Alright I'm back, this chapter won't be so long so don't worry! Hope you like it!
Valkyrie lay in her bed awake until her digital clock read 3:27am. She rummaged through the rubbish that she had thrown around her head mentally, all the odd ends that she hadn't cleared up. Valkyrie had memories from three years ago thrown in with memories from yesterday. Valkyrie groaned as she turned over onto her side and then froze. She heard clack clack clacking behind her door, it took Valkyrie more time than it should have before she realised Skulduggery was awake, she frowned. What was Skulduggery doing on the top floor, sounded like he was pacing, but Skulduggery never paced. She groaned again and sat up, she stared at the wall in front of her for a minute or two, she could still hear the clacking of Skulduggery's bones. Light shone through her the blinds of her broken window. White, beautiful, winter light.
Behind the door Skulduggery walked back and forward as he'd been doing for the last hour and a half. The door opened Valkyrie all fresh came out of her room,
"Your pacing woke me up." She said flatly,
"Merry Christmas to you too." He said.
"Christmas was yesterday, todays boxing day."
"You know what else it is today?" Skulduggery would be smiling Valkyrie knew. Valkyrie shook her head, "Do you know what we have to do?" A horrible look of realisation struck across Valkyrie's face.
"Oh my God, you want to drag me on another case don't you? Ugh, you asshole."
The skeleton opened his arms a little "Merry Christmas."
"I hate you." Was the first thing Valkyrie said when the two detectives slipped into the Bentley,
"We have to do this today because we didn't do this yesterday."
"Skul, they would've cleared the body. We may as well relax." She groaned.
"You know Valkyrie there was a reason camera's were invented." Skulduggery said. They drove on in silence for three hours. Valkyrie had long called asleep by the time they had arrived.
When the young detective got out of the passenger seat of the Bentley she looked up she saw white snowed rolling hills and little white sheep grazing on what looked like snow, below her was a little ditch that she decided to ignore. Skulduggery was saying something that Valkyrie took no head of. She twisted around and looked up at the sky, not a patch of blue in sight. She looked beyond the sky she looked to the horizon, a clear dark sea. Valkyrie stepped back overwhelmed by the view. She gasped when the rock she had stepped on gave way under her weight, she stumbled into the ditch that she had ignored and pitied herself in the cold, grainy mud. Skulduggery who hadn't even realised Valkyrie's disappearance carried on saying whatever he had been saying.
"The town of Mayo, beautiful hills, wonderful weather, extravagant beaches and-"
"Skully I hate to break it to you but I'm not listening." The skeleton looked at his partner sitting arms crossed, crossed legged in the mud. He sighed and muttered,
"And ditches filled with mud." He helped her up and let her dust herself off.
"Skulduggery what are we doing here?" Valkyrie almost snapped as she snatched Skulduggery's hat from his skull. In a second Skulduggery had snatched his hat back and scowled Valkyrie for risking his disguise.
"We're here because this is where the case left us. We're staying in The Star Inn just down a little way from here." He said.
"Were staying in a pub?" Valkyrie made a face, "Will it be nice?" Skulduggery considered the question carefully.
"It will be loud." He said finally. Valkyrie sighed and rolled her eyes, "Back in," he opened the passenger door to the Bentley, that was just a fresh air break. We only have to drive five minutes so don't go back to sleep."
The pub was a tall tudor looking house made with a thick thatched roof and dark wooden beams against heavily painted white walls. A sign hung from the doorway, it read simply The Star Inn with a silvery star painted on the wood. Skulduggery brought a dark brown leather bag out of the back of the car with the initials S.P printed on in faded black. Valkyrie spun around to face him.
"Skulduggery," She said with urgency, "I didn't pack!" Valkyrie ran her fingers through her hair with anxiety. Skulduggery face-palmed himself.
"You can go to a mall just down the road from here and get some stuff." He activated his façade before walking into the entrance.
Inside the bar was horrific. There was a terrible stench of vinegar that lingered around the round beverage-stained tables. The chairs we no more than small stools all different kinds and sizes. There was drunken singing, men sat around tables playing poker and just sitting in anticipation to witness who would be the next champion of arm wrestling. Three men at the far end of the bar were throwing punches at each other and cursing loudly. An old man in the corner near a staircase leading upstairs was playing a jumpy tune on the piano, as if his fingertips were actually jumping from key to key. It somehow reminded Valkyrie of Scrapegrace's pub. Skulduggery walked right past all the commotion to the bar, he called over what would be a pretty woman with her blonde hair tied loosely in a bun with a hair net, the woman looked so tired, so grey like she'd never been out of Mayo.
Skulduggery leaned against the bar table, Valkyrie quickly hurried after him.
The woman smiled "Heya, the names Whitney. Ya rooms right upstairs." She had a deep and sexy but soft voice and an accent that reminded Valkyrie of a certain Texan.
Whitney lead the two detectives up the stairs by the piano man to a dark wooden door. She bent over and pushed an old brass key into the lock of the door why is everything so old here? Valkyrie kept asking herself. Whitney smiled with relief when the door clicked open. Inside the room was a small round table, coved in different kinds of beverage just as the one downstairs had been. There was a large window with one curtain that only covered 3/4 of the window, opposite the window was one double bed. There was a single lamp hanging over the middle of the room activated by a brown thread pull switch. Whitney put the key down on the round table by the window and moved to the door frame. She grinned,
"And if you ever need anything mister, anything at all I'm right next-door." She winked before shutting the door behind her.
Valkyrie put here hands on her hips and cocked her head,
"You can't be bloody serious."
Next chapters coming up! Please leave reveiws! This is going to be fun to write. I know it.