All the characters are sleeping. I'm doing the disclaimer. :)
DISCLAIMER!
I don't own House of Anubis or anything else. There. Done.
It was Saturday. I awoke to sunlight pouring in through the curtains, and the smell of Trudy's famous waffles.
I checked the clock, seeing nine-thirty, and decided to get up. Looking across the room, I noticed Amber's bed was empty.
She's probably already down there. I thought, getting my robe off the back of the door and throwing it on, going out into the hall.
"Hey." It was Fabian, standing nonchalantly against the wall outside the door to my room. Hearing and seeing him out of nowhere like that startled me, and I practically jumped out of my skin.
Noticing how scared and off-guard I was, he pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead.
"Sorry," he whispered. "I thought you saw me."
"It's okay," I replied, resting my head on his chest. "I'm just a little paranoid. It's nothing to worry about."
""Understandable," he said, letting go of me. Instead, he took my hand and we both went downstairs. "I won't sneak up on you again."
"Thanks." I kissed his cheek.
We took our usual spots at the table. Looking around, I noticed the only one dressed was Trudy. Everyone else was still in their pajamas.
"Do you guys want to go into town with me and Mara later?" Mick asked between bites. He was always eating.
The rest of Sibuna and I exchanged glances, then we all looked at Mick and Mara. Patricia was the first to speak.
"Can't," she said briskly, trying to make eye contact with them.
"Yeah, we're busy," Amber added.
"Amber Millington is passing up an excuse to go shopping?" Mara asked in disbelief. "I think the apocalypse is coming."
We all stared at Amber. Alfie smirked, Jerome had his head in his hands, and Fabian, Patricia and I said nothing. Finally, she spoke up.
"Well," she started off, "I'm just not feeling well. And my ankle hurts."
"Okay…" Mick muttered, not sounding convinced. He turned to Fabian and I. "What about you two, then? I know Alfie and Jerome won't join us."
It was now Jerome's turn to smirk as Alfie tried to suppress laughter. Fabian looked uncomfortable and I fidgeted slightly.
"I didn't get much sleep after the nightmare." I lied. I had actually slept pretty well.
Without saying anything, Mick realized that if I wasn't going, Fabian wouldn't either. He said fine, shrugged, and continued eating.
After everyone had dressed and Mick and Mara left for town, I called another Sibuna meeting.
"I feel kind of bad we can't really tell them why we're not going with them," Patricia admitted, sitting between Amber and Jerome.
"I know! I really wanted to go shopping!" Amber exclaimed.
"The less they know the better. We've kept them out of this so far. We should continue to do so," Fabian said, trying to sound all leader-like. He took the words right out of my mouth.
"Anyways, let's get back to why we called this meeting in the first place," I said, now taking over.
"Isn't just a continuation of last night's?" Alfie asked.
"Yeah, but we still need to figure out the whole 'Beware the black bird and the man who seeks to live forever' thing," I explained. "Remember?"
"Well, we know the black bird part means Corbierre," Patricia said. "But you two already found the last puzzle piece hidden inside him." she pointed to Fabian and I.
"Ugh, don't remind me," I said dramatically. "I'm still trying to get that image out of my head."
"You weren't the one who had to screw his head back on!" Fabian exclaimed, looking semi-hurt. Then he smiled and burst into laughter.
"Anyways," Patricia kept on. "Why would we have to still 'beware the black bird'? I mean, isn't that also what Sarah told you in a dream at the beginning of last term?"
"Oh yeah, back when you hated me," I said pleasantly. She glared.
"Sorry," she muttered. "So Nina, what do you think it means?"
"I don't know." I got up and started pacing. "Everyone always asks me what everything means!" I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air due to exasperation. Fabian stood up and walked over to me. "I just don't know what to do. Just because I'm the Chosen One doesn't mean I have the answers to everything."
"Nina's right," Jerome chimed in. Just then, his phone went off. "Great. Rufus." He checked the message.
"Now what does he want?" Patricia asked, looking more annoyed than usual.
"Shit!" Jerome's jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out. Patricia leaned over to peer at the message and immediately recoiled, saying very loudly some very offensive things.
"What? What is it?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood to actually go voer and look.
"Mick and Mara," Jerome said quietly. We all understood – he didn't need to continue.
"How… why… they… what the hell?" I sputtered, looking from face to face for an answer. "He's in town? He's nearby? We're all screwed!"
"Not necessarily. Let's all think calmly and rationally about this," Fabian spoke up, grabbing my hands. "Nina, look at me."
I did as I was told, even though I didn't want to. This was what I loved so much about Fabian: The fact that if someone's in danger and everyone else is freaking out about it, he's the one who tries to stay as level-headed as possible throughout the whole thing.
Once our gazes locked, he spoke again.
"Nina," he let go of my hands and took me by the shoulders instead. "Listen to me. We are not going to let him get anywhere near you. We'll get help. We'll get Mick and Mara back. We'll do whatever it takes to protect you and the Cup. Right?" he looked around at everyone.
"We promise, Nins," Amber said quietly, silent tears streaming down her face. Alfie put an arm around her, and surprisingly, she didn't shrug it off.
"Now do you think we should get Victor more involved?" Patricia demanded. "This is way over our heads! It's bigger than all of us! Bigger than the Cup; bigger than Nina being the Chosen One! Bigger than Joy's disappearance last term! We need all the help we can get."
"Trixie's right," Jerome muttered, looking shocked. "We need Victor. Sorry guys, but this is too dangerous."
"No, we agree with you on that," Fabian said. I nodded. "It's just that… well, if you haven't noticed, Victor's not exactly the easiest person to try and get a plan across to."
"Which is why you're not going to be the one talking to him," fame Patricia's response. She shot him a glare. "We'll be forceful. You're not forceful. You and Nina just stand there with us and nod in agreement or something."
"Thanks, Patricia," he said, glaring back at her. "But I think we have a say in this, or at least Nina does."
"Okay, do it your way. We'll let her talk. Won't we, Amber?"
When there was no answer, we all looked over at Amber, who was curled up into a ball on the floor in front of her bed, sobbing and shaking. Alfie had both his arms around her now.
"I never really liked Mara," she said between sobs. "But I feel horrible! And I still kind of like Mick! I'm sorry for giving her a hard time during elections, and for trying to steal Mick away from her when they truly love each other, and for giving her a hard time about the whole studying thing at the beginning of last term…" Whatever else she had to say disintegrated into more sobs, choking and shaking.
"I'm sorry, Amber," was all I or anyone else could say. "We'll get them back. Don't worry."
"Should I go get Victor now?" Patricia stood by the door and had her hand near the knob. I nodded again.
"Fine, go. Just… tell him we'll be in his office in a minute," I replied, not really caring what she did.
As soon as she left, Fabian spoke up again.
"I'm so sick of Rufus always getting in the way of things," he said with gritted teeth. "He kidnapped Patricia, tried to get to Joy through us, used Jerome for his own little schemes and bribed him with money" –when that was said, Jerome groaned and held his head in his hands– "and he tried to take you away from us… away from me. I will end him once and for all if it's the last thing I ever do!" he said that last part a bit more boldly than I expected. I hugged him tightly and gave him a quick kiss.
Just then, Patricia reappeared.
"Victor says to get a move on and go to his office," she said, disappearing to go back to the creepy office, leaving the door open.
Alfie and Jerome helped the still-sobbing Amber to her feet, and Fabian and I walked hand-in-hand to confront Victor about Rufus and what just happened.
"Let's do this," Fabian said with a determined look on his face.