Valkyrie hadn't been aware she was asleep until she woke up.
And when she woke up, she wished she was still asleep.
Because the car was moaning. And groaning. And slowing. And generally doing a bad job at being a car.
"Oh dear." She heard Skulduggery say as the car came to a halt.
"What is happening?" She moaned.
"Well, it seems that the car is stopping."
"Good job detective."
"I am a pretty good detective, aren't I?" He said as he cut the engine.
They both got out and analysed the situation. They were on a country road, both sides surrounded by huge fields of grass. A wall ran through the middle of the left side, hiding the rest of the field. The moon shin brightly on their right in a clear sky. Ahead, a thick forest loomed, daunting and mysterious.
And in the middle of it all, a bright pink mini sat, unmoving and pretty useless.
Together, they hauled the rusty bonnet up and examined the engine.
"What's -?"
"Gas tank's sprung a leak."
"How'd you know that?"
"I learned about cars." She looked around, searching for any sign of life.
"No signal." She turned to see him pressing buttons on his phone. "We're too far out."
"There's probably a petrol station in that forest- there's loads of wrappers down the road." And sure enough, cans and chocolate wrappers glinted in the moonlight.
He nodded. "Alright. I'm going to check. Coming?"
"Nah, I think I'll go back to sleep, if that's alright. Just get some fuel for the car."
He nodded and walked off before turning back around saying "Lock the doors, okay?"
She grumbled; did he really think they were going to be robbed?
But, not wanting to agitate him, she nodded.
He walked of into the night.
She starting to hum tunelessly as she closed the bonnet and got into the abomination of a car.
Then she leaned back, closed her eyes and went to sleep.
*****
It was quiet when she woke. How long she had been asleep was a mystery, but she was alone, and the moon was still bright, so it couldn't have been long.
Why she'd woken up was a mystery also. Skulduggery was nowhere in sight, the night was calm and unmoving. She hadn't been dreaming. She was still tired.
But something was keeping her awake. No, not something. Some feeling. Of being watched.
She scanned her surroundings again, checking for anyone, anything; but she was, it seemed, well and truly alone.
She was annoyed with herself, because now, she'd never get back to sleep. So she took out her phone, desperate for something to do.
The battery was dead.
She rummaged for her bag, and from it produced a book; the same book she'd been reading on the plane.
It was too dark to see the words.
Finally, she lay back down, sleep claiming thoughts, trying to calm her heart that was beating like crazy for some reason.
But her eyes wouldn't close.
Something's wrong. You're not alone.
"Hello?" She asked, instantly feeling stupid; she had locked the car doors, no one would be able to get in.
She sighed impatiently. Where was Skulduggery? He should be back by now!
She felt a draught on the back of her neck and shivered, hugging herself to stay warm.
Had he run into trouble? Seriously, how long did it take to buy some petrol? And if it turned out there wasn't a shop, he'd have come back to her. They'd have figured something out.
But no. Here she was, stuck in the middle of nowhere, not able to sleep or read or go on her phone or do anything and that goddam draught and the goddam silence and-
She froze, her body going rigid, her eyes widening.
A draught.
A cold breeze.
From outside.
You'd closed the doors and windows.
Gasping slightly, she turned her head, and looked to the driver's door.
The open drivers door.
She sat there, stock still. Barely breathing. Waiting for whatever was hiding in the dark to pounce.
With a shaking hand, she leaned over and searched for something useful; a torch or a knife. But to no avail.
Quivering all over now, she sat back in her seat, taking deep breathes and not daring to close her eyes. Someone was with her. Something was with her.
Movement from the corner of her eye drew her attention away from not passing out. She looked out over the field.
It was the field with the low wall, the one opposite the moon. The breeze that had chilled her was blowing the grass slightly. The only thing that wasn't moving was the stone wall.
But then, it moved.
As she watched, something came up over the wall. It was long, thin, and a ghostly white, the paleness exaggerating by the full moon. It began to tense, and soon another one came up over the wall.
They were arms.
Pulling something up.
The arms heaved and strained, and eventually, a round head appeared. It was not unlike her own, only it was no way human; it's cheeks were hollowed out completely, it had no nose, and instead of eyes, it had two large, gaping holes of the deepest black. Around it's thin lips were cracks of red, and the mouth was naturally straight.
She watched from her car, now not breathing at all, as it hauled the rest of it's body over the wall, such a distance away that no noise could be heard from it.
It fell over the wall and then stood, a beacon in the night.
It's body was irregular, with a long neck, narrow, hunched shoulders, a pot belly and short stubby legs. It's arms were out of proportion; they started just under its neck, and trailed by its feet.
It stood in the dark. Alone. Looking around in the distance.
And then. It. Looked. Directly. At. Her.
And smiled.
Such a formidable smile. One that she would never forget. It started slowly, just the edges of the lips. Then they curled. And kept on curling.
Until each corner reached the corresponding ear.
It smiled at her.
She waited, looking back at it, knowing that whatever it was, it meant harm, it meant pain, it meant death.
And then it started to walk.
It was slow at first, still smiling, with it's arms falling behind. She choked a gasp, wanting to find some sort of weapon, not wanting to look away.
But it was coming so slowly, and it's legs were so short... She gave a cry of fear and frustration before desperately fumbling with the front pocket.
It was empty other than some gum and a manual to the car.
She looked back up.
It was running.
It's arms, instead of trailing, were fling back and forth, projecting it, it's stubby legs stumbling through the grass, it's smile never faltering.
It was halfway to the car.
Valkyrie Cain screamed. She cried. She was frozen in shock, in horror, and could do nothing but watch and wail as it ran, closer and closer.
She closed her eyes, and held her breath.
It's not real, she thought, panicking, it's can't be real. You're still asleep, you're dreaming, you're, you're... you're Valkyrie Cain for god sake!!
She was shaking, her body wracking with sobs. Where was it where was it she'd closed her eyes she didn't want to open them oh God was it at the car was it there what would it do what was it where was Skulduggery Skulduggery help me please oh God-
She opened her eyes. It wasn't there. It wasn't in the grass, or at the wall, or at the car.
She gasped, fell into her chair and sobbed. It was a dream. It was an illusion. It wasn't real, oh God it wasn't-
She stopped and moaned. She cried and choked and moaned. She'd remembered.
She turned to the open door.
She came face to face with the monster, staring at her, it's gaping mouth still smiling, it's eyes wide, it's breathe wheezing.
And she SCREAMED-
"AHHHHHHHHNONONOPLEASENONOAHHHHH!!!"
"PLEASEAHHAHASKULDUGGERYHELPMEPLEASEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHNOOAHHHHHH!"
"AAAAARRRRGGHGHH!"
"VALKYRIE! VALKYRIE!"
She opened her eyes.
She was in the car, still, and the door was open, and a thin, pale face stooped down-
"AHHHHHHHNOOOOO!!!"
She jumped out of the car, running, crying, pleading.
"LEAVEMEALONEPLEASEOHGODI DON'TWANTTODIEPLEASE AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Valkyrie?! What are you doing?!"
And strong arm caught her around her waist. A thin arm.
"AHHHHHHH!!!" She screamed, shrilly and loudly, pulling desperately on what was holding her.
"Valkyrie, it's me! Look at me Val! Oh God, Val...!"
She was sobbing so hard now that she couldn't stand, and she fell to the ground, screaming and wailing, pulling him down with her.
"Val, please, let me help, what- what happened? What's wrong?!"
But she was terrified, and couldn't bring herself to think that it was safe, that she was alive, that Skulduggery was-
Skulduggery.
Not a monster.
A friend.
"S-S-Skul?" She said shakily, sobs still racking her body.
"I'm here Val, I'm here," he laughed shakily, unsure of what to do, but very aware of Valkyrie in his arms. "What just happened?"
"I-I-You-It-It-It-"
"Okay, let's get you back to the car, and then you can tell me all about it. Can you walk?"
She jerked her head. He took it as a yes and dragged her up.
They were making their way to the car, him basically dragging her, when she screamed again, pointing to the wall in the field.
"What is it? Can you see something?"
He strained his eyes, but nothing was there.
"It-came-over-the-wall-it-it-ran-it-AHAHAHA!" She cried.
He was getting seriously worried now. He'd never seen her so freaked out before; usually she was calm and collected. But now...
"Okay, okay... shhhh, it's okay, come on, we're almost there, we're almost there..."
Finally, he got them back to the car, and, slowly so as to prevent shocking her, picked her up to put her in the car. But as she was about to sit down, she shook her head vigorously, saying "No no no the car it came the car no no..."
He looked around again, now really concerned. Something had happened, that much was obvious... but, she had been dreaming, he'd seen her toss and turn, heard her scream...
"It's okay, Valkyrie, there's nothing here, it was all a dream, just a dream..."
But she refused to get in, weeping and wailing as he held her in his arms.
He looked at her, wanting to help, but oblivious as to how he could.
"Look, the car is completely safe, I promise, Val, come on..."
She kept crying.
"Hey," he said, thinking, "what if we get in together? So that you know it's safe? Come on, we'll be fine..."
He climbed into the passenger seat, resting his partner on his lap before slamming the door shut.
"See? No monsters, no bad guys, nothing that could possibly hurt yo-"
He was cut off as she crushed herself into him, wetting his his shirt with her tears.
"I-I-I'm-m-s-o-rry-y-"
"Don't be, Val. It's going to be fine okay?"
She continued to sob. So he continued to sit. He continued to comfort her.
He ran his hand over her hair.
He dried her tears.
He rubbed he arms, her back.
He whispered condolences.
"Shh, it's okay, you're okay, you're safe, Val, Valkyrie, Valkyrie..."
Eventually, after what seemed like hours, her cries died down. Still he held her. Still she held him.
She let out a shaky breath.
"Wow," she laughed, but it was nervous, empty, "I've never broken down like that before..."
He tightened his grip. "You really scared me there- what happened? I found you in the car, screaming..."
She gasped, shakily again.
"I... I think... it was..." she shuddered, more tears escaping.
"Hey, don't worry, you're safe, okay?"
"Just a dream..." she moaned into his shirt.
"Just a dream." He agreed.
They stayed like that for the rest of the night. And some of the morning.
+~+~+~+~+~
Hi again!!
Sorry if this chapter isn't so good: I don't particularly want to read back over it XD
I based the nightmare off of a scary story I heard ages ago, but it's stuck with me ever since... some of you have probably heard it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I think what really scared me wasn't the actual character (I always imagined it to look kind of like an alien, though I changed it in this) but the whole thing of seeing it coming, but not being able to do anything about it.
In the actual story, the woman's car had broken down, and the thing had climbed over the wall and began to run at her, but she managed to start her car in the nick of time and drive off, so obviously I changed it. But that was the only thing she could do, sit in her car and hope for the best.
So yeah, sorry if I creeped anyone out; I went through a scary story stage a couple of years back, and I love the feeling of being scared, though I regret it later at night XD
Thanks for reading, and please comment and vote! I'd love to hear what you think of my story!
~Book_Reader