"Where will you be in ten years' time?" Sweetie's voice rang out across the classroom, silencing all the whispered conversations and leaving the children lost in thought.
How do you ask a group of sixteen year olds where they will be? At that age, nobody has a clue in the slightest. They may know where they want to be, but that doesn't mean that is where they will be. It doesn't mean they will accomplish their dreams and fulfil their wildest fantasies.
In fact, if some of the people sitting there with their whole lives ahead of them knew what it would all lead to, then some of them would already have started to make deals with the devil, while some would be jumping with joy.
Nina was supposed to be the brilliant, talented one. She was the one they all would have predicted to be the best at the Game of Life, after all everything always seemed to be about her and she always seemed to come out on top. What everybody had forgotten is that she could win a million times and that it would never be over for her. Her enemies only ever had to win once.
She was the chosen one, and she was sacred, but everywhere she went people would be put into harm's way for her. Fabian had it the worst. He would never say anything to her about it, but after a couple of years Nina knew that he just wanted a normal life again. Fabian had even managed to talk her into going to Cambridge with him, rather than going back to the State's just so he could keep an eye on her.
Fabian almost died that year. Nina hated her background, hated the fact that she was special. She didn't want to be special at all, she wanted to be normal. It was horrible the first time somebody died to save her life. It was heart-breaking as one of her new friends jumped in the path of a bullet destined for her, as men tried to kidnap her, apparently needing her for something to do with an Egyptian God. It didn't end there though, apparently she was someone who needed to be protected at any cost.
She didn't want to live if anybody at all, ever had to die for her. She decided that this was the simplest solution. She just couldn't live with the guilt of this all.
But like everything that Nina ever did, she tried to be noble, although it didn't always work. As a rule, what she did was a sign of cowardice, and of selfishness, leaving everybody else to suffer but you, but in Nina's last moments she truly believed that she was being selfless. It physically hurt her as she drew closer to the edge of the roof, taking in the survivable fall beneath her. She didn't want to die, she wanted to live, but she knew it was all for the best.
In ten years' time, Nina Martin was no longer living.
Fabian was supposed to be well off as well, and for a couple of years he actually was. But then Nina happened. Fabian had loved Nina with all his heart, being around her was never a chore and Fabian didn't care when he risked his life for hers. He wanted to do it. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have done it. It was as simple as that.
Nina may have thought that the only one hurt when she stepped off that roof was herself but that wasn't true. Fabian was hurt more than anyone else. He took it as a personal betrayal. After everything that everyone had done to save her, she had gone and thrown it all away. It almost made everything seem pointless.
Fabian lost a couple years off his life to alcohol, just trying to forget her face which was burning a hole in his brain. Nina was unforgettable, it just simply wasn't possible. He thought about joining her a million times, maybe he'd be happier there than his miserable life here.
But he wasn't a coward like she was. After a while he finally saw Nina's flaws that he had missed when she was alive. He had missed how spoilt she was, and how everything, always had to be about her. It didn't help that most of the time it was, but they weren't just fighting for her. There was always evil in this world and it didn't stop because the amazing Nina Martin was dead.
But he didn't really care, it was no longer his job to try and fight it.
Ten years later, Fabian Rutter was still in mourning.
Mara did well, she supposed, as the head of her own magazine. She couldn't believe that she was still competing with Amber after all of this time. It didn't seem quite possible. How were they on the same league? But she supposed they weren't really, with Amber's trashy fashion magazine. But they sold about the same, and even sometimes Amber would come on top.
But it wasn't her career that made her miserable right now. It was one stupid envelope, which she hadn't been able to bear to open. She knew what it was. She would have had to have been an idiot not too. It seemed that everyone she spoke to knew about Jerome's upcoming Wedding.
But just the thought of it made her want to cry. This was all ridiculous, wasn't it? They hadn't been together in a year and a half. But it didn't seem fair that after eight years with her that he could really move on so fast. She couldn't believe that she had broken up with him. She had just needed a break, but that was all it was ever supposed to be. He wasn't supposed to have gotten engaged.
Slowly but surely she slid the letter out of its envelope, although she knew that the day of the wedding was the wrong day to be doing this. But who cared if she RSVPed or not, it wasn't as if any of them actually thought she was coming. They must have known that already. It hurt just to think about Jerome standing at the end of the aisle in a tux, like she had always dreamed, looking at a beautiful girl in a white wedding dress, that wasn't her. She couldn't bear to have to actually see it in person.
She stared at the letter in black and white.
Cordelia and Adam Jones invite you to the wedding of Jerome Clark and Cecilia Jones.
Her heart cracked in two as she looked at it and the messy scrawl underneath in a blue ink that clashed with the rest of the invite, and was very obviously in Jerome's distinguished handwriting.
Mara, I can't do this. It read. I know this is the wrong time to say all off this, but I still love you. If you don't love me, then I know it is time to finally move on. If you don't love me, I'll marry Cecilia, no doubt about it, I'm not going to be one of those stalker guys. If you love me, come to the wedding and tell me that. Please, Mara, please. If I don't see you there I'll get the picture.
But Mara, if you don't show, I'll forget about you, and remember I'll be married; there will be no way of getting me back.
Mara checked her watch and then clutched the letter to her chest, crying hard.
Ten years after her school days, Mara Jaffray was too late.
Jerome should have been happy. He had a great job, plenty of money, great friends, and it was his wedding day.
Jerome fixed his tie once more as he waited for his bride to come down the aisle. Mara hadn't showed up, but he should have expected that. He was foolish to think that Mara loved him too. It had just confirmed what he suspected. He was doing the right thing by marrying Cecilia, even if she didn't quite make him feel the way that Mara always had.
But Cecilia was sweet and kind and beautiful. She was smart and so much more like him that Mara had ever been. Him and Cece had a lot in common. He didn't know what had possessed him to write that letter, or what he would have done if Mara had come. Actually, he did know what he would have done. He would have taken her, and kissed her and never let her go.
But that was a hypothetical situation, as in, it was never going to happen. He wasn't going to delude himself into thinking otherwise. He was done believing in fairy tales
So why was there that nagging doubt in the back of his head that he shouldn't be saying 'I do' today? He gave a side glance at Alfie, his best man, who gave him a reassuring smile.
It was too late now, he thought as Cecilia entered the church. He was pretty much a married man, and there was no way of changing that.
After ten years' had been and gone, Jerome Clark made the wrong choice.
Patricia did well, she could fully admit that. She had left all her troubles behind her and she had moved on from Anubis House. She felt a touch of sadness that she hadn't really kept in touch with her old friends but she had new friends now.
Patricia was somewhere that no one would have ever expected her to be, in a law office. Surprisingly for the goth girl who loved to break all the rules, she loved being a barrister. It was probably because she just loved arguing, as she was good at it.
At that wasn't all, she was proud to be holding in her hands a book. That read Patricia Williamson at the bottom. Her life was amazing, more than she had ever dreamed. She was completely happy.
It didn't matter that she was still single and had been for a while. It didn't matter that the first guy she had liked had gone off to America and gotten over her. It was just her first love, nobodies lasts forever. But back in the moment, she couldn't help but feel that they were different. They had been through so much together in the basement and attic of Anubis House. Everything always seemed to take place in the basement or the attic.
It was funny like that. Some days she thought that she even missed Victor, as impossible as that was, but she had to keep going strong. It was her past, and she tried to forget, but it wasn't possible. She just had to spend a little time once in her life pouring over her memories, and then try to live her life.
Even after ten years, Patricia Williamson, was homesick for a place that was no longer her home.
Eddie's life was not easy. He did not have an easy life in the slightest. He was the Osirian, even if he didn't have the chosen one to protect. He had almost died for Nina several times, and for almost a guilty second after her death he felt the worst feeling you can feel in that situation. He felt relief.
And then he realised that all this evil in the world doesn't just stop because Nina kicked the bucket, and although his whole world had revolved around her, (and Patricia), the world kept spinning once she was gone.
It drove him slightly mad, when they kept asking for her and all he could give was himself. Suddenly, he was the subject of the death threats and the one that people kept dying for. He wasn't going to go quite as far as Nina, but he needed to escape, just as she did. He moved back home, and that helped. He could have a job and a life in America. The only problem was that he loved Patricia, and she loved her home, and her job and her life.
Maybe she just didn't love Eddie enough. How was Eddie supposed to know that this wasn't true.
But Eddie got a job and a life, and eventually a girlfriend. But he wasn't afraid to take out some old Egyptian mummies when he needed too.
Once ten years had passed, Eddie Miller, still kicked ass when he needed to.
Amber was not the one that you would have suspected to be happiest, but she was, she truly was. Amber was amazing joyful, and she had every reason to be. She was the editor of one of the best-selling fashion magazines, and she had the most amazing boyfriend in the world, well, in her opinion anyway.
Amber closed up for the day and waved to her secretary on her way outside. She was pleasantly surprised to see a red Porsche pull up beside her.
"Alfie!" She gave a loud squeal and Alfie fought the urge to pull his ears. But he was used to it after ten years with her. Well, ten years on and off, but that was over now. Him and Amber were going to get married… eventually.
"Amber!" He squealed in return and Amber's face dropped.
"Don't mock me" She told him with a completely straight face.
"I wasn't, personally, I think that your squeal is just beautiful. As beautiful as your singing voice." Amber swiftly hit Alfie with her handbag, anyone who knew her at all knew that she couldn't sing for her life.
"So how was the wedding?" Alfie winced slightly at Amber's comment. He knew that Jerome hadn't been thinking straight, but he couldn't come right out and tell him that he absolutely hated the girl that was now his wife.
"Oh it was fine…" Alfie replied simply, his voice trailing off towards the end.
"Oh, really, I wish I could have been there. Mara must have looked beautiful in her wedding dress." Amber hit herself inwardly for her faux-pas, which thanks to actually passing her GCSE in French (well, she wasn't going to take German was she?) she actually knew what it meant.
"Our friends are messed up, aren't they?" Alfie remarked. Amber gave a little nod, thankful that she wasn't stuck in the position that Mara was. She thought that it would just about kill her, and she wondering whether she should already be there.
Mara and her were closer than anybody would have ever expected now, because they were the only Anubis girls left anywhere near each other. They had to stick together. But she was glad she had Alfie, and didn't have to worry about things like exes anymore.
"What does that say about us?" Amber asked quietly.
"That we're very patient people." Alfie leaned in to kiss his fiancé, and to make everything instantly better.
It didn't matter how long passed, Amber Millington and Alfie Lewis, were in love.
Mick and Joy were the outcasts of Anubis House, and some would say they didn't even really count. It didn't make sense, given that Joy had been there longer than Nina had, and definitely longer than Eddie. Mick, however disappeared from their lives after Mick and Mara ended.
It was just a happy coincidence that they ran back into each other in Australia, and an even happier coincidence, what it all led to.
Joy walked in to their house, a large bump sticking out of her maternity wear. She could hear the sound of Mick's voice bouncing off the walls, singing a song that she remembered from the days of their youth.
"Lucky to be in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where I have been." Mick sang joyfully, truly happy with all his heart right now. Joy snuck along the edges off the walls and wrapped her arms around him, or as much as she could. She had an obvious problem stopping her.
"We were never best friends." She told him with a smile. "Back at Anubis, I only knew you as Amber's boyfriend… oh, and then Mara's."
"Well, you're my best friend now." He smiled in return.
"No, I'm your only friend."
"Same thing."
"Is not"
"Is so!"
"Not."
This was a fairly often accordance, but it would always end with Mick giving in, and kissing Joy and everything would always be better when they were together. They were a match made in heaven, they just never realised it, before now. And if Anubis House was the curse that destroyed everyone's lives, they were happy to be away from it, over in Australia, married and happy, with a little girl on the way.
In ten years, Joy Mercer and Mick Campbell, truly were in love with their best friend.
They all giggled about where they would be. Mara would be Prime Minister, Jerome in jail, Alfie as a comedian, but they were all far off. Fabian predicted Nina as the next President of The United States and she asked him if that would make him the First Lady.
Not that surprisingly, Fabian didn't know what that was.
Well… he did but he enjoyed seeing Nina get frustrated.
At sixteen, nobody has a clue where they'll be. And if they do, they're wrong.