Promises

2. I'm Pregnant Again...

Valkyrie Cain walked slowly down the stairs, shivering. She had wiped away the tear stains that had previously lined her cheeks and her shoulders were slumped. Her expression was placid and expressionless, mirroring the way she was feeling. Skulduggery Pleasant met her at the bottom, his dark hair wild, and his emerald green eyes shimmering.

"How was our gorgeous little girl?" He asked, approaching her.

Valkyrie stopped walking, and didn't answer. She watched as his smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of concern.

"Valkyrie?" He asked, stepping forward and touching her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, taking a deep breath. She was trying her best to hold back the tears.

"Skul..." She whispered, looking up at him. "I'm pregnant again."

She watched as Skulduggery's face lit up, his eyes sparkling. "Valkyrie, that's great!" He exclaimed, and Valkyrie forced a fake smile onto her face, something she had gotten very good at the last few months.

"I know!" She grinned, and he laughed, pulling her in for a hug. Valkyrie let herself sag against him, cherishing in his warmth. Her smile disappeared once he couldn't see her face, and she sighed. How had she managed to get herself into such a mess?

He pulled away much too quickly for Valkyrie's liking.

"We should tell Gabby," he said, already heading towards the kitchen. "She's going to love this."

Valkyrie forced herself to giggle lightly. "We should," she replied, and Skulduggery gave her a smile before walking away into the kitchen. Valkyrie sighed again, and the smile disappeared. She rushed back up the stairs and into the bathroom once more, shutting the door and locking it. Then she sunk to the floor with her head between her knees. She could feel a panic attack coming on.

Calm, she told herself. Calm down Valkyrie. You can get through this.

Now she knew she had to tell him what was going on. But she couldn't. Her heart was screaming at her to come clean, but her mind was screaming at her not to. It was all so confusing for her. She groaned, and felt a faint headache coming on in her temples. She tried massaging it away, but it only made the pain worse.

Tears streamed down her cheeks and she got to her feet reluctantly. She looked at herself in the mirror, and her hands went to her stomach.

"Why?" She whispered. "I'm a terrible mother little one. Why would a mother wish for her child to be stillborn?"

It was true, that was her wish. She wanted to have a miscarriage. Because then she would never have to go through the pain of having to give up her child. How would she explain Sanguine and Dusk coming up to their front door and taking away their child?

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" She sighed.

***

Claret smirked as Ravel finally came to his senses and snapped out of his shock.

"See," she grinned. "What did I tell you?"

"I can hardly believe it," Ravel said softly, his voice barely audible. "You were right."

"Aren't I always?" Claret sneered. "Anyway, this is good."

Ravel nodded. "Very good indeed."

Claret turned away from him and looked up at the ceiling. It was boring. She had always looked at it as being something deadly; something that could collapse, cave in and kill them at any second, but now the very idea just seemed stupid.

"I will send Billy Ray and Dusk over soon," she murmured. "They can pay our pretty little Mrs Pleasant a visit."

"I'm trembling," Ravel breathed a laugh.

Claret turned to face him once again, the same smirk still stretched across her face. Her blonde hair was curled at the ends, and sat neatly over her shoulders. Her bright blue eyes sparkled. Ravel couldn't help but gaze at her. God, she was beautiful. He shook himself. He really had to stop doing that. To her, he probably looked like some sort of fish with his mouth hanging open like that.

"Good," Claret nodded. "That means you're ready for some action."

They were interrupted when the door opened. Claret's smirk disappeared and was replaced by a scowl.

"Look what the criminal dragged in," she sneered. "What do you want?"

The man was silent, and Claret rolled her eyes impatiently.

"What you're doing is wrong," he answered.

Claret narrowed her eyes and walked forward.

"What we're doing is going to change the world," she whispered. The man held his ground.

"Yes, it will, for the worst."

"You're just a distraction aren't you Tyrell? You're better off dead."

Shadows coiled around Claret's hands and Tyrell dodged as she sent a wave of them slicing towards him. He rolled and got to his feet quickly, disappearing.

Claret screamed in frustration.
"I ALMOST HAD HIM!" She yelled, and the shadows hit the ceiling. Dust rained down on them. Ravel swallowed thickly, his Adams apple bobbing slightly as he did so.

"Uh... Claret calm down," he said. Claret took a deep breath and turned, a fake smile on her plump lips.

"I'mcalm," she whispered. "I'm always calm." Ravel watched as she paced around the room, chewing her bottom lip. "He's onto us," she muttered. "What if he tells Aidan?"

"He won't," Ravel replied, trying to lighten the mood. It felt like all the heaviness was crushing him, weighing him down. "We'll make sure he doesn't."

***

"Oh my god really?!" Gabrielle shrieked. "That's amazing!"

Valkyrie did her best to make her smile look convincing, and obviously, it was working. "Yeah," she replied. "It is."

Gabrielle was jumping and down with excitement. "Aww! What are you going to name it?"

"We haven't quite gotten that far yet, Gabs," Valkyrie laughed. "I only found out this morning."

Gabrielle stopped bouncing. "This is so cool!" She exclaimed, hugging Valkyrie. "I can't wait."

Valkyrie swallowed. "Me either," she lied.