A/N - To the guest 'PillowMaster', thanks for reading, but the point of reviews is to tell me how you liked the chapter/what I need to improve on; not to tell me how your brain isn't working today, how the lights keep flickering and that 'I only read the A/N'. Your reviews kind of annoyed me because as a writer, I'm looking for Constructive Criticism; how someone liked a chapter, what they want, and what I should improve on. Again, thanks for reviewing, but if you plan on reviewing in the future, I'd like you to get to the point.

Wow, I hate this chapter. I've had this idea for months and I'm glad I finally got up to writing it, but I absolutely hate the way it came out. I just hate this story in general. Idek.

Hah, I just remembered that I actually published this story on October 17th, 2011 (one day before this story was actually published) but soon after I published it, another story in the HoA archive popped up saying that the stories were growing unoriginal with bad writing. It was only my second day on FFN, so I didn't know any better; I reviewed it...I don't remember what I said, though. (It was only my second day on the site cut me some slack) I deleted the original story, because it wasn't getting any comments, so I published it the next day and received two reviews. Then, I didn't update for four months...yeah, this story has been through A LOT.

I think I'm one of the last stories to be updated since 2011...I feel like one of the mothers of the fandom, since I've been into the show since January 2011 and have been reading HoA fanfiction since March 2011...wow.

And, if you are reading this chapter, pat yourself on the back. You are currently up to date with the longest story in the House of Anubis FanFiction archive; a whopping 160,000 words. I want to congratulate you all for probably spending hours upon hours reading this story. Whether you've been here since October 18th, 2011, or just started today, you have accomplished a feat and all my readers of the readers of the LONGEST story in the HoA archive. Pat yourself on the back!

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

~Albus Dumbledore

xXx

She'd always been a good artist.

The mental patient sat on her bed with a sketchpad in her lap and a pencil between her fingers. She'd been locked in a room for three years now with nothing but those tools; she'd put them to good use.

The nurse walked in carefully, shutting the door slowly and quietly. She, in her usual white uniform, walked up to the girl sitting on the bed. The girl had purple bags under her eyes; it looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.

"Honey?" she whispered, trying to move her attention away from the sketchpad. "Why haven't you slept? You used to sleep all the time..."

"Victor is still after the pieces," she mumbled, not moving her attention from the pencil that was moving rhythmically in her hand. "Fabian and I have to keep them away from him and the rest of the Society."

The nurse was used to this; she'd dealt with mental patients for years. She knew how the usually made up fantasy worlds inside their heads to escape from the reality they were in. They didn't want to tell themselves they were locked away to keep them from harming other people, so they created fake universes to live in.

This particular patient, however, was different. She was convinced that she received a scholarship to a British boarding school, and that the "House of Anubis" was tied to Egyptian mythology; two people, named Robert and Louisa Frobisher-Smythe, stole the Cup of Ankh from Tutankhamun's tomb and hid the seven broken up pieces in the House she was residing in. She thought her name was Nina Martin.

The nurse walked behind the patient to see what she was drawing. She looked like she was shading someone's features; when the nurse saw the drawing again, she saw it was a person; and, much to her surprise, the person resembled herself greatly.

To get the patient's attention, the nurse snapped her fingers. She knew the girl didn't like being touched; and she hadn't been touched in three years. Not in any way, shape, or form. The patient looked up to face the nurse.

The nurse decided to word her sentence carefully. "Miss, that woman you are drawing...it seems to look a bit like me."

The patient nodded, and met her eyes for the first time in three years. The nurse was surprised to see that her eyes were a startling green. "Yes," she began, "You are in Victor's society. Your name is Delia, and you crave immortal life."

The nurse, who was really named Lisa, smiled sadly. The patient had been in the hospital for almost three years, and every time Lisa came to visit, she was doodling in her notepad about some world she'd created. The hospital sucked the life out of every single one of its patients - she didn't want to keep her from a better reality.

The patient turned back to her sketchpad. Lisa crouched down on the floor to see the drawings better, and she was surprised to find the patient was such a good artist. Lisa pointed to one of the drawings; a tall, thin girl with long hair. "Who's this?" she asked.

"That's Amber," the patient smiled; it was odd to see, since Lisa had never seen her smile, much less move. "Amber Millington. She's rich, blonde, and can come off as rude, dumb and annoying, but she has a good heart and is honestly smarter than she seems and surprises Sibuna all the time..."

Lisa didn't know who or what Sibuna was, but she let the girl continue by pointing to another drawing. "This one is Patricia Williamson. She's a redhead, snarky, rude, and can be cruel. She used to seem unapproachable until Eddie Miller came-" She pointed to another drawing, "and she started dating him. Eddie is the Osirian - the born protector of the Paragon; the Chosen One. Me. He's my protector. He's also the son of Mr. Sweet, who's the headmaster of the school."

The girl continued, "Over here is Mick Campbell and Mara Jaffray. Mick is athletic, and Mara is really, really smart. They didn't work together, but when Amber and Mick broke up, Mara trained Mick in football, and they eventually started dating, but in my second year, Mick was offered a scholarship is Australia, so when he left, that's why there was room for Eddie to come into Anubis House. Then Mara decided to get to know Jerome Clarke better, who had a crush on Mara for years."

She pointed to two boys, who she drew side by side and smiling. "Jerome Clarke, the cunning and suspicious one, is best friends with Alfie Lewis, the ultimate prankster, and the joke of Sibuna, but he always ends up proving himself in the end. I always start thinking that he can't do it, but I'm always proven wrong. I believe that he is the bravest out of all the Sibuna's."

The nurse, Lisa, couldn't hold herself back much longer. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. Finally, she drew the girl's attention from her notebook and asked her what a 'Sibuna' was.

"It's our group," she mumbled, smiling slightly. The girl liked thinking about this. "Sibuna. Anubis backwards. We solve the mysteries of the House and stop Victor and his Society from taking over the world by gaining immortality. I'm the leader, because I'm the Chosen One. Fabian's my sidekick...I miss Fabian..." Suddenly, her happy expression transformed into a saddened one, obviously thinking of this 'Fabian' person.

What she didn't know was that none of those people existed. She had made them all up in her head. Neither did the school. or Anubis House. In fact, Nina Martin had never existed, because that wasn't even her real name. She had tricked herself into thinking it was.

xXx

Nina
Shadowland

"Is there any food around here?"

I rolled my eyes. It seemed like Jerome and Alfie had gotten over their shock of being here at the same time. I didn't know they were both brought here; the dreams were supposed to be for a single person.

I followed the two boys into the kitchen, where there was indeed food. Eddie had bought some food from the market a few weeks ago; I would never admit it (but Eddie probably already knew considering the amount of food in the cabinets hadn't changed), but I wasn't eating any of the food. The Man in Red, now renamed Paul, knew about the food, and he wasn't happy.

I wouldn't have eaten it anyway. I'd been living off a certain amount of food for a month now; if I ate a different amount, I didn't think my stomach would be able to handle it and I'd probably throw it all up and Paul would blame me or something.

It seemed like Alfie hadn't changed in the month I hadn't seen him; and Jerome wasn't all that different either. Unlike Alfie, I'd seen Jerome once or twice, because he was the Healer and I needed him to do his job for me sometimes. Fabian wondered why I wasn't bruised or scraped anymore, but that was because Jerome had healed me once or twice and I'd hidden the bruises and cuts.

I didn't think Alfie would be all that happy when I told him I'd been talking to a non-Sibuna more than an actual member. I trailed behind Alfie as we walked into the kitchen, where they were scouring the cabinets and scanning the counters for anything to eat. They didn't care that I didn't know why they were both here; all they seemed to care about was food.

"There's food in the fifth cabinet above the counter," I told the two boys, a slightly annoyed expression on my face. As much as I wanted to get the dreams over with, I was happy the two pranksters were here. I couldn't be that upset with them in my presence.

Alfie and Jerome both shared a look and raided the cabinet. I laughed to myself and walked into the common room, waiting for the boys to return with armfuls of food; and, of course, they strutted in, Jerome leaning over to collect a can of something he dropped. I was sitting on the couch; Jerome and Alfie sat on my right.

Alfie stuffed his face with food before asking me, his voice muffled by the bread, "So why are we both here, Nina?"

I waited for him to swallow his good before answering his question. "I don't know," I admitted, while Jerome took a sip of his water. "I wanted to give Alfie a dream, but then Jerome came here too."

"Oh, so you weren't even planning to send me one!" Jerome exclaimed, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "I saved your life -"

"On Halloween, yeah, I know, Jerome," I retorted, rolling my eyes. "You can stop saying that now. Look, I was just trying to give Alfie a dream and suddenly I'm greeted with two boys instead of one. I don't know how you both got here. Any ideas?" I asked, spreading my arms to suggest brainstorming.

They didn't continue talking until they had finished all the food they carried with him. I didn't mind that they were eating the food; I wouldn't even eat it myself. I had hours until Paul returned, so it didn't matter that they were taking a long time.

I liked being in my friend's presence, because for the past month, I'd been feeling like they weren't real. Like Anubis House had never even existed, and I'd made everything up.

I was a mental patient in a hospital, and I was thinking of a world that was better than the one I was in. I made up Fabian Rutter, Amber Millington, Patricia Williamson, and everyone else. It was all in my head. They had never really existed. I was a patient in a mental hospital, and Anubis House and Shadowland were all made up in my head.

I'd be sad if Jerome and Alfie were fictional people that I'd created myself. I'd wake up out of this fictional world only to realize that the pranksters Lewis and Clarke weren't planning their next move and Mara Jaffray wasn't studying for her next test. Patricia Williamson wasn't sneering at everyone who crossed her path; Amber wasn't reading a fashion magazine and complaining to Alfie how those shoes didn't match that dress. Mick wasn't kicking a football around the common room and Fabian wasn't writing down a science theory. Trudy wasn't cooking supper in the kitchen and Victor wasn't stroking his stuffed bird.

"Hellooooo!" Alfie said, breaking me from the state I was in. He was waving his hand in front of my face. "Ninaaaa? Are you in there? Earth to Nina Martin? Hellooooo?"

"Alfie," Jerome chided playfully. "How would you feel if you were a sixteen-year-old girl locked in a different dimension twenty four-seven?" Alfie chuckled and pushed punched Jerome's arm. "Now, Nina, Fabian has probably talked about these dreams four million, five thousand and seventy-two times, so we now how these work. No need to explain. So what are you going to tell us this time?"

"Um..." I tried to remember what I was going to say before I got sucked into the thought of the fictional world with the Anubis residents. "I know that the Paul is a kind of spirit -"

"Paul?" Jerome asked.

"Who's Paul?" Alfie asked.

That's when I knew I didn't make them up. The two boys had smirks on their faces and their arms were crossed. I would never imagined two people this annoying.

I heaved a sigh and started to explain. "Paul's the man who the Man in Red took over. He's a real person now, so we're going to call him by a real name, and not some kind of spirit man...dude...Edd- I mean, someone - thought of the name. So now his name is Paul. Is that clear?"

"Comprendo," Jerome answered, a smile on his face, while Alfie shot me a thumbs up and exclaimed, "Crystal clear."

I sucked in a breath of air. They knew what I knew, and so it was time to send them back to Anubis House and forget they ever had a dream. I might never be sending them dreams ever again, because they were annoying as I remembered them to be.

"So, Alfie," I began, turning to him, "You're a Seeker. I know that the spirit was a person, but I don't know who he was before he died...or whatever happened to him. Do you know?"

Alfie tapped his chin for a moment, but then faced me and simply said, "No."

"No?" I exclaimed, a look of confusion and anger creeping up on my face. "What do you mean, 'No'? You're a Seeker! You can know anything! Why don't you know this?"

He sighed patiently, and then when I wasn't screaming, he explained, "Yes, I'm a Seeker; but that much knowledge must come with drawbacks. I can know any answer in the world, but if I want to know a person's secret, or where they hid the money, or even if they killed someone, I can't know if they don't want me to know. They want to keep the secret to themselves, so I can't know that. Just like I can't know what happened to you in the past month you've been here, because you don't want me to know.

"I do know he's a bad idea, though. He's nothing good. You shouldn't mess with him."

"Yeah, I know that," I answered, staring down at the floor. I felt a little disappointed that Alfie couldn't know who the spirit/Paul really was, but if I could survive a month without knowing, I could survive a little longer.

"Anyway," I began, trying to rid my mind of the thought of knowing who my kidnapper was, "Do you know why you two are in the same dream as each other? I want to know, Alfie, so you should be able to figure it out."

It didn't even take a second. Alfie answered with, "Mara and I were supposed to get a dream together, because we're the two Seekers."

"But I've already given Mara a dream," I said, "And she was alone."

"Yes," Alfie reasoned, "but Mara and I are connected by a string, and somehow you broke that connection so she gets the dreams alone. I should get the dreams alone too, but the broken connection got messed up so now Jerome and I have the dreams together."

I nodded slowly, trying to take all of it in. "Well," I started, "please try to figure out who the spirit is, because I don't think I can take much longer of not knowing who he is."

I was just preparing to send them back when, unluckily for me, my stomach growled.

I hadn't been getting that much to eat. I never really had, ever since I was taken over a month ago. But I'd adjusted to the amount of food I was getting, so I was surprised that my body was telling me I was hungry, when Paul had most certainly fed me this morning, as he did every morning. I still didn't know who he really was, but his heart was nice enough to give me food every day.

"Hmm..." Alfie mused, stroking his invisible beard dramatically. "Nina is hungry. Well, Jerome, we just ate a whole bunch of food. Why don't we prepare something for the girl who's been missing for a month?" Jerome nodded and they both hurried into the kitchen, but before they could step into the room, I blocked the doorway. The two boys stopped suddenly, and looks of confusion spread over their faces.

"I'm not hungry," I attempted to persuade them. I actually didn't feel all that hungry, to tell the truth. "I'm really not. You're just going to waste food and if Paul sees any food is missing, he'll either blame me or Ed - or someone like you and then I'll feel ashamed so I'll cry in the corner and I'm sure you don't want that."

"You keep mentioning someone," Jerome announced, while Alfie groaned with frustration. "The beginning of the name sounds familiar, but since you won't say the full name, I can't figure out who."

I was hesitant to say Eddie's name because the people at Anubis House already knew he was a spy for Paul, and he'd only been in the UK for fifteen days. I didn't want to give any information out, like how he tried to visit every day, because then it wouldn't end up pretty for him. I didn't want to see him suffer while he was here; he visited because of me, and if I was the reason he got hurt, I'd probably never forgive myself.

"It's no one," I lied smoothly, trying to convince Jerome, who assumed nothing and suspected everything.

"Just some imaginary character to keep you company while you sit alone in the corner?" Jerome teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him. Ever since it was revealed he was the Healer, we'd been growing closer and closer, even though we weren't even that close in my first year.

"Pretty much," I played along, a genuine smile creeping up on my face. Even though the two boys annoyed the crap out of me, I liked having them around. They were funny, even in times where they were brought to a torture chamber.

I started to walk back to the main room, and Alfie and Jerome followed. I was sure I had lured them out of the kitchen, when my body confirmed it hated me by my stomach growling again. Jerome and Alfie didn't run back to the kitchen with mischievous smiles on their faces this time; Alfie only tilted his head, as if to say You can stop lying now.

"Seriously, Nina, how much have you been fed?" Alfie questioned, sitting down on the sofa again. His usual playful look had been replaced with a serious one; I knew there was no joking around. I cursed myself for making him a Seeker.

"I've had enough," I tried to persuade him, but neither person seemed to be falling for it. "Enough to live off of. I get enough. Trust me."

Jerome approached me and touched my arm gently. That slight touch made me flinch; even Jerome noticed how shocked I'd been. Before, they were all for joking around and stealing the food, but now they both realized how serious the conditions here were.

Jerome was licking his lips, obviously considering what might have been happening to me. After all, he was the Healer; he practically knew any injury.

Finally, he came to a decision. "Nina, have you been abused?"

Eddie ended up saving by ass from explaining by walking in, but that would only get me into deeper trouble. Jerome and Alfie were already starting to suspect I'd been abused and underfed, which wasn't good in the least, but now Eddie had to walk in in the middle of a dream.

Jerome narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at the blonde boy who had just walked in, holding something behind his back. "What's he doing here?" Jerome asked, moving his finger from Eddie to me. His eyebrows lifted, and before I could do any further explaining, I ran to Eddie, who was standing in the doorway, his eyes the size of tennis balls.

"Come along now, Eddie, let's go inside," I muttered, pushing him into my room, attempting to hide him from the two questioning boys in my house. "I think you've caused enough trouble."

I ignored his questions and shut the door in his face. I ran back into the main room to be greeted with Alfie and Jerome with their hands on their hips, ready to question me; but I was the one in charge here. I smiled in spite of myself and approached them.

"Well, guys, I guess it's time to end this dream," I said, and I smiled wider when I saw them remove their poses and start to beg for them to be kept here.

"No, Nina, no, don't send us back -" but it was too late. They disappeared with a pop, and I was left alone with the memories of two annoying boys.

Eddie ran out from my room and landed next to me. "Dude, what was that?" he asked, panting. He was obviously tired out from the run from Anubis House to here. I was really glad to have him here; he hadn't come in a while, and I wasn't sure why. I watched him with his hands on his knees, a small smile creeping up on my face.

I led him to the couch, where he crashed on his back and stared at the ceiling. I sat next to him, so he drew his legs back enough for me to plop down. I decided to ask him why he hadn't visited in a while, which he answered with, "Some girl at school died."

Well, that was unexpected. "What?" I cried, standing up suddenly; so quick that I actually startled the boy who wasn't even scared by an evil spirit.

Eddie grabbed my hand and pulled me back down onto the couch. "Yes," he answered carefully, "Her name was Laura Lynch. You didn't know her. No one from Anubis House died."

That information made me feel a little bit better, but I still felt bad for the girl. Eddie and I locked eyes; I knew him well enough to tell that he was hiding something. I bit my lip before I asked, "How did she die?"

"We don't know for sure," he muttered bitterly, sitting up with an angry look on his face. "She died on Monday. School was cancelled the day after that, but when we went back on Wednesday, no one would tell us anything about her. The teachers wouldn't give anything away, not even Mr. Sweet; my own dad!" He huffed in exasperation before he continued with, "Someone said that a random man came into the school and tortured her until her body gave in and stopped working. We held a search for the murderer, but we found him dead in the woods a few days later. And I think I know who the real murderer is."

Eddie met my eyes again, and I knew who he was thinking of: The Man in Red. The spirit had left Paul's body and taken another man's, then proceeded to go into the school. He was probably looking for one of the Anubis kids, but instead this girl had gotten in his way, so he lost his temper and killed her.

I wouldn't be surprised if a different man walked in here, since the spirit had most likely taken another body, as he dropped Paul, and before that, Mr. Winkler. I didn't even know who the spirit really was; he had to be a person. Every spirit was a person once. He could either be from a dead body...or a living one.

"Don't dwell on it, Nina," Eddie commanded, sitting up next to me. "It's not worth it. You'll get out of here, I won't have to spy on the Anubis kids anymore, and this place will be gone from existence. I promise. You can trust me."

"You can trust me, Nina. I promise."

"That's what Fabian said," I mumbled, mostly to myself. I hadn't sent him a dream in over ten days, and even though I broke up with him (by force, thank you very much), I missed him more than anyone right now. He was the only one that was nice to me at first in my first year, and I eventually fell in love with him. I needed him more than anyone right now.

Suddenly, Eddie's eyes lit up with excitement. He jumped off the couch and ran into the room where I locked him in before, and I watched him run away with a look of confusion on my face. He didn't even explain what he was doing; but Eddie never really explained anything. I waited a few moments before he ran back into the room, holding something behind his back.

"What are you carrying...?" I asked, trying to maneuver around his body to see what he was hiding. Unfortunately, Eddie was bigger and faster than I was, so I never saw what he was holding.

"Uh uh uh," he scolded, waggling his finger back and forth. "It's a surprise, and you will not see this surprise until tonight. Well, I mean, if tonight goes the way I plan..."

His sentence confused me, but ever since I was young, I had hated surprises. My parents died by a surprise car accident. I wet my pants at my fifth grade birthday party when my friend jumped out and surprised me. If Eddie wanted to surprise me now...

I pouted, and started to walk towards the other room. I didn't know where I was going, exactly, but Eddie ran up behind me and threw me over his shoulder before I could walk any further.

"Hey!" I protested, thrashing back and forth, but Eddie held me tightly down and ran back into the main room, laughing maniacally. "Put. Me. Down! Eddison Sweet, I command you to put me down!

"Call me Eddie Miller and I'll think about it!" he laughed, but he, literally, threw me down onto the couch and I landed face-first onto it. I pushed myself up faster than Eddie could run away, so I grabbed his ankle and he fell down onto the wood floor, his face breaking his fall. I was the one to laugh now.

"Oh, haha, so funny," he grumbled, pushing himself upright, and in the terrible lighting of this house, I could already see a bruise forming on his forehead. He'd have to make up a lie about where he got it, obviously, because he couldn't say something like "Oh, I went to Shadowland during the night and after I threw Nina on the couch, she tripped me and I fell face-first onto the floor."

I couldn't lift him up in time, because before he could see the light, the person who confused me more than anyone in the world walked in.

Surprisingly, he wasn't in a new body; he was still "Paul". I didn't know what to call him; first he was Jason, then he was a spirit, and now he was a man he picked up off the streets. If Eddie was right about the spirit being the one who killed the girl who went to our school, then he obviously saved Paul's body before he dumped him.

"Eddison, what are you doing?" he growled, and sent me a glare so ferocious I let Eddie fall to the ground again, therefore hitting the floor with a thud. I sat down on the couch and soon enough, Eddie pushed himself up and sat down next to me.

"Nothing," he finally answered, keeping a straight face and trying not to smile. "I tripped over my own feet and Nina here, being the oh-so-kind girl she is, tried to help me up."

Paul's body, that was trapped in the soul of a spirit, snarled, and he trudged back into another room. When we were sure he was out of earshot, Eddie and I locked eyes; I was trying, but failing, to keep my giggles in.

Unfortunately, while we were laughing, the Man in Red/Paul/the spirit (Whatever his name is nowadays), ran back in. He didn't do anything to hurt us, but he said, "What's so funny?" like he was a classmate of ours and saw us laughing in the halls.

"Nothing," Eddie chuckled, trying to contort his features into a straight face again. It took a minute, but his serious expression finally returned. "We were just laughing at a joke that one of my housemates told me."

MIR/Paul/the spirit/whats-his-face narrowed his eyes. "Tell me this joke you speak of."

Eddie looked taken aback; he obviously wasn't expecting having to specify the 'joke'. He sent me a quick glance, then sat up and started to explain. "Well, one of the people, Jerome Clarke, said the famous joke, 'Why did he chicken cross the road?' so we all groaned and was expecting him to say 'To get to the other side!' And he did say that, but he said 'The other side means Heaven or Hell. The chicken was crossing the street to die. It was a suicidal chicken."

Paul rolled his eyes at Eddie, who was now doubled over laughing on the couch, and trudged away into another room. When he was sure he was out of earshot, Eddie locked eyes with me and we both cracked up.

I hadn't laughed like that in so long; it was nice to let it all out. Eddie, who was laughing just as hard as I was, if not harder, gripped my arm for dear life. My laughing was cut short by him putting his finger to his lips, a movement to tell me to shut up. Only five seconds later, Paul walked back into the room.

"Why are you still laughing?" He spat, holding Eddie up by the collar of his shirt.

Eddie, on the other hand, didn't look scared by this action at all; instead, he answered smoothly, "Just laughing at how stupid you look today, sir."

I'd always known Eddie was a rebel; we'd shared our pasts in America with each other long before today. He liked taking risks and getting on people's nerves until the forehead vein was popping out. Eddie would get Paul's blood boiling, even though he was terrified of him. Paul released his shirt and Eddie fell back onto the couch. "You wouldn't be laughing if you knew who I really was, Miller."

That day was the day we found out who the Man in Red really was. For the past month and a day, I'd known him as someone that I wasn't to mess with. He wasn't Rufus or Victor. I couldn't thwart him or run faster than him or find the pieces faster than him. I'd been terrified of him since October 17th, and I was still scared of him now. He wasn't someone to mess with, and I knew that. I'd never asked him who he was or why he was doing this, even when I originally thought that Jason was the one who had kidnapped me. I'd come to the realization that I'd never know who he really was, but on November 18th, 2011, Eddie and I were informed of who he was.

"Yeah, well," Eddie began calmly, "I don't know who you are, despite the fact that you believe I do. I don't know you are, so I laugh!"

Paul pinched his nose in frustration. He paced around in a small circle before advancing on Eddie again. "You know who I am, boy! Stop denying it...you know...you know who are you."

"Maybe if you could stop being annoying and secretive, you could get to point and tell me who are you?" Eddie suggested, sarcasm dripping in his tone. He spread his arms in suggestion; Paul took a deep breath before beginning his explanation.

"I am you, Eddison Miller," he began, short and sweet. He didn't say anything else, like he expected us to know what he meant.

"No, you're not," Eddie stated simply, and kicked back against the back of the couch. Paul, obviously, didn't appreciate Eddie's actions, because he pulled Eddie's feet from the other side of the couch onto the floor. Eddie glared at him, but before he continued, he sent me a look that said This is going to take a while.

"I don't know what you mean," Eddie's tone was already growing impatient. "You are not me. You will never be me. I don't know if this is some kind of sick joke, but you are not me. You're an evil man spirit dude who doesn't care if he hurts his friends, but I do. Don't say you're me, because you're not."

"Oh, I am, you silly boy," he hissed, Paul's ice-cold blue eyes narrowing into slits. "Before I get into the confusing details, how about telling this young lady why you were brought to Liverpool in the first place?" He pointed his crooked finger my way.

I craned my neck to look at Eddie, my eyes widening. He'd told me he was sent to Liverpool to bond with his dad, Mr. Sweet...what if that wasn't true? Eddie had his eyes closed, like he didn't want to see my reaction.

"Well?" I asked softly, scared to know what the truth really was. I waited, watching Eddie's features, until he finally opened his eyes and said, "I came here to be closer to Nina, since I'm her Osirian."

"Yes, that's true..." Paul snarled, moving his body towards us on the couch in a snake-like way. "But why don't you tell her why your mother let you come in the first place? Tell her what you did, Eddison. Tell her."

Eddie inhaled quickly and exhaled at the same rate. "My mother was already considering sending me to Liverpool a few weeks before. I did something bad...I committed a crime. I robbed a house, and then ran away from the the police...my mother was telling me I needed to change my attitude. Of course, I was on watch and all, but when my dad called and said he needed me for some work - which turned out to be protecting you - my mom shipped me away the next day. And now...I'm here."

Silence followed for only a moment. "But that's fine," I answered, "I don't care. You're here now...I don't understand."

Paul groaned, before leaning back against the table. "You know that Eddison is your Osirian, your born protector, correct?" I nodded slowly, not knowing where he was going with this. "Well, everyone has a bad side to them. Sometimes people push down their bad side, so they appear nice, and sometimes people let it show; those are the bad people. Well, when Eddison here committed that crime, his bad side shone through with shining colors. He did something so bad, that his bad side escaped and became a human figure. That is me. I am Eddie's bad side; a spirit. I am Eddie, and Eddie is me."

xXx

"Nina, please listen to me."

I kept walking, ignoring the boy who was walking alone beside me as we walked through the forest. I acted like I didn't hear him; maybe he'd lay off me and head back for Anubis House.

"Come on, Nina. Please. Talk to me."

I would not talk to him. I couldn't; not after what we'd just found out. It had been a month since I'd been taken, and I'd learned not to trust the spirit, but I'd never known its true identity. He wasn't something to be played with; I forced myself to stay a distance away from Eddie, because I didn't particularly want to talk to the boy at the moment.

"I swear I have nothing to do with him," he promised me for the thousandth time. I stopped short in my tracks, and when I turned around, he met my eyes and we held each other's gazes for a few seconds before he continued his argument. "I had no idea who he was...I don't understand how he's me, but I mean...it makes sense...just, please don't freak out on me. I'm here for you."

I exhaled, tearing my eyes away from his. I stared at the forest floor for a few moments before speaking. "Well, I don't understand either," I began calmly, "But if...if he's really you...and all he's done to me...I just don't know, Eddie."

I sighed, and turned away from him, beginning to walk further into the forest. I didn't know where I was going; after Paul had announced that he was Eddie's bad side, I had stormed out of the house and into the forest, and Eddie followed me.

"All I know is that I would never, ever, hurt you," he said softly, but I didn't stop walking. " I'm not the type of person to be an abuser. I'd never hurt anyone. After all, I'm your Osirian; I was born to protect you. I wouldn't hurt you; I wouldn't even hurt Patricia, and she annoys the crap out of me."

I snorted when I heard that; I had almost forgotten that he resided in Anubis House. "Wow," I said, turning around so I was eye-to-eye with my Osirian again. "I should have seen it coming...the rebel and strong-willed Patricia...I could see you two fighting, but you're so similar that you'd actually make a good couple."

"Ugh!" he complained, making his way over to my side. "Gross. I would never like Patricia...ever...she's too...Patricia, you know what I mean?"

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"You sound like you're in seventh grade."

"Hahaha, shut up. Patricia just annoys the crap out of me; there's no romantic feelings there whatsoever. You know?" he tried to reason with me, but now that he mentioned Patricia, I couldn't get the idea of them as a couple out of my mind.

"You can say all you want, but you two are so much alike that you'd work with each other. Compliment each other, even. Though, I don't think you'd even each other out, considering you're both 'rebels' and would probably blow up the whole school if it came to it..."

"Okay, can we stop talking about Patricia?" Eddie laughed as we walked side-by-side into deeper grounds. "I don't have a girlfriend and I don't want a girlfriend. I'm too preoccupied with being a spy for — myself, I guess — and saving your ass every night that I don't have time to be committed to a relationship, much less with Patricia Williamsfather."

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Patricia Williamson."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Your speech goes through one ear and out the other." He rolled his eyes after my statement. For a moment, he paused behind me — I turned around to ask what he was doing, but before I could speak, he sprinted ahead of me, cackling like a madman. Confused, I ran behind him, not knowing where he was going.

He eventually stopped near some sand — sand with rocks and broken seashells. I heard a whooshing sound from ahead of me; I looked up, only to be faced with a massive ocean.

"What the fuck...?" I muttered to myself, walking slowly to the water. Eddie looked as confused as I was; after all, I'd been locked in here for a month, been in the forest countless times, but somehow I'd never stumbled upon this beach.

"How did a beach get here?" Eddie voiced his thoughts. He lifted his feet and ripped off both shoes — I guessed he was testing the water — he walked in, barefoot, into the ocean.

"Be careful!" I cried, but Eddie wasn't listening to me. "The water might be dangerous, or poisoned, or —"

"It's fine, Nina," Eddie laughed, splashing the water around like a little kid. "It actually feels kind of nice. I don't know why this beach is here...I'd always thought this place didn't exist. That Paul — or the Man in Red — well, me, technically — whatever his name is nowadays — I thought Whats-His-Face created it before he trapped you in here. There's a little island off in the distance there..."

He pointed to a little speck in the distance, sloshing through water in his clothes. "I don't think he'd create a place with other life...I think this place, Shadowland, actually exists..."

I sighed; this was all too much to take in. After learning that the Man in Red was actually Eddie — he was just his bad side who took a human form — and now with the information of Shadowland actually existing...all I wanted was to take a break and rest for a while. I plopped down on the sand, watching Eddie move into deeper waters.

Eddie eventually caught my hint that I wanted a break, so with his dripping wet clothes, ran back onto the sand and sat down next to me. "Let's just rest here for a while," he said. "No dream business. No theories of who the Man in Red is or why he took you. Just a break from everything. Me and you."

"Let's do that," I breathed, lying closer to the ground, knowing that if I was to be stuck in here with anybody, I would pick Eddie.