Authors Note - oh...wow! Ok so I'm sorry about the wait guys! I started back at school though...YIKES! Listening to pierce the veil REEEEALLY helps though! Damn our school bus driver! He completely forgot about picking my year up and we had to walk across town in the afternoon sun to get to the fields! Oh yeah, and my teacher said we were representing our school so we had to keep blazers and jumpers on...MELTING! I'M MELTING! So, before i go babbling off again... In the last chapter....that dead man who was holding Valkarie's hand?.... Did anyone else guess that it was Kenspeckle?!?!? No? Shame... I might be the ONLY Valduggery writer that has killed off Kenspeckle! Sorry about that! But admit it, him holding her hand was quite touching! I've included it in the recap below so take a look people! Does everyones friends fight like crazy? Or is it just mine? Some of my friends are having MAJOR b**** fights and I'm in the middle! Shot guns, that is the answer indeed! God I want to gossip about it, no. No I won't. I WILL BE STRONG!!! Weeeeell..... Ok ask me on message and I'll spill with different names! Thank you so much for reading this! 204 last time I checked! The last chapter wasn't really a chapter, more a thank you note for everything you've all done for me! Read it! Shout outs at the end darlings! Love you all!
Finally it reached it's ultimately desired destination, neither the smell of blood or the sight of the girl fazed it. Some of the dead stood watching, closest was a man of both impeccable age and wisdom, his hair was stuck up in white clumps, blood had soaked the front of his shirt as he stood by the girl grasping her hand in his. He made no movement to stop it,the dead knew better then to argue, fates worse than this could be all too easily arranged.
Death stepped forward. All too ready to claim this girls life... But then...
Curiosity was not a normal, or even possible emotion for Death to experience. In fact with all the souls worldwide to be claimed, it had no time to contemplate such things, let alone experience them. Some people had an irrational belief that your life up to that point would flash suddenly before their eyes upon the brink of death. However, it wasn't irrational in the slightest. Before claiming your soul, Death looks through your life, deciding on wether or not to take it for itself.
Death had seen many lives, none of them had moved it. Not the loves or heartbreaks, daring deeds or desperation to turn it all around had no effect on it. Fates people would never see, people they'd never meet, nothing mattered. But... It had been centuries since Death had laid no eyes on such an interesting fate. There was fear too, certainly, but an end that would change so much. No, that was impossible, completely a work of fiction, yet so it made everything around Death seem sceptically unreal.
If he was human, or some kind if fictional character, its hand would have been wavering over her body, ready to continue wavering at the height of suspense with an air if predictable annoyance. Predictable being how readers of such a story would already have noticed how the book was taking a noticeable turn for a cliffhanger. Such a well known yet admirable end was usually expected with a character such as Death.
Finally Death had its result, what to do.
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SKULDUGGERY
Chapter Eight
Open Your Eyes
Valkarie lies on the hospital bed, scratchy blue cover pulled up to her chest, snowy white pillow fluffed.
Skulduggery sits beside her, hat on the plastic hospital table beside him, suit creased, tie undone, hands on his head. Desperate, broken.
"It's been seven days" he thinks dully. Nye predicts a full recovery, something of a miracle, one moment her heart had stopped, the next she was back. Almost. The initial shock and immediate pain induced a coma, no one knows how long she will be asleep. Days, moths, forever? He had tried everything, holding her pale hand, talking to her for hours on end, telling her again and again how he loved her. They had all tried, Ghastly, Skulduggery, echo Gordon had been smuggled in at one point as things looked desperate. Fletcher visited too, but the day Valkarie had been brought in he had disappeared, no calls, the only evidence that he came here was the bouquets of flowers that appeared in the dead of night by Valkarie's side.
Someone had brushed Valkarie's hair back off her face, combed it out to the end so that it billowed around her head, a dark halo. Her face was pale and still, long lashes and slightly opened lips seemed frozen, suspended in time. Tubes and wires, pumping and removing magical fluids from her body covered her. Normally Valkarie glowed with confidence, but now, dressed in a thin hospital gown she looked tired, younger, as Skulduggery raised his head slightly she seemed to be turning into less and less of the girl he would trust in a fight, more a child.
Bones rigid, Skulduggery took her hand in his own. He stroked a piece of hair from her ear and tried not to loose his perfect composure. On the inside he was going insane, again. Tears he didn't have threatened to overspill his eye sockets as he leant foreword. Pressing his skull against her hand he spoke in a hollow voice.
"Valkarie. I love you. I told you in the tower and I'm going to keep telling you until I see you open your beautiful eyes again. I miss you, so much." he allowed himself a halfhearted dark chuckle, "I never thought that I'd say that to you, to anyone ever again. But now I have you, and Valkarie, my life is complete." then, debestated, he bent over, and kissed Valkarie on the forehead, "Please wake up..."
Shaking, Skulduggery rested his skull oh her chest, willing himself not to cry. Heart breaking, he lay there, listening to her heart beat. Could she even hear him? Did she love him? Would he ever get her back.
The world around him seemed to fade to black as they lay there, the only sound being Valkarie's beating heart.
VALKARIE
Chapter Eight
Open Your Eyes
Valkarie had gradually become aware of several things around her as they almost floated into being. Her mind was still jumbled, time still irrelevant. Sometimes she'd pause on a thought, like the feeling if a bed beneath her, for what felt like a few moments, only to realise that it had been hours verging on a day spent on one feeling. She had, however, come to terms with her memories. She was Valkarie Cain to her friends in the magical word, Stephanie Edgly to the mortals she lived with and Darquesse only to Skulduggery.
"Valkarie. I love you. I told you in the tower..."
And there he was again. Skulduggery. Saying hw he loved her in that perfect voice of his. Valkarie wanted to get up from the bed she assumed that she was in, and throw her arms around him, hold him close for the rest of her life. Inside she thrashed wildly as Skulduggery continued talking,
"But now I have you and Valkarie, my life is complete..."
Her heart fluttered desperately, reminding Valkarie of a guttering candle, desperate to keeping shining as Skulduggery talked about her. She made his life complete? Her? Yes, she loved him, but never in a million years had Valkarie ever thought that he would love her back. She had to tell him. Concentrating a little more, Valkarie could tell that her hair had been brushed out in a cloud behind her head, there was a cover making her legs itch like crazy and...was she wearing a night dress? God she missed her jersey right now.
Suddenly there was a pressure on her chest, someone had lain down in her? No... It s Skulduggery. Slight sobs were racking his whole skeleton as he lay there, fingers of his gloves just brushing hers. Images from ER, Casualty and House invaded her mind. Skulduggery giving up, Nye grinning horribly as he pulled the plug on whatever she was hooked up to, or whatever the hell all these wires were...
"Right." she thought. "I need to move." thinking hard, Valkarie could feel the bed and covers a little better, inwardly straining a little, she noticed a slight draught to her left, the smell of flowers, roses, freesias and orange blossom.
Her breathes coming deep now, Valkarie felt as if she had been at the bottom of the ocean, all that dark soul crushing water pressing her down to the hard floor. But as her surroundings had come into better focus she had risen, an inch from the surface, so very close. And as she realised this images again and again of Nye scuttling in and yanking out her plug maliciously, of her short life ending with such a evilly mundane finality clouded her vision. She didn't want to die here, now, like this...
Valkarie shook her head slightly, "Don't think that!" just-
Wait... Dud she just move her head. Feeling the excitement bubble inside her, Valkarie felt herself rise quickly to the surface.
Water seemed to rush all around her.
Light ahead, above the surface.
Moving her head again as she fought her eyes, willing them to open.
...
...
...
It was indeed, like breaking the surface of water. Except that all the feeling of still water, pressing down, a rushing up feeling all slid off her. The world around her rushed to greet her eyes and ears. Little things that she hadn't noticed before. The gentle hum of air conditioning, the subtle smell of day lilies, artificial light through her eye lids.
Frowning slightly, Valkarie's eyes fluttered open. She allowed herself a slight gasp as her senses returned to her. While she had been asleep nothing had been real, she'd been living in a dark dream. Now everything was so solid, real. He was real, Skulduggery was more real than ever before. Still the occasional sob would shake him, but otherwise he seemed oblivious to her. Valkarie was having to strain to see him and with a start, she realised her lack of movement and speech. She tried to move her finger on the hand closest to Skulduggery's and a sudden rush of pins and needles mixed with an electric shock flashed through her as her body returned to her.
That finger twitched again as Valkarie's body buzzed. Her other hand moved into the air as she raised herself a little. Skulduggery froze, sobbing stopped. A smile played on her lips and tears spiked her eyes as she placed a surprisingly steady hand on his skull. He gasped sharply as she did so, before he too, raised his body and head to see her.
Dark eyes met darker eye sockets.
Time froze.
Skulduggery let out a sound somewhere between a cry and a laugh of relief as he took her in his arms faster than Valkarie thought possible. Then he was laughing and crying at the same time as tears that Valkarie had fought hard to keep under control spilled freely over her cheeks. He sat down on the bed, pulling her onto his lap as he did so, burying his skull in her hair as his arms wrapped tightly around her. It was aching Valkarie's back slightly to be held this tightly, but just knowing that he was here made her hang onto him tighter.
He was saying her name over and over So quickly she could barely make it out. But there was something that Valkarie needed to do, what she had woken up to do. Taking a deep breath she pushed him away. The second that they parted, Valkarie felt like a part of her had been ripped out with him. His arms were still out to her, body refrozen, staring at her. Valkarie had to be strong, all she wanted right now was to fall back into his arms.
She looked up, breathing quickly.
He met her gaze unwaveringly and a certainty filled Valkarie at the ep sight of him.
She wanted this.
She needed this.
Se needed him.
Valkarie loved him, she had to say this.
Heart racing, Valkarie opened her mouth, knowing that she had to be quick before she could back out.
"Skulduggery..."
Time slowed. Stopped.
"I love you."
...
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Authors Note - I know I know! Such I tiny chater I'm ashamed if it! But ever heard of a little thing called writers block... AND PRESSURE!!! 227 reads! Guys! God I just love you all! Again, if you'd like to place your hand on the screen for a high five... YAH! Ok that was your high five. Of you'd like a hug, well hug the screen.... And ehhhh... *hugs screen* there! Happy? SHOUT OUT TIME! Yes fans it's that time again! For those of you reading this for the first time, shout outs is where I shout out fans names and why! Ok. For all their comments: Decoded (YOU WILL LOVE THE ENDING OF THE FACELESS ONES!!!) LeaCarosella, ClatoForevaFanatic17, Vampire_diaries_love, You_now_me_like_me...... Thank you!!! You all obviously remembered that I LOVE comments! Mental fist bump! For fanning me: LeaCarosella (awww!:)) Monkey423 (feel free to critique the Chinduggery!) lilbookfreak, You_now_me_like_me, Everybodyneedsafan (indeed they do!) thankyou! SIXTEEN fans is amazing!!!!!! For bothering to add my ramblings to their library thanks to LeaCarosella (Awwww! You! Again!... <3) for all their endless oodles of much needed support: LeaCarosella - possibly THE SWEETEST fan since ILoveBooks1234522!!! Thanks! BeForeverYoung723 - not a Valduggery fan as far as I know but he's written a GREAT HG fan fic called Rue - the girl in the trees! He even gave NE a SHOUT OUT!!! YAAAAY!! 4GettingUisImpossible - for dedicating a chapter from 'Bitter Rivals, Sweet Seduction (A Draco Malfoy Love Story) - Painful Discretion' to little old me! Darling!!!! Thank you! And finally to ChristopherHopkinson (My dad!) for his support and putting up with my mad ramblings! Ok ok... I've already written a lot in this Authors Note but....
NEW SECTION IN MY AUTHORS NOTES!!!
Yes yes, settle your gasps and such...the new sections called 'Fan Of The Update!' just try to comment, vote and fan as much as you can to earn yourself not just me going on both out walls to say how awesome you are, mental hugs, high fives and fisty bumps, and you're own shout out! You don't actually have to be a fan of ME just have to have been mentioned in the shout outs ^^^
And... Fan Of The Update is.....
Drum roll....
LeaCarosella!
Yes! For your support, fanning, comments and telling me that I inspired your very own Valduggery you have earned the title 'Fan Of The Update' until the next one! HIP HIP HORAY!!! yay!!! Kay later now friendlets! Xxx