t w o
"Hands up!"
Mara looked confused as Jerome leaned over the chess table and hugged her close. Patricia leaned back into Eddie's arms, shaking. Joy ducked under the table and hid.
"Rufus," Nina whispered with contempt.
"Well done my dear," Rufus purred menacingly, "I'm so glad you remembered."
"What do you want, Rufus?" Nina asked, shielded from him by Fabian's arms.
"Very good question."
In a three short strides, Rufus yanked Mara out of Jerome's grip and pulled her hands behind her back. Mara screamed as Rufus twisted her wrist.
"Mara!" Jerome yelled angrily, "You get off her!" he growled, turning towards Rufus.
"Give me the Cup of Ankh and the Mask of Anubis, or else the girl gets it," he threatened.
"The what?" Mara cried, tears streaming down her face, "Please let me go!"
"Leave her out of this, Rufus," Patricia said furiously, "She did nothing to you."
"Good to see you again Patricia!" Rufus narrowed his eyes evilly, "But I'm afraid there is nothing that I can do unless you give me the Cup and the Mask, now!"
"We don't know where the cup is," Amber said, "We buried it last term and we can't find it. And as for the mask. . . we still haven't got it yet"
"Very well then," Rufus growled, "Get them!"
Four burly men wearing masks appeared in the doorway.
"I'm sorry it had to end like this," Rufus said, "But, trust me, soon it shall all be worth it. Soon. . . I shall have immortality!"
…...
You stop and close your eyes
You can't deny what lives inside you
Well I know it's hard to see
What is meant to be
When yesterday is so far behind you
…...
The boy shakily picked up the phone.
"Amber," he whispers, before it falls out of his cold hand., "What happened to you?"
What had become of this place that only a few months ago he had been a part of? Full of life, bursting with colour and action, where had that all gone? Where had everything gone?
…...
A brown-haired girl runs up the stairs, crying. Everything, everything is gone. Everything has been taken from this girl, and she does not know what to do.
"Please, please, please," she whispers over and over, "Please make this a dream. Please let this not be real." But it was.
She walks into her room. Will she ever share it with Patricia and Mara again? Who can say.
"Oh. . ." she falls down weeping.
"Hey, you!" the girl turns to come face to face with a crazy looking redhead, "What's your name?"
"J-Joy. J-Joy M-Mercer," the girl trembles.
The redhead turns round.
"S!" she calls, "We got someone here!"
After a few seconds, a tall blonde floats into the room, followed closely by a petite black girl.
"Aah," the girl grins, "Perfect. Bet?"
Before Joy can process what was happening, the black girl (who Joy assumed was Bet) had her pinned against the wall with her hands behind her back.
"So," the blonde smirks, "What're you doing here?"
"I-I," Joy stutters, "I saw him. I know who did this."
"You do?" the black girl asks, surprised, "Who, then? If you are really who you say you are. . ."
"I am," Joy says, "And the guy you're looking for is more dangerous than you think."
The blonde girl tilted her head a bit, "Bet, let her go," Bet sighed and released Joy from her grasp, but seconds later, the blonde was right in front of her.
"Alright, Joy," she said, "Tell us all you know."
"Umm. . ." Joy whispered, not sure where to start.
"Who is our guy?" the blonde growled.
"The guy you want. . . is. . . is. . . Rufus Zeno."
…...
Deep inside your soul knows I'm always there
You made me believe the day you surrender to me
The memory will never die
The love that you gave
I'll never throw it away
The memory will never die
…...
The boy continues over to the hoagie. It looks tempting, but he knows that this is no time for eating. Something has happened here. Something strange, and sinister.
Hold on a second! Where was Victor? And Trudy, and that Vera person Mara had mentioned in her emails?
He quickly checked his phone. Ah. They were away on a week-long teacher training course. That would explain it.
What would happen when they got back? Would they notice? Victor probably wouldn't (he never noticed anything besides Corbier- in fact, the boy could have sworn he once walked past Victor's office and saw Victor making out with that thing. . .), but Trudy and possibly Vera would. Would they do anything about it?
No, the boy decided. But he'd have to.
…...
"Rufus Zeno?" Bet asked, "I haven't heard of him before. He can't be that bad."
"He is," Joy said, suddenly eager to spill, "He's already kidnapped one person, threatened another with death and forced my father to pull me out of school for a year."
"Really?" The blonde looks shocked, but her face suddenly softens, "I haven't. . . properly introduced myself. My name is Shaiden, and this," she gestures to the redhead, who has been standing quietly in the corner, "Is Rielle, but you shall call her Riley. You obviously seem to know that she (the black girl) is Bet, so, there. . . I guess you know us now."
"Not quite," Joy suddenly becomes very bold, "Why are you here?"
"Ah," Shaiden frowns, "That's a very good question. The answer to that, as I say, very good question, is classified."
Joy bursts out laughing.
"Classified? Seriously?" she chokes out, "What are you, some kind of spy? 'That my friend is classified information'," she put on a classic male spy voice, before laughing again, "You have got to be kidding me!"
"Shut up!" Riley snaps, "Our business is none of your business."
There is suddenly a noise from downstairs. The girls instantly spring into action, Bet gripping onto Joy's arms once more, Shaiden picking up the discarded backpack from the floor and Riley's face forming into a scowl.
"Stay very close to us," she growled, "Do not make a single sound. We are going to investigate."
…...
A/N: Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Seriously, I love you guys!