There weren't many people in this hallway. Skulduggery had gathered, from the angry streams of notes on the bulletin board, that most people were stuck on a group of buses outside of the Institute last night, leaving the hallways clear. That didn't really explain why there were still so few people now, but that wasn't really at the forefront of Skulduggery's mind.
He paused as he passed the bathroom door. Rita had said she needed to do something quickly before meeting him at the library, so he was going to end up waiting for her anyway. And really, it was beyond time for Skulduggery to know exactly what he looked like. Making the decision before he could change his mind, he pushed open the door, stepped in, caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. And even with the meager light filtering in from the hall, he could see his face.
It was a handsome face. It was a familiar face. But more than that, Skulduggery finally realized, it was the face he'd been expecting to see all this time. His own. The face of the man who hadn't been there in time to stop Serpine from killing his family, the face that had died centuries ago and should have stayed buried. But Skulduggery had known what his reflection would show from the moment he first learned about the extent of Landel's power. He just hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd delayed the inevitable for as long as possible because he didn't want to face himself.
Well. Now he knew. It might take a while to accept it, but at least now he knew. Another mystery solved, even if it didn't really count because it had never been a mystery in the first place. After a few minutes of not moving, Skulduggery gave himself a little mental shake and let the bathroom door close again.
no subject
There weren't many people in this hallway. Skulduggery had gathered, from the angry streams of notes on the bulletin board, that most people were stuck on a group of buses outside of the Institute last night, leaving the hallways clear. That didn't really explain why there were still so few people now, but that wasn't really at the forefront of Skulduggery's mind.
He paused as he passed the bathroom door. Rita had said she needed to do something quickly before meeting him at the library, so he was going to end up waiting for her anyway. And really, it was beyond time for Skulduggery to know exactly what he looked like. Making the decision before he could change his mind, he pushed open the door, stepped in, caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. And even with the meager light filtering in from the hall, he could see his face.
It was a handsome face. It was a familiar face. But more than that, Skulduggery finally realized, it was the face he'd been expecting to see all this time. His own. The face of the man who hadn't been there in time to stop Serpine from killing his family, the face that had died centuries ago and should have stayed buried. But Skulduggery had known what his reflection would show from the moment he first learned about the extent of Landel's power. He just hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd delayed the inevitable for as long as possible because he didn't want to face himself.
Well. Now he knew. It might take a while to accept it, but at least now he knew. Another mystery solved, even if it didn't really count because it had never been a mystery in the first place. After a few minutes of not moving, Skulduggery gave himself a little mental shake and let the bathroom door close again.
Time to move on.