House of Jara CHAPTER 18
"He spoke to you? What else did he say? Did he say anything about the mask?" Nina fired at them without breathing.
"Nothing really" Amber told Nina, she didn't really like her tone.
"You should have asked him, tried to get some answers" Nina scolded them for not even asking Rufus one question, she was upset that they had spoken to him, yet got nothing.
"We were a bit preoccupied with the fact that the maniac was in my room and could've done anything he wanted. I mean it's not like he's never kidnapped anyone before. Nina, we weren't gonna just go 'Ah hey Rufus so we broke into your warehouse and were just wondering why you've been drawing the Mask of Anubis? We've also been wondering why you've been snooping around here' "Jerome had cracked, he hated how Nina assumed everything was so easy, she hadn't been kidnapped by Rufus like he and Patricia had been.
"Jerome's right Nina, when you've been kidnapped by him, it's hard to face him. You may have been kept by him but the rest of us were there with you. Me and Jerome have both been kidnapped and kept away from civilisation for at least a week by him, we were alone with the maniac" Patricia explained to Nina rationally.
"I don't care; I just wanna know why he's back!" Nina told Sibuna rather coldly. Jerome glared at her with hatred; this reminded him of why he didn't really like her much.
"Nina I think you should go" Patricia told her friend whilst looking at Jerome; who was obviously deeply affected by his ordeal with Rufus. Nina looked at everyone in the room before leaving with Fabian.
"Wait, none of you told me about being kidnapped; I knew about the thing on prom night but other than that I haven't been told" Mara said, hinting that she wanted to know every last detail. Jerome looked at her worriedly but Mara returned the look with pleading eyes.
"Can everyone leave me to tell Mara?" Jerome could deny her nothing and everyone obliged, leaving the room immediately.
"Come on then; what happened?" Mara questioned, eager to know everything.
"Well last year we were all caught up in the thing with the elixir of life and well; I wasn't on the right side to begin with. I was with Rufus but I didn't know what he was trying to do, before I knew it I was sneaking down into the cellar trying to steal god knows what. When Sibuna had found all the Ankh parts I stole Alfie's to give to Rufus. When I found out what he was actually trying to do, I tried to fix everything but Rufus held me captive at that warehouse for over a week; no one even realised. Everyone was told that I was staying with a relative. Even when Alfie got suspicious because I hadn't called or texted him nobody cared. It was only when Alfie found me in the warehouse that Sibuna actually believed him, he couldn't do anything alone though so he had to get Sibuna to come get me with him" Jerome told his love.
"Why did you steal from your best friend?" Mara asked, unable to say anything else.
"If you haven't noticed, Mara that man scares me half to death and I don't say that often, you said it yourself – his voice is enough to scare me. I didn't want to betray him but I was afraid of what Rufus would do to me. I mean I was right to be scared, look what he ended up doing" Jerome justified his actions and showed her a scar on the side of his right eye. Mara gasped and touched it lightly. "He gave me this when I tried to escape"
"Jerome, I'm really sorry-"Mara began but Jerome cut her off.
"Can you just go? It's obvious you can't see why I did it" he said, getting up and turning away from her.
"Jerome please! I do see" Mara stood up and grabbed his arm, turning him back to face her.
"Just go Mara! I pour my heart out to you and you think I just stole from my best friend for no reason, like it was just for the fun of it" Jerome sneered "I told you how much I like you and you still think I'm heartless and vile"
"Jerome that is not true, I don't think that" Mara pleaded as she raised her voice slightly making Jerome turn and look at her.
"Mara just go please" Jerome sounded defeated; he was surprised when she grabbed his shirt and planted a big kiss on his lips, he kissed back and when they pulled a part, they saw Mick standing at the door.
"I heard shouting but obviously you're fine so I'm, uh, gonna go" he said sad and embarrassed.
"Did you mean that kiss? Was it real or to make meathead jealous?" Jerome always thought people had ulterior motives, they never just liked him. It was the reason he used Alfie like he did.
"Of course I meant it, I didn't even know Mick was standing there, I swear to you I don't think those things of you, in fact I think you're the opposite of vile and heartless. I think your amazing" Mara assured the tall sceptic in front of her, he beamed down at her and she beamed up at him in return, she immediately hugged him around the stomach.
"Mara, will you…" Jerome began but couldn't say it out loud.
"Yes Jerome, I will go out with you" Mara replied and knew for sure that was his question when she saw his eyes light up at her answer. He hugged her again and spun her around; she giggled and hugged him tightly. "Can we keep it quiet for now though, I don't want people to think I moved on from Mick too quickly, it has only been like two days since we broke up" Mara asked as he put her back down, he frowned slightly.
"But I wanna be able to kiss you in front of people" Jerome whined sadly, pouting very slightly so Mara couldn't see.
"Ooh alright then, I suppose we can be public, why should people take an interest in my personal life anyway? Shall we go tell everyone then?" Mara agreed and Jerome nodded happily. They walked out into the living room hand in hand; they winced when Amber squealed very loudly.
"Yay! Jara is official!" she yelled happily.