyrie felt Tanith increase the speed and Valkyrie clung on for dear life. She started to feel sad about the car. She loved that car, ever since she ever been in it and she knew too without a doubt that Skulduggery would be sad to have lost a car like that.
With Skulduggery popping into her mind, she yelled over the noise of the engine to ask Tanith, "Where is Skulduggery?"
But Tanith had not answered. She probably didn't hear, Valkyrie told herself. But she now couldn't help but trust the hollow of the pit of her stomach that something had happened to the detective.
Wind roared by Valkyrie's ears and her hands became icy cold when they were wrapped around Tanith's waist. Valkyrie enjoyed it as the bike dip in and out of the trees and Tanith found a dusty, even road in the middle of the woods, and the ride from then on was more gentler. Valkyrie let her mind wonder as Tanith drove on easily and quietly. She found herself incredibly tired. Perhaps the drugs were still in her body system, making her dizzy and woozy. But she still thought about Sanguine. Will he come back? Will he still think that he could try and kill Valkyrie a third time? Valkyrie sighed. Right now, all she wanted was to see Skulduggery. It was strange not seeing him today, very bizarre. Out of place. Valkyrie still felt that something terrible had happened to him, because he would never let his beloved car be taken by that cowboy assassin without a fight.
What about Lorcan? She completely had forgotten about him. Did he know what had happened to her? Did he phone the police? Valkyrie hoped he didn't, she didn't want her parents to freak, and she didn't want to explain tonight. If she did, she would have to reveal everything about the Sorcerers and Skulduggery Pleasant. She hoped Lorcan had returned safely. He hardly knew the place and was he far from home? And, the biggest issue yet. She had got the information the whole Sorcering councils wanted. She had found the missing link. The Diablerie were the people who planned something bigger. They were the people who wanted the Faceless Ones back for good, and they were invisible.
All these questions sprouted in her head like a beanstalk, that beanstalk just kept growing and growing, it soon made Valkyrie's eyelids drop, and she let her head fall to rest between Tanith's shoulder blades.
Lets take this time to remeber the awesome Bentley for a moment...sad days... :'(
Hope you enjoyed Sanguine's return...and also the return of TANITH LOW!!
please continue all you're awesome and much appreciated R&R's!! thanks sooo much! :)