This story will probably be my (Chey's) POV mostly. I'll add the others, but I figured I would give you the heads-up. And I own nothing.
Chey's POV
I stared at the man in front of us. His dark clothes worked as the perfect camouflage for him. Fabian stepped in front of me, eyes narrowed at the newcomer. I understood the hatred between them, knowing it was from last year. I rested my hand on his shoulder as curiosity sparked inside me. He brushed it off with a glance at me.
"What do you want, Zeno?"
His glare matched Fabian's. Realization slowly dawned on me that Rufus was the one who almost killed Sibuna last year. He betrayed Patricia and kidnapped her. He threatened to kill Jerome and attempted to. He broke into the house looking for the Ankh pieces. The list just went on and on. Meanwhile, I began to glare at him, too. I grew up in a somewhat bad part of Jersey, meaning I was not as nice as I might appear. This Rufus Zeno person would soon learn that.
"I see the sister is here to make the chosen one stronger, which means I soon have to fix that."
"What do you mean?" Suddenly Fabian looked afraid. But then his gaze hardened once more. "If you want Nina, you'll have to go through me first." I thought of how much he really cared for her.
Rufus shook his head. "It's not Nina I'm after." He turned to me.
Fabian followed his gaze with a look of pure horror creeping onto his face. I remained focused on Rufus, making sure he was really walking away and not faking it. I was even more surprised when Fabian slipped his arm around me. "I won't let anything happen to you or to Nina," he promised quietly.
I knew he meant that. "Would the other girl you like happen to be me?"
When he turned away, I instantly had my answer. It still didn't spare me the shock once he replied, "Yes."
"Fabian…" I began, but I stopped myself. Neither of us needed logic right now. What we needed was the belief that Zeno would never get to me or Nina. I was just as worried about my roommate as Fabian. I quickly changed the topic. "What could 'sister' mean? I never had a sister in my life."
"What about your locket?" he queried. I forgot I had shown it to him last night. "You said your sister was depicted in that photo even though you never met her in person."
My hand reached my neck. I held the locket tightly between fingers and palm. It might have a clue hidden in that picture, but I did not think I was ready to tell anyone about my family yet. Even Fabian.
I will admit I was starting to like him, though. Because I knew he liked me back, I was somewhat happy. At the same time I felt guilty because of Nina.
Nina.
The name rang in my head like a siren. Forgetting about school, I grabbed his wrist and led him back toward the house. When we got to the door, I put on my best sick face, slowing down. Fabian got the message.
"What are you both doing here?" Victor bellowed from the top of the stairs.
"Cheyenne wasn't feeling well, so I brought her back here. Is it all right if I stay with her today?"
"You'd be missing your first day of lessons," Victor reminded us in his baritone voice.
"I'm sure it's just review," I croaked. Wow, was I good at acting!
"Very well," he agreed reluctantly. "Trudy will be in town for most of the day, and I am going out as well. I assume you'll take care of everything here, Mr. Rutter?"
Fabian quickly nodded. He led me to his room without waiting for Victor to say anything else. We stayed in there until we heard the front door slam shut and lock. We were safe for now.
"You are one amazing actress, you know that?"
"Trust me, I've had practice," I giggled. Wait, why'd I giggle? I wondered in the back of my head.
A shy grin appeared on his face. "You are so much like Nina, actually."
"I am?"
"Yeah," he answered. "You have almost the same personality, you're both from the U.S., you both have to watch out for Rufus, and you both have pretty eyes." After that, he started blushing. I finally got why Nina talked about how cute he was when he blushed.
I was glad we were the only ones in the house, otherwise I'd be hearing from all of our housemates. I could feel my own cheeks growing hot. Then I remembered how the mere thought of Nina's name sent an alarm throughout my mind. "If he was right and my sister is still alive," I thought aloud.
"What?" Fabian looked concerned.
I showed him my locket. To prove my theory, the other girl in the small picture had wavy dirty blond/light brown hair and blue eyes. I noted the flicker of shock in Fabian's dark green gaze. He seemed to recognize her, too.
"You're Nina's sister." Fabian broke the silence after several silent moments of pure agony on my part. "You're the one who'll make her stronger."
"No," I mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear. Then my voice rose to a cry. "No!"
Startled, Fabian looked at me curiously. "What's wrong?"
"Did Nina ever tell you how many deaths we've had in our family, providing we are sisters? Well, if she didn't, let's just leave it at a lot. And Rufus is about to add me to that list!"
"He won't," Fabian vowed. "I won't let him lay a hand on Nina, and I certainly won't let him lay a hand on you."
"So," I began, uncertain how to put this.
"What?"
"Is it weird liking two girls and finding out they're sisters?" Wow, that definitely sounded like a weird question, more so than in my head.
"I guess it is a little," he admitted. I looked down as his fingers entwined with mine before looking back up. "That still doesn't keep me from protecting you both, now does it?"
I took my own hand back. "Don't," I warned. "You don't want to be a cheater."
"I wouldn't be the first in my relationship." My eyes widened. "I overheard Nina on the phone with Trevor, arranging a date for yesterday. That was on Saturday, before you came."
Instead of a response, the next thing I knew was the feel of his lips on mine. His hands, formerly on my neck, trailed down my back but stopped at the middle. I had mine tangled in his hair as the kiss deepened. Reluctantly, I pulled away and inhaled deeply. The smile on his face easily matched my own. My subconscious was aware of what this would do to Nina, with or without Trevor, but I kept from thinking about that.
"Fabian, I can't." The words pained me. "One, we just met. Two, I need to keep you away from Rufus as much as I can. And three, you're still with Nina and you still like her."
"I know," he sighed. "I agree completely." It seemed as though they hurt him, too.
Without another word, I raced up to my room. There was no sound of footsteps behind me. Good, I thought. We don't really need to see each other right now. I found Nina's diary lying atop my pillow. It was turned to a page dated from days before she first came to England.
"Go ahead, Cheyenne," a woman's voice whispered to my ear. Although I couldn't see her, I recognized Sarah. "There are things you need to know."
Dear Diary,
In a week I will be going to my new boarding school in England. Funny thing, though, that Gran mentioned she "wished my sister was going with me." I never knew I had a sister. Maybe she was just emotional that I would be leaving. She's the only family I have left.
Love, Nina
That little slip-up was no mistake. The next entry was the day she came to the school. I read on.
Dear Diary,
Today wasn't exactly the first day I expected. Two girls, Amber Millington and Mara Jaffrey, are obviously fighting some kind of battle against each other. Mick Campbell seems to be the problem there. Jerome Clark and Alfie Lewis are the pranking type, which means I'll be careful not to get into any trouble with them. I have Patricia Williamson as a roommate. She accused me of kidnapping Joy, who I've learned is her best friend and apparently "only roommate." So I'll be enjoying my school year with her interrogating me every day.
There was one nice person to me – Fabian Rutter. He's cute in a geeky kind of way. I might actually fall for him if time goes on.
Love, Nina
The rest was just about the mystery. I carefully read the parts about the Cup of Ankh and the Elixir of Life, and I skipped the rest. On every other page was some note about Fabian and how Nina wished he would ask her out. Then I came to the entries for this year.
Dear Diary,
Trudy told us we will get a new housemate soon. She's from America like me, so I hope I already know her.
I can't stop thinking about last year when Gran mentioned my alleged sister. One of my "feelings" says that it might not have been an ordinary slip-up. If I really do have a sister somewhere, I hope I get to meet her soon.
I also have on another date with Trevor. I feel bad about cheating on Fabian, but I'm just not feeling it anymore. Caitlin called from America and I vented to her about my little dilemma. She says that people can fall in love more than once; they just have to figure out who they fell harder for and go from there. I love Fabian, but for some reason it feels more like the kind of brother-sister bond I have with Jerome now. Not something I like to feel when we date. As for Trevor, well, I don't know yet. We've only had three dates, and apparently he used to be with Joy. That's not an issue, though. I know she likes Fabian.
Love, Nina
So this had been going on for quite some time. A sly knowing grin sprouted onto my face. There was one more after that, one she wrote last night after I settled in.
Dear Diary,
My new roommate, Cheyenne, is from Jersey just like me. I'm glad, because I've seen her around a bit in my old school. Again with the hope! Well, anyway, I hope we become friends. She's always one of the kids who has someone with her, nerdy or popular. She blends in well with just about everybody from what I've seen.
Sarah visited today, and I wasn't the only one who saw her. Cheyenne did, too. I think the mystery will live on this year, despite the fact that the Cup has been restored to its former glory and safely hidden away. As long as Rufus doesn't come back, I'm sure we'll all be fine.
Love, Nina
That was the very last entry for now. I knew she would write again tonight, and I felt bad for snooping, but Sarah said I needed to know. Now I did. She wanted us to be friends? Well, she was going to get both wishes. We would be friends, but we were sisters, too. Thanks to Rufus and Sarah, I felt I knew everything I needed to. But there was somebody who hadn't told me anything even though he seemed worried about what I knew myself.
Victor.
Eh, I'm a snoop. What can I say? Chey's getting all the personality I have, and the kissing part was actually a friend's idea. Sure, I'm a Brad/Fabian fan, but not the kind who wishes day and night to meet him and possibly kiss him. That's a little, um, stalker-ish. And my good friend blackravens4 can prove it in case none of you believe me. I'm also a liar, which I'll admit, but somehow I can never stop telling truth when I write stories.
So that's a little bit of background on me/Chey. I hope to get 10 reviews before I update again. Thanks for reading!
