The white sheet over the body seemed to get more and more unnerving every time Valkyrie looked at it, and she couldn't help but look at it over and over again. Her palms were sweating as she kept brushing strands of her hair behind her ear with trembling fingers. She didn't want to put the reflection back in the mirror, but she knew it was the only way.
"Ready?" Skulduggery asked her. She wanted to say no. She wanted to run as fast as she could for miles and miles, to never return to face the task ahead of her. But she couldn't. She nodded. Skulduggery pulled the sheet off of the reflection's stone cold body and picked it up, almost gently, the piece of chalk ready in his hand to remove the spell on the mirror. Valkyrie inhaled deeply and held her breath, moving closer to the mirror. Time was of the essence. Skulduggery nodded at her, and she nodded back. His arms shifted and the reflection seemed to slide into the glass, sinking through it as if it were water. Valkyrie tapped her fingers against it quickly and stepped back, the memories flooding through her. She was barely away of Skulduggery drawing the symbol on the mirror, and was even less aware of herself saying the spell that removed the curse. She watched as if through another's eyes as she had done so many times before, but this time there was something different. Valkyrie was seeing all of its memories, not just the ones she had missed, all of them, every single one from when it had come out of the mirror for the first time all those years ago. It seemed like a biography of the reflection, the evolution of it, from when it had been an emotionless drone, to a happy, confused, hormonal teenager. All the blanks it had ever put it were erased, now clear before Valkyrie's eyes. The first emotions it had felt it needed to keep form her, when it was laughing with friends, feeling love for a boy (Valkyrie would have felt like gagging if she wasn't so worried about her parents – that boy was so not her type), and then the reflection slowly working behind her back. Doing things she hadn't told it to, arguing with her, defying her, coming out of the mirror without being told, as if it had a will of its own. And then, just a few months before, taking the sceptre form under the truck where Darquesse had dropped it, and then… Valkyrie felt her breath stop as she watched the reflection kill her cousin, the cousin Valkyrie had slowly begun to like and accept as a proper family member, Carol. Carol's reflection had taken her place. Use a vacuum. Valkyrie had to watch as she left for Hogwarts, leaving the reflection with her family, its slow descent into pure madness. Creating the world in the mirror just as a prison, a death trap for Valkyrie, and only Valkyrie. It would sit on the bed in awe over the sceptre, even practising on a few trees in the dead of night. Every time it went downstairs or her mother would walk into the room, Valkyrie's heart would stop beating in her chest but the reflection did no more damage. Not to any other members of her family, not even bothering to try and find any of her friends. The memories ended with facing Skulduggery, and then a pain through the chest, looking up at the ceiling as its brain was blown to bits.
Valkyrie didn't realise she was crying. She put a hand over her mouth.
"What happened?" Skulduggery asked softly.
"It killed Carol. My cousin Carol." Valkyrie murmured, her voice choked and hoarse. "Carol's reflection took her place. Crystal, Fergus, Beryl… they – they don't know, they haven't noticed. Oh God." Skulduggery wrapped Valkyrie in a hug as she sobbed.
"I'll call Ghastly" He murmured "and we'll get rid of the reflection."
"But what about her family?"
"They're going to have to come to terms with it. If the reflections are unstable, we can't let it continue living around them. It could be dangerous." Valkyrie couldn't form the simple word of 'yes' through her sobs. She as mildly aware she was making Skulduggery's shirt wet with her tears. Had it been any other time he might have complained about how expensive the shirts were, but he said nothing for now.
"It's not your fault," he said, as if he had read her mind "you couldn't have known."
"I should have known b – better, than to, involve t-them."
"They found out during a remnant attack, it couldn't be helped. They asked and you answered, there's nothing wrong with that."
"B-but I knew it was d-dangerous." She continued sobbing.
"Everything's dangerous in this day and age." Skulduggery answered her "But what's done is done, and we can't change it. What we can do, is call Ghastly, remove the reflection, and make sure no one else gets hurt." Valkyrie knew he was right, but it didn't seem good enough to just stand by and do nothing while Ghastly did all the work. There had to be a funeral, and there would be tears, and sadness, and grief, and Valkyrie would be at the centre of it all. She didn't think she could bear the guilt.
"C'mon." Skulduggery put his hands on her shoulders and drew her away slightly, so she was facing him. "You have to be strong, Val." Strong felt like it was miles away, like it was forever unreachable. If the pain in her chest was this 'strong' when it had been Carol, what would she have experience if it had been her mother, or her father, or her sister? Just thinking about it made her shiver. Skulduggery handed her a handkerchief and she wiped her eyes on it.
"Ok" her voice quivered "Ok, I'm fine. I. Am. Fine."
"Glad to hear it. Why don't you go to your room and get some dinner while I call Ghastly?"
"Why can't you just call him now?"
"Electrical devices don't work on school grounds, much like my façade doesn't work. I'll have to walk down towards Hogsmead before it'll start working again, and even further if I want to get any signal."
"Ok." Valkyrie nodded quietly. Skulduggery patted her shoulder.
"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
"Me? Stupid? Never." Valkyrie walked out with Skulduggery behind her. He branched off to the left and she smiled briefly at him, trying to reassure him she was ok. She was anything but ok. Although she understood the priority was now keeping the living members of her family safe, she felt like she needed to grieve for Carol, in her own time, by herself. But she didn't want to. She didn't want to be alone. It was like the darkness was shrouding her, almost representing her pain as it tried to smother her.
She felt her throat begin to choke in the way it always would when she was about to cry. She tried to hold it back as she made her way through the corridors towards the teachers corridor. She made it to her room without meeting anybody – no doubt they'd all be at dinner or in the common rooms. She closed the bedroom door behind her and leant against it, slowly sinking to the ground. It all felt like a dream, some horrid nightmare she'd soon wake up from, laughing and smiling. But it wasn't. In ways it was even worse than Darquesse, the pain she was feeling, knowing she had let her cousin down, that her actions had resulted in a family member's death. She should have pushed them away, run, gone mute, hidden in her room like a hermit. But she didn't. She had told them, and shown them, and gotten them involved, and now Carol had paid the ultimate price. The poor girl hadn't even known what had hit her.
Valkyrie felt clouds of sadness wash over her as she thought of all the things Carol could have done with her life. She was planning to lose weight, she could have gone to University, got a boyfriend, started a family, got a job, become an aunt, become a grandmother. She could have done anything she wanted to do, but now she couldn't, because she was dead. And it was Valkyrie's fault.
As soon as the thought hit her the tears started again, and she put her head in her hand, pulling her knees to her chest. The water-works had begun in a flood, and there was no turning them off.
Valkyrie didn't know when she went to sleep, but she knew she was dreaming. Darquesse was facing her, surrounded by a burning world full of fires, smoke and screaming.
"Just go away," Valkyrie murmured. She felt weak, drained, as if the life had been drained from her.
"You know I won't do that." Darquesse replied, dark eyes gleaming.
"I'd very much appreciate it if you did."
"And I'd very much appreciate it if I didn't." There was a particularly loud scream to the left that seemed as if it were coming from someone being tortured in the most painful way possible.
"I could make this dream stop, you know. You'd never have it again." Darquesse said solemnly.
"I'd rather have this dream every night for the rest of my life than let you loose." Darquesse sighed.
"You're making a mistake." She said, shrugging her shoulders "We'd make a good team, you and me, if we worked together. We could get rid of everyone who threatens the lives of our family. No one else would have to die – well, no one we really care about anyway."
"No," Valkyrie shook her head "you're going to destroy the world. You're going to make this" she gestured around her "a reality. I won't let that happen."
"But our family-"
"Ghastly is going to make sure they're safe."
"That's what he said about Carol." Valkyrie's breath hitched. Darquesse saying the words so subtly seemed so wrong. She had no respect for Carol, didn't care. She didn't care about anything but the killing, the thrill of butchery. She didn't have the right to even say her name. "But she's dead," Darquesse continued "isn't she?"
"Shut up." The fire in Valkyrie's mind wanted to scream at Darquesse, to wrap her hands around her throat and throttle her till the last breath of oxygen was taken, but the words came out a whimper.
"You remember Argeddion? Of course you do, we both do. He resurrected the dead. I could be far more powerful. I've been thinking, while I've been trapped in that subconscious of yours. What if I could do what he could do? There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to. Just a few hours of practice a day, and maybe, I'd be resurrecting Carol."
"You're crazy."
"I thought that was obvious."
"Just thought I'd say it again. With all the stupid stuff you're talking about, I thought you'd forgotten."
"Very funny, but you know I'm right."
"Whether you're right or wrong, it's not happening."
"Maybe not now, but it will. You'll see my side of things soon enough, Valkyrie," Darquesse smiled that evilly insane smile of hers ", and I will practice our talents. That, you can be sure of." The dream faded with Darquesse's maniacal laugh, and Valkyrie's eyes snapped open.
Her head hurt, and her throat stung. Her face felt hard and cracked from the dried tears. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and groaned slightly. Skulduggery wasn't in her room as he usually was. He must have decided to give her some time alone. Or maybe he saw her asleep and decided to go and do something more productive with his time.
Valkyrie stood up and leant against the door, forehead against the wood, breathing slightly ragged. She sniffed, realizing her nose was uncomfortably clogged. She shuffled to the bathroom and blew her nose before looking in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy and blood shot, her hair a scraggly mess. There were tear streaks down her cheeks and her skin had gone deathly pale. She sighed and turned to the shower.
She didn't know what time it was when she got dressed again, hair dripping wet, but she walked out of her room anyway. She moved into the normal corridors to see the sun was just coming up. She put her hand on the stone wall, looking out of the window, and sighed. She moved away and headed for the classroom. It was cold, and quiet, dummies resting peacefully in the corner.
Carol's death seemed a million miles away as Valkyrie sat on the floor next to the dummies. They looked so peaceful, with their battered target faces that saw nothing. She envied their lack of emotion. They didn't feel pain, not physical or mental. Like Hollow Men.
Valkyrie wondered if Ghastly had gotten back to Skulduggery. She hoped so. He'd be along soon, to get ready for the lessons. But, wasn't it Saturday? Shit. Well, he'd still be along. And so would George and Fred, with their witty banter and curious questions. But Valkyrie wasn't in the mood for questions. Darquesse wasn't the only reason she was put off, but it was a major one. If Darquesse was planning to be released, even though Valkyrie wouldn't do it intentionally, they had to know not to approach her. Darquesse could kill them easily, and that was something that Valkyrie even more than the dreams. She could handle Darquesse by herself while Darquesse was subdued, but if the others tried to interfere, did something that might trigger Darquesse's side…
She'd have to tell them to stay away. She'd have to tell them about Darquesse.
