Chapter 3:

Kara

"Kara..."

"What? What do you want?"

"Kara, darling..."

"Who are you?"

"Sweetie, you're home!"

"What's happening? Tell me who you are!"

This wasn't right. This wasn't home. Whatever this was, whoever was welcoming me, they were wrong.

"You're home!"

"Stop saying that! This isn't home! I don't even know where I am!"

"If you don't know where you are, how do you know it's not where you belong?"

"Please! Tell me who you are!"

"You will discover me, when you discover yourself."

"What? What does that mean?"

"You're home!"

"Why do you keep saying that? Where am I?"

"Look around you..."

For the first time, I listened to the voice. I looked around and the room came into focus. I was in the Anubis House common room! I was...home. Confusion over swept me as I turned my attention back to the voice.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

"One answer at a time sweetheart."

"Please tell me! Please tell me who you are!" I begged before a figure appeared a few feet away from me.

"To find me," it said, it's voice echoing through the empty room. "You must first find yourself."

"You said that! I don't understand! I'm right here! I know where I am!" I cried, starting to become frustrated.

"You must find yourself!" it screeched, causing me to let out a startled squeak. The figure spread out it's arms and a blinding light flashed through the room.

"Find yourself. Learn the truth." the voice said venomously before leaving me in darkness.

I woke up with a jolt, sweat caking my forehead.

What just happened? The voice! The figure!

Breathing heavily, I look around in confusion to find that I was in my new room. The one I shared with Amber and Nina, although they weren't there.

I took a deep breath and crossed my legs, placing my head in my hands. It was all just a dream... Just a dream. But then... If it was just a dream then why did I feel so weird? Usually upon waking up from a nightmare you feel relieved, yet I felt... I wanted to say possessed, but that made no sense whatsoever. But it's what I felt. It felt like that strange figure was inside of me, controlling my mind! What did she mean, "you'll find me when you find yourself"? I was usually good at deciphering clues and riddles. It was one of my highly developed skills, but that one just didn't make any sense to me. Did it mean that that thing really was inside of me? That the feeling I was having right then was... Real?

I shook my head. Of course it wasn't real. I was being stupid. It was just a dream and the wave of relief hadn't hit yet because I was still believing it was true. I took a few needed deep breaths and willed myself to relax.

Even if it was real, it was probably just some self moral problem, and the spirit thing was my conscience or something. Definitely nothing to worry about.

Suddenly, the door to our room opened making me jump.

"Nina?" I whispered into the darkness. "Amber?"

"Oh, sorry Kara! Did we wake you?" Nina's voice whispered back.

"No, it's okay. I was already awake." I responded, leaning my head back against the wall in relief. So much for not letting the dream get to me.

"Why on earth are you awake so late?" I heard Amber ask.

"I could say the same to you." I replied with a little more sass than I intended to.

"Oh...um...we were..."

"In the attic, I know. It doesn't matter, but if you don't mind I think I'd like to get some sleep now." I said, still with that sass.

"Goodnight Kara," Nina said cautiously, slipping into bed.

"Goodnight Nina."

Even though I tried to get some sleep, after the dream, it was impossible. Which was annoying, as I woke up from it at one in the morning. So all in all, a good two hours of sleep that night! At least there was no school that day, so I could just lie around and hopefully have a nap later on.

At 6 o'clock, after five hours of failed attempts at sleep, I decided I may as well get up. I quietly took a fresh set of clothes to the bathroom and hopped in the shower. I squirted some shampoo into my hand and as I lathered it through my hair, I remembered the voice in my dream.

"To find me you must first find yourself. Look into your heart, who are you?" It echoed quietly.

I tried to shake it off, once again dismissing it as a stupid dream that I needed to get over. I began washing the soap out of my hair but froze when I heard the voice again loud and clear, resonating throughout the bathroom.

"You're nothing but a lie! You've hidden everything from the outside world and you don't even believe it yourself! You aren't what people think they see. You don't even know yourself! I'll say it again, you'll find nothing until you find yourself! Who. Are. You?"

It was too real. The voice was real. It couldn't possibly have been my imagination. I could hear it echoing around the bathroom; it was undeniably there. Even if I was the only one who could hear it, I wasn't making it up. What was this? I didn't understand. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, and there was no reason for it to be happening now.

I quickly finished getting the soap out of my hair and turned off the water. Pulling the shower curtains aside, I stepped shakily out of the tub and dried myself off. After pulling on my clothes, I ran a brush through my long brown hair. I put down the brush and grasped the counter, taking a deep breath before proceeding to brush my teeth and apply a layer of mascara.

Once I finished in the bathroom, I made my way downstairs for some breakfast. What I didn't expect to find was someone already there.

I warily walked into the kitchen, not wanting to draw attention to myself. I crept along the wall until the person at the table was visible. Letting out a sigh of relief, I caught their attention.

"Mick?" I asked. He jumped and turned to look at me, a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth. "What are you doing up so early?" he swallowed his bite of bacon before answering me.

"I always get up early to go for a morning run. Gotta stay in shape, you know? What about you? What are you doing up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning?" He retaliated.

"Oh..." I started, unprepared to answer his question. "I uh, couldn't sleep..." he nodded and turned back to his food. He finished his last piece of bacon and stood up to put his plate in the sink. "Mick?" I asked on a whim, causing him to turn to look at me. "Would you mind if I came running with you? It helps me keep my mind off things..."

He looked momentarily taken aback before shrugging.

"Um... Sure, if you want. But I run for a long time, you may have troubles keeping up." I smiled at the challenge, nodding vigorously.

"Let's get going then!" He whisper-shouted, returning my smile. Together we laced up our shoes and headed out into the brisk morning air.

Nina

When I woke up, I found that Amber and I were alone in the room. I assumed Kara must have woken up and gone downstairs already but glancing at the clock informed me that it was only eight in the morning. I tilted my head in confusion, believing it strange for her to be up so early when she was awake so late the previous night.

I shrugged it off, allowing myself to believe Kara was a morning person as I quietly slid my feet into my slippers. Quietly, I tiptoed to the door, careful not to wake Amber.

Upon arriving downstairs I discovered that I was still alone- Kara was nowhere to be found. I stuffed down my feeling of worry and decided she was probably just out exploring the grounds. Walking over to the couches, I plopped down on the love seat and picked up the remote, flicking on the telly. I flipped through the channels until I found an American network. Because it was early it was still airing children's shows, so I curled up with a blanket and watched Scooby Doo.

About 15 minutes into the show, I heard the front door open and looked up. Tearing my gaze from the television, I saw Mick and Kara walking in, both panting and wet from the rain falling outside.

"Who would of thought that a wimpy little girl would be able to do a 4k run without stopping?" Mick said breathily, punching the petite girl beside him affectionately in the arm.

"I told you Mick, I may be many things, but a wimp is not one of them! Don't doubt me!" Kara replied laughing.

"Someone willingly went on a run with you Mick?" I asked with surprise.

"I was just as shocked as you are! I didn't even ask!" he replied while Kara laughed again, shaking the water from her hair.

"He didn't think I could do it." The girl states with a bright smile.

"Maybe it's a good thing you're here," I said, cuddling further under my blanket. "Mick could use some good competition."

"Whatever Nina," Mick laughed. "I'm gonna go shower." With the smile never leaving his face, Mick left the room. I smiled knowingly before addressing the other person in the room.

"He thinks he's all that," I said, turning to talk to Kara. "But really, he's just- Kara? Are you okay?" I asked in alarm, jumping up off of the couch.

The other girl was gripping the table, a fresh layer of sweat covering her forehead. She was breathing heavily again, but this time I could tell that it wasn't from physical exertion.

"Kara... Kara!" I ran over to her and shook her shoulder, but it didn't seem to phase her. She was breathing even harder, and tears were streaming down her face. "Kara, please snap out of it!" I begged, shaking her again as I started to panic. I looked around desperately for something or someone that could help, but she made a faint noise that instantly caught my attention.

Kara whimpered a few times but soon managed to snap out of her daze and realize where she was. She fell into my arms and dug her head into my shoulder, gripping my arms tightly. I could have sworn I heard her asking for help before she let go and wiped the sweat off her face.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm... Uh... Just a bit tired." She went and sat down on the couch, her eyes focusing on the television. "Oh! Scooby!" She exclaimed happily, settling into the cushions.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seemed kind of... In another world?" I asked hesitantly, shuffling towards her cautiously.

"I'm fine." she snapped, not looking up. I knew there was no sense arguing with her, so I sat down beside her and watched as Velma unmasked a giant lobster creature. I made a mental note to keep my eye on her though, I had a feeling there was something strange going on.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After about an hour, everybody else started to slowly file into the common room. Finally, at 11:30, everybody had made their way into the room. Most of us were sitting around the tv chatting about American children's shows compared to British ones, while Trudy was in the kitchen fixing lunch. The only people (aside from Trudy) who weren't part of the conversation were Mara, who was reading a book, Amber who was fixing her makeup, and Kara, who had fallen asleep on the far couch, out of the way of the conversation.

"You guys, honestly. Dora the Explorer has to be about ten thousand times better than Thomas the Tank Engine!" I said, flailing my arms for added affect.

"Nina, come on! Thomas is classic!" Patricia defended, crossing her arms.

"I'd have to say," Eddie said. "Thomas is way better than Dora. But Bob the Builder is better than Thomas!"

"Oh, shut up slimeball! What do you know?"

"Obviously more than you, Yacker!"

"Okay, this argument is stupid," Jerome said, cutting off the couple's beginning of an argument. "Besides, Art Attack is where it's at."

"I liked Sapphire and Steel..." Fabian blurted out before blushing red and looking down into his lap.

"Ew Fabes, that show is for nerdy old people!" Joy stated. "No offence..."

"She's right," Mick stated. "That's not even a kids show!"

"Whatever guys," I said. "Say what you will about Dora and Bob the builder, but nothing can beat the Backyardigans."

"Okay, I have to admit," Alfie said. "I went on vacation to Florida when I was younger, and I saw that one. It was definitely better than Art Attack and Thomas and Friends."

"Ha!" I exclaimed, leaning back. I had just won an argument against eight stubborn British people and was pretty proud of myself. The fact that the argument was completely pointless and made no difference in our lives was insignificant.

"Guys," Amber said cautiously from behind us, interrupting my thought. "I think you should take a look at this..."