Murder Mansion: Skulduggery Pleasant OC

Chapter 9 Reasoning

She surveyed the room, fighting back the need to laugh at their gormless expressions.  They all looked so surprised by the sight of her. Too stunned for words, only Skulduggery filled the silence.
"Why are you doing this? I'm sure you didn't wake up one morning and randomly decide this" His voice was heavy and accusing.
She took a while to respond, taking moments to look at Skulduggery, and then Faith, then Lucian and then Mendacious. She wondered what they would say, if they even could say anything. It's like they were frozen in place, she wanted to reach out and poke them. 
"I have my reasons, if you're all good then I shall tell you. But first, why do you think I did this?"
He cocked his head. "I think something happened in your childhood that warped your mind"
She chuckled. "Close, same idea but a later time. And I wouldn't say my mind is warped, just challenged. I can see outside of the box now, no stupid morals or humanity to get in the way."
"Okay, what happened?"
"It was a few months ago..." She then proceeded to tell them what happened the day her family died, and the day after when she saw Darquesse kill her father. All the while she was holding her hands behind her back, orchestrating the next stage of her plan. Her gauntlets buzzed with the power, ready to strike the moment her will allowed it. They all took it in, the first to respond being Lucian.
"Here's what I don't get. I understand why you killed Erskine, hell you could have just said he's Erskine. But why the rest of us? You're mad at Ravel and Darquesse right?"
She shook her head and he scowled. "I'm mad at them, yes. But I punished Ravel, and I can't exactly punish Darquesse can I considering she's in some other realm. But I then watched how Valkyrie was cleared of her sins not only as Darquesse, but letting all this happen. I watched as Skulduggery shielded her from guilt. Hide her from all the questions, allowing her to run away like a coward. So my revenge consumed him as well, for pardoning her for her actions. And then you all did the exact same thing. Upon learning who she was you all felt sorry for her. Sorry! People lost lives because of her!" She suddenly became aware she was shouting, she wasn't the type to lose control so she breathed in deeply. "Sorry. As I was saying, She was shielded by everyone, not a second thought for anyone else. No condolences for the people who lose family members and their loved ones. People who were left all alone by the carnage that ensued from the fight. All worry was to poor little Valkyrie, poor little world breaker who couldn't handle it so she ran away. No case was taken by the great skeleton detective. Even the funding for people like me was cut short to aid you in your search. All of the took time off from the rebuilding of Roarhaven for her. So this isn't just about punishing you for your negligence, by killing all of you the skeleton detective is shown how ineffective he is. How easy it was to bait you here. All I needed was to warn Faith how bad of an idea it would be for you to come, I knew she would warn you not to come and you wouldn't heed the warning and come anyway because you always do what you want whenever you want. Then the deaths of all of you in the name of Valkyrie would do one of two things. Either draw her out of hiding for revenge, thus making her easy pickings for me. Or, she would be so weak with all the guilt and shame she would do the job for me."
Skulduggery stepped forward. "She's stronger than you think. She would never do that. I accept the blame for my part of all of this, I've never said otherwise. But it's wrong to admonish everyone else for someone elses actions. So we should settle this, right now. Just you and I"
"I couldn't agree more" She smiled and twisted the wrist of her gauntlet, sending a pulse of electricity at the others. It took them all off of their feet aside from Skulduggery, who she missed on purpose. She then turned tail and ran, all according to plan. All she needed was to lure him in, all alone. She spun round the corner, sneaking a look behind her. Sure enough, he was right on her heels. Even spotting the fireball he threw at her, she kicked off the wall and pushed through the secret hallway she had constructed. If he was shocked he didn't show it as he continued the chase. Would he fall for it twice though? Come to think of it, how did he escape? Did either Faith or Lucian break him out? That was probably the case. The hallway got narrow, a precaution she made incase one of the bigger people who were staying here decided to chase her. But as it was they both flitted down it with no problems. She arrived into the secret part of the house that even dear old Erskine had no idea about. A grand spruce door stood in the centre in all of it's glory. She pushed it open and closed it behind her swiftly, just to buy her a little more time.