Skulduggery Pleasant - Becoming Whole

12

                              Eternal flame

Time would have slowed had time been a concept wherever Valkyrie had found herself. Her eyes illuminating orange as they reflected the fire which had recently began to engulf the house in flames. She watched as wall paper holding no picture frames began melting into nothing. The curtains, the sofa the carpet were all helping to spread the fire further until a matter of second saw them up in flames. Valkyrie was caught up in a haze of smoke which had started filling her lungs and burning her eyes. So she coughed and tried to breathe in air but there was none, and rubbed furiously at her eyes until she remembered she needed to stay as low to the ground as possible if she was to stand a chance of being able to breathe or see. And so, Valkyrie dropped to the ground and began crawling somewhere, breathing in but the air wasn't much better down there. The heat was violent, but she kept her jacket on and zipped it up over her nose, hoping it would act as some kind of barrier against the smoke. Still she heals her breath as long as she was able.
Although she didn't know where she had found herself, she was, however, familiar with her surroundings as not two days ago had she found herself in the same situation. To call this place dismal would be an understatement but to call it solitude would seem more accurate as Valkyrie felt as though she was experiencing an extreme case of deja vu.

"Hallow!" She coughed out. "I know you're behind this!" Pain registered as she smacked her head against a wall. "Damn, not again." She cursed herself for making the same mistake as she did the last time she was here and turned round heading back the way she came. "Hallow!" She tried again. "I know you can hear me. In fact, you can see me right now. Come out and face me." To show her words held meaning, she stood despite the smoke, she was ready to fight. "Come on!" She screamed.

A few moments passed and the only sound she heard was the fire as it continued to burn down the furniture and the walls of the house she didn't know but recognised. "Coward." She muttered as she wiped her eyes again. Valkyrie remembered the last time she was here that she died standing so she started crawling again when she heard a laugh. A deep and menacing cackle in the shadows which danced against a warm glow.

"Valkyrie Cain, where's your detective Pleasant now?" The Scottish accent was a familiar voice in a familiar place.

"Well since you have me locked up in a dream, I guess he's not here." This time she made no effort to stand and stayed low to the ground still crawling for her way out.

"I imagine you're probably correct, however Valkyrie, you forget how powerful I am." He laughed again.

"Valkyrie!" His voice, Skulduggery's voice, shouting for her somewhere in the burning building. "Where are you?"

"Is that really you?" Doubt oozing within her.

"Yes, of course it's me." He reassured. "Let me know where you are!"

"I-I don't know. I'm in the living room!" Valkyrie panicked as she feared he wouldn't find her in time. The house was completely engulfed by now and she knew any anytime now she too would be up in flames. The clothes ghastly made her could only withstand so much fire before they would be overtaken.

"Find him and you may wake up, don't find him and I'll let you burn alive." Hallow spoke up again, his voice louder than before. Each time he had a new task for her to complete. Not once had she beaten Hallow at his one game and she didn't believe she was going to today but still she fumbled through the smoke, her eyes streaming from irritation, her vision was completely clouded and her sense of direction was even more so. She groped the floor screaming. Screaming Skulduggery's name. "Help me!" Now she was crying, the saltiness of her tears making their way into her mouth as she cried out for the Skeleton detective.

A bookshelf fell from the wall and blocked her path, not as if she actually knew where she was going but the way she decided she would head was now blocked and all around her was now a wall of fire. "No. No. Please." She muttered. And by now she had realised Skulduggery wasn't actually coming for her. Hallow was playing yet another cruel joke on her, and before she could even work out a way around the book case, she went up in flames, screaming.