Love in the Shadows

Confusion or Illusion?

{Author's note:

Hi! So little fun-fact about the title of this chapter. I named it after Kylie Minogue's song Illusion. Track 7 on her Aphrodite Album. Lovely song haha.

-Vodka_Martini}

For the next few days, Valkyrie locked herself in her bedroom, not refusing to speak to anyone; lest see anyone. Tanith, Ghastly, Fletcher and Skulduggery dropped call after calls But she answered none of them. Valkyrie didn't want to face them. Not until she had figured out what the hell happened with Vile on the battlefield.

'Woah. Okay. All he did was kiss me. It wasn't like he frenched' me or something,' She thought to herself firmly. But she kept going back to that moment. The moment where her body lost all feeling. Where she gave in. Where she felt almost utterly powerless in just that kiss. 'But it was a good powerless,' She clarified.

The rest of them gave up trying to get to Valkyrie. They knew that she wanted to be left alone after Fletcher's experience of trying to visit her.

Due to the immense pressure of Valkyrie's friends, he gave in to teleporting to her room; with great reluctance as well.

"Val? You there?" Fletcher asked tentatively. 'God I hope she's not on her period,' He thought to himself.

Out of nowhere, a flying missile came for him and hit him square in the chest. As usual, Fletcher was exaggerating, and it was simply one of Valkyrie's precious Uggs.

"Ow! Val?! What was that for?" Fletcher moaned. He turned to look at the source of it's thrower, but it only pointed to her bathroom door.

"Get out." Her voice was muffled from the closed door.

"What?"

"Get. Out."

"Come on, Val. Don't be like that. I just want to know if you're okay."

"I'm okay. There are we done now?"

"Are you ill or something? Because if you are, I can pop down to CVS and get you some medicine."

"No. I don't need anything. I need silence. And solitude. Clearly you're not giving me either."

"Valkyrie, listen to me," He stepped forward towards the door.

"Take one more step and you are dead. Are we clear? Don't push your boundaries."

Her voice was tight, like a harp string ready to snap. And to prove her point, she sent a dagger of shadows flying over his shoulder and into the wall behind him.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair meticulously, careful not to ruin his style.

"Fine," he said slowly and cautiously.

"I'm so glad you understand." Her voice lost the intensity it had five seconds ago. "Give the sanctuary agents my regards!"

And with that, Fletcher teleported out of her room. The sanctuary agents were hungry for details when he came back. They prodded him and prodded him with questions until Ghastly pounded his fist on his desk. The noise immediately ceased. He took that as a sign to take the floor.

"Now," Ghastly said warily. "I think we should give Val some space. We should learn from Fletcher's mistakes and try not to disturb her and get our head bitten off."

The was a murmur of protest at that.

"But we need Valkyrie," one whined.

"She's the best of us. She can handle matters well."

"Well by running head first into things without thinking and pretty much all most killing us all." One countered.

Ghastly raised his voice. "Agents! Let's not delay any further. Let's start this case. With or without Valkyrie. No one is allowed to sought her out, until she is well enough to return and gives us the green signal. Are we clear?"

All of them murmured their agreement. Except for one person.

Skulduggery Pleasant was the only one who was silent...

-Page Break-

Valkyrie sat on her bed, hugging her knees. She still didn't know what to think about Lord Vile. Her mind was whirling. It still was whirling. She thought about her encounter with Fletcher. She remembered how bitchy she was. She sighed. She didn't mean to be so... Mean. But she felt it was necessary to shut everyone out at the moment. She didn't want to look into anyone's eyes, for fear they might find find out about Lord Vile.

She had pictured their reactions more than a thousand times. They'd be shocked. Disgusted. Disappointed. Repulsed by her actions. And she wouldn't be able to stand that.

Suddenly, the room seemed to drop 10 degrees. Valkyrie knew who was responsible for the change in temperature. She sighed. "Vile, I know you're there. Turning the room to snow city isn't exactly subtle way of entrance."

Vile then appeared in front of her, wearing an almost amused smirk. Valkyrie turned to face him. "Tell me what happened the other day. On the battlefield." Vile didn't say anything. His body language revealed nothing. But then, he tilted his head again. Exactly the way Skulduggery does. And a thought occurred to Valkyrie.

"Wait... Is Skulduggery still within you?" She asked tentatively. Vile shook his head. "So you two are separated. Like, you guys are two different personalities, or people rather?"

Vile nodded.

She took a moment to process this information.

She was confused. If Skulduggery and Vile were separated, was it possible that Darquesse could be set free as well?

She lost her train of thought when a tendril of shadows wrapped around her waist and thrust her forward into Lord Vile's arms. She found herself sinking into his arms. She was powerless. Her breath hitched as she stared into his eyes. She caught a glimpse of her image on the polished surface of his mask. She saw herself looking blank. Vacant. Defenceless. That did not sit well with Valkyrie Cain. She untangled herself from his shadows and backed away slowly.

"No." She whispered. "You're a mass murderer. You've killed millions of innocent lives. Do you really expect me to snog you?" Vile looked humored. He grabbed at the shadows again and pulled her towards him. He backed her up against the wall. Valkyrie lost her voice again. She saw saw his mask retracting and he let their lips touch. His lips ghosted her own, lightly pressing on hers tenderly.

Valkyrie stood rooted to the spot, stunned yet again. But it didn't take her long to respond. She kissed him back hesitantly. Vile seemed to be pleased with her response and he kissed her more firmly and more fervently. Light shadows seemed to stroke her face delicately and Valkyrie sighed. She started to kiss him with a passion she didn't know that existed in her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

The thing about Vile was that wasn't entirely... Physical. She could feel him alright. She could hold onto him. But yet, he wasn't... Whole; able to touch. Able to see. But semi-solid. He was a living, breathing shadow. A solid darkness. The reality of the nightmare, rather than the dream. She found it unique. Interesting that someone could be so solid, at the same time evanesced.

When Vile pulled away, Valkyrie found herself wishing that the kiss wasn't broken. They stared into each other's eyes for three heartbeats. He stepped back and gave her one last long, lingering look; and simply vanished. Without any explanation whatsoever.

He was like a ghost.

An illusion.

And Valkyrie was left again, in a state of confusion...