Lending a Hand...

oO0Oo

Valkyrie ran as hard and as fast as she could, her lungs burning. The Vampire had shucked its skin and it was pounding after her at a terrifying pace. She forced herself to look straight ahead, knowing that a look back would cause the same fear that lent her the speed to root her to the spot. She couldn't afford to slow down, not now. Slowing meant dying and that was something she was very happy not to do.

She forced herself to keep going, gritting her teeth against the screaming muscles in her legs as she veered sharply round a corner, ducking between two buildings. She jumped and let the crackling energy inside her launch her over a high chain link fence. She hoped it might buy her a few seconds. She wanted to fly away but the adrenaline made it far too difficult to focus enough for flying.

She took another sharp turn. The creature sailed past and she turned back on herself, sprinting away and hopping over the fence once more. It snarled in frustration, its jaws snapping shut hard enough for her to hear the clacking of its fangs even over the pounding of her pulse and the rush of blood in her ears.

Where was Skulduggery? The last time she'd seen him he'd been grappling with another Vampire and yelling at her to run. She knew he wasn't dead, there was no way Skulduggery Pleasant would let himself be killed by something as mundane as a rogue Vampire.

Her foot hit a rock and she stumbled, dropping forwards into a roll as the beast sailed over her head. Her foot was protected by the tough material of the necronaut suit and she barely felt the impact of the ground as she rolled and came up on her feet. She twisted her body away from the slashing claws and skipped round the Vampire, continuing her journey. She was getting tired; her legs were hurting and her chest was heaving.

She gathered whatever energy she could into her palm and tossed it backwards over her shoulder, hoping to slow her pursuer down. She didn't hold out much hope that it would work.

From somewhere over the other side of the industrial estate, she heard three quick gun shots. She turned and ran, zeroing in on the sound as a new burst of strength filled her muscles. She was built for this. She'd trained hard for it. Just a little further, that was all she needed.

Something heavy collided with her and she went down, bouncing over the ground before coming to a painful stop. The Vampire claws couldn't penetrate the suit but she still felt every throbbing inch of the fresh bruise that she knew would soon appear across her spine. She dragged herself to her feet and looked around warily, waiting for it to appear again. When it didn't she started running again, ignoring the burning in her lungs.

Vampires were clever but their hunger made them predictable once they shed their skin. The one chasing her had either gone to find it's friend after hearing the gunshots, or it was following her using the rooftops. She knew Vampires had their code, but after their skin was shed any sense of camaraderie disappeared, so she reckoned the first was unlikely.

She looked up as the Vampire dropped from the sky. She leapt out of the way almost fast enough. The claws raked across the back of her calf and she knew that without the suit she'd have lost a foot. She yelled in pain and crawled away, scrambling to her feet as fast as her injured leg would let her. The Vampire tracked her movements, a low growl rumbling from its throat as she started to back away.

It jumped, ready to destroy her. She ducked and threw her arms over her head to protect it. Even with the suit on the creature could crush her skull in its powerful jaws.

She felt teeth around her wrist and then she was yanked off her feet and thrown around as the Vampire shook her violently, trying to dislodge the limb from its joint. She heard a pop and a snap and then the pain hit and she screamed and still the Vampire kept shaking her. Another snap made her shriek and she kicked reflexively. By sheer dumb luck she caught the Vampire in the eye and it wailed and let go of her, backing away with a furious hiss. She cradled her injured arm close to her body, refusing to look down at it because she knew it would make her sick.

The pain overwhelmed her magic, leaving her defenceless as the Vampire gathered itself and prepared to leap. She squeezed her eyes shut, and then she heard a grunt and the clatter of something hitting the ground several feet away. She opened her eyes to see Skulduggery sprawled out nearby, his left arm detached and lying several feet away. His beautiful suit was ruined and his hat was gone. He sat up and aimed his gun at the creature with his remaining arm, emptying it into the Vampire's face and chest. It screamed and Valkyrie took a breath to calm herself. She focused and hurled whatever energy she could muster at it, searing the bleeding wounds in its torso.

Somehow, Skulduggery had managed to reload his gun with one hand. As he thumbed back the hammer the Vampire lurched towards him, crossing the space between them in seconds. Even as it ran, Skulduggery was firing again.

The scene played out in slow motion before her. She could already see that there was no way he could fire fast enough to kill it before it reached him. She saw its claws flash in the moonlight as it prepared to tear him to pieces.

She started running, acting on instinct. She dropped her good shoulder and charged as much energy as she could, holding it inside her. She rammed into the creature, knocking it off course at the last second. As her shoulder collided with it she let all that energy go. The Vampire howled as it fried, swiping at her desperately. It caught the back of her head as it fell to the ground in a twitching heap and she dropped, screaming as she landed on her injured arm.

Through a haze of pain she saw Skulduggery stand and walk over, limping slightly. She watched as he raised his gun and levelled the barrel at its eye. He squeezed the trigger and the sound ricocheted off the many metal warehouses around them. The Vampire was dead.

As her vision began to clear, Skulduggery disappeared out of her line of sight for a second before returning to her. She pulled the mask up away from her face and stared up at him. In his hand was his severed arm.

"Need a hand?" he asked, holding out the detached limb.

"You," she panted, "are such a goon."

oO0Oo