Playing with Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant, Book 2) by Derek Landy
Authors: Derek Landy
Tags: Fiction, General, Humorous stories, All Ages, Children's Books, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure - General, Magic, Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Children: Grades 4-6, Horror & Ghost Stories
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was on, but the bulb was fading. The closer they got, the more Valkyrie could see. She could see that the carpet didn't
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match the wallpaper, and the curtains, which must have been added for aesthetic reasons because there certainly weren't any windows down here, didn't match anything.
Skulduggery had his back to the corridor wall and was sliding soundlessly closer. Valkyrie did the same thing on the opposite wall, allowing herself a view of the room that Skulduggery couldn't get.
She saw two old-fashioned heaters, neither of which was turned on. She saw another painting, this time of a ship on a stormy sea. There was an armchair underneath the painting, and a small table beside the armchair. No sign of the Torment, though.
They stopped moving, and she shook her head at Skulduggery. He nodded and stepped into the living room, sweeping his gun from one corner of the room to the other. He checked behind the armchair. Nothing.
Valkyrie followed him in. On the other side of the room were a radio, a portable TV with a cracked screen, and the record player that was playing the Carpenters.
She parted the curtains, which led to nothing more interesting than a wall, and turned to tell
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Skulduggery that Scapegrace must have somehow warned the Torment, when she saw the old man glaring at her from the ceiling.
He had long dirty hair and a long dirty beard, and he dropped from the rafters onto Skulduggery and knocked him to the ground. The gun flew from Skulduggery's hand, and the old man grabbed it. Valkyrie threw herself sideways as he fired. The bullet hit the record player and the song cut off.
Skulduggery twisted and pushed at the air, but the old man was already running along the corridor. Skulduggery scrambled up, then stepped sideways as the old man fired twice more. Skulduggery peeked out to make sure it was clear, then ran after him.
Valkyrie wasn't entirely certain that her armored clothes could stop a bullet. And what about her head? For the first time, she wished her coat had come with a hood.
She ran after Skulduggery just as he ducked into the bedroom.
She got to the bedroom, raised an eyebrow at the opposite wall, which had parted to reveal a stone corridor, and sprinted through the gap. She could just make out Skulduggery ahead of her,
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moving fast in the darkness. She saw light flare up, saw his silhouette hurling a fireball.
She ran on, aware that the ground was slanting upward. Her legs were getting tired. Her footsteps on the stone ground were uncomfortably loud in her ears. She couldn't see anything now. It was pitch black. She focused on the energy inside her, then clicked her fingers and caught the spark. The flame grew and flickered in her palm, and she held it at arm's length to light her way. She didn't like the fact that it made her an easy target, but neither did she like the idea of falling into a pit full of metal spikes or something equally nasty.
And then she came to a junction.
"Oh come on," she muttered, in between gasps for breath.
She could go straight, or turn either right or left. She had no idea which direction Skulduggery had taken. She tried to stop herself from imagining lethal traps, or getting lost in a maze of corridors and dying down here, in the darkness and the cold.
She cursed. She had to turn back. She decided to head up and look around the town, try and find where these tunnels would surface. It was better than standing around being useless, she figured.
145
It was at this exact moment that she heard a rumbling.
The path from the cellar was closing up. The walls were shifting back together.
Right, left, or straight ahead. She chose straight ahead, and she ran.
146
Chapter Thirteen
ROARHAVEN
THE WALLS WERE moving in, faster and faster. She glanced back as the junction closed up. If she tripped, if she stumbled, the walls on either side of her would shift together with that terrible rumbling noise and squash her into something less than paste.
Her
142
match the wallpaper, and the curtains, which must have been added for aesthetic reasons because there certainly weren't any windows down here, didn't match anything.
Skulduggery had his back to the corridor wall and was sliding soundlessly closer. Valkyrie did the same thing on the opposite wall, allowing herself a view of the room that Skulduggery couldn't get.
She saw two old-fashioned heaters, neither of which was turned on. She saw another painting, this time of a ship on a stormy sea. There was an armchair underneath the painting, and a small table beside the armchair. No sign of the Torment, though.
They stopped moving, and she shook her head at Skulduggery. He nodded and stepped into the living room, sweeping his gun from one corner of the room to the other. He checked behind the armchair. Nothing.
Valkyrie followed him in. On the other side of the room were a radio, a portable TV with a cracked screen, and the record player that was playing the Carpenters.
She parted the curtains, which led to nothing more interesting than a wall, and turned to tell
143
Skulduggery that Scapegrace must have somehow warned the Torment, when she saw the old man glaring at her from the ceiling.
He had long dirty hair and a long dirty beard, and he dropped from the rafters onto Skulduggery and knocked him to the ground. The gun flew from Skulduggery's hand, and the old man grabbed it. Valkyrie threw herself sideways as he fired. The bullet hit the record player and the song cut off.
Skulduggery twisted and pushed at the air, but the old man was already running along the corridor. Skulduggery scrambled up, then stepped sideways as the old man fired twice more. Skulduggery peeked out to make sure it was clear, then ran after him.
Valkyrie wasn't entirely certain that her armored clothes could stop a bullet. And what about her head? For the first time, she wished her coat had come with a hood.
She ran after Skulduggery just as he ducked into the bedroom.
She got to the bedroom, raised an eyebrow at the opposite wall, which had parted to reveal a stone corridor, and sprinted through the gap. She could just make out Skulduggery ahead of her,
144
moving fast in the darkness. She saw light flare up, saw his silhouette hurling a fireball.
She ran on, aware that the ground was slanting upward. Her legs were getting tired. Her footsteps on the stone ground were uncomfortably loud in her ears. She couldn't see anything now. It was pitch black. She focused on the energy inside her, then clicked her fingers and caught the spark. The flame grew and flickered in her palm, and she held it at arm's length to light her way. She didn't like the fact that it made her an easy target, but neither did she like the idea of falling into a pit full of metal spikes or something equally nasty.
And then she came to a junction.
"Oh come on," she muttered, in between gasps for breath.
She could go straight, or turn either right or left. She had no idea which direction Skulduggery had taken. She tried to stop herself from imagining lethal traps, or getting lost in a maze of corridors and dying down here, in the darkness and the cold.
She cursed. She had to turn back. She decided to head up and look around the town, try and find where these tunnels would surface. It was better than standing around being useless, she figured.
145
It was at this exact moment that she heard a rumbling.
The path from the cellar was closing up. The walls were shifting back together.
Right, left, or straight ahead. She chose straight ahead, and she ran.
146
Chapter Thirteen
ROARHAVEN
THE WALLS WERE moving in, faster and faster. She glanced back as the junction closed up. If she tripped, if she stumbled, the walls on either side of her would shift together with that terrible rumbling noise and squash her into something less than paste.
Her
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