Chapter Nine

Recalls and Reveries

"You can't keep dwelling in the past."

Ben's words unknowingly found something that Patricia kept buried inside her a long time ago, the truth. She hid the truth from everyone for ten long years and she wasn't about to give in now.

The lies that Patricia fed her family, her friends and herself came coming back at her as she sat on the cold kitchen floor.

"It's fine." She had told Joy when they broke up. "It was mutual."

"We're okay." She had once muttered together with him, telling Nina that they were on steady ground, that they were back to friends.

"I moved on. I don't love him anymore." She told Piper when she asked about him during graduation.

"It doesn't affect me." She told Amber when she told him about his new girlfriend.

"I'm happy for the both of you." She said with a smile during their wedding reception.

"I'm glad that he's not going." She told herself when she found out that he couldn't attend the reunion.

She has spent all her time telling herself these lies that she was starting to believe them, even if they weren't true. She knew they weren't true and now, even her last boyfriend knew. Eugene had broke up with her when he found out the truth. Eugene looked similar to him… too similar. Jobless and unhappy, Patricia instantly took Joy's offer to accompany Fabian back to their alma mater. She'd do anything to be away from him and the same time, she would do anything to be at the place where happy memories resided, the House of Anubis.

Accompanying Fabian was only an excuse for Patricia to return back to the past. Helping Fabian is an excuse to help herself remember about him. She didn't know what memories would disappear and how the rest would change. Patricia was here because she dwelled in the past, much like Ben's words. Everyone else has moved on but Patricia couldn't seem to move on. She didn't want to move on even if Jerome already had.

At the thought of his name, Patricia felt the tears finally flowing free as she curled her legs towards her chest, hugging herself. She leaned against the old oven, feeling the cold seep through her clothes.

Suddenly, the oven didn't feel so cold as it felt like it was burning. Patricia flinched away, glancing at the oven only to be shocked at the green light it was emitting. The oven opened and an object came tumbling out of it. Patricia immediately went to catch it only to let it drop on the floor as she felt pain at the mere contact.

Staring incredulously at the book on the kitchen floor, Patricia failed to notice the oven sealing itself or the blood spilling out of her blistered skin. She was too busy reading the title on the book.

The Book of Isis.


Eddie stood on the entrance of his office as Brielle cleaned around the office.

"Brie?" Eddie called her tentatively but she didn't respond

Brielle was realigning the books on the shelf. She was pulling one book from the shelf when she heard something drop on the floor with a clang. It was a necklace with a pendant of an eye, the same eye she saw around the house.

"Brielle, don't touch that," Eddie warned but the girl paid him no attention.

She picked up the Eye of Horus, leveling with it her eyes. It looked familiar to her. It felt familiar to her. Suddenly, the metal burned her skin and she dropped the necklace. As the necklace hit the ground, a black shroud of smoke appeared around Brielle.

"Wha-"

She couldn't seem to finish the words as the smoke engulfed her.

"Nina!" Eddie screamed as he tried to rush forward to help the girl but he couldn't seem to move or see as the whole room was suddenly filled with black smoke. "Where are you?!"

"Help me!" she screamed. "Eddie!"

Eddie panicked. He could only yell out as his surroundings turned to pure darkness. "Brie! Are you still here!?"

"She needs you," a commanding voice whispered. "Find her. Save her."

More voices whispered but they only said one thing: Nina.

Eddie felt his knees weaken, falling on what felt like the ground, his hands holding his head, trying to keep the voices out his mind.

"Ow," another voice yelped out. This was a familiar voice and it echoed through his mind. "That hurts!"

Eddie was startled out of his sleep. He sat up immediately, examining his surroundings. He visibly relaxed when he saw that he was still in the sitting room and Brielle sat opposite him with a visibly irritated Patricia.

"Can you quit yacking, Yacker?" Eddie mumbled as he yawned, glad that everything was just a dream. "You woke me up."

"Well, you should've slept in your room, " Patricia rolled her eyes, flinching when Brielle touched her wound. "Brielle, can you please apply it a little more gently?"

"I'm sorry Patricia," Brielle continued to apply balm on the blisters.

"Whoa," Eddie looked at the blisters on Patricia' s palms. "What happened, Yacker?"

"It's not like you care," Patricia scoffed.

"I do," Eddie said quietly before adding pompously. "After all, I should know what happens in my house."

"Well, if you must know, your oven suddenly burned up," Patricia said the excuse she used on Brielle a few moments ago.

"The old one?" Eddie scowled. "Isn't that broken?"

"That's what I thought," Patricia muttered.

Both Eddie and Brielle looked at her confusedly. She was barely at the house for a day and she knew a fact that not even the kids knew.

"I used to live here, remember?" Patricia rolled her eyes. "It was broken during my stay too."

Nodding in understanding, Brielle continued to treat the wound, bandaging in carefully. "There," she smiled proudly at her handiwork. "That should be fine. Just don't try to touch anything?"

Eddie laughed. "That's fine advice from you, Brie."

"I'm not a doctor," Brielle stuck her tongue out at the blonde man. "Anyway, I'll just be in the kitchen to cook dinner."

Brielle stalked off to the kitchen, leaving the two to awkwardly stare at each other.

"Er," Patricia began. "She seems to be well skilled with this kind of thing," she gestured at her bandaged hand. "Did you teach her?"

"My mom did," Eddie couldn't help but scratch the back of his head awkwardly. "For the first few weeks, all she wanted was to learn to know. I guess she tried to compensate for her lack of memories."

Patricia hummed in understanding.

The living room was filled with silence once more, leaving the two to avoid each other's gaze.

Eddie finally broke the pregnant pause, running a hand through his blonde hair. "I'm sorry about awhile ago."

"Me too," she whispered softly

"It was out of line," Eddie scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I just met you and all."

"I'm glad you know," Patricia said sarcastically but the slightly lifted edges of her lips told Eddie that all was forgiven.

AN: Really short chapter. I'm not one for serious chapters anyway. So, here's a quick recap on HoG, HoB (aka the prequel), Pattie and Jerry dated and they broke up. Jerry eventually married Mara (they attended the same uni) while Patty dated actor Eugene Simon (breaking the fourth wall).

Anyway, I hope this is fine. Oh yeah, Fabian is in the next chapter which is kinda heavy. I know you miss him!

Reminder: Season 2, 3 and Touchstone of Ra didn't happen but I will (and I already did) include characters from there. J Just a little bit from everything.

PS: It is getting hard to write Nina/Brielle in this. I keep getting confused. Lol.

Please review! It helps (me), I promise.