Drop Dead Gorgeous

The Dance and Revenge

***

Valkyrie made her way to Magic Theory with Skulduggery and Asaria. She loved having classes with Skulduggery. He definitely kept her entertained. Asaria rolled her eyes as he told a terrible, terrible joke, and Valkyrie tried not to laugh at his stupidity. They entered the class to find the teacher shuffling through things on his desk.

"Ah," he said, looking up. "Skulduggery, Asaria. Welcome my two favourite students. Who is this fine young lady?"

"I'm Valkyrie Cain," she answered.

"Interesting combination. I'm Mr Rodriquez. Welcome to Magic Theory Miss Cain."

"Um.... thanks," Valkyrie replied.

"What are we learning today sir?" Asaria said enthusiastically.

"Well, Miss Wreck, you will soon find out."
Asaria's shoulders slumped. Then her eyes widened.

"Can Valkyrie be in our group? Please sir?"
She clasped her hands together and kneeled in front of the teacher. He laughed.

"I don't normally let students have groups of three. But I guess I could make an exception for you and Mr Pleasant. Okay, Valkyrie, you can be in Asaria and Skulduggery's group."

"Yay!" Asaria exclaimed. "Come!" She beckoned to Valkyrie, who looked at Skulduggery as Asaria skipped off. He shrugged. She followed the skipping blonde girl towards a large table. Valkyrie sat down in the middle of her friends, as other students started filing in.

Valkyrie found it hard to concentrate, knowing that Grave was watching her every move. She tried not to let it bug her as she worked with Skulduggery and Asaria to fill out a worksheet. But every now and then, she would see a flicker of shadows outside, and knew that he was there, and he was planning something...

During the lesson, China approached their group. She smiled a beautiful smile.

"Hi."

"Um, hi," they all answered.

"Skulduggery, I need to talk to you," she said, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him away from the table. Asaria looked at Valkyrie, and she shrugged. They watched as China chatted up Skulduggery on the other side of the room. They saw him shake his head, and China's grin faded. He mouthed the words, I'm sorry, and returned to the two intrigued girls.

"What was that about?" Asaria asked nosily.

"She asked me to go to the dance with her," he explained.

"Oooooooo!" They teased.

"Shut up," he said. "I'm probably going to get a lot of requests like that in the next few days."

***

Lunchtime couldn't some soon enough. Valkyrie walked towards the table when she was stopped by Skulduggery.

"Valkyrie..." He began.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Valkyrie froze. She was not expecting that to happen.

"Ah, sure," she said, trying her best to smile. She didn't have to try very hard. "But what about China?"

"Stuff China," he grinned. She smiled back. They walked together towards the table, and Valkyrie saw China glaring at her.

"Has anyone got a date for the dance?" Erskine asked hopefully.

"I have," Asaria grinned.

"Me too," Louisa piped up.

"Same here," Valkyrie said, and everyone looked at Skulduggery.

"I'm going with Saracen," Ambry smiled.

China just sat there, and Dexter smirked. Erskine saw this as his chance.

"Hey China, do you want to..."

"No way!" China interrupted, standing up and storming away. Erskine sulked.

Valkyrie struggled to sleep that night. Thoughts of Herman Grave were haunting her mind, and she couldn't shake them free. She tossed and turned, trying to shake a bad feeling from the pit of her stomach. She turned to see Skulduggery sleeping soundly. She huffed, and turned the pillow over to the cool side. Eventually she fell asleep, only to be woken up when she was failing to breathe.

She opened her eyes and coughed as she saw the smoke that filled the room. She panicked, ripping the blankets off herself, and scrambling to her feet. The air was thick with smoke, and Valkyrie dropped to the floor to try and find oxygen. She crawled to the other side of the room, gasping for breath. She pulled herself up onto her knees and tried to wake Skulduggery. When he didn't stir, Valkyrie started to panic. If she didn't wake him up now, he'd suffocate!

"Wake up!" She coughed, shaking him. He groaned and opened his eyes, gasping when he saw the smoke. He scrambled out of bed, and dropped to the floor.

"Valkyrie! Get to the door! And stay low!" He exclaimed. He started crawling along the ground on his stomach, and Valkyrie copied, her lungs burning. She was losing her strength. She tried to keep going, but it was like the smoke was holding her there, and it was killing her. She gasped for breath, and slumped to the floor, unable to go any further. She tried to inhale oxygen, but all she got was smoke. The choking fumes were suffocating her.