Chapter 1: Return to Creepy Towers
Summary:
Welcome back to Creepy Towers! The Anubis residents are back for a new year!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Wednesday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. This the first chapter of the latest installment in my Tears of Gold verse.
If you are a new reader, welcome!! I am so happy you found us! I would recommend that you start with my “Tears of Gold” fic, since this story will quickly become confusing if you are not familiar with the new lore. I hope that you enjoy this universe 💜
If you are a returning reader, welcome back!! I have so many fun surprises in store for you all 🌸. I hope that you enjoy today’s upload 🥰.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Poppy started bouncing as soon as Alfie turned the car down the tree lined path and rolled up to a familiar pair of gates.
“We are almost there!!!” cheered the girl
“What are you most looking forward to about being back on campus?” asked Jerome, turning around to look at his sister from his spot in the passenger seat.
“Seeing Missy again!” replied Poppy automatically.
“She just visited us last week” laughed Lili, tugging on the girl’s braids teasingly. “What else?”
After a few more seconds of contemplation, Poppy offered “I guess I’m looking forward to seeing the others and eating Maribell’s food again. Her gingersnap cookies have yours beat Lili”.
“I’d be offended if I didn’t agree with you,” laughed the blonde girl. “You are going to have to sneak me a couple the next time she makes some”
“Deal” agreed Poppy, only to screech as the car pulled into a familiar courtyard. “I see Missy!!”.
The younger girl tumbled out of the car as soon as Alfie put it in park, excited to get to her best friend and roommate.
“Penelope! Come back and get your suitcase!” Jerome shouted after his little sister.
“Let her go Roe, she’ll come back for it eventually” suggested Alfie.
“I wonder if anyone else is back yet?” wondered Lili, unloading her bags from the back of the car.
“Probably, I just wish that we were able to park closer to the house” grunted Jerome.
“Oh please, as if Sweetie would ever sign off on building a second parking lot. We’re lucky he was forced to include this one for the off campus teachers” laughed Lili.
“Yeah my dad isn’t big on making student life any easier” agreed Eddie as he and Fabian approached the trio. “Welcome back guys!”
“Thanks Eddie!” replied Alfie, loading the group's extra luggage onto their trolley.
“So Eddie, did you see Nina?” Fabian asked, after the group exchanged hugs.
“Huh?” asked the American boy.
“At the airport? Did your flights overlap?”
“Nope, sorry dude”.
“Jerome!” shouted Mara from across the courtyard as she rushed towards the group.
“Mara!! It’s so good to see you” yelled back Jerome as he picked up the Indian girl and spun her around.
“I missed you all so much” revealed Mara, pulling the others into quick hugs as well.
“I guess we don’t need to ask how your vacation was Emmy?”
“Oh it was positively awful,” teased Mara. “JK, I spent hours and hours in the Oxford lab. Truly living the dream!”
“That’s wonderful Mara. I can’t wait to share some of the books I picked up during Nina and I’s trip with you”.
“Oooh! Fun”.
“Guy’s, Ambs just texted and said that Vera made her chocolate nightmare cake! We need to hurry up or it’ll be all gone by the time we get there” gasped Alfie, horrified at the idea of missing out on their house mother's specialty.
Grabbing their luggage the group happily made their way towards the house and their friends.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Honey, we're home!” shouted Eddie as the group entered Anubis House’s atrium, causing Joy and Amber to rush out onto the balcony.
Lili heard herself letting out an ear splitting scream as she finally saw her bestie in person for the first time in months, “Amby!!!”
“Lils! You’re finally here” screeched back Amber, swinging Lili around happily.
Settling back onto her heels, Lili watched as her housemates reunited happily.
“Welcome back children” greeted Vera. “I set up some snacks for you all in the sitting room, which Mr. Lewis has already located”
“Guilty as charged” shouted back Alfie from the other room.
“Is Nina here?” asked Fabian.
“Not yet, when is she due?” asked the housemother.
“I’m not sure, I tried messaging her but I haven’t gotten a response in a couple days”.
“That girlfriend of yours is really bad at staying in touch. It was nigh impossible to speak with her while you were on your trip” scolded Amber playfully.
“Sorry, Ambs. We were just super busy”
“Clearly” teased Amber, before she caught sight of her boyfriend. “ALFIE!!!”
“Hey Baby!!” greeted Alfie, as he caught the flying blonde, spinning her around happily. “Oh I missed you Amby”.
“I missed you too babes”
“Get a room you two” snickered Jerome, only to gasp as Lili’s elbow nailed him in the gut.
“Oh leave them be, Roe. It’s sweet that they’re so excited to see each other”.
“Whatever you say Lilipop” grunted Jerome ushering the blonde into the sitting room to catch up with their housemates.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“How was your competition, Amber?” asked Mara, helping herself to a piece of Vera’s cake.
“It went great! Super hard and all, but lots of fun. It was nice to see my skating friends again, and I placed pretty well this year. I scored lower than I expected, but given the time I was off the ice due to my injury, it makes sense”.
“Well we missed hanging out with you this summer, but we’re glad you had fun” admitted Lili.
“G’day mates!” came a familiar cheerful greeting from the house’s previously absent blond Jock.
“MICK!!!” screeched Amber, dropping her danish and sprinting across the room to pull the boy into a bone breaking hug.
“I missed you too, Amber. But you need to let go now since I am struggling to breathe here” gasped the jock.
“Sorry” apologized Amber.
“What on earth are you doing here, mate? I thought your sports academy had already started?” asked Fabian.
“Well, I talked to my Dad and Surprise! I’m back at Anubis!”
“Really?” asked Alfie.
“Yeah, I mean I enjoyed my time in Australia… but this is home. I had an honest conversation with my folks about it and they agreed that I could return as long as I fly out to see them on breaks”.
“That’s wonderful news Mick! Welcome back, roomie” beamed Fabian.
“Wait? What about me!?!” worried Eddie.
“Mr. Campbell will be rooming with you and Mr. Rutter” replied Vera as she set down a new platter of sandwiches next to Albert the Alligator. “Victor added the third furniture set over the break”.
“Haha! You're stuck in a triple too” teased Joy, tossing a carrot at Eddie.
“Yes, aside from Miss Wells, the rest of the room assignments will remain the same this semester” explained their housemother.
“Oh? Am I moving?” asked Lili.
“No, but you will have a new roommate this semester. Her name is Kara Tatiana and she should be arriving shortly”.
“So much for yours being the sleepover room, Lils” bemoaned Amber.
“Oh please, I’m pretty sure we ended up crashing in your bedroom more than my single last year. Hypothetically of course” added Lili, throwing a quick glance Vera’s way.
“Well any new sleepover plans should remain purely hypothetical this semester” laughed Vera as she bustled back to the kitchen.
“I know she’s evil and all, but sometimes Vera can actually be cool” whispered Amber, and Lili had to silently agree.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Anubis students had a splendid time catching up, but the absence of their original American was hanging over the group like a dark cloud. A cloud which got more and more threatening as the clock ticked on and there was no sign of Nina.
The sudden appearance of Mr. Sweet caught the group by surprise. Why on earth was their headmaster here so early in the semester? Classes hadn’t started and the Sibuna Crew hadn’t even been able to shake up any trouble yet!
“Hey it’s Sweetie! I mean Mr. Sweet” corrected Alfie hurriedly.
“Are you ok Mr. Sweet, you don’t look so good?” asked Mara.
“Is everything ok?” worried Liliana.
“Pay attention please,” ordered their headmaster. “I am afraid I have an announcement to make which some of you may consider ‘bad’ news”.
“Dad, just spit it out” ordered Eddie, looking increasingly worried from his spot between Joy and Patricia.
“It’s about Nina Martin”.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: A clarification on Mara's nickname, since I don't think I explained it in TOG. Mara's full name is Mara Eeshta Jaffray. So her nickname is M.E. or "Emmy".
Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this first update for Scent of Lavender! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 2: First Things First… Breakfast!
Summary:
The Chosen One Returns!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much for your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“What about Nina?” asked Fabian worriedly, hopping to his feet.
“Miss Martin and her companion’s arrival has been delayed and they won’t be arriving until later. I am afraid I can’t give you any more information than that” explained the headmaster before hurrying out of the room.
“What?” yelled Fabian as he chased the headmaster out of the room.
While it was certainly strange that Nina contacted Mr. Sweet of all people about her travel plans; the group, sans Fabian, simply shrugged it off. Flights get delayed all the time, this couldn’t be a big deal.
“Well given that Mr. Sweet managed to thoroughly kill the mood, I’m going to go unpack. Want to come help me, Amby?” asked Lili.
“Sure thing! See you guys at supper!” waved Amber as she followed Lili upstairs.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Are you ready for classes to start tomorrow?” asked Lili, hanging up her dresses in one of the room’s wardrobes. She figured that since she was the first one to arrive she had the right to call first dibs on the room’s furniture.
“Ehh, it’ll be nice to get back into a routine but I’m certainly not looking forward to having homework again”.
“That’s fair. I wonder what the teacher turnover will be like this year”
“It’ll probably stay about the same given that we didn’t uncover a school cult last year” guessed Amber as she set up Lili’s vanity.
“Well at least two of the cult members are still at the school, not that their little group has much of a focus now that the chosen hour has passed and they’re out of elixir” added Lili.
“Hopefully Sweetie keeps pretending to be a ‘good guy’ and Victor channels his focus towards marrying Vera. That way we can get through a year without having to do anything Sibuna related”
“That would be a dream,” agreed Lili. The pair spent the rest of the night catching up and preparing for classes the next morning.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The first day of classes was as hectic as usual for the Anubis House Residents. Lili, Joy and Eddie were happy to be starting at the beginning of the semester with their classmates. It made everything so much easier from an academic standpoint when they weren't constantly struggling to play catchup.
Lili had woken to a shocking surprise when she rolled over and found a young black girl sleeping in the bed across from her. She had initially attempted to quietly sneak around the room and let her new roommate get some much needed sleep. Her attempts turned out to be for naught though when Amber’s shriek of excitement woke up the entire top floor.
“Wazzit?” worried the new girl sitting up sleepily in her bed.
“Don’t worry” assured Lili from her spot at her vanity. “That’s just Amber realizing her roommate came in over night”.
“Oh” muttered the girl, flopping back down against her pillow. “That’s certainly quite the wake up call”.
“Haha. Yeah, luckily it doesn’t happen too often around here. Breakfast will be served in a bit so I would recommend getting ready soon” smiled Lili. “I’m going to go check on Amber and Nina so you can have the room”.
“Thanks” replied the new girl appreciatively, shooting Lili a thumbs up as the blonde girl bounced out of the room.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Vera had gone all out for the group’s ‘first day back’ breakfast. Lili helped herself to a blueberry muffin, half an omelet and settled in to chat with her friends.
“I’ve got first period Scientific Ethics with Johnson, second period Literary Studies, third period Advanced Life Sciences, fourth period Mandarin, fifth period Sculpting and time for my independent study last period” rattled off Mara to the table at large.
“Are you excited to get started on your internship?” asked Mick, extending an olive branch to the girl despite her having cheated on him just a couple months ago.
“Definitely! I loved working with Mark and Lisa over the summer, so I was thrilled when they offered to keep me on during the year. It took a bit of doing, but Jacobs finally agreed to allow me to file for independent study. Apparently being put on probation twice actually has ‘consequences’... or at least that’s what she said before I spammed her with emails and phone calls. She gave in and signed the form so I am set to go!” beamed the excited girl.
“Got to love how even the less sketch members of this school still have no backbone” snarked Joy quietly, causing Lili to dissolve into a giggle fit.
“What about you Liliana?” asked Mara sharply, probably taking Lili’s laughter as being directed at her.
“Hm? Oh it will certainly be a busy day! I have a double block of Advanced Latin first period followed by Modern History of Warfare. Unfortunately I still have to knock out my final science credits so I’ll be taking Sweetie’s Anatomy and Physiology course with most of the others”.
“Cool, I’m just excited to get back into the classroom. I hear that Sweetie hired another new teacher” commented Mara.
“Wow, it’s almost like this school isn’t a pleasant place to work,” mocked Joy. “It’s a wonder your dad is able to hire anyone at all anymore”
“Tell me about it, I had to hear all about his hiring struggles during our required bi-weekly calls” sighed the blonde boy.
“Hush guys. It’s not right to talk about the headmaster that way” shut down Mara.
“Just let it go, Emmy” recommended Patricia, “Those two have very valid reasons for feeling this way”.
Mara looked like she wanted to continue the argument, but luckily she was cut off as Nina entered the room flanked by Fabian and Amber.
“Nina! Welcome back” greeted Alfie happily, waving at their friend.
“Thank you Alfie! It’s so good to finally be home” smiled Nina.
“What held you up, girlie? Fabian was going crazy yesterday when you didn’t show up on time?” asked Liliana.
“Oh… I just ran into an old friend from my summer trip. He hadn’t been the biggest fan of me returning to Frobisher Academy this year. K.T. and I had to, umm” here Nina hesitated clearly trying to come up with a lie to keep Mara and Mick in the dark about anything Sibunalike. “to ‘talk’ him down… my phone died during the ‘conversation’ and I wasn’t able to get through to anyone”.
“Really? Strange, how did you talk to Mr. Sweet though?” asked Mara, her inner-journalist clearly scenting a juicy story.
“I borrowed K.T’s phone and called the school number I found online. I didn’t know anyone else’s cell number, since who knows anyone’s number these days. Mr. Sweet promised to pass on my message, but clearly his message had the opposite of the calming effect I was shooting for,” laughed the American girl.
“Who’s K.T.?” asked Mick.
“My cousin!” grinned Nina, at the same time as the mystery girl from this morning appeared in the dining room doorway.
“I am!” chirped the girl peppily. “Hi y’all. I’m Kara Tatianna, but you can call me KT”.
“Great, more Martins,” moaned Joy quietly from her spot beside Lili, gloomily eyeing the new girl.
While the time apart over the summer had helped, clearly the extra space hadn’t entirely healed the gaping rift between the two girls.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you roomie, I’m Liliana Wells” beamed Lili waving welcomingly to the girl. The other students quickly offered up their own names in greeting.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all” replied the girl as she settled down into the only open seat at the table between Patricia and Joy at the end of the table. Clearly Joy had to get over her Martin Family related angst quickly, since she would be sitting with the new girl for the foreseeable future.
KT helped herself to a plate of eggs and toast before asking for Eddie to pass the hot sauce. The second that those words left the girl’s mouth, Lili was sure cartoon hearts began floating around the American boy’s head. The bottle of hot sauce had been an addition by Eddie last semester since apparently none of the food they made had enough of a ‘kick’ to it.
The Anubis residents enjoyed their leisurely breakfast and the chance to get to know their new housemate. All too soon though their time together came to an end when Mara’s phone alarm beeped. Dropping off their dishes with Vera in the kitchen, the students grabbed their bags and headed off to face their first day of senior year!
Notes:
Liliana Wells:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 3: Blood Is Thicker Than Water
Summary:
We find out what really happened at the airport and what V and V have been up to… in short nothing good!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
**A heads up that I took some liberties with KT’s family history and general backstory.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“So what really happened at the airport?” asked Lili as she tenderly laid the gorgeous fabric Nina and Fabian had purchased for her in Cairo back in the gift box.
“Oh, well you remember how I texted you all about my slight abduction and subsequent run in with the sketchy warehouse group?”
“Yeah, you said the old guy had a connection to Sarah or something?” supplied Lili.
“Yeah, well he sent his lackey, Alexandros, to try and rough K.T. and I up. When Gran and I finally returned to the States, he kept trying to contact me and get me to come back to Cairo to ‘hone my chosen one skills’. Like I gave him a pass for creepiness the first time because I was blindsided by Sarah stories and gifts. But no… no way! Alexandros told us that we weren’t to return because of some ‘great evil’ and that my osirian and I weren’t safe. I’m just glad that he hasn’t successfully figured out Eddie’s identity yet”.
“Yikes, he seriously seems like bad news. How did you guys get away?” wondered Amber, from her spot on the carpet painting her toenails a brilliant magenta.
“I used one of your jiu jitsu moves to knock him down, grabbed KT and ran for the checkpoint. We were able to get through the fist security gate before him and his back up goons caught up so we were safe”
“Well I guess the TSA is good for one thing,” laughed Lili. “Speaking of KT, she’s positively lovely. How on earth did you two find each other?”.
“I finally convinced Gran to complete that DNA test and the results revealed so many new family members. Gran was thrilled to know that she had actual blood so close to home. It was more shocking for me, given who KT’s family is and therefore my extended family”.
“Who’s her family?” asked Amber.
“You’ll never believe me. I didn’t believe her when she first told me”.
“Just tell us already Neens, gosh you're worse than Roe with this teasing” whined Lili impatiently.
“K.T.’s great grandfather is Robert Frobisher-Smythe”
“What?!?”
“Yeah, apparently he was married to this other lady, Cora. The pair had an awful relationship and Cora ran away with their daughter Dorthea. Frobisher then married Louisa and they had Sarah”.
“I’m still confused as to how you fit into all of this?” asked Lili. “I feel like I need a whiteboard to create a family tree”.
“I know! Fabian and I dedicated an entire wall in our flat to mapping out all of our family members. The DNA test led to Gran and I discovering that she was the daughter of Lousia and Robert, but was given up due to their busy schedule. Apparently Robert only wanted another child if they were a boy so he forced Louisa to put the child up for adoption”.
“Yikes, poor Granny Martin, that had to have hurt. How did she find out those details?” sympathized Amber.
“They were documented in some of the journals Mr. Englavista gave me over the summer”.
“Well as awful as that is, it at least helps explain how the Chosen One gene activated in you” figured Liliana.
“Yeah, that’s one mystery closed. I’m ready to leave all of that nonsense behind for a peaceful school year” agreed Nina. The girls then turned their attention towards their homework, hoping to knock out most of it before supper.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Elsewhere in the house plans were being made to ensure that Nina’s peaceful year would not exist. Carrying a tray of appetizers into Victor’s office, Vera prepared to update the man on their progress.
“Knock knock, appetizer delivery” beamed the woman, knowing that he couldn’t resist her blue cheese, pumpkin and date bites.
“Ah, Vera please come in”
Placing the tray down on the desk between them she made herself comfortable in what had quickly become ‘her’ chair. She was so happy she had talked Victor into getting new furniture for the office, the old chairs had been so uncomfortable.
Victor quickly mixed up their drinks before passing over her normal gin tonic. Taking a swig of her drink she waited for him to get comfortable in his chair with his glass of whisky before she started her updates.
“So tell me my dear, how did it go with Eric today?”
“The meeting went smoothly, the man still has no clue we are moving in the shadows around him. I was worried that he might have questioned why only Caroline’s file was available for the business studies position, but clearly he hasn’t learned his lesson”.
“Yes, Eric’s lack of situational awareness and memory allows him to be easily manipulated. It was the main reason why I had him appointed the headmaster of the school when Rufus fled, abandoning the position”.
“Well we won’t have need him much longer. I spoke with Thomas and Delia last week and they agreed to speed up Caroline’s background check. If all goes smoothly this year we will be able to force him out in the spring. Liliah and her team have already begun to gather the blackmail we will need if he decides to go public”.
“As always Vera you are five steps ahead of everyone else” praised Victor. “How is Graham doing with the repairs on the summer house?”
“Graham says his team should be finishing their final projects at the close of next week. At that time we should be able to move our meetings from the cellar to the new ceremony space”.
“Wonderful that should throw those meddling kids off our scent. The less they know the better”.
Vera wholeheartedly agreed, “Deputy Mayor Sparrow sent over the first batch of files for us to review”. Passing over the documents Cole had assembled for them, the pair turned their attention to the folders. Important decisions would have to be made quickly since the reformed Society’s first sacrifice would take place in two week’s time.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 4: Phyllis
Summary:
The First Business Studies Class
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Their professors had happily welcomed the students back for the new semester. Miss Valentine had crafted a brilliant welcome back poem for the class and had an adorable reunion with Mick. Lili enjoyed catching up with her yearmates and hearing about their summers. Wednesday was the first day that any of the Anubis students would be meeting the newest Frobisher Academy teacher. Apparently Miss Denby had been hired to teach the upper years a new elective, Business Studies. The eleventh years had her Monday and had raved about her, making the Anubis students all the more excited to meet her.
Liliana happily made her way through the school hallways towards the Business Studies classroom. Halfway there she met up with another one of her yearmates, Willow Jenks.
“Hi Liliana”
“Hey Willow, are you heading to Business Studies?”
“Yeah, I’m so excited! Anya had it this morning and absolutely raved about the new teacher” chirped the redhead excitedly.
“Me too, Jacob told me that she had a fun demeanor and a well put together syllabus; and coming from Jacob that’s the equivalent of her being next in line for godhood. It’s crazy, but I think I’m actually looking forward to getting to know one of our staff members now” laughed Lili.
“I know right!?! I was telling Phyllis that most of our teachers, except Miss Robbinson and Ms. Valentine, all have such dark auras. Even Mr. Winkler, who started off having a bright glowing aura, gradually darkened. It’s like this place does something to them” hummed Willow thoughtfully.
“Who’s Phyllis?” asked Lili, desperately hoping to distract her loveable yearmate from poking into the dark underbelly of Frobisher Academy.
“She’s my pet rat! Have you not met her?” asked Willow.
“I don’t think I have”
“Aww, that’s too bad. Phyllis is the absolute best, she’s just so cuddly. You’ll have to swing by my room at Isis next time you’re there and meet her” decided Willow.
“You guys are so lucky that you get to have pets” remarked Lili. “Victor and Vera would go positively ballistic if they found out we had an animal in our rooms”.
“I bet Trudy would have been more on board” suggested Willow.
“Yeah, well she got her librarian certificate last year while working on the ‘Treasures of Ancient Egypt’ exhibit. Apparently the school library post pays better, so we won’t be getting her back anytime soon” bemoaned Lili as the pair entered the classroom.
“Oh well, maybe you’ll get a pet one day” encouraged Willow with a grin before skipping off to sit with her housemate Abigail Cowen.
Lili made herself comfortable on the bench next to Amber who was busy speaking with Mick and Fabian at the table behind them.
Lili had just finished setting up her notebook, pens and water flask when the new teacher breezed into the room. She was an attractive woman who appeared to be in her early 30s who walked with power and purpose. Lili eyed the woman's fashionable outfit appreciatively, as the business studies professor it was clear that Miss Denby understood the importance of securing a positive first impression.
“Good afternoon class, my name is Miss Denby,” she greeted the room at large, placing an eye-catching teal purse on her desk. “I am so excited to be teaching you all Business Studies this year”.
Unfortunately her no doubt brilliant first class speech was rudely interrupted by Lili’s boyfriend and best friend crashing into the room late. Lili shot them a fierce glare, why on earth were they late? Didn’t they understand how important 12th year classes were for their future?
“And you are?” asked Miss Denbey with a gravity-defying raised eyebrow.
“Jerome Clarke” and “Alfie Lewis, hi!” greeted the boys sheepishly.
“Take a seat please boys, we were just getting to know each other” directed the teacher, allowing the boys to scurry to the open table at the back of the room.
“So, is anybody else new like me?” asked Miss Denby, moving around to lean on the front of the desk. A move Lili could tell was supposed to put the class at ease, this lady was good!
K.T. happily raised her hand from her spot next to Nina.
“Wonderful! Welcome, would you like to tell the class a little bit about yourself?”
“Okay!” agreed K.T. easily, hopping to her feet while the class clapped supportively.
“I’m K.T., that’s short for Kara Tatinana, I blame my parents for that one” she joked. “I’m from the states”.
“Oh we never would have guessed” snarked Joy, only to be pinned with a class full of angry looks. Nina’s cousin was a ton of fun, so Joy had best hurry up and get over her anger if she didn’t want a repeat of last year.
K.T. soldiered on bravely though, “Pennsylvania specifically. Nina here is my cousin and I am so excited to see all that Frobisher has to offer”.
“Thank you K.T.” smiled the teacher, before turning to the whiteboard. “So continuing on the theme of Who Am I, our first project will be on family trees”.
Lili chuckled at the group’s varied reactions. Most of the room groaned at the idea of research, Patricia even went as far as dropping her head down onto her desk. Nina, Fabian and Mara had the opposite reactions of sitting up straighter and giving the teacher their rapt attention.
Miss Denby spent the rest of class explaining the project’s expectations and showing the students how to use the ancestry website. By the time the bell rang, Lili was itching to begin her own research.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Vera was bustling about the kitchen prepping that night’s supper when the bell rang. Brushing her hands on her apron, she hurried to the door.
Opening the door Vera found Caroline Denby standing on the doorstep.
“Caroline! Welcome, thank you so much for stopping by. Please come in!”
“Thank you, Miss Devenish” replied Caroline, stepping into the atrium.
“Please dear, call me Vera. May I take your coat?”. Accepting the woman’s coat, Vera directed her to take a seat in the sitting room while she put on a pot of tea.
“I have to say I was surprised to have you reach out and offer me this job” mentioned Caroline.
“Well you came highly recommended by Tzaren” hummed Vera. Caroline would have to work much harder if she wanted to uncover any of Vera’s secrets.
“Well it truly is an honor to not just meet the Collector face to face, but to be hired by them”.
“Hmm, would you care for sugar or cream” inquired Vera pouring her guest a cup of tea.
“Yes please, two cubes and a splash of cream please” requested the younger woman.
The pair sat quietly for a moment sipping their drinks and sizing each other up.
“You don’t strike me as a professional criminal” commented Caroline, eyeing Vera over the top of her tea cup.
“Well that is what makes me so good at it my dear” smirked the woman. “Now to get down to business, do you have the item I requested?”
“Of course” agreed Caroline, reaching into her purse and pulling out a velvet box and passing it over to Vera. “It took a bit of doing, but I was eventually able to acquire this piece. It was a much needed reminder that if you need something done, it is better to do it yourself”.
Opening the case Vera grinned at the glimmering Jade scarab and gold chain lying on the black cushion. “Oh Caroline, I can already tell that you are going to be a wonderful addition to our lives”.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: A Little Party Never Killed Nobody!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 5: A Little Party Never Killed Nobody!
Summary:
Amber's 18th Birthday
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The first week of classes flew by and Lili could hardly believe when school came to an end on Friday. Amber was a bubbling fount of happiness and excitement since tomorrow was her birthday! Liliana and Nina were having a ball teasing the girl about it. The pair had rarely seen the beautiful blonde this excited, and that was saying something!
“Daddy called me twice this week! Twice!!! How amazing is that!?! We actually got to talk for a whole 15 minutes before Lindsay burst in and made him go work” exclaimed Amber.
“Hmm, I take it you’re still not Lindsay’s biggest fan?” asked Lili, as she boxed up the latest order she had finished.
“That’s putting it lightly,” snarked Amber. “But Daddy’s likely to marry her anyways so I’ll be stuck with her for the next two years when he gets sick of her”.
“Yikes”
“Yeah… but that’s Daddy. I guess I’m lucky he can’t get rid of me. He’s stuck with me whether he likes it or not” laughed Amber.
“Still, you deserve better Ambs” muttered Lili quietly. She knew the ice skater’s relationship with her dad was a touchy subject and didn’t want to risk a blow up right before the girl’s birthday.
“Yeah, I know… but he’s my dad” mumbled Amber quietly. “Besides I have my Anubis family to make up for it”.
“And you better bet you are stuck with us,” teased Lili lovingly.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way” grinned Amber. “Now finish up so we can get coffee, I am in severe need of a mocha frappuccino!”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The morning of Amber’s birthday dawned with Lili and her housemates sneaking around the Anubis quietly to prepare their surprises for the spunky blonde. Alfie had talked Amber into not going skating that morning, so the girl was actually sleeping in for once.
Lili and Alfie quietly barked orders at their housemates as the group hung banners and sped about decorating the breakfast nook and dining room. The theme of the day was pink and glitter. Given how much glitter Lili had accidentally breathed in preparing for this party, she was sure her skeleton was very sparkly.
“Get in position, guys. She’s coming!!” whispered KT as the group raced to hide behind various pieces of furniture. They had decided that Nina would be the only one to be there when Amber woke up and would pretend like she forgot Amber’s birthday. The pair would then make their way downstairs where the housemates would jump out and celebrate their girl’s 18th birthday.
“Are you sure you don’t remember what today is?” whined Amber’s incredulous voice from the Atrium.
Lili shot Jerome a happy look, clearly their plan was working perfectly.
“Uhh, let’s see, September third…” pondered Nina. “Oh! How could I forget!”
“Thank you!” replied Amber, but she spoke far too soon.
“It’s National Bald Eagle Day. A very important American holiday. Thanks for reminding me Ambs, I would have had to turn in my southern card if I had forgotten that” laughed Nina. The American girl’s laughter only increased as Amber let out a frustrated screech and stormed down the stairs.
“Where is everyone?!? Someone has to remember my birthday!!” demanded Amber.
Her wish was granted as all of Anubis House jumped up from their hiding places blowing noise makers, shooting pink and gold confetti and loudly wishing her Happy Birthday!
“Happy Birthday Love” greeted Alfie, stepping up to press a kiss to the shocked girl’s cheek.
“Thank you Alfie,” mumbled Amber, her cheeks flushing sweetly.
“Happy Birthday Bestie!!” cheered Lili, hustling over to pull Amber into a tight hug. “How do you feel? Older?”
“Oh please, no! I’ve been there, done that, hope it doesn’t happen again for a long, long time” protested Amber jokingly, the sibunas in the room all shuddered as they flashed back to the months they spent cursed last year.
“Come and take a seat, Amber” directed Patricia. “I texted Trudy and got her birthday breakfast recipe so one steaming heap of chocolate pancakes with strawberries coming up”.
“Thanks Trix” replied Amber, beaming happily at her friend.
“You guys really go all out for birthdays around here, don't ya?” chuckled KT
“Oh you haven’t seen anything yet” scoffed Joy, from her seat beside the girl. “Tonight’s party is going to be insane”.
“Oh? A party?” asked Amber excitedly.
“Of course we are throwing you a party silly. Though it was supposed to be a surprise” teased Liliana, tossing Joy a disappointed look.
Joy just shrugged apologetically. Apparently snarky comments at the new girl meant more to her than honoring their surprise.
“Well I am excited anyways. I’m supposed to call Daddy later on, but other than that my whole day is open for rest and relaxation”.
“Fabulous!” cheered Nina. “I talked to Vera and she said we can use the living room for a chill day. The boys even agreed to watch the fast and furious movies!”
“Grudgingly” cut in Jerome. “I want to make sure it is going on the record that we are watching these ridiculous movies as a favor to Amber”
“The ridiculousness is what makes them so good!” protested Amber. “I mean just think of all the lore!”
“Yeah, yeah Ambs. We already agreed” laughed Mick.
The housemates all finished their delicious breakfast courtesy of Patricia and settled in for a lazy Saturday of laughter and fun.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Come on guys! Can’t I at least open one present? Please!!!” whined Amber to the Anubis residents as they lounged about the living room.
“Nope you have to wait until your party” insisted Lili with a grin. She loved Amber, but it was fun to watch the demanding girl slowly fall apart throughout the day. Seeing Alfie and Jerome bounce into the room with mischievous faces, Lili knew that things were about to get good.
“Amby, since I hear that you are getting a tad impatient about waiting until the party to open your gifts, I’m giving you mine now” smirked Alfie.
Amber was far too enamored by the idea of a present to suspect what the prankster was up to.
“Awww, Alfie! Thank you! At least somebody cares” cooed the girl appreciatively.
Amber excitedly unwrapped the present only to freeze when she saw what was inside the wrapping paper. Leaning over Amber’s shoulder, Lili had to bite back a chuckle as she saw the gag gift lying inside.
“Bacon flavored dental floss,” Amber spoke slowly and deliberately. Lili exchanged amused glances with Nina as the pair silently counted down to the inevitable explosion. The girls were not surprised when their mutual best friend let out a scream and hurriedly exited the room.
“Good one, Alfie” cheered Mick as the rest of the students laughed.
“She’ll get her real gift at the party but I just couldn’t resist” chuckled Alfie, flopping down into Amber’s abandoned seat as the group brainstormed ways to get Amber out of the house so that they could set up.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The group had eventually landed on Liliana and Nina taking Amber out for a spa afternoon while the rest of the residents set up the party space. The trio had a ton of fun getting massages along with having their hair and nails done. The afternoon was full of fun and relaxation as they celebrated their friend.
Parking Alfie’s car in the car park, the girls hustled across campus to the party. When they reached Anubis, Lili pulled a silk scarf out of her bag and fastened it around Amber’s eyes. Nina hurried in to warn the others while Lili led her friend inside the house.
“Alright two more steps” directed Lili, tugging the beautiful blonde into the sitting room. Untying the scarf Liliana revealed the decorated sitting room to Amber as their friends and housemates jumped out screaming “Happy Birthday!”.
“Aww! Thank you!” cheered Amber. “You all are so sweet”.
“Happy Birthday Amby” grinned Alfie, pulling her into a tight hug. “Tonight we celebrate you… so let’s party!”
Joy and the Second Hand Heroes took this as their cue and struck up a fun beat.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The students danced and partied long into the night. The party planning crew had opted for a buffet table of food and treats, so for the most part the party only paused for the initial cake cutting and opening gifts.
Amber sat in the makeshift birthday throne the boys had rigged up and opened the gifts from her family and friends. She received several dresses, gorgeous pieces of jewelry, a new phone from her dad, and lots of makeup. When she got to her final gift, Amber removed the gold wrapping paper carefully. Inside was a solid oak box with some gold engravings in a language she didn’t understand. Opening the lid she revealed a gorgeous gold bracelet embedded with turquoise, orange and onyx stones.
“Oh this is positively to die for” she exclaimed.
“Who’s it from?” asked Jerome.
“I’m not sure,” frowned Amber, searching the wrapping paper. “There’s no card”.
“It’s probably from Gran,” reasoned Nina from her spot beside KT on the couch. “She said she was sending you something we picked up in Cairo, she probably just forgot the card”.
“Well I will have to give her a giant hug the next time I see her” reasoned Amber. “Thank her for me, will you Neens?”
“Of course!”
With that the gift opening was over and the guests returned to their previous games or conversations.
Joy and KT had been placed on wrapping paper clean up duty so they began to gather the trash as the others partied.
“You sounded really good this evening” KT complimented the dark haired girl.
“Oh… thank you” replied Joy awkwardly. It was strange to have Nina’s cousin of all people complimenting her.
“No seriously, the way you all sounded during your third song? I mean your voice is so good it should be on the radio!” praised KT
“Thanks!” Deciding to extend the girl an olive branch since they were stuck working together for the time being, Joy asked; “Are you into music?”.
“Love it. I’m usually in the audience taking pictures though, but I do shred it on the guitar occasionally” grinned the American good-naturedly.
“Huh, well maybe you should jam with us sometime”
“That sounds fun!”
The girls quickly finished picking up most of the trash and returned to the celebration.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“All right that’s enough! Everyone out!” ordered Vera. “It’s late and you lot need to get home”.
“Come on Vera, let us party a little longer?” begged Jerome.
“No, out now please before I have to call Victor”.
The group reluctantly gathered their belongings and began heading out into the night, either back to their own dormitories or into town.
Lili was helping KT and Mick sweep up the remaining garbage, while Mara and Eddie handled the washing up. Nina and Fabian had carried most of Amber’s gifts up to her room. Grabbing two bags of trash, Liliana and Mick headed into the alley to place the bags in the bins.
The pair chatted absently about school and how Mick was settling back in at Frobisher, when Lili found herself tripping over what she thought was an unexpected misplaced log. Grumbling, Lili accepted Mick’s help in getting back on her feet, wiping her dirty and bleeding hands on his offered handkerchief.
“That was some fall, what did you even trip over?” commented the boy, taking her bags and carrying onto the bins only a few steps away.
“I don’t know” fishing her phone out of her pocket, Liliana turned the light on to get a better look at the tripping hazard. She let out a horrified scream and dropped her cell when she realized that the large log was not a log at all!
“Mick! Call 999!” she demanded.
“What why?” asked the jock.
“It’s Jason”.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: So that happened... answers coming soon!
Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 6: No More Trees
Summary:
Mr. Sweet really hates trees
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Liliana wasn’t quite sure how long it took for the cop car and ambulance to arrive. She stood shivering in the autumn chill, wrapped in Mick’s sports jacket. As soon as he got off the phone with the emergency operator, Mick had dashed back into the house to get Vera and Victor. Lili knew that she should do something, but she was paralyzed by the sight of her yearmate lying on his side bleeding from their head. She couldn’t believe it, Jason had just been playing music at the party, dancing, celebrating and so just full of life.
“...the victim?” asked the cop.
Shaking her head, Lili tried to lock away her shock, she needed to focus. “I beg your pardon, what was the question?”
“Officer Roebuck was just asking what you were doing when you spotted Mr. McCreery” explained Vera, passing Lili a thermos of hot chocolate.
“Oh, I was taking out the trash with Mick” replied Lili, her eyes locked on the white cloth that had been draped over Jason’s body.
“And then what happened?” prompted the cop.
“Well we were walking towards the bins and I tripped over what I thought was a log… only it was really” here Lili cut herself off as she couldn’t bring herself to actually say the words. She just gestured over towards the cloth covered body of Joy’s bandmate.
“How did you hurt your hands?” asked Officer Roebuck, jotting down her responses on a notepad.
“I cut them in the driveway when I tripped. I used Mick’s handkerchief to wipe them off and then used my phone to figure out what… or well who, I had tripped over” explained Lili.
“Is that when you had Mr. Campbell call 999?”
“Yeah, he called 999 and then ran back to the house to get Victor and Vera. Victor checked Jason’s body for a pulse… but he couldn’t find one” sniffed Liliana, swaying slightly as the night’s events began to catch up with her.
“Is there any way we can reschedule any other questions for another day?” asked Vera, placing a supportive hand on Lili’s shoulder.
“I think I’ve got everything I need. I will give you a call if the students need to come down for any follow up interviews” decided Officer Roebuck. Waving over Mick and Victor who were standing off to the side, the officer let the group know that they were free to go to bed. The cop and the medical team would handle things from here.
It took a bit of light prodding to get the students moving, but the adults were soon able to convince the pair to go to bed.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
A heavy air hung about the house in the days that followed, almost as if a dark cloud had rolled in with Jason’s death. The police had apparently ruled it an accidental death, saying Jason tripped and hit his head on the asphalt, the force of the blow leading to his death. Lili wasn’t so sure, something just wasn't lining up with that conclusion. She couldn’t shake the image of Jason's body lying so still on the ground his brown hair matted with blood. Amber, Jerome and Alfie all assured her it was just trauma messing with her brain, but trusting the local cops wasn’t something Lili was prone to do.
Wednesday brought the group's second business studies class and Liliana was thankful that academics provided a great escape from her current troubles. Lili had enjoyed messing around on the ancestry website the school had paid the subscriptions for and had discovered so many cool things about her family. The site held marriage certificates, deeds, wills and so much more! Opening her laptop, Lili pulled up her family tree document, excited to share her findings with her teacher and class.
Eddie stomped angrily into the classroom and threw himself down in his seat next to Joy. “I should have known better than to go to my dad for support or sympathy” griped the boy.
Joy just hummed encouragingly and patted his arm as she proofread an article Jace had sent her for The Jackal.
“I can’t believe how normal he wanted to pretend to be! Like for crying out loud my friend just died and he’s asking after my love life! And then when I brought up our family tree project he acted like a complete maniac and kicked me out of his office. I didn’t even get to finish my sandwich” pouted Eddie.
Patricia, hearing the complaint, threw a granola bar at him, smacking Eddie right in the middle of his forehead. “Thanks yacker!”.
The rapping of Miss Denby’s knuckles on the desk brought the class to attention. “Good afternoon students! It’s great to have you all back. Today’s class will be two parts. In the first half you will be sharing what we have learned of our family trees so far. In the second half of the class we will be discussing the importance of knowing oneself and how you get your energy. We will be taking two online personality tests which will help you to understand how to best manage your connections with others. Can I get a volunteer to go first in sharing their family research?”
Unfortunately the professor was interrupted by a knock on the door before she could select a speaker from the raised students. “Miss Denby, may I speak with you for a moment?” demanded Mr. Sweet, popping his head into the room.
“Very well, Joy you are in charge” declared the teacher, before following her boss out of the room.
“I wonder what that’s about?” asked Jerome.
“Probably Mr. Sweet’s apparent aversion to family trees” posited Joy.
“Yeah, he just kept yelling ‘No, No, No’ over and over again as he ushered me out of the room” added Eddie. “No clue as to why, since my secret birth has been revealed already, but who knows what else he wants to keep secret”.
“Well hopefully Denby puts him in his place, I actually like this project” suggested Jude.
“Wouldn’t bank on it Dude, Sweetie is literally purple” sighed Rhyn from their place by the window.
“Okay everybody, computers off” ordered Miss Denby as she reentered the room. “The family tree project has been officially canceled”.
“But why?” protested Tanya, one of the commuter students.
“I have absolutely no idea. Orders from above I’m afraid” sighed the teacher. “But all clouds come with a bit of sun… Now we have extra time for our personality type discussions!”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“So I did some research on that mystery bracelet you received Amber” commented Nina, as she lay on her belly with her laptop resting on the comforter before her. “It says here that in antiquity the layout symbolized the god of Anubis”.
“Of course it did” whined Amber. “Why can’t a pretty piece of jewelry ever just be a pretty piece of jewelry?”.
“Because you are best friends with a girl from the line of Anubis priestesses, it comes with the territory” teased Nina. “Anyways, after I found that it tied to my family, I checked some of Sarah’s journals and actually found an entry about it! Apparently the gold band is supposed to represent unity, while the teal stones are representing me. The black stones represent the god Anubis while the amber pieces, representing firey protection, represent Eddie”.
“Huh, that is pretty cool. What was it used for?”
“It’s supposed to be a grounding symbol to be worn in ceremonies. The priestess would be able to use the band as a way to stay connected with the real world while conducting a ritual”.
“Well I guess you should have it then” sighed Amber sadly, it truly was a beautiful bracelet.
“How about you hold on to it for me” suggested Nina. “I’ll let you know when I’m holding any ceremonies and borrow it then”.
“Awesome! You’ve got a deal” grinned Amber, happily placing the gorgeous cuff back on her wrist.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 7: Champagne Tears
Summary:
Victor likes to monologue...
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Oh wow! Two updates in one weekend?!? IDK y'all this part of the story is just coming along quickly. I hope that you all enjoy. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Saturday morning was bleak and gray, fitting for the fact that the student body was on its way to a funeral for one of their own. The memorial service for Jason was a closed casket event with only his housemates and the teachers being allowed to go to the actual burial site. It broke Lili’s heart to hear that Jason had died before being able to patch up his strained relationship with his family. Apparently things had been so bad that none of his immediate family deigned to attend the memorial and burial. What he missed in love from his birth family, the Osiris house residents more than made up for. Poor Abigail, his girlfriend, was entirely inconsolable. Jason’s old roommates Matthew and Hadrian were not taking their best friend’s death well. While the funeral provided some closure for the student body, Jason’s absence would continue to sting for a long time.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Your attention please,” called Victor to the gathered Anubis residents relaxing in the sitting room. “Vera and I will be out this evening and Trudy has agreed to watch you all. We expect you to be on your best behaviors while we are away?”
“Oh I’m sure they’ll be perfect angels, I’m just happy to hang out with my lovies again” cooed Trudy.
“Victor we really must be going” interrupted Vera, placing her hand on the man’s arm. “Thank you for agreeing to watch them, Trudy”
“Of course Vera! You two have fun!” hummed Trudy as she ushered the pair out the door before turning to face the students with a grin. “Who’s for my famous cheesy lasagna?”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Don’t you think that it’s a little weird Victor and Vera going out?” whispered Fabian.
“Oh come on Fabian… It’s probably just a simple date night. They most likely just wanted to get away together without all of us underfoot” dismissed Nina.
“Still, they never go out!” worried Fabian.
“And last year they weren’t officially together. Victor seems to have turned over a new page after Rufus died, and so has Vera. I, for one, am just happy not to have to be constantly shutting down crazy schemes for immortality”.
“I guess that’s fair,” admitted Fabian. “Did you find anything in your latest search of Sarah's journals?”
“Oh so much! Especially this one ritual I want to try with Eddie!” cheered Nina, before going on to share her findings.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Thunder cracked and lightning streaked across the night sky illuminating the dark forest and recently rebuilt summer house. Inside the house a very important gathering was taking place.
“Well I am thrilled to finally be out of that stuffy cellar” remarked deputy mayor Cole Sparrow.
“I agree, Victor’s decorating skills truly left so much to be desired. You should have seen the old ceremony space… so much dust!” shuddered Delia Chapman, sipping her glass of champagne. “Vera truly has classed things up remarkably”.
“Howard and his team got this renovation done in record time. Given how well the main part of the mansion turned out, I can’t wait to see the ceremony space”.
“I’m sure it’s just the interior decoration you are looking forward to” teased Lilah, joining the pair with her own drink.
“You got me Ms Knight, your reporting skills are as sharp as ever. I am very anxious to complete our first offering now that the team has procured the perfect sacrifice”.
“All of which wouldn’t have been possible without each of you” commented Victor, tapping his glass to get the gathered group's attention. “Good evening everyone, thank you all so much for coming. Vera and I are all so grateful for each and everyone one of you and your dedication to our cause. I want to take a moment before tonight’s ceremony to thank each of you in turn. To Delia and Thomas, two of our Society’s founding members. Thank you for your unfaltering dedication to our cause. Your assistance this past weekend was truly key in obtaining the ceremony’s sacrifice. To Graham, you and your hand picked team have our undying gratitude in turning this decrepit structure of Robert’s into something better than our wildest dreams. Cole and Liliah, we are grateful for your assistance in choosing tonight’s sacrifice and the damage control your teams implemented in the removal of the subject. And finally, here we raise our glasses to our newest member, Miss Caroline Denby. Caroline has procured for us the final element we needed for tonight’s ceremony. So we toast to you tonight… to Caroline…”
“To Caroline” echoed the seven other members as they drained their glasses. The chiming of the grandfather clock alerted the group to the time.
“The hour is upon us” announced Vera ominously. “Please leave your drinks here and follow me to the ceremony room”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Come on Eddie, it’ll be fun” cajoled Nina.
“Yeah, no thanks. I have absolutely no desire to head into the woods with you to complete some strange ritual” disagreed Eddie.
“But, Eddie! You have to do this, Sarah’s journal says that it’s tradition” insisted Nina.
“Fuck No! Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people. There is no way I am making a blood offering to ‘commune with some random gods’.”
“Really Eddie? It’s supposed to be a protection ritual, Nina already borrowed the bracelet from Amber. We’ll just head over to Sibuna clearing, complete the quick ritual and be back before dessert!” promised Fabian.
When it didn’t look like Eddie was going to give in, Nina decided to play the “Chosen One in Danger” card.
“You would be helping me so much Eddie. I’ve been really on edge since everything went down at the airport. If this will keep me safe from everyone out to get me, well how could we not do the ritual?” Nina lied.
Eddie was a protector at heart, so of course he cracked. “Fine. Let me get my coat and I’ll meet you outside” sighed the American boy, before jogging off to his bedroom.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Amber eyed the makeshift altar dubiously, “Are we sure this is looking like it’s supposed to?”
“Yes?” questioned Nina. “It kinda looks like some of the altars Fabian and I saw on our journey this summer. I followed Sarah’s instructions the best I could. She mentioned that her and Rufus would do this every few years as the protection wore off”.
“But it does work, right? Like we aren't messing with powers we don’t understand for something that won’t even work?” checked Alfie.
“According to Sarah’s notes it kept them safe during the war even when others died around them. It also protected them from curses put on the tombs her and Rufus cracked. So yeah… I think it’s worth the risk”.
“Let’s just get this over with,” snapped Eddie, rolling up his sleeves as he stepped into the center of the clearing.
“Thanks for coming” grinned Patricia, pressing a peck to the American boy’s cheek. “This really means a lot to Nina”.
“Okay we’re ready to get started” grinned Fabian, having placed the last of the herbs on the stone altar. The five Sibuna Club members plus Eddie gathered around the ceremony space.
“According to Sarah’s notes, you four are going to hold hands and form a circle around me and Eddie” directed Nina. “After that, Eddie and I are supposed to slice our hands and put the bleeding wounds together before squeezing so that the blood runs down onto the altar. The blood is acting as a sacrifice here to Isis and Osiris. Then we will chant the protection incantation, exchanging our service as Chosen One and Osirian for protection under these two gods. Any questions? No? Great let's begin” Nina gestured for Eddie to step closer to the altar.
“Last chance to back out” warned Alfie as he lit the candles around the circle.
“Are we sure about this?” asked Patricia nervously, holding tightly to Amber and Fabian’s hands.
“No, but when has that ever stopped us” laughed Nina picking up the knife and slicing open her palm.
Placing their bleeding palms together, Nina and Eddie read the incantation Sarah had recorded in the notebook. “Oh Isis, goddess of magic and Osiris, god of the forever living… hear our plea. We, your chosen servants, exchange our blood for your protection from all that seeks us harm. Bind us in your protection”.
The wind, which had begun to stir during the chant, swept up into a whirlwind of leaves and dust before suddenly cutting off with the completion of the ritual.
“Is that it?” asked Patricia, rather unimpressed after the group's previous magic experiences.
As if in response to the girl’s question, the blood that had been spilt on the altar began to glow and swirl about the stone surface into a symbol the group recognized for Isis and then for Osiris before running off the altar and into the ground where it was promptly absorbed by the dirt.
“Now that’s it” grinned Nina, as Fabian bandaged up her and Eddie’s cuts. “This should ensure that we don’t get wound up in anything dangerous this year. Alfie you can go ahead and blow out those candles now, it’s over”.
A sudden crack of thunder and lightning traced the sky, “And not a moment too soon” remarked Amber. “We should head back to the house. I really don’t fancy getting rained on”.
“Hey guys… what’s that?” Asked Eddie pointing to where a stream of smoke rose up in the distance. “I thought the main campus was the only set of buildings in these woods?”.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: The Mansion
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 8: The Mansion
Summary:
The crew discovers what Victor and Vera are up to... it's not good!
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Happy Monday! I hope you all are doing well 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Previously: “Hey guys… what’s that?” asked Eddie pointing to where a stream of smoke rose up in the distance. “I thought the main campus was the only set of buildings in these woods?”.
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“We are… it’s probably just some students having a bonfire” dismissed Patricia.
“Well shouldn’t we go check it out? It’s really not safe to be burning anything this week due to the heat warning, plus with it about to rain no one should be out in the woods?” worried Eddie.
“Do we have to?” whined Alfie, “Trudy made her Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cake”.
“It’s the right thing to do,” replied Eddie stubbornly.
“Fine, we’ll swing past their campsite, and then head back to the house” decided Nina.
The Sibuna Crew, plus Eddie, hiked their way through the trees to where they expected the campsite to be. Reaching a clearing the students were shocked for two very different reasons. The smoke that they expected to see coming from a campfire was instead exiting the chimney of a gorgeous mansion.
Nina and Eddie were confused as to why a beautiful mansion was hidden away in the far reaches of the campus, deep in the forest.
Amber, Alfie, Fabian and Patricia stared at the newly restored mansion in shock. Last they remembered this was the location of the old and broken down Frobisher Summer House that the older students would sneak off to party in and look for ghosts.
“Oh Alfie, would you look at that house, have you ever seen anything so gorgeous?” gushed Amber
“It’s haunted and we’re all going to die,” droned Alfie. “I have no idea why anyone would want to fix up the Summer House, since everyone knows it’s filled with ghosts”.
“Hey, isn’t that Victor’s car?” asked Fabian. “See Nina, I told you they were up to something!”
Nina just hummed noncommittally as she eyed the house.
“Clearly the fire is contained so let’s just get back to the house before we are missed” suggested Alfie nervously.
“Are we seriously going to walk away without investigating this?” asked Patricia disbelivingly.
“Patricia’s right, this place was supposed to be in shambles. Why on earth is it looking brand new and who would fix it up?” asked Amber.
“The “who” is probably Victor or Sweet. They would be the only ones with the power to order a school property to be worked on” figured Fabian.
“So Victor or my Dad decided to fix up an old building. This really isn’t any reason to be concerned” dismissed Eddie. “Let’s head back to the house”.
Nina was eyeing the house strangely. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it but there was something calling her from the house. She did not know what Victor and Vera were up to in that house, but the longer the group stood on the edge of the woods the louder the warning bells sounded in her head.
“We NEED to get in that house” the decisiveness of Nina’s voice shut up any arguments that other members might have made.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It took a bit of doing, but the group soon found themselves slipping in through a window to access one of the house’s studies.
“Well it looks normal so far” Alfie commented. “I mean, there’s no dead animals so that’s a point in the ‘not-evil’ category”
“I feel like ‘no dead animals’ should go without saying… but given that it’s Victor and Vera we’re working with we can’t take that for granted” sighed Amber.
“What are your ‘Chosen One’ senses telling you?” asked Fabian, making his way over to stand by Nina who was busy examining a long stretch of wall covered by an ornate china cabinet.
“I’m getting a similar pull towards this wall like I did with the cup and mask…”
“Ok, that’s great! It probably means we are on the right track. We just need to find what’s calling to you. Let’s get to searching” directed Fabian as he pulled open one of the drawers. The others followed his lead, investigating the bookshelves, desks and cushions of the room.
Amber was going through the bottom drawer of the main desk, when she found a box that wouldn’t budge. “Hey guys… I think I found something!”
“What is it?” asked Patricia, kneeling down beside the blonde girl.
“I was able to move everything in this drawer except for this box. It’s almost like it’s bolted to the drawer. I think there’s a key hole though” grunted Amber as she tried again to lift the little black box.
“Let me try” offered Eddie, taking Patricia’s place beside Amber. As soon as the American boy laid his hand on the box, it glowed and slid to the side revealing a ring drilled into the wood. “Okay… that was seriously creepy” muttered Eddie.
“Welcome to the world of being a Chosen One” sighed Nina.
“So… should we pull it?” asked Alfie.
“Pulling a random lever, in a creepy house, in the middle of the woods is a terrible, horrible, incredibly foolish idea” grinned Amber.
“But we’re doing it right?!?” checked Nina.
“Of course! We need to see what happens!” chuckled Fabian.
With the group’s go ahead, Eddie reached into the new opening and pulled the ring. At first it seemed like nothing happened, the Sibuna Club exchanged disappointed looks.
“I guess Victor and Vera really aren’t up to anything” commented Patricia disappointedly.
Nina opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as a low rumbling sound filled the room.
“Well that doesn’t sound good” quipped Eddie.
The china cabinet that Nina and Fabian had been investigating suddenly swung open revealing a rocky staircase heading down into a dangerous darkness.
“Fuck yeah! Now that’s what I’m talking about” cheered Patricia, as Eddie’s jaw dropped.
“Huh, well after you Chosen One” grinned Fabian.
Nina pressed a kiss to his cheek before switching on her torch and stepping down into the tunnel.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“How much further does this passage go?” whined Amber quietly, only to be shushed by her fellow club members.
Nina came to a sudden halt, putting up a hand to stop the others behind her, “I think we’re here” she whispered, gesturing to the light that illuminated the end of their current passage.
Crouching, Nina crawled carefully towards the light. Hesitantly she peeked her head around the corner of the passage into the lighted room, only to immediately whip it back around with her face ashen.
“What’s wrong Neens?” whispered Alfie.
Nina just made a shooing motion at them to go back to the secret staircase. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and made sure that the flash was off before hitting record and tilting the camera part around the passage’s corner.
“What is she doing?” asked Eddie, only to freeze as the corridor was suddenly filled with the sound of ominous chanting.
“Sibuna Rule Number One: When you hear ominous chanting, the appropriate response is to run!” worried Alfie. “Nothing good ever happens during ominous chanting”.
“Oh Isis, goddess of magic, and Amun Ra, god of all the light touches. We present to you this sacrifice in exchange for all that you have promised” echoed Victor’s voice accompanied by many chanting voices.
“What’s going on?!? Let me go! What are you doing?” yelled a young frightened voice. A voice that had haunted Eddie’s dreams for the last week, one that he was very, very familiar with.
“Place him on the table” directed a cold voice none of the students recognized.
“Please, let me go. I won’t say anything! Please, just let me go home” begged the voice of the previously believed dead, Jason McCreary.
“Relax young man” ordered Vera’s voice. “Place the scarab on his chest. This will all be over in a moment”.
The chanting intensified as a bright glow started to emanate from the room. As the glow grew brighter, Jason’s screams increased. Amber buried her head in Alfie’s chest horrified by what they were hearing.
Jason’s screams and all light from the room suddenly ceased. “It’s done,” announced Victor roughly. “Our sacrifice has been accepted by Ra, only seven more to go”.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: The scarab makes a come back! Oh Sibuna... what have you gotten yourselves into this time? They really should have learned their lesson from the cat... you know what they say about curiosity 😉.
I'm looking forward to seeing all of your theories from this chapter! 🥰
The hidden staircase:
Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 9: Voices of the Dead
Summary:
The Sibuna Club escapes the Society and Nina meets yet another family member.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Sibuna Club did not stop running until they reached the Frobisher chapel. The rain soaked students collapsed on the dirty marble floor, gasping for breath.
“What the heck was that?” exclaimed Amber, wringing the excess water out of her hair.
“They were killing Jason,” cried Patricia. “Has he really been alive this whole time?”.
“Were you able to get any good video?” asked Fabian.
Nina opened up the video app on her phone, and the group crowded around to watch the shaky recording. The video showed eight figures covered in red robes, each wearing different animal masks. Victor was wearing the Jackal mask which the older Sibuna members remembered from their 10th year. Vera was wearing a black cat mask with gold detailing, and the group watched horrified as she directed the snake and bird masked members to hold their classmate down on the stone table. Vera then placed a green stone scarab on the boy’s chest which began to glow ominously as the members resumed their chanting. Jason’s protests turned to screams of pain as the scarab’s glow spread over his body, consuming him. The bright flash the Sibuna club had witnessed from the hallway turned out to be Jason’s body suddenly disappearing. Victor then stepped forward to pick up the stone and stated his ominous threat. “Our sacrifice has been accepted by Ra, only seven more to go”.
“NOPE! No Sibunaing yet. It’s still September” protested Amber. “I can’t handle dealing with possibly dying for the entirety of my final school year”.
“It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice Amber” disagreed Nina grimly.
“So, the next step is to call the police right?” asked Eddie.
“We can’t do that” dismissed Patricia, from where she was leaning on his shoulder.
“Why not?” asked Eddie.
“Clearly the police and possibly the hospital are in league with Victor. That’s the only way Victor and Vera would have been able to steal Jason” reasoned the punk girl.
“Which means that once again it falls to us to shut this down” moaned Nina. “So much for our normal year”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina hummed happily as she thumbed through another of Sarah’s journals. While she knew that Englavista and his crew were bad news, she was grateful for the gifts he had given her. The journals and jewelry helped her to feel more connected to her great-aunt now that she could no longer speak to the woman. Nina would never begrudge the woman having gone to her eternal rest, but she did wish that Gran had been able to meet her older sister at least once.
Speaking of relatives, Nina eyed her cousin consideringly. K.T was currently facing off against Eddie in Mario Kart and utterly crushing him. The pair had formed an easy friendship shaped around their shared nationality and fun loving attitudes. Nina figured their friendship was truly sealed when Eddie found out about K.T’s love of photography. The pair had spent many an hour comparing camera’s lenses, lighting preferences and artistic aesthetics. In short it was truly a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately this new easy friendship was not helping ease Joy’s dislike of KT. Joy saw this as her having to bitterly stand by as her best friend was once again stolen by a Martin. Despite Eddie’s many assurances that she was still his number one, Joy’s shattered heart and self esteem was not taking KT’s appearance in the house well.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina contemplated Sibuna’s next moves as she got ready for bed Sunday night. The crew had tried to push the knowledge of what their caretakers were up to from their minds, but Nina knew something had to be done. But what?
Reaching up to unpin Sarah’s hair clips from her bun, Nina froze as she felt them burn hot against her fingers. “Ouch!” she muttered, pulling her hand back.
Turning to get a better look at them in her vanity, Nina froze in worry as she saw the diamonds inside the golden wings glowing a concerning green color. “This can’t be good,” she worried.
Touching the hairclips again resulted in what felt like an electric shock. “Okay… I’m not doing that again” Nina decided but he couldn’t sleep with the hair pins in. Turning towards the door Nina let out a shriek of fear as she found herself face to face with a gorgeous woman wrapped in a faint white glow.
“You are to free me Chosen One” greeted the woman, but all Nina could think was ‘Not Again!’.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Nina… want to introduce us to your friend?” asked Amber from her spot beside Patricia in the open doorway.
“I am Amneris, high priestess of Anubis” declared the spirit.
“Uh huh”
“Just come in and shut the door” directed Nina.
“I am a high priestess and your ancestor. Why are you not worshiping me, mortals?” questioned the spirit.
“Not interested in more random spirit worship, thanks” snarked Nina. “Last year was more than enough for us, thanks. Is there a reason you are in my bedroom?”.
“You summoned me?” replied the spirit confused by the question.
“I certainly did not” disagreed Nina. “My hair clips started to hurt and then you appeared”.
“You are the Chosen One, yes? My descendent?” clarified the spirit, Amneris.
“Yeah, but I didn’t summon you. Honestly I have more than enough problems at the moment”.
“How peculiar. The way the spell is set up, I am only supposed to be summoned when my descendants are able to help me move on to The Field of Golden Rushes”.
“Says who!?!” asked Amber indignantly.
“It is so written in the scrolls of knowledge” replied the spirit.
“I hate to break it to you, but we have no idea how to get you to The Field of Golden Rushes” argued Patricia. “The last time we tried you would need a body and none of us are leaving this earth yet”.
“The matter of my body is easily fixed” brushed off the woman. “A combination of the gift of Anubis, a jade scarab, my crown and the Pharaoh’s staff will be more than enough to fulfill the ceremony requirements”.
“That’s great and all, but we don’t have those items” denied Nina.
“Why do you lie? I can feel their power here” demanded the spirit, clearly getting annoyed at Nina’s attempts to shut her down.
“Great so Frobisher stole more valuable relics, why am I even shocked? We really should have been expecting this,” sighed Patricia.
“Look, spirit lady,” Nina began.
“Amneris”
“Amneris, it’s late and we have school tomorrow morning. Can you just kinda poof off for now and we can discuss this more tomorrow?”.
“Very well, I shall return as Ra begins his descent” announced the woman before disappearing from the room.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Yay, Amneris. I will preface her character for the rest of this fic with the statement that I have yet to watch HHA. My basis of the character is largely coming from the amazing Yvette aka sleepymarvel / @lovelyamneris on Tumblr’s blog and internet research. So she will obviously be OOC since she is essentially an OC. Still I hope that you will enjoy what I plan to do with her in this fic.
Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 10: Just A Dream
Summary:
Is this real life… or just a dream?
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“So this spirit lady is claiming to be your ancestor Amneris?” asked Fabian after Nina finished telling the Sibuna club about the girl’s interaction with the ghost.
Swallowing her bite of pancakes, Nina agreed. “Yeah, she says that I am supposed to help her pass on. And when we pointed out that she didn’t have a body, she said it wouldn’t be a big deal. Apparently we can just substitute some other artifacts in the ceremony”.
“Well she isn’t threatening to murder us, so that’s already a positive check in my book” chuckled Alfie.
“Yeah, Senkhara managed to set the bar real low,” laughed Amber.
“Are you going to help her?” asked Patricia.
“I’ll hear her out this afternoon, but yeah… I probably will”.
“Luckily, you don’t have to make your choice until after school, and speaking of school we have to get to class!” urged Fabian. “First period starts in 10 minutes”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Finding out that you are ‘a mystical champion of good’ was supposed to come with plenty of positives; unfortunately for Eddie he had yet to find even one. Sure he finally found out what his girlfriend and her clique were up to, but honestly knowing just brought about more stress and fear. As for this present year, all he had to show for his Osirian status was a wound on his right hand and the horrifying knowledge that there was a murder cult operating on school grounds. Nina and the others had assured him they would handle it… but Eddie wasn’t so sure.
Eddie leaned down to spit in the sink after brushing his teeth, only to freak out when he raised his head to find himself no longer in the washroom. Somehow Eddie had been transported into a strange room which was filled with jars of chemicals. Looking down, Eddie saw his hand twist an ornate key into a lock in the floor which fell away to reveal a dark drop. “After you Osirian” echoed Joy’s teasing voice through the dream space. “Finally we’ll have the physical proof to get this place shut down!” added dream KT. “You’re right, thank you sketchy Frobishers” chuckled Joy. But as Eddie went to turn around he faced a blast of bright light leading to him stumbling and falling to the floor of the washroom.
The door to the washroom burst open and a very worried blond jock hurried into the room. “Whoa Mate! Are you alright!” asked Mick.
“Uuuggghhh” muttered Eddie incoherently, as he rubbed his aching head.
“Yeesh, looks like you had quite the fall. Glad I came running when I heard the crash” rambled Mick, helping Eddie into a sitting position against the wall. “Sit tight here, mate. I’m gonna go get you an ice pack. I’ll be back in a moment”.
Eddie gave the football player a halfhearted thumbs up before resting his head against the wall. What on earth had just happened? It was like a nightmare but during the day… a daymare? Eddie didn’t know what was happening, but he did know he needed to talk to Joy about it.
“Here we go mate” declared Mick as he reentered the room passing Eddie a frozen bag of peas.
“How are you feeling Eddie? Mick mentioned you hit your head” worried K.T.
“I think I’ll be ok now, thanks to our resident sports doctor” grinned Eddie.
“You’ll be right as rain in a few minutes Champ” agreed Mick, clapping Eddie’s shoulder. “I have to head over to practice, but I have my phone on me if you need anything”.
“Thanks Mick” thanked the two Americans, waving the blond out of the room.
KT fixed Eddie with a fierce look as soon as the Jock had left the washroom. “Alright what really happened? You’re clumsy but not that clumsy”
“I guess I’m just super tired,” replied Eddie hesitantly. He liked KT and counted her as a great friend, but he didn’t really know if he could or should trust her with anything Sibuna related.
Deciding to try and play it off as an overtiered daymare, Eddie recounted his vision. “I was brushing my teeth and must have nodded off. I had this weird dream about an ornate key with a moon on it. I guess that my body freaked out when I woke up which resulted in me falling and hitting my head” he explained.
Strangely, KT’s body became extremely stiff when he mentioned the strange key from his dream. “You said that this key had a moon symbol on it?” asked the girl.
“Yeah, super weird right?”
“Uh huh… did it look anything like this?” asked the girl, pulling the key from his daymare out from under her shirt where it hung on a chain.
“Uh, yeah. That’s the key from my dream! Where did you get that?” demanded Eddie, leaning closer to the American girl.
“I got it from my Grandma Rose… she gave it to me before she died. She told me that I would find answers here at this school and that the key would unlock them, bringing justice to those that had been taken advantage of. Honestly before talking to you I thought she was just crazy”.
“Huh”
“So… is randomly having visions and passing out a normal thing for you?” asked KT hesitantly.
“No… not really. At least I’ve never had a dream like that when I was awake” shared Eddie. “I guess it’s just another in a long list of Osirian things”.
“What now?!?”
“That’s me, I’m the Osirian,” clarified Eddie. “Clearly this magic nonsense isn’t done with me yet”.
“Sounds kinda like a superhero” offered KT with a chuckle, hoping to put her friend at ease.
“Yeah… I guess so. I’ll have to try and talk to Fabian about it later. Thanks for the help”
“Certainly. Try not to worry too much about the vision-nightmare thing. Grammy Rose always said that life has a way of working itself out if we let it” cautioned KT.
“Will do. Do you want to walk over to class with Joy and I?” offered Eddie.
“I’d love that… but is Joy going to be ok with it?” asked KT cautiously. “I don’t want to upset her”
“Oh it’ll be fine” waved off Eddie. “I have to finish getting dressed, so I’ll meet you both in the foyer in five to walk over”.
“Ok, see you soon” grinned KT before exiting the washroom to return Vera’s not so frozen bag of peas.
KT was clearly wicked smart and Eddie knew that by combining her brains and Joy’s calculating presence the trio would be able to work out the meaning of his dream. Shrugging on his blazer, Eddie grimmaced as he remembered what other news he needed to loop his best friend in on. Joy wasn’t going to take the reformation of the group that kidnapped her well. The video Nina had shot only showed proof of Victor and Vera in the cult; but that didn’t rule out the old members including Joy’s dad… and Eddie’s.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“You have got to be kidding me,” snapped Joy. “I thought I would finally be able to get a normal school year after everything last semester, but no. Now Victor’s freaky murder cult is back”.
“Sorry JJ. I wish it wasn’t true but at least now you know” offered Eddie with an understanding smile.
“And why is she here?” asked Joy, waving her hand in KT’s general direction.
“That’s the second part, I had this really weird vision this morning. It was of the three of us in a room I’ve never seen before and we were talking about getting the school shut down. KT had a key that unlocked a hidden door, when I asked her about in real life she had the same key”.
Joy adopted a calculating look. “So you’re saying that somewhere on campus, there is enough proof of Victor’s murder cult activities that we would be able to get this awful place shut down once and for all?”
“I think so… When I talked to Fabian briefly this morning he mentioned that the house often sends Nina messages to point her in the right direction”
“We figured it was at least worth a shot to look around and see if we can find this room from Eddie’s vision” added KT.
“Alright. I’m in” agreed Joy after a moment’s pause. “And Eddie, thank you for telling me about what’s going on. It really means a lot not to be left in the dark yet again”.
“Of course JJ. Let’s meet up after classes today to plan out our next moves,” suggested Eddie.
“Sounds great! See you then” chirped KT, waving as she split off from the group to head to her photography class.
“I promise you, Joy, that we are going to get through this” muttered Eddie intensely into her ear, as he pulled her into a tight hug. “KT and I will make sure they don’t do anything to hurt you ever again”.
“Thanks Eddie” whispered back Joy, before pulling away and heading to the computer lab.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 11: Breakthrough
Summary:
Nina makes a breakthrough and the Anubis Residents attend a party.
Notes:
Hi... sorry for the late and super short update. Life has been super shitty at the moment so it was either post this or delete all my fics... So enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Should we tell Liliana and Jerome?” wondered Amber from her spot beside Nina on the garden bench.
“Tell them what?” asked Nina, not looking up from her sketchpad.
“About Amneris and Victor’s murder cult!! Don’t they have a right to know what’s going on? I mean they are official Sibuna club members” hissed Amber.
“Look, the more people who know the more likely Victor and Vera will find out. We aren’t going to tell them until they absolutely have to know. That means you need to act normal when you and Lili hang out” sighed the American girl.
“What about KT or Joy or Eddie?!?!”
“Look, I love my cousin but she doesn't know anything about the supernatural and I want to keep it that way. As for Joy and Eddie, same reason as before”
But Eddie is supposed to be your mythical protector… how is he supposed to protect you if he doesn’t know what’s going on?” protested Amber.
“He did a pretty bang up job of it last year” snapped Nina, quickly losing patience with Amber. “No one but the five of us is to know ANYTHING about Amneris or the cult until I say otherwise; and that’s final”.
Amber just nodded stiffly and turned her attention back to her own sketch. She knew that arguing with Nina wouldn’t do her any good right now, she was just going to have to get creative. Luckily creativity was what Amber did best!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina sighed unhappily as she stared blankly at a map of the Frobisher Academy campus. After talking to Amneris again, something that Nina was still struggling to wrap her mind around, she now found herself tasked with locating the required materials for Amneris’ ceremony. Apparently the spirit could sense that the items she needed were somewhere on the campus, but was unable to pinpoint the location further than that. Nina couldn’t help but feel selfishly happy that she hadn’t been able to hide this latest development from the others. She felt guilty for putting her friends in danger but since they were already in the know due to Amber and Patricia walking in on her first meeting with Amneris she wasn’t going to turn down the extra help. Turning back to her notes she studied one line intensely. Ever since her first meeting with Amneris one phrase the spirit had mentioned never left her mind.
“The gift of Anubis” muttered Nina consideringly. It couldn’t possibly be what she was thinking of right? If so then Nina needed to hit up the chemistry lab, find a coil of rope and a shovel to start digging up the well.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Isis parties were always… interesting. The music was loudly pounding through the crowded cellar as the Frobisher Academy students danced and celebrated Lindy’s birthday. Lili originally hadn’t planned on coming to the party in the first place, but Joy had dragged all of the Anubis residents along with her and Eddie to the event in order to celebrate her bandmate.
Sipping her spiked punch, courtesy of Jude, Lili observed her classmates letting loose after a very trying week. Nina and Fabian were curled up on one of the couches, drinking something from a flask Nina had snuck in. Joy, Eddie and the band were playing on the rickety makeshift stage the Isis residents had put together. Mara was dancing with Andrew from her debate team. Patricia was chatting with KT. Jerome and Alfie were tearing it up on the dance floor with a routine they had invented in year nine.
“Hey Liliana” chirped Tanya, one of Frobisher’s German exchange students who shared Lili’s Latin class.
“Hey Tanya. How are you liking the party?”
“It’s fun, I see your boy is busy tearing up the floor” chuckled Tanya.
“It’s nice to see him having fun. I think we all needed this”
“Yes, I was kind of nervous for tonight based on what happend at the last party”
Liliana winced at the reminder of the ill fated Anubis Party two weekends ago that had led to Jason’s death. “Anubis House was worried about it too. Mick convinced us all that we needed a night off though so here we are”.
“Well thank goodness for Mick”
“Yes, thank goodness for Mick” laughed Lili, downing the rest of her drink before joining her best friends on the dance floor.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 12: Recipe for Success
Summary:
Nina is cooking up a devious plan!
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Guess who's mental health decided to cooperate!!! Thank you all so much for bearing with me on this journey. It truly means more than you could ever know ⭐️💖!
Here's the remainder of the chapter that should have been posted yesterday. Enjoy 💖
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
While the abandoned wishing well was a great long term hiding place, Nina was not thrilled about having to climb down it again to retrieve the Mask of Anubis. She was happy that she had succeeded in keeping the artifact safe from Jasper, Victor and Vera… but not thrilled to be covered in dirt and sweat from her climb.
“Did you find it yet?” yelled down Fabian.
Shining her flashlight around the dirt floor, Nina spotted a glimmer of gold sticking out of dirt. “Yeah, I think it’s right here”. Unsheathing her trowel, Nina set to work uncovering the true Mask of Anubis. “Alright I’m going to head back up now” announced Nina. Tucking the mask into her backpack Nina tightened the rope around her waist and began climbing up out of the well.
Gratefully accepting Fabian’s offered hand, Nina hopped over the edge of the well landing safely back on the firm forest floor. “Now are you going to tell me why we had to go dig up the mask? I thought the point was to never have it see the light of day again?” asked Fabian.
“I figured out the first part of Amneris’ demands for the ceremony” responded Nina casually, as the pair began their stroll back to the house. “She mentioned the ‘Gift of Anubis’ which is also known as Aqua Vitae, or the Elixir of Life. Victor needed a tear of gold for the recipe which is why he was so psycho about stealing the mask last year. If we are to recreate the elixir we will need the mask to make more tears of gold”.
Fabian stopped short, shocked by Nina’s explanation. “You can’t possibly be suggesting what I think you are” he warned.
“Hmm?” replied Nina, playing dumb.
“Nina, we can’t make more elixir ourselves! We spent the past two years stopping Victor and Vera from making it”
“And why not,” argued Nina.
“Nina, you know the dangers of the elixir. I can’t stand by and watch you kill someone for it”
“No one is going to die, Fabian. The elixir was only going to kill us if it was drunk from the Cup of Ankh… which is still buried in the well back there. The only way that we can get Amneris off our backs is to make the elixir and use it in the ceremony to get her body back and send her off to the afterlife” explained Nina.
“Besides the tears of gold we don’t even know what the other elixir ingredients are” protested Fabian weakly.
“The original elixir Victor was using was made by his father, who got the recipe from my step-great grandfather Robert. And given how much Frobisher liked to document his research and proselytize about his greatness; I am sure there is a copy of the recipe somewhere in the house”
“Ok, that’s fair” granted Fabian. “But is it really a good idea to bring the mask back into the house? Victor could pull a search at any moment and confiscate it”.
“If he finds it he will likely think it’s just a copy since he believes that Jasper’s contact ran off with the real one last spring. Plus, the mask will not work without its third eye which I plan to borrow from the shield to cry the tears of gold and then return”.
“Well you seem to have everything worked out already” griped Fabian, kicking a loose stone down the path.
Nina sighed, sensing that her boyfriend was feeling left out of the Sibuna process. “Look, I’m just trying to figure out the best way to keep everyone safe and get this ghost off our asses long enough for us to deal with the Society. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about the plan sooner, but things just kept happening so quickly once I realized what the clue meant”.
“Just promise me you will let me help with the rest of this stuff?” asked Fabian, accepting her apology.
“Of course! We’re a team, Rutter, you and me against the world” teased Nina, bumping her shoulder against Fabian’s. “I heard that Vera is making lamb stuffed grape leaves for supper, race you back to the house?”
“You’re on” chuckled Fabian, taking off down the winding forest path.
Nina shook her head, chuckling at her boyfriend’s antics, before giving chase.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It was Patricia who brought up the obvious point Monday night while the pair were washing dishes, causing Nina to realize what an idiot she had been.
“So, not to jinx us again or anything, but have you thought about any possible ways to stop our newest spirit from possessing us. I know you want to use the mask again, but what’s to stop ghostie number two from stealing your body like the bitch did last year”.
Nina honestly hadn’t given this possible scenario much thought, happy to simply take her ancestor’s word at face value. Deciding that the group needed better protection, Nina dedicated a large portion of her time over the next few days to finding a protection ritual for the club. If Patricia was right, then Nina couldn’t risk using the mask until after her body was possession proof, for fear of Amneris deciding to take her for a joyride into the afterlife.
It took a few days, but Nina eventually found a possible solution in one of Sarah’s old journals. This particular journal was from around the time that she and Rufus were working with Englavista in Egypt. The journal entry explained a possible ritual that Nina could complete to bless some ink which she could then apply to her friends in a certain pattern. While the group had the ink on them they wouldn’t be able to be possessed. It was a brilliant solution… with the only issue being convincing them all to get poke and stick tattoos. Given how the overnight curse tats had gone over last time, Nina was not expecting this to be an easy task.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“No, nope, no way! Nine, non, not a fucking chance in hell” ranted Amber.
“I agree with Amby. One tattoo experience was enough for me” voted Alfie.
Nina just sighed and looked to Patricia to be her voice of reason.
“I already have one, I might as well get another,” reasoned the girl.
“Well that puts us at two to three, so we’re doing the protection tattoos” decreed Nina. “Start thinking about where you want them. Fabian and I already ordered the ink and needles so we’ll do the ceremony this weekend”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It wasn't until Thursday night that Nina and Fabian were able to really start their search for Robert’s elixir recipe. Nina remembered how Victor seemed convinced that the book of Isis held the key to their elixir making success… so they decided to hold a raid of his office.
Nina and Fabian watched the caretaker’s office through the girl’s hallway door with bated breath as they waited for Victor to leave.
“Uggh! Can he just hurry up and leave already” whined Nina quietly.
“He’ll move on soon enough, we just have to be patient” comforted Fabian.
The pair’s luck seemed to turn as Victor suddenly got a call and stormed down the stairs and out the house’s front door. Exchanging excited grins, the pair sprinted across the landing and into Victor’s office.
“Alright, the Book of Isis was written entirely in hieroglyphics. So we’ll most likely know it when we see it” instructed Nina.
Fabian began to search Victor’s bookshelves while Nina went through the man’s desk. Picking the lock on the bottom right drawer, Nina sorted through several files before discovering that the drawer had a false bottom. Applying pressure to the top left corner, Nina was able to pry the wooden slab up, revealing an extra hiding place underneath.
“Fabian look!” celebrated Nina, gesturing to the yellowed pages of the Book of Isis.
“You found it!” celebrated Fabian, taking out his phone to record the pages of the book. The pair carefully documented each page of hieroglyphs, they didn’t want to chance Victor discovering that they had found the book. Sliding the book back into the secret compartment, the couple quickly returned the office to its previous state. Having succeeded in their task Nina and Fabian raced out of the office and back to Nina’s hallway. They found that they had escaped the office not a moment too soon, as the next minute they heard the front door slam and Victor angrily yelling for Vera. High off their victory, the detective couple settled in for their favorite form of date night; internet research and translating!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 13: Magic Practice
Summary:
New Staff Members and Magic Practice
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
Note: Please don't take my description of Stick and Poke Tattoos as a how to guide! It can be dangerous and is not something that should be done at home without lots of research and proper supplies! Be safe 💖
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Attention students and teachers, please pardon the interruption” blared Mr. Sweet’s voice over the intercom throughout the school.
Lili looked up from the game of hangman she was playing with Alfie in the corner of her notebook.
“I am happy to announce that we have a wonderful new addition to our teaching staff. Miss Nancy Wilson joins us today as our new school counselor. We are so grateful to her for answering our call and stepping up to help us all grieve the loss of Mr. McCreary. Miss Wilson will be making her rounds through each of the classes today to introduce herself. She has asked me to let you all know that she has an online sign up system for appointments which is available on the school site. Students, let's make sure to give her a warm Frobisher Academy welcome!”
Huh, Mr. Sweet actually hired a school therapist. That had to be one of the most surprising things Liliana had learned about the school since arriving, and she knew about the murder cult! Turning her attention back to the front of the room, Lili went back to struggling with the math problem on the board.
A knock on the door once again interrupted the class. An unfamiliar young woman popped her head into the classroom asking “Pardon the interruption Mrs. Tyestro. I need a few minutes of your class’ attention”. The teacher annoyedly nodded, upset at the woman for interrupting her lesson plan, but giving up control of the class all the same.
“Hi everyone! I won’t take too much of your time here this morning, but I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself” waved the young woman. “My name is Miss Wilson and as Mr. Sweet announced I am the school’s new student counselor. I am so excited to get to know you all this year! I am here to support you all in any way you need; whether that be study skill help, friendship issues, or sorting through emotions. I am also the replacement for Mr. Phantonly who is on paternity leave, so I will be seeing each of the 12th years to help with University Applications. I brought some printouts about what exactly I can help with and how to make an appointment with me. If you don’t see something you are struggling with listed, just ask! If I can’t help you myself I can most likely connect you with a colleague who can”.
Accepting one of the fliers, Lili skeptically eyed the list of topics the woman could apparently help with. Grief, depression, anxiety, organizational skills, friendship struggles… nothing about school murder cults and magic trauma, she’d pass.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Are we sure about this?” asked Alfie for what seemed to be the hundredth time that afternoon.
“Look, everything is going to be fine” soothed Nina, placing another handful of herbs into the copper bowl resting on the stump in the middle of the clearing. The group had chosen this specific clearing for their ritual space as it was perfectly circular and was lined with stumps the right height to be chairs. In the middle of the space stood a taller and wider stump, about the size and height of a kitchen table which Nina was using as their makeshift altar.
“I mean shouldn’t Lili, Jerome, Joy or Eddie be here?” pressed the boy worriedly.
“It’s better that we keep this Amneris business strictly to just us five. The more people that are involved the more likely someone will get hurt” reasoned Fabian.
“Easy for you to say your Significant Other and best friend are in the club already” grumped Patricia.
“Let it go Trixie, you know that it won’t do any good to argue with them when they have made their minds up” sighed Amber, annoyedly filing her nails on the stump across from Nina.
“While I could have done without the snark, thank you Amber. We are ready to begin” declared Nina motioning her friends to join her around the stump. Tightening her ponytail, Nina focused on the notebook she had affectionately been calling her grimoire, for the ritual she had transcribed from Sarah’s journal, to consecrate the tattoo ink.
The Sibuna club joined hands as Nina lit the candle under her mixture. The group had placed a little dish of the ink within the copper ritual bowl. Nina had then placed the other ritual ingredients around the ink. This particular spell called for a mix of lavender oil, peppermint sprigs, eucalyptus leaves, crushed beetles and yarrow.
Nina reached out and joined hands with Nina and Fabian as she began to read the incantation. “Nos defendat Isis. Custodi filios tuos a malo. Adjuva nos, ut firmi et securi ab omnibus, quae nos possidere appetit, maneamus”.
As Nina spoke the flame of the candle grew and twisted causing the ink to bubble in the bowl. A wind whipped up around the group throwing rocks and dust into the air. Amber shut her eyes to try and block out the debris. A mild roar echoed throughout the clearing, and Amber couldn’t quite be sure, but it seemed like there were additional voices chanting along with Nina. The noise and wind suddenly ceased as Nina finished her chant. Opening her eyes Amber saw that the candle had been blown out and the ingredients in the bowl had disappeared, leaving only the dark tattoo ink behind.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina laid out each of the items on the desk that Fabian and Alfie had moved to the middle of the room. Pulling on a pair of latex gloves she attempted to give Patricia a reassuring grin as she firmly gripped the girl’s wrist.
“So have you thought where you want the design?” asked Nina.
“Yeah, I decided I want it in a ring around my wrist,” replied Patricia. “That way it will be normally hidden by all my bracelets”.
“Perfect!” Ripping open one of the disinfectant rags, Nina took special care to clean the area, she did not want to risk one of her friends getting an infection on top of everything else. Uncapping one of the black markers from the dish on the desk, Nina began sketching the phrase onto Patricia’s skin. Sarah’s journal notes suggested using the phrase ‘Defendant Nos A Malo’ to keep the bearer safe from evil. Nina made sure to place a black dot between each word to break up the phrase and allow the magic to work. Once she was happy with the design, Nina dipped her tattoo needle in the blessed ink.
Locking eyes with Patricia, Nina encouraged the girl, “Take a deep breath in, this will be over before you know it”.
Patricia did as instructed and Nina poked the needle into Patricia’s wrist. Besides a small gasp, Patricia didn’t give that much of a reaction to the needle. The Sibuna Crew had all had far worse injuries than a few needle pokes, especially after last year.
Dipping the needle in the bowl of ink each time, Nina carefully completed her first pass of the phrase on Patricia’s wrist. Alfie was keeping Patricia distracted by showing her videos of ninja failures while explaining what he would have done differently.
Nina carefully spread a layer of vaseline over the tattoo before wiping it off and with it the extra ink. “Round two, get ready” she warned, reloading the ink on her needle and inserting it into the girl’s wrist at an angle, the ink sliding off easier the second time.
It took five rounds, but Nina was finally happy with the design. Nina carefully wrapped Patricia’s wrist in plastic wrap. “Make sure to keep this covered until at least tomorrow night. After that, wash it gently with soap and pat it dry. You need to be careful with it so the ink doesn’t bleed”.
“Ok, thanks Nina!” chirped Patricia; moving over to Amber’s bed and curling up with the blonde, leaving her spot at the desk open for Alfie. Shooting the boy a grin, Nina prepared to repeat the process on her next friend.
Notes:
Translation of Chant: “Protect us Isis. Keep your children safe from evil. Help us to remain strong and safe from all that seeks to possess us”.
Tattoo design:
The tattoo roughly translate to be: defend us from evil.
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 14: The Book of Life
Summary:
An update on the cult and the Sibuna Club is on the hunt for elixir.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“I don’t care how you do it Cole, we just need it done as soon as possible” snapped Lilah into her cell phone as she hurried down the halls of her apartment building. “Victor and Vera said that we are responsible for finding the next sacrifice and you have done jack shit to prepare for the ceremony. We only have until the end of next week before the meeting”.
“Oh fuck off Lilah, I’ve already arranged for the students of my ‘At-Risk Youth’ program to attend the Frobisher Accademy Carnival on Friday. While they’re there we will be able to snatch one of them and store them in the crypt”
“And how do you plan to explain away one of the students going missing?”
“There won’t be any need to explain it away, between the rap sheet on some of these kids and Thomas’ ability to list them as runaways we will be able to shift any suspicion off of us”.
“I have to give it to you Cole, we might actually be able to pull off that plan” commented the reporter, grudgingly impressed by the Assistant Mayor’s plan.
“Don’t worry Miss Knight, everything is going according to plan”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina had searched most of the school at this point and still couldn’t find her boyfriend. Reaching the doors of the library, Nina mentaly smacked herself for not starting here in her search. Entering the library, Nina waved happily at Trudy, who was seated behind the circulation desk, before heading towards the back corner table where the boy she was looking for was hard at work.
“Any luck with translating The Book of Isis?” asked Nina, sitting down beside Fabian.
“Yeah… yeah a little” muttered Fabian, not taking his eyes off the screen showing the hieroglyphics. “From what I’ve gathered the book focuses primarily on the Mask of Anubis and the various benefits that come from the Tears of Gold. The actual recipe is supposed to be something called ‘The Book of Life’”.
“Any clues on where we might find this “Book of Life’?”
“Given that Frobisher was able to successfully create the elixir once, it stands to reason that he had access to this book. Given that we didn’t find it in the old Library last year, the next place I would suggest searching would be Frobisher's study”.
“You are brilliant, Fabian” praised Nina, “We can check out the study after lights out”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Twenty minutes after pin drop found the Sibuna Club gathered in the kitchen ready to find the Book of Life. The group quickly crawled through the bread oven down into the cellar. Fabian put the code, 1890, into the bookshelf causing the wall to slide aside and reveal the familiar dusty study of the house’s previous owner, Robert Frobisher-Smythe.
“Alright, we are looking for a tome called ‘The Book of Life’. Robert is tricky though and he could have disguised it as another book, so check each journal carefully” coached Fabian.
The group of five quickly set to work searching the room for the missing elixir recipe.
“Hey, hey look at this! Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead!” celebrated Alfie, pulling out a huge dusty tome.
“Alright give it a look and see if you find anything in it” directed Fabian, motioning for the others to keep looking.
It took another ten minutes of searching but Amber finally let out a shout of victory and waved a dust and cobweb covered tome over her head. “Found it! Frobisher was even nice enough to translate it for us”.
“Let me see” Nina took the book and glanced at the ingredient list. “Eucalyptus leaves, cyperus root, crushed wintergreen, vanilla, tear of gold, salt crystals, python venom, ylang ylang, water, cannabis, eagle eyes and sandalwood. Seems doable”.
“Some of those ingredients might take a while to get… but at least we have the recipe now” grinned Fabian. Alfie snapped a photo of the recipe before carefully securing the book in his knapsack.
“I say we call it a night and get some well deserved sleep” proposed Amber, looking to be half asleep in the room’s only armchair.
“Amby’s right, we all still have to go to classes tomorrow” agreed Alfie, helping his girlfriend to her feet.
The other three agreed, but as Nina went to push the release button she froze in horror at the sounds echoing on the other side of the bookcase door. “It’s Victor and Vera! What are we going to do?” she hissed worriedly.
Given that the Sibuna crew was no longer using the Frobisher tunnels on a daily basis, the club members had become regrettably lax in wearing their amulets. None of the present members had their amulet on them and Victor and Vera would be coming through the doorway any moment!
The group cast their eyes frantically around the room in search of an escape. Alfie was the first to spot a large rectangular mirror resting in the corner. “Quick, Trixie! Help me lift this, everyone else get on the bookshelf” ordered the boy.
The duo lifted the mirror like a shield as the bookcase spun depositing the students in the all too familiar tunnels once again. A gentle hum began as soon as the bookcase spun and the Sibuna Club shut their eyes tight as the beam approached, hoping that Alfie’s crazy plan would actually work and save them from a day of darkness.
The beam of light scanned up the five students body’s looking for the amulets. Luckily for the Sibuna Club, when the light reached the mirror, it refracted back on itself and destroyed the source of the beam in a minor explosion.
“Yes!!!” cheered Amber quietly, jumping up and down. The group hustled off the bookshelf and sent it back into the study. As Nina placed her eye against the peephole she saw that they were just in time as the next moment saw Victor and Vera stepping through the doorway.
“They’re in,” warned Nina. “We need to get moving!”. Fabian nodded and led the group down the familiar dusty, spiderweb coated passageways.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“So, how exactly are we planning to get out?” asked Amber after the group had crossed through the horn chamber. “We don’t have the amulet to open the extra tunnel”.
“I figure we’ll give Victor and Vera some time to find whatever it is they’re looking for in the study before heading back” suggested Nina. “Besides it might be fun to poke around down here now that there is no Senkhara breathing down our necks”
“Just Amneris” whispered Amber darkly, before following her friends through the next doorway into the reflector chamber.
Nina stood in the center of the room eyeing the various paintings and etchings on the walls, until one caught her eye. She noticed a carving of a familiar half-moon on one of the upper bricks that matched the symbol she had noticed her cousin etching into her notebooks and on the key around her neck. The stone in question slightly jutted out from the wall, making Nina wonder if it would move.
“Hey Patricia? Can you reach that stone with the moon on it?” asked Nina.
“Uh, maybe?” shrugged the girl, moving over to the wall in question. Patricia had to jump to reach the stone, but successfully pushed it into the space leading to a low creaking noise and a portion of the wall pulling away to reveal a new tunnel.
“Are you kidding me!?!” protested Alfie. “How many secret tunnels are we going to keep finding?”.
The roof of the passage was so low that the group of five had to crawl on their hands and knees to fit into the new space. The Sibuna Club did not have to crawl for long until they reached the end of the latest passage. The dead end was accompanied by a stone grate and a marking for Nina’s locket accompanied by a moon sigil and an ankh. Pressing her locket against the stone, Nina watched with bated breath as the stone grate slid aside revealing a terrifying sight.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 15: Carnival
Summary:
The Sibuna Club discovers a new Frobisher Lair and attend the School Carnival.
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Hey... sorry for disappearing. Things have been super crazy and I had insane writers block. That said thank you for all of the love you have given this story. You all are the absolute best! I love you all so much 💜! I hope you enjoy this new upload 🥰.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Previously on Scent of Lavender: Pressing her locket against the stone, Nina watched with bated breath as the stone grate slid aside revealing a terrifying sight.
The stone grate slid aside allowing the students access to what seemed to be a tomb. Nina carefully stepped down off the ledge and into the room, checking for booby traps, her fellow club members following closely behind.
“Yup! I recognize this place from just about every nightmare I’ve ever had” snarked Amber hopping down off the ledge. “Spooky dungeon crypt. Gods it’s like out of a fantasy novel or something”
“Amby, everything we do is like out of a fantasy novel” chuckled Alfie, but he was giving the large coffin in the center of the room a wide berth.
The group spread out to assess the new chamber and look for any possible exits to the outside. Patricia and Fabian made a beeline to the two sets of doors, but both struggled to get either to budge even a little. “OW! It’s like they were sealed closed” bemoaned Patricia.
“I think they only open from the outside” gritted Fabian, as he threw his whole weight against the door in hopes of opening it.
Nina was far more invested in the placard etched into the front of the tomb’s main coffin. Brushing away the dust revealed the letters R.F.S and the dates 1881 - 1922. “Guy’s this is Robert’s crypt!”.
Before the group could process the latest reveal, an ominous screeching sound filled the air and the Sibuna Club turned back to the tunnel from which they came only to see the stone grate rapidly closing off their only exit. Despite the group’s best efforts the gate slammed closed effectively trapping them. Nina sunk down on one of the steps in defeat.
“Are you doing ok?” Fabian asked Nina, rubbing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“As best as I can. At least if I'm buried alive I’m in the family tomb, right?” she tried to joke. “I just can’t stop thinking about how unfair it is that Sarah isn’t able to be laid to rest under her real name and with her family”.
“Well that is something we can think about later” encouraged her boyfriend. “Let’s focus on finding an alternate way out of here”.
With their new entrapment hanging over their heads the Sibuna Club set to work looking for any possible escape routes. Amber opened a door which revealed a closet full of screeching bats.
“AAAAAAHHHHHH” screamed Amber running to hide behind Patricia.
“Calm down Amber, they’re just bats”.
“Right. Just bats… in this just crypt” snarked Amber angrily.
“Guy’s the bats are gone! Maybe we can get out the way they did” suggested Nina pointing to the shadow covered roof where the bats had supposedly escaped from.
“Uh huh. Let me know when you grow wings Chosen One” sassed Patricia.
“Fuck off Trix” replied Nina, begining to climb on top of her greatgrandfather’s coffin. “I can just make out a grate up top, maybe if I was able to get on someone’s shoulders?”
“Nope, we are NOT doing that” declared Fabian, tugging Nina back to the safety of even ground.
“Fine” grumped Nina returning to her search for a ground based escape route.
It was Alfie who suggested that they try forcing Nina’s arm through the grate and seeing if she could unlock the door by pressing her amulet against the marking hoping that it would trigger the grate. Nina and Fabian protested that this could end with her getting hurt, but the vote was three to one meaning Nina found herself lying on the ground with her arm shoved as far as possible through the grate. It took a couple tries, but she was eventually able to successfully hit her amulet against the mark, sparking the grate to roll back. Unfortunately the grate moved at a faster clip than she expected so her arm was stuck in one of the holes, Fabian helped her to untangle herself but Nina was going to have a wicked bruise. The opening of the door allowed Alfie to wedge a large stick in the space to keep the doorway open.
“Well I don’t know about you guys but I am more than ready to call it a night. We only have a couple more hours before we have to be up” announced Amber. “Victor and Vera should be gone by now so let’s get Nina an icepack and some shut eye”.
The other Sibunas quickly agreed and made their way back through the tunnels to get some well deserved rest.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Taking a deep breath, Nina wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans while mentally giving herself a pep talk. She was the bloody chosen one, she had fought actual demons and she was scared of a little phone call? Summoning all of her courage, Nina hit the call button on the contact and squeezed her eyes tight as the phone rang.
“Hello?” came an unfamiliar voice.
“Hi, is this Tony? I’m a friend of Tanya’s, she mentioned that you would be able to get me what I need?”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Frobisher Academy Carnival was the latest brainchild of Headmaster Sweet. Ever since the failure of The Society two years ago, Eric had turned his attention towards legitimizing the school and making sure the less savory aspects of its history, and his involvement in those aspects, would remain hidden. So when Mayor Carlyle had called the School and asked that they host a carnival for the town, well how could Eric turn down this golden opportunity?
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Joy eyed Patricia and her friends warily as she ran through her vocal warm ups. The group had been acting strangely over the past two weeks. Joy didn’t want to be wrapped up in another mystery, yet she hated being left in the dark more. After Eddie and K.T.’s revelation about the reformed cult, Joy had done a bit of digging and was upset with what she found.
While she was happy that her father wasn’t wrapped up in the cult again, she had noticed some rather worrying signs that Victor had simply recruited upwards. Joy had at least been able to give Eddie reassurance that his sketchy child-napping father wasn’t currently a member of the cult. It was laughably obvious that Victor and Vera had shut out the headmaster. The newest hire by said headmaster… well she was worth watching.
Joy had made an appointment with the counselor with the goal of discovering any possible cult connections and wow… so many red flags! Miss Wilson was far too invested in the going ons of the school for Joy to believe she wasn’t involved. Plus when the woman had to briefly step out of the room to deal with Mr. Sweet, Joy went through her purse and found a second phone! Later on when Joy broke into the office after pin drop with KT and Eddie she found a filing cabinet filled with files on each of the students and staff members. KT had tried to argue that as guidance counselor she would have the files, but Joy was not convinced.
“Let it go JJ, you know that you don’t actually want to be wrapped up in their crazy. We already have our own mission, we don’t need another one” advised Eddie upon seeing her annoyed look.
“Ugh, I know, but it still sucks to be left out”.
“How about you go check on K.T.? Make sure that she’s ready for her first performance?” suggested Eddie.
Rolling her eyes, Joy headed off towards the makeshift dressing room to find the band’s replacement guitarist.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I can’t do this!” muttered K.T. frantically as she paced back and forth in the performer's dressing room.
“Knock, Knock” called Joy as she entered the space, “You ready to rock this carnival?”. It had been hard for the group to decide to replace their guitarist, as the hole Jason left behind in his death was huge, but K.T. was settling in as a perfect fit.
“I’m so sorry, but this was a terrible mistake! I can’t do this!” called K.T. intending to grab her bag and race out of the performance tent.
“Hey, hey. What’s going on? Is something wrong?” asked Joy, moving to lay a hand on her housemate’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry to let you guys down but I can’t perform with you” insisted KT, shrugging off Joy’s hand to pull on her jacket.
“Yeah, you said that, but why?”
“Why?!? Because of all the people! What if I mess up? It would screw up your whole performance. I can’t do that to you all”.
“Hey, take a deep breath for me please” asked Joy, firmly placing her hands on both of K.T.'s shoulders. “Look into my eyes and count with me. One, three, five, seven, nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty-one”.
Despite herself, KT found her body relaxing as she counted along with her gorgeous band mate.
“Very good!” praised Joy. “Now about this foolishness of you messing us up. That’s all it is… foolishness. You are not the only one on stage, there are four other people with you so if you do mess up, which will probably happen since you are human, we will cover for you; just like you will if Eddie forgets a beat or Lindy is off time. We’re a band and we have each other's back”.
“Thanks Joy”
“No problem, now let’s get out there and show everyone what a kickass guitarist you are” declared Joy happily, tugging K.T. out of the room. K.T. just laughed happily and followed after her new friend.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina scanned the crowd of Frobisher Academy students and townspeople looking for her contact. She honestly didn’t know what to expect this Tony person to look like, but she was grateful to Tanya for passing along their contact. How else was Nina supposed to get cannabis for the elixir? Shifting awkwardly, Nina tried her best to not look suspicious as she stood by the cotton candy tent. Why on earth would a drug dealer want to meet in the middle of the carnival?
“Hi! You must be Nina” greeted a peppy voice. Nina turned to see that said voice was accompanied by a pretty girl in the local public school cheerleading uniform holding a purple gift bag.
“Yeah, I’m Nina. I’m sorry I seem to be at a disadvantage, you are?”
“Sorry, I’m Toni” grinned the girl. “I have that necklace you ordered right here. Thanks for supporting the cheer team, we really appreciate it” winked the girl.
“Right…” drawled Nina, confused but handing over the cash anyways.
“Pleasure doing business with you, see you again soon” beamed the girl, handing Nina the gift bag. Nina watched stupefied as the cheerleader disappeared into the crowd, leaving the girl wondering what had just happened.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Hey, Toni! Did you see that they have a cup stacking station? I bet you ten bucks I’ll beat you” teased Jackson.
“Oh you are on” agreed the girl excitedly, only to freeze. “Shit, I left my phone back by the cotton candy tent”.
“You want me to walk with you?” offered her friend.
“Nah, go on ahead and get us a spot in line. I’ll jog on over to the tent and then meet up with you for the game” decided Toni.
“If you’re sure?” agreed Jackson hesitantly.
“Of course I’m sure. I’ll be like ten minutes tops. Go save us a spot, I want my ten bucks”.
“As if, I am going to crush you at cups”.
“We will have to see” she teased, “See you in ten!”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Lola, have you seen Toni?”
“Hi Jackson! Not since about an hour ago, sorry, why?” replied the purple haired girl.
Jackson ran a hand worriedly over his hair. “I’m worried about her. She was supposed to meet up with me at the cup stacking game after getting her phone, but that was forty five minutes ago. I’ve been calling her non-stop but she won’t pick up”.
“Maybe she went back into town? You know how her parents get… ever since she started with those ‘necklaces’ they’ve been absolute prison guards. They probably drove over to pick her up early; I mean she’s lucky they even let her come out tonight at all”.
“Maybe you're right, it’s just weird is all”.
“Try to put it out of your mind. Mr. Sparrow says we only have another hour or so to play before he’s loading up the bus to take us back to the center” comforted his friend.
“Ok. I never got to play the cup stacking game, would you like to join me?”
“Totally! Let’s go crush some prep school kids!”.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Nina cooks up another spell
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 16: Liquid Gold
Summary:
✨ Nina gets a taste of power ✨
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Nina carefully took stock of the elixir ingredients the group had collected so far. The Sibunas had successfully gathered the eucalyptus leaves, vanilla sticks, salt crystals, ylang ylang petals, water, cannabis, and sandalwood they needed. They were still struggling to get their hands on the necessary cyperus root, crushed wintergreen, python venom and eagle eyes. Luckily, Nina, now equipped with her ghost repellent tattoo, was about to gather another ingredient towards the elixir.
Sneaking into the school after hours was old hat to the Sibuna Club at this point. Placing Alfie as their look out, Nina and Fabian quickly set to work breaking open the case that housed the Frobisher shield. The pair replaced the glittering purple gem with the fake Jasper had used so many months ago, and returned home unaware of the icy blue eyes that watched their movements.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Placing the gem in the mask’s third eye, Nina watched in awe as the mask shimmered and sparkled with new life.
“Are you sure about this?” Fabian asked worriedly.
“It’ll be fine Fabian. Just be ready to catch the tears” ordered Nina.
Right on cue, Amneris popped into the room with a bewildered look on her ghostly face. “What exactly are you doing chosen one?”
“Gathering elixir ingredients. You need the Gift of Anubis, but there isn’t any currently made” explained Nina.
“You are gathering what?!?” snapped an angry voice as the door burst open to reveal a furious Liliana and Jerome.
“Have you guys even heard of knocking?” replied Nina in a bored tone. She had much more important things to do than explain herself to her housemates.
“I can’t believe you are trying to rebuild the elixir! How could you be so foolish!” ranted Lili, only to freeze in shock as she registered just who was in the room with Nina and Fabian. “Amneris meet Liliana and Jerome, guys meet Nina’s ancestor Amneris” introduced Fabian.
“Look if you are going to conjure random demons and ghosts from the great beyond, that’s just fine. It’s your choice” Jerome assured Nina. “Just wait for us to leave the bloody room first before you continue. We’ll talk more about this later”. Snagging Liliana’s wrist, Jerome tugged his shocked girlfriend back into the hallway and slammed the door.
Nina let out a snort of laughter at the boy’s distaste for anything supernatural. Turning back to the task at hand, Nina raised the mask to her face and felt a surge of strength and satisfaction run through her as the magic of her bloodline hummed to life around her. Fabian carefully collected the liquid gold in the three little bottles the pair had assembled prior to the ceremony.
“Alright that’s enough” echoed Fabian’s voice, but Nina could barely hear him as her mind and body sang with power. “Come on Neens, it’s time to take off the mask”.
“Just a few more minutes,” she protested. Nina wanted to stay in this glorious power forever.
“No. No more. Take it off, or I will” ordered Fabian, but Nina could pick up the worried undertone to his voice. It was that worry that had her reluctantly agreeing to take off the mask. As soon as the cool gold separated from her skin Nina felt the power abandon her. She immediately felt herself missing the strength that it had provided her for those few moments and felt a deep, aching need to feel that way again.
“I am glad to see that you are progressing in your quest. I will return to assess your progress at a later date” declared Amneris before winking out of sight in a bright burst of light, leaving behind only the scent of lavender in her wake.
Fabian removed the gem from its resting place, reverting the mask to its dull and powerless form. “You look exhausted. Why don’t you get some rest while I return the gem? We can rebury the mask later,” suggested Fabian. Now that her boyfriend had mentioned it, Nina realized that she really was exhausted, an almost bone-deep tiredness had taken over her after using the mask. Nodding in agreement, Nina moved to get ready for bed while Fabian headed back out into the dark Frobisher grounds.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Did the book of life mention us needing any specific type of snake venom?” whispered Alfie, hoping that Miss Denby wouldn’t overhear him.
“Not that I saw” whispered back Amber, “Why?”.
“I was doing some research online and there is obviously a large variety in pricing and availability. I figure that if the book doesn’t specify we should just get the cheapest venomous snake and move on. I found a website selling snakes that seems to be within our price point”.
“Send it in the group chat, Nina and Fabian can sign off on it after class” agreed Amber.
“I think we should name the snake Mr. Bites a lot,” suggested Alfie.
“No way!” hissed back Amber, scandalized at the suggestion. “Obviously we should name it Beatrice”
“Ugh, no. How about Peter”
“Peter the snake? Hard veto”
“Well whatever we name him it will be better than the awful mythological name Fabian and Nina will try to saddle him with” pointed out Alfie.
“Definitely,” laughed Amber. Unfortunately their conversation had caught the attention of Miss Denby so the pair quickly shut up and focused on the lesson, after all they couldn’t name their new snake if they were stuck in detention.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The atmosphere in Marita’s was rather tense Friday afternoon. The Sibuna Club, along with Jerome and Liliana, had squeezed into the round booth in the back of the coffee shop for the long needed talk.
“So…” began Patricia awkwardly as she nervously shredded the paper napkin in her hands.
“So” repeated Jerome cooly, arching his right eyebrow in an unamused fashion. “You have another mystery on your hands”.
“We wanted to tell you buddy, but we couldn’t” begged Alfie, not wanting his friends to be upset at them once again leaving them out.
“And let me guess, Nina said no,” sighed Lili frustratedly.
“I was trying to protect you two!” snapped the leader angrily. “This is dangerous business and you guys are just going to get hurt”.
“We are more likely to get hurt on accident, by not knowing what’s going on, so you might as well just fill us in,” replied Jerome.
Nina and Fabian traded silent looks as they debated whether or not to fill in the pair. Truly though the choice had already been taken from them. Amneris had already met the pair so Lili and Jerome were involved whether Nina liked it or not… she was going to need more tattoo ink.
“Alright, so here’s what is happening” began Nina as she settled in to catch up the two remaining Sibuna members.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: K.T.’s first adventure
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 17: Nowhere to Run
Summary:
K.T.’s first adventure!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Red alert! Victor and Vera are going out again and leaving us with Trudy” announced Patricia as she burst into Fabian’s room. Fabian and Nina both shot up from where they had been tangled on Fabian’s bed.
“Patricia! We have a rule about knocking!” protested Fabian, trying to flatten his disheveled hair as Nina attempted to straighten her shirt.
“Whatever lovebirds. What are we going to do about this new cult meeting?”
“Who’s to say it’s even another cult meeting?” asked Fabian, only to be shot with two disbelieving looks.
“Uh, it’s Victor and Vera of course it’s a cult meeting”
“We could hide out at the house and see if we can figure out who the other cult members are,” suggested Nina. “We’ve been so focused on dealing with Amneris that we haven’t had a chance to work on dismantling the cult”.
“Won’t it be too obvious if we all disappear?” worried Fabian
“Nah. I’ll just call up Trudy, pretend to be Vera, and cancel. That way there won’t be anyone to question our absence. Mick is away at a game so he won’t be back tonight to question anything. I’ll ask Lili and Jerome if they can have Poppy hang out with Mara so that she won’t ask any questions about the empty house” explained Nina.
With their plan set, Patricia quickly exited the room so that Nina and Fabian could go back to ‘studying’.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Patricia tucked her auburn hair up into her black beanie, the absolute last thing she needed was for the murder cult to catch sight of her in the bushes and decide to sacrifice her like they did Jason.
“Where are you headed?” asked Joy, not taking her eyes off the Latin homework she was translating.
“Just out to the woods with Amber and Nina, they want to burn something again” lied Patricia with an eyeroll.
“In this weather?” checked Joy doubtfully, eyeing the dark clouds that were rolling in.
“Hopefully it won’t take too long, but you know Ambs, once she gets an idea into her head…”
“That’s fair, stay safe”
“Thanks JJ, see you later” waved Patricia, hustling out of the room to meet up with the other Sibunas. It was a shame that she didn’t pay more attention to her friend, or else she would have noticed the suspicious expression on her friend’s face as she typed out an SOS message to Eddie and K.T. .
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
After the third tree branch hit her in the face, K.T. was more than ready to return to Anubis house and give up on stalking her cousin and their friends. “Can we just go back home? I’m sure they can handle whatever it is they are up to” she suggested.
“No way! If I have learned anything living in this house, it’s that whenever there is something freaky going on at Frobisher Academy Nina is right in the middle of it. I would put good money on your mystery key aligning with whatever your cousin has got herself wrapped up in now” argued Joy.
“Plus as the Osirian I’m legally obligated to make sure that she doesn’t die” added Eddie.
Before K.T. could protest further, the group they were following stopped hiking. Joy motioned for the pair to follow her into the nearby brush, hoping that the bushes would block them from the Sibuna club’s view.
“Ok, Trix, you go ahead and set up the camera. I overheard Vera say that she and Victor had to stop by a shop in town and pick someone up before the meeting so they could be arriving any moment” directed Nina. The other five Sibunas scattered into various hiding places in the brush lining the clearing.
The hidden students didn’t have to wait long before the familiar sound of Victor’s sputtering car could be heard approaching. KT pulled out her own camera and prepared herself to capture whatever it is that the club wanted to see. As the ancient car creaked to a stop their caretaker jumped out of the driver's seat before hurrying around to open the back door to reveal a familiar face to some of the Sibunas.
“He kept the nurse?” whispered Joy.
The next car to arrive was a police car which, according to Joy, apparently belonged to a Sergeant Roebuck. The Sergeant had also brought a young woman who K.T. could have sworn she saw on the news broadcast that Miss Valentine made them watch for the Newspaper.
A third car pulled up revealing Miss Denby and two men who K.T. remembered seeing with the mayor at the carnival. If Eddie and Joy’s stories and suspicions were to be believed then Frobisher Academy was in big big trouble!
“Welcome brothers and sisters, tonight is a great great night!” proclaimed Victor.
“Victor and I are thrilled to have you all joining us again for such an important meeting. Liliah and Cole… where is our guest of honor?”
The reporter lady adopted a twisted grin which marred her beautiful face, “Don’t you worry Vera, Cole and I have secured our treasured guest. We just need Thomas’ help with the transfer”.
The sergeant adopted a frightening look of his own as he removed a taser from his utility belt. “It would be my pleasure”.
K.T. watched in horror as ‘Thomas’ and the man who she assumed was Cole made their way to the back of the car Miss Denby had arrived in. K.T. couldn’t see what was happening from her spot in the brush but the frantic thumps and crackling of the taser was horrific enough
Nothing could have prepared her though for the image of the sergeant walking back to the center of the clearing with a limp body in his arms. K.T. had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep her from calling out as she took in the state of the unconscious person. The captured person appeared to be a girl about their age in a cheerleading uniform. The poor girl’s hands and feet were bound with duct tape.
Vera placed her hand on the bound girl’s cheek as she proclaimed “Oh yes, this one is perfect for Hathor. The goddess will be quite pleased”.
K.T. tore her eyes away from the horrific scene to check on her friends and found tears glittering in Joy’s eyes. Shifting slightly, K.T. grabbed the girl’s hand and squeezed it tightly, hoping to provide the girl some comfort.
A shadow swept over the setting sun causing Victor to usher the adults into the house. “The hour of sacrifice approaches. Make haste lest we miss our chance to appease the goddess”.
The seven adults swiftly made their way up the mansion's stairs and into the house with the bound girl. As soon as the door closed, K.T. was up and moving towards the cars, she knew that with the sun rapidly setting she had to act quickly if she didn’t want to lose the light.
“K.T.!” hissed Eddie worriedly.
“I’ll be right back,” she whispered, hustling over to the first car, only to run smack into Fabian.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going” snapped the boy rubbing his head.
“What are you doing!?!” asked K.T., confused by the charcoal pencil and paper that the boy was holding.
“Getting the license plates, duh” explained Fabian, placing the paper over the plate and scratching with the pencil to make a copy.
“Why don’t you just take a picture?” asked K.T. snapping photos of the various cars and anything else of interest she could find.
“Fabian we’ve got to go” called Nina, only to freeze as she noticed K.T. “What are you doing here?”
“Same thing as you apparently, trying to figure just who is in this Society so that we can stop them”
“We!?!?”
“Yeah, We.” snapped Joy sliding into place with Eddie on either side of K.T.
“Ugh! Well this is just great. Why not invite Mara along as well” groaned Fabian frustratedly.
“Well I for one am thrilled to have these three on board” chirped Lili, crawling out of the brush with Jerome, Amber, Patricia and Alfie.
“They are not ‘on board’!”, “We are not ‘on board’!” protested Nina and Eddie.
“Did you get the pictures you needed?” checked Joy
“Yeah,”
“Great, let’s go then”
“Wait. You’re not going anywhere” demanded Nina.
“You really want to stand here and argue about this when the murder cult could come out any minute? Or do you want to go back to the house where we are safe and can hash this out?” explained Eddie.
“Fine. But I’m not happy about this” snapped Nina.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Joy did her best to school her expression into something resembling calm as the Sibuna Club made themselves comfortable around Fabian and Eddie’s room. The air in the room was tense and really who better to break the ice than their resident meerkat.
“Look, I think all agree that the cult having a little ‘accident’ is the best possible outcome… so Eddie you’re up” declared Jerome with a crocodile smile.
“Oh my gods… will you let that go?!? It was one time!”
“Excuse me?” asked KT, clearly confused…
“Right!!!” exclaimed Eddie, thinking that she was agreeing with him. “You accidentally kill someone once, and now it’s ‘a thing’.”
Seeing K.T.’s significantly disturbed look and the fact that she was rapidly scorching away from him, Eddie tried to save himself by saying: “Hey, sometimes you just got to kill a guy. Plus nobody else was going to do it”
“Look, Rufus’ murder is not relevant to our current issues. Amber, do you want to take notes? It’s time that we all get on the same page” declared Nina. “Who was able to get footage of the members?”
“I did” offered Eddie, Alfie and Liliana.
Scrolling through the video footage the group managed to piece together who most of the adults were. Patricia explained that the Nurse and Cop who carried the poor girl were part of the original Society that the Sibunas faced off against in their 10th year. K.T. found that the news lady was a reporter named Lilah Knight. One of the two remaining men was the assistant mayor Cole Sparrow. No one was able to figure out who the final man was but Fabian promised to do more internet research on him at a later point. The most worrying aspect of the group was the pure power that Victor and Vera now had. Even if the students wanted to report the murder of two students, the hospital, police department, news station and mayor’s office were all compromised. It was a disheartened group of students that headed to bed that night, their heads full of fears and unanswered questions.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Poppy turns 13 and Eddie gets a stalker
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 18: Parties and Pranks
Summary:
A Birthday and Pranking Shenanigans
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Tuesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
One good thing about being a Sibuna was the ability to compartmentalize one’s multiple issues. It was due to this exact skill that Lili was able to happily hum along to Missy’s playlist as Alfie and her helped the Hathor residents decorate the house’s sitting room for Poppy’s surprise party. The housemates were determined to make this the best 13th birthday celebration ever. Maribel had laughingly allowed the kids to take control of the weekly shopping list resulting in bags and bags of crisps, bottles of pop and so much sugar! Jerome had taken Poppy to go visit their father for a few hours that afternoon, leaving the decorating team free reign of the house.
“Careful Jorge!” warned Missy as the boy in question ran by the buffet table a little too closely causing the extravagant carrot cake Lili had picked up from Poppy’s favorite bakery to wobble precariously.
“Whoops! Sorry M” yelled back the boy, though he continued to tear through the house like a hurricane.
“Boys,” scoffed the redhead, shaking her head in disappointment.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The party was a roaring success. The Hathor and Geb residents had so much fun celebrating their friend’s birthday. Poppy had been sure to invite some of the commuter students as well, resulting in a large crowd of sugar high 12 and 13 year olds loudly screaming along to the lyrics of pop songs at the top of their lungs. Maribel and the house’s caretaker Lorenzo, had retired to the kitchen where it was moderately quieter but they were still close enough to the partying pre-teens should an issue arise.
Liliana, Mara, Jerome, Alfie and Amber enjoyed seeing Poppy so happy. For the Sibuna members of the group, they were happy to have a night free of worry regarding their latest mystery.
The party ended around nine o clock with Lorenzo and Mirabel ushering out the visitors despite the protests citing the importance of a good night’s sleep before beginning a new school week. Giving the birthday girl one last hug, Lili headed out into the night back to Anubis house and all of its mysteries.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Sunday night dinners with his dad was one of the most annoying things Eddie had to do each week. Strolling through the dark woods, Eddie slowly made his way back to Anubis House. Given that the sun had gone down and a chill had set in, Eddie opted to take the shortcut through the woods along the pond.
As he hurried through the dark wood Eddie was on edge. He eyed every corner and jumped at the creepy sounds. He couldn’t be sure if it was the shadows or his brain playing tricks on him, but Eddie could have sworn that he saw the figure of a man dressed in black watching him through the trees. Even if it was just his brain playing tricks on him, Eddie knew he had to get home now! So launching into a sprint, Eddie raced through the woods ready to be safe in his bed.
Five minutes later, Eddie was home safe, sneakily closing the door behind him. True he wasn’t close to breaking curfew, but he was really not in the mood to talk to anyone. Sneaking down the hallway, Eddie made his way to his room and collapsed on top of the covers. Luckily Fabian was out at the moment, likely sneaking around with Nina, so Eddie didn’t even bother to change his clothes before falling asleep.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
As much as he tried Eddie could not shake the weird feeling that had haunted him ever since he spotted the gentleman in the woods the previous night. The sudden clanging of a locker next to him had Eddie jumping.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re as jumpy as Alfie after an all night Zombie marathon” teased Joy.
“It’s probably nothing”
“What?”
“Just this strange feeling I’ve been having since last night”
“Hmm?” hummed Joy encouragingly as the pair made their way over to their next class.
“Hey guys!” chirped KT waving excitedly as she slid into the open spot on Joy’s other side.
“Hey K.T., I don’t know Joy, I’ve just had this weird vibe like someone has been watching me ever since I spotted this guy in the woods last night”.
“Why were you in the woods? You were having dinner with your dad last night?”.
“It was cold out and I just wanted to get home so I decided to follow the shortcut by the pond instead of taking the longer paved route”.
“What did this woods guy look like?” wondered K.T.
“I didn’t get a good look at him, but he was dressed in a dark suit and was lurking in the trees”.
“Well that’s not much to go off of... I guess just look out for any man in a black suit” chuckled Joy. “At least we know for sure it’s not Rufus this time. Maybe it’s the people who chased K.T.”
“Don’t even joke” shuddered K.T. “I still don’t completely know what was going on there, but it certainly wasn’t us being extras in a movie like Nina tried to tell me”.
“A movie? Oh my gods that has to be one of her worst lies yet” giggled Joy.
“Trust me, I love my cousin, but she is awful at making up stories. I think as long as you are careful and aware of your surroundings you should be fine, Eddie” comforted K.T. as the trio made themselves comfortable on the Drama Studio couches.
“Thanks K.T.” grinned Eddie. From there the conversation shifted to classes and bemoaning their homework load. Eddie allowed himself to relax and enjoy this time with his best friends.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Gods I am so bored!” bemoaned Lili. “I wish that there was something fun we could do, but it won’t stop raining!!!”
“Lils, I love you, but Alfie and I really need to get this project done” sighed Jerome.
“Can’t you take a little break?” wheedled Lili.
“Sorry but no,” apologized Alfie. “We procrastinated far too much and now we’re screwed”
“You would think we would have learned after the last hundred projects we’ve left to the last minute” chuckled Jerome
“Well fine, I guess I’ll have to go stir up some fun trouble somewhere else” declared Lili.
“And what kind of trouble could you turn up on your own?” wondered Alfie
“I don’t know I’ll probably just go prank Victor” shrugged the girl, her mind already swirling with ideas of shaving cream and pink dye.
“Haha, ok hon. Good luck with that” chuckled Alfie
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Lili indignantly.
“It just means that you have only ever really pranked with us. We don’t have time right now, but if you want to mess with Victor we will come up with a prank for you tomorrow”.
Lili stared at the two boys aghast. “You both don’t think that I can pull a prank without your help?”
“Well… yeah. I mean we are the experts, so why don’t you go sew for a bit while Alfie and I finish up this project and plan the prank”.
“First of all, it’s incredibly rude of you two to think that I need you to pull off a prank. I am fully capable of executing an incredible prank without your help and I will prove it” snapped Lili, before storming out of the room and slamming the door. Jerome and Alfie were about to be in for the surprise of their lives.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The rest of her morning flew by and before Lili knew it, the bell rang announcing the start of her free period. Waving goodbye to her desk partner, Luke, Lili ran out of the room towards the library.
Bursting into the library, Liliana found Josie and Lindy working at one of the nearby tables. Dropping her bags down next to them she grabbed a seat at the table. “Hey girlies! How was your weekend?”.
“Hey Lili! My weekend was great. Tessa and I had a sleepover and went to the mall”.
“That sounds like fun Lindy, what about you Josie?”
“My weekend was fine. I mostly did homework and drove my siblings to their soccer games”.
“What did you get up too?” wondered Lindy.
“It was Poppy’s birthday so a bunch of us went over to Hathor to celebrate”.
“Well I’m glad to hear that you had a fun weekend Liliana. So what did you want to talk to us about?” asked Josie.
“I was talking to the boys yesterday and they seem to be under the impression that I am only able to pull off pranks with their help.”
“Hah! Unfortunately that sounds just like Alfie and Jerome. We clearly aren’t going to let this stand though, what’s the plan?” demanded Lindy.
“I was hoping you would say that” smirked Liliana. Leaning in, she quietly shared her game plan with her friends.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Raising her hand to get Miss Valentine’s attention, Liliana quickly excused herself to the bathroom. Rushing through the halls Lili noted that she had five minutes till the bell rang and the halls would be flooded with students ready to go home for the day, it was almost time to spring her trap!
Pushing her way into the girl’s bathroom in the math hallway, Lili found herself face to face with her partners in crime, Lindy and Josie. “Alright ladies! Are you ready to do this?” cheered Lili.
“Hell yeah! Let’s show those boys who’s boss” cackled Lindy.
Having confirmed that the girls were still onboard with the plan, Lili pulled a screwdriver out of her bag and set to work unscrewing one of the bathroom grates. Reaching in she pulled out the large blue duffle bag that she had stashed in there before classes that morning. Unzipping it she pulled out the three pairs of roller skates and cans of silly string she snuck out of the house while carefully avoiding Victor and Vera’s judging eyes.
Passing each girl a pair of skates and two cans of silly string, Lili instructed “Once you guys lace up your skates we can head to our positions. Remember, as soon as the bell rings start spraying and enjoy the havoc”.
“I bet I can spray more students than you Linds” taunted Josie lacing up her skates.
“Oh you are on!” laughed Lindy making her way to the door.
Quickly screwing the grate back in place, Lili followed the girls out into the hallway and took her place near one of the classrooms. Checking her watch she counted down the seconds till the bell would ring. 10… 9…. 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… BRINGGGG!
The chatter of students filled the hallways as they exited their final classes of the day. Pressing play on her apple watch, Lili pushed off the wall and weaved through the student body spraying silly string and wreaking havoc to the beat of ‘Kings & Queens’ by Ava Max.
Spotting Jerome and Alfie by their lockers, Lili put on some speed as she bobbed and weaved her way over to them. She threw her head back laughing as she took in their surprised faces. She circled the pair, coating them in purple silly string.
Jerome took the prank the best and snagged her arm pulling her into a complicated spin. Lili rewarded him by tossing him one of the cans of green silly string from the holster on her hips. Shooting a silly smile at Alfie’s dumbstruck visage Lili skated through Jerome’s legs and then set off to continue causing chaos with her girls. The song changed to Reba’s “Going Out Like That” as Lili joined up with the other two.
“What on earth is the meaning of all of this!?!” demanded Headmaster Sweet as he stormed into the main hallway. “Lewis, Clarke, you have a lot of explaining to do!”
“It wasn’t us this time Mr. Sweet” protested her friends.
“Well then who?” blustered the headmaster spinning to face the trio. Taking in her outfit and cans of Silly String, Mr. Sweet glowered. “Liliana Beth Wells” he growled.
Giving them the signal, Lili watched as her girls dumped out the baskets full of silly string they had stashed during their free period. As expected, the students dove to each grab a can before turning them on their teachers and friends.
Of course their prank could not last forever, as eventually all good things must come to an end. Mr. Sweet located the speakers Liliana was using and disconnected her Girl Power playlist before demanding that Lili and her co-conspirators report immediately to his office. Standing there, covered in rainbow string with a grin wide enough to cover the world twice over, Lili could not bring herself to regret her decision even with the inevitable punishment to come.
Her smile grew even larger when her boys dropped into deep bows proclaiming that they were not worthy to stand in presence of their Pranking Queen. The memory of their dumbstruck and awe filled faces stayed with her all the way to the headmaster's office. What they didn’t know was that Liliana was just getting started.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Another birthday and an HOA staple, *the picnic date*
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 19: Picnics and Panics
Summary:
Picnic Dates and Karaoke!!!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Tuesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After almost a week of non-stop rain, the good weather had finally returned. This led to most of the student body taking to the grounds to hang out and study. Fabian and Nina joined in the fun, deciding to pack a picnic for their date down by the lake.
“I found something really interesting in one of Sarah’s diaries,” shared Nina as she took a bite of her apple.
“Really? What does the great Miss Frobisher Smythe have to share today?” asked Fabian, shifting into a more comfortable position on their picnic blanket.
“One of her journal entries from a trip she took with Rufus mentioned a vault that her parents hid on the property. Sarah hints that Robert and Louisa made off with a lot more than the Cup of Ankh and the Mask of Anubis”.
“Well that certainly seems plausible. If they went through the trouble of stealing those two items, why not take more treasure as well. At this point it's shocking that anything made it to the British Museum… not that the museum is a much better option”.
“Yeah, Sarah kept a ledger in another one of her notebooks showing that she and Rufus took after her parents in the Artifact Trafficking game. Sarah mentions how upset Rufus was that they were never able to uncover the location of the stash. Apparently there is a lot of valuable stuff locked away in there. Which has me thinking… Amneris says that she can sense the objects we need are all within the bounds of this town. She can’t pinpoint their exact location, but if there is any place where Amneris’ crown and or the pharaoh’s scepter were hidden, I’d bet good money that they are this vault”.
“Well look at you Miss Nancy Drew” praised Fabian. “Did Sarah give us any clues as to where she thinks this vault could be?”
“Uh, sorta? She recorded places that they already searched and some vague hints her parents told her before they died”.
“Well at least we have a jumping off point. Take a photo of the pages and send them in the group chat, that way we can get the whole group working on it” suggested Fabian.
“That’s a great idea” praised Nina, pulling out her phone and doing as her boyfriend suggested.
“How is your paper for Metaphysics coming along?” asked Fabian. The pair’s conversation shifted then towards school and their non-mystery based plans for the rest of the week.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It was strange to be celebrating the birthday of an Anubis House resident somewhere other than the sitting room; yet the early evening of October 24th found the Anubis students and their friends partying in a private room at the local Sushi and Karaoke bar in town. Mick’s football team members decided to go all out for the lovable jock’s 18th birthday. Joy was grateful for the break in party planning, she loved Mick but she was more than willing to pass off the handling of the event to Mick’s favorite teammate Daniel.
The students spent several enjoyable hours celebrating their newly returned friend’s birthday. Several different pairings had taken the karaoke stage by storm throughout the night. Eddie, Jerome, Alfie, Jude, and Matthew had smashed a hilarious rendition of the Spice Girls ‘Wannabe’, resulting in deafening cheers and applause. Marissa and Natasha delivered a fun version of ‘Call Me Maybe’, while Josie, Thomas, Luke and Willie knocked their performance of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ out of the park!
Adrian suggested blindly assigning song choices, leading to K.T. and Joy performing a beautiful duet of ‘A Whole New World’ from Disney’s Aladdin which they pulled from a hat. Nina sang a sweet version of ‘How Far I'll Go’ from Moana. Liliana performed a silly version of ‘So Much Better’ from Legally Blonde. Amber touched everyone’s hearts with her choice of ‘Numb Little Bug’, and also had many people asking if she needed help afterwards. Mara was one of the last performances of the night and sang ‘Icon’ by Shuba.
Unfortunately given that it was a Tuesday night, the party had to be cut short rather early due to classes the next day. Bidding their friends goodnight, the Anubis Residents all stumbled home together to get some rest before returning to the grind of classes.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Psst Eddie! Wake up!” urged Fabian, shaking the American boy.
“Ugh, Fabian… what do you want?” whined Eddie.
“Shhh, listen!” the dark haired boy directed.
Now that Eddie was paying attention he could pick up what sounded like muffled chanting? “What on earth? Is somebody holding a magic ritual at two in the morning… well someone other than us?”
“I don’t know but it sounds like it’s coming from next door,” explained Fabian. Eddie gratefully accepted the offered flashlight and followed his roommate out into the hall.
The pair’s search led them to Alfie and Jerome’s room. Cracking open the door, Eddie and Fabian found the boys sitting upright in their beds repeating the same ominous and nonsensical line over and over “slobmys eht wollof…”.
“Uh you guys are hilarious, but you can stop now” chuckled Eddie, hoping desperately that this was all just an elaborate prank crafted by the tricksters.
Fabian tried snapping his fingers under Alfie’s nose but received no reaction from the boy. “Eddie! I don’t think this is a joke. I think something is happening”.
Eddie did his best to try and awaken his friend, shaking Jerome and calling his name over and over. Unfortunately his efforts yielded no results, looking over at Fabian he saw his roommate had fared no better.
“This is not really the time to make a call, Fabian” scolded Eddie when he saw the boy’s phone out. They needed to work together to awaken their friends.
“No! I’m recording what they’re saying. It might be important, you know, like a message or a sign”.
The pair's efforts to wake the sleeptalking pair were interrupted when Victor’s voice came echoing through the house. “Who is making all this racket?”.
Luckily, it was at that moment Alfie and Jerome decided to go back to sleep, allowing Eddie and Fabian the opportunity to hurry back to their own room and dive under the covers. They made it not a moment too soon, for as soon as Eddie pulled the covers up to his chin, the door to the trio’s room creaked open and Eddie could just make out their caretaker’s imposing form in the doorway. Eddie held his breath praying that Victor would move on to the next room in search of the supposed disturbance. His prayers were answered in the next breath as Victor pulled the door closed behind him muttering disparaging remarks about the room’s occupants as he went. Locking eyes with Fabian, Eddie signed a quick “goodnight” before rolling over to try and get a couple more hours of sleep.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: The Art of Kidnapping
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 20: The Art of Kidnapping
Summary:
Is it gay to have your friend as your muse?
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Tuesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
12th Year Seminar was one of the strangest classes that the students at Frobisher Academy had to take. It was taught by a revolving door of professors and invited guests with the goal of exposing the students to various possible professions. Today’s featured a local artist named Lyall Weatherbloom.
Joy entered the drama studio to find that the normal chairs and couches had been pushed aside and replaced with a large number of painting easels and blank canvases. Joy was one of the last students to arrive given that her previous class was physical education which was held in the barn on the other side of the campus. Seeing that there were no open spots by K.T. and Eddie, Joy made her way over to the open easel by Alfie instead.
Mr. Weatherbloom gave a short presentation on the job of an artist and then encouraged them to use the rest of the period to express themselves and try out the profession. Shrugging, Joy took up a pencil and prepared to sketch the outline of an apple tree only to startle at what felt like someone grabbing her hand. The strangled noise next to her revealed that Alfie was suffering from a similar sensation as well. Said invisible hand forced Joy to start drawing a strange pattern onto her canvas.
“Fabian, Nina” called Patricia worriedly. Joy looked over to see that Patricia, Alfie and Jerome were also drawing the same strange picture as her.
The Sibuna leaders abandoned their easels and raced over to the frazzled four. “What happened?” demanded Fabian, taking in the weird shapes.
“I don’t know,” muttered Patricia. “It was like someone was holding my hand, guiding it”.
Nina just nodded, and carefully collected the pictures. “We will talk about this later. For now just go back to the lesson” she directed. The four Sibunas nodded respectfully, while Joy just rolled her eyes. She needed new inspiration. The familiar sound of Eddie’s laugh caught her attention; turning her focus across the room, Joy couldn’t help but notice how KT’s hair seemed to catch the light, making the girl sparkle. It seems that Joy had found her new muse, sharpening her pencil she set to work etching the familiar outline of her new friend.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
After class let out Joy booked it to her locker. She wanted to get away from school as fast as possible, not wanting to think about what had happened in the seminar. Unfortunately it did not seem to be up to her as she found her locker blocked by Alfie and Jerome.
“Get out of my way Thing One and Thing Two, I’ve got important things to do before rehearsal tonight”. This was a total lie, but the boys didn't need to know it.
“No can do Joyless,” revealed Jerome. “The boss wants you to join our meeting after the whole ordeal in the seminar”.
“Yeah, tell Nina I’ll pass,” announced Joy, elbowing the boys away from her locker door and putting in her code. “I’ve got enough going on without adding a conspiracy theory meeting as well”.
“Come on Joy, you know these aren’t conspiracy theories. Shit is really going down right now and you are a part of it whether you like it or not. So just grab your things and we can go” pleaded Alfie.
Cocking her head to the side, Joy sent the boy a crooked smirk in response. “NO”
Cracking his knuckles, Jerome nodded to Alfie, “Alright, I guess we are doing this the hard way”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Joy beat her fists against Jerome’s back as he carried her across the lawn and down into Sibuna clearing. “Let me go!” she yelled but neither boy listened to her.
Once the reluctant trio reached the familiar tree stump lined clearing Jerome placed her down on the grass. Before Joy could get her bearings and escape, Alfie plopped himself down on her back.
“Get off me you big oaf” she ordered, though it was muffled by the grass her face was pressed into.
“Guys we have a no abduction policy. If we can’t follow that we aren’t any better than the society” sighed Nina disappointedly, from her spot atop the tallest stump.
“She wasn’t cooperating, what did you expect me to do?” asked Alfie.
“That’s fair,” shrugged Fabian, the bloody traitor. “Anyways now that we are all here, shall we begin?”
“Thank you Fabian”. Pulling out her notebook Nina began her recap. “It seems that the trouble started the other night. Fabian sent the recording of the strange chant Jerome, Alfie, Patricia and Joy were saying. Paired with the drawing today it is clear that someone is trying to send us a message somehow. We just need to figure out who and why”.
“Well what binds us all together?” wondered Alfie.
“We all started at the school as sixth years” suggested Jerome.
“But that’s when you are supposed to start, Nina, K.T. Lili and Eddie are outliers” pointed out Patricia.
“We’re all in Anubis House?” guessed Joy grumpily from where she was still pressed into the ground.
“True,” granted Nina. “But that was probably done to keep you four together somehow”.
“I can take a look in Sweet’s files tonight. If there is something supernatural going on it’s probably recorded in there” offered Fabian.
“Perfect! Take Patricia with you when you go this evening. Make sure to snap photos of everything in the files and send them to the group chat. I would go with you, but Lili, Mara and I have to help set up for tomorrow’s all-school All Hallows Eve party” explained Nina.
With their plan set, Joy was allowed up from the grass and the group scattered to attend their various after classes activities.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Fabian gratefully accepted the hairpin that Patricia offered him and set to work picking the lock on the Headmaster’s office door. It didn’t take long before the duo successfully snuck their way over to the filing cabinet. Strangely the container wasn’t even locked, allowing the pair to quickly sort through and pull out the files they were after.
“Hey Fabian, while we’re here, why don’t we pull the rest of the Anubis files as well? Saves us a trip if something comes up later” suggested Patricia.
Fabian agreed and they set to work quickly photographing each page of the Anubis Resident’s files. With their work completed, Fabian and Patricia carefully returned the student information to its respective places and snuck back to Anubis House with Mr. Sweet none the wiser. Really, this was getting far too easy.
A little flashing red light set atop the locker opposite Mr. Sweet’s door signaled a familiar phrase the Sibuna Club seems to have forgotten, ‘Pride Comes Before The Fall’.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: The Candy Foundation
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 21: The Candy Foundation
Summary:
Scholarships and Halloween
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Thursday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Welcome back everyone! Joy, we’re glad that you could make it”. Nina grinned viciously at the very ruffled girl who was currently tied up by one of Amber’s scarves and propped up in the room’s oversized bean bag chair. “I skimmed over the information in the first four documents and found one striking similarity. A scholarship”
“I mean yeah, we’re all here on scholarship but so are you Nina”.
“Exactly! The name of the scholarship all of us are under, including me and K.T., is called the Candy Scholarship”.
“So?” drawled Jerome disinterestedly.
“Okay, what do you all call candy?” asked Nina.
“We call them Sweets,” giggled Amber, only to freeze as she realized what Nina was hinting at.
“That’s right, as in Mr. Sweet, the benefactor of each of us”.
“Wait! Are you saying he brought us here deliberately? Why?” demanded Alfie.
“To answer that we need to look at your family trees. It turns out that each of us has a family history of Archeology. A history which is shared, as one of our great grandparents was a part of the Frobisher-Smythe excavation team” revealed Nina. She blew up the photo of the old photograph from one of the files and showed it to the gathered Sibunas.
“Right here is your great-grandmother Rosemary, Patricia. And to the right is Alfie’s great-grandfather Wilfred. Robert is in the middle. On the other side is Joy’s great-grandma Melinda and Jerome’s great-grandfather Louis”.
“This is insane,” whispered Patricia, staring at the photo of her great-grandmother. “My family never speaks of Nana Rosemary as she ran away to Egypt and disgraced us”.
“Same here, but my grandpappy made off with a bunch of money before dying in a duel,” commented Jerome.
“MMMMMH” yelled Joy through the scarf gag Amber had fashioned.
“What was that?” asked Lili, pulling down the gag so the brunette could speak.
“I said, granny Melinda came back from that trip… different. Everyone said that she was crazy,since she was always raving about magic and curses. But given what we have seen, I’m inclined to believe her”.
“Grandpa Wilfred never made it home from Egypt. It’s crazy to think that we’ve all been gathered here like this. I guess the Society thought they hit the jackpot when they nabbed you Joy. The chosen one and a descendent of Robert’s Archeological Party”.
“Ugh, don’t get me started on that” whined Joy, slumping as best she could in her scarf wrap.
“Given that it was you four who experienced the ghost hands and the chanting; it’s a safe bet that these are the spirits that were communicating through you” pondered Lili.
“Exactly!” cheered Nina. “Now we just need to figure out what exactly it is they are saying. We have the chant to translate and the drawings to decode. Let’s get to work!”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
All Hallows Eve was one of Joy’s favorite holidays. She loved being able to dress up and pretend for that night to be anyone but herself. Especially given her recent worries, Joy was more than ready to throw on a costume, dance till her feet hurt and drink till the sun came up. This plan was not recommended given that the students still had classes first thing Wednesday morning, Joy thought this to be a special torture designed by the professors to get back at the students. The impending ‘torture’ aside, Joy happily donned the last of her eye liner and admired herself in the full length mirror. Damn she looked good!
After the success of last year’s All Hallows Eve Ball / Exhibition Opening Party, Mr. Sweet had allowed an all school costume party. Quadruple-checking that her wig was secure, Joy stepped out onto the landing to go join her friends.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Anubis residents had all agreed to gather in the sitting room to take pictures before walking over to the party. Joy was one of the last people done so she got to take in all of the different fun costumes. Mara was rocking her solar system dress and star themed makeup, she wore a silver sash bearing the words “Miss Universe” to tie the outfit together. Lili and Jerome were taking silly pictures in their Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf outfits. Nina and Fabian were dramatically posing on the couch as Vera snapped a photo of their Gomez and Morticia Adams costumes.
“Announcing the one and only Alice in Wonderland!” declared Alfie strutting into the room in a black suit with shades and an earpiece. Behind him followed Amber in a gorgeous blue silk dress, adorable white apron with a pretty bow. The couple made their way over to Mick who was dressed as Prince Thor. Patricia and Eddie, who were dressed as a witch and Captain America, then entered the sitting room and squealed over Joy’s outfit. Joy happily showed off her look, exclaiming how happy she was to have so many pockets.
The clearing of a throat and chuckle of “Well it looks like we match” had Joy turning around to see K.T. and then made her mind short circuit. Her friend was absolutely gorgeous. K.T. was rocking a green and black bodysuit with fabulous makeup.
“Haha,” laughed Joy, once her brain came back online. “You’re right! Kim Possible and Shego, what a perfect pair we make”.
“We absolutely have to get some awesome action shots together tonight” declared K.T.
Luckily Vera saved Joy from having to come up with a suitable response by ordering everyone to gather together for a group photo. After five minutes of fake smiles and scuffles Vera came away with an acceptable photo.
Patricia slipped her hand into Joy’s, “You ready to Party J-bird?”
“You bet!” cheered Joy as she twirled the sassy witch twice, before following her friends out the door.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The All Hallows Eve party was a roaring success. The set up team had done a fabulous job transforming the Physical Education Barn into a fun party space. The design team had chosen to have both large barn doors open allowing the party to spread out to the surrounding areas. Tessa Jones, one of the three student representatives, had been in charge of planning and had made sure to clear off the second landing which encircled the perimeter allowing the space to keep an open air feel. The food and drinks would be located on the balcony, leaving the ground floor for dancing and a couple tables for socializing.
Joy enjoyed her time dancing with her classmates and celebrating one of her favorite holidays of the year. She found that she spent most of her time dancing with K.T. in particular. Ever since Joy had gotten over the fact that the girl was related to Nina, she could see that she was whip smart and had a delightfully wicked sense of humor. Joy had never thought that she would have not one, but two close American friends. Yet, here she was with two of the four people on this earth who she would die for being goofy Americans.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Ugh! I can’t find a translation for this phrase anywhere. I’ve run it through several different sites with no luck. I even busted out RFS’ old Armenian and Arabic dictionaries. It’s like those words don’t exist”.
“Great. So we’re left with a string of nonsensical mumbo-jumbo from the great beyond” snarked Alfie
“Well that puts us right back at square one” sighed Amber disappointedly.
“Wollof…. Wollof! It’s follow backwards” exclaimed Patricia, shooting up excitedly from where she had been despondently sulking on Amber’s bed. “It’s like backmasking, a classic rock and roll trick. Sick Puppies uses it all the time. If you play the song one way, it’s normal. But if you play it backwards it has a secret meaning or message!”
“It’s worth a shot” agreed Nina, who quickly set to work rewriting the words.
“Follow the symbols…” read Jerome as he looked over the American girl’s shoulder. “Trix, you are a genius!
“The symbols…” mused Nina.
“Your ancestors must mean the drawings” suggested Lili.
“One mystery down, a million more to go” chuckled Jerome, leaning back against the wall.
“I think this is as good a place to stop for tonight as any” decided Nina. “We can look into the pictures tomorrow. Get some rest everyone”.
Notes:
Halloween Costumes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Spirals!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 22: Round and Round
Summary:
Design Troubles
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Thursday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“They just look like spirals to me” grumped Fabian.
“I think you’ve been looking at this screen for far too long,” chuckled Nina.
“You may be right,” admitted the boy. “How do you fancy a walk before supper? We still have a bit of light it would be nice to stretch our legs around the lake”
“Yes,” giggled Nina. “I would ‘fancy’ that very much indeed”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It took another couple days of frustration and shifting pieces before Fabian cracked the code.
“I’ve solved it!!” shouted Fabian excitedly turning the laptop around to show his gathered friends.
“Huh, what a funky design,” giggled Amber. “What does it mean?”
“It looks like the design on the tiles in the upstairs girl’s bathroom” commented Patricia.
“The key to finding the missing Frobisher Vault is in the bathroom?” asked Lili, curling her lip in disgust.
“Great, who said Sibuna wasn’t glamorous” sighed Jerome.
“Hey, guys. It’s the only lead we have” scolded Nina. “We will have to go and check it out after classes today”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Fabian, Amber and Nina were nominated to check out the bathroom tiles and see if that was the answer to the clue. Unfortunately what they found lining the sink did not align with the message from their ancestors. While the color matched the spirit-drawn spirals, the pattern was different.
“Well… I guess it could be the same…” tried Fabian.
“Yeah, if we squint in the dark with a blindfold,” scoffed Amber. “Clearly Trix was just confused. I’ll let everyone know that they should still be on the lookout for this pattern”.
“I’m going to keep looking through Sarah’s journals, maybe the symbol will pop up there. I’ll see you at supper” stated Nina, rising up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Fabian’s cheek before dashing back to her room where Sarah’s journals were carefully preserved.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
As punishment for being caught upstairs after hours Monday night, Fabian had to help Vera make dinner Tuesday evening. Luckily Patricia, Eddie and K.T. were also roped into helping due to their own shenanigans.
“Patricia, the bathroom tiles look nothing like our design” muttered Fabian quietly as the pair chopped carrots for that night's supper.
“Oh whatever, I took a shot. At least we can now rule out the bathroom” brushed off Patricia.
“Sure…” drawled Fabian as he took the chopped carrots over to the range and prepared to dump them into the boiling pot. Unfortunately, the carrots slid into the bubbling water far too quickly causing sizzling droplets to shoot up and hit the wall and Fabian. “Ouch!”
“You ok, Fabian?” called Eddie from across the kitchen where he and Joy were portioning dough for that night’s meal.
“Yeah I’m fine” replied Fabian absently, his focus locked on the spot where the boiling water had removed a bit of grime revealing a familiar blue and white pattern.
“Patricia come here” hissed Fabian, motioning the girl over to the range.
“What is it?” wondered the girl as Fabian frantically scrubbed at the wall with a wet rag.
“I found it! This is the tile we are looking for” cheered Fabian. The pair tried to wedge it off but had no luck.
It was Patricia who spotted the mark first. “Look it’s two of the symbols from the crypt. We need something with an ankh or Nina’s locket”.
“We’ll have to come back with Nina after supper,” decided Fabian.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Rufus went to speak to the foreman today. He fears that Hernando is attempting to cut us out of the treasure that is our due. I warned him to be careful, Hernando is known to associate with several unsavory characters. In other news I get the feeling that we are finally closing in on the location of the tomb. Soon we will uncover the treasures of Hatshepsut!” read Nina.
“What are you doing, Chosen One?” asked Amneris, appearing next to Nina on her bed.
Nina startled at the sudden appearance of her ghostly ancestor leading to her accidentally dropping Sarah’s Journal. “Amneris!” scolded Nina.
“Apologies, Chosen One. I simply came to check on you and see your progress”
“We have tracked down most of the elixir ingredients. The snake we ordered is set to arrive next week. Once Julius Squaesar arrives we will combine its venom with the eagle eyes and crushed wintergreen. The concoction must then sit until the full moon when we can then prepare the rest of the elixir''.
“I am most pleased by your progress, descendent. You have proven to be quite resourceful, you are bearing the role of high priestess quite well”.
Nina blushed at the praise. It was nice to have someone acknowledge her growing knowledge and magical skill.
The sound of her housemates thundering down the hall signaled that it was dinner time. Sighing regretfully, Nina bid goodbye to Amneris and stored Sarah’s journal back in her trunk before heading down to dinner.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina carefully placed her locket on the indentation under the decorated tile. The familiar warm glow that always accompanied her magic lit up the space. A slight hum filled the air as the tile fell away revealing a spider web coated hole.
“Way to go Nina!” cheered Amber.
“It looks like there is something in it,” commented Patricia.
Fabian rolled up his shirt sleeves and plunged his hand into the opening. After a moment or two of tugging the boy managed to free whatever it was their ancestors wanted them to find from its hiding place. The mystery object turned out to be a long golden cylinder covered in spiderwebs and dirt.
“What on earth is that supposed to be?” asked Lili.
“It looks like some sort of capsule” hummed Nina, carefully taking the cylinder from her boyfriend and attempting to clean off the cobwebs.
“Those symbols make me think of the combination lock downstairs” remarked Fabian. “I’ll look into translating the symbols hopefully that will give us a clue as to where to go next”.
Their plan now set, the group disbanded with each student heading off their evening activities.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Julius Squeaser:
Next Update: 🏠 of 🌈
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 23: Rainbow Royalty
Summary:
House of Rainbows
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Saturday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. I am sorry for the delay and going silent for a while... things have been hard lately to say the least, but I finally managed to finish this chapter. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Fabian glared petulantly at his laptop screen. Once again his research skills were failing him. It was as if these hieroglyphics didn’t exist. How on earth was he to put them in the correct order and open the combination lock for Nina if he didn’t even know what they meant?
“Hey buddy” greeted Alfie, flopping down beside Fabian on the drama room couch. “Whatcha working on?”
“Just trying to put these blasted symbols in order. Nina theorizes that once we have each piece in its correct alignment the capsule will open” explained Fabain.
“Huh… Well, isn’t it a bit early to try and order the symbols if you don’t know what they mean?” wondered the boy. “I mean if the symbols are ‘apple, dog, fetch and lizard’ there is a huge difference in meaning depending on the order. Like ‘Have the dog fetch the apple for the lizard’ is different from ‘the apple fetches the lizard dog”.
“True, but I’m hoping that by taking this approach I can reverse engineer the meanings of the symbols. Since there are seven symbols I suspect that they represent something in a group of seven”.
“Oh, like the days of the week, wonders of the world or colors of the rainbow or Willow’s cats”
“Exactly” agreed Fabian, before freezing as a distant memory unlocked. “Colors of the rainbow!” Fabian shouted, excitedly gathering up his materials. There was no time to waste, he had to get to the library as soon as possible!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Alfie was sitting with Lili and Jerome in the drama room eating lunch when Fabian and Nina came flying into the room like they were being chased.
“Alfie! Listen to this” exclaimed Fabian
“Alright shoot, mate” agreed Alfie, exchanging befuddled looks with Lili and Jerome over Fabian’s manic behavior.
“I remembered reading this somewhere and I just found an article that backs up my claim. It says here that Frobisher was a synesthete” waving the printed Paper in Alfie’s general direction.
“What’s an astena… ast… aya… a whatever?” asked Amber, taking the open seat by Lili as she joined the group.
“A synesthete is someone who mixes up their senses” explained Fabian. “So they can see sounds or taste words. This article states that Frobisher occasionally saw letters as symbols and colors”.
“Yeah, but how do you know which of our mystery symbols are each color?” wondered Alfie.
“Well, synesthesia is hereditary” revealed Fabian to the group with a smug grin.
“So?” drawled Jerome
“So, we have Frobisher’s lovely descendent right here” chuckled Fabian, gesturing proudly towards his girlfriend.
“Awww, thanks Fabian. And yeah, there’s a few mentions of Sarah also experiencing mild synesthesia recorded in her journals. We figure that since I’m Frobisher’s granddaughter I should also have the gift” added Nina.
“Well, it’s certainly worth a shot,” shrugged Jerome.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Do you see anything?” asked Fabian. “Any colors at all?”
Unfortunately as hard as Nina stared at the hieroglyphics on the screen she couldn’t make colors appear.
“I’m sorry Fabian, but no. Maybe I’m not the one with the gift, maybe it’s K.T.? Or maybe it just skipped our generation, not everything is hereditary” theorized Nina.
“No, I’m sure that the gift is just buried in you at the moment. Possibly if we heightened your senses it would emerge”.
“What do you mean?”
“Well your senses become heightened when the other ones are blocked off. So if we blocked your ears, blocked your nose, blocking your nose would also block your taste”.
“What about feeling?” wondered Nina.
“Float in a bath?” suggested Fabian.
Nina went to argue, but was interrupted by Mara’s excited shriek.
“She died! The old lady died!!!” celebrated Mara, dancing excitedly in place.
Joy pointedly cleared her throat, pulling Mara’s attention to the bewildered expressions of the room’s occupants.
“Oh, she died, poor woman” mourned Mara briefly.
“Who died dear?” asked Vera, through the kitchen window where she and Jerome were polishing silver.
“The last person sitting between me and the entire estate of a Lord” squealed Mara excitedly. “I’m going to be rich!!”
“So you’re a… a… a…” stuttered Jerome in shock.
“Oh Jerome, spit it out,” teased Joy. “You’re standing in front of a lady”.
“So that would mean you have a castle somewhere?” guessed the boy desperately, exiting the kitchen to join the girls at the dining room table. “A stately home, Disposable Income!”
“At least” chuckled Mara in shock. She couldn’t believe her good luck.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Fabian paced the bathroom floor worriedly as he waited for Nina to make a breakthrough.
“Anything” asked desperately
“How can I block my hearing if you keep talking?” demanded Nina, cracking open one eye crankily.
“I- sorry” apologized Fabian, taking a seat on the bath mat to wait.
“I’ll be done soon enough” she assured him, closing her eyes and laying back down into the bath again.
It took about another 5 minutes, but to Fabian it felt like an eternity. Eventually though Nina shot up excitedly exclaiming “I did it! I think I saw the colors”
Fabian offered her a hand out of the tub and the pair quickly hurried down the stairs to Fabian’s room, grabbing Patricia, Lili and Jerome as they went.
“All you need to do is match the symbols in order of the rainbow” directed Fabian as he passed the gold cylinder to his girlfriend.
“Great! What’s the order?” asked Nina.
“You don’t know the order?” scoffed Lili, but she was drowned out by Jerome and Patricia’s garbled suggestions.
Nina fixed Lili with an unimpressed look “You clearly overestimate the American Public School System, of course I don’t know the order of the rainbow”.
“No, no, no” cut off Fabian. “Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet”
Nina carefully twisted each section to display the correct hieroglyphs. Once the last piece was locked into place the cylinder began to glow brilliantly illuminating each piece in the colored glow of the hieroglyph. Nina ripped off the top of the cylinder with a satisfied grin.
“Yes!” cheered Fabian excitedly. “What did I tell you?”
Nina passed the tube over to Lili for assistance in removing whatever was stuck inside. The blonde used her manicured nails to pry a document out of its hiding place. The group gathered around the bed as she spread out the paper.
“It looks like a map of the house” commented Jerome, studying the map intently.
“Guys look! There’s something else!” announced Patricia, holding up a second sheet of paper the group had initially missed.
Unraveling it, Nina read “When darkness comes and you need the light, do not give into your fright. The secret room is what you will seek, the time has come for you to dig deep”.
“Huh, okay. A lot more straightforward than usual” commented Jerome.
“Probably because it’s a message from your ancestors rather than mad Robert” hypothesized Liliana.
“I think I found it!” remarked Fabian to the group of five, pointing to the tiny "x" drawn on the map.
“Dig deep… are they talking about the cellar?” wondered Nina, squinting at the blueprint.
“Probably, but what’s in the ‘secret room’? Is it the vault?” asked Patricia
“I doubt it,” disagreed Lili. “If I’ve learned anything about the Frobisher-Smythes it's that they were paranoid! If they truly have a vault of valuable artifacts then it likely isn’t hidden in an easily accessible location. You remember how insane the tunnels were? It’s likely whatever this secret room is it’s just the next in a long line of steps to finding the vault”.
The creak of the door had Fabian throwing his body on top of the bed and map. The other four scrambled to take up similar “casual” poses around the room.
“Hey Sibunas!” chirped Alfie happily entering the room with Amber. “What did we miss?”
“Alfie!!! We have a rule about knocking” hissed Nina.
“Sorry! Sorry!” apologized the boy.
“How was your date?” asked Jerome.
“It was awesome!” replied Amber. “What have you guys gotten up to?”
“Nina was able to crack open the cylinder” announced Patricia proudly. “We found a riddle and a map inside”.
“Of course it’s another riddle” sighed Amber with a dramatic eye roll.
“The map at least marks the secret room we are looking for with an ‘x’. We think that whatever is in the secret room will lead us to the next clue for the Frobisher Vault” continued the punk girl.
“Wow, how long were we gone?” chuckled Alfie. “Go team!”
The Sibuna Club decided to call it quits for the time being as they wouldn’t be able to access the cellar until later that night or early tomorrow morning.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Nothing Good Happens at 3 A.M.
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 24: Nothing Good Happens at 3 A.M.
Summary:
The Sibunas search for the vault, Mara uses her new status to go after something she has wanted for a while, and Denby is clearly up to something.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Three A.M. was a time that no one in their right mind should ever see, so of course the Sibuna Club was very familiar with it. Creeping down the stairs to the kitchen, Amber met up with her friends by the bread oven.
“Why are you late?” snapped Nina. “I left you in the room five minutes ago”
“Sorry! I couldn’t find my lucky sandals” apologized Amber.
“Neens, now that everyone is here, we had better just go on down and get started” suggested Fabian, laying a calming hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder.
The group of seven crawled through the familiar secret tunnel down into the cellar. Shouldering open the wooden cabinet that blocked off the passage Alfie led the group into the main room. Jerome quickly passed out the flashlights to the team members.
“The map suggests that the hidden room is over near the furnace” remembered Patricia.
“And the clue says we need to dig deep” added Amber, following the redheaded girl over to the heater.
Lili and Alfie broke out the tape measure Lili had packed and began to measure the space to compare with the blueprint.
“I figure we can use Victor’s furnace shovel to reach the room” suggested Jerome, shining his flashlight beam around the furnace. “Though it might be a good idea to grab extra shovels or trowels from Vera’s greenhouse”.
“We can go get some,” volunteered Amber and Fabian.
“No, no, no guys. Don’t bother” directed Nina, in a defeated tone. “The shovels won’t do us any good” crouching down Nina rapped her knuckles against the flooring. “This is solid concrete, there’s no way we’re getting through without a jackhammer”.
“Another dead end. So far, so Sibuna” snarked Patricia.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Summoning up all her courage, Mara prepared to finally shoot her shot. Despite everything that had happened last school year, Mara was sure that her and Jerome were meant to be together. Lili was nice, and Mara certainly didn’t hate the girl, but she wasn’t the right person for Jerome… that was Mara!
Her latest turn into good fortune was just what she needed in order to capture Jerome’s attention. Afterall just the idea of money could get the boy’s head spinning, last night being the perfect example. Her new title paired with their natural chemistry led her to calculate the odds of him dumping Liliana to be with her were 89%. She would be a fool not to take it!
Double checking that her hair was pinned perfectly in place, she took a deep breath and approached Jerome at his locker. “Hi Jerome!”
“Well, hello Lady Mara. What can I do for you today?”
“Well, I was thinking… given my newest status as a Lady. Maybe we should get dinner and hang out this Friday”
“Hmm? Yeah, that could be fun” agreed Jerome. “I guess that your new title gives you some fun new funds”
“You could say that,” flirted Mara. To be honest she didn’t quite know what would be included in her inheritance. “So how about it? You and me? Friday at seven? I’m thinking Magiannos, I’ve been craving some quality Italian”.
“Seven on the weekend? Isn’t that a little late for a friend’s outing? Like don’t get me wrong, I’d love to hang out but I don’t want to get things twisted again. We’re finally in a good place after last year and I don’t want to risk it”
“Risk what?” pressed Mara, daring him to say it. To tell her that he didn’t want to be with her. Every time previously that he had turned her down it was based around Liliana and she was sick of that excuse. He was going to have to answer her once and for all whether or not he also wanted them to be together.
“Come on, Mara. Let’s not do this now” sighed Jerome closing his locker door and beginning his walk back to Anubis.
“No! You have been putting me off for over a year Jerome. I want to be with you and you clearly want to be with me. Why won’t you admit it?”
The pair’s argument was interrupted by Miss Denby before Jerome could respond to Mara’s ultimatum.
“There you two are! Come along now, this will only take a moment” called the teacher, ushering the confused students into her normal classroom where the other Anubis Residents were waiting.
“What’s going on here Miss?” asked Joy, settling into the open seat between Eddie and K.T.
Miss Denby just smiled and clasped her hands. “Wonderful! Now that we are all gathered” exclaimed the woman surveying the room of Anubis House residents. “I will answer Miss Mercer’s question. Mr Sweet has decreed that all students take a personality test”
Amber’s hand shot into the air as she proudly proclaimed “But Miss I already
know what I am! I’m an ENTJ, aka the Commander, a choleric, and a type 4 or 2!”
“This is a different type of test, Miss Millington. This one will be looking at your intelligence” that remark had Mara and Fabian puffing up excitedly like peacocks.
“Emotional intelligence that is” continued Miss Denby, as she passed out the quiz papers. “Please take a few moments to answer these questions, it won’t take long. Please try your best, but know that there are no right or wrong answers”.
“My kind of test” chuckled Alfie.
“If your boyfriend or girlfriend left you without reason, how would you react?” asked Fabian incredulously. “A with sadness, B with insecurity, C with bitterness or D, with anger”.
“Yes,” drawled the teacher. “Say your girlfriend went away and never came back and you didn’t really understand why… how would you feel?”.
“What on earth does that have to do with our grades?” wondered Lili.
“It’s about emotional intelligence, Liliana, not simply Academia. Research suggests that emotional intelligence can be learned, strengthened”.
“Well I hardly think that this question has anything to-”
“Ok that’s it for talking. You have five minutes to complete the test or you can see yourself to Mr. Sweet’s office” directed the teacher, taking her seat behind the desk with a pleased smirk.
Liliana eyed the paper with suspicion as the rest of the questions seemed similarly sneaky.
What word would people close to you use to describe you? How do you deal with failure? What do you do with your free time when you have no plans? What is your greatest personal obstacle? Do you offer sympathy to your friends when they're experiencing life challenges? What would be your dream job? You win the lottery, what do you do with the money? Do you have many friends or just a few? When you're assigned a long-term project, do you start right away or wait? What type of routine do you follow daily? What type of social event is your favorite to attend? Do you believe others generally have good intentions? Are you a night owl or early bird? What is your favorite color? How would you describe your relationship with your family? Pick one of the following: Unicorn, Fox, Lizard, or whale.
Of course each question could just be innocent, but the knowledge that Denby was wrapped up in a childnapping murder cult made everything she did suspicious.
At the end of the agreed upon five minutes, Miss Denby rose from her seat declaring, “Alright that’s it for tonight. You can all go for now”.
Passing forward her paper, Lili locked eyes with Amber and silently communicated that they would need to meet up and talk about this worrying test. Lili could excuse plenty of Frobisher weirdness, but school mandated personality tests… that was just too strange.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Denby goes shopping for *supplies*
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 25: The Walls Have Ears
Summary:
Denby goes shopping for *supplies*
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Monday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Did you guys ever have to take personality tests in America?” asked Joy as the trio walked to the music room for Second Hand Heroes practice.
“Sure, but it was just the usual ones, Myers Briggs and the like,” agreed K.T.
“Certainly not one with such strange questions” added Eddie. “I wonder why my dad would sign off on a test like that”.
“Gods, can you imagine if people actually knew even the most basic shit that went on around here. Like this isn’t even murder cult level, yet it’s still strange. How on earth your dad has been able to keep this place running for so long is a mystery” sighed Joy.
“Oh that’s explained easily enough, money” laughed K.T.
“Huh?”
“When Nina and I were researching our family history this summer, we found plenty of mentions of ‘charitable donations’ made to the local government and business”
“Given the Carnival in September it’s fair to assume that dad is employing the same techniques today” finished Eddie.
“Huh, be that as it may, imagine the absolute chaos that would occur if the general public were to find out the truth”
“Madness, absolute madness” agreed Eddie, holding the door open for the two girls. With rehearsal beginning, the conversation was shelved, but far from forgotten in the minds of the trio.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Caroline, have you considered which sacrifice we are to offer the goddess this moon cycle?” asked Graham.
Caroline Denbey eyed the various bottles of pickled herbs and frog legs that were on display. “Yes, the results of the year twelve personality tests revealed the weaknesses of the students. Victor and Vera cautioned that I avoid an Anubis house resident for now. Apparently they wish to save them for the final sacrifice. That said, I feel we should pull someone from Isis house. The Jenks girl seems gullible enough to be tricked into the ceremony willingly without causing a scene. The bonus there is that she is not close with her classmates and will not be missed by the general population. Her disappearance will be easy to explain away”.
“Brilliant work as always” praised the architect, selecting several bottles of dried spider legs and powdered mushrooms. “I will wait in the bike shed Monday evening. If you lead her there I will subdue her and prepare the body for the ritual”.
“With a solid plan like that we can’t lose,” cackled Caroline. “Let’s pay for these and get back before we are missed, only five more moons and we will never have to worry about work again”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“I don’t get it! Who puts their vault of stolen artifacts under two feet of solid concrete? I mean how are they supposed to go down and bask surrounded in the golden glow of their stolen glory?” expressed Nina angrily to Fabian as the Sibuna club made their way to their next classes.
“I imagine the concrete came later, probably after Robert and Louisa’s deaths. We already know that they kept the cup and mask secret from Sarah so I’m sure they kept their treasure trove secret as well. I imagine that Robert designed some sort of invisible counterweight door in the original stone floor, which is now lost to us due to the concrete” argued Fabian.
“Well if I know anything about Robert and Louisa it’s that they always had a sneaky backup route” cut in Amber.
“Yeah, we just need to find an alternate entrance. Just like the library was the alternate entrance for the tunnels” agreed Alfie.
“Now that we know our next clue is under the house we can scope out the tunnels for any other off chutes” suggested Lili.
“and look at the walls” included Jerome.
“In short, just because we hit a temporary roadblock doesn’t mean we are giving up” comforted Patricia.
“Thanks guys” grinned Nina. “We’ve got to get going though, see you all after class!”. The Sibuna Seven scrambled to their next classes unaware of the three different parties that had overheard their conversation.
“And the plot thickens as they say” muttered Eddie.
“You’ve been hanging out with Jerome too much,” teased K.T. “But, yeah. Just wait till Joy hears about this!”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Carefully putting Vera’s homemade avocado lime dressing on her salad, Joy grinned happily at her lunch. That morning had been crazy but at last she was able to relax for an hour with her favorite salad before she had to go to Latin. Opening her copy of Carmilla to her current page Joy settled in for a peaceful lunch break enjoying the little things of life. Her precious peace was shattered as her best friends tore into the room at breakneck speed.
“Joy! You will never believe what we just over heard” panted Eddie, flopping down onto the open chair beside Joy.
“What’s got you two all excited?” asked Joy with a crooked grin, taking a bite of her delicious lunch.
“We just heard the Sibuna crew talking about a secret vault under concrete!”
“A vault?”
“Yeah, probably full of treasure. All of us at Anubis, except Mick and Mara, know that the Frobishers stole all that shit…” agreed K.T. before freezing with a curious expression on her face.
“What’s that face for?” wondered Eddie
“Well, you remember how we were talking about the inevitable explosion that would occur if word got out about how messed up this place is?”
“Yeah” agreed Joy, not seeing where her friend was taking this.
“Well, the main problem we kept running up against was a lack of proof. But just think! If we uncover this vault the others are looking for we might be able to get someone to actually listen to us for once”.
“You know what, I think you’re actually onto something there” remarked Eddie.
“ ‘Actually onto something?’ Thanks Edison. Try saying that without the shock” teased K.T.
“Well I think it’s a brilliant plan” decided Joy. “All we have to do is find this vault before the others get to it!”
“Let’s go find some treasure!” cheered K.T.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Right this way Miss Jenks. Right around the corner here” coaxed Caroline as she led the redheaded 12th year around the wooded bend towards the old bike shed.
“Awesome!” chirped the student happily. “Thank you so much for choosing me to help with preparing the field trip”
“Of course Miss Jenks. Your answers on the personality survey showed that you were the ideal candidate to assist with organizing the 12th year class trip. Your love of nature and adventurous spirit will ensure an amazing adventure for the students!”.
“Aww, thank you Miss! I have so many ideas about what we can do after the bike ride. Maybe we could organize a foot race or a swimming portion!”
“See that can do attitude is just why I hired you” chuckled Caroline with a crooked grin. “Let’s start with counting how many bikes we have on hand before moving on to other projects though”.
“Sounds good” agreed Willow, eagerly pushing open the door to the school’s bike shed, only to startle and begin to frantically struggle when a cloth was forced over her nose and mouth. The student flailed about for a few seconds before collapsing limply backwards into the waiting arms of her teacher.
“That chloroform worked like a charm, Graham. Great work!” praised Caroline, smirking down at the unconscious body in her arms.
“Thanks Caroline, I borrowed some from Thomas, apparently he’s been nicking stuff from intake and evidence for years”.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Victor’s little club had its problems, but every once and while it really came through, Thomas and Delia being the perfect example”.
“Too True” agreed the architect, placing Willow’s unconscious body in the trunk they had stashed in the bike shed earlier. Clicking the padlock into place he ensured that the student would not be able to escape before the ceremony that evening. “Now that we’ve secured the sacrifice, let's head back to base to ensure everything else is set for tonight’s ceremony”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“So Mr. Rutter, I’m looking at your file here and I am disappointed to see that you have yet to send in any University Applications” remarked Miss Wilson, arching her brow as she took in the fidgeting student on the other side of the desk.
“Sorry, Miss… things have just been super busy for me recently” apologized Fabian half-heartedly.
“We are now starting November and several of your yearmates have already received acceptances from their dream schools. You are clearly a very bright boy and despite a drop in your grades last year, your GCSE and A-Level scores should be enough to secure you a place at a well regarded university” comforted the University Counselor and School Therapist.
Fabian just shrugged non-commitally, he had far more urgent things to worry about than some dumb university application. He had to find a vault of stolen gold, stop a murder cult led by the adults who were supposed to protect him and build a body for a long dead ancient Egyptian priestess. On top of all of that he also had a girlfriend and his debilitating mental health, did this woman seriously expect him to think about where he would be next year when he didn’t even know if he would be alive next week?
“Look Fabian, I have a couple schools that I suggest to all students with your grades and would suggest you spend the upcoming long weekend filling out and submitting applications to them. They all offer rolling admission so you will hear back within as little as two weeks. You won’t believe how much better you will feel once you are accepted somewhere and have secured a spot for the fall. I will email the applications to your school account. Don’t forget to attach the teacher recommendation letters from Miss Valentine and Mr. James” recommended the counselor.
Fabian reluctantly agreed and collected his things to head to his next lesson. Opening the door to the hall, he traded commiserating looks with Jude as he passed the Osiris boy heading into the office for his own appointment. Fabian couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have his biggest worry in life be where he would attend school in the fall.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 26: Words Hurt & Actions Have Consequences
Summary:
Lady Mara... enough said 😂
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Friday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺! This is the first of three updates today 💖.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Joy groaned exasperatedly as Mara’s phone buzzed for the hundredth time that morning. Patricia and Mara had already gone down to breakfast, and apparently the girl had left her cell behind. Snatching up the phone, Joy noted that the many missed calls seemed to be from Mara’s new inheritance lawyer. Guessing that it was probably important and that the “good person” choice would be to bring her friend the phone, Joy finished her makeup and jogged down the stairs to inform her roommate.
“Mara, your phone was ringing… again!” complained Joy as she tossed the device at her roommate.
“Lady Mara” corrected the girl, catching the phone with a silly grin.
“Lady Mara,” granted Joy with a dramatic eye roll as she dropped into her seat beside K.T.
“It’s my lawyer!” squealed the girl happily. “It truly is amazing what happens when you are set to inherit a fortune”.
“Aren’t you already rich?” asked Fabian, confused because everyone knew of Mara’s connections to nobility.
“Yes… but a little more money never hurts,” chuckled the girl, flipping her hair confidently. “Apparently my lawyer is going to stop by later today to discuss Lord Fox’s estate”.
“You know, I have some experience with lawyers…” began Jerome hesitantly. “I’m willing to help you if wanted”
Joy knew that something had to have gone disastrously wrong as Mara’s face shifted. K.T. winced knowingly and whispered “Oh no… this is going to be bad!”.
“I’m related to a Lord. You’re the son of a thief” snapped Mara. “No offense but you are the absolute last person on earth that I would go to for help with this”.
“Mara!” gasped Joy, shocked that her friend could say something so mean.
“You take that back!” yelled Lili, jumping to her feet to defend her boyfriend.
“That was seriously out of line, Jaffray” added Alfie.
“No, it’s okay… she’s right” muttered Jerome, tearing up. “I’m just going to grab my things. See you at school”. Pushing away his cereal bowl, the blonde boy beat a hasty exit from the dining room.
Seeing Joy’s bewildered face, K.T. leaned over to whisper an explanation. “I heard from Eddie who heard from Patiricia, that Mara apparently put her heart on the line with Jerome and gave him an ultimatum to stop jerking her around and let them just date already”.
“That makes no sense! He hasn’t been doing that! Right?” protested Joy. She was pretty sure that the meerkat, for all of his faults, had been faithful in his relationship with Lili.
“Yeah. Eddie said that they had a bit of a flirtation before Lili came, but it was shut down on Jerome’s side as soon as Lili walked through the door”.
“So why is Mara so mad?”
“Apparently she thought her feelings were reciprocated and she wanted Jerome to break up with Lili. Patricia says that Mara completely lost it when Jerome told her he wasn’t going to do that last night… but on the bright side I think she’s over him”.
“Over him or not, that was way out of line” decided Joy, grabbing a banana she snuck out of the room after her friend.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
When she reached Jerome and Alfie’s room, Joy’s heart broke to see the normally tall and confident boy’s shoulders shaking with silent tears. Taking a deep breath Joy raised her hand and rapped on the door to signal her presence to the boy inside.
“You ok?” she asked quietly, before kicking herself… that was such a stupid question. He was obviously not ok!
“Of course” denied the boy, wiping away his tears. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Mara”
“Is just saying what everybody’s thinking… and you all wonder why I kept it a secret in the first place”.
“I don’t think that!” argued Joy.
Jerome turned around shocked, shooting Joy a surprised look. Knowing that the taller boy was feeling very vulnerable at the moment and prone to running away when it came to his emotions, Joy kept her expression as even as possible.
“A Lady?” scoffed Jerome, still in disbelief at his friend’s change in luck.
“I know!” agreed Joy. “You’re not the poshest person in school anymore… although if it is any consolation, you do still have the poshest hair”.
Jerome just rolled his eyes good naturedly at Joy’s ribbing, and grabbed his school bag.
“Look, I know that you are just waiting to get back at her… to embarrass her like she did you”
“What makes you think that?” scoffed the boy.
“You’re Jerome, it’s what you do” shared Joy. “Take my advice though… when it comes to it, and you get the chance to get your own back. If you can bear it, don’t do it. Just be the bigger person and walk away”.
Her advice though, was not well received, as Jerome just scoffed and rolled his eyes at her.
“Look, take it from the girl that always makes things worse… It will make you feel better” comforted Joy. Shooting Jerome one last grin, Joy left the room sending a silent prayer up to the deities that the boy would heed her advice.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina glared angrily at the blueprint of the cellar spread out before her on the table. She could not bring herself to accept a dead end. There had to be another way into the secret room Robert hid in order to get the clue!
Amneris had come to Nina last night and talked to her about how important it was that they hurry up and find this vault. Nina’s ancestor needed her body as soon as possible in order to pass over to the Field of Golden Rushes. Rubbing at the tattoo etched into her wrist Nina scowled at the unchanging image before her. She was the bloody chosen one!! She should be able to find this place!
“Maybe we got it wrong,” suggested Lili.
“No, we haven’t got it wrong” insisted Nina. She wasn’t allowed to have gotten it wrong… she was the *Chosen One*.
“What if we flip it around” suggested Lili.
“It’s not a road map, Liliana!” scolded Fabian.
“Sorry! Just trying to be helpful” protested Lili, throwing her hands up in the universal symbol of surrender.
Thinking that the girl could be onto something, Nina twisted the map around to try and look at it from a new angle.
“Maybe ‘X’ doesn’t mark the spot” suggested Jerome, from his spot lying on the couch with his head in Lili’s lap.
“When has ‘X’ ever not marked the spot” snapped Fabian.
“I just don’t get it!” exploded Nina. “Why would our ancestors leave us this map if it doesn’t actually help us!”
“Neens, the blueprint is fine. We just need to figure out a way to get through the floor”
Rolling her eyes, Nina snatched up the riddle that had come with the map. Flipping it over and over in her hands she glanced at the map square by square looking for something she had never seen before.
“What I don’t get is why this map doesn’t have a key. It’s like our ancestors didn’t even take cartography” scoffed Lili.
Nina furrowed her brow as she took in Lili’s point. While most of the map was easy enough to decipher, there was a strange mark on the corner of one of the walls that she had originally chalked up to being an ink stain… but could it be something more?
Lying the riddle face down on the table, Nina realized that the ink stain on the back of the card matched with the ink stain on the map. Sliding the riddle sheet to align with the ink mark on the map Nina gasped as the marks formed the familiar pattern of the Eye of Horus.
“Fabian! Lili! Jerome! Look at this!”
“Oh my gods! What does it mean?” asked Lili excitedly.
“It means that our secret room isn’t beneath the cellar afterall” began Jerome, his eyes bright at the new lead.
“It’s next to it” finished Fabian with a satisfied grin.
“We’ll check it out after pin drop” announced Nina. “Lili, can you text the others and let them know the update?”
“You bet Boss!” grinned the blonde.
“Awesome, see you all after class” waved Nina, rolling up the map and heading off to class. As she went to enter her painting lesson she spotted Mara walking into one of the sitting rooms with a severe looking woman. Shrugging off her curiosity, Nina soldiered on with her day, she only had enough brain space for one mystery after all.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 27: Heir of Nothing
Summary:
Mara gets some unfortunate news 😞
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Friday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺! This is the second of three updates today 💖.
I highly suggest having tissues on hand for this chapter... we really dive into the feels here 😭💔☠️.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After classes let out that afternoon, Joy met up with the other year twelve students in the lounge to hear about their upcoming field trip. Seeing Patricia, Eddie, Fabian and the Martin cousins settled around the main set of couches, Joy hurried over to join them. Seeing as there was not a lot of room left, Joy opted to squish herself into the oversized comfy chair with K.T.
“Joooy” giggled K.T. as the tiny girl wiggled herself into place.
“What” laughed Joy, her eyes alight with the pleasure of messing with her friend.
“I was sitting here” whined the curly haired girl.
“Well now I am too!” cheered Joy happily, snuggling herself into her friend's side and snickering at the blush that spread over the girl’s cheeks.
“Oh knock it off” scoffed K.T.
“You first” demanded Joy, sticking her tongue out teasingly.
The pair’s debate was interrupted by Eddie loudly clearing his throat. “As adorable as this is, I think Mara has some news for us!”
Joy couldn’t believe that she had missed the girl’s arrival to the room, and when had the other Anubis residents arrived as well?
“How did it go, Mara?” called Mick from his spot on the carpet beside Amber.
“Puppy!” squealed K.T. and Lili, leading to both girls launching themselves across the sitting area towards the puppy, dropping Jerome and Joy into an awkward lump on their respective chairs.
“Aren’t you just the cutest little thing?” cooed K.T. happily.
“What an adorable little sweetheart” added Lili as she happily pet the ratty dog.
“What is that?” asked Amber, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the stench that wafted off the dog.
“It’s a dog,” replied Mara unhappily.
“So what did you get, grounds?” guessed Joy. “You know ‘grounds’ are what rich people call gardens”.
“Forget the grounds, what about the money?” asked Eddie.
“There isn’t any money” revealed Mara despondently.
“What about land or a house?” wondered Patricia. “Because you could get some serious money from selling those”.
“There isn’t any money or land or house” sighed Mara disappointedly.
“What did you get then?” asked Alfie.
Mara gestured wordlessly to the very smelly puppy that Lili and K.T. were still fawning over.
“You inherited a dog,” snorted Jerome.
“Well I think he’s cute,” hummed Lili.
“Yeah? Do you want him?” offered Mara.
Stepping back from the pup and accepting the hand sanitizer from her bestie, Lili respectfully refused. “No thanks, I’m way too busy for a pet”.
“I’m still a Lady” insisted Mara, furiously clinging to the title of respect after all the fuss she had kicked up over the past few days.
“Yeah, that’s great Mara” waved off Fabian as Miss Wilson entered the room to begin her presentation on the upcoming university tour.
Jerome strolled over to Mara and the dog with a cocky smirk on his face. Joy crossed her fingers, hoping and praying to the gods that the boy would remember their conversation from yesterday morning and play nice.
“Go ahead,” sighed Mara. “Laugh at me. Get it over and done with”.
Instead of busting out some snarky quip, Joy was happy to see Jerome choose to simply scratch the dog’s head before locking eyes with Mara and reverently stating “My Lady” before bowing and walking away.
“Huh… that went better than expected” K.T. whispered in Joy’s ear, “Who knew, the meerkat has a heart?”
“What are you going to call him?” Lili asked Mara.
“Letdown” decided Mara, before joining the others on the floor to listen to their teacher explain the details of their field trip.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
As soon as Victor retired to his office for his evening tea with Vera, the Sibuna girls snuck down to the kitchen to meet up with the boys at the bread oven. The group got lucky and didn’t encounter any obstacles that evening, their respective roommates having long learned not to question the odd quirks and strange hours the seven students kept.
Once the group made it safely to the cellar, Fabian took point in leading the ragtag team to the supposed location of their next clue.
“Yeah, this is it!” he cheered. “Right around the corner here, by the furnace. The secret room should be on the other side of this wall!”.
“Great” snarked Patricia, rolling her eyes. “Instead of a solid concrete floor, we just have to get through a solid brick wall. Piece of cake”.
“This doesn’t look good” sighed Jerome disappointedly.
“Come on guys, look for cracks, weaknesses, door handles or levers” urged Jerome, climbing into the tiny space.
“It’s no good you guys” decided Nina after five frantic minutes searching the tiny space for any possible weakness. “I think we are going to have to do this the long way, one brick at a time”.
“Oh, I hate the long way,” whined Alfie. “Can’t we just blow it up?”
“Only if you want to bring the rest of the house down on top of us” sassed Lili.
“That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing” remarked Amber, only to throw her hands up in surrender when everyone shot her disbelieving looks. “Kidding. Kidding!”
Though once the attention was off her she muttered “not really” to a chuckling Liliana.
“Ambs, do you have a nail file on you?” called Nina from her spot squatted by the mystery wall.
“Of course! Do you want my plastic, diamond, or sandpaper one?” replied the pretty blonde automatically.
“The diamond one please” requested Nina.
Amber pulled the file out of her boot and passed it over to her roommate.
“Thanks!” grinned Nina, before digging into the mortar around one of the bricks.
“NINA! WHAT THE FUCK!” shrieked Amber, only to have Alfie grab her and cover her mouth with his hand.
The group of seven froze in fear waiting to hear feet thundering down the stairs to bust them. Strangely though they heard nothing. After another minute frozen in fear, the Sibuna Crew returned to their mission.
“I need to scratch off the mortar in order to pull out the brick,” explained Nina.
“Still couldn’t you have used something else?” whined the fashionista, sulking backwards against her boyfriend.
“Nothing else is sharp enough” dismissed their leader, returning to her task.
It took another twenty minutes, but eventually Nina was able to pry one of the bricks out of the wall.
“No way! Guys look at this” called Nina excitedly, backing away from the newly created hole for the others to see the exciting sight.
“Well?” asked Patricia, choosing to remain in her seat leaning against the wall.
“There is definitely a room back there” shared Lili, shining her flashlight into the space. “Looks just as old and dusty as the tunnels”.
“Another room” groaned Patricia, “Why must all our quests be so long and convoluted”.
“We are going to have to take this slowly. Quiet, methodical work, one brick at a time” outlined Fabian, already constructing the most effective plan in his mind.
“Ehhh, screw that. I’m tired, let’s just knock it down” declared Alfie, snatching up a nearby oxygen can and swinging it into the wall.
“No No NO! Alfie” shouted Fabian. “There’s a pipe on the other side”
“What did we say about being slow and quiet?” scolded Nina.
“Ok, so there’s a pipe there, I didn’t know that! But now that I know where it is I’ll just avoid it” apologized Alfie, before pulling back and ramming the oxygen canister into the wall again, resulting in another loud clang. “Oof! So there’s a pipe there too” winced Alfie.
“No kidding” hissed Amber, covering her ears.
“What are the chances of a third pipe?” wondered Alfie, perfore raring back and hitting the wall a third time. This collision was the loudest of all, but still no one came to check on commotion in the cellar.
Liliana furrowed her brow in worry as Nina and Patricia wrestled the oxygen canister away from the impulsive boy.
“Guys,” she worried. “Shouldn’t Victor or Vera have come running by now?”
“Well let’s just thank our lucky stars that they haven’t” snapped Jerome cuffing Alfie on the back of his head.
“No, no she’s right,” realized Nina. “Something is seriously wrong. Do we think they left?”
“Where would they go this time of night?” asked Fabian.
“The house in the woods!” suggested Patricia.
“Do you think they’re hurting another kid?” wondered Lili, twisting the edge of her blouse in worry.
“The only way to find out is to go look ourselves” decided Amber, heading towards the window.
“What do you think you are doing!?!” protested Nina.
“I am not just going to go back to bed while there are a group of adults actively murdering a child. I am going to put a stop to it” declared the fashionista, dramatically forcing the cellar window open with a loud creak. “So you all can either come with me and help, or you can go back to bed, but I am not going to leave some poor kid to suffer at the hands of The Society without trying to fix it”.
One by one the Sibuna club members moved to join Amber by the window till only Nina and Fabian were left by the wall. “Come on Neens, this kid needs us” implored Fabian.
Looking into the pleading eyes of her boyfriend, Nina reluctantly followed the group out of the cellar and into the dark forest to once again face off against the murder cult.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It took about twenty minutes for the group to reach the house in the woods by foot. By the time they arrived they were all shivering due to the low November temperatures and being dressed in their sleepwear. Sneaking around to the window they had used before. Nina skillfully picked the lock and silently slid the window open for the club members. Crawling into the house Nina’s body shook with a sudden onset of tremors, it was like an electrical wire ran through her body. She gasped aloud, knowing that the only thing that caused her to feel this way was when she was in the presence of powerful magic.
“Hurry!” Nina hissed to the other members before sprinting over to the desk to activate the switch to trigger the secret entrance. Yanking the pull ring, Nina activated the mechanism to swing open the china cabinet revealing the stairs to the ceremony chamber.
“Do we even have a plan?” asked Jerome as he raced down the stairs with the others.
“Nope, but we have two minutes to make one now” whispered back Amber as the Sibunas rushed down the stairs, praying that they were not too late to save whatever poor soul was to be sacrificed that night.
Reaching the hallway from weeks before, the team of seven huddled together trying to think of a way to save the child on the other side of the wall. As they planned, the chanting of the cult continued to grow.
“Oh Isis, goddess of magic, and Amun Ra, god of all the light touches. We present to you this sacrifice in exchange for all that you have promised” echoed Victor’s voice accompanied by many chanting voices.
“What I wouldn’t give to have my own gods at the moment” whispered Amber despondently.
The girl’s comment sparked a thought in Nina though, and closing her eyes Nina tried to tap into her *Chosen One* strength as she whispered one name, “Amneris”.
A woosh of frigid air filled the hallway along with the familiar scent of lavender flowers, Nina opened her eyes to find herself face to face with her dead ancestor. “Why have you summoned me descendent?” asked the spirit arching her eyebrow in disapproval.
“Thank you for coming, Amneris, we need your help” explained Nina. “In that room there is a group of adults who want to use the elixir and treasures from Tut’s tomb for themselves. They have a child in there that they plan to sacrifice”
“So?” asked the ghost, looking remarkably unimpressed after hearing about child sacrifice.
“So, if they use the treasures and elixir we will not be able to make your body and help you cross over” reasoned Nina.
Upon hearing this, the ghost’s beautiful face became shrouded in darkness,“What do you need me to do?”.
“I need you to create a blinding light long enough for us to run in and grab the sacrifice without being seen. Can you do that?” asked Nina.
“Of course!” snapped the priestess, offended at her power being questioned. “In fact I believe you would be able to do this yourself without my help”
“Really?”
“Nina, now is really not the time” reminded Fabian, worriedly watching the ceremony progress.
“Guys, they have that scarab from last time!” hissed Amber worriedly. “It’s now or never!”
“Very well, my light will hurt all but Nina, so your friends should guard their eyes. *Chosen One*, be ready to run” directed the ghost, before sweeping into the ceremony room emitting a vibrant white light.
Nina sprinted into the room after her ancestor and raced to the makeshift altar dodging the screaming and writhing bodies of the cult members. Lying on the table Nina could make out the writhing and bound form of Willow Jenks. Using Amber’s diamond nail file, Nina quickly cut the girl’s bonds and dragged her to her feet and out of the room.
Once she was back in the hallway Nina pushed the girl into Jerome and Amber’s arms to carry up the stairs. As the Sibunas sprinted away to safety, Nina could still hear the cries of the adults below her in the ceremony space.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The club did not stop running until they were safely back in Sibuna clearing. Willow had passed out sometime while the group was running, so Jerome and Amber carefully placed the girl down on the ground.
“We did it” laughed Amber a touch hysterically. “I can’t believe we actually won!”
“What are we going to do with her now?” wondered Alfie. “It’s great that she’s alive but she won’t stay that way for long if the adults find her”.
“We can’t bring her back to Anubis House, that would be the first place I would check if I was them” added Jerome.
“What about the tunnels?” suggested Fabian.
“No way! Victor and Vera know about those and more importantly, they know we know about them” argued Nina.
“I think I know the perfect place!” suggested Patricia.
“Where?”
“The old Frobisher chapel”
“You mean the building on the edge of campus that is actively falling to pieces and no one has been in in years?” asked Jerome.
“Yes, that one! I use it as a getaway and painting studio. There’s a couch and blankets up there along with a battery powered space heater. We can leave Willow there while we figure out a more long term solution”.
“It’s too risky,” argued Amber. “I vote we get Alfie’s car and drive her to my house”.
“Ambs, your house is three hours away. There is no way we can bring her there and get back without raising suspicions. We have to meet for the field trip at seven and it’s already midnight” protested Nina.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” interrupted the groggy voice of Willow Jenks.
“Willow! You’re awake!” cheered Lili, pulling the girl into a tight hug.
“Thank goodness you’re ok” grinned Alfie.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” pouted Willow. “My head feels like it’s full of angry bees. But thank you all for saving me”
“You’re welcome, all part of a day’s work” brushed off Patricia.
“Look Willow, I know you probably have a thousand questions, but the most important thing at the moment is to get you somewhere safe” explained Jerome.
“Here’s what we are going to do,” decided Nina. “We will hide Willow in the chapel overnight and in the morning when Alfie and Amber go for their workout they can bring her some food. Tomorrow night, when we have more time, three of us will move her to Amber’s house”.
“Amber, won't your father be concerned about having some random girl in his house?” wondered Fabian.
“Daddy would have to be around in order to notice” brushed off Amber.
“Ok. Sounds like a plan. Does that work for you Willow?” asked Nina, glancing down at the redhead who had curled herself into a ball on the ground with a lost look. The girl just nodded wordlessly, clearly overwhelmed by her kidnapping and near death.
“Want a piggyback ride to the chapel?” offered Jerome, to which the girl broke into a big grin and happily accepted, scrambling up onto Jerome’s back.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It did not take long to get Willow settled in the choir loft. Patricia showed her where everything was and how to hide in the broken closet if she heard anyone coming.
“We’ll be back to check on you around five, ok? I’ll bring you my old phone tomorrow morning but for now just use the walkie Alfie gave you if you need anything” promised Amber, carefully tucking the blankets in around Willow on the couch.
“Remember this is just temporary and we’ll get you somewhere even safer tomorrow night… well I guess tonight” laughed Alfie glancing at his watch ruefully.
“Thank you guys for saving me” whispered Willow, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. “I really thought that I was going to die back there. They were my teachers, they were supposed to keep me safe”.
“I know lovie, it’s a lot to take in but we’ll help you get through this. Just try and rest now” whispered Amber, squeezing the girl’s hand in support.
“Good night, Amber”
“Good night, Willow” replied Amber, shooting the girl one last comforting smile before climbing back down the wall.
It wasn’t until she was safely back in her room that she allowed herself to fall apart, grieving the innocence of another child lost in the cruel underworld of Frobisher Academy. That night both Nina and Amber pretended not to hear each other's muffled cries as they sobbed for the lives they had lost and the childhood they should have had.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 28: “The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round”
Summary:
All aboard! Field trip time 😁
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Friday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺! This is the third and final update for today 💖.
This next chapter is a lot lighter after the drama and almost murder of last chapter. Enjoy 😁!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“I don’t understand why we had to wake up at such an ungodly hour as this” whined Eddie, burrowing his face in Patricia’s neck.
“It’s literally seven am weasel” teased Patricia, as she threaded her fingers lovingly through the blond boy’s hair. Truth be told, she was even more exhausted than her boyfriend given the group's late night activities, but it was nothing a bottle of concealer and a large cup of coffee couldn’t fix. She was a Sibuna, she trained for this.
“Yeah! An ungodly hour!” argued Eddie stubbornly.
“I don’t know what you’re whining about, we’ve been up for hours mate” chuckled Alfie, passing Amber her second cup of tea for the morning.
“Yeah… Well, we can’t all be athletic freaks like you two. Some of us like to actually sleep”.
“You would think he’d be a little bit more positive given that this is essentially a day off course work” muttered Fabian.
“He’ll be fine in a moment” promised Joy, entering the room with 3 coffee cups. “One chai latte for the lovely Miss K.T., and one Americano, with two espresso shots and three Splenda for the grumpy puss”.
“COFFEE?!?” cheered Eddie, shooting up like an arrow.
“Yup, but if I give this to you, you have to pinky swear to stop whining”
Eddie nodded seriously, locking his pinky with his best friend before quickly gulping down his scalding hot coffee. Liliana shook her head in disgust at the American boy as she sipped her Coca-Cola. Beside her, Jerome seemed to be lightly vibrating in place, likely due to the large Monster energy drink he had just chugged.
Patricia just laughed and shook her head lovingly at the pair.
“All right, gather round, year twelve students” called Miss Wilson, raping on her clipboard to get the group’s attention. “The bus is outside, so please find your seat buddy. A reminder that it is an hour and a half drive to the university so please, please, please do not pick to sit with someone you will quarrel with”.
“Yes, Miss Wilson” echoed the students.
“Want to ride together?” asked K.T., lightly bumping Joy’s shoulder.
“Totally” grinned Joy, grabbing her bag and following her friend out to the bus.
“Are you excited for today’s visit?” Joy asked her friend after the bus got underway.
“Definitely. I looked at the various courses we are able to visit and they have so many great options!”
“What are you thinking of going to see?”
“I think I’ll visit the women’s studies course in the morning, and drop into a photography course in the afternoon”
“That sounds cool. I’m planning on visiting a pre-law course and then a modern history course”
“Not more Latin?” teased the American girl.
“Ugh! No way! Never!” protested Joy vehemently. “After this year I am done with the language forever!!”
“I downloaded a couple episodes of the Good Place. Wanna watch with me?” offered K.T.
“Duh” grinned Joy, happily accepting the offered earbud and settling in to watch the show.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina didn’t expect to have as much fun on this field trip as she did. The morning started off with a tour of the campus and a basic first year room. It was strange, but with everything that had happened over the past two years Nina hadn’t really considered the reality of life after Anubis. Her experience on the dig over the summer had Nina deciding to attend an archeology lecture while Fabian chose to attend the library sciences lecture. The couple met up for lunch along with Osiris residents Tessa, Jacob and Matthew; as well as the Isis students Amelia and Tanya and commuter student Josie.
Stealing some fries off Nina’s plate, Fabian asked “So how did everyone’s morning class go?”
“Super fun” shared Natasha. “ Josie and I got to sit in on a dissection in our Bio course”.
“Ooh that sounds cool. I’m totally jealous” pouted Amelia. “We just took notes in my Econ course. Plus the professor was old as dirt and had such a boring voice. I swear I almost feel asleep”
“That’s too bad. Hopefully your afternoon course is more exciting” comforted Fabian.
“We went to a theater course and got to do some super silly voice and body movement exercises” shared Matthew.
“The professor was pretty nice but I’m pretty sure he had a screw loose,” added Jacob.
“I think you’ll find that with most intellectuals” teased Tanya.
“Are you looking at schools here Tanya and Nina?” wondered Tessa.
“No, I’m applying to places back home in Germany,” replied Tanya. “It’s way too expensive to go to Uni here, heck if I wasn’t here on scholarship I wouldn’t be here at all”.
“I feel that,” commiserated Nina. “I’m looking at places both here and back home. Wherever I go it’ll have to be on scholarship since school is so freaking expensive these days”.
“I agree” mused Matthew. “I’m taking a gap year to be able to work and save up funds to attend. My folks won’t be able to help me pay due to all my siblings”.
“That sucks but at least you’ll be able to write a killer application essay about working to attend college” comforted Jacob. “How’s Thomas doing?”
The conversation then derailed to be about Matthew’s family, so Nina got her phone out to check her messages.
Swiping in her passcode Nina opened her phone to find a Snapchat from KT of her and Joy hanging out by the campus fountain. Nina was glad that her cousin had found friends at school, but did it really have to be Joy?!?
A buzz alerted her to a new text. Switching apps she saw that it was from Amber in the Anubis chat.
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🐾 🏠 Anubis House 🏠 🐾
👗💄Ambs 💅✨: We need to get a group photo!! Let’s all meet at the fountain in ten!
🇺🇸Eddie 🍔: We’re already here, see you soon!
🧪Mara 🧬: Finishing a lecture will try to make it.
🍌Mick ⚽️: The boys and I are playing a pick up game of football. Be there soon.
📚Nina ✨: Fabian and I are finishing our lunch, be there soon!
----------------
“Sorry to dip out like this, but Amby wants an Anubis House group picture” apologized Nina to the group, picking up her and Fabian’s trays to drop off at the kitchen.
“Oh, well have fun!” waved Natasha.
“I’m going to refill my water, I’ll meet you at the entrance” promised Fabian.
“Have a great afternoon, guys!” called Nina as she headed towards the plate return window.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It took several minutes and various different poses before Amber was happy with the house picture at the fountain. In typical Amber fashion, the designer had conscripted a passing Uni student into taking the photo and then set about organizing the group of twelve. Finally though, she was satisfied with the image and released the uni student to continue on his way and allowed the Frobisher Academy students to relax.
“How was your morning Mick?” asked Patricia, relaxing beside the jock on the grassy quad.
“It was a lot of fun. I went to a Sports Health class and I’m going to a Physical Therapy class this afternoon. After my time in Australia last year, I really think this might be my thing”
“That’s great. I’m glad that you found something you love” replied Patricia, and really meant it. There weren’t many people she cared about, but the goofy boy lying next to her happened to be one of them.
“What about you Trix?”
“Ok… I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh”
“I swear” promised Mick, but Patricia could already see the laughter forming in his blue eyes.
“I went to a primary education class,” revealed Patricia.
“You What!?!“ squawked Mick, choking back his laughter. “But you hate kids”
“I don’t ‘hate’ kids. And I don’t know… after these last couple years at Frobisher, I realized how much I needed a teacher I could depend on. And well, I didn’t have that. I don’t want other kids to have to go through that too… not having a safe place, a trusted adult to go to when they need one. I decided that I wanted to be that for them”
“Wow. I’m proud of you Patricia. For what it’s worth I think you will be a great teacher” shared Mick.
“Thanks. Mick” grinned Patricia. “But enough of that mushy emotional stuff. How about some one on one?“
“You’re on!”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The twelfth year students all gathered in front of the University sign to take a picture for the school website. Apparently Mr. Sweet was really pushing the whole ‘this is a legitimate school’ angle on all the teaching staff recently.
“Alright everyone, that will do it” announced Miss Wilson, lowering the camera with a grin. “Make sure that you have all of your belongings with you and please file calmly onto the bus. Josie and Peter! I saw that, no more!”
Lili smiled happily, threading her fingers with Jerome’s and laying her head against the boy’s shoulder. “Today was a good day,” she shared.
“Really? What made it so great?” wondered her boyfriend.
“Being able to pretend to just be normal kids. It was nice to think about having a future for a little bit, before we head back to campus and have to deal with everything again”.
“Yeah, I agree, it was nice to have a little break from it all” agreed Jerome.
“Maybe one day we’ll actually be able to be normal again”.
“I hope so, I really really hope so” agreed Jerome, pressing a kiss to her forehead before boarding the bus and heading to his seat beside Alfie.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It was decided that Alfie, Amber and Patricia would be the ones to bring Willow to the new safe house. Amber had texted with the housekeeper to ensure that the Millington home would be ready for Willow’s arrival. The Sibuna club were relieved that they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone ratting them out due to the NDAs all Millington employees had to sign on their first day of employment. In truth, Willow was much safer than the Sibuna club themselves. As Alfie glanced at the Millington house rapidly disappearing in his rearview mirror, he couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever experience a drive to school that wasn’t filled with dread.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 29: Picnics and Pyramids
Summary:
Mr. Sweet introduces some new changes to the school and we have another Anubis Staple: The Picnic Date.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“So, the oxygen tank was a bad idea” granted Alfie as the Sibunas made their way to their Thursday morning lessons.
“Yeah, slowly and quietly. That’s how we are going to get in there, Alfie” reminded Fabian.
“You guys are a regular tortoise and hare aren't ya” teased Nina.
“Well we do have a couple minutes before lessons to start, do you want to grab a sitting room and have Fabian and Lili hit us with their research?” suggested Patricia.
“Sounds good to me. And I think I know the perfect spot!” agreed Amber, leading the group to the rarely used sitting room by the library. The group waved good morning to Trudy through the open doors before making themselves comfortable on the couches.
“Okay, so we calculated that we need to remove six bricks across and six bricks down in order to get through,” explained Lili.
“If we work at a rate of half an hour per brick, it will take us eighteen hours,” added Fabian.
“If we remove all those bricks, isn’t Victor going to notice?” worried Jerome. “I mean he is down there working in his lab or stoking the furnace all the time”.
“We thought about that, and think we have a solution,” acknowledged Liliana.
“For each brick we pull out, we will put it back with fake mortar around it that is easy to remove. That way no one will notice large holes in the wall and when we need to get into the room we will be able to easily remove the bricks” revealed Fabian
“What’s mortar?” asked Amber
“It’s the stuff in between the bricks,” explained Nina.
“If we match the color of the mortar closely enough, it is unlikely that Victor will be able to notice in that lighting” considered Alfie.
“So if we have two people working on the bricks at a time and we work for three hours it will only take us 3 nights” calculated Patricia.
“Not our best odds, but it’ll have to work. How do we make fake mortar?” wondered Nina.
“We could try making dough,” suggested Lili.
“Dough!?! I love dough!” celebrated Alfie.
“We can use the kitchen after dinner and mix up a starter batch,” decided Fabian. “I’ll gather some supplies from the home economics room during my free period so Vera won’t notice anything missing”.
The ringing of the bell signaled that classes were about to begin, so the seven students gathered their items and rushed to their individual lessons.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Fabian, Nina, Alfie and Jerome gathered in the kitchen after dinner. Lili, Patricia and Amber had been called away by Joy to help Mara care for her secret dog, Letdown.
Unfortunately their attempts to mix up a viable mortar exploded in their faces. The quartet attempted multiple batches of dough, but unfortunately each time the results were quite disastrous. The students found themselves coated in a layer of flour along with traces of baking soda, patches of vinegar and spots of bright food dye.
“Gods, Vera is going to kill us” worried Fabian, glancing around at the destroyed kitchen.
“I honestly thought we would be better at this” sighed Nina, watching as the latest batch of failed dough, plopped disappointingly off her spoon and into the bowl.
“This is why I said we should have waited for Patricia” reminded Alfie. “Her cooking projects always turn out”.
“Well Patrica is busy helping Mara with Letdown, so it’s up to us to try and come up with another solution” argued Nina.
“What about silly string?” suggested Jerome. “Alfie and I have a couple cans in our prank supply, if we line the bricks with a yellow or white string then the difference should be barely recognizable in the low lighting”.
“That might actually work,” considered Nina. “Bring the cans with you when we go down to the cellar tonight after pindrop. We will see if it works then!”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Settle down, students! Settle down” called Mr. Sweet as he made his way over to the podium set up before the entire student body in the physical education barn. “I am sure you all are wondering why I have gathered you all here today. Well I have some very exciting news! This year Frobisher Academy will be introducing a new inter-house tournament system”
“What about us?” called Josie, frustrated that the day students seemed to be overlooked yet again.
“Don’t worry Miss Burke, our wonderful day students will be competing as a team” assured the headmaster, continuing on with his speech. “The staff and I have designed a number of opportunities, both academic and sport for you to show your skills. You will compete within your year level to win points towards your house or team. At the end of the year we will add all the points up and the house with the most points will be declared the winner and will have the names of the winners carved into this trophy”.
Pulling the red sheet off the table beside him, the headmaster revealed a golden pyramid.
Rolling her eyes, Nina leaned over to scoff softly to Fabian “That seems a little on the nose for the school”
“Oh yeah, but just think about what this looks like to the other students who have no fucking clue what’s going on” laughed her boyfriend.
Glancing around Nina took in all the reluctant shrugs and unaware faces of her classmates. Fabian was right, this was hilarious!
“The first main competition for this year is an all day dodgeball tournament which will be held this coming Monday. So take this weekend to prepare and let the games begin!” finished Mr. Sweet, walking over to the rest of the teachers as the student body half-heartedly applauded him.
Looking over her shoulder, Nina smirked when she spotted her two fellow Americans grinning like loons over the upcoming game. It would be nice to have a little bit of home here in England, and the fact that it was during the week of Thanksgiving made it all the better!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Hey Patricia,” called Eddie, as soon as the student body was dismissed by the headmaster. “Are you busy right now?”
“Not really,” replied the punk girl. “I was just planning on heading back to the house to get some homework done”
“Perfect! Come with me, I have a surprise for you” grinned her boyfriend, snagging her hand and leading Patricia off towards the main school building.
The couple weaved their way along the main path and up the hill to the Koi pond. As the pair reached the top of the hill, Eddie paused to pull out a familiar length of silk fabric. Patricia couldn’t help but laugh when she saw it, as it was the same one she had blindfolded him with for their date last year. Allowing the boy to cover her eyes, Patricia was led over the top of the hill and spun around a couple times before Eddie removed the blindfold to reveal a gorgeous picnic laid out for them.
“Eddie! This is beautiful! How did you get this all set up?” asked Patricia, taking a seat on one of the cushions strewn across the picnic blanket.
“Well I had a bit of help. Joy and K.T. recommended the food and helped me gather the supplies. But the spot, that was all me. Do you remember why?”
Glancing around, Patricia had to force herself to swallow as her throat tightened up and the memories rushed back. After the drama of last year had wrapped up, Patricia and Eddie had grown even closer. The pair were nigh inseparable and seemed to be attached at the hip. On that particular day they had gone for a hike around campus and came back for a swim to cool off in the koi pond. The pair stayed out all day goofing off and having fun just being together without the pressure and drama of their housemates and the expectations for the future from school.
When the young couple had tired of swimming they had laid down on the dock to dry off in the late afternoon sun. Eddie had threaded his fingers through hers and getting Patricia’s attention murmured. “I have something to say that I’ve wanted to for a while now. I don’t want you to feel any pressure to say it back, but I can no longer keep it in. Yacker, I love you”.
To Patricia it felt like fire and ice raced through her veins at the boy’s words. Squeezing the blond boy’s hand, Patricia found herself mildly surprised to hear her say, “I love you too, Eddison Miller”. What surprised her the most though, was the lack of fear or panic she felt at those words. Instead she was surrounded by a deep sense of calm, because it was true, she loved the American boy.
“This is the spot where we first said I love you” smiled Patricia.
“That’s right! And even though it sounds kinda cheesy, ever since that moment, I’ve thought of the Koi pond as ‘our’ spot”.
“That is VERY cheesy, but super sweet as well” teased Patricia.
“Well don’t let it get out, it would ruin my street cred” joked the boy, uncovering the food.
“Your secret is safe with me” laughed Patricia, passing her boyfriend a bottle of pop from the cooler and digging into the fantastic feast he had prepared.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 30: Dates, Dodgeball and Disasters
Summary:
KOY Nation... this is how we win!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Thursday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. I am so so sorry that this took so long. Having Mick, Eddie, Patricia and Amber in the house all at the same time meant that the Dodgeball Arc had to be truly epic. Hopefully you enjoy it! Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“All right everyone! Huddle up!” ordered Eddie, strolling into the sitting room where most of the students were relaxing Sunday afternoon. “The dodgeball tournament is tomorrow and we need to win it!”.
“Eddie, you do realize that a few of us aside, we are not set to win any sports competition” Alfie reminded the American boy.
“Come on, Alfie. Think Positive! Anubis is going to crush the competition this year” argued Eddie.
“Why? Because only you, Mick, Amby, Patricia and I are competing?” scoffed Alfie. Sparking an outbreak of protests from the residents who had not been named.
“No. But it’s just dodgeball, guys. It’s very very easy to play. Plus K.T., Nina and I grew up on the sport. So Anubis is going to win, people! Now, who wants to sign up for a position?”.
Unfortunately his pep talk was not well received by the group.
“Nice try mate, but you clearly haven’t learned how to motivate them about sports yet” chuckled Mick.
“And you know how to?” snarked Eddie doubtfully.
“Of course I do, I’m the only one here who knows how to motivate each of our housemates” smirked Mick. Rising to his feet the football player snagged the sign up sheet Eddie had brought and began to write down names. “Amby, Mara, Joy and Patricia will all play due to it being a chance for them to release their inner rage. Fabian will play in an attempt to prove himself and because he’s playing Nina will as well. Since her cousin is playing and you’re playing K.T. is in. Jerome wants a chance to hit someone in the face with a ball and is currently scheming how to ‘accidentally’ hit me. Alfie will play while pretending to be a secret agent and spend most of the game trying to protect Amber, despite the fact that the girl is a powerhouse by herself. Liliana will play since everyone else is signed up”
Glancing around the room Eddie found the residents all nodding or shrugging in agreement. “Oh. Well go team” cheered Eddie.
“Go team indeed” chuckled Mick. “Listen up crew, here’s our strategy. We will have four different sections, each with a specific goal. The first group is made up of Joy, Alfie and Liliana as they are the smallest and speediest members, so their job will be to get the balls for the next group to throw. The next group is made up of Mara and Fabian. You two are our secret weapons since the other houses will overlook you. When we start losing numbers it will be your time to shine, meaning your main job is to NOT GET OUT during the first part of the game. Speaking of people getting out, K.T., Jerome and Nina will be our professional human shields”.
“HEY!” protested the trio.
“Oh come on, Jerome is all long limbs and no coordination, Nina trips over her feet every two minutes and we all saw K.T. fall down the stairs last week” explained Mick.
“Fine, I guess you’re right” granted Jerome grumpily.
“The final grouping will be made up of Patricia, Amber, Eddie and myself, as we are the members of the house that ‘have anger problems’ and ‘too much aggression’. Meaning we are ready to wreck some serious damage with dodgeballs” finished Mick, cockily offering the clipboard back to a stupefied Eddie.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Eddie snatched back the clipboard. “Great, get some rest everyone! Tomorrow Anubis will prove its greatness”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Thirty minutes after Pindrop found the Sibuna Club sneaking down to the cellar once again. Alfie had added the bottles of silly string to the Sibuna Supply backpack so the group would be able to disguise the fact that they were removing bricks to get into the secret room shown to them by their ancestors.
An intense few rounds of rock paper scissors had Lili and Fabian up first to remove blocks. Using the screwdrivers Alfie had packed, the pair set to work chipping away at the brick.
Unfortunately as Fabian shifted his position in the tight space, he accidentally brushed against a couple of the bricks on the right side wall. As a result, a loud ringing sensation filled the cellar and Fabian found himself yanked backwards out of the fireplace and onto the dusty concrete floor. Lili, hit the floor beside him a moment later, around them Amber, Nina, Alfie and Patricia were all screaming. As a large blade swung sharply downwards, Fabian realized that Nina and Jerome had pulled the brick pair out just in time, otherwise they would be missing key body parts.
“I was really hoping to never hear the sound of impending doom ever again” complained Liliana, as Jerome nervously checked her over for injuries.
“You would think that we would have discovered every booby trap Frobisher had ever laid with the amount of time we spent in those tunnels last year” agreed Nina.
“Fucking insane robber barron. I swear if we didn’t actually need this treasure I would gladly leave Anubis House and never return” grumped Amber.
“I can’t believe that we’re really back to deadly booby traps. Why can’t anything be simple and non-life threatening” complained Patricia.
“Maybe there’s a way to turn it off?” suggested Alfie hesitantly. “Like the light in the tunnels or the razor pendulums?”
“The lack of recorded Robert voice makes that unlikely” sighed Jerome despondently. “I’m pretty sure it’s foolproof”.
“Still, it’s a hundred years old, maybe there’s a way around it?” suggested Lili. Not wanting to admit defeat yet, the blonde girl pushed herself to her feet and grabbed one of the long metal poles Victor had lying around the cellar. Placing it under the line of the makeshift guillotine, Lili checked to see if it was pressure activated or if the previous chop had been a freak accident. The Sibuna club watched with bated breath as the sheet of metal came slamming back down, slicing the pole in half.
Wincing in defeat, Lili admitted “Alright, that’s pretty foolproof”.
“Gods, we really can’t catch a break can we?” groaned Amber
“That’s Frobisher for you, he really does think of everything” shrugged Patricia.
“We’re never getting in that room, are we?” despaired Nina.
“Well, we’re certainly not doing so tonight. Let’s get some sleep and reconvene in the morning” suggested Fabian, leading the group back out of the cellar.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Monday morning saw the Anubis Residents donning their Physical Education uniforms in preparation for the day’s festivities. Jerome bounced excitedly into the dining room, pumped up for the day’s activities.
“Yeah Anubis baby! High five” he called, raising his hand towards Joy.
“We’re going to lose, badly” scoffed the girl, brushing past the tall boy to take her seat at the breakfast table.
“Big day everyone!” announced Vera, bringing over a plate of waffles to the table. “Please make sure you all have a full breakfast, I don’t want to get a call from the nurse saying that one of you passed out from lack of food. Have fun today, and remember: It’s the taking part that counts”.
“See, even Vera thinks we’re going to lose” protested the editor, getting up from her seat to go look for K.T.
“Comeon Joyless, you just have to fake your confidence” teased the boy, laughing as she flipped him off.
Opening the paper to check how his stocks were doing, Jerome’s face fell when he saw the faces of two local teens emblazoned across the front. Curious as to what was happening now, Jerome began to read the article underneath:
“The Newest Epidemic: Troubled Teens. This reporter is grieved to record that a second member of the deputy mayor’s ‘Troubled Teens’ program has gone missing. The highly debated formation of Deputy Mayor Cole Sparrow’s troubled teen program faced its first crushing blow when seventeen year old Antonia Stainton, disappeared October seventh during the first ever West Bradford Carnival. The event was organized in an attempt to integrate the program teens with the greater community. The chaos they bring through begs the question if the program is worth it.
Now disaster has struck again! Early Wednesday morning, local police responded to an emergency call at 1567 Wheaton Lane. When first responders arrived they found the home smoking and the family members gathered outside. The firefighters who searched the property were able to save most of the structure from serious damage. Chief McGruggor announced at his press conference that the fire has been ruled as an arson case. At this time the main person of interest in the case is the missing Hayne family daughter, Lola. Lola Hayne, sixteen, was also a member of the West Bradford Troubled Teens Program. This reporter can only shudder at the thought of what will happen with the remaining twelve members of Sparrow’s Program. What you can count on is that I, Jensen Layden, will keep you posted about any and all upcoming developments”.
“That’s incredibly harsh” muttered Alfie, reading the paper over Jerome's shoulder.
“Hey! That’s the girl I bought a ‘necklace’ from at the carnival” remarked Nina.
“Yeah, the one we saw at ‘the house’ last month” added Amber, trying to keep the conversation as vague as possible given that Mick was still eating his breakfast at the other end of the table.
“Poor girl” mourned Lili.
“I’m just glad we got Willow out of there when we did,” commented Fabian, helping himself to another serving of eggs.
“Yeah, take that Society” whispered Alfie viciously, eyeing their villainous caretakers who were talking in the kitchen.
“I’m not liking this Jensen Layden fellow, they seem like quite a dick” commented Patricia.
“Be that as it may, we don’t have the time to deal with him. We already have our own dirtbag nutcases to fight. Eyes on the prize team, we need to find a new way into the secret room” redirected Fabian.
“Fabian is right, after the match today we will regroup and look at those blueprints again. Maybe we can find another passage” decided Nina.
“Perfect! Eat up guys, we’ve got a pyramid to win!” cheered Jerome.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Raising her hand to knock on K.T.’s door, Joy took a deep breath to steady herself. She couldn’t believe that she was really about to do this! Joy couldn’t help but feel like she might be better off remaining quiet about her feelings, she didn’t exactly have the best track record when it came to relationships after all. But there was just something about the American girl that called to Joy. While their friendship had started out less than ideal due to Joy’s unresolved Nina issues, Joy could not imagine a future that did not have K.T. in it. Joy was pretty sure the other girl was into her too, but if worse came to worst she reasoned that they would be able to remain friends even if K.T. rejected her proposal of a date. Figuring that she might as well shoot her shot while she had a chance, Joy steeled herself and pounded on the door.
“Hey JJ! What’s up” chirped K.T. opening the door and bestowing the short brunette one of the special smiles she seemed to reserve just for Joy.
“Hey Kara, I’ve been thinking,” began Joy.
“Oh is that what that sound was?” teased K.T. allowing the girl to pass into her room.
Joy nervously chuckled at the quip, far too focused on her goal to respond in kind. “I think that we should go on a date”.
K.T.’s jaw dropped open in shock, “You want to date me?”
“Yeah” affirmed Joy. “Kara Tatianna, you are scary smart and hilarious, drop dead gorgeous and probably one of the absolute nicest people I have ever met… and I know Eddie! Ever since you arrived here at Anubis House I have been mystified by you. You surprise and amaze me every day, I am so lucky to be able to call you one of my best friends. That said, I can’t help but want to be more than friends. So here I am, asking you if you would do me the honor of going on a date tomorrow night? Please say yes.”
K.T. took a minute, biting her lower lip in the way that she always did when she was nervous. “Joy… no”.
Joy’s shoulders dropped, and she collapsed into a sitting position on the bed. She felt as if all the air had been knocked out of her. This was really not how the singer had thought this was going to go!
“I mean I can’t” continued K.T., “Mara’s parents are in town and I said I would dog sit for her while she was at dinner with them. I got some super strength bubble bath and will be washing Letdown”.
“Then it’s a dog washing date!” declared Joy, regaining hope as she realized the American wasn’t actually rejecting her.
“So you’d wash a dog for me?” asked K.T., tilting her head to the side and smiling softly at Joy.
“I guess that it’s not as impressive as climbing a mountain or a fancy dinner?” admitted Joy, making a mental note to cancel the reservation she had made at the restaurant in town.
“No, I think it’s better,” grinned K.T. “Joy Lydia Mercer, I would love to wash a dog with you tomorrow night”.
“Wonderful! It’s a date!” grinned Joy . “I’ll let you finish getting ready for the match!”
Rushing out the room, Joy sprinted down the stairs two at a time making a beeline for her best friend’s room. Eddie was never going to believe this!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Tightening her ponytail, Liliana fixed the opposing team with a determined icy glare, Osiris house was going down!
“Listen up students. Today’s competition will be conducted as follows: Anubis and Osiris house residents will play first. The second match of the morning will be Isis house against the Day students. Whoever loses each match will face off against each other after lunch for third place. The winners from the morning matches will play one final game this afternoon to see who will take first prize and be that much closer to securing the first ever spot on the new Frobisher Pyramid” announced Miss Valentine, who had been volunteered by Mr. Sweet to coach the twelfth year competition. “Any questions?” looking around at the assembled students, the teacher raised her whistle. “Very well then. Isis and Day students to the bleachers, Anubis and Osiris to your starting marks”.
Lili jogged over to the wall reciting the plan Mick had drilled them on in her head. Speed, she was speed… time to get those dodgeballs!
The teams turned their attention to Ms. Valentine who stood on a table with her whistle overlooking the players. “Alright, I want a clean match. No cursing, no physical contact and no head shots. If you get hit, you’re out. If someone catches the ball you threw, you're out. I am the final judge on any and all calls so do not come whining to me later about things being unfair. You are seventeen and eighteen years old, act like it. Begin in three… two… one… beep!”
The shrill screech of the whistle had Liliana, Joy and Alfie racing towards the center line as the others got into position. Mick began barking orders as the trio rolled balls back to the section assigned to offense. Dodging incoming balls, Lili did her best to supply her teammates with fresh ammunition as Mick called out the plays in code.
“Platypus Platoon, complete operation blue flamingo” shouted the jock, leading to the human shields shuffling their way in front of Amber as the blonde unleashed her inner rage on the opposite house.
“Jacob, you’re out” called Miss Valentine, as the boy was nailed in the back by Amber’s strike.
Game play continued with Patricia hitting Hadrian and Jude. Unfortunately, the Anubis team also took damage with Nina being hit by Matthew Wilson. Fabian readily stepped up to avenge his girlfriend, accepting Alfie’s ball with a look of intense determination.
Mara, K.T. and Jerome were next to go, taken down by Tessa Jones. With all of Platypus Platoon now out, Team Captain Mick had to switch up his strategy. “Dragon Troop enact Operation Bald Eagle”.
Patricia and Amber both took a knee and locked hands to form a platform for Eddie to step upon. Rising up the pair catapulted Eddie across the area and into the perfect position to take out Tessa and Natasha.
“You’re out Tessa, take a seat” called Miss Valentine.
Squaring up against the remaining Osiris members, the Anubis team battled desperately to attempt and secure their victory. It seemed though that for every Osiris Resident they got out, the opposite team took out one of theirs. Alfie, Joy, Amber and Eddie were each hit leaving only Patricia, Mick and Liliana against Abbi, Marissa and Matthew.
“Ok, team… commence Operation Salami Sandwich” decided Mick.
“Really?” asked Patricia.
“You bet! Unleash Hell Williamson”
Letting out a roar, Patricia raced toward the Osiris residents taking them by surprise as she hurled her two balls towards Matthew and Abbi. While the trio were distracted by the yelling girl, Lili and Mick aimed and successfully hit Matthew and Marissa seconds after Patricia was struck down.
“Miss Williamson, Mr. Wilson, Miss Davis off the court” ordered Ms. Valentine, blowing her whistle.
“Alright Lili, let’s do this” grinned Mick as the cheering of the students in the stands grew to a roar.
With a ball in each hand the blonds sprinted towards the line and attacked Abigail. The redhead didn’t stand a chance and Miss Valentine quickly blew her whistle declaring the end of the match.
“That’s the game. Anubis wins!!” declared the teacher.
The Anubis residents flooded onto the barn floor exchanging cheers and excited hugs.
The literature teacher allowed the group a few minutes to celebrate before blowing her whistle and drawing everyone’s attention. “Great work Anubis, you will play in the two o'clock match this afternoon. The next match will start in five minutes, Isis and Boarding Students you guys are up”.
Riding the high of their victory, the Anubis House students took their seats in the bleachers ready to watch the next game.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The match between Isis House and the Day Students ended with Isis House winning, meaning that the Anubis students would face off against them that afternoon. Exiting the Physical Education Barn, the students split off to enjoy their lunch breaks around campus. Vera had packed lunches for the Anubis students in order to keep them out of the house until after the end of the competition.
“Where do you guys want to go eat?” Joy asked Eddie and K.T.
“I don’t care, I’m just starving from all that running around” whined K.T.
“Do you have your key on you?” wondered Eddie, adopting a thoughtful expression.
“Of course I do! But everywhere I’ve tried it so far hasn’t had any luck. It certainly doesn’t unlock anything in the house proper and in the school building”.
“Well I was thinking we could hit up the Old Frobisher Library for lunch and test if your key opens anything there”.
“That sounds fine to me,” agreed Joy. “Let’s go have lunch in the room I died in!”
“What!?!” squawked K.T. horrified.
“Oh Kara, we still have so, so much to catch you up on” giggled Joy, linking her arm through the American’s and leading her towards the library.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Unfortunately the group didn’t discover an opening for K.T.’s key in the Library that afternoon. So the trio spent their lunch break exchanging happy stories; Joy and Eddie, about their time at Frobisher Academy and K.T. about growing up in America. The beeping of Eddie’s phone alarm signaled that it was time to head back to the P.E. barn for the next dodgeball game.
Joy had a ton of fun watching the game with her friends as the Day Student and Osiris House teams faced off to see who would be in third place. The game was a close one, but it eventually ended with Josie hitting Matthew’s right shoulder, snatching the victory for the Commuter Students.
“Third place goes to our Day Students with Osiris House in fourth. Now to find out which house will take the victory, Anubis and Isis house please line up for our final match” called Ms. Valentine.
Squeezing into her spot between Eddie and Patricia, Joy prepared herself for the final match.
“Prepare yourself team, for today we shall win the victory!” boasted Mick. With the shrill tweet of Miss Valentine’s whistle, they were off!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Anubis, ANUBIS, Anubis!” chanted Jerome, Eddie, Mick and Patricia as they carried Amber on their shoulders through the door to their house.
“Vera! Victor! We won the dodgeball competition” yelled Mara excitedly as the group of twelve entered the sitting room.
“Congratulations on the victory” laughed the housemother. “How about you all go and change out of your sports kits while I finish up your victory feast?”.
“You made a victory feast for us? You really thought we’d win?” asked Amber.
“Of course, dear,” smiled the woman. “Now go on and freshen up, so that we can celebrate”.
“Wow Vera, you had more faith in us than we did” remarked Joy.
The housemother smiled teasingly and quietly shared, “To be honest I ended up making two cakes, one that said ‘Congratulations on your Win’ and another which said ‘Good Try Team’. I figured that it was best to be prepared”.
Joy laughed approvingly, “Well luckily it’s a feast of celebration. Amber was able to secure our victory and it’s a good thing too! I don’t think any of us would be able to survive the amount of whining Eddie, Mick and Patricia would have graced us with if we had lost”.
“Very true. Now go on and wash up Joy, I made your favorite oven roasted onion potatoes tonight”.
“Thanks Vera!” cheered Joy, before racing up the stairs to go and change for supper.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Dog Washing & The Secret Room SOL style 😉
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 31: The Point of No Return
Summary:
"They were just kids playing games of the gods, why shouldn’t she level the playing field a little?"
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. This past week marked the two year anniversary of this universe! Where has the time gone? I just want to take a moment and express my gratitude for each and everyone of you. This world would not exist without you all 💜. I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“So if I’m right, which I always am, the secret room lies beneath the main coat closet” shared Fabian, pointing to the new space on the blueprint. “I figure we can go in through the ceiling of the room by pulling up the floorboards”
“Well the wooden floor will certainly be easier to get through than the brick wall” laughed Lili. “But what makes you think that this route won’t be booby trapped as well?”
“Honestly I think that's just a chance we will have to take” sighed Nina
“The odds of it not being guarded by murder machines are significantly reduced given that this isn’t the ‘normal’ way to access rhe space” added Jerome.
“True, but what if we pull up the floorboards and find another bottomless drop?” argued Alfie.
“Well then we return to the drawing board” defended Fabian
“We aren’t going to know what we will find until we begin. Vera is busy making supper, so should we give it a try?” suggested Amber.
“And here I thought I had escaped from the closet years ago, now I'm being forced back in” joked Patricia.
Rolling her eyes good naturedly Lili offered to gather supplies with Alfie to use pulling up the floorboards while the others figured out where to cut. With the plan set, the Sibuna Crew split up, with any luck they would be able to access the hidden room that night!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina allowed Patricia and Fabian to bicker back and forth for a few moments about where to first cut into the flooring before finally putting a stop to it. Silently sticking her hand out towards Lili, she gratefully accepted the large saw the girl passed her. Jerome and Alfie had already sketched an outline for their makeshift entrance based off the measurements they had taken in the cellar. Seeing that Patricia and Fabian were not going to reach a solution regarding who got to make the first cut anytime soon, Nina got to work sawing into the flooring herself.
“NINA!” shouted the pair scrambling to take the sharp tool away from their leader. Nina happily let Fabian have the saw, before stepping back to let the pair do all the work.
“Well, I guess we know where to start cutting,” sighed Patricia grudgingly. Taking the extra saw from Amber, Patricia set to work cutting a large rectangle into the floor with Fabian.
It didn’t take long for Patricia and Fabian to cut through the first layer of the floorboards. Alfie and Jerome worked together to pull the piece out of place revealing the subfloor and joists. Amber and Lili used their jewelry making tools to drill a small hole through one corner of the flooring and fastened a seemingly regular rock to the topside. Underneath they glued a set of coils which ran through the hole to the rock, making it so that when the rock was pulled upon the coils would release and the flooring would pop up for the Sibunas to easily sneak into the hidden room.
Fabian and Patricia made short work of the subfloor and joists, leaving a clear entrance wide enough for the Sibuna Crew to access what was, hopefully, the room their ancestors wanted them to find. Alfie and Jerome quickly hammered the rope ladder Lili and Amber built into the subflooring which circled the entrance.
Kneeling near the hole Nina shone her torch into the dark. The beam of light cut through gloom and Nina could just make out what she thought was the floor. To be sure though she repurposed one of the joists to test the distance and solidity of the floor. The drop ended up being a bit further than she expected making Nina have to shift onto her stomach and lean into the hole with Patricia holding her feet, but she was eventually able to hit the joist against the flooring and it appeared solid enough for her to feel safe enough sending her team down with her.
Standing up, Nina tossed her troops a ‘devil may care’ smile as she asked “So who wants to go down the hole first?”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Another squabble broke out after her question but Nina eventually succeeded in herding her crew down the rope ladder. The group of seven now stood shrouded in gloom with the only light coming from the torches they held.
A simple glance of the area found that the space they had dropped into was similar to a very narrow hallway. Their path to the right was blocked by a variety of criss crossing beams, to the left hung a set of ratty maroon moth-eaten curtains. Peering closer Nina noted that the curtains seemed to also have several slash marks littering them as if a wild animal had been trapped in the space.
“A tenner says that the secret room of our ancestors is behind the curtains of doom” joked Jerome.
“No one would be foolish enough to take that action slimeball” laughed Patricia carefully making her way towards the curtains.
Upon closer inspection it appeared that there were dark dried stains coating the curtains as well to which Amber simply quipped “Well that ups the spooky factor” making the group laugh.
Taking the plunge, Nina pushed open the curtains and stepped into the new space. Squeezing her eyes shut, Nina braced herself to be decapitated or dropped into some unknown depth, but to her surprise she found that the new space was surprisingly booby trap free. Calling back over shoulder Nina let the others know it was safe to come in as she shined her torch beam over the strange objects in the room. The six other Sibunas followed Nina into the space and joined her in investigating the room's contents.
“What is all this stuff?” asked Liliana, wiping away piles of dust.
“I’m assuming it’s another version of Frobisher’s study,” pondered Fabian. “Though the stuff here is probably more important given the extreme security measures”.
“Well that has to be a good thing” figured Alfie. “Hopefully we won’t have to read more his journals a hear how he ‘saw a cloud that looked like a pyramid… and that it’s a joy to be alive’”
“Look for anything that has the spiral of your ancestors” directed Nina, opening one of the room’s many trunks.
The team worked quietly for a few minutes only commenting when they came across something strange. The walls of the space seemed to be lined with blueprints and drawings that upon further inspection outlined various bobby traps Frobisher had designed and described in detail the excruciating end any thief who sought his stolen treasure would come to after triggering the trap. Besides a couple tables and dressers, the room housed an ornate gold gilded mirror large enough for Patricia to see herself and most of the team in. Next to the mirror sat an old old table with a candlestick phone and an overstuffed green velvet armchair. Nearly every flat surface in the room was covered by books or half-built contraptions. Fabian pulled a dust covered tarp off of a cart to reveal several bottles of liquor, a box of cigars, several glasses and a lighter.
As they sorted through the items, Jerome suggested that they play a game to see who could find the most heinous item in the room; at the moment the mason jar of human teeth found by Alfie and the metal box of a suspiciously blood-like liquid opened by Nina were tied for first place. Amber found it comforting that despite living with Victor for so long, there were still things that could shock and horrify her.
Eventually Fabian let out a shout of victory. “I think I found something!”
Hurrying to his side, the Sibuna crew gathered around a small circular table on which Fabian placed a strange contraption which only Amber and Nina recognized.
“What’s that?” asked Jerome, eyeing the golden horn doubtfully.
“It’s a phonograph, it plays recordings. Sarah had one she stored up in the attic” explained Amber.
“How are you sure this is what we are looking for?” wondered Patricia.
“See the spiral, it’s identical to the one you guys drew while in that trance” replied Fabian, gesturing to the red spiral which had been carved into the back of the wooden box on which the phonograph rested.
“Well let’s fire it up and hear what my ancestor wanted to tell us” grinned Jerome.
Fabian tried twisting the knobs and shaking the machine, but as hard as he tried he could not get the device to turn on. “Ugh, it looks like it’s broken, I’ll have to come back down here another time to try and mess with it” snapped the boy frustratedly.
Nina soothingly rubbed his shoulder as Alfie suggested, “maybe it’s out of batteries?” only to shut up as Fabian threw a death glare his way.
“Well given that it’s almost time for supper, we had best get out of here and change before people come looking for us” suggested Patricia, glancing around at her fellow Sibunas who were coated in dust and filth.
Seeing as everyone was in agreement the group stealthily made their way back up the rope ladder, and after securing the floorboard back in place left to prepare for supper.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Joy was sure that the lead up to seven pm would be the death of her. Patricia had given up on trying to calm her friend down after Joy asked “what if she only said yes to the date out of pity?” for the hundredth time. The punk girl had chosen to whack her silly friend with a pillow as she exclaimed, “She likes you dummy. Go on your date with the pretty girl and have fun. It’s really not the end of the world. Trust me on that, I’m an expert on world ending events”.
When the clock struck seven, Joy stood outside K.T.’s door with flowers wrapped in sheet music. She figured that they were a fitting gift for the guitarist; that said, she had driven herself almost insane trying to decide what song she should choose before settling on ‘Girls like Girls’ by Hayley Kiyoko.
Joy only managed to knock once on K.T.’s door before it flew open to reveal her gorgeous date.
“Hey!” greeted the girl with a brilliant grin
“Hey” replied Joy, slightly breathless. “Here, these are for you, I hope you like them”
“Aww, thank you Joy. They are absolutely beautiful” cooed K.T., accepting the flowers. “And sheet music?!?! JJ, you spoil me!”
“Only the best for you, Kara,” grinned Joy shyly.
“Well this is certainly the best, you know I adore Hayley’s music” hummed K.T. in agreement, as she placed the bouquet on her desk. “So, are you ready to wash a dog with me?”
“You bet! Vera’s already gone for her nightly tea with Victor so we’ve got a while” grinned Joy, accepting the large bottle of soap which K.T. passed her.
“Fabulous! Come on, Letdown” called KT, to the dog who was lying in the corner. “Let’s give this pooch a full makeover!”.
The two girls snuck the dog down the stairs and over to the kitchen where K.T. had filled up a large basin with water. Coaxing Letdown into the basin proved to be an adventure in its own right, but the pair were eventually able to successfully convince the dog that the water was not actually an enemy that needed vanquishing.
Donning oversized rubber gloves the pair set to work scrubbing the dirt from Mara’s beloved pet. As they worked the girls traded stories about their childhoods, answered questions about their favorite things and schemed about dying Eddie’s hair purple while he slept.
Eventually though Joy hesitantly raised the question she had been wondering about for a while. “So, and you totally don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but I was wondering how everything went down last summer with Nina and all? Like, wasn’t it weird to just have family crawling out of the woodwork. ”
“Oh for sure! I mean when I first connected with Nina online it was strange, but honestly I was just excited to have a cousin close to my age. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the fancy boarding school I had been offered a scholarship to was actually my great-grandmother’s ancestral home. Of course things only got more insane when Grandma Rose began talking crazy, well what I thought was crazy before coming here. She kept telling me that I needed to come to Frobisher Academy in order to bring justice to those who had been hurt. She was so insistent that this key would unlock the secrets that I needed to help these people”.
“It sounds like maybe your grandma was talking about the people the Frobisher’s hurt”
“Maybe, but now I’m thinking the key might also hold answers to bringing down The Society”.
“Well you know I am one hundred percent down with dismantling The Society. Things are so freaking awkward with my dad still, but they probably should be, he held me captive at the whim of a murder cult!”
“Yeah, I think you get a pass for being mad still,” laughed K.T.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be using that particular piece of blackmail to get what I want till the end of time” teased Joy with a wicked smile.
“Little did The Society know that in taking you they sparked your Anti-Hero origin story” joked K.T.
“You joke, but they kinda did in a way. After all the work the Sibunas did last year to put Jasper behind bars I’ve been considering doing the same with the key Society members. I mean they are straight up killing kids! If I knew for sure I could trust a cop or agent I would have turned Victor in ages ago. I’ve been going through The Jackal and Jack Jackal pulling evidence to build my case, so that when I do eventually meet a reliable public figure I can bring this school down”
“Well I think what you are doing is incredibly noble” shared K.T. scrubbing between Letdown’s ears.
“Really? Thanks” blushed Joy. “But enough of that heavy stuff, have I ever told you about the time Mick got his head stuck in the banister?”
The rest of the evening was spent speaking of lighter topics as they finished with letdown and blowdried the fluffy puppy. Returning the dog to its bed in Mara’s room, the girls decided to sit on the front porch and share a pint of dairy free peach sorbet (due to K.T.’s lactose intolerance) before calling it a night. Leaning against her closed door, Joy slid down to the floor with a goofy grin on her face after walking K.T. back to her room.
Patricia, who was laying on her bed working on her laptop while listening to music, fixed her best friend with a questioning smirk. “Good night?”
“The best!” replied Joy.
“I’m happy for you J-bird, you deserve the best” smiled Patricia.
“Thanks Pep” grinned Joy, before grabbing her pajamas and getting ready for bed.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina warily eyed the wooden box sitting innocently on her desk. To the average passerby the container seemed perfectly normal, but locked away within lay devastating contents.
“Oh Sarah, am I making the right choice?” asked Nina, despite knowing that she wouldn’t get a response. The woman had gone to her rest, leaving the heavy mantle of Chosen One resting upon Nina’s young and fragile shoulders. A cold chill sent shivers down Nina’s spine as she pulled her sweater tighter around herself. It was such a silly thing to be cold, and yet it reminded Nina of her own mortality which brought her to the current crossroads. Through the combined efforts of the Sibuna club, especially Amber’s credit card, Nina was now in possession of all the ingredients she needed in order to craft the elixir. Sure she needed enough to give Amneris in order to build her body, but that wouldn’t use all of it. An echo of the sharp crack of the guillotine in the cellar almost slicing through Fabian filled Nina’s mind. They were just kids playing games of the gods, why shouldn’t she level the playing field a little? After all it was only fair that they have the same protections Victor’s cult was operating under.
Removing the key from her desk, Nina unlocked the rough wooden box. Taking out each bottle, Nina carefully inspected each ingredient. Nina glanced quickly towards her bedroom door, making sure that it was securely bolted. Amber had taken their various housemates shopping in order to get supplies for the second annual Anubis House Thanksgiving. Mick specifically was excited to help throw the celebration, as he hadn’t been here to experience it last year. In his mind, a holiday all about food was clearly the best thing ever. This provided Nina with a rare moment of alone time as K.T. and Eddie were hanging out in the living room watching “real football”. Nina was convinced that this was just a ploy and that neither student actually knew anything about the sport and simply enjoyed trolling the resident goth pixie.
Turning back to the task at hand, Nina flipped to the right incantation in her grimoire and began to assemble the powerful concoction. Four eucalyptus leaves were dropped into the clear crystal dish along with a handful of wintergreen and a sprinkle of sea salt crystals. “anubis exaudi orationem meam et hanc oblationem suscipe” muttered Nina.
In a separate stone bowl which Nina had swiped from the ante chamber Nina added a sprig of cyperus root, a couple slivers of ylang ylang bark, a tablespoon of her crushed sandalwood and five dried eagle eyes. The final ingredient for the mixture was the cannabis leaves she had bought from Toni. Unfortunately her stash was relatively lacking due to Alfie and Jerome raiding it the previous weekend. Luckily, she had just enough left for the ritual. Using the wooden mallet she had found with the bowl, Nina worked to crush the ingredients into a fine powder as she whispered “Ut terre et caeli virtus in me concurrat”.
Choosing the vial of python venom, generously donated by honorary Sibuna Julius Squeezer, Nina tipped the liquid into the powdered mixture. The girl watched in amazement as the poison hissed and fizzled upon making contact with the mixture. Inspired by her success so far, Nina quickly added the mixture into the main bowl along with the required vanilla extract and water. “Aqua vitae fiat hoc a iuvenibus usque ad senem”.
Only one vial remained containing the final ingredient, the one which Victor could never procure. Eyeing the gleaming bottle seriously Nina acknowledged that this was truly the point of no return, once she drank this the imaginary line that she had always drawn between herself as the ‘good guy’ and Victor as the ‘villain’ would be forever crossed. The pained and horrified faces of her loved ones flashed through her mind in quick succession. Moments from the last two years filled her eyes, of the ragtag group of helpless kids struggling against powers beyond their control for simple survival.
“Nina, I’m scared… I can’t grow old before I grow up” taunted Amber’s terrified plea.
“We’re just kids we don’t deserve this” blared Alfie’s protest.
“We’re all cursed and if we don’t do as she says we will forfeit our lives” informed Fabian.
Thee addition of Patricia’s tortured screams caused by Senkhara’s crackling electricity mixing with the other voices drove Nina to tears.
Forcefully dumping the tears of gold into the bowl, Nina blended the now glowing liquid, “Pro tua tutela ac vita me tibi confirmo. Non veniat ad me malum, et non peccem tibi. In hoc vinculo libenter ingredior”.
Using the medicine dropper, Nina drizzled the golden liquid across her tongue. From the moment the liquid crossed her lips Nina felt a wave of power envelope her. The sharp sensation of a fiery blaze began to burn within her chest and spread rapidly out towards her limbs. The feeling of pin pricks racked her skin, blinking open her eyes Nina grinned crookedly as golden flames danced in her eyes “Laus Anubis magni defuncti deo, custodi me ab Osiride regio”. Let Victor and Vera come for her now, Nina was ready.
Notes:
Translation of the chant: - Anubis, hear my prayer and accept this offering - That the power of earth and heaven may come together in me - water of life let this become take from the young to the old - I pledge myself to you in exchange for your protection and life. Let no harm come to me and I will let no harm come to you. In this bond I enter willingly. - All praise Anubis great god of the dead, keep me safe from the domain of Osiris.
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Thanksgiving
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 32: * Just as Planned - Except for the Kidnapping *
Summary:
Thanksgiving Fun and Trouble on the Train Tracks
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Thursday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. I am so sorry that this chapter is so late. I have been super busy with work and moving apartments. The new school year is beginning soon as well, so updates will likely be slower due to the chaos that comes with setting up my classroom and getting to know my new batch of students. As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new (longer) update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The second annual Anubis House Thanksgiving was a resounding success. Amber, Patricia and Lili had taken point coordinating the food while Joy directed the remaining British housemates in setting up the dining room. The food was absolutely delicious and the housemates enjoyed discussing the various holiday balloons and floats in that year’s Macy’s parade. Mick and Eddie even managed to convince the whole house to play a pick up game of American Football in honor of the holiday. Patricia took great pride in tackling Eddie over and over and over again, even if he didn't have the ball!
Nina, Eddie and K.T. enjoyed the taste of home the holiday provided. The whole day was filled with laughter, love and warm memories. It was the best Thanksgiving the Americans could ever ask for. The work that their friends put into making the day special showed just how important their friendship was to all of them.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
K.T. had been stressing about the assignment Mrs. Hernandez had given them about “hope in a period of grief”. On the one hand, K.T. was certainly an expert on grief given her grandmother’s recent passing. Immediately after her Grandma Rose died K.T. had sunk into a dark depression which she had only just drawn out of by moving to Frobisher Academy. How she was going to convey that through her art was where K.T. was stuck. She had run some ideas by Joy and Eddie, and had eventually settled on trying to capture Anubis House at sunrise. There was just something so hopeful about the sunrise and new beginnings.
Sneaking quietly down the stairs, K.T. did her best to not draw the attention of her caretakers. Victor and Vera would both not react well to her creeping around before curfew ended. K.T. skillfully avoided the creaky floorboards as she slipped out the laundry room door. She would have preferred to leave through the front door, but she didn’t want to risk triggering the security light.
The American girl let out a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her, she was safe! Taking out her camera, K.T. carefully adjusted the lens to the best setting before heading up the wooded hill behind Anubis. She had staked out the area with Eddie the afternoon before and decided the crest of the hill would provide her the best view of the sunrise as it crept over Anubis House.
As she walked K.T. hummed happily thinking about how quickly and amazingly her life had changed in just a few months. She never thought that she would find such an amazing group of people here in England. Sure, Nina had tried to talk up the school but K.T. hadn’t been so sure of her cousin's stories. K.T. was pleasantly surprised with the turn of fate that had brought her best friend and maybe girlfriend (she and Joy still needed to talk about that) into her life.
Unfortunately for K.T., the photographer failed to notice the young couple in dark suits stalking her everymove. In fact it would not be until a foul smelling, coarse woolen bag was thrust over her head that KT noticed the pair at all, but at that point the stench of the bag was far too overwhelming and she slipped into unconsciousness.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Has anyone seen Kara this morning?” asked Joy, entering the dining room to find all her housemates enjoying a delicious breakfast.
“Nope, sorry Joy” responded Fabian.
“She was already gone when I woke up” added Lili
“Alfie and I just got back from the rink a little bit ago” apologized Amber.
“She was going to go shoot some pictures for her Art project this morning. Remember, we went with her yesterday to find the perfect spot. She probably just got distracted and lost track of time. We’ll bring her some food and fetch her before classes start” comforted Eddie. Deciding that Eddie was probably right, Joy reluctantly took her seat between Eddie and Patricia and helped herself to a heaping serving of pancakes.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eddie and Joy packed up a plate of breakfast to go for K.T.. They also made sure to grab her school bag and uniform before heading out in search of their missing friend. As the pair hiked up the wooded trail, Joy couldn't help but think it was a little strange that K.T. wasn’t back yet. Sure she could have gotten distracted, but given that the American girl had left before sunrise and it was now eight… Joy was just slightly suspicious. Of course the lovable oaf beside her had no such suspicions and fully expected to find their friend taking pictures of butterflies at the top of the hill.
“K.T. where are you?” called out Eddie as the pair reached the top of the hill.
“Come on Kara, we’ve got to get to class”
Their calls went unanswered.
“Huh, that’s weird” muttered Eddie, walking along the clearing looking for any sign of the girl.
“Maybe she already went to class and we just missed her?” suggested Joy, though deep down she didn’t believe it herself.
“Maybe you’re right. Let’s head into class and if she isn’t in first period I’ll cut class and go find her”.
“Thanks Eddie, I would go with you but I have a super important presentation during my second period”
The pair reluctantly made their way towards the school building, their hearts and minds heavy with worry for their missing friend.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eddie’s knee bounced nervously as he anxiously watched the clock. K.T. hadn’t shown up to their shared math lesson that morning. As the bell rang, the American boy sprinted out of the classroom, there was no time to waste!
Deciding to head back to the last place he knew she had been, Eddie returned to the wooded trail. This time he made sure to pay extra close attention to the trail itself hoping to spot something he might have previously missed. He made it about three quarters of the way up the path before he spotted something that sent horrified shivers down his spine. There, lying broken on the ground, partially hidden by a clump of bushes was K.T.’s camera. Kneeling down in the dirt, Eddie retrieved the broken device and began to search it for clues. Eddie noted that the lens was cracked and the body of the camera had been dented when it hit the ground. Infuriatingly, the device would not turn on despite Eddie’s frustrated attempts. Putting the camera in his bag, Eddie resumed looking for anything that would help him to figure out what had happened to his best friend. Once he knew where to look, signs of a fierce struggle were obvious. The land was disturbed in an unnatural way with several competing footprints locked in a vicious dance. Eddie grew paler with each new detail he discovered.
Five minutes of frantic searching and upending wildlife later, Eddie was no closer to finding K.T. than he had been that morning. A sudden rustling in the heavily wooded area to his right had Eddie on high alert, the strange, sharp tingling on the back of his neck he had started referring to as his “Osirian Sense” was ready to lash out at the perceived threat. The American boy was understandably suprised when instead of Victor and his murder cult, the figure that stumbled out of the woods groaning in pain was a boy who looked to be his own age.
“OOWW!!” complained the newly arrived dark haired boy, clutching his side as he stumbled over to the path. “Son of a bitch fucking stabbed me. Just wait until I get my hand on those devils. I’ll make Kai wish that he had never been born” seethed the boy.
“Uhhh, hi” waved Eddie awkwardly, eying the red splotch on the mystery boy’s side which was steadily growing. “Do you need some help? I can run down and get the nurse for you… or maybe an ambulance?”
“No! No ambulance” protested the boy, grabbing Eddie’s arm in an attempt to stop him.
“Ok, no ambulance” agreed Eddie, warily eying the bloodied hand on his jacket sleeve. Vera was going to kill him for staining his coat. Hopefully Joy would help him get the blood out before the housemother noticed. “Is there another way I can help you? I can’t see much but you seem to be losing a lot of blood”
“Yeah, the fucker stabbed me before running off with my stash” shared the boy, hiking up his shirt enough so that Eddie could see the injury. It was a nasty looking thing, but the American took comfort in the fact that it seemed to be a fairly shallow but long slash and was located away from the boy’s vital veins and organs. The mystery boy readily accepted Eddie’s help and settled into a more comfortable sitting position, leaning against one of the tall oak trees. Taking off his jacket, Eddie set about applying pressure to the wound as he called upon every ounce of Boy Scout survival training and emergency medicine his mother had drilled into his head.
“If you don’t mind me asking…” began Eddie, only to be cut off by his injured companion.
“How’d I get like this? Well, I was looking for a friend of mine, Alana, she’s recently gone missing and after what happened to our friends Toni and Lola… well I was getting desperate. This guy I met told me he would give me details about Alana if I bought him some pot. Which in hindsight really should have been a red fucking flag. Anyways…. I got the pot and met up with him at the overpass by the tracks. Before I was able to get all the info I needed about Alana, the bastard jumped me, took my stash and disappeared. I’m just lucky I ran into you or else I likely would have bled out!!!”
Eddie silently thought that the boy wouldn’t have bled out from the cut, but he would have likely caught an infection, a concern which still remained despite Eddie’s care.
“I am so sorry to hear that, bro. Did you end up getting any news about your friend?”
“A little, Kai mentioned this old warehouse on the outskirts of town. I’m not sure if that’s where they’re keeping Alana, but it’s certainly where I am going to go check out next. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find Lola and Toni there as well!”
“When did Alana go missing?” wondered Eddie, a dark look on his face as he considered the possibilities of whoever took this girl might have taken K.T. as well.
“Two days ago, I tried to talk to the police but they won’t work with me and the town has written all of us off as ‘troubled teens’ thanks to that jerk Layden’s article. It’s like I’m the only one who cares that she’s gone. There are kids going missing and the adults would rather just write it off as “wild choices” and “disobedient behavior”. I know Alana better than I know myself, she would never just ‘runaway’, no matter what the police think”
Memories of bright flashes and Jason’s terrified and pained screams filled Eddie’s mind. He wasn’t sure about this Lola girl, but he knew that the cheerleader the Sibunas and his friends had seen dragged, tased, bound and gagged, into the summer house had been Toni. He felt sick knowing what had become of the girl and not being able to tell his new friend what had become of his loved one. Speaking of which…
“That really sucks man, I’m Eddie by the way, and I’m willing to go stake out that warehouse with you if you want back up”.
“Really?... uh yeah! Dude, I will totally take some help. Sorry, I’m just not used to people actually wanting to help me. I’m Greg” replied the boy, a stunned, but happy grin spreading across his face. “Just one question… Why are you helping me?”
“Because you’re injured and it’s the decent human thing to do? Plus I believe you about your friends. I was actually out here looking for a friend of mine as well. Her name is K.T.. I found her broken camera and signs of a struggle… I’m thinking she might have been taken like your friends”.
“Shit. I’m so sorry mate! Makes sense why you are so quick to believe me though, while everyone else writes me off” huffed the boy, kicking a loose stone darkly.
“Well Greg, let’s get you down the hill here. I have some better cleaning supplies in my room which I can use to fix up your wound. After that we can make a plan to tackle the warehouse and get our friends back” declared Eddie, clapping his hands together decidedly. Offering his arm to Greg, Eddie helped the boy to his feet and the pair began the slow descent down the hill back to Anubis House.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
As the clock struck noon, the boys found themselves peering around a pile of tires at the abandoned warehouse Greg’s contact had mentioned. Their search of the building on Google Maps had allowed them to plot out a tentative plan on how to best approach the structure, unfortunately they were mostly flying Eddie’s least favorite way… blind.
A sudden hiss and jab to his ribs had Eddie on high alert as Greg pointed to a tall muscular red haired man exiting the building. “That’s him!! That’s Kai!”
“That’s Kai?!?” questioned Eddie, having imagined some highschool kid like themselves rather than the mountain of a man in front of them.
“Well at least we know that intel was good and that we’re in the right place” reflected Greg as he surveyed their target. “Here’s what I’m thinking. The photos on Google showed that there is a smaller entrance around back. I’m betting that the small one won’t be guarded since they have Kai up here. We’ll sneak in there and see if we can find the girls”.
Eddie felt awful as a silent beast welled up within him at the knowledge that they would not find Toni inside, he could only hope that KT and Greg’s other two friends would be there, mostly unharmed, for them to rescue.
“Sounds good” agreed Eddie, brushing off his guilt and shame before pulling out his lockpick. “Let’s go get our girls back”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Getting inside the warehouse turned out to be fairly easy. Eddie picked the lock in record time and the boys were able to slip inside without raising any suspicion. The pair crept carefully down the long winding hallways glancing through windows looking for their missing friends. The sound of a girl yelling angrily drew the boys towards a large open room. Ducking behind a giant pallet, Eddie and Greg looked on in horror as K.T. and another girl hung dangling from chains in the center of the room, their feet just inches off the ground. The loud female yelling they had heard was coming from the girl who Greg confirmed was Alana. On either side of the chained girls were large guards holding intimidating looking guns. In front of the girls paced a blond man who was barking orders into a cell phone.
“I recognize that guy, I learned about him from my brother” muttered Greg furiously. “That’s Winn Yates, he’s known around the tracks. His organization has a ton of really bad connections to black market groups. Before Jack got taken in he said that Yates’ business here was done”.
“What was his business?” wondered Eddie, not for the first time that day reconsidering just who he was teamed up with.
“He was working for the Collector. A scary powerful dude who was NOT afraid to disappear people”.
Collector… against his will Eddie’s mind flashed back to last spring and the horrific image of Joy falling to the ground dead. Rufus Zeno had been the collector, but hadn’t Vera been working with him? Maybe she had stepped up to fill his evil boots.
A pained yelp from K.T. broke him free from his thoughts and Eddie saw red as he noted her scream was from pain after a guard had jabbed his gun in her side.
“Uhh mate? You good? You seem to be making a shit float” whispered Greg, in a slightly hysterical tone.
Glancing to the side Eddie saw that yes, yes he was making several bricks and loose tools float. Given everything he had seen Nina do this year, Eddie chalked up his new ability as just another Osirian quirk. Deciding to go with what his Osirian Senses were telling him, Eddie opted for his usual plan of ‘act first, think later’ and dove into the fray.
Eddie ran headlong at the guard who had hit K.T. and rammed his whole body into him, knocking the guy down to the ground. In a fit of luck, the guard hit his head and was knocked unconscious, one down two to go. Greg had followed Eddie’s example and was currently wrestling with the other guard. Turning his sights towards the main man, Eddie raced towards him with the anger of a raging hippopotamus. Baring his teeth, Eddie called on the training he’d received from Luke when he was in New York. Dropping into a balanced stance Eddie curled his hands into fists the way the man had taught him when he was just a mouthy teen with too much anger and no outlet.
Taking a deep breath Eddie centered himself before launching himself at Yates with wild abandon. His first punch landed squarely on the man’s cheek, rocking him backwards. Unfortunately, Yates quickly recovered and struck back at Eddie matching his punches blow for blow. Eddie was cursing himself for not keeping up his boxing training after leaving New York. Rearing back, Eddie slammed a harsh kick into the kidnapper’s knees while simultaneously headbutting him in the nose. The man crumpled under the joint attack, blood gushing from his now broken nose.
Sprinting over to K.T.’s side Eddie began to pick the lock on her chains, “Hey Tati. You hanging in there?”
“Is now really the time for your bad jokes, Osirian?” sighed K.T., rolling her eyes towards the bound girl next to her.
“Sorry, sorry. You ok?”
“Better now that you’re here” replied K.T. with a grateful smile. “Thanks for rescuing me”.
“Always” promised Eddie. “Here we go, big drop” he warned as the lock clicked and K.T. fell to the ground. The American girl let out a pained groan as she hit the ground, but waved off Eddie’s attempts to help her up, motioning him to help Alana instead.
Eddie made quick work of dismantling the lock and released Alana into Greg’s waiting arms. Smiling softly at the reunited pair, Eddie turned his attention back towards his friend who had risen unsteadily to her feet. Rushing over to his friend, Eddie helped to steady her before pulling her into a crushing hug.
“I’m so glad you’re ok, K”
“Thanks to you. Way to step up Osirian” chuckled K.T. in a watery voice. While the American girl was clearly trying to brush off her fear, Eddie could feel her shaking in his arms.
“Osirian?” asked Alana. “I thought your name was Eddie.
“Oh, yeah” bluffed K.T., “Osirian is just a nickname I have for Eddie. He’s my girlfriend and I’s, superhero so we came up with Osirian as his ‘hero name’”.
“Not to break up the party, but we should probably get out of here before reinforcements come,” commented Eddie, glancing at the three unconscious men lying on the warehouse floor. The others agreed and followed Eddie back out the way the boys had entered.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Greg and Alana walked the American duo all the way back to the gates of Frobisher Academy. The girls had caught their friends up on all that had happened during their kidnapping. Apparently, Yates was working for the Collector and had been contracted to collect ‘sacrifices’ for them. Eddie and K.T. had exchanged worried looks at this both knowing what those sacrifices were for and that it had likely been Victor and Vera as the Collector.
“Well this is us” commented K.T., “Are you two sure you will be able to get home ok? We can ask our friend Alfie to borrow his car and drive you into town?”
“We’ll be fine,” assured Alana, shooting the Americans a bright grin. “Greg’s car is just a little bit further down the way”.
“Alright, make sure to keep your wound bandaged and clean. If you don’t see it healing in the next few days, I recommend going to the hospital” coached Eddie, his eyes worried as he took in the pair.
“Thanks mate! You really are a superhero” chuckled the dark boy.
“Speaking of that… Eddie, can I talk to you for a sec?” asked Alana nervously.
“Uhh, sure” agreed Eddie, as the pair stepped away from their friends.
“So this is going to sound a little weird, but ever since I heard K.T. call you ‘Osirian’ I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. My uncle told me this story about a spirit called the Osirian which protects the Paragon. Before today I always thought it was just a story but Greg told me you made those bricks float and I can’t help but wonder… are you the spirit from my story?”
Eddie didn’t know what to do. He had just met this girl today, still she seemed trustworthy and she already knew about the Osirian so it had to be ok, right?
“Yeah, that’s me! The Osirian” declared Eddie with a dashing grin.
“WOW!” gasped the girl with stars in her eyes. “That is so cool! I can’t believe that I am meeting an actual superhero!! This is like something out of a Marvel movie!”
Eddie couldn't help but laugh, charmed by the girl’s praise.
“So my Uncle, the one who told me about you, he gave me this” explained Alana, pulling a ring on a necklace out from under her shirt. “He mentioned that if I was to ever meet the Osirian I was to give this to him as it would help him protect the Paragon”
Accepting the ring, Eddie slid it on to his finger, a perfect fit. Looking at the design, Eddie noticed it matched the markings on the crypt and the drawer in the Summer House.
“Apparently Uncle Pedro knew the old Osirian before he went off the rails and helped to train him”
“Really! Your uncle knew Rufus?”
“Uh huh”
Eddie’s mind was spinning with all the possibilities this could open up. His dad hadn’t been any help in learning about the Osirian, and Nina didn’t know much either. Nina at least had been able to get to know Sarah before the woman passed, all Eddie got from his predecessor was a bonk on the head and trauma. Meeting Alana though meant that maybe she would let him train with her uncle!
“Do you think I could maybe train with your Uncle? Like you said the old Osirian went insane and murdery, and my Paragon doesn’t know much about what being an ‘Osirian’ means”.
“I can certainly ask,” agreed the girl. The pair quickly traded numbers before heading back to the others. Alana promised to talk to her uncle for him and would be in touch soon. Waving goodbye to their new friends, Eddie and K.T. happily made their way back home happy to be together again.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 33: Superpowers Cause Anxiety
Summary:
Nina and Eddie's descents into madness continue 😔
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰. I am so sorry that this chapter is so late. I have been super busy with work, and hit major writers block. Sadly updates will still be slower, as this new school year is really taking a lot out of me. As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Anubis House was abuzz with activity as the residents secretly prepared for K.T.’s upcoming birthday. The 12th year students were determined to make their newest housemate’s special day the best one ever! Eddie, and Joy after hearing about the kidnapping, had barely let the American girl out their sights in the wake of the attack. Eddie’s mind spun with dark thoughts, and no matter how much Joy and K.T. assured him that the girl’s capture wasn’t his fault, Eddie couldn’t help but feel responsible. He was the Osirian afterall, what good was it to have superpowers if he couldn’t keep his best (American) friend safe?
Such thoughts always led to him circling back to the conversation with Alana. The girl had messaged him that her Uncle Pedro was so excited to meet him and was looking forward to helping him learn more about his duty as the Osirian. While most of Eddie was comforted by this news, there was a little tiny annoying piece of his mind that was screaming that this was an awful idea. That obnoxious little voice sounded a lot like his mom, warning him about stranger danger and how his trusting heart would get him in trouble one day. Eddie stomped that part of his mind down into submission. That voice was wrong, Alana was great and he was lucky to have met someone who knew about his Osiran abilities and was willing to help. It was more than his own father was willing to do! So ignoring that cautious voice, Eddie replied to Alana letting her know that he was in and looking forward to working with her uncle.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Elsewhere in the house, Nina was having similar dark thoughts to her counterpart. Ever since she had taken the elixir it was as if all her senses had become sharper. The echoes of the house called out to her constantly warning her of the danger that she and her friends were trapped in. Despite the power and security that the elixir had provided her, Nina couldn’t help but still feel like a rabbit caught in a snare, the claws of the cage clamped deep in her skin. Nina was tired of being scared she NEEDED to do more, to be able to protect herself and her friends. It wasn’t enough to simply be on the same level as the Society mortality wise, Nina needed to be able to destroy them. To crush them and make them pay for the lives they had taken, the trauma they had imparted upon the club, the fear that haunted her every waking moment.
Flipping through one of Lousia’s many journals, Nina noticed the many mentions of the spirit realm and the power it held. A couple rituals the woman reported caught Nina’s eye. Unfortunately without Louisa or Sarah’s help, Nina wouldn’t be able to put them into practice. What she wouldn’t give to have one of their ghosts hanging around… wait!
“Amneris” called Nina as she stroked the hair pieces Mr. Englavista had given her.
It only took a couple moments before Nina’s room was filled with the familiar scent of lavender that always accompanied her ghostly ancestor. While the smell might have once inspired fear, now only sent a shock of excitement down her spine.
“Chosen One! What can I do for you, my descendant?” asked the beautiful spirit, her dark hair cascading down her back in a silent waterfall.
“I was reading Louisa’s journals and she keeps making references to spirit rituals. They seem like they would be useful in my game against the Society. Would you be willing to teach me a few spells? I remember how powerful you were when you saved us from the Sacrifice last month” complimented Nina, hoping to trick the spirit into helping her.
If the woman had any blood, Nina was sure she would have blushed “Oh that was child’s play. I told you then, Nina, that you could do the same with a little training. I would gladly take you on as my protege, it is your right as a Chosen One after all!”.
“Awesome! Let’s start with this one!” grinned Nina, pointing to a particularly interesting blood ritual of Louisa’s.
A twisted grin spread itself across the undead priestess’ face as she read over the ingredient list, “~Oh. This will be fun!~”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Joy and Eddie had debated for weeks what the best 18th birthday party for K.T. would be, before settling on a glow in the dark paint night located in the basement art room of the school. K.T. loved quirky events and a glow in the dark party seemed like the perfect plan. Joy had cornered Kara’s photography teacher after class one day and convinced the teacher to let them borrow the room for the party. The pair instructed all of the guests to wear white clothes that they didn’t mind getting stained to the event and bought tons of non-toxic glow in the dark paint.
Pinning back her hair in two tight braids, Joy brushed down her white tennis skirt and crop top. She double checked that her white tennis shoes were tied and grinned when she spotted the pink, purple and blue anklet her girlfriend had made and gifted her that weekend. Joy had traded her a less skillfully made pink, orange, red and white anklet. K.T. had kindly gushed over Joy’s handiwork despite its simplicity.
“It doesn’t matter how complicated it is JJ, what matters is that you took the time to make this for me! I adore it, will you tie it on me?” asked the girl, rolling up her jeans excitedly. Joy had happily fastened the gift around her girlfriend’s ankle.
A knock on the door jolted Joy out of her musings “Come in!” she called happily.
“Hey JJ, you ready to party!?!” cheered Eddie dancing into the room.
“You know it! This is going to be the best party we’ve ever thrown”
“Damn straight! Kara’s mind is going to be utterly blown!” agreed Eddie, leading Joy out of the room and off to the celebration.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 34: Dark Academia (On A Budget)
Summary:
KT’s party, sketchy school personnel, Alfie is proven right & Eddie struggles with protecting his dumb ass chosen one!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Saturday! It is officially the beginning of Spooky season, also known as House of Anubis season 😂! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“You are gorgeous” complimented Joy as she danced with her stunningly beautiful girlfriend in the dark room.
“Oh please”
“No, I'm being serious! You look like a vision come to life”
“Jooooy” whined the girl, ducking her head into Joy’s shoulder as they swayed on the dance floor.
“Awww, you’re blushing. You are so precious!”
“Just shut up and dance with me”
“That I can do” grinned Joy, and as the beat sped up the pair did the same as they danced the night away with their friends.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“I am so fucking done with this year and it’s only November” snarled Amelia as she angrily downed her third cup of spiked punch, curtesy of Clarke and his *connections*.
“Same, this has got to be the worst year of my bloody life” commiserated Abigail. “I swear I’m either in class or stuck in Miss Wilson's office ‘processing my trauma’ ”.
“At least you are out tonight?” offered Amelia.
“Yeah, thanks to Josie. Everyone else has either been avoiding us or treating me and my housemates with kid gloves since Jason died. Josie is the only one who’s stayed the same, I don’t know where I would be without her”.
“Well thank goodness for Josie. I can’t even imagine what this year has been like for you and your housemates. Plus dealing with school too? I would have at least taken a semester off”.
“As if Sweet would let us” scoffed the bitter redhead. “Natasha tried to and he wanted her to sign a bunch of sketchy documents and basically said if she leaves she wouldn’t be allowed to return or talk about the school… ever”.
“Well that’s weird”
“Big time. But honestly that’s one of the least weird things that have happened at this school. While I’m thankful for the help Miss Wilson has provided, she keeps asking these really weird questions”.
“Like stuff to go to the cops about?” wondered Amelia, setting aside her drink. She wondered if she would have to fight a staff member tonight. She didn’t necessarily want to, but Amelia Pinches would protect her classmates no matter what.
“Oh nothing like that. I think the only teacher who was like *that* was Mr. Winkler and he set his sights on Williamson pretty early on. I guess the school got wind of his creepiness and didn’t renew his contract”
“Well thank goodness for small mercies. What kind of weird questions is she asking then?”
“Just stuff about the day to day operation of the school. What I know about the alums. The general school rumors about our founding. Stuff that’s not about me or Jason… which is what I’m supposed to be meeting with her about. I mean my bloody boyfriend died at campus party two months ago why the fuck would I care about what Sweetie gets up too?”.
“Huh, well that seems fairly harmless. Like the worst stuff she’d turn up is that we were founded by racist rich assholes and then the Winkler shit”.
“True. I’m just grateful that our school actually got around to hiring a counselor. How we functioned without one before is just crazy to think about” sighed Abbi.
The pair chatted a while longer before going their separate ways to try and enjoy the rest of the night.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibuna Seven were huddled in the Secret Frobisher room once again as Fabian and Nina tried to figure out what was wrong with the room’s phonograph.
“Ah! We found out why it’s not working” exclaimed Nina excitedly.
“Whatever powered this thing has perished over the years” explained Fabian, pulling out the old powersource.
“Oh, so it WAS the batteries” snarked Alfie, proud of himself for deducing the problem days before.
“Ugh, now we have to go scavenge for parts” whined Patricia, dropping despondently into the fancy blood red armchair, only to have a large puff of dust appear causing the Sibunas to develop a coughing fit.
“Alright, that’s enough for tonight. Fabian take a picture of the parts and put it in the group chat. We can look around the house tomorrow. If worse comes to worst, and we don’t find any then we’ll just order them off Amazon” declared Nina, ushering the Sibuna Crew out of the secret room and back into the main part of the house to get some much needed rest.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Lili let out a muffled angry scream as she held her pillow over her head. Mara’s freaking dog would not stop whining and it was three am.
“How are Victor and Vera not hearing this?” asked KT incredulously from her own bed.
“I don’t know. Frankly I’m shocked that she’s been able to hide the dog for the past two weeks”
“Look I like Mara, but I can’t help but wish that the Mutt would be busted already”
“I know! At least Nina and Amber’s snake is quiet” .
“And out of sight. The only chance Julius Squeezer will get busted is if Victor and Vera launch another house-wide search and find him locked in Nina’s wardrobe”.
“I give it another couple days before someone snaps and turns in Mara. Hell, if no one else tells Victor about the dog, I will” swore Lili.
The dog's whines finally quieted down enough for the girls to get some sleep. Liliana drifted off to sleep, her mind full of peaceful dogless dreams.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The 12th year Seminar class found themselves on a bus at the crack of dawn Friday morning driving into the city for a museum tour. Joy stared blearily out the window of the bus as Kara slept on her shoulder. In front of her, Eddie and Nina were whisper-yelling across the aisle at each other as their respective partners ignored them. Joy wasn’t quite sure what the pair were arguing about, but whatever it was, it had started after Eddie had suddenly jolted awake from his power nap.
Ignoring the bickering Americans, Joy closed her eyes and decided to get a few more moments of sleep before the tour.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
After their tour, the twelfth year students gathered on the stairs in front of the museum to enjoy their lunches. Joy leaned back contentedly, gratefully soaking in the late November sun; happy for the warmth it provided on such a chilly day.
Eddie stomped over to where Joy and KT were sitting after yet another argument with Nina, the third of the day and it was only one pm.
“What’s up with you?” asked Kara, arching a brow over the brim of her sunglasses.
“Nina’s being a fucking psycho”
“What is little miss Chosen One doing now?” drawled Joy.
“Hey! That’s my cousin” protested K.T. playfully batting Joy’s shoulder.
“So you of all people know her” teased Joy.
“Ladies! Back on topic. I had this vision of Nina making…” Eddie worriedly looked around to make sure his classmates were distracted before he whispered “elixir!”
“WHAT!?!” gasped Joy. “I literally died for that girl and this is how she repays me?”
“I know, it's a terrible idea. I confronted her about it and she said she hasn’t done it yet and it’s just to do with getting rid of the murder cult. Something about needing evidence? But my visions haven’t been wrong yet and I’m really worried. She won't listen to reason! It’s a good thing I’m meeting with Pedro tomorrow”
“Uggh!” groaned KT. “I love my cousin but she is as stubborn as the day is long, as Grandma Rose would say. There is no changing her mind on this matter”.
“I guess the only way to stop her is by getting the murder cult caught first” mused Joy, chomping down thoughtfully on a carrot stick.
“You might be onto something there, JJ. If we manage to reveal the murder cult and get them arrested then there is no need for Nina to make the elixir” grinned Eddie.
“I guess we’re going to have to step up our investigating skills when we get back to campus. I’m thinking we should go check out the ritual space and see if we find any clues”.
“Sounds good. Thanks guys!” grinned Eddie, before bounding back across the courtyard to where Alex, Talia and Mick were playing a pick up game.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Humming happily to herself, Nina paid for the smoothies she had purchased for herself and the Sibunas from the smoothie bar across from the museum. Looking across the street, Nina could just make out her yearmates goofing off and enjoying their lunches in the sunshine after the last few days of heavy rainfall. As anxious as Nina was to get back to them, there was one more thing she had to do.
Opening her purse, Nina took out her black and gold flask. Unscrewing the lid, Nina carefully poured a few drops of the softly sparkling liquid into Fabian’s blackberry and kale smoothie, Amber’s passionfruit smoothie, Alfie’s strawberry banana smoothie, Jerome’s mango smoothie, Lili’s mixed berry smoothie, and Patricia’s grapefruit smoothie. Giving it a mix, Nina grinned upon seeing her little addition was no longer visible having taken on the appearance of the individual drinks.
Strolling back across the street to where the Sibunas were having lunch, Nina situated herself at the head of the group and prepared to hold court. Passing out the drinks, Nina excitedly watched as one by one each of her friends drank their smoothies, unaware of the elixir hidden inside. With her friends’ protection secured, the world had better watch out, because Nina Martin was going to make The Society bleed.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 35: Breaking and Entering is Fun!
Summary:
The Second Hand Heroes Investigate the summer house, Eddie meets Uncle Pedro, the Sibunas fix the phonograph and learn some interesting information.
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Heyyyyyy... sorry for the long wait. My computer died and I didn't have the money to fix it for a while. I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! We are almost to 1000 hits! I hope that you all enjoy the this new (longer) update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
All of the adventure and treasure hunting movies KT had watched growing up had not prepared her for the amount of hiking she would be doing as an official treasure hunter.
“The house is just up and over the hill here” called Eddie as the trio walked along the abandoned train tracks. While it was true there was a more direct route to the house by gravel road, the secondhand heroes did not want to risk anyone catching sight of them as they snuck over to the summer house.
“It’s a good thing Peppermint thought to get us in shape this summer, though I never really thought we’d be using that training” grunted Joy, as she accepted the boost Eddie offered her to climb up over the wall.
It only took a few more moments for the group to finally reach the Frobisher Summer House. Eddie broke out his trusty lock pick and set to work jimmying open the locked window to the study he had used back in September.
“Be careful, I don’t think anyone should be here… but given our luck we’ll end up walking straight into a society meeting” warned Joy after the trio successfully found themselves in the summer house’s study.
“So do we split up or?” suggested K.T.
“Stay together!” whispered Joy and Eddie at the same time, the pair both having painful flashbacks to their respective kidnappings.
“Ok, great! Start at the bottom and work our ways up?” agreed KT
“Yeah. Eddie, you mentioned that you were able to trigger an entrance to the cult space last time you were here. Do you think you could do it again?” asked Joy.
“Sure, just give me a sec” agreed the American boy, as he shuffled through the desk drawers looking for the false bottom he had found last time.
A loud click and an ominous woosh signaled the release of the bookcase lock, and the fake wall swinging open to reveal the foreboding stone steps down into the apparent basement and cult space.
Now that Eddie was no longer racing to stop a cult meeting and save his friend, he took the time to take in the details including a strange phrase carved into the stone arch of the entryway.
“lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate… abandon all hope all ye who enter here. Well that’s inviting” translated KT, only to squawk at the strange looks the pair sent her. “What? Eddie speaks French and Joy speaks Spanish. Why is it so shocking that I know Italian?”
Shaking his head, Eddie just pushed forward, turned on his flashlight and stepped through the archway down into the depths of the cult space.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
At the bottom of the stairs the trio found a long hallway with two rooms. The first doorway led to a stone room with several mannequins dressed in red robes and different animal masks. Joy shuddered as she took in the familiar Jackal mask, her mind unwittingly filled with flashbacks to her time kidnapped by the society.
“Well this doesn’t look great” quipped KT as she eyed the robes warily.
“That sums up the society pretty well” snarked Joy.
“This is some seriously creepy shit” muttered Eddie darkly as he poked around in a few of the room’s cupboards, not really knowing what he was looking for and fearing what he would find.
"Let's check out the other room” suggested Joy, eager to get away from the ominous and chilling golden masks.
The other room seemed to be a mix between a library and a witch’s kitchen. The stone walls had been hollowed away to create bookshelves on which ancient and heavy looking tombs stood. KT made her way towards the silver and black wrought iron podium in the center of the room. Lying innocently open on the stand was a large cracked black leather book with silver fastenings. Glancing at the open page, KT gasped in horror as she read the title “Blood Sacrifices". Scanning the page, the fear continued to mount as she took in horrific information.
“Eddie, Joy! you guys are going to want to see this”.
The pair hurried over to where KT was reading. “What is it?” asked Eddie.
“On the night of the full moon, the eight acolytes must exchange a young soul as an offering to the gods. Upon completing their eighth exchange, Ra will smile upon them and bestow the lifespans of those souls upon the acolytes, thereby freezing their aging for another 80 years” read KT, her voice wavering.
“It looks like Victor and Vera found a non-elixir based way to extend their lifespans” muttered Eddie darkly.
“It seems his moral argument to not kill anyone has officially run out… most likely Vera’s influence” mused Joy. “Gods only knows what would happen if he got his hands on the cup and some elixir. I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate now to exchange one of our lives for true immortality”.
“KT does the book say if there is there any way to stop this?”
“It mentions that if the society fails to offer the eight sacrifices in eight months, the souls offered will be returned”
“Wait! We can actually get Jason back?” clarified Joy, her eyes lighting up with hope.
“It seems so, all we have to do is stop the society from offering the sacrifices”
“Oh yeah… piece of cake” scoffed Eddie.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eddie nervously approached the black car that was parked outside the gates. The driver’s window rolled down to reveal Alana and Greg grinning at him.
“Hey mate! I’m so glad you agreed to come with us” greeted Greg.
“Uncle Pedro is so excited to meet with you today, hop in!” chirped Alana.
Calmed by his new friend’s warm welcome, Eddie opened the door and took a seat in the back of the car.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The trio drove for about twenty minutes to the edge of town. Greg pulled up to an iron gate, guarding a foreboding looking manor. Eddie did his best to push down the worrying feeling that was beginning to grow in his chest. Greg quickly punched in a code causing the gates to slide open allowing the high school trio to pull through.
Putting the car in park, Greg and Alana hopped out of the car signaling Eddie to follow them. The front door of the manor opened to reveal a well dressed elderly man in a three piece suit and a cane.
“Ah! My favorite niece, welcome Alana”
“Hi uncle Pedro! You remember my friend Greg?”
“Of course, welcome back young man” smiled the man, his eyes glinting in the afternoon sunlight.
“And this is Eddie, the Osirian!”
“Edison Miller. I have waited a long, long time to meet you, Osirian. I am Pedro Englavista, and I look forward to working with you”.
“It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Englavista. I was thrilled to learn that there was someone who knew about the Osirian powers. Obviously my predecessor went crazy and passed on before I was able to learn about my new role, and my father refuses to speak about this”.
“Well I look forward to being able to pass on my knowledge. One of my greatest regrets is not being able to help your predecessor when his sanity started to slip” shared the man sorrowfully.
Feeling significantly more comfortable, Eddie excitedly followed the man inside the house for tea and to talk . Greg and Alana begged off saying that they were going to go walk around the property while the pair talked, given that they did not really care about all of the Osirian stuff.
Tea went really well and Eddie learned a lot about Rufus and Sarah during his time with Mr. Englavista. Apparently the man had been on the same archeological dig crew as Sarah and Rufus, which was where he had helped Rufus and Sarah with their Chosen One and Osirian skills. After about two hours Alana and Greg returned explaining that they really needed to get back into town. Eddie thanked their host and promised to return again soon. As the trio drove home, Eddie wondered if he would be able to bring Nina with him next time to meet Pedro Englavista; he was sure she would appreciate meeting someone who had known Sarah.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Monday afternoon the Sibuna club found themselves gathered around the newly fixed phonograph in the secret room. “Are we ready to do this?” asked Nina looking around at the group.
“Definitely!” grinned Fabian, a slightly manic look bleeding into his eyes.
Turning the crank, Nina activated the phonograph causing the ancient machine to spring to life and blare its long awaited message.
“Sarah, if you are listening to this the unthinkable has happened.” played an eerily familiar voice for all Sibunas.
“That’s Frobisher-Smythe” announced Amber, a queasy look on her face.
“Your mother and I have much to atone for, the worst being leaving you alone. There were many treasures which Louisa and I gained during our work, but one in particular has the power to bring about the most terrible consequences for the entire world. For your protection and that of the world, Louisa and I took it upon ourselves to break the key to this treasure into four pieces. The four pieces have been entrusted to the members of my expedition party. Sarah, it is up to you to find these pieces, form Tutenkahman’s staff and unlock our safe. Once inside our family’s vault I ask that you and Rufus combine your powers as Chosen One and Osirian to destroy the pharaoh’s sledge. I shudder to think what would occur should someone with the wrong intentions were to mount it and be taken into the afterlife. Good luck my love, I know that you will make the right choice and bring honor to our family name” finished the robber baron as the machine creaked and squealed to a jarring stop.
“Well… that sucks” muttered Jerome after a few moments of silence, perfectly summing up the feelings of the other six Sibunas.
“How are we supposed to find these pieces?” asked Lili.
“You guys are the descendents, you should know what he’s talking about, right?” theorized Fabian.
“Not me” muttered Alfie
“Me either” added Patricia
“Well I guess we start by going through your belongings and see if that turns up anything” decided Nina.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibuna club decided to start with Alfie and Jerome’s room. The boys set to work going through their trunks as the others searched the closet and desks.
“Itching powder, whoopee cushion, walkie talkies, zombie mask, ooh chocolate!” muttered Alfie.
“Guide to making money fast, book of easy scams, scarf, blazer” echoed Jerome.
“Come on Alfie! Think old, dusty, artifacty” snapped Nina, as she sorted through one of the boxes from the boy’s closet.
“I can’t think of anything my parents gave me like that” admitted Alfie.
“Same here. My mom barely fed us, much less gave me a valuable heirloom. What about you Trix?” scoffed Jerome.
“I’d know if I had an ancient artifact,” scoffed Patricia.
“Guys come on! We need to solve this!” worried Fabian.
“I guess it’s time to go ask Joy,” decided Nina.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“I can’t do this” worried Joy as she stared at the cursor blinking on her laptop screen.
“Come on JJ, just hit send” encouraged Eddie, rubbing her shoulders from where he stood behind the couch.
“But what if I don’t get it?”
“You definitely won't get in if you don’t submit it” K.T. urged her girlfriend.
Taking a deep breath, Joy hit enter. With a whoosh and a little ding, the screen let the singer know that her University application had been accepted, there was no backing out now.
“Great! Now that that’s handled, let’s get back to work on our project. Have you figured out how you want to showcase a family tradition yet?” questioned KT
“Yeah, my family has this little nursery rhyme that is kinda haunting and cool. I figure if we pair it with some chords and Eddie lays down a beat we’re guaranteed to get an A” answered Joy.
“That sounds cool! How does it go?” asked Eddie, setting up the music mixing program on his laptop.
“Upstairs Downstairs Outside in, always search to conquer sin…” sang Joy, only to be interrupted by her housemates as they stampeded into the room.
“Joy! Joy! Family Heirlooms, do you have any in particular?” demanded Fabian hurriedly.
“No?” replied Joy, confusedly. “What’s up with you guys. We’re trying to work in here”
“Let’s just get back to it” sighed KT hitting record again on the computer.
“Upstairs Downstairs Outside in, always search to conquer sin. High and low in dale and hill, seek ye all to mend all ill. There is just one thing you'll need…” sang Joy, only to trail off confusedly as Jerome and Alfie each echoed her song. “Wait? How do you guys know that nursery rhyme? My dad made it up” she demanded.
“No, my parents made that song up” disagreed Alfie.
“Nope, my mom did. Probably the only nice thing she ever did for me and Poppy” argued Jerome.
“Definitely not! My mom made up that song. She would sing it to Piper all the time, I would sneak over to her bedroom and listen to it when my mother would put Piper to sleep” chimed in Patricia.
“Keep singing” ordered Nina, a sharp look in her eyes.
“There is just one thing you'll need…” sang the group, only to differ on the next line.
“In the parlor the lines will lead” ended Jerome.
“The lodge's heights are hot indeed” crooned Alfie.
“In the place of rest you will succeed” sang Joy.
“In the summer house beneath the weeds” finished Patricia.
“You got it wrong” accused Joy, glaring at the trio.
“No you all got it wrong” scoffed Patricia.
“Can someone just tell us what this is about?” asked Eddie.
“Never mind!” dismissed Fabian, ushering the Sibunas out of the room, the manic look back in his eyes.
“Guys don’t you realize what just happened?” asked the boy once the group of seven were safely in the atrium. “If I’m right, your parents did tell you how to find the artifact”.
“The rhymes are clues on where to find the missing pieces of the pharaoh's staff! Fabian! You’re a genius!” exclaimed Nina, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Ok, let’s start with the parlor tonight, after lights out” suggested Amber.
“Sounds good. Until then let’s split up and get some homework done” added Patricia. Placing a hand over her eye she signaled the others, “Sibuna!”.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all in the next update 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 36: Latitude and Longitude
Summary:
The artifact search kicks off and Secret Santa is back at Anubis
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Saturday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Sibuna club decided to wait an extra hour and a half after lights out to ensure that Victor and Vera had also gone to bed before sneaking down into the living room. Alfie passed out the flashlights from the Sibuna backpack to his housemates as Nina explained the plan.
“If Fabian is right, then the first artifact, the one from Jerome’s rhyme should be somewhere in this space. ‘In the parlor lines will lead’, so I guess look for anything with lines”
The group set to work analyzing each aspect of the room. Alfie investigated the lined roll top desk and Patricia started scanning the wall paper. Jerome decided to test the floorboards, while Lili tested the drapes. Nina and Amber investigated the various picture frames to see if maybe they had held the key to their missing object. Fabian, though, stood in the middle of the room turning the riddle over and over in his mind… lines will lead… lines will give directions…
“Lines of Latitude?” he muttered stepping over to the old globe in the corner of the dining room that never got any use.
“Like directions on a map?” asked Liliana
“Is that even a thing?” wondered Alfie.
“Yeah, longitude and latitude. Don’t y’all learn that in elementary school?” scoffed Nina, following Fabian over to the globe.
Unfortunately as the pair tried to pry the globe case open they found it to be stuck.
Spinning the globe, Fabian suddenly had an idea. “Nina, try aligning the arrows with Egypt”
Nina carefully spun the globe to land on Egypt. As the globe locked into place with a click, Nina’s locket began to glow.
“Neens look! You’re glowing!” gasped Amber.
Scanning the globe’s casing, Jerome located the familiar Eye of Horus shaped hole. The Sibuna Club held their breath as Nina pressed her locket into the groove, causing a series of locks and gears to whirr to life.
“You hear that?” whispered Lili in awe to Patricia
“That’s the sound of us being one puzzle piece closer to freedom” Patricia whispered back with a satisfied smirk, a golden flash flickering in her eyes.
Fabian carefully lifted the lid of the globe revealing several crystal bottles covered in spiderwebs filled with what Liliana prayed was alcohol.
Nina scanned each of the bottles before stopping on what appeared to be a cigar canister; her experience with the Frobisher-Smythes though had taught her that looks could be deceiving. Pulling up the lid, Nina found that it was not a cigar jar at all, but the end of a very long golden rod.
“Looks like we have our first artifact” grinned Jerome.
“One down, three to go” quipped Alfie.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nancy Wilson was typing away peacefully at her desk on Thursday evening. The December sun had set long ago, making it so that the only light in the room came from the ancient desk lamp. Everything at this school was old and weird, she couldn’t wait until this assignment came to an end. Looking down at her open files, Nancy’s eyes flicked over the smiling faces. She just needed one of them to crack, one of them to open up and provide her the information her bosses so desperately needed. The cameras she had set up around the premises were revealing a frustrating little amount of damaging information. Nancy needed a new target as her original prey, Abigail Cowen, had been of little use to her being far too focused on university applications and crying over her dead boyfriend.
The flicker of her desk lamp and a slight breeze from the ancient ventilation system stole Nancy’s attention for a second. When she looked back, a certain student’s profile caught her eye. Pulling the file from the stack, Nancy reviewed it shrewdly but couldn’t stop the slow grin that spread across her face. Yes… Miss Mercer might just be who she was looking for after all.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Gather round, gather round everyone!” called Joy cheerfully as she stood on the coffee table in the center of the sitting room. Joy, in honor of the season, had donned a red and white striped knit dress, a Santa hat and a pair of black knee-high high heeled boots. In her hand she held the ragged looking Anubis House stocking, with each of the resident’s names sewn onto it. Joy had bribed Lili with choco chunk and marshmallow cookies to have the girl quickly add KT’s name to the stocking as a surprise for the American girl.
“Is this going to take long?” grumbled Mara, purposefully seating herself on the other side of the room from Jerome and Liliana who were curled up together on the couch. “I was supposed to be in the lab ten minutes ago, and then I’m going out with Natasha and Andrew”.
“Don’t worry Emmy, this’ll be quick” promised Joy, shooting the girl a sympathetic smile. It sucked seeing your crush with someone else, but Joy hoped that the girl would come to realize that there were more people out there and that her perfect person was just around the corner, just like KT was for Joy!
“Oh!!! Is it that time already?!?” asked Amber, bouncing excitedly into the room, dragging Alfie, Nina and Fabian behind her.
“Yup! The best time of year has officially arrived… Secret Santa” declared Joy, leading to ecstatic applause from her housemates. “Now, since Kara wasn’t here last year, I’m going to speed run the rules. Rule one, do not tell anyone who you got. Rule two, you can’t just give a gift card and call it good, people. You need to actually put thought and effort into the gift. Rule three, don’t give anything mean. This isn’t an opportunity for you to be petty or settle a feud. Gifts will be exchanged on the 15th, which is next Friday at our house holiday party. Any questions?”.
The resounding “no’s” let Joy know she could begin, reaching into the stocking she pulled out her slip of paper. Opening it up Joy did her best to hide her grin, Mara, this was going to be fun!
The other students quickly took their turns passing around the stocking and drawing their assigned resident.
“Great! Now that everyone has their secret santa, go forth and plan” cheered Joy, waving her friends out of the room with a smile.
Soon it was just her and KT left in the living room. Joy settled herself down on one of the cushions before the fireplace ready to spend the rest of the afternoon with her lovely girlfriend and a fun game of chess!
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 37: An Unexpected Proposal
Summary:
It is ✨ date night ✨ and things are heating up 🔥🔥🔥
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Welcome back to Scent of Lavender! I love you all and am so sorry for going radio silent! Explanation of what's been up with me in the end notes. But for now, enjoy chapter 37! - XO Evie 💋
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Sibuna Club gathered in the sitting room to go over the clues they had gathered regarding the rhymes from their ancestors.
“The lodges' heights are hot indeed, In the summer house beneath the weeds, In the place of rest you will succeed” read off Nina, tapping her pencil against the clue notebook.
“Any idea what those might mean?” asked Lili
“Nope, I got nothing” shrugged Alfie
“At least we already found one artifact,” encouraged Fabian.
“I guess we should just keep an eye out for any hot lodges, places of rest and houses covered in weeds” sighed Jerome.
“Sounds like a plan, if that’s all though Eddie and I have plans” grinned Patricia bouncing to her feet excitedly.
“Where are you guys going?” asked Amber
“Eddie got us tickets to a concert in town tonight, so we’re grabbing dinner beforehand at Jackson’s”
“That sounds fun. Enjoy!” waved Nina, before turning back to her notes.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Patricia poked awkwardly at her pasta. She loved Eddie, he was one of the most important people in the world to her. Yet she couldn’t help but worry about the growing distance between the two of them.
The pair had sworn no more lies after the confusion of last year. But now there was this void of things left unsaid. She told herself over and over that she was leaving him in the dark for his protection. Truthfully though, if she was being honest, Patricia didn’t want Eddie in her Sibuna world.
Being a Sibuna was dangerous, and yet Patricia never felt more alive than she had this year. Which was strange because at the beginning of the year she had been worried about the whole Amneris issue and the Society. But after the trip to the Museum Patricia had felt invincible.
Patricia almost felt silly for worrying so much earlier in the semester. Nina would figure it out and Patricia would protect the American Girl with her life. Little did the redhead know that her eyes had flashed gold as the elixir reacted to her thinking of its maker.
Eddie eyed his girlfriend cautiously as he noticed her eyes glint golden. Glancing around he tried to figure out what could have caused the change of eye color. Deciding to chalk it up to the lighting he paid their bill and helped Patricia into her coat before setting off to their concert.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The holidays were always a busy time in Anubis house, even without the upcoming midterms and evil cult looming over them. Joy was thrilled at the opportunity to turn her brain off for a bit and just let the fun of the season envelop her and her friends. Joy had always loved the magic that the holiday season seemed to bring and she greatly enjoyed running around downtown buying presents in different shops for her friends. This year, she had pulled Mara’s name out of the stocking, and Joy was determined to make this Christmas amazing for the broken hearted girl. Not that the “Straight A” student was likely to be lonely for long.
Mara was drop dead gorgeous, a fact which the boys (and many girls) were not oblivious to. If she were only to turn her sights outwards from Anubis house, Joy was certain that the beautiful girl would be inundated with gifts and date offers.
Paying for her purchases, Joy finished up her shopping and headed back to the main road to meet up with her classmates and walk back to the school.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Careful! This box is super heavy!” warned Alfie as he passed down one of the many boxes of holiday decorations to Mick. The alien obsessed boy was perched precariously in the rafters of the greenhouse which Victor had built for Vera over the Summer Holidays. The Anubis House residents used the rafters of the attached building to store their extra items, such as holiday decorations.
“I got it” grunted Mick, carefully accepting the box. Hefting the box he carried it over to the doorway where Eddie was waiting.
Eddie, next in the chain, took the bin and carried it through to the kitchen where it was passed off to Jerome.
Jerome, the final link, carried the bin of decorations over to the living room where the girls and Fabian were unpacking the various boxes and decorating the house for Hanukkah and Christmas.
The thirteen Anubis House residents had a ton of fun decorating their Christmas tree, which the boys had found, chopped down in the woods, and hauled back on a sled that morning. Amber hung up sprigs of mistletoe over the doorways while Joy tied bright bows on festive holly and evergreen wreaths. Nina and K.T. placed a blue and white tablecloth over the central sitting room table before carefully setting up the house’s menorah and dreidels.
Surprisingly even the adults were getting involved in the setup. Vera had put out a delicious spread of gingerbread cookies, which Patricia and Fabian were decorating. The woman had also whipped up a delicious pot of peppermint hot chocolate which everyone enjoyed in fun seasonal mugs; except the lactose intolerant Mara and K.T. who stuck to peppermint tea. The phonograph from Victor’s office had been brought down and cheerily played winter songs.
As the set up began to wind down, the teenaers had collapsed in various seats around the room. Except for Jerome, Aflie and Fabian who had dogpiled on top of Mick who was groaning at their combined weight pinning him to the ground.
The students’ laughter and various conversations were interrupted by Victor loudly clearing his throat to get their attention. The grumpy man stood awkwardly by the large windows in front of the decorated christmas tree.
“If I could have all of your attention please” announced the house’s caretaker. “Vera, my dear if you could come and join me?”
The blonde housekeeper blushed lightly and brushed her short hair behind her ears as she made her way over to join Victor by the tree.
The students all traded bewildered looks, confused as to what this was all about.
Taking Vera’s hands in his own, Victor began his prepared speech. “The moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew in my heart that my life was about to change. And true enough, after speaking with you, it felt like I’ve known you since forever. Our instant connection over taxidermy sparked what would soon become the inferno of our love. Who would have thought, especially after all of these long years alone, that the stranger in front of me that day would be the person I won’t last a day without. Today, I want to let you know that you are the person I want to be with for the rest of my life. I want to experience everything with you, the good and the bad, all of it with you…”
Letting go of the woman’s hands, Victor reached into his pocket and pulled out a little white velvet box. Dropping down onto one knee he opened it to reveal a gorgeous golden engagement ring. A beautiful large oval diamond sat in the center and was surrounded by smaller diamonds. The gorgeous ring resembled the sun. “Vera Enid Devenish, will you marry me?”
All of the students’ jaws dropped as one. Did grumpy, old, evil Victor really just propose to their beautiful eviler housemother?
“Oh Victor! Yes! Yes! I will marry you!” exclaimed Vera, grinning from ear to ear as the older man delicately slid the ring onto her finger.
Slowly the gathered students broke into staggered and shocked applause. Mick being the only one to not have anything truly against either of the adults standing before them whistled and cheered happily. While Mara did not know the truth about Victor, her crusade against Vera was still too fresh in the girl’s mind, so her response was a little softer than her ex’s. The Sibunas and Second Hand Heroes though were bug-eyed and at a loss as to how they should feel about this latest development.
With the surprise proposal now complete, the students offered various excuses and quickly made themselves scarce, heading back to their rooms allowing the couple space to celebrate.
Notes:
Evie's Notes 2: Hi friends, I'm alive! It's been a hot sec since I last updated this story. Things have been a bit insane these last few months in my personal life. Things reached a horrible boiling point and bubbled over about a month ago resulting in me quitting my job. My mental health had just gotten to a point where I could not go on, Bipolar disorder and PTSD really suck. I am so thankful for the wonders of modern medicine though. I seem to have finally found a mood stabilizer that works! So life should hopefully be getting back to a relative state of calm.
All of this is to say: You all should be "seeing" more of me as I return to the fandom space. I have missed you all and I look forward to geeking out with you all over our favorite show together again!
If you have read this, I am so grateful and hope that you all have an amazing day. Sending you peace and positive vibes ✨. See you soon - xo Evie 🌺
Chapter 38: Burn It Down
Summary:
The Sibunas prepare for midterms and discover another artifact.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Sibuna Club was curled up in Jerome and Alfie's room studying for their midterms Wednesday afternoon. They had just over a week until the winter holidays began and were anxious to finally have some uninterrupted sleuthing time, not that they actually went to class all that often these days anyways.
This year, only Mara and Mick would be going home for the break. Mara would be leaving Thursday night, as she did not have any Friday exams and Mick would be leaving on a plane to Australia first thing Saturday morning. Mick was looking forward to seeing his parents and hanging out with his five year old brother and sister Logan and Lindsey. Mara was actually excited to be going home for once, even though she would be stuck going to all her parent’s parties and paraded around like a prized pig. That was because this year her older brother, who had finished at university last year, would be bringing his new girlfriend to meet the family. That meant that on top of meeting the girl who made her beloved brother so happy, the focus would be primarily off her and instead locked on Jacob and Hannah.
“So have you had any more thoughts about the lodge’s heights?” asked Jerome as he idly played with one of Lili’s golden curls and half heartedly worked his way through the final canto of Dante’s Inferno.
Liliana and Amber were sprawled across Jerome’s bed, Lili with her head in the aforementioned boy’s lap, going over Art History flashcards.
“No,” grumbled Patricia as she sprinkled green glitter over her and Alfie’s business studies midterm poster board.
“What about the place of rest?” asked Amber, she snapped a hairband at Alfie and then played dumb when the boy looked around questioningly. Her act did little good since like most of her stuff, the hair tie was monogrammed and only one resident had the initials ALM. Alfie simply slipped the hair tie on his wrist and stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend.
“No” replied Fabian, he and Nina were pouring over one of Sarah’s old journals and steadfastly ignoring their midterm work.
“Wait a second!” gasped Nina, her head shooting up and her eyes flashing gold. “I think I’ve got it!”
As a whole, each Sibuna dropped what they were doing and turned their attention to their leader.
“Where is the ultimate place of rest?” asked Nina.
“Uhhh, my bed?” answered Alfie, looking longingly at the comfy mattress which was currently piled high with their school bags and blazers.
“No, place of rest, rest in peace” explained Nina.
“The crypt!” exclaimed Liliana.
“Ugh! Not again. I hate that place” moaned Alfie
“Suck it up A-Dog, Sibuna calls,” teased Jerome.
“We can go down tomorrow night,” suggested Patricia. “Victor and Vera will be having drinks with Mr. Sweet. Eddie, Joy and KT are going into town to see a movie, so they won’t be around to catch us. Mara never cares what we get up to and Mick has been hanging out with that one Isis girl more and more so he won’t be a problem”.
“Perfect. Tomorrow night it is then!” declared Nina with a satisfied grin. Her eyes flashed gold, sparking her followers’ eyes to glitter in response.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Ugh, I am so not loving being back down here again” complained Liliana as the group crawled through the trap door into the Frobisher crypt.
“Hopefully we won't be here long,” Nina assured the girl.
“In the place of rest you will succeed,” muttered Fabian, scanning the room for any possible hiding places.
“Let’s face it, the artifact could be anywhere” whined Jerome, eyeing a dirty pile of leaves which had built up over the years through a broken window suspiciously.
“We just need to look harder,” snapped Patricia, opening up the side room which led to Louisa’s resting place.
“Can I please burn this place to the ground” begged Jerome, “it’s giving me the creeps”
“Being that most of this is built of stone, I don’t think it’s going to do much damage,” Fabian reasoned, moving into what should have been Sarah’s part of the crypt.
“But trying will make me feel much better!”
“Yeah, I hate this crypt. I don’t want to be here” exclaimed Alfie. “Tunnels? Could be leading anywhere. Secret rooms? Kind of intriguing. Cellars and Attics? Dusty, but overall ok. Crypts are for DEAD PEOPLE! I’m making a stand alright? Alfie says no more!”
With that the boy slammed his hands angrily down on Robert Frobisher Smythe’s coffin; which on top of not being the most respectful thing to do to a person’s final resting place, also accidentally knocked part of the iron railing framing it loose.
“Alfie! You need to be more careful!” rebuked Amber.
Nina and Amber moved quickly to catch the metal rod before it crashed to the ground. As they went to set it back in place the girls paused when they noticed strange markings under the dust.
“Wait! Look at this” called Nina, motioning the others to come and join them. Jerome passed Nina his handkerchief to wipe the rest of the dust off the rod.
With the dust removed, several hieroglyphic carvings were now visible on the golden stick.
“Alfie you’ve done it!” cheered Liliana.
“This is our second artifact,” grinned Patricia.
“Two down, two to go!” remarked Fabian. “Then we just have to find the vault with Robert’s cache of stolen treasures in order to usher Amneris off to the afterlife”
“Progress is progress” encouraged Lili. “Where do we want to stash this one? I know we put the other artifact in Amber’s wardrobe but this one is a lot bigger. Plus Julius Squeezer is already taking up all of the available space in Nina’s”.
“I can keep it under my bed” offered Jerome.
Nina hesitated for a minute, but agreed. As the group turned to leave, “Ok, that should be fine. Let’s get goin-”
A sudden loud clang and shuffling in the hallway caused the Sibuna club to freeze in fear. The group held their breath for a few moments, but when
“What was that!?!” Worried Amber
“I don’t know, but we should be going, we have class in the morning” declared Patricia, ushering the group out of the crypt and back to the safety of their rooms.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“OWWW!!!” hissed KT quietly as she hopped up and down holding her leg. One of the loose rocks from the tunnel wall had fallen and landed loudly on her foot. Eddie had apparently bumped it while leaning against the wall to spy on the Sibuna club in the crypt.
The trio had planned to go into town to watch a movie at the theater, but when they got to town they found a power outage had caused the management to close the building early. Arriving back home they spotted Nina, Fabian and the others sneaking down into the cellar. Following a distance behind, they watched as the group navigated the tunnels and eventually reached the Frobisher crypt. K.T. was amazed by the engineering of her great grandfather as she took in the majesty of the catacombs. Joy and Eddie were far more focused on uncovering just what their troublemaking friends were getting up to down there.
Amber’s shout of worry let the Second Hand Heroes know that they had had to hide… and fast! Rushing back down the winding hallways the trio frantically looked for a place to hide from their friends. Remembering the secret passage to the Frobisher Library, Eddie used his Osirian ring to open the door. The trio stepped inside just in time as a moment later the footsteps and chattering voices of the Sibuna club went rushing by their hiding spot. When the quiet returned Eddie, K.T. and Joy left their hiding spot and headed home too, their minds full of what they had seen and heard while their friends had been in the Frobisher Crypt. Just what were the Sibunas up to?
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 39: Jingle Bells
Summary:
🎄🎁 Present Time 🎁🎄
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh; O'er the fields we go laughing all the way” sang Nina bobbing and weaving her way from the kitchen to the sitting room with a replacement plate of holiday cookies.
The front rooms were crowded with all thirteen Anubis House residents gathered for the Holiday gift exchange and party. The radio blared holiday songs to which KT, Joy, Mick and Eddie were dancing along too. Mara and Fabian were mixing up colorful salt crystals at the dining room table for homemade icicle decorations. Amber, Liliana, Jerome and Alfie were playing a fun and competitive game of exploding kittens. The chiming of the grandfather clock in the atrium announced that it was officially seven pm.
“Present Time!!” cheered Amber, throwing her cards into the pot and dashing over to the tree.
“Wait just a moment! We have to draw straws to figure out who goes first” demanded Joy. Snatching up the cup of straws that she had pre-cut before the party, the students compared their straws and it turned out that Mick drew the shortest straw and got to give his present first.
The blonde jock passed a big box decorated in reindeer wrapping paper over to KT. “Merry Christmas K.T., I hope you enjoy them”.
K.T. tore open the box to reveal new camera supplies and a set of museum tickets to an art museum in London. “Oh Mick! I love them. Thank you so much!” grinned KT, pulling the football player into a grateful hug.
“Of course, I am so glad that you like them,” grinned Mick.
“Now Kara, since you got a present, you get to give your secret santa their present” instructed Joy.
“Awesome! Well I had Alfie” announced K.T., passing a glittery green gift bag over to the boy.
Alfie pulled out the silver tissue paper to find a ‘do it yourself’ UFO model kit and a large book called ‘Monsters, Myths and Legends’.
“Wow K.T. This is amazing! I can’t wait to build this model”
“As soon as I saw it at the store I knew it was perfect for you” grinned K.T. “I got the book at Fabian’s Uncle Ade’s shop”.
“Well thank you. This is an awesome present!” grinned Alfie.
“You’re welcome, I can’t wait to see your model!”
Alfie rummaged around and pulled a purple shiny package from under a couple bags and passed it to Patricia. “My Secret Santa this year was Trixie. I hope you love your present”
Patricia unwrapped the gift and squealed with excitement at what she found “NO WAY!!”. Inside the box lay a Sick Puppies tee-shirt and a set of mink fur brushes wrapped in a velvet ribbon.
Patricia held up the tee-shirt showing it off to the room.
“Damn yacker, that’s an awesome band tee” complimented Eddie
“I know! It’ll look killer with my skinny jeans and leather jacket. Thanks Alfie”
“You’re welcome, Trix”
Patricia got up from her seat between Joy and Eddie to find her present. Spotting the box she had wrapped in gold paper last week she happily returned to her seat and handed the gift to Joy.
“Merry Christmas J-bird. I had SOOO much fun shopping for you!”
“Aww thanks Pep!” beamed Joy. The tiny brunette carefully unwrapped the box doing her best to not rip the paper. Inside she found a photobook that Patricia had painstakingly put together with pictures of the pair over the years.
“Patricia, this is gorgeous” whispered Joy, as she flipped lovingly through the photobook.
“I’m glad you like it, JJ. There is one more thing though, look underneath the tissue paper.”
Joy lifted the flowery tissue paper to reveal an adorable bunny plush. One that was incredibly familiar to both girls.
“Bunnsy Bun?” asked Joy, in awe at seeing her beloved stuffed animal again.
“It took a bit of doing but I found someone to custom make him through an etsy shop. I sent them a couple pictures and they were able to recreate him.” explained Patricia.
“Thank you, thank you so so much Peppermint” Joy wiped away tears of happiness, as she hugged her friend tightly.
“My pleasure J-bird. I’ve been wanting to get you a new one after Bunnsy Bun the first faced his untimely end. I love you, Joy Mercer”
“Love you too” sniffed Joy.
The rest of the students looked upon the intimate moment feeling slightly guilty and uncomfortable at witnessing their friend’s vulnerability.
Eddie cleared his throat with studied casualness, bringing the girls back to the reality of the present moment.
“Ok, since Pep gave me my gift, I get to give out my Secret Santa present. I drew Mara” grinned Joy, passing a gorgeous box over to Mara.
The Indian girl eagerly opened the gift box. Inside she found a large collection of silly science stickers, lip gloss and a beautiful tote bag decorated with math symbols. In short it was absolutely perfect for the nerdy girl.
“EEEE! The bag is so cute! Thank you so much, Joy!!” cheered Mara, pulling the girl into a grateful hug.
“I’m so glad that you like it! I saw it online and just had to get it”.
Mara rustled around the christmas tree and pulled out a small sparkly blue bag before passing it to the house’s resident researcher. “Merry Christmas Fabian!”
“Thanks Emmy” grinned the boy, pulling out the tissue paper and finding a book of puns and a soft sweatshirt decorated with the digits of Pi. Fabian happily tugged it over his head and proudly wore it the rest of the night.
Fabian had drawn Nina for Secret Santa so he excitedly handed over a large wrapped package to his girlfriend. “Happy Hanukkah, my love”
“תודה Fabian” replied Nina, her eyes shining happily. The American Girl ripped open the present to find a beautifully painstakingly precise version of her family tree inked onto expensive parchment and encased in a heavy golden gilded frame. Each cursive name also had a tiny portrait accompanying it. Nina’s fingers traced the lines of her ancestry in silent wonder.
“Hey! There’s me!” chirped KT excitedly pointing off towards one corner where the Rush family line had split from the Frobishers.
“I am speechless” breathed Nina, in shock at the consideration and thoughtfulness of her boyfriend. “Thank you so so much Fabian. I love it”
“I’m glad. I took the information we pieced together this summer and forwarded it to one of Uncle Abe’s contacts, who created it”.
Carefully storing her gift out of the way, Nina passed Jerome the present she had gotten for him.
Jerome beamed excitedly when he saw the contents of his present. Nina had ordered a set of high end wireless headphones for the tall boy, along with a fancy new watch. She had also included a leatherbound notebook and several energy drinks she knew he liked.
“Thanks Martin” called Jerome as he cracked open one of the vibrant energy drinks. Alfie eyed his best friend warily and slowly scooched away towards safety.
Putting down his can, Jerome selected the pinkest and sparkliest box from under the tree. He began to walk over towards his girlfriend who perked up excitedly in her seat, only to chuckle and spin around and hand the box to Amber instead. The Anubis residents laughed goodnaturedly at the teasing as Liliana sulked in her seat, bummed the sparkly box wasn’t for her.
“Present!!” squealed Amber excitedly, fiercely ripping away the wrapping paper creating a whirlwind of pink and sparkles. Underneath she found a beautiful velvet box in which lay a pair of new white skates laced with pink ribbon. Along with the skates, Jerome had also included a few warm up gear items and a pair of large pink fuzzy earmuffs.
Amber pulled the tall boy into a tight hug, “Thank you Jerome!”
“You’re welcome Amber. I got myself a new pair of skates too, so we will have to break them in together sometime soon”.
“It's a date!” Amber’s blue eyes sparkled with joy as she grabbed the expertly wrapped blue and gold box she had stashed under the tree two weeks earlier. This left only two presents waiting under the branches.
“Merry Christmas Mick! I’m so glad that you are back with us this Christmas and I hope that you like your gift”.
Mick opened the box only to freeze and ask, “Ambs, you didn’t?”
“Sure did babes” replied Amber with a silly smirk.
Mick lifted the gift out of the box to show a clear display case which held a signed football from his favorite player Hugh Ainstin. The box also included a folded letter and a sweatshirt Amber had designed and sewn for him.
Mick opened the envelope and silently read the message found inside. Amber had chosen to write a very long and heartfelt letter to the boy about how impressed and proud she was of him and how much he meant to her. The room’s inhabitants were confused by the interaction and the reaction the letter caused as the normally upbeat jock’s eyes began to water. Sniffing, he stood up and pulled the pretty fashionista into a long tight hug.
“Thank you Amby, I really needed that” Mick whispered into Amber’s ear.
“Anytime. You’re my best and oldest friend Mick. I would do anything for you” swore Amber.
“Well I already gave my gift to KT, so who is up next?” asked Mick as Anubis House’s Barbie and Ken retook their seats.
“That just leaves Liliana and my presents. I can go first!” offered Eddie, passing his present over to Lili.
“That’s fine with me, thank you Eddie”. Liliana opened her gift to find a gorgeous silver and blue bracelet and a large pink basket filled with fancy fabrics, thread, sketch paper, buttons, and various other sewing implements.
“I tried to find things you might not already have upstairs along with a couple of fun items,” explained Eddie.
Lili shot him a grateful smile, “I love it! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to start using them in upcoming projects. Especially this pink cherry print”
“I’m so glad you like it,” grinned Eddie.
Liliana then passed her beautifully wrapped present over to the American boy. Eddie excitedly ripped open the packaging to find a very nice black leather jacket, a tripod for his camera and a camera strap. The camera strap was embroidered with the boy’s name, music notes and little american flags.
“Wow Lili!” gasped Eddie. “These are awesome! Thank you so much”.
“You’re welcome! I had a lot of fun embroidering the camera strap” replied Liliana, grinning as she watched the rocker tug on the leather jacket which fit snugly over his shoulders. She was so happy that her guessed measurements were correct and that the coat fit the boy well.
The students enjoyed the rest of their evening, singing Christmas carols, playing games and eating all of the delicious treats Vera had made. When ten o'clock hit, the Anubis residents gathered their presents and scurried off to bed under the watchful glower of their house’s caretaker.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 40: We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Summary:
Holiday Fluff, Special Visitors and a dash of MURDER... so a normal week in Anubis House 😂
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Hi! Happy Thursday. I hope that you enjoy this update.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next week was extremely busy as the Anubis residents scrambled to study for and complete their end of term exams. The students were so excited since this would be the last time they would have to take winter exams at Amun. Mick and Mara packed their bags Friday afternoon and headed home for the holiday break, leaving the other ten behind to celebrate the holidays at Frobisher Academy.
Christmas morning found the Anubis House residents gathered around the Christmas tree opening their presents. Liliana, Alfie, Amber, Nina, Fabian and Eddie opened gifts from their parents, while the others just opened the gifts from their friends. Once the wrapping paper, ribbons and tissue paper stopped flying; the group enjoyed a delicious breakfast of orange rolls and an egg sausage breakfast casserole.
It had snowed the night before, so the house’s residents bundled up in their winter gear and headed out to play in the snow. Eddie and Joy roped their friends into a snow fort building competition. Nina, KT, Patricia, Liliana and Alfie were on one team while Eddie, Joy, Amber, Fabian and Jerome worked on the second fort. The students worked on their forts for over an hour while sneakily sabotaging each other's attempts, before calling it quits when Poppy, Missy and their Hathor House friends arrived. The Anubis and Hathor Kids headed inside for hot chocolate, sugar cookies and watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Liliana had talked the Anubis kids into wearing silly Christmas (and Chanukah) costumes for their dinner. Liliana and Jerome wore Mr. and Mrs. Claus Costumes. Alfie dressed as Rudolph while Amber dressed as Clarice the Reindeer. Patricia and Eddie dressed as Gingerbread people. K.T. and Joy dressed up as adorable Elves. Nina chose to wear a blue dress with snowflakes and a menorah while Fabian wore a ugly Christmas tree sweater with lots of tinsel, bells and ribbons. The group enjoyed a yummy feast of all their favorite holiday foods and took lots of silly pictures to remember the day.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Fabian bounced excitedly in place as he knelt on the couch to peer out the sitting room’s window. Olivia would be arriving any minute to stay for a few days, he was so excited to have his little sister coming to visit. Olivia attended an exclusive all girls school in Spain called Navarre during the year. Since she was home on break, she had convinced her parents to let her visit Fabian. Since her engagement, Vera no longer needed her attic room so she had turned it back into a guest room. Unfortunately, Olivia wasn't the only guest coming to visit, this meant that Olivia would have to sleep on the questionable floor that was Fabian, Eddie and Mick’s Room.
The arrival of a black cab had Fabian rushing out of the house as fast as his feet could carry him. Grabbing the car’s handle Fabian threw open the door excitedly only to find someone else inside instead.
“You’re not Olivia!”
“Not the last time I checked. But it is good to see you Fabian” laughed Theresa Miller, accepting the boy’s offered hand as she got out of the cab.
“Nice to see you again too, Ms. Miller” replied Fabian, “My sister is on her way over to visit for a few days. I thought you were her”.
“Ahh, that explains it” spotting a second black cab pulling into the circle drive, Ms. Miller, patted Fabian on the shoulder and excused herself inside to find her son.
“Livi!!!!!!” cheered Fabian, flinging open the car door to find his thirteen year old sister sitting inside.
“FABES!!!” shouted back the brunette girl as she jumped out of the car to pull him into a tight hug.
“I can’t believe you are finally here. I missed you!”
“I missed you too, rat” replied his sister before pulling away and gathering her bag from the cabbie. Fabian paid the fare and motioned for Olivia to follow him inside the house.
“Wow! This place is even more insane in person” whistled Olivia as she spun around to take in the full grandeur of the house’s atrium.
“Yeah, I guess that video calls don’t really do the splendor of a house decorated by a robber baron justice”
“No shit! I dig the vibe though”
“Fabian, have you seen my notebook? I want to double check our latest translation of the incantation before this Friday's eve– Olivia!” called Nina as she descended the stairs, cutting herself as she spotted her boyfriend’s sister standing below her.
“Hey Nina”
“I totally forgot you were coming today! Welcome to Anubis” grinned the girl, tugging the teenager into a tight hug. “It’s awesome to see you”.
“Thanks, it’s good to see you too, but it was a looong car ride from the estate. Can one of you point me to the restroom?”
“Let’s put your bags down in my room and then I’ll show you” suggested Fabian. “Nina, your notebook was in the laundry last time I saw it. You were trying to translate that last piece while putting in a load of washing”.
“Thanks Fabian,” grinned Nina, pressing a kiss to the boy’s cheek before racing out of the room towards the Laundry Room.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Both Olivia and Mrs. Miller’s visits provided a breath of fresh air for the Sibuna Club and the Second Hand Heroes. The visiting family members were a much needed reminder that there was life outside of Anubis, cults, spirits and treasure hunting. Eddie, Joy, Patricia and KT had a ton of fun hanging out with Mrs. Miller, playing games, making puzzles, cooking and sharing Eddie stories. Olivia spent her time with Fabian and the remaining Sibunas. The group gave her a tour of campus, walked around downtown, watched movies and lovingly poked fun at Fabian. It was refreshing for the Sibunas, Nina excluded, to see this new side of Fabian… the fun loving big brother.
So it was with a heavy heart that Fabian, Eddie and the rest of the house said goodbye to the visitors Friday afternoon. Waving goodbye as the cabs pulled away, the housemates all did their best to refocus on the task at hand… namely that night’s expected sacrifice.
Given how insane the Sibuna club had been acting recently, the Second Hand Heroes figured it was probably best to make their own plan to stop that evening’s sacrifice. Eddie, K.T. and Joy figured that the best way to ensure that the sacrifice wouldn't take place was to make sure that Victor and Vera couldn’t make it to the ceremony. The sacrifice couldn’t happen if the two leaders were not there.
After supper, Eddie called for Vera to help him in the laundry room. The group had disconnected one of the washer’s parts that afternoon in preparation of springing their trap. “Vera I can’t get the washer to start” complained the American boy.
“All right, let me take a look at it” sighed the woman rolling up her sleeves. Analyzing the machine she quickly spotted the problem. “Go get Victor please. Let him know I will need his tools”.
“Yeah, ok” agreed Eddie, racing out of the room. Giving Joy a thumbs up, he signaled for her to send Victor down.
It only took a moment for Victor to hustle down the stairs after Joy told him that Vera needed help in the Laundry.
“Vera, Love, what is that you need? We should be leaving soon,” asked Victor, entering the Laundry room.
“Didn’t Eddie tell you I need your toolkit? The washer is acting up” asked Vera, from her spot kneeling on the floor by the machine.
“No. Miss Mercer was the one who came to get me. I’ll be right back with my tools”
Unfortunately for the pair, when they went to open the door they found it locked. Eddie and the girls had locked the door and piled several heavy pieces of furniture against the door, so even if they were able to get the door unlocked they wouldn’t get through.
Eddie, Joy, and K.T. sat smugly on the kitchen floor facing the laundry room listening to the frustrated yells coming from the room.
“Gods we are so smart” laughed K.T.
“Take that Sibuna” added Joy, throwing a loving arm around her girlfriend.
Unfortunately, the trio underestimated how determined the pair were to offer their sacrifice. When the frustrated yells and thudding on the door tapered off, they assumed that it was because the pair had given up. In reality Victor, who had lived in this house since he was a kid, had simply busted through a section of the wall which had once held a window, securing his and Vera’s safety.
“Well with that sorted… who’s in the mood for a movie?” asked K.T.
“ME!” cheered Joy and Eddie.
“Perfect, let’s grab some popcorn and make a night of it then” decided K.T., bumping her shoulder playfully against Eddie and heading upstairs to her room.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibuna Club hadn’t bothered with trying to trap the adults in the house, choosing instead to head over to the Cult Headquarters in the woods. The seven Sibunas each took up different spaces around the property, crouching in the bushes while watching the house. Three cars were already parked in the driveway in front of the Murder House.
Before long cars began to roll up the drive, marking the arrival of the cult members. Nurse Delia Chapman and Officer Thomas Roebuck climbed out of his cop car. Assistant Mayor Cole Sparrow got out of his car and hugged the pair in greeting.
“Brother! Sister! It is so good to see you both. May Shu smile upon us this night”.
“You too Brother Cole,” smiled Delia. “Shu’s blessings smile upon us already, given tonight’s sacrifice was so easy to procure”
“Did you hear that?” hissed Nina into her walkie talkie to the other Sibunas
“Yeah, looks like tonight’s human sacrifice is a go. We gotta think fast” replied Jerome, a shadowed look on his face.
The door to the house opened revealing the student’s Business Studies teacher, Miss Denby holding a glass of red wine. “Welcome! Come in, come in! Victor and Vera are on their way, Graham and Lilah are already inside”.
“Oooh! Wine and Sacrifices? You do know how to throw a party Caroline” teased Delia as she made her way up the porch steps and into the house.
“UGH! I hate them!” declared Amber. “I hate knowing that there is some poor person down in their dungeon about to die for those adults. Nina, what are we going to do?”
“She’s thinking” chided Fabian, shooting Amber a look for rushing Nina.
“Whatever it is, we had better make our move soon” remarked Alfie, peering through his binoculars. “I see V & V headed up the drive now”.
Nina had been flipping through her grimoire. “I remember there being a spell in here that I practiced with Amneris earlier this week”.
“More magic… yay” sighed Liliana with a queasy look.
Patricia took off the Sibuna backpack she had been carrying and began taking out bottles of ingredients that Nina might need for her spell.
“AHA!” exclaimed Nina excitedly, her eyes flashing gold triumphantly. “Here it is! A spell of transfer and protection”
Fabian looked over the recipe and helped Patricia sort through the supplies they had packed. The group was glad Nina had insisted on putting a go-to ‘witch kit’ in their Sibuna bag.
Nina laid out Jerome’s offered sweatshirt on the ground before placing her spell bowl in the center. Taking a handful of oat straw and twisting it into a vaguely human shape. Nina then placed the straw doll in the bottom of the spell bowl before sprinkling the shape with lemon zest and raspberry seeds. She then borrowed Alfie’s survival knife to cut a slight gash in her finger allowing four large drops of blood into the dish.
Motioning for her friends to hold hands and form a circle around her, Nina began to chant; “O Salus animam hanc protege, da eis hanc noctem robore. Ligate eos, et spiritus eorum longe avolabunt. Hoc iudicium fugiant et suos oppressores perdant”. As the students chanted, the elixir in their blood flared causing their eyes to glow gold ominously in the shadowy woods.
As Nina finished her chant a purple flame appeared floating above the center of the dish, quickly consuming the contents of the spell bowl. Once the straw doll was fully burnt and nothing but the ashes remained a loud thunder clap echoed through the woods. Splitting the ashes into fourths, Nina directed Alfie, Jerome, Fabian and Patricia to place them at each of the cardinal points around the house.
“Is that it?” whispered Amber, as the others returned.
“Yes. It is done” replied Nina solemnly, “let’s head back to the house”.
“Don’t we need to stay and see if the spell worked? You know to help if the person needs it” wondered Alfie.
“Nope. The protection spell should have worked. There is no way to get them out of the house, so we have done all we can for now. We will know tomorrow if the spell worked depending on what shape Victor and Vera are in” explained Nina.
“What?” squawked Liliana
“The spell speaks of destroying the captured person’s oppressors… Amneris said it was purely a destruction of their surroundings… not the people themselves”.
“Oh, well that doesn’t sound as bad” shrugged Jerome.
“Come on guys, it looks like it’s supposed to snow again, so let’s head back to the house” suggested Fabian, eyeing the dark sky warily.
The seven Sibunas trooped back to the house in high spirits, unaware that their spell, while well intended, was ultimately useless. Deep under the Frobisher Summer House, Amelia Pinches was forced into a white robe and dragged into a circular stone room surrounded by red cloaked figures wearing horrifying animal masks. While the Sibuna club drank their congratulatory hot chocolate and discussed the upcoming New Years Eve party, Amelia Pinches - the scarabs' latest victim, let out a pained scream and disappeared in a flash of blinding light.
“Glory to Shu!” chanted the Cult members.
“Four Down… three to go. Eternity and riches will be ours” grinned Victor, removing his Jackal mask and kissing the cat masked Vera.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 41: ...And a Happy New Year
Summary:
Sibuna Snacks are VERY important and Eddie tries Yoga.
Notes:
Evies Notes: Guess who has COVID?!?! It sucks, but it also gave me motivation to finish this chapter so I don't have to focus on the super gross taste of the meds or the pain. Sigh, the perils of working in health care... I hope y'all enjoy this new update it actually has some plot in it to go along with all the fluffy moments. The author clearly needs to stop getting side tracked with side quests; but come on... if you read T.O.G you know that isn't going to happen and there are birthdays coming up soon!!! Enjoy the story!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Frobisher Academy, which had been largely dark and dreary over the break, as much of the student body had gone home for the holidays, was suddenly bright and bustling with life. Classes resumed Tuesday morning marking the beginning of the Anubis Student’s final term. There was a noticeable buzz of excitement amongst all of the year twelve students that morning at breakfast.
“Aww guys” cooed Amber from her place by Nina at the head of the table. “This is our final first day of term breakfast together”
“Picture time!” declared Liliana, handing her camera to Jerome and directing him to use his long arms to make sure the whole table was in frame. The thirteen residents all posed happily with their breakfast memorializing this special day.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“I still can’t figure out why our ritual failed,” snapped Nina frustratedly. Scribbling furiously in her grimoire as she read over the recipe.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it Nina, you did the best that you could” comforted Patricia.
“It just doesn’t make any sense. I swear we did everything perfectly” sighed the girl disappointedly.
“Try talking to Amneris about it tonight, maybe she can tell you what we did wrong” suggested Alfie.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea” agreed the American girl, deciding to put it out of her mind for now and talk to the spirit later.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Sunday January 7th was a hard day for Nina. Luckily though she was surrounded by her loving Anubis family. She had permission from Mr. Sweet to skip her morning classes, in order to video chat with Gran. The pair held their usual memorial, happy to be able to comfort each other even though they were an ocean apart. Nina then spent the rest of the day with her Sibunas, cuddled up in her and Amber’s room playing games and eating sweets. The Sibuna Club did their very best to support their leader and make her feel loved on this difficult day. As Nina drifted off to sleep she felt loved, protected and very grateful for her Anubis Family.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“We still have two more riddles to figure out” bemoaned Amber as she walked to school hand in hand with Alfie. The couple were accompanied by Lili and Jerome.
“I know! I swear Frobisher’s riddles were easier during Sophomore year” agreed her boyfriend.
“Well I wasn’t around for those, but I figure we’re doing pretty well” encouraged Liliana.
“You guys had already found all of the puzzle pieces by the time I got involved” added Jerome. “All that’s left is Patrica’s ‘In the summer house beneath the weeds’ and your family’s ‘The lodge's heights are hot indeed’.”
“Both are referencing locations on campus so I figure we should hit up the Frobisher Library and see if they had any maps stashed there” suggested Liliana
“Fabian’s word-nerdiness already figured out that ‘heights’ probably means a mantle of some sort. So when we find the building we’ll just have to check out the fireplace. I have to say these clues at least are less ominous than the ones before… ‘ket inferno’ and ‘demisphere hidden below’ were a bit creepy” remarked Amber as the quartet passed through the School’s main hallway.
“Well this is me guys, I’ll see you at lunch” cut in Alfie, pressing a kiss to Amber’s cheek before heading into his classroom for calculus.
The remaining trio kept walking another few paces before entering their own classroom for their statistics lesson.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Did you guys hear about Amelia?” asked Nina from her place at the head of the library table.
“No, what about her?” wondered Fabian as he leafed through various historic papers Frobisher had collected over the years.
“I noticed she wasn’t in business studies but I just figured that she was sick… is something wrong?” worried Liliana, looking up from the scrapbook made by Louisa she had been flipping through.
“Apparently her parents decided to pull her from the school”
“No way! Well doesn’t that sound frightfully familiar” snarked Patricia bitterly.
“I know, that’s what I thought at first too” agreed Nina. “But given that she’s living in Isis house, and was close with Abigail and Jason… it makes sense that she’d want to be with family”.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if more and more students are pulled out given the way this school is going” sighed Jerome.
“It’s weird to think that some parents might actually care what happens to their kids” hummed Amber, only to freeze and hastily add, “No offense Nina, your Gran is great and tends to be the exception to the rule”
“None taken” laughed Nina, “I know I’m lucky and if Gran ever caught wind of any of the stuff going down here on campus I know she would be pulling me in a heartbeat. Unfortunately I just have the awful habit of being the focus of the crazy, perils of being the Chosen One I guess”.
“Hey guys! I think I found something!” cheered Alfie, spinning the scrapbook he had been pursuing around to show the group a photo of a familiar looking house and an elegant looking couple standing outside it with a little boy.
Patricia took the photo out of the book and flipped it over to read “Claude and Milldred Zeno with their son Rufus outside Gate Lodge”
“The Lodge’s heights are hot indeed… this is my rhyme guys!”
“Wait… but isn’t that the Gate House… you know… where Ms. Denbey lives?” asked Liliana worriedly.
“Well I never said it was going to be easy to get the next puzzle piece” chuckled Alfie, putting the picture back and closing the book.
“I guess there is only one thing we can do,” sighed Nina
“Stake out!!” cheered Jerome, Alfie, Liliana and Patricia excitedly.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Who the fuck let Amber pack the Sibuna Snacks” grouched Patricia from her spot crouched in the bush in front of the Gate House. In the Sibuna backpack was only water, rope, first aid supplies, the magic kit and trail mix.
“Yeah! Where’s the cheeseballs” pouted Alfie
“Shhh both of you” rebuked Fabian, as he peered through his binoculars. “We don’t want her to hear us”.
“Plus trail mix is good for you, better than all the chemicals you’re eating with those cheeseballs” sniffed Amber.
“Says the girl who covers herself in chemicals daily” sassed Jerome, tugging playfully on a handful of Amber’s perfectly stiff curls.
“Fuck off Clark” snapped Amber, throwing a handful of mulch at the smirking meerkat.
“All of you shut up! Here she comes” hissed Nina, lifting her own binoculars to watch the door pad as their teacher approached. Liliana whipped out her cell phone and texted the door code into the Sibuna group chat as Nina recited them, 3 7 6 2 9.
“Perfect! Great job Sibunas!” cheered Fabian, once the woman was inside and the teenagers were clear. “Let’s get back to the house. Some of us can come back and find the puzzle piece tomorrow during class when we know she will be otherwise distracted”.
Agreeing with their second in command, the group of seven snuck back to Anubis House, their spirits lighter now that they had a lead.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eddie did his best to focus on the scents and sounds surrounding him. The strong odor of incense and spice hung heavily in the air around him. The trickle of the tiny waterfall set up in the corner echoed in his ears accompanied by the ticking metronome. Beneath his cross legged body was an elegant rug made of dyed sheep wool braided with herbs Mr. Englavista assured him he would help with his meditation.
“Come on Greg, keep up,” laughed Alana, entering into the meditation room of Pedro Englavista’s manor. Eddie cracked open an eye to peek at his two new friends. The pair were dressed in black workout gear and dueling with a set of bo staffs.
“Oh shoot! Sorry bro, we didn’t know you were here today” apologized Greg, as soon as he spotted Eddie sitting on the floor.
“It’s fine” replied Eddie, yawning and stretching before getting to his feet. “I have been here for a couple hours. Your uncle asked me to come by for breakfast and an Osirian lesson. He suggested that I take some time to meditate and talk to my Osirian Spirit… though the thing is being rather elusive at the moment”
“No floating rocks today?” asked Alana, a twinkle in her eye.
Eddie glared at the pile of stones resting by his rug which had stubbornly refused to move while he had been meditating. “No, and no peep from the spirit either”
“Ehhh, you’ll get it later, you probably just need to take a break and relax” suggested Alana.
Greg reached out a hand and helped pull Eddie to his feet. “Alana and I were thinking about heading into town to get some lunch, do you want to join us?”
As if on cue, Eddie’s stomach rumbled loudly causing the other two to laugh.
“I guess that answers that question” chuckled Eddie, rubbing his neck ruefully. “I promised Joy that we would hang out today though, is it ok if we swing by the academy and grab her?”
“Sure” agreed Alana, snagging the keys from Greg’s pocket. “It’s my turn to drive though, so buckle up boys. We won’t have any of your granny driving today”.
Eddie and Greg traded terrified looks as they followed the adrenaline junky girl to the car.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all again 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 42: And The Plot Thickens As They Say
Summary:
The Sibuna crew investigates the gate house and Lilrome overhears some shocking information.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Monday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was decided that Nina, Alfie, Fabian and Amber would be the ones to cut class and search the gatehouse for any possible artifacts. When the others made to argue, Nina just shut them all down with a golden glare and told them to go to class, they quickly obeyed.
The four Sibunas held their breath as Nina punched in the code, hoping it worked and not really having a plan B if it didn’t… though that was usual for them. The group let out a collective sigh of relief when no alarms seemed to be triggered and no lights started flashing. Instead the lock quietly clicked, allowing Nina to push open the door and lead the others inside.
“WOW!” commented Nina taking in the stately decor as the group made their way upstairs. “Honestly this isn’t helping my theory that all Brits live in old people houses”
“This place certainly is spooky” agreed Fabian, eyeing some pickled herbs and body parts in jars displayed on a hutch.
“She certainly has NO eye for decor” huffed Amber disappointedly, eyeing the tacky wallpaper and artwork with disdain.
“Yo! Is that an actual organ?” asked Alfie, momentarily distracted from his fireplace search by the giant instrument. “It looks like the one you would find in a haunted house or the boss level of a video game!”
“Well you got the haunted part right” commented Nina, as she idly examined the portraits hanging on the wall. She recognized one of the men as a Russell Frobisher from the deep dive she and Fabian had done into her family tree over the summer.
The room was littered with interesting objects from books, to statues, phonographs to jars of preserved creatures. It was both freakishly spooky and boundlessly exciting. Nina longed to shove these items in her bag and bring them back home with her… but she kept her hands to herself for now, they had a mission to complete. Anyways now that they knew the door code they could return at any time and investigate what secrets lay in this new location, they were her birthright afterall.
“I guess we best get started then” declared Nina, gesturing to the fireplace “Alfie and Fabian see if you can spot anything”.
Amber, whose feet were hurting in her heels, decided to lean back against the organ to try and relax. Unfortunately the instrument was on and a loud clang echoed throughout the building from where she had sat back against the keys.
“Amber!” shouted Nina and Fabian
“Sorry!” apologized the girl, who had jumped up in fright and backed up against the wall. Only the wall wasn’t as solid as she thought and it swung open at her touch.
“Uhh guys… I think I found something”
“It’s a hallway behind an organ with another door inside it. That’s basically our calling card” grinned Alfie
Brushing the soot off his hands and moving as if to join the girls.
“No, Alfie, you stay with Fabian. Amber and I will go investigate whatever ‘this’ is” decided Nina. “Call if you need help”
The boys nodded and headed back to work investigating the mantle piece for cracks or secret hiding places.
“I’m not seeing anything on the outside, one of us is going to have to go up it” declared Fabian.
“Fuck, I guess I’ll do it” grumped Alfie, getting down on his knees to crawl into the chimney.
“Aren’t you afraid of small spaces?”
“I’m afraid of everything” dismissed Alfie, with a casual shrug that he certainly did not feel. “My ancestors put their faith in me and I am not going to let them down”.
Sucking in a deep breath, Alfie reached up to grab a sootstained brick and began the treacherous climb.
“You can do it Alfie!” encouraged Fabian, “just don’t look down”.
Of course, in a cruel twist of fate, that was just when Alfie’s foot slipped and he hung precariously halfway up the chimney.
“What happened?” called Fabian seeing the falling cinders.
“You made me look down” grunted Alfie, doing his level best to not lash out at his friend, this was just his anxiety talking. Using his coping techniques from Dr. Delarosa, Alfie regained a hold on his fear and continued his climb.
A few moments later he spotted a spider web covered box placed in the opposite corner just above his current perch. “I think I see something”
“That’s great! Can you get it?”
“I think so” muttered Alfie as he tried to shuffle across the chimney only to slip and hang only by his fingertips”
“Careful Alfie” scolded Fabian
“Trying” gritted back the boy. Clearly he wouldn’t be able to scoot his way around the chimney, so he was going to have to jump the gap.
Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and lept. He hit the other side with a thud and quickly scrambled to gain a handhold. Dragging himself up the final few stones, Alfie grabbed the case which ‘hopefully’ contained whatever it is that his ancestors had wanted him to find.
“Coming down now” he warned before, dropping to the ground with a loud thud.
“Awesome work Alfie!” cheered Fabian, offering the boy a hand and helping him to his feet.
“Thanks mate, but let’s agree to never have me do that again”
“Agreed” laughed Fabian as he examined the box Alfie had retrieved. “Now what do we have here?”
*Scent of Lavender - Scent of Lavender*
Elsewhere in the house Nina and Amber were cautiously making their way up the winding brick staircase of the gatehouse’s lone tower room.
“Man, winding brick passageways… sound familiar Nina?” teased Amber.
“Hmmm, yeah my ancestors clearly had a favorite type of architecture” agreed Nina.
The pair reached the top of the stairs only to find a wooden door bolted shut with a large lock. Burnt into the door was a coiled cobra, its head raised and hood flared in warning. Nina’s locket began to glow as she neared the door.
“Well good thing you never leave home without your necklace” joked Amber as the American girl pressed her locket into the lock causing the tumblers to turn and click before falling away. The eyes of the snake glowed bright red and the door swung open with an eerie creaking sound allowing the girls access to the hidden room.
Stepping over the threshold, the girls were immediately struck by an overwhelming wave of fear, their senses screaming that there was something VERY wrong with this space. The walls were lined with shelves and horrific sarcophagi, each with different animal heads. The pair inched into the room, playing it safe as they remembered the booby traps they had seen in the tunnels last year and had no desire to be cut in half.
“Nina, look at these bottles” called Amber, having chosen one of the walls near the door to investigate. Amber passed a crystal bottle to her friend which was full of a glimmering blue liquid she had found on the shelf. “What do you think this is?”
“I don’t know” hummed Nina, turning the container over in her hand. Upon holding it up to the light she could make out a secondary green substance floating on top of the blue. Slipping it into her backpack, she resolved to look into it more later. “It could be more elixir attempts or something else altogether. Apparently both Louisa and Sarah were interested in potions and charms. One of the books I got from Mr. Englavista was Louisa’s grimoire. I’ll ask Amneris about it later”.
The girls took a couple more minutes to investigate the space, finding more strange bottles and books in ancient languages. Nina snapped a few photos of the book titles, planning to translate them with Fabian when they got back home. It wouldn’t do to tip off the adults by taking too many things at one time.
The center of the room had a large plush red carpet with red stitching in strange designs that looked familiar to Nina. Snapping a picture of the symbols she added researching those to her mental to-do list. Atop the wine red carpet was a long dark oak table with supplies not too different from those the girls were used to seeing in the cellar of Anubis house. The only marked difference between this space and Victor’s was the level of organization and dust. The table before them was laid out in a clear and precise manner, so that Nina could almost imagine her great grandma standing before her preparing charms and practicing her potions.
Amber wandered over to the turtle faced sarcophagus and studied it curiously. “Nina, this one’s lock seems to have been tampered with” called Amber.
Nina pried herself away from the mysteries of the table and joined her friend at the sarcophagus in question. Amber was right, the lock on that particular sarcophagus had been messed with previously. Seeing that it was also fairly rusted, Nina figured that it wouldn’t take much to get it open. Grabbing a cat shaped statue from the oak worktop, Nina eagerly swung the object hitting the lock squarely with a loud clang. Her theory was proven right as the lock broke apart easily and fell to the ground causing the container to swing open revealing the horror hidden within. Nina stared in terror at the object that had fallen out of the coffin… was that a body?
Amber’s ear piercing scream snapped Nina out of her shock. She clapped her hand over her bestie’s mouth. “Amber! Be quiet”... but it was too late. The sound of feet thundering up the stairs heralded the arrival of a frantic Fabian and a soot-stained Alfie.
“What’s wrong?!?” demanded Fabian, only to stop short when he saw the body. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Louisa Frobisher-Smythe, yeah” nodded Nina. The body of the very familiar woman lay on the floor clothed in a high buttoned, floor length white dress, black gloves and heeled boots, her familiar blonde gray streaked hair was pulled back in a complicated bun.
“But how?” asked Alfie. “Shouldn’t she be in the crypt?”
“Forget that! She looks like she died yesterday!” shrieked Amber.
“How did they keep her like that?” wondered Nina, craning her head to get a better view.
“Mummified,” replied Fabian, pulling a face.
“They can still do that?” asked Amber aghast.
“Of course! All you need is the right herbs and some salt. If you do it right you can dry the body out and remove the organs to preserve the corpse.
“Yeah… but mummies don’t look like that” protested Amber. “We’ve seen some in history class, they were all crumpled and gross looking”.
“True, but those were from hundreds of years ago, Louisa has only been dead for sixty years” argued Nina.
“Ugh, that is so gross” shuddered the beautiful blonde
“Not really, it’s just science,” shrugged Fabian.
Alfie had adopted a curious look on his face as he stared at the body lying on the ground. Ignoring the others, he stepped closer and knelt down next to the dead woman.
“Alfie!” gasped Nina, what are you doing?
Reaching over the boy slid his fingers along the woman’s face, “It’s like she died yesterday”.
“EWW! Don’t touch her!” yelled Amber.
Fabian stepped forward to try and pull Alfie back from the body.
“Oh yeah, here it is,” grinned Alfie, a sickly ripping sound filled the air as he peeled the facial skin away.
Nina’s face went slack in shock, Amber covered her mouth and began to retch, Fabian faltered in his advance, his skin taking on a faint green hue.
Alfie stood up the deceased woman’s face dangling between his fingers. “Look! It’s just a mask” grinned the boy. “Plastic like my zombie mask. Plus, check this out!” He carefully pulled off what was a blonde wig and not the woman’s actual hair like they had assumed. “It’s just a mask and a wig… it’s all fake” grinned the boy.
“Well then, who’s the body?” asked Nina, staring down at the newly revealed body… which now looked to be more traditionally mummified, the face and visible parts of the neck being wrapped in linens.
“Search me” shrugged Fabian, “something else they stole from Egypt?”
“But why dress it up like Louisa?” asked Amber, who had recovered from her retching and was now applying a generous squirt of hand sanitizer to her boyfriend’s hands.
“I don’t know” huffed Nina, frustrated by yet another unknown variable.
The group’s discussion was cut off by the beeping of Amber’s alarm. Glancing at her phone the girl was surprised to see that two hours had already passed and they needed to hustle if they were not to be busted by Ms. Denby since she would likely be returning home now that class was over.
The group worked together to fit the body back into the coffin and attempted to set the room back to rights in order to not tip off the resident. With the space cleaned to the best of their abilities, the Sibuna four headed back to school for lunch and a very much needed Sibuna Recap.
*Scent of Lavender - Scent of Lavender*
Jerome and Liliana were cuddled up in the living room playing Mario Kart when they overheard a VERY interesting conversation taking place in the hallway.
“I’m just so frustrated, Kara!” ranted Joy’s voice through the cracked doorway. Lili and Jerome, never ones to miss out on the drama, paused their game to listen. “It’s been over a month since you’ve been kidnapped and NOTHING has been done about Yates and his lackeys”
“I hate it too, Joy, but we need to trust Eddie. He’s working with Mr. Englavista to try and figure this all out. He says he told Mr. Englavista about Yates and he assured Eddie that he would handle it. Given that he has money and influence he will be far more likely to get the right cops to do something than us. All we need to do is to stay far far away from the tracks and keep our eyes open. Hopefully he will be arrested soon and we can just focus on bringing down the Society”.
“You’re right Kara” agreed Joy, “how about we go and get a coffee at Martas?”
“Sounds like a date,” laughed KT.
The blonde couple traded wide eyed looks at this news. Lili waited to speak until they heard the sound of the second door slamming closed.
“What was that about?” burst out Lili, bewildered by the conversation they had overheard.
“I don’t know but we had better let Nina know ASAP” replied Jerome, his eyes cloudy with worry. “Did you know that K.T. had been kidnapped?”
“No! And isn’t Mr. Englavista that sketchy guy from Nina’s summer trip? What’s he doing hanging around Eddie?”
“Yeah, that’s the guy who knew Sarah and Rufus. This Yates character is who I’m really worried about. Can you text the Sibuna Chat? We need to have a Sibuna meeting. We also can’t risk Victor and Vera finding out about this, let the others know to meet in the chapel in thirty minutes”.
“Done” replied Liliana, her face grim. “I’m going to go and grab my coat and then we can head over”.
Jerome pressed a kiss to Liliana’s head before heading to his room to grab his winter things to trudge through the cold to the abandoned church.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Chapter 43: The Return of Julius Squeezer
Summary:
Some things are made clear, and others get more complicated.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was an understatement to say that the news of Pedro Englavista’s presence in England greatly unsettled Nina. The fact that he had managed to snare Eddie and convince the boy to work with him worried Nina all the more. She knew that the man was bad news she just didn’t know how to prove it. Despite her own efforts to evade the man, Eddie’s current partnership with the antiques dealer/archeologist, aka sneaky crook, meant that she would have to get involved in order to save her dumbass golden retriever Osirian. Gods… the things she does for that boy.
As she prepared for her latest Sibuna mission, Nina thought back to the previous afternoon’s Sibuna meeting.
** Flashback **
“So we have an unknown creepy body in a creepy house inhabited by our creepy business teacher” drawled Patricia, “did I get it all?”
“Yup, that pretty much sums it up… Creepy” shuddered Amber, extremely uncomfortable with this latest development. The group were seated in the loft of the abandoned chapel on campus, surrounded by Patricia’s painting supplies.
“Damn, just when I thought this school couldn’t get any weirder” muttered Liliana.
“I hate to pile on, but Lili and I uncovered something concerning this afternoon too” grimaced Jerome. “When we were in the living room this morning, we overheard Joy and K.T. talking. Joy was ranting about how K.T. had been kidnapped last month.”
“My cousin was kidnapped?!?” yelled Nina, her eyes wide with shock and worry.
“Ehhh, are you even an Anubis House resident if you haven’t been kidnapped at least once” shrugged off Patricia.
“Gods, how I wish I was Mick and oblivious to all this” complained Amber rubbing her temples.
“Yeah, and that’s not even the worst part. K.T. went on to say that Eddie has been working that creepy Englavista guy from your summer break and that he would be the one to deal with the person who kidnapped Joy… someone called Yates” explained Liliana.
“Well I for one don’t feel comfortable knowing that Englavista is in the country, much less working with Eddie” glowered Fabian, his eyes flashing gold protectively as he thought about his roommate.
“It’s not like we can do anything about it. Eddie and Joy won’t listen to us if we went to them to warn them about Englavista being sketchy… especially since we can’t tell them everything” Alfie argued, her eyes cutting sideways to Nina who had a contemplative look on her face.
“Did the girls happen to let anything drop about possible locations?” asked Nina.
“Uhhh, no? At least I don’t think so, sorry” apologized Lili.
“They did say that they would be staying away from the tracks… but that’s it” added Jerome, giving his girlfriend’s hand an encouraging squeeze.
“The tracks you say…” drawled Nina, a sneaky smile crawling across her face. “In that case I think I just might have a plan”.
** End Flashback **
In light of recent revelations, the Sibuna Seven found themselves engaged in another stakeout, this time of the train tracks. The group were crouched behind a clump of snow covered the bushes, peering through the branches in search of their target.
The club soon discovered that the supposedly abandoned and overgrown tracks were not as abandoned as the student body and general public were led to believe. The Sibunas watched wide eyed as a motorbike sped its way towards them, stopping a few feet from their hideout. A menacing blond man dismounted the bike and made his way over to the wall of the nearby tunnel, resting casually against it and lighting a cigarette. Despite his relaxed posture, the man radiated dangerous energy like that of a wolf, his outfit of black leather and pistol strapped openly to his hip certainly did nothing to put the group at ease.
“Who is that?” whispered Alfie “He looks like Rufus on Steroids.”
“This must be that Yates person who kidnapped K.T.” whispered back Liliana.
Jerome broke out his binoculars in order to try and get a better look at the man.
“I am not liking this, what’s the plan Neens” muttered Patricia anxiously.
“Recon, we need to figure out just what we are dealing with here” replied Nina.
“And hiding in a snowy bush is going to help us how?” demanded Amber, blowing into her pink mittens. Alfie noticed her discomfort and took began rubbing her hands with his own to try and warm her up.
“It will, just watch” snapped Nina.
In a bit of perfect timing a black sedan rolled through the tunnel, proving Nina right. The car came to a stop and a man in a black suit exited the driver’s side and went around to open the back door.
Nina and Fabian’s breath caught as a familiar pinstripe suited figure exited the back of the car.
“Thank you, Harry,” called Mr. Englavista, as the driver shut the door and returned to his seat, giving the two dangerous criminals a bit of privacy.
The man from Nina’s nightmares made his way towards the intimidating biker from before.
“Yates good fellow, wonderful to see you again” greeted Mr. Englavista, offering his hand to the biker.
“Cut the bullshit, Pedro. I did what you asked, fenced your artifacts, silenced that inspector and kidnapped those girls. I lost one of my best men because of what that freak did on his way out ‘saving’ the kids. Where’s that money you promised me?” snapped Yates, throwing his cigarette on the ground and harshly stomping it out with the heel of his combat boot.
“You will have it by week’s end, I assure you. It’s tied up in the latest sale but as soon as it gets to me, I will send it onto you”.
“You better” growled the man, patting his hand threateningly against the gun on his belt.
“Please, there is no need for such nastiness. I have always kept my word with you, and I will now” soothed Mr. Englavista holding up his hands in surrender.
“Yeah, you would be waking up with a bullet between your eyes if you didn’t” spat the blond man.
“Well, that’s beside the point” grumbled the archeologist. “I have another job for you… one that will pay quite handsomely.”
“So, what’s it this time? Another priceless vase? Cursed coins you need moving? Need someone to take a little nap?” asked Yates, cocking his head to the side.
“Nothing so vulgar” assured the older man. “I have uncovered a new lead regarding the Frobisher-Smythe treasure trove. The couple took off with several precious items when excavating in Egypt. Unfortunately, their treasures were lost to the everyone with their untimely demise. Not even their daughter or the help’s son knew the location”
“You’re the last person I would expect to judge someone for stealing artifacts” drawled Yates.
“That’s not what I’m upset about, it’s the fact that these precious items will never see the light of day again… plus if this new lead pans out it will bring both of us a pretty pound”.
“Yeah… that sounds more like the sneaky bastard I’m used to dealing with. What’s this lead?”
“I need you to send some of your best scouts to look into this location. Let them know they are looking for anything that resembles a map. We will meet back here in a week”.
“You just need me to go across town and look for a map? I don’t even get to shake up anybody?”
“No, no need this time. Just the map please. Do this and you will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Whatever you say boss” replied Yates, shaking his head and muttering “weirdo” under his breath.
Englavista made his way back to the car calling out “remember same place next week. I look forward to getting that map… I know you won’t let me down”.
** Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender **
The Sibuna Club waited ten minutes after both men had left to make sure it was safe before the exited their hiding place.
“Well, that was enlightening” quipped Nina, brushing snow off her now wet jeans.
“Definitely” agreed Fabian, “Jerome, please tell me you were rolling.”
The trickster held up the camera proudly, “You bet! Started filming as soon as Yates arrived. Got all the juicy goss right here.”
“Soooo, the cops?” asked Liliana, already scrolling through her phone for the number of the officer they had worked with to arrest Jasper last year.
“Yes, but first we need to talk to Eddie. Any volunteers to try and have that conversation?” directed Nina.
Six pairs of eyes swiveled to look at Patricia.
“Fine, I’ll save my boyfriend and best friends from a murderous maniac” sighed Patricia. “But next time it’s Nina’s turn. He’s your Osirian after all”.
“Perks of being the Chosen One” smirked Nina, “I get to delegate!”
Seeing as there was nothing else left for them to learn about their enemies down at the tracks, the students began their long trudge back to Anubis House through the snow.
** Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender **
“I can’t believe that Eddie didn’t believe Patricia about Mr. Englavista” complained Amber as she fed a dead mouse to Julius Squeezer who was curled up in her lap.
“I know! It’s not like she would have any reason to know about his connection to the man, much less a reason to lie about his intentions” agreed Alfie.
“At least Eddie will have to come around when we have him arrested next week.”
“Yeah, Lils and Roe are working on setting up the sting with the officers now. I’ll be happy to keep our number of enemy groups down to just one. The Society is more than enough to handle on its own. Stupid child murderers” huffed the boy as he tossed the hacky sack with his foot.
“I do wonder what is making him be so illogical about all this” frowned Amber, petting the now very fat snake lovingly. “It’s not like Eddie to just dismiss Patricia’s concerns. Especially given everything that happened last year”.
“Don’t worry. Come this time next week Eddie will be safe and Englavista and Yates will both be off the streets” grinned Alfie, stopping his game to pull his girlfriend into a comforting hug.
Nina and Fabian strolled into the room without knocking, making Amber and Alfie jump.
“Guys! We have a rule about knocking!” snapped Alfie, helping Amber to her feet from where she had thrown herself on the floor in order to shove Julius Squeezer under the bed.
“That snake is getting huge” remarked Fabian, watching interestedly as Amber soothed the massive snake.
“Yeah, makes me glad that he’s the only pet in the house again” agreed Nina, flopping down on her bed. “I swear I was going to murder Mara if she brough Letdown back from break with her.”
“I’m pretty sure the whole house felt the same way… except maybe Mick, he’s going to miss his work out buddy” giggled Amber.
“Well, the mutt is gone, and Julius is back to being the handsomest pet in Anubis” grinned Alfie.
“You’re just bitter that Letdown ate your sandwich” teased Nina.
“Hey! Alfie doesn’t share food” snapped the boy. “That walking fleabag is lucky it still had all its paws”.
“Plus, I hear Mick has found himself a new work out buddy… and one significantly prettier than Letdown” teased Fabian. Leaning in to tell the others about Mick’s crush on the beautiful Isis House student Anastasia Marron.
The friends shifted their focus from heavy topics such as murders and artifact rings to classes and arguing over the chore chart, enjoying this chance to just be kids… the gods only knew how much longer they would have left.
** Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender **
Eddie shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as he rang the bell and waited for someone to answer the door. His head was spinning out of control, all he could focus on was the horrific image of Patricia’s blazing golden eyes. There was no way he could brush off this latest occurrence as a mistake of the light or his mind playing tricks on him. His brain was very unhelpfully bringing to his attention all the other times he had seen flashes of these gold eyes in his girlfriend, like on their date, and also in her friends. He had no idea what this meant, but he knew it couldn’t be anything good.
Part of him, the part his mom would probably call his common sense, was yelling at him for coming to the manor for help. Patricia had been trying to warn him that the man was bad news and was in cahoots with Yates. But Eddie couldn’t believe that. Pedro Englavista was the only one willing to help him with his Osirian powers. His own father was certainly not going to help. Over the past month and a half Eddie had made awesome progress with his powers. Under the older man’s guidance, Eddie had learned how to tap into his Osirian spirit and channel it’s strength and magic. Eddie saw Pedro as more than just a teacher… but almost like a father figure. The man truly cared about him. There had to be a logical reason for him meeting with Yates down at the tracks. Plus, if there was anyone who would know what was up with the Sibuna Club’s eyes it would be Mr. Englavista. Which is why he was now standing on the man’s doorstep at the crack of dawn.
“Eddie! What an unexpected and welcome surprise” greeted Pedro Englavista as the older man opened the front door wrapped in a striped bathrobe and slippers.
“Hi Mr. Envglavista. Sorry for intruding so early” apologized Eddie, sheepishly scuffing his foot against the porch.
“Nonsense my boy, please come in. And what did I say about that Mr. Englavista nonsense? Call me Uncle Pedro”.
“Right, thanks Uncle Pedro” grinned Eddie as he followed the man into the house. Eddie stopped to light a candle at the altar in the atrium and placed an apple he had stolen from the kitchen at the feet of the icon of Ra, before hustling to catch up with his mentor.
“Have you eaten yet?” asked the man, as the pair reached the dinning room.
Eddie’s stomach, upon smelling the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen, rumbled loudly enough to answer the Egyptologist.
“I will take that as a no,” laughed the older gentleman, gesturing for Eddie to take a seat at the table. “A growing boy like yourself really shouldn’t be skipping meals. I keep telling that to Greg and Alana too, but they don’t listen. Miles, bring in breakfast for Mr. Miller and me.”
Miles, Pedro’s butler, bustled into the room with a coffee tray and two full plates of breakfast. Eddie’s mouth watered at the sight of the pepper and onion eggs, bacon, jam and toast; it looked heavenly!
“So Eddie, what brings you by this morning”
Eddie gulped down his mouthful of eggs “I know we haven’t talked a lot about my Chosen One”
“Miss Martin?”
“Yeah, Nina. But she has this gang of friends that she runs with at school. They seem to always be getting up to something. Normally I would leave it alone, but now that I know I’m her Osirian I feel like I need to help her”.
“Those are perfectly natural instincts” soothed Mr. Englavista, sipping his coffee peacefully as he listened to Eddie.
“The thing is that Nina is super stubborn and is dead set on not telling anyone anything helpful since that could lead to us getting hurt. Most of the time I have to figure out how to help her by eavesdropping or dumb luck!”
“Hmmm… that does sound frustrating.”
“It is! And like I don’t necessarily want to be tied up in any of the dangerous stuff… but if she’s getting in over her head I need to know.”
“And do you believe that she, and by extension the group, are in over their heads?”
“Yeah. Yesterday Patricia came to me talking all sorts of crazy. And the scariest thing about it wasn’t her words but her eyes” shuddered Eddie, remembering the crazed glowing golden eyes of his girlfriend.
“What about them?” asked Mr. Englavista worriedly, putting down his coffee cup… this could be bad.
“Her eyes, and this is going to sound crazy I know, they were golden!”
“Golden” echoed the older man stunned, this was really bad… he couldn’t believe this was happening again!
“Yeah golden. Yacker’s eyes are usually this beautiful blue gray color that shifts based on her mood. Trust me I spend more than enough time looking at them to know! I had spotted the golden eyes a couple times on her and the others but was always able to explain it away as a trick of the light. But after last night… there’s no way. Her eyes were just blazing gold! It was super freaky. Have you ever seen anything like this in your experience working with my predecessor or Sarah?”.
Pedro took several large gulps of his coffee, the scalding heat helping to clear the shocked haze that had been clouding his mind. He weighed the pros and cons of his possible responses. How much to give… how much to hold back… always a delicate balance when manipulating the youth of today.
“Oh Eddie, I am so sorry. Yes, I have seen these golden eyes before and they mean nothing good. I am afraid your girlfriend and her friends have become compromised. The last time I saw eyes like that was in your predecessor during his decent into madness”.
Eddie shook his head in disbelief and shock. No! His Yacker couldn’t be becoming like Rufus, she was Patricia, stubborn strong-willed Patricia.
“The golden eyes are a side effect of the person taking a very special cocktail. One called the Elixir of Life. What Nina is thinking messing with that I have no idea. While the drink does extend one’s lifespan it does great damage to the mind, especially if it is continuously consumed. When Rufus began taking it, he assembled a group of followers which also drank the potion with him. What those followers didn’t know was that in taking it with Rufus they were binding themselves to him. This is a side effect of consuming the potion with such a powerful spirit, such as the Osirian or Chosen One. The group were held tightly under his sway for years with him unconsciously manipulating their minds. It was only as his mind began to crumble that his control on the others began to break as well. With Nina taking it as a teenager… I shudder to think what it will do to the minds of her and her acolytes. Their frontal lobes are not yet fully formed, when you add in the physical and supernatural effects of the concoction… time will only tell what the damage will be”.
Eddie nodded wordlessly in horrified understanding. He couldn’t believe that Nina had been so stupid as to make and take the elixir, and to give it to the others was horrible. What could have driven her to do such a thing?
“Is there any way to save them?” asked Eddie, desperately praying that the answer was yes.
“Yes,” began the older man hesitantly. “But it will not be pretty. Some of the effects, like the lengthened lifespan will be irreversible. The connection of their minds and the rash actions should be corrected with a simple detox. It will be key that you keep them away from their supply of elixir.”
“That will be difficult to do” worried Eddie. He couldn’t think of a good place to hide the elixir where the Sibunas wouldn’t find it; they were a crafty bunch.
“How about this? When you find their stash, bring it here to the house. That way they can’t get their hands on it again. I will destroy it while you lead them through the detox process. I will warn you though that their moods and actions during this withdrawal period will be atrocious. Do not give in to their pleading. This will be like detoxing from any other type of drug. This is the only way to save them” warned Pedro, already plotting in the back of his mind how much money he could get by selling the elixir of life. Of course, he would keep a bit for his scientists to study and analyze, if he could figure out the recipe, he wouldn’t even need the artifact ring anymore. The excruciating pain which the Sibuna club members would be going through would be kept secret for now, it wouldn’t do for Eddie to choose to not bring him the elixir to protect his little girlfriend’s health.
“Thank you so much Uncle Pedro” smiled Eddie, pulling the man into a tight hug. He was so happy that the Sibunas had been wrong about this man. Now that he knew how to help them it wouldn’t be long before they could see the truth about the man too. Eddie would help them get healthy and then everything could go back to normal.
“Well while you’re here how about a training session? I want to see how your skills are progressing with the bo-staff. Alana and Greg should be waking up soon enough and I am sure they would love to join our fight”.
“You’re on!” grinned Eddie, excitedly following the older man down to the gym where he soundly got his but kicked in their fight. At least he had lasted a full four minutes this time, but progress was progress, right? Eddie spent the rest of Saturday at the manor hanging out with his mentor and new friends. It was only as it began to get dark that he checked his phone and saw that Joy and K.T. had been blowing it up with messages. Saying goodbye to Pedro, Greg and Alana, Eddie called a cab and made his way back home to Anubis House.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 44: Operation Platypus
Summary:
The Sibuna's plan to get Englavista arrested
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Happy Valentines day! I'm sorry I left you all hanging for a couple months. Life has been a bit much, and I got terrible writers block with the Eddie parts of this chapter. Enjoy the new chapter. Much love - XO Evie
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Operation Platypus, the Sibuna's plan to get Englavista arrested, was fully underway Monday afternoon. Liliana had coordinated with Officer Jacobson, the Cop whom she had met while visiting Jerome’s dad. He had been a great help when arresting Jasper last year. When she reached out, Liliana learned that he had actually been scouted and recruited by MI6 making him an agent now, which made sense given that she hadn't seen him while visiting Mr. Clarke this year. The fashion designer had emailed the video of Yates and Englavista’s conversation at the railroad as proof of the pair’s misdeeds. Agent Jacobson shared that MI6 had been trying to nail Pedro Englavista for years, but he always managed to somehow get away with his crimes.
MI6 refused to allow the Sibuna Club to ride along for the arrest, saying something about “not endangering civilians”. Liliana wasn’t really paying attention at that point, already zoning out to plan how the Anubis Students would be able to get there without being stopped by the police.
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
Eddie was more nervous than he could ever remember being as he crept down the girl’s hallway. Thump... Thump... Thump... went Eddie’s heart as he entered Amber and Nina’s room. Thump, THUMP! Eddie felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. The rest of the house was in class, but Eddie had begged off, complaining of a stomach ache. Vera was out doing the shopping and Victor had been in the cellar doing gods know what for the last hour; this was the best chance he was likely going to get.
Pushing the door closed behind him, Eddie let out a relieved sigh as he heard the quiet “snick” of the latch catching. Walking over to the nearest desk, Amber’s, he began opening drawers searching for anything spooky looking. Make up, feminine care products, an ungodly amount of hair tools. Opening the bottom drawer Eddie was shocked to find bottles of black ink, needles, random herbs, and a booklet titled “Tattooing for Dummies”. Well that explained the strange new Latin tattoo on his girlfriend’s ribs... How he knew about said tattoo was entirely his business and his business alone.
Finding nothing elixir-y in the blonde’s desk he moved over to her wardrobe. Opening the wooden door, Eddie jumped in shock and was man enough to admit that a yelp of surprise and fear escaped his mouth as he took in the dreadful thing inside. What the fuck was Amber doing with a snake? Shutting the door quickly, the American boy strode over to Nina’s wardrobe.
Inside he found some strange metal rods with weird hieroglyphics and several old books. Unfortunately, no elixir was in there either. Looking around Nina’s side of the room, Eddie did his best to think of where the Sibuna cult leader could have stashed the elixir of life.
The memory of his time at the Jonstons Academy suddenly came to mind. As an eighth grader Eddie had been selling Pop-tarts out of his locker to make a little money. In order to do so he had to buy several boxes at one time, since they only went into town so
often. He ended up stashing the remaining boxes he wasn’t actively selling under a loose floor tile beneath his bed.
Back in the present, Eddie eyed Nina’s bed dubiously. Could his fellow American be hiding the elixir under her bed the same way he had hid his Pop-tart stash?
Crawling on his stomach, Eddie maneuvered his way under the bed to the best of his abilities. Scratching at the dust covered floorboards, Eddie carefully inspected each one, looking for a possible hiding place.
It only took a few seconds for his fingers to snag on a particular floor board. Prying it up, Eddie looked into the revealed space to find a bottle filled with a glowing golden liquid, various roots and plants, a container labeled snake venom, and a box labeled “Nina’s Weed - Alfie and Jerome Keep Out”.
Eddie made sure to clean out the hiding space thoroughly so as to stop the Sibunas from making more of the elixir in the future, or at least slow them down. The American boy placed the supplies in his backpack before sliding the floorboard back in place.
Crawling back out from under the bed, Eddie made sure everything was back in place where it belonged, before sprinting out of the room to hail a cab. He needed to get to Uncle Pedro’s as soon as possible!
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
Eddie soon found himself standing on the doorstep of Pedro Englavista’s home. Swiping the key from under the rock Alana had shown him, Eddie strolled into the house in search of his mentor. Winding through the house Eddie first peeked into the meditation room, then the kitchen and finally the office in search of Pedro.
As he approached the office, he saw the door was cracked and he could hear the older man’s voice drifting through the opening. Deciding to be polite and wait, Eddie sat down on the nearby step and waited… oh yeah and he totally eavesdropped, but who could blame him especially when he heard his name.
“No, the Miller boy won’t be a problem. I have set him his own task that should be running against ours, that should keep him distracted during our meet up” assured Mr. Englavista.
Eddie shifted closer to the door listening to his mentor speak on the phone, “Leave the map at the pier. I will meet you back at the tracks to make the payment this afternoon at 1600. Be careful, Yates, not to cross me, keep your end of the bargain and I can see us continuing to work together”.
Eddie’s face went white when he heard the name of who Uncle Pedro was speaking to. Yates… was this the same Yates that had kidnapped K.T. and Alana. Would Pedro really work with someone who kidnapped his niece? There had to be some kinda misunderstanding.
“According to Sarah and Rufus, Robert and Louisa hid most of their wealth in the family vault. Now that you have recovered the map to the vault, we will be able to take the treasure for ourselves. Stick with me and you will be greatly rewarded”.
Eddie had heard enough, sneaking back down the hallway he took a deep breath before loudly tromping back to the office calling for Alana. He was suddenly reminded of Patricia’s warnings about the man and how dangerous he was. At the time he had been blinded by his respect for the importer and desire for a connection with the man.
“Eddie my boy!” called Pedro, “Come join me”
Eddie forced a fake smile on his face as he entered the office. Thanks to Eric, he had a history of faking emotions when it came to shitty father figures. “Hi Uncle Pedro, I was coming by to update you on my search for the elixir”.
“Ahh, do you have it for me?”
“Not yet” lied Eddie. “I got so close, but then the group almost found me. I got trapped in Nina’s wardrobe with their pet snake. I’ll get it for you to hold onto next time”. The weight of the elixir was sitting heavy in his backpack.
“Well thank you for updating me, and I’m glad the snake did not win,” joked the old man, “We need you safe and whole”. Eddie’s heart broke more, he had really wanted this to work out.
“I should probably head back to the school before they miss me, but I’ll stop by tomorrow for some meditation” promised Eddie, though inwardly he knew he needed to talk to the Sibunas and figure out a plan… though that could wait until after he had confirmation about Yates.
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
“Just once I wish that we could have a sibuna mission that didn’t ruin my shoes” bemoaned Amber as the group tramped through the woods back to the train tracks. The pretty blonde had accidentally stepped in a muddy puddle of melted snow, soaking her school shoes. The group would definitely have to do a load of laundry when they got back.
“Shhh!” ordered Liliana, as the Sibuna Seven approached their goal. Since she had helped with coordinating the capture of Englavista and Yates, Lili knew where the agents would be hiding. Gesturing to a set of bushes, Lili helped the group hide from prying eyes, both friendly and hostile.
It didn’t take long for the roar of engines to appear, meaning that help had arrived. The Sibuna Club watched as two SUVs of MI6 Agents piled out into the clearing; they quickly set up their supplies, then hid themselves and their cars.
Eddie had swung by Anubis House to grab K.T. and Joy. Together the Second Hand Heroes made their way through the woods towards the tracks. Eddie had filled his best girls in on their walk about all that he had discovered. The couple did their best to comfort their distressed friend, while also holding back their murderous rage for Pedro Englavista. How dare that man manipulate and use their friend?
The trio spotted a set of bushes that looked like a good hiding spot, walking over to them, K.T. let out a silent scream when she found Nina and her posse sitting there. Her cousin grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down to the relative safety of the bushes.
The two groups traded frantic hushed whispers as they tried to figure out what was going on and why the others were there. Eddie and Joy ended up on either side of an angry looking Patricia, but at least that spot provided a good view of their rapidly approaching targets.
The roar of engines signaled an end to the groups’ bickering. The Anubis Nine turned their attention to the tracks where Yates rolled up on his motorcycle closely followed by a dark convertible driven by the man Eddie recognized as Harry, Uncle Pedro’s driver.
Pedro Englavista stepped out of the convertible and came to meet Yates on the tracks. “You have done well, Winn. Just as I promised, here is your reward”. Englavista passed a large briefcase over to the man. “This should cover your work last week with the Rush girl, along with half of your latest work retrieving the map. I will send the other half by carrier once I have retrieved the map for myself”.
“That wasn’t our deal” growled Yates, advancing furiously towards the elderly man.
Seeing that the scene might soon escalate, Agent Jacobson gave the signal and the MI6 agents charged the scene. In the blink of an eye both men, and Englavista’s driver were on the ground and handcuffed.
The Sibunas quietly cheered in the bushes as the three men were shoved into the back of the cop cars and driven off to be booked. Seeing that the excitement was over for now, the nine students made their way back to the house.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 45: You've Got Mail
Summary:
Second Hand Heroes make a discovery, Anubis House gets some long awaited mail, and the group celebrates another birthday.
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Happy Friday! Enjoy this new chapter of Scent of Lavender. All my love - xo Evie
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Eddie and the girls finally escaped Sibuna’s clutches an hour later after debriefing. The trio felt like their heads were going to explode, after everything they had gone through that day, they really didn’t feel up to anymore “I told you so”s from Nina and Co.
Unfortunately, Eddie and his friends still had two other tasks to complete before they could call it a day. The first would take them to the docks to find this mysterious map to the Frobisher Treasure Vault and the second… well the second would be a lot harder, it involved checking on Greg and Alana.
The pier was abandoned by the time the trio got there, which wasn’t surprising given how empty it normally was. Eddie wished that he had a better description for his friends of what to look for other than “a map and anything possibly out of place”.
The friends scoured the space in search of the Frobisher’s mysterious map. It took about thirty minutes of searching before Eddie was ready to call it quits. Kicking over a large rock he was shocked to find a deep hole dug into the dirt by the lake. Dropping to his knees, Eddie scraped off a top layer of mud to reveal a strange looking object. Pulling it out, the Osirian inspected a weird wooden box covered in strange carvings… could this be the map that Uncle Pedro and Yates had been talking about?
“Oh good you found it” remarked Joy, happy to not have to keep digging in the suspicious pile of leaves she had found.
“How do you know that's it?” wondered her girlfriend.
“It looks like other Frobisher clues that Sibuna has found over the years,” explained Joy.
“Well how do we open it?” asked Eddie.
“That part is a bit trickier. We will have to try and solve it later. For now at least we get to go home”.
“Sounds like a plan, we just have one more stop to make before that” agreed Eddie.
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
It was seven o'clock by the time the group pulled up to the mansion. Eddie hopped out of the uber and rang the bell, not wanting to let himself and the others in since he didn’t know what state Alana would be in.
“Would you Vultures just fucking go awa–” yelled Greg as he swung open the door, only to stop when he spotted Eddie on the other side.
“Hey Greg” greeted Eddie.
“Fuck. I take it you already heard?”
“We were there” piped up Joy from her place behind Eddie.
“Well I guess you three had better come in, prior warning though, Alana is turning what’s left of her Uncle’s office into a rage room” cautioned the dark haired boy.
The trio followed him into the house towards the sounds of yelling and smashing objects. Clearly Alana was not taking the news of her Uncle’s betrayal well.
“Stupid Pedro, Stupid Police, Stupid trusting nature” ranted the girl as she swung her uncle’s golf club wildly around the room destroying everything that got in her path.
“Hey A” greeted Eddie cautiously.
Alana just ignored him and continued smashing a glass statue of a horse which had been sitting on Pedro’s desk.
“Alana, please” begged Eddie.
It was only as Greg navigated his way through the trashed room and pulled the club out of her hand, that Alana stopped her assault on her Uncle’s belongings. Wrapping his arms around his friend’s waist, Greg led Alana over to where Eddie and the others were waiting.
“Let’s talk in the kitchen,” suggested the boy. Eddie agreed, leading his friends down the familiar halls.
“I take it from the rage room and the greeting at the door that you guys have figured out some of what is going on” began Eddie.
“That my Uncle is not an importer but instead a smuggler who was just arrested on multiple counts by MI6. The same MI6 who saw fit to come here and ransack this house” grouched Alana.
“Plus someone leaked it to the press so we’ve been getting phone calls all day asking for a statement” added Greg, as he poured drinks for everyone from the liquor cabinet. The group surely deserved it after the day they had had.
“I am so sorry” empathized K.T., “Finding out that your family members are shitty really is the worst. I had to face something similar when I found out about my Frobisher heritage, but at least I never actually knew them”.
“We wanted to clue you guys in on some of the other things that Pedro was up to” began Eddie, as he launched into a long explanation of how Pedro had been working with Yates to kidnap KT and Alana. He also shared more about how Pedro’s black market trade and the search for the Frobisher Vault.
Greg and Alana’s expressions went from furious to terrified, back to furious and finally intrigued as they listened to the trio’s tale. “So this vault will have what you need to expose the Frobisher’s as the thieves they were and possibly my Uncle as well?” asked Alana.
“Right. That’s why we need to find it” explained Joy. “Earlier this evening we went to Yates and Pedro’s dropsite and Eddie found the map they were in negotiations over”.
K.T. pulled the box out of her backpack and placed it on the table. “We just don’t know the code to get inside it to get to the map”.
Alana just smirked, “don’t worry, I have the key”. Before the others could stop her, Alana grabbed a giant pot and slammed it down on top of the wooden box smashing it to bits.
The others all screamed as the wood splintered. When she lifted the pot all that remained was a ton of splintered wood and a scroll of paper. “Drama queens”, scoffed Alana, as she fished out the paper and passed it to Eddie.
“Well that’s one way to do it” remarked Eddie, still in shock. He unrolled the paper to find a long string of numbers written in Robert’s familiar handwriting. 9 7 21 1 18 4 25 15 21 18 8 15 21 19 5 6 18 15 13 19 20 18 1 14 7 5 18 19 15 21 20 19 9 4 5 ; 23 8 5 18 5 20 8 5 8 5 1 18 20 9 19.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” asked KT, “Please tell me it’s not another calculus problem”.
“I don’t think so,” disagreed Joy. “I don’t quite know what to make of it yet, but we will figure it out”.
“Well whatever it is, count us in” announced Alana, with Greg agreeing wholeheartedly beside her.
“We want to help bring these people down with you,” agreed her friend.
“Well thank you guys for the support, we will keep you in the loop if we find anything” thanked KT, as she made a group text with all five of them in it. Given how late it was, it was decided that the Frobisher Academy students would head back to school and they would make a game plan tomorrow.
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
The week of Jerome’s 18th birthday was full of great excitement and anticipation. That week was the long awaited release of early University acceptance letters. The Anubis House residents, especially Mara, were incredibly antsy. Mara had applied to several universities such as St. Andrews, Trinity, Oxford and Cambridge. The Americans had applied to Universities back home, and Eddie had even convinced Patricia to apply to some American Schools with him. Amber had also applied to some fashion schools in New York.
The week of January 22nd marked the arrival of University acceptance letters. Anubis House was filled with shouts of joy and tears of despair as the students opened their letters. Their future outside of Anubis House was coming, and it was coming fast.
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
Between Jerome’s birthday and the long awaited college letters, January 24th came and went with little fanfare… at least for the Anubis House residents, not so much the kids of the troubled youth program.
Yvonne was walking back to her car Tuesday evening after her mandatory meeting with her counselor. She fucking hated this town so much. As soon as she turned eighteen she was out of here. She had been saving up for the past year to ensure she could afford a flatshare in a township a couple counties over.
Sticking out her thumb, Yvonne began walking along the side of the road hoping to hitch a ride back to her mother’s. Not that she really wanted to go home, between the yelling and beatings of her mother and stepfather, home wasn’t exactly a welcome place for her. Was it any wonder she turned out the way she did?
A car pulled over to the side of the road where Yvonne was walking. The window rolled down revealing a woman in a set of nursing scrubs. “Where are you headed young lady? Can I give you a ride home?”
“I’m headed to the east village”
“I’m headed that way as well,” grinned the nurse. “Hop in and I’ll give you a ride”.
The rumble of thunder was the final straw for Yvonne. Hopping in the car, Yvonne gratefully accepted the ride. Buckling up, the last thing she remembered hearing was a crackling sound and felt an intense pain before she passed out.
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
Victor worriedly read the paper Friday morning as he drank the coffee his fiance had brought him.
January 24th, The Troubled Teen Epidemic Worsens. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. Yvonne Williams joined her fellow “Troubled Teens” program members Antonia Stainton and Lola Hayne in going missing Wednesday afternoon. Eleven members remain in Assistant Mayor Sparrow’s rehabilitation program. I, Jensen Layden, met with Assistant Mayor Sparrow about the future of the program, read more on page twelve.
Clearly he was going to have to speak to Cole, they needed to ensure their final three sacrifices did not draw more attention. The Society was so close to achieving their goals, and nothing and no one would stand in their way.
*Scent of Lavender – Scent of Lavender *
Jerome’s eighteenth birthday party was in full swing Friday night. Anubis House was full of students there to celebrate everyone’s favorite meerkat. Poppy had brought the Hathor house students to celebrate her brother’s birthday, and they had come bearing presents and Mirabel’s delicious cookies. Several day students were there to celebrate Jerome, including his friends from the Future Business Leaders club. Trudy had even stopped by for a bit bringing her Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cake.
The party was a raging success. Everyone had a ton of fun, playing games, dancing, singing karaoke and celebrating Jerome. At eleven pm, Vera and Victor made their presence known and kicked everyone who wasn’t an Anubis House resident out. After quickly cleaning up, the group headed to bed, happy to have had something to celebrate during what was one hundred percent the worst month of the year.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 46: Knock Me Down With Your Love
Summary:
The side effects of the elixir start to take effect and the Play is announced.
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Happy Saturday! Enjoy this next chapter - xo Evie
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The night before Patricia’s eighteenth birthday the Anubis house residents decided to go out for a fun group date to the local bowling alley. Mick had finally managed to talk Isis house resident Anastasia Marron into going out with him, and this would be the pair's first group date with the Anubis crew. Mara had also finally decided to give her fellow debate co-captain a chance and was bringing Andrew as her date to the bowling outing.
The gang had a ton of fun bowling, eating, drinking and chatting. Eddie and Mick got VERY competitive during the game but ended up both being beaten by Patricia. Nina was grateful for a night off to relax after all the Englavista drama.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Nina’s head was pounding, it felt like the worst headache of her life. Given that last night hadn’t been a party night she knew it wasn’t a hangover. Deciding that it likely had something to do with magic, Nina decided to call Amneris for help.
Sitting in front of the mirror in her room, Nina lit a candle filled with lavender, moss, and cinnamon. Taking out her crystals, Nina arranged them on the desk in the formation Amneris had taught her with Sarah’s hair pieces in the middle.
“Amneris, priestess of Anubis, I summon thee to me” intoned Nina. It didn’t take long for her to notice in her mirror the familiar purple glowing form of the dead woman.
“My apprentice, how pleasant to hear from you. What is it that you need?”
Nina turned in her chair to look at the beautiful ghost face to face. She quickly filled her mentor in on all that had happened recently. The woman seemed particularly interested in the body the group had found in the gate house. Moving past that, Nina finally got to ask what she had summoned the priestess for.
“Amneris, I have this terrible headache. It’s been bugging me all day. I was in so much pain that I almost bit Alfie’s head off for asking a stupid question earlier. Do you know what’s wrong with me” worried Nina, her eyes flashing a duller gold than normal.
Amneris floated closer, her glowing golden eyes scanning her protegee. Invisible charms glowed around the girl courtesy of the magic she had been performing and Amneris’ own scans.
“Ahh, I believe I have found the problem,” shared Amneris. “You haven't been keeping up with your elixir intake have you?”
“Uh… no. I just took it that one time when I made it. Then I dosed the others but haven’t given any of us any more. I don’t necessarily want us to live forever… I just needed that edge to keep us safe from the society”
“Well your body is telling you that you need more of it,” explained Amneris. “If you don’t take more of it soon your headache will get worse and the pain will spread through your body. Think detoxing from any other drug. So I recommend taking more of it as soon as possible… then dosing your minions again since they will start feeling the effects in a couple days” explained Amneris.
Nina nodded, that made sense, following the directions of her mentor, Nina crawled under her bed to get the elixir. Only when she lifted up the floorboard Nina found that there was nothing there. Letting out a scream of pain and rage, Nina slammed the floor board back in place. There could only be one person who would take her elixir… Victor. Now her leverage was gone!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eddie watched satisfied as the flames of the trash fire he had started burned the elixir ingredients. He hoped that by destroying all of the items Nina would be unlikely to make more elixir. He had worriedly watched her this morning as she complained of a migraine and yelled at her Sibunas. Clearly there was something more going on here, and the sooner the elixir was destroyed the better.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
January 31st began with Patricia being awoken by Eddie, Joy and KT jumping on her bed to wake her up shouting “Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes”.
“Ok, ok. Good morning” mumbled Patricia, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes
“Happy Birthday, Yacker! There are pancakes in the dining room” shouted Eddie excitedly, placing a kiss to her cheek. It was nice to see that her boyfriend had his priorities straight.
“Morning, Patty” grinned Joy, flopping down on the bed in a starfish motion, landing on top of Patricia smushing her.
“Happy Birthday Trix” celebrated KT taking a photo of the adorable scene in front of her.
Pushing her friends off her, Patricia sent them downstairs so that she could get dressed. Shooting a good morning and Happy Birthday text to Piper, Patricia headed down stairs to celebrate with her family of choice.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The year twelve students all waited anxiously in the drama classroom for their teacher to arrive. Apparently over the weekend, Mr. Lloyd had suffered a terrible seizure and would be unable to teach the rest of the semester. The door opened to reveal everyone’s favorite teacher Miss Valentine.
“Good afternoon everyone” grinned the woman, “I have some big news for you all today. I have chosen this semester’s musical”
The theater nerds in the room all perked up. Joy, KT and Eddie sat up straighter at the word musical specifically.
“This year we will be performing ‘Into The Woods’,” shared Miss Valentine, which was greeted by loud cheers from the students. “Auditions will be held next week on Monday. Lindy please help me pass out the packets”.
Miss Valentine went on to explain that each member of the year twelve group would be involved in the show in some way, whether it be as cast or crew. The rest of the lesson was spent explaining how class time would be used to prepare for the performance before the student body and parents in April. Their homework for the next couple days was to use their packets to prepare for their auditions next Monday. The students left the classroom with a mix of emotions, some excited for this new and exciting project while others were groaning at the idea of performing on stage before everyone they knew.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 47: Side Effects May Include
Summary:
Cast list, elixir consequences and Eddie makes a choice.
Notes:
Evie's Notes: I have Covid so I've had plenty of time to write so enjoy the double post.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Auditions for the Frobisher Academy Spring Musical went smoothly with only minor bumps. So it was with great excitement that the year twelve students were gathered outside Miss Valentine’s office awaiting the posting of the official cast list.
“Oh my god I can’t wait any longer” complained Abbi as she stood with the other Osiris house residents.
“I am so nervous! I have to know if I made it” muttered Josie worriedly.
“I’m sure I totally messed up. I’m probably playing a camel again” worried Jerome.
“I swear the list was up earlier last year” huffed José.
“Hush up, It’ll come when she’s done with it” corrected Josie, slapping the boy’s shoulder lightly.
“I’m just glad I didn’t have to write it this time,” commented Nina, leaning against the lockers wearing a large set of sunglasses. The other Sibunas were also in similar states, since the discomfort of the elixir wearing off had finally started to hit them.
“As long as I play a person I’m good,” commented Tobey.
It only took a couple more minutes before Ms. Valentine exited her office and was mobbed by the gathered students. “All right, back up. BACK UP” she yelled.
The group reluctantly backed up and allowed her to pass through the gathered throng to the bulletin board where she posted the cast list.
Frobisher Academy Presents Into The Woods:
The Baker - Eddie
The Witch - K.T.
Cinderella - Joy
Jack - Tobey
The Baker’s Wife - Abbi
Little Red Riding Hood - Josie
Florinda - Anastasia
Lucinda - Patricia
The Giant - Hadrian
Jack’s Mother - Marissa
Milky-White - Tessa
Rapunzel’s Prince - Henry
Cinderella’s Stepmother - Amber
Cinderella’s Prince - Mick
Rapunzel - Liliana
The Narrator - Laura
Cinderella’s Mother - Natasha
The Wolf - Jerome
The Steward - Fabian
Ensamble: Ryn, Mara, Alfie, Andrew, Alex, Philip, Liny
Remaining year twelves: Stage Crew
There was great rejoicing and yells of despair as the group read the list. The ringing of the bell signaled that it was time for their next lesson. Doing their best to put the play announcement out of their mind, the students dispersed for their next classes.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The morning of her birthday Liliana woke up with the crushing headache she had been feeling for the last couple of days now paired with muscle pain. She was set on having a good birthday though, so when Jerome, Alfie and Amber burst into her room waking up K.T. she forced a happy smile on her face. Accepting the group’s hugs and kisses she promised to be down stairs for breakfast in a few minutes.
Climbing out of bed, Liliana changed out of her nightgown into her uniform, took out her curlers and applied her makeup in record time. Taking the stairs two at a time, she excitedly joined her classmates for breakfast. Given that everyone but Eddie Fabian and Mara were now of age, Vera had signed off on breakfast mimosas to go with the delectable brunch that Patricia had whipped up with Joy’s help. The group had an enjoyable breakfast before heading to school for their classes.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Valentines came and went without much to do in Anubis House which was in large part due to the fact that all the Sibunas were in bed with what appeared to be a terrible bug. They were experiencing high fevers, chills and pain throughout their bodies. The only strange thing was the way their eyes would flash gold every so often.
Nina, who had gone through this the week before, had done some research and knew that this would pass within 24 hours. Afterwards the elixir would have fully exited their bodies, and except for remaining young looking a few extra years they shouldn’t have any lasting issues.
Unfortunately, Nina had to fess up to what she did to the Sibuna Club Members. The group took it surprisingly well that Nina had essentially drugged them, in Alfie’s case a second time, but given that she had been the one to give them the elixir it only made sense.
Louisa had written in one of her journals that the Elixir made by her husband, the Elixir of Life, had a debilitating effect on those who took it and would drive them into madness. The elixir would also have a bonding effect on those who took it, binding them to the will of the maker. It wouldn’t necessarily take away the will of the drinker but make them more susceptible to the suggestion of the maker. This made things a lot clearer looking back, Nina couldn’t remember a time Patricia and Jerome wouldn’t give her pushback, but ever since they had taken the elixir they had fallen in line.
Now that her head was clear from the Elixir, Nina could see that the risks were not worth it. A plus side was that if Victor had been the one to steal her elixir he would be susceptible to her will.
The one big thing that did happen on Valentine's day was Victor and Vera’s announcement. At supper, where most of the Sibunas were wrapped up in sweats and looking miserable, Victor and Vera entered the room hand in hand.
“Attention Students” called Victor.
“We have some very big news to share,” announced Vera with a grin. “Victor and I’s wedding will take place a month from now here at Anubis House. We look forward to having you all there to celebrate us”
With that the pair left the gathered students in shock to finish their dinner.
“Do we have to buy them wedding gifts?” asked Mick. “If so, dibs on a fruit bowl”.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The night of the 6th sacrifice the Sibuna club was still too out of it to try and stop the Society from trying to take another soul. Nina mentally was still recovering from what she had done, and the Sibunas were still recovering physically. So the group just resolved to try and stop the March sacrifice.
The Second Hand Heroes had informed Greg and Alana that the Society was shopping for souls in their Troubled Teens program. This infuriated the pair, they swore that the Society wouldn’t get another one of their friends.
Alana, being of age, had been allowed to stay in the family mansion when her uncle was taken into custody. So, on the night before the sacrifice Greg, Alana, KT, Eddie and Joy rounded up the other nine members and had them stay in the mansion. While the Second Hand Heroes didn’t tell the teens why they were there, it seemed that they picked up on the vibe. It didn’t take a genius to put together that someone was clearly targeting their group.
Unfortunately for both groups, the Society had gotten smart and taken Victor’s warnings to heart. This time when searching for their next victim they looked back at Frobisher Academy.
Approaching Hathor House, Vera knocked on the door and waited for her fellow housemother to answer the door. When Mirabel opened the door she greeted Vera with a big smile.
“Hello Vera, what can I do for you this late?” asked the woman.
“Hi Mir, I come bearing some sad news. I was hoping to borrow Missy. Her Aunt Renée passed away earlier today and her parents are wanting their daughter to come home for the funeral and likely the rest of the year. They meant to call you but got the wrong extension. They were so distraught I assured them that I could handle passing on the message. If you could go get Missy for me so I can break the news on the phone with her parents? Her parents will send movers for her things later on”.
“Oh the poor dear” gasped Mirabel, heart broken for her charge. “Of course her parents would want her close right now. I will go get her. And I won’t say anything so that the parents can be the ones to let her know”.
Mirabel disappeared for a minute before returning with a tired looking thirteen year old who was wiping sleep out of her eyes. “Miss Devenish?” asked the girl.
“Hi Missy, we have a couple things to talk about, put on your boots and coat and we can talk in the car” leading the girl out the door and over to the car she shared with Victor she had Missy hop in the backseat and buckle up before driving away.
As soon as she was far enough away that the house was out of view, Vera whipped around with her taser and shocked the girl till she passed out. Pulling out her phone, Vera texted the society group chat: “Got the item, meet you at the house”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eddie was going to lose his mind. He couldn’t believe that it had been a month and they still hadn’t deciphered the map from Englavista.
He was angrily scribbling out different variations of the numbers in a notebook while sitting in the dining room. He was so busy muttering angrily to himself that he missed the arrival of his best friend.
“What’s with the angry caterpillars, Osirian?” asked Joy, taking the seat next to him and poking at his bushy eyebrows.
“Just frustrated that we haven't been able to decode this yet” huffed Eddie. “I mean at this point I think we might actually have to go to Nina and Co with this”
“Ughhh please no” whined Joy.
“Play nice JJ,” scolded Eddie. “Come on, it's so important that we find this vault. Once we have access to it and all its treasures we can call the police and get the stolen items on Frobisher and Englavista’s records”.
“I know… I just really don’t want to have to deal with their know-it-allness. Especially when they don’t know everything… case in point, we have the map and they don’t”.
“We’ll just have to set some boundaries and ground rules when we meet with them” offered Eddie. “And don’t worry, no matter what I’ve got your back always and forever Little J”
“Thanks Eddie,” grinned the girl, giving her best friend a big hug.
Unfortunately what the pair failed to notice were two shapes, one tall and hulkling and the other slim and small, watching and listening to them from the kitchen. A map to a treasure trove? Count Victor and Vera in. Game on Sibuna.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 48: A New Alliance
Summary:
Time for a wedding and new discoveries
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Enjoy the new chapter! - xo Evie 💕
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Eddie, K.T. and Joy had a team meeting in the atrium before they went into breakfast Wednesday morning. “Are we sure we want to do this?” asked K.T. worriedly.
“Of course we do, we’ve come this far we can’t bottle out now,” huffed Joy.
“Oh no, you’re right” sassed her girlfriend. “We’re about to go ask the druggies who continuously shut us out for help. That’s definitely going to go well”.
“JJ, Kara… Calm down. We can’t go in there arguing. We know that we need their help with this code. That’s all there is to it” cut in Eddie shutting down the argument.
“You’re right,” admitted Joy.
“And who knows… maybe they need our help too” suggested K.T. as Eddie led his team into the dining room where Sibuna was eating breakfast.
Mick had already left for a morning run and Mara had headed into school early to meet up with Andrew for a breakfast date.
Eddie nodded to Nina and the group as the trio entered. “Nina, Sibuna”.
“Eddie… What's going on?” asked the American girl, weirded out by his phrasing.
“Clearly you guys have been Sibunaing this year” began the boy, causing the gathered students to stiffen in shock. Did they really think that they were being inconspicuous? “Well we have been working on things from a different angle too. After the arrest of Pedro, which you guys coordinated last month, we found a map to the Frobisher Vault which will help to bring down Pedro and the Frobishers”.
The Sibunas were shocked at the direct approach Eddie and the girls were taking.
“You found a map?” asked Nina diplomatically.
“Yeah, I had a vision about a vault here on campus that has all of the stolen Frobisher Treasures” shared Eddie
“Then we went and found a map to the vault that Pedro hired Yates to retrieve for him,” added Joy.
“So why are you telling us?” asked Fabian.
“Well first of all, we’re all on the same side” pointed out K.T., “And secondly, we’re struggling to decode it and figure the more eyes the better”.
Amber shifted in her seat, “What do you plan to do with the Vault once you find it”
“Uhh, call the cops... duh” snarked Joy.
“Well we certainly have a hook up for the cops when you need it” offered Liliana. “The local cops are in on the actions of the Society. When we coordinated the arrest of Englavista we used a MI6 agent”.
“That’s great,” grinned K.T.
“Well that’s what we’ve been working on, what have you been up to?” asked Eddie.
Jerome opened his mouth to start only to let out a yelp when Patricia stomped hard on his foot. If the Sibuna club was going to offer anything up it would be what Nina decided.
“Well, we are also looking for the Vault. We have been working on solving a variety of riddles that Frobisher left. The riddles will lead us to the key to the vault which the Frobishers broke into four pieces. We have found three of them so far, and are working on the fourth” explained Nina.
“Well how about we give you our riddle and you share yours, that way we get a set of fresh eyes on both” suggested K.T.
Nina and Fabian exchanged a long look for a minute, before reluctantly agreeing.
Fabian pulled out a notebook and copied down the Sibuna Club’s final riddle on a blank sheet of paper “In the summer house beneath the weeds”.
“Oh your’s is so much clearer than ours” commented Joy, passing their clue over to Fabian. “9 7 21 1 18 4 25 15 21 18 8 15 21 19 5 6 18 15 13 19 20 18 1 14 7 5 18 19 15 21 20 19 9 4 5 ; 23 8 5 18 5 20 8 5 8 5 1 18 20 9 19”
“Well that’s certainly interesting” remarked Alfie, eyeing the string of numbers.
“Even I have no idea what to make of it,” remarked Amber, making the group laugh lightly.
Liliana snuck her phone out and added the three new members to the Sibuna group chat. If they were sharing information they had better share it all. K.T. noticed what she was doing and sent her a grateful smile.
The group broke up soon after to head to their classes agreeing to reform if anyone made any progress with the puzzles.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Victor and Vera’s wedding happened on Saturday, March fourth in the afternoon. The Anubis House residents had been put to work setting up chairs in the front yard, decorating an arch, setting up food and drinks for the party and handling all the final details. It turned out that yes, they did have to buy gifts, so Mick very excitedly placed his quality fruit bowl in the middle of the gift table. The Sibunas had all agreed to just buy the cheapest stuff on the registry and added their gifts to the pile.
Mr. Sweet was apparently an authorized minister and had been thrilled when Victor asked him to officiate. Other guests included the school teachers and the other houseparents/caretakers. The ceremony went smoothly, even with the Sibunas glaring at all the Society members who attended.
Never ones to turn down a party, the Anubis House Residents partied the evening away deciding to just treat it like a normal party… even if all their teachers were there too.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“What is everyone doing for Spring Break?” asked Amber one morning at breakfast.
Mara took a sip of tea before answering, “I’m heading home for the week. Mom and Dad want me there for Holi this year”.
The others shared that they were all planning on sticking around since it was only a week long break. Mick especially couldn’t justify flying to Australia and back for just a day or two.
“Well I have a fabulous idea” cheered Amber excitedly. “Daddy said that we could use the beach house at Fistral”
“Amazeballs! That sounds like so much fun!!” cheered Alfie, excitedly high fiving Jerome.
“I am so in,” agreed Liliana.
Nina and Fabian quickly agreed too, excited to get away from Anubis House and the stress for a bit.
Patricia hesitantly said yes, saying that she had originally planned to hang out with Piper so she would need to check with her first.
“I love the beach so I am so in” grinned K.T., and since everyone else was going, Eddie and Joy agreed to come too. It was decided that the group would leave the morning of March 19th, the first day of Spring Break.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eddie’s eighteenth birthday was on a Thursday this year. He had a special lunch with Eric to celebrate the day since he wasn’t going to turn down free food. But honestly Eddie had never really forgiven his father for what he had done to his best friend and girlfriend. Because of this he hadn’t let his father into his heart and let the relationship grow. Given that this was his last year at the school and he applied for Universities back in America, he did not plan to continue the relationship after graduation.
Later that evening Eddie was led blindfolded to the Frobisher library by Patricia for a surprise party planned by his girlfriend and best friends. The party was tons of fun, all of Eddie’s friends from school came to celebrate with him. The group partied long into the night before their houseparents came looking for them and chased them back home.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibuna Club and their new members were gathered in Ambers room on Friday evening trying to figure out the final clues to the Frobisher Vault.
“In the Summer House among the weeds” repeated Alfie over and over as he paced Amber’s room.
“There are a ton of old buildings and ruins on this campus. How will we know which one is the Summer House?” asked Liliana worriedly.
Fabian, Patricia, and Nina were paging through Robert and Louisia’s old diaries in hopes of finding some mention of a summer house.
“I think I have it!” celebrated Fabian.
“Go on then” grinned K.T. from where she and Joy sat on the beanbags trying to solve the number puzzle.
“The lawn party took place in the Nefertiti gardens. And the members of the archeological society were thrilled by the Summer House. Standing at the center lawn on a clear day you can see the vanes of the main house and Gate Lodge”.
“The main house is Anubis right?” deduced Eddie.
“So we’re looking for a spot that can see both Anubis and the Gatehouse,” remarked Jerome, turning to the map of the campus that was currently set up on one side of Amber’s murder board. The other featured fashion designs used to dissuade Victor and Vera from looking at the back.
“Well in order to see both weathervanes you would have to be about here” decided Amber, placing a pin on the top right corner of her map.
“Oh no” muttered Eddie suddenly, his face turning white as he stared at the map.
“Shit” agreed Nina, “The Summer House is the Society Headquarters. Who knows what could have happened to the artifact during the renovation this summer, or if it is even still there!”.
The Anubis Nine traded grim looks. Seeing as it was far too late to go tromping through the woods, they planned to go tomorrow morning after breakfast to investigate and hopefully find the final piece of the staff.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibuna crew made their way back to the society’s headquarters the next morning.
Fabian stood in the center of the lawn and turned in a full circle till he spotted the two weathervanes Robert had mentioned. “This is it guys. It has to be”.
“But we don’t know where to look or what we are looking for,” worried Alfie.
“Do we need to go inside?” asked Jerome.
“Nah, the rhyme mentioned weeds,” explained Nina. “Everyone split up and look around the yards. If you find anything, yell”.
Eddie quickly discovered a strange looking object lying in the weeds. “Hey! Could this be an artifact?” he asked Patricia, Joy and K.T.
“It does have some markings on it…” hedged Joy.
“Could hieroglyphics?” suggested K.T.
A moment later though it became abundantly clear that it was NOT an artifact.
“I think that’s just Pigeon poop, Weasel” teased Patricia, passing the boy some hand sanitizer from the Sibuna Supply Backpack.
“Keep looking guys, it has to be here somewhere” called out Amber encouragingly.
Liliana was looking at the various statues which lined the lawn. “Do you guys think it could be in one of these?” she called. The other eight joined her, jostling the statues trying to find an opening for a piece of the staff to be hiding in.
It was Eddie who noticed that all the statues had their eyes open except for one. Sticking his fingers in its’ eyes, Eddie activated the mechanism, causing the bust of a long dead pharaoh named Hatshepsut to tilt up and reveal something red and glittery underneath. Sticking his hands in the hole, Eddie pulled out the object to reveal a beautiful ruby staff topper.
“Eddie you did it!” celebrated Nina, pulling her Osirian into a tight hug.
The group excitedly headed back to the house to assemble the staff. It was decided that they would keep the staff under Liliana’s mattress since she was the least suspicious of the bunch to the Society. Now all the group needed was to solve the number clue and they would have what they needed to bring Englavista, the Frobishers, and the Society to their knees.
All in all it was with high spirits that the group left for their spring beach trip at Amber’s family’s beach house.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 49: Beach Party
Summary:
Vacation all I ever wanted... Vacation had to get away!
Chapter Text
A beach vacation was exactly what Nina needed, life had been so stressful lately, especially with her friends detoxing from the elixir. The group finally seemed to be getting back to full strength, and even had bonus members of Nina’s Osirian, cousin and Joy. It was decided that the best bet would be to drive to the beach house since it would only be six hours. For the road trip, Alfie reserved a twelve passenger van for the residents to ride in.
Packing for said road trip was a very chaotic process. Only a few of the friends actually had their driver’s licenses, and fewer had British ones. The official drivers for the trip would be Alfie, Jerome, Patricia and Liliana. The rest would be fighting for shotgun or one of the other ten seats. Alfie, as a Supernatural fanboy, had loudly declared that “Driver Picks the Music and Shotgun Shuts Their Cake Hole”. Said rule was also, in theory, supposed to apply to the others in the car. It did not, there was much complaining for most of the six hour ride.
“Jerome, pass the cheese balls” demanded Patricia.
“No! They’re my mine” argued the boy, hugging them close to his chest.
“Somebody pass the red vines” called Liliana
“They’re all gone,” shouted back Nina from her place next to Fabian.
“What!” shrieked Lili, “Who ate them all?”. Mick guiltily slunk down in his seat in front of her. “Mick when I get out of here you are so dead!!”
“I’m so glad we decided to put her in the back corner” muttered Mick to K.T.
“Are we there yet?” whined Joy, leaning dramatically over Eddie’s lap.
“It’s only been five minutes since you last asked,” snapped the boy.
Amber just looked out the passenger seat window and counted her blessings that she had won the arm wrestling competition and secured this seat at the last rest stop.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“Lili can you pull over” begged Joy, as she anxiously twisted in her new seat by Patricia.
“We just pulled over an hour ago to get gas” sighed Lili.
“But I need to pee again” whined Joy.
“And you wonder why we’re not there yet” huffed Jerome, throwing a piece of popcorn at the girl’s head. Joy whirled around and stuck her tongue out at the tall boy.
Amber just sighed and adjusted the gps from her spot in the passenger seat to allow them to pull over at the next exit.
“Why does Amber always get to be in the passenger seat?” asked K.T. grumpily, they were four hours into the drive and she was currently squished between Alfie and Jerome.
“Because I’m a lady that’s why” sassed Amber with a hair flip.
Her best friend finished the line with “You’re not a lady, you’re nothing but a sister”. Causing Lili and Amber to laugh their heads off at the inside joke.
“She’s just the favorite” huffed Eddie, sulking since he had also been banished to the back bench with Alfie, Jerome and K.T.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Eight hours later the Anubis crew finally made it to Amber’s beach house. Crawling out of the van, the twelve Frobisher Academy teens were happy to stretch their legs. There was a mad dash for the house and a crazed scramble as the students ran to claim rooms and beds. Elbows were thrown and insults slung. It all ended though with everyone having a place to sleep, excluding Mick, who had ended up on the giant couch in the sitting room.
The house had been out of commission since last season, so there was no food in the fridge when they rolled up. So Amber grabbed a couple reusable grocery bags and led her friends down the street to the local shopping mart.
Entering the store, the group split into two groups with Alfie grabbing a cart and racing off to find the cheese balls followed by Patricia, Lili, Jerome and Fabian. This group loaded up their cart with sugary drinks, crisps, sandwich bread and fixings, and desserts.
Amber grabbed a different cart and led the other six off to look for breakfast items for tomorrow. There was much arguing over what type of cereal to get, debate over how many donuts were too many donuts, and discussion of the best fruit flavors.
Two hundred dollars and several hijinks later, the group walked back to the house to put away the groceries and finish unpacking.
It was too late to go to the beach that night, so the group settled in for a movie night instead. The students had a fun night watching Star Trek, eating popcorn and chocolate and drooling over Chris Pine. Truly a night well spent.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The next morning the group packed a picnic lunch and threw on their swimsuits and headed down to the beach. Covered in sunscreen the twelve Anubis kids had so much fun splashing in the water, laying out on their blankets to tan, playing frisbee and dunking each other in the waves. For lunch the group scarfed down sodas, crisps and sandwiches.
Patricia had declared herself keeper of the blankets and was spending most of the day under the umbrella with her sketchbook. Her all black swimsuit and pale body made her look like a vampire under the Ocean sun. Her best friend and boyfriend were having none of that though. So as Joy distracted Patricia, Eddie snuck up behind her and picked the girl up carrying her to the ocean and dropping her in the water. Patricia shrieked in shock and faux outrage, chasing her boyfriend through the water in hopes of getting him back.
Amber, Nina and Liliana were busy searching for seashells to turn into jewelry. They brought back several good ones to the blanket. K.T., Joy and Patricia helped paint the shells beautiful colors.
Jerome and Alfie went off in search of buried treasure. Unfortunately for the boys, the only treasures that they found were fishing nets, a handful of change and some broken shells. Still it didn’t crush their pirate spirit and they swore to keep searching the rest of the week.
The teens stayed out on the beach till the sun began to set. Getting hungry, the twelve students trekked their way back to the house to make dinner and watch a movie before bed.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The group’s second day at the beach was rather bleak and rainy. So in the morning they stayed in the beach house playing card games and beating each other at Mario Kart on the wii. Later on it was decided that they should go out and do something with themselves. Mick suggested they go to the aquarium and see the animals. No one had any objections, so the twelve students loaded themselves back in the van for another drive.
At the aquarium the group had fun watching the fish, petting the stingrays, pretending to swim with the turtles and walking through the shark exhibition. Liliana’s favorite part of the trip though was seeing the penguins, they were just so cute with their tuxedo-like feathers.
K.T. took lots of cool photos of the sea creatures while they walked through the exhibits. Eddie spent his time pretending to be a fish. Amber drew lots of inspiration from the colorful fish that she planned to use in some of her upcoming Glitter and Glamour orders.
The students stopped by the giftshop to load themselves up on cheesy merch like keychains, sweatshirts and stuffed animals. Fabian got a dolphin plushie which he named Olivia after his sister.
That evening when they got back from the aquarium the rain had let up, so the group decided to go for a walk on the beach. They looked for pretty seashells and any cool creatures they could spot. Alfie did his best to save the various starfish and other creatures he found by throwing them back into the ocean.
Deciding to stay outside that evening, the Anubis Gang had a cookout with burgers and hot dogs, along with potato salad and fruit. The teens gathered around Amber’s fire pit and sang campfire songs and told stories as they roasted marshmallows and made smores. The group star gazed for a while pointing out the constellations which were very familiar to the Sibuna club.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The third day at the beach was filled with adventure as the group broke out the Millington jet skis and motor boat. Jerome, Alfie and K.T. went out on the jet skis while Mick captained the boat. Amber happily placed a captain’s hat on the blond jock’s head.
While the others zipped about on the three jet skis, the people in the boat sipped on their drinks and took turns on the tube tied to the back of the boat. Mick took great joy in trying to throw people off the tube. They also had packed a picnic lunch to enjoy while out on the water.
Late afternoon the Anubis twelve came off the water and headed over to the boardwalk. There they split up in order to participate in all the carnival had to offer. Eddie and Alfie headed over to the go carts. Jerome, Nina and Fabian hit up a miniature golf course. K.T. and Joy went to go and try to do the ring toss in order to win each other a prize. Lili and Amber went to check out the hair beading station before riding the mini roller coaster. Patricia and Mick decided to play a football challenge game before riding the ferris wheel and downing an ungodly amount of candy floss.
By the time the students made it back home that night they were covered in temporary tattoos, face paint, full of carnival food and weighed down by prizes. The Anubis twelve slept well, tired from their fun filled day.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The fourth day and final day of their vacation was spent soaking up as much sun as they could before having to head back to Liverpool. Filling up a large cooler with water balloons, the group engaged in a wild water balloon battle on the beach. They had a ton of fun dousing each other with water. The best part was that there really was no way to declare a winner, so everyone walked away with smiles on their faces.
Mid morning the group decided to rent bikes and go on a ride around the beachside town. The students had so much fun taking in all the nature and the quaint seaside village houses. Returning the bikes, the teens decided to head back to the beach for some more fun in the sun.
It seemed like a crime that it wasn’t until the fourth day that the group decided to have a sandcastle making contest. The group split up and used everything in their collection to craft massive sandcastles. Though once Alfie’s collapsed, he kicked in Jerome's and Liliana’s and the trio set about sabotaging those around them. In order to stop them, Mick and the other nine buried the three troublemakers in a pit of sand to keep them away from the sand castles. After the contest, a couple of the teens decided to try their hand at surfing while the others took a nap under the umbrellas.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
On their last night at the beach, the group decided to go to the local roller rink. Lacing up her skates, Nina enjoyed the feel of her feet gliding over the linoleum, the wind in her hair. Her friends quickly joined her on the floor. The music was pumping as the DJ played Usher’s “DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again” and One Direction’s “Kiss You”. Skating hand in hand with Fabian, with Amber somewhere behind her, Nina couldn’t be happier.
The roller rink also had an arcade attached to it. Lili wouldn’t lie, she spent too much money on the Dance Dance Revolution game, especially since she got her ass handed to her by K.T. at that game. Alfie and Jerome faced off against each other in an epic game of air hockey. Joy quickly became possessed by the Ms PacMan machine.
Each game would award you a number of tickets. So of course, the group walked out of the Roller Rink weighed down by useless toys, candy and dyed hair clip-ins. Patricia was very excited for the opportunity to get back to her roots… literally.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It was with heavy hearts that the group packed up their belongings to drive home early Friday morning. Unfortunately the group started with Alfie driving, so after making a McDonalds run for breakfast and coffee, they soon found themselves lost.
“How do we even get lost with a GPS?” snapped Mick grumpily.
“I’m not lost, it’s just a short cut” protested Alfie, taking his fifth left in as many minutes.
“A long cut is more like it” grumbled Lili.
“Oh yeah Magellen, where the fuck are we then” called Nina.
“We are exactly where we are, and where we are is where we need to be,” replied Alfie smugly.
“I vote we get a new driver” called K.T, who was quickly seconded by her girlfriend.
Alfie reluctantly pulled over and switched places with Jerome, who pushed back the seat and got the van back on the right track. Everybody in the car let out a sigh of relief when they could no longer see the ocean and instead saw familiar highways and fields.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The group was racing down the highway driving home and Amber had control of the music. As Taylor Swift’s “Should’ve Said No” ended, the entire car sat up in interest as Ke$ha came on blaring “We R Who We R”. Quickly the van turned into an impromptu karaoke concert.
“Hot and dangerous, If you're one of us, then roll with us” sang Amber at the top of her lungs.
“'Cause we make the hipsters fall in love, When we've got our hot pants on and up” shouted Lili.
“And yes, of course we does, We running this town just like a club” rocked out Jerome
“And no, you don't wanna mess with us, Got Jesus on my necklace-ace-ace” laughed K.T.
“Got that glitter on my eyes, Stockings ripped all up the side” sang Patricia, laughing while thinking of Mara’s bad girl era in tenth year.
“Looking sick and sexified” drawled Alfie.
“So let's go-o-o (let's go)” shouted the whole car. “Tonight we're going har-har-har, ha-ha-hard, Just like the world is our-our-our, ou-ou-ours, We're tearin' it apart-part-pa-pa-pa-part You know we're superstars, we are who we are”
“We're dancing like we're dumb-dumb-du-du-du-dumb, Our bodies goin' numb-numb-nu-nu-nu-numb,” sang Joy loudly.
“We'll be forever young-young-you-you-you-young, You know we're superstars, we are who we are” sang the car in unison.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“A is for Alligator” began Joy, throwing a junior mint at Alfie across the car.
“A is for Alligator, B is for Bingo” said Eddie once again beating Patricia at Tic Tac Toe.
“A is for Alligator, B is for Bingo, C is for Carrots” decided K.T.
“A is for Alligator, B is for Bingo, C is for Carrots, D is for Danger” added Fabian.
“E is for everyone shut up” begged Jerome, his headache getting worse by the moment, and the stupid alphabet game was NOT helping.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The group of weary travelers finally made it back home late Friday night. Piling out of the car, they happily grabbed their bags and made their way inside to the comfort of their own beds. Vacation might be nice, but nothing could beat being home.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 50: The Vault
Summary:
The Sibuna Club Makes An Important Discovery
Chapter Text
Fabian was glaring at the map that Eddie, K.T. and Joy had found during his free period. It was the final thing standing between them and finding the Frobisher Crypt. Fabian had tried plugging it in as coordinates, sudoku, various equations and star maps… still he had had no luck.
“Are you still looking at that map?” asked Nina as the now Sibuna Ten entered the drama studio for play rehearsal.
“Yeah, it’s driving me crazy,” grumbled Fabian angrily.
“Why couldn’t the solution be easy for once” whined Amber, “Easy like ABC, 123”
“Wait! Say that again” asked Jerome, turning to look at Amber.
“Why couldn’t the solution be easy?”
“No, the other thing,”
“Oh, easy like ABC, 123” replied Amber.
“What if it’s a number letter code, like each number is a letter. My dad said sometimes people pass notes like that in jail” explained Jerome.
Just then Miss Valentine entered the classroom and called for everyone to get on the stage for warm ups.
“That’s a great idea Jerome, I’ll take a look at it that way after rehearsal” grinned Fabian, shoving the notebook with the code in his backpack and joining the others for warm ups.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Miss Wilson looked up and smiled when she heard a knock on her office door.
“You sent for me, miss?” asked Joy, shifting uncomfortably in the doorway.
“Yes, yes. Please come in and make yourself comfortable” welcomed the woman, directing the girl to take a seat in one of the chairs and help herself to the bags of crisps on the desk.
Joy took a seat but didn’t take the offered snack, fidgeting with a loose string on her skirt.
“Joy, I wanted to talk to you about one of your extracurriculars” began the woman. “ The Jackal website appears to be very informative about the school. How do you, as the editor, verify the claims that are made on it?”
“What it boils down to really is that I trust my staff” shrugged Joy. “I mean some wild stuff has been going down here for years, so if something pops up on The Jackal it is true”.
“Interesting” hummed Miss Wilson as she scribbled down some notes. Using her highlighter to mark certain articles, she passed Joy a selection of papers. “So you are saying that all of these are true?”
Joy skimmed over the articles, and yeah they did look bad when not interspersed with the light and fluffy content she carefully placed to soften the blow. “Student frames teacher for inappropriate relationship”, “Student put on public trial for accusing house teacher of fraud”, “Student cuts classes and gets special treatment”, “Mr. Sweet: a study in sexism”, “My year away and how it hurt me”, “The dark history of the school’s founders”.
“Yes, they are all true,” admitted Joy.
“Very well, that’s all I needed from you today. Thank you for your help, Miss Mercer”.
Joy quickly fled the office with one thought on loop in her head, “Just who was Miss Wilson and what the fuck was that about?”
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Jerome, Alfie, Liliana and Poppy were having lunch together in the gazebo. Their time together had been going quite well, but the older students knew that their little sister was struggling with something.
“Alright, out with it poops, what’s bothering you?” demanded Jerome, flicking a grape in his little sister’s direction.
“It’s nothing gerbil,” snapped the girl, trying to brush off their concern.
“Penelope,” sighed Alfie in a warning tone.
“It’s just Missy,” gave in Poppy.
“Yeah, where has she been? I haven’t seen her in a while” remarked Lili, suddenly realizing the absence of her little sister’s other half.
“Mirabel says that she went home with her parents because her Aunt Renee died. But I know all of Missy’s relatives and she doesn’t have an Aunt Renee”.
At the name the three older kids sat up straight, haunted looks on their faces. It seemed that Rufus was still making his presence known even beyond the grave. And there was only one person who would use that alias in order to kidnap a child, Vera.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibuna club gathered in the Living room that evening to recap.
“Well I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Jerome and Amber were right” shared Fabian, holding up the translated message. “Each number corresponds to a number of the alphabet. I decoded it to read: “I guard your house from strangers outside, where the heart is”.
“What the fuck does that mean?” asked Patricia.
“I don’t know…” admitted Nina, “but at least it's in English now”.
“Well what guards houses from strangers?” asked K.T.
“Doors?” suggested her girlfriend.
“Maybe” said Alfie.
“Where the heart is, is obviously home” said Eddie.
“So ‘door home’?” parroted back Amber, confused as to where this is going.
“Well since it’s a map, the home probably means house… so door house” suggested Liliana
“Who needs a whole house for a door?” asked Jerome.
“Wait a sec! We have a door house… the Gate House!!” exclaimed Nina.
“That’s right! Which is also where we found that body… which was probably stolen too” supported Alfie.
“So the vault is somewhere in the Gate House?” asked Jerome.
“My money is on it being somewhere in the creepy room behind the organ” bet Amber.
“Hold up, you guys found a body!” shrieked K.T.
“Shhh, don’t yell” scolded Nina. “I say we go tomorrow and try to find it. We have all the staff pieces and now we have a possible location”
The group all nodded in various states of agreement.
“What about Ms. Denby? It’s her house” worried Joy, not wanting to get caught by the woman in her house.
“Don’t worry about that” Eddie comforted his friend. “My dad has called for a Professional Development Day tomorrow. That’s why we only have a half day of classes. Ms. Denby will be stuck at the school for the training”.
“It’s settled then. Tomorrow after classes let out we’ll head over to the gatehouse and put an end to this once and for all” grinned Nina.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibuna Ten snuck their way over to the gate house as soon as classes were over Thursday afternoon. Nina quickly punched in the code that the group had secured the last time they had staked out the building. Ushering them in quickly the group split up to investigate the building.
Fabian, Alfie, Patricia, Jerome and Lili started searching the main room for any clues. The creepy bottles of pickled items and the spooky books were still there on display. Lili let out a shout of excitement as she uncovered a very familiar item.
“Guys I found the Scarab!” she shouted
“Great work Liliana” grinned Fabian, “Put it in the backpack and we’ll work on getting the others out of it later”.
Nina, Amber, Eddie, Joy and K.T. went immediately to the room behind the organ that they had discovered last time. As soon as Eddie stepped into the room he went rigid in shock.
“Eddie you good?” asked Joy worriedly.
“This is the room from my vision”
“Yes! That means we’re in the right place” cheered K.T. excitedly.
Nina called the others up to the room to help search the space. Eddie told them that he remembered that the entrance had been somewhere on the floor. Alfie, Patricia and Jerome pushed the desk out of the middle of the room and rolled up the carpet. Underneath was a large sun design with a hole in the middle which looked about the size of the staff. Nina and Fabian quickly assembled the staff and placed it in the floor’s opening. Yet nothing happened.
“What’s wrong? Why isn’t anything happening?” asked Amber.
“Did we get the wrong artifacts?” worried Alfie.
Eddie’s vision went white as the scene from months ago again flashed through his mind, reminding him what was missing.
“The key! K.T. where is your grandmother’s key? We need it” demanded Eddie.
K.T. slid the key off the chain around her neck and passed it over to Eddie. The Osirian took the key and pushed it into a lock on the floor beside the staff. He twisted the ornate moon key, causing the floor to fall away to reveal a dark drop and a set of stairs descending into the darkness.
“After you Osirian” teased Joy.
“Finally we’ll have the physical proof to get this place shut down!” added KT.
“You’re right, thank you sketchy Frobishers” chuckled Joy.
Nina and Eddie joined hands and began to walk down the stairs into the darkness. The route's wooden stairs were rickety and winding as the group spiraled down into the depths of the gatehouse. Eventually the Sibunas reached the bottom of the stairs.
Flicking on their torches they looked around in awe, shocked by what they saw. Piles and piles of gold, artifacts and jars filled the space. In the center sat a giant golden sledge decorated with beautiful gems that sparkled in the light of the torches.
“Wow” breathed Lili in shock and awe of her surroundings.
‘Yeesh, I knew my ancestors were bad, but I didn’t expect them to have stolen THIS much,” commented K.T.
“I can’t believe we finally found it” celebrated Amber, hugging Alfie’s arm tightly.
The room suddenly filled with the scent of lavender as a swirl of purple mist appeared forming the familiar shape of Amneris. “Well done my apprentice” congratulated the woman. “We now have all we need to help me cross over”.
“Thank you Amneris” blushed Nina, happy with the praise from her ghostly mentor.
“Young man” Amneris said, addressing Eddie, “Take helpers and go get the body and staff from upstairs”.
“Uhhhh” protested Eddie.
“Just do as she asks Eddie” ordered Nina. Eddie just nodded stiffly, and signaled for Patricia and Alfie to help him go get the mysterious mummy from the room above them.
Liliana was busy messaging her MI6 contact to let him know they had found a suspicious space of Englavista’s that needed to be processed. “Agent Jacobson and his team are on their way, we have maybe an hour before they get here”.
Eddie and the others returned then, carrying the staff and body between them.
“Place the body on the ground, and step back” directed the ghostly woman. “Nina, twist open the top of the staff. Blonde girl go find my crown”. Lili and Amber both looked at each other before shrugging and both going to sort through the piles of treasure to find the priestess’ crown.
Nina twisted the top of the staff off to find a shocking surprise inside, a singular tear of gold.
“Ahhh, the gift of Anubis” crooned Amneris lovingly, “I will be reunited with him soon. Pour the tear on the body’s head”. Nina did so, not even questioning the strange direction from the Spirit. The group watched with bated breath as the substance glowed and sunk into the wrappings disappearing from sight.
“Found it!” shouted Amber, holding up a beautiful crown for everyone to see.
“Place the Scarab on the body” ordered Amneris. Patricia, holder of the backpack, quickly followed the spirit’s directions.
Amneris’ ghostly form moved to hover over the body. “At last my beautiful scarab. How I have missed you”.
“That’s yours?” asked K.T.
“Yes, it was gifted to me by my mistress Hatshepsut as a way to preserve the knowledge of her reign. When I was chased out of my home and fled to Thebes I was followed. My murderers took it from me and buried it along with all knowledge of my mistress’ reign” explained the ghost sadly.
The scarab began to glow a bright green color, so strong that the students had to look away for fear of permanently harming their eyes. When the glow died away, the Sibunas were shocked to find seven unconscious students lying on the ground, with Amneris and the scarab nowhere in sight.
Alfie let out a hoarse scream and the others all took a step back as the bandaged body on the ground sat up, before turning to look at them. Reaching up, the hands began to unwrap the head, revealing a gorgeous woman with long black hair, eyes lined in kohl and amethyst. “Ugh, being mummified is the worst,” declared the woman, unraveling the rest of her bonds to reveal a beautiful white dress and a pair of reed sandals.
“Amneris?” asked Nina, in shock.
“Yes, my dear” replied the newly resurrected woman, pushing herself to her feet. She took the golden crown from a dumbstruck Amber and placed it on her head. “Thank you my Apprentice for all of your help this year. Finally I shall be reunited with my love in the field of golden rushes”.
Picking up the abandoned staff, Amneris walked over to Nina and placed a kiss on the girl’s forehead before boarding the sledge. Chanting the woman intoned, “allah rae 'adeuki. 'ahdarani 'iilaa almanzil fi haqlik min aliandifae aldhahabi”
The Sibuna club watched in awe as the sledge began to grow a golden haze and a large glittering portal opened above the sledge, pulling it up into itself. “Farewell my dears, beware the black bird and creeping cat, they seek to bring you harm”. With that Amneris and the sledge disappeared from sight and the portal closed leaving the Sibuna Club alone with piles of stolen treasure and seven unconscious classmates.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
It was quickly declared that Lili, Nina, Eddie and Jerome would remain behind at the house to wait for the cops. The remaining six would work together to smuggle the bodies of their unconscious classmates out of the gatehouse and to Alfie’s car where he would then drive them to the Millington estate. There the victims of the Society would hide until the Sibuna Club could ensure that all of the villainous adults were locked up.
The group worked hard, and had just smuggled the last body, Jason from Osiris House, into Alfie’s back seat when the MI6 cars began arriving. Driving away, Alfie did his best to keep a cool head, knowing that his car was currently full of bodies and it would look VERY bad if he was to be pulled over. Luckily, the agents were more focused on the house and its treasures, so they let him pass without being searched.
It took several hours for everything to be documented and analyzed. Unfortunately for the Sibuna club, Ms. Denby managed to wriggle her way out of arrest by claiming that the treasure had been there for years before her move to the school this fall. And while it did have the desired effect of casting more shade on the Frobisher name and strengthening the case against Englavista, the discovery did nothing about the more pressing issue of the Society. So as happy as the Sibunas were for the win, they still went to bed with heavy hearts knowing that a great danger still loomed within their household.
Notes:
Amneris' Chant: God Ra I call to you. Bring me home to your field of golden rushes.
Amneris:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 51: Into The Woods
Summary:
Our Students go "Into The Woods" both on stage and IRL
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Enjoy this bonus chapter. It was a lot of fun to write - xo Evie
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hell Week was called Hell Week for a reason. The week leading up to the twelfth year’s production of “Into the Woods” was incredibly stressful. This whole process had brought out a strict taskmaster side of Miss Valentine that the students had never seen. Whenever the teens had a spare moment they were running choreography, lines and melodies doing their best to prepare for their upcoming performance.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The day of the performance dawned early for the Anubis students. Mr. Sweet had given them the afternoon off classes in order to prepare. Miss Valentine ordered everyone to the Drama Studio for their final run through. Putting on their costumes, the group prepared for their final dress rehearsal.
The group celebrated another successful run through. Miss Valentine gave them their final notes before dismissing them for supper. As they ate, the Anubis students opened their good luck cards. Some were from their parents and friends, but each Anubis student also got a hand written specialized good luck card from Trudy who promised to be in the audience that night with her new fiance, Fabian’s Uncle Ade.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The play went smoothly which was a surprise to the students given the chaos of their tenth year show with Mr. Winkler. Taking their bows, the group looked out over the audience of their friends, family and teachers. Heading back to Anubis, the twelfth year students celebrated the completion of their show and the likely “A+” grades headed their way.
The group couldn’t party too long that night, as they still had to pack for their upcoming twelfth year bonding trip, Camping at Ader Falls.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
“How much farther till we get there?” whined Joy.
“I don’t know why you’re complaining. I’m literally the one carrying you” panted Eddie incredulously as he struggled to carry Joy on his back while the group climbed the mountain.
“But my ankle hurts,” pouted Joy, dropping her head against Eddie’s shoulder.
“I know J-bird, but the campsite should just be up over the next ridge” comforted Patricia, shooting a comforting smile her besties way.
“Your ankle wouldn’t be hurting you if you hadn't been goofing off with Alfie at our last water break” scolded KT, rolling her eyes fondly at her girlfriend’s dramatics.
“He dared me to jump off the boulder, what was I supposed to do? Say No?”
“YES!” shouted the entirety of the twelfth year class.
“You go jump off a boulder” grumbled Joy bitterly as she tucked her head into Eddie’s hair.
The students hiked for about another five minutes up over the ridge, before finally reaching their campsite. The speedier climbers had reached the site first and had already begun to set up camp. Eddie carefully placed Joy down on a nearby tree stump.
“You should be fine here while I go help Fabian set up our tent” explained her best friend passing Joy her water bottle.
“Thanks Eddie” grinned Joy. “I’d offer to help with ours but Mara is handling it and I’m a little scared to get in her way”
“Yeah… that’s probably a safe bet” laughed Eddie, heading off to help his roommate who had somehow already managed to get himself tangled up in the tent canvas and poles.
Miss Valentine, the only chaperone for the trip, watched the chaos and just shook her head fondly. She loved her students especially with all their foolishness.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Frobisher Academy students worked diligently to set up their campsite, before long the set up was complete and the fun began.
The year twelve students circled up around the central fire pit and listened as their class representative Tessa Jones explained the rules of their first activity.
“Alright everyone, our first game this afternoon is M&M Wars! For those of you who didn’t participate in the year eleven trip, M&M war is an easy and fun game”
Gesturing to her girlfriend Marissa, who was holding a large bag of chocolate candy, Tessa continued her explanation.
“We will divide into two teams; Osiris and Anubis vs Day Students and Isis. Everyone will be given one M&M to start the game. Your goal is to get your M&M into the opposing team’s bucket without being tagged. If you get tagged, you have to eat your M&M and go to Joy and Marissa to get a new one before starting from the center line. You can only be tagged if you are in “enemy” territory. When Joy blows the whistle we will begin”.
With that Tessa jumped off the stump she was standing on and gave Joy a thumbs up. Joy blew the whistle loudly signaling the beginning of the madness and game.
M&M Wars was rightfully named, as it was all out warfare on the field that day. Things got crazy as the Frobisher Academy Students played. The game eventually ended with the day students and Isis coming out as victorious.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Hanging out at the main campsite, Alfie and Jerome faced off against Jacob and Anthony in a game of corn hole. Sitting around the main campfire, Marissa, Abbi, Tanya, Josie, Liliana and Amber were chatting and making friendship bracelets. Alex, Harry, Tobey and Mick had decided to go on a short hike, as if the five mile hike up there hadn’t been enough.
Nina and Fabian had curled up on a log to share folklore stories with their classmates, Ryn, Philip, Tessa and Mara. Lindy, K.T., Eddie and Joy had packed recorders and a banjo and were singing some folk songs on the other side of the campfire from the bracelet makers.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
When the sun started to go down the Isis house students served up supper which had been their assigned meal. The group enjoyed a pot of delicious pot of chili with crisps and cut fruit.
After supper the group gathered round the campfire sitting on the logs or camping chairs. The Second Hand Heroes grabbed their instruments and performed some camping hits for the group starting a sing a long. Then the group took turns telling campfire stories and riddles.
Eventually the group began to call it quits and headed to their tents to get some sleep. As Nina lay in her sleeping bag beside Amber, Liliana and KT, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad that this would be the last big trip she would take with all of these amazing people.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The next morning the Day Students had been put in charge of cooking breakfast. They had taken over the cooking text and had made pancakes, bacon and eggs with fruit. The Sibunas happily filled up their plates and ate up, knowing they would need lots of energy for the day’s activities.
After everyone had eaten, Tessa once again got up on a stump so that she could be seen by everyone. “All right everybody, we got three different hikes today. The first is going to be a six mile hike up to Panther Den. A note about this hike is that it will have a lot of rock climbing towards the top”. Mick, Eddie, Patricia and Alfie signed up for this hike.
“The second hike is a more moderate one, four miles up to the falls. It’s a very photogenic spot and a fun place to wade”. K.T, Mara, Liliana and Jerome signed up to go to the falls. Lili and KT were excited to get some good pictures. Liliana had packed her favorite lemon dress with running shorts and brought her polaroid camera.
“The final hike is two miles to Sugarton Bald. A beautiful field with breathtaking views. A great place to take pictures or do some drawings”. Nina, Fabian and Amber signed up for this hike.
The students packed their backpacks with trail snacks and lunches. Mick had appointed himself Hydration King and took it upon himself to make sure everyone had full water bottles.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
When everyone made their way back from their various hikes the students had fun changing into their swimsuits and diving into the nearby swimming hole. Covered in sunscreen the teens had a ton of fun splashing in the water, laying out on the rocks to tan, playing football, sliding down the natural water slide and jumping off the tall rocks into the deep part of the swimming hole.
Anubis House was on to make dinner that night. In typical Anubis fashion, when it came to food, it was best left in Patricia’s hands. Patricia assumed her chef’s hat and began bossing around the group. She set everyone to work chopping up fruit and veggies or assembling the chicken pineapple veggie kabobs that they would be serving. Along with the kabobs, they would be serving rice and beans with a fruit salad. There was no chance anyone was getting scurvy on Patricia’s watch.
Serving dinner to their year mates was fun, after washing up the dishes and stringing the food back up in the bear bag, the students settled down for some games of cards or charades before heading for bed.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The next morning Isis House fixed up breakfast for everyone. That day’s activities would take place at a nearby park. The group packed up their daypacks with grab and go lunches, Mick checked everyone’s water intake, and soon they were off hiking to Girl Scout Rock. Eddie was once again carrying Joy while K.T. carried the boy’s day pack.
Girl Scout Rock was a local lake with a giant rock in it. A group of contractors had wanted to drain the lake and blow up the rock in order to build a development. A group of scouts had camped out on the rock where the dynamite had been placed for a month straight protesting the demolition. The scouts had won the standoff with the explosive team, and the park was declared a national monument.
When the group got there they split up into smaller contingents to try out all the park offered. Mick and his football boys made a break for the paddle boards, Nina and Fabian checked out a Sailboat. Jerome and Alfie took to feeding/terrorizing the geese. Eddie got a canoe for him and K.T. and another for Joy and Patricia. Liliana and Amber set up their beach chairs down by the water and layed out to tan with their fashion magazines.
As the afternoon drew to a close, the group hiked back to their base camp in time for the Osiris house students to make supper. That evening the group traded their highs and lows of the last three days, Joy’s being the most obvious low of a bum ankle. The students then enjoyed some delicious smores and listened to Nina read from an old trail journal. Crawling into their sleeping bags that night the teens slept with satisfied smiles on their faces.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Breakfast the next morning was offered by the Day Students with a spread of protein granola bars and juices. The twelfth years then split up into their houses to compete in the day’s competition - Geocaching. Each group was given a gps device to use and a set of clues to follow.
“Fabian is this Poison Ivy?” asked K.T. as she stood in a collection of leaves of green, the old rhyme echoing in her head “leaves of three leave them be”.
“Kara, where are we?” sighed Fabian, annoyed at her asking for the hundredth time that camping trip.
“England?”
“Exactly so that is” Fabian whirled around to look and froze when he saw what she was actually standing in. “Poison Oak”
“And that’s bad?” squeaked K.T.
“No…” started Fabian, only to admit “well yes.. It’s basically the same thing as poison ivy”.
“You should head back to camp, take a swim and change” directed Nina, her girl scout training kicking in.
KT just nodded and made her way back to camp with Joy, who was just done with the whole geocaching thing.
Sibuna on the other hand was not going to admit defeat, treasure hunting was kinda their thing after all. The group scoured the ground, bushes, logs and even climbed trees in hopes of discovering their prize.
“Bingo!” shouted Mick, finding a suspicious shaped stump that when twisted opened to reveal a green lock box. All the Sibunas exchanged looks… should they have recruited Mick as a Sibuna? He was a pretty good finder, probably because he was a Hufflepuff. Later as they watched him excitedly brag about their geocaching adventure to everyone who would listen, they realized that no… they had made the right call in not recruiting him earlier.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Liliana was so excited for the group’s next activity! Putting on her life vest over her pink bikini she got in the raft with Amber, Nina, Fabian, Jeorme and Alfie. The group listened carefully to their instructor. Once given the go ahead, their innertube was pushed off the back and into the rapids. Picking up her oar, Lili began paddling down the white water rapids.
The trip was a lot of fun. At one point each of the boat’s inhabitants had been thrown out by the waves and soaked head to toe. Despite a bit of a sunburn Lili had enjoyed the experience immensely.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Later that afternoon the group once again returned to the swimming hole for a dip as well as some fishing. Jude had been appointed the unofficial lifeguard of the group and took up his space on top of the tall boulder overlooking the river. Mick had challenged Eddie to a cannonball contest and the pair were graded on their performance by their peers.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Supper that evening was provided by Osiris House. The students enjoyed their hot dogs and hamburgers while chatting about the day’s adventures. It was hard for them to believe that tomorrow afternoon they would be going home. That night while sitting round the campfire, the group reminisced on their years together at Frobisher Academy. Talking about the highlights that the grade had experienced together; like snow days, plays, field trips and other adventures.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Their final morning dawned early for the camping teens. Packing up all their supplies and breaking down camp, the group prepared for one more activity before their trek back home. Putting their swimwear back on one more time, the group got ready to go tubing down one of the nearby rivers. Leaving their bags and supplies at the end of the float, the group hiked back up to the top with just their water bottles and sunglasses.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The hike back down to the bus was relatively uneventful. There Miss Valentine drove them back to the campus.
It was hard to return back to normal, but the Anuubis teens did their best to settle back into their school routine. It was time to lock in and focus especially with their Thesis Presentations coming up in two weeks and finals the week after.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 52: A Night to Remember
Summary:
Prom, Prison and Presentations
Notes:
Evie's Notes: Enjoy this new chapter. It was a lot of fun to write - xo Evie 💗
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Prom season descended upon Anubis House causing mass chaos as the students competed to outdo each other in their promposals. Alfie had gone all out and covered Amber’s room in flower petals and had painted a sparkly banner that read “Amby will you go to prom with me?”. The beautiful blonde had happily squealed yes and kissed the boy before the pair feasted on the delicious cupcakes (non-raspberry) that he had made.
K.T. had worked with one of the website contributors to do a take over of the Jackal posting all about Joy. When Joy logged into the site she saw a beautiful home screen asking her to prom and singing her praises. Joy had of course said yes!
Liliana had her hands full again this year handling all of the prom orders. Amber was scrambling to help her as well. Between the two of them they put their significant others and friends to work as well. Before they knew it the night was upon them. There was much squealing, and yelling and generally freaking out over misplaced corsages, stolen hair clips, and too small shoes that “were a perfect fit… I swear”.
All the chaos was forgotten though as the group gathered in the living room to take photos. Trudy had stopped by to take pictures and was a sniffling mess at seeing “her lovelies all grown up”. Liliana took a moment to appreciate how good they all looked.
Mara was dressed in a beautiful deep purple gown with a dupatta courtesy of her parents. Andrew, her date, was wearing a matching purple vest and tie. Nina wore a gorgeous green off the shoulder tulle dress with tiny golden stars, Fabian wore a matching tie. Amber wore a beautiful pink off the shoulder dress with hand painted roses that had taken her weeks to make. Mick and his date Anastasia were dressed in a deep maroon. K.T. was rocking an awesome green low cut pantsuit that matched Joy’s green gown. Jerome matched Liliana’s teal dress with his vest, pocket square and tie being the same color. Lili’s dress was a point of pride for her, as she had hand beaded it herself and designed it over the course of several months. As she was dipped by her boyfriend for the pictures, she knew it was all worth it. Patricia and Eddie were rocking all black outfits, though Patricia's dress had a beautiful yellow and red flower print along the trim.
Giving his girlfriend a twirl, Jerome led the group out of Anubis House and over to the physical education barn where the party was being held. The group had so much fun dancing the night away, happy to just be teenagers for once.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Monday after Prom was a big deal for the Clarke Family. It was the day of John Clarke’s parole hearing. Joan Clarke was obviously not in attendance due to their messy divorce, but the Anubis and Hathor House residents showed up to support their friends.
Both Jerome and Poppy had speeches to give in support of their father before the parole board. Poppy’s speech was particularly moving: “This is a man who had made some mistakes but who desperately wants to turn his life around. A man who wanted, more than anything, just to be our father again. And I realized I needed to have my dad back. He knows that he still has much to make up for, but he should be able to do so from outside these walls”. Lili gave the girl a tight hug when she finished.
It did not take long for the panel to deliberate. It was quickly declared that Mr. Clarke would be freed that very day. There was much celebrating as the news was announced. Poppy and Jerome hugged their dad tearfully, hardly believing it was true. After all these years they really had their dad back!
The whole group headed back to Hathor House where Mirabel had set up a “Congratulations on being free” party. The group partied long into the night, until Mirabel chased out the Anubis Crew and sent the Hathors to bed. Tomorrow was still a school day after all.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Standing before the entire student body, her teachers and even her parents with only a powerpoint clicker and a year’s worth of research, Lili couldn’t help but feel it would be easier to defend her thesis with an actual sword. Liliana had chosen to write her thesis on the importance of fairy stories to the health of society. She had cited C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander and the Brothers Grimm. She made the argument that without fairy stories to pass along morals to the young through imagination, society starts to fall apart. She was proud of her work, she just hated public speaking especially to such a large group.
Over the course of two days, the twelfth year students presented their final projects that they had been working on all year long. Her housemates had come up with a bunch of unique and interesting topics.
Joy had chosen a literary based project as well, titling her project “Mother or Monster”. Her paper studied how women, especially mothers, were portrayed in ancient Greek plays that were written by men.
Nina had also worked on a research paper that involved ancient works. She had done a cool study on the concept of Xenia in both ancient novels like the Iliad and Odyssey and how they compared to modern stories such as the Chronicles of Narnia and Prydain as well as Harry Potter!
Mick had done a bunch of research regarding football’s evolution over the years. He also studied the introduction of specialized sports medicine and how it took off at home in England. He had been thrilled to be accepted to the school of sports medicine at his top pick college, he had invited the recruiter for his university to come see his presentation.
Mara’s project was a summary of her independent study that year. Her mentors Mark and Lisa had continued to work with her at the end of her internship from the summer. She had summarized all her research from the year and presented it to the student body.
K.T, having had a crash course in her own ancestry over the course of the year, decided to present on the science of tracking ancestry using herself as a model. She and Nina had enjoyed finding out more about their family.
Patricia presented a comparison between two art pieces. She focused on how they showcased the spread of feminism and progress through the years.
Amber’s project included her research on co-running a small business and all that went into that sort of thing. Lili was proud that her bestie was using Glitter and Glamour as her case study.
Eddie’s thesis talked about Social Media, a hotly debated topic in the house. He presented a take that said the benefits of Social Media do not make up for the great harm it has on the human psyche.
Fabian decided to put his years of research to good use. His presentation centered on the Howard Carter Expedition and the artifact black market trade.
Jerome had been inspired by his father’s imprisonment. He decided to write about the corrupt justice system and how to advocate for change. After his presentation there was not a single dry eye in the house.
Alfie also pulled from his own experience when writing his paper. His research centered on PTSD and Anxiety, focusing on coping techniques for anyone to use. Alfie hoped that by presenting he could help others in the crowd begin their journey of healing.
After two long days of presenting the twelfth year students were able to relax and let loose with a party at Anubis House. It was still strange to celebrate like this, looking around the room so many of their yearmates were missing. They were either hidden at Amber’s and taking their final year online or they had been pulled from the school by their parents.
Sibuna knew they were getting close to taking the Society down for good. They just needed a little bit more proof, a little bit more help and a little bit more time. Little did they know that their help was much closer than they thought.
Notes:
Prom Outfits:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 53: Proof Is In The Pictures
Summary:
A confrontation with Miss Wilson, Parties and Parents
Notes:
Evie’s Notes: Happy Thursday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 🥰! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺. I can't believe we are finally almost at the end!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Nancy Wilson stared over the open files on her desk. The faces of Victor Rodenmarr, Vera Devenish, Caroline Denby, Eric Sweet, Delia Chapman, Thomas Roebuck, Cole Sparrow, Graham Howard, Lilah Knight, Frederick Mercer and Daphne Andrews stared back at her. Beside her was a list of students that had been “removed” from their care. Finally she had a list of Anubis house students who had a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or so they claimed.
Miss Wilson was grateful she had had the foresight to plant the microscopic video cameras when she first arrived. They had proven to be invaluable when it came to the knowledge the kids had and Nancy overheard. Many of them may one day be fine agents, but for now they were no match for Nancy Wilson, a fully trained MI6 agent.
Reviewing the data she had gathered over the last several months while undercover, Nancy felt confident that she would soon bust this case wide open and bring down this problematic place for good. All she needed was just one more push…
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender*
May first marked the beginning of exams for the year twelve students. Exams were a stressful time at Frobisher Academy, especially final exams. The twelfth years were going a bit crazy as they prepared for their final tests at the academy.
Before they knew it, they would be setting off on their separate ways as they left for their next great adventure, University. K.T, Nina, Eddie, Joy and Patricia would be heading to the states to attend a variety of schools in a couple months. Lili, Jerome and Alfie would be attending the same college in England. Amber would also be staying in England for University. Mara would continue at Oxford where she had previously had her summer internship, while Mick headed back to Australia. Fabian had decided to take a gap year and go on another dig with his Uncle Ade.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
The Sibunas and Second Hand Heroes were hanging out in the lounge between exams. They were surprised to get an email asking them to meet Miss Wilson in her office as soon as possible. Expecting it to be something about University, the group made their way to the counselor’s office. They were in for quite a shock though…
Once they were all settled, Miss Wilson laid out several photos on her desk for them to see. “Thank you all for coming, Care to explain these?” she asked.
The students exchanged worried glances, this was not good. The first photo showed Amber, Alfie and Patricia helping Willow into Alfie’s car. Another showed the Sibunas hiding in the woods as The Society carried Toni into the Summer House. A third photo showed Patricia and Fabian breaking into Mr. Sweet’s office. The final photo showed the Sibunas with all the missing kids after freeing them from the scarab, loading them into Alfie’s car before driving off.
“Ummm,” stuttered Fabian
Nina’s mind raced as she tried to come up with a lie to explain all this.
The others all looked like fish with their mouths hanging open in shock. They had been so careful… right?
“It’s a long story, Miss, and you wouldn’t believe us if we told you” began Joy.
“Try me,” replied the woman with a cocked eyebrow.
“Where to begin?” asked Jerome.
“How about you start by telling me where the missing kids are?” demanded Miss Wilson as she placed her MI6 badge on the desk.
As one, the kids took a big sigh of relief, happy to finally have an adult to trust as they began to tell their tale.
“Well it all started back in tenth year when I was kidnapped” explained Joy.
The story was messy and garbled with the kids talking over each other when someone forgot a detail, but Miss Wilson listened with rapt attention taking detailed notes. The teens were just happy to be able to get the stress of the last couple years off their chest. The school counselor was horrified by what she heard, things at this school were so much worse than she had thought.
“Thank you all for being honest with me,” shared Miss Wilson. “I will speak with my boss and build a plan to end this. You all have been so incredibly brave and helpful. This was the final piece of information I was missing. Give me until graduation and you will have the justice you deserve”.
The students left the office in shock but hopeful, it had been so long since they had had an adult they could count on.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Dead week, also known as the week between finals and graduation, was full of excitement and events. The Anubis House residents spent a good portion of that week dismantling their rooms and packing to leave for good. This was especially emotional for the original house residents: Joy, Patricia, Jerome, Alfie and Fabian, as they had been there since sixth year.
Graduation wouldn’t be officially until Saturday but there were a number of events before then to celebrate the class of 2013. Mr. Sweet called an all school assembly Wednesday afternoon. The Anubis students filed into their seats in the drama lounge between the remaining Osiris and Isis Students.
“I wonder what this is about?” asked Amber
“I don’t know babes” replied Alfie, putting an arm around her shoulder.
“Attention everyone” called Mr. Sweet standing on the stage at a podium, on which rested an object covered in a blue tarp. “Quiet down please”.
The chattering students gradually all stopped talking to listen to whatever their Headmaster had to say.
“Students it is with great pride and joy that I have gathered you here together today” pulling back the tarp Mr. Sweet revealed the Frobisher Pyramid Trophy which he had introduced a few months back. “You all worked extremely hard this year both academically and through fun competitions. After totalling up the points from class recitations, the dodgeball tournament, interyear games and more… I am proud to announce that the first ever winner of the Frobisher Pyramid is Anubis House”.
The group let out screams of excitement, not expecting to have won. As they celebrated, the rest of the school clapped for them.
“We did it! We did it” screamed Joy and K.T. as they jumped up and down in excitement.
“Yes, a well deserved win” cut in Mr. Sweet, doing his best to quiet down the room again. “Thank you all for your hard work this year and I wish you the best of luck next year. The trophy will be put on display in the trophy case if anyone wishes to see it. You all are dismissed”.
The rest of the student body left while the Anubis students remained behind to have their picture taken with the trophy. Mick and Mara held it up in the middle as the rest of the house filed in around them. Smiling for the camera the group celebrated their win on one of their final days at the academy.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Thursday evening was another important Frobisher Academy event, the Graduate Cocktail Hour. The event was held at Mr. Sweet’s home on campus with all of the year twelve students and their teachers from over the years… Mrs Andrews even returned for the evening much to the annoyance of the Sibunas.
The year twelve students were dressed in elegant black clothing. The girls in dresses and the boys in suit jackets. The group had a lot of fun mingling and enjoying one of the final chances they had to be together.
Looking around the room, Lili felt a sense of accomplishment knowing that in just a few days many of the adults here would be facing the consequences of their actions once and for all. Sipping her mocktail, Lili took in the excited air of the students as they prepared for this next step in their lives, Graduation!
“Whatcha thinking about Lilipop?” asked Alfie, as he joined her on the wall with his own mocktail.
“Just thinking about what’s to happen in the next couple days” replied Lili with a sly grin.
Alfie, knowing she didn’t just mean graduation grinned back. “Oh yeah, they won’t know what hit them,” he agreed.
“It’ll just feel so good to finally have closure” sighed the pretty blonde. “And especially to know that they can’t do what they did to us to any other students”.
“Miss Wilson is on it, Lils, before you know it we will be packing up our car and putting Frobisher in the rearview”.
Smiling, Lili put down her drink and offered her hand to Alfie, “Well Mr. Lewis, all of that is out of our control. For now, I want to dance!”
“It would be my honor Miss Wells,”Alfie took her hand and led her over to the small dance floor that had been designated in the sitting room. The pair danced for a while before splitting up to go find their other friends, enjoying the party and the time to just be kids.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Friday was very important for two reasons. The first was that many of the Anubis House parents arrived in town that day. Mr. Sweet had contracted one of the hotels in town to serve as lodging for the visiting families.
Nina was over the moon to reunite with her Gran and her Aunts who were there for K.T., K.T. was also very excited to reunite with her Aunts and introduce them to Eddie and Joy. Mr. Mercer had come to see Joy graduate, but understandably did not receive a warm welcome. On the other hand, Ms. Miller was tackled with hugs from Eddie, Joy and Patricia upon her arrival.
Fabian’s parents and Uncle arrived with his little sister Olivia in tow. He was so happy to see them all again, and was glad they had decided to come… despite his parents not being thrilled with his decision to take a gap year. Mara’s parents arrived bearing gifts and had also surprised her by bringing her brother Jacob and his fiance as well. Mick’s parents arrived with his little siblings Logan and Lindsey causing much celebration from the jock.
Jerome’s parents had received a mixed welcome with Jerome being happy to see his dad, and tense around his mom. He honestly was surprised that she had shown up in the first place. Alfie’s parents, Lili’s parents and Amber’s father would not arrive until the next day.
The second big event of the day was the graduation ball that evening. Upstairs Liliana spent her time getting ready for her last Frobisher Academy Dance. She curled her blonde hair and pinned it up into an elegant updo with a few pieces falling around her face. She did light purple eye makeup to match the lavender haze of her beautiful and sparkly off the shoulder dress.
Glancing across the room, Lili spotted K.T. getting ready as well. The girl was wearing a beautiful pink suit that would match Joy’s dress. “Final dance at Frobisher” commented Liliana, “you ready for it?”.
“You know in a weird way, I am going to miss this place” replied K.T. and she put the final touches on her hair. “Not the being in peril 24/7 part, but all of you”.
“That’s not weird Kara,” laughed Liliana. “That’s just part of being eighteen. Probably the most normal part of our experience here is us missing each other as we go our separate ways”.
“We’ll stay in touch of course, right?” asked K.T. worriedly. She had grown fond of her roommate this past year.
“Duh” replied Lili, pulling the girl into a hug. “We’re family now Rush; you aren’t getting rid of me, or any of the rest of us, anytime soon”.
“Good! I wouldn’t have it any other way”.
The pair made their way to the atrium where they were met with their other housemates. Amber was rocking a gorgeous pink satin pantsuit, Nina was dressed in a shimmery blue dress which ended at her knees. Patricia was of course dressed all in black while Mara rocked a red velvet dress with a pearl neckline. The boys were all dressed to the nines as well in suits with accessories that matched their date’s color.
The group had a ton of fun posing for photos with Trudy, Vera, and their parents manning the cameras. After they had taken what seemed like a hundred photos, Mara and Andrew led the way off to the school where the dance would take place.
The Anubis House students had a wonderful time rocking out on the dance floor, playing games and spending one of their final nights together having fun. As the party came to a close, the group decided to go into town and get pancakes and keep the celebration going, they were only young once after all! Squeezed into a booth between Jerome and Amber, Liliana’s heart swelled with happiness being around the people whom she loved.
Notes:
Grad Ball Dresses:
Evie’s Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
Chapter 54: Graduation Day… Anubis Style
Summary:
Our story comes to a blazing end
Notes:
Evie’s notes: Long time no see! Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. Thank you so much for the love you have shown this series over the last four and half years. Our ending here is short and sweet, I hope you all enjoy! xo - Evie
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The morning of Graduation dawned early for the Anubis House residents. It did not take long for the house to descend into chaos as the students made sure that absolutely everything was out of their rooms for the first time in seven years. There was lots of yelling and throwing of clothes and knicknacks between bedrooms when one found that they somehow now had twelve ties and no belts, luckily Trudy’s training to label every piece of clothing with your initials was drilled into each student’s core so the items were easily redistributed. By ten am all suitcases were loaded into various cars and Anubis House was void of any student personal effects for the first time in seven years.
The graduating class were seated in the Physical Education Barn for the last time surrounded by their loved ones as Mr. Sweet droned on about the importance of education, their first steps into the adult world and how Frobisher Academy would always be there to support them in their time of need. This had the Anubis residents all quietly snorting with laughter. Mrs. Andrews had even returned to give the guest speaker address.
As Amelia Pinches was called forth to give her Valedictorian speech, the barn was suddenly flooded with armed MI-6 agents shouting for people to get down. It was with no small amount of smugness that the Sibuna Club, both old and new, watched as Mr. Sweet, Mrs. Andrews, Ms. Denby Victor, Vera and the Society members were handcuffed and marched into the awaiting squad cars. According to the arresting officers, the group were being charged with: Kidnapping, Black market trading, Assault, Child Endangerment, Neglect, Bribing officials and misappropriation of funds.
Ignoring the gasps of outrage and disbelief from the gathered family members and non-anubis students; the Sibuna club all rushed to hug their now ex-guidance counselor Ms. Wilson, happy that an adult came through for them for once.
A loud fire alarm started to blare causing the remaining gathered guests to hurriedly exit the barn and look around in search of the fire. In the chaos nobody noticed Joy and Eddie’s satisfied grins, they were far too distracted by the waves of black smoke wafting from what had once been Anubis House. The Sibunas fought down grins as the building crumpled in on itself and the secrets of Anubis House were left to die.
Fabian surveyed the wreckage and wrapping an arm around Nina’s shoulder’s said to the gathered students “We did good, didn’t we?”
“Well let’s get going people! We’ve got a party to have” cheered Alfie, spinning Amber.
The Sibunas past and present all nodded, happy to leave the smoldering wreckage of their past behind. Turning as one, the ex-Anubis house residents made their way down the hill towards their cars and this time they didn’t look back.
Notes:
Evie’s Notes 2: What a wild ride this story has been. Thank you to each and every one of you who gave this series a shot. I am so grateful that I was able to share this story with you. Thank you all for the love you gave shown this story and know that I am so grateful for this amazing fandom. xo - Evie
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