SKULDUGGERY WON THE IRISH BOOK OF THE DECADE. CELEBRATORY DANCE TIME.
I also don't own Hot Pockets.
Entry #20: Written July 28th
Dear Diary,
FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY IN THE WORLD.
Fletcher and I were captured.
AGAIN.
AGAIN.
Okay, here's what happened. The line just makes it easier to separate the days, okay?
July 21st
It was so picturesque it made me want to die. It was probably around three in the afternoon, and the sun was just beginning to set, but it was still really light out. Everyone was outside, just sitting around, doing nothing. Tanith and Ghastly were laying next to each other a ways off, and just being cute in general. Fletcher was reading one of Gordon's novels, while China and Mr. Bliss played badminton. (No, I don't even know.) Skulduggery and I had been rather distant after the incident. We weren't avoiding each other, but we hadn't been talking as much.
But anyway, getting to this whole kidnapping thing. I was playing with my shadows, curling them around everything, shaking the trees, etc. But suddenly, a branch snapped and fell. Everyone jumped up and went to the source of the sound, but we saw nothing. No one was around, except us.
That is, until I saw Colette again.
Her face appeared in between the trees, a wicked grin on her lips. Her eyes glinted as she stretched her arm sky-high and pulled a huge tree branch down. Skulduggery hadn't seen her (or heard her) yet and remained oblivious to what was happening.
"SKULDUGGERY!" I screamed, snaking a shadow across the ground and yanking him back from the branch. He tumbled onto the forest floor unharmed. I heard a whoosh sound and looked up. Four arrows (ARGH) flew through the air in a graceful arc, cutting through a tree trunk, causing it to almost fall over Skulduggery.
"For God's sake!" I heard him shout in anger as he bolted away. There was a whack and a clinking sound, and I jumped over the trunk and saw Gautier, holding Skulduggery up, with his rib cage completely surrounded by chain links. He was struggling, but he couldn't break free.
"Valkyrie, there's-" he began shouting, but Gautier's other chain-hand swung up and smashed into Skulduggery's jaw. I saw it begin to fall off his skull, but something pierced through my arm and stung me bad. Something else – something kind of slimy – grabbed my wounded arm and whipped me backwards. I fell and did backwards rolls over and over again, landing on my hurt arm, like, eight times. I was dragged out into the grass, but the slimy thing holding me suddenly let go. I heard someone scream, and a man grunt in pain.
I opened my eyes and looked at the scene around me. Ghastly and Tanith were trying to wrestle away freaking Monsieur Snuggles, but failing miserably at it. Fletcher was no where to be seen for a while, but I caught sight of him on the roof, talking wildly into a cell phone. I hope he was calling the Sanctuary. I still don't know if he did. Neva was trying to nail him with arrows, but he kept dodging them.
Colette was being mercilessly attacked by China with her badminton rack. She touched a symbol on her face and the rack lit up with a white energy. She swung the rack like a bat to smack into Colette, and the teenager went flying a few feet away. Gautier emerged from the forest, dragging Skulduggery with him.
But get this, Diary.
It was human Skulduggery.
And somehow, his suit was fixed, so it wasn't so tight and tiny on him. (Yeah, that was awkward to look at.) His right cheek (on his face, Diary) was bleeding from a few cuts and scrapes, and his hair seemed to be matted with blood. It looked like he was hit from the back. His eyes were heavily lidded, and he looked to be having trouble staying awake; his head kept bobbing around as he was dragged.
I suddenly heard a shriek as Fletcher began falling from the villa. Monsieur Snuggles knocked over Tanith and Ghastly and scooped him up. Neva climbed up onto her pet gargoyle and patted his ear. He suddenly took off into the sky, and he hovered there like a friggin helicopter.
Meanwhile, I was just sort of standing there.
I realized I should probably do something about that.
Colette and China were still beating each other up, and Gautier was stalking across the lawn, still dragging Skulduggery. Like, dragging him. I fumed and bolted up to them, giving a sharp kick to Gautier's lower back and swinging his legs out from under him.
He collapsed and dropped a limp Skulduggery onto the ground. He groaned loudly and curled into a ball, holding his bleeding head. I grimaced at the poor thing, but then reached out to Gautier. I gripped his chain arm and coiled a shadow down it, mixing the two materials together, and causing the chain to snap and dissolve. Gautier screamed in pain. He swung his other chain hand, and before I could do anything, he had swung me on the back of the head.
I was out cold.
Oh, but guess where I was when I woke up, Diary!
A holding cell! Joyous!
When I woke, though, I took a few minutes to figure out where the heck I was. Through the dim light, I could tell that Fletcher was sitting right next to me. I reached to poke his thigh, and his head instantly whipped around to face mine.
"SKULDUGGERY'S DEAD, VALKYRIE," he screamed.
…
Oh, God.
Was that the worst moment of my life right there, or WHAT?
Ha, but he's not actually dead. (In fact, he's asleep. Right next to me.)
But when Fletcher said this, I kind of started hyperventilating.
"He won't move! I keep trying to wake him up, but nothing is working! I don't feel any breathing at all!" Fletcher continued. "I noticed his head was bleeding from the back, but I don't know if that'd be enough to kill him! Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. You're going to fall apart now! I'll be all alone, trying to fend off these crazies! What am I going to do? Oh Go-"
"You're going to shut up and let me look at him!" I shouted, interrupting him.
"…Okay."
I sighed in frustration and swayed over to Skulduggery. I could tell that my face had bled a lot, but I seemed to be alright. Someone had pulled out the arrow in my arm for me. Thank you, whoever did that.
Alright, but I went over to Skulduggery's still-limp body. He was slouched against the wall. His head had lolled forward. He looked incredibly pitiful.
I gripped his shoulders and dragged his body so that it was lying down. Fletcher made sure his head didn't suffer any more damage. I bent down to poke at his face and small cut, and they looked alright, yet he was a bit paler than healthy for a human being. I slapped his face lightly a few times, trying to wake him up, but he didn't respond at all. I placed my two fingers on his neck, searching for a pulse. I had to look hard for a few agonizing minutes, but I eventually found its steady, yet slow, beat. I grinned up at Fletcher, and he sighed in relief.
Next, I bent down and opened his mouth a bit.
"Are you going to give him mouth-to-mouth?" Fletcher asked, loudly.
"No!" I replied. "I just want to check his breathing is alright." I bent down closer to his face, and I felt a small stream of air hit my cheek lightly. It hit it again quickly after that, and I relaxed slightly.
"He's alive," I stated. "I don't know how you thought he was dead, but he's not."
"I was panicking!" Fletcher said, defending himself. "I woke up with him leaning on my shoulder. He would never in all his life do that unless he had suddenly died!"
I rolled my eyes and hoisted Skulduggery back up. He managed out a groan, and his hand reached out and yanked on my arm.
"Neeeeeee…ck," he sputtered, collapsing back onto Fletcher. He frowned and helped me hold up his body and check his neck. I saw a small trail of blood running down it, and I quick checked his head. I took off my first layer shirt and dabbed it at his head, which was bleeding still. He groaned something else, and his leg twitched slightly, and his other hand clutched my leg tightly.
"Hey, what did they do to you?" I asked him quietly. Fletcher lowered him back down so he was resting on the floor. I shooed him out of the way and cradled his head in my lap, pushing his matted hair back from his closed eyes.
"P…" he mumbled.
"What does that mean?" Fletcher wondered.
"Peanuts?" I suggested. "Pants? Parrots? Pepper?"
"Pooo-ooock…"
"Pock?" Fletcher mused. "Hot Pocket?"
"I'm sure that's it, Fletcher," I answered. "Pocket, perhaps?"
Skulduggery groaned once as an answer, and I quick nodded at Fletcher to start searching him. After a few minutes, he produced a small plastic baggie of red pills from Skulduggery's pants.
"Drugs…" Fletcher mumbled, studying them. "I think these are…Downers. Yeah, that's it."
"Are they harmful? And what are they?"
"They're illegal drugs-"
"ILLEGAL?" I shouted, jostling Skulduggery. "Is he going to be alright?"
"It depends on how bad the dose was," Fletcher answered. "If it was high, he'll probably be out for a few hours, unless it's already been five or six; I don't think so, though. He's like this since these drugs – their official name is 'barbiturates' – cause drowsiness, anxiety relief, clumsiness, slurred words or speech. It can also knock you unconscious, and when they're taken with alcohol, they can completely wreck your body."
Wow.
"Uh, Fletcher," I asked, "how do you know all this stuff?"
"I had a friend once who got busted for having these," he said sadly. "The cops kept repeating all the bad things that could happen to us if we'd kept using these or whatever. I visited him once in prison; he didn't look too good."
Wow. Again.
"You sounded so serious and official, Fletcher."
"Drug-Buster Chippy the Chipmunk doesn't joke around with drugs!" he shouted, pointing dramatically. "He was the little mascot at a school I once went to," he added when I just stared at him.
"Understandable, then," I said. "Will he be alright, though?"
Fletcher shrugged. "It depends on how he's treated here. If they keep giving him dose after dose, it could get pretty serious. I'm not sure how his body would work with the skeleton-changing-to-human-and-back thing, but he may just…reset, you know?"
I nodded, happy that Skulduggery probably wouldn't die.
Speaking of dying…the Nottinghams were gracious enough to show Fletcher and I a sacred ritual! And it was pretty much the grossest thing ever!
Anyway, maybe a few hours after all the above events, Gautier strode down to our cell. He reached up to the keys on the wall awkwardly and unlocked our cell. He motioned to Fletcher and I wordlessly. I tried to protest, but Gautier shot me a sharp look. I hesitantly got up, leaving Skulduggery with my shirt supporting his head. Gautier led us up through many dark hallways, and we approached a small, white door. He pushed it open with his hand, and that's when I realized it.
Earlier, when I had shattered his chain-arm, his real arm had disappeared too. I made this guy lose his arm. He's evil, so I feel slightly good, but still pretty terrible. It's one to kill, and it's one to hack off an arm.
Fletcher stepped through the room first, and Gautier prodded me in front of him. This room we were in was a pristine white, with a golden table in the center. There was a huge silver gargoyle statue at the far corner, with a golden bowl by its feet. Colette was standing by the statue, dressed in a silver gown. Neva was nearby, and she was in a gold dress that hung off of her loosely, trailing behind her like a huge wedding dress train. She had a veil made of black lace. She pointed fiercely to a few chairs off to the side, and Fletcher and I reluctantly sat in them.
Gautier had disappeared for a moment, but returned back, dressed in his own black robes. There was a black basin right by the golden table, too. Colette, Gautier, and Neva gathered around the golden table and reached into their robes. They each produced a small canister of purple powder. They sprinkled it around the table, and it instantly began smoking. The smoke smelled sweet and relaxing, and it wafted around the room lazily. A trail engulfed the statue and the eyes of the silver statue lit up a glowing green. The door suddenly opened loudly and a Sand Man brought in a tired looking girl. She looked a lot like Skulduggery did with the drugs, so I assume they drugged her too. She was dressed in a white colored dress.
Gautier suddenly tore the dress from her body, so she was completely naked. Fletcher and I gasped in shock. Colette applied two streaks of silver to the woman's face, and she stepped back to the statue. Gautier went to stand by the black bowl. Neva pushed the woman onto the golden table and she situated her so she was lying down.
Neva reached into her robes, and she pulled out a long and sharp dagger.
Faaantastic.
Neva drew the dagger closer to the woman's chest, and she quickly and gracefully made a circle-shaped incision in the center, below the collarbones. The woman on the table moaned in pain. Neva made another mark diagonally left, then diagonally right, and then below the left breast, and then the last cut below the right breast.
Guess what shape it made!
A pentagon!
(Remember how the gargoyles would fly around in a pentagon shape? I'd bet my life on the fact that it has something to do with this.)
Alright, so, the points in the pentagon began spewing blood, and then the blood changed color. The blood from top-most hole turned gold, the diagonal left turned black, the diagonal right turned silver, the bottom left turned green, and then the bottom right turned purple. Oooh, pattern in the colors everyone! Suddenly, Neva reached into the top hole with her hand and dug around, causing the girl to scream in pain incredibly high. She pulled her hand back out and produced a heart.
No. Joke.
Neva bowed her head and breathed deeply, slowly placing the heart into the golden bowl. Gautier swooped in with his black bowl and gave a wave of his hand, and all the blood flew up and pooled into the bowl. It sloshed around as he and Neva approached the silver bowl by the gargoyle and Colette. Colette began chanting in a strange language while Gautier and Neva gingerly poured the blood and heart into the silver bowl.
The statue's eyes changed from the five different colors over and over again. The woman suddenly convulsed violently for a few minutes, but she suddenly exploded into a pile of dust. Neva went to grab her remains and place them in the golden bowl. She dumped the ashes with the blood, and the mixture slowly coiled upwards to the body of the gargoyle. It covered the whole stone body and soaked into it.
And that was it.
The Nottinghams removed their robes and folded them delicately and placed them on a small white table in the corner. Colette and Gautier marched out of the room, while Neva grabbed Fletcher and I and dragged us back to the cell. Skulduggery still had my shirt when we got back, but he had moved so he was sitting up against the wall. His head had fallen forward, so his chin was resting on his chest. Fletcher and I willingly sat down in the cell.
"You're next," Neva said quietly, giving a sharp glare to Fletcher. He recoiled slightly, and she walked away, satisfied.
Skulduggery mumbled something as I slid down the wall to sit next to him. I gripped his head and examined the back, and it looked alright. It wasn't bleeding anymore, at least. I rested his head on my shoulder and beckoned to Fletcher.
"Don't worry," I whispered to him as he scooted up to me on my other side, "you won't turn into a pile of dust."
He laughed once and grasped my hand tightly. His head fell onto my other shoulder, and I rested my own head on Skulduggery's. He tensed slightly in his sleep, but relaxed after a minute.
And you know, Diary, I felt like we were a family. Granted, a really stupid one, but a good one at that. I had my crazy brother (Fletcher) and the guy that I'm secretly in love with (Skulduggery, duh).
That next day was when the crap hits the fan.
~Valkyrie
Oh, I'm getting so excited for my ending. Some of you are going to be pretty pissed at me for what happens laaater :33
Thanks for reading and sorry for any mistakes! :D
