Amber: Hi! Ice-Princess-93 doesn't own us, the house, Victor, Rufus, etc.
Me: Thanks Amber.
Amber: No problem! Now I'm off to do my hair and nails.
"Nina! Nina, it's okay! Calm down!" Fabian grabbed my hands, talking to me both worriedly and soothingly, if that was even possible. He lowered his voice. "It was just a dream. You're alright."
"I - it - Rufus!" I managed to choke out between sobs. Out of the corner of my tear-filled eye, I saw Victor's gaze focus on me.
"Who's Rufus?" Mara asked, yawning.
"Everybody out," Victor demanded. "Except you six." he pointed to the rest of Sibuna.
"But why do they get to stay?" Mick was getting angry.
"Just go! Or it'll be toilet cleaning duty for a week!"
"Okay, okay!" he muttered something else, then left the room with Mara at his heel, followed by a hesitant Trudy.
Once they were out, Victor closed the door to mine and Amber's room, and looked at me with… was that fright? Fabian handed me a tissue to dry my eyes with, and I gratefully took it.
"Zeno," Victor muttered, starting to pace the length of the room. Patricia, Alfie, Jerome and Amber all sat on Amber's bed and Fabian stayed with me, sitting next to me on mine. "He's back!" he shouted, veering around to glare at me. "What did you see?"
"I saw…" I sighed shakily and Fabian's grip on my hand tightened. "Rufus kidnapped me and tried to kill me. He succeeded. Right when I was about to die," I cast a look at Fabian. "You entered the room, tears streaming down your face and a pained and loving expression in your eyes."
As if I hadn't even said the last part, Victor mumbled something about 'keeping an eye on us'. I had a feeling he mainly meant me.
"We didn't know that drinking the elixir from the Cup of Ankh would kill one of you. As Zeno said, we thought the seven acolytes were just symbolic. If we'd known about the Cup killing someone, we would't have drunk out of it."
"Yeah right," Patricia whispered. Victor turned to her.
"What was that, Miss Williamson?" he asked snidely, a glint in his eye.
"Nothing," she muttered, folding her arms.
"Miss Martin," he started off. "You and your friends will for now on be put under house arrest. Like last term, you will get up, go to your classes, and when you're done you will come back to Anubis House and stay here. Zeno is still on the loose, and I will not let him get the Cup."
"Victor," Fabian interrupted, trying to search for the right words to say. "He said - and I think you did too - that drinking the elixir from the cup would only work during the Chosen Hour every twenty-five years."
"This is very true, Mr. Rutter," Victor kept pacing, and now he had a look of concentration on his face. I yawned.
"Can't you just get all your Society friends together and take Rufus out?" Alfie suggested.
"No, it will take more than The Society and a group of children to overpower him."
"Great," I muttered. Everyone turned to me.
"Oh Chosen One," Victor started off, walking towards Fabian and I. I cringed a bit.
"Don't call me that," I said through gritted teeth. Fabian put his arms around me.
"Leave her alone," he warned, a defensive tone taking over his normally-soothing voice. Amber and the rest of Sibuna got up as well.
"I'm not going to harm her," Victor confessed, putting his hands up in surrender. "I'd just like to ask her something."
"What?" I asked as icy as Patricia would. She and Jerome smirked.
"What do you think is right? Should we go after Zeno, or have him come to us?"
"Are you insane?" Fabian practically exploded. "We are not letting that basket case come anywhere near us! He could kidnap Nina! And I thought you were on our side!"
"Relax, Rutter, I am. But she is the Chosen One. Though the elixir is gone now and the Cup and Miss Martin are both useless" -calling me useless made me a bit more upset, and Fabian noticed so his grip tightened, kissing my cheek- "we now have the priority of protecting her and making sure Rufus doesn't get his hands on her or any of you."
"What do we have to do with this?" Patricia asked.
"You're involved enough. You could all tell everyone outside the house what's really going on at this school. This is why you're all under house arrest: So Rufus can't get to you and you can't go blabbing off to other pupils about the past and future events."
"But what if we just stay on school grounds?" Jerome interrupted. "I mean, being stuck here all the time would make it easier for us to get on your nerves!"
"Hmm." Victor paced yet again. "I see your point, Clarke. Alright, you can stay on school grounds, but do not go outside the gates, or else you'll all have detention and cleaning duties for a month."
"A month!" Amber threw her hands up in exasperation. "Why-"
"Just follow those rules, Miss Millington, and you won't have anything to worry about. Now, it's almost three in the morning. I suggest you all get to bed." With that, he left the room and closed the door.
Yet again, everyone turned to me. My face went bright red.
"Well?" Alfie asked hesitantly. "What do we do? I mean… you are the Chosen One." he smiled playfully.
"SHUT UP!" I shouted, lying back in bed and pulling the blankets over me. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" I kept shouting, even though I knew I sounded muffled through the covers. I felt their stares boring into me.
"Nina…" It was Fabian. He sounded kind of scared. "It's alright. Everything's going to be okay. We'll support you whatever you do." He slowly pulled the blankets off of me, revealing my horrifically tear-streaked face.
He turned on Alfie.
"Apologize to her!" he shouted, fists clenched. "You know she's stressed out enough! She doesn't need this!"
"Nina, I'm sorry. Like Fabian said: We'll support you through whatever you want or have to do. Don't worry." Alfie came over to me. I got out of bed, standing up as stiff as a board. He hugged me and I just wrapped one arm around him and he eventually let go.
"It's okay, Alfie. I'm fine. Just… scared." I wiped away my tears and Fabian handed me another tissue. "Sorry."
"It's fine."
"Right, let's go mate," Jerome grabbed Alfie's shirt and dragged him out of the room, heading back downstairs. Patricia left as well.
"I'll give you two some time alone," Amber whisper-shouted as she followed Patricia to her and Mara's room.
"Fabian?" I asked, looking into his eyes. "I don't want to be the Chosen One."
"I know, Nina. I know," he sat down on my bed and pulled me down next to him, holding me in his arms. He kissed my forehead. "Patricia told me Joy said the same thing to her last term when they thought it was her."
"I feel bad, though," I confessed, shifting so I could look into his eyes. "Because of all this, I'm putting you all in danger. Maybe it would be better if I went back to America."
"Don't talk like that! Nina, you're bright, you have a future, and you're beautiful."
That snapped me out of the sadness and depression I felt. "You still think I'm beautiful?"
"Of course! Nina, I thought you were two weeks ago at prom, and I still do now. I've had feelings for you ever since we met on your first day here. I've always loved you."
"I believe you," I said quietly, feeling the hotness of tears forming in my eyes again. "I love you as well. I've loved you for as long as I can remember."
"Nina, I promise you'll get through this. We'll all get through it together. We're here for you every step of the way, despite what Patricia or Alfie and Jerome might say or do. I'm here for you, and so is Amber. We'll protect you from Rufus. I'll make sure nothing horrible happens to you."
I looked into his eyes and practically melted with passion and love for him and everything he stood for. I leaned closer to him, still in his arms, and kissed him full-on on the lips. It was just… perfect.
After a few minutes, I felt his tongue trying to enter my mouth, and I let him. Then I heard an oh-to-familiar voice.
"Oh don't mind me, I'm just passing through." Amber nonchalantly came back into our room, giggling like crazy and shut her light to go to bed. Fabian and I kept snogging.
"Well, I should probably go," he said at last, breaking apart. "It's three."
"Okay," I replied, sadness filling my features. I could see he felt the same. "I love you."
"I love you too." He kissed my lips again, more quickly this time, then kissed my forehead, got up, and left for his bed.
"Aww!" Amber squealed.
"Goodnight, Amber," I sighed happily, shutting off my light and nestling back under my covers.
I had a nice, dreamless sleep. The only thing that woke me was the sun pouring into our room the next morning.