Drop Dead Gorgeous

The Boulder and a Piece of Paper

Okay just a quick A/N before the next chapter:
I know that Tanith was only eighty, and that she wasn't around back in the 1600's, but let's pretend that she was.
Also, Phoenix and Victoria have absolutely nothing to do with the plot of this story, they are just some of Tanith's friends.

~ Bella

A plan. Herman Grave had a plan, and he needed Skulduggery to fulfil it. But why?

Valkyrie wondered this as lay in bed that night, tossing and turning in the dark. Dinner had been a blast. Ghastly had accidentally knocked his drink all over Dexter and Asaria, and got chased all around the cafeteria. They had laughed and talked, but inside, Valkyrie was fretting. What would Grave possibly need Skulduggery for? He'd said she'd find out what his plan was. Had that been a threat? Was he warning her not to step out of line? She was meeting Asaria in her and Louisa's room in the morning to get properly dressed in her corset. And she was not looking forward to that.

How could Skulduggery sleep? Oh that's right, he didn't have a dirty secret, he was not being made to do a favour for an evil time traveller. He was not the one who had been threatened. He wasn't the one who'd been shunted back in time. Valkyrie almost envied him. She finally fell asleep to the sound of her own breathing.

***

The next morning, Valkyrie awoke before Skulduggery. She quickly put on her robe and wandered down to Asaria's room.

She knocked on the old wooden door, and waited. Louisa opened the door.

"Valkyrie! Good morning, I hope you slept well. Come in, Headmistress Adeline dropped your corset off this morning."

Valkyrie walked into the room and saw Asaria sitting with her legs dangling off the bed, neatly combing her beautiful blonde hair.

"Valkyrie! How did you sleep?" She asked.

"Not well," Valkyrie admitted.

"That's not good. How come?"

Valkyrie hesitated.
"Bad dreams," she lied.

Asaria looked at her weirdly, and Valkyrie panicked. Had she said the wrong thing?

"You mean a nightmare?" Asaria asked.

Valkyrie breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, a nightmare."

"Come, your corset is over here..."

***

Once Valkyrie was fully dressed, she could hardly breathe. The corset was tight and the dress was uncomfortable. She put her black clothing underneath her bed for safe keeping. Skulduggery met her at breakfast.

"You look well," he commented.

"Thank you."

Once again, Valkyrie saw the light in his dazzling green eyes, and fought back tears as she thought about his impending doom. She sat across from Skulduggery, next to Louisa and Asaria. Ambry and China sat together, blank expressions on their faces. Valkyrie smiled, nodded and replied when she was asked questions, but her mind was elsewhere. What plan? Why her? She longed to know what Herman Grave was up to. Hopefully it didn't involve harming anybody.

Valkyrie was worrying about her partner Skulduggery. Was he worried? Of course he would be, she was his partner. She hated to know that when he came up to see how she was going, he wouldn't find her. She felt so awful that she almost started crying, but she kept it together, not wanting to burst into tears in front of her friends. China and Ambry continued to ignore her completely, while Asaria and Louisa seemed eager in becoming friends.

Valkyrie had Physical Combat next, and she was excited to see what that class had in store for her. The group had told her that it was great fun, and Ghastly grumbled about how Skulduggery was unbeatable, and Valkyrie saw that as a great opportunity to show off a bit. She'd almost beaten him once when she had been Darquesse and he had been Lord Vile, but that didn't really count. Neither of them had been themselves, and now, a challenge lay ahead, and Valkyrie couldn't wait to kick Skulduggery Pleasant's butt. Then Ghastly looked at her.

"Did you know that Skulduggery is the Head Boy?" He asked. Valkyrie's eyes widened in surprise.

"No, I didn't," Valkyrie said, turning towards him.

"Have you introduced her to Tanith yet?" Ghastly asked. Valkyrie gasped. Tanith?

"No and I probably should," Skulduggery answered. "I'll do that after PC."

"What's PC?" Valkyrie asked.

"Physical Combat," Saracen grinned. Valkyrie nodded.

***

They all walked together towards the Gym, where Physical Combat was held, and Valkyrie realised that China wasn't with them. Valkyrie shook it off and continued down the hallway; when suddenly, a massive boulder came crashing down to land in front of her. It would've crushed her if Skulduggery had not pulled her out of the way.

She stared in shock as the large rock loomed in front of her, and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she looked at Skulduggery. His eyes were locked on her in surprise and pure adrenaline; and his hand was still clutching her arm. She breathed heavily, and noticed the rest of the gang looking at her, their eyes wide. She looked up to see where it had come from. A large hole in the ceiling proved to be enough evidence. Valkyrie turned as teachers and other students ran up to them, China included. Her expression showed emotion of pure anger and hatred. Suddenly, everything came together.

After the incident with the boulder had been cleared up, they headed into the Gym for the combat lesson. The teacher was called Mr Finlay, and Valkyrie liked him at once. He had a flat stomach with bright blue eyes and bronze coloured hair that looked like a Justin Bieber type style. His outfit was properly ironed, and hung loose around his waist. He introduced himself, and gave Valkyrie a quick overview of the class. She followed Asaria and Louisa into the girl's changing rooms, and found her combat uniform.

21st Century:

Ghastly hurled the scrunched up piece of paper into the wall and leaned on the desk, sighing. He hated the fact that Valkyrie could be hurt, tortured, killed..... No. He wouldn't think about that.

They still had no sign of Herman Grave or Valkyrie, and things were starting to get awkward with Skulduggery. He was almost always angry, and desperately trying to find Grave. They hadn't gotten any leads, and since the day when Valkyrie had gone missing, Gordon's house had been empty and quiet. Cassandra couldn't see Valkyrie in her visions, only that a dark and heavy presence was looming over them.

They had tried to find Gordon's old books, searching for any information on time travellers, but had found nothing. Ghastly wasn't looking forward to telling Skulduggery that they still had no leads, but by the sounds coming from outside - crashing, banging and a familiar voice - it was obvious that he already knew...