Skulduggery Pleasant - Night of the Dying Rose

Chapter 19- Familiar Faces

The Necropolis never slept.

No, the dead within it never needed rest, for they had already been laid to rest. Millions were down there, billions, more than any human could ever possibly count, but the dead knew, though they never deigned to share this information with each other or to the living. The Necropolis was a place of secrecy and serenity, and it was the scariest place anyone living could ever enter, if they ever made it out.

Ghastly Bespoke walked among the many streets, wearing the same clothes he had worn on the day he died, though he'd been spared the blood that had stained those clothes, a small mercy, he hated looking unclean. For any other living being, the mazes of the Necropolis would have driven them beyond insanity, perhaps even worse than being gazed directly upon by The Faceless Ones. Ever since Ghastly had died, he'd had nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company in the sullen silence of this City of the Dead. He'd found that his thoughts were sometimes wild and unpredictable, other times they were reasonable and personality suiting. Perhaps this was the insanity that came with death, he didn't know.  But even in death, Ghastly wasn't alone. He wasn't alone right now, as Billy-Ray Sanguine and Stephanie Edgely fell into step beside him, they walked in silence for a while, content with their own thoughts, but business eventually won and Billy-Ray spoke up, his Southern Texas drawl as strong as ever.

"You heard from him at all?" He asked.

Ghastly glanced at Billy-Ray, fighting not to glare, even in death, some grudges never left, not when it was to do with Billy-Ray stealing his love interest. He hoped Tanith was still doing well, wherever she was right now. But this was business, and Ghastly had no time for petty arguments.

"No." He replied gruffly. "Only that when he left he said that he would be a while, Little Rose being a difficult one to work with."

Stephanie glanced up from the ground. "What about his partner? The cloaked person."

Ghastly shrugged. "Nothing from them, it's him who does the talking when others are around."

They cut around a corner, knowing these streets like it was a brand new memory, lighting up but never going out. Though they had no idea what their destination was. It didn't really matter, as long as they ended up somewhere that suited them.

Billy-Ray frowned. "I still think that this is a terrible idea, I thought they were your best friends."

Ghastly sighed. "If Little Rose believes that this is for the better, then I won't risk arguing with her, what must be done, must be done."

Stephanie shook her head. "This is still wrong, they've saved the world so many times and we are going to kill them for it."

 "HER." Ghastly corrected. Ghastly: "We're going to kill HER. She belongs here, with us."

"Little Rose will still get a negative reward from this though." Billy-Ray grumbled. "And I happen to like the lil darlin' still, she was alright in the end."

Stephanie nodded, her expression grim. "And to use him against himself...it's horrible."

Ghastly stopped, and they stopped with him, looking straight at his eyes as he turned to them, his face like stone, it reminded Stephanie of his ordeal with the White Cleaver, all those years ago, an echo for her, a memory for the real one.

"Which is why it's the perfect plan, we throw him off his focus, she will be open for attack, and Little Rose gets more than she could chew." Ghastly said flatly.

"She could still channel all that power." Billy-Ray countered.

Ghastly shrugged. "Yes she could, but then she'd have to deal with all of us in her head." 

And Ghastly turned back around, smiling sadly as he beheld the crowd of the dead. He directed his smile to Larrikin, Hopeless, and Shudder, ignoring Ravel. They did not return the smiles, nor did they sneer, they just looked resigned, guilty, yet understanding.

"It's the only way we can save her from herself." Ghastly told them.

They all looked at him, and said nothing.