Promises

6. You're Like Pinocchio

"Hey..." Gabrielle whispered, peering into the bedroom. Valkyrie sat up quickly, wiping her eyes.

"Hi," she answered.

"You okay?" Gabrielle asked.

Valkyrie nodded quickly. "Yeah... I'm fine."

Gabrielle sighed.
"No, you're not."

Valkyrie stared, her brown eyes glistening with tears. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It's okay," Gabrielle said, running her fingers through her long blonde hair. "Just... Let me know when you're ready..."

Valkyrie felt a pang of guilt as the door closed, and the girl's footsteps disappeared down the hall. She sighed and lay back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Five minutes passed until there was a gentle knocking on the door. Valkyrie sat up, grateful that the tears had finally left her eyes, and she looked normal again.

"Valkyrie?" Skulduggery asked from outside.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?"

She sighed. "Go ahead."

She watched as the door cracked open slightly, and smiled. "Hey," Skulduggery whispered. Valkyrie sighed as he sat down beside her on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," Valkyrie lied. Skulduggery tilted his head.

"You have hardly been out of this room for three days. I wouldn't call that good."

"I'm just tired," Valkyrie told him. "And stressed. How's Sophie?"

She felt bad about asking how her daughter was when she was only across the hall in the other room. She should've been looking after Sophie, but lately Valkyrie hadn't wanted to do anything, let alone get out of bed.

"She's with Gabby," Skulduggery answered. "And she's doing well. That question is though, how are you really?"

"I told you I'm-"

"Valkyrie, I know when you're lying, you're like Pinocchio."

Valkyrie narrowed her eyes.
"My nose isn't that long!"

Skulduggery laughed.
"What's bugging you?"

Lie. Lie. Lie.

"I'm scared," she said, and bit her lip. He didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he said nothing about it.

"Scared about what?"

"The same thing as last time..."

Skulduggery nodded in understanding.
"I see."

"Do you?"

"I do."

Valkyrie sighed, and crawled over close to him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gently rubbed circles onto her back. She closed her eyes and sighed in contentment.

"You have to stop stressing," Skulduggery whispered. "It's not good for either of you."

"I know," Valkyrie replied, leaning against him and breathing in his scent. "I'm just..."

"Afraid?"

She nodded, and his hands moved further up, massaging her shoulders. Her body rocked back and forth and she sighed happily.

"Keep doing that," she practically begged. He chuckled.

"With pleasure. Now what's scaring you?"

"Dying," Valkyrie answered, and opened her eyes, staring up at him.

"You won't die Valkyrie."

She sighed, and closed her eyes again. Gabrielle knocked on the door gently, and Skulduggery looked up.

"I'm going out for a little while," she told them. "I'll be back later."

"Okay, be safe," Skulduggery said, and she nodded before disappearing back down the stairs. "So," he started. "What do you think? Boy or girl?"

Valkyrie tensed slightly, but tried her best to relax again. "I don't know, I kinda want another girl."

"Me too. Isabella Tanith," he breathed.
Valkyrie managed a small smile, and her stomach rumbled. She blushed. Skulduggery stopped massaging her shoulders and laughed lightly. "You sound hungry," he teased, and she swatted at his arm. "Come on," he said, lifting her off the bed. "I'll make you something."

***

Gabrielle sighed, and grabbed the keys from the bench before walking out the front door. She found her car in the driveway and tossed the keys into the air, catching them again as her boots made noises on the concrete pathway.

This was when she could do lots of thinking, when she was alone. But this was also when she was most dangerous. Being left alone with her thoughts was not a good thing.

She unlocked her car, a yellow Porsche, and climbed inside. She started the ignition and the engine roared to life. She clicked her seatbelt into place, and looked in the rear-vision mirror as she backed out.

No other cars were coming.

She pulled out onto the road and changed gears before driving towards Haggard. She didn't know exactly where she was headed, but anywhere was better than being stuck in that house with the two lovebirds and their baby daughter.

God, she missed Tyrell. Would he ever come back? Would he be missing her? She hoped that was so. Maybe she could call him? No, he wouldn't answer. It was more than likely that he'd destroyed his phone by now so there was no chance that anyone could track him down. And he certainly wasn't coming back to see Skulduggery any time soon either.

Gabrielle was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't realise the car coming down the road, and that she was on the wrong side. All the sudden her world was full of the sounds of crunching metal, the squealing of tires, her own screams, glass shattering, and the car sailing off the road. Then everything went black.

***

Valkyrie laughed as Skulduggery attempted to flip a pancake, and it ended up on the floor. He snarled in annoyance. "Are you kidding me?! That's the fourth time now!"

"Maybe you should try doing it normally."

"Normal is overrated."

Valkyrie raised her eyebrows and was about to reply when the phone began to ring. She reached for it, but Skulduggery's hand was already there.

"Ghastly?" He answered. Then his green eyes widened. He hung up, and went very pale. Valkyrie's heart began to pound.

"W-what's wrong?" She asked.

"We need to go," he said, urgency clear in his voice. He was frantic. "Right now."