"Alex," I heard someone say breathlessly behind me. I turned around and came face to face with ten different faces that wore the school uniform.
"Hi, Eddie," I greeted a blond guy with his left arm around a girls waist. The girl had long dark hair and the look on her face told me that she didn't trust me.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Eddie's shocked face was funny along with his stammering.
"He is our new boarder, Mr. Miller; your room is almost ready upstairs Mr. Von Bleu." A gruff voice called from the top of the stairs as an older gentleman descended them.
"Thank you, Victor." I smiled as I grabbed my suitcases and started up the stairs.
"Did he just say Von Bleu, as in Von Bleu Industries?" a small girl with short brown hair and glasses spoke up.
"Yes," I smiled down from the top of the stairs at them before disappearing around the corner. Victor had told me when I arrived that my room would be in the attic. I found the door and made my way up.
"Oh, hello there Alex, I didn't hear you come up." A dark skinned lady greeted me with a smile.
"Hello Trudy, I'm sorry if I scared you." I set my suitcase by the door.
"That's okay, I'm almost done, and the only thing left to bring in here is your chest downstairs." She made her way to the door.
"No it's fine, I'll get it." I stopped her.
"You sure, maybe I can help you?" she offered but I shook my head, and disappeared before she could argue. I found my chest by the stairs and lifted it up onto my shoulder with ease. I walked back into my room and set my chest down by the foot of my bed.
"Oh my…isn't that heavy?" Trudy gasped as she watched me move my chest like a feather.
"No, I may not look it but I am strong."
"Okay dear, I'll let you get comfortable and supper is at seven o'clock sharp." I nodded and she left back down stairs.
Eddie's POV
"Okay, spill it, cockroach. How do you know that guy?" Patricia asked me as she paced the den again. Everyone else was seated around me looking for an answer.
"Fine," I snapped at her, stopping her in her place. "His name is Alexander Von Bleu, heir to VB Industries, which Mara mentioned earlier. He was my friend in America before I moved here. The last time we even talked to each other was the day before I left."
"But what is Von Bleu Industries?" Nina asked.
"There is a small chip inside of all cell phones that without it renders them useless." Just as I finished Trudy walked into the kitchen and started on dinner.
"Hello dears, why don't you go work on your school work? Supper will be ready soon." Trudy said and the group dispersed, leaving me sitting on the couch.
Alex's POV
I started to make my way down the stairs from the second floor to the first, when I noticed the five girls start to come up them.
The girl that Eddie had his arm around scowled at me and when she walked by me she shoved into me.
"Patricia," one of the girls yelled at her as the other three just stared. The girl that yelled at Patricia had long brown hair and an American accent. "I'm sorry; I'm Nina by the way."
"That's okay; I'm Alex."
"Eddie already told us. Oh how rude of me. This is Amber," Nina pointed to a long haired blonde that was looking at her fingers. "This is Joy," she pointed to a short brunette, "and that is Mara." Nina pointed to the girl who mentioned Von Bleu Industries.
"Pleased to meet all of you." I smiled at them.
"Oh, my, gosh, your hair is so long and shiny." Amber looked up and gushed.
"Thanks, I'll see you later." I walked down as they walked up. I walked down a hall away from the front door until I came to an open doorway that led into the kitchen. I saw Trudy bustling around preparing dinner. I was about to ask her if she needed help when I noticed Eddie sitting on the sofa by himself. I quietly crept up behind him and stood there for a few moments.
"You know you should be more aware of your surroundings, Eddie." I said as he jumped up from the sofa and turned to look at me.
"Don't do that. What are you doing here anyways?" He walked around the sofa to where he was standing about a meter away from me.
"Well, I saw you on the sofa deep in thought and―"
"No not here, I meant what are you doing here at this school?" He got frustrated.
"I've got a feeling that question is going to be brought up later. I'll answer that during dinner." I smiled as he growled at me.
"Fine, whatever." Eddie stomped out of the den and down the hall to a door. He opened it and went in. I was right behind him the entire time and slipped into the room before he could slam it shut.
There were two other boys in the room, also. They were sitting on the same bed. They both had short hair and looked to be about the same height but one was a dirty blond while the other was a brunette. The blonde was listening to music and working on a laptop as the brunette was reading a book about Egyptian mythology. They both looked up when Eddie slammed the door. I had put my finger up to signal them not to say anything and the blonde had gone back to typing on his laptop. The brunette had continued to watch Eddie, or rather me, over the top of his book.
Eddie started to pace the room, the entire time I was right behind him. I could see the brunette silently chuckle to himself.
"I can't believe that guy, no calls, no texts, no e-mails, not even a freaking letter and all of a sudden he shows up out of the blue, here of all places." Eddie ranted.
"I expect that type of rant from one of the girls about a boyfriend or something." The brunette said earning a chuckle from the blonde and a smile from me.
"Shut it, Fabian. I'm not in the mood right now." Eddie clenched his fists.
"Fabian is right, Eddie. I've heard Amber say those exact lines before." The blonde pulled off his headphones and shut his laptop.
"Don't start with me, also, Mick. Sometime he aggravates me so bad that I want to hit something." Eddie slammed his fist into his hand.
"You know I saw a nice tree by the house when I arrived." I said behind Eddie making him yelp out. The room broke into a chorus of laughs as Eddie glared at me a grabbed my shirt collar. "You remember the last time you did that Eddie?" he blinked a couple of times and then his face fell at the memory. Letting go of my collar, he walked over to one of the two empty beds and flopped down on his back. He then put his arm over his eyes and gave off a groan.
"Why are you so stressed, Eddie?" Fabian asked as the three of us looked at him. To answer Fabian groaned again. Before any of us could ask any more questions there was a knock on the door. I quickly moved behind the door as it swung open.
"Guys, foods ready. Have you seen Alex?" a girl's voice called through the door. I shook my head indicating to Mick and Fabian to not say anything about me.
"No Joy, we haven't, but we'll look for him and bring him to the table." Fabian said and Mick nodded while Eddie groaned again.
"Thanks Fabs. What's with him?" she asked and I could see her hand point towards Eddie. Fabian shrugged his shoulders and the door swung close.
"Come on let's get some food." Fabian stood up and Mick followed close behind.
"You two coming?" Mick asked.
"You go on ahead." I watched as they left shutting the door. "I don't know about you but I haven't eaten for a few hours and I'm starving." I grabbed the arm covering his eyes and pulled on it until he was sitting up. He wrenched his arm from my grip causing him to almost hit the floor with his head if I hadn't grabbed his shoulders.
"Thanks."
"No problem. Now let's go get some grub before my stomach growls." I opened the door only to come face to face with Patricia. I jumped behind Eddie, who was standing next to me, out of surprise. She glared daggers at me and walked off growling.
"What's her deal?" Eddie asked me.
"I don't know. She pushed me into the stair railing when I came down earlier, also."
We walked into the dining room and I saw that there were only two chairs open; one between Amber and a dirty blonde that I have yet been introduced to and the other was across from it between Mick and Fabian. Eddie took the one next to Amber and I took the one next to Fabian. The table was silent and before anyone could grab any food I looked directly at the dirty blond.
"Before we eat I would like to know your name." He looked at me with a questioning look and pointed his finger at himself. I nodded with a kind smile.
"I'm Jerome." I nodded and then looked at the boy at the end of the table; opposite Nina. He looked African-American with a goofy grin on his face.
"I'm Alfred." I heard the joking undertone.
"Alfred…doesn't suit you, how 'bout Alfie. Alfred reminds me of an old butler." I noticed that everyone but Eddie and Patricia wore a look of shock. Eddie was unfazed and Patricia was still glaring daggers at me. I swear she was trying to prove looks could kill.
"Can we eat now?" Alfie was eye balling some of the food.
"I can't stop you more than I can stop a runaway horse." I commented before picking up my fork.
"Bull," Eddie called. "I've seen you calm a horse down."
"Figure of speech," I commented just as my stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Was that―?" Jerome started to ask but was elbowed in his side by Mara.
"Let's eat before it happens again." I said as we all started to eat.
"So where are you from Alex?" Nina asked after we were a ways into eating.
"Depends," I looked at her and when all I got was a questioning look I continued. "Birthplace, hometown or last place I lived?"
"Wouldn't that all be the same?" Alfie asked around a mouthful of food.
"No Alfie, it wouldn't. I guess all three?" Nina looked at me.
Birthplace; somewhere in Kentucky, though my parents were only passing through. Hometown; same as Eddie's mother's place. Last place was Ireland and before that was Germany." I received surprised looks all around except from Patricia who still glared at me.
"Really, I bet you left a lot of broken hearts around the world?" Jerome asked with a suggestive wave of his eyebrows.
"You could say that."
"So how many lady hearts did you break?" Alfie asked next.
"I never said that they were ladies." I saw Eddie smack his hand into his face as everyone else went eerily quiet with shocked looks on their faces, even Patricia.
"Subtle as ever, Alex," Eddie whispered to me.
"What? I thought it was"
"So you're…" Jerome trailed off.
"Yeah, why do you think Victor put me in the Attic?"
"Wait, Victor put you in the Attic?" Nina questioned as she shot a look to Fabian. I nodded and noticed Patricia went back to glaring at me, but with clenched fists. I gave a yawn before any more questions could be asked.
"I think I'm going to turn in early. If you need me…don't need me." I got up from the table and handed my dishes to Trudy as I started to trudge towards the stairs. "Uh oh, Eddie?" I started to ask but I felt my body sway and start to fall.
"You pushed yourself again, didn't you?" he asked as he helped me to my feet. I nodded as he walked me to my room and helped me into bed. I was asleep before he left.
Eddie's POV
I walked back into the dining room and picked up my chair from when I rushed to Alex's side. I was about to resume eating when I noticed everyone staring at me.
"What?" I growled out. Joy, Mara, and Amber quickly looked away.
"What just happened?" Nina asked, being the quickest and the bravest.
"Nothing," I growled out again. Before anyone could ask another question I stood up and handed my dishes to Trudy. Stopping at the doorway I turned and looked back at everyone. "You might want to turn in early today, you'll need it." I walked down the hall to my room and was about to enter it when I was spun around by Patricia.
"What do you want now, yacker?" I snapped at her.
"What is it between you and Alex?" She crossed her arms.
"We're friends."
"Most friends are happy to see each other when they haven't seen them for a long time. Most friends also don't have a faint twinkle in their eye when they see each other. The same twinkle that I see when you looked at me when we first met and when we were dating." She pointed out stepping closer with each point until my back hit the wall.
"So…?" I trailed off when I saw the look in her eyes. She looked ready to kill at the drop of a pin.
"If you care about someone more than me then I'm not going to be pushed to the back burner."
"What are you saying Patricia?"
"I think it would be best that we weren't together anymore. Goodbye, Eddie." She turned and walked away.
I went into my room and lay down on my bed with a sigh. Throwing my arm over my eyes, thoughts from today plagued my mind. I barely heard the door open and raising my arm slightly I saw Fabian and Mick walk in.
"Sorry to hear about you and Patricia, Eddie." Fabian got ready for bed.
"Yeah, I think the only people in the house that don't know are Victor and Alex." Mick said from his bed.
"Yeah, I'll deal with it tomorrow." I shut my bedside lamp and covered up. Fabian and Mick soon went to bed and I fell asleep thereafter.
MIDNIGHT-Eddie's POV
I awoke with a start after hearing an ear shattering scream course through the house.
"What was that?" I heard Fabian ask as he turned on his lamp. I was out of my bed, tore open the door and raced up the stairs when Victor came out of his office.
"What is the meaning of this?" His voice bellowed after me. I never stopped and got to the second floor just as Nina and some of the other girls were coming out of their rooms. I heard them ask me something but all I did was race to the attic without paying them any mind. I tried the handle to the attic door but found it locked. Just then a glass shattering scream erupted from the other side of the door, sending chills through my blood. I took a step back from the door, raised my right foot and kicked it into the door right next to the doorknob. The door flew open and I raced up to Alex's room. I looked at his bed and noticed that it was empty and a mess.
"Alex?" I called out ant I could heat a faint whimper coming from the back of the room. I slowly walked to the back looking at the dark corners. I strained my hearing as I searched and when I reached the farthest corner of the room, the whimpering sound got louder. In the corner was a ball of quivering blankets. I kneeled down next to them and slowly pulled them open and inside was a shaking, crying Alex.
"Alex, can you hear me?" I asked as I looked into his open eyes. I went to lightly touch his face and he jumped back, casing me to jump slightly. I tried it again but this time when he jumped I didn't pull my hand back. I moved my other hand to his face and cupped his cheeks. His eyes were filled with fear and helplessness.
"Oh, Alex," I pulled him forward into a hug. He struggled with me but I never let him go. I could feel him take a deep breath and calm down instantly. His arms slowly snaked their way around me and I could feel him give me a couple of squeezes.
"Eddie?" I heard someone call behind me. I turned my head slightly and saw Nina, Fabian and Mick standing in the doorway. Knowing the rest of my house they were right behind them waiting on the stairs.
"You can come in, but be quiet." I spoke softly as to not scare Alex.
"Is he alright?" Nina asked as she kneeled next to me.
"Yeah, he'll be alright." I rubbed Alex's back a little and felt him sigh and loosen his grip around me.
"Night terrors?" Mick asked me and I gave him a surprised look as I felt Alex snuggle closer to me.
"Yeah, I was with him during one of his episodes before. Why don't you guys go back to bed?" Jerome and Alfie were out the door in seconds followed by Amber, Joy and Patricia. Victor came into the room, looked at Alex and me and left without a word.
"That was weird. Are you going to come down Eddie?" Fabian asked.
"No, I'm gonna stay. He'll be a lot quieter if I'm here." I told them. Mara, Mick and Fabian left but Nina stayed and stared at me.
"What?" I asked her as Alex snuggled closer to me.
"You two are more than friends, aren't you?" She stared straight into my eyes.
"What do you me―?"
"You know what I mean Eddie." Nina snapped at me.
"You remember the conversation from dinner with Jerome and Alfie?"
"About the broken hearts? Yeah," She nodded.
"He was talking about his own." I told her as I readjusted Alex to where he was sitting in my lap with his arms still around me. Nina kept looking at me to continue. "Alex and I use to date back at my other school and when I got news that I was transferring I broke it off with him. I didn't want the burden of a long distance relationship to get in the way of Alex living his life. I have a feeling that wasn't a smart idea." I looked down at Alex's slumbering face and regretted ever braking up with him.
"And Patricia?"
"I know this may sound mean but I hoped by dating her I could forget about Alex."
"You can never forget those you love, no matter how hard you try." Nina gave me a small smile and rubbed my back. "Were the terrors this bad before?"
"I don't know about the other times. Last time no, not even close. He's never screamed this loud before." I felt Alex squeeze me again as we heard him whimper. I rubbed his back as I soothed him.
"See you in the morning Eddie." Nina got up and kissed the top of my head.
"Bye, Nina. Hey," I caught her attention before she walked through the doorway. "Don't tell Jerome or Alfie until Alex is up, okay?" She nodded in agreement and left for bed.
I picked Alex up and carried him to his bed. Seeing that Alex wasn't going to release me, I laid us both down in his bed. Almost instantly Alex curled into my left side and had one arm under me and the other across my stomach. I wrapped my left arm around him as I soon felt sleep overcome me again.
The next morning, I woke up to sun light shining through the attic window. I apparently had been staring at Alex for a while because the sun had moved out from in front of the window. A few moments later I heard footsteps coming up into the attic and saw Amber, Alfie, and Joy. Alfie and Joy looked like they really didn't want to be there.
"Yeah, as you can see I'm trapped." I pointed down to Alex, who tightened his grip on me.
"I was hoping that he would be up so I could ask him what he uses for his hair," Amber seemed upset.
"He makes his own. I use to use it, but not since I moved here."
"Could you tell me when he wakes up?" I nodded and the three of them left.
Nina came up shortly after and sat at the foot of the bed. We talked for a while and I was about to ask her something when my stomach growled. I worked myself into a sitting position while she was talking.
"Hungry? I'll get Trudy to make you something and I'll bring it up for you." Nina offered.
"No, just bring me an apple and some water and I'll be fine," I told her and she got up and left. I waited for her and I thought that she was coming again but instead it was just Fabian and Mick.
"Hey, Eddie," Mick said. I nodded at his greeting as Fabian handed me an apple and a bottle of water.
"Nina wanted me to give you this since Trudy asked her for some help," Fabian explained.
The room fell into silence as I ate, the only noise was Alex's soft snores and from mick shuffling his feet.
"Hey, can you do me a favor, guys?" I asked and they both looked at me. "Fabian, could you get my bag and computer from the room." He nodded and left. "Mick, grab the top pillow from my bed and the hoodie draped across the foot of my bed." He nodded and left. They both came back within a couple of minutes.
"Okay, Fabian put my stuff next to the bed. Mick hand the pillow to Fabian and then put on my hoodie." Mick gave me a confused look but still did what I asked. "Fabian take the pillow out of the pillow case and hand me the case." He did that and I motioned for Mick to stand next to me. "When I get up, slide in."
"Why?" Mick asked.
"Think of him as a little kid when he's like this. I'm his oversized teddy bear."
"Oh, okay," came his reply. I laid the pillow case across Alex's face and quickly got up. Mick took my place just as fast.
"Where are you going?" Fabian asked.
"Bathroom," I answered him then looked at Mick. "Is it okay if I get a shower?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Mick waved me off and I quickly made my way to my room, got the stuff for my shower and made a beeline to the bathroom.
After my shower I went back to the attic but before I entered it, I heard Mick and Fabian talking.
"Are you okay, Fabian?" I heard Mick ask.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Fabian quickly said back. I heard a hint of jealousy in his response. At that moment I sneezed, and it was loud.
"Who's there?" Fabian's voice called down the hall.
"It's just me, Fabian." I called as I walked into the room. Mick and I quickly switched spots again. He took off my hoodie which caused his shirt to rise up, revealing Mick's six pack. I looked over to Fabian and saw his eyes fixed on Mick's stomach.
"Fabian, you're drooling." I chuckled as both Fabian and Mick blushed. "Come on, did you really think I didn't know."
"Wh-What do you mean?" Fabian stuttered.
"Really Fabian, do you want me to state the points or are you going to just tell me?" I stared at him.
"How long have you known?" Mick asked as both of them found a couple of seats and sat next to each other by Alex.
"Since I caught you two sleeping in the same bed," I chuckled at them again when they looked away from each other and blushed. We continued talking and sharing a few stories about ourselves. I eventually told them my history with Alex and warned them not o tell anyone else, for a while.
"Eddie," Our peaceful atmosphere was shattered when someone yelled my name, followed by quick feet running up the attic steps. Mara burst into the room, panting heavily like she just got done with a marathon.
"Mara, what's wrong?" I asked pulling Alex up as I sat up straighter. She didn't say anything just grab my laptop and started to type on it. After a couple of seconds she turned it around showing me a news article.
"What's―" I cut myself off when I read the headline. "Von Bleu massacre," I whispered out as I looked up and met Mara's fear filled eyes.
"Massacre?" Fabian grabbed the computer and started to read the article. "The Von Bleu family was discovered to be murdered in their home early Saturday morning by their housemaid coming back…" Fabian stopped.
"Mr. and Ms. Von Bleu were discovered dead in their bed, both with gunshots and their son Cody von Bleu was discovered alive in his room. Cody was tied to his bed and―Oh God." Mick stopped reading as he had a look of disgust on his face.
"What Mick?" I asked, not bothering to hide the panic in my voice.
"Cody von Bleu was tied to his bed and appeared to have been sexually assaulted repeatedly." Mick barely said above a whisper.
The next thing I knew, everything went black and I could faintly hear someone call my name.
Third Person
"Victor," Mara yelled as she ran to his office.
"Yes, what is it?" Victor said in his gruff voice.
"It's Eddie, he-he fainted," Mara panted.
"Get Trudy," Victor commanded before he stared to the attic. When he got there he saw Mick and Fabian standing near Alex's bed with both Alex and Eddie in it.
"Victor, is everything alright?" Trudy came in just after him.
"I need to call Eddie's father. Trudy is the only one allowed in here everyone else, out," Victor ordered as he watched the two boys exit.
"Are you sure you want to bother him?"
"He needs to know," Victor walked back to his office. He picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.
"Hello," The voice said on the line.
"Mr. Sweets, its Victor."
"Yes, what is it this time?"
"It's Eddie, he's fainted."
"…"
"Mr. Sweets?"
"I'm on my way over," The line went dead.
Within minutes Mr. Sweets was barging through the front door of Anubis house.
"Where is he, Victor?" Mr. Sweets' face was filled with worry. Victor led the way to the attic where everyone was gathered outside the door.
"What happened?" His voice was calm and filled with concern. Trudy handed him Mara's tablet and showed the article to him. Mr. Sweets visibly paled and started to shake like a leaf. Trudy grabbed the tablet as Victor guided him into a nearby seat.