The Midnight Game - Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction

Chapter 7 - 02:28

Valkyrie didn't waste time in throwing her arms around Skulduggery's bony figure as if it was the last time.

"I thought you were dead," she mumbled into his shirt. He patted her hair down as she pulled back and brushed some brick dust from her jacket in a very matter of fact manner.

"What a ridiculous thing to say," he replied. "Of course I'm dead. I have been dead for a while now."

She pulled a face. "I thought you were...you know. Never mind."

"I do know," he said, a touch of seriousness returning to his voice. "But I'm fine. And so is Dexter."

Dexter handed Skulduggery's candle back and wrapped her up in a comforting hug. "And you're both okay?" He asked. "You aren't injured?"

"I think the only thing injured is my pride," Saracen said, his voice trembling a little from the shock of the fall, but otherwise unscathed. "But I think we should move. Quickly. I think Mister Midnight has a thing for me and Val and to be honest I don't want to stand around."

Valkyrie and Saracen had lost their tie of fabric in the fall, but now they had found the others and Valkyrie felt a little bit safer than before. Although she thought there was little Skulduggery would be able to do in the event of an attack from a man dressed in black, he'd always been there for her in the past, and she doubted this time would be any different.

Without looking back at the rubble and the hole in the ceiling that the pair had created, the Dead Men grouped together and moved quickly, staying close together, ensuring that nobody fell behind. 

"So do either of you have a clue what's going on and why we're here?" Saracen asked. Dexter laughed without humour.

"I haven't the foggiest. But Bones here seems to have a theory. As always."

"The next person to call me Bones gets a slap," Skulduggery grumbled. "And yes. I do have a theory."

"Care to enlighten us?" Valkyrie inquired as they turned a corner. She recognised a painting of a hilly landscape hanging on the wall.

"The Midnight Game is an old Pagan ritual," Skulduggery started, taking a sharp right, moving quickly, "used mainly to punish criminals. It was basically a scare tactic to stop people breaking the laws of the religion, but of course, as time went on, it was adopted by Western culture into a game for school children seeking a thrill and trying to be grown up."

"You sound distinctly unconvinced," Saracen dropped in.

"Look at you, Saracen. A regular Sherlock Holmes. I am indeed unconvinced. I have always doubted the validity and sincerity of the tale - it seems like a lot of things remotely linked to demonic spirits are immediately pinned on Paganism. And after tonight...I'm beginning to think I was right to doubt it."

"Why? What do you think it really is?"

Skulduggery paused at a junction before continuing straight ahead. "I think maybe you might have seen her. The girl? Princess Emma?"

Valkyrie swallowed. "We saw her."

"Hanged. Suicide at the age of no more than eleven, I think. Her room is still intact. So at one point, people must have lived here."

"But it's so big," Dexter added. "And creepy. Who would choose to live in a place like this?"

"That's the thing. What if they didn't choose?"

There was silence from the other three, before Valkyrie managed to speak. "What do you mean?"

"Look around you. On every floor, there are countless rooms. I had a look in a few - most of them are bedrooms. Children's bedrooms. Whilst I'm aware that some families are very large I estimate that there are approximately twenty six rooms in this house. The layout of the first floor is simple, almost like a reception, used for utilities. And every bedroom is intended for a child. I think, and this is just speculation, so don't hold me to it, but I think this used to be an orphanage."