Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 25 - Emotional Bonding

Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

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Chapter 25

"Val? Valkyrie, baby, wake up," a voice said softly. There was a sharp ringing in her ears and her whole body hurt. There was throbbing everywhere but it was dull, like it wasn't her body at all. "Val, could you look at me? Make a sound? Please, I don't know what to do."

It was Nadia's voice Valkyrie realised, and she was lying on her back. Wincing, she opened her eyes and when the bright lights woke her fully, the pain hit her like a truck and she moaned, twisting into the fatal position instinctively.

"Valkyrie, you need to lay flat, you have to let your muscles relax," Nadia told her gently, stroking her hair. "Where does it hurt?"

Valkyrie opened her eyes and noticed the shower room was clear of everyone except them. She could now hear Tanith's voice outside and realised she was finding out what had happened and shouting sense into the bystanders for not helping her baby sister after she had fallen unconscious. "It hurts everywhere Nadia," she admitted. "That girl – she was stronger than she looked. Got me on the ground and kicked me everywhere. I don't think I ever want to stand again."

"She got you between the legs?" Nadia asked - her voice was sympathetic but Valkyrie could see the pained look on her face. Valkyrie hid her face in her hands and Nadia laughed quietly. "Don't worry, I'm sure some of those pain relief leaves will help."

"No, I just need a new body. This one's a dud," Valkyrie moaned. "I'm done."

Nadia kissed her forehead softly. "It'll be alright. Come on, sit up and let's see how bad it is. They've put the show on hold."

"Oh," Valkyrie said, feeling sick to the stomach. "That's just great. Fuck my life."

Nadia helped her sit up and when the dizziness faded she stood up and checked herself over in the one mirror next to the door for blood. And there certainly was some. "Oh, Val," Nadia said, looking her over.

Valkyrie felt sicker, some of it from embarrassment, but she was sure most of it was from the sticky blood she could now feel dribbling down her leg. She was wearing a skirt and it was bright red and obvious. "That isn't good."

"Maybe just your period?" Nadia asked. They were pretty open about things, so speaking about it wasn't embarrassing even if seeing it would have been.

But as it was: "No, that was last week. God, help me in there and let me see." Plus this wasn't a little bit like a normal period leak. This was quick, thick, and there was a lot.

Nadia helped her into a cubical and left her alone but didn't let her lock the door, just in case. She lifted her skirt, pulled down her knickers and inspected herself. She had a somewhat deep cut on her skin just above her pink folds, a rip in the skin that was slowly but steadily bleeding and too big to clot quickly. She had to pad it, get in the car, knock herself out and let Kenspeckle fix it and never see him again. It was sad because she liked Kenspeckle, but there was no way she wanted to see him after this.

She noticed as well that she actually had a few bruises between her legs – a few more kicks that girl got in when she was unconscious and vulnerable on the ground. Her clit was swollen painfully and purple from a disgusting bruise and her pelvic bone must have been stomped on. It was slowly turning a dark yellow with bruising. It really hurt.