Woo! Double digits! Celebrations by handing out cyber cookies to all those who Reviewed/Followed/Favorited this story. It means a lot. Really. (gets all teary-eyed)
CHAPTER TEN HOUSE OF FRIGHTS
The next day, the security cameras were taken down. Everyone's moods were lifting.
Amber had convinced Mick's dad – who came to have a chat with said son – to pretend to be mad, threaten to remove Mick from the school, and get Mr. Sweet to persuade Victor to reinstate Trudy and rid us of security cameras.
Victor was keen to let us know that he still had power. "I may not have my cameras anymore, but I'm still watching you. Remember that…" he told us that morning
All I could think of was 'stalker!'
At school, Fabian called us (Amber, Patricia and I) over to his locker. "I woke up early this morning." He said, "I went back under the stairs and found this." He took a brown book from his bag.
He opened to the inside cover. I read the title. "A time machine?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's leathered, like in the clue. And it's about time travel so it could be the only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow." Fabian said.
I shrugged. "Sounds legit. Find anything?"
"Actually, nothing." He admitted. "Yet. But if it's in there, I will."
"Amber wants to see the photo of Victor the Ever-living." Patricia said. Fabian got it from his bag. He handed the picture to the blonde.
"That is so creepy." Amber said.
"It gets even creepier," Fabian said, "There are two or three other ones, all from different years." He handed them the other photos we found. Sure enough, they all still had Vicky on them.
"That's the same Victor in all of them." Patricia noted.
"Do you think he's a ghost?" Amber asked. "Or, I don't know, a vampire?"
"No, Amber," Fabian said, trying not to laugh, "I do not. Although I do think it's confirmation of the existence of an elixir of life."
"That means going back down into the cellar." Amber said.
"If it means going to the cellar again, then that's what we'll do." Fabian said. "We'll go back, we'll steal some of the stuff, we'll bring it back, and we'll get it analyzed. Don't worry. I'll do it myself."
"Nuh-uh." I said, "You don't get all the fun. We're a team; we stick together. I'm coming too."
"I'm coming too." Patricia piped up. We looked at Amber. "'Sibuna,' Amber?" Patricia pressured.
"C'mon, cupcake." I said. I put a hand on her shoulder. "You started this all. You made the fabulous name and everything. It won't be the same without you."
Amber sighed after a pause. "Sibuna." She said, doing the gesture.
"Sibuna." The rest of us said, doing the same.
"Now let's go to class." I said. We walked off.
We walked into the lounge, where Mr. Winkler was holding the meeting for Drama. Amber and I sat down on the couch.
"Good morning, everyone." Winkler said, coming in. "Listen, before we start today's class I'd like to draw your attention to this sheet of paper on the wall here." He placed a hand next to a lined paper on the wall. It said 'SCHOOL PLAY SIGN UP HERE'. "Anyone who's interested in auditioning for the school play, sign you autograph up there. Amber, Mary Ann, how are you doing with the script?"
"Mary Ann's all over it," Amber said. "Right, Mary Ann?' She looked at me with a sweet smile on her face.
"I…" I looked back to Winkler. "I wrote most of the beginning, but I'm not sure if they're worthy of being a play…"
"Don't worry about it," Winkler assured me, "It's all a work in progress. But I would like to start auditioning next week, if that's OK?"
"Next week?" I repeated. I still haven't written anything about Victor's character or Anubis's yet.
"I'm sure it'll be great." Fabian told me.
"I'm still nervous about following this whole Sarah-theme." I whispered to him. He only smiled at me with assurance.
~ After school ~
When we returned to the house, we got a surprise. A very familiar woman was cleaning the banisters on the staircase.
"You're back!" Amber screamed with delight. She ran and practically jumped Trudy in a hug.
"Oh it's so good to see you!" Patricia smiled. I grinned immensely. Trudy laughed and teased Amber.
"Oh Trudy, Trudy, Trudy!" Amber jumped up and down. "It's so good to see you."
"Welcome home, Trudy," Patricia said, "We really missed you."
"You have no idea just how much." Fabian and I said at the same time. We just all started to laugh again.
"Can I help you with dinner tonight?" Amber offered, "Or cleaning, or anything. I've just missed you so much!"
"Thank you, sweetie, but no." Trudy declined. "Schoolwork comes first."
"Ugh, what is this place, a school?" I complained, earning a few laughs.
Then, to ruin the moment, Victor came in through the front door. There was an awkward silence as we all looked at him. "Trudy," he regarded.
"Victor." Trudy said back.
"The hall is not a lounging area," Victor scolded. He shooed us away. The girls and I went up the stairs. Fabian went to his room.
A few minutes later, when everyone came home, we settled up. Mara grabbed a bouquet that we had all paid for. Amber held the cake.
"Ready?" I whispered. The residents of the house nodded. "One, two, three!"
"Trudy, Trudy, Trudy!" we chanted, all walking into the living area. Trudy jumped in surprise, but then started to laugh. "Trudy, Trudy, Trudy!"
"For you, Trudy." Mara said, holding the flowers out to her.
"We're all so pleased to have you back."
"Oh…" Trudy looked like she was going to cry. "Stop it, you guys."
"Oh don't cry." Alfie said, "Cook." That made everyone laugh.
"We reckon Victor got into serious trouble from Sweet and Andrews for firing you." Fabian said.
Trudy frowned. "Don't be disrespectful, Fabian. I'm sure Victor thought he was doing the right thing."
"Time to put your feet up, Trudy." Patricia saved the dangerously depressing mood. "We'll finish this, won't we Mara?"
"Yup." Mara took the flowers back from Trudy.
"And Alfie is going to make you a cup of tea." Patricia looked at Alfie, then back at Trudy.
"Am I?" Alfie asked.
"Does he have to?" Trudy asked, begging.
"Hey, it was just a tiny fire last time." Alfie protested. Some of us laughed.
"And I bought you some cake, Trudy." Amber said. She opened the box to reveal it. "It's not as nice as yours."
"Aw, that looks lovely, sweetheart." Trudy said. "It is good to be back."
Amber took Trudy to the couches. Fabian and Mick went with them. I followed Alfie to the kitchen to make sure he didn't make any disasters. We worked out OK. Only a small spark was lit. The tea wasn't poisonous (we tested it on Alfie first).
It was great to have Trudy back. It brought everyone back together.
~ MIDNIGHT ~
We snuck back into the cellar through the oven. It was chilly, and of course I was only wearing pajama shorts and a thin t-shirt. I wore a night robe over it, as well as where two sets of socks.
Fabian went in first. He had the flashlight, and when he shined it into the cellar I couldn't help but feel anger. All the flasks and tubes and stuff were set out on the tables. Even the cloaks and the creepy boar head were there. Fabian flipped the light switch.
"Surprise, surprise." Patricia said sarcastically.
"Everything's back." I said, "Why do we get the intelligent bad guys? Why can't Indiana Jones or James Bond?"
"And the stuffed cat." Amber said in disgust, looking at it.
"Right." Fabian said, turning to us. "We know why we came here. Let's get checking."
Just then the power went out.
"It's OK, it's OK." Fabian said before anyone could freak out. "Don't worry." He waved his flashlight. I took a deep breath. I went to one corner of the room and looked around. There were a bunch of sets of small scales on a shelf. Now why that was there, I had no idea.
"What was that?" Amber asked suddenly.
There was a moment of silence to listen. Nothing. "It's nothing." Fabian said. I went to look with him.
"Victor has been busy." He said. I looked at all the colorful test tubes.
"Which one do you think it is?" I asked. He looked at some of them.
"This is the one I saw him drinking." he said, picking up a corked bottle. Orange liquid swished around inside.
"Are you sure?" I double-checked. "You have to be sure."
"As I can be," he said, "it looks the same."
There was a loud wailing noise. It echoed throughout the walls.
"I really hope that was another cat." Amber said, scared.
"No, it's Taylor Lautner." I retorted sarcastically. Fabian and I walked to the other two Sibuna members.
"Here, puss." Amber called out sweetly. The wardrobe we had once hid in creaked open. Two creatures were coming out. They had inhuman eyes, rotted teeth, and claws. They lunged.
All of us screamed and ran out the way we came. I could have sworn I had heard laughing when I shut the oven door.
~ Morning ~
"Good morning, good morning, good morning. I trust that everyone slept well last night?" Alfie said happily as he and Jerome entered the living area. I hardly paid attention to them. Neither Amber nor I slept a wink last night after the incident in the cellar.
"What's it to you?" Patricia asked, annoyed.
"I just care." Alfie said. OK, what's going on? Alfie never cares. "Sleep is an essential part of life."
"Say, did anyone hear that cat last night?" Jerome asked. "It sounded like a combination of a very old goat and a screaming baby."
"That wasn't a cat." Amber said, "It was me. And you'd scream too if you were cornered by a pair of zombies."
"Yeah, she woke me up with the screaming too." I lied quickly. "Crazy nightmares." I kicked her under the table.
"Sorry." She whispered.
"And once again we enter the strange and predictable world that is Amber's mind." Jerome teased.
"Jerome, you must have heard the rumors of what's buried under the cellar." Alfie said. Realization hit me, and I full on glared at the two of them. They pranked us! They actually pranked us!
"Yes I have." Jerome replied. "The two teachers who were buried alive."
"You could hear their stomachs rumbling. And at night they come out and eat your brains!" He slightly tackled Amber, who yelled his name and pushed him. Jerome was laughing.
"I think we found our zombies." Fabian said sarcastically. I said a bunch of curse words in French, glaring at the two pranksters.
"You pig!" Amber slapped Alfie in the stomach. "I've never been so scared in my entire life! Except for that time when my dad froze my allowance."
"Amber…" Jerome made a moan and invaded Amber's personal space while wearing a zombie mask. He laughed and so did Alfie.
"You think you're really funny, don't you?" Patricia sneered. The two boys high-fived. "Well you're not."
"Lighten up," Jerome said, "it was a joke. And what were you doing down there, anyways?"
Suddenly the cereal I was eating became very interesting. "Ooh," Jerome said. "Haven't they gone quiet all of a sudden, Alfie?" Then Mara came walking in. She sat down. I swished around the leftover milk in my empty bowl.
"Sibuna in my room before class." I whispered to Fabian and Amber, and then I got up and put my bowl in the sink. I went up to my room and started getting ready for classes. The three of Sibuna came in.
"I totally thought they were Vicky-related zombies." I complained when they entered. Amber sat on her bed, Patricia sat on Amber's chair, and Fabian sat on the floor. I picked up some books and sat next to Amber.
"Me two." Amber said, fixing her tie.
I shuddered, "Part of his experiments…"
"Or family members." Patricia suggested.
"I never really thought zombies." Fabian said, getting off the floor.
"Yeah, they could've been mythological creatures." I said teasingly.
"Yeah right," Patricia said to Fabian's comment, "You were screaming louder than us."
Fabian ignored the comment and took the bottle from the cellar out of his bag. "We still need to get the elixir analyzed." He said.
"I say we give it to the police," Amber suggested, "And the photos, and the recordings."
"We can't," Patricia argued. "They're in on it with Victor's spooky friends."
"And why would they believe us? I have a magic locket and we have in our possession an elixir of life?" I added.
"We need to hide it." Fabian said.
"I know," Patricia said. She took out an orange bottle from her bag. After chugging down whatever it contained, she said, "Give it here" and poured the orange liquid into the bottle. She put the bottle back in her bag.
"TIME FOR SCHOOL!" I heard Trudy call from downstairs. I gathered my things and we headed out.
Before class started, Sibuna met up in a classroom and went on a school computer. We searched up places we could get confirmation about whatever was in the bottle. "OK," Fabian said, "Here's a list of all the British universities with major chemistry research accounts. Take your pick."
"Just stop for a second." Patricia interrupted. "What are we going to say exactly? 'Hi, we're a bunch of school students. We think we've got the elixir to eternal life, could you test it for us?' Well, they're going to think we're insane."
"This is freaking me out," Fabian groaned. He rubbed his eyes. "We have the thing, but we don't know what to do with it."
"Drink it?" Amber offered. We all gave her a look. "Just an idea…"
"Well, I'm going to visit Sarah. She might be able to lead us somewhere." I announced.
"Ask her about Rufus." Patricia said. "They obviously know each other. He was visiting her that time."
"Yeah, maybe she knows why Victor's taken him." Amber said. I nodded. Then the bell rang and we headed to class.
~ Evening, visiting Sarah ~
I poured a cup of tea. I felt very British. We had a small plate of cookies as well, but I got the sense I'd eat them all.
"Hey Sarah?" I asked, "Did your parents ever mention an elixir? Not just any elixir, but one that gives you immortality."
"I don't want to live forever." Sarah said seriously.
"Yeah, of course." I agreed. "But… do you know anyone who might?"
"I had a visitor the other day," she changed the subject. She seemed quite happy about it. "Um… now what was his name…"
Ask her about Rufus.
"Rufus?" I suggested.
"Yes," Sarah said, "that's it. Rufus."
"How do you know him?" I asked slowly, not wanting to push.
"Oh, we used to play together when we were small." She told me.
"Are you sure? You're a lot older than he is." I said. They played together. When they were small. Was Rufus like… Victor? Ever-living?
"He was such a sweet boy," Sarah said dreamily. It made me wonder if that was all that was of them.
I couldn't help it. I took out the 1925 photo of Victor from my purse. "Do you recognize him?" I asked, handing it to her.
Sarah gasped. "It's him! It's him – oh no! No, no, no, no." She freaked. "He means to do it, child. He wants to tip the scales of life."
"It's alright, Sarah." I tried to say. I shoved the photo back into my purse. "I'm sorry, so sorry!"
"He's the one," Sarah said scared, "He killed them! Now he wants to stay forever… But you must stop him." She took my hands in a death grip. I jumped.
"H-Hush, little b-baby, don't say a word." She started to recite the lullaby. "Daddy's going to buy you a big, black bird."
That's not how the song went, but bigger things were running through my mind.
Victor killed people! Actually killed people!