Jerome & Amber LIV
Summary: Jerome figures out what happened to his gem. Amber returns home from the hospital.
Notes: ✨Evie's Notes✨: Hope you enjoy the new chapter! Let me know your favorite part in the comments!
Try as he might Jerome couldn't stop thinking about the missing gem. As he snuck back into the library after his shift, Jerome thought that he had done a wonderful job holding out as long as he had. Peering around the sarcophagus Jerome waited impatiently for Jasper to finish up his work and leave. Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long before Jasper gathered his belongings and headed back to town for the night.
Opening the laptop, Jerome was surprised to find that the curator didn't have a password set. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he opened the search engine and pulled up gmail, where he found the account locked.
"Uggh, of course the man doesn't secure his laptop, but he decides to password protect his email? Paranoid old wanker. Now what would your password be?".
Jerome quickly guessed a variety of passwords including Tutankhamun, Horus, Anubis, The Nile, Pyramid, Fabian and Mummy. All of these were wrong, and Jerome was left with only one more guess before he would be locked out of the account for good and an alert would be sent to his boss. Knowing that this last guess had to be a good one, Jerome thought hard before hesitantly entering, 'Collector'. He held his breath as the page loaded and then let out a little cheer when the screen showed Jasper's emails.
Jerome quickly scrolled through the man's inbox looking for evidence of his crime. It did not take him long to find the email thread titled 'Frobisher Gem' or to read the incriminating messages it contained. Hitting print on the emails Jerome confidently declared "It looks like you have got some explaining to do Jasper".
He jumped when his boss' voice unexpectedly sounded behind him. "That makes two of us Jerome".
Whirling around Jerome angrily yelled "I cannot believe that you just gave it away. And after everything that I went through to get it back! Sweat! Tears! GOOSE POO!".
"I could report you for hacking into a faculty email address" threatened Jasper weakly.
"Just try it gem rustler" cackled Jerome.
"I'm truly sorry Jerome. But the Collector is not someone that you can refuse. If you do… well I've been told stories of what happens to you and those close to you. So please Jerome, drop this, for Fabian's sake more than mine".
"And what? Just let him get away and keep it?" sputtered Jerome.
"The only way to get it back is to offer the collector something he wants even more".
"Go on…"
"The gem once belonged to the Frobisher-Smythe family. That makes it irresistible to the collector" explained Jasper.
"So, all we really have to do is find something bigger and better from the Frobisher back catalog". Jerome could totally handle this! Maybe Sibuna could come up with a list of possible items…
"Yes, then we would have a bargaining chip. But I've looked and the gem is the only item I have been able to secure. Look, it is past your curfew, and I only came back to grab a couple books…"
Jerome was about to argue when he caught sight of a familiar letter on the desk. Jasper had found that letter earlier in the evening and claimed it was from Trudy, Jerome swept it up with his coat and snuck it out of the building with him. Given Jasper's new sketchy behavior, he was almost sure that something had happened to the woman, but he needed a second opinion.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
When he arrived back at Anubis house Jerome found that Patricia and Eddie were still out on their date, Nina and Fabian were "studying", Liliana and Amber were watching a movie, and Alfie was sulking angrily in their room. Seeing as all of the Sibunas were unavailable, Jerome decided to have the house's resident genius look over the letter for him.
Knocking softly on her door, Jerome waited until Mara called for him to enter before poking his head around the corner and was shocked by what he saw. Mara was kneeling in the middle of the room surrounded by piles of discarded clothes and accessories. "Whoa! Tornado Alert. I thought Poppy was bad, but her mess has nothing on this" he joked.
"Oh yeah. This is mostly Joy's work… she was really enthusiastic about Patricia and Eddie's date".
"Huh… ok. Listen, can I have a word?" asked Jerome handing her the letter he had swiped from Jasper's desk.
"Sure, what's this?"
"A letter from Trudy. I got it off of Jasper's desk".
"What? But that's stealing!"
"And your point is?" Maybe he should have just taken it to Nina and Fabian… they would have been less judgmental. "Look I promise that I won't steal from Jasper in the future. Just read the letter… something isn't right!".
"Dear Jasper. Had to leave suddenly. Everything's fine, just needed to look after my nieces and their pets for a while…" read Mara. "That's weird…"
"I know! It doesn't sound like Trudy somehow".
"True, but that's not what I meant. I always thought Trudy didn't have any nieces or nephews. She told me once that we're the closest she's got".
"Why would she lie?" worried Jerome. "Unless… She wants us to know that she was lying!".
"Jerome! Look" gasped Mara pointing to the paper, "The first letter of every line".
"H – E – L – P – M – E. Help me?"
"Is it possible that it's a coincidence?" asked Mara doubtfully.
"A coincidence that spells 'help me'? No, Trudy is in trouble. I know it!".
"Well then if she really is in trouble then we have to tell Mr. Sweet" insisted Mara.
"No Way! Involving the teachers has never helped before, I'm not about to start going to them now. Hell, they could be a part of her disappearance!".
"That is highly unlikely Jerome" argued Mara.
"It's too late now to do anything tonight. I'll start with asking Jasper during my shift tomorrow" suggested Jerome.
"Okay. Be sure to let me know whatever you find out. I want Trudy back safe and sound as much as you do!" ordered Mara.
"Of course, dear" promised Jerome pulling her into a tight hug before heading to his room for the night.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
The doctor's cleared Amber to return home to Anubis Sunday afternoon after staying overnight for observation. She was under strict instructions to not engage in anything too stressful and to slowly return to her normal activities. Her head hurt like crazy, but unfortunately her doctors didn't know about Senkhara and how she wouldn't be able to take it easy even if she wanted to.
Amber was a thrilled to finally be cleared though. She absolutely hated hospitals, so being stuck in this one was awful. Alfie and Liliana had stayed with her the whole time. She had talked to Daddy when the jet was refueling, and he promised that he would be there by the time she woke up Tuesday morning. As mad as she was at Alfie it was nice to be pampered by him, apparently having a head injury guaranteed automatic shotgun privileges in Alfie's car.
Amber waited patiently for Alfie to run around the car and open her door to help her out. Lili had thought ahead and brought her some comfy clothes for Amber to change into at the hospital. Amber had laughed when she saw the sunglasses the girl had packed due to the irony of them being the pair she had worn when struck blind. Lili had packed a pair of jeggings, her soft hot pink sweater and her favorite bow. As soon as she had put on her own clothes, she felt like her old self again.
Amber held tightly to Alfie's arm and allowed him to lead her carefully into the house with Lili following closely behind. As the trio made their way into the dining room, the various Anubis house residents popped out softly proclaiming "Welcome home Amber!".
Amber was so moved by the loving welcome and appreciated all of the love and care the group had put into her welcome back dinner. Vera had agreed to dim the lights during the meal to help with Amber's head injury and the discussion was muted, but no less lively than usual. Resting her tender head on Alfie's shoulder, who had temporarily switched places with Lili, Amber allowed herself to appreciate this rare moment of peace amidst the pain and struggle that her life had become these past two years.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
After Amber's welcome back dinner Jerome headed to the Frobisher Library to confront Jasper. Jerome and Mara had spent the morning brainstorming what could have possibly happened to Trudy, but there was only one person who could answer their questions and that was their resident exhibit curator.
Using his key, Jerome quietly snuck into the main room of the library. Jasper was working diligently at his desk allowing Jerome to catch the man by surprise. Placing himself squarely behind the shorter man Jerome laid a firm hand on his shoulder and shoved the open letter from Trudy in front of his face.
"What? How did you get this? Did you take it from my desk?" sputtered Jasper.
"Do me a favor and read the first letter of each line" growled Jerome into the traitorous man's ear.
"H… E… L… P… Help ME? Oh NO" moaned the man dropping his head in his hands.
"What's happened Jasper? Trudy's in trouble, isn't she?" pressed Jerome. "What's happened to her? Where is she?".
"I think she's been kidnapped" admitted the curator brokenly.
"Tell me who has taken her, Jasper. Or the next person who asks you that question will be wearing a uniform and holding a police badge" threatened Jerome.
"It's the collector…"
"The one who's got my gem?"
"The very same"
"But why? Why Trudy?"
"I don't…. I don't know! But what I do know is that the collector is very dangerous" stressed Jasper. "If you do go to the police, then Trudy… well god only knows what that mad man will do to her"
"What can we do?" begged Jerome, hoping for some good news.
"We do as we're told. The collector has an appetite for anything that belonged to the Frobisher-Smythes. So, I need you to-"
"You need me to steal for you" snapped Jerome incredulously. Jerome was a lot of things, but he wasn't a thief. Unfortunately, it appeared that in order to get the woman who was the closest thing he had to a mother back, he would have to cross that moral line.
"Welcome to my world Jerome" laughed Jasper bitterly. "There is truly no way back".
Furious with the weak man in front of him, Jerome snatched up the abandoned letter and fled the library before he did something that he would regret… like decking the man. Liliana and Alfie would kill him if he added assault charges onto his list of misdeeds, even if the curator deserved it.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Jerome slept fitfully Sunday night; his dreams haunted by images of Trudy held captive by the faceless visage of the collector. Due to his lack of sleep, he thought that his snappy attitude was to be expected. He had debated telling the others what he had learned from Jasper last night, but with how happy everyone was to finally have Amber home, he didn't want to drag down their spirits.
Sulking into his coffee cup Jerome's thoughts spiraled darkly as he contemplated the loss of Trudy. How long had she even been missing?
Patricia's arrival to the breakfast table never failed to mix things up, and this morning was no exception. "You're probably wondering who this is" chirped Patricia. "Meet Piper".
Jerome's jaw dropped in shock. Patricia had a twin?!
"Ohhh! Now it all makes sense" gasped Alfie.
"Tell me about it" griped Eddie, focusing on his toast.
Jerome just poured himself another cup of coffee, it was FAR too early for Secret Sibling Drama.
Next Week: Piper and Patricia ❤️
Question of the week: Fave character in this verse?
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story so far in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie💕