A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter you guys! Hope you like this one!
Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis or The Chronicles of Narnia.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
This House Sure Gone Crazy
The two of them walked through the woods, Nina grinning from ear to ear. She was too excited and happy about the thought that now everyone would believe her and they could all have wonderful adventures in Narnia together. But Jerome wasn't feeling as splendid as Nina was. In fact, he secretly thought that it would be a lot more fun for her than it would be for him. He would have to admit that Nina had been right in front of all the others, and there was nothing Jerome hated more than admitting that he was wrong. It would be especially worse because of how much he had made fun of her yesterday. And another thing, now that everyone would be talking about Narnia, how was he supposed to keep it secret that he'd met the Witch? He felt sure that all of the others would be on the side of the fauns and the other animals. But he was already more than halfway on the side of the Witch.
If she is a witch, Jerome thought to himself. Surely she couldn't be, could she? She was rather nice to him, at least. She had given him all those sweets. Not to mention she was gorgeous. Weren't witches supposed to look like ugly old hags? They did in all the books, anyways. He decided that maybe the Queen was right...fauns would say anything. There was no way that what Mr. Tumnus had said about the Queen could be true. Or at least, that's what Jerome told himself had he imagined sitting in the Queen's castle, a large crown upon his head, making Mick and Fabian do anything he wanted while he ate boxes and boxes of the wonderful Turkish Delight.
Finally, the two of them found the rack of coats seemingly placed inside a row of trees. But they knew better. The two of them walked through and back into their own world, where it was completely dark. Jerome turned to Nina, but she was already dashing out the doorway and down the corridor, most likely to wake everyone up and tell them about what had happened.
Jerome sighed. "Great," he moaned, lagging behind her.
Nina flew open the door to her brother's room and switched on the light, running to his side and vigorously shaking him. "Eddie! Eddie, wake up!" She shouted, probably louder than she should have.
"Five more minutes," Eddie groaned.
"Eddie, get up, now!" She shouted. Jerome slowly walked inside, his hands in the pockets of his robe.
"What on earth is going on?" Patricia groaned, walking in the room with Joy on her heels, yawning loudly. Apparently, Nina's commotion had woken them up. Amber, Fabian, and Mara came in the room next, looking confused.
"Did I miss something?" Mara yawned.
Fabian looked at Nina, who had stopped shaking Eddie. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Too early," Amber rolled her eyes.
"Alright, someone tell me what's going on and why it couldn't wait until the morning," Alfie moaned, dragging himself into the room with Mick.
"Really though, you lot, keep it down. We're going to get in trouble..." Mick's voice faded off and he blinked sleepily, yawning loudly.
"No, you don't get it!" Nina said excitedly. "I've just been to Narnia again!"
Patricia groaned loudly. "Oh my God, you have got to be kidding me."
"Nina...I'm sure you were just dreaming," Fabian offered tentatively, hoping not to hurt her feelings.
"But I wasn't! I'm positive!" She explained excitedly. All she was met with was doubtful, sleepy faces - and Patricia, who looked like she was ready to punch someone. "Jerome came too!" She added.
There was a beat of surprised silence.
"Yeah, right," Patricia scoffed. "And what would he be doing there, might I ask?"
"You...you met the faun, too?" Eddie looked at Jerome, looking like he was scared for his and his sister's sanity, now. Slowly, Jerome shook his head no.
"He didn't actually go there with me," Nina tried to explain, looking at all the others. She looked at Fabian, who was just staring at her, looking very confused, and felt her face grow hot. I look like a fool. Again. "He must have..." Slowly, she turned to face Jerome. "Actually, what wereyou doing there, Jerome?"
There was another long pause of silence, in which everyone turned to Jerome expectantly. He stood in the corner of the bedroom, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He'd been trying to appear invisible, but it wasn't working particularly well at the moment. And there was no way to get out of this...he had to say something.
Jerome wasn't a very nice person. Anyone could see that. But right now, he was feeling particularly nasty, and he wasn't sure why. Feelings of anger were bubbling up inside him, and he nearly felt like he was going to explode.
The thing was, though, these weren't random feelings. The Turkish Delight he'd eaten only a few minutes earlier wasn't any ordinary kind of Turkish Delight. It was magical, and once you'd eaten it, you wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it. It did strange things to your thoughts - it made you angry, and that anger could only be satisfied by more Turkish Delight. And you would keep wanting more, and more, and more.
Of course, Jerome didn't know this. All he knew is that he felt angry. So horribly angry. Angry at Alfie for standing there like an idiot and not backing him up, angry at Nina for being so annoying all the time and putting him on the spot, angry at Fabian for making a rude comment about his parents, angry at his father for leaving him, angry at his mother for not caring about him, and angry at his sister Poppy for going off to boarding school and leaving him by himself to suffer. Even if it had been his idea for her to stay permanently at boarding school in the first place.
All he knew was that every emotion of hurt and anger he'd ever felt in his entire lifetime (and believe me, there were quite a lot) was bubbling up inside of him, and he needed to let it out.
And so he did.
The words came tumbling out of his mouth almost before he'd even thought of them. "I was just playing along," He answered coolly, straightening up. "She asked me to, so I thought, why not? Of course, I didn't think it would go this far..." He gestured to Nina, who sat on her brother's bed, looking horribly confused and betrayed and like she was going to burst into tears at any second.
But Jerome didn't care. The words kept coming. "I'm sorry, everyone," he apologized to the others, who just stared at him, perplexed. "I shouldn't have encouraged her, especially when it's so late. But, you know how little children are," he practically sneered, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. The most cruel thing about it, was that Nina was fifteen years old. But there he was, talking about her like she was just a stupid child. "They just don't know when it's time to stop pretending."
Hot tears flowing freely down her cheeks, Nina shoved past Jerome and burst out of the room. Eddie sighed and tossed the covers off of himself , quickly following her out into the corridor but not before giving Jerome a good shove, causing him to lose his balance.
"You're a real jerk, you know that?" Fabian glared at Jerome as he followed Nina and Eddie into the hallway, Amber right on his heels.
"This is starting to get ridiculous," Joy declared. "I'm going to bed." Giving Jerome an angry look, she and Patricia stomped off to their room, followed quickly by an awkward Alfie and Mick, who wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, almost as if it was like they were never even there in the first place.
But Jerome didn't even care. In fact, he felt completely satisfied with himself. It was absolutely horrible, but he did. They deserved what they got, he told himself. And they deserve to be my servants, too. Not even the disappointed, angry glare he received from Mara, the object of his affections, as she left the room could wipe the smug grin off of Jerome's face. Smirking at Eddie's now empty bedroom, he left the room as well, heading back to his own, which was peacefully empty.
AMBER
It was all a bit of a blur, really. One moment, I'm fast asleep in my bedroom, and the next, I hear a huge racket going on across the hall. And if it woke me up, then it was huge. I am not a light sleeper.
The next thing I noticed was that the bed next to me was empty. Nina was gone. Groaning, I tossed the covers off of myself, stuffed my feet into my fuzzy pink slippers, and dragged myself across the corridor to see what all the fuss was about.
I came into Eddie's room, closely following behind Fabian, where Nina was apparently pouncing on her brother and trying to wake him up. "What time is it?" Eddie asked, sitting up groggily.
"Too early," I yawned, glaring at Nina expectantly. If she woke us up this early in the morning, it'd better be for something good. We all need our beauty sleep. Some more than others, I thought to myself, taking in Patricia's furious expression and her bedhead.
Mick and Alfie came in, saying something about how it was too early and we needed to be quiet...I'm not sure, my attention span is especially short when I'm sleep deprived...but I woke up a bit when Nina said something about how she'd just been back to Narnia.
"Nina, I'm sure you were just dreaming," Fabian said tentatively.
I chewed my bottom lip. Oh no, here we go. Nina's going all delirious, Patricia's going to get angry and call her a lunatic, all hell will break loose, and it will only end in tears, fighting, and waking up everyone else in Anubis House and getting us all kicked out.
"But I wasn't! I'm positive!" Nina said with so much enthusiasm, I was sure she was going to have an aneurysm or something...wait hang on, do I even know what an aneurysm is? "Jerome came too!"
I widened my eyes and turned to Jerome, who was standing in the corner of the room and trying to look invisible. I looked to him, and back to Nina, then back to him again.
"You...you met the faun, too?" Eddie looking at Jerome doubtfully. Jerome slowly shook his head.
"He didn't actually go there with me," Nina explained, suddenly sounding a lot less excited than she had five seconds ago. "He must have...actually, what wereyou doing there, Jerome?" She asked, swiveling to face him.
I sighed, closing my eyes. This is not going to end well. I turned to face Jerome expectantly. There was a long stretch of silence as Jerome stood there, his hands stuffed in his pockets. For a while, actually, it looked like he was going to explode. But then, he answered coolly, "I was just playing along." I turned to look at Nina, whose face had begun to fall. "She asked me to, so I thought, why not? Of course, I didn't think it would go this far..." He gestured to Nina again. "I'm sorry, everyone. I shouldn't have encouraged her, especially when it's so late. But, you know how little children are. They just don't know when it's time to stop pretending."
I turned to look at Nina, but I didn't even get a chance; she was already shoving past me and before I could even call her name, she was out the door and running down the corridor. Eddie sighed and quickly followed her out of the room, giving Jerome a good shove as he went.
"You're a real jerk, you know that?" Fabian glared at his cousin as he followed Nina and Eddie out into the corridor. I gave Jerome the dirtiest look I could muster, just for good measure, and quickly followed them.
"Nina!" Eddie called, but Nina kept running, her loud sobs echoing through the hallway.
"Neens, watch out-" But it was too late. She'd run head-on into the mysterious Professor. I clapped a hand over my mouth. Well, we're in trouble now.
As if things weren't bad enough, Victor barged into the corridor. "You children are one shenanigan shy of sleeping in the stable!" He shouted loudly. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I was not a big fan of Victor. I just didn't understand how a man with such perfectly groomed facial hair could be so horrid.
Apparently, Nina didn't seem to be a big fan of Victor, either. His shouting made Nina sob even louder. Suddenly, Victor halted at the scene of Nina standing helplessly in front of Professor Kirke, unable to apologize on account of she was crying too hard to talk.
"Ha, he said shenanigans," Eddie tittered under his breath.
I shot him a glare. "Now is no time to make jokes, Eddison Martin."
Before he could open his mouth in retort, Vera immediately burst into the corridor. "What is all this racket?" she screamed. Noticing the Professor, she halted just behind Victor, her eyes wide. She blushed, embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, Professor," she stammered out. "I-I told them not to disturb you."
The professor smiled slightly, although he looked a little flustered. "It's quite alright, Vera, I'm sure there's an explanation for all-"
"WHERE'S THE INTRUDER?" Trudy cried wildly, rushing into the corridor, a metal pan held high above her head.
Great, I thought to myself, sighing. All we need is some music and balloons, and we'd have a party going on up here.
"Oh..." Trudy said awkwardly as she took in the scene around her. Slowly, she lowered her pan. "False alarm, I guess..." Embarrassed, Trudy ducked her head and began to skitter away.
"Trudy!" The professor called. Blushing, the housekeeper turned around. "I think this one needs some hot chocolate." He nodded to Nina, who was almost clinging onto his robe.
"Of course," Trudy nodded, gently taking Nina by the arm. "Come along, dearie. Let's go down to the kitchen."
"You two are dismissed as well," Professor Kirke nodded to Victor and Vera, lifting an eyebrow. Sheepishly, they nodded and turned to walk away.
"Well, I think that's our cue..." Eddie hissed as he quickly pushed me and Fabian back down the corridor towards our rooms.
"Ahem," Professor Kirke loudly cleared his throat. All three of us cringed and slowly turned around. "My study, please."
"Oh I don't know, it's a bit late...maybe we should be heading back to our-"
Professor Kirke abruptly cut Eddie off. "It wasn't a suggestion."
I gulped, exchanging glances with Eddie and Fabian. The professor began to slowly make his way back to his study, and the three of us followed. It's not like we had a choice, anyways. He led us down a few staircases and through a few corridors, when finally, we arrived. The word STUDY was written on a square brass plate on a door. The professor gently pushed the door open and sat behind his large mahogany desk.
"Now. You seem to have upset the delicate internal balance of my caretaker and housekeeper. And, convinced my other housekeeper that there was an intruder." The professor stated, filling his pipe. I wasn't exactly sure of what all of that meant, but I knew it wasn't good.
"We're very sorry sir," Eddie said quickly. "It won't happen again."
He turned to go, but I grabbed a hold of his robe, yanking him around. "You're not going anywhere," I hissed. Then I turned to the Professor, clasping my hands together and taking a deep breath. "It's about our friend, sir," I explained, glancing at Fabian, who nodded.
"The weeping one?" The professor asked, not looking up.
I nodded. "Yes, sir."
"She's upset," Fabian added lamely, making me inwardly roll my eyes. Fabian was definitely the most awkward boy I knew.
"I could see that," The professor said, almost dryly.
The three of us glanced at each other. "It's just...she's not been herself lately," Eddie began to explain. "It must just be from adjusting to a new place without our grandmother. She's probably worried about her. I mean, whatever it is, we can handle it. I can handle it," he insisted.
I shot him an angry look, and the professor looked up. "Ah, you're probably right. After all, it looks like you've been doing a fantastic job so far." He said drily. He smoked his pipe and then gestured to the three chairs sitting in front of his desk. "Go on, sit."
The three of us obediently sat down, Eddie to my right, and Fabian to my left. Of course. I would end up in the middle. "Now, tell me why the weeping girl was weeping," the professor said, smoking his pipe again.
Eddie stared down at his feet, obviously not wanting to speak up for fear of being shot down again. Fabian, who was also the shyest boy in the world, suddenly became immensely fascinated with repeatedly kicking the rug beneath him.
Well, if no one else was going to say it, then I guess I was going to have to take matters into my own hands.
"She's gone crazy!" I blurted out.
"Amber!" Fabian cried. Eddie moaned loudly.
"Well she has!" I insisted animatedly. "She's boarded the Loony Train and now she's stopping at Crazy Town to build her permanent home on Bonkers Street!"
"Amber!" Fabian shouted, louder this time.
"And what makes you say that?" The professor asked, looking at me almost amusedly.
Fabian sighed. "She thinks she's found some sort of magical world," he admitted. The professor, who was now looking back down at his desk and not making eye contact, sighed and shook his head to himself. "In the upstairs wardrobe," he added.
The professor looked up sharply. "What did you say?" He demanded.
Fabian looked at Eddie and I hesitantly. "You know the wardrobe, upstairs?" The professor nodded vigorously. "Well, she seems to think there's a forest at the back."
"What was it like?" The professor asked, intrigued.
"Like talking to a lunatic," I declared.
"Amber!" Fabian said again.
"No, no, no," The professor interrupted. "Not her! The forest."
Fabian looked a little uncertain. "Well, she said it was snowing, and -"
"Wait a second," Eddie held up his hand, looking at the professor incredulously. "You're not saying you believe her, are you?"
"What, you don't?" asked the professor, sounding confused.
"Of course not!" Fabian exclaimed. "Logically, that would be impossible."
The professor just sighed, leaning back in his chair. "What do they teach in schools these days?"
"Well, Jerome said they were only pretending," I offered. "Although, the whole thing was rather confusing."
"And he's usually the more truthful one, correct?" the Professor asked, looking at the three of us.
I looked at Fabian. After all, he was his cousin. He knew him far better than Eddie and I did, although I already knew what the answer would be before he said it. "W-well, no...not really." He admitted. "T-this would be the first time."
"Well then. In this situation, there are only three possible options. One, she's mad. Two, she's lying. Or three, she's telling the truth." The Professor paused to smoke his pipe. "And, if I understand correctly, you three are under the assumption that Nina has gone mad."
"Well, it's mostly Amber," Fabian explained. "But, yeah."
"Other than this whole incident, do you have any other evidence to prove your theory?" He asked.
"Well...no," Eddie admitted. "But surely that would be reason enough to-"
"And you've said that this would be the first time she's done anything like this. She's never done anything this odd before, correct?" The three of us nodded. "I'm not sure about you three, but that doesn't sound like the symptoms of a mad person to me. So, we're crossing that option off my list." I opened my mouth to argue, but the professor spoke before I even had the chance. "Now, option two: she's lying. Is Nina a truthful person?"
"Please, she can't lie to save her life-" Eddie stopped suddenly, realization hitting him.
Professor Kirke pointed at him. "Exactly. And you said it yourself, she's far more truthful than Jerome is. So, that option is being crossed off the list. And if she's not mad and she's not lying then logically," he looked pointedly at Fabian. "We must assume she's telling the truth." He leaned back, smoking his pipe.
I looked at the Professor for a long time, searching his eyes to see if he was teasing or trying to play a trick on us, but all I saw was sincerity. Maybe Professor Kirke is mad, too.
"But, sir, it doesn't make sense," Fabian said, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "If this Narnia place was real, why isn't it in the wardrobe every time you look in it? I mean, there wasn't anything there when we looked. Even Nina didn't pretend there was."
"Well, what has that got to do with it?" asked the Professor.
"Because, sir, if things are real, then they're there all the time."
"Are they?" The professor raised his eyebrow.
"Oh, of course they are!" Eddie scoffed. "You're just trying to pull our legs or something, aren't you?"
"You don't think Nina's story is true," the Professor stated.
"Of course I don't!" Eddie cried. The Professor gestured for him to explain. "There was no time! Nina didn't have time to go anywhere, even if there was such a place - which, by the way, there isn't! She was in the wardrobe for a minute at the latest, and then immediately came running back out claiming that she'd been in there for hours!"
"But don't you see?" said the Professor, suddenly leaning forwards. "That is what makes her story so likely to be true."
"What? How?" Fabian asked.
"Because, if there really was a door in Anubis House that led to another world - if," He added, looking pointedlyat Eddie, who was now scowling, "I would not be at all surprised if this world had a separate time of its own. Meaning that however long you were to stay in that world, it wouldn't take up any of our time here in this world."
"But how does that mean that she's telling the truth?" Fabian asked.
"I highly doubt that many fifteen-year-old girls are very likely to come up with a theory like that on their own," the Professor said. "After all, the most rational way to get anyone to fall for the story would be to hide in the wardrobe for a few hours, then come out and tell everyone she'd been in a magical world for that amount of time."
Eddie opened his mouth to argue, closed it, opened it again, and finally closed it, grumbling something incoherent and slumping in his seat. The professor had won this argument, and my brain was now a completely jumbled mess. "Logic!" the Professor cried. "Why don't they teach logic in these schools?
"But, the thing is, what are we to do?" I asked. That was the primary reason we'd stayed to talk the professor, anyways, and I felt as though the conversation had gotten a bit off topic.
"Well, my dear," said the Professor. "There is one plan that no one has yet suggested and is well worth trying."
"What's that?" I asked.
"We might all try minding our own business," he said, looking at us with a sharp expression.
And that was the end of the conversation.
Silently, the three of us stood up and walked out of the study, not even saying goodbye to one another as we entered our rooms. Nina was already back when I arrived, but she was fast asleep, tear streaks still stained on her face. I sighed, kicking off my slippers and climbing into my own bed, burying myself deep inside the covers.
I was exhausted, but my brain wouldn't shut up. The previous conversation we'd had with the professor kept lulling over and over in my mind like a broken record. I now knew that Nina most likely was not insane, and she wasn't a liar, either...so I guess that meant that she must be telling the truth. But a magical world inside the back of the wardrobe? "No way," I whispered to myself in the darkness. "That's impossible."
I had a fairly troubled sleep that night.
A/N: IDK why but I just really loved writing that scene in the Professor's study. And I LOVE writing in Amber's point of view, cuz she's my fave. Well, other than Jerome.
Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter and please review! Thanks! :)
