House of Barriers

By Maryanne Blackwolf

Prologue

"Are you nervous about starting at your new school?" The cab driver asked. "Honestly, a little bit, but just a little." "A little bit, eh?" Kara Tatianna Rush, or K.T. as her friends called her, was on her way to her new boarding school. According to the paperwork she had been sent, she would be staying in Anubis House. "Well, I really love adventures, so I keep trying to look at this as one. I'm still pretty nervous though, I mean, I hear most Brits hate Americans." "Don't believe everything you hear." The cabbie shook his head. They arrived at the house, and he helped her carry her luggage up the steps. "Good luck." He said, leaving. Sighing, Kara turned around, fully taking in the settings. The cloudy sky, foreboding house, and nearly deserted grounds seemed to scream "danger"! She pulled her locket out to stare at it. It had been a parting gift from Grandmere, her beloved great-grandmother, who claimed it might "come in handy" overseas. When she told her mother, the woman had only laughed and said that Grandmere was delusional. Although, looking at the house, Kara was beginning to wonder if Grandmere was right.

Chapter One-Where Is Nina?

"Wow." K.T. muttered the moment she stepped into her new...house. Firstly, there was a mummy. It stood like a guard at the bottom of the staircase. K.T. took a step forward, and had just begun examining the tile pattern on the floor when she heard someone enter the room. "Hi. Are you lost? Can I help you find your house?" She looked up to see a soft-spoken british boy with brown hair and warm eyes smiling at her. "Am I in Anubis house?" K.T. asked stupidly. "Yes." The boy answered kindly. "Then I guess I'm not totally lost. I'm Kara, but call me K.T." She stuck her hand out. "I'm Fabian." The boy said, shaking it. "Do you know someone named Amber?" It says on here she's my roommate." "Amber? Yeah. Wait, does it say you have a roommate named Nina too?" Fabian asked.

K.T. clumsily opened her shoulder bag, sighing as she dropped her admittance packet on the ground. She stooped to pick it up, and was surprised when Fabian helped her. So there was something to say for British courtesy after all. After shuffling her papers around for a moment, she found the one she was looking for. "Nope, it just says I'm rooming with Amber. Why?" K.T. asked, ever-curious. Her father liked to joke that she had gotten that trait from him. "She's a very good friend." Was all Fabian said, blushing. Oh, she was that kind of friend. A girl with long, dark hair came storming down the staircase. "Have any of you heard from Nina? She's totally disappeared. That girl hasn't answered my calls, my texts, nothing!" The girl yelled. "Calm down Patricia." Fabian begged. "Darn," K.T. thought.

"I'd been hoping she was my roommate! I love a challenge!" K.T. groaned inwardly. "Who is she?" The girl suddenly snapped, noticing K.T. "Hi, I'm Kara, but you can call me K.-" Patricia cut in "Not another American that thinks they can just move in and take the place of one of my best friends!" "Patricia." Fabian cut in. "What have you done with Nina, then?" Patricia asked. "Patricia!" Fabian tried again. "Did you kill her?" Patricia sneered. "PATRICIA!" Fabian screamed. "What? Are we going to just stand here and pretend like you don't care where Nina is?" Patricia asked. "No, Patricia, I do care, every bit as much as you do if not more, but do you not recall treating Nina the exact same way two years ago?"

"Well." Patricia grimaced. "Then it turned out that Joy was fine and Nina had nothing to do with her disappearing, right?" Fabian continued. "True." Patricia grumbled. "So quit yelling and apologize." Fabian said. Patricia turned back to K.T. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." Patricia said, like a child being made to apologize. "However, if I find out that you hurt Nina, I will make you pay." Patricia nearly growled, storming out. "I'm sorry about her." Fabian said. "It's okay. Thanks for sticking up for me." K.T. replied. "It's fine, really. She's done that with the past two Americans to come to school here. You probably just saw how she feels about Nina, and the other guy, Eddie, is her boyfriend."

"Talk about a juicy contradiction." K. T. muttered. "What?" Fabian asked. "Nothing." K.T. grinned. Then, a blonde girl in an expensive-looking pink dress came bounding down the stairs. "Did I hear an American accent?" She asked. Then she frowned, confused. "Who are you?" Amber asked. "I'm Kara." K.T. was getting tired of making the same speech over and over. "Call me K.T." She finished. "I'm Amber." The girl said. K.T. was about to mention that they were rooming together when Amber continued with "Where is Nina?" This was directed to Fabian. "I don't know." Fabian answered truthfully. "You're my roommate. Is our room...?" "Up the hallway, first door on your left. My stuff is on my bed. Nina should be arriving shortly, so I don't know where you are going to sleep." "Amber." Fabian said. "What?" Amber asked.

To Be Continued...