Okay, heres the next chapter, i hope you've been as impatient as I would have been.

So I feel the need to give you a warning, this chapter is going to be very graphic and m rated, and not in a very pleasant way.

I get the feeling most of you will hate me by the end of it, but it's nesecary.

Read and review please

When Valkyrie woke the first thing she felt was a sharp pain in her ribs and a throbbing headache that threatened to make her pass out again. But her natural instinct for self-preservation made her fight it off and slowly she became more aware of her situation. Her wrists ached and she soon realised it was because there was thick chains around her wrists, and she was dangling from the roof of whatever room she was in. She could feel the hard wall against her back, and was at least grateful that she wasn't hanging in the middle of the room.

She shifted her fingers and wrapped them around the cold chains, trying to take some pressure off her wrists, but the strain on her ribs shot pain through her chest. She slowly opened her eyes, and was suddenly grateful she was in a dark room. There was a single light bulb hanging from the roof in the middle of the room, and there was no light coming from it. There was a small amount of light coming through the window on the wall on the left, and with the help of this light she could see that the room was average size, and empty except for herself and a chair directly across the room from her, a chair that was occupied. Skulduggery sat limply in the chair, his suit torn on the right sleeve and his head hung low, as though in defeat.

"Skulduggery?" His head shot up to look at her, and he sat up in the chair, tugging at the heavy looking metal circles holding his thin arms to the chair. From what she could see there was also leather straps across his arms and legs, keeping him still in the wooden chair.

"Valkyrie, are your hurt?" He asked quickly, tugging harder, although she could see he wasn't going to get away. He was too firmly bound, and she knew that the cuffs would be binding his magic. Only an idiot would take Skulduggery hostage and let him keep his magic.

She winced and braced her feet against the floor properly and leaned back against the wall so that she was standing instead of hanging. Her hands were directly above her head, and she couldn't get them any lower than they were. "I'm alright." She answered, looking at the chains as she tugged on them experimentally, trying to get her hands free. "I think one of my ribs is cracked, or broken, and I have a headache." She tried sliding her hands through the chains but that didn't work either. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you? What happened?"

"Someone snuck up on me while I was meditating." He answered, clicking his fingers, trying to summon a flame. "They cuffed me before I could fight them off. I heard someone in your room and ran in but you weren't in there. Whoever cuffed me got me from behind and we got in a fight. I had hoped they hadn't got you, but when they dragged me out of the room… I saw Sanguine kicking you." He went quite for a moment, and Valkyrie thought he was probably punishing himself for not being able to help her. "The blindfolded me and threw me in the back seat of a car. When Sanguine threw you in you were unconscious. The brought us straight here and chained us up. You've been unconscious for a whole day."

She growled under her breathe and tugged harder on the chains, ignoring the pain shooting through her chest. She spun and braced her feet against the wall, dangling from her hands again. She tugged hard, her wrists going numb from the lack of blood flow being let through as she tried desperately to escape.

"Now, is that any way to treat my hospitality?"

"Sanguine!" Valkyrie and Skulduggery said at the same time. She spun back to see him standing in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest and a cocky grin on his face. "Let us go now, and I will only hurt you a little." Skulduggery said calmly. "Torturing me will get you nowhere, so I don't see the point in keeping us here." Valkyire felt her body go cold, Skulduggery hadn't figured it out yet, he hadn't realised that Sanguine was going to torture her. Of course, she was in the perfect position to watch if he tortured Skulduggery, and maybe that was why he had thought Sanguine was going to torture him.

"Skulduggery." She said her eyes on him. They were not pleading for help, or pity, she was just urging him to understand. She didn't want him to go through this, not after he already had to watch his family die at the hands of another. She tried to tell him with her eyes that she would be okay, that everything would be okay, but she couldn't help it, she was scared, and Skulduggery could see it.

"No." He said, turning to stare at Sanguine. "You listen to me Sanguine; you do not lay a finger on her! If you touch her I will kill you, do you understand me?" Sanguine chuckled and walked across the room towards her, his stride slow, like he had all the time in the world. She tried to kick out at him but she was weak and in pain, and he easily batted her foot aside. "Get away from her!" Skulduggery said, louder now, leaning forward in his chair, pulling desperately on his restraints.

"Oh I don't think so Mr Pleasant, see, I' been paid to do a job, and that job is torturin' you. See now, I asked round, tried to figure out what would hurt you the most, and every person told me that this girly here was your vulnerable spot." He paused to chuckle. "And heck, I ain't gonna' turn down a chance to torture Valkyrie Cain, not after all the trouble she's caused me."

Valkyrie spat at his face, but it didn't take the smile away. He reached up and wiped his face clean with his sleeve. She held her head high and looked at Skulduggery for a moment, although it was hard to tell because he had no eyes, she thought he was looking at her. She smiled weakly before turning back to the cocky American. "When we get out of here, Skulduggery won't kill you, because I'll do it myself, with your own razor."

He laughed, and in one swift movement swung a hard punch at her face. Her head was forced back against the wall, and she resisted the urge to make any noise. She glared at him and spat blood from her now split lip. He punched her again, this time in the stomach and she doubled over as much as she could, her breath rushing from her lungs, pain coursing through her. He laughed ecstatically and began punching her over and over, in the stomach, in the face, in the ribs. She gritted her teeth, grunting in pain with every hit, though she did her best to stay quiet. Skulduggery was yelling now, but she couldn't hear what she was saying, she was too busy trying to keep out the pain.

Eventually he stopped and she had a chance to spit out another mouthful of blood. She panted heavily, glaring at Sanguine defiantly, determined not to give in to him that easily, despite the intense pain rushing through her entire system. "I will kill you for this Sanguine!" Skulduggery roared. "I don't care what she says; I am going to kill you! And I will make you feel more pain then you could ever imagine!"

Billy Ray turned away from Skulduggery, ignoring him, and looked Valkyrie. He was wearing his sunglasses, so it was hard to tell, but by the small movements of his head, she knew he was looking her up and down. "So the punching isn't enough yet is it?" He smirked and reached out, grabbing the front of her shirt. In one swift movement he tore open the whole front of her shirt, exposing her pale stomach and the lacy black bra holding her breasts in place. She felt her face heat up, and probably the top of her chest as well, from the embarrassment of having the two men see her like this.

"Looks like I'm going to have to work a little harder then." He pulled out his straight razor and cut away the rest of her shirt, leaving her top half properly exposed. Valkyrie's chest wasn't big, and she knew that it probably wasn't going to get any bigger, but the bra was specifically designed to push up what little she did have and make it look a little bigger and more tempting. She suddenly regretted wearing it. Before she knew what he was doing, Sanguine drew the sharp blade along the top of her stomach, from one side to the other, similar to the wound she had inflicted upon him a few years before. She couldn't help herself; she cried out in pain and jerked away from him, a few tears developing in her eyes. Her body would be scarred forever now.

Sanguine sighed. "Finally." He looked at the wound he had just inflicted, her red blood running down her stomach. "How perfect."

"You'll be okay Valkyrie, don't worry, I'll get us out of this. We'll take you to the sanctuary doctors, see what we can do about the scar. Be brave." She looked at Skulduggery and nodded, keeping her eyes on him she felt the blade dragging across the top of her arm, the sharp and stinging pain coursing through her whole arm. She whimpered but didn't look away from Skulduggery. Her stomach and arm hurt so bad, but she didn't want him to know just how much, and if she looked away she knew she'd show her pain. Warm blood now ran down her arm as well as her stomach.

"I hate you." She whispered to Sanguine. "I hope he makes you beg for death. And I want to be there when he does."

"I hate you too, but aren't we having fun?" He grabbed her hair and tugged her head back hard, forcing her eyes to move away from Skulduggery to him. "By the time I'm done with you, you won't want to do anything other than die. I'm going to break you." He let go of her hair and stepped back to look her over. "That wounds going to scar good, such a shame too, you grew into a pretty thing, so much potential, and yet you wasted all your time with a dead man." He shook his head and stepped closer again. "But I unlike him can appreciate a nice feminine figure when I see one. He's not a man anymore, he doesn't see it."

In a flash he cut down one side of her pants, leaving them hanging loosely. He moved slowly to her other side and cut there too, the remains of her pants falling to the floor, now useless, and leaving her fully exposed and even more disturbed then before. "I figured out the best way to torture both of you." He said, pressing her against the wall. "It's not pain, no, you feel that too much, you're too accustomed to it." He dragged the razor across the opposite arm, giving her a matching cut. "You'd just take it and walk away the same, no, see it took me a long time, but I finally figured it out." He chuckled, "and it turns out I like the new idea a whole lot."

Questions were running through her head as she tried to figure it out, but her question was soon answered. He slid the razor under her bra straps and cut them both, the bra now staying in place only by luck. She stared at him in horror, not able to speak.

"I'm going to destroy you in the most effective way possible, I'm going to take away your innocence, and I'm going to do it in front of him." He grinned and pointed at Skulduggery who had gone still, his fingers clenched into tight fists on the arms of the chair. She looked at him hopelessly before she looked away, unable to keep her eyes on him anymore. She pulled against the chains, thrashing, desperate to get free. She could feel her bra slipping down but she didn't care, she just needed to get away. She'd been okay before this, she could have taken the beating, but not this, she couldn't let him touch her.

She felt his fingers close around the bra and he tore it from her body, exposing her chest to the cold air. She turned her head away and felt tears leak from her eyes. "Please." She begged, feeling pathetic as the word left her mouth. "Please, don't. Please…" He laughed at her, loud and happy, obviously finding pleasure in her begging.

He pushed her against the wall roughly, his hands on her chest, his fingers squeezing her breasts. She whimpered and tried to pull away, but she couldn't get free.

"Oh god, Valkyrie, I'm so sorry Valkyrie." She could hear skulduggery, hear the regret and pain in his voice, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She tugged half-heartedly on the chains again, though she knew she wasn't going to get free. Sanguine chuckled, moving closer to press his body against hers, his fingers fondling her, squeezing and massaging her. She felt like she was going to be sick, but she couldn't do anything to get away, she couldn't find the strength, she knew what he was doing, and she knew she couldn't stop him.

Soon he seemed to grow bored of this he began running his fingers over her body, touching her, feeling her, his fingers running through the blood on her stomach as though it wasn't there. "I'm going to enjoy playing with you Cain." He said, his accent sickening her. She sobbed as he reached down and cut her underwear off, pulling away the thin fabric, and now exposing her fully. She felt so ashamed and embarrassed. And more than anything, dirty.

"Sanguine, stop, please stop. You have me, you don't need to do this to her. I won't fight, just let her go, let her go and you can do anything you want with me, just don't do this." Sanguine shook his head at Skulduggery's attempts to stop him. "She's just a girl!" He roared.

He dropped his straight razor and used his left arm to hold her against the wall. He didn't have his pants undone, so she knew that for now, she wasn't going to be raped, but she had no idea what he was going to do now, and she was scared. "She ain't no girl detective. She's a lady who's been asking for trouble, and it's finally caught up with her." With a smirk he slid his hand down her stomach and between her legs. She felt her chest speed up with fear and she did her best to struggle against his arm.

Suddenly she felt his finger force its way inside her, and she screamed, the worst pain she had ever felt shooting through her, but she knew it was going to get worse. He was only just starting.

"Your screams are like music to my ear." He said, leaning forward to bite her on the shoulder. She jerked away from the bite, but that shifted his finger inside her and caused her to cry out in agony and shame. He took this moment to force another of his fingers inside her, making her feel like he was tearing her apart.

"God stop, please stop, it hurts." She sobbed, her eyes closed and she shook her head, trying to escape the pain and shame coursing through her body. This was supposed to feel good, she knew that the first time was meant to hurt, and he wasn't even having sex with her yet, but she didn't realise it would hurt this much. She knew it was bad because she didn't want it and he hadn't prepared her, but how could it be this bad?

Skulduggery was saying something, but she lost her ability to understand as Sanguine slid his fingers out and shoved them back in roughly. She could feel that she was bleeding now, she didn't know if it was normal or not, but she didn't ask, instead she bit her lip and tried to block out the pain he was causing her. "Valkyrie, you're nice and tight, so you didn't let the little teleporter get in did you?" He teased, his hand moving at a steady rhythm now, burying his fingers deep inside her before pulling them out and then back in again.

She glared at him through her tears. "No, I'm not surprised, everybody knows he's not the man you want is he." She spat at him but didn't struggle, knowing it would cause her more pain.

"Shut your dirty mouth." She snarled, the pain taking away any threat in her voice. Skulduggery sat helplessly in his chair, tugging at the cuffs keeping him from saving her. "You don't know anything!"

He laughed and leaned close to her ear. "Everyone can see it. You love the dead man." He leaned back and smirked. "How sad for you, it's pathetic; falling for the man you know you can't have. He doesn't love you back you know, everyone can see it."

"Shut up!" She screamed. He laughed and shifted his hand. She didn't have the energy to cry out and just whimpered as the fingers hurt her more.

"If only you'd accepted he'd never love you, maybe then you'd have given yourself to the teleporter, and then this wouldn't be hurting as much."

He slid his thumb up from her torn and bleeding hole and she gasped as he pressed it against something further up. Her face heated up and she turned her head to hide it. God she was in so much pain, but what he had just done, it had surprised her, but it didn't hurt. "Hmm, starting to like it are you Valkyrie, I always knew you'd be one for pain. Kinky."

She stared at him in horror, but she didn't have a chance to even try to say anything back because he did it again, rubbing his thumb against something sensitive, something that forced a little bit of pleasure through the pain. She made a small noise and gripped the chains tighter, biting her bottom lip to stop anymore noises from slipping out.

"Sanguine what are you doing, leave her alone, stop touching her! Haven't you hurt her enough? Why do you have to find more ways to hurt her?" She could hear the pain in his voice from what he was being forced to watch. And knowing Skulduggery he was blaming himself.

"Oh I'm not hurting her more, am I Val?" He asked cockily, using her nickname as he rubbed her some more, his fingers still moving inside her. She could feel the pleasure through the pain and whimpered, trying to move away, hating herself for what he was making her feel. Wriggling hurt her and she whimpered, but a quick movement of his thumb turned the whimper into a small moan. She stopped herself and sobbed, trying to move from Skulduggery's view as tears flooded down her face. How could she be feeling pleasure from this? What was wrong with her?

"You're sick." Skulduggery snarled viciously. "You're sick; you haven't taken enough from her? Now you have to play with her too?" He yelled angrily, and she could hear him trying to get out of the chair. She was so embarrassed, this was worse than just the pain. Now she had to deal with the agony he had already inflicted, plus the shame from the pleasure he was now somehow giving her.

He did this a few more times before he moved his thumb away and with a sick laugh he forced yet another finger inside her, shoving it in roughly. She screamed yet again, yanking on the chains with all of her strength that she had left, thrashing and trying to head butt him, but it was no use, he stayed out of range and twisted his fingers until she stopped from the extra pain he was inflicting.

Her legs couldn't hold her up anymore, and they dropped from beneath her, leaving her hanging from the chains again. She hung her but made no more attempts to escape from Sanguine. It was over, she had full control, and she no longer had the will to try and fight back. She just couldn't do it.

As soon she did this Sanguine smirked and pulled his fingers out of her. They were covered in blood. He pulled a tissue from his shirt pocket and wiped them clean. The was a bulge in the front of his pants, but other than that he seemed disinterested in what had just happened. He was aroused, so Valkyrie had no idea why he hadn't raped her, but she didn't ask, she didn't want to give him ideas. "I think my job is done for now." He said proudly in that sickening accent.

She didn't look up at him as he reached up and undid her chains. As soon as they left her wrist she dropped to the ground, not having the strength or willpower to keep herself on her feet. She slumped to the side and pulled her legs up and hugged her knees. She was covered in blood, she could see it and smell it, but she didn't care. She hardly noticed how cold the room was, or the pain she was in, she just closed her eyes tightly, trying to will herself away from the things she had suffered since waking up.

"Well, now that I'm done for the day, I think I might go take care of myself now."

"I'm going to kill."

"You can't even escape dead man, how you planning' on killin me?"

"I'm going to kill you." Skulduggery repeated, his voice was low, quiet, but filled with more rage than Valkyrie had ever heard. "And it's going to be slow, and painful. I am going to make you pay for what you did to her."

"Whatever, first I'd like to see you get out of that chair." Before Skulduggery could say another word she heard the door close and she knew that Sanguine had left. She couldn't bring herself to look at Skulduggery, she just couldn't, not after what Sanguine had done to her. He'd hurt her and violated her, and forced her to feel things she didn't want to feel from him. She was disgusting. She had wandered why he had left her off the chains when that meant she could easily undo Skulduggery, but now she knew why, he had broken her, just like he said he would, and now she didn't even have it in her to release Skulduggery, the man she loved.

She cried silently, curling into a tighter ball, and Skulduggery stayed quiet. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew what she was doing was stupid, she needed to get up and help Skulduggery. She knew that if she helped him get out of the chair he would help her; he would take care of her, take her home and make sure she was safe. But how could she get up and face him after that? Sanguine had done that on purpose, he knew it would break her, and he was so confident he unchained her.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered quietly in the silent room, his voice carrying over to her. "This is my fault, it's my fault he hurt you like this." She heard a cracking noise that sounded like wood splintering, and she glanced just past her knees to see Skulduggery gripping the arms of the chair so hard that cracks were appearing in the wood. He wasn't strong enough to break it, not while strapped down, but even just the cracks showed the emotions he was feeling.

"Valkyrie, I know you're in pain, and you're embarrassed, but I need you to come and unchain me. I need to get you out of here. Sanguine is going to come back, and he is going to do worse things if I don't get you out of here. Please Valkyrie, It's not far. You're doing exactly what he wanted you to do. That's why he unchained you, to prove that he broke you."

She sniffed but made no attempts to move or speak. "The Valkyrie I know wouldn't let herself be broken. I know you Valkyrie Cain, you won't let him beat you like this will you?" He sighed quietly and dropped his head, moving his fingers from the arms of the chair and clenching his fists. "You're not just Valkyrie Cain to me, your Stephanie Edgley, the 12 year old girl who demanded that I bring her into the dangerous world of magic, the girl who faces danger even when it scares her, who protects and saves the world and her family, even though nobody ever knows. Are you, Stephanie Edgley, Valkyrie Cain, going to let a low life scum like Sanguine beat you?"

Valkyrie knew what Skulduggery was doing, he was good at this, making impressive speeches that convince people to do the things he wants them to. She'd seen him do it before, and she knew it well enough to recognise it now. But that was the thing about Skulduggery, he never said anything that was directly untrue when he spoke like this to her, and she knew that everything he was saying made sense, even if he was saying it to make her get up. He was trying to fuel her anger and Sanguine, and her pride, to give her enough strength to save them when he couldn't.

She lifted her head, keeping her eyes on the floor. He was right. She knew he was right. She couldn't stay here and let this happen. She had a family, her mother and father, and her little sister, she couldn't just disappear, so they'd have no idea what happened to her. She pushed herself up and whimpered at the pain, but did her best to ignore it as she crawled across the room and stopped in front of Skulduggery, still not looking at him. She could hardly care that she was naked now. She was still embarrassed by it, but it was nowhere near as bad as the other things she was feeling, the shame and the dirtiness.

She slowly reached out and undid his right hand slowly, pulling off the metal cuff before she got to work on the many leather straps holding down the arm. As soon as it was loose enough for him to pull it free he did, and she sat back, unable to hold herself up any longer. He undid his other arm and then his legs, one by one, his long fingers moving quickly and expertly, never fumbling, doing exactly what was necessary to save them.

Once he was free he dropped from the chair onto his knees in front of her, pulling her gently into his arms. She winced but didn't pull away, just let him hold her against his hard body. She could feel his ribs and the bones in his arms, and it was somehow comforting. He wasn't the same as Sanguine, he wouldn't hurt her. She sobbed into his shoulder and clutched him as tightly as she could with her weak arms. She couldn't help the tears that flowed, she'd always hated crying in front of Skulduggery, and she still remembered the time when she'd had her tooth knocked out by Sanguine and cried. He'd stepped back like she had stung him. He didn't now though, he just held her, not speaking, not moving, just holding her.

To soon however he had to pull away and stand up. He walked to the door and opened it, looking out into the dark hallway. When he seemed satisfied with what he saw he walked back over, pulling of his torn jacket as he came. He draped it over her shoulders and then very gently and slowly, pulled her into her arms and picked her up. She groaned in pain. The wound on her arms and stomach were still bleeding, and she suspected she was still bleeding downstairs too. Her chest ached and it hurt to breathe, and she knew for sure now that her rib was broken. He went to take a step and she clenched her fingers in his shirt, the movement jarring her body and causing her pain.

He stopped and the lifted off the ground and started flying down the hallway. The wind was cold, but Skulduggery's jacket helped to keeo the worst of it away, and it at least covered some of her body. She didn't know how he knew where they were going, but soon they were outside and flying above the city, drops of her blood falling behind them as they left them behind, flying towards Gordon's house. The window to her room was broken, and her brought them in through there, laying her gently on the bed and pulling the curtains across the window to keep out the breeze.

He pulled the blanket over her and sat next to her. It was clear to her that he had no idea how to react or what to do. He rested a hand gently on her shoulder and he looked down at her. She knew she was still bleeding, but she didn't think it was as bad anymore, at least slowing down. He pulled out his phone and started speaking quietly, asking whoever was on the other end to come over.

"No, I can't tell you." He said. "Because I can't. Please just come, it's quite urgent. She needs you." It was quiet for a moment as the other person spoke. "She's hurt, and I can't help her… no… no I can't…. good, get here as soon as you can."

He hung up and slid the phone into his pocket. "Tanith is coming Valkyrie. She'll take care of you." He rested his long, gloved fingers in her hair, and she lay silently, waiting for Tanith to get there and help her with her pain.

Was I right? do you hate me? kay I can explain

Firstly, Sanguine is trying to get to Skulduggery first, and there would be no pointin torturing him phsycaly, because he's been tortured by the faceless ones for 11 months. Nothing Sanguine does is going to compare.

Secondly, he's also trying to get back at Valkyrie, and I mean, think about it, she gets beat up every day, beating her up isnt going to break her, she'll just heal up and go on with her life. So it's only logical that this would be the one true way to break her. And I mean, Skulduggery may seem calm, but just think about how guilty he must be feeling right now, after watching his best friend get almost raped in front of him, and know its his fault.

So yeah, thats my logic, Im sure I could come up with more brilliant and completely amazing reasons but I simply cannot be bothered.

So please review, the more reviews I get the sooner I get up the next chapter. And the closer you all get to Valduggery.