Hi!

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've moved back into my dorm for the spring term, and classes have started up again. I'm going to try my best to update this every couple of weeks, or weekly, or… basically, whenever I have time to write.

Sorry if I've kept you guys waiting!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

DISCLAIMER:

I own nothing but my OCs and this plot line.


Chapter Seven: House of Nightmares

Giana's POV:

About a half hour later, Alfie, Jerome and Nico appeared in the doorway to mine, Nina and Amber's room. They closed the door behind them and locked it.

"Are you guys okay?" my brother asked urgently. "They said you passed out."

"Kind of," I answered. "Well… Okay, so there was this creepy spirit lady, and she possessed me - and Nina, too, because we're kinda linked - and then I guess we fainted and woke up here."

"Creepy spirit lady?" he questioned. "I mean, I don't think either of you are schizophrenic or anything, but-"

"Well, at least you believe us," Nina interrupted. "But you can't tell anyone."

"Who do I have to tell?" He paused, going over to sit with Tori. "Wait. Not that I don't enjoy your story and all, and I love the fact that both of you are okay, but… why am I here, exactly?"

I pondered the thought, trying to form a coherent sentence in response.

Amber took over. "Have you been experiencing any weird powers lately?"

He gawked at her. "Huh? No… Like what, super strength or something?"

"No," Nina responded. "Like hearing voices, or having visions or nightmares that could be linked somehow… Stuff like that."

Nico shrugged. "Nah. Unlike you guys, I'm remotely normal."

"Remotely being the key word," I muttered.


Fabian's POV:

Tori and I had to force Giana downstairs to supper. I could tell she wasn't in much of a mood to eat; she'd said she still felt groggy from earlier. Oddly enough, she didn't put up much of a fight.

"Not hungry, Giana?" Mick prodded. He was on his second helping of spaghetti.

"No," she muttered in response, sliding her plate in his general direction. "Here. You eat it. You love food."

"He's eyeing it suspiciously," Nina said. "Mick, just eat it. It's spaghetti with sauce."

"Yeah, listen to Nina. Giana wouldn't poison you or anything," Patricia added.

Mick shrugged. "Are you sure you don't want it?"

Gia nodded. "Positive."

"Is there a reason as to why you're not hungry?" Mara questioned. "Are you still feeling ill from earlier?"

"A bit," she answered, taking a sip of her tea. "And tired. It's been a long day."

"Tell me about it," Amber chimed in. "I mean, that biology homework was horrible, wasn't it?"

There was a mutual mutter of yeses and no's around the table. I sighed and shook my head. Giana simply shrugged, looking as if she only partially cared.

"Can I go now?" she asked. "I honestly don't know why you guys dragged me down here when you knew I wasn't going to eat anything."

Without another word, she stood up, took her tea, and wandered out of the room, heading for the stairs.

"What did you do?" Mick asked.

"Huh?" I answered. "What do you mean, what did I do? I did nothing!"

"He's right," Nina jumped in. "But… Mick, do you, by chance, 'fancy' Giana?" She used air quotes around the word, as if it were still foreign to her.

The room went silent.

Really, Nina? I asked myself. You pick now, of all times, and here, of all places, to interrogate Mick? "And this is relevant… how, exactly?" I questioned.

"I noticed him staring when you were steadying her earlier. His eyes changed…" She paused. "Amber, I blame you."

"Why me?" Amber asked innocently.

"Your matchmaking skills have rubbed off on me, I guess," Nina answered.

"Anyway," Mick started, "why does it matter if I like her?"

"Uh, yeah," I cut in. "We kind of already discussed this the day after she and I-"

"I kissed her," Mick interrupted. "Fabian and I talked about it. It's no big deal; there's nothing to be going mad about."

"Exactly," I confirmed. "Everything's fine."


Giana's POV:

Victor did his nightly pin-drop speech, and a deep sleep overcame me a few moments after my head hit the pillow.


I was in the front entryway of the house. Everything was dark; quiet. I was a bit scared, what with the eeriness hanging over the place being even more present than it normally was.

"Chosen Other!"

I heard whispering. It was high-pitched. It called out to me. It was the spirit.

"Chosen Other!"

It was getting louder now - as if she were right in front of me.

And then, after a chill that was cold enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck had passed, I found myself looking into the face of a smoky, evil-looking woman. Her eyes were a bright, glowing red. She scowled at me, pointing to my heart with a long, bony, pointy-nailed finger.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What do you want from me?"

"It's not important who I am," she answered coolly. The high-pitched whispering of her voice reminded me of when people spoke Parseltongue in the Harry Potter movies. "What's important, is that you and your counterpart forfeit your lives."

"Not this again!" I groaned. "Look, I don't know who you are, but I'm not dying. And neither is Nina. We're going to go on living our lives as normal teenage girls. What can you possibly do to stop us? You're probably just a figment of our imaginations-"

"Have you not forgotten that I have possessed you?" she snarled. "That I wield more power than you could ever imagine? That I could end your life for you, instead of waiting around, wasting my days, waiting for you stupid girls to do it yourselves?"

"But why do you want us dead?" I questioned, feeling bold. "What are you going to gain from it?"

Just then, the creepy, burly guy who'd snatched me up at Nico's party appeared in the doorway leading to the common room.

"No," I breathed. "Not you."

"Yes," he replied, smiling wickedly. "Me."

"Are you two working together or something? Is this even real?" I pointed at the smoky woman. "You're a spirit! Only Nina and I can see you! What is going on?"

"You'll find out in due time, Chosen Other," she answered. "But, for now…"

The two of them advanced on me, wicked smiles plastering their faces. The spirits' hands started glowing pure white; so white, that I had to shut my eyes because the brightness bothered me so much.

"This is just a dream," I told myself. "This is just a dream."

I just kept repeating that, over and over, as I felt myself being grabbed by two strong, gloved hands, and was thrust against the door to the cellar. The left sleeve of my shirt was roughly pulled up, and I opened my eyes enough to see the spirit lingering over my forearm, examining the scars from the stabbing I'd endured in Rufus' clutches.

"Curious," she cooed, tracing her pointy fingernail along the word etched in my skin.

"Stop that!" I shouted, trying to wriggle out of her reach. It was no use. The man had me pinned so I could barely move. "Don't touch my arm!"

She rolled my sleeve up even more, then pressed the palm of her hand to the skin on my arm a few inches below the shoulder blade.

I felt as if I were burning. I kept protesting for her to stop; for it to all stop. For me to wake up in my bed, back upstairs, unharmed.

"This is just a dream," I said once more, before being engulfed in a pitch black state of quiet.


I awoke with a start, jolting up in bed. My face and clothes were drenched in sweat. I think I let out a small scream. Breathing heavily and wiping my forehead with the back of my hand, I tried to calm myself down.

"Giana?" Nina asked groggily. "Sup?"

"Nothing," I answered quietly. "Nightmare."

"Wanna talk about it?" She sounded a bit more awake now.

I'd finally caught my breath. "N-no, it's okay… I, um, don't want to keep you up." I got up, found my robe, put it on over my pajamas, grabbing my slippers soon after. "I'm just gonna go splash some water on my face and come back to bed. Sorry I woke you."

"No, it's okay-"

I didn't hear her finish.

Leaving the room, I closed the door as quietly as I could. Heading down the hall, I turned on the light in the bathroom, closing that door as well.

I ran a cool, damp washcloth over my face and exhaled deeply, trying to calm down. Leaning over the sink so I could get a better look at myself in the mirror, I noticed dark circles under my eyes. My face also looked paler than usual.

"Great," I muttered. "Either I'm really sleep-deprived, or I'm getting sick."

Turning the water off, I considered going back to my room and crawling into bed again, like I'd told Nina.

The truth was, I really wanted to talk to Fabian. Even though my best bet was to tell Nina about my nightmare, I felt a sense of security with him. Maybe it was because we were in a serious relationship, or because he cared about me more than anything in the world and vice-versa.

Maybe it was because he had vowed to keep me safe.

Without another thought, I left the bathroom, switching the light off, and crept down the hall. I quietly opened the door that led out to the landing where Victor's office was. The lights looked as if they'd been dimmed in there, so I assumed he was snoozing away with his creepy stuffed bird. Just to be safe, I tiptoed past the window-wall, silently and carefully making my way downstairs.

Once I was out of view from the office, I almost ran down the boys' corridor to Fabian and Mick's room, not bothering to knock. I knew they'd be asleep. Plus, I didn't want to risk waking Alfie and Jerome as well.

Slipping into their room and closing the door, I allowed myself a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness - even though it was pointless, as my night vision was nearly nonexistent.

"Fabian," I called, keeping my voice soft and quiet. I heard Mick's snoring. Good sign, I thought. At least he's asleep.

"Hmm?" Fabian responded. I used that opportunity to go over to him, now that I could gage where his voice was coming from. "Giana?"

"Hi," I started awkwardly, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"It's almost three in the morning," he noted, sitting up. "Are you alright?"

"I had a really bad nightmare," I confessed. "The creepy spirit lady that possessed Nina and I was there, as was that guy…" I trailed off, shuddering. "It was just all sorts of evil."

He took my hand. "The man who snatched you up at your brother's party?"

"The very same," I replied. I nodded, too, but I wasn't sure if he could see it.

"Do you think these nightmares you've been having are like a sign of some sort?" he asked.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I was going to talk to Nina about this, seeing as it pretty much concerns her as much as it does me, but I wasn't in the mood for her to freak out and overreact. She seems like the type of person who'd do that."

"You're not kidding," he muttered. "Anyway, you can always talk to me. Even if it means barging into my room at early o' clock in the morning."

I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, sorry about that." I stood up. "I'll just, um, head back upstairs."

He held my hand in both of his to stop me from leaving. "Wait," he started. "You can't risk getting caught by Victor."

"The lights in his office were dimmed when I was sneaking down here a few minutes ago," I pointed out. "He must've been fast asleep."

I really did want to stay. To fall asleep in his arms again. But I felt bad about it. I mean, I'd already woken up two of my housemates. I didn't want to be a burden.

"I know what you're thinking," he continued. "I'm not mad about being woken up. If you want to, you can stay." He scooted over. "But don't feel like I'm forcing you."

"No, it's not that…" I trailed off. "You know what? Forget it." I shrugged, shedding my robe and slippers. Fixing the wrinkles in my pajamas, I pulled back the blankets and was about to settle in when I started coughing.

And that woke Mick.

A dim light flooded the room. Blinking, my eyes adjusting to the sudden change in light once again, I looked over in his general direction.

"What are you doing here at… three in the morning?" he asked incredulously, sitting up in bed.

"Uh, nightmares," I answered, yawning. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Without another word, I slid into bed with Fabian, happily making myself comfortable. Mick snapped off his lamp, muttering something to himself that I could barely hear, but chose to ignore anyway.

"You'll be okay," Fabian whispered, lying down again. "I know it. I love you."

He kissed my forehead and wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you, too," I replied. "I just hate feeling like I'm always being watched."

I ended up being lulled to sleep by the steady sound of his heartbeat.

I was probably the most soothed I'd felt in weeks.