Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 57 - It begins

Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

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Chapter 57

"Valkyrie!" Wolf shouted down the hall. "Family meeting now!"

Valkyrie jumped up and out of her bed immediately, put on her shoes – she felt more able to deal with important things in shoes – and practically flew down the stairs to the living room. Family meetings were top priority number one.

The Dead Men and Tanith were in their new usual spots; Ghastly had switched to sit with Tanith nowadays which was a good sign, she and Tanith thought, even if other ventures had barely progressed. But that was a not-so-secret matter they fully intended to work on. Valkyrie sat next to Bear and looked over at Crow on his armchair by the window.

"Alright, now that we're all here," Crow began, picking a small hair off his chair. "We have some very serious matters we need to talk about concerning yesterday's events."

Wolf nodded, leaning forward and clasping his hands between his knees. "We all know that Valkyrie was attacked yesterday. To recap everything so we're on the same page – Valkyrie went out for a run yesterday at midday and when she got to the stream a vampire known at Caelan was there and waiting for her. This vampire is over one hundred years old and Valkyrie has seen him face to face only twice previously and spoken to him on the phone only two previous times. All interactions were very brief and Valkyrie says she saw no outward signs of attachment or obsessions with her, nor did he speak much at all."

Crow nodded and took over. "Yes. At the stream at the back of the property, Valkyrie was assaulted and he attempted to sexually assault, which she refused to, causing him to punch and throw her around. He kissed her, but as Valkyrie was able to escape before it went further, she was able to tell us in what we believe to be good conscience that she wants us to deal with the vampire as a family rather than go to the Sanctuary."

Valkyrie nodded through a deep breath. "That's right."

Crow indicated his head at her in acknowledgement. "After Dexter, Tanith and Anton spoke to and attended to Valkyrie's somewhat minor physical wounds, Dexter went to visit China, however, she was away. Tanith, Ghastly and Saracen ran patrols around the property and noted all places we can place addition protection, something we should have done years ago in hindsight. Tanith, what are those places?"

Tanith pulled out a notebook. "In no particular order, the outermost edges of the property need a professional to rebuild large sections of the East and West walls, we need to find the exact edge of the property at the back, or North, of the property and build a wall from scratch as it's completely open. The front gate could do with an upgrade as well as an automated system and a single door key or fob door for people on foot. We should also think about something to stop people climbing over the walls, as well as security cameras. There are a few already cameras, but more angles as well as more places would be very good. I was thinking a full security room in the hall we want to put everyone's offices? Then it's just landscaping which would make moving and visibility easier in the event we need that, as well as a few backup exits."