Traffic [Valduggery, Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction]

VHS: Part One

Torture ahead.

Part one of two.

Apparently, the Sanctuary didn't even own a VHS player. At least, that's what the intern said as she showed Tanith to the room. Apparently, Skulduggery had to go buy one from some obscure shop. The intern found this really funny. Tanith did not.

Skulduggery was already there, standing straight. He nodded to her, once; short and quick.

China must have already seen it. Maybe she didn't want to. Hell, Tanith didn't even want to see it, but here she was, clicking the 'Play' button and wondering if Skulduggery was looking at the back of her head as she sat down.

The blue screen appeared—Val had given a fond smile at the VHS tapes when they had watched Star Wars, all those years ago. But instead of an orchestra and scrolling text, Valkyrie popped up on the screen.

She looked terrible. Whoever had gotten her, she had put up one hell of a fight. The entire right side of her face was smashed, eye swollen shut and lip burst, and covered in road burn. The only light in the room was from above, something stark and bright, so only Val's face was illuminated. The rest of her body was in shadows; it probably wasn't much prettier.

"Are you getting my good side?" Valkyrie asked.

Tanith was torn between crying and smiling.

"How long are you going to record me for? It can't be too interesting right now. He's going to notice I'm gone when I don't Snapchat him back the first few hours. And by the time you edit this and drop it off, he'll be looking for me."

Valkyrie waited a few seconds.

"He wouldn't shut up a few minutes ago, let me tell you."

The camera jostled, and something red was held up in front of the lens. It took Tanith a few seconds to realize it was half of a jumper cable.

Valkyrie looked at it. "That again? I get all the unoriginal—"

The shot shuddered violently, and Valkyrie's body was locked against her restraints, face locked in a silent scream as her muscles contracted.

Blue filled the screen again, and Tanith blinked. Blinked again. Blue switched to static.

"She said she would be back in a few hours. I was going to research, and she was going to follow some leads we had." Skulduggery voice sent goosebumps across Tanith's arms. "I found her bike and her phone, no signs of struggle. It was outside the pier."

Tanith's throat was dry. She turned around slowly, and Skulduggery still hadn't moved. He was looking at the static on the screen. His head tilted ever so slightly, and Tanith wondered if he had caught sight of her expression.

Tanith forced professionalism onto her face and stood. She couldn't sit. Not after that. She needed to stand, to go somewhere, to think about Valkyrie laughing or training or anything, not writhing in agony, jaw locked.

"Any ideas?"

Skulduggery still wasn't moving. Tanith felt like she was the only one alive.

"Someone who knows her. She moved her family, after everything, but anyone who didn't know that would use the pier. We're checking the security cameras around the Sanctuary, street cameras."

"Who would..."

It wasn't really a question. Plenty of people. Tanith had been there at the trials, arguing against the binding symbols threatened for Val. She had been busy when Skulduggery had testified, but there wasn't much of a trial afterwards.

"We were getting close to Dexter."

Tanith turned her head sharply back to Skulduggery, met his gaze. "How close?"

"Close enough so he was cornered. Obviously." Skulduggery's head moved slightly back and forth. "We had addresses. I need you to check them over, bring Cleavers, bring a whole damned army."

"How long has she been gone?"

"Three days."

...

Tanith hated working with Cleavers. They creeped her out, even now. She talked to them briefly, ordered two to stay with her, the rest to fan out through the crumbling apartment building.

It wasn't very Dexter Vex. Tanith marched through the building, having the Cleavers kick in doors, searching the rooms herself. It had rats and broken faucets and cobwebs, and Skulduggery and Val must have been really close to drive him here.

Three days. Tanith thought back to all of her torture. Three days was a lot. Why hadn't Skulduggery called her in earlier? He was probably checking everything out, calling her family, friends—Tanith deserved something earlier. But she was here now, and that was something. He had trusted her enough.

A Cleaver stood to attention and handed her a video tape. Tanith's heart sank.

...

Skulduggery strode in, head snapping to Tanith. She wanted to smile or something, to put some expression somewhere in the room, but she pressed play instead.

Valkyrie's hair hung over her face. She looked up, suddenly, like she hadn't been aware there was another person in the room.

Tanith looked away. Skulduggery moved closer to the television.

"I'm sure you're progressing nicely with your search," Val said.

Tanith closed her eyes against the voice.

"But he's getting awfully close to my tattoo."

Of course she looked. The light source had shifted, and now her left side was illuminated. Her forearm was red and glistening, her right in shadow. A neat cut had been made around Valkyrie's wrist, and the skin had been peeled back towards her elbow. Tanith could see the sweat dripping from Valkyrie, the tremors, the rasp.

"Does my nose look broken to you?"

Blue. Static.

Val, Val, poor Valkyrie. Tanith wanted to sink to the ground, sit there and stare into the distance. Tanith remembered nails through her collar bones, hands, her body screaming at her to do something against the pain that was being driven into her, that flooded her and pounded with each heartbeat.

Skulduggery stood in front of the television. His hand twitched, and for an insane moment, Tanith thought he was going to reach for his revolver. He hit the 'Rewind' button.

Tanith was moving before she could think. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for clues." He looked at her hand on his arm.

Tanith peeled her fingers away. "Shut the sound off. I'll help."