The Midnight Game - Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction

Chapter 8 - 02:49

And the children were sick.

Each one seemed to have some kind of ailment. One had a bandage wrapped around her head, another had a patch over his eye. One had a crutch leaning against the chair. One was missing a hand. There were two girls, twins, who had burns covering the left side of their faces. There were broken limbs and gaunt faces, and each one was staring at them, unmoving, unblinking.

"They're all sick," Valkyrie whispered, and realised she was crying again. "Why are they all sick?"

"Who?" Saracen asked, stepping into the room and looking around. Dexter followed him, and Valkyrie grabbed his top, pulling him back.

"Don't go in," she begged. "Please, don't. Why can't you see them?"

"See who?" Skulduggery asked, putting a bony hand on Valkyrie's shoulder. "There's nobody here. This room is empty."

"No!" She said, louder, looking back at the children, who were still staring at her. "It's not empty. There are children here. Why can't you see them?"

Saracen and Dexter exchanged worried glances, and Valkyrie began to wonder if there actually were children here, or if she was imagining them. 

But they looked so real. She was sure. She was so sure she could see each and every one of them.

"Val," Saracen said, his voice low and serious, "there's nothing here."

Valkyrie batted at her eyes uselessly. Why was she crying? "There is," she mumbled. "They're all there. They're all hurt or sick. And the head of the table is empty, but..."

She trailed off, squinting. The head of the table is empty.

Is it?

Tilting her head she took a step forwards. It looked like there was nobody there...but something was wrong. The air wasn't moving right. The dust was settling in the wrong places. 

There's someone there. Run.

Run. That's what she should have done. But she took a step closer; she needed to see. Who was there? Who was at the head of the table?

And then the figure became clear and of course, the Midnight Man was sitting there, arms spread out, hood hanging low. And for the first time, Valkyrie could see the light of his eyes peeking out, and they were glowing white.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stepped backwards.

Run! Run away! Why are you still here?!

But she wasn't running, and Skulduggery and Dexter and Saracen weren't running either. And the Midnight Man wasn't moving, and the children were still staring. Everything was still.

"You can see him, can't you?" She choked out, and there was no reply, and every figure in the room was still and silent. The Midnight Man remained motionless.

"Now why," Valkyrie said, actually feeling herself begin to calm down, "aren't you moving?"

He didn't reply. Did he even have a mouth? Valkyrie didn't know. She went to take another step, and Skulduggery grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing?" He said, and a knot tightened in her gut, because she heard something extraordinary in his voice; she heard fear. She heard it biting his bones and dripping through the cracks in his armour.

"Something stupid," she whispered in reply, shaking his hand away and taking a step. The children kept their eyes trained on her. "Why are you just sitting there? You have us all in the palm of your hand but you aren't making a single move."