Patricia

A lot can happen in three days. If you're committed, you can binge watch the entire 'Sherlock Holmes' series on Netflix. If you're unprotected and don't take a morning after pill, you can get pregnant. If you're a mayfly, you'll have been dead for 48 hours already. If you're Nina Martin, you can be complaining about the number of tests the hospital has to run, and that you got shot you didn't have your head chopped off, so why can't you just go home already?

"Um, because you got shot genius?" I smirked, scrolling through songs on my iPod. "That's not something people just walk away from."

"Yes, but I could walk away from this bed, if my dear, dear boyfriend, would let me out of it?" As she finished speaking, Nina cast an imploring glance at said boyfriend, who held firm.

"Nina, you do understand the meaning of the phrase bed rest, don't you?" Fabian asked. "Besides, what about your stitches?"

Nina looked miffed. "What about my stitches?"

"Well seeing as how you only got them three days ago when, in case you've forgotten, you had a bullet cut out of your stomach, you could tear them."

Nina started to argue back but Amber intervened. "Nina stop talking. I'm trying to do your lip gloss in case you hadn't noticed, and you're making it difficult."

Trying very hard not to move her lips, Nina asked, "Remind me again why I need lip gloss?"

Amber gave her a patronizing look. "Just because you're in the hospital, is no excuse not to take care of yourself. Now, stop talking."

I laughed as Nina shut up and let Amber finish her makeover. As far as I was aware, Nina hadn't even run a brush through her hair during her hospital stay, and I honestly didn't know why Amber bothered. The blonde may have been stellar with tweezers, but all the concealer in the world wouldn't cover up the rainbow of bruises surrounding an angry red line running up the right side of Nina's face. It barely made a dent in her rather impressive black eye either. When I'd seen it for the first time this morning I'd actually done a double take. Eddie had been here yesterday when they took the bandage off, and he had said it was bad, but turns out he'd used disappointingly scant adjectives.

In the few days since Halloween, we'd kept up a running cycle of visitors at Nina's bedside. Sweetie had brought in counselors and mandated sessions for all the students as the police tried to find the person responsible, so classes were off until next Monday. Nina had seemed unreasonably pleased upon learning she wouldn't miss any classes. Of course, that may have just been the fact that Joy had not once come to visit since the first night, and Nina was always happy about the tiny girl's absence.

Amber started filing Nina's nails, and Nina held out her other hand towards me. I rolled my eyes, but reached into my backpack and retrieved the book she had requested someone bring. "You're a geek, you know that?" I asked, passing the book to Fabian who gave it to Nina.

"First, I'm a nerd, not a geek. Second, I prefer the term Potterhead. And finally, Prisoner of Azkaban is a work of art, thank you very much."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Also, I've known you over two years now, and I have never seen you pick up a Harry Potter book before today. Just saying."

Nina's voice was hesitant when she replied. "It's… sort of a tradition."

"What tradition?" Amber's airy tone implied she didn't understand the conversation was taking a potentially serious turn.

Nina cleared her throat. "It's uh. It's kind of morbid, actually. Whenever I'm in the hospital, visiting or patient or whatever, I read Prisoner of Azkaban."

"Well that is a depressing tradition," Amber sniffed. "How much time do you have to spend in hospitals to have a tradition like that? OW!"

I'd thrown a pen at Amber, smacking her on the side of my head. She turned to me, glaring. "That really hurt!" she complained.

I glared, and drew a line across my throat. Amber rolled her eyes, but changed the subject. "So, Nina, is it true you're coming back tomorrow?"

The American made a so-so gesture with her hand. "Tomorrow or the day after that, the doctors want to be certain."

"Well I'm glad," said Fabian.

Nina smiled exasperatedly at him. "Well I'm not. Thankful, yes. Happy, not so much. I've been here forever; can't they just give me painkillers and send me home?"

"Speaking of home Nina, why isn't your gran here?"

"AMBER."

"What?" she demanded, glaring at me and Fabian. "It's a perfectly legitimate question."

Nina frowned. "Well she probably doesn't even know about it actually. She moved into a retirement home over the summer, so she got a new phone number, and I never got around to changing my emergency contact information."

Fabian looked appalled. "Nina, you have to call her."

Nina shook her head. "No, the doctors said I'm going to be fine, she'd probably just worry."

"Of course, she'd worry, she's your grandmother and you got shot."

"Yes, but I'm going to be fine."

Nurse Lily walked in, making notes on a clipboard. When she looked up and saw us she gave a small smile. "Well if it isn't the ghosts of hospitals present. I'm afraid I have to kick you out for a little while, the doctors need to do a check in."

Because we liked Nurse Lily, we exited the room with minimal complaining. I practically shoved Amber out the door, as she was aweing at Fabian giving Nina a quick goodbye kiss.

The doctors took about a half an hour, during which time we sat outside in the hallway while Fabian read a book about string theory. Amber and I took it upon ourselves to loudly discuss his and Nina's relationship, fighting back laughter as Fabian's ears grew steadily redder. When we were finally allowed back in, Amber resumed her self-designated job as a manicurist, and we proceeded to discuss the latest trial.

Two nights ago, we'd passed over in our dreams for the first time in nearly three weeks, and because none of us had been expecting it, we hadn't been wearing the objects Nina had charmed. I didn't know much about what the others had experienced, but Joy had woken up with burns all over her back that we'd hastily had to hide from Mara. Eddie had bruises up and down his arms, Alfie had spent the day wincing at loud noises, and Amber had just seemed generally terrified. I hadn't been to visit Nina that day, so I didn't know what had happened to her. Personally, I was wearing jeans to cover up the scratches and bite marks covering my legs, from where some sort of monster had tried to eat me alive. If Nina and Eddie had experienced nights like that the first few weeks they'd been here, I don't know how they hadn't gone insane. Fabian was the only one of us who hadn't dreamt anything, and none of us could figure out why.

Last night however, we suited up and were returned to the trials. This time, we were facing what appeared to be a labyrinth. The seven of us had tentatively entered, and walls had immediately slammed down, separating us into three different groups. Me and Amber and Joy, Fabian and Alfie, and Eddie and Nina.

"Just so everyone's clear on everyone else," Nina began, "Patricia. Amber. What does your section look like?"

I made a face as Amber and I glanced at each other, before replying. "Well that's sort of the problem. We don't know what it looks like, because we can't see anything. The wall came down and the lights went out."

"Amber don't you bring a torch?" Fabian asked.

"Oh my god Fabian, you're such a genius. I can't believe we didn't think of that," I mocked.

"Patricia." Nina's tone was warning.

I rolled my eyes. "The torch doesn't do anything. It's completely black in there, it took us forever just to find each other. Now it's your turn genius. What are you and Alfie dealing with?"

Fabian's expression grew slightly nauseous. "Giant spiders."

I snorted. I couldn't help it. "Giant spiders? What, like the size of your head?"

He scowled at me. "No Patricia, giant spiders like the size of this room."

I stopped laughing.

"What are you supposed to do?" Nina asked, sounding worried.

Fabian swallowed. "Well there's a door, and about half a dozen spiders. One of the spiders has a key hanging from its… head. We're working with the theory that we probably have to grab the key without getting killed, and use it to get out." Nina's mouth grew considerably tighter as her boyfriend kept talking, and so he quickly changed topics. "What about you and Eddie?"

I held my breath for a brief second, anxiously waiting for the ember of jealousy from earlier this year to reignite, and exhaled when it stayed dormant. When I'd eventually talked to Eddie about the conversation I'd overheard between him and Nina, he'd explained they'd simply been arguing whether or not to tell us about the nightmares. Because I was working on trusting my boyfriend, I'd taken his word for it, and had been given no reason to the contrary to be suspicious.

Nina seemed to brace herself before opening her mouth. "Well. After the wall, a hole opened up beneath us, and we fell like twenty feet. Onto a rock." She sucked in her lips before finishing. "Surrounded by lava."

"Lava?" Amber asked disbelievingly, as though unsure she'd heard right.

"Yeah, lava. All around us. There's a door about fifty feet ahead, but we have no idea how to get to it." Wincing, Nina pushed herself into a straighter sitting position, and clapped her hands together, slightly out of breath. "So. Let's try and work this out."

By the time Nurse Lily came to kick us out at eight-thirty, we had figured out a starting place for all three rooms, and Fabian was the smug owner of over a hundred M&Ms, having demonstrated what mathematical skills can do for a person's poker game. I was still convinced he'd cheated. Amber and I walked down to the lobby to meet Trudy. We gave the daily status report as she walked us over to the school van, and on the drive back Amber and I argued over whether or not stiletto heels constituted proper hospital wear.

Victor was waiting in the foyer when we returned and promptly glared at us. "Am I to assume Mr. Rutter is spending the night at the hospital? Again?" He was still bitter Fabian and Nina had managed to convince Mr. Sweet to let Fabian stay overnight.

Trudy ushered us away as she tried to calm down our housemaster. Amber and I smirked at each other before entering the living room where the rest of our classmates were waiting, and we were promptly attacked with questions. Mara and Eddie were asking when Nina would be back, and Jerome and Alfie wanted to know if we'd seen Nina's scar. Joy, unsurprisingly, asked nothing. I let Amber field the questions as I looked over at Joy. I was worried about her, and I wasn't the only one. Monsieur Duval had come to check in on us the day after the shooting, and had asked to speak alone with Joy. I don't know why she seemed to be taking what had happened to Nina so personally, but after he left I could tell Joy'd been crying.

I walked over and sat down on the couch next to Joy, and saw she was reviewing vocabulary. "Don't be such a Mara, Joy. We don't have classes for like, six days. Besides, I thought you were doing better in French."

"You can never be too prepared, right?" She didn't raise her eyes from her notes.

I sighed internally. To put it lightly, I was less than skilled in emotionally laden discussions, and had been participating in far too many of them lately for my liking. "Joy, is there anything you want to talk about?"

"What do you mean?"

I sighed externally. "Joy can I talk to you for a minute?"

"We are talking."

"Alone, Joy." Now she looked up at me and I jerked my head towards the stairs. She hesitated. I could practically see her mentally fighting with herself. "Joy, come on, I just want to talk."

Joy turned her eyes back to the flashcards. "Patricia I'm fine."

"No, you're not." She didn't reply and I scowled. I was exhausted, I was worried about Nina, and I was in no mood to drag answers out of Joy, one by one, against her will. "Fine then." I snapped. "Be a martyr. Suffer in silence, go through whatever you're going through all by yourself, and see if I care." I shoved myself off the couch and walked over to the kitchen table, where Eddie was building a house of cards, only with tortilla chips instead of cards. It didn't seem to be going that well.

"Hello loser," Eddie greeted me, concentrating intently on his structure. I raised my eyebrows when he didn't look at me, and feeling pissed, swatted the chips. Eddie yelled in dismay as the entire thing toppled and most of the chips exploded. He glared at me. "What was that for?"

Unable to feel remorse for my actions, I plopped myself down in the chair next to him. "I'm bored, and I'm pissed. Pay attention to me."

The irritation left his face and was replaced by his trademark smirk. "What sort of attention would you like?"

I shrugged, feigning indifference, ignoring the chills running along my arms. "Whatever will make me not want to tear Joy's head off."

Eddie, still smirking, raised his eyebrows and glanced over at the others before grabbing my arm. "Come on," he muttered, pulling me along. I followed my boyfriend over to his and Fabian's room, and smiled when I remembered Fabian wasn't coming back tonight.

I felt myself grin as Eddie stepped back into his room and pulled me in after him. The door shut behind me and next thing I knew my back was pressed up against it, and Eddie's mouth was very close to mine. I could feel him everywhere around me, feel one of his hands on my left arm, feel the other pressed up against the door right above my head. His hips were close enough to mine that you probably couldn't squeeze a magazine between us. My eyelids drifted shut as his lips moved closer to mine, but at the last second his head turned and he brought them to my ear instead. "I missed you today," he whispered. His voice was rougher than normal, it made my heartbeat speed up.

"What exactly did you miss?" My voice nearly cracked on the last word.

"Seeing you. Kissing you." His breath ghosted the shell of my ear. "Teasing you."

"There's this thing called cell phones. You could have texted." How I still possessed the mental abilities to string together coherent sentences was beyond me.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe I was trying to make you… ache for me." I groaned softly. I couldn't help it. He was far better at this than any teenage boy had a right to be.

"Ache for you? Who even talks like that?" I snapped breathily, desperately turning my head, trying to kiss him, to feel his lips on mine, but he drew back.

"Well it worked, didn't it?" I opened my eyes to see him in front of me, inches away, smirking, and fought the urge to step on his foot.

"Why do you have to be so —"

"Sexy?" Eddie suggested.

"Infuriating."

"In America that's just another word for sexy."

"Oh, shut up." Before he could convince me to inflict lasting bodily harm, I put one hand on his shoulder and one on the back of his head, drew him into me and kissed him hard.

I could kiss Eddie a thousand times and never grow tired of it. But it seemed he was impatient right now, because I immediately felt his tongue sweeping my mouth open, felt his hands skim just above the waistline of jeans, underneath my shirt. At the sensation of his fingers on my skin I forgot to breathe for a few seconds, my body becoming pliant in his hands. Osirian or not, Eddie Miller had never needed any magical powers for his touch to slide the bones right out of my body. I felt his other hand on my neck, his thumb tracing a line just beneath my ear, and realized there was a very real possibility I was going to melt into a puddle of girl goo.

I wanted him to react the same way to my touch, I wanted to drive him as mad as he drove me. Our lips were still fastened together, making it hard to think, but I was aware of some things I could do to make him lose control. I wrapped both arms around his neck and pulled him into me, arching my back so that every part of us was touching. His mouth broke away from mine as he made a sound deep in the back of his throat. My eyes opened into slits; I saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, saw his lips slightly parted. I could feel his hand against my back trembling ever so slightly as I dragged my hands across his shoulder blades, his arms, the back of his neck. I wanted to memorize every part of him.

I could feel him watching me as I ran my hands over him. I lifted my eyes to his, each breath an effort, as my hands found the bottom of his ACDC shirt and I gently started to lift it upwards. It passed his stomach and still his eyes didn't stray from mine. Neither of us spoke, both of us afraid to break the spell that had temporarily been cast over us. The shirt got to the point where I had to adjust my grip to keep pulling it upwards, and when it got high enough Eddie took over. His hands left me as he pulled the shirt the rest of the way off his head, and I let my eyes wander over his body, marveling at the smooth expanse of skin I hadn't seen before. There were light blond hairs all over his chest, trailing down his stomach and beneath his jeans into an area I wasn't ready to think about. For someone who ate as much as he did, Eddie was fitter than I had expected. "I thought all Americans were supposed to be obese." It took me a few seconds to realize I'd spoken out loud.

Eddie laughed, but it was shaky. "Sorry to disappoint, but you really should know better than to trust stereotypes, Hermione."

I let the Hermione comment slide as I gently pressed my fingertips into the skin of his waist. I could see a strip of plaid underwear above his jeans. "I wouldn't say I'm disappointed," I murmured, tracing my fingertip upwards. I could feel his body shaking, like he might fall apart under my touch. "Maybe pleasantly surprised." With the exception of my nervous system my entire body seemed to have shut down.

Before I could change my mind, I gripped the hem of my own shirt and pulled upwards. I tended to favor tighter shirts more often than not, and it normally wasn't a problem, but right now it meant it took me a few extra seconds to get my top off. I could only pray I didn't look too ridiculous. The shirt passed over my head, thankfully with minimal struggling, and I shifted my eyes downward as I pulled it off my arms, almost unable to meet his eyes, the word 'disappointed' faintly echoing in my ears. When I found the courage to look up at him, his expression resembled that of someone who'd been hit over the head. The fact that 99% of the bras I owned were lace was one of my most closely guarded secrets, but the look on his face at the sight of the deep purple I was wearing today did nothing but good things for my ego.

Eddie's hands went to my arms, tentatively floating above my shoulders, almost like he was afraid to touch me. "You're so beautiful," he whispered. I ignored the hot feeling in the back of my eyes. I couldn't remember when anyone else had ever called me beautiful before. I wanted to kiss him again but he was walking backwards, and I had to remind myself to breathe as I saw where we were heading. I thought back to the conversation we'd had a few weeks ago. Not my speed, or his speed. We'd go at our speed. Either of us could say stop at any time, no questions asked. Eddie fell backwards and tugged me down with him, I reached out my wrist to break my fall and felt it sink into the comforter. He gently placed a hand on my back and pulled me up against him, and finally started kissing me again, and oh. My. God. Skin on skin was so much better. I could feel my breasts flatten against him as our lips moved together in a synchronized dance, felt his arms wrap around my back and slide under my bra straps to touch my shoulders, was acutely aware of absolutely everywhere we were touching and I thought my heart might give out from sheer pleasure.

Eddie broke away and I wanted to protest, but before I got the chance he rolled me over and drew back, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to my stomach. My head fell onto the pillows and my eyes just about rolled back into my head as his mouth moved steadily higher, until he reached the area between my breasts and I honestly thought it might kill me. Eventually he moved back up to my lips, and I wasn't capable of anything except kissing him back —

"Oh my God!"

Eddie and I jerked apart so quickly that he actually fell backwards off the bed, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself as I sat up to see a very flustered Joy. "Word of advice? Petition Victor for a lock on the door," she said cheekily, staring fixedly at the wall, obviously trying to make light of the situation. Everywhere I had felt pleasure seconds before, I now felt only humiliation.

"What do you want Joy?" Embarrassment sharpened my tone.

She coughed hesitantly, before looking up at the ceiling and cleared her throat. "Nothing, just um, the talking thing. You said you wanted to talk, and I just – you know what never mind. I did knock, I swear!" Thinking back on it, I'm pretty sure I remembered hearing someone knocking right before Joy entered. I chose to ignore that piece of information.

Eddie, who had stood up and walked over to the door, picked up my shirt and tossed it at me. I quickly shrugged it on as Joy discreetly pointed at Eddie before giving me a thumbs up. "Joy just forget it, OK?" She rolled her eyes, seeming nearly as disappointed as I was relieved when Eddie pulled his own shirt back on.

"Believe me, I wish I could." Joy gestured at the door. "So, I'll be going then. You two have fun. Make good choices."

She ducked out of sight and I quickly went after her. "Joy, wait!"

I stepped into the hallway and found her paused near the stairs, waiting for me. I lowered my voice. "Joy you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

Joy attempted a smile that was more of a grimace. "Tell them about what?"

I sighed in relief. "Thanks. Do you still want to talk?"

"Honestly? After that little show, I just want to bleach my eyeballs." I shoved her and she laughed, and just like that the tension was gone. "Look we'll talk later yeah?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Her face suddenly lit up with mischief. "Oh, and Patricia?"

"What?" I asked warily.

"I'm pretty sure Mara has condoms if you need them."

I shrieked and made to smack her, but she ducked, laughing, and skipped up the stairs.

Grinning, I walked back in to see Eddie splayed out on the bed. "Back for more already?"

I rolled my eyes. "Get over yourself doofus, the moment's over. If you'd like to continue to bask in my presence, you can make me a sandwich. The hospital food is still complete crap and I'm starving."

Eddie heaved a comically large sigh, and swung himself off the bed. He ended up making me a turkey sandwich that he stole half of, before Victor came in at half past nine and yelled at us to get ready for bed. Smirking at each other, we headed off to our respective floors, and as I lay in bed that night, forcing myself to think of the labyrinth as I drifted off to sleep, I found it hard to wipe the smile off my face.∞

∞"I'm right here. Just follow my voice."

"I can't tell where your voice is coming from!" Joy complained.

"I'm to your left!" Amber said.

"No, Joy's to your left, you're to her right." I corrected. I'd found that while closing my eyes didn't make a difference in terms of what I could see, it helped me focus on my hearing better. "Joy, take ten steps to your left and then pause."

The suffocating silence returned, and I was grateful Amber wasn't humming nervously anymore. Granted I'd yelled at her to stop, but my gratefulness was undiminished. "OK, now what?" called Joy.

"Joy say something else?"

"Like what?"

"Like that. OK, Amber? Say something?"

"I am underappreciated as a human being."

"Good for you. Joy take another ten steps to your left."

It took us awhile, but eventually I managed to direct Joy around the room and to Amber, who promptly screamed in fright when Joy grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Relax! Amber calm down, it's me!"

"I don't know anyone named me!"

"It's Joy!"

"…Right. I knew that."

After Amber and Joy got hooked up I had them keep talking until I could find them. "So, what now?" asked Joy.

"Well we were talking it over this morning, and Nina suggested we just walk in one direction until we find a wall," I answered.

"And how is that going to help us?" Joy's hand was gripping my elbow, so logically I knew she was standing right next to me when she spoke. However, thanks to the crushing blackness, it sounded like there was a disembodied voice speaking to me, and it was a little difficult not to get freaked out.

"Well it'll give us a baseline for one thing. I mean, this room can't go on forever can it?" I said.

Joy acquiesced, and we slowly walked to where Joy had been originally, after deciding Joy and Amber should hold out their hands so we didn't bump into anything.

As we were walking I decided I hated this room. The choking, smothering blackness. It was like someone had thrown a blanket over my senses. Even with my eyes closed, it was like Joy and Amber were talking from far away. I couldn't see anything at all, I couldn't smell anything, and aside from the ground beneath my feet and Joy and Amber's hands on my arms, we seemed to be walking in empty space. Amber seemed to think the humidity was the worst bit.

"No one can even see your hair, would you please shut up about it?" I snapped.

Amber muttered something I couldn't make out before calling out. "Hey I feel something!"

"Me too," Joy agreed.

"Well what is it?" I asked.

Before they could answer my question, bright lights flared into existence, causing us to cry out and cover our eyes. I kept my fingers pressed into my eyelids until the burning had subsided, and when I finally opened them I blinked a few times before everything came back into focus.

The room was roughly square shaped, about twenty meters in all directions, and the walls to the side of us were lined with torches that had suddenly caught flame.

"You have got to be kidding me."

I turned to Joy. "What?"

My eyes followed the finger she pointed to the wall we'd found, and slowly trailed up, up and up, until I couldn't see any further.

"Someone please tell me we don't have to climb our way out."∞

∞Knowing Nina was coming back from the hospital today meant breakfast was packed with a hectically pleased energy, even Victor's roars to be silent couldn't quiet us.

Trudy bustled over, replacing the empty orange juice pitcher with a full one. "Now I know you've all been visiting Nina and you're excited she's coming back, but I need to warn you, don't be prying her with questions about what happened. The police have already questioned her, and she's been through enough recently without having to relive all of that. You hear me?"

After assuring Trudy that we would leave Nina more or less alone, we started trading theories on how we thought the shooter had broken in. Our ideas steadily grew more and more ridiculous, but no one seemed to care. "OK, OK, OK. Hear me out." Alfie held up his hands dramatically. "They're a window salesman. They broke a window on the far side of the school, threw away the broken window, fired the gun, and then when they left they took the old window with them, and replaced it with a new one."

Jerome swatted his friend on the back of the head as Eddie walked in, looking shell-shocked.

I frowned. "Eddie what's the matter?" I asked.

He cleared his throat. "I just got off the phone with Eric… Monsieur Duval was arrested last night. The police are saying he's the one who shot up the school."

There was silence until the glass in Mara's hand hit the floor with a resounding shatter. "What happened?" she demanded. "How do they know?"

Eddie shrugged listlessly, apparently still trying to take it in himself. "My dad said they got an anonymous tip, searched his house. They found the gun that matched the ballistics from Nina's shooting, and gunpowder residue on some of his clothes. They're bringing them to Nina to see if she can ID them."

Eddie sat down as we all looked around at each other. "I can't believe it," I said. "He always seemed so normal."

"Yeah well I can." We turned to see Joy, looking defensive. "I have got absolutely no trouble believing it.

"What are you talking about?" Amber asked. Joy shrugged defiantly as she shredded her croissant. Amber sighed dismissively. "Well I for one am going to need some time to process this."

"Why?" Joy snapped, glaring at Amber. "No really, what is so hard for you to believe about it being him? Is it because he was young, because he was cute, because he was just so normal?"

"Joy." I reached a hand out to place on her shoulder, but she shrugged me off impatiently.

"No see I'm actually curious, Amber. Is it because he looks nice and normal, because he doesn't seem like a monster?"

Her voice had gotten louder and at this point Alfie tried to intervene. "Don't yell at her."

Joy steamrollered right over him. "Well, let me tell you something Amber. The really awful monsters? The ones who hide in the dark, the ones little kids are convinced are hiding under their beds, the ones who commit horrible, unspeakable crimes? Those monsters, the worst kinds of monsters. They never look like monsters."

Joy was breathing hard when she finished, her eyes were bright. No one seemed to know what to say. "OK now do that one more time," Jerome said, pulling out his phone. "Except this time, pause dramatically and look straight into the camera at the end, OK?" He held up the phone expectantly and we all laughed uneasily, even Joy managed a smile. Amber still looked hurt though.

As conversation picked back up – everyone steering clear of the Monsieur Duval topic – I leaned across the table to Amber. "Try not to take it personally."

"How else am I supposed to take it?" Amber demanded.

I sighed. "Look Joy's just going through a rough time right now. She's been lashing out at everybody."

Amber frowned and went back to her toast. Not counting Joy's Hollywood moment, one of the highlights of the day was when Jerome called everybody to the living room to look at a card Alfie had made for Nina that he wanted us to sign. On the front was Nina in a hospital gown, with exes over her eyes and her tongue sticking out. The inside read, "Welcome home Nina! We're glad you're not dead!" The members of Anubis House promptly sat Alfie down and held an intervention as to what constituted appropriate card making techniques.

Once Trudy left to pick up Nina around two, we got the 'welcome back – we missed you' banner out of storage. We'd made it when we were thirteen and Mara had left for a few days to go to her aunt's wedding. Alfie and Jerome had wanted to use confetti guns, but Mara had quickly quashed that idea, on account of the noises they made. "We want to show Nina we love her, not give her a panic attack," had been her exact words.

An hour later, when Trudy brought Fabian and Nina back from the hospital, we were waiting in the foyer beneath the banner. We all cheered when they came through the door – Nina keeping a hand against her stomach – and Nina laughed as we went up and hugged her, being careful of the ribs.

"We're really glad you're not dead Nina," Alfie assured her. I stepped on his foot, but Nina didn't seem to mind.

"Thanks Alfie. I'm glad I'm not dead too."

Eventually Nina insisted that all she wanted to do was go up and take a shower, because dry shampoo was useful, but nothing could replace good old-fashioned soap and hot water. She and Amber headed up the stairs and we all switched back over to the living room until she came down half an hour later, hair actually brushed. We pretended not to notice the hand Nina kept over her stomach, but she winced as she sat down and Alfie voiced a concern. "Does it hurt?"

Nina made an attempt at a grin. "If by 'it' you mean my entire body, then yes."

"Why're you back already if you're still in pain?" Mara asked, sounding worried.

Nina shrugged. "Because short of drugging me up to the gills, there's not much the doctors can do about it. Besides, if I spent one more day in that hospital I was going to go crazy. Well, crazier."

One of the thing I dislike most about Victor is his ability to pop up at any point in the house without warning. Today was apparently no exception. "Miss Martin, I need to have a word with you."

"Why?" Nina asked, seeming reluctant to stand.

He raised his eyebrows. "I need to talk to you about what happened on Halloween. Let's go, up to my office."

"But I already talked to the police, and Mr. Sweet." I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Normally Nina would've been halfway up the stairs by now.

"Miss Martin, I am your housemaster am I not?" Victor asked icily. "Now Mr. Sweet would like for you to speak with me about your ordeal so I am best equipped to help you through it. We can do this either publicly or in private, which would you prefer?"

"Can't this wait until tomorrow?" My eyebrows went even higher as I turned to Eddie.

"What was that Mr. Miller?" Victor's voice had officially reached 'booming' and I was a little impressed at how Eddie didn't even flinch.

"All I'm saying is Nina's been through enough lately without reliving all that."

"Eddie it's fine." Grimacing, Nina pushed herself off the couch. "I just want to get it over with."

Nina headed up, and by the time she'd come back down again we'd dissolved into our own bubbles. Amber had roped Jerome and Alfie into a game of go fish, Fabian and Mara were debating something called the Brill-Noether theory, and Joy and Eddie and I were trolling through the house DVD collection.

Between Nina coming back and the news that they'd caught the shooter, no matter who it was, and Trudy convincing Victor to let us stay up to watch Gnomeo and Juliet, the day ended up being a pretty happy one.

It stayed happy when Alfie burnt the popcorn, and when Amber cried at the movie ending, and even when Victor came down at eleven to yell at us to get ourselves to bed 'right now', and we kept being happy even knowing what we would face later tonight.

At least we thought we knew what we would face.

But I never expected one of my worst nightmares to come true.

AN: why didn't Fabian cross over? Why did Monsieur Duval shoot the school up? What could possibly be happening with Joy? Is there even something going on with Joy? Or am I just trolling you all? Or is Joy trolling all of her housemates? Was it really Monsieur Duval? Am I trolling you again? You'll have to wait and find ooouuut! *Evil laughter.* Also, I would like to thank a guest reviewer from a few days ago, the one who visited the fanfics out of nostalgia, who left such a kind review that I almost cried while reading it. As a special favor to that reader, I am slightly spoiling you for the next chapter: Victor's POV. Keep in mind this is probably the very last time I will ever spoil you like that, but what can I say I'm feeling generous. This chapter is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, so you're going to want to read it, regardless of the POV. College sucks, see you soon.

Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.